Hay, Ronald Cuthbert (Oral history)

British officer served with Royal Marines aboard HMS Devonshire during Spanish Civil War, 1937-1938; served as pilot with 801 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Ark Royal off Norway and at RAF Detling, GB during Dunkirk Evacuation, 4/1940-6/1940; served with 808 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB and aboard HMS Ark Royal in Mediterranean and North Atlantic, 7/1940-11/1941; commanded 809 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB and in North Africa, 8/1942-1943; served as staff officer with Fleet Air Arm in Ceylon and India, 1943-1944; served as Commander (Air), Fleet Air Arm at HMS Bambara, Royal Naval Air Station China Bay, Ceylon, 1944; commanded No 47 Naval Fighter Wing, Fleet Air Arm, 1st Carrier Air Group aboard HMS Victorious, 11th Aircraft Carrier Sqdn, British Pacific Fleet in Indian Ocean and Pacific, 11/1944-8/1945; served with 40 Commando, Royal Marines in Malaya, 1950-1951

REEL 1 Aspects of period as officer with Royal Marines aboard HMS Devonshire during Spanish Civil War, 1937-1938: background to enlistment in Royal Marines, 1934; service during Spanish Civil War. Aspects of flying training with Fleet Air Arm in GB, 1938-1940: accident rate with North American Harvard MkI at Central Flying School, RAF at RAF Netheravon, 1939; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; move to south of France for deck landing training, 1/1940. Recollections of operations as pilot with 801 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Ark Royal off Norway, 4/1940-5/1940: joining squadron, 4/1940; operations during campaign; aerial combat in Blackburn B-25 Roc with Heinkel He III over Namsos, 27/4/1940; shortage of maps; his attack on Junkers Ju 88 in defence of fleet; attack on Trondheim and use of Cooper Bomb; problems relocating aircraft carrier; his attempt to fly Blackburn B-25 Roc Floatplane. Recollections of operations as pilot with 801 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm at RAF Detling during Dunkirk Evacuation, 5/1940-6/1940: background to use of Blackburn B-24 Skuas as dive bombers during evacuation; dive bombing at Nieuport, Belgium and subsequent squadron losses. REEL 2 Continues: escape from Messerschmitt bf 109; bombing of German artillery positions at Cap Gris-Nez, France, 6/1940; Operation Bolds, reconnaissance of Channel Ports, 6/1940; victualing by Fortnum and Masons at RAF Detling; transfer to HMS Sparrowhawk, Royal Naval Air Station Hatston on Orkney Islands. Recollections of operations as pilot with 808 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB and aboard HMS Ark Royal in Mediterranean and North Atlantic, 7/1940-11/1941: drafting to squadron flying Fairey Fulmars, 7/1940; role of unit during Battle of Britain; memories of Richard 'Batchy' Atcherley crash landing on HMS Furious; joining Force H with HMS Ark Royal at Gibraltar, 11/1940; hunt for German commerce raider, 12/1940; his engagement with Italian Savoia Marchetti SM 79 Sparvieros during Malta convoy, 5/1941; conversation with captured Italian pilot revealing behaviour of Italian Air Force; recovery of pilot thought lost; bombardment of Genoa and La Spezia, Italy. REEL 3 Continues: story of shooting down Vichy French floatplane, 1941; accidental shooting down of Fairey Fulmars by Royal Navy battleships and subsequent tensions; shooting down of Italian Cant Z 506 Flying Boat, 7/1941; attitude towards shot down aircrew; flight to Malta over Pantellaria Island, Italy; air defence of Gibraltar, 1941; pleasures of sleeping ashore after noise on board aircraft carriers; opinion of British warship technology in relation to loss of HMS Hood, 24/5/1941. REEL 4 Continues: background to accidental attack on HMS Sheffield, 26/5/1941; opinion of how Royal Navy finished off German battleship Bismarck, 27/5/1941; question of failure to use torpedo bombers to sink German battleship Bismarck instead of using gunfire; conversation with Bismarck damage control officer who claimed to have opened battleship's seacocks; sinking of HMS Ark Royal and how he abandoned ship, 13/11/1941; survival of mess bills after sinking; story of mocking HMS Rodney with sheep noises; return to GB in HMS Nelson, 12/1941. REEL 5 Continues: instructional roles with 759 and 761 Naval Air Sqdns, Fleet Air Arm on return to GB, 1/1942-8/1942. Aspects of operations commanding 809 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB and North Africa, 9/1942-1/1943: army co-operation training; embarking aboard American merchantman in River Clyde; lack of radio communication; landings in Algiers, French Algeria, 11/1942; how HMS Bulolo went aground in Algiers, French Algeria, 11/1942; effects of lemons on fruit starved civilians; exercises with British Army in York area, 1943; his role writing training manuals, 1943. flight to North Africa via Lisbon, Portugal, 1943; attending Wing Leaders Course, 1943. Aspects of period as staff officer with Fleet Air Arm in India and Ceylon, 1943-1944: staff duties preparing for Fleet Air Arm move to Far East; social recreations. REEL 6 Continues: return of landing ships from Bombay, India to GB, 11/1943; railway travel in India. Aspects of period as Commander (Air), Fleet Air Arm at HMS Bambara, Royal Naval Air Station China Bay, Ceylon, 1944: posting to role; meeting with future wife; application to return to operational flying; air defence of southern India; problems carrying Parry's Gin in Vought F4U Corsair, 6/1944. Recollections of operations commanding No 47 Naval Fighter Wing, 1st Carrier Air Group, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Victorious, 11th Aircraft Carrier Sqdn, British Pacific Fleet in Indian Ocean and Pacific, 11/1944-8/1945: taking command of wing, 8/1944; character of air strikes in Bay of Bengal; torpedo accident at Trincomalee, Ceylon; story of HMS Valiant wrecking floating dock at Trincomalee; Ceylon, 1945; Operation Meridian attacks against oil refineries at Palembang, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies, 1/1945; ease in shooting down Japanese fighter aircraft over Palembang, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies; character of Vought Corsair. REEL 7 Continues: basing at Pityilu, Manus Islands in Pacific, 2/1945; hospitality of civilians in Sydney, Australia, 2/1945; apprehensions about how Admiral Philip Vian would perform in Far East; memories of Philip Vian; use of alcohol to restore morale in pilots; Operation Iceberg to neutralise Sakishima Gunto Islands, Japan, 3/1945; raids on Formosa, 4/1945; effects of naval bombardment of Sakishima Gunto Islands, Japan; Kamikaze attacks on HMS Victorious; question of naval overseas allowance in Far East; climatic conditions on board aircraft carriers in Far East and effects on aircrew. Aspects of period as officer with 40 Commando, Royal Marines in Federation of Malaya, 1950-1951: move to Hong Kong and Singapore, 5/1950; use of Iban trackers; visits to rubber planters.