Red Hawk Rising

the arrival of the station CO. Corporal Hill and others were screwing up their toes to keep up the blood circulation. Hands behind their backs, they rubbed their fingers to keep some warmth. The wind chill factor was high and as breaths were exhaled, they formed small clouds of condensation. Fifteen minutes went by and no CO. The officers arrived and waited at the edge of the parade area. Another fifteen minutes passed before the CO’s Vanguard car turned through the gates onto the airfield. As the car pulled up, the parade commander called the parade to attention. There was almost relief to have some movement of the limbs, not that it was much. The parade commander called the officers to take station and they marched onto the parade and took station in front of their sections and units and the parade handed over to the CO. The flag was raised, the padre said prayers and then the parade was called to “Open Order” ready for inspection by the CO. A young National Service airman keeled over in a faint and a sergeant moved to his aid. The CO gave a cursory glance and started his inspection. He seemed impervious to the cold and a few persons muttered under their breath. Finally, the parade was over and each section marched off under the control of a Senior NCO to their dismissal point on the domestic site. By that time, it was nearly 11.00 hours. People hurried inside and out of the cold.

That evening the twin sisters attended the charity ball in Hexham with their parents, unescorted by their beaus. The beaus and friends headed down to the village for a quiet drink and a game of darts in a warm pub.

CHAPTER 16

It was Monday morning (31st October) and Major Garasov had received instructions from Moscow. It had been reported from their London links that two of their operatives had not returned from a simple ‘pick-up’ exercise. It was also believed but not yet confirmed that their Air Ministry contact had been detained by MI5. There had been talk in Fleet Street over the weekend of shootings in a lane near Piccadilly but that it had been hushed up with a ‘D’ notice to the press. That suggested that MI5 may have been involved. Major Garasov was now to take local responsibility for all activities relating to the Red Hawk project. All agents involved would now report directly to him and not separately to Moscow. He was informed that the Politburo was concerned that their sources of information on this project had been virtually closed up. Garasov was to take action to re-open sources of information in Air Ministry and also to obtain the information that they were seeking on the Red Hawk project. Apart from acquiring a klystron, he was to obtain the wavelength that the SAM system would be operating on. The Russian military would then be able to take counter-measures to make the system ineffective. The major heaved a big sigh. There were also intimations that his friendship with the university professor should cease. He had half-expected that. At this rate, if he was not successful, he would be recalled and find that his career came to a halt. Garasov called his assistant in and they sat down to review things and try to develop strategies to fulfil the Kremlin demands.

At RAF West Sanby, life proceeded on its way. Preparations for the trials continued at the JSTU. There was an urgency to have a shake-down trial before the coming winter weather made it too difficult. They were already into November and the winter weather was starting. The personnel strength of the unit continued to increase in both technical and support personnel.

A week later (7th Nov.) Corporal Paul Rossley was en route by train to his posting to the JSTU at RAF West Sanby as a storeman. He had to change trains in Doncaster and headed to the men’s room as he waited for the connection. Leaving his luggage at the entrance he went inside. Two men followed the corporal in. As he stood to relieve himself, one of the men put him in a head-lock from behind, twisted and broke his neck and spinal cord. Quickly he dragged the dying man into a cubicle and stripped off his uniform. This was passed to the other man who changed into it and the corporal was dressed in the other person’s clothes. As someone came into the toilet, they closed the cubicle doors and waited until the person left. The person now dressed as Corporal Rossley picked up his luggage and went to wait for the train connection to Grimsby and then Louth. The dead airman was left in the cubicle and the door locked, with the killer climbing out over the top of the cubicle. There was no identification on the dead airman. The body was not found for several hours when cleaners came into the toilet area and became suspicious when there was no response to their questions.

Two days later (Wednesday 9th November), ‘Corporal Rossley’ had made himself familiar with the various sections of the unit and had been briefed on the process for re-ordering spare parts since the system was not yet operational. When it became operational, the parts would be supplied from a maintenance unit. ‘Corporal Rossley’ immersed himself in the work of the stores section. He clearly had a good knowledge of the RAF stores procedures and forms and he seemed to settle in fairly quickly. On the same day, the shake-down trial was called and the unit prepared to test both the equipment and the procedures. The missile had been loaded onto the launcher and the whole system readied for a simulated attack. The data recording section was set up with the aircraft tracking scope and voice recorders. Corporal Hill had his airmen familiarise themselves with the equipment and procedures. Following this trial and