Acton, Richard Keith: my Air Force recollections (March 20, 2012)

Public

Downloadable Content

Download selected audio

An interview/narrative of Flight Lieutenant Richard Acton's experiences whilst serving with 408 Squadron. Interview took place on March 20, 2012.

Interviewee: Acton, Richard Keith, b. 1931

Interviewer: Schade, Dan

ABSTRACT: Flight Lieutenant Acton’s interview focussed exclusively on his time with 408 Squadron, beginning in early 1954. F/L Action flew aboard the Lancaster Mark x as a navigator during the SHORAN survey of Northern Canada. With great detail, he discusses his time on this survey, while also detailing how the survey worked as a system. The narrative also includes a number of detailed recollections on life in the R.C.A.F. at the time; for ground and air crew. While still flying with 408 Squadron F/L Acton then transferred into the reconnaissance unit within the squadron; flying covert flights over the Arctic in search of Soviet drift stations. Track one 0:00 Introduction 0:30 Joining the R.C.A.F 2:34 Posting to 408 Squadron 5:50 Flying the Dakota and Canso 7:10 SHORAN work and the summer of 1955 11:50 The installation of a SHORAN site. 14:20 Discussion of the SHORAN survey itself 19:00 Dry bulb and wet bulb temperature measurements 19:30 Reflection on SHORAN station personnel 22:10 Acton’s role in the SHORAN survey 23:15 Normal Wells in the Northwest Territories, Ken Brown, and the Dew Line 24:45 Clinton Point DEW Line station, and the USAF 28:30 The Whitehorse detachments and the mid-Canada Line 29:45 Fox Main Dew Line site 32:45 Flying the Lancaster in Cambridge Bay – Crash 35:10 The Final year of SHORAN, a Detachment out of Resolute and THULE Anti-aircraft radar lock. 37:05 Ken Brown and the Recce Flight. Cadanov Mckulskly (sp?) Track two 0:00 The Air Romp flight 1:00 The Apex Rocket flight 2:30 Soviet Ice Islands 4:00 The First Apex rocket Flight of 408 4:30 F/L Acton’s own Apex Rocket Flight and Drift Station #7 9:20 Ken Brown in the Lancaster 11:20 408 Squadron flying Filter Flights 16:30 NCBC, and National film Board crew members on board over the Nahanni Valley 18:40 Air Romp flights or Ice Recce’s where other Federal employee’s were aboard. 20:10 The smell of the greenery over Ottawa and the return of darkness for crews. 21:15 The end of the SHORAN survey and the creation of maps 22:10 The end of the Lancaster’s engines and the aircraft itself 22:45 A scary flight with multiple engine failures 25:00 The Packard Merlin engine in the Lancaster 25:40 In Flight Conditions in the Lancaster 26:50 Ground Crews 28:00 The dress of air crew 29:10 The impact of the Cold War on the Squadron 31:00 Mapping during the cold war and Canadian Sovereignty in the North 34:00 The perception of 408 in the R.C.A.F. 37:00 The Historiography of 408 sw 39:10 F/L Acton’s fondest memories and the cohesion in 408 39:50 Defeating the mess committee and life in Ottawa 43:00 No. 1 Photographic Establishment, Rockcliffe 3D imaging 44:50 Angus Hamilton and the Geodetic Department in Whitehorse 47:00 Flying the geodetic survey 50:00 The Location of Ice Islands 50:30 Conclusion

Rank: Flight Lieutenant. Medals and Honours: Canadian Forces Decoration

In Collection:
Contributor Subject Language Keyword Date created Relation
  • Part of the Military Oral History Class collection of interviews.
  • Title of paper: "Mapping the North: 408 Squadron and the Shoradetic Survey".
Resource type Rights statement Extent
  • 2 sound recordings (MP3)
Geographic coverage Coordinates
  • 60.10867, -113.64258
  • 39.76, -98.5
Additional physical characteristics
  • Original sound recordings (MP3) also available.
Physical repository Collection
  • Canadian Military Oral History Collection
Provider Genre Archival item identifier
  • AR_727
Fonds title Fonds identifier Is referenced by Date digitized
  • March 20, 2012
Technical note
  • Digital sound recording in .mp3 format at 192 kbps and 44 kHz. Recorded in digital format by interviewer, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Interview recorded in digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2012. Migration metadata by KD and MT.
Rights
  • This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca
DOI

This page supports the Zotero and Mendeley browser extensions simply click on the extension widget in your browser to save the objects citation.

Thumbnail Title Date Uploaded Visibility Actions
file details SC141_MilitaryOralHistory_GenericThumbnail Public
file details Acton_R_0727_01.mp3 Public
file details Acton_R_0727_02.mp3 Public