Gaining An R.A.F Pilots Brevet In WW II

[Danny42C]

Danny is Back in the Air again.

The Tiger Moth had largely been replaced by the Chipmunk as the RAF's primary trainer. The surplus Tigers were distributed round the Stations, where they were kept more or less as pets. The didn't take up much hangar space, need much maintenance or use much petrol. They came in handy on fine days for pilots on ground duties to keep their hands in. They started me off on the one that Valley had got.

I am amused to read (in my log), that I got five minutes dual. Then I was sent off on a sector recce. I wandered right round the island: it struck me that this would be a very difficult place to get lost in. I had a look at Snowdon and the North Wales coast as far as Penmaenmawr, (the mountain behind half eaten away by slate mining). It had been nine years since I'd had goggles on and had the wind whistling round my ears in a chilly open cockpit.

Then back to land. A bunch of onlookers, knowing I was straight off Meteors (think of a Tornado today), and on my first trip in a Tiger, gathered to see the fun. I didn't disappoint them. I brought it in Meteor style, low and fast. Of course the thing wouldn't stay down, but bounded along like a kangaroo, until I had to swallow my pride before I ran out of greensward and went around. After that inept exhibition, my next attempt was much slower and I held it off till it decided, of its own volition, to stop floatimg and flop down. It was not an impressive début. Two days later I had my first trip in the Vampire (solo, no T11s yet). The rest of April was Vampires and Spitfires.

Again, our Army tasks were logged simply as code numbers and letters, but the only one I now recall was "Y 6" (the Barmouth-Aberdovey "mirror" beat for the Terriers) of which we did a lot. Curiously, in my early months Spitfire IXs appear in my log (in April, TD254, TB379) as well as a XVI (RW351), but a TE345 is logged as a XVI, too. I would certainly have known the difference (and had it sharply pointed out to me if I didn't), and the logs are fully countersigned, but in later months only XVIs and Vampire IIIs appear.

So many "funny things happened on the way to the Theatre" during my time (a mere 18 months) there, that I've had to set out a "time line" to keep them in correct order. Yet some incidents bridge months: the following three Posts make up two short stories which may amuse (pace the Moderators).

Imagine an early spring night in '50, with a gale roaring round our old Nissen Mess and threatening to rip off the rattling loose corrugated iron sheets. In the bar and anteroom we have the luxury of fireplaces, the sole source of warmth and we cluster around these and retell tales old and not-so-old. One had taken place shortly after the Squadron came in, nine months before my time. I listened, spellbound. And I accept absolutely no responsibility for the truth of any part of it !

----------------------------The Beauty Competition (Part1)----------------------

The Squadron arrived in Valley in midsummer of '49. At that time the Welsh Tourist Board were attempting to popularise Anglesey as a holiday resort.. Morecambe, Blackpool and Southport were doing all right; their weather was no better than ours and our sands were just as good. What we didn't have was much in the way of Attractions. Down the coast, Butlin's were raking it in at Pwillhelli, and the highspot of a week there was the Beauty Competition. Anglesey should have one, too.

Here they had to box carefully. Wales generally, North Wales in particular and Anglesey above all were hotbeds of Wesleyan Methodism. Chapel was a power in the land, comparable to that wielded in the '50s by the Catholic Church in rural Ireland. I'm not familiar with the command structure of the Wesleyan Church, but gather that they have "Leaders", who are broadly similar to the better known "Elders of the Kirk". They would have to be squared first.

The starting position was that this was a sinful idea, designed to encourage the worst instincts of men, and therefore not to be contemplated under any circumstances. But when it was explained to them that this would attract more visitors, these would bring more employment and (crucially) more money into the island, and that some of it would certainly end up in the Chapel, they relented, reluctantly and with reservations. Terms and Conditions would apply.

Do not miss the next Gripping Instalment.

Goodnight again, friends,

Danny42C


You never know.