August 2018 FLYPAST 85sailors 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”
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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 sandsThe 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