Days of Old.
Brian 48nav (#9659),
A volunteer's worth ten pressed men !
Set me to re-reading the article with a red marker pen, overall a fair summary, but they got some things wrong (IMHO):
p.28: (not an error - but for those who've got the mag, but not seen these Posts before, pic at top left (taken at Madhaiganj, not Digri) shows all six pilots of 'A' Flight standing on wing (plus "Topper" [Flt.Lt. Topley, Flight Commander] up on top of cowling). Bashful youth about to be bisected by prop blade is new boy Danny.
All Navs and AGs (plus dog "Spunky") sitting on leading edge. Hunched next to fuselage on port side is Keith Stewart-Mobsby ("Stew"), my back-seat man on most of our trips. Obviously not crewed-up yet, or he would've been perched below me on other side.
Note only two officers, "Robbie" Robertson (Nav), who flew with me on the first three 'ops', and "Topper". All the rest are SNCOs.
Big lad draped around propellor boss is "Chiefy" (F/Sgt Darling). All rest of scruffy mob are our groundcrew.
p.28: "....4,000 ft... and allowing for a suitable margin to descend further...." No way !
p.29: "Unwanted Child".....only too true !
p.29 (end): "....each successful 'op' was greeted with a "Strawberry".....[from] army/navy HQ...." (this has been the subject of some debate here).
p.30: "....Flak remained the greatest danger......Japanese fighters appeared only occasionally..." Only place we met any 'proper' flak was Akyab (ineffective). Rest was pot-shots with rifles and LMGs from Jap troops. Never saw a Jap fighter on any 'op' (bar one, special case).
p.31: "....enemy fighters seemed unwilling, or unable to engage...." I would say that the "Oscars" were more than "ready, willing and able" to make mincemeat of us any time, if only their mutton-headed ( army) Command would let them ! But they had been allocated to do "Army Support", and that was all they were allowed to do.
It does not seem to have occurred to that Command that a good way to support their army was to swat all these pesky Vengeance, which must have been hurting the army quite a bit. Luckily for me (and the rest of us), they were never allowed to try. How they must have ground their teeth in frustration !
(On our training "Fighter Affiliation" exercises, the Hurricane pilots had told us that our chances, if attacked, were slim. Whatever our "box-of-six" did, they could easily keep their sights on us - [our rear guns ?] - loud guffaw !)
p.32: ".......attacking the target in two 'vics' from opposite directions...." Goodnight, nurse !
do. "........caught in the blast from the bombs of the aircraft in front....." Our technique was designed to exclude that possibility.
do. "......The Vengeances swept down through thick cloud to register a direct hit....." What a load of bovine-droppings !
do. ".....ammunition dump....the bombs and incendiaries...." Why incendiaries on a bomb dump ? Fuel dump or tank farm, certainly. (Never dropped anything except H.E. myself).
do. ".....Trials were even undertaken to use the Vengeance to carry poison gas......" Step forward, Danny.
do. ".....and that the men who crewed them....." Probably all dead by now, 'cept me, I suppose.
Danny.