RAF in camera, 1950s

552 Pages·2015·83.21 MB·English

by  Wilson

First published in Great Britain in 2015 by
Pen & Sword Aviation
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS
Copyright © Keith Wilson 2015
ISBN: 978 1 47382 795 0
EPUB ISBN: 978 1 47385 985 2
PRC ISBN: 978 1 47385 984 5
The right of Keith Wilson to be identified as the Author of this Work has
been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
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Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1 1950
2 1951
3 1952
4 1953
5 1954
6 1955
7 1956
8 1957
9 1958
10 1959
Appendices
I Aircraft on strength, by year
II Queen’s Review flypast aircraft
Bibliography
Foreword
The Air Historical Branch is the internal history office of the Royal
Air Force and, amongst its many functions within that wider role, it
maintains an archive of official photographs tracing the history of the
Service. We are delighted to have the opportunity to publish this
volume, which covers a particularly interesting decade in which the
RAF not only found itself in the frontline of the Cold War but also
involved in the many conflicts associated with the withdrawal from
the empire.
The 1950s saw the transition from propeller to jet aircraft in full
swing. Many of the venerable Second World War veterans –
Lancasters, Mosquitoes and Sunderlands – were still soldiering on,
often on the more distant stations, alongside the first-generation jets
such as the Vampire. Meanwhile, a new generation of jets was
entering service whose names still cause the hairs on many an
enthusiast’s neck to stand up: the immortal symmetry of the Hawker
Hunter, vying with the more brutal lines of the English Electric
Lightning and the delta-winged Gloster Javelin. Not least of the jet
fighters’ achievements was that they rekindled some of the excitement
of the inter-war flying displays as the speed and noise of these new
chariots gave full rein to the display teams’ flamboyance. For an
image of sheer power, however, little can compete with the V-
bombers. Perhaps most impressive of all the Avro Vulcan, and even
more so when in the all-white paint scheme and carrying a Blue Steel,
itself the harbinger of the missile age epitomised by the Thor
intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).
More prosaic, perhaps, but just as vital and as hard-working, were
the transport aircraft: the improbable shape of the Blackburn Beverley
contrasting with the elegance of the de Havilland Comet.
contrasting with the elegance of the de Havilland Comet.
While the 1950s saw the rise of the jet, it also saw the dawn of the
military helicopter. The Sycamores and Whirlwinds heralded a new
era of the aircraft in a variety of roles, giving unparalleled flexibility
and mobility to the British Army in many far-flung regions of the
globe. It is therefore entirely fitting that the last photograph in the
book depicts a Whirlwind of the Queen’s Flight, thus giving the royal
seal of approval and confirming that the helicopter really had
‘arrived’.
The aircraft in this book have now departed the Service – with the
ever-faithful Canberra the last to go – but the photographs of them in
their heyday bear testimony to their sterling service and to the
immense contribution they made to the defence of Britain’s interests
across the world.
SEBASTIAN COX BA MA FRSA
Head of the Air Historical Branch (RAF)
Acknowledgements
A project of this nature requires the help and support of many people,
who have contributed in different ways to make the book possible.
The author would like to offer his sincere thanks to the following:
Sebastian Cox at the Air Historical Branch, RAF Northolt, for
providing the branch’s support and access to the collection of images,
along with his encouragement and sense of humour.
At Pen & Sword Books, I would like to thank Laura Hirst, Michelle
Tilling and Matthew Blurton for their considerable input at key stages
during the book’s production and for keeping me on track whenever I
wavered.
My very special thanks must go to Lee Barton at the Air Historical
Branch for his unwavering enthusiasm, vision and attention to detail.
Without your considerable help and support, this book would not have
been completed. Thank you Lee!
Thanks are also due to the staff at the Imperial War Museum for their
additional caption information.
Finally, sincere thanks to my wife Carol and sons Sam and Oliver.
Thank you for your patience and support throughout the project. I
couldn’t have done it without you.
Introduction
Following the end of the Second World War, the immediate task of
the Royal Air Force was to return to normal, peacetime conditions and
the RAF was faced, for the second time in its history, with the
problems of adjusting to peace after a major war. At the conclusion of
the war, the total strength of UK service personnel totalled almost 5
million and the RAF contingent was estimated at around 1.3 million.
Various statistics are available, each providing variations, but one
RAF source document suggests that the total number of aircraft held
on strength (including aircraft held in storage) amounted to 61,584.
Abroad, the RAF played its part (alongside the British Army, the
Royal Navy and other Allied forces) in the vast clearing-up operation
in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East.
At home, the RAF had to demobilise its huge forces as quickly and
as smoothly as possible. The rundown of the RAF was more orderly
and gradual than it had been in 1919 but, even so, discontent at poor
conditions and the seemingly slow rate of repatriation led to a strike
by airmen at RAF Seletar in Singapore and other disturbances at RAF
Drigh Road, Karachi. By 1947, just less than a million men and
women had been demobilised and the overall strength was down to
less than 300,000. Aircraft held on strength had reduced drastically to
20,430.
Although Britain had ended the Second World War as one of the
victorious Allies, the country was almost bankrupt after the vast
outlay of national resources during the war. The first years of peace
were blighted by rationing and austerity which exceeded those of the
war years. Severe financial problems, coupled with the debilitating
effect of nearly six years of war, made the task of redirecting the