Air Pictorial August 1997 Pt2.
Early in 1952 I was summoned to High Wycombe with my navigator Rex Sanders. This was the moment of truth and I confess to some apprehension when the charts were unrolled to show three seperate tracks from Sculthorpe to the Baltic States, the Moscow area and Central Southern Russia. The deal was for these three routes to be flown simultaneously, departing Sculthorp in rapid succession to rendezvous with the tankers to the North of Denmark. After a maximum top-up we were to climb at maximum continuous power at about Mach No 0.68, to the highest altitude the temperature of the night would allow. Our "targets" were ICBM sites and similar strategically important areas. We were to take 35mm photos of the aircraft's radar display when the targets were locatd and identified. Timing was to be critical because our intelligence agencies would be listening for Soviet reaction to our penetration of their airspace and had certain diversionary exercises for keeping them clear of our routes. We were, of course, to fly without navigation lights and maintain R/T silence, although we would have an OMG (O My God) frequency for desperate emergency. It was a relief finally to know what was expected of us, although I felt some concern at the thought of briefing my crews who, it must be remembered, were not volunteers. My fears were justified and one of the original pilots washed his hands of the whole affair and returned to his parent unit, where I feared he might well entertain his chums to this extrordinary tale, to the prejudice of our security. He was replaced by yet another pilot already flying B-45's on an exchange posting in America.
Before the date of our live sorties had been fixed, I took my crew on a gentle probe of the defences by flying over the Soviet Zone of Eastern Germany for half an hour or so, whilst our intelligence people monitored Russian radio and radar activity. Nothing was noted and so we were all set for the big one. Four aircraft (three active and one spare) had been allocated to us and these had to be stripped of all USAF markings and repainted in RAF colours. Security shackles were further weakened because to do this job in time, two of our aircraft were flown to nearby RAF West Raynham, where a hangar was cleared and several gallons of paint stripper were put to good use by a number of very mystified airmen. In the event of one of our aircraft falling into Russian hands, the United States would point to the paint job and disclaim all knowiedge, similarly, the RAF would state that it had no RB-45C's on inventory. How well this improbable tale, told by a six foot six inch old-Harrovian, would go down with the Russians was fortunately never put to the test. our story would be that we were lost, a gross professional insult to my crew and myself, but an acceptable one if dire need arose - and we should have false charts to back our claim.
So late in the afternoon .....
I will continue the actual flight, tomorrow.