Langar, England

Scattered along one side of a peaceful and unpretentious Langar, are a number of neat, but otherwise nondescript buildings and hangars. To the casual passerby, these are but physical evidence of the existence of an RCAF establishment known as 30 Air Materiel Base. But to the RCAF’s No. 1 Air Division, they mean something more, for if the headquarters at Metz, France is the brain of the Division, then 30 AMB is its heart.

From the Base pumps the lifeblood of the Division in the form of spares and supplies which are essential to the operation and wellbeing of the machines and men scattered around the Continent at the Division’s four main bases and headquarters establishment. Cut off this lifeblood and the operational arms of the Division, the fighter wings, would soon be reduced to a hapless state of ineffectualness.

No. 30 AMB is unique in a number of ways, apart from the fact that it might be considered the sole source of support of the Air Division. For one thing, it is the first RCAF logistics system ever to be established outside Canada. It has all the characteristics of an offspring of Air Materiel Command, yet it is a part of the Air Division (no other RCAF formation of command or any other status has its own logistics system). At the same time, it retains many important ties with AMC, for all provisioning of the AMB is handled through the Command’s Rockcliffe headquarters.

It is a common mistake to regard 30 AMB as merely a big supply depot and this was an impression that Group Captain OE McCormick (the project officer who was originally charged with setting up the base in mid-1952 and its commanding officer until he was succeeded by Group Captain Sydney G. Cowan) was quick to correct. G/C McCormick pointed out that the supply capability is only one aspect of the Base’s operations It must also see that the goods are delivered to the consumers; it must arrange for the repair and overhaul of equipment; and then supervise this work; it must arrange for the local purchase of items which it is not economical to have shipped from Canada. All these functions must be co-ordinated with the utmost efficiency so that no part of the Air Division can ever be more than temporarily "U/S".

Said G/C McCormick, "The front line is only as good as the pipeline".

Perhaps this neat simile illustrates in a particularly apt fashion the difference between a simple supply depot and 30 AMB; where the supply depot is quite literally just a source of supply at one end of a pipeline, 30 AMB is the whole functioning pipeline system. And to make this difference possible, 30 AMB includes among its basic components not only 312 Supply Depot, but also 314 Technical Services Unit, and a Movements Unit to which is attached 137 Transport Flight.

The Supply Depot component stocks approximately 60,000 different items which are required from time to time to support the operations of the Air Division, as well as the air forces of such countries as Turkey and Greece, both of whom have received Mutual Aid Sabres and T-33’s from Canada. The most modern methods of stock control (basically the same as those which are more or less standard practice at other air materiel bases in Canada) are used to ensure that "demands" from Continental bases are filled as quickly as possible. In an emergency, a demand that is made by 8:00 a.m. can be delivered the same afternoon. More often the delivery time is somewhat longer than this and depends on the urgency of the demand. High priority items are shipped by air, while those not immediately essential generally go by surface transportation.

The stock control system used at 30 AMB makes extensive use of IBM machines and all demands that come into the Depot are put on punch cards which are then fed through these machines. In the way the order is not only double-checked, but a running balance is kept of all the items in stock. Thus, when any one item reaches a certain minimum level, it is automatically replenished to what is regarded as a safe level. These "minimum" and "safe" levels, are incidentally, all predetermined figures based on actual practical supply experiences with the item concerned.

The daily transactions of the Supply Depot are all transferred to a tape which is sent back to AMC headquarters, where duplicate records are kept. AMC is responsible for keeping track of stock levels at 30 AMB and replenishing them when necessary.

In at least two important respects, 312 SD differs from any other RCAF Supply depot – it handles medical stores and spares for mechanical equipment (automotive equipment, ground handling equipment, etc.). In the case of the ME spares, this is a sizable task, for it requires the warehousing of some 22,000 items, more than a third of all items stocked at the Depot. In Canada, ME items stocked are usually kept to a bare minimum, because they are always easily available from a local source. However in the U.K. and on the Continent, there is no local source for this equipment, practically all of it being Canadian-made so spares must be kept on hand at the Supply Depot.

The medical unit attached to 312 stocks all drugs, surgical instruments and medical supplies used by the Air Division. In Canada, this phase of supply is normally handled by the Army.

The Technical Services Unit has a number of varied tasks to perform, inspection being a major one. All items received at the Supply Depot are visually inspected by TSU personnel for corrosion or shipping damage. Further inspections are made periodically while the items are in storage and finally, just before they are shipped out in response to a demand.

It is also the responsibility of this Unit to channel repairable items to U.K. contractors. In addition, it gives technical advice where required and assists in spares supply.

Of more than passing interest is a new system of letting contracts to U.K. firms that have recently been introduced. Where formerly most of the overhaul and repair contracts were let directly to the Canadian manufacturers of the equipment concerned, who in turn sub contracted the work to a British firm, such contracts are now let directly through the London office of the Department of Defence Production.

The TSU has a great deal to say about what firms these contracts go to, of course. British firms now under direct contract to the RCAF as a result of this new system include Scottish Aviation (Sabre airframes), Field Aircraft Services (instruments), Airtech Ltd. (communications equipment), Fireproof Tanks (fuel tanks), Normalair (pressurization equipment). The Orenda engines are handled by Brockworth Engineering, but this work is still performed under the old system, whereby Brockworth is a subcontractor to Orenda Engines Ltd.

The Movements Unit is responsible for just what its name implies, the movement of all goods to and from the Air Materiel Base, whether by land, sea or air. Normally, about 25% of all goods moved to the Continent go by air, while the rest go by train and boat. By weight, the goods airlifted each month amount to about 100,000 lbs.

All the airlift work is handled by 137 Transport Flight, which is attached to the 30 AMB Movements Unit. Currently equipped with five Bristol freighters, the Flight is now undoubtedly carrying more than 100,000 lbs per month, since this figure was quoted at a time when the Flight had only three Freighters.

The old schedule called for three flights a week to the Continent, with each flight making the rounds of all the bases, dropping off spares and supplies in response to demands, and picking up repairables for return to 30 AMB. With new additional equipment it is understood that the schedule has been increased to five flights per week.