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My father was stationed at 10 Group HQ for much of the war. In 1980, shortly before he died, he made a nostalgic return trip and met the RAF Archivist. This is the text of a subsequent letter he wrote, found in his desk shortly after his death....

Flight Lieutenant J M Cooke
CDCN
R.A.F Rudloe Manor
Box Wilts

19th September 1980

Dear F/Lt Cooke,

I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get round to writing to you but I don’t seem to have recovered very rapidly from my holiday yet and have been unable to concentrate my thoughts on more mundane matters.
However, I hope you will accept my sincere thanks, and convey them to the Group Captain, for my enjoyable visit to Rudloe. It was wonderful to be able to see the old place again and still to be able to recognise it. In retrospect I feel it hasn’t really changed at all (the beautiful view across the valley certainly hasn’t). The old house looked considerably dingier in my day than at present though.
With regard to my reminiscences, I think I shall bore you to tears (as I do everyone else) if I put down everything that comes to mind but you did say you were interested in having as much information as possible, so be warned. I’m not sure that some (or most) of this will be relevant to your task as it relates to RAF Colerne, but as Colerne was part of 10 Group you may find some of my remarks useful. Here goes….
I went to Colerne about November 1940 as an AC2 Clerk/GD, straight from square bashing at Melksham, having joined up and spent 3 days originally at Uxbridge to be kitted out etc. I was shorthand/typist to the Commanding Officer, then Wing Commander C.E. St John Beamish. I’m not sure how long W/C Beamish remained in command but he was replaced probably early in 1941 by W/Commander, subsequently Group Captain Arthur Vere Harvey. Colerne was a night fighter station mainly using Defiants and then Beaufighters. One of its squadrons was 87 with Hurricanes, another 151 and another was 600 with s/Ldr or W/C George Stainforth (one of the pre-war Schneider Trophy team). We also had Mosquitos eventually. 87 Squadron operated from the satellite at Charmy Down, just the other side of Bath, their C.O. being S/Leader Ian R Gleed who subsequently wrote a book I believe. Another interesting operation at Colerne was the Turbinlite Flight consisting of a Havoc (USA Boston) fitted with a searchlight in its nose and accompanied by two Hurricanes. The Controller would vector all three a/c on to the enemy and the Havoc would hopefully illuminate the enemy and the two Hurricanes would pounce. I don’t think it ever worked — I believe Jerry shot out the searchlight once! Anyway I feel sure I have seen the operation better described in someone else’s reminiscences recently.
While I was at Colerne I can recall a VIP visit by HRH the Duke of Kent but I don’t know the date. There was of course the famous bombing raid on Bath — I was walking back to camp that night, returning from leave, and no transport was available. I can recall walking back, through burning streets with not a fire engine in sight, in the company of the NCO i/c Camp Fire Brigade who was getting most agitated at missing all the action. But when we got back to camp I think we found the place unscathed but with one unexploded bomb near the Ops. Room and I believe the NAAFI piano got damaged but that might have been another occasion.
Sometime in 1942 G/Captain Harvey was posted to 10 Group Rudloe and promoted to Air Commodore eventually after being Ops.1 in charge of day operations. The A.O.C. at that time was Air Vice Marshal Orlebar — (another ex-Schneider Trophy man). G/C Harvey arranged for me to be posted to Rudloe (I was then Corporal) to be his clerk, but the F/Sgt in charge of Air Staff Clerks was subsequently posted so I took over as Sergeant and became also clerk to the A.O.C. The SASO at that time was A/Cdre Rowley (a fairly old man I thought at the time, but he always seemed to have brilliant ideas for inventions and battling with the enemy — I seem to remember him as being somewhat eccentric). When he left Group, G/C Harvey was made A/Cdre SASO in his place and Ops.1 in charge of Day Ops. became W/C (or G/C) Tom Dalton Morgan DFC who had been one of the Battle of Britain pilots. I believe he had also won many awards at the old pre-war Hendon Air Shows, yet he must have been about the same age as me then (about 23). The main thing I remember about “Tom” was that he always seemed to drag me out of bed about 3 am to work out the fighter escorts for the next day’s “Ramrod” raids by the USAAF Fortresses. Having typed about 2 yards of Form D (I used continuous teleprinter paper) I would have to trail over to the Ops. Room at Brown’s Quarry at about 4.30 am to hand it over to Signals for onward transmission by teleprinter to all the interested groups etc. By that time “Tom” was of course tucked up in bed soundly sleeping off the effects of the Guinness that seemed to give him inspiration for such jobs.
At this time we had G/C Colbeck Welch responsible for Night Ops. assisted by F/Lt Longden (a radar specialist I believe) and Major Basil Hill, an Army Liaison Officer responsible for Searchlights and A.A. (the exercises he arranged between S/Ls and planes were called “Bullseyes”). I don’t think he had been a regular officer pre-war because I understood he had been quite a highly placed member of the Dunlop Tyre Company. We also had a Lt. Commander Deeds (or was it Leeds?) who was Naval Liaison Officer on our Staff. Another Army Officer who was responsible for co-operation (Tanks & Troops I presume) was Major Sir T Frankland (Bart) who was unfortunately killed on Salisbury Plain when his car was sandwiched between two Tank Transporters. He used to work in the little office (passage?) leading to your present Conference Room. Also with him were S/Ldr Heaton Armstrong, the Chester Herald from the Royal College of Arms, who was responsible for designing Squadron (and other) crests and getting Royal approval. There was one other person in this section LAC Summerscales, (whom I’ll mention later). As a matter of interest I have worked for a firm of Artists’ Colour and Brush Makers since 1936 (Winsor & Newton of Wealdstone, Harrow) and these materials were virtually unobtainable through ordinary channels during the war. I was able to arrange for a supply of the necessary items for S/Ldr Armstrong to carry on his good work. I remember him as a very elderly frail, gentle and kind person whom it was a pleasure to talk to.

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