Tales from the Battle of Britain (between July and October 1940) helped convince the British Air Ministry that a Training Memorandum publication was sorely needed for all air force personnel. The monthly Tee Emm publication was introduced in 1941 to enforce safety and proper training.
The magazine often used examples of blunders and ignorance (the Pilot Officer Prune way) to teach important lessons, but also published real cases in which correct action saved lives, property, and equipment. How to bale out properly was a lesson all flyers were expected to commit to memory.
The Perfect Baleout
Tee Emm, March 1943
The following report has been received from a pilot. We don’t know his name. All we know is that it certainly couldn’t have been P.O. Prune!
Pilot Officer Prune bales out the hard way.
“I was at about 5,000 feet and 10 miles out to sea when circumstances necessitated baling out; it is most inadvisable to try to put a fighter of the Hurricane or Tomahawk variety down on the sea, unless, of course, the pilot has had plenty of experience in submarines. Having decided to bale out, I followed the rules to the letter. I made certain of locking the hood back, disconnected my oxygen tube and R/T wire, turned the plane on its back and completed the manoeuvre by simultaneously pushing the stick hard forward and pulling at the sutton harness pin. My R/T was u/s or I should have announced the fact that I intended to become a member of the caterpillar club.
“The sensation was extremely pleasant; I left the aircraft at 4,000 feet and there was no fear of being hit on the head with the tail unit, as I seemed to be shot out of the aircraft very forcibly.
“I floated down to about 1,500 feet before pulling the ripcord (no need to fumble and panic!) and grasped it with my right hand. I didn’t roll myself up in a ball as I knew my parachute straps were a shade on the loose side; instead I straightened my back. The ’chute opened almost as soon as I had pulled the ripcord, and I suffered no inconvenience from the slight jerk of the straps. When descending on to the sea, the quick release box should be turned to red when about 30 feet up, and should be banged hard just as the feet enter or are about to enter the water. This is easier to do than it sounds, but the great thing is not to do it too soon, as altitude is very difficult to judge when over the sea. Hold your nose with your left hand, elbow well into your side, and remember, keep your feet together. This is what I was once told and it certainly paid to follow it out.
Prune awaits rescue
“I was lucky in having a parachute dinghy, and I had put it on properly, the lanyard being attached to my Mae West. The parachute started to float away dragging the harness, but I was able, by using the lanyard, to reach the dinghy and pull it out of its canvas case. I followed the instructions again and only turned the compressed air bottle valve very slowly; if it is turned on like a tap it freezes up at once, and then there is only the hand pump, which may be broken. My dinghy inflated itself beautifully and I had no need to use the hand pump at all during the whole of my 4½ hours at sea.
“If one rehearses in one’s mind two or three times just what one will have to do if certain things happen, then, if the time ever comes, one finds that one’s brain works at an unprecedented pace, and one remembers what to do and when. The man who has never thought about it may easily miss something which will inconvenience him.
“One excellent piece of advice given to me, which I must pass on. However hot it is, wear leather gauntlets. Shorts and short-sleeved shirts are hopeless if there is a fire, which is always a possibility. A pair of light overalls, or a long-sleeved golfing jacket and a pair of slacks fastened at the angle or inside flying boots, would quite likely enable you to make a successful ‘Bale out’ by giving you protection and confidence. It is not a bad idea to carry a full flask. I did, and I used it, too!”
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The spitfire pilot in this short clip (1:31) knew the value of proper bale out procedures:
The spitfire pilot in this short clip (1:31) knew the value of proper bale out procedures:
Likewise, the downed airmen who "met with a spot of trouble" appreciate a tot of rum and a cigarette aboard the RAF rescue boat (1:06):
This 15-minute RAF training film details correct ditching procedures used by a bomber crew:
For the Tee Emm staff, even the most obvious lesson was a necessary lesson, as sorry anecdotes collected. The magazine repeatedly drilled readers on the need to adhere to even the most basic of safety regulations.
Strap Yourself In
Tee Emm, August 1942
That snappy little book, Flying Regulations for the Royal Air Force, has a Section E. Section E is all about Safety Belts. Para. 4 of Section E says that safety belts are to be “properly secured during take off … during landing, and in flying, except when carrying out duties which necessitate moving about the aircraft.” So far so good.
Now regulations as P.O. Prune knows only too well, are made to be broken – in fact, at the suggestion of his C.O. he refrained from going on a promised “forty-eight” only last week-end by way of helping himself to remember than oily bowsers are not mirages but solid material through which a aircraft cannot really taxi, and that he’s supposed to look out for them. On the other hand, there is generally a good reason for regulations apart from that of just making things more difficult.
Now the reason for properly strapping yourself in … Prune here interrupts to say, “Oh, I know that! It’s to prevent you falling out if you start any aerobatics. But as long as I’m not intending …” We here interrupt Prune to say that not only do you damage yourself irrevocably by falling out during aerobatics, but you can do it just as irrevocably by falling about inside the aircraft, particularly during a forced landing; or you can lose control at a low altitude and not regain it till too late. And all of these things can happen if you are not properly strapped in.
P/O Prune learns the hard way to tighten his straps.
But example is better than precept, as Prune says – or would say if he knew just what precept meant (he has just remarked that he was made a precept his last term at school) – so here are a few extracts from official reports on some last year’s accidents, taken at random and covering many different types of aircraft. The same thing happened this year.
“March, 1941. Blenheim. Pilot … was accidentally thrown out. He was in the habit of flying with his harness unfastened and sliding roof open.”
“August, 1941. Spitfire. Forced landing after engine-failure. Pilot thrown forward and killed. He had unstrapped himself despite regulation to the contrary.”
“May, 1941. Magister. Parachute moved forward and prevented backward movement of control column. Stalled turning in cloud. Air gunner thrown out. Not secured to aircraft and not wearing parachute pack.”
“June, 1941. Oxford. Bounced on landing. Thrown forward on to stick and throttle. Due to failing to strap himself in.”
“October, 1941.” Hampden. Lost control when cloud-flying. Pilot was not strapped in and was thrown forward on to the controls.”
And this last accident cost four lives.
So you see it is worth while remembering to strap yourself in – even though it’s only one of those regulations!
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Got Your Whistle?
Tee Emm, July 1942
A fighter pilot came down in the drink the other day and, though comparatively near land, he yet floated round for fifty-seven hours without being picked up. A small thing like a dinghy is difficult to see; indeed baled-out crews have had the experience of actually being nearly run down by ships without being seen or heard in spite of their shouts.
This fighter pilot might well have floated round much longer than fifty-seven hours but for one little thing – his whistle. He was not seen, but his whistle was heard. So always make certain before going out on ops, that you have your whistle – and your floating torch as well. You are entitled to be issued with these and your Equipment Officer will give them to you if you ask.
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Crews could not fly with copies of Tee Emm magazine. If you were unlucky enough to parachute into the hands of the enemy, you were expected to have committed to memory RAF rules for prisoners of war, especially rule number six!
Two Dozen Don’ts for Prisoners of War
Tee Emm, November 1941
- Don’t tell your captors anything except your name and rank.
- Don’t believe them if they insist you are bound by International Law to tell them your unit. That’s just Lie Number One.
- Don’t believe Lies Numbers Two and Three, Four or Five; that they will ill-treat or penalize you if you don’t talk; that they will give you good treatment if you do; that they are merely anxious for a friendly chat with a brave enemy; or that some friend of yours has already Told All. Your answer to these should be monosyllabic and plural.
- Don’t forget that everyone round you is an Enemy – till you know him for certain to be a friend.
- Even then don’t discuss anything with him.
- In short, DON’T OPEN YOUR DARN MOUTH.
- Don’t forget the enemy want to know everything you can tell them, however apparently insignificant, about movements of units, aircraft, air stations, air tactics, defences, politics, morale, or even the weather.
- So D.O.Y.D.M.
- Don’t forget they can piece things together; that papers, letters, diaries, practically anything in your aircraft or on your person from maps to tram tickets is capable of giving them information.
- So don’t forget to destroy your aircraft after you come down, and your tram tickets before you go up.
- Don’t think you’ve fooled them when they give up interrogating you, and start to chat on harmless topics. No topic is harmless when you’re a prisoner.
- Don’t believe in anyone’s protestation of sympathy or friendship, be they guards, fellow prisoners, kindly interrogators, or even pretty hospital nurses. It’s just the good old confidence trick.
- Don’t imagine there isn’t a microphone in your room because you can’t see it.
- D.O.Y.D.M.
- Don’t believe in either fairies or friendly neutrals. There ain’t no such thing.
- Don’t believe a word you are told by anyone.
- Don’t let yourself, above all, be deceived by the happy chance of meeting a friend after a spell of solitary confinement. You may be sure that walls have ears.
- D.O.Y.D.M.
- Don’t be downhearted. Canaries sometimes sing; prisoners sometime escape.
- Don’t write letters to friends giving anything away, either in the address or the contents.
- Don’t try to be clever under examination. You will end up by being too clever by half, which will be half as clever as the other fellow. He’s an expert on getting things out of people. That’s why he’s there.
- Don’t forget your comrades’ lives depend on your observing these Don’ts.
- D.O.Y.D.M.
- Don’t forget all this is in Air Publication 1548. But, as you must not take it into the air, you unfortunately won’t be able to consult it when you need it most. The answer is to Know It By Heart.
Your Station should have an Instructional Film, called “Interrogation of Prisoners.” You should have seen it. If you haven’t, ask to do so. It’ll show you the damage that can be done by so small a thing as a bus ticket, left accidentally in a pocket.
D.O.Y.D.M.
