Apart from the very limited miltary use of civilian gliders I’ve already described, plus the huge ATC operation that developed over the war, no other civilian glider flights were permitted unless specifically authorised by the authorities. As I said in the opening paragraphs of this document there were some “naughty boys” who flew on their belief they wouldn’t be caught. Some succeeded (and I know some names which I won’t record here!), others failed some of whom became a “guest” of King George VI! One celebrated instance of being caught was that of Ron Clear. He’d been renovating a previously crashed Scud 3 for 4 years and once the work had been completed was determined to fly it, this is believed to be some time in 1941. So with his crew he took it to Winchester Hill, rigged it, and then soared the slope for 45 minutes. He made two attempts to land on the top, but the glider, not at that time having spoilers, in the end had to land in a field at the bottom to be promptly surrounded by troops with fixed bayonets – who thought it was a German glider and he was a spy! He and his crew, which included his wife, spent the night in Winchester jail. The next day he appeared before the magistrate and was very lucky as the magistrate happened to be an ex RFC pilot from the first world war. The judgement was “Would a fine of £5 be acceptable?” - rather than a prison sentence! The war time ban on gliding was lifted as of the 1st January 1946. The first official meeting was held at Rearsby, Leicestershire, over Easter 1946. That’s where I’ll pick up with Part 2 of this “History of British Gliding”! http://www.glidingheritage.org.uk/documents/articles/HistoryBritishGlidingPart1v2.pdf
