An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 21 out another extensive series of photographic flights. The Ansons undertook vertical photography 5,000ft, while the Seafires provided low-level, oblique coverage from 800ft. Refuelling was once more provided in Northern Ireland, at the Royal Naval Air Station, Eglinton, where, to save time, Wrens brought sandwiches to the crews in their aircraft. A letter from the Naval Survey Section in London comple- mented the Air Corps on its photography, saying it was "twice as good as anything I have ever seen from the RAF". Back in youghal, the helicopter came to grief on February 21st 1950 when it crashed in the churchyard of St Mary's Collegiate following tail rotor failure. The helicopter was seen by eye-witnesses to be spin- ning around in the air as it came down from a height of about 200 feet. The Youghal Tribune described the helicopter as, "now almost an institution in the town" and added, "the pilot to avoid loss of life to ci- vilians and damage to property, decided to land in the churchyard and with admirable calmness and skilful navigation succeeded in getting the machine over the required spot." Repairs to the graveyard were carried out by No 3 Maintenance Company of the Corps of Engineers, with no charge being made to the British taxpayer. Progress was somewhat hampered by the crash as no immediate replacement was available. After 181 days at youghal, the team moved to Fort Duncannon, near Waterford on March 7, 1950, where it would remain until September. A suitable shed had been erected but sadly there was no helicopter to put in it. Survey work continued neverthe- less and was completed after 171 days on September 1. Preparatory work had been ongoing at the next base, Finner Camp. The Donegal Democrat stated in August 1950 that it "will continue to resist any association whatever with Britain's armed forces." In the same piece the paper enquired why the huts at Finner were being painted red. Was this to make them more visible from the air? The ex- planation given was that the Irish Army's Corps of Engineers believed that red oxide paint was best for the prevention of rust and corrosion on a collection of buildings adjacent to the sea. The facilities at Finner Camp had been considerably upgraded and a concrete helipad had been constructed. One of the ground party at Finner recalled, "We would drive a stake into the centre of the beach, attach the wire from a wire recorder and drive the DUKW out into the bay for about a mile, also taking measurements from the primitive looking but effective echo sounder fixed in the bow of the DUKW. Then we would set up on the beach a calibrated staff from which our sapper would take measurements with his surveying instrument. Having taken a reading, one of the jeeps would pick up the staff and leapfrog the sapper by about 100 yards to take the next reading. This process would be repeated until we reached a point on the existing old map that tallied." The new helicopter had arrived at Aldergrove early in September 1950 and was flown to Finner on the eighth of the month. There had been some difficulty in sourcing a suitable machine as the R-4 was at the end of its service life. A R-6 Hoverfly II was used as a stopgap until the more modern S-51 Dragonfly was available. The hangar at Finner consisted of a billet raised on brick pillars with three concrete strips inside, with the rotor blades being folded back into support brackets. The promised Dragonfly eventually arrived at Finner and carried out further aerial surveys between April and October 17, 1951. Local interest in the strange goings on and traffic jams formed on the main road outside the camp as onlookers gathered to watch the helicopter taking off and landing. The presence of the DUKW on the beach was also something of a tourist attraction. The area covered included Ballina and Sligo to the west, Killybegs, Letterkenny and Malin Head to the north. On board there was nor- mally a photographer and an Irish Army officer. Very often the flight would be out to sea for a few miles, then hovering while a 180 degree panorama of the coast would be taken. The helicopter had finished its work by the end of 1951. The field work for the main areas was completed by December 1952 when the survey party was disbanded and the remaining British personnel returned to England. Field work on minor areas continued for another three years and finished about the middle of 1955. In con- clusion it was stated that the Coast Survey Report was a very valuable document to the General Staff and obviated the necessity of having to do such work during a time of emergency or war. Sandstone was brought to a conclusion in the UK as a whole in 1965 and at that time it was stated, "It was established in 1947 to survey the coastline of the UK to facilitate the re-occupation by the USA and Canada in the event of the UK being over-run by a hostile power." It was noted that the concept had not been valid since 1954, the development of the hydrogen bomb having made full-scale war with Russia unlikely in the opinion of the Western powers. Certainly in Ireland it was a considerable effort which required a remarkable and degree of co-operation and discretion from the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom and the Irish Republic. As a footnote to this it may be noted that this was not without some expense to Colonel Lawlor. On October 30, 1951 he wrote to the Chief of Staff, "It will be appreciated that the cost of moderate entertainment in Dublin is expensive at present. It is customary to invite foreign visiting officers to have a drink in the mess. In fact, if I did not do so, they would think it peculiar and relations would hardly be friendly. I would estimate that I have been considerably out of pocket, upwards of £100 a year since the survey started and that I consequently apply for an enter- tainment allowance." Sadly the Chief of Staff's response has not been preserved on the files.

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