FROM W.W.II TO RECALL FROM THE RESERVES.

C.P. RAYNER, RAFVR

Phil Rayner was born in Manchester during the summer of 1923 and started a career in banking before, aged eighteen, volunteering for aircrew duties and enlisting in November 1941.  Following initial ground school, he was posted to No.2 EFTS at Cambridge to commence elementary flying making his first solo on Tiger Moths.  However, his flying in the UK was brief, for after an Atlantic crossing in May 1942 he arrived at Moncton, New Brunswick on a journey which would take him first to the US Naval Reserve Aviation Base at Grosse Isle, Michigan and later to U.S. Naval Base at Pensacola, Florida.  It was a period of intensive training, flying a range of aircraft from the basic  Piper Cub, Spartan and Stearman bi-plane trainers to the more advanced Harvards and Vultee Valiants.  An introduction to maritime work came with further flying on various marks of Catalina flying boats.  With the award of his pilot’s wings, Phil returned to Moncton and also attended a course at No.31 General Reconnaissance School, RCAF Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where he collected a 2nd class Navigator Certificate which pointed to a future posting in Coastal Command.

Returning to the UK in June 1943, a number of short courses followed following which, on the 1st February 1944, he joined Coastal Command’s No.612 (County of Aberdeen) Squadron based at  Limavady in Northern Ireland to fly long range Leigh Light Wellington Mk X’s and XIV’s on night anti-submarine patrols over the Atlantic.  Depth charges were carried in the center bomb bay, the outer bomb bays were filled with extra fuel tanks and the mid under turret housed a searchlight to illuminate the target in the final stage of an attack.  Shortly the squadron relocated to RAF Chivenor In North Devon to operate over the South Western Approaches and the Bay of Biscay.

Early in June 1944 Phil recalls that whilst on a local flight from Chivenor an unusually extensive   collection of variously sized ships was seen spreading across most of the Bristol Channel.  “Not much attention was paid to the scene”, he said, Just another convoy we thought.  With hindsight it was no surprise to discover the next morning that D-day had arrived.  That night was spent on a  routine ten hour patrol, this time off Brest.”

In September 1944 the squadron briefly returned to Limavady from Chivenor but by December had moved, yet again to a new base at Langham in Norfolk.  “Now we were looking for coastal raiders, the ‘E’ boats,” he explained.

As war ended Phil converted from twin to four engine aircraft when he attended No.1674 Heavy Conversion Unit at Milltown, Moray, before being posted to join No.520 and subsequently  No.518 Squadron Detachment in Gibraltar to fly Halifax Mk3’s on long range meteorological  reconnaissance.  The bomb bays were now full with fuel tanks and  the Atlantic beckoned again.  “It was a comfort to cruise back on three when one of the engines packed up,” he said, thinking about his flights with twin-engine aircraft.  However, it was not only the operational flights which were tricky and Phil recalls taking a Halifax  up on a routine air test.

“I was coming in to land on Gibraltar's only runway and found one of the starboard wheel brake cables was hanging loose”, he said,  I circled the Rock so that parked aircraft could be moved out of harms way before I touched down on the runway which extends into Algeciras Bay.  I trundled across the road half way along the runway and performed an intentional ground loop in the parking area, fortunately without mishap, a preferable option to the embarrassing prospect of rolling a Halifax into the Med.  Needless to say a few words were exchanged with the servicing department!”

On transfer to No.518 Squadron home base at Aldergrove Northern Ireland Phil returned to North Atlantic operations and some atrocious winter weather.  Returning one morning from a Met flight he remembers particularly being  diverted because of bad visibility at base to land at Prestwick only to find the weather there was even worse.  He describes the moment.  “A ground controlled approach was essential.  In very turbulent conditions we reached the final stage of the descent to hear the controller say that we had been ‘washed off his screen’ due to heavy rain.  At the same moment we broke cloud at 150 feet to scramble down in the middle of a thunder storm.”

On leaving the RAF in March 1947 Phil felt that banking was not for him and so he opted for a life in the  Metropolitan Police in London.  He soon reverted to banking which offered far higher financial rewards and also found that demobilization did not mean the end of flying for he was soon back in the air again as a member of the RAFVR.  During attachments to a number of Reserve Flying Schools he flew Tiger Moths again and  Chipmunks.  However, by 1951 the effects of the early post-war cutbacks were being felt and the RAF were short of experienced aircrew.  Not only was the Korean was in progress but another crisis was looming in the Middle East.  In May 1951the British owned oil fields in Persia, now Iran, were suddenly nationalized and military intervention was one option considered to safeguard vital oil interests.  Some reservists were recalled to active duty and indeed this happened to Phil.  He was ordered to report to RAF Finningley on the 4th June for aircrew duties for a period ‘not exceeding three months’.  Thinking back to that period he says,  “How strange it was to be recalled for re-training on single engines as my experience was mainly instrument flying on two and four engined aircraft.  In fact I was the only pilot  on my course who had never flown fighters!”  However this was soon rectified and whilst at Finningley he initially flew Harvards  before moving to RAF Full Sutton, near York, to fly Spitfire Mk 16’s and later to convert onto jets with the Vampire Mk I.

Now a widower of 91, Phil lives in Exeter, Devon having retired after 33 years in banking and enjoys being on pension so far for 32 years!