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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1465.PDF
EXERCISE "BEWARE" Progress and Conclusions THE second phase of "Beware" occurred during last week, andwas a continuation of the tactics and activities of the firstphase. During the morning of the first day sporadic attacks by Canberras were made over the whole exercise area, but theywere spotted well out to sea and intercepted in the north by Hunters from Leuchars and Sabres from Linton-on-Ouse. Inthe south the attacks came from a new direction—from the Brest Peninsula towards the coast between Plymouth and BeachyHead. Fighter Command here claimed a large number of inter- ceptions over the French coast and in mid-Channel. During the afternoon P.R. Canberras ranged over the northernpart of the area while tactical atom-bomb carriers, probably F-84Fs, attacked over East Anglia from behind fighter cover.One F-84F would be masked by a swarm of fighters coming in at high level, and shortly before the target, the F-84F woulddive down to almost ground level to drop its bomb. In the early evening Canberras, temporarily based at Sola(Stavanger) and Gadermoen (Oslo) for another NATO exercise, flew across the North Sea to raid targets between Aberdeen andthe Tay. They were intercepted well out to sea. During the night Canberras from Paris came in over Portsmouth, andattacked London. The final effort was by Canberras coming in towards London from the Wash. Javelins, now two in number,operated again from Coltishall. Each made two sorties and seven interceptions were claimed. The Fleet Air Arm was operating for both sides, since in addi-tion to flying "rat" sorties at low level, Sea Venoms were helping No longer able to show a clean pair of heels to the fighters, Canberra light bombers of Bomber Command were heavily engaged. At Honing- ton, one of the many bomber stations active, maintenance work (top) and operations continued throughout the night. A crew are seen boarding their aircraft for a night raid. "Flight" photographs the night defences. American F-86Ds are now well integratedwith the control systems and claimed many "kills" during Phase 2. Not originally scheduled for "Beware" was an express spares-delivery service run by helicopters. It worked well and was a great asset, since spares urgently required, even by the radarstations and control points far from airfields, were delivered from the distribution point in the Midlands with the minimum delay.Less helpful, but just as important, was a series of infiltration raids on various establishments, designed to test security. With the new radar equipment and techniques, the Hunters, two of which are here taking oft from Odiham, have undoubtedly been responsible for the great improvement in interception rates this year. Particularly striking has been the rapidity with which they can get airborne.
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