AirTanker Services and RAF-embedded employees completed a battlefield tour of Normandy at the end of May:

The sky overhead was a perfect blue. Walkers strolled along a vast expanse of golden sand, while children trailed behind their parents as they collected shells, the picture-postcard scene betraying nothing of the drama that had unfolded there almost 70-years before.

This was Gold Beach, which with Utah, Sword and Juno, were chosen by the Allies for the Normandy Landings and the invasion of German-occupied Europe, which began in the early hours of 6 June 1944.  

Our own journey had begun a day earlier. A mixed party of AirTanker Services, RAF embedded and PSCs leaving RAF Brize Norton late on Friday afternoon for Portsmouth to catch the overnight ferry to Ouistreham.

It was from here that we made our way to Café Gondree. A stone’s throw from Pegasus Bridge, it was the first building to have been liberated by the Allies following a daring assault by British airborne troops.

After croissants and coffee in the early morning sunshine, our guide, historian and author, Major Tim Saunders, explained how 180 men from Ox & Bucks Light Infantry had been loaded into Horsa gliders and towed across the Channel to land almost on top of their target on the Caen Canal.

Taking the German guards by surprise, the bridge was secured within 10 minutes, making ‘Operation Deadstick’ not only one of the first but one of the most successful, assaults by Allied forces in the Normandy campaign.

This success was not repeated at our next destination, Merville Battery. Here the grim realities of war were all too apparent. The attack, another airborne assault, this time by 9 PARA on the four strongly defended concrete casemates that made-up the German artillery position, ended in near disaster.

Scattered in their initial drop and facing determined German resistance, by the time the operation was completed only 50 of 550 men who began the fight were able to continue the march into Normandy, the remainder either, dead, wounded, missing in action or captured.   

From here, we headed out along the Normandy Coast from Ouistreham to Arromanches, and to Gold beach, where thousands of men of the 50^th Northumbrian Division made up the major British landing.  

Here, British intelligence officers had used seaside postcards taken before the war to plan their campaign. Now, some 70 years-on in bright mid-May sunshine once more it appeared a postcard scene but with insight, the sands gradually gave up their stories of bravery and sacrifice.

Our guide took us through the German firepower, mine and shell-tipped wooden stakes, ramps and the maze of metal and wire, that had met the Northumbrians on their arrival, with an expert military eye.

This was brought to life with great poignancy on the beach itself. Strewn across an area the size of a tennis court were the remains of a British tank. Hit by German fire, it had exploded, taking the lives of all those on board, the only reminder remaining today, the fragments of steel and metal, that now rested on the sand among the sea shells and pebbles.  

“Finding a bit of the tank gave me a kind of connection to what happened here”, says Simon Wheeler, Building Technician, Babcock. “You can go and see it in a museum, where it’s laid out for you but it’s somehow not as powerful as the experience of actually picking up a piece of history from the beach for yourself.

“You think about what happened to that tank and what happed to the people inside it – it’s a powerful thing.” 

And with the help of Major Saunders, the beach also gave up other stories, including that of Company Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis. He became the only British soldier to win the Victoria Cross during the Normandy campaign, after ‘single handedly’ taking-out German defensive positions at Ver-sur-Mer.   

Following lunch at Arromanches and in sight of the ‘rotting’ remains of the Mulberry Harbour (a concrete breakwater built in secret around the English coast and towed to the Normandy to support the landings) the AirTanker battlefield tour headed inland to ‘Point 54’. The tranquility of the lush Normandy countryside its buttercup filled meadows, woodlands and rolling hills, belying what had gone before.

Here the Dorsets had run into unexpected German fire power as they attempted to take high ground outside the town.  Our own tour taking in the heavily camouflaged bunker complex that had alluded British reconnaissance and delivered the damage to the West Country soldiers.   

If the serenity of the French countryside made the full horror of war at times difficult to comprehend, our next stop, the Arromaches 360 degree cinema drove it home. The powerful film showing how the fields and cliff tops outside, had teamed with humanity throughout June 1944, also portraying the cost of that activity to soldier and civilian.  

The following day we started out in Caen, (many of our party somewhat ‘the worse for wear’ after sampling the city’s ‘cultural’ attractions the night before!).

Caen itself had been subjected to fierce fighting, so much so that the British Army had pressed the RAF for its bombardment to drive out German soldiers. This eventually took place on the evening of 8 July 1944, leveling large parts of the city at the cost of more than 1,200 French lives.

The ‘bogged down’ Allied campaign also ran into stiff German resistance at Hill 112, our next destination. Here the RAF took on an increasingly important role in support of tank Brigades and the infantry of the Wessex Division.

Out-gunned by German Tiger Tanks, the 5^th Battalion Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry struggled to push onto the hill.  Improved communication between the ground troops and the RAF led to improved tactical use of Typhoons to drive back the Tiger Tanks – a defining moment for the tactical use of the RAF in the Normandy campaign.

With the rain now tipping down, we headed for Taillerville.  A few miles inland from the Juno Beach, where Canadian forces had landed, it became the site of one of the RAF’s first temporary airfields. In addition to forming the operational base for the Typhoon, it became a medevac centre, bringing injured soldiers back to the UK from the field in as little as 12 hours.  

But the most poignant moment was our last. As the rain poured down, the white gravestone’s of just a few of the thousands of servicemen to have lost their lives in the campaign, continued to stand to a ‘perpetual attention’ – a generation cut down in their youth.

The ramifications of this sacrifice were not lost on those of us who now came to acknowledge their sacrifice and to pay our respects. This was done individually, in quiet compilation and collectively as AirTanker’s Finance Director, David Haydock and Squadron Leader Hester Yates, laid a wreath of poppies at the base of a cross of remembrance.

Helen Kayley, part of AirTanker Services Cabin Crew team, just one of those to have been struck by the emotion of the occasion.

“When you see the graves – so many of them – it has a big impact on you and I felt myself fighting back tears. Having heard the individual stories of some of those who fought here and the sacrifices that they made, made it all the more poignant.

“It’s been an incredibly interesting but also a really quite powerful experience – understanding what people did collectively but also what they sacrificed individually to achieve it.”

This was acknowledged formally by our battlefield guide, Major Saunders as he led a two-minute silence in remembrance of those who served and those who lost their lives in Normandy, WWII, conflicts present and past.

Citing the war memorial in Kohima his words cutting loud and clear through the rain: ‘For your tomorrow we gave our today’. They will remain with all of us who attended.

As part of AirTanker’s long term sponsorship programme with 2267 Squadron, the Brize based cadets, we recently helped with their first Duke of Edinburgh training weekend by providing high tech tents and camping stoves.

The group headed out from Weston-on-the-Green in Oxfordshire over the weekend of 27th April for two full days of navigation and survival.  The experience gives cadets the chance to grow their leadership and organisational skills in a fun and challenging way, providing them with vital skills for the future.

Expedition leader, Fg Off Holden said: “the teamwork and skills the cadets showed throughout highlighted the spirit and enthusiasm that the Air Cadet organisation seeks to encourage. For many of the individuals taking part, this was the first time they had been fully independent and I think each individual has come away with something to learn about themselves.”

Fg Off Daniel Holden is also a member of the AirTanker cabin crew.  He fits in working with the cadets around his flying programme on the civil registered aircraft. 

Daniel continues: “providing the tents and stoves means that everybody can get involved in the expeditions without feeling pressured to buy all of the necessary kit.  But it’s just one small element of our partnership with AirTanker; Mark Windle [an AirTanker SR pilot] is also supporting the set-up of our new static simulator and we have other projects in the pipeline which will really benefit the cadets.  Of course, we also recognise it’s a two way relationship and we look forward to helping AirTanker in the future.” 

To hear more about the expedition, look out for the article in next month’s Global Gateway or head to the cadets website – www.brizenortonaircadets.org.uk

AirTanker has taken receipt of its first ‘three-point’ tanker, marking a significant step forward in the Voyager programme.  

The first of seven ‘three-point capable’ tankers that will be delivered to the RAF as part of the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft programme (FSTA), the aircraft is configured to include a centre-line fuselage refuelling unit capability, in addition to wing pods.

Flying into RAF Brize Norton on the 26^th April, the aircraft will join Voyager 01 and 03 on the Military Aircraft Register as ZZ332.

Phill Blundell, CEO, AirTanker, said: “The arrival of Voyager 04, the first of our three-point capable tankers, represents an exciting step forward in our programme and in the delivery of new capability to the RAF.

“Spring and summer this year represent a critical period in the build-up of our operation, with Voyager 05 expected within a month and Voyager 06 shortly after. Meanwhile, we expect a release to begin air-to-air refuelling from the MOD, imminently.”

In all, 14 aircraft, plus the associated personnel and infrastructure to support them, will be delivered by the Voyager programme. This includes seven two-point tankers, which refuel from wing pods and the seven three point capable tankers.  

AirTanker is charged with the delivery of a core capability of nine Voyager aircraft by mid-2014, with the operational programme continuing to make good progress against this target.

To date the two military aircraft since the start of operational service in April last year,  ZZ330 and ZZ331, have together clocked more than 1,700 hours, flying more than 470 sectors, carrying more than 25,000 passengers and 2,000 tonnes plus of freight.

Voyager 02, which flies on the Civil Aircraft Register, has flown more than 230 hours and 73 sectors, carrying more than 5,000 passengers and more than 300 tonnes of freight. The aircraft, G-VYGG, forms the core of AirTanker’s airline operation, which began operations with an inaugural flight to Akrotiri in January this year.

Operated and manned by a civilian crew, the airline service is available to the MOD to task in the same way as existing arrangements with other civilian charter airlines but with the advantages that come with exclusive usage.  

Blundell added: “We are very much an ‘operational programme’ and building a strong reputation among UK Armed forces for the delivery of a highly flexible but also reliable service.” 

Flt Lt Mick Hollands and Flt Lt Mark Windle have been presented with their wings by Air Vice-Marshal Sean Reynolds, Air Officer Commanding No. 2 Group.
Held only days before the 95th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Flying Corps, the event hosted by No. 10 Squadron was held at the AirTanker Hub on Wednesday 27th March.

Speaking at the ceremony Air Marshal Reynolds said: “When I got my wings in 1986, I remember a sense that you were joining an exclusive club. That remains the same today. Flt Lt Hollands and Flt Lt Windle are part of something that a lot of people aspire to but which not everyone achieves.

“The RAF’s predecessor, the Royal Flying Corps, will mark its 95th anniversary in just a few days’ time on 1st April. Flt Lt Hollands and Flt Lt Windle will have the newest wings at the end of this 95th anniversary year.

“Today is also a first for me, in that it’s the first time that I have been a  reviewing officer at a brevet presentation which, for me personally, makes today all the more significant. I am absolutely delighted to be able to present Flt Lt Hollands and Flt Lt Windle with their wings.

“Congratulations to both in their achievement and their entry into a special club.”

Employed by AirTanker, Mick and Mark already have extensive experience as commercial pilots. They will play a pivotal role in the Voyager Programme by supporting not only civilian flights but also bringing a greater flexibility to it as Sponsored Reservists.

They began their Sponsored Reservist training at RAF Halton in March last year, completing General Service Knowledge (GSK) training covering RAF and military history, basic drills and uniforms followed by Basic Recruit Training (BRT) including weapon systems handling, first aid, and field exercises.

They then attended RAFC Cranwell for Reserve Officer Introductory Training (ROIT), this element of the programme providing focus on military leadership.

Wing Commander Dan James, Officer Commanding No. 10 Squadron, said: “Flt Lt Hollands and Flt Lt Windle are both very experienced civilian pilots; Mick has clocked-up more than 7,000 hours in airlines including Easyjet and Excel, while Mark has more than 2,000 hours”

“They have since gone through full and traditional basic military skills training at RAF Halton followed by the leadership element at RAFC Cranwell, to become significant assets to the Squadron.”

Commenting after the ceremony Flt Lt Mark Windle said: “You get a real sense of the history and tradition that comes with the RAF when you’re in training. The wings ceremony epitomised that sense of duty and responsibility, as well as the commitment that we’re making to something bigger. It’s been a very special day.”

“They have since gone through full and traditional basic military skills training at RAF Halton followed by the leadership element at RAFC Cranwell, to become significant assets to the Squadron.”

Commenting after the ceremony Flt Lt Mark Windle said: “You get a real sense of the history and tradition that comes with the RAF when you’re in training. The wings ceremony epitomised that sense of duty and responsibility, as well as the commitment that we’re making to something bigger. It’s been a very special day.”

At 16:30 yesterday, 20^th March 2013, a group of six Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel from RAF Brize Norton and three Virgin Atlantic members, completed a 75 mile hike, over three days from Virgin Atlantic’s base at Heathrow to the AirTanker Hub at RAF Brize Norton. 

This exhausting challenge was undertaken in order to raise money and awareness or the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund and the Baby Snow Fairy Fund supporting military personnel and neo-natal intensive care units.

On reaching the AirTanker Hub one of our RAF engineers, Andrew Sayers commented: “It’s been a tiring experience but it is great to arrive home to such a welcome from the Voyager team and the amount we’ve raised [over £2500] will make a big difference to those supported by the RAFBF and the Baby Snow Fairy Fund.” 

 To donate to the charities, please to go their Virgin Money Giving Page. 

Our RAF Engineers at Heathrow sporting their Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund t-shirts

They are aiming to raise significant funds for their chosen charities supporting military personnel and neo-natal intensive care units.  

The route has been chosen due to their connection with both of the military and civilian centres of aviation.  Five of the RAF personnel are engineers, who have been posted to work on the Voyager service for AirTanker.  Their tour lasts for five years, two of which are spent completing their civilian licences to enable them to work on both the military and civilian registered aircraft, and three are spent working on and flying with Voyager alongside our Sponsored Reservist and civilian engineers. 

This group of engineers is currently completing the training stage, of which the last ten months have been on-the-job training in industry, in this case, with Virgin Atlantic at Heathrow Airport.  To symbolise their imminent return to the AirTanker Hub to work on Voyager, the engineers will be walking along the Thames path from Heathrow Airport to the AirTanker Hub at with their colleagues from Virgin Atlantic.

To support the group and wish the civilian military partnership the best of luck in their challenge, please visits their Virgin Money Giving page.

Like most companies, we have a responsibility to get involved and support the environment in which we work.  We are committed to encouraging and supporting, the local community where possible. 

This is where our charities of the year come in.  We not only send a lump sum to help fund their honourable activities but we also work throughout the year to raise more funds for them through events or sponsored activities.

But we don’t just support our two charities of the year; we also have long term partnerships with RAF Brize Norton, the station on which we are based, Carterton Community College, an engineering specialist college  to which many students from the five primary schools in Carterton progress, and the RAF Brize Norton based Air Cadets, an institution focused on the development of young people with aviation interests.

Carterton Community College students taking part in Tri@RIAT with AirTanker engineering mentors

These partnerships have been formed through our joint passion for: 

• Education (science, technology and engineering)
• The local community
• The military

Our focus is on shared values as we feel our corporate success is dependent on the social welfare of our staff and stakeholders.  We want to develop and maintain a healthy, well skilled workforce with sustainable resources and effective governance to succeed.  By getting the balance right between our business objectives and our community engagement, it will help us to understand and integrate into the military and civilian communities that are relevant to us.

We look forward to keeping you up to date on our community news throughout the year.

Voyager has flown Prince Harry home from his four-month Afghanistan tour as an Apache attack helicopter gunner. 

Prince Harry in front of Voyager's Rolls Royce Trent 700 engines

The Prince, who is known as Captain Wales in the Army, touched down at RAF Brize Norton late yesterday afternoon [23/1/13] on an inbound flight from RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus.The Airbus A330, is one of a core fleet of nine state-of-the art aircraft that will be made available to the RAF for air-transport and air-to-air refueling, as part of the Voyager Programme. 

Dave Mitchard, managing director, AirTanker, said: “The flight is illustrative of the significant progress that is being made against the programme which remains on course and on time, to deliver full capability to the RAF in 2016.

“As this flight highlights, the operational phase is now well under-way, and we’re achieving good results supporting the RAF in delivering a reliable, safe and comfortable service to all military personnel.”

The first of these aircraft, Voyager 01, began flight operations with the RAF on 8 April 2012. From its operational start date to the end of last year it has:

• Flown 385 times covering more than 1,096,500 kms
• Carried more than 21,800 troops and directly supported the Afghan air-bridge
• Carried in excess of 1,441,000 kgs of cargo
• Clocked more the 1,300 hours
• Achieved a 98 per cent plus, on time service delivery – a level of service comparable with a commercial airline.

Voyager 02, AirTanker’s civilian aircraft and the aircraft which brought Prince Harry home to Brize Norton is manned and flown by AirTanker pilots and supported by AirTanker cabin crew on the Civilian Aircraft Register as part of its airline operation.

It is available to the MOD to task in the same way as it currently tasks civilian charter aircraft to support troop and equipment movements but is available exclusively to them, delivering increased operational flexibility. Its’ pilots are also Sponsored Reservists and are also on that basis available to the RAF in a military capacity.

Mitchard concluded: “We’re rightly proud of what is being achieved. The service is pioneering in what it delivers and how it is delivering it. Embedding RAF personnel alongside civilian and Sponsored Reservist staff, we are successfully blending best practice from military and civilian aviation to deliver, a flexible, safe and reliable service to the RAF and Armed forces.”

The AirTanker crew on arrival in Cyprus

As part of its set-up to provide operational capability to the MOD, AirTanker will operate at least one of its 14 specially converted A330 aircraft, named Voyager by the RAF, on the civilian register. 

On completion of the first flight James Scott, Director of Flight Operations and Captain for the flight said: “Having already started operations on the military register, we are delighted to have grown our civilian operations as planned.  I’m pleased to say the aircraft performed brilliantly and our passengers arrived on time and in comfort.” 

The Voyager cabin

The flights are flown on the civilian register by an AirTanker crew and operate in a similar way to a charter aircraft but the MOD has guaranteed access and therefore greater flexibility in their usage. 

As the final part of the process to become an airline. AirTanker completed a successful proving flight with the Civil Aviation Authority to Keflavik in Iceland to secure its Air Operator’s Certificate on 13^th December.

James goes on: “This achievement is rare – it has been many years since a long haul, wide bodied aircraft operator has launched operations in the UK under a CAA Air Operators Certificate, having started from scratch rather than evolving from another operation”

“Gaining the relevant approvals and operating such a reliable aircraft allows us to offer the RAF a guaranteed service.  This means they are able to plan with greater certainty, but vitally for military operations, with more flexibility.”

Voyager 03 arrives at RAF Brize Norton

The Voyager Programme has taken another significant stride forward towards delivery of core capability of nine aircraft by Mid-2014 with the arrival of Voyager 03 into Brize Norton on 19 December.

The third Voyager aircraft to fly into AirTanker’s operational hub in 2012, it will join the Voyager fleet on the Military Aircraft Register.

Phill Blundell, CEO AirTanker, said: “Following the introduction of our air transport service in April this year, the Voyager programme is now entering an exciting delivery phase with the arrival of Voyager 02 and Voyager 03. Deliveries will continue into 2013 with three more aircraft due in the first half of the year.

“We look forward to working closely with the MOD and our partners throughout the coming year to deliver new operational flexibility to the RAF to support it and the wider UK military in safeguarding British and its partner interest around the globe.”

With an expectation of release to the MOD early in the New Year, Voyager 03 comes less than a month after the arrival of Voyager 02.

Voyager 02 will be flown and operated by AirTanker, using its own pilots, supported by AirTanker cabin crew on the Civilian Aircraft Register in support of MOD tasking.

AirTanker successfully demonstrated its full service capability to the Civil Aviation Authority in a proving flight to Keflavik on 13 December to secure its Air Operating Certificate (AOC).

Blundell continued: “Despite some challenging operating conditions, Voyager 02 successfully completed its CAA proving flight in December. It represents a significant stride forward both in terms of the programme and in the additional capability and importantly flexibility that access to a dedicated Civilian Registered Aircraft gives to the RAF.”

The AirTanker/Voyager programme continues to deliver some positive statistics following entry into service in April 2012. 

Since then it has flown more than 320 times carrying more than 16,000 passengers, in excess of 1,101,500 kgs of cargo and clocked more than 1,140 hours.

Against this activity operational figures for the year to date, show an aircraft availability of 96%, while AirTanker achieved an on time performance (OTP) of almost 98%.

Blundell added: “Our operational levels of service are comparable to that of any commercial airline. It is illustrative of how through an innovative partnership and a unique delivery programme Voyager is not only delivering capability but critically increasingly flexible capability, to the RAF.”

Voyager 03 outside the AirTanker hangar