The memoirs of Sqn Ldr Rupert Parkhouse, recorded in 1995 – Part 23. First post in this series is #9775 on page 489 of this thread.
I LEFT 201 Sqn immediately and went for interview at the Air Ministry with a very pleasant South African called Fats Lowe, who told me that I was quite useless and that I would have to be re-trained. In early 1948 I went to 201 AFS at Finningley.
By this time Flying Training Command was really getting its act together and I was given a very well organised course on the Wellington Mk 10, and since I was going back to Coastal Command I then had to do the maritime OTU at Kinloss on Lancasters. The feeling of taking off in a Lancaster is one of the great memories of my flying life, it was an absolutely superb sensation opening up all four Merlins.
At the end of that course I went to 223 OCU at Calshot where I had a course on Sunderlands and on August 1 I was transferred supernumerary to 230 Sqn, commanded by another former POW my old friend Tony Payne, and based at Finkenberger on the River Elbe flying the Berlin Airlift.
Between September and December 1948 I did about 40 trips into Berlin carrying 10,000 lbs of salt inwards and about 40 refugees, usually children to whom we gave our chocolate ration, returning to evacuation centres and schools in Hamburg. [The corrosion-protected Sunderland was the only aircraft which could carry salt without risk of structural damage – Ed.]
On December 16 1949 I flew back with a load of ground crew to Calshot, where the squadrons were going to be taken off the airlift and moved to Pembroke Dock. After Christmas leave I rejoined 201 Sqn, now at Pembroke Dock, and became CO of the squadron in January 1950.
NEXT AND FINAL POST: A close shave with a Sunderland convinces Rupert to finish his flying career and join the ranks of the penguins, where at last he finds contentment as a staff officer.