My father, George Ernest Thompson joined the RAF in about 1936, he always maintained that he did so to see the world at the governments expense !
I know that he was trained on aero engines , Bristol Mercury and Rolls royce Kestrels at Henlow and ended up with a posting to Shaibah in Iraq, serving in 84 sqdn. This was of course part of the long running air policing of the hostile arab nations, who were hell bent on doing each other in at every turn. I believe this originally started in the 1920's with westland Wappatis Incidently an interesting fact, these aircraft carried a swastika on them although in reverse to the Nazi version, this was actually an ancient good luck symbol would you believe and carried on until world war two.
I know that just before WW2 his sqdn was flying Bristol Blenheim mk 1f at this time and he flew as a flight engineer . He told me that the arabs were inclined to take pot shots at them whilst flying over and that on one patrol, this happened and a stray bullet killed the pilot. The Navigator took over and managed to force land the aircraft back at base. I can remember seeing some photos of him sheltering from the desert sun under the wing of a Blenheim with a bent propellor.
I don't recall how he ended up on Air sea rescue but he did and served in the med and in the channel waters picking up sailors and downed airmen from both sides. This was a military vessel and liable to be attacked by the enemy and many were. Luckily, i do not think that this never happened while dad was aboard and he often said that the me109's would fly over and waggle their wings as they knew if they went in to the sea they would be rescued too. They were more wary of the Americans who often mistook them for Eboats and and attacked them. Dad rembered a time when they had picked up a german crew from a Me 110 and a little later picked up another crew from a polish crewed wellington and had to help stop the poles from throwing the germans back in to the sea. He understood why of course but that would not do.
There was another instance when an American 8th air force B17 was in distress and going to ditch in the channel and his launch was tasked with looking for them. The fortunes of war being what they are, a small miracle happened and by chance the launch just happened to be in the right area to see this plane as it ditched and was able to come along side, while the crew hastily exited the slowly sinking bomber, the crew being very pleased to have not even got there feet wet. A week later a small case of American whiskey found its way to the base from some grateful aircrew.
Dad always had the greatest respect for aircrew and maintained that he was one of the lucky ones and was sure that joining the ASR more than likely saved his life. Many of his comrades he trained with weren't so lucky and were lost on bombing ops. One of my most vivid memories is him telling me how on D Day they were amongst the Naval vessels and were alongside Hms Belfast as she and other ships shelled the shores , the sound of the barrage being deafening. Having him tell me this while i was standing on the deck of the now preserved HMS Belfast on the thames was truly a special moment. He was later wounded on D day when the launch hit a mine or was shelled ? and was taken back to hospital in England. Eventually he was discharged as medically unfit due to his wounds.
The contribution played by this often unremembered part of the RAF must have been quite exceptional not only in terms of lives saved but the fact that aircrew could be returned to active duty safely and quickly. Next time you see a yellow painted RAF sea king rescue helicopter, remember also the launches that preceaded them. The Sea shall not have them.
I know that he was trained on aero engines , Bristol Mercury and Rolls royce Kestrels at Henlow and ended up with a posting to Shaibah in Iraq, serving in 84 sqdn. This was of course part of the long running air policing of the hostile arab nations, who were hell bent on doing each other in at every turn. I believe this originally started in the 1920's with westland Wappatis Incidently an interesting fact, these aircraft carried a swastika on them although in reverse to the Nazi version, this was actually an ancient good luck symbol would you believe and carried on until world war two.
I know that just before WW2 his sqdn was flying Bristol Blenheim mk 1f at this time and he flew as a flight engineer . He told me that the arabs were inclined to take pot shots at them whilst flying over and that on one patrol, this happened and a stray bullet killed the pilot. The Navigator took over and managed to force land the aircraft back at base. I can remember seeing some photos of him sheltering from the desert sun under the wing of a Blenheim with a bent propellor.
I don't recall how he ended up on Air sea rescue but he did and served in the med and in the channel waters picking up sailors and downed airmen from both sides. This was a military vessel and liable to be attacked by the enemy and many were. Luckily, i do not think that this never happened while dad was aboard and he often said that the me109's would fly over and waggle their wings as they knew if they went in to the sea they would be rescued too. They were more wary of the Americans who often mistook them for Eboats and and attacked them. Dad rembered a time when they had picked up a german crew from a Me 110 and a little later picked up another crew from a polish crewed wellington and had to help stop the poles from throwing the germans back in to the sea. He understood why of course but that would not do.
There was another instance when an American 8th air force B17 was in distress and going to ditch in the channel and his launch was tasked with looking for them. The fortunes of war being what they are, a small miracle happened and by chance the launch just happened to be in the right area to see this plane as it ditched and was able to come along side, while the crew hastily exited the slowly sinking bomber, the crew being very pleased to have not even got there feet wet. A week later a small case of American whiskey found its way to the base from some grateful aircrew.
Dad always had the greatest respect for aircrew and maintained that he was one of the lucky ones and was sure that joining the ASR more than likely saved his life. Many of his comrades he trained with weren't so lucky and were lost on bombing ops. One of my most vivid memories is him telling me how on D Day they were amongst the Naval vessels and were alongside Hms Belfast as she and other ships shelled the shores , the sound of the barrage being deafening. Having him tell me this while i was standing on the deck of the now preserved HMS Belfast on the thames was truly a special moment. He was later wounded on D day when the launch hit a mine or was shelled ? and was taken back to hospital in England. Eventually he was discharged as medically unfit due to his wounds.
The contribution played by this often unremembered part of the RAF must have been quite exceptional not only in terms of lives saved but the fact that aircrew could be returned to active duty safely and quickly. Next time you see a yellow painted RAF sea king rescue helicopter, remember also the launches that preceaded them. The Sea shall not have them.
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