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Post by flyboy on Feb 16, 2015 16:39:35 GMT
April 1945
A busy month
Warwick C3, AG220, flew the first operational flight from Blackbushe for 167 Squadron to Le Bourget, near Paris, on the 3rd of the month. On board were fitters and spare parts for two other aircraft which had become unserviceable there. On the same day Dakota KG500 arrived with casualties from the Continent. The following day, the 4th, saw the formation of the second Warwick squadron at the airfield. This was 301 (Polish) Squadron. They were operating the Mk C1 & C3 versions of the aircraft identical to 167 Squadron. These aircraft were to rapidly become familiar with those living locally. A convoy of 81 vehicles and 170 personnel was accommodated overnight on the 8th. On the 13th a visit was made by G/Capt Constable-Roberts, accompanied by G/Capt Carpenter, regarding the proposal to take over Minley Lodge for use by 110 Wing. Visiting convoys of large numbers of vehicles were becoming common place. Another consisting of 41 vehicles and 64 personnel arrived on the 14th. As usual this put a strain on accommodation and catering, as they remained overnight. A large fire broke out in the forest on the south side of the airfield but due to the prompt actions of the base personnel a threat that the fire might spread into another plantation nearby was averted. The fire, however, did burn out an area of approximately two acres before it was finally extinguished. Air Vice Marshal Izycki, Commander in Chief Polish Air Force visited 301 Squadron on the 27th to hold an investiture. He decorated 73 Squadron personnel. Other high ranking Polish and British officers also attended. Following the ceremonial parade and investiture, the squadron, headed by the RAF Cranwell band, marched past their Commander-in-Chief. Guests were then entertained in the officers' and sergeants' Messes. All guests sat down to a special lunch in the officers' Mess where speeches were made expressing appreciation at the way the squadron had so efficiently carried out all their special-duty missions and wished them well with their role as a Transport Command squadron. Thanks were also expressed to the Station Commander and his staff for their co-operation in making such excellent arrangements for the ceremony. The last day of the month saw the departure of 417 Repair and Service Unit which moved out to Fersfield and became 417 ARF. They had previously been responsible for the repair of 138 Wing Mosquitos. During the month completion of the change from Fighter Command to Transport Command had taken place, involving the setting-up of a new Passenger and Freight Section and the alteration of many existing sections, including Briefing and Operations. 167 Squadron was moved into new quarters and the Casualty and Evacuation Unit had already been busy processing 1140 Canadian troop casualties as they were flown back to this country. 34 Wing Support Unit had despatched 14 aircraft ( Wellington, Spitfire and Mosquito ) overseas in addition to eleven air crews. 1092 visiting aircraft landed during the month in addition to the home based units, of which 816 were handled by the Duty Flight. Despite its new role the airfield remained very busy.
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Post by flyboy on Feb 16, 2015 20:49:28 GMT
May 8th 1945.
VE Day
The 8th of the month was to see the end of hostilities in Europe - this being received with much relief and delight by all ranks. To mark this very special day celebrations were organised at short notice, with a victory dance being especially well attended, in part no doubt due to there being free beer and a free buffet also being available! With suitable decorations having been put up and everyone really getting into the swing of things it was a good evening which all attending much enjoyed. A night when tensions could and were forgotten and everyone was able to let their hair down in the knowledge that they had helped to achieve an outstanding victory that would greatly influence the future of this country and Europe. The 13th was pronounced National Thanksgiving Sunday and a large parade was held on the Station with the Padre, S/Ldr SWA Collins, taking the service. During the day parties of Airmen and WAAFs representing the RAF attended services in Camberley and Yateley.
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Post by flyboy on Feb 17, 2015 8:50:00 GMT
Later in May 1945
167 Squadron destinations.
G/Capt PH Maxwell, AFC, assumed command of the airfield on the 22nd of the month. On 27th repeated engine failures forced the grounding of some of the Warwicks, pending rectification of the problems. It was on the same date that 301 Squadron moved out to RAF North Weald, Essex after only a short stay. They had arrived on the 4th April. F/Lt RD Cooling advised me that 167 Squadron had been flying regularly to destinations including Prague, Vienna, Paris, Naples and Brussels on a daily basis, using Warwicks fitted with 10 passenger seats but carrying mail mainly destined for Allied troops. Malta was also being served three times weekly and Gibraltar twice a week, with Prague being considered the most difficult destination to locate in bad weather. The cessation of hostilities in Europe led to a marked increase in the amount of traffic handled by the Station. The temporary necessity for 167 Squadron to load and off-load at RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire, due to lack of adequate facilities at Blackbushe had ceased earlier in the month when purpose-built passenger and freight handling sections began to operate at the airfield.
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Post by flyboy on Feb 17, 2015 9:13:09 GMT
June 1st - 16th, 1945
Mosquitos return
The first noticeable event of the month was the arrival of a Short Stirling (coded 8E.KS) of 295 Squadron which was usually based at RAF Rivenhall, Essex. Arriving from Brussels with 24 former prisoners-of-war on board on the 2nd of the month. This was followed the following day by another of the type LK331 of 299 Squadron based at RAF Shepherds Grove, also in Essex. The Stirling was a very large aircraft and on arrival at 14.26hrs it immediately swung off runway 26 to the north on landing and ended up on the grass. F/Sgt Webb, the pilot , managed to bring the aircraft to a halt with no reported injuries to those on board and with no damage to the aircraft. Meanwhile the based Warwicks were continuing to supply units over long distances. P/O Crawford and his crew, comprising second pilot F/Lt Cooling, F/Lt Luddington and P/O Kran flew Warwick C3, HG230 on one of the longer flights from Blackbushe to Pomigliano in Italy routing via Yvetot and Avignonin, France. The flight time was 5hr 50mins, with the return leg the following day taking slightly longer, 6hr 05mins. On the 7th S/Ldr (later G/Capt) Peter McDermott DFC, DFM, arrived with a detachment of eight 162 Squadron Mosquito XXVs. Known as 'B' Flight, they arrived from their base at RAF Bourn, Cambridgeshire, and decided to 'show the flag' by making a non-standard low pass over the airfield before breaking formation to make a stream landing which was not 'by the book'. Having dispersed the aircraft for parking, he then decided to go to the control tower to apologise in person to the Senior Air Traffic Controller for this brash behaviour. Described later as a 'burnt-faced veteran' the SATCO passed off the apology with" I didn't notice - we are far too busy here!" One up to the SATCO - the Flight however received much assistance from then on throughout their stay. They had been temporarily in the south east corner of the airfield but were subsequently moved a little further west , although still south of the A30, backing onto the sharp bend on the Minley to Fleet road. When the short runways were in use the A30 gates were at this time kept closed and road traffic was diverted around the south of the airfield, but when the main runway was in use the A30 was opened to through traffic. This caused the Flight some problems when they had to cross the road in order to use the active main runway. The aircraft were not marshalled across but there was a sign at the barrier warning drivers that they must give way to aircraft. As Peter McDermott wrote; "A large whirling propeller was, however, a bit of an inducement to let the aircraft cross unhindered." The Flight devised an unofficial competition on how many vehicles they could hold up as they crossed the road. There was usually little traffic and there was jubilation if the total reached five! The Flights operational task was to deliver any urgent mail or packages to British troops throughout Europe. They were known as ADLS flights and these began on the 10th of the month. Destinations included Rome, Naples and Athens and in order to ensure that their cargo reached its destination ,before breakfast it was necessary to make an early start, usually at about 03.30hrs. The 02.00hrs early morning call was noted as 'disagreeable' by the crews. The cargo was carried in the bomb bay and in the nose of the aircraft. On the 11th 'B' Flight lost Mosquito KB454 at 15.48hrs when it crashed near Odiham following an engine failure on take-off from Blackbushe. Both crew members, F/O JE Timms and Sgt S Turner died as the aircraft failed to maintain height. It fell to F/Lt Dougie Hadlan, who was detailed to collect the body of Sgt Turner from Farnborough, where it had been taken, and as the squadron representative convey it to the funeral at Brookwood Cemetery. 162 'B' flight billet was in the churned-up grass in front of the Cricketers pub in Cricket Hill Lane, Yateley. The pub can still be found today. The badly insulated Nissen huts in which they were housed were a poor replacement for the brick-built, heated buildings that they had previously occupied at their former base. They also missed some of the other facilities that they had enjoyed, not least the playing fields. They found that there was a fairly long walk to the communal site where the Mess was situated and this very soon prompted a visit to the bike store for the issue of that invaluable travel aid for airfield use! At 1400 daily there was a crew conference held in the crewroom when all aspects of the Flight's performance and concerns could be discussed. One major concern was that they had been told that the FIDO was not available to assist the crews of aircraft involved in mail flights as it was felt to be too costly for the purpose. The Stirlings were continuing to bring back former prisoners-of-war, with a 295 squadron machine (coded 8E.KY) piloted by Laurie Taylor arriving on the 10th. Known as 'Cator' flights they were to facilitate the evacuation and repatriation of service personnel from the Continent as speedily and as safely as was possible. On the 15th alone 16 officers and 351 other ranks were brought home. On the 16th Mosquito, KB477, burst a tyre on departure from Brussels and P/O John Watt wrote to me: "It was on our return flight to base when one of the ground crew at Wiesbaden, one of our stopping off points, pointed out the large cut in the starboard tyre and suggested we should have it changed back at base. On take-off from Brussels (B58) the tyre burst. Fortunately I had reached flying speed and I advised Brussels control that we would continue back to base. "On changing the VHF radio channel we heard base calling us up, as Brussels had told them of our problem. They requested that we make a low fly-past the tower so that the damage could be assessed prior to landing. It wasn't very often that we got the chance to fly so low. We were then told to jettison the under-wing fuel tanks, which we did over what we thought was a tank testing ground used by the Army. One tank dropped off immediately and the other fell off as we made a turn to port shortly afterwards and fell onto a football field at Wellington College in Crowthorne. "We had to make two approaches , as on the first one we had been cut off by a Warwick which came into land across the airfield from north to south. On touching down and having lost flying speed we dropped on the starboard side, where the deflated tyre was , resulting in the starboard propeller hitting the ground and we ended up ground looping. The only damage was a bent propeller blade tip, a scraped wing tip and a damaged tail wheel. My Navigator, Conford and I didn't know that the A30 had been closed by gates at each end of the airfield. We had quite an audience of those that were held up on the road and there were a lot of base personnel too who had also turned out to watch us come to grief. I am told that one of them was the Station Commander!"
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Post by flyboy on Feb 18, 2015 8:58:39 GMT
June 16th - End of month. 1945.
Engine Problems
The 16th was proving a bad day as Warwick, HG284, made a successful forced landing at Paris-Le-Bourget Airport at about 11.20hrs, following the failure of the port engine. The pilot was S/Ldr NVS Hood and neither he nor other members of his crew sustained injury. The flight had been non operational. A Works Flight of 5027 Squadron arrived on the 17th to assist with the construction of the much-needed new terminal building and freight section. During the day a further 36 officers and 85 other ranks arrived via 'Cator' flights. F/Lt Cooling flew one of the based Ansons (DJ442) on a return flight to Weston-Super-Mere. On the 20th the crew of Warwick, HG285, were were forced to land in a field near Gisors, France, due to a failed starboard engine. The pilot, F/O Pennefather, and crew escaped without injury. This was followed two days later by yet another engine failure, this time to Warwick, HG235, also forced to force land at Paris-Le -Bourget. The aircraft subsequently caught fire and was pronounced as damaged Cat E. The Pilot F/Lt LH Poltock, was injured as was the 2nd Pilot W/O Szmaciarz of the Polish Air Force and their Navigator, F/O RS Newton. However the Wireless Operator, F/Sgt S Stevens, and their 9 passengers received only minor injuries. The squadron crews were by now particularly unhappy with the poor reliability of the aircraft engines. Mosquito KB424 on ALDS duties forced landed at Gardemoen, Norway following port engine failure. The Pilot was F/Lt JHB Richards and his Navigator, JP Kilpatrick. In all 25 of the Warwicks were grounded on the 25th following continual engine problems and a Mr Martin Graham, a representative of the engine manufacturers Pratt and Witney, arrived on the 27th to try and rectify the situation. On a lighter note there were more experience flights for the Wellington College cadets as the month drew to a close. Cadet Brian Robinson was particularly lucky when he had a flight of 20 minutes back from RAF Brize Norton in a Lancaster. This experience with the ATC Flight obviously encouraged him to achieve greater things as he later joined the RAF and rose to the rank of Group Captain. Meanwhile for the crews who were lucky enough to be able to take a break from the intense flying there was the attraction of the Blue Lagoon swimming pool in Camberley, which when the weather was good was a very popular place to visit and relax. With the Warwicks being grounded the crews had time on their hands. It was noticeable that there was a very good spirit at the airfield with everyone being very willing to help out when asked to do so and especially to help each other.
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Post by flyboy on Feb 18, 2015 13:54:56 GMT
July 1945
Air to Air Refuelling
Security was proving a problem and S/Ldr Coxwell of the Provost Marshal's Inspectorate visited the airfield during the month in connection with security problems being experienced. He decided that a reorganisation of the service was required and that in future it would be the responsibility of the Station itself to provide adequate overnight security. Airfield personnel were already looking after the daytime requirement and were certainly less than keen to shoulder the responsibility for overnight as well. The only additional aid was the provision of a police guard dog which patrolled the airfield and domestic sites, but it was a large area to cover with just one dog. 613 Squadron were operating communications flights from their Epony base to the UK via Blackbushe which was used as a starting place for leave in this country. One crew would fly an aircraft over and then get the train , usually to London, leaving the aircraft to be flown back to base by the crew who were just finishing their leave. On the 2nd an advanced party of 301 (Polish) Squadron departed to RAF North Weald in Essex in preparation of the squadrons move there the following day. Their flights to Naples and Athens being taken over by 147 Squadron operating from RAF Croydon. Something different happened on the 5th as a most interesting demonstration of in-flight refuelling was given by two Lancaster bombers, one of which had been converted to act as a tanker while the second aircraft received fuel from it. The demonstration took place in front of Air Marshal Sir R Cochran KBE CB, who was AOC in C, Transport Command , and Sir Alan Cobham. The main party of 162 Squadron arrived to reinforce the detachment of the Squadron already at the airfield. The squadron was under the command of W/Cdr MK Sewell DFC, with a complement of 12 officers, 1 Warrant Officer, 5 NCO's and 75 other ranks. On the 8th S/Ldr Whitehead reported for duty as the new Chaplain; his assistant was the Rev HD Woolacott. The first weekly conference of Unit Commanders took place on the 9th in connection with the Station Welfare Organisation. On the 10th W/Cdr Bennet reported for duty as W/Cdr Flying. A forced landing by the crew of Warwick HG223 resulted in the aircraft being undamaged on the 12th when smoke had been seen coming from an electrical fault under the wireless operators seat. F/Lt OC Brown decided to get the aircraft down on the ground as soon as possible. At 20.30hrs on the 16th another accident occurred when on take-off Mosquito KB458 swung violently, causing the undercarriage to collapse. The aircraft was being flown by P/O McGowan with his Navigator F/O Haynes and was on an ADLS flight to Brussels. Another accident occurred to one of the Mosquitos when on the 21st KB492 made a wheels up landing while on an ADLS flight back from Norway. The aircraft came down at Dunino, Scotland, following the failure of the starboard engine. The crew were F/Lt AC Ralph DFC of the Royal New Zealand Air Force and his Navigator F/O VR Davis DFC. A visit to the Station was made by G/Capt CN Pelly OBE, of 110 Wing, accompanied by Captain Lybye, Managing Director of Danish Airlines DDL. Also present was a Mr Nielson, Secretary, and Capt Damm, the airlines chief pilot. They came to discuss the airfield being used on a regular basis by the airline. By the end of the month a total of 948 aircraft had visited the station.
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Post by flyboy on Feb 19, 2015 11:59:04 GMT
August 1945.
Visitors, Problems for Customs and VJ-Day.
A number of VIP visitors were beginning to use the airfield. On the 4th the Regent of Iraq arrived on board Dakota KG624 from advanced landing strip B151 and having been met by Princess Elizabeth on behalf of her father the King, was pleased to inspect a hurriedly drawn-up guard of honour mounted by 162 Squadron commanded by F/Lt 'Ossie' Stewart before being entertained to lunch in the Officers Mess. Personnel from 162 Squadron were being placed on standby for periods of 24 hours at a time awaiting a call to fly - which frequently didn't come! Cigarettes were taken out to Scandinavian and Italian destinations to be used for bartering purposes when the flights did take place. All aircraft were by now subject to Customs inspection on return and the crews would lower a carton of eggs or other duty payable items for Customs to acknowledge prior to proceeding to their own dispersal. It was not unknown for such items as children's bicycles, radios and all types of drink to be hurriedly off-loaded from their hiding place in the aircraft to be placed quickly out of sight in case the Customs Officer decided to take a closer look at the aircraft! A surprise came on the 6th when two small gliders arrived and landed unexpectedly. They were later retrieved by two Avro Tutors for their return flight back to their earlier departure point at Farnborough. The weather during the month was very variable . Sunny days and sun bathing quickly gave way to poor weather with FIDO and Lorens Beam landing aids having to be used to get the aircraft down. VJ Day was well and truly celebrated on the 14th and 15th by two days of leave for all those that could be spared. For all personnel that remained on duty there was an all-ranks dance organised. Briefings for 162 Squadron crews were now undertaken by the Squadron Commander in the Squadron Office, meteorological charts being collected from the tower Watch Office. As there was only one crew involved at a time these briefings were usually fairly informal. It was high spirits that was put down as the reason for one of their aircraft crews taxiing down the A30 instead of down the parallel taxiway, much to the consternation of a car driver, who it is reported looked in his rear view mirror to see two large whirling propellers attached to two Merlin engines following close behind! On the 21st W/Cdr FI Ingall of the Department of Petroleum Warfare visited the airport to witness further tests of the FIDO installation. The 'Old Manor House' in Hartley Wintney was opened on the 27th to accommodate the ever increasing numbers of passengers and VIPs using the airport facility for travel abroad. A minor accident on the 28th saw Mosquito KB483 have its tail wheel collapse when landing from a night cross-country training flight. There were no injuries to the two crew of the aircraft, F/Lt J Marson and his Navigator F/O J McCollock.
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Post by flyboy on Feb 19, 2015 21:14:45 GMT
September 1945
The All Weather Service.
An arrival of note on the 6th, as the first civilian air service to operate inbound and outbound flights commenced operations. DDL Danish Airlines started the services serving Copenhagen and Stockholm using an ex-German Focke Wulf Condor military aircraft. Many ex-German transport aircraft were available at this time. A visitor to the airfield on the 11th was S/Ldr Vincent from the Air Ministry, who held meetings to discuss the provision of further radio and navigation aids. A tragic day on the 14th as seven Halifaxes took off on trooping flights to Larges in the Azores. News came through that one of the aircraft only made it as far as Cornwell where it crashed killing all on board. Another visitor to the airfield on the 14th was S/Ldr Tussard, The Command Resettlement Advisor. An all weather service using Dakotas of 24 Squadron was commenced. The service to and from Prestwick in Scotland was operated by personnel who were usually based at RAF Hendon. The converted manor house in Hartley Wintney was in use as a transit hotel. F/O R Phillips and F/O Dick Sergent were killed when their 162 Squadron Mosquito hit high ground near Detmold, Germany, which was one of the dropping-off points for 'Operation Jane'. An idol of all British troops, 'Jane' was a strip cartoon character in the Mirror newspaper. It had been decided to drop copies of this and other papers to the troops with their mail in an effort to bolster morale. To speed up deliveries it had been decided to fly low over the delivery point and throw out the mail and papers to the troops waiting below. The 17th saw the departure of the last of the Halifaxes on the trooping flights to Larges in the Azores. The following day, the 18th, one of the DDL Airlines Condors arrived from Copenhagen with an engine out of action. On the 20th a York, MW162, diverted in from Rabat, having been unable to land at its intended destination, RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall. Mosquito XXV, KB445, of 162 Squadron flew up to Kastrup in Denmark with a delivery of mail. This was a favourite destination for the crews as fresh eggs were very plentiful in Denmark, unlike in this country. Several cases of eggs were flown home and quickly disposed of, 'airmen for the use of!' The Prestwick,'all weather', service flights were running regularly with very few problems. Even in really bad weather the flights were getting through. Dakota KN432 was in use on the 25th. The 25th also saw three Czech Liberators arrived to repatriate Czech civilians to their homeland. FIDO was still proving a very useful aid and was in use on the 29th at 10.35hrs when visibility was only 60 yards and the fog was 800 feet thick. After only 10 minutes burning, the visibility had gone up to 1500 yards and blue sky was seen above the airfield. This was enough to allow two Mosquitos and a Dakota to land.
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Post by flyboy on Feb 20, 2015 8:45:56 GMT
October 1945
The Czech Air Force Crash
Fog continued to be a problem in October too with FIDO being called upon at great expense to keep the airfield open. On the 4th a two-hour burn was necessary to clear persistent fog which had reduced visibility to 50 yards. Two Mosquitos of 162 Squadron took the opportunity to take off. Pilots of the squadron carried a special pass signed by the Air Officer Commanding 46 Group and his equivalent in the USAAF which gave the squadron pilots complete authority, once departed their home base to decide if they took off or delayed a flight due to weather conditions. John Wood recalled: "I was flying to Norway and after refuelling at East Fortune in East Lothian, Scotland, I checked with Flying Control regarding the weather and then handed in my flight plan. I was told that I could not take off as the route from Denmark to Norway was covered in fog. The officer in charged still refused even when I showed him the pass card. He phoned the Station Commander who supported him. I then asked them to phone Blackbushe to clarify the position and permission was immediately granted for me to take off but I arrived at Gardermoen an hour plus late. My Squadron Commander was not too happy, but when I told him about the trouble at East Fortune he was OK. I believe he took the matter up when he next went there, as we had no further trouble when we next visited. The fog on my flight had in fact not been too bad; it was only a couple of hundred feet high and we had no trouble finding our way. No passengers were transported on these flights and we only carried mail for our top Commanders." The Warwicks of 167 Squadron were finally withdrawn from use during the month and the squadron used Dakotas instead; in fact they had been operating these aircraft from Croydon for some months. They were 147 Squadron aircraft which had been flown from Blackbushe previously when the condition of the grass at Croydon had precluded their operation from there. The 5th was to prove a bad day but it started well when FIDO was used allowing 3 Mosquitos and a Dakota to get airborne but at 12.55hrs tragedy struck as Liberator 867 of the Czech Air Force crashed on take-off. All 23people on board perished. They were Czech civilians returning to Prague and the whole Station was in a state of shock. FIDO was again in use on the 6th to permit six aircraft to get airborne. The southern side only was used as visibility reduced to 400 yards. A court of enquiry was assembled with W/Cdr Cabot as president to investigate the circumstances of the Liberator which had crashed on take-off on the 5th, with the loss of 23 lives. The loss had been keenly felt on the airport as the aircraft had been on a repatriation flight. The funeral of those that were on board took place at Brookwood Cemetery on the 11th and was attended by G/Capt PH Maxwell AFC, the Station Commander, and other Station personnel. Letters of appreciation for the co-operation that had been received from the airfield personnel were sent by the Czech Repatriation Mission. The FIDO was again in use on the 18th to assist a Danish Airlines B17 Flying Fortress to land. The airline had carried 483 passengers during the previous month and the newly-built terminal building had considerably helped in handling these passengers. The mail and paper flights continued, with 162 Squadron flying on the 20th to Rome and then on to Naples with Mosquito KB415. The flight times were approximately 4hrs 30minutes in total, in each direction. It was proving an expensive operation but one that it was felt was necessary to keep up the morale of Allied troops and maintain communication.
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Post by flyboy on Feb 20, 2015 12:01:43 GMT
November 1945.
Slip crew operations
With the longer range flights being undertaken by 162 Squadron Mosquitos it was necessary to introduce slip crew operations. A typical example being: On the 3rd a crew take off from Blackbushe at 03.30hrs to fly Mosquito XXV, KB499(Q), to Rome, taking 3hrs 10 minutes to reach their destination. They then rested in Rome until on the 7th they boarded a different aircraft, which had been flown in by a previous crew. This time it was KB687 for the 35 minute flight to Naples where they rested overnight. This same crew then fly back to Rome in another machine , KB683, with a flight time of 30 minutes. They then set off again on the second leg of the day back to Blackbushe, this time in Mosquito KB534 in a flight time of 3hrs 45minutes. A B17 Flying Fortress of Danish Airlines with a passenger load of 20 persons had to make a belly landing when experiencing undercarriage problems. Having jettisoned fuel, a skilful landing was made with no injury to those on board. As previously noted, the Dakotas used by 147 and later 167 squadrons were flown to Blackbushe from Croydon when the grass there became waterlogged. Also flown in were Ansons and Oxfords. An unusual take-off procedure was used when these aircraft departed Croydon in waterlogged conditions. The only non-grass surface was the concreted apron in front of the hangars. The aircraft needed to be as light as possible and with the crew using every available inch of the hardstanding the aircraft engines would be run up to full power. As the tailwheel began to lift, the brakes would be released, allowing the aircraft to leap forward and stagger into the air. There was no room for error. There followed the short hop to Blackbushe where they landed with minimal fuel remaining. Once on the ground the aircraft would be refuelled and made ready for departure with passengers installed. During November the Mosquitos of 162 Squadron handled 20,000lbs of mail and newspapers and the excellent weather record at Blackbushe helped this operation no end, as it did Danish Airlines, who had flown 49 flights to and from the airport during the month. Ted Newton flew with 147 Squadron as a light aircraft pilot and told me that the role of the squadron was to provide passenger services throughout N.W Europe immediately following the occupation by Allied troops. Due to the state of the ground at Croydon he flew a variety of aircraft to Blackbushe in the manner previously described. His log book records flights made in November and December flying in the Anson Mk5 and in 1946 he was to fly into the airfield several times in Airspeed Oxfords, Anson Mk12s and Dakotas during the winter months.
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