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The Royal Air Force

Thanks very much Big Gee, that's very helpful. I'll be doing some Googling on that! I've just spotted in the newspaper report that Air Vice-Marshall Carnegie at Group HQ 18 Pitreavie Castle thanked the RNLI for their part in trying to help with rescue of the crew of the ditched plane in 1948. Does that tell me anything d'you think? Viv.
 
Big Gee, because her Dad was a flight engineer it would point to a Stirling. Cannot remember when Stirlings entered the RAF, never flew in one myslf, cannot even remember seeing one during my service (1948-56). Eric
 
Hi Viv,
Your Dad's aircraft shows up in the Avro Lancaster Heavy Bomber register Squadron 179/210/224/236 Operational Conversion Unit Maritime operations.
oldmohawk
rf314.JPG
 
cookie273uk said:
Big Gee, because her Dad was a flight engineer it would point to a Stirling. Cannot remember when Stirlings entered the RAF, never flew in one myslf, cannot even remember seeing one during my service (1948-56). Eric
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What you say is logical, Eric. The Short Stirling was the RAF's first four-engine bomber and entered service in (I think) 1940. It was soon apparent that its performance wasn't up to scratch - low ceiling, poor bomb-load, etc. Once the Lancaster and Halifax had become operational the Stirling was relegated to non-bombing duties including the dropping of supplies to occupied territories. I'd imagine they were all scrapped by the time the war ended. Not sure, but I don't think there is a single surviving Stirling. Not what you'd call a 'handsome' aircraft, either.

G

Edit: just did what I should've done - had a look at my books and I see the Stirling came into operation in 1941. Also, it was still being manufactured in 1944, and some survived the war but must have been scrapped soon afterwards. Some nice colour shots on Wikipedia, too.
 
Thanks all. This is very interesting. Does the Avro record tell me that he would have been in one of those OCU squadrons- sorry have no idea about how the squadrons are made up, or whether the planes were allocated to each of the squadrons at different times. Please excuse my ignorance ! Don't know if this helps or hinders, but I'm sure someone told me my dad flew in Wellingtons too or is it likely that I've got that wrong? Viv.
 
No Vivienne, quite probably true, especially if he was in service during early on in the war. a lovely a/c, twin engined and considerably smaller than the Lanc. Eric
 
Hi Folk,
A very good program on Channel 5 last night is repeated tonight at 7pm, "Heroes Of The Skies" about Norman Jackson V.C.
Bomber Command and Lancasters Well worth watching.
Regards Reg
 
Shall have a look at that Roverman.

I've tried to photograph the account of the accident I mentioned in post #119. I'll need to explain the 3 photos. The article was in 3 columns in The Shetland Times (a broadsheet). The first column continues into the second photo as column 1 then into the third photo as column 1. The second column carries on into the second photo in column 2 and again in the third in column 2. The third column is the shortest. Now come on, keep up!! Here we go.....

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1349452497.415358.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1349452513.755890.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1349452527.240932.jpg

Hope its all there. Been a nightmare trying to photograph this so that it makes sense. Mind you, nothing like the nightmare the crew went through that day. Viv.
 
Hi Viv,
What a great story about the ditching and rescue. The strange thing is that one of the crew has the same name and initial as my Dad, and the address was only two miles from where we lived. However, my Dad was not in the RAF, and he worked all through WW2 at the Castle Bromwich aircraft factory.
There is an accident data base in the link below and I can pick out crashes I actually saw during my short time in the RAF, but for some reason it does not report you Dad's accident.
oldmohawk
https://aviation-safety.net/database/
 
Hi Oldmohawk. Ooooh I love a mystery! Strange that the accident is listed on the Scottish site and not on yours. I have no idea why that is. Some other info I have is that he worked alongside several Polish and European officers. I was also told by a family member that he did some 'hush, hush' work for Nuffields. Could be a red herring, but have no idea! ! There was a photo on another page in the newspaper. Here's a photo taken of the crew when they were rescued and wearing some loaned naval clothes and (I think) a photo of the crew afterwards. Viv.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1349465543.838503.jpg
 

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Great photos Viv - The Soviets had started the blockade of Berlin on 24 June 1948 so things were becoming a bit tense between our side and the Soviets. A Lanc could fly a long way without bomb load so maybe they were checking on Soviet ships patrolling in the North Sea. Maybe the Polish and Europeans could listen in to Russian radio transmissions.
Phil
 
That's very interesting Oldmohawk. Think I'll take a closer look at my papers, see if I can find any other info. Just for info, I have a photo of The Welcome mentioned in the rescue and a photo of the dinghies left in the water. Not much of a photo, but just for interest. Viv.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1349467792.939235.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1349467807.171017.jpg
 
Hi Viv - Thanks for posting more photos reference your Dad's 'adventure'.

Some extracts from the links below show there was some monitoring of Soviet activities in the North Sea.

Scotland's Air/Sea Rescue organization, which operates from No. 18 Group H.Q, at Pitreavie Castle, Dunfermline, laid on a total of 24 searches—ten for aircraft missing over land, six for aircraft missing over the sea, six for vessels overdue or lost, one for a climber missing in the Ben Nevis range and one for a German prisoner who attempted to escape to sea in a dinghy near Berwick. Perhaps the most spectacular rescue was in July, when a Lancaster had to "ditch" near the Shetlands, and the crew of eight, after drifting ten hours in their rubber dinghy, were picked up by a flying boat.

After the war, Pitreavie became the principal maritime control centre in Scotland, and would have been able to control all NATO forces operating between the North Sea and the North Pole. The facilities it possessed meant that it could function as a surveillance centre, and monitor the activities of Soviet ships and submarines in the North Sea. HMS Scotia, the headquarters unit of the RNR (Royal Naval Reserves), was also located at Pitreavie until it was closed.

https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1949/1949 - 0083.html
https://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/RAFPitreavie
 
Thanks so much Oldmohawk. Ten hours in a dinghy with massive waves must have been dreadful. The two links are interesting, getting a real sense of the place although I'm finding a few things confusing. From the newspaper article, as I understand it, the crew were students. So would they have been in different squadrons? Also I'm now trying to get my head around what exactly was 'conversion'? Was it conversion training from one type of plane to another? And finally, would the crew have become members of the Goldfish Club? Or was that only for those that ditched during wartime? Questions, questions ....... but believe me I'm finding it fascinating. Thanks. Viv.
 
OldMohawk, Re your 131 post, can confirm the long range of Lanc with no payload, I once flew in one for 12 hours 35 minutes, considered some kind of record at the time (1950) from Nairobi in East Africa to Takoradi, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in West Africa, very little fuel left on landing. This was just a crew of 4 and 3 vey bored passengers. Eric
 
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