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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0530.PDF
532 PLIGHT, 19 April 1957 Fire Gloster Meteor F.8s of No. 245 Sqn. (S/L. G. M. Smith)—last of the Meteor day fighter squadrons, now re-equipping with Hawker Hunters—show their paces before retirement. The first Meteors came into service in June 1944 with No. 676 (South Yorkshire) Sqn. SERVICE AVIATION Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm News First Cranwell Jet Course YVHEN the first 25 flight cadets to com-* * plete the Provost-Vampire sequence of flying training at the R.A.F. College,Cranwell, passed out on April 9 they were told by their reviewing officer, the Secre-tary of State for Air, Mr. George Ward, that though there had recently been vary-ing reports about its future, the role of the R.A.F. remained "unchanged." He added:"It is a tradition of our Service that it has absorbed and used with considerableskill equipment which has evolved more rapidly than ever previously experiencedby man." The cadets, members of No. 69 Entry, were the first to complete the newthree-year course at the College and the first to go direct to operational conversionunits instead of subsequently undergoing a jet conversion course. [A photographtaken at the parade, in which more than 200 cadets took part, appears on p. 502.] Senior Appointments THE Air Ministry announces thatA.V-M. H. D. Spreckley is to be A.O.C. No. 24 (Training) Group, Technical Train-ing Command, and A.V-M. G. B. Beards- worth is to be Senior Air Staff Officer,Headquarters, Technical Training Com- mand. A.V-M. Spreckley was until recentlyDirector-General of Technical Services at Air Ministry and before that was A.O.C.and Commandant of the R.A.F. Technical College, Henlow. A.V-M. Beardsworthhas been A.O.C. No. 24 (Training) Group since 1955. Education Branch Dinner ON Friday, April 5, some 160 officers ofthe R.A.F. Education Branch heard the Air Minister, Mr. George Ward, com-ment on the important part they would have to play in the R.A.F. of the future,when he replied to the toast of "The Guests" at the Branch's annual dinner.This coincided with the issue of the Defence White Paper, and Mr. Ward stressed the importance of quality rather than quantity in a small Service, Cricketers' Tribute ABOUT 20 county cricketers, all former• members of the R.A.F., subscribed to- wards a farewell gift to S/L. Leslie Clint,who recently resigned as honorary secre- "Where shall we put Fighter Command, sergeant?" tary of the R.A.F. Cricket Association afterholding the post for six years—a longer period than any former secretary. The gifttakes the form of a tankard bearing the signatures of subscribers. S/L. Clint was, until the beginning of last month, commanding officer of the School at Kidbrooke, London, S.E.3. His Mr. Charles Orr- Ewing, Under-Secre- tory for Air (centre), with pilots of No. 10 Wing, French Air Force, after they had arrived in their Mystere Us at Biggin Hill last week on a NATO exchange with No. 41 Sqn., who visited the French base at Creil. Fourth from the right is A.V-M. V. Bowling, A.O.C. No. 11 Group. Cricket Association duties have now beendivided. S/L. A. C. Shireff, captain of the XI, is to be honorary match secretaryand team manager; and F/L. R. Leggett becomes honorary general secretary andpublicity officer. Brave-conduct Awards ON April 9 the R.A.F. supplement to theLondon Gazette announced the award of Queen's Commendations for BraveConduct to Cpl. Donald Tranmer and Cpl. Leslie Richard Wilkins (deceased). Cpl. Tranmer, given the award fordescending a 300ft cliff at Bridlington without any mechanical aid to rescue acivilian who had fallen to the beach, is a ground radio fitter now stationed at R.A.F.St. Anne's, Lanes. Cpl. Wilkins has been awarded the Commendation posthumouslyfor "his courage and sense of duty in endeavouring to apprehend two armedCypriots, who returned his fire and sub- sequently killed him as he lay wounded,"in an incident which took place on Decem- ber 31 last year. Aden Reunion A REUNION for all ranks who servedin Aden and out-stations during the 1939-45 period—Nos. 8 and 621Squadrons, etc.—will be held at the Chatham Room Restaurant, VictoriaStation, London, S.W.I, on Saturday, May 4, at 6.30 p.m. IN BRIEF During last year the R.A.F. BenevolentFund for the first time spent more than £200,000 on annual education work.***** The Board of Admiralty has approved the dedication to the Fleet Air Arm of amarch, Taranto, written by Mr. Albert Elms, a former Royal Marine bandsman.***** Copies of the Summer 1957 R.A.F.Athletic and Games Handbook are now available from the R.A.F. Sports Board,Room 319, Air Ministry, London, W.C.I, at 4s each. ***** The 2,000th "Thum"—temperature andhumidity observation—flight was carried out from Woodyale, Lanes, recently byF/L. J. Formby in a Spitfire operated by Short Brothers and Harland on behalf ofthe Air Ministry. These daily weather flights are shortly to be taken over byMosquito T.T.35s.
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