FlyPast 12.2018

96 FLYPAST December 2018

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Tornado could roar again

I really enjoyed the recent Cold

War Jets Day at Bruntingthorpe

in Leicestershire – although it

might have been titled Cold and

Wet Jet Day given the typical

Bank Holiday weekend weather!

Despite raining for the entire

duration of the event, the

majority of the participants

managed to take to the runway –

albeit some with far more sedate

runs than we have seen before.

Those that got moving were

VC10 K.4 ZA241, an L-29 Delfin, a

TS-11 Iskra, a pair of Jet Provosts,

a pair of Buccaneer S.2Bs, a single

Lightning F.6, the collection’s

Nimrod MR.2, Victor K.2 Teasin’

Tina and Canberra WT333. Sadly,

the Hunters and the Comet fell

foul to technical gremlins.

Of note was the appearance

of the Panavia Tornado

Preservation Group’s (PTPG)

Tornado GR.1P ZA326, which

was on static display. With the

event now being held up at the

Gilmorton end of the airfield due

to the volume of cars on site, the

aircraft was more accessible than

at previous open days.

Talking to one of the chaps

involved with the project to

return the jet to ground running

condition, I learned that they are

one step closer, with suitable

engines now starting to appear for

the first time. PTPG is looking for

powerplants that have enough life

left to meet their needs. With that

in mind they are currently aiming to

raise £10,000 to make a purchase

possible. A fantastic prospect given

the always growing number of

ground running jets based here in

the UK. http://www.za326.com

JAMIE EWAN

VIA E-MAIL

The Panavia Tornado Preservation

Group’s Tornado ZA326 on a wet day at

Bruntingthorpe. JAMIE EWAN

Remembering a
Dams Raid hero
Further to Deryck Hampshire’s
letter about the Dambusters raid
(September issue), my uncle Harold
Sydney Hobday (known as Sydney by
his family and friends) was also part
of Les Knight’s crew in Lancaster
‘AJ-N’. He was the navigator.
On September 16, 1943, their
aircraft was shot down during the

Dortmund-Ems canal raid and

the crew – Ray Grayston (flight

engineer), Edward Johnson (bomb

aimer), Bob Kellow (wireless

operator), Fred Sutherland (front

gunner), Harry O’Brien (rear

gunner) – and my uncle escaped

by parachute. Les Knight stayed

with the Lancaster to allow this to

happen, but was killed trying to

crash-land.

My uncle evaded capture and

some hours later was in the hands

of the Dutch Resistance. He was

taken to a ‘shack’ in woodland

where he was reunited with Fred

Sutherland. Both were smuggled

through France into Spain, on

to Gibraltar and then to the UK.

Somewhere there is a photograph

taken by the Resistance of my

uncle standing by the grave of

Les Knight, which I would like

to find.

Many years later he returned to

the area of the crash site and was

reunited with one (or some) of the

people who had helped him.

He was given the parachute

harness he was wearing on that

fateful night.

IAIN McLAREN

CHESTER

The Quick

and The Dead

Thank you for the excellent

article Taming The Flat Iron

by Ken Ellis in the June issue.

Thanks also to Ken for making

me aware of Bill Waterton’s book

The Quick And The Dead. What a

fantastic read, and what a brave

man Bill was. Once you start, it’s

almost impossible to put it down.

As a teenager in the 1950s

I fondly remember watching

those magnificent men in

their flying machines without

propellers (Meteors) on finals

into RAF West Malling. I became

a member of the Royal Observer

Corps and was guaranteed entry

into the RAF to serve my two

years of National Service. We had

no choice as to what trade we

would train for – I was selected

as a medic at RAF Freckleton

in November 1959. Lucky me –

English Electric were busy testing

the formidable Lightning at

nearby Warton.

On completion of trade training,

even more luck came as I received

my permanent posting to

Transport Command at Lyneham

where I received more training

for airborne casualty evacuation

• lots of lovely aircraft and
  opportunities to fly.
  Thanks also for the article on the
  sad story of the beautiful Comet.
  As mentioned in the feature,
  the strengthened versions were
  operated by 216 Squadron at
  Lyneham. More luck for me – I
  clocked up many hours on training
  flights in them. Thank you, RAF,
  and thank you National Service –
  bring it back, that’s what I say!
  PETER G OUTEN
  CHATHAM, KENT

‘The Quick And The Dead’

by William Arthur ‘Bill’ Waterton.