CONTACT !

The Newsletter of the former RAF Defford Reunion Association, now merged with the

DEFFORD AIRFIELD HERITAGE GROUP

in partnership with THE NATIONAL TRUST, CROOME

http://deffordairfieldheritagegroup.wordpress.com

Editor: Bob Shaw

All text by the editor unless otherwise stated

Number 111, October 2017

METEOR PROGRESS The Boscombe Down Aviation Collection (BDAC) who are restoring Meteor WD686, the last plane to fly

out of Defford before the airfield finally closed for flying in April 1958, report steady progress.

The Defford Airfield Heritage Group was instrumental in securing a generous donation from Mr Vernon Hill

(President of Metro Bank), which enabled BDAC to rescue the Meteor from its perilous position close to the

sea in Norfolk, transport the aircraft to the BDAC workshops at Old Sarum (near Salisbury), and expertly carry

out the restoration. All this was reported in ‘Contact!’ number 107, May 2017.

It is hoped the Meteor will return to Croome in 2018 for display under canvas for the summer months, to

mark the 60th Anniversary of its departure from Defford.

John Sharpe, Chairman of BDAC, reports:

“The aircraft has now been taken apart and the front fuselage has been split into three pieces. (See below)

METEOR PROGRESS (cont.)

Work has already been undertaken to remove all

unnecessary equipment, for example redundant

pipework, wiring and so on

Work is also now under way to identify and

remove any corrosion from the cockpit section

and the first coat of primer has been applied in

certain areas. The cockpits have had some

attention and work continues to prepare them

for initial painting (Above)

The Collection has already begun to acquire the

necessary instruments and other items for installation in the cockpits when they are ready. The canopy has

been removed and work is under way to prepare it before replacement glazing panels (which are on order)

are installed.

The canopy locking system proved particularly difficult to remove and refurbish. However, this work has

now been completed (above, left) and the whole working system is now ready to be re-installed.

The centre wing section (above, right) has had all the redundant pipework and wiring removed and anti-

corrosion treatment is about to start, although some minor skin repairs will be required.

Finally, the nose-wheel assembly has been taken apart and is currently undergoing restoration work”.

John Sharpe, Chairman, BDAC.

This item is based on an edited version of the BDAC report to DAHG dated September 17th, 2017. The

original includes more photos. However, the photos here will give readers a good idea of progress. Ed.

REMINDER: Remembrance Day 2017 – Saturday November 11th As usual, DAHG, now merged with the RAF Defford Reunion Association, will be marking Remembrance Day on November 11th, which this year falls on a Saturday. The traditional Wreath Laying will be at the RAF Defford Memorial on the green by Defford village church, at 11.00 – please gather at 10.45. After the wreath laying, as last year, we will forgather at The Oak, Defford, for Coffee followed by Lunch. To confirm attendance and if you would like coffee and lunch at The Oak, please contact Ann Sterry, 01684 772 234, or by e-mail to annsterry3@gmail.com or jsterry@jsterry.plus.com All RAF Defford Museum volunteers very welcome too – contact Ann for more information.

DOUGLAS DB-7: HAVOCS AT DEFFORD

Continuing from ‘Contact!’ No. 110 (September 2017), with the story of the DB-7A aircraft from the 1940

Anglo-French order, which had been converted into Havoc II night fighters …

TFU at Defford built up a considerable fleet of these DB-7A Havoc II aircraft, some of which are known to

have been at Defford with TFU as late as September 1944. Did any survive the War, we wonder?

During their time at Defford, these Havocs were the subject of a number of accidents. Listed below are

extracts from the RAF Defford ORB (Operational Record Book), with further comment from the relevant

Accident Report appended in italics.

12.8.42 Havoc BB903, crew P/O Dupree and F/Sgt. R. Stirling, forced landed at High Ercall at 11.20 hrs. Both

propellers damaged, engines subject to shock, fuselage damaged. Crew uninjured.

* Comment: BB903 has not been recorded previously as a Defford aircraft. See full list of DB-7 Havocs in

‘Contact!’ No. 110, Sept. 2017*

26.1.43 Havoc II AH515 damaged on this aerodrome by accidental firing of gun from adjacent aircraft into

fuel tank at 1600 hrs. There were no injuries to personnel. No damage to civilian property, but the aircraft

sustained damage to fuel tank and skin. Crew nil.

Accident due to faulty breech block. To contractors for repair …

24.2.43 Havoc AH522 slightly damaged on mainplane at this aerodrome whilst being taxyed from

maintenance to dispersal point. No injuries to personnel.

P/O C.D.B. White … pilot taxying down to hangars. Brakes failed, hit hanger door… Pilot should have had

aircraft manhandled.

Above: Havoc II AH522

28.2.43 Havoc AH515 damaged while landing on this aerodrome due to failure of braking system. Crew

uninjured. Airframe repairable at contractors

Pilot A.G. Sheffield… undercarriage would not retract … all brake pressure gone … pilot used hand pump on

landing but brakes still u/s … nose wheel collapsed

Havocs at Defford (cont.)

16.3.43 Havoc AH522 pilot F/Sgt Macdonald, crashed on this aerodrome, causing damage to propellers

and undercarriage. Accident occurred through fracture of undercarriage lever making impossible for pilot

to lower.

… lever fractured in neutral position rendering main and emergency system inoperable. No blame pilot.

14.5.43 Boston (sic) AH495. Pilot Wg Cdr A.E. Saunders forced landed 2 miles south of aerodrome. No

injuries to personnel. Aircraft repairable by contractor’s working party.

22.11.43 Havoc AH522 overshot on landing causing nose-wheel to collapse, and aircraft came to rest in

field adjoining runway. The accident has been assessed as an error of judgement on the part of the pilot

F/O J.A.C. Scott. No injuries to personnel, aircraft repairable by contractors. See Appendix ‘C’ for F765 (c)

… experienced pilot complained of faulty brakes … brakes OK … brakes probably acted harshly at first, were

released and pilot and overshot … error of judgement, not carelessness …

11.2.44 Havoc AH467. Aircraft taxying accident. Pilot F/Lt A.H. Wooley. Nose wheel shimmy developed

through technical failure, causing nose wheel to collapse. Blame was not attributable to the pilot, no one

injured

13.9.44 Havoc AH467. F/O S. Sutcliffe overshot the aerodrome while forced landing, and sustained serious

injuries. The Station Commander ordered a Court of Inquiry into the cause of the accident.

Above: The start of the Havoc saga at TFU and Defford. More views of DB-7 Havoc I AE461 at SDF

Christchurch, September 1940 – quite probably the first DB-7 to be fitted with AI radar in the UK, becoming

the Havoc I.

Left above, showing aerials on nose and side of fuselage of AE461.

Right above, the upper gunner’s position which would have become the radar operator’s location in DB-7

and DB-7A Havocs fitted with AI radar.

Thanks to Dennis Williams for copies from relevant ORBs and Accident Reports, and to Phil Butler for

advice and information.

A POSTING TO DEFFORD

From the Memoirs of the late Dennis Moore, by kind permission of his son Terry Moore, who visited the

RAF Defford Museum during the summer, and met with Tony Bates and Dennis Williams. This extract

covers the time Dennis Moore was posted to RRFU Defford and Pershore and starts in January 1955.

... having got nicely settled down in our Married Quarter (in my previous

posting) I was somewhat disappointed to receive a Posting Notice in

early January. However, I was told that it was supposed to be a prestige

posting and about two weeks later I left Reading in a heavy snow

blizzard on my way to the Royal Radar Establishment Flying Unit at RAF

DEFFORD, near Worcester.

The Mess was deserted when I arrived in the gloom of a Sunday

evening, with the snow still pelting down. Later, one or two others came

in for a drink and were so friendly that I began to feel a little less

dejected than I had been during the journey there. So began almost 5

years of a marvellous posting.

Initially, I lived in the Mess and immediately started flying in various

aircraft, on trials of equipment designed by the 'boffins' at the Royal Radar Establishment at Malvern. My

first flight was in Hastings TG503 piloted by 'Bert' Welvaert, aged 36, who claimed to be 'the youngest

grandfather in the Air Force'. I next met up with Bert at the Berlin Airlift 50th Anniversary in May 1999.

I flew in the following types (in no particular order) during my stay on the unit (over 1000 hours

all told):

Hastings Ashton Valetta Lincoln Wayfarer Meteor Shackleton Marathon Canberra Dakota Hermes Vampire Varsity Devon Whirlwind

(Helicopter)

Fairly early on, I quite often flew with a pilot called Flt Lt Chase in a Hastings and around March time was

scheduled to fly with him again on a trip to Farnborough. One of the other navigators, a Canadian (whose

name I cannot remember), asked me to swap with him as he needed only a couple more hours to make up

his first '1,000 hrs' before he left the unit to return to Canada. I agreed to do so just to do him a favour, but

in the event I did myself a very special one as the aircraft crashed on take off from Boscombe Down, killing

the navigator and severely injuring the flight engineer. The pilot and signaller were less severely injured and

the two passengers in the back escaped with only minor injuries. When the news was first received, many

of us were briefed to quickly break the news to the various wives and families.

I was allocated the flight engineer’s wife, wishing like mad that I had been able to go to the signaller’s

instead. However, as it turned out I was lucky again, as the signaller, whose wife had been told that he was

“OK and not too badly hurt”, had a relapse the following day and died from 'secondary shock'.

On the other hand, John Mills the flight engineer, who had not been expected to live, remained in a coma

for nearly a month and suddenly woke up one morning demanding to be fed as he was starving! Although

he finished up with a plate in his head, he actually returned to flying about six months later. The pilot

recovered enough to return to flying but was posted away quite quickly when it was established that he had

attempted to take off with the flying control locks still in place (i.e. Pilot Error)!

It is worth pointing out however, that the Hastings had mechanical locks of a new type instead of the old

wooden blocks that fitted on the outside and had to be removed before getting into the aircraft. With the

new method there was a lever in the cockpit that had to be actuated to release the locks. If the lever was

operated whilst the aircraft had airflow over the wings etc., it did not release the locks as it was designed to

do. As a result of this accident a modification was introduced to rectify the fault.

The funeral of the navigator took place in the local church in Pershore and I was a Pall Bearer for the funeral

of the signaller in Scarborough. Once these funerals were out of the way, life gradually got back to normal.

After a short while I managed to find a 'hiring' - a large detached house in a very nice spot - 'Severn Croft',

Bevere, in Worcester - and moved the family away from Reading. We had lots of expensive furniture,

curtains etc., which has to be put away in store for safety. Started to make friends with the 'Lentons &

Skeers' for Terry & Christine.

Peter was born in December and a new house is started in the field next to us. I did not fly at all this month

and managed a fair bit of time off.

1956

The new Flight Commander (the unit split into two flights - 'A' Flight for piston engined & 'B' for jet aircraft.

Sqn Ldr Tebbutt, shared an interest in model making and he started building a model boat whilst I stuck to

aircraft. I made a Tiger Moth, which flew well, and we used the airfield at weekends. Other aircraft that I

made seemed to crash too easily and the Radar Servicing Manager suggested that I use radio control. He

offered to help me build it but I decided to put it into a model boat rather than aircraft as this was much

safer.

Early in the year I got myself elected Mess Secretary, which slowed down the flying somewhat - sometimes

to only 10-12 hours each month.

Being Mess Secretary became an almost full time job and, mixed in with developing a new radio control

system to put into the destroyer that I built, my time was fully occupied and very rewarding. Two major

Mess functions during the year and, as this was such a small Unit, I found myself suggesting, designing and

constructing all the decorations for both of them. Fortunately the civilian component of the Unit made sure

that I was able to get marvellous procurement and engineering assistance.

Peter was 1 year old just before the Christmas Ball and lots of locals attended his party.

1957

Started flying helicopters and was allowed to take the controls on odd occasions, eventually having some

'formal' instruction. I was told that fixed wing pilots are somewhat difficult to convert whereas other aircrew

categories with good 'air sense' usually learn quite quickly. After about 10 hours dual I became reasonably

competent and passed the 'brick wall' of it being in charge of you, to you being in charge of it!!

RRFU Defford, 1957

Group Captain Innes-Crump took me under his wing and nominated me as his navigator. We did various trips

to conferences etc. and eventually he let me do most of the flying and some take-offs & landings (in a

Devon). Many of the pilots started to let me fly the aircraft from the right-hand seat and eventually I even

landed a Hastings all on my own (or at least I thought I did!).

Lincoln at zero feet! Flying with Group Captain Innes-Crump

(OC, RRFU Pershore)

At end of October the Unit moved from Defford to Pershore and took on a somewhat more formal

atmosphere, which was not to everyone’s liking.

10th December 1957, Peter's 2nd birthday and disaster on the Unit. One of 'B' Flight jet aircraft went missing

and presumed crashed in the hills over North Wales. I had to visit the wife of one of crew members to warn

her that her husband 'would be late home'. A dreadful story to delay the almost inevitable. As a result I was

also 'late home' for the Birthday Party and could not say why. - I was not very popular!!

Next day, along with others, I flew a 4-hour sortie to see if we could find the crash site. Although flying very

low ourselves amongst the treacherous hills, we could not find anything. Just before we were due to leave

the area, we received a message that Mountain Rescue team had found the site and both crew had been

killed. It was some way from where we had been looking near 'Drum Hill'. Another funeral to attend, and

just before Christmas too. However see picture in album of us at Xmas Ball a few days later!

1958

Lots of flying each month this year mostly in:

Hastings

Varsity

Devon

Valetta

The atmosphere at Pershore was not the same as at Defford. However, we all became very settled in at

Bevere and friendly with neighbours - Lentons around corner, the Hucksters at the back and the next-door

families on both sides. - A very pleasant year.

1959

At beginning of year got in regular flying each month. Flew in a Meteor for the first time with Wing

Commander Lawrence as pilot. Also did some more helicopter piloting but had become quite stale after so

long.

April was particularly busy, flying, but after the first few days in June got caught for admin work.

On 10th July I was handed a signal informing me, along with others, that passage was booked on the

FLANDRE, sailing 17th July, to attend a training course on the ‘Thor Missile’ in the USA. Mad panic to get

ready and needed to get a Dinner Jacket for the voyage and other items at a time when I was particularly

low on funds. Pam was not very happy with the idea of me being away for so long and having to look after

everything on her own. Fortunately the neighbours at Bevere were all very supportive.

Travelled First Class by train from Worcester via London where we were joined by another group of RAF

but who considered themselves very superior and tried to keep apart from us as much as they could. The

‘Flandre’ was a French passenger liner of some 15,000 tons …

The next issue of ‘Contact!’ will be devoted to the memory of those from Croome and flying from RAF Defford, who gave their lives in conflict in the 20th century. The November edition will be sent out to Members and RAF Museum Volunteers, on or about November 1st.