" ......this would be a matter of life & death in a real attack, so too in the affiliation training. Everything was to the maximum, throwing the aircraft around and the crew inside with it, the instructor using the Intercom to let the crew know what was coming next.
The main defensive manoeuvre of the Bomber was the ‘Corkscrew Manoeuver‘. It may sound like a simple turn and dive to one side or the other, in fact that would be just the start. A pilot would get the “corkscrew to port (or starboard)” order from one of the gunners normally although any of the crew who spotted aircraft may give the order. The start of the manoeuvre was into a dive to one side or the other, the decision of either port or starboard being made by the gunner based on the direction and angle of attack. The first action may have been enough to throw the attackers aim off, but maybe not the attacking pilot’s ability to keep on the bomber’s tail. During the training the pilots were to put their bombers through a series of climbs and dives, turns to either side, with the whole effect being something like a roller coaster ride. For the pilot to place the Bomber in a corkscrew port, he would have the stick hard forward, foot hard in on the left Rudder and wheel fully over to the left. The pilot would have two other things on his mind regarding the attempt to escape. One was not to make the pattern repetitive enough for the fighter pilot to figure out his next move. Secondly, try and keep the swings from port to starboard in equal numbers to help the aircraft keep on the same heading. The Navigator would try and keep track of where they were at any point in the corkscrew and when the “resume course” order was given, he would forward the course headings to the Pilot. For the training exercise, the Gunners would be using ‘Cine Guns’ and trying to keep the “enemy” Fighter in their sights or at least pass on the information of his position to the Aircraft’s Captain. The Film from the Camera Guns would be analyzed later judged on many things including point of aim, deflection & range then the Gunner would be rraded on the results."
http://www.vickersvaliant.com/1690-bdtf.html
The Spitfire
The Spitfire involved in the training exercise, similar to the one pictured, was from 609 Squadron based at RAF Duxford and was flown by R/76956 F/Sgt Stanley Herbert ‘Joe’ Spallin, a 20 year old Canadian pilot.
The Pilot
In the operations book of 609 Squadron it is noted “F/Sgt Spallin, ‘affiliating’ with a Wellington, is somewhat appalled to see one of the latters wings drop off and no-one bale out. Sgt Haddon narrowly missed being in this Wellington at the time.”
Aftermath
Later that same year, Sgt Spallin was himself killed while on patrol over Dover when the Typhoon he was then flying struck a barrage balloon cable in low cloud. The fighter is believed to have come down in Dover harbour but nothing was found except a patch of oil on the water. Neither his body nor the fighter was ever recovered. He has no known grave but his name is inscribed on the Runnymede Memorial, Surrey.
At the time, his girlfriend Irene Carpenter was pregnant with his daughter but the couple had not married. The child was born in January 1941 never knowing her father.
F/Sgt Alan 'Babe' Haddon
The Spitfire Pilot who narrowly missed being in the Wellington, F/Sgt Haddon, was himself killed on 14th February 1943 when his Typhoon was shot down by enemy fighters over the English Channel while he was protecting French ships from attack. He has no grave except the sea and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.