IMMEDIATE POST-WAR OPERATIONS

With the war in Europe now at an end, the Squadron had to be kept fully operational to deal with any contingencies which could arise. Day to day events were now to take on a different role, and flying training was designed to meet this role.

MAY 1945
 

May 9
Six Mosquitos of 151 Squadron, together with six Mosquitos of 456 Squadron, made a close formation flight over the Channel Islands, this being the day of the German surrender of their occupation.
 

May 10
Nine Mosquitos of the Squadron, together with seven from 456 Squadron, made a low level demonstration flight over the Ruhr, for the aircrews to see for themselves, in daylight, the effects of the full onslaught which had been applied by the R.A.F. Bomber Command and the U.S.A.A.C.
 

May 14
Although the war in Europe was now at an end, there was still a major conflict going on in the Far East, and to meet the eventual possibility of action in that theatre of war, the Squadron still maintained its training and practice programme.
 

May 17-21
151 Squadron moved back to Predannack, the move taking place over a period of several days.

JUNE 1945
 

New crews arrived on the Squadron, and their training commenced without any delay.

June 7
During night flying, one of the longest serving crews of 151 Squadron was killed.
F/Lt Turner and F/LT Partridge were on night flying, and had an engine failure. On the way back to base it was presumed that they mistook the harbour lights at Falmouth for the aerodrome circuit lights, and were unable to reach base. Both of them were true Australians, completely fearless as this history shows, and being killed in peacetime was a complete shock to all colleagues both past and present, who had been associated with them

June 21
F/Lt Russell, the Squadron Adjutant, was the first member of 151 Squadron to receive his "Bowler Hat", being one of the first to be released under the demobilisation scheme.

F/Lt Kneath and F/O Kelsey, now with W/Cdr Allen on 29 Squadron at Manston, arrived on a cross country exercise to pick up a consignment of goods for the No 10 Group Victory celebrations which were to be held at Doon House in Westgate, this being the Mess location for 29 Squadron.
They stayed overnight and a traditional reunion party was part of that evening's events. They returned to Manston on the afternoon of the 22nd.

June 26.
The following message was received from the Air Officer Commanding No 11 Group:

"Please convey to all air and ground crews my sincere thanks for and appreciation of their assistance in making the Royal Observer Corps Rally at North Weald an outstanding success. The skill displayed by pilots during the Air Display gave immense pleasure to all who were privileged to witness it and was a great credit to the Group.
Russell A.O.C. "
 

This display had been carried out on June 24, along with 25, 29, and 406 Mosquito Squadrons, and two other Squadrons with Mustangs.


The Squadron strength in June 1945 was as follows:

Commanding Officer W/Cdr Beaumont

Commanding Officer's Navigator F/Lt Andrews

JULY 1945

July 16

F/Lt Honeyman and F/O Oddie were awarded the Croix de Guerre in recognition of their valuable work during the summer of 1944, when they were both in continuous action against German forces in France.
 

July 17

Early release for F/O Graham, F/Lt Daysh and Sgt Drury came through.  All. three had been in the Police Force in civilian life, and priority release was urged for such personnel.
 

July 23
News came through that F/O Flight and F/O Mackins, who had served on the Squadron in 1943 & 44, had been awarded the D.F.C. for valuable work on Photo- Reconnaissance operations.
 

July 27

It was learned that F/Lt Ayton D.F.C. had been killed in a flying accident whilst ferrying Mosquitos from Canada.

AUGUST 1945

August 14

It was announced that as from mid-night there would be a cessation of hostilities with Japan. At long last there was a total end to World War II in all theatres.

With this end to all hostilities, the release of personnel back to civilian life was to take place. When all those personnel who had volunteered for service with the R.A.F, and those who had been conscripted, were released there would be a requirement to re-build the R.A.F. once again on a peacetime basis. However, until all had been released, there was still the job of running down the wartime activities and at the same time blending in the requirements of the peacetime Air Force.
During the month of August routine night flying training exercises were carried out. Exercises similar to wartime operations, in particular Ramrod exercises, were carried out in conjunction with other units of Fighter command.
 

SEPTEMBER 1945

September 12
A Battle of Britain Anniversary Fly Past had been arranged for September 15. To tie up all the precise arrangements, which was to involve a large number of aircraft, those personnel selected to take part flew to Manston to join up with others from 29 Squadron led by WICdr Allen, a former Flight Commander of 151 Squadron. Practice took place over the next two days and all was set for the 15th.

September 15
The Battle of Britain Fly Past took place, there being a total of 25 Squadrons participating. 151 Squadron had nine aircraft in the formation, and all went according to plan.
After the Fly Past, the Squadron flew back to Predannack where the airfield had been opened to the public. As a demonstration to the public a display of formation flying, ending up with all aircraft doing a low level pass over the airfield, was performed as a bonus for the occasion.
 

OCTOBER 1945
 

There were many postings in and out during the month. This was only to be expected with the release programme beginning to accelerate.


October 1

F/O Mellor and W/O Steadman were killed in a flying accident. Their aircraft gave a sudden swing to port as they were taking off from Predannack and hit a blister hangar, the plane bursting into flames on impact.
 

October 18
There was another fatal accident. W/O Hymas called up to say that he was having engine trouble. He asked for an emergency landing at Bradwell Bay, but his aircraft went into a 70^o dive into the Blackwater River. He was flying solo at the time. He was the third member of 151 Squadron to be claimed by this river.

During the month 151 Squadron moved from Predannack to Bradwell Bay, and as soon as the weather permitted, air to air firing took place as an ongoing exercise for the pilots.
 

N0VEMBER 1945
 

November 14
151 Squadron left Bradwell Bay, having had a good run at the gunnery targets. The general comments of the Squadron Leader (Armaments) were:

"This Squadron finished the attachment with a higher percentage hits for air to air and air to ground than any other previous Squadron."

This was mainly due to two individual pilots who had the highest individual scores, namely W/Cdr Beaumont with 32.1% hits on air to air and F/Lt Green with 23.9% hits on air to air.
 

It was announced that the following awards had been made to Squadron members:
 

F/O Phillips DFC
F/Lt Andrews DFC
 

A peacetime era now began.
 

1946
 

October 12
151 Squadron was disbanded for the second time, its wartime role having been completed.