Newspaper cuttings
Title
Newspaper cuttings
Description
The first cutting refers to the award of the DFM to Patrick Geary and receiving the medal at Buckingham Palace.
The second is from the Prince Albert Daily Herald. It reports an interview with Patrick and a fellow trainee Corporal Phillip Finch, both attending no 6 EFTS at Prince Albert, Canada. The interview reports that Patrick did 31 operations in the Wellington.
The second is from the Prince Albert Daily Herald. It reports an interview with Patrick and a fellow trainee Corporal Phillip Finch, both attending no 6 EFTS at Prince Albert, Canada. The interview reports that Patrick did 31 operations in the Wellington.
Date
1941-11
1943
Language
Type
Format
Two newspaper cuttings on an album page
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.
Contributor
Identifier
PGearyPC17010058
Transcription
London Scots Cheer D.F.M. Winner
Sergeant Patrick Geary, a Glasgow electrician and a former “week-end flyer,” was given a rousing reception by a big Scots contingent – including strangers – who had heard of his honour coming down in the train, when he left Buckingham Palace yesterday after receiving the D.F.M.
As rear-gunner in a bomber during an attack on Brest Sergeant Geary shot down one Messerschmitt and badly damaged another. [underlined] He comes from a fighting family [/underlined] for his father, Tom Geary, one-time Army footballer, and his mother were both born in barracks, the father in Hamilton and the mother in Ceylon.
Geary was disappointed, as owing to last-minute illness, his mother was unable to be present, but his father was there with another R.A.F. brother. A sister, who is in the W.A.A.F., and his fiancee, a Queen Alexandra nurse, went with him to the investiture.
Another Scot to be decorated was Corporal William Masson, of Bridge of Weir, Renfrew, who is serving with the Gordon Highlanders. He received the Military Medal.
Sergeant Frank Bell, of the R.A.F., who has made over 40 flights across enemy territory including one to Turin, won the D.F.M. for shooting down three, and possibly four, Messerschmitts, which kept up an attack on the bomber in which he was rear-gunner for 90 minutes during a raid on Bremen.
His only sister was killed in a raid on Sheffield last December, and Sergeant Bell made a solemn vow to avenge her death.
[page break]
THE PRINCE ALBERT DAILY HERALD
Eager to Settle Score With Axis
[black and white photograph of Sergeant Patrick Geary and Corporal Phillip Finch, wearing flying helmets and standing in front of an aircraft propellor]
Not so long ago Sgt. Patrick C. Geary, D.F.M. (right) was shooting Me 109’s from the skies over Europe and his fellow classmate Cpl. Phillip G. H. Finch with whom he is chatting above was fishing stranded R.A.F. pilots out of the Mediterranean. Now both these student pilots are learning how to fly at No. 6 E.F.T.S. Prince Albert.
It’s join the airforce and see the world as far as many airmen stationed at No. 6 E.F.T.S. are concerned. From tiny Malta to the shores of the North Saskatchewan and from raids over Germany to peaceful Prairie skies is a longish hop as two of the student-fliers who have already seen a fair share of action, will admit.
Sgt Patrick C. Geary, D.F.M., an air gunner who has come 6,000 miles to get the other half of his wing, is the veteran of 31 operational flights over German-occupied Europe. Cpl. Phillip G. H. Finch, one of Geary’s classmates, spent three years in Malta, during the toughest of the blitz, participating in air-sea rescue work. They are members of the Royal Air Force.
“Canada is so big that it rather scares me,” declared Cpl. Finch who lived for three blitz years on Malta, an island with a 91-square-mile area. Sgt. Geary said that although he had never heard of Prince Albert before being posted here, he did like the city and found its citizens most friendly so that he was not disappointed.
At this point it might be well to admit that Sgt. Geary was just a little suspicious of all inquiring reporters after his experience in Winnipeg while en route to Prince Albert.
While chatting with a young lady (not knowing she was a reporter) – he declared that after the war was over he was going off to China to look for more excitement.
“I was sorry I said that for it actually came out in a story, and I’m afraid my wife will divorce me if she hears about it,” he said ruefully. “Really, after the war all I want is to go home and work in my garden and turn in at 10 every night.”
After a great deal of prodding, Sgt. Geary explained that the ribbon he wore on his tunic beneath his W.A.G. badge was the D.F.M. awarded for his action in a daylight raid on Brest. The aircraft in which he was the rear gunner was attacked by ME 109’s and Sgt. Geary was successful in shooting down two of the enemy planes.
“It was more by good luck than by good judgment,” said Sgt. Geary, “for two of them just fell down. Much more credit is due the skill of the pilot and the 100 percent co-operation of the crew.”
In this British Empire crew, all of whom have since been reported either missing or killed in action, with the exception of Sgt. Geary, the pilot was from New Zealand, the front gunner from England, the wireless operator and the second pilot from Australia and the observer from Canada.
Of his 31 operationals, Sgt. Geary [missing words] low level night attack on [missing words] horst and the Gneisenau when they were in dock at Brest prior to their flight through the Channel. The aircraft was caught in a searchlight and hit a balloon although the only casualty aboard was one gunner who speedily recovered.
Sgt. Geary had nothing but praise for the sturdy Wellingtons in which he did all of his operationals over Germany, Belgium, Holland an occupied France.
“Then there was the jaunt to Kiel during which we threw everything out of the plane except the crew.” related this airman, who when he again flies over Germany will be in the front end of the plane instead of the back.
On this trip one engine failed 150 miles from the English coast on the way out. The crew was forced to jettison bombs, guns, parachutes and oxygen bottles which lightened the load by three tons. The plane crossed the English coast at only 500 feet and came in on a prayer at a coastal airdrome, the Sergeant said.
Sgt. Geary’s longest and most interesting trip was his flight across the Alps to bomb Turin on a bright moonlit night. Not a shot was fired all the way there and back on this 1,600 mile trip, Sgt. Geary said. The scenery was grand.
“The next important job I had to do when I came off ‘ops’ was to get married,” said Sgt. Geary who was sent to Canada four months later. His wife is a nursing sister in Queen Alexander’s nursing service and is at present stationed in Scotland. Sgt. Geary himself comes from Glasgow and is politely insistent that Scottish people are Scotch and not English.
Cpl. Finch, who is “free and unattached,” admitted that it would be quite interesting if he should happen to pick up a wife on this side of the Atlantic. Cpl. Finch comes from Sidmouth in Devonshire.
“It was pretty tough out there at times and there was not too much protection at first,” Cpl. Finch said in speaking of his Malta experiences. “We had three antiquated old Gladiators named Faith, Hope and Charity. Charity was shot down, which just left us with Faith and Hope. When the Hurricanes came roaring in, we really mowed down the enemy.”
After being on the receiving line in Malta for three years, Cpl. Finch’s main ambition is to get back to give the Italians a little of there [sic] own medicine.
“I am going back there with a bomber and really give it to them,” he declared.
Although the George Cross had not yet been awarded to the island when he left in October, 1941, Cpl. Finch expressed greatest admiration for the Maltese people. They stood up surprisingly well under the terrific air pounding. For a period of fifteen days the raids were continuous.
“There are probably more farms in Malta than there are in Saskatchewan but the size of them would make you western Canadians laugh,” he said.
Cpl. Finch, who wears the sparks of a wireless operator, was engaged in air-sea rescue work during most of his stay on Malta although he applied for air crew training soon after war began. Tradesmen, he explained, were not recruited for air duty until reserves were sufficiently built up.
Those engaged in this rescue work use motor boats to pick up crews that have crashed in the Mediterranean. Cpl. Finch who has helped in the rescue of at least 30 airmen told of saving a crew right under the noses of the Italians one darkish winter night.
“We were very close to the shores of Sicily and after we made the rescue, we were not too sure where we were,” he said. “If we had lost our direction then it would have been just too bad.”
Cpl. Finch was on the island at the time the enemy dive-bombed the Illustrious and he told of watching the show from a hill top some five miles distant.
On each raid, 150 to 200 planes were used but the vessel was repaired and able to go back into service after these attacks.
“The leaders of a formation, dive-bombing as per the book, come right down on their target but the tail-enders pull out of it much sooner,” chuckled Cpl. Finch.
The Herald interviewer had one awkward moment while interviewing the two airmen.
“What part of England do you come from,” we innocently asked Sgt. Geary.
“I am from Scotland,” Geary replied scornfully, “from Glasgow.”
“But you had to come to London to become civilized,” interjected Cpl. Finch, who explained that his companion had lived in London immediately prior to the outbreak of war.
Empire airmen have their good natured rivalry. They rib each other unmercifully at times, but it is all in fun. When it comes to fighting the Axis they work together as an harmonious team, like the “grand fellows” – the Scot, the Briton, the two Australians, the New Zealander and the Canadian, who manned the Wellington in the Brest raid when Sgt. Geary won the citation which brought him the Distinguished Flying Medal.
Sergeant Patrick Geary, a Glasgow electrician and a former “week-end flyer,” was given a rousing reception by a big Scots contingent – including strangers – who had heard of his honour coming down in the train, when he left Buckingham Palace yesterday after receiving the D.F.M.
As rear-gunner in a bomber during an attack on Brest Sergeant Geary shot down one Messerschmitt and badly damaged another. [underlined] He comes from a fighting family [/underlined] for his father, Tom Geary, one-time Army footballer, and his mother were both born in barracks, the father in Hamilton and the mother in Ceylon.
Geary was disappointed, as owing to last-minute illness, his mother was unable to be present, but his father was there with another R.A.F. brother. A sister, who is in the W.A.A.F., and his fiancee, a Queen Alexandra nurse, went with him to the investiture.
Another Scot to be decorated was Corporal William Masson, of Bridge of Weir, Renfrew, who is serving with the Gordon Highlanders. He received the Military Medal.
Sergeant Frank Bell, of the R.A.F., who has made over 40 flights across enemy territory including one to Turin, won the D.F.M. for shooting down three, and possibly four, Messerschmitts, which kept up an attack on the bomber in which he was rear-gunner for 90 minutes during a raid on Bremen.
His only sister was killed in a raid on Sheffield last December, and Sergeant Bell made a solemn vow to avenge her death.
[page break]
THE PRINCE ALBERT DAILY HERALD
Eager to Settle Score With Axis
[black and white photograph of Sergeant Patrick Geary and Corporal Phillip Finch, wearing flying helmets and standing in front of an aircraft propellor]
Not so long ago Sgt. Patrick C. Geary, D.F.M. (right) was shooting Me 109’s from the skies over Europe and his fellow classmate Cpl. Phillip G. H. Finch with whom he is chatting above was fishing stranded R.A.F. pilots out of the Mediterranean. Now both these student pilots are learning how to fly at No. 6 E.F.T.S. Prince Albert.
It’s join the airforce and see the world as far as many airmen stationed at No. 6 E.F.T.S. are concerned. From tiny Malta to the shores of the North Saskatchewan and from raids over Germany to peaceful Prairie skies is a longish hop as two of the student-fliers who have already seen a fair share of action, will admit.
Sgt Patrick C. Geary, D.F.M., an air gunner who has come 6,000 miles to get the other half of his wing, is the veteran of 31 operational flights over German-occupied Europe. Cpl. Phillip G. H. Finch, one of Geary’s classmates, spent three years in Malta, during the toughest of the blitz, participating in air-sea rescue work. They are members of the Royal Air Force.
“Canada is so big that it rather scares me,” declared Cpl. Finch who lived for three blitz years on Malta, an island with a 91-square-mile area. Sgt. Geary said that although he had never heard of Prince Albert before being posted here, he did like the city and found its citizens most friendly so that he was not disappointed.
At this point it might be well to admit that Sgt. Geary was just a little suspicious of all inquiring reporters after his experience in Winnipeg while en route to Prince Albert.
While chatting with a young lady (not knowing she was a reporter) – he declared that after the war was over he was going off to China to look for more excitement.
“I was sorry I said that for it actually came out in a story, and I’m afraid my wife will divorce me if she hears about it,” he said ruefully. “Really, after the war all I want is to go home and work in my garden and turn in at 10 every night.”
After a great deal of prodding, Sgt. Geary explained that the ribbon he wore on his tunic beneath his W.A.G. badge was the D.F.M. awarded for his action in a daylight raid on Brest. The aircraft in which he was the rear gunner was attacked by ME 109’s and Sgt. Geary was successful in shooting down two of the enemy planes.
“It was more by good luck than by good judgment,” said Sgt. Geary, “for two of them just fell down. Much more credit is due the skill of the pilot and the 100 percent co-operation of the crew.”
In this British Empire crew, all of whom have since been reported either missing or killed in action, with the exception of Sgt. Geary, the pilot was from New Zealand, the front gunner from England, the wireless operator and the second pilot from Australia and the observer from Canada.
Of his 31 operationals, Sgt. Geary [missing words] low level night attack on [missing words] horst and the Gneisenau when they were in dock at Brest prior to their flight through the Channel. The aircraft was caught in a searchlight and hit a balloon although the only casualty aboard was one gunner who speedily recovered.
Sgt. Geary had nothing but praise for the sturdy Wellingtons in which he did all of his operationals over Germany, Belgium, Holland an occupied France.
“Then there was the jaunt to Kiel during which we threw everything out of the plane except the crew.” related this airman, who when he again flies over Germany will be in the front end of the plane instead of the back.
On this trip one engine failed 150 miles from the English coast on the way out. The crew was forced to jettison bombs, guns, parachutes and oxygen bottles which lightened the load by three tons. The plane crossed the English coast at only 500 feet and came in on a prayer at a coastal airdrome, the Sergeant said.
Sgt. Geary’s longest and most interesting trip was his flight across the Alps to bomb Turin on a bright moonlit night. Not a shot was fired all the way there and back on this 1,600 mile trip, Sgt. Geary said. The scenery was grand.
“The next important job I had to do when I came off ‘ops’ was to get married,” said Sgt. Geary who was sent to Canada four months later. His wife is a nursing sister in Queen Alexander’s nursing service and is at present stationed in Scotland. Sgt. Geary himself comes from Glasgow and is politely insistent that Scottish people are Scotch and not English.
Cpl. Finch, who is “free and unattached,” admitted that it would be quite interesting if he should happen to pick up a wife on this side of the Atlantic. Cpl. Finch comes from Sidmouth in Devonshire.
“It was pretty tough out there at times and there was not too much protection at first,” Cpl. Finch said in speaking of his Malta experiences. “We had three antiquated old Gladiators named Faith, Hope and Charity. Charity was shot down, which just left us with Faith and Hope. When the Hurricanes came roaring in, we really mowed down the enemy.”
After being on the receiving line in Malta for three years, Cpl. Finch’s main ambition is to get back to give the Italians a little of there [sic] own medicine.
“I am going back there with a bomber and really give it to them,” he declared.
Although the George Cross had not yet been awarded to the island when he left in October, 1941, Cpl. Finch expressed greatest admiration for the Maltese people. They stood up surprisingly well under the terrific air pounding. For a period of fifteen days the raids were continuous.
“There are probably more farms in Malta than there are in Saskatchewan but the size of them would make you western Canadians laugh,” he said.
Cpl. Finch, who wears the sparks of a wireless operator, was engaged in air-sea rescue work during most of his stay on Malta although he applied for air crew training soon after war began. Tradesmen, he explained, were not recruited for air duty until reserves were sufficiently built up.
Those engaged in this rescue work use motor boats to pick up crews that have crashed in the Mediterranean. Cpl. Finch who has helped in the rescue of at least 30 airmen told of saving a crew right under the noses of the Italians one darkish winter night.
“We were very close to the shores of Sicily and after we made the rescue, we were not too sure where we were,” he said. “If we had lost our direction then it would have been just too bad.”
Cpl. Finch was on the island at the time the enemy dive-bombed the Illustrious and he told of watching the show from a hill top some five miles distant.
On each raid, 150 to 200 planes were used but the vessel was repaired and able to go back into service after these attacks.
“The leaders of a formation, dive-bombing as per the book, come right down on their target but the tail-enders pull out of it much sooner,” chuckled Cpl. Finch.
The Herald interviewer had one awkward moment while interviewing the two airmen.
“What part of England do you come from,” we innocently asked Sgt. Geary.
“I am from Scotland,” Geary replied scornfully, “from Glasgow.”
“But you had to come to London to become civilized,” interjected Cpl. Finch, who explained that his companion had lived in London immediately prior to the outbreak of war.
Empire airmen have their good natured rivalry. They rib each other unmercifully at times, but it is all in fun. When it comes to fighting the Axis they work together as an harmonious team, like the “grand fellows” – the Scot, the Briton, the two Australians, the New Zealander and the Canadian, who manned the Wellington in the Brest raid when Sgt. Geary won the citation which brought him the Distinguished Flying Medal.
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Citation
“Newspaper cuttings,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed September 2, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/40339.
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