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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0448.PDF
464 FLIGHT, 4 April 1958 SERVICE AVIATION . . . things, considering we were so many milesfrom the sea, made the local Army and our visitors howl with delight. From allthis I hope it can be appreciated how Naval Eight felt when the amalgamation cameabout on April 1, 1918, and we lost our Naval status to become 208 of the R.A.F. Unofficially, however, we never quitedropped the old ways. A photograph taken just after the Armistice, eight months laterand on the day before I bid the squadron farewell, shows at least two of us clingingtenaciously to the old uniform. After squadron commanders, flight commanders,petty officers, etc., it was quite distasteful trying to get used to the majors, captainsand sergeants of the R.A.F. (The present- day R.A.F. ranks were not introduced until1920. This will explain how I acquired the rank of Major with which I was demobi-lized in 1919.) I do not pretend to know the whys andthe wherefores of what occurred on April the First. The very date would havebeen more than appropriate had it not been for the serious position of the Allied Armiesafter the Hun had commenced his big offensive in March and we had our backsto the wall. This very fact made such an upheaval quite incomprehensible. Person-ally, I suspected that Trenchard probably had more to do with it than most. Every-thing he said and did since confirmed this feeling; he was jealous of the R.N.A.S.,and then there is always that ambition for power. To many of us out there in thethick of it, it was a marvel how we survived and won; but as so often happens with theBritish, we got on with the job in spite of our Lords and Masters at home, not be-cause of them. It is of interest to note that it took theAdmiralty nearly 20 years—to July 1937, to regain once again complete control of itsown air Service. Major Draper and the present CO., 5/L Granville-White, discuss a Hunter of No. 208. In the last war I went back to my oldlove, but there still seemed to be, behind the scenes, some sort of obstruction to everydevelopment the Admiralty wanted for the Naval Air Service; otherwise how can itbe explained that when the German cruisers Schamhorst and Gneisenau madetheir mad dash through the Straits of Dover in February 1942 the unfortunate Navalpilots sent to intercept them had nothing better than the old Swordfish? Before concluding this brief account ofthose memorable days it is amusing to note a letter dated March 7, 1907, addressed tothe Wright brothers by Lord Tweedmouth, the First Lord of the Admiralty, whichreads:— "/ have consulted my expert advisers withregard to your suggestion as to the employ- ment of aeroplanes, and regret to have totell you, after careful consideration of my Board, that the Admiralty are of the opinionthat they would not be of any practical use to the Naval Service." Personally, I do not celebrate this anni-versary with much enthusiasm, but I like to drink a "bumper" to the memory of allthose of the old Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service it was my luckto meet and know at that time. * * * No. 208 Sqn. had a very brief disband-ment at the end of the First World War, from November 1919 to February 1920,when it was re-formed with Bristol Fighters in Egypt as an Army co-operation unit.During the 1930s it flew Atlases and Audaxes but just before the last warreceived Lysanders. These were supple- mented in 1940 by Hurricane 2s and in1941, after close support work in the Wes- tern Desert, the squadron carried out tac-tical and photographic reconnaissance in Greece. It operated from Palestine duringthe Syrian campaign, then in October 1941 went back to the Western Desert for dutieswith the Eighth Army. No. 208 received one flight of CurtissTomahawks in March 1942 and subse- quently—after the desert campaign ended—converted to Spitfires, operating in Italy with 5s and 9s on reconnaissance work asthe Allied Armies moved northwards. After the war the squadron went back to Palestine,still as an Army co-operation unit, and about January 1947 received Spitfire 18s.It moved to Egypt the following year and in August 1950 started re-equipping with Meteors, which in recent years it has beenoperating from Cyprus. * * * S/L. J. H. Granville-White, the squad-ron's present CO., supplied this comment on its worK and its new role before hereturned with his squadron to Cyprus: — The Air Ministry decided towards theend of 1957 that the most efficient way to re-equip No. 208 Sqn. with Hunters wouldbe to form a new unit within Fighter Com- mand, where these aircraft are in full opera-tional service. This would then replace the M.E.A.F. fighter reconnaissance squad-ron which had been flying Meteor F.R.9s since 1950.The task of forming this new unit started on January 15 this year at R.A.F. Tang-mere. My two flight commanders were F/L.s J. D. Barwell, from the recentlydisbanded No. 34 Sqn., and A. R. King from the Fighter Weapons School. Theother pilots came from various famous Hunter squadrons.The re-equipped No. 208 was required to be operational in Cyprus by the end ofMarch, with Hunter F.6s. This task looked formidable, as the usual two weeks' em-barkation leave had to be taken during this period, and the winter months are notusually conducive to maximum flying effort. But there is an amazingly goodweather factor at R.A.F. Tangmere, primarily owing to its location, shelteredby the South Downs. There were occa- sions during February when it was the onlyairfield open in the U.K., and this gave the squadron the maximum opportunity ofachieving its task. Squadron training was directed towardsproducing a day intercepter squadron for' air defence duties in Cyprus and able also 'to operate in a ground attack role. The Hunter F.6, with four external tanks, iscapable of long ranges; and the new squad- ron is thus a formidable fighting unit. No. 208 was the first squadron to befully equipped with the latest version of the Hunter F.6, incorporating among otherrefinements an extended wing leading edge and flying tail. The new machines arehighly praised by their pilots. There is more positive control at sonic speeds andthe saw-tooth wing gives a better rate of turn at altitude. We have the Martin-BakerMk 3H ejection seat with alternative seat, pan firing handle; and in general the air-,craft embodies experience gained from? several years' operational use. It is a first-'jclass fighting machine well fitted for carry- ing on the long and proud tradition ofNo. 208 Sqn. For achieving the highest standard ona course at the Joint Anti-Submarine School, Londonderry, during last year, No.228 Squadron has been awarded the Dunning Memorial Cup. The squadron,which is commanded by W/C. J. C; Graham, is based at R.A.F. St. Eval inCornwall and equipped with Shackletons. ***** The ten Comet 2s operated by No. 216Sqn. of R.A.F. Transport Command have just passed the 10,000 hours' mark—repre-senting about five million miles' flying since they went into service some 21 months ago.They have now flown more than 50 million passenger miles. ***** A portrait of Air Chief Marshal SirJames M. Robb was unveiled in the officers' mess at the Central Flying School,R.A.F. Little Rissington, on March 14. Sir James was for many years closely asso- SERVICE NEWS IN BRIEF ciated with the school, as its C.F.I, from1927 to 1930 and its Commandant from 1936 to 1940. The portrait, which hadbeen painted by Mr. Cuthben Orde, was unveiled by Air Marshal Sir John E. A.Baldwin, president of the C.F.S. Associa- tion and a former Commandant (1929 to1932) of the School. ***** An exchange visit took place betweenNo. 43 Sqn., R.A.F., and No. 724 Sqn., Royal Danish Air Force, at the end ofMarch, the R.A.F. Hunters operating from Aalborg and those of the Danish squadronfrom Leuchars. Similar exchange visits between R.A.F. units and those of otherNATO countries are planned to take place later this year.***** The R.A.F.A. has decided to name its first convalescent home Richard Peck House, after the late Air Marshal Sir Richard Peck, who was president of theAssociation from 1949 to 1952. The home, at St. Annes-on-Sea, is due to be openecpvat the end of April or early in May. ***** An illustrated brochure, The Royal Air Force 1918-1958, has been prepared by the Information Division of Air Ministry TO mark the R.A.F.'s 40th anniversary. ***** Over 3,300 boys from A.T.C. squadrons and R.A.F. sections of public school C.C.F- units are to spend a week with the R-A!"- during their Easter holidays, from Apri'1 9 to 16 or April 16 to 23. ***** The Summer 1958 edition of the RA ~ Athletic and Games Handbook has i st been published and is obtainable from hV R.A.F. Sports Board, Air Ministry, Lci- don, W.C.I, price 4s.
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