I Was There
Memories from RNAS HMS Kestrel (Worthy Down)
by Eric Walker
This superb memory was kindly sent to me by Eric Walker, who served at HMS Kestrel just after the Second World War. Memories such as Eric's are a valuable source of information, that give life to the factual histories that have been written about the aerodrome. Many thanks Eric for taking the time to write up your memories, they are truly appreciated. Richard Hall August 2020.
I was called up for National Service in the Royal Navy in January 1946. I had to report to HMS Royal Arthur which was really Butlins Holiday Camp at Skegness. It was bitterly cold. I was kitted out, medically examined and given some aptitude tests. As a result of these, those responsible decided that, despite a very traditional grammar School academic education, I would make a good mechanic. So, I was sent to RAF Hednesford near Walsall to have six months training, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
After my training and qualifying as an Aircraft Mechanic (Engines) I was drafted in September 1946 to RNAS Worthy Down aka HMS Kestrel. Yes, although an airfield some 30 miles from Portsmouth Naval Base, it was one of His Majesty’s Ships and treated as so. The ratings were divided into Port and Starboard watches and we had to catch a 'Liberty Boat', a King Alfred bus, to go ashore. The stretch of roadway outside the officer's mess was the ‘Quarterdeck’ and ratings had to run across it.
The job there was to make airworthy a number of Avro Anson aircraft as the aerodrome was being closed for flying at the end of December. A NAAFI van would arrive at the hanger mid-morning so we could buy a mug of tea and a bun. On one occasion the van and petrol tanker turned up at the same time. Being that kind of bloke, I volunteered to do the job myself while my mate bought me my tea and bun. Unfortunately, in climbing the stepladder, necessary for the job, I slipped, and the nozzle pierced the fabric on the wing. However, I continued with the refuelling and the airframe mechanic glued on a patch. The aircraft flew out next day, so no harm done, and my reputation remained intact.
Strangely I can find no record of any Ansons being based at Worthy Down. I guess that they were from the storage unit that was based on the other side of the old A34, a site I never went to. There was just a small band of us but we completed the job on time, the last Anson flying out mid-December. Occasionally the pilot would take a mechanic up with him on a test flight just to make sure the job had been properly done. I was one of just two or three who were kept at Worthy Down, being transferred to No.2 Aircraft Salvage Unit (ASU in short). This I know did move from its base across the A34.
The ratings in the ASU section were ‘housed’ in a building large enough for about 24 two-tier bunk beds, though numbers meant we only used one tier, usually the top bunk. There was a small room by the doorway where the senior rate mostly a PO I/c of the mess slept. Every week there would be ‘Rounds’, the inspection of the hut, normally by the Officer of the Day, accompanied by a retinue, always a member of the ‘Regulating’ Staff amongst them. The Officer normally treated it as routine but the regulating staff member (they were the disciplinarians) had an eagle eye for any fault. For the inspection, one’s bedding had to be on the bunk folded in a certain way so that no edges were visible, but one’s name and naval number were visible. We possessed a wooden block with name and number which we would ink (I have no idea how) to print onto the article. The lino floor covering had to be polished to a high degree. Now and again we would be told it was going to be ‘Captain’s Rounds’. That meant that a set of clothing had to be on show with one’s name and number visible. The reasoning behind this was that we had to buy our uniform etc. We were paid an allowance to cover it and they wanted to make sure that it was being spent on clothing. I, like most, had a non-working uniform made to measure at a naval tailor in Portsmouth. Working uniforms, with red badges (in my case an aircraft propeller with AM above and E below) were number 3 uniform, going out uniforms with gold lettering were number 2, number 1 being ceremonial.
Pay Day was once a fortnight. We would queue up in lines in numerical order (I have forgotten exactly what my number was, L/FX197942 has a faint ring about it). When it was your turn you would ‘Off-cap’, hold it forward, recite your number and the paymaster staff would place the appropriate sum of money on it, you’d turn right, put money away and replace cap. I have no idea now what the pay was; I know I used to make an allotment each time to a savings account and it had a welcome sum of money in it when I was demobbed. When I was ‘on the road’ with the ASU, I would be credited with a daily allowance to cover board and lodging. At the end of the trip, I would submit a claim form to our O/C to countersign and go to the pay office to collect it. As I have mentioned when we were travelling with an aircraft load, we had to stay in a military camp, but we were still paid the allowance, extra pocket money!
On two or three occasions during my time at Worthy Down, the call would go out over the Tannoy system ‘Clear Lower Decks’. That meant that all ratings had to go to the Hall. The Captain and retinue would enter then a couple of regulating staff came in with a prisoner. One of the trainees, hating what he had signed up for at the age of 16 until he was 30 would ‘jump ship’ or go AWOL (absent without leave) No mercy was shown and he would be sentenced to 30 days or so imprisonment at the ‘Glasshouse’ (i.e. prison) at Portsmouth Naval Barracks. I felt very sorry for them despite my being compelled to do National Service which luckily in my experience I enjoyed. Maybe after that he would be discharged. I know since that there was great disquiet from MPs about the system.
After my training and qualifying as an Aircraft Mechanic (Engines) I was drafted in September 1946 to RNAS Worthy Down aka HMS Kestrel. Yes, although an airfield some 30 miles from Portsmouth Naval Base, it was one of His Majesty’s Ships and treated as so. The ratings were divided into Port and Starboard watches and we had to catch a 'Liberty Boat', a King Alfred bus, to go ashore. The stretch of roadway outside the officer's mess was the ‘Quarterdeck’ and ratings had to run across it.
The job there was to make airworthy a number of Avro Anson aircraft as the aerodrome was being closed for flying at the end of December. A NAAFI van would arrive at the hanger mid-morning so we could buy a mug of tea and a bun. On one occasion the van and petrol tanker turned up at the same time. Being that kind of bloke, I volunteered to do the job myself while my mate bought me my tea and bun. Unfortunately, in climbing the stepladder, necessary for the job, I slipped, and the nozzle pierced the fabric on the wing. However, I continued with the refuelling and the airframe mechanic glued on a patch. The aircraft flew out next day, so no harm done, and my reputation remained intact.
Strangely I can find no record of any Ansons being based at Worthy Down. I guess that they were from the storage unit that was based on the other side of the old A34, a site I never went to. There was just a small band of us but we completed the job on time, the last Anson flying out mid-December. Occasionally the pilot would take a mechanic up with him on a test flight just to make sure the job had been properly done. I was one of just two or three who were kept at Worthy Down, being transferred to No.2 Aircraft Salvage Unit (ASU in short). This I know did move from its base across the A34.
The ratings in the ASU section were ‘housed’ in a building large enough for about 24 two-tier bunk beds, though numbers meant we only used one tier, usually the top bunk. There was a small room by the doorway where the senior rate mostly a PO I/c of the mess slept. Every week there would be ‘Rounds’, the inspection of the hut, normally by the Officer of the Day, accompanied by a retinue, always a member of the ‘Regulating’ Staff amongst them. The Officer normally treated it as routine but the regulating staff member (they were the disciplinarians) had an eagle eye for any fault. For the inspection, one’s bedding had to be on the bunk folded in a certain way so that no edges were visible, but one’s name and naval number were visible. We possessed a wooden block with name and number which we would ink (I have no idea how) to print onto the article. The lino floor covering had to be polished to a high degree. Now and again we would be told it was going to be ‘Captain’s Rounds’. That meant that a set of clothing had to be on show with one’s name and number visible. The reasoning behind this was that we had to buy our uniform etc. We were paid an allowance to cover it and they wanted to make sure that it was being spent on clothing. I, like most, had a non-working uniform made to measure at a naval tailor in Portsmouth. Working uniforms, with red badges (in my case an aircraft propeller with AM above and E below) were number 3 uniform, going out uniforms with gold lettering were number 2, number 1 being ceremonial.
Pay Day was once a fortnight. We would queue up in lines in numerical order (I have forgotten exactly what my number was, L/FX197942 has a faint ring about it). When it was your turn you would ‘Off-cap’, hold it forward, recite your number and the paymaster staff would place the appropriate sum of money on it, you’d turn right, put money away and replace cap. I have no idea now what the pay was; I know I used to make an allotment each time to a savings account and it had a welcome sum of money in it when I was demobbed. When I was ‘on the road’ with the ASU, I would be credited with a daily allowance to cover board and lodging. At the end of the trip, I would submit a claim form to our O/C to countersign and go to the pay office to collect it. As I have mentioned when we were travelling with an aircraft load, we had to stay in a military camp, but we were still paid the allowance, extra pocket money!
On two or three occasions during my time at Worthy Down, the call would go out over the Tannoy system ‘Clear Lower Decks’. That meant that all ratings had to go to the Hall. The Captain and retinue would enter then a couple of regulating staff came in with a prisoner. One of the trainees, hating what he had signed up for at the age of 16 until he was 30 would ‘jump ship’ or go AWOL (absent without leave) No mercy was shown and he would be sentenced to 30 days or so imprisonment at the ‘Glasshouse’ (i.e. prison) at Portsmouth Naval Barracks. I felt very sorry for them despite my being compelled to do National Service which luckily in my experience I enjoyed. Maybe after that he would be discharged. I know since that there was great disquiet from MPs about the system.
Queen Mary tractor and trailer, similar to those used at Worthy Down. Richard Hall.
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The unit had a Lieutenant CO about five Petty Officers and ten ratings, either AM(A) or AM(E). There were also some motor cyclists who would, in pairs, escort the lorries through traffic.
There were four ‘Queen Mary' trailers and 'Bedford Artics', to carry the crashed aircraft, strangely driven by civilian drivers. We were classed as ‘Ships' Company which brought us privileges over the Trainee Radio technicians who formed the bulk of the personnel there. |
The first 3 months of 1947 had some of the coldest, snowiest weather on record; there was no way we could get out onto the road. But there was also very little flying so no crashes to attend to. Living in a Nissen hut with just a central stove for heating was hard. The food was variable; the meal I remember above all was two tinned pilchards for my late breakfast, having been on duty at normal time. I complained to the Officer of the Day but without any result. Fortunately, there was a NAAFI on site which did provide simple but wholesome meals. Once the weather improved, we found ourselves often called out to retrieve a crashed aircraft. I thoroughly enjoyed these trips. As a boy I had seen little of Britain; now I was venturing far and wide, down to Cornwall, up to Abbotsinch near Glasgow, to Norfolk. With an aircraft on board we had to stay en route in a secure location which meant a military establishment either RAF or Army.
Because of speed restriction and the fact that the drivers could only drive for eight hours per day, the journey was slow. I kept a record of one such journey from Worthy Down to RNAS Yeovilton then up to Abbotsinch, across to Donibristle, opposite Edinburgh and back to Worthy Down, almost four weeks on the road. The most extraordinary jobs were at the Research Establishment at Farnborough. They were experimenting with a steam catapult and in this incident something had gone wrong with the detachment gear so that the aircraft (I think a Barracuda) broke in two, one part was shot down the runway, the tail section was still firmly attached to the catapult, much to the alarm of the pilot.
I was demobbed in January 1947, just two years after call-up.
Because of speed restriction and the fact that the drivers could only drive for eight hours per day, the journey was slow. I kept a record of one such journey from Worthy Down to RNAS Yeovilton then up to Abbotsinch, across to Donibristle, opposite Edinburgh and back to Worthy Down, almost four weeks on the road. The most extraordinary jobs were at the Research Establishment at Farnborough. They were experimenting with a steam catapult and in this incident something had gone wrong with the detachment gear so that the aircraft (I think a Barracuda) broke in two, one part was shot down the runway, the tail section was still firmly attached to the catapult, much to the alarm of the pilot.
I was demobbed in January 1947, just two years after call-up.