In All Things First: No. 1 Squadron at War 1939 - 45 by Peter Caygill

Author:Peter Caygill [Caygill, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Bisac Code 1: HIS027140
ISBN: 9781844688135
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Published: 2012-07-22T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

Night Intruders (Beginning)

The New Year began as the old one had finished, the predominant factors being bad weather and a lack of German opposition. Bedrich Kratkoruky left No. 1 Squadron on 1 January to become an instructor, which left Karel Kuttelwascher as the sole remaining Czech. A number of pilots were commissioned during the month, Sgts G.H. Corbet and Des Perrin becoming Pilot Officers in the RNZAF, with Sgt E.S.G. Sweeting being granted a commission in the RAF. There were two accidents but thankfully no serious injuries. On 10 January Sgt Gerry Scott had undertaken a searchlight co-operation flight and was returning to Tangmere just after midnight. He experienced engine trouble at the worst possible time, just as he was coming in to land, and as a result he crash-landed heavily. The sudden deceleration flung him forwards into the gunsight, knocking out several teeth and tearing an eardrum. He was admitted to hospital and was out of action for the next four weeks. The other mishap occurred on 24 January and involved Sgt J. Smith who crashed on landing when he lost control in the slipstream of the Havoc he had been flying alongside.

The weather during the first three days of February was so bad that no flying of any description was possible, however there was a slow improvement over the next week, which allowed cannon tests, ZZ approaches and co-operation with searchlights and the Havocs of 1455 Flight. Two new pilots arrived to join the squadron during this period, F/Sgt C.F. Bland and Sgt G.S.M. Pearson.

During the night of 11 February the conditions were suitable for searchlight co-operation work as although there was no moon and there was slight haze near the ground, the skies were clear with visibility of around four miles. Seven pilots of ‘A’ Flight carried out this task but on his return Sgt E.G. Parsons (Canada) overshot the flarepath and bounced quite heavily. He opened the throttle to go round again but instead of selecting wheels up, he mistakenly raised the flaps instead. This caused his Hurricane (BD945) to stall and as it came down again it clipped a tree before hitting some obstruction wires. With the engine full on, it crashed in a field just beyond the south-east corner of the aerodrome, killing Parsons instantly. On the same day S/L James MacLachlan left for a three-day course on searchlight intercept procedure at the School of Anti-Aircraft Defence at Shrivenham and as a result missed a major flap the following day.

Ever since March 1941, the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau had been in dock at Brest and La Pallice where they had been subjected to frequent air attack by RAF heavy bombers. Although no serious damage had been done, Adolf Hitler took the decision that the ships should be moved to German ports and that they should take the shortest route through the English Channel. This audacious voyage commenced in the late evening of 11 February, which meant that the ships would be sailing through the Dover Straits in broad daylight.

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