RAF AMES 504 Dingli Cliff Malta

[bill247]

Johnxyz Firstly my apologies for the delay in sending you a reply, This picture of the crew from 283 Ames is amazing , the quality is fantastic. I was reading through the book by my friend Maj Tony abella about 283 Ames. It was formed on 14th April 1943 under the Admin of RAF Ta Qali and operated from Marfa point till November 1943 whence it was moved to Peninsula Della Maddalena in Sicily and was disbanded in October 1944. It arrived in Malta under the command of Pilot Officer Morgan and consisted of another 24 crew. The technical and domestic sites were about 500 yards apart and they had transportable RDF equipment with 2 Lister generators. there was no Service policemen available and guard duties were carried out by the Radio Operators. 2 ME210s circled the Radar unit on the 19th of May but did not attack it. Fl Lt Morgan was hospitalised between 8-20 th June and Fl Lt Walker of 241Ames from Fort Ta Silch took command for that time. Various Senior RAF personnel visited the station but on the 30th July Air Vice Marshall Keith Park made a surprise visit and congratulated the crew on the work they were doing. During June various football matches were played between 283 and 314 Ames from Qawra and swimming was also a general pastime . Group Captain Tyrell from RAF Ta Qali on the 18 July attended a units dance at 283 which proved very successful and was enjoyed by all. A football match was played against RASC and 283 won 2-1. On the 8th of September a 12 hour maintenance program was undertook and it was found that the goniometer pointer was about 30 degrees out of line and this was repaired by the mechanics . This unit on the 5th of November 1943 was asked to close down and at 0943 am  283 Ames Radar unit was turned off for the Final time , Its duty on Malta completed.
John , I am not Sure how much you have found out about 283 Ames , howevever I hope that I may have filled in a small corner of the Radar Unit on which your father served.
I am wondering if it is possible for you to send a picture of 314 Ames and one of any of the crew if possible.
Thanks again for your time and that wonderful photo of the crew of 283Ames , They will never be forgotten.
    Best regards
         Bill.

[johnxyz]

Bill

PM sent

John

[bill247]

Hi to everyone,
It is Bill here again asking for assistance . As most of you will remember I am trying to follow my Late Fathers RAF Service as a volunteer reservist during WW2.  My Late Father served on  Radar No 504 Ames in Malta during the Seige from November 1940 till April 1943 .    I am trying to find out as to where he trained in Radar.  He enlisted at RAF Padgate near Warrington on June 1940 for 6weeks and was put down for General Duties , However this was changed and he was sent to RAF Drem near Edinburgh to train as a Radio Operator . This was the name given to Radar Ops before Radar was mentioned.   I have emailed people from EAst Lothian at War and also Yatesbury Association who tell me that there was no training area at RAF Drem yet it is on his Service record and he was at Drem for almost 7 weeks. I have tried the air historical branch who could offer no assistance. Any assistance would be gratefully received.
  Thanks again to the rootschatters for previous assistance.
       Bill.

[IMBER]

Have you considered RAF Dirleton which is close to Drem? Although it was a GCI site later in the war there seems to have been some earlier activity there:

http://www.wow.com/wiki/Dirleton

Imber

[rafcommands]

RAF Drem was accomodation for Chain Home Low at Cockburmspath from Jan 1940.

https://canmore.org.uk/site/114046/cockburnspath-hawks-heugh-ground-control-intercept-centimetric-radar-station

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_Home_Low

[bill247]

Hi Imber ,
Thank you very much for your email reply .
I had considered Dirlleton Radar before , However I had no idea that Dirleton was operational before around 1943 when it became a GCI unit.
My problem was that on my Fathers Service record all that is mentioned was that after his enlistment at RAF Padgate near Warrington was RAF Drem no mention of Radar Training , I sent his record back for some clarifications and when it came back there is writing which said Initial G D then sent to RAF drem  to train as Radio op.  I was told by the people from Yatesbury Association and East Lothian at War that there was no training facilities at Drem which I believe is correct which left me with a dilemma as to what my Father did at RAF Drem for about 6 weeks and if he did not train at Drem was he trained in Malta which is where he spent. Most of his Radar time Nov 1940-- April 1943.
Any how thank you for your assistance and your time.
  Regards.
    Bill 247

[bill247]

Hi Ross,
Thank you for your reply to my appeal for assistance.
I know that there was a COL at Cockburnspath , However I presumed that it was maybe to far to travel to get to work so to speak ,  As I said to Imber I received my Fathers Record of Service from
RAF Cranwell and there was no mention of any training on it , I sent it back asking for some clarification on various on the whole record if they could . Back it came and between My Fathers enlistment at RAF Padgate and RAF Drem was these words  , initially meant for GD , Then set to RAF Drem to train as Radio Op.  I had emailed East Lothian at War and also Yatesbury Association and both mentioned that there was no training facility of that nature at  Drem, Imber also mentioned Dirleton Radar as possible training , however not sure if that was a COL Unit as after these Two bases my Father was sent to Malta from NOV 1940 ---  April 1943 on No 504 COL AMES type 5 Radar at
Dingli Cliff.
Again thank you so very much for this post and the other post on the WW2 very much appreciated information .
Kindest Regards
   Bill247

[rafcommands]

Do not get confused by the abbreviations CHL/COL/CH/CO/CHEL/COEL they are effectively the same kit with only a ffew mods to suit the deployed environment.

C is Chain and describes how they are operated
H is Home as opposed to O - Overseas. It mostly defined the temperature and humididty range that the kit was expected to operate in

The last part is the important bit
Nothing means it was a long range set eg 200+ miles but at that range it had a blind spot at low altitude. The closer you got to the transmitter the smaller the altitude blind spot.
L is low and describes a set that was designed to fill the altitude blind spot described above but could not be used for accurate sealevel location.
EL is Extra Low and is usually preffixed by GL for Gun Laying. This was normally used by Army/RN/RAF round the coastal ports and estuary for the dual role of tracking mining/shipping stike aircraft and e-boats.

So Cockburnspath was a CHL rather than a COL but his experience would be similiar. Daily travel was not to and from Drem. The crew would be out on the site for a few days and nights at a time but at the end of the work week they would return to Drem for pay parade, clothing parade, naafi, welfare. mail call etc then after a few days back to the remote site.

Hardship tent or barrack accomodation was provided at the remote site along with trucked out meals but to prevent rebellion they needed R&R back at the closest RAF main base (and so the SWO could remind them what RAF life under his eye entailed).

Ross

[bill247]

Ross,
Thanks as always is never enough with the information you have given,
I was beginning to give up hope that my Fathers R.O.S was correct and that someone had got it wrong .
I did remember years ago my Father always mentioned only 2 places he was at during WW2 and that was Drem and Malta.
I have to admit that I was a little disheartened when I learned that there was no training facilities at Drem and it was a case of where did my Father train if not at Drem.
However I have been as usual uplifted again by the rootschatters enthusiasm and I will someday travel from Glasgow over to Drem and onward to the CHL area at cockburnspath.
Again Ross my sincere grattitude for all your assistance.
       regards
        Bill.