A Spotter's Diary
A Spotter’s Diary
My first glimpse of an allied aircraft was that of a RAF Consolidated B-24 which was flying at rooftop height distributing leaflets announcing the end of hostilities in August 1945. I could clearly see the airman dumping the leaflets from the large rear window of the aircraft.
Spitfires
The first fighter aircraft to arrive after the cessation of hostilities were two Spitfire squadrons which flew in from Rangoon and landed in Tengah in September 1945. They were Nos. 132 and 155 RAF Squadrons equipped with Merlin-engined Spitfire VIIIs. The Spitfires from 132 Squadron were characterized by a leaping black panther incorporated into the small-sized SEAC roundel which was in Light-Blue and Dark Insignia Blue. The colour Red was omitted in the Eastern theatre to avoid confusion with the Japanese Hinomaru.
Tengah was then in a truly dilapidated state. Among the aircraft that the Japanese left behind was what is often quoted as a Curtiss Mohawk. However the photographic evidence that I have seen points to an even rarer type, the Curtiss Wright CW-22 which once served with the Netherlands East Indies Air Force. Permission to fly the aircraft was denied but that did not prevent it from being taxied all over.
The two Spitfire squadrons were joined by a third, No 136, from the Cocoa Islands in the following month. This squadron had been earlier sent to defend the Liberator bombers based there. When the war ended the Liberator squadrons were soon disbanded and No 136 Squadron was re-deployed to Tengah.
At about the same time, two more Spitfires squadrons Nos 11 and 17 equipped with the later Griffon powered Spitfire XIVEs flew off from escort aircraft carriers HMS Smiter and HMS Trumpeter. They landed at Kallang as Seletar where they were to be eventually based was not ready yet to receive them. Both squadrons were part of the invasion force for the re-occupation of Malaya code-named Operatiom Zipper. No 17 Squadron is particularly interesting in that it not only fought in the Battle of Britain but was also commanded by one of the foremost aces of the Battle, Sdn Ldr. “Ginger” Lacey. The Spitfires of the squadron had a silver gauntlet proudly emblazoned on the cowling.
By October, the Spitfire force was augmented by yet another Spitfire squadron. No.28 Squadron had been based in Kuala Lumpur with Hurricanes but had re-equipped with Spitfire XIVs just before arriving at Tengah.
Therefore by the end of 1945, there were as many as six Spitfire squadrons based on this tiny island, three with Merlin powered Spitfire VIIIs and three with Griffon engined Mk XIVs. At that time I was only 6 and could not distinguish the gentle purr of the Merlin from the throaty roar of the Griffon engines.
Thunderbolt Interlude
In the re-occupation of Malay and Singapore, the RAF had decided for logistic reasons that all the Spitfire squadrons would be based in Singapore and the four Thunderbolt II squadrons would be based in Kuala Lumpur. The Thunderbolt was a much more robust aircraft than the Spitfire. It also had a wide tracked undercarriage which made it more suitable for Kuala Lumpur where the condition of the runway was even more dilapidated than those in Singapore. When the Dutch requested the help of the British in putting down the fight for independence by the Indonesians, two Thunderbolt squadrons No 60 and 81 staged through Singapore on their way to Batavia (Jakarta). The deployment of these two squadrons to Indonesia was not an unqualified success. The squadrons were disbanded and the Thunderbolts broken up on the spot in Batavia. One source states that they were flown back to Singapore and broken up but this was unlikely to be so.
No 60 Squadron was then reformed at Tengah in November 1946 with brand new Spitfire F.18s. (note that the British Air Ministry had by then dropped the use of Roman numerals for Mark numbers). The Spitfires of this squadron were unique in that they had “tiger” stripes of Black and Yellow painted on the front part of the cowling next to the spinner. It was for a long time the only fighter squadron to be based in Singapore.
No 155 Squadron was sent to Sumatra in February1946. The following month saw No.
152 Squadron being disbanded. It is presumed that the Spitfires of this squadron were the ones that the writer saw in a long train of six to eight aircraft being carted down Bukit Timah Road in Queen Mary trailers. Some of them undoubtedly ended up at the scrapyard at the corner of Bukit Timah and Keng Chin Roads. Eventually the last Mk VIII squadron was sent to India in June 1946.
In April 1947 it was the turn of Nos 11 and 17 Squadrons to be re-deployed to Miho in Japan as part of the Allied occupation forces. The Spitfires XIVs of these two squadrons had carried two types of camouflage. Those that were in service longer had the theatre camouflage where Dark Earth (Brown) was painted over the Ocean Grey areas while the Dark Green areas remained untouched. These Spitfires also carried SEAC White bands across the wings and fin and stabilizers but not over the movable surfaces. Other Spitfires including “Ginger’ Lacey’s RN135 which were freshly drawn from maintenance centres from the UK were in the standard fighter command camouflage of Dark Green and Ocean Grey. In order to provide uniformity all these Spitfires were repainted Dark Green and Medium Grey and given pre-war type A 1-3-5 roundels. Ginger Lacey’s personal aircraft had a squadron leader’s pennant ten times the regulation size. This was perhaps the most garish and ugliest camouflage scheme ever applied on the Spitfire.
No.28 Squadron remained at Tengah until May 1949 when it went to Hong Kong to become the premiere fighter squadron until its disbandment on 2 January 1967. No 60 relinquished its Spitfires in 1950 when it re-equipped with Vampire jet fighters, the first such squadron in the Far East.
In January 1946, seven Mosquitos of 684 Squadron flew into Seletar from the Cocos islands. It disbanded on 1 September 1946 by renumbering itself as 81 Squadron. As the only photo-reconaissance unit in the area it also took in a section of Spifire PR.19s. This was the last Spitfire mark to have the original elliptical wings that characterized the type. It was also the fastest Spitfire mark,
It was a Spitfire FR 19 of No. 81 Squadron on detachment to Hong Kong which attained the highest speed by any propeller driven aircraft and also reached probably the highest altitude ever achieved by a Spitfire. The pilot was on a routine flight to survey outside air temperature. He climbed to 50,000 feet as indicated by his altimeter but his true altitude was actually 51,550 feet As the cabin pressure dropped below the accepted level he entered into a slight dive to reduce his altitude. Instead he entered into an uncontrolleable dive which shook the aircraft violently. However he managed to land his Spitfire safely.. Evaluation of the recorded flight data suggested that, in the dive, he had achieved a speed of 690 mph ( Mach 0.94), which would have been the highest speed ever reached by any propeller-driven aircraft. A Spitfire FR.19 (PS888) from the squadron made last operational sortie in with the RAF on 1 April 1954.
The Spitfire saga will not be complete without mention of the Spitfire’s service with the Malayan Auxilary Air Force (Singapore Wing). Three Spitfire F.24s (Serial Nos. PK681, PK683 and VN 494 were allocated to the Wing in 1951-53. However the Spitfires were never flown by the pilots of the MAAF. The reason being to quote official sources “it soon appeared that these MAAF squadrons were unlikely to be able to cope either with the maintenance or operation of Spitfires unless excessive demands were made on RAF personnel.” The prevailing view among Englishmen at the time was that “Chinese men could not be pilots.” This was mentioned by Wing/Cmdr Tan Kay Hai DFC who served with the RAF during WW2. It is a rebuff to the authorities that two of my personal friends, Liok Yew Teck and David Leong who were also my classmates and who both obtained their “wings” from the MAAF, subsequently became captains in Singapore Airlines flying Boeing 747s. It is a matter of some pride that today we see the Republic of Singapore Air Force operating, maintaining and even modifying top of the line fighters which are as good as any the RAF can put up. The Singapore Spitfire PK683, which for a long time stood outside the MAAF Cadet HQ at Waterloo Street, still exists in the Southampton Hall of Aviation having been carted away by the RAF in a Shorts Belfast when they departed from the island in 1971.
Tempests
In July 1949, No 33 Sqn equipped with Tempest F.2s which had been serving with the BAFO Germany arrived on board the aircraft carrier HMS Ocean. They were in standard Fighter Command camouflage of Dark Green and Ocean Grey and operated initially from Seletar. However by October of that year the Tempests had their camouflage removed and were painted Natural Aluminium replete with a Black anti-glare panel. They had Red spinners and their codes (5R-) were in the same colour. They also carried post-war type D roundels in bright Insignia Red, White and Blue. The Tempests were soon dispersed to Butterworth and Kuala Lumpur to assist in Firedog air operations. However as they were the only Tempest 2 squadron in the RAF they suffered a serviceability and spares problem and the squadron was disbanded. The flyable ones were donated to the Royal Indian Air Force while the rest were unceremoniously dumped into the Straits of Malacca.
Mosquitos and Beaufighters
Immediately after the war three Mosquito squadrons No. 84, 87 and 110 Hyderabad Sqns flew into Seletar with their FB.VIs. Mosquitos, which were constructed out of wood and glue did not do well in the tropics especially when they were left in the open because of the heat and high humidity. As a result partly because of the lack of hangars and partly because the RAF was winding down after the war, these squadrons were quickly disbanded. No 84 Sqn was reformed as a Beaufighter squadron. In some ways this was a backward step as the Mosquito had a superior performance. However the Beaufighter was of all-metal construction and more hardy for the tropics . As late as 1950 in an open day at RAF Tengah I was able to see a Mosquito FB. VI start its engines and take off virtually right in front of me. It had a Natural Aluminium finish that was so dulled by the exposure to the elements that I initially thought it was Light Grey!
It is interesting to note that No 81 Sqn kept all its eight Mosquito PR.34As throughout this period until the last operational flight by a Mosquito on the 15 December 1955!
The Mosquitos of the squadron were either in Natural Aluminium or the PR scheme of
Medium Sea Grey upper surfaces and PRU (Cerulean) Blue undersurfaces. The latter coupled with bright Red spinners glinting in the sun was a truly a spotter’s delight.
No 84 Sqn together with No 45 based at Kuala Lumpur were the only two Beaufighter squadrons left in the RAF after the war. Both of them carried the standard Fighter Command camouflage of Dark Green and Dark Sea Grey with PRU Blue undersurfaces. No. 84 Sqn Beaufighters did not carry any squadron codes but only an individual letter in white. In October 1948, the squadron was transferred to the Middle East. No.45 Sqn which was often based at Tengah depending on operational requirements, used its wartime code of OB and soldiered on as a Beaufighter unit until the end of 1949. Towards the end of its career, at least four Beaufighters were repainted in the standard Bomber Command colour scheme of Gloss Medium Sea Grey uppersurfaces and Gloss Night Black undersurfaces. The squadron was soon to re-equip with the Bristol Brigand light bomber in 1950.
The Beaufighter had a new lease of life as a target-tug. By 1950 many of them had been converted to fulfil this role which was to continue for the next 10 years. The very last flight by a Beaufighter was made by RD761 from the Seletar Target-towing Flight on 16 May 1960. It made a nostalgic circuit around the island. The TT.10 was the version that I was to see flying most often. Apart from removing the radome and installing the target-towing windmill winch on the starboard side of the fuselage, it was repainted in Natural Aluminium with Yellow “Trainer” bands in the usual position. The entire undersurface was Yellow on which were painted Black diagonal lines. Its Bristol Hercules sleeve-valved radial engines were relatively silent and one can easily imagine why it was nick-named “ Whispering Death.” The Beaufighter was replaced by the Meteor TT.20.
Hornets
The Hornet first entered service with the RAF in May 1946. But it was not until April 1951 that No 33 Sqn ,then based at Tengah, exchanged its Tempest 2s for the Hornet.
The Hornet started off badly. In August of the same year a young pilot doing some low-level aerobatics crashed into a house at Bedok killing himself and three occupants of the house. Approximately half the squadron of 16 Hornets were cast-offs from UK squadrons that had progressed to jet aircraft. The remaining half were new builds. They could be distinquished by the prefixes to the serial numbers, PX being of the older production batch and WB and WF for the new builds.
No 33 was soon joined in Febuary 1952 by No. 45 Sqn who cheerfully handed all their troublesome Brigands to No 84 Sqn. Most of the Hornets were F.3s though each Squadron also had a sprinkling of F.4s. The last batch of twelve Hornets on the production line were completed as Mk 4s. This differed in having a F.52 vertically mounted camera, and to make room for it, a smaller 46 gallon fuselage fuel tank was substituted in the place of the 60 gallon one. Hornets also served with the Far East Training Squadron (FETS) as by this time all conversion training was done at Seletar instead of in the UK as the two squadrons at Tengah were the only ones left in the RAF. The FETS Hornets are easily distinguished by their Trainer Yellow bands. There are the ones I used to see more often.
Most of the Hornets were in Natural Aluminiun but by the time they were withdrawn from service in 1955, some of them had received a green/grey/PRU camouflage. They were all flown to Seletar where they were broken up.
Vampires and Venoms
No. 60 Sqn exchanged its Spitfire F.18s for Vampire Mk 5s in December 1950 thus becoming the first jet fighter squadron in the Far East. This was not the first time that
Vampires were based out here. In December 1947 two Vampire F.3s were based at
Tengah for tropical trials. I was able to see one of them (VG703) display at Kallang Airport where it gave an impressive display. The same Vampire also made demonstration tours throughout the region. Unfortunately the demos came to a sorry end as the Vampire had to make a forced landing on a beach when it ran out of fuel! The FB.5 could be distinguished from the F.3 because it had a square-cut “clipped” wing. The FB.5 was not popular in the tropics because the high cockpit temperatures made low flying quite unbearable. They were soon replaced by the FB.9s which had a Godfrey air-conditioning unit installed in an extended port wing root. The Vampires had a Natural Aluminiun finish some (later) had the squadron markings of Black rectangles with a Silver flash flanking the fuselage roundel.
The FB. 9s were in turn replaced by Venom FB.1s in February 1955. The squadron was soon joined by No 14(F) Sqn of the RNZAF who had previously been equipped with Vampires in the Middle East. The RNZAF Venoms were leased from the RAF and therefore continued to use RAF serial numbers. Initially their Venoms had Red and White checks on the their rudders. Later they painted the rudders Black and superimposed a White kiwi on it. It looked really smart.
Meanwhile No 60 Sqn’s FB.1s were replaced by FB.4s in April 1957. These Venoms had squarish vertical tail surfaces to compensate for the increased aileron angle which enabled by powered ailerons installed in the FB.4s. They were also the first Venoms to be equipped with ejector seats. Although Venoms had a fixed airframe life of 750 hours, only one in three achieved that and their average serviceability during this period was only 58%! The Venoms FB.4s were in turn replaced by Meteor NF.14s in November 1959. No14(F) RNZAF Squadron soldiered on with FB.1s throughout until it re-equipped with Canberras.
No. 60 Sqn’s Venoms were perhaps the most colourful aircraft in the RAF as they had Bright Red wing-tip tanks and rudders. They were easily distinguishable from No 14 (F) Sqn’s Venoms which had Dark Sea Grey wing-tip tanks. Initially the Venoms had PRU Blue undersurfaces but by the time the FB.4s came into service the undersurfaces were painted Natural Aluminium in keeping with the rest of Fighter Command
Meteors, Meteors and more Meteors
I vividly remember seeing my first Meteor at the King’s Birthday Parade in 1947. When the last of the lumbering Sunderlands had flown well past, in streaked a silver Meteor F.4
at low-level and break-neck speed. It was meant to create to impress and surprise and it really did, in good measure. Up to then none of us in Singapore had seen or heard a jet or even knew that they were around. The RAF had brought in two F4s. EE595 and EE596 for tropical trials and they were based at Tengah.
The next Meteor we saw in Singapore was the Mk 7 two-seat trainer. The were attached to the Vampire squadrons as two-seat Vampire T.11 trainers came on line much later.
The Meteor T.7s, which actually started off as a private venture by Glosters, were used for refresher training, instrument rating checks and as hacks in the Far East Communication Squadron. In the UK, T.7s were used as advanced trainers. It was RAF policy then to keep the Meteor F.8s in the UK and use Vampire and Venoms for squadrons based in Germany, the Middle East and the Far East so we didn’t get to see F.8s till much later.
In 1957, No 81 Sqn traded its Spitfire 19s and Mosquito 34s for the Meteor PR.10. Apart from having a special nose equipped with three glass panels for the F.24 camera the Mk 10 reverted to the long span wings of the Meteor F.3 for its high altitude role, and the tail unit of the F.4. They were finished in Natural Aluminium throughout their service in Singapore. Some of them had a Yellow “Ace of Spades” card painted in front of the cockpit.
I was really quite disappointed when No. 60 Sqn traded their Venoms for Meteor NF.14 radar equipped all-weather fighters in October 1959. It thus became the first and only night and all-weather squadron in the Far East. At that time all the UK all-weather squadrons were already receiving Javelins and the Meteor was really quite antiquated. On looking back I’m glad I was able to enter the Mark 14 as another type in my log. It did look quite different because of its extended fuselage, and looked rather sleek when viewed from the side. The NF.14s were in service for only for three years as No.60 Sqn squadron soon exchanged its Meteors for Javelins in 1961. One Meteor NF.14 (WS 767) served as a gate guardian at RAF Tengah. Its subsequent fate is not known.
In December 1959, 1574 Flight was formed as a target-towing unit at RAF Changi. It was equipped with Meteor T7s, Meteor F.8s and TT.20s. The TT.20s were converted NF.11 machines with a wind-powered winch on the starboard wing between the fuselage and the engine nacelle. They were all painted Natural Aluminium with Yellow undersurfaces and diagonal (target-towing) Black Stripes. However in place of the usual “trainer” Yellow bands they had day-glo Pink strips liberally applied all over. At a later stage, the aircraft fins were painted Black. These Meteors served in 1574 flight until December 1970. You could easily see the Meteors all lined up when you were driving along Telok Paku Road.
Javelins
At last the Javelins did come in 1961 when they replaced the Meteor nightfighters. However they were not the first Javelins to be seen here. A year earlier, 4 Javelins from No 23 Sqn flew to Singapore as a part of a reinforcement exercise using an entire squadron of Valiant tankers pre-placed en route. They were based at RAF Changi. While they were here and I remember snapping them with a hidden camera from a moving car.
The Javelins were the latest Mk F(AW) 9s. The Mk 9s were all ex-Mk 7s refitted with after-burners. These after-burners were not an unqualified success. At best they provided only an extra 1300 lbs thrust from each engine. At worst they bled the fuel from the main engines thus reducing their dry thrust. Therefore they could only be used for heights above 20,000 feet and only for 15 minutes! The additional thrust so provided thus barely compensates for the additional weight of the after-burners. Nevertheless the after-burners were useful in that at low-level they made a very loud noise, and when operated suddenly, they could be used to scare the daylights out of anyone hiding in the jungle just below. This party trick was in use regularly during the Confrontation.
Eventually with 33 Javelins in its inventory, No. 60 Sqn became the largest squadron in the RAF! As to why the squadron had grown so large, I can only surmise that the RAF did not want the Indonesians to know how many Javelins they had in the region. The addition of new Javelin squadrons would definitely clue them. I have no doubts that the Indonesians had a fifth column working within RAF Tengah amongst the locally recruited staff. Eventually another squadron, No 64 with 16 Javelins, was added to the force at Tengah. It would be a problem I guess to say that all 49 Javelins belonged to one squadron !
Both No.60 and 64 squadrons were in standard Fighter Command camouflage colours of Dark Green and Dark Sea Grey with Aluminium undersurfaces. Javelins of No.60 Sqn had prominent stripes painted across both the fin and rudder, of which three were Silver (narrow) and two Black (broad). Most sources, including authoritative ones, quote that the bands were White and Black, which is wrong. They were only following one unreliable source after another. I have not only seen these Javelins with my own eyes but have photographic evidence in colour!
The Javelin was a large aircraft for a fighter. It had a delta wing and a tail which was unusual for a delta. Besides its wing mounted armament of four 30 mm ADEN cannon it also carried four Firestreak air-to-air missiles on pylons, the first RAF fighter to be so equipped. At the end of Confrontation, most of the time expired Javelins were stood down and No.64 Sqn disbanded. They were scrapped on-site and for a long time their cut up airframes could be seen in scrapyards along Chua Chu Kang Road.
Sabres and Mirages
The Commonwealth CA-27 Sabre was the Australian–built version of the famous F-86 Sabre. It differed from the latter in that it had a Rolls-Royce Avon jet engine and two 30 mm ADEN cannon. The aircraft therefore appeared slightly more bulky at the front end.
The RAAF had two squadrons of these Sabres based in Butterworth but they were frequent visitors to Tengah. I had the opportunity to see aircraft of both squadrons. No 77 squadrons’s Sabres had a Bright Green nose and a tail band of Medium Blue and White.
No 3 squadron’s aircraft had a broad Vermillion tail band, nose and wing tips and a stylized # 3 with a sabre passing through it. They performed at an open house in Paya Lebar. On another occasion I saw a flight of the squadron’s Sabres stream in to land when I was at RAF Tengah. Their vertical surfaces were Bright Red and they had the “Southern Cross” stars painted in White on them. I thought that this was a most attractive colour scheme. The Sabres were replaced by Dassault Mirage IIIOs. I saw the Mirage only once, when it flew right overhead. It had a really smart plan view. It looked like a paper dart.
Hunters
No 20 Sqn was reformed at Tengah in September 1961 to supplement No. 60 Sqn equipped with Javelins during the Indonesian confrontation. . It has been previously disbanded as a Hunter F.6 squadron in Germany. This time around it was equipped with the later ground attack version, the FGA.9s. which had a brake parachute housing above the jet efflux and were therefore capable of carrying two 250-gallon tanks on inboard pylons. Unfortunately the design of the Hunter wing only allowed the aircraft to carry 500 or 1000 lb bombs on the inboard pylons so it was a choice between carrying the 250-gallon fuel tank or the bomb. The external pylons could not be used for bombs as that shifted the centre of gravity of the aircraft. Initially the FGA.9s carried 4-inch rockets but later this was substituted with MATRA pods with SNEB rockets.
During Confrontation a flight of Hunters from 20 Sqn was based in Labuan, East Malaysia. No 20 Sqn was also assigned to the now defunct SEATO (South East Asia Treaty Organisation.) In 1962 it was called upon by Thailand, one of the treaty partners to help defend its border with Laos. It remained in Northern Thailand for six months. 20 Sqn is unique in that it has its own FAC aircraft. It took over a couple of cast-off Scottish Aviation Pioneers CC.1s from the disbanded 209 Sqn for this purpose. These Pioneers were painted in standard Fighter Command camouflage replete with the squadron markings of No. 20 Sqn.The unit was disbanded on the 18 February 1970. It is also not commonly known that the Royal Navy also operated a number of Hunter GA.11s which were derived from the F.4 One of them ended up at Sentosa via the RSAF.
Lightnings
In June 1966 the RAF decided to transfer 74 Sqn from Leuchars to Tengah. In order to do this by air they had to place 17 Victor tankers from three squadrons along the route. 74 Sqn was regarded as a premiere squadron in the RAF having fought with distinction in the Battle of Britain. It made a very positive contribution to the defence of Singapore during the 4 years it was based at Tengah.
The Lightnings were left in unpainted Aluminium. They were the only truly supersonic aircraft in the Far East Air Force. The Lightnings were equipped with Red Top missiles that were an improvement on the Firesteaks carried by the Javelins
Soon after their arrival the Lightnings acquired Black fins and rudders which made them very distinctive. This was in direct contradiction of the Air Ministry's directive to tone down all fighter markings. This action made the bigwigs (probably civilian) most unhappy as a result of which when the squadron disbanded in 1971 their Lightnings were passed on to 56 Sqn based in Cyprus. Most people had expected this famous squadron to reform in the UK.
It is interesting to note that at one time BAC tried to sell the Lightning to the RSAF. It is just as well this didn’t happen as the conversion to the Lightning using the T5 had the highest workload and conversion training difficulties of any aircraft.
Naval Fighters
Just prior to the end of war the Royal Navy designated some sites as MOWABs (Mobile Operational Naval Air Bases) to handle, repair and distribute Naval aircraft for the final assault on the Japanese mainland. Most of these MOWABs were in Australia, however MOWAB IX or HMS Nabrock was in Sembawang. But the Pacific war ended abruptly after Hiroshima and Nagasaki was atom-bombed so MOWABs became defunct. In the three months of its existence (from October to December 1945) the main function of HMS Nabrock was to receive crates of newly built Hellcats from the US, assemble them for easier carriage on board aircraft carriers who then brought them to the Indian Ocean and gently tipped them into the sea! When HMS Nabrock was stood down, it became HMS Simbang. It began operation as a Fleet Requirements Unit consisting of Vought F4U Corsairs and Vultee Vengeance target tugs. I never saw them or knew that they were even here! Later Seafires, Expeditors and Austers were added as was the added responsibilities of Air/Sea Rescue and communications. Although I managed to see Walruses and Sea Otters they apparently belonged to civilian operators.
Sembawang served as a debarking based for aircraft from visiting aircraft carriers. It hosted Seafires, Fireflies, and Barracudas. I saw the occasional Firefly. It wasn’t easy to tell the difference between a Spitfire and a Seafire from a distance. The Korean conflict was on in 1950 and most Fleet Air Arm fighter units were re-equipped with the Sea Fury which I don’t remember seeing. Then all was quiet until the commissioning of the new carriers HMS Albion, Bulwark and Centaur.
In 1958 a good doctor friend of my brother asked us to look after a young naval sub-lieutenant from HMS Centaur and he in turn very kindly invited my friend Ron and I to a live-firing exercise in which his ship was participating. We were very impressed by the speed and precision of the Sea Hawk FGA4s, Sea Venoms and the Gannets taking off and landing on the relative small deck of the carrier in quick order. They fired and bombed a target which was towed far behind the carrier when we were out in the South China Sea. The plane guard was a Westland WS-51 Dragonfly helicopter painted Dark Blue as were the AEW Skyraiders which didn’t fly. All the other aircraft were in the standard Fleet Air Arm colour scheme of Sky (aka Duck Egg Green) or White and Dark Sea Grey. They were in the process of dropping Sky from the colour scheme so you saw both the old and the new schemes on the Sea Hawks.
The next carrier we went out to sea in was the HMS Ark Royal. I have no pictures to prove it as we were probably told that cameras were not allowed. But I do have an invitation card which stated that the date was 8 August 1962 and of course wonderful memories to boot. We had got wind that the Royal Navy was issuing some invitation cards to the university. As one would expect, the student councilors kept the invitations for themselves, or distributed them to their cronies. (Among the councilors is a present Minister in government). Indignant, we wrote to the Royal Navy and they kindly provided passages for my pal Ron and I. We were very sad that on the day itself none of the councilors or their cronies turned up as we were the only locals on board.
The Ark Royal was at that time up to the present, the largest ship in the Royal Navy topping out at nearly 50,000 tons. It was really quite impressive until you get to go aboard the American super-carriers like the USS Abraham Lincoln or the Eisenhower , but that is another story.
By then the Sea Hawks had been replaced by Scimitars and Sea Venoms by Sea Vixens. Wessex helicopters replaced the Gannets in the anti-submarine role while a modified Mk 3 Gannet with a guppy bulge replaced the Skyraider in the AEW role. The Scimitars of No.800 FAA Sqn looked very smart with their bright Red fins. The Sea Vixens had a silhouette of a “witch on a broom” superimposed on a Yellow half moon. The letter “R” identified the aircraft as coming from the Ark Royal. The year earlier in1961, the Royal Navy had been keen to show off their new mounts. The Scimitars of the newly formed 803 FAA Sqn together with the Sea Vixens of 892 Sqn gave an impressive display of naval air power at the Paya Lebar Airport. Both types were based at Tengah while their ship, HMS Victorious was here from March to December.
The Royal Navy always kept a number of spare aircraft at RAF Tengah. The purpose of the RNASU (Royal Navy Air Support Unit) was to keep the squadrons on board the carriers in the Far East up to strength as it was not practicable to replace damaged or crashed aircraft all the way from the UK. The RNASU shifted to Changi in 1965. This resulted in a dramatic increase in activity and the aircraft now also included the new Buccaneer that had an airframe specially toughened to permit the aircraft to fly at very low levels (below the radar.) The Buccaneers S.1 had the DH Gyron Junior engines and was distinguished by smaller intakes. They were painted overall White and had Pink and Light Blue roundels. I do not recall seeing any of them. The Buccaneer S.2 was the definitive version. It had much larger air intakes to accommodate the increase in air needed for their RR Spey bypass engines. They initially had Dark Sea Grey uppersurfaces and White undersurfaces but later they were painted overall Dark Sea Grey which looked very smart. Buccaneers were in service until the first Gulf War with the RAF! I was fortunate that my brother had a holiday bungalow close to the Southern threshold of the Changi runway and I could see all these naval types doing their circuits and bumps.
One of the aircraft from the NASU was a Sea Vixen (XJ490) which was given to the Singapore Polytechnic Aeronautical Department whereupon it lost its cockpit and several other bits and pieces. Eventually it was taken over by the RSAF and put on display in Sentosa with a crudely made cockpit canopy and a partial repaint. After a period of shameful neglect, the authorities decided to give it to anybody who was prepared to transport it out of Singapore. It now stands proudly as a pristine Sea Vixen F(AW) 2 together with a proper canopy at the Queensland Air Museum at Caloundra.
The Singapore Polytechnic does not have a particularly good record for keeping the aircraft given to them. The RAF before it left Singapore in 1971 donated five serviceable Javelins to the RSAF (then SADC) which they used as instructional airframes SAFTECH 1 to 5. When the RSAF did not require them, they gave the Javelins to the Singapore Polytechnic. Within a short while the Javelins were in bits and pieces. We can only hope that the Skyhawk TA-4SU that the RSAF gave them in 2005 has a better fate.
Bombers –The Brigand
Eight Bristol Brigand B.1 bombers replaced the Beaufighters of No.45 Squadron in December 1949. Soon, they were joined by another eight Brigands from No.84 Squadron from the Middle East. The Brigand began life as a torpedo bomber, but as this requirement was obsolete, they were converted into light bombers. They had a limited production run and two out of the three squadrons were based at Tengah. Although they did sterling service during Operation Firedog, they had a host of problems and at least seven of them were involved in fatal crashes. They had weak undercarriages and cannons
that could only be fired in 4 second spurts before the gas build-up exploded the barrel.
By far the most serious problem was that of a runaway propeller blade which triggered a sudden change in the torque of the remaining three propeller blades thus causing the engine to be wrenched away from its mounting. As the Brigand crashes continued to multiply, cracks were found in the main wing spar of several aircraft. This had caused the wing to tear away from the fuselage in anything more than a shallow dive. The Brigands were immediately grounded and scrapped where they stood.
Brigands were painted in the standard Bomber Colour Scheme of Dark Sea Grey uppersurfaces and Glossy Black undersurfaces. Aircraft of No.45 Squadron carried
White code letters (OB-) aft of the fuselage roundel whereas those from 84 Squadron
had only a larger individual alphabet but they carried a simplified Ace of Spades, Hearts
Diamonds or Clubs on a White square below below the fin flash.
The Heavies – Lancaster and Lincoln
The British Air Ministry decided against permanently basing heavy bomber squadrons in the Far East. They were therefore staged out from the U.K. taking from a week to 10 days to make the journey including at least three overnight stops. The first to arrive in under the code name Red Lion I was a batch of Lancasters resplendent in their new “Tiger Force” (predominantly White with Black undersurfaces) colour schemes of No 7 Squadron in January 1947. They were based at Changi for 5 months. I remember them flying low over the school tiffin shed and was most impressed.
They were replaced in Red Lion II by a squadron of Lincoln B2s from 97 Squadron in April 1948. Lancasters appeared again on the scene in November of the following year
when No. 210 Squadron from Coastal Command based at St Eval were sent out under Operation Centipede. They were painted as one would expect in overall Grey.
Lincolns played a big part in the Malayan Emergency as they were reliable due to their ‘hot-and high’ performance, good range and heavy bomb load. They operated under “Operation Musgrave” from March 1950 to March 1951. The squadrons involved were Nos. 57, 100 and 61 of Bomber Command. After a pause of two years they came out East again in March 1953 under “Operation Bold” which involved Nos. 83,7 and 148 Squadrons. These Lincolns had the standard Bomber colour scheme of Medium Sea Grey and Glossy black. Later Lincolns were characterized by large White serial numbers on the fuselage sides. These could almost be read with the naked eye when they flew over.
In 1950, the Royal Australian Air Force decided to permanently base No.1 RAAF Lincoln squadron and it stayed on until July 1958. The RAAF Lincolns were left in bare metal finish. They also differed externally from the British Lincolns in that they retained the mid-upper dorsal turrets and the original H2S radomes.
Helicopters
Helicopters played a important part in the Malayan Emergency. The Westland Sikorsky S-51 Dragonfly was introduced to the Far East Air Force when helicopters were still in the experimental stage of development. The first helicopters in the RAF were three Dragonflies that arrived in Changi in May 1950 to form the Casualty Air Evacuation Flight. Later 8 more Dragonflies arrived to form 194 Sqn. I remember how excited I was to see my first helicopter in the air. If you were walking along the beach at Changi you could sometimes see them skimming across the shore very low and very, very close!
They were camouflaged in Dark Green and Dark Earth overall.
The next helicopter I saw was the American Sikorsky S-55 (HO4S-3). This was a bigger helicopter supposedly able to carry 10 troops with their equipment but in the tropics they could only manage to carry two or three, not including the pilot. I remember running out to the back of my house to see all 10 of them from the newly formed 848 FAA Sqn. flying in from their carrier. With their glossy Mid-nite Blue fuselages glinting in the early morning sun they were a most impressive sight. They were eventually land based at Sembawang.