No sooner had the New Year begun when the Aden Petroleum Workers decided to hold a strike that was to last through the whole of January. Thus limited the total FR.10 flying hours for the Flight to 69.5 and happily did not obstruct the fuel lines completely but Strike Wing as a whole had to manage on an average fuel allowance of 20,000 gallons a day. It was perhaps lucky that the fuel shortages coincided with poor aircraft serviceability as the Flight operated with no more than two FR.10s throughout the month. Thus one aircraft was tanked up full for long range and operational flying was kept in short range configuration. The latter was mainly used on air-to-ground firing and essential solo exercises.
The Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir Michael Le Fanu, paid a visit to Strike Wing on the 27th and was flown in a Hunter T.7 by OC Strike Wing, Wg Cdr Martin Chandler. Flt Lt Chambers accompanied the T.7 as it flew over the Aden hinterland and took photographs of it from his FR.10’s oblique camera, the being handed to the Admiral before his return to HQ.
Of the eighteen operational sorties flown, nine were on Ranji and the Wadi Yahar attracted much of the Flight’s attention, Flt Lt Grimshaw flying four sorties to find firstly, a suspected dissident ammunition dump, secondly to mark it for a strike by 8 Squadron and thirdly, to take post strike photographs. Flt Lt Simpson, escorted by Wg Cdr Chandler in an FGA.9, was then tasked to search for a party of sixty dissidents south-west of Al Muthat but without success, and Flt Lt Johns, escorted by the Wing Weapons Officer, Flt Lt Harris in an FGA.9, flew a flagwave over Al Khabr. As a result of this and subsequent sorties, two factions in the area were persuaded to give up a number of hostages they had taken.
With fuel supplies back to normal at the beginning of February, the Flight was able to clock up over 106 hours, divided roughly 50-50 between operational and training. The month also witnessed an above average movement of pilots with a two-week detachment to Masirah and Bahrain and one pilot detached to Eastleigh for nineteen days, Flt Lt Simpson being employed as an operations officer during an airlift of fuel to Zambia. Back at base, 37 operational sorties were flown, fourteen of them by the two pilots detached to Masirah. A security black-out prevented any details of these operations being recorded in the ORB. The remaining sorties were flown on Operation Ranji and operations in the Yaffa area of the Radfan, including a leaflet drop and pre-strike photographic sortie by Flt Lt Johns (XF460). He later followed-up with a post-strike recce.
Based on the higher number of hours achieved by the detachment to Masirah, the Flight’s target was increased to 120 hours for March and this was attained without much trouble. At Khormaksar the AOC’s inspection on 15 March was followed by the CFS Hunter agents which initiated a general refurbishing of the Flight’s accommodation and the pilots’ professional knowledge. Thus as the slap of paint brushed died away the buzz of study rose to a crescendo. On 14 March, Flt Lt Cole became tour-ex and returned to Chivenor as an FR instructor.
Of the 43 operational sorties flown this month, 27 were flown on Operation Thesiger from Masirah by two FR.10s on detachment at the command of HQRAFPG. Apart from these operations being carried out in the Dhofar State area, once again no further information was allowed to be recorded in the ORB. At Khormaksar the normal run of Operation Ranji sorties were undertaken, two of which were deemed a special mention. The first concerned the SS Verona, a three-masted schooner which was photographed while the High Commissioner was enjoying an afternoon cruise on board. The second involved a Russian floating crane in Aden Harbour; Flt Lt Grimshaw (XE589) taking vertical photographs of the target and achieving the record for the minimum operational sortie flying time recorded by 1417 Flight - five minutes. Several sorties were mounted in search of missing vehicles; one by Flt Lt Johns (XE614) for some Royal Engineer trucks was curtailed when they were discovered in Normandy Lines, and Flt Lts Chambers (XE599) and Simpson (XF436) successfully located a bulldozer in the Shabwah area although the purpose of such a vehicle in this remote area was a little perplexing.
The most interesting search, however, was for a missing Ferret scout car of the Hadramaut Bedouin Legion. Having been tasked, Flt Lt Chambers (XE589)and Wg Cdr Chandler (XE614) flew to Sabitayn intent on locating the crew in the sandy wastes but with no luck they returned despondent. However, the next day they learned that not only does the desert burn in these remote areas but it raises passions of a more earthly nature. A signal was received stating “Info suggests that the car commander was caught with his trousers down in flagrante dealing with a local call girl. Her brother, Mohamed Al Ker, who deserted to the Yemen in 1963 did the killing and used the vehicle as a getaway car. Not ascertained yet whether incident was opportunist or used as bait. The driver seems to have been behind a bush awaiting his turn”. No. 1417 Flight were pleased to note that the HBL observe the niceties of rank.
The variety of operational sorties of March were not repeated in April, allowing the Flight to carry out more routine training. During the month, 43 Squadron celebrated its 50th anniversary and flew a sixteen-ship formation to mark the occasion. 1417 Flight provide four airborne spares and two of these joined in the ‘43’ formation before breaking away while the squadron continues its performance. All four then joined the sixteen for a big formation run-in and break. Flt Lts Simpson and Whitman were flown back to the UK on 9 April to collect to refurbished single-seat Hunters plus a T.7. Taking the northern route they encountered several minor delays due to snow in the UK and diplomatic clearances, eventually arriving back at Khormaksar on the 25th. Only seventeen operational flights were flown, two of these on Operation Ranji, two more on photographing a number of forts and a further two on post-strike photographic recces in suspected dissident positions.
A notable event occurred on 9 May when a huge bird, possibly a Griffin Vulture, struck FR.10 XE589, being flown by Flt Lt Simpson. Despite considerable damage being done to the starboard air intake, Flt Lt Simpson jettisoned the four drop tanks and manage to fly the aircraft back to Khormaksar, where it was assessed as Cat 4. Fortunately the three remaining aircraft maintained a high serviceability rate. As a pair of aircraft were available most mornings, they were flown together on long range FR sorties, ending with one v one combat. The latter exercises emphasised the fighter aspect of the Flight’s role, which had suffered over the previous few months owing to the high number of pure reconnaissance sorties flown on operations and target searches for the FGA squadrons.
Also in May, the Flight said goodbye to Sqn Ldr Bowie, OC Strike Wing, and welcomed his successor, Sqn Ldr Fred Trowern. Like his predecessor, Sqn Ldr Trowern was an experienced FR pilot, having served in the FR element of 8 Squadron prior to the formation of 1417 Flight. Nineteen operational sorties were flown during the month, one of them by Flt Lt Grimshaw (XE599) to take vertical and oblique photographs of the Oil Tank Farm at Little Aden to assist the internal security planners. The Wing carried out one strike on targets on a village in Wadi Bana, near Al Qarah, Flt Lt Grimshaw (XE614) carrying out the leaflet drop, target marking and post-strike recce; all targets were badly damaged.
With only three FR.10a available, the Flight’s target for June was reduced to 75 hours and this was achieved with ease, the aircraft being flown in maximum fuel configuration on all sorties. To enable the Flight to enjoy a fair months’ flying, it was also allotted 25 hours in the Wing’s Mark 9s. The high intensity of FR training continued as preparation to exercises under war conditions. The war situation was planned by the training officer and was very demanding in that it exercised pilots’ navigation skills to the utmost. Flt Lt Grimshaw’s training was progressing well as he moved onto the final phase (4).
All this training activity was brought about by the reduced demand for operational flying, although Flt Lt Johns was called on to search and photograph a dissident arms dump in the Wadi Bana and Flt Lt Grimshaw flew a photographic sortie of the south side of the Aden Colony, the reason not being given. And finally, Flt Lt Chambers carried out a post strike recce after 43 Squadron attack a clump of trees in the Wadi Bana that was suspected of being a dissident hideout and arms dump. Observation of the film seemed to indicate that the dissidents had vacated their hide.
Throughout July the Flight’s pilots were well dispersed on various tasks, two on a two-week detachment to Muharraq and two as members of Boards of Inquiries (BoI), kept the crews availability state at a lower than average level. Only four operational sorties were managed; Flt Lt Whitman (having become operational) making two of them on a search for an airfield 130 miles north of Mukalla, the first being abandoned due to heavy mist and thundery showers (yes, even in Aden), but the second on the following day proved more fruitful. It transpired to be four miles from the position given in the tasking signal. The other two sorties were flown by Flt Lt Simpson and involved photographing the Wadi Makhran prior to an Army operation and then dropping the processed prints by parachute to the Army at Habilayn.
Flt Lt Simpson was flown to N’Dola as a member of a BoI into a Javelin accident while Flt Lt Whitman acted as a member of a BoI into an accident on Khormaksar airfield. Only one pilot was available each week and bad weather(!) caused the loss of two days flying. Even so, due to the lack of aircraft, the target of 75, FR.10 hours was only just missed and in part was made up by nine hours in the FGA.9. Despite the limitations of the detachment, 208 Squadron appeared well satisfied with the photographs of their simulated strike targets positioned in the Trucial States.
In Aden State the security situation had begun to worsen again and in a wave of new incidents two airmen of the Strike Wing Photographic Section were by grenade splinters while walking in Tawahi. Happily their wounds were not severe and after a spell in hospital, they were soon back at work.
With Flt Lt Neal missing through illness and two pilots on leave on Kenya, the opportunity was taken in August to give FR training to another Strike Wing pilot. Fg Off Hughes-Lewis of 43 Squadron was selected and he flew with the Flight for two weeks. During this time he was taught basic photography and FR tactics. As the result of an Egyptian air attack on a village near Beihan, it was decided to place a pair of Hunters at the nearby airfield to maintain a standby commitment. Wg Cdr Chandler was the first pilot to land a Hunter on this unmade strip on 5 August. Photographs of the event were taken by Flt Lt Simpson who later escorted the wing commander back to Khormaksar. The first six days of the month had seen a flurry of operational activity caused by the suspicion of dissident activity some 230 miles north-east of Aden but with no activity observed, it was decided to discontinue the search. At the end of the month, Flt Lt Johns carried out a route search for smugglers crossing the Yemeni border which was closed to traffic in mid-August.
The penultimate day of August marked the end of Flt Lt Chambers tenure as 1417 Flight Commander and he was posted back to the UK and a staff appointment at Henlow, his place at Khormaksar being handed over to Flt Lt Whitman. During Ralph Chamber’s year as OC, the Flight undertook the greatest number of operational tasks since the Radfan campaign. That these tasks, without exception, were successfully concluded is a fair indication of the thought derived by Flt Lt Chambers to the training and operational efficiency of his flight.
As the security situation continued to worsen, the ‘bargain shopping’ areas around the Crescent were declared out-of-bounds and a recent crop of grenade incidents in the Maalla district reminded everyone of the need for vigilance.
With less than forty hours flying being recorded on the FR.10 clock, the high point in September was undoubtedly the return to full flying of Flt Lt Neal. Of the eight operational sorties, two were flown on Exercise Michael, a joint exercise held on Perim Island, and involved taking photographs and dropping them to troops on the island. Following four attacks by 8 and 43 Squadrons in the Wadi Bana on the 14th, Flt Lt Grimshaw (XF436) flew two post-strike sorties to photograph the damage inflicted on the targets. Four route recces were also flown by Flt Lts Whitman (XF436) and Johns (XE614 and XF436) in West Lahej seeking out smugglers. Flt Lt Farquhar-Smith, a recent arrival from the UK, was soon settling in to the routine and had commenced his operational training.
Fortunately the high serviceability of the two FR.10s available (XE614 and XF436) continued through October, allowing the Flight to achieve nearly 75 hours on type, a further eight hours being accrued by Flt Lt Grimshaw in an FR.10 (XE599) returning from refurbishment in the UK. The opportunity was taken to fire practice rounds at targets on the Khormaksar range, ostensibly to check the efficiency of the weapon firing systems as they had no been used since early in the year. Despite a record number of incidents, the security forces were able to restrict terrorist activity to areas out-of-bounds to British services apart from those on duty.
The first operational task of the month was a recce of the coastal area where the EAP meets the WAP and flown by Flt Lt Whitman (XF436) on the 6th. Having landed at Masirah for refuelling and turnround, he carried out a further recce of the same area on the return flight to Khormaksar. He was escorted on the round-trip by Flt Lt Johns in a borrowed Wing FGA.9. On the 18th, Flt Lt Johns (XE599) flew two sorties for HQ Area West photographing the Wadi Milah and Jebel Radfan areas and, as the photographs were required for a briefing, he then dropped them over Habilayn on the same evening. In terms of coverage and the time allotted for completion of the tasks, the operations were bordering on the impossible. To explain the limits of Hunter FR.10 reconnaissance, Flt Lt Johns visited Habilayn on the last day of the month and spoke to the senior ranks of 43 Commando RN.
November began well and with three aircraft serviceable, a target of 90 hours of FR.10 flying looked easily achievable. However, this pleasant state of affairs deteriorated rapidly as the month progressed and the Flight was declared non-operational on two occasions owing to the lack of aircraft. Gradually, the three aircraft were returned to the line and the target was attained. On the 30th, Flt Lt Johns was dispatched for a two-day visit up-country to Mukelia in order to control a fly-past of Hunter aircraft in honour of the coronation of the Sheikh of Mukelia. Of the four operational sorties flown this month, the most interesting occurred on 25th when Flt Lt Whitman (XE599) used his 30 mm cannon to mark targets in Wadi Bana for Strike Wing FGA.9s to attack in force and follow up by taking post-strike photographs.
By now, the Flight was back to full strength with six pilots; Flt Lts Whitman, Grimshaw, Johns, Neal, Simpson and Farquhar-Smith, plus one SNCO, four Corporals and nine airmen.
Festivities and celebrations apart, 1417 Flight had good reason to enjoy December. With four aircraft available for most of the month, the flying task was achieved with ease. All pilots, with the exception of Flt Lt Grimshaw, who had a broken wrist, enjoyed their fair quota of flying with consequent benefit to their FR training. On the social side, Christmas passed pleasantly with all its attendant mess and private functions which, happily, were not marred by terrorist incidents, although several of these occurred in Aden State over the festive period. The major event to effect the flight was the arrival of Sqn Ldr R. Barraclough on 28 December to assume command of the Flight, Flt Lt Whitman having become tour-ex.
Although another lean month as far as operational sorties were concerned, two were flown by Flt Lts Neal and Whitman (XE599 x 2) in support of Special Air Service (SAS) operations and proved interesting exercises in pinpoint navigation and precise photography, and not to be recommended without air superiority. Flt Lt Neal (XF436) also spent ten minutes photographing a collection of shacks just north of Khormaksar airfield from which it was suspected that dissidents were preparing to launch mortar attacks on the station. In the middle of the month, Flt Lt Johns (XF436) covered an extensive area in the northern slopes of Jebel Radfan with obliques for the 1st Cameronians and subsequently parachute-dropped the processed prints at Habilayn. They were well received!