1st Valiant In Camouflage Display

By Anthony Wright, Sqn Ldr RAF Ret’d, Mar 2011

Garry, Just looking at your excellent website again I noticed the entry of yours below;

VALIANT THE FIRST AIRCRAFT TO PUBLICLY DISPLAY IN CAMOUFLAGE AIR DISPLAYS ARE HERE AGAIN 1964
Making the first appearance of a camouflaged V-bomber at a public display, a green and grey Valiant B(K)1 of 148 Sqn, RAF Marham, showed itself in the low level capacity at the annual RAFA Whit Monday air display at North Weald. Coming in very low and fast from the north, the Valiant proved how successful the new paint scheme is, for many eyes tried in vain to follow the commentators injunction to spot “the Valiant approaching from your right” –
Flight International, 28th May 1964

WHIT MONDAY 1964
This rang a bell and prompted me to get out one of my log books and lo and behold the following entry :
18th May 1964 T/O 1425 A/C Valiant XD857 Pilot Flt Lt Phillips Navigator Fg Off A J Wright. Flight Details – Flying Display, Church Fenton, Hucknall, North Weald Day 2hrs 30 mins.

Looking up past calendar dates 18th May was a Whit Monday. It was a single navigator sortie (hence my not putting in Navigator Radar) as my normal crew Captain Flt Lt Norman Bevis (now deceased) and Nav Plotter and Flt Cdr – Sqn Ldr Ken Lewis (now deceased) didn’t want to do a weekend trip and so I, as a Nav Radar, flew the sortie with another Captain and a Nav Plotter missing. I’ve attached my log book pages for proof!

CAMO INVENTOR “SWIRLS”
Another snippet on the subject of camouflage – I recall all of us squadron aircrew standing outside our 148 Sqn hangar, RAF Marham, on the day of the landing of the first Valiant to return to us from being repainted in the new camouflage livery. We had been pre-warned by ATC of its approach and so aircrew from the other Marham sqns 49, 207 and 214 (tankers) were also, I assume, out to see it arrive. We were all obviously conned by some wag who said that he’d heard that the inventor/painter of the camouflage had ensured that his initials were in the ‘swirls’ of the camouflage. Despite straining our eyes , moving our heads and trying, with great imagination, to decipher these so called initials it was to no avail. It took some time for it to sink in that we’d been had!

Lastly, once the a/c had arrived, one camouflaged Valiant among the rest of the white Valiants , everyone wanted to fly it! So for the next few weeks everyone wanted to fly in a camouflaged Valiant. Although a bit of a disappointment really because although the outside was nice and shiny the inside was just the same. It hadn’t been touched. Of course as time went on gradually they all became repainted. You can imagine the next outcome – when we got down to only one white Valiant on the Squadron everyone clamoured to fly that one! So typical aircrew – always boys at heart!

I didn’t know 47 years ago, and also when I submitted my information to you, that I was flying the first V to publicly display in camouflage. Your website, when I read the input from ‘V Snippets’ from Flight International, only brought it home to me the other day. It may be that the others in that a/c are still unaware of the fact. Thanks again for all your sterling work. Anthony Wright

Many thanks for your update too Anthony, more history in the making that we are glad to highlight once more.
Ed.

Pic: P. Goodall Coll.