835 SQUADRON/HMS NAIRANA NEWSLETTER - 2007


The response to the request for articles for this Newsletter has been almost overwhelming, for which many thanks. It was suggested that a couple of paragraphs would suffice, and if there was no other news, a short report on time spent in the RN after 835 would be welcome instead. Submissions varied from a couple of lines on a Christmas card to 5 pages of foolscap! Some sent news as well as details of service after 835. To avoid having to publish a book, it has been necessary to précis some of the contributions. It is hoped that the resultant shortened version will be acceptable to you.

OBITUARIES

Leslie Paine has written to say that his dear wife Sal died on 23 October after contracting an infection following an operation. It was completely unexpected. Leslie and his family have been desolated as a result. Sal attended several of our reunions. She was a very pleasant and companionable lady with a lovely sense of humour. Her artistic talent was remarkable. Our sincere condolences go to Leslie and his family.

Don Smith. Willie Armstrong reports that Don died early in the New Year. Don was a widower and lived alone. His neighbours didn’t see much of him for a couple of days and on further investigation he was found dead in his house. Don was a Petty Officer in the Ship’s radio department. He joined NAIRANA on commissioning day and was still serving on board when she paid off. He was a quiet, greatly respected Christian gentleman. He had been manager of a Lloyds Bank before he retired. Willie Armstrong represented the Squadron at his funeral service. The church was full - he was very popular in the village and was Treasurer of the church funds.

Lord Kilbracken (aka as the Hon John Godley) died on 14 August. He was CO of 835 Sqn from 14 January to 31 March 1945. He was awarded the DSC for a high attack on enemy shipping off Norway on 29 January 1945. His obituary in the Daily Telegraph reported that in 1972 he returned his DSC to the Queen and renounced his British citizenship in protest at the shooting of 13 demonstrators during the so-called massacres in Londonderry. This was the only decoration awarded to Swordfish crewmen during 835’s existence. In later years he apparently wasn’t very proud of his action in returning his DSC to the Queen as he persuaded Barry Barringer not to mention it in “Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea”.

Reg King. Bill Banham has reported Reg’s death. He was an Air Artificer with 835 during the last 9 months of their sojourn in HMS NAIRANA. Bill remembers him as a jolly good aircraft engineer, a great personality and an all-round asset to the Squadron. In civilian life he became a departmental manager at the RAE in Bedford. 835 crewmen have a lot to thank men like Reg for. They kept our aircraft serviceable and airworthy in the most atrocious conditions. Our sincere condolences to his widow and family.
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George Arber has given a synopsis of his career after leaving 835. You may remember that George was the only survivor of a crash over the side on 4 March 1944 when Ken Wilmot and George Ferguson lost their lives. George was discharged to hospital on 18 March and into “care” on 24 May. On 28 May he married Katie - a senior VAD. He was returned to HMS ST VINCENT for an instructional technique course, followed by posting to 766 Squadron at Inskip and later to Rattray on instructor ground duties. He was permanently grounded and, when demobbed in September 1946, was awarded the King’s Medal and a War Disablement pension (30%). He later became Chairman of the Goldfish Club.

Willie Armstrong reports that he and Sal are soldiering on with only the normal problems of old age. His Service life after 835 consisted of 2½ years of the Korean War, Suez and other minor conflicts. Sometime during this period he converted from a TAG to Observer, was commissioned and retired as a Lieutenant Commander. He then became the Chief Administration Officer at Huntingdon Technical College for 15 years when he retired for the second time at the age of 65. His spare time is now taken up by indoor bowling and a large garden.

The problems Ken Atkinson had with sciatica, which he mentioned in the last newsletter, have now receded which has enabled him to resume light gardening chores and his monthly country walks. He has been given advice on lifting - light loads only and bend the knees and not the back - but he sometimes forgets! He is grateful, as an 85 year old, that a failing memory appears to be the only affliction he appears to be suffering from at the moment. He also mentions that he has heard tell that there may be a celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the RN Flying Corps at Yeovilton in 2007. If this comes about, he feels this would be a good excuse for another 835 get-together.

A very worthwhile and long contribution was received from Bill Banham written in longhand despite the fact that he had a sprained wrist as a result of falling off his bicycle. He had a meteoric career with Fairey Aviation after he purchased his release from the RN. He rose from Service Liaison Engineer to Superintendent Repairs and Spares, to Service Manager, to Product Support Manager, and Sales and Product Manager. According to a cutting from the Fairey Magazine which he enclosed, he was also internationally known for his immaculate planning and attention to detail in projecting the company’s image and products at the Farnborough and Paris Air Shows. Two outstanding incidents he describes concern the occasion when he was sent to the USA to receive a citation awarded to Fairey for the work carried out in supporting the AVSA programme. He says that it is not often that one gets to shake hands with an Admiral, particularly the US version. The other incident involved another visit to the USA to defend Fairey’s honour when they were accused of being responsible for the death of a US pilot who was killed when his vertical take-off plane crashed. Despite the obtuseness of a US Colonel, he was able to prove that Fairey were completely innocent of the accusation.

A rather hectic time has been experienced by Jock and Pam Bevan at the beginning of this year. They have been involved in the local pantomime in which Jock was OC Scenery, as well as having a 3-line speaking part. The high-spot was celebrating Pam’s 80th birthday with a fortnight’s visit to friends in Florida. The birthday was celebrated at Key West in unforgettable style. They also had a trip to Cape Kennedy which he says “blew their minds”. In addition to the spacecraft there was an abundance of wildlife which results from the fact that there is strict security for humans which allows nature to more or less run wild. Several of you have asked for details of prices for the picture of NAIRANA and her 3 aircraft. He can supply A6 “tent” cards for £2.50 each (which includes a donation to the Swordfish Heritage Trust). Prices for other sizes and prints of his other FAA paintings may be had on request direct to him at Studio 2, Ardfern, Lochgillphead, Argyll, Scotland PA13 8QN.

One of the biggest excitements that Al Burgham experiences is waking up each day! The other bit of excitement is that he passed his latest aged driving test which will carry him on for another 2 years. Al and Jean also spend some time each day thanking their Maker for all their blessings and looking back on happy memories. Al has also heard of the possible centenary celebrations at Yeovilton. He and Jean would make every effort to be there. Son Ian has a friend who owns a collection of aircraft - Spitfires, Hurricanes, Mustang and several others. When Al sat in the Hurricane he felt he could have flown right off! The grand-daughters continue to do their good work. Olivia is in Northern Thailand working on a native medical book following her work in refugee camps. Emma is working on Archives at Oxford. Julia is finishing her course at Aberdeen University and is seeking a career in law. One of the grand-daughters (he doesn’t say which) is possibly getting married in the UK sometime during the year. Their sons have told Al and Jean that they will be going to the wedding even if they have to be pushed there in wheelchairs!

It has not pleased Di Conwell that she had to give up driving last year, but her daughter Jenny and son-in-law Brian drive her to church and lunch every week and to coffee mornings every Monday at the local library. Her whole family descended on her in December including her grandson and 3 great-grand-children. She still writes her little stories for small children. She also paints water colours and reads a great deal.

The name Fiona Davies will not mean a lot to you but she has been very helpful in supplying a lot of information on her uncle John Cridland. The sad news is that John is suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and is now resident in a special care home in Ohio, USA where he is well looked after, very happy, peaceful and in good health otherwise. Fiona spoke to him on the telephone on Christmas Day, but he couldn’t remember who she was. When she mentioned David Whittick, Queenie Supple and Bob Selley he asked her to send his best wishes to them. Apparently his long-term memory clicks on occasionally but his short-term memory is more or less non-existent. Fiona applied for John’s Arctic Badge and has sent it on to him.

The great event in the lives of Bill and Di Dalton was the celebration of their Golden Wedding. Many of their friends and relatives joined them for lunch on their special day. Bill suffered a monstrous attack of vertigo last spring which meant he couldn’t drive or be driven for some 3 months. This ruined their summer holiday plans. A brain scan was successful and eventually it was decided that he may have had a little stroke. Thankfully everything seems to have settled down now. Their plans for Christmas were ruined too as Di had her pills changed which upset her. Their New Year party had to be cancelled. Once her pills were reinstated, everything came back to normal. They take Jack Dalton’s faithful girlfriend Kay out to lunch and tea occasionally.

2006 saw Derrick and Leslie Edwards indulging in a belated Golden Wedding gift from a member of their family given 5 years ago - a time-share holiday in Lanzarote. Their next venture in August was to travel to Canada to greet their great-grand-daughter and attend her Baptism. They also spent a very relaxing weekend visiting the family cottage on one of the lovely Canadian lakes. Ten days later they flew to California to stay with their middle daughter’s family, followed by a lovely trip to the gold mining country at Nevada City, finishing by a relaxing stay by Lake Tahoe.

Temporary dips in health have played severe havoc with the routines and memory of Charles and Julie Gough. There does seem to be a bit of daylight coming over the horizon at last. Charles and a small party of the Mersey Group of the FAAOA went to a talk about Naval Aviation History given by John Beattie of the Historic Flight at Mold. He brought along his grandfather’s flying log book. Lo and behold, the log book contained 2 of the names of his pupils who were at the meeting - Jack Thomas and John Maybank. Another famous name in the log book was that of David Whittick. When Charles left 835 he was posted to Maydown just in time for VE Day, which was celebrated with an enormous Balbo when the surrendered U-boats were brought into Lough Foyle. He was then posted to Hinstock where he became an instructor in instrument flying - mainly in Oxfords. He finished his time at the Education and Vocational Training Establishment near Leigh in Lancashire where he ran the admin side of things.

Sport, running, dancing and skiing is the recipe which Hans-Werner Grosse recommends for keeping him fit for flying still! He renewed his flying licence both for powered flight and gliding last November. Not bad for an 84 year old! He has spent a lot of time making modifications to his glider following the loss of his prototype No 3 in a spiral dive. He carried out a test flight with Karin in December and was very pleased with the result. His alertness and quickness of response is not what it used to be, but with Karin in the back seat with her younger brains, he hopes that they will be able to enjoy gliding at least for another year.

Health problems seem to be the general trend running through this Newsletter and Denis Hudston is no exception. He is waiting for a hip replacement operation. He also experienced prostate gland trouble whilst on holiday in France which took some time to be rectified. During that time his friend June was seriously ill with strokes and had to have an operation on her neck artery. No holidays have been booked for this year, but he hopes to attend his grand-daughter’s wedding in France in June.

The Sovereign’s Parade at the RMA Sandhurst was the highlight for Humph and Reia Jones last year. This was a special one, with Prince William on parade, his father and step-mother in the audience, and granny as the Inspecting Officer. It took them back to 1968 when Humph was on parade and Reia was in the audience. They are both well and continuing in the same jobs. The “works outing” (as Humph insists calling the DLO Sports and Social Club trips) was more adventurous last year when they spent a week on the P&O Oriano cruising the Norwegian fjords, being spoilt rotten, fed super food and taken on visits with super scenery. Despite all that they are not going to give up caravanning, although they plan to visit the fjords again sometime in the future. Their cat Bridie is now 14½ years old and devotes more of her time to finding warm, comfortable places in which to catnap.

Mention has been made in the opening paragraph that some contributions were rather lengthy. Dear John Lloyd submitted 5 sheets of foolscap covering his very interesting life story. He wasn’t at all happy when it was suggested that a précis should be made of it. In the end he agreed to a compromise. He would supply 36 copies of his magnum opus and a cheque towards the extra cost of postage and packing. His article is enclosed with this Newsletter.

A fascinating story giving details of his experiences following life in 835 has been related by Peter Lyons who was the squadron photographer. He was fluent in German and was drafted to an advanced naval party who followed the front line troops right up through France and Germany. Their push north was greatly hindered by German prisoners, displaced people and Army trucks on the road. The party was charged with getting to Kiel and securing personnel controlling U-boat records. They were to avoid the fighting but otherwise reach the Kiel U-boats in double-quick time. They were occasionally fired on by the “Volksturm” (Hitler youth and old men). Things were very much in turmoil when they arrived and some of the equipment had been badly sabotaged. Despite this many of the records were recovered. A large quantity of gold was seized and returned to the Treasury in England. Eventually their duties were changed to mundane tasks such as handling incoming boats escaping from the Russians and welcoming German U-boats recalled to Kiel under instructions from Reichfuhrer Doenitz.

Many of you will remember that Dick Mallett was involved in a horrific road traffic accident on his way to our penultimate reunion. His vertigo is still with him but in a mild, acceptable way. However, his hatred of 4 x 4s is still with him. It was such a vehicle which collided with him. After he left NAIRANA he went straight to Mobile Naval Air Base 8 which was working up in the Far East. Luckily the bomb was dropped when they had almost reached Sydney. And who was the captain? None other than Villiers Nicholas himself. Dick remembers taking over Hong Kong without firing a shot, but some of the fireworks were a bit close!

Building a ground floor bedroom and bathroom has been necessary in Sam Mears’ household following the problems Anne has suffered with osteomyelitis in her leg, which is taking a very long time to improve despite bone marrow transplants. Sam hastens to add that he no longer wields the trowel - merely prepares the drawings and pays the bills. His career in the RN included being Senior P in 703, followed by a spell in the Directorate of Air Warfare in the Admiralty, a night-fighting course a RAF Leeming, CO of 809 Sqn AWF Yeovilton, HMS FLEETWOOD for seatime, Suez, conversion to Seahawks at Lossiemouth and finally to FOFT’s staff at Yeovilton, whence he retired under the terms of the Sandy’s Axe. He flew all the types of aircraft which were available in the FAA stable except the Phantom. In civilian life he was the Area Rep for Allen, Hanbury and Glaxo for the Far East in Singapore, Export Sales Manager Surgical Division and finally Export Sales Manager for Hovermarine, Southampton, from where he retired to County Cork to renovate some ruins and eventually to rebuild the Old Coastguard at Courtmacsherry, making it into a self-catering complex. He finally retired to Signal Hill Cottage up the hill from the complex. Sam also expressed very strong views about the EU and the cuts in the RN.

When Charles Gough asked me if I would cast my eye over the draft manuscript of an autobiography of one Edward McGregor Murray, I had to dig deep into my memory before I realised he was referring to our old colleague “Mick” Murray who regretfully is no longer with us. John Maybank, a New Zealander now living in this country, and a member of the West Mersey Group with Charles, is assisting Ron (Mick’s son) with the editing and publishing of Mick’s war diary. Publishing date is some time in the future but it is not thought that it will be soon enough to give details of it in this Newsletter. What a lot of authors we have had in the Squadron - Barringer, Sadler, Kilbracken and now Mick - not forgetting, of course, that Donald Payne spends his life writing books.

Time spent in the RN after leaving 835 was not the happiest period of David Newbery’s life and he has asked to be excused from stirring up old memories. However he is justifiably proud of his 5 children, all of whom have degrees. His eldest daughter is a consultant psychiatrist, his second daughter is a barrister training to be a judge and his elder son is an architect. He is pleased to be able to report that he is now fully fit again but has to have periodical check-ups.

Apart from a dodgy back, Donald Payne is keeping well. Despite his back he is still playing bowls and collected several “pots” and cups. He is still writing and had just signed a contract with Penguin for his latest effort - a series of aboriginal legends retold as stories for children. He has now been in his present house “Pippacre” for 50 years. When he bought it in the late 1950s he paid what he thought was an exorbitant price (£4,500). He has been in contact by telephone with several members of the Squadron including David Whittick, Bob Selley, Ken Atkinson, Bill Banham, Jock Bevan and Denis Hudston. He would be glad to hear from anyone who is interested in an informal get-together in the spring. He suggests that the Winchester/Salisbury area would be a possible catchment area. Ideas direct to Donald please or his daughter Alison, whose e-mail address is: alipayne2004@yahoo.co.uk

Osteoporosis and loneliness are the 2 problems which concern Babs Pitts most, although she is gradually getting used to living on her own. She is very pleased to report that Ted’s grand-children are doing very well. Fiona is Head of Personnel and Client Services with the Works Foundation; Adam is an orthopaedic surgeon and hopes to become a consultant in due course; Adam’s wife Steph is an anaesthetist at Great Ormond Street Hospital; and Laura is a Tracker in Equity for Goldman Sachs and commutes between London, Paris, Brussels and the USA.

Barbara Hemingway (John Roberts’ daughter) has sent a very interesting letter concerning her mother, Marion. Marion continues to battle with a deteriorating short-term memory. She loves the company at the day centre which she attends on 3 days a week where she can indulge her favourite hobby of jigsaws. She also likes to do a bit of gardening in the summer months. A third great-grandson is on the way. Barbara has a busy time looking after her mum and her oldest grandchild and managing their business whilst her husband goes out selling to their customers. Their hobby is classic cars, of which they have one each and regularly attend shows in the summer weekends.

It has been necessary for Dorothy Sadler to convert her bathroom into a walk-in shower as she is now on the waiting list for a hip replacement. Her letter was written to the accompaniment of much crashing and banging as the builders do their work. She lives amongst some beautiful scenery, both inland and on the coast, which supplies endless subjects for her and her art group to paint. She had a very interesting week on holiday in Sidmouth in the autumn, travelling down by coach, door to door which she says was wonderful.

The great event of the year for the Selleys was the celebration of their Golden Wedding. They gave each other electrically operated relining armchairs. Bob and Midge met originally at the RN Air Station Henstridge (No 2 Fighter Training School) where Midge was a WREN Writer and Bob was CO of Station Flight - a rest-job after his 3-year stint in 835 and where he was able to fly a variety of aircraft including Seafires and Spitfires. They met again purely by chance when Midge took a holiday at Exmouth where Bob played cricket. (He once played for Devon in the Minor Counties Championship.) A long-distance courtship (Midge lived in Wembley) ended in marriage on 18 September 1956. Bob carried on in the RNVR after the War and became a fighter pilot flying Sea Furies at weekends at Yeovilton in 1834 RNVR Sqn up to 1956 when he retired with the FRC and 2½ rings. Bob and Midge are both beginning to feel the effect of old age but with the help of a mountain of pills (delivered by a van every month!) they are managing to cope reasonably well. Between them they feel partially responsible for the huge deficit in the NHS finances. The Imperial War Museum interviewed Bob in 1994 when they taped a 90 minute recording of his wartime experiences which is now stored at the IWM and used for educational and research purposes. A synopsis of the tape can be seen on http:/tinyurl.com/yrjcn if you have access to a computer. They recently asked him for a photograph so that listeners could put a face to the voice.

Fiona Davies, mentioned above under John Cridland, has also been instrumental in re-establishing contact between her mother Muriel Hayward (John’s sister) and Queenie Supple. You may remember that John and Joe Supple were inseparable buddies, having been on the same course at St Vincent and ending up in 835 together. After Joe’s death, John made regular visits to see Queenie when he was over here in the UK visiting his sister. Queenie has 4 daughters. Two are teachers, one is a policewoman and the other is a children’s wear designer. They are all very good to her and she is sure Joe would be very proud of them. She has 3 grandsons and 2 grand-daughters which keeps her pretty busy. She was 83 in September and, apart from getting tired easily and a little forgetful, she feels she has nothing to complain about. She saw the film “Sink the Bismark” recently and seeing the old Swordfish brought tears to her eyes.

It is more than likely that most of the men who read this Newsletter have to make several trips to the bathroom at night. Frank Westaway certainly does and he had an unfortunate accident recently when he got out of bed in the middle of the night, took the wrong turning and fell down the stairs. He was whipped off to hospital by ambulance where it was established that no bones were broken, but he was very badly bruised. Sincere best wishes are sent to him for an early complete recovery.

Helping her daughter Sarah with the lambing has kept Vera de Trey White busy for the past couple of weeks. She also lends a hand packing up endless pounds of sausages, mince and stewing steak in the farm shop. Her eldest son, Simon, has just spent 6 weeks in Bangladesh photographing paddle steamers and fishing with otters. She is keeping in fairly good health waiting for her hip and cataracts to be ready. She also enquires about the Arctic Badge. Details were given in the last Newsletter but for those of you who may have missed it, the address to write to for an application form is: Defence Services Secretary - Honours 1, Level 8 Zone J1, Main Building Horse Guards Avenue, London SW1A 2HB. Surviving next of kin of Arctic veterans who have died can claim the emblem but will not be entitled to wear it.

The great event of the year for David and Joyce Whittick was the celebration of their Diamond Wedding in December. Not only did they receive cards and e-mails from Squadron members who had been reminded of the occasion, but also a personal telegram of congratulations from HM The Queen, delivered in person by one of the hench ladies of the Lord Lieutenant! David has had a very painful time for the last month or so suffering from 2 “frozen shoulders”. After a couple of blood tests his problem was diagnosed as polyneuralgia rheumatica. He received almost instant relief from pain when he started a course of steroids and cortisones. Joyce has had 2 cataract operations and luckily they have both been successful. As if David and Joyce have not had enough troubles recently, their son Peter, who is an airline pilot, has developed a hole in his eye. He is receiving treatment for it and we send best wishes for a complete recovery.

Some difficulty has been experienced in getting in touch with John Eames but contact was eventually established with his daughter Claire. She reports that both John and Penny are in a Nursing Home. John is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. He recently had a fall and the wound is taking a long time to heal as an infection has set in. Penny has had a stroke and is paralysed down one side of her body. Their address is Manor Barn, 2 Apple Dram Lane, Fishbourne PO20 7PE.
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“Growing old is something you do if you are lucky” Groucho Marx

“Thee are 3 signs of old age - loss of memory …. I forget the other 2” Red Skeleton

“Old age is a lot of names crossed off in your address book” Ronald Blythe

“Anyone can grow old. All you have to do is live long enough” Groucho Marx

“You know you are getting old when you stop to do up your shoelace
and wonder what else you can do whilst you are down there” George Burns
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Proof-read by Midge Selley

Edited, typed and printed by Bob Selley, 12 Leighdene Close, Exeter EX2 4PN