Sunday, September 07, 2014

LANCASTERS VISIT THE BRIGG AREA - PICTURES & REPORT BY KEN HARRISON






After waiting expectantly, someone on Elsham hill said, 'It's like waiting ages for a bus...and then two come at once.'
Flypast of the RAF Memorial Flight's Lancaster and the Canadian Lancaster just after 3.30pm on Sunday, 24th August over the old RAF station at Elsham - the culmination of the annual 103 and 577 Squadrons' weekend reunion.
The Lancaster flypast at Elsham was pre-empted by Spitfire at about 3pm flying over the assembled crowd and completing a few figure of eights before flying off towards RAF Coningsby.
A grass airfield at Elsham was first established in 1916 as part of Britian's Home Defence to combat Zeppelins flying the infamous  Humber Zeppelin Corridor with 'C' Flight of No 33 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, equipped initially with FE2's (Farnborough Experimental aircraft No 2).
'B' and 'A' Flights were based at RFC stations, Kirton Lindsey and Scampton respectively.
RFC Elsham was closed in 1919, but with the outbreak of WW2, a especially constructed airfield, RAF Elsham Wolds, was established just to the west of the original RFC grassed landing strip. During its early years it flew the twin-engined Wellingtons, and later the heavy, 4-engined Halifaxes and the iconic Avro Lancaster
RAF Elsham was closed in 1947, but, for a short while became temporary accommodation for displaced Poles and Czechs who worked at the Scunthorpe steelworks.
PICTURED ABOVE: Line-Astern, the RAF's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's Lancaster - Kilo Charlie Alpha leads the Canadian Lancaster.
But perhaps we should use the late WW2 contemporary  RAF Phonetic Alphabet and give it the call-sign 'King - Charlie - Able'.
For interest, the RAF used two Phonetic Alphabets  - one from 1921 to 1942 and then another from 1942 to 1956. The latter was superceded with the unified NATO Phonetic Alphabet of Alpha - Bravo - Charlie - Delta - Echo etc that we employ today....
The 1921 - '42 & 1942 - '56 Phonetic Alphabets are shown below....
  
Ack
Beer
Charlie
Don
Edward
Freddie
George
Harry
Ink
Johnnie
King
London
Monkey
Nuts 1
Orange
Pip
Queen
Robert
Sugar
Toc
Uncle
Vic 
William
X-ray
Yorker
Zebra



Able
Baker
Charlie
Dog
Easy
Fox
George
How
Item
Jig
King
Love
Mike
Nan
Oboe
Peter
Queen
Roger
Sugar
Tare
Uncle
Victor
William
X-ray
Yoke
Zebra

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