The ‘shake-down’ trial started at 10.00 hours and continued for two hours with several runs by the RAF Shackleton aircraft. In between runs there were simulations of equipment parts failures to test every aspect of unit activity. Every section logged the activities during the trial and these were then worked through to identify where there were weaknesses in the systems. In Corporal Hill’s team, the airmen listening in and recording the flight and track data had a few problems of hearing and writing everything down. There were minor delays in supplying spare parts from stores but the SAM system appeared to function well. A power surge occurred during the trial and some radar parts blew. One of the parts to be changed was the klystron which left no spare in the store. The power modulator was also to be re-designed to prevent the surges causing parts to blow. On the Monday morning (14th) ‘Sarge’ raised a supply voucher and forwarded it with a parts list to the store. When the unit was stood down late afternoon, ‘Corporal Crossley’ caught the 5.30 p.m. bus into Louth.
Three days later (Thursday 17 th) the consignment of spare parts were delivered to the JSTU and checked into stores. Saturday (19th) came around and most personnel had been stood down for the weekend. The control and radar sections were working shifts as usual and other rostered personnel were on duty. ‘Corporal Crossley’ was duty storeman for the weekend. It was 12.25 hours and the drone of an aircraft was heard. In the control tower a request came from the pilot, “This is Anson WH 453 on a training flight from RAF Wattisham. Request permission to land and take-off as part of training exercise.”
Control Tower responded, “West Danby Control. Please quote your authorisation. Over.”
“Authorisation FC12G/315/60. Over.”
The authorisation number appeared to be genuine. “This is Control. You may proceed. Over.” The duty controller then picked up the telephone to call the duty officer, who then advised security and told them to be on stand-by. The Anson came clearly into sight and the yellow band around the fuselage showing that it was a trainer was clearly visible. It circled the airfield and turned to come in on Runway 205. The undercarriage came down and the plane straightened up for the landing. It seemed to drift down gently and touched down on the runway. It taxied along and then, instead of revving the engines to take off it turned off the runway and taxied across to the open door of the JSTU hangar. As it turned, a corporal was seen to push a trolley across with a crate on it. The door of the Anson opened and two persons jumped out and ran across to the trolley. They grabbed the sides of the crate and turned and pushed it into the Anson. Then both the two men and the corporal climbed into the Anson which immediately revved its engines and taxied away. The RAF police on security stand-by raced for their Landrover to try and prevent the plane from taking off. The pilot of the Anson noted that the windsock hung limply and taxied across the grass to the runway. He then gunned the engines and raced down the runway to take off at the same end he had landed. The RAF police Landrover raced across the airfield to try and cut the plane off but, as it came close, the pilot pulled back on the ‘stick’ and the Anson lifted off, clearing the Landrover. As it gained height, the Anson turned and headed north-east over the sea. In the control tower, the duty officer, who had driven down to watch the Anson do its training run, picked up the telephone and requested to be connected to the nearest fighter station. The whole incident had taken about four minutes from the pilot’s request to land.
On board the Anson, the occupants were congratulating themselves, not least ‘Corporal Crossley’. The pilot continued to gain height and entered cloud where he thought it would be harder to detect them.
At the sound of the aircraft, the duty JSTU officer, who happened to be at the missile control module, had gone outside to see what was happening. He saw the whole incident and recognised the crate containing the klystron. He raced into the radar unit and told them to lock onto the Anson. Then he picked up the ‘phone to missile control and told them to lock the missile into the radar and ready for firing. He then ran across to the missile control to direct the launch from there. The officer knew that he was not following procedure but it was vital to stop the Anson aircraft. The alerted duty team calmly went through the procedure as they had been trained to do. Range and bearing were fed into the system and when the operator said, “Ready, sir” the officer gave the order to launch the missile. There was a hissing that turned to a gentle roar as the missile launched skyward. “Red Hawk rising, sir,” said the operator.
“Keep to your posts!” said the officer, as men wanted to go outside to watch the missile’s flight. Others not directly involved went outside to watch. The duty staff in the headquarters building had gone out to watch the Anson aircraft and now watched fascinated as the missile took to the skies.
On board the Anson, the team were busy readying the crate to be dropped at stalling speed to a waiting ship in the North Sea and the pilot adjusted his course to rendezvous with the ship. The plan was to then ditch the aircraft after the transfer and be picked up by ‘friendlies’. Those on board never really
