I actually joined No. 8 Naval on the 27th September, 1917. Booker and I motored up together from Dunkirk. It was a freezingly cold day, which encouraged him to sit back without a rug and his coat well open at the neck and enjoy himself. The car was an open tourer, and did not loiter by the way. On our arrival he invited me to have a drink; I tried to reply suitably, but the words froze on my lips as it were. Bookie was
apparently warmer and more cheery than when we started.
I took over the Armament Section from Pat O'Hagan, an old and efficient hand at the game. He left, after I had extracted as much information from him as I could. His cross-examination was severe if necessarily short, and he certainly was a willing witness. After he left I felt lonely, until P. O. Downs appeared; and he did me a lot of good. He was one of the loyalest and most conscientious petty officers in the service, and the Squadron was lucky to have him. Two hours with a file seemed to do him more good than four hours’ sleep; and the rest of the armourers were without exception a real willing crowd, who never failed to do their best, and if ever I was in a tight corner, I could always apply to C.P.O. Rosling for willing help and the use of his lathe or any other tools required.
Click on the link on the right to read the system that
Capt Pinkney followed and tried to develop:
I think some of the suggestions were found useful. Let me give an example. In one case I evolved an idea for spotting and positioning aircraft in flight at any altitude. This gadget included a racer, round which were set out degrees of the circle from 0 to 90 degrees. I was very proud of this, and when on leave I followed it up to the right department at the Admiralty. The machine was recovered from a cupboard for my inspection, and when the dust had been removed I found that someone had written in succession all round the various degrees the words, “She loves me” and “She loves me not." It had obviously, therefore attracted favourable attention, and I hope that the pointer always stopped at the right answer. I will not detail any of the technical alterations which were made to the guns, as they are now out of date, and no doubt the present guns have been fully adapted to aerial work.
As regards the ammunition, a series of experiments was conducted to test the effect of differing temperatures. A few hundred rounds were left out during a week of frosty nights. One batch was left a foot above the ground, one on ground level, and one buried a few inches below the ground. Their surrounding temperatures were taken at intervals during the night.
