FlyPast 06.2018

F LYPOST
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108 FLYPAST June 2018

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Redemption for WK198

I was reading your feature about

Brooklands (FlyPast, May), and was

delighted to find that Supermarine

Swift WK198 has a safe home now.

Back in 1981, I called in to the

Unimetals yard in Failsworth,

Manchester to photograph some

of the accumulated aircraft wrecks

there and was allowed in with the

approval of the security guard. He

told me the yard had to be quickly

cleared - in these days it would be

referred to as a Health and Safety

hazard. I had to be quick before

the owners found out.

A few days earlier I had shared a

pint or two with Tony Blenkinsop

of what was then the North East

Aviation Museum (NEAM) based

at Usworth, Sunderland. That

night, I rang Tony and passed on

the contact details of the owner.

He [Tony] had to move fast, as the

‘meltdown’ had already started, and

over the next week NEAM managed

to acquire WK198, Bristol Brigand

fuselage RH746, Boulton Paul Balliol

T.2 WN516, the front end of Fairey

Firefly AS.5 WD889, and a few other

bits and pieces.

Sadly, they were unable to save

the other Swift fuselage, the inner

wings of the Brigand, or one of its

propellers. There was so much stuff

piled up, it was a genuine Aladdin’s

Cave.

KEN COTHLIFF

BY EMAIL

Times with 20
Squadron
Roy Gamblin’s excellent article
in the latest edition of FlyPast,
about flying the Hunters of 20
Squadron in the Far East, once
again had me reaching for my
scribblings and photo albums as I
had a short spell with the unit in
May 1962.
An armourer, I was well into my
first tour at RAF Tengah where
we were all kept busy providing
a variety of explosives stores for
the different types of aircraft
based there. Among these stores
were the three-inch rockets
armed with either concrete
training heads with a smoke
canister attached, or 60lb semi-
armour piercing (SAP) heads,
both of which we prepared on a
regular basis.
In a fit of enthusiasm, myself
and two other armourers
volunteered to be part of 20
Squadron’s weapons support
team, thus breaking the first
law of RAF practice: never
volunteering for anything.
However, when only 21 years
old, a spell on active service
broke the monotony of the daily
routine.
Those of us on the support
party were briefed time and
again and issued with field kit,
which included a safari bed, mess
tins, ‘eating irons’ and webbing.
Prior to the date of enplaning,
we would be issued with
personal weapons, in my case
the 0.303in-calibre Lee-Enfield

rifle with pig-sticker bayonet

and a bandolier of 50 rounds

of ammunition – things were

starting to look serious.

Prior to departure, we were

informed that we would be flying

to Chiang Mai airfield in northern

Thailand to prepare it for the

arrival of the squadron’s Hunters.

So, early one morning in May,

we climbed aboard a Blackburn

Beverley, struggled up to the

top deck heavily laden with kit,

and set off northwards into

the unknown. Upon landing at

Bangkok for refuelling we found

that ‘rumour control’ was running

wild – apparently the screaming

Pathet Lao hordes had crossed

the Thai border with Laos; they

were attacking the airfield and

the situation was dire.

We were detailed to carry out

small arms servicing and issue

of ammunition. All personal

weapons were taken away and

stored in our makeshift armoury.

Very few of us had any intense

training in the use of small arms

and 20 rounds on the range

during one’s annual General

Service Training refresher course

was considered adequate.

So, eventually the Hunters flew

regular patrols, we got bombed

with toilet paper by some USAF

F-100s, reciprocated in kind, and

life descended into a routine.

During mid-July it was my turn

to return to Singapore – my short

spell on 20 Squadron over.

ALAN MUDGE

HAWARDEN

Can anyone identify these three m embers of a Lancaster crew? Peter Mooney, who sent in

the image, has discovered their names are (from left) Hogan, Bevan and Cunningham, but

little else. If possible, he would like to fi nd out more details and the squadron to which they

belonged. Please contact the FlyPast team at fl [email protected] if you can assist.

The somewhat battered fuselage of Supermarine Swift WK198 in the Unimetals yard during 1981.

KEN COTHLIFF

Hope for ‘Faith’?

I have just finished reading Fa i th ,

Hope and Charity by Kenneth

Poolman.

I looked at the photo of ‘Faith’, the

sole survivor of that famous trio,

(FlyPast, January) with a touch of

sadness at seeing such a famous

aircraft missing so many of its key

components.

Even if sourcing material to

fabricate a new set of wings is not

an option due to space constraints

at the National War Museum

at St Elmo’s Fort, Valletta, with

the number of Gladiators still in

existence, could the rest of the

cowling, guns and the fairings for

the undercarriage and tyres for the

wheels, be sourced and fitted, or

even scratch-built?

I realise Malta is now an

independent country within the

British Commonwealth of Nations,

so any proposals for improvements

would need to have the approval of

the appropriate Maltese authorities.

In other words, we need all on board

to seek improvements on what we

can see today. I believe that would

be a real fillip, if achievable.

A full restoration, to static or

engine-running taxiing status,

would require its removal from

its current location to perhaps a

separate museum building with

more space for a full overhaul. Now,

wouldn’t that be a treat?

What do readers think about that

idea, considering the significance

of this aircraft in the fight to defeat

the evils of fascism in the World War

Two?

J O H N WATKI NS ,

K ATI K ATI

NEW ZEALAND