A former WWII Mosquito Pilot  from Galashiels recently visited 2180 (Galashiels) Squadron to telll cadets about his wartine RAF experiences.

Flt Lt Pat Dorward RAFVR (Ret’d) a former WWII Mosquito pilot trained in Scotland and Canada and served in India, Singapore and Borneo during World War 2 with 110 Hyderabad Squadron.

Pat, now a sprightly 88 year old and former Air Cadet at Sedbergh School spoke of his early days with Cambridge University Air Squadron and his training at Scone Perth where he undertook basic flying training and was trained to fly Tiger Moths with 11 Elementary Flying Training School. Posted to a hotel in Brighton for initial Officer Training Pat was eventually posted to Moncton New Brunswick in Canada for training on the NA Harvard under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Variously based at Service Flying Training Schools at Medicine Hat Alberta and Weyburn  and Assiniboia in Saskatchewan, Flt Lt Dorward spoke of the training undertaken over the almost featureless prairies and surprise at overflying settlements named after Borders town such as Selkirk, Kelso and St Boswells!

Awarded his Wings on his 21^st birthday Pat became a Flying Instructor at Trenton Ontario where he taught pilots to fly the Harvard. During this time Pat also flew the Oxford, Anson and Cornell aircraft.

Posted to No. 31 OTU at Debert, Nova Scotia to learn to fly the Mosquito Pat eventually returned to the UK and was tasked with taking a Mosquito to Puna in India. Staring at Portreath in Cornwall the route taken was:  Cornwall -Marseille - Malta - Cairo - Habbinaya - Bahrain -Karachi. Recalling a trip in a Dakota while in India Pat explained how he and the pilot loaded a bicycle onto the aircraft and while several thousand feet above the North Indian Plains cycled back and forward in the cargo area of the Dakota!

Posted to 110 Hyderabad Squadron flying Mosquitoes from Singapore and Penang in Borneo, time was spent patrolling the Malacca straits and o the jungles of Borneo armed with a pistol in case of a forced landing and an encounter with local tribes believed to be involved in the sport of head hunting! A trip as Second Pilot in a Sunderland Flying Boat was one of many highlights of this posting. Ferrying unserviceable Mosquitoes back to Singapore had its moments explained Pat. On removing wing panels for inspection Pat’s fitter was surprised to find a wrapped sandwich left by another fitter and on another occasion a bird nest complete with several eggs which had apparently been on board since the aircraft left the UK some months earlier!

Before leaving Pat agreed to award the 1^st Class Proficiency Badge to Cdt Michael Stewart.

Posted by OC2180 on Saturday 19 June 2010 - 12:48:27 | |