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having to battle mightly with the effects of wind and the force of
gravity. But we could not overlook the fact that we still had only one
small machine-gun to match the much larger and more powerful
cannon of the modern fighters. ….. So it was with thankfulness that
we stoned and oiled our new guns, and hoped that the rumoured new
two-seat fighters (perhaps thinking of the Defiant) would appear
before things got too hot.‟ 27
For George Evans the Blenheim was less appealing:
„On that first trip I soon discovered that the air-gunner‟s role in the
Blenheim was completely different from what we had been used to
in the Demons. I was now enclosed in a hydraulically operated
turret, with a comfortable seat. I had an altimeter, an airspeed
indicator, and oxygen supply for high flying. After the Demon, this
was the height of luxury, but having said that, I will always have the
happiest memories of my flying in the little open cockpit
aeroplanes.‟ 28
The spring and early summer of 1939 were spent converting the crews to
the Blenheim and taking part in a whole series of co-operative exercises:
interceptions and fighter affiliations at North Weald, air raid precautions
(ARP) with the Borough of Wembley, culminating in July with the
wholesale move of the Squadron to Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Ford,
Sussex, for the annual training camp. Whilst at Ford (HMS Peregrine to the
Royal Navy) the Squadron was visited by the AOC and another Regular,
Flight Lieutenant Locker, was posted-in as assistant adjutant and flying
instructor.
Whilst 604 were undertaking their summer camp events were
unfolding across the Channel. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles sought to reestablish
Poland as a country and provide her with access to the Baltic, by
awarding her the port of Danzig and a corridor through Germany, by which
the Poles might reach the city. The so-called „Danzig Corridor‟ was an
awkward arrangement that disconnected a part of Prussia from the rest of
Germany and naturally irritated the German people. Hitler tried to negotiate
the return of the port, but the Polish Government refused to discuss the
matter. This, then, placed the British Government in a difficult position,
27 C.F.Rawnsley & Robert Wright, op cit, page 23.
28 George Evans, op cit, page 30.
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