“Weather looking good tomorrow” announced ‘Squadron Leader’ Raymond “Perfect for a ‘low level’ assault on the beaches of the Eastern front. ‘Take off’ will begin at 0945 from Market Cross.”
A total of fourteen Knights gathered ‘on the runway’ at the appointed hour to be greeted with grey skies and a light breeze. “Jings it’s cauld” was the general consensus as the temperature gauges barely registered double figures. Our refuelling point was the next topic to be discussed with the ‘Mere Cafe’ being cited as an option.
When the ‘green light’ was given the ‘echelon’ set off through Beverley. There was not too much ‘turbulence’ in the area so passage to Weel Bridge proceeded smoothly. Our eastwards ‘flight’ was assisted with a light southwesterly wind as the phalanx of Knights passed through Tickton and along the ‘flight path’ to White Cross roundabout. At this point the ‘Squadron’ ‘banked left’ towards Leven and Brandesburton eventually reaching the road to Catfoss.
At this point it was decided due the number of ‘pilots’, to change our refuelling stop to the Floral Hall. ‘Banking left’ again took the Squad to Dunnington and northwards to Skipsea Brough. After swinging round to the south, we faced our first ‘taste’ of head winds as each ‘pilot’ tried to maintain position in the slipstream of the one in front. Arriving in Hornsea we were confronted by a local ‘barrage’ of cars and traffic lights impeding our progress until a quick thinking Neil suggested a left turn on to Mount Pleasant giving us an open road to our destination on Hornsea beach.
After refuelling it was time for the return ‘flight’. The first leg took the ‘Echelon’ further south towards Cowden before turning west directly into a now strengthening wind. While some fired up the turbo chargers others tucked in the slipstream as best they could until reaching Withernwick. The next segment led the Knights ‘echelon’ to Rise and Skirlaugh. From there we continued along Kidhill Lane
On reaching the Meaux Road, there was a brief respite from the adverse wind as we turned North towards Routh before returning ‘to base’ following our outward route to complete another successful ‘mission’. 1