Welcome to James MacNaught's Website
This website is dedicated to the memory of my late father James MacNaught (1919-1982) and is intended to commit to record, mostly events of his RAF Career as an Air Gunner and Bomb Aimer instructor. He trained over 700 RAF and Allied Forces during 1941-1945. I discovered his Flying log book in a drawer at home and felt that the historical information contained within it's pages was significant enough to warrant archiving & documenting for posterity. John MacNaught
James (Jim) MacNaught
Joined the RAF aged 19 in 1937. Jim is on the left, in the picture
below, with another trainee during RAF Boys Service training.
Initially he trained
as an Armourer then on the 18th January 1941 he qualified as a
Junior Armament instructor at No: 8 Bomber & Gunnery School. His new skills were soon
put to good
use by the RAF in his first training flight
on 10 February 1941 from RAF Evanton in
Scotland. On this sortie the aircraft used was a
Handley
Page Harrow. Armament: Four 0.303 inch
machine-guns, one each in nose and dorsal turrets and two in the tail turret,
plus provision for up to 3.000 lb of bombs. In his first month as an
Instructor Jim went on to log 23 hours 10 mins in this aircraft type and in
that time, trained 89
Air Gunners. On 4 September 1942 after training at RAF Manby in Lincolnshire
he was promoted to Senior Armament Instructor. more>>
After the war James MacNaught stayed in the RAF and went on to complete 30 years service at various postings around the world including Geilenkirchen, Germany & RAF Changi, Singapore. He also worked on the THOR missile project based at RAF Catfoss in the early 1960's. His last tour of duty was at RAF Machrihanish on the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland. On leaving the RAF in 1967 he joined the MOD (Navy) at RNAD Coulport in Scotland working as a Professional and Technology Officer on the Tigerfish Torpedo programme, the mainstay heavyweight torpedo used in the Royal Navy's Submarine Fleet.
Log Book
OBSERVERS & AIR GUNNERS FLYING LOG BOOK.
These are pages scanned from Jim MacNaught's
original Flying Log Book. When you
open
a page, click on it to magnify and zoom in.
Most
record routine training flights for both Air Gunners and Bomb Aimers. There
are some interesting comments and
remarks about the equipment used like the "Hand Held Bomb sight" and the
introduction of Cine Camera gun. There are also entries recording
inflight
failures of engines, landing gear and even a crash landing, fortunately with
no casualties but injuries serious enough to land Jim with a spell
recovering in Strathpeffer Hospital.
more>>
Aircraft Types
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Avro Anson | Catalina Flying Boat | De Haviland Dragon Rapide |
Whitley |
Click on these images to display larger pictures.
The following pages detail as accurately as possible the thirteen aircraft types recorded in Jim MacNaughts Flying Log Book. Click on the "Aircraft Types" Button at the top of the page. more>>
RAF Stations
Information about the RAF Stations recorded in Jim MacNaughts Flying Log Book. more>>