A true story

Mike wrote:

Why doesn't someone ask John Seville what happened?

www.servicepals.com/member/johnseville

Anyone a member of Servicepals?

It was of course John Seville, only someone who was aware of the story would know that. If you were there in 1957/8 I am in touch with John and Barry Flahey.
I am waiting for a reply from Digger Milthorpe, John Knobbs reputedly has contact with a number of 79 Sqdn ex members.

ColinBa wrote:

It was of course John Seville, only someone who was aware of the story would know that. If you were there in 1957/8 I am in touch with John and Barry Flahey.
I am waiting for a reply from Digger Milthorpe, John Knobbs reputedly has contact with a number of 79 Sqdn ex members.

I am only aware of John Seville because of the link you posted! I have no idea as to the truth of the story. I wasn't there in 1957/8 as I wasn't born until 1975!

On the subject of Gutersloh, A room in the Officers mess where Goering used to stay has been turned into a museum room with lots of very nice German aircraft finds that have been dug up over the years. One very nice item is a mechanical oak ceiling beam that is rigged up though a linkage down to a hidden lever on the floor to collapse. It was rigged up by the Luftwaffe airman after Goering supposedly made reference to the beam collapsing etc etc and the Allies bombing Germany..... Wish i had some photos to share as it is a feat of engineering.

The following link has been sent to with some interesting comments about Canberra XH204

www.sg-etuo.de/index.php?n=Squad ... 59Squadron

SAPPER wrote:

On the subject of Gutersloh, A room in the Officers mess where Goering used to stay has been turned into a museum room with lots of very nice German aircraft finds that have been dug up over the years. One very nice item is a mechanical oak ceiling beam that is rigged up though a linkage down to a hidden lever on the floor to collapse. It was rigged up by the Luftwaffe airman after Goering supposedly made reference to the beam collapsing etc etc and the Allies bombing Germany..... Wish i had some photos to share as it is a feat of engineering.

It is also widely reported that there were sluice gates in the canal which borders the airfield. These allegedly could be opened in emergency to flood the airfield and deny it to any invaders. They obviously didn't do this in 1945 when the Americans arrived.

Quote from Swift Justice by Nigel Walpole pages175-176
“Before 59 (Canberra) Squadron left Gutersloh in November 1957, a junior technician reputedly on the run from the civilian police decided that there was nothing to this flying business and that he would return to the UK in a Canberra. He knew how to get into and start up the aircraft and bluffed the night guards into helping him to prepare and position the aircraft for an early morning sortie. He then managed to taxi it to the end of runway 09 before slipping off the perimeter track into the mud, where it was found during the early morning airfield inspection, empty but with its engines still running. Exactly what this aspiring aviator had in mind and how long he remained at large after escaping across the fields is not clear, but it was certainly fortunate that he did not get airborne in the direction of the married quarters and the town of Gutersloh. Ian Waller believes that he rejoined the RAF under an assumed name and, after retraining, was on his way back to Germany when he surrendered at the Hook of Holland on hearing that his posting was to Gutersloh”

canberra;13735 wrote:

Yes I am! For one thing a C130 in those days had to have a ground power unit for the start up,and its got to be disconnected before taxying. Then theres the chocks.
And in the cockpit could one man start one up taxi out and get airborne? They did have a flight engineer and co-pilot for a reason!

63-7789 C 130E model has a GTC . Gas Turbine Compressor. Using the battery power you start the GTC that provides power. Not needing a ground unit. You can start engines etc. I was a Crew Chief on C 130 planes. He refueled the plane using the GTC. Suppose to use three people one at the Refuel panel one operating the GTC and one supervisor at the front of the plane. You can do all this with one person. Not within technical orders. Running the GTC suppose to use two people many of times late at night getting a plane ready for the next flight it would be run to make checks etc with one person. He was engine run certified. Max power. The fuel truck operator was also there. Easy to taxi out. And take off. However making a successful flight would be tuff. Crew Chief have been known to fill in for the flight engineers. So he knew the procedures. HF radios can be used to make calls. You would just have to go threw like a switch board. Most probably delay in conversations. Here was some interesting info. www.sammcgowan.com/meyers.html
Sad story.

I had just started working as an Air Traffic Control Assistant at London Air Traffic Control Centre, West Drayton at that time. I was on a night duty and although I did not take the call myself I remember one of my colleagues receiving a phone call from the Air Defence people to say they wished to send 2 Lightinings (some reports say only one but it was definitely 2) on a scramble through the London Terminal Control Area. At that time of morning, the 'oceanic' rush hadn't really started so we passed the request on to the controllers involved and it was granted.
We heard rumours much later that one of the Lightnings had returned to base (Wattisham?) with a Firestreak 'missing'.
We didn't know the reason for the scramble (there are some things you don't ask questions about) until we read it in the newspapers because after our night shift, we had a day off before reporting for our next work cycle.( we worked Afternoon day 1- morning day 2- night day 2 - sleep day 3- day off day 4 then repeat in those days; that sort of shift pattern for ATC staff in the UK is no longer allowed.)