Tag: Contact patrol

The Artillery & Infantry Co-operation School at Hursley Park delivered tuition for airmen generally – observers and pilots – on Sundays as well as weekdays.  By 1918, some of the roles originally conceived as for observers – including, fairly naturally one would think, artillery observation – had in fact transferred to the pilots.  This left the observers free to concentrate on what became their principal role, which was defence of the aircraft, and in particular keeping a careful look out for hostile aircraft.  Because of this fluidity in responsibilities, some of the instruction would have overlapped, with both pilots and observers benefiting from it.

Observers School

I’m indebted to Dave Key of the History of Hursley Park website for the following outline of instruction entitled “Observers School – Analysis of Programme” as delivered at Hursley Park.  

Although the text is somewhat hard to read, the following components of the course can be deciphered to varying degrees of certainty:

• Commandants Lecture
• Church
• General Lecture (CFS [Central Flying School] Reconn.)
• Reconnaissance 
• Contact Patrol
• Art. Obs. [Artillery Observation]
• [??]
• Hostile Aircraft
• Map[?] Reading
• Elementary Gunnery
• Photography[?]

See also the post dated yesterday (11 May 2018) on the History of Hursley Park website entitled “The best I think predominate“, which explains more about the operation of the Arty. & Inf. Co-op. School.

An alternative programme was scheduled in the event of bad weather, indicating that at least some of these components must have been practical rather than just classroom-based.

Church Parade

The reference to ‘Church’ shows that lectures continued on a Sunday, and indeed it was only in the previous month that Church Parade on Sundays had been reinstated, not least because of the enthusiasm of the recently arrived Chaplain, the Reverend G. W. R. Tobias RAF.  We know this from a letter from Mr Tobias to his parents dated 14 April 1918 (transcript courtesy of Dave Key again).  The following extract also shows the scale of operations at Hursley (“600 Flying Officers on a short final course”):

Royal Flying Corps,

Hursley Park Camp,

Nr Winchester

14/april/18

My dear dear Mother & Dad,

You will see above that I have been attached to the Royal Air Force. It’s Sunday evening I am scribbling this in the Mess Ante Room where a jolly American Officer is doing impromptu conjuring tricks with great skill & effect. He is a fine fellow & his patter & jests are extremely clever, topical & impromptu. I find it very hard to cease thinking of dear old Meyer for a moment. I can’t take up a paper or hear any discussion of the war without hoping & praying for the dear old fellow’s safety.

…

I arrived in the camp on Friday afternoon & have had a hurry time ever since. There are here some 600 Flying Officers on a short final course. Some 300 Air Mechanics 110 American ditto & 300 w.a.a.c.s (clerks, chauffeurs, cooks waitresses, mechanics etc.). There is a largish Hospital (Hutments) nearby which is just being taken over by the Americans. My predecessor devoted himself almost entirely to the Hospital & the w.a.a.c.s. The Flying Corps he abandoned in despair as the Officers are here for only about a month’s course & flying & Lectures go on on Sundays as on Weekdays. He had closed down the Camp Church completely. I got a batman & Church orderly in and appointed to me & got the Church cleaned out. I had an interview with the Colonel who quite agreed that lectures should cease from 10 to 11 on Sunday morning in order to allow of Church Parade. Everybody has been most kind & ready to help. I celebrated this morning at 6:30 in the Camp Church. At 8 at the Hospital & breakfasted with Matron afterwards.  At 10 we had a fine Church Parade service, mostly Officers about 40 Waacs & 20 air mechanics. About 200 in all but had to turn away 100 officers as the Church is too small. I must find a larger place or have an open air parade next Sunday if fine. At six I had Evensong in the Hospital Chapel. A dozen nurses 6 American & 6 English. All the up patients have left & most of the English Staff & only a few Americans have come in their place. Also present were the Camp Supt. Major & the Lady in Charge of the Waacs & one of the corridor Officers. At 7 I held a service in their new C.E. Hut. Poor attendance, a couple of Waacs & about 30 mechanics.

…

Contact Patrol

The programme also refers to a ‘Contact Patrol’.  What was that about? The Aerodrome Forum’s contributor ‘bristol scout’ offers the following explanation:

The other main function of the squadron was contact patrol.  It was an aerial liaison between the front line and the battalion and brigade headquarters, designed to keep them in close touch with each other during the inevitable disorganisation of other means of communication during an offensive. At such times, it was realised, the advance would often find itself cut off from its supports and would have difficulty, or sometimes be actually unable, to send back word where they were. But an aeroplane patrolling at low altitude could easily see the red flares which the Tommies carried and were instructed to light at given times.
The observer could mark the positions of these flares on the map, write down their co-ordinations on a slip of paper, put it in a weighted message bag and, swooping down over battalion headquarters (whose position was known by a semi-circular sheet of white cloth pegged out on the ground), drop the message bag. (http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42474)

That’s the theory, but as the same contributor goes on to comment:

They actually just flew low enough to see the men in the trenches with accuracy…….brave, brave men.

Amen to that.