track, altitude, and estimated number of 'enemy' aircraft. It involved continuous talk on my behalf for a full 45 seconds with a 15 second break for receiving calls from any aircraft under control. In this way, in an emergency, a single controller could broadcast information about an enemy's activities to any number of friendly fighters and, if necessary, have his transmissions relayed from several transmitters at the same time so as to try to counter, by signal strength alone, any R/T jamming. In this instance the first pair of NF11s failed to intercept, but the second pair found, and intercepted not one, but four, R/T and radar-jamming Lincoln bombers at 22,000 feet.
Earlier in October we had Exercise Guest. My duty on the first session was to keep 2 NF11s on a patrol line. There was no trade. The second pair of NF11s were given to me for freelance work. With them I intercepted a pair of unsuspecting Venoms at 35,000 feet.
At the end of the month, again I had two NF11s and did three successful PIs and three aborted PIs with them under strange conditions. Our Type 15 radar wasn't up to scratch, neither was either aircraft's AI equipment. Two intercepts were done by DR and with Bent Weapons, both resulting in visual contact. Another was reasonably successful, but the other three were hopeless. These were the only three aborted runs I had during the month, out of a total of 16.
November was my busiest month with 537 SU. I controlled 52 PIs with another 12 aborted. I controlled Meteor NF11s, Hunters, Venoms, and a single Vampire T11. One of these sessions was with four Hunters of the 83 Group Battle Flight. In all, apart from basic PIs, these aircraft intercepted 2 Canadian F86 Sabres, 3 Hunters, 2 friendly fighters of unstated identity, 1 Canberra, and one seen but unidentified 'Bogie'.8 As usual, there were problems with the serviceability and/or performance of both ground and airborne radar.
Some of this activity was undoubtedly part of a show of strength whilst the Hungarian Riots were proceeding and being quelled by the Russians. It was at this time, too, that the tech site was blacked out. It was also during November that I was sent to Wildenrath on a special flying mission which I shall describe next.
These were my last sessions with 537 SU because, just before the end of the month, I went on the Atomic, Biological, and Chemical warfare course in the UK. When I returned to Borgentreich, 537 Signals Unit had been disbanded. 210 Signals Unit had been created in its place at a new location near the village of Auenhausen.
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8 A Bogie was an aircraft not identified from any known movement. It might have been an intruder.
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