TERRITORIAL AIR FORCE

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25722, 7 February 1949, Page 8

TERRITORIAL AIR FORCE

SOLO FLYING BEGINS AT WIGRAM PILOTS WITH SERVICE IN MANY THEATRES Officers and men of the No. 3 (Canterbury) Territorial Squadron began their solo flying at Wigram during the week-end. Most of the men had not flown solo since they were discharged from the Air Force at the end of the war and before recent dual check flights most had not touched the controls of an aircraft for three years or more. Tiger Moths and a Harvard were taken on flights of up to an hour. The commanding officer. Squadron Leader J. R. Maling, A.F.C., was given a dual check flight in a Harvard by the adjutant of the squadron, Flight Lieutenant J. R. Claydon, a member of the regular Air Force. Squadron Leader Maling made solo flights in the Harvard later in the afternon. He had not flown solo since 1945. The pilots served in the war in almost every theatre, and have flown aircraft ranging from Lancaster bombers to Spitfires. They found that flying a Tiger Moth again was very different from the heavier and faster aircraft they had used in operations during the war. They commented that a Tiger Moth had to be “flown,” whereas many other aircraft were “just driven.”

The officers of the squadron have won between them five decorations — two Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Air Force Cross, the Distinguished Flying Medal, and the Distinguished Service Order. Their flying experience ranges from bombing rebel tribes on the North West Frontier before the war, to the strafing of flying bomb sites shortly before D Day.

Experienced Officers The commanding officer, Squadron Leader Maling, joined the RA.F. in 1934. He served in a bomber squadron on the Indian North-West frontier, spent three years at Karachi as a test pilot, and was the squadron leader of the only fighter squadron operating in India at one period of the Japanese war. In 1942 he was posted to Britain to an air staff position at group headquarters. Later he was promoted to Wing Commander. While in command of a Lancaster bomber squadron he was shot down over Stuttgart and interned in a prison camp until the end of the war.

The two flight commanders have also seen service in many theatres of war. Flight Lieutenant R. S. D. Kearns. D. 5.0., D.F.C., D.F.M., was on 88 bombing operations during the war. He was attached to Wellington and Lancaster bombing squadrons and for a period did special duties, which included the bombing of flying bomb sites on the French and Belgium coasts and U-boat pens at Brest and Le Havre. He covered the initial landings on the French coast on D Day, and was also attached to a Mosquito squadron doing low level marking of targets for the bombers before the invasion. At the end of the war he joined the British Overseas Airways Corporation, as a pilot, and flew a Lancastrian aircraft on the first 8.0.A.C. service from London to Karachi. He arrived back in New Zealand in March 1947. During his war service he had a New Zealand crew throughout, with the exception of an Englishman towards the end. and his navigator was with him* the whole time.

Flight Lieutenant S. F. Browne, D.F.C. and bar, has shot down a number of enemy aircraft, and taken part in 252 operations. He was attached to a Spitfire squadron making fighter sweeps over France and the Low Countries in 1942. In May, of the same year, he was shot down, and spent from May until August in a Vichy internment camp. He escaped, returned to England, and rejoined an English squadron as a flying officer, serving in Tunisia, Malta. Sicily, and Italy. Later he joined No. 485 New Zealand Squadron, and was engaged with the invasion forces. He was appointed a flight commander and promoted to squadron leader. Shortage of Ground Staff One of the main problems confronting the officers of the Territorial Air Force is the shortage of ground staff. There are more than enough trained air crew keen to join the territorials but trained former Royal New Zealand Air Force men for ground duties are not coming forward in the required numbers. The ground staff is at present setting up workshops for the various technical sections and assembling aeroplane engines for instruction before the start of refresher technical training. It is expected that ground staff officers in the various trades will be appointed to the squadron soon. One of the ground personnel, Leading Aircraftman L. J. Watts, said yesterday that he thought the Territorial Air Force was a very necessary force. It gave men an opportunity to “get schooled up” so that they could step straight into the regular Air Force in the event of war or national emergency. If there was war, it was better to be in the service than out of it, he said.

Air crew training will at first be confined to refresher flying but ultimately when direct entrants and former A.T.C. personnel are enlisted training will consist of basic, applied, and advanced training. Basic training will be carried out on Tiger Moth and Harvard aircraft, and will take 18 months. Pilots will be trained to fly with skill by day add night Applied training on Harvard aircraft will take one year and the pilot will learn to use his machine as a weapon of war. Advanced training will continue in Harvards and Oxfords until more modern types are available. This will be directed to improving the efficiency of pilots and crew, in training for battle. Flying training will be similar to that followed in the regular Air Force, except that the lack of continuity will necessitate a longer period of instruction.

The initial strength of the squadron will be about 100, made up of a nucleus of trained former service personnel. The ultimate strength will be 300, built up mainly of civilian volunteers and annual intakes from the