Service
Policemen and lost canopies.
Mr Jim Newman, whose father Mr Bert Newman was
one of the early Station Warrant Officer's at RAF Lyneham,
writes to us sharing his bygone memories. Bert arrived at Lyneham
in January 1947 straight from India in one of the worst winters
in many years, a fine introduction to the Wiltshire airbase from
the tropical weather that he was acclimatised too. Jim arrived
here with his family from RAF Filton during November 1948 to
be accommodated in the newly built married quarters at Harrow
Grove. Station Warrant Officer Bert Newman left the service in
1957, having spent all that time at Lyneham, creating some kind
of record for a posting longevity.
Jim recalls the day when an over flying Fairey Firefly
lost a few aircraft parts fell from the aircraft shortly
after take off from runway 07, as it was called then. As
conscientious as ever he promptly returned them to the service
authorities to come up against a snarled Flight Sergeant
in the Guardroom. Jim writes:
I never had a "run in" with an RAF Service Policemen
during my career, but I did find one particularly nasty
example at RAF Lyneham, when I was about age 15, in 1950.
Those who knew Lyneham might recall Cook's Auto Services
at the Dauntsey end of the village known as Barrow End.
It was old Henry Cook who provided the taxi service and
also the 'bus service for the 33 M.U. and the station's
civilian workers. In the pre-war years Henry had been
a test driver for Sunbeam.
Henry's son, Bill, and myself flew models
together and I had just left Cook's on my bike - and
was barely fifty yards from the garage - when
a silver painted Fairey Firefly suddenly passed low overhead,
following take-off from Runway 7. It immediately attracted
my attention because Royal Navy aircraft... and in particular
a Firefly.... were not usually painted silver.
As it was
momentarily overhead two, fairly large, silvery objects suddenly
flew up from the aircraft...one landing in the road and shattering
about twenty yards ahead of me.... the other fluttering
down behind the row of red brick Council houses.
On a Firefly, the pilot's canopy attaches in two sections.
The starboard section is like an inverted L and forms
the starboard side window and "roof". The remaining section
is just the port "side window". Both
pieces had jettisoned themselves and the side section almost
brought down a lady's washing in her Council house back yard.
In fact, when I arrived at the rear of the Council houses,
in about the third garden along from the back alley entrance,
the ample, apron-clad owner of the washing was still standing
near her clothes line and regarding the broken frame with
some suspicion, since it was still firmly embedded in her
vegetable garden, next to the washing!
"That thing came close to killing me." she complained, with
hands firmly on hips and an unmistakably grim expression.
Recovering both components, I balanced them on my bike
and walked them the mile or so up to the old Guardroom, where
I put the larger one (and my bike) against the wall outside ... taking the
buckled, smaller side window into the Guardroom to show the SPs.
Inside were a pair of Corporal SPs "floor bumpering" (polishing),
while a tall, Flight Sergeant SP oversaw this very technical
operation.
"Wadyah want?" the Flt. Sgt. literally snarled at this fifteen
year old in "civvies".
"Please, Flt. Sgt..... A Fairey Firefly just took off
from here and
jettisoned its canopy over the road, near Cooks."
"Don't bring that bloody rubbish in here." ..... said
he very irritably,
indicating the smashed and bent frame.
"Leave it outside, by the wall."
"Yes, Flight." I said respectfully. "Operations" might
like to know its
here, since the Firefly was a visiting aircraft." I remarked,
then walked
next door to SHQ to see if I could scrounge a "cuppa
char" from the kindly
Corporal Hopla in my father's office.
Arriving at the door I could see the Adjutant talking
to my father so I
waited outside, but the Adjutant saw me and beckoned me in.
Both the Adjutant and
Group Captain Slee knew that I was intent on going to Cranwell,
so I always
was kindly treated. Noting that I was a bit flushed the Adjutant
asked what was
wrong. Without entering into real detail, I related the incident
of the
canopy and said that, even after walking it up from Cooks,
the Flt. Sgt.
wasn't too pleased that I brought a section of bent canopy
frame into his
highly polished Guardroom!
The Adjutant seemed a bit "miffed" and remarked to my father, "You
work very
hard to maintain good relations with the villagers, Mr. Newman.
They must be
treated with respect... especially when they go out
of their way to assist
us."
It sounded to me as though the Adjutant was going to
pay a visit to the Guard
Room.
With thanks to Mr Jim Newman, Michigan USA. |
