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n the outbreak of war in August I9l4j applied to the Admiralty for a comm13
j \vas f ll
told that all the naval flying schools were up with waiting lists; but if I obtained & aviator’s certificate at my own expense a civilian school I would be given a pr0 tionary commission, which would be cor^ firmed as soon as I had passed through 1 service course at the Central Flying Sen at Upavon. j
I joined the American-owned Beatty Sch°® of Flying at Hendon, and after two-and-a-n hours’ actual flying time, I obtained j1 Royal Aero Club certificate—Federal*0
sion in the Royal Naval Air Service.
of Your Pants Told You . .
by Major W. Geoffrey Moore, O.B.E., D.S.C.
All photographs cotirtesy of the Fleet Air Arm Museum and the author.
Aeronautique Internationale No. 983, da£^ 26 November 1914. It took me nearly th1^ months to qualify, as there was only 0 Wright biplane serviceable, and that was ^ quently under repair. There were 30 pllP*. c and the machine was not taken out of hangar unless the flag beside the school ^ hanging straight up and down the mast--'1' ^ no wind at all. Instruction was under dj control with flights of five minutes’ dura*1
the
around the airfield.
I remember as if it were yesterday flight which obtained for me my certified
It was the first time I had been in the air
myself and I could do what I liked with 1 J t c>
one to stop me. It was perhaps the most
hilarating feeling I have ever had in my 11
tin-1 rtlahe one right-hand and one left-hand ^With; ‘
land' enS'ne> ancl volplane, or glide down, the w!thin about 30 yards of a mark on to a^r°Und. The whole thing took ten minutes j quarter of an hour.
bet- Vvanted to show everyone that I could do t'lan that. I climbed laboriously to h,.,. /eet. The sun was shining and for the bp. t'me 1 saw the Welsh Harp Lake bright
abi
below
left 'f a dozen vertically-banked right and bef nt turns. I had never done such turns
MO- bi
tore.
fu,
'ecarn<
ticti,
Ikn •
els |'w j"st what I intended to do and no one ^ ad the slightest idea, the recording altimeter was strapped to qq^^a^ine, but was not normally carried, a p.0t^er instruments were an oil gauge and Wasltot“tu^>e air-speed indicator. The latter (,r ,a Sad get which indicated air-speed on a liqu;jatec* glass U-tube containing a colored Vyas * ' ^T° revolution counter for the engine w ,«ed; your ears told you how the engine of 0lng- There was a piece of string in front but '* to tell you if you were side-slipping, All 6 SCat y°ur Pants told you better.
Vyas y°u had to do to obtain your certificate
thp t0 ta^e solo, climb to 1,000 feet, and cn mak
V'jiij. " ^h a bank of about 30 degrees, shut off
me—wonderful! I did a series of
hut I knew the theory. As the bank steeper, elevator and rudder changed 1W °ns- On a vertical bank, the rudder was int0a and the elevator control was tucked All °Ur stomach to give a tight turn, of sf . Went well—very well indeed. The piece eyCs fg all the time flew straight towards my fact j did not slither at all in my seat. In tilr ’ considerably firmer in it on a tight gtavit tT*^ ^FSt exPeiaence °f “G”, the pull of
tp^Uch encouraged, I went into part two of etw Preconceived program: shut off my iti e bjr the volplane and then went down turilsSertes of tight right and left-hand spiral BvVerbcally banked much of the time. via|^ hiis time George Beatty, normally a jo- hair’ ^°°d-natured American, was tearing his tpj. ’ as he thought I had gone mad. He y0|tto his other pupils and said, “Boys, schooCan ah go home. There will not be any the ^or a fortnight. That guy will crack up e when he lands.” However, I came out spiral turns at about 200 feet, well
Wind from the landing mark, and set the
machine down right on the top of the landing mark. Everyone was tremendously relieved— not so much that I had not broken my neck, but that the machine was preserved for further schooling.
I was now a qualified aviator, which seems out of this world when compared with the intensive training required to qualify as a pilot today. Having visited the Admiralty and shown my F.A.I. certificate, I was posted to the Central Flying School at Upavon.
Upavon must have been one of the most colorful messes ever to be formed. The instructors from the Royal Flying Corps wore the peculiar uniform of the R.F.C.—a doublebreasted tunic known as a maternity jacket— and the R.N.A.S. instructors wore the uniform of the Royal Navy. '
Dinner in the mess was fabulous. Officers from all kinds of regiments were being seconded to the R.F.C. and were there for training. There were officers of the Indian Army, Lancers, Hussars, Gunners, and many regiments of the line. Looking down the long table one would see red, green, buff, yellow, and blue mess kits, and many naval uniforms. Drinks in the anteroom before dinner were accompanied by the clinking of spurs. All this was a heady and exciting new experience for me.
Much to my disappointment I found that I had to join a Maurice Farman Long Horn (Rumpety) Flight. This machine had an elevator in front carried on upswept booms like horns. A 70-h.p., Renault V-8 engine drove a pusher propeller behind the nacelle, in which pupil and instructor sat tandem-wise. I was disappointed because I knew such machines must be on their way out even for instruction. The Avro “tractors,” which had the propeller in the nose, looked much more of a job.
I was soon to come to grief in one of the Rumpetys—and, of course, I had to do it right in front of the Commandant, Captain Godfrey Payne, Royal Navy, and his deputy, Colonel H. E. Webb-Bowen (nicknamed Flannelfoot, because he wore rubber soles and could come upon you unawares when you were doing something you should not).
Rumpetys had a very silly little undercarriage, an axle with two little wheels tied on to each main boom with elastic cord. This undercarriage was very sensitive to landing
ent
initial basic training. Knowing nothing not understanding an irritable, unsympa
ml
and
the'lC
de-
tab’
compared with modern training.
Static*1
mouth of the Thames. The atmosphere
was very different. Every encouragement ^ given to a young pilot. The function °* j seaplane station was to carry out co . reconnaissance seaplane patrols to the b1 |, Hinder and Galloper lightships, both of" 1
ffa'*5
chines had open cockpits, and in the vV14 months it could be a freezing job, often
plane Scout, the propeller burst in th^' when flying up the Thames Estuary. ^ $
was only one thing to do, and that land on the sea as near land as possible. 1 ^ not like it a bit, because quite a rough sea
even a few degrees out of the eye of the wind. With the slightest wind you would have side- drift, and the little axles would turn over and break the flimsy wooden boom. Moreover, the machine had very light wing loading and would “balloon” on landing. If the first contact with the ground when carrying side-drift did not twist the axles over, subsequent touchdowns would. In due course, this happened, and for this offence I was hauled up to the Commandant’s office. He told me I had better go, as there were not enough machines in the Service for people like me to break up.
It seems that my instructor must have put in a good word for me, however, because I was not thrown out.
I was next posted to a 50-h.p. Avro flight. The training here was ridiculous. Under dual control with the instructor sitting in the back seat, you were told to hold the joy stick lightly and follow the movements made by the instructor. You were taught the most difficult part, landing, first, before you had the feeling of the machine. When sitting in the front seat, as the tail went down for landing the nose came up, shutting out the pupil’s forward view so he had little to judge his position relative to the ground. My instructor would sometimes rattle the joy stick in an irritable way, and I did not know what he meant— whether I was to let go or take over. At the end of the flight, he would get out and walk away without a word of explanation.
The day came when I was allowed to fly solo, and then I taught myself to fly the machine really well. We were sent off on navigation flights to fly to various points on the map, but I would use these flights to experiment. Instead of flying quietly from point to point
on a compass course, I would experi®' with the controls, varying my speed, cliffl ^ and gliding and making many turns varying degrees of bank, and in this way got the hang of handling the thing. On P ^ ing out, the Commandant, to my aston* ment, gave me a very good report.
I have spent a lot of time describing
instructor when my whole service career ^ j pended upon him put me in a state of ner ^ never experienced later. I was terrified oj ing thrown out, but I was immensely * a and felt within myself that I could n*a 1 good pilot if given half a chance.
Having passed out of this ele®eI1 school, I found myself a fully qualified e>P ^ tional service pilot—again out of this "
I was posted to H.M. Seaplane ^ Isle of Grain, facing Sheerness Harbor at ^
vva*
were in the English Channel.
Seaplane patrols were cold-blooded a both physically and metaphorically, Al^*1 ^
"\l>
grey skies above and an angry, rougn ^ below, ready to gobble you up if either y°l1 your engine failed.
Engine failure was our worst enemy at_j]t. time. Once I had to land near the Nore ^ ship and was towed into Grain by a lal11' sent out for the purpose.
A second time I was not so lucky. I laI' $ in a very rough sea. Fortunately, there " {
tramp steamer behind me and they sa" go down into the drink. The machine ^>r° jt up quickly and there was no time to seen with a line before it sank.
On another occasion, when returning ’ y a patrol in a Schneider Cup Sopwith v
rimeIlt
robinS ; Witt1
y SOO11
1 Pass'
[0ni:
ish'
ig ^
% an.d thedc
:er erves of he'
/ kee”
iake 3
tary
>era'
vVor
ltati°n
atthe
ehefe
nt
of
;o<
Nof
th
wb>'
icb
affairS
11 f’3' te(
wif
n W'1
yOl1
,tl>
of
it
:lig
tba‘
juffC**
aiidej vvas3 ffl®
'C toes of the floats.
This
- -- —------- ^ _ ,tvtu n
lhere^ machine, built fight for speed only,
iW
bro'
cure1
,kf
£ r - --o-- ---- - I----- — ---- ] 5
JUst fin Cre no bulkheads in the floats; they tfose £ ed with water and the machine sank all '
- «uu water ana me macmne sank i ^ ^ber this, bulkheads were fitted in
r fro'
gef-
aif
t<t
i
he
The
ya*
1
Part
ea
&
°f the c T
* no ne ln above water.
^eaki SCa Was very cold, and all the time g over my head. I remained like this
reau *n^' These Schneider Cup machines were C* rac*ng craft; they won the Schneider ThevraCC Just before World War I broke out. best Were difficult enough to land under the ^d^01^^0118' They bucketed a good deal on ng and several of them had been turned
over l .
the r ] lnexperienced pilots when landing in j Lalmest water.
fiu;(rcj'C0!’n'zcd the Reculver Tower Coast down ^tadon and made for it; but I was go> ,to sea level with two or three miles to H-JPPuig practically tail first in the Out of ,’etween two waves. I promptly got Ser\-|Cetbe cockpit to investigate; inflated my 4ir u debelt, using a built-in compressed 0n0, , e> ar>d got down onto the floats. Sure l‘ke c. ’lbc blades had snapped off at the base \yi .^r°ts- Why, I could not imagine. fvas a*e 1 was standing on the floats, there 5r,oth Ornlnous gurgle and a lurch to port, VvbicP1< r ^UrSle and a lurch to starboard, lhe b], bUzzled me until I realized that when off th,f tCS bad parted company they had cut faCit, rS accident made history. As it was a
the fl — v““> linv-u in
Vh; °^tS tbe remaining Schneider Cup T^e CS *'1 commission.
%nu.,n,achine sank rather rapidly. In ten tiou CS- ^ Was In a very uncomfortable posi- lhe dn my arm around the stay-wire of
- nn and only the elevator, rudder, and
85
for some 20 minutes and was wondering how the machine had found that much buoyancy when, though I could hardly believe it, it seemed very, very slowly to be rising out of the water. At first I thought my imagination was playing me tricks. I could not watch a mark, as I could have done in calm water, the sea was much too rough and still breaking over my head. I was bitterly cold, but this new development made me all the more determined to hang on. When I had been in the sea about an hour, I heard a motor-boat but could not see it.
What had actually happened was that, with a remarkable bit of luck, I had landed over a very narrow sandbank about 30 feet wide with deep channels on either side. The nose of the plane had become stuck in the sand. The tide had just turned and was running out. Had I landed a few feet to either side of the sandbank over the deep channels the story would have ended very differently.
In the launch was Lieutenant Robin Peel- Ross, Royal Navy, Commanding Ramsgate Air Station. He took me in to the Air Station and then went back to see what he could do to salvage the plane. In World War II, I was to serve under him when he was a retired air commodore R.A.F. He was Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps, Scottish Area, and I became his Deputy Commandant.
There were at Grain some land machines in addition to the seaplanes—notably a Bristol Scout, sometimes called Bristol Bullet. This was a very handy little early type of fighter, which, believe it or not, had for armament a rack containing three revolvers with lanyards attached—in case they flew out of your
t o°
not
perfect lady—just a gentle little dive.
uneventful.
The mechanic, who had been enjoy"15. ic,
. . . , ll”
,ii'
hand while you were engaging the enemy in single-shot combat in the air!
I loved this little machine and taught myself to do aerobatics that few could do at that time—looping, spinning nose-dives, slow rolls and, most spectacular of all, the flick roll, when you can roll three times in as many seconds.
The “powers that be” frowned upon aerobatics at that time, officially thinking that they were only hazarding a pilot’s life and the machine for no good purpose. They were wrong, of course. Nothing gave a pilot more confidence in a “dog fight” than being able to do aerobatics. They added much to the skill of a pilot.
Towards the end of 1915, I was posted to No. 9 Squadron to see service in German East Africa—initially with Short seaplanes from Zanzibar and then upcountry, first with all-steel-frame Voisin pusher machines, and later with BE2C aircraft.
The seaplanes were erected on the quays at Zanzibar in never-to-be-forgotten heat. The warehouses, containing cloves and copra, were like so many ovens.
II fell to my lot to fly the first one down to our seaplane base at Chukwani Palace, a few miles along the coast. The whole population of the town, both black and white, turned out for the event. None of them had seen a flying machine before. I tested the controls before taking off and was satisfied that they were in excellent working order.
These seaplanes were notoriously clumsy to handle. I had never flown in the tropics; the heat was intense and the engine was not doing too well, so I took no chances and climbed away steadily to 2,000 feet. At that altitude it seemed safe to put her through her paces. It was not the type of machine in which to do stunts, but I thought the assembled multitude below were at least entitled to see some steeply banked turns, so I pushed the controls forward gingerly to set her on a level course.
To my horror, precisely nothing happened, although the control wheel was pressed against the dashboard. We continued to climb at exactly the same angle. Were we to go on climbing until we ran out of petrol?
This type of machine usually flew tail- heavy. If mine was true to type it meant
when the engine stopped she would stall)ta^ slide, and go into some inextricable speClcS spin. My first thought was to put my PasS ^ ger, a mechanic, out onto the floats 111 endeavour to make the machine nose-he but on reflection I scrapped the idea, was almost certain either to put his head the propeller or fall off. jt
We reached 5,000 feet, about the Srea^cr. height to which I took one of these cui" some machines in the tropics. I though1 brilliant blue sea, the vivid green coc ^ trees, and brazen glare of the sandy hea ,| below spelt home for me. There was st hope that this particular machine might be true to type and be nose-heavy. T° ^ ^ this, very, very slowly, an eighth of an >n ^ a time, I pushed the throttle lever forvvaf the closed position and waited expect3’1^, Inch by inch the nose dropped towards horizon—but, alas, with the closing 0 throttle, we were also losing speed. p
We were now horizontal, and lateral c trol was quite sloppy; at any momen ^ would stall. It came, but she stalled h steep, and then stabilized to a nice gc angle. The volplane down and landing
h>5
I
to pull the nose up but absolutely no co'1 to put it down. I had spoofed myself
tr®1
joy ride mightily, unaware of any tro'^0i thought I was a poor fish to land so far the shore when all eyes were upon us. ^ An examination showed that the e^eVjc;1ig had been erected upside down. The t posts, or control levers, being of dm ,y length, gave more control than was nece _
11, tail'
;cies o' )asse(1' in *n heavV’ as
id D’°
reateSt imb«r' *t t* ut
OCOO'
beacjj ; sma11
rht n°‘
ro tes inch*1
■tan®'
:ds
of *e
al cf; :nt
she
like
not
to*
lidi11-
i**
roubl; ir fr°'
lev'at°r
e
cess* j
co<
f ^e'
ir
r.
t(lfl , '"tiiit, the controls. When pushing and 6e^ l°rwarcl) the elevator fell by gravity as n°t pulled down by the control wire. e, engine of the second machine I took to the seaplane base caught fire in the were only 200 feet
ar°und i air;
lancjeH ' wcre omy zuu leet up’ so we
gUjjL anci Put the fire out with fire extin- ^ j.Crs tarried on the machine. tr°picaT ^ayS later’ i was brought down by a
were
gently,
in fairly shallow water. Conserve had to taxi out to deeper water
berPUa^ron Commander Bowhill „Came Air
who later
orvh'll ' Chief Marshal Sir Frederick take 1 ’ Was Posted from Mesopotamia to SqUa°Ver the seaplanes and half of No. 9
y C.o’
>ha "
r0latn;
Id-
ba,...tuls Way, a colleague, Norman Stewart’ and I, flying two Voisins to a forward
lng water.
d.*k 0]
....
C°ttld T- a retreat in a nearby tree where we ” lrnb to safety if necessary. Moving the tree while
cutting branches,
but we
jraph- rainstorm when making a photo- VVhcn1C, rcconnaissance of Dar es Salaam, tang- ae rain cleared, we found we were in itiaris °* German shore batteries. The Ger- iw , .Ulabe quite good shooting, but we were There was a heavy ground swell, as
befo
Coul<i take off again for the base.
Squadron Commander Nanson, proceeded upcountry with the aT of the squadron to relieve Squadron first ^UH and bis No. 7 Squadron. At
on wew Voisin pusher machines and later e Hew BE2CS.
0 p
'vere „°. our hazards was that frequently we brgey*nS over uncharted territory with tirnesare,as °f blank space on the maps. Some- rn°u ’ elePhant hunters reported the same dioUna!n in different positions, so that two thej-g a'ns appeared on the map, whereas
In ,Ig<'aI1y was only one Ja 1 this — -
C;°n ...
of Petr ^ ^°St over ’-be Masai Steppe, ran out bard t ’ an<^ bad to forceland. We had a very tftilgj r,'b to the nearest British camp, 48 ^ass pWay> through dense bush and elephant Tgr(.(^ne feet high. The temperature was 110
fjf dt-;„,’.and, in a short time, we soon ran out . *nk;
.stancfirst night we heard lions roaring in the e- Dawson suggested that we make ran a long, poisonous thorn into his ejstrac(b’ where it broke off and could not be ed- He was in great pain and could
not walk next day, so I had to half-carry him. By five o’clock, we were both so feeble we could only trek for five minutes at a time and then fall down for a 15-minute rest.
I remember watching big warrior ants and tsetse flies biting my arms and knees (I was wearing shorts), and being too exhausted to swat them. The warrior ants would just bite
out small chunks of flesh and carry them off.
Dawson finally had to give up. He was in the devil of a mess—his mouth flecked with foam, his face green and grey, and his eyes rolled around with a vacant stare.
I reckoned we were now within four miles of cultivated land on the edge of the bush, so I sat him under a big tree and went for help, notching trees as I went. Eventually, I found a kraal, where the women gave me water. I filled up our bottles and tried to send a message written on my map giving our position, but the natives could not understand me. Dawson and I had arranged to signal each other by firing our revolvers, but when I reached the tree there was no Dawson there. Some natives had found him in the meanwhile and had carried him into the British camp at Ufiome.
Although we complained of the heavy controls of the Voisin aircraft—most exhausting in the severe bumps we experienced when the sun was up—I was very grateful for their robust construction, as one day over the small town of Kondoa-Irangi where some German forces were dug in, a steel main strut was hit by ground fire. The bullet made a small hole where it penetrated the steel tubular strut and a large hole where it came out, sideways.
J
because in addition to its narrowness
If
(J)
J
et
in'
J!
P
t'
fl1
Between the two holes about half the strut was knocked away; but it held, thank goodness, as, of course, we had no parachutes. The section of that strut with the bullet hole is now in the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton.
Our next airfield was at Kilossa. Kilossa was terribly hot and full of poisonous snakes— black mambas, green mambas, and puff
adders; not to mention scorpions. It was generally agreed that hot beer was more akin to an emetic than an honest drink. It was here that I discovered that by festooning the nacelles of a Voisin machine with beer bottles and sending it up a few thousand feet for an hour or more, the bottles returned with a nice bloom on them and their contents palatably cool. My ribald, but appreciative, colleagues always said that it was for this discovery that I was awarded my Distinguished Service Cross and not for any other reason.
Another day, when taking a Voisin from Kilossa to Dar es Salaam, about 200 miles I was again brought down by a tropical rainstorm. By this time we were quite used to dealing with tropical rainstorms. They were usually quite friendly affairs, looking like overgrown water spouts in the distance and not more than five or six miles in diameter.
In the brilliant tropical sun you could see five or six of them at play at one time. You could make a detour or thread your way through them. But on this occasion, when halfway to the coast, as ill luck would have it, I came up against a solid black wall of water from earth to cloud, stretching apparently endlessly from north to south. Any attempt at
a detour would have run me out of Petr^ there was no suitable landing ground in s'? just mangrove swamps and coconut tree5 far as the eye could see.
Only one thing remained therefore: to ^ to plough through it. What a hope! It seer(1^ like a solid sheet of water as black as mg About two minutes of this and then s bang, plok, and the engine cut out. I was lowing the railway line to the coast ■ through the gloom could just distinguish^ single track with high telephone wires on side. I could not attempt a landing on the *■ ,
trees on both sides, it ran slap across 'vlll( Landing conditions could not possibly ^ been much worse. . j(
As I glided down with a dead stick, a P wayside station appeared. The Indian * tion master, an industrious fellow, had cle^ a little patch behind the station builn^j where he cultivated sweet potatoes and 1,1, keynuts. I wished he had been even more dustrious, because his garden measured 01 about 48 yards square.
I swung away from the railway line approached the clearing up wind. ” j about 20 yards from the edge of the coc01’, trees, I yanked the control stick back shah into the pit of my stomach. Up went the n j she lost flying speed, stalled, and slid baC . earth tail first. Before we Hit, I was standn'r my seat ready to jump; but, being a p1^ ( type of machine, there was such a lovely J0^ crunch behind before it was time to j1'1 that I did not get a scratch or a bruise.
The stationmaster could talk a little EnP
and was in touch with Dar es Salaam by
Two days later, some air mechanic5
method of landing had done most of the'1^ for them.
a
P
\
ti
ti
it
d
Ci
P
*
ei
in
R
cl
Vc
SF
to
«)
to
or
Pc
fie'' of
telegraph. There were some Indian tn1. guarding the station and I lived on the>r tions, which consisted mainly of unleaV^, bread shaped like pancakes and what 1°° like creamed spinach, but tasted like a 1,1 tard plaster.
4
"T
tfo
ilV
the coast, and when I finally arrived, 1 '' fj down with one of the worst bouts of rna1
C0l
fro
‘hr
Sh
i
Ml
4l0
‘he
‘he
\v0
A Model T Ford running on the ra track arrived to take me to Dar es Salaam took a full day-and-a-half for me to ge
had had
That a?r°Plani
tto.
ne.
pla:
°lsin- These
htrb'Ca^ at ^ow leveT Those very dis-
'n? fff ^UmPs were caused by the sun heat- diff e sar>d, desert, bush, and water to tal nt ternPeratures, thus generating verti- tC;'rrents of air, and they were sufficient to
V,
oisins out of control.
BE2Cs were powered with 90-h.p.
ie violent bumps that threw up first
V^gtip and then the other. posj,. 1 Your rudder central and held in that n also with an adjustable spring, you
fro,
during that campaign, episode saw the last of the Voisin es. I took back with me a BE2C aero- quite a different kettle of fish from the
aircraft were just the job for put the
_ _________________________________ ^
ejg^ Aircraft Factory engines. These were
itf)DcVdndered V-type engines, being an Ren^0vjernent on the well-known 70-h.p. chiag^ 1 en§ine- But the beauty of these mayo^ to us was that once you were up to sprj Criusing height, you could adjust a r0lJ 5 which would hold your elevator flyjn y In the position you wanted for level
tot,/?’ and you could then afford to ignore taUy the °tte
C0md fl
3itt0 y hands off, because the machine was frQ^^^dcally stable and would right itself thereVVaatever position it got into, provided Was enough space between you and the
\ve
lSed to try when well up to see if there High T Position we could put them into from ^lonel/UA' would not right themselves if left tally y°u pulled them straight up verti- thejj.’ s° that they were virtually hanging on they Pr°Pellers, and then let go everything, Should tail-slide gently. Then down §o the nose until the machine gained
flying speed, and everything would be normal again. It was very comforting, having carried out experiments like this and also letting go everything when upside down on the top of a loop, to realize that whatever position the elements threw you into, the machine would right itself. We just let them go their own way except for altitude and compass course.
What a difference from the Voisins, so very heavy on control and absolutely unstable in every direction. You had to pay attention and fly them all the time.
After Kilossa, our next aerodrome was at Iringa, about 6,000 feet above sea level. The airfield was prepared for us by the Army and marked on the ground by “limbo,” i.e., rolls of white cotton cloth used for trading with the natives. I took the first machine up and was to report back for the pilot bringing up the next machine.
The people preparing the landing field for us could have known little, if anything, of our requirements. A sort of shelf on the side of a hill surrounded by bush and trees had been cleared, and the strip had been laid out slap across the prevailing wind. I got into this trap by the skin of my teeth and knew my first job was to find another landing site.
That afternoon I borrowed a Ford car and had a look around. Three miles away, I found a beautiful natural site for an airfield that was quite level. There was little bush to clear, and not far off was a stream containing fish, and some rising ground where later we made an excellent camp.
The first thing after the airfield was ready was to get my machine down from the hillside.
I knew it was going to be touch-and-go. The run was short, there were trees at the end, and at 6,000 feet the air was rarefied—bad for lift and bad for engine compression. I could not climb steeply on takeoff.
I took all the gear off the machine that I could to lighten her, and put in only enough petrol to fly me the few miles to the new site.
I arranged to take off at dawn, as the air would be denser and I would have better lift for takeoff before the day heated up, and there would be less likelihood of a crosswind.
With the engine running well I took off, but did not succeed in clearing the trees at the end of the runway. In these I stuck, and this badly damaged the machine, but by
The first day all went well. I bega^ dropping some grenades. The aeroplane ^ a very strong effect on the morale of jj German Askari troops: they abandoned 1 . trenches and ran into, of all things, a 1 ^ grass banda or hut, on which I dropped 1 home-made bombs.
some freak of chance I was not hurt. After that, we had to dismantle the aeroplane completely and carry the bits down to the new airfield, where it was rebuilt.
From this airfield we made daily reconnaissances, reporting on the position of the retreating German forces.
My next assignment was to be a one-man air force for Brigadier General Edward Nor- they’s army. He was making a thrust into German East Africa from the south— Rhodesia.
I was detailed to fly over 150 miles of
enemy-held bush country and join him at his headquarters at Njombe. I had to travel light with my bedding and some clothes, and to leave behind my personal boy, Mahomet, whom I had had since Zanzibar. He was a loyal and devoted servant. I was sorry to part with him and he with me—he cried.
Air Mechanic Nelson, who turned out to be a wonderful fellow, went ahead of me to take charge of the construction of an airfield and to service the machine for me while I was operating with Norforcc, i.e., General Northey’s army. He rode his motorcycle through
the 150 miles of enemy-held bush c°UI^ where there were no roads or even tra He was a South African, and South Afri^ ' seem to have an extra sense when nn° their way through bush country.
In addition to Nelson, the General gavf ^ his driver (who was his chauffeur in life) as a second mechanic to help keep engine in good tune.
My petrol was transport petrol which been buried in German South-West y* ^ during the Cameroons campaign, and h ^ tained sand and water. We strained e j drop we used through two thicknesses chamois leather before refuelling. ^
Northey’s Royal Engineers were very ^ operative, and they made me home-11'3 bombs to drop. .
The Germans were dug in at a po^u called Mfrika, and on 24 December 1 General Northey attacked. I was g'ivei:] ^ honor of opening the ball by bombing positions on the top of the Mfrika ridge- .
The next day the Germans were too s11^, for me. I went down to point-blank range ^ better aim, but the Germans were now ning their machine guns and nicely enfilW me. I was not hit, nor did I suffer damage which could not be repaire
there^6^ ^°^cs appearing in my wings, but toh nWaS bttle ^ c°uld do about it except get
"e11 out of there.
cas;nar§e piece of the engine’s aluminum aWa ^ enclosing the timing gear was shot the p an<^ * *ost rather much oil. Once more beat °yal Engineers improvised for me; they
j0l)t °fficer. Each day I made flights of lifted °ne’and-a-half hour’s duration. I was aern i°Ut hed into a car and then into the
ah
rniles
ign the longest flight of the cam's °r t^las we bad to carry six extra gal
‘H thg fa °d to me violently to pass it to him Half a ^°nt seat. I did not know why. About ste hour later he held up the tin for me to PettQl^b its side cut out and partly full of
Vvb
Pipe ,at bad happened was that the petrol 4e tac split and was leaking down his legs. HoUri^r.e bis handkerchief into strips and C°ver j1 r°,md the pipe, and in this way re- Hijjj j s*x gallons. There was not room for Vvelbe tin in position the right side up. lHe back with a few cupfuls of petrol in
Vhtank
and the valuable information
°ot a sheet of brass to make a cover over Th° C ln timing-gear case. sharC nCXt day ^ went down with a very t0 ^ attack of malaria, but Northey wanted retre °W *n which direction the enemy were Vvitj^ U1^' ^ or the next five days I was in bed f0rba temperature up to 103.5. The doctor aacj j e 016 to fly, but he was an army doctor tiavai t0)d bim he had no jurisdiction over a
,pP ane> and the same in reverse on return. Gen6 excitement kept me going, as the p0rtsa Was sending messages saying my re- inf^ Were invaluable and gave him just the h at*°n he required for his advance. ti0ner> he required me to find out the posi- \fab° enemy’s main base. It was at the rCn^e' I furnished him with a report on airi)r)°ad from Njombe to Mahenge. We were 425 ,,n<i ^or over five hours and flew about
Pai
tang ^j. # o
file]: Petrol in three two-gallon tins and re-
Theteair'
Seat j,’ mam tank was under the observer’s Peti-Qi r°'n it petrol was driven up to a gravity Ply bank by air pressure. Having dropped 4s ^ on Mahenge, I thought I might JUstdr°P the tins for good measure. soa „• as f was going to drop the last tin, Nel-
[Ai. t
> required, as there were two directions in which the enemy might have been retreating. For his resourcefulness in getting us back on his very first flight, Nelson was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
As he was not a trained observer, I had to write my report in the air, navigate, and fly the machine. We were hit by machine-gun fire when over Mahenge.
The rains came then and there would be little flying for the next few months. Naval pilots were in short supply, so we were ordered home.
On arrival in England, after a short spell of leave I was appointed, with the rank of flight commander, to take charge of flying training in HMS Furious as second in command to Squadron Commander E. H. Dunning. The Furious was being fitted out for landings on the deck.
The Furious was a “Fisher” type of battle cruiser—i.e., she had practically no armor and very heavy armament, two 18-inch guns
and secondary armament of 5.5-inch guns. All that had been done to convert her from a battle cruiser to an aircraft carrier was the removal of the forward 18-inch gun turret—or perhaps it was never installed—and the erection of a flush steel flight deck, constructed from conning tower to bow, with a hangar beneath.
The great day came for the first deck landing attempts—2 August 1917. Squadron Commander Dunning went first in a Sopwith Pup. He could not make a normal approach on account of the superstructure—he had to fly beside the ship and, when alongside the
sorties on each of the Furious' seagoing
•ai*1-
jrse-
satisfied with that run and I’m going ag Naturally, I was disappointed, but of col I got out and he got in. 'S.
He came in as before, but was not sa j fied with his position over the deck and W&' us away. He opened up his engine to ’’'“C another circuit, but most unfortunately ^ engine choked—we could see that from ^ black smoke. He stalled, fell on the deck, was blown over the side. ,t
It took a ship the size of the Furious f 20,000 tons) 20 minutes at 26 knots to l^i( around, get back to the aircraft, and hois1 a launch. By the time we got Dunning °u” J poor fellow had drowned. He had a t bruise on his forehead, and it was thought he had been knocked out and so could hot lease his belt and escape.
flight deck, side-slip into a central position over the fo’c’s’le and alight.
This sounds easy enough, but in fact it was very difficult. On this day there was a strong but steady wind of 21 knots and the ship was steaming at 26 knots—she could have steamed at 31 knots, but there was not room to achieve that speed in Scapa Flow. This gave him an air speed of 47 knots over the deck—just about our landing speed—so he could almost hover over the deck; but it did mean he was landing in a gale of wind.
There was no arrester gear other than the hands and arms of brother officers. Rope toggles were spliced to the wing tips, tail and fuselage of the aircraft for the purpose of pulling it down on to the deck.
Dunning maneuvered into the right position. We all rushed out and each man seized his appointed toggle. He then cut his engine. We had some difficulty in hauling the aircraft down squarely on to the deck and holding it in the wind, but we did so. The aircraft was secured, fortunately without damage, and Dunning stepped out.
It was a momentous occasion and an historic event of the first importance. An operational aircraft had landed on the deck of a ship under way, and this started the develop-
ment of the aircraft carrier we know today and revolutionized naval warfare.
The success of the trial caused quite a stir. Signals of congratulation were received from all the high places. We ourselves were delighted, as we could see our usefulness multiplied, since we would be able to make several
mis'
sions instead of one flight only, ending m sea ahead of a destroyer and expending aircraft. . l£.
Five days later, it was decided that Dur,n|^ should make one more landing before other pilots and I took our turns. The c0'V tions were similar except that the wind a little stronger and more gusty.
He landed as on the first occasion, but ^ the stronger wind, we were unable to Pre\ ( the machine from being blown back agal' ^ the coaming of the hatch to the hangar be 0 The elevator was damaged. «
I was sitting in the next machine to m the attempt, Sopwith Pup No. N6452, with * engine running and my belt fastened. V ^ ning came up, tapped me on the shoulder said, “Come out of that, Moore. I am 1 ,,
°Uld fj ’
rtf)0r. J 111 and out of them trying to find thi: thent t ^ePPelin. Much to my disappoint never got a glimpse of her.
t>eatush a hole in the clouds I saw land be-
looking down
,ath
Ma
llle- I had not an idea where I
could, the coast
Co,
it*Pa ° coast it was very hazy.
'vomcjSses were rather poor—at times they s4y, Qri'Sl)ln like tops with engine vibration if,
Aft
•t —i so I headed out to sea. r 1 had been flying for about 20 min-
IJnti]lrt'1Cr c*ec^ landings were abandoned Was3 flight deck abaft the superstructure CisionC°uStrUCted- Whilst awaiting this de- At h ^urious remained operational. teftib a ^ flyc ln ^he morning on 11 Sep- told f 1^17, I was called out of my bunk and bridat a ^ePPehn had been seen from the dovvn -pn<d dlat I must go up and shoot it 4irCr ' 'at suited me fine. When I got to my 4skedt’(.Vvfl'ch was all ready for takeoff, and Pojn ’ ^flere Is the Zeppelin?” someone Seetl th t0> 3 <doud ancl said “Well, it was last 1 ha j ere and that was all the information
OffJ0^0 on-
(he c, went and eventually got up amongst tunateCjUds’ w Alt'A were at 10,000 feet. For- c°U1h a ’’. they were broken that day, so I
this ^Otigb’ a^ter an hour or so,
1 Germany? I decided the best thing
T d° was to scuttle back to the fleet as
Alo
Nghn^ cylinder was misfiring. I had a very f|V (Q ‘ ea of the direction in which I should * nd tfle fleet. Still, that was the only >do - ’ y
ttte.
realized that I was getting short of r've ^tand in another 10 minutes would ar- fl'at horrible position known as the
point of no return—if I went on, I could not get back.
That is a pretty desperate position to be in and I was wondering what to do when suddenly I saw on the sea, miles away, what looked like a lot of cotton threads on the water It was very hazy by now, and I suppose I was flying at about 2,000 feet. I thought, “Those cotton threads on the water cannot be natural. There are no reefs here for breakers, and anyway, they are all in straight lines.”
Suddenly it dawned on me that they must be the wake of the ships, and I could not see the ships on account of the haze and because they were all well camouflaged. If only I could remember how many ships there were in the fleet that day I would feel pretty confident. Mentally I counted up the fleet. Then I looked at the streaks of cotton on the water and, thank God, they tallied. I knew I must be right.
I flew on with more confidence, and after 10 minutes, the camouflaged ships became visible—and that was just about as good as being home to me.
There were five escorting destroyers on my side of the fleet, so I flew over the leading one and waved to those on the bridge, and they waved back. I flew on for about a mile-and- a-half to give them time to heave to, and plunked down in the sea, and was soon in my old familiar position of hanging on to the bracing wire of the tail fin. I had, of course, a lifebelt, but by that time the machine was nose down, floating only by means of the air bag in its tail. It would not last too long like that—about 20 minutes to half an hour—as
A graduate of Radley College, Major Moore was attending Cambridge University at the outbreak of World War I. From 1914 to 1918, he served in the Royal Naval Air Service which, in 1918, was joined with the Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force. He retired in 1920 to accept a position as Managing Director of Irish Paper Mills in Dublin. From 1922 to 1934, he was Managing Director of Scotland’s Donside Paper Company. From 1934 until his retirement in 1957, he was a Director of the Clyde Paper Company in Glasgow. He now resides in Malaga, Spain.
there was quite a heavy sea running; however, I had no reason to think I would not be picked up almost immediately.
But the first destroyer merely came close to me and sent a great wave over my head. The second did the same thing, and the third and fourth. By that time I was reasoning with myself and saying “Well, of course, there are submarines about, and no ship’s captain is going to risk his ship and the ship’s company just to pick up one silly pilot in a little aeroplane, and I am going to be left. I can’t blame them, but bad luck for me.”
When the fifth destroyer came up, she pulled up alongside me. Evidently she had been detailed to collect me. Someone threw a handline, and I only had time to wrap it round my wrist before an enthusiastic sailor yanked me through the water, up the side of the destroyer and on board.
I was very disappointed that I did not shoot down the Zeppelin. Zeppelins were now a thorn in the side of our fleets. Our ships could not emerge from any naval base without their strength and direction being reported, and it was necessary to have an element of surprise to bring the German High Sea Fleet to battle on our own terms.
Naval pilots shot down three. Flight Lieutenant Smart, in a Sopwith Pup, taking off from a temporary flight deck rigged on the fo’c’s’le of HMS Yarmouth, shot down Zeppelin L23; Flight Lieutenant S. D. Culley, flying a Camel launched from a platform on a barge towed by a destroyer, shot down L53; and yet another was shot down by Flight Lieutenant E. Cadbury flying a Porte flying-boat based on Felixstowe.
These successes made the Zeppelins increasingly wary and they became exceedingly difficult to engage. Our tactics were therefore changed and it was decided to attack them in their home bases.
On 19 July 1918, two flights of Can)els
eaci
:t>
one of three machines and one of four carrying two specially made Cooper - (
bombs—raided the Zeppelin airship shed Tondern, in Schleswig-Holstein.
No8,
L54 and L60 were destroyed. Only Die 8 j and Smart returned to the Furious.
60-lb-
The raid was highly successful: the were set on fire and the Zeppelins
Yeule"
VVV.UL UU VV 11 1UI.U ocu M
trouble—and was presumed drowned. J son, Williams, Thyne, and Dawson landc J Denmark and made their way home thr01'5 prearranged channels later. A
The Royal Naval Air Service and J Royal Flying Corps lost their identitieS j 1 April 1918—the naval and military "ll^ fused to form the Royal Air Force. D V. thought to be a most appropriate date J those who did not like the change—and 1 were few did.
It remains to be seen if the policy
of *
present British government to scrap ^ cart ier-building program is correct. ^ American fleet at Pearl Harbor was sun
li>"
• i
carrier-borne aircraft at Taranto than f in the Battle of Jutland, when the mig ^ the German High Sea Fleet and the $rl ^ Grand Fleet were engaged. It is undets11^ the Americans will continue to build ah’ carriers; it is popularly thought that the « sians will now build carriers; and over 5 .
Japanese carrier-borne aircraft; more
Ita
warships were sunk and damaged bY
cent of American strikes against North
\'id
nam have been made by carrier-borne craft.
The Royal Navy will be very sorry t0 ‘ J their aircraft carriers, the most P0^ weapon they ever had. And those of us were there at the beginning will find no j°l having been there at the end.
l<r
A Ship Is Always a Lady
After a particularly trying day of learning to handle an LST, I must have looked somewhat disheartened because the Commodore eased up behind me and in an encouraging voice said, “Just a hint, but an LST doesn’t handle like a destroyer. With an LST, you find out what she wants to do and help her.”
—Contributed by Lieutenant Commander Malcolm L. Huffman, U. S. Navy
(The Naval Institute will pay $10.00 for each anecdote published in the Proceedings.)