Wings Over Wick
1939 - 1945
Others

Kenneth Marsden, Bolton

I served with the RAF at Wick from June 1941 to February 1942 as a ground wireless operator. In the signals cabin we had two frequencies always open and we worked shifts 6 to 2, 2 to 10 and 10 to 6. The operational frequency carried all the air strikes over Norway, and the other was tuned to Iceland, as all the messages from the British Faeroes came through this set. It was always busy.

The operational set was more interesting, as SOS calls came through, and any disaster calls. An SOS was normally an aircraft, which had been badly shot up on a raid on Norway, sometimes it ditched in the sea, but the SOS call often enabled the Air/Sea Rescue launch, based at Wick, to pick up survivors.

We were billeted in the North School. The aircraft at Wick at my time were Whitleys and the strike force Hudsons.

Off the cliffs at Pulteneytown was a natural swimming pool, the sides were formed by the rocks and one end had been built up to form a pool. We went swimming there every day depending on what watch we were on. We set out to swim every day until Xmas but failed. This was because in late November I was given a two week leave, and on my return we just looked and said “No”. But I can say that I swam in the North Sea at Wick, every day from June to mid November.