F540 Operations Record Book January 1960 NO 4 SQUADRON. RAF Museum Hendon. Holds 2nd copy of F540 1945 to 1970. PLACE DATE TIME SUMMARY OF EVENTS                                     COMPILING OFFICER   __Flt. Lt. B.R. Williams___ Refs         R.A.F. Jever. Friday, 1960 1st Jan.      Although the weather throughout the day was good, and we had five serviceable aircraft to start off the new year, only a limited flying programme was maintained. This was because all squadrons at Royal Air Force Jever were ordered to fly only one pair each in the morning, and two in the afternoon.  Hence the low number of hours and sorties. Leave:  Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker.                                                               Hours:    9:  45                                                                                                              Sorties:        9.     Saturday, January, 2nd 1960      There was no flying at all today.  Weather throughout the period was fair, and the "Battle Flight" pair remained at 5 minutes readiness from dawn until dusk without a "scramble". Leave:  Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker.                                                               Hours:    Nil.                                                                                                              Sorties:  Nil.     Sunday, January, 3rd 1960      Again no "scrambles".  Although today perhaps it was a good thing, as the weather was "foul" and at times our only diversions were in the U.K.! Leave:  Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker.                                                              Hours:    Nil. Course:  Fg. Off. W.R.R. Anderson                                               Sorties:   Nil.     Monday, January, 4th 1960      Weather was dreadful again throughout the day and no flying took place.  Pilots spent time on ground training and the completion of the new "coffee bar" whilst groundcrew concentrated their efforts on servicing.           The "Battle Flight" commitment for the week ended at dusk. Leave:  Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker.                                                              Hours:    Nil. Course:  Fg. Off. W.R.R. Anderson                                               Sorties:   Nil.     Tuesday, January, 5th 1960      Very little flying again today because of poor weather.  However, the sorties flown were for "Green Salad" practice interceptions and proved good training value.           The "Battle Flight" commitment for the week ended at dusk. Leave:  Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker.                                                              Hours:    11.10. Course:  Fg. Off. W.R.R. Anderson                                               Sorties:         9.     Wednesday, January, 6th 1960      Excellent weather today with good visibility.  Advantage was taken of this unusual January day by concentrating our training in the low level role.  In all, eight low level sorties were completed. Leave:  Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker.                                                              Hours:    22.15. Course:  Fg. Off. W.R.R. Anderson                                               Sorties:      21.     Thursday, January, 7th 1960      Another day with plenty of flying.  Unfortunately the programme had to be restricted because of weather conditions, but nevertheless, a high number of "Green Salad" training sorties were flown. Course:  Fg. Off. W.R.R. Anderson                                                Hours:    21.00. Leave:                                                                                                 Sorties:       18.     Friday, January, 8th 1960      With six aircraft to start the day, and reasonable weather in the base area, plenty of high and low level training sorties were completed.  Weather deteriorated slowly throughout the period but a full programme was maintained with excellent results. Leave:                                                                                                Hours:    24.05. Course:  Fg. Off. W.R.R. Anderson                                              Sorties:       21.     Monday, January, 11th 1960      Winter arrived with full force today and the airfield was covered with a fair amount of drifting snow.  Unfortunately, a temporary thaw, followed by more snow and lower temperatures transformed the runways and taxiways into something approaching an ice rink, and made the job of snow ploughing difficult and pointless.  Obviously no flying was done.  The day was spent servicing aircraft. Leave:      Fg. Off. E. Hall, Fg. Off. P.S. Martin                              Hours:    Nil.                   Fg. Off. P.D. Jennings Course:   Fg. Off. W.R.R. Anderson                                              Sorties:   Nil.     Tuesday, January, 12th 1960      The airfield was "Black" again today with more snow and drifting.  The "freeze" continued Leave:      Fg. Off. E. Hall, Fg. Off. P.S. Martin                              Hours:    Nil.                   Fg. Off. P.D. Jennings Course:   Fg. Off. W.R.R. Anderson                                              Sorties:   Nil.     Wednesday, January, 13th 1960      Again the airfield remained in the grip of the icy blast, and although the runways and taxiways were clear of snow, there still remained a covering of ice overall. Leave:      Fg. Off. E. Hall, Fg. Off. P.S. Martin                              Hours:    Nil.                   Fg. Off. P.D. Jennings Course:   Fg. Off. W.R.R. Anderson                                              Sorties:   Nil.     Thursday, January, 14th 1960      Airfield "Black" again throughout the period, with no sign of a thaw. Leave:      Fg. Off. E. Hall, Fg. Off. P.S. Martin                              Hours:    Nil.                   Fg. Off. P.D. Jennings Course:   Fg. Off. W.R.R. Anderson                                              Sorties:   Nil.     Friday, January, 15th 1960      A whole week's flying training has now been lost because of wintry weather, and the forecast is that the snow and ice will continue.  The opportunity has been taken this week though to concentrate on our ground training programme, and everyone has benefitted from the many lectures and discussions that have been held.  Also, the groundcrew have found this week a splendid opportunity for aircraft servicing and there are now eight aircraft in the hangar ready for better weather. Leave:      Fg. Off. E. Hall,                                                                Hours:    Nil.                   Fg. Off. P.S. Martin Course:   Fg. Off. W.R.R. Anderson                                              Sorties:   Nil.     Monday, January, 18th 1960      It was hoped that the weekend would see the end of the "Black" airfield state, but the temperature was still below freezing this morning.  However, during the afternoon it rose slightly and the ice began to break up - with help of snow ploughs, bulldozers, and all forms of heavy vehicles.  Perhaps tomorrow will show us improvement. Leave:      Sqn. Ldr. R.J. Spiers,                                                    Hours:    Nil. Course:   Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker                                                          Sorties:   Nil.     Tuesday, January, 19th 1960      Both runways and taxiways were serviceable this morning and the squadron began flying once more - after 10 days on the ground.  With the arrival of warmer conditions however, both low cloud and poor visibility were inevitable, and by 1430 hours the airfield colour state deteriorated to "Red" and stayed there for the remainder of the period. Leave:      Sqn. Ldr. R.J. Spiers,                                                    Hours:    Nil. Course:   Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker                                                          Sorties:   Nil.     Wednesday, January, 20th 1960      Poor weather, with bad visibility and low cloud prevented any flying yet again. Leave:      Sqn. Ldr. R.J. Spiers,                                                    Hours:    Nil. Course:   Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker                                                          Sorties:   Nil.     Thursday, January, 21st 1960      Although the airfield colour state was "Black" until lunchtime, with six aircraft serviceable a good "half day's" training was completed, and sorties were made in both high and low level roles. Leave:      Sqn. Ldr. R.J. Spiers,                                                    Hours:    13.05 Course:   Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker                                                          Sorties:      13.     Friday, January, 22nd 1960      Airfield colour state remained "Red" until 1500 hours, when a section of four took off for a "high level battle" and pair v. pair combat training sortie, which was successfully completed. Leave:      Sqn. Ldr. R.J. Spiers,                                                    Hours:    4.20. Course:   Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker                                                          Sorties:      4.     Monday, January, 25th 1960      Poor weather for most of the day necessitated a restricted programme, and only seven productive sorties were flown, these being for "Green Salad" training.  The remaining two sorties were for the delivery and collection of aircraft from the C.M.U. at Royal Air Force Laarbruch. Leave:      Sqn. Ldr. R.J. Spiers,                                                    Hours:    9.00 Course:   Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker                                                          Sorties:      9     Tuesday, January, 26th 1960      "Battle Flight" began at dawn this morning.  The airfield was "Red" until lunch- time and thereafter "Amber 3" necessitating once again a restricted training programme. Only two pairs were flown in the afternoon for high level training.  There were no operational "scrambles". Leave:      Sqn. Ldr. R.J. Spiers,                                                    Hours:    4.30. Course:   Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker                                                          Sorties:      4.     Wednesday, January, 27th 1960      Once more, Royal Air Force Jever lay beneath poor weather until halfway through the afternoon, when a temporary clearance permitted one pair of aircraft to complete a weather check and a strike on German L.70 Radar 40 mm. guns sited on the airfield, before visibility reduced to about 300 yds, and prevented all further take-offs. There were no "Battle Flight" scrambles. Leave:      Sqn. Ldr. R.J. Spiers,                                                    Hours:    1.00 Course:   Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker                                                          Sorties:        2.     Thursday, January, 28th 1960      Poor weather throughout the period prevented any flying whatsoever. Leave:      Sqn. Ldr. R.J. Spiers,                                                    Hours:    Nil. Course:   Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker                                                          Sorties:  Nil.     Friday, January, 29th 1960      An excellent day's flying by recent standards; the weather permitting restricted flying until late afternoon.  High Land combat sorties were the theme and in addition a pair of aircraft departed on a "Round Robin" to the French Air Force base at Dijon. Unfortunately, only one returned - the other laying unserviceable at Dijon with booster pump failure.  Flying Officer D. Barr, the pilot, will obviously be sorry to have a forced "weekend" stay in France! Leave:      Sqn. Ldr. R.J. Spiers,                                                    Hours:    16.25. Course:   Flt. Lt. J.R. Walker                                                          Sorties:      14.     Saturday, January, 30th 1960      There was no flying today, although a pair of aircraft and crews were at 'five minutes' throughout the period to fulfil the Battle Flight commitment. Leave:      Sqn. Ldr. R.J. Spiers,                                                    Hours:    Nil. Course:                                                                                              Sorties:  Nil.     Sunday, January, 31st 1960      No scrambles again today, and although the weather at Royal Air Force Jever was fine and clear, many surrounding bases were unserviceable, necessitating the use of the Civil Airports of Hamburg and Bremen as diversions. Leave:      Sqn. Ldr. R.J. Spiers,                                                    Hours:    Nil. Course:                                                                                              Sorties:  Nil.         JB Thornton                                                     (J.B. THORNTON)                                           Flight Lieutenant,                                             Officer Commanding,                                      No. 4 Squadron.