REPATRIATIONS.

By Brian Spurway.Airframes.


It's been a very long time since the bodies of British citizens, military or civilian, dying overseas have had to remain in the country where their deaths occurred; transportation of one form or another has seen to it that their bodies have been repatriated. The introduction of aeroplanes made this process simpler and much quicker than hitherto by land or sea; the advantage of this speedier method has obvious advantages that I do not need to be mentioned here.

The RAF has been involved in such repatriation flights, often covertly, ever since it obtained aeroplanes capable of doing such a task. Covertly became overtly in 2007 when the little town of Wootton Bassett gained both notoriety, and a name change. Hearses carrying the repatriated bodies of military personnel, who had lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, were frequently passing through the town on the way from RAF Lyneham to Oxford. Local British Legion members started lining the high street to pay their respects as the hearses passed by and this was soon taken up by an increasing numbers of local people. Before long people living outside the town, from near and far, joined in and - inevitably - the media too.

I had left Lyneham, and indeed the RAF in Apr 1989, so had nothing to do with these repatriations but I had, during my time on the Hercules been involved in two that had grabbed a bit of media attention.

On 11 Feb 1985 the Central Band of the Royal Air Force, during a tour of British bases in Germany, had been on-route to the NATO Winter Survival School at Bad Kohlgrub, in the Bavarian Alps, when the coach in which it was travelling collided with a fuel tanker near Langenbruck and burst into flames causing the loss of nineteen of the Band's members; HCS (the Hercules Conversion Squadron) was tasked with providing an aircraft and crew for their subsequent repatriation. A week after the accident, on 18 Feb, with a team from MAMS (the Mobile Air Movements Squadron), we flew out to RAF Wildenrath. The following morning, the aircraft having been ceremonially loaded with the coffins during the early hours, we flew back to Lyneham. After landing two engines were shut down and we taxied slowly up to a parking spot outside the Terminal building where, well-rehearsed and as quietly as possible, we shut down the other two engines, lowered the ramp to the ground and shut down all other systems. In exactly the same manner as you will have seen on TV - all too often in later times - the Union Jack covered coffins were removed from the aircraft and placed into individual hearses before being driven away from Lyneham.

Of course this repatriation was memorable because of the number of coffins involved but it was also very personal for me because one of the first coffins to be carried off the aircraft was that of the Band's Drum Major - ex 81st Entry member Brian Hadden. I had last seen Brian a couple of years earlier when the Central Band played at a function in the Officers' Mess at RAF Leeming whilst I was stationed there with the CFS - he had told me about his re-mustering from Airframe Fitter to Bandsman and later gave me an LP of the Band called 'I Could Have Danced All Night' (I still have it!).

In the late 1980s there were two elderly people living on the Continent whose lives were drawing to a close and whose deaths would be problematic for the British Government; one was an American and the other a German. Once again it fell to HCS to provide aircraft and crews for both eventualities and, in the meantime, to practise for the two differing repatriation procedures.

The American, as you have probably guessed, was the Duchess of Windsor who was at that time living in Paris. This lady was not held in any favour by some senior members of the Royal Family, particularly the Queen Mother, and so it was planned that her remains would be flown back to the UK covertly with no press coverage at all. I was not involved in any of the practises for this task but I do know that they took place at RAF Benson, at the far end of a runway and well out of sight of 'prying eyes'. In the event the practising was a waste of time as the Royal Family's objections dwindled after the Duchess died and her remains were flown back to the UK under the auspices, I believe, of the Royal Flight.

The German, and I'm sure you've guessed this one too, was Hitler's deputy Rudolph Hess, the long term sole prisoner held by the British in Berlin's Spandau prison. This repatriation would obviously not be to the UK but to an airfield in Bavaria close to the internment location chosen by the Hess family; the airfield selected was the US Army Base at Grafenwöhr. Here the UK, French, American and Soviet authorities would collectively hand the remains over to the family. The task was given the title of Operation Royston and at least one familiarisation flight was carried out to Grafenwöhr; the loading and unloading procedures - I'll explain them later - were also practised at Benson.

I recall that we were put on short notice stand-by so it was no surprise to be called from my pit early on Tuesday 18 Aug 1987; Hess had died the day before. He was a very old man and his death had been anticipated for some time but, being so closely guarded, his suicide must have seemed the least likely cause for his demise. There was then, and there still is, much speculation: did he really commit suicide or was he murdered, was it actually Hess or a 'doppelganger' who had been incarcerated in Spandau since the Nuremburg trials ended on the 1 Oct 1946? The conspiracy theories abound but I pass no judgement on any of them, they will go on being 'spouted', I fear, long after you and I have departed!

The British authorities in Bonn, and the military at Gatow, wanted to have the operation carried out with minimum fuss, securely, speedily and with no interference from the press or the public; but a certain request from the Hess family would also be respected, and this had been passed on to Lyneham so that the aircraft could be prepared: the coffin would only be carried and loaded into and out of both hearse and aircraft by the four prison warders - one British, one American, one French and one Russian - who were the last such to look after Hess before his death. This request was for the whole operation, not just whilst at Berlin but during the flight and at Grafenwöhr as well - and always to be unseen by anyone else.

The Hercules was made ready with the freight compartment divided into three by means of two heavy drape curtains hung down from the front and rear of the internal centre wing box section. The front compartment (Area 1) was fitted out with a number of rearward facing ex-Britannia passenger seats and an ornamental oak plinth was stowed in the centre compartment (Area 2). On the day a four man MAMS team would be positioned in Area 2, along with the plinth, and be out of sight from the other two compartments.

The plan was as follows - see diagrams - on arrival at Gatow, with no advance information being given out to the press or the public, we would taxi to a secure parking space and shut down. The MAMS team would move the plinth to the rear compartment (Area 3) and withdraw back to the Area 2. All passengers would board the aircraft through the front crew door and get seated in Area 1; the flight deck crew would be at their stations ready for a quick start and departure. When told by ATC of the imminent arrival of the hearse the ALM would lower the cargo ramp to the ground and then stand by - the family wishes had to be modified here in the interest of safety. The hearse would back up to the aircraft and the four warders would carry the coffin into Area 3 and place it on the plinth. The hearse would depart and the ALM escort the warders off the ramp and round to the crew entrance for them to join the other passengers; he would then move through the aircraft to close the ramp before taking his station outside ready for the engines to be started. The MAMS team would now move into Area 3, carry the coffin and the plinth forward into Area 2 where they would be chained to the floor - this would keep the aircraft cg easy to plot; they could then sit in Area 2 having never been observed by anyone either inside or outside the aircraft. Gatow ground crew would now appear as if by magic, the aircraft engines started and, without any delay, a quick taxi and immediate departure. Once parked at Grafenwöhr the unloading of the coffin would be exactly the same procedure but in reverse. After the coffin and its contents were handed over to the family we would head back to Gatow, offload our passengers and return to Lyneham.

Back to the morning of 18 Dec 87: the aircraft had been BF'd and then checked by a QRA stand-by Flt Eng so it was ready for an immediate start. The MAMS team were aboard waiting for us but who was this civilian person sitting on the flight deck's lower bunk? It turned out that he was Dr J Malcolm Cameron, professor of forensic medicine at London University, who informed us that he was coming with us to carry out an autopsy on Hess's body; it would take him a day or two so the plan mentioned above had already started badly.

Although it must have been expected by those in the know, our arrival at Gatow appeared to have everyone there, including the Stn Cdr, somewhat nervous. This nervousness was certainly not reduced when the pathologist's presence, and his intention, was made known; there would be no quick departure. We were to secure the Hercules, be driven to a downtown hotel, and await further instructions. Luckily we had all brought sufficient kit with us - always expect the unexpected - and so a couple of days in Berlin would be OK by us!

It was well past lunchtime when we got to our hotel and the bar was open; we arranged to gather there after changing into civvies. I just happened to be the first to arrive, walked up to the bar and was greeted by the young man tending it, "Guten tag, you must be one of the Hercules crew!" Thinking that our arrival was covert I must have looked dumbstruck by this bit of news. He continued, "Your expected arrival is all over the front pages of the newspapers." He showed me one paper and then read out a bit about a certain group - not difficult for you to guess who they were - stating their intention to get hold of Hess's remains, no matter by what means - "Yucks!" So much for the press and the public being kept unaware of things; it could be an interesting couple of days.

The Berlin wall was still standing but the area around it on the western side had been cleaned up considerably since my last visit some five years earlier; of particular interest was a new attraction named 'The Museum of Atrocities' - nowadays known as 'Topography of Terror' - which wasn't a million miles from 'The Museum of the Wall at Checkpoint Charlie' - now known as 'Checkpoint Charlie Museum'. Apart from these interesting places to visit, and spend some hours doing so, Berlin had many other attractions that helped us enjoy our unexpected stay.

Click on: 'Topography of Terror.'

Click on: 'Checkpoint Charlie Museum.'

All good things come to an end and early on 20 Aug we left the hotel ready to continue with Op. Royston. When we arrived at Gatow Station Operations we were again met by the Stn Cdr who was very keen to ensure everything went as planned; he even asked that we carry out a complete check of the Hercules - more than just my pre-flight checks - such as all coms, nav aids and even a check that all four Allisons would start! He insisted on the latter but time was critical and the captain, co-pilot and navigator had to plan the flight - could I go out to the aircraft immediately and do as he had requested. "Yes sir, I can do that, but what will it prove? Something may still go wrong later." He insisted, so the ALM and I were bussed out to the aircraft where we straight away noticed that we were under the scrutiny of an 'audience' gathered at the airfield boundary fence, mostly peering through long telescopic lenses - fame at last! With the ALM and a young airman outside I checked in with ATC and started all the engines, took a cursory glance at the Nav's panel and then shut everything down again ' a wasted effort as far as I was concerned.

Eight of our passengers - four prison governors, one from each nation - and here we noticed a small 'detail' on the Passenger Manifest where the Russian Lt Col governor's name had been scored through and replaced with a civilian one!!! - a British interpreter, a Russian interpreter, a British registrar and a German pastor - were all seated, we were ready on the flight deck, the MAMS team were hiding in Area 2 and the ALM was in position. Rather than a hearse - to avoid public interest I guess - an ambulance arrived, backed up to the Hercules, the coffin was carried into Area 3 and the plot mentioned earlier went according to plan.

After a faultless start we taxied off down the short perimeter-track to the runway and it was then that we on the flight deck received a bit of a shock: lining the track on either side were civilian German airfield workers who all, standing to attention, 'doffed' their hats and saluted as we passed by - we found this obviously pre-planned demonstration very unnerving. However we had a job to do so we settled down and took off for the short 1 hour and 20 min flight to Grafenwöhr.

Most of our passengers visited the flight deck during their two flights with us but the one I remember most was the young Russian interpreter, a Lieutenant fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force; he spoke perfect English and took great delight in telling me how thrilled he was to be aboard a British military aircraft flying down the Southern Corridor and then over Western Germany; he said he would get himself a T-shirt printed to reflect the experience. He also gave me a copy of Pravda that he had brought on board to read - I still have it.

No passengers were allowed anywhere aft of Area 1 during the flight, only the ALM and myself from the crew were allowed to do so as we both had inflight duties to carry out; I recall the huge wooden - probably Black Forest Oak - coffin chained down on the floor and realised the enormity of standing that close to the mortal remains of the second most senior member of what had undoubtedly been one of the most evil regimes ever to exist on Earth - a regime whose evil had probably affected every one of us reading this in some way, no matter how great or small that may have been.

On the approach into Grafenwöhr airfield it became obvious that we were expected there too; crowds, again mostly flashing big lenses at us, lined the fence which seemed to be very close to the runway - remembering what had been written in the front page article of the paper shown to me by the hotel barman I was very aware that we, and the aircraft's contents, could have been taken out without any problem at all, a simple rifle grenade would have sufficed; it concentrated my mind a bit!! However everything here also went according to plan and as soon as the handover had been formally completed and the small cortege had disappeared out of view we all moved from our various hiding places into a reception area in the nearby airfield buildings where we were all treated to a totally unexpected slap up buffet.

Throughout the time he was with us the 'civilian' Russian prison governor kept very much to himself, talked to nobody and appeared to be continuously writing things down on a clip-board; apart from noting down everything we did, and probably everything we said, he was very interested in the embroidered name tags, brevets and ranks adorning our flying suits. He proabably thought it strange when given refreshments on the aircraft by our Sqn Ldr ALM, and then realising that all the aircrew seemed to be of that same rank - odd that, not like in the good old 'Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily', eh Comrade?

The return flight to Gatow and the one back to Lyneham that same day were both completely uneventful.

Not only do I still have that copy of Pravda, I also have the copy of a signal reflecting the appreciation of the British Embassy, and Air Attache, in Bonn, the Passenger Manifest with all twelve names - and ranks where applicable - and the Cargo Manifest which reads: "Qty 1 Coffin (Herr Hess deceased)." "Enough said," say I.