RECOLLECTIONS FROM THE PAST

As a young fledgling draughtsman in 1945 (I was in my 21st year) in the Production Drawing Office.

I was given a drawing of a new gun sight, namely the Bar & Stroud Reflector Gun Sight, and told to provide a mounting for it in the ‘Fighter’ version of the Blenheim. When in the ‘Ready for Action’ position, the sight was three inches in front of the pilot’s right eye. The sight was mounted on a hinged folding framework which stowed the Sight in the cabin roof when not in use.

The advantage the sight offered over the existing ‘Ring and Bead’ sight was the projection by an internal lamp of an aircraft silhouette on to a mirror, and visible when the pilot looked through the cowl and sighted a circular ring glued to the inside of the cockpit glazing. The enemy aircraft viewed in this condition of sighting ensured that the guns were firing at the aircraft and not over or under the target.

As the contract for the fighter version was complete, an ‘in-service’ plane was flown in for the trial installation to ensure the modification kits would be alright for distribution. The aircraft came from an east coast RAF station and the day the pilot decided to fly, the weather was appalling, the time of the year being November; as a result he misjudged his approach height, flew into the top of some trees and lost his life.

In recent years there was an obituary of a very senior retired RAF officer. The obituary recorded that during the war he had been shot down and suffered severe facial damage in the region of his right eye from the aircraft gun sight and had suffered constant pain throughout his life as a consequence.

As I recall, the only access/exit was a hatch in the cabin roof, behind and to the right of the pilot’s seat.

Doug Holdaway

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