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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 0719.PDF
356 FLIGHT A recent No. 81 Sqn. group—with Meteors and Pembrokes as background—at its base at R.A.F. Tengah, Singapore (see story below) R.A.F. Inspector-General A NEW appointment was announced**• last week for Air Marsha) Sir John R. Whitky, who has been Air Member forPersonnel since January 1957. He is to be Inspector-General of the Royal AirForce from June 3 in place of Air Marshal Sir Gilbert E. Nicholetts, who is retiringfrom the Service. Before taking up his present post AirMarshal Whitley was A.O.C. No. 1 (Bomber) Group. All but a few monthsof bis wartime service was with Bomber Command, in which he commanded suc-cessively a squadron, station, base and group. During his term as Air Memberfor Personnel he has kept up his flying of jet aircraft, a year ago piloting himself ina Canberra on a 12,000-mile tour of R.A.F. units in the Middle East. Air Marshal Nicholetts has been Inspec-tor-General since January 1958 and prior to that was A.O.C. Malta for two-and-a-half years. During the war, when posted to A.H.Q. Far East in 1942, he was cap-tured by the Japanese and held prisoner until the end of hostilities. He took partin the R.A.F. long-distance record flight of 5,309 miles from Cranwell to WalvisBay, South Africa, in 1933. Aces of Spades A FAMOUS R.A.F. squadron, now on**• photographic reconnaissance duties in Malaya, has re-introduced on its aircraftthe ace of spades insignia which it origin* ally "borrowed" from a German fightergroup in 1943. At that time the squadron, No. 81, was flying Spitfires in Tunisia;then after moving through Sicily to Italy, it found the same German group, JG 53,remained its most frequent opponents. When at the end of 1943 the squadron wastransferred to India its CO., the late S/L. W. M. ("Babe") Whitamore, decided thatsince No. 81 had proved itself decisive masters of its enemy in the Mediterraneanit would take over his insignia. The squad- ron fought against the Japanese in Indiaand Burma and its aircraft—Spitfires fol- lowed by Thunderbolts—carried the "aceof spades" on their noses to the end of the war. No. 81's official badge incorporatesa red star and a white dagger, commemorat- ing its service in Russia (1941) and with theFirst Army in North Africa. SERVICE AVIATION Royal Air Forces and Naval Flying News In its present P.R. role the squadron(commanded by S/L. R. J. Linford) has flown over 9,000 operational sorties in thepast ten years and in addition has under- taken much air survey work. The bulk of the photographs used dur-ing the Malayan emergency have been split verticals taken from high level by theMeteor P.R.10; but in addition, low-level obliques have been of immense value forbriefing. For operational convenience, Malaya was divided into several hundredareas, each measuring 20,000 yd by 10,000 yd; when land forces wanted a certain areareconnoitred they asked for it by a serial number. The P.R. pilot's job in Malaya isnot an easy one, with few aids to navigation and all map-reading done from |in maps atan average height of 23,OOOft, more often than not over dense and almost featurelessjungle. When a pilot lands from a successfulmission the squadron's processing flight comes into its own. In addition to per-manent facilities this has a self-contained mobile field photographic section, capableof producing up to 5,000 negatives and 10,000 prints in 24 hr. A. V—Ai. SayeW E regret to record that Air Vice-Marshal .G. I. L. Saye, A.O.C. No. 19 Group, died suddenly last Friday after tak-ing the salute at the disbandment parade of No. 228 Sqn. at RAJP. St. Eval. He hadsaid at the ceremony: "I am particularly sorry to have to say tax revoir to your squad-ron because I fear it also marks the begin- ning of the last chapter of St. Eval RAF.station itself. But I cannot think of any squadron in this group which has donemore than yours to boost my morale." A.V-M. Saye had commanded No. 19Group since 1956 and previously was A.O.A. at M.E.A.F. headquarters. Heleaves a widow and four sons, the eldest of Three generations of "ace of spades" markings on No. 81 Sqn. aircraft. From left to right, the original version on a Spitfire 8 in India early in 1944 (the officer's name is given as S/L. Archer); a revised version on one of the squadron's Thunderbolts in Baiaria; and the current insignia on one of No. 81's Meteor P.R.lOs, with S/L. R. J. Linford (left) discussing a sortie with F/L. T. P. Meyer, one of his flight commanders. Note also the squadron badge
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