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1943

On 1st January 1943, the 29 EFTS establishment was revised to increase the amount of Tiger Moths on strength to 108, and concurrently the Magisters would be withdrawn completely. However these changes took some time to take effect and there was no immediate effect of this change in equipment.

(Left) - Early 1943 saw the first indications that 29 EFTS would lose its Magister aircraft.  This machine is from 8 EFTS at Woodley, a unit which would gain eight of the type from Clyffe Pypard. It is therefore possible that this photo depicts an ex-29 EFTS machine, which would explain the dual unit markings – ‘28’ being typical of the latter.  

 

Joy Davies (nee Pond), who had surreptitiously taken Tiger Moths training flights while employed by Marshall’s at Clyffe Pypard in 1942, was by early 1943 well into her ATA flight training. As she progressed, she was able to engage in the odd cross-country

exercise, and thoughts of dropping in to see old friends became a possibility. On 15th January she made a solo flight Luton to Yatesbury aboard Magister V1041 and made the short flight across to Clyffe Pypard after getting her arrival logged. In a 16th January letter to husband Stephen Davies (ex-29 EFTS and now flying with Coastal Command) she wrote,

 

“My cross country yesterday included a landing at Yatesbury so of course I hopped over to CP and spent about 2 hours there, which included lunch on Bert [Tribe, the CFI] and necessitated some crafty “cooking” of my flying times! Bert was very happy to tell me that he had received a letter from you and was in fact writing to you that evening. Robin [Knight] was away flying Oxfords, which I should imagine is quite a break for him after the monotony of a 10 hour day at CP for the last month. Several of ‘F’ Flight ground staff enquired about you, and Major Beattie sends his very kind regards. (He seemed delighted that I called in to see him). Tinkle giggled at me and shook me by the hand quite firmly saying “And how’s Steve?’ in that never forgotten drawl of his.”

 

“Altogether it was an amusing visit. I have another trip to do to Bristol, right over the top of CP so I expect I’ll call again before long.”

 

There were two potentially serious aircraft accidents in January, though thankfully without injury. The first occurred on 21st January, when Tiger Moth N6724 crashed at Ravensbrook Farm near Cricklade during a test flight. On 4th January this

aircraft (with Fg Off Trendell and Cpl WJ Morel aboard) had overshot on landing, hit a hedge and turned on its nose. It was then repaired at Clyffe Pypard and was then tested on 21st January with Fg Off JLF Hitchon as pilot and ground engineer Mr CE Ruscoe as passenger. It is one of just a handful of 29 EFTS aircraft to have a surviving précis accident report. As such it is interesting to quote directly the circumstances of the crash,

 

“The aircraft, carrying a passenger, was being flown on a test flight after major repair. At an altitude of 4000 ft it was slow rolled to the right. On recovery the aileron controls jammed. The pilot made unsuccessful attempts to free the stick and decided, owing to bumpy flying conditions and lack of control, that the aircraft should be abandoned. The passenger and pilot bailed out at a height of 3000 ft and landed safely. The aircraft was completely wrecked on impact with the ground.

 

"A detailed examination of the wreckage both at the scene of the accident and [at] the Salvage Unit concerned, failed to reveal any technical defect in the aileron circuit.

 

Cause of the accident must be attributed to jamming of the aileron circuit. While no technical defect was found the possibility that the operating chain fouled the sprocket in the aileron differential gear cannot be dismissed.”

 

Joy Davies, on another cross-country sortie, this time to Whitchurch, dropped

into 29 EFTS on 21st January, in Magister T9835. She arrived amid the aftermath

of the Tiger Moth drama, and described events in a letter to her husband that

evening,

 

“I did a trip to Bristol today, so of course called in at CP. I arrived in the

midst of a flap - Hitchon and an Engineer had just bailed out of a Maggy

[sic] and Bert and Buckingham were rushing off to look at the bits. The

“Balers” arrived safely.”

 

The second accident involved Magister N5407 on 26th January, this time with

Army cadet Cpl Leslie Winsper aboard. Another Clyffe Pypard accident to feature

in a surviving report, which reads thus,

 

The aircraft, flown by a pupil pilot, took off from Clyffe Pypard at 1520 hrs

on a solo practice flight.

 

(Right) - FLt Lt HWB Hansford with Tiger Moth ‚’79‘. Hansford (born in Dorset on

17th September 1895) was D Flight commander from August 1942 to July 1943.

In common with a number of other flying personnel at Clyffe Pypard, he had seen

service in World War 1, training to fly with 58 Training Depot Station, Cranwell from October 1918, initially on the DH.6 and BE.2c. He graduated from Higher Instruction there in February 1919 and went on to fly Handley_page 0/400 bombers with 216 Sqn in France and Egypt. (Bert Allam via Pete Allam).

 

After reaching an altitude of 4000 feet the pilot decided to carry out a steep turn to the left. During this manoeuvre the nose dropped slightly and the pilot endeavoured to correct the attitude of the aircraft by centralising the rudder, reducing bank and easing back the control column. At the completion of the turn he heard the sound of breaking timber and saw the port mainplane fold upwards from a point 3 feet from the wing root fitting. He endeavoured to straighten out but the port mainplane became detached and the aircraft immediately went into a tight spin to port. When at an altitude of 2000 feet the pilot extricated himself from the rear cockpit and descended by parachute, He was slightly injured on landing [he received a twisted ankle]. The port mainplane was taken to [Accidents Investigation Branch]  Headquarters and as a result of a detailed examination it was concluded that the primary failure had occurred at a splice in the port mainplane front spar top boom.

 

An inspection of the splice surfaces showed that there was slight adhesion of the fibres at the feathered edges but little evidence of glue elsewhere on the joint. Furthermore, on the outboard half of the splice the surface of the joint was not level but slightly concave. No repairs had been carried out on this spar in service and the splice had been made during the initial construction of the component. The defective splice was examined by RAE, who concluded that the failure of the splice was due to access of moisture through a scarf joint in the three-ply covering lying spanwise along the spar.  

 

The Magister had crashed near to Swindon. Later promoted to Staff Sergeant, Winsper was killed at Arnhem on 9th December 1944.

(Left) - Some personnel made less of an impact at Clyffe Pypard than elsewhere. Flying Officer Frederick George Denis O’Callaghan (85495) was born in Anerley, London on 26th May 1909 and learnt to fly with Surrey Flying Services at Croydon during 1930. He had arrived at Clyffe Pypard on 9th June 1943 as a Flying Instructor, posted-in from No.22 EFTS at Cambridge. He was with 29 EFTS for just seven months, before moving on to No.1 EFTS at Panshanger on 19th January 1944. By June of that year he had been posted to Spitfire-equipped 277 Squadron, based at Shoreham and Hawkinge on the south-east coast. On 25th June 1944 O’Callaghan was killed whilst flying Spitfire Vb AB975 AV-A. His standing on the squadron can be judged by comments made in the Operations Record Book for the day, which began, “Weather dull with tendency to rain. It was with deep regret that news was received in late afternoon stating that Fg Off FGD O’Callaghan was missing from operations and it transpired later that his aircraft crashed at Oborne near Sherborne, Dorset resulting in his untimely death. Fg Off FGD O’Callaghan was most popular and was held in high esteem by his fellow pilots and crews in the squadron. The squadron has lost not only a conscientious pilot but an officer of highest ideals”

 

Fully-umpired Station exercises began in January 1943, and in line with the weapons training of staff, on 4th January amid freezing conditions which later brought snow showers, all station personnel were taken up to the Liddington Castle hill fort for long rifle, grenade throwing and Vickers machine gun practice. The Station Defence Exercise was completed on 20th January, with the enemy represented by two flights of Pre-Glider Trainees, who acted as parachute troops and carried out a Main Attack, a Diversionary Attack and a Nuisance Attack against positions occupied by station personnel, with the Station Home Guard acting as a Station Striking Force.

 

The Main Attack would comprise one Platoon tasked with capturing the Nonesuch Farm area on the northern perimeter, moving off at 1530 hrs. Meanwhile the Diversionary Attack was to assemble at Bupton Farm and attack north of the road to the Station through Bushton Hill in the northwest. Finally, the Nuisance Attack was to comprise one Section of troops and infiltrate positions through Clyffe Hanging wood, in between the Main and Diversionary attacks.

 

The offensive was prevented from reaching its objectives, though the Home Guard suffered heavy casualties when moving in to counter-attack. The Diversionary Attack was also successfully repulsed, but Nuisance Attack succeeded in penetrating the defences in No. 1 Sub Area and entered the Station through the perimeter wire near the Officers Mess. The exercise was terminated at this point but it was presumed that the Nuisance Attack troops would have been “mopped up" as well. The Umpire, Lt Col RPP Smyly was critical of many of the defending positions, where troops were silhouetted against the skyline as they assembled for the attack. He was also scathing in his criticism of the Home Guard, stating that, “…they have much to learn.” There would be many more such exercises to ensure that these issues had been addressed, but it was clear that, had there been a real invasion in early 1943, the Station would have been severely challenged to repel an attack.

 

(Left) - A view of the D Flight dispersal, with a standard Over hangar visible at left: construction was rudimentary with open ends and only a modicum of protection from the elements for an aircraft. Sgt RJ ‘Dicky’ Ingham, Flt Lt ‘Daddy’ Fowler, FO HJD ‘Smiler’ Smiles, PO GP ‘Alex’ Alexandra and Sgt AJ ‘Alf’ Westaway.  George Peter Alexandra was posted out to 21 (P) AFU in April 1944 and was killed on 3rd February 1945 whilst serving with 170 Sqn. (Bert Allam via Pete Allam).

 

Due to a bottleneck in personnel passing through Advanced Flying Units and Operational Training Units, a large number of aircrew who had completed overseas training were held up at the Personnel Reception Centres in Bournemouth by early 1943. As a result, arrangements were made for these

trainees to undergo a month’s refresher flying at an EFTS to acquaint them with the flying conditions in Europe. For Clyffe Pypard, this resulted in the arrival of 27 ‘ex-PRC’ trainees on 26th February 1943, with further intakes of a similar number arriving weekly so that 108 PRC trainees would be flying with 29 EFTS at any one time. Because accommodation on site was already stretched to the limit, the PRC personnel were to be, “…accommodated on similar lines to LAC’s under training [presumable in tents]”. Despite this, the first intake showed great keenness to recommence flying. The first ex-PRC Course came wholly from No.11 PRC an Bournemouth, an organization set up in October 1942 (as ‘The RAAF PRC’) purely for handling pilots from the Royal Australian Air Force.

 

Lessons learnt from the series of Action Stations drills and Station exercises came together on 1st March when Clyffe Pypard was placed on Alert No.2 in preparation for Exercise ‘Hawk’, which had been organised by GOC Salisbury Plain district to test the reactions of Units in case of landings by enemy paratroops. Now, with the Station’s performance up for comparison with that of neighbouring camps, it would be obvious if there were any shortcomings. Flying was halted at 1.30 pm and at 2.15pm the exercise kicked-off when police at Winterbourne Bassett reported landing of 20 paratroops in the vicinity of Whyr Farm, to the southeast of the airfield. Action Stations were manned and the Station Home Guard, acting as a striking force, went out to intercept the enemy.

 

(Left) - Instructors at leisure in the 'D' Flight Dispersal hut. L-R: ‘Bert’ (surname not known), Pat O’Sullivan, Alf Westaway, unknown (at rear) – doorway - then ‘Alex’ Alexandra, Dicky Ingham (standing), unknown, Bolshy Barton and unknown. Note the ubiquitous pot-belly stove, southern England map on the wall and the D Flight state board at right.  (Bert Allam via Pete Allam).

 

Curiously, the CO then telephoned Alton Barnes and ordered 12 aircraft with 24 men of ‘A’ and ‘B’ Flights to fly across to Clyffe Pypard so that these personnel could man their localities at Nebo and Nonesuch Farms, the remainder at Alton Barnes being directed to emboss and head towards Clyffe Pypard, where they would be supported by two Beaverette armoured cars to attack the enemy from

the rear. It would appear that at least one of the ungainly (and largely ineffective) Armadillo mobile pillboxes was still in use, but probably due to be replaced by the Beaverettes.

 

Meanwhile on the airfield, the first Tiger Moths from Alton Barnes began to arrive and an ‘friendly’ attacking force advanced southeast towards Stanmore Copse and dug-in, awaiting the enemy.  Shortly afterwards, paratroops were spotted heading for Nonesuch Farm and two reserve sections were sent under cover of the copse to engage them with enfilading fire. The umpires awarded 50% casualties among the enemy, which then withdrew towards the Winterbourne Bassett road, pursued by the Home Guard, which met with one of the Beaverettes and were then able to finish off the surviving invaders. A second counter-attack towards Clyffe Hanging had meanwhile been spotted and relayed to Battle HQ, who ordered troops in the woods there to attack. At about 3.15pm the enemy forces were declared to have been wiped out before the road reinforcements from Alton Barnes had even arrived.

 

In the middle of this exercise, a solitary Magister was seen to land on the airfield, and it would have seemed to many that this would be another test of the station defences. But it soon became clear that ATA trainee Joy Davies had simply chosen a rather awkward moment to drop in on another of her impromptu visits. This time she was returning from Weston Zoyland in Magister V1041 and later that day she wrote to her husband,

 

“Today I went right down to Devonshire - on the coast at the Bristol Channel - and it was a heavenly day. To get to the Mess for lunch I had a mile walk through country lanes. The blossoms and birds and primroses were lovely, and it was gloriously warm. On the way back I allowed myself an error in track and found myself at CP (Very odd I hear you say!). On arrival I was arrested and shot by Robin, looking bored in a tin hat and with empty revolver holster.”

 

Apparently they were at “tactics” again and I chose to land at the same time as the imaginary paratroops. When I landed last Friday it was to find Robin looking very glum having just pranged a Tiger [RG Knight - possibly aircraft T6685, crashed 26th February and sent to Taylorcraft for repair], but today he was in high spirits and suggested I might oil up a few plugs and stay for the night!

 

For Clyffe Pypard the exercise was deemed to have been satisfactory, but did highlight the limitation of the airfield’s AA weapons. These had been mounted in pits and this restricted the guns’ ability to be lowered enough to use them against ground targets. It was hoped that new ‘Spider’ mounts (not tested until September however) would enable the guns to be sited directly onto ground level and in future they could form an impressive part of the station’s ground defence scheme. A further Station exercise – this time at night – was completed on 22nd March.

 

Something of a mystery surrounds an incident at Clyffe Pypard on 2nd March 1943. Without the knowledge of anyone else on the Station, and with no authorization, two instructors, Fg Off Angus Gerald WilIiams RNZAF (20) and Fg Off Alfred Gifford Moss RAFVR (26), took-off for in low cloud and poor visibility, apparently bound for Alton Bames aboard Tiger Moth T6641. Both of these instructors had been with 29 EFTS for some time - Moss since the previous September and Williams for almost a year, and so their actions are difficult to understand. In low cloud and bad visibility the aircraft crashed into rising ground at Hill Covert on Roundway HilI near Devizes, six miles from their destination. Both men were trapped in the wreckage of the overturned aircraft and died in the ensuing fire. US Army personnel mounted guard at the crash site until the bodies were recovered.  The incident was later written-up by Flt Lt Stoll, the Station Medical Officer, as it had highlighted a number of issues that had a direct impact on the reporting of future flying accidents,

 

“A witness to the accident, after verifying that both men were dead, informed the nearest units, viz a US Army camp some 3 miles distant, a US Air Force camp some 5 to 6 miles away, RAF Station Yatesbury 8 to 9 miles away, and Alton Barnes 8 to 9 miles away. In spite of the fact that at the time he was unaware of which Unit the Tiger Moth belonged to, the Officer Commanding Alton Barnes proceeded immediately to the site of the accident, being delayed by wrong directions as it its whereabouts. He was not able to identify the bodies owing to their burnt condition and returned to inform the Unit Commanding Officer to that effect. By this time a check-up had revealed the fact that the Tiger Moth with the above two officers were missing from the station and it was presumed that they were the involved persons. The Unit Medical Officer heard of the crash casually over the lunch table but was given to understand that the bodies had been removed by the Alton Barnes ambulance, there being no flying at the time; nevertheless he was subsequently instructed to proceed to the site of the crash, extricate the bodies and attempt to identify them. This was done, and final identification was by means of a F.1250 in the pocket of one of the bodies.

 

It will be seen that the delay in the dispatch of the ambulance was due to the zoning scheme for crashes, the site of the crash being on the boundary between Yatesbury and Alton Barnes area, very near a United States Depot (the Americans had not only visited the crash, but had actually posted a guard, pending the arrival of an RAF Guard) and within the zone of an army unit which had recently moved. This matter was taken up with the Commanding Officer of this unit on 3rd March 1943 and it was decided that the zoning scheme must be ignored in future and that the Station or Alton Barnes ambulance will attend all crashes of aircraft belonging to this Unit within reasonable distance as well as any other crashes that might occur near the Unit, provided that no information has been received that an ambulance from another Unit is proceeding to the site of the accident.”  

 

Both of the airmen were buried in the village churchyard of St. Peter at Clyffe Pypard on 5th March.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above, left) - Sgt Bert Allam, March 1942, a photo taken to mark the completion of his flight training with No.1 BFTS at Terrell, Texas. Sgt Allam was at a flying instructor at Clyffe Pypard for a year from March 1943 and would go on to serve with 227 Sqn at Balderton and 582 Sqn at Little Staughton before the end of the war. (Bert Allam via Pete Allam) (Above, right) - ‘Number 91’, Bert Allam’s ‘personal’ Tiger Moth, 1943.

 

Sgt AJ ‘Bert’ Allam arrived at Clyffe Pypard on 2nd March for duty as a flying instructor with 29 EFTS, straight from No.4 Flying Instructors School at Cambridge, via 6 EFTS at Sywell,

 

“Together with Snowy White, and Dicky Ingham, I found myself allocated to 'D' Flight, where we were joined by another newcomer Harry Turner, a much older WW1 veteran pilot who had flown some of the very earliest torpedo bombers. Our Flight Commander was a jovial, mustachioed ex-fighter type by the name of Squadron Leader 'Skip' Conner.

 

There was one other Sergeant pilot among the instructors who, despite his preference of signing himself ‘RH Montague Vere’, was inevitably always referred to as 'Percy'. The officer contingent somehow often seemed to change, but at the time of my arrival it consisted of three Flying Officers, [BC] Wood, [FR] Fowler and [AJD] Smiles. 'Woody' as he was known was a mild, pleasant individual, whilst 'Smiler' was the opposite - aggressive and tough. He was a tour-expired Wimpy pilot who hated instructing and did everything possible to make himself unpopular in the hope that he would be removed from the job. I fear that his unfortunate pupils did not fare too well under his care. 'Daddy' Fowler was a smiling 50 year old who, although officially far too old for pilot training at the beginning of the war, had nevertheless talked long and hard to get himself accepted, and although again rejected for operational flying, became an instructor and thus gained some reward for his persistence.

 

'D' Flight was a very happy place under Skip Conner and I soon settled in. After one trip with the Flight Commander to get an idea of the local area, I was ready to go. Unlike Sywell, I was able from the beginning to lay claim to what became my own aircraft - largely, I suspect because no one else wanted it! T8181, with its station No of 91 became my very own. It was probably one of the slowest on the flight with pretty awful rigging, but with the assistance of one of the civilian fitters I was gradually able to get it to a reasonable condition and it eventually became known as the best aerobatic aircraft on 'D' Flight, although it could rarely summon up more than 85 mph on cruising power!

 

I soon found that overall, the general attitude of the instructors on 'D' Flight was one of complete madness. Guided by Skip Conner, we made our own decisions as to when we flew, and ignored any exhortations from the CFI's office to get airborne in conditions when we decided that it was useless for pupils. Consequently, when the weather was (by 'D' Flight standards) not on, members of 'D' Flight were often absent, being somewhere out in the local countryside collecting eggs or hunting rabbits.

 

We built up a surprising armoury of weapons. A German Luger, a Smith and Wesson .45, a 12 bore shotgun, a 410 shotgun, a .22 rifle, a BSA air rifle, and a catapult! 'D' Flight when on the prowl could be something to be avoided.

 

Our hunting efforts proved strangely ineffective, and led Snowy to obtain two ferrets which he kept in a hutch behind 'D' Flight dispersal. However, these also did not seem to have much heart in their work and were eventually sold off!

 

The late spring saw rooks nesting in the tall trees growing in the slope of the cliff escarpment - only one field away from 'D' Flight, and led to some energetic and dangerous tree-climbing escapades in our efforts to obtain the eggs. In this our 50 year old Daddy Fowler was prominent and encouraged by the younger and wiser members, reached some of the topmost branches aided by some very dodgy work with a length of picket rope!

 

The next couple of months or so saw an incredible number of changes of personnel in 'D' Flight. Skip Conner departed [on 27th April 1943 for overseas], back to his beloved Fighter Command, and several others were posted so suddenly we wondered whether someone in Flying Training Command or even on the station itself were taking it out on people they happened not to like. Skip organised a great thrash at a pub in Wootton Bassett to celebrate his going and gave some recitations of what had become well known as his very own brand of poetry. A verse of one of the best remembered went -

 

Daddy Fowler's much improved

Since he's had his balls removed

Now we hear his voice much higher

In the Wootton Bassett choir!

 

With Skip's departure also went Percy Vere to some unknown destination [to 15(P)AFU, but not until March 1944], and the replacements included one FG Off [JH] Clarke, an ex-Desert Air Force type, with a vicious looking black handle-bar moustache, and a completely mad attitude to all and everything around him. His favourite trick, performed without warning, was to remove a red-hot poker from the ironclad stove (on which a kettle permanently boiled) and spit a mouthful of paraffin across the said poker, causing a jet of flame to shoot across the room to scorch some innocent and unsuspecting victim!

 

(Right) - D Flight June 1943, with staff

at front and pupils at rear. Front row

L-R are: FS DF ‘Snowy’ White, FO BC

‘Woody’ Wood, FO FR ‘Daddy’ Fowler,

Flt Lt HWB ‘Hanny’ Hansford (Flight

Commander), ‘Mrs D’ (Marshall’s staff),

FO HJD ‘Smiler’ Smiles, DFM and FO JH

‘Nobby’ Clarke. On the ground at front

is Sgt HJN ‘Harry’ Turner. Note the

female ‘prop-swinger’ at left: another

essential member of the Flight staff.

(Bert Allam via Pete Allam).

 

'Nobby' Clarke was crazy to fly

formation with, having the apparent

desire to put his wingtip in the ear of

whoever he was flying with. He was

also a natural in dog-fighting - his

favourite pastime - and I learned a lot from mixing it with Nobby on such occasions.

 

Some way north of the airfield we had a practice low flying area [around the Minety area, including Braydon Pond], within which we were allowed to fly down to 200 feet. As might be expected, this was not regarded as true low flying and had to be improved upon, albeit unofficially and illegally, despite the risk of dire punishment if caught. Consequently, most participants were to be seen buzzing around at as low an altitude as possible without actually hitting anything. Some imaginative individual invented a new game which involved bouncing one's wheels on the surface of the water of the small lake which the area contained. Rather surprisingly no one actually came to grief practising this!

 

Our other new acquisitions were our new Flight Commander, another WWI veteran, Flt Lt [HWB] Hansford, and a Rhodesian, Roddy Plint. When we got bored with instructing, one of our unofficial pastimes was to make up a formation with some of the Dominies and Proctors from the Wireless Operators School at nearby Yatesbury, or sometimes the Oxfords from the AFU at South Cerney. On occasion we got tangled in dog-fights or formation with some of the Americans who flew Piper Cub observation planes from an airfield not too far distant.

 

These could be rather hectic affairs starting at some reasonable height but quickly developing into a mad jumble of aircraft chasing each other around at tree top level. Roddy Plint, however, took the top prize for formation when he appeared over the field one day leading a flight of Spitfires - Roddy with the Tiger on full bore and the Spits with wheels and flap down!”

 

As mentioned above, Bert’s induction to life at 29 EFTS was typical: on 4th March he completed a 25-minute local familiarization flight with Sqn Ldr Conner aboard Tiger Moth DE627, and following a break of a few days, he went straight into the training of pupils on Sunday 7th March aboard his ‘personal’ Tiger, T8181. His first four cadets were LAC’s Barnes, Cook, Kennedy and Rutter.

 

At lunchtime on 9th March, Tiger Moth T7919 crashed at Minety whilst on a navigation exercise, seriously injuring the pilot, P Off RL Martin and his passenger Fg Off DS Fisher. Both were taken to the RAF Hospital at Wroughton. They had hit a tree in the low-flying area and though the aircraft crashed on an even keel, the impact was forceful enough to break the fuselage aft of the cockpit and leave the crew with back injuries, P Off Martin with paraplegia from the waist.

 

The final Army Pre-Glider Course – No.9 – graduated on 10th March 1943. From a total intake of 71 (including 21 transferred from previous courses), there were 21 suspensions, 21 transfers to No.21 EFTS at Booker, leaving two officer and 27 NCO graduates. The course had lasted for 18 weeks, with an average flying time per pupil of 53 hours dual by day and 6 hours at night. Average time to solo was 12.15 hours, with graduates scoring 65.7% for the course and an ‘average’ overall rating. During 10 months of Pre-Glider training, 29 EFTS had passed-out 251 graduates to the Glider Training Schools. John Whiteley was still an instructor at Clyffe Pypard at this time,

 

“By the late summer of 1943, the War Office decreed that there were enough glider pilots and once more I reverted to teaching RAF cadet pilots with a difference.  In place of the full EFTS Course of 60 hours flying, a grading system had been introduced; the trainee pilot now received no more than eleven hours flying during which he was tested twice and graded as pilot, navigator or bomb aimer for further instruction abroad.

 

I was allocated four new pupils every three or four weeks - the monotony of the grading system got to me and I needed a break. I had transferred to the RAF to fight the Germans and my mind was made up and I therefore elected to join Bomber Command.”

 

John Whiteley departed Clyffe Pypard on 17th January 1944 and eventually served with No.619 Squadron on Lancasters.

 

(Left) - The D Flight dispersal was located in the western-most corner of the airfield, this photo dating from the early summer of 1943. (Bert Allam via Pete Allam).

 

Just as a Station night exercise was drawing to a close on 22nd March, a Stirling bomber crash-landed on the airfield following engine problems. The aircraft, one of nine from XV Squadron at Bourn in Lincolnshire, had been detailed to attack St Nazaire, departing base at just before 7.30pm. It was not a successful mission, for shortly after crossing the French coast, all the aircraft were recalled, though one Stirling did attack the primary target. All except one returned safely to base.

 

The aircraft which failed to return was BK667/LS-H, piloted by FS James L Shiells (1052462), and it had first experienced problems with its starboard outer engine, followed by a failure on the port inner. Shiells by this time was returning over southern England and decided to forced-land at Clyffe Pypard. Shiells’ aircraft was returning with a partial load of incendiaries, quoted in the Squadron Diary as “15 x 90 x 4, 4 x 8 x 30 Inc [incendiaries]”, these having failed to release when Shiells ordered the bombs to be jettisoned over the sea. He arrived over the airfield at 10.10pm that evening, but he overshot the flarepath, crashed through the northeast boundary of the airfield and came to rest against some trees. The incendiary bombs aboard the aircraft then ignited and BK667 was destroyed. Fortunately, FS Shiells and his bomb aimer, Sgt Leslie A James (1332170) were able to escape without injury, though the second pilot, Sgt JK Compson (1237086), was trapped in the cockpit and was fortunate to be released with minor leg injuries.

 

Understandably it was an incident which was still fresh in the memory of Bert Allam many years later,

 

“We had…no idea what was happening, and the Tigers all scattered as the big aircraft came in low. It touched down on the grass with wheels up, went through the upwind boundary fence and ploughed into a small copse, uprooting trees and bushes in the process. They were not aware that they had some incendiaries hung up and still aboard, and these were ripped out and tossed around as the Stirling continued on its way, to come to rest by a farmhouse with its progress finally arrested by a large tree.

 

“Following the trail of burning incendiaries we rushed over to find one of the crew outside the wreck and the other two trapped in the nose. There did not seem to be any fire but the fuselage was filled with smoke as a few of us entered (the only time I was ever in a Stirling) and tried without success to free the occupants. In the event we had to await the arrival of our station fire truck with cutting gear, but fortunately the two crew members were miraculously uninjured.”

 

The remainder of the crew had previously been ordered to parachute from the bomber, the two air gunners, Sgt Donald JA Hyde (1249758) and Canadian Sgt Bertie JA Bessette (R.94993) landed close to nearby RAF Yatesbury and presented themselves at the guardroom there. The three other members of the crew came down close to Clyffe Pypard. The flight engineer, Sgt B Taaffe (1139213), was discovered unconscious next to the perimeter fence, with facial injuries and multiple fractures, having lain there for three hours. Both Sgt Clive B Perring (1202044 - navigator) and Sgt John Gould (1182265 - wireless operator/air gunner) were found hanging from trees in the vicinity. All had been accounted for by 2.30am on 23rd March, but the search activities did put an end to the night flying programme.

 

With  Sgts Taafe and Compson recovering from their injuries, FS Shiells’ crew gained two new members and returned to operations, Tragically all of this new crew were killed on operations just three weeks later.

 

The change in 29 EFTS aircraft establishment that had been promulgated in January, finally began to be felt in March 1943, when the Magisters began to be reassigned as follows:

 

8 EFTS Woodley - 1

21 EFTS Booker - 7

10 FIS Woodley - 2

3 GTS Stoke Orchard - 6

5 GTS Shobdon - 6

15 MU Wroughton - 1

45 MU Kinloss - 5

46 MU Lossiemouth - 5

51 MU Lichfield - 3

Herts & Essex, Broxbourne - 1

 

Meanwhile in order to increase the Tiger Moths up to the revised establishment, from 7th March until mid-April, thirty-seven of the type arrived, mainly from the RAF Maintenance Units.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above) - An interesting view which shows not only the personnel of D Flight (June 1943), but the main technical site of Clyffe Pypard in the distance. This photo was taken from the D Flight dispersal, looking eastwards. (Bert Allam via Pete Allam)

 

Further changes in the training commitment were made during April 1943. First off, driven by the need for increasing the output of graders, from No.14 ex-PRC Course (which graduated on 16th April) all future courses would be of 14-day duration to allow more resource to be directed towards grader assessment. The intake of future ex-PRC courses would be increased from 27 to 45 personnel. In turn the grader courses were increased in output to two per week, with cadets’ leave cut from 14 days to 10. From 6th May, in a further attempt to hasten output, instructors were allotted three pupils each rather than four.  The Flights then began an intensive period of training, exemplified by ‘F’ Flight’s record on 7th May, of 102.35 flying hours during a single day. The record was subsequently beaten by ‘E’ Flight on 14th May, with 106 hours. Grader pupils thereafter completed training at the rate of 40 to 60 per week against a weekly target of 12 per Flight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above) - 27th July 1943 excerpt from Sgt Bert Allam’s log book, showing a couple of cross-

country  sorties aboard Tiger Moth BB742. First was to Hungerford via Salisbury and Andover

with pupil Archer and the second (Faringon-Andover) with Bickford. By a quirk of fate, as of

2016 BB742 (G-ACDI) is owned by Doublecube Aviation and based at Old Sarum airfield

near Salisbury. (Bert Allam via Pete Allam).

 

The scale of Station exercises had begun to ramp-up, beginning on 11th May, when the 102nd US Cavalry provided a mechanised attacking force. The Station diarist described the experience as, “…very interesting and realistic”, and it seems that this time the ‘enemy’ prevailed. The event also left a strong impression in Bert Allam’s memory,

 

“The Americans were taking it all very seriously it seemed and were not messing about. They had live explosives and blew large gaps in our perimeter wire with their Bangalore torpedos! The exercise came to a somewhat abrupt halt, and wisely was never repeated.”

 

A more localised exercise the following month involved the Wroughton aerodrome and village Home Guard as attackers, and unsurprisingly they were repulsed. Of note however, was that the ‘enemy’ forces comprised a contingent of G Company, 9th Wiltshire Home Guard, under Major Gosling, a Victoria Cross recipient.

 

On 5th May Fg Off FR Fowler and Sgt A McGuffie crash-landed on the airfield in Tiger Moth N6861. Both were unhurt. As Bert Allam later recalled,

 

“Night flying at Clyffe provided the opportunity of a few entertaining diversions, although occasionally as at Sywell, the weather intervened as on the night when Daddy Fowler and Mac McGuffie got lost in the fog, and feeling their way cautiously down without, of course, the help of radio or any other assistance, managed to find the field so successfully that they crashed the aircraft into the fence a few yards from the main gate and guardroom! They climbed unhurt from the Tiger which was in need of some considerable first aid.”

 

(Left) - When Harry Hansford departed for 2 EFTS in July 1943, ‘Daddy’ Fowler took over as D Flight commander: he is seen here aboard a BSA 350 motorbike at the dispersal around the time he took over. And like Hansford, Frederick Russell Fowler (born 4th October 1899 in Herefordshire) had learnt to fly in World War 1. But unlike Hansford he saw no service after training on the DH.6 with 3 Training Depot Station (TDS) at Lopcombe Corner and 43 TDS at Chattis Hill. (Bert Allam via Pete Allam).

 

More seriously, while flying at low level near Steeple Langford on 19th May 1943, Tiger Moth N9198 flew into HT electricity cables and crashed. Its pilot, Sgt Robert Frederick Gauvin (RAAF 414555) suffered concussion and a fractured jaw and was taken to the 5th Central Hospital (US Army) at Odstock, but Sgt Ross Newcombe

Kemsley (RAAF 417203) was killed. Sgt Gauvin never returned to flying duties.

 

On the night of 23rd May 1943, Clyffe Pypard received another unexpected guest. Wellington XI MP689 of No. 301 Ferry Training Unit had been performing circuits at nearby Lyneham but somehow then mistook Clyffe Pypard’s flare path for that of his much larger home station and attempted to make a landing. The pilot, P Off SJ Green (J.24104), managed to put the aircraft down, but inevitably it ran out of runway and ended up on the wrong side of the perimeter fence. The aircraft was damaged but the crew escaped serious injury, though Green suffered abrasions to his forehead.

 

A further Court Martial convened on 11th June 1943 to try RAAF Sgt KA Palmer under Section 39A(2)(b) of the Air Force Act that, “When on active Service, being pilot of HM aircraft Tiger Moth No. T6767, improperly and without permission flew the said aircraft at an altitude of less than 2,000 feet contrary to the provisions of Kings Regulations and ACI para 717 Clause 7.” Wg Cdr AM Butt found Palmer guilty and sentenced him to be reduced to the ranks.

 

The ex-PRC Flights should have been increased to four from 11th June, with the remaining two Flights being dedicated to grading, but only 36 PRC students were received (against an expectation of 72 pupils), and so, including existing students, there were only 19 pilots and 49 navigators undergoing this type of acclimatisation course. As a result, ‘C’ Flight was converted into an Instructors’ refresher Flight until mid-July when the situation had reversed, with four Flights taking on the role of grading and just two Flights being dedicated to the ex-PRC courses. By the end of July 1943, 29 ex-PRC courses had been completed by 29 EFTS, but numbers on each course had by that time decreased to as few as 37 personnel. No.29 ex-PRC Course, which graduated on 30th July after just seven days, averaged just 2.43 hours of dual time, 8.13 hours solo and 0.19 hours of night flying time. Some of this was due to a continued bout of poor flying weather, but whatever the reason this marked the end of the training of pupils from the Personnel Reception Centres. Clyffe Pypard then turned over all six Flights to grading training, though even then, just 86 grading cadets passed through the School in July.   

 

A series of 5-day attachments to operational stations began on 6th July, when Fg Off Bird, Fg Off Thring and Fg Off Stewart were sent to RAF Kenley, Melbourne and West Malling. Subsequent instructors followed at five day intervals through the rest of July and into August. Bert Allam was one of these lucky few and he spent a few enjoyable days with 331 and 332 Squadron at North Weald. However, as with the other visits, he was only allowed to observe operations from the ground – in this case the squadrons were flying Spitfires.

 

(Right) - Exit 'D' Flight – a light-hearted memorial created by staff to mark the departure

of several key members in July 1943. (Bert Allam via Pete Allam).

 

Another Station exercise was held on the afternoon of 2nd August, when the

two Flights from Alton Barnes and the whole of Clyffe Pypard’s personnel were

turned out to march cross-country to converge on the Beckhampton crossroads

, which was roughly equidistant from the two airfields. The object of the

exercise was for each force to occupy the crossroads and deny its use to the

other team. For the exercise, the Clyffe Pypard personnel comprised Blue Force

and those from Alton Barnes, Red Force. For identification, Blue Force wore

steel helmets and Red Force wore forage caps. Departing on a fine, cold 

afternoon, the Clyffe Pypard contingent converged on Windmill Hill, a pimple

of land to the north of Bechkampton, which rises just 50 feet or so above the

surrounding ground. On the face of it, this would have seemed a good idea,

but the benefit of the high ground was lost when Blue Force attacked the

Beckhampton crossroads, exposing themselves to fire from Red Force as they

descended the open slope. Since Red Force had managed to deny the

crossroads to Blue force until 4.30pm, the exercise was ended. The Umpire,

Major Woodhouse, later rather flippantly declared that, “The exercise was

apparently enjoyed by all”. A second, off-Station exercise was held in October,

this time against a Station Home Guard force on Hackpen Hill (Clyffe Pypard’s Home Guard force was by this time organized as ‘L’ Coy, 9th Battalion Wilts HG).

 

There was a more unusual accident on the afternoon of 9th August, which highlighted the role of female ground staff at Clyffe Pypard. During a propeller swing, the engine of the Tiger Moth fired prematurely and a civilian refueller, Miss May Smith of Calne lost three fingers on her right hand and suffered a fractured upper arm. The cause was put down to the engine starting as soon as the propeller was touched, probably because one of the pistons had stopped at ‘top dead centre’ on its compression stroke. Wg Cdr Goldsmith was of the opinion that, “…the propeller swinging procedure as laid down in Air Publication 129 should be amended so that, should the engine fail to start due to the impulse [starter] sticking, the propeller swinger should call ‘switches off’ before attending to the impulse. He [she] should then turn the propeller to see if the impulse is working correctly before calling ‘contact’.” No blame was apportioned to the pilot, Fg Off DC Alderwood, but the recommendation that, “…very short people should not be employed as prop swingers” was made.

 

Despite earlier examples being made of both pupils and staff for low flying, the activity continued, and the latest to be tried by Court Martial, instructor FS P Rowland, came before Wg Cdr Howarth-Booth, DFC on 7th September. Rowland was charged that, “When on Active Service, being pilot of His Majesty’s aircraft Tiger Moth No. R5079, improperly and without permission flying the said aircraft at an altitude of less than 2,000 feet contrary to the provisions of Kings Regulations and ACI paragraph 717, clause 7”. Like most of his predecessors, Rowland was found guilty, severely reprimanded and reduced to the rank of sergeant. On 12th September, Sgt Rowland was posted to No.6 EFTS at Sywell, but still as a flying instructor.

 

At this point, a review of the situation in September 1943 shows what 29 EFTS were doing on a daily basis. Generally the weather was good, which was a change from previous months, though on 1st September, low cloud and heavy rain had prevented any flying. The following days saw a major improvement, and in more typical summer weather, more than 200 hours were completed daily, but there was no night flying programme. The routine was interrupted on 3rd September by a church parade to mark the day the war started, and on 15th September by a parade to mark the Battle of Britain. With no glider or PRC trainees, the output of grading students continued, with 41 passing out in the first week of the month, 96 the following week, 71 in the third week and finally 63 at the end of the month. The grading personnel were the sole output of 29 EFTS during this period.

 

(Left) - With the departure of a number of key personnel, by the time of this foggy September 1943 view, D Flight comprised (L-R): Bert Allam, Pat O’Sullivan, Dicky Ingham, Alf Westaway, ‘Bolshy’ Barton, ‘Alex’ Alexandra, Freddie Sayer, ‘Bert’ (surname not known) and (seated) Flt Lt Alan Bloom (Bert Allam via Pete Allam).

 

Weekly Station parades and colour hoisting also continued, as did the visit of ENSA parties, with one ‘B’ variety show in September of 1943, two plays by CEMA, a concert by the RAF Yatesbury band and seven cinema shows. There were also six Station dances and on the sporting side, the cricket team played four matches and three more by the football team. More informal sports by this time had

expanded in range to include squash, tennis, golf and swimming (all requiring a trip to Marlborough), in addition to badminton, cricket and football on Station.  

 

The latter part of 1943 was marked by a period of strong winds, though amid this, 29 EFTS somehow managed to pass-out 98 grading pupils in the week ending 12th November – a record for the school. Two days later, the Station reported the first cases of the common cold in its staff, which soon exploded into an epidemic, with many cases within a few days, thirty of which were admitted to Station Sick Quarters. One of the barrack huts was converted into an emergency sick quarters, but the epidemic seemed to be country-wide and so isolation of patients was pointless. Gargling, ventilation and attempts at segregation eventually saw cases decrease and within two weeks, the disease began to abate, though the civilian staff were particularly badly affected and it was these personnel who were the last to be rid of it.

 

(Right) - The raw material: student pilots, Clyffe

Pypard November 1943 (Bert Allam via Pete

Allam)

 

Just at the end of the year, pre-Advanced

Flying Unit training for ex-Personnel

Reception Centre personnel recommenced at

29 EFTS, with one flight initially given over to

this activity. The first of the new intake for

No.31 PRC Course, comprising 36 ‘Pre-AFU/

ex-PRC’ pupils was received on 3rd

December. On a number of days that month,

fog at the home base put a stop to flying, but

with Alton Barnes ‘in the clear’, flying was

possible there instead. No.31 PRC Course

graduated on 31st December, apparently with

a 100% success rate.

 

There was a final Station exercise for 1943 on 15th December, and this time the scenario revolved around a general air invasion of Southern England, by parachute and glider troops. Locally, two or three platoons of enemy troops had seized the village of Broad Hinton, a mile or so east of Clyffe Pypard and so the Station was tasked with clearing the village so that convoys of lorries could use the main Devizes-Swindon road, which skirted Broad Hinton. E and F Flights from Clyffe Pypard acted as the German troops, with the rest of the Station attacking. Electing to block the Swindon road rather than trying to hold Broad Hinton with small numbers of personnel, the ‘enemy commander, Flt Lt Donan, took up positions at The Weir, with good all-round fields of fire and ditches and embankments offering good cover.

 

Meanwhile the ‘friendly’ forces, assuming that the objective was still the village, steadfastly proceeded upon Broad Hinton, only to be judged as mainly wiped out by the few snipers positioned atop buildings there. The Umpire later that, “No-one but a lunatic would enter a village with his whole formation without having first thoroughly reconnoitred the village by patrols”. It was only later that the main enemy force was located on the Swindon road, that a haphazard battle commenced. Fortunately, the Station never had to deal with such a situation for real.

(Below) - Spitfire Mk.IX aircraft overfly Clyffe Pypard, returning from a daylight sweep, September 1943 (Bert Allam via Pete Allam)

29 EFTS Flying hours for 1943:

 

January            2212 hours day, 250.40 hours night

February           3091.05 hours day, 299.55 hours night

March               3280.45 hours day, 255 hours night

April                 3833.20 hours day, 190.55 hours night

May                  5831.40 hours day, 232.35 hours night

June                 5165.40 hours day, 176.30 hours night

July                  3395.10 hours day, 142.10 hours night

August             3598.45 hours day, 42.20 hours night

September        3823.45 hours day, 54.45 hours night

October            2715.05 hours day, 36.35 hours night

November         2728.25 hours day, 40.15 hours night

December         3092.45 hours day, 81.55 hours night

 

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