Memories of my aircrew service with the Royal Air Force
Title
Memories of my aircrew service with the Royal Air Force
Description
Flight engineer on B-24. Posted to 614 Squadron at Amendola, Italy. Relates first trip in Wellington, flew with squadron CO. Gives some description of Amendola air base operations. Relates some experiences with oil drum heater. Mentions flying home ex prisoners of war in B-24.
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Spatial Coverage
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Three page printed document
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
BPowellNIPowellNIv3
Transcription
26/10/191 Memories of my aircrew service with the Royal Air Force.
as operational aircrew
Flight/Engineer I was posted in 1944 to 614 SQDN; based at Amendola in southern Italy.
I was type trained on B24-LIBERATORS, but when two of us FLT/ENG; the other persons name was HOLLICK, arrived at Amendola we were informed that the B 24,s had not arrived, so I did my first trips on a Wellington, very odd for a FLT/ENG?
When the first B 24 arrived on 614 SQDN I was informed that, has [sic] I had trained on B24s and therefore, must know all about them, I would be flying with the C/O (COMMANDING OFFICER) W/CDR LAIRD, the next morning as his FLT/ENG;
NOTE; Now those of you who completed the B24 course at ST; ATHEN will tell you, we
N I Powell. As remembered after nearly 60 years. 1
[Page Break]
Error! No index entries found. had never seen a B24 or been inside a B24-there were no official Pilots or Engineers notes, just your own hand written course notes!
Can you imagine the scene-now here I am, 18 years old, no experience, preparing to fly in a B24 with the Commanding Officer when he very pointedly asked me, did I know all the essentials checks and operating speeds! I had no alternative but to say, YES SIR?
Needless to say we both survived, but there can be no doubt, that in the case, this particular C/O was a brave man when he opted to be The, first pilot to convert from Welligtons[sic], I.E. Twin Engined, tail wheel aircraft to a Four engined nose wheel aircraft with a very much higher landing speed, and with a nil hours inexperienced FLT/ENG.
Remember there were no concrete runways, just perforated steel mesh, (Somerton track), I think it was called, laid our on the ground, we also had, a very primitive air traffic control system.
For the benefit of people who never operated from Amendola, let me explain; the aerodrome, all the aircraft and the American personnel were on one side of the Naples to Mamfredonia road and 614 SQDN tents and personnel were on the other (I.E the west side).
I know most people think of Italy, has [sic] sunny Italy, never-the-less the winter of 44/45, was very cold, ask anyone who was there! So the other FLT/ENG HOLLICK, and myself over a period of a month built a log cabin to replace our tent; from memory it was at the top of third row, coming in from the top entrance. We even used old discarded maps to paper over the cracks between the timbers.
N I Powell. As remembered after nearly 60 years. 2
[Page Break]
26/10/193 Memories of my aircrew service with the Royal Air Force.
We also built an oil drum heater to keep us warm and boil water for our various needs. You had to be very careful with this old drum heater because it ran on 120 octane petrol (which we used to roll over in 45 gallon drums from the American compound).
I can’t help thinking as I write this, that there must be lots of you reading this who will either remember, the log cabin, the oil drum heater! Another incident I recall, when I was serving with 104 SQDN at Foggia Main, we were involved in flying home released ex; prisoners of war, the B24s had wooden seats and backrests fitted in the bomb bays, the bomb door operating controls were isolated, the gaps around the bomb doors were taped over in this way we carried 26 personnel plus what ever personal effects they had.
On one trip to the U/K with 26 ex prisoners of war on board we were routing across France the aircraft seemed to have a mind of its own, pitching up and down unexpectedly, when I went back and checked it out, it was the ex; p.o.w. passengers, when they stood up or moved around they were grabbing hold of the exposed elevator cables to support themselves!
N I Powell. As remembered after nearly 60 years. 3
as operational aircrew
Flight/Engineer I was posted in 1944 to 614 SQDN; based at Amendola in southern Italy.
I was type trained on B24-LIBERATORS, but when two of us FLT/ENG; the other persons name was HOLLICK, arrived at Amendola we were informed that the B 24,s had not arrived, so I did my first trips on a Wellington, very odd for a FLT/ENG?
When the first B 24 arrived on 614 SQDN I was informed that, has [sic] I had trained on B24s and therefore, must know all about them, I would be flying with the C/O (COMMANDING OFFICER) W/CDR LAIRD, the next morning as his FLT/ENG;
NOTE; Now those of you who completed the B24 course at ST; ATHEN will tell you, we
N I Powell. As remembered after nearly 60 years. 1
[Page Break]
Error! No index entries found. had never seen a B24 or been inside a B24-there were no official Pilots or Engineers notes, just your own hand written course notes!
Can you imagine the scene-now here I am, 18 years old, no experience, preparing to fly in a B24 with the Commanding Officer when he very pointedly asked me, did I know all the essentials checks and operating speeds! I had no alternative but to say, YES SIR?
Needless to say we both survived, but there can be no doubt, that in the case, this particular C/O was a brave man when he opted to be The, first pilot to convert from Welligtons[sic], I.E. Twin Engined, tail wheel aircraft to a Four engined nose wheel aircraft with a very much higher landing speed, and with a nil hours inexperienced FLT/ENG.
Remember there were no concrete runways, just perforated steel mesh, (Somerton track), I think it was called, laid our on the ground, we also had, a very primitive air traffic control system.
For the benefit of people who never operated from Amendola, let me explain; the aerodrome, all the aircraft and the American personnel were on one side of the Naples to Mamfredonia road and 614 SQDN tents and personnel were on the other (I.E the west side).
I know most people think of Italy, has [sic] sunny Italy, never-the-less the winter of 44/45, was very cold, ask anyone who was there! So the other FLT/ENG HOLLICK, and myself over a period of a month built a log cabin to replace our tent; from memory it was at the top of third row, coming in from the top entrance. We even used old discarded maps to paper over the cracks between the timbers.
N I Powell. As remembered after nearly 60 years. 2
[Page Break]
26/10/193 Memories of my aircrew service with the Royal Air Force.
We also built an oil drum heater to keep us warm and boil water for our various needs. You had to be very careful with this old drum heater because it ran on 120 octane petrol (which we used to roll over in 45 gallon drums from the American compound).
I can’t help thinking as I write this, that there must be lots of you reading this who will either remember, the log cabin, the oil drum heater! Another incident I recall, when I was serving with 104 SQDN at Foggia Main, we were involved in flying home released ex; prisoners of war, the B24s had wooden seats and backrests fitted in the bomb bays, the bomb door operating controls were isolated, the gaps around the bomb doors were taped over in this way we carried 26 personnel plus what ever personal effects they had.
On one trip to the U/K with 26 ex prisoners of war on board we were routing across France the aircraft seemed to have a mind of its own, pitching up and down unexpectedly, when I went back and checked it out, it was the ex; p.o.w. passengers, when they stood up or moved around they were grabbing hold of the exposed elevator cables to support themselves!
N I Powell. As remembered after nearly 60 years. 3
Collection
Citation
N I Powell, “Memories of my aircrew service with the Royal Air Force,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 15, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/39002.
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