It took a while and several attempts. It will not accept the place name of the area that I live in so had to opt for the nearest city!

BR

Laurie

Hi Laurie,
I passed a print of this thread to Andy, and as well as the photos above, he gave me a Sqn photo (it’s huge, and I’ve scanned it in four sections. The Sunderland is SZ571, and the chap you are researching is second row back, seventh from left. I’ve also scanned him seperately at a higher resolution. Andy says he was in the process of changing his name (from the Polish) and knew him as Marsden. Hope this is of help!

Oh, Andy says he was away from the base when the photo was taken, and so he’s not in it… 😉

Cheers

James,

Many thanks for the photos. They are excellent.

Unfortunately, the pilot is not the one that I am researching. There was another Polish chap who joined 209 during 1950 and this could well be him. I’ll check the ORB and come up with a name.

Also, I note that all the SNCO aircrew are wearing chevrons on their sleeves. That dates the photo as after 31 August 1950, when they reverted to this style of rank badging. For the previous 3 years, the much hated ranks of Aircrew 1, 2 and 3, along with Master, had been introduced. Their badges of rank were based on a laurel wreath motif with crowns inside, as you can see in the photo below. The chap I am interested in had already been cross-posted to 60 Sqn at Tengah by that date.

I include a photo of the pilot I am researching below. This was taken whilst he was attending a Maritime conversion course at Kinloss early in 1949.

BR

Laurie.

PS: The Sunderland at Iwakuni coded ‘Y’ could well be SZ571. That was with 209 from 10 June 1950 until 1 January 1953 and carried the ‘Y’ code.

Good to see the Hastings recognised. Let me guess some of those locations:
TG604 – Colerne
TG513 – Abingdon
TG503 – Finningley
WJ333 & ‘325 – Changi
The last one has got me stumped!

Have been trying to decypher the Sqn No. in the diamond on the fin. Not very clear, unfortunately. It appears to be a three digit number with the last digit, possibly, a 7.

The only Hastings equipped Sqn that would seem to fit the bill is 297. They operated the Hastings for 2 years from November 48 to November 50 and their aircraft were used extensively during the Berlin Airlift. Were some of the aircraft used in that operation modified to carry underslung cargo? That might account for the beam along the bottom of the fuselage.

Have to admit, my knowledge of that period is pretty scant.

Oh, yes, thanks lauriebe, especially when we were detached from Bahrain to Sharjah and had to pack everything into an Argosy, on arrival we found a suitable sand dune to put the radar on, living in a tent next to it for the 2 weeks of an air defence exercise – we drank so much pop (non-alcoholic of course) that the money back on the empty bottles paid for a really good alcoholic night out afterwards!

We were a static “mobile” radar. The unit had been in place at Terendak for around 2 years to plug a gap in coverage at the bottom end of Penisular Malaysia during the latter stages of Confrontation.

Previously, it had been in a couple of locations on the east coast in the Kuantan/Mersing area.

Only had to move the kit when we disbanded in April 1968.

There were a couple of other sets here in the Far East, one at Western Hill, Penang, to cover for the TPS 34 that was always throwing a wobbly and packing up. The other, IIRC, was in Singapore.

BR,

Laurie.

A few Belvedere shots.

These were taken on the 9 April 1968 at Terendak Camp Malacca, when XG476/P of 66 Sqn was lifting out a UPS 1 radar cabin and its associated comms setup.

First shot, setting off to pick up the cabin
Second shot, lifting the cain into the AAC helipad.
Third shot, positioning the radar cabin on a trailer for road transport to Singapore.
Fourth shot, about to lift the Comms cabin onto the lowloader.

BR

Laurie.

OK

Beverleys at Labuan (I have posted this one before, a year or so ago)
Harts of 39 Squadron at Risalpur
Hastings C.4 WJ325 of the Middle East Communications Flight at Bahrain on 30 October 1962 (not Far East I know, just stretching it a bit)
Spitfire 18s of 32 Squadron at Nicosia
Sunderlands at Seletar in 1951 (2 shots)
Master Navigator Bill Whyter (who took quite a few of the colour shots in this thread) in his “office” aboard a 105 Squadron Argosy
Shackleton MR.2 of 205 Squadron low over the sea off Singapore
Victor B.1A XH588 of the Honington Wing also off Singapore
The last two shots are more refugees from rubbish bins, this time the bowels of an MoD building years ago

Steve,

These are gems. Thanks for posting. I remember the Beverley shot from your earlier post.

The 2 Sunderland shots were especially interesting to me as they are aircraft flown by the chap I am researching. From the codes, both would be 209 Sqn aeroplanes. ‘X’ in the hangar should be RN303 and ‘Z’ could well be PP164. I am awaiting copies of the AM F’s 78 at the moment to confirm details of the dates these aircraft were with 209.

BR

Laurie.

PS: Couldn’t see Bill Whyter’s photo in this batch.

Albert, yummy Meatbox shots, thanks again. I have a set of air to airs taken during the disbandment flypast which may interest you – the formation comprised 3 TT.20s and 2 F(TT).8s.

Laurie, no problem with using the shot of RN303 – please credit Bill Whyter via myself.

Since you seem to like these, here are a few more:

Hercules C.1 XV290 70 sqn, in the Seychelles Jan 75
The Malaysian jungle seen from a Sunderland
Meteor F.8s at Seletar, en route to Korea 1951 (4 shots)
Mosquito PR.34 PF621 of 81 Squadron at Seletar 1951
Vampire FB.5 taxying in at Seletar in 1951; the first of the type in theatre

To be followed by a few Spitfires for Mark12

Steve,

Many thanks for that and wilco on the credits. If I PM you my email address, is there any chance you might be able to email me a higher definition copy of the RN303 photo and the Vampire arrival?

FYI, the Vampires arrived in Singapore during the afternoon of 2 December 1950. They made 2 circuits of the Island before landing at Seletar where they were met by the AOC in C. Six arrived after a ferry flight from the UK on that day.

If you or Bill have any more photos similar to these I would be very, very interested in seeing them. Photos of Vampires in the Far East seem to be as rare as rocking horse droppings!

BR

Laurie.

Since there are a few threads now with some really nice older photographs appearing, may I offer another small selection of the RAF in warmer climes:

Beverley C.1 XB260 taxying in at Seletar on delivery from the UK
Beverley C.1 of 53 Squadron at Port Harcourt, Nigeria, July 1960
Beverley C.1 XB286 of 47 Squadron at Accra, Ghana, July 1960
Sunderland MR.5 RN303 of 205 Squadron at China Bay, September 1958

At the risk of offering up too many photos (with recent discussions on this topic in mind), there are plenty more like this if anyone is interested.

Steve,

Excellent photos.

I was particularly interested in the shot of Sunderland RN303. Circa mid-1950, this aircraft joined 209 Sqn as “X” replacing ML881. It was flown out from Wig Bay to Seletar over the period 3 – 9 May 1950 by Fg Off K J Evans and crew of 209 Sqn.

During its early time with 209 it was flown by a Polish pilot that I am currently researching. In fact, he flew his last Sunderland sortie (Seletar – Kuching – Seletar on 15 August 1950) in RN303 before being posted over to 60 Sqn at Tengah to fly Spitfire FR XVIII’s/Vampire FB5’s & 9’s.

I am trying to obtain photos of aircraft that he flew during his RAF career and would like to include this one in the notes and possible article that I am compiling. May I have your permission to do that please? Might you have anymore photos of this aircraft?

BR

Laurie.