Well I’ll be……! I thought I’d lost this and there it was hiding in a drawer. Air Clues of December 1968 with a write up on a Moonflower Exercise. This’ll be the one that used bl==dy C-130’s to take us 6,000 miles! I thought we’d returned on VC10’s, Brits apparently. There are some reasonable photos which I can e-mail to anyone smart enough to post them.
I’ve just found out that the article is too long for one post, so I’ll post it in two parts.
EXERCISE MOONFLOWER
by Flight Lieutenant J. R. LEGH-SMITH
“In the context of a discussion on the ability of the United Kingdom Government to deploy forces in the area (Far East) after 1 971, the Conference agreed that there should be a major exercise in 1970 in which all five countries (Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom) would participate. They noted that British participation would include a major reinforcement exercise from the United Kingdom. It was further noted that the United Kingdom Government also intended to continue training and exercising British forces in the area after 1971.”
(From Annex A to Cmnd 3701, Supplementary Statement on Defence Policy 1968.)
Eleven crews and eight Vulcan B Mk 2 aircraft of No 101 Squadron, commanded by Wing Commander D. J. Mountford, AFC, RAF Waddington, were detached to RAAF stations at Butterworth, Malaysia, and Darwin, Australia for the period 11th June to 10th July 1968 on a reinforcement exercise.
The Vulcans flew out to Butterworth in two flights of four aircraft following the conventional “east-about” route with overnight stops at Akrotiri, Muharraq and Gan. The support party and freight were flown out in three Air Support Command Hercules. The Hercules is no slouch; the scheduled time from emplanement at Waddington to arrival at Butterworth was less than 26 hours. Although speedy, passenger comfort was of the London Transport rush-hour variety.
By the evening of Friday 14th June the detachment was complete at Butterworth and work had begun turning round the Vulcans. The aircrews, however, were able to spend the weekend absorbing that rare commodity in the UK - sun-shine, and getting to grips with, or the gripes from, Tiger beer. It was also the weekend of the Butterworth Officers’ Mess Ball, to which we were all invited. Thus we were given two days of area acclimatisation.
The Darwin detachment began on Monday 17th June, when a FEAF Hercules flew the ground support personnel out from Butterworth. The four Vulcans arrived at Darwin the following afternoon. The purpose of the detachment was to participate in the RAAF Exercise High Jupiter, an air defence/strike reconnaissance exercise with an associated Ground Defence element.
The background to High Jupiter was realistic and ingeniously conceived: there was apparently bad feeling between the defensive forces (Darwinians) and the reactionary forces (Tindalians). RAAF Tindal is a newly constructed airfield about 160 miles SSE from Darwin. The MB F Detachment formed the strategic strike force of the “Tindalians” but were obliged to operate from Darwin; this unfortunately deprived us of the important element of surprise. Friction had been created between the two “States” because of the “aggressive economic policies pursued by the immoral imperialistic Darwinian leadership” and the understandable desire of the Tindalians “inspired by the thoughts of Wow” to liberate the “sup-pressed Darwinian proletariat”.
Despite the quantity of humorous propaganda produced by both sides, the exercise was taken extremely seriously, and was reported realistically by press and radio; normal news bulletins were followed by the latest reports on the state of the war. At Darwin, blackouts were observed at night, air raid sirens blared, blast walls were erected (these consisted of pieces of string tied between posts and appropriately labelled), officers were seen walking to breakfast wearing tin hats and side-arms. Armed patrols dispersed imaginary mobs of revolting peasantry howling at the camp gates and dealt with infiltrators and saboteurs. The saboteurs had their successes - the Darwin TACAN was found one morning with a notice attached signifying that it had been blown up during the night; however, a replacement was promptly flown in.
The Tindalian Air Force effort consisted of Vulcan strikes and Mirage Ill and Canberra strike/recce attacks designed to exercise the air defence system. Darwin was defended by two squadrons of Mirage III interceptors armed with missiles and cannon, also ground-based missiles and anti-aircraft artillery. Impartial judges statistically assessed the results of strikes and “kills” by the traditional Australian practice of coin tossing.
The Vulcans flew high and low level sorties against targets in Darwin area, varying tactics as the exercise progressed. This was valuable to both sides, as RAAF pilots and ground radar operators welcome the opportunity to operate against other air forces, and Vulcan crews are always keen to discuss the results of their tactics immediately after fighter/bomber affiliation exercises. A very pleasant relationship was developed with the Mirage pilots, which will, in due course, be appreciated by the Swan and Victoria breweries. Several Vulcan pilots were given the opportunity to fly in the two-seat Mirage trainer, and the subsequent applications for exchange postings were duly torn up!
The delta-winged Mirage is used by the RAAF in the interceptor and ground attack roles. It is a pilot’s aircraft in the best fighter tradition in which he feels part of the aircraft. The only time that the pilot loses contact with the aircraft is on take-off when 13,000lb static thrust with re-heat and an excellent power/weight ratio leave vital organs on the end of the runway to catch up in their own good time. Control is extremely sensitive and the aircraft is highly manoeuvrable, the rate of roll is so rapid that an unsuspecting passenger will bang his bone-dome on the side of the canopy. It is an exhilarating aircraft to fly with a remarkable performance.
During the exercise period the Mirages maintained a CAP for considerable periods, with other aircraft standing by on the ground at immediate readiness. No attempt was made by the Vulcans to evade the opposing forces as the main purpose of the exercise was to provide the RAAF with experience against V-type aircraft. Nevertheless the defending forces did not have matters all their own way, and considerable tactical success was achieved.
MOONFLOWER.
PART 2.
The “war” culminated on the fourth day with a final co-ordinated attack on Darwin involving simultaneous strikes by Vulcans, Canberras and Mirages. Onlookers on the ground watched the approaching contrails of Vulcans attacking above 50,000 ft, and the trails of the interceptors streaking towards them. Suddenly a Vulcan appeared at low level, followed seconds later by four Canberras in low level battle formation. Then the sky was full of strike Mirages screaming around hotly pursued by interceptors. During the short time it lasted, the strike was most exciting and effective. Because the Vulcan force was based at the “enemy” airfield, it was possible to make an accurate assessment of the defensive potential of the opposing forces; thus enabling specific tactics to be devised for use against the enemy defences.
After the strikes on Darwin on Day 4 of the war the “Tindalian” news agency published the following bulletin: “Today the vile, war-mongering Darwinian Supreme Commander, standing in a knee-high paste of human viscera, made preliminary moves for a cessation of hostilities
When the exercise was over the Vulcans flew further sorties out of Darwin. These entailed motoring up and down a tow-line for five hours at a time to provide fighter pilots with more experience of medium bomber targets. They certainly made the most of the opportunity; over 80 attacks were made, and the Vulcan crews completed their fighter affiliation commitment for several years!
The strength of RAAF Darwin had been considerably increased for the exercise, so it is not surprising that accommodation was rather cramped. The Darwin area, which is in every sense a desert is, not surprisingly, reputed to have the highest beer consumption per capita in the world - matter of considerable satisfaction to the locals. The average “Pommie” fancies himself as a beer-drinker, and it may come as a shock to learn that we are not so high in the big league. However, this detachment did the local average nothing but good, and did much to cement Anglo/Australian relationships. Before the return to Butterworth, the standard souvenirs were bought: stuffed Koala Bears, boomerangs that would not come back, and didgery-do’s that didn’t.
After much hard work and play the detachment began its withdrawal on 25th June, when two crews left for RAAF Richmond, Sydney. On the 26th June the other two Vulcans departed the arid desert of Darwin for the rain forests of Butterworth, where on the 29th June the inevitable Hercules deposited the support personnel.
During the Darwin detachment, a fifth Vulcan had flown down to RAAF Base Pearce, Perth. This aircraft was escorting Air Chief Marshal Sir Wallace Kyle, GCB, CBE, DSO, DFC, then AOC-in-C Strike Command, who visited the area. The crew spent six days at Pearce, during which time they put the Vulcan on static display and attended a Passing Out Parade at the RAAF College. They also took the opportunity to inspect the gold mines at Kalgoorlie. They returned to Butterworth on 28th June to make the detachment complete for the first time since the initial deployment.
Meanwhile, at Butterworth, the rest of the Squadron, consisting of five crews with three aircraft, commanded by Squadron Leader A. L. Sebright, had been carrying out routine high and low level training flights around Malaya and Borneo. On some of these flights an Aviation Medicine Team, led by Dr. Richard Allen from RAE Farnborough, was conducting a trial which investigated the physiological effects of flying Vulcan B2s in the tropics. That is to say, they were finding how hot we got, and looking for ways of making us cooler. To do the former, one of the aircraft had thermometers fixed up around the cabin with more in the ears of the captain and AEO (no danger of errors through the dissipation of mental energy!). Thus it was established that it gets very hot in Vulcans in the tropics. Temperatures of 80~C were recorded in air leaving the cabin. A simple device was tried out to see if it improved cabin conditions; two open tubes were protruded into the airflow through the two sextant mountings and, with one facing forwards and the other aft, a near jet-stream gale was made to howl across the cabin. This was appreciated by all except the plotter, whose attempts at tidy draughtsmanship were rendered chaotic. However, Dr. Allen has outlined some refinements he proposes to incorporate with this excellent device and which will do much to improve the comfort of crews operating at low level in hot climates.
A crew’s first trip from Butterworth was a familiarisation sortie which incorporated approaches at Tengah, Changi and Alor Star. Training flights usually followed the high-low profile and included simulated and live practice bombing at Song Song Range, and fighter affiliation. Two crews took aircraft to Tengah for weekends; this was much appreciated by both the crews and by the station staff at Tengah.
Any detachment’s leisure and social activities are probably predictable. This was no exception, apart perhaps from the playing of two rugby matches at Butterworth. Being winter in Australia, it was rugby season in Malaya and, being unable to defy such logic, the detachment side was beaten twice. Otherwise our leisure activities conformed to type. Spare time was usually spent at the swimming pool, on the station golf course or shopping in Penang. Many detachment personnel of all ranks were flown into the jungle to Fort Kemar by the Twin Pioneers of No 209 Squadron, where they were always received with outstanding hospitality by Inspector Zabri, the Fort Commander, shown the Sakai arts and crafts, including a demonstration of blow-pipe hunting, and were invariably given a curry lunch to sustain them on their return journey. On the Saturday before the end of the detachment, the Squadron officers invited the officers of Butterworth, Inspector Zabri, and their ladies to a party in the Mess, to repay the hospitality and many kindnesses received.
Sadly, the detachment ended on 5th July, on the morning of which the first four Vulcans set off for home, following the outbound route back. The second four Vulcans left Butterworth on 6th July and arrived in UK on July 9th. The remainder of the detachment flew back in three Britannias.
So our detachment to FEAF was over. It was most enjoyable, but no “swan”. Much productive work was done, and much valuable experience acquired. If the success of a detachment is measured by the fact that all commitments and tasks were completed, then Exercise Moonflower 1968 was successful. The main credit for this must inevitably go to the ground-crews who, as usual, were obliged to work long hours in the unaccustomed heat of the tropics; this they did with much enthusiasm and skill. The fact that many new friendships were sealed made the detachment doubly successful, in this context the RAAF personnel at Butterworth and Darwin and the RAF Support Unit at Butterworth are due a full share of the credit and our gratitude for their unrestrained co-operation and hospitality.