Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Remembering 06/06/1944

That's interesting work to do too, several of my colleagues defected to Decca Survey to work with Hifix and Pulse 8 at the time.

I did some time aboard the H class RN vessels running the Master Stations of our LAMBDA (Low Ambiguity Decca) system so you were always working on the base line with minimal errors in daylight hours. We calibrated the system using Tellurometers back them (before GPS). I remember well calibrating in allowances for wave front tilt as a function of the changing tides

The function was to enable the RN to sound and plot their charts for the Hydrographic Office charts who are in your neck of the woods.
All good clean fun and visited some very interesting places, this would have been just prior to Hyfix as it and Pulse 8 superceded Lambda.

They utilised some of our old masts to set up their Differential landbased Tx.

Happy days.

Happy days indeed Richard, I started in 1977 all our onboard electronics were supplied by Texas Instruments, the main survey navigation computer was from an American battle tank ( ruggedly built ) from memory it was a version of a TI 980 series.. The land radio base stations were set up normally a few months before we arrived for each survey, each located in position using a refined scatterplot of position from many passes of transit satellite positioning, I cant remember the reciever model for the transit sat, but I know it was a Magnavox. The best base station I visited during this era was off the West coats of India, they had positioned it on the seashore right slap in the middle of Boliwood above Bombay where all the indian movies were made, it was something else to visit, as you never knew what you would see on each visit..
I have some photos of the early survey ships with their rigged texas towers and manual tracking antennas, we looked like spy ships..

Richard and Dave these are fascinating reminiscences. I'm familiar with the terminology but only vaguely familiar with the workings of Decca, Loran and the offshoots so to hear from those who contributed to the advances is enlightening. .

Re the original thread, June 6th. Allow me to put in a mention of the Auster pilots who'll be gathering at Falaise in Normandy between 5th and 7th June to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Up to 20 Austers, some of them Normandy veterans, will be flying across the channel in the days ahead of the 6th and will be at Falaise aerodrome for a few days. Falaise aeroclub is hosting us and on the 6th there'll be much fraternising between us and the locals. Quite a few historic Normandy vehicles, jeeps etc, will be there also.

Wish us good weather and drop in if you're in the neighbourhood.

That's really interesting Auster, have a great reunion with fair weather for the memorial weekend.

Here is a first hand experience of navigating through the mine fields on D day.

A little more background.

And a glimpse at the Future of global navigation with MagNav..

A piece of local history I have only just discovered relating to D Day





Parachutes on D-Day

The USAAF used Exeter alongside the RAF, with two squadrons of P-38s in October 1942 for operations over France. In April 1944, the RAF units were withdrawn and the airfield taken over by the US 9th Air Force as Station 463.

On the 18th April the 440th Troop Carrier Group flying seventy C-47As and seventy CG-4 gliders, with other types, arrived in preparation for D-Day. The group comprising the 95th, 96th, 97th and 98th Squadrons had so many aircraft that many had to be parked on the grass as there was insufficient hard standing. The Third Battalion 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment Screaming Eagles arrived in Exeter from Hungerford by train on 27th May and briefing for Operation Neptune, as D-day was coded commenced on 29th May. The battalion was on standby to depart on the 4th June but bad weather in the Channel postponed the operation until the 6th June. On 5th June the US Army Signal Corp photographed troops of the Battalion preparing to embark, each man loaded down with kit that weighed as much as himself. At 22.30 the battalionenplaned and the first aircraft took off at 23.20.

After take off, the four squadrons, totalling 45 aircraft, and codenamed Serial 10 carrying 723 men and 2 platoons from C/326th Airborne Engineers also of the 101st Airborne headed for the assembly area at Portland, in poor weather, before joining aircraft from other southern airfields for the journey across the Channel. The unit lost three C-47s dropping the paratroopers over Carentan in the early morning of the 6th June. On the next day they continued flying parapacks, fuel and ammunition to the landing area of Normandy, losing two more aircraft, for which they received the Distinguished Unit Commendation. They lost a third aircraft that day, when it was hit by a stray bomb from a higher flying P47 Thunderbolt.

The unit moved to Rheims in France in September and the RAF returned to Exeter, but in smaller numbers than formerly. As the Allies fought their way across France and Belgium to the German border, the need for defensive units lessoned and the airport transferred to 23 Group of Training Command in January 1945. No 3 Glider Training School relocated to Exeter where glider-tugs and gliders also used Culmhead airfield as a landing ground.

For me D-Day has also some very sad aspects: The many allied soldiers who died on the beaches...

For me too but that is why we must remember the sacrifices that were made at the time to ensure we don't don't suffer as the Ukraine and Palestinian folk are at this present time .

I can only agree that it is incredibly sad; the loss of life, the terrible toll on soldiers and civilians. I can only hope that by remembering those events, and thinking about the origins of the conflict, that we learn to avoid such tragedy in the future. My friends here in Europe all seem to agree that this should never happen again.

I did my commercial flight training at Exeter, my trainer was an ex Spitfire pilot. I didn't realise the history of the airfield.

Ouistreham re enactment over the weekend with English parachutists in 40's gear.