Red Hawk Rising

the airfield. He noticed a radar unit and a lone launcher without a missile at that end of the airfield. The ‘watcher’ realised that if he watched from the nearest point on the sea wall he could be observed and that could cause a reaction. He also looked for where birds were active, particularly on the landward side of the sea wall. That would give him the excuse he needed to make observations in that direction. He noticed a man working his way along the shore-line with recording equipment. The publican had told him that he was a marine scientist doing research work in the area. What the ‘birdwatcher’ did not know was that the equipment the ‘marine scientist’ took sightings through had a built-in camera and that he had been photographed. As he walked, the ‘birdwatcher’ made notes that any ornithologist would make when studying an area. From time to time he took photographs with a camera that had a f300 lens. The photos were of birds and feeding sites, giving him validity if he was questioned. At this time of the year several species migrated south through the area, including birds from Scandinavia and the Arctic Circle. It all suited his purpose. Curiously, there was little activity at the JSTU end of the airfield. From the information he had been given, the launcher should have a missile on it and the radar should be scanning the skies. The launcher sat empty and the radar dish stayed perfectly still.

Similarly, on the Russian trawler anchored offshore, they were scanning the frequencies they knew the RAF used for air-to-ground communication and none of the traffic picked up related to the trial they had been sent to listen in to. A change of shift came and nothing. Instead of the drone of an Avro Shackleton there was the roar of the engines of two English Electric Lightnings as they came up from Norfolk at low level. The captain of the trawler muttered an oath as the two fighter jets passed overhead and wheeled seawards to come around and make another low pass over the trawler. They came in from the east even lower than before. At the sound of those engines, airmen came out of the base buildings to watch, as did people in the nearby villages. As the planes closed in on the trawler, the lead pilot radioed the name of the trawler, Dmitri Petrov, to his base and gave the co-ordinates. The trawler was not inside the ‘three-mile limit’ and therefore in international waters. The planes turned south and headed back to their base. On the sea wall and the beach, two men stopped what they were doing to watch the fighter planes. One, the birdwatcher, could not resist turning his camera skywards and taking a series of photos as the two aircraft passed overhead. They were gone in seconds. The two men then returned to their tasks of ‘spying’ and ‘spy-seeking’.

Back in Air Ministry, Air Vice-Marshal Denby and MI5 Officer Hamilton were discussing their next move. “I’ll issue a notification about the trials being postponed due to technical problems. That should allay the fears of the ‘other side’ that we may have fed false information,” said Denby.

“Fine,” replied Hamilton. “Our man went into place this week in the supply section. He replaced a person who had ostensibly taken ill.”

“Good,” said Denby, “I’ll pull young Hill out of the JSTU for a week, starting on Monday. His official role will be to liaise with the department on the process of making sure enough replacement parts will be forwarded to the JSTU to keep the trials moving. His other role will be to liaise with your man and between the two of them we should be able to plug the leak fairly quickly.”

“I agree,” said Hamilton. “We’ve narrowed it down a fair bit to about three persons in that section.”

“Good,” replied Denby, “so let’s get it happening.” The two men parted with a sense of satisfaction. After Hamilton had left, Denby telephoned Group Captain Clarkson and told him what he wanted. In turn Clarkson telephoned Squadron Leader Dawson at the JSTU and explained the forthcoming detachment of Corporal Hill. Dawson was thinking aloud as he weighed up the benefits and the disadvantages of losing Corporal Hill for a week at this stage. Clarkson let him work it out, wanting Dawson to be convinced without feeling pressured and given a direct order. Dawson finally agreed with Clarkson. They hung up. At 15.00 hours a signal was received in the JSTU informing of the detachment for one week of Corporal W. A. Hill to Air Ministry supply section with effect from 24th October 1960. He was to be billeted at RAF Stanmore Park. Flight Lieutenant Gaskin had been briefed by the unit commanding officer and he called Corporal Hill into his office to give him his orders. This was to liaise with a Mr Griffiths and his staff on the supply of spare parts to the JSTU based on the data collected so far. Corporal Hill was to also look at the supply procedures and recommend any changes needed to improve the supply situation. Those recommendations were to be given to Mr Griffiths and to the JSTU C.O., with a copy to Flight Lieutenant Gaskin. Corporal Jackson was then called in to the office and briefed on Corporal Hill’s detachment. What Gaskin didn’t know was that Corporal Hill would receive further instructions from Lutterworth before he left for London. Those instructions would give him a contact name in the supply section who he was to co-operate with in finding the information leak and closing it off.

That evening, Andy telephoned Alice and gave her the news of his detachment to London. “You’re certainly getting around with this unit,” she said. “Where do you think you will have to go next?”

“Hopefully, the next place will be back on leave to see you,” Andy replied.

Alice laughed and