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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0571.PDF
3 May 1957 573 SERVICE AVIATION Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm News Exercise "Vigilant" '"PHIS year's principal air defence exer--*• cise, to be known as "Vigilant", is to be held between May 25 and 28 and willbe directed by the A.O.C-in-C. Fighter Command, Air Marshal Sir Thomas Pike.Day and night attacks are to be concen- trated into three raid-periods of maximumintensity, each of 24 hours' duration. "Enemy" sorties will be flown against thedefences by Valiants and Canberras of R.A.F. Bomber Command, aircraft ofCoastal and Training Commands and of the Fleet Air Arm, R.A.F. aircraft of 2ndT.A.F. from Germany, aircraft of the U.S.A.F. and Continental-based aircraft ofthe air forces of Canada, Belgium, France and Holland. Guided Weapons Policy (CHANGES in the R.A.F. resulting from^ Britain's new defence policy were out- lined in the Air Minister's memorandumon the Air Estimates and at a Press con- ference at Air Ministry on April 25, whenthe first appointments resulting from the advent into service of guided weapons wereannounced. The most important of these is that ofA.V-M. D. G. Morris as head of a new organization in the Air Ministry—as yetunnamed—whose purpose is described in the Minister's memorandum as "to co-ordinate and progress the introduction of defence guided missiles and their associ-ated radar and to integrate them with the existing control and reporting and fighterdefence systems." A.V-M. Morris has been S.A.S.O. at 2ndA.T.A.F. since January 1955, and prior to taking the 1954 course at the ImperialDefence College was Metropolitan Sector Commander, Fighter Command. He wasawarded the D.F.C. in 1941 and the D.S.O. in 1945 and this year was appointed anAide-de-Camp to the Queen. Another appointment announced wasthat of G/C. J. A. Leathart as CO. of the first of the R.A.F.'s missile stations (atNorth Coates, Lincolnshire), which is to be brought into use for service trials nextyear. For the past three years G/C. Leathart has commanded the Air DefenceOperations Centre at H.Q., Fighter Com- mand. He was awarded the D.S.O. in1940. A third announcement was that the Swift 7 unit engaged on trials with Fire-flash is to be commanded by W/C. J. O. Dalley, who from March 1954 to October1955 was CO. of No. 141 (night fighter) Squadron at R.A.F. Coltishall. At the conference, Air Ministry spokes-men said there was no reason to expect "startling changes" in the R.A.F.'s careeror trade structure; it was wrong to think "push-button warfare was just around thecorner". Bomber Command is being expanded and in certain operations air-craft would still predominate. There would, however, be changes—both in mah- Three senior R.A.F. officers concerned with implementing the new defence policy outlined below. From left to right, Air Marshal Sir Geoffrey Tuttle, D.C.A.S. and Air Council member responsible for re-equipment policy; A.V-M. D. G. Morris; and G/C. J. A. Leathart. power ceilings and "evolutionary" ones—resulting from the introduction of new weapons. In future, G.D. officers wouldneed to fly less after their first ten years' service, though this did not mean aseparate class of guided missile officers would be built up. Several hundred officers—both G.D. andtechnical—and airmen had attended guided-missile courses since 1951. Thereare to be new trades (e.g., guided-missile fitter) for airmen—and for this, by mid-January this year, there had been 600 applications. No present plan exists tointroduce a special badge for guided- weapon personnel, and it is "unlikely"that the existing Commands will be given new names. Standard for No. 32 Sqn. ON June 6 a Standard is to be presentedto No. 32 Squadron by Air Chief Marshal Sir James M. Robb at R.A.F.Akrotiri, Cyprus. The squadron invites past members to attend and those able todo so are asked to communicate with the Adjutant, No. 32 Squadron, Royal AirForce Akrotiri, Cyprus, B.F.P.O. 53. R.A.F. Appointments • AMONG recent Royal Air Force •**- appointments announced by the Air Ministry are the following : — G/C. D. W. Smythe to R.A.F. Henlow, to command; G/C. H. N. G. Wheeler to the R.A.F. College, Cranwell, as Assistant Com- mandant; G/C. J. W. C. Revill to Air Ministry for duty in the Department of the Air Mem- ber for Supply and Organization; W/C. B. D. Sellick to H.Q. Transport Command, for air staff duties (with the acting rank of group captain). R.C.A.F. George Medal AwardsT WO members of the R.C.A.F., F/L.R. G. Morgan and L.A/C. H. J. Waters, have been awarded the George Medal fortheir "prompt and courageous action" in rescuing the pilot of a Sabre which hadcrashed and caught fire while coming in to land at the R.C.A.F.'s No. 1 Fighter Wing,Marville, France. Announcing the Queen's approval ofthese awards, R.C.A.F. headquarters in Ottawa quotes from the citation that F/L.Morgan and L.A/C. Waters acted "with complete disregard for their own safety"despite flames and exploding ammunition. Together they extricated from his cockpitthe partially-conscious pilot, F/L. E. L. Fine, who later recovered from his injuries. Railway By Air A SMALL but complete railway systemhas been air-lifted ancl air-dropped into Fort Chabai by Whirlwind helicoptersand Pioneer, Valetta and Freighter aircraft from R.A.F. Kuala Lumpur. Chabai, latest in the chain of Malaya's deep jungleforts established for anti-terrorist opera- tions and to help in the development of thearea's primitive communities, lies in mountainous territory near the borders ofKelantan and Perak States in Central Malaya and is accessible only by air. ThePioneer airstrip serving it has been cut out of the side of the 2,000ft hill on whichthe fort is sited and is the length of a rugby pitch. When recent cloudbursts threatened toput the airstrip out of commission it was decided to introduce an extensive drainagesystem and divert a small mountain river. This involved lifting a railway system andearth-moving equipment—a total load of some 90 tons—into the fort. Valettas of the Air Supply Force(Malaya) made the first drop (engineering equipment, fuel and basic supplies) onMarch 9; the following day Pioneers of No. 267 Sqn. lifted some 30 Royal Engi-neers into Fort Chabai and work on the ground began. On March 11, Whirlwindsof No. 155 Sqn. lifted 22 loads of equip- ment (including a large quantity of railwaytrack and half a heavy tractor) into the fort and two days later a Freighter of No.41 Sqn., R.N.Z.A.F., dropped the second half of the tractor and much otherequipment. When the work has been completed, inabout six months, the Whirlwinds and Pioneers will be employed to bring theheavy equipment out of the fort. R.A.F. Promotions TN a recent Supplement to the London -*- Gazette, the following promotions were promulgated: — , Wing Commander to Group Captain.—Medical Branch: J. R. Cellars; R. H. Pratt; C. C. Barker; J. C. Taylor; W. T. Buckle;E. S. Sidey. Flight Lieutenant to Squadron Leader.—Secretarial Branch: M. E. Gardner; I. C. Murison, A.F.C.; E. J. Griffiths; W. A.Wilkinson; H. E. Boothby; J. W. A. Daley; P. W. Davidge; A. F. Cole; H. Lewis; J.Buckley; T. M. Armstrong; J. W. Gilvey; S. A. Durrant; R. A. Hudson; A. H. Cowton;E. W. F. Cooper; R. G. Huie; R. B. Weller; O. H. Speake; J. Bailey; W. B. Kersley; A.Plans; J. H. Low; D. L. A. Findlay; N. E. Bishop, A.C.I.S. Flight Officer to Squadron Officer (W.R.A.F.).—G. G. Hall; B. Wilson. IN BRIEF No. 125 Sqn., Fighter Command, whichhas for some time been in process of dis- bandment, officially disbands on May 10.***** A. Cdre. Asghar Khan, a Pakistaniofficer, is to take over command of the Pakistan Air Force from A.V-M. A. W. B.McDonald when the latter's contract expires in July.
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