Interview with Robin Michael Brand

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Description

Object description

British naval airman trained as rating pilot with Fleet Air Arm at HMS Merlin, Royal Naval Air Station Donibristle, GB, 1948 and with No 22 Flying Training School, RAF at RAF Syerston, GB, 1948-1949; NCO served as commissioned pilot with 766 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm, No 1 Operational Flying School, HMS Fulmar, Royal Naval Air Station Lossiemouth, GB, 1950; served with 737 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm, No 2 Operational Flying School, HMS Gannet, Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton, Northern Ireland, 1950; officer served as pilot with 815 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm at HMS Gannet, HMS Eglinton, Royal Naval Air Station, Northern Ireland, 1950-1951; served with 825 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB, Malta, aboard HMS Ocean in Mediterranean, Far East and off Korean Peninsula, 1951-1952; served with 825 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm, aboard HMS Eagle in GB coastal waters, 3/1953-10/1953; trained on Jet Conversion Course at RAF St Davids, GB, 1953-1954; trained with Night Fighter Operational Conversion Unit, RAF Leeming, GB, 1954; served with 809 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB and Malta, 1954-1956; served with 781 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB, 1956; trained as instructor with Central Flying School, RAF at RAF Little Rissington, GB, 1956-1957; served as flying instructor with Nos 1 and 2 Flying Training Schools at RAF Syerston and RAF Linton-on-Ouse, GB, 1957-1960

Content description

REEL 1 Background in Cranleigh, GB, 1929-1948: family; father's service with Royal Flying Corps (RFC) during First World War; early interest in aviation. Aspects of selection procedure as rating pilot with Fleet Air Arm in GB, 1947-1948: decision to volunteer to become rating pilot; selection interview; medical; nature of selection interview. Aspects of training as naval airman with Fleet Air Arm in GB, 1948: call-up to Fleet Air Arm, 2/1948: initial duties in control tower; incident of Fairey Firefly landing on one wheel; aptitude tests at RAF North Weald; joining aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious for sea time; messing facilities on board; duties on board. REEL 2 Continues: use of hammocks; move to HMS Royal Arthur, Corsham; character of his instructor; drilling; daily routine; opinion of naval training; recreational activities; regularity of inspections; attitude towards naval life. Aspects of pre-flight training with Fleet Air Arm at HMS Merlin, Royal Naval Air Station Donibristle, GB, 1948: start of pre-flight training; character of chief instructor; emphasis on sport; escape and evasion exercise; dinghy drill. Recollections of flying training at No 22 Flying Training School, RAF Syerston, GB, 1948-1949: reasons why De Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth was not the easiest aircraft to fly; his instructor; turning aircraft; stalling; spinning; climbing turns; landing De Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth. REEL 3 Continues: circuits of airfield; taxiing De Havilland Dh.82 Tiger Moth; soloing; removal of students who failed flying course; pattern of training after soloing; sideslipping; forced landing practice and obstacles to be avoided; importance of not returning to airfield after engine failure; precautionary landings; De Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth instruments; instrument flying; looping aircraft; barrel and slow rolls; stall turns and rolls of the top; cross-country navigation exercises; checks with instructors; character of North American Harvard; familiarisation with aircraft; pre-flight checks. REEL 4 Continues: contrast between De Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth and North American Harvard; landing North American Harvard; instructors; low-level flying; instrument flying training including Standard Beam Approach (SBA); description of Link Trainer; formation flying; night flying; tail chasing exercises; reaction to lack of 'wings' parade. Aspects of training as pilot with 766 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm, No 1 Operational Flying School, HMS Fulmar, Royal Naval Air Station Lossiemouth, GB, 1950: appointment to station; lack of preference for fighter pilot role; character of Fairey Firefly. REEL 5 Continues: weather conditions and facilities at Royal Naval Air Station, Lossiemouth; tactical training in Fairey Firefly; low-level flying over sea; start of Aerodrome Dummy Deck Landings (ADDLs) training; batsman signals; deck landing Fairey Firefly; Fleet Air Arm numbering of squadrons; attending officer quality course at Portsmouth after completion of course; promotion and status as commissioned pilot. Aspects of training as pilot with 737 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm, No 2 Operational Flying School, HMS Gannet, Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton, Northern Ireland, 1950: character of Fairey Firefly Mk IV and Mk 5; armament and Sonabuoy training; cannon strafing training; rocket firing training. REEL 6 Continues: deck landings on HMS Illustrious; crash barrier and arrester wires arrangement on HMS Illustrious; free take off from aircraft carrier; use of catapult; method of approaching aircraft carrier; reasons for operational landing times being reduced to a minimum. Aspects of period as pilot with 815 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm at HMS Gannet, Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton, Northern Ireland and aboard HMS Indomitable in GB coastal waters, 1950-1951: appointment to squadron autumn 1950; characteristics and appearance of Fairey Barracuda; anti-submarine role of squadron; dropping depth charges; division of crew responsibilities; range of aircraft; joining HMS Indomitable, 27/4/1951; mine laying practice. REEL 7 Continues: relations between squadron personnel and aircraft carrier's crew; flight deck crew; aircraft crew; organisation of flying; briefings; dangerous nature of the flight deck; role of flight deck crew; organisation of take offs; radar calibration duties at HMS Condor, Royal Naval Air Station Arbroath; participation in Operation Progress in Bay of Biscay; opinion of Blackburn Firebrand; visit to Stockholm, Sweden; visit to Swedish Air Force base; picking up crew member from Swedish airfield; conditions on board. REEL 8 Continues: exercise to attack motor torpedo boats. Aspects of period as pilot with 825 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB, Malta and aboard HMS Ocean in Mediterranean and Far East, 1951-1952: orders to join squadron at HMS Vulture, Royal Naval Air Station St Merryn, GB, 12/1951; familiarisation with Fairey Firefly; character of commanding officer; working up; deck landing accident on board HMS Theseus; rocketing practice; use of Rocket Assisted Take Off Gear (RATOG); embarkation aboard HMS Ocean; conditions on board aircraft carrier; service presence on Malta; relations with Maltese. REEL 9 Continues: exercising in Malta; aerial photography; provision of air sea helicopter; passage through Suez Canal and Red Sea; story of ditching in Indian Ocean; hospitalisation for injuries incurred during ditching; losses amongst Fleet Air Arm aircrew during 1950s. Recollections of operations as pilot with 825 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Ocean off Korean Peninsula, 5/1952-11/1952: briefings prior to operations; contents of survival kit; items carried by pilots in cockpit. REEL 10 Continues: role of Fleet Air Arm over Korea; terrain; threat from ground fire; patrol rota; navigation over Korean Peninsula and problems of target identification; nature of terrain; use of airfields on Korean Peninsula; duration of operations; reaction to attacks on ox carts; reasons why Hawker Sea Fury would carry bombs and Fairey Firefly would use rockets; cosmopolitan character of United Nations' force; degree of seaborne threat; intense flying activity; role of HMS Unicorn; lack of public knowledge of Korean War; frustrations at restrictions on targets. REEL 11 Continues: Fleet Air Arm losses in Korean War; occasions when observers flew in Fairey Firefly; squadron ditchings during first day of operations; island locations where aircraft could landed; water contamination of fuel tanks; attacks on radar station; attempt to achieve aircraft carrier sortie record; loss of aircrew and flight deck crewman in accident; formatting after leaving carrier; amusing story of his reaction to his wingman rocketing wrong target; pattern of attacks during second patrol; facilities for picking up downed pilots behind Communist lines; return to Kure, Japan; fire aboard HMS Ocean in dock at Kure, Japan. REEL 12 Continues: reaction of crew to speech by Field Marshal Harold Alexander; question of flying in poor weather; pattern of third patrol; photographic reconnaissance missions; attack on transformer station; effect of operations on aircraft; pattern of fourth patrol operations; difficulty of assessing effect of rocket attacks; taking off pre-dawn; conditions in cockpit in hot weather; further details of fourth patrol operations; bombardment spotting; United Nations mass attack on Pyongyang, North Korea, 11/7/1952. REEL 13 Continues: question of role played by Royal Air Force during Korean War; rough weather at start of fifth patrol; pattern of fifth patrol; problems locating train; incident when his flight was attack by Chinese MiG 15s; end of fifth patrol; ashore in Hiroshima, Japan and degree of contact with Japanese; pattern of sixth patrol; question of reasons for lack of landing accidents. REEL 14 Continues: pattern of seventh patrol; supporting HMS Cardigan Bay during bombardment; end of seventh patrol; pattern of eighth patrol; start of attacks by Hawker Sea Furies on irrigation dams; sequence of rapid deck landings; approach to aircraft carrier and landing on; pattern of ninth patrol; start of tenth patrol; autumn conditions; intense character of aircraft carrier rotations. REEL 15 Continues: pattern of tenth patrol including ditching of squadron aircraft; last day of operations; statistics of operations flown by squadron from HMS Ocean; awards made to squadron and ship's crew; reaction to leaving Korean waters; award of Boyd Trophy to squadron; passage in HMS Theseus from Malta to GB; reads passage relating to HMS Ocean's period in Korean War. Aspects of period as pilot with 825 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB and aboard HMS Eagle in GB coastal waters 3/1953-10/1953: temporary disbandment of squadron on return to GB flying Fairey Fireflies from GB to Malta and return flight in Vickers Viking prior to appointment to squadron; temporary duties on attachment to 781 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm. REEL 16 Continues: reformation of squadron, 3/1953; duties during Coronation Day celebrations in London, 6/1953; participation in flypast for Coronation Review at Spithead, 6/1953; joining HMS Eagle; conditions on board HMS Eagle; loss of commanding officer in accident; leaving squadron, 10/1953. Aspects of training as pilot on Jet Conversion Course at RAF St Davids in GB, 1953-1954: high altitude selection process; amusing story of car journey to RAF St Davids. REEL 17 Continues: general handling and familiarisation in Gloster Meteor T.7; flying aircraft on one engine; navigation; contrast in flying piston engined and jet aircraft. Aspects of training as pilot with Night Fighter Operational Training Unit, RAF Leeming, GB, 1954: journey from RAF St Davids to RAF Leeming; reasons for Fleet Air Arm training night fighters; character of Gloster Meteor NF.11; training for high level airborne interceptions; organisation of flying and weather conditions. Aspects of period as pilot with 809 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB and Malta, 1954-1956: reasons for delay in Fleet Air Arm introducing De Havilland DH.116 Sea Venom into service; temporary appointment as staff pilot to 781 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm at HMS Daedalus, Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent; character of De Havilland DH.116 Sea Venom. REEL 18 Continues: problems with early marks of De Havilland DH.116 Sea Venom; fatal accidents in squadron; operational limitations on De Havilland DH.116 Sea Venom; air-to-air firing; amusing story of squadron acquiring statue from local antique dealer and it's value; deck landing practice on board HMS Bulwark in English Channel; description of Mirror Sight Deck Landing equipment; flight from GB to Malta, 11/1955; exercises in Mediterranean; visit to Oran, Algeria; return to GB, 3/1956. REEL 19 Continues: Aspects of period as pilot with 781 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB, 1956: background to appointment; character of Boulton Paul Sea Balliol. Aspects of period on as student with Central Flying School, RAF at RAF Little Rissington, GB, 1956-1957: appointment; nature of training at school; character of instructor training received; example of instructor 'patter' used; character of airfield at RAF Little Rissington; flying Hawker Hunter; flying instructor grades. Aspects of period as instructor with Nos 1 and 2 Flying Training Schools at RAF Syerston and RAF Linton-on-Ouse in GB, 1957-1960: attitude towards instructional role; flying checks on arrival. REEL 20 Continues: status as naval instructors; dealing with borderline students; attachment to HMS Fulmar, Royal Naval Air Station Lossiemouth; move of school to RAF Linton-on-Ouse, 1957; twin engined course on De Havilland DH.104 Sea Devon; reaction to request to return to RAF Syerston; training foreign students; reasons for leaving Fleet Air Arm, 1960; summary of service with Fleet Air Arm; changes in naval aviation during 1950s; fate of pilots who he trained with; attitude to service with Fleet Air Arm.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1990 to the present day (production), 1945-1989 (content), 1945-1989 (association)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
McDonough, Richard (Recorder)
Brand, Robin Michael (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 2010-06-16
Dimensions: whole: Duration 600, Number Of Items 20
Catalogue number: 32966

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Interview with Robin Michael Brand

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