FlyPast – August 2018

August 2018 FLYPAST 85

sailors were rescued by a Sunderland on September 21, 1939

Men Behind

the Sunderland

“We remained very vigilant,

particularly in daytime. The

gunners always tested their

weapons before entering the

operational area”

3434

Left centre

Sunderland ‘O-for-Orange’

forming up during

the fl ypast for the

Queen’s birthday.

Left

Enjoying the sun at

anchor.

Above

The author at the port

waist position of a

Sunderland during a

gunnery exercise over

the Hong Kong ranges on

September 5, 1952.

Below

‘F-for-Fox’ is towed to

the slipway at Kai Tak in

September 1952.

MiG threat

The main enemy as far as we were

concerned were Mikoyan-Gurevich

MiG-15 Fagots flown by the Chinese

Air Force – the US Navy had lost

several of their Mariner flying-boats

in the conflict. We were lucky,

probably because we flew very

low and never ventured above the

clouds. It was unlikely a MiG would

intercept us in such circumstances.

We remained very vigilant,

particularly in daytime. The gunners

always tested their weapons before

entering the operational area and

kept their eyes peeled.

We always knew when we had

reached the northern edge of our

operating area: we saw the yellow

tint on the sea from the sands

The weather, particularly in the
winter months, was very cold. The
skies around Korea could be very
rough and most of us would be
airsick at some point.
There was no heating in the
Sunderland. We had a galley on
board and were able to brew up
drinks, get a warm-up and cook
quite adequate meals on a gas stove.
The favourite on these night and
day operations was called a Tsushima
Straits stew, from tins of meat, veg
etc. In those bumpy conditions this
was the best we could do.
The rations taken on board for
every flight were generous and we
would share our unused tinned
food. This was appreciated very
much by the men’s wives.

coming down the Yangtze River – a

signal to turn back. I completed 23

Korean and four Firedog operations.

Air-sea rescue

Another role for the Sunderland was

air-sea rescue, both from Singapore

and from Hong Kong. For the latter,

this involved a short detachment

usually of two or three weeks.

After a ten-hour transit from

Singapore, we had to negotiate

a difficult entry path into Hong

Kong. This was helped by large

white markings on the cliffs showing

the low-level route, before entering

Kowloon Harbour. The alighting

area was cleared of junks and