Baldwin, George Clifton (Oral history)

British officer served as pilot with 801 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Ark Royal during Norwegian Campaign, 4/1940-5/1940; served with 801 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB and aboard HMS Furious off Norway, 5/1940-5/1941; served with Naval Air Fighting Development Unit in GB, 6/1941-6/1942; served as pilot with and commanded 807 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in Mediterranean, 7/1942-7/1944; commanded 4th Naval Fighter Wing, Fleet Air Arm in Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, 7/1944-8/1945

REEL 1 Background in GB and Egypt, 1921-1939: family; education. Aspects of enlistment and training with Fleet Air Arm in GB, 1939-1940: attractions of service with Fleet Air Arm; quality of training; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Recollections of operations as pilot with 801 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Ark Royal during Norwegian Campaign, 4/1940-5/1940: roles of Blackburn Skuas and Rocs; squadron morale; attitude to serving aboard aircraft carrier; question of unnecessary distance between ratings and officers in early part of the war; Fleet Air Arm targets and dates he operated in Norway; abortive plan to use Blackburn B-25 Roc with floats. Recollections of operations as pilot with 801 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB and aboard HMS Furious off Norway, 5/1940-5/1941: operations from RAF Detling, 6/1940; dive-bombing attack on fortifications under construction at Cap Gris-Nez, France, 21/6/1940. REEL 2 Continues: feeling of inadequacy about Blackburn Skua; attacks on Norway from HMS Furious, 9/1940; use of ski-run by German fighters in Bergen area, Norway; attack on harbour at Trondheim, Norway, 20/9/1940; attack on ship in harbour at Haugesland, Norway, 3/10/1940; patrols against German reconnaissance aircraft from HMS Sparrowhawk, Royal Naval Air Station Hatston, Orkney Islands; attitude towards potential operation against Brest, France, 6/2/1941; punishment of commanding officer for having operation called off; medical examination to detect battle fatigue. Aspects of period as officer with Naval Air Fighting Development Unit in GB, 6/1941-6/1942: reaction to learning to fly new types of aircraft; gyro gun sight trials. Recollections of operations as pilot with 807 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB and aboard HMS Furious in Mediterranean during Operation Torch, 7/1942-12/1942: appointment to squadron, 7/1942. REEL 3 Continues: role as senior pilot flying Supermarine Seafires F Mk IIc; embarkation aboard HMS Furious, 28/8/1942; reasons for initial accidents with Supermarine Seafires on flight decks; role of squadron covering landings in Oran, French Algeria, 11/1942 including attacking airfields; clashes with Vichy French Dewoitine D 520 fighters over Oran, French Algeria, 11/1942; emergency landing on flight deck and damage to aircraft; strength of Vichy French opposition at Oran, French Algeria, 11/1942; return to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Recollections of operations as officer with and commanding 807 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Indomitable and HMS Stalker in Mediterranean, 1/1943-7/1944: character of Supermarine Seafire F Mk IIc including methods of reducing air resistance and raise performance; joining HMS Indomitable, 6/1943; torpedo hit on ship during landings at Sicily Italy, 7/1943. REEL 4 Continues: conditions ashore in Malta, 7/1943-8/1943; transfer to HMS Stalker, 8/1943; arrival of operational orders during landings at Salerno, Italy, 9/1943; problems encountered by Fleet Air Arm Supermarine Seafire pilots during landings at Salerno, Italy, 9/1943; losses of serviceable aircraft during landings at Salerno, Italy, 9/1943; question of criticism of Supermarine Seafire as result of operations at Salerno, Italy, 9/1943. Recollections of operations commanding 4th Naval Wing, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Attacker in Mediterranean, 7/1944-10/1944: build up for landings in South of France; role commanding wing including working up in Italy; his role during landings in Southern France, 8/1944. REEL 5 Continues: Allied aircraft carriers available for Operation Dragoon, 8/1944; failure of American pilots to heed Fleet Air Arm advice for operations over Marseille, France, 8/1944; character of operations over South of France, 8/1944; success of Fleet Air Arm operations in Southern France; move to Aegean Sea to interdict German withdrawal from Crete, Greece, 9/1944; attacks on German seaplanes in Suda Bay, Crete, Greece; anti-shipping and gun-site strikes in Aegean Sea, 9/1944-10/1944; performance of Supermarine Seafire in Aegean Sea. Aspects of commanding 4th Naval Wing, Fleet Air Arm in Indian Ocean, 3/1945-8/1945: character of operations, summer 1945; problems during landings at Port Swettenham, Malaya, 8/1945; opportunity to take Japanese surrender on airfield; anti-climax of returning to GB. REEL 6 Continues: Question of impersonal character of air fighting and of nature of remembered reminiscences.