My Father was on 202 Sqn at Aldergrove in the late 40s. This was a meteorological reconnaissance squadron that used to fly over the Atlantic collecting weather data for the forecasters. I believe it was the last Halifax unit in the UK only being outlasted for another squadron in Gibraltar. His claim to fame was that in 1944 he flew the met trip on 518(?) Sqn that led to the postponement of D Day by 24 hours.
I lived in what was half of the WRAF officers’ quarters that had been converted to a married quarter so I used to have a grandstand view of theirs and the Spit 22s of the RAuxAF prangs.
In 1949 the squadron got two white ones to make up the numbers and one of them YE@H was written off when it undershot an approach and the BABS van took out the port mainwheel.
Another one cocked up an asymmetric landing and charged between ATC and the Belfast hangers and spread itself all over the coal dump. One of its Messier undercarriage assemblies nearly made it to the front door of the Officers Mess.
On one occasion he put me in the nose position whilst he did a brake check up and down Aldergrove’s runways, just the two of us. On the final northerly run the brakes failed and he had to gun No 4 so that it ground-looped though 202’s dispersals, fortunately empty at the time. It was also very fortunate that it didn’t hit anything and plug the nose in, with me in it.
Spares were always a problem but my father had spent some time at the end of the war ferrying brand new Halifaxs up to Edzell in Scotland which was the Stirling and Halifax disposal unit. Landing on a runway lined with aircraft awaiting the axe with hydraulic and other problems that had not been sorted after building was something else. Armed with this knowledge he would take a dozen fitters from Aldergrove to Aberdeen who would then go down to Edzell to cannibalise the spares they needed.
He also had a great regard for the aircraft having flown it in both Europe and Palestine.