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(No, it wasn’t Halloween, but the motif seems appropriate for Pete DeSmedt’s stirring
tale of a Harlequin Mission gone slightly awry. While he obviously recounts it tongue in cheek, it’s the kind of episode
I’d like to have more of. Memories like this shouldn’t be allowed to die!)
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| Willie Milne |
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| Our author: Pete DeSmedt |
Here's Pete to tell the story ...
“On the 6 of June 1957, I flew with Willie Milne in A/C 614 on a night Harlequin.
We took off at 2130, along with eight or ten other lynx crews. Unfortunately someone didn’t pay enough attention
to the forecast for our return time: thunderstorms were due to arrive in force! There was a recall, and we all hit the
beacon at about the same time. (Final flight time was 1:45, so gas must have been tight.) We hit Rwy 24 in the middle of a
horrendous storm – pouring rain and a hell of a tailwind. Willie couldn’t keep it on the runway, and we
went off to the left heading towards the GCA shack. Engines were stopcocked, and everything went dark in a hurry!
"It continued to rain very hard. Willie and I sat in the cockpit shouting at each other that we were
sure somebody saw us go off and a mule would be out to pick us up. Optimists!
It turned out that GCA hadn’t a clue where we'd disappeared to, and the tower didn’t see anyone landing! After
some debate we decided we were on our own, opened the canopy, climbed out onto the left nacelle, and jumped down. After closing
up we took a damp walk through the infield, crossing Rwy 24 and the taxiway back
to the warmth of the crewroom. We found out afterwards that we hadn’t been alone out there; four or five
other 416ers were in various locations all over the field, including two off the end of 24 – about 500 yards
from the AOC's office in ADCHQ!! He was not impressed, particularly since the Greeks (425 Sqdn) had cancelled because
of the forecast. On the plus side, however, we did log 1 MA LCC!”
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