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Image courtesy of 205/209 Squadron Navigator Bill Whiter
I was stationed at RAF Seletar 205/209 Squadron Sunderland Flying Boats from 5th February 1958 to December 12th 1958, I only had the one opportunity of flying in a Sunderland, that was on 07/12/1958 in PP112 believed to be the joint last boat to be struck off charge on 30/06/1959. Flight Lieutenant Jack Poyser was the skipper and we went on a Search and Rescue mission looking for a Japanese tanker that had sunk somewhere off the Indonesian coast, we found some wreckage but no sign of survivors or bodies, we were airborne for 4 hours and 40 minutes, fortunately I had my camera with me and was able to take a few shots of Seletar on finals, the quality of the prints are not too good, so if anyone can improve on these I would be delighted to see them. Tragically two days later on 09/12/1958 we lost one of our sister aircraft a Shackleton MR.1A VP254 from 205 Squadron Changi and all 11 her of her crew, apparently she flew into the sea off Sin Cowe Island in the Gulf of Thailand whilst on an anti-piracy patrol. All available aircraft from the region were called upon to look for survivors, alas none were found.
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AIRCRAFTSMAN IVOR JOHN GILLETT AGED 21 THE GEORGE CROSS
26/03/1950 SZ573 Short Sunderland GR 5 209 Squadron RAF Seletar
Whilst the aircraft was being prepared for a sortie, a bomb exploded and two men Signaller I A R Green and LAC S A Summers, together with others, were injured. Unfortunately, two others were killed and the aircraft was written off. In saving the life of another man, Aircraftsman 1st Gillett was killed. The citation for The George Cross is as follows:
Information re this accident is urgently required for a book publication in Jan/Feb 2006 details are here if anyone can helpAircraftsman Gillett, a fitter armourer, was a member of the groundcrew on board a Sunderland flying boat which blew up at its moorings at the RAF flying boat base Seletar on 26th March 1950. Rescue craft were quickly on the scene but the aircraft and a bomb scow alongside sank rapidly and survivors from the explosion were hurled into the water. A lifebelt was thrown to Aircraftsman Gillett from a rescue launch but he was seen to throw the lifebelt to a severely injured Corporal who was in danger of drowning near him. In the confusion, the rescuers had not been able to reach the Corporal. Gillett was a great friend of his and knew he was not a strong swimmer. The lifebelt kept the Corporal afloat until he was rescued unconscious from the water several minutes later. In the meantime, Aircraftsman Gillett disappeared and his body was washed ashore two days later. It was discovered that his body had suffered terrible superficial injuries and his death was due to the combined effects of blast and drowning. By his action in deliberately saving the life of his friend , whilst injured and in great danger himself, Aircraftsman Gillett displayed magnificent courage, extreme unselfishness in his last living moments which resulted in the sacrifice of his life to save another was seen in this act of great heroism which was in accordance with the highest traditions of the Royal Air Force.
Flight Liutenant William Harry James Kearney
Aircraftsman 1st class Ivor John Gillett GC 21
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The above has been extracted from the book 'Last Take Off' by Colin Cummings, Nimbus Publishing, NN6 6ZE. ISBN 0 9526619 3 4
POST WAR ACCIDENTS INVOLVING 205/209/SELETAR SUNDERLANDS
27/03/1946 GR5 PP103 209 Two engines cut on take off at Seletar(13)
21/04/1946 GR5 PP132 209 Overshot and ran aground on landing at Kai Tak
18/07/1946 GR5 RN264 209 Damaged beyond repair in a typhoon at Hainan, China
18/07/1946 GR5 SZ559 Ditto above
14/07/1948 GR5 NJ276 209 Tail Broke off on take-off at Seletar
20/11/1949 GR5 NJ176 of 88 Squadron Overloaded and crashed at Seletar (5)
26/03/1950 GR5 SZ573 209 Bomb exploded on loading at Seletar (2)
19/07/1950 GR5 PP164 209 Damaged beyond repair at moorings at Yokohama
03/10/1950 GR5 SZ569 205 Ran aground at Trincomalee
28/01/1951 GR5 PP107 205 Flew into mountain in poor visibility off Taiwan (14)
14/10/1951 GR5 RN277 205 Damaged in typhoon at Iwakuni, Japan
28/06/1953 MR5 RN269 205 Damaged on landing in Philippines
21/06/1954 MR5 SZ599 209 Damaged beyond repair on landing Christmas Island, Pacific
SHORT SUNDERLAND GR V 209 squadron NJ276 Crashed RAF Seletar 14th July 1948
WHO DO YOU BELIEVE?
This is the story never been told before, it has lay hidden for 54 years and makes for some very interesting reading. It all started some few months back from this date in November 2002 when an ex Leading Aircraft Airframe Mechanic contacted me on this website, for he was a member of 209 Squadron Sunderland Flying Boats in July 1948. As was often the case the crew could ask for a fitter, either engines or airframes, to accompany them on a Continuation Training Flight to show that those fitters had confidence in their work!
At the same time as an engine and airframe mechanic were to go on board, so too did a 'Check Pilot' (Checker) present his warrant card to the Captain of NJ276 to say that he was also to be on the flight checking on the capability of the crew. Nothing untoward about this as it happened frequently, although the captain in this instance a New Zealand Flying Officer assumed control of NJ276 the checker could override any decision the pilot(skipper) made at any time.
NJ276 started up its engines, the aircraft slipped its moorings and off it went to the waterway in the Straits of Johore, all the pre flight checks were satisfied and within a few minutes NJ276 was airborne. It returned in very short time to make a landing, both of the fitters were on the flight deck to see what was going on as neither had been on a similar flight before, the Airframe Mechanic (we will call him Ron) recalls what happened next:
"The aircraft landed as normal and then took off again, I asked the (Air) Signaller seated behind me what was about to happen, where the Signaller said 'that there would be a forced landing where an engine is throttled back so that the pilot could be checked to see that he could land it (the aircraft) safely'. We were watching this with interest, we got up to about 100' and the check pilot reached over and throttled back one of the four engines, the pilot would then put the aircraft down on the water safely. The New Zealand pilot thought he would be more clever than that and really wanted to show the check pilot how good a pilot he was and throttled back the remaining three engines. By this time there was no power whatsoever, at 100' up we dropped like a stone into the water below, BANG!"
"The Signaller who could see what was coming and shouted out 'brace yourselves', I by this time had got hold of the Captains seat, and both of us fitters ended up on the floor, the aircraft bounced on the water and took off (again) as it were, 20-30'up, the second time we hit (the water), the nose of the Sunderland went completely under water and we were sinking".
" The skipper said 'everybody out' and then someone opened the escape hatch above our heads when the Air engineer pushed me up and the skipper, as normal, was the last to leave. Initially I thought this was great fun, I couldn't wait to tell the lads back in the billet what fun we had, but I hadn't realised how serious it was until I stood on the wing and by that time the emergency dinghy had inflated on the wing. By the time I got into the dinghy two others were already in there! The tail of the Sunderland had broken off and that with the turret section was floating steadily away, apparently the salvage teams never did find this section of the aircraft. By this time the Skipper had got into the dinghy and the aircraft had slipped beneath the water in the Causeway".
"The (Air Sea Rescue) Launch arrived at the aircraft from the pierhead and picked us up and we recalled on the way back to the pierhead what had happened. Someone said 'what happened, what happened' the pilot had throttled the engines back came another retort SHUT YOUR MOUTH, YOU NEVER SAW OR HEARD ANYTHING came another reply, as I was just an erk I just obeyed instructions!"
"A few days later the remains of the Sunderland were recovered on the slipway near to the pier, the aircraft was upside down and the hull of NJ276 was crushed right up to the flight deck, fortunately there was only 8 of us on board and we were all on the Flight Deck This made me sick seeing this upside down Sunderland crushed like this".
This story was narrated to me (John Cooper) by 'Ron' at a reunion meeting at The Imperial War Museum Duxford restaurant on Wednesday October 9th 2002 in front of others, the means of communication was via an audio tape recorder and extracts taken from this tape and transcribed here.
When I asked Ron for an opinion as to who was to blame he recalled "The Board of Inquiry was held at the Squadrons headquarters and I was reminded by an aircrew member that 'you saw nothing' and 'that you just felt a bang', 'keep your mouth shut, you don't need to know anything more'. The air of secrecy after this Inquiry was probably whitewashed over"
I finally asked Ron if he thought there was any mechanical failure or pilot error. "DEFINITELY PILOT ERROR, and the CHECK PILOT would have carried the can!"
The Form A1180 Official Accident Report Form supplied into the Public Domain under the 30 year rule states:
Sunderland V NJ 276 209 Squadron crashed at Seletar 0918hrs 14/07/1948
Purpose "Continuation Training"
"OFM (?) Forced landing after a practise engine cut on take-off at 80-100', aircraft touched down straight ahead, bounced, and controls failed - tail of aircraft appeared to break off, aircraft nosed under and filled with water rapidly and sank".
[In different handwriting]
"Port Outer Engine cut for practise by pilot. Possibility of driftwood most likely. Striking hull and opening same".
Recommendations and Action:
"Court of Inquiry. Most likely cause driftwood struck on landing. AOC in C concurs. Pilot not blamed".
End of report
I was wandering around just looking at stuff this morning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hastings crash Seletar 1961
by
Stephen Cochrane
and came across a site about the RAF Hastings transport aircraft. This
reminded me of a crash of one of these aircraft at the Royal Air Force
base at Seletar in 1961 when I was there flying with the Target Towing
Squadron. Thus, I came across your site asking if anyone remembers this
event.
As I recall, the aircraft came in from the north over the Strait of
Johore and made a slow run and dropped some supply parachutes at the
south end of the runway. It was in a 'nose-up' attitude and turning
slightly to port when it lost an engine and quickly dived into the
jungle area.
I was a member of the party that was dispatched to the sight and was
there, as I recall, for two nights sleeping in tents. One of my lasting
memories of this event--oddly--is that we didn't get eaten alive by
mosquitoes! Perhaps it was the heavy smell of the aviation gasoline
that was everywhere---the aircraft having gone nose first into a swampy
pond next to a kampong. The gas was everywhere and was flowing away
down a couple of streams and I recall some local joker throwing his hot
charcoal into the water in the kampong and setting everything on fire.
Very entertaining!
The most lasting memories are, of course, the recovery of the bodies of
the 13 crew members---five RAF aircrew and eight RASC dispatchers.
Things like that stay with you for ever but so ,too, do all the good
memories of those wonderful days in 'the far'. What great times we had
in those far off days of our youth. Tiger beer and nightly trips to
'Pops' curry shop down in Jalan what-ever-it-was. God, his curries
used to blow our heads off! And how about the huge parade on the
run-way that got hit right in the middle of the whole thing by a raging
'Sumatra'? Absolute bloody chaos! Running out of gas as we touched
down on the runway at Changi after a towing sortie out in the South
China Sea and having to be towed back to the squadron to all the
jeering and cat-calls of our 'buddies'. We were not so aware of
mortality in those days. Taking a bunch of the aircraft up to
Butterworth and having lunch courtesy of the Aussies and then smuggling
a ****-load of duty-free beer back for the squadron piss-up. And how
about flying as close to the Communist Chinese border out of Kai Tak in
Hong Kong as we dared and broadcasting, loudly and clearly, 'The Owl an
the Pussycat'. Later, we would all howl with laughter at the thought
of those communist idiots writing this stuff down and expecting an
invasion at any moment.
We are all senior-citizens, now, but the memories of those wonderful
times will never fade, will they? Best regards, Stephen Cochrane.
Station Routine Orders dd 11th September 1958 SRO #146 signed by A R J Mc**ttie, Flight Lieutenant, Station Adjutant, RAF Seletar. Thanks to Alun W ex 81 (PR) Squadron West CampThe above text and photographs are the copyright of John Cooper unless otherwise stated.
Those attending the Duxford Reunion on Wednesday 09th October 2002
TERRY BALL Airframe Mechanic Sep 1956-Sep 1959 Lincolnshire
TED BEVIS Flight Engineer 1957-1959 Hampshire
PETE BIGGADIKE Airframe Fitter 1958 Norfolk
NORMAN CALLISTER Airframe Mechanic Sep 1956-Sep 1959 Isle of Man
ALEX 'TICH' CARRIE Aircraft Electrician 1956-1959 Suffolk
JOHN 'GARY' COOPER Aircraft Engine Mechanic Feb 1958-Drc 1958 Suffolk
LOU FRANK Airframe Mechanic 1947-1949? United States of America
BERT 'JOCK' GREEN Air Electrician 1958-? Ayrshire
MICHAEL 'DIZ' JORDAN Airframe Fitter 1957-1958 Home Counties?
GRAHAM LOCKLEY Ground Radio? 1957-1960 Somerset
ROB ROMANO Airframe Fitter 1956-1958 Cumbria
GRAHAM PATTRICK Airframe Mechanic Sep 1956-Sep 1959 Suffolk
JOHN SLEIGHT Airframes 1957-1958 Yorkshire
TONY STEVENS Armourer Mechanic 1958-1959 Leicestershire
DAVID TAYLOR Air Instruments Fitter Sep 1957-Dec 1958 Yorkshire
IVAN WELLER Airframe Mechanic Sep 1956-Mar 1959
JOHN WHITE Air Instrument Mechanic Aug 1956-Oct 1959 Hampshire
BILL WHITER Navigator 1957-1959 Buckinghamshire
DENIS WILLIAMS Airframe Mechanic Sep 1956-Jan 1959 Lancashire
Not attended but in contact with
Lloyd 'Dango' Fenton Air Electrician 1957-1959 Suffolk
Harry Dobkin Photographer 205/209/88 Sqn 1950-1952 Herts
Terry Cresswell Instrument Fitter 1956-1959 Shropshire
Ian Honeywood Aug 1956-Feb 1958 Air Electrician United States of America
Terry Smith Engines 1958-1961 Dorset
Harry Mallinson Air Radar 1955-1957
Kevin McDermott son of Sgt McDermott 1958-60
George Goultry left May 1957 now residing Felixstowe
Mick Blakey Air Radar 1956-57
E&OE
WEST CAMP INSTITUTE - JUKE BOX
1. Owing to continued vandalism in West Camp Airmen's Institute, the "Juke Box" has been removed and will not be replaced.
2. Continuing acts of vandalism by a small number of personnel in West Camp (the breaking of a piano during the Christmas Period 1957 is another example), has resulted in the withdrawal of similar amenities in the Institute and until these few learn or are taught by their comrades (What not Russians?) how to behave, no further amenities will be provided in West Camp Institute.
A new forum about this page, want to meet ex mates? Click here!
They say that the Sunderland's a mighty fine kite
This we no longer doubt.
If you get caught with a MiG up your ar*e
This is the way to get out.
Keep calm and keep cool and sedate
Don't let your British blood boil,
Don't hesitate, slam it right through the gate
And smother the Bastards in oil!
Have your say on this forum about the RAF or any of these pages CLICK HERE
Some excellent photos of Seletar 1958-1960 from Pete Biggadike's site here
It is claimed that a MR5 is still airworthy, read about it here!
A huge site for enthusiasts and modellers alike Seaplanes and Flying Boats Click Here
On 88 Squadron? Click here for info from Barry Collins the Hon Sec.
Were you here?
If anyone was stationed at RAF Seletar on 29th May 1961 and recall a Hastings crash with the loss of all on board would you kindly contact me with your recollections of the accident, thank you. John Cooper
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Who doesn't recall the Sew Sew Women that mended and darned your kit for a few dollars a month, this picture courtesy of Geoff Cole
