Sunday, December 11, 2011

Flight Log Books - May & June 1942

I noted the reference to "Tealing" at the top the page on this log and was curious. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about it and I wondered... Also here is Mom's diary page from May 27, 1942.

Tealing is a village in Angus in eastern Scotland, nestled at the foot of the Sidlaw Hills. It is just 6 miles (9.7 km) north of the city of Dundee and 8 miles (13 km) south of Forfar.

During the Second World War, the Ministry of Defence built an aerodrome at Tealing and No. 56 Officer Training Unit opened in March 1942, equipped with Hurricane, Master and Lysander aircraft. The number of pilots training at the unit varied from about 35 to 40 in 1942, reaching a peak of 150 on 1943.

It was at the aerodrome that Tealing's most famous visitor arrived. On 20 May 1942, a strange four-engined aircraft appeared in the circuit at Tealing, piloted by Endel Puusepp. It was one of the first Russian TB7s to visit Britain and it brought Vyacheslav Molotov, Russian Foreign Minister and Deputy Chairman of the State Committee of Defence, on a military mission to meet with Sir Winston Churchill at Chequers. Tealing airfield was probably chosen to attract as little attention as possible and, for security reasons, there was a local news blackout at the time.

Molotov was given the choice of two aircraft in which to continue his journey to England. The one he did not select, as later revealed by Sir Archibald Hope, Senior Controller of Fighter Command in Scotland in 1942, crashed in the Vale of York, killing various members of Molotov's staff and senior RAF personnel. Molotov arrived safely in London for the signing of the Anglo-Soviet Treaty on 26 May 1942.



1 comment:

  1. Thanks for providing such a wonderful information, I like the above article, it's really very interesting and informative .
    Keep upadate..
    Pilot Log Book

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