1941, Tuesday 30 September;
It was the ending of a good September for him, even better than the one last year in some ways. It had all started, with the arrival in late August of convoy WS 9BX from the UK which had carried a RAF fighter wing of two RAF fighter squadrons, 81 and 134, along with some other newly trained pilots, and a large RAF draft.
Also, on that troopship was Wing Commander Norman Cave, a replacement for WC Pearce, who had been invalided back to the UK earlier, as Air Headquarters, Far East, Command Radio Officer. It all sounded very innocent until you found out he was a Radar specialist. And in keeping with his arrival, at the end of that first week saw the RIMU (Radio Installation & Maintenance Unit) move from Seletar to Ponggol, about 3 miles away in newly built accommodation. The site wasn’t complete yet, would need another four weeks, but provided much better accommodation, storage room and workshops.
The steady arrival of crated Hurricanes from Canada, and Merlin XX engines, from UK shipping, along with a continuing flow of newly trained pilots from the BCATP (British Commonwealth Air Training Plan), had allowed the forming of many new squadrons and consequently Air Commodore Vincent had created two new fighter wings, 2 RNZAF and 5 RAAF, making three fighter wings in total, with the arrival of RAF 151 Wing, the Dominion pilots forming Article XV squadrons in Australian, Canadian and New Zealand colours, and providing Park with a fighter force of nine squadrons. And he’d taken the opportunity to reorganise the basic fighter unit, the squadron, into three flights of four aircraft, each flight containing two sections of two aircraft. It gave him a total of 12 operational aircraft in each squadron, he’d have liked to have gone to 16 aircraft, but didn’t have enough planes or pilots for that. However, it was working well for the pilots, who were enjoying the freedom of flying in pairs.
Furthermore, Archie Wann, up in Kuala Lumpur, had been singing the praises of the two newly raised Blenheim squadrons, RCAF 407 and RAAF 454, both based at Taiping, who along with RAF 34 and 62 squadrons, had formed RAF 44 Wing. The training in both squadrons had progressed really well, and he was optimistic about declaring them operational by early November. Taiping airfield wasn’t anywhere near finished, but it was operational, however the development of Sungai Petani into a two-bomber squadron airfield with a hard runway and protected facilities was now complete. This wing, together with the three Fairey Battle squadrons of RCAF 7 Wing provided all of Wann’s strike force.
Next on the 16th of the month, Park had formed RAF 4 (Singapore) PRU (Photo Reconnaissance Unit) of 4 plus 2 reserve Hurricane Mk IIA’s, which had followed the Middle East practice of stripping them down of all unnecessary equipment, including all their guns and some armour, installing extra fuel tanks, and three F24 cameras, and based them at Seletar. In the same week, on the Friday he’d created the RAF 81 Repair & Salvage Unit, formed of two sections, from RAF 151 Maintenance Unit. One was based at Seletar, while the second was at Kuala Lumpur. Each section was equipped with Coles cranes, 4x4 tractors and flatbed semi-trailers.
The following week another two AMES stations were declared operational, on the Tuesday, 511 COL at Bukit Churang, SE Johore, and on the Thursday, 512 COL at Tanjong Kupang, SW Johore. Both had been challenging builds, indeed 511 was only accessible by launch, or a two-day trek across jungle to the nearest road, while 512 was built in a very bad malarial area, and strict health precautions had to be taken. Both were fed by telephone, but had alternative radio communications as a fall back. COL units used a 284 ft tower, and had been given the upgrade of a new antenna that was motorized to spin, and used a single transmit/receive antenna instead of separate ones.
They jointed a network that now included 513 COL at Bukit Huma, Penang, 250 TRU at Bukit Timah hill, Singapore, and 518 COL on Pelindung Hill, Kuantan, all completed in late August, with TRU’s 243 at Kota Bharu, 244 on Kedah Peak and 514 COL at Kampung Tok Muda, on the northern banks of the river Kaper Besar, 9 miles north of Port Swettenham.
Yes, September had been a good month, the only fly on the wall was a report from the FECB detailing the estimated performance of a new IJN carrier borne fighter coming into service. A damaged aircraft had force landed in China and been captured before it could be destroyed. Its performance, if the report was true, would mean it would out turn any Allied plane, Buffalo or Hurricane, suggesting that dog fighting it would be dangerous. Park reflected how this plane would fight his Hurricane’s, the way they had fought the German Messerschmitt 109’s a year ago. He thought he’d send a copy to Air Commodore Vincent, a veteran of that battle, for his thoughts.