1944
The New Year of 1944 brought an immediate change to the training routine of 29 EFTS. Due to a demand for glider pilots, No.32 PRC Course was terminated after just five days, its pupils having averaged just 1.15 hours dual and 0.58 solo. In their place, one officer and 17 other ranks arrived for Second Pilot Glider Training, with pupils to accomplish 17½ hours of flying in total, and to receive night flying experience. The grading courses continued unchanged. The Pre-Glider Course graduated on 14th February, the single officer and 15 NCOs who had successfully passed were then posted to No.3 GTS at Stoke Orchard, undoubtedly in preparation for the D-Day landings later in the year. No further glider training was done however, and instead, a dozen ex-PRC pupils arrived, to be bolstered weekly until the PRC Flight had reached a total of 36 personnel, with subsequent weekly outputs and intakes of 12 pupils. For the next few months, Clyffe Pypard concentrated on grading cadets and ex-PRC flying. Again, the first few months of the year brought fog, high winds and rain, but often it was possible to fly at Alton Barnes, even when the conditions were only safe enough for the instructors to fly.
(Left) - Prior to his arrival at 29 EFTS, Jason Massey did his 'square bashing' with No.3 Initial Training Wing at Torquay. He is in the scond row back, 5th from the right. His pal George Timson (also a CP trainee) is in the third row, second from left. (Jason Massey)
Jason E Massey was a grading cadet who arrived in February of 1944, taking his first flight in DH.82 T6912 (a 45-minute sortie with P Off Chatterton as instructor) on 15th February and completed his final flight from Clyffe Pypard on 7th March (Tiger Moth T7450 with instructor Sgt Bartley – 11½ Hour Test). In total, Jason completed just 12 hours 10 minutes at 29 EFTS,
“I was at Clyffe Pypard for about a month Feb/Mar 1944 Hut 49B. I was there for my 12 hours PNB flying assessment on Tiger Moths.
All aircrew in the RAF were volunteers. On applying to join the RAF for aircrew duties, candidates were assessed both medically and for academic qualifications. In the 40's you could be accepted for training as Air Gunner, Wireless operator/air gunner, or PNB (Pilot-Navigator or Bomb Aimer) hence the subsequent grading at EFTS. Previously there was also a grade known as Observer but this was discontinued and at a later date Flight Engineer was an additional grade. I was selected as PNB largely as a result of my achievements in my two years with the Air Training Corps.
All PNB aircrew, when called up reported to St Johns Wood in London (they used Lords Cricket Ground for medical checks on arrival) here they were kitted out etc and arranged into Flights of 50 personnel. These flights were posted to various places throughout the Country many at seaside resorts (I went to Torquay) these were known as Initial Training Wings (ITW's). We spent 3 months at Torquay and were then posted to Clyffe Pypard for grading Out of the 50 in our flight about 10 of us were accepted for Pilot Training, the remainder were to be trained as Navigator or Bomb Aimers and we lost touch with them.
My instructor was Sgt Bartley and tests were with Fg Off Chatterton and Fg Off Addy. I passed for further pilot training and should have gone solo after my final test but the weather closed in. I had to wait several months before I flew again in Southern Rhodesia (as it was then).
I remember the land girls (as we called them then) who were employed to swing the props for us. I can also recall we all had a spell of duty on the anti-aircraft guns on the airfield perimeter. I cannot recall ever being given any instruction on how to use them. I believe they were basically twin-.303 bullet machine guns on a revolving stand.
My only other personal memory was of my pal George Timson managing to tip his Tiger Moth up on its nose on his solo landing. He still passed for pilot training.”
(Right) - A tattered log sheet of Jason Massey's Tiger Moth training
whilst undergoing grading at Clyffe Pypard. (Jason Massey)
Like many who were being flight trained at this time,
Jason’s chosen path didn’t go as he had hoped. Following
stints at Heaton Park, Wigsley and East Kirkby, awaiting
courses he finally sailed for Southern Rhodesia a year or
more after leaving Clyffe Pypard, He sailed from Liverpool
aboard the ‘Andes’, bound for Capetown,
“May 1945 posted to RAF Induna near Bulawayo. This
was the next stage of our flying training and we flew
[Fairchild] Cornells, but I later learned they were
withdrawn and the Tiger Moths restored. The ending
of the European War saw a change in the need for
more pilots to be trained and as a consequence only
the best were allowed to continue. I was one of the
many unfortunates who did not make the grade and I
returned to the UK. Incidentally only one of my
original Flight of 50 was still on the Pilot's course
when I left Rhodesia.
To briefly finish the story I was retrained as a ground
Wireless Operator at RAF Compton Bassett in
September 1945. I was posted to India (Calcutta
Signals Centre) and sailed on the troopship 'Georgic'
to Bombay in November 1945. I spent 2 years in India
before being demobbed in 1947.
A slight twist to my story. I was flying Solo in Cornells in 1945 and my next Solo flight (in a Piper Colt) was in 1975 when I obtained my Private Pilot Licence at a private flying club, I was also fortunate to be able to fly the Tiger Moth they had at the Club.”
Station exercises at Clyffe Pypard had continued through the winter of 1943/44, but on at least one occasion, adverse weather led to cancellation. When they did take place, these exercises adhered to the tradition of defending the Station from attack, or of repelling invasion somewhere in the locality. However, on 19th April the Station launched an exercise which marked an abrupt change in scenario, and proved prophetic; this was presumably no coincidence. The general outline of the exercise gave the road running from Malmesbury to Lechlade and via Cricklade (some miles to the north) as representative of the French coastline, and more specifically as a 20-mile stretch of beachhead in an imagined invasion of France. Given the events of June 1944 (just six weeks or so in the future), the relevance of the scenario now seems obvious, but one wonders how it was perceived at the time.
For 29 EFTS, the exercise provided details of an Advanced Landing Ground on Hackpen Hill, which had to be defended against enemy troops which had not been mopped up on the invasion ‘inland’ towards Marlborough. ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ Flights took over Defended Localities around the ALG, under the command of Flt Lt Aries, while the remaining three Flights, led by Flt Lt Donan, formed the enemy and commenced their attack at 3.45pm.
The exercise was somewhat spoiled by the inadvertent discovery of the enemy by the Home Guard platoon, under Lt Goodson, in the vicinity of Wick Down Farm, southeast of the ALG position. The Home Guard wisely retired, pursued by the opposing forces, and though they placed themselves in an exposed position as they progressed down the west-facing slope between Hackpen Hill and Rough Hill, they were hidden from the ‘friendly’ forces in Berwick Bassett Clump by undulating ground between them. Eventually, Flt Lt Donan ordered a bayonet charge and there ended the exercise, rather unrealistically. The Umpire for this event highlighted the need in this scenario for ‘Fire and Movement’, whereby if an attacking force is exposed, it should advance gradually, with one part giving covering fire while the other advances.
The fact that further changes to the training system were afoot was evident on 9th May, when flying was cancelled for the day and Wg Cdr Goldsmith, the Assistant CFI, all Flight Commanders and Testing Officers attended a conference in London to hear a lecture given by Professor Myers on the Grading System. For the Station personnel it was a welcome break, with discussion groups and instructional films in the morning, followed by organised games and defence training in the afternoon. They did not have to wait long to find out what changes were in the offing, since on 12th May, the first intake of ‘The New Grading Scheme’ arrived at Clyffe Pypard. Under the new system, cadets would be attached from ACRC to an EFTS for 4 weeks, again to assess their suitability for aircrew training overseas, before proceeding to ITW. The 12th May intake comprised 42 cadets from No.33 R&C Wing, and slowly the ‘old’ grading pupils were replaced by those under the new system, while ex-PRC training carried on unchanged.
Saturday 20th May 1944 dawned with thick haze, which prevented flying prior to lunchtime. The weather then improved and eventually 69.30 hours were flown. In the late afternoon a mid-air collision occurred near Westwick Farm, Pewsey between Tiger Moths T6744, piloted by Sgt SFP Stanley, and DE246, piloted by Sgt Percy Albert Harrison. Both pilots were ex-PRC pupils, flying solo. Sgt Stanley parachuted to safety but Harrison's parachute caught on the aircraft mainplane and he sustained multiple injuries. Both were taken to the sick quarters at RAF Upavon where Sgt Harrison was pronounced dead on arrival; Sgt Stanley received lacerations to his head and a bruised abdomen. Both aircraft caught fire on impact and were destroyed.
It would appear that low flying was still a regular thorn in the Station Commander’s side and one can imagine his phone ringing at regular intervals as fresh crimes were reported. It is also noteworthy that many of those tried for these offences were Australian, though there seems to be no other common theme. The latest to be tried before a Court Martial was FS Richard John Sibly, RAAF, who came up before Wg Cdr CHF Jenkins, AFC at Clyffe Pypard on 23rd June 1944. Sibly was found guilty on a charge that, “When on Active Service when Pilot of His Majesty’s aircraft Tiger Moth T7883 and flying solo flew said aircraft at a very low altitude contrary to Station Standing Orders for RAF Station Clyffe Pypard which directed “Low flying of any description except with an Instructor over the low flying area is prohibited”.” He was reduced to the ranks.
The training situation briefly settled down in mid-1944, with just grading and ex-PRC pupils going through 29 EFTS. For the month ending 30th June 90 grading cadets had completed the course, with 27 of them going solo. The ex-PRC course had managed to graduate 168 pilots and 74 navigators/air bombers. However another change-around began on 14th July. Because of the large numbers of officers now holding at the PRC’s, awaiting pre-AFU refresher courses, it was decided to change over to all-officer ex-PRC courses. At Clyffe Pypard, the NCO courses were immediately terminated and arrangements made to receive two PRC courses of 48 officers immediately. One of these courses would undergo a fortnight’s training, the other three weeks. After that, weekly intakes and graduations of 48 officers would be planned, with each refresher course then lasting for three weeks. The problem of accommodation was tackled by setting aside six airmen’s huts as officers’ quarters, with separate ablution and bath facilities. One further hut was converted into an officers’ dining room and the main restaurant of the NAAFI was made into a Pupil Officers’ ante room.
Inevitably, the abrupt change-over did not go as planned, and with just 16 officers arriving on 14th July, and a vast number of NCO pupils departing, A, B, C and E Flight flying instructors were granted a very welcome 3 days’ leave while 29 EFTS continued grader training with the 16 officers under D and F Grader Flights. The remaining 80 officers reported from Harrogate on 17th July and Clyffe Pypard returned to a semblance of normality.
There was another low flying fatality on the afternoon of Tuesday 25th July 1944, when Tiger Moth T7463, with pilot instructor Sgt Stanley Charles Slade RAFVR in the front cockpit and pupil P Off John Miller Paton in the rear, struck a tree in the low flying area. The aircraft caught fire and crashed northeast of Braydon Pond near Wootton Bassett. Sgt Slade was killed and his pupil suffered second degree bums to his face and a fractured skull. He was taken by ambulance from RAF Long Newnton to the US Army’s 120th Station Hospital at Charlton Park. Paton remained in the RAF, being promoted to Flying Officer on 25th August 1944, but it seems that his injuries prevented him from flying and in November 1945 his transfer to Administrative duties was confirmed.
There can be little doubt that when Sgt P Perchinski (CAN.R.170102) appeared at a Court Martial for low flying on the day following Sgt Slade’s death (aboard Tiger Moth T6767), he was going to be made an example of. Sqn Ldr WH Adams, AFC found him guilty, and as well as the usual reduction to the ranks, Sgt Perchinski received 120 days detention.
On a lighter note, the summer of 1944 brought the customary ATC summer camps, with 13 cadets from Sherborne School under the command of Fg Off FG Mee reporting to Clyffe Pypard on 29th July. Further ATC camps then arrived weekly throughout the summer months. They were housed in an airman’s hut and undertook a series of lectures and drill from the station staff, as well as a good amount of flying experience.
And finally with the tide of war turning in the Allies’ favour, life began to relax somewhat; on 7th August, with its flying commitments up to date, 29 EFTS observed the August Bank Holiday and staff were given the day off. The break had no effect on the output of the school, and just three weeks later, D Flight was able to send all of its Grader course students (who had begun training on 4th August) solo. It was a first-time 100% success rate for Clyffe Pypard.
But the war was never too far away, a fact brought home on Friday 25th August 1944 as a Typhoon Ib from No.3 Tactical Exercise Unit at Aston Down approached Clyffe Pypard with an engine problem. As the fighter-bomber pulled onto final, its engine cut at approximately 100 feet and at such a low speed it fell to earth, impacting the cliff face 150 yards northwest of the camp. The pilot, FS Colin Samuel Cameron, was killed instantly and his aircraft, MN207, was destroyed. The Station crash fire tender and ambulance were quickly on the scene, but there was little they could do. FS Cameron had been on attachment to No.3 TEU from his home unit, No. 165 Squadron at Detling. No. 3 TEU was a unit which trained fighter-bomber pilots for ground attack squadrons.
Thick fog in the area on 13th September meant with Clyffe Pypard briefly in the clear, Dakota air ambulance KG423 (probably bound direct for Wroughton) landed on the airfield. It was returning from France with 13 stretcher cases and 5 more walking wounded. They were all taken off the aircraft and taken to the RAF Hospital at Wroughton by ambulance.
Late in 1944, 29 EFTS was programmed to change over to Naval Grading, and so from 1st September no further RAF grading pupils were attached. The final RAF grading pupils graduated on 15th September, though training of ex-PRC RAF officers continued. In connection with Naval Grading, on 19th September Lieutenant Commander Torrie, Naval Liaison Officer to the Air Ministry’s Directorate of Flying Training visited the station. A conference was held, which was also attended by the CO, CFI and by Sqn Ldr Giddins from HQ 50 Group. Naval Grading was due to begin in October, and in preparation for large numbers of trainees, on the 9th of the month, Lt Cdr TB Clarke, MBE was posted in as Admin Officer for the Naval cadets, along with 25 RAF flying instructors. On 11th October a further eight instructors arrived to complete the increase in strength on each Flight, all due to the beginning of Naval training.
No.1 Naval Grading Course began on 13th October 1944, with the arrival of 5 officers and 240 cadets. This course would last for four weeks, passing out on 9th November. Pilots who reached a satisfactory standard would then proceed, after a period of leave, to HMS St. Vincent at Gosport for further ground training prior to EFTS flight tuition elsewhere. The beginning of No.1 Course coincided with a period of fine weather and full use was made of it before typical English summer weather of lashing rain and howling gales set in on 18th October..
By the end of the month, low cloud and fog added to the picture prevented a great deal of flight training. The mood plunged still further at 1440 hrs on 31st October when Tiger Moth N9408 collided with a Proctor III (s/n LZ629) from nearby RAF Yatesbury. Both aircraft crashed into fields belonging to Manor Farm at Wedhampton. The Proctor (crewed by FS Allen Frederick Hampshire and Sgt Septimus Mark Best) came down near the railway line to the north of the Bell Inn, close by Sunnyside Farm, and the Tiger Moth, with instructor FS John Reginald Dunford and pupil Naval Airman, 2nd Class Kevin Davies aboard, fell into a pond between the railway line and the Bell Inn. All four airmen were killed. Flight Sergeant Dunford had been one of the new influx of instructors which had arrived on 9th October and NA.2 Davies was a student with No.1 Naval Grading Course.
The flying commitment for No.1 Naval Grading Course was completed on 6th November and 243 pupils passed out three days later. Just one student failed to complete the course, due to illness, and this airman was transferred to No.2 Naval Grading Course, which commenced on 10th November with 8 officers and 234 cadets. The weather by this time was not great still, but somehow on 29th November, 29 EFTS completed 370 hrs 40 minutes of daylight flying, setting a record for the School by some margin.
(Left) - NA.2 MGP ‘Gary’ Bauld: one of many naval trainee pilots who passed through Clyffe Pypard in 1944. (Gary Bauld)
No.3 Naval Grading Course began on 8th December 1944, with an intake of 6 officers and 121 cadets. One of the latter was Mathew Gardiner Paterson ‘Gary’ Bauld, a young Scotsman hoping to go on to bigger and better things in the Fleet Air Arm. Gary had been getting ready to join the RAF, but discovered that they were deferring future pilots for a year or so. Instead, he volunteered for the FAA and was accepted by a Royal Navy board in May 1944. He then went south to HMS Daedalus near Portsmouth for ‘square bashing’, followed by RAF aptitude tests at 7 ACRC in Torquay. Six months after joining the Navy NA.2 Bauld found himself at Clyffe Pypard,
“The weather was not very good during that time. It was rainy, cold and cloudy most of the time. Although we wore full flying gear we were cold most of the time. There were long waits between flights. Between flights we played ‘Shove Half Penny’ a lot to fill in the time.
We flew open cockpit de Havilland Tiger Moths with no canopy, no flaps and no brakes, taking off and landing on a grass field (no runways). I remember practicing a lot of dead stick landings. Communication between Instructor and Student Pilot was accomplished by yelling into or holding your ear close to a Gosport Tube, instead of headsets, today. There was no radio communication equipment aboard, as I recall. I believe we student pilots were required to solo in 10 hours or we would be washed out of Pilot Training.”
Despite the poor flying weather, No.3 Naval Grading Course completed its flying task on 1st January 1945 and graduated five days later. After two weeks’ leave, Gary Bauld was transferred to St Vincent in Gosport for Naval Training, and then to 13 EFTS at St Jean in Canada for flight training on Fairchild Cornells. It was there on 14th August 1945 that he heard the war had ended. Unfortunately so did his flying ambitions,
“Our Fleet Air Arm training in St Jean came to a sudden end on VJ Day. My RCAF instructor informed me that the Japanese had surrendered, that I was to take the Cornell back to the hangar and that we would be shipped back to the UK very soon.”
(Left) - This is No.74 Pilots Course ‘Exmouth’ Division at HMS St Vincent in April 1945. Gary Bauld is third row from the back, fourth man in from the right. He had just completed No.3 Naval Grading Course at Clyffe Pypard, along with many of the other personnel here. (Gary Bauld)
At Clyffe Pypard, 1944 had ended with the return of a number of flying instructors (who had been posted-in for the Naval grading courses) to their parent units. Though not stated, it would seem that
the workload had been less than expected with up to ten leaving on 12th December.
29 EFTS Flying hours for 1944:
January 2104.25 hours day, 53.30 hours night
February 2977.55 hours day, 106.45 hours night
March 5125.30 hours day, 140 hours night
April 4090.55 hours day, 103.35 hours night
May 4873.20 hours day, 194.40 hours night
June 4737.35 hours day, 115.25 hours night
July 4555.50 hours day, 96.10 hours night
August 3798.40 hours day, 99.20 hours night
September 3963 hours day, 114 hours night
October 3145 hours day, 9 hours night
November 3133.20 hours day, 18.40 hours night
December 2182.10 hours day, 28.15 hours night
