Monday 20 May 1942 to Wigtown Reported after journey from Birmingham via Glasgow and Stranraer in Scotland to Wigtown Airfield in SW Scotland. As usual we were not expected and spent two hours on the platform. This is 16 Air Observers AFU. Here the aircraft are Ansons - built like greenhouses on an airframe - two engines just powerful enough to keep the thing flying. For the practise of navigation they are ideal with a good view of the ground and slow enough to give the navigator time to think. Most of our pilots were Sergeants with a few pilot officers. All had been on operating squadrons and had survived long enough to be ‘rested’ as instructors. They were a taciturn lot - bored by the job after squadron life and disinclined to talk about operations. After a few lectures on practical navigation in the reality of dark cloudy nights we started our map reading exercises along the coast and over the islands of West Scotland. After the vast space and sameness of Canada or the Everglades of Florida the varied scene made map reading easy. Typical trips would be Carlisle, Hexham, Hawick, Peebles, Prestwick or Skye and the Outer Hebrides or across Scotland to the Orkneys and back down the West Coast. Sometimes we had a target to bomb. As we became more proficient we moved to taking fixes at night and for those who had done the PAA course, night flying using the moon and stars with the pilot checking us from his view of the ground - usually the west coast of Cumbria, North Wales and Anglesey. The nights were short. We could see the sun rise, descend into darkness and see it rise agin from the ground. At the check examinations I had clocked in 30 hours of flying, been recommended for special navigation training and for navigation instructor (after operational experience) in 25 Group. My special memory of this period was map reading exercise to Londonderry and Ulster flying low level. Our pilot interpreted low level as having a great time just missing chimneys and dive bombing cattle and the unlucky boat fishermen on the lochs. When we reported to debriefing we were met by a furious CO who had been bombarded by telephone complaints.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 17:26:15 +0000
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