The Ground Crew


If the show involved an overnight stay, the Ground Crew usually flew with the team to the venue & were available at the venue should a problem arise with an aircraft.

I have very little Info on the ground crews. If you have any please feel free to E-mail me.

1963

The only clue I have for the 1963 Ground crew team is a SAC Timpson who flew with Pete Jarvis ( Solo Aerobatics rep ) to at least 4 of the 1963 shows.

1966

For 1966, SAC Johnny Walker flew with Pete Jarvis to some of the shows.

1967

For 1967, Sgt Tony Holdsworth flew with Keith Harris to the various shows.

1968

For 1968, SAC Ruby flew with "Mac" MacKenzie-Crooks to the various shows.

This picture, taken towards the end of the 1968 season, shows the pilots kneeling in front of the Ground crew.

Ground crew - Standing - f-l-t-r ????,?????, Phil Wallace, Allan Bradley
Pilots kneeling f-l-t-r Mike Collin, Richard "Mac" Mackenzie-Crooks, Dave Brittain, Brian Todd


1969

The 1969 Ground Crew is pictured here ( photo Courtesy of Bill Ellis ) - please click on the picture for a larger version.
Linton GIN 1969 Ground Crew

Left-to-Right:-
Phil Wallace - GIN 3 ( Pilot Whitfield ),
Bill Ellis - GIN 4 ( Pilot Waddington )
John Bainbridge - GIN LEAD ( Pilot Edwards )
Rob Marwood - GIN 2 ( Pilot Colesky)



Here's another picture of the 1969 Ground crew
Linton GIN 1969 Ground Crew

Standing - Left-to-Right:-
John Bainbridge - GIN LEAD ( Pilot Edwards )
Rob Marwood - GIN 2 ( Pilot Colesky)
Phil Wallace - GIN 3 ( Pilot Whitfield ),

Kneeling - Left-to-Right:-
????
Bill Ellis - GIN 4 ( Pilot Waddington )



1970


Here's the 1970 groundcrew & pilots pictured together.
Linton Blades 1970 Ground Crew & Pilots
f-l-t-r Phil Wallace, John Bainbridge, Bill Ellis, Joe Whitfield (pilot), Dave Waddington (pilot), Dave Coldicutt (pilot), Dudley Carvell (pilot), Brian Wroe, Sandy MacKenzie, Paul Wrigglesworth


Bill Ellis wrote this about the groundcrew changes from 69 to 70.
At the end of the 1969 season Al Colesky and Rob Marwood left as did the Sea Prince support aircraft ( The navy attachment flying chipmunks went to Church Fenton ). So in the 1970 season we were given a van as a support which was driven by Brian Wroe. Paul Wrigglesworth replaced Rob Marwood.




and another picture of the 1970 groundcrew. This one was sent to me by Sandy MacKenzie.
Linton Blades 1970 Ground Crew
f-l-t-r Sandy MacKenzie, Bill Ellis, Len Kitching, Paul Wrigglesworth



1971



The 1971 groundcrew.
Linton Blades 1971 Ground Crew
f-l-t-r Bob Elliot, Ian (Tufty) Tevendale, Tony Warren, Len Kitching, Paul Wrigglesworth & Brian Wroe


Nobby Grey sent me this photo of the team, ground crew & some German officials outside their hotel before the Hammelburg show in 1971
Linton Blades 1971- Team, Ground Crew & German officials
f-l-t-r (Back Row) Dudley Carvell , German Official, Bob Turner, Len Kitching ( moustache )
( Middle Row ) German Official ( yellow shirt ), Alick Nicholson, Bob Joy, Nobby Grey, German official
( Front Row ) German Official ( hat ), Ian (Tufty) Tevendale, Paul Wrigglesworth, Gordon David, Brian Wroe.

According to a newspaper article, Bill Hammersley also crewed for the team in 1971

Paul Wrigglesworth attended quite a few shows with Dudley Carvell ( #2 ) in 1970 & 1971. Here's what he had to say about the flights to & from the shows.

I remember if you flew with Dudley one seemed to spend a lot of time upside down. Dudley was trying something once because as No 2 he was more or less out of sight of the leader. That was during Bob Turners leadership as he always liked everyone to fly in strict formation. Something that Dudley didn’t always do. I think he liked to make the journeys more interesting.



1972


The 1972 Ground Crew was pictured in the 1972 Official Brochure. I'm afraid I don't have all the names to match the faces. ( if you can help though ... )
You gotta love the white suits though !
Linton Blades 1972 Ground Crew
Scan Courtesy of Willy Metze
f-l-t-r (Standing) Pat Buckle, Stuart Beaumont(?), Chris Doughty (badge on overalls), Ian Tevendale,
(Kneeling) ??, ??, Rab Logan, Dave Wakefield



According to a newspaper article, Colin Safill also crewed for the team in 1972



1973



The 1973 Ground Crew was pictured in the 1973 Official Brochure. Again, I'm missing all the names of the guys.
It looks like the white suits got dirty & the crew got new Lab coats for this season !
Linton Blades 1973 Ground Crew
Scan Courtesy of Mike Fox



Michael Ainslie was also a '73 groundcrew member & sent me a copy of the following picture. It was published in the RAF NEWS dated 21 July 1973.
Linton Blades 1973 Team & Ground Crew
f-l-t-r (Standing) Wg Cdr Peter Roberts, John Buckler, Mervin Fowler, John Anders, Don Oakden, Neil Carnegie, Gp Cpt John Towler
( Kneeling ) Mike Ainslee, Ted Boyes, Mick Cordell & Fred Watson


The following ground crew names have been taken from Mervin Fowler & Neil Carnegie's log books :- Sgt Potter, Sac Dave Wakefield,
& acording to a newspaper article Robert (Rab) Logan also crewed for them in 1973.