by Colin Downes
Shortly after settling into my new appointment I suggested to General Donnet that we should sponsor an air firing competition for the air forces of AAFCENT. Donnet agreed and gave me the task of organizing the competition. The project became my main task and absolved me from some of the rather tedious tactical strike plan revisions and tests. I was conversant with both the RAF and USAF concepts in gunnery training and after considerable discussions with the respective air forces involved I devised the rules for the competition and acted as chairman of the organizing committee on behalf of General Donnet. The Americans and Canadians favoured a straight air-air firing competition whereas the RAF placed equal emphasis in the value of camera gun air combat. The committee resolved this by a combination of both exercises with emphasis on live firing, and the RAF were approached to provide a film assessing unit for the air combat part of the competition. The first competition took place at the French Air Force live firing air base at Cazeaux to the south of Bordeaux, with teams competing from 2nd ATAF and 4th ATAF. Judges were invited from AAFNORTH in Norway and AAFSOUTH in Italy, with the Chief Judge coming from AAFCENT. In absolving myself from the judging committee I became chairman of the Arbitration Committee. By the time of the third competition all the air forces of NATO were represented in the competition either as competitors or judges.
One interesting aspect in devising the competition was the acquisition of suitable trophies for the winning and runner-up teams because the headquarters was reluctant to provide any expensive silverware. I asked to see Marcel Dassault of the Dassault Aircraft Company, the makers of the Mystere and Mirage fighters. Dassault, unlike the other major French aircraft company Aerospatiale, was an independent company and after I explained to Marcel Dassault the concept of the competition he expressed interest. I then asked if he would consider donating a trophy for the tournament. He agreed and asked my advice on a suitable trophy and I showed him a sketch I had done of a stylized delta wing Mirage fighter standing vertically with a detachable nose cone to reveal the cup inside. Dassault liked the idea and asked what we intended to call the trophy and I suggested the Dassault Trophy, but Marcel Dassault demurred saying that as the headquarters of AAFCENT was at Camp Guynemer named in honour of Georges Guynemer, France’s second ranking fighter ace of the First World War, it would be more appropriate to name the trophy after him. My impression of Marcel Dassault was not only a brilliant designer of excellent fighter aircraft, but also a gentleman of class and distinction. A large silver Mirage cup duly arrived at the headquarters in time for the first competition and presentation to the winning RCAF team by General Donnet. The Canadians won again the following year with the RAF succeeding in the third and last competition at Cazeaux. For the runner-up trophy, Headquarters 4th ATAF presented a silver model of an F-86 Sabre jet. When France withdrew from NATO and the respective headquarters moved to Belgium the fourth competition was held at Leewarden in Holland. I had left France by then but was invited to continue for the last time as chairman of the Arbitration Committee and met Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands when he presented the Guynemer Trophy to the RAF team. By this time the advent of guided air-air missiles brought about a change to the competition. It was decided to incorporate an air-ground strike component to the competition, for which an additional trophy was required. The commander of AAFCENT was by then ACM Sir Harry Broadhurst, ex CinC RAF Bomber Command, who on retiring from the RAF to become CEO of the A.V.Roe Aircraft Company, agreed to present an appropriate trophy. The Broadhurst Trophy duly arrived from AVROs in time for the first strike competition. Each of the AAFCENT air firing competitions held at Cazeaux proved to be the highlight of my AIRCENT year and although my tour was nominally a staff appointment I still managed to achieve almost as much flying time as a full flying appointment.
When I arrived in France in 1959 the country was recovering from years of political instability as a succession of short-lived coalition governments ruled France following the retirement of General de Gaulle in 1947 until his return in 1958, firstly as Prime Minister and then as President of the Fifth Republic. De Gaulle’s return came about because of the escalation of violence in Algeria as the nationalists struggled for independence. The French white settlers in Algeria, the Colons, backed by a French army still smarting from the loss of French Indo-China in 1954, took over control of Algeria against the FLN, the Algerian nationalists seeking independence. Algeria with its many French nationals was regarded constitutionally as an integral part of metropolitan France, and as the struggle between the Colons and the nationalists intensified and became more violent, the French army became deeply involved in Algerian politics as it decided against France granting independence to Algeria. Senior army generals threatened to seize power in France and the politicians in desperation persuaded General de Gaulle to come out of retirement as he was considered to be above party politics and also acceptable to the army. Given far greater powers at the expense of the National Assembly, President de Gaulle became ipso facto dictator of France as he set about solving the Algerian problem. The army generals and the Colons (anticipating a man of the extreme right in support of military government, who had proclaimed in 1940 ‘Je suis la France’) expected de Gaulle to support them. However, he surprised them by being a realist in favouring colonial self-government with close ties with France in the French Union. This was regarded by the Colons and generals in Algeria as betrayal, with the result that during the following two years there were organized revolts against the French government. Extremist army officers attempted a military coup against the government and even assassination attempts on the president that nearly succeeded. At Fontainebleau we became aware of the purges in the French military, mostly the army, to uncover the conspirators and some officers were replaced. There was an air of possible civil war as rumours followed rumours. At AIRCENT I had friends and colleagues in the French Armed Forces, although they were mainly in the Armee de l’Air, and one speculated as we went about our duties on the loyalties involved as many officers had served in Algeria and were sympathetic to the Colons.
During 1960 the OAS, a secret army organization of extremist army officers supporting the Algerie fancaise movement, carried out random terrorist bomb attacks in the Paris area. Fanatic members of the OAS carried out nine assassination attempts on de Gaulle, and two nearly succeeded. The blast from a bomb planted in the road and detonated by remote control nearly blew up his car when en route to his home outside Paris at Colombey-Les-Deux-Eglises. Another attempt from a machine-gun ambush en route to a helicopter flight to his home riddled his limousine with bullet holes but both de Gaulle and his wife escaped injury. In Algeria the French CinC, General Raoul Salan, was replaced by General Maurice Challe and Salan became the military governor of Paris. Shortly afterwards, Challe returned to France to command the NATO Land Forces of Central Europe at Fontainebleau. Salan retired that year and took up residence in Spain to lead the OAS, and scarcely a day went by without some incident by the OAS. The military purges continued in the top echelons of the French high command in Algeria and France, and the atmosphere at Fontainebleau became electric when General Challe became implicated and he took French leave. His successor, General Hans Speidel, an ex-chief of staff to Field Marshal Irwin Rommel in France during 1944 who had escaped involvement in the unsuccessful bomb attempt in July 1944 to kill Hitler, became the first German commander of NATO land forces. General Challe joined General Salan in Spain and in 1961 both generals attempted to seize power in Algeria. They flew to Algiers in April and a French Foreign Legion parachute regiment seized the main government buildings in Algiers capturing the army CinC and the civilian head of government. In France all the airports were closed and an embargo placed on all supplies to Algeria as France hovered on the brink of civil war. President de Gaulle appeared on the TV dressed in his general’s uniform and called upon the military to resist the revolt and to shoot the instigators. General Challe called off the revolt and gave himself up. He was flown back to France for trial and imp
risonment. General Salan went into hiding but was eventually caught and imprisoned.
The war in Algeria between the French Colons and the nationalist FLN lasted eight years with great loss of life, until finally President de Gaulle’s negotiations with the Algerian nationalists, following a national referendum, led to full Algerian independence in 1962. More than 200 officers and nearly 200 civilians were arrested or interned for supporting the revolt of the generals. General Salan and General Challe, the leaders of the coup attempt, were released from prison in 1968.
During the expectant days of 1960 we still carried out the NATO Air Firing Competition at Cazeaux in late summer and at the completion of the competition I decided that a change of scene was preferable to a return to Fontainebleau and took some leave to explore Spain and Portugal. Arriving in Lisbon I followed up on a hotel recommendation and booked into a small hotel in the old town. The hotel was sited below the walls of the Castelo Sao Jorge on top of a cliff with a perspective of the city below and was aptly named ‘The Eagle’s Nest’. I was sitting on the terrace of the hotel enjoying an early evening aperitif before dinner and admiring the view over Lisbon when I noticed some cars approaching rapidly below me and several men got out and hurried into the hotel. The group passed close by me and my attention was drawn towards two men being escorted by some very tough looking men. One man appeared familiar to me from photographs in the French press. The other man I had seen at the AFCENT headquarters at Fontainebleau. It was a considerable shock for me to realize that the two men were Raoul Salan and Maurice Challe, the two most important and sought after generals of the Algerian revolt; whose whereabouts were being actively pursued by the French security forces. My next thought was that my car was parked outside the hotel and it carried the SF plates denoting someone working at AFCENT. I did not fancy my chances if those tough looking bodyguards accompanying the missing generals, who did not flinch from an attempted assassination of the President of France, thought that I might be instrumental in putting the finger on their bosses. Assuming a nonchalance I did not feel, I sauntered out of the hotel to park my car some distance away, while I took my dinner at a café. When I returned on foot all was quiet and I retired to bed for an early departure south next morning on my first visit to the Algarve, and my return to Spain via Jerez. Some years later I returned to ‘The Eagle’s Nest’ with Stuart Mackay, an RAF colleague at Fontainebleau, who had retired to live on the Estoril coast near Lisbon. The memory of my night with the generals returned vividly once more while enjoying a drink on the terrace overlooking the city.
During my time in France I had other flying interests that were unconnected with the RAF or AIRCENT when I flew sailplanes. Occasionally on a Sunday I joined a French gliding club either to fly the planes or act as a glider tug. The club operated from a grass airfield near Montargis, about 30 miles south of Fontainebleau. The raison d’être of the club was more social than functional as the morning flights were just a preliminary to a lengthy gastronomic endurance exercise at the local inn. Accompanying the many excellent courses le patron dispensed a remarkable selection of local wines, and the atmosphere soon became decidedly Rabelaisian until late in the afternoon and early evening when the members of the gliding club made their various and uncertain ways back to Paris.
Eventually the time came for me to leave France and when I did so it was with many regrets. One of my regrets was not taking back to the UK the magnificent eight litre 1927 French Hispano-Suiza limousine that I acquired from a British army friend who found it hidden in a chateau. I considered it superior to the Rolls in every way, but it was a ridiculous expense for me in operating costs with gasoline rationing; added to which was the question of availability and cost of spare parts and tyres. I had nowhere to store the car in England and so with great reluctance I parted with it for a song to an American friend in the headquarters who took it back to the USA. Over the succeeding years I have watched its value soar to seemingly infinite heights to remind me of an appropriate military axiom – It’s better not join if you can’t take a joke! That said I thoroughly enjoyed my time living in France and my work with the Allied Air Forces of Central Europe. I had the satisfaction of achieving something both personally and professionally. I managed to fly quite frequently while in France and although not much of it was of any significance, it was all interesting and enjoyable. I also saw a great deal of Europe and was able to enjoy many leisure activities such as skiing the Alps, competing in the Swiss skeleton and bobsleigh races, cruising the Baltic and participating in the Fastnet Race. I also survived a gruesome ship collision while aboard SS Agamemnon during a convalescent cruise of the Eastern Mediterranean recovering from a second bout of hepatitis. On reflection, although I may not have realized it at the time, the three and a half years living and working in France were certainly among the most enjoyable of my life.
Towards the end of 1961 I left France to return to England and moved to the Royal Radar Establishment (RRE) at Malvern and Pershore near the Welsh border. RRE was responsible for all types of radar detection, control and guidance of aircraft and weapon systems. My appointment involved programming the interception profiles for the Lightning Mk 3 all-weather interceptor equipped with Red Top infra-red guided missiles using the Ferranti Airpass radar system. This system allowed a collision course attack profile using semi-automatic attack and missile launch modes flown under autopilot control from the Ground Control Interception (GCI) station. The Lightning Mk 3 and Red Top were scheduled to enter RAF service in 1963 when the 30 mm Aden cannon armament would be deleted from service. The English Electric Lightning replaced the Hunter day and Javelin all-weather interceptors in 1960. The Lightning was the first and only British designed supersonic interceptor and although it gave the impression of a highly swept wing fighter it was basically of delta wing design with added separate tail control surfaces. The low drag delta-like wing swept back at 60 degrees had a triangular incision where the trailing edge of the wing met the fuselage. The fuselage of the Lightning was unique with vertically stacked Rolls Royce Avon 200 Series turbojets of 14,430 lb.s.t. with reheat or afterburner. This engine installation enabled the design to combine the thrust of the two turbojets without widening the fuselage and increasing fuselage drag. However, the single circular nose intake also housed a bullet shaped fairing for the installation of the air interception radar, and this design limited the diameter of the radar dish thereby limiting the airborne interception detection range. The Lightning Mk 1 had an impressive rate of climb of four minutes to 40,000 feet with a service ceiling of close to 60,000 feet, but it continued the tradition of RAF interceptors entering service with short range and endurance. This was remedied by the installation of an external ventral fuel tank attached to the rear of the fuselage, increasing the duration of flight from half an hour to over one hour. Although the Lightning Mk 1 was capable of supersonic level speed of Mach 1.2 in dry thrust or without reheat, it flew close to Mach 2 with reheat selected. Unfortunately, in the initial model there was no variable control of the reheat, giving a wide speed gap from controllable maximum dry thrust to the maximum reheat throttle position. The introduction of the Lightning Mk 2 in 1961 greatly improved the aircraft’s performance with a fully variable reheat control; the provision for in-flight refuelling; and improved avionics with all-weather aids. The armament of these first two marks of Lightning was limited to a fuselage pack of two 30 mm Aden cannon with two DH Firestreak infra-red missiles mounted on the fuselage. This was in marked contrast to the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom that followed the Lightning into service armed with four Sparrow radar guided missiles and four Sidewinder infra-red guided missiles, with one six-barrel high rate of fire 20 mm cannon. The definitive version of the Lightning in RAF service arrived after my retirement in 1963 as the Mk 3 with more powerful RR Avon 300 turbojets giving 13,200 lb dry thrust and 16,600 lb with reheat. The performance of the Lightning Mk 3 improved to a maximum speed of Mach 2.25, an initial rate of climb of 30,000 feet per minute with 40,00
0 feet reached in three and half minutes and a service ceiling of 60,000 feet; very impressive figures. The aircraft also incorporated an integrated flight instrument system with autopilot and improved Ferranti radar for the launch of the Red Top infra-red missiles under autopilot control from the ground. Unfortunately, I never flew this Lightning although it was my task to evolve the tactics and interception profiles, and for this I had to attend an early computer programming course and study binary mathematics.
My only experience of flying the Lightning was limited to the early model and although it was a large fighter the cockpit was typically British in that it was cramped and confined. I was suitably impressed by the great thrust to weight ratio of the aircraft with its remarkable rate of climb, when in reheat, as it soared heavenwards like a homesick angel. In the early Lightning aircraft the absence of controllable reheat was unacceptable during an interception. Additionally, the short endurance of the aircraft and the small diameter radar scanner in the engine intake limited the range and effectiveness of pilot induced interceptions. However, the handling of the aircraft was very good and it was the first and last fighter I flew with the capability of thrust turns and climbs. Unfortunately, as experienced by the Lightning aerobatics teams, when the thrust turns and climbs were carried out at lower altitudes it resulted in airframe overstressing with a consequent reduction in the airframe life of the aircraft. The RAF’s Lightning aerobatics team made a great impression at various air shows in Europe such as the Farnborough Air Show and the Paris Air Show, until the team’s aircraft were replaced by the smaller less spectacular and less expensive Gnat jet trainer in the interests of economy and national defence. When flying the Lightning for the first time, after an initial impression of being left behind by the aircraft, the sheer power of the aircraft made it completely different from any other fighter I had flown before. The general effect after flying the Lightning was that the flying had become less fun and more serious, as from being in supreme control of a flying machine one had become just another component in a complicated guided weapons projectile with the pilot as standby and back-up for the systems. The Lightning Mk 6 entered service in 1965 and it continued flying with the RAF as an interceptor well into the eighties; as did the Mk 7 although this version had an extended range with the fitting of over-wing fuel tanks in addition to the ventral tank. Although the Lightning failed generally to obtain export orders, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait operated export versions of the Mk 6 in the interceptor and ground-attack roles. By the mid-1960s the versatile multi-role McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom supplemented the Lightning squadrons in the air defence role. The Phantom had set world records in speed, climb and ceiling, and subsequently a British version of the Phantom powered by Rolls Royce Spey turbojets was ordered for the RAF that proved inferior in performance to the US GE-J79 powered Phantoms. This aircraft continued the interceptor role until replaced by the multi-role Panavia Tornado in the mid-1980s.