To bring the story of the Buccaneer Boys to a close, Graham Smart and Graham Pitchfork, with a combined total of thirty-six years and 4,000 flying hours on the aircraft, offer a few observations.
Whilst fighting my way back to fitness after an argument with a parachute, I was enjoying myself as an OCTU flight commander at RAF South Cerney pondering what flying lay ahead for me and how I could avoid the threat of heading for the V-Force.
A notice appeared asking for volunteers to fly Buccaneers with the Royal Navy and pilots were to be QFIs and Canberra experienced. As I qualified on both counts, and this seemed about as far away from the V-Force as one could get, my name went in. The plot, as I understood it, was that after the Buccaneer tour the TSR2 would be coming into service and that was where the initial RAF Buccaneer crews would be heading – all good news.
So that was how, after parking my young family in Malta, Graham Pitchfork and I were the first of the many to arrive at Lossiemouth not quite knowing what to expect. Little could I foresee then that there would be no TSR2 or F-111 and that the Buccaneer would be an integral part of my life for the next eighteen years or so, nor that I would have the enduring delight, pleasure and honour to fly operationally and instruct with the navy, be the Buccaneer member of the Central Tactics and Trials Organisation, be the chief flying instructor at the RAF Buccaneer OCU, command 12 Squadron flying in the maritime role that the aircraft was designed to fulfil and finally to command RAF Laarbruch in Germany – home to two Buccaneer strike/ attack squadrons (XV and 16) and a Jaguar recce squadron (2 Sqn).
But all that was way ahead, first the small task of coming to grips with the Buccaneer Mark 1 and its Gyron Junior engines. My first impression of the Fleet Air Arm was of an apparently rather care-free approach to life, particularly in contrast to the RAF where on occasions we tended to take ourselves rather too seriously. I’m sure that this in part was what made the operational bond between the two services very straightforward and made the initial volunteers for exchange duty with the RN feel very much at home.
Graham Pitchfork and Graham Smart.
Much has been written about the aircraft in previous chapters; suffice to say that whilst the Mark 1 was a joy to fly, the engines made life very interesting during the stages of flight when they were working at their hardest, i.e. take-off and landing. Of my five familiarisation flights I experienced enforced single-engine landings on Fams 1, 3 and 5, events almost inexorably leading to a day a year later when I had to abandon one during the Beira Patrol whilst serving with 800 Squadron on board Eagle. As recorded earlier, the introduction of the Mark 2 with Rolls-Royce Spey engines ended all that nonsense.
Carrier flying was generally a joy – day deck operations in reasonable weather with a diversion handy if required were akin to licensed hooliganism. Night ops with no diversion and a moving deck were a different matter and very sweaty! Deck flying, plus the demanding maritime environment that was 12 Squadron’s domain and the rigours of overland operations (very low, very fast and very close together by day and by night) give some clue as to why the Buccaneer Boys are a bit different.
The aircraft itself was all British and ideally suited for the task that it was designed for, both Marks were a joy to fly and operationally very effective. It engendered in its crews a fierce loyalty and affection – more so than the normal aircrew bonding with other types. I have been lucky enough to have flown a number of aircraft in similar roles, the F-111, Phantom, Jaguar and Tornado among them – none flew as well as the Buccaneer and in my experience none produce the misty-eyed look among its aircrew that the Buccaneer does.
The roles the aircraft operated in were another factor be it over the sea or overland in Germany, Norway, the Middle East or South Africa. They were all onerous ones, demanding of the crews involved total concentration and reliance on each other in an aircraft fitted with navigation aids and electronic equipment that are best described as ‘steam driven’. The crew were therefore totally reliant on their skills and complete trust of each other to get the job done. There was nowhere to hide as a Buccaneer pilot or observer/navigator. Everyone knew the worth of everyone else and any not up to the job for whatever reason, were necessarily weeded out and quite a few were.
Of course, this almost ‘band of brothers’ feeling was enhanced by the limited size of the force and we all knew each other. This exclusiveness was enhanced by many lengthy detachments by all the squadrons – no wife or OC Admin to watch over you! The result was a great number of escapades best not gone into here but some that gave the odd squadron or station commander a slight headache – I never did discover how twelve of my blokes together with all their kit managed to break a hotel lift in Denmark built for four.
So there it is – what a marvellous scenario. A really wonderful aircraft, a small force operating in very demanding roles and environments, a two-man crew totally reliant on each other, some exciting and sometimes exotic detachments and above all a demand for complete professional competence. Is it any wonder that the Buccaneer Boys are a bit different?
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Heading north out of Elgin on the familiar road to Lossiemouth my mind was full of many great memories of the four years of life spent at this northern outpost. However, this time my pleasure at seeing the familiar lighthouse and the fantastic panorama stretching across and beyond the Moray Firth was tinged with sadness.
It was 25 march 1994 and the Buccaneer fraternity was drawn to the RAF station to join in the ceremonies to bid a fond farewell to our cherished aircraft. A few hundred colleagues and their families were gathering to ensure that we said good-bye in an appropriate manner. An amazing weekend that will live in the memory forever was about to unfold.
After appropriate greetings with countless chums and an evening of reminiscing in the familiar surroundings of the mess bar, we gathered the following morning at the dispersal area to be met by the sight of eight Buccaneers in an immaculate line up. It was the first of many stirring sights and events that day and it was clear that the last generation of Buccaneer Boys were determined to go out in style.
The last of the Buccaneer Boys (CO Wg Cdr Nigel Huckings).
OC 208 Squadron, Wg Cdr Nigel huckins, had the brilliant idea of painting the eight aircraft in the markings of all the RAF squadrons but his masterstroke was to, secretly, have one aircraft finished in the full 809 Naval Air Squadron livery. This did not go down well with the C-in-C once he discovered the plot but it was too late.
Nigel’s brief to his crews was simple, “lots of panache and style and an immaculate formation flypast, then we break up for the airfield attack when we will make lots of noise and stay low. Any questions?” he taxied out at the head in the 809 Squadron aircraft, another masterstroke which drew huge applause from the large gathering as the eight aircraft taxied to the end of Runway 23.
After a series of immaculate flypasts, the rules appeared to go out of the window for what was the very last official flight of the mighty Buccaneer. A series of ‘airfield attacks’ from every direction then followed. Having witnessed, and participated in, countless other ‘attacks’ over the years, this final show was spectacular beyond words and will live long in the memory. After forming up again for a final flypast followed by a perfect run-in and break, the aircraft taxied in through the crowds, turned into line, folded wings on the leader’s command and then sixteen Spey engines wound down in unison. The silence was deafening and even the Buccaneer hard men in the large gathering were observed with a tear in their eye.
Standing on the airfield it was a moment for reflection when countless memories flooded back. One’s thoughts turned to the colleagues we had lost in all three services, to the comradeship, the professionalism and the excitement of operating the Buccaneer.
There had been setbacks and I could think of numerous examples of how the Buccaneer fraternity had responded to them and quickly regained our operational capability. To me, this was never more apparent than the reaction after the tragic accident at Nellis AFB in February 1980 in which we lost two of the best, Ken Tait and ‘Rusty’ Ruston. The indestructible Buccaneer had suffered a fatigue failure in the wing and the whole force was grounded. The unthinkable had happened and there was much speculation that we might have seen the last of our aircraft.
The British Aerospace team at Brough conducted exhaustive tests and discovered the problem and identified a remedy. In the meantime, with our future still in doubt, additional Hunter aircraft were obtained and each of the squadrons were allocated a number, including some Hunter 6s for the UK-based units. For 208 Squadron and my two (ex Hunter) flight commanders, this was an enjoyable return to the Hunter days of old but this time a navigator was their boss! For almost four months, the squadron ground crew had a focus and we operated normally and, with the exception of dropping weapons, we flew the same Buccaneer profiles with the two-seaters, which were invaluable for keeping the navigators up to speed.
So, when the Buccaneer was cleared to fly again in August, all the squadrons were ready and soon regained full operational capability. This was an immense tribute to the air and ground crews and also to our masters at 1 Group and the engineers at Brough who provided essential support. For those who doubted that the Buccaneer would ever be the same again, they underestimated the determination, skill and dedication of all those who were part of the Buccaneer family and their achievements over the next fourteen years speak volumes for all those privileged to be a Buccaneer Boy.
After this moment of reflection, the weekend continued. We enjoyed the company of our faithful and highly-skilled ground crew with some, like many of the aircrew, having served with the Buccaneer force for most of their careers. The evening functions reminded us of the comradeship and immense fun that had enriched our times together and, amongst the immense enjoyment of the occasion, there was a deep inner feeling that a massive chapter in our lives was closing. And it was a very reflective, and sad, crowd that headed south a couple of days later.
The events had left such an indelible mark on most of us; we vowed that we must stay in touch. A few weeks later I received a telephone call from David Herriot indicating that he was planning to set up a Buccaneer Aircrew Association with the question, “how about it?” Within a few weeks we had mustered a membership of a few hundred from all elements of the Buccaneer world, including the aircrew from Blackburns and British Aerospace who had done so much to develop the aircraft. We persuaded our two most senior ‘boys’ to be our president and vice-president. Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Knight, a former station commander at Laarbruch, took on the mantle of president with Vice-Admiral Sir Ted Anson, ‘Mr Buccaneer’ to all of us, becoming our vice-president. A Buccaneer (XX 901, a Gulf War veteran) was saved from the scrap man, for a mere five grand, and was safely housed pending identifying a final home for it. Two years later it left by road for the Yorkshire Air museum where it is on permanent display resplendent in its Gulf War colours and with a wide range of armament ‘acquired’ from some unsuspecting donors, including MOD.
The seeds of staying in touch had, in fact, already been sown. During the 1980s, under the ebullient stewardship of David Wilby, a number of us had been meeting up in early december at a London hostelry for the ‘Buccaneer Blitz’ and by 1994 this annual event was well established and a must for all those who could find an excuse for a ‘meeting’ in London. Potential gate crashers had to run the gauntlet of volunteer off-duty RAF policemen patrolling the adjoining street. Soon the Nag’s Head in Belgravia was bursting at the seams and we moved to more spacious London accommodation, courtesy of the Royal Navy. Over the years, attendance has grown and the Blitz is a permanent feature in the lives of the Buccaneer Boys. To that we have now added a biennial ‘Ladies Night’ at one of our old haunts. Nostalgia, banter, rising voices and the old spirit, which appears not to have declined despite the advancing years, all abound.
The solidarity of the Buccaneer fraternity is amply illustrated by the venues and attendance as we make regular pilgrimages back to Yeovilton, Honington and Lossiemouth. After a memorable occasion dining under the wing of Concorde at Yeovilton in April 2010 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Buccaneer’s first flight, seventy of us with wives and partners headed for South Africa to join our colleagues of the SAAF to participate in joint celebrations of the aircraft’s milestone.
The emotional, exciting and stimulating weekend in Pretoria matched anything that had gone before and graphically illustrated why we in the Buccaneer world think we are special. The mixture of informality, fun and the formal, spread over four days, captured everything that is so dear to all of us. General Jan van Loggerenberg, a former CO of 24 Squadron and chief of the SAAF echoed all our feelings when, in his formal address, he spoke of “the brotherhood of the Buccaneer world”.
As we get a little greyer and conversations now include topics such as hip replacements, by-pass operations etc, the spirit that brought us all together still burns bright. Our twice-yearly newsletter, attendance at the Blitz, annual golf meetings and various other informal gatherings in the UK and in South Africa, merely cement the comradeship that was shaped by the biggest influence in all our lives.
The Buccaneer – the last All-British Bomber