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1946

January: The rest of the Squadron moved to Java to join ‘A’ Flight. Squadron Headquarters was at Batavia, ‘A’ Flight at Sourabaya, ‘B’ Flight at Semerang and ‘C’ Flight at Bandoeng.

11 January: ‘B’ Flight arrived at Singapore and awaited a boat for Java.

26 January: ‘B’ Flight left Singapore.

29 January: ‘B’ Flight arrived in Batavia.

20 February: ‘B’ Flight left Batavia for Semerang.

22 February: ‘B’ Flight arrived in Semerang.

April: Squadron Headquarters itself gave air support to 37 Brigade operations in the neighborhood of Buitenzorg.

3 May: ‘B’ Flight left Semerang.

6 May: ‘B’ Flight arrived in Batavia.

10 June: Command of the Squadron passed from Major McMath, RA to Major H B Warburton, RA.
According to Major Warburton  “The scale of operations in the Netherlands East Indies after the cease-fire in the Far East was deliberately played down for political reasons. Operations were being continued not against pockets of isolated Japanese resistance in Java and Sumatra, but against a well-equipped and well-organised Communist-directed terrorist organization, whose aim was simply to unbridle Indonesia from the Dutch yoke, and had to use the short period, between the War ending and the occupying forces arriving, to help themselves to vast dumps of military equipment, and to start organized training on a strict military basis.

An interesting fact emerges at this point: during these, the post-war operations, more Imperial casualties were sustained than in any other operation up to 1968, including the Korean war!

I took over at the end of May with hostilities in full swing. I had left the Squadron in Malaya less than a year before, and in this time there had been almost a complete change of pilots. Morale in the Squadron was high, and a swashbuckling atmosphere prevailed amongst the pilots, who were allowed their head to great advantage. The aircraft, however, were rapidly becoming tired, having withstood the harsh weather and heavy utilization of the Burma campaign. Most of the airframes needed re-covering, the fabric having rotted and become brittle; after stripping off the fabric, several aircraft had to be written off as it was found that that the airframes had not been sufficiently protectively treated and had corroded to a dangerous degree. Some newly-coated reserve aircraft were called forward, but the inspection of these became critical when it was discovered that one aircarfi had a large and unexplained hole in the fabric; when this was stripped back, a large chunk was found to missing from the main spar - a hungry rat had made its nest in the wing, chewing its way bit by bit into the main spar, putting it beyond repair. The Squadron task set a pattern that has continued for over twenty years in the Far East, only the priorities changing. Our main tasks were:

Air OP. - in support of campong clearing with the guns of the Devon and Dorset Yeomanry and the Dutch “U” brigade.
Visual Recce - in support of clearing operations, general information of terrorist movement or training. Cover for the main road convoys to prevent ambush, etc.

Photo Recce - this assumed great importance, as the RAF were not able to complete their PR cover of strategic targets, owing to lack of spares for their PR Spitfires. The Squadron took over the completion of 4.500
pinpoint obliques within a target time of three months and before the monsoon broke. Some of these pinpoints involved a round flight of 450 miles and this was achieved by the Squadron Engineer Officer fitting a second tank behind the the pilot with a manual rotary pump in between the seats to effect the fuel transfer; this arrangement gave the aircraft a safe five hours endurance with a bit to spare. Captain Tommy Tommis and Mike Cubbage were the two officers who took on this task and completed it before the monsoon broke, much to the amazement of our Air Force Headquarters, as the task was given to us rather tongue in cheek

As our operations progressed, we found that the terrorists were becoming an increasing menace in taking pot shots at us: they were effective and nearly all our aircraft were hit from time to time. Things came to a head when one of our aircraft flying out of Medan took a .5 cannon shell through the main spar; we now decided to take our own counter-measures. Pilots had their own choice of weapons - some chose the Sten gun, others preferred the Bren gun fired through the camera port, one pilot, Dickie Parker, always used a long-barrelled Mauser pistol, with which he was a goodshot! It was not long before the Bad Boys were treating our Austers with more respect.

One very dramatic success was scored by one of our RAF corporal cooks who was acting as observer to Captain Ken Litt. An Indonesian staff car, resplendent with flag, was engaged; the car ran off the road, hitting a tree, the radiator blowing up in a spectacular cloud of steam. This little action had an immediate effect on the occupants of the cookhouse, the food being better than ever, and from then on we had a constant flow of volunteers from the erks to ride as observer.

One Auster we fitted with a light-series bomb rack, and only the lack 20-lb. G.P. fragmentation bombs prevented the “Auster Cloth Bomber Mk IV” from going into action before we left Java.

An unusual but pleasant feature of operations in Java was the existence of an unofficial truce, which was observed on Sundays at nightfall or during heavy rain; this at least allowed us to relax and enjoy the lavish entertainment which was offered by the various Service Messes and Embassies; when this palled we could always enjoy the piano-playing in our own Mess by Mike Cubbage or Bill Eastman.

The Dutch were most generous and living conditions were considerably eased by the gift of several refrigerators and electric fans; our Mess was comfortable and the food was cooked by an excellent Chinese cook. One asset was a permanent tailoress who was employed doing repairs and making excellent sports jackets out of lightweight blankets. Two Japanese infantry subalterns kept the garden tidy and the drains clear, and there was an ample number of Javanese batwomen to look after us.

The Squadron Mess, which was situated in one of the more doubtful areas of Batavia, was prone to raids by the light-fingered gentry who completely cleared the Mess of all eating irons, pots and pans three times, in spite of the fact that the Mess was wired in by triple Dannert wire, and booby-trapped each evening with trip wires and grenades - it was distinctly dangerous to venture out to obey the calls of nature after bedtime, as the slightest movement in the garden would bring forth a fusillade of Sten gun bullets from the bedroom windows.

No short chapter on the Squadron’s activities in the East Indies would be complete without reference to to the Squadron mascot, afine white bull-terrier “Jock and his master Captain Russell Matthews, MC., RA, who commanded the Flight based at Medan.

Russell was a “Broth of a Boy” in those days, who ran an excellent Flight and was held in high esteem by all. He was a great character and very aggressive; his boast was that he had never need to put a Gunner on a charge; this, of course, was true - he had no need to charge them, he thumped them instead.

“Jock” inherited his master’s aggressiveness and logged quite an impressive score of kills among the Far East feline world; in fact, he would tackle anything on four legs regardless of size, which ran Russell into a spot of trouble when he added one of Merdan’s sacred cows to his long list of confirmed kills. “Jock” had a great loyalty to the Squadron and we were very sorry to part with him later in Malaya, where he was banished by the Station Commander of RAF Kuala Lumpur for biting the RAF doctor; we would have preferred the banishment of the Quack.

To conclude, I would like to apologize to those who did not receive a mention, time being short; they were all a marvelous lot, each one deserving a chapter to themselves.”

November: The Squadron handed over its commitments to the Dutch and began to move back to Malaya.

December: By the middle of the month the Squadron was once again concentrated at Kuala Lumpur and the news was received of the coming disbandment of 656 Air 0. P. Squadron and the formation of 1914 Independent Air 0.P. Flight.

1948

Major D.P.D. Oldman, D.F.C., RA took over command of the Squadron from Major E.S Gates, RA.

The beginning of the Malayan Emergency campaign.
The Squadron is hastily reformed at Sembawang with Squadron Headquarters and four Air OP. Flights - 1902, 1907, 1911 and 1914 and almost immediately the pattern which was to dominate the Squadron over many years started; the Flights were sent out to small airstrips on their own near (and sometimes not so near) towns. At any one time there would always be a Flight at Sembawang but the Flights moved locations every three or four months to such places as Seremban, Taiping, Ipoh, Johore Bahru, Kuala Trengganu, Benta, Temerloh and Gemas to name but a few.

1950

April:    Squadron Headquarters moved to Noble Field, Kuala Lumpur.

1951

The beginning of the Korean War. A Flight from the UK and one from Hong Kong (1903 and 1913) were sent there to support 1 Commonwealth Division. All reinforcements were provided from the Squadron, and many pilots went to Korea for a change of air before returning to complete their tour.

Sergeants J.C. Rolley and B.A. Horsey, and a police cadet, ferried a Valetta load of stores from Sembawang to Kota Tinggi in one day,  making twenty trips each way. Quite an achievement.

Sergeant E.J. Webb was nearly lost but he was found five days after crashing into the jungle.

1953

Major A.F.Robertson, RA takes over command of the Squadron from Major E.S.Gates, RA. 30 October: The Squadron achieved the 50,000th hour of operational flying

1956

Major Wheeler came back on a second tour to take over as Officer Commandingof the Squadron.
One of the main events of the year was Sergeant McConnell’s return from the jungle after 21 days on his own. He had survived entirely on what he had with him and the jungle itself - even to this day he is still quoted as an example to the Jungle Welfare School.

1957

This was the year when 656 Air Observation Post / Light Liaison Squadron RAF became 656 Light Aircraft Squadron, Army Air Corps.

During the year RAF maintenance personnel were gradually replaced by REME. Aircraft Mechanics, and ordinary airmen by soldiers. The Flights were also redesignated as
2 Recce,
7 Recce,
11 Liaison and
14 Liaison Flights
and for the first time a Light Aircraft Squadron Workshop REME. All the elements were still dispersed and acted independently.

Lieutenant Colonel B.B.Storey, O.B.E, M.C., RA took over command of the Squadron in time to deal with all the administrative upheaval.

1959

28 February: A large celebration took place to mark the achievement of the 150,000th hour of operational flying, believed to be a world record for any one unit. The Squadron was presented with a ceremonial kris by the Director of Operations, Lieutenant General Dato F.H. Brooke, on behalf of the Federal government, and a kukri by G.O.C. 17 Gurkha DivisionlO.C.LF.
The kris is now at Middle Wallop, but the kukri is still with 17 division. The British High Commisioner, Sir Geofrey Tory, and senior officers of the Police, both armies and both air forces attemded.

1960

Lieutenant Colonel J.H. Creswell, O.B.E., RA assumed command of the Squadron.

Sergeant J. McCammont, of the Cameronians, and his passenger, a soldier from the Cheshires, perished after they disappeared near Kuala Pilah. The wreckage was not found until three months later - such is the concealing power of the jungle.

1961

16 Recce Flight is formed, acting as the Recce Flight for 48 Gurkha Brigade in the East Coast, although based with Squadron Headquarters at Noble Field, Kuala Lumpur.

November: Captain P .H. Hills, RA disappeared. The wreckage of his aircraft was not found until 1971 in Thailand.

1962

January:  7 Flight moves from Taiping to Noble Field and 16 Flight moves to Aden.

July/August: The Flights move to the new Squadron base at Kluang and for the first time the Squadron Headquarters and the five Flights are located at the same place. The camp renovations were not quite complete (a sea of mud) and it took a while for the new situation to settle down.

16 Flight returns to Malaya from Aden where it had been supporting the Queens Royal Irish Hussars and continued to support them from a distance.

30 Flight AAC was formed, to take over the liaison role from 11 Flight, and was equipped with Beavers and RASC pilots in the main, based at Sembawang.

December: The peace of the Squadron was rudely interrupted by an uprising in Brunei led by Asahari and 14 Flight with a detachment of 3 Austers from 7 Flight were deployed there in early December.