A History of RAF Saxa Vord

Saturday, 1 March 2014

Type 80 at Saxa Vord – Myths, Legends and Facts

There are a couple of stories about the Saxa Type 80 which have circulated the air defence world for decades. The more common of the two is that it was blown over a cliff in a gale. At a later date there is a tale of the radar being blown out of its radome. Like all good stories there has been some embellishment over the years. In fact neither incident actually occurred as the folklore suggests.It is true that the T80 reflector was twice removed from its turntable by gales, but on neither occasion was it blown over a cliff. The Type 80 site was around 600m from the nearest cliff and the reflector assembly weighed about 18.5 tons – even a Shetland gale couldn’t manage to move it that far. Having collected data about Saxa Vord for over 4 years the tale has frequently been repeated to me in one form or another. It usually starts “I was on duty at Buchan, Trimmingham, etc the night it happened. I can remember the date because I’d just arrived, been promoted etc". So far I’ve been told that it happened every year from 1959 to 1967.

There was a problem with the early Type 80 aerials in high winds. Three CEW sites were being built at his time under the ROTOR programme – at Aird Uig, Faraid Head and Saxa Vord. A Control & Reporting System Quarterly Progress Report Progress Report dated 1 Apr 56 noted that “During exceptionally high winds, early in the New Year (1956), damage occurred to the Early Warning Radar Type 80 at FARAID HEAD, and some of the structural members of the aerial framework were badly strained. In order to avoid the possibility of similar damage in the future, the Design Authority has decided to strengthen the aerial system by modifying the centre section of the mainframe and a design study is at present being carried out to establish what modifications can be incorporated with minimum disturbance to the present design.”

RAF Saxa Vord (91 SU as it then was) became operational in October 1957. It had already lost one aerial assembly. This occurred either in December 1956 or very early in 1957. The Control & Reporting System Quarterly Progress Report Progress Report dated 15^th February 1957, held by the PRO, refers to this event. This Report, under the heading ”B -ROTOR III”, states ”Owing to damage sustained during recent gales the aerial of the Radar Type 80 at Saxa Vord will have to be dismantled and the centre section, main frame and under frame, replaced.” I have also had emails from someone who said that photos and a16mm “home movie” were taken just after the event. Unfortunately I have lost contact with that correspondent. Certainly, if the aerial had to be dismantled, it didn’t fall over a cliff (Saxa 936’ above sea level). Should anyone have any documentary or photographic record of this episode I would be very pleased to hear from them.
About 4 years later the second Type 80 aerial at Saxa was dislodged. I can be very specific about this event because there is abundant evidence which includes a copy of the Operations Record Book (F540) for the period, a copy of the Met Office Charts for the date involved, numerous accounts from people who were there and photos from an officer who was on the Unit strength at the time - Fg Off John Courtis.
The Operations Record Book for RAF Saxa Vord states that, “On the evening of 27^th January 1961 very severe wind conditions were experienced at the Technical Site and the Type 80 and Type 13 radars were extensively damaged”. It then goes on to say that “The entire rotating assembly of the T.80 above the turntable broke away at the under frame joints. The scanner damaged the motor platform and alternator room and came to rest upside-down clear of the alternator room. It is a complete write-off”. Fg Off Courtis, who was a National Service Officer on a 3 year engagement, was at 91 SU/ RAF Saxa Vord from October1960 until December 1962. He took a number of photos of the wreckage left after the storm, which were published on the Saxa Vord blog here:-

http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/type-80-is-off-part-2.html

One of those photos is reproduced below (left click on photos to enlarge).

As you can see – the aerial didn’t make it to the nearest cliff. In fact, the direction the scanner travelled was towards the old RAF Skaw site at Lambaness - on that heading the nearest cliff was about 2 miles away! The next photo shows the alternator building, the Type 80 scanner and Lambaness.

So how did the legend arise? Had I been on duty in the R10 (Ops Block) on the 27^th January 1961 and the radar picture had gone blank, I would have phoned the Heads to find out what was wrong, probably to be told the wind was off the scale on the anemometer, the radar head had gone and no one was prepared to go outside to look for it! Imagination and embellishment would have taken over – the landlines would have been buzzing throughout the UK Air Defence Region. There are official RAF photos – some of which I have seen – also showing the scanner close to its turntable.

I have read and heard a number of accounts about the Saxa Type 80 being “blown out of its radome” in 1965 – I am certain this never happened. Searching the records, the most significant damage to the dome seems to have occurred within a couple of weeks of its completion. Just after the handover to the RAF by the Norwegian contractors in September 1963, severe gales caused considerable damage. The following picture, which is a segment of a photo taken by Lez Fishman in September or October 1963, shows Muckle Flugga though a gap in the radome caused by these gales:

The Norwegian contractors were recalled and a number of RAF personnel were involved in repairing the radome. Even though there was significant damage with numerous panels blown out, the Type 80 remained inside, as can be seen in the copy of the full photo below:

By 1965 Saxa had only one search radar– the Type 14 was dismantled in September 1964. Had the Type 80 been blown out of its dome, Saxa Vord would have been off the air for a long period. There is an entry in the F540 for 12^th February 1965 which says “During a severe gale, one of the large steel double doors in the radome walls vibrated loose and was blown off its hinges. The door is being repaired by a local agent”. Perhaps this event was the origin of the story. There is nothing else in the F540 during 1965 about the Type 80, other than normal maintenance and faults. The longest period in 1965 when the Type 80 was off the air was from 2^nd to the 16^th August when AMTG/APO was carried out (Annual Maintenance Turning Gear/Air Plant Overhaul). I arrived at Saxa Vord in 1967 and, whilst I heard the tales of the Type 80 damage in 1961, no one mentioned anything about a later major incident.So, sorry to have to tell you – Santa Claus really does not exist. The Saxa Type 80 and the cliff, I expect my grandchildren will hear the story and believe it, but it is a myth based on the events of a terrible night when it was unsafe to venture outside! A 75 x 25 foot, eighteen and a half ton aerial blown out of a radome without putting a station off the air for a long time – worthy of a mention in the Operations Book one would have thought - it didn’t happen at Saxa Vord!

Sources:

RAF Saxa Vord F540 – Operations Record Book

C&R System Quarterly Progress Report Progress Report dated 1 Apr 56, held by the PRO

C&R System Quarterly Progress Report Progress Report dated 15Feb 57, held by the PRO

Bob Jenner

John Courtis

Lez Fishman

David Goodall

Davy Leask

Andy Thomson

Billy Williamson

CONTENTS LIST

http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/contents-list.html

Saturday, 1 February 2014

Stephen Jones – Saxa Vord 1987 to 89

Stephen Jones was at Saxa from Jul 87 to June 89. He was an Aerospace Systems Operator (Trade Group 12) and was on A Watch, working shifts in the R101. The photo below shows R8246242 SAC Jones - nickname ‘Chesh’ (after the Cheshire Cat), at the back of guard room and next to Tornado block, in his No1 Uniform. He was ready for the 1988 AOCs Parade:

The AOC was AVM RH Palin but Unfortunately “Chesh” didn’t make the official photos! He has pointed out, however, that the Parade Commander made a bit of an error. In the following photo the troops are at “Slope Arms” whereas the command “Order Arms” should have been given (rifle butt grounded by the right foot!).

Operationally it was a very busy time during his tour. There were significant numbers of Soviet penetrations of the UK Air Defence Region, mainly by Bears with a few Badgers, Coots and Mays (the last intercept of a Bison being in Nov 1983). It was also a period when Station callouts and exercises were frequent. Some anecdotes from Stephen relating to some of the events he experienced are below:

“Security was tight with our CO. We were doing at least one exercise a month and had to have 75% manning on the island at all times. I wanted to go to the Viking boat burning in Lerwick and had a car, but since one lad was already on leave I couldn’t go as that would have left the shift with 60% manning. We once had a Station callout (the siren was right outside the window of my block) and when the exercise was complete I got on the last 4 tonner to leave the Ops Site. We were waiting to go when the Taceval team turned up. We were ordered to head down to the domestic site. Once there we told everyone not to bother getting changed. The siren went off about 15 minutes later-the MT bus was already waiting foe us. I think we had 75% manning in 15 minutes a new record time.

During another exercise a stand too was issued. I ran to my position, which was the sangar on the NW side of the site. As I approached the sangar the guards ran out and there was a load explosion – the thunder flash blew me off my feet with surprise.

On one exercise the CO ordered all the rations to be taken from the top floor of Admiralty Building (3 years war rations I think) down the corridor, past the police post and left just inside the blast door. Halfway through the job the CO ordered NBC state 1. We had to carry on in respirators - I nearly fainted. Five minutes after we finished moving the rations he called Endex and ordered us to take them all back again.

Working shifts you easily get days mixed up. One day this lad on our watch kept on all day saying its Wednesday and we must remember to do siren checks. At the appropriate time we started the station tests. Shortly afterwards the watch officer puts his head round the corner and asked what we were doing. ‘It’s Wednesday Sir - station siren checks.’ ‘OK’ he replied and disappeared back round the corner only to reappear a few moments later ‘its Tuesday’. We just looked at each other and both said ‘----’. The watch officer said ‘Just say end of test and if anyone calls say the engineers thought they had cut the cable and we had to do a check’ he said. A few minutes later the SWO called asked what was going on. We told him the agreed story – don’t know if he ever found out the truth.”

He was at the Ops Site when a fairly famous incident involving a bus load of tourists took place.

“I was a guard at the sangar near the fire section. A tourist coach came up the hill but I couldn't stop it. It went up past me and up to the radar heads I thought he would be back in a minute reversing as there is little room to turn up there. He was soon back, but driving normally. I called the Police post and they said they are always doing it even though they have been told not to. When we finished our shift and went back to the mess it was all abuzz. It turned out that the bus had arrived at the main gate of the domestic site asking if some elderly passenger could use the toilet. Instead of guarding them into the guard room one at the time the guy on duty opened the barrier and let the bus on to the camp. A short time later the CO arrived wondering what all these elderly people were doing wandering about the station and to discover a big tourist bus parked in his slot. He was not a happy bunny”.

Off duty Stephen kept fairly active. The A Watch Commander (in black in the middle of the next photo) organized a 1½ mile run. Whilst it was all smiles for Stephen and his friends before the start they were not so happy by the end!

He also took part in the Up Unst Run in 1988 and received his certificate for participating:

A picture of a couple of the runners passing the Policeman’s house, opposite SHE, in 1988 follows:

In December 1988 the lads of A Watch were entertained to a Christmas meal by their Watch Commander in his Quarter. Stephen took the next photo of the lads during the occasion.

As with all Units there was a need to carry out general station duties – in my experience with watch keepers this usual meant they had to be carried out in off-duty time. It used to cause some annoyance when day-workers were released from their normal duties – a thing not normally possible for operational crews. Stephen kept a note of some of the extra tasks he had to carry out – as you will see, a considerable amount of extra work:

28 Jul 87                      COs inspection
19 Aug 87                    Move to Tornado Block]
24 Aug 87                     Arrivals Course (great on birthday)
25 – 27 Sep 87             Ground defence training
29 Sep 87                     GPMG training
9 Oct 87                        Range
28-29 Oct 87               Training days
19 Dec 87                     Duty Runner
19 Dec 87                     Duty runner
18 Jan 88                     Fire training
20 Jan 88                     Duty airman
28 Jan 88                     Block Inspection
15 Feb 88                     Training day
22 Mar 88                    Block inspection
23 Mar 88                    Duty airman
5 Apr 88                       CO - No1 Inspection
25 Apr 88                    AOC Rehearsal
3 May 88                     AOCs rehearsal
11 May 88                    AOC s- Air Vice Marshall Palin  11 group
23 May 88                   Fire training
27 May 88                   Duty runner
27 Jun 88                     Range
18 Jul 88                      Fire training
20 Jul 88                      Duty airman
22 Aug 88                    Barb wire detail
23 Aug 88                    GDT
5 Sep 88                      Training
23 Sep 88                    Ops site guard 08:00 to 00:01
24 Sep 88                    Duty airman
19 Nov 88                    Duty airman
26 Nov 88                    Ops site guard
13 Jan 89                     Duty airman
21 Jan 89                     Block inspection
25 Jan 89                     Station ground defence day
27 Jan 89                     Block inspection

Stephen has also kept a few views of Shetland

Finally, Stephen has managed to retain a decent version of the Unit “ZAP” (sticker) from the period – all the other copies I have seen have been in poor condition.

I’m grateful to Stephen for allowing us to share some of his recollections

CONTENTS LIST

http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/contents-list.html

Sunday, 5 January 2014

ADGEEB (Control & Reporting Evaluation Team) – Saxa Visit 1974

When I joined the Air Defence world in 1967 there was an already long established organisation called the Control & Reporting Evaluation Team (known by most as “The Trappers”).It wasn't a large team, usually a Wg Cdr Boss, a Sqn Ldr, 3 Flt Lts and clerical support. The Officers would all be Fighter Controllers

The team had a number of responsibilities, one to which was the production of the quarterly C&R Bulletin. This contained news and stories about air defence activities and was usually a good read. Its main problem was that it was that it had to be classified secret and sometimes the distribution was complicated. Another of the Teams responsibilities was to visit air defence units and assess the competence of controllers and operators – both theoretically and practically – hence the nickname “The Trappers”.

Early in the 70’s the name of the team changed to the Air Defence Environment Examining Board, a bit of a mouthful so they were simply known to most by the acronym – ADGEEB. It was about this time that the Team assumed another major responsibility, that of assessing the capability of the students completing their courses at the School of Fighter Control (both controllers and operators).
Personnel at those at units expecting visits from the team spent many days studying and preparing for their assessment. Poor results could lead to remedial training or, in serious cases, posting. I can’t remember the frequency of visits but I think it was every couple of years. The Team would have visited Saxa Vord on a number of occasions and the first visit I have a record of was in Nov 59, just 2 years after the unit (91 SU as it then was) became operational. The members of the team then were, Sqn Ldr Akehurst, Flt Lts Holburn, Floyd, Salt and Duke. I’m afraid the names make me feel old – Les Akehurst was OC School of Fighter Control when I passed though it and I met Joe Salt (Maltese I seem to remember), but I can’t recollect where – both nice people.
The only visit to Saxa Vord by the “Trappers” I have enough data to produce a section on took place in 1974.The members of ADGEEB who arrived at the Unit on 3 May 74 were Wg Cdr Dave Owen, Flt Lt Taff Gwynne, Flt Lt Kelvin Holmes and Flt Lt Pat Gallanders. They can all be seen in this photo which was taken at RAF Bentley Priory.

As so often happens on remote stations, the “outsiders” seemed to be blessed by some good weather.

I expect much to the relief of the Senior Ops Officer and to the CO (Sqn Ldr Mike Boddy), unit personnel did well in their assessments. I notice that the Officers kindly allowed the SNCOs & Airmen to outperform them! The last picture in this section shows the relevant entry in the Saxa Operations Record Book (Form 540):

I’m grateful to Kelvin Holmes for allowing me to use his photos.

CONTENTS LIST

http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/contents-list.html

Sunday, 1 December 2013

Ray “Dickie” Dawson – 91 SU (Saxa Vord) 1957 to 59

A few RAF personnel, under the command of Flt Lt CA Davison DFM, had been on site in 1955 & 56 during the construction phase of Saxa Vord. However, the first large contingent of 66 airmen, who were to become part of the strength of 91SU, arrived on 20 Sep 57. A few days later a second party of 50 airmen arrived at Baltasound. This group included an MT Driver named Ray “Dickie” Dawson. It had not been a good trip from Lerwick and most of the lads had been very seasick. Unst must have seemed to be the end of the world. Ray stayed at 91 SU until late 1959, subsequently marrying an Unst girl. Fortunately he took a number of photos during his tour and has kindly allowed me to reproduce them.

The first Christmas must have been a bit of a make do affair – NAAFI didn’t arrive on Unst until 25 Jan 58. It is interesting to note that, even this early in the Units history, a party was laid on for local children. On 20 Dec 57 52 children were treated to a film show, games, food and a visit from Santa (complete with presents). With few cars and no public transport on Unst MT would have had to provide a taxi service.

The lads themselves entered into the festive spirit as can be seen in some of the photos taken inside one of the billet blocks over that first Christmas. (Left click on pictures to enlarge).

Ray worked in the MT Section and many of his photos reflect this. The next 2 pictures celebrate an important trophy. In 1957 a weekly magazine called Reveille released a picture of Bridget Bardot on its centre pages. The lady was issued in 3 sections so it was necessary to buy 3 consecutive magazines to make up the complete picture.

For a while a copy of the picture was on the wall in the MT Section but one night, when none of the MT staff were about, it was purloined and later found to be hanging at the Radar Heads. After a short while the MT Section made a foray into the secret and supposedly secure top site and recovered the picture. Ray tells me that the picture was misappropriated more than once but was always recovered. The plaque at the bottom of the next photo records the travels made by the mademoiselle:

A few more pictures featuring MT & personnel:

Those of you who have been to Saxa will know that the driving conditions are not always perfect! It should also be remembered that in the 50's roads were narrower and less well maintained.

Some of the incidents were more difficult to recover from than others, this Bedford water bowser being a case in point:

There again, back in those days they had an interesting tradition which has been discontinued – to the disappointment of many :-

And finally, there was always the odd beer or two in the evenings after a hard day at work:-

All of the photos above, apart from the Reveille thumbnail, belong to Ray Dawson. If anyone can add details (names etc) to any of them, it would be much appreciated.

CONTENTS LIST

http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/contents-list.html

Sunday, 3 November 2013

Midsummer Madness

The high latitude of Unst leads to long hours of daylight in the summer months – a period known locally as the “simmer dim”. Traditionally this period led to a certain amount of celebration and fun for those at Saxa Vord – every year there would be some form of midsummer activity, usually remembered by those who took part, long after they've left the islands. During my tour the activities included golf matches, sailing races and a Gala Day. Tales of Barbecues, Raft Races, Chariot Races and Sports Days abound and I would appreciate it if anyone has pictures of similar events they would be prepared to share – gordon.carleATgmail.com (replacing the AT with the usual symbol).
I have attached a few pictures from the late 70’s/early 80’s below and, at the end of this section put three links to other midsummer festivities covered previously in the blog.

Midsummer 1978
The 3 pictures here feature a Chariot Race and have come from Caroline & Maddy Madison. (Left click on pictures to enlarge):

Midsummer 1980

The next sequence of pictures is from George Keith and features another Chariot Race. There is also a shot of a rather dangerous looking egg-throwing competition at Burrafirth and an Officers’ Mess Barbecue on Balta.