Description
Object description
British officer trained as pilot with Royal Naval Air Service at No 2 School of Special Flying, Redcar and Royal Naval Air Service Central Training Establishment Cranwell, GB, 7/1917-9/1917; trained as seaplane pilot with Royal Naval Air Station Killingholme and Royal Naval Air Station Calshot, GB, 9/1917-11/1917; served as pilot with Royal Naval Air Service at South Shields Seaplane Station, GB, 12/1917-3/1918; served with 63rd Wing, RAF on Lemnos and Syros Islands, Aegean Sea, 7/1918-12/1918; served with 266 Sqdn, RAF, British Military Mission to South Russia, Petrovsk, Russia, 1/1919-10/1919
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of operations as officer with 266 Sqdn, RAF, British Military Mission to South Russia, Petrovsk, Russia, 1/1919-10/1919: background to volunteering for service in South Russia whilst serving in Aegean Islands, 11/1918; mine alarm during voyage to Batum, Turkey 1/1919 and problems during train journey to Petrovsk, 2/1919; situation on arrival; establishment of barracks and seaplane base in harbour.
REEL 2 Continues: arrival of 221 Sqdn, RAF; state of White Russian Army and question of atrocities; role securing Caspian Sea sea lanes; success of British coastal motor boats in securing surrender of Bolshevik ships; conversion of Russian ship to become seaplane carrier HMS Alader Yousanoff; arrival of 266 Sqdn; initial problems for seaplanes in taking off in Caspian Sea; nature of cruises aboard HMS Alader Yousanoff including unreliabilty of Russian crew, composition of makeshift British naval squadron, reconnaissance flights and difficulty in starting engines without compressed air supplies; effects of being trapped by gale whilst refuelling on Chechen Island.
REEL 3 Continues: reconnaissance role of 266 Sqdn; role of naval squadron; shooting game; relations with Russian civilians; question of British Military Mission to South Russia's role as occupying force; question of evacuation; mission to hand over Short Type 184 seaplanes and train White Russian forces at Gureyav.
REEL 4 Continues: memorial service and party with Russian officers for Captain Igorov after his death in a bombing accident; evacuation from Petrovsk via Novorossiysk to Constantinople, Turkey, 10/1919; convalescing from malaria at Constantinople, Turkey; question of degree of contact with White Russian forces at Petrovsk.
REEL 5 Continues: Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Naval Air Service in GB, 1/1917-5/1918: attestation under Derby Scheme and acceptance by Royal Naval Air Service, 1/1918; basic training at HMS President II, Crystal Palace, London. Aspects of flying training at No 2 School of Special Flying, Redcar, GB, 6/1917-7/1917: inadequate dual control training with nervous instructor on Avro 504; forced landing during cross-country flight; local defence flight. Aspects of flying training at Royal Naval Air Service Central Training Establishment, Cranwell, GB, 7/1917-9/1917: unreliability of Avro 504 engines; aerial photography training flights; flying Bristol M.1 Monoplane; commissioning as sub-lieutenant, 9/1918; situation; story of accident when spinning Avro 504.
REEL 6 Continues: Aspects of training as seaplane pilot with Royal Naval Air Service Station North Killingholme, GB, 9/1917-10/1917: flying Short Type 150 and Type 184 seaplanes including taking off, landing and pulling on to slipway; naval side of training; Zeppelin raid. Aspects of training as seaplane pilot with Royal Naval Air Service Station Calshot, GB, 10/1917-11/1917: layout of base; bombing training including use of drift sight, requirement for steady flying and question of accuracy achieved. Aspects of period as seaplane pilot with Royal Naval Air Service Station South Shields, GB, 12/1917-3/1918: situation on arrival.
REEL 7 Continues: role escorting convoys; difficulty taking off in rough waters; relations with Senior Naval Officer (SNO); story of forced landing in sea and rescue after sending message by carrier pigeon; difficulties in patrolling area between River Tyne and Farne Islands; problem for ground crew wearing waders; question of deterrent value of convoy patrols on German submarines; relations with naval officers; role of longer range seaplanes in anti-submarine war.
REEL 8 Recollections of operations as officer with 63rd Wing, RAF based on Lemnos and Syros Islands, Aegean Sea, 7/1918-12/1918: journey to Aegean Sea via France, Italy and Salonika, Greece; seaplane station at Phoenicia Bay, Syros Island; role flying patrols to locate any possible emergence of SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau; rations; fishing using bombs; establishment of repair base for seaplane carrier HMS Ark Royal on Syros Island.