Conversation with Norman Didwell various losses
Title
Conversation with Norman Didwell various losses
Description
Talks about losses of aircraft on operations in France in December 1940.
Date
1940-12
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Coverage
Language
Type
Format
00:06:18 audio recording
Conforms To
Publisher
Rights
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.
Identifier
SBondS-DidwellNv10003
Transcription
ND: It was so bad, the fog. Very bad and there was, I think there was four crew baled out actually from 99. They were quite right. Thetford and the one at Saffron Walden. Who was that flying that? [pause] I remember it like that but I can see it now. Three of the [unclear] had gone missing and the next thing we knew they’d crashed.
SB: So it was the weather then that caused them to —
ND: Yeah. It was weather.
SB: Run up the wrong line.
ND: It was weather. Yeah.
SB: Yeah.
ND: Yeah.
SB: Yeah.
ND: Yeah.
ND: It’s a pity. When you go down to Kew again see if you can find some Form 541s around that main area.
SB: Yeah. Yeah, because I’d like to follow up on that one to —
ND: You see, I had a lot of those and loaned them to people and never got them back.
SB: Yeah. Well, going back to that one at Marseilles.
ND: Where? March 8?
SB: Marseilles.
ND: At Marseilles. Yeah.
SB: Yeah. So, how many went down there? How many on the, were there on detachment?
ND: Three from each squadron.
SB: Right. So that was 9, 99 and 37.
ND: Yeah.
SB: As I remember.
ND: 9, 149.
SB: Oh, 149. Ok.
ND: I can’t remember it all but I’ve got an idea that some, that there was three from 37 Squadron. You see, 37 Squadron was a Wimpy squadron in those days.
SB: Oh yes. It was. Yeah.
ND: And then it went to the Far East.
SB: Yeah.
ND: The Middle East.
SB: Yeah.
ND: And you see [unclear] was on 37. I think it was 37.
SB: So they, just to try and make it clear in our heads when they were down there then they had flown one op had they from Milan. They’d flown. They’d already done —
ND: Two. They did two.
SB: They did two.
ND: Yeah.
SB: Then the French blocked the third one.
ND: The third one they blocked them. Yeah.
SB: Blocked the runway.
ND: Yeah. Blocked the runway.
SB: Yeah.
ND: You see, this has never been, never been [pause] Well, it’s the same with this Battle of Heligoland. It was always on the 18th of December. There’s no, hardly any mention of the 14th of December.
SB: Right. Don’t worry. There is now. I’ve written it all down.
ND: There will be now. Yeah.
SB: Yeah. Oh right.
ND: You see we had a go at Charles Bowyer over that you know.
SB: Yeah.
ND: Oh yeah, and of course some of the old crews were still alive and they wrote to Chaz about it and said hang on —
[food arrives]
ND: Merci. I’ll just practice my French. I’ve got two French young ones coming to see me.
SB: Oh have you.
ND: One’s twelve. One’s eight.
SB: Oh, right. Oh, very young then.
ND: Their dad is English. He’s worked in different parts of the world but they’re fluent in French in English. Very well spoken.
SB: Oh right.
ND: Very clever little kids and all.
SB: So you were saying something about having a go at Bowyer.
ND: Eh?
SB: You were saying that some of the blokes had a go at Bowyer.
ND: Yeah. Because he was on about the first big Battle of Heligoland.
SB: Right.
ND: That was his thirteen and I think he altered it in the finish.
SB: Oh right. Right.
[pause]
ND: I think it’s one of these isn’t it? No. It’s not. Oh, wait a minute.
[pause]
SB: Oh, now you’ve got it [pause] Right. So far so good.
[pause]
[unclear] there’s not many left to see them [unclear] is there?
SB: No. Do you remember a Flight Sergeant Brent? JW Brent.
ND: Chiefy Brent.
SB: Flight sergeant.
ND: Yeah. Flight sergeant. They got, they got shot down over the North Sea.
SB: What was his first name?
ND: Well, do you know I’ve got it in my book at home haven’t I? His body was washed up.
SB: Right.
ND: Right.
SB: Yeah.
ND: And so was Peter Cunningham as a sergeant observer who came from near Leighton Buzzard. Slapton. Came to school in Leighton Buzzard.
SB: Oh right.
ND: He’s buried at [unclear] because [unclear] near his home. Now, what was Brent’s Christian name? He was very dapper was Brent. Ex-Halton apprentice from way back. Now, he had a bit of trouble on one of the first ops. Something went wrong with the elevator control locks. You know the one down near the fuselage. What happened we don’t know but apparently one of the, it was bent and he, he couldn’t [pause] he had to control it. He had to land the aircraft by using his engines. He couldn’t use the elevator [pause] He was Airman of the Watch. He said, ‘The watch office is in a mess. Clean it up.’ It’s not our job is it? It’s the blokes who used the place. So, got the duty crew out. I was airman of the watch.
SB: Yeah.
ND: A bit of a scramble them on a Sunday morning.
SB: Yeah.
ND: I had to come out and clean the Watch office up. He was one of those type. Very much a discipline.
SB: So it was the weather then that caused them to —
ND: Yeah. It was weather.
SB: Run up the wrong line.
ND: It was weather. Yeah.
SB: Yeah.
ND: Yeah.
SB: Yeah.
ND: Yeah.
ND: It’s a pity. When you go down to Kew again see if you can find some Form 541s around that main area.
SB: Yeah. Yeah, because I’d like to follow up on that one to —
ND: You see, I had a lot of those and loaned them to people and never got them back.
SB: Yeah. Well, going back to that one at Marseilles.
ND: Where? March 8?
SB: Marseilles.
ND: At Marseilles. Yeah.
SB: Yeah. So, how many went down there? How many on the, were there on detachment?
ND: Three from each squadron.
SB: Right. So that was 9, 99 and 37.
ND: Yeah.
SB: As I remember.
ND: 9, 149.
SB: Oh, 149. Ok.
ND: I can’t remember it all but I’ve got an idea that some, that there was three from 37 Squadron. You see, 37 Squadron was a Wimpy squadron in those days.
SB: Oh yes. It was. Yeah.
ND: And then it went to the Far East.
SB: Yeah.
ND: The Middle East.
SB: Yeah.
ND: And you see [unclear] was on 37. I think it was 37.
SB: So they, just to try and make it clear in our heads when they were down there then they had flown one op had they from Milan. They’d flown. They’d already done —
ND: Two. They did two.
SB: They did two.
ND: Yeah.
SB: Then the French blocked the third one.
ND: The third one they blocked them. Yeah.
SB: Blocked the runway.
ND: Yeah. Blocked the runway.
SB: Yeah.
ND: You see, this has never been, never been [pause] Well, it’s the same with this Battle of Heligoland. It was always on the 18th of December. There’s no, hardly any mention of the 14th of December.
SB: Right. Don’t worry. There is now. I’ve written it all down.
ND: There will be now. Yeah.
SB: Yeah. Oh right.
ND: You see we had a go at Charles Bowyer over that you know.
SB: Yeah.
ND: Oh yeah, and of course some of the old crews were still alive and they wrote to Chaz about it and said hang on —
[food arrives]
ND: Merci. I’ll just practice my French. I’ve got two French young ones coming to see me.
SB: Oh have you.
ND: One’s twelve. One’s eight.
SB: Oh, right. Oh, very young then.
ND: Their dad is English. He’s worked in different parts of the world but they’re fluent in French in English. Very well spoken.
SB: Oh right.
ND: Very clever little kids and all.
SB: So you were saying something about having a go at Bowyer.
ND: Eh?
SB: You were saying that some of the blokes had a go at Bowyer.
ND: Yeah. Because he was on about the first big Battle of Heligoland.
SB: Right.
ND: That was his thirteen and I think he altered it in the finish.
SB: Oh right. Right.
[pause]
ND: I think it’s one of these isn’t it? No. It’s not. Oh, wait a minute.
[pause]
SB: Oh, now you’ve got it [pause] Right. So far so good.
[pause]
[unclear] there’s not many left to see them [unclear] is there?
SB: No. Do you remember a Flight Sergeant Brent? JW Brent.
ND: Chiefy Brent.
SB: Flight sergeant.
ND: Yeah. Flight sergeant. They got, they got shot down over the North Sea.
SB: What was his first name?
ND: Well, do you know I’ve got it in my book at home haven’t I? His body was washed up.
SB: Right.
ND: Right.
SB: Yeah.
ND: And so was Peter Cunningham as a sergeant observer who came from near Leighton Buzzard. Slapton. Came to school in Leighton Buzzard.
SB: Oh right.
ND: He’s buried at [unclear] because [unclear] near his home. Now, what was Brent’s Christian name? He was very dapper was Brent. Ex-Halton apprentice from way back. Now, he had a bit of trouble on one of the first ops. Something went wrong with the elevator control locks. You know the one down near the fuselage. What happened we don’t know but apparently one of the, it was bent and he, he couldn’t [pause] he had to control it. He had to land the aircraft by using his engines. He couldn’t use the elevator [pause] He was Airman of the Watch. He said, ‘The watch office is in a mess. Clean it up.’ It’s not our job is it? It’s the blokes who used the place. So, got the duty crew out. I was airman of the watch.
SB: Yeah.
ND: A bit of a scramble them on a Sunday morning.
SB: Yeah.
ND: I had to come out and clean the Watch office up. He was one of those type. Very much a discipline.
Collection
Citation
“Conversation with Norman Didwell various losses,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 13, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/49106.