1
25
25
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1792/45129/LWilsonH1342819v1.2.pdf
52ffc531f0d4bd6890a709034f5ca53f
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
Wilson, Harold
H Wilson
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
2017-01-09
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
Wilson, H
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Harold Wilson DFM (Royal Air Force) who flew two tours completing 45 operations as a bomb aimer on 9 and 97 squadrons. Collection contains an identity document, a letter, his flying log book, a memoir and photographs (including some while he was a member of a missing research and enquiry unit in Germany after the war).
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Barbara Armstrong and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
Harold Wilson's flying log book
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
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LWilsonH1342819v1
Description
An account of the resource
Harold Wilson’s Flying Log Book from 28/11/42 to 2/4/54, detailing training, operations and instructional duties as an Air Bomber (and later Navigator). Also contains various memorabilia including a photograph, reunion invitation and newspaper clipping about the award of the DFM. Based at: Port Elizabeth (42 Air School), Jurby (No. 5 Air Observer School), RAF Cottesmore, RAF Saltby, RAF Market Harborough (all No. 14 Operational Training Unit), RAF Wigsley (No. 1654 Conversion Unit), RAF Bardney (No. 9 Squadron), RAF Warboys (PFF Navigation Training Unit), RAF Coningsby (No. 97 Squadron), RAF Manby (Empire Air Armament School), RAF Swinderby (No. 1660 Heavy Conversion Unit and 201 Advanced Flying School), RAF Middleton St George (No. 2 Air Navigation School), RAF Scampton (No. 230 Operational Training Unit), RAF North Luffenham (No. 240 Operational Training Unit), RAF Oakington (No. 30 Squadron), RAF Perth (No. 11 Reserve Flying School). Aircraft flown: Anson, Oxford, Blenheim, Wellington, Halifax, Lancaster, Dakota.
Records a total of 45 operations (42 night, 3 day) with 9 and 97 Squadron. Targets in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands are: Berlin, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Stettin, Brunswick, Magdeburg, Stuttgart, Schweinfurt, Augsburg, Marignane, Munich, Clermont Ferrand, Toulouse, Louailles, Annecy, Amiens, Maisy, St. Pierre du Mont, Argentan, Rennes, Poitiers, Greil (Saint-Leu-d'Esserent), Culmont Chalindrey, Nevers, Courtrai, Donges, Givors, Brest, Deelen Airfield, Bordeaux, Darmstadt and Konigsberg.
His pilot on all operations was F/O Lasham.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One colour photocopy
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 Leitch
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Belgium
France
Germany
Great Britain
Netherlands
South Africa
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
Belgium--Kortrijk
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Durham (County)
England--Huntingdonshire
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Rutland
France--Amiens
France--Annecy
France--Argentan
France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)
France--Brest
France--Calvados
France--Clermont-Ferrand
France--Donges
France--Givors
France--Haute-Marne
France--Marignane
France--Nevers
France--Oise
France--Poitiers
France--Rennes
France--Sablé-sur-Sarthe
France--Toulouse
Germany--Augsburg
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Braunschweig
Germany--Darmstadt
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Russia (Federation)--Kaliningrad (Kaliningradskai︠a︡ oblastʹ)
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Magdeburg
Germany--Munich
Germany--Schweinfurt
Poland--Szczecin
Germany--Stuttgart
Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Isle of Man
Netherlands--Gelderland
Scotland--Perth
South Africa--Port Elizabeth
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943-12-02
1943-12-03
1943-12-16
1943-12-17
1943-12-20
1943-12-23
1944-01-05
1944-01-14
1944-01-21
1944-01-22
1944-01-27
1944-01-28
1944-02-15
1944-02-16
1944-02-19
1944-02-20
1944-02-24
1944-02-25
1944-02-26
1944-03-01
1944-03-02
1944-03-09
1944-03-10
1944-03-15
1944-03-16
1944-04-22
1944-04-23
1944-04-24
1944-04-25
1944-04-26
1944-04-27
1944-04-29
1944-04-30
1944-05-01
1944-05-02
1944-05-06
1944-05-07
1944-05-09
1944-05-10
1944-05-19
1944-05-20
1944-05-31
1944-06-01
1944-06-06
1944-06-07
1944-06-08
1944-06-09
1944-06-12
1944-06-13
1944-07-04
1944-07-05
1944-07-12
1944-07-13
1944-07-15
1944-07-16
1944-07-20
1944-07-21
1944-07-24
1944-07-25
1944-07-26
1944-08-11
1944-08-12
1944-08-13
1944-08-14
1944-08-15
1944-08-16
1944-08-17
1944-08-18
1944-08-25
1944-08-26
1944-08-27
1945
1946
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
14 OTU
1654 HCU
1660 HCU
9 Squadron
97 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
Anson
Blenheim
bomb aimer
bombing of Luftwaffe night-fighter airfields (15 August 1944)
bombing of the Creil/St Leu d’Esserent V-1 storage areas (4/5 July 1944)
bombing of the Normandy coastal batteries (5/6 June 1944)
C-47
Cook’s tour
Distinguished Service Medal
Halifax
Halifax Mk 2
Heavy Conversion Unit
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 3
memorial
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
Pathfinders
RAF Bardney
RAF Bourn
RAF Coningsby
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Jurby
RAF Manby
RAF Market Harborough
RAF Middleton St George
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Oakington
RAF Saltby
RAF Scampton
RAF Swinderby
RAF Warboys
RAF Wigsley
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1963/41315/BLazenbyHJLazenbyHJv1.2.pdf
35022f62bb4527b9a7da34bd424ec42f
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
Lazenby, Harold Jack
H J Lazenby
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
2017-10-10
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
Lazenby, HJ
Description
An account of the resource
11 items. The collection concerns Warrant Officer Harold Jack Lazenby DFC (b. 1917, 652033 Royal Air Force) and contains his memoir, documents and photographs. He flew operations as a flight engineer with 57, 97 and 7 Squadrons.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Daniel, H Jack Lazenby and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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
H Jack Lazenby DFC
Description
An account of the resource
Harold Jack Lazenby's autobiography.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Warrington
England--Wolverhampton
England--Shifnal (Shropshire)
England--London
England--Bampton (Oxfordshire)
England--Witney
England--Oxford
England--Cambridge
France--Paris
England--Portsmouth
England--Oxfordshire
England--Southrop (Oxfordshire)
England--Cirencester
England--Skegness
England--Worcestershire
England--Birmingham
England--Kidderminster
England--Gosport
England--Fareham
England--Southsea
Wales--Margam
Wales--Port Talbot
Wales--Bridgend
Wales--Porthcawl
England--Urmston
England--Stockport
Wales--Cardiff
Wales--Barry
United States
New York (State)--Long Island
Illinois--Chicago
England--Gloucester
Scotland--Kilmarnock
England--Surrey
England--Liverpool
England--Lincolnshire
England--Lincoln
Denmark--Anholt
Poland--Gdańsk
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Essen
Germany--Kiel
Europe--Mont Blanc
Denmark
England--Hull
Czech Republic--Plzeň
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
England--Mablethorpe
Germany--Cologne
Italy--Turin
France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)
England--Land's End Peninsula
Italy--San Polo d'Enza
Italy--Genoa
Italy--Milan
Algeria
Algeria--Blida
Algeria--Atlas de Blida Mountains
England--Cambridge
England--Surrey
England--Ramsey (Cambridgeshire)
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Munich
France--Montluçon
Germany--Darmstadt
Scotland--Elgin
England--York
Scotland--Aberdeen
England--Grimsby
Germany--Saarbrücken
Germany--Zeitz
Germany--Ludwigshafen am Rhein
Germany--Wanne-Eickel
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Kleve (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Germany--Chemnitz
Germany--Heide (Schleswig-Holstein)
Germany--Wuppertal
Germany--Homberg (Kassel)
Netherlands--Westerschelde
Germany--Rheine
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Helgoland
Germany--Bremen
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Belgium
England--Southend-on-Sea
England--Morecambe
England--Kineton
England--Worcester
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Mülheim an der Ruhr
England--London
Italy--La Spezia
France--Dunkerque
Poland--Szczecin
Poland
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Recklinghausen (Münster)
Netherlands
England--Sheringham
England--Redbridge
France--Saint-Nazaire
Atlantic Ocean--Kattegat (Baltic Sea)
Germany
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
Royal Canadian Air Force
United States Army Air Force
Royal Air Force. Transport Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
99 printed sheets
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BLazenbyHJLazenbyHJv1
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lazenby, Harold Jack
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
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription
1654 HCU
20 OTU
207 Squadron
4 Group
5 Group
57 Squadron
617 Squadron
7 Squadron
97 Squadron
air gunner
Air Gunnery School
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
B-17
B-24
Bennett, Donald Clifford Tyndall (1910-1986)
bomb aimer
bombing
bombing of Helgoland (18 April 1945)
briefing
Catalina
Chamberlain, Neville (1869-1940)
crewing up
debriefing
demobilisation
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Medal
Distinguished Service Order
Eder Möhne and Sorpe operation (16–17 May 1943)
entertainment
flight engineer
flight mechanic
Flying Training School
George VI, King of Great Britain (1895-1952)
Gibson, Guy Penrose (1918-1944)
ground crew
ground personnel
H2S
Halifax
Hampden
hangar
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
Harvard
Heavy Conversion Unit
Hudson
Hurricane
Ju 88
killed in action
Lancaster
love and romance
Manchester
Master Bomber
Me 110
Me 262
mechanics engine
mess
military living conditions
military service conditions
mine laying
Mosquito
navigator
Navy, Army and Air Force Institute
Nissen hut
Oboe
Operation Exodus (1945)
Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945)
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
Pathfinders
pilot
radar
RAF Barkstone Heath
RAF Bassingbourn
RAF Benson
RAF Bourn
RAF Brize Norton
RAF Colerne
RAF Cosford
RAF Cranwell
RAF Dunkeswell
RAF East Kirkby
RAF Elvington
RAF Fairford
RAF Halton
RAF Lossiemouth
RAF Melton Mowbray
RAF Mepal
RAF Oakington
RAF Padgate
RAF Pershore
RAF Scampton
RAF Silverstone
RAF St Athan
RAF Stormy Down
RAF Swinderby
RAF Talbenny
RAF Tangmere
RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Upwood
RAF Uxbridge
RAF Valley
RAF Warboys
RAF Wigsley
RAF Wing
recruitment
Resistance
Spitfire
sport
Stirling
target indicator
training
V-1
V-2
V-weapon
Victoria Cross
Wellington
Whitley
Window
wireless operator
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1560/35630/BMillingtonRWestonFv1.2.pdf
8f0a70969cd59c55fef62f5a0d5a383d
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
Weston, Fred
F Weston
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
2016-11-13
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
Weston, F
Description
An account of the resource
20 items. The collection concerns Fred Weston DFC (1916 - 2012, 126909 Royal Air Force) and contains documents and photographs. He flew operations as an air gunner with 101 and 620 Squadrons.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Catherine Millington and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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
Air Gunner
Based around the WWII service of Fred Weston DFC RAFVR
Description
An account of the resource
A biography of Fred. In addition it includes histories of aircraft and squadrons he served in, Details are included of airfields he served at. Additionally there are biographies of various servicemen associated with Fred's squadrons and service.
At the end there is a biography of the officer in charge of Arnhem, Lt-Gen Sir Frederick Browning and his wife Daphne du Maurier.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Roger Millington
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2005-01
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Cambridge
England--Letchworth
Wales--Bridgend
Wales--Penrhos
Egypt--Heliopolis (Extinct city)
Singapore
France--Cherbourg
Netherlands--Eindhoven
France--Brest
France--Boulogne-sur-Mer
France--Dunkerque
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
France--Brest
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Berlin
Italy--Turin
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
France--L'Isle-Adam
France--Quiberon
France--Boulogne-Billancourt
Germany--Essen
France--Le Creusot
Germany--Leverkusen
France--Caen
Netherlands--Arnhem
Norway
Germany--Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Belgium--Brussels
England--Rochester (Kent)
Northern Ireland--Belfast
England--Longbridge
France--Arras
England--Darlington
Italy--Genoa
England--Longbridge
Yemen (Republic)--Aden
Europe--Frisian Islands
Germany--Peenemünde
Germany--Nuremberg
Italy--Sicily
France--Normandy
Netherlands--Arnhem
Netherlands--Eindhoven
Netherlands--Nijmegen
Wales--Pwllheli
England--Yorkshire
England--Leicester
England--Sunderland (Tyne and Wear)
Scotland--Edinburgh
England--Rochford
England--London
England--Cornwall (County)
Scotland--Ayr
England--Friston (East Sussex)
England--Gravesend (Kent)
England--West Malling
England--Hailsham
England--Yelverton (Devon)
England--Bentwaters NATO Air Base
England--Great Dunmow
England--Heacham
England--Weybridge
Wales--Hawarden
England--Blackpool
England--Old Sarum (Extinct city)
England--Kent
England--Folkestone
England--Hambleton (North Yorkshire)
England--York
Scotland--Scottish Borders
England--Cambridge
England--Thurleigh
England--Darlington
England--Hitchin
England--Lancashire
Italy
France
Egypt
Germany
Belgium
Netherlands
Great Britain
Yemen (Republic)
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
England--Bedfordshire
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Devon
England--Durham (County)
England--Sussex
England--Essex
England--Herefordshire
England--Norfolk
England--Suffolk
England--Surrey
England--Wiltshire
England--Worcestershire
England--Leicestershire
England--Swindon (Wiltshire)
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
Royal Air Force. Coastal Command
Royal Air Force. Fighter Command
British Army
Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe
Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal New Zealand Air Force
Free French Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Personal research
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
85 sheets
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
BMillingtonRWestonFv1
1 Group
100 Group
101 Squadron
103 Squadron
105 Squadron
114 Squadron
139 Squadron
141 Squadron
148 Squadron
149 Squadron
162 Squadron
1657 HCU
1665 HCU
18 Squadron
180 Squadron
2 Group
208 Squadron
214 Squadron
239 Squadron
3 Group
301 Squadron
304 Squadron
342 Squadron
6 Group
6 Squadron
620 Squadron
7 Squadron
75 Squadron
8 Group
9 Squadron
90 Squadron
97 Squadron
99 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
air gunner
aircrew
B-17
B-24
B-25
bale out
Beaufighter
Blenheim
bombing
Bombing and Gunnery School
Boston
Caterpillar Club
Churchill, Winston (1874-1965)
crash
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Medal
ditching
evading
final resting place
Gee
Gneisenau
H2S
Halifax
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
Harvard
Heavy Conversion Unit
Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945)
Horsa
Hurricane
Ju 87
killed in action
Lancaster
Lysander
Manchester
Me 109
Meteor
mid-air collision
mine laying
Mosquito
navigator
Oboe
Operational Training Unit
P-51
Pathfinders
prisoner of war
propaganda
radar
RAF Bicester
RAF Biggin Hill
RAF Boscombe Down
RAF Bottesford
RAF Bourn
RAF Bradwell Bay
RAF Bramcote
RAF Chedburgh
RAF Chipping Warden
RAF Coltishall
RAF Drem
RAF Driffield
RAF Duxford
RAF Elsham Wolds
RAF Evanton
RAF Fairford
RAF Finningley
RAF Great Massingham
RAF Halfpenny Green
RAF Harwell
RAF Hendon
RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor
RAF Honington
RAF Hornchurch
RAF Horsham St Faith
RAF Kenley
RAF Lakenheath
RAF Leconfield
RAF Leuchars
RAF Linton on Ouse
RAF Little Snoring
RAF Ludford Magna
RAF Manston
RAF Marham
RAF Martlesham Heath
RAF Mildenhall
RAF Newmarket
RAF Newton
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Oakington
RAF Penrhos
RAF Pershore
RAF Ridgewell
RAF Shepherds Grove
RAF Sleap
RAF Stradishall
RAF Tangmere
RAF Tempsford
RAF Tilstock
RAF Tuddenham
RAF Waterbeach
RAF West Raynham
RAF Woodbridge
RAF Wratting Common
RAF Wyton
Resistance
Scharnhorst
Special Operations Executive
Spitfire
Stirling
target indicator
Tiger force
training
Typhoon
V-1
V-2
V-weapon
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1165/34342/MTownsleyH994575-180615-02.2.pdf
fa03f4144b5b062bc0ff376672b00fbc
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
Townsley, Henry
H Townsley
Description
An account of the resource
Four items. An oral history interview with Warrant Officer Henry Townsley DFM (b. 1920, 994575 Royal Air Force), a memoir, list of operations and artwork. He flew operations as a flight engineer with 97 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Henry Townsley 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
2018-03-14
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
Townsley, H
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
Details from log book of Henry Townsley DFM
Description
An account of the resource
While on 97 Squadron, lists 55 operations over two tours from January 1943 to September 1944, with date, pilot, aircraft and target. Goes on to mention award of DFM and lists aircraft flown with their history. His pilots on operations were Pilot Officer Munro and Flight Lieutenant Baker.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
H Townsley
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-01-14
1943-01-27
1943-01-30
1943-02-02
1943-02-03
1943-02-13
1943-02-14
1943-02-18
1943-02-25
1943-02-26
1943-02-28
1943-03-01
1943-03-03
1943-03-05
1943-03-08
1943-03-09
1943-03-26
1943-03-27
1943-03-29
1943-04-03
1943-04-04
1943-04-10
1943-05-04
1943-05-23
1943-05-25
1943-05-29
1943-06-11
1943-06-12
1943-06-20
1943-06-23
1943-06-28
1943-07-03
1943-07-27
1944-04-20
1944-04-24
1944-04-28
1944-04-29
1944-05-01
1944-05-07
1944-05-22
1944-05-24
1944-06-06
1944-06-09
1944-06-12
1944-06-21
1944-06-24
1944-07-25
1944-08-01
1944-08-03
1944-08-09
1944-08-26
1944-08-29
1944-09-11
1944-06-05
1944-06-25
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Cambridgeshire
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
France
Italy
Germany
Norway
France--Gironde Estuary
Germany
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Cologne
France--Lorient
Italy--Milan
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
Germany--Nuremberg
France--Saint-Nazaire
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Essen
Germany--Munich
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Kiel
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Wuppertal
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Friedrichshafen
Italy--La Spezia
Germany--Schweinfurt
Norway--Oslo
France--Clermont-Ferrand
France--Toulouse
France--Tours
Germany--Braunschweig
Netherlands
Netherlands--Eindhoven
France--Saint-Pierre-du-Mont (Landes)
France--Argentan
France--Étampes (Essonne)
France--Poitiers
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
France--Somme
Belgium
Belgium--Kortrijk
Germany--Stuttgart
France--Pas-de-Calais
France--L'Isle-Adam
France--Creil
France--Châtellerault
Russia (Federation)
Russia (Federation)--Kaliningrad (Kaliningradskai︠a︡ oblastʹ)
Germany--Darmstadt
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Text. Personal research
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four page printed document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MTownsleyH994575-180615-02
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. 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
15 Squadron
166 Squadron
8 Group
9 Squadron
97 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
bombing of the Normandy coastal batteries (5/6 June 1944)
bombing of the Pas de Calais V-1 sites (24/25 June 1944)
Bombing of Trossy St Maximin (3 August 1944)
Distinguished Flying Medal
flight engineer
Ju 88
mine laying
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Pathfinders
RAF Bourn
RAF Coningsby
RAF Woodhall Spa
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/555/32351/LPennyJA1345892v1.1.pdf
e2c7c76df86f1a75c3fa94e8dfa90ce5
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
Penny, Jim
James Alfred Penny
J A Penny
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Penny, J
Description
An account of the resource
Three items. Two oral history interviews with Flight Lieutenant Jim Penny (b. 1922, 1345892 Royal Air Force) and his log book.
He joined the RAF in 1940 and flew operations as a pilot with 97 Squadron from RAF Bourn. Targets included Nuremberg, München Gladbach, Berlin, Montlucon Dunlop rubber factory in France, and the Modane Tower Tunnel. His aircraft was shot down over Berlin 24 November 1943 and he became a prisoner of war. He was liberated on 3 May 1945 and retired from the RAF on 19 July 1971.
The collection was catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-08-16
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
Jim joined the RAF in July 1940 on his 18th birthday. His ‘Flight’ was sent to the US to train under the ‘Arnold scheme’. He went to a variety of bases to learn to fly (detained in 1st interview), flying the PT17 Stearman biplane, BT-13A, AT-6A Harvard, Vultee-13, and then the Armstrong Siddeley, before returning on the Queen Elizabeth as a newly commissioned pilot with the rank of Sergeant.
On returning to the UK, he was posted to RAF Shawbury (Shropshire) Advance Flying Unit. Jim’s next posting was to RAF Tilstock Heath where he ‘crewed up’. Complete with crew he arrived at RAF Sleap (an auxiliary station for RAF Tilstock Heath). On being asking if they would be willing to join the Pathfinder Force all agreed to accept the offer – PFF was elite after all. After HCU training at RAF Blyton je stated, ‘The Lancaster was the finest plane I’ve ever flown’. On 26th July 1943 Jim was promoted to Flight Sergeant.
He remembered the RAF casualties and how their work affected their mental state, particularly the Squadron Casualties. However, the awareness that they were regularly striking at the heart to Nazi Germany left the with an enduring pride in being a ‘Armada’.
Jim and his crew transferred to RAF Upwood – Pathfinder Navigation Training Unit then to RAF Bourne 97.
Jim flew to bomb Nuremberg, München Gladbach, Berlin itself many times, Montlucon Dunlop rubber factory in France, and the Modane Tower Tunnel in France. He was involved in 2 flights that were ‘Boomerang flights’. One of the October operations was to be part of the decoy flight that was to draw fighters away from Kessel onto themselves, and bomb Frankfurt.
In November 1943 they were judged to be a competent part of the PFF and were tasked to be a back-up marker crew – the ones with the GREEN flares.
They flew to Dusseldorf, Manheim and Berlin. On 24 November 1943 they were hit by flak, managed to survive, became a POW until he was liberated on 3rd May 1945.
On 6th October 1945 he reported to No 34 Maintenance Unit at RAF Montford Bridge. A year later he had refresher course at Moreton-in-the-Marsh, as a Warrant Officer.
In 1948 Jim joined the City of Lincoln, Lincoln Squadron Bomber Command at RAF Waddington. He left Waddington to join the RAF Central Flying School as a flying instructor which he found very rewarding when he sent a pupil solo. Jim tried for a permanent commission while posted to RAF Ternhill but failed because he was tone deaf. Jim was offered a branch commission at the age of 37.
He left RAF as Flight Lieutenant on 19th July 71. He had no regrets about serving in the RAF and was a part of the Shrewsbury RAFA and the Shropshire Aircrew.
Claire CampbellClaire Campbell
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
James A Penny’s pilots flying log book
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jim Penny
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LPennyJA1345892v1
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
Mike Connock
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
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.
Canada
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
United States
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Shropshire
France--Modane
France--Montluçon
Georgia--Americus
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Leverkusen
Germany--Ludwigshafen am Rhein
Germany--Mönchengladbach
Germany--Munich
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Stuttgart
Italy--Milan
Saskatchewan--North Battleford
France
Georgia
Saskatchewan
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941
1942
1943-08-14
1943-08-15
1943-08-22
1943-08-23
1943-08-24
1943-08-27
1943-08-28
1943-08-30
1943-08-31
1943-09-01
1943-09-03
1943-09-04
1943-09-15
1943-09-16
1943-09-17
1943-10-02
1943-10-03
1943-10-04
1943-10-05
1943-10-07
1943-10-08
1943-10-09
1943-10-18
1943-10-19
1943-10-22
1943-10-23
1943-11-03
1943-11-04
1943-11-17
1943-11-18
1943-11-19
1943-11-22
1943-11-23
1943-11-24
Description
An account of the resource
Pilots flying log book for James A Penny, covering the period from 10 November 1941 to 23 November 1943 when he was shot down over Berlin. He was stationed at AAC Souther Field, RCAF North Battleford, RAF Shawbury, RAF Sleap, RAF Blyton, RAF Upwood and RAF Bourn. Aircraft flown in were Lancaster, Oxford, Whitley, Halifax, Harvard, Vultee and Stearman. He flew a total of 20 operations with 97 Squadron. Targets were Milan, Leverkusen, Berlin, Nuremberg, Mönchengladbach, Montlucon, Modane, Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Hannover, Dusseldorf and Ludwigshafen. His first or second pilots on operations were Pilot Officer Fairlie and Squadron Leader Sauvage.
1662 HCU
81 OTU
97 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
arts and crafts
bale out
bombing
Flying Training School
Halifax
Halifax Mk 2
Halifax Mk 5
Harvard
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 3
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
pilot
RAF Blyton
RAF Bourn
RAF Shawbury
RAF Sleap
RAF Upwood
shot down
Stearman
training
Whitley
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/520/30884/B[Author]LucasWEv10001.jpg
81b702c9c7d0407b402a46b4c5a2a1a1
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/520/30884/B[Author]LucasWEv10002.jpg
c5efb81bb535d47e2c0fe68f2d315fa5
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
Lucas, Bill
William Ernest Lucas
W E Lucas
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Lucas, WE
Description
An account of the resource
15 items. Two oral history interviews with Squadron Leader Bill Lucas DFC (1917 - 2018, 1255396 Royal Air Force), his log book, brief memoir and photographs. He served as a pilot with 9, 15, 139 and 162 Squadrons. After the war he ran in the 1948 Olympics.
The collection was catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle.
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
William (Bill) Ernest Lucas was born in Tooting Bec, London on the 16th January 1917, 3 years deep into World War One. Luckily for Bill he was not of age to endure with the fighting in the trenches. However, when Europe was engulfed into another worldwide conflict in 1939, this set way for Bill to become involved with the RAF and IBCC.
Growing up, Bill was an only child and left his school (Bec Grammar School) at the age of 15. He managed to get a job with a printers, which led to his second and only other job at an insurance company called the London and Lancashire. The company’s sports club enabled Bill to find his passion for athletics (especially running) and he was expected to participate in the 1940 Olympics until the war interfered. (https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/30884)
A photo of Bill in his running gear is shown in https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/30865 where he is running down 55 Graham Road in Surrey.
Bill instead competed in the 1948 Olympic Games as the games were also cancelled in 1944 due to World War Two. Luckily the games were hosted in London (https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/london-1948) and Bill had retired from IBCC meaning that he had time to participate.
As seen in ‘Bill Lucas and the 1948 London Olympics’ (1948) https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/30866 Bill managed to come 6th in the Second Heat meaning he was one position off of being in the final on the 2nd August 1948! This collection also includes Bill in his older prime wearing his 1948 Olympic Games jacket and the official Olympic Games programme from 1948.
When Hitler invaded Poland on September 1st 1939, Bill was 22 years old meaning that he was eligible to be part of Great Britain’s Army. Combining Bill’s hatred of the sea and his fathers recent experiences in the trenches, the RAF seemed to be the most compatible choice with Bill. (https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/520/30884/B[Author]LucasWEv10001.jpg)
Bill was not involved in Britain’s mightiest air conflict against Hitler’s Luftwaffe however, instead watching ‘The Few’ defeat the Nazi aircrafts and succeed. Being considered to be Nazi Germany’s first ‘major military defeat’, this allowed for Britain to continue fighting in the war (https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/our-history/anniversaries/battle-of-britain/ and to an extent, allowed Bill to continue his path of becoming an Squadron Leader.
It was November 1940 when Bill started his pilot training, but due to a bomber offensive being the only way to properly counter the Nazis, this was huge not just for Bill but Britain as a whole. There had never been a bomber offensive before in warfare. https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/520/30884/B[Author]LucasWEv10001.jpg
As seen in Bill’s official Pilot’s Log Book: (https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/520/24264/LLucasWE122826v1.1.pdf) his training consisted of being part of 16 Elementary Flying School at RAF Derby from 1940 to 41 , 8 School of Flying Training at RAF Montrose in 1941 and 20 Operational Training Units at RAF Lossiemouth in 1941 . He flew three different types of aircraft during his training, Miles Magister, Miles Master and Wellington I’s.
Bill’s training finally finished in August 1941 and he was posted to his first official squadron, IX Squadron at Honington. Here he flew the Wellington Bomber.
Will Cragg
Record of Service:
4 November 1940- 4 January 1941: 16 Elementary Flying Training School at RAF Derby flying Miles Magisters
9 January- 4 May 1941: 8 School of Flying Training at RAF Montrose flying Miles Masters
31 May 1941- 13 August 1941: 20 Operational Training Units at RAF Lossiemouth flying Wellington I’s
14 August 1941- 4 November 1941: 9 Squadron at RAF Honington flying Wellington III’s
4 November 1941- 30 December 1941: 26 Conversion Fleet at RAF Waterbeach flying Stirling’s
30 December 1941- 1 August 1942: 15 Squadron at RAF Wyton flying Whitley V’s
1 August 1942- 3 August 1942: 218 Conversion Fleet at RAF Marham flying Airspeed Oxfords
4 August 1942- 18 August 1942: 19 Operational Training Units at RAF Kinloss flying Whitley IV’s
19 August 1942- 13 August 1942: 3 Fighter Instructor Schools at RAF Hullavington flying Ansons
17 September 1942- 18 September 1942: 19 Operational Training Units at RAF Kinloss flying Halifax II’s
18 September 1942- 24 October 1944: 19 Operational Training Units at RAF Forres flying Mosquito III’s
30 October 1942- 19 December 1944: 1655 Mosquito Training Unit at RAF Warboys flying Mosquito IV’s
30 October 1944- 19 December 1944: 1655 Squadron at RAF Bourn flying Mosquito XX’s
7 June 1945- 28 June 1945: 162 Squadron at RAF Blackbushe flying Mosquito XXV’S
28 June 1945- 29 January 1946: 139 Squadron at RAF Upwood flying Lancaster III’s
29 January 1946: Station Head Quarters at RAF Upwood flying Mosquito XVI’s
William Cragg
William (Bill) Lucas was born on January 16th, 1917 in Tooting Bec, London. He was educated at Bec Grammar School, and left at the age of 15 to work at a printing company before moving to the insurers London and Lancashire to work as an assessor. While working there, he developed his talent for athletics with the Belgrave Harriers, with his best discipline being the 5000 metres. His goal was to compete at the 1940 Olympic games. However, in 1940, Bill was called up to help the war effort and mindful of his father’s advice to avoid the army and his own dislike of the sea, he chose to join the RAF.
Initially he trained as a fighter pilot on Miles Magisters and Miles Masters, but by the time he had finished training, the Battle of Britain had been won and the need for bomber pilots was more urgent. So, he was reallocated to bombers and trained to fly the Wellington at RAF Lossiemouth. Bill Lucas · IBCC Digital Archive (lincoln.ac.uk)
Following completion of pilot training in August 1941, he was posted to RAF Honington and joined 9 Squadron flying Wellingtons. He flew 14 operational sorties – notably Cologne and Hamburg – before converting to Stirlings at RAF Waterbeach. He then joined 15 (Bomber) Squadron at RAF Wyton, flying the Short Stirling and, by August 1942, Bill had completed a full tour of 30 operational sorties (over 40 operations in total). Bill experienced tense encounters with German defences, having to take evasive action and also getting caught in a cone of five or six searchlights. To get out of the searchlight glare he had to do things with the aircraft which it was never meant to do. Returning from one mission they flew too close to Kiel and the airframe amassed a lot of bullet holes and an alarming loss of fuel. Crossing the North Sea, the tank indicators showed practically nothing and they had to divert into Woodbridge in Suffolk. The groundcrew estimated there was less than twenty-five gallons of fuel left (probably less than 6 minutes of flying time).
He was released from operational duties and was posted to RAF Lossiemouth as a flying instructor. Then in December 1944, he returned to operational flying and was posted to 162 Squadron, part of the Pathfinder force, to fly the Mosquito, an aircraft he described as “a bit quicker and more responsive; a nice aeroplane”. He completed a further 34 operational sorites with 162 Squadron, including missions over Kiel, Berlin, Hannover and Magdeburg. In recognition of his war services, Bill was awarded the DFC and was Mentioned in Despatches.
Squadron Leader Bill Lucas was released from the Service in January 1946 and returned to the insurance job he had left to join the RAF. Eventually, he left the company to become an insurance broker. He also returned to athletics and the Belgrave Harriers; he ran in various internationals and competed for Great Britain in the 5000m at the 1948 London Olympics. Athletics remained with him for the rest of his life and he gave his spare time freely, working in prominent roles in the administration of athletics. He remained a Belgrave Harrier committee member well into his 90s. He became known as “the golden voice of British Athletics” for his many years as stadium announcer at the White City .
In his later years, Bill remained prominent in RAF and Aircrew Associations. He, along with a small Band of Sussex veterans, was instrumental in helping to raise funds for the construction of the Bomber Command Memorial in London’s Green Park and the International Bomber Command Centre.
Chris Cann
1940: Volunteered for the RAF
4 November 1940 – 4 January 1941: RAF Burnaston, No. 16 EFTS, flying Magister aircraft
9 January 1941 – 4 May 1941: RAF Montrose, No. 8 SFTS, flying Master aircraft
31 May 1941 – 13 August 1941: RAF Lossiemouth, No. 20 OTU, flying Wellington aircraft
14 August 1941 – 4 November 1941: RAF Honington, No. 9 Squadron, flying Wellington aircraft
1941: Commissioned into the officer ranks
4 November 1941 – 30 December 1941: RAF Waterbeach, No. 26 Conversion Flight, flying Stirling aircraft
30 December 1941 – 1 August 1942: RAF Wyton, No. 15 Squadron, flying Stirling aircraft
1 August 1942 – 3 August 1942: RAF Marham, 218 Conversion Flight
4 August 1942 – 18 August 1942: RAF Kinloss, No. 19 OTU, flying Whitley aircraft
19 August 1942 – 13 September 1942: RAF Hullavington, No. 3 FTS, flying Oxford aircraft
17 September 1942 – 18 September 1942: RAF Kinloss, No. 19 OTU, flying Whitley and Anson aircraft
18 September 1942 – 24 October 1944: RAF Foress, No. 19 OTU, flying Whitley and Anson aircraft
30 October 1944 – 19 December 1944: RAF Warboys, 1655 MTU, flying Mosquito and Oxford aircraft
19 December 1944 – 7 June 1945: RAF Bourn, 162 Squadron, flying Mosquito aircraft
7 June 1945 – 28 June 1945: RAF Blackbushe, 162 Squadron, flying Mosquito aircraft
28 June 1945 – 29 January 1946: RAF Upwood, 139 Squadron, flying Mosquito and Oxford aircraft
29 January 1946: Released from Service having attained the rank of Squadron Leader.
Chris Cann
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Squadron Leader William (Bill) E. Lucas, DFC Bill Lucas was born in Tooting Bee, London on January 16th 1917 in 'modest' circumstances; his father was a brick layer. The First World War still had almost two more years of slaughter to go before The Armistice was signed in November 1918. It was this slaughter which was to inform Bill's choice of military service when Europe was, once again, embroiled in another world conflict in 1939. But, before that, Bill, an only child, completed his education at Bee Grammar School, leaving in 1932 at the age of 1Syrs. His first job, for just a few months, was with a printers, then employment at an insurance company, the London & Lancashire. It was with the company sports club that Bill found he had a gift for athletics, particularly as a runner over longer distances (5OOOm was his best distance). Indeed, he was expecting to participate in the 1940 Olympics when war intervened. On September 1st 1939 Hitler's armies invaded Poland, and on September 3rd Great Britain found herself, once again, at war with Germany. Bill was 22 years old. His father advised against the infantry, with memories of the trenches in his mind; Bill hated the sea, so the RAF seemed to be the obvious choice. During the summer of 1940 many young men, including Bill, watched the air battles overhead as 'The Few' battled to overcome the might of the German Luftwaffe, and nurtured ambition to be a fighter pilot. When Bill was called up, The Battle of Britain was over and the pressing need for pilots was now in the fledgling Bomber Command. Much criticism has been levelled at Bomber Command since the end of the Second World War, much of it ignorant of the facts and some of it manipulated for political expediency. But in November 1940, when Bill started his pilot training, a bomber offensive was the only means available to the Allies for taking the war to a rampant Germany. There had never been a bomber offensive before in warfare, so a steep learning curve was in prospect for the young men of Bill's generation. Bill successfully completed his training and in August 1941 was posted to IX squadron at Honington, flying the Wellington bomber, a 2-engine 'medium' bomber - referred to at the time as a 'heavy' because the 4-engine genuine 'heavies' had not yet been introduced into Bomber Command. He completed 14 operations with IX, before being transferred to XV(B) squadron at Wyton in December 1941 to fly the 4 engine Short Stirling, the first, and largest of the 'heavies'. On January 29th 1942, at Wyton, the squadron was 'scrambled' to search for the two pocket battleships 'Gneisenau' and 'Scharnhorst' which had broken out of harbour at Brest - the 'Channel dash' as it became known. Bill says that he is thankful that visibility was so poor, because they were so low that, had they stumbled upon either ship, they would have been swiftly dispatched by her heavy guns. While with XV(B) squadron, among his successfully completed 'operations' , Bill participated in all three of the 'Thousand Bomber raids' which Air Chief Marshall Arthur Harris (appointed in February 1942) directed as a show of strength, not only against Germany, but to prove the fighting merit of Bomber Command. In August 1942, having completed his first 'tour' (30 operations) Bill was posted to Lossiemouth as a Flying Instructor, an occupation which could be as hazardous as flying on operations. In December 1944 Bill was posted to 162 squadron at Bourn, part ofNo.8 group (Pathfinder Force) to fly the de Havilland Mosquito, known affectionately as 'The Wooden Wonder'. Bill completed 40 'ops' with 162, fourteen as a pathfinder to Berlin, unarmed, relying on height and speed to keep him and his navigator out of harm's way. If not marking targets for Main Force, Bill was involved with 'nuisance' raids, dropping a 4,000lb 'cookie' on cities not earmarked for the attentions of the main force. When Bill joined Bomber Command in 1940, the odds against him surviving the war were over 500-1 against, so great were the casualties suffered by this Allied unit. Bill was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Mentioned in Dispatches for his war service. He was 'de-mobbed' in January 1946, and returned to his job in insurance. Today, he is the oldest living holder of a British Gallantry award. In recent years, Bill, along with a small group of other Sussex veterans, has been actively raising funds for construction of the Bomber Command Memorial in London's Green Park, and the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincolnshire, a lasting tribute to the young men of Bomber Command.
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
Bill Lucas, a short account of his Royal Air Force service
Description
An account of the resource
A little about his pre service life and his time on 9, 15 and 162 Squadrons. It mentions his interest in the Green Park Bomber Command Memorial and the IBCC.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two typewritten pages
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Personal research
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
B[Author]LucasWEv10001, B[Author]LucasWEv10002
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
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
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
15 Squadron
162 Squadron
8 Group
9 Squadron
bombing of Cologne (30/31 May 1942)
Distinguished Flying Cross
Gneisenau
memorial
Mosquito
Operational Training Unit
Pathfinders
perception of bombing war
RAF Bourn
RAF Honington
RAF Lossiemouth
RAF Wyton
Scharnhorst
sport
Stirling
target indicator
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1765/30828/LLayneWH963102v1.2.pdf
92e993a538036ec434cab6f9f4840a3d
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
Layne, Wally
Walter Henry Layne
W H Layne
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
2017-06-07
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
Layne, WH
Description
An account of the resource
100 items. The collection concerns Walter 'Wally' Layne (b. 1916, 963012, 40348 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, prisoner of war diary, personal and official correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 97 Squadron and became a prisoner of war after being shot down.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by D Layne and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
Wally Layne's observer's and air gunner's flying log book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LLayneWH963102v1
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
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.
Czech Republic
Denmark
France
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
Netherlands
Norway
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
Czech Republic--Plzeň
Denmark--Copenhagen
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Rutland
England--Yorkshire
France--Brest
France--Dunkerque
France--Lorient
France--Saint-Nazaire
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Essen
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Hamm (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Helgoland
Germany--Karlsruhe
Germany--Kiel
Germany--Leverkusen
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Mönchengladbach
Germany--Munich
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Peenemünde
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
Germany--Wuppertal
Italy--La Spezia
Italy--Milan
Italy--Turin
Netherlands--Amsterdam
Norway--Oslo
Wales--Gwynedd
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940
1941
1942
1943
1941-07-06
1941-07-07
1941-07-08
1941-07-09
1941-07-12
1941-07-13
1941-07-17
1941-07-18
1941-07-20
1941-07-21
1941-07-24
1941-07-28
1941-07-29
1941-08-06
1941-08-07
1941-08-16
1941-08-17
1941-08-18
1941-09-02
1941-09-03
1941-09-06
1941-09-07
1941-09-20
1941-09-21
1941-09-29
1941-09-30
1941-10-10
1941-10-13
1941-10-20
1941-10-21
1941-10-23
1941-10-29
1941-10-30
1941-10-31
1941-11-08
1941-11-09
1942-01-02
1942-01-03
1942-01-10
1942-01-11
1942-01-14
1942-01-15
1942-02-06
1942-02-24
1942-02-25
1942-02-26
1942-02-27
1942-02-28
1942-03-09
1942-03-10
1942-03-11
1942-03-13
1942-03-23
1942-03-24
1943-04-02
1943-04-03
1943-04-04
1943-04-05
1943-04-08
1943-04-09
1943-04-10
1943-04-13
1943-04-14
1943-05-12
1943-05-13
1943-05-14
1943-05-23
1943-05-24
1943-05-25
1943-05-26
1943-05-29
1943-05-30
1943-06-28
1943-06-29
1943-07-08
1943-07-09
1943-07-12
1943-07-13
1943-07-24
1943-07-25
1943-07-26
1943-08-10
1943-08-11
1943-08-12
1943-08-13
1943-08-17
1943-08-18
1943-08-22
1943-08-23
1943-08-27
1943-08-28
1943-08-31
1943-09-01
1943-09-03
1943-09-04
1943-09-05
1943-09-06
1943-09-07
1943-09-22
1943-09-23
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
Description
An account of the resource
Observer’s and air gunner’s flying log book for Walter Henry lane, wireless operator/air gunner, covering the period from 19 October 1940 to 23 September 1943, when he was shot down and became a prisoner of war. He was stationed at RAF Penrhos, RAF Cottesmore, RAF Lindholme, RAF Swinderby, RAF Skellingthorpe, RAF Waddington, RAF Winthorpe, RAF Woodhall and RAF Bourn. Aircraft flown in were Dominie, Whitley, Battle, Anson, Hampden, Manchester, and Lancaster. He flew total of 63 operations 36 with 50 Squadron and 27 with 97 Squadron. Targets were Brest, Hamm, Bremen, Cologne, Keil, Karlsruhe, Copenhagen, Oslo, Berlin, Hamburg, Dunkirk, Amsterdam, Essen, St Nazaire, Wilhelmshaven, Heligoland, Lorient, Duisburg, Frankfurt, Spezia, Pilsen, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Wuppertal, Turin, Nuremberg, Milan, Peenemunde, Leverkusen, Mönchengladbach, Mannheim, Munich, and Hannover. His pilots on operations were Flight Lieutenant Fox, Sergeant Mudd, Pilot Officer Carter, Squadron Leader Mulford, Pilot Officer Helmore, Pilot Officer Bartley, Sergeant Flight Sergeant Lord and Flying officer Fletcher DFM.
14 OTU
1661 HCU
50 Squadron
97 Squadron
air sea rescue
aircrew
Anson
Battle
bombing
Bombing and Gunnery School
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
Bombing of Peenemünde (17/18 August 1943)
crash
Dominie
Gneisenau
Hampden
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 3
Manchester
mine laying
missing in action
Operational Training Unit
prisoner of war
RAF Bourn
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Lindholme
RAF Penrhos
RAF Skellingthorpe
RAF Swinderby
RAF Waddington
RAF Winthorpe
RAF Woodhall Spa
RAF Yatesbury
Scharnhorst
shot down
target indicator
training
Whitley
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1765/30827/EWilliamsLayneJA431208.2.jpg
a4811a2e4fe1f6620027d7f02f142df4
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
Layne, Wally
Walter Henry Layne
W H Layne
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
2017-06-07
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
Layne, WH
Description
An account of the resource
100 items. The collection concerns Walter 'Wally' Layne (b. 1916, 963012, 40348 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, prisoner of war diary, personal and official correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 97 Squadron and became a prisoner of war after being shot down.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by D Layne and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron,
Royal Air Force,
Bourn, Cambridge.
8th December, 1943.
Dear Mrs Layne,
Thank you for your letter of December 3rd, we are glad to know that your husband is well and that you have heard from him.
With regards to the question of his officers uniform, I do not consider it advisable to send this on to him, taking all things into consideration. I suggest that you write direct to the International Red Cross Committee on this subject and no doubt they will give you a definite ruling. In the meantime, may I suggest that you send your husband some P/O tape (the narrow blue strip) which he would be able to wear on hiss present battle dress.
I thank you on behalf of the Squadron for you kind wishes and I hope the day is not far distant when you will be reunited with your husband again.
Yours sincerely,
[signature] Williams
for F/Lt. and Adjutant.
[underlined]97 Squadron. R.A.F. Bourn[/underlined]
Mrs. T. Layne,
97 Harlaxton Road,
Grantham,
[underlined]Lincs.[/underlined]
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
Letter to Wally Layne's wife from 97 Squadron adjutant
Description
An account of the resource
Suggest that she does not send officers uniform to him direct but should write to the international Red Cross committee to get a definite ruling.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Williams
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-12-08
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page typewritten letter
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
EWilliamsLayneJA431208
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.
Great Britain
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Grantham
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-12-08
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
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
97 Squadron
prisoner of war
RAF Bourn
Red Cross
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1765/30815/EOC97SqnRAFLayneAJ431017.1.jpg
19ad0aacfbff0c42277e5dfbf2c0cab7
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
Layne, Wally
Walter Henry Layne
W H Layne
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
2017-06-07
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
Layne, WH
Description
An account of the resource
100 items. The collection concerns Walter 'Wally' Layne (b. 1916, 963012, 40348 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, prisoner of war diary, personal and official correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 97 Squadron and became a prisoner of war after being shot down.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by D Layne and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron,
Royal Air Force,
Bourn, Cambridge,
17th. October, 1943.
Dear Mrs. Layne,
I enclose a certificate from Headquarters, Path Finder Force, granting your husband the permanent award of the Path Finder Force Badge.
The badge itself, the gilt R.A.F. Eagle, is worn on the upper left tunic pocket. Possibly your husband has spoken about it to you. I thought you would like to have the certificate.
It is a high honour in the R.A.F. to have achieved the distinction of this award.
Under no circumstances should this matter be mentioned in any form of correspondence. If the information got into enemy hands, the position of a prisoner of war would not be improved.
Yours sincerely,
for [signature]
Group Captain, Commanding,
No. 97 (Straits Settlements)
[underlined] Squadron. R.A.F. Bourn. [/underlined]
Mrs. T. Layne,
97 Harlaxton Road,
Grantham.
[underlined] Lincs. [/underlined]
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
Letter to Wally Layne's wife from Officer Commanding 97 Squadron
Description
An account of the resource
Encloses certificate granting her husband the permanent award of the path finder force badge. Warned not to let this matter be mentioned in any correspondence because if it fell into enemy hands it would not improve the position of a prisoner of war.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Officer Commanding 97 Squadron
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-10-17
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page typewritten letter
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
EOC97SqnRAFLayneAJ431017
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.
Great Britain
England--Cambridgeshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-10-17
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jan Waller
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
97 Squadron
Pathfinders
RAF Bourn
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1765/30814/EOC97SqnRAFLayneAJ430925-02.2.jpg
b4aa7e759e5dfde79d9c0e640824f866
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
Layne, Wally
Walter Henry Layne
W H Layne
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
2017-06-07
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
Layne, WH
Description
An account of the resource
100 items. The collection concerns Walter 'Wally' Layne (b. 1916, 963012, 40348 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, prisoner of war diary, personal and official correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 97 Squadron and became a prisoner of war after being shot down.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by D Layne and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron,
Royal Air Force,
Bourn, Cambridge.
25th September, 1943.
Dear Mrs. Layne,
It is with the deepest regret that I must confirm that your husband, Warrant Officer Layne, failed to return from night operations on the 23/24th September, 1943, and I wish to express the sympathy of the whole Squadron with you in your anxiety.
Warrant Officer Layne took part in a raid on Mannheim, Germany as Wireless Operator, no news having since been received. We can but hope that the aircraft was forced to land and that the crew are safe, even as prisoners of war.
Since your husband joined the Squadron in March of this year, he had taken part in 26 operations over enemy territory. He was a member of one of our most outstanding crews who had operated against all the important objectives in Germany and Italy. He performed his duties as Wireless Operator efficiently and his keenness was a good example to others. The loss of such a crew is a sad blow to the Squadron.
His kit and personal effects are being carefully checked and will be sent to the R.A.F. Central Depository, from whom you will hear in due course.
If any news is received you will be notified immediately, and in the meantime, I join with you in hoping we shall soon hear that your husband and the rest of the crew are safe.
Yours sincerely,
[signature]
Group Captain, Commanding,
No. 97 (Straits Settlements)
[underlined] Squadron. R.A.F. BOURN. [/underlined]
Mrs. T. Layne,
“Stoneleigh”
Barrowby High Road,
Grantham,
[underlined] LINCS. [/underlined]
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
Letter to Wally Layne's wife from Officer Commandinng 97 Squadron
Description
An account of the resource
Regrets to inform her that her husband failed to return from operations on night 23/24 September 1943. Writes he took part in an attack on Mannheim as wireless operator and no news had been received. Mentions his time on the squadron as part of outstanding crew who had carried out 26 operations against many important targets in Germany and Italy. Says his effects would be checked and sent to RAF central depository. They would report any news immediately.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Officer Commanding 97 Squadron
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-09-25
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page typewritten letter
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
EOC97SqnRAFLayneAJ430925-02
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Cambridgeshire
Germany
Germany--Mannheim
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-09-25
1943-09-23
1943-09-24
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jan Waller
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
97 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
missing in action
RAF Bourn
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1765/30813/EOC97SqnRAFLayneAJ430925-01.1.jpg
04a537e959de47d9c646594e105158f3
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
Layne, Wally
Walter Henry Layne
W H Layne
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
2017-06-07
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
Layne, WH
Description
An account of the resource
100 items. The collection concerns Walter 'Wally' Layne (b. 1916, 963012, 40348 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, prisoner of war diary, personal and official correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 97 Squadron and became a prisoner of war after being shot down.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by D Layne and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron,
Royal Air Force,
Bourn, Cambridge.
25th September, 1943.
Dear Mrs. Layne,
It is with the deepest regret that I must confirm that your husband, Warrant Officer Layne, failed to return from night operations on the 23/24th September, 1943, and I wish to express the sympathy of the whole Squadron with you in your anxiety.
Warrant Officer Layne took part in a raid on Mannheim, Germany as Wireless Operator, no news having since been received. We can but hope that the aircraft was forced to land and that the crew are safe, even as prisoners of war.
Since your husband joined the Squadron in March of this year, he had taken part in 8 operations over enemy territory. He was a member of one of our most outstanding crews who had operated against all the important objectives in Germany and Italy. He performed his duties as Wireless Operator efficiently and his keenness was a good example to others. The loss of such a crew is a sad blow to the Squadron.
His kit and personal effects are being carefully checked and will be sent to the R.A.F. Central Depository, from whom you will hear in due course.
If any news is received you will be notified immediately, and in the meantime, I join with you in hoping we shall soon hear that your husband and the rest of the crew are safe.
Yours sincerely,
Group Captain, Commanding,
No. 97 (Straits Settlements)
[underlined] Squadron. R.A.F. BOURN. [/underlined]
Mrs. J. Layne,
“Stoneleigh”,
Barrowby High Road,
GRANTHAM,
Lincs.
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
Letter to Wally Layne's wife from OC 97 Squadron
Description
An account of the resource
Regrets to inform her that her husband failed to return from operations on night 23/24 September 1943. Writes he took part in an attack on Mannheim as wireless operator and no news had been received. Mentions his time on the squadron as part of outstanding crew who had operated against many important targets in Germany and Italy. Says his effects would be checked and sent to RAF central depository. They would report any news immediately.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Officer Commanding 97 Squadron
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-09-25
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page typewritten letter
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
EOC97SqnRAFLayneAJ430925-01
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.
Great Britain
England--Cambridgeshire
Germany
Germany--Mannheim
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-09-25
1943-09-23
1943-09-24
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jan Waller
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
97 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
missing in action
RAF Bourn
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1765/30775/EHindWHLayneAJ431116.2.jpg
32ee2f0abf20362151e149d6b77dd064
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
Layne, Wally
Walter Henry Layne
W H Layne
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
2017-06-07
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
Layne, WH
Description
An account of the resource
100 items. The collection concerns Walter 'Wally' Layne (b. 1916, 963012, 40348 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, prisoner of war diary, personal and official correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 97 Squadron and became a prisoner of war after being shot down.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by D Layne and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron,
Royal Air Force,
Bourn, Cambridge.
16th November, 1943.
Dear Mrs. Layne,
Thank you for your letter giving us the news that your husband is safe as a prisoner of war. we are all very glad to know also that he is well.
News has been received that his Captain, F/Lt. Fletcher and F/Sgt. Nelson and F/Sgt. Beesley are also prisoners. It is hoped that we may soon have good news of the remainder of the crew.
May I congratulate you on behalf of your husband having been commissioned to the rank of Pilot Officer with effect from the 13th September, 1943. His officer’s number is 158255. I am sure he will be pleased to know about it.
As regards the pay, it will be best for you to communicate direct with Air Ministry, Accounts Section, Stroud, Gloucestershire.
I hope it will not be long before your husband will again be home with you.
Yours sincerely,
[signature]
F/Lt. and Adjutant.
Group Captain, Commanding,
[underlined]97 Squadron. R.A.F. Bourn[/underlined]
Mrs. T. Layne,
97 Harlaxton Road,
Grantham,
[underlined]Lincs.[/underlined]
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
Letter to Wally Layne's wife from 97 Squadron adjutant
Description
An account of the resource
Writes that they were glad to hear that her husband was safe and a prisoner of war. Notes that other crew members were also prisoners. Congratulates her on behalf of husband who received his commission 13 September 1943.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
97 Squadron adjutant
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-11-16
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page typewritten letter
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
EHindWHLayneAJ431116
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.
Great Britain
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Grantham
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-11-16
1943-09-13
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
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
97 Squadron
aircrew
prisoner of war
promotion
RAF Bourn
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1765/30754/ELayneWHLayneAJ430515-0001.1.jpg
bc845dc77698cd17f41005ef04ce692b
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1765/30754/ELayneWHLayneAJ430515-0002.1.jpg
dc2b878718af0c423a5317e17ff41b3e
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
Layne, Wally
Walter Henry Layne
W H Layne
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
2017-06-07
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
Layne, WH
Description
An account of the resource
100 items. The collection concerns Walter 'Wally' Layne (b. 1916, 963012, 40348 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, prisoner of war diary, personal and official correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 97 Squadron and became a prisoner of war after being shot down.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by D Layne and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
F/Sgt Layne
Sgts Mess
R.A.F. Bourn [deleted] e [/deleted]
Nr Cambridge
May 15/43
My dear wife,
I expect you will be wondering why I havent [sic] written, please forgive me dear. We have been pretty busy just lately, we went on the Duisburg effort on Wednesday and we went to Pilsen on Thursday, Bob came round and fetched me out of bed at two o.clock [sic] yesterday afternoon and we went to Cambridge and spent the afternoon and evening on the river.
You must worry about these ops, these two were only a flash in the pan, I don’t suppose I shall be doing any more for some time.
We took some photos the other day, we
[page break]
havent [sic] finished the roll yet, when we have I will let you have them, they are all round our own aircraft, one of them was taken just before we got into the kite to go to Pilsen. I hope they come out all right.
We are trying to get a large photo of a Lanc in flight, I will send it on if we manage it.
I was walking thro’ Cambridge yesterday and saw Doreen with her baby, [deleted word] her husband is in the R.A.F, but has come back to his old job for six months, he is a mechanic or something like that.
My moustache is not making much headway, if I stick my lip out and look down I can see a few bristles, it is so very fair it doesnt [sic] show up at all.
[page break]
The weather here is lovely, I expect you are having it as well, it was grand on the river yesterday, we had a punt, we darent [sic] tackle it with a pole, we used canoe paddles.
Bob sent his wife your address, she is going to write to you and confirm our visit there on our next leave.
I am reading a book called ‘The Murder of my Aunt’, it is very different to the usual run of books but I am enjoying it very much.
All my love
Walter
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
Letter from Wally Layne to his wife
Description
An account of the resource
Apologises for not writing, had been very busy. Writes that he had been on operations to Duisburg and Pilsen. Mentions off duty activities and photographs of his service mates and his aircraft. Catches up with news of acquaintance and comments on not making much progress with his moustache. Writes of good weather, punting on the river and what he was reading.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
W H Layne
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-05-15
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three page handwritten letter
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
ELayneWHLayneAJ430515
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.
Great Britain
England--Cambridgeshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-05
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
Jan Waller
bombing
RAF Bourn
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1495/30510/MColsonWA141402-160415-01.1.pdf
484a955a103d1cb9c014598f4544c2cc
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
Colson, William Alfred
W A Colson
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
2016-04-15
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
Colson, WA
Description
An account of the resource
5 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant William Alfred Colson DFM (1915 - 1943, <span>141402 </span>Royal Air Force) and contains a biography and photographs. He flew as a bomb aimer on 9 and 97 Squadron and was killed when his Lancaster crashed on return to base from an operation to Berlin in December 1943. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Mr Harrison and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. <br /><br />Additional information on William Alfred Colson is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/205562/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Flight Lieutenant William Alfred Colson DFM (141402)
William Alfred Colson was born on 8th January 1915 at his grandmother’s boarding house in Paddington, London. His mother was Gladys Colson, nee Jeffery. She was born in 1898 also in Paddington, and his father was Alfred Colson, a Car attendant on the Great Western Railway, born in 1890 in Ilford Essex. They were married in 1914.
Billy was mainly brought up by his grandmother, Maud, in Paddington where my mother, his second cousin, spent a lot of her childhood with him.
He married Florence Amelia Burden (known as Millie) on 4th April 1936 in Paddington. He was 21 years old and she was 22. His marriage certificate states that he was an electrician, but another source said that he was a bricklayer.
We do not yet know when he first went into the RAF but he was in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He was in 9 squadron and served full tours in Whitley Bombers, Halifax Bombers and Wellingtons. He flew with rear gunner Harry Irons DFC and pilot Flt Lt Dick Stubbs.
He was promoted to Flight Sergeant in January 1943 and received the Distinguished Flying Medal in May 1943. This was with 9 Squadron. These achievements are published in the London Gazette, 13th April 1943 and 18th May 1943.
At some point in 1943 he transferred to 97 Squadron (Pathfinders) which was an elite Squadron. He was stationed at RAF Bourn, a few miles from Cambridge.
Billy was an observer, navigator and also a bomb aimer. Bomb aimers sometimes took over the front gun turret.
He had two children, Billy Junior and Beryl.
On the night of 16th/17th December 1943 the Lancaster’s from Bourn set out for a raid on Berlin. The fog was already very bad and the crews thought that the mission would be called off. Bomber Command had not made a raid on Berlin for two weeks and the orders were that they should go.
Billy should not have been flying that night but the bomb aimer of F-Freddy was unable to go, so Billy took his place as the bomb aimer with F-Freddy. The man who should have gone was Ivor Glynn Stevens who, we found, survived the war.
On the homeward journey, after the raid, the Lancaster’s began to return to base at Bourn, just after midnight on 17th December, but there was dense fog and the crews could not find
[page break]
the airfield and those that did could not see the runways. There was no flare path and they were running out of fuel.
Some of the Lancaster’s with enough fuel made it to nearby airfields, but 5 Lancaster’s crashed at Bourn with terrible loss of life, men burned and injured. Billy’s plane, almost safely home, made two approaches and then overshot the runway crashing on the edge of a road where it burst into flames. The pilot, Squadron Leader Donald McKenzie, the flight engineer, Pilot Officer John Towler- Pratt , and Flight Lieutenant Billy Colson were killed. The other four members of the crew were badly injured but survived. This night was called Black Thursday.
Billy was buried in Willesden New Cemetery, London in the civilian section but with a military headstone. Section E, Grave 2342. He was 28 years old.
Wyn Harrison
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
Flight Lieutenant William Alfred Colson DFM (141402) - Biography
Description
An account of the resource
Includes early life and marriage. Joined the RAFVR and served on 9 Squadron and served full tours on Whitley, Halifax and Wellington. Mentions his pilot and award of DFM and promotion. Went to 97 Squadron in 1943. Was navigator/bomb aimer. Gives account of operation to Berlin when his aircraft was one of five Lancaster that crashed at RAF Bourn on their return. Four crew survived but three including Billy Colson were killed.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
W Harrison
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page printed document
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
MColsonWA141402-160415-01
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--Cambridgeshire
England--London
Germany
Germany--Berlin
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-01
1943-05
1943-04-13
1943-05-18
1943-12-16
1943-12-17
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
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.
9 Squadron
97 Squadron
aircrew
bomb aimer
crash
Distinguished Flying Medal
final resting place
Halifax
killed in action
Lancaster
Pathfinders
RAF Bourn
Wellington
Whitley
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1412/26738/LTindallAJ173966v1.2.pdf
f71a81fa60cca73bbffd928026a637c0
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
Tindall, Arthur John
A J Tindall
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
2015-04-03
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. 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
Tindall, AJ
Description
An account of the resource
Nine items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Arthur John Tindall DFC (1388739 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 97 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by June Tindall and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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
Arthur John Tindall’s navigator's, air bomber's and air gunner’s flying log book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LTindallAJ173966v1
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
Description
An account of the resource
A J Tindall’s log book covering the period from March 1942 to 6 November 1945. Detailing his flying training and operations flown as wireless operator/air gunner. He was stationed at RAF Yatesbury (2 RS), RAF Mona (5 AGS), RAF Cottesmore (14 OTU), RAF Wigsley (1654 HCU), RAF Upwood (PFNTU), RAF Bourn and RAF Coningsby (97 Squadron). Aircraft flown in were Dominie, Botha, Wellington, Lancaster, Stirling, Anson and Proctor. He flew a total of 30 night operations with 97 Squadron (first Tour) and 10 night and 2 day operations with 97 Squadron (second tour), a total of 42. Targets were Stuttgart, Hannover, Berlin, Leipzig, Cologne, Frankfurt, Brunswick, Augsburg, Laon, Munich, Schweinfurt, Kjeller, L’Isle Adam, Brest, Argentan, Etampes, Poitiers, Gelsenkirchen, Prouville, Donge and Givors. His pilots on operations were Sergeant Johnson, Squadron Leader Cawdery, Flight Lieutenant Clarke and Wing Commander Ingham.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Terry Hancock
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943
1944
1945
1943-10-07
1943-10-08
1943-10-09
1943-10-18
1943-10-20
1943-10-21
1943-10-22
1943-11-03
1943-11-18
1943-11-19
1943-11-22
1943-11-23
1943-11-24
1943-11-26
1943-12-02
1943-12-04
1943-12-16
1943-12-17
1943-12-20
1943-12-24
1944-01-14
1944-01-27
1944-01-28
1944-01-30
1944-02-14
1944-02-25
1944-02-26
1944-03-01
1944-03-02
1944-03-15
1944-03-16
1944-03-18
1944-03-19
1944-03-22
1944-03-23
1944-04-10
1944-04-22
1944-04-23
1944-04-24
1944-04-25
1944-04-26
1944-04-27
1944-04-28
1944-04-29
1944-05-31
1944-06-01
1944-06-06
1944-06-07
1944-06-09
1944-06-10
1944-06-12
1944-06-13
1944-06-21
1944-06-22
1944-06-24
1944-06-25
1944-07-24
1944-07-25
1944-07-26
1944-07-31
1944-08-06
1944-08-11
1944-08-12
1944-08-14
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
Germany
Great Britain
Norway
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Rutland
England--Wiltshire
France--Argentan
France--Auxi-le-Château
France--Brest
France--Étampes (Essonne)
France--Givors
France--Laon
France--L'Isle-Adam
France--Poitiers
Germany--Augsburg
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Braunschweig
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Munich
Germany--Schweinfurt
Germany--Stuttgart
Norway--Kjeller
Wales--Anglesey
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
14 OTU
1654 HCU
17 OTU
84 OTU
97 Squadron
Air Gunnery School
aircrew
Anson
bombing
bombing of Kassel (22/23 October 1943)
bombing of the Normandy coastal batteries (5/6 June 1944)
bombing of the Pas de Calais V-1 sites (24/25 June 1944)
Botha
Dominie
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Master Bomber
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Operational Training Unit
Pathfinders
Proctor
RAF Bourn
RAF Coningsby
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Desborough
RAF Mona
RAF Silverstone
RAF Upwood
RAF Wigsley
RAF Yatesbury
Stirling
training
Wellington
wireless operator
wireless operator / air gunner
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/530/25990/MShawSR3002545-160211-15.2.jpg
64233735a3dc7bb38205a8314df55045
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
Shaw, Stanley R
S R Shaw
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Shaw, SR
Description
An account of the resource
37 items. An oral history interview with Stanley Shaw (3002545 Royal Air Force) Photographs, documents and his log book. He served with a Repair and Salvage Unit and attended many crashes. He later served in North Africa and the Middle East.
The collection also contains two photograph albums; one of his RAF service and one of his time in a cycle club.
The collection has been licenced to the IBCC Digital Archive by Stanley Shaw and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-01-14
2016-02-11
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
Aircraft Recovered by No 9 Party, 54 MU
Description
An account of the resource
A list of 29 aircraft recovered during 1944-45 by No 9 Party, 54 Maintenance Unit.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Stan Shaw
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One handwritten list
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
MShawSR3002545-160211-15
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
England--Bedfordshire
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Norfolk
England--Suffolk
England--Wiltshire
England--Thurleigh
England--Ely
England--Felixstowe
England--Desborough
England--Northamptonshire
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
1945
B-17
B-24
B-25
Battle
C-47
Halifax
Lancaster
Mosquito
P-51
RAF Bassingbourn
RAF Bourn
RAF Castle Combe
RAF Chedburgh
RAF Desborough
RAF Duxford
RAF Felixstowe
RAF Gransden Lodge
RAF Graveley
RAF Henlow
RAF Hethel
RAF Kimbolton
RAF Martlesham Heath
RAF Mepal
RAF Oakington
RAF Podington
RAF Stradishall
RAF Sutton Bridge
RAF Swannington
RAF Swanton Morley
RAF Tempsford
RAF Upwood
RAF Warboys
RAF Watton
RAF Woodbridge
RAF Wratting Common
Stirling
Walrus
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/520/24264/LLucasWE122826v1.1.pdf
f8b8a2ebb89d539b28a771b379da14f0
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
Lucas, Bill
William Ernest Lucas
W E Lucas
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Lucas, WE
Description
An account of the resource
15 items. Two oral history interviews with Squadron Leader Bill Lucas DFC (1917 - 2018, 1255396 Royal Air Force), his log book, brief memoir and photographs. He served as a pilot with 9, 15, 139 and 162 Squadrons. After the war he ran in the 1948 Olympics.
The collection was catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle.
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
William (Bill) Ernest Lucas was born in Tooting Bec, London on the 16th January 1917, 3 years deep into World War One. Luckily for Bill he was not of age to endure with the fighting in the trenches. However, when Europe was engulfed into another worldwide conflict in 1939, this set way for Bill to become involved with the RAF and IBCC.
Growing up, Bill was an only child and left his school (Bec Grammar School) at the age of 15. He managed to get a job with a printers, which led to his second and only other job at an insurance company called the London and Lancashire. The company’s sports club enabled Bill to find his passion for athletics (especially running) and he was expected to participate in the 1940 Olympics until the war interfered. (https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/30884)
A photo of Bill in his running gear is shown in https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/30865 where he is running down 55 Graham Road in Surrey.
Bill instead competed in the 1948 Olympic Games as the games were also cancelled in 1944 due to World War Two. Luckily the games were hosted in London (https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/london-1948) and Bill had retired from IBCC meaning that he had time to participate.
As seen in ‘Bill Lucas and the 1948 London Olympics’ (1948) https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/30866 Bill managed to come 6th in the Second Heat meaning he was one position off of being in the final on the 2nd August 1948! This collection also includes Bill in his older prime wearing his 1948 Olympic Games jacket and the official Olympic Games programme from 1948.
When Hitler invaded Poland on September 1st 1939, Bill was 22 years old meaning that he was eligible to be part of Great Britain’s Army. Combining Bill’s hatred of the sea and his fathers recent experiences in the trenches, the RAF seemed to be the most compatible choice with Bill. (https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/520/30884/B[Author]LucasWEv10001.jpg)
Bill was not involved in Britain’s mightiest air conflict against Hitler’s Luftwaffe however, instead watching ‘The Few’ defeat the Nazi aircrafts and succeed. Being considered to be Nazi Germany’s first ‘major military defeat’, this allowed for Britain to continue fighting in the war (https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/our-history/anniversaries/battle-of-britain/ and to an extent, allowed Bill to continue his path of becoming an Squadron Leader.
It was November 1940 when Bill started his pilot training, but due to a bomber offensive being the only way to properly counter the Nazis, this was huge not just for Bill but Britain as a whole. There had never been a bomber offensive before in warfare. https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/520/30884/B[Author]LucasWEv10001.jpg
As seen in Bill’s official Pilot’s Log Book: (https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/520/24264/LLucasWE122826v1.1.pdf) his training consisted of being part of 16 Elementary Flying School at RAF Derby from 1940 to 41 , 8 School of Flying Training at RAF Montrose in 1941 and 20 Operational Training Units at RAF Lossiemouth in 1941 . He flew three different types of aircraft during his training, Miles Magister, Miles Master and Wellington I’s.
Bill’s training finally finished in August 1941 and he was posted to his first official squadron, IX Squadron at Honington. Here he flew the Wellington Bomber.
Will Cragg
Record of Service:
4 November 1940- 4 January 1941: 16 Elementary Flying Training School at RAF Derby flying Miles Magisters
9 January- 4 May 1941: 8 School of Flying Training at RAF Montrose flying Miles Masters
31 May 1941- 13 August 1941: 20 Operational Training Units at RAF Lossiemouth flying Wellington I’s
14 August 1941- 4 November 1941: 9 Squadron at RAF Honington flying Wellington III’s
4 November 1941- 30 December 1941: 26 Conversion Fleet at RAF Waterbeach flying Stirling’s
30 December 1941- 1 August 1942: 15 Squadron at RAF Wyton flying Whitley V’s
1 August 1942- 3 August 1942: 218 Conversion Fleet at RAF Marham flying Airspeed Oxfords
4 August 1942- 18 August 1942: 19 Operational Training Units at RAF Kinloss flying Whitley IV’s
19 August 1942- 13 August 1942: 3 Fighter Instructor Schools at RAF Hullavington flying Ansons
17 September 1942- 18 September 1942: 19 Operational Training Units at RAF Kinloss flying Halifax II’s
18 September 1942- 24 October 1944: 19 Operational Training Units at RAF Forres flying Mosquito III’s
30 October 1942- 19 December 1944: 1655 Mosquito Training Unit at RAF Warboys flying Mosquito IV’s
30 October 1944- 19 December 1944: 1655 Squadron at RAF Bourn flying Mosquito XX’s
7 June 1945- 28 June 1945: 162 Squadron at RAF Blackbushe flying Mosquito XXV’S
28 June 1945- 29 January 1946: 139 Squadron at RAF Upwood flying Lancaster III’s
29 January 1946: Station Head Quarters at RAF Upwood flying Mosquito XVI’s
William Cragg
William (Bill) Lucas was born on January 16th, 1917 in Tooting Bec, London. He was educated at Bec Grammar School, and left at the age of 15 to work at a printing company before moving to the insurers London and Lancashire to work as an assessor. While working there, he developed his talent for athletics with the Belgrave Harriers, with his best discipline being the 5000 metres. His goal was to compete at the 1940 Olympic games. However, in 1940, Bill was called up to help the war effort and mindful of his father’s advice to avoid the army and his own dislike of the sea, he chose to join the RAF.
Initially he trained as a fighter pilot on Miles Magisters and Miles Masters, but by the time he had finished training, the Battle of Britain had been won and the need for bomber pilots was more urgent. So, he was reallocated to bombers and trained to fly the Wellington at RAF Lossiemouth. Bill Lucas · IBCC Digital Archive (lincoln.ac.uk)
Following completion of pilot training in August 1941, he was posted to RAF Honington and joined 9 Squadron flying Wellingtons. He flew 14 operational sorties – notably Cologne and Hamburg – before converting to Stirlings at RAF Waterbeach. He then joined 15 (Bomber) Squadron at RAF Wyton, flying the Short Stirling and, by August 1942, Bill had completed a full tour of 30 operational sorties (over 40 operations in total). Bill experienced tense encounters with German defences, having to take evasive action and also getting caught in a cone of five or six searchlights. To get out of the searchlight glare he had to do things with the aircraft which it was never meant to do. Returning from one mission they flew too close to Kiel and the airframe amassed a lot of bullet holes and an alarming loss of fuel. Crossing the North Sea, the tank indicators showed practically nothing and they had to divert into Woodbridge in Suffolk. The groundcrew estimated there was less than twenty-five gallons of fuel left (probably less than 6 minutes of flying time).
He was released from operational duties and was posted to RAF Lossiemouth as a flying instructor. Then in December 1944, he returned to operational flying and was posted to 162 Squadron, part of the Pathfinder force, to fly the Mosquito, an aircraft he described as “a bit quicker and more responsive; a nice aeroplane”. He completed a further 34 operational sorites with 162 Squadron, including missions over Kiel, Berlin, Hannover and Magdeburg. In recognition of his war services, Bill was awarded the DFC and was Mentioned in Despatches.
Squadron Leader Bill Lucas was released from the Service in January 1946 and returned to the insurance job he had left to join the RAF. Eventually, he left the company to become an insurance broker. He also returned to athletics and the Belgrave Harriers; he ran in various internationals and competed for Great Britain in the 5000m at the 1948 London Olympics. Athletics remained with him for the rest of his life and he gave his spare time freely, working in prominent roles in the administration of athletics. He remained a Belgrave Harrier committee member well into his 90s. He became known as “the golden voice of British Athletics” for his many years as stadium announcer at the White City .
In his later years, Bill remained prominent in RAF and Aircrew Associations. He, along with a small Band of Sussex veterans, was instrumental in helping to raise funds for the construction of the Bomber Command Memorial in London’s Green Park and the International Bomber Command Centre.
Chris Cann
1940: Volunteered for the RAF
4 November 1940 – 4 January 1941: RAF Burnaston, No. 16 EFTS, flying Magister aircraft
9 January 1941 – 4 May 1941: RAF Montrose, No. 8 SFTS, flying Master aircraft
31 May 1941 – 13 August 1941: RAF Lossiemouth, No. 20 OTU, flying Wellington aircraft
14 August 1941 – 4 November 1941: RAF Honington, No. 9 Squadron, flying Wellington aircraft
1941: Commissioned into the officer ranks
4 November 1941 – 30 December 1941: RAF Waterbeach, No. 26 Conversion Flight, flying Stirling aircraft
30 December 1941 – 1 August 1942: RAF Wyton, No. 15 Squadron, flying Stirling aircraft
1 August 1942 – 3 August 1942: RAF Marham, 218 Conversion Flight
4 August 1942 – 18 August 1942: RAF Kinloss, No. 19 OTU, flying Whitley aircraft
19 August 1942 – 13 September 1942: RAF Hullavington, No. 3 FTS, flying Oxford aircraft
17 September 1942 – 18 September 1942: RAF Kinloss, No. 19 OTU, flying Whitley and Anson aircraft
18 September 1942 – 24 October 1944: RAF Foress, No. 19 OTU, flying Whitley and Anson aircraft
30 October 1944 – 19 December 1944: RAF Warboys, 1655 MTU, flying Mosquito and Oxford aircraft
19 December 1944 – 7 June 1945: RAF Bourn, 162 Squadron, flying Mosquito aircraft
7 June 1945 – 28 June 1945: RAF Blackbushe, 162 Squadron, flying Mosquito aircraft
28 June 1945 – 29 January 1946: RAF Upwood, 139 Squadron, flying Mosquito and Oxford aircraft
29 January 1946: Released from Service having attained the rank of Squadron Leader.
Chris Cann
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
W E Lucas’ pilots flying log book
Description
An account of the resource
Pilots flying log book for W E Lucas, covering the period from 7 November 1940 to 18 February 1946. Detailing his flying training, operations flown and instructor duties. He was stationed at RAF Derby, RAF Montrose, RAF Lossiemouth, RAF Honington, RAF Waterbeach, RAF Wyton, RAF Alconbury, RAF Kinloss, RAF Hullavington, RAF Forres, RAF Warboys, RAF Bourn, RAF Blackbushe (Hartford Bridge) and RAF Upwood. Aircraft flown in were Magister, Master, Wellington, Stirling, Whitley, Oxford, Anson, Halifax, Mosquito and Lancaster. He flew a total of 67 night operations. 10 with 9 Squadron, 23 with 15 Squadron and 34 with 162 Squadron. Targets were Cologne, Mannheim, Brest, Boulogne, Turin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Genoa, Stettin, Lorient, Lubeck, Stuttgart, Warnemunde, Blaavands Point, Norderney, Essen, Emden, Bremen, Wilhelmshaven, Lemburg, Hanau, Nurnberg, Hannover, Berlin, Magdeburg, Erfurt, Kiel, Dessau and Osnabruck. <span>His first or second pilots on operations were </span>Sergeant Baker, Sergeant Bulford, Pilot Officer Saunders, Sergeant Cross, Sergeant Melville, Sergeant Bond, Sergeant Russell-Colins, Group Captain Kirkpatrick and Squadron Leader Walsh. He also lists his post war flying duties with 139 Squadron.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
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
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LLucasWE122826v1
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.
Denmark
France
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
Netherlands
Poland
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
Denmark--Ribe
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Derbyshire
England--Hampshire
England--Suffolk
England--Wiltshire
France--Boulogne-sur-Mer
France--Brest
France--Lorient
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Dessau (Dessau)
Germany--Emden (Lower Saxony)
Germany--Erfurt
Germany--Essen
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Hanau
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Kiel
Germany--Lübeck
Germany--Magdeburg
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Norderney
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Osnabrück
Germany--Stuttgart
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
Italy--Genoa
Italy--Turin
Netherlands--Limburg
Poland--Szczecin
Scotland--Angus
Scotland--Moray
Germany--Rostock
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940
1941-08-26
1941-08-27
1941-08-29
1941-08-30
1941-09-07
1941-09-08
1941-09-10
1941-09-11
1941-09-12
1941-09-13
1941-09-15
1941-09-16
1941-09-26
1941-09-28
1941-09-29
1941-09-30
1941-10-01
1941-10-20
1941-10-26
1942-03-25
1942-03-26
1942-03-28
1942-03-29
1942-04-28
1942-05-06
1942-05-07
1942-05-08
1942-05-09
1942-05-17
1942-05-18
1942-05-29
1942-05-30
1942-05-31
1942-06-01
1942-06-02
1942-06-03
1942-06-06
1942-06-07
1942-06-19
1942-06-20
1942-06-22
1942-06-23
1942-06-25
1942-06-26
1942-06-29
1942-06-30
1942-07-02
1942-07-03
1942-07-07
1942-07-08
1942-07-09
1944-12-21
1944-12-22
1944-12-23
1944-12-24
1944-12-28
1944-12-29
1945-01-01
1945-01-02
1945-01-03
1945-01-05
1945-01-06
1945-01-07
1945-01-08
1945-01-10
1945-01-11
1945-02-01
1945-02-02
1945-02-03
1945-02-04
1945-02-05
1945-02-06
1945-02-08
1945-02-09
1945-02-10
1945-02-11
1945-02-13
1945-02-14
1945-02-19
1945-02-20
1945-02-21
1945-02-22
1945-03-03
1945-03-04
1945-03-05
1945-03-06
1945-03-07
1945-03-08
1945-03-09
1945-03-10
1945-03-13
1945-03-14
1945-03-15
1945-03-16
1945-03-20
1945-03-21
1945-03-22
1945-03-23
1945-03-27
1945-03-28
1945-04-03
1945-04-04
1945-04-05
1945-04-09
1945-04-10
1945-04-11
1945-04-12
1945-04-20
1945-04-21
1945-04-23
1945-04-24
1945-04-25
1945-04-26
1945-06-04
1945-07-16
1945-09-17
1945-09-21
1946
139 Squadron
15 Squadron
162 Squadron
19 OTU
20 OTU
9 Squadron
aircrew
Anson
bombing
bombing of Cologne (30/31 May 1942)
Cook’s tour
Flying Training School
H2S
Halifax
Lancaster
Magister
mine laying
Mosquito
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
pilot
RAF Alconbury
RAF Bourn
RAF Hartford Bridge
RAF Honington
RAF Hullavington
RAF Kinloss
RAF Lossiemouth
RAF Upwood
RAF Warboys
RAF Waterbeach
RAF Wyton
Stirling
training
Wellington
Whitley
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1297/20292/MBoltonJD67631-170906-01.2.pdf
720ef5ca80dd062d27d51d412648dc93
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
Bolton, J D
Description
An account of the resource
Three items. The collection concerns John Derek Bolton (915543, 67631) and contains two Log books and squadron maintenance log containing a memoir. He flew 80 operations as a pilot with 455, 571, 608 and 162 squadrons.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by David Bolton and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
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
2017-09-06
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
Bolton, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Front of book]
[Page break]
P. = photo
[Underlined] 162 SQUADRON. [/underlined]
[Underlined] CREW STATE. 23RD MARCH,1945. [/underlined]
[Underlined] PILOTS. [/underlined]
W/Cdr. Bolton. DFC.
[Underlined] “A” FLIGHT. [/underlined]
P S/Ldr. Eddy, DSO.
F/Lt. Lucas.
P F/Lt. Bland.
P F/O. Connor, DFC.
P F/Lt. Whitworth.
F/O. Knights, DFM.
P F/Lt. Marson.
P F/Lt. Haden, AFC.
P W/O. Hanley.
P/O. Jones. E.G.
P F/Lt. Finlay, DFM.
F/O. Philip.
P F/Lt. Skillman.
F/O Rawsthorn. DFC.
[Underlined] NAVIGATORS. [/underlined]
P S/Ldr. Waterkeyn.
P F/Lt. Fawcett.
F/O Barnicoat, DFC.
P F/O Layton.
P P/O Chappell.
P F/O Tulloch.
F/S Robjohns.
F/Lt. Forrest, DFC.
P F/S Nichols.
P F/O. Clark. J.
F/Lt Snelling, DFC.
F/S Walker.
P F/O Allsop. DFM.
F/O Kennedy.
P F/O Tempest.
F/O Grant.
[Underlined] ‘B’ FLIGHT [/underlined]
P S/Ldr. MacDermott. DFM.
F/Lt Marshall.
P/O Jones. B.D.
P/O McGown. DFC.
F/O Lowe, DFM.
P/O Inkpen.
P P/O Richards.
P F/O Watt.
P F/Lt Hopkin.
P F/O Spurr.
P F/Lt. Waller.
P F/Lt Abraham.
F/O. Burgess, DFC.
F/O Smith, DFM.
F/Lt Goodman. AFC.
F/Lt McClelland. DFC.
P F/O Morrow.
P F/O Crabb, DFM.
P F/O Hagues, DFC.
P F/O Fisher.
Sgt. Heggie.
F/O Lawrence.
P F/O McGregor.
P P/O Clark. PF.
P F/S Hanrahan.
P F/O Kilpatrick.
P Sgt Grigg.
P F/S Gannon.
F/O Wallis, DFC.
F/O Booth.
F/O Kerr-Jarrett
F/O Sergeant.
P F/Lt. Alexander.
[Page break]
C.O.
[Underlined] No: 162 Squadron. [/underlined]
[Underlined] Date. 8th. April. 1945. [/underlined]
W/Cdr Bolton. DFC. J.D.
[Underlined] ‘A’ Flight. [/underlined]
S/Ldr Eddy. DSO.,DFC W.E.M.
F/Lt Lucas. W.E.
F/Lt Bland. H.V.
F/O Connor. DFC. B.A. {Aus).
F/L Whitworth. J.L.
F/O Knights. DFM. B.M.
F/O Marson. J.
F/Lt Haden. DFC., AFC. F.A.
W/O Henley. W.J.A. (NZ).
F/O Jones. E.G.
F/L Stewart. C.O.
F/L Finlay. DFM. T.
F/O Philip. R.T.
F/L Skillman. D.W.
F/L Rawsthorn. DFC. R.J. (Aus).
[Underlined] NAVIGATORS [/underlined]
S/Ldr. Waterkyn. DFC. S.R.
F/Lt. Fawcett. DFC I.J. (Aus).
F/O. Barnicoat. DFC. I.H.
F/O. Layton. F.
P/O. Chappell. B.W. (Aus).
F/O. Tulloch. W.A. (CAN).
F/Sgt. Robjohns. J.K. (Aus).
F/Lt. Forrest. DFC. H.L. (Can).
F/Sgt. Nichols. D.T. (Aus)
P/O. Clark. J.
F/Lt. Snelling. DFC. R.G.
P/O. Walker. H.G. (Aus).
F/O. Allsop. DFM. G.
F/O. Kennedy. A.E.
F/O. Tempest. K.
F/O. Grant. D.E. (N.Z.)
[Underlined] ‘B’ Flight. [/underlined]
S/Ldr MacDermott. DFM. P.A.C.
F/L Marshall. A.J.
P/O McGown. DFC. W.L.
F/O Lowe. DFM. M.C.
W/O Inkpen. H.
F/O Richards. J.H.B.
P/O Watt. J. (N.Z.)
F/Lt Hopkin. B.H.B.
F/O Spurr. C.W. (Aus).
F/L Waller. R.R. (Aus).
F/L Abraham. G.C.
F/O Burgess. DFC. E.F.
F/O Smith. DFM. P.A.F.
F/O Goodman. AFC. A.P.
F/L McClelland. DFC. D.
F/O. Morrow. DFC. T.M.V.
F/O. Crabb. DFM. J.L.
F/O. Fisher. A.H. (Can).
Sgt. Heggie. A.
F/O. Lawrence. J. (Can).
F/O. McGregor. D.G. (Can).
P/O. Clark. R.F. (Can).
F/Sgt. Hanrahan. I.T. (Aus).
F/O. Kilpatrick. J.P.P.
Sgt. Grigg. W.K.
F/Lt. Gannon. B.H.
F/O. Wallis. DFC. A.G.
F/O. Booth. C.H.
F/O. Kerr-Jarrett. DFC. I.
F/O. Sergeant. R.A.
[Underlined] Tour Expired. [/underlined]
F/O Jones. B.D. (N.Z.)
F/O. Hagues. DFC. A.
F/Lt. Alexander. DFM. J.
[Underlined] Detached. [/underlined]
Swain. D.H.
F/O. Bayon. M.H.
[Page break]
[Underlined] RECOLLECTIONS OF 455 (AUSTRALIAN) SQUADRON [/underlined]
[Underlined] AUGUST 1941 – APRIL 1942 [/underlined]
After nearly 35 years it is difficult to remember much detail, and incidents that stick in one’s mind tend to be personal ‘line-shoots’. The following notes are mainly such recollections and throw regrettably little light on individuals in the Squadron, - either aircrew or ground crew.
From a pilot’s viewpoint the Hampden, as a medium bomber, handled vastly better than the Wellington whose controls seemed to be connected by elastic, or the Whitley which felt a very heavy bomber indeed. Its only vice was something which few people experienced – a kind of spiral descent with the rudders locked hard over, resembling a spin except that it took place in a fairly flat attitude and above stalling speed. It was apparently induced by heavy-footed application of the rudder with little or no bank, and recovery was said to be difficult once the rudders had locked themselves. On one occasion W/Cdr. Sheen at Upper Heyford set out to investigate the phenomenon; I cannot remember what success he had, but he certainly survived the experiment.
In retrospect and the light of subsequent statistics there seems no doubt that Bomber Command‘s effort up to the middle of 1942 was largely a waste of time, money, aircraft and men. Losses were very heavy and results almost negligible. Most navigators, like the rest of us, had little training or experience and there were virtually no aids. Some had a smattering of astro but were seldom able to use it, and D.F. loop aerials were usually out of effective range of suitable stations or subject to ingenious enemy interference. In conditions of cloud and darkness visual pinpoints were infrequent, and most navigation was unaided D.R. – a process not far removed from wishful thinking. There were, of course, spectacular and successful attacks by bomber forces and by individual aircraft, but these were exceptions to the normal routine. One sortie in which we played an inconspicuous but reasonably successful part was to Lubeck (March 28th./29th. 1942); [inserted] Satur 27 [/inserted] conditions were unusual in providing clear moonlight and a coastal target which was easy to identify and almost undefended, so that careful and accurate bombing runs were possible without the distractions of flak and searchlights. When no ground detail was visible one was apt to suppose that the target lay under the heaviest defences, - an assumption sometimes invalidated by elaborate decoys with flak, searchlights, dummy fires and bomb-bursts. Early in 1942 the introduction on a small scale of radar for navigation and target-marking began to change the picture. The first marking efforts may or may not have been accurate but I am afraid our reaction was sceptical – “They think the target is over there; still, they’re not doing too badly tonight”. When 8 Group really got going, however, the situation improved dramatically.
Individual names and vaguely remembered faces:-
W/Cdr. Gyll Murray, the Squadron’s first C.O.; his successor W/Cdr. Lindeman who took things very seriously; Derek French and “Runt” Reynolds the original flight-commanders; later flight-commanders Jimmy Clift and Dicky Banker (whose pipe and old 3-litre Bentley radiated solid invincibility); P/Os Metcalf and Tony Hibell who, with their crews and ourselves formed the initial English contingent; my first crew Sgt. Redwood (a quietly efficient navigator), Sgt. Baynes (a rather lugubrious but always willing wireless-operator) and P/O ‘Twon’ Symonds (who shared my discovery that the inter-comm. was an excellent medium for imitating Robertson Hare, the phrase “Oh Navigator” coming over particularly well); P/Os Mick Martin (of later fame) and Jimmy
[Page break]
Catanach (an irrepressible character); Flt. Lt. Fleming (a gunnery specialist who seemed old enough to be our uncle); P/O Gordon Lind (a cheerful and determined navigator who took Sgt. Redwood’s place). With some interchange through illness or injury, and the loss-rate then prevalent, crew members tended to come and go but P/O Lind put up with me for 25 trips, Sgt. Baynes for 22 and P/O Symonds for 11 (until he was lost with another crew). One can only admire the navigators, wireless-operators and gunners who blithely entrusted themselves to pilots with as little experience as most of us had.
Line-Shoots, (not, I hope, too coloured by the passage of time) :-
[Underlined] Fuel Shortage [/underlined]
Returning from an expedition to Hamburg in our early days (September 15th./16th. 1941) [inserted] Sortie ③ [/inserted] we aimed to re-cross the coast north of the Wash. In due course the coast appeared with a sizable inlet on the port side, and we continued westwards with no anxieties except the readings of the fuel gauges. Searchlights seemed to be playing a new game which we watched with curiosity; several would point vertically upwards and swing down in unison to concentrate on an area ahead of us, repeating this behaviour again and again. At last the penny dropped when we saw what they were illuminating; our inlet was not the Wash but the Humber, and directly ahead was the Hull balloon barrage. A hasty alteration of course saved this situation, but the fuel readings were now very low indeed. None too soon a Drem system appeared, and without waiting for R/T contact we dropped the wheels in a tight circuit, encouraged by a green Verey light from the flare-path. Turning in for the final approach one engine began cutting in and out intermittently and, at the end of the landing run after a rather snake-like arrival, something roared overhead and disappeared.
The place turned out to be Hibalsdstow, a night-fighter station, and after reporting our night’s doings and asking for a message of thanks to be conveyed to the searchlight crews we repaired to the Mess. Over bacon and eggs someone came up and asked whether Twon and I were in the Hampden that had just landed. He proved to be a Beaufighter pilot who had followed us for some time under the hopeful impression that we were hostile, but had fortunately identified us visually. We, to our shame, had not seen him but Hibaldstow was his base and the green light had been intended for him. Dipping the tanks the following morning revealed almost no detectable fuel.
[Underlined] Unthinking Reaction [/underlined]
Apart from the corkscrew at a later date pilots were not taught evasive action, the official view apparently being that such behaviour was unworthy and that the efforts of ground defences should be ignored. When massive bomber streams developed as a defence against radar the collision risk made it essential to fly straight and level; in 1941/2 however we were operating in comparatively small numbers, and early in this period each crew planned its own route to the target. In such conditions it seemed to me foolhardy to sit still while being shot at, although the theory existed that one was as likely to weave into a shell-burst as out of one. Whether or not it was effective the feeling of doing something was of psychological benefit, and I began to ponder the best form of action to take. Radar-controlled flak and searchlights were just coming into use, though some enemy defences still relied on the old method of sound location. (This was well illustrated by the searchlight belt which stretched, as far as I remember, roughly from Hamburg to the Ruhr. It was often possible to cross this belt undetected provided one did so in a glide; as soon as the throttles were opened the searchlights sprang up behind). Whatever system was in use it was evident that the chap on the ground must assess the aircraft’s height, track and groundspeed to have a hope of hitting it, and had shot his bolt once he had pressed the trigger. Thereafter, the aircraft had the time of flight of the shell, which might be 15 seconds or so depending on height) in which to get out of the way. Until the advent of “Boozer” much later in the War there
[Page break]
Was no sense of telling whether anyone was aiming at you, but gun-flashes were easy to distinguish and those some distance away could be ignored. The requirement therefore seemed to be to spot gun-flashes which might have personal intent and, unless on final approach to the target, to vary immediately one’s height, track or groundspeed. (At one stage the Germans were reputed to be cheating in this game by using flashless powder). If all three factors could be changed simultaneously the effect would obviously be greater, and the simplest way of doing this seemed to be a steep diving turn (as beloved by film-producers of the period), subsequently climbing back on course. The penalty was a small change in E.T.A. but no other appreciable effect on navigation, and time on target was not then critical. For want of anything better the same manoeuvre could be used when caught by searchlights, and I therefore set out to react instinctively with a steep diving turn whenever hostile activity was directed at us from the ground. At first the navigator grumbled, since he often had to grub around the floor for his pencils and instruments, but clusters of shell-bursts on our previous track made his concede that there might be something in it.
Disaster, however, nearly resulted from a ‘gardening’ expedition to the channel between the Friesian Islands and the mainland. The mine-laying process involved searching, at 1000 feet or so, until a prominent feature of the coast could be identified immediately below, and making a short timed run from this landmark to the planting point for the ‘vegetable’ which had to be released at controlled speed and a height of about 500 feet, in order that it should not drift too far on its parachute or break up by hitting the water too fast. On this occasion it was dark below cloud-base at about 1200 feet, and while looking for our pin-point we were suddenly coned by several searchlights. I reacted instinctively, and a few seconds elapsed before something occurred to me; we normally lost about 1500 feet in this manoeuvre, but had only started at 1000. The Hampden staggered out of the dive, the searchlights had lost us, being unable to depress sufficiently, but in their light reflected from the cloud we saw wave tops apparently flashing past the window. There was, perhaps, a second to spare.
[Underlined] A Heaven-Sent Opportunity [/underlined]
Some genius, presumably at Bomber Command, proposed that 5 Group Hampdens should help the rapidly vanishing Blenheims in low-level daylight operations, - an employment with a distinctly limited future. The role was filled very successfully by 2 Group Mosquitoes a year or two later, but the Blenheim and Hampden were far too slow and vulnerable for the job.
By way of a start we were given an exercise one afternoon (December 17th. 1941), which involved coming in over the coast and attempting to reach the ‘target’ represented by a level-crossing in East Anglia, without being intercepted by a squadron of Spitfires. The golden phrase at briefing was that we should ‘make use of natural cover’. East Anglia not being rich in mountains and valleys the cover, such as it was, must surely consist of vegetation. The opportunity was too good to be missed, since low flying without good cause was a serious crime.
At the first attempt we crossed the coast off track, and I remember a lighthouse-keeper looking down on us from his balcony. This seemed to be wrong, and we retreated out to sea for another approach. With the right landmarks all seemed to be going well and I settled down to the process of crossing a field, lifting to clear the far boundary and dipping down into the next field. We found that the Hampden’s tin belly made a most satisfying ‘zip’ as it touched the twiggy bits at the top of a tree, and I was enjoying things immensely; the rest of the crew, to their credit, made no comment though Sgt. Baynes from time to time reported sadly “Hit a tree”. I noticed a milkman, apparently startled by our approach, sprinting down someone’s garden path to catch his horse before it bolted.
Near our intended track was a wireless station with fairly tall masts,
[Page break]
and I was anxious not to come on this unexpectedly. Aiming to clear the trees ahead I glanced aside to look for the masts, but lurking behind the line of trees was another much taller one which seemed to fill the entire view when I again looked where we were going. It was too late to do much, and we passed through the upper part of the tree with a splintering crashing sound.
There seemed to be no serious damage and each of the crew confirmed that he was unhurt, except the navigator. This was worrying, as Gordon Lind had been down in the nose below the pilot’s compartment and was not replying on the inter-comm. A slot in the floor by the pilot’s feet communicated with the bomb-aiming compartment and through this slot, while Sgt. Baynes was going forward to investigate, came two bloodstained fingers in rather a rude gesture. Gordon had seen the tree coming and instinctively recoiled, jerking his inter-comm. plug out of its socket as he did so. The perspex nose was smashed, subjecting him to a good deal of wind and noise, but he was fortunately unhurt apart from a cut on the face. We decided at this stage that it was best to go home but a problem arose on arrival, as the throttle would not close fully and the aircraft persistently drifted off the runway. We finally landed at the third attempt, and on reaching dispersal located the trouble. A control-rod inside the tailplane leading-edge had been severed so that one of the twin rudders was no longer connected, and pieces of wood lodged in the engine cowling were jamming part of the throttle linkage.
Feeling rather foolish, and with visions of charges of hazarding one of His Majesty’s aircraft, I was summoned before the C.O. who said simply the briefing should not be taken so literally. Perhaps my impression that he lacked a sense of humour was unjustified. I still have, or had until recently, a twig and fragment of perspex to illustrate this incident, but the low-level daylight Hampden proposal died a natural death.
J.D. Bolton. June, 1976.
[Page break]
[Underlined] No 162 Squadron. [underlined]
[Underlined] CREW STATE. 22nd January 1945. [/underlined]
[Underlined] PILOTS. [/underlined]
W/Cdr Bolton, DFC.
[Underlined] ‘A’ FLIGHT. [/underlined
+ S/Ldr Eddy. DSO.
F/Lt Lucas.
F/Lt Bland.
F/Lt Hutchinson.
F/O Connor. D.F.C.
F/L Whitworth.
F/O Knights. D.F.M.
+ F/O Marson
F/Lt Haden. AFC.
W/O Henley
F/O E.G. Jones.
F/L Stewart.
[Underlined] NAVIGATORS. [/underlined]
S/Ldr Stanbridge.
F/L Alexander D.F.M.
F/O Barnicoat. D.F.C.
F/L Layton. D.F.C.
P/O Bird. D.F.C.
F/S Chappell.
F/O Tulloch.
F/S Robjohns.
F/L Forrest.
F/S Nicholls.
Sgt. Calrk.
F/L Snelling.
F/S Walker.
[Underlined] ‘B’ FLIGHT. [/underlined]
S/Ldr McDermott. DFM.
F/Lt Owen.
+ F/L Marshall.
F/O B.D. Jones.
F/O McGown. DFC.
F/O Lowe. D.F.M.
P/O Way.
W/O Inkpen.
+ F/O Richards.
P/O Watt.
F/Lt Hopkin.
+ F/O Spurr.
F/O Morrow.
F/O Crumplin. D.F.M.
F/O Crabb. DFM.
F/O Hagues.
F/O Fisher.
Sgt Heggie.
Sgt Fossitt.
F/O Lawrence.
F/O McGregor.
F/S Clark.
F/S Hanrahan.
F/O Kilpatrick.
+ Denotes crews on 7 days leave.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 162 SQUADRON [/underlined]
[Underlined] LIGHT NIGHT STRIKING FORCE [/underlined]
MOSQUITO MK. XXV, XX.
BOURN
DECEMBER 18th 1944
[Underlined] BATTLE ORDERS [/underlined]
[Signature]
[Page break]
1 [Underlined] 19.12.44 [/underlined]
3 aircraft
A S/Ldr Eddy
B F/Lt Owen
G W/O Way
Reserve H
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Nav. S/Ldr Stanbridge
Brief Nav. 1400
Brief Main 1445
Coffee & sandwiches 1500
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
[Underlined] 20.12.44 [/underlined] 2
6 aircraft
A S/Ldr Eddy
B F/O Jones
C F/Lt Bland
F W/O Henley
G W/O Way
H F/Lt Owen
Reserve E
O.C. W/Cdr Bolten
Duty Navs. S/Ldt Stanbridge
F/O Tulloch
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
3 [Underlined] 21.12.44 [/underlined]
6 aircraft (3 early Windowers COLOGNE and 3 BONN)
A S/Ldr Eddy
B W/O Henley
C F/Lt Lucas
F F/O Connor
G F/Lt Bland
E F/O Jones
Reserve H
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Tulloch
Meal 1315
Brief Nav. 1400
Brief Main 1500
A very good show all round. Visibility 800 yards for take-off and 1500 yards for return. All aircraft windowed and bombed successfully. Take-off somewhat straggling but should improve. Bombing-up completed only just in time owing to lack of armourers.
F (F/O Connor) lost top hatch on first attempt to take off, but was fitted with another, got off 10 minutes late and reached target with other aircraft. All slightly late due to wind change.
A (S/Ldr Eddy) landed at FORD.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 22.12.44 [/underlined] 4
6 aircraft (3 early windowers and 3 )
E F/O Jones }
F F/Lt Marshall } E.W. 1844
G F/Lt Bland }
B W/O Henley }
C F/O Whitworth }
D P/O McGown }
Reserve H
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Lawrence
F/O Barnicoat
[Deleted] Brief Nav. 1400
Brief Main 1500
Coffee & sandwiches 1515 [/deleted]
Call 2300
Meal 2330
Brief Nav. 0015
Brief Main 0100
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
7 [Underlined] 25.12.44 [/underlined]
[Drawing of a sprig of holly]
[Page break]
SECRET – NOT/WT
[Station Stamp]
[Circled] 14 [/circled]
EMERGENCY
BOU T. BOURNE
GSD T. GRANSDEN
DOW T. DOWNHAM
LTS T. L/STAUGHTON
UPW T. UPWOOD
WTN T. WYTON
WBS T. WARBOYS
V GPH GPH 66/25 ‘O’ ‘O’
FROM PATHFINDERS 1130A
TO ALL P.F.F. STATIONS
SECRET COY BT
C. [Underlined] XMAS PUD AT 1930 [/underlined] (DURATION T.F.N)
22/105 + 25/109 + 14/139 + 15/128 + 15/142 + 14/571 + 140
+ 14/608 + 14/692 + 8/162 + 16/7 + 16/35 + 16/156
+16/405 + 16/582 + 16/635 + 6/1409 + ANY ODDS AND SODS
OF 1655
D. MXEXXX
[Underlined] METHOD [/underlined] WILL BE UNCONTROLLED MUSICAL CHAIRS.
(1) [Underlined] BLIND (DRUNK) MARKERS [/underlined] WILL FURTIVELY MARK THE A/P WITH LIGHT AND DARK BROWN T.I’S FROM TIME TO TIME.
(2) [Underlined] MASTER AND MISTRESS [/underlined] WILL ATTEMPT TO CONTROL THE PARTY (AND THEM SELVES) BUT IF CONDITIONS MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE, THEY WILL RETIRE FROM THE FESTIVITIES.
(3) [Underlined] LONGSTOP. [/underlined] (THE DRUNKEN ? – )
WILL SEE EVERYONE ELSE OFF AND FINALLY STAGGER INTO THE GLOOM SINGING LOUDLY AND UNMUSICALLY.
(4) [Underlined] BACKERS UP [/underlined] WILL DROP IN AT THEIR OWN DISCRETION.
(5) [Underlined] SUPPORTERS [/underlined] WHO [underlined] MUST [/underlined] BE ON TIME, BUT WILL NOT KEEP SOBER, WILL DROP EVERYTHING AND RUN AT THE FIRST SIGN OF ATTACK.
(6) THERE WILL BE NO EARLY RETURN OR CANCELLATION.
ALL CREWS WILL TURN TO PORT AFTER ATTACKING THE TARGETS
(M) [Underlined] BOMBLOADS [/underlined]
2 X 12 FIRKINS + 6 NOGGINS + 1 LONG DELAY (6 TO 36 HOURS)
ALL T.I’S FUSED VERY LOW.
(N1) [Underlined] ROOT [/underlined] BASE – BAR (A/P = PIG’S EAR) – BASE.
(N2) [Underlined] GEE WHIZ [/underlined] (LAVATORY CHAINS NORMAL)
[Underlined] JAY [/underlined] + JOHNNY WALKER
(N3) THE VILLAGE INN WILL BE OPEN.
BT 1130A
OO
TOD 1155A/K.WILCOCK
(COLD SOBER)
OPS
Stn Cdr
105 CO
162 CO √
AS FOR K WITH R
BOU K WITH R
R1200A FER AH
[Page break]
[Underlined] 26.12.44 [/underlined] 8
6 aircraft ( )
E F/O Whitworth }
G W/O Henley } From GRAVELEY
F F/Lt Hutchinson }
A F/O Marson }
B F/O Lowe } From BASE
C F/O Knights }
Reserve H
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr Eddy (Graveley)
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Hagues
F/Lt Alexander (Graveley)
Meal 1300
Brief Nav. 1345
Brief Main 1430
Transport for Graveley 1200
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
9 [Underlined] 27.12.44 [/underlined]
[Deleted] 7 [/deleted] 4 aircraft (E.W. OPLADEN)
E F/O Whitworth }
G W/O Henley } From GRAVELEY
F F/Lt Hutchinson }
A F/O Marson }
B F/O Lowe } From BASE
C F/O Knights }
H F/S Marshall }
No reserve
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr Eddy (Graveley)
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/Sgt Chappell
F/Lt Alexander (Graveley)
Meal [deleted] 1315 2015 [/deleted] 0115 Call 00.45
Brief Nav. [deleted] 1400 2100 [/deleted] 0200
Brief Main [deleted] 1445 2145 [/deleted] 0245
Transport for GRAVELEY 1245
Target changed 3 times and postponed twice. Graveley aircraft finally cancelled owing to ice.
Ground-crew chiefly responsible to very poor take-off. All aircraft very late – one 19 minutes.
H (F/Lt Marshall) and C (F/O Knights) did very well to make up time and arrive punctually on target . Other 2 aircraft late.
A (F/O Marson) had oxygen trouble which may have accounted for poor navigation.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 28.12.44 [/underlined] 10
6 aircraft (FRANKFURT)
E S/Ldr McDermott
A P/O McGown
D F/Lt Lucas
F F/O Connor
G W/O Inkpen
H F/O Jones
No reserve
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Fisher
P/O Bird
Meal 1315
Brief Nav. 1400
Brief Main 1500
G (W/O Inkpen) cancelled. Pitot head u/s and only spare head found also u/s.
A much better take-off and quite a good attack.
E (S/Ldr McDermott) had U.H.F. and generator failure on take-off but bombed target successfully, visually identifying built-up area.
[Page break]
11 [Underlined] 29.12.44 [/underlined]
6 aircraft ( )
A F/Lt Marshall
H F/Lt Owen
B F/O Lowe
F F/Lt Hutchinson
D F/O Knights
E F/O Marson
No reserve
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Nav. S/Ldr Stanbridge
Meal 1315
Brief Nav. 1400
Brief Main 1500
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
[Underlined] 30.12.44 [underlined] 12
10 aircraft (8 HANOVER and 2 spoof DUISBERG)
A S/Ldr Eddy }
H F/Lt Owen } [deleted] 1835 [/deleted] 2050
G F/Lt Marshall }
E F/O Marson }
F F/Lt Hutchinson }
T W/O Inkpen }
B F/O Lowe } 1830
C W/O Way }
U [deleted] R [/deleted] P/O McGwon }
D F/O Knights }
Reserves [deleted U, [/deleted] V
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs, S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/Sgt Chappell
[Underlined] E C [/underlined]
Meal 1315
Brief Nav. 1400 1630
Brief Main 1445 1715
A very good effort on the part of aircrews, but ground crews still disorganised. Armourers late with bombing-up, and several aircraft not filled with oxygen. All aircraft took off exactly on time except T which had no oxygen. Nearly all were on target on time. Both attacks quite successful.
D (F/O Knights) had oxygen trouble and engine failure after leaving target. Returned on one engine and landed at WOODBRIDGE.
G (F/Lt Marshall) swung off flare-path on landing and ended up on belly – apparently undercarriage failure. Crew unhurt.
[Page break]
13 [Underlined] 31.12.44 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (2 E.W. OSTERFELD and 10 BERLIN)
C F/Lt Marshall }
X W/O Way } E.W. 1845
V S/Ldr McDermott }
A F/Lt Lucas }
U F/Lt Owen }
F F/Lt Connor }
Y F/O Jones } 1855
H F/Lt Hutchinson } or 1830
T W/O Inkpen }
E F/O Marson }
R P/O McGown }
B F/O Lowe }
[Grid of START, A/B and S/C times]
Reserves Z,S.
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/Lt Alexander
Meal 1315
Brief Nav. 1400
Brief Main 1445
C, Y, A, and B cancelled – u/s.
A chaotic start, due to aircraft not being ready; some had not even been refuelled. – N.C.O. i/c on a charge. Several which did get off were late, but crews did well to make up time and both attacks were quite successful.
F (F/O Connor) had stbd. engine fail and catch fire at enemy coast. Port engine would not run smoothly above +3lb boost. Bombed near TERSCHELLING and returned to base on port engine at +3lb. boost, WOODBRIDGE being covered with low cloud. Landing excellent in spite of drift.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 1.1.45 [/underlined] 14
10 aircraft (2 E.W. DORTMUND and 8 HANAU)
E F/O Connor }
V F/Lt Marshall } E.W. 1915
A S/Ldr Eddy }
B F/Lt Lucas }
H F/O Knights }
Y F/O Jones }
X F/O Lowe } 1855
R P/O McGown }
U [deleted] Z [/deleted] W/O Way }
T W/O Inkpen }
[Grid of START, A/B and S/C times]
Reserves G, [deleted] U.
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/Lt Forrest
P/O Bird
Brief Nav. 1400
Brief Main 1445
Coffee & sandwiches 1500
A much better take-off, though port engine of Z would not start, apparently due to c/o over-doping as pilot took reserve aircraft, and engine started perfectly immediately afterwards. – Clueless ground crew and pilot. Both attacks successful. Only one Oboe T.I. dropped on HANAU, but all crews saw and bombed it.
H (F/O Knights) early return. Rough running, wavering revs, and loss of power on one engine. Landed WOODBRIDGE.
[Page break]
15 [Underlined] 2.1.45 [/underlined]
10 aircraft (3 E.W. NUREMBURG and 7 BERLIN)
Y F/O Jones }
V F/Lt Owen } E.W. 1930
B F/Lt Lucas }
A S/Ldr Eddy }
S F/Lt Marshall }
C F/Lt Hutchinson }
X F/O Lowe } 1900
G F/O Marson }
R F/O Connor }
Z F/O Knights }
[Grid of START, A/B and S/C times]
Reserves T, U.
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Morris
F/O Lawrence
Brief Nav. 1345
Brief Main 1430
Coffee & sandwiches 1445
Take-off and landing times good – 6 aircraft down in 9 minutes. Both attacks very successful and all aircraft on BERLIN within 2 minutes.
Z (F/O Knights) landed at MANSTON with engine, generator and hydraulic trouble.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 3.1.45 [/underlined] 16
9 aircraft (6 and 3 )
Y F/O Jones } }
B F/Lt Lucas } }
X F/O Lowe } }
V S/Ldr McDermott } }
A F/Lt Hutchinson } } 2200
U F/Lt Owen } }
E F/O Marson } }
T W/O Way } }
R P/O McGown } }
Reserves G, C.
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Lawrence
Meal 1630
Brief Nav. 1715
Brief Main 1800
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break}
17 [Underlined] 4.1.45 [/underlined]
10 aircraft (2 attacks on BERLIN)
V S/Ldr McDermott }
E F/O Marson }
X F/O Owen } 1950
T F/O Connor }
H F/Lt Hutchinson }
Y W/Cdr Bolton }
U F/Lt Marshall }
B F/Lt Lucas } [deleted] 2250 [/deleted] 2350
C F/O Knights }
G W/O Way }
[Grid of START, A/B and S/C times]
Reserves S, Z.
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy
Duuty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/O Hagues
F/O Lawrence
I
Brief Nav. 1500
Brief Main 1545
Coffee & sandwiches 1600
II
Meal 1830
Brief Nav. 1915
Brief Main 2000
B, C, and G cancelled owing to snowstorm at take-off time.
Both attacks ruined by 139 Sqdn’s poor timing and scattered marking.
T (F/O Connor) landed at FOULSHAM due to generator and A.S.I. failure, and icing.
H (F/L Hutchinson) landed at LITTLE SNORING with generator and hydraulic trouble “LARGETYPE” very helpful and ingenious in giving him his fixes.
S/Ldr Stanbridge did trip with oxygen tube in mouth, owing to lack of connecting socket. Passed out near BREMEN when tube fell out, but revived at 14,000’ and navigated successfully to target.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 15.1.45 [/underlined] 18
10 aircraft (4 E.W. HANOVER and 6 BERLIN)
A S/Ldr Eddy }
Y F/O Jones }
B F/Lt Lucas } E.W. 2150
X F/O Lowe }
S F/Lt Marshall }
J F/Lt Bland }
U W/O Way }
C F/O Knights } 2215
V [deleted] Z [/deleted] P/O McGown }
E W/O Henley }
[Grid of START, A/B and S/C times]
Reserves G, [deleted] V [/deleted]
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr McDermott
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Morrow
F/O Crumplin
Meal 1615
Brief Nav. 1700
Brief Main 1745
A very successful night. Take-off still slightly straggled, but both attacks went very well.
[Page break]
19 [Underlined] 6.1.45 [/underlined]
9 aircraft (2 E.W. HANAU and 7 )
S S/Ldr McDermott }
A F/O Marson } E.W. 1900
U F/Lt Owen }
C F/O Knights }
Y F/O Jones }
B F/O Connor }
Z W/O Way }
H F/O Whitworth }
E W/O Henley }
Reserves G, R.
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr Eddy
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Lawrence
F/Sgt Robjohns
Brief Nav. 1400
Brief Main 1445
Coffee & sandwiches 1500
U, C, Y, B, Z, H & E Cancelled – Weather
Both aircraft off on time and both windowed successfully on time. Only glow of markers visible owing to cloud.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 7.1.45 [/underlined] 20
10 aircraft (3 E.W. MUNICH, and 7 HANOVER)
U F/Lt Owen }
H F/O Connor } E.W. 2230
Y F/O Jones }
A S/Ldr Eddy }
V F/Lt Marshall }
B F/Lt Lucas }
Z W/O Way } 2150
C F/O Whitworth }
R [deleted] D [/deleted] W/O Henley }
W F/O Marson }
[Grid of MINS LATE, START, A/B and S/C times]
Reserve [deleted] R [/deleted]
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Layton
F/O Lawrence
Meal 1600
Brief Nav. 1645
Brief Main 1730
Take-off very poor indeed. Only one aircraft on time – B (F/Lt Lucas). C (F/O Whitworth) 22 minutes late owing to frozen snow on airscrews. Last snow had fallen at 1500 hrs. and no attempt had been made to clean it off since then. ‘D’ not refuelled owing to bowser breakdown. Average time late – 7 minutes. ‘Y’ had not been bombed-up. Several aircraft had no dinghies.
H (F/O Connor) took off with pitot-head cover on. Fault of aircrew & groundcrew; rigger on charge. Completed trip & landed at WOODBRIDGE.
R (W/O Henley) sent V.H.F. message saying trouble with fuel feed from main tanks; preparing to abandon aircraft. Aircraft missing, but crew believed safe in HOLLAND.
[Page break]
21 [Underlined] 8.1.45 [/underlined]
6 aircraft ( )
S F/Lt Owen
D F/O Knights
Y F/O Richards
T W/O Inkpen
G F/Lt Bland
J F/O Whitworth
Reserve W
O.C. S/Ldr McDermott
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/O Hagues
Brief Nav. 1415
Brief Main 1500
Coffee & sandwiches 1515
Cancelled – Weather
[Page break]
[Underlined] 9.1.45 [/underlined] 22
8 aircraft ( )
W F/Lt Owen
H F/Lt Whitworth
X F/O Richards
F F/Lt Bland
T W/O Inkpen
C F/O Knights
S P/O Way
E F/O Marson
Reserves A, V.
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Crabb
[Deleted] Brief Nav. 1400
Brief Main 1445
Coffee & sandwiches 1500 [/deleted]
Meal 2030
Brief Nav. 2100
Brief Main 2200.
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
23 [Underlined] 10.1.45 [/underlined]
9 aircraft (HANOVER)
B F/Lt Lucas
V [deleted] U [/deleted] F/Lt Owen
W W/O Inkpen
F F/Lt Whitworth
X F/O Richards
G F/Lt Bland
D F/O Knights
S F/O Jones
E F/O Marson
[Grid of START, A/B and S/C times]
Reserves A, [deleted] V. [/deleted]
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/Lt Alexander
F/Sgt Chappell
Brief Nav. 1400
Brief Main 1445
Meal 1515
X Cancelled- weather doubtful and inexperienced crew.
An excellent show all round. All aircraft off on time in spite of difficult conditions of snow on aerodrome. Attack very successful, and all aircraft on target within 1 minute. Weather very poor for return with low cloud and more snow, but all crews coped very well.
B, W, and D diverted to WYTON.
Remainder landed at base.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 13.1.45 [/underlined] 24
12 aircraft (6 and 6 spoof)
V S/Ldr McDermott }
A F/Lt Whitworth }
Y F/O B. Jones }
C F/O Knights }
U P/O Watt }
G F/Lt Bland }
S F/Lt Marshall }
F F/O Connor }
X F/O Richards } Spoof 2245
B F/O E. Jones }
T W/O Inkpen }
E F/Lt Haden }
Reserves D, W.
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Crumplin
F/O Barnicoat
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
25 [Underlined] 14.1.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (4 E.W. MERSEBURG and 8 BERLIN)
V S/Ldr McDermott }
S F/O Spurr }
F F/O Connor }
T F/O Richards }
U P/O Watt } 2100
H [deleted B [/deleted] F/Lt Haden }
Y F/Lt Hopkin }
A F/Lt Stewart }
D F/Lt Whitworth }
B [deleted] C [/deleted] F/O Knights }
X P/O Way } E.W. 0001
G F/Lt Bland }
Reserves [deleted] H, [/deleted] Z
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr Eddy
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Crabb
F/O Crumplin
[Underlined] E.W. Others. [/underlined]
Meal 1845 1545
Brief Nav. 1915 1615
Brief Main 2000 1700
A very good effort especially by new crews. Take-off good in spite of being very rushed owing to H hour being brought forward. Marking on BERLIN very scattered and defences mor effective than of late. MERSEBURG aircraft off rather late owing to last-minute change of flare-path. Attack successful.
T (F/O Richards) returned on one engine from BERLIN and landed at FRISTON. – A very good effort for his 1st operation.
4 aircraft hit by flak.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 16.1.45 [/underlined] 26
12 aircraft (3 E.W. and 9 )
F F/O Connor }
C F/O Lowe } E.W. [deleted] 2030 2115 [/deleted] 2215
V F/O Spurr }
A S/Ldr Eddy }
Y F/Lt Hopkin }
B F/Lt Stewart }
W P/O McGown } [Deleted] 2030 2040 2140 [/deleted] 0030
G F/Lt Bland }
S F/Lt Marshall }
H F/Lt Haden }
U F/Lt Owen }
E F/Lt Whitworth }
Reserves D, X
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/Lt Forrest
F/O Morrow
Meal [deleted] 1500 [/deleted] 1515 1900
Brief Nav. [deleted] 1530 [/deleted] 1600 1945
Brief Main [deleted] 1615 [/deleted] 1645 2030
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
27 [Underlined] 17.1.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (MAGDEBURG)
A S/Ldr Eddy
U F/Lt Owen
C F/Lt Bland
W P/O McGown
B F/Lt Whitworth
Y F/Lt Hopkin
H F/Lt Haden
Z F/O Richards
D F/Lt Stewart
X F/O Lowe
E F/O Marson
S F/Lt Marshall
[Grid of START, A/B and S/C times]
Reserves F, V
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Morrow
F/Sgt Clark
CALL 2359
MEAL 0030
BRIEF 0115
Brief Nav. 1415
Brief Main 1500
Coffee & sandwiches 1515
Take-off very poor but attack successful. Fires still burning in larger area from attack on previous night by heavies. Nearly all aircraft hampered for speed and height apparently by icing and some were late owing to this.
S (F/Lt Marshall) found incorrect wind and used it, with result that he saw no T.Is and returned 30 minutes early.
C (F/Lt Bland) landed at WOODBRIDGE with electrical trouble, changed batteries, and returned to base.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 18.1.45 [/underlined] 28
12 aircraft (STERKRADE)
F F/O Connor
X F/O Lowe
B F/Lt Haden
V F/O Richards
E F/O Marson
W F/O Spurr
G F/Lt Stewart
U P/O Watt
A F/Lt Hutchinson
Z P/O Way
D F/Lt Whitworth
S F/Lt Marshall
Reserves H, Y
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr McDermott
Duty Navs. F/L Alexander
F/O Morrow
F/Sgt Robjohns
Meal 1930
Brief Nav. 2015
Brief Main 2100
Take-off 2 minutes late. Attack a complete wash-out owing to 10/10 cloud up to 25,000’ A few crews caught glimpses of T.Is which disappeared immediately and all bombed on GEE. Weather very rough for return but all crews coped very well.
[Page break]
29 [Underlined] 19.1.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (2 E.W. and 10 )
S F/O Spurr }
Y P/O Watt } E.W.
A S/Ldr Eddy }
V S/Ldr McDermott }
E F/O Knights }
Z P/O Way }
D F/O Connor }
X F/Lt Marshall }
B F/Lt Hutchinson }
U F/Lt Owen }
G F/Lt Bland }
W P/O McGown }
Reserves C, H
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/Lt Forrest
Sgt Heggie
Meal 1515
Brief Nav. 1600
Brief Main 1645
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
[Underlined] 20.1.45 [/underlined] 30
12 aircraft (6 spoof , and 6 )
U F/Lt Owen }
E F/O Marson }
J F/O Spurr }
G F/Lt Bland } Spoof [deleted] 2045 [/deleted] 2345
X P/O Watt }
F F/O Connor }
S P/O Way }
D F/Lt Stewart }
W P/O McGown }
C F/Lt Haden }
Y F/Lt Hopkin }
A F/Lt Hutchinson }
Reserves H, V
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O McGregor
F/Sgt Robjohns
[Underlined] Spoof Remainder [/underlined]
Meal 1830 1430
Brief Nav. 1915 1500
Brief Main 2000 1545
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
31 [Underlined] 21.1.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft ([Deleted] 3 E.W. [/deleted] and [deleted] 9 spoof [/deleted] 12 KASSEL)
D F/Lt Hutchinson } }
J F/O Spurr } } [deleted] E.W. 0015 [/deleted]
H F/Lt Haden } }
B S/Ldr Eddy } }
S F/Lt Marshall } }
E F/O Marson } }
X F/O Richards } } [deleted] Spoof oo25 [/deleted] 2030
F F/O Connor } }
Y F/Lt Hopkin } }
G F/Lt Bland } }
W P/O McGown } }
U F/Lt Owen } }
Reserves C, V
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Tulloch
Sgt Fossitt
Meal [deleted] 1900 [/deleted] Brief Nav 1615
Brief Nav. [deleted] 1945 [/deleted] Brief Main 1700
Brief Main [deleted] 2030 [/deleted] Coffee & sandwiches 1715
Take-off very rushed owing to fooling about with targets, routes, times, winds, etc. Crews had only 10 minutes from end of briefing to get into aircraft, but coped very [inserted] well [/inserted] and only P/O McGown was late off. Attack very successful with marking concentrated at first though becoming a little scattered. Too much backchat on R/T during landing.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 22.1.45 [/underlined] 32
12 aircraft (3 E.W. DUISBURG, 3 E.W. GELSENKIRCHEN, and 6 HANOVER)
V S/Ldr McDermott }
C F/O E. Jones } E.W. 2000
W W/O Inkpen }
A F/Lt Hutchinson }
Y F/O B. Jones } E.W. [deleted] 2015 [/deleted] 2230
H F/O Haden }
G F/Lt Bland }
U P/O Watt }
D F/Lt Whitworth }
S P/O Way } 1915
E F/Lt Stewart }
X F/O Lowe }
Reserves B, J
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Barnicoat
F/Sgt Hanrahan
[Underlined] E.W.1 E.W.2. Remainder. [/underlined]
Meal 1500 1745 1415
Brief Nav. 1545 1830 1445
Brief Main 1630 1915 1530
A very successful night. All 3 take-offs quite good and all attacks successful. 2 excellent ground-detail photographs from S/Ldr McDermott on DUISBURG, and one from W/O Inkpen
V (S/Ldr McDermott) 2 miles 205° from A.P. heading S.W.
W (W/O Inkpen) 3 3/4 miles 310° from A.P. heading S.E.
[Page break]
33 [Underlined] 23/1/45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft ( )
B F/Lt Lucas
J P/O McGown
H F/O Connor
V P/O Watt
D F/Lt Whitworth
X F/Lt Hopkin
A F/O E. Jones
Z P/O Way
E F/Lt Stewart
Y F/O B. Jones
K F/O Knights
U F/Lt Owen
Reserves [deleted] G, [/deleted] S
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Layton
Meal [deleted] 2359 [/deleted] 1400
Brief Nav. [deleted] 0030 [/deleted] 1445
Brief Main [deleted] 0115 [/deleted] 1530
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
[Underlined] 24.1.45 [/deleted] 34
12 aircraft ( )
B F/Lt Lucas
U F/Lt Owen
H F/Lt Haden
J P/O McGown
A F/O E. Jones
V W/O Inkpen
E F/Lt Stewart
X F/O Lowe
F F/O Connor
Z P/O Way
D F/Lt Whitworth
Y F/Lt Hopkin
Reserves G, S
O.C. S/Ldr McDermott
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Morrow
Meal 1415
Brief Nav. 1500
Brief Main 1545
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
35 [Underlined] 27.1.45 [/underlined]
8 aircraft ( )
B F/Lt Lucas }
J P/O McGown }
F F/O Connor }
Z P/O Way }
D F/Lt Whitworth } 1910
U W/O Inkpen }
C F/O Knights }
Y F/Lt Hopkin }
Reserves E, V.
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Morrow
Meal 1415
Brief Nav. 1445
Brief Main 1530
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
[Underlined] 28.1.45 [/underlined] 36
12 aircraft (2 spoofs MAINZ and 10 BERLIN)
E F/Lt Stewart }
B F/O Connor } Spoof 2018
S [deleted] V [/deleted] W/Cdr Bolton }
A F/Lt Hutchinson }
Y F/O B. Jones }
C F/O Knights }
W P/O McGown }
D F/Lt Whitworth } 2040
Z F/Lt Hopkin }
J W/O Inkpen }
U [deleted] S X [/deleted] F/O Lowe }
G F/Lt Bland }
Reserves [deleted] S U [/deleted], H
O.C. S/Ldr McDermott
Duty Navs. F/O Morrow
F/O Barnicoat
Meal 1500
Brief Nav. 1545
Brief Main 1630
V cancelled – u/s and all reserves.
Take-off quite good in both cases, and attacks fairly successful. Crews need to estimate their own positions for making calls on circuit to speed up landing procedure. Present average landing interval 2 mins between aircraft.
W (P/O McGown) damaged tailplane through swinging when running up without chocks on dispersal. – His 2nd accident through carelessness. Group suggest course at Sheffield.
[Page break]
37 [Underlined] 29.1.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (8 BERLIN and 4 spoof)
B F/Lt Lucas }
Y F/O B. Jones }
D F/Lt Whitworth } [Deleted] 1945 [/deleted] 2145
V F/Lt Hopkin }
H {deleted] A [/deleted] F/Lt Hutchinson }
X P/O McGown }
G F/O E. Jones }
U P/O Watt } [Deleted] 1935 2005 or 1905 [/deleted] 1935
E F/Lt Stewart }
Z P/O Way }
K {deleted] C [/deleted] F/O Knights }
J W/O Inkpen }
[Grid of START, A/B and S/C times]
Reserves [deleted] H, [/deleted] S, C
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
Sgt Clark
F/Sgt Nicholls
Spoof
Meal 1400 1615
Brief Nav. 1445 1700
Brief Main 1530 1745
Spoof cancelled – Weather
Take-off spoilt by Spitfire making an emergency landing, followed by Stirling landing without permission. Attack quite successful but all aircraft diverted to MANSTON owing to snowstorm at base.
G (F/O E. Jones) landed at BRADWELL BAY.
All others landed at MANSTON.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 31.1.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (4 spoof and 8 )
B F/Lt Lucas }
W F/O Spurr }
C F/Lt Bland } Spoof 0245
A F/Lt Hopkin }
S F/Lt Marshall }
F F/O Marson }
Z P/O Way }
G F/O E. Jones }
V F/O Lowe }
D F/Lt Whitworth }
T F/O Richards }
Y F/O B. Jones }
Reserves
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr Eddy
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/Sgt Nicholls
Sgt Clark
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
39
[Underlined] SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 1945 [/underlined]
OPERATIONAL NIGHTS 14
NUMBER OF ATTACKS 23
AIRCRAFT CALLED FOR 133
AIRCRAFT DESPATCHED 128
CANCELLED BY UNIT (WEAHTER) 4
CANCELLED BY UNIT (SERVICEABILITY) 1
EARLY RETURNS 1
OTHER ABORTIVE SORTIES 1
ENGINE FAILURES 2
AIRCRAFT DAMAGED BY ENEMY ACTION 5
AIRCRAFT DAMAGED BY ACCIDENTS 4 (minor airframe damage)
AIRCRAFT MISSING 1 {crew safe)
CREWS AIRCRAFT
STRENGTH AT BEGINNING OF MONTH 18 16
STRENGTH AT END OF MONTH 22 18
TARGETS ATTACKED BERLIN 7
HANOVER 4
HANAU 2
DORTMUND 1
DUISBURG 1
GELSENKIRCHEN 1
KASSEL 1
MAGDEBURG 1
MAINZ 1
MERSEBURG 1
MUNICH 1
NUREMBURG 1
STERKRADE 1
PROMOTIONS:- F/O WHITWORTH to F/LT
F/LT OLSEN to A/S/LDR on posting to 163 Squadron.
COMMISSIONS:- W/O WAY
DECORATIONS:- S/LDR STANBRIDGE D.F.C.
F/LT DOWNES (Adjutant) D.F.C.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 1.2.45 [/underlined] 40
⑱ aircraft (2 spoof DUISBURG, 10 BERLIN I, and 6 BERLIN II)
K [deleted] G [/deleted] F/Lt Bland }
W F/O Spurr } Spoof 1905
F S/Ldr Eddy }
Z F/Lt Hopkin }
H [deleted] D [/deleted] F/Lt Whitworth }
Y F/O B. Jones }
A F/O Marson }
V F/O Lowe }
B F/Lt Lucas } [Deleted] 1955 [/deleted] 2025
T F/O Richards }
C F/O E. Jones }
S F/Lt Marshall }
D [deleted] H [/deleted] F/Lt Hutchinson }
J P/O McGown }
K F/O Knights }
U P/O Watt } [Deleted] 0230 [/deleted] 0400
E F/Lt Stewart }
Z P/O Way }
[Grid of START, A/B and S/C times]
No reserves
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
Sgt. Clark
F/O Lawrence
I II
Meal 1415 [deleted] 2045 [/deleted] 2245
Brief Nav. 1500 [deleted] 2130 [/deleted] 2330
Brief Main 1545 [deleted 2215 [/deleted 0015
D cancelled Swung & bogged on take-off. Reserve u/s.
A disastrous night. One aircraft failed to take off, one returned early and 3 were damaged in accidents. Attacks fairly successful.
D (F/Lt Hutchinson) swung on take-off and bogged. Got into reserve aircraft but found petrol cocks jammed.
W (F/O Spurr) taxied into gun-pit – sheer carelessness.
Z (P/O Way) apparently forgot flaps, came in much too fast, overshot and finished up on belly – also carelessness.
K (F/O Knights) early return. Landed WOODBRIDGE where tail-wheel collapsed.
[Page break]
41 [Underlined 2.2.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (2 E.W. WANNE EICKEL, 4 spoof MANNHEIM, and 6 MAGDEBURG)
H F/O Bland }
U F/O Spurr }
F F/Lt Hutchinson }
V F/Lt Marshall } 2000
B F/Lt Lucas }
T F/O Richards }
G F/O B. Jones }
E F/O Marson } E.W. [deleted] 2215 [/deleted] 2345
D F/Lt Witworth }
Y F/Lt Hopkin }
C F/O E. Jones } Spoof [deleted 2224 [/deleted] 2354
S F/O Lowe
[Grid of START, A/B and S/C times]
No reserve
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr Eddy
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/Lt Alexander
F/O Lawrence
[Underlined] I E.W. & Spoof [/underlined]
Meal 1445 [deleted] 1715 [/deleted] 1830
Brief Nav. 1515 [deleted] 1800 [/deleted] 1915
Brief Main 1600 [deleted] 1845 [/deleted] 2000
A very successful night. Take-off the best so far, and landing times also very good. All crews on MAGDEBURG claim to have bombed within 15 seconds of H hour.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 3.2.45 [/underlined] 42
10 aircraft (4 OSNABRUCK, 2 E.W. BOTTROP, and 4 spoof OSNABRUCK)
Y W/Cdr Bolton }
D [deleted] F [/deleted] F/Lt Stewart }
V P/O McGown } [Deleted] 1940 [/deleted] 1925
C F/O Knights }
A F/Lt Lucas }
T F/O Richards } E.W. [deleted] 1915 [/deleted] 1930
G F/Lt Bland }
U P/O Way }
E F/O Marson } [Deleted] Spoof 1910 [/deleted] 1925
S F/Lt Marshall }
Reserves [deleted] D, J, [/deleted] H Z
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/Lt Snelling
F/O Kilpatrick
Meal [deleted] 1415 1445 [/deleted] 1430
Brief Nav. [deleted] 1445 1530 [/deleted] 1515
Brief Main [deleted] 1530 1615 [/deleted] 1600
A very good take-off and both attacks successful. All aircraft late on target at OSNABRUCK but markers late as well, due to wind change. G, U, E and S dropped green T.Is, well grouped with 139’s yellows. Visibility very poor for return due to smoke haze. Camera serviceability much improved, and only one electrical failure. 8 photographs of T.Is out of 10 attempts.
D (F/Lt Stewart) swung on take-off, but taxied back very quickly and got off on time. This aircraft seems to have a marked tendency to swing.
[Page break]
43 [underlined] 4.2.45 [/underlined]
11 aircraft (3 E.W. BONN, and 8 HANOVER)
A S/Ldr Eddy }
T P/O McGown } E.W. [deleted] 1945 2028 [/deleted] 2045
E F/Lt Stewart }
W [deleted] Z [/deleted] F/Lt Hopkin }
H F/Lt E. Jones }
Y F/Lt B. Jones }
C F/O Knights } [Deleted] 1940 1940 [/deleted] 1940
U P/O Way }
B F/Lt Whitworth }
S F/O Spurr }
V F/O Lowe }
[Grid of START, A/B and S/C times]
Reserves [deleted G [/deleted] F,J
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. [deleted] S/Ldr Stanbridge [/deleted]
F/Lt Alexander
F/O McGregor
F/Sgt Nicholls
Meal 1415
Brief Nav. 1500
Brief Main 1545
Take-off again excellent. Aircraft windowed successfully at BONN, but cloud interfered with heavies’ attack. HANOVER attack spoilt by 139 Sqdn. dropping the first T.I., the only one on time – in the wrong place, apparently on NIENBURG.
T (P/O McGown) steered the wrong course after leaving the target and arrived back 54 minutes late – not a very bright effort.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 5.2.45 [/underlined] 44
12 aircraft (3 spoof, and 9 BERLIN)
Y F/O B. Jones }
F F/Lt Stewart } Spoof
J F/O Spurr }
A F/Lt Lucas }
U F/O Richards }
D F/Lt Whitworth }
V F/O Lowe }
E F/O Marson }
Z F/Lt Hopkin }
[Deleted] S [/deleted] G F/Lt Bland }
S F/Lt Marshall }
H F/O E. Jones }
Reserves C, W
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
P/O Bird
Sgt Fossitt
Meal [deleted] 1830 1845 [/deleted] 1945
Brief Nav. [deleted] 1915 1930 [/deleted] 2030
Brief Main [deleted] 2000 2015 [/deleted] 2115
Spoof cancelled – Weather.
Remainder – Take-off rather ragged and attack spoilt by cloud up to 27,000’. A few crews caught glimpses of Tis and bombed their glow. The others had trouble with Loran and bombed on D.R.
[Page break]
45 [Underlined] 6.2.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (6 and 6 )
B F/Lt Lucas }
W P/O Way }
E F/O Marson }
V F/O Lowe } 0100 to 0200
G F/Lt Bland }
Y F/O B. Jones }
S [deleted] Z [/deleted] F/Lt Marshall }
C F/O Knights }
J F/O Spurr }
H F/Lt Hutchinson } 0100 to 0200
T F/O Richards }
F F/Lt Stewart }
Reserves D, [deleted] S [/deleted] Z
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr Eddy
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/O Fisher
F/Sgt Hanrahan
Meal 2030
Brief Nav. 2115
Brief Main 2200
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
[Underlined] 7.2.45 [/underlined] 46
12 aircraft (8 E.W. CLEVE and bomb DUISBURG and 4 MAGDEBURG)
G F/Lt Bland }
[Deleted S [/deleted] W F/Lt Marshall }
C F/O E. Jones }
V F/O Lowe }
A F/O Marson } E.W. [deleted] 2000 [/deleted] 2200
T F/O Richards }
D F/Lt Whitworth }
J F/O Spurr }
B F/Lt Hutchinson }
Y F/O B. Jones } 1950
F F/O Connor }
U [deleted] Z [/deleted] W/O Inkpen }
Reserves H, [deleted] U [/deleted]
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/O Fisher
Sgt Fossitt
Meal 1445
Brief Nav. 1515
Brief Main 1600
Take-off good. Attacks on CLEVE and DUISBURG successful. Nothing visible at MAGDEBURG, owing to 10/10 cloud from 31,000’ to below 19,000’, but all crews bombed on Loran.
[Page break]
47 [Underlined] 8.2.45 [/underlined]
10 aircraft (E.W. [deleted] WNNE EICKEL [/deleted] WANNE EICKEL and [deleted] bomb [/deleted] 6 BERLIN, [deleted] and 6 [/deleted] )
Y F/O B. Jones }
F F/O Connor } E.W. [deleted] 2030 [/deleted] 0400
U W/O Inkpen }
A F/Lt Hutchinson }
V S/Ldr McDermott }
C F/O E. Jones }
T {deleted] S [/deleted] F/O Spurr } 2230.
B F/Lt Lucas }
Z P/O Way }
D [deleted] E [/deleted] F/Lt Whitworth }
Reserves E, G, J.
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy
Duty Navs. [deleted] S/Ldr Stanbri [/deleted]
F/Lt Alexander
F/Lt Fawcett
F/O McGregor
1st Meal [deleted] 1700 1630 [/deleted] 17.00
Brief Nav. [deleted] 1715 [/deleted] 17.45
Brief Main [deleted] 1800 [/deleted] 18.30
2nd Meal [deleted] 23.00 [/deleted] 00.30
Brief Nav. [deleted] 23.45 [/deleted] 01.45
Brief Main [deleted] 00.30 [/deleted] 02.00
Take off on Berlin spoilt by F/O E. Jones who took off 10 mts early! Rest of 1st take off good. A very good raid on Berlin, all our crews bombed very nearly on time, and reported exceptionally good marking by 139.
On 2nd take off 3 a/c off on time, but W/O Inkpen got boged [sic] leaving dispersal, got off late in Res a/c (25 mts late) & was late on E W run but bombed successfully.
A good raid.
[Page break]
48
12 aircraft (3 EW and bomb, and 9 )
V S/L McDermott. }
F F/O Connor. } E W 22.30
J F/P Spurr. }
B F/L Lucas. }
S F/L Marshall. }
E F/O Marson. }
Z P/O Way. }
C F/O E. Jones. } 20.00
U F/O Lowe. }
D F/L Whitworth. }
T F/O Richards. }
G F/L Bland. }
Reserves H & Y.
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy.
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge.
F/L Fawcett.
Meal 15.00
Brief Nav. 15.45
Brief Main 16.30
E.W. Meal 17.30
Brief Nav. 18.15
Brief Main 19.00
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
49 [Underlined] 10.2.45. [/underlined]
12 aircraft [deleted] 2 E W on HANOVER and 10 [/deleted]
B F/L Lucas }
Z P/O Way } [deleted] E W 19.30 [/deleted] 23.30
A S/L Eddy }
T F/O Richards. }
E F/O Marson. }
W P/O McGowan. }
C F/L Hutchinson } 23.30
U F/L Lowe. }
F F/O Connor }
J W/O Inkpen. }
G F/L Bland. }
S F/L Marshall. }
Reserves D.Y.
O.C. S/Ldr McDermott.
Duty Nav. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/L Alexander .
F/O Morrow.
Meal ① 14.45 ② 23.00
Brief Nav. 15.15 23.45
Brief Main. 16.00 00.30
Take off good and attack very successful. All a/c bombed between -1 & +2 except one with instrument trouble, which bombed at H+5. A good concentration of Red T.Is. All a/c stacked over base [inserted] on return [/inserted] while 105 took off. Landing v. good, but unnecessarily noisy (on VHF)
[Page break]
[Underlined] 11.2.45. [/underlined] 50
12 aircraft. [Deleted] HANOVER [/deleted]
Z [Deleted] P/O Way. [/deleted] F/O B. Jones }
B F/L Lucas } EW [deleted] 22.00 [deleted] 03.00
V S/L McDermott. }
D F/L Whitworth. }
W P/O McGowan }
[Deleted] A [/deleted] E F/O Marson. }
T F/O [deleted] B. Jones. [/deleted] Richards }
G F/L Bland. } 03.50
J F/O Spurr. }
[Deleted] H [/deleted] H F/O E. Jones. }
U P/O Watt. }
A F/L Hutchinson. }
Reserves [deleted] H.C. [/deleted] S.C.
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy.
Duty Nav. S/Ldr Stanbridge.
F/L Alexander.
Sgt. Clark.
Call 22.00
Meal 19.00 22.30
Brief Nav. 19.45 23.15
Brief Main 20.30 24.00
Cancelled.
Weather
[Page break]
51 13.2.45.
12 aircraft 8 on [deleted] Magdeburg [/deleted] MAGDEBURG, 2 EW on [deleted] Bӧhlen [/deleted] BOHLEN, 2 spoof on [deleted] Bonn [/deleted] BONN.
U [deleted] B F/L Lucas. [/deleted] P/O Watt } GQ 1514
J F/O Spurr. } E.W. 22.00
S F/L Marshall. }
H F/O E. Jones. } Spoof. [deleted] 20.45 [/deleted] 00.20
Y F/O B. Jones. }
D F/L Whitworth. }
T. F/O Richards. }
E F/O Marson. }
V W/O Inkpen. } [Deleted] 21.45. [/deleted] 21.55
F F/O Connor. }
B {deleted] U P/O Watt. [/deleted] F/L Lucas }
A F/L Hutchinson. }
Reserves W. (normal) G (Tis)
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy.
Duty Nav. S/Ldr Stanbridge.
F/L Fawcett.
Sgt. Heggie.
F/O Morrow.
Meal [deleted] 16.00 [/deleted] ① & E.W. 16.30 Spoof. 19.15.
Brief Nav. [deleted] 16.45 [/deleted] 17.15 20.00
Brief Main [deleted] 17.30 [/deleted] 18.00 20.45
Off 19.30 22.20
Take off and landing excellent.
A very good attack on Magdeburg, our a/c on time, marking concentrated.
Aircraft windowed successfully at Bonn, but the Spoof at Bӧhlen was spoilt by high cloud. Tis went out of sight at once.
[Page break]
14.2.45. 52
12 aircraft. 6 on [deleted] Berlin [/deleted] BERLIN 6 on [deleted] Dessau [/deleted] DESSAU.
1. V S/L McDermott. }
B [deleted] H [/deleted] F/O E. Jones. }
Y F/O B. Jones. }
D F/L Whitworth. } 21.00
T W/O Inkpen.}
A F/L Hutchinson. }
[Deleted] F F/O Connor. [/deleted]
2. Z F/O Lowe }
G F/L Bland }
U P/O Watt. } [Deleted] 01.50 [/deleted] 00.20
[Deleted] E [/deleted] F F/O Connor. }
[Deleted] F/L Hutchinson. [/deleted] }
C W/O Henley. }
W P/O McGowan. }
Reserves. [Deleted] EB. [/deleted] S or J.
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy.
Duty Nav. S/Ldr Stanbridge.
F/O Kilpatrick.
F/O Barnicoat
Meal (1) 16.00 (2) 19.15
Nav. Brief 16.45 20.00
Main Brief 17.30 20.45
Take off and landing on both attacks excellent. Only two markers dropped on Berlin, our a/c bombed the floaters the Tis were not seen owing to cloud. A fairly good attack.
The attack on Dessau was also fairly good although the Tis rapidly disappeared in cloud.
[Page break]
53 15.2.45.
12 aircraft, 4 on Mannheim, 8 on Berlin.
F F/O Connor. }
Z W/O Inkpen. }
D F/L Stewart. } 19.35.
W P/O McGowan. }
A S/L Eddy }
S F/L Marshall. }
E F/O Marson. }
T F/O Richards. }
B F/L Lucas. } 20.00
Y F/L Hopkin. }
G F/O Knights }
J F/O Spurr. }
Res. H. [deleted] K. [/deleted] V.
O.C. S/Ldr McDermott.
Duty Nav. S/Ldr Stanbridge.
F/S Nichols.
F/S Clark.
Sgt Grigg.
Meal 14.30
Brief Nav. 15.15
Brief Main 16.00
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
16.2.45. 54
12 aircraft.
J F/O Spurr }
F F/L Stewart }
W P/O McGowan. } [Deleted] 19.35 [/deleted] 04.40
A F/L Hutchinson. }
Y F/O B. Jones. }
F F/O Marson. }
T F/O Richards. }
B F/L Lucas. }
Z F/L Hopkin. } [Deleted] 20.05 [/deleted] 04.40
D F/O Knights }
U P/O Watts. }
G F/O E. Jones. }
Reserves H. V.
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy.
S/Ldr McDermott.
Duty Nav. S/Ldr Stanbridge.
F/O Crabb.
F/L Fawcett.
Call 23.00
Meal [deleted] 14.30 [/deleted] 23.30
Brief Nav [deleted] 15.15 [/deleted] 00.00
Brief Main [deleted] 16.00 [/deleted] 00.45
Off 02.10
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
55 17.2.45.
12 aircraft
J F/O Spurr. }
H F/L Stewart }
Y F/L Hopkin. } 19.35
B F/L Hutchinson. }
A S/Ldr Eddy. }
V F/L Marshall. }
E F/O Marson. }
Z W/O Inkpen. }
G F/O Connor. } 20.05
W F/O Watt }
D F/O Knights. }
T F/O Richards. }
Reserves [deleted] X [/deleted] Y. W. X.
O.C. S/Ldr McDermott.
Duty Nav S/Ldr Stanbridge.
F/L Snelling.
F/S Nichols.
Meal 14.30.
Brief Nav 15.15
Brief Main 16.00
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
[Underlined] 18.2.45 [/underlined] 56
8 aircraft ( )
V S/Ldr McDermott
B F/Lt Lucas
Y F/O B. Jones
F F/O Connor
W P/O McGown
C F/O E. Jones
U P/O Watt
H W/O Henley
Reserves A, J
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/Sgt Nicholls
Meal 1415
Brief Nav. 1500
Brief Main 1545
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
57 [Underlined] 19.2.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft ([Deleted] 8 [/deleted] 12 ERFURT [deleted] and 4 [/deleted])
A F/Lt Lucas } }
Y F/Lt Hopkin } }
F F/O Connor } }
U P/O Watt } }
C F/O E. Jones } } [Deleted] 1950 [/deleted] 2000
T F/O Richards } }
E F/Lt Stewart } }
J F/O Spurr } }
G W/O Henley } }
W F/Lt Waller } }
D F/O Finlay } } [Deleted] 1950 [/deleted] 2000
S W/O Inkpen } }
[Grid of START, A/B and S/C times]
[Deleted] O [/deleted] Reserves H, V
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. F/O Morrow
F/O Hagues
F/Sgt Robjohns
Meal 1430
Brief Nav. 1515
Brief Main 1600
A very successful night. Take-off excellent, - 12 a/c in 7 minutes, - and landing times also good. All aircraft bombed T.Is, from heights varying between 12,000’ and 6,500’. Bombing very concentrated, with 2 large explosions and 2 fires. Built-up area seen, and also flying debris from bomb bursts.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 20.2.45 [/underlined] 58
12 aircraft ( 9 BERLIN and 3 spoof MANNHEIM)
B S/Ldr Eddy }
S F/Lt Marshall }
C F/O Knights }
V F/Lt Waller }
E F/O Marson }
W P/O McGown } 2130
F F/O Finlay }
Y F/O B. Jones }
A F/Lt Hutchinson }
Z F/Lt Hopkin }
H W/O Henley } Spoof [deleted] 0015 0040 [/deleted] 0050
T F/O Richards }
Reserves D, U
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr McDermott
Duty Navs. F/O Morrow
F/O Lawrence
F/Sgt Nicholls
Main Spoof
Meal 1600 [deleted] 1915 [/deleted] 1945
Brief Nav. 1645 [deleted] 2000 [/deleted] 2030
Brief Main 1730 [deleted] 2045 [/deleted]
A [deleted text] good night. [Deleted text] Both take-offs [deleted text] good, and [deleted text] attacks successful. [Deleted text] Gee release on MANNHEIM seems to have produced a fair concentration of markers.
[Page break]
59 [Underlined] 21.2.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (9 BERLIN and 3 E.W. WORMS)
S [deleted] V [/deleted] S/Ldr Mc Dermott }
A F/Lt Hutchinson } E.W. [deleted] 2045 [/deleted] 2030
X F/O B. Jones. }
B F/Lt Lucas }
J F/O Spurr }
D F/Lt Stewart }
T W/O Inkpen }
F F/O Connor } [Deleted] 2300 2240 [/deleted] 0015
U P/O Watt }
C F/O Knights }
W P/O McGown }
H F/O E. Jones }
Reserves G, [deleted] S [/deleted] Z
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/Lt Forrest
E.W. Main
Meal 1600 [Deleted] 1745 1730 1830 [/deleted] 1900
Brief Nav. [Deleted] 1645 [/deleted] 1630 [deleted] 1830 1815 [/deleted] 1945
Brief Main [Deleted] 1730 [/deleted] 1715 [deleted] 1915 1900 [/deleted] 2030
Both take-offs and landing times good, and attacks successful. Searchlights active on both targets, but not much flak. Decoys very active over BERLIN, especially to the north.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 22.2.45 [/underlined] 60
12 aircraft (BERLIN)
1 Y F/Lt Hopkin
2 E F/O Marson
5 S F/Lt Marshall
11 G F/O Finlay
7 V W/O Inkpen
4 C F/O E. Jones
6 W F/Lt Waller
3 D F/Lt Stewart
9 Z F/O Richards
10 H W/O Henley
8 U P/O Watt
12 F F/O Connor
[Grid of START, A/B and S/C times]
Reserves A, [deleted] X [/deleted] B
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/Lt Fawcett
Meal 1500
Brief Nav. 1545
Brief Main 1630
Quite a good attack, though cloud obscured results. Running-up time and taxying time reduced to 9 minutes for runway 252, which seems successful in daylight.
[Page break]
61 [Underlined] 23.3.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (BERLIN)
A W/Cdr Bolton
Y F/Lt Hopkin
H W/O Henley
W P/O Way
C F/O Knights
U F/Lt Waller
G F/Lt Bland
J F/O Spurr
B F/O Finlay
S F/Lt Marshall
E F/O Marson
D F/Lt Whitworth
Reserves T, X
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy
Duty Navs. F/O Morrow
Sgt Heggie
Meal 1500
Brief Nav. 1545
Brief Main 1630
Attack spoilt by 10/10 cloud from below 14,000’ to above 27,000’. A few crews managed to bomb T.Is, and one, P/O Way, obtained a photograph.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 25.2.45 [/underlined] 62
12 aircraft (ERFURT)
S [deleted] Y[/deleted] F/Lt [deleted] Hopkin [/deleted] Marshall
D F/Lt Whitworth
J W/O Inkpen
B F/Lt Stewart
W P/O Watt
E F/O E. Jones
T F/O Richards
F F/O Connor
X F/O Lowe
G F/Lt Bland
Z [deleted] P/O Way [/deleted] F/Lt Waller
C [deleted] F/O Knights [/deleted] W/O Henley
Reserves H, Y
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Kilpatrick
F/O Allsop
Meal 1500
Brief Nav. 1545
Brief Main 1630
A good attack, though drifting cloud made it difficult to see T.Is. Some crews descended to 5,500’ to bomb, and saw built-up area, fires and flying debris from bomb bursts. Weather very rough for return with cloud @ 700’ A very good show all round.
C (W/O Henley) landed at WOODBRIDGE.
B (F/Lt Stewart) slightly damaged by flak.
[Page break]
63 [Underlined] 26.2.45 [/underlined]
10 aircraft (BERLIN)
V S/Ldr McDermott
B F/O Marson
[Inserted] POSTAGRAM Originator’s Reference Number:- BC/S.23191/P.
TO: X [Underlined] No. 162 Squadron X [/underlined] (Copies R.A.F. Station,
BOURN, H.Q.No. 8(PFF) Group, and Air ministry,
S.10.A., Kingsway.
Date:- 20th March, 1945.
From: Headquarters, Bomber Command. [Initials]
His Majesty, the King, on the recommendation of the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, had approved the Immediate award of the Distinguished Flying Cross to Flight Lieutenant F. A. HADEN, AFC., (119529).
[Signature]
[Underlined] Group Captain. [/underlined]
[Stamp] [Signature] 162 Sqad. [/inserted]
Meal 1500
Brief Nav. 1545
Brief Main 1630
An excellent attack. Target area burning well from American attack during the day. Weather clear and ground detail clearly visible; T Is concentrated and plottable visually; timing very good and attack over by H+3.
A (F/Lt Haden) hit by flak on bombing run. Pilot slightly wounded by perspex splinters in face but carried on to bomb.
[Page break]
63 [Underlined] 26.2.45 [/underlined]
10 aircraft (BERLIN)
V S/Ldr McDermott
B F/O Marson
Y F/Lt Hopkin
H [deleted] C [/deleted] F/O E. Jones
W F/O Lowe
A F/Lt Haden
J F/O Spurr
G F/O Finlay
G F/O Richards
D F/Lt Stewart
Reserves [deleted] F [/deleted] Z, U
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
Sgt Fossitt
Sgt Grigg
Meal 1500
Brief Nav. 1545
Brief Main 1630
An excellent attack. Target area burning well from American attack during the day. Weather clear and ground detail clearly visible; T Is concentrated and plottable visually; timing very good and attack over by H+3.
A (F/Lt Haden) hit by flak on bombing run. Pilot slightly wounded by perspex splinters in face but carried on to bomb.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 27.2.45 [/underlined] 64
12 aircraft (BERLIN)
A S/Ldr Eddy
U P/O Watt
H W/O Henley
W F/Lt Waller
G F/Lt Bland
S F/Lt Marshall
F F/O Connor
Z P/O Way
E F/O Marson
Y F/Lt Hopkin
D [deleted] C [/deleted] F/Lt Whitworth
J F/O Spurr
Reserves [deleted] D [/deleted] C, T
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr McDermott
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/Sgt Robjohns
Meal 2145
Brief Nav. 2230
Brief Main 2315
A fair attack. Marking somewhat scattered and, owing to cloud, only floaters visible. All crews bombed these, but [deleted word] 50% paid little attention to the correct heading.
[Page break]
65 [Underlined 28.2.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (BERLIN)
U [deleted] S F/Lt Marshall [/deleted] P/O Watt
D F/Lt Stewart
T F/O Richards
E F/O Finlay
J F/O Lowe
C F/O E. Jones
Z P/O Way
B F/Lt Haden
B F/Lt Waller
H W/O Henley
Y W/O Inkpen
F F/O Connor
Reserves [deleted] U [/deleted] S, V.
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Morrow
Meal 1515
Brief Nav. 1600
Brief Main 1645
Good take-off and landing times, with 11 aircraft down in 15 minutes. Attack well timed and successful with 2 large explosions. A good ending to excellent month.
[Page break]
66
[Underlined] SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 1945 [/underlined] (LAST MONTH IN BRACKETS)
OPERATIONAL NIGHTS 19 (14)
NUMBER OF ATTACKS 33 (23)
AIRCRAFT CALLED FOR 224 (133)
AIRCRAFT DESPATCHED 223 (128)
CANCELLED BY UNIT (WEAHTER) – (4)
CANCELLED BY UNIT (SERVICEABILITY) 1 (1)
EARLY RETURNS 1 (1)
OTHER ABORTIVE SORTIES – (1)
ENGINE FAILURES – (2)
AIRCRAFT DAMAGED BY ENEMY ACTION 3 (5)
AIRCRAFT DAMAGED IN ACCIDENTS [deleted] 3 [/deleted] 4 (4)
AIRCRAFT MISSING – (1)
CREWS AIRCRAFT
STRENGTH AT BEGINNING OF MONTH 22 (18) 18 (16)
STRENGTH AT END OF MONTH 25 (22) 18 (18)
TARGETS ATTACKED:- BERLIN 12 (7)
MAGDEBURG 3 (1)
BONN 2 (-)
DUISBURG 2 (1)
ERFURT 2 (-)
HANOVER 2 (4)
MANNHEIM 2 (-)
WANNE EICKEL 2 (-)
BOHLEN 1 (-)
BOTTROP 1 (-)
CLEVE 1 (-)
DESSAU 1 (-)
OSNABRUCK 1 (-)
WORMS 1 (-)
PROMOTIONS:- F/O MARSON to F/LT
P/O BIRD to F/O
COMMISSIONS: SGT CLARK
DECORATIONS F/O HAGUES D.F.C.
[Page break]
67 [Underlined] 1.3.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (BERLIN)
V S/Ldr McDermott
D F/Lt Whitworth
W F/O Spurr
B F/Lt Haden
T W/O Inkpen
G F/Lt Bland
Y F/Lt Hopkin
C [deleted] A [/deleted] F/O Knights
S F/Lt Marshall
F F/O E. Jones
X F/O Lowe
A [deleted] C [/deleted] F/O Marson
Reserves H, U
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. F/Lt Fawcett
F/Sgt Clark
Meal 1515
Brief Nav. 1600
Brief Main 1645
A fair attack with marking rather scattered and poorly timed. 139 failed to adjust H hour and most crews had to waste over 10 minutes.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 2.3.45 [/underlined] 68
12 aircraft (3 BERLIN and 9 KASSEL)
A F/Lt Bland }
Y F/Lt Hopkin }
C F/O Knights } 2000
S F/Lt Marshall }
H W/O Henley }
U P/O Watt }
B F/Lt Stewart } 2030
X [deleted] Z P/O Way [/deleted] F/O Richards }
F F/Lt Whitworth }
Z [deleted] X F/O Richards P/O Way [/deleted] W/O Inkpen }
E F/O Finlay } 2000
W F/Lt Waller }
Reserves G, V
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
F/O Lawrence
Meal 1515
Brief Nav. 1600
Brief Main 1645
Both attacks successful though TIs quickly went into cloud at KASSEL. Cloud was thin however, and most crews, after running up on a glow, could see TIs & bomb. Defences fairly active on both targets.
[Page break]
69 [Underlined] 3.3.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (BERLIN) 3 Y and 9 bombers
L F/Lt Stillman }
M F/Lt Abraham } Y
B F/Lt Lucas
Y F/O B. Jones
A F/Lt Haden
X [deleted W [/deleted] P/O McGown
H W/O Henley
E F/Lt Stewart
S F/Lt Waller
G F/O Finlay
Y P/O Watt
T F/O Richards
Reserves R, Z
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Tulloch
Sgt Heggie
Meal 1515
Brief Nav. 1600
Brief Main 1645
Neither Y aircraft marked owing to poor range, and most 139’s markers were late and scattered, which caused a poor attack.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 4.3.45 [/underlined] 70
[Deleted] ⑮ [/deleted] 12 aircraft (9 BERLIN and 3 siren-tour KIEL, LUBECK, HAMBURG< WILHELMSHAVEN)
V S/Ldr McDermott }
C F/O Knights }
U F/Lt Hopkin }
[Deleted] B F/O Philip [/deleted] }
{Deleted S F/O Burgess [/deleted] }
D F/Lt Whitworth }
[Deleted] T F/O Smith [/deleted] }
G F/O Rhys } 0330
Y F/O B. Jones }
Z P/O Way }
B [deleted A [/deleted] F/Lt Haden }
W P/O McGown }
M S/Ldr Eddy }
R F/Lt Bland } U/T Y
L F/Lt Lucas }
Reserve F, T.
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Stanbridge
S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/Lt Alexander
P/O Clark
F/O McGregor
Y [deleted] Bombers [/deleted] All a/c
Meal [deleted] 1645 1630 1530 [/deleted] 2215
Brief Nav. [deleted] 1730 1715 1615 [/deleted] 2300
Brief Main [deleted] 1815 1715 [/deleted] 2345
139 again late on BERLIN, though quite well concentrate.
R (F/Lt Bland) attacked 4 targets but mistook WESERMUNDE for WILHELMSHAVEN.
M (S/Ldr Eddy) spent an hour looking for HAMBURG, and dropped 2 bombs on WILHELMSRAUSAS.
L (F/Lt Lucas) dropped all bombs on WILHELMSHAVEN.
[Page break]
71 [Underlined] 5.3.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (9 BERLIN and 3 siren tour KIEL, LUBECK, HAMBURG, HANOVER.)
M F/Lt Stewart }
R F/Lt Bland } U/T Y
L F/O Knights }
W F/Lt Waller
B W/O Henley
U P/O Watt
A F/O Philip
V F/O Smith
Z F/O Lowe
C F/O Rhys
S F/O Burgess
T F/O Richards
Reserve G
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr McDermott
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Hagues
[Deleted] F/Sgt Nichols [/deleted] F/O Tulloch
Meal 1515
Brief Nav. 1600
Brief Main 1645
R cancelled. Spinner could not be fitted.
Attack on BERLIN scattered. M (F/Lt Stewart) and L (F/O Knights) both failed, apparently owing to inexperienced set-operators, and dropped full load on KIEL.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 6.3.45 [/underlined] 72
6 aircraft (Formation on WESEL) Daylights.
U S/Ldr McDermott
G F/Lt Bland
[Deleted] A [/deleted] Y F/O B. Jones
A F/Lt Whitworth
S P/O Way
R F/O Rhys
Reserve T
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
Brief Nav 1300
Brief Main 1330
A very fine effort by all concerned. Attack laid on at 2 3/4 hours notice when some of the crews were still airborne on N.F.Ts. Aircraft got ready and bombed up on time but briefing very rushed and crews had only 15 minutes from end of briefing to start up. Aircraft started up in the correct order and took off very rapidly in pairs behind 105’s leaders. Only 2 crews had previous experience of this type of operation, but formation was excellent and attack completely successful. Very slight opposition – no fighters.
[Page break]
73 [Underlined] 6.3.45 [/underlined]
4 aircraft (BERLIN)
M F/L Skillman }
R F/L Abraham } Y
A F/L Hopkin
B F/O Finlay
Reserves L, X
O.C. S/ldr Eddy
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Barnicoat
Meal 1515
Brief Nav. 1600
Brief Main 1645
A very successful attack. Both ‘Y’ aircraft marked after excellent runs, within 60 seconds of correct time.
L (F/Lt Skillman) obtained photograph showing ground detail of TEMPELHOF aerodrome.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 7.3.45 [/underlined] 74
12 aircraft (10 BERLIN and 2 siren tour HANOVER, BERLIN, DESSAU)
D F/Lt Whitworth
Y F/O B. Jones
G W/O Henley
X F/O Smith
G F/Lt Haden
Z F/O Burgess
A F/O Philip
W P/O McGown
E F/O Knights
U P/O Watt
M S/Ldr Eddy }
R F/Lt Lucas } U/T Y
Reserves L, T
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/O Layton
Main Y
Meal 1645 1945
Brief Nav. 1730 2030
Brief Main 1815 2115
A cancelled – swung twice when attempting to take off, and finally went across main road into ploughed field.
Attack on BERLIN quite good, though 3 aircraft – W (P/O McGown) Z (F/O Burgess) and U (P/O Watt) bombed DESSAU owing to poor navigation while time-wasting.
M (S/Ldr Eddy) and R (F/Lt Lucas) had a very successful siren tour.
[Page break]
75 [Underlined] 8.3.45 [/underlined]
11 aircraft (6 BERLIN, 3 spoof HANOVER, and 2 siren tour OSNABRUCK, HANOVER, BREMEN)
R F/Lt Bland }
M F/O Connor } U/T Y
B F/Lt Haden }
T F/O Richards } Spoof
E F/O Rhys }
Y F/Lt Hopkin
Z F/O Lowe
W P/O McGown
G F/O Finlay
S F/O Burgess
U F/Lt Waller
Reserves L, J
O.C. S/Ldr McDermott
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Morrow
F/O Kennedy
[Underlined] Spoof and Main U/T Y [/underlined]
Meal 1530 1730
Brief Nav. 1615 1815
Brief Main 1700 1900
A concentrated and successful attack on BERLIN, and a good spoof on HANOVER.
M (F/O Connor) had a successful siren tour.
R (F/Lt Bland) had Y U/S and bombed BREMEN on GEE.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 9.3.45 [/underlined] 76
12 aircraft (11 BERLIN and 1 siren tour OSNABRUCK)
M F/Lt Skillman }
R F/Lt Abraham } Y
L F/Lt Lucas U/T Y
Y F/O B. Jones
B F/Lt Stewart
T F/O Richards
D F/Lt Whitworth
W F/Lt Waller
A F/O Philip
V F/O Smith
E W/O Henley
U P/O Watt
Reserves F, Z
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/Sgt Chappell
F/Sgt Hanrahan
[Deleted] Y Main [/deleted]
Meal [deleted] 1700 1645 [/deleted] 1530 [deleted] 1845 [/deleted]
Brief Nav. [deleted] 1745 1730 [/deleted] 1615 [deleted] 1730 [/deleted]
Brief Main [deleted] 1830 1815 [/deleted] 1700 [deleted] 1815 [/deleted]
A good attack on BERLIN with concentrated marking. T.Is disappeared quickly into cloud but all crews bombed either glow or floaters above. Both Y aircraft marked.
L (F/Lt Lucas) had Y U/S on siren tour and bombed OSNABRUCK on GEE.
[Page break]
77 [Underlined] 10.3.45 [/underlined]
9 aircraft (BERLIN)
M W/Cdr Bolton }
R F/Lt Abraham } Y
A F/Lt Haden
Z F/O Lowe
G F/O Finlay
T F/O Burgess
S F/Lt Goodman
C F/O Knights
E R/O Rhys
Reserves L, B
O.C. S/Ldr McDermott
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
P/O Clark (Can.)
Meal 1530
Brief Navs. 1615
Brief Main 1700
Quite a concentrated attack though even floaters showed only as a glow in cloud at 20,000’. Occasional glimpses of TIs were obtained when vertically overhead. One ‘Y’ aircraft marked,
R (F/Lt Abraham). The other had ‘Y’ U/S and dropped bomb only.
C (F/O Knights) hit by flak which fractured fuel pipe. Landed at COLTISHALL.
T (F/O Burgess) had engine trouble, bombed estimated position of HAMBURG, and landed at CARNABY.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 11.3.45 [/underlined] 78
12 aircraft (9 BERLIN and 3 siren tour HANOVER, BRUNSWICK< MAGDEBURG)
M F/O E. Jones }
L F/O Spurr } U/T Y
R F/Lt Goodman }
V S/Ldr McDermott
G W/O Henley
U P/O Watt
J F/Lt Whitworth
Z F/O Smith
E F/O Marson
W P/O McGown
Y F/O B. Jones
A F/O Philip
Reserves C, F
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
F/Lt Hopkin
Duty Nav. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/Sgt [deleted] Hanrahan [/deleted] Walker
F/O Crabb
Meal 1530
Brief Nav. 1615
Brief Main 1700
A good attack on BERLIN with markers very concentrated and well timed. All 3 ‘Y’ aircraft successfully completed siren-tour.
[Page break]
79 [Underlined] 13.3.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (6 BERLIN, 4 spoof BREMEN, and 2 E.W. HERNE)
L F/Lt Lucas }
R F/Lt Bland } U/T Y
Y F/Lt Hopkin }
W [Deleted] P/O McGown [/deleted] F/O Rhys } E.W. [deleted] Spoof [/deleted]
A F/O Philip }
U P/O Watt } Spoof
S F/Lt Marshall
G F/O Knights
Z W/O Inkpen
E F/Lt Marson
[Deleted] T [/deleted] V F/O Burgess
B F/Lt Haden
[Table of times for some aircraft]
Reserves D, F
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
F/Lt Stewart
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Booth
P/O Clark (Scot.)
Meal 1545
Brief Nav. 1630
Brief Main 1715
Planning chaotic, largely owing to Group’s failure to provide details in time for briefing. All 3 attacks nevertheless successful with large explosion on each target.
L (F/Lt Lucas) marked BREMEN
R (F/Lt Bland) had Y U/S and dropped bombs only.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 14.3.45 [/underlined] 80
12 aircraft (10 BERLIN and 2 siren tour BREMEN, HANOVER. BERLIN)
L F/O Jones }
R F/O Spurr } U/T Y
F F/Lt Stewart
Z P/O Way
B F/Lt Haden
T W/O Inkpen
D F/Lt Whitworth
U F/O Burgess
A F/O Philip
S F/Lt Marshall
C F/O Knights
Y F/O B. Jones
Reserves G, W
O.C. S/Ldr McDermott
F/Lt Lucas
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/O Fisher
F/O Tempest
Meal 1600
Brief Nav. 1645
Brief Main 1730
A very successful attack on BERLIN, with marking again well timed and concentrated. Both Y aircraft had equipment U/S. R (F/Lt Spurr) bombed BREMEN only; L (F/O Jones) bombed BREMEN and HANOVER.
F (F/Lt Stewart and S (F/Lt Marshall) plotted 2100x and 3000x respectively from A.P. Centre of marked area about 2300x from A.P.
[Page break]
81 [Underlined] 15.3.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (10 BERLIN and 2 siren tour ERFURT, WEIMAR, JENA)
L F/Lt Bland }
R F/Lt Goodman } U/U Y
B F/Lt Lucas
U P/O Watt
G F/O Rhys
Z F/O Smith
E F/Lt Marson
Y F/O B. Jones
D F/Lt Whitworth
W P/O McGown
F F/Lt Stewart
S F/Lt Hopkin
Reserves A, U.
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/Lt Gannon
F/Lt Snelling
Meal 1600
Brief Nav. 1645
Brief Main 1730
A good attack on BERLIN, marking well timed though not so concentrated as of late. Aircraft still early on target, in spite of time in hand being cut from 5 to 3 mins. (Average 1.85 mins.)
Bot ‘Y’ aircraft attacked all 3 targets, though only one, L (F/Lt Bland), marked ERFURT.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 16.3.45 [/underlined] 82
12 aircraft (4 BERLIN, 6 spoof HANAU, and 2 siren tour OSNABRUCK, BERLIN, BRUNSWICK)
L F/O E. Jones }
R P/O Way } U/T Y
V S/Ldr McDermott
A F/O Philip
T W/O Inkpen
U P/O Watt
B F/Lt Haden }
W P/O McGown }
C F/O Knights }
S F/O Burgess } Spoof
E F/Lt Marson }
Y F/O Smith }
Reserves F, G
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
F/Lt Skillman
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Kilpatrick
P/O Clark (Scot.)
Meal 1600
Brief Nav. 1645
Brief Main 1730
Fair attacks on BERLIN and HANAU with cloud obscuring T.Is from time to time on both targets. Both ‘Y’ aircraft attacked OSNABRUCK and BERLIN, but had equipment U/S before reaching BRUNSWICK.
[Page break]
83 [Underlined] 17.3.45 [/underlined]
8 aircraft (2 Y BERLIN and 6 spoof NUREMBURG)
L F/Lt Skillman }
R F/Lt Abraham } Y
W F/Lt Hopkin
D F/Lt Whitworth
Y F/O B. Jones
A F/O Philip
T F/Lt Marshall
G W/O Henley
Reserves F, V
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
F/Lt Lucas
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/Lt Forrest
F/O Jarrett
Meal 1600
Brief Nav. 1645
Brief Main 1730
Spoof attack good, though 1 oboe T.I. went wide, apparently a hang-up.
R (F/Lt Abraham) marked BERLIN, 3 minutes late owing to U/S R/T and uncertainty of adjusted H hour.
L (F/Lt Skillman) had equipment U/S and, with TIs only, had to return. Oil-and-water trap exploded on way home damaging much equipment. Eventually undercarriage collapsed after swing while attempting to land with no brakes at WOODBRIDGE.
[Page break]
[Stamp] 32
BOU K WITH R
R 1523 ACG AR
STAND BY FOR B/CAST
B/CAST V GPH GPH101/17 OP OP
OAK
GRY
GSD
WTN
WBS
DOW
BOU
LTS
UPW
HBC
EDR
FROM GPH
TO ALL P.F.F. STATIONS
INFO [deleted word] HBC EDR
SECRET QWM BT
GPH 93/17 171355A FORM B 573. CORRECT IN PARA (C) 1. WHITEBAIT
6Y/139 + 2Y/162 + 5/128 ETC
NOT 27/162 AS SENT
BT 171535A
TOD 171535A BRINDLEY/AS FOR K WITH R
105 CO 162 CO
THANKS [initials]
[Page break]
[Underlined] 18.3.45 [/underlined] 84
10 aircraft (8 BERLIN and 2 E.W. WITTEN)
R W/Cdr Bolton Y
D F/Lt Stewart
Y F/O Smith
C F/O Knights
V F/O Burgess
E F/O Rhys
W P/O McGown
B F/Lt Haden
U P/O Watt }
T P/O Inkpen } E.W.
Reserves A, G
O.C. S/Ldr McDermott
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/O Tulloch
Sgt Fossitt
[Underlined] E.W. Main [/underlined]
Meal 2330 1600
Brief Nav. 0015 1645
Brief Main 0100 1730
Both attacks very successful. T.Is disappeared fairly quickly into cloud at BERLIN but floaters remained clearly visible and were well concentrated. ‘Y’ aircraft marked 25 seconds late.
Good photographs of widespread fires from the 2 early windowers at WITTEN.
[Page break]
85 [Underlined] 19.3.45 [/underlined]
[Deleted] 10 [/deleted] 6 aircraft (BERLIN)
R F/Lt Skillman Y
[Deleted] W F/Lt Waller [/deleted]
[Deleted] G F F/O Connor [/deleted]
Y R/O B. Jones
[Deleted] E F/O Rawsthorn [/deleted]
[Deleted] F/Lt Goodman [/deleted]
A F/O E. Jones
U [deleted] F/O Richards [/deleted] F/Lt Marshall
D F/Lt Whitworth
Z F/O Lowe
Reserves [deleted] B, Z, J [/deleted] G
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
F/Lt Hopkin
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Kennelly
Meal [Deleted] 1600 1615 10 [/deleted] 2245
Brief Nav. [deleted] 1645 1700 [/deleted] 2330
Brief Main [deleted] 1730 1745 [/deleted] 0015
A good attack with T.Is well concentrated. Y aircraft marked on time. Effort reduced by 4 owing to doubtful weather.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 20.3.45 [/underlined] 86
10 aircraft (1 U/T Y BREMEN, and 9 KASSEL)
R F/Lt Lucas U/T Y
W F/Lt Waller
C F/O Connor
U P/O Watt
E F/O Rhys
V F/Lt McClelland
G F/O Rawthorn
T F/Lt Goodman
A F/Lt Bland
Z P/O Way
Reserves B, J
O.C. [Deleted] W/Cdr Bolton [/deleted] S/Ldr McDermott
F/Lt Stewart
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Wallis
F/Sgt Nichols
[Underlined] Y Remainder [/underlined]
Meal 2330 2230
Brief Nav. 0015 2315
Brief Main 0100 2359
Z (P/O Way) cancelled. Engine failed to start. 1st reserve had mag. drop and 2nd also failed to start. Query P/O Way’s system of starting. (Same trouble on 1.1.45)
Attack on KASSEL quite successful. R (F/Lt Lucas) had H2S failure on turn at BREMEN, and dropped bombs only.
[Page break]
39
WTN 251 OAK 544 GRY 375 DOW 366 GSD 562 BOU 226 UPW 989
V GPH GPH8/22
FROM AOC. PFF. 221245A
TO OFFICERS COMMANDING R.A.F. STATION, UPWOOD WYTON OAKINGTON GRAVELEY BOURN GRANSDEN LODGE AND DOWNHAM MARKET
QWM BT
A.195 22/MAR THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE HAS BEEN RECEIVED FROM THE A.O.C.-IN-C. BOMBER COMMAND. BEGINS. CONGRATUALTIONS TO ALL CONCERNED IN THE UNBROKEN SERIES OF THIRTY CONSECUTIVE NIGHT ATTACKS ON BERLIN. A MAGNIFICENT EFFORT. END. I HAVE REPLIED. BEGINS. YOUR MESSAGE OF CONGRATULATIONS WILL BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED BY ALL CONCERNED. I KCAN [sic] ASSURE YOU WE SHALL KEEP ON PRESSING UNTIL THE END. ENDS.
BT 221245A
CC LINE 6 CWQ I CAN ASSURE
TOD 1334 HATFIELD
SHQ –
162 CO
195 CO
162 CO. √
Stn. C.O
[Page break]
[Stamp] 34
B/CAST V GPH GPH3/22
247 WTN T 128 SQDN 163 SQDN
985 UPW T 139 SQDN
558 GSD T 142 SQDN
540 OAK T 571 SQDN
362 DOW T 608 SQDN
371 GRY T 692 SQDN
223 BOU T 162 SQDN
FROM A/V/M BENNETT 221030A
TO ALL RANKS NOS 128= 139 = 142 = 571 = 608 = 692 = 163 = 162 SQUADNS BT
P. 140 22/MAR YOUR MAGNIFICENT EFFORTS LAST NIGHT MADE A CONTRIBUTION IN THE RISING CRESCENDO OF ATTACK ON THE GERMAN CRIMINAL. IT WAS A NIGHT WHICH THE BERLINERS WILL REMEMBER TO THEIR SORROW. THE HEAT HAS BEEN TURNED ON AND YOU ARE KEEPING IT ON MAGNIFICENTLY. CONGRATUALTIONS.
= DONALD BENNETT.
BT 221030A
AS
TOD 221129A BRINDLEY/AR+
162 CO. √
Stn. C.O
[Page break]
87 [Underlined] 21.3.45 [/underlined]
⑳ aircraft (2 attacks BERLIN)
R F/Lt Skillman Y
Y F/Lt Hopkin
F F/O Connor
Z P/O Way
G F/Lt Bland
U F/O Lowe
A F/O Rawthorn
S F/Lt Marshall
B F/O Rhys
V F/Lt McClelland
C F/O Finlay
D F/Lt Goodman
W P/O McGown
T F/Lt Waller
E F/Lt Haden
Z P/O Inkpen
F [deleted] R D [/deleted] F/Lt Whitworth
W [deleted] V [/deleted] F/O Burgess
B [deleted] J [/deleted] F/O E. Jones
U F/O Smith
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr Eddy
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/Lt Fawcett
F/O McGregor
[Underlined] I II [/underlined]
Meal 1600 2230
Brief Nav. 1645 2315
Brief Main 1730 2359
A very successful night except for indifferent marking by 139. Ground crews and armourers coped very well in getting aircraft off again within 1 3/4 hours of landing.
R (F/Lt Skillman) had H2S failure and with TIs only, had to return.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 22.3.45 [/underlined] 88
8 aircraft (BERLIN)
R F/Lt Skillman Y
Y F/O B. Jones
B F/Lt Lucas
U P/O Watt
G F/O Finlay
Z P/O Way
C F/Lt Whitworth
S P/O Inkpen
Reserves A, J
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
Sgt Grigg
Meal 1630
Brief Nav. 1715
Brief Main 1800
A very good attack, with clear weather and marking well times and concentrated.
R (F/Lt Skillman) successfully marked 30 seconds early, and obtained an excellent photograph showing ground detail. Plotted A.P. 183° 2100 yards.
Y (F/O B. Jones) on last trip had undercarriage trouble and tail-wheel collapsed on landing.
[Page break]
89 [Underlined] 23.3.45 [/underlined]
10 aircraft (BERLIN)
C [deleted R [/deleted] F/O Lowe [deleted] U/T Y [/deleted]
D F/Lt Stewart
W F/O Burgess
G F/Lt Bland
S F/O Smith
B F/Lt Haden
Z P/O Inkpen
A F/O Rawsthorn
V F/Lt Hopkin
F F/O Connor
Reserves J, T
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
F/Lt Marshall
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Barnicoat
Meal 1830
Brief Nav. 1915
Brief Main 2000
‘A’ cancelled – Dinghy unserviceable and reserve aircraft had mag. drop.
A good concentrated attack both accurate bombing. Built-up area seen in light of bomb-flashes.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 24.3.45 [/underlined] 90
10 aircraft (BERLIN)
R S/Ldr Eddy U/T Y
B F/Lt Goodman
D F/Lt Whitworth
T F/O Richards
C F/O Finlay
U P/O Watt
F F/O Rawsthorn
V F/Lt McClelland
G F/O Jones
Z F/Lt Waller
Reserves J, S
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
F/Lt Lucas
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/Sgt Hanrahan
Meal 1615
Brief Nav. 1700
Brief Main 1745
‘R’ cancelled – Brakes U/S and tyre burst at taxying point.
A good attack with marking and bombing concentrated.
V {F/Lt McClelland) arrived 3 minutes early and complained of a scarcity of marking. This was hardly surprising as T.Is were due to go down at -3 and -2. The point was repeatedly stressed at briefing.
[Page break]
91 [Underlined] 25.3.45 [/underlined]
10 aircraft (BERLIN)
R F/Lt Skillman Y
S F/Lt Marshall
F F/O Connor
T P/O McGown
B F/Lt Haden
Z F/O Lowe
A F/Lt Bland
U F/O Smith
D F/Lt Stewart
V F/O Burgess
Reserves C, J
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
F/Lt Hopkin
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/Sgt Hanrahan
Meal 1615
Brief Nav. 1700
Brief Main 1745
All cancelled (weather) except:-
R F/O Lowe U/T Y
Crew reported quite a good run, but photograph plot shows them to have been 13 miles south of A.P., heading WNW.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 27.3.45 [/underlined] 92
10 aircraft ([Deleted] BERLIN [/deleted]) (9 BERLIN and 1 siren tour BREMEN, MAGDEBURG, HANOVER)
R F/Lt Abraham Y
M F/O Connor U/T Y
F F/Lt Haden
Z P/O Inkpen
A F/Lt Whitworth
T F/Lt Waller
G F/O Finlay
Y F/O Burgess
B F/Lt Lucas
W P/O McGown
Reserves C, V
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Kennedy
F/Sgt Robjohns
Meal 1615
Brief Nav. 1700
Brief Main 1745
Quite a good attack on BERLIN. ‘Y’ aircraft marked 4 mins late as ‘H’ hour was brought forward 10 minutes and he could not make it. Photo-flash failed to ignite, and some mixed green/yellow TIs also seemed to fail. Built-up area seen in light of bomb flashes.
M (F/O Connor) had generator failure before take-off. Bombed BREMEN on D.R., assisted by visual pin-point.
[Page break]
93 [Underlined] 28.3.45 [/underlined]
10 aircraft ( )
R W/Cdr Bolton Y
M F/Lt Marson U/T Y
C F/O Knights
T F/O Spurr
D F/O Rawsthorn
V F/Lt McClelland
A F/O Philip
Y P/O Inkpen
B W/O Henley
S F/Lt Marshall
Reserves G, W
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy
F/Lt Abraham
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/O Layton
F/O Alsop
Meal 1615
Brief Nav. 1700
Brief Main 1745
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
[Underlined] 29.3.45 [/underlined] 94
6 aircraft (3 BERLIN and 3 siren tour BREMEN, HANOVER)
L S/Ldr Eddy }
R F/O Lowe } U/T Y
M F/Lt Marson }
S F/Lt Marshall
B F/O Knights
W P/O Inkpen
Reserve G
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
F/Lt Lucas
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Morrow
P/O Chappell
Meal 1630
Brief Nav. 1715
Brief Main 1800
Marking on BERLIN somewhat scattered, and TIs obscured at times by cloud in various layers.
All 3 aircraft successfully completed siren tour, though M (F/Lt Marson) was very late on target.
[Page break]
95 [Underlined] 30.3.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (5 BERLIN, 5 ERFURT, and 2 siren tour HAMBURG, KIEL)
M W/Cdr Bolton Y
J F/Lt Waller
G F/Lt Bland
U F/Lt McClelland
E F/O Rawsthorn
B W/O Henley
T F/O Richards
A F/O Philip
W P/O McGown
F F/O Finlay
L F/O Connor }
R F/O Spurr } U/T Y
Reserves D, V
O.C. S/Ldr [deleted] Eddy [/deleted] McDermott
[Deleted] F/Lt Abraham [/deleted]
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/Lt Snelling
F/O Lawrence
F/O Crabb
[Underlined] M,U,J,G,E,L,R, T,W,B,A,F
Meal [deleted] 1615 [/deleted] 1630 1845
Brief Nav. [deleted] 1700 [/deleted] 1715 1930
Brief Main [deleted] 1745 [/deleted] 1800 2015
‘R’ (F/O Spurr) cancelled – Mag. drop and V.H.F. u/s
Good attacks on BERLIN and ERFURT, with large explosions and columns of smoke at ERFURT. River clearly visible at BERLIN. ‘Y’ aircraft marked – plotted AP 120° 1.6 miles. Siren tour successful
E (F/O Rawsthorn) had navigator pass out from oxygen failure. Made second run over BERLIN at 12,500’ to ensure release of bomb.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 31.3.45 [/underlined] 96
10 aircraft ( )
L F/Lt Lucas }
R F/O Spurr } U/T Y
M F/O Jones }
T S/Ldr McDermott
F F/Lt Whitworth
W P/O Inkpen
B [deleted] A [/deleted] F/Lt Haden
S F/O Burgess
C F/O Knights
U F/O Smith
Reserves [deleted] B [/deleted] A, Y
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
F/Lt Marshall
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/Lt Gannon
F/O Fisher
Meal [deleted] 1630 [/deleted] 2130
Brief Nav. [deleted] 1715 [/deleted] 2215
Brief Main [deleted] 1800 [/deleted] 2300
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
97
[Underlined] SUMMARY FOR MARCH 1945 [/underlined] (LAST MONTH IN BRACKETS)
OPERATIONAL NIGHTS 27 (19)
NUMBER OF ATTACKS 64 (33)
AIRCRAFT CALLED FOR 285 (224)
AIRCRAFT DESPATCHED [deleted] 285 [/deleted] 279 (223)
NUMBER OF MARKER SORTIES 16 (-)
PERCENTAGE SUCCESSFUL 69% (-)
CANCELLED BY UNIT (WEATHER) – (-)
CANCELLED BY UNIT (SEVICEABILITY) 6 (1)
EARLY RETURNS 1 (1)
OTHER ABORTIVE SORTIES 2 – “Y” U/S (-)
ENGINE FAILURES 1 (-)
AIRCRAFT DAMAGED BY ENEMY ACTION 2 (3)
AIRCRAFT DAMAGED IN ACCIDENTS 3 (4)
AIRCRAFT MISSING – (-)
CREWS AIRCRAFT
STRENGTH AT BEGINNING OF MONTH 25 + 0 (22 + 0) 18 + 0 (18 + 0)
STRENGTH AT END OF MONTH 28 + 2 (25 +0) 16 + 3 (18 + 0)
TARGETS ATTACKED:- BERLIN 29 (12)
BREMEN 6 (-)
HANOVER 6 (2)
OSNABRUCK 3 (1)
ERFURT 2 (2)
HAMBURG 2 (-)
KASSEL 2 (-)
KIEL 2 (-)
BRUNSWICK 1 (-)
DESSAU 1 (1)
HANAU 1 (-)
HERNE 1 (-)
JENA 1 (-)
LUBECK 1 (-)
MAGDEBURG 1 (3)
NUREMBURG 1 (-)
WEIMAR 1 (-)
WESEL 1 (-)
WESERMUNDE 1 (-)
WILHEMSHAVEN 1 (-)
WITTEN 1 (-)
PROMOTIONS:- NIL
COMMISSIONS:- W/O INKPEN, F/SGT CHAPPELL, F/SGT CLARK, F/SGT ROBJOHNS, F/SGT WALKER.
DECORATIONS:- S/LDR EDDY, S/LDR WATERKEYN, F/LT ALEXANDER, F/LT FAWCETT, F/LT HADEN. F/O MORROW. (ALL D.F.C.)
[Page break]
[Underlined] 1.4.45 [/underlined] 98
12 aircraft
L F/Lt Abraham Y
T F/O Richards
C F/O Knights
J F/O Burgess
F F/O Connor
Y S/Ldr McDermott
B F/Lt Lucas
U F/O Smith
E F/Lt Whitworth
A F/Lt Haden
M F/O Jones }
R F/O Spurr } U/T Y
Reserves G, W
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/O Layton
P/O Clark
Sgt Grigg
Meal 1615
Brief Nav. 1700
Brief Main 1745
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
99 [Underlined] 2.4.45 [/underlined]
14 aircraft (12 BERLIN and 2 siren tour HAMBURG, LUBECK)
L F/Lt Abraham Y
C F/O Knights
S F/Lt Marshall
A F/O Finlay
V F/Lt McClelland
E F/O Rawsthorn
W P/O McGown
F F/Lt Whitworth
Y P/O Inkpen
B W/O Henley
J F/Lt Waller
G F/Lt Bland
R F/O Lowe }
M F/O Connor } U/T Y
Reserves T, U
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy
F/Lt Haden
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/Lt Fawcett
F/Sgt Nicholls
Meal 1900
Brief Nav. 1945
Brief Main 2030
A very good attack on Berlin with marking and bombing concentrated. Two large explosions seen. ‘Y’ aircraft marked but photo flash as usual failed to ignite.
‘R’ and ‘M’ had successful siren-tour.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 3.4.45 [/underlined] 100
12 aircraft (10 BERLIN and 2 siren tour MAGDEBURG, BERLIN)
L F/Lt Lucas }
F F/O Spurr } U/T Y
M F/O Jones }
S F/Lt McClelland
G F/O Rawsthorn
J F/O Burgess
Y F/O Smith
W F/O Spurr
V S/Ldr McDermott
E F/Lt Marson
T F/Lt Richards
B W/O Henley
C F/O Finlay
Reserves F, W
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Tulloch
Sgt Heggie
[Underlined] S,G,J,Y Remainder [/underlined]
Meal [deleted] 2045 [/deleted] 1915 [deleted] 1730 [/deleted] 1915
Brief Nav. [deleted] 2130 [/deleted] 2000 [deleted] 1815 [/deleted] 2000
Brief Main [deleted] 2215 [/deleted] 2045 [deleted] 1900 [/deleted] 2045
‘R’ cancelled – Hydraulics U/S. Crew took ‘W’ on main attack.
A very concentrated and successful attack on BERLIN, with good marking.
L (F/Lt Lucas) had successful siren-tour.
M (F/O Jones) had Y U/S and dropped bombs only on MAGDEBURG.
[Page break]
101 [Underlined] 4.4.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (5 BERLIN, 6 E.W. MERSEBURG, and 1 MAGDEBURG)
M F/Lt Abraham }
L F/O Jones } Y
Y F/Lt Hopkin
F F/O Connor
U P/O Watt
A F/Lt Stewart
V P/O Inkpen
C F/Lt Marson
S F/Lt Marshall
B F/Lt Lucas
J F/Lt Waller
R F/Lt Goodman U/T Y
Reserves G, T, Q
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr Eddy
Duty Nav. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Booth
F/O Kilpatrick
F/O Grant
Meal 1730
Brief Nav. 1815
Brief Main 1900
All attack successful. Weather clear at BERLIN but thin cloud at MERSEBURG. U/T Y aircraft marked MAGDEBURG. Excellent ground detail photographs.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 5.4.45 [/underlined] 102
12 aircraft ( )
M W.Cdr Bolton Y
C F/O Knights
V F/Lt McClelland
A F/O Philip
W F/O Richards
L F/O Connor }
Q F/O Spurr } U/T Y
B P/O Henley
S P/O Watt
E F/O Rawsthorn
Y F/O Smith
G F/O Finlay
Reserves F, S
O/C S/Ldr McDermott
Duty Navs. F/O Kerr-Jarrett
P/O Walker
Meal
Brief Nav
Brief Main
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
103 [Underlined] 6.4.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (
R F/Lt Abraham }
M F/O Jones } Y
S F/Lt Marshall
B P/O Henley
T F/O Richards
F F/Lt [deleted] Stewart [/deleted] Marson
Y F/O Smith
E F/O Rawsthorn
V F/Lt McClelland
C F/O Knights
L S/Ldr Eddy }
Q F/O Spurr } U/T Y
Reserves A, W
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
P/O Clark (Can)
F/Sgt Hanrahan
Meal 1730
Brief Nav. 1815
Brief Main 1900
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
[Underlined] 7.4.45 [/underlined] 104
[Deleted] 14 [/deleted] 10 aircraft (
Q F/Lt Abraham }
M F/P Jones } Y
[Deleted] R [/deleted] K F/O Spurr }
L F/O Connor } U/T Y
[Deleted] Y F/Lt Hopkin
B P/O Henley
J V F/Lt Waller
G F/O Finlay
U P/O Watt
E F/O Rawsthorn
W P/O Inkpen
C F/O Knights
T F/Lt Goodman
F F/Lt Stewart [/deleted]
Y F/Lt Hopkin
G F/O Finlay
J F/Lt Waller
F F/Lt Stewart
U P/O Watt
T F/Lt Goodman
Reserves A, S
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
P/O McGregor
F/O Sargeant
Meal 1730
Brief Nav. 1815
Brief Main 1900
Cancelled
Weather
[Page break]
105 [Underlined] 8.4.45 [/underlined]
14 aircraft (2 Y and 2 U/T Y BERLIN and 10 DESSAU)
Q F/Lt Abraham }
M F/O Jones } Y
L S/Dr Eddy }
K F/O Spurr } U/T Y
J F/Lt Waller
B [deleted letter] P/O Henley
T F/O Richards
G [deleted] letter] F/O Finlay
Y F/O Smith
A F/O Philip
U P/O Watt
F [deleted] B [/deleted] F/Lt Stewart
V F/Lt McClelland
E [deleted letter] F/O Knights
Reserves [deleted] E [/deleted] W, S, R
O.C W/Cdr Bolton
F/Lt Marshall
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Morrow
F/O Barnicoat
Meal 1745
Brief Nav. 1830
Brief Main 1915
BERLIN attack fair; all Y aircraft [inserted] dropped [/inserted] but both U/Ts were a long way from A.P. Oboe attempted this target for the first time, and were also some distance from A.P., according to photographic plot. DESSAU attack a complete failure owing to total absence of markers from 139. Issue further complicated by 100 Group fooling about with TIs in the area. Some aircraft bombed these, others used GEE, & remainder joined heavy attack on LUTZKENDORF.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 9.4.45 [/underlined] 106
12 aircraft (5 BERLIN, 3 HAMBURG, and 4 E.W. KIEL)
Q F/Lt Abraham }
M F/O Jones } Y
T F/O Richards
B F/Lt Lucas
W W/O Inkpen
E F/O Rawsthorn }
Y F/Lt Hopkin }
A F/O Philip } E.W.
S F/Lt Marshall }
K F/Lt Marson }
R F/Lt Goodman } U/T Y
L F/O Connor }
Reserves J, F
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
F/Lt Stewart
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Hagues
P/O Robjohns
Sgt Grigg
Meal 1730
Brief Nav. 1815
Brief Main 1950
All attacks very successful. Both Y aircraft marked BERLIN, and 2 U/T Y marked HAMBURG. K (F/Lt Marson) had H2S U/S and dropped bombs only. Heavies going very well on KIEL with some opposition.
[Page break]
107 [Underlined] 10.4.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (7 BERLIN and 5 CHEMNITZ)
M S/Ldr Eddy }
Q F/O Spurr }
L F/O Connor } U/T Y
R F/Lt Goodman }
K F/Lt Marson }
U P/O Watt
C F/O Knights
V F/Lt McClelland
G F/O Finlay
W F/O Smith
B P/O Henley
J F/Lt Waller
Reserves E, T
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
F/Lt [deleted] Hopkin [/deleted] Lucas
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/O Crabb
F/O Kennedy
Meal 1730
Brief Nav. 1815
Brief Main 1900
BERLIN raid very successful with fires close to A.P. from previous attack. All U/T Y aircraft marked CHEMNITZ, but marking was scattered and generally undershot by 2 1/2 miles owing to Group having worked out the method incorrectly.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 11.4.45 [/underlined] 108
12 aircraft (7 BERLIN and 5 U/T Y singly BERLIN)
[Deleted] L W/Cdr Bolton } [deleted]
[Deleted] F/Lt Abraham } Y [/deleted]
L S/Ldr Eddy } H+12
M F/Lt Lucas } H+38
R F/O Spurr } U/T Y H+18
K F/O Finlay } H+5
Q F/Lt Marson } H+30
Y [deleted letter] F/Lt Marshall
F F/Lt Stewart
W [deleted letter] P/O Inkpen
A F/O Philip
T F/O Richards
E F/O Rawsthorn
U P/O Watt
Reserves B, V
O.C. [deleted] W [/deleted] S/Ldr Eddy
F/Lt [deleted] Hopkin [/deleted] Skillman
Duty Navs. F/O Hagues
F/O Tempest
F/Lt Fawcett
Y,F,W,A,T,E,U. L,Q,M,R,K.
Meal 1730 1945
Brief Nav. 1816 1815
Brief Main 1900 1900
All attacks successful in clear weather with good marking by Oboe. Fires seen burning close to A.P. Ground-details photographs from L (S/Ldr Eddy), M (F/Lt Lucas) and Q (|F/Lt Marson)
S/Ldr Eddy nearest – plotted A.P. 360° 1550 yards.
[Page break]
109 [Underlined] 13.4.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (2 Y STRALSUND, 8 HAMBURG, and 2 U/T Y HAMBURG)
Q W/Cdr Bolton }
L F/Lt Skillman } Y
M F/O Connor }
K F/O Lowe } U/T Y
V F/Lt Hopkin
A F/Lt Bland
T F/O Richards
F F/Lt Whitworth
W P/O McGown
B F/Lt Haden
J F/O Burgess
C F/O Knights
Reserves U, S
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy
F/Lt Abraham
Duty Navs. F/Lt [deleted] Fawcett [/deleted] Alexander
F/O Allsop
F/O Lawrence
Q,L,M,K Remainder
Meal 1830 2000
Brief Nav. 1915 2045
Brief Main 2000 2100
TI’s [inserted] glow [/inserted] visible through 10/10 cloud at HAMBURG though no results seen. Good spoof at STRALSUND but ‘L’ had H2S U/S and ‘Q’ had bombing gear U/S.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 14.4.45 [/underlined] 110
[Deleted] 12 [/deleted] 7 aircraft (BERLIN)
G F/Lt Bland
W [deleted letter] P/O McGown
B F/Lt Haden
J F/Lt Waller
C F/O Philip
S F/Lt Marshall
F P/O Henley
P F/O Spurr }
K F/Lt Marson }
Q F/Lt Goodman } U/T Y
L F/O Lowe }
M F/O Finlay }
Reserves E, V
O.C. [deleted] S/Ldr [/deleted] W/Cdr Bolton
S/Ldr Eddy
Duty Nav. F/Lt Gannon
F/O Wallis
Meal 1815
Brief Nav. 1900
Brief Main 1945
U/T Y aircraft cancelled – Weather
A very successful attack. Weather clear and Oboe marking good. Several large explosions with black smoke. Large fires seen at POTSDAM.
[Page break]
111 {underlined] 15.4.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (BERLIN)
M S/Ldr Eddy }
[Deleted] R F/O Finlay [/deleted]
K F/Lt Marson }
P F/O Spurr } U/T Y
L F/O Connor }
Q F/Lt Goodman }
Y F/Lt Hopkin
B F/O Knights
J F/O Burgess
E F/O [deleted] Whitworth [/deleted] Finlay
T F/Lt Richards
[Deleted] F/Lt Stewart [/deleted]
Reserves G, S
O.C. W/Cdr Bolton
F/Lt Abraham
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
P/O Clark (Scot)
P/O Clark (Can)
Meal 1730
Brief Nav. 1815
Brief Main 1900
F cancelled – Tyre burst and reserve a/c u/s
A bad start. F/O Tulloch went sick at briefing and the crews’ place was taken by F/O Finlay & F/O Allsop who returned U/S from 1st attack but got going again very quickly. F (F/Lt Stewart) had tyre burst at caravan & got into reserve a/c but found it U/S.
[Page break]
[Underlined] 16.4.45 [/underlined] 112
12 aircraft ([deleted] 4 [/deleted] 3 Y + 7 MUNICH)
Q F/Lt Abraham Y
L F/O Connor }
[Deleted] F/Lt Goodman [/deleted] }
[Deleted] F/O Finlay [/deleted] } U/T Y
P F/O Lowe }
K F/Lt Bland }
C F/O Finlay
W P/O McGown
G P/O Henley
J F/Lt Waller
A F/O Philip
S F/Lt Marshall
E F/Lt Haden
Y F/Lt Goodman
Reserves [deleted] C, Y [/deleted] T
O.C W/Cdr Bolton F/Lt Stewart
Duty Navs. S/Ldr Waterkeyn
F/Sgt Hanrahan
Meal [deleted 1730 2200 [/deleted] 2230
Brief Nav. [deleted] 1815 2245 [/deleted] 2315
Brief Main [deleted] 1900 2330 [/deleted] 2359
T (F/Lt Bland) had engine cut on take-off. A/C swung and finished by running 50 yards backwards into dispersal.
Attack very successful in clear weather. 5 good ground-detail photographs all of same area.
E (F/Lt Haden) plotted on A.P.
[Page break]
113 [Underlined 17.4.45 [/underlined]
12 aircraft (4 Y BERLIN and 8 INGOLSTADT)
Q W/Cdr Bolton }
L F/Lt Skillman } Y
P F/O Spurr }
K F/Lt Marson } U/T Y
W F/Lt Richards
E F/Lt Stewart
S F/Lt Waller
G F/Lt Bland
J F/O Burgess
A F/Lt Whitworth
Y F/Lt Hopkin
C F/O Knights
Reserves U, V, M/R
O.C. S/Ldr Eddy
F/Lt Marshall
Duty Navs. F/Lt Alexander
F/O Morrow
F/O Fisher
Meal 1730
Brief Nav. 1815
Brief Main 1900
Severe Cu. Nim with lightning, icing thermals etc. on way to Berlin. 3 of the 4 Y aircraft last ASIs on going through. 3 also had Y U/S but bombed on GEE. Attack on INGOLDSTADT airfield very successful. Airfield afterwards estimated 75% u/s.
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
162 Squadron Light Night Striking Force Battle Orders
Recollections of 455 (Australian) Squadron August 1941 - April 1942
Description
An account of the resource
162 Squadron crew lists and record of operations from 19 December 1944 to 17 April 1945 and John Bolton's memoir.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
John Derek Bolton
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Handwritten booklet and seven typewritten sheets
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Text. Service material
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MBoltonJD67631-170906-01
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
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Great Britain
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Suffolk
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Bonn
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Dessau (Dessau)
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Erfurt
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Hanau
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Kiel
Germany--Lübeck
Germany--Magdeburg
Germany--Wanne-Eickel
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
Germany--Ingolstadt
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12
1945-01
1945-02
1945-03
1945-04
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Anne-Marie Watson
162 Squadron
455 Squadron
aircrew
Bennett, Donald Clifford Tyndall (1910-1986)
bombing
Distinguished Flying Cross
Hampden
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
mine laying
Mosquito
navigator
Pathfinders
pilot
RAF Bourn
RAF Woodbridge
searchlight
Wellington
Whitley
Window
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1297/20289/LBoltonJD67631v1.1.pdf
bd5b0871e283106a18a5f4bd648c05e2
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
Bolton, J D
Description
An account of the resource
Three items. The collection concerns John Derek Bolton (915543, 67631) and contains two Log books and squadron maintenance log containing a memoir. He flew 80 operations as a pilot with 455, 571, 608 and 162 squadrons.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by David Bolton and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
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
2017-09-06
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
Bolton, JD
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
John Derek Bolton’s Pilots flying log book. One
Description
An account of the resource
Pilots flying log book for John Derek Bolton, covering the period from 18 October 1940 to 11 December 1945. Detailing his flying training, operations flown, instructor duties and post war flying duties. He was stationed at White Waltham, RAF Watchfield, RAF Cranwell, RAF Upper Heyford, RAF Swinderby, RAF Waddington, RAF Skellingthorpe, RAF Wigsley, RAF Finningley, RAF North Luffenham, RAF Upavon, RAF Mildenhall, RAF Bruntingthorpe, RAF Woolfox Lodge, RAF Bitteswell, RAF Warboys, RAF Oakington, RAF Downham Market and RAF Bourn. Aircraft flown were, Tiger Moth, Oxford, Anson, Hampden, Magister, Wellington, Whitley, Lysander, Master, Douglas DC3, Ventura, Lancaster, Martinet, Defiant, Mosquito, M18, Spitfire, Proctor, Hurricane, Auster and Beaufighter. He flew a total of 80 operations which included 30 with 455 squadron, 1 daylight and 29 night operations. 13 night operations with 571 squadron, 28 operations with 608 squadron, 27 night and 1 daylight, 9 night operations with 162 squadron. Targets were, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Essen, Ameland, Wilhelmshaven, Hannover, Munster, Wangerooge, Mannheim, Aachen, Cologne, Lorient, Bordeaux, Lubeck, Bremen, Berlin, Gottingen, Scholven, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Wanne Eickel, Karlsruhe, Brunswick, Kassel, Nuremberg, Osnabruck and Stralsund.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
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
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LBoltonJD67631v1
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
Germany
Great Britain
Netherlands
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
England--Berkshire
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Norfolk
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Oxfordshire
England--Rutland
England--Suffolk
England--Wiltshire
England--Yorkshire
France--Lorient
Germany--Aachen
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Braunschweig
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Essen
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Göttingen
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Karlsruhe
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Lübeck
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Osnabrück
Germany--Stralsund
Germany--Stuttgart
Germany--Wanne-Eickel
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
Netherlands--Ameland Island
Germany--Münster in Westfalen
Germany--Wangerooge Island
France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
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1940
1941
1942
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1941-09-12
1941-09-15
1941-09-16
1941-09-29
1941-09-30
1941-10-01
1941-10-02
1941-10-12
1941-10-13
1941-10-23
1941-10-24
1941-10-28
1941-10-29
1941-10-31
1941-11-01
1941-11-04
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1942-01-06
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16 OTU
162 Squadron
25 OTU
29 OTU
455 Squadron
571 Squadron
608 Squadron
aircrew
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Wellington
Whitley
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/620/19408/BPaineGHPaineGHv1.2.pdf
c1a7c6c381d79a4c2bf964593a249785
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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Paine, Geoff
Geoffrey Hugh Paine
G H Paine
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
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Paine, GH
Description
An account of the resource
14 items. An oral history interview with Sergeant Geoffrey Paine (1925 - 2019, 1894345, Royal Air Force) documents and photographs. He flew as a pilot with 100 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Geoffrey Paine and catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle.
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.
Date
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2016-07-20
Transcribed document
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Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Geoffrey H. Paine
My life in the Royal Air Force
From its formation I was a member of The Air Training Corps, I rose to the dizzy rank of Corporal and was a member of 1157 Sqdn (Falmouth & Penryn, Cornwall)
I was a pupil at Falmouth Grammar School, sat & passed my Cambridge School Certificate.
As soon as I was 18 I voluntered [sic] for RAF Aircrew and went to Sentinal House, London to sign on. Went through a strict medical and did an aptitude test in a sort of mock aircraft cockpit to check my coordination. This was successful and I was clasified [sic] as fit for Aircrew as PNB (Pilot, Navigator of Bomb Aimer).
I returned home and continued at school where I studied Air Navigation.
To start my training I had to be 18 + 3 months so on 30th August 1943 I reported to the Aircrew reception centre at Lords Cricket Ground, London. Went through another medical (plus an FFI !!) was issued with my uniform and then spent a few days in St John's Wood doing drill etc.
On 20th September I went to No 6 Initial Training Wing at Aberystwyth, billeted in the Bell View Hotel on the sea front. Accomodation [sic] was OK but food was a bit scarce! Lots of drill on the sea front and classroom subjects in the University. There were about 20 of us who were non swimmers and one cold morning we were marched up to the University swimming baths. We were lined up along the side of the pool and told to climb up to the highest diving board and jump in!! We were fished out with long polls by the insructors [sic]! One of the cadets was unable to jump and was taken off the course for aircrew to transfer to ground crew!
Apart from drill and classroom subjects we did clay pidgeon [sic] shooting and fired Lewis and Bren guns on the firing range. We also had to go into a Gas chamber and temporally remove our gas masks!
After Christmas leave I went Grading School AST Station Ansty, near Coventry to fly in the lovely Tiger Moths. Communication between the instructor and pupil was through a Gosport tube and it was quite common to inhale a strong smell of whisky! After only 6 hours flying
[page break]
I was sent on by first solo (I think it was a bit of a record judging by the instructors boasting to his colleagues!!) During our spare time we had to lay taxy ways using bricks which came from the bombed houses of Coventry. We also did guard duty at night.
Following a short leave on 25th Feb. 1944 I was posted to the Aircrew despatch Centre at Heaton Park, Manchester. On the 13th March I was posted to what had been No. 17 Initial Training Wing at Scarborough. During the first parade the CO asked if anyone was a model maker? I voluntered [sic]!! Solid wooden models of aircraft used for aircraft recognition training had “disappeared” and they were on the CO's inventory, my job was in the workshop to make as many models as possible! At night I sometimes did guard duty down on the coast armed with a Sten Gun.
On 26th of March I was posted to the ex No. 2 Itw at Cambridge which was in Pembroke College (didn’t do much there except scive [sic] to escape route marches).
On 6th of April posted again! This time to RAF Waltham, No 100 Squadron Lancasters where I packed thousands of incendary [sic] bombs and worked the Squdn office.
Back to Heaton Park on 20.05.44. 31st May 44 posted to RAF Bourne (near Cambridge) 105 Squdn Mosquitos [sic]. There I Assisted [sic] in Operating [sic] the “Sandra” light, a searchlight which was turned on to shine vertically when the Mosquitos [sic] were returning from a raid to assist them to pinpoint the airfield.
Back to Heaton Park on 18th July 44. This was another delay in aircrew training and I was given the option of staying at Heaton Park, volunteering to help on farms of going to London to do bomb damage repairs! I voluntered [sic] to go to London. (a good choice!) We were stationed at RAF Hornchurch and each morning we paraded in a hanger and given details of where a doodle bug had landed and where bomb damage repairs were needed. There were about 20 of us in my squad with a Flt Sgt in charge, we had our own troop carrier equipped with all the necessary tools with
[page break]
which to replace dislodged roofing tiles, repair broken windows (a yellow waterproof material) plaster board to replace bomb damaged ceilings.
We operated from Hornchurch from the 3rd August 44 until 5th December (No 55 repair unit). On 6th Dec. we were moved to operate from 55 RU at Kew. On 2nd Jan. 45 we went to RAF Hendon to repair and clear the remains of a barrack block which had received a direct hit by a V 1 at 7 o’clock one evening (not a pleasant task which involved picking up body parts when clearing rubble).
Back once more to Heaton Park on 8th of Feb. to be kitted out with tropical kit for flying training in Southern Rhodesia! We boarded Royal Mail Ship “Andes” at Liverpool and sailed for Cape Town. On route we called in at Freetown to take on water and amuse ourselves by throwing in coins for the natives to pick up from the deep. Natives would dive under the ship if you threw in a silver coin, some rotten blighters wrapped up pennies in silver paper. You had to block up your ears to avoid hearing the VERY strong natives language when they discovered how they had been fooled!
We arrived at Cape Town on about the 1st march and boarded a beautiful steam train to take us to Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia. I think it took 2 days and a night. Each carriage had bunks to sleep 6. A fascinating journey through the middle of South Africa. We arrived at Bulawayo on the 4th march and spent 12 days there to become aclimateised [sic] to being several thousand feet above sea level.
On the 16th March (45) I went to No 26 EFTS at RAF Guinea Fowl, near Gwelo to start my pilot training on Fairchild Cornell aircraft. My
[page break]
instructor was Sgt Bruce. The weather every day was clear blue skys [sic]. After 7 hours 40 mins I was sent on my firs [sic] solo in the Cornell.
On the 25th May ’45 I was posted to No. 22 Service flying Training School at RAF Thornhill, near Gwelo flying Harvards. My instructor on Harvards was Pilot Officer Pearce. After 3 hrs 40 min I did my first solo flight in the Harvard. Within just a few days of receiving my Pilots Wings along came VJ DAY, The end of the 2nd World War. ALL FLYING TRAINING Ceased!!
We were all called on parade and told we were to return home. We were given two alternatives! We could either await our demob date or sign on for 3 years plus 4 years on reserve and continue with our flying training at home. I chose the latter!
We all returned to Cape Town to await our boat home to England. I had four wonderful weeks in Cape Town climbing the mountains and learning to surf at Muzenburg.
On the 10th October we boarded the RMS Del Pacifico for home. On the way we called in at James town, St Helena (where Napoleon was ‘imprisoned’) We arrived back in England on 29th Oct 45 and spent 5 days at West Kirby. After a short leave I was sent to RAF Stansted where we had to unload and store in the hangers there oceans of equipment from closing RAF Stations.
From 28th Nov to 18th Jan I was at no 27 Aircrew Holding Centre at RAF Bircham Newton.
On 18th Jan 46 I started flying training again at No 6 Sfts, Little Rissington, on Harvards. The Station closed on the 9th April and we moved to No 6 SFTS at RAF Tern Hill where I received my RAF Pilots Wings, at long last !!! on 3rd September 1946.
After some leave I went to Aircrew GST at RAF Locking near Weston Super Mare.
[page break]
More detatchments [sic]! first at RAF Church Lawford from 25 Jan 47 to 28 April 47. The station was training Naval Pilots, I got in a little flying on Harvards. From 28th April to 7th May I was at RAF Kirton in Lindsey where I acted as Despatch Rider on a 500cc Norton!! until 7th May 47.
Much to my surprise I then went to 242 Sqdn, Oakington and 511 Sqdn as second pilot on Avro Yorks! Route flying to India carrying freight and (on the side) trading bicycle tyres in Iraqu and buying carpets in Karachi in India!!! Nice profits!!
This was from 7th May 47 to 26 Aug 47.
27 th Aug I went to No. 2 PRFU at RAF Valley to qualify on Oxfords and Ansons. On 30th Oct 47 I went to
No 201 AFS RAF Swinderby to qualify as pilot on Vickers Wellingtons.
I qualified as pilot on Wellingtons and on 1.3.48 attended No 1 Navigation Staff Pilots Course at RAF Topcliffe flying Oxfords, Ansons & Wellingtons.
On 7.6.48 I went as a Staff Pilot at no 2 Air Navigation School to Fly ut navigators on Wellingtons A most enjoyable time flying all over England almost every day and night with ut Navigators on board.
On 7.8.49 I was offered a Commision [sic] if I stayed in the RAF and signed on again. I opted to take my release so as to go home and join my lovely wife, Evelyn, having married her on the 26th August 1948!
My six Years [sic] in the RAF was so enjoyable and a really wonderful expierience [sic]. Looking back it seemed like a lifetime!
I went on to farm until 1966 when I went as a Fulltime Officer in The Royal Observer Corps rising to the rank of Commander.
I retired at 60 in 1985!!!!
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
Geoff Paine's time in the RAF
Description
An account of the resource
A five page document recording Geoff's time in the R.A.F. from August 1943 until August 1949, in addition to his flying career as a pilot he undertook many other tasks as the aircrew training machine wound down.
Creator
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Geoff Paine
Format
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Five typewritten pages
Language
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eng
Type
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Text. Memoir
Text
Identifier
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BPaineGHPaineGHv1
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
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Great Britain
Publisher
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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
Jan Waller
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944
1946
100 Squadron
105 Squadron
Anson
Cornell
Flying Training School
Harvard
incendiary device
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Mosquito
Oxford
RAF Ansty
RAF Bourn
RAF Grimsby
RAF Hendon
RAF Hornchurch
RAF Little Rissington
RAF Swinderby
RAF Ternhill
RAF Topcliffe
Royal Observer Corps
training
V-1
V-weapon
Wellington
York
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/497/10707/BCopusPJCopusPJv.1.pdf
3b4590afce6b1c8ba1a3d4a0cfb2e9a3
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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Copus, Jim
P J Copus
Copus, James
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
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Copus, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Nine items. Two oral history interviews with Warrant Officer Percy James Copus (1922 - 2016, 1430308 Royal Air Force) who flew operations as a mid-upper gunner with 97 Squadron. The collection also includes photographs of himself and family, and account and maps of his last operation of the 27 March 1943 on Frankfurt, when his Lancaster was shot down and he became a prisoner of war.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by James Copus and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
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2016-02-24
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.
Transcribed document
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Transcription
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A few minutes before 7 o’clock in the evening of 22nd March 1944 I took off on my last operational sortie as the mid-upper gunner of Lancaster OF-P ND351. By the end of that night I was a prisoner of war having bailed out of the aircraft as it fell crippled and burning, the victim of a German night-fighter.
This is the story of that night and the year in captivity that followed..................
[Hand written signature] W/O James Copus 97 Sqn. POW STALAGLUFT 1. 2011. Love from Daddy. [/hand written signature]
[page break]
TARGET – FRANKFURT
By P.J. Copus
An extract from 97 Flight Operation Records 22-23 Mar 1944 :-
TARGET – Frankfurt Lancaster III OF-P ND351
P/O R.E. Cooper, Sgt. F.S. Witcher, F/Sgt. McFayden, Sgts. H. Lunt, H.A. Smith, P.J. Copus, R.R. Hinde.
Op 18.50 aircraft missing (4 x TI, 1 x 4000lb, 2 x 1000lb, 600 x 4lb incs, 40 x 4lb incs).
TARGET AHEAD!
We have made our turn to the south of Hanover at 18,000 feet. The target, Frankfurt, is now directly ahead of the aircraft and already burning. My attention is elsewhere, however. The Flak, which we can do nothing about anyway, has stopped, a sure indication that fighters are up. An “own goal” by the Flak crews would mean a double-quick transfer to the Russian front. Any night-fighter attack will come from the rear of the aircraft. Only the rear gunner and myself, the mid-upper turret gunner can offer return fire and so we are a fighter’s primary targets in the hope that he can silence our guns and finish off the aircraft without risk. We are well-aware that the odds are stacked heavily in his favour:
each of our Lancaster’s four Merlin engines produces a double row of exhaust flames
we have shiny turrets which can reflect any stray light
the fighter pilot can quickly re-position his aircraft to improve his view of anything suspicious whereas we have a full bomb-load and can only manoeuvre very gently for fear of tearing the wings off the aeroplane!
Should we be spotted then we [italic] must [/italic] see the slender, head-on fighter profile he gets within range, a very tall order indeed considering that we have to search all that volume of the night sky within our range of vision to the rear of the aircraft. Our rifle-calibre machine guns mean that the best we can hope for, should we be attacked, is to put the fighter pilot off his aim or maybe even make him break off his attack and perhaps lose us again in the darkness. However, since it is possible that the fighter was equipped with radar that he used to find us a second time. In an exchange of fire, we are at a severe disadvantage since the fighter has 20mm cannon as well as machine guns and the resulting weight of fire exceeds our own. Taking all these factors into account means that our chances of survival depend almost entirely on the size of the night sky which although apparently empty contains our friends and our foes in unequal proportions; there are many more of the latter, ground-based as well as airborne, who are as determined to prevent our
[page break]
reaching the target as we are to get there. The element of surprise is no longer a factor. Other aircraft in front of us have already released their bombs and the target is literally sprinkled with fires. The fighters will be more concerned with preventing additional attacks than shooting down aircraft that have already bombed. The chances of being seen in silhouette against the ground fires by a fighter pilot increase as we draw nearer the target. Our course, height and speed were all fixed before we took off in order to reduce the chances of not only of a collision over the target but also of bombs falling on aircraft flying at a lower level. In spite of these precautions, instruments inevitably have minor calibration tolerances and variations of a few hundred feet are number of occurrences is impossible to quantify since survivors of such an eventuality are improbable.
It is as well that we are all too preoccupied to think too carefully about the multitude of situations quite apart from enemy action that could kill us in the blink of an eye.
THE BEGINNING
Our training as a complete crew had involved many 8-hour flights around the UK almost always at night on what were primarily navigation exercises. However, their indirect purpose was to get us all functioning as a team. Apart from that we gunners were just along for the ride. On completion of training in Lancasters we were posted to ....... a Stirling station! In that remarkable manner which it seems only the Military can achieve, we had been wrongly directed and no-one knew anything about us. Our pilot, F/O Cooper told us to stay put and that he would arrange something. He disappeared for two days. On his return he announced that he had fixed us up with a Pathfinder Squadron, No.97.
This is how, one day in late December, we arrived at Bourn in Cambridgeshire. Only a fortnight previously, on the night of 16/17th. December, known as “Black Thursday”, Bomber Command has experienced its worst bad-weather losses of the war, a tragedy which cruelly emphasises the fact that the enemy lurks not only in human form. We were posted to Bourn as a contribution towards making up 97 Squadron’s share of the losses.
THE ATTACK
That night 22nd./23rd. March no-one saw the fighter, a Messerschmitt Bf110, in time. His first attack was probably at the end of a gentle climb from behind and below. The climb reduces the speed differential that the fighter needs to catch the target thereby avoiding the risk of an overshoot or even a collision. This tactic also meant that the bulk of the Lancaster on top of which I was sitting, hid the fighter from my view and even the rear gunner’s view downward is restricted enough to hide the approaching fighter. In any event that initial attack knocked out the hydraulics which operated the turrets. I was then in the embarrassing position of being able to do nothing
[page break]
but watch the ‘110’ flying alongside, straight and level, slightly below us and 200 to 300 metres off our starboard wing. The ‘110’s relative position enabled the gunner, facing aft in the rear of the cockpit to fire bursts from his machine gun with zero deflection into our fuel tanks and number three and four engines. The results were exactly what one would expect; both engines burst into flames. Some of his rounds, passing within inches of my head shattered my turret at about the same time as our pilot ordered over the intercom “Prepare to abandon aircraft” and then very quickly afterwards “Abandon aircraft”. All members of the crew acknowledged the order including the rear gunner who by some miracle had survived the initial attack. The bomb-aimer jettisoned the bomb-load. We were on our way down, both starboard engines blazing furiously.
THE ESCAPE
I tear off my oxygen mask, intercom leads and harness and folding my small seat upwards and out of the way manage to drop from my turret into the aircraft’s fuselage, where it is pitch dark. Although we gunners wear the parachute harness at all times in the aircraft, there is no room for the parachute pack itself in any of the turrets and my own is stored on the port side of the aircraft, aft of my position and opposite the rear fuselage hatch. It takes only a few seconds to find my parachute and clip it onto the harness. The rear hatch is now my emergency exit and I begin wrestling with the release handle. The door is jammed! More determined wrestling. The handle breaks off in my hand! I now have to scramble forward virtually the whole length of the Lancaster’s fuselage encumbered by parachute, heavy flying suit and boots. In pitch blackness! Although the entire fuselage is extremely confined and packed with equipment, this is nothing compared to the gymnastics required to wriggle over the wing-spar. All this must be achieved in the dark making sure that the parachute’s rip-cord does not get snagged and cause premature deployment and with the knowledge that at any moment the aircraft could steepen its dive, suddenly flip into inverted flight or simply explode as the engine fires touch off the fuel tanks in the wing. It is also possible that the fighter could attack again. Any chance of hiding in the night is now gone, our demise highlighted by sheets of flame. There are numerous other scenarios none of which is likely to improve our chances of survival. I dismiss these thoughts and continue floundering towards the under-nose hatch, now the only means of escape. The hatch is in the very forward part of the aircraft and access to it is achieved crawling under the pilot’s instrument panel to the right of his seat. The manoeuvre can be likened to crawling through the knee-hole of a writing desk. The pilot is still at the controls. I can see him clearly. This forward part of the aircraft is illuminated by way of a hole in the fuselage and indicate that I am about to go. He nods briefly in acknowledgement. There appears to be no-one else in the aircraft because I am able to walk upright towards the nose, still in pitch darkness of course, until I simply plunge feet-first through the open hatch! None of us is well-prepared for the experience which follows. Training for bailing out had been limited to little more than a few minutes’ jumping from a bench in the gym and attempting a landing-roll. After all, we all knew for certain that it was only some of the
[page break]
other crews who would have to face the experience. That sort of thing happens only to the other chaps..........
This night, however, it is not the ‘other chaps’. It is us. Our lucky mascots, our youthful confidence in ourselves and each other, our training, all now useless. What happens next is uncharted territory!
The slipstream seizes me and whirls me around furiously and noisily. During one of my violent gyrations, I catch a glimpse of the aircraft as I free-fall away from it. I have kept hold of the ripcord handle and knowing now that I am well clear of the aircraft, haul on the handle. The parachute explodes out of the pack as the airstream seizes it. The opening shock is immediate and extremely violent and I am wrenched into an upright position, completely winded and in some considerable pain from the contraction of the parachute harness. The sudden peace and quiet is extraordinary. The only noise is my own laboured breathing. I am hanging apparently nearly motionless. It is cold. Very cold! We were flying at 18,000 feet when attacked and I imagine the aircraft was down to 15,000 feet when I bailed out.
Surprisingly, my all-consuming thought is that it will take a long time to get back home from this operation!
[photo from R.A.F. Museum’s Lancaster September 2010]
The descent takes an enormous but unquantifiable amount of time. I know the ground will be covered in snow and therefore easy to see. Straining my eyes I can see a vague brightness below. I brace myself and wait for the shattering crash of the landing. Nothing happens! What I take to be the ground is a thin layer of low cloud. Just cloud. As I begin to relax a little, comes the landing; surprisingly gentle. I am in a ploughed field covered with snow. My only injury is some bruising and scratching on my face as a result of pitching forward on impact with the ground.
[page break]
To borrow the Germans’ own favourite expression in these circumstances “For me, the war is over.”
A PRISONER OF WAR
The field in which I had landed was only yards from a row of houses. Their occupants were on me immediately I landed and I was dragged into one of the houses amid much shouting and bravado. It was widely known that German civilians were not exactly welcoming towards aircrew who fell into their hands and I was very nervous about the whole situation. They shoved me into one corner of the room. My ‘chute has been gathered into an untidy bundle and was dumped beside me. In the other corner were grouped a cross-section of the neighbourhood. They were gesticulating and shouting at me in unintelligible German. Some of the shouting, however, needed no translation! In the circumstances I did not feel at all like a ‘Terrorflieger’ as the Nazis called R.A.F. bomber crews. Some young wide-eyed children were among the crowd. As a gesture of goodwill I took some chocolate from my flying-suit pocked and offered it to them. They recoiled hastily, either not knowing what it was or suspecting it was poisoned perhaps. To prove it was safe I ate a little myself and returned the rest to my pocket but the atmosphere was tense and I hoped that some sort of authority had been alerted and would remove me before something unpleasant happened.
Fortunately, the civil police (they were referred to as ‘gendarmes’) arrived promptly and I was hauled off on foot to the local police station where I was thrown unceremoniously, without food or water, into a damp cell in which the only piece of furniture was a bed. There was not even a blanket. I attempted to sleep but it was extremely cold. In an attempt to keep my feet from freezing I managed to squeeze both into one flying boot.
At some point during the night I was dragged out of the cell and upstairs to an office where I was confronted by the local Bürgermeister (Mayor). There were, he told me, the bodies of several aircrew in the mortuary. If I would tell him the names of my crew he would let me know if any of them were among the dead. I felt unable to cooperate in this ‘kind offer’ which was, of course, a fairly transparent ruse to get more information out of me. My response was perhaps equally transparent but served well enough to show that I knew what he was up to. The crew I had been a last minute arrangement as a substitute. However, I added helpfully, I would be prepared to go to the mortuary and point out anyone I recognised. This offer was refused and I was returned promptly to my cell.
In the morning, after an extremely uncomfortable night, I was brought a cup of ersatz coffee and unidentifiable to eat. Shortly afterwards I was dragged out of the cell and outside where a horse cart was waiting. Surprisingly my ‘chute was returned to me and as I flung it
[page break]
into the cart saw Lund, the bomb-aimer, already aboard. He had a leg wound. As I started to climb up into the cart with him, I was pulled back and told that I must walk along behind thus presenting the entire populace who had turned out to watch, with another opportunity to shout and scream abuse as we plodded slowly through the town.
We arrived eventually at some sort of holding area, a single room in an official building into which we were directed. Shortly, after, Lund was taken off to hospital. My parachute was not returned to me and I imagine provided some luxury under-wear for a “Hausfrau” or mistress somewhere. It was not for many years that I discovered that the rear-gunner, Ron Hinde, whom we all knew as “Slick”, although he had acknowledged the order to bail out, had been killed. Exactly what had happened remains a mystery. Clearly something had gone wrong after his acknowledgement of the order to bale [sic] out. As I had discovered there was ample capacity for The Unexpected! The aircraft crashed in woodland outside Hanover and Ron Hinde is buried in Hanover War Cemetery.
It appeared that when the holding areas reached a certain number of inmates, they were moved out for transfer to a permanent camp (Stalag). The first step in the transfer process was to get to Frankfurt. Accompanied by two guards, I was shoved onto a train and began the two-day trip. Progress was very slow, the timetable upset by Bomber Command’s constant rearrangement of the rail network! The guards were pleasant and pointed out landmarks along the way. During one of halts one of my guards announced that he was going to get some water. In due course he returned and sat down, sipping at his water bottle. After a while he offered me the water bottle. “Wasser?” he asked. I took a gulp. Schnapps!
Thus I was delivered to Frankfurt station where a large number of weary and disconsolate aircrew were already gathered. The station was a mess! There were hardly any buildings standing, just several platforms. I did not feel the need to point out that this had been our handiwork! We were crammed into cattle-trucks, thirty per truck. We had no idea where we were going or how long the journey would take. We travelled day and night. There were occasional stops when we were given food and water.
Three days later we arrived at Stalagluft 1.
[page break]
[Sketch of location and layout of camp]
The POW camp, Stalagluft 1 was close to the Baltic coast near a town called Barth. There were British and American aircrew there numbering nearly 10000 in total. The days were spent walking about, playing football perhaps, talking, reading. There was a lively black market trade based on Red Cross food parcels. It was not unknown for the guards to join in, running the risk of joining short-sighted Flak crews and other defaulters in Stalingrad!
It can be imagined perhaps that for young men used to an active, adrenalin-fuelled life, the resulting boredom was a particular form of torture. The reader must remember too, that we had no idea no long this would go on and how it would end. One of the original inmates of the camp had been shot in the middle of September 1939 only a few weeks into the war. How were we new arrivals to know that our own confinement wouldn’t be just as long..... or longer!?
[page break]
[photo of the camp]
But for the resilience of youth and the comradeship, it would have been easy to fall into hopelessness and despair.
One of the first people I met on entering the camp was a chap who had been on the same gunnery course as me on the Isle of Man. A fortnight after my arrival, our pilot F/O Cooper turned up. Although I was unaware of it at the time, he had been wounded in the back when we were shot down and had been in hospital since that time.
The most senior German officer whom we saw regularly during his “rounds” of the camp was a Major Mueller. He was a decent chap, clearly one of the “old school” bearing a duelling scar across one cheek. He was not above joining in and on one occasion, after watching some Americans fencing; took over one “foil” (actually a stick) to show them how it was done. Of course, the camp was run entirely by the Luftwaffe, much preferable, we all felt, to Wehrmacht personnel who not doubt gave their prisoners a much harder time. There was the empathy of airmen albeit on different sides.
The Germans routinely produced their version of The News riddled of course with propaganda: a rain of V.1’s and V.2’s had reduced London to rubble: the Wehrmacht was pushing the Red Army back into Russia: an attempted Allied invasion had been thrown back into the sea while a German invasion was imminent and so on. Fortunately we had our own sources – the BBC via an illicit
[page break]
radio hidden somewhere in the camp. It was not therefore entirely unexpected one night, 30th April 1945, after we were locked up as usual, all the Germans fled! We already knew, as they did, that the Red Army was approaching. We were not overjoyed at the prospect of being liberated by the Russians and were somewhat concerned by what might happen. Had we known then what is known now about how the Russians sometimes handled these situations, we would have been even more concerned!
LIBERATION
For some days after the departure of our guards the only signs of our liberators were in the distance. In the meantime our own officers advised us not to venture outside the camp confines. Free to explore the entire camp we discovered a hoard of Red Cross parcels which the Germans had stopped distributing since December. This windfall allowed us to celebrate in some style. The Russians’ eventual arrival was marked by an hour-long speech , delivered in Russian by a senior officer. Since hardly anyone understood a word we were obliged to follow the speaker’s lead and applaud or cheer at what seemed to be suitable pauses in his oratory. Thereafter we saw very little of the Red Army, a situation which suited us very well!
It was two weeks before we were picked up. Our removal from the camp had been expedited we found out much later, by the highest possible authority. The Russians had apparently revealed that they intended to move us all to Odessa from where we could be shipped home. Or so they said. The British and American Governments did not believe at least the latter part of this stated intention and the mission to pick us up was put together in something of a hurry and without consultation with our liberators. The suspicion was that the Russians intended to hold us hostages to improve their bargaining position when it came to dividing up the spoils of war.
We were marched in batches to the airfield on the southern outskirts of the town. On the way we passed within yards of the perimeter of a concentration camp. The occupants did not appear “liberated”. It is probable that they had simply swapped one captor for another. We knew of the existence of this camp because several of the inmates having presumably escaped in the chaos after the Russians’ arrival had turned up at the gates of our camp begging for food and sanctuary. To have rendered any form of assistance, not that there was much we could have done, would have meant the end of all of us had the Russians discovered that we had helped them.
I returned to England in a USAF B-17. We were eventually taken to Biggin Hill where we were told that none of us would fly again with the R.A.F. and given two weeks’ leave to make up our minds whether to stay on or not. In a “Land Fit for Heroes” there was little on offer in the way of employment and so I elected to stay on in the R.A.F. and chose[sic] to join a transport unit. Here I learned to drive and acquired my driving licence which stood me in good stead for my eventual transfer to “civvy street”.
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
Target Frankfurt
Description
An account of the resource
Account of Jim Copus's last operation to Frankfurt during which his 97 Squadron Lancaster was shot down by a Me 110 night fighter. Includes the task of air gunners, the engagement by the night fighter which disabled all hydraulics including those to his turret. His difficulties in escaping from the aircraft, parachuting and capture by hostile civilians before being handed to civil police. His treatment as a prisoner and his journey to prisoner of war camp at Stalag Luft 1 at Barth. Life in camp, liberation by the Russians and repatriation by United States Army Air Force B-17 to England. Includes photographs of Jim Corpus as a wartime airman, prisoner of war and at the RAF Museum in 2010 as well as one of the prisoner of war camp. In addition there are hand drawn maps of north Germany and the Baltic locating Barth and a diagram of the Stalag Luft 1 camp.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Corpus
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Eleven page printed document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Map
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BCopusPJCopusPJv
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
United States Army
Civilian
Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Great Britain
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Barth
England--Kent
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-03-27
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Gemma Clapton
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.
97 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
B-17
bale out
final resting place
Lancaster
Me 110
prisoner of war
RAF Biggin Hill
RAF Bourn
shot down
Stalag Luft 1
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/781/9438/LWrigleyJ1029740v1.2.pdf
44ee862707f671b4ce71a0b2c0ccf4c6
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
Wrigley, James
J Wrigley
Description
An account of the resource
27 items. The collection concerns James Wrigley (1920 - 2010, 1029740 Royal Air Force) and contains an interview with his widow, Alice Wrigley, photographs, his log book, decorations, and a photograph album of his service in the UK and and Far East. The collection also contains a log book made out to Rascal, his mascot or lucky charm. James Wrigley completed 47 operations as a wireless operator with 97 and 635 Squadrons.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Susan Higgins 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
2017-07-09
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
Wrigley, J
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
James Wrigley's flying log book
Description
An account of the resource
Flying log book for Warrant Officer James Wrigley, wireless operator, covering the period from 17 November 1942 to 30 June 1954. Detailing training, operations and instructor duties. He was stationed at RAF Yatesbury, RAF Pembrey, RAF Whitchurch Heath (Tilstock), RAF Lindholme, RAF Bourn, RAF Downham Market, RAF Kinloss, RAF Forres, RAF St. Athan, RAF Abingdon, RAF Hemswell, RAF Binbrook, RAF Marham, RAF Scampton, RAF Negombo, RAF Tengah and RAF Shallufa. Aircraft flown in were, Dominie, Proctor, Blenheim, Anson, Whitley, Halifax, Lancaster, Wellington, Lincoln and B-29. He flew a total of 47 night operations, one with 81 OTU, 39 with 97 Squadron and 7 with 635 Squadron. Targets were, Rouen, Hamburg, Milan, Mannheim, Nuremberg, Peenemunde, Munchen-Gladbach, Berlin, Hannover, Leipzig, Munich, Kassel, Cologne, Ludwigshaven, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Brunswick, Ottignies, Le Havre, Lens and Coubronne. His pilots on operations were <span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":200,"335559740":276}">Pilot Officer Munro DFM and Squadron Leader Riches DFC. </span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
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
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LWrigleyJ1029740v1
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
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Belgium
Egypt
France
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
Belgium--Ottignies
Egypt--Suez Canal
England--Berkshire
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Norfolk
England--Shropshire
England--Wiltshire
England--Yorkshire
France--Le Havre
France--Lens
France--Rouen
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Braunschweig
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Ludwigshafen am Rhein
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Mönchengladbach
Germany--Munich
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Peenemünde
Germany--Stuttgart
Italy--Milan
Scotland--Grampian
Sri Lanka--Western Province
Wales--Carmarthenshire
Wales--Glamorgan
North Africa
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1943-05-23
1943-05-24
1943-08-02
1943-08-03
1943-08-08
1943-08-09
1943-08-10
1943-08-11
1943-08-12
1943-08-13
1943-08-17
1943-08-18
1943-08-27
1943-08-28
1943-08-31
1943-09-03
1943-09-04
1943-09-22
1943-09-23
1943-09-24
1943-09-27
1943-09-28
1943-10-02
1943-10-03
1943-10-18
1943-10-20
1943-10-21
1943-10-22
1943-11-03
1943-11-17
1943-11-18
1943-11-19
1943-11-22
1943-11-23
1943-11-25
1943-11-26
1943-11-27
1943-12-02
1943-12-03
1943-12-16
1943-12-17
1943-12-20
1943-12-29
1944-01-14
1944-01-30
1944-02-15
1944-02-16
1944-02-19
1944-02-20
1944-02-24
1944-02-25
1944-02-26
1944-03-01
1944-03-02
1944-03-15
1944-03-16
1944-03-18
1944-03-19
1944-03-22
1944-03-23
1944-03-30
1944-03-31
1944-04-18
1944-04-19
1944-04-20
1944-04-21
1944-06-14
1944-06-15
1944-06-16
1944-06-23
1944-06-24
10 OTU
1656 HCU
19 OTU
199 Squadron
35 Squadron
617 Squadron
635 Squadron
81 OTU
83 Squadron
97 Squadron
Air Gunnery School
aircrew
Anson
B-29
Blenheim
bombing
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
bombing of Kassel (22/23 October 1943)
bombing of Nuremberg (30 / 31 March 1944)
Bombing of Peenemünde (17/18 August 1943)
bombing of the Le Havre E-boat pens (14/15 June 1944)
Dominie
final resting place
Halifax
Halifax Mk 1
Halifax Mk 2
Heavy Conversion Unit
killed in action
Lancaster
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 3
Lincoln
missing in action
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Operational Training Unit
Pathfinders
Proctor
RAF Abingdon
RAF Binbrook
RAF Bourn
RAF Downham Market
RAF Hemswell
RAF Kinloss
RAF Lindholme
RAF Marham
RAF Pembrey
RAF Scampton
RAF Shallufa
RAF St Athan
RAF Tilstock
RAF Yatesbury
training
Wellington
Whitley
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/781/9437/LRascal-Mascot[Ser -DoB]v1.pdf
1a033c5da9b16bbaa986a4a311e9db9d
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
Wrigley, James
J Wrigley
Description
An account of the resource
27 items. The collection concerns James Wrigley (1920 - 2010, 1029740 Royal Air Force) and contains an interview with his widow, Alice Wrigley, photographs, his log book, decorations, and a photograph album of his service in the UK and and Far East. The collection also contains a log book made out to Rascal, his mascot or lucky charm. James Wrigley completed 47 operations as a wireless operator with 97 and 635 Squadrons.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Susan Higgins 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
2017-07-09
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
Wrigley, J
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
Rascal’s flying log book for aircrew mascot
Description
An account of the resource
Aircrew Mascots flying log book for Flight Sergeant Rascal, covering the period from 17 November 1942 to 29 March 1945 (pages not all in chronological order). Detailing his flying caeer during training and operations. He was stationed at RAF Kinloss, RAF Forres, RAF Yatesbury, RAF Whitchurch Heath (Tilstock), RAF Lindholme, RAF Upwood, RAF Bourn and RAF Downham Market. Aircraft flown in were, Whitley, Anson, Wellington, Dominie, Proctor, Halifax and Lancaster. He flew on a total of 47 night operations, 40 with 97 Squadron and 7 with 635 Squadron. Targets were, Rouen, Hamburg, Milan, Mannheim, Nurenberg, Peenemunde, Munchen-Gladbach, Berlin, Hannover, Munich, Leipzig, Kassel, Cologne, Luwigshaven, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Frankfurt-on-Oder, Schweinfurt, Augsburg, Ottignies, Le Havre, Lens and Coubronne. <span>His pilots on operations were </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":200,"335559740":276}">Pilot Officer Munro, Squadron Leader Riches DFC and Squadron Leader De Wesselow DFC & bar. </span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Wrigley
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LRascal-Mascot[Ser#-DoB]v1
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
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
Belgium--Ottignies
France--Le Havre
France--Lens
France--Pas-de-Calais
France--Rouen
Germany--Augsburg
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Mönchengladbach
Germany--Munich
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Peenemünde
Germany--Schweinfurt
Germany--Stuttgart
Italy--Milan
Germany--Ludwigshafen am Rhein
Belgium
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Germany--Frankfurt (Oder)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
1945
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.
1656 HCU
19 OTU
635 Squadron
81 OTU
97 Squadron
Anson
bombing
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
bombing of Kassel (22/23 October 1943)
bombing of Nuremberg (30 / 31 March 1944)
Bombing of Peenemünde (17/18 August 1943)
bombing of the Le Havre E-boat pens (14/15 June 1944)
Dominie
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Master Bomber
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Operational Training Unit
Pathfinders
Proctor
RAF Bourn
RAF Downham Market
RAF Kinloss
RAF Lindholme
RAF Tilstock
RAF Upwood
RAF Yatesbury
superstition
training
Wellington
Whitley
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/377/6710/LDawsonSR142531v2.2.pdf
49c83001650f4a5f72ee40cfc1a96250
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
Stephen Dawson's pilot's flying log book. Two
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LDawsonSR142531v2
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
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
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Description
An account of the resource
Pilots flying log book for Stephen Dawson, covering the period from 6 April 1942 to 30 August 1944. Detailing his instructor duties, flying training and operations flown. He was stationed at RAF Swanton Morley, RAF Cottesmore, RAF Swinderby, RAF Wigsley, RAF Bourn, RAF Gransden Lodge, RAF Market Harborough, RAF Silverston and RAF Boscombe Down. Aircraft flown in were, Oxford, Wellington, Lancaster, Boston, Mitchell, Buckingham, Marauder, Halifax, Liberator, Harvard, Avenger, Defiant, Barracuda, Hampden, Black Widow, Hurricane and Mosquito. He flew a total of 32 Night operations with 97 Squadron. Targets were, Krefeld, Mulheim, Wuppertal, Cologne, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Essen, Nurnburg, Milan, Leverkusen, Berlin, Mannheim, Munich, Hannover, Frankfurt, Fredrichshaven, Modane, Cannes and Ludwigshaven. The log book included pictures of examples of some of the aircraft flown, also handwritten list of targets and bomb loads.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Norfolk
England--Northamptonshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Rutland
England--Wiltshire
France--Cannes
France--Modane
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Essen
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Friedrichshafen
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Leverkusen
Germany--Ludwigshafen am Rhein
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Mülheim an der Ruhr
Germany--Munich
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Wuppertal
Italy--Milan
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943
1944
1943-06-21
1943-06-22
1943-06-23
1943-06-24
1943-06-25
1943-06-28
1943-06-29
1943-07-03
1943-07-04
1943-07-08
1943-07-09
1943-07-10
1943-07-24
1943-07-25
1943-07-26
1943-07-27
1943-07-28
1943-07-29
1943-07-30
1943-08-02
1943-08-03
1943-08-10
1943-08-11
1943-08-12
1943-08-13
1943-08-22
1943-08-23
1943-08-24
1943-09-05
1943-09-06
1943-09-07
1943-09-22
1943-09-23
1943-09-24
1943-09-27
1943-09-28
1943-10-02
1943-10-03
1943-10-04
1943-10-05
1943-10-07
1943-10-08
1943-10-09
1943-10-22
1943-10-23
1943-11-03
1943-11-04
1943-11-10
1943-11-11
1943-11-12
1943-11-17
1943-11-18
1943-11-19
1943-11-22
1943-11-23
14 OTU
1654 HCU
97 Squadron
aircrew
B-24
B-25
B-26
bombing
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
Boston
Defiant
Halifax
Hampden
Harvard
Heavy Conversion Unit
Hurricane
Lancaster
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 3
Mosquito
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
Pathfinders
pilot
RAF Boscombe Down
RAF Bourn
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Gransden Lodge
RAF Market Harborough
RAF Silverstone
RAF Swanton Morley
RAF Swinderby
RAF Wigsley
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/231/3606/BSpencerAHGSpencerAHGv1.2.pdf
e6d81c01549a2be263620cdcd67c798b
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
Spencer, Arthur
Arthur Humphrey George Spencer
Arthur H G Spencer
A H G Spencer
A Spencer
Description
An account of the resource
Three items. An oral history with Flight Lieutenant Arthur Humphrey George Spencer (b. 1921, 1311996 and 145359 Royal Air Force), a memoir and an essay. Arthur Spencer trained in the United States and flew two tours of operations as a navigator with 97 Squadron at RAF Woodhall spa and RAF Bourn. He later became 205 Group's Navigation Officer. He flew with British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) after the war.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Arthur Spencer 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
2015-10-02
2017-02-27
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Spencer, AHG
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
AN INTERESTING WAR
[page break]
To Jimmy Munro DFC, Ron Bennett DFM, 'Weasel' Hill DFM,
with whom I flew 45 bomber operations, mainly in J-Johnny of 97 Squadron,
to F/Sgt J Underwood, with whom I flew 15,
to Jimmy Silk DFM, Peter Burbridge DFC, and F/Sgt W Waller,
who were shot down over Berlin on the night of 22 November 1943,
and who have no known grave.
All are commemorated on the RAF Memorial at Runnymede.
Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields
See how these names are feted by the waving grass
And by the streamers of white cloud
And whispers of wind in the listening sky.
The names of those who in their lives fought for life,
Who wore at their hearts the fire's centre.
Born of the sun they travelled a short while towards the sun
And left the vivid air signed with their honour.
Stephen Spender 1933
[page break]
INTRODUCTION
My son-in law, Richard Knott, sent me in the summer of 2001 an extract from the magazine of the Royal Overseas League, of which he is a member, about the Second World War Experience Centre at Leeds. Having had quite an interesting war, and never having put anything down on paper before, I contacted the Centre with a brief synopsis of my experiences. The Director, Peter Liddle, previously a member of the History Department at Leeds University, responded immediately, and we agreed that since the Centre had no interviewer in the south-west, as it does in the south-east, I would put my recollections on audio-tape. This I did, completing the work early in 2002. The Centre sent me, as arranged, a copy of the transcription made by their transcriber, Carolyn Mumford. She had done a magnificent job on the material I had provided, but as an ex-English teacher, I was horrified by the number of times I had said 'Well...', by the number of times I had strung a series of clauses together with 'and', and by the repetitions of which I had so frequently been guilty. I decided to re-edit the material, using Carolyn's transcription as a starting point; this also gave me the opportunity to include several more anecdotes that I had previously omitted.
A.H.G.S.
August 2002
The more one writes, the more one remembers, so I have added another dozen or so anecdotes, as well as - at the suggestion of John Coote, Weston U3A - a couple of pages of my log-book, to this 'second edition' of my recollections.
A.H.G.S.
April 2003
Jennie Gray, author of 'The Fire by Night', much of which concerns 97 Squadron at Bourn, suggested that the whole would benefit greatly from the addition of photos, so I have completed a third, and probably final, edition with thanks to Jennie and John for their suggestions.
A.H.G.S.
July 2003
[page break]
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages,
What feats he did that day." [sic]
(Henry V before Agincourt)
I hope there won't be too many 'advantages' here, and certainly there won't be many feats' no heroics in this story; I just did as conscientiously as possible the job that the RAF trained me to do.
However, to begin, like 'Under Milk Wood', at the beginning, which is what I was asked to do. I was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, on February 11th., 1921. We - my Mother, Father, and I, an only son - must have moved to Southampton earlier than I can remember. Throughout my boyhood, my father was a postman there, which meant, of course, that we were never very well off, but at least he had a regular permanent job at a time when there were three million unemployed in this country. At first he walked the rounds; later he became a van driver, which gave him a slightly better income and certainly improved his working hours; later still he became a Head Postman, an indoor supervisory role, but was compelled to retire at 60 instead of being allowed to stay till 65 because of his poor health record.
He had served in the King's Royal Rifles during the first World War. He hadn't been very fit in his early years, which probably saved him from service in the trenches in France. He spent quite a lot of his service in Southern Ireland. He used to tell a rather nice story about being taken by my Grandmother to Salisbury Infirmary when he was quite small; on the way home she had said to him, "Roy, I have to tell you that you will never make old bones." Well, he was 93 when he died, having received a partial disability pension from the army for 69 years, and my Mother had died three months previously within a month of her 90th. birthday, so they both made fairly old bones!
Before I leave my father, it might be worth recounting another story. It concerns a much earlier war, the Boer War. He had been born in 1894, and had just started school when Mafeking was relieved after its long siege. It was a small two-teacher country school at Coombe Bissett, just outside of Salisbury. On the day that Mafekin was relieved - or more likely the next day, for news travelled slowly then - the two teachers came out into the playground, one carrying a Union Jack, and the other beating a drum, and assembled the pupils - not many of them - in a ring. They announced the relief of Mafeking, sang 'God Save the Queen,' and then the children were given the rest of the day as a holiday. He ran home to the next village, Dogdean, but at that early age couldn't say the word 'Mafeking' properly, so my Grandmother, thinking he had run away from school, beat him and sent him back again!
My Mother came from the neighbouring village of Homington and like many country girls had gone 'into domestic service' as soon as she left school. Like almost all married women in the twenties and thirties, she was a housewife who never went out to paid employment, though as the war went on, she went to work in the NAAFI near Southampton Docks for two or three years. She must have been a very
1
[page break]
good manager, for she achieved quite a reasonable standard of living on what must have been a very modest income.
When I started school, I went initially to Swaythling School, about half a mile from where we lived; I was fortunate enough thoroughly to enjoy school and three of us from my year group passed what was then known as the 'Scholarship' examination, and transferred to Taunton's School, a conventional boys' grammar school. It was quite a big school for those days, eight hundred boys with a big Sixth Form. I was always keen on games and probably spent more time on the games field than I should have done, but even so managed to make fairly steady progress through school and at the age of sixteen took a reasonably successful School Certificate with Matriculation exemption. It's probably worth mentioning that the Head had said to my parents at some fairly early stage of my school career that my French wasn't too wonderful; I'm sure this was an understatement; he recommended an exchange with a French family. The school, being right on the south coast, had very good links with France, and many boys went on French exchanges every year. I was lucky enough to go for three successive years, a month each time, to the same family in a little town in Normandy. We all got on very well and my French exchangee, and Jacques and I are still in touch with one another, though I must confess that it's our wives who do most of the writing!
A few years ago my granddaughter, who lives near York, went on a school-to-school exchange (these now seem more usual than the sort of individual exchange which I enjoyed) to a school near Orleans where Jacques now lives and spent a day with him and his wife. She had to compile a scrapbook about the exchange, and in it she has a photo of the two of us when we were fourteen or fifteen, and another when we were in our mid-seventies. An impressive example of life-long learning!
One incident which I recall from my earlier boyhood is a visit, on my father's motorbike, to Lee-on-Solent to watch the last of the Schneider Trophy competitions for the fastest seaplane; the last, because in 1931 the RAF won the competition outright with the Supermarine S6B, forerunner of the Spitfire, competing against Italy. It would be tempting to claim that this experience gave me a life-long passion for aviation; tempting, but quite untrue. It was an exciting and enjoyable day out, but it meant rather less to me at the time than a visit to the Dell in Southampton to watch Southampton F.C. or to the County Ground to see a county cricket match.
After Matric. I went into the Sixth Form (I am horrified now to think what a sacrifice it must have been to my parents to keep me at school, but, of course, I didn't realise it then) and continued to make fairly steady progress; thanks to the exchanges, my French was vastly improved, and this was now one of my Higher School Certificate subjects. In the first year in the Sixth Form came the Munich crisis, and it was pretty clear that war was coming sooner or later. A year later, Germany invaded Poland, and war was declared. Arrangements were in hand to evacuate schools from Southampton. We were lucky enough to go only thirty miles along the coast to Bournemouth. I have a picture of some of the school walking down to Southampton Station, two or three miles from the school, quite a long distance carrying a case, and, of course, a gas mask. The interesting thing about the picture is
2
[page break]
[Photograph captioned "Evacuation: September 2nd, 1939. Dr. H.M.King leads a group approaching Southampton Central Station.]
[page break]
that the teacher holding the placard showing that we were Taunton's School, Southampton, is Horace King, who happened to be my sixth form English teacher, but also became M.P. for one of the Southampton constituencies in the Labour landslide of 1945, and later still, during the Wilson administration, Speaker of the House of Commons, and later still, Lord Mowbray King.
Off we went to Bournemouth. We were very lucky, for our host school, Bournemouth School, had that very term moved into brand new buildings. In fact, the contractors were still working there; the paint was hardly dry. Moreover, the new school had been built on the outskirts of the town with more than adequate playing fields, something that Taunton's School had always lacked in Southampton. I heard Chamberlain's declaration of war sitting in a church hall in Bournemouth on September 3rd. Eventually, after about a fortnight kicking our heels, term began. Arrangements were made for half-day schooling, alternately morning and afternoon, with Bournemouth School, which wasn't quite has bad as it sounds because the half-days were lengthened, and really we didn't miss very much schooling, especially in the Sixth Form.
A friend and I were very lucky in our accommodation. We were billeted with a very kindly landlady in her sweet shop. (Sweet rationing had already started, of course.) He was captain of soccer and cricket, and I was captain of hockey, so it was a very sport-orientated home. As term went on, one or two younger members of Staff disappeared into the forces or into jobs with various Ministries, but on the whole school went on more or less as normal until the early part of the summer, when the Germans broke through the French lines and the evacuation from Dunkirk took place. Eight hundred French poilus were crammed into the building; most of them were very tired, in fact shattered; the weather was very fine, and they spent most of their time lying on the lawn outside the school sleeping. When senior boys of the school were asked to help, it gave me a very good opportunity to get quite a lot of practice in French conversation just before taking my examinations.
At about this time, news came through of the first Old Boy casualty in France, and news of another, now a Sergeant-Pilot, who had been mentioned in despatches. Later there were more casualties, one of them an Old Boy who had been a boy entrant of the Royal Navy and who had been manning a gun on a naval vessel in Portland Harbour when there was an attack by German aircraft; although badly wounded, he kept firing till he died; he was awarded the V.C. His name was Jack Mantle.
Eventually, examinations over, the school year came to an end. With about fifty or sixty other boys, I went off to a forestry camp in Cannock Chase probably harder physical work than I had ever done before, clearing hillsides of saplings; soon after that I applied to join the RAF as aircrew. I was accepted in the pilot/navigator category, but call-up was deferred. So many young men were volunteering for aircrew service at that time that the Air Force couldn't cope with such an influx all at once.
I looked round for a job in the meantime, and found that the ARP were advertising for drivers; I was lucky enough to have a driving licence, so I was able to
3
[page break]
join the Rescue and Demolition Service for two or three months until the RAF required my services. I earned £3 - 3 shillings a week, which was quite a reasonable wage in 1940. While I was serving with the R.& D. there were several daylight raids on Southampton, and we were called into action. One was an attack on the Supermarine works at Woolston where Spitfires were made, and another was on a factory at Eastleigh Airport. However, the RAF eventually remembered my existence, and I finally joined up as an AC2/ut (under-training) pilot early in November, just a week or two before the big night raids on Southampton began.
The RAF still found us too numerous to cope with, so after a couple of false starts at Uxbridge and Blackpool, we eventually reached Wilmslow, Cheshire, for kitting out and drill, universally known as 'square-bashing'. Then we were sent off to man gun-posts at various airfields. Later the RAF Regiment undertook this task. I was sent to Watton in Norfolk, a Blenheim base, and initially to its satellite airfield whose name I can no longer recall. One afternoon, the Luftwaffe raided Watton. Ken Romain, a friend of mine from the same gunpost, had gone into the parent station for a bath, there being no baths at the satellite field, and returned quite considerably shaken by his experiences. One of the attacking aircraft was, in fact, brought down close to the airfield by a device known as PAC (Parachute and Cable), which comprised, as one might expect, of a strong metal cable attached to a parachute so that, when fired vertically, it descended slowly and if the timing was accurate, it ensnared an approaching aircraft; the same principle as a barrage balloon, but low level and temporary. An entrepreneurial photographic section sold postcards of the downed Heinkel 111, from which all the crew survived unhurt, at 6d a card, and no doubt made a healthy profit! I believe that very few aircraft were downed over the land using PAC, but it was markedly more successful when used for convoy protection at sea, especially when, in a later version, a small bomb was attached to the cable.
After some weeks at the satellite field, all u/t aircrew were sent back to the parent station, where life was rather less rigorous. I was lucky enough to be at the gunpost on top of the flying control tower. The regular gunners joked that we were too soft to stand the conditions at the satellite, but I think it was really so that we could be available at short notice when the inevitable posting away from Watton came.
Eventually it did come; we were at last put back on the track of aircrew training, and sent off to the Aircrew Reception Centre at Babbacombe, near Torquay, really for a repetition of the drill and PE training we had already done. We felt rather old hands because some of the intake had come straight from civilian life, whereas we had all of six months service, so we put on the airs of old soldiers! After a few weeks at Babbacombe, we were sent off to ITW, Initial Training Wing, at Scarborough. We were based in the Grand Hotel, right on the cliff-top overlooking the front; we were supposed to undertake an eight weeks course, but the RAF, having neglected us for so long, rushed us through in five weeks. The course included the usual subjects for pilots and navigators: navigation, airmanship, aircraft recognition, meteorology, armaments. I never fail to think of the armaments lectures when I read or hear Henry Reed's poem, "Naming of Parts". In the third verse there is a minor grammatical error, exactly like the corporal who taught us about weapons would make;
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[page break]
[Photograph, captioned "Heinkel 111 brought down by PAC at Watton, February 18th 1941."]
[page break]
[Photograph captioned "On the way to Iceland".]
[Photograph captioned "The RAF Transit Camp 17 km. from Reykjavik."]
[page break]
[Photograph showing a signpost indicating "Reykjavik 17 KM."]
[Photograph captioned "Hot springs near the camp."]
[page break]
'This is the safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
If you have any strength in your thumb.'
Rumour had it that we would be going to the USA to do our aircrew training, and this proved to be so; we were, in fact, only the second group to go under the Arnold Scheme. America was not yet at war, so we could not go in uniform, and were all kitted out in grey flannel suits, all exactly the same colour and pattern, so really a uniform in itself! We were also, because the British military establishment knew all about service in the tropics, and much to the amusement of the inhabitants of Florida when we eventually got there, issued with pith-helmets; what became of them I can't recall!
We sailed from Gourock in a tiny vessel which used to ply between Liverpool and Belfast and went to Iceland where we were accommodated in a transit camp some 15 miles outside of Reykjavik. It was a fairly horrendous journey; the sea was very rough indeed and nearly everyone was seasick. There was an Anson flying round and round the convoy; I couldn't help wondering just how effective it would be if we really were attacked. Fortunately there were no problems. When we reached Iceland, we were told immediately that Reyjavick was out of bounds, since it was thought to be, like Lisbon, a hot-bed of espionage. The majority of us were quite content to be off the sea, and quite content to be close to hot springs where we could wash, shave, and have an occasional swim.
It was May, so we saw very little darkness; after only a couple of days we were on our way again, bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia. This time we were much luckier in our transport. Only about a hundred of us were put on board an armed merchant cruiser, the Ranpura, the sister-ship of the Rawalpindi which had been sunk earlier during the war. Our ship was armed with one very large gun amidships and we sailed in the middle of the convoy. The Ranpura was large enough to be quite comfortable; just after we had embarked, the ship's commander called us all together, and said something like, "Gentleman" [sic] I must apologise, I realise you are all potential officers, but I haven't possibly got room for you all in the wardroom, but we shall make you as comfortable as possible". We were highly amused, for we weren't used to such treatment in the Air force. It seemed that the Navy was going to treat us in a much more gentlemanly way!
There was one moment of excitement on the way across to Halifax. A couple of days out the sirens sounded, and we all assembled at our boat stations. However, it wasn't a real crisis; the very large American convoy on its way to take over Iceland had come into view, and we were soon released back to whatever we did to occupy our spare time.
Arriving at Halifax, we were put on a train for a couple of days to go to Toronto. When we reached that attractive city, we were sent to a huge RCAF reception centre in the buildings of an old exhibition site, known as Manning Pool. As we marched in probably a bit sloppily, tired after our long journey, a voice shouted "You just over, lads?" We nodded agreement, and a terrific burst of spontaneous
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applause broke out all round the arena from these hundreds of new Canadian recruits. I'm sure we marched with an extra touch of pride in our steps after that.
A few days later, but not before a friend and I had managed to hitch-hike to Niagara Falls one evening, we were off on the train again, but this time in a southerly direction, to Lakeland School of Aeronautics in Florida. We were allowed a week-end's leave at the end of the ten-week course there, so a friend and I hitch-hiked to Miami where we spent two happy days mainly on the beach after we had found a hotel owned, in fact, by a Mancunian who was willing to accommodate us at a very preferential rate. The course at Lakeland was initially for pilot training, but although I soloed successfully and got through the first stage of the training all right, I was soon found out at the next stage at Montgomery, Alabama; I was by no means a natural pilot, and it wasn't long before I was sent back to Canada for remustering.
There were half a dozen of us on the train journey back to Ontario, one of whom was a young man already beginning to carve out a career for himself on the stage, Michael Aldridge; I saw him once or twice after the war when he was performing at Bristol Theatre Royal; he never quite became a star, but late in his career, he did achieve some fame as the garrulous retired headmaster in the BBC series "Last of the Summer Wine". As a navigator he had flown in the Balkan Air Force stationed in the heel of Italy, dropping supplies to partisans in Albania, Greece and Yugoslavia and sometimes even further afield.
Remustering took place at Trenton, Ontario; we were there in December 1941, and were given 5 days leave over Christmas. A friend and I decided that this would be the chance of a life-time to see New York, so we set off to hitch-hike there. Recrossing the border back into the USA took a little time, but eventually we got on our way. There was no shortage of lifts; almost every American who picked us up wanted us to go and spend Christmas with them; they were extraordinarily generous in their desire to be hospitable. (This was only weeks after Pearl Harbour, of course.) However, we insisted that we wanted to get to New York, and once there had three very exciting days. The United Services Organisation provided ample hospitality - free tickets to shows on Broadway, free meals, free tours. Our three days sped by, and all too soon we had to set off back to Canada, hitch-hiking once more through the Appalachians, and so to Trenton.
Soon I was on my way back to Florida again, this time to the United States Naval Air Service training school at Pensacola, where I did complete successfully the course as a navigator. One of my friends at Pensacola was George Brantingham; we stayed at the same units till he completed a tour of operations, and are still in close touch today. The course was very, very strong on theory, and we spent a great deal of time on astro-navigation, but much less strong on practice. My log-book shows less than 30 hours flying at Pensacola, most of that over the sea and with no night-flying, whereas if I had been at an RAF or RCAF school, I would have had between 120 and 150 hours training in the air. In spite of this, the RAF deemed half a dozen of us capable of navigating aircraft which were being ferried back to the UK. We were sent to RAF Ferry Command Headquarters at Dorval, near Montreal. There I crewed up with a very experienced civilian pilot, an equally experienced civilian wireless operator, and a second pilot who, like me, had just
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[Photograph showing a large hangar, captioned "Lakeland School of Aeronautics, Florida."]
[Photograph showing several bi-planes in a line, captioned "The flight line. Stearman PT-13s."]
[page break]
[Photograph showing six men in front of a bi-plane, captioned "Five of us with Bill Lethio, our instructor."]
[Photograph showing three men, captioned "Bob, Ginger, and Cyril in U.S. Air Corps "fatigues"
Bob later became Sqdn/Ldr R.G.Knight, DSO., DFC. with 617 Squadron."]
[page break]
[Photograph captioned "Pensacola: the weekly letter home."]
[Photograph captioned "Pensacola: practising astro-navigation."]
[page break]
[Photograph of a man standing on top of an aeroplane, captioned "Catalinas - PBY-2s - at U.S.N.A.S. Pensacola."]
[Photograph of several men in a classroom, captioned "Ground School".]
[page break]
[Photograph of three men outdoors, captioned "Pensacola: more - very relaxed - astro practice".]
[Photograph of the course students, captioned "Course 1A-P-(BQ) leaves Pensacola, May 1942".]
[page break]
[Timetable captioned "Flight plan for the ferry-delivery of a Ventura, Gander - Prestwick, May 1942".]
[page break]
[Photograph of four men standing outside a military tent, captioned "L.A.C.s Finney, Spencer, Manning and Stephens at No. 3 A.F.U., Bobbington August, 1942".]
[Photograph of three men in RAF uniform, captioned "Sgts. Stephens, Spencer, and Brantingham at No. 16 O.T.U., Upper Heyford, September, 1942. With brevets and stripes at last!"
[page break]
finished his training. We were allocated a Ventura to deliver to UK. We did no training flights but were briefed several times, learnt to use the oxygen system and did some dinghy drill, then, after a fortnight, we set out in this little two-engined Lockheed, rather like a Hudson, to fly to Gander, Newfoundland. The range of the aircraft was so limited, that everyone flew to Gander to shorten the Atlantic crossing, and even from there, a tail-wind component was needed! Quite a few of the pilots went via Iceland, or even via Bluey West, the American base in Greenland, but my pilot decided he wanted to fly straight across. We waited a fortnight for a favourable wind. In spite of the limitations of my training, we managed to make a landfall in Northern Ireland, and so on to Prestwick.
All aircrew arriving back in the UK from wherever they were trained were sent to Bournemouth, which, of course, was no hardship to me because I was able to spend a night or two at home in Southampton, and to visit my old school, still evacuated to Bournemouth. One incident which occurred during my brief stay there I do recall quite vividly; one afternoon, two Messerschmidt 109s swept in from the sea low over the roof-tops, each carrying a single bomb, which they deposited on hotels where air crew just arrived were billeted. They succeeded in killing a few young Canadians, newly arrived, who hadn't yet got into the war at all.
From Bournemouth we were sent on to Advanced Flying Units, in my case to Bobington, later called Halfpenny Green, near Stourbridge, in the Midlands. These Units were intended to familiarise aircrew who had trained in the good weather of Florida, South Africa and Rhodesia and elsewhere, where there were no nightly black-outs and there was excellent weather, with the very different conditions in this country. Once again, however, the course was considerably shortened; eight weeks again became five and then Bomber Command demanded our presence. All the members of our course were posted as sergeants since there was no time for commissioning interviews. I rather resented this at the time, but in the end it worked out much to my advantage, for had I been a pilot-officer I might well not have crewed up with the outstanding young Canadian who became my pilot, then a sergeant like myself.
The next stage of training was OTU, Operational Training Unit, at Upper Heyford, a few miles outside of Oxford. This was very much a pilot orientated course, and quite rightly so, Because the pilots, who previously had not flown anything bigger than an Oxford, had to convert to much bigger, heavier, operational aircraft, the Wellington. It was also important for the opportunity to crew up. Wellington crews at that time had five members: pilot, navigator, bomb-aimer, wireless operator, and rear-gunner. George said to me one day very soon after we had arrived at OTU, "I have got myself a pilot". He had teamed up with a larger-than-life American who had gone north of the border to join the RCAF. I approached this American at the next opportunity and said that I had heard he had got a navigator; could he recommend a pilot to me? He thought for a moment and said "Well, I reckon young Jimmy Munro is one of the best pilots on our course". That brief conversation is probably the reason I'm still here today! I saw Jimmy as soon as possible. No, he hadn't a navigator at that stage, and would be happy to take me on. I was keen to get a bomb-aimer who had also done navigation training; there were a lot of excess navigators finishing training at that time and some of them were converted to bomb-aimers. It seemed to me that we
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might as well have a second navigator rather than someone who had done only bomb-aimer training. Jimmy said at once, "Well, you find someone". In fact I already had my eye on a bomb-aimer wearing an Observer's brevet, which indicated that he was a qualified navigator, Eric Suswain, so that made three in the crew. In the meantime Jimmy had spotted a likely wireless operator, Snowy (I'm not sure that I ever knew his real Christian name) Nevard, son of an Ipswich publican, whose chief interest in life was horse-racing, and a rear gunner. The latter was a wizened little figure, Wesley Hill; I well remember my first conversation with him; he said "Everyone calls me Weasel!". He had been brought up in the Rockies with a gun in his hand, and to see him at clay-pigeon shooting was a revelation; he never missed one whereas if I hit one in twenty shots I was doing pretty well!
Once the pilots were converted to Wellingtons, we flew a number of cross-country flights together, some of them at night. Occasionally these night exercises were known as 'bullseyes'. These took aircraft over what would normally be highly defended areas; the searchlights attempted to cone the aircraft, and no doubt the anti-aircraft gunners honed their radar skills, but they didn't, of course, actually open fire. I've often wondered if the local citizens, seeing all the searchlight activity, but hearing no ac-ac asked themselves what was going on. Towards the end of the course all crews did what was known as a 'nickel', a leaflet operation over France or some other occupied territory. In our case we went to Nantes, and since we had to fly between that city and the highly defended port of St. Nazaire, a German U-boat base, so that the leaflets were blown downwind, we were subject to quite a lot of flak; we even heard several bursts in the Wellington, so they must have been fairly close to us, but we got home without any damage.
Our social life at Upper Heyford centred almost entirely on Oxford, there being transport to the city every evening, and a return bus quite late. George and I decided that as non-dancers we were 'socially constipated' and determined to put this right, so, most evenings, when we weren't flying, we attended Brett's Dancing Academy, and by the time we left Upper Heyford, we were probably better dancers than navigators.
Towards the end of our course at OTU we were on the airfield one afternoon when almost one hundred Lancasters swept across at low level and in loose formation. They were on their way to a low-level daylight attack on Le Creusot, and the impressive sight, the first time we had seen Lancasters en masse, more than confirmed our hope that we would be bound for a Lancaster squadron, rather than one equipped with Halifaxes or Stirlings.
We were lucky; at the end of our sixteen-week course we were posted to a Heavy Conversion Unit at Swinderby, just outside of Lincoln, a Lancaster HCU. This course, like OTU, was strongly pilot orientated, for the pilot now had to take a further step forward, and learn to fly a larger four-engined aircraft. Jimmy took to Lancasters like a duck to water. We flew circuits round the airfield, both by day and by night; we did several bombing practices over the Wash, but didn't undertake any longer cross-country flights. While there we picked up two more crew, Ron Bennett, a mid-upper gunner, and Harry Townsley, a flight-engineer. Just before Christmas 1942, three crews from that course made the short railway journey from Lincoln to
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[Photograph of two men in uniform, captioned "Sergeants Jimmy Munro and Arthur Spencer on leave at Southampton from OTU."]
[Photograph of one man in uniform, captioned "P/O Spencer at Southampton, August, 1943."
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[Photograph of crew in front of the tail end of their Lancaster, captioned "The original crew of J-Johnnie at Woodhall Spa, January 1943. Harry Townsley, 'Snowy' Nevard, Eric Suswain, Jimmy Munro, 'Weasel' Hill, Arthur Spencer, and Ron Bennett, then all Sergeants."]
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Woodhall Spa, where we joined 97 Squadron. One of the crews was that of Bill Tracey, the American I mentioned, with my friend George Brantingham as his navigator; the third was Doug Jones. The real war was getting nearer.
So here we were at last on an operational squadron. 97 Squadron was one of the first in Bomber Command to be equipped with Lancasters and had been one of the two squadrons to take part in the famous daylight raid on Augsburg in April 1942. The other squadron, 44, from Waddington, lost five of their six aircraft; their CO, the sole survivor from 44, flew a badly damaged aircraft home, and was awarded the VC. 97 lost only one of their six, Squadron Leader Sherwood, a flight commander, who was blown up over the target. He was the only survivor from his crew, and was awarded the DSO.
Now one might have thought that 97 Squadron would be keen to unleash us against the enemy as soon as possible; not so! They were not going to let a new crew, a 'sprog' crew to use then current slang, loose on one of their precious Lancasters without checking them out pretty thoroughly. We did a couple more cross country flights, and three more 'bullseyes' - one over Portsmouth and Birmingham, another over the Humber Estuary, and the third over Plymouth and Southampton - before they decided we were fit to go. As was usual for new crews at that time, we went 'gardening'. That is, our first operation was mine-laying. I suppose that we were lucky that we didn't go to one of the north German estuaries or to the Baltic; those trips could be quite 'dicey'. We went to the much quieter Gironde estuary and placed four 1500 lb. mines across the mouth of the river. We were short of petrol on the way back, and landed at Beaulieu in the New Forest, a Coastal Command station. The ground crew there had never seen a Lancaster before, and swarmed all over it, making it unserviceable! We had to wait several days till our own ground crew came down from Lincolnshire; it meant that once more I was able to spend a couple of nights at home in Southampton. In the meantime, the other two crews who had joined 97 Squadron with us had been fully blooded with a raid on Berlin.
Eventually, after a week's leave, our first real operation of Germany came at the end of January. It was, like so many subsequent trips, to the Ruhr; to Dusseldorf. We carried one 4,000 lb. bomb, and 12 small bomb containers (sbc.) each of 90 four-pound incendiary bombs. As we were approaching the target, and having given Jimmy the course out of the target area, there was no more I could do till the bombs were released, so I handed over to the bomb-aimer and asked Jimmy if I could move up to the front to have a look; normally, of course, I was working over charts and maps so I was behind a black-out curtain. He agreed, and I moved forward to be absolutely horrified; there seemed to be searchlights and flak all over the sky, and I just couldn't comprehend how an aircraft could survive in such a maelstrom of fire. When I thought about it more calmly afterwards, I realised that much of what one could see was really puffs of smoke from shells which had burst long before we entered the target area, and that it wasn't quite as bad as it appeared to a novice navigator at first glance. Eventually, I even got used to it! Bombs gone, we were much lighter, and with nose slightly down we sped home; I see from my log-book, that the flight lasted 4 hours 55 minutes.
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[Extract from Author's log book covering ten operations/flights carried out in March 1943]
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New crews at a squadron normally flew any aircraft that was available before graduating to 'their own' machine; we flew two or three raids in this way, but soon found an aircraft we liked, so Jimmy approached the Flight Commander to enquire if he would allocate us J-Johnnie; he was quite willing to do this thereafter J-Johnnie, and, of course, its associated ground crew, was our regular Lancaster. Either Jimmy, or the ground crew, invented a (I believe) fictitious Jane who was alleged to be Jimmy's girl-friend in Canada, and a scantily clad young lady soon appeared on the nose of our aircraft, rather like the Daily Mirror's famous Jane, with a lengthening row of bombs, one for each operation, alongside her.
Over the next weeks we operated against Hamburg, Cologne, Hamburg again, Nuremberg, St. Nazaire, the German submarine-base, where we were quite badly damaged in one of the starboard engines, Berlin, Hamburg yet again, and Krupps at Essen. This raid on Krupps was the first occasion upon which Oboe, the most accurate of the new navigational aids, but with a limited range, and carried only by Mosquitoes, was used. It was the first time any really serious damage was caused to Krupps, and we were lucky enough to get an aiming point picture. There were further raids on Nuremberg. Munich, Duisburg, where a fair amount of damage was done to the perspex at the front of the aircraft by flak, but no-one was hurt, Berlin, Krupps at Essen again, Kiel, Duisburg, Frankfurt, and La Spezia, where we did six runs over the target to try to get it right, suffered quite a lot of minor flak damage, and landed at Tangmere on return short of petrol because of those six runs! This was our last operation from Woodhall Spa and indeed in the Main Force of Bomber Command. We had survived 22 operations, and had, I think, been a reasonably successful crew; we had been coned by searchlights two or three times, which was a fairly terrifying experience, and had occasionally suffered minor flak damage, but nothing of too serous a nature.
During that period of three months, 97 Squadron had lost six aircraft. One of these was Sergeant Plaunt, a Canadian, in the raid on Essen on March 12th; he lived, like most of the NCOs, in a Nissen hut set in a little copse just off the road from Coningsby to Woodhall; at the end of the lane leading to the huts was a searchlight site. There were three such sites around the airfield, primarily for airfield defence, but also to form a cone over the airfield when we were returning from operations. Sergeant Plaunt had befriended and been befriended by the searchlight crew, and I remember how upset these soldiers were when they heard he had gone missing.
The last loss the Squadron suffered before we moved from Woodhall was Flying Officer Norton, who was lost after a raid on Berlin on March 29th. We returned from Berlin immediately behind him, and were told to circle at a certain height while Flying Control dealt with his aircraft. He called up for permission to land, and was given permission, but did not acknowledge; Flying Control called him again, and yet again, but still there was silence. Since we were next in the queue in our J-Johnnie we were now given clearance to land. We found later that Norton's aircraft had crashed in the village with the loss of the whole crew. Why he crashed I never knew. He was quite an experienced pilot. Perhaps he had a bomb hanging up on board which exploded; perhaps it was a momentary loss of concentration; perhaps the delayed result of some flak damage over the target; I have often wondered; he had
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been to Berlin and back successfully, and was lost at the last moment on his way home.
One of the advantages of life as aircrew was, of course, that when you were not 'dicing' (i.e. dicing with death) you led a very civilised life; nothing was too good for operational aircrew and you were not under constant fire like the troops in the trenches during the first World War. Our own social activity was based mainly upon the Sergeants' Mess and a local pub, the Leagate, in Coningsby. The Mess was very friendly, largely because it was small; we were a two-flight squadron, that is one made up of about sixteen or seventeen crews, and would be expected to send out eleven or twelve aircraft on a raid requiring maximum effort. While the officers messed at the requisitioned Petwood Hotel at Woodhall Spa, our mess was closer to Coningsby with the airfield in between. Most of the nights when we were not flying we would go to the Leagate. I went there again for the first time since April 1943 in September 2001; from the outside the inn was instantly recognisable and the bar, too, had not changed. Elsewhere there were great changes; it was now a hotel with bedrooms, and the area where we used to eat off rough tables was now a smart restaurant.
The landlord at the Leagate used to be able to provide us with a very substantial mixed grill during those first few months of 1943; he told me that on one occasion he had been visited by a Ministry of Food Inspector who had asked who most of his customers were. The landlord explained that they were mainly sergeants from the local airfield who patronised the pub on nights when they were not flying; the Inspector immediately increased his ration allowance, which I though was a very generous gesture indeed.
Occasionally I would ride my bike to the Leagate, and on one such occasion it was stolen. There were a lot of Irish navvies working on airfield construction in Lincolnshire, and when I reported the loss to the police, they said "Oh, I expect we shall find it in one of the Irish camps", and so they did and returned it to me. Later I lost it for good when it was taken from outside the briefing room while we were being briefed to go to Berlin. I felt this was adding insult to injury by stealing my bike at this time! It wasn't as if it was a service bicycle; it was my own bike on which I had cycled to school for many years. Once I had settled on an airfield, my parents sent it to me by train from Southampton. It arrived safely at Woodhall Spa Station, so I hitch-hiked from Coningsby to collect it.
The nearest town to the airfield was Boston Spa and a 'liberty' bus ran there every evening. We used it once or twice to go to Boston to visit the cinema I usually went with 'Sus', our bomb-aimer, but I can't remember a single film I saw there, and the occasions were pretty rare.
During March three crews, captained by Flight Lieutenants Maltby, newly arrived at the squadron, McCarthy, and Munro, began intensive low-level training. They were not screened from operations, but went off most days when there were no ops. to practise at almost zero feet. On one of these flights, the navigator of one of the crews, by coincidence the other Munro, but a New Zealander, was injured in what nowadays we would call a bird-strike. His crew were scheduled to go on
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operations, and I was detailed to go with him since we were not operating that night. We flew an air-test in the morning, but operations were cancelled ('scrubbed' was the term we used then) even before we got to briefing, so the name of one of the Dambusters appears in my log-book, (see the extract for March, 1943) but only for an air-test. For it was for the Dams raid that these three crews were practising, we later realised.
Eventually they went off to Scampton to join 617 Squadron under the command of Guy Gibson. McCarthy and Maltby both successfully completed the dams raid and both were decorated with the DSO; the latter, however, was killed in September when his aircraft plunged into the sea; Munro was unlucky enough to be hit by light flak crossing the Dutch coast which destroyed his intercom., so he had no alternative but to return to Scampton, though he went on to have a very distinguished career as a Flight Commander in 617 under both Gibson and Cheshire. Another successfully to complete the dams raid was Dudley Heal who had been on the navigation course with me at Pensacola; his pilot was Flight Sergeant Brown, a Canadian who won the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal for his part in the operation.
I ought not to leave Woodhall Spa without referring to the Squadron C.O. He was Wing Commander G.D. Jones, D.S.O., a rather stern unsmiling man who seemed rather remote to us sergeants; while I was with the Squadron (he left soon after we moved from Woodhall) he operated against only two targets, but did so whenever those targets were to be attacked; they were the two most heavily defended targets in Europe, Essen and Berlin; needless to say, the crews had enormous respect for him.
At the beginning of April, rumours began to circulate that 97 Squadron would soon be on the move; in the middle of the month, Air Marshall Cochrane, the Air Officer Commanding 5 Group came to Woodhall and announced to the assembled squadron that we would be joining Pathfinder Force in the near future; in fact by no means the whole squadron made the move; three crews were just off to 617; three crews were so close to the end of their tour that it was decided they should not join Pathfinders, but stay at Woodhall to join the new squadron being formed there and finish their tours with them, while one or two crews that we had lost recently had not yet been replaced. It was, therefore, by no means a complete squadron that flew off to Bourn, a satellite of Oakington, just outside of Cambridge on April 18th. As a WAAF in Woodhall subsequently wrote to me, "The last I saw of you was disappearing in a fairly ropy formation towards the south". She was quite right; it was a fairly ropy formation, but after all, night bomber pilots were, unlike their American daylight counterparts, not particularly skilled at formation flying, even though it had been stressed before we left that we ought to put on a good show for our departure.
We landed at Bourn, 5 miles west of Cambridge on the A45, the main road towards St. Neots and Bedford and soon found that 97 was to be transformed from the small two-flight squadron it had been all the time we were at Woodhall to a much larger three-flight unit, so that we now had between 27 and 30 crews on strength, and would be expected to send out about 18 or 20 aircraft on operations requiring maximum effort.
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We were placed in the new 'C' Flight, which was notable because it was commanded by a navigator, Wing commander Alabaster, DSO, previously the Group Navigation Officer. Most of the new crews that had joined the squadron at this time were returning for a second or even third tour of operations. Some of them had flown with 97 before; one such was Flight Lieutenant Rodley who had been one of the pilots to take part in the Augsburg raid a year before. The inevitable consequence of the enlargement of the Squadron was that the messes were much bigger, and some of the crew didn't take very kindly to the new Sergeants' Mess which was certainly rather a barn of a place compared with the warm, cosy mess we had left at Woodhall. The Officers must have been even more dismayed to have left the comforts of a top-class country hotel for a ramshackle wooden wartime building with fairly primitive billets around it.
Crews joining Pathfinder Force normally went to RAF Upwood, the Pathfinder Training School, but because we had moved as a squadron, the staff of the school visited us. Wing Commander Mahaddie came as 'Headmaster', a very much decorated officer, and we saw a great deal of Air Vice Marshall Bennett, the Air Officer Commanding 8 Group. I was very surprised how frank they were in talking to us, even in front of us Sergeants; they were both very critical of those regular officers who commanded their stations who were more interested in discipline and the smartness of their stations rather than the operational efficiency of the squadrons based there. Most of these Group Captains who commanded the stations had no experience of operational flying during World War II whereas Mahaddie, an ex-Halton 'brat' had an extremely impressive row of decorations, and Bennett had been awarded a DSO when he was shot down over Norway and walked home. Whereas at both Operational Training Unit and at Heavy Conversion Unit, the emphasis had been on the pilots, and quite rightly so, since they were learning to fly a much larger operational aircraft, now the importance of navigators and bomb-aimers was stressed; pilots, said Bennett, were merely chauffeurs to get the really important people, the navigators and bomb-aimers, there to put the target-indicators (TIs), flares and bombs down in the right place; all very encouraging for the morale of those of us who were in these two 'trades', as the Air Force called them!
We spent a fortnight in very intensive training both on the ground and in the air. We flew several cross-country exercises, some of them very long distance, and we learnt to use new equipment: the Mark 14A bombsight, the air position indicator, new radar devices. The emphasis was very much on navigational accuracy, and much higher standards were expected than had been the case in the main force or at OTU. I recall that on one of the cross countries, we were 70 miles off the east coast of Scotland at 20,000 feet on a brilliantly fine day, and we could see right across to the west coast and beyond; a marvellous sight.
After a fortnight, on May 5th., we did our first operation from Bourn, to Dortmund, the first raid on which more than 2,000 tons of bombs were dropped in a single operation. We didn't, on this first operation with PFF, carry any TIs., just a very heavy load of HE bombs, 1x 4000lb., 4x 1000lb., 6x500lb. and 2x250lb. That night is particularly memorable because we had our first and only serious encounter with a German night-fighter. We had just left the target - it was a good job that enormous load of bombs had gone! - when there was a shout from the rear gunner,
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'Turn to port and dive!' Jimmy didn't need telling twice; we were almost over on our backs and screaming away to the left; both our gunners were firing and the aircraft filled with the smell of cordite. Within moments it was all over; the German fighter disappeared into the darkness and didn't come back for a second attempt. It wasn't, I thought, a good omen for our career in Pathfinder Force.
The interesting thing from my point of view was that at that moment, when everything was happening, I didn't feel particularly afraid. There had been many previous occasions when we were making our way across Germany when one of the gunners had called up to say, "There's an aircraft out on the port (starboard) side, Jimmy; I can't see what it is but I'll keep an eye on it." On many such occasions, I had felt very afraid, but now that it was all happening, I didn't; I suppose it all happened so quickly, and there was such a rush of adrenaline that I didn't have time to be scared! There was one occasion when both gunners were certain that there was a German fighter flying along almost parallel with us, but presumably it didn't see us, nor spot us on its radar, or, more likely, was already following some other aircraft. Anyway, it didn't bother us, so, I'm sure wisely, we didn't bother it.
For the next couple of months, with the short nights of summer, my log-book looks like a Baedecker Guide to the Ruhr; Dortmund again - this time we did carry TIs so we began to feel like real Pathfinders - Dusseldorf, Cologne, Bochum, Dusseldorf again. In the middle of May, Jimmy's commission came through, Pilot Officer Munro; it wasn't long before I too was commissioned, appropriately dated April 1st. My friend George Brantingham was commissioned the same day; he now lives in Somerset and we see one another quite frequently; he pulls my leg that he is senior to me because although we were commissioned on the same day, his number was 145358, whereas mine is 145359. I tell him it's only because 'B' comes before 'S' in the alphabet.
We returned from one of our operations to the Ruhr to find East Anglia fogbound and were diverted to RAF High Ercall in Shropshire. I was very impressed that the station was able to cope with fifty or sixty Lancasters arriving probably at very short notice, debriefing us, giving us all an operational breakfast of eggs and bacon, accommodating us, and even providing us with some basic toilet kit so that we could have a shave and wash and brush-up before returning to Cambridgeshire the next afternoon.
Operations went on, but intensive training also continued. We flew more bullseyes over Plymouth, Liverpool and Manchester. These flights usually included a 'bombing' run on Goole Docks! A camera would show how accurate this was by picking up an infra-red light on the target; we must have 'bombed' Goole dozens of times! Another form of training was fighter affiliation. We would climb laboriously up to approximate operational altitude and then notify base that we were there; a Spitfire or Hurricane would then take off from a nearby fighter station and attempt to shoot one down, not literally, of course, but it carried a camera gun, and a subsequent analysis of the film would reveal how successful he had been, and also how successful the bomber had been in evading his attentions.
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It was normal on these occasions as a measure of economy to carry two rear gunners; one would be at the guns in the turret, while the other waited his turn just outside. Jimmy was something of a fighter pilot manqué, and would throw the Lancaster around the sky as if it were a fighter. On one such occasion, the rear gunner of another crew was installed in the turret, while Weasel, our own gunner, waited his turn just outside. Now, immediately outside the rear turret of a Lancaster is the Elsan toilet; Jimmy went into such a steep diving turn at high speed that the Elsan became detached from its housing, and deposited its content all over Weasel! No one could go near him for days afterwards, but eventually stores took pity on him, and although it was very difficult in those hard days of 1943 to get any new uniform, they finally decided it would be in everyone's interests if he had a new battledress, and certainly we in the crew of J-Johnnie appreciated it.
June came; the Battle of the Ruhr continued. We flew an air test in the morning, quite certain from the order of battle petrol and bomb load that we would be over Happy Valley again that night. We landed and taxied to dispersal. There waiting for us was the Flight Commander's van. 'Oh dear,' we thought, 'we're in trouble,' for only a few minutes before we had been 'shooting up' a train just outside Cambridge. This time, however, we were lucky. As the engines stopped, the Flight Commander called up to our pilot, "Jimmy, you're to take a week's kit, and fly up to Scampton directly after lunch." "O.K. What for?" "I don't know, you'll get all the gen. when you get there."
We didn't object; we would be happy to miss yet another visit to the Ruhr - the target that night turned out to be Cologne, in fact. The Ruhr raids had been going on for two months or more, and losses were increasing. While we had been in Main Force, losses had been about 2.4%; now they were up to 4%, so that on most nights there were usually one or two crews who failed to return. So, we had lunch, packed a week's kit, and with three other crews, Rodley, Sauvage and Jones, flew leisurely northwards till we saw Lincoln Cathedral appear from the haze, and dropped down to Scampton. Rumour had been fairly rife as to what would be expected of us at Scampton, as it was, of course, the home of 617 Squadron, the Dambusters. When we arrived, initially everything seemed to be chaotic. No one knew why we were there, and the squadrons in residence felt rather insulted that four Pathfinder crews should help them do anything. They were quite capable of looking after themselves. However, we settled ourselves in the Mess, formed a solid block in case of hostility, and awaited developments.
We didn't have to wait long. We were taken aside by an elderly Group Captain; when I use the term 'elderly,' he was probably all of 35, but we were all in our late teens and early twenties, so he seemed pretty elderly to us. He explained that there was to be a special operation by fifty plus of 5 Group's Lancasters led by the four Pathfinder aircraft, against a special target. Where? He couldn't or wouldn't tell us. When? Soon. That was all he did tell us except that several practices would be held during the next few evenings over Wainfleet Sands, a practice bombing range adjacent to the Wash, and that we were not allowed to go into Lincoln. That was rather disappointing, as everyone in Bomber Command had been stationed near Lincoln at some time or other, and the 'Saracen's Head' was worth revisiting. Sadly, it doesn't exist any more. However, we consoled ourselves by making up for this in the Mess,
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[Photograph captioned: "OF-J-Johnnie and crew just before bombing-up with TIs."]
[Photograph captioned: "Crew and ground crew and a 'cookie' in front of J-Johnnie, August 1943]
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and during the evenings flew over the Wash. Two of the Pathfinder crews - P/O Jones and ourselves - illuminated the target at the range with flares, two - Rodley and Sauvage - marked it with TIs, and the main force bespattered it with 11 lb. practice bombs. This, it had been decided, would be the plan of attack for the eventual operation, though using something heavier than 11lb. bombs, of course. P/O Jones's navigator, P/O Jimmy Silk DFM, and I became aware that there was considerable onus on us, since we would be putting down the first flares.
After a couple of days passed like this, we were briefed. The target was to be the old airship hangar at Friedrichshaven on Lake Constance, which was being used as an assembly shop for the construction of German radar sets. The Air Commodore in charge of the briefing added that the target was worth bombing from our own point of view, because the radar sets now in the hangar were destined for the Ruhr where they would considerably strengthen the defences. There was a murmur round the room that if he had been to the Ruhr recently, he would realise that the defences certainly didn't need any improvement, and the briefing continued.
The attack was to take place on the first clear night; perfect weather was needed at the target because of its pinpoint nature, very unlike the big areas which had been successfully 'coventrised' in the Ruhr. For the same reason a full or almost full moon was required, so that if the attack didn't take place within the next night or two, it would be cancelled altogether. Finally, and almost off-handedly, it was mentioned that Friedrichshaven was much too far into the continent for us to cross the enemy coast in both directions in darkness, so we were to fly south from the target over the Alps, cross the Italian coast just before dawn, and land at one of the newly acquired airfields in North Africa. "Have a good trip, chaps." We spent the afternoon drawing very basic tropical kit from stores, (no one had any badges of rank), preparing maps and charts, and calculating times.
In the evening the weather seemed very good and we walked optimistically to the Met. Office. The Met. Officer, however, was not optimistic. He shook his head gloomily. "No, not tonight." The next day passed slowly. We did an air-test, then sat in the mess playing shove-halfpenny. In the afternoon, a preliminary forecast was issued, which promised much better weather conditions than the night before. Eventually news came through; "Operations tonight." We had an operational meal, stowed away navigation equipment, flasks of coffee, and a parcel of sandwiches. The gunners dressed in their Irvines; we strapped on our Mae Wests and parachute harnesses, and taxied to the end of the runway.
We took off at 21.40, double British Summer time on the eve of the summer solstice, so there was still ample light. We climbed out of the Lincolnshire mist, and as we gained height we could see other Lancasters climbing from neighbouring airfields. Reading was to be our turning point, and we remained in a bunch to the coast, Selsey Bill. When we reached the coast, it was much too early, for it would still be light on the other side of the Channel. Sixty Lancasters circled the Bill and fighters from Tangmere, the nearby fighter station, came up and fluttered around inquisitively. Soon, well before I intended to let my pilot set course, one or two more adventurous spirits headed south once more. As the last light faded we could see the French coast in the distance, and set course. It had long been the custom for
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southbound aircraft to cross the coast at Cabourg, a little French sea side resort opposite Le Havre, which I had visited several times before the war when I was on my exchange visits to Normandy. We could always reckon on stream of light flak from the coast, and we were not disappointed; red, green and yellow tracers drifted slowly into the evening air, and extinguished themselves thousands of feet below us. We smiled contemptuously and put our nose down slightly to increase speed by 30 knots to take us through the fighter belt along the French coast.
There was scarcely any wind; navigation was no problem, and the Loire appeared on time. We turned east at Orleans, always very badly blacked out. The weather, which had till then been perfect, now deteriorated; thick cloud above prevented any use of the sextant, and obscured the light from the moon by which we would have seen something of the ground. We didn't worry, however for an occasional drift taken on a light showed that our track was being made good, and we knew that we should see the Rhine, no matter how bad the weather, and in any case the guns at Mulhouse would probably warn us of its whereabouts. Suddenly there was a shout from Jimmy, "Rhine coming up!" We were fortunately right on time, and right on track. Basle, just to the south, was brilliantly lit up, and we set course for Lake Constance, the Bodensee - the Swiss side as briefed. The Swiss illuminated a few ineffective searchlights, and fired a few ineffective shells. The engineer told us the unlikely story of an RT conversation between the pilot of a Flying Fortress, and the officer in charge of a Swiss anti-aircraft battery. The Fortress was over Switzerland, probably by mistake since the American navigation was not particularly accurate. "You are over Swiss territory. We shall open fire," called the Swiss officer. "I know," called the pilot, and a few moments later, "Your shells are bursting a thousand feet too low." "I know," replied the Swiss officer. We laughed, and circled the rendezvous point, a small headland, on the Swiss shore of Lake Constance. At Z-4 we set off across the lake on the agreed course, and seconds after crossing the opposite coast, we started releasing flares across Friedrichshaven; moments later a parallel line of flares appeared on our left. The defences were very active indeed; some were accurate too and we could hear shells bursting just below the aircraft; they rocked us about a bit, and shrapnel rattled against the fuselage, but without doing us any real harm. As our last flares fell, a searchlight fastened on to us, and immediately a dozen others held us fast. We twisted and turned frantically, and finally Jimmy dived from 12,000 feet to 2,000 feet out of the target area. Meanwhile the other two Pathfinder aircraft had marked the target with red and green TIs and the Master of Ceremonies was telling the main force aircraft which had been placed most accurately. Soon their bombs were raining down. It was very satisfying because we could see the results of our bombing, something we had rarely seen before; in eighteen visits to the Ruhr, we had seen the ground only twice. We climbed back to lay some more flares and add our few small bombs to the general conflagration. Once again the searchlights picked us out from the 60 aircraft circling round - the four Pathfinder planes were flying lower than the Main Force whom the MC had ordered to climb an extra 5,000 feet because of the intensity of the defences. Once again we were given all the attention of the flak but this time Jimmy turned hard about and dived out over the lake. Our contribution was complete. Soon the MC pronounced that the raid was at an end, and ordered us to climb hard for the Alps.
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[Photograph taken in front of an aircraft hangar, captioned: "Jimmy and the gunners at Bourn, September 1943."]
[Photograph taken in front of a Lancaster, captioned: "Some of the crew and ground-crew, September, 1943."]
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[Photograph captioned: "Jimmy and batman - and his dog - at Bourn, September, 1943."]
[Photograph of men on and around a tractor, in front of an aircraft, captioned: "(left to right) Underwood, Suswain, groundcrew, Bennett, Spencer, groundcrew, Hill, Munro, groundcrew, groundcrew in front of J-Johnnie (note the increasing line of bombs) at Bourn, August, 1943."]
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The Alps were very blue in the summer moonlight; as soon as we had crossed the mountains, we dropped down across the Italian coast and flew low over the Mediterranean. Oxygen masks were taken off; coffee was handed round; the wireless operator picked up some light music. The sun rose; the sea sparkled. We flew just over the wave-tops to escape radar cover. We realised that we were tired, but the excitement of this shuttle-service operation kept us all awake. An occasional smoke-float checked our track, and in two hours the coast appeared......enveloped in thick fog! Early arrivals skimmed the top of the fog leaving a trail behind like the wake of a ship in water. There were frantic voices on the RT; "Ten minutes petrol left!" "I can only fly for a quarter of an hour." It seemed as if a successful operation was going to end in a fiasco; that 420 aircrew would have to bale out, and that 60 Lancasters would be directed out to sea to crash in the Mediterranean when petrol ran out. Fortunately there was a man of considerable initiative on the ground. He was an American flying control officer who stationed himself at the end of the runway in his jeep, fired Verey cartridges up through the mist, and, long before the days of Ground Controlled Approach, talked us in. I shall always remember the expression he used. "The first man to make home base wins!" It was unorthodox, but it was effective; all the aircraft landed safely, about half at Maison Blanche, our intended destination, and the remainder at a neighbouring airfield, Blida. In one of the Lancasters, by coincidence an aircraft from 619 Squadron, which had been formed at Woodhall Spa when we left that station for Bourn, was a dead Bomb-aimer who had been killed when hit by flak over the target.
For a couple of days we lazed; we drank too much of the rather coarse Algerian wine; we had too much sun; we gorged ourselves on fruit which was now very scarce in England; we bathed in the Mediterranean. Once incident while we were there stands out in my mind; we had been issued with basic khaki drill uniform, and none of us had badges of rank except those few who had seen previous service overseas. We ate in an American Mess where one GI was unwise enough to question whether Johnny Sauvage was an officer; Johnny was a very senior Flight Lieutenant at the time, but he was one of those people who nearly always look scruffy because he needed a second shave by about two o'clock in the afternoon; his language at this challenge was picturesque in the extreme, and it obviously served to convince the GI that he really was a 'limey' officer.
Eight of the aircraft which had landed had been too badly damaged on the outward operation to take part in the return one; quite the worst of these was one of the Pathfinder aircraft, Rodley's, not because of action over the target, but because a TI had hung up in the bomb-bay of his aircraft; these exploded barometrically, so when he lost height over the Mediterranean, it went off and his Lancaster became filled with smoke and flames; fortunately he realised what had happened, and, opening the bomb doors, he pulled the jettison lever, the TI fell away, and he reached Algiers, but in no fit state to fly again till a good deal of work had been done on his Lancaster. Johnny's aircraft was also badly damaged, so there were only two Pathfinders on the return operation. All those who did operate against Spezia, for that was the homebound target, had a great deal of difficulty getting off the ground so heavily laden with petrol and bombs in the heat of a tropical evening.
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The homeward attack was something of an anti-climax after Friedrichshaven, and dropping our flares and bombs fairly hastily, we sped back across France. As we got back to Scampton, the sun was rising once more. The WAAF in flying control called us "Clear to land, J-Johnnie" and for once ignoring RT discipline, "Good show, J-Johnnie."
We were debriefed; I recall Jimmy telling the intelligence officer that we 'dove' out of the searchlights; it was years before I found out that 'dove' was legitimate New World past tense of 'to dive.' In the evening we flew back to Bourn. There was a reception committee waiting for us including the AOC, Bennett, and other senior officers. Bennett was exceedingly angry; he felt that four Pathfinders had been used so that 5 Group would have an excuse, someone else to blame, if the raid were not successful. Relations between Bennett and Cochrane, the AOC of 5 Group, were notoriously bad; Bennett commented at that debriefing that he would have had 20 Pathfinders illuminating and marking the target to ensure that the task was done properly. It was Bennett who had interviewed me for my commission earlier in the year; he didn't waste any time with 'social' questions which some of my friends had suffered from other AOCs, but launched straight away into fairly probing questions about navigation, and why I wanted to become an officer; presumably I was able to satisfy him on both counts.
The attack on Friedrichshaven had been our 29th. operation, and Spezia our 30th., so we got back to Bourn confidently expecting to go on three weeks leave; the pressure was on, however, and we were informed that we would have to do two more trips before we could be released. We went twice to Cologne before drawing our railway warrants and ration cards and setting off. At that time thirty operations constituted a first tour; one was then entitled to a 'rest' of at least six months before going back for a second tour, though some never did; in Main Force the second tour was twenty operations, but arrangements differed a little in Pathfinder Force. Having got a successful and experienced crew together, Pathfinder Force liked to keep them together for their second tour, so the crew went straight on without a break. In order to compensate for this, the second tour was reduced to 15 operations, and there was a three-week leave period in between instead of the usual two-week end-of-tour leave.
This last operation of our first tour is described in detail in 'Pathfinders at War' by Chaz Bowyer, under the title of 'Night of No Return,' written by Doug Jones, one of the four pilots to take part. There is also quite a long article about it in 'The Marker', the Pathfinder Association magazine, of summer 1991, by Rodley and a shorter one adding to Rod's article by myself in 'The Marker' of winter 1992. I read quite recently (spring 2002) Constance Babbington Smith's 'Evidence in Camera' and was surprised to find how quickly the attack had been organised; Churchill had visited RAF Medmenham, the Photographic Interpretation Unit, on June 14th., 1943, and been shown the pictures of the radar devices in preparation at Friedrichshaven; it was only six days later that the raid took place.
After those two operations against Cologne, I didn't go there again for many years, not, in fact, till the autumn of 1998, when my wife and I went down the Rhine on a river cruise starting there. We had not been on the cruise vessel more than
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ten minutes before there was a fire drill; when it concluded, I said to the Cruise Director, "This is a bit ironic, because the last time I was at Cologne, I was trying to start as many fires as possible!"
Most of our crew had decided to stay together and go on to complete 45 operations; by now we all had great faith in one another, and we all realised that in Jimmy Munro we had an exceptional pilot and captain; Bill Tracey had been absolutely right. (He, Bill, incidentally, had transferred to the US Army Air Corps fairly soon after we had moved to Bourn, and moved on after his thirty operations, so that now, after a long spell together, my friend George, his navigator, moved to a different station.) Two of the crew decided not to stay on: 'Snowy' Nevard, the wireless operator, and Harry Townsley, the engineer. In their place, we picked up two very experienced aircrew; Flight Sergeant Underwood as W/Op., and 'Ginger' Swetman, DFC, DFM, as Engineer. The latter, who eventually became squadron engineering leader, had quite remarkable night vision; he was frequently able to tell intelligence officers at debriefing just where our bombs and TIs had fallen, and time and time again this was confirmed by the photograph taken as we dropped our bombs.
When we got back to Bourn after our three weeks leave, we found the squadron agog with a new defensive strategy, 'Window,' the dropping of metallic strips to confuse the enemy radar. 'Window' was first used against Hamburg on the night of July 24/25 1943 and crews who had operated that night told us that the German searchlights and guns were all over the place, and there was great confusion between the night-fighters and their controllers. The loss rate that night was reduced to 1.5%, only 12 aircraft out of a force of over 700. We then operated against Hamburg three times in a week. On the 27th. the lost rate was just over 2%, 18 missing from a force of nearly 800; Window was still being very effective. This particular raid was the night of the great fire-storm; an enormous number of incendiaries was dropped and a great number of the inhabitants of Hamburg perished in the ensuing conflagration. In the same week we also did a trip to the Ruhr, to Remscheid, so we were operating at quite intense pressure at that time. The last of 'The Battle of Hamburg' raids was on the night of August 2nd. Although all 97 Squadron's aircraft returned, the Command lost 30 aircraft that night - over 4 per. cent. - and we began to wonder if Window was already losing its effect, but probably that night's losses were as much to do with weather as the German defences; the icing at 20,000 feet was more severe than we had ever known, and the wind was over 100 knots, so probably quite a lot of the casualties were victims of the weather.
I pause here from my chronological narrative to insert several anecdotes from this period. One day, we were due to take J-Johnnie on a night-flying test; these normally took place in the morning so that the ground crew could fix anything that needed fixing during the afternoon. For some reason we were not able to fly in the morning - possibly our ground-crew were busy on something fairly major on the aircraft. Whatever the reason, we went for lunch, and arrived to do our air-test early in the afternoon; there was no transport about to take us out to dispersal, so we trooped into the Flight Commander's office to explain. The Wingco said at once, "My van's outside; I shan't be needing it for an hour or two. Take that. "Jimmy at once responded that he couldn't drive. W/C Alabaster turned to me and commented, "It
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makes you realise how long the war's been on, doesn't it? Here's this chap who's done nearly forty trips in a Lancaster, and can't drive a car!"
The next story is a sad one. Bennett used to insist that his air staff officers at PFF HQ kept up to date by themselves going on operations from time to time. Two turned up one evening and, to my great surprise, both went off with the same crew, an Australian fairly new to the Squadron. I had flown a 'bullseye' with him one night when his own navigator was sick, and, after months flying with Jimmy, wasn't very impressed, so that I wouldn't have wanted to operate with him myself. Sadly both these officers, very experienced officers indeed, were lost with him.
Another story concerns a young night fighter pilot from a Beaufighter Squadron in the Home Counties, who came to spend a week's leave with us and flew on three operations. I was quite amazed that anyone's idea of a week's leave should be to spend it operating with a heavy bomber squadron. [italics] Chac'un a son gout! [/italics] He successfully completed his week, and Jimmy suggested that we would take him back to his base at Twinwood Farm; the main runway at this night-fighter station was considerably shorter than that normally used by a Lancaster, and although we landed without too much difficulty, taking off on an 800 yard runway, skimming over the trees at the end of the runway, was quite exciting. I believe Jimmy got a bit of a rocket when we got back to Bourn, but there isn't really much you can do to a chap who has done 40 operations except perhaps slap his wrists fairly mildly.
By now, we were, of course a very experienced crew; when new crews joined the Squadron, their captains were usually sent out with just such a crew before they operated themselves. One night we took a newly arrived South African with us, almost certainly, I think to Hamburg. We were making our way over northern Germany, more or less parallel with the coast and were somewhere near Bremen. "Now watch this," said Jimmy and held the plane absolutely straight and level for 30-45 seconds. Then he veered off to the left, and almost immediately three rounds of flak burst on our right, just where we would have been if he had continued straight and level.
Another visitor at about this time was Jimmy's father; he had been in the Canadian army in WWI, and enlisted again as soon as WWII was declared. Now he was back in England again as Private Munro. By now Jimmy was commissioned, and although Private Munro wasn't allowed to use the Officers' Mess, the Adjutant stretched a point, and accommodated him in the Sergeants' Mess, where he was very well looked after by the NCOs in our crew. He flew with us on an air-test on a very stormy day. While we were out over the North Sea there was a terrific bang, just like a burst of flak directly below the aircraft. We had been struck by lightning! We were lucky; flicking over the pages of Chorley's 'Bomber Command Losses' recently, I noticed that a Halifax which had been struck by lightning broke up in the air, and all the crew were killed. Our only damage was to our main P4 compass; it was never the same again. Although boffins arrived from Farnborough to degauss the aircraft, it could never be relied upon, but fortunately the Distant Reading Compass was still perfectly serviceable, and we relied on that from then on.
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We usually went into Cambridge when we were 'stood down' or not flying. (I can recall going into Bourn village only once to go to the Post Office.) The great attraction for me was the Cambridge Arts Theatre, and I used to persuade all the crew to go along quite frequently; they were all quite happy to humour me if a Coward, a Rattigan, a Priestley or an Emlyn Williams was on offer, but they all declined when I suggested a visit to the ballet! We all did enjoy very much indeed Terrence Ratigan's 'Flarepath'; it was, I believe, its first production, and starred Richard Attenborough, who was on an ITW course in Cambridge, but was held back on his course in order to play the leading part. We also spent quite a lot of time on the Cam, not in a punt, but in a canoe, for Jimmy, having grown up alongside the Ottawa river, handled a canoe just as expertly as he did a Lancaster.
After what Middlebrook calls 'The Battle of Hamburg' there was a quieter spell. We did two trips to Milan, and between them one to Mannheim. In the first of the Milan raids on August 7th., only 2 planes were lost out of 200 taking part, and on August 12th. only 3 out of 500, and only one of those a Lancaster. I never failed to be surprised at the reactions of some crew members when we were briefed to go on the eight-hour flight over the Alps. They used to complain about these long trips saying "Why can't we just go to the Ruhr?" Yet they must have known that casualties would be ten or even twenty times as many on a visit to Happy Valley! Moreover there was the joy of flying over the Alps (A very different experience from flying 15,000 or more feet above the mountains in the well-lit cabin of a modern jet), and long flights posed navigational challenges which I always enjoyed.
By now it was the middle of August, and nights were getting longer. The increasing hours of darkness was obviously going to give the C-in-C the opportunity to attack the target he really wanted: Berlin. We thought one morning that the day had come. We always had a look at the Order of Battle when it was published in the morning, not to find which aircraft we were flying in - we knew that - or to find the crew - we knew that too - but to have a look at the information tucked away at the bottom of the sheet; the bomb load and petrol load. These two figures gave a pretty good idea of the vicinity of the target. A small petrol-load and a large bomb-load almost inevitably meant the Ruhr. Conversely a heavy load of petrol and a small load of bombs probably meant much further afield; Italy or southern or eastern Germany. A moderate load of each would mean Hamburg, Berlin or thereabouts. On August 17th. we were scheduled for operations. When we looked at the Order of Battle we were horrified; the petrol and bomb loads appeared just right for Berlin, and yet it was a night of full moon; it would be a massacre - a massacre of the aircraft of Bomber Command by the increasingly skilful Luftwaffe night-fighter crews. There was a general lowering of morale but there was nothing we could do about it so we got on with our air-test, and did some bombing practice as well. "Press on regardless," as we said in those days!
We turned up for afternoon briefing, still feeling rather anxious, and found that although the red tape pinned across the map of Europe on the end wall of the briefing-room stretched out across the North Sea, it stopped short of Berlin. Not Lubeck. Not Rostock. Where? Eventually the target was revealed as Peenemunde, a place none of us had ever head of. We sat back and waited for more information.
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[Extract from Author's log book, captioned "August 1943: a busy fortnight in Pathfinder Force."]
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There is no need to write much by way of introduction about the Peenemunde raid. After the Dams operation, it is probably the best documented Bomber Command operation of the whole war. It merits a complete volume to itself by Martin Middlebrook; another by John Searby who was Master of Ceremonies; there are accounts of it and background information in almost any book referring to Bomber Command's activities, notably in R.V.Jones's 'Most Secret War,' in Max Hastings's 'Bomber Command', in Denis Richards's 'The Hardest Victory' and elsewhere. Briefly, Peenemunde was the research station and factory on the coast of the Baltic where the V2 rocket was being developed. It was, of course, a closely guarded secret. Although British intelligence had their first intimations of rockets as early as November 1939, they regarded this as a hoax to distract them from more immediate concerns, until more information came through a Danish engineer in December 1942, and even more when two captured German Generals were 'bugged' in March 1943, and were overheard discussing rocket attacks. Now there was a full alert. The Chiefs of Staff and the War Cabinet were informed and a decision was made to appoint Duncan Sandys to gather together all possible information. He worked very quickly and used photographic reconnaissance to amplify information which was also now coming in through the Resistance. His report to the War Cabinet was made on June 29th., and a decision was made to attach Peenemunde. At first it was thought that Mosquitoes could carry out the attack, but it was realised they couldn't carry the weight of bombs necessary. It would be a job for the heavies, so it was decided to wait until nights were long enough for a force of heavy bombers to get there and back in darkness. Now, in mid-August, that time had come.
Briefing took its usual form. There were introductory remarks and the target finally identified by a senior officer. The Met. Officer briefed us on the weather; conditions should be perfect. The Intelligence Officer told us what was known about defences. The Signals Officer briefed us about W/T procedures and, as always, emphasised the need for radio silence till the attack began. The plan of attack was explained; the operation would be in three phases. (We were to fly in the first.) This first wave was to be against the living quarters of the scientists and technicians; the second against the experimental station, and the last against the factory workshops. A number of special features were also explained; there was to be a Master of Ceremonies, the first time such a technique had been employed on a major operation of about 600 aircraft although we had an MC on Friedrichshaven with a much smaller force; there was to be a spoof raid on Berlin by a group of Mosquitoes who would drop 'window' and TIs to simulate an impending large-scale raid to attract the German fighters to Berlin. No mention whatsoever was made of rockets; we were told that we would be attacking an experimental radar station, a very important one, but nevertheless, radar was something we knew about. It was only later that we learned about rockets; it was thought that it would be disastrous for British morale if it were known that the Germans were developing rockets, so even the crews were not informed. Finally, we were told, and this was the only occasion I heard such a comment, that if the raid were not successful, it would have to be repeated night after night, irrespective of casualties, till the task was complete. Watches were synchronised. A final word from the senior officer 'Have a good trip chaps. Wish I were coming with you.' In fact, a very senior officer was with us that night; Group Captain Boyce, Senior Air Staff Officer at Group HQ, turned up and slipped quietly aboard Rodley's aircraft to witness the attack for himself.
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We went off to the Mess to have our operational meal, and, of course, made our usual funereal jokes. "Can I have your egg if you're not back tomorrow morning?" I suppose it sounds in very bad taste now, but it was our normal comment to one another; it was really wishing our friends a safe passage. Then I would go to clean my teeth, which by then had become a ritual, and easy enough to undertake because my quarters were between the Mess and the airfield; this had started because I thought that if I were shot down and taken prisoner it might be a long time before I could clean my teeth again! It would have been perfectly simple to carry a toothbrush with me; crew members carried all sorts of things with them. Another ritual was always to wear the silk scarf my Mother had given me when I started flying; I would have been very worried to have set off on operations without it.
Meanwhile the armourers had been busy at our aircraft, loading it with a 'cookie,' a four thousand pounder, five 500 pounders, and, most importantly, seven target indicators with which we hoped to mark the living quarters of the most important people at Peenemunde; the petrol bowsers had visited each dispersal site; the ground crew had done their final checks. We went to our lockers in the crew room for our flying kit, and then to the parachute section to draw parachutes, escape kits, rations, and then awaited transport to dispersal. Arriving there, we chatted to the ground crew; the smokers amongst us had a final cigarette; we had a ritual pee over the rear wheel of J-Johnnie.
We eventually clambered aboard and taxied to the end of the runway, ran up the engines to check magnetos, waited for a 'green' from the controller, and we were off; it was 20.50 DBST, so it was still light. As usual, there was a little knot of watchers standing at the end of the runway to wave us off. In 'Bomber Command' Max Hastings says that although this happened when the Squadron returned to Coningsby in 1944, there was never a group on the end of the runway at Bourn: not true. I even stood there myself on one or two occasions when I wasn't flying. The point probably was that there was never a big crowd, because the aircraft normally started their take-off run from the eastern end of the main runway, and all the domestic sites were at the western end, so that unless one had transport of some kind - I had a service bicycle at Bourn - it was a very long way to get there.
We flew out over East Anglia in daylight, and, as usual when we were heading east, crossed the coast at Southwold; darkness soon fell as we flew out over the North Sea. It was a beautiful night. The weather was, as forecast, perfect. The sea was calm. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, so as the full moon rose it was shining on the sea in front of us. The occasion was enhanced by the knowledge that we weren't, as we feared we might have been, on our way to the 'Big City.'
It took about an hour and ten minutes to cross the North Sea and reach the Danish coast. We made sure that we kept fairly well north of Flensburg, a spot to avoid when crossing the Schleswig-Holstein peninsula. The flak gunners at Flensburg were both trigger-happy and accurate, and whenever we went that way, there always seemed to be some unfortunate character whose navigator had not kept him clear of that city. We crossed Denmark in less than fifteen minutes and turned south east over the multitude of islands in the Baltic, which made navigation very easy. I gave Jimmy
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[Two photographs, captioned: [centred] "Over Hamburg, 29 July, and Berlin, 23 August, 1943, from J-Johnnie. Notice Jimmy's deservedly rapid promotion." [/centred]]
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and Sus the Estimated Time of Arrival, and just as that time was coming up, there was a shout from the bomb-aimer that there was a smoke screen ahead of us and he couldn't see very much at all. I came from behind my curtain, and he was quite right! I could see very little, but this was from a fairly oblique angle; there appeared to be 100% cover of the target, but as we got nearer and were looking down through the smoke-screen more vertically, it became obvious that cover was by no means complete, and that one could see quite a lot down through the lines of smoke. Defences were very meagre; a few searchlights straggled round the sky; we had no problem dropping our bombs and TIs on time. The attack seemed to have started well. We watch for a few moments and then turned away from the target just south of the inward route of those still approaching. There was someone in trouble of Flensburg, serious trouble. He was coned and blew up as we watched horrified, the only aircraft we saw shot down that night, most unusual. We flew back across the North Sea thinking that losses would be negligible. Our return to Bourn was uneventful; 97 Squadron had sent out 18 aircraft; one returned early with engine trouble; the other 17 all landed safely. Our flight had lasted 6 hours 50 minutes.
We had a quick word with the ground crew, then transport arrived to take us back to the flight offices. First we went to the parachute store, then to the crew room to deposit our harnesses and other flying kit, and so to the ops. room for debriefing. As usual there was a senior officer waiting to have a word with us as we went in and took a mug of coffee from a WAAF (with rum in it for those who wanted it, which always included the half-frozen gunners, of course), then on to an intelligence officer waiting to debrief us. We sat around a table with him, and told him about the raid, the defences, any aircraft we had seen shot down, the weather; it didn't take long before we were on our way back to our messes for the traditional post-operational meal of eggs and bacon and trimmings. And so to bed.
The next morning, as on every morning after operations, I was about early. Most of the crew, most of the squadron, would sleep in till lunchtime after flying at night, but probably I was horrified at the thought of missing a meal, so I was always up. I wouldn't pretend I was first in the mess for breakfast, but I would be up by about eight, have a shower, and reach the mess just before breakfast ended at nine. After breakfast, I would catch up with my correspondence, or do the Telegraph crossword, and read the paper or a novel. On this particular occasion, however, realising that the previous night's operation had been rather a special one, and with the threat made at the end of briefing still hanging over us, I decided to walk up to the intelligence library to have a look at the photographs which had, no doubt, been developed. The first thing I found was that we had lost 40 aircraft, 6.7% of the force. I was amazed; the only aircraft we saw downed was the one over Flensburg; usually we saw at least half a dozen over German targets. Apparently the German fighters circled Berlin as they were intended to, but when their controllers realised where the target really was, they redirected the fighters to the Baltic coast, and they arrived in time to create havoc among the later waves of the attack. The second wave suffered losses of about 14.5%, while the third, the Lancasters of 5 Group, lost almost 20%, an incredible one aircraft in every five. However, the raid had been deemed a success, so we should not have to repeat it, much to our relief. The attack is said to have delayed the V2 by about three months. The first V2 hit London on September 8th., and three months before that, almost to the day, the invasion was just getting under way, so we probably did
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something worthwhile. Reports tell of several top scientists and technicians who were killed; production was dispersed and decreased; the German general in charge of fighters committed suicide after failing to defend Peenemunde.
This operation was our 40th. We had five more to do. We did air-tests on August 19th. and 22nd., but didn't operate again till the 23rd. The full moon had passed, and now it really was Berlin. We lost 56 aircraft, Bomber Command's biggest loss in a single operation to date, 7.9% of the force despatched. One of the aircraft we lost that night was the Australian with two Staff Officers on board. Four nights later, we went to Nuremberg; the nights really were getting longer now, to go that far under cover of darkness; there was much evidence of aerial combat, but fortunately the fighters left us alone. On the 29th. we flew over to Oakington, our parent station, to operate from there while our runways at Bourn were under repair, and on the night of 30/31 August went back to the Ruhr, to Munchen-Gladbach, a flight of only 3hrs. 30 minutes. Take-off that night was after midnight, and by 20.20 the same evening we were back in the air on our way to Berlin. Losses were again high; 47 aircraft, 7.6%, but much higher among the Stirlings which lost 17 out of 106 sent, 16.0%. We lost one of our Flight Commanders, Wing Commander Burns, C.O. of A flight, with his much decorated crew. Fortunately he and a number of others of his crew escaped the aircraft and were taken prisoner. He had been Master Bomber over Berlin in the raid a week before.
One evening while we were waiting for take-off to Berlin at our dispersal point, which was right on the A45, the main road to Cambridge, a coach pulled up; it was carrying an ENSA party, who had performed at Bourn that evening, back to Cambridge. They saw that we were wearing Mae Wests and harnesses and carrying parachutes, so they had asked the driver to stop. They waved and shouted 'Good luck!' to us, and no doubt read all about the attack in the papers the next morning, so they were able to tell their friends that they had seen a crew just off on a big raid.
On another of our long flights into Germany, almost certainly to Berlin, I think, we were told at briefing that we would be taking a lengthy circuitous route across Germany, one of the strategies used to confuse the defences, and that this route would take us over a small town where a large number of seriously rich Germans were hibernating for the duration of the war. We might, if we wished, drop one of our smaller bombs there "to remind them that there was a war on." It was up to us! We crossed the Rhine well south of the Ruhr, and continued eastwards passing south of Kassel; as we were nearing the town, I informed Jimmy and we held a brief democratic crew conference. In the end we decided to take our full load of bombs and T.I.s to the main target; the balance of opinion was that we should drop as much as possible on "the Big City." However, it was my opinion that the crew probably thought that with me as navigator, they couldn't be sure that they were anywhere near the little town, but that even I could hardly miss the enormous sprawling city that was Berlin.
We were now in September with one trip left to complete our second tour. We did night-flying tests on two occasions, but each time operations were cancelled through bad weather. On the first of these occasions, the corporal-fitter in charge of J-Johnny, a young married man, was due to go on leave the next
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morning, but when operations were 'scrubbed' he wouldn't go; the same happened the next night; he was determined to see us safely through our tour. This was a considerable sacrifice, for ground crew got very little leave, and worked outside at dispersal sites, not in a warm hangar, in sometimes quite atrocious conditions; he really deserved an award for devotion to duty. I was glad that Jimmy saw the Flight Commander the next morning before we all set off on leave, explained what had happened, and the Wingco extended the corporal's leave, which officially had already started, by a 48-hour pass, a most unusual concession for those days.
We had expected a 'cushy' operation to Italy for that final operation; the petrol/bomb load on the Order of Battle seemed right for a long trip, and the invasion of Italy had begun that very morning, September 3rd., the fourth anniversary of the outbreak of war. We were soon disillusioned when we got to briefing; once more the red tape stretched across Europe to Berlin, but by a particularly long circuitous route, which accounted for the bomb and petrol loads. We went through the usual pre-operation routines, but when Jimmy was running up the engines on the end of the runway, the surge of power made all my radar unserviceable; not, I thought, a good omen for our last operation. However, our luck was in once again, for even at 20,000 feet the winds were quite light and variable that night, so we had no real navigational problems. We got a pin-point on the English coast, another on the Dutch, and the rear gunner was able to give me an occasional drift, so, even by that circuitous route, we got to the target successfully. The Halifaxes and Stirlings did not participate in this operation, as they had recently suffered severe losses; 316 Lancasters passed through the target in 20 minutes hoping to overwhelm the German defences of their capital. Evenso, [sic] 22 were lost, nearly 7% of the force. A year earlier, Bomber Command could hardly have sent 100 Lancasters, even on a 'maximum effort.'
We were routed over the south western corner of Sweden for the return flight. Martin Middlebrook's book on the Berlin raids refers to the correspondence between the Swedish ambassador and Anthony Eden, Foreign Secretary during the war; in his reply to the Ambassador's protest abut the 'repeated violations of Swedish territory,' Eden wrote 'On returning from their target, a number of aircraft took a northerly course and, despite the instructions which, as Your Excellency knows, have been issued to British air crews to avoid flying over Swedish territory, crossed the South West corner of Sweden before reaching the Kattegat.' Sheer hypocritical nonsense, of course; our briefing lay down the route for the return journey.
As we crossed the corner of Sweden we put the nose down and, for the last time, sped home. In spite of having no radar, we were easily first home that night. As we crossed the coast, we broke discipline by firing off the colours of the day from the verey pistol. When we got back to the parachute section, I pulled the ripcord of my parachute, which I wouldn't normally have done, of course, and it spilled over the counter. The WAAF parachute packer and I had a laugh about it, when I said that I was satisfied that it would have been all right if I had had to use it in earnest.
The following day we set off on a fortnight's leave. The possibility of surviving the war, although by no means certain, seemed considerably nearer.
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Sadly, Jimmy, Ron Bennett, and 'Weasel' did not survive; they, with our new wireless operator, Flight Sergeant 'Gremlin' Underwood, Jimmy Silk, from Doug Jones's crew, who replaced me, Peter Burbridge, from Johnny Sauvages's crew who replaced 'Sus', and a new engineer, were shot down over Berlin on the night of November 22nd./23rd. 1943, probably by a German fighter. They have no known grave. It was Jimmy's 57th. operation.
[centred] * * * [/centred]
What must have been the next J-Johnnie was not destined to last very long; it was shot down and all its crew killed on the night of 30/31 January 1944 returning from Berlin. I was, by then, many miles from Bourn, and was not to know about this for many years. However, in 1999, BBC Leeds made a programme about the recovery of the remains of the aircraft by Dutch engineers excavating at Zwanenburg. The programme did seem to include a number of anomalies, and I had a brief correspondence with the Research Assistant working on the programme, but she was unable to resolve my enquiries, and pointed out, quite correctly, that the programme was really about the excavation, not the minutiae of 97 Squadron's history. I had not known before the programme was shown that it was to be about OF (97 Squadron's identification letters) - J-Johnnie, only that it was to be about a Lancaster; it therefore gave me quite a [italics] frisson [/italics] to be watching a programme about OF-J, an aircraft with the identical identification to the one which I had myself been navigating only a few months before.
[centred] * * * [/centred]
I left 97 Squadron at Bourn on September 23rd. 1943, posted to No.26 OTU at Wing, just outside of Leighton Buzzard, as a navigation instructor. I hadn't been there many weeks when a notice appeared in Daily Routine Orders seeking a radar navigation instructor overseas. With the Middle East and North Africa now in allied hands, it was pretty obviously going to be Italy. I hadn't really settled to life as an instructor after life on an operational squadron; moreover the post was 'advertised' as a Flight Lieutenant vacancy, and since I hadn't been commissioned all that long, I asked the Adjutant to put my name forward. It wasn't long before I heard that I had been accepted, and went off on embarkation leave. On my return the unit was good enough to divert a cross-country to drop me off at Squire's Gate, the nearest airfield to Blackpool, where the embarkation unit was based. Within days I was on a ship bound for overseas from Liverpool, but conditions were rather different this time as I was travelling as an officer, and in any case the vessel was hardly a traditional troopship. We sailed well out into the Atlantic to keep clear of the aircraft attacking convoys from airfields in western France, then turned east to pass through the Straits of Gibraltar, where the fog was so dense that although the Straits are very narrow,
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nine miles at its narrowest, we saw no signs of the Rock whatsoever, and a couple of days later, docked in Algiers.
After a day or two in a transit camp there, I was flown to Tunis, Headquarters of Mediterranean Air Command, to which I was attached for the time being. The Air Officer Commanding was Air Marshall Tedder; he would come into the Mess occasionally, and was a delightful man; in fact, I never met any really senior officers who were not very pleasant people indeed. The more objectionable men were those pre-war regular officers, who had probably never operated during the war and got stuck at about Group Captain or Air Commodore level, were never going to get any further, and many of whom were far less attractive personalities than people like Tedder, who really did get to the top.
I was looked after by a Wing Commander and a Squadron Leader. It was now mid-December, and they took a light aircraft to Bone one day to visit the Market. They took me along with them, since I was under their wing, and because they had found out that my French was fairly reasonable. They had hoped to find some turkeys for the mess for Christmas, but were unlucky; all we did get was a sack of carrots, but probably it was appetising for people who had lived on service rations for some time to have some fresh vegetables. While there I did manage to visit the site of Carthage, and to have a swim in the Mediterranean on Christmas Day; it really was fairly chilly, but I wanted to say I had swum on Christmas Day!
A few days after Christmas, I set off further east to El Adem, a large desert airfield just outside Tobruk. I had learnt while I was at Tunis that the bomber squadrons, mainly Wellingtons, but one Halifax, No. 462, which had come up through the desert, and had spent much of the war raiding places like Benghazi and Tobruk, were shortly to move across to Italy, and that one of the squadrons, the Halifaxes, was going to become a target marking force, doing the same sort of job that I had been doing in Pathfinder Force. I spent initially only a few days with them before being required to visit HQ Middle East Air Force at Cairo, the HQ which, through 205 Group, had much more direct control over this bomber force than the HQ at Tunis. There were aircraft continuously going through El Adem on their way to the Far East, so a lift was once again arranged for me in a Wellington. Since the Wellington had its own crew I stood in the astrodome throughout the flight; I recall how impressed I was as we approached the Nile Delta at the sharp demarcation between the sands of the desert, and the green of the delta, not a gradual change at all, but quite sudden. The sergeant-pilot levelled out at about thirty or even thirty-five feet above the runway at Cairo West, then dropped the aircraft in with a terrific bang. Since I had been in the astrodome, not the warmest place in the aircraft, I was wearing a flying jacket; as I left the Wellington a Wing Commander approached me outside flying control and asked if I were the pilot of the aircraft which had just landed; since I was wearing my flying jacket, he could not, of course, see what sort of a brevet I was wearing. I very hastily disclaimed such responsibility and commented that I could quite understand why he was asking. He grinned and went off to find the real pilot.
I spent several days at HQ Middle East seeing a succession of fairly senior officers, most of whom had been in the Middle East for some time, and were not in close touch with recent developments in Bomber Command. One of them also
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introduced me to the delights of Groppi's, the famous Egyptian tea rooms, where one could gorge oneself on the sort of cakes that hadn't been seen in England for years.
Soon I was back at El Adem where 462 Squadron were still carrying out an occasional night raid on German harbour installations in Crete, but everyone was really just waiting for the move to Italy. Towards the end of February, all the ground crew moved back to the Delta to be ferried across to Italy to prepare an airfield near Foggia for the arrival of the Halifaxes. We kept our tents for the moment, but the khamsin was beginning to blow, and there was sand in everything. Occasionally a very old, quite enormous - and very dirty - Arab riding a donkey far too small for him would appear carrying a bucket of tiny eggs, which he would barter for a mug of sugar. The last night we were there, the tents were taken down and stowed aboard the aircraft for an early departure; we slept under the wings of the Halifaxes. I flew with the Squadron CO as navigator, since he had no regular crew of his own. The Engineering Officer (ground) flew as his flight engineer, so we had rather a makeshift crew. However, we reached Celone, our designated airfield, without problems. Just before we left the desert, I went into Tobruk and bought a pair of gumboots at the Offices' Shop; you were allowed to buy gumboots only if you were to be posted to Italy; it didn't seem as if we were going to have very wonderful weather in Italy!
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During the next few weeks, I spent most of my time with the squadron Navigation Officer and his team, some airborne on long cross-countries, talking to them about the techniques we had used in Pathfinder Force and the equipment we used, 'which in their case they had not got.' An entry in my log-book for May 2nd. 1944, shows the first air test of the Italian Gee chain; it was, of course, going to be an enormous advance for crews which had come up through the desert with no such aids to have Gee available, but they would certainly need it over the coming months for weather over Europe was very different from weather along the North African coastline.
At about this time, I was posted from 462 Squadron to HQ 205 Group as Group Navigation Officer (Radar) to distinguish me from the Group Navigation Officer; the work involved quite a lot of visits to HQ 15th. Air Force, which was based at Bari, and under whose aegis 205 Group operated. 462, now for some reason rechristened 614 Squadron, started operating in their new role. Their first attempt was something of a fiasco, not through any fault of theirs, but because the chosen target was in Sofia, and the mountains all round prevented their new radar devices from operating effectively; this was a pity, because it took them some time to win back their credibility with the supporting bomber squadrons.
One morning in June, news broke of the invasion of Normandy; the unit sick quarters had a radio, and I stood outside most of that morning (sick quarters being in a tent) and listened to the commentators, rather wishing that I had a hand in these great events taking place the other side of Europe.
Another event at about this time was the eruption of Vesuvius; a stream of smoke spread east from the crater over Italy right across the plain around Foggia, where all the main airfields were. We had to send out a navigation warning to all
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[Photograph of author outside a tent, captioned: "In front of my tent at El Adem, near Tobruk, February, 1944."]
[Photograph of author, captioned: "At Celone, near Foggia, Italy, April, 1944."]
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squadrons not to fly into the smoke from the volcano since it would cause the perspex in the cockpits of their aircraft to become opaque.
It wasn't long before I got the urge to go along with 614 from time to time. I knew only too well that Bennett had insisted on his Air Staff Officers operating in order to keep them in touch with current techniques, and now that I was a Staff Officer myself, albeit a very junior one, I thought I ought to do the same; moreover I was well aware of Hotspur's castigation of Staff Officers in Henry IV, and Siegfried Sassoon's poem about 'scarlet majors at the base,' so I decided I would join the squadron if there were appropriate opportunities. By 'appropriate opportunities' I mean providing I could go as a crew member; I knew only too well how much some crews hated having an 'extra bod.' on board as a supernumerary. Moreover, having completed forty-five operations, I thought it would be nice to make the round figure of fifty.
There was a meeting of the Air Staff every morning, which I attended. It was also attended by an army officer, a Guard, attached to the Group HQ, who was responsible for liaison with the Resistance, both in France and in Yugoslavia. He arrived one morning to inform us that the French resistance intended to attack an airfield in the Rhone Valley in the near future; they would be doing this at night, and would welcome a diversion by bomber aircraft making an attack on the middle of the airfield to make the Germans keep their heads down while they went about their business around the perimeter. This sounded a very interesting trip. I contacted 614 squadron and found there was one crew without a navigator, by coincidence, the same crew with whom I had undertaken the initial test of the Italian Gee chain. They were quite happy to accept my suggestion that I should join them for this operation as navigator. I got to Celone in ample time to renew acquaintance with Flt. Lt. Langton and his crew, and to be present at briefing, though I had all the information needed already, of course.
The front line at this time ran roughly from Ancona across Italy, just north of Florence. We were not routed to cross the line, but flew north as far as Lake Trasimeno, now, I believe, more commonly known as Lake Perugia; I prefer the former since that was the site of one [of] Hannibal's battles in the Punic Wars. We took off at about twenty to seven and set course for the lake; the date was July 24th., about three weeks before the invasion of southern France on August 15th. We turned west when we reached the Lake, and crossed the coast near Livorno, Leghorn. We crossed the Ligurian Sea, pin-pointed the northern tip of Corsica, and crossed the French coast just behind Marseilles, then north again along the valley of the Rhone as far as Valence. The airfield we were to attack was close to Valence; we were given its name as La Tresorie, but although I've looked it up in several reference books about the resistance since the war, I've never found anything about an airfield of that name. We dropped our flares and one TI from about 10,000 feet and watched while the main force, mainly Wellingtons, bombed the centre of the airfield. There was obviously some activity on the ground, small arms fire and a number of explosions. There seemed to be no defences whatsoever. The attack over, we turned about, and flew back to Foggia by the same route.
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A fortnight later, on August 6th., the Army liaison officer announced at our morning meeting that a message had now been received from the resistance in southern France. They had been well satisfied with the diversion provided, had destroyed 37 German aircraft on the ground, had blown up the ammunition dump, and killed an unspecified number of Germans.
I navigated twice more for 614 Squadron. One operation was a long trip to Hungary, to Székesfehérvár, halfway between Lake Balaton and Budapest, the other to the marshalling yards at Zagreb in northern Yugoslavia; the aim of both these trips was to impede the Germans as they retreated from the Balkans. I did two more in Wellingtons which were now much involved in supply dropping to the partisans. I thought that these would prove interesting; the first was in daylight, high in the mountains near Sarajevo; the partisans, looking like a gang of bandits, waved with great enthusiasm as our parachutes floated down to them. The same evening we dropped from 1,000 feet on to an enormous bonfire in the form of a cross near Trieste.
Life was not all operations and staff work, however; in August I was given the opportunity to undertake a Junior Commander's course at HQ Middle East in Cairo. I flew to Cairo via Malta and Marble Arch - a rather pleasanter flight than my previous trip to Cairo - and spent an interesting four weeks living on a houseboat, where the course also took place. The boat was moored to Gezira Island, and we were able to use the facilities at the club there in our fairly ample leisure time. Before I was allowed to return to Foggia, HQ ME sent me off to give a couple of lectures to navigators at their bomber OTU at Qastina and their Heavy Conversion Unit at Abu Suier on the techniques and equipment used in Pathfinder Force. And so back to Foggia, this time via El Adem, now very much a backwater, and Malta.
Most of the staff visits I undertook from Foggia were to Bari, but on one occasion I visited HQ MATAF (Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Forces) at Sienna. Most of the day I was there was in an office with RAF and USAAC officers, but we did find time to walk round the great square; I thought what a wonderfully attractive place it was, and how I would love to go back there; in fact, it was a great many years before I returned on a day when the weather was appalling and the square was packed almost solid with tourists, so that my wife wasn't nearly as impressed as I had been almost fifty years earlier, when the sun shone, the sky was blue, and there was no one about but a few Allied troops.
I also visited MAAF HQ at the great palace at Caserta, and while there was able to ascertain the whereabouts of my first RAF friend, Ken Romain, who, I knew, was flying with a Spitfire squadron. They were stationed, in fact, quite nearby, so I was able to spend an enjoyable afternoon and evening with these fighter boys. They went off for a sweep over the front line while I was there. In their Ops. Room (a caravan), I noted that Ken had been credited with one half of a "kill." I pulled his leg about this, pointing out that all the time I had been flying over Germany, he had shot down one half of a Luftwaffe aircraft. However, he protested - and I am sure he was right - that Allied air superiority had been so great over North Africa, and now was over Italy, that opportunities for combat were very rare; when they were patrolling the front line, the German aircraft just did not leave the ground.
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By now, my job in the Mediterranean theatre was just about over. The Target Marking Squadron was well able to look after itself. (During the autumn one of the new crews to join them was captained by an Old Tauntonian from Southampton, 'Scotch' Wilson; he was slightly younger than me but was an accomplished games player, so I had known him quite well; he was given a permanent commission, and was a regular member of the RAF cricket XI for several years; when he retired as a Group Captain he became Secretary of Notts CCC. We were planning to do an op. together when I was posted back to UK.) It was early December when I left Foggia. The Group Communications Flight took me across to Naples, and from there I was taken on by the USAAC Transport system. I had a couple of days at Marseille en route and then went on to Paris. Arriving at Orly, I enquired of the American movements sergeant if there was any chance of breaking my journey in Paris for 24 hours; "Sure, sir." I have the impression that the Americans were much more relaxed about such things; I would never have got away with that if I had been travelling with Transport Command. He probably thought I wanted a night out in Paris, and so I did, but not perhaps quite the sort of night he imagined. What I wanted to do was to look up the family I had known before the war, and find out about the friends of whom I had heard nothing since the collapse of France in 1940. I found a phone, and much to my surprise, the civil telephone system was working perfectly satisfactorily. I contacted my friends, spent a very pleasant evening with them, and was able to hear all about my acquaintances in Normandy.
Monsieur Hue, the father of the family, told a delightful story about an incident during the occupation. He had been strap-hanging on the Metro, when a German officer alongside him took out his cigarette case and lighter and was about to light a cigarette; M. Hue took him by the arm and pointed to the notice. "Defense de fumer, Monsieur," he said. The German officer put away his cigarette and lighter. Monsieur Hue turned to me, obviously absolutely delighted. "Petite victoire," he said, "petite victoire!"
When I reached UK I was sent on leave, during which I was able to organise a visit to HQ Pathfinder Force, where I still had some contacts. I spent a most interesting evening in the Ops. Room reacquainting myself with all the latest developments including particularly the use of Mosquitoes as the Light Night Striking Force; I spent a second evening with Wing Commander Burns DSO DFC who had been shot down over Berlin just before I left Bourn and lost a hand when he was blown out of his Lancaster; he had been in hospital the next two nights in Berlin when further big raids took place; not a pleasant experience he had assured me! Eventually he had been repatriated through Switzerland, the normal procedure for badly-injured servicemen, though his injuries did not prevent him doing a worth-while job as an Air Staff Officer at 8 Group Headquarters.
I was just beginning to think the RAF had forgotten all about me when I received a signal to report to a certain Wing Commander at Adastral House. After a few minutes introductory chatter, he asked what I wanted to do now. This surprised me as it wasn't the usual service way of doing things; I must have looked a bit perplexed, for he went on, "What about going to Transport Command?" I certainly had no objections to this, so he sent me off on leave again to await instructions.
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Eventually, sometime in February, I received instructions to report to the Transport Command OTU at Bramcote in the Midlands.
Although the vast majority of air crew arriving for the OTU course were very experienced, Transport Command saw fit to give us a very thorough training, especially in navigation and meteorology; the course in the latter was one of the best I had ever done. One of the advantages of the course was that if one got a certain percentage in the end-of-course examinations, and took an extra paper in civil aviation law one could qualify for a First Class Air Navigator's Licence, which would enable one to fly in civil aviation. We also did quite a lot of cross country flying in Wellingtons, there being a surfeit of them at the time. There were only three of us in a Transport Command crew; pilot, wireless operator and navigator. I crewed up with an ex-Spitfire pilot, and a wireless operator who had, in fact, flown in one of the Wellington Squadrons of 205 Group in the desert.
There was another rather more important piece of "crewing up" while I was at Bramcote, for I met my wife; she was a theatre staff nurse at Nuneaton General Hospital, where she had done her training; we were married not all that long after we first met. Our daughters sometimes tease us about that even now!
At the end of the course, we were posted to a Ferry Unit at Talbenny, which is beyond Haverfordwest at the far south-western corner of Wales. On the way there by train, I had to wait about four hours in Gloucester, where I arrived at about 7 in the evening. I went along to the nearest hotel for a meal. When I went in, the Manager was in reception and asked, "Are you with the team, sir?" I must have looked as perplexed as I felt, for he went on immediately to explain that the first of the Victory Test Matches between teams of servicemen from Australia and England was starting the next day at the Gloucestershire cricket ground, and that both sides were staying at his hotel. The two sides had a room booked for the evening for some social activity, and since I appeared to be the only other Air Force officer in the hotel, they invited me to join them. I had a most jolly evening with them; many of those present are now household names in the cricketing world; the Australians were captained by Warrant Officer Lindsay Hasset; the side included Keith Miller and other notables, while the English team was captained by Flight Sergeant Cyril Washbrook, and since I had always been an avid follower of country cricket, a host of names I had known for years. Many years later I was visiting the Australian Houses of Parliament at Canberra; our guide was very obviously a cricket enthusiast, so I recounted this story to him; he was able to recite the names of all eleven of the Australian players who took part! The party was still in full swing when I left to catch my midnight train to South Wales; it was a memorable evening indeed.
While at Talbenny - we were there for two and a half months - our only ferry delivery was to take an Anson to Algiers; it was going to a minor Arab royal in the Middle East, and was most luxuriously equipped. That, however, even with pre-delivery testing and the return flight took only about ten days, so we were pretty bored most of the time, and I wasn't sorry when my pilot, who was something of a socialite and seemed to have connections at Air Ministry, was able to persuade someone there to send us on a course to convert to Dakotas - DC-3s - with a view to joining one of the Dakota squadrons operating much more regularly. His connection
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[Photograph of a scene at Croydon Airport, captioned: "The control tower at Croydon with a Dakota - DC3 - landing. The building in the background is the airport hotel, which was the Officers' Mess during the war years."]
[Reprint of a photograph captioned: [centred] 'TAKING OFF FOR CAIRO, INDIA, AND AUSTRALIA' [/centred]
[centred] "B.O.A.C. Hythe taking off from Poole Harbour, May, 1946." [/centred]
[centred] "From the Radio Times of June 14th., 1946."[/centred]]
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proved to be a very useful one as we were soon posted to another Transport Command OTU, this one No. 109 at Wymeswold near Loughborough, where we spent a fortnight converting to Dakotas before joining 147 Squadron at Croydon. Our lives were transformed, for not only were we near London, but we had a real job to do. 147 Sqdn. was carrying passengers every day to all the big cities of north western Europe; we would fly to Paris one day, Berlin the next, Brussels, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Oslo, and so on, and the schedules were so arranged that we would night stop from time to time, especially at the more attractive destinations such as Copenhagen.
Copenhagen was also worth visiting for another reason; while we weren't exactly starving in England, there were many items still severely rationed, and many shortages; Denmark, on the other hand, was well looked after by the Germans as part of their 'larder,' but suffered from an almost complete lack of cigarettes. We bartered! The standard rate was 100 cigarettes for 30 dozen eggs; we could also obtain much other farm produce - ham, bacon, cheese, meat. On one occasion I acquired a whole Danish Blue cheese, which had such a pungent odour that the other two members of the crew insisted that it be removed from the flight deck and placed in the passenger compartment! Many Danish shops were far better stocked than those in England, and I was able to buy our first dinner and tea set from a large store in Copenhagen.
The flight to Oslo was also an interesting one, for it was emphasised at briefing how essential it was to fly up the right fiord; if one chose the wrong one, the fiord was too narrow to turn round to make an exit, and the Dakota lacked the power to climb steeply out over the mountains! I was very careful to select the right fiord!
From time to time we carried interesting passengers; one was the well-known Daily Express war correspondent, Alan Moorehead, though he did sleep most of the journey; another was Ivy Benson, leader of the all-ladies dance-band whom we took to Brussels where she was arranging a concert for her band. Another interesting experience was our first landing using GCA, Ground Controlled Approach. We were on a flight to Hamburg, and conditions got worse and worse from the Dutch coast onwards. When we arrived, I thought, "We shall never be able to land here," but a very confident voice started talking us down, giving us very, very detailed instructions, to which, of course, I was able to listen just as well as the pilot could. The final instruction was, "When you see the runway, go ahead and land." At that very moment we saw the runway appearing out of the murk in front of us. Conditions were so bad, even on the ground, that we had to follow a van sent out to guide us in, and when we did stop just by the control tower, I noticed that the RAF Ensign flying above it was actually in cloud; conditions couldn't have been much worse; it was a very impressive experience indeed, and gave us great confidence in GCA for the future.
We were at Croydon from September till December, then just after Christmas BOAC announced that it required move navigators, so I thought the time had come to use my Civil Air Navigator's Licence. Strictly, this is post-war experience, of course, as was the spell at Croydon, for I had listened to Churchill's speech announcing the end of the war at Talbenny. However, it seems all part of my
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war-time experience, for I should not have had the opportunity if I had not been a navigator in the RAF. In early January, I was posted from Croydon to Whitchurch, just outside Bristol, where all aircrew transferring from the RAF to BOAC - and there were considerable numbers at this time, of course - were sent to undertake a course to familiarise themselves with civilian methods. It was a thorough training lasting about two months at what was known as CTS - Civil Training School. Most of the work was in the classroom, but we flew one or two cross-country navigation exercises, and all had to undertake two flights outside the war zone of Europe, which didn't leave much scope, of course. I did one flight to Stockholm and one to Lisbon; we carried two navigators, one of whom navigated on the outward flight, and the other on the homeward, meanwhile the one not actually navigating practised astro in the astro-dome. We had to fly first to Hurn, now Bournemouth International Airport, to clear Customs, there being no Customs at Whitchurch. In spite of currency restrictions on the amount of sterling we were allowed, we returned laden with goods we hadn't been able to obtain for a long time, especially from Portugal, when we were able to purchase so many of those fruit we hadn't seen for years.
At the end of the course we were posted to various BOAC lines - the equivalent of an RAF Squadron. Most of us I think, hoped for a posting to London Airport for the Transatlantic route, but I was quite happy to join No. 4 Line which operated flying-boats out of Poole Harbour to Singapore, and whose maintenance base and administrative headquarters was at Hythe, on Southampton Water, only 15 minutes on the ferry from Southampton.
The BOAC flying-boats, themselves known as Hythes, were, in fact, ex-RAF Sunderlands with the gun-turrets fared in and the interior comfortably furnished for passengers. They were quite elephantine in size, internally scarcely smaller than a modern 'jumbo' yet we carried only 35 passengers. It was all very comfortable; it was also very leisurely, for the Hythes cruised only at about 130 knots, had a range of only about 800 miles, so that we had to make frequent landings to refuel, and were not pressurised, so that we rarely flew higher than 6,000 to 8,000 feet. I was sent down the route once with a BOAC experienced navigator; we flew to Singapore and back, which normally took crews 18 days, and then I was on my own. There was no regular crew as I had always been used to in the RAF, both in Bomber and Transport Commands. One turned up to find that one was scheduled to fly with a certain Captain, a certain First Officer, a certain Radio Officer and a certain Flight Engineer, and off we went; in the year I spent with BOAC I never flew more than once with the same aircrew member of any category. There were also 7 or 8 stewards under a Senior Steward who was usually an ex-Merchant Navy seaman.
Navigation was, by RAF standards, fairly primitive. I had a great deal of respect for these old pre-war Imperial Airways pilots, but they knew very little about radar, and didn't really want to know anything about it; they had always managed perfectly well without radar, and as far as they were concerned, they would go on managing without it! The navigator had an air-speed indicator, an altimeter, a driftmeter, a sextant, and an astrocompass, and occasionally the assistance of a radio bearing, but much of the navigation was by pinpointing places one passed over and by taking visual bearings to obtain position lines, which was fine in good weather conditions, but less satisfactory when the weather deteriorated.
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The Navigating Officer had other duties, too. In those days there was no radio-telephone contact between the flight-deck and the passenger cabin, so it was up to him to keep the passengers supplied with information; at least once an hour he had to provide an information sheet for the passengers telling them where they were, what they could expect to see on either side of the aircraft in the next hour, the height and speed over the ground, and the ETA at the next destination. Another duty was to climb on top of the aircraft through the astrodome if the pilot had to turn in choppy water; he would then walk to the wing-tip to keep the float on that side down in the water so that the pilot could execute his turn; I didn't have to do this on many occasions, but it was an interesting new task! Yet another was to sit halfway out of the astrodome when engines were being started up holding the fire extinguisher, so that if one of the engines caught fire as it was been started, the navigator could dash along the wing to dowse the fire; I've always been glad that I was never called upon to perform this particular part of a Navigating Officer's duty!
Our passengers were assembled at Airways Terminal in London and travelled by train to Poole, where they were accommodated at the Harbour Heights Hotel. The crew, too, arrived at the same hotel during the afternoon, and after a leisurely meal together, retired early since we always left at first light the next morning. The flying boats looked very elegant if one was watching them take off, but inside the boat it sounded, as someone once said, 'like dragging a rake across a corrugated tin roof.' fortunately, my experience at Pensacola had prepared me for the din. The first leg of our journey took us from Poole to Marseilles, a flight of between four and a half and five hours. We never normally night-stopped there, but flew on another five hours to Augusta in Sicily, previously an Italian naval flying-boat base. The schedule was so arranged that although the passengers went on the following morning with a crew already there, the crew spent two nights at Augusta, a most attractive place to stay with water-skiing and swimming off the jetty in almost guaranteed sunshine. Our blue uniforms were left there to be cleaned and pressed while we were further east, and we changed into khaki drill, picking up our blue uniform on our return journey. After two delightful days at Augusta, we flew on to Cairo, a six and a half hour flight. Landing on the Nile provided quite a tricky task for the Engineer, as it was his responsibility to slip a boat hook through a loop of rope on one of the buoys. Since the Nile is quite a fast-flowing river, this was not easy, but woe betide him if he missed first time, as he occasionally did, for the Captains were never happy to have to go round again. They regarded it as a sleight on their professional reputation if they didn't moor up first time.
From Cairo, usually after a night-stop on a house-boat on the Nile, to Basra was a further six hours. Once you had crossed the Suez Canal, there was little to see except desert, apart from the Dead Sea. Flights then had to keep north of Saudi Arabia as the King, Abdul Aziz Ibn Suad, did not allow flights across his kingdom. However if you flew too far north, you could probably see the pipeline across the desert, and eventually you would see the Euphrates and land close to its confluence with the Tigris. On one occasion we were flying quietly across the desert in a cloudless sky, when we suddenly hit a ferocious up-current of air; all my navigation equipment flew into the air off my chart-table and deposited itself all round the flight deck; one or two of the passengers sustained minor cuts and bruises, but it was all over in a
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moment; one of the dangers at not being able to fly high enough to get over the turbulence.
Another two and a quarter hours flying took us down the Red Sea to Bahrein, and then between six and six and a half hours almost due east to Karachi. We cross Qatar, and then the Oman Peninsula, certainly the most desolate landscape I had ever seen. Balukistan was on our port beam as we flew on to Karachi, where crews broke their journey again. We nearly all used to visit a cobbler there; we carried a cut-out of the feet of one's wife or fiancee, and he would make a very nice pair of sandals which could be collected on the way home. Clothes and shoes were still rationed in the UK, so they were very acceptable; they cost twelve rupees, about eighteen shillings.
An incident occurred at Karachi which I recall with amusement. When we stayed at hotels down the route, the Captain normally stayed at one hotel, the professional aircrew at another, and the stewards at yet a third - there were no stewardesses in those days, of course. On one occasion at Karachi, by some mischance, the Chief Steward was accommodated in the same hotel as the aircrew; I don't think it worried the aircrew in the least, but the Captain was horrified, and felt it necessary to see each member of the crew personally to apologise for the indignity we had suffered in having a steward in our hotel! It was a different world, of course.
We carried as far as Karachi on one occasion a group of six French models, mannequins as we called them then. They embarked at Marseilles, and were going to Australia as France attempted to rebuild its export market. As we travelled further east and south, the climate became hotter and hotter, for there was no air conditioning on aircraft then, and these six exceedingly glamorous young ladies started to divest themselves of their garments till by the time we were nearing Karachi, one would not have thought they could remove a further item and remain respectable. I never knew the flight crew so solicitous for the welfare of passengers; so many visits were made to the passenger cabin that it seemed at times there was hardly anyone remaining on the flight deck!
The next leg, across India, was quite the longest stretch of the journey, taking between eight and eight and a half hours, so we were just about at the limit of our range. Fortunately there was a lake between Karachi and Calcutta for use in emergency, and once on the homeward route, flying into a headwind and petrol getting low, we took the precaution of landing there. Calcutta was, I found, unbearably hot; in temperature it probably was not quite as hot as Bahrein, but Bahrein's heat was dry, whereas at Calcutta the humidity was so high that I was always glad to get back into the air a few thousand feet to cool down. I never once night-stopped there, which was probably a blessing, although in other ways I regret this [as this] is one of the world's great cities that I have never seen.
A four hour flight took us from the River Hooghly, just north of the Willingdon Bridge, where we had landed, to Rangoon in the great wide estuary of the River Rangoon, which is really, I suppose, part of the Delta of the Irrawaddy. It was quite a distance in a launch from the landing site back to the jetty; on one occasion, I
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had hardly put my foot on the bottom step of the jetty when a voice above me exclaimed "Arthur!" It was my old friend George Brantingham - now Squadron Leader Brantingham, DFC and Bar, command Navigation Officer - who was there to welcome one of our passengers; after leaving 97, he had served as a navigation instructor for a while at an OTU, then crewed up with a pilot who was going to the Far East to fly Liberators on very long-range bombing operations against the Japanese in Malaya.
A further flight of about five and a half hours took us to Penang, not normally a night-stop, but where we sat on the shore under sunshades while the Hythe was being refuelled, drinking fresh cold fruit juice and eating mangosteen. The final leg to Singapore took another three hours, a total for the journey from Poole of between fifty-five and sixty hours flying spread over nine days, nearly all of it in daylight. The passengers would reach Sydney four or five days after leaving Poole; a Qantas crew would be waiting for them in Singapore, and would take them on to Jakarta, Darwin, and so to Sydney.
We always had a break of two days at Singapore before setting out on the return journey, the same route in reverse. One remembered to pick up sandals at Karachi; silk stockings and wine, marsala, at Augusta, and also change back into blue there; taking off from Augusta, some of the Captains would always make a point of circling Mount Etna with its wisp of smoke blowing from the crater before setting off on the final leg back to Poole eighteen days after setting out. There was supposed to be a guarantee of seven days at home after each service flight, not all leave, because crews had to go to Hythe for debriefing one day, but on one occasion I had been at home only three days when I received a telegram requiring me to be at Poole for the next day's service.
Two of our flights took a slightly different route. From Rangoon, we flew to Bangkok, a flight of six hours, then on across the River Mekong to Hong Kong; the route was fairly close to Hanoi, but we were briefed to stay clear of the city because there was already trouble in what was then French Indo-China and anti-aircraft fire had frequently been seen above Hanoi. We flew on across the South China Sea, traversing Hainan, intensively cultivated, to arrive in Hong Kong six and a half hours after leaving Bangkok. Landing there then was very different from today; there wasn't a single skyscraper to be seen; our first flight to Hong Kong made a small piece of aviation history, as on August 27th. 1946, we were the first civil aircraft to land in Hong Kong after the war.
I flew with BOAC for just over a year, the final eight months of my RAF service on secondment, then six months on contract as a civilian. The Corporation offered me a post as an instructor at their School, which had now moved to Aldermaston, but even then I could see very little future for navigators in civil aviation, and events soon proved me right. Time was running out for the flying boats, too. They were slow and uneconomic. Moreover BOAC was the only airline operating boats, which meant that they alone were responsible for maintaining the bases from which they operated with the expense of launches and ground staff who could not be shared with other lines. In fact, BOAC continued to operate them for only another two years; they went out of service in November 1950.
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My flying days were almost over; but not quite, for the post-war RAFVR (Volunteer Reserve) opened up in the summer of 1948, and since there was a base, Hamble, only 5 miles away from the village where we had set up home in Hampshire, I joined, and enjoyed about forty hours flying a year, mainly at week-ends, but with a fortnight's annual training every summer. Flying was mainly navigational exercises in Ansons, but there was an occasional flight into Europe, - we went to Sylt on one occasion - and I had the opportunity to fly on the Berlin Airlift for a few weeks, at about the time that the operation was coming to an end. I note from my log-book that the load we most commonly carried - in Dakotas once more - was coal. Flying continued at Hamble, No. 14 Reserve School, till the summer of 1953, when the incoming administration, desirous of making cuts in government spending, closed most of the Reserve Schools. However, No. 15, at Redhill, survived another year, and I did a fortnight's summer training there in 1954. Then the remaining Reserve Schools were closed, and although I held a war appointment post at HQ Transport Command for about five more years, that really was the end of my days in aviation, and therefore a suitable place to end this story.
A few years after the war, a memorial was built at Runnymede for those airmen with no known grave. It was unveiled by the Queen in 1953. My parents, my wife and I were asked to represent the Munro family, Jimmy's parents and two brothers; we did so gladly, but with great sadness.
My wife and I also represented Jimmy's brothers at the unveiling of the Canada Memorial in Green Park on 3rd. June 1994.
A.H.G.S.
April 2003
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[Photograph of author, captioned: "In front of the Brandenburg Tor, Berlin, during Operation Plainfare, the Berlin Airlift, August, 1949."
[page break]
[centred] Afterthoughts....two differing points of view. [/centred]
EPILOGUE
[Death of a Hero by Richard Aldington]
[Henry V before Agincourt by William Shakespeare]
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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An interesting war
Description
An account of the resource
Memoir of the life of Arthur Spencer. Includes details of childhood and growing up. Continues with his joining the Royal Air Force and his training in the United States as a pilot and then navigator. Followed by training in England and then posting to 97 Squadron at Woodhall Spa where he flew 22 operations. Narrates how squadron was moved to Royal Air Force Bourn and joined the pathfinder force where he completed first tour with 32 operations before going on to a second tour for a total of 45. Describes how he subsequently went to North Africa and Italy where he flew with 462/614 Squadron before becoming 205 Group Navigation Officer. On return from the Mediterranean he converted to transports before leaving to join B.O.A.C. Illustrated with photographs of people, places and events of his life.
Creator
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Arthur Spencer
Date
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2003-07
Format
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66 page typewritten document with b/w photographs
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
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BSpencerAHGSpencerAHGv1
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Royal Air Force. Transport Command
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
Spatial Coverage
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Great Britain
Italy
United States
England--Lincolnshire
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina--Sarajevo
Croatia
Croatia--Zagreb
Hungary
Hungary--Székesfehérvár
North Africa
South Africa--Mahikeng
South Africa
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Joy Reynard
David Bloomfield
462 Squadron
614 Squadron
97 Squadron
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
Bennett, Donald Clifford Tyndall (1910-1986)
bombing
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
Bombing of Peenemünde (17/18 August 1943)
C-47
evacuation
fear
Gee
ground crew
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
memorial
navigator
Operational Training Unit
Pathfinders
pilot
RAF Bourn
RAF Scampton
RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Woodhall Spa
Resistance
sanitation
searchlight
superstition
training
Wellington
Window