Air Sea Rescue Radio Waves

This is the story of the military service of Percy Yates.

From 1939 to 1946 he served in the RAF as a radio operator onboard the RAF Air Sea Rescue Launches operating in the English Channel from Ramsgate and later off the coast of Burma in the Bay of Bengal operating from Calcutta and Chittagong.

Before his career as a radio operator started, he served in France with the BEF, just managing to be evacuated before the Germans advanced to the airfield where he was stationed.

This story gives an insight into the vital service provided by the RAF High Speed ASR launches and the lengths they went through to rescue downed airmen. To quote the ASR motto "The Sea Shall Not Have Them".

After the war he joined the TA and served as a signals instructor until he reached the retirement age for active service.