ASWDU trials 1951-4/8

[peter kent]

Does anyone know what any of these trials were about (Dad's nav log book)?
1951-54
Anson: Trial 305
Lancaster: 294, 302, 304, 308
Sycamore: 312
Sunderland: 300
Neptune: 317, 351
Shackleton 1: 303, 309, 310, 311, 314, 322, 325, 328, 343, 349

1958
Shackleton 1: 397
2: 392

I can't get to the National Archives.

Thanks

[Party Animal]

As a starter, I would suggest the ASW bit stands for Anti-Submarine Warfare. If you can also relate those trials to squadrons rather than aircraft types, you may also have some luck with squadron historians. All squadron histories are recorded in a document known as a F540, so the information should be available - you just need to obtain the access, which probably starts with an e-mail request.

That is of course in the absence of any detailed reply from a pprune authority!

Good luck :ok:

[Kluseau]

Curiosity and Google came up with this brief history of the "Air Sea Warfare Development Unit":
http://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/units/3972/air-sea-warfare-development-unit-(aswdu)/

I'd have thought the locations given in that piece ought to allow you to establish whether this ASWDU and the one in your dad's log book are one and the same.

[Rossian]

.....was an independent unit at Ballykelly along with the squadrons 210/203/204.

It was a small group of elite operators usually with a lot of experience. Highly regarded by we lowly sprogs on the squadrons. With the Joint Anti Submarine School along the road at HMS Sea Eagle in Londonderry, ASWDU were well placed for all sorts of trials with all the assets easily available and enclosed and open waters just over the airfield boundary.

HTH

The Ancient Mariner
I forgot that I hadJohn Campbells excellent book "Coastal Command" on my Kindle:
He gives ASWDU at BKY in 1948 and then moved to St Mawgan in 1951 when it converted to Shacks. At one time the unit had a variety of a/c types including the Grumman Avenger(this may account for the variety of types in the OP. When it moved back to BKY I don't know but it was still there in 1969 I'm sure. I do not think that it transferred to the Nimrod 1. HTH even more

[Rossian]

.....was an independent unit at Ballykelly along with the squadrons 210/203/204.

It was a small group of elite operators usually with a lot of experience. Highly regarded by we lowly sprogs on the squadrons. With the Joint Anti Submarine School along the road at HMS Sea Eagle in Londonderry, ASWDU were well placed for all sorts of trials with all the assets easily available and enclosed and open waters just over the airfield boundary.

HTH

The Ancient Mariner

[peter kent]

Thank you for your replies. ASWDU was at St Mawgan for this time period.

I've just noticed that Chris Ashworth's "The Shackleton" has a couple of answers.
Trial 303 was ASV Mk.13 performance and sonobuoy procedures.
Initial trials of Autolycus were done in an Anson, then transferred to Shackletons VP281 and 282, but no mention of their Trial nos.


Ashworth also says ASWDU did other trials like lifeboat dropping, 'Glow Worm' illuminating rockets, MAD, IC sonics?, homing torpedoes but none of these fit the relevant timeframe.

[fcornell]

Iwas at st mawgan 55-57 working as assistant to peter brooker the boffin.
We did work on photograhic equipment and sonobuoys. I had a couple of days on HMS Whirlwind and did a few flights in Lanacasters and an Anson.

[fcornell]

PS----Flew my PA28-180 into ST Mawgan --now newquay last year after departing 60 years ago. Based myself with the flying club based on the airfield--very friendly and helpfull. Newquay WAS a delightful little town--now a dump. The whole of the north coast has been built up -large hotels , flats.
We dropped into most of the local airfields/strips.-bodmin--eaglescott, eggesford, lands end etc.
The ASWDU offices are still there--delapidated---CERTAINLY BROUGHT BACK MEMORIES.

[Innominate]

ASWDU's records are at Kew - the reports are in series AIR 65 and their ORBs in AIR 29.

If you search the catalogue The National Archives | Discovery Advanced Search Form (http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/advanced-search) for the trial number and specifiy the reference AIR 65, it will probably return reports with titles sufficient to give you an idea of the trial subject. For example, searching for 300 retrieves AIR 65/438, which has the title "Detection of submerged submarines by aircraft (II). Trial 300: A proposed tactical use of the passive directional radio sonobuoy"

[Rosevidney1]

fcornell writes: Newquay WAS a delightful little town--now a dump.

I'm afraid I have to agree. Talk about cramming a quart into a pint pot.....

[The Old Fat One]

Newquay WAS a delightful little town--now a dump

Thread drift

I don't know when Newquay was delightful - it has been a dump for decades, as noted by Winston Graham (him wot wrote Poldark) in his book Poldark's Cornwall:

Newquay, lovely beaches if you could only ignore the town

PS

And I'm in no way anti Newquay, because I was there as a young single man with a pocketful of money and there ain't no better place in UK in those circumstances - except maybe Donny...and I was there as well....sob :{

End of thread drift

[fcornell]

There is a film on google or u-tube
"goodbye to the Lancaster 1956"--at St Mawgan--pathe news. I was one of the "extras" in the crowd scene.

may be of interest to some .