Naval Aviation in the Second World War (Images of War) by Philip Kaplan
Author:Philip Kaplan [Kaplan, Philip]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / World War II
ISBN: 9781473829978
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2013-10-29T22:00:00+00:00
above: Helicopter air-sea rescue operations from the Royal Navy carrier HMS Illustrious; below: A Sea Harrier landing aboard the Illustrious.
One of the better books to come out of the Second World War was Daybreak for our Carrier, by Max Miller. In it he effectively described the role of the landing signal officer on one of the fast carriers in that war: “The job aboard a carrier which appears to be the most fun (from a distance and in photographs) is that of the landing signal officer. He is the one so often pictured standing aft by the fantail, colored paddles in each hand, and waving them as if the air were rent with hornets.
“His base of operations is a small grilled platform which swings off the flight deck, and his backdrop is a screen of canvas. He doesn’t stand in front of this backdrop when he is signalling, nor for that matter does he stand on the grilled platform. But they are his base of operations nevertheless, and the screen of canvas also serves as a windbreak.
“There is a slight trace of the bullfighter in a landing signal officer. He not only has to know how to lure ’em on with his colors, but he also has to know how to jump should things get too hot.
“He himself is a carrier-trained pilot. Why he was selected from regular daily flying duty to be a landing signal officer is something he most likely will avoid answering outright. It may be that he really doesn’t know. Or it may be that the powers that be told him they saw in him exactly all the stuff that a landing signal officer should have. And other than that, he had no say in the matter. This is the most likely.
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