- Contributed by听
- Holywood Arches Library
- People in story:听
- The Author Captain Edward Cadden, Mr James Reynolds, Mr Robert Robinson
- Location of story:听
- Belfast, Cornwall, Normandy
- Background to story:听
- Royal Air Force
- Article ID:听
- A3240776
- Contributed on:听
- 08 November 2004
This story was submitted to the People's War site by N Culbert of the Belfast Education and Library Board/Holywood Arches Library on behalf of Edward Cadden {the author} and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions
Power For Peace
In late 1946 my father took me to see a show, 鈥淧ower For Peace鈥 on the 鈥淏ig Blitz Site鈥 at High Street. The 鈥淲ee Blitz Site鈥 across Bridge Street was the common gathering place for 鈥渂arrow-boys鈥 selling goods from 鈥渦nder the counter鈥 and considered a bunch of 鈥渟pivs鈥.
The show was a collection of the latest fighters of W.W.2 and in contrast, new prefab bungalows to show how the aircraft industry was beating spitfires into plough shares.
鈥淒ad, those planes have no propellors!鈥.. so I was told for the first time of jets. The latest R.A.F fighter, a Gloster Meteor F3 and the diminutive Twin-Boomed De Havilland Vampire, inevitably a Spitfire and in addition the aircraft that decimated the Vergeltungswaffe Eins (V.I), the Hawker Tempest were on display.
The visit to the bungalows bored a six year old but we queued for and I got into a Hawker Typhoon. 7 tons, 2 陆 thousand horses up front, 4 20cm cannon and a warlord of 8 rockets equivalent to the broadside of a cruiser. The 鈥淭iffie鈥 had been the flying artillery piece which at last broke the power of the Panzers. Sheer delight delight for a war weaned boy seated in the hugh cockpit ( to him) with his head below the instrument panel.
The 62 year old model of that boy visited the Yorkshire Air Museum. On the wall was a set of panels with the scores of 609 squadron pilots killed flying Typhoons in action.
Like the biblical king I reflected on my delight in the 鈥淭iffie鈥- 鈥淚s not this the blood of men who went in jeopardy of their lives?鈥
The Beaters of Ploughshares
Shorts and the Bristol Aircraft Company were involved in the design of pre-fab aluminium buildings to meet the chronic shortage of post war housing. Shorts had particular expertise in anti-corrosive treatment of light alloys from its building of flying boats. The link with Bristol came with opening of the Queen鈥檚 Island factory. Shorts decided to move their main production from the restricted spaces of Rochester to a new government built factory at Sydenham. Landplanes could be tested on the airfield and could be loaded or unloaded to ships directly from the perimeter. Flying boats had the broad sweep of Belfast lough for operations.
The first contract was for Bristol 鈥淏ombay鈥 Bomber/Transports which serve valiantly overseas in W.W.2.
When you have designed aluminium tubes to hold 7 men, 3 power operated gun- turrets and 8 machine guns with ammunition, radio equipment and 3 assorted radars, a load of a few tons of bombs and a chemical toilet you are well fitted to design a neat space-efficient house.
Shorts flying boats had unique peace-time experiences. With their protection against saline corrosion RAF Sunderlands in the Berlin Airlift flew the city鈥檚 supplies of salt into Havel lake in the city centre.
The civilised transport flying boats ,the 鈥 Sandringham鈥 and the鈥漇olent鈥 fulfilled a role for remote small communities equivalent to the coming of the railways.
French and New Zealand dependencies in the South Pacific were brought within a day鈥檚 travel of civilisation instead of a week plus by boat.
Harland &Wolff were not simply boat-builders, they were civil and mechanical engineers. The 鈥淐hurchill鈥 tank was designed by Harlands who built 4 prototypes before production was handed over to Vauxhall.
The first aircraft to be built on Queen鈥檚 Island were built by by Harland & Wolff in 1918, four-engined Handley Page Bombers to attack Berlin from England. Because of the restricted size of existing airfield buildings the hugh brutes had folding wings. Harlands decided to test fly from a quiet little spot called Aldergrove near Killead in Co. Antrim. To save the bother of folding and unfolding wings, Harlands designed and built a new type of hangar with no internal supporting pillars. An external triangular support became known as the 鈥淏elfast Truss鈥 and Belfast-Trussed hangars are now collectors pieces. Ironically the R.A.F鈥檚 first four-engined bomber of WW2, the short 鈥淪tirling鈥 was restricted in performance because it鈥檚 specification required it鈥檚 wingspan to be short enough to enter Belfast-Trussed hangars without folding. As civil engineers Harlands would have a leading role in stop-gapping Belfast鈥檚 needs for homes, schools and other public offices.
The Ex-Servicemens鈥 Bungalows
In the 21st century there is a small landscaped car-park at the junction of Stranmillis road and Stranmillis Embankment. It is hard to visualise the creation in 1946 of a colony of 19 prefabricated bungalows with substantial gardens on this small area. All the families in the compact two-bedroomed homes had ex-service fathers.
The Scottish Play
At seven I saw my first performance of Shakespeare鈥檚 Scottish play. The actors in our school at Stranmillis Public Elementary were the 鈥渂ig鈥 boys and girls. They were all less than 14 but big to us in second standard. Banquo and the Thane of Glamis/acting Thane of Cawdor had impressive robes but the finishing touch was their armament of 2 Japanese samurai swords. One of their dads in our little ex-service colony had brought them home as booty from Burma. In each of the nineteen homes you would have found similar souvenirs of service in peculiar environments.
Jimmy
The Reynolds back garden faced our front door. Jimmy and Ella鈥檚 toddler, Barbara was fascinated by my games in our front garden. She would toddle down to watch me and after 鈥渕ummy and 鈥渄addy鈥 my name 鈥淓ddie鈥 entered her vocabulary. Jimmy worked in the vulcanite roofing felt company in Stranmillis village and was an ex sergeant ground crew of 502 (Ulster) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force. Jimmy fed my aircraft interest with copies of 鈥淔light鈥 retrieved from waste paper used in the vulcanite process. Newsagents returned unsold magazines to the wholesaler for credit, the wholesaler removed the covers and returned them to the publisher for credit and the remainder of the papers went to the vulcanite. I was despatched to get a 鈥淭ele鈥 one Saturday and rushed home in excitement. 鈥淢r Reynolds is in the paper!鈥. It was an article about 502sqn. 502 was involved in anti-submarine work and was equipped with the first airborne radar aircraft to detect surfaced u-boats. These
were former bombers with the range to bomb Italy from England. The masts of the radar along their spines earned them the nickname 鈥渟ticklebacks鈥. The squadron was moved to Cornwall to allow their patrols to reach the bay of Biscay and attack U-Boats entering or leaving French ports on the surface at night. Jimmy and other 502 ground crew were relaxing in the sun after re-furbishing their charges from the night鈥檚 work. A Lockheed 鈥淗udson鈥 of another unit was on approach. The 鈥淗udson鈥 was the first U.S aircraft ordered in quantity for the R.A.F. It was a conversion of a twin engined airliner with a gun turret added and the capacity to carry bombs. Initially it was crated up and shipped from U.S.A to Liverpool. Later it was delivered by air with it鈥檚 U.K. destination R.A.F. Aldergrove. As well as anti-submarine work it was used as a bomber and transport all round the world and was one of the pick-up and supply aircraft used to support resistance movements. It had one snag, as a converted airliner it was more heavily laden than it鈥檚 design specification when used as a warplane. A heavy landing could cause an undercarriage collapse and fracture of the wing fuel tanks. The landing 鈥淗udson鈥 suffered such an accident and from the wreckage Jimmy could hear the screams of burning men. He ran across and had just opened the entrance door when the aircraft鈥檚 oxygen bottles blew up. Jimmy was blown up but survived unlike the 鈥淗udson鈥 crew and after a long spell in hospital he was invested with the George Medal.
Bert
We were most impressed with Brendan Robinson鈥檚 dad because he was Welsh and had an unadulterated Welsh accent. More impressively he had one natural and one prosthetic leg. My sister鈥檚 pet cat 鈥淪mut鈥漡ot trapped up a tree and we young lads could not manage to climb to his rescue. Bert, tin leg and all did the job. Forty years later Bert and I worked together in the N.I Civil Service. We, his comrades could not figure out which was Bert鈥檚 hobby and which his main source of income 鈥 the N.I Civil Service or his breeding and training of greyhounds. In one of the relaxed social sessions we learnt the story of Bert鈥檚 lost leg and the even more bizarre story of his decoration. Bert was in the South Wales Borderers, the regiment whose historic action is recreated in 鈥淶ulu鈥. In action after D-Day Bert carried out a personal series of combat actions that left him in a heavily wounded and comatose condition. His C.O thought he was dead and cited him for a posthumous conspicuous gallantry medal. This award was created in W.W.2 because of the mass of R.A.F actions meriting more than a D.F.C or D.F.M but just short of V.C. standard. The battlefield clearers found Bert was still alive, rushed him to surgery where he had his leg amputated. By the time the system got round to reporting his survival Bert had been awarded the C.G.M as a dead recipient.
The Cost Of Weather
On 21st century T.V weather chart satellite pictures show the main sources of U.K weather in the Atlantic or sweeping up from the bay of Biscay. An ex R.A F neighbour in Lockview bungalows on the embankment frontage could have served as a prototype for Victor Meldrew鈥檚 grumpy old man. As I passed him at work in his garden a large aircraft was transitting overhead. 鈥淗ey, you鈥檙e the young lad interested in airplanes, what鈥檚 that?.鈥 I looked up 鈥 4 engines, 2 fins. 鈥淎 Lancaster鈥 I ventured. A theatrical 鈥減shaw鈥 or some such expression. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a Halifax.鈥 I was unaware of the resentment of Lancasters by former Halifax crews who reckoned the Avro machine had too much publicity and their Handley page mount had been forgotten about. The machine was a Halifax of 202 Squadron based at Aldergrove. The unit had originated as 2 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service and when that service amalgamated with the R.F.C. to form the R.A.F. the RNAS squadrons had 200 added on to their number to avoid future confusions. The 202 Halifaxes flew twice daily a 鈥淏ismuth鈥 mission and had done since early in the war. 鈥淏ismuth鈥 was the radio call sign originating from British Isles Met. Unit Temperature and Humidity Missions. The June 1944 sorties detected the weather gap that allowed D-Day to be the sixth of June. The Aircraft flew out across the air corridor in Donegal and out into the Atlantic taking readings at heights from several thousand feet down to 300 feet off the ocean. Their south bound course veered north across the edge of Biscay and after 1,600 miles on the clock they were back home.
Between 1945 and 1950 4 Halifaxes were lost to bring us the weather forecast. The replacement Hastings Transports soldiered on for ten more years without loss until the space robots were fully established.
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