We were trained to do it solo but in reality all you could do was call in the Fire Mission, land (out of sight), move, pop up for the "Splash", hide again and re adjust. Very difficult.

Good luck with your research..

Cheers Timex.

Low Flight Profile?

Something Fire Plan?

Originally Posted by oldbaldy

I'm researching my uncle who was an AOP pilot killed in WW2.
I'm told he was killed when his aircraft stalled when carrying out L.F.P.
Can anyone tell me what that LFP is?

I do not have the time to-day but you may fdind something here:

Regiments in Action

Originally Posted by western

I do not have the time to-day but you may fdind something here:

Regiments in Action

It's that site where I found the extract from the War Diary & the reference to LPF.
The entries are:

15 November 1944: Lt. J. Wilson, RA killed - aircraft stalled and crashed while carrying out L.F.P.

and

29 November 1944: AOC 83 Group, RAF concurred with findings of court on fatal accident of Lt. J. Wilson, RA.

I have Andrew Lyell's book 'Memoirs of an Air Observation Pilot' but in the list of abbreviations used in the book LFP is not mentioned.

The actual War diary entry.
Only thing I can come up with is Low Fly Patrol.

Low flying pass?

Your uncle is down as Lt. J. Wilson, RA - I presume this means he was Royal Artillery. I found this:

British RAF - Air Observation Posts

AOP's were artillery officers trained as pilots to observe enemy positions. During WW2 16 squadrons were raised: 12 British, 1 Polish and 3 Canadian.

And this:

Thirties and World War Two - British Army Website

With the rush to re-arm and re-equip during the late 1930s, The Royal Artillery petitioned for and acquired their own integral aviation support. The RAF were reluctant to allow the Army to have its own aircraft and the Army did not have the technical means to support them anyway, so a compromise was the formation of the Air Observation Post (AOP) Squadrons. The Army commanded and controlled them and the RAF supplied and maintained, with RAF fitters working under Artillery Commanding Officers and pilots. This proved to be a highly successful arrangement and a series of new Squadrons were formed. They operated in all theatres throughout the war.

Which makes your uncle an artillery officer who cross trained as a pilot.

As your uncles unit was 659 Squadron RAF, I'd be inclined to give the RAF museum at Hendon a ring to see if they hold any records there. There's also a reading room with an associated library. If nothing else you should find a fair few books on the subject.

659 squadron still exists as 659 Squadron of 9 Regiment, Army Air Corps. Might be worth contacting them and seeing if there's a 659 squadron association. That would be another potential source of information.

However, your best bet is going to be the National Archives at Kew. They hold 659 Squadron's Operational Record Book (see attached screen shot).

This link will tell you what's in the ORB.

The Compilation of the Operations Record Book (AIR 15/643) - Your Archives

I think that'll give you your best shot at some more information.

Wordsmith

Originally Posted by Wordsmith

Your uncle is down as Lt. J. Wilson, RA - I presume this means he was Royal Artillery.

Which makes your uncle an artillery officer who cross trained as a pilot.


Wordsmith

He was in the TA Engineers pre war, he joined along with a bunch of friends because they had a good athletics club.
When war was declared he was in a Reserved Occupation, draughtsman in a torpedo factory, but chose to join.
He was commisioned in the RA and served with 127 (Highland) Field Regiment TA and served at Alamein & the invasion of Scicily before returning to the UK and volunteering as an AOP.
As an aside, all his mates who stayed in the RE missed every major conflict, even arriving in the Far East just in time for the Japanese surrender, all survived the war. They used to visit my gran on a regular basis, until her death in 1987.

A couple of years ago I made contact with someone who wrote the history of 659 Sqn for the AAC Sqn but what he had from that time was very limited. As you can see above I have the War diary entry for him.
I've requested a copy of his service record but with the backlog they have I'm not expecting it for 3 or 4 months yet & that may have a copy of the accident enquiry conclusions by 83 Group who ratified the conclusions of the fatal accident enquiry.
Whether I'll find out what LFP is though, I have no idea!