Cdr.George"Mac"Rutherford DSC MBE RD FAA World Naval Ships Forums Archive

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Cdr.George"Mac"Rutherford DSC MBE RD FAA World Naval Ships Forums Archive

Cdr.George"Mac"Rutherford DSC MBE RD FAA

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[B][B]Commander George 'Mac' Rutherford, who has died aged 91, flew night-time missions over the English Channel and founded the Fleet Air Arm Officers’ Association.[/B][/B] In July 1942 Rutherford volunteered to join 841 Naval Air Squadron for special duties – flying the black-painted Fairey Albacores which, controlled by RAF plotters, flew raids against enemy shipping under the cover of darkness in the Narrow Seas between England and Europe; over the next year Rutherford’s squadron carried out 99 night-time attacks in the Channel. [B][B]In August 1943 Rutherford was directed to two lines of enemy ships off Calais, and flying through heavy flak to make his attack he bombed two E-boats, reporting them “sunk”. Having flown back to England to re-arm he made a second sortie, claiming another E-boat . He was awarded the DSC .[/B][/B] George McCracken Rutherford was born on October 30 1920 in Blackpool and educated at Oundle. He joined the Navy in 1940 as a Naval Airman Second Class, starting his training at HMS St Vincent in Gosport, and learning to fly at Kingston in Canada. His operational training took place in Scotland, and did not always progress smoothly. In the early hours of August 7 1942 he was the last of a flight of three aircraft. With visibility poor, the first aircraft disappeared in cloud; the second crashed into a parked aircraft and fragmented. Shortly after Rutherford took off, he felt a serious collision and only just managed slowly to climb to 3,000ft. As he emerged from cloud his observer reported that a large part of the starboard wing and undercarriage were missing. Spotting a hole in the clouds, Rutherford descended rapidly and made a one-wheel landing in the middle of an Army exercise. Later that morning he was taken to a hilltop where he found two dead cows among the wreckage of his aircraft and was confronted by an angry farmer. After flying in 841 NAS Rutherford served at Coltishall, Tangmere, Exeter, St Merryn, Malta and Australia, where he was demobilised in April 1946. Post-war he retrained as a wool merchant in his wife’s family firm, and settled in the Thames Valley. He kept up his flying skills by joining 1832 RNVR squadron, which he commanded in 1948. The next year he persuaded the Navy that his pilots had sufficient skill to land-on their Seafires at sea, and when called up for its annual fortnight’s training, 1832 became the first reserve squadron to serve at sea, its 20 aircraft achieving 269 landings on the carrier Implacable in seven days of training. In 1952, 1832 NAS was enlarged to become Southern Air Division (SAD), consisting of four squadrons, which Rutherford commanded. Then in 1956 Rutherford became the first reservist to land a Seahawk jet on a carrier, Bulwark. His promotion to commander was announced by Admiral Lord Mountbatten after a squadron inspection at the end of a training exercise at RNAS Hal Far, in Malta. [B][B]Rutherford was awarded the MBE (mil) in 1952 and the Volunteer Reserve Decoration in 1955[/B][/B]. The idea of an association of Fleet Air Arm Pilots was born in the Imperial Services Club, Sydney, from a sense of camaraderie amongst naval pilots in the British Pacific Fleet. When, in 1957, RNVR air squadrons were disbanded, Rutherford chaired the first meeting, in the Naval and Military Club, Piccadilly, of the Fleet Air Arm Officers’ Association, dedicated to commemorating the achievements of the FAA and promoting the cause of naval aviation. The FAAOA grew quickly and now has more than 3,000 members. George Rutherford married, first, in 1943, Pamela Ross, who predeceased him in 1973; he married, secondly, in 1975, “Babs” Dooris who survives him with three daughters of his first marriage. [B][B][B]George Rutherford, born October 30 1920, died May 23 2012[/B][/B][/B] jainso31

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