Wattisham

[9arrow]

I am in the process of writing a history of Wattisham for AdHoc Publications. Excuse me treading on this site but I am interested in tracing some ex-Wattisham aircrew from the Phantom era that lived near the base in the same village as myself. We were pals at the time and I have lost track. They are:

Guy Slocum (pilot)- ex 56 Sqn Flight Commander (I think). Went into insurance I think after a tour on OCU at Coningsby.

Willy Felgar (Nav) - ex Flight Commander 23 Sqn and OC Ops on later tour. Was working in Immigration last heard of.

Rich Milne (Nav) - 23 Sqn.

If anyone knows of them, please contact me. Also, if anyone has any stories to tell of times at Wattisham I would love to hear from you. The publisher says that any anecdote used will qualify the owner for a free book later in the year.

Thanks for reading,

Dave Eade

[Gnd]

Try www.contact.armyaviation.co.uk , there will be some of the new owners there that could help.

[Faithless]

GND why armyaviation? They were RAF when it was an RAF station:=

[Geehovah]

A little after my time there

[Clear Right,Px Good!]

Coming from just down the road, I still cant understand why it was known to many as "What A Shame" ?

CRPxGood;)

[BEagle]

Terrific part of the world! I was lucky enough to be on 56(F) from Sep 1981 until June 1983, then did a stint in Ops Wg. Lived in Needham Market and thoroughly enjoyed all the small villages and wonderful little off-the-beaten-track pubs in 'Constable Country'....

Another great station, now sadly no longer RAF.

Chasing F-104s Stowmarket during one exercise; getting airborne as 2 Tornados went past doing an airfield attack on another - and getting 2 x Fox2 as we roared over Bildeston at the speed of heat:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a341/nw969/EGUW600.jpg

(With thanks to aluminium persuader)

....happy times. Well, at least some were.......

Then came the South Atlantic business. At the time, we were being nagged by a less-than-popular Sqn Ldr to arrange sponsors for the Spring Recption. The boys who'd been to the pub at lunch time came back with grins on their faces and gave him a number to ring. "Hello, this is Sqn Ldr D***d V***, RAF Wattisham. I understand that you might be able to donate something for our charity Spring Reception". There was a brief pause, followed by "This is the Argentine Embassy - we don't think we can be of help.....CLICK".

It was the day of the invasion - he hadn't heard what the pub gang had!

[aluminium persuader]

Thanks BEagle! Glad someone's got the know-how! :cool:

[HEDP]

Being one of the new generation at Wattisham I happened across a local out the back in Nedging who regaled me with some tales of times past including one of a cottage being on the recieving end of something pointy once its driver had debussed.

Can anyone put any meat on the bones of this story?

HEDP

[BEagle]

Not sure whether it's the same accident, but on 23 Sep 1981, a 237 OCU Bucc S2B (they were boltholing from Honington at the time) pranged near Battisford after stalling on the approach. Both crew punched out OK though.

[HEDP]

Thanks Beags

[Gnd]

Faitless, sorry must be my eyes but I didn't see the part where it said only RAF, I thought I read 'the history of Wattisham' Silly me for jumping in with my big gob to early!!!!! No stick - no vote

[OOpsIdiditagain]

I was at said stn circa 1987 when a hawk pilot left the ac on takeoff. Said aircraft did a solo circuit and parked itself in the thatched roof of a very nice cottage in a village, name escapes me, close to the stn.

I presume the history will include the glorious pre F3 days of C Flight 25 Sqn Bloodhound also housed at Wattisham? Great base, good times.:)

[HaveQuick2]

It was the Hawk (detached from 4 FTS at Valley) that went into the cottage at Nedging just after take-off.

Apparently, jet took-off, canopy opened so pilot ejected. Jet circled the airfield a couple of times on its own before piling into the cottage.

No major injuries to anyone, it of a dent in the cottage though!


Also reminds me of the Chivenor Hawk returning to Wattisham off CAP during Priory or Elder Forest, early '80s I guess. Back seat (Air Traffic?) passenger had pulled the yellow & balck whilst trying to keep orientated during the CAP, so jet returned with gaping hole in rear canopy and seat rod poked up through it.

Ejectee picked up from oggin fairly quickly by 22 at Coltishal IIRC.

[BEagle]

And the pilot collected a load of V-signs, other rude gestures and general lack of sympathy from those of us sitting around on the 23 ORP as he landed with a pole sticking out of the back!

Mind you, when we saw the damage the rear canopy perspex had caused to his jet, we were ever so 'umble.

[wiggy]

Hi Beags, I was on Q the night the Bucc "landed short" ( if I remember it correctly I was dining in the Mess at the time - you'll no doubt recall the quaint arrangement of storno and landrover). If I remember events correctly the SMO ripped the sump out of his service Mini going "off road" at high speed to the crash site.

BTW, can you eject from the Hawk with the canopy open? I would have thought the (hinged ) canopy frame would have fouled the seat. I certainly remember that Hawk landing in the midst of whatever exercise it was with a pole sticking out of the rear seat space and minus one Fighter Controller.

[stillin1]

From memory the Hawk stude noticed that the canopy was partially open after take-off and decided that the rocket assisted arm chair was the solution to seeing daylight under the canopy rail.
I am pretty sure that the tale that the emergency services discovering the gibbering lady owner of the property into which the Hawk had removed a large section of bathroom wall, whilst said lass was astride the crapper, is just an urban myth:\ Looked pretty whizzin around the circuit as I taxyed back though:E

Oh and lets just say it one more time - the FC did not pull the handle OK
The seat just sorta went off, all by its self:ugh:

[BEagle]

Hi Wiggy - yes, I was very possibly having dinner with you when the crash alarm went off! Some chap at the end of the table kicked his chair over and rushed straight to the phone, then vanished into the night.

Someone (was it the SMO) certainly Cat5'd a service car on the way to the crash site - I'd heard he decided to aim at the fire and go in a straight line, without worrying about ditches etc....

That quaint old Storno and Rover thing I do indeed recall! Enter the OM by the fire door, leave Storno by the phone with the Rover key ring over the antenna. If phone goes, check on Storno whilst mate gets Land Rover started.... Phone rang once when I was on Q - some lad at Valley had got the wrong 'dial-a-mate' number for his oppo!

And we always tried to thrash the Rover up to 'Sqn mph' on the back road to the Q-shed. 56, of course!!

What ba$tard useless things Stonos were. Who but the RAF could accept a 2-handed 'walkie talkie'? But with a bit of anaprop, when the MUF was right :ooh: you could pick up all sorts of strange conversations due to the miracles of Megahertz!

Re. the Hawk with backseat pole incident - of course there is only the one canopy on a Hawk, so I should have said ....when we saw the damage the rear seater's ejection had caused due to the canopy perspex...
Didn't pull the handle? Since when did anyone listen to a Fighter Confuser's story.....

I once took off from Chiv in a Hawk and noticed a louder than normal noise, plus no canopy seal inflation. My fault - I'd been held waiting for the whooshy new bomber (Tornado GR1) on the approach, so opened the lid to cool down. But it didn't shut properly - and took a 2-handed heave to close when airborne. I never told anyone - due to the certain knowledge that the squirearchy would have hung me out to dry if I'd done a quick circuit to land at heavy weight in order to shut it properly!

[The Claw]

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/8033/c170001pv3.jpg

Who needs FJ's :} :} :E

[brickhistory]

BEagle quote:

Since when did anyone listen to a Fighter Confuser's story.....

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c342/beauhistory/752b5de3.jpg

"A Few Good controllers"

You want the truth, pilot? You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a
world that has bogeys, and those bogeys have to be identified by controllers
with TPS-75s. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Major Stick Monkey? We
have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for
a colo(u)r display and a decent box lunch, and you curse the controllers. You
have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what we know—that
a receiver turn-on, while tragic, probably saves time; and my
existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, dominates the
electromagnetic spectrum. You don't want the truth because deep down in
places you don't talk about at parties, you want me in that radar—you
need me in that radar. We use words like "working," "unable," “merged”
and "Green, west." We use these words as the backbone of a life spent
frustrating the enemy. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the
time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who flies and fights
under the blanket of recommended vectors that I provide and then
questions the manner in which I provide them! I would rather that you just
said "thank you" and fly the heading. Otherwise, I suggest you take
the next Predator assignment that comes down. Either way, I don't give
a damn what you think you’re entitled to fly.


Yes, it's been done before..........

[MightyGem]

Yes, it's been done before..........
Maybe...but good, all the same.

[9arrow]

Thanks to everyone who responded. Any further ones welcome.

Regards to all,

Dave

[meadowbank]

Dave,
Willie & Rich (and their other halves) very much alive and well (saw Willie in November). Don't have their contact details to hand but will endeavour to contact them and point them your way. :)

I'd forgotten all about going to the Mess in Land Rover for dinner, but not about scrambling to be point defence for the base (once landed short of fuel, having never got as far as the coast), nor about the PMC's inflated price of the Officers Mess Bar window. Oh the flag flies high ........

[maxburner]

Meadowbank,
Are you refering to the time when Glen threw an apple at someone who ducked - therby exposing the bar side window to damage?
And there was the time when we had snowball fights in the bar and every light bulb in the place was broken.
The there was the Lowenbrau night when we all ended up with huge mess bills because we were dancing on the newly polished mess tables. Good times.
Max

[BEagle]

There were a few more bar incidents:

1. Baking hot day at Happy Hour. Er*c H*** dreams up a plan. Announces it is too damn hot and the end 'obscure glazed' window must come out. PMC (OC Eng) decrees that Shall Not Happen. Menawhile, the curtains are pulled, a couple of mates leg it out through the bog window and very carefully unpick the putty and remove the glass. Then reappear and give Er*c the nod. Er*c announces to the whole of Suffolk that he has had enough of the heat and is going to throw a barstool through the window to let some air in. Which he proceeds to do - as the stool emerges through the curtains, a couple of bottles are smashed on cue outside making a satsfying breaking glass sound.... OC Eng goes into low earth orbit - being non-aircrew he doesn't understand the grins on the assembled faces - not even when the spoof is revealed.

Unfortunately it cost a few quid when they broke a corner off the glass putting it back again!

2. Oberkraut and Unterkraut have discovered the fun of fireworks. One of which burns a bit of a hole in the tatty carpet. PMC announces that they will pay for it. They planned to put the burnt piece in a frame, with a note saying "Luftwaffe attack 1983. 40 years too late" or words to that effect, but I don't know whether they ever got round to it.

3. It was a bit cruel when the aforementioned PMC was later given a framed 56(F) print one Happy Hour 'signed by all his friends from 56' - it was totally unsigned. Neither did he understand why 56 volunteered for all the Mess Committee posts they could manage, until various aircrew-friendly changes were 'approved' by the Mess Committee!

The Luftwaffe exchange officers were thoroughly good chaps. To the extent of hosting a 'Losers Party' after the BoB Cockers P! And who remembers getting 'Schnettlered' with the Mad Major's freezing cold schnapps in the bar at lunchtime in the days before Political Correctness was thrust upon 11 Gp!

[oik]

I remember him well.
OC Ops Wg when I was VERY young.
http://www.goldenappleoperations.org/people.htm
It’s easy to find Louis McQ and Cliff Spink online, but… while I’m at it, a few names from Wattisham in the late ‘80s, some of whom I have met since, and some of who have disappeared:
Iain Cameron (SLOps)
Pete Smith (SOpsO N)
Martin Loveridge (SOpsO N)
Ted Wright (WEWO N)
Sepp Pauli (German Exchange P)
Dave Webb (56 Nav Ldr)
Pete McNamara aka M2

Any pointers would be much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Oik.

[BEagle]

Sepp Pauli went on to become OC Flying at Llanbedr and was the UK's last military Sea Vixen pilot! Fortunately his old bird is still flying in private hands.

[rhajaramjet]

Dave, I flew at WTM '64 to '67 ; are you interested in covering anything of the sixties ? Did you know that there is a nice little museum on the base, open on Sundays ? Has lots of interesting material.

[PFR]

Wasn't there an incident where a phantom crew ejected on approach after the random swung open? There's a spectacular series of photo's somewhere :eek:
Maybe contributors on here no more.
Always wondered if the snapper thought any on his photographic location after that :}

[BEagle]

No, that was a 111 Sqn FG1 at Alconbury in June 1980.

[9arrow]

Thanks Oik, great info.

Cheers,
Dave

[Geehovah]

Don't forget the boss's Mini in the foyer at one squadron Dining In. and of course the Fire Engine saga as the pianos burned merrily during the Richthofen Exchange. Wouldn't get away with it nowadays

[Wee Jock McPlop]

The previous posts reminded me about the day the 56 Sqn Luftwaffe exchange pilot and nav were crewed together. Sortie flown, they landed on RW05 and taxied in past the tower. Both canopies open (nothing unusual about that), crew unstrap (novel), crew stand up (very novel) and 'salute' the tower as they taxi past - absolutely priceless! Most people saw the funny side of it, but I think OC Ops Wg (not Willie F), who resided in the tower, saw the whole thing. Funnily enough, they never seemed to get crewed together after that. I wonder why....?

WJMcP

[BEagle]

Was that the Mad Major and Hubsch-dot-dot?

Or the later pair?

Great guys they all were!!

[meadowbank]

maxburner
Beagle's incident is the one burned in my memory, as it was the culmination of the saga. EH entered negotiations with PMC, eventually deciding that 6x the cost of the window was easily affordable by the sqn fund! Low Earth orbit is a great description for OC Eng's reaction - what a t*sser!
We shouldn't close this discussion about the window without a reminder that there was an occasionally-held race (normally following dining-in), which involved legging it out of the bar, turn right down the corridor, then double-90 into the Gents, out of the window next to the urinals into the little courtyard outside then back into the bar via the little opening part of the bar window, at the top.
The boys had been in trouble a couple of times for breaking the window and, if I remember correctly, it was Happy Hour on the Staish's 50th Birthday (name rhymes with Pony Dark). After much drinking and a few good times set by the boys, the Staish said he wanted to have a go. All went fairly well until he got onto the window-sill. Being short(ish) and round(ish) (sorry Sir!), he was finding it difficult to get through the small opening. Eventually, he gave up and simply kicked the big window in, leaving the PMC in the very difficult position of having to fine the Stn Cdr. My recollectioin is that the Staish paid up, though! A good man, he was on the sqn on the day of my last trip. Having asked me what I intended to do at the end of the flight, he then authorised the sortie himself - a good egg.
Beagle
I believe Sepp is flying a Canberra in the States these days.
Oik
Ian Cameron has retired to the Wattisham area and can usually be met at the Phantom Reunion, which will be on 9 Nov this year.

[Wee Jock McPlop]

Beagle,
Sorry, my memory fails me slightly. I think it was SP, but the name of the nav escapes me. Maybe Hpt/Maj B, but cannot be sure.
Remember a certain sqn exec, his Mini, post crewroom drinks and the ring road ditch?:ooh:
WJMcP

[oxoneil]

Re: post #8 - I know exactly what that was. It was the day we arrived back from Gioia Del Colle from a Sqn exchange with some Starfighter sqn, probably 1985 I think. Earlier in the day the crew of a Hawk had ejected from their aircraft which then proceeded to do an unmanned circuit of the airfield before clipping the upper edge of a thatched cottage just outside the airfield.

[GengisKhant]

oik...., Martin Loveridge (SOpsO N) lives not far from me..., having very recently retired from his last post in Valencia. I have passed this link to him..., so he should be in touch...

Spent a short tour at What a Shame.., involved in Tiger Trails with the F4Js...., OM still very active in 83/84.

Had my chimney swept early one Saturday morning by OC 74 standing on his tail above OMQs as he departed for a week-end at Ramstein ..., mind you..., he did pay for the carpets to be cleaned on his return ...!!!

Regards

Gengis :ok:

[BSweeper]

I remember that incident so well as I was in the bar at the time. The Staish (TeePee) was a great bloke. I flew to Akkers with him once when 56 were going to stuff one up the Israelis (I think they said) and after the usual Kebab and Kokkinelli back to the bar for polite coversations. I distinctly remember him about midnight with OC Ops on his shoulders taking on the 56 QWIP and QWIN and smashing through the glass patio door - another PMC 6 times apology.

Re the Hawk incident, I was Sen Ops O at the time. It was lunchtime and I was in the Mess and one of my chaps rang to say there was a Hawk doing circuits. "Yeah Yeah so what, I said - Well Sir says he, theres no pilot in it. Do want to come back to the office?". Well I did!!

[AR1]

"What ba$tard useless things Stonos were. Who but the RAF could accept a 2-handed 'walkie talkie'? But with a bit of anaprop, when the MUF was right :ooh: you could pick up all sorts of strange conversations due to the miracles of Megahertz!"

Much maligned peice of kit. You should have popped to your local GRF electronics centre, where the relavent Air Publication (top shelf this one) would have pictures of some young lad rigged up in the various leather belts and straps that made up the 'body harness' - Thus allowing 'one-handed' control of the instrument.

Dressing up in this outfit would have had you blackmailed by a foriegn secret service in no time and needless to say I never actually saw anyone wearing it.

My gripe with them (PGRI version) were the users bringing them back with storno and long black cable in one hand; handset in the other.

Have you been swinging this around mate? - The answer was always no, despite evidence to the contrary and led to the next two hours cursing swearing and burning you fingers putting it back together.

On a technical note...did you know they did a 'LOW POWER' intrinsically safe version. 500mw if I remember correctly.

[Jaguar Pilot]

9arrow,

Probably not much use to you but just down the road near Nedging Tye was an undertakers business. They were called "Death & Sons".
This is not a spoof.

I was there on 29F from '68 to '71 flying Frightenings.

Did you know that around that time the Singing Postman released an LP and one of the tracks was about Wattisham, the noise, and the fact that he was going to "do that Wing Commander"?. Somewhere in my loft I still have a vinyl original. It would be great if it were to be digitised.

JP

[BSweeper]

The Hawk rear seater you refer to was Wedge who was a fighter controller at Neat. Good bloke.

[BEagle]

Jaguar Pilt, believe it or not, but it is possible to buy a CD of the late Singing Postman's songs..... Just google 'The Singing Postman'.

I imagine that 'Sound Barrier' is the one to which you refer?

And, errm, how did you come to own a vinyl LP of his songs?? :eek:

[Jaguar Pilot]

BEagle,

And, errm, how did you come to own a vinyl LP of his songs?? :eek:

Check my age BEagle - when I was at Wattisham even the pocket calculator had not been invented! AI23B Lightning radar was real state-of-the-art....

The LP was indeed titled "Sound Barrier"

JP

[BEagle]

It wasn't so much the vinyl LP, but the content of the LP which I was querying!

[6Z3]

Never thought I'd post on this thread. But one of my earliest guano immersions happened there as a 19 year old APO, post LUAS summer camp '71. We'd been there a month and had witnessed and joined in all the front line Mess life (piano burning of a newly presented Steinway I particularly remember). I stayed on for a couple of days after the UAS departed and happened to be present in the bar during a serious Kokinelli party (there was a bath full of the stuff in the corner of the bar); one of 56, 29, or 111 Sqns had just returned from the med. It ended with the obligatory chorus of "WHO OWNS THIS PLACE ANYWAY" followed by "TREBLE ONE" whilst hurling the glasses at the fireplace. On one of these toasts, a couple of bottles also got hurled, puncturing holes (one neat, one not so neat) in the panelled fireplace surrounds. Anyway, I departed the next day. Weeks later back at Woodvale at the start of the next term, I was hauled in front of the LUAS boss (Spoons) to be reprimanded for being the ringleader (according to those present)!! Me!! A 19 year old APO!! Thanks Treble One, it cost me £75

[Tim Mills]

How nice to have a thread about how things used to be instead of how awful they are now. Never served at Wattisham, but not too different from Horsham, Sylt, Swinderby, Akrotiri, Conningsby etc in those days, so excuse me butting in. But I did know people there, and visited now and again. Specially the chap who rhymes with Pony Dark, ex Stn Cdr, who was Wing Wps O at Conningsby when I was OC car parks and visits (some sort of sqn ldr ops) there in early Phantom days. He was allowed to fly one, me only a couple of back seat rides! Great chap, last saw him a couple of years ago at a 70th birthday party for a mutual friend from those days. We were all bemoaning our various disabilities and lack of abilities, he said he was OK, could 'still pi$$ over a mini'! Wish I could.

My last visit was in 74 with the Rothmans team, no doubt for an Air Show of some kind. I was No3 in a stream landing, and had the ignominy of having to go round again because of slipstream! In a Pitts, on 3000 yard of concrete or so, never lived it down; still haven't when I think about it.

Happy days.

[Jaguar Pilot]

BEgle,

WTFO content....?

JP

[BEagle]

JP - FIIQ!! I only meant "Why on earth would a Lightning driver have a copy of an LP by The Singing Postman".....

Perhaps it was a present?

Ave ye got a loight, boy?

6Z3, you the ringleader for misdeeds in the pub? Oh no, Dear me, no....!!

Mind you, I do remember you being a rather delicate shade of green and swaying gently on some mandatory church parade one Saturday (yes, Saturday) morning - complete with tell-tale oxygen mask black marks on your face......

I think that was the day after the infamous 'stuck Tx' recording of you and C*l*n W**d* was played at Happy Hour?

Landing to Happy Hour to bed to parade with no food, only beer. Respect, me old!

[Headstone]

Was there in late 60's- early 70's when Trebble one plus that other outfit - X X followed by one X and also TFF were in situ.
Lived in a beautiful little village in a chocolate box lid cottage but all the locals referred to Wattisham as "Ringshall Aerodrome". Very noisy at times but seem to remember sometime in late 71 or early 72 when a young Pilot Officer during an attempted take off late Friday one morning managed to bounce his Lightning along the runway. I believe the locals presented the O's mess with barrel of beer as the airfield was shut for a short period whilst the runway was resurfaced. I suppose as well as enjoying a couple of weeks peace and quiet they were happy that no ventral tanks were going to land in Stowmarket school playground. The little cottage was old shortly after we left and we were horrifed to see it on sale for 19,500 - ridiculous price we all thought. By the way to be pedantic it was not Death and sons it was D'Eath and they were joiners, carpenters and builders as well as undertakers.

[Jaguar Pilot]

Headstone,

I must know you...
I was XX plus another X.
Are you listed on www.lightningpilots.com

JP

[Audax]

Jaguar Pilot? JP, how can you use such a name when you spent your formative years flying the best a/c the RAF has had in the last 50 years? I suppose after QFIing you were sufficiently slowed down to fly a bomber so that's a bit of an excuse.
How are you, heard at the Lightning 50th that you hadn't been too well so hope everythings OK.
Have to agree that De'aths wasn't just an undertakers although I lived in Nedging Tye and could have sworn that De'aths were in Bideston. As for the 2 Sqns there at the time, at least XXX didn't have a certain young officer as a jp whose name I cannot mention even now for reasons of severe financial penalty in the bar.
And as for dropping tanks on Stowmarket, at least when I dropped mine it fell in open countryside. Indeed, the ventral was supposed to fly like a lifting body and descended relatively gently to the ground, mine was completely intact despite falling a few miles.

[Jaguar Pilot]

Audax,

I am Jaguar Pilot because I flew it for seven years and made almost 2000 hours on type. The Frightening was a lot of fun but in five years I only filled two logbook pages.

Apart from the fact the the F3 had no guns and the Jaguar had two.....

JP

PS - check you PMs.

[maxburner]

I'm sure Death and Sons was in Bildeston!

By the way, the F3 has a gun: a 27mm Mauser.

[k3k3]

Wrong F3, JP was talking about an all British fighter aircraft.

[newt]

So Jaguar Pilot you have been found out at last!! Not more than 2 pages of trips on the Lightning and only the Mk3!! And I dont see your name on the list of people attending Jaguar fold up weekend yet!!!???? Is it still a bit too far for you to drive at your age?


Now retiring to the bunker with my flack jacket and tin hat!!

[Jaguar Pilot]

Guten tag Newt.

Can't make that trip I'm afraid.
You are correct in that I can't drive very far. Three arterial bypasses in the old leg and and one blood clot. Unable to sit around for very long.

Enjoy your fishing.

JP

[maxburner]

Jag Pilot and K3K3.....you are right, I was thinking of the Tonka and not the F3 Lightning.

[pete croft]

Hawk XX293 Crash at RAF Wattisham 17 April 1985

Somewhat late in the day but......
My warrant officer (WO Brian Codd) and I were first at the crash scene. We were driving around the 56Sqn HAS site in our black mini van, in the early afternoon I think. Actually, he was giving me a driving lesson. We had become used to the visiting Hawks in the circuit, but suddenly there was a "boom". Without even looking out of the window, Brian said "that's a bang seat". We stopped, and looking up we saw a parachute deployed in the direction of 74 Sgn HAS site. We kept looking at the Hawk and waited for another parachute, but it never came. The Hawk continued in a shallow descent and crashed not far from the HAS site. We radioed to Eng Control to RV with us at the crash gate on Nedging Road with the keys, and then drove to the crash site, which to the best of my recollection was a cottage on the left side of Nedging Road, driving away from the airfield..

The Hawk had ploughed through the thatched roof at a very shallow angle with a slight left bank. The fuselage and left wing had impacted the roof, while the starboard wingtip left a very neat slice in the brick chimney stack (I have photos of the aftermath later in the evening). Fuel had ignited the thatch. The wingless fuselage had tumbled to a halt about 2-300 yds beyond in a level field leaving a trail of burning thatch. At the scene there was thatch all over the place. The Hawk had severed low tension power lines which lay across the road making approach a little dodgy. The only person in the house at the time was a woman who had been was washing clothes in the rear. She was standing in front of the house frantically calling for her dog, which had been with her but had ran away barking in panic. As she confirmed there was no-on else in the house, we did not enter it. A few minutes later fire vehicles arrived and confirmed that there had been only one crew, which was a relief as we looked at the smouldering fuselage in the field, still identifiable as a red and white Hawk.

As reported, the student pilot had not locked his canopy. He did not notice this until after climb out and trimmed for circuit. He opted to eject, arguably prematurely due to his lack of experience. His supervisors were also disciplined as he should not have flown solo (the inquiry found).

It could have been a lot worse. I recall it was a lovely early spring day, the first warm day of the year . The woman told me that the family had been restoring the cottage while they lived in a caravan on the front drive. Through the winter her children would play in the thatched loft during wet weather. That day was the first day they had played outside. If the children had been in the roof space they would certainly have been killed.

[DODGYOLDFART]

Probably not of much interest but there was a previous incident of a pilotless aircraft in circuit at Wattisham. That one was a Hunter which did a wider circuit taking in Ipswich and I think the year was 1957 or 8. It eventually crashed ISTR on the outskirts of Ipswich. I was there at the time on Battle Flight with Meteor night fighters from West Malling and initially fast asleep until pulled out of bed to see the spectacle.