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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/501/22596/MCurnockRM1815605-171114-024.1.pdf
d9fa2a58ac51b1f20f8090cb5b2a4df8
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Curnock, Richard
Richard Murdock Curnock
R M Curnock
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IBCC Digital Archive
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Curnock, RM
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2016-04-18
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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.
Description
An account of the resource
92 items. An oral history interview with Warrant Officer Richard Curnock (1924, 1915605 Royal Air Force), his log book, letters, photographs and prisoner of war magazines. He flew operations with 425 Squadron before being shot down and becoming a prisoner of war.
The collection has been licenced to the IBCC Digital Archive by Richard Curnock and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
THE
Prisoner of War
[Emblem] THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE PRISONERS OF WAR DEPARTMENT OF THE RED CROSS AND ST. JOHN WAR ORGANISATION, ST. JAMES’S PALACE, LONDON, S.W.1. [Emblem]
VOL. 3 No. 34 Free to Next of Kin FEBRUARY, 1945
THE FOOD SITUATION
By Maj.-Gen. Sir Richard Howard-Vyse, K.C.M.G., D.S.O.,
Chairman of the Prisoners of War Department
I know well that many of our readers are much distressed by letters from Camps which indicate a lack of food, and I am writing these lines in order to explain the situation and, I hope, to provide some comfort.
By the month of May, we had established in Geneva a stock of some twelve weeks’ supplies, or about two million parcels. Thereafter, while the parcels continued to leave Geneva at the rate of 160,000 a week, they ceased to flow in, because the port of Marseilles was closed, first owing to unfortunate accidents to two of our ships, and then because of the invasion of the South of France.
In September, for fear of being left with no parcels at all, we were compelled to reduce issues to a parcel a fortnight. There could have been no worse moment to do this, with the cold weather approaching, and hopes vanishing of release before Christmas, and it is only too natural that our prisoners should feel depressed as well as hungry.
The situation was further aggravated by the decision of the German High Command not to allow reserves of food parcels in Camps, inconsequence of which some Camps were compelled to consume not half a parcel, as they should have done, but as much as two or even more parcels in one week. This resulted, of course, in the disappearance of the rest of the Camp reserves which had been built up against such an eventuality as stoppage of despatches from Geneva. But, from the latest information we have, it seems likely that this order will be considerably modified, so that, as soon as transport is available, Geneva may be able to establish such reserves once more.
In some Camps, too, numbers have been greatly increased by transfers from other Camps, as well as by newly captured prisoners. The worst instance of this is Stalag 357, which has been swollen by practically the whole of Stalag Luft VI, who apparently were not allowed to bring their food reserves with them. In view of the train shortage which must exist in Germany to-day – and which, incidentally, must be materially helping to shorten the war – it is perhaps unfair to attribute this entirely to ill-will on the part of the enemy.
Now for the brighter part of the picture. In the first place, I want to stress that, while we ourselves are pretty fully informed as to the situation, practically all our news and more besides, is in the hands of the International Red Cross Committee of Geneva, who of course get it before we do. The Committee therefore possess what everyone must have before they can act; I mean Information. The point is, have they the means to act?
As to this, the situation which originally obliged us to reduce the issue has vanished. The resumed flow via Marseilles, plus supplies which are going in via Sweden, is establishing once more a reserve in Geneva. The full issue of a parcel a week can now be resumed as soon as there are sufficient stocks in Camps. It is entirely a question of rail transport through Germany. It would not be surprising if the shortage of this were acute, but as a matter of fact, we have at the moment two reasons for feeling hopeful. One of the principals of the Relief Section, of whom I happened to see a great deal when I was myself in Geneva, has sent us a distinctly encouraging report of a visit he has just paid to Berlin. And the International Red Cross Committee have told us that they hope to get the Christmas parcels to all Camps by the middle of January. In view of the Russian advance it is dangerous to prophesy about the future. (Contd. overleaf)
[Picture of a horse with cart being unloaded by four men] Red Cross parcels being unloaded at Stalag 344, one of the largest camps in Germany.
[Page break]
2 The Prisoner of War FEBRUARY, 1945
The Editor Writes –
At the time of going to press no confirmation has been received of reports that camps in Poland, East Prussia, Upper Silesia, in the line of the rapid advance of the Russian armies, have been moved back into Central Germany. Camps likely to be affected include Stalags XXA, XXB, 344, VIIIB, Luft VII, B.A.B. 20 and 21, Oflag 64, Ilag Kreuzberg, and the hospitals at Marienburg and Cosel. The War Office announced recently that assurances on the highest level had been received that provision will be made for the protection and welfare of all British Commonwealth prisoners of war liberated. The War Office also stated that “our plans are complete and the necessary staffs in readiness for action at short notice.”
Should any official information of a prisoner’s change of address be received, next of kin will be notified immediately; but the chances are that they themselves will hear from the prisoner first.
“Victorious Vanguard”
The Stockholm correspondent of the Daily Telegraph quotes a French sailor who escaped to Sweden from the Baltic Port of Kolberg, as having said that British prisoners who were being evacuated from camps in East Prussia, Poland and Silesia were in the highest spirits. The sailor said that there was a striking contrast between them and the Volkssturm battalions which filled the roads leading to the front. “As the British passed them they sang ‘Roll Out the Barrel’ and ‘Tipperary,’ and turned up their thumbs.”
The way in which these prisoners passed through the town, said the Frenchman, deepened considerably the wave of pessimism which had swept over the whole of that part of Germany. “You would think they were not prisoners, but the vanguard of a victorious army.”
Welcome to Repatriates
Of the 1,500 British and Dominion men in the latest repatriation, arrangements were made for British and Australian to come to this country and Indian and other Dominion repatriates to go straight home on another ship via Suez. Besides seven welfare officers who went out to Marseilles to meet the men, Mrs. Boyd-Moriarty, representing the Australian Red Cross, made the journey out and home on the Arundel Castle, and Miss Noyes went out representing Indian Red Cross to accompany those men who are to go straight back to India. Supplies of the Arundel Castle included 600 Indian Red Cross parcels for the use of homeward-bound Indians.
“They Shall Have Music”
Gramophone records and accordions from the Indoor Recreations Section were in the charge of Welfare officers on board for the entertainment of the repatriates. General comforts included cigarettes, bars of chocolate, slippers, stationery sets, socks, scarves, gloves and news – in the shape of Sunday newspapers and a special sports summary prepared for the Red Cross and St. John Press Section by the Daily Mail was flown direct to Marseilles.
Theatre Ban Lifted
Last month I mentioned that according to an order from the General in Command, all theatrical performances in camps situated in Wehrkeis (military zone) VIII had been forbidden, though concert and variety shows were still allowed. Readers will therefore be reassured to hear that in his latest report from Stalag VIIIA at Gorlitz, one of the camps affected, the British Man of Confidence writes: “In the middle of October the ban on theatre entertainments was lifted by the authorities and we are now permitted to put on one dramatic show per month, as well as the usual musical concerts.”
Situation Improved
I am most grateful to Mr. W.B. Morrison for a piece of good news which he has recently received from his son in Oflag IVC. He points out that in our December issue the visitors’ report on Oflag IVC stated that the prisoners could only take one shower every ten days. His son has written saying “The past week has been very hot … I spend most of the day getting in and out of hot, beg pardon, cold baths, which fortunately are plentiful.” It appears, therefore, that the situation has been much improved.
Marking Time
Under the title of “Marking Time,” prisoners of war who escaped from Italian prison camps into Switzerland and were interned in St. Gallen, created a monthly magazine. The first cover design showed an “evadé” sitting at a table, mournfully looking at a bottle of beer, waiting for things to happen. The magazine caught on. Its popularity extended far beyond the scattered community of internees, and requests for it poured in from British subjects in all parts of Switzerland. Donations were received, the paper was enlarged in size, and later, when the technical difficulties were overcome, became a self-supporting weekly.
Channel Islanders
A letter, written by a Channel Islander interned at Biberach in Germany to her nephew in this country tells that she was allowed to write to the Channel Islands. The Red Cross ship Vega which took the first batch of relief supplies to the Channel Islands will be familiar to my readers as having carried supplies of P.o.W. parcels on several occasions. Among other Red Cross supplies for the Channel Islands which have been earmarked for the future are 600,000 food parcels, 20,000 invalid diet supplements and further supplies of drugs. These plans will not in any way affect the flow of supplies to p.o.w.s in Germany.
THE FOOD SITUATION (Continued from page 1)
Now I want to ask a favour of you. A curious thing to do, I know, from people who are suffering from disappointment, who are receiving depressed letters from their prisoners, and who, especially those whose men have been captives for years, are full of anxiety.
Many of you work in offices of one sort or another, and know the difficulties of obtaining office staff. We here are suffering acutely from such difficulties, and, to put it frankly, have been snowed under with correspondence etc.
Will you please try to be patient, and not send us enquiries about the food situation until you have seen whether or not my own forecast proves to be justified. We, for our part, promise to keep you informed, through the pages of this Journal, if anything transpires to alter that forecast.
If you will do this, we shall be very grateful indeed to you, and you will be enabling us to reply more quickly to other, and perhaps more urgent, enquiries.
[Page break]
FEBRUARY, 1945 The Prisoner of War 3
The Brighter Side
At the Special Request of Stalag XIA, we are featuring this Month Extracts from Their Own Reports of Camp Entertainments and Sport there.
[Photograph of a group of men, most in sports kit] League Champions, July 1944, III Division at Stalag 344. Left to Right: (Back) Dick, Charlie, “Jock,” “Steve,” “Hank,” Ginger. (Middle) Robin, McGinty, “Nobby,” “Tanky,” “Tidler.” (Front) “Jock” and Frankie.
In sending special reports of camp activities prepared by prisoners in Stalag XIA, the president of their Entertainment Committee requested that these might be published in the Journal, adding: “We wish also to thank the B.R.C.S. and the Y.M.C.A. for the tremendous help they have given us.” As a gesture of appreciation the camp music maestro has written and composed a march and called it B.R.C.S. (British Red Cross Society).
Entertainment at Stalag XIA
A sergeant has written the account of camp entertainments. He begins: “On recalling to ins the recent entertainments in our camp, one is struck by the similarity between the presentations here and those that take place in the big cities outside. We in our little world have been presented with a continuous programme, which has given almost the same expectations, thrills, laughter and relaxation experienced by all who followed the seasons of theatreland before the war. Just as the Haymarket in London gives its public that atmosphere and attraction so dear to theatre fans, our ‘Haymarket’ renders full justice to its existence.”
Music and Variety
Music is provided by Roy and his “Music Makers,” fourteen in all, “who never fail in obtaining a merited success.” Fred’s “Haymakers” supply plenty of rhythm, while Sid and his “Mandoliers” give concerts of light music. “Both Roy and Sid have played their own compositions, which have more than shown their ability as musicians.” Variety shows have been “outstanding because the player have that skill and enthusiasm to show their talent in various ways, their main theme being laughter and song.” Vic’s production of “Leilani” transported them to the South Seas the moment the curtain rose on his show, and the audience was apparently “overwhelmed with fun, song, wit and charm.” Then Bob, the president of the Entertainment Committee, produced and presented within three days Bob’s Variety, a show that proved to be one of the best yet.
Repertory Theatre
There is also a flourishing Repertory Theatre, which appears to have “gaiety” as its motto, for all the plays produced to date have been comedies. Pee-Wee’s Tilly of Bloomsbury, which was adapted for the stage from the book, provided an hour and a half’s hilarity, and Vic’s production of The Man Who Came to Dinner was also a success. Spud has produced You Can’t Take It With You – “the antics of the Martin Vanderhof family kept a packed audience in hysterics. We were informed that at times the players themselves had difficulty in not laughing.”
Future attractions will include Vic’s pantomime, Cinderella, and Terry’s The Petrified Forest.
The sergeant’s report does not confine his praise to the stars of these entertainments. He points out: “In every walk of life there are unsung heroes. We owe a great deal to the lads who work in silence to make the entertainment what it is.” Particularly praised are “the sterling capabilities and skill” of Harry and Lew, who backstage ”perform such miracles as you would expect of the fairy with her magic wand.” The report concludes: “Yes, we spectators certainly do appreciate our luck in having such entertainment which goes a long way in relieving the ‘barbed wire’ feeling.”
Sport
Association Football
According to “Onlooker,” football in the camp has been “going great guns these last six or seven months.” At the end of March, Alf Smirk, a professional forward from Southend United, arrived in the camp and took over the Lager XI. His team has played five games against combined “other National” sides and has a splendid record, winning four and drawing one, with an aggregate of 22 goals to 8. The first League run in the compound was won by Staff. The first seven-a-side contest was won by 12C (since disbanded) and the second by Staff.
Two knock-out competitions have been held and were both won by 14A, for whom Alf Smirk plays.
Rugby
Since February of this year Rugby has been played regularly in the cooler months, and, according to the corporal who writes the report of this season’s games, “by praying for rain we have worked in an occasional game over the summer.” He continues: “Despite the fact that the ground is only 50 yards wide, we play fifteen a side, but even with this congestion the backs, at times, perform very well.
“We have players from the British isles and all the Rugby-playing Colonies, some very good, some just good, but all very keen – this last has been the means of keeping the game going. We have had some very good games. The first, South Africa versus the Camp, was won by the Camp. England v. Colonies was won by England by one penalty goal in a very strongly contested match. On St. Patrick’s Day the Colts played England (with Kiwis, Springboks and Wallabies included in the side), for which they qualified, and won 6 – 5.
“Since then we have had various new prisoners (mostly recaptured from Italy) v. ‘Old,’ followed by a series of Anzacs v. Camp, which the boys from
[Page break]
4 The Prisoner of War FEBRUARY, 1945
What to Send Your Prisoner Now
[Photographs of musical instruments, boardgames, books and magazines] Among the many articles sent to prisoners of war by the Indoor Recreations Section at St. James’s Palace are musical instruments, artists’ materials (paints in pans), crayons, plays, books and games. They go direct from this country and from reserve supplies held by the I.R.C. at Geneva.
This typical selection includes new books of every type from the fine arts to Wild West thrillers. Remember all books must pass a severe censorship.
Music is scarce and in great demand in the camps. Clean, unmarked copies will be warmly welcomed by the Indoor Recreations Section.
THE BRIGHTER SIDE
(Continued from previous page)
‘Down Under’ won 2 games to 1. We are most grateful to the Red Cross Society for supplying us with the gear to make all this possible.”
In Other Camps
In Stalag XVIIIA they take their musical entertainment seriously and according to a trooper who writes, just produces a “Cavalcade of Music,” illustrating the progress from primitive music, through the minuet, opera, music-hall, ragtime and swing to the modern symphonic jazz, closing on the optimistic note, The Song of Dawn. By contrast in Stalag VIIA they seem to take a far from serious attitude. One prisoner, writing, admittedly on a Saturday evening, says: “I and a chap from Paddington have just finished dancing the Big Apple, Jitterbug, Charleston, and anything that Fred Astaire can do. I don’t know what the Germans think of us, but they certainly must think we are a Crazy Gang. The noise and shouting is terrific, with a background of six mouth-organs.”
Camp Shows
The Dramatic Club in Stalag 357 have hit on a new idea. They are working on a scheme for producing a series of “Radio Plays” and revues which will tour the huts throughout the camp. The plays are read from behind a curtain of blankets. One is to be a murder play, The Silent Witness.
In Oflag IXA/Z they produced Busman’s Honeymoon, the three “female” characters being afterwards presented with bouquets. Two of these were of a fairly orthodox nature, but the third, for the charwoman, was composed of a couple of large sunflowers, complete with about 5ft. of stem! The lieutenant who has recently produced Hamlet at Marlag und Milag Nord writes: “I have never pictures myself before as a producer, and I have been startled at the result. The audience sat on hard seats for three and a half hours and would have taken more.”
R.A.F. Raise Money for P.O.W’s.
At and R.A.F. station in the Midlands they recently presented a play, the proceeds of which are to be devoted to buying play scripts for their colleagues still in Germany. The warrant officer who wrote telling us of this added: “The total collected was £25 from this and neighbouring stations. Might I suggest that other stations follow suit?”
[Page break]
FEBRUARY, 1945 The Prisoner of War 5
The Letters They Write Home
From a Padre
Stalag IVC. 21.8.44.
After a wait of almost six weeks I am now posted to a working kommando in this stalag. As far as the censorship allows I will proceed to give you an idea of the place. Until just recently it consisted of about 1,200 men, but another kommando has been moved here and we now total about 1,800 British troops. They are made up if men from the British Isles, South Africa, and a few from Australia and New Zealand. The men are at various jobs of work and are extremely fit; most of them are very bronzed, walking about in shorts only.
My billet is at the end of one of the long wooden huts, and at the moment I am sharing it with a Cypriot M.O. The room is about 12ft. to 14ft. square. We have single spring beds and a table with a blue check cloth on it. The floor is concrete, which is clean and cool in this grilling weather. The walls have been painted yellow with a white frieze and ceiling. Altogether a comfortable spot! Two windows overlook the compound, and we have our own tiny entrance hall.
Padre Brown is about a quarter of a mile up the road in a kommando of 2,000 men, so you see that between us we have a pretty large parish.
… The men seem pleased to see a chaplain, and as I have at least a year more of service as a p.o.w. than most of them, I am looked upon as a bit of a Methuselah. I tell them that I am a good example of the work of the Red Cross. Bodily fit with the constant supply of food parcels – we have enough here until Christmas – mentally sound through the constant flow of those grand letters of yours and books, etc., sent out by the Red Cross.
A Camp Tour
Marlag und Milag Nord (Milag). 28.8.44.
I’ll just show you round the camp this week for a change.
This is my bunk; twelve men sleep here. Look out of the window and you’ll see my tomatoes. Yes, that is where I cut hair too! Do you like the poster? Over there is the fire pond. See the ducks? They all belong to the inmates here. You ought to see the model steamboats and yachts out there some days. The former run on dubbin fuel.
This is the cinema-cum-galley. There’s a film this week, Hello Janine – all-German talkie, singing and dancing. I went yesterday. Not too bad.
The gardens look well, intermingled with the rabbit hutches and hen coops. All kinds of pets kept here. You’ll see some puppy dogs presently. You get a good view of the countryside just here. This is the officers’ galley and mess hall, which is used for games in the evening.
You cannot go any farther this way, so come back the other side. As we return we pass the hospital. There is the main gate and guard room, adjoining is the ratings’ galley and mess hall, which resembles Monte Carlo in the afternoons. There are wheels and games on which you can get rich quick or, like me, broke quick.
The next point of interest is the theatre. The show running is called Choraina, a cavalcade of all the shows we’ve had. Not seen it yet. Going further we pass into a smaller compound which is the sports ground, where there are pitches for football, baseball and cricket. The Yanks are playing baseball. Football starts next month.
Come back now and the combine will stand you a cup of tea.
From Another World
Stalag 344. 10.9.44.
Met a new chap who has just arrived, only taken 15 days ago. Talking to him makes me feel like a savage from another world. He is only 19 and so he was just a school-kid when I left Blighty. Seems to look on us as relics of a bow and arrow era. Maybe he is right too!
[Boxed] SEND US YOUR PICTURES AND LETTERS
Ten shillings will be awarded each month to senders of the first three letters from prisoners of war to be printed. Copies instead of the originals are requested, and whenever possible these should be set out on a separate sheet of paper, showing the DATES on which they were written. The Editor welcomes for other pages of the journal any recent NEWS relating to prisoners of war.
Ten shillings will also be awarded for photographs reproduced across two columns, and five shillings for those under two. Photographs should be distinct, and any information as to when they were taken is helpful.
Address: Editor, “The Prisoner of War,” St. James’s Palace, London, S.W.!. The cost of these prizes and fees is defrayed by a generous friend of the Red Cross and St. John War Organisation. [/boxed]
[Photograph of six men in uniform] A few of the prisoners at Stalag XVIIA.
We start on half a Red Cross parcel per week next week. Cannot think what we should do without the Red Cross – bless them! I shall have to tighten up my belt, but I am not worried as I don’t think we shall be collecting them much longer!
New Arrivals
Oflag 79. 22.10.44.
It is amusing to observe the new prisoners as they come in (we have a number from Arnhem). It reminds one of one’s own early days “in the bag.” The number of signs and symbols they wear on their arms is amazing to us old kriegies! Of course they give us the latest news from home. Most of them seem to be very young. They are well looked after as soon as they arrive and given extra clothing and other kit.
I am very well, as we all are, except for occasional bouts of the “crowd-complex.” Naturally, living in these conditions we all get a bit tired of being on top of one another and feel sometimes we should like to get to a quiet spot in the country and live alone for the rest of our lives. But the feeling soon passes if you get on with your work, or go to bed, as I am doing just now.
His Room
Stalag VIIA. 31.8.44.
Things are the same here – work, play and sleep. The room in which I sleep holds six – four other Englishmen, one South African, whom we rag and jape from morn till night. Each night we keep the rest of them awake with our guitar and mouth organs. Our room is called Sunshine Corner if it’s quiet,
[Page break]
6 The Prisoner of War FEBRUARY, 1945
[Photograph of six men] A group of prisoners at Stalag Luft III where they make a point of celebrating birthdays.
which is seldom. When the orchestra is playing it is called the China Tea Shop.
How They Live
Stalag 357. 3.12.44.
We live in bungalows, each having four rooms, all joined end on. Each room holds 72 men on double-tier bunks. Four bungalows make “A” compound.
The day begins at 7 a.m. with a brew – on alternative mornings in bed! A wash and shave and then roll call at 8 a.m. We are counted and then dismissed until the next “count” at 4 p.m. We sweep the hut, draw bread and potatoes and then until noon, when we have a hot soup or stew, we play or watch football, rugby, hockey or volley ball.
We have an excellent library, a gymnasium, and use the church hut as a quiet room during the week. We are allowed out and around the camp from rev. till 7.15 p.m. from which time until lights out (now 9 p.m.) we have talks, lectures, whist, bridge or crib drives, quizzes, a dance band or gramophone.
Work and Play
Stalag 344. 5.11.44.
I was very amused at the way you go to business, through clover and wheatfields and over stiles. We have a similar three-mile walk (slow pace), then a little work with a little shovel, and back to camp at a faster pace. We take tea with us and brew up on the job, just like a gang of navvies in the streets of London.
I was interested to know you had seen the Prisoner of War Exhibition. The main camps are like that, but I am at a working camp of 55. We have more facilities and much more comfort.
We hold conferences on world events every day – generals and cabinet ministers have nothing on us!
Two Counties Club
Stalag Luft VII. 16.8.44.
We have just formed a Lancashire and Cheshire club and there are only two from Stockport. The majority come from either Manchester or Liverpool. The club is going to contact the Manchester Evening News, giving names and
[Photograph of a group of men in three rows] The [underlined] SHEFFIELD & DISTRICT [/underlined] Club 1943 Stalag 383 – GERMANY. 1944
addresses of all who live in the Manchester district. So keep a look out.
By the way, I was fortunate enough to be selected to play for England at cricket. The match was played on Bank Holiday Monday, and after a very exciting game we won by 46 runs.
A Hard School
Stalag 357. 30.9.44.
We are in better billets, in spite of the fact that they are not quite completed, and the Detaining Power seems to be helping us to get settles and comfortable as much as they can, for which we are all grateful. We will soon be wishing each other a “Merry Christmas.” It seems hardly possible that I have been away from you so long, and I often wonder if you will think me a lot changed when I return. If I am, I assure you it will be for the better. This is the finest, if the hardest, school in which to learn patience and understanding. I have learned more of human nature since being a P.o.W. than one would normally learn in a lifetime, but how I long for home comforts, a proper bed and plenty of freedom. Believe me, it will take something to move me once I get back.
A Library Arrives
Stalag Luft IV. 29.8.44.
I have at last got hold of some technical books which will help me. When we moved from Stalag Luft VI, I parted company with my entire kit, including all my notebooks and textbooks, as did most of my companions. However, the technical library has arrived intact, so I can continue studying, and while I have no stationery I am managing on cigarette wrappings.
A small amount of Red Cross clothing and toilet articles has arrived and I have been lucky enough to win the cut for the following: 1 toothbrush, 1 comb, 1 razor and soap, 3 razor blades and 1 light vest. This comprises my entire belongings, together with the following which I arrived in: 1 great coat, 1 jacket and trousers, 1 short pants, 1 pair socks and boots, 1 shirt and 1 handkerchief.
We are all in the very best of spirits and exceedingly optimistic and get plenty of fun out of kriegie life.
How He Lives
Stalag IVD. 8.10.44.
You ask me if I live at IVD. No, I am at B.E.I., which is a working party of 170 men. As far as the billets are concerned, they are fairly good. We
[Picture] 1944 A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR ILAG VII 1945
A drawing of the canteen at Ilag VII sent as a Christmas and New Year Card by a Guernsey civilian internee to his mother.
[Page break]
FEBRUARY, 1945 The Prisoner of War 7
live in rooms; three rooms in a bungalow, twenty men to a room, two men to a bed, one above the other. I am on the top as I think it is better – it is for reading, anyhow.
We now have our own shower-house and wash-place, which is very convenient. Of course, we are locked, barred and bolted in every night, not to mention being counted far too often for my liking.
From German to Drawing
Stalag IVG. 17.9.44.
I have given up trying to learn German; it would take too long. Instead I’ve been spending most of my time lately drawing. I have been able to borrow some paints, but I’m not much of a hand with these.
Our tomato crop must have reached the 5cwt. mark, but it is falling off now as the weather gets colder. It is just about cold enough for snow at the moment.
A Good Cake
Stalag 344. 1.10.44.
I think it’s unfair that you torment me with writing about special apple pie! Of course, by now I’m a pretty good cook myself; last week Gus and I made a grand cake out of the bread ration, two tins biscuits (hard), sugar, raisins, salt, Klim and Nestles. Apart from the fact that it was slightly burnt outside, slightly undone in the centre and slightly heavy, it was a good cake.
Sport - and Stitching!
Stalag Luft III. 15.9.44.
This week there was a big volley-ball competition, with a tote to make things interesting. All the boys wagered with cigarettes, and it was just like Derby day. Through “inside information” I managed to make a few, but as I smoke the old pipe most often, it mattered little.
One America v. Britain series which I mentioned before, ended in a win for the “Yanks,” but it was a lot of fun and time well spent.
Have just finished knitting a khaki scarf, which is useful at this time. What with the sewing, washing, knitting, etc., that I do, I would make a good wife for someone, but I guess that is out of the question.
Varied Activities
Stalag IVB. 26.9.44.
Things here are not bad, bags of entertainment such as football, boxing, etc. We also have a theatre, and last week I saw a show The Barretts of Wimpole Street, and it was excellent.
I do some tailoring now and again and so earn a few cigarettes a week.
We get our Red Cross parcels every week and receiving them is the main event of the week.
I have read in the camp newspaper that the black-out is finished now. I guess it suits you fine.
PERSONALITIES AT STALAG XXB
DESCRIBED BY A P.O.W. THERE
[Photograph of two rows of men in uniform]
BACK ROW. – I will begin from left with the big blonde, “Spite” H., Liverpool, whose ambition is bigger and better boxing gloves and cowboy books. Next is “Bull,” who is happy with a car, the dirtier the better. I come next: I want a good armchair and a radio. Next is my pal “Bun,” London, whose ambition in life is parties. Next is Lewis also from London. He is not fat but can he eat! Next is “Wog” from Bradford, our interpreter, the Lover No. 1. His pal Ron next, also from Bromley, London, whose hobby is cycling, now aims to learn the piano accordian and don’t we know it!
FRONT ROW from left.- The chap with the beret, Bull’s brother, just loves to argue and waits for the time when he will be slicing bacon again (by the way they are Scotsmen). “Pudding” comes next from Leeds, who just lives for his bed and says, “Why can’t you stay in bed all day?! Next is “Fitz,” also Scotch, who longs to be home with his wife and kiddy. Last is “Busty,” our singer, whose ambition is to be on the films.
Birthday Celebrations in the Camps
TIME-HONOURED birthday traditions are observed in the camps with great gusto. They are made occasions for special celebration as a change from the usual routine.
“A happy birthday to you“ in chorus greeted a member of Stalag Luft 3 on the morning of his anniversary, and he was treated to a cup of tea in his bunk. On the previous day a companion had spent six hours grinding up biscuits, dried barley and semolina to make flour for some “wizard” meat patties. Corned beef and onions were used for the filling, and the savoury result marked the occasion at lunch. A “gorgeous” chocolate pudding was produced for sweet at dinner after an excellent course of fried spam in egg-powder and vegetables, and apricot tarts at supper completed the day’s menu. Rations had to be saved for weeks to make enough for this “real do.”
A flying officer, also at Stalag Luft 3, writes home that he did not expect to spend his 21st birthday in a prisoner of war camp, but says that the best was made of a bad job. He was presented with an iced cake and much speculation was aroused as to how the colouring had been obtained. The cake was voted an excellent effort and later the secret was revealed – a drop of red water-colour paint!
One prisoner in Oflag 79 tried to keep his birthday dark, but someone had not forgotten it. The result was a very fine cake for which the ingredients were ground biscuits, raisins, egg flakes and margarine. The mixing and decorations in chocolate and jam were carried out by a fellow-officer, who before the war demonstrated cake-mixing and was able to add the deft professional touch.
On roll call at 8.30 a.m. a letter arrived from home wishing him many happy returns – timed almost to the hour!
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8 The Prisoner of War FEBRUARY, 1945
Linking Relief for the World
THE WORK OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS
By Colonel Charles de Watteville (Chief of the London Delegation of the I.C.R.C.)
[Photograph of people working on a map]
[Photograph of two women sorting letters] (Left) Working on one of the large maps showing German prison camps at the Central Office at Geneva, and (Right) sorting letters into alphabetical order. Each square represents one letter of the alphabet.
I was particularly pleased when I was asked to write this article for The Prisoner of War because I am often struck by the number of people I meet who are confused by the term International Red Cross. I shall begin with a very brief description of the Red Cross movement as a whole.
The Red Cross first came into being eighty-one years ago as a result of the experiences of a Swiss citizen – Henri Dunant – on the battlefield of Solferino, and the conclusion in August 1864, of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field. To-day the International Red Cross movement, which is governed by Statutes drawn up at The Hague in 1928, is comprised of:
The national Red Cross Societies (numbering sixty-two in 1939) with a total adult membership of over twenty millions.
The International Red Cross Committee – founded in Geneva in 1863 by a Committee of five Swiss citizens (now limited to a membership of twenty-five), and the forerunner of the whole Red Cross movement.
The League of Red Cross Societies – a federation of all the national Red Cross Societies, founded in 1919.
These aspects of the world-wide movement are linked by the International Red Cross Conference which meets every four years and is described in the Statutes as “the highest representative of the International Red Cross.”
The aim of the Red Cross is always to bring relief, whether in war or peace, to suffering humanity, and to this object the various national Societies, organised on a voluntary basis, devote themselves in every country. The International Red Cross Committee, with its headquarters in Geneva, is a completely independent and neutral organisation, composed entirely of Swiss citizens. It is in wartime the link between the national Societies and is the only organisation which, as the result of the trust placed in it by all belligerents, can work for the welfare of the war victims of both sides.
History of the Movement
Ever since 1870 the International Committee has set up in spheres of conflict, agencies for information and the relief of wounded and sick soldiers and prisoners of war. On the outbreak of the 194-18 war the International Agency for Prisoners of War was created in Geneva with a staff of 2,000 Swiss citizens, the majority of whom were voluntary workers.
The agency dealt with requests from thirty belligerent countries; its delegates visited five hundred internment camps; facilities were obtained for the evacuation of civilians from occupied territories and for the repatriation or hospitalisation in neutral countries of sick and wounded soldiers and medical personnel. The Committee organised the repatriation and exchange of prisoners of war of all nationalities after the first World War and co-operated closely with the national Red Cross Societies and other organisations in medical relief and reconstruction work in war-stricken countries. And between the two World Wars the Committee’s services were called upon for China and Abyssinia, in the Gran Chaco in 1936-39.
In 1929 there was signed in Geneva the Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, and under this Convention the International Red Cross Committee is expressly charged with the establishment of a Central Agency for the Exchange of Information about Prisoners of War.
In 1939, therefore, the Committee immediately began this work, as it had done in previous wars, and in June, 1944, its staff numbered 3,289, all of whom were Swiss and more than half of whom were voluntary.
By September, 1944, the index of the Central Prisoners of War Agency contained over 23,000,000 cards relating to prisoners of war and interned civilians; permanent delegates in forty-five countries had made some four thousand visits to camps and in all seventy-seven coun-
[Photograph of rows of card index files] This huge card index system contains over 23 million cards relating to prisoners of war and interned civilians of all nationalities.
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FEBRUARY, 1945 The Prisoner of War 9
tries had been covered by delegates and special missions. The incoming mail numbered 36,489,000 letters and cards, and the outgoing 38,225,000; in one month 134,200 letters and 5,900 telegrams passed through the Committee’s different departments. Over 1,000,000 books had been forwarded to prisoners of war and civilian internment camps, and over 26,000,000 parcels, valued at approximately 2 1/2 milliard Swiss francs, had been handled by the Committee’s Relief Division up to September, 1944.
Civilians, Too
The Committee’s work does not, of course, stop at caring for sick and wounded prisoners of war and interned civilians, but has been extended, in the face of almost superhuman obstacles, to bring aid to civilian populations – especially women and children – in countries overrun by the war.
For this purpose what is known as the International Red Cross Joint Relief Commission was set up in 1940 by the International Red Cross Committee and the League of Red Cross Societies, and it was this organisation which, together with the Swiss and Swedish Red Cross Societies, was able to bring food and medical relief to the famine-stricken populations of Greece and to the children of Belgium.
Another activity of the International Red Cross Committee is the Civilian Message Scheme, by which civilians in one belligerent country can make contact with relatives and friends in another enemy or enemy-occupied country. By September, 1944, nearly 17,000,000 of these messages had been transmitted to and from people separated by the war.
The Committee’s Section for Civilian Research had handled over 500,000 cases by the same date, some necessitating as many as fifty separate enquiries. The Central Index of the Dispersed Families Section will no doubt form the basis of a great post-war task of linking members of families who have become separated.
The Committee has its own Maritime Transport system known as the “Foundation for the Organisation of Red Cross Transport.” It runs a fleet of twelve ships (three of which
[Photographs of parcels in storage and being prepared for sending] (Left) Parcels for p.o.w.s who were transferred to Germany from Italian camps, as Basle Station ready to be readdressed by the International Red Cross. (Above) The routine inspection of parcels of goods for the camps.
are owned by the “Foundation”) which ply between North and South Atlantic and Mediterranean ports, and carry relief goods for prisoners of war and civil populations. These ships, which are marked “International Red Cross Committee” and sail under neutral flags, all have on board a representative of the Committee. By September, 1944, they had transported 265,486 tons of relief goods.
Countless Services
Possibly one of the Committee’s most important and delicate tasks is that of watching over the application of international conventions and in constantly appealing to belligerent Governments on behalf of war victims.
It will be realised that all this work, of which only a bare outline has been given here, is very costly. The Committee’s expenses for the year 1943 amounted to 8,700,000 Swiss francs. Two-thirds of the donations received came from Swiss sources; the remaining third is contributed by certain Governments and a small number of national Red Cross Societies.
I feel I cannot do better than conclude this article with a quotation from a recent publication of the International Red Cross Committee: * *”The International Red Cross in Geneva – 1863-1943” – Page 5.
“it is not to be avoided, in an organisation of such dimensions as the Red Cross, and so largely dependent upon helpers who are neither trained experts nor, in all cases, permanently available, that errors and delays sometimes occur. Where special, privileged channels are open to certain groups, or can be used for an isolated case here and there, it is obvious that enquirers will be satisfied more promptly. But the International Committee and its Agency view their mission above all as a service, not for some only, but for all without privilege or distinction. They rejoice to know that tens and hundreds of thousands are helped by other means than theirs; but the millions who have no access to special favours and whom nobody takes care of otherwise must also be served, and served first. The services demanded of the Committee are countless; they range from the transmission of prisoners’ names by the tens of thousands from Government to Government, to the search for a single missing individual; from supplying a sick prisoner’s request for some remedy indispensable to him, but unobtainable in the enemy country, to rescuing whole sections of populations, such as the children in countries suffering from famine.”
[Boxed] NUMBER PLEASE!
Please be sure to mention your Red Cross reference number whenever you write to us. Otherwise delay and trouble are caused in finding previous correspondence. [/boxed]
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10 The Prisoner of War FEBRUARY, 1945
Official Reports from the Camps
[Boxed] In every case where the conditions call for remedy, the Protecting Power makes representations to the German authorities. Where there is any reason to doubt whether the Protecting Power has acted it is at once requested to do so. When it is reported that food or clothing is required, the necessary action is taken through the International Red Cross Committee. [/boxed]
OFLAG VIIB, EICHSTAETT
Strength on the day of visit, 1,504 officers and 236 other ranks. Since the last visit in June, 1944, two new huts are in the course of erection for further living quarters. A small kitchen in each hut allows for the cooking of private parcels.
Prisoners can only have two hot showers a month. The general health of all prisoners remained good. Recreational facilities inside the camp are good, but all parole activities such as walks and visits to the cinema have been suspended for no given reason.
Censoring at this camp is unsatisfactory and mail is reported to be very slow. There is a new Commandant who is considered reasonable and fair. The camp is still overcrowded.
(Visited October, 1944.)
STALAG LUFT VII BANKAU
There are 800 prisoners of war of the R.A.F., Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force in this camp. They are all non-commissioned officers.
At the moment the prisoners are all in temporary “standard huts” of which there are 190, each accommodating six prisoners. New barracks are being complete, and when these are ready for use it should be the best accommodation so far found in any prisoner of war camp in Germany. There is no lighting or heating in the temporary huts, but due to the hot weather and the long days, there was, up to the time of the visit, no necessity for such facilities. When the new accommodation is ready there will be both lighting and heating.
Sixteen of these huts are available for special purposes, such as sick rooms, school rooms, offices and library. A large barrack for the kitchen has been erected. The prisoners cook their own food, the only complaints being that there were not enough kitchen utensils, and so far no ration scale has been supplied. There is no stock of Red Cross parcels, but a supply has been despatched from Geneva. As is usual in most of the camps, there is very little on sale in the canteen.
There is no provision for either hot or cold showers, but the men take daily cold showers underneath a pump in the open air.
There was no British doctor or medical orderly in the camp; the German authorities have asked for them. The German medical officer calls twice a week, and a German medical orderly looks after the sick. All prisoners have been inoculated against typhus.
The clothing situation is poor. There is a cobbler and tailor attached to the camp, but there is very little repair material to be had.
The German authorities have asked for a Roman Catholic and a Church of England padre, who are expected to arrive shortly. At present a Methodist Minister is holding services.
Outdoor recreation is very satisfactory. There is a large free space where all sorts of games are played. Half of the kitchen barrack is being used as a ping-pong room where there are three tables available.
Mail is rather poor – in particular the receipt of private parcels. The German camp commandant is said to be satisfactory and on good terms with the prisoners of war. When the new barracks are completed this camp should be very good indeed.
(Visited September, 1944.)
HOSPITAL RESERVE LAZARET, EBELSBACH
The number of patients on the day of the visit was 10 Americans and 47 British. There is one British medical officer and three medical orderlies. The only material change since the last visit in May, 1944, was the construction of an excellent air raid shelter; a second is still being built. At present bed-patients are taken on stretchers to the completed shelter and doors are opened for the other patients to walk to a nearby wood, where there are natural shelters.
Owing to the number of other Allied prisoners of war in this hospital, the one barrack assigned to the British and American patients remains overcrowded.
Every patient has a hot bath once a week. There has been no shortage of water this summer. The food is reported to be better now than it has ever been in the past. There is a good stock of Red Cross parcels. Beer and a few matches are occasionally on sale on the canteen. Clothing is still satisfactory.
A new recreation hall has been opened which gives great satisfaction to all the prisoners. The mail from England has just started to arrive again. Medical treatment is most satisfactory. The British and American doctors are given an entirely free hand to run their section of the hospital, and all essential drugs have so far been supplied by the Germans. Surgical dressings are rather limited, but the gap is filled by Red Cross supplies. There were no complaints.
(Visited September, 1944.)
[Photograph of a group of men in three rows] STALAG IXC A group from a concert party held in this camp where there are 380 British prisoners of war. The general health of the camp is good.
STALAG IXC, MUEHLHAUSEN
The strength of this camp is 380 British prisoners of war, including 178 N.C.O.s, one medical officer and two chaplains. More than 100 prisoners had left this camp since the last visit in July.
Bathing and washing facilities are satisfactory and there were no complaints about food or cooking facilities. The order sent by the Red Cross to cut the issue of parcels to one per man per two weeks was accepted by the prisoners with understanding. The clothing situation was satisfactory.
Church of England and Roman Catholic services are held in the camp, but a recent order by the Germans forbidding chaplains to visit work detachments at
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FEBRUARY, 1945 The Prisoner of War 11
any great distance from the main camp rather limits the padres’ activities.
Outdoor recreation is very satisfactory. The prisoners are able to go out for sports every afternoon from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., as well as on Sunday mornings. Indoor entertainments were curtailed after the prisoners had written and acted a sketch which, in the opinion of the Germans, insulted their country.
Mail, as everywhere else, has become very slow, the arrival of private parcels being particularly bad. The general health of the camp is good, and in spite of the recent orders mentioned above, the spirit of the camp is still excellent.
(Visited September, 1944.)
LABOUR DETATCHMENTS
DEPENDENT ON STALAG IXC
Working Detachment No.1278, Gleichamberg was visited for the first time. The compound is situated in a beautiful wood about 1,800 feet above sea level. The present strength of the camp is 37 British prisoners of war who work in a stone quarry near the camp. Working hours are 10 per day, Sundays are always free. There were no complaints about working conditions.
The prisoners live in a stone-built house containing one dormitory, one day room, a kitchen and a wash-room. There are double-tier beds with two German blankets for each prisoner, and most of them possess additional private ones. Lighting and heating are satisfactory. The roofs are reported to leak very frequently, but repairs are promised. Washing facilities are somewhat primitive, but cannot be considered as inadequate. The men receive the correct German heavy workers’ rations. The prisoners have their own cook, and a supply of Red Cross parcels for four weeks.
Medical attention is given by a civilian doctor and there is a British medical orderly in the camp. Dental treatment is good. The general state of health is satisfactory.
Although there is only a small stock of clothing in the camp, each prisoner has at least one uniform. Some have two. The camp has never been visited by a padre due to the recent order of the German High Command. The prisoners have had little chance to play games, but have been granted permission for a regular Sunday walk. In general this camp makes a good impression.
Labour Detachment No. 1401, Bleicherode, is still reported to be a good working camp. 133 British prisoners work in a salt mine. The air-raid shelter provided at the mine for civilian workers is also available to the prisoners. There
[Photograph of three rows of men in uniform] OFLAG VIIB A group of officers at this camp which is still reported to be overcrowded.
are no bugs now. The Men of Confidence from Detachments No. 1416, Sollstedt, and No. 1015, Bischofferode, came to Detachment 1401 for interviews with the visiting delegate, and their detachments are reported to be good.
At No. 1416, 65 British prisoners of war work in a salt mine for nine hours a day, with every Sunday free. The Man of Confidence confirmed that this is the best accommodated camp in the Stalag area. The 127 prisoners at No. 1015 also work in a salt mine for nine hours per day; every second Sunday is free. There were no serious complaints.
Detachment 737, Menterode. – The 138 British prisoners of war are employed in a salt mine near the camp. Some men work underground and others on the surface. There is no overcrowding in the barracks, and the interior arrangements are satisfactory. Some of the sleeping rooms are slightly infested with bugs, but arrangements for gassing the rooms are being made. Facilities for cooking private parcels are most primitive. Clothing is in order. Medical attention is given by a civilian doctor. Detachment 199, Springen, was expected to be moved shortly. The conditions are Springen were satisfactory. Detachment No. 106, Dornoff, where 58 British prisoners of war are employed in a potash mine, is also a good detachment. Some clothing had arrived recently, and this matter is now better except for a lack of small-size shoes. The potato ration had been increased.
Detachment No. 1039, Craja. – The work in the salt mine at this Detachment is considered dangerous, and the delegate insisted that the 90 prisoners should be moved.
(Visited September, 1944.)
STALAG 357, OERBKE, nr. FALLINGBOSTEL
This camp was transferred from North-eastern Germany at the beginning of August, 1944. It is situated in a country area about 2 km. from the very small town of Oerbke. The camp is composed of six compounds, the prisoners being able to move freely from one to another. The centre compound (E), which is very large, has plenty of spare space which can be used as sports fields. Also in this compound are several buildings for general use, such as four brick barracks installed as kitchens, six wooden barracks used as offices for the Men of Confidence; chapel, libraries, schoolrooms, workshops and two large laundries.
Compound “R” has 16 wooden barracks. Each of these barracks composes one large room, 72 prisoners sleeping is each on double-tier beds, and have two blankets each.
Compounds “A,” “B” and “C” each have six large brick barracks, which are divided into eight large rooms, each one accommodating 72 prisoners with the same sleeping arrangements as for Compound “R.”
Compound “A” is not yet occupied, as the barracks are still undergoing repair. When it is ready for use the Camp Commandant hopes to be able to reduce the number of prisoners in each room to 60, which will alleviate the overcrowding which at present exists.
Compound “D” is also unoccupied, but it is intended to use one of the two large brick barracks as a theatre and some schoolrooms and library, and the other as a church and some store rooms. The prisoners will be able to help in the work of repairing these barracks.
Air-raid trenches are being prepared, but as the camp is situated in a rural district it is said to be relatively safe.
On the day of the visit there were 6,512 prisoners in the camp, of whom 3,162 are R.A.F.N.C.O.s, who are not segregated from the Army personnel. This total also includes 645 Canadian, 349 Australians, 225 New Zealanders, and 415 South Africans. There were only three British prisoners of war in the camp hospital.
Daylight is insufficient in most of the brick barracks. It is intended to en-
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12 The Prisoner of War FEBRUARY, 1945
large the existing windows and to open new ones in the two end rooms. There will be no electric lighting at all in the camp until the work of installing the fittings throughout the camp is finished. Each room has two stoves, except for Compound “R,” where the stoves are ready for installation.
Washing and toilet facilities are adequate; in Compound “R” there is a large wash-house with 150 cold water taps, and hot water in large boilers every day.
Compound “C” has wash-rooms at the end of each barrack. Compounds “A” and “B”, when completed, will have the same arrangements; in the meantime the prisoners from these compounds can use one of the large laundries in Compound “E.” Each man is able to have a hot shower about once in ten days.
The prisoners cook their own food. They receive the same German rations as all other British prisoners of war. There was no complaint about the quality of the food. The chief difficulty is the lack of fuel for the boilers. There is no canteen at present in the camp, but the camp authorities promised to open one as soon as Compound “D” is completed. However, there is very little for sale.
At the time of visit there was no stock of Red Cross food parcels owing to the large increase in personnel. Nor was there any stock of clothing, and some prisoners are without greatcoats.
There are three chaplains in the camp, one Church of Scotland, one Church Army, and one Methodist. Arrangements are being made for Roman Catholic and Church of England clergymen to visit the camp.
So far little has been done in the camp with regard to recreational facilities. The prisoners will be allowed to start on the work of completing Compound “D” so that they may have a theatre, library, school, etc. There is plenty of room for exercise within the Compounds, including football and cricket, for which the prisoners have the necessary sports gear. The general state of health in this camp can be considered as good.
STALAG XIB, FALLINGBOSTEL
Of the 56 British prisoners of war in the main camp, four are N.C.O.’s and remainder other ranks. 1,981 British prisoners of war are in 10 work detachments based on the main camp.
There was an adequate supply of Red Cross parcels in the camp and labour detachments at the time of the visit. A new shipment of clothing had arrived and the position had consequently improved. Boot repair material is still short.
A Church of England padre arrived during June and is able to visit the working detachments. The camp leader is also able to go and visit the men stationed away from the main camp whenever he wants to.
The conditions in the camp hospital and infirmary are very good. On the day of the visit there were 22 patients in the hospital and three in the infirmary. The German authorities agreed to the transfer of four tubercular patients to the sanatorium at Elsterhorst as soon as transport was available.
No. 7004, Barum (Labour Detachment dependent on Stalag XIB) was visited for the first time since it was opened in December, 1943. 179 prisoners of war are engaged in laying a private railway line and live in two barracks situated in open country. There are nine rooms, each accommodating 20 men. A third barrack is used for washing purposes.
Interior arrangements are very satisfactory. There is plenty of space, and the heating, lighting and ventilation are good. Each man has two German blankets. A stove is available for cooking Red Cross and private parcels. Washing facilities are adequate. Cold showers daily and one hot shower weekly. The prisoners do their own laundry. Health is at a high standard and there is a good supply of medicaments in the small six-bed infirmary.
Every Sunday afternoon the prisoners are allowed to swim or play football. There is a supply of indoor games and musical instruments in the camp. Beer is delivered, but other canteen stocks are practically non-existent. Mail is rather slow at present.
(Visited August, 1944.)
Reports from other detachments dependent upon Stalag XIB, Nos. 7002-3 and 7004-7, appeared in last month’s issue.
[Photograph of men in uniform around a coffin] The funeral with full military honours of a prisoner of war from working detachment 855 attached to Stalag IVA, who died in hospital last year.
STALAG IVC
Repeated representations have been made through the Protecting Power concerning British prisoners of war in Stalag IVC, who are said to be working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with one Sunday off a month. Sir James Grigg said in answer to a question in the House of Commons on January 16th that so far no satisfaction had been received, but that representations would be continued to be made as long as there is the slightest hope of achieving results.
CIVILIAN INTERNMENT CAMPS
ILAG WURZACH
Since the date of the last report on this family camp (see issue for May, page6) there have been some improvements, but the camp cannot yet be considered as entirely satisfactory. It is crowded; there are still vermin, and there is little free space within the camp perimeter, although walks can be taken in the monastery garden every day and the sports ground is available once a week.
Kitchen equipment is very modern and the internees can prepare their own food from the official rations and from the contents of Red Cross food parcels. White bread and milk are provided for the sick and for the children. Each internee can have one hot shower a week. Medical attention is satisfactory, and the state of health is good.
The camp library contains several thousand books and the internees have some musical instruments and indoor games. They have formed an orchestra and a theatrical company. The children receive instruction from professional schoolmasters and the kindergarten in well equipped.
The situation as regards clothing is satisfactory, but there is a lack of repair material.
Last visited by the Protecting Power on the 1st June, 1944, and by the International Red Cross on the 7th September.
ILAG LIEBENAU
Since the date of the last report on this civilian internment camp (see issue for May, 1944, page 6) there have been no great changes. Materially, the camp makes a good impression, the convent and adjoining buildings being of modern construction, while the garden and courtyard are well looked after. It has, however, been necessary recently to take steps against vermin. Each internee can have a hot bath or shower every week.
(Continued on page 15.)
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FEBRUARY, 1945 The Prisoner of War 13
Groups from the Camps
[Photograph of three rows of men, some in uniform, some in sports kit, two lying on the ground at the front] STALAG XXA
[Photograph of three rows of men] OFLAG VA
[Photograph of three rows of men in uniform] STALAG IVB
[Photograph of four rows of men in uniform] HEILAG IVD/Z
[Photograph of three rows of men in uniform] STALAG III D
[Photograph of three rows of men in uniform] STALAG VIII B
[Photograph of two rows of men in uniform] MARLAG U. MILAG NORD
[Photograph of two rows of men in uniform] STALAG 383
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14 The Prisoner of War FEBRUARY, 1945
EXAMINATION SUCCESSES
During 1944 the number of examination entries more than doubled that of the previous year. Over 6,000 examination scripts have now been received, and over 3,000 results were announced last year. The proportion of total passes for the year was 78.5 per cent., a figure reflecting great credit on instructors and candidates.
In a recent pass list issued by the Royal Society of Arts, there were 29 first classes out of 147 entries. Two of those who gained first classes also gained distinction in the oral test in French.
[Photograph of a group of men] The Theological Society at Oflag 79. This photograph was taken during the summer of last year.
Information has been received from the Institute of Book-keepers that one of their examination candidates, who was awarded a prize in the summer examinations, has written to them saying that the certificates he gained have been instrumental in obtaining for him a good position since his repatriation to Australia.
A Rover crew has been started in Stalag 383. Some of its members have sent home studies for Part I of the 1943-44 Scout Woodbadge Papers, and they have been forwarded to the Scout Headquarters in London.
A pass list for July to December, 1944, is in preparation and will be available soon. Application should be sent with 3d. in stamps to the Educational Books Section at the New Bodleian, Oxford .
Y.M.C.A. SPORTS MEDAL
Won by District Man of Confidence
The Y.M.C.A. sports medal, which was described in the January issue of the journal, may be awarded to any prisoner of war who has done especially good work in the interests of his fellow-men in captivity, as well as for outstanding sportsmanship. It has recently been won by a district man of confidence at Stalag IVA for carrying out his duties in “a most efficient and wholehearted manner during his term of office” on the recommendation of the chief man of confidence as a token of esteem.
His Tasks
The tasks of a district man of confidence in looking after the interests of the detachments in his area are exacting and varied. He is responsible for the distribution of Red Cross parcels, cigarettes, clothing and boots, Y.M.C.A. sports equipment and games.
He also sees that boots are repaired and clothing renewed when necessary, organises inter-detachment sports and football matches, and changes books and gramophone records to ensure that there is a steady flow of new material.
Infinite patience and understanding are required in answering the numerous questions put to him by the men; and his settlement of any little troubles which arise must be just.
[Boxed] How They Help
In addition to those mentioned below, we wish to thank the many kind readers whose help to the funds this month we cannot find room to record here individually. [/boxed]
Those who have been fortunate enough to be repatriated do not forget their companions they have left behind in the camps, and from many of them have come sums to be devoted to those who are still prisoners of war. Among them, Pte. F. Harffey, of Hastings, who was released from Switzerland, sends a contribution in appreciation of what the Red Cross was able to do for him and “to help my fellow-prisoners who are having a bad time in Germany.” Men who are still in the camp frequently ask their relatives to forward donations for them to the Red Cross, and Mrs. Burton, of Stafford, is one of the next of kin who has forwarded £5 from her husband.
At the present time money from many of the past year’s efforts is arriving. Mrs. McKinder forwards £55 from Hull, her third annual contribution, achieved by pickling onions, selling garden produce and fancy articles. “It has been hard work, but I have loved it,” Mrs. McKinder assures us, and she is already planning another year’s work. Mrs. Crowson, who lives in Lincoln, saves sixpence for every issue of “The Prisoner of War” which she receives, and among a host of regular supporters are Mrs. Huxford, of Woodbridge, and Mrs. Galloway, of Maida Vale, who send contributions every month.
Christmas sales of work find eager customers and once again we are indebted to those who have so successfully planned them to help the Red Cross. From a sale of home-made gifts and toys organised by Mrs. Francis (who had previously raised £69 by her own efforts) and three helpers at Wrexham has come £168. The 4th Whitby (County School) Guides have sent a cheque for £20, the result of a Christmas sale and entertainment which they arranged, while the Rayleigh Methodist Youth Club raised £60, also from a sale and concert, their fourth effort of this kind. A money order for £4 15s. has been sent by the pupils of Tynyrheol Council School, near Bridgend, as a special Christmas greeting and a Christmas gift of £10 came from Percymain School, Cullercoats.
Mrs. Brinkworth, of Forest Gate, has been busy stitching gloves for sale among her friends, and slippers made by Mrs. Fry have been purchased by people in Andover to the value of £10. £1 6s. has been sent by Mrs. O’Neill, of Preston, for her daughter, Pat, whose uncle is a prisoner of war, and has sold some of her precious story books to collect this money.
P.o.W.s Gifts for Children
Members of the Lothian and Border Yeomanry who are in Stalag 357 have sent home £100, asking that it should be spent to provide presents at Christmas-time for the children of their less fortunate comrades who have fallen in action.
£50 has also been received by the Welfare Fund of this regiment from men at Stalag 383, who made the same generous gesture of remembrance and loyalty to their comrades. As the money reached this country too late for Christmas, it will be used to send the children toys and savings certificates for Easter.
[Page break]
FEBRUARY, 1945 The Prisoner of War 15
Red Cross Exhibition Coach
Over 23,000 people in five Lancashire towns have now visited the Red Cross mobile Exhibition Coach, which continues its 4,000-mile railway tour of England. The Exhibition is contained in a bob-damaged dining car which has been repaired, equipped with show-cases and lent to the Red Cross and St. John Penny-a-week Fund by the L.M.S.
Red Cross activities displayed include services to prisoners of war of food parcels, comforts and training schemes; and work for the wounded shows their transports to hospital, comforts, medical and surgical stores, and some of the reconstruction done during convalescence.
The coach will be on view at the station of at least 60 towns, and this month’s programme is as follows:-
February.
1st, 2nd, Bradford (Forster Square).
3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, Leeds City (South).
8th, 9th, 10th, Darlington.
12th, 13th, 14th, Newcastle-on-Tyne (Central).
16th, 17th, Sunderland.
19th, 20th, West Hartlepool.
21st, 22nd, Middlesbrough.
23rd, 24th, 26th, York.
27th, 28th, March 1st, Hull (Paragon).
CAMP REPORTS
(Continued from page 12)
Food is still excellent and there is a good supply of Red Cross food parcels. Medical treatment is satisfactory and the general state of health is remarkably good. The supply of clothing, however, especially shoes, is proving something of a difficulty.
Recreational and educational facilities are as good as ever, although it was reported in June that the camp theatre had been closed for three months. The German authorities promised, however, to take the necessary steps to enable the internees to give performances again.
Last visited by the Protecting Power in the 2nd June, 1944, and by the International Red Cross on the 7th September.
ILAG KREUZBERG
Since the date of the last report on this camp (see issue for July, 1944, page 6) there have been no outstanding changes. There are approximately 370 internees in the camp, some of whom are volunteers working in four different working detachments.
Every internee enjoys a weekly bath. Arrangements for private cooking are satisfactory, and there is a stock of Red Cross food parcels. There was, however, a complaint that too many dried vegetables were being received.
The state of health of the internees is generally satisfactory. Recreational and exercise facilities are still excellent.
Last visited by the Protecting Power on July 24th, 1944.
KNIT THIS
Cosy Cap
[Photograph of a knitted hat]
[Instructions for knitting the pictured hat]
A Prisoner’s Poetry
SGT. R.P.L. MOGG, a journalist by profession, who was shot down over Germany and taken prisoner early in the war, vividly expresses his experiences of flying with the R.A.F. in six moving poems written during captivity.
A fellow prisoner of war, Sgt. J.W. Lambert, has contributed striking pictures to illustrate the poems which he has lettered beautifully in Gothic style.
The collection, under the title of the first poem, For This Alone, published by Basil Blackwell (8s. 6d.) is printed in facsimile just as it was received from the prisoner of war camp. It includes verses on the vigil of airmen’s wives and a flight of bombers, which reveal a sensitive imagination, and the “Requiem for Dead Airmen,” with which the book ends is remarkable for its simplicity.
An introduction by Edward Alderton reminds those who might accuse the author of being morbid that the dividing line between operational flying and death is of a very nebulous character.
For This Alone is an unusual book which demonstrates once again the patience and creativeness with which prisoners of war master their circumstances.
[Boxed] FREE TO NEXT OF KIN
This journal is sent free of charge to those registered with the Prisoners of War Dept.as next of kin. In view of the paper shortage no copies are for sale, and it is hoped that next of kin will share their copy with relatives and others interested. [/boxed]
[Page break]
16 The Prisoner of War FEBRUARY, 1945
[Underlined] Please Study This Carefully [/underlined]
NEXT-OF-KIN PARCELS
With reference to the instructions on page 26 of the Prisoner of War for December, please note that the allowance of 20 extra coupons (and extra chocolate and soap) made to compensate for 1944 issues missed owing to the suspension of despatches, can be made only up to the end of February and only to next of kin who still hold a 1944/3 label (or earlier 1944 issue) with 20 coupons.
Next of kin who qualify, and apply for, the extra coupons for use with a label already in their possession, are particularly requested not to despatch a parcel with this label before they receive the extra coupons, because these must be accounted for at the same time as the issue already held.
If a parcel is sent in without the extra coupons being accounted for at the same time, they will have to be sent back to the packing centre for clearance, before any subsequent label can be issued.
The extra allowances cannot, in any circumstances, be made with a 1944/4 or any 1945 label.
Applications should state clearly whether the next of kin holds an issue of label and coupons, and if so, its number.
IMPORTANT. – Please note that no applications for an extra allowance of coupons to be used with a 1944 label will be considered after February 28th, 1945. Applications received after that date will not be answered.
DESPATCHES FROM FINSBURY CIRCUS AND GLASGOW
In consequence of the very great number of parcels received since the beginning of December and the difficulty of obtaining extra labour, the despatches from the Packing Centres at Finsbury Circus and Glasgow are about one month in arrears.
The issue of labels and coupons is also consequently delayed.
All possible steps are being undertaken to overcome the difficulties, and next of kin are asked to help by not making enquiries about the despatch of their parcel and the issue of their next label and coupons until at least two months have elapsed since they sent their parcel.
FOUR REMINDERS
Here are four reminders from Finsbury Circus Packing Centre which, if followed, will help Red Cross workers to deal with your parcels with the least possible delay:-
1. When packing your parcel, please be careful to see that it is not overweight. If it is, some important article may have to be returned to you.
2. When ordering chocolate and soap it must be remembered that the final weight of the parcel after the addition of these articles must not be more than 10lb. Money for chocolate or soap, also invoices, coupons and acknowledgement card must be sent inside the parcel – not by separate letter post.
3. All articles intended for inclusion in a parcel should be sent together; it is exceedingly difficult to link up articles sent at different times.
4. All three copies of the invoice which accompany each parcel to the Packing Centre should be clearly written so that they can be checked quickly.
STAFF WANTED
The Prisoners of War Department, St. James’s Palace, S.W.1, is urgently in need of staff, i.e., correspondence, filing and indexing clerks; shorthand and copy typists (women only). Full time or part time (30 hours weekly).
Offers of assistance, voluntary or salaried, would be much appreciated, and should be addressed to:-
The Personnel Officer, Prisoners of War Department, B.R.C.S. and St. John, St. James’s Palace, S.W.1.
Hours of interview: 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. or 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., with the exception of Saturday afternoons.
Money from P.o.W.s
As many enquiries about remittances from prisoners are still being addressed to St. James’s Palace, we reprint this notice.
Arrangements have been made with the German Government which enables a prisoner of war to transfer any part of his credit balance in Germany to this country. These arrangements operate as from November 1st, 1943.
Notification of the prisoners’ wishes are received by the Government on lists transmitted through Switzerland, and relatives will understand that these lists take longer to reach this country than letters from individual prisoners informing them of the impending remittances.
Enquiries should not be addressed to the Red Cross, which is not concerned in such payments. Relatives will hear in due course from the Paymaster or Bank concerned.
[Boxed] YOUR ENQUIRIES
The Prisoner of War Department at St. James’s Palace is very busy and very short of staff.
To enable essential enquiries to be answered with as little delay as possible, will you please make your letters as SHORT and CLEAR as you can. [/boxed]
CHANGE OF ADDRESS
If you are expecting your prisoner home in the forthcoming repatriation, do not forget to notify the appropriate Service Department or Record Office and the local Red Cross P.O.W. representative of any change of address.
P.o.W. Exhibition Catalogues
A few copies of the catalogue of the Prisoners of War Exhibition held in London last year are still available (price 6d., or 7d. including postage).
Those who wish to order a catalogue as a record of their impressions of the exhibition should apply to:-
Mr. Tomlins, Red Cross and St John War Organisation, Publicity Department, 24, Carlton House Terrace, London, S.W.1.
COUNTY REPRESENTATIVES
Please note the following change of address:-
ESSEX: Mrs. Hanbury, The Central Library, Duke Street, Chelmsford.
HAMPSHIRE: The p.o.w. representative is:
Mrs. T. Dodd, Old Library House, Dean Park Road, Bournemouth.
Printed in Great Britain for the Publishers, THE RED CROSS AND ST. JOHN WAR ORGANISATION, 14, Grosvenor Crescent, London, S.W., by THE CORNWALL PRESS LTD., Paris Garden, Stamford Street, London, S.E.1.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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The Prisoner of War February 1945
Description
An account of the resource
The official journal of the Prisoners of War Department of the Red Cross and St John War Organisation. This edition covers the Food Situation about food parcel delivery, Editors comments, Sport reports from the Camps, suggestions for parcel contents, POW letters, Personalities at Stalag XXB, Birthday celebrations in the camps, Linking Relief for the World, Official Reports from the Camps, Group photographs from the Camps, Exam results, charitable contributions, news about the Red Cross exhibition coach, a knitting pattern for a woollen cap, a poetry book and next-of-kin parcels,
Date
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1945-02
Format
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16 printed sheets
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Identifier
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MCurnockRM1815605-171114-024
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
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France
France--Marseille
Germany
Germany--Bleicherode
Germany--Eichstätt
Germany--Görlitz (Görlitz)
Poland--Kołobrzeg
Poland--Malbork
Great Britain
Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Channel Islands
England--Bradford
England--Cullercoats
England--Hull
England--Leeds
England--Lincoln
England--Liverpool
England--London
England--London
England--Stockport
England--Woodbridge (Suffolk)
Wales--Bridgend
Wales--Wrexham
Netherlands
Netherlands--Arnhem
Sweden
Sweden--Stockholm
Switzerland
Switzerland--Geneva
Switzerland--St. Gallen
Lithuania
Poland
Lithuania--Šilutė
Poland--Tychowo
Poland--Żagań
Germany--Bad Fallingbostel
Poland--Kędzierzyn-Koźle
England--Northumberland
England--Suffolk
England--Yorkshire
England--Lancashire
England--Lincolnshire
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Great Britain. Red Cross and St John war organisation. Prisoners of war department
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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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
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Anne-Marie Watson
Temporal Coverage
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1945-02
aircrew
animal
arts and crafts
entertainment
prisoner of war
Red Cross
sanitation
sport
Stalag Luft 3
Stalag Luft 4
Stalag Luft 6
Stalag Luft 7
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1826/33140/BScottEWScottEWv1.1.pdf
92a9acd045c19578c33cacdec86958b1
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Scott, Eric William
E W Scott
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2017-04-06
Rights
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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.
Identifier
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Scott, EW
Description
An account of the resource
139 items. The collection concerns Flying Officer Eric Scott (1425952, 188329 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, a memoir, correspondence, documents, newspaper cuttings, a flying course handbook and photographs. He flew operations in North Africa as a bomb aimer with 142 Squadron and then after an instructional tour in Palestine started a second tour on 37 Squadron in Italy where he was shot down and finished the war as a prisoner. <br /><br />The collection includes three albums.<br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2040"><span>Album 1</span></a> <span>Photographs of Jerusalem, Bethlehem. Tel Aviv, Haifa and friends.</span><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2041">Album 2</a> <span>Photographs taken during training in the United States and England and during his service in North Africa and Italy.<br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2046">Album 3</a> Correspondence, newspaper cuttings, documents and the last issue of the Prisoner of war Journal.<br /></span><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jacqui Holman and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
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Transcription
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The Memoir of
ERIC WILLIAM SCOTT
[Photograph]
Immediately before and during
WORLD WAR II – (1939 to 1946)
[Page break]
ALLIED
EX-PRISONER OF WAR
MEDAL
[Photograph]
Obverse: The prominent feature of the front or obverse side of the medal is the strand of barbed wire which has entrapped a young bird, symbolic of freedom itself. These elements surmount a globe of the world indicative of the international parameters of the medal. The wording “International Prisoners of War” encircles the entire design.
Reverse: The haunting and vicious barb of the ever present wire is used symbolically to divide the reverse side of the medal into four elements, each bearing one of the words in the phrase “Intrepid against all adversity”.
Ribbon: One of the most distinctive medal ribbons yet designed, it is woven 32mm wide with an unusual feature in having a symbolised strand of white barbed wire 2mm wide placed centrally, this is bounded on either side by 4mm black bands representing the despair of the compound. These, in turn, are edged by two further white 2mm bands representative of the second and third fences of the compound, outside of these are 7mm bands of green, reminiscent of the fields of home and finally, both edges are comprised 2mm red bands symbolic of the burning faith of those who were interned.
[Photograph]
[Page break]
FOREWORD:
From the age of 14 1/2 years old – 1936 – I was employed by Clayton Dewandre Co. Ltd., of Lincoln. Initially my work included machine shop and fitting practices. During the latter part of 1938 I was accepted as a student apprentice and commenced work in the Research and Development Department as a student Technician. I attended evening college, on Monks Road, Lincoln, four nights each week studying for an ONC in Engineering.
When war was declared in September 1939 I was concentrating on the development of a twin piston air compressor, to provide air pressure for a new tank being developed at the Ministry of Defence at Chobham. I was involved in other projects too; new air/oil coolers for the Spitfire and Hurricane, power assisted controls for the same aircraft, radiators/coolers for army vehicles and tanks and new braking systems for vehicles and gun limbers.
In January 1941, having successfully completed my ONC Engineering Course, I decided that I would volunteer for the R.A.F. Because of my reserved occupation my only option was to try and be accepted for aircrew duties, which is what I wanted and would prevent Clayton Dewandre from blocking my acceptance.
R.A.F.V.R. TRAINING
I arrived at the RAF recruiting office in Saltergate, Lincoln, in February 1941. The necessary forms were completed, I was almost 19 years old at the time. Notification was received in March from the RAF to attend Cardington, Bedfordshire, for written, oral and medical examinations over a three-day period. These examinations did not prove difficult except for one oral question of “what route would I take if I flew from England to Turkey, without crossing belligerent countries?” My geography was never a strong point and I had to admit to the four officers of the board that I didn’t know.
However, I was accepted into the RAFVR as a Pilot under training (U/T Pilot) and sworn in along with approx. 50% of those attending at the time. My RAF number was 1425752 and a silver lapel badge showing RAFVR letters, with an eagle, was issued to each person.
The officer in charge of the intake of applicants explained that they had too many aspiring aircrew at the time, and because of the limited training facilities, we would now be on deferred service until notified. I returned to Clayton Dewandre and continued with development projects until call-up papers were received in August 1941. These instructed me to report to St. John’s Wood, London, adjacent to London Zoo! It was always known as A.C.R.C. (Air Crew Reception Centre).
[Page break]
[Photograph]
AIRCREW RECEPTION CENTRE
12/7 FLIGHT – LONDON – AUGUST 11TH 1941
[Page break]
We were billeted in large flats – six bunks to a room. I was “closeted” with five Scotsmen and for some days just couldn’t understand a word they were saying. What with shedding ones hair and other “foreign” phrases it was very difficult to communicate. However, they became very staunch friends during our initial training.
During our three weeks at A.C.R.C. we were re-examined medically, given all the necessary injections, inoculations, blood tests, etc., including a smallpox vaccination. Many of the recruits suffered quite a lot of pain from this intensive treatment, particularly from the vaccination. I was fortunate since, having been treated as a child, my reaction was minimal.
“Kitting out” was a major operation – large kit bag stuffed with spare boots, best blues, vest – airmen for the use of – underpants, numerous pairs of socks, four shirts with eight loose collars, two ties, two side caps, shoe cleaning brushes, button cleaning equipment, sewing wallet, gas masks and tin hat. We had to remove our civilian gear to the Wembley Warehouse and don our battledress equipment. Each side hat came complete with a detachable white flash which fitted around the front and was held in place by one of the turned-up peaks. This indicated that the wearer was aircrew under training. Whilst at the warehouse in Wembley we were instructed to pack our civilian attire and wrap it in brown paper, with the address clearly printed on the label provided. These were then dealt with by the RAF stores personnel.
Whilst at the A.C.R.C. we were divided into Flights of approximately fifty recruits and were drilled, drilled and drilled – every day – to “lick us into shape”.
Being a short person i.e. 5ft 6” I was always halfway down the flight rank. Those at the front and the rear were mainly ex-policemen. It meant that we shorties had to almost run to keep up with those in front and, to prevent those at the rear from treading on our heels. The corporal in charge eventually got the stride distance sorted out – R.A.F. Standard - which suited all concerned.
3
[Page break]
STRATFORD ON AVON
INTIAL TRAINING WING
[Photograph]
[Photograph]
PROMOTION TO L.A.C. NOVEMBER 3RD 1941
[Postcard]
[Page break]
INITIAL TRAINING WING, STRATFORD-ON-AVON :
AUGUST 1941 – NOVEMBER 1941
We were billeted in hotels commandeered by the MOD. I was in the Falcon Hotel – a very old building with sloping floors, small windows and creaking stairs and floorboards. Whilst at Stratford we had to do guard duty – two hours on – four off – from 6.0 pm to 6.0 am. During the winter months it was not very pleasant and the creaking/groaning of the swinging hotel signs were, initially, rather daunting particularly when coupled with the church clock chiming and listening for the officer and NCO of the guard watch coming round to try and catch us out.
During our stay at Stratford we were taught Morse code both sending and receiving, including Aldis lamps, navigation and the Dead Reckon Type with Mercators charts, maths, aircraft recognition, theory of flight, aero engine design and, of course, drilling!
Our working day commenced with reveille at 6.0am and breakfast at 7-7.30am and ended at 4.30pm (16.30 hours). Wednesday afternoon was for sport which I spent rowing on the Avon. I also had the opportunity of seeing a few shows at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.
We sat our exams at the end of October 1941 and I was promoted from AC2 (the lowest Non-commissioned rank to LAC – (Leading Aircraftsman) on the 3rd November 1941. This entailed sewing a cloth badge showing an aircraft propellor onto the sleeves of our uniforms. Pay also increased from two shillings and sixpence per day to five shillings per day. I was suddenly rich beyond my wildest dreams.
FLYING TRAINING
The way was now open to commence flying training. Prior to going home on my first leave, we were issued with an additional kit bag containing an inner and outer flying suit – special flying socks, flying boots, silk, wool and gauntlet gloves and flying helmet with goggles. Taking all this gear home was quite a problem, the total kit comprising one large kit bag, one flying kit bag, upper and lower pack, side pouches, gas mask and tin hat.
One week after completing I.T. Wing training I was posted direct to RAF Watchfield, No. 3 E.F.T.S. The airfield was all grass and was mainly a beam approach training school flying Oxfords and Ansons. Supplementary to this was an Elementary Flying Training School with Tiger Moths and Biplanes made by DeHaviland [sic, and this was my destination. The weather that November was very cold and a few minutes in the air, with the open cockpit aircraft, froze our faces. The bulky fling suits were a necessity and the boots, lined with sheepskin, did manage to keep the circulation going in the feet.
My fling instructor was Lt. Bembridge, a Battle of Britain Pilot. He was very anxious to show me the aerobatic qualities of the Tiger Moth. Often, after landing, my face would be ashen and I felt very sick but I was never actually air sick. The
4
[Page break]
WATCHFIELD, NR SWINDON
[Postcard]
GYPSY 7 ENGINE – 200 H.P. MAXIMUM SPEED – 120 MPH
NOVEMBER 21ST – DECEMBER 1ST
Total hours flying 6 3/4 in which time
I passed out Solo
[Page break]
aircraft was very good to fly being light and responsive to control changes. It was, however, quite difficult to land because of its lightness and we rookies often found ourselves trying to “put the wheels down” whilst we were still ten feet or more above ground level. This, with the subsequent bouncing, was known as “walking it in”. Undercarriage repairs were required every day, but on completing the required flying exercises – see pilot’s log book – and after 6 hrs 10mins dual instruction I was allowed to go solo. It was a tremendous feeling and quite frightening to know that I was on my own and a safe take off and landing was my responsibility. There were other RAF men on the ground watching my progress and biting their nails. I cannot remember exactly but I think I completed three take offs and landings during the 00.35 minutes solo.
The time at No. 3 E.F.T.S. Watchfield was apparently an elimination period. Those who had gone solo, 8 hours allowed, were detained to go for further training to either Canada, America, South Africa, Rhodesia, or Australia on what was known as the Empire Air Training Scheme. Those cadets who needed a little extra flying training, but showed promise, were posted to other E.F.T.S. schools in the UK whilst the remainder had to re-muster as navigators, wireless operators or air gunners.
The Empire Air Training Scheme was initiated because of enemy action and weather conditions severely limiting flying training courses in the UK therefore preventing the flow of trained aircrew, with operational service, at the rate required.
Generally, the country providing the training paid for new airfields to be built and a large proportion of the training costs. This included the U.S.A.
THE ARNOLD SCHEME – UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Following a brief period of leave from Watchfield in December 1941, I was instructed to report to Heaton Park, Manchester. The weather was atrocious with rain and fog. Approximately 3,000 cadets congregated at that venue and we had to “hang around” until our names and numbers were called when we went to a billeting clerk to be told who we were to stay with and the address.
John Player and myself were given the same billet – a Mrs. Pimlett – the address escapes my memory. On arrival we were met by a middle-aged lady in best “bib and tucker”, complete with carnation. She welcomed us into her home, showed us our room and explained that she was going to a wedding. She then invited us to go to the evening reception and wrote down the address.
After a bath and general “tidy up” and, with best blues donned, buttons shining and boots polished, John and I went to the address given.
We were truly welcomed by the wedding party and enjoyed the evening with them, eventually returning home with Mrs. Pimlott.
We learned that our landlady had an invalid husband and she financed their living by taking in sewing of pre-cut garments and of course now by providing a billet for such
5
[Page break]
[Photograph]
Mid-Atlantic on board the ‘Montcalm’
12th January 1942
[Photograph]
Our only company across the Atlantic the ‘Volendam’
[Photograph]
Moncton Railway Station
Canada
[Page break]
as John and I. The sewing side was almost slave labour and she had to work all day and well into the evening to obtain a meagre income.
John and I departed Manchester for Glasgow on January 6th and embarked on the S.S. Montcalm. This ship had been an armed merchantman before being converted into a troop ship. A 4” naval gun was mounted at the stern and this ship was, we were told, of 13,000 ton capacity. We set sail on January 8th 1942 with a sister ship names Volendam which also had RAF cadets on board, and in convoy with other ships and destroyer escorts. After leaving Glasgow we called at Milford Haven and then nosed out into the Atlantic. The weather, after two days at sea, became very stormy and the ship pitched and rolled to an uncomfortable degree. Many men were sea sick and food was definitely out of order. John and I lived on arrowroot biscuits and lemonade for eight of the fourteen day voyage to Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
During the very story crossing we were called upon to carry out various duties and mine was submarine watch! I couldn’t have recognised a periscope if I had seen one and in any event, the waves and ship movement were such that just staying upright was enough without looking for submarines.
Although I had been allocated a hammock for sleeping purposes, I just could not get into one, and kept falling out the opposite side so swapped for a bunk – even though the ship’s movement was intensified by a fixed bunk.
Because of the atrocious weather conditions our destroyer and convoy of ships disappeared after five days out into the Atlantic. The Volendrum went out of sight after a further two days sailing.
Eleven days after leaving Glasgow the bad weather gradually abated and we started eating Navy food again on the mess deck, but it was necessary to hang on to the plates to prevent them sliding off the end of the table.
After thirteen days at sea we were thrilled to see the bright lights of Moncton appear on the horizon.
The first things I saw after docking were large stalks of bananas – my favourite fruit – which I had not seen since 1939/40. I bought a complete stalk and shared them with John – they were delicious.
The temperature in Moncton was well below zero and a good covering of snow was evident. The cold could easily cause frost bite but it was a dry cold and providing that we were well covered, including ear flaps, a good walk would generate a pleasant glow.
The barrack blocks were well above RAF standards as also was the food.
We were at Moncton for only a few days whilst the “powers that be” allocated the 3,000 cadets from the Montcalm to the various training establishments in the U.S.A. and Canada.
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Canadian Prairies in January 1942
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Albany, Georgia, USA
Looking down Main Street – January 1942
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Our barrack hut – No 5 – 9th Feb 1942
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British Cadets marching back from Retreat Turner Field, Albany
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Right
Our black waiters at Turner Field Albany, Georgia
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Our train journey commenced late January – destination: Turner Field, Albany, Georgia, USA, and lasted for five days. We slept in bunks which hinged down from above the windows. The Canadian prairies and Northern States of the USA were thick with snow – see photographs.
The train stopped for a short time at Grand Central Station, New York and also at the AMTRAC main station of Washington DC. We travelled south through Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia and the weather became warm and pleasant.
TURNER FIELD, ALBANY, GEORGIA
Our stay at Turner Field was only for approximately two weeks during which time we were introduced to the American Army Air Corp disciplines and daily routines.
We were housed in two-storey barrack huts – see photographs – each room housed two cadets and the standard of comfort was very good. The base had its own band and this marched round the camp at 06.30 hours at Reveille, at which time we had to don our shorts and ‘T’ shirts for thirty minutes of P.E., always starting and finishing with press-ups. With this rigorous daily routine we quickly regained our fitness. Each cadet was weighed by a dietician and allocated a “weight” table in the dining room and, by that means, the calorie intake was controlled. I was on an underweight table, weighing in at just eight stone. This table had lots of rich foods and unlimited bottles of milk. Needless to say, my weight remained the same but I did justice to the food!
During our visits to the dining room we were instructed that we must only sit on the first two inches of the chair. Why this stupid rule existed I do not know, also our backs had to be upright at all times, i.e. sat to attention. At 18.00 hours we were marched to the parade ground for the last post and lowering the Stars and Stripes, at which time we had to sing the American National Anthem.
CARLSTROM FIELD, ARCARDIA, FLORIDA
Our stay at Turner Field ended with the transfer of John Player, Stan Gage and myself, along with approximately thirty American and British Cadets, in total, to Carlstrom Field, Arcadia, Florida. Arcadia was only a few miles from Sarasota and Fort Myers. Miami was approximately 200 miles further south.
Carlstrom Field had been a civilian pilot training base operated by Sembery Riddle Co. All staff were civilians except those responsible for discipline and routine flying checks. The civilians were taught on Piper Cubs whereas service personnel were trained on the American Military Primary Trainer, the Boeing PT.17 Stearman. This aircraft, although a biplane, could not be compared with the Tiger Moth. It was much heavier, more powerful, had a Wright Cyclone radial engine and, to our horror, had wheel brakes, the control of these brakes were by treadles attached to the rudder bars. This resulted in numerous ground loops with Cadets landing the aircraft in a tense condition and, inadvertently pressing down on one or more of the rudder bar brake treadles. Consequently, the maintenance staff were kept very busy repairing damaged wings.
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ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE CADET’S HANDBOOK
LATERAL CONTROL
Ailerons – The ailerons, which are the surfaces used for lateral control of the airplane (wing down or up) are situated on the outer, trailing edge of the wing and are used for rolling the airplane ….
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LONGITUDINAL CONTROL
The Elevators – are horizontal, movable control surfaces located, on conventional aircraft, on the tail group, controlled by forward or back pressure on the stick and are used for obtaining longitudinal control (up and down).
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NB: Handbook still complete and in good condition
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FRONT COVER FROM CADET’S HANDBOOK
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CARLSTROM FIELD – 1941
Compared with the photo to the left, Carlstrom Field – 1941, as pictured above, may with all conservatism, be termed the ideal training ground for fledgling pilots.
Constructed at a cost of over a million dollars, the new Carlstrom Field facilities offer the utmost in providing for the student pilot’s health of mind and body. Moreover, every piece of flight equipment is the finest available, insuring insofar as is humanly possible, the student’s rapid advancement as a steady, dependable pilot.
The instructors at RAI have been chosen with extreme care and trained at RAI’s Instructors’ Courses to the end that you may be taught to fly by an aviator who is one of the best in the game.
It is a matter of tradition and record, substantiated by the rosters of Military and Commercial aviation, that pilots trained at Carlstrom Field have gone forth as some of the most capable in aviation’s history.
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My instructor was a Mr. R.L. Priest, a very patient man. We were all issued with a book which gave a detailed account of how to carry out various manoeuvres including aerobatics. I was allowed to fly solo on the 24th March 1942 – see Certificate in Cadets Handbook – after being checked by Mr. Jane. Further checks were made at 20, 40 and 60 hours, and if satisfactory the specified stages of the Primary Training were complete.
During our stay at Arcadia we were allowed off base – “open post” from 4.0pm Saturday until 10.0pm Sunday. After exploring Arcadia – only one day necessary – we ventured further afield to Sarasota and Fort Myers. Before being able to hire a car we had to obtain a licence from the local Sheriff which meant driving him round the block.
Eight of us shared one car. Those who had driven before and held British Licences went first and those, such as myself, hung back. However, after five cadets had taken the Sheriff round he said “Okay boys, let’s give you your licences”, so we all qualified.
John Player, Stan and I generally went into either Sarasota or Fort Myers during “Open Post” staying at the cheapest guest house we could find. Our pay was only five shillings, plus two shillings and six pence flying pay, plus six pence colonial allowance per day, i.e. eight shillings per day. The rate of exchange was 4.50 dollars to the pound. The American cadet pay was 10 dollars per day.
We met many good and generous hosts during our breaks from camp but we were amazed by the number of people (males) who wore Stetson and spurred boots, without a horse in sight!
Sarasota had a very large caravan trailer area, mainly used by Americans going south to escape the winter snows and cold weather in the north. The weather generally was very pleasant during our stay at Carlstrom but the extreme humidity made life rather uncomfortable and it was common practice to shower at least once during the night.
During our training, one of the flying exercises was pylon eighties which taught the cadet to allow for wind drift. This meant selecting a field and flying the aircraft with the wing tip held on one of the intersections, then flying diagonally across the field so the wing tip again intersected with the opposite corner of the rectangular field.
I am certain that almost all cadets were guilty of taking empty Coca Cola bottles up on this exercise and, choosing a field with cows, we would drop one after another of these bottles causing almost a stampede. The bottles gave a loud whistle during their descent. Many farmers waved their fists and tried to get our aircraft number on these occasions.
It was during my stay at Carlstrom that I heard the black staff – generally dining room and similar duties – join together after evening meal and last post, singing blues songs. They were very impressive and this practice among them was experienced by me at all of the other bases to which I was posted.
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The first batch of mail from home
Carlstrom Field, Florida
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Taken in the air, showing P.T. 17 flying above another aircraft – Carlstrom Field.
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Indian Children of Seminole Tribe, The Everglades, Florida
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Eric (left) & John – relaxing in Florida
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Home of the Stewart Family
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Dexter Ave. Montgomery
(Pop’s Car)
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Cameron Stewart at The Lake
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Four day’s leave was granted at the end of our Primary Training. John and I decided to try and hitch to Miami. Our first lift, given by an insurance collector, took us a good 150 miles to Fort Lauderdale, calling in the Everglades at Indian settlements for their premiums. We met and spoke to the Seminole Tribe families and were permitted to take photographs of their children. A second lift took us into Miami where we checked in at a hotel. We didn’t expect to arrive in Miami on the same day as we left Arcadia.
During an evening meal we were approached by a middle-aged man from another table who enquired who we were and what we were doing in the USA. He asked us where we were staying and promptly said he would ring and cancel out room because we could stay in his hotel without any payment and this included all meals. He introduced us to his wife and friends and told us that he had emigrated to America after World War I and was from Sheffield. It was our good fortune to have been in the right place at the right time!
GUNTER FIELD, MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA
We returned to Arcadia after our leave to be posted to Gunter Field, Montgomery, Alabama for our Basic Flying Training.
Gunter Field was approximately six miles from Montgomery – the capital of Alabama and between the two was Kilby prison. During our first few weeks at the base it was noted that the electric lights dipped intermittently on quite a regular basis. We later learned that it was caused by the Electric Chair at the prison – very disconcerting to know that a prisoner was being executed when the voltage dropped.
Our aircraft for basic training was the BT.13 monoplane with fixed undercarriage. The exercises taught were virtually identical to those covered during Primary Training, except that we were not allowed to carry out snap rolls as they tended to twist the plane and fuselage. See Pilot’s log book for details of flying exercises. This part of our training concentrated more on instrument flying and cross-country daylight and night exercises.
My instructor was an ex-British Cadet from an earlier course, P/Officer Rogers. He was a good instructor and I enjoyed flying with him. Formation flying – three aircraft in ‘V’ formation could be somewhat traumatic at times, wing tips had to be placed and maintained between the wing and tail plane of the lead aircraft and not more than one wing length at the side. With air turbulence, particularly during afternoon flying, it was very dodgy. We also had to carry out low-level formation flying, as low as fifty feet. On one occasion, when flying along the Goosa River, the instructor in the lead aircraft was so low that water spray splattered us in the wing planes and a man who was fishing was so startled as we swept up the river, that he jumped in. Landing in formation was also very precarious. The lead aircraft pilot signalled by hand how many rotations of the main flap he was applying – we had to apply a higher number of rotations to ensure that we didn’t over-shoot him. On one occasion, I was rapidly rotating the flap handle when it came off its spindle. I had to make a rapid break from the formation. On another occasion an oil pipe in the engine nacelle fractured, spraying the windscreen and blocking all forward vision. Again it was a
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case of breaking formation and a hasty return to base, landing with only side vision! See large photographs of BT.13 – I am flying the nearest aircraft)
My Basic Training concluded on the 2nd July 1942. Durin my stay at Gunter Field, the first anniversary of Pearl Harbour was “celebrated”. The three American services decided to hold a parade in all major cities. The British contingent at Gunter were instructed by the O.C. RAF to take part. A Union Jack Flag was obtained and had to be paraded and escorted at the side of the Stars and Stripes. The first time they brought the British Flag onto the parade ground it was upside down. We were all issued with rifles – many months since we had carried out rifle drill, and even though it was July, with temperatures in the 90 degree F. region, we had to wear RAF Blue uniform. When we took these out of our kit bags the buttons were green and it took quite some time to bring them to parade ground condition.
Following the march through Montgomery, John and I made for the ice warehouse where we could buy a water melon to quench our thirst. It was at this point that an American youth came to us and suggested we should return home with him for lime drinks. He said his parents were across the road and they would drive us home. The youth was Cameron Stewart and his parents, Vannie and Pop. John and I went to the Stewart’s house and into the country on the Goosa river, almost every open post after that day. Very often Pop would pick us up to save us getting the bus into Montgomery. At that time Pop was co-owner of a gents outfitter’s shop. Their house was typical of those in the Southern States with Clapboard outer skin and very much like a plasterboard inner lining. All rooms were air conditioned and the freezer size, huge. All windows and door frames were wire netted to keep out the flies and mosquitoes.
The American hospitality was really rather marvellous, lines of cars would be parked outside the base on “open Post” and cadets were picked up at random and entertained by families for the weekend. Pop and Vannie’s hospitality continued when John and I were posted for Advanced Training to Craig Field, Selma, Alabama – a round trip of 100 miles from Montgomery – which Pop drove every weekend to pick us up.
This was the final stage to our graduation and the Advanced Trainer was the AT.6 Harvard, a high performance aircraft within the 200 mph bracket.
My instructor on this aircraft was P/O Percival and he allowed me to go solo after 2hrs.35 mins dual instruction. My stay at Craig Field was very short. During circuits and landings at an auxiliary airfield I was involved in an accident with another aircraft on the landing strip. The other aircraft was occupied by an American instructor who had disregarded all the ground rules for taxi-ing after landing and had decided to taxi to the take off point along the same route on which he had landed. I had chosen this line of approach to land and as the aircraft had already covered most of the landing length when I approached I did not see him reverse his tracks before I touched down. With a rear wheel it is not possible to see ahead after landing, until zigzagging when taxi-ing. Both aircraft collided.
Although there was a control aircraft on the airfield my instructor advised me that I wouldn’t receive any support from the American controller as he was a good friend of
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EXTRACT FROM PILOT’S FLYING LOG BOOK
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Telegram from mum on my 20th birthday – 10th March 1942
Also received telegrams from Jessie Brown, sister Dora Dickerson and sister Ethel Dixon (all telegrams still preserved in their original envelopes)
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PICTON, ONTARIO, CANADA
1942
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Approaching Canada’s Horseshoe Falls
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the instructor. Three American Officers checked my ability to fly the aircraft and at no time was my flying criticised. However, there had to be a scapegoat and that was me.
REMUSTERING – CANADA
On leaving Criag Field I was sent to Ottawa, Canada to appear before a board of officers who controlled the training of RAF cadets both in the USA and Canada.
During my interview we discussed the events of my accident and I was asked what I thought my next stage of training should be. I requested that I be considered for posting to an advanced flying school in Canada to complete my pilot training, having now achieved 130 hours in American aircraft.
I was instructed to report to a Group Captain on the board the following day for their decision. On attending this appointment I was told that they would agree to my request but I must also give written agreement that I would convert to twin-engine aircraft and stay in Canada for at least one year as an instructor. After much thought I declined their offer and opted to be retrained as a Navigator/Bomb Aimer at a school in Picton, Ontario. As my navigational training had already been concluded in America it was only a matter of a few night cross-country exercises to complete this part of my course, plus the written exams. The bombing and gunnery aspects were completely new, including theory and practice.
I graduated at the end of November 1942 and during my stay at Picton I had the opportunity of flying over and photographing the Niagara Falls. I was also able to make two visits to the Falls.
Other places visited were Hamilton and Toronto, the latter was visited on a number of occasions. It was at Picton that I met up again with Carl Hurlington and Jimmy Milichip both of whom had been sent back for retraining from pilot courses in Canada. Carl and I stayed together up to squadron allocation in North Africa.
RETURN TO THE U.K.
We embarked at New York, along with 30,000 other servicemen, on the Queen Elizabeth I – two weeks before Christmas 1942. The journey to Greenock (Glasgow) took four days and there were no escorts as it was considered that the ship could out-run the ‘U’ boats.
Only one cooked meal was served each day and every individual was given a ticket which showed which mess and meal time, which was part of the 24 hour serving. Supplementary food could be purchased from the various shops on board [sic] It was an uneventful journey and quite the opposite to the out-going one.
On arrival in Glasgow we were held for three days on board before it was our turn to be ferried ashore, after which we entrained for the RAF centre at Harrogate.
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Last week saw the departure of another contingent of British Pilot Officers, lads who had, many of them, passed through stages of their training at Maxwell and Gunter Fields, at Selma’s Craig and Dothan’s Napier, and have since been stationed as instructors at various points in the Southeast. Many of these chaps will remember Montgomery as the site of their “getting acquainted” with America, and many of them have formed ties with our town which will endure long after this present war is history.
When, some twenty months ago, Montgomery was invaded by the British, our capitulation was prompt. We fell before their onslaught like a Sicilian village before our own advancing troops. Into hundreds of Montgomery homes these cadets of the RAF were invited, perhaps a little doubtfully, but most of them quickly established themselves as wholesome lads, a little different in surface mannerisms and speech, but actually very like American boys, and very happy to find a friendly welcome in a strange land.
What began as a gesture of Montgomery’s hospitality developed, often, into fast friendships, and many Montgomery homes became “home from home” for youths from Yorkshire and Wales, Londoners and Scottish lads. RAF blue was a common sight on Montgomery’s streets. And, as the training program progressed, RAF men who had trained here began to take part in the raids over France and Germany and in other theatres of war. Montgomery is represented on these RAF sweeps over enemy territory just as it is represented in the actions of our Flying Fortresses.
Now the sight of an RAF uniform has become a rarity. With the exception of those who sleep on the hill above Montgomery, the RAF trainees have taken their wings and gone to the combat areas. They write back to Montgomery as if writing home, and Montgomery has a warm place in their hearts. Almost without exception they want to return in happier times to revisit this heart of the deep south.
“I know you’re glad to be going home’ someone remarked to a departing officer The officer hesitated. “Well yes, of course But I shall be back…definitely”
Written by ‘Pop’ Stewart for the Montgomery Advertiser
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Receipt for diamond engagement ring
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Jessie Brown 1942
Below: Sister Eva outside No. 4 William Street, Lincoln
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I was eventually interviewed by Leslie Ames the cricketer, who decided that because of the extent of my pilot training I should be a better asset to the RAF by being posted to a Wellington Operational Training Unit acting as Bomb Aimer, second pilot and supplementary navigator. I wasn’t sure how I could cope with it all but I agreed to his suggestion. – The following day I was given Christmas leave.
At this point in my memoirs I must introduce Jessie Brown. I met Jessie during the brief time that she worked at Clayton Dewandre and we began to go out together between my attendance at evening college and also at weekends. This was the period between my acceptance for the RAFVR and actually reporting for training.
Before leaving Lincoln we agreed that if either of us met someone else we were quite free to go out with them. However, both Jessie and I corresponded on a regular basis during my stay in this country and also during my time in America and Canada. Also we spent my leaves together. When I returned from Canada we decided that our relationship was very special to us, even though we had not known or been together very long. It was during my Christmas leave that we decided to become engaged. We went to Gravesend to see my sister Eva who was in the ATS and was stationed there. She was a telephonist on a Heavy Ack, Ack Gun Site but managed a short spell off duty so we went for a meal together and shared all our news. We travelled back to London and stayed in a rather cold and drab hotel off Regent Street for the night and went to a jewellers called Hinds to buy an engagement ring. Jessie chose a white gold ring with five diamonds. The assistant in the shop gave her a diary and this diary and the receipt for the ring are together in our memorabilia. At the same time, whilst on leave, we decided that if I was again posted abroad we would marry before I left.
Imagine my surprise when on arrival at Moreton-in-Marsh O.T. Unit we were told that, on completion of our training we would be posted to 205 Group British North Africa Forces. This news meant very hurried preparation for our wedding to take place at the end of March beginning of April. With the very limited facilities available and rationing of food, clothes, etc., the planning of such an event was very difficult and celebrations had to be extremely limited. The flying weather conditions during the first three months of 1943 were atrocious and our wedding date had to be postponed on two occasions but everyone was very understanding about these changes of plan. However, it did make life rather difficult for Jessie and others trying to make final arrangements.
The first and most important stage of OTU training was to “crew up” with other members of aircrew who it was thought could work as a team. I was a member of a crew made up of Pilot – Cyril Pearce – also a 42H class member in the USA but at different air bases – Jock Taylor (Scottish) navigator – Jock had joined straight from college and was the youngest crew member; Jack Morvel – WOP/AG and hailed from Bury – said he dyed to live but now lived to die – very encouraging and jovial character; Ted Peters – London – rear gunner.. [sic] Ted was a bit of a loner but we always encouraged him to join us in our out-of-base activities, mainly in Moreton, which at that time was just packed with airmen. Our crew was all NCO, and we knitted together very well. Most of our training was night flying on long cross-country exercises – Bulls Eyes – going from cities in England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland, carrying out various laid down routines such as infra-red simulated bombing of docks,
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19th April 1943 – St. Swithin’s Church, Lincoln
Carl Harlington, Enid Scott, Eric Scott, Jessie Brown, Eva Scott, James Brown
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factories etc., which would record on camera for accuracy. On some occasions the cloud base was so thick and low that we never saw the ground from take off to landing and all navigation was done by dead reckoning and Astro-shots. Our accuracy in locating “targets” and turning points were very hit and miss, hence the postponement in completing our training. Some crews were lost during this period, either crashing in the Welsh or Scottish mountains or from the mechanical failure of the aircraft. It was also during this final part of our training we had to “stand to” for participating in a 1,000 bomber raid on Germany. I never found out the intended target because it was cancelled prior to briefing.
Our training completed – not without a few hair-raising experiences, we eventually went home on “embarkation” leave.
Jessie and I were married at St. Swithins Church on 19th April 1943 and our reception was in the ‘Gym’ room of the Rose and Crown Inn at the junction of William and Dale Street, Lincoln. We really appreciated the number of local people who helped us and we didn’t seem to miss out on anything with regard to food. Carl Harlington, who was also at Moreton and who hailed from Thorne, Nr. Doncaster, was my best man, but he was the only RAF person present, though one or two others were invited.
Jessie and I spent our wedding night at my sister Mary’s house in St. Hughe’s Street, Lincoln and the following day we travelled by train to Stratford upon Avon where we stayed in a B & B which we found on arrival – address : Sheep Street. After three days we returned to Lincoln as my leave was completed.
On my return to OTU I found that Cyril Pearce had also married during his leave, to a WAAF – Doreen – who was stationed at Gloucester. They married on the Saturday and we on the Monday.
Our final stage at Moreton was to “pick up” a new Wellington aircraft from a dispersal airfield near Gloucester and fly it on a number of exercises to ensure that everything functioned satisfactorily before taking it out to North Africa. As this exercise usually absorbed three weeks of our time, Cyril and I arranged for Doreen and Jessie to join us at Moreton for a week, I.e. the last week prior to departure. We stayed at the “Wylwyn Café” which also let rooms. One of the events which stays in my mind was our visit to the circus at Moreton. We all went along including Jock Prentice – another pilot who had also been married during his leave and whose wife had joined him at Moreton. The circus acts were extremely poor but what topped the lot was the smell – particularly when they let the lions into the “arena”. One can imagine the shouts and comments which ensued from a few hundred airmen!
We learned during this last week at Moreton that Doreen was AWOL from Gloucester, so Jessie and Jock’s wife loaned her civilian clothes to wear to hide the fact that she was a service woman, bearing in mind that the Service Police were well represented at Moreton and the surrounding area. The final day arrived when we had to say goodbye to our wives and walk to the airfield knowing that we would be flying that day, 27th May 1943 on the first leg of our journey to North Africa – which was from Moreton to Portreath in Cornwall.
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OPERATIONAL TRAINING UNIT
MORETON-IN-MARSH
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We stayed overnight at Portreath and on 28th May at 6.30am took off and set a course to go around the tip of France, across the Bay of Biscay, momentarily seeing the coast of Portugal and Spain and crossed the Moroccan coast at Casablanca. We then corrected course for our overnight destination at Ras-el-ma. On landing, at approximately 3.30pm British time, i.e. a nine hour flight, we were relieved to open the hatch and climb out. The air temperature suddenly hit us as we stepped onto the ground and we were surrounded by black people (local) in strange uniforms and cloaks and even stranger rifles and other firearms. This was the guard for our aircraft. RAF Ground Personnel took us to report in, and then to the “canteen” (tent) for our meal before going to our billet to make our bed for the night. During the late afternoon, Cyril and I changed the engine coolers to the tropical type as instructed at Moreton. We took our tropical khaki uniforms, with the “long shorts” as issued and our Blue kit had also been changed to khaki to “merge” with the desert sand.
On 29th we set course for Blida near Algeria which was the Headquarters of 205 Group. This took us across the Atlas mountain range which was a truly magnificent sight. This flight was only of four hours duration.
My only significant memory at Ras-el-ma was when we started the engines to fly to Blida. It was my job to prime the engines and then give Cyril the “thumbs-up” to crank them and, if they didn’t fire straight away I gave another pump on the primer which was at the Nacelle. Normally three pumps were required to get the engine – a Hercules Radical – to fire. No-one told us that in warmer climates two pumps were adequate and consequently flames poured out of the exhaust and burned my hair, eyebrows and singed my eyelashes. The smell was terrible but luckily I was not injured in any way. The second engine was started with two pumps and yours truly stood well back.
On landing at Blida we were told that we would be staying there the following day. This station’s billets were ex-Foreign Legion and the beds were curved upwards towards the centre from top to bottom. Here we encountered for the first time the French Loo!! We never thought we would manage to cope with it but practice makes perfect!
We went into Algeria the next day and saw oranges growing on the trees in the streets, experienced our first Arab Souk and the way of “hard bargaining” before purchasing anything. We had received some pay in Francs before going into town but, apart from buying “lunch” and coffee I can’t recall paying for anything else.
On 31st May we once again took off and set course for Kairouan, Tunisia. It was a three hour flight and we landed at 3.0 pm, having had to circle for thirty minutes because of exploding oil drums at the “airfield” which had been “touched-off” by the heat of the sun.
Kairouan was a number of white buildings just a mile or so from the airfield. This airfield had previously been a cornfield and the stubble was very much still in evidence. Steel, interlocking tracking – made in USA – had been laid on top of the stubble to form the runway and of course it became very hot and was the main cause
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of tyre bursts, of which there were many. The accommodation was all tented as was the various messes, because the squadrons were a mobile unit. The two Wellington Squadrons – 142 and 150 which had been sent from Waltham, Lincolnshire had been giving tactical night bombing support to the 1st Army which had landed at Bone. The “Desert” Wellington Squadrons who were now also based around were 104, 40, 37 and 70 and further support was provided by a squadron of Liberators, South African manned, and one of Halifax’s. These night bomber squadrons formed 205 Group and could produce between 80 and 100 aircraft for a night’s operation.
FIRST OPERATIONAL TOUR – 142 SQUADRON
I flew my first operation with Sergeant Cox, his B/A was sick. He had completed two thirds of his tour and Jock Taylor and I shared his tent. The target was a small island occupied by the Italians and from which they could attack our shipping. It was only lightly defended from air attacks and it was an “easy” target. This operation was one June 9th and the island, Pantelaria. (see log book).
We didn’t fly again until the 19th June when we flew as a complete crew – the target was Messina. This target was just the opposite to my first trip and we learned very quickly how to shorten the bombing run to a minimum and weave to avoid the AA shells which, on all major targets, proved to be very accurate. Sergeant Cox and his crew failed to return on this trip, which came as quite a shock to Jock and myself, reminding us that we were very vulnerable.
We continued to attack targets in Sicily and the area in Italy near to Sicily, in readiness for the invasion which took place on the night of July 9th when we were told to stay over our targets for at least thirty minutes dropping one bomb at a time and attracting the searchlights which we must then machine gun. Jack Morvel went into the front turret for this time over the target, which for us was Syracuse. Major targets such as Naples, Leghorn, Salerno, Pisa and all the airfields, were heavily defended by both AA guns and fighter cover. We had a few close shaves and there were a number of occasions when the AA shells exploded and splattered our aircraft and the cordite passed through the fuselage. On one particular trip over Naples when we become coned in the searchlights, Cyril had to throw the aircraft around to try and escape because the gun-fire was uncomfortably close. Jack Morvel was hanging onto flares in the tricel shute ready to release them when I warned him what was going to happen. The sudden, almost vertical bank that Cyril made caused Jack to lose balance and he fell into the side of the Elsan toilet which promptly broke loose and emptied its contents all over him. He wasn’t ‘flavour of the month’ for days after and had to replace his uniform battle dress. We did however manage to locate and bomb the target and return home – but had to make a second bombing run.
Our first tour was completed – thirty eight operations – by a visit to the Civitavecchia marshalling yards on October 3rd 1943, i.e. June 9th had started a four month period.
During that time I wrote and received many letters from home and received parcels with a variety of contents. We were entertained by professional artists on make-shift stages in the open air – names such as Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Charlie Chester and others. Members of the War Cabinet made visits to the Group
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142 SQUADRON, NORTH AFRICA – JUNE 1943
[Photograph]
From left to right : Ted Peters, Eric Scott, Jack Morval, Jock Taylor, Cyril Pearce
[Photograph]
from left: Ted Peters and J Prentice with two crew who were killed over Naples July 1943
Our camp near Kairouan, Tunisia
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and told us what was and was not happening and why. We complained about the rations – mainly melted bully beef and biscuits, and the cigarettes that were issued. They changed the cigarette packets from ‘V’ to Woodbines, the contents remained the same, terrible. Fortunately we could purchase various other true brands from the Sergeant’s Mess.
We made several visits to Sousse, Hammamet and other smaller coastal places for a dip in the Mediterranean.
The lovely white walled city of Koirouan was a myth, it smelled to ‘high heaven’ and we couldn’t go to the Souk unless there were five or six of us together. The Arabs were definitely objectionable, probably because we were very tight in our bargaining at “tent level”. They did however win the “top award” when they took a tent whilst five men were asleep inside!! It was quite a shock to the occupants when they awoke.
Water allowances were very limited. The daily ration for a tent of five was a five gallon drum. This had to be for washing ourselves, our clothes and for drinking. The drinking water was kept in a hole just outside the tent, using a brown pot jug which kept the water at an acceptable temperature.
The air temperatures were very high during the day but were pleasantly cool at night after sunset. It was not possible to touch metal exposed to the sun after 10.0am and it was common practice to fry an egg on a metal plate in the sun. Our wash basin was an upturned tin hat with the inside removed and fitted into the tail fin of a bomb. Other improvisations such as making a comfortable bed frame and raising it from the ground away from dung beetles, scorpions, etc. were introduced within days of arrival or were “bought” with cigs, chocolate, etc., from crews who had completed their tour and were leaving.
Flies were a big nuisance, settling on food and spreading disease. Gyppy Tummy and Dysentery were experienced by virtually everyone and ‘having the runs’ was no fun at all.
Jock Taylor went down with yellow jaundice and was in the hospital tent for at least a week. He perspired considerably and every day his shirts were encrusted with salt from the body. His feet were also very odorous – but he did consent to leave his socks off during non-flying hours!
We had to be very careful not to get sunburn as this was a chargeable offence if it prevented anyone from flying.
Our posting to Tunis arrived and we were to stay at the transit camp for further instructions, presumably to await either air or sea transport to the U.K. During our stay in Tunis we met ‘Poni’ (the only name we knew him by). He was Maltese and his mother and sister, together with himself and his horses escaped from Malta because of the siege and came to Tunis where he continued to earn his living as a jockey, with his horses pulling a ‘cart’ on two wheels around the local race tracks. They appeared to be a wealthy family and he took us around Tunis for dinners in local hotels and objected then we insisted on paying for an occasional meal.
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PALESTINE – MAY 1944
[Photograph]
Y.M.C.E. Building – Jerusalem
Right: The British War Cemetery
[Photograph]
[Photograph]
‘Mount of Olives’
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‘Garden of Gethsemane’
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We also visited Carthage, the construction of which astounded us, with the running water and drainage system. This ancient city is a must to visit for anyone travelling in the area.
We had a severe shock when our posting came through. Only Jock Taylor was returning to the UK because of his jaundice, the rest of us were to fly to Cairo by Dakota, have leave and then proceed to Palestine where a new Operational Training Unit was being opened to instruct RAF personnel coming through from Rhodesia, South Africa and other Empire Training countries, prior to joining 205 Group.
We flew from Tunis across the Sahara Desert, visiting Tobruk on the way and landed at Cairo airport. We were taken to Heliopolis, a large transit camp about five miles out of Cairo and were incarcerated there for three weeks.
Cairo was visited almost daily. We had lots of back pay to draw upon and we visited a number of shows and night clubs. Jack Morvel blotted our copy book on one occasion when a troop of dancers were caterpillering off stage and he promptly dashed onto the stage and joined the end of the line. We had to leave but we had seen the show at half price. The Arabs in Cairo had to be watched very closely. They would steal anything, even the wealthy merchants from the Souk area couldn’t be trusted.
Eventually we left Cairo by a train which had wooden lattice seats, for two days of journeying to Tel-Aviv. Our bums were numb by the time we arrived! Upholstered seating was out because of the bugs which abounded in the Middle East and all bed legs had to the placed in tins partially filled with paraffin to prevent the bugs getting into bed with you!
Our destination from Tel-Aviv was 77 OTU Qastina. The station was only partially complete when we arrives and we were the first “instructors” to enter the station. The Sergeant’s Mess had not been completed at that stage and our aircraft had not arrived.
We spent Christmas 1943 on the Station. The accommodation was brick built blocks with three persons to a room. We had good beds, good showers new ‘mossie’ nets and plenty of storage room. The temperatures were quite moderate and we had to wear our Blues during the early part of the year.
Most of the construction work was being done by Arabs with RAF supervision. They would only work when they needed money and would arrive on their donkey, hobble the two front legs and report for duty – all very slowly. Occasionally we would unhobble a donkey, slap it on the rump and then at the end of the day watch the face of the owner then he found it was missing. They always dramatised everything that happened to them.
The airfield had been built on a small plain which was also the grazing area for local village animals. This resulted in considerable difficulties controlling aircraft movements because the Arabs would drive their sheep, camels, etc., across the airfield and runways at random. We tried to discourage them by rounding up their animals,
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BETHLEHEM
A Judean Home
[Photograph]
Mother of Pearl Workers
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TEL-AVIV
Boulevard Rothschild
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Habimah Theatre
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HAIFA
The Road to Mount Carmel
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Technicum
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putting them into a compound and then insisting that they pay a ‘fine’ to get them back. The local Mokta (Mayor) visited us frequently and we prevailed upon him to stop the villagers from crossing the airfield. The climax came when a Defiant hit a camel which was crossing the runway. Unfortunately the aircraft was a write-off and we didn’t think much of the camel steaks either!
Eventually we were able to educate the Arabs to keep off the runways and, if they needed to cross, to wait for a green Aldis from the control tower. The Arab women could carry very heavy weights on their heads and this was demonstrated when two of them dropped bales of compressed straw onto the runway – we had to use the 15 cwt Chevrolet to drag them clear.
Whilst in Palestine we took the opportunity to visit the sights mentioned in the Bible. Jerusalem, Gol-Gotha, Haifa, Sea of Galilee, Bethlehem. The Jewish people were not kindly disposed to us. It was the period when ships with European immigrants were being turned away and would-be leaders were conducting terrorist activities. It was necessary to always be on the alert against attack.
Our main entertainment was either visiting Tel-Aviv for the day, being invited to the Polish Armoured Division near Ramalah, or having a dance in the Sergeant’s mess. The ATS and WAAFs were brought in by truck for these occasions.
When a course of ‘pupils’ passed out, one per month, they would invite their instructors to join them in the mess to celebrate the occasion. Many did ‘pass out’ but it was quite an event each month and I never needed rocking off to sleep on such nights.
The only other significant occasion I remember was P/O Izzard who was being taught to fly on one engine. I was also in the aircraft instructing a bomb-aimer. The screen pilot asked his ‘pupil’ to unfeather the port engine and return to normal power but unfortunately he feathered the starboard engine. We were too low to recover any power and the screen pilot had to crash land the Wellington in open country. Luckily no-one was injured but the aircraft was written off.
A week later I went for the weekend to The King David Hotel, Jerusalem. When I woke up the next morning my hair from ear to ear was on the pillow. I thought that someone had played a prank on me but soon discovered that my hair was still falling out. On my return to Qastina I reported to the M.O. who sent me to Tel-Aviv hospital. The Specialist went into raptures because he had not previously seen such a perfectly defined Alopecia profile of hair loss – just in line with the medical book. He brought into his consulting room both junior doctors and nurses but my question was what could he do about it and how quickly would it grow. The response was quite negative, I was told it would re-grow but over a period of months. The cause – delayed shock from the crash landing.
During the early part of my stay at Qastina I was sent to Ballah, down the Red Sea, on a Bombing Leaders and Instructor’s course. We worked fourteen hours every day either in the classroom or flying. We had to cram a three month course into two weeks. Immediately on arrival we were given a smallpox vaccination, apparently it
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[Picture]
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had broken out in the area. Fortunately for me it didn’t take. They tried three times but then gave me an exemption certification. The course was very enlightening – our tutor being a Squadron Leader and ex Oxford University Professor. I came second in the course with a 96% pass, beaten by a New Zealand Maori with 98% - a man with considerable retentive abilities.
I continued to teach at 77 O.T. Unit, Qastina, until the end of June 1944 when I agreed to team up with Brian Jeffares a NZ pilot to return for a second tour of operations, based at Foggia, Italy.
My other recollections during the stay in Palestine were the frogs and toads. Thousands of them came out after dark and made such a fearful noise when we walked across the grass verges and tarmac roads they just squelched under our shoes. The other was the cheapness of fruit. We had a plywood tea chest, normal size, which we would half fill on a bi-weekly basis. This would cost around five shillings. Huge grapefruit was stacked at the side of the roads, like sugar beet, and left to rot because of the lack of transportation to send them to other countries.
Jack Morval and I were, on one occasion, invited out to a meal with an Arab family by a Palestinian Policeman. Quite an experience. We sat on mats around a large dish full of mutton portions, including eyes, of which everyone present had to eat at least one. This was not pleasant but I did manage to swallow one with my own eyes closed! The Arab family were upper-class and very good hosts and could speak quite good English. I was under the impression that the Palestinian Policeman dined with them on a regular basis.
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205 GROU – FOGGIA, ITALY 1944
[Photograph]
Our Crew see dots:: Brian Jeffries (NZ) Jack (Canada) Snowy Ayton (NZ) Eric Scott (UK) Jack Nichols (UK)
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SECOND TOUR OF OPERATION – 205 GROUP
Our Crew:
P/O Brian Jeffares New Zealand Pilot
W/O Snowy Ayton New Zealand Rear Gunner
F/Sgt Jock Nicholls Scotland W/O Air gunner
F/O Jack Canada Navigator
F/Sgt Eric Scott England Bomb/Aimer
We left as passengers in a Dakota bound for Capodichino airfield, Naples, on 23rd July 1944. Our first touch down for refuelling was Benghazi, then further stops at Tripoli, Bari and finally Naples. Flying time was 11hrs 50 minutes but the duration of the overall journey was fourteen hours. (See Log book).
We were allocated to 37 Squadron of 205 Group flying MK X Wellingtons but these were now fitted with the MK X1V bomb sights, another Barnes Wallis invention and considerably superior and more accurate than the old MK IX. It worked on a gyroscopic principle so that if the aircraft banked the sight only rotated half the amount, thus keeping the sighting vertical. This enabled short bombing runs to be made with great accuracy and gave profound relief to the crew as this period was the time most likely to be hit by Anti-Aircraft fire and coned by searchlights.
Following two days of air tests to acquaint ourselves with the locality and hazards we were listed for our first operation to an aerodrome in the South of France. A trip of almost nine hours duration. We had two bombs ‘hung up’ and I had to chop out a section of the ‘cat walk’ above the station concerned and then release them manually over the sea.
Over the next twelve days we completed seven operations, two of which were to the Ploesti oil refinery complex near Bucharest. This was the third most heavily defended target in Europe with many searchlights, light and heavy AA guns and, I have since learned, a ratio of two fighters to every bomber.
Our losses were very high in 205 Group, around 10%, but not nearly as much as the Americans who followed us on daylight operations. They lost well over 100 aircraft each day.
Our first operation on Ploesti was quite reasonable and we were not coned, although the gun fire was accurate and the smell of cordite in the plane was quite unmistakeable we came out unscathed. The next attack was quite the opposite. We approached the target at 15,000 feet and were at least three miles away from the aiming point when a master searchlight came straight onto us, followed by at least five others. We corkscrewed, dived and did every manoeuvre possible but could not get rid of them. We were then down to 8,000 feet and being hit by light and heavy AA fire. We did the shortest bombing run ever and then continued to take avoiding action, losing height all the time. We levelled out at 700 feet, at last free of the defences and about seven miles from the target. We saw a number of aircraft being shot down and much air to air firing by observing tracer fire. We knew that some of the fires on the ground were dummies and that some of the ground explosions were to make us think that
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[Drawing]
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more aircraft were crashing than was the case. However, our losses on that occasion were high.
Following the Ploesti trips two crews in our Group refused to go on any further operations. They were court martialled and accused of ‘lack of moral fibre’, lost their rank and brevet and sent to detention. I often wondered whether the court of officers presiding had ever been to Ploesti or any similar targets. It was a very frightening experience especially with such a small force of aircraft.
We pressed on, operating through August, September and into October. Being an experienced crew we were sometimes called upon to carry out Path-finding, when we had to locate the target using flares, in Chandelier then make a second run to drop target markers of either Red or Green, then a third run to drop our bombs. Not very healthy and also we were not equipped with ‘H2S’ or ‘G’, blind target identification aids, as fitted to all four-engined aircraft operating from the UK.
Some of our operations involved dropping mines on the Danube which prevented, delayed, or damaged barges being towed with German supplies to their front lines in Hungary, it particularly restricted the supply of oil to their forces in Italy and Germany.
Dropping mines was known as ‘Gardening’ and each crew were given a ‘Bed’ or stretch of the river in which the mines must be delivered. Naval officers briefed and de-briefed us on these occasions. We usually carried four mines. When about 100 miles from the target and depending upon the terrain, we would drop to between 600/700 feet to be under the Radar beams. As the river came into view, bearing in mind that it was always a full moon situation, we would drop to 200 feet. On identifying our Bed we would further reduce height, sometimes to 100 feet before releasing the mines. This ensured that the mines would not break up on impact with the water.
Inevitably there was much light gunfire from the banks and also rocket launches on barges in the river. The rockets whistled past the aircraft but we were never hit by either of the defences and we didn’t waste time getting away.
One of our squadron crew was shot down over the river on one mine laying trip but they managed to ditch, swim to the bank and three weeks later arrived back on the squadron. We wanted to know why it took them so long!
With the Russian advance, guns and fighter aircraft became even more concentrated and targets more difficult to attack, consequently our losses also increased because of this.
About the middle of October, Wing Commander Langton, our C/O sent for our crew and told us that the Group was converting to Liberators. He said that our tour of operations would be completed in the next week or so and that we would then return to the UK. It was not worth the expense of us converting for a few operations. The following day I filled in the necessary forms to apply for a commission as I considered that this would be more beneficial to me on my return than a Warrant Officer rank
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[Photograph]
Beside the main road from Bucharest to the famous oil town of Ploiesti, lies the beautifully tended Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery. While British Defence Attaché in Romania (1979-82) the author became curious to know how the 80 British and Commonwealth airmen, who lie in this peaceful place, met their deaths between May and August 1944.
He discovered that they were from the RAF’s 205 Group which, flying from airfields in the Foggia Plain of Italy, was the night bomber component of the Mediterranean Allied Strategic Air Force. They had lost their lives during the sustained day and night offensive against the Romanian oil industry and its distribution network, the transportation system supporting the German front in Moldavia and the mining of the Danube.
The cost to the Group, against these well-defended objectives – rated third after Berlin and the Ruhr - was 254 aircrew. 154 lost their lives, 73 became prisoners, while 27 evaded capture and returned to Allied lines after many adventures. 46 Bombers were lost.
Patrick Macdonald’s account of these operations is based on the contemporary official reports and intelligence assessments fleshed out by the recollections of many of the men who were there from all corners of the Commonwealth.
‘…a riveting story, well organised and well told… Patrick Macdonald’s book convincingly justifies his assertion that this bomber offensive, though little publicised at the time was no side show when set against other events nearer to the main arena of the war and for those who took part in it.’
British Army Review
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which was imminent. I was interviewed the following day by Wing Commander Langton who said that he would forward a recommendation to Group HQ without delay.
On the 17th October we carried out what we thought would be our final operation on a marshalling yard in Yugoslavia. However, on the afternoon of the 21st we were asked to fill in for a crew whose pilot had reported sick. The target was Maribor marshalling yards in Yugoslavia. Everything went wrong on that day. The aircraft was an old MKIII and one engine was ‘playing up’ when we checked it out in the afternoon. When we went to take off the engine was still showing high mag. drop. Further work was carried out but eventually we took off fifteen minutes late and with a slower than normal aircraft. Our arrival on target was at least twenty minutes behind schedule and, of course, we were on our own. After dropping our bombs we turned for home and tried to do a bit more catching up. On approaching the Yugoslavian mountains we were attacked by a German fighter from below. No-one saw it as it was in a blind position. The damage was mainly to the petrol tank on the starboard side, so I switched both engines to that tank to save fuel.
Despite the fact that we dog-legged, changed height and changed our position every few minutes, we were again attacked about fifteen minutes later and on this occasion the aircraft went out of control. Brian gave the order to abandon the aircraft. I opened the front lower entry/escape hatch, saw Jock and Jack the navigator go forward, then picked up Brian’s parachute and gave it to him, meanwhile he was trying to slow the descent of the aircraft which was quite considerable. On trying to clip on my own ‘chute I could only feel a clip on the left side – the right hand clip seemed to be flattened. Being dark I couldn’t see what had happened. There was very little time to ponder the problem because we were over the mountains which I could see from the side window. My only chance of survival was to jump and hope that the canopy shrouds would not entangle so that the ‘chute would open.
I said a very quick prayer asking God to give me a safe landing and then swung out of the forward hatch. I then felt for the rip cord handle and pulled it. Almost immediately there was a very load crack and I was jerked into a floating situation. At the same time I saw our aircraft explode on the ground. Not being sure of my ‘angle of dangle’ I was not ready when I hit the ground with considerable force. My face hit a boulder on the mountain side – I’ve never looked so good since. It was pouring with rain and numerous dogs were barking, presumably because of the exploding aircraft.
HOSTAGE/PRISONER OF WAR
The first thing I did after releasing my parachute was to thank God for my life, and also prayed that somehow Jessie and the family would know that I was safe.
After wrapping myself in my parachute for warmth and protection from the rain I went to sleep.
The tolling of a church clock and the barking of dogs woke me at daybreak. The rain had ceased and looking around I realised that I was about one third of the way up the mountain and it was mainly boulders and scree around and below me. My face was
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[Photograph]
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stiff and sore and coated with dried blood on one side. I collected my parachute into a manageable ball and then examined the harness. The right hand clip was torn away and the remaining metal, near the harness, was very distorted. It was apparent that either a bullet or shell from the fighter had hit the clip and torn it away. The thought of such a ‘close call’ made me shiver and I was thankful for my safe deliverance. I hid my parachute between a boulder and the ground on the face away from the valley.
There was a farmhouse near the bottom of the mountain in a concealed position. I watched the activity at the house for at least three hours. The farmer came out of the house with his dog, followed by a woman who assumed to be his wife. Later, a girl who was probably about twelve years old and a boy 8-10 years started to do tasks around the farmhouse. By this time the chimney was smoking. Looking at my watch I saw it was around 10.0 am when they all returned to the house. At 11.0 am I decided that the family were harmless and that I would approach them for assistance to try and contact Tito’s Partisans.
I didn’t have any problems negotiating the descent and arrived at the farmhouse unseen. The lady opened the door to my knocking and audibly gasped. I explained who I was with gestures and she called her husband. When asking them for help I tried to explain that my parachute could be retrieved and given to them in return. The man came with me and helped to bring my parachute down to the house. I offered him a cigarette and, with the ‘hot end’ I burnt a piece of the canopy as a keepsake. What I didn’t realise was that the farmer had sent his son the alert the military authorities.
On the boy’s return the farmer motioned me to follow his son, giving me the impression that he would guide me to the Partisans.
My freedom was short-lived however, as by evening we were picked up by the Croation Military who were co-operating with the German Army and also fighting the Partisans. They were a very ‘trigger-happy’ bunch of soldiers and I knew that it was useless to make a run for it so, with a number of guns pointing in my direction I was escorted to an ancient truck and driven under guard to Gospic and the Military H.Q. where I met Snowy, Jock and Jack. We were locked in a room and left overnight but were given a meal of what seemed like pasta and jam. It was good and very welcome. I quietly asked the other crew members about Brian, whether anyone had seen him or heard about him. Snowy said he thought he had gone down with the aircraft. Apparently, just before I escaped, Snowy had gone out backwards with the turret rotated at 90° to the fuselage. This was quite a common practice and a much quicker escape route for rear gunners. Unfortunately Snowy had got his feet tangled up with the firing cables and this prevented him getting clear of the turret. He then put his helmet back on and asked Brian to hold the aircraft a little longer so that he could clear the cables. Whether he told Brian when he was clear is not known but there is no doubt that Brian sacrificed his life for his New Zealand cobber – a very generous act of self-sacrifice and discipline. I do not know where Brian is interred or whether he has any known grave.
After sleeping fitfully we were allowed to go one at a time to wash etc. Meanwhile an American-born woman married to a Croation came to see us and provided breakfast
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[Post Office Telegram]
TRANSCRIPT OF OFFICIAL TELEGRAM
Mrs E.W. Scott 4 William St. Great Northern Terrace Lincoln
From Air Ministry 73 Oxford St. PC 23/10/44
Regret to inform you that your husband 1425752 Flight Sergeant E.W. Scott is reported missing as the result of air operations on 21st October.
Enquiries are being made through the International Red Cross Committee and any further information received will be communicated to you immediately.
Should news of him reach you from any other sources please advise this department.
Letter following shortly pending its receipt no information should be given to the press.
1140 A
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and a cup of tea. She also arranged for me to be taken by a guard to the local hospital to have my face treated and accompanied me to translate when necessary. After two days in the Military Headquarter, during which we were relieved of our identity discs – much to my disgust – we were taken to the local prison and locked up in a cell about 12 feet x 8 feet with a stone floor. It was very cold and we couldn’t seem to persuade the guards to give us some blankets.
Eventually the ‘American lady’ came to see us and explained that we were not prisoners of war but hostages. She arranged for blankets to be issued and reassured the guards that we would not harm them. This conversation produced a complete change of attitude from the guards who shared their Schnapps with us and a few days later brought playing cards out. They never won, Snowy was a past master at cheating.
About one-two weeks after capture, the military advised us that they were going to hand us over to the Germans as being only hostages they couldn’t be responsible for our safety with the Russian advance. We objected and asked why they wouldn’t allow us to contact the Partisans, if they showed us their location on a map we would attempt to walk to them. They would not agree to this and the following morning in heavy rain we had to board an open lorry for transit to Zagreb and the Germans. The journey took several hours and we were soaked to the skin when we were taken into the German camp and locked in cells which were constructed of wood. A long passageway linked each cell and we quickly found out that there were American airmen in the next two cells to ours. Apparently they had been shot down a few days previous after returning from a raid on Vienna.
The Feldwebel in charge of us was a very dour, Prussian type of German and shouted at us at every opportunity, and at the same time hitting us with his rifle butt whenever we wanted to visit the toilet. The food provided was very poor, but nevertheless, it helped to fill an empty stomach. The Americans decided enough was enough with the hostility of the Feldwebel and with us in accord started to sing ‘Or would you rather be a mule’. The Germans went berserk, hitting us again with their rifle butts until the Unter Officer intervened.
The following day we were handed over to four Luftwaffe guards and taken to the local railway station where we boarded a train bound apparently for Budapest.
None of us had smoked a cigarette for some time and, on boarding the train, we saw long cardboard-type holder s with what appeared to be tobacco inside. On closer inspection, however, they were only the tubes which had been attached to Turkish cigarettes – disappointment all round. After many hours of train travel with a lot of stops we arrived at Budapest Station around mid-morning the following day. We had not eaten or drunk since leaving Zagreb. The 8 plus 4 of us were taken to the German Military Police office on the platform, given a chunk of black bread and some German sausage. It was then we heard the Russian shells falling on the City and in fact they were hitting part of the station complex. The German guards, who were all in their fifties, herded us quickly back onto the train and with civilians who were cramming into the compartments and on the carriage roofs, the train left the station leading North from whence we had come.
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[Crest] AIR TRAINING CORPS [Crest]
CITY OF LINCOLN SQUADRONS
Nos. 204 & 1237
Lindum Holme, Lindum Terrace, Lincoln Tel: Lincoln 914
From O.C. 1237 Squadron. A.T.C.
Dear Mrs Scott,
It is with very deep regret that we learn that your son, Flt/Sgt. Eric Scott has failed to return from recent operations.
We need not tell you how very proud we are of Eric’s record with us and subsequently with the R.A.F. and how sincerely we hope that you may soon receive brighter and reassuring news of him but in the meantime please remember that all ranks of his old A.T.C Squadron are with you in thought and sympathise with you in these dark times.
Yours in deep sympathy,
[Signature]
Flt. Lieut.
O.C. 1237 Squadron, A.T.C.
AIR MINITRY,
(Casualty Branch),
73-77 OXFORD STREET,
LONDON, W.1
P/424636/3/P.4.A.2.
29 October, 1944.
Madam,
I am commanded by the Air Council to confirm the telegram in which you were notified that your husband, Flight Sergeant Eric William Scott, Royal Air Force, is missing as a result of air operations on 21st October, 1944.
The telegraphic report from Air Force Headquarters, North Africa, states that your husband was air bomber of a Wellington aircraft which set out to attack marshalling yards at Maribor, Yugoslavia and failed to return.
This does not necessarily mean that he is killed or wounded, and if he is a prisoner of war he should be able to communicate with you in due course. Meanwhile enquiries are being made through the International Red Cross Committee, and as soon as any definite news is received you will be at once informed.
If any information regarding your husband is received by you from any source your are requested to be kind enough to communicate it
/immediately
Mrs E.W. Scott,
4, William Street,
Great Northern Terrace,
Lincoln.
immediately to the Air Ministry.
It is desired to explain that the reference to publication in the Press was included in the telegram informing you of the casualty to your husband in order to avoid prejudicing his chance of escape by undue publicity, should he be at large in enemy-occupied territory. This does not mean that any information about him is available but it is a precaution adopted in the case of all personnel reported “missing”.
The Air Council desire me to express their sympathy with you in your present anxiety.
I am, madam,
Your obedient servant,
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The following morning saw us travelling through Yugoslavia again, with a number of stop/starts. Eventually we stopped and, on looking out of the carriage window I saw to my horror two Typhoon fighter/bombers of the RAF, fitted with rockets. They were only 200-300 feet high and I then guessed they were going around to line up with the train. I immediately altered the guards and the Americans. The main carriage window could be pushed down to act as an emergency exit and by this we hurriedly vacated the train, ran up a grassy slope, across a village green and positioned ourselves on the protected side of a stone war memorial. The rockets hit the engine and machine gun bullets ripped through the carriages. Although the train was marked with a Red Cross the majority of passengers were German Army personnel and many were wounded in the attack and some were killed. This caused considerable bitterness and a number of army men man-handled us from the village onto the grass slope and lined us up for execution. Our guards just didn’t do anything to protect us. I bowed my head and said a prayer for all of us, fully expecting to be shot there and then. Was I frightened? very much so. I thought that I had been brought safely through a number of traumas only now to be executed.
In those few seconds, however, a German officer ran in front of the armed squad of soldiers and commanded them to return to the train, which they eventually did with reluctance. He came to us and apologised and explained that he had been a prisoner in England during the First World War and had been very well treated and was not, therefore, allowing German soldiers to ignore the Red Cross and Geneva Conventions for prisoners.
We stayed with our guards on that grassy slope until lunch time the following day when a replacement engine was coupled and the train once again began its journey North. Our destination was Vienna.
On arriving at the outskirts of the City it was apparent that all was not well. The German Officer who had protected us from the firing squad explained to us that there had been an American bombing raid on the City that morning. Many residential areas had been hit and it was too dangerous to go across the City with our guards. However, he arranged for a fit young army man to run with us across the City to the other station and hand us over to their military police – our guards were to follow in a more leisurely and safe manner. Although we were much less than fit and ravenously hungry, we ran for dear life across Vienna. Chunks of stone, brick and other forms of masonry came our way but nothing hit us and we managed with our guide to dodge the people who tried to cut us off.
We all reached the station without injury and were pleased to be handed over to the German military police who once again issued us with the usual rations of black bread and sausage, for which we were very grateful. When our guards eventually arrived we boarded a train and had an uneventful journey to Frankfurt and were incarcerated in the German Dulag Luft, i.e. the interrogation centre for airmen.
We were each locked in a cell with a bed and blanket and a barred window gave light but an electric light burned day and night. There were many bed bugs which made life uncomfortable but it had to be accepted. If the toilet was needed we had to pull a cord
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Dulag-Luft Germany
13TH NOV 1944
I have been taken prisoner of war in Germany. I am in good health – [deleted] slightly wounded [/deleted] (cancel accordingly).
We will be transported from here to another Camp within the next few days. Please don’t write until I give new address.
Kindest regards
Eric Scott
F/Sgt
R.A.F.
[Telegram]
TRANSCRIPT OF TELEGRAM
Priority CC
Mrs. E.W. Scott 4 William St. Gt. Northern Terrace, Lincoln
From 73/Oxford St. PC 966 W1/QW/PP
Information received through International Red Cross Committee states that your husband F/Sgt Eric William Scott is prisoner of war in German hands.
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near the door and this dropped a wooden lever on the outside. When the guards were sufficiently satisfied that a prisoner could go to the toilet without seeing anyone else they opened the cell door and escorted the person to the toilet. Food was put into the cell by the guards three times each day. Breakfast consisted of two thin slices of black bread coasted with erstaz butter and jam. Lunch was a thin ‘watery’ soup and one slice of bread. Evening meal was once again black bread and sausage. I had four interrogation sessions whilst at Frankfurt, all were during the night between midnight and 4.0am. My interrogator was the same officer on each occasion. He offered me a cigarette which I took and, when he turned his back to me to look at a map, I took two more cigarettes from his box and put them into my pocket. Following several threats, because I had no proof of identity, with the absence of my dog tags, he told the guard to return me to my cell. After being locked up again I took a cigarette from my pocket but then realised that I had no means of lighting it – I had fallen for that one very easily.
The remaining interrogations were very similar to the first except that during the last one he told me more about 205 Group than I knew, so he was well informed.
Finally they sent me down to another part of the building for political interrogation. The next cell to me was occupied by an American and it was possible to talk to each other because the cells were open-topped. It was during this interrogation that I learned of the death of President Roosevelt. The following day and about ten-fourteen days after my arrival at Frankfurt, I joined the rest of our crew and entrained for a POW Camp.
We had an uneventful journey to Bankau, Upper Silesia and Stalag Luft VII.
Just prior to leaving Frankfurt we were each given a card to fill in for sending home saying that we were prisoners of war and were well. Also a cardboard suitcase with American-style clothing was handed to us through the Red Cross. This consisted of a great coat, pair of boots, four pairs of socks, woolly hat, two vests, two pairs of pants, two shirts and part of a Red Cross parcel of food.
STALAG LUFT VII
On arrival at the camp, most of the occupants crowded at the entrance to see if there was anyone they knew. It was then that I learned of the Arnhem fiasco and that the Dulag Luft housed many of the Glider Pilots. The entrance to Stalag Luft VII was by two large gates about twenty yards apart and both were well guarded. The compound was rectangular, with accommodation huts down each side. Each hut had at least six rooms off each side of a central corridor. The hut was about eighteen inches above floor level to allow the dogs to go underneath. Each room was equipped with a coal stove mounted onto a steel plate and eight bunks – four upper and four lower.
I was allocated an upper bunk in the first room on the left in the second hut on the right looking from the entrance of the compound. The rest of the inmates of the room were Aussies, a New Zealander, a Scotsman and English. In the same hut were two other Lincoln people, a Glider Pilot taken at Arnhem and a wireless operator shot
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CUTTINGS FROM THE LINCOLNSHIRE ECHO
[Newspaper cuttings]
A letter from ex-Cadet E. W. Scott brings the good news that he has been promoted to Flt.-Sgt. And is at present in Italy, starting on his second tour of operations. Flt.-Sgt. Scott is a bomb-aimer and has seen service in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. On completing his first tour he had a short leave in Egypt and then went to Palestine, where he has for several months been instructing. He is now looking forward to finishing his second tour and then coming home.
LINCOLN FLIGHT-SERGT IS PRISONER OF WAR
Flight Sergt Eric W. Scott, R.A.F.V.R, reported missing in the Adriatic theatre of war two months ago, is a prisoner of war in German hands
His wife, formerly Miss Jessie Brown, of William-street, has received a post-card saying that he is well, but as he was expecting to be moved, told her not to write until she heard from him again.
Flight-Sergt Scott is the second son on Mr. and Mrs F. Scott, of William-street, Lincoln, and before joining the R.A.F. in 1941 he was employed in the research department at Clayton-Dewandre Co. Ltd. He was a member of the 1237 squadron Lincoln Air Training Corps.
Members of the squadron will be very pleased to learn that their old comrade Eric Scott, now a prisoner of war in Germany, has been granted a commission. Apparently this very excellent news came through about a week before he was reported missing, but his relatives have only recently been notified, and it is still doubtful whether Eric himself yet knows he is now a pilot officer. Congratulations, Eric, from your old squadron.
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Goodbye to the Wimpeys
ROME, Monday. – The Wellington bombers with the R.A.F. in Italy, the “Wimpeys,” have been replaced by Liberators for land warfare, it was announced tonight. Only a few remain for anti-submarine and shipping strikes.
Their four-year record began with the famous “mail runs” to Benghazi. Since then they have ranged over all the battlefields, from Iraq through North Africa to the Apls and the Balkans.
But now, said an R.A.F. officer tonight, “the old ladies are just not fast enough.” – Express News Service.
down in a Sterling [sic]. A third Lincoln man, by the name of Dennis Martin, was also in the camp.
The compound was enclosed by (a) danger wire approximately eighteen inches from the ground and fastened to posts driven into the ground at regular intervals. If anyone crossed the wire, for whatever reason without permission, the guards could legitimately open fire. (b) About ten yards further out from the ‘danger wire’ was the inner fencing, strong with barbed wire and with the top angled inwards. (c) A third fence, similar to (b) encircled the compound and was made in a similar fashion. Between (b) and (c) were coils of razor sharp wire about three feet in depth.
Four sentry boxes were positioned down each side of the compound and one at each end – the latter being centrally located. These boxes were approximately twenty feet from the ground and gave each sentry a good vision of his area. All boxes housed a ‘searchlight’ which arc-ed across the compound at regular intervals during darkness or could be manually moved by the sentry. A machine gun was also mounted in each box and each sentry had his own rifle. All were loaded.
When playing ball games, including golf, if a ball went over the ‘danger wire’ limit the guard had to be attracted and his permission obtained to retrieve it. Even then it was a bit dicey and it was advisable to have a number of the prisoners on hand when going beyond the wire to ensure that the sentry knew he was being watched.
The total number of inmates during my short stay there was 2,600. I arrived mid-December, the camp had only been opened the previous July. Some POW’s had, however, been transferred from other camps to ensure a smooth routine and operation. Our camp leader was an Australian, Bill Thompson. I met him again at a POW reunion about twelve-fourteen years ago at Nottingham. He was a good and hard working leader and all complaints from POW’s and German Staff were channelled through him. The escape committee consisted of six POW’s (old hands) who vetted each plan for escape. Many were turned down but, even when accepted, the people concerned had to wait in the queue. Many POW’s helped out with escape details, i.e. false papers, uniforms etc. The camp included a library and school. There was no shortage of teachers, some were tutors from the top Universities in the UK.
The Auditorium was also well used to promote plays, particularly those with satire against the Heronvolk, which usually resulted in the German Officers stamping out before the end. The German guards with or without dogs patrolled the compound and huts every day to try and ensure that prisoners were not engaged in activities which were ‘verboten’. Gardening was a regular task for prisoners, when the opportunity was taken to bury the spare radio. The news from the BBC was circulated to each hut once a day. Only two men knew who held the radio, the one who retained it and the camp leader. It was the duty of the occupants of the camp to keep the Germans occupied to ensure that the maximum number of guards were needed to operate the camp.
Every morning and evening all prisoners had to fall in by hut in the compound and be counted. Because I was relatively short in stature I was asked to be in the rear or middle line of three and, after being counted to move swiftly to a point in the line yet
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[Drawing]
BLOWER/COOKER-POW CAMP-STALAG LUFT V11
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to be counted. This ‘false count’ often meant being ‘on parade’ for at least one hour and, with the weather being extremely cold and with falls of snow it was no joke but had to be done. The senior NCO of the German guards became very hysterical and fired his revolver in the air if, by the third count, the number was one or two out of the official number.
With the two other Lincoln men I went for a one hour walk around the compound each day and then spent time making blower units for sale on the weekly market. A good blower, for high speed cooking was worth three blocks of chocolate from a Red Cross parcel. In the short time I was in Stalag Luft VII I made three blowers. See sketch.
Each prisoner received a Red Cross parcel each month. This meant that there were two parcels to feed the eight men in each room every week. The British parcels contained a tin of skimmed powdered milk, 2 blocks of high calorie chocolate, 100 cigarettes, dried prunes, tins of spam and corned beef, a very unique tin opener, tins of fish, flour, sugar, a pack of margarine, currants or raisins, tea and cocoa, the American parcels also had coffee. These supplemented the loaf of black bread, ersatze [sic] butter made from coal, ersatze [sic] coffee made from acorns and the watery soup plus sauerkraut, which was plentiful and was collected by one room member from the cookhouse each mid-day.
It was on one of these occasions that one of our POW’s was shot and killed by a sentry guard. The camp and Bankau air raid sirens had sounded about one hour previously. When this happened, all POW’s had to return to their rooms. This was quite a frequent occurrence and American Fortresses once again flew over the camp on the way to their target. We had to wait for their return before the all-clear sounded. On this particular day the Bankau all-clear was heard and it was past 12 o’clock – which was the time for collecting food from the cookhouse. Even after a further five minutes we did not hear anymore sirens so one sergeant, thinking that the camp siren must have gone, dashed out from his hut to be the first in the cookhouse queue. Half-way across the compound he was shot and killed.
Pandemonium broke out. POW’s with artistic flair immediately took pencil and paper to draw the facial details of the sentry. German officers tried to disperse the POW’s but there were far too many for them to make any impression. Our camp leader and two assistants came along with the Prussian Camp Commandant when he insisted that the sentry should be photographed and his name and other details should be given to our Camp Leader for action to be taken by the appropriate authorities at the cessation of hostilities. The sentry in question was relieved of his duties and posted without delay.
Sometimes ‘SS’ troops were brought into the camps for guard duties as a rest period and it was necessary to be very wary of these young Nazi enthusiasts.
Bearing in mind that I went into the camp in mid-December 1944, I was soon ‘volunteered’ by the other seven room occupants to try and make a Christmas pudding.
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[Newspaper cutting]
SCATTERED in the path of the Allied armies are many prison camps and internment camps. Some in the east, as the map shows, have already been overrun by the Russians.
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We had the flour, fruit and milk mix, also sugar and it was possible to buy potatoes and carrots from the Germans for a few cigarettes. My biggest problem was knowing what to cook it in even though it could be steamed. One of the room inmates had a spare pyjama jacket so it was unanimously decided that the pudding mix be stuffed down a cut sleeve and tied at both ends. This was done with great ceremony and the pudding steamed in a large gammell with a tube bottom made from tins out of the Red Cross parcels. We were usure regarding timing but decided to steam it on the stove for two hours.
On Christmas Day our mid-day dinner consisted of :
STARTERS
Mixed Stewed Fruit
MAIN COURSE
Fried Spam, Fried Potatoes, beans cooked in a tomato sauce
SWEET
Christmas Pudding
We finally had to steam the pudding for another hour. It was very solid and only a very small amount could be eaten. We shared the rest with other rooms in the hut. To say it tasted like Traditional Christmas Pudding would be an exaggeration but we enjoyed it and slept well during the afternoon on an unusually full stomach.
Although the food at Stalag Luft VII, supplemented by parcels, kept us going we didn’t increase in weight, rather the opposite for most POW’s. However, I remained at about 8 stone. On the Squadron my weight was between 8 1/2 – 9 stone.
The week after Christmas there were strong rumours of the camp having to be vacated because of the rapid Russian advance into upper Silesia. We were advised by our Camp Leader to make preparation for moving. I made a back-pack from my papier-mâché suitcase which measured about 18” x 12” and was waterproof. Four holes, one punched in each corner, allowed me to thread rope through to form shoulder straps for carrying. In this suitcase went spare vests, socks, pants, shirt and the blocks of chocolate I had been hoarding for such an occasion.
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[Postcards]
Postcards written on 10th and 17th December 1944 from Stalag Luft V11 just prior to the forced march
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On the 18th of January, with snow up to 12” deep and temperatures 10-15 degrees C below zero, we were told that we would be leaving Stalag Luft VII by foot at 4.0 pm that day, i.e. at dusk. We were each handed a Red Cross Parcel, the contents of which were distributed around our bodies. The first night of walking and freedom was a welcome experience. Each dawn, or thereabouts, we went into a farm and into the barns or cattle sheds to sleep. Because of the depth of snow my socks were always wet. I wore two pairs at a time to try and keep my feet warm. The pair I took off went into my shirt to dry and a replacement pair of dry socks put on before going to sleep. On one occasion during the first seven days, a pig had been slaughtered and made into soup in a large cauldron. The demand far exceeded the supply so I didn’t get any. The contents of the Red Cross Parcel virtually vanished after the first week. Washing faces and hands was a problem and generally had to be done using snow. My boots were pushed into the hay or at the side of a cow in an attempt to keep them above freezing but, with very little success. Generally it was necessary to hand-manipulate the shoe leather in order to get them on when it was time for moving.
The weather conditions became worse, blizzards as well as icy conditions – it was really appalling. Our breath froze in our beards and it had to be gently warmed by hand to prevent it being a mass of ice.
By this time the novelty of freedom had well worn off and airmen who had been injured during their bombing trip or on baling out and crashing, were very much the worse for wear. Some had to be left behind in houses, the occupants being mainly of Polish origin in Upper Silesia. Our rate of progress was very slow, about 20 miles each night.
The second week of walking was similar to the first except that the men were getting weaker and with little or no food provided our tummies started to shrink and become painful.
By February my chocolate store was exhausted, even though I had used it as a supplement to whatever food I could find, mainly frozen sugar beet, which now became my staple diet. A number of men went to sleep in the barns and didn’t get up again for the next night’s walk. Others collapsed at the roadside in the snow. Whether they were taken care of by the local inhabitants I don’t know. Even the German guards were dropping out because of hunger and cold.
There were occasions when we were urged to cross a bridge over a river and, on reaching the other side, the bridge was dynamited. We were surprised at this because all the rivers were frozen solid and could easily have carried vehicles.
At this stage of our journey we were allowed two nights each week to rest up because we were so close to complete exhaustion. We were told that we were heading for Luckenwalde Stalag IIIA, near Potsdam, Berlin. We were also told that the German High Command had been told to execute prisoners rather than hand them over the advancing British, American and Russian armies. We still managed to get news information so our radio was still with us.
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[Letter]
Letter sent to home – March 1945 – from Stalag IIIA
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There were so many days during the latter part of this forced march that I would have been quite willing to have laid down and died but yet it seemed so futile to give up after having endured so much since October 1944. I prayed very often for help to keep going and for a successful return to Lincoln but my expectations were very much tinged with the prospects of not making it at that stage of the march. The appalling weather continued and I felt very much like a zombie, just putting one foot in front of the other because the man in front of me was doing the same. We came to a point in the journey when the Camp Leader said enough was enough and told the Germans that they either abandon all of us to await the Russian Army or they provided transport for the remainder of the journey.
After three days at a large farm, where we did get a little food and where I saw airmen fighting each other for a piece of meat in a stew because of their hunger, we were walked to a railway embankment and, by helping each other, boarded a train with cattle truck accommodation. This was sheer luxury compared to walking.
A three day stop/start journey with the train halting each night, brought us to Potsdam and a relatively short walk to Stalag IIIA.
It was apparently late February but time didn’t mean anything anymore. The size of this camp was staggering. We were told that it held around 75,000 people, the majority being displaced workers of all nationalities and age ranges. Children were even being born in the camp.
From a military viewpoint there were Russian, Polish, French, Dutch, British and Americans. On arrival at Stalag IIIA we were each given a Red Cross Parcel. The priority however was for a shower and shave. It was apparent that we were covered in body lice and, even after showering and putting on a clean vest, the lice quickly reappeared in all of the vest seams. Boiling the vests and our battle dress tops in tin baths on open fires did not make any difference. When I first went into the shower I was stood next to the C of E Padre. He was at least 6ft 3in. tall and his ribs were really hollow and I just laughed but, when I looked at my own ribs they were identical. The small bar of swan soap – similar in size to that issued in hotels – just disappeared between our ribs. We were a good case of a starvation diet and over exercise. When the German doctors re-X-rayed us they also weighed us, I was just six stones.
With regard to the Red Cross Parcels, Lofty the Glider Pilot, sat in the aircrew compound, opened his tin of Peanut Butter and ate the lot – no bread or anything with it – it gave me a nauseating feeling just watching him. We didn’t know how long it would be before we got another parcel so we made this issue last as long as possible. The shrinkage of our stomachs also meant that we didn’t need much food to feel full.
Three weeks after arriving at the camp there was a full scale battle, with air attacks by both sides across the area. We had to take whatever cover we could as bullets and rockets passed across the compounds. We made a large white cross and laid it on the compound floor between the line of huts. The battle see-sawed back and forth for three days – it seemed more like three weeks. At first light on the third day all the German guards were gone and we were in control of our own compound. I immediately went to the German medical centre to try and pick up a Leika camera, a
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[Photograph]
Badges from a German Uniform
[Photograph]
[Photograph] Issue of RAF Watch – still working today
[Photograph] Right: Prisoner of War identification tag
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[Record Card]
RECORD CARDS RETRIEVED FROM CAMP RECORD OFFICE (see over)
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[Record Card]
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number of which were used for X-raying. I was too late but moving onto the record office I managed to find my own record cards and these I kept.
The Russian army arrived in strength the same day. Tanks just crushed the barbed wire fencing so that one side of every compound was open to free movement of prisoners. The Russian prisoners in the next compound to us went berserk. They were immediately given access and disappeared with the advanced Russian troops who were all of Mongolian extraction. The general appearance of the Russian advance troops was very rag-tag. Lorries had hard tyres, mules were used for towing guns, the soldiers didn’t have tin hats and their rifles and automatic weapons, etc., were of very varied make. Some were weapons captured from the German army.
When the main body of the Russian soldiers arrived they were all uniformed and more disciplined. However they were not well disposed towards us and if we wanted food we had to find it in the locality. Lofty and I went around the area including the outskirts of Potsdam to see if food was available. Many houses had been abandoned in a hurry but the food left behind was very meagre. We went into a Tailor’s shop and it was there that I found and kept a pair of scissors which I have used for decorating ever since. I also thought that the considerable length and very sharp points of the scissors would be a handy weapon if needed for my defence.
The Russians placed large tubs on open fires and made their yoghurt. This was all the nourishment they could offer us but the smell from the sour curds was terrible and despite my hunger I just could not eat any. Lofty however, devoured both portions! Many of the Russian troops had not seen flushed toilets before and continually came into the compound toilet blocks, put their feet into the bowl and pulled the chain several times, grinning all over their faces.
It was at this time ant a Russian took my watch and did his best to steal my wedding ring but he relented eventually and left me. A senior Russian Officer, with many aides, sat at a table in our compound and we had to file past giving our name, number, origin, nationality, etc. This took over a week to complete as many POW camps of British airmen had been sent to Stalag IIIA, including those from Sagan. Hence we now had a Group Captain, demoted by himself to Flt. Lt. in charge of the British aircrew contingent, irrespective of rank.
He advised all the men not to try and make their own way to the West of the Elbe because we would again be taken prisoner or shot by either side. The Russians wanted to arm us and send us into the battle for Berlin but of course this was refused based on the Geneva Convention. The Russians did not acknowledge this. Their next ploy was to send us home via Moscow. We were the first major bunch of British aircrew released and our leaders again refused this, really upsetting the Russians who put a loose guard around our compound.
Some days after the Russians had ‘released’ us numerous American trucks turned up at the side of our compound. All were driven by black soldiers and unarmed. Two white American officers were in charge and they had apparently been sent, with agreement by the Russians, to collect us and take us across the river Elbe to the American sector. The Russians who were responsible for us didn’t want to know and
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[Crest]
CATERPILLAR CLUB
26th April, 1945.
Mrs. Scott.
4, William Street.
LINCOLN.
Dear Mrs. Scott,
[Underlined] F/Sgt. E. W. Scott. [/underlined]
I was very glad to hear from the above that he had saved his life with an Irvin chute, and at his request have pleasure in sending his membership card herewith.
I regret that due to supply restrictions we are not able to order Caterpillar Pins for Prisoners until after the war, but one will be sent as soon as available.
Please excuse the form letter, but this is due to pressure of work.
With best wishes for his early return, I am,
Yours sincerely,
[Signature]
Leslie L. Irvin.
MEL.
Encl. Card.
[Photograph] Cloth Caterpillar Badge
Right: Membership card of the Caterpillar Club [Photograph]
Below:
Two Caterpillar pin badges
[Photograph]
Piece of silk burned from parachute after bailing out
[Photograph]
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put an armed guard around the trucks and flatly refused permission for us to move. This situation continued for three days, then the American lorries were allowed to return – empty to their sector. One or two men managed to get away rolled in a tarpaulin in the trucks. One of these was Dennis Martin who went to 4 William Street and told Jessie that I was alright.
After a further two days we were ushered into Russian lorries and driven to the Elbe and once there we disembarked, crossed the river on foot by pontoon bridge and given a terrific welcome on the other side. We were all still full of body lice and, as we passed through a medical tent, we were checked for T.B., and D.D.T. was pumped from small guns down our vests and shirts.
The Red Cross, bless them, issued us with toilet and shaving gear. It was a very painful, but necessary task to remove my beard of three-and-a-half months, although I had done a rough trimming job with the tailor’s scissors. My battle dress trousers gaped open just above the leg pocket due to the material having rotted, particularly with boiling them in an endeavour to lose the lice. I looked more like a tramp than an airman.
We stayed with the Americans for two days and had some wonderful food, but could only manage small amounts.
Air transport them took us to Brussels airport where we were again given a warm welcome and fed and watered. After a further twenty-four hours it was my turn to board an RAF Lancaster to fly home. It was May and, although I had missed V.E. day, I though with a bit of luck I would make V.J. day. I never did identify the airfield at which we landed but we were bussed to a railway station and boarded a train – normal passenger service – to Cosford. I felt really uneasy being among civilians again and my torn uniform and general appearance in the compartment was cause for comment by the other occupants. The other significant factor was that I had no idea of the current news so couldn’t make any conversation. A lonely journey and one of self-consciousness.
On arrival at RAF Station Cosford I was ushered into a queue, in line with a table, behind which sat a records clerk with a sheaf of papers. These tables extended from one end of a hanger to the other. When it came to my turn the clerk asked me for my RAF number, rank and name but none of these appeared in his papers. He then asked me whether I had received any mail from home and I told him I hadn’t. The question now was, did my wife and other members of my family know that I was alive. I told him that I had sent the usual pre-printed card from Dulag Luft Frankfurt and had written letters home, Even so I had no evidence or knowledge of whether they knew I was a prisoner of war.
This lack of evidence, plus the fact that I was not on the register of returning prisoners caused me considerable concern. I couldn’t telephone anyone because I was not aware of telephone numbers. The clerk gave me papers to get clothing equipment, badges of rank, medal ribbons, shoes, and the many other pieces of equipment we had to have in the RAF. After visiting the ‘tailor’s shop’ where numerous local women were sewing on all the badges of rank etc., I took my equipment to a hut allocated for
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[Newspaper cutting]
In memory of the PoWs of the ‘Long March’
By Peter Davies
[Photograph]
The commemorative statue by the sculptor Pamela Taylor
THE MEMORIAL to RAF prisoners of war who died on the ‘Long March’, unveiled by the Duke of Edinburgh at the Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon, yesterday, is a reminder of one of the Second World War’s most extraordinary – yet unsung – feats of endurance amid extreme privation and suffering. This was the enforced march of British, Commonwealth and Allied PoWs to western Germany from camps on the eastern borders of the Third Reich in the winter and spring of 1945.
In the summer of 1944, with the Red Army already on the borders of Germany, there were around 200,000 RAF, army and naval PoWs, besides thousands of Americans, in camps dotted throughout Germany and the occupied territories. Many of these lay in the east of the country and included Stalag Luft III, of Great Escape fame, 100 miles south east of Berlin. Others were more remote still: in East Prussia, Poland and Czechoslovakia.
To prevent their occupants being liberated by the advancing Russians, Hitler ordered that they should be marched westwards, out of harm’s way. Put in charge of this operation was an SS lieutenant-general, Gottllob Berger, a man with a history of brutal suppression of unrest in the occupied territories. However, with the Third Reich collapsing around him he seems to have felt it might be politic to ignore the Führer’s severer orders for the treatment of PoWs.
In the chaotic conditions of Germany in early 1945 when the evacuations began, this scarcely made any difference. Driven from the shelter of their camps, bullied, beaten and hectored by their guards, shot dead if they lagged behind or fell by the wayside, a quarter of a million PoWs stumbled and shuffled their way hundreds of miles to the west, without adequate food, shelter or clothing, in the bitterest winter Germany had experienced for 50 years.
The harrowing tale of the 86-day trek of the inmates of the notoriously brutal Stalag Luft IV at Gross Tychow in Pomerania to Fallingbostel in Lower Saxony, 500 miles distant, may stand as representative of the collective ordeal. A number of these prisoners had already made the 250-mile journey by sea from Stalag Luft VI at Heydekrug on the borders of Lithuania the previous summer, piled below decks in the disease-rife hold of a rusty cargo boat.
The march-out from Stalag Luft IV began on February 6, 1945, with the temperature 20 degrees below zero and with snow falling. Just 11km were covered before nightfall. Blisters on feet were soon bursting, opening them to infection. In the extreme cold resistance to disease was soon eroded. Injuries suffered in baling out or in combat were exacerbated.
Over the following interminable ice-cold days some lucky few might find a barn to lie in at night, but most were compelled to lie in the open. In snow- and waterfilled shell holes men clung to each other for warmth under a shared greatcoat. When guards were not looking the men raided the fields for potatoes, turnips and mangolds.
Raw rat became a delicacy. At times men were reduced to chewing grass. So near to starvation were they that one PoW recalled looking at his arm, suddenly realising it was a piece of meat and wondering, lightheadedly, whether he could bring himself to take a bite out of it.
The men were plagued with lice and the constant battle to rid themselves of them was a losing one. “If you kill one a thousand will come to its funeral” was the grim PoW saying. But the killer was dysentery, robbing men of their vitality – and dignity. In the utterly insanitary conditions it was almost impossible not to catch it. Men often chose to soil themselves as they marched, rather than falling out to risk being shot. Yet no one could afford to discard even the filthiest rags in the intense cold.
The brutality of their guards was compounded by the hostility of a populace who regarded the airmen as Luftgangsters and Terrorflieger as a result of the widespread damage from bombing raids. Friendly fire in one form or another was a constant peril. As the Stalag Luft IV men entered Swinemunde, bombs were falling on the port, while shrapnel from the flak defences fell among them.
In one of the worst incidents another group, ex-inmates of Stalag Luft III, were targeted by RAF Typhoon fighter bombers. In spite of frantic gesticulations by an officer who bravely exposed himself to cannon fire, waving his RAF greatcoat aloft, more than 60 PoWs, including him, were killed by pilots who could have no reason to imagine that a column on the move consisted of other than the enemy.
The figures for those who perished on these marches can only be estimates. Somewhere in the region of 10 per cent did not survive the ordeal. Commissioned by the Royal Air Forces ex-PoW Association, Pamela Taylor’s iconic study of a PoW dragging his remaining possessions on a makeshift sled commemorates those who did not reach the end of their terrible journey.
An extract from The Telegraph Newspaper after a ceremony to commemorate those who died on the ‘Long March’. Summer 2002
‘The marches were long and desperately arduous. Some POW’s walked for more than 500 miles and were on the road for many months. Hundreds died of exhaustion, disease and starvation. Those who survived were awed by their experience. How they escaped with their lives and eventually reached home is a gripping story of endurance and courage.
Extract from ‘The Last Escape’ by John Nichol & Tony Rennell
[Page break]
us to ‘disrobe’ and shower. Our old uniforms were dumped into large containers but I did remember, however, to keep the piece of my parachute canopy and also my POW’s identity plate, together with the tailor’s scissors – my acquisition from Potsdam.
After donning my new uniform and packing the surplus equipment in a kit bag, I reported to the station orderly to collect a travel warrant, food coupons and some clothing coupons. My train time to Birmingham was given to me and I caught the next ‘lorry’ to leave the camp for Cosford Station. However, I had to stay overnight at Derby Station because of my lateness of departure but caught the early morning train to Lincoln to arrive home around 5.00 -6.00 am.
As I neared Lincoln I began to panic because of not knowing whether Jessie and the family knew of my existence. I walked from the Midland Station and arrived outside the door of No.4 William Street – and knocked.
Jessie came to the door with Dad’s mackintosh over her – we couldn’t believe we were together again. Everyone got up, even Grandma Dowse, to welcome me home. They did know that I was safe and had received my letters. It had been eight weeks however between receiving the ‘missing’ telegram and getting my first card from Dulag Luft, which was much longer than the norm for being advised. This of course was due to being held as a hostage and also travelling unnecessarily to arrive at Frankfurt.
Coming home was a wonderful experience and it was necessary to once again get to know my wife. There were both emotional and mental problems to pass through. I suppose today these would be dealt with by counselling, but such a process was not known in 1945.
Within twenty-four hours of getting home Jessie told me that I had been commissioned and had even received my new RAF number. The commission was backdated to my application in October 1944. It was therefore necessary for me to return to Cosford to obtain the changes of uniform, clothes coupons, shoes, socks, shirts etc. This meant staying two days at Cosford and then returning to Lincoln, but using first class travel. What a difference a day makes!
On my return home I went to Atkinsons the military tailors to be measured for my ‘best blues’, peak cap etc. All of this I had to pay for myself. I had already purchased a Canadian Crombie great coat from an officer who was being demobbed at Cosford before returning home. It was of better quality than could be obtained in the UK and was in excellent condition. I was able to obtain my mackintosh coat straight away so for May was adequately equipped.
After a few days in Lincoln Jessie and I went to Bridlington for a week. We stayed at Maud Gilberts, she had lived in Lincoln on Great Northern Terrace and Jack and Ethel had helped and supported her when she lost her husband at Dunkirk. As she hailed from the North East she had eventually returned to Bridlington.
34
[Page break]
[Photograph]
Flying Officer Eric William Scott and Mrs Jessie G Scott
[Photograph]
Identity Disc
[Photograph]
New Wings
[Photograph]
Final entries in Observer’s and Air Gunners Flying Log Book
[Page break]
I forgot to mention that my leave was for sixteen weeks and if I wanted anything either medically or otherwise I had to report to RAF Wittering, near Peterborough. Jessie gave up her job to be with me. As it happens I did have to go to our local G.P. because a rash of spot appeared on my body. He said it was caused by enrichments of the blood with returning to a normal diet. During my leave I went into town towards mid-day and to the Black Bull in the Hight Street as I had learned that returning military personnel congregated there. On my first visit I was amazed to see my old school friend Frank Curtis. He was a WOP/AG on Halifax’s, flying from Yorkshire. His left leg was missing, apparently having been virtually severed by shell fire whilst attacking flying bomb sights [sic]. He had been in hospital for some months but was now home on indefinite leave and on crutches. He was married to Lillian who unfortunately had contracted TB, but recovery was hopeful. The four of us spent many happy hours together and I travelled with Frank to Ely hospital to try on his new tin leg. After two or three visits he eventually came away with his tin leg on. It was a painful process learning to walk again, but eventually he succeeded in using it permanently with the help of a stick, and handed back his crutches.
During my sixteen-week leave I was visited by Jack our Canadian Navigator and I also saw Jock Nichols at Cosford. Snowy I did not see but learned from other New Zealand Ex POW’s that he was on a draft to return home, so that accounted for the four crew members who had safely returned to the U.K.
Wel all enjoyed V.J. day together – Frank and Lillian, brother-in-law Jim and sisters-in-law Mary and Janet, the latter cartwheeling down the road and also paddling in the beck. My leave came to an end and I reported to RAF Wittering where they fed us on venison and knocked us into shape military fashion. I was volunteered to lead a flight of NCO’s and other ranks on an official parade in Peterborough. I had forgotten all of my drill procedures so had to go ‘cap in hand’ to the Station Warrant Officer for verbal and physical instruction to enable me to carry out this function. So Flying Officer Scott had his first official function to perform since being commissioned.
After two or three weeks at Wittering I was re-musterd as a Flying Control Officer and posted to Pershore, near Evesham. We worked in three eight hour shifts 6.0am-2.0pm being the first. It was interesting work and, with the aid of a batwoman (WAAF) who kept my uniform, shoes, etc. immaculately clean, woke me at the appropriate times for duty, made my bed, changed towels, dealt with the laundry etc., life was quite good. Another officer who had been on flying control at Pershore for some months had rented a house in Cheltenham and his wife and daughter lived there whilst he commuted every second day to stay with them for 36 hours, which was allowed within the shift system.
It transpired that he was going on leave for two weeks and that the house would be vacant for that period. He gave me the opportunity of living there with Jessie for that time, paying rent and fuel costs. We jumped at this opportunity of being together and Jessie travelled down to Cheltenham, Ist Class! to meet the departing wife and family and to get to know the house and its workings before they actually left.
I had already received my cycle from Lincoln so, on my 36 hour break from duty I would pedal into Evesham, catch the Black and White bus to Cheltenham and they
35
[Page break]
[Photograph]
Jessie and Eric with Jacqueline - (aged three months)
[Photograph]
Vickers-Armstrong Wellington III
Postcard sent from Jack and Marjorie Morval on 1st August 1994
[Page break]
would look after my bike. It was a good arrangement and we really enjoyed that time together, even visiting Weston-Super-Mare. On departing Weston-Super-Mare on one particular visit we decided we would purchase a block of ice cream to take home. We put the block on the luggage rack above us as we were on the front seat near the door. Imagine our surprise on seeing runny ice cream dripping off the rack at the back of the bus. It was definitely a case of keeping a ‘low profile’! Cheltenham at that time was a very high class Spa town and we explored it thoroughly.
Following Jessie’s return to Lincoln, I was sent to Watchfield, the place where my flying began, on a Flying Control Officer’s course. This lasted two to three weeks. I then continued my duties at the control tower at Pershore until my demobilisation became imminent in August. The RAF advised me that they would be willing to extend my commission, but would require me to be posted to Hendon as a flying control officer on passenger transport. I pondered this issue and received much advice from both service friends and those at home. I decided eventually that if I stayed in the RAF both Jessie and I would be shunted around both in the UK and overseas and that our times apart would be unacceptable. I advised the RAF that I wished to be demobbed. Towards the end of August I reported to London where I received the necessary discharge papers, sports coat and flannels etc. and a travel warrant to Lincoln.
My life in the RAF was at an end and my leave was given to the end of September. After a week at home, before which Jessie had moved from 4 William Street to her mothers at 61 Great Northern Terrace, I reported to Clayton Dewandre to take up my career again as a technician. Because of my break in apprenticeship I was classified as a Dilutee. My weekly salary was £4.19s.6p, barely a living wage but somehow we managed.
Jacqueline was born on 18th of October 1946 at Great Northern Terrace and was the first baby to be delivered by our ex Royal Navy GP Dr. Leane. He always referred to her as his first demob baby.
That winter of 1946/47 was very cold with hard layers of snow. A quick thaw in April 1947 caused widespread flooding in Lincoln and we had to move out, going uphill to my sister Mary’s in St. Hugh’s Street. It took many days of mopping up, cleaning and disinfecting to make our two rooms habitable again.
In June 1947 we acquired a house to rent at 22 Chelmsford Street, through the good auspices of George James’ mother (sister-in-law Janet’s mother-in-law) who knew the Landlord, a Mr. Dalton.
After six/eight weeks of hard work we moved in and this was really the beginning of our life as a family.
36
[Page break]
[Newspaper article]
THE
Prisoner of War
THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE PRISONERS OF WAR DEPARTMENT OF THE RED CROSS AND ST. JOHN ORGANISATION, ST. JAMES’S PALACE, LONDON, S.W.1
VOL. 4. No. 39. THE FINAL ISSUE July, 1945
Message from Field-Marshal Lord Chetwode
THIS is the last issue of “The Prisoner of War.” There is no longer any need for the journal since those who were prisoners or internees in Europe are now free and with few exceptions are at home again.
The Red Cross and St. John War Organisation rejoices that this piece of its work has been finished. No Editor, I am sure, ever saw his paper come to an end with such satisfaction as the Editor of “The Prisoner of War.”
The flow of letters that has come from next of kin has told us how eagerly each copy of the journal was looked forward to each month. Time and again, mothers and wives have written to say that it has seemed to bring their dear ones nearer to them. I am certain that all who were prisoners and are now happily restored to their families will remember it as one of the best services which the Organisation has rendered. Their gratitude is a reward which we are proud to have earned.
To every man who has been a prisoner, and to every family now reunited, I wish a future of abiding peace and renewed happiness. They will all be mindful, I know, as are we in the Red Cross and St. John War Organisation, that war still rages in the Far East and that men and women of our race are held captive by the Japanese. There we still have work to do and for their next of kin we shall continue to produce “Far East,” the sister journal of “The Prisoner of War.” I am confident that we shall have the good wishes and the active support of all to whom, directly or indirectly, this journal has been a source of comfort during the three years of its existence.
The Editor Writes –
IT falls to me as Editor to make my final farewell in this last issue of The Prisoner of War. At the beginning of 1944 I wrote in these columns that the best New Year’s wish I could offer to all our readers was that before many months had passed they would no longer be our readers. That wish was fulfilled for some, as the repatriation ships came in during the year, but for many the eagerly awaited day was deferred until victory had been won. To-day there are no more Kriegies, no more letters from German camps and lazarets, no more Red Cross parcels – and no more need for this journal.
I cannot believe that any editor ever owed so much to so many of his readers. It has been on their letters, and those they received from their men in exile, that this journal has been built up. We depended on them for most of the news and all the photographs of life in the camps that we have published.
“Far East” will Continue
Far East, our companion journal, which started on its separate existence near the beginning of last year, will outlive us. It will be published as and when information becomes available about the lot of those in the hands of the Japanese. Unhappily news in the past has been rare, and the services that it has been possible for the United Nations to render have been limited, irregular, and unevenly distributed. But everything that it is humanly possible to do is being done. The Governments, the Red Cross Societies, the Protecting Power, the International Red Cross Committee and their delegates on the spot are leaving no stone unturned to bring succour to the prisoners.
“Not Forgotten”
On other pages of this last issue appear articles by the heads of the various sections of the Prisoners of War Department which have ministered to the many needs of prisoners in Germany and Italy. For all of them and their colleagues their work has been in the nature of a mission cheerfully and lovingly undertaken in the knowledge that they were not only succouring fellow-countrymen and women in exile but were helping them to realise that they were not forgotten by those at home.
F.M. Lord Chetwode, O.M.
On this page appears a message from Field Marshal Lord Chetwode, O.M., the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Red Cross and St. John War Organisation. It is upon him, as its supreme administrator, that the heavy burden falls of directing and inspiring the manifold human activities of the Organisation.
Not the least of the reasons why hundreds of thousands have had cause to be grateful to the Organisation for its work during these war years had been its “personal touch.” Sir Philip Chetwode crowned his brilliant career as a soldier by this great mission for the men in the Forces. Our readers will join us in congratulating him upon the barony which the King had conferred upon him in recognition of his distinguished work for sufferers in this war.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
(See Page 16)
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Title
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The memoir of Eric William Scott
Description
An account of the resource
Text and numerous b/w photographs (some of which are also located in sub-collection albums) covering from immediately before and during World War II - (1939-1946). First page has colour photographs and description of prisoner of war medal. Continues with account of RAFVR training including time at the Air Crew Reception Centre, St John's Wood, London, initial training at Stratford-upon-Avon and elementary flying training at RAF Watchfield. Gives account of journey to the United States to continue training on the Arnold Scheme at Turner Field, Albany, Georgia, Callstrom Field, Arcadia Florida, Gunter Field, Montgomery Alabama and Craig Field, Selma, Alabama flying Stearman, BT-13 and Harvard. At the last location an accident brought an end to his pilot training and he continues as navigator/bomb aimer at Picton in Ontario Canada. Pages contain many photographs, exttracts from the cadet handbook and his logbook. On return to UK he did operational training a RAF Moreton in the Marsh where he crewed up. He got married just before posting to North Africa. Gives account of journey to join 205 Group in North Africa and of first tour on 142 Squadron where he flew 38 operations and of life in North Africa. After this he was posted as an instructor to an operational training unit in Qastina Palestine where he had an opportunity to visit Jerusalem, Haifa, Bethlehem and Tel Aviv. In June 1944 he agreed to do a second tour and was posted to 37 Squadron at Foggia in Italy. Gives account of operations including gardening in the Danube river. Gives account of final operation to Maribor marshalling yard in Yugoslavia where after attack by night fighter he baled out of his aircraft. Follows with account of capture by Croatian military. hand over to the Germans and journey to Stalag Luft 7, Upper Silesia and life in prisoner of war camp. Then underwent the long march back to Germany in the face of Russian advance. Concludes with repatriation and life after return to England.
Creator
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E W Scott
Format
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Thirty-seven page printed document with text and photographs
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
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BScottEWScottEWv1
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Lincoln
England--Bedfordshire
England--London
England--Warwickshire
England--Stratford-upon-Avon
England--Wiltshire
England--Manchester
Scotland--Glasgow
Canada
New Brunswick--Moncton
United States
Georgia--Albany
Florida--Arcadia
England--Gloucestershire
England--Cornwall (County)
North Africa
Algeria
Algeria--Blida
Tunisia
Tunisia--Qayrawān
Middle East--Palestine
Middle East--Jerusalem
West Bank--Bethlehem
Israel--Tel Aviv
Israel--Haifa
Italy
Italy--Foggia
Romania
Romania--Ploiești
Slovenia
Slovenia--Maribor
Poland
Poland--Opole (Voivodeship)
Germany
Germany--Potsdam
England--Shropshire
Florida
Georgia
New Brunswick
Israel
West Bank
England--Lancashire
Danube River
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-02
1941-10
1941-11-03
1941-12
1942-01-06
1942-01
1942-02-09
1942-03-24
1942-05
1942-06
1942-07-02
1942-11
1943-04-19
1943-05-27
1943-06-09
1943-10-03
1944-06
1944-07-23
1944-10-21
1945-03
Rights
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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.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
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Anne-Marie Watson
Conforms To
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Pending text-based transcription. Under review
142 Squadron
37 Squadron
aircrew
bale out
bomb aimer
Caterpillar Club
Dulag Luft
Flying Training School
Harvard
lack of moral fibre
love and romance
mine laying
navigator
Operational Training Unit
pilot
prisoner of war
RAF Cardington
RAF Cosford
RAF Moreton in the Marsh
RAF Watchfield
recruitment
Red Cross
searchlight
shot down
Stalag 3A
Stalag Luft 7
Stearman
the long march
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
-
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726f750f49a850213c46940525cf15dc
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Valentine, John. Ursula Valentine's newspaper cutting scrapbook
Description
An account of the resource
131 items contained in a scrapbook. Mainly newspaper cuttings of events from May 1942 to 1945.
Transcribed document
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Transcription
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Evening Standard
28th March 1945
THE LONDONER
AIR VICE MARSHAL C. T. BENNETT has been adopted as Liberal candidate at the Middlesbrough by-election caused by the death of Mr. Harcourt Johnstone. He is the highest serving officer to contest an election in this war. Because of the electoral truce, it is likely that Bennett will be unopposed.
At 34, Bennett is one of the youngest air vice-marshals in the R.A.F. He is an Australian, married to a Swiss, and has two children.
Rescued Sikorsky
One of his outstanding wartime exploits was two days after the fall of France when he picked up the Polish Prime Minister, General Sikorski, and took him to Bordeaux in an unarmed flying boat.
In 1942 he was awarded the D.S.O. after he had been shot down during a raid on Trondhjem; he led his crew into Sweden after baling out over Norway.
His book, Complete Air Navigator, was published in 1935 and is now an Air Ministry handbook. This week he publishes a second book, Freedom From War, in which he outlines his plan for a Supreme World Congress and an International Law Force to prevent another war.
Merged Air Force
This book is certain to arouse much discussion. Bennett calls for all nations to be included automatically and non-optionally upon the cessation of hostilities in this Supreme Congress; he wants the Congress to be provided with “an adequate instrument of justice” to apply its laws.
He thinks, too, that the armed forces of the United Nations must be merged into one within three months of the end of the war.
[Photograph of Air Vice Marshal Bennett in uniform] Air Vice Marshal D.C.T. BENNETT Pathfinder to Westminster.
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Title
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The Londoner column
Description
An account of the resource
Air Vice Marshal Bennett adopted as Liberal candidate at Middlesborough by-election. Sub-headlines include: rescued Sikorski, merged air force . Other headlines: eye-man in Burma, houses for bunkers, opposition. Photograph: full face portrait of Air Marshall Bennett wearing tunic and peaked cap.
Publisher
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Evening Standard
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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1945-03-28
Format
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One newspaper cutting
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Photograph
Identifier
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SValentineJRM1251404v10120
Coverage
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Civilian
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
England--Yorkshire
England--Middlesbrough
Temporal Coverage
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1945-03
Rights
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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
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Anne-Marie Watson
Bennett, Donald Clifford Tyndall (1910-1986)
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1339/22167/SValentineJRM1251404v10125.2.jpg
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1339/22167/SValentineJRM1251404v10126.1.jpg
7c9ea5c32a9d4d98e227ae50b034d0c3
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John. Ursula Valentine's newspaper cutting scrapbook
Description
An account of the resource
131 items contained in a scrapbook. Mainly newspaper cuttings of events from May 1942 to 1945.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Crest]
THE OBSERVER
1791
22, Tudor Street, E.C.4 Central 9481
LONDON, SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 1945
THE GUILT
TERRIBLE reports and photographs have come from the concentration camps and slave labour camps over-run by the Allied armies in Nazi Germany. Many of the facts were known: what the reports do is to drive home the full depravity of the horror. Who shall be held responsible for this abyss of perverted cruelty, scarcely believable, scarcely paralleled in the whole history of human inhumanity? First, the Nazi leaders and the Gestapo and S.S. men who ordered and inflicted the tortures; it will not be long now, we may hope, before most of them are caught and dealt with as war criminals. Whatever punishment international law imposes on these monsters will be trivial compared with the enormity of their misdeeds. A harder question is how far the indictment should extend to the German people at large. They cannot escape responsibility; history will see to that. But what exactly is the general, as opposed to the particular, guilt?
The primal sin of the German people in this matter lay in allowing Nazism to be born, to breed, and to fatten in its own filth. Once the infamy was admitted to power, by the will (or sufferance) of millions of individuals, those individuals could only repent at the cost of their own destruction. Fascism and Nazism must be strangled at birth or they themselves will strangle civilisation. That is the point of which every nation must take note.
* * *
We in Britain too easily forget what it means to live under a ruthlessly efficient terrorism. Modern weapons vastly increase the power of a few who control these arms to suppress the resistance of the many. Once such a system is firmly established, the critic and the rebel have little chance. To call for opposition is to call for martyrs indeed. Who can confidently say that he would protest publicly against the government if he knew at any time his rooms would be invaded and he himself hurried into darkness, where death would only be a release from torture? And not only he, but, worse still, his dear ones and dependents would be utterly in the grip of the Terror. That was the normal expectation of a liberal-minded man in Germany after Hitler came to power.
But why did the Germans tolerate Hitler’s rise? “Mein Kampf” had given them ample warning of what to expect. Nazism was brutal from the first; its leaders gloried in their contempt for all humane canons of behaviour. And yet millions of Germans supported, cheered, voted for these gangsters in uniform, long before the argument of terror was in general use. The huge German Socialist and Trade Union Movement, which might have stopped the odious tyranny in its own interest as well as for the sake of world peace, collapsed with astonishing speed and completeness. The appalling extent of unemployment and poverty in the early thirties had broken the workers’ will to resist anyone who reopened the factories. They did not ask to what sinister ends the wheels were now turning. Bread (even with bondage) was sweet in the mouth.
[Page break]
* * *
When all allowance has been made for the political and economic causes of Nazism, we have to admit the national characteristics, too. It is dangerous to generalise about national traits: history so easily reverses judgements. The Austrians were regarded by our forefathers as the typical tyrants, cold and brutal. Later they were deemed, rightly or wrongly, to be a gentle and genial tribe of experts in the manufacture of cakes, coffee, and waltzes. But there does appear to be a persistent strain in the German character of fierce brutality above and fatal docility below. There is a worship of power, both by those who rule and those who serve. And this is deadly to all decency. “The strongest poison ever known came from Caesar’s laurel-crown.”
In drafting the Versailles settlement the Allies were blind to this strain. They approved the setting up of the Weimar Republic on ostensibly democratic lines. They failed to see that it might only be a façade. Many Germans had no will to make the Republic work: their instinctive allegiance remained with the army leaders who were bent on restoring the nation’s military might and found in Nazism an ideal instrument. And so, during the years when the Nazi movement could have been resisted, the German people allowed it to wax and condoned its excesses. Passively, they let the Nazis enlist their children and train them to be bullies and torturers. That was when they earned the judgement which is now falling upon the Reich.
But in forgiving the early excesses of Nazism the German people were not alone. Hitler had plenty of foreign admirers in those days. His eminent visitors returned extolling the marvellous discipline which the Nazi régime had imposed on the working-class. They applauded him, even when it was perfectly well known what was going on in the Concentration Camps. Some closed eyes and ears to this: others took the easy way of declaring that what occurred behind the scenes in Nazi Germany was no concern of ours. Never shall this happen again.
* * *
No punishment of Nazi Germany, however grimly earned and justly executed will suffice without a full and general admission that Nazism and Fascism are evil beyond endurance wherever they appear. Where such a system is allowed to root, the spread of the venom is certain. The Nazis have carried on, with their appalling German thoroughness, the work begun by Mussolini and his Fascist thugs. It was they who taught Hitler his technique of murdering the opposition to save the trouble of answering to it. Their island-prisons set an early model, later far surpassed, of political persecution, as practiced by Fascism (in its various guises) in Spain, Greece, and later on in France. Must we always forget the Italians’ guilt because they smile at us? We do not suggest that a dictatorship of the Left offers a bed of roses to its critics, but the long-drawn sadism of the Fascist and Nazi concentration camps has no parallel among the admitted severities of other regimes. Where life is hard, as in Poland and Russia, imprisonment is likely to be even harder But that does not make a Belsen.
The German torture-camps are a witness against the German people who, having seen the growth of Fascism, permitted their own even viler brand of that pest to arise and flourish. They are witness also against those in other countries who stopped their ears to the cries of democrats, liberals, Jews, and all the myriads on the rack. And how many of us can claim to be wholly innocent upon this heavy count of having played the Gallio in these fatal nineteen-thirties?
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The Guilt
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Article. Report on concentration camps recently overrun by allies. Asks who will be held responsible and then lists culprits and questions whether people hold any responsibility. Some discussion of totalitarian states and Nazism. Mentions Versailles treaty and set up of Wiemar republic contribution to rise of Nazis.
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The Observer
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1945-04-22
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Two newspaper cuttings
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eng
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Text
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SValentineJRM1251404v10125, SValentineJRM1251404v10126
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Civilian
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Great Britain
England--London
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1945-04
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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.
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Anne-Marie Watson
anti-Semitism
forced labour
Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945)
Holocaust
Waffen-SS
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1376/24329/MFordTA1585520-170411-14.2.pdf
0acf2c189aab6d3d793b1066ff56da7a
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Ford, Terry
Ford, T
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135 items. The collection concerns Terry Ford. He flew operations as a pilot with 75 Squadron. It contains photographs, his log book, operational maps, letters home during training, and documents including emergency drills. There are two albums of photographs, one of navigation logs, and another of target photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Julia Burke and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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IBCC Digital Archive
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2017-03-13
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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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
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Ford, T
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Permission granted for commercial projects
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[Drawing of an aircraft flying over a single gravestone]
The Flying Gopher
SEPTEMBER 1942
[Page break]
[Advert for the Dickson Hotel and Café]
[Advert for Rialto Billiards]
[Page break]
Officers’ Mess
Gossip
CENSORED
Space donated by …
WARREN’S DRUG STORE
1
[Page break]
[Advert for Commercial Café]
[Advert for Walker Fruit]
[Page break]
[Drawing of an aircraft flying over a single gravestone]
The Flying Gopher
The Journal of The Royal Air Force, No,41, Service Flying Training School,
Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Published by the Kind Permission of Group Captain E.C. Emmett, M.C., D.F.C.
VOL. 1. SEPTEMBER, 1942 No. 4
Editorial
[Drawing of a thoughtful gopher with writing quill at a desk]
There are some changes this month – as doubtless you have noticed. Changes both apparent and inward have affected the production of the fourth edition of your Flying Gopher. Note the cover, for instance, which we hope will have more appeal to the casual eye. It’s a plain cover, we admit, but it has caused almost as much headache as all the inside pages put together. We were loath to part with the vastness, and yet our title required more punch. There you have it, and if anyone has any further ideas, bring them along.
Turning to the first page, the reader will notice that the seed catalogue which graced that prominent place is conspicuous by its absence. Names are boring at the best of times and we are sure that the contents page was merely a waste of space – you don’t pick your articles, you read the lot, don’t you, dear readers?
Further along it is to be noticed that more variety is embodied in the make-up of the pages. Like the idea? We do wish you would let us know. There must be a good deal of improvement which can be made if everyone’s minds were turned to it instead of just the few who edit the magazine.
Finally it was suggested that while we were making sweeping changes we might as well cut out the editorial. But no, a place to let off a little steam is a good thing to have here, and anyway, by omitting the editorial we would be forced to throw away the cut of our Editor-in-Chief, the Gopher and we think it’s such a lervely picture…!
THE EDITORS.
3
[Page break]
[Advert for Duncan & Russell]
[Page break]
Doc Vyse Forgets
[Drawing of a doctor with stethoscope and syringe]
The title may seem a strange departure from the reminiscences which have appeared opposite the rather compromising cartoons firmly incorporated in recent issues of The Flying Gopher, but don’t let the title mislead you.
Any man who sits at a service office desk knows that a small oversight may start a long chain of complaints descending upon his head by telephone and expedite signal until nearly every section at the station is involved. So forgetfulness doesn’t pay. My experience has been an exception. I recall with chagrin the occasion some two years ago when S.M.O. Group visited the Sick Quarters I was nursing. In the excitement of night calls to the Tarmac and ministering to an exceptionally sick padre, I forgot the approaching S.M.O’s. visit, and with the result that lamp shades, overhead office shelves and doorway ledges didn’t get the extra polish they had the right to expect. After what I thought was a pretty satisfactorily conducted inspection, the S.M.O. planted himself in front of the office fire and summarized, “Well, Vyse, I can’t congratulate you… ,” an anticipatory smile must have crept over my face as he continued, “Yes, I must congratulate you on having the Filthiest Sick Quarters I have ever seen.” Incidentally I did not forget this incident when I visited this S.M.O. twelve months later when he was a patient in hospital.
However it is generally accepted that one forgets unpleasant incidents in one’s life, which probably explains the delusion under which certain people labour when they assert that their school days were the happiest in their lives. My opinion is that the honest man who is interested in his job will admit that there is no time like the present. Maybe it is difficult to count our blessings until afterwards, but I have a shrewd idea that in years to come many of us will be talking as warmly of our visit to Canada, our stay in Weyburn and our weekend visits to Regina or the Lake and certainly our friend, the Gopher, as we now fondly recall the rain of Manchester, or the rumble of London. And I don’t think the apparent change of heart will be entirely due to the pint of “old and mild” that may accompany the reminiscing.
[Signature]
5
[Page break]
The R.A.F. Comes to the Wild West
Let us consider Weyburn as it was before the blue of R.A.F. uniforms began dotting the streets of our illustrious city. The burg is bereft of its young men, its old men, its middle aged men,- in fact of almost anything given to wearing long trousers, excluding masculine-minded females. Our life is a mere existence, and a drab one at that – rising in the morning to do our small and dolorous daily tasks – wandering down to the Inevitable Club for a Coke – trying to lend an appreciative ear to some slapstick comedian on the radio or a jitterbug jive – listening with longing ears to a broadcast from our boys in the services.
Then came rumours, floating here and there through the district, carried on “I-don’t-know-whether-it’s-true, -but-that’s-what-I-heard” wings, and soon spreading thick and fast in the female-filled city, to the effect that the R.A.F. were soon to fill with their charm the inconspicuous city of Weyburn. Some disbelieved, some elaborated, others patiently waited, until one day all these surmisings were resolved with the arrival of --- (number censored) “blokes” to our then under-construction airport.
Weyburn took on a new appearance, and a very distinguished R.A.F. blue one at that.
At first the Old Country brogue was like a Babylonian jargon to us, but as acquaintances grew this obstacle was overcome in the face of their charming manner, their story-telling ability, and – a characteristic common to many of them – their wavy, sleekly oiled hair.
At dances, these boys’ popularity never wanes. The uniform perhaps, so scarce during the summer months, was a call to arms – the arms of girls, ladies, women, dames, hags, sacks, and what would you. Where such vast numbers of the fairer or not-so-fair sex came from will always remain for us a sixty-four dollar question still unanswered.
However, these jives and jitterbugs, or nervous wrecks set to music, began their task of dancing with gentlemen so cultured, so well taught in the art of ballroom dancing. We found ourselves two beats ahead of our partners in a slow fox-trot, two feet lagging in their slightly quicker style of waltzing, and generally falling over ourselves when our well-meaning assailants tried their feather steps and palais glides. As time wears on, our compromise in styles is markedly successful.
To us, too, the eagle-crested chaps have brought a station band, held in very high esteem, and appreciated especially by those who know that a waltz does have a definite tempo, while a quickened step has another.
A Hostess Club has come into existence to entertain the boys, and it is unnecessary to tell of the pleasure which we derive from providing this home-away-from-home. We have enjoyed many a quiet get-together in these home-like surroundings, helped on by the smiles of the hostesses.
The bowling alleys, the theatre (or cinema), the swimming pool, the football field, each has donned a new atmosphere of bustle, excitement, and a good-time-was-had-by-all air.
For this we can thank our winged service men. They have brought home to us something of how the other half of the world lives, they have given us their companionship, they have brought with them memories of their forefathers, and for all this we salute them.
And without them too, I know that I, as well as many others in category Female No. 1 Single would now be sitting at home, knitting sweaters for Cecil.
FEMALE CITIZEN.
[Page break]
Prairie Vista
[Photograph of a serviceman sitting on a block in a field, looking pensive]
We offered prizes for pictures illustrating Weyburn, and here you see what happened. We point out that Weyburn really is a quiet place at times and that those we have chosen for this issue merely tell one all about the undulations of the scenery round about.
If those fellows laying claim to these photographs will call on the editors, they will hear something to their advantage.
[Photograph of a railway line heading to the distance]
[Photograph of Weyburn Fire Station]
7
[Page break]
Gremlinology
After a variety of reports from a highly skilled assortment of u/ts now flying with “D” Flight, we record this warning to all pilots and pupes on this station. We have long suspected this, and now it has been definitely established. We can wait no longer. We must give you the terrible news.
The Gremlins are operating here on the Prairie ! ! !
Wait, reader! Don’t dispose of this with an airy shrug and turn over the page. This is pukka gen. Both the long-experienced pilots on this station will already be familiar with the Gremlin, but for the benefit of the uninitiated we may explain that gremlins are the little folks of the air who are responsible for all those minor mishaps which occur while you are airborne. They sit quietly on the mainplane for a while, and then, when you are beginning to feel that you really can fly, they open up. What do you think it is makes for a heavy landing? Your flying? Never! It is the gremlins jumping on the deck, lifting the runway up about ten feet, and then dropping it back while you are holding-off. Decent types, in fact.
We believe this is the first appearance of gremlins in this country, and at first we thought we had discovered a new species, the Prairie Gremlin, but after careful investigation, we can state with certainty that they are of the British variety, Gremlin Mk II, a very unpleasant species, stowaways on the U.S.S… It may be that the gremlins are only operating on “D” Flight kites, but we give this warning in case they should migrate to lower forms of station life.
Our first experience of the Gremlins came soon after our course had started, when we were smitten with a plague of ground-looping. This was obviously no fault of the pupes, and we realize now that the Gremlins jumped from our kites on to the runway just as we were landing, and pulled down a wing on to the tarmac, then clambering back on to the kite and chuckling with glee at the efforts of the pilot to extricate himself. It is on record that one of our instructors, particularly popular with the Gremlins, booked himself out for “Exercises 8 and 9 ground-looping”.
Only yesterday a certain sergeant from the Nav Flight, distinguished for his frequent reversion to his habits of recent Tiger days in switching off Harvards in fine pitch, was emitting a sigh of relief and surprise at making a reasonable landing when a group of gremlins planted a large area of mud dead in the path of his aircraft …
Take heed to our warning, then you fliers, and profit by our experience.
A word to our instructors. If you have noticed some slight errors on our part, landings with the undercart up, or taking off full flap, don’t blame us. It’s those Gremlins at work again. And a last word to fellow pupes. Next time you write off an aircraft, don’t let it bother you, just tell your Flight Commander it was the Gremlins, and he will give you another kite straight away. After all, what’s a few aircraft at a time like this? Think of all the Gremlins you may have written off too.
H.W.F.
[Boxed] Wanted
In this edition appear several items of interest from people outside the camp. These missives were received by the staff at various times during the last month and, since they show a remarkable insight into the life and living of No. 41 S.F.T.S., the less libellous paragraphs are littered about our pages.
The Editorial staff makes this public appeal to the writers to come out into the open and reveal their identities. We should like to express our appreciation of these witticisms and establish a closer liaison …
The anonymous contributors were all ladies of Weyburn and its surrounds … [/boxed]
[Page break]
[Advert for Gold Seal beer]
[Page break]
[Advert for Kempton’s Book Store]
[Advert for Lee Sing Laundry
[Advert for Bill’s Café]
[Page break]
Romance in Regina
(A tale of the wide open spaces)
By “Prairie Oyster”
[Drawing of an airman with his arm around a pretty girl] “She thrilled as she felt a hand on her shoulder.”
WHAT’S HAPPENED UP TILL NOW:
Mary Anne Svenson is still a slip of a girl; sweet sixteen and never been kissed. Her faithful chum is Penelope Picklove – a dusky young beauty. In spite of the vivacious zest for life, and all that goes with it, shared by the two girls, they are closeted in Saint Agatha’s Convent for Good Girls Only, in Regina, Queen-of-the-Prairies. This, of course, is the biggest, smartest and best Finishing School north of the American line.
Already Dan Cupid has struck deep at Mary Anne. She is going steady with a handsome Old Country aviator called Patrick Alexander. But, alas, the girls of the Convent are only allowed one late pass each month, and then only till 22.30 – so courtships are slow. But not with our heroine, Mary Anne Svenson.
However, nothing daunting, the dashing lovers keep secret trysts. Where there’s love there’s a way. But now both are in trouble – serious trouble. Patrick is about to be court-martialled for roaring low over the terrified convent-girls, and blowing kisses to his own true-love. And now, horror of horrors, Mary Anne has been summoned by the cruel matron, Sister Immaculata, who caught her behind a bush with her dearest Patrick.
“Tomorrow,” roared the dread matron, “you will be publicly expelled. They are in need of a practitioner at the Weyburn Mental.”
NOW READ ON IMMEDIATELY, DON’T WAIT A MOMENT:
Mary Anne, looking more than ever like a scented rose at dewy dawn, felt cold all over. Creeping from the presence of the terrifying ogre-matron, she sought the faithful Penelope. Finding her peeking thru the keyhole as she left the room, she staggered sobbing on her shoulder. “Worse than death,” she whispered hoarsely.
The faithful Penelope soon soothed our crestfallen heroine with a bag of liquorice all-sorts and a story from True Confessions. As there was no school that day owing to all the instructors being on a 48, she persuaded the damp-eyed Mary Anne to take a stroll towards Regina’s famed lake. There the pair sat on the grassy sward, gazing thoughtfully into the deep watery stillness.
Meanwhile Patrick had returned to camp, his hopes of being able to be an ace with the Canadian and British airmen overseas being dashed to the ground. One thought only saved him from immediate suicide – the thought that soon he might see his beloved prairie flower once more. As he fell to pondering over the blissful tryst of the previous nite, he became less browned off and the light shone in his steel-gray eyes once again. That night he was to play center-forward for his team in the Semi-Final of the South Sask. Soccer League. As he thought of the evening soccer game (Old Country fashion), he resolved that he would leave his mark as an ace footballer, even if he was not to be an ace-aviator.
Mary Anne stared wistfully into the lake; her impending public expulsion
11
[Page break]
From Saint Agatha’s, and the consequent wrath of her stern Puritanical parents, steady farmers at Expanse, Saskatchewan, cast a somber cloud over her usually sunny disposition. Like a flash the one and only solution to her troubles crossed her turbulent mind. She must escape from the toils of the dreaded Immaculata. Escape she must; and escape at once.
By the time faithful class-chums had returned to the convent at near-dusk, Mary Anne had decided on a plan of action.
At the same time, Patrick had played his last game for his station. It was a ding-dong struggle, and the pent-up spectators held their breath as his station struggled with Medicine Jaw for the lead in the S. Sask. League. The score was 1-1 when the ball came to our hero. (Square 4.) Like a second Babe Ruth he dribbled it up to the field (Old Country style) and scored a magnificent goal a second before the whistle shrilled for the end of the thrilling match. In what had been the greatest game ever seen in the three Prairie Provinces, Patrick had lead [sic] his station team to victory; repeat, victory. Everyone was happy. Even the S.W.O. smiled. The C.O. personally congratulated Patrick, as he (Patrick) was held shoulder-high by his more-than-delighted team-mates.
That night as the team was celebrating in the Y with milk-shakes and bubble-gum supplied free by the Imperial Daughters of the Empire, a lone figure made its way through the shadows surrounding St. Agathas.
Patrick, as we already well know, was a man of action. It was only the work of a trice to corner the young sport-loving C.O. after the Celebration Dinner. With the aid of many “Big Chiefs” and the thought of his timid blondie, Mary Anne, he poured out his sorrows to the understanding Group Captain. At first he, the Group Captain, was unimpressed and dwelt at some length on the importance of discipline and Section 7, Para 3, of C.A.P. 100 and the Stockbrokers Gazette. But as the merrie evening wore on he loosened up and at dawn he left Patrick promising to make him acting Pilot Officer unpaid, and furthermore promising that he would instruct his lawyer in Watrous (Prairie Regional) to buy up all the evidence against Patrick.
Meanwhile Mary Anne tramped the streets of Regina, wondering what might befall her. She stopped in at the Dominion Hotel to spend her last nickel on a cup of ersatz coffee. Staring into her coffee cup in a deep reverie, she suddenly noticed out of the corner of her eye a small placard, “Good-looking assistant wanted.” Immediately applying to the manager, she was given the job at the same pay as an ACH G/D. (K.R. & A.C.I. para. 2295).
By this time the whole convent was in an uproar. Even the calm Immaculata was in a flat-spin. Even Penelope Picklove had no idea of the whereabouts of beauteous Mary Anne. All feared the worst.
All the following day Mary Anne toiled in the Drug Store, frying eggs and cutting sandwiches. Late that evening just as she was serving a David Harum to a Lance Corporal in the S.S.R. she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her heart leapt with girlish excitement. Could it be Patrick. She was scared to look round for fear it might be some forward stranger. But it was Patrick; as handsome as ever in sky-blue with glittering brass buttons. Soon he had persuaded her to slip away from her drudgery, and to go dancing with him in the Silver Dell.
The nite, as usual, sped by blissfully for both. Finally, as dawn broke over the golden wheat fields outside of the city, Patrick took her home to the Dominion Hotel. As the couple entered thru the swing doors, Mary Anne Swooned into her lover’s arms; for who should be standing in the foyer waiting for her, but her wrathful parents, Mr. and Mrs. Svenson.
* * * *
That’s all this issue. Buy the next issue to find out where on earth the faithful Penelope has gotten herself to, and what Mr. and Mrs. Svenson have to say about their daughter’s capers.
FILLUP
You’ve heard of the airmen’s canteen,
Where they say the language’s obscene,
You’ve heard of the Corporal’s place
Their dances they say, are “Disgrace”
You’ve heard of the Sergeant’s bar,
Where they drink too much by far.
…BUT! Have you heard of the Officers Ball
When it ended up in a “free for all.”
[Page break]
[Photograph of a man in uniform on the telephone]
Key Men No.1
The Adj.
No, this is not the Mental Hospital. You must have the wrong number. … What is it? The Royal Air Force, of course … No, not the R.C.A.F. That’s something different. This is the English one. We’re all English here … Yes, that’s why I talk with a frog in my throat … What do we do? Oh, teach people to fly … No, we can’t give you a joy ride. Certainly not … No, it’s the first I’ve heard of it. I must ask the Flight Sergeant … Dammit, what else do you want to know/ I’m a worried man … Do we wear spotted ties? Most certainly not.
Weyburn Newsfront
So many of our readers have written in asking us how The Flying Gopher manages to score its numerous newsbeats over its competitors that a word of explanation might be interesting.
Events move so quickly on the camp these days that every available means of communication must be utilized in order to give our readers “stop-press” news. Not trusting the telephone (the enemy has many ears), Flying Officer Rogers, in shorts, may frequently be seen rushing up the road with the latest watch tower reports, followed by a gust of censored weather.
Formerly, news from the remote reaches of the station require several weeks to reach the editors, coming by means of camel train (now discontinued since Flight Sergeant Tillman is unable to supply the beasts with retreads, sampan (requisitioned to ford the floods of last spring), dog team, and finally, pogo stick (to keep the carrier’s head above the mud on the main roads).
It is now suspected that Flying Officer Colchester will be using a carrier service to forward his news, since, whenever sports are mentioned, he invariably replies, “That’s my pigeon.”
Red-hot news is conveyed by AC. Rowing-Parker on the station fire-tender.
Corporal Rae, our postman, brings highly secretive news, but unfortunately we are unable to use any of it since all his letters are invariably addressed to someone other than the editors. He is apologetic about this, but when the hell is he going to bring something, even if it’s just a letter from the girl friend?
Finally, there is one method of transmission which is faster than Flying Officer Rogers in his shorts, Rowing-Parker on his fire-engine, AC. Harrison with his signals, faster than Aldis lamp. radio or television. The method has been perfected beyond any other system for getting news spread farthest to the mostest, and only one little kink needs to be ironed out – the method is utterly unreliable. We refer, gentlemen, to Rumour.
No, the Flying Gopher does not have to use Rumour to scoop the news-beats of the world!
13
[Page break]
Society Page
Night Life on a Prairie Airport Can Be Fun
The well-sleeked hair of RAF airmen glistened brightly in the light of the photographer’s flash bulb as he took these pictures of dancers enjoying a quiet evening in the Airport “Nightclub.” Accounts Section as always appears to be well to the fore – notice “Stinker” Simmons and “Flash” Morgan – while closer scrutiny reveals that the Flights, Maintenance and Equipment Sections have all sent their representatives along.
[Photographs of a dance]
[Page break]
More Archaeology
In our last issue we deserted our serious research into the life and existence of the Men of Raf to enquire into their sports and pastimes. We now return to our examination of their Social Order, and perhaps it is time we paid a little attention to their monetary system.
It seems the Men of Raf had risen, if only a little, above the system of Barter, and each member of the community received reward for his labours. Again the characteristics of tribal life are evident and we find that the task of organizing and carrying through this complicated system of remuneration was the responsibility of the Klan of Akkownt, verily a learned Tribe.
That this was appreciated by the other Men of Raf is borne out by documents recently recovered, in particular a letter from a member of the Klan of Kwip to a brother Kwippite situate [sic] in the distant land of Ukay in which he states “verily, the Klan of Akkownt are wonderful men; strange and mystic are their ways. According to the High Chief of the House of Rek I did stand in favour with the God Kred to an amount of Fifteen Bob, but lo, and behold, now I am arrived at the Land of Wey, the High Chief Jaycee doth tell me that the God of Deb does frown on me to the extent of Two Bucks Two Bits!” Reference of this matter to the disciples of Einstein has confirmed that the problem, though abstruse, can be solved by the application of sufficient Relativity; hence the motto of the Klan of Akkownt, “relatively speaking – “.
Here is should be mentioned that the Klan of Akkownt was a divided tribe. Years and years ago the Klan of Akkownt did arrive at the strange Land which they found already in the possession of the Tribe of Kwip. Now both being learned Tribes and having great respect for each other’s qualities it was natural they should arrive at the conclusion that the life then lived by the Men of Raf was too, too simple to be continued. Hence the Heads of the two Tribes did sit in conclave for many moons, formulating mystic rites and customs to improve the social organization of the Men of Raf.
And that is where the trouble started. The Klan of Kwip were convinced that the system of Barter would prove the best. The greater part of the Klan of Akkownt were in favour of making use of a new element they had just found and which they had christened Munny. Munny’s the time they were to regret that decision.
Apparently the idea of the Klan of Kwip was to issue each man with the necessities of life in regular quantities on prescribed dates, thus: “Notice to the Men of Raf – Be it known that on the sixteenth day of the month of February, the amount of labour performed by the members of the community having at last reached that determined by the High Priest of the Klan of Kwip, there shall be issued to each man the following –
Quantity, one: Article, Paste, White, Dental, Effervescing, Airmen for the use of.
Quantity, enough: Article, Liquid Blue, Copper, Sulphate, Bath, Foot for the filling of, Airmen for the use of … - and so on.
Here the Munnyites in the Klan of Akkownt did object that the wants of each and every man did differ, and hence the system of barter would give much encouragement to the underground worshippers of the evil God Aakket, in whose honour Men would perform the rites of Swop and Swipe. But there were several of the Klan of Akkownt who were in favour and to their fellow tribesmen they became known as Kwip Akkownts, or, in times of stress, Twip Akkownts. This section it is which also imbibes vast quantities of the Dish of Vowcher. A nasty habit, and one apparently which stimulates queer dreams and ambitions.
Some members of the Klan have been known to aspire to membership of the Klan of Ayr, in the tribe of Wop, trade of Gunner, and have roamed through the mighty places of the Klan singing “Oh for the wings of … “ before being brought to account. Yet others of the Klan were taken with a strange sickness and did wander around in a dazed condition continually chanting in the manner of Kroon, which was indeed a bad thing for the men of Raf, but when these
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[Advert for Burge’s Meat Market]
[Advert for Weyburn Hardwar Ltd.]
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afflicted creatures did encounter the totem pole of the Men of Raf, known as Myke, in the presence of which their voices did acquire greater strength if not sweetness, then was it night unbearable!
May we ask our readers to avoid confusing the insignia Myke with the mystic drink Mikky. Both seem to have had an evil influence on certain sections of the Men of Raf, but I think it can be safely concluded, from the evidence we have, that Mikky had a far wider and much more general effect. (In this connection I refer you to Chapter XXXIXXVII, para 12345 in the “History and General Treatise on the Habits of the Klan of Sarj,” which informative volume I regret will not be found in the Station Library).
The crucial point in the history of this Section of the Men of Raf arises as a result of their migration from the Land of Ukay to the province of Wey in the Land of Kan. It was quite natural that they should bring with them their own Gods and Deities, one or two of whom we have mentioned above, and for quite a time they lived a peaceful and undisturbed life. Tribute was regularly paid to the Gods Kred and Deb, and many members of the various Klans had occasion to be honoured with the Noble Order of Ritoff. It was therefore a great shock to them to find that the Land of Klan was ruled by High Authority known as Cas, with its partners Afhq and Rcaf, often called the Terrible Three.
One never-to-be-forgotten day these Three did smite the Klan of Akkownt and shake them from head to foot, abolishing all their old Deities, in particular the Gods of Kred and Deb, and making it a law that all the Men of Raf, on each Festival of Pay should bow their heads to Sine; as a result of which many members of the Klans of Erk, Lak and Korp did discover with amazement that they still had knowledge of the Art of Riting, even if, in many cases, they were not fully conversant with the Art of Spelling. It is noted that rumour indicates that, consequent to the initiation of the tribute to Sine, many of the Klans had to unearth the old tribal records to discover hereby a true knowledge of the Names accorded to each member, in order that he might not commit offence in the eyes of the new Deity.
In closing it should be mentioned that the Klan of Akkownt was one of the few Klans to devote its whole energies to the task allotted to it in the social order of the Men of Raf. Each year they were allowed a period of absence wherein to recuperate from the strain of their labours, but if reports are to be believed they joyfully spurned this chance to rest, and did travel many hours to the West, to the East, to the North and to the South, only to continue the fascinating study of Figgers. There can be np doubt that Figgers are and will continue to be, the beginning and, in many cases, the end of the Klan of Akkownt.
Medical Meanderings
A man goes sick on M two five,
And feels he’s only just alive.
The M.O. looks, and hums, and he
Places the man on M. & D.
But some are not so fortunate,
Or so they think, at any rate.
Their troubles here have just begun,
They are put on forty-one.
They saunter through the office door,
And answer questions, one or more.
The twerp presiding gives a look,
And puts partics in a little book.
And then the fun begins, they say,
If M.O. looks the other way.
The orderly, with eyes agleam,
Makes him happy it may seem.
The patient, he is sore depressed,
His work on others now will rest.
They bring him coffee in a cup,
And send old Bliss to cheer him up.
So Bliss comes in with hook in hand,
When patient is in sleepy land.
He wakes him up, says “Hello mate,
What is your enlistment date?”
He then is placed on two four o,
And written in for a day or so.
But office twerp, he wants some gen,
So wakes the patient up again.
Once more he tries to go to sleep,
But office gen, it will not keep.
The office twerp comes in with mirth,
And wakes him for his date of birth.
And so he asks for his discharge,
He’d rather be with the boys at large.
He walks out of the dock with zest,
And goes to billet for a rest.
F.C.B.
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Weyburn Has A Library
Certain very puzzling questions keep coming into the mind of the Librarian – questions which she can never answer. She will be most grateful for any assistance in the matter of solving these highly perplexing problems.
It might be only fair to state here that any resemblance to you or anyone else in any of the following remarks is highly coincidental.
Now, as to the questions.
Why do you airmen, or at least some of you, persist in thinking that the library is financed solely by the takings from the R.A.F.? There seems to be a common misapprehension that the librarian lurks behind the bookshelves waiting to pounce upon innocent airmen victims. If any of you, as yet uninitiated into the solemn rites of membership of the W.P.L., have heard that ugly rumour, please ignore it. It is true that certain of the fellows have been most generous in the extent of their contributions, but this is due only to the fact that they will insist on ignoring the Librarian’s grim warning that horrible penalties will be exacted from him who fails to return his books on the prescribed date.
Why, again, do some of you insist on making unpleasant insinuations as to the integrity of the staff? “Did you have a good time at the Fair with my fine money?” That sort of remark is calculated to make a more sensitive person quail.
Then why do you so consistently ignore the polite little reminder cards which are sent out? They should, of course, be regarded as a friendly gesture, for their sole purpose is to prevent the fines from mounting higher and higher. Still, there is always the fear lurking at the back of our minds that someone may try to abscond with a book, which of course would lead to serious repercussions, the extent of which is unpredictable. Certainly it would bring down the wrath of the Librarian on the heads of the offenders, and that wrath is indeed a great wrath.
And this brings us to the ultimate Why, the crux of all our Whying. Why don’t you bring your books back on the due date? Life would be so simple if only you would look at the date stamped on your card in the back of the book.
Last of all, why don’t more of you use the Weyburn Public Library? If anything you have read in the above tends to frighten you away, please ignore it. We really do like to do business with the R.A.F.
G.N.G.
Archimedes
look forsooth
see a youth
writing a letter to his love
can’t find a rime
spent lots of time
can’t find a rime
for amelia
goes to bed
with aching head
inspiration
light
see the officer of the law
rat-a-tat at the door
see the judge
we must stop these violations
of the blackout regulations
ten pounds
says the judge
pays the fine
pleasure’s mine
because i’ve found the rime
i wanted all the time
listen
or fair and beautiful amelia
i like you better than celia
eureka
eureka
wedding bells
F.R.S.
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[Drawing of a beautiful girl on the telephone] “But mother, the Airman here says it’s not true about those gooseberry bushes.”
19
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The Padre Ponders
[Photograph of a padre and two women sitting]
“Padre – you’re posted to Weyburn”
Weyburn! For was not Weyburn in the district in which I had ministered as a civilian priest of the Church of England some few years ago; a district with headquarters at Milestone?
I remember arriving in that town, which has shown some excellent hospitality to the men of this Station, and wondering how anyone could exist, let alone live, in such a desolate and flat district. But, as the months passed by, I realized that “man does not live by bread alone.” For the prairie, so drought stricken, taught me that common hardship and suffering can bring out the finest qualities in man. The people found great joy in that which is so necessary to-day, e.g., co-operation. Co-operation with God; and co-operation with our fellow-men.
I am once again the district and I am pleased to be here at such an interesting stage in the development of 41 S.F.T.S. Just as in civilian life, so in Service life there must be that oblation of self to God and to the welfare of our fellow-man if we are to possess a truly happy Station. Ways and means are daily discussed and are being put into operation to attain this end. The prairie will not look half so grim, especially in the winter, if we each give whatever talents we possess to the Station, both spiritual and social.
I leave you with a thought – “The people who make no roads are ruled out from intelligent participation on the world’s brotherhood.”
Sincerely,
THE PADRE.
The Padre Acts
A play which has enjoyed a long run at the Old Drury Theatre in London, must possess outstanding qualities of entertainment. Such a play is “French Leave,” to be produced in the near future by F/Lt. Clarke (Chaplain).
Casting is not yet completed for this hilarious three-act comedy, but we have a spot of news for you:
Inside information: The female parts will NOT Be taken by hairy-legged Airmen, but by members of the fairer sex from Weyburn. The cast will be announced later. It’s anyone’s guess.
“French Leave” is a good story, well written in the dramatic sense. Our director has had considerable experience, with the added advantage of having already produced this play at Carberry and Winnipeg.
Here is an opportunity to co-operate in a worth-while venture. The padre is looking for volunteers, for acting parts and to assist in the stage production. Let’s make a go of this!
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[Advert for Fred Barber’s Man Shop]
[Advert for Anderson’s Café]
21
Bus Ride
I had just received my ticket from the conductor as the bus stopped at Marble Arch. The usual mixed crowd of London bus passengers jostled each other on. It was then I noticed her … she sat directly opposite, just inside the bus where the seats face each other. I couldn’t believe it – a glance told me she also recognised, but could no more understand than I. She was exactly the same, tall, fair, with that expression of determination which camouflaged a certain nervousness; the very same expression that had caused me to look twice on the night of March 8th, 1941, when I first met her in a little café in Old Compton Street. I had gone to the café to rest and regain control of my distressed mind for I had been dragging people out of the Café de Paris, … the aftermath of a direct hit.
It all came back to me, as clearly as if it had been yesterday. I had sat smoking in that little café, endeavouring to compose myself, for I was badly shaken; blood and dead bodies had no part in my life previously. It was then I saw her for the first time. She was just the same, tall and fair with that same expression which was so attractive and yet pathetic. She brought me a coffee and withdrew quickly behind the counter. I was fascinated, not so much by her beauty, for indeed she was beautiful, but by this unique expression; I was unable to take my eyes off her until forced by the counter which rose some six feet in the air, and I lost sight of her, the counter, and everything, as I sailed through a plywood window, which would have been glass but for a previous raid.
Slowly human life took shape again, and I realised someone was speaking to me in a strained, pathetic voice …no! it wasn’t to me for my name is not David. Then full realisation came to me, as at the same time a gas main ignited and the whole scene was made visibly clear. There she was, lying on a stretcher not two feet away from me, and as I saw her I was mentally aware that I was only shaken, but she was obviously badly injured. Almost inaudibly she commenced to speak, and then the words became clearer: “David, David, forgive me, kiss me and say you forgive.” Some kind of impulse made me, forced me to comply with her wishes …
As I drew my face away from her, I was touched on the shoulder by someone standing at my side, and a masculine voice said, “Your wife? I’m sorry.” “No,” I replied. “Fiancee?” “Yes,” I lied, for then I felt guilty of my actions. “Too bad,” he said, and then added, as if in consolation, “There’s no pain.” During this short conversation my eyes had not left her face, which was now beautiful in the full sense of the word; for her smile was one of supreme happiness. I took her hand in mine to comfort her and as I did so I knew she was no longer with me …
…And yet here she was in the seat opposite, reading the advertisements above my head.
P.D.C.
The New Arrival
Squadron Leader “A” was browned off. He had waited twenty minutes for a taxi, and he was particularly keen to get back to the mess … someone had had a baby or something, and he was licking his lips in anticipation. Eventually the taxi came, and, seated beneath three or four erks, he travelled back to camp. “Never again,” he muttered as he extricated himself from the taxi at the camp gates, and fumbled for his share of the dollar. “Never again,” he muttered when he hurried into the Mess to find the celebrations at an end. It might be a long time till someone else had a baby, and his throat was very dry. What with the R.C.A.F. accounting procedure, and the S.A.O. a bit peeved about the tire shortage, you had to go a bit carefully these days.
“And you really do recommend this one?” “Yes, sir, I am sure this specimen will give you every satisfaction.” “Right, I’ll take it. Wrap it up, will you?”
And lo and behold a beautiful yellow bus at the camp gates, straight from the Army and Navy Store at Regina, wherein we travel to and from the city at regular hours and in considerable comfort!
Thank you Squadron Leader “A”!
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[Advert for McKinnons]
23
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Legal Laugh
Maintains Our Resident Attorney
Everyone loves a legal story. The judge who innocently asks “What is nagging?” never fails to stimulate us. The smart-tongued witness, standing up to counsel, always gives us joy. The obstinate client, the advice of whose solicitor was taken much too late for it to have been any value, for ever brags about the futility of consulting lawyers on commercial matters. Yet lawyers flourish.
The layman, primed by his daily paper with full details of the latest murder, would feel disillusioned if he knew how little most solicitors know, or even care, about such matters. But the layman listens attentively to all that falls from any lawyer’s mouth concerning it, for all men love to see behind the scenes. The trappings of the law can thrill, and they who put them on command respect. So much for lawyers in real life. And when we turn to fiction we still find that, on the whole, a lawyer’s ways are stern.
Gray hairs, ill-fitting for a fool, all lawyers long for. Proudly, at thirty, bowler-hatted, I had mine. Man thought me forty-five; at least I hoped so. For the lawyer, forty-five seemed to me to be a very desirable age, for one is then old enough to have experienced everything, but not too old to like to do new things.
Law in the Services usually concerns punishment. But a solicitor in general practice spends his time dealing with problems and people, arising out of every conceivable combination of curious circumstances, and living in almost every class of society. It was only comparatively lately that I began to appreciate the never-ending interest which can, at any moment of the day, be found in simply carrying out one’s work as a solicitor.
I took up Law as a sedative, after War Flying. In the whole of my peace-time career, I never handled any case concerned with aviation. The nearest approach was when a lady consulted me about the arrangement for her approaching marriage. She believed that her intended husband had an ample fortune. Ought she to insist that substantial trust funds be settled upon her, prior to surrendering herself?
I promised to look into the matter. It was the Wednesday before Easter.
Late next afternoon I wired to her as follows: “Your fiancée ex-R.A.F. Officer. Exercise extreme caution.”
P.R.
Ich Dien
This is the tale of AC. Sprog, who sailed the mighty seas.
He slept in ancient blankets which scratched furrows in his knees;
His collar was as black as ink, he smelt like ancient cheese –
He was serving his country and his King.
Early in the morning you would find him at the rail,
A-feeding if the fishes, and at evening without fail
You would find him at the rail again, in sunshine, wind or hail,
Nobly serving his country and his King.
They set him peeling onions, they sent him up to guard
The upper deck, though the wind was blowing very hard,
And Sprog obeyed them gladly, and his chest stuck out a yard,
For he knew he was serving his country and his King.
Sometime Sprog would peep inside the Sergeant’s Mess, and there
He would contemplate the scene of ease, and sigh and tear his hair,
To think how distant was the date when he would take his share
In such noble, glorious service of his country and his King.
- SIGMA.
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True Yarn
As everyone knows, when the Royal Air Force began to expand in 1938 hundreds of ex-officers were given commissions and posted to ground jobs.
And so, in a burst of zeal, and confident that a large-sized war was in the offing, Peter Robinson, who had served in the 1914-1918 mess as a commissioned officer in the Royal Regiment of Artillery, and later in the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force, offered his services, in September, 1938, to the Air Ministry.
In due course, our “hero” was summoned to Adastral House to appear before a Selection Board and about three weeks later he received a short note to the effect that he had “been found fit for employment.”
And so, Robinson, who was running quite a tidy business, handed over to his wife and prepared to get back into uniform.
After a lapse of some weeks, he was ordered to report to Cardington for a Balloon Course and so for ten very weary weeks, poor Robinson pulled balloons about, drove lorries and winches, climbed all over balloons, inside and out, and finally passed the examinations with flying colours. In his innocence, Robinson thought he would then be posted as a Balloon Officer, but oh no! He was sent to a brand new Station, not nearly completed, as Adjutant! At least, he did all the work of and Adjutant but was only graded and paid as an Assistant Adjutant, since in those far-off piping times of peace, on a Station which had a Squadron Leader Admin, the establishment allowed an Assistant Adjutant only.
His first office was a contractor’s hut and as the buildings were completed, the Station Headquarters successively occupied an N.C.O.’s bunk in a barrack hut, a portion of the Seregant’s [sic] Mess, the Station Sick Quarters and on a never-to-be-forgotten day in July 1939, moved into the Station Headquarters building with all his staff, i.e., three clerks, G.D., two civilians and a runner.
During his trekking period, Robinson had been sent to Rollestone to attend the Anti-Gas Course and duly completed a very pleasant three weeks. On his return to his Unit he became Station Anti-Gas Officer, and by the outbreak of war, he was Adjutant, Assistant Adjutant, Anti-Gas Officer, Officer i/c M.T., Officer i/c Sergeants’ Mess, Messing Officer, Fire Officer, and Code and Cypher Officer. Oh yes, he had done half an hour’s course on Codes and Cyphers. On the 3rd September, 1939, he shed most of his jobs and for months he did nothing but test respirators and bob in and out of a gas chamber.
Then, the practical joke department got busy, and he was posted to a Group Headquarters in Scotland as Armament Officer, his sole qualifications being the fact that he knew the difference between a Vickers and a Lewis gun. And so he spent many months in Bonnie Scotland, very happy since he was out of doors most of the time, but scared stiff that his A.O.C. would find out his total lack of knowledge of all the thousand and one gadgets which constitute “Armament”.
Our Robinson was then bold enough to apply for an Armament Course – after ten months in Scotland – and the practical joke department at the Air Ministry stirred themselves again and sent him on the Junior Administrative Course at Loughborough! Another happy three weeks followed with lots of golf and visits to that very nice hostelry at Quoon, and then another branch of the practical joke department woke up and made him a Squadron Leader in Command of a Training Wing not a hundred miles from Warrington.
And so we leave him. By this time I expect he is either an Accountant Officer, or perhaps an Equipment Wallah.
E.T.
MORE FILLUPS
A Squadron Leader we’ve christened chips,
Spends hours in workshops making bits,
He built himself a bedside table,
Then found he was so very able,
He started on a set of chairs,
When thro’ the window C.O. stares.
He quickly donned an airman’s tunic,
And looked just like the Station Eunuch.
25
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[Advert for Forteath Cabins]
[Advert for Four Star Taxi]
[Advert for Weyburn Bottling Works]
[Advert for Lee Lang Laundry]
[Page break]
Wakee Wakee
The gentle click of a switch, then a scream of WAKEE! WAKEE! from an enraged Sergeant. Some of us fall out of bed in surprise, others with lower numbers hardly stir. GETOUTAVIT! and with a bellow of rage the Sergeant hurls someone out of bed, a top bunk. Then with a crash of the door which knocks off half of the clothes off their pegs and breaks two lamp bulbs, he is gone. Muttering curses of “He ought to be shot!” everyone scrambles back to bed, and within five minutes if soring peacefully …Another day is dawning.
Time sweeps by, and five minutes before the end of breakfast some early worm yells “EGGS.” With a mighty shout and a “Why didn’t some fool wake us?” we are up and charging at the door. The last but one slams it. It is anticipated that, on his discharge some months hence, the last one will be repatriated. With mugs flying, we dive into the Cookhouse and race up to the counter. Some little squirt a foot in front of us moves off to a table with the last egg. There is a muttered rumble of “Who said ‘EGGS’?” from the corporal i.c., and we followed him back to our stye, hungry, dirty and discontented, … ready for sleep.
[Drawing of a sign with Corporal Stripes on]
Corporals’ Club Comments
This month we cannot report the appropriation of animals by club members. The billiard table has not yet arrived and there is really a pronounced lull on the twin striped front. The “last on the right” is a very staid and stolid residence these days. Of course it is summer and apart from fellows going up there to visit the canteen section they appear to be preferring the great open spaces to the confines of a club room. But, in the words of George Formby “winter drawers on” and it is expected that great things will come of our club in the winter months.
There is one lecture which is outstanding in its popularity – the fortnightly dance. That is by now quite an institution both on the camp and down town – even though we do say it ourselves – and far from the cautious preparations which preceded initial functions they now more or less “run themselves.” – We have quite good numbers up there.
It is not the intention of the writer to name the comings and goings of members of the Corporals’ Club during the last month, suffice it that we wish departing members luck in their new abodes and extend a welcome to the several who have either been made up” [sic] or arrived on the Unit since the last publication.
Of Much Interest
The competition for a station motto has been won by the Padre for the following:
“Gopheres magnopere gopherimus.” (“We gopher the gophers in a big way”).
Who was the U-T pilot who thought that the so much talked about second front was something out of a Met. report?
Flight Sergeant Snooks, a member of the R.A.F. No. 41 Service Training School at Weyburn has been transferred to Ottawa. He was a most popular member of the station, and he will be missed by both his friends, who will also have missed their promotion. In anticipation of his posting he has recently been passing babies.
27
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[Drawing of a sign with Sergeant stripes on]
Sergeants’ Mess Gen.
Farewell to W.O. (Columbus) Grundy and W.O. (Sebastian) Earp who having been posted left Navigation Flight after a short spell on “binding” Cross Countries. We shall miss these corpulent and genial pilots.
Surprise item of the month is the excellent piano playing of W.O. Campbell who distinguished himself by joining Sgt. Ryckman in Duets after the Officers v. Sergeants Soccer Match. As regards the latter, the least said the soonest mended. We are still wondering how the Officers managed to beat us the first time …
Sgt. Johnny Love has now settled down in Dauphin, and elsewhere in the “Gopher” you will read of the romance between ex-Sgt. “Jock” Leeming and Sgt. Love’s sister. Sort of Love is the sweetest thing.
Back from a hectic leave is Sgt. Hal Jones, who managed to take in New York and Chicago, whilst Sgt. Norman has also returned from a spell in Detroit.
They both say that it is swell to get back to the peaceful life on the prairies. I know that Sgt. Tom Riby definitely boobed in Toronto; opinion is, he thought that the parade was in honour of the select company present.
How are the queer people in Port Hope? We ask of W.O. Kavanagh.
Sgt. “Torchy” McCartney has resigned his post as frog trainer, and he is still looking for the infant that strayed in the Quarters the other day.
Will someone tell us why Sgt. “Johnnie” Johnson didn’t send last month’s issue of the “Gopher” home, and who was that Squadron Leader who wrote from Ontario asking awkward questions?
Sgt. Tom Collinson, a stalwart of the Soccer Team, has now passed his course and we lose yet another fine player. We wish Tom good luck.
F/Sgt. Ayres made a fine job of the drumming in the Station Orchestra recently when he walked into the show at the last moment and took over in his usual competent manner.
Surprise for lots of airmen when they saw the S.W.O., W.O. Mallinson, playing soccer. He played a straight-forward game and shook the troops with his speed.
Lost … Sgt. Richardson.
We would like to see Sgt. Mays dancing the Tango, and Sgt. Collick leading a Male Voice Choir …
That’s all…
Correspondence
Sir,
I have never been wont to complain, but more silence would drive me insane. I received my last wash looking all clean and posh, but I found to my sorrow when I came on the morrow to undo the package to dig from the wreckage, some odourless footwear, the good lady had put there some thick strands of cotton, which I thought was rotten.
Now, dear Mrs. Este, please do not get testy when I thus decry the way that you tie my gent’s natty half hose (with holes in the toes) with knottings divine in pieces of twine. I know all socks shrink when given a drink (a thing which your daughter blames on Weyburn water), and its quite comme il faut for only one toe to find room to arrive where there used to be five.
But although cogitation makes this explanation seem fairly near truth, I still hold, forsooth, that to spend hours just sitting and merely unknitting isn’t really much fun, and, in fact, Isn’t done.
That’s all there is to it. Mrs. E, please don’t do it.
In deepest distress,
Yours, etc.,
P.
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Who’s Who?
WHO IS:
The fair corporal who “gives out” in a deep bass voice an accompaniment to a certain group of singers scheduled to meet at regular intervals on the corner of main street? He must have thought they needed some moral support to be so willing to join their throng.
WHO IS:
The party of four that awakened the neighbourhood from a very peaceful snore at the unoriginal hour of 1.30 a.m. by kicking cans down one of the main streets of the town. Of course, we don’t mind them having their fun but we hope that next time they pick a more respectable hour.
WHO IS:
The P.O. now becoming very interested in milking machines. Couldn’t be he’s taking up farming as a sideline. Oh, no!
WHO IS:
The airmen besides Stinky Miller who believe in sprinkling all the fair roses of the town with Ben Hur or Sweet Pea perfume.
WHO IS:
The airman who refused to pay the charges on the hair restorer that came C.O.D. Better try “Neet,” it works much better.
WHO IS:
The Corporal who instead of exiting a taxi via the door, tried “going out” the windshield? Thinks it’s not such a good idea after all.
WHO IS:
The LAC. “Bobbie” who for the love of – well not the camp, - goes on Jankers, not once but twice in the past three weeks.
WHO IS:
The R.A.F. chap who might like to submit an ad similar to the one below:
FOR SALE: Lines: - fish and otherwise, complete with tackle of pukka gen. Reason: Complications. Explanation given below.
After telling my friend of my prospective marriage to an out of town girl, date, Wed., Spet.2 this friend promptly sent a telegram of congratulations to the address and on date given, much to the surprise of the addressee who was still to be told of the event.
Moral: No more lines complete with gen to be sold, lent or given.
WHO IS:
The airman who asked a young lady at the dance if she had any spare tires. The fair femme now wonders if he had a car or if he just had a flat tire.
WHO IS:
The fellow who, at the corner of main street, tried to ride a borrowed bike but was unsuccessful. Reason: Only one pedal. We know!
THE EYES AND EARS OF WEYBURN
The above from a Weyburn Wag. – Ed.
Works and Bricks
If you want a gadget fixed
Just telephone to Works and Bricks.
You’ll hear a voice, so gentle fair,
But don’t forget what needs repair.
Just exercise your vocal organ,
And ask the girl for FO. Morgan.
Then if you’re lucky and he’s out,
To her your soul you may pour out.
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[Drawing of a chequered flag] Flight Notes
B
Until now, “B” Flight has been inarticulate. The outstanding qualities associated with us have been strength and silence, coupled with an efficiency which has been reflected only in our football, the success of which, we hope, has produced apprehension in “H” Flight. Admittedly we share the personnel of the team with “A” Flight, but they can safely be left to shoot their own lines.
However, we have now swallowed our dislike of the effete practice of literature, and have decided that a certain amount of self-advertisement is necessary, as we have imported at no cost whatever a tame scribe from “C” Flight, who had endured him just as long as was humanly possible. So that until we too get tired of him, the evil chuckles of Sgt. James will echo through the pages of the “Gopher,” as well as striking terror into the instructors’ hearts, and Cpl. Westwood’s pipe will smell foully to a larger audience.
The activities of the permanent members of the flight have included latterly the absorption in a competitive spirit of a certain about of liquid in connection with the passing of No. 54 Course; a detailed account of proceedings would be revealing, if not edifying. We are, however, not prepared to go into the matter in detail, but we will add that the occasion was one of celebration too, for the promotion of “the Boss” to the exalted rank of Flight Lieutenant, and the rapid slide through the ranks of the warrant officers made by P.O. Dixon, and we pause for a moment to wonder if Tubby Dyson’s inactivity on the football field was occasioned by his saving himself for the “do.”
Life has been made more interesting by the pleasantly cosmopolitan character of No. 62 course, and by the vagaries of the new inter-com. We are looking forward to forced landings, too, for by the time we start teaching them, we should be able to tell the direction of the wind by means of the rippling of the grass in the garden. Unfortunately, Sgt. Dakeynes’ hair will not serve to usual purpose in that connection, as it was cut, according to schedule, at the end of the last course.
P.S. We train only Flight Commanders for the U.S. Army Air Corps.
D
Yes, shamefacedly we admit it, we were too lazy before to write in the “Flying Gopher.” But now pangs of remorse smite us in the breast, and we borrow a pen and set to work.
Suggestions are pouring in from all sides, but above all the tumultuous shouting, the voice of AC “Taffy” Tomlins bursts upon the ear drums, “Tell ‘em about our Soccer team.”
At this point a general argument starts, led as usual by “Taffy” and involving “Will” Harris, “Ted” Horrocks and “Sniffy,” Eventually we arrive at the conclusion that, up to the time of writing, we have a good and promising team, bolstered up by members of 58 Course (loud cheers from the end bed), and we are expecting some good results. To aid us in our fight we now go about our daily tasks wearing furious scowls and practicing blood curling oaths. We notice that, since his kick on the shin whilst playing against the cookhouse team, Ted Horrocks has acquired strong views on Soccer, and for the next few minutes we are treat-
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ed to a general discourse on players, referees, football fields and spectators. The Greeks had no word for it, but Ted has, and we listen admiringly.
We take this opportunity of congratulating Cpl. Ward on his promotion and his wife on her safe crossing. We hope Mrs. Ward’s crossing was better than ours.
Since the arrival of the SE.s life has been fairly easy compared to the days of the old Annie and we have even had a bang at gardening. We planned a garden comprising a border of flowers surrounding a swimming pool, to be used as a safe retreat from the “skeeters” in the summer and converted to an ice rink in the winter. After reviewing the amount of ground to be dug to a depth of six feet we hastily amended the plans and substituted a goldfish pond. But when the first three spadefulls had been dug up, all ideas of pools were promptly forgotten.
So now we have just a plain garden with plenty of grass seed on it, and we hope, some flowers. The flowers have yet to make their debut and the lawn rather resembles Smiffy’s chin … but we live in hopes.
F
We welcome Flying Officer Whiteside who succeeds Ft.Lt. Henley as Flight Commander, and Flight Sergt Hudson who takes over from Flight Sergt. Brockington, who is sweating (and how!). We wonder whether Brock also handed over his address book together with “all relevant publications.”
We are now in the market for a large lawn mower as the lawn is becoming positively jungle-like. For a small fee we may even consider allowing personnel from other Sections to come and sunbathe.
We would like to ask Cpl. Lothario of the Other Flight on this side of the hangar to tell his lady friends his working hours. Of course, we are always willing to lend a helping hand in such a deserving cause, but it becomes rather difficult at times to explain that the Corporal isn’t in the hangar and really we don’t know WHERE he is.
We have discovered a new type of Gremlin. To the uninitiated we might explain that a Gremlin is a being which haunts the upper reached of the atmosphere and causes all the little troubles for which pilots are not responsible.
The new branch of the family amuses itself by breaking Harvard windows, and we never can nail the blighters for a report.
- F.T.R.
H
We must apologise for our failure to write any notes last month, but must plead pressure of work in trying to attain the elusive line and get 52 course out on time. The high pressure work necessary is best illustrated by a pupil’s remark to the Flight Commander when asked if he was on the night flying programme. “I am never on the ground long enough to read the notices.”
Another amusing episode occurred at dawn one morning when the kites were sent for just one more circuit, and the A.C.P. noticed one rush down to the Christmas tree, do a circuit of 800 ft. and come into land before anyone else had taken off. Deciding to teach him a lesson, he was given a red, which was followed by a circuit at 500 ft. so another red. Afterwards the conversation went something like this: “What was the big idea?” “I only had 10 gallons left.” “Well why didn’t you blind your rear lights?” “The battery was flat and the nav. lights weren’t on.” “Anything else wrong?” “The flaps would only come down 20 degrees and there was a mag. drop,” Wonderful crates the old Annies.
Having got them away to time, our instructors had to learn all the vices of the new “buzz- boxes” that were to replace our trusted (?) twins, during which time “G” flight undertook to get our pupils solo. Many thanks to you, as you probably saved us a few ground loops.
Don’t our pupils appreciate the sterling qualities of our Flight Commander? They make frequent efforts to blow him out of his office in a shower of dirt, and though the voluntary contribution is stepped up each week they still find it worthwhile.
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[Advert for Club Café]
[Advert for Weyburn Motors]
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One day when the “coke” flag was put up, a questionnaire elucidated the statements that extra speed was used on the approach on a windy day so that you got to the aerodrome more quickly, and in a glide approach so that the plane descended at a reasonable angle and didn’t just float around.
I wonder if “F” flight are still complacent on the success of their soccer team. They certainly are a lucky side, fancy getting three goals against us.
X
What a busy month it has been. Airmen, pupils – even instructors have de-digitised. “We MUST finish before the snow comes” … “The Flight will be a credit to the Station” … “Do you think HE will notice it?” are among the many remarks overheard in the crew room. The identity of “HE” can only be surmised from the hushed tones in which the word is uttered. The product of the proverbial bull has been widely sought after to hasten results. F-Lt. Goon gazed from his window between cups of tea and looks for people running up in front of “My Office,” his little-tin-box in his hand jiggling reminiscently. A certain “Middleton” has been discussed with great reverence, but perusal of nominal rolls has failed to reveal the Section honoured by his presence. You may be under the impression that we are striving to get the course out ahead of time – but have I mentioned flying? A mere detail. We MUST finish the garden first!
- L.W.
G.I.S. Jottings
Amongst one of the periodic showers of paper delivered to the G.I.S. the other day was a memo which commenced with those all too familiar words “Your contribution is now due.” This was duly passed to those who sit in judgement and authority and finally found its way back to me endorsed “Pass to Stooge for action.” Same old story – voluntary compulsion!
There is, of course, little to report. There never is. Pupils come and P-Os and Sergeants go. I may even make an odious comparison by saying that the G.I.S. may be likened to a sausage machine. True it is that mysterious ingredients are put in! The output in our case consists of a very fine line of Pilots duly burnished by Flying Wing! To a small cog in the machine it is all very inspiring.
Highlight of the month must be the sudden removal of our N.C.O. Discip. Unlike his Irish predecessor he did not return to the Emerald Isle although he is much nearer to it than he was. We regret that we are a little extravagant on Discips and will, in future try to make them last a little longer at least.
No. 56 Course are in the process of “Passing Out.” Many of them passed out quite early on and the remainder are wondering how “So few can repay so many.” The passing out celebration is to be held in the privacy of the telephone pay station in the Y.M.C.A. Our heartiest congratulations go to this course who may consider themselves the most select course we have yet had.
The phrase “What’s Cooking” really does mean something to us. One of our busy Navigators now does a little plotting on the Diet Sheet. It is extremely interesting to be right in the “gen” and to know what one HAD for dinner.
One of the Armament Instructors recently returned from an aircraft recognition course. He has since spent hours pinning up posters on the walls of the entire building, missing not even the most unusual places. We hope that these posters will be of great INSTRUCTIONAL value.
The Airframes and Engines instructor recently returned from Detroit. He said that he had had little sleep during his stay. Asked why this was so he replied in his broad Scots accent that he was afraid of missing something.
At the time of writing, Sgt. “Hal” Jones id still on his official visit over the border. Someone said that his visit was in connection with lion shooting. We THINK they said “lion.”
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[Advert for Charnell Studio]
[Advert for Expert Dry Cleaners]
[Advert for The Sun Café]
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Lease-Lend Dept.
Accts. Forwarded - - - Transition Period
One fine summer morning, as is not his wont, the writer awoke when the sun’s rays were at a slant, and finding the desire for slumber had mysteriously disappeared, he sought to occupy his mind usefully, with what success the read [sic] may judge thereafter.
In the August issue, brief reference was made to the far-reaching and paper-consuming changes recently made in Accounts procedure. For example, if AC. 1 Plonk’s wife in the far-off Motherland presents his father with a grandson, or LAC. Budd blossoms forth as P/O. Prairie Flower, extra shipping space is needed to convey the required forms so diligently prepared by our now so-bumff-hating stooges.
Prior to and during the transition stages the contents of Big Chief Two-and-a -half-ringer Culbertson’s in-tray assumed abnormal proportions. Thereafter it became at times almost the hourly channel of communication of fresh “gen” and amendments are still coming in. How familiar became the words, “Coming over! More Bumff! No Bumff!” accompanied by some expletives suited to the occasion. Little Chief Where’s-it-laid-down’s desk shuddered at the impact, ink splashing right and left as the tomes landed with a thud – a dull, resounding thud, somehow suggestive of impending overtime. The thud usually caused the lighting system to fail, heralded by weird and wonderful noises from the Telephone Exchange opposite.
While the Big Chief consumed these bulky products – perhaps indigestion resulted and might explain certain remarks on messing – the dupe and tripe copies were passed by the most direct manner as described above, to Little-Chief-Stooge. Then, unless they had already swiped a copy, to either Chiefie A.M.Os., who, like the mosquitoes, gets results. Uncrowned-Three-Striper Pass-the-Buckman, or Sergeant Acquaintance Roll(ey) for information, consumption, necessary action, and onward transmission to the Lesser Stooges who do the donkey-work.
The “New Order” requires that the Stooge A.O., now keeper of the moneybags, shall be referred to as the “Responsible A.O.” Any reflection on the character of previous holders of the money-bags in hereby refuted. The possibility of more time being available for Bridge at first appeared, but such fond hopes have long since been dismissed.
Odd Points
Little-Chief-Stooge Where’s-it-Laid-Down’s secret desire is to let all personnel on the station help themselves to the money-bags on pay-day. What’s his size in bowler hats? They never did suit him, anyway, and it is thought that he would lose his “responsibility,” so perhaps he must curb his altruistic desires after all.
After the loss of the Accounts Sections’ laundry, the idea of having a washing line of our own was mooted. It had, however, to be abandoned, because the AC1. Sergeant-Air-Gunner shot a line which was unsuitable for the purpose.
We hear of a certain Corporal who will insist on bursting forth with “Deep in the Heart of Texas” at the slightest provocation. Why don’t the Corporals, with their wealth of musical talent, teach him at least one other song? – or perhaps they would prefer him to forget the one he HAS learned? At the time of writing, we await the return of another Corporal from his trek down south. Gosh! Supposing HE returns with a “Deep in the Heart of” complex! ‘Orrid thought!
-v-
LOST – Ronson Lighter. Engraved. “Bill from Laura, 22-9-41.” Valued as a keepsake. Finder please return to Mrs. V.M. Tomlinson, Weyburn. Reward.
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Minor Bottlenecks
Having a few spare moments from the onerous task of keeping A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and Navigation flight aircraft serviceable, (Why the ‘ell can’t they do it themselves or are they just too busy gardening?) we have decided to contribute a few notes to the Station Magazine.
We welcome Sergeant Haskell to our Section; he is being initiated into the skilful art of “Where can I get one” by our inimitable “Sandy.”
We have noticed that a certain Senior N.C.O. has been very busy the last few days – they say e has changed his name to “One Splice.”
Is it true that a certain red headed Fitter is going to move his kit into Weyburn?
A few of our personnel spend their weekends on farms in the district – are they getting the harvest in or do they just Mou-land?
Our F-Sgt. Has joined the happy band of the Pensioner brigade and, although he despises crutches, he is pretty good on stilts.
Upon reading the August issue of the Flying Gopher, it was noticed that the Minors football team had been omitted from the League table. Why, Ed? We are not as bad as that – or are we? Congratulations to LAC. Williams in making the Station Soccer team – nice work “Ginger.”
Ed. – Error regretted.
Maintenance Changes
In the Orderly Room, Sergt. Jack Lloyd has taken over the duties of F-Sgt. “Ginger” Ayres, the latter as Chief Clerk now occupying that worthy seat in the Holiest of Holies – Station Headquarters.
Providing there is an ample supply of “FLYded,” the new Sergeant is determined to see that no flies are observed in his Orderly Room.
He wants to know if it is true F-Sgt. Ayres shouted “Come in”, to a knocking on the door last winter, and a bear nosed its way into the office.
The roster for Duty Crash N.C.O. now includes the names of three new arrivals. Also one additional Flight Sergeant who will no longer chuckle gleefully when the list next appears in D.R.O’s. Allowing for leave and other contingencies, this duty should permit the lady friend to take a night off once in every three weeks.
More Accts. Sec.
Squadron Leader name of Cox
Keeps all our money in a box.
Credits he is loath to pay,
Even on our “Eagle” day.
What’s he do with all our dough?
That’s what we all want to know.
Says our credits go to blighty,
His girl’s got another new Nightie.
Postal Rates
The Flying Gopher can be sent to people in England under present postal rates for 2 cents if unsealed, or 7 cents if sealed.
Join!!
We know all these jolly little committees which have been springing up right and left during the past few weeks? Well, someone came down from the S.W.O’s. office the other day binding something awful because he had been told to warn someone he was on the Sewage committee or the Cat Welfare Committee or something, and he couldn’t find him anywhere. And he showed us a list, at the bottom of which was “LAC Artetta” …
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[Advert for Wilson Pharmacy]
[Advert for Service Hardware]
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[Drawing of two men dressed for gold and fishing]
Fort Qu’Appelle
Fort Qu’Appelle offers many attractions for week-ends or longer leaves. It is 75 miles north of Weyburn on a chain of lakes in which good fishing may be had. Boats may be hired at 25c per hour. There is an excellent swimming beach and a nine hole Golf Course with grass greens on the outskirts of the town.
The hotel is comfortable and cheap. Fort Qu’Appelle may be reached quite conveniently by train or ‘bus.
Small Ads
WANTED – By Service Police. One pair of thick rubber soled boots; one deer stalker’s cap, and a dog called Tinker.
WANTED – Retired Donkey to eat super-abundance of carrots. Box WEY. 5.
WANTED – By Cookhouse. Mincing Machine, to replace one written off by VERY fair wear.
WANTED – Secondhand lift. For use of tired airman occupying top bunk.
WANTED – By P.T.I. Officer. Two fitter Britains (or Rigor Mortis) to undergo short course.
EXCHANGE – Two permanent early dinner chits required. Would exchange for anything useful. Box WEY. 2.
LOST – Between Padgate and Weyburn, 7 days pay, a lot of kit, and ring (gold).
PERSONAL – S.M.O. “What price the stork?” C.N.I.
PERSONAL – S.A.I’s. “Are you Grand Arch-Cardinals yet?” L.T.I.
FINALLY WANTED – One seaworthy vessel. By one thousand airmen, must have room for at least one hundred. With stationary decks. Price to include delivery to Weyburn.
[Page break]
[Advert for The Leader Store]
[Advert for National Musical Supply]
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[Advert for McDonald’s Show Store]
[Advert for Arnett Electric]
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Etter Plugs the Jive
The two already run off were surely great successes, weren’t they? The committee in charge of the dances is anxious to have you have a good time., fellows, so let’s have constructive ideas on the subject. These efforts are carried on each second Wednesday evening in the Recreation Hall. Tickets are on sale the Saturday previous in the Y.M.C.A. Because the capacity of the Recreation Hall is limited, the number of tickets available is now limited to 150. Come along early and get your tickets. Good prizes are given each time to the winners of novelty dances, the Swing Commanders play for dancing which starts at 9.00 and ends at 12.30. With the bus running regularly there is no reason why Airmen here can’t make these one of the outstanding events of life on 41 S.F.T.S.
Recreation Reviewed
With the Fall, outdoor activities will be curtailed for the personnel of No. 41 S.F.T.S. After an enthusiastic season, soccer is coming to a close, with only a few plaster casts around to remind us of many strongly contested matches. Cricket and swimming have not long to live, and already skating and hockey are waiting for the freeze-up.
Our Flying Gopher has been examining his burrow to see if he will be comfortable for the winter. Unlike his hibernating brothers of the prairie, he refuses to lie dormant – therefore he wants to know “What’s cooking?” So, sticking his nose into the lair of the Central Committee, he has unearthed a program of activities on the station which will keep him happy digging until spring.
The editors have sifted the mound of information piled up outside their den and here present an analysis of its contents.
Of interest to every man on the station, this program is designed to provide as much variety as possible. There will be no need for any man to be bored and this winter will be a very different affair from the last.
Certainly no town of similar size could have shown more hospitality than has Weyburn to the men of No.41. Weyburnites have taken many men into their homes and entertained them with typical western conviviality, and as for the home cooking, well – we know where we can get apple pie just like mother used to make. The Canadian Legion and the attractive Hostess Club along with other organizations, have made us feel right at home in Weyburn. We are very grateful for all this and wish we could repay some of the hospitality.
But where the number of men on a large military station almost equals half the population of the nearest town, as it does in this case, there will be many men who feel as Tootles when he goes to town, bored and a little disillusioned, unless the men themselves have an organization on the station for providing their own recreation.
We have the organization now, a complete program arranged by the Central Committee for the Fall and Winter. There are activities to satisfy the most varied interests. Through the P.S.I. funds all the necessary sports equipment ahs been provided and more will be forthcoming as the demand grows. Art Etter’s “Y” plays a valuable part in this program.
Romantic Spree
The latest news from the Officers’ jigs,
Where they stuff lemons in little pigs,
Is Flight Lieutenant D.F.C
Embarked upon a romantic spree,
He talked to a maiden fair and twenty,
Of loving cup he had drunk plenty.
He thrilled her with his hectic life,
Then found she was the Padre’s wife.
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Grand Impending Sports Meet at Weyburn
No. 41 S.F.T.S., August 30th. – Alarm is expressed in Service Police quarters here at the violent partizanship which is developing between different factions which will participate in the Giant Sports Day to be held in the Weyburn Stadium on Wednesday, September 23rd. Corporal Neathway, S.P., usually unmoved by anything short of invasions warns that delicate women and children should be chaperoned by husky airmen, since it is rumored on good authority that two factions intend to rub each other out with cream puffs at ten paces! The spectacle of members of the fairer sex cheering for their favourite airmen competitors is likewise not calculated to make this a dull affair. A promising feature is the hair-pulling contest between two girls each with an airman in the 440.
In spite of this, or perhaps because of this, we expect that hundreds of the people of Weyburn will attend. By permission of the Commanding Officer, the station will be shut down for the afternoon in order that the R.A.F. may be out en masse.
All Invited
This is an open invitation to the people of Weyburn and the surrounding district to attend.
Proceeds from the small admission charge will be devoted to the purchase of sports equipment for the men of this station.
Teams from other R.A.F. stations and from R.C.A.F. stations have been invited to compete in a program which will last about two hours. All preliminary heats will have been run off previously and only final events will be contested.
Dance At Night
To round out the Sports Day entertainment, a Station Dance will be held in the Drill Hall on the same evening. The hall has been specially decorated and the Station Dance Band will be augmented for the occasion. The Y.M.C.A. is catering for the evening, and this dance should be the highlight in a very full day.
Sports Officer Lets Cat Out of Bag
Browsing through sports equipment the other day, our reporter was startled to discover, framed between a festoon of boxing gloves and tennis racquets, George, The Moustache. Behind whom resided the genial features of Flying Officer Colchester, our Sports Officer.
“Ah, ha,” he exclaimed, “just the man I’m looking for. Take a look at that?”
“That” was the sports program for September 23rd, at the Weyburn Stadium. Here, at last, was the long awaited news. We give it to you now – the main events for Sports Day –
SPRINTS: 100 yards, 220 yards and 440 yards.
DISTANCE: 880 yards and one mile run.
FILED EVENTS: High jump, long jump, pole vault, discus, javelin and shotput, and hurdles (if priority can be obtained for lumber to build them).
OBSTACLE RACE.
LADIES RACE and comic events.
Well, there it is. The halt, the maimed, and even the binders are expected to turn out and practice for these events on order to turn back the invasion from outside stations. Let it never be said that No. 41 could not put up a good effort when its very reputation was at stake.
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At Your Service
Sports Department
[Photograph of a man with a magnificent moustache] ED COLCH. Now in Weyburn.
Hello, Fellows! Maybe that’s the snappiest way to greet youse all. It certainly is the dandiest thing to be allowed to write you a piece in the “Gopher” and to be able to tell you all what a swell bunch of chaps you are, and why I am here at all. Now, don’t forget to say “hello” to me on the streets of 41 when you see that browser mustache [sic] and line-shooting tea-cosy with a football badge on the front. As the great bard said, I guess “A kiss without a mustache [sic] is like a hamburger without dills.” You see I sure do wanna get together with all you great Old Country boys.
The sports department is for sports, don’t please ever forget that fact. Those of you who have been here some time will have some idea of where my office is. Just drop in for a coke with me any time you have some little personal sporting problem you want to thrash out. I’m usually there blowing up footballs in the morning – and always at your service. However tricky your problem don’t hesitate to step right in and have a talk with the Sports Supervisor. The name is right there on the door.
It is my aim to give you all a body like mine, and make the square the gathering-place for all you lads, on Wednesday mornings in particular. We are flat out to make the square a reely [sic] attractive spot; and I certainly am going to make sure that a first rate decorating job is done there. I guess I’m not speaking out of turn if I tell youse fellows the “Y” is going to lay down some really snappy carpets, and put flags up all around the joint.
Say, bo; let me be your father. I am here to jazz up cricket and drill you for you all. Just buy a tiger skin and drop in.
Your one and only,
ED. COLCH.
Tail Piece
From the Diary of an R.A.F. Hurricane Pilot in Malta, Aprl 6, 1942.
“There was a short service for readiness pilots outside the dispersal hut. The hymn was “Fight the Good Fight.” This struck a chord in my memory. When I was confirmed, the Bishop of Kingston gave as his text, “Fight the good fight of faith,” and that same evening when I opened a book sent to me by my aunt, the first words I read were identical with the text. And now they recurred again. I mentioned this to the Padre afterwards. The coincidence comforted.”
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[Advert for Standard Garage and Machine Shop]
[Advert for Co-op. Dairy Products]
[Advert for The Hi-Art Theatre]
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Ice
If a good many RAF chaps at this station are eating off the mantlepiece this winter it will not be from riding horseback but probably from taking the bumps at ice hockey. The enthusiasm with which fellows who had never skated took to the narrow blades last winter augers well for the sport this season.
A new rink is being built behind the recreation hall, largely for hockey, but another rink will also be constructed for straight and figure skating. Sonja Henie, look out! By the end of the winter No. 41 S.F.T.S. may be touring the country with the Weyburn Ice Follies. At any rate, a public address system will be installed to provide music for the skaters. There will no doubt be Visitors’ Nights when AC Tootles will be able to show his colourfully dressed girl friend how well he can waltz with only a few spills for punctuation marks.
As for organized hockey, we are fortunate to have a good coach in Lieut. Bigelow of the Dental Corps. It is hoped to organize a Service League but that depends on how well the players develop. We may not have any Wally Stanowski’s from the Maple Leafs, but it should be a good effort.
Basketball
We are sorry, but you are wrong. Neither soccer nor horse-racing draw the biggest total number of spectators in sports, but basketball. Started over thirty years ago by a Dr. Niran, who used peach baskets for the first hoops, the game now has the largest fan following of any game in the world. Hundreds of teams compete in national competitions in the States and many thousands of spectators attend games from the high school tournaments to the national finals.
Yes, the game has something. It is very fast – requiring the peak of physical condition in the players in order that they might stand the pace. But, it is a game which can be learned in easy stages. Already at No. 41 S.F.T.S. we have quite a few enthusiasts – it is expected that organized games will take place nearly every night in the Drill Hall. Want a new sport thrill? We can recommend basketball.
Boxing
“Come on now, keep them up, keep them up! That’s better. Don’t signal your punches.”
Sound of leather on hard chests, the shuffling of feet, quick gasps from straining lungs. It might be Cpl. Wheel or Cpl. Farley or AC Rowing-Parker coaching a lad in the art of self defense, but whoever is the coach or whoever the pupil, they are having a cracking good time, literally.
The boxing ring is completed in the Drill Hall, with mat and ropes. There are plenty of gloves available. Practises already reveal promise of future Dempseys to uphold the honor of No. 41 S.F.T.S.
Maybe you are a dark horse, already experienced in the ring, or maybe you have had no experience but would like to cuff AC. Tootle’s head up a peak (probably he feels the same about you). In any case, come out for boxing and have a good work-out.
Badminton
This sort of thing has got to stop. This chap Burkeman (F/Sgt. Burkeman, know him?) is getting to be too much of a good thing. The guy is getting too chesty. What I want to know, is there any game the bloke can’t play and play well? The other night we thought we had him – we would be able to smear him at badminton, anyway, but no, this Joe Burkeman wore us down to a grease spot and he was still smiling at the end as unruffled as you please.
For heaven’s sake, won’t someone come out and pin Joe’s ears back? He tells us he will take on all and sundry. (Joe’s a right nice guy really, but we have to make him the villain of this piece in order to have a story).
Anyway, Flying-Officer Colchester will be only too pleased to supply you with badminton rackets and “birds” whenever you want a go at this fast game. There are four courts in the Drill Hall – you can easily arrange a game, with any type of player.
A Wing Commander very fly,
Is sometimes called the C.F.I.
His Flight Commanders hover round,
With useless pupils they have found
He interviews them one by one,
A second glance he gives to some,
But see him at a graduation,
This really is a revelation.
45
[Page break]
“A and B” Flights Win Armit Trophy
In Hard Fought Final
When the soccer team from “A and B” Flights met “H” Flight on Wednesday evening, it appeared that half the Station had turned out to watch the game – the other half learned of the score before the evening was out. The occasion was a momentous one in Station Soccer for it was the final of the League Championship, the winners being the first to hold the Armit trophy. Both teams have been hot contenders for the title and truly the game was a battle royal. It had all the ingredients of an English cup-tie game – the highly partisan crowd, grand football, with first class tackling and heading, an eventual penalty, a last minute goal, and, finally, the players being carried from the field shoulder high.
Excitement ran at high pitch throughout the whole game. It was clean and openly played. “A and B” truly deserving their victory of 2-0 by reason of a fine show put up by their forwards. Thompson at centre was a constant menace with his clever rushes down the centre of the field and his accurate distribution of the ball.
After a very even first half, in which neither side scored. “A and B” forwards, aided by their half-backs, dominated the play from the restart and it appeared obvious that a goal was soon forthcoming. “H” Flight made a quick reverse, however, and for a while it seemed that they would be the first to open the scoring. Charles, however, was unfortunate in shooting over an open goal.
First blood was drawn when, during pressure by “A and B” forwards, Corporal Wallace, “H”, handled the ball in the penalty area and gave Molloy a chance to score the opening goal of the match from the kick. This unexpected point caused excitement to rise to high pitch and fast and furious play ensued as “H” tried hard to wipe off the setback with an equalizer, but their forward line could not get going against the close play of their opponents and in the last quarter minute of play, LAC. Lord, a pupil, clinched the issue with a smashing goal from the inside right position.
The team was fully deserving of the applause it gained for a brilliant game. As for the losers, they were a plucky side, hindered by the injury, early in the game of LAC. Cook and this loss undoubtedly was responsible in some measure for their lack of smoothness. Their forwards were too often off side and it was unfortunate for them that they could not find the smooth team work which enthused their opponents from start to finish of the match.
Last Month’s Crossword
[Answers to the crossword clues]
The first correct solution opened was sent by Miss D. Bakstad, 405 Government Road, Weyburn, to whom a cheque for $5.00 will be forwarded as soon as the Editor returns from leave … or it may have to be deferred until the following pay day. Anyway, Mis Bakstad, you shall have your $5.00.
The Flying Gopher is published on the 15th of each month by and for the entertainment of the personnel of No. 41 S.F.T.S. (R.A.F.) at Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada. Printed for the Publishers by the Weyburn Review.
[Page break]
[Advert for Pilsner beer]
47
[Page break]
[Advert for Stinson-Powers Lts.]
[Advert for the Royal Hotel]
[Page break]
[Advert for R.H. Williams & Sons]
[Advert for Snelgrove’s Sundaes]
[Page break]
[Advert for The Lounge]
[Advert for Victory Cab]
Dublin Core
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Title
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The Flying Gopher September 1942
Description
An account of the resource
This edition has adverts, an Editorial, reminisces by Dr Vyse, an appreciation of the arrival of the RAF at Weyburn, photographs of Weyburn, stories about Gremlins, a fictitious love story, photos of dances, Weyburn library, poems, love stories, a story about one man's postings, odd goings on around Weyburn, Notes by the different Flights on the base, light hearted station news and sporting news,
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41 SFTS Weyburn
Date
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1942-09
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52 printed sheets
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eng
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Text
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MFordTA1585520-170411-14
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
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IBCC Digital Archive
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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.
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Anne-Marie Watson
Spatial Coverage
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Canada
Saskatchewan--Weyburn
Saskatchewan
Temporal Coverage
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1942-09
aircrew
entertainment
gremlin
Harvard
love and romance
sport
station headquarters
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1376/24330/MFordTA1585520-170411-15.1.pdf
8a624186f68dac2e4128dd6e39edf7e9
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Title
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Ford, Terry
Ford, T
Description
An account of the resource
135 items. The collection concerns Terry Ford. He flew operations as a pilot with 75 Squadron. It contains photographs, his log book, operational maps, letters home during training, and documents including emergency drills. There are two albums of photographs, one of navigation logs, and another of target photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Julia Burke and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2017-03-13
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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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
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Ford, T
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Permission granted for commercial projects
Transcribed document
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Transcription
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[Deleted] Garden Show [/deleted]
Grass Dance [deleted] Pubs [/deleted]
[Drawing of an aircraft flying over a single gravestone]
The Flying Gopher
JANUARY 1943
[Page break]
[Drawing of an aircraft flying over a single gravestone]
The Flying Gopher
The Journal of The Royal Air Force, No,41, Service Flying Training School,
Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Published by the Kind Permission of Group Captain E.C. Emmett, M.C., D.F.C.
VOL.11. JANUARY, 1943 No. 2
Editorial
[Drawing of a thoughtful gopher with writing quill at a desk]
THE ad-less “Gopher” makes its bow. It is a thin creature, but you will find that appearances are deceptive. And that it contains almost the same amount of reading matter as its advertisement-padded predecessors. We hope you will find it no less interesting reading.
This is a memorable issue if only because every flight has rallied round and supplied us with the inside gen on its goings-on during the past month. This we think is a very good sign: we have been trying for some time to get a greater measure of contributions representative of you Maintenance and Flying Wing people, for it is you who really constitute the Unit; the rest of us are lesser, presumably necessary adjuncts.
We want your suggestions for improvement in your magazine. Tell us what you like and what you don’t like; if you know a chap who is a good cartoonist, or who has anything interesting to write about, persuade him to come out of his shell, and if he won’t come, let us know his name. We have our methods …
Deadline for copy will in future be the last day of the month. This means that everything topical will be at least two weeks old by the time it appears in print. We should, of course, prefer to serve it up warmer, but this is the best we can do with the production arrangements at our disposal. And by the way, when we fix that deadline, we shall be very glad to have as much copy as you can give us before that date, to save us any last-minute panic and excessive overtime.
1
[Page break]
[Drawing of a Padre with wings, playing a harp]
BOMBS GONE
We’re sorry Flight Lieutenant Clarke
Prefers to leave you in the dark
Regarding his activities,
His likes, dislikes, proclivities,
His views regarding prohibition,
His most insistent inhibition …
We begged for something for the “Gopher,”
But this is all he’s written so far –
No Comments
[Signature]
We can but guess what his excuse
Can be for hiding thus the truth.
2
[Page break]
SOLOSPROGGY
(With apologies to Lewis Carroll)
‘Twas flying, and the flaptious lac
Did tweek and puckle in his clogs.
The Gremlins lured, all ticipant,
And callous lurked instructor dogs.
Beware the Undercart my son,
The horn that blows, the lights that gleam.
Beware the Earlycheck, and shun
All aircraft on the starboard beam.
He took the gripple stick in hand,
He gave her boost, the waspie roared.
Fine was the pitch, the mixture rich.
He squeaked “I’m airborne! Praise the Lord!”
And so he reached the down-wind leg,
His throttle back, his wheels came down.
The cross-wind tension, pilot grim,
And crying “Gumptf,” came whiffling in.
“The circuit’s done, I haven’t spun”.
The gripple stick no longer slack,
He slipped it in, and with a grin
He came taxiffing back.
“And hast thou flown the Harvard bird?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Soloo! Solay!”
He chortled in his joy.
“MOONSHINE.”
THE PADRE PONDERS
The subject upon which to ponder is not difficult at this time of the year. For, by the time these words are read we shall have passed into another year with all its hopes.
The question which will come to the lips of many is “What has the new year in store for us?”
I think that one of the best mottoes to carry with us into and through the coming year is “Wise to resolve, and patient to perform.” Surely our past mistakes, our unwise choices, our impatience with places or people should convince us (if we are to transform obstacles into stepping stones) of the fruitfulness of both wisdom and patience.
What, then, of the future? Please God we shall experience times of happiness and joy, of peace and contentment, of encouragement and success. For. With these two weapons, wisdom and patience, in our hands, sorrow and loss, sickness and suffering, disappointment and disillusionment cannot destroy the inward peace.
When we look back on the failures of the past, let us remember that the present is ours, out of which a brighter future may be forged.
If any lesson has been learned from this little “pondering” let us practice it in our daily life; so that our own lives, the lives of others, and the welfare of our Station may be made sweeter by our presence. The will it be that which I wish you – “A Happy and Blessed New Year.”
Sincerely,
THE PADRE.
3
[Page break]
[Underlined] OUR GRIPPING NEW SERIAL. [/underlined]
PRAIRIE PASSION
[Drawing of a girl sitting in a rocking chair, reading a book]
OUR red-head heroine, Gardenia Godlieb, intent in the pages of her book, was lounging in a rocking-chair in the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus K. Godlieb, Fifty-seventh and Tortoise, Pemmican, Sask., famed co-organisers of the Pemmican Parents’ Guild.
Slim, saucy, cherry-lipped Gardenia, her gorgeous green eyes sparkling with excitement, chewed her pointed blood-red fingernails feverishly as she read the gripping tale of life in the Active Air Force, a book lent her by her latest beau, D’Arcy Dwindleberry, a real live LAC. who ran the flying side of the nearby R.A.F. No. 48 S.F.T.S.
The telephone rang. With a snort of disgust at the interruption and a muttered “Blast!” Gardenia laid aside her book, obligingly laying it with the cover uppermost so that we could see the title. Ah! Small wonder that she was so absorbed in her reading, for the book was none other than a copy of C.A.P. 100.
“Hul-lo,” she said languidly, casting as admiring glance at her dainty pointed shoes. “Oh, hi-ya, Moytle … Yeah, fine … Yeah, they’re both out … Aw, jest reading … My romance? Oh, jest fine. I had to tell him last nite I wasn’t That Sort of Goyl … What, he kissed you? … An officer? … A Pilot Officer? Not a real Pilot Officer? … What, me jealous? … Say, lookit here, Moytle, if you think I’d ever be jealous of a skinny little squoit like you … Aw shucks! And say, lookit, I’ll tell you sump’n. How many rings does a Pilot Officer have? … What, only one? Well, lookit here, I’ll get to grips with an officer with two rings on his arm, so there! … Yes, I betcha … Why, you skinny alley-cat, you tailless gopher you …” But Myrtle had evidently rung off.
Returned to her rocking-chair, our heroine again took up the Pilot’s Primer. But she could not concentrate, and even the visions conjured up by that gripping story could not hold her attention long. You, gentle reader, our astute observer concealed behind the chiffonier, could see her gorgeous green eyes gallivanting around, gazing unseeing at the cuspidor, tastefully inscribed “A Present from the Prairie,” which sat conveniently on top of the piano.
At last, with a determined snort she jumped to her feet, flinging the Book into a corner. (Mark this well, Reader! This is sacrilege, the first sign of the decadence of our Gardenia. There will be other signs, for sure, but do not despair – goodness will triumph over sinful impetuous youth. And don’t forget, folks, next time you pop in at the groceteria, buy a packet of Gobbo Gingers-up the Glottis. Sixty-five cents a large packet.)
If we could have but entered into the mind of Gardenia at this moment, settling behind those gorgeous glittering green eyes, we should have witnessed the successive conception and rejection
4
[page break]
of a score of plans. Gardenia is a girl of her word, and find that Flight Lieutenant she will, or perish in the attempt.
Cat-like she paced the floor, and every time she passed the window it was a full-time job for us to restrain you gentle Reader from jumping up and spoiling the whole effect by falling on your knees and declaring your love for the gorgeous Gardenia. For the rays of the setting sun limned her glorious coiffure, which seemed to leap into flaming life at its touch. (Is your hair becoming to you? If not, you had better be coming to Brer Rabbit’s Drug Store for a bottle of Hippo – Hippo Helps the Hair Grow Gorgeous.)
At long last our heroine hit upon a plan which seemed to satisfy her; she stopped, and with a self-satisfied smirk which suffused her satin cheek she cried “A-ha!” and hurried from the room. This exclamation was fortunate, coming when it did, for our Gardenia’s smirk revealed to us watchers behind the chiffonier so perfect a set of pearly molars that we whistled loudly in unison (Dentyne chewing gum, Dentyne chewing gum. If you want to keep fit, chew a bit of it. Chew Dentyne chewing gum.) But all is well. Gardenia was too preoccupied with her own plans to hear us.
Upstairs, propriety forbade us to follow the lovely Miss Godlieb, but we had not long to wait. A moment later she came racing down again, and we turned aside to conceal our blushes as, in the speed of her descent, an unduly great proportion of her exquisitely formed lower limbs was revealed to our innocent gaze. She made for the telephone, and asked for – the Legion Hall!
“Is there a dance on? … Are many Air Force Officers there? …” She slammed back the receiver and was out of the house like a flash of glamourous greased lightning.
Quickly, Reader, let us follow her, and pray that we may save her from the consequences of her rash act, as she enters the Den of Iniquity.
(To be continued.)
PRAIRIE MADNESS
There’s a majesty in space
That rivals mountain’s weight …
There’s a frankness to a place
That has no bars nor gate –
The prairie stretches out and yields
Full length and breadth of soil
Bearing swaying wheat in fields
Through which the giant combines toil.
But man must seek for priceless gems
And so must leave the highway,
Following a trail between the stems
Of wheat – past the stack of hay,
On to open prairie wild,
Where tumble-weeds bloom and die,
And crocuses are beguiled
To nestle the turf where they lie.
Past the farm, down to the slough,
Where wilds ducks cry and trouble
The rush-fringed water, through
Each small pool and sodden stubble.
Nor does the charm pass with the day
As sunset reeks across the sky,
With warrior reds and stormy grey
To paint a majesty of fury –
A storm of dust, a thunder clap,
A sudden flash, a fork of flame –
Then part the clouds, and through the gap
Shines down the moon as if in shame.
H.G.V.
5
[Page break]
STOP! POLICE!
This is the result of being caught yarning one night by the Ed. He asked for it, and here it is.
I remember those early days well – I’m going back nine or ten years now, mind you – but I still remember them well. I have good reason to do so. The first few days in uniform on the streets of London you never forget. The particular yarn I‘m going to spin you is of something which happened in my first few weeks of beat duty. I was on late turn (i.e. 2 to 10 p.m.). The time was about 7.30 p.m., and it was dark.
Having not been long out of Peel House, I was pretty full of everything, and my craze at that particular time was for remembering the list of stolen cars. Things were quiet, and I was doing no more than watch the flow of traffic, catching as many numbers as possible. After a few minutes of this, it happened. I repeated a number to myself and suddenly leaped about three feet into the air, and had my car list out before touching ground again. Yes, it was there – a Stolen Car!
I saw a glorious future ahead - my Great Chance – capture the car and the thief – commendations – promotion – and without delay I jumped into the roadway and stopped the nearest car. Standing on the running board, I yelled to the driver ”There’s a car ahead I want to catch – go like hell!”
The driver looked at me astonished – a gleam came into his eye.
“You mean it?” he said. “Flat out? No lights to stop me – no limits?”
I had time to nod, and then the fun started. The driver shot up the street like a bat out of Hades. His car was a V8 and it certainly could move.
After thirty seconds I realized that I was for it. I had one foot on the running board, and one hand on the door handle – the rest of me was swinging in the wind. The rush of air had me speechless. I couldn’t signal the driver to stop before he had to. I think he had dreamed of such a chance as this all his driving life, and he certainly saw to it that all his dreams came true. He passed everything there was to pass on the road, ignored traffic signals, drove on either side of the road or the pavement when there wasn’t room, kept his horn going steadily, and just kept flat out.
I had just about reached the limit of my endurance – my fingers were beginning to lose their grip on the door handle – when he leaned over to ask for further instructions. I think from the look on my face he saw I rather wanted to stop, and he started slowing down. When we were still doing a good 20-30 m.p.h. I couldn’t hold on any longer, and I went flat in the road, rolling over and over, and finishing up in a not too clean gutter.
I was sitting on the kerb when he came up to me – apologising for not having been able to catch the car for me – and all I could do was mumble some thanks and get rid of him. He left me there, and I was a sorry sight – greatcoat torn, bruised, skinned and filthy.
It took me ten minutes to find my helmet again. It cost me 2/6 for a taxi back to my beat, and when I got there I found I had missed a “ring in.” It took me another half hour to provide an excuse for that, and I spent the rest of the time till 10 p.m. getting myself clean.
That night after booking-in I retired to bed, a wiser and sadder man, realizing that in future when I saw a stolen car it would be much easier and couldn’t be less successful to carry out the official instructions, simply telephone to the proper quarter at Scotland Yard, and leave the rest to the squad cars.
EX-COPPER.
An airman in distant Ontario
Applied for a shift to the prairio.
But oh! When at last he got thario
And found all the prairie barrio
He had a most horrible scario,
And ran all the way back to Ontario.
The moral, we think, should be clario:
Ontario’s better than prairio.
[Drawings of two single flowers]
[Page break]
[Photograph of a mountain valley] BOW VALLEY]
7
[Page break]
TAIL-END CHARLIE
The warm clad flyer shifts uneasily in his narrow perch – these turrets are not built for comfort; their’s is a stern purpose and the lives of others rest on this man’s shoulders. The restless, searching eyes are never still and the trained hand is never far from the compact but deadly little gun.
He knows his responsibilities and bears them with the confidence of a man who has been in tight corners before and has won through by his skill and coolness.
The keen eyes pause and narrow in their questing sweep as a small dark speck resolves in the haze of distance and grows. The speck becomes a shape and the shape – an aircraft, but still the eyes maintain their vigil, scanning the seemingly innocent blue of space; long and costly experience has endowed an extra sense that now warns quietly but insistently that danger threatens from another quarter. Away to the right a second winged shape confirms this inner warning.
An impatient hand slides to the gun trigger with the ease borne of practice while the cold eyes choose the nearer of the two slim silhouettes as the first target. The plane is nearer now, and the pilot’s head is dimly visible in the streamlined cockpit, peering ahead, with deadly concentration gauging the distance. Nearer yet, and the longing finger tenses around the tiny steel projection speeding on its grim mission.
A convulsive jerk and the gun has fired – the explosion is drowned in the crescendo of the engine’s roar, an angry red glare illuminates the startled features of the young pilot in the approaching plane. He opens his throttle and breaks away, his previous intentions forgotten – he now has troubles of his own. The figure in the turret shivers …
“It’s a bit of a bind being Aerodrome Control Pilot in this weather!” mutters the pupil, thrusting a fresh signal cartridge into his Very pistol in the turret on the yellow van …
J.S.R.H.
PRAIRIE LAMENT
The friendly flag at Weyburn is waving in the breeze,
The hard-worked Duty Pilots are all down on their knees;
We love to see it waving, its message glad to tell, -
For do we want to fly, Sir? I’ll say we do – Like H - !
And when they haul it down, Sir, our tears we cannot hide;
We push the kites around, Sir, and it’s ten below outside;
We start the censored engines, and they make a censored roar,
But if we had our way, Sir, we wouldn’t fly no more.
We wave the chocks away, Sir, and we leave the drome behind.
The censored hood comes over (another censored bind!)
The gyro spins like fun, Sir, I’m feeling cold and sick,
And P/O Prune up forward keeps yanking on the stick.
At last we’re back to earth, Sir, another hour to book,
And all the P/O gives us is a should-be-censored look;
But now we’re past all caring, as anyone can see,
And the only thing worth living for is Ops in ’43.
8
[Page break]
Key Men – No. 5
O.C. “SPARKS”
[Photograph of a man sitting talking on the telephone]
The C.O.? No, I’m sorry. The Adjutant? No, not today. Squadron Leader Johnson is decorating the Recreation Hall … Will I do? Yes, the Adjutant’s adjutant …
What’s this, Corporal? A signal to sign? Oh, it’s alright by me if it’s alright with you …
Oh, Taylor, ask Greer if he’s seen the shorts we had on last week … He can’t find them? I mean the celluloid ones – no, not cellophane, fathead!
You like my overshoes, Harrison? What’s that? Remind you of boats? Don’t mention that word to me!
What was that, Williams? You don’t know the meaning of the word. Why, when I was in Jericho …
&@lb @H GZ@lb @lb&& J… Oh, so sorry, I was speaking in cypher. Here’s an easy one for you, anyway:
LLOR NO EHT TOAB.
YOUR MONEY
Very often we hear people saying “What happens to the P.S.I. funds? I don’t see what good we get from them?”
Last month we told you a little of some of the things which have been done for you from the Service Institute Funds. We give below the chief expenditures made from the Funds during the first year of the Station. The figures are accurate to within a dollar or two either way.
Billiard Tables (4) and Equipment … $2,388.00
Dance Band Instruments … 1,241,00
Military Band Instruments … 1,316.00
Library books … 150.00
Pianos and Radios … 465.00
Gramophone Records … 317.00
P.A. Unit … 300.00
Stage Props and Scenery, etc. … 200.00
Skates … 1,000.00
Sports Gear … 2,500.00
Washing Machines and Electric Irons … 239.00
Extra Messing during year ended December, 1942 … 3,410.00
In addition to the above many lesser grants and expenditures appear in the P.S.I. accounts, which are open for inspection by anyone at any time at S.H.Q.
Figures cannot lie. We hope you ae satisfied now that your money is well spent.
If you have any constructive suggestions regarding the administration of the Institute funds, we look to you to hand them on to any member of the P.S.I. Committee.
9
[Page break]
LOOKING BACK
Capt. Charles A. Greene
(Late Flight Lieut. R.F.C., R.A.F.)
“Maurice Farmans, B.E. 2 c’s, R.E 8’s, D.H. 4’s, D.H. 9’s, 10’s and 11’s, Avros, Snipes and Bristol Fighters – what the devil is this man talking about?” asks P.O. Prune.
Perhaps I had better explain. These were some of our training and fighter machines of the last war. If I had space to draw them, then Prune would indeed think he had a hectic night in the Mess the night before.
Pictures of the Wright Brothers’ early machines will convey the lines of most of them and such dazzling speeds as 40 to 100 miles an hour cover their propulsion through space. Three ply, doped linen and lots of wires endeavoured to keep body and soul together, and although surprising, did so in about 80 per cent of our fighting craft.
How were they to manipulate? Well, I can best describe them by a simile. Have you ever driven, say, a Morris Cowley?
To seat me in a modern kite reminds me of the Rolls Royce, and as explained by quite a number of instructors, providing one still retains a good memory, then flying is easier today.
To sit on one of the old buses – well, it was like the Cowley – one definitely had to drive it, and even at its best it called for 100 per cent effort of concentration and real physical exertion in order to get the best out of it.
Do not think for a moment that I am old fashioned to the extent of being prejudiced, as I realize only too fully that what was to us a long flight is now only a testing flip, but from my simile what I would convey to the modern pilot is that in the old buses one did not get any automatic assistance wither from the machine or its instruments, and that they were solely an engine that had the habit of developing all kinds of mannerisms unwanted in the air, combined with a fuselage usually of thin wooden slats, doped canvas and, as we called them, bits of string to hold everything together.
Open cockpits, of course, were the order of the day, and no flying helmet unless the weather was really atrocious.
Parachutes were then in their infancy and although we were equipped with them, one never really wanted to join “The Caterpillar Club,” as a good average for opening safely was about seven out of ten, and one always feared that he would be one of the three which proved the rule.
Training? – well, I think it would appeal to you guys. Usually, if you were lucky it took three months. One month was occupied in getting absolutely perfectly physically fit, both in body and mind – to realize that for the first time in your life you were alive. Don’t misunderstand or underestimate the time of training. It was called “intensive” in official circles and by many another name in other circles.
You were either made or broken and always faced with R.T.U. (Returned to Unit). It was a 5.30 a.m. to 8 p.m. day, during which you were equipped as an Infantryman, including rifle, and underwent square training and plenty of slow marching, whilst the C.S.M. fired general knowledge questions at you, such as: “Where are you facing?” and “What was the chief item of war news this morning?” Failure to register usually brought the retort: “Fancy, you are going to be an officer and a gentleman and yet your mind does not work above the drill you are at present performing>” You are supposed to be drilling automatically, leaving your mind clear for any emergency that may arise.
Interlaced with squad drill was a form of compass bearings on foot, which combined compass readings with a route march, inasmuch as, given a number of bearings, one tramped the countryside to the given intersection and reported. Failure to report on several occasions would bring the inevitable R.T.U.
Rigging, engines (theoretical and practical), cameras, bombs and general aeronautics all found their allotted place in the syllabus.
From there on to your Flying School, where from the first few flips on a Maurice Farman (a pusher type) one progressed to a dual control on Avros. What a sensation when, unknown to yourself, the plane was landed and your
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instructor told you that you had done it “all by your little self.” I believe it was from that proud moment that one developed a “wing” chest and strode forward with an exaggerated thrust of the left shoulder. Fifteen hours of dual, and then your first solo. The sensations of this, your first solo, need no description from me. You have all experienced them and Anno Domini has not changed.
From then onwards, fear of R.T.U. became more distant, especially as the call for more pilots at that period strained the R.A.F. to its utmost.
Fifteen hours of fairly good solo flights, comprising bombing, aerobatics, etc. and you were booked for “the other side” or perhaps more specialized training for “lighter than air” craft. Often when one had finished and had that urge for a first encounter, one had to be content and have another three to four weeks’ training to fit one for a “Blimp” or a semi-rigid ship which was used very often in the last show for convoy work.
However, looking back, this had its brighter side, as one was pretty sure of surviving if on the “lighter than air” side of flying, whereas flying a heavier than air machine during this period was always a risk, even in the Mother Country, owing to the lack of knowledge and exercise by our designers and also rushed and short training. Do not think I am belittling our designers as this would be an unforgivable crime, but only years of development and wars can bring to almost finality the type of craft which we use today.
Good machines and lengthy instruction can bring only one result, and that is air supremacy; so, when the training seems long and you are itching to take your place among our front line men, remember this and try to realize that when your training is complete, you are 100 per cent pilot and have every chance of coming out on top.
GROUND SCHOOL GOSSIP
I’d much rather write “X“ Flight Notes than set down the doings of those who pass their days in this academic pile. Why? Well, in the first place there is so little difference between one month and another and secondly, while the school still possesses many “good types” there is a tendency with every change in our staff, for the School’s personnel to become less colourful! However, full of remorse and Canadian hospitality (in the reverse order) I, faithful stooge that I am, bring you the highlights of the school’s new news as furnished by D.R.O’s., Pupils Standing Orders, etc.
Prior to the Christmas holiday, the C.G.I. gathered the staff together to wish them “All the Best.” A pupil peeking through the door of the lecture room during the proceedings was heard to remark “Oh Boy, if the Devil would only cast his net now”!
Returned from the festivities I decided that it might be of interest if I could find out how our GEN MEN passed their leisure during their five days break. Possibly I started a little too early in the day for, on interviewing the Chief Gun Man, I was greeted with a nasty scowl. “How did you enjoy Christmas?” I asked. “xx - // !! Oh my head – Get Out!” The Nav. instructors were next. “Bed at three in the morning and up again at twelve” was all I could get from this section. “That’s not news” I thought recalling that they had all been to Regina (Q. of the P.). Sgt. F.E. Carr was abrupt but civil. “I did nothing wrong,” was all he would say. WOPerational Sgt. Blacklock had little to say and the only statement he would make was “What with one thing and another, not to mention Command, I hardly noticed anything.” There was nothing being given away by Sgt. Jock. He said “They do the same in Moose Jaw as they do in most places.”
So now perhaps you see what I mean. These people are NOT NEWS and yet “The Gopher” cries for more.
ANSWERS TO PUPILS’ QUERIES
Q. I was playing cards with three sergeants and at one time there were five aces on the table at the same time. I did not say anything. But is this rare? – PUZZLED.
A. Yes and No. The ordinary civilian pack, except in race trains, etc., contains four aces only. But these things occur. You were quite right to make no comment.
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[Drawing of a Christmas Tree] CANADIAN CHRISTMAS
Canadian Christmas, 1942, now belongs to memory.
For a few days many of us escaped in some measure from the clutches of Service thought and routine, became warmly flesh and blood again, satiated the inner man, purged the spirit, and return invigorated to camp to work and grouse harder than before. How we behaved or misbehaved, what we did am what we should not have done, belongs not to these pages but to the pages of memory.
Those of us who stayed in Weyburn will not easily forget this Christmas. In the homes of our friends most of us spent at least a part of the Day, and we found there that cheerful friendship which has endeared you Canadians to us, only it now appeared in ever increased force. We became members of your families, and the Christmas we enjoyed with you proved a very good second best to those we remember in previous years on the other side of the Atlantic.
On the following Sunday our very good friends of the Hostess Club gave us a most enjoyable evening, and to them too, we are grateful.
Many of us left the camp, and in New York, Vancouver, Regina, Winnipeg, Chicago, Saskatoon, Calgary, Minneapolis, Toronto, Milestone, Lang, Ceylon, Minot, and many other places we found ourselves again. To all who helped in any measure, by a cheery greeting, a card, a gift, a smile, we say “Thank You!”
CHRISTMAS IN CAMP
Christmas or not, the war goes on, and many of us had to spend our Christmas in and around the camp. Our Christmas was none the less a festive season, however, and on later pages we reproduce some of the photographs taken by out photographer as he wandered around the camp.
The Christmas Spirit came really into evidence on December 22nd. True, for some time past we had been denied access to No. 2 Dining Hall, and coloured lights showing through its windows conspired with Christmas trees placed strategically around the camp to prove that the calendar wasn’t lying, and that it really was the eve of Christmas. But the Pantomime really brought this home to us, for to us from the Old Country the very word Pantomime has a Christmas ring.
If you saw the Panto, we think our photographs will remind you of it better than any write-up on these pages; if you missed it, the loss is yours, and nothing we can write will atone for it. But a word of thanks would not be out of place to Flight Lieutenant Whiteside, the producer, LAC. Wedd, writer of the lyrics, Len Churton, who attended to the musical side, and to all members of the cast and stage staff on a really splendid show.
Christmas Day brought the traditional Christmas Dinner, its production a triumph for the cookhouse staff, headed by F/Sgt. Towns, and its serving undertaken without major disaster by the Officers and Senior NC.Os. True, the Padre’s fingers looked milky, and we saw F/Lt. Whiteside with his hands literally full of pudding, but these were minor mishaps. We have it on reliable authority that Sister Johnson was issuing I.O.Us., there being a deplorable absence of mistletoe … A general issue of the latest of late passes brought a memorable day to a close.
On December 19th a special show had been organised in Weyburn for the local children, and a week later on Boxing Day a large number of children were entertained to a party in the camp, where fun and games were the order of the day.
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[Photograph of a man in uniform on a slide holding a child] Our younger visitors enjoy themselves on Boxing Day.
The handful of unfortunates who were compelled to spend their Christmas in Sick Quarters were not forgotten. On Christmas Eve, members of the concert party put on a show for their benefit, and Christmas Day itself was fully planned, from a visit by Father Christmas, suitably loaded, and a program of carols in the morning to a quiz and entertainment in the afternoon, and a film show in the evening.
We would rather have been at home, of course, but we think that our Christmas on the prairies could not easily be improved upon, and we offer our thanks to all those from C.O. and S/L. “A” to AC2 C and B who contributed in any way to our enjoyment.
[Photograph of men listening to music in the Sick Quarters] A Merry Christmas in the Sickery.
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OFFCIERS’ MESS (!)
Proposed New Club – Members to date: (in order of seniority): F/O Colchester, F/O Rutledge, F/Lt. Meyer, Lt. Brechin, P/O Jones (E.L.), F/Lt. Everett, P/O Hearn (Old Country member), P/O Butt.
Who are the Rats?
Which three girls were recently chosen “Miss Weyburn – 1943”?
Too good for words – F/O. Large
S-Kate-ing on thin ice – Fickle F/O. Frank.
Once upon a short time it was all BUTT – now we hear it is all but over.
We understand that F/O Wheeler retired early at the Mess Formal. Luckily F/O “Snake” St. John was standing by – and standing IN at the Pantomime a few evenings later.
We think F/O Hirsch gets wirsch and wirsch.
F/O Rutledge is seeing things from the ground – and singly for a few days.
Delightlful, d’lovely Delaney reappeared recently and was seen “flashing” at the Panto after a terrific reception.
After the last formal dance, F/O “Jonah” walked straight to his quarters. Surprising.
Heard at the “formal” – “No, the real one wears a moustache.”
S/Ldr. “Uppards” Greenwood was a recent winner at the Sergeants Draw.
They closed the Draw before P/O Coney could win the Bar Stools.
“Wingy” Johnson recently held a super-exclusive promotion party.
S/Ldr. Cox recently declared, quote: Everything matters now – including Victory.
Importers at the Formal Dance, P/O Gable-Pearce, F/O Dick Clancey and P/O (Brownjob) Bowering. P/O Jones contented himself with “Local Fare.”
The “formal” was a great success – many officers brought their ladies and pranced around to “Swinger” Churton and Company.
S/Ldr. Thomas was fortunately in town for the event. He departed for an unknown destination (by air, of course) at dawn the next morning.
Doc. Halson (Did you recognise him?) almost neglected F/Lt. Stealey’s and F/O Miller’s partners.
K.H. “Line-Shoot” Ledbrook left to entertain a new audience in New York.
Searchers for post-Formal entertainment rendezvoused at stately down-town McKinnon block. There seemed to be a shortage of taxis from Weyburn city that morning.
New Mess Motto: “Careless Talk Costs Wives.”
After a wet evening at the Sergeants’ Mess, P/O Riby is writing a new book – “Mein Dampf.”
P/O Carruthers’ recent stay in Station Hospital was brightened by a frequent charming visitor. Interviewed, F/Os. Wheeler and Reade and P/Os Webster and Parkin each said “What can I do about it?” Hart-less, we think.
Laidler-Whiteside scored a great success with his Station Panto. We understand he is working on a special Officers’ Panto, entitled “Doc and the Mess Talk.”
F/Lt. Morris wishes to thank all officers who recently presented him with a new best blue barathea.
1943 Saying – “Where there’s Hope, there’s Life.”
“Uncle Tom” Isaac is due back any day from a trip to “lil ol” New York. He just could not believe all those stories Dick Clancy, Doc Halson and Lionel Wheeler told him.
Heard at the Formal – “No, No, that one’s her husband.”
Decorating Dixon helped to make the Mess bright for the festivities.
He himself was well lit at the dance.
Which Medical Officer did NOT receive a greeting card from the local undertaker?
Which Officer – uninvited to Hawaiian party in McKinnon block – attempted to force-land on the doorstep during night flying? Sarong thing to do.
F/O Wheeler was found asleep in the Mess at midnight recently, (contrary to O.M. Regs. And C.O. No. 14). Dreaming of a White Christmas?
Incidentally C.O. No. 14 was to our surprise introduced the very day “Flash” Henley departed on Christmas leave for a date with the stork.
An Officer BELIEVED to be F/Lt. Collingwood was recently seen in the Mess.
(Continued at foot of page 15.)
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CORRESPNDENCE
To: O.C. Works and Bricks
From: L.A.C. F---.
Sir,
I beg to submit this report on a collision with one of your vehicles, together with my suggestions as to the way in which repetition of this accident may best be avoided, which latter are submitted in accordance with D.R.O. No. 310, dated 30th December, 1942.
2. At 4.49 p.m. B-U-L-O-V-A Bulova Watch Time on December 30th, whilst proceeding on my lawful way about the camo I was made the recipient of a large quantity of snow, blown into the air by a large moving object, yellow in color (colour), which was engaged in clearing the road running between the Drill Hall and Airmen’s Mess. This machine is, I gather, known as a Snow Blower, and in operation it attempts to remove hard caked snow from the camp roads by picking it up by means of a form of scoop and blowing it backward through a bent chimney.
3. But I do not wish, Sir, to question the efficacy of this device at the present time, so I will continue with my account of the collision. As I turned into the road on which the collision occurred, I walked into the cloud of snow blown back from the blower. I was, of course, totally unaware that it originated from a machine, and, believing myself caught in a blizzard, took appropriate action, lowering my head, placing my hands in the pockets of my greatcoat, and proceeding in small stumbling paces, cursing vehemently between clenched teeth.
4. As I proceeded in this manner, head well down, flaps down too (20 cents), my groundspeed evidently was greater than that of the blower, with the result that I came into collision with the rear of the said machine. Fortunately neither your machine nor myself sustained serious injury, and apart from the inconvenience of having a large quantity of snow deposited upon my person, I was to all intents and purposes able to continue on my way to my biller.
5. In order that further incidents of this sort, from which the airman concerned will not always of necessity escape unscathed, may be prevented, I beg to suggest that a signal hooter be affixed to the machine to indicate its presence to anyone traversing the same road as the machine. Failing this, I suggest that a suitably colored or coloured dye be injected into the snow before it is expelled from the machine, in order that personnel may be able readily to distinguish between a blizzard and the handiwork of the snow blower. (It is observed that even in Canada a maroon blizzard is something of a rarity).
6. I submit Sir, that until some precautionary measures are taken this aforesaid Snow Blower constitutes a serious hazard to the life and limb of many an innocent airman, and should be withdrawn from service.
I am, etc.,
R.W.F.,
We are pleased to record that S/Ldr. Cox has had no further Safe trouble.
Even P/O Ellis put up a new decoration for Christmas.
Does P/O Germain really like Station Orderly Officer Duties?
F/O Thomas’s car and a tractor recently made Weyburn city.
At the Formal, when someone asked F/Lt. Stealey for the loan of his partner for a dance, Stealey looked quite Stealey – if you know what we mean.
Showers – even when greatcoats are worn – are to be taken only in accordance with D.R.O. No. 303 dated 21/12/42.
Is P/O Whitfield Prim and Proper?
Heard after the Formal – Doc. Halson’s remark: “I feel like a million dollars – overdraft.”
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A SHORT HISTORY OF B FLIGHT
ON the occasion of our impending first anniversary as a flight, we are, without any apology, about to reminisce.
It is not generally remembered that “B” Flight was in existence even before the first course started flying, for the purpose of getting our five kites into the air, equipped with two parachutes, held together thanks to Mrs Hancocks’ foresight in providing the C.I. with equipment to overcome all eventualities, and also to “convert” our T.E. instructors. We boasted at that time three experiences S.E. pilots, F/O (now F/Lt.) Stealey, F/O Jones, and P/O Greenhalgh, all of whom had the glorious total of 30 hours on type, and three who were in need of conversion, having nil hours, to wit F/O Provenzano, ex Eagle Squadron, and our first graduate to the U.S. Army Air Corps, Sgt. De Roeck, now a P/O at Kingston, and Sgt. Easterman, now Flight Sergeant, and of course F/Sgt. Rowlands (now W.O.), who managed miracles of maintenance with approximately one screwdriver.
During the first three weeks of flying, which were probably the finest three weeks of flying weather we have yet experienced at Weyburn, some of us were duly converted, and others departed to commence instruction of the never-to-be-forgotten 36 Course. F/O (“When I was on ‘ops’”) Provenzano was still Flight Commander, F/O (now F/Lt. and the Boss) Bennett had joined us, and the remainder were F/O Steadley, P/O Greenhalgh, P/O Large (alias P/O Prune), and F/Sgt. “Tubby Sebastian” Earp (“I’m tired of flying”).
And with the beginning of No. 36 Course began also our efforts to find heat, and our curiously coincident movement from hangar to hangar to hangar. Thus every few days we were bundled into a new hangar, there to huddle together in the Flight Commander’s office, wearing greatcoats, flying clothing, and newly acquired winter hats, with flaps down, into, and across, and down wind.
In spite of it all, though, and in spite also of the fact that the chequered flag became more and more familiar, No. 36 Course began to go solo, and everyone started learning about our flying machine. “Chiefy” Rowlands began to acquire more tools, and in their spare time the ground crew – Molloy, Parker, Hardstaffe, Thompson and Allin, supervised by Corporals Tomes and Westwood, constructed chocks or just used blocks of wood. Bradford even went to sleep over his charts.
Then came the thaw - and Buttress. On the F. 17s appeared the magic words “From Buttress – to Buttress,” and Ansons took off with staggering loads of potential pilots. The most remarkable things were done at Weyburn and at Buttress to keep the aircraft serviceable, and words cannot describe the extraordinary way in which “Chiefy” Rowlands and “Robby” did their splendid jobs of work. The telephone worked overtime, the ground crew worked overtime, and the aircrew sometimes got stuck. But of Buttress more in the next issue. The whole episode deserves a magazine to itself.
EVERY DEBIT
Once more the festive season is past, together with its usual complement of full stomachs and hangovers, and regretfully the Accounts Wallahs realize that they must put their noses to the grindstone once more and keep their pencils well sharpened. It is with feelings of great trepidation that we look forward to the New Year, with Pay Accounts wondering how many more procedures are to be thrust upon them, and equipment living in dread of the Auditors’ forthcoming descent to disturb their somnolent calm.
At the time of writing, most of the staff have not returned from their Xmas leave and it occurs to us who are left to wonder what sort of a line our “Rush – this is for a soldier” A/G. has been shooting to his tootsie from Brooklyn, whether our resident of Berkley Square has really got himself married in Lethbridge, how many girls in Minneapolis now have broken hearts over those two gallant heroes of the skies Cpls. Luffman and Warren; whether Cpl. Longstaffe really did tell the folks in Chicago that his “A” only means Auxiliary, and whether Cp. Drewery has been “nipping around smartly” in spite of his “Blighty” feet. However all our questions and many more will be answered in a few days and so we sink back into our lethargy with the inevitable cry “Roll on the Boat.”
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SERGEANTS’ MESS NOTES
Many farewells this month. At last “Chiefy” Brockington is on the boat and he has taken with him Sgt. “Blondie” Evans. Brock had a great send off from the gang and no doubt he will remember the Mess-on-the-prairies for many years to come.
* * *
We shall miss Tom Riby. Tom has now received his commission and his departure from our Mess to the Officers’ coincided with our losing Ryck Ryckman on posting to Winnipeg and W.O. Doug Campbell who has been whisked across Canada to somewhere in New Brunswick. Thus most of the Sergeants’ Mess Concert Party left us in one day. It only eaves Hal Jones and Frank Hartnell, and rumour has it that Hal Jones in sweating on the boat and may be away shortly.
* * *
The Quiz programme on Saturday nights has “caught on” and the “Oscar” (now worth $6) has not yet been won.
* * *
Members who stayed in camp over Xmas were treated to a very unusual sight for someone shaved off half of Flight Sergeant Harrison’s moustache off. He was very proud of his half moustache until he woke up on Boxing Day morning and looked in the mirror.
Visitor to the Mess was W.O. Sowerby who paid us a call from Penhold; at the request of Lofty Rainey he did he celebrated settee act. A table of four sat up till the early hours binding about the past.
* * *
The Xmas Draw was a wow.
Over $200 in prizes were distributed during the evening and Mrs. Hancocks and Mrs. Ayres presided over the draw. Amongst the winners were the Group Captain, S/L. “A”, Wing Commander Hancocks, and the two gem prizes went to P/O. Coney who won a Bottle and a Cocktail Set.
A packet of ExLax was won by F/Lt. Ross.
* * *
And, in conclusion, we enquire whether “Tubby” Earp has built that road from Estevan to Froude? … If Flight Sergeant Holland ever reads D.R.O.’s …? If Bob Betts can do A.C.P. by remote control from Regina? … Who smacked the geranium at Ron Gee’s house? … Is Dick Richardson really posted to Servicing? … Was Sgt. Blacklock playing in an orchestra at Command …?
STORES GOSSIP
Amidst masses of inventories, vouchers, C.A.Ps., and all the other paraphernalia connected with our job, and faced with the pleasant prospect of five days absence from it all ahead of us, we are attempting to contribute our monthly effort to this month’s “Gopher.”
Our building has recently been caged in and put outside the camp gates. There have been several rumors floating around as to why this has been done, but we can assure you that it wasn’t done to keep you out – we can never hope to do that it seems! We are pleased to observe, however, that with the aid of Station Standing Orders, D.R.Os., our prominent notice board, and umpteen verbal instruction, people are generally getting to know our hours of business.
A year or so ago we were housed temporarily in No. 5 Hangar, trying to post vouchers with one gloved hand and tend a smoking stove with the other – and thinking of home. Today we are permanently settled within our cage, working in comparative comfort (if no one leaves the door open!) – and still thinking of home. Who knows, tomorrow may see our dreams coming true – and pigs might fly!
At the moment we are looking forward, like everyone else, to a well-earned rest, and – curse it! there goes that bell. “Yes, Sir, the Padre’s inventory is ready … No, Sir, there are no clothing parades today … Yes, Sir, the paper work’s almost up to date. … Er, can I have an early chit, Sir?”
Look out, Winnipeg, here I come!
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SPORTS
[Drawing of a man playing basketball]
BOXING
The major sporting event of the month was the first Station Boxing Tournament, held in the Drill Hall on December 15th. A very good evening’s entertainment was enjoyed by a large crowd. Several of the contestants seemed rather short of training, but the standard of boxing was generally high.
The results were as follows:
LAC. Thompson beat LAC. Jones (k.o.).
LAC. Walters beat Cpl. Tate on points.
LAC. Marshall beat AC. Howard on points.
Cpl. Farley beat LAC. Harris in the second round.
LAC. Willis beat AC. Annear on points.
Cpl. Roberts beat LAC. Adams on points.
LAC. Recile beat LAC. Taylor on points.
LAC. Stokes beat AC. Scott on points.
During the interval a mock “pro” bout was fought to a bitter and surprising end. It took the form of a challenge match between “Delayed Action” Hartnell and “Tornado” Robinson. The former, in spite of a flagrant disregard of the training rules regarding smoking (he entered the ring behind an outsize cigar) administered the k.o. with such paralyzing effect that it was not until the arrival of the stretcher that his opponent fell to the floor.
Another boxing tournament is planned for 17th February. There is plenty of time between now and that date for training. There must be many people on the camp who have sufficient knowledge of boxing at least to make a showing. We hope that they will come along, and thereby encourage others to take part. Pilot Officer Ryley, who organized the first tournament, has several assistants, all of whom are eager and willing to instruct and help you in any way they can. Take advantage of their knowledge, and turn up to the practices in the Drill Hall.
BASKETBALL
Most of us are very much beginners at this game, and in order to help us the Weyburn Collegiate team have offered to come up to the camp and show us how. We have already met them once in Weyburn, when the Station was beaten during extra time by 32 points to 26. This is a pretty good effort for our first game, but the result is not the important point. What mattered most was that those who played saw their mistakes, learned something about tactics, particularly the zone defence, which presents a very formidable barrier. The Collegiate team will be visiting the camp shortly to give us another game, and we hope that as many of you as possible will come along to take advantage of this opportunity of seeing the game.
[Drawings]
A drunk in Manitoba
Thought he sang like Tauba
His neighbors talked it oba,
And shot him dead – and soba.
The moral then, is woba
Tide him, drunk or soba,
Who sings like Richard Tauba
And lives in Manitoba.
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THAT CHRISTMAS DINNER
AT YOUR SERVICE
[Photograph of a group of people behind dining tables]
…BUT YOU SHOULD SEE IT AT CHRISTMAS!
[Photograph of rows of dining tables in a decorated canteen]
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[Drawing of a chequered flag] Around the Hangars
H
We wrote the most brilliant notes ever for the December issue, but like so many of our ace pupes on cross-countries, they got lost for no apparent reason. This month, however, we are rather at a loss, as there has been so little flying that the pupes have had little chance to do anything very Prune-like; no ground loops, no prangs, no nothing … Or can it be because we are so efficient?
First let us congratulate Flight Lieutenant Walker on his elevation to the Temple as Examining Officer. However, we also sympathise, as owing to the size of courses he will have to insinuate himself into the back seats of the despised buzz-boxes rather more often than he would wish.
We also extend a welcome to our new Skipper, F/O. Griffiths, who has already made his presence felt by subletting all the awkward jobs to each and every one of his stooges. We haven’t seen F/O. Miller out in the garden with his pick and spade.
Have any flights evolved new formulae for the “hours flown” charts? If so, please give us the gen, as the ever-increasing red sector is demoralising us, and the coffee flag is flying so regularly that our timekeeper hasn’t a chance to use his abundant supply of sharp pencils.
We cannot be accused of lack of keenness, as our skipper is always off to Lang before daylight to examine the weather from all angles – has the two hours I.F. per month anything to do with this? And what else but our enthusiasm can have caused the flare path party to ask for danger money?
G
Since we last wrote, some changes have taken place in the Flight, notably:
P/O. Stevenson’s carrying the whip around for Chief Ledbrook, who is visiting happier hunting grounds.
P/O. Nairn is growing a moustache to confuse his pupils.
P/O. Jones became of age!
And P/O. Gerdes has become a total abstainer since becoming a victim of a savage attack by hordes of pink elephants.
Sergeant Evans was suddenly snatched from us and posted far away, together with Taff Bevan and Snag Allen. Although he Backbone of the Flight has gone, we hide our tears as best we can and carry on. At least we have now two vacant chairs, and can sleep in comparative peace. We take this opportunity of welcoming Sgt. Patton and AC.s Meara and Bellamy, and would like them to know that if things ever become complicated poison can be obtained from Watts at a cost of two cents.
On behalf of the ground crew we wish to thank Mr. Stevenson and the other instructors for kindly remembering them at Christmas, and can assure them that from now on their engines will fire on all cylinders.
LAC. Staines was so good in the Pantomime that we have asked him to put on a floor show in the instructors’ room. Corporal Bryan, with the kind permission of the boys, is doing his part; he has promised to swallow broken glass, followed by two pints of liquid cement.
Doctor Watkinson, having enjoyed a White Christmas, is now ready to resume his advice to those contemplating marriage. All such advice is free, and satisfaction cannot be guaranteed.
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A
Christmas fills the mind of everyone, and those not in the process of being blackmailed are busy blackmailing.
Here are some gems we have picked up whilst passing through Pete’s hangar:
“In only five days I spent $1.50. Expensive places, these farms!”
“I’ll send you a mink coat, several diamond rings, and a box of Kleenex.” (The Kleenex has arrived.)
“Remember the wizard blonde and that brunette, like Lamarr, and that redhead – gosh, that redhead!” Heard three carriages away on the train: “I don’t worry, I’ll be home by April!”
Enough of that! Let’s switch on the microphone concealed in the pupils’ room …
One of our pupils seems very fortunate in his allocation of instructors: it seems he struck a prima donna. When asked what his first experience of a Harvard was like, he replied: “Well, I wouldn’t say they were quiet, but what shook me was their vocal ability. I looked up to ask my instructor where the music came from over the inter-comm. but I decided against it when all I could see in the rear vision mirror was a set of gleaming teeth and a quivering moustache.”
We seem to be blessed with a brilliant pair of financiers amongst the “A” Flight ground crew; rumour has it that Birch and Love can turn a five dollar bill into a hundred quarters. We envy them.
They say our Ledbury is flying high these days. Perhaps those pyjamas have gone to his head.
Our ex-boy, Blondie, seems to have the real Service spirit, always opens his eyes at Reveille, picks up a paper, lights a cigarette, and lies back to reap the benefits of his early morning work. He must enjoy listening to the Australian vernacular, or perhaps he’s only young and wants to learn to swear.
Heard a Certain Sergeant talking about a Kiwi from Aotearoa. Seems this Kiwi took an unholy delight in demonstrating advanced aerobatics to a certain pupil of his who had been partaking of the holiday spirit. But why the blazes turn around and ask with a cynical smile “Did you like that last one?” You have to be polite in war time, more’s the pity.
They tell me the Calgary air is very bracing these days, and is an ideal place for war-weary tourists to regain their lost vitality. But the tourists we saw there the other day, the vitality they discovered didn’t leave them with that Vitamin A look. But is might have been Vitamin E …
It seems a certain Squad Commander was once a Navy man. But we don’t think it’s quite the thing to whistle “Anchors Aweigh” when he calls at 6 a.m. These “wallabies” certainly have queer habits.
We, the “boys,” and the Boss himself would like to take this opportunity of wishing one and all the very best of New Years.
Back to the old grind now? Let’s do that, eh?
F
Amid a fanfare of gosports in harmony, “F” Flight, No. 64 Course, passes from grim reality to colourful memory. When jet-propelled stratocraft are landing at Weyburn airport, senile greasemonkeys will foregather to relate how, back in ’42, they helped to pull the chocks away for the Flight that set up the all-time flying record. U/t riggers of future autogyro limousines will listen in awe to an octogenarian propswinger telling of how they set the night flying record at 41 S.F.T.S. Nor will the tale of E. and F Flights’ joint night-flying figures lose anything in the telling.
Hark ye, pupes of 1943, the times set up by the last of the 1942 courses …. (Deleted by censor).
Such an achievement can only be celebrated in one manner. To the accompaniment of the whirling drone of props in fully fine, a virgin aircraft, unsullied by pupes, was wheeled forth from the immediate reserve. Threefold D.I.s were scrupulously and ceremoniously performed by airmen with not less than two G.C. stripes each. A brave and selfless pilot stood forth to perform the ceremony. Amid much wailing and lamentation he took the p lane forth to Lang and dashed it headlong into the ground. A fitting dedication. The pieces were gathered and used as gremlin charms. (N.B. Courses to follow please note that this ceremony can only be performed by a ginger-headed airman.)
21
[Page break]
But though the letters of loved ones flowed into the officers’ mess some days before the Wings Parade, members of the Flight feel they have failed lamentably. Despite all their efforts, P/O. Hopeful still tries to land his kite as though it were fitted with skis. Sergeant Netherlands’ acquaintance with accommodating duty pilots has Improved faster than his flying. P/O. Sedge still insists upon practising aerobatics long after the chequered flag goes up.
Stoogepilots Twister and Deadly were of course beyond hope when they came here, and it would take more than a hurricane to drag W/O. Blessemall from his bed before noon.
We have done our best, but there was too much for one course to do. Training the C.I. to lower the undercart and not the flaps is a job for future courses. To them we hand over the controls, in the earnest hope that they in their turn will leave their instructors a little better than they find them.
And so, with a flourish of chequered flags, the last of the 1942 courses passes on.
X
Its me agane, Joe. They avnt found im yet (Willy Prangit I mene.) The F.C. (see larst munth for wot that menes) cuddent tell yew ware e wos (Willy) on akownt of no wun to releave Im (the F.C.) on the Arty. He opes to ave is tail reddy by nex munths gofer.
December was wot they call Instrukters Paradice they rushed into the krew room shouting Bagzerclamp and Werzertee evry day and after droring lots to se hoo ad to bind the pupes spent the mornin playing poker. Of corse we ad to clene the kites long after every wun ad gorn. It’s the same the ole world over as they say. Cor thares that sarjint agane he binds us rigid orl day. “Yor kite as bin down 2 minits … The egzaminin officer wonts is nashin in arfanour” … “Wossermrrer wiv 72” … “Pushumin pushumout pushumin. “26 mister Ross sez …”
Why didn’t I join the army?
Appy noo yer.
Joe.
C
It is now two months since “C” Flight last contributed to these columns, but in a general glow of benevolence engendered by the prospect of five days buckshee leave, we are prompted to ask a few questions:
Which u/t always takes an unopened packet of English Players with his to Link?
Which instructors will become of age next month? And will they then really be allowed to go up without a pupe as a safety pilot?
If a u/t drops his pencil on a Cross Country, Willie slow roll to recover it?
Who caught the clock on Christmas Eve?
Does No. – always fly with a side panel off?
Is there a future in O.O. or is it just for old times sake?
There are a lot more things we want to know, but the train is due in any time now, so here we go.
Happy New Year, fellows!
E
We must apologise for missing out on last month’s Flight Notes. We hope the “Gopher” sales didn’t drop too badly.
Once more another course of dashing aviators has come and gone. The best of luck and Happy Landings to all of No. 64 Course!
Calling Cpl. Cooper, “D” Flight! Please send over your chief gremlin catcher. Two of your pets are tying knots in our aileron control cables.
Welcome to Cpl. Cocks, who has joined us from Majors. They say he went away at Christmas and came back with a cute bride. Congratulations, Cpl. And Mrs. Cocks, and Best Wishes from the Flight.
Congratulations to P/O. Riby on obtaining his commission.
Before we leave our crew room and go off on our New Yea’s grant, we cast an eye on the Serviceability Board. We are most surprised to see that all our aircraft are serviceable! This would call for investigation at any other time, but we’ve got to run like mad for that train, although it’s bound to be late.
22
[Page break]
B
After having disposed of No. 62 Course in the usual manner, we turned, not without a twinge of uneasiness (or was it remorse?) to the purveying of gen to No. 70 Course, who eventually took to the air after waiting nearly a week for the notorious Canadian winter to demonstrate to what lengths it would go in order to keep them on the ground. (“Oh, yes, in Canada there are 360 flying days each year.”)
Meanwhile Sgt. Dakeyne went into retirement, recovering from the mumps, going on sick leave, filling up clearance certificates, pushing out the boat, buying a uniform, and eventually emerged a Pilot Officer, complete with a lofty winter cap. He is now hovering uncertainly between Minneapolis, Weyburn, and Calgary, and is the recipient of our most sincere congratulations for having at last vacated the position of “Joe,” the occupation of which is now undisputed.
“The Boss’s” time is now taken up with trying to think of things to tell Cpl. Lambeth to invent, and with murmuring “What a beautiful chart; not a mark on it!” whereas P/O. Dixon is always as busy as anything, drawing, writing peremptory instructions, and contributing greatly to the growth of grey hair on Sgt. Tomes’ head by putting unserviceable any aeroplane he lays eyes on. Flight Sergeant Plummer gets so disturbed about it that he sometimes puts the other leg up on the table.
We have lost two of the ground crew, LAC. Mark and AC. Huck, due to sudden activity on board the Boat. While we are sorry to see them go, we cannot commiserate with them. We are more than envious.
Hitler has no advantages over Flying Wing Headquarters when it comes to New Orders. They are so prolific that P/O. Knowles takes them up and down the tow-line with him. He says they take his mind off things.
D
Great news! LAC. Birkhead has at last caught The Boat, after sweating on the top line for several months past. When the news was broken to him he sighed and said he didn’t want to go, and they had to escort him round the camp to make sure he got his clearance certificate signed.
We welcome to the Flight Cpl. Thompson. He takes the place of Cpl. Fearon, now thoroughly organised at Moose Jaw, to judge from recent reports.
Since one of our pupes, LAC. Marshall, won his boxing bout in the recent Boxing Tournament LAC. Steele has been fancying his chances as a professional. Thanks to the excellent advice of LAC. Morley, he can now beat up his own shadow.
F/O. Rutledge is getting rather worried over one of his pupes, tall, dark and handsome Romeo Marriott, who is now wandering around with a far-away look in those “come-hither” eyes of his. We wonder who it can be this time …?
The whole Flight Was amazed the other day at the sight of “Flash” Harris, told to deliver a message to F/O. Stephen. As the weather was cold, “Flash” quickened his step almost to running pace. Amid great applause from the lads he charged down the tarmac, past F/Lt. Martin, who was so surprised that he dropped his parachute, and at last reached the brave Sir Galahad of the skies. “Dual only, Sir!” he panted, and then turned around and thundered back into the hangar.
LAC. Horrocks claims the entire credit for this amazing occurrence. And we must agree that his cocoa is a most dangerous brew.
B.J.C.
You know, getting out this magazine is no picnic. If we print light stuff, people say we are silly.
If we don’t, they say we are too serious.
If we clip things from other magazines, we are too lazy to write ourselves.
If we don’t, we are too fond of our own stuff.
If we don’t print contributions, we don’t appreciate real genius.
If we do print them, the magazine is full of junk.
What would you do, chum?
23
[Page break]
WOPPORTUNISM
I have discovered a secret weapon. No, not that sort of Secret Weapon the Ground School instructors tell you is a deadly secret, and no telling tales out of School, yet which every magazine you read makes a point of revealing I full detail. No, my Secret Weapon is the fully aerobatic gopher.
In this game of Commish. Last week my Flight Commander taxied into the kite I was trying to start up. He didn’t noticeably damage it. There I was. And there was he. I knew he couldn’t make it, but he wasn’t going to call out a joe to yank his tail wheel round with a pupe as an audience. I felt a sudden push, and he swung gaily into position. That, he thought, was that.
And it very nearly was. But, my dear Sir, not quite. For there comes a day when the editor of any station magazine goes into a flat spin. That day is known to the initiated as the day of going to press. Pat him on the back and hand him a manuscript right then, and he’ll grab the vilest piece of blackmail as “copy.”
Now, then … Is it Commish? Or do I … ?
So much for the preamble. Did it ever occur to you to apply the gen that drops from the lips of that clan of paragons, the Wireless Ops, to wider spheres of experience? For instance, that preamble text-ending business …? Can’t you just heat those ex-brats beginning “Now, when you’ve been in the Service as long as I have …” Preamble. Just plain preamble. Ultimately you find they’ve about as much service (and a fellow who can find nothing more to boast about than the length of time he has been in the R.A.F. is nearer the lunatic asylum than those fellows who put on skates and “crack the whip” there) – about a much service, I say, as the fellow I met at Grove Court. He had just learned to say “brassed” with the correct slant, and was complaining bitterly of life in the R.A.F. I asked him how long he had been in. “All day!” he replied.
The Walrus and the Carpenter were walking to and fro’;
They binded rigidly to see such quantities of snow.
“If seven erks with seven brooms should sweep for half a year,
Do you suppose,” the Walrus said,
“They’d then please Sergeant Cur?”
“How the heck would I know …
And anyway, who cares,” said Chips, who always was a cantankerous old codger.
THERE [underlined] IS [/underlined] A “FUTURE” IN IT
At the Christmas dinner the Commanding Officer congratulated the Unit on the way in which everyone on the Station had worked together to make the Unit a happy one.
Here at Weyburn we have probably as full a program of recreational, social and entertainment events as any R.A.F. Station, but in most cases all the work is done by a handful of enthusiasts, who give up much more of their time and energy than we should reasonably expect of them.
It is very easy to criticise destructively, but destructive criticism is generally valueless. The only person qualified to engage in constructive criticism is the fellow who is good at that very job himself, or who at least has ideas which would be much more valuable if they were presented before the show or whatever it is which is being put on. There is no place at this Unit for the back seat driver.
Shall we see to it that during this second year of No. 41 each of us finds a job to do in which he really can play his part in promoting the happiness of his fellows. The Bands, the Concert Party, the Dramatic Society, the Male Chorus, and – yes, you guessed it! – this magazine, will be especially glad of your assistance.
The Flying Gopher is published on the 15th of each month by and for the entertainment of the personnel of No. 41 S.F.T.S. (R.A.F.) at Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada. Printed for the Publishers by the Weyburn Review.
24
[Page break]
state it reflects the sky-waves of H/F & M/F
[Underlined] SKIP distance [/underlined]
[Diagram]
No reception between attenuation of ground wave & return to earth of sky wave.
[Deleted Night [/deleted] wave for D/F is ground. Reflection no good. [Diagram]
347. P/O WATSON SELF 1 hr
1 AB 2 3 3m 4567 10 20 22
[Page break]
[Underlined] Frequency Grouping [/underlined]
M/F 1000 K/Cs to 3000 K/Cs
H/F 3000 K/Cs to 30,000 K/Cs
V/HF 30,000 K/Cs + over.
MF long ground wave for Direct communications + DF. [Diagram] Sky wave absorbed by heaviside
HF Shorter ground wave suitable for short distance D.F.
Long Distance on reflected sky wave heaviside layer. [Diagram]
VHF. Short, easily attenuated ground waves.
Sky wave. Due to high frequency penetrates heaviside layer does not return to earth.
[Underlined] Height of aircraft [/underlined]
Min height for D/F is 2000 ft.
[Underlined] Heaviside Layer [/underlined]
A layer of ionised air about 200 miles above earth’s surface.
In the daytime Heavyside layer is not very dense, with the result that it can absorb the sky waves of M/F & H/F At night time the layer descends & contracts & becomes denser. In this
Dublin Core
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Title
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The Flying Gopher January 1943
Description
An account of the resource
This edition covers an Editorial, poems, the padres notes, romantic fiction, a car chase in London, a list of expenditure of the station's social funds, recollections of flying in the Great War, Christmas stories, Officers Mess gossip, a story about the snow blower, Sergeants Mess stories, sports news, stories from the station Flight groups.
Additionally there are two handwritten pages of radio notes.
Creator
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41 SFTS Weyburn
Date
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1943-01
Format
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25 printed sheets and two pages of handwritten notes
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
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MFordTA1585520-170411-15
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
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Canada
Saskatchewan--Weyburn
Saskatchewan
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
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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.
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Anne-Marie Watson
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1943-01
aircrew
arts and crafts
entertainment
gremlin
Harvard
love and romance
sport
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1085/22871/MPritchard2206805-171108-030001.1.jpg
b252dc5b9bffa797863889d7604666e8
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1085/22871/MPritchard2206805-171108-030002.1.jpg
33d1814b2dc48009b7a622e54a3d367f
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Pritchard, Arthur
A Pritchard
Description
An account of the resource
Six items. An oral history interview with Carolyn Pritchard about her father, Arthur Pritchard (2206806 Royal air Force) documents and photographs. He flew operations as a flight engineer with with 463, 467 and 97 Squadron until he was shot down. He was hidden by the French Resistance until the liberation of Paris.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Carolyn Pritchard and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2017-08-23
Rights
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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.
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Pritchard, A
Transcribed document
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THE EXPOITS OF
WARRANT OFFICER
ARTHUR PRITCHARD
By his daughter, CAROLYN PRITCHARD
My father, Warrant Officer Arthur Pritchard, passed away on May 28, 2010, aged 86 years.
His life story is of humour, luck, and courage. It is also a story of the heroism of the French people who took him under their protection at great risk to themselves.
He was born in Beach Road, Y Felinheli (Port Dinorwig), on April 13, 1924, one of seven children of Arthur and Hannah May Pritchard.
[Photograph of an airman] Arthur Pritchard in his Flight Sergeant uniform
He joined the Royal Air Force before his 18th birthday, and did his training at R.A.F. St. Athan in South Wales, where he passed out as a Flight Sergeant and was posted to R.A.F. Winthorpe in Lincolnshire, where he was introduced to his Australian crew as a Flight Engineer. On February 29, 1944 the crew joined 463 Squadron based at RAF Waddington. During their time there they completed 17 sorties over Germany and France.
On May 7, 1944, Pilot Officer Bryan Giddins and crew were posted to 97 Pathfinder Force at RAF Coningsby. They completed a further three missions, seeing action on D-Day.
On their twenty-first sortie on June 9/10, 1944, on a night raid over a railway junction at Etampes, south of Paris, pilot Officer Giddings and his crew failed to return. After releasing flares over the target their Lancaster, ND764, was hit by flak and then attacked from below by a night fighter.
Many years later when he was able to relate his story, my father recollected the moment at the time when the aircraft was hit:- “The inner or outer port side engine was on fire, - it could have been either as there wasn’t much space between the engines. The suicidal height at which we were flying, the noise, the cabin full of smoke and partially lit, communications cut, cramped conditions in the cockpit, no place to wear your parachute (it had to be stored on the floor), frantically searching for it, the rush of cold air from the open back door, trying to prise open the escape hatch at the front, every second wasted making survival more improbable, the whole episode could not have lasted for more than a few minutes, and before we realised it was a doomed machine, we would have had even less time to make our getaway. The Lancaster was not air-crew friendly!”
Out of a crew of seven there were only two survivors. Pilot officer Bryan Giddings and Navigator Bryce Webb bailed out of the blazing plane but their parachutes did not deploy in time. The Lancaster finally crashed in a field near the village of Souzy la Briche. Carrying with it the remaining three crew members – Mid-Upper Gunner John McGill, Rear-Gunner Johnny Seale and H2S Operator Charles Clement. Wireless Operator Bob Bethell had baled out through the rear door, but was captured by a German patrol and ended up in Stalag Luft 7 Bankau, near Kreulberg.
When my father and the crew failed to return from the mission my grandparents Arthur and Hannah Mary received a telegram followed by a letter advising them that their son was missing presumed killed. During the time he was missing they and the family never gave up hope that he was still alive. On one occasion the local vicar called on them to ask permission for a memorial service for him to be arranged in the village. They declined saying “Our son is coming home”.
[Underlined] Their faith was rewarded because Flight-Engineer Arthur Pritchard evaded capture. [/underlined]
The aircraft was on fire and perilously low when he bailed out and he made a heavy landing, spraining his ankle. After wondering around the French countryside with his damaged ankle and famously asking villagers for a way to the coast, he eventually arrived at the village of Egly and entered the local church. Seeing a man by the alter he told him that he was an injured RAF airman. The Frenchman was unable to speak English, but gave him some water and pointed towards a café opposite the church. On entering the café, Dad waving a 100 Franc note from his RAF kit, ordered champagne, as this was the only French word he knew. Panic broke out as
[Boxed] [Photograph of a Lancaster]
The first Lancaster bomber came off the production line at the beginning of 1942. It was designed by AVRO’s chief designer, Roy Chadwick. The plane started out as Avro Manchester, a twin engine model, but in anticipation of the greater range that Bomber Command would require as the RAF took the war to the German heartland, Chadwick modified the Manchester to house four engines. Apart from the engine changes, the Manchester design was so good it did not take much work to come up with the new model, renamed the Lancaster.
The plane came famous later of course following the well-documented Dambuster Raid, when 617 Squadron attacked the Eder and Ruhr dams. [/boxed]
[Page break]
[Boxed] 97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron,
Royal Air Force,
CONINGSBY,
Lincolnshire.
10th June, 1944.
Dear Mr. Pritchard,
It is with deep regret that I must confirm that your son, Sergeant A. Pritchard, failed to return from operations this morning, the 10th June, 1944, and I wish to express the great sympathy which this Squadron feel with you during the [indecipherable] any news comes through.
Your son was taking part in an operation against a military target and [indecipherable] France, Flight Engineer of the aircraft. No news has been received since the aircraft left base last night – we can only hope that they had the chance to bale out and are safe, even as prisoners of war.
Sergeant Pritchard had only been serving with this Squadron for a short while, but during that period he was able to operate with us on the opening of the Second Front. He had operated with another Squadron prior to coming here, and had taken part in fifteen sorties, many of which were against major objectives in Germany. On this occasion he was working with his usual crew. Your son was keen and capable as a flight engineer, and he and his crew will be a great loss to the Squadron; we shall all miss them very much.
It [indecipherable] to explain that the request in the telegram notifying you of this casualty was [indecipherable] your son’s chance of escape being prejudged by [indecipherable] he is still at large. This is not to say that any information about him is available, but us a precaution adopted in the case of all personnel reported missing.
His kit and personal effects are being carefully collected and will be sent to the R.A.F. Central Depository, Colebrook, Slough, from whom you will hear in due course.
If any news is received you will be communicated with immediately, and in the meantime I join with you in hoping that we shall soon hear favourable news of your son and the remainder of the crew.
Yours sincerely,
[Signature]
Squadron Leader, Commanding,
No. 97 (Straits Settlements)
[Underlined] Squadron, R.A.F. CONINGSBY. [/underlined]
Mr. A. Pritchard,
10, [indecipherable];
PORT [indecipherable]
N. Wales.
[/boxed]
[Boxed] On the left is the letter dated June 10, 1944, that Arthur and Hannah Mary Pritchard received from the RAF confirming that their son had not returned from his latest mission and stating that his loss and those of the crew would be very much missed. It goes on to say that he may be still at large but that no information about him was available.
It concludes by stating that if any favourable news about him was received that the RAF would communicate immediately with the family in Felinheli. [/boxed]
there were Germans in the village, and he was hastily ushered into a back room. A young teenage boy, who could speak a little English, was brought to the café, and Dad explained his plight and was then taken to a nearby wood where he was hidden overnight in a small air-raid-type shelter in the ground whilst his identity was being checked out.
Once the o.k. was received from London, the local leader of the French Resistance was summoned. Arthur Pritchard was put into the care of Monsieur George Dantan and his family who risked being shot if caught hiding a British airman. He was given civilian clothing; ID as a deaf and dumb Frenchman, and a bicycle. He was told that he was to be moved to a safe house in Antony, near Paris. His instructions were to follow the parcel tied to the back of Monsieur Dantan’s bicycle – but not necessarily follow Monsieur Dantan. On arriving at the safe house several hours later, Monsieur Dantan entered the building, and several minutes later came out and removed the parcel from the bicycle and re-entered the house. This was the signal for Das that it was safe for him to enter. When he did so, the two men embraced, – relieved to have reached their destination safely.
He evaded capture for over two months, being moved several times to safe houses, until the Liberation of Paris on August 24.
On the liberation of Paris his parents received another telegram, this time stating that my father had been found safe and well. On seeing him for the first time, as he came down the steps to his home in an emaciated state, my grandmother fainted with the shock and relief of his safe return.
Whilst in hiding he had many adventures and kept a diary, and his story is told in the book Achieve Your Aim by Kevin Bending, and in a book written in French by Georges Dantan Junior, the English version of which is available on the 97 Squadron Association’s website.
My father was unaware of the fate of his fellow-crew members and he was constantly worried over their safety. He would not be told that they had perished in the crash until his return home. The only Welshman in an Australian crew, he was inevitably called Taffy, and they did everything together – ate, slept, fought, drank and danced. It was a tremendous blow to him when he learned of their fate.
After he was repatriated to the UK, he was posted to RAF West Freugh in Scotland as an Air Traffic Controller. He left the RAF with the rank of Warrant Officer.
Arthur Pritchard met his future wife, Edna May Cardwell, from Liverpool, whilst both were stationed at RAF Waddington, and were married in December 1947 at Llanfairisgaer Church, just outside Y Felinheli. Both are interred in the churchyard there, Edna having predeceased him on October 10, 2001.
Loyal to his wartime crew he made several visits to their war graves, near to where they perished. He was always warmly welcomed by the Mayor and villagers near the crash site, and he always laid wreaths at the well-attended graves of his wartime “family”. On one occasion he was presented with parts from the Lancaster wreckage, including the cam-shaft. The French and Australian families kept in touch over the years and visited him at his home in Wales.
[Photograph of a man wearing medals] Arthur Pritchard (the civilian) in his latter days
In his latter years he took delight in visiting his former air bases in Lincolnshire and was always warmly welcomed by the RAF personnel. On one memorable visit he was privileged to go on board the Lancaster Bomber based at RAF Coningsby – for him an unforgettable experience.
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Title
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The Exploits of Warrant Officer Arthur Pritchard
Description
An account of the resource
A biography of Arthur Pritchard written by his daughter. It covers his training, operations and the night he was shot down. Despite speaking no French he was assisted to a hideout in Paris where he remained until Paris was liberated in August 1944.
Creator
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Carolyn Pritchard
Format
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Two printed sheets
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
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MPritchard2206805-171108-030001, MPritchard2206805-171108-030002
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
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France--Paris
Great Britain
England--Liverpool
Wales--Y Felinheli
France--Étampes (Essonne)
France
England--Lancashire
Temporal Coverage
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1944-06-09
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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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
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Anne-Marie Watson
463 Squadron
617 Squadron
97 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
bale out
Chadwick, Roy (1893-1947)
crash
evading
final resting place
flight engineer
H2S
killed in action
Lancaster
Manchester
missing in action
navigator
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Pathfinders
pilot
prisoner of war
RAF Coningsby
RAF St Athan
RAF Waddington
RAF West Freugh
RAF Winthorpe
Resistance
shot down
Stalag Luft 7
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/743/20144/MCleggPV[DoB]-150701-02.pdf
cc959d27492067f7304ce163479ecd13
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Clegg, Peter Vernon
P V Clegg
Description
An account of the resource
Eight items and five sub-collections. Main collection contains a log of Pathfinder operations from RAF Wyton 1943 -1944, histories of the Avro repair facility at Bracebridge Heath, and Langar, a biography of Squadron Leader David James Baikie Wilson, biography of Squadron Leader Lighton Verdon-Roe, a book - Test Pilots of A.V. Roe & Co Ltd - S.A. 'Bill' Thorn, and two volumes of book - Roy Chadwick - no finer aircraft designer, Sub-collections contain a total of 29 items concerning the Aldborough Dairy and Cafe as well as biographical material, including log books for Alan Gibson, Peter Isaacson, Alistair Lang and Charles Martin. <br /><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/1772">Aldborough Dairy and Cafe</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/1768">Gibson, Alan</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/1769">Isaacson, Peter</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/1770">Lang, Alastair</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/1771">Martin, Charles</a><br /><br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Peter Clegg and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-07-02
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
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Clegg, PV
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Underlined] THE AVRO
REPAIR
ORGANISATION [/underlined]
II) LANGAR
[Page break]
[Underlined] Peter. V. Clegg [/underlined]
PART II
THE LANGAR-CUM-BAR [/deleted] I [/deleted] NSTONE WORKS
The first sheds of A V Roe and Co Ltd’s new Repair Works at Langar airfield were constructed through the summer of 1942, as the bomber airfield itself was finished off and made ready for occupation.
The Avro works (see diagram attached drawn by Ken Allen) was constructed on the west side of the narrow Langar to Harby country road, effectively outside the security fence around the airfield (which lay on the East side of this lane).
The No. 1 Hangar (or ‘Shed’ – as it was called by the factory workers) was the first to be completed and No. 2 and No. 4 (with the office accommodation) were being finished off in August 1942 when the first employees started work under Mr Ingrid, the Works Superintendent.
(Ingrid was later succeeded by ‘Phil’ Lightfoot, C Oatway, and last of all before Langar closed in 1968, Johnny Smallwood.)
Nos. 3, 5 and 6 Hangars were finished off during the next few months, and No. 7 Hangar – extra large in size, to take the new Avro Lincoln bomber – was finished in 1944.
The large Dispersal Area (No. 17 on the diagram) was also complete and as all the Avro site at this time was across the road from the airfield (with its heavily guarded perimeter fencing) special gates had to be opened and closed when aircraft taxied between the dispersal and the airfield – or, vice versa. Sentries would be in attendance and the Langar road traffic would be held up while this was in progress.
Stripping down and rebuilding
William Arthur Hubbard, who joined Avros at Langar as one of the first apprentices when it opened in August 1942, remembers the various Category ‘B’ sections of Lancasters all used to arrive on RAF ‘Queen Mary’ trailers from the crash site.
(All the Lancasters rebuilt at Langar had been declared Category ‘B’ wrecks in the first instance. Category ‘B’ was defined as: “Repair on site not possible. Aircraft must be dismantled and sent to a repair facility”.)
His first job was to record all the serial numbers from the rear fuselage assemblies, collect the aircraft log books, and hold them in the office, while the various aircraft sections were repaired and put together again. If some sections were too badly damaged to use again, replacement sections from the Manchester factories, other repair depots, or from subsequent crashed Lancasters – would be used on the earliest arrivals, to put them back in the air again. Sometimes Squadrons would insist that their particular Lancaster must be rebuilt from all its own broken down assembles, for sentiment’s sake (usually when
1.
[Page break]
[Underlined] Location of Langar. [/underlined]
[Hand drawn map indicating the position of Langar in relation to Nottingham, Newark and Grantham]
[Page break]
[Aerial photograph of Langar repair facility] AVRO’S REPAIR DEPOT AT LANGAR AIRFIELD IN WWII, SHOWING THE CAMOUFLAGED HANGARS, WITH A YORK AND LANCASTER BEING REPAIRED.
[Page break]
[Map of Langar airfield showing the AVRO hangars]
[Page break]
that particular Lancaster had a high total of bombing raids to its credit, bore a charmed life, or had been crewed by a famous pilot, etc.
Arthur Hubbard remembers that as the number of Lancasters being repaired increased dramatically, repaired sections started to arrive from Bracebridge Heath, Brush Electrical at Loughborough (wings) and the LMS Railway works in Derby (fuselages), in addition to all the various assemblies of Lancasters being re-worked at Langar itself. At an early stage, he remembers working on the two Rolls-Royce Vulture engines on the one and only Manchester bomber that Langar dealt with (R5777 in May 1943).
Test-flying the repaired Lancasters
For the period October 1st 1942 to November 23rd 1943, whilst 207 Squadron was based at Langar and equipped with Lancasters, any newly repaired Lancasters out of the Avro works were test-flown by pilots from the bomber squadron.
The repaired aircraft needed at least one test-flight apiece to clear them, so that pilots from the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) could then deliver them to the necessary Maintenance Unit (MU) – or occasionally direct to a Squadron – where the armament could be re-fitted again. More often than not, two or three test-flights were needed and in exceptional cases six or seven might be flown. One Lancaster B Mk I W4899, which had had an action-packed operational career with 61 Squadron up to its final trip, needed eight flights to clear it after being repaired, and after having all the latest modifications to bring it up to the latest state of readiness. Another Lancaster B Mk I R5734, had to have 12 test-flights in all. This came from a Conversion Unit and was then issued to 61 Squadron when cleared by Avros.
Altogether, during this period of a year while 207 Squadron was at Langar, 32 of their pilots helped at various times to clear a total of 51 newly repaired Lancasters from the Avro works, making a total of 129 test-flights altogether. Amongst these pilots were ‘regulars’ like Flt. Lt. Huntly-Wood (who became a Squadron Leader whilst still testing), Sgt. Baker, Warrant Officer King (who was promoted to Pilot Officer whilst still test-flying), Flying Officer Sambridge (to Flt. Lt.), Sgt Cosens (to Pilot Officer), Sq [inserted] d [/inserted]. Ldr. Balme and Sqd. Ldr. Bamber. The promotions in rank illustrate how quickly the pilots were being lost on operations, and their replacements had to be moved up into their shoes all the time. In fact, during this year of Avro’s output from Langar, of the 32 pilots who test-flew their Lancasters, no less than six of these perished while still based at Langar, including Sqd Ldr Huntly-Wood, who died on one of 207’s last operations from Langar, a raid on Berlin on September 3rd 1943, with the Station Commander, Gp. Capt. Austin McKenna on board as Second Pilot that night.
Permanent Avro test-pilot appointed
When 207 Squadron moved out of Langar in November 1943, and across to Spilsby for the rest of the war, A V Roe & Co Ltd needed somebody to carry on test-flying the repaired Lancasters.
2.
[Page break]
It was to satisfy this requirement that Sqd. Ldr. Peter Field-Richards was now posted to Avros, from the RAF’s 41 Group Production Test-Pilots Emergency Pool. Peter had spent a lot of the war flying all the bombers taken onto RAF strength (USA types included) and helping to write up the Pilot’s Flying Notes for all of them in turn. Thus, his experience now more than qualified him for test-flying the repaired Lancasters at Langar.
Avro’s output of Lancasters now slowly increased from six a month when Peter first arrived in November 1943, to a peak of 14 monthly in June 1944, and after a bit of a dip, up again to 16 a month by March 1945. When the war in Europe ended in May 1945, Peter had cleared some 162 Lancasters in all (which, with 207 Squadron’s 51 plus one Manchester, totalled 214 for the war months at Avro’s Langar works).
Arthur Hubbard remembers three incidents to the Lancasters during his time at Langar. Two were identical – the ‘Jury Strut’ that was placed in the undercarriage when the Lancaster was parked in order to prevent it being inadvertently retracted, was left in on two occasions on take-off. The ground drill should have included the ‘Jury Strut’ being taken out and held up to show the pilot in the cockpit, before ‘chocks away’. The first time it happened, a Rolls-Royce representative was on board together with Peter Field-Richards and the Flight Engineer. Once airborne, when Peter realised what was happening and feared that the undercarriage had jammed irrevocably, the control tower suggested they fly over the sea and bale out! Peter said that was no good, as they hadn’t any parachutes on board So they flew over Scampton to have the undercarriage checked by their tower and as it looked as though it was properly down, Peter went ahead and Landed at Langar without incident, luckily. He did the same the second time it happened.
The third incident involved Peter becoming airborne in a Lancaster one day, and on turning slowly to port, when he came to level up and turn the opposite way, he found the ailerons had jammed! It turned out that some screws had been put into the wrong linkages – but Peter again managed to land safely. In fact during the whole time that Avro’s Langar works was in existence, there were no flying accidents or crash-landings to any of the 1,185 aircraft repaired there in total -a superlative achievement! And Peter Field-Richards skill saved a number of these from occurring.
First Flight Engineer
George Arthur Norman joined Avros at Langar in 1943 and from January 1944 he became Peter Field-Richards permanent Flight Test Engineer, flying with Peter on most of his test flights over the next three and a quarter years. Arthur (as he liked to be called) had his first flight with Peter in Lancaster Mk. I R5625 on January 21st 1944 a veteran of many raids over Germany with 83 Squadron, which would have become a very ‘high-time’ aircraft had it not gone missing in July 1944, after delivery from Langar to 622 Squadron.
Arthur remembered how Peter often brought his little bull-terrier to work with him, and on these occasions if there was any test-flying to do, would take the dog up in the
3.
[Page break]
[Photograph of two men underneath an aircraft] Sqd. Ldr Peter Field-Richards (right), talking to his Flt. Engineer, ‘Paddy’ Armstrong.
[Photograph of a row of aircraft] Lincolns for Argentina.
[Page break]
Lancaster with him! The dog would sit obediently behind the Flight Engineer’s position in eager anticipation of the roar of the four Merlins and the ‘G’ forces Peter used to impose on them all, when he beat up the airfield on his return to Langar!
Arthur also recalled how Peter was a ‘larger than life’ figure, always full of fun and a real gentleman, who later in life acquired a taxi and drove this around, more as a hobby than a business.
Occasionally Arthur would go by car with Peter to an RAF airfield, when an Avro Outworking Party from Bracebridge Heath had repaired a Lancaster which needed a factory pilot to clear it for service again. On May 23rd 1944 for instance, they went to Waddington to clear the Lancaster Mk. I W4884 of 61 Squadron and on June 3rd to Fiskerton to clear Lancaster Mk.III ME781 of 460 (Australian) Squadron.
Peacetime and site layout
At the end of WWII the activities conducted in each of the Avro Hangars (or ‘Sheds’) are noted below, against the legend to the site diagram drawn by Ken Allen:
Item on Diagram Description of activity
1. Shed 1. Cleaning, inspection of components, metal repairs and mods to wings, control surfaces and systems. Wheels and tyres, engine subframes, etc.
2. Shed 2. Instrument section, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Blind Flying panels, Auto Pilot, Hydraulic and Pneumatic systems, etc.
1. & 2. Sheds 1 and 2. Inspectors reports (from which replacement and u/s items are ordered and marshalled for assembly ‘down the line’).
3. Shed 3. Inspection and rectification of Fuselages (completed here for transfer to Shed 5).
4.A Main Stores
4.B Office Block. Upper floor – Superintendents office, General Office, Accounts and Drawing Office.
Lower floor – Chief Inspector’s Office., Tool Stores, Time Office and Drawing Stores.
5. Shed 5. Assembly of complete aircraft (fitting of wings, control surfaces, all systems, function of hydraulics). Internal fittings section (fitting of seating, soundproofing, installation and function of electrical equipment and wiring).
6.A Shed 6A. As for Shed 5.
6B. Shed 6B. Spray Bay. Complete preparation and respray of aircraft. Finishing of items (internal and external). Part-sprayed down line. All exterior markings, roundels, safety warnings, taping of joints, cleaning of windows.
7. Shed 7. Erected for large aircraft (Tudor, etc). Used mainly for work on complete aircraft, this shed could hold three Yorks or Lincoln’s or a Vulcan plus one York. Long term contracts and or major inspections.
4.
[Page break]
8. Canteen.
9. Boiler House.
10. Site Maintenance.
11. Tank Shop. (Aircraft tank repairs and testing. Fuel Oil, Methanol, Hydraulic tanks.)
12. Underground fuel installation and pump house.
13. Security Gate House (Main Entrance)
14. Ambulance room
15. Aeronautical Inspection Dept ([deleted] MO [/deleted] AID)
16. Auxiliary Sections. Battery stores, charging starter trolley maintenance.
17. Original dispersal hardstanding (later transferred to Flight Shed).
18. Memorial to No. 207 Squadron (recently dedicated).
19. Flight Shed. Dismantling and labelling of sections, piping and components for transfer to main factory.
Preparation of aircraft for initial ground test of engines ie fuel filling, flow testing, calibration of fuel gauges, leak testing and correct function of fuel system.
Installation of engines and airframe electrics, instruments and radio.
Swinging and adjustment of compasses for test flight.
Rectification of test flight ‘Snags’.
On completion passed to Hangar 6B, for:
i) Final Inspection for ‘Delivery’.
II. Submitting to AID for inspection and clearance for dispatch.
20. Control Tower (under Avro control after WWII when the airfield was leased to them).
21. Harby Hangar. Rolls-Royce Outworking Party, engine inspections and modifications. Power plants stored and ready for line installation. Also used for strip down of aircraft on major work contracts.
22. Compass swinging area.
23. Aircraft crossing.
24. Aircraft crossing.
25. Originally Avro VLR site. Aircraft from service arrived by ‘Queen Mary’ road transport for long term repair and rebuild.
(This section became a Staging Post Store for the RCAF, receiving stores from Canada by Argonaut, and shipping on to BAOR by Bristol Freighters.)
During the War, the labour force at Langar at its peak reached around 584 on day-shift and 250 on nightshift – or a total of some 834, not including those manning the stores there.
Unlike the workforce at Bracebridge Heath, however, where it declined steeply after the War was over, at Langar the amount of work remained fairly constant up to 1956. Although the numbers of aircraft then declined to some 20 Shackletons annually through the late 1950’s and 60’s, these large aircraft needed a great deal of work on them, and the
5
[Page break]
[Hand drawn diagram of the Langar works] AVRO WORKS SITE (Not to Scale) Ken Allen
AVRO Factory Units at RAF Langar (above road until end of WWII; and below as well after WWII).
[Avro Logo]
AVRO & CO LTD
REPAIR DEPOT
LANGAR-CUM-BARNSTONE
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
[Page break]
[Photograph of Langar from the air] Flight Shed (after WWII) Aerial photograph taken after Avro closed down.
[Page break]
labour force was held fairly constant at some third of the WWII level, right up to the closure in 1968.
The names of the principal heads of the various Departments at Langar just after WWII and later in the 60’s are shown [deleted] in Appendix 1 [/deleted] overleaf. Langar was completely controlled by Bracebridge Heath and the latter in turn reported to A V Roe’s Chadderton works in Manchester. Ken Allen and Neil Cunningham have provided these names from memory. Ken joined Langar in 1947 after being demobbed from the RAF. He had spent the War firstly as an airframe and engine fitter in a Whitley bomber squadron, then trained to become an aircrew member and finished up as a Flight Lieutenant flying as a Flight Engineer on Halifax bombers from bases in North Yorkshire (Wing Cmdr, later Gp Capt Leonard Cheshire VC. OM. DSO and two Bars, DFC & Bar, was CO of one of the units he served in).
Ken served as a Senior Inspector at Langar between 1947 and 1961, and remembers the very stringent regulations in force in those days at Avros and the tight budgets each Dept worked under. If they needed even the most mundane of items – such as pencils and stationery – they had to be requested from Bracebridge (and in turn from Chadderton), and if they used up their allocation before the end of the month there was nothing else until the next month (even if they ran out of toilet paper!). By such tight budgeting did Roy Dobson, the Managing Director of Avros, ensure the company was always one of the most profitable in the business!
Peacetime Contracts: total aircraft repaired
The kind of contracts undertaken after the war at the Avro works at Langar are summarised by Ken Allen thus:
1. Ministry of Aircraft Production/Ministry of Defence Contracts:
Awarded annually (post Budget) covering all RAF aircraft on active service and periodic servicing and modification of aircraft held on ‘Alert storage’ at RAF and Civilian Maintenance Units. Aircraft flown in for servicing. Crashed and damaged aircraft sent in by road.
These RAF aircraft included all production Marks of Lancaster, York, Lancastrian, Lincoln, Meteor, Vulcan and Shackleton.
2. Civilian Contracts:
State airlines, Skyways, etc. for major inspection and Certificate of Airworthiness. Ex-Ministry aircraft were purchased by the company, re-registered by the Air Registration Board, flown in to Langar and re-built to the contract requirements of the customer authority. Sold to:-
Argentina – Lancastrians, Yorks, Lincolns (bombers), Lancasters (Bombers), Lincolnian.
Egypt – Lancasters (bombers)
France – Lancasters (Maritime/Air Sea Rescue, with life-boat dropping facility, etc)
(All aircraft exported as ‘Civilian Aircraft’.)
6.
[Page break]
[Tree representing A V Roe personnel hierarchy]
[Underlined] A. V. ROE REPAIR ORGANIZATION [/underlined]
Manager
Mr Charles Hatton
Under Manager
Mr T C Langton
LANGAR
Works Superindendent
Mr Robert Ingrid
HANGAR 1 AND 2
Mr Christopher Oatway
Senior Foreman
HANGAR 3
Mr Robert Brown
Senior Foreman
ENGINES
Mr Douglas Fletcher
Foreman
HYDRAULICS
Mr Harry Houghton
Senior Foreman
AIRFRAME
Mr Victor Ramsdale
Foreman
Mr Harold Walker
Foreman
ELECTRICAL
Mr William Brumby
Foreman
MODIFICATIONS
Mr Ernest Brumby
Foreman
FLIGHT
Mr George Norman
Foreman
PAINTSHOP
Mr Ernest Cook
Foreman
INTERNAL FITTINGS
Mr William Brewer
Foreman
WORKS INSPECTION
Mr Yarwood
Chief Inspector
STORES
Mr Fed Spur
Foreman
[Page break]
[Photograph of buildings and hangars] Modern day picture of old Avro hangars.
[Page break]
Note:
‘Servicing’ is a very loose term and covers whatever requirements are laid down by MAP/MoD at the time of contracting. In wartime, contractors worked on a ‘Costs Plus’ basis. In the post-war years and when the RAF was on ‘Standby’, payments were based on Man Hours and hardware used, to fulfil the terms of the contract. As world tensions eased, contracts started to ease down and ‘Planned Inspections’ were introduced to both the RAF and civilian contractors.
‘Planned Inspections’ covered a long period in Langar’s operation. Monies for this type of work were strictly controlled. After all trades had completed their inspection to a fixed check list and time table, the Aeronautical Inspection Dept, who were permanently staffed on site, reviewed the inspection results and gave the Ministry’s approval for repairs and rectifications to be carried out. This could and did mean in the case of costly, over-budget repairs or replacements, the aircraft could be scrapped.
The individual totals of each type of aircraft repaired at Langar are shown in Appendix 2, and these show that after the 320 Lancasters in all, next in descending numerical order came 284 Gloster Meteors [deleted] I [/deleted] of all Marks, 236 Avro Lincolns, and 230 Avro Shackletons. Of course, some aircraft re-appeared at Langar several times, for different modifications (or ‘Phase’ refits). The annual output of aircraft types at Langar between 1942 and 1968 is shown in Appendix 3 in detail.
Getting to work
Ernest Dolby joined Avros at the end of the War, when he was demobilised in 1945. He was an engine fitter and had spent 3 1/2 years in the Middle East with an RAF Transport Squadron before the war, then the war years in the UK with bomber squadrons.
He lived in Melton Mowbray and had to use a motor cycle to get to work at Langar – a distance of some 16 miles from home. The winter of 1947/8 was a terribly cold one and the roads were so badly frozen over between January and April, he remembers he had to use the local buses that ran past Langar from all the major surrounding towns (to bring the workers not just to Avros, but the aerodrome in general). In fact many of Avro’s workers began to use motor cycles, bicycles and small cars, to get to Langar after the War finished, and the narrow country roads past the airfield began to get quite crowded at clocking-on and clocking-off times. As the years went by, there were a number of nasty traffic accidents outside the works, and a few fatalities too.
The road outside the works had to be blocked off whenever an aircraft from the Avro Hangars was being towed – or taxied to their dispersal ‘pan’, to let the aircraft across from the factory side, to the aerodrome (or vice versa).
7.
[Page break]
Avro York Transports
These aircraft were from RAF Transport Command or Civil Airlines, and included VIP Specials, Troop carriers and freighters off the Berlin Airlift. Work done included major engine and airframe inspections, rebuilds and conversions to VIP aircraft. (Some Yorks were used by the RAF VIP and the King’s Flights, and by Commonwealth Governor-Generals etc.) Most conversions were done at Langar.
The first Yorks did not arrive until after the war was over, and MWIII was repaired as a ‘Cat A(c)’ case, and delivered from Langar again on July 25th 1945. It was followed by MW110 and 120, and then the Prime Minister (Sir Winston Churchill’s) LV633 ’Ascalon’, and MW101 (all ‘Cat B’ cases) before the end of the year.
After this, there was a steady trickle of Yorks through Langar up to the beginning of 1951, when it finally ran out, with the exception of two ‘special’ Yorks. (MW132 and 179) that were modified by Langar in March-April 1953 and fitted with ‘Parachute Pylons’ for testing at Abingdon and Boscombe Down.
The annual number of Yorks repaired at Langar was as follows:-
1945 – 6
1946 – 15
1847 [sic] – 13
1948 – 22
1949 – 24
1950 – 17
1951 – 3
1953 – 2
Total [underlined] 102 [/underlined]
The higher annual totals in 1948 and 1949 were for Yorks off the Berlin Airlift operations, at the conclusion of the world’s greatest-ever air supply operation.
Avro Lincoln bombers
The Lincoln bomber was a development of the famous Lancaster and built to a specification with more powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin 68a engines, semi automatic fuel system, greater payload and range. The Lincoln came into service too late for the European War, but went into RAF service in the UK and overseas. It also became the main standby aircraft of the RAF and remained in storage readiness for several years until the ‘V’ bomber was established. The Handley Page Halifax Mk. III was also manufactured to the same specification. During this period Avro Langar had contracts for the repair and periodic servicing of many Lincolns.
The Lincolns started to arrive at Langar for repair at the end of 1945 and the first, a B.Mk 2, RE404, of a final total of 236 was cleared by Avros for delivery back to RAF Marham in February 1946. After this they arrived in a steady trickle for modifications to be made
8.
[Page break]
and later on, for those that had been in storage since the War to be refurbished and prepared for storage again at Maintenance Units. Special storage oils and lubricants were applied and most of the instruments taken out and stored separately.
Lincoln RE364 was ‘cleared’ out of Langar on February 20 1947,, names ‘Aries II’ to be used by the Empire Air Navigation School at Shawbury in place of their older Aries I (a Lancaster Mk I). Like Aries I the Lincoln had been fitted with a streamlined Lancastrian nose and tail and much special radio/radar equipment.
Another Lincoln B.Mk. 2, RE414 was also given special equipment for use by the Empire Radio School, and called Mercury II (to replace Mercury I, a Halifax Mk VI).
Argentine Lincolns
Then came the renovation of ex-RAF Lincolns at Langar for the Argentine Air Force. A total of 12 B.Mk 2s were prepared at Langar, numbered B-001 to B-012. B-001 was ready to hand over on September 17th 1947 and the last of the dozen (B-003) was handed over on February 24th 1949.
This was because the AAF decided to have B-003 (which had been cleared for acceptance at Langar on May 19th 1948 by Peter Field-Richards) converted to a ‘very long range’ version for trans-South Polar flying. Thus it went back into the works for fitting extra fuel tanks (to take a total of 5,010 gallons) and Peter cleared it again on July 16th 1948. Then it was also decided to fit a good deal of extra radio equipment and it was finally handed over in February 1949 to the AAF.
Later, B-003 was returned to Langar in 1953 to be fitted with streamlined nose and tail cones. It was delivered back to the AAF again on May 2nd 1953 as LV-ZEI.
Thus, this Lincoln, B-003, became the first true ‘Lincolnian’ to be sold.
More special Lincolns
A great deal of crew training was involved during the intervening months at Langar, some of the Argentine Lincolns being kept back for this purpose. Lincolns continued to arrive from the RAF and storage at MUs, up to the end of 1957. Following the Argentine Air Force contract, another order arrived from Paraguay for the conversion of 3 Lincolns into meat-carrying freighters to ply between Paraguay and Peru and Chile, over the Andes mountain chain.
Neil Cunningham remembers some of these contracts.
“I started my apprenticeship with A V Roe in late 1954 and worked on Lincolns, Meteors, Shackletons and Vulcans. I also worked at Bracebridge Heath, RAF Waddington, Scampton and Finningley on Vulcans. I then went back to Langar and finished my apprenticeship as a Millwright in the maintenance department. After that I worked on maintenance, becoming the Works Engineer, until closure in 1968.
9.
[Page break]
[Photograph of two Lincoln aircraft] Lincolns for Argentina.
[Photograph of large group of men beneath a Lincoln aircraft with a number of signatures at the bottom of the page]
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When I started at Langar the Lincolns were being disarmed and a few prepared to be used on air-to-ground missile ranges in Australia. They were parked on the dispersal points round the airfield ready for collection, but the contract was cancelled and they remained parked for some considerable time before being scrapped. I can remember twenty or more of these Lincolns parked around the airfield and having to be turned according to the wind direction. Three of these were bought in 1956/57 by a South American air charter firm that was awarded a contract by the Peruvian government to fly 84 tons of fresh meat a week from Asuncion, Paraguay, to Lima in Peru, a distance of 1350 miles over mountainous central America, because of a shortage of meat in Peru (whose people were unwilling to accept frozen meat). Field Aircraft at Tollerton was awarded the contract to convert these three Lincolns to meat freighters, therefore it was necessary to fly them from Langar to Tollerton, approximately five miles. As these aircraft had been static and open to the elements for so long, their condition was questionable. Fortunately the engines were found to be in good condition due to being inhibited. Eventually an air-worthy certificate was granted only for that distance and they were flown to Tollerton by Cliff Rogers and Cliff Holehouse, Rolls-Royce Hucknall test pilots, and Freddie Cook, Field’s test pilot, and they were paid £5 each! These three aircraft were locally called ‘Faith, Hope and Charity’. The number of the first aircraft to be converted was RE376. It had been flown by 61, 617, 57 and 100 Squadrons and the cost of conversion was £12,000. A V Roe would not grant a stress certificate for this aircraft and the other two were never converted. Eventually, on the 14th September 1959 these aircraft were sold for scrap to International Alloys of Aylesbury, the scrap value being £1,950 for the unconverted aircraft, and £1,025 for the converted.”
Another small batch of Lincolns was to be sent to Langar for a very secret conversion – to unmanned flight, controlled by radio (for use at Woomera). A test Lincoln had already been converted by Flight Refuelling Ltd, but had run into difficulties. Avros at Langar had to fit special pods to the wing-tips, encasing cameras and recording devices, but it was found that the flexing of the wingtips in flight upset the telemetry and Langar was told to cancel the project after some work had been carried out on RF395 and RE366.
Ken Allen remembers:
“This was a very ‘hush hush’ contract. I was allocated to the project and can recall being summoned to the Chief Inspector’s office, where the three inspectors (engine, airframe and electrical) were read the ‘Riot Act’ on strict secrecy, and no person not involved with the project was to be allowed to look at the drawings.”
The annual number of Lincolns repaired at Langar after the war totalled:
1946 – 56
1947 – 24
1948 – 34
1949 – 13
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1950 – 9
1951 – 42 (Korean War preparation)
1952 – 28
1953 – 18 (including 1 Lincolnian)
1954 – 6
1955 – 3
1956 – 2
1957 – 1
Total [underlined] 236 [/underlined]
Argentine Lancasters
Argentina had already taken delivery of 5 Yorks and 3 Lancastrians (three of these Yorks and one Lancastrian were reconditioned at Waddington/Bracebridge Heath Langar refurbished the other two Lancastrians and the two remaining Yorks were overhauled at Woodford). Argentina also now bought the 12 ex-RAF Lincolns from Langar (plus a further 18 newly-built- ones by Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft). But this was not the end of its orders – a total of 15 ex-RAF Lancasters were now ordered and Langar was to refurbish them. They were numbered B-031 to B-045 following on from the Lincolns (numbered B-001 to B-030).
Now all these Lancasters were Mk Is and had been standing outside in open storage at RAF MUs since the end of WWII, so picking out the best preserved ones was tricky. One particular Argentine Air Force officer was designated to make a check, one day, on the external and internal condition of the Lancasters before overhaul began at Langar, and Ken Allen (a Senior Inspector) and Phil Lightfoot (the overall Works Superintendent) took him over to the latest Lancaster to arrive there. They removed the engine cowlings and were horrified at the dirt and oil over the Rolls-Royce Merlins.
The Argentine officer refused to accept the Lancaster and became a little over-excited exclaiming “Zese aircraft must be NEW ones – not dirt old ones…!”
Ken looked at Phil who put on his best Yorkshire man act, rubbed his chin slowly and eventually said: “Leave it to me, Lad – we’ll sort it out!”
Out of earshot of the Argentine officer, Phil whispered urgently to Ken: “What do you suggest…?” and Ken said he’d have a go at cleaning one Merlin up – if he could get a tin of black gloss paint, a tin of silver dope, masking tape and lots of brown paper. He got what he wanted, worked all day and by evening had cleaned and resprayed the R-R engine completely.
Phil was so impressed that he told Ken to borrow some more Inspectors and do the other three. A few days later the Argentine Air Force man was invited back to see: “Ze four NEW engines” and was duly impressed, authorising the complete Lancaster to be refurbished there. (He never did know the real truth!)
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The first of these 15 Lancasters (B-031) was delivered from Langar on May 11th 1948 and the last one (B-041) was delivered on January 4th 1949,
French and other Lancasters
Following this, Langar refitted another Lancaster Mk I for the Swedish Air Force (80001) which was delivered to AST at Hamble on June 22nd 1950, to be fitted out for testing a single Swedish jet engine under its bomb bay. Then came nine Lancasters for the Egyptian Air Force (1801-1809) and a contract for 54 Lancasters for the French Aéronavale Squadrons, 16 of which were refitted at Langar and the balance at Woodford. The last Egyptian Lancaster was delivered on November 20th 1950, and the first and last of the French Aéronavale Lancasters on March 12th, and October 28th 1952 respectively.
A further five Lancaster MkVIIs were then supplied to the French Air Force (FCL-01 to -05), the last leaving Langar on April 30th 1954, and the next Lancaster, RF322 for the RAF’s School of Maritime Reconnaissance was the last of all the 320 Lancasters to be overhauled at Langar in the 12 year period 1942-1954.
The Lancaster totals refitted at Langar per annum were:
1942 – 4
1943 – 48
1944 – 89
1945 – 99
1946 – 12
1947 - -
1948 – 14
1949 – 14
1950 – 11
1951 – 2
1952 – 16
1953 – 4
1954 – 7
Total [underlined] 320 [/underlined]
One additional Lancaster to the above was supplied to the French Aéronavale for ground training for the crews who were to maintain the 54 Lancasters for their Western Union contract.
Ken Allen remembers being asked at short notice to go to Cosford, where Avros had purchased a Lancaster being stored there but about to be scrapped (believed to be NX743). Ken was told to inspect the aircraft and make a ‘Shortage List’ of all the items necessary to enable the Lancaster to make one last flight direct to France. This was quite a task, as all kinds of items had [inserted] already [/inserted] been carefully [inserted] and clandestinely [/inserted] removed from the Lancaster to enable certain people to complete their DIY tasks at home (eg cables – to repair motor cycle brakes, etc!).
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[Photograph of Lancaster RE222] RAF Coastal Command Lancaster about to be converted for French Aeronavale.
[Photograph of a Lancaster] Lancaster converted for French Aeronavale use.
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When the items had been restored to the Lancaster (temporarily registered F-YBCA), Ken crewed it as Flight Engineer with Peter Field-Richards and saw everyone at Cosford turn out to line the runway on June 6th 1951 – quite convinced the Lancaster would never leave the ground! However, it did, but they only flew it to Langar, where it was renovated but afterwards sent by ground transport to France!
Ken remembers one other unique flight in a Lancaster. This was on July 17th 1951, when he went with Peter Field-Richards to the MU at Llandow in South Wales, to fly TW655 into Hendon for the special Daily Express ’50 Years of Flight’ exhibition and display that year. Hendon only had a short runway and after being invited to send in a Lancaster for the 7-day event Avros was suddenly told at the last minute that permission for the Lancaster had been withdrawn for safety reasons. There was a last minute flurry of telephone calls between Sir Roy Dobson of Avros, the Air Ministry, even Government departments – then it was ‘on’ again, and Peter and Ken flew it in. Ken remembers handing some charts to Peter during the flight – but Peter just flung them over his shoulder, saying “I don’t need them – I know every aerodrome in this country by heart…!” Ken looked down as they flew over London, descending over the buildings of Harrow School, then as they crossed over the roof of the last hut on the edge of Hendon, Peter told him to ‘cut’ the throttles – and they actually stopped before the intersection of the runways!
At the end of the week, Peter flew TW655 out again on July 24th, straight to Langar where it became WU-17 eventually for the French Aéonavale contract.
Flight Engineer from the ‘Dambusters’
When Arthur Norman retired from being Peter Field-Richard’s Flight Test Engineer in 1946, a certain Edward Wilson Armstrong – recently demobbed from the RAF as a Warrant Officer Flight Engineer in 617 (The Dambusters) Squadron – promptly applied for and was given the job as his successor.
‘Paddy’ – so called because his family came from Donaghadee in Northern Ireland – had joined the RAF in 1940 on his 18th birthday, after serving as an apprentice at Shorts in Belfast. He eventually qualified as a Flight Engineer and completed a tour of 30 operations with 90 Squadron on Short Stirlings. Then, after the customary rest from operations as an instructor in 1661 Conversion Unit, he managed (after a great deal of trying) to get posted back on ‘ops’, this time as a Warrant Officer in the famous 617 Squadron at Woodhall Spa.
Paddy flew another 14 operations with 617 up to the end of the War in Europe, and stayed with the squadron until December 20th 1945. His job with Avros at Langar began on August 14th 1946 and he remained there until June 1st 1968, three months before the works finally closed down.
He flew as Peter Field-Richards ‘crew’ (there were normally only the two of them
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concerned with test-flying the aircraft at Langar) from September 5th 1946 up to Peter’s retirement from flying on August 11th 1954, and continued to act as Flight Test Engineer for the Avro pilots from Woodford after that – notably Sqd Ldr Jack Wales. After Wales was killed in the first production Shackleton MR3 in December 1956, Paddy handed over most of the flying to his assistant in Flight Testing, Roy Browne. But Paddy went on flying when necessary – if Roy was ill, or on holiday, etc and Paddy’s last test flight at Langar was actually on November 26th 1965, with Peter Varley in the Shackleton MR”, WR960.
Between leaving the RAF and joining Avros, Paddy had first gone along to Trent Bridge Power Station for an engineer’s job. But he could not stand heights and was turned down for the job. Then he tried a local coal mine, seeking to become one of the new ‘Bevan Boys’. He went for this interview in his best suit collar and tie, and this was probably not very conducive to getting a job down the pits!
He was turned away from this, too and so he had ended up as a Junior Foreman in the Langar Flight Test Department, with a flying job again.
Paddy had a lot of happy hours flying in his beloved Lancasters at Langar – and he was particularly commended by Sir Roy Dobson – Avro’s Managing Director – for his work in training the Argentine flight crews (including their pilots). Sir Roy awarded Paddy an ex gratia payment of £25!
A number of incidents
The flights Paddy made were not without incident but Peter Field-Richards was such a superlative pilot that they all ended favourably. Thus, on November 19th 1946 Paddy was in the York ME 300 on a local test flight when Peter discovered suddenly that their aileron control had jammed solid. With great expertise, Peter managed to fly slowly across to Waddington, and by dint of some very precise flying with rudder and engine controls alone they landed safely on the long runway there. The York stayed there for six days while the controls were checked and the fault rectified, then they flew it back to Langar and one engine failed on take-off!
On July 5th 1948, while heavily engaged in training the Argentine crews on their Lancasters, Paddy was flying with Peter in the Lancaster B-040 when a hydraulic pipe burst in the cockpit. Both of them and the cockpit were covered in oil, and again they had to make an emergency landing at Waddington – “well-oiled…” as Paddy said! In fact it took no less than 10 test-flights to clear it for the Argentine crew.
On May 13th 1949, Paddy was up with Peter in the Lincoln test-bed for the new Bristol Theseus engines, RE418. (This was the second such Lincoln and was to be used by RAF Transport shortly on regular runs between Lyneham and the Middle East.) But on this test flight they couldn’t lower the undercarriage on returning to Langar. Paddy used the emergency compressed air and the control tower told them the wheels seemed to be locked down, when they flew very low, over it. The flaps didn’t work, however, and
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[Photograph of an aircraft] The Lancastrian conversion “Aries II” for the RAF.
[Photograph of an aircraft]
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so Peter made a low, flapless approach and landing on the long North/South runway, fortunately without incident.
By 1951, a lot of Lincoln B.2s had been delivered to Langar for various inspections/modification/updates/overhauls to be carried out, and a not inconsiderable number were parked around the airfield on various dispersal areas. On April 10th, Paddy helped Peter conduct what must have been rather risky 10-minute test flights on a pair of these that had already become ’time-expired’. These were RF532 and RE294 and immediately after, they were flown away to MUs at Hullavington and Kemble respectively.
Paddy also helped fly the Lancaster F-YBCA from Cosford to Langar on June 6th 1951 – the one-time trip (again on a time-expired aircraft) to have the Lancaster made into a ground instruction machine at Langar for the French Aéronavale.
On July 19th 1954, Paddy flew as a ‘passenger’ with Peter Field-Richards on the latter’s one and only test flight in a Meteor T.7, and after Peter retired that August, Paddy accompanied Sqd Ldr Jack Wales as an ‘observer’ on several further flights in Meteor T.7s.
The Shackletons had started to appear now and Paddy found himself flying at Langar with Jack Wales until the latter was tragically killed when the first Shackleton MR3 crashed in Derbyshire in December 1956. Johnny Baker then took over Shackleton, Meteor and Lincoln tests at Langar and he was succeeded by the New Zealand wartime fighter pilot ‘Ossie’ Hawkins in 1958, when Johnny left Woodford for Australia.
Paddy had handed over most of his test-flying duties at Langar to Roy Browne from January 1957 but he did fly quite regularly after that – on all the different models of Shackleton. The other Woodford pilots he flew with included Tony Blackman, Dickie Martin and finally Peter Varley.
After Avro Langar closed down in 1968, Paddy found a job at Schipol Airport at Amsterdam for a time, then managed to find a position with Rolls-Royce back at Hucknall, Derby. By now he had a large family – seven sons (the last two being twins) and one daughter – and the R-R job gave him a chance to keep them all together in Nottingham. Later he took a contract with BAC (later BAe) to live in Saudi Arabia for 7-8 years working on the English Electric Lightning project with the Saudi Air Force, and his wife and family (such as were still at home) moved out there for the last 4 1/2 years.
When Paddy finally retired, he did so back to Rivergreen near Nottingham, and to keep busy at something, he even opened a ‘take-away’ sandwich bar at Hockley! When he finally passed away in 1995, Paddy’s wish was to be cremated and his ashes scattered over Langar airfield. Not only was his wish carried out by the BN Islander aircraft of the Sky-Diving Club there, but when his ashes had been scattered, the Battle of Britain Flight
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DATE 1956
FLIGHTSHED
LINCOLNS
BILL WILLIAMS
METEOR FUEL TANKS
HERBERT CHADDERTON
SHED 3 TANK SHOP
SHED 1
DON HERROD
LEN NEEDHAM FOREMAN
MMY LEVERLAN
TANK SHOP NOSEWHEEL SECTION.
T.I. MK SHACKLETON CONVERSION TO MK 4 FLYING CLASSROOM
METEOR NOSEWHEELS
SHED 5 P.I. SECTION
[Underlined] Persons in pictures overleaf: [/underlined]
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[Photographs of various parts of hangars] Langar scenes.
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flew across the airfield, the Lancaster flanked by the Spitfire and Hurricane – a fitting tribute to one of Avro’s greatest.
The Meteor Contracts
With the end of major servicing on Avro Yorks not long after the Berlin Airlift ceased in 1949, and the rundown in refurbishing Lincolns once the Korean War began to subside at the start of the 1950s, it was obvious to the Hawker Siddeley Aviation Management that some urgent contracts were needed to sustain Langar in business. Thus it was decided to send Meteor night-fighters direct to Langar from Armstrong Whitworth at Coventry for final fitment of various items in the radio and radar field.
The first Meteor NF.14 to be produced at Baginton (WS722) had its first flight there on October 23rd 1953. ‘Bill’ Else initialled it, flying it across to Bitteswell aerodrome, where all Armstrong Whitworth’s test-flying operations had been located since October 5th. Then another pilot flew it across to Langar for fitment of the necessary equipment, and on November 19th it was rolled out again and given its clearance flight back to Bitteswell.
Meanwhile one of the last batches of Meteor NF.12s (WS718) was also sent to Langar for equipment to be installed, and this was cleared back to Bitteswell eight days later on November 27th 1953. Armstrong Whitworth approved the Langar installations, and after this, the first batch (39) of Meteor NF.14s and the initial aircraft of the second batch all went through Langar in quick succession – a total of 40 NF.14s altogether. Interspersed with these came a total on 99 of the 100 Meteor NF.12s produced (the exception being WS635).
As these Meteors were test-flown and cleared at Langar, the NF.14s were mostly delivered to 15 MU at Wroughton and the NF.12s to 8MU at Little Rissington or 38 MU at Llandow.
Further contracts now followed for refurbishing Meteor F.8s (the RAF’s latest fighter version) straight from RAF Auxiliary Squadrons. Eventually 58 F.8s were treated at Langar and re-delivered to RAF bases.
The Meteor T.7 trainer version was also refurbished at Langar, where 85 were treated the same way as the F.8s, and the whole of the Meteor programme finished with two FR.9s also being overhauled.
Ken Allen remembers:
“All Meteors came to Langar from RAF Squadrons when their engine and airframe hours expired, for major inspection, repairs and modifications and updating any outstanding tech instructions. Meteors were stripped of their matt paint and given a High Gloss finish and new markings. This was a new technique for Avro’s spray shop, as all bomber aircraft were matt finished. However, several squadron commanders later
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wrote saying they were impressed by the increase in top speed achieved with this new finish!”
Altogether between November 1953 and January 1957 Langar received a total of 284 Meteors to refit, which helped keep their employment intact before the next – and last- major contract to arrive, overhauling the Avro Shackleton fleet.
Peter Field-Richards retired from test-flying at Langar in July 1955, at the height of the Meteor programme and a few months after the first Shackleton – a Mk IA, WB826 – was given some modification after suffering a wheels-up landing at a Conversion Unit and cleared at Langar on February 16th.
From here on, Avro test-pilots based at Woodford would drive or fly down to Langar to clear each Shackleton or Vulcan as it became ready for test-flying again after its repair/modification/servicing work was complete.
The Meteors were all test-flown by Avro or Armstrong Whitworth pilots (Sqd Ldr Jack Wales alone flying some 129).
Avro Shackleton T4 Trainers
The first few Shackletons appeared at Langar for regular servicing or modifying up to current manufacturer’s standards – usually after a major incident at the Squadron rendered repairs imperative. Thus, after WB826 (see above) came a string of MR2s from Squadrons – WL785, WL796, WL798, etc – with the first production Shackleton MR1, VP254, to have IFF Mk10 and SARAH fitted at Langar early in 1956, prior to flight trials at Boscombe Down in May 1956. Another early Shackleton, VP258, also appeared at Langar at the end of 1956 for the trial installation of the new ASV Mk21 Blue Silk search radar.
Then they came in ‘thick and fast’ to Langar. WB819, an MR1A was cleared at Langar on June 13th 1957 after being converted there to a T4 standard. The T4 was a trainer version, replacing the Lancasters equipping the School of Maritime Reconnaissance. After VP258 was converted at Woodford to be the prototype of this new version, a total of 10 MR1 or 1A aircraft were sent to Langar for the refit. This involved removing the dorsal turret and rest bunks and installing ASV Mk13 training equipment, and extra Sonobouy Mk1 equipment, for instructors and pupils to sit side by side, as well as the necessary additional power pack.
These 10 Shackleton MRIs or IAs were converted at Langar and delivered back to units between May 27th 1957 and March 17th 1958 (see Appendix No…). Later, a further six Shackleton IAs were sent to Langar and converted and delivered back between September 7th and December 28th 1961.
The last Flight Engineer
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Now that Langar’s resident Flight Test Engineer Paddy Armstrong had retired from flying, he left the test-flying at Langar to his successor Roy Browne. Roy had joined Avros at Langar in 1946 and when Paddy signed the front of Roy’s new log book: “Happy Landings. E.W. Armstrong. 14th January 1957”, he turned over the test-flying engineer’s job to him until Langar finally closed in 1968.
Roy henceforth made almost all the test-flights on Avro’s aircraft at Langar, with whichever pilot flew down from Woodford for the purpose. But in addition, he also made many test-flights on Shackletons and Vulcans from Bitteswell (which gradually took over the tasks of the Langar works). [Deleted] Hawarden (the old De Havilland which gradually took over the tasks of the Langar works), [/deleted] Hawarden (the old De Havilland works at Chester), and even Woodford (Avro’s home base), as well as accompanying Woodford crews on tests at Boscombe Down, etc. In all Roy notched up 1,209 hours 35 minutes test-flying with Avros – a very respectable total and one that put him in the forefront of Shackleton testing for A V Roe & Co Ltd.
When Roy finished at Langar, he was great friends with Bill Else, Dickie Martin and Peter Varley (the ex-Armstrong Whitworth and Gloster aircraft test-pilots taken on by Woodford after their own companies closed down) and he left Avros to join Court Line Aviation when they did too, starting another career in civil aviation.
Roy lived at Harby when he worked at Langar and knew Peter Field-Richards very well – though not flying with him officially before he retired. Peter was then ‘Mine Host’ of the Nags Head and Star in Harby. But Roy knew enough of Peter to call him “One hell of a pilot”.
In his early days of test-flying at Langar, Roy went up to Woodford one day to the Flight Test Dept there, while the Chief Test-Pilot (Jimmy Harrison) was away somewhere. Jimmy – Roy notes – had a ‘beautiful secretary’ and Roy was holding the post for her temporarily in her office when the ‘phone rang. Roy decided to be a little flippant with his answer and as he lifted the receiver he said “Hallo. It’s the Kremlin here…!”
The resultant response at the other end indicated the caller was certainly not amused … it was Jimmy Harrison himself!
Roy remembers two occasions involving slow rolls during test-flying at Langar. On one occasion Langar had just installed new, more powerful Bristol Olympus engines in a Vulcan. Tony Blackman came down to test-fly it when it was ready, and just after take off was so impressed by the increase in thrust that he promptly barrel-rolled it while still climbing out in sight of all the workers and spectators!
The other occasion could have been more dangerou8s – it had claimed the life of Jack Wales and his crew in the prototype Shackleton MR3 in December 1956. On this flight from Langar, Roy was flying with Ossie Hawkins in a Shackleton and they were making still turns at 4-5,000 ft or so. Roy was not strapped in the Flt. Engineer’s seat and the
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stall turns were getting tighter. Suddenly the Shackleton dropped a wing and went into a vicious roll onto its back. Roy flew between the two pilots seats, and Ossie somehow got the aircraft out of the roll by completing it down at 1,000 ft! That was a close shave.
Phase I and II modifications to Avro Shackletons
After the T4 refits, came the ‘Phase I’ conversions to Shackleton MR2s, and then Phase II conversions to MR2s, MR3s and T4s.
The Shackletons concerned in these refits at Langar can be seen in Appendix … (showing the dates of delivery back to their units after clearance at Langar). A Summary Table in Appendix … is also shown.
Basically, the Phase I refit at Langar (1958-60) on MR2s consisted of fitting:
- ASV Mk21 radar
- Blue Silk doppler
- A Tactical Table
Soon after the programme had started at Langar (Woodford, and Avro Outworking Parties at 49 MU were also involved), the MR2s had been grounded on June 19, 1959 due to fatigue in the centre section wing spars being discovered. Thus, additional modifications were then added to the Phase I refits, as parts of a crash programme on MR2s.
Phase II refits at Langar (1961-3) to both MR2s and MR3s involved new radio and radar equipment:
- Sonobuoy MkIC (replacing Mk I)
- Violet Picture UHF (replacing Green Salad VHF)
- New Intercom system
- UHF/RT
- Tacan
- Sonobuoy Homer
- Orange Harvest ECM
- Improved Radio Compass (with recessed aerial behind cockpit roof and ‘sensing’ aerial on starboard bomb – door.
- HF Radio aerial support posts moved back in front of ECM Plinth
- Long MR3 Type engine tail-pipe exhausts
- Bomb carriage modification to allow carriage of 2xMk30, and 3 x Mk36 or Mk44 Homing Torpedoes.
Phase III, Viper and T2 modifications to Shackletons
The Phase III modifications made later in 1964-5 (to MR3s), and in 1965-7 (to MR2s), involved fitting:
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- Strengthened spars and re-skinned wings
- Increased fuel capacity
- Redesigned Heater system
- New navigation and compass systems
- Revised Tactical Station
- Four tube flare discharger
- New toilet/washing facilities
- Thicker soundproofing
- Rewiring to carry Mk 10 Lulu Nuclear depth bombs) [sic]
- R-R Griffon 58 engines (with strengthened gear boxes for higher electrical generation outputs), larger generators and inverters.
- Stronger undercarriage
- Positions to carry 11 passengers (or troops) in addition to crew of 10.
Once the Shackleton MR2s had been converted to Phase III standard, they were known as the MR2A version.
The MR3s had not seen the last of Langar with the Phase III additions, as it was decided to fit most MR3s with Bristol Siddeley Viper Mk11 gas turbines in the rear of the outer engine nacelles, to boost the max weight take off performance at 105,000 lbs. This was called the ‘Viper Fit’ and carried out at Langar and Woodford.
The last version seen at Langar was the T2 Trainer. This was the MR2A given two ASV trainee positions (in place of the rest bunks), extra consoles and an instructor (Navigator) position.
Altogether, Langar handled a total of:
15 T4 conversions from Shackleton MR1As
2 T4 conversions to Phase II standard
38 Phase I conversions of Shackleton MR2s
36 Phase II conversions of Shackleton MR2s
30 Phase III conversions of Shackleton MR2s
10 T2 conversions of Shackleton MR2As
11 Phase III conversions of Shackleton MR3s
19 Viper fits to Shackleton MR3s
[Underlined] 181 [/underlined] Total
All this amounted to a vast number of man-hours worked at Langar on the Shackleton aircraft, the only major version not dealt with there being the last one – the AEW2 version that was carried out at Bitteswell in the 1972-3 period after Langar had closed.
In fact. Langar closed down because it was decided within the Hawker-Siddeley Aviation Group that Bitteswell (originally an Armstrong Whitworth company airfield near
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Coventry was more suited to taking the Vulcan aircraft for refits, as it had better runways, engine test facilities and general Hangar accommodation. It was all part of the inevitable rationalisation process still affecting British Aviation even today.
The Foreman’s mistake
Neil Cunnin [inserted] g [/inserted] ton worked on the aircraft at Langar in the 1950s, then with Outworking Parties at Scampton, Waddington and Finningley on Vulcans, before returning to Langar to work on the factory maintenance side up to its closure in 1968. He remembers several amusing incidents, [deleted] the first [/deleted] one being the arrival at Langar of the first Avro Vulcan to be sent there for an upgraded engine fitment.
The Vulcan (VX770, the first prototype) flew around the works and airfield several times, to the delight of the watching workers, and then made its approach and landing, streaming its braking parachute in the process, and then leaving it on the runway. As it taxied in to the Hangar, one of the senior foremen watching it remarked to all and sundry: “I’ll go out on my bike and bring in the parachute!”
He duly cycled out, and a long time later returned very red-faced. He hadn’t appreciated the fact that the Vulcan’s tail-chute weighs some two tons, with its massive nylon cords, etc! It was quite impossible for him to lift it, let alone tow it on his bike!
The ‘Jonah’
Neil also remembers a particular Shackleton MR3 – or ‘Jonah’ as they referred to it at Langar (for all its constant problems). This MR3, WR971, first appeared at Langar to have a very large aerial fitted to its fuselage top, as a Trial Installation of some special radio equipment. While it was on test later, it returned to Langar after one flight, minus its aerial – which was later found in a field in the Vale of Belvoir!
On another occasion it was in the large Hangar No 7 at Langar, for some work to be done on it. Now in the centre of the floor, there was a large 10ft deep access pit for the Shackleton MR2s to be able to extend their telescopic ventral radomes for checking the mechanism, etc. The pit was covered with heavy baulks of timber to withstand the weight of the nose-wheels, but on this occasion, someone managed to manoeuvre ‘Jonah’ so that one of its main gear passed over the pit. The timber collapsed, the main gear disappeared into the well and the wing and engines dropped right onto the top of the workmen’s benches. Luckily it was the lunch break, and so no one was killed or injured!
Finally ‘Jonah’ was the Shackleton in which Harry Fisher and Roy Browne were to have the undercarriage collapse on take-off, on February 7th 1967. Neil Cunnington remembers just going home past the Harby end of the runway, and watching it preparing to take-off, when the starboard undercarriage gracefully folded up and the next minute, chunks of concrete were flying past Neil’s head as the propellers struck the runway and bent backwards like split banana skins.
The Hangar 7 fire
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On the night of December 22nd 1955 – a Saturday – there were three Shackleton MR2s in Hangar 7 undergoing fuel tank filling tests. Suddenly there was a spark caused by static electricity, and the aircraft were engulfed in flames! The Senior Foreman there, Harry Houghton and the men on duty tried desperately to limit the fire by pulling drums of fuel away from the Shackletons, and using fire extinguishers, but to no avail!
The Royal Canadian Air Force scrambled its Fire Tenders from their site on the North side of the airfield, and they were soon on the scene – albeit by now the Hangar itself was on fire, and a pillar of flame and smoke rose high into the sky from the Hangar roof. As Neil Cunnington remembers: “It was the only time in my life when I have ever seen concrete actually melt!”
One Shackleton (WL799) was totally destroyed, as was the hangar, and two others damaged, but with all the work on hand, Hangar 7 was hurriedly rebuilt in more modern post-war style, and was in use again by mid-1956!
Vulcan contracts
Langar only hosted four different Vulcan aircraft – all arriving and departing in 1957-8.
Ken Allen remembers:
“The first prototype (VX770) which had completed its evaluation and test flying was placed on embodiment loan to Rolls-Royce Experimental Establishment, Hucknall, Nottingham, as a flying test bed for the first of the family of ‘By-pass’ engines – ie the Conway. The airframe had extensive modification at Langar to comply with current regulations. This work took some twelve months to complete. I had the privilege of being Senior Inspector throughout the whole of this project and co-signed the daily inspection for the first flight. The whole of Langar came out to view the take off on August 9th 1957. It was a very memorable sight, deafening, but quite unforgettable! I was also relived Vulcan VX770 never returned to Langar and was delivered direct to Hucknall. I did later meet up with the Vulcan at Rolls-Royce Hucknall, to advise on repairs to the airframe.
Next came XA903, an early B.Mk1 version, to be fitted at Langar with a special bomb release, and tracking telemetry for the airborne release of the Blue Steel ‘stand-off’ bomb. This was completed and flew on January 27th 1958.
Then came XA901 and lastly XA891, to be fitted with the more powerful uprated Bristol Olympus engines of 16,000 lb st each. These Mk200 Olympus engines were fitted in time for the SBAC show in 1958, and the Vulcans were completed on May 22nd and June 10th 1958, respectively”.
More hangars acquired
Neil Cunnington remembers the RCAF’s occupation of Langar:
22
[Page break]
[Underlined] Peter Norman [/underlined]
[Photograph of an aircraft flying past a control tower] The last Shackleton modified at Langar flies around the Control Tower (now the HQ building of the Brit. Para chute School)
[Underlined] SEPT 1968 [/underlined]
Sep 4th WL798 Shack II last at Langer (next ones at Bitteswell) Harry Fisher is the Pilot.
[Page break]
[Photograph of three men outside a NAAFI hut] Retirement: Sqd Ldr Peter Field-Richards (Centre), and Ken Cook (right) meet again at Langar. Both great Test-Pilots.
[Page break]
“The Royal Canadian Air Force occupied the airfield and the North side from 1951 to 1963. When they eventually vacated the site, A V Roe/Hawker Siddeley Aviation took over part of it, which included two T2 Type Hangars and other buildings. One of the hangars became a Flight Shed, and the other became the Trials Installation (TI) Section. As this site was some distance from the factory, there was a bus service between the two, which consisted of an ex-City of Coventry double decker bus and a mini-bus.”
The Flight Shed provided much needed extra space for the Shackletons and the TI hangar enabled the relevant Shackletons sent over from Woodford to be fitted out with the new equipment to be tested from Langar or Boscombe Down, and proved, before adopting it as standard in the future Phase refits given to all the Shackletons.
The closure of Langar
With the refitting of all the necessary RAF Shackletons now accomplished, and the emphasis on Vulcan refits now appearing, Hawker Siddeley Aviation decided to close Langar at the end of 1968, and transfer all refitting facilities to Bitteswell – a little further south, close to Coventry.
It was a sad day when the closure approached for the team of workers who had, over a period of 26 years, carried out such excellent refitting and modification to over 1,185 aircraft in all (see Appendix 2).
The last aircraft to be refurbished at Langar was the Shackleton WL798, and this was rolled out for engine runs, at the end of August 1968. The date for its final handover to the RAF again was set for September 4th, and on that day the workers at Langar turned out to see the test-pilot from Woodford, Harry Fisher, with Roy Browne from Langar as his Flight Engineer and Dave Pearson from Woodford as his other crew.
As well as the Avro employees, Peter Field-Richards, the previous (and only) locally employed Avro test-pilot, and Arthur Norman, the company’s first Flight Engineer, were also on hand to witness the last flyby. Ken Cook also flew over from Woodford for the occasion – he had helped Peter Field-Richards out on occasions with flight-testing at Langar and Waddington, and after retiring at Woodford as one of Avro’s greatest test-pilots, had become Air Traffic Control Officer there, with responsibility for the operation of Langar’s Control tower too.
They all waved to the crew, and the ‘Mighty Hunter’ (the Shackleton) as it majestically gathered speed down the runway and then flew round the works and control tower several times before ‘beating-up’ the airfield for the last time, and landing. An RAF crew took it over on September 16th, and then flew it back to its base (205 Squadron, at Changi, Singapore).
And so, as the workers were now gradually paid off (some had already gone in the last few months) the works gradually emptied of jigs and tools, spare parts and anything that
23
[Page break]
[Photograph of a group of people underneath the nose of a Shackleton] FIRST ON RIGHT
GEORGE ARTHUR NORMAN (ex Flt. Engineer)
PICTURE TAKEN SEPT 1968
The last Shackleton about to be flown away from Langar Sep 4th 1968.
Harry Fisher Pearson From Woodford Peter F-R Norman
[Page break]
could be used elsewhere in HSA, and the Hangar doors closed in turn, never to re-open for some time.
Some of the workers were re-deployed to HSA airfields like Bitteswell, Woodford, etc, or to Outworking Parties at Bracebridge Heath. But many looked for jobs at Rolls-Royce at Derby and Hucknall, or in engineering concerns in Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and Loughborough.
When British Aerospace was formed in 1977, some gravitated to their other plants at Warton, Bristol, etc, and a few managed to be employed later on the Saudi Arabian contracts for operating the Lightning fighters, etc.
They disappeared from Langar and were diffused across the aviation spectrum as years went by. But they never lost their pride in what they had done for Avros at Langar and to this day, the dwindling band of experts meet in little groups in Lincoln every month and less regularly around Nottingham. They remember the ‘good old days’, the times when the ‘boss’ – Charlie Hatton, who used to rule them all with a rod of iron – would suddenly appear in the works on his constant inspections – and they would all ‘dive for cover’ as his entourage approached! They remember the accolades that Sir Roy Dobson occasionally paid them, with feeling, for their immense efforts. And above all, they can still dwell on their superb achievements over the 26 years of Langar’s existence.
24.
[Page break]
[Photograph of a public house] Sqd Ldr Peter Field-Richards became “Mine Host” here for some years.
[Page break]
[Underlined] Appendix 1 [/underlined]
[Underlined] Summary
Aircraft repaired/rebuilt/converted at Langar [/underlined]
Avro Manchester 1
Avro Lancaster 320
Avro Anson 5
Avro York 102
Avro Lincoln 235
Avro Lincolnian 1
Avro Shackleton 230
Avro Lancastrian 3
Avro Vulcan 4
Gloster Meteor 284
[Underlined] 1,185 [/underlined]
[Page break]
[Underlined] Date: Serial: Aircraft: Delivered to/at: [/underlined]
1 5.10.42 R5667 LANCASTER MK.I 1665 CON. UNIT HOLME.
2. 9.11.42 R5447 LANCASTER MK.I 1654 CON. UNIT WIGSLEY
3. 9.12.42 R5686 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
4. 30.12.42. R5672 LANCASTER MK.I 39 M.U. COLERNE
5. 20.1.43 W4140 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
6 11.2.45 R5688 LANCASTER MK.I 46 MU LOSSIEMOUTH
7 25.2.43 W4766 LANCASTER MK.I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
8 6.3.43 W4778 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
9 12.3.43 R5901 LANCASTER MK.I 39 M.U. COLERNE.
10 24.3.43 R5634 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U LLANDOW
11 6.4.43 W4762 LANCASTER MK.I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
12 12.4.43 R5745 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
13 23.4.43 ED412 LANCASTER MK.I 39 M.U. COLERNE.
14 30.4.43. W4301 LANCASTER MK.I 39 M.U. COLERNE
15 15.5.43 ED392 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
16 16.5.43 R5700 LANCASTER MK.I 5 M.U. KEMBLE
17 19.5.43 [deleted] “MANCHESTER” [/deleted] R5777 MANCHESTER MK.I. 39 M.U. COLERNE.
18 20.5.43. W4193 LANCASTER MK.I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
19 29.5.43 W4119 LANCASTER MK.I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
20 2.6.48. W4248 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH.
21 16.8.43 ED442 LANCASTER MK.III 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
22 20.6.43 R5756 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
23 22.6.43 W4132 LANCASTER MK.I 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
24 27.6.43 W4197 LANCASTER MK.I 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
25 1.7.43 R5504 (FLOWN TRAINER) LANCASTER MK.I (Became3881M) 4 S.T.T. ST. ATHAN.
26 2.7.43 L7577 (STATIC TRAINER) LANCASTER MK.I 9Became 3610M) 11 S.T.T. ST. ATHAN.
27 3.7.43. W4128 STATIC TRAINER LANCASTER MK.I (Became 3699M) 10 S.T.T.ST. ATHAN.
28. 9.7.43. W4376 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
29 9.7.43 L7574 LANCASTER MK.I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
30 14.7.43 L7576 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH.
31 17.7.43 W4158 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
32 3.8.43 ED348 LANCASTER MK.I 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
33 9.8.43 R5895 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
34 10.8.43 ED763 LANCASTER MK.I 4 S.T.T. ST. ATHAN
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35 26.8.43 W4276 LANCASTER MK-I. 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
36 24.8.43 ED658 LANCASTER MK-III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
37 29.8.43 R5865 LANCASTER MK-I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
38 31 8.43 ED 310 LANCASTER MK-I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
39 5.9.43 ED 366 LANCASTER MK-I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
40 11.9.43 W4852 LANCASTER MK-I 28 M.U. LLANDOW
41 17.9.43 ED445 LANCASTER MK III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
42 21.9.43 LM310 LANCASTER MK-I 5 M.U. KEMBLE
43 18.10.43 R5552 LANCASTER MK-I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
44 18.10.43 W4899 LANCASTER MK-I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
45 21.10.43 ED623 LANCASTER MK-III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
46 30.10.43 W4941 LANCASTER MK-I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
47 15.11.43 L7579 LANCASTER MK-I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
48 22.11.43 W5006 LANCASTER MK-III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
49 23.11.43 ED411 LANCASTER MK-I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
50 26.11.43 R5734 LANCASTER MK-I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
51 30.11.43 R5862 LANCASTER MK-I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
52 30.11.43 W4380 LANCASTER MK-I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
53 20.12.43 W4127 LANCASTER MK-I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
54 14.1.44 ED430 LANCASTER MK-I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
55 21.1.44 L7541 LANCASTER MK0I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH.
56 27.1.44 EE148 LANCASTER MK III 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
57 30.1.44 L7527 LANCASTER MK.I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN.
58 7.2.44 EE174 LANCASTER MK.III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
59 5.2.44 ED395 LANCASTER MK.III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
60 15.9.44 JA695 LANCASTER MK.III 5 M.U. KEMBLE
61 20.2.44 W4158 LANCASTER MK.I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
62 2.3.44 R5625 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
63 15.3.44 R5845 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
64 17.3.44 ED802 LANCASTER MK.III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
65 25.3.44 JB125 LANCASTER MK.III 5 M.U. KEMBLE
66 26.3.44 DV175 MK.III 5 M.U. KEMBLE
67 3.4.44. W4891 LANCASTER MK-I 5 M.U. KEMBLE
68 5.4.44 W 4249 LANCASTER MK-I 38 M.U. LLANDOW.
[Page break]
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69 9.4.44 R 5733 LANCASTER MK-I 5 M.U. KEMBLE
70 15.4.44 R 5609 LANCASTER MK-I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
71 22.4.44 LM368 LANCASTER MK-III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
72 26.4.44 EE 124 LANCASTER MK-III 5 M.U. KEMBLE
73 27.4.44 ED 382 LANCASTER MK I 5 MU.U. KEMBLE
74 30.4.44 DV286 LANCASTER MK III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
75 9.5.44 DV 310 LANCASTER MK I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
76 9.5.44 W4900 LANCASTER MK I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
77 16.5.44 R5693 LANCASTER MK I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
78 17.5.44 JB 351 LANCASTER MK III 5 M.U. KEMBLE
79 19.5.44 ED 324 LANCASTER MK I 5 M.U. KEMBLE
80 20.5.44 DV200 LANCASTER MK III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
81 27.5.44 W4883 LANCASTER MK I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
82 27.5.44 ED 602 LANCASTER MK III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
83 27.5.44 DV161 LANCASTER MK III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
84 31.5.44 JB116 LANCASTER MK III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
85 7.6.44 R5505 LANCASTER MK-I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
86 8.6.44 LM375 LANCASTER MK III 5 M.U. KEMBLE
87 12.6.44 JB561 LANCASTER MK III 5 M.U. KEMBLE
88 13.6.44 JB475 LANCASTER MK III 5 M.U. KEMBLE
89 16.6.44 DV335 LANCASTER MK I 46 M.U LOSSIEMOUTH
90 18.6.44 W4993 LANCASTER MK III 38 M.U LLANDOW
91 27.6.44 JA684 LANCASTER MK III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
92 29.6.44 DV171 LANCASTER MK III 46 M.U LOSSIEMOUTH
93 29.6.44 ME584 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
94 5.7.44 DS 792 LANCASTER MK.II 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
95 7.7.44 LM391 LANCASTER MK III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
96 9.7.44 LL 786 LANCASTER MK I 5 M.U. KEMBLE
97 12.7.44 DS605 LANCASTER MK.II 38 M.U. LLANDOW
98 14.7.44 DV176 LANCASTER MK III 5 M.U. KEMBLE
99 23.7.44 JB374 LANCASTER MK III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
100 23.4.44 DS 714 LANCASTER MK.II 5 M.U. KEMBLE
101 26.7.44 ED 940 LANCASTER MK III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
102 27.7.44 JA 876 LANCASTER MK III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
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103 31.7.44 LM [deleted 348 [/deleted] 438 LANCASTER MK-III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
104 31.7.44 JA908 LANCASTER MK-III 5 M.U. KEMBLE
105 3.8.44 JB718 LANCASTER MK-III 5 M.U. KEMBLE
106 5.8.44 LL742 LANCASTER MK-I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
107 6.8.44 R5658 LANCASTER MK-I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
108 8.8.44 LL 626 LANCASTER MK.II. 5 M.U. KEMBLE
109 14.8.44 W 4197 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U LOSSIEMOUTH
110 17.8.44 R 5508 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
111 18.8.44 ED631 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
112 24.8.44 R 5503 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
113 27.8.44 JB410 LANCASTER MK-III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
114 31.8.44 DS783 LANCASTER MK-II 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
115 31.8.44 ND623 LANCASTER MK-III FLIGHT REFUELLING STAVERTON.
116 8.9.44 ND572 LANCASTER MK-III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
117 9.9.44 JB 185 LANCASTER MK-III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
118 16.9.44 ND 793 LANCASTER MK-III FLIGHT REFUELLING STAVERTON
119 21.9.44 JB 699 LANCASTER MK-III 5 M.U. KEMBLE
120 24.9.44 LL 865 LANCASTER MK-III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
121 12.9.44 JB613 LANCASTER MK-III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
122 14.9.44 ND385 LANCASTER MK-III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
123 27.9.44 ME 644 LANCASTER MK-I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
124 7.10.44 PB 118 LANCASTER MK III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
125 7.10.44 LM 639 LANCASTER MK III FLIGHT REFUELLING - STAVERTON
126 14.10.44 ND 442 LANCASTER MK III 5 M.U. KEMBLE
127 14.10.44 ND 656 LANCASTER MK III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
128 17.10.44 LL 646 LANCASTER MK-II 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
129 27.10.44 ME 719 LANCASTER MK I 5 M.U. KEMBLE
130 27.10.44 LL907 LANCASTER MK I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
131 2.11.44 LM460 LANCASTER MK.III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
132 2.11.44 R5733 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
133 6.11.44 LM 192 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
134 6.11.44 ND 909 LANCASTER MK III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
135 10.11.44 ND965 LANCASTER MK III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
136 15.11.44 W 4821 LANCASTER MK I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
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137 20.11.44 ME759 LANCASTER MK-I. 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
138 17.12.44 DS 711 LANCASTER MK-II. 38 M.U. LLANDOW
139 3.12.44 R5868 (S FOR “SUGAR”) LANCASTER MK I. 467 SQDN WADDINGTON.
140 8.12.44 LM590 LANCASTER MK-III 1669 CON. UNIT. LANGAR
141 17.12.44 LM 680 LANCASTER MK-III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
142 20.12.44 DV 246 LANCASTER MK-III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
143 3.1.45 PD 218 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
144 7.1.45 ME 847 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
145 7.1.45 PD 209 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
146 14.1.45 LM 591 LANCASTER MK-III E.C.D. UNIT. WESTCOTT.
147 14.1.45 R5507 LANCASTER MK-I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
148 27.1.45 HK 607 LANCASTER MK-I 1654 CON. UNIT. WIGSLEY.
149 27.1.45 JB 319 LANCASTER MK-III 1654 CON. UNIT. WIGSLEY
150 28.1.45 PD 219 LANCASTER MK-I 1654 CON. UNIT. WIGSLEY
151 28.1.45 PD 291 LANCASTER MK-I 1660 CON. UNIT. SWINDERBY.
152 1.2.45 LL 795 LANCASTER MK-I 1660 CON. UNIT. SWINDERBY
153 1.2.45 NN 713 LANCASTER MK-I 1660 CON. UNIT. SWINDERBY
154 1.2.45 ND 991 LANCASTER MK-III FLIGHT REFUELLING STAVERTON
155 10.2.45 PB 481 LANCASTER MK-III 5 L.F.S. SYERSTON
156 12.2.45 PB 420 LANCASTER MK-III 1660 CON. UNIT. SWINDERBY
157 19.2.45 PB 248 LANCASTER MK-III 5 L.F.S. SYERSTON.
158 19.2.45 LM 748 LANCASTER MK-III 1654 CON. UNIT. WIGSLEY
159 20.2.45 LM 681 LANCASTER MK-III FLIGHT REFUELLING. STAVERTON
160 20.2.45 L 7580 LANCASTER MK I 1668 CON. UNIT. BOTTESFORD.
161 22.2.45 PB 307 LANCASTER MK III 1667 CON. UNIT. SANDTOFT
162 28.2.45 ME 848 LANCASTER MK.I 103 SQDN ELSHAM WOLDS.
163 28.2.45 PB 424 LANCASTER MK III 15 SQDN. MILDENHALL.
164 2.3.45 LM 160 LANCASTER MK.I 300 SQDN. FALDINGWORTH
165 8.3.45 W4231 LANCASTER MK.I 1651 CON. UNIT. WOOLFOX LODGE
166 9.3.45 L 7582 LANCASTER MK.I 1651 CON. UNIT. WOOLFOX LODGE
167 10.3.45 LM288 LANCASTER MK.I B.C.I.S. FINNINGLEY
168 16.3.45 ND 992 LANCASTER MK III 227 SQDN BALDERTON
169 19.3.45 ND 509 LANCASTER MK III 61 SQDN SKELLINGTHORPE
170 18.3.45 PD 285 LANCASTER MK.I. 50 SQDN SKELLINGTHORPE.
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171 22.3.45 PD343 LANCASTER MK I. 166 SQDN KIRMINGTON
172 26.3.45 LM 689 LANCASTER MK.III 166 SQDN KIRMINGTON
173 27.3.45 ND 521 LANCASTER MK.III 460 SQDN BINBROOK
174 27.3.45 LM 678 LANCASTER MK.III 227 SQDN BALDERTON.
175 27.3.45 LM 721 LANCASTER MK.III 150 SQDN HEMSWELL
176 28.3.45 PB 360 LANCASTER MK.III 57 SQDN EAST KIRKBY
177 30.3.45 PB 532 LANCASTER MK.III 550 SQDN NORTH KILLINGHOLME
178 7.4.45 NN 748 LANCASTER MK.I 625 SQDN KELSTERN
179 7.4.45 PD 198 LANCASTER MK.I 103 SQDN ELSHAM WOLDS
180 9.4.45 LM 651 LANCASTER MK.III 427 SQDN LEEMING BAR.
181 11.4.45 W4154 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
182 11.4.45 LM727 LANCASTER MK.III 550 SQDN NORTH KILLINGHOLME.
183 15.4.45 PD 324 LANCASTER MK.I 427 SQDN LEEMING BAR
184 19.4.45 PB 615 LANCASTER MK.III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
185 20.4.45 HK 657 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
186 21.4.45 PB 454 LANCASTER MK.III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
187 25.4.45 ED 767 LANCASTER MK.III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
188 30.4.45 HK 614 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
189 1.5.45 JB646 LANCASTER MK.III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
190 3.5.45 NG 366 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH.
191 4.5.45 PD 281 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
192 10.5.45 PD 348 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
193 10.5.45 W4263 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
194 11.5.45 ND 855 MK.III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
195 12.5.45 JA 868 LANCASTER MK.III 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
196 16.5.45 NG 124 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
197 24.5.45 NG 195 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
198 29.5.45 NG 288 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
199 29.5.45 NG 490 LANCASTER MK.I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
200 29.5.45 PB 847 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
201 31.5.45 PD 362 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
202 1.6.45 HK 709 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
203 4.6.45 PD 384 LANCASTER MK.I 5 M.U. KEMBLE
204 7.6.45 PB 464 LANCASTER MK III 5 M.U. KEMBLE
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205 13.6.45 JB 718 LANCASTER MK.III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
206 15.6.45 ME 378 LANCASTER MK.III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
207 15.6.45 PB 679 LANCASTER MK.III 10 M.U. HULLAVINGTON
208 19.6.45 R 5730 LANCASTER MK-I 10 M.U. HULLAVINGTON.
209 23.6.45 NG 359 LANCASTER MK-I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN.
210 26.6.45 NF 910 LANCASTER MK.I 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
211 26.6.45 PD 323 LANCASTER MK-I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
212 2.7.45 LM224 LANCASTER MK-I EANS. SHAWBURY
213 3.7.45 PB 760 LANCASTER MK-I 10 M.U. HULLAVINGTON
214 9.7.45 W 4980 LANCASTER MK-I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
215 12.7.45 PB 758 LANCASTER MK-III C.R.D. WEST FREUGH.
216 13.7.45 NG 278 LANCASTER MK-I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
217 13.7.45 ED 611 LANCASTER MK-III CRD WEST FREUGH.
218 20.7.45 JA 962 LANCASTER MK-III 10 M.U. HULLAVINGTON.
219 23.7.45 HK 755 LANCASTER MK I. 10 M.U. HULLAVINGTON.
220 25.7.45 MW111 YORK C.MK.I. 511 SQDN LYNEHAM
221 27.7.45 PB420 LANCASTER MK.III C.R.D. WEST FREUGH.
222 8.8.45 RA 507 LANCASTER MK.I 10 M.U. HULLAVINGTON
223 14.8.45 PD 349 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
224 14.8.45 SW 243 LANCASTER MK.I 38 M.U. LLANDOW
225 27.8.45 PP 692 LANCASTER MK.I 5 M.U. KEMBLE
226 27.8.45 NX 548 LANCASTER MK.I 5 M.U. KEMBLE
227 21.8.45 PD401 LANCASTER MK.I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN.
228 31.8.45 NN769 LANCASTER MK.I 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
229 6.9.45 NG 245 LANCASTER MK.I 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
230 9.9.45 MW 110 YORK C.MK.I 511 SQDN. LYNEHAM.
231 13.9.45 NG 293 LANCASTER MK I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
232 17.9.45 W 4995 LANCASTER MK I 5 M.U. KEMBLE
233 25.9.45 HK702 LANCASTER MK I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
234 3.10.45 LM266 LANCASTER MK I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
235 13.10.45 NG 196 LANCASTER MK I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
236 18.10.45 MW 120 YORK C.MK.I. 511 SQDN. LYNEHAM.
237 19.10.45 W4115 LANCASTER MK-I 46 M.U. LOSSIEMOUTH
238 19.10.45 RF210 LANCASTER MK III 38 M.U. LLANDOW.
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239 22.10.45 LV 633 YORK. 3rd [circled] P [/circled] “Ascalon” 511 SQDN LYNEHAM
240 13.11.45 JA 922 LANCASTER MK.III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
241 13.11.45 NG 397 LANCASTER MK I 39 M.U. COLERNE.
242 16.11.45 PA 288 LANCASTER MK I 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
243 13.12.45 ED 623 LANCASTER MK III 39 M.U. COLERNE
244 13.12.45 W 4950 LANCASTER MK I. 5 M.U. KEMBLE
245 13.12.45 PB752 LANCASTER MK I C.R.D. BRACEBRIDGE HEATH
246 17.12.45 MW101 YORK C.MK.I. 511 SQDN LYNEHAM.
247 27.12.45 MW128 YORK C.MK.I. 511 SQDN LYNEHAM
248 4.1.46 ME537 LANCASTER MK-III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
249 8.1.46 PA232 LANCASTER MK-I R.W.E. WATTON
250 10.1.46 ME760 LANCASTER MK-I 39 M.U. COLERNE
251 17.1.46 ND 929 LANCASTER MK-III 39 M.U. COLERNE.
252 28.1.46 MW100 YORK C.MK.I. (1st Prod) 511 SQDN LYNEHAM
253 29.1.46 PD381 LANCASTER MK I R.W.E. WATTON
254 7.2.46 ED 607 LANCASTER MK III R.W.E. WATTON
255 7.2.45 ND979 LANCASTER MK III 22 M.U. SILLOTH
256 9.2.46 MW 125 YORK C.MK.I 218 M.U. COLERNE
257 9.2.46 RE 137 LANCASTER MK.III C.R.D.-A.S.T. HAMBLE
258 21.2.46 PB 596 LANCASTER MK.III C.R.D. WEST FREUGH.
259 28.2.46 ME429 LANCASTER MK.III 22 M.U. SILLOTH
260 25.2.46 RE404 LINCOLN B.MK.2 RAF MARHAM
261 7.3.46 ME 374 LANCASTER MK I R.I.V.E. WATTON
262 20.3.46 RE378 LINCOLN B.MK.2. R.A.F. DEFFORD
263 20.3.46 RE 380 LINCOLN B.MK.2 ENGLISH ELECTRIC PRESTON
264 26.3.46 RE 379 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
265 26.3.46 MW 127 YORK C.MK.I. 218 MU COLERNE.
266 26.3.46 LM681 LANCASTER MK III CRD STAVERTON
267 11.4.46 RE 377 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
268 18.4.46 MW139 YORK C.MK.I 218 M.U. COLERNE
269 23.4.46 RE375 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U KEMBLE
270 23.4.46 RE376 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE
271 1.5.46 MW123 WORK C.MK.I 218 M.U. COLERNE
272 2.5.46 RE374 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
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273 10.5.46 RE 373 LINCOLN B.MK.2 ENGLISH ELECTRIC.
274 16.5.46 RE 289 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
275 22.5.46 RE 307 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
276 23.5.46 RE 372 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
277 23.5.46 MW 104 YORK C.MK.I 218 M.U. COLERNE
278 28.5.46 RE 370 LINCOLN B.MK2. E.E.
279 31.5.46 RE 371 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
280 5.6.46 RE 369 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
281 5.6.46 RE 302 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
282 6.6.46 RE 312 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
283 12.6.46 MW 138 YORK C.MK I 218 M.U. COLERNE
284 14.6.46 RE 305 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
285 21.6.46 MW 122 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
286 24.6.46 RE 317 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
287 26.6.46 RE 313 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
288 1.7.46 RE 315 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
289 12.7.46 RE 417 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
290 15.7.46 RE 394 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
291 16.7.46 RE 338 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
292 16.7.46 RE 393 LINCIOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
293 19.7.46 RE 395 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
294 19.7.46 RE 396 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
295 23.7.46 RE 339 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
296 25.7.46 RE 415 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
297 25.7.46 RE 416 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
298 25.7.46 RE 418 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
299 25.7.46 MW 167 YORK.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
300 26.7.46 RE 340 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
301 26.7.46 RE 341 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
302 8.8.46 RE 419 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
303 20.8.46 RE 420 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
304 20.8.46 RE 421 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
305 23.8.46 RE 367 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
306 26.8.46 RE 368 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
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307 28.8.46 RE 365 LINCOLN B.MK.2 ENGLISH ELECTRIC
308 30.8.46 RE 294 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
309 9.9.46 RE 366 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
310 12.9.46 RE 364 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
311 16.9.46 RE 414 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
312 17.9.46 MW 142 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH.
313 19.9.46 RE 422 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
314 19.9.46 RE 295 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
315 23.9.46 RE423 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
316 2.10.46 RE 296 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
317 4.10.46 RE 360 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
318 11.10.46 MW102 YORK C.MK I R.A.F. BASSINGBOURNE.
319 16.10.46 RE 424 LINCOLN B.MK.2 37 M.U. BURTONWOOD
320 18.10.46 RE 297 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
321 22.10.46 MW137 YORK C.MK-1 C.R.D. WOODFORD
322 23.10.46 MW106 YORK C.MK-1 22 M.U. SILLOTH
323 23.10.46 RE 299 LINCOLN B.MK.2 37 M.U. BURTONWOOD
324 25.10.46 RE 301 LINCOLN B.MK.2 37 M.U. BURTONWOOD
325 8.11.46 RE 361 LINCOLN B.MK.2 37 M.U. BURTONWOOD
326 8.11.46 RE 399 LINCOLN B.MK.2 37 M.U. BURTONWOOD
327 8.11.46 RE 397 LINCOLN B.MK.2 37 M.U. BURTONWOOD
328 8.11.46 MW181 YORK C.MK-I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
329 4.12.46 RE 300 LINCOLN B.MK.2 37 M.U. BURTONWOOD
330 18.12.46 MW 325 YORK C.MK.I RAF BASSINGBOURNE.
331 16.1.47 RE 359 LINCOLN B.MK.2 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
332 16.1.47 RE 413 LINCOLN B.MK.2 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
333 23.1.47 MW 130 YORK C.MK.I. 22 M.U. SILLOTH
334 23.1.47 RE 400 LINCOLN B.MK.2 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
335 20.2.47 RE 364 LINCOLN B.MK.2 (Aries II) E.A.N.S. SHAWBURY
336 20.3.47 RE 362 LINCOLN B.MK.2 15 M.U. WROUGHTON.
337 20.3.47 RE 363 LINCOLN B.MK.2 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
338 10.4.47 RE 398 LINCOLN B.MK.2 37 M.U. BURTONWOOD
339 11.4.47 RE 411 LINCOLN B.MK.2 37 M.U. BURTONWOOD
340 11.4.47 MW135 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
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341 15.4.47 RE345 LINCOLN B.MK.2 ENGLISH ELECTRIC.
342 18.4.47 LV-ACV. LANCASTRIAN C.MK.4 F.A.M.A. ARGENTINE.
343 23.4.47 LV-ACU LANCASTRIAN C.MK.4 F.A.M.A. ARGENTINE.
344 26.4.47 MW 169 YORK C.MK.I. ORLY (DE-GAULLE)
345 29.4.47 RE 358 LINCON B.MK.2 EE.
346 29.4.47 RE 412 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
347 6.5.47 RE414 LINCOLN B.MK.2 (Mercury II) E.R.S. DEBDEN.
348 19.5.47 MW173 YORK C.MK.I AST HAMBLE
349 28.5.47 RE 342 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
350 28.5.47 RE 344 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
351 28.5.47 RE 357 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
352 3.6.47 MW 105 YORK C.MK.I A.S.T. HAMBLE
353 3.6.47 MW 200 YORK C.MK.I A.S.T. HAMBLE
354 19.6.47 G-AHEI YORK C.MK.I SKYWAYS DUNSFOLD.
355 20.6.47 MW 144 YORK C.MK.I. A.S.T. HAMBLE
356 21.7.47 MW 146 YORK C.MK.I. A.S.T. HAMBLE
357 15.8.47 G-AHLV YORK C.MK.I. SKYWAYS DUNSFOLD.
358 8.9.47 MW 171 YORK C.MK.I A.S.T. HAMBLE
359 17.9.47 B-001 (RE 343) LINCOLN B.MK.2 ARGENTINE.
360 9.10.47 RE 348 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
361 15.10.47 MW109 YORK C.MK.I. 22 M.U. SILLOTH.
362 23.10.47 RE 347 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
363 31.10.47 MW174 YORK C.MK.I 511 SQDN LYNEHAM.
364 24.11.47 B-004 (RE351) LINCOLN B.MK.2 ARGENTINE.
365 24.11.47 B-009 (RE 356) LINCOLN B.MK.2 ARGENTINE.
366 25.11.47 B-010 (RE408) LINCOLN B.MK.2 ARGENTINE.
367 25.11.47 B-012 (RE410) LINCOLN B.MK.2 ARGENTINE
368 9.12.47 B-002 (RE349) LINCOLN B.MK.2 ARGENTINE.
369 14.12.47 B-011 (RE409) LINCOLN B.MK.2 ARGENTINE.
370 5.1.48 MW 145 YORK C.MK.I. RAF HONINGTON.
371 5.1.48 MW 165 YORK C.MK.I. RAF HONINGTON
372 6.1.48 MW 140 YORK C.MK.I. 24 SQDN. BASSINGBOURN
373 8.1.48 RE407 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
374 20.1.48 RE406 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
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375 4.2.48 RE 322 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
376 4.2.48 RE 325 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
377 5.2.48 RE 346 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
378 12.2.48 MW 141 YORK C.MK.I AST HAMBLE
379 12.2.48 MW 186 YORK C.MK.I R.A.F. HONINGTON
380 13.2.48 B-007 (RE354) LINCOLN B.MK.2 ARGENTINE.
381 13.2.48 B-005 (RE352) LINCOLN B.MK.2 ARGENTINE
382 13.2.48 B-008 (RE355) LINCOLN B.MK.2 ARGENTINE
383 25.2.48 RE 324 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
384 27.2.48 B-006 (RE353) LINCOLN B.MK.2 ARGENTINE
385 8.3.48 RE405 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
386 8.3.48 RE298 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
387 9.3.48 MW185 YORK C.MK.1 R.A.F. HONINGTON
388 10.3.48 RE 323 LINCOLN B.MK2 E.E.
389 22.3.48 RE402 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
390 30.3.48 RE401 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
391 1.4.48 RE 403 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
392 1.4.48 RE 321 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
393 5.4.48 RE 319 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
394 9.4.48 MW183 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
395 14.4.48 MW 112 YORK C.MK.1 ROLLS ROYCE HUCKNALL.
396 23.4.48 RE 320 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
397 4.5.48 RE 316 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
398 5.5.48 MW 246 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH.
399 6.5.48 RE 318 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
400 11.5.48 RE 311 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
401 11.5.48 B-031 (PA 375) LANCASTER MK.I. ARGENTINE
402 28.5.48 RE314 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
403 3.6.48 RE 309 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
404 4.6.48 RE 306 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
405 7.6.48 MW 177 YORK C.MK.I. 22 M.U. SILLOTH
406 11.6.48 MW100 YORK C.MK.I (1st Prod) R.A.F. BASSINGBOURNE.
407 1.7.48 RE308 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
408 2.7.48 MW163 YORK C.MK.I. 22 M.U. SILLOTH
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409 15.7.48 RE303 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
410 12.8.48 MW101 YORK C.MK.I 24 SQDN. BASSINGBOURNE
411 7.9.48 MW195 YORK C.MK.I RAF ABINGDON
412 22.9.48 RE292 LINCOLN B.MK.2. E.E.
413 24.9.48 MW 132 YORK C.MK.I. R.A.F. ABINGDON
414 29.9.48 RE 310 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
415 29.9.48 RE 293 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
416 1.10.48 MW 187 YORK C.MK.I R.A.F LYNEHAM.
417 1.10.48 RE 367 LINCOLN B.MK.2 32 M.U. ST. ATHAN
418 12.10.48 RE 304 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
419 13.10.48 MW 128 YORK C.MK.I R.A.F. LYNEHAM.
420 13.10.48 MW 110 YORK C.MK.I R.A.F. ABINGDON.
421 5.11.48 B-033 LANCASTER MK.I ARGENTINE.
422 5.11.48 B-044 LANCASTER MK.I. ARGENTINE.
423 12.11.48 B-043 LANCASTER MK.I ARGENTINE.
424 12.11.48 B-032 LANCASTER MK.I. ARGENTINE
425 18..11.48 RE 291 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
426 18.11.48 SS 715 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
427 19.11.48 B-038 LANCASTER MK.I ARGENTINE
428 20.11.48 B-035 LANCASTER MK.I ARGENTINE
429 2.11.48 B-045 LANCASTER MK.I ARGENTINE
430 4.12.48 B-042 LANCASTER MK.I ARGENTINE.
431 11.12.48 B-039 LANCASTER MK.I ARGENTINE
432 3.12.48 MW 178 YORK C.MK.I. R.A.F. LYNEHAM
433 3.12.48 MW 188 YORK C.MK.I RAF LYNEHAM
434 12.12.48 B-040 LANCASTER MK.I ARGENTINE
435 13.12.48 MW140 YORK MK.I R.A.F. BASSINGBOURNE
436 16.12.48 B-036 LANCASTER MK.I ARGENTINE.
437 17.12.48 B-034 LANCASTER MK.I ARGENTINE.
438 20.12.48 MW 143 YORK C.MK.I. R.A.F. ABINGDON
439 23.12.48 B-037 LANCASTER MK.I ARGENTINE.
440 4.1.49 B-041 LANCASTER MK.I ARGENTINE.
441 6.1.49 SS717 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
442 2.2.49 MW 193 YORK C.MK.I. R.A.F. ABINGDON
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443 24.2.49 B-003 LINCOLN B.MK.2 ARGENTINE.
444 25.2.49 MW 194 YORK C.MK.I. R.A.F. DISHFORTH
445 28.2.49 SS716 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
446 8.3.49 NX781 LANCASTER MK.I RAF SHAWBURY
447 9.3.49 LV 633 YORK MK I (3rd Proto) ”Ascalon” 22 M.U. SILLOTH
448 10.3.49 MW 239 YORK C.MK.I RA.F. DISHFORTH
449 24.3.49 MW 149 YORK C.MK.I R.A.F. LYNEHAM
450 24.3.49 MW 287 YORK C.MK.I RAF LYNEHAM
451 1.4.49 RT 684 LANCASTER MK.VII. RAF SHAWBURY
452 4.4.49 NX737 LANCASTER MK.I RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
453 5.4.49 MW 255 YORK C.MK.1 RAF ABINGDON
454 14.4.49 MW 139 YORK C.MK.I R.A.F. BOSCOMBE DOWN
455 20.4.49 SS718 LINCOLN B.MK.2 E.E.
456 20.4.49 MW 206 YORK C.MK.I RAF ABINGDON
457 22.4.49 RF 318 LANCASTER MK.III 45 M.U. KINLOSS.
458 3.5.49 RT 689 LANCASTER MK VII R.A.F. (E.A.N.S) SHAWBURY
459 9.5.49 MW 164 YORK C.MK.I RAF DISHFORTH.
460 19.5.49 RE418 LINCOLN B.MK.2 (Theseus test-bed) RAF. LYNEHAM
461 31.5.49 MW226 YORK C.MK.I RAF ABINGDON
462 1.6.49 MW 196 YORK C.MK.I RAF ABINGDON
463 14.6.49 MW 227 YORK C.MK.I RAF LYNEHAM
464 8.7.49 MW 243 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
465 22.7.49 NX 715 LANCASTER MK.VII RAF (E.A.N.S) SHAWBURY.
466 5.8.49 MW 291 YORK C.MK.I 22 MU SILLOTH
467 19.8.49 NX 749 LANCASTER MK.VII RAF SHAWBURY
468 19.8.49 RF503 LINCOLN B.MK.2 R.A.F. (PATHFINDERS) WYTON
469 30.8.49 MW294 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
470 2.9.49 RF370 LINCOLN B.MK.2 R.A.F. (PATHFINDERS) WYTON.
471 5.9.49 MW 237 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH.
472 6.9.49 RF 504 LINCOLN B.MK.2 R.A.F. HEMSWELL.
473 1.9.49 RT693 LANCASTER MK VII RAF SHAWBURY
474 7.9.49 RF 398 LINCOLN B.MK.2 RA.F. WADDINGTON.
475 9.9.49 RF 396 LINCOLN B.MK.2 RAF WADDINGTON
476 13.9.49 RF506 LINCOLN B.MK.2 RAF SCAMPTON.
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477 13.9.49 RT681 LANCASTER MK VII RAF SHAWBURY
478 20.9.49 G-AHFE YORK C.MK.I. BSAA LANGLEY
479 3.10.49 NX716 LANCASTER MK.VII RAF SHAWBURY
480 10.10.49 MW236 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
481 12.10.49 MW 167 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH.
482 12.10.49 SW 373 LANCASTER MK.I RAF (CC) ST. EVAL.
483 26.10.49 RF 307 LANCASTER MK.III RAF (CC) ST. EVAL.
484 28.10.49 MW321 YORK C.MK.I. 22 M.U- SILLOTH
485 1.11.49 RF 416 LINCOLN B.MK.2. WOODFORD
486 10.11.49 MW102 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
487 28.11.49 RE 211 LANCASTER MK.III 45 MU. KINLOSS
488 8.12.49 MW 265 YORK C.MKI 22 M.U. SILLOTH
489 15.12.49 RF401 LINCOLN B.MK.2. 38 M.U. LLANDOW
490 15.12.49 MW 199 YORK C.MK.I R.AF. WATERBEACH.
491 22.12..49 VM701 LANCASTRIAN C.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
492 12.1.50 RF399 LINCOLN B.MK.2 WOODFORD
493 24.1.50 NX754 LANCASTER MK VII RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
494 24.1.50 MW135 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
495 10.2.50 RE 339 LINCOLN B.MK.2 B.A.C. FILTON
496 14.2.50 MW181 YORK C.MK.I 12 M.U. KIRKBRIDE
497 14.2.50 MW254 YORK C.MK.I 12 M.U. KIRKBRIDE
498 17.2.50 RE375 LINCOLN B.MK.2 RAF WADDINGTON
499 21.2.50 MW253 YORK C.MK.I 12 M.U. KIRKBRIDE
500 31.3.50 RE281 LINCOLN B.MK.2 RAF GOSPORT.
501 3.4.50 MW233 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH.
502 5.4.50 MW 162 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH.
503 31.5.50 MW 147 YORK C.MK.I 12 M.U. KIRKBRIDE
504 31.5.50 MW 232 YORK C.MK.I 15 M.U. WROUGHTON.
505 1.6.50 RF405 LINCOLN B.MK.2 R.A.F. MANBY.
506 1.6.50 RF 358 LINCOLN B.MK.2 R.A.F. MANBY.
507 6.6.50 MW203 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH.
508 15.6.50 1801 LANCASTER MK I EGYPT. VIA DUNSFOLD
509 22.6.50 80001 (G-11-29) LANCASTER MK.I SWEDEN VIA A.S.T. HAMBLE
510 30.6.50 MW144 YORK C.MK.I. 22 M.U. SILLOTH.
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511 6.7.50 1802 LANCASTER MK.I EGYPT Via DUNSFOLD
512 24.7.50 1803 LANCASTER MK.I EGYPT Via DUNSFOLD
513 24.7.50 MW286 YORK C.MK.I RAF BASSINGBOURNE
514 28.7.50 RE 380 LINCOLN B.MK 2 RAF MANBY.
515 16.8.50 1804 LANCASTER MK.I EGYPT.
516 29.8.50 1805 LANCASTER MK.I EGYPT.
517 7.9.50 MW 133 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
518 19.9.50 1806 LANCASTER MK.I EGYPT
519 26.9.50 MW234 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
520 3.10.50 MW136 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
521 5.10.50 1807 LANCASTER MK.I EGYPT
522 13.10.50 RF384 LINCOLN B.MK.2 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE.
523 30.10.50 1808 LANCASTER MK.I EGYPT
524 8.11.50 MW327 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH.
525 20.11.50 1809 LANCASTER MK.I EGYPT
526 28.12.50 MW210 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
527 28.12.50 RF411 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE
528 29.12.50 MW179 YORK C.MK.I 22 M.U. SILLOTH
529 12.1.51 NX689 LANCASTER MK VII 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
530 18.1.51 MW295 YORK C.MK.I. 22 M.U. SILLOTH
531 20.2.51 MW258 YORK C.MK.I. 12 M.U. KIRKBRIDE
532 15.3.51 MW231 YORK C.MK.I. 12 M.U. KIRKBRIDE
533 13.4.51 RE294 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
534 13.4.51 RE417 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
535 13.4.51 RF532 LINCOLN B.MK.2 10 MU HULLAVINGTON
536 24.4.51 RF503 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
537 7.5.51 RF 392 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
538 8.5.51 RF481 LINCOLN B.MK.2 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
539 8.5.51 RE 365 LINCOLN B.MK.2 10 M.U. HULLAVINGTON
540 29.5.51 RE419 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE
541 31.5.51 RF 422 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE
542 31.5.51 RF322 LINCOLN B.MK.2 RAF ST. EVAL
543 4.6.51 RF410 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
544 25.6.51 RF 395 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN.
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545 27.6.51 RF 516 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE
546 27.6.51 RF423 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
547 4.7.51 RF 458 LINCOLN B.MK.2 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
548 10.7.51 RE 341 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
549 23.7.51 RE 222 LANCASTER A.S.R. III R.A.F. ST. MAWGAN
550 23.7.51 RF 418 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE
551 25.7.51 RF 400 LINCOLN B.MK.2 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
552 27.7.51 RF 514 LINCOLN B.MK.2 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
553 27.7.51 RF 427 LINCOLN B.MK.2 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
554 27.7.51 RF 529 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
555 15.8.51 RE 366 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
556 20.8.51 RE 369 LINCOLN B.MK.2 39 M.U. COLERNE.
557 23.8.51 RE 396 LINCOLN B.MK.2 45 M.U. KINLOSS
558 3.9.51 RF520 LINCOLN B.MK.2 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
559 19.9.51 RF 515 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
560 19.9.51 RF 394 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
561 27.9.51 RF 570 LINCOLN B.MK.2 45 M.U. KINLOSS.
562 3.10.51 RF456 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
563 3.10.51 RF406 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
564 10.10.51 RF464 LINCILN B.MK.2 39 M.U. COLERNE.
565 12.10.51 RF 506 LINCOLN B.MK.2 39 M.U. COLERNE.
566 18.10.51 RF 413 LINCOLN B.MK.2 10 M.U. HULLAVINGTON
567 19.11.51 RE 379 LINCOLN B.MK.2 10 M.U. HULLAVINGTON.
568 26.11.51 RF478 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. COLERNE.
569 26.11.51 RF361 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
570 26.11.51 RE 368 LINCOLN B.MK.2 10 M.U. HULLAVINGTON
571 27.11 51 RE 376 LINCOLN B.MK.2 58 M.U. HONINGTON
572 6.12.51 RF499 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
573 20.12.51 RF404 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
574 20.12.51 RF507 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
575 28.12.51 RF473 LINCOLN B.MK.2 10 M.U. HULLAVINGTON
576 2.1.52 RF498 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE
577 8.1.52 RF370 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
578 14.1.52 RE 305 LINCOLN B.MK.2 39 M.U. COLERNE
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579 31.1.52 RF524 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE
580 11.1.52 RE289 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE
581 18.1.52 RF513 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
582 18.2.52 RF502 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
583 22.2.52 RF 367 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
584 22.2.52 RF357 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
585 3.3.52 RF480 LINCOLN B.MK.2 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
586 4.3.52 RE 393 LINCOLN B.MK.2 10 M.U. HULLAVINGTON
587 12.3.52 W.U.17 (TW655) LANCASTER MK.I VILLA COUBLAY
588 19.3.52 RF477 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
589 5.4.52 W.U.24 (PA389) LANCASTER MK.I VILLA COUBLAY
590 9.4.52 RF5405 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
591 9.4.52 RF390 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
592 18.4.52 RF358 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
593 29.4.52 RA721 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
594 29.4.52 RE 380 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
595 2.5.52 W.U.25 (P.A.387) LANCASTER MK.I VILLA COUBLAY
596 15.5.52 RF482 LINCOLN B.MK.2 39 M.U. COLERNE
597 19.5.52 RF 362 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
598 28.5.52 W.U.32 (PA395) LANCASTER MK.I LAN BIHOUE
599 6.6.52 W.U.40 (PA432) LANCASTER MK.I VILLA COUBLAY
600 18.6.52 W.U.33 (PA477) LANCASTER MK.I LAN BIHOUE
601 2.7.52 RE315 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE
602 2.7.52 W.U.34 (PA426) LANCASTER MK.I VILLA COUBLAY
603 8.7.52 WU52 (RA800) LANCASTER MK.I VILLA COUBLAY
604 10.7.52 RF397 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
605 18.7.52 W.U.42 (TW815) LANCASTER MK.I VILLA COUBLAY
606 24.7.52 RE 307 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE
607 25.7.52 W.U.41 (TW928) LANCASTER MK.I VILLA COUBLAY
608 27.8.52 RE421 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
609 4.9.52 W.U.49 (RA627) LANCASTER MK.I VILLA COUBLAY.
610 4.9.52 W.U.53 (TW927) LANCASTER MK.I VILLA COUBLAY
611 17.9.52 W.U.43 (PA431) LANCASTER MK.I VILLA COUBLAY
612 3.10.52 W.U.51 (RA796) LANCASTER MK.I VILLA COUBLAY
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613 8.10.52 W.U. (RA [missing number] ) LANCASTER MK.I VILLA COUBLAY
614 9.10.52 SX935 LINCOLN B.MK.2 RAF MANBY
615 23.10.52 SX946 LINCOLN B.MK.2 RAF MANBY
616 28.10.52 WU.54 (NX668) LANCASTER MK,I VILLA COUBLAY.
617 25.11.52 RF463 LINCOLN B.MK.2 45 M.U. KINLOSS
618 18.12.52 WD 132 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
619 31.12.52 SX955 LINCOLN B.MK.2 RAF MANBY
620 16.1.53 RE221 LANCASTER G.R.III 22 M.U. SILLOTH.
621 22.1.53 RF426 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
622 22.1.53 RE 395 LINCOLN B.MK.2. 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
623 27.1.53 RF364 LINCOLN B.MK.2 10 M.U. HULLAVINGTON
624 24.2.53 RF523 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
625 25.2.53 RF 525 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
626 7.3.53 SX938 LINCON B.MK.2 R.A.F. MANBY.
627 9.4.53 RE 115 LANCASTER G.R.III 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
628 10.4.53 RF 483 LINCOLN B.MK.2 5 M.U. KEMBLE.
629 13.4.53 MW179* YORK C.MK.I. RAF BOSCOMBE DOWN
630 16.4.53 RF 517 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 MU ASTON DOWN
631 28.4.53 MW132* YORK C.MK.I RAF ABINGDON
632 2.5.53 (LV-ZEI) (RE350) B-003 2. LINCOLNIAN Cruz del Sud ARGENTINE
633 8.5.53 RF505 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
634 18.5.53 RF521 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 .M.U. ASTON DOWN
635 6.7.53 RF476 LINCOLN B.MK.2 15 M.U WROUGHTON
636 9.7.53 SW 365 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
637 23.7.53 SW 283 LANCASTER G.R.III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
638 23.7.53 RF 396 LINCOLN B.MK.2 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
639 25.8.53 RE 371 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
640 23.9.53 RF465 LINCOLN B.MK.2 45 M.U. KINLOSS
641 8.10.53 RF501 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
642 6.11.53 RF 558 LINCOLN B.MK.2 45 M.U. KINLOSS
643 19.11.53 WS 722 METEOR N.F.14. RAF. BITTESWELL.
644 27.11.53 WS718 METEOR N.F.12. RAF BITTESWELL.
645 12.11.53 FCL-01 (RT693) LANCASTER MK VII ORLY PARIS
646 29.12.53 WS717 METEOR N.F.12. 8 M.U. LITTLE RISSINGTON
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647 29.12.53 WS718 METEOR N.F.12 RAF. LITTLE RISSINGTON
648 29.12.53 WS721 METEOR N.F.12 RAF. LITTLE RISSINGTON
649 29.12.53 WS 720 METEOR N.F.12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
650 8.1.54 FCL-02 (NX738) LANCASTER MK.VII ORLY PARIS
651 11.1.54 RF290 LANCASTER G.R.III 38 M.U. LLANDOW
652 11.1.54 WS723 METEOR N.F.14 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
653 11.1.54 WS730 METEOR N.F.14 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
654 11.1.54 WS 694 METEOR N.F.12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
655 11.1.54 WS 698 METEOR N.F.12 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
656 11.1.54 WS 613 METEOR N.F.12 15 MU WROUGHTON
657 11.1.54 WS 716 METEOR N.F.12 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
658 11.1.54 WS 695 METEOR N.F.12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
659 11.1.54 WS 697 METEOR N.F.12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
660 14.1.54 WS 612 METEOR M.F.12 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
661 14.1.54 WS 736 METEOR NF.14 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
662 19.1.54 WS 622 METEOR NF 12 R.A.F. LITTLE RISSINGTON.
663 19.1.54 WS 728 METEOR NF.14 15 M.U. WROUGHTON.
664 19.1.54 WS 728 METEOR NF.14 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
665 19.1.54 WS 733 METEOR NF.14 15 M.U. WROUGHTON.
666 19.1.54 WS 734 METEOR NF.14 15 M.U. WROUGHTON.
667 19.1.54 WD 123 LINCOLN B.MK.2 RAF BOSCOME DOWN
668 27.1.54 WS 724 METEOR NF.14. RAF MANBY
669 27.1.54 RE 186 LANCASTER G.R.III RAF ST. MAWGAN
670 26.1.54 FCL-03 (RT 689) LANCASTER MK.VII ORLY PARIS
671 5.2.54 WS 727 METEOR NF.14 15 M.U, WROUGHTON
672 5.2.54 WS 725 METEOR NF.14 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
673 5.2.54 WS 602 METEOR NF.12 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
674 22.2.54 WS 696 METEOR NF.12. RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
675 22.2.54 WS 729 METEOR NF 14 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
676 22.2.54 WS 732 METEOR NF 14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
677 22.2.54 WS 737 METEOR NF 14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
678 22.2.54 WS 741 METEOR NF 14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
679 22.2.54 WS 746 METEOR NF 14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
680 22.2.54 WS 738 METEOR NF 14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
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681 22.2.54 WS 740 METEOR N.F.14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
682 22.2.54 WS 743 METEOR N.F.14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
683 22.2.54 WS 739 METEOR N.F.14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
684 22.2.54 WS 744 METEOR N.F.14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
685 22.2.54 WS 752 METEOR N.F.14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
686 22.2.54 WS 699 METEOR N.F.12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
687 22.2.54 WS 608 METEOR N.F.12 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
688 22.2.54 WS 678 METEOR N.F.12 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
689 22.2.54 WS 600 METEOR N.F.12 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
690 22.2.54 WS 748 METEOR NF.14 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
691 22.2.54 WS 750 METEOR N.F.14 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
692 24.2.54 WS 680 METEOR NF-12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
693 5.3.54 WS 591 METEOR NF-12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON.
694 5.3.54 WS 598 METEOR NF-12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON.
695 5.3.54 WS 700 METEOR NF-12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON.
696 5.3.54 WS 604 METEOR NF-12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON.
697 5.3.54 WS 753 METEOR NF 14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON.
698 5.3.54 WS 751 METEOR NF 14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON.
699 5.3.54 WS 795 METEOR NF 14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON.
700 5.3.54 WS 749 METEOR NF 14 15 MU WROUGHTON
701 8.3.54 WS 603 METEOR NF.12 15 MU WROUGHTON
702 8.3.54 WS 758 METEOR NF.14 15 MU WROUGHTON
703 8.3.54 WS 754 METEOR NF.14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
704 8.3.54 WS 755 METEOR NF.14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
705 17.3.54 RF 568 LINCOLN B.MK.2. 38 MU LLANDOW
706 17.3.54 FCL-04 (RT673) LANCASTER MK.VII ORLY PARIS
707 17.3.54 WS 735 METEOR NF.14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
708 17.3.54 WS 774 METEOR NF.14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
709 23.3.54 WS 756 METEOR NF.14 15 MU WROUGHTON
710 23.3.54 WS 760 METEOR NF.14 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
711 25.3.54 WS 747 METEOR NF.14 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
712 25.3.54 WS 742 METEOR NF.14 R.A.F LITTLE RISSINGTON
713 26.3.54 WS 610 METEOR NF 12 15 MU WROUGHTON
714 26.3.54 WS 759 METEOR NF 14 15 MU WROUGHTON
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715 26.3.54 WS 593 METEOR NF.12 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
716 30.3.54 WS 757 METEOR NF 14 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
717 31.3.54 WS 605 METEOR NF 12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON.
718 31.3.54 WS 592 METEOR NF 12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON.
719 31.3.54 WS 636 METEOR NF 12 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
720 31.3.54 WS 667 METEOR NF 12 15 MU WROUGHTON
721 31.3.54 WS 688 METEOR NF 12 12 M.U. WROUGHTON
722 6.4.54 WS 627 METEOR NF 12 15 R.A.F. LITTLE RISSINGTON
723 6.4.54 WS 639 METEOR NF 12 M.U. WROUGHTON
724 6.4.54 WS 688 METEOR NF 12 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
725 9.4.54 WS 675 METEOR NF 12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
726 8.4.54 WS 674 METEOR NF 12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
727 9.4.54 WS 662 METEOR NF 12 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
728 21.4.54 WS 629 METEOR NF 12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
729 21.4.54 WS 665 METEOR NF 12 15 MU WROUGHTON
730 21.4.54 WS 681 METEOR NF 12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
731 29.4.54 WS 686 METEOR NF.12 15 MU WROUGHTON
732 29.4.54 WS 673 METEOR NF 12 15 M.U. WROUGHTON
733 29.4.54 WS 672 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
734 30.4.54 WS 599 METEOR NF 12 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
735 30.4.54 FCL-05 LANCASTER MK,VII ORLY PARIS
736 6.5.54 WS 690 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
737 10.5.54 RA 675 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
738 6.5.54 WS 691 METEOR NF.12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
739 11.5.54 WD 143 LINCOLN B.MK.2 38 M.U. LLANDOW
740 6.5.54 WS 601 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
741 11.5.54 WS 609 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
742 11.5.54 WS 607 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
743 11.5.54 WS 670 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
744 11.5.54 WS 679 METEOR NF 12 38 MU. LLANDOW
745 18.5.54 WS 684 METEOR NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
746 18.5.54 WS 623 METEOR NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
747 18.5.54 WS 625 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
748 18.5.54 WS 611 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
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749 18.5.54 WS 676 METEOR NF.12. 38 MU. LLANDOW
750 21.5.54 WS 692 METEOR NF.12. 38 MU LLANDOW
751 27.5.54 WS 685 METEOR NF.12. 38 MU LLANDOW
752 27.5.54 WS 606 METEOR NF.12. 38 M.U. LLANDOW
753 27.5.54 WS 666 METEOR NF.12. 38 MU LLANDOW
754 27.5.54 WS 633 METEOR NF.12. 38 MU LLANDOW
755 27.5.54 WS 615 METEOR NF.12. 38 MU. LLANDOW
756 28.5.54 WS 632 METEOR NF.12. 38 M.U. LLANDOW
757 1.6.54 WS 637 METEOR NF.12. 38 M.U. LLANDOW
758 4.6.54 WD 148 LINCOLN B.MK.2 45 M.U. KINLOSS
759 4.6.54 WS 596 METEOR NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
760 4.6.54 WS 682 METEOR NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
761 4.6.54 WS 597 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
762 4.6.54 WS 619 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
763 17.6.54 WS 683 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
764 17.6.54 WS 614 METEOR NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
765 23.6.54 WS 616 METEOR NF 12 38 MU. LLANDOW
766 25.6.54 WS 621 METEOR NF 12 38 MU. LLANDOW
767 25.6.54 WS 628 METEOR NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
768 25.6.54 WS 687 METEOR NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
769 29.6.54 WS 638 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
770 29.6.54 WS 590 METEOR NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
771 29.6.54 WS 617 METEOR NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
772 29.6.54 WS 624 METEOR NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
773 2.7.54 WS 630 METEOR NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
774 2.7.54 WS 620 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
775 2.7.54 WS 626 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
776 2.7.54 WS 663 METEOR NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
777 2.7.54 WS 693 METEOR NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
778 2.7.54 WS 631 METOER NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
779 5.7.54 WS 661 METOER NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
780 5.7.54 WE 857 METEOR F:8 RAF CHURCH FENTON
781 12.7.54 WF 689 METEOR F:8 RAF WATERBEACH
782 12.7.54 WS 671 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW.
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783 12.7.54 WS 689 METEOR NF.12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
784 12.7.54 WS 715 METEOR NF.12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
785 12.7.54 WS 595 METEOR NF.12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
786 21.7.54 WS 669 METEOR NF.12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
787 21.7.54 WS 618 METEOR NF.12 38 MU LLANDOW
788 21.7.54 WS 660 METEOR NF.12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
789 22.7.54 RF 322 LANCASTER G.R.III S. OF M.R. ST. MAWGAN
790 22.7.54 METEOR N.F.12 38 MU LLANDOW
791 22.7.54 WS 634 METEOR N.F. 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
792 22.7.54 WS 664 METEOR N.F. 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
793 22.7.54 WS 659 METEOR N.F 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
[Circled] 793A [circled] 23.7.54 RE417 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
←Re-number from here on.
794 23.7.54 WF 703 METEOR F.8. RAF NORTH WEALD.
795 13.8.54 WA 763 METEOR F.8. RAF NORTH WEALD
796 1.9.54 VZ 544 METEOR F.8. R.A.F. HORSHAM.
797 6.9.54 WS 677 METEOR NF 12 38 MU LLANDOW
798 6.9.54 WS 658 METEOR NF 12 38 M.U. LLANDOW
799 9.9.54 WA 727 METEOR T.7.RAF. LITTLE RISSINGTON
800 17.9.54 WH 192 METEOR T.7. RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
801 21.9.54 WF 651 METEOR F.8. R.A.F. HORSHAM
802 7.10.54 VZ 444 METEOR F.8. RAF BIGGIN HILL
803 11.10.54 WS 731 METEOR NF.14. 15 MU WROUGHTON
804 12.10.54 WH 118 METEOR T.7. R.A.F. DRIFFIELD
805 14.10.54 VZ 635 METEOR T.7. R.A.F. WESTON ZOYLAND
806 21.10.54 WF 649 METEOR F.8. RAF HOOTON PARK.
807 30.10.54 VW428 METEOR T.7. RAF BIGGIN HILL
808 3.11.54 WA906 METEOR F.8. RAF CHURCH FENTON
809 3.11.54 WG938 METEOR T.7 RAF NORTH WEALD
810 22.11.54 WA733 METEOR T.7 RAF WEST MALLING
811 24.11.54 VZ559 METEOR F.8. RAF HORSHAM
812 25.11.54 WA855 METEOR F.8. RAF BIGGIN HILL
813 3.12.54 WE 975 METEOR F.8. RAF BIGGIN HILL
814 3.12.54 WL460 METEOR T.7 RAF DRIFFIELD
815 6.12.54 WH453 METEOR F,8, RAF CHURCH FENTON
816 6.12.54 WH122 METEOR T.7. RAF WESTON ZOYLAND
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817 17.12 54 WB105 METEOR F.8 RAF CHURCH FENTON
818 23.12.54 WA698 METEOR F.8 RAF DRIFFIELD
819 31.12.54 WA844 METEOR F.8 RAF HOOTON PARK
820 3.1.55 WH121 METEOR T.7. RAF DRIFFIELD
821 3.1.55 WA766 METEOR F.8. RAF BIGGIN HILL
822 11.1.55 VW459 METEOR T.7. RAF DRIFFIELD
823 1.2.55 VZ524 METEOR F.8. RAF. HORSHAM
824 1.2.55 WH170 T.7. RAF. DRIFFIELD
825 9.2.55 WA986 METEOR F.8. RAF LECONFIELD
826 11.2.55 WA 670 METEOR T.7. RAF NORTH WEALD
827 16.2.55 WB 826 SHACKLETON M.R.1A. 38 M.U. LLANDOW
828 16.2.55 WF794 METEOR T.7 RAF WORKSOP
829 28.2.55 VZ545 METEOR F.8. RAF WEST MALLING
830 1.3.55 WL 339 METEOR T.7. RAF WORKSOP
831 9.3.55 WL453 METOER T.7 RAF WORKSOP
832 10.3.55 RF395 LINCOLN B.MK.2. FLIGHT REFUELLING-TARRANT RUSHTON
833 25.3.55 WE 863 METEOR F.8. RAF. TANGMERE
834 18.3.55 WE878 METEOR F.8. RAF. WATERBEACH
835 4.3.55 WE853 METEOR F.8. RAF BIGGIN HILL
836 28.3.55 WH112 METEOR T.7 RAF WESTON ZOYLAND
837 28.3.55 WH164 METEOR T.7 RAF WESTON ZOYLAND
838 31.3.55 VZ452 METEOR F.8. RAF TANGMERE
839 31.3.55 VZ514 METEOR F.8. RAF TANGMERE
840 6.4.55 WG 999 METEOR T.7. RAF DRIFFIELD
841 6.4.55 WF881 METEOR T.7. RAF DRIFFIELD
842 7.4.55 WK911 METEOR F.8. RAF TANGMERE
843 13.4.55 WA794 METEOR F.8. RAF CHURCH FENTON
844 21.4.55 WA 625 METEOR T.7. RAF WORKSOP
845 25.4.55 WL 344 METOER T.7. RAF WORKSOP
846 4.5.55 WE921 METEOR F.8. RAF BOVINGDON
847 9.5.55 WA737 METEOR T.7. RAF MANBY
848 18.5.55 VZ458 METEOR F.8. RAF TANGMERE
849 27.5.55 WK736 METEOR F.8. RAF CHURCH FENTON
850 27.5.55 RE366 LINCOLN B.MK.2. F.R. TARRANT RUSHTON
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851 Renumbers from here:
[Deleted] 850 [/deleted] 3.6.55 WG946 METEOR T.7 RAF. NORTH LUFFENHAM
85 [deleted] 1 [/deleted] 2 10.6.55 WK 985 METEOR F.8. RAF. ACKLINGTON
852 13.6.55 WH 315 METEOR F.8. RAF. ACKLINGTON
853 21.6.55 WA 991 METEOR F.8. RAF NEWTON
854 23.6.55 WF 768 METEOR T-7 RAF. NORTH LUFFENHAM
855 30.6.55 WK 799 METEOR F.8. RAF NORTH LUFFENHAM
856 5.7.55 WA 664 METEOR T.7 RAF. WORKSOP
857 6.7.55 WA 969 METEOR F.8 RAF. CHURCH FENTON
858 7.7.55 WA 903 METEOR F.8 RAF. WATERBEACH
859 7.7.55 WE 743 METEOR F.8 RAF. CHURCH FENTON
860 11.7.55 VZ 521 METEOR F.8 RAF WEST MALLING
861 19.7.55 WL 785 SJACKLETON M.R.2 LUQA MALTA
862 21.7.55 WH 542 METEOR F.R.9 WAHN GERMANY
863 11.8.55 WH 129 METWOR T-7 RAF WORKSOP
864 16.8.55 WL 481 METEOR T-7 RAF MANBY.
865 19.8.55 WK 921 METEOR F.8 RAF NORTH LUFFENHAM
866 22.8.55 WA929 METEOR F.8 RAF HONILY.
867 24.8.55 WA837 METEOR F.8 RAF HONILY.
868 26.8.55 WK 663 METEOR F.8 RAF LECONFIELD.
869 1.9.55 WK 664 MEETEOR F.8 RAF LECONFIELD
870 9.9.55 W [deleted E [/deleted] A 852 METEOR F.8 RAF LECONFIELD
871 20.9.55 WH 119 METEOR T.7. RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
872 22.9.55 WA 931 METEOR F.8 RAF STRADISHALL
873 22.9.55 WH 273 METEOR F.8 RAF STRADISHALL
874 23.9.55 WH 402 METEOR F.8. RAF STRADISHALL.
875 27.9.55 WK666 METEOR F.8. RAF STRADISHALL.
876 4.10.55 WH305 METEOR F.8 RAF STRADISHALL.
877 8.10.55 WH500 METEOR F.8. RAF WYMESWOLD.
878 11.10.55 VZ 606 METEOR F.R.9 RAF HIGH ERCAL.
[sic] 880 17.10.55 RF564 LINCOLN B.MK.2. C.S.A. BOSCOMBE DOWN
881 17.10.55 WL 796 SHACKLETON M.R.2. LUQA MALTA.
882 21.10.55 WH421 METEOR F.8 RAF HOOTON PARK.
883 28.10.55 WK892 METEOR F.8 RAF STRADISHALL
884 2.11.55 VZ 496 METEOR F.8. RAF DRIFFIELD
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885 14.11.55 VZ467 METEOR F.8 RAF CHIVENER
886 14.11.55 WE925 METEOR F.8 RAF CHIVENER
887 18.11.55 WK753 METEOR F.8 RAF ACKLINGTON
888 12.12.55 WA741 METEOR T.7. RAF MANBY
889 13.12.55 WG968 METEOR T.7. RAF MANBY.
890 15.12.55 VW 482 METEOR T.7. NICOSIA CYPRUS.
891 16.12.55 VZ 505 METEOR F.8. RAF BIGGIN HILL
892 16.12.55 WA815 METEOR F.8. RAF CHURCH FENTON
893 3.1.56 WF 851 METEOR T.7 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
894 12.1.56 WF 769 METEOR T.7 RAF LINTON-ON-OUSE
895 12.1.56 WF 778 METEOR T.7 RAF RINGWAY
896 17.1.56 WG 979 METEOR T.7 RAF DUXFORD
897 19.1.56 WL 371 METEOR T.7 RAF MANBY
898 19.1.56 WG 981 METEOR T.7 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
899 6.2.56 VP254 SHACKLETON M.R.1. (1st Prod) CSA. BOSCOMBE DOWN
900 6.2.56 WA 663 METEOR T.7 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
901 6.2.56 WH172 METEOR T.7. RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
902 6.2.56 WA658 METEOR T.7. RAF LECONFIELD
903 13.2.56 WN 316 METEOR T.7. RAF MANBY
904 13.2.56 WH 201 METOER T.7. RAF MANBY
905 13.2.56 WL 361 METEOR T.7 RAF MANBY
906 24.2.56 VZ 640 METEOR T.7. RAF LECONFIELD
907 28.2.56 WA 671 METEOR T.7. RAF LINTON-ON-OUSE.
908 1.3.56 VW477 METEOR T.7. RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON.
909 2.3.56 WH 178 METEOR T.7. RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON.
910 8.3.56 WA 688 METEOR T.7 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON.
911 8.3.56 WA 742 METEOR T.7. RAF WATTISHAM
912 15.3.56 WH 187 METEOR T.7 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
913 21.3.56 WG 993 METEOR T.7 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
914 26.3.56 WH 219 METEOR T.7 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
915 28.3.56 WL 798 SHACKLETON M.R.2 LUQA MALTA
916 4.4.56 WA 740 METEOR T.7. RAF WEST RAYNHAM.
917 5.4.56 WH 184 METEOR T.7 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
918 16.4.56 VW 421 METEOR T.7 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON.
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(28)
919 24.4.56 RF505 LINCOLN B.MK.2 RAF DEFFORD
920 26.4.56 VW426 METEOR T-7 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
921 26.4.56 WL413 METEOR T-7 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
922 1.5.56 VP254 SHACKLETON M.R.1 (1st Prod) CRD WOODFORD
923 2.5.56 SX930 LINCOLN B.MK.2. CRD WEST FREUGH
924 3.5.56 WL 345 METEOR T-7 RAF WEST RAYNHAM
925 10.5.56 WF 791 METEOR T-7 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
926 10.5.56 WA 601 METEOR T-7 RAF CHURCH FENTON
927 14.5.56 VW 457 METEOR T-7 RAF FILTON
928 16.5.56 WL 460 METEOR T-7 RAF LITTLE RISSINGTON
929 8.6.56 VW 415 METEOR T-7 38 M.U LLANDOW
930 12.6.56 WA602 METEOR T-7 RAF PEMBREY.
931 12.6.56 WF795 METEOR T-7 12 M.U. KIRKBRIDE.
932 4.7.56 WA669 METEOR T-7 12 MU KIRKBRIDE
933 4.7.56 WA 597 METEOR T-7 12 MU KIRKBRIDE
934 4.7.56 WF 847 METEOR T-7 38 M.U. LLANDOW
935 19.7.56 WA 672 METEOR T-7 RAF CHURCH FENTON
936 6.7.56 VW 451 METEOR T-7 38 M.U. LLANDOW
937 25.7.56 WG 949 METEOR T-7 12 M.U. KIRKBRIDE
938 26.7.56 WA 591 METEOR T-7 12 M.U. KIRKBRIDE
939 30.8.56 WL 403 METEOR T-7 12 M.U. KIRKBRIDE
940 4.9.56 WH 182 METEOR T-7 12 MU KIRKBRIDE
941 13.9.56 VW 480 METEOR T-7 20 MU ASTON DOWN
942 13.9.56 WH 175 METEOR T-7 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
943 26.9.56 WL 358 METEOR T-7 12 M.U. KIRKBRIDE
944 3.10.56 WH 191 METEOR T-7 12 M.U. KIRKBRIDE
945 8.10.56 WH 166 METEOR T-7 12 MU. KIRKBRIDE
946 6.11.56 WL 800 SHACKLETON M.R.2 LUQA MALTA
947 14.11.56 WG985 METEOR T.7. 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN
948 14.11.56 WA 657 METEOR T.7. 12 M.U. KIRKBRIDE
949 13.12.56 WA 598 METEOR T.7. 15 M.U. KIRKBRIDE
950 3.1.57 WA 661 METEOR T.7. 15 M.U. KIRKBRIDE
951 3.1.57 WF 853 METEOR T.7. 15 MU KIRKBRIDE.
952 10.1.57 VP258 SHACKLETON M.R.1. CSA BOSCOMBE DOWN
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(29)
953 18.2.57 WR954 SHACKLETON M.R.2 RAF LUQA MALTA
954 13.6.57 WB819 SHACKLETON [deleted] MR.1A [/deleted] T.4 Conversion 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE.
955 20.6.57 VP 259 SHACKLETON M.R.1. 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE.
956 5.7.57 WR973 SHACKLETON M.R.3. C.S.A. BOSCOMBE DOWN
957 1.8.57 WB837 SHACKLETON [deleted] M.R.1A [/deleted] T.4. Conversion 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE.
958 9.8.57 VX770 AVRO VULCAN (1st Proto) ROLLS ROYCE HUCKNALL.
959 9.8.57 WL 787 SHACKLETON M.R.2. RAF LUQA MALTA
960 7.8.57 WG511 SHACKLETON [deleted] M.R.1A [/deleted] T.4. Conversion 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE
961 28.10.57 WB831 SHACKLETON T.4. Conversion 23 MU ALDERGROVE
962 4.11.57 RF564 LINCOLN B.MK.2. 10 MU HULLAVINGTON
963 19.11.57 WL787 SHACKLETON M.R.2 RAF LUQA MALTA
964 26.11.57 WG527 SHACKLETON [deleted] M.R.1A [/deleted] T.4. Conversion 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE
965 3.12.57 WB 844 SHACKLETON T.4 Conversion 23 MU ALDERGROVE
966 27.1.58 XA903 VULCAN B.MK 1. CRD WOODFORD
967 13.2.58 SHACKLETON [deleted] M.R.1A [/deleted] T.4. Conversion 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE
968 21.2.58 WB 833 SHACKLETON MR2 (Prototype) CSA BOSCOMBE DOWN
969 6.3.58 VP254 SHACKLETON M.R.1. (1st Prod) 23 MU ALDERGROVE
970 11.3.58 WB 832 SHACKLETON [deleted] M.R.1A [/deleted] T.4. Conversion 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE
971 3.4.58 VP293 SHACKLETON [deleted] M.R.1A [/deleted] T.4. Conversion 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE
972 8.5.58 WB827 SHACKLETON M.R.1A. 23 MU ALDERGROVE
973 22.5.58 XA901 VILCAN B.MK.1. RAF WADDINGTON
974 9.6.58 WB854 SHACKLETON M.R.1A 23 MU ALDERGROVE.
975 20.6.58 XA 891 VULCAN B.MK.1. CRD WOODFORD
976 18.7.58 WB836 SHACKELTON MR.1A. 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE
977 30.7.58 WG525 SHACKLETON T.4 Conversion 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE
978 1.9.58 WR972 SHCACKLETON M.R.3. CSA BOSCOMBE DOWN
979 8.9.58 VP291 SHACKLETON MR.1. 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE
980 12.9.58 VP258 SHACKLETON M.R.1. CSA BOSCOMBE DOWN
[Deleted] 981 23.7.54 SEE 793A RE417 LINCOLN B.MK.2 20 M.U. ASTON DOWN [/deleted] Re-number from here
982 3.10.58 WB825 SHACKLETON M.R.1A. 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE
983 7.11.58 WB818 SHACKLETON M.R.1A. 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE
984 20.10.58 WB829 SHACKLETON M.R.1A. 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE
985 21.11.58 VP288 SHACKLETON MR.1. 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE
986 22.12.58 VP 292 SHACKLETON MR.1. 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE
[Page break]
(30)
987 28.1.59 WB834 SHACKLETON M.R.1A. 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE.
988 10.2.59 WL755 SHACKLETON MR.2. MALTA * 1ST 1 RECON
989 11.2.59 WB821 SHACKLETON MR.1A. 23 M.U. ALDERGROVE.
990 11.3.59 WG554 SHACKLETON M.R.2 GIBRALTAR.
991 17.3.59 WG 526 SHACKLETON M.R.1A ALDERGROVE.
992 6.4.59 WG555 SHACKLETON M.R.2 RAF BALLYKELLY.
993 24.4.59 WL 786 SHACKLETON M.R.2 MALTA.
994 5.5.59 WR 952 SHACKLETON M.R.2 ST. MAWGAN.
995 28.5.59 WL 801 SHACKLETON M.R.2 MALTA.
996 5.6.59 WL785 SHACKLETON M.R.2 ST. MAWGAN.
987 21.7.59 WL 793 SHACKLETON M.R.2 BALLYKELLY.
998 22.7.59 VP293 SHACKLETON [deleted] M.R.1A [/deleted] T.4. Conversion BOSCOMBE DOWN
999 23.7.59 WL745 SHACKLETON MR.2. BALLYKELLY.
1000 28.8.59 WG558 SHACKLETON M R.2. ST. MAWGAN.
1001 8.9.59 WL800 SHACKLETON M R.2. ST. MAWGAN.
1002 22.9.59 WB833 SHACKLETON MR2 BOSCOMBE DOWN. C.S.A.
1003 2.10.59 WL 747 SHACKLETON M.R.2 BALLYKELLY.
1004 9.10.59 WL 788 SHACKLETON M.R.2 MALTA (VIA ST MAWGAN)
1005 10.11.59 WL 758 SHACKLETON M.R.2 MALTA VIA ST. MAWGAN
1006 29.10.59 WL 757 SHACKLETON M.R.2 BALLYKELLY
1007 4.12.59 WL 741 SHACKLETON M.R.2 ST MAWGAN
1008 15.12.59 WR 951 SHACKLETON M.R.2 BALLYKELLY
1009 15.1.60 WL751 SHACKLETON M.R.2 BALLYKELLY.
1010 20.1.60 WR957 SHACKLETON M.R.2 BALLYKELLY.
1011 22.2.60 WR 963 SHACKLETON M.R.2 BALLYKELLY.
1012 29.2.60 WG 533 SHACKLETON M.R.2 MALTA (VIA ST MAWGAN)
1013 22.3.60 WL 738 SHACKLETON M.R.2 ADEN (VIA ST. MAWGAN)
1014 23.3.60 WR 972 SHACKLETON M.R.3. BOSCOMBE C.S.R.
1015 31.3.60 WR 965 SHACKLETON MR. 2 GIBRALTAR
1016 14.4.60 WL 750 SHACKLETON MR.2 GIBRALTAR.
1017 29.4.60 WL 742 SHACKLETON MR.2 GIBRALTAR
1018 23.5.60 WL 752 SHACKLETON MR.2 ADEN H.Q.B.F.A.P.
1019 31.5.60 WL 753 SHACKLETON MR.2 ADEN
1020 23.6.60 WR 954 SHACKLETON MR.2 BALLYKELLY.
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(31)
1021 12.7.60 WG 556 SHACKLETON M.R.2 GIBRALTAR
1022 29.7.60 WR 959 SHACKLETON M.R.2 ADEN. VIA ST. MAWGAN.
1023 4.8.60 WR 960 SHACKLETON M.R.2 COLERNE.
1024 15.9.60 WR 754 SHACKLETON M.R.2 ST. MAWGAN.
1025 27.9.60 WB 854 SHACKLETON MR. 1A. SINGAPORE VIA ST. MAWGAN
1026 7.10.60 WL 737 SHACKLETON M.R.2 ST. MAWGAN. (42 SQN)
1027 27.10.60 WR 958 SHACKLETON M.R.2 ST. MAWGAN. (42 SQN)
1028 15.11.60 WR955 SHACKLETON M.R.2 ST. MAWGAN.
1029 10.12.60 VP 291 SHACKLETON MR 1. SINGAPORE.
1030 12.12.60 WL 795 SHACKLETON MR. 2. MALTA.
1031 19.12.60 WG525 SHACKLETON MR 1A. SINGAPORE.
1032 10.1.61 WL748 SHACKLETON MR.2. BALLYKELLY.
1033 31.1.61 WR972 SHACKLETON MR.3. BOSCOMBE DOWN.
1034 3.2.61 WL787 SHACKLETON MR 1 BALLYKELLY (210 SQN)
1035 22.2.61 WL 791 SHACKLETON MR 2 BALLYKELLY.
1036 2.3.61 NG 554 SHACKLETON MR 2 BALLYKELLY.
1037 10.2.61 WL 740 SHACKLETON MR 2 MALTA.
1038 6.4.61 WR 956 SHACKLETON MR 2 MALTA.
1039 18.4.61 WL 739 SHACKLETON MR 2 BALLYKELLY.
1040 3.5.61 WL 798 SHACKLETON MR 2 MALTA.
1041 24.5.61 WR 961 SHACKLETON MR 2 MALTA.
1042 2.6.61 WR969 SHACKLETON MR 2 BALLYKELLY.
1043 27.6.61 WR967 SHACKLETON MR 2 MALTA.
1044 1.8.61 WG532 SHACKLETON MR 2 GIBRALTAR.
1045 30.8.61 WL 755 SHACKLETON MR 2 GIBRALTAR.
1046 4.8.61 WG558 SHACKLETON MR 2 BOSCOMBE DOWN.
1047 14.9.61 VP 255 SHACKLETON MR 1. BOSCOMBE DOWN.
1048 20.9.61 WB826. SHACKLETON [deleted] M.R.1A [/deleted] T.4. Conversion KINLOSS.
1049 29.9.61 WB 849 SHACKLETON T.4. Conversion KINLOSS
*1049A 18.10.61 WR953 SHACKLETON MR.2 BOSCOMBE. MOD 988. ← Renum from h
1050 27.10.61 WL 747 SHACKLETON MR.2. ADEN.
1051 3.11.61 WB 820 SHACKLETON [deleted] M.R.1A [/deleted] T.4. Conversion KINLOSS.
1052 27.11.61 WB822 SHACKLETON T.4 Conversion KINLOSS
1053 28.12.61 WL758 SHACKLETON MR.2. MALTA.
1054 30.1.62 WB 845 SHACKLETON [deleted] M.R.1A [/deleted] T.4. Conversion KINLOSS
[Page break]
(32)
1055 1-2-62 WL789 SHACKLETON MR.2. GIBRALTAR.
1056 1-2-62 WL 744 SHACKLETON MR.2. ADEN.
1057 27.2.62 WL 793 SHACKLETON MR.2. BALLYKELLY.
1058 7.3.62. WR 962 SHACKLETON MR.2. ADEN
1059 8.3.62 [deleted] [underlined] ANSON [/underlined] [/deleted] VM 394 ANSON C.MK 19. Sr2. BOVINGDON.
1060 21.3.62. WL 786 SHACKLETON M.R.2. CHANGI (FEAF.)
1061 28.3.62. WL 751 SHACKLETON M.R.2. BALLYKELLY.
1062 17.4.62 [deleted] [underlined] ANSON [/underlined] [/deleted] TX 229 ANSON C.MK 19. Sr1. BOVINGDON
1063 4.5.62 WL756 SHACKLETON MR.2. CHANGI F.E.A.F.
1064 8.5.62 WG 553 SHACKLETON MR.2. CHANGI F.E.A.F.
1065 11.5.62 [deleted] [underlined] ANSON [/underlined] [/deleted] VP519 ANSON C.MK 19. Sr2. BOVINGDON.
1066 18.5.62 XF701 SHACKLETON MR.3. BOSCOMBE DOWN SHACK 3. C.S.A.
1067 23.5.62 [deleted] [underlined] ANSON [/underlined] [/deleted] VM 394 ANSON C.MK 19. Sr2. BOVINGDON.
1068 29.5.62 WL 790 SHACKLETON MR 2 H.Q. F.E.A.F.
1069 29.5.62. WL 762 SHACKLETON MR 2 BALLYKELLY.
1070 14.6.62 [deleted] [underlined] ANSON [/underlined] [/deleted] VM 324 ANSON C.MK 19. Sr2. WYTON.
1071 22.6.62 WL 750 SHACKLETON MR.2. BALLYKELLY.
1072 27.6.62 WR954 SHACKLETON MR.2. CHANGI F.E.A.F.
1073 24.7.62 WB858 [deleted] M.R.1A [/deleted] T.4. Conversion BOSCOMBE A.R.A.E.E.
1074 1.8.62 WG 530 SHACKLETON MR.2. CHANGI F.E.A.F.
1075 17.8.62 WG 558 SHACKELTON MR.2. BALLYKELLY.
1076 29.8.62 XF 701 SHACKLETON MK.3 BOSCOMBE DOWN
1077 3.10.62 WB 819 [deleted] M.R.1A [/deleted] T.4. Phase II Conversion KINLOSS.
1078 19.9.62 [deleted] C.S.A. [/deleted] WG556 SHACKLETON MR.2 LANGAR C.S.A. PHASE 3
1079 17.10.62 [deleted] C.S.A. [/deleted] WR 960 SHACKLETON MR.2. LANGAR C.S.A. PHASE 3
1080 18.10.61 WR953 SHACKELTON MR.2. BOSCOMBE C.S.A.
1081 28.1.63 [deleted] MK3 [/deleted] WR 979 SHACKLETON MR.3. ST. MAWGAN.
1082 30.1.63 WL 759 SHACKLETON M.R.2. LANGAR C.S.A.
1083 8.2.63 [deleted] C.S.A. [/deleted] WL 737 SHACKLETON M.R.2. WOODFORD C.S.A.
1084 18.2.63 VP 293 SHACKLETON [deleted] M.R.1A [/deleted] T.4. ALDERGROVE.
1085 12.3.63 WR 980 SHACKLETON MR.3. ST. MAWGAN.
1086 8.4.63 WR 953 SHACKLETON MR.2 GIBRALTAR 224 SQDN.
1087 9.4.63 WR 977 SHACKLETON MR.3. ST. MAWGAN
1088 3.5.63 VP258 SHCAKLETON MR 1. ALDERGROVE 23 M.U.
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1089 13.5.63. WR983 SHACKLETON MR.3. ST. MAWGAN
[Deleted] √ +2 [/deleted]
1090 22.5.63 WL 759 SHACKLETON MR.2 BOSCOMBE DOWN
1091 17.6.63 WR 978 SHACKLETON MR.3 ST. MAWGAN.
1092 2.7.63 XF 707 SHACKLETON MR.3 ST. MAWGAN
1093 9.7.63 WR 976 SHACKLETON MR.3 BOSCOMBE PROP T.I. CSA
1094 8.8.63 XF 708 SHACKLETON MR.3 KINLOSS
1095 18.9.63 WR 986 SHACKLETON MR.3 KINLOSS
1096 11.10.63 WR 959 SHACKLETON MR.2. BALLYKELLY
1097 16.10.63 XF 709 SHACKLETON MR.3. KINLOSS
1098 6.11.63 XF 710 SHACKLETON MR.3 KINLOSS.
1099 13.12.63 XF 730 SHACKLETON MR.2. KINLOSS
1100 19.2.64 WR953 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST. MAWGAN.
1101 20.2.64 WL797 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST MAWGAN.
Renumber from → here
110 [deleted] 3 [/deleted] 2 14.4.64 WR982 SHACKLETON MR.3 BOSCOMBE C.S.A.
110 [deleted] 4 [/deleted]3 6.7.64 XF 702 SHACKLETON MR.3 FARNBOROUGH. C.S.A.
1105 7.9.64 WR 974 SHACKLETON MR.3. BOSCOMBE DOWN C.S.A.
1106 23.11.64 [deleted] PHASE 3 [/deleted] XF 702 SHACKLETON MR.3. ST.MAWGAN (Phase 3)
1107 3.12.64 [deleted] PHASE 3 [/deleted] XF 703 SHACKLETON MR.3. ST.MAWGAN (Phase 3)
1108 26.1.65 [deleted] PHASE 3 [/deleted] XF 702 SHACKLETON MR.3. ST.MAWGAN (Phase 3)
1109 29.1.65. WR 973 [deleted] PHASE 3 & VIP [/deleted] XF 702 SHACKLETON MR.3. WOODFORD (Phase 3 & V.I.P.)
1110 2.2.65 WR 985 [deleted] PHASE 3 [/deleted] XF 702 SHACKLETON MR.3. ST.MAWGAN (Phase 3)
1111 2.2.65 XF 703 SHACKLETON MR.3. RE-DELIVERED – ST MAWGAN
1112 16.3.65 XF 700 SHACKLETON MR.3. ST. MAWGAN.
1113 1-4-65 WR 976 SHACKLETON MR.3. ST MAWGAN.
1114 23.4.65 WR971 SHACKLETON MR.3. ST. MAWGAN.
1115 7.5.65 XF 704 SHACKLETON MR.3. ST MAWGAN.
1116 28.5.65 WR990 SHACKLETON MR.3. KINLOSS
1117 21.6.65 WR974 SHACKLETON MR.3. BOSCOMBE (TROPICAL TRIALS)
1118 24.6.65 WR989 SHCAKLETON MR.3. KINLOSS
1119 13.7.65 WR981 SHACKLETON MR.3. KINLOSS.
1120 23.7.65 WB 831 SHACKLETON MR.1A. T.4. ST. MAWGAN.
1121 6.9.65 WR984 SHACKLETON MR.3. KINLOSS.
1122 14.9.65 WG556 SHACKLETON MR 2 BOSCOMBE DOWN.
1122 [deleted] 5 [/deleted] 2 24.9.65 WB847 SHACKLETON MR 1A ST MAWGAN
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1124 5.10.65 WR979 SHACKLETON MR.3. KINLOSS.
1125 29.10.65 WR983 SHACKELTON MR.3. KINLOSS.
1126 12.11.65 WR982 SHACKLETON MR.3. KINLOSS
1127 26.11.65 WR978 SHACKLETON MR.3. ST. MAWGAN.
1128 23.12.65 XF 706 SHACKELTON MR.3. ST. MAWGAN.
1129 15.12.65 WR 960 SHACKLETON MR.2. BOSCOMBE. D.
1130 3.1.66 XF 707 SHACKLETON MR.3 ST. MAWGAN.
1131 9.3.66 XF 705 SHACKLETON MR.3 KINLOSS.
1132 30.3.66 WR980 SHACKLETON MR.3 KINLOSS
1133 26.4.66 XF 701 SHACKLETON MR.3 KINLOSS
1134 3.5.66 WR977 SHACKLETON MR.3 ST. MAWGAN.
1135 12.5.66 WG556 SHACKLETON MR.2. FARNBOROUGH.
1136 25.5.66 WR793 SHACKLETON MR.3 KINLOSS
1137 27.5.66 XF730 SHACKLETON MR.3 ST. MAWGAN.
1138 27.6.66 WR988 SHACKLETON MR.3 BALLYKELLY
1139 29.7.66 WL801 SHACKLETON MR.2. BALLYKELLY. MK2.P
1140 1.8.66. XF 709 SHACKLETON MR.3 BALLYKELLY.
1141 1.8.66. WR982 SHACKLETON MR.3 KINLOSS.
1142 8.9.66 WL747 SHACKLETON MR.2. BALLYKELLY MK.2.P.
1143 30.9.66 WR990 SHACKLETON MR 3 KINLOSS
1144 30.9.66 WR 986 SHACKLETON MR 3 BALLYKELLY
1145 24.10.66 WR976 SHACKLETON MR 3 KINLOSS.
1146 -/10/66 WB833 SHACKLETON MR 1A. LANGAR T.I.
1147 -/10/66 XF708 SHACKLETON MR.3. LANGAR T.I.
1148 30.11.66 WL738 SHACKLETON MR.2. BALLYKELLY.
1149 16.12.66 WB833 SHACKLETON MR.1A. BALLYKELLY.
1150 20.12.66 WR987 SHACKLETON MR.3. BALLYKELLY.
1151 11.1.67 WL 793 SHACKLETON MR 2 BALLYKELLY.
1152 26.1.67 WL 785 SHACKLETON MR 2 BALLYKELLY.
1153 [deleted] XF 708 [/deleted] 6.2.67 XF 708 SHACKLETON MR 3. BALLYKELLY.
1154 28.2.67 WG555 SHACKLETON MR 2. BALLYKELLY.
1155 10.2.67 WL745 SHACKLETON MR 2. BALLYKELLY.
1156 26.3.67 WR955 SHACKLETON MR 2. BALLYKELLY
1157 5.4.67 WL800 SHACKLETON MR 2. BALLYKELLY
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115 [deleted] 8 [/deleted] 7 6.4.67 WL755 SHACKLETON MR.2 BALLYKELLY.
1159 25.5.67 WL751 SHACKLETON MR.2 BALLYKELLY.
1160 26.5.67 WR965 SHACKLETON MR.2 BALLYKELLY.
1161 2.6.67 WL787 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST. MAWGAN.
1162 15.6.67 WR954 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST. MAWGAN.
1163 3.7.67 WL748 SHACKLETON MR.2 R.R.E. PERSHORE
1164 17.7.67 WL795 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST. MAWGAN.
1165 30.7.67 WR963 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST. MAWGAN.
1166 24.8.67 WL786 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST. MAWGAN
1167 4.9.67 WL790 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST. MAWGAN
1168 26.9.67 WL741 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST. MAWGAN
1169 4.10.67 WR961 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST MAWGAN
1170 30.10.67 WL756 SHACKLETON MR.2 BALLYKELLY
1171 17.11.67 WL758 SHACKLETON MR.2 BALLYKELLY.
1172 [deleted] WL739 [/deleted] 4.1.68 WL739 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST. MAWGAN (1ST. TRAINER.)
1173 12.1.68 WR956 SHACKLETON MR.2 BALLYKELLY
1174 7.2.68 WR960 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST. MAWGAN
1175 16.2.68 WR952 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST. MAWGAN
1176 26.2.68 WG558 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST. MAWGAN
1177 7.3.68 WL787 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST. MAWGAN
1178 5.4.68 WL750 SHACKLETON MR.2 ST. MAWGAN.
1179 24.4.68 WG554 SHACKLETON MR.2 BITTESWELL
1180 26.4.68 WR966 SHACKLETON MR.2
1181 15.5.68 WR964 SHACKLETON MR.2
1182 26.6.68 WR969 SHACKLETON MR.2
1183 15.7.68 WG533 SHACKLETON MR.2
1184 30.8.68 WR967 SHACKLETON MR.2
118 [deleted] 5 [/deleted] 4 4.9.68 WL798 SHACKLETON MR.2
(Last flight from Avro Langar)
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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The Avro Repair Organisation. Langar
Description
An account of the resource
A history of the Avro repair organisation at RAF Langar and a record of the aircraft that passed through it between 1942 and 1968.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Peter V Clegg
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
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Anne-Marie Watson
Rights
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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.
Format
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78 typewritten sheets with annotations
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Text. Personal research
Identifier
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MCleggPV[DoB]-150701-02
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
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Great Britain
England--Nottinghamshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
Anson
control tower
Lancaster
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 2
Lancaster Mk 3
Lancastrian
Lincoln
Manchester
Meteor
RAF Langar
Shackleton
York
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/743/19914/MCleggPV[DoB]-150701-01.pdf
ad71298fb0817912eaa5f8dc06dc121c
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Clegg, Peter Vernon
P V Clegg
Description
An account of the resource
Eight items and five sub-collections. Main collection contains a log of Pathfinder operations from RAF Wyton 1943 -1944, histories of the Avro repair facility at Bracebridge Heath, and Langar, a biography of Squadron Leader David James Baikie Wilson, biography of Squadron Leader Lighton Verdon-Roe, a book - Test Pilots of A.V. Roe & Co Ltd - S.A. 'Bill' Thorn, and two volumes of book - Roy Chadwick - no finer aircraft designer, Sub-collections contain a total of 29 items concerning the Aldborough Dairy and Cafe as well as biographical material, including log books for Alan Gibson, Peter Isaacson, Alistair Lang and Charles Martin. <br /><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/1772">Aldborough Dairy and Cafe</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/1768">Gibson, Alan</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/1769">Isaacson, Peter</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/1770">Lang, Alastair</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/1771">Martin, Charles</a><br /><br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Peter Clegg and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-07-02
Rights
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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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
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Clegg, PV
Transcribed document
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Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Underlined] THE AVRO
REPAIR
ORGANISATION [/underlined]
I) Bracebridge Heath.
[Page break]
[Underlined] Peter V. Clegg. [/underlined]
THE AVRO REPAIR ORGANISATION
INTRODUCTION
In 1939, prior to the start of WWII, with a growing number of Avro Ansons in RAF use, and the imminent equipping of RAF bomber squadrons with the new Avro Manchester, A V Roe and Co Ltd decided to establish a repair depot well away from its production facilities in Manchester. It was logical to look at a site near the operational airfields where their aircraft were based, and so a management team was sent across to Lincolnshire to find a suitable place close to the city of Lincoln – where a supply of labour could be guaranteed – and the depot was established at Bracebridge Heath, just south of Lincoln and close to RAF Waddington.
The organisation being set up was to comprise two main Divisions – the first one being the operation of a Repair facility for practically all the sections and assemblies of the Avro aircraft in widespread RAF service – and the second being the control and administration of groups of Avro engineers, known as ‘Contractor’s Working Parties ‘ or ‘CWP’s’ (later just called ‘Outworking Parties’), who were set up on every RAF base where large numbers of Avro aircraft operated.
When Avro aircraft suffered from Category ‘A’ damage (ie the repair was beyond the RAF unit’s own capability) the CWPs on the base took over, and requisitioned the necessary spares from Bracebridge Heath (and the factory in Manchester if necessary), and repaired the aircraft in a hangar allocated to them with the help of RAF engineering staff.
Where the aircraft suffered from Category ‘B’ damage (ie repairs on site were not possible, and the aircraft had to be dismantled for transport) the various sections of the Avro Ansons, Manchesters and soon Lancasters, were sent back on RAF ‘Queen Mary’ trailers to Bracebridge Heath for com[inserted] l [/inserted] ete overhaul and then for re-assembly.
When Bracebridge Heath first opened in late 1939, Ansons were initially dealt with there, the various sub-assemblies arriving by road, being completely stripped and rebuilt. Usually these were then taken down the A15 a mile or so to RAF Waddington, where a large Avro CWP was given the use of Hangar 1 for the duration of the War and re-assembled them there. RAF pilots from the base would be asked to test-fly them when ready, and pass them as fit for Service use again.
As the new Manchester heavy bombers went into service at Waddington with 207 Squadron from November 1940 and operations began over Germany in February 1941, the Avro CWP’s rapidly increased in number to cover all the RAF bases involved, and at the same time the size and complexity of the Manchester meant that Bracebridge Heath could not itself cope with the overhaul of all the components. Thus a number of other firms were asked to assist in repairing various parts of the bomber.
1
[Page break]
Soon, the increasing number of Category ‘B’ Manchesters and (from March 1942 onwards) Lancasters meant that Avro’s needed to open another suitable depot in the area, where complete Lancasters could be rebuilt rapidly from all the overhauled components, and put quickly back into service.
Thus it was decided to open such a facility at the newly-built RAF bomber station at Langar, Notts, in September 1942, controlled from Bracebridge Heath, where sections of Lancasters could – as at Bracebridge – be stripped down and repaired, but assembly of the complete aircraft could also be carried out on a small production line system. For this, all the components would be sent there from the many works now engaged in Lancaster repair.
Coincidentally 207 Squadron (of Manchester fame from Waddington) now re-equipped with Lancasters and moved into Langar in September 1942, the same month that Avro’s new works opened there. The history of this Avro site, embracing as it did an absolutely vital role over the next three decades, and yet a largely unsung success to the outside world, is now recounted here with the help of some of the surviving men and women who so conscientiously worked there between 1942 and 1968.
PART I
THE BRACEBRIDGE HEATH WORKS
The site chosen by Avro’s for their repair workshops and for the control of the CWP’s, was an old Royal Flying Corps (RFC) aerodrome at Bracebridge Heath, just 2 1/2 miles south of Lincoln on the east side of the A15 road, but more importantly, just one mile north of the large RAF bomber base at Waddington.
With a cemetery on one side, and a lunatic asylum on the other, the field at Bracebridge Heath had developed in the Great War as a landing ground (called Robey’s Aerodrome) where the Lincoln firm of Robey & Co began to build aircraft under licence (Maurice Farman Longhorns) later joined by Clayton and Shuttleworth Ltd (another local firm) building Sopwith Camels and Triplanes there. Short seaplanes were also built under licence.
In 1917 it became No. 4 Aeroplane Acceptance Park, where newly-built aircraft were flight-tested and accepted by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), and six permanent brick and wooden lattice ‘Belfast’ hangars were built, together with a variety of temporary buildings.
The aerodrome closed in 1920 , and the six stoutly-built RFC hangars were used between the wars by the Lincolnshire Road Car Co (the local bus company) and other firms in the motor or engineering trades.
2.
[Page break]
[Map of Bracebridge Heath and environs indicating Lincoln one mile to the north, showing the Avro Repair Works and the Road between Avro works and ARF Waddington (along which some aircraft were towed). Waddington airfield also marked]
[Page break]
[AVRO Photograph of Bracebridge Heath, showing the Belfast Hangars]
[Page break]
[Diagram of A.V.R.O. Bracebridge Heath site showing the layout of the facilities]
[Page break]
As these substantial hangars were still in good shape at the start of WWII, Avros decided to requisition three of them for their new Repair Organisation, and took up occupation in May 1941, gradually expanding to other buildings on the site as the war went on.
Site Layout
The layout of the Avro site can be seen in Diagram 1 (not to scale). The No. 1 hangar was divided into three sections, being in effect Belfast hangars No. 4-6 of the original RFC aerodrome (their hangars 1-3 were in an identical block parallel to and on the north side of this, and the Lincolnshire Road Car Co retained use of these throughout WWII for use as a bus depot).
A security fence was built around the new Avro site, to segregate it from the bus depot and the other buildings were added as the War progressed.
The interior layout of No. 1 hangar is shown in Diagram 2. Both of these diagrams were prepared from memory by Frank Harlow who worked there from 1945 to 195 [deleted] 0 [/deleted] [inserted] 8 [/inserted] 1958 reflect the layout of the site just after WWII.
Frank recalls:-
“No. 1 Hangar was typical of the hangars of the Great War period, buttressed brick end walls and interior brick arched walls supporting wooden lattice-work curved roof trusses, in this case giving three large, clear, uninterrupted areas.
No. 2 Hangar, the Stores Hangar, and Canteen were all new buildings built during the War.
The diagram of the layout of No. 1 Hangar gives a general idea of its arrangement. All these different items were not necessarily being worked on at the same time but over an extended period.
No. 2 Hangar was almost exclusively used for the repair of Category ‘B’ Ansons after the war- all different marks.”
Personnel
When the works opened, the senior managers and personnel were drafted in from Avro’s Chadderton and Woodford factories, and many of the workers were recruited from towns like Hull, Derby, Coventry and Birmingham. Cyril Greenwood was one who came down from Hull to work there just after Avros opened, and at the age of 19 went to work in the newly built No. 2 Hangar.
At first No. 2 Hangar was used for stripping down Manchester bomber assemblies, and in particular the mainplanes – when repaired, the assemblies were sent back to RAF bases where the Avro CWPs put the whole aircraft back together again.
3
[Page break]
[Underlined] Frank Harlow [/underlined]
[Hand drawn diagram of the Avro BBH Site plan N.T.S.] [Underlined] Diagram 1 [/underlined]
[Page break]
[Underlined] Diagram 2 [/underlined]
[Underlined] NOTE:- ALL THESE AREAS OF ACTIVITY WERE CHANGED AROUND TO SUIT THE WORK AVAILABLE [/underlined]
Frank Harlow
[Underlined] SUPERVISORS AND MR. THOMASON HAD OFFICES ABOVE THE TIME OFFICE [/underlined]
[Underlined] INTERIOR OF No 1 HANGAR [/underlined]
[Page break]
No. 1 Hangar (Belfast type from WW1)
[Photograph of a hangar]
[Page break]
Soon, the Manchesters were replaced by Lancasters, which arrived in ever increasing numbers for the rest of the war.
The first overall Works Superintendent was Mr C L Hatton, who was drafted in from being Superintendent in charge of Avro’s Experimental Dept at Ringway Airport. He was in charge of both the Bracebridge Heath works, and the growing organisation of Avro working parties at RAF stations (CWP’s). Before long, he would also be in overall charge of the second Avro repair factory, set up at Langar, Notts.
The day-to-day running of Bracebridge Heath – the aircraft repair, and the stores side – was in the hands of Mr Thomason, and the Chief Inspector was Bill Sturrock.
Later on, ‘Snowy’ Langton succeeded ‘Charlie’ Hatton as overall Superintendent, and by then he needed a Deputy, Mr Dowell.
One of the early workers to be sent across from Manchester was Mr V A Savory, who was the AID Inspector, and his tall figure, always seen to be walking slowly around, was familiar to all for many years. He walked slowly because of the injuries he had received when he escaped from the crash of the R101 Airship at Beauvais in France.
Cyril Greenwood came from Hull in 1940 to work at Avros at Bracebridge Heath. He stayed until the repair of aircraft on site finished in 1958, but his first impressions of the job are interesting:
“In those early days we travelled to Avros by bus. At one time the bus company had a strike, but the Air Force and Army stepped in and provided us with various vehicles to get us to work!
We worked seven days a week from 07.30am sometimes until 19.00pm, including overtime. We had one weekend off once a month, and I was then able to go home to Hull. There were always long waits at railway stations and always crowded trains. I constantly got caught up in the bombing raids on arrival. The City of Hull took a very great battering.” (The Avro works did shut completely for the normal summer and Christmas Holidays.)
“In Lincoln, I suppose we were rather lucky, we had a share of German raids but no comparison to other places. (Rather surprising, seeing we were surrounded by aerodromes!) My first visit to Lincoln was to find lodgings, which I was to share with another Avro worker, who also came from the same city. He was a very good artist, he drew various caricatures of members of the staff (I still have one of our foreman, although it is now rather dilapidated). Sadly, he died quite young of meningitis.
My wife started work on ‘nights’ at Avros, dismantling the aircraft. All the screws, nuts and bolts which were attached to the all the wiring, had to be undone and kept for
4
[Page break]
renovation. When she decided to work ‘days’, she was put on a bench near me, where she was itemising and recording various spare parts all the time.”
Ken Mumby started work in 1942 at Bracebridge Heath and remembers:
“I started at A V Roe after working as an Electrician on East Coast Radar Stations, when the Manchester bombers were still flying. I only worked on Lancasters at Bracebridge Heath and also at Waddington before going ‘outworking’ to various sites. At Bracebridge Heath we had all the sections – nose, front section, centre section and rear section, etc. I was on the Electrical Section and in many ways it was so different to the modern day aircraft (we had to deal with the entire aircraft wiring in those days!)
I have vivid memories of a Manchester bomber in the early days, being towed on the A15 (minus wings) to Bracebridge Heath to be worked on … would be only about a one mile journey. I never saw a Lancaster being towed on the A15 and they were not done so, to my knowledge. At B [inserted] B [/inserted] H many girls cleaned aircraft with ‘Tricolene’ and were given a pint of milk a day to counteract the effects of fainting, etc!”
In those early days there were two main functions at Bracebridge Heath – Salvage (of damaged parts) in Hangar 2, and Repair of all the different sections in Hangar No1 (the 1914 block). Many girls were employed in the Salvage unit recovering various components and instruments, etc.
There were other girls taken on in Hangar 1, like Mary Chambers in 1941, who was placed in the fabric repair section. She remembers working first on Anson wings and tails, recovering them with fabric and doping them afterwards. Soon, Manchester tails and the [deleted] r [/deleted] n Lancaster parts arrived, to be recovered. Occasionally odd objects like some of the special bomb doors for 617 Squadron’s aircraft appeared at the works for repair. May also remembers that when Rolls-Royce Merlin engines arrived at Bracebridge either before, or after repair, the fitter who took charge of these were usually from Rolls-Royce itself. Large lorries and trailers would take refurbished parts from Bracebridge down the road to Waddington when ready, or to other RAF stations, and later, to Langar.
As the number of crashed and damaged Lancasters rapidly increased, neither Bracebridge nor the new Avro works at Langar (opened in September 1942) could keep pace. Thus, other companies were brought into the Avro Repair Organisation including Brush Electrical at Loughborough and Northampton (wing sections in particular); the LMS Railway works in Derby (centre sections, etc.); the Bailgate works in Lincoln (nuts, bolts, rivets and pipes, etc.); Avro’s own Yeadon factory (bomb-doors, etc.) and so on.
Outworking Parties in WWII
Keny Mumby was put on a ‘Contractor’s Working Party’ soon after starting at Bracebridge in 1942. He remembers:
5
[Page break]
“While ‘outworking’, I worked at about 20 or so RAF Stations in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, a lot of them Satellites, repairing damaged ‘Lancs’ from various raids. It was much more interesting than being in the Factory, and an interesting incident occurred when I was sent to Linton-on-Ouse (Yorks). As I approached the aircraft on dispersal, I didn’t think the aircraft were Lancasters at first because they had radial engines (Hercules). I am given to understand that they were one of the few Squadrons in England with the Mark II Lanc.
I also spent some time at Scampton with the ‘Dam Busters’ Squadron. At first we knew nothing of the planned Dams Operation. We had no idea, except that we saw the Bomb well modification to take the ‘spinning bomb’, and ‘Lancs’ flying about 30ft above us whilst we were at dispersal points working on other aircraft.
Whilst working at Syerston near Newark and at other sites, when night operations were taking place, we were not allowed off the ‘drome until all aircraft were over our coastline – which meant an hour or two’s delay in waiting for 25/30 aircraft getting airborne and away. This was in case there should be any ‘Fifth Columnists’ amongst us!
Most of the sections of the Lanc used to be delivered from Bracebridge by 60 footers (a common sight down Cross-o-Cliff Hill and along the A46 out of Lincoln, to the various ‘dromes and Satellites). This was the general means of transport I had to get to jobs. At other times we were taken by car, often by a Crash Inspector. I recall being taken to Woodhall Spa by an AID Inspector one day to work on a Lanc which had to have 2 starboard fuel tanks fitted. All I had to do was to connect up the fuel gauges and pumps, and the Inspector went to the other side of the airfield to look at another crashed Lanc. He didn’t take long, because the main spar was twisted and reduced to salvage, ‘Cat. E’.
Sometimes I went to ‘dromes further afield in Yorkshire, and on one occasion to an American base where we had to stay several days and lived in the Mess with the Servicemen. At other times, if it meant several days work we would go to the local Police Station for accommodation.”
Ernest Bradley was another Avro employee who started at Bracebridge in 1942, and was soon put into the Outworking Party down the road at RAF Waddington:
“I was in No. 1 hangar working on the Engine staff. I loved it because we could see the aircraft taking off on Bombing raids, and count them next morning when we came to work and believe me I saw some very gruesome sights. Any damaged aircraft came to us for repairs. I remember going into one Lancaster that came to us. I arrived at work one morning and it was parked outside the hangar, and had some holes in the wings and body. I climbed inside to check it out and the first thing I saw was a shoe saturated in blood and then I saw that the rear turret had a mass of bullet holes in it. It also had blood stains all over it, a very nasty sight, but of course we were at war. I saw an odd aircraft now and again that had belly landed, but were considered to be ‘write-offs’.
6
[Page break]
Working on repairs it was common place that at least one worker had to go up with any aircraft repaired. It could be anyone of the workforce. At the end of the war, after working on an ‘Avro Lincoln’ it was due to be tested, and to stop any sabotage (the real reason) someone had to go up with it. I remember we completed this aircraft and I was having my tea break when the ‘Boss’ came in. He said to me: “Go over to the Parachute Hangar and tell them you need a Parachute”. I said: “What do I need one for?” He said “You will be going up at one-o’clock with the aircraft you have just worked on. The pilot will be down shortly”. The aircraft was duly taken out of the hangar ready for testing. Everyone looked about it, saying: “I wouldn’t go up in that for all the money in the world”. Another said: “It won’t get off the ground”, and “Glad it’s you not me!” After tea break a pilot officer came up to the aircraft. “Is this the one for the Test Flight?” The Boss said: “Yes, its ready and this chap will be going with you”. Even the pilot said to me jokingly: “If you have to bail out you will probably fall out of the parachute!” (But he did say he was only joking). A few of the workers standing outside on the tarmac said: “It’s been nice knowing you ‘Charlie’”, but I liked it when we got airborne. The pilot stood me behind his seat and said “Hold on to it!”
Tom Bourne, who worked at Avros as an aircraft fitter, firstly at Newton Heath in 1936, then Chadderton just before WWII started, was selected to be posted to Bracebridge Heath in 1940, as the new Repair Organisation began to expand. He poignantly remembers:
“We were housed in an old, First World War hangar, not far from RAF Waddington, home to 44 Rhodesia Squadron, who later took delivery of the new Lancaster bomber which was to take part in the daylight raid on Augsburg, Germany – and which resulted in Squadron Leader John Nettleton being awarded the VC.
After working at Bracebridge Heath for a while, I joined a small outworking party and made my way to RAF Skellingthorpe near Lincoln to repair a Lancaster damaged the previous night, while on a raid over Germany.
On reporting at the main gate, I was issued with a pass and entered a different world, where aircraft were taking off and landing every second. The sound was deafening. My party was directed in the general direction of our aircraft, which was on the other side of this huge airfield.
We started off walking round the perimeter, and were soon overtaken by a Lancaster trundling round to the take-off point. This was closely followed by another so we stood aside to let it go by.
This one stopped, with a squeal of brakes and the rear gun turret swung round, and the ‘Tail-End Charlie’ fired his four Brownings into a sand pit put there for this purpose. He was just clearing his guns, which was a normal procedure – although no one had told us! It caused some amusement with the cockpit crew, who had a good laugh at our expense.
7
[Page break]
Following that, a tractor pulling a train of live bombs zig-zagged its way past. We decided it would be better if we walked on the grass!
We eventually reached our dispersal and safety! It was my first sight of a fully operational bomber and a Lancaster close up! As it had been on a bombing raid over Germany the previous night everything was in place – the ammunition racks leading to the gun positions were full of live bullets, all of different colours, denoting their particular use. One in every ten was a tracer – then came incendiaries, armour piercing and to make up the ten, the ordinary bullet.
On entering the aircraft, I could feel the atmosphere – the smell of sweating bodies, disinfectant from the ‘Elsan’, gunpowder and stale breath. The interior was still warm from the previous night’s operation. We read the damage report and finally got sorted out. The NAFFI [sic] van sailed by un-noticed, until it was too late!
At the end of our first day at Skellingthorpe, we trudged back round the perimeter, which was by then relatively quiet – all the aircraft were on their dispersals, being ‘Bombed-up’, ready for the coming night’s ‘OP’.
This was my first experience of a Bomber Station, and one that would be repeated many times over the next three years.
Lincoln was surrounded by Bomber Stations. From our digs in the High Street we could hear the different squadrons all starting their engines, one by one, until the air trembled with the noise! It would then go quiet, when they all assembled at the take off point. Then, one by one, they would open up and charge along the runway, the Merlin engines perfectly in tune. When the wind was in a certain direction they flew directly above our digs, their navigation lights winking in the night sky, disappearing above the clouds. Within minutes all the noise would be gone, and a deadly silence would descend. A large percentage of them would never return.
Next morning, after eight or nine hours airborne, the lucky ones could be heard circling above, awaiting their turn to land. Some had been shot up, others had wounded aboard, who would be met by ambulances, and stretchered off to the hospital on the station. We never made friends with the aircrew – there was never any time. They were here today and gone tomorrow.
This was a sample of life on a typical Bomber Station. Damaged aircraft were repaired, aircrew replaced, hearses, bedecked with flowers from grieving relatives, mingled with tractors pulling their loads of death. Bicycles by the dozen were being ridden in every direction, mainly by WAAF’s, who played a large part in everyday life on a Bomber Station.
Bomber Stations such as Scampton, Waddington and Skellingthorpe, all used Lincoln Cathedral as a beacon, on their return across the North Sea.
8
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In the hangars, a section was always reserved for ‘Old Bangers’, formally the pride and joy of aircrews, who had failed to return after a raid. If ‘OPs’ had to be cancelled, they would pile into them, and chase down the country lanes to their favourite watering hole. Here they drove the usually quiet locals mad, with their antics. After all, they had such a short life – every moment was precious – and if their lives were extended by spending a night in the ‘nick’ so what? Once a ‘Tail-end Charlie’ with staring eyes recounted when on the previous night’s raid, he opened up on an enemy fighter. It was only the presence of a Staff Sergeant that saved him from being a resident in the local ‘nick’! – you were always warned that ‘Careless talk costs lives’.
Every so often these ‘Old Bangers’ would be auctioned off to the local dealers, who would, in turn, sell them back to the new intake. They would eventually end up in the hangar to be auctioned off once again and so on.
There were the odd times when a little light relief helped to ease the tension. Once I was seated in my favourite W Op’s seat in the aircraft at dinner time while I watched the antics of two RAF officers, who rowed out in the middle of a static water tank. One of the officers stood up and pointed a pistol upwards. By the time he had plucked up the courage to pull the trigger, the pistol was pointing across the road and the contents ended up draped over the telephone wires. The two officers finished up in the bottom of the dinghy, laughing their heads off. It seems that the object was a new type of distress signal – a rocket propelled kite, to be used by aircrews who had ditched in the ‘Drink’ (come down in the sea) after being hit over the target. This was a common occurrence in the days of 1,000 bomber raids.
In those hectic days, as our lads were returning, so the Yanks were format [deleted] t [/deleted] ing above, on their way to bomb in daylight raids. On the nights when our lads were at home they met up at the pubs in Lincoln, with the Yanks. There was never any trouble, just high spirits. The Yanks were all six or seven feet tall – and usually commandeered all the city pubs. They, of course, had the money. They were also very generous and would buy anyone a drink!”
The war ends
As WWII came to an end Frank Harlow arrived at Bracebridge to work for Avro there. He recounts:
“The passing of time may have dimmed my memory, but I will remember the day I started work at A V Roe Bracebridge Heath – it was May 7 1945. The next day, May 8, was VE day and was declared a holiday.
I was one of a group of RAF tradesmen in 1942, given the opportunity to volunteer to work on aircraft production, initially for a minimum period of six months – after review it was decided to leave us doing this vital work of national importance. In the first place I
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was directed to Coventry, to work on the production of Bristol ‘Hercules’ engines, later in 1945 I was directed to work at Avros at Bracebridge Heath.
My impression on entering the gates was that it looked like a big scrap heap – bits and pieces of aircraft were dumped everywhere! Many times, however, this heap of junk yielded a vital item (not available in stores) to complete a job. Eventually, during the next couple of years the yard was gradually tidied up.
Inside the hangars things were more organised. I was placed with a group repairing Lancaster D3 and D4 sections which took up one side of hangar No1. On the opposite side was a fabric section mainly doing work on Ansons, ‘rebagging’ fuselages and recovering control surfaces and doping them. On the far side was a detail section making various items (ie brackets, ribs, etc., which were made of sheet metal, requiring cutting out and bending or folding), as and when needed for both ‘Outworking Parties’ and inside shop use. Also in this hangar, spaces were found for working on Lancaster fins and rudders, a drawing store, a tool stores and a spray bay.
Across the concrete yard another hangar (No. 2) at this time dealt mainly with repairs and re-building of Ansons, and employed quite a large woodworking gang.
Next to this was a large stores hangar dispatching sections and parts of aircraft daily to many destinations.
During the first couple of years while I was at Bracebridge Heath, some special jobs came along for attention, like a York for General Smuts of South Africa, a Lancastrian ‘Aries’ for polar flights and an Avro 504N for restoration.”
With the War over, Lancaster repairs continued for a time but Yorks, Lancastrians and then Lincolns began to appear in small numbers. Later, Ansons needing ‘Cat B’ repairs began to appear in continuous order, some landing at Waddington and actually being towed up the A15 on their wheels by a company tug. The tug also took some Lancasters on their main wheels – but minus their outer wings which were removed in Hangar 1 at Waddington. These Lancasters were on a one-way journey to be completely broken up at Bracebridge – hence the untidy ‘dumps’ that Frank Harlow saw on his arrival.
Ron Morley, who worked at Bracebridge from 1946 to 1958, firstly in the Engine Bay and later in Inspection, also remembers seeing the Lancaster’s – minus outer wings – being towed up from RAF Waddington along the A15, and on arrival at BBH, someone would operate the undercarriage lever, and the great aircraft would sink slowly to the ground. Men with blow torches would then move in to complete the scrapping.
A York or two were also towed up to Bracebridge with mainplanes removed, overhauled and towed back to Waddington for test-flying, but most Yorks (including that of General Smuts) were dismantled and re-erected in Waddington’s Hangar No. 1 – by now only half of which was needed by Avro’s outworking party there.
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The number of personnel working at Bracebridge (both in the works and with the Outworking Parties) had risen to some 1,582 at its peak in 1943 in WWII (approximately 1,100 being on day shift and 480 on night work), but soon after the war finished and Lancasters were no longer needed, the total workforce dropped to some 623 for the repair work on Ansons, Yorks and Lincolns.
The list of Category ‘B’ Yorks and Ansons repaired at Bracebridge Heath or Waddington by Avro after the War, as far as is known, is shown in Appendix ---
Cyril Greenfield remembers how, just after the end of the war:
“I was sent to ‘Waddington’ Aerodrome for a while. There we worked on the Yorks, servicing and refitting them. One of these belonged to Sir Winston Churchill (LV633 ‘Ascalon’). Field Marshal Smuts was another whose plane we refitted there (MW107). A pair of binoculars belonging to him which were said to be valuable went missing, and consequently we all came under suspicion and were all questioned about the loss. Eventually, they came to light again. We also serviced Mountbatten’s York and gave it a 100 hour service.
Back in the factory at Bracebridge again, Lancasters were now stripped of their turrets and other armament and were able then to be turned into passenger planes, some of which were sent to Argentina. We built wing tips and various parts for the Shackletons, including some sold to South Africa.
The Anson was another type we worked on, and I remember Sir Stafford Cripps (amongst other VIP’s) visited the factory and shook hands with me, saying he was very interested in what we were doing.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time and work at Avro’s and was so sorry when it was closed.
I made some good friends there, some have since passed on, some I still bump into.
I also met my wife there and (I might add) we have now spent 52 years together!”.
Frank Harlow remembers the transition from War to Peace at Bracebridge Heath:
“In my time, I remember that Ansons were towed along the A15 from Waddington to Bracebridge Heath.
Larger aircraft needing major over-haul etc, were taken apart at Waddington and elsewhere where outworking parties were based, the various sections and sub-assemblies being sent to BBH. In the event of major damage and repair it could mean replacements being taken from stores to help speed up the turn-around of aircraft.
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Complete assembly of Lancasters was not done at BBH, Outworking gangs being R.G.
Being responsible for this at Waddington and other RAF bases.
At BBH, salvage, repair and refurbishment of various sections and sub-assemblies of the Lancaster was one of the main jobs until some time after the war.
When they were finished, checked and inspected they went into stores to form a pool of serviceable items. For instance, my first work at BBH was on D4 sections under chargehand Mr Charlie Rogers. Up to 20 D4s would be on the section at any one time, they were completely stripped out, repaired, resprayed and turned out as good as new. Other sections were similarly organised, working on D3s, D2s and D1s, bomb doors, fins, rudder, etc, emphasis being placed on where the shortages were greatest. I well remember once that main planes were the top priority.”
Frank remembers the various people in charge at Bracebridge in the early 1950s.
In overall charge of Bracebridge, the Outworking Parties and Langar, was ‘Snowy’ Langton. His duties included travelling regularly to all these sites to sort out problems and keep in touch with the personnel.
Langton’s deputy was Mr Thomason, who ran the Bracebridge Heath works and devoted all his time to this.
The Chief Inspector was Bill Sturrock.
In No. 1 Hangar, Mr Rastall was in charge of the Detail Section. He was a ‘master of improvisation’ and worked wonders with the simplest of tools.
Mr Lawson – one of the earliest employees at BBH – was the Chargehand on various fuselage sections, while ‘Charlie’ Rogers was the Chargehand on the D4 sections.
Frank Vamplew was Chargehand on the mainplane sections.
“In No. 2 Hangar”, Frank remembers, “where the Ansons were undergoing repairs, Mr Andrews, Mr Brown and Mr Hutchinson supervised the work with Mr Pratt in charge of the woodworkers (‘chippies’). At one time in No. 2 Hangar, when the Electrical Section was based there, Mr Lance Wingard was in charge. The Hydraulic Section was also based in this hangar, but I cannot remember who was in charge.
Ron Morley also remembers the transition from War to Peace at Bracebridge Heath.
“I went there after the war and did not see an Anson for some time, as the factory was engaged in the demolition of Lancasters. Eventually the Ansons started coming in for Repair and Reconditioning, etc. I worked first in the Engine Bay, preparing Engines for the Lancastrians and Yorks. Then I joined the Inspection Dept. and soon found
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Myself in the Inspection Office, where I took over the job of Quality Control Inspector, which included the acceptance of Aircraft items for repair on Contract Loan, and issuing the details in the appropriate Departments for action. At that time I had about 20 Departments to inspect, and had to issue Reports on them each month (including Waddington, where we had half a Hangar where Lincolns were repaired). I don’t recall the exact date when the Ansons started to come in, but it was part of my duties to go to Waddington to check the Modifications embodied and to draw up a list of Appendix ‘A’ items (such as Radio Equipment, Clocks, Instruments etc) – in short, all Air Ministry Equipment destined to be replaced when the Aircraft returned to the RAF.
When I returned to BBH I had to prepare lists of my findings for the various Depts before the necessary work could be commenced. This particular work was not always as easy as it might seem – for instance one day our Transport Dept took me to Waddington in the snow and when I rang for them to collect me they said the road was blocked. I was the only one there at this time, so decided to walk back via the main Sleaford Road, which was the nearest, so I set off across the aerodrome where the wind was so fierce that it was blowing most of the snow in my direction. Luckily I had my ‘clapper board’ which I held in front of my face. I thought it was like Amundsen going to the Pole! When I reached the main road, the snow was quite deep, but it was only another half a mile and was I glad to get back!
My job latterly concerned the collating of all Modifications, etc, and typing them into the Aircraft Log Books and submitting them to the AID for perusal and signature, prior to the Test flight and despatch. I rarely saw the Test Pilots, but was informed of their arrival from Manchester or wherever.”
Developments in the 1950’s
Frank Harlow remembers how the 1950’s began to bring changes to the work at Bracebridge.
“Early in the 1950’s space was cleared for the building of the experimental delta wing 707 aircraft. Two were built, a 707A and 707C. When completed the aircraft were towed along the A15, which runs past the depot, on to Waddington airfield, and flown off from there. I did quite a lot of work on these aircraft, and recently after over 40 years I saw the 707C again in Cosford Aerospace Museum!
Various members of the supervisory staff had an interest in the building of the 707’s, in particular a Mr Taylor. I worked closely with him on several occasion during this period. Later, due to his recommendation I was transferred to the Machine Shop to the job of marker-out.
Meantime work was still continuing on Ansons, and Lancaster sections. About this time a small Machine Shop was set up at one end of the Stores Hangar, its main function being machine ‘one-offs’, or small batches of ‘priority’ and ‘urgent’ items. I had about eighteen months working there as a ‘marker-out’.
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As near as I can recall in 1953/54 a small Drawing Office was established, to which I transferred from the shop floor. The Drawing Office”, Frank remembers, “ was originally established to take over the work concerned with the development of the Vulcan, as Chadderton’s Drawing Office was getting swamped with work on the new Avro Supersonic developments of the Vulcan – the Avro 730 and later, 732. But cancellation of these projects in 1956 left BBH with DO capacity to spare. At this time at Langar work was proceeding on an order for the South African Air Force for Shackleton MR3 aircraft with tricycle undercarriage. The drawing office at Bracebridge Heath became involved with much of the work to do with modifications to these aircraft. This meant frequent trips to Langar, producing the necessary ‘on-the-spot’ sketches, and instructions for work to progress.
It was not unusual by the mid-50’s to see various sections of Lincolns, or Hunters undergoing repairs etc, but work in the repair hangars then tended to ease off.
Mr Stobart, often called ‘Tubby’ was in charge of the newly installed machine shop, while Peter Lodge came to BBH to set up the Drawing Office, and interviewed me when I applied to be transferred to his department.
The sections of Hunter fuselages I saw at BBH were new items in Primer paint only. I think they were sent in for modification, and returned to store.
Not having an airfield at BBH, flying and flight-testing did not take place, hence there was hardly any contact between personnel here, and the test-pilots at Waddington or Langar.
Equally, the Out Working Parties at Waddington, Scampton and elsewhere had very limited contact with the workers at BBH, in the normal routine.
I finally left A V Roe’s in 1958, after 14 happy years.”
Some funny stories were told of the towing efforts up and down the A15 road between Bracebridge and RAF Waddington. Ron Frost, who was born in Hamble and worked in Detail (and later the Jig & Tool Section) at BBH from 19 [deleted] 3 [/deleted] [inserted] 4 (1949) [/inserted] 9 to 1962, collected these from the monthly meeting of ‘Avro-ites’ who still meet on the first Thursday of every month in Lincoln, to talk of the old days:
“’Ron’ Dickens was the aircraft tug driver who carried out this task, and his friends remember that in order to swing on to the road from the works there was little room to clear the wingtips, due to a telegraph pole in the way. A chap had to unwind the turnbuckles supporting the offending pole to get past. This was standard practice until one day there was a cry from up the post – it appears they had missed seeing the GPO engineer up the post doing his job! Another story was told, that one day a large car met them head on, while towing an Anson on the A15. The car driver challenged their
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authority to be on the road with an aircraft in tow. The answer was: ‘We have been doing this for years’. The reply was: ‘Well, I’m the Chief Constable, so get permission from me in future!’”
The 707s
Five of these small delta wing research aircraft, built to provide data for the Vulcan bomber programme, were flown between September 1949 and July 1953, the last two being assembled at Bracebridge Heath and test-flown at RAF Waddington.
The first of these, an Avro 707A (WZ736) was actually test-flown at Waddington by Sqd Ldr Jimmy Nelson, AFC on February 20th 1953, and the second, an Avro 707C (WZ744) was test flown at Waddington on July 1st 1953 by Sqd Ldr Jack Wales, DFC.
Ron Morley remembers that there was a works dispute on at the time that one of these was waiting for its first flight, and the entire Inspection Dept was recruited to get it ready for flying.
Donald Broomhead, in the Wing Dept remembers working on making wing ribs for the 707s and John T Woods recalls:
“Eventually I made some of the patterns, being a cabinet maker by trade, for the prototype 707A aircraft. I have many memories of the days at Bracebridge Heath, including when the first 707 was towed up the Sleaford road to Waddington Airfield for its first flight, and one wing tip hit a tree! On another occasion, the 707’s undercarriage would not lock down.
Many of the machined parts of the Vulcan airframe controls were made in the machine shop at Bracebridge Heath. At this time I was a machine shop inspector, and I remember the difficulty we had with the aileron bearing housings!”
Bracebridge’s versatility
Len Binding joined Avros at Bracebridge Heath at the beginning of February 1946. He had served with the RAF in India during the War and was a brilliant airframe restorer. It was he who had discovered the glue in the wooden Mosquito wings was perishing in the humid Tropics, and had them grounded – thereby saving pilots lives.
He listed the chronological order of events as the 1950s and 1960s passed by at Bracebridge:
“With the war over, surplus Lancasters were being cut up for scrap in the open areas between the hangars when I arrived there.
Avro York and Lancastrian
In hangar C1, an Avro York and a Lancastrian were under-going major repairs. The fuselages were split at the transport joints and the sections fitted in their respective
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[Photograph of men around a prototype Vulcan aircraft] Avro 707A, WZ736, built at Bracebridge Heath, being towed up the A15 to Waddington Airfield to be flown by Sqd Ldr Jimmy Nelson, AFC.
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bogies. When structural repairs were complete and the sections re-assembled, the fuselages, complete with centre sections and undercarriages, were fully equipped and tested.
With the co-operation of the police, the aircraft, less mainplanes, would be towed from the factory along the A15 road to the boundary fence entry point at RAF Waddington. Factory personnel working on the station carried out fitment of mainplanes, outstanding work and finals.
Other departments at the factory were repairing York mainplanes – tailplanes – fins – ailerons – elevators and rudders. This work rapidly increased during the Berlin airlift.
Major repairs to a second Avro York followed, along with various sections:- (D1 and D2, [deleted] ) [/deleted] also [deleted ( [/deleted] D4).
Avro Anson (All Marks)
Major repairs and overhauls to Avro Anson aircraft commenced in B1 Hangar, followed by the manufacture of Anson metal tailplanes, mainplanes and centre sections in C1 Hangar. The Ansons were completed at Bracebridge Heath, then towed to RAF Waddington via the usual route.
Lancaster Spares
Various Lancaster fuselage sections, including undercarriages, wheels, tyres and brake units were serviced for the Argentine Air Force, which had bought a number of used Lancasters. This was part of the spares requirement.
Avro 707A and 707C
It was decided to build an Avro 707A and a 707C at the Bracebridge Heath factory, which included all the relevant sub-assemblies and the majority of details. Main jigs were installed for the assembly of front and rear spars, mainplanes, centre section, rear fuselage and fin, but the nose assembly was built at the Woodford factory and equipped at Bracebridge Heath. Wooden fixtures were used for the other major sub-assemblies.
Final assemblies and functions were carried out at Bracebridge Heath. The aircraft were then towed to RAF Waddington via the usual route, where finals and flight-tests were carried out.
A Slight Deviation from Aircraft!
During a slack period at Bracebridge Heath, C1 Hangar got involved with the manufacture of ‘Choc Ice Cream Machines’, which not only coated the ice cream with chocolate, but wrapped the final product!
Hawker Hunter Fuselages
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Quite a large number of crated Hawker Hunter fuselages were forwarded to Bracebridge heath [sic] for modifications. Jigs and the necessary parts were manufactured on site, and when modifications were embodied, the fuselages were re-crated and returned.
Shackleton MR2 and MR3 Aircraft
Jigs were installed for the manufacture of:
Outer mainplanes, inner mainplanes, fins, rudders, tailplanes, elevators and bomb doors.
Shackleton and Lincolns
Other departments carried out repairs similar to those mentioned above, plus fuselage sections.
Argosy AWA650 Freighters
The manufacture of the Argosy freighter was allocated to various sites. The Woodford factory task was the centre section. Bracebridge Heath’s task was to build the inner and outer wings.
A meeting was held at the Chadderton factory to discuss the programme, which I attended with the works superintendent from Bracebridge Heath. Pre-drilling had caused many problems in the past, so at my request they agreed to leave the rib flanges undrilled. However, I lost the battle regarding the tank bay inner skins, which were delivered pre-drilled.
I don’t know who produced the wing spars, but they had to be ‘returned to sender’. The booms had been produced from an incorrect material specification.
Eventually we received another set of front and rear spars, and so commenced building the inner wings. Although progress was good, it was impossible to meet the completion dates. The Armstrong Whitworth delegation was not satisfied, they wanted the workforce doubled. I think the theory was: ‘If the job took one man one hundred hours, a hundred men would produce it in one hour!’
The pre-drilled holes in the tank bay inner skins were not in line with the rib flanges, so blank skins had to be made and the workforce had to be increased to satisfy Armstrong Whitworth.
The inner mainplanes were removed from the jigs and put in transportation bogies before final fitment of the inner tank bay skins, in order to commence work on the second set. It became obvious to me that problems would arise and the job would take longer to complete.
Frank Wilson, the design engineer covering the queries and problems could see the humorous side of the job and wrote the fictitious Drawing Query Form below (Frank later became the Project Designer for the 748 aircraft). On my retirement, I went to see
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Frank Wilson at Woodford and he said: ‘Lenny, I’ve got something for you’ and gave me the Drawing Query Form that I had not seen since 1958!”
Works expansion
By the early 1950s, Bracebridge had acquired much needed extra facilities, as Len Binding recalled:
“In Hangar B1, jigs were installed for the manufacture of Vulcan engine access doors, and to keep up with the demand, a night shift was introduced.
Bracebridge Heath factory also by now had:
- A small but very efficient Design Office and a comprehensive Drawing Stores, complete with drawing printers.
- A large MOD store
- An average size Machine Shop was set up at the time we commenced to build the 707A and 707C, which proved a great asset. Outside contracts for machining soon began to flood in.
There was also an excellent Instrument Test Room and like the Machine Shop it was not short of outside contracts for overhauling and testing.”
The actual repair of aircraft and production of new ones (eg the 707s) all finished in 1958, however, leaving only the component repair and overhaul sections in operation and the control of the Outworking gangs – which by now had all kinds of varied tasks to undertake.
Outworking Parties in the later years
Bracebridge Heath’s Outworking Parties covered work at RAF and Naval Stations an also airports on the following aircraft: Lancasters, Lincolns, Shackletons, Vulcans, Victors, Nimrods, Phantoms, the Argosy, 748 and Andover (which included the ‘Queen’s Flight’ at RAF Benson and the VIP Flight at RAF Northolt).
The work included repairs (some were extensive), modifications, servicing and occasionally major inspections.
Len Binding, as one of the Foremen at BBH, was soon involved with the Outworking Parties and listed some of the tasks he was engaged on over the next 30 years or so from the HQ at Bracebridge:
“Shackleton Aircraft Grounded (July 1959):
In July 1959 the Shackleton aircraft were grounded at home and abroad until ‘Special Technical Instruction 69’ was embodied.
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Outworking Parties from the Bracebridge Heath factory carried out the necessary work on the applicable RAF stations in the United Kingdom. An inspector and I flew to Singapore to advise on the embodiment of the above mentioned Special Technical Instruction with 205 Squadron personnel at Changi and Seletar. Another team covered the aircraft in Malta.
The work involved the removal of the removal of the inner mainplane trailing edge, to expose the rear spar; then the removal of the web-to-boom attachment bolts and dowels in the area, measuring approximately six to eight feet outboard of the inboard edge of the rear spar bottom boom. The holes had to be cleaned and inspected using intrascopes, and all results were recorded. All web-to-boom bolt holes were then opened up to 1/32 oversize, and new oversize bolts and dowels fitted.
On my return from holiday, the next task was to commence changing the bottom spar booms of 205 Squadron aircraft, not only on the inner mainplanes but also on the centre section. To do this, quite a lot of equipment had to be removed from the fuselages.
We were allocated a hangar at Langar and commenced the removal of engines, bomb doors, inner and outer mainplanes, fuel and oil tanks and landing gear (undercarriages). All electric cables, etc had to be released and withdrawn from the rear fuselage and stowed in the centre section. The fuselages were split at transport joints (centre section front and rear spars) and the sections located in their respective bogies.
The inner mainplanes were transported to another part of the group for modification.
Centre section bottom booms were removed, using safety raiser and skates to take the weight after the web boom bolts had been removed and also to assist in withdrawing it.
The old booms then became the drilling patters for the manufacture of new replacements.
Then we had to re-fit and line up the pre-drilled holes of the new boom with the existing holes in the web, so that satisfactory drilling and reaming could commence. (Broaching equipment was not available.) When the booms were finally bolted to the webs, re-assembly then commenced.”
Channel Airways HS748s:
On August 15th 1967, at the grass airfield at Portsmouth, Hampshire, heavy overnight rain the previous day had made the grass very slippery and in the course of landing there, two of Channel Airways new HS748 Series 2 airliners each skidded when braking after touchdown.
Both aircraft damaged their undercarriages and one (G-ATEH) skidded through the boundary fence onto Eastern Road outside, blocking it.
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An over-enthusiastic Chief of Police ordered a tractor to tow this 748 clear of the traffic, back onto the airfield and in doing so the wire hawser of the tractor cut through the rear fuselage and rear pressure bulkhead – “like cheese-wire through cheese”, as Len Binding said.
He was invited to take a team down to repair G-ATEH and – as part of the usual procedure – they built a cover around and over the affected ends of the 748s on scaffolding, to enable them to work underneath in a dry atmosphere.
Len remembered:
“Our hangar was comprised of scaffolding covered with corrugated iron sheeting, and we used old railway wagons for our office and stores. We had very efficient central heating!”
(He was later congratulated by the Air Registration Board for an excellent repair to both aircraft.)
“Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd – Kanpur Division (Period 1966 to 1967):
Preparations to carry out a modification programme on Venezuelan 748 aircraft were just about complete, when I was asked to take over in India because the team leader had been flown home seriously ill. (He later died within a month or so of his return to Great Britain.)
India was an enjoyable experience, but I wanted to be more involved and also with different aircraft. However, the company flew me home for my 25th wedding anniversary and then tried hard to get me to return (but they could not persuade me).
Andover C.Mk1 (Avro 780):
At RAF stations Abingdon and Thorney Island, repairs and modifications were embodied on the above aircraft, including ‘The Flight Data Recorder’ and the rial installation of height encoding altimeters.
Andover C.C.Mk2 (Avro 748):
At the ‘Queen’s Flight’ at RAF Benson, various teams worked there embodying modifications and carrying out repairs. Similar work was also done on the VIP Flight at RAF Northolt.
748 Aircraft XA-SEY at Miami Airport (1968):
The repair consisted of replacement of cracked bottom skins and a reinforcing plate in the vicinity of the main undercarriage. This required the removal of the main undercarriage and pivot members.
The 748 aircraft was owned by Fernando Barbachano. He was quite a character, and very generous. On completion of the aircraft repair, Barbachano offered the team a free
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week’s holiday on the island of Cozumel, including the return fare to the island from Miami. Payment for drinks would be the individual’s responsibility. Two members of the team accepted the offer, and had a wonderful time!
Belgian Air Force 748 Aircraft at Brussels Airport:
Fuel leaks had occurred at wing access panels, caused by over tightening panel attachment screws. To rectify, all panels and frames were replaced.
748 Aircraft G-ATAM – the Company Aircraft leased to Philippine Airlines (October 1968):
Preparations for the lease of Avro’s own 748 aircraft G-ATAM, were carried out at Langar. The new registration was PI-C1020.
Towards the end of the lease, PI-C1020 was damaged at San Fernando Airport, situated on the West Coast of Central Luzon.
Philippine Airline employees repaired the aircraft, under the instructions of our Bracebridge Outworking Party.
AW Argosy Freighters (June 1969):
A hangar was made available at De Havilland’s works at Downsview, Canada for the repair of Argosy aircraft which had developed fatigue problems in the bottom boom if the front spar (inner wing), at the root end joint, port and starboard.
When building the Argosy wing, all holes were produced to BS 1916 H7 fit, whereas the Shackleton wing was to Newall Standard ‘A’ fit.
Simulated tests on replica joints proved the Shackleton joint was superior.
We experienced great difficulty in removing the bolts and bushes, but the breakthrough came when we warmed the spar boom and used liquid Nitrogen to shrink the bushes. The root ends were then cleaned, including the removal of stress corrosion. Reinforcing plates and shackles were re-plated at De Havilland’s. The holes were opened up to Newell Standard ‘A’ fit and oversize bolts were fitted. The main boltholes required oversized bushes to be fitted.
Blackburn Beverley Freighters:
At RAF Abingdon, a working party carried out a major inspection and a modification programme on the Beverley freighter.
Vulcans on various RAF Stations:
Bracebridge Heath had working parties on Vulcan stations at Finningley, Scampton, Waddington, Coningsby and Cottismore [sic], working on modifications and ‘Category 3’ repairs.
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The ‘Rapid Start’ modification programme commenced at RAF Coningsby. Other stations were involved later. (November 1969)
The work on ‘Blue Steel’ was mainly carried out at RAF Scampton. (October 1971)
I visited RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus on two occasions, once to advise 103 Maintenance Unit on repairs to a Vulcan that sustained a bird strike and had caught fire. The second time I went out with a small team to deal with corrosion problems.
Vulcan Fatigue Modifications (1001 and 1013):
The aircraft had to be jacked up and roughly levelled using the star plate, then finally rigged using a dumpy level and sighting rod. The trestles were positioned at the respective points and adjusted during the rigging procedure. At this stage the wing tips needed to be raised 1 1/2 inches so the root end wing joints were in the no-load condition.
Modification 1001 consisted of the removal and replacements of the front bottom wing root forgings port and starboard. (The forgings have four legs, one leg mates with the bottom boom of the mainplane, the other with the bottom boom of the centre section, the other two legs fit into the transport rib, one vertical the other one aft.)
Modification 1013 comprised the removal of shackles and reinforcing plates from the remaining wing root forgings, port and starboard, that were not covered by Modification 1001. The shackles and reinforcing plates were sent to the Chadderton factory for checks and replating. When re-assembled, all joints got cocooned.
To gain access to all root end joints to front and rear spars top and bottom, the following had to be removed or partially removed:-
Engines, jet pipes, intake skins and jet pipe tunnel skins. The outer top and bottom skins port and starboard of the centre section were peeled back sufficiently to gain access to the root end joints.
Extensive drill and reamer kits were required, complete with pilot and slip bushes, plus ‘Delapina’ honing equipment.
The holes were to Newall Standard ‘A’ fit with a honed and polished finish – hole sizes were 5/8 inches to 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
Hardened steel reinforcing plates were fitted both sides of the booms and produced a sandwich of hardened steel – light alloy – hardened steel. Great care was needed when honing, not to produce a barrel shaped hole. The equipment used for checking were internal micrometers and dial test indicator.
The transport rib bottom boom had to be cut back to allow the removal of the old forging. This was replaced by steel shackles, when fitting the replacement.
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Although the main bolts through shackles, reinforcing plates and booms were relatively easy to remove, special extractors were required for the removal of the remaining bolts holding the forgings to the aircraft.
Due to the hight tolerances on these holes, temperatures could and did affect fitment of bolts.
We carried out these modifications at RAF stations Waddington, Coningsby and Finningley.
Vulcan B.Mk.1 XA911 at RAF Waddington:
During a flight over the North Sea, Vulcan B.Mk1 XA911 suffered a bird strike in one of the port engines, which ingested the birds, coughed and blew up. The debris from this was sucked into the adjoining air intake, causing the second engine to go the same way.
One turbine disc smashed through the engine casing, cutting two engine access doors in half.
The inboard engine rib 63.5 was damaged. The centre engine rib 113.5 was sliced in two.
The outboard engine rib 162.5 was extensively damaged and required special drawings for the repair, also special equipment for blending out and polishing of the bottom boom, which took many hours of tedious work before the repair could commence.
Turbine blades had been flying around like shrapnel, some going right through the port wing fuel tanks. One piece went through to the outboard tank and then through the mainplane front spar web.
Repairs were carried out to most port mainplane ribs and the recuperator bay. A number of intake skins, expansion joints and jet pipe tunnel skins had to be replaced.
Bird strikes have caused similar damage to other Vulcan’s, but not quite so severe.
A modification was introduced much later – the fitment on titanium shields to protect the engine ribs.
Vulcan ‘butchery’ at RAF St Athan (1970):
Design and Stress Departments asked for a perfectly serviceable Vulcan aircraft to be taken out of service for research purposes, before agreeing to extend the life of the fleet. A drawing was produced, indicating how the aircraft should be cut up.
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Ken Smith, the Vulcan Project Designer, arranged a meeting at the Woodford factory to discuss the requirements with personnel from an RAF maintenance unit who were going to take on the task. I was also asked to attend this meeting.
However, after studying the drawings, the RAF representatives requested the company to do the work, and so it was given to me to do!
The Vulcan selected for this ‘butchery’ was the first B.2 production aircraft, XH533.
Phantoms:
When Vulcans moved from RAF Coningsby, they were replaced by the Phantoms. The predominant work involved modifications, although the working party was involved with a couple of ‘Category 3’ repairs were also carried out at HMS Heron at Yeovilton, and HMS Daedalus at Gosport.
Nimrods:
The major work at Kinloss and RAF St Mawgan included modifications, corrosion problems and occasional ‘Category 3’ repairs.
At RAF Wyton there was a modification programme only.
Ghana Airways 748 Aircraft at Accra Airport (May 1971):
Ghana Airways personnel were manoeuvring the aircraft from the hangar when the damage occurred. The hangar door grazed the aircraft in the area of the pressure head and static plate.
We carried out a small skin insertion repair and replaced both the static plate and pressure head.
Dan Air 748 Aircraft repaired in the Concorde Aircraft Hangar:
At Charles de Gaulle Airport a Dan Air 748 aircraft made a bad landing. The nose landing gear was torn from the nose wheel bay structure. During preparation for the repair, corrosion was found at Former 252F, and further aft. It was obvious a galley had been fitted in this area, but the floorboards had not been properly sealed to prevent spillage seeping through and collecting in the fuselage bottom structure, which caused the corrosion.
Avro York at Staverton Airport:
The curator of ‘Skyframe Museum’ obtained an Avro York aircraft that originally belonged to ‘Skyways of London’. He requested Avro’s, Hawker Siddeley Aviation and Titanine (the paint manufacturer) to respray the aircraft gratuitously, and to make it look like Churchill’s aircraft (LV633 ‘Ascalon’)
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Titanine agreed to supply the paint and Hawker Siddeley Aviation agreed to supply the labour. We had a drawing of Churchill’s aircraft showing the square windows. So by masking the round windows, and by careful spraying, we achieved the desired effect.
Varig 748 at Porto Alegre – Brazil (March 1972):
At the request of Varig Airlines, Peter Grimley and myself flew to Porto Alegre in Brazil to carry out a survey on a badly damaged 748 aircraft. A pilot under instruction was doing an asymmetric take-off, and to correct a fault, power was applied – but to the wrong engine – and the aircraft dropped one hundred feet and pancaked! I would like to have repaired it, but after a meeting with the engineering director in Rio it was decided to write it off.
In appreciation for our services a conducted tour of Rio was laid on, including a hotel adjacent to the Copacabana Beach!
The President of Ecuador’s 748 at Guayaquil, Ecuador (October 1972:)
The President’s VIP 748 Series 2A (FAE 001) was severely damaged by an ‘Andes Airline’ DC-6 aircraft that was being taxied by their Chief Engineer. He was immediately arrested and imprisoned for sabotage, however, several weeks later he was cleared of the charge and subsequently released.
Jim Hayworth, the Assistant Chief Stressman, and myself travelled to Guayaquil to assess the damage, and after a meeting with the Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana (FAE) it was decided to produce a section of the starboard wing in the jig at Chadderton, which we then spliced to the existing undamaged part of the aircraft.
Colombian Air Force (FAC 1103) at Bahia Solano (July 1973):
My first visit to Bahia Solano almost ended in disaster when we developed engine trouble during our flight in a DC-3 aircraft flying from Bogota. The aircraft lost height rapidly over the mountainous jungle of Choco. Thankfully we just made the airstrip.
A radio fault on board prevented communication with Satena Airline’s headquarters, so on landing, Bahia Solano’s short wave radio was used to contact them. The call sign was ‘ALCATRAZ’! Four hours had elapsed before contact was made, and by then Solana assumed we had crashed, so they instigated a search, using five aircraft.
The spares required for the engine did not arrive until the following day, so we had to stay overnight at the shanty Hotel Bahia. That evening we sat down for dinner on benches at tables that did not look particularly clean. When the first course arrived it was ‘Fish Head Soup’. I realised then I would have to get food and water flown to us weekly from Bogota, and also obtain a cook!
That evening I met Michael G A Hill, a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow – (Becado) 1972. He was carrying out a typographical study of Colombia’s Pacific Mountain coast. During our conversation, the subject of communications came
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[Photographs of a damaged aircraft with men inspecting damage] The President of Ecuador’s Avro 748 before repair.
[Page break]
up and it was then he advised me to use the Morse facility, even though Satena and Company agent, Robert McAllister disagreed. Michael’s advice was to ‘print all messages clearly, do not write’. This turned out to be good advice, as the operator could not read the message but understood the letters.
The compressor unit supplied was unserviceable, so Satena sent a replacement. It ended up with both units being strapped together so the engine on one unit drove the good compressor on the other. Our troubles were not over. Within a few days, the unit’s petrol tank disintegrated, and we had to improvise, using a bucket and plastic tubing. The next things to go wrong were the units engine bearers. The only material on site was light alloy extrusion, so I used that, but made two sets of bearers which allowed us to complete the task.
The damage to the 748 was extensive, the undercarriage struts, beams and brackets broke through the mainplane top skin and also through the shroud and jet pipe.
Twelve months after repairing FAC 1103 at Bahia Solana, I received a newspaper cutting from an employee of Satena Airlines, showing a 748 crash in the Columbian jungle. It was FAC1103 again! Only this time it was terminal – the 748 had taken off from Bahia Solano again, and hit a nearby mountain top, killing all 32 passengers and crew on board!
The crash was found to be due to pilot error. To clear the mountain the procedure was to do a circuit of the airfield to gain height. However, the pilot was in a hurry to get back to base to clear outstanding paperwork, so on take-off, he sat the aircraft on its tail and opened up the engines thinking he could clear the mountain and save time. As you can see, he failed!”
Len Binding was at Woodford with ex-Chief Test Pilot Jimmy Harrison (by now Product Support Manager) at the time the news of the Columbian 748 crash came through. Jimmy said there had been a flash in the sky before the crash, and Len remembered that Satena often carried aviation fuel about in drums, to replenish the local supplies at the remote airstrips. Len had noticed once that a can had been leaking on board one his [sic] flights in Columbia, and the passengers sometimes smoked near them! He wondered if this might have been a cause in this case.
“The President’s Aircraft (FAE 684) Severely damaged at Cuenca, Ecuador:
As the President’s aircraft was approaching Cuenca, ground control advised the pilot not to land due to the atrocious weather conditions. The captain decided to land, however, and on touch-down, the aircraft aquaplaned and was heading for a sheer drop at the end of the runway. He managed to slew the aircraft around and into a ditch.
Jim Haworth and myself flew to Ecuador to assess the damage. From the photographs I took we could establish what materials and spares were required, as well as tools, drawings and ground equipment.
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[Photograph of an aircraft being repaired] The Avro 748 of Lineas Aereas del Caribe being repaired at Merida, Mexico.
[Page break]
Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT) 748 Aircraft:
Jim Haworth and myself travelled to St Vincent in June 1977 to survey a damaged aircraft (VP-LIW) which turned out to be the old Channel Airways aircraft (G-ATEH) that I repaired at Portsmouth Airport. On completion of the survey, I received a telex to travel to Bogota to meet ‘Airclaims’.
At Antigua in November 1979, I carried out a modification programme which included ‘Ground Proximity Warning’ and Direct Measuring Equipment (DME).
Satena 748 Series 2A (FAC 1101):
On arrival at Bogota in June 1977, I made contact with ‘Airclaims’ who asked me to do a survey on a Satena 748 (FAC 1101) at Arauca Airport.
The damage was mainly confined to the nose-wheel bay structure, skins, equipment and nose-wheel undercarriage. There was also some damage to nacelle fairings and main undercarriage doors.
748 (VP-LIW) at St Vincent:
I returned to St Vincent to repair the above aircraft (ex-G-ATEH of Channel Airways) which was extensively damaged. The undercarriage struts, side load beams, downlock beams, brackets and undercarriage pivot members were forced into the wing. A lot of debris went through the mainplane top skin and through the shroud and jet pipe. The only parts serviceable of the inboard and outboard engine ribs were the top beams. Which gave added problems with alignment. The centre engine rib was scrap.
Incidentally, Johnny Briggs, an Avro Engineer, married Jan, an Air Stewardess with ‘Leeward Islands Air Transport’. Her father, Frank Delisle, owned the airline at the time.
748 Aircraft at Georgetown – Guyana (November 1977):
Problems existed with the flying controls and control locks on the aircraft. It only took a few days to rectify, thank goodness. (The climate there took some getting used to.)
748 Aircraft at Longue Pointe de-Mingan (April 1978):
Mingan is situated on the northern bank of the St Lawrence River in Canada and when I arrived there the settlement was snow bound. The pilot of Northern Wings (Les Ailes Du Nord Ltee) had a ‘white-out’ on landing the aircraft. The crash had extensively damaged the fuselage and had also damaged the nose-wheel bay. We built a wood and glass greenhouse building over the entire nose of the 748 amongst the deep snow drifts, and worked under cover.
Bundesanstalt für Flugsicherung at Frankfurt Airport:
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[Photograph of an aircraft being worked on under a shade] Repairing an Avro 748 of Philippine Airlines at San Fernando Airport. The children are having a Christmas Party!
[Page break]
We were allocated a fabulous unused hangar at Frankfurt Airport, which not only had overhead lighting, but also strip lights along the sides. The hangar doors were power operated. For the company who eventually purchased or leased the hangar there were other facilities that included a large built-in restaurant, kitchen and showers. We appreciated the showers [inserted] – [/inserted] after all, we were not used to such luxury!
We carried out a large modification programme on two of their seven aircraft (all used for radio calibration work).”
This is the end of Len Binding’s list of ‘Outworking’ jobs that he was concerned with, but other Bracebridge teams naturally worked on many other accident repairs during these years, at sites all over the world.
Assistance with test-flying
‘Jock’ Donaghy was the name of the pilot who lived at Waddington, and helped Peter Field-Richards out in test-flying the Ansons rebuilt at Bracebridge after ‘Cat B’ repairs.
He is believed to have been in the RAF and flown Sunderlands during the War. When the war was over, he obviously had difficulty getting a job at first and joined Avros at Bracebridge Heath as a fitter. Ron Morley, an Inspector there, recalls how ‘Jock’ carried a tool box around with him with only two items in it – a large spanner that was useless (as it had a broken end) and a hammer whose pane had also broken! Perhaps it was more of a gesture!
Later on, when numerous Ansons were being rebuilt, Jock’s flying experience was approved by Peter Field-Richards and he was allowed to test fly most of them from Waddington.
Jock was obviously used to over-water navigation – he apparently left it to the Flight Engineer to let him know where he was during the local test flights from Waddington. Ron Morley remembers that Jock always seemed rather remote – a bit of a day dreamer – and every Thursday and Friday he would head for the local fish and chip shop in Bracebridge village. On one notable occasion, when Jock started his car to get back to the works, his steering jammed and he couldn’t turn the car to the right. So he managed to get back by always turning left – sometimes more than a complete circle!
When the Anson testing was finished, Jock kept his hand in at flying, in various other jobs. He was tragically killed some years later, while reportedly flying an ex-WWII German aircraft back to the UK, when the aircraft ditched in the sea, killing his second wife (who was acting as navigator). He left a son.
Out-of-hours activities
Some of the Bracebridge Heath veterans began to engage in their own aviation activities as a hobby, out of work time.
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Thus, the Chief Inspector, Bill Sturrock (who was killed years later in a motor car accident while on holiday in South Africa) had a pilot’s licence, as did Jeff Cox and Jack Robie.
Lee Binding was also a member of the group and they used to repair and maintain light aircraft and crop dusters, Austers, etc, at several sites around Lincoln/Leicester, including a hangar at Wellingore, another at Grantham and another on the A46 north east of Lincoln. Bill Sturrock (who had learned to fly in Canada in the RAF) flew the aircraft after they were repaired. After Bracebridge, Bill Sturrock went to Avro in Manchester to become Customer Service Manager, after a spell in Mexico for HSA as a Sales/Service Representative.
The Avro 504
May Chambers from the Wing Dept remembers the time that she worked hard to re-cover and dope the wings and fuselage of a veteran Avro 504N biplane at Bracebridge sometime in the 1953-56 era. This 504N (D7560) had been shot down in the Great War and repaired and put on show in Hull Museum. It was a genuine A V Roe built machine, and in WWII German raids on Hull had damaged it again. Hence Avro agreed to restore it once more, and when completely renovated it was sent down to the Science Museum in South Kensington.
In the photograph (taken by the ‘Lincolnshire Echo’) May Chambers and the head of the Wing Dept, Arthur Wood, are seen with some of the staff who so beautifully restored the 504N.
The ‘Dambusters’ film
When the famous film was made about the ‘Dambusters’ raid by 617 Squadron, featuring Richard Todd as Wing Commander Guy Gibson, VC, DSO & Bar, DFC [deleted] and [/deleted] & Bar, the Avro staff at Bracebridge Heath were given the task of building the ‘bouncing bombs’ for the filming.
John Woods and another ‘chippie’ there remember making these, and fitting them to the surviving Lancasters at ARF Scampton. (At that time, the bombs were still on the Secret List, and those built by Avros were of a spherical shape – not cylindrical, like rather large depth charges, which later turned out to be the correct wartime shape.)
John also helped to renovate the interior of the Avro company ‘hack’ Anson (G-AGPG) which had a VIP interior for flying Directors and customers about. John and the other ‘chippies’ French-polished the interior mahogany fittings and renovated all the wood work.
Bracebridge in later days
After the repair and rebuilding of whole aircraft ceased in 1958, Bracebridge Heath occupied a site of approximately 9 1/2 acres, and remained the Headquarters for the Manchester Division Repair Organisation, with a labour force not down to 223. It
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[Photograph of a group of people standing in front of a biplane] The Avro 504N renovated at Bracebridge Heath for the Science Museum.
[Photograph of three men and an aircraft being towed on a road] The Avro 707A being towed to Waddington.
[Page break]
embraced the Ministry of Defence CRSP store (Contractors Repair Supply Procedure), the British Aerospace Standard Part Store, and a Design Department, but still retained the facility for the repair and overhaul of some aircraft parts.
Stores Organisation
The Stores Organisation included the largest airframe Ministry of Defence CRSP Stores in the United Kingdom, having a floor area of some 67,449 square feet, a British Aerospace Standard Parts investment Stores occupying more than 9000 square feet, and a General and Tool Stores occupying almost 4000 feet.
With some justification Bracebridge claimed that the Stores Organisation was one of the most efficient in the British Aerospace Aircraft Group.
Military Spares
The buying and supply of military spares (CRSP) meant placing orders through and on behalf of the Ministry of Defence for the repair and major refurbishing of main components for aircraft produced by all factories within the British Aerospace Aircraft Group. Such spares were also made available to a number of outside companies recognised as approved sub-contractors.
BBH also assisted the Royal Air Force in maintaining their operational requirements and the factory’s Contractor’s Working Parties continued to undertake major repairs in the field.
Investment and General Stores
The purpose of the British Aerospace Standard Parts Investment Stores was to hold all surplus stock items which had been bought commercially, or manufactured in economical quantities and were surplus to immediate contract requirements. All factories within the British Aerospace Group drew holdings, where available, from Bracebridge which were held for immediate issue on request, obviating the problem of ordering excessive build-up of stock within group factories.
The visual display unit located in Stores Records, supplied up-to-date information on the Company outstanding orders and stock – also items on Ministry of Defence orders. The progress of these items being manufactured on the shop floor were able to be monitored, enabling promises to be obtained from Production Control by Progress Department. This ensured an efficient turnround of spares. Issue of available spares on priority requests were invariable [sic] completed between 12-24 hours and ordinary issues between 24-48 hours (as transport permitted).
The General and Tool Store supported working parties (CWPs) operating in the United Kingdom and overseas – also the bay servicing and repair unit at the depot.
Bracebridge carried out these vital functions for Avro (later British Aerospace) for the next 24 years after 1958, finally closing down completely at the end of September 1982.
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The old No. 1 Hangar built for the RFC is now owned by a haulage firm, and the walls still seem in good condition, although the roof and wooden doors are looking dilapidated and the building stays empty. No. 2 Hangar and the Stores building are occupied by the Dalgety Group, and are well maintained. No evidence remains of the heroic work that went on here in WWII to keep badly damaged Lancasters flying, nor of the decades of post-war achievements in repairing all kinds of Avro aircraft.
May Chambers, who worked there from 1941 to 1968 and claimed the customary gold watch for 25 years dedication and service, still says that people seemed so much kinder to each other in those days and everybody cared so much more than they do now – and they were the happiest days in her life! You can’t get a much better epitaph than that, for a remarkable company!
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APPENDIX 1
A V ROE & CO LTD – ‘BRACEBRIDGE HEATH WORLD SERVICE ORGANISATION (previously the ‘Avro Repair Organisation’)
PRINCIPAL PERSONNEL AND DEPARTMENTS
I) In mid-1950s:-
a) ← [Underlined] HQ at Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln [/underlined] ) Caps
[Underlined] Chief Superintendents (in sequence): [/underlined]
1. → C (‘Charlie’) L Hatton
2. → F (‘Snowy’) Langton
[Underlined] Financial: [/underlined]
Mr Dowell
[Underlined] Chief Inspector: [/underlined]
‘Bill’ Sturrock
b) ← [Underlined] Repair Depot at Langar, Notts: [/underlined] ) Caps.
[Underlined] Superintendents (in sequence):- [/underlined]
1. → Robert Ingrid
2. → ‘Phil’ Lightfoot, and his Asst Supt W.G. Cooke
3. → C Oatway
4. → ‘Johnny’ Smallwood
[Underlined] Secretary to above: [/underlined]
Indent all names etc. → Mrs Forster
[Underlined] Sheds 1 & 2 – Senior Foreman [/underlined]
→ Ron Eaton
[Underlined] Sheds 3 – Senior Foreman [/underlined]
→ Ernie Beatles
[Underlined] Sheds 5 & 6 Senior Foreman [/underlined]
→ ‘Dad’ Harold Walker
[Underlined] Shed 7 – Senior Foreman [/underlined]
→ Harry Houghton
[Underlined] Flight Shed – Senior Forem [deleted] a [/deleted] en Flight Test Engineer (in sequence) [/underlined]
1. → George Arthur Norman
2. →’Paddy’ Armstrong
3. → Roy Browne
[Underlined] Other Personnel: [/underlined]
Indent → [Underlined] Senior Foreman – [/underlined]
[Page break]
Shed 6 (Spray Bay) – Ernie Cooke
Shed 5 (Detail Section) – Sam Wilcox
← [Underlined] Departmental Foremen – [/underlined]
Engineering – ‘Doug’ Fletcher
Instruments – J Nightingale
[Deleted] Instrument] [/deleted] ‘Nobby’ Clarke
Heavy Gang – T Shepp[deleted] a [/deleted] erd
Crane Drivers – Mr Clarke
← [Underlined] Other Staff [/underlined]
Tank Shop – L Needham
Shed 5 – (Hydraulics) F Abthorpe
[Deleted] - (Hydraulics) [/deleted] C Kelly
- (Internals) B Brewer
- (Electrics) Bill Brumby
[Deleted] – (Electrics) [/deleted] Ted Prior
[Deleted] – (Electrics) [/deleted] J Johnson
Shed 6 – (signwriter) Mr Mapletoft
Shed 7 – (Fuel & Oil Bowsers) A Kirk
[Deleted] –(Fuel & Oil Bowsers) [/deleted] H Prigeon
Control Tower – (Electrics/Radio) T Corfield
Main Stores
- (Drawing) Miss E Bint
- (Tool) Miss N Cowlishaw
Canteen
- (Manager [deleted] s [/deleted] ess) 1. Miss Piddington
2. Mrs Gri [deleted] m [/deleted] nnals
- (Cashier) Miss E Spencer
[Deleted] - (Cashier) Miss E Spencer [/deleted]
Works Engineer
- (Maintenance) Stan Rogers
- (Electrical) Jack Calver
Site – (Transport) Paddy Ryan
- (Fire Tender) A Moor
- (First Aid) Nurse Smart
- (Security) J Spencer
- (Gardner) Eli Tucker
[Page break]
← [Underlined] Aeronautical Inspect [deleted] or [/deleted] ion Dept (AID):- [/underlined]
Mr Barr
C Collins
Alec Messenger
‘Taff’ Davis
Mr ‘Dickie’ Bird
Victor Savory (R101 Survivor)
← [Underlined] Avro Inspection Dept:- [/underlined]
Chief Inspector – J Yarwood
Asst Chief Inspector – J McCirdy
Inspectors –
‘Johnny’ Smallwood Les Willis A Sills
D Fairhome B Finlay ‘Tiny’ Wright
A Dale S Walker W Pride
‘Jock’ Cameron P Haynes ‘Bud’ Abbott
D Allen Ken Allen ‘Dixie’ Deene
G Smith ‘Ted’ Robinson B Radcliffe
‘Bill’ Williams ‘Sid’ Dawes E Hopkinson
T Keene J F [deleted] o [/deleted] irth D Warren
E Sheppard ‘Paddy’ Russell J Wor [deleted] i [/deleted] mhall
T Jenkins H Fletcher S College
D Roberts C Smalley J Farmer
A Powell L King C Perkins
‘Bob’ Graham Mr Pritchet ‘Johnny’ Bull
H Platt ‘Don’ Grieves Doug Culley
Tommy Liffe
Planning Dept
- Mr Moorhouse
- ‘Pete’ Hughes
Drawing Office – Mr Flannery
Time Keeper – H Beard
Police Supt – Joe Spencer
II) [Underlined] Changes in above by 1967: [/underlined]
Johnny Smallwood became Works Superintendent (from Avro Inspection Dept)
Ted Andrews became his Asst Works Supt
Doug Fletcher became Senior Foreman – Shed 2 (from Foreman – Engineering)
Muriel Brown became Canteen Manageress
Neil Cunning [deleted] ham [/deleted] ton bec [deleted] o [/deleted] ame [deleted] s [/deleted] Works Engineer
Jack Wright became Asst Works Engineer
Alec Farmer became Police Supt
George Norman became Senior Foreman – Trials Installation (TI) Hangar.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Avro Repair Organisation. Bracebridge Heath
Description
An account of the resource
A history of the Avro Repair Organisation at Bracebridge Heath. Aircraft with Category B damage were disassembled and taken to Bracebridge for repair. Contractor’s Working Parties repaired Category A damaged aircraft on their station using spares requisitioned from Avro.
On the picture of the Avro 707 being towed along the A15 towards Waddington, the men on the Clarktor 6 towing tractor are, from left to right: David Coney, J.H. 'Bert' Thomason and 'Ted' Andrews. The truck driver, mostly hidden is Ron Dickens. Following the aircraft is an Austin Somerset Avro company car.
Creator
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Peter V Clegg
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
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Anne-Marie Watson
Richard Coney
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Format
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46 typewritten sheets with annotations
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
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Text
Text. Personal research
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MCleggPV[DoB]-150701-01
Coverage
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Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1939
1940
1941
1943
1945
1946
1949
1950
207 Squadron
Anson
Lancaster
Lancastrian
Lincoln
Manchester
RAF Langar
RAF Waddington
service vehicle
Shackleton
tractor
York
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1696/27420/PMcDermottC16020043.1.jpg
a6ae6a177baeb12d543c9415ab9e42ad
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1696/27420/PMcDermottC16020044.1.jpg
14accc86ceb4853a81570ddc20834979
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
McDermott, Colin. Album 1 Evanton Gunnery School 1943
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-11-03
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
McDermott, C
Description
An account of the resource
41 items. Photographs of aircrew and aircraft taken at RAF Evanton during 1943.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Barbara Bury and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Photograph]
BULLOCK. BASSETT. ANSTEY. VERDEN. BAXTER.
MAYNARD. SMITH. FOWLER. SKIDMORE. STARKIE.
[Page break]
A S Starkie.
R F Smith
W. Skidmore.
J Bullock
E.C. Verden.
P. Maynard
R. Anstey. (Barry)
L Fowler (Malton)
F Bassett Leominster.
C. Baxter
[inserted[ R [/inserted]
[Stamp]
R.A.F. EVANTON
REFERENCE G1624E
MAY 1943
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Ten Trainee Airmen
Description
An account of the resource
Ten airmen arranged in two rows in front of a wooden building. Each man's name is written underneath. On the reverse are the signatures of all the men and a stamp with 'RAF Evanton Crown Copyright Reserved'.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
RAF Evanton
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-05
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PMcDermottC16020043, PMcDermottC16020044
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
Anne-Marie Watson
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-05
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Scotland--Ross and Cromarty
air gunner
aircrew
RAF Evanton
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1698/27535/PMcDermottC16040008.1.jpg
4f1983a2fd40644f57c72044c774ea5a
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1698/27535/PMcDermottC16040009.1.jpg
3c3554542fc23005fc843aa659559d10
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
McDermott, Colin. Album 2 Duplicates
Description
An account of the resource
10 items.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Barbara Bury and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-11-03
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
McDermott, C
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Photograph]
[Circled] N [/circled] NORMAN. MATHHEWS WATSON PRIDDLE ROBINSON
LAWSON SULLIVAN STOWE. CLEMENTS FLITTON
[Page break]
[Stamp]
R.A.F. EVANTON
REFERENCE G1620E
MAY 1943
[inserted] N [/inserted]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Ten Trainee Airmen
Description
An account of the resource
A group of ten airmen arranged in two rows in front of a wooden building. On the front is "N" and the names of the ten men. On the reverse is stamped 'RAF Evanton Crown Copyright Reserved'.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
RAF Evanton
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-05
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PMcDermottC16040008, PMcDermottC16040009
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
Anne-Marie Watson
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-05
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Scotland--Ross and Cromarty
air gunner
aircrew
RAF Evanton
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1696/27368/PMcDermottC16020005.2.jpg
6dee4979701f1167b001efd046a46153
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1696/27368/PMcDermottC16020006.2.jpg
3f9a91417f81ca89860893d640dc35da
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
McDermott, Colin. Album 1 Evanton Gunnery School 1943
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-11-03
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
McDermott, C
Description
An account of the resource
41 items. Photographs of aircrew and aircraft taken at RAF Evanton during 1943.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Barbara Bury and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Photograph]
[Page break]
John. W Brewer.
F. Snoop.
D. Little
R A Freeman
Jillian Dickenson
R Blake.
G E Snelling
W.S. Maxted
AR Johnson
H Hewitt
Q SQUAD 108 COURSE.
APRIL - MAY 1943.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Ten Trainee Airmen
Description
An account of the resource
Ten trainees arranged in two rows in front of a wooden hut. On the reverse are the signatures of all the men and 'Q Squad 108 Course April-May 1943'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PMcDermottC16020005, PMcDermottC16020006
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
Anne-Marie Watson
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Scotland--Ross and Cromarty
aircrew
RAF Evanton
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/144/2206/ERAFO’Connell[Fa]410428-0001.jpg
a9bd6ee34f6c30578fb7628fc5648fa7
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/144/2206/ERAFO’Connell[Fa]410428-0002.jpg
de0e419a9ce7bb4821a2764496bd45e4
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
O'Connell, Desmond
D A O'Connell
Des O'Connell
Description
An account of the resource
32 items. The collection relates to Flying Officer Desmond Anthony O’Connell (b. 1919, 754811 199137). He was badly burned when his 502 Squadron Whitley crashed in Northern Ireland and he became a patient of Archibald McIndoe and a member of the Guinea Pig club. The collection contains an oral history interview, two telegrams, four religious cards and Royal Canadian Air Force photographs taken at a formal the inaugural Guinea Pig Club dinner. Guests at the dinner include Charles Portal, Archibald McIndoe, Harold Whittingham, Alec Coryton and Albert Ross Tilley. The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Desmond O'Connell and catalogued by IBCC staff.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-08-09
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Post Office Crest]
POST OFFICE TELEGRAM
[Postmark]
180 4.45 LONDON TELEX 71
IMPORTANT
MR OCONNELL 75 MONKHAMS DRIVE WOODFORD-GREEN-ESSEX
REGRET INFORM YOU YOUR SON 754811 SERGEANT OCONNELL DANGEROUSLY ILL 27 TH APRIL ADMITTED ROE VALLEY DISTRICT HOSPITAL LIMAVADY COUNTY LONDONDERRY SUFFERING FROM MAJOR BURNS IF YOU WISH TO VISIT HIM AND CANNOT AFFORD THE EXPENSE A FREE RAILWAY WARRANT FOR
[Page break]
[Post Office crest]
[Postmark]
O’Connell Page ②
FREE TWO PERSONS ONE A RELATIVE WILL BE ISSUED ON PRODUCTION OF THIS TELEGRAM AT NEAREST POLICE STATION LETTER FOLLOWS – RECORDS TELEX RUISLIP +
[Deleted] 75 754811 27 TH LIMAVADY + [/deleted]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ERAFO’Connell[Fa]410428
Description
An account of the resource
Telegram to Desmond O’Connell’s father informing him that he was severely burnt and in hospital, with an offer of two free return tickets if he could not afford the fare to Limavady.
Title
A name given to the resource
Telegram to Desmond O’Connell's father from the Royal Air Force
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-04-28
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One telegram
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Northern Ireland--Limavady
Great Britain
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-04
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Anne-Marie Watson
crash
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1371/23298/PThomasAF20080032.1.jpg
6ae7120d900e7f89a43bc61c3127a53e
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Thomas, Arthur Froude. Album 7
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-02-11
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Thomas, AF
Description
An account of the resource
47 items. An album containing photographs of British and German aircraft, news cuttings and Arthur Thomas' decorations.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Photograph]
Short Sunderland.
A development of the S.23 Empire class civil class flying boats. The first Sunderland flew in October 1937 with Bristol Pegasus XII radial engines, & incorporated the first powered gun turrets to be used in a British Flying Boat. The Sunderland played a major part in the Second World War being used extensively in the North Atlantic on anti-sub work. Altogether 606 were built.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Sunderland
Description
An account of the resource
A port side flying view of a Sunderland.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph on an album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PThomasAF20080032
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Coastal Command
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
Anne-Marie Watson
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
Workflow A completed
Sunderland
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/262/28703/MGouldAG1605203-160708-02.1.pdf
9cafd23c66cf62d3fc3c699782c6a993
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Title
A name given to the resource
Gould, Allen
Allen G Gould
Allen Gould
A G Gould
A Gould
Description
An account of the resource
Twenty-seven items. Concerns Allen Geoffrey Gould (b. 1923, 1605203 Royal Air Force). He completed a tour of operations as a flight engineer with 620 Squadron and the Special Operations Executive. Collection consists of an oral history interview, his log book, flight engineer course notebooks, pilot's and engineers handling notes, mention in London Gazette, official documents and photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Allen Geoffrey Gould and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-07-08
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Gould, AG
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
Sgt. Allen G. Gould – 1605203, was born in 1923, after leaving school in Bournemouth at 13, he worked for the Danish Bacon Company until being called up in 1943. Choosing to join the RAF, initially wanting to be a Navigator, he ended up as a Flight Engineer, flying in the Short Stirling Mk. I, II, III and IV variants. Training at RAF St. Alban, then the Heavy Conversion Unit. Allen joined No. 620 Squadron, flying from various bases, RAF Chedburgh, RAF Leicester East and then RAF Fairford. The roles for this squadron were not just bombing missions but Minelaying, Supply drops, Glider Towing and Paratrooper drops. He took part in D-Day, dropping paratroopers from the 6th Airborne Division over Caen, France on the night of 5th June 1944, returning on the 6th towing a glider of heavy equipment. He was also a part of Market Garden, towing a glider on 17th September 1944 and returning on the 19th and 21st on supply drops. There were also numerous drops on behalf of Special Operations Executive (SOE) as well as Special Air Service (SAS) dropping supplies and paratroopers.
Andrew St.Denis
Allen Gould was born on 16 June 1923 in Bournemouth. He left school at fourteen and worked for the Danish Bacon company until he was called up. His father having spent four years in the trenches, in WW1, advised him against joining the Army, so he volunteered for the Royal Air Force.
He joined the RAF on in October 1942 and following basic training he attended the first-ever direct entry, Flight Engineers’ Course at RAF St Athan.
On completion of flight engineering training, he joined up with his crew on 1657 Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Stradishall, then moved with them onto 620 Squadron at RAF Chedburgh and later RAF Leicester East.
The squadron later relocated to RAF Fairford where they trained to tow gliders. He was billeted with 12 others in a Nissan hut, conveniently close to a trout stream. They often caught trout, away from the watchful eye of the bailiff and cooked them in a tin on the large coke stove that heated the hut. The illicit bounty was a most welcome supplement to the barely adequate daily rations they received.
Direct out of training with no aircraft experience he had to earn the trust of his crew who up until then had only come across experienced flight engineers. On only his second operational trip and flying with an inexperienced crew, they arrived late over Ludwigshafen, where they found themselves alone and under concentrated anti-aircraft fire. The aircraft was being peppered and was full of holes while the pilot was executing extreme manoeuvres trying to avoid further damage. A fuel tank was hit and Allen had to work hard to ensure the engines received sufficient fuel to keep running. At the same time he had to make sure there would be enough fuel remaining to get back to the south coast of England for an emergency landing. As the aircraft approached the runway, the airfield lights went out and the pilot announced he was going to do another circuit. Allen told him, bluntly, he couldn’t as he didn’t have enough fuel, so the pilot made a steep turn and conducted a blind landing with no fuel to spare. Allen bonded well with his crew and in their free time they would often all go out to the pub together.
Throughout his tour his squadron undertook a variety of roles, much of was it in support of the Special Operations Executive personnel, operating covertly in occupied Europe. They also trained to tow gliders and dropped parachuting troops on D Day.
Allen completed 32 operations as a flight engineer with 620 Squadron and he totalled over 460 flying hours on Stirlings. PGouldAG1610.2.jpg (1600×2310) (lincoln.ac.uk)
For his services to 620 Squadron, he was ‘Mentioned in Despatches’ for distinguished service. MGouldAG1605203-160708-13.2.pdf (lincoln.ac.uk)
Post war, he married his wife, Norma, who was training as a mechanic at St Athan when he met her. PGouldAG1601.2.jpg (1600×2412) (lincoln.ac.uk)
Allen was discharged in October 1946 having attained the rank of Warrant Officer. PGouldAG1604.1.jpg (1600×2330) (lincoln.ac.uk)
He returned to the Danish Bacon company where he worked for another 40 years.
Chriss Cann
October 1942: Volunteered for the RAF
January 1943 - July 1943: RAF St Athan, Flight Engineer Training
July 1943 - September 1943: RAF Stradishall, 1657 HCU, flying Stirling aircraft
September 1943 - December 1943: RAF Chedburgh, 620 Squadron, flying Stirling aircraft
January 1944 - March 1944: RAF Leicester East, 620 Squadron, flying Stirling aircraft
March 1944 - April 1945: RAF Fairford,620 Squadron, flying Stirling aircraft
8 October 1946: Released from service having attained the rank of Warrant Officer
Chris Cann
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
1605203
SGT GOULD A.G.
2 WORKSHOP
CLASS 3
Form 619.
ROYAL AIR FORCE.
[Underlined] Stirling [/underlined]
[Underlined] School [/underlined]
Notebook for use in Schools.
[Page break]
[Diagrams]
[Page break]
[Underlined] Electrics [/underlined]
For a current to flow in a circuit it is necessary to have (1) An electrical pressure or E.M.F.
(2) Conductive Material.
(3) Complete circuit.
E.M.F. is measured in Volts with a Volt Meter connected in Parallel with the circuit.
Current is measured in Amps by means of an Ammeter which is connected in Series with the circuit.
Resistance is measured in Ohms and depends upon length & gauge of wire.
[Underlined] Ohms Law. [/underlined]
Volts / Current = Resistance in Ohms.
Volts x Current x Resistance.
Volts / Resistance = Current.
[Diagram]
Change resistance of lamp so that amps are 2 2/5 amps = 6 1/2 ohms
Power – measured in Watts
1 Watt = Volts x Amps
[Page break]
746 Watts = 1 Horse Power
Connection in Series.
(1.) Cells [diagram] = 6v
(2.) Resistance [diagram] = 6 Ohms
Connections in Parallel.
(1). Cells [diagram] 2v
(2) Resistance [diagram] [calculations]
Magnetic Effect of a Current
Strength of a field depends on :-
(1.) Current.
(2) No of turns.
i.e. on the number of turns.
(3) Whether coil is wound on soft iron.
[Page break]
Points to be considered in wiring an aircraft.
(1.) Voltages required to operate the various components.
(2) Size of cables – weight involved.
(3.) Size of switches – space involved.
[Diagram]
[Underlined] Accumulators. [\underlined]
Lead Accumulator
Voltage per cell 2.2
2 Plates 1 of Lead Peroxide Composition Positive
1 of Lead Negative.
Diluted Sulphuric Acid.
Fully Charged Condition
Specific Gravity 1.35
Voltage 2.2 v
Finall [sic] Charge while Gassing 2.7v
Fully Discharged Condition.
Specific Gravity 1.18
Voltage 1.8
Discharge weakens acid & fords Lead Sulphate on plates.
[Page break]
Amp hour Efficiency must be 60% to be airworthy.
[Underlined] Capacity [/underlined] Measurement is Amp hours based on the 10hr Rate.
[Underlined] Efficiency [/underlined] is the Amp hours discharge/Amp hr charge Approx 80-90%
[Underlined] Generator Cuts Out. [/underlined] 27v to Cut In
7 amps to Cut Out (reverse current)
[Diagram]
[Diagram]
[Page break]
[Underlined] Relay Switch. [/underlined] (1) Handles the heavy current
(2) Wiring run is shortened (3) Volt drop in run is lowered.(4) Heavy cabling kept from cockpit.
[Underlined] Used [\underlined]
Landing Lamps, Undercart, & Heater.
[Underlined] Voltage Regulator [\underlined]
2 Parts Voltage Reg & Current Regulator terminators are connected in Parallel.
Shunt Generator.
Speed & Magnetic Field Control the Current of the Generator Controlled by the Carbon [indecipherable word].
Magnet works motor which spins Carbon [indecipherable word] [symbol] worked by coil connected across [indecipherable word] of Generator.
[Indecipherable word] prevents the motor from [indecipherable word]
[Diagram]
2. Voltmeter in Charging Circuit but no Magneto
[Page break]
[Blank Page]
[Page break]
Theory of Flight
Air Resistance (Drag). depends on :-
(1.) Shape & attitude
(2.) Frontal Area
(3.) Air density (.077lb [symbol] ft at sea level)
(4.) (Airspeed) 2
Types of Drag.
(1.) Form Drag – due to shape, reduced by streamlining
(2.) Skin Friction – reduced by polishing skin
Fineness Ratio = Length / Max Width which should be 1/3 back.
Skin Friction – due to nature of surface & air density.
(3) Induced drag – due to production of a/c – reduced by using high aspect ratio, tapering [indecipherable word].
Total Drag.
[Diagram]
[Page break]
Aerofoils.
Bernouilli’s [sic] Theory.
Total energy of a fluid = Constant
Kinetic Energy + Pressure Energy = Constant
Thus an increase in speed will cause a decrease in pressure & vice versa (Venturi Effect)
Production of Lift.
Angle of Attack
[Table]
[Page break]
Indicated Air Speed (I.A.S.) = Speed from A.S.I.
Rectified Air Speed (R.A.S.) = IAS [symbol] Instrument Error Corrections
[Symbol] Position Error Correction.
True Air Speed = R.A.S x Altitude Correction Factor
Position Error Correction at 65,000ft Load with Pressure Head on top of Fuselage.
[Table]
[Calculations]
The total drag of an a/c is least [indecipherable words] when flying at the Optimal angle of attack and the speed at this angle of attack is [indecipherable word] as the [indecipherable words] Cruising [indecipherable word] Moderated Stalling Speed for as a/c of given weight is the same for all attitudes, but the True Stalling Speed increases as the altitude increases.
[Page break]
(S.H.F.) Steady Horizontal Flight
Relationship between Airspeed & Angle of Attack
Economical Cruising Speed.
S.H.F. is Flight at Constant Height at a Constant Speed.
For an aircraft to be in S.H.F. the two following conditions must be satisfied:-
Lift = Weight of Aircraft
Thrust = Drag.
An aircraft may be in steady H.F. at different angles of attack and different air speeds.
For a given a/c at a given Weight, for each angle of attack there is one corresponding speed of horizontal Flight & 1 only.
Assume a Stirling weighing 65,000 lbs is in S.H.F. at 6° Angle of Attack & 165 miles an hour. Thus the same aircraft could be flown at a greater speed but the angle of attack would have to be less than 6° x Similarly it could be flown at a less speed but in this case the angle of attack would have to be more than 6°.
However, out of all these possible combinations of angle of attack & airspeed, only 1 angle of attack & thus only 1 corresponding airspeed will at the same time give minimum drag & hence maximum range.
The angle of attack is the optimum angle and the corresponding airspeed is Economical Cruising Speed
[Page break]
The effect of Weight of Aircraft on Cruising Speeds.
[Underlined] Example [/underlined]
Stirling.
Outward bound (Heavy)
Recommended I.A.S. = 165 m.p.h.
Homeward bound (Light)
Recommended I.A.S. = 160 m.p.h.
The reason for the above difference is the difference in weight carried on the two trips.
No matter what the weight of the same aircraft, for maximum range it must be flown at the Optimum Angle of Attack. Thus the less the weight of the aircraft, the Less Lift required, hence the Less Speed required to give the Lift.
[Page break]
[Blank Page]
[Page break]
[Underlined] Engineering Science. [/underlined]
Graphs of Hercules Economical Cruising Boost &[indecipherable word] & Altitude Corrective Factor.
For any particular power requirement with in the economical cruising range the best conditions are obtained by reducing the R.P.M. and keeping the boost up as long as it does not exceed + 1lb [symbol] “
[Underlined] Engine Operational Conditions [/underlined] [underlined] B.P. [/underlined]
Takeoff (3 mins) RPM 28,000 + 6 3/4
Max Climb (30 mins) RPM 25,000 + 3 1/2
Max for Continuous Cruising (Rich) 25,000 + 3 1/2
Max Cruising (Work) 25,000 + 1
Max All Out Level (5 mins) 28,000 + 6 3/4
[Page break]
[Blank Page]
[Page break]
Supercharging.
Volumetric Efficiency = Weight of charge forced in per [indecipherable word] stroke / Weight of Charge to Fill [indecipherable word] Vol at N.T.P.
Normal Temp = 15° 6.
Normal Pressure = 14.7 lbs [symbol] “
High Boost, Low Revs for maximum Range
Methods of increasing power
[Calculation]
I.H.P. may be increased by
(1.) Increasing C ([indecipherable word]) Limits, [indecipherable word] weight, drag
(2) LA ([indecipherable word] x area = ) Weight Volume Limit as before
(3.) Increase N (RPM It [deleted word] Power to Drive [indecipherable words] increase. Dynamic Stress x [Indecipherable words]
(4) Increase [indecipherable word] In this case the increase in power would be got without the [indecipherable word] involved in (3), thus it is best to Increase Pressure. To do this we apply a [indecipherable word], rather than using light
[Page break]
comparison ratio.
Boost Pressure (British Engines)
Pressure above + or below - (14.7 lb [symbol] “). Note Air Ministry on Boost of RPM for specified operational condition (See Handbook)
Climb
(1.) Atmospheric Pressure Decreases, Power falls off
(2) Temp decreases, This will tend to compensate for fall off in power to (1)
Combined effect of 1 & 2 gives us a fall in Power
Power Altitude Curve N.A. Engine
[Diagram]
Effect of Maintaining constant Indicated Pressure with S/C + ABC.
[Diagram]
[Page break]
The gain to full throttle Height is the (1) [indecipherable words]
(2) Better Economy, both at altitude.
Pressure Ratio of S/G = Outlet Pressure / Inlet Pressure
Comparison of M & S Gear
[Table]
(a) High Revs – Low Boost
(b) Low Revs – High Boost
(c) Both Revs + Boost lower.
(a) Charger absorbs power without much height, Engine & [indecipherable word] losses high. (More Oil)
(b) Power taken by Charger reduced, Engine Losses reduced
[Page break]
Max Available Cruising Power
[Diagram]
to fly @ 170 IAS
The power required to fly an aircraft at any given I.A.S. Increases steadily with altitude as Seen by the graph
The increase is due to the [indecipherable word] in I.A.S. while the drag remains constant.
The Altitude where the power required crosses the power available is the ceiling of the aircraft. This ceiling is not fixed because as the speed & load vary, the power required line varies if S gear is engaged at sea level the power available drops because of the higher temp of the S gear change + the extra power to drive S gear that due to the higher gear ratio the boost pressure can be maintained to a higher altitude.
S gear always requires more fuel per H.P. than M therefore whenever possible M gear must be used. When cruising engage S gear only if the speed required cannot be obtained in M.
[Page break]
Climbing
[Diagram]
Gear change when climbing.
The gear to use in a climb is always the one which is capable of giving the higher rate of climb. That is the one which gives the greater horsepower. From sealevel up to 9,000 ft M gear gives more HP than S despite the fact that at 9,000 ft the boost in M has dropped to +3 ½. From 9,000 ft on, S gear gives more H.P. than M. Therefore when climbing change to S gear at 9,000 ft or where the boost in M has dropped to +3 1/2.
Performance.
Range Flying – Big bomb load – smallest possible fuel load.
Range Flying.
This is the condition of Flight normally met in a Stirling, where the pilot is trying to obtain maximum miles per gallon. For this the petrol used per mile
[Page break]
must be best, and since each gallon of petrol is equal to a certain number of ft lb of work, the work done per mile must be best i.e. Drag must be a minimum. Since lift is fixed equal to weight, drag will be best when the lift drag ratio is greatest i.e. when flying at the optimum angle of attack.
In flight it is impossible to measure directly the angle of attack sufficiently accurately to make sure of flying at the optimum angle. At the average outward load of 66,000 lbs the optimum angle can only be obtained by flying at 160 IAS. And on the return journey where the load is reduced to 55,000 average, the speed must be reduced to 155 IAS to maintain the optimum angle. Therefore the speed given above is the most economical and will give maximum A.M.P.G.
[Diagram]
[Page break]
[Table]
[Calculations]
[Table] [Calculations]
[Page break]
[Calculation]
Trip 1200 Fuel required 1900 Fuel Taken 1946
[Calculations]
[Page break]
With the exception given below the range obtainable in a Stirling is independent of the altitude at which the aircraft is flying. The reason is that as altitude increases the pilot must maintain the same IAS to get maximum range and is therefore encountering the same drag.
Therefore the work done per mile is the same at all altitudes, and the range obtainable does not alter.
[Underlined] Exceptions. [/underlined]
At some altitudes the engine can get work out of petrol with greater efficiency than at others not therefore at the more efficient altitudes the range obtainable will increase. Above about 16,000 ft S gear must be engaged and below about 6,000 ft the engine is partly throttled, therefore at these particular altitudes engine efficiency drops and range is reduced.
[Page break]
[Table]
Duration Cruising (Endurance)
This condition is not very [indecipherable word] a Stirling It occurs when the pilot is trying to obtain Max Time in the air. The time is the air depends on the G.P.H. & will be the greatest when the G.P.H. is least i.e. when the H.P. is best. To reduce the H.P. Pilot must operate his revs & throttle and as he cuts the H.P. the speed will drop and the angle of attack will increase.
As this happens the amount of control over the a/c becomes smaller. Minimum galls per hour are obtained
[Page break]
when the H.P has been reduced just sufficiently to allow the pilot, reasonable control.
Range flying is minimum power.
Duration flying is minimum work.
For minimum control the pilot must maintain a certain I.A.S. and the power required to do this will increase steadily as altitude increases owing to the increase in TAS. Therefore gallons per hour will be best and duration greatest when flying at the lowest possible operational altitude.
Calculation
(1.) Enter Fuel Left.
(2) Switch Tanks
(3) Subtract Fuel
[Page break]
[Table]
[Calculations]
[Page break]
[Underlined] Climbing [\underlined]
During a climb the engines are working against 2 forces – Drag & Gravity & the rate of climb will depend on the amount of H.P. which can be used against Gravity. The H.P. used against drag increases steadily as forward speed increases but the thrust H.P available from the engines in a climb also increases as forward speed increases due to a steady rise in propellor [sic] efficiency. These 2 facts are shown by the 2 graphs – HP available & H.P. required against drag.
[Diagram]
From the graph is will be seen that the biggest margin of power available for climbing [indecipherable word] at about 160 IAS therefore this speed will give the highest rate of climb. To obtain this speed the engines are opened up to Max Climbing (2400 w +6) and speed reduced to 160 by adjusting the angle of climb.
[Page break]
[Blank page]
[Page break]
[Table]
[Page break]
[Blank Page]
[Diagram]
Stirling Circuit & Bumps
[Page break]
[Table]
[Calculations]
[Page break]
[Calculations]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Stirling school flight engineer course notes
Description
An account of the resource
Notes covering electrics, theory of flight, engineering science, supercharging, power, fuel consumption and engine use in various stages of flight.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
A Gould
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MGouldAG1605203-160708-02
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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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.
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Training material
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Thirty two page notebook with cover
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Anne-Marie Watson
Steve Baldwin
aircrew
flight engineer
Stirling
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1367/22998/PThomasAF20040007.2.jpg
36f4ff12580e45645be58bd80bd71195
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1367/22998/PThomasAF20040008.2.jpg
c9ae98031345f5b2fe1c755619dbf298
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Title
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Thomas, Arthur Froude. Album 3
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-02-11
Rights
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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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Thomas, AF
Description
An account of the resource
49 Items. An album containing 35 and 149 Squadron target photographs and pictures taken on a sightseeing tour over German cities to see bomb damage.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Photograph]
This & the following photograph shows a practice supply drop carried out at R.A.F. Methwold in 1943. The aircraft is a Stirling Mark III. Each container had a stock of arms, ammunition & medical supplies.
[Page break]
[Photograph]
The method used to supply resistance movements in Europe with essential arms & medical necessities. Stirling aircraft were employed regularly from 1943 to carry out this important work. Operations were usually carried out in full or near full moonlight conditions. Aircraft usually crossed the enemy coast at a height of 7/8000 feet dropping down to below 2000 feet to fly below effective radar height for the journey across Europe. Operations of this nature called for a very high degree of skill in both navigation & actual control of flying. For most of the journey Navigators were dependant on star shots & dead reckoning.
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Title
A name given to the resource
Stirling parachute supply drop
Description
An account of the resource
Photo 1 is a Stirling dropping supplies containing arms, ammunition and medical supplies.
Photo 2 is the supplies on parachutes.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two b/w photographs on an album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PThomasAF20040007,
PThomasAF20040008
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Norfolk
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
Anne-Marie Watson
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
Workflow A completed
RAF Methwold
Resistance
Stirling
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/408/7378/SChattertonJ159568v10321.2.jpg
c9409dd6f1a27791d3de9364ce9e6bd2
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Title
A name given to the resource
Chatterton, John. 44 Squadron operations order book
Description
An account of the resource
Collection consists of 521 items which are mostly Operations orders, aircraft load and weight tables and bomb aimers briefings for 44 Squadron operations between January 1944 and April 1945. <br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by M J Chatterton and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. <br /><br />This collection also contains items concerning Dewhurst Graaf and his crew, and Donald Neil McKechnie and his crew. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/109020/">Dewhurst Graaf</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/115642/">Donald Neil McKechnie</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-03-14
Rights
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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.
Identifier
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Chatterton, J
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Diagonal lines through this form]
Appendix ‘A’ to Bomber Command letter
[Underlined] BC/S 32077/Stats. Dated 27.9.44. [/underlined]
[Underlined] FORM BC/Stats/101 [/underlined]
[Underlined] EFFORT REPORT [/underlined] GROUP 5
For 24 HOURS Commencing 0600 HRS 30/9/44 UNIT No. 44(Rhodesia) Squadron.
(1) Type and mark of aircraft Lancaster Mk III
[Underlined] PART B. NON-OPERATIONAL FLYING [/underlined]
(3) Operational Training. No. of Sorties Day - Night – Flying Hours DAY – NIGHT –
(4) All other flying. No. of Sortied Day 19 Night - Flying Hours DAY HRS. 5 Mins. 40 NIGHT –
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Statistics form
Form BC/Stats/101 for 24 hours commencing 30 September 1944
Description
An account of the resource
Unit 44 Squadron, Lancaster Mk III. Filled in for all other flying 18 day and 5 night. Page is scribbled over with lines.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page form document partially filled in
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Service material
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SChattertonJ159568v10321
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-09-30
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Anne-Marie Watson
44 Squadron
5 Group
Lancaster
Lancaster Mk 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/774/30956/PWoolfAS1705.2.jpg
5e3b8e76a0fc4e0d938746481fcd66ba
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Woolf, Arthur Sidney
A S Woolf
Description
An account of the resource
23 items. An oral history interview with Flying Officer Arthur Woolf (1922 - 2021, 1579552, 157533 Royal Air Force) his log book, a memoir, correspondence, documents, a newspaper cutting and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 630 Squadron and became a member of the Guinea Pig Club.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Arthur Woolf and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-06-29
Rights
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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.
Identifier
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Woolf, AS
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
A SOUVENIR PIECE OF MY LANCASTER AIRCRAFT PA.992, LE-Y, RETRIEVED BY ME FROM ITS ORIGINAL CRASH-SITE NEAR TRAMONT-LASSUS, MEURTHE-ET-MOSELLE, IN EASTERN FRANCE, A LITTLE TIME AFTER THE END OF THE WAR, DURING A “VISIT OF THANKS” TO MY “SAVIOUR” MADAME ROSE DUPRÉ, AND HER BROTHER, HENRI, ON THAT FATEFUL NIGHT OF 24/25 JULY, 1944.
[Piece of metal]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Souvenir piece of Lancaster
Description
An account of the resource
Piece of metal with note that this was a piece of Arthur Woolf's Lancaster retrieved from crash site during visit to a French family who helped him after he baled out.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
A Woolf
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Piece of metal and handwritten note
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Physical object
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PWoolfAS1705
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
France--Meurthe-et-Moselle
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-07-24
1944-07-24
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
Anne-Marie Watson
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
bale out
heirloom
Lancaster
shot down
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1510/28966/SNolanJF150621v10043-0001.2.jpg
4cb4ba65ded80733fa6335d093147afc
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1510/28966/SNolanJF150621v10043-0002.2.jpg
a625437cf56df59072e3dbb428314673
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Nolan, Frank
J F Nolan
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2016-05-17
Identifier
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Nolan, JF
Description
An account of the resource
Thirty-one items. The collection concerns Frank Nolan who served in the British Army 1939-1941 after which he was released with disability pension. He then trained and served as an inspector for the ministry of aircraft production, aeronautical inspection directorate at aircraft manufacturers. Collection contains correspondence, work inspection work documents, photographs, diaries and objects. Includes a sub collection work folder with 28 further items consisting correspondence and inspection reports.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by JE Nolan and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Underlined] 23-7-45 Soldering, Brazing, Tinning & Sweating. I.I. M405 [/underlined]
[Underlined] Splicing Room, Bomb Beam Section, Process Room. [/underlined]
No soldering, tinning or sweating is [inserted] now [/inserted] being carried out in these depts: [inserted] owing to near completion of Wellington Contract [/inserted] [deleted] and no work of this kind is expected in the near future. [/deleted]
[Underlined] Electrical Bay [/underlined]
Work is coming to a close in this dept. & only A very small amount of soldering is being done. [deleted] occasionally in this dept to [/deleted]
The solder used is Fry’s Grade ‘A’ and the flux is approved Alcho-re non corrosive.
No cables etc were being soldered at the times of visits made to this dept.
[Underlined] Brazing [/underlined]
No brazing is [inserted] now [/inserted] being carried out at this factory.
What small amt- of work is being done is considered satisfactory.
J F Nolan
405 20
[Page break]
Extension 29.
BS/SC/M/9711.
10th January 1945.
GFL/ORD/BEW.
Messrs. Morrisons Engineering Limited,
Purley Way,
[Underlined] CROYDEN. [/underlined]
Surrey.
Dear Sirs,
[Underlined] Order No. BS/SC.9711. [/underlined]
With reference to the above order, and in accordance with your quotation dated 20th December 1944, we would confirm acceptance of your price quoted, namely, 17/6d each for the reconditioning of 7 off Tail Plane Tips to Drawing 40618/Sht. 3.
[Calculations in margin]
Yours faithfully,
For VICKERS-ARMSTRONGS LIMITED,
Acting for and on behalf of The
Minister for Aircraft Production.
COMMERCIAL MANAGER,
Blackpool Works.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Soldering, Brazing, tinning and sweating
Description
An account of the resource
Report on processes. Letter on reverse concerning orders.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
J F Nolan
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-07-23
Format
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One side handwritten, reverse typewritten document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SNolanJF150621v10043
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Surrey
England--Croydon
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-07-23
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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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
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Anne-Marie Watson
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1371/23286/PThomasAF20080021.1.jpg
cad18a20d690229182752cda68c07e28
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Thomas, Arthur Froude. Album 7
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-02-11
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Thomas, AF
Description
An account of the resource
47 items. An album containing photographs of British and German aircraft, news cuttings and Arthur Thomas' decorations.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Siebel Si 202.
A light two seat sporting monoplane which first appeared in 1938.
[Photograph]
[Photograph]
Siebel Si 204.
A light twin engined cabin monoplane used for communications & light transport, also for training pilots converting from single to twin engined aircraft. Also used for training radio operators & navigators. Produced in France by S.N.C.A.C. at Fourchambault & Bourges.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Siebel Si 202 and Si 204
Description
An account of the resource
Photo 1 is missing. The Si 202 was light sport aeroplane.
Photo 2 is a Si 204 viewed from above.
Photo 3 is a port side ground view of a Si204.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two b/w photographs on an album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
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PThomasAF20080021
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
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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
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David Bloomfield
Anne-Marie Watson
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
Workflow A completed
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1371/23285/PThomasAF20080020.1.jpg
63a7a388ef7919b4c4d84cdb3383c64c
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Thomas, Arthur Froude. Album 7
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-02-11
Rights
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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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Thomas, AF
Description
An account of the resource
47 items. An album containing photographs of British and German aircraft, news cuttings and Arthur Thomas' decorations.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Siebel Fh 104A.
The first aircraft of original design to be manufactured in some numbers by Siebels at Halle was the Fh 104A ‘Hallore’ five seat light transport. Production began in 1938 & continued until 1942. Powered by two 280hp Hirth HM 508D engines. Max. speed 217 mph at sea level.
Siebel Si 201.
Designed as a two seat Observation Post and Army Co-operation monoplane. Powered by one Argus As 10C ei [sic] eight cylinder inverted V air cooled engine. Max speed 115 mph at sea level.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Siebel Fh 104A and Si 201
Description
An account of the resource
Two photographs are missing, only captions remaining. The Fh 104A was a five seat light transport with twin engines.
The Si 201 was a two seat observation post and Army co-operation monoplane.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two typed captions on an album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PThomasAF20080020
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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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
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David Bloomfield
Anne-Marie Watson
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
Workflow A completed
-
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Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Wareing, Robert
R Wareing
Description
An account of the resource
258 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Robert Wareing DFC* (86325 Royal Air Force) and contains his flying logbooks, prisoner of war log book, memoirs, photographs, extensive personal and official correspondence, official documents, pilots/handling notes, decorations, mementos, uniform badges and buttons. He flew operations as a pilot with 106 Squadron. After a period of instructing he returned to operations on 582 Squadron but was shot down and became a prisoner of war.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Andrew Wareing and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-10-05
Rights
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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.
Identifier
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Wareing, R
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Prisoner in German Hospital
BETTER NEWS OF SQUADRON LEADER “BOB” WAREING
Mrs. Joan Wareing, of West Common Gardens, Scunthorpe, has this week received welcome, private news of her husband, Squadron Leader Robert Wareing, (27), D.F.C. and bar, who was officially reported missing from operations over occupied territory early last month.
An Army officer has sent her a letter given to him by a French woman patriot who thrust it into his hands when advancing British units liberated the area. It indicated that Squadron Leader Wareing had baled out of blazing plane, suffering bruises and burns, and apparently unable to write himself, had dictated the letter to the French woman before being taken to a German controlled hospital.
Confirmation that her husband was a prisoner in hospital came later from a Canadian officer who, more seriously wounded, had been left behind by the Germans when they withdrew inland. The Canadian officer who was in hospital with Wareing wrote to say that he was quite well and that his burns were healing.
Squadron Leader “Bob” Wareing is a well-known Scunthorpe pilot who was decorated early in the war for his bombing exploits, including an attack on the German battleship Gneisenau, at Brest. His brother, Squadron Leader Stanley Wareing, also holds the D.F.C. They are the sons of Mr. and Mrs. R. Wareing, of Cemetery Road
IN GERMAN HANDS
A message from Sqn.-Ldr. Robert Wareing, D.F.C. and bar, of Scunthorpe, to his wife at West Common Gardens, has been received over the wireless from German sources. Sqn.-Ldr. Wareing fell into German hands when he baled out from his ‘plane in a raid on France. A message, which he had dictated in France, saying he was recovering from burns, reached his wife recently.
At a joint meeting of the parent Iron and Steel Institute and the Lincolnshire Iron and Steel Institute at Scunthorpe, on Tuesday, a paper by Mr Albert Jackson, of Appleby – Frodingham, was read in his absence through illness by Mr R. Badsey.
[Inserted] TELEGRAPH. [/inserted]
RADIO MESSAGE FROM SCUNTHORPE D.F.C.
Good News of Squadron Leader “Bob” Wareing
A message from Squadron Leader Robert (Bob) Wareing, Scunthorpe D.F.C. and bar, to his wife, Mrs. Joan Wareing, of West Common Gardens, has been received over the wireless from German sources.
Squadron Leader Wareing fell into German hands when he had to bale out from his plane in a raid on France, and a message which he had dictated in France, saying he was recovering from burns, reached his wife recently.
He was presumably removed by the Germans during the retreat in France, and this latest message gave his address as Stalag, Luft 1.
He says he is feeling better after having recovered and is “sorry he was unable to make his last leave.”
Within a short time of the message being broadcast, three friends of Mrs. Wareing had passed it on to her.
Scunthorpe D.S.C. a Prisoner of War
S.-Ldr. Robert Wareing, D.S.C. and bar, of Scunthorpe, reported missing last month, is a prisoner in German hands.
A note handed by a French woman to an Allied officer on the entry of our troops into Fecamp brought the information that he was a prisoner in hospital. The note, which has been sent to his wife at Scunthorpe, was apparently dictated by S.-Ldr. Wareing.
A subsequent letter from a Canadian officer who was in hospital with his states that he was among men moved inland by the Germans when the Allies approached, and he was making a good recovery from burns.
[above cutting included twice]
Squadron Leader Robert Waring, [sic] D.F.C. and bar, of West Common Gardens, Scunthorpe, posted missing early last month, is a prisoner of war.
Radio Gave News of Missing Flier
A message from Squadron Leader Robert Wareing, D.F.C. and Bar, to his wife, Mrs. Joan Wareing, of West Common Gardens, Scunthorpe, has been broadcast over the German radio indicating that he is a prisoner of war. He had previously been reported missing.
The message added that he was recovering from injuries sustained after baling out over France.
Letters from all over the country have reached Mr. and Mrs. B. Pearson, 67, Eastgate, Worksop, telling them that an enemy broadcast announced their youngest son, Dennis Pearson, as a prisoner of war.
They also received a letter from the War Office stating that the information was being checked.
(24), 51, Frances Street, Scunthorpe; in Germany.
Squadron Leader Robert Wareing (27), R.A.F., D.F.C. and Bar, West Common Gardens, Old Brumby, Scunthorpe; in Germany.
Guardsman Roland Wallis, of
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Seven newspaper cuttings
Description
An account of the resource
1: prisoner in German hospital - news of Robert Wareing passed on by French woman, He was burned on bailing out of his aircraft and was a prisoner in hospital.
2: In German hands - message received over German wireless broadcast that Robert Wareing was a prisoner.
3: Radio message from Scunthorpe DFC - message received over German wireless was a prisoner recovering from burns.
4 and 5 : Two versions of same cutting - Scunthorpe DFC a prisoner of war. Describes message dictated by Robert Wareing and passed on by Canadian officer.
6: Squadron Leader Robert Wareing DFC and bar posted missing early last month is a prisoner of war.
7: Radio gave news of missing flyer - message from Squadron Leader Robert Wareing DFC and bar.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Seven newspaper cuttings mounted in a frame
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SWareingR86325v10009, SWareingR86325v20001-0004, SWareingR86325v20001-0005, SWareingR86325v20001-0007, SWareingR86325v20001-0008, SWareingR86325v20001-0009, SWareingR86325v20001-0010, SWareingR86325v20001-0011
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Scunthorpe
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
Anne-Marie Watson
bale out
Distinguished Flying Cross
prisoner of war
shot down
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/700/22322/PBeasleyDG1719.1.jpg
2cb26650306bd13836b64e8c8ea8e3e3
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Beasley, Doug
Douglas George Beasley
D G Beasley
Description
An account of the resource
14 items. An oral history interview with Doug Beasley (b.1925, 1876732 Royal Ar Force) and photographs of aircrew. He flew operations with 76 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Doug Beasley and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-11-03
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Beasley, DG
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Photograph]
[Page break]
L – R
S/LDR CRAMPTON CAPTAIN
F/LT COLLINS NAV. – F/LT BARRETT B/A
F/LT JUDKINS REAR GNR. – F/O GORDON WOP/AG
F/SGT LAPWOOD F/ENG. – P/O HIGGS MID/AG
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Seven airmen at the nose of a Halifax
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PBeasleyDG1719,
PBeasleyDG1720
Description
An account of the resource
Seven airmen standing under the nose of a Halifax.
The crew have been named on the reverse.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Anne-Marie Watson
aircrew
Halifax
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1365/22930/PThomasAF20010045.2.jpg
cbba7a393298eac78a9934ac9617cb67
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Thomas, Arthur Froude. Album 1
Description
An account of the resource
An album containing 50 pages of photographs of Arthur Froude's family and his pre war career and service as a flight engineer with 90 Squadron. The album also contains family photographs dating from 1900.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Thomas, AF
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Photograph]
[inserted] Walter H. Bashem [/inserted]
[Photograph]
Sergeant A.F. Thomas. Flight Engineer. XV Squadron 3 Group. R.A.F. Tuddenham
The small photographs are ‘escape’ photos for use on forged identity cards if shot down over Europe.
[Photograph]
[Photograph]
[Photograph]
Flight/Sergeant C.R. Reg. Poynton skipper of the crew.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Sergeant Arthur Thomas
Description
An account of the resource
Photo 1 is a half length portrait of Arthur.
Photo 2, 3 and 4 are head and shoulders of Arthur to be used as escape photos on identity cards.
Photo 5 is a head and shoulders escape photo of Flight Sergeant Poynton, skipper of the crew.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Five b/w photographs an album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PThomasAF20010045
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Norfolk
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
Anne-Marie Watson
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
Workflow A completed
15 Squadron
3 Group
aircrew
escaping
flight engineer
pilot
RAF Tuddenham
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1371/23291/PThomasAF20080025.1.jpg
d4ddda0988c2935da62b45de48879567
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Thomas, Arthur Froude. Album 7
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-02-11
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Thomas, AF
Description
An account of the resource
47 items. An album containing photographs of British and German aircraft, news cuttings and Arthur Thomas' decorations.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
de Havilland Sea Mosquito.
Developed as a carrier borne torpedo & reconnaisance [sic] aircraft first flying in 1945.
[Photograph]
de Havilland Sea Hornet.
The Sea Hornet was a naval version of the Hornet, itself a single seat fighter developed from the Mosquito, & built for operations in the Pacific theatre. It was the first British single seat carrier borne fighter with twin engines. The Sea Hornet first flew in April 1945.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Sea Mosquito and Sea Hornet
Description
An account of the resource
Photo 1 is missing.
Photo 2 is a port side flying view of a Sea Hornet.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph on an album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PThomasAF20080025
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Navy
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
Anne-Marie Watson
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
Workflow A completed