Details of operational use of FIDO at RAF Gravely
Title
Details of operational use of FIDO at RAF Gravely
Description
Gives times of operation of FIDO. Gives details of aircraft landed - including three Mosquitos who had difficulty owing to fog. Gives details of six 35 Squadron Lancaster airborne from Graveley, notes S crashed after take off. Gives further details of diverted aircraft and more FIDO operations.
Date
1944-12-24
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
One page typewritten document
Is Part Of
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
MWilliamsLW1095530-180628-04
Transcription
1. Duty F.C.O.: P/O W. H. [indecipherable word]. [indecipherable words], S.F.C.O.
2. Instructions to light up given by: 8 Group (PFF.)
3. Times of:
a. INSTRUCTIONS RECEIVED 1500
b. FIRST LIGHTING 1509 (1-2-3) 1540 Longfunnel.
c. SMOKE CLEARED AND APPARATUS FULLY FUNCTIONING Sections 1-2-3 all clear by 1520 throughout runway but reduced to 500/1800 yds. by 1630.
d. FINALLY TURNED OFF 1650.
4. Instructions to Turn off given by: 8 Group (PFF).
5. Details of Aircraft Landed (types, times and all relevant information, including Pilot’s Reports, to be attached)
1. Following Mosquito aircraft of 105 Sqdn. Bourn. H at 1607, K at 1610, Q at 1628. Pilots stated that clearance was to South of airfield. They had considerable difficulty in landing owing to wet fog drifting across runway from N to S.
2. The following Lancasters of 35 Sqdn. Graveley, took off on operations by FIDO between 1527 & 1543 A-U-O-Q-R-S (S Crashed after take off). T-N-E-G. On return they were diverted to West Raynham. Just after stages 1-2 and 3 (Less funnels) had been lit for the take off, the three Mosquitoes were diverted to Graveley necessitating the lighting of both short and long funnels. Two Lancasters were diverted to us from Upwood but owing to [P.T.O.] deterioration these were re-diverted to Downham Market and a darky a/c unidentified was diverted to Woodbridge.
A.06.097.
2. Instructions to light up given by: 8 Group (PFF.)
3. Times of:
a. INSTRUCTIONS RECEIVED 1500
b. FIRST LIGHTING 1509 (1-2-3) 1540 Longfunnel.
c. SMOKE CLEARED AND APPARATUS FULLY FUNCTIONING Sections 1-2-3 all clear by 1520 throughout runway but reduced to 500/1800 yds. by 1630.
d. FINALLY TURNED OFF 1650.
4. Instructions to Turn off given by: 8 Group (PFF).
5. Details of Aircraft Landed (types, times and all relevant information, including Pilot’s Reports, to be attached)
1. Following Mosquito aircraft of 105 Sqdn. Bourn. H at 1607, K at 1610, Q at 1628. Pilots stated that clearance was to South of airfield. They had considerable difficulty in landing owing to wet fog drifting across runway from N to S.
2. The following Lancasters of 35 Sqdn. Graveley, took off on operations by FIDO between 1527 & 1543 A-U-O-Q-R-S (S Crashed after take off). T-N-E-G. On return they were diverted to West Raynham. Just after stages 1-2 and 3 (Less funnels) had been lit for the take off, the three Mosquitoes were diverted to Graveley necessitating the lighting of both short and long funnels. Two Lancasters were diverted to us from Upwood but owing to [P.T.O.] deterioration these were re-diverted to Downham Market and a darky a/c unidentified was diverted to Woodbridge.
A.06.097.
Collection
Citation
“Details of operational use of FIDO at RAF Gravely,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed May 20, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/56728.