Ed Weeks' Story
Halfpenny Green
No 2 Air Signalers School was opened at Halfpenny Green in 1952 to train mainly National Service Air Signalers needed mainly to crew the Shackletons and Neptunes being introduced into Coastal Command. The course was designed to last 12 months by which time the students were expected to have achieved 24 words a minute in the Morse Code, have a knowledge of the radio equipment T1154/R1155, and a basic knowledge of Radar. As National Service lasted only 2 years the Air Ministry had decided that students should not spend their first 2 months doing the normal basic training (square bashing) so our time in the first two months at Halfpenny Green was spent doing Drill/PT, Morse and radio theory. The emphasis was on the Morse and radio theory much to the dismay of the drill instructors (a sergeant and a corporal). We were not issued with webbing, nor did we carry out any bayonet drill . After 8 weeks we were expected to have achieved 8 words a minute in morse, after 12 we should have reached 12 words and after 16 weeks the goal was 16 words. Unfortunately some of the initial 24 of us were not able to keep up this rate of progress and as we were the last course of NS signalers there was no possibility of being recoursed. The 12 words a minute proved to be a significant barrier as it was at this stage that we had to start taking morse automatically without thinking. The training staff did their utmost to help us pass even agreeing to one of our members sending the Morse as his sending was far superior to any RAF staff member. He had been a Merchant Navy Wireless Operator before being called up for National service and was capable of receiving Morse on a typewriter at 32 words a minute! Life at Halfpenny Green was a holiday camp compared to the other RAF training camps which we heard about. One of our members had already experienced life at the basic training camp at Hednesford. I think that he was the only one of us who possessed a pair of properly bulled boots ! This holiday period was destined to come to an abrupt end in July 1953 when the whole camp was being run for the benefit of NS25 as all the other courses had either completed their training or had been transferred to the No 1 Air Signallers School at Swanton Morley in Norfolk.
Swanton Morley
So it was in late July that NS 25 arrived at Swanton Morley to complete the final 8 weeks training before we qualified for our Signalers brevets and sergeants stripes. SM was an entirely different camp - no more wooden huts with 2 to a room we were now in brick built two storey barrack blocks with highly polished floors. There was one saving grace, the Flt Sgt Admin from Halfpenny Green had also been posted to SM and he saved the Course from many scrapes with authority. Throughout or stay at HG we had been controlled by an elected Course leader who marched us from classroom to classroom. However within a few days at SM he had had to answer for so many complaints about our marching and general sloppyness that he resigned, at least from the marching leader role and it was the last person from the room who marched us off.
We somehow survived the 8 weeks and then the truth dawned on the organizers of the passout parade that they had a squad of NS cadets who were to pass out with a Direct Entry (regular) squad who had never used rifles with fixed bayonets! This was apparently a must for the parade. There followed a crash course in bayonet drill which was a disaster as 2 of our clan were injured, one stabbed himself in the shoulder, while the other cut his hand. However the RAF were not deterred and decided that we could go on parade with our bayonets fixed before we went on parade. This worked up to a point but I shudder to think the different angles we achieved with our rifles! We were now Sergeant aircrew and had all be assigned to Coastal Command and were posted to St Mawgan for a maritime conversion course.
St Mawgan
Suitably rested after a fortnight`s leave we arrived under our own steam at St Mawgan, only to find that one of our number was absent. We later found that during his leave he had been posted to Flying Training Command to fly as a signaler on Varsity navigation trainer aircraft. Our course was shortened to 6 weeks so that we could spend as much time as possible on a Squadron. During this time we did no flying but learned about the equipment used on Coastal Command including the then secret Sonobuoys. St Mawgan was at this time using Lancaster reconnaissance aircraft. We spent some enjoyable evenings in Newquay and weekends at Watergate Bay. On completion of the course four of us were posted to St Eval , a stones
throw from St Mawgan, while the rest west to Ballykelly in Northern Ireland.
St Eval
The four of us posted to St Eval had volunteered being from the West Country or South Wales, however within a day of our arrival on 42 Squadron the Squadron Signals Officer decided that he could not accommodate any more half trained signallers as the previous course of NS signalers(NS24) had been posted in 4 weeks previously. We were thereupon called into the Adjutant and told that 3 of us were to be sent to Ballykelly and the other to Aldergrove. We were allowed to draw lots to decide who was to go to Aldergrove. We were told to report to our new stations in a weeks time and that we could leave as soon as we had gone through the official procedure. It had taken us about 3 days to but surprise surprise we managed to leave within a day.
Aldergrove
Unlike Ballykelly,
Aldergrove hosted only one Shackleton Squadron: No 120, the first Squadron to
have received the Shackleton two years previously. However there was another
Coastal Command Squadron on the airfield: No 202, equipped with Hastings Met
aircraft. The Hastings was also a Transport aircraft which came in very useful
in giving me a “lift” to RAF Lyneham on two occasions.
When I arrived on the
Squadron there were only two other National Service Signallers (ex NS18) and a
couple of Radar/Gunners who were soon to be demobbed . However in March three
NS Signallers (ex NS23) arrived following the closure of the Navigation School
at Bishops Court.
Flying usually
involved eight-hour Navigational Exercises (trying to find Rockall without
radar assistance), bombing practice (not good for air sickness) and NATO
exercises in which I once did an 18 hour trip.
One unusual trip was to fly at 12000 feet over the UK sampling the air
for atomic fallout which proved to be a very cold experience as the Engineer
was unable to activate the so called heaters fitted to the Shackleton.
Social life on the
station was varied, none of the Sergeants had cars so we were only able to go
by bus to Belfast or walk to Crumlin. The camp cinema was available and there
were two cafes other than the NAAFI.
There was also the Sergeants Mess where we all used to drink Guinness
and play cards. I played a couple of games of rugby, but the camaraderie which
I experienced at Halfpenny Green was missing and the weather was awful most of
the time.
There was always a
feeling of tension in Northern Ireland even in 1954 and in June it was decided
that the airfield might be under threat, so a contingent of RAF Police was
posted in to man the previously unguarded entrances. This also involved closing
the B-road which bisected the airfield. Additionally as there was no perimeter
fence it was decided that at night easy access could be gained to the various
bomb and ammunition bunkers situated around the airfield. The solution was to introduce a mobile patrol
to visit these sites hourly. In charge
of these patrols were the numerous aircrew sergeants including yours
truly. The NCOs were allocated four
airmen and a driver of a Land Rover with 6 pickaxe handles! Naturally we made
sure that we let any intruders aware of our presence and approached the bunkers
with headlights full on. Luckily I was only called upon to carry out two such
patrols.
120 Squadron had been
the elite squadron of Coastal Command but following a change of CO it became a
bit of a shambles. In September 1954
squadrons were asked to standardise on either the Mk 1 or 2 Shackleton. 120 was given first choice and opted for the
Mk1 – a very strange decision as 4 of our Mk 1s were the ones used in the
original squadron introduction and had flown more hours than most and were
showing distinct signs of wear. Rumour has it that the CO chose the Mk1 because
he found landing the Mk2 much more difficult, his technique for landing the MK
1 being to look down through the Perspex nose and judge his landing from that.
As a result we had to give up our three Mk 2s, including two virtually new
ones, and receive some elderly Mk 1`s from Gibraltar. Luckily I was demobbed a
month later.
Although we were
flying under operational conditions I did not have a great deal of confidence
in our performance. On one NATO exercise our navigator was unsure of his
position in the North Sea and whether the ships below us were “friend or foe” –
the solution was to ignite an enormous flare which lit up the area for miles
around! During the same exercise we obtained a sonar contact on a submarine so
were instructed to drop a barrier of non directional sonobuoys. This we did but
unfortunately the senior signaller forgot to note the sequence of the drop so
when we had a contact we had no idea from which buoy it might have come.
I hope that I have
not given the impression that I was unhappy at Aldergrove, far from it; I had a
good time. This was not the end of my RAF career as I did two weeks Reserve
training at Thorney Island, which really was a waste of time. However I did
meet an NS Signaller who had missed joining NS 25 by a few days and had been
trained at Swanton Morley with the next Direct Entry (Regular) Course.