43 Squadron operations - 1964

During its stay in Bahrain, that the Squadron introduced what it called ‘Day Excursions’ whereby in order to overcome the closure of Muharraq runway between 12:00 and 18:00, four armed aircraft would take off before noon, carry out strikes some 250 miles away on the Jeb-a-Jib range and land at Sharjah at around 13:00. They were then turned round, re-armed and flown off for another strike on the range before landing back at Sharjah. Finally, the aircraft would depart Sharjah and carry out 2 v 2 combat before landing at Muharraq shortly after 18:00. A total of 33 sorties of this type were flown in just three days in February.

The return to Khormaksar was spread over several days between 24 and 28 February 1964. Two Argosy flights on the 24th brought the majority of the groundcrew and those pilots not flying the Hunters, six of which flew back on the 25th followed by the remaining five on the following day, all eleven staging through Masirah en-route. The remaining groundcrew were flown down to Khormaksar by Argosy on the 28th. The last four days of the month were utilised on the conversion of all of the Hunters to UHF radio.

Otherwise the Squadron did not get time to relax as, during the month of March, it spent two weeks on Air Defence Standby, much of it on close ground support of the FRA as it withdrew from Wadi Rabwa in the Thumier area, a total of 51 Air Cover and strike sorties being flown during this period. On the 3rd alone, eleven rocket and cannon strikes were carried out in the Radfan and Danaba areas; two by OC Tactical Wing, Wg Cdr Jennings (XE623 and XG296), three by OC 43 Squadron. Sqn Ldr Champniss (XG292, XG296 and XJ692), two by Flt Lt Stoker (XJ680 and XG292), and one each by Flt Lts Osborne (XF456), Forse (XJ692), Chapman (XE550) and Wilkins (XE655). A further four cannon strikes were flown in the same area on the 19th by Wg Cdr Jennings (XJ684), Fg Off Herring (XJ680) and Flt Lts Stoker (XG292) and Wilkins (XG296), and two more on the 20th by Sqn Ldr Champniss (XE623) and Fg Off Hill (XJ680). On the 28th, the Squadron participated in its most impressive action since arriving in Aden, the Tactical Wing rocket and cannon strike on Fort Harib over the Yemen border, carried out alongside Hunters from 8 Squadron and 1417 Flight. The four 43 Squadron Hunters were flown by Sqn Ldr Champniss (XF456), Fg Off Hill (XJ692) and Flt Lts Doggett (XE623) and Stoker (XE611).

The hectic activity of the previous month declined in April, the attack on Fort Harib having rammed home the message, at least for the time being. Patrols along the border to the north and south of Wadi Ayn were, however, flown throughout the month. In general this involved a pair of aircraft flying at a compromise between endurance and tactical air speed, so as to stay in the area for as long as possible.

Flt Lts Doggett and Osborne were dispatched to Kenya on the 6th to carry out flag waves in the rift valley, returning to Khormaksar on the 15th.

Towards the end of the month, the Squadron took part in what was to become known as ‘The Radfan War’, providing close air support for operations in the Radfan area. Sorties were flown in support of ground troops who were engaged with large numbers of dissident tribesmen. Sorties were also flown in the Ruseis area, which was inhabited by hostile tribes, to cover the salvage operation after the Hunter crash in which Fg Off Herring was killed. He was taking part in a simulate rocket attack when the crash occurred; full details can be found in the Accidents page.

In May, the Squadron continued with operations in the Radfan area which began the previous month, assisting ground forces in the action against Egyptian-backed dissidents who were not only hindering the important Dhala trade route, but also the security of a large area of the Federation. At the beginning of the month, the task was to take out enemy positions from which British troops were being harassed and covering friendly movements with cannon fire to silence snipers. As the month progressed, air power was used for proscription in certain areas and towards the end was used systematically to destroy targets such as fortified buildings from which friendly troop movements could be checked. In all, 150 sorties were flown in the Radfan area during which 1009 rockets and 50,029 HE cannon rounds were fired. Six pilots were placed on permanent standby between 05:30 and 18:30; one pair at ten-minutes and one pair at 30-minutes readiness for the Radfan and one pair at 30-minutes for air defence. The groundcrew worked in two shifts, with each individual working an afternoon and the following morning, followed by the succeeding afternoon and morning free. Intermixed with all this flying activity, Beihan patrols were flown on alternate days by the Air Defence standby pair and regular sorties were flown on Operation Ranji. Training was not forgotten either, the opportunity being taken when 208 Squadron was the duty squadron.

To put these operations into perspective, the table below gives an example of the sorties flown by 43 Squadron over just two days in May. Overall, it flew 158 similar sorties during the whole month.

June saw the advent of Centralised Servicing for the Hunters of Tactical Wing and a new system for running the daily operational states. All airmen were transferred into Technical Wing and the Hunters pooled, much to the consternation of the Squadron Commander who wrote in the ORB, “A sad blow for sentimental reasons but we are assured that the reorganisation will lead to a more efficient utilisation of manpower. The results so far are most discouraging but it is early days yet.”

With the protracted departure of 208 Squadron for Bahrain, 43 Squadron remained on state until relieved by 8 Squadron on the 11th. After a four-day break, the Squadron returned to the system of working that gave more relief to both pilots and groundcrew; commencing work at 12:30 until 18:30 on one day and again from 05:00 to 13:00 on the following day, followed by 24 hours off duty. By the end of the month, flying in the Radfan area had reduced in tempo though the readiness state remained the same.

Of the 78 operational sorties flown in July, 65 were armed recce in the Radfan area, consisting of a pair of cannon-armed aircraft carrying out reconnaissance of the hostile area and if nothing was seen, firing in a prescribed square. As the ORB states, “This type of flying, whilst very enjoyable, only serves to prove the ineffectiveness of 30 mm HE against hard-skinned targets and the camouflage ability of the locals.” A section of four aircraft armed with cannon and rockets, and flown by Sqn Ldr Champniss (XE609), Flt Lt Chapman (XF456), Flt Lt Stoker (XE592) and Flt Lt Wilkins (XJ680), carried out a strike on the 28th on a cave thought to contain arms and ammunition. Sixty rockets and 540 rounds of HE ammunition were fired but with no apparent effect on the supposed contents. Bad weather throughout the month restricted much of the flying programme. With strong winds in the order of 30 kts gusting to 40 kts almost every day, the resultant sandstorms reduced visibility to 1,000 yards on occasions, causing a planned range programme to fall by the wayside.

To make matters worse, the new servicing system did not provide adequate serviceable aircraft for even one day’s flying, causing many fours to be flown as pairs. The OC, Sqn Ldr Champniss, commented that is was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the high standard of briefings due to the lack of confidence in the availability in the planned number of aircraft to fly. Furthermore, experienced pilots were increasingly being forced to give up some of their allocated flying hours to allow non-operational pilots reasonable continuity prior to becoming operational.

Despite the trouble in the Radfan area appearing to decrease, a further 65 armed recce sorties were flown in the area during August, comprising two sorties per day, each sortie being flown by a pair of aircraft. A four-ship was flown early in the month to provide top cover for an FRA convoy moving into the Dhala area.

In response to dissident activity in the Dathina area, the Squadron carried out two flagwaves and four firepower demonstrations, plus a strike on Jebel Fahman, a supposed dissident position, by Flt Lt Stoker (XG256) and Fg Of Thomson (XE618) on the 19th. A strike using eight aircraft was planned for the 16th was called off when bad weather prevented the aircraft reaching their target just north of Wadi Taym. It was, instead, carried out in better weather on the following day by eight aircraft of 8 Squadron. The number of operational sorties flown during the month was 92, during which 26.828 rounds of HE and 321 rockets were fired - a busy month. The training of non-operational pilots continued whenever possible, excluding Fg Off Burrows from the 11th, when XE623’s engine flamed-out causing him to eject and slightly damage his back. After three weeks in Steamer Point Hospital, he was given a further two months light duties before being allowed to fly an ejection seat-fitted aircraft again. Two Squadron pilots flew a pair of FGA.9s (XG292 and XJ692) back to the UK for refurbishment on the 6th of the month and ferried two completed aircraft (XG205 and XG261) back to Aden.

The downward trend in operational sorties continued through September when 76 such sorties were flown, 66 on armed recces in the Radfan area and one to check reports that invaders were crossing the Yemeni-Federation border in the Haushabi area, three flagwaves, two strikes in Mudia by Flt Lt Chapman (XF456) and Fg Off Middleton (XG296) on the 1st of the month and two more by Wg Cdr Jennings (XJ680) and Flt Lt Brown (XF421) on the 17th, and two airborne standby missions for Dhala. With sickness and repatriation, Sqn Ldr Champniss highlighted the fact that he was back down to fifteen pilots adding that he hoped something would be done to rectify this state of affairs.

Of the 65 operational sorties flown in October, 44 were armed recces in the Radfan, eleven being strikes in the Dhala area on the 6th of the month by Flt Lts Stoker (XF435 x 2), Osborne (XE592), Lydiate (XF456), Forse (XF454 x 2), Wilkins (XE618), Lee (XE609), Chapman (XJ684) and Fg Off Thomson (XJ684 and XE592). Targets in Mudia were the object of four other strikes carried out by Flt Lts Chapman (XG154) and Batty (XG261) on the 26th and Sqn Ldr Champniss (XG296) and Flt Lt Liddle (XE655) on the 29th of the month. Two missions were flagwaves and four provided close air support of the Army at Balir’s Field under FAC control. The number of rounds fired again exceed 26,000 and 378 rockets were fired.

For the first month in a long time, the Squadron was able to carry out a comprehensive training programme which included 20 operational shoots and 43 Academic shoots (author’s note: what is the difference please?) on the range and high and low level battle formations, combat, interceptions, simulated strikes and cine. From 8 to 16 October, five pilots from 43 Squadron and five from 8 Squadron were detached to Masirah with six aircraft and while there, carried a substantial number of hours of low level flying, concentrating on navigation. The detachment, although successful, was marred by the death of Fg Off Ian Stephens when his aircraft (XE592) crashed into the sea shortly after taking off in formation for the return flight to Khormaksar.

Only four of the 32 operational sorties flown in November were strikes, a much quieter month, the number of rockets fired having dwindled to 87 and the number of rounds to a little over 9,000. The Radfan operations had been slowing down over the previous couple of months and on the 15th, a signal was received from HQ MEC to the effect that air operations in the controlled area would be restricted to close air support of the Army. This enabled the Squadron to concentrate on much needed training in which two new pilots featured a great deal, their training assuming a priority. Pilots and aircraft for the four strikes on the 17th were Sqn Ldr Champniss (XE620), and Flt Lts Forse (XE655), Chapman (XF456) and Brown (XE546).

Although flagwaves were carried out at the request of a number of agencies, only a few operational tasks were called for in December, the most exacting of which was a four aircraft strike against a gun emplacement at Beihan on the 5th. This was flown by Sqn Ldr Champniss (XF456), Flt Lts Stoker (XF454) and Forse (XG205) and Fg Off White (XJ680). This allowed the emphasis on training to continue, and an interesting diversion came when the carrier HMS Eagle, accompanied by HMS Zulu, visited the Gulf of Aden, giving Strike Wing Hunters the opportunity to use the ships in Naval Coop exercises. These took the form of low level runs to attack the ships, avoiding their radar, and firing 60 lb concrete-headed rockets and 30mm cannon at splash targets towed by the ships. The Buccaneers, Sea Vixens and Gannets meanwhile used the WAP training area for their flying programme.

Fg Off Thomson was dispatched to the UK with Flt Lt Chambers of 1417 Flt to collect a Mark 9 (XJ689) and a Mark 10 (XE589) respectively from Kemble, but technical snags delayed their arrival until 9 January.