P/O Deane's early experiences with 49Squadron

The following extracts from Group Captain Deane's memoirs are published by kind permission of Michael Deane.
They must not be published whole or in part anywhere else without permission.
(Michael Deane: mdeane@cwgsy.net )

The Road to Kinloss

Nothing much happened in the next three months except we were twice sent up to Kinloss in Scotland to search again for the elusive Deutschland. We did not find it.

My first visit to Kinloss had to be undertaken by car. My aircraft needed flight testing before the trip.

Bob Adams our Flight Commander decided to do it and on landing tore the flaps to shreds with the ice thrown up by the wheels. With my Hampden rendered unserviceable I had no alternative but to travel in my little sports car.

I had reached the Scottish border by nightfall and decided in the black-out and with the very restricted headlighting permitted, it would be sensible to stay the night somewhere. I came across two men walking along the road and enquired whether there was a town ahead.

"Oi Hoick," came the reply, which was quite unintelligible to me.

Still I persevered, asking if there was a hotel ahead.

Again the brief reply was, "Oi Hoick."

On this, my first visit to Scotland, I was not impressed with the level of local intelligence (a view I have had good reason to change since) and drove on. I soon came to a town and found a hotel. On the menu at breakfast next morning was printed the 'Queen's Hotel, Hawick' which I then gathered was pronounced 'Hoick' and it was me that had been the dumb one.