大象传媒

I was almost 14 years old when the Second World War started in 1939 and had little idea that it would go on long enough for me to become involved. I had been interested in the Navy for some time, then I joined the newly formed Air Training Corps. As part of its activities I experienced my first flight. Now I wanted to fly. The time was approaching to be called up so I decided to combine the two interests and volunteered for pilot training in the Fleet Air Arm. I joined in May 1944 at H.M.S. St. Vincent, a shore establishment in Gosport, Hampshire. After eight weeks of the usual initial training I was selected for a scheme which had been set up for British aircrew to be trained by the U.S. Navy. After a short leave I, along with the other members of my course, found ourselves on board R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth (then the world's biggest ship) bound for New York. Three weeks later, after a spell in Canada, we found ourselves at the U.S. Naval Air Station, Bunker Hill, Indiana. Now the adventure really began.

We began flying almost immediately in the Stearman biplane trainer built by Boeing (they can still be seen at shows with wing walkers on the upper wing). The station operated 300 aircraft in two wings and had a very high rate of serviceability.

I discovered that my instructor had been a stunt pilot in Hollywood films. He could do anything which was possible with a Stearman so my training in aerobatics was excellent. I spent all of my primary training with the same instructor so we got to know one another well. Still, some of his comments were a bit ripe if I made a mistake, which was not unknown. Our training covered all aspects of flying which were within the range of the aircraft. We had regular check flights and if a trainee failed one, he had to pass two in succession with different testers. Half the day was spent on flying and the other half on classroom subjects, P.E. etc. The various subjects were tested regularly.

The course was expected to last four months but ours stretched out to just over six. We experienced the worst winter which the American Middle West had had for over 30 years. The landing area became a sheet of ice and it became quite interesting when landing an aircraft. It was particularly interesting when night flying. There were remarkably few accidents and these were mainly minor ones. During the coldest of the weather we must have looked like Michelin men as we walked out to our aircraft. We wore a fur inner suit, a fabric outer, fur lined flying boots, two pairs of gloves and a face mask with openings for mouth, nose and eyes. The flying helmet went on top of all this. The aircraft had open cockpits so all the clothing was necessary.

One of the outsanding memories of this phase of the training was the kindness and hospitality of the local Americans. On our usual parade on Fridays a list of invitations was read out, either for a meal, a day out or an overnight stay. I spent a number of weekends with a family in one of the local towns.

Eventually, this part of our training came to an end and we readied ourselves for the next stage. We were taken to the station in the nearest town where we (16 British and 16 American trainees) boarded the Pullman coach which was to be our home for the next three days and nights. We were attached to various trains as the journey progressed. We were heading south for the Texas coast, to an air station near the town and oil port of Corpus Christi. This was a much bigger station than Bunker Hill and had a main base with a number of satellite airfields, one as much as 60 miles away. We discovered when we arrived that 8 of the Americans had never seen the sea although they had been in the Navy for up to a year..

Our training soon got into swing, this time on a more sophisticated aircraft. The U.S. Navy called this the SNJ. The version operated by the R.A.F. in England was known as the Harvard.

The first part of the course was designed to teach us to handle the SNJ. When this had been completed successfully we moved to one of the satellite airfields for a concentrated course in formation flying. Following this, another move to training in instrument, or blind, flying. This part of the course was very intense and all of us were glad when it was completed.

The final stage was back at the main station where we did most of our flying in formation in flights of six with the instructor in a seventh aircraft giving his comments by radio. We covered more advanced formation flying, tactics and navigation. The programme was very concentrated and could be quite tiring. We slept well! The classroom courses were carrying on alongside the flying and we had to do at least one hour per day of physical activity chosen from a wide range. I usually spent the time either swimming or playing tennis.

We spent time on survival training which involved a lot of swimming and use of the inflatable dinghies which were part of our flying kit. We actually sat on them in our parachute harness. At the swimming pool was part of an aircraft fuselage, including the cockpit, mounted on steeply sloping rails. One of us was strapped in, complete with parachute harness and dinghy. The whole contraption was then released and slid down the rails into the water where it promptly turned over. The object was for the occupant to get out of the cockpit, surface, inflate his dinghy and get into it. There was a time limit when if the 'pilot' had not surfaced he was rescued.

My training had only a few days to go when the Japanese surrendered and our flying stopped immediately.

I have one outstanding memory of flying at Corpus Christi. The first flight in the morning took off at 6 a.m. when it was still dusk on the ground. Climbing after take-off we burst into the sunrise before it was fully light on the ground. This was caused by the curvature of the earth.

All in all, I had a wonderful time on my flying course with the U.S. Navy.

'This story was submitted to the People's War site by Terry Greenwood of the CSV Action Desk on behalf of A. Bernard Allison and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.'

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