In Memoriam
Sadly the following members have died since publication of the last newsletter.
We extend our sincere condolences to their families and friends.
John Laycock
William Spence
Andrew Robert Folliard
Gill Haller
Dick de Verteuil
Group Captain John Laycock BA RAF
Born 25 April 1938, died 08 August 2024, aged 86 years.
Group Captain John Laycock, a tall charismatic RAF pilot, was the Station Commander of RAF Waddington at the time of the Falklands conflict. He was born in Redhill, Surrey, to parents Harold and Doris Laycock. John was educated at Reigate Grammar School, before joining No 75 Entry at the RAF College Cranwell. John was a keen sportsman displaying an aptitude for several sports, notably rugby and cricket, both of which he played throughout his time at Cranwell. He completed basic pilot training on piston-engined Percival Provosts. John’s tall physique precluded advanced training in the cramped cockpit of the De Havilland Vampire T11 and instead he completed his training at Cranwell on Gloster Meteors. On graduating from Cranwell he was awarded the ‘DicksonTrophy and Michael Hill Memorial Prize’ for Applied Flying.
After Cranwell, John was posted to Victor bombers, initially as a copilot and subsequently as an aircraft captain on XV Squadron at RAF Cottesmore. His next move, in 1964, was back to Training Command; he was posted to the Central Flying School at RAF Little Rissington, where he qualified as a flying instructor on Jet Provost aircraft. His instructional tour was at No 6 FTS RAF Acklington in Northumberland.
Promotion to Squadron Leader followed and John was given an unaccompanied tour as Officer Commanding the RAF Unit at Goose Bay in Labrador, Canada. This unit provided vital host facilities for visiting RAF V-bomber squadrons on deployment there to hone their low flying skills over the sparsely-populated tundra of northeast Canada. This ground tour was the precursor to a Flight Commander tour flying Vulcans on 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron at RAF Waddington. Compared to the Victor Mk I, the Mk II Vulcan was a big step up in terms of aircraft performance. Although of similar weight, the Vulcan’s 80,000 lbs of thrust eclipsed the meagre 44,000 lbs put out by the Victor’s engines, making the big delta a much livelier proposition. On arrival at 44 Squadron, John’s imposing second row stature and affable nature earned him the nick-name ‘Big John’; he enjoyed the Vulcan immensely and soon became a highly popular Flight Commander.
Next came a NATO appointment at HG AFNORTH in Oslo, Norway, followed by Staff College at RAF Bracknell in 1974. Staff College provided another opportunity for John to return to the cricket pitch and his golf came on by leaps and bounds thanks to nine months of subsidised membership of the prestigious Wentworth Golf Club. All too soon John found himself at HQ 1 Group, RAF Bawtry. However his career took an unexpected and pleasant turn: short-toured at Bawtry, he was promoted to Wing Commander and sent to the USA to fill the post of Training Plans at Strategic Air Command Headquarters at Omaha, Nebraska. Whilst at Omaha John and his family travelled extensively throughout the southwestern states and John even managed to get his hand back in flying the odd trip in a T33 and T38.
1978 saw him back in the UK once more, for a return to the more familiar territory of Training Command. After a short course of refresher flying, he took over as Chief Instructor Multi-engine Training/OC Ops RAF Leeming. This was a busy appointment, overseeing training activities at three airfields: Leeming, Topcliffe and Dishforth.
In 1980 he was promoted to Group Captain and sent to the Ministry of Defence as Group Captain RAF Public Relations. His next appointment was Station Commander of RAF Waddington, where he assumed command in November of 1981. His tour as Station Commander took an unexpected and dramatic turn with the Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands in April of 1982. The tasking of Vulcans to attack the airfield at Port Stanley threw up two major problems. Firstly, the Vulcan force had relinquished its air-to-air refuelling capability some 15 years previously and in doing so had removed the probes and refuelling valves from the fleet. Secondly, the Vulcan force had ceased conventional bombing operations back in 1974 and the stock of septuple 1000 lb bomb carriers and associated 90-Way control panels had long since dissipated. Despite these difficulties, Martin Withers and his crew managed to drop a stick of 21 thousand pounders, cratering the runway at Port Stanley. Their 8000 mile mission, mounted from Ascension Island, is an epic story, well told in Rowland White’s book Vulcan 607.
In 1984 John Laycock joined the NATO Military Staff in Brussels, in the Nuclear Policy Branch of the Plans and Policy Division, before his eventual retirement from active service. From 1989 to 2003 he carried out Reserve Service, flying Chipmunks, Bulldogs and Tutor aircraft.
In late 1982, after the Squadron’s disbandment, the 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron Association was formed, under the chairmanship of John Laycock. John had been the face of the Association since its inception and only relinquished the position in 2022 after an astonishing 40 years of unbroken service. His departure left a void which, to all intents and purposes, remains unfilled. When he finally stepped down, he was made Life Vice President and the membership expressed its deep appreciation for his long and devoted tenure as Chairman.
John and Pam married in September 1960 and he is survived by their children Mike, Jane and Chris. together with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was also able to reconnect with his eldest daughter Clare in recent years and discovered more grandchildren in Canada, which gave him much joy.
Group Captain John Laycock BA RAF
Bill Spence of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire died peacefully on May 28th 2024.
Born and brought up in Middlesborough, Bill joined the RAF after leaving school and trained in Canada before becoming a bomb aimer. It seemed natural to join 44 Squadron when he teamed up with a Rhodesian pilot, Mike Wood. on August 10th 1944, they went on a familiarisation flight of the aircraft they would be flying, the Lancaster Bomber. In Bill’s memoirs he remembers :
‘Our new mid-upper gunner decided not to go so I thought I would take his place in mid-upper gun position. From here there was a magnificent all- round view and I could see the engines quite clearly. The instructor told Mike to close down one of the outer engines, and a few moments later the other outer engine. This was a great aircraft – it could fly on two engines! Then Mike was told to close down one of the inner engines. I was getting ready to grab my parachute! But I need not have worried. This wonderful aircraft kept airborne on one engine. This performance certainly gave me great faith in it’.
From Dunholme Lodge, Bill’s first operation came nineteen days later when the target was Königsberg in East Prussia, a round trip of 1900 miles. On reaching their target, cloud meant that they had to wait twenty minutes before dropping their first bomb. The enemy had detected their approach and were firing up a curtain of shells; 15 Lancasters were lost. On checking to see that all bombs had gone Bill discovered that hydraulic fluid was dripping into the bomb bay; they had been hit with shrapnel. They had to return home using the hand pump to make sure the undercarriage would work on landing. Fuel was also running low but they were told that there was fog in Lincolnshire and to go to Fiskerton where they had FIDO (fog dispersal equipment). Landing safely it had been a long trip of 11 hours 45 mins. It was believed by the crew at the time that they had achieved the endurance record for an aircraft of 5 Group and possibly for Bomber Command up to that date.
Bill went on to complete his 36 missions, most of them from Spilsby when the Squadron moved there, and then in the mercy missions to the starving Dutch, immediately after the war.
On his first leave in September 1944, with a week’s notice, Bill married Joan Ludley of Ampleforth and all of his crew attended their wedding. Bill and Joan went on to have four children.
He had always wanted to write and in 1958 his first novel ‘Dark Hell.’ was published, a book based on his war time experiences. From there he became a successful writer of westerns, under three pseudonyms, and romantic sagas based on the North Yorkshire Coast under the name of Jessica Blair. Throughout his life Bill retained his love for the Lancaster Bomber.
Bill Spence at the International Bomber Command Centre
