47 Regt Stories

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Stories from 47 Regt days . . .

John Walker

At Grammar School in Berkshire I was required to join the Combined Cadet Force and I spent the last two years in the RAF section, along with a bunch of other guys my age who were passionately interested in aircraft, I think inspired by the books we had read about the exploits of WWII pilots such as Douglas Bader, Peter Tuck and Guy Gibson. For us, this was the 'Golden Age' of post-WWII aircraft innovation, and we spent a great deal of time discussing the specifications of the Gloster Javelin, DeHavilland DH110, Vickers Valiant, A.V. Roe (Avro) Vulcan et al. Some of us were keen aircraft spotters, travelling to airfields like Farnborough, the development establishment run by the Ministry of Defence, and White Waltham where the Fairey Aviation factory was making Gannet anti-submarine planes. I was lucky enough to live directly in the landing flight path of Greenham Common, the airbase built by the USAF, and took photographs of most of the planes based there; F86 Sabre, Hawker Hunter, B29, Globemaster etc. Then a squadron of Boeing B-47's arrived, characterised by the swept-wing configuration with four jet engines, but these were soon replaced with B-52s. The new planes were easily distinguished by the eight jet engines carried in four pods beneath the swept-back wings and a more distinctive sound. These behemoths were used by the USAF, or so we thought, as spy planes, as they used to fly over our house every half-hour or so at about 250 feet with the empty bomb bays open. Since our house was just outside the perimeter of the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston we assumed the bomb bays had been fitted with cameras and detection equipment. The planes flew so low that we could easily see the pilots and got familiar enough with the planes that we could identify them. I and my school friends could very easily recognise a B-47 or B-52 by sight, sound, or the smell of the thick black aviation fuel exhaust fumes.

Boeing B52

Fast-Forward the story to 1961 and Benbecula, where 47 Regt was having its annual practise live missile firings and for some strange reason I found myself in the Queen's Army and not the Royal Air Force. I was left pretty much to my own devices during these trips, and spent a lot of free time on the beach just north of Benbecula Airport at Balivanich, soaking up the sun and enjoying the serenity of what must be one of the best beaches in the British Isles for quiet solitude. One clear day I was laying on the sand looking up at a beautiful blue sky with not a cloud in sight when I heard the drone of a piston-engined aircraft, but search as I might I couldn't see it. The next day at about the same time I heard it again, but still couldn't see it. I did, however. catch a glint in the sun very high up, and peering through a tiny crack in my cupped hand I could make out what I thought was either a B-47 or B-52. The swept wings and four pods gave it away. But I was puzzled; this plane didn't seem to have the wing-tip fuel tanks with which nearly all the B-52s had been fitted. Also, it was flying due North, something which I never thought a USAF plane would be doing up here. Even more puzzling was the fact that even though it was very high, I would guess about 30,000 ft, I expected to be able to identify it by the sound of its jet engines, but this plane seemed to be making no noise at all.

Suddenly it dawned on me - the sound of the piston engines was coming from the B-47! Beside myself with excitement, I realised I wasn't looking at a Boeing at all, I was watching a Russian Tupolev Tu-95! This was a plane that we in the RAF contingent of the CCF at school had read about; piston-engined, with contra-rotating props, it was a swept-wing bomber that looked remarkably like the Boeings but was (and still is) the only swept-wing aircraft with piston engines. It could be fitted with either nuclear or conventional bomb capability but had also been known to be used as a communications relay system. The NATO designation was 'BEAR' and it was one of the Russian planes in my schoolboy Aircraft Spotter's book. Without doubt, a genuine Russian spy plane was overflying our missile range and now heading for its home base the other side of the Arctic Circle. I watched it for about ten minutes as it disappeared over the northern horizon on its way clear of Norway. The crew must have felt quite secure, knowing as well as I did that the UK had absolutely no military aircraft radar detection systems anywhere in Scotland.

Tupolev TU-90

I decided that somebody ought to be told what I had seen, but who? We had never been given any instructions on what to do if we were approached by spies in the street or saw something suspicious, and I didn't know how to handle this. The following morning I gave the beach a miss, put on a uniform and climbed aboard the 3-ton Bedford RL going down to the launch area with everybody else. I spent all morning wondering who to tell, but couldn't find anybody with any authority above the rank of Sgt. Around lunch time I came across a 1-ton Austin radio repair truck, with Bill Watkins and a few other guys in it that I knew but can't remember now. They were just hanging out, killing time and shooting the breeze between bouts of crisis. A couple of RA 2nd Lts came in with Capt. John Peacock, the REME M&G Pln commander, and joined in the general chit-chat. Seizing the opportunity, I explained what I had seen - a Russian Tu-95 spy plane flying directly over us every day at exactly the same time.

There was a brief pause, what us Brits call a pregnant silence, then all three officers burst into raucous laughter. Russians? You've got to be kidding! Hah! Hilarious!! More laughter. Russians? Ridiculous!! Bloody Idiot! Trouble with you techie types is you've got much too much imagination! Never heard such rubbish! Russian spy-plane indeed!

I shut my mouth, embarrassed beyond entertainment in front of my colleagues. If I had been endowed at that age with the confidence I possess now I would have taken it further, but I hadn't. I nursed that grievance for many years until long after I left the army. It wasn't until about 1976 that I saw a BBC television documentary about the Russian spy system, following the expulsion of over a hundred USSR 'diplomats' from Britain who had been discovered taking part in various activities totally unconnected with diplomacy. Part of the program showed how the RAF had installed a radar system near Thurso, apparently 'just in case' the Russians decided to approach the UK by air and sea from the north rather than the accepted view that they could be expected to travel overland via Europe. Apparently it was the Norwegians who had alerted them to this idea. To the RAF's great surprise, as soon as they powered up their radar they found Tu-95's flying right over the northern coast of Scotland. Surprise! The BBC actually showed a film they had shot from a RAF P1 (English Electric 'Lightning') fighter intercepting a Tu-95 and escorting it out of UK airspace.

The commentator seemed to indicate that nobody knew how long the Russians, our sworn 'cold-war' enemies, had been intruding UK airspace. I could have told them it was at least as far back as 1960, the first year I visited, and probably as far back as 1959, when the UK missile range first opened in the Hebrides.

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Footnote:

Tupolev Tu-95

Except for the piston-engines, the Tu-95 design has a remarkably similar history to the B-47 and B-52 designs, and like the Boeings it is still (as of Oct 2005) in regular service. There are some reports (See Wikipedia) that it was still in production in the 1990s and will continue in service until at least 2040.

They have a very distinctive sound, due to the two contra-rotating propellers on each engine. Although not quite as fast as the B-52s, they are nevertheless the fastest prop-driven aircraft in the world ever put into regular service.

The photographs on this page were sent to me many years ago by an old school friend with whom I have since lost contact, and I have no idea who owns the copyright. If anybody would like to claim ownership, I would appreciate the information so that proper credit can be given.

Copyright - John W. Walker
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