Tom caught the flying bug at Southport in 1932, when he had a pleasure flight in a Tiger Moth.He joined the Air Cadets and at the start of WW2 he was in the Volunteer Reserve. At the lowest legal age he joined the RAF in 1941 and received basic training at Lords Cricket Ground. Flying training started at No.3 ITW near Didcot on the Tiger Moth again! Next was a continuation and transit camp at Heaton Park, Manchester (one of 52 000 present!) and then to the Queen Mary for the crossing to the USA, with 2000 other RAF personnel After landing at Boston it was train through Canada to Detroit, and the nearby training airfield at Grosselle. Training there was advanced flying training on the Stearman, with its freezing open cockpit! Then to Pensacola Florida, and further training from the US Navy using the Harvard, and finally training on an operational type- the Catalina flying boat. This earned Tom his US Navy flying wings - and they were on his blazer pocket as he was talking to us. Soon after he received his RAF wings - these were handed out over desk by an RAF Squadron Leader - no ceremony! Next was Goose Bay Labrador and conversion onto the Sunderland, followed by another Queen Mary trip, back to Britain (this time with 25,000 Yanks also on board!).

The RAF then decided they needed bomber crews more urgently than flying boat crews, so Tom did Navigation training on Oxfords at Shawbury, and then converted onto the Stirling, and soon after onto the Lancaster. This marked the end of Tom's training, his next posting was an operational Lancaster Squadron No 115 Squadron at Wichford. He commented that even at the height of the war, his training was superb and there were no short cuts. A tour of operations consisted of 15 day and 15 night missions. Tom commented that the day missions were the most frightening - you could see too much! This included seeing a nearby Lancaster being hit by a falling bomb, with the nose being sheared off, and the bomb aimer falling out without a parachute. At the Arnhem operation Tom's aircraft was employed dropping dummy parachutists to confuse the Germans, At the end of his bomber tour Tom was offered a chance to change to transport aircraft, which he accepted in November 1944.

After conversion onto the Dakota, Tom flew it out to India and joined 238 Squadron at Kamila, where he stayed until the end of the war. Among his flights was one carrying General Slim and his staff plus a jeep, landing on a short jungle strip. In July 1945 the squadron moved to Australia, and flew supply missions in support of the naval operations in the SW Pacific. After the war ended Tom was transferred back to India with 52 Squadron. They flew scheduled services to Singapore, Hong Kong and Saigon (where you could get pissed on 6d!!). In 1947 Tom flew his Dakota back to Britain; on arrival the aircraft was scrapped at Lyneham! There followed a desk job for a short time, although he was able to fly an Anson from Hendon as staff transport for the AOC of 46 Group Transport Command.

Tom's next flying job was in the Berlin Airlift, based at Luneberg, and again flying Dakotas. Every 3 minutes an aircraft flew down the air corridor into Berlin, carrying everything needed by the city, although coal, grain and potatoes were the main loads. Other RAF aircraft types involved were the Hastings, York and Tudor. Operations were very intensive, some mistakes were made (eg, the load for a York was put in a Dakota - a very slow take-off!) Tom finally left Dakotas at the end of the Air Lift, having done 2000 hours on the type.

Back in the UK he successfully applied to become an Instructor. After training on Harvards at Little Rissington he had postings as an Instructor at Syerston and South Cerney. The latter was training pilots on the Prentice ("which flew backwards in a strong headwind" !). Tom converted onto jets in 1953 at Little Rissington on the Meteor, and became an Instructor. One of his flights was a maximum endurance flight of 2 hours 10 minutes - stretched by single engine flying and a glide of 10 minutes!. Then to Bassingbourne and conversion onto the Canberra, followed by a tour at Wittering with 100 Squadron as an Instructor. Next was conversion onto the Valiant, and a tour at Gaydon with 90 Squadron. The Valiant was "a lovely aircraft", and his tour included the "Lone Ranger" flights to many parts of the World. Tom then left operational flying and went to the V-Bomber Flight at RAE Farnborough as a test pilot. The flight had 3 Valiants, one Vulcan and one Victor. Tom flew all of them, he particularly liked the Vulcan. While at Farnborough for 3 years he flew all the varied and numerous types that were there at that time, (except the Lightning) and his total flying time reached 5000 hours, flown in over 80 types. He left the RAF in 1960 after 19 years. Tom continued his flying career outside the RAF as an instructor at Barton with the Lancashire Aero Club, flying mainly Austers and Piper Colts, and later Cessnas.

This was a fascinating evening; Tom is an entertaining speaker, and he had an excellent tale to tell. His career during and then after the war was not typical in the RAF, but it made his story all the more interesting; from Tiger Moth to Vulcan! Many thanks to Tom, his tale of an RAF flying career was among the best of several we have heard over the years; and they have all provided very good evenings.