大象传媒

When war began I was employed as a signals clerk by Imperial Airways at Hythe, Southampton. Imperial Airways moved its headquarters from London to the Grand Spa Hotel in Bristol when war broke out and at the age of 17 I was posted to Bristol as a night duty telephone and signals clerk.

It was soon realised that this was an inappropriate posting so I was transferred back to Hythe as an operations clerk and, after basic training, sent to Poole, the operating station where I received more detailed training in marine operations and air navigation, meteorolgy and signalling to fit me for a more senior role. The opportunity came in 1941 when the Operations Superintendent was posted to Foynes, the flying boat station on the Shannon and I took over Operations at the station at the age of 19.

The job included control of all marine and motor transport activities but was importantly a specific responsiblity for advising aircraft on the water Lisbon whether they should proceed north or not.

Prior to the war the flying boats operated out of Southampton across Europe to points in Africa, Asia and Australsia. Entry into the war by Italy cut off these Imperial routes and for a short period the UK was without overseas air transport links. The flying boats with the longest range were, therefore, dedicated to a route, Poole, Lisbon and on to Lagos. A landplane route was opened from Lagos to Khartoum where they connected with the flying boat services operating between Durban and Sydney, the famous "horse shoe route".

But, for security reasons, we could not send a weather forecast to Lisbon whilst there were other reasons such as enemy action or planned allied action which may have made it inadviseable to have an aircraft flying from Lisbon into the UK.

So we devised a simple system using the internationally recognised 'Q' code and at the tender age of 19 I used to broadcast for interception by the crew of the flying boat, fully laden, on the water in Lisbon, a simple signal QGN which meant "you may proceed" or QGO which meant you may not. We could say no more. And it was left for the people in Lisbon to wonder whether I had based my decision on weather or some other, perhaps more dramatic reason.

I did this for some two years before I was posted to Lisbon in early 1943, not yet 21, as Station Operations Officer and in that period I sent one wrong QGO and two wrong QGN's.

A serious responsibility for a lad of 19, the enormity of which came home to me in a humourous way. In those days a member of Poole staff, in rotation, was given the task of taking diplomatic mail off the aircraft to the Foreign Office in London. It was a keenly sought after task as it meant you could spend the whole night in the Windmill Theatre before coming back home.

My turn duly came and I was blithely told that at less than 21 years of age I could not be entrusted with the diplomatic mail, which was only there because I, at 19, had said it would be when I sent the QGN to Lisbon.

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