Sea Fury

[stona]

Once more, even if it turns out not to be the case....I thank you and it is a great pleasure to speak to you. Especially with the Glory and 801 connection.
Graham

Graham, I can assure you that the feeling is mutual. I look forward to more 'news', whatever you are able to find out.

They were very young men then. My own father was only 21 years old in 1953 and yet someone gave him a Sea Fury to fly!

Cheers

Steve

 

[Jeff Hunt]

Great that you fellas have made a connection, once again proving the aviation world is indeed quite small.

Second, she is one sexy beast and very nicely captured in your side profiles. If she were a woman she would drink for free in evry bar she entered.

Jeff

 

[stona]

It is a small world and BTW I think the acronym is indeed NAPM. I doubt that the P is for plane though. It's an abbreviation frowned upon even today for aeroplane.

Here's some more pictures from the family album.

801 Squadron, 1953/4:

Another Sea Fury at Bardufoss:

And finally my father, later in his career testing a system for recovering a casualty from the sea, designed by Barnes Wallis whom he was always proud to have met. The Times of Malta sent a photographer to record the event and this is one of his photographs.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Nobby57]

UPDATE
Hello Steve, from my father's S.-459 (Cert. of service), he went from HMS Daedalus to HMS Glory as an AA. CLass 4 on the 13th of of January, 1951. There he joined 14 CAG MU and Workshops working as an aircraft and engine artificer on both Sea Fury FB Mk.11's and Firefly Mk.5's.
He then left HMS Glory and did a crew swop, on the way back from Korea, to HMS Falcon at RAF Hal FAR, Malta, on the 14th of July, 1952, where he became an AA.Class 3 on 31st December1952.
It transpires that he didn't do all 3 tours, like the suspect Captain Colquhoun who was replaced at sea on the second tour by Tak Maunsell, but only two. (I have learnt something new)
I don't know when he was made crew-chief but mum said that when he was made so, he was the youngest in the Fleet Air Arm, an achievement in itself.
As dad was both fixed-wing and rotary, and was based at Malta there is still a likelihood that they would have known each other, but from your dates ex Glory, NAPM Clarke is merely a coincidence.

Fantastic to correspond with you though and your photographs are especially nice.
Thanks once more and no doubt we'll converse again.

Best regards to all,
Graham