2
25
82
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1322/20128/ECahirFSEdwardsPJv1.2.jpg
914a247edcd4edafdd99d29351083cc0
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
Cahir, Francis Shamus. Letters and photographs
Description
An account of the resource
32 items. The collection contains correspondence and photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Cahir and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-06-09
2016-06-08
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
Cahir, FS
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] LEST WE FORGET [/underlined]
There must have been many, many times that crew members of a Bomber hit by enemy fire have sacrificed their lives for their fellow crew members.
Why these stories have not been told before, one can only guess. Perhaps because their heroism was in vain, perhaps the whole crew may have perished despite the bravery of one or more of the crew. Or perhaps it is not until many years later, something stirs in the memory of a survivor of an event that occurred perhaps decades earlier and floods back into his memory. H realises that he has granted those extra years of life because of the self sacrifice of fellow crew members.
This is the true story of one of those unsung heroes who gave his life that others might live.
At the recent funeral of Ralph Parsons of 466 Halifax Squadron, Ralph’s son Don, in his eulogy, told of his father’s belief that his pilot F/Sgt. 413748 Patrick John Edwards of Newcastle, N.S.W. had granted him an additional 61 years of life (a belief that other surviving members of the crew also shared).
On the night of December 20th 1943 a Halifax Bomber Mark 3, Serial No. HX 273, Squadron No. HD-W lifted off from Leconfield, Yorkshire, U.K. at 16.48 hours, the target, Frankfurt-on-Main, Germany. At approximately 19.45 hours, homeward bound from the target, it was attacked by a German night fighter – a JU 88 flown by Hauptman Heinz Rokker, a veteran Luftwaffe fighter pilot with 67 confirmed victories to his credit.
That fatal shots from the JU 88 night fighter set the Halifax starboard engines and wing on fire. The fire extinguishers in the engines failed to put out the blaze and in a matter of seconds, the fire was burning more furiously and had spread across the whole wing of the aircraft.
Patrick Edwards, the pilot, temporarily lost partial control of the Halifax as it went into a steep spiral dive because of the loss of power from [underlined] both [/underlined] starboard engines. Pat managed to gain some control after losing about 10,000 feet in height and he ordered the crew to, “BALE OUT NOW” adding, “I will try to get it level, GO!”
It was only his determination to stay at the controls of the doomed aircraft and his bravery to put the safety of his crew before his own safety, that enabled the other 6 members of the crew to parachute to safety before the aircraft hit the ground.
Patrick John Edwards’ bravery and loyalty to his fellow crew will never be forgotten. His name lives on today, as it is borne by the eldest son of one of the survivors.
Sixty years later, in December 2003, there appeared in a German magazine, “Der Grund”, an interview given by a resident of the village of Beltershausen, which is situated 90km north of Frankfurt-on-Main. He relates how as a young boy of 11 years, he was witness to a four engine Bomber with a wing on fire appearing low over his village, and he though it was about to crash on him. He tells how he pressed himself against the wall of the local carpenter’s shop and watched it crash in a field beyond the village. In the morning, before going to school, he inspected the burnt out plane and saw that the pilot was still in the wreckage.
Patrick John Edwards was buried in the local cemetery, but was exhumed by the R.A.F. in 1947 and is now buried in the Hannover Commonwealth War Cemetery. His grave in Hannover has been visited by three Australian crew members, F.O. 421353 Bruce Loane, F/Sgt. 409226 Ralph Parsons and F/Sgt. 419441 F.S. (Jim) Cahir.
It was not until this story appeared in Der Grund in December 2003 and was translated into English in Australia in February 2004 that any of the survivors from the aircraft had any idea what happened to the stricken plane from which they had parachuted.
Today the remains of that Halifax that took off from England 60 years ago can be seen in the village. The tail plane of the aircraft is used as a decoration in a plant nursery and the corlings from the engines are used by a German farmer as a woodshed.
F.S. Cahir
June 2004
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
Lest We Forget
Description
An account of the resource
Details of the night Jim Cahir and crew were shot down. The surviving crew remember the pilot struggling with the controls to allow the others to escape. Patrick Edwards, the pilot did not survive. It was not until February 2004 that the survivors found out where their pilot was buried. The remains of their Halifax are used in a nursery and a farm.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jim Cahir
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2004-06
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One typewritten sheet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ECahirFSEdwardsPJv1
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 Australian Air Force
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-12-20
466 Squadron
bale out
bombing
final resting place
Halifax
Halifax Mk 3
Ju 88
RAF Leconfield
shot down
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1322/20134/EOC466SqnCahirM431226.2.jpg
0df9b59bcf3e981597cf8b6f009cc187
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
Cahir, Francis Shamus. Letters and photographs
Description
An account of the resource
32 items. The collection contains correspondence and photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Cahir and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-06-09
2016-06-08
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
Cahir, FS
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[crest]
No. 466 Squadron, R.A.A.F.
ROYAL AIR FORCE.
26th December, 1943.
Reference.
466/2050/38/P1.
Dear Mrs Cahir,
Prior to receiving this letter you will have received a telegram from Air Board, Melbourne, informing you that your son, Flight Sergeant Francis Shamus Cahir, has been reported missing from an operational flight on the night of 20th December, 1943.
It is with sincere regret that I am writing this letter to confirm this sad news, and to convey the heartfelt sympathy of all members of the Squadron to you, and to other members of Flight Sergeant Cahir’s family, in your great anxiety.
On the night of 20th December, 1943, the aircraft, in which your son was Air Gunner, took off to carry out a bombing attack on enemy territory. This flight represented one of the many courageous efforts called for from the Royal Air Force in this war, and it was undertaken with efficiency and resolution, for which your son’s crew was noted in the Squadron. Unfortunately the aircraft did not return.
The most searching enquiries through all possible channels have so far revealed nothing, but naturally it will take some time for possible information to reach this country from enemy sources. Meanwhile we can only hope that Flight Sergeant Cahir and the other members of his crew are prisoners of war. If any further news does come through you will, of course, be notified immediately.
A Committee of Officers, called a “Standing Committee of Adjustment”, has gathered together all your son’s personal effects, and will look after them carefully until the end of the war.
Flight Sergeant Cahir is greatly missed by his many friends in the Squadron, where he had always seemed to be happy doing such grand work for our cause. I should like to express my personal sympathy and profound regret that it should fall to my lot to convey to you tidings such as these. I can only hope that the New Year will bring you all more hopeful news.
Yours Sincerely
[signature]
Wing Commander.
Mrs. M. Cahir,
505, Bell Street,
Melbourne,
Victoria, Australia.
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 Mrs Cahir from Wing Commander 466 Squadron
Description
An account of the resource
The letter refers to Jim Cahir being reported missing. It explains events on the night he went missing and explains that his personal effects will be carefully stored.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
466 Squadron
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-12-26
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One typewritten sheet
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
EOC466SqnCahirM431226
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 Australian Air Force
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Australia
Victoria
Victoria--Melbourne
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-12-20
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
Tricia Marshall
466 Squadron
bombing
missing in action
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1322/20145/PCahirFS1603.1.jpg
975af7ff0d59490434115b3419e14b25
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1322/20145/PCahirFS1604.1.jpg
d829340534ceea08964302556b54fb6e
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
Cahir, Francis Shamus. Letters and photographs
Description
An account of the resource
32 items. The collection contains correspondence and photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Cahir and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-06-09
2016-06-08
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
Cahir, FS
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 Cashman DFM
Description
An account of the resource
Half length portrait of Bill Cashman in RAF uniform. On the reverse 'Bill Cashman (DFM) Squad 466 1943'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PCahirFS1603, PCahirFS1604
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
466 Squadron
aircrew
Distinguished Flying Medal
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1322/20146/PCahirFS1605.1.jpg
df061ee05e1d532bb360efd541f0faed
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1322/20146/PCahirFS1606.1.jpg
c6b5f8691217df0ca4e5c88acb86c436
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
Cahir, Francis Shamus. Letters and photographs
Description
An account of the resource
32 items. The collection contains correspondence and photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Cahir and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-06-09
2016-06-08
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
Cahir, FS
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
Jim Cahir and crew
Description
An account of the resource
Seven airmen including Jim Cahir dressed in flying gear. On the reverse 'Bomber Command 4 Group 466 Squad Leconfield Yorks circa. Nov/Dec 1943
Reg Hall Reg Spalding Geo Brett Pat Edwards
Ralph Parsons
Jim Cahir'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PCahirFS1605, PCahirFS1606
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 Australian Air Force
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-11
1943-12
4 Group
466 Squadron
aircrew
RAF Leconfield
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1322/20151/PCahirFS1615.1.jpg
b3e9fa68b863c04de31a404f53e1b28c
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1322/20151/PCahirFS1616.1.jpg
84f2bbf9fc6b6018cf7438d8d32cac29
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
Cahir, Francis Shamus. Letters and photographs
Description
An account of the resource
32 items. The collection contains correspondence and photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Cahir and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-06-09
2016-06-08
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
Cahir, FS
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
Jim Cahir
Description
An account of the resource
Sergeant Jim Cahir standing beside an open window. Behind is a bicycle. On the reverse is captioned 'Jim Cahir in England 1943 466 Squad Yorks'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PCahirFS1615,
PCahirFS1616
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 Australian Air Force
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
466 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1114/20436/MSayFD752638-170912-06.1.jpg
010e4e52afdcebfa4c8f23fe2f3ae893
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
Say, Frederick Donovan
F D Say
Description
An account of the resource
17 items. An oral history interview with Frederick Say DFC (1921 -2017, 752638 Royal Air Force), photographs, charts and documents. He flew operations with 466, 196 and 514 Squadrons.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Frederick Say 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
2017-07-12
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
Say, FD
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Fred Say Biography
Description
An account of the resource
A summary of Fred Say's RAF training, operational flying and post war employment.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Don Say
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One typed list
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MSayFD752638-170912-06
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
196 Squadron
4 Group
466 Squadron
aircrew
Distinguished Flying Cross
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Operational Training Unit
RAF Leconfield
RAF Lossiemouth
RAF Waterbeach
RAF Witchford
Stirling
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/753/31388/BCotterJDPCotterJDPv1.2.pdf
51801623ceddc1937a5f993bda2490ef
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
Cotter, John David Pennington
J D P Cotter
Description
An account of the resource
Three items. The collection concerns Wing Commander John Cotter DFC (b. 1923, Royal Canadian Air Force) and contains an oral history interview, his log book and a memoir. He flew operations as a pilot with 158 and 640 Squadrons.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by John Cotter 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
2018-08-28
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
Cotter, JDP
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
WING COMMANDER JOHN COTTER DFC
EXTRACTS FROM WAR DIARIES AND INFORMATION ON AIRCRAFT CREWS AND LISTS OF BOMBING RAIDS.
ACCOMPANYING ADDITIONS TO ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW 28th August 2018
[page break]
[underlined] A BOMBER CREW [/underlined]
I arrived at 28 Operational Training Unit, Bomber Command on 23rd February 1943.
The OTU was equipped with Wellington 1c aircraft and located at Wymeswold, near the town of Loughborough in Leicestershire. Most of the aircrew on my course were NCO's – sergeants – all the navigators were Canadian (RCAF). They also all wore the 'O' brevet which indicated that they had been trained as observers, i.e. navigators and bomb-aimers combined. But at this time the Air Force was splitting the duties of navigator and bomb-aimer and we had the new trade of bomb-aimer on our course. Initially most bomb-aimers were commissioned, as it was a new trade, and so most, if not all, the bomb aimers on our course were pilot officers.
There was a great deal of networking among the aircrew to sort themselves out into crews but I let matters take their course and eventually I was allocated a crew. So in my diary for 8th March I have put:
“At teatime in the Mess I met my navigator, a Canadian Called Andy Hicks. He seems a decent sort of chap.”
I think Andy must have been the first person crewed with me as it is not until 17th March that an air gunner, Wally Lomax, a wireless operator, Harry Reid and a bomb-aimer Norman Hawkridge, join the crew. We then started flying together – five of us. On 22nd March I was sent solo in the Wellington and the other 4 seemed quite happy with me. By 30th March we were going out in the evenings together as a crew, all except Norman, the bomb-aimer who lived in the Officers Mess. Anyway that evening we four sergeants went into Loughborough together – to the films (we saw a documentary “Desert Victory” and Alan Curtis in “Remember Pearl Harbour”).
The crew was given its first leave on Sunday 11th April and I invited Andy to come and stay at my home in North West London. Although he came from Calgary he had lost his mother in the Spanish flu epidemic of 1920 and the infant child had been brought over to Truro to be looked after by his grandmother: not returning to Canada until he was 8 years old. I think he had been down to Cornwall on a previous leave so he was glad of a break in London. My younger brother was away in the Air Force so Andy borrowed his civilian clothes for our trips into London. The leave was for 7 days and we packed a lot in during that week as the weather was superb. We met two Canadian friends of Andy who were both in the RCAF but were not aircrew. There is a photograph of the four of us at Hampton Court on a lovely sunny day – Andy and I in civilian clothes and Don and Hal in RCAF uniform. I never saw them again after that leave but Andy knew one of them in Alberta for many years after the War. One night we took my mother to dinner in London and then to the theatre to see Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard in “Watch on the Rhine”. We also saw Kay Hammond in 'Blithe Spirit' and a rather weak musical comedy.
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After that leave Andy made my parents' flat his home and he used to spend half his leaves in Cornwall and half with us. When we got to the Squadron in July we found that crews were sent on leave for 7 days every six weeks. So Andy and I would go to my place for 3 days, then he would go to Paddington Station to catch the “Cornish Riviera” express down to Truro for 3 days. On the 7th day we would meet back in London and travel north together, back to the Squadron. We would always take my mother out to dinner and a show on every leave. At that time there was a very famous comedian called Sid Field and we would take Mother to one of his shows whenever he was appearing in London. Sid Field's female lead was Zoe Gail who used to appear on stage dressed in top hat and tails, complete with cane, singing “I'm Going to Get Lit up when the Lights Go On in London”. There was still a blackout throughout the country. Just after the War Sid Field died and then, some 10 years later, his leading lady, Zoe Gail, was crippled in a car accident. The two of us frequented the best restaurants (such as were still open – there was not much choice). Quite often we would dine at the Ritz Hotel which we could quite afford as no restaurant in wartime was allowed to charge more than 5 shillings for a meal. Hotels, such as the Ritz, would levy a cover charge of around the meal price to stop the riff-raff getting in. The only other crew member we would meet in London on our leaves was Bill Griffiths, our mid-upper gunner. Bill lived in Luton and we used to meet him in London or sometimes go up and stay at his parents' house. His mother was a very nice, attractive lady and she used to look after us very well.
The Canadian Forces had a club in London, just off Trafalgar Square, called the Beaver Club. Andy and I used to go there frequently on our leaves. We would quite often run out of money and we would go down to the RCAF accounts headquarters in Kensington. I would wait outside while Andy went in and drew some of his deferred pay to keep us going. On every leave we would pay at least one visit to a Turkish bath. The establishment we frequented was in Northumberland Avenue, just off Trafalgar Square. There, for a few shillings, we would endure a severe pummelling from the masseurs after going through hot, cold and steam baths. This would be followed by a two or three hour snooze followed by a call with tea and hot-buttered toast. We found it a wonderful tonic for a hangover. When my brother Paul had leave at the same time he would join us on our London escapades. Fortunately he had two suits so he and Andy would share the clothes.
Our flight commander at Wymeswold was Squadron Leader Penman and he was the first proper operational veteran that most of us had met. Penman was one of the survivors of a raid, in August 1942, on Augsburg. This was the last daylight raid by Bomber Command for nearly 2 years and had resulted in very heavy losses as only 5 aircraft, from an attacking force of 12 Lancasters had returned. The raid leader, Sqn. Ldr Nettleton, was awarded the VC and Penman received the DSO.
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At operational training unit crews finished off their course by undertaking a nickel raid. A nickel raid was a simple thing really although sometimes crews did not return. One's plane was loaded with leaflets and you flew across to France, Belgium or Holland and dropped all the leaflets which, I assume, encouraged all the occupied people to keep their chins up. So a nickel was a crew's operational baptism, although a reasonably mild one. My diary for 4th and 5th May 1943 reads:
“Got up about 11. Then went up and had dinner (lunch). After that went across to the link trainer and did an hour and a half which finishes me off (completes my link trainer programme). Then met Andy and found out that we were on a nickel. I nearly fainted! Bags of briefing and panic! Took off at 2130 and reached the (southern) English coast at 2359 where we wasted about an hour flying up and down trying to find Beachy Head (our departure point). Then crossed over to France. We had to drop leaflets on Rouen and we got caught in searchlights and then flak. Was I on pins! We were holed 5 times. Landed at Cranage (an airfield in North West of England) at 0400. Had no sleep at all. Got up at 0800: that is out of the chair that I occupied in the dump that the boys at this station call a Mess. I am still full of last night. Hung around all morning until at 1230 we got permission to take off. We got back to Wymeswold at about 1400 and after depositing our kit we went to the Intelligence Officer for an interrogation. Then to the Mess to proceed to shoot a line to all the boys. I was dog-tired however so Andy and I went and had a shower and then went to bed. Boy! Our first operation over – the 5 of us are walking around like fairies”.
At this stage our mid-upper gunner (Bill Griffiths) and our flight engineer (Mickey Rooney) had yet to join the crew. Bill Griffiths in fact joined us the next day, 6th May, and flew with us for the first time in place of Wally Lomax. On the Wellington we only had one gunner's turret – the rear – whereas we were obviously destined for Lancasters, Halifaxes or Stirlings all of which had positions for two gunners: a mid-upper and a rear gunner. When we arrived at this OTU we were told it normally supplied the Lancaster bomber squadrons.
On the 14th May 1943 we passed out, as a crew, from 28 OTU Wymeswold and we were off on 14 days leave. My diary stops at this time not to be resumed until September and then only for a short time. Anyway Andy came home with me for half the leave and spent the other half in Cornwall. We were posted to 1652 Heavy Conversion Unit at Marston Moor, just outside York. HCU's served to convert crews on to the heavy bombers to be flown on operations and when you passed the HCU course you went straight to your squadron. Marston Moor had been the site of a famous battle. On 2nd July 1644 the Royalist forces of King Charles I had suffered their first major defeat there and, consequently, lost control of York and so the North of England.
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1652 HCU was one of three HCU's to feed 4 Group so we were not going on Lancasters but Halifaxes. No 4 Group was one of the two bomber groups stationed in Yorkshire – the other was 6 Group, the Canadian group. The Canadian stations were north of York and 4 Group was south and to the east. 6 Group was run by the RCAF but there were Australians, New Zealanders and British serving in the Group. 4 Group was RAF but many Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and one or two Americans were among our crews.
I was delayed getting to Marston Moor as I was sick at the end of my leave in London so Andy took charge of the crew. And accounts refused to pay them. Andy then went to the Station Warrant Officer to say the crew had no money and was owed 3 weeks pay but he got short thrift from this gnarled old pre-war NCO who probably thought these pip-squeak young sergeant aircrew were a damned nuisance. Just as Andy was protesting the Commanding Officer's door opened and out came the CO – Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, later a VC. He asked Andy the trouble, then turned to the SWO “See that these men are paid at once”. “Yes Sir!” said the SWO standing to attention. Cheshire at that time was 27 and a renowned bomber ace. He had been sent on a public relations tour of the United States and had come back to England with an American bride. This was Constance Binney who was 17 years older than Cheshire and a well-know Broadway actress. Some of the crew, I think Harry, Wally and Bill, were hitch-hiking back from York one day and they were picked up by Miss Binney whom they described as a very fragrant lady.
When I arrived at Marston Moor the crew introduced me to Mickey Rooney our flight engineer who was just joining us and now the crew was complete. I only had two instructors converting me to the Halifax: Sqn. Ldr Hadyn RAAF and Flt Lt Fisher, both very good. Shortly after we started flying the Halifax all the pilots were loaded into a 15cwt truck and driven east across Yorkshire. We were all going on a real operation that night, flying as second pilots. There were about six of us and one of us was dropped off each at a separate squadron base. Eventually I was the only one left on the truck and I was driven to the most easterly airfield – Lisset the home of 158 Squadron. The raid was to Cologne and I was put with Sgt ‘Bluey’ Mottershead and his crew. I had nothing to do, of course, but to sit in the right-hand seat and watch. Thank goodness our flight was uneventful: the weather was clear, the city was on fire long before we reached it and we did not come across any fighters. But Bomber Command lost 27 aircraft that night with 156 aircrew killed. When we turned for home after bombing I was so exhausted with the tension that I started to fall asleep. Bluey told me to go back and sleep on the rest bed and the next thing I knew was when the wheels touched the runway back at Lisset. Returning westwards in the 15cwt I was eventually joined by the others: we had all come through!
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Towards the end of July the course finished and my crew was posted to 158 Squadron where I had just been. Lisset is near the East Yorkshire coast and just south of the seaside resort of Bridlington. We travelled across to Lisset on Thursday 22nd July in another 15cwt truck to start our operational career and it was a nice sunny summer day. I recall we stopped and bought strawberries at a wayside stall on the way over. It was fairly late when we arrived at the Squadron base – I think about 2230. In those days the blackout and the absence of all road signs throughout Britain made road journeys rather long and tedious. Norman went off to the officers’ quarters and we six sergeants were allocated a Nissan hut as our very own. I think all six of us then drifted along to the Mess in search of something to eat. It was quite a sight when we reached it as there had just been a dance. Various chaps were occupying all the mess settees, accompanied by Waafs (Womens Auxiliary Airforce) with greatcoats covering their antics. The floor of the anteroom was covered in debris: cigarettes, glasses and beer spillages. At the far end of the long room a combined snooker and crap game seemed to be in progress with about 20 participants dominated by a tall, blonde flight sergeant dressed in the dark blue of the Australian Air Force. Six weeks later, after the Squadron Commander and one of the 3 Flight Commanders had been lost, that Australian had jumped 5 ranks to Squadron Leader and was our Flight Commander; remaining so nearly until the end of our tour.
Friday 23rd July was spent settling in and flying one of the Squadron aircraft for about 4 hours on a handling flight. Then, the next day, we were off on our first trip for the start of what became known as the Battle of Hamburg. This was the first of 4 successive attacks on the City in 9 days. This operation was notable for a new defensive device carried by the bombers called “Window”. Window consisted of small metallic strips of foil that were thrown out of each aircraft as it approached the target area. Harry, the wireless operator, had the job of throwing out the window strips, thousands came from each of the Wellingtons, Stirlings, Halifaxes and Lancasters taking part in this operation. Window confused the German ground and airborne radar and so we only lost about 12 aircraft that night, including one from our squadron.
We took off around 2200 and Andy expertly navigated us to Hamburg, although once we were within 50 miles of the City the fires on the ground indicated the target. I was the only one of the crew to cause a problem that night on our first proper operation. As we were running in over the target Norman found the bomb release did not work. After we had passed over the City with the bombs still on board Mickey, the engineer, came up to the cockpit to see what was wrong. I had pushed the bomb door lever down instead of pulling it up to open the doors. By now we were well to the north east of Hamburg and heading towards Lubeck. Instead of turning straight for home and safety we turned and completed a large circuit round the burning city and some half hour later we were on our second bombing run and this time I operated the lever correctly. When we bombed everyone else had finished and long since cleared the area. We should have been a
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sitting duck for the night fighters but all those metallic strips floating in the air must have protected us. We took part in all four raids to Hamburg, although we aborted one operation when we turned back with engine trouble.
Lisset was a typical airfield built during the War with accommodation in well-dispersed Nissan huts. We 6 sergeants were in our own hut some half mile from the Sergeants Mess. The hut was heated by a coke-burning stove and was not too comfortable. We were saved by meeting Company Sergeant-Major Albert Hawkins. CSM Hawkins, known to all as 'Q', was in the Tank Corps and he was in charge of an Army sergeants mess located in a very nice house on the seafront in Bridlington. He persuaded his Mess to adopt our crew and from then on we lived and messed with the Army. Q provided us with transport whenever we were needed at the airfield but most of the time we were in Bridlington. By Christmas Day 1943 both Andy and I, as well as Norman, were commissioned but we spent the day with the Army serving Xmas dinners to all the squaddies.
When we arrived on 158 the Squadron was commanded by Wg. Cdr T.R. Hope, DFC. He was a big, bluff, likeable officer : a pre-war civil pilot. But we hardly knew him as some 3 weeks after our arrival he failed to return from a trip to Nuremburg. And, after another 3 weeks Sqn. Ldr Elliott, one of the flight commanders, also failed to return. The new squadron commander was the highly decorated Wg.Cdr. Jock Calder, DSO, DFC.
The station commander was Group Captain John Whitley, DSO. He had been shot down earlier in the War, evaded, and walked across the Pyrenees to Spain and freedom. He used to regale us with the story of the powerful American footballer in his evading party who had collapsed crossing the mountains – [underlined] because he was not fit [/underlined]. To this end he would have us running around the perimeter track on the occasional non-operational day. Fortunately our crew missed most of these exercises as we were probably lurking with the Army in Bridlington.
One crew who had been with us both at Wymeswoold and at Marston Moor had also arrived at 158. This was Sgt Doug Robinson and crew. Our favourite watering hole in Bridlington was the Brunswick and one night our two crews were there together. Doug's navigator was a Canadian, Dave Rosenthal, and he happened to say to me that if he was shot down he would not stand much chance as he was Jewish. It was the first time I began to think about what was happening to the Jews of Europe and then some weeks later Doug and crew failed to come back from Berlin.
By October 1943 our crew had completed 13 operations. I had now been promoted to flight sergeant and very pleased I was: my pay had gone from 12/6 to 16/6d a day. In the middle of that month David Leicester, our flight commander, asked us to travel to an
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airfield in the South of England to ferry back an aircraft that had been repaired. We jumped at the chance as this meant a night in London on the way down. My diary again:
“Up at 0830 (in the Army sergeants mess in Bridlington). The weather rotten but we had to go back to camp. Leicester asked me to take the crew down and collect a kite from Middle Wallop. We had to go by train from Hull. Norman went home to Leeds but the rest of the boys came with me. We had to stand in the train all the way from Doncaster to London. Got to London at 1930 and went along to the Regent Palace hotel and booked two double rooms. Bill and I had one room and we smuggled Wally into it and Andy and Harry got Mickey into their room.”
The point of this is that, in those days, a single room in the Regent Palace was 12/6d and a double was 19/6d, so we saved ourselves a few pennies. We slept three to a bed in the two rooms and in the middle of the night the air raid sirens went off. I don't know about Andy's room but in our room there was panic with all three of us trying to dive under the bed. Although my diary does not say as much, I have no doubt that our nerves were brittle because we had been out on the town that night and we probably all were a little smashed. My diary for the following day, Monday 18th October 1943, reads:
“Caught a bus for Andover at 0900 and we had to stand all the way for the two hour journey. At Andover had to find another bus to get us to Middle Wallop which turned out to be a night fighter base. After a lunch and messing about all afternoon found we could not take off. So we all had tea and went down to Andover to the movies. Saw Lana Turner in 'Slightly Dangerous'. Harry and I missed the last bus back to camp and we had to stay in the White Hart Hotel for the night which cost me 12/6d, all the money I had.”
What Harry Reid and I were doing to miss the bus I have forgotten but I expect we were up to no good!!
Diary for the 19th October :
“Harry and I caught the 0825 bus to Middle Wallop and heard that we could take off straight away. Got back to Lisset at 1200 to learn we were on ops. So had dinner and went up to the billet (spelt 'billett' throughout my diaries) to get changed. Wally reported sick so we were given a spare gunner. Got briefed and the target was Augsburg. Had ops meal and then went to locker room. Norman had not turned up but luckily the op was scrubbed. Met Norman on the way to Q's (CSM Hawkins our Army friend in Bridlington) So he came down with us. He had only just got back from Leeds.”
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Another diary entry is for Saturday 30th October 1943. This must have been one of the rare nights the crew slept at the RAF base rather than with the Army in Bridlington:
“Got up at 0610, washed, dressed and had breakfast. Went down to the flights at 0900. Once again there were ops on so went out (to the aircraft) to do my D.I. (inspection). After that went up to the billet and got changed into battledress (obviously when we got up that morning we had dressed in our walking-out uniform expecting to Saturday off and a trip into Bridlington). Then had lunch and went down with Andy to navigation briefing. Once again target was Leverkusen. Went to main briefing at 1400 and then had lunch. Take off was 1630 so we went out to the kite and we were all ready when it was scrubbed. So Any, Wally and I stayed in and lit a fire. Later Andy and I went down to The Bull for a drink. It was more like a brothel than a pub”.
It looks, from the above that we had two lunches that day. In fact the second lunch would have been our take-off meal. Our crew, of course, very rarely used the local pubs in Lisset. The Bull, which I do not remember, must have been packed that Saturday night with Waafs and aircrew.
August 1943 was a bad month for the Squadron with 15 aircraft lost, 9 of these on two raids to Berlin (or the 'Big City' as it was known to the crews). It was an intensive month for Bomber Command with the last of the raids to Hamburg at the start, followed by the attack on the rocket installations at Peenemunde and rounding off with the first Berlin offensive to close. On a beautiful summer evening on 2nd August we were briefed for the 4th successive attack on Hamburg to the announcement that only the brothel and residential areas had not been destroyed and they were our target. Most of us gave a cheer at this news.
I think it is fair to say that most of our crew thoroughly enjoyed squadron life. In wartime Britain operational aircrew lived very well and, provided one could cope with the constant danger, it was a life of Riley. Consider:
Before every operation crews were given a super meal consisting of cholesterol building agents – eggs, bacon, chips etc.
On return from an operation we were greeted in the debriefing room by Waafs with mugs of coffee liberally laced with navy rum. And if you smiled sweetly at the Waafs you might get a second mug at the end of the debriefing.
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If successful in getting the second helping of rum you then tottered out of the briefing room to another meal of eggs, bacon, chips and increased cholesterol.
7 days leave came round ever 6 weeks.
At a time when petrol for pleasure motoring was banned aircrew were an exception as we were allowed enough petrol to run our cars and motor bikes.
Lord Nuffield, the motor magnate, sponsored a scheme whereby aircrew could stay at many of the best hotels in the country at a 50% discount.
In October Andy Hicks was commissioned and my own commission came through a few weeks later. Our final operation for 1943 was an attack on Leipzig on 3rd December (my diary stops in October so I now rely on memory.) Christmas was spent with our Army friends in Bridlington and we were only involved in training flying until the end of the year. Part of this training was to convert to a new Halifax, the Mark 3, which had better engines and an improved performance. 158 squadron consisted of 3 flights and our crew in C Flight was commended by the aforementioned Squadron Leader David Leicester, the blonde Australian flight sergeant we had noticed on our arrival at Lisset the previous July.
At the beginning of 1944 C Flight, together with our new Halifaxes, left 158 Squadron to become A Flight of a new Squadron – 640 – based at Leconfield. We left behind the temporary, wartime airfield at Lisset, with its Nissan huts and winter warmth provided by coke stoves and moved to a pre-war permanent station with brick buildings and central heating. Leconfield is about 30 miles from Lisset near the ancient market town of Beverley with its 10th century minster. At the time of the move our crew was on leave, with Andy and I down in London with my mother. I think we had also spent a night or two of that leave with Bill Griffiths and his parents at Luton, 35 miles north west of London. We came back to our new base, with its creature comforts, where Andy, Norman and I took up residence in one of the pre-war married officers quarters. We had, at this stage, completed 20 operations – more than halfway through our assumed tour of 30. We had to say goodbye to our good friends in the Tank Corps at Bridlington and settle into a new social life centred on Beverley and the North Sea fishing port of Hull a little further away.
Possibly our social life was now more focused on the Officers Mess where there was a lot of activity. Whereas 158 had been the only squadron at Lisset our new base was home to two squadrons: 640 with crew members from the RAF, the RCAF, the RAAF and the RNZAF and even one USAAF officer; and 466 an RAAF squadron with mainly Australian aircrew but a few British, Canadians and New Zealanders thrown in. Our
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station commander was Group Captain Waterhouse who had been one of the 3 officers sent over to Canada in August 1939 to help start the Empire Air Training Scheme. He had come back home with a lovely Canadian wife who lived on base. Our squadron commander was Wing Commander 'Ruby' Eayrs who had returned from a posting in Australia. With 2 squadrons on the base there was a great deal of rivalry that used to culminate in Mess games on non-flying nights.
Our time with 640 included the second Berlin offensive in February, that also included an attack on Leipzig, and the notorious Nuremberg raid at the end of March when the Command suffered very heavy losses. In early March I was called in to see Ruby Eayrs and questioned about my tour up until then. Some two weeks later I had finished a comfortable lunch and was fast asleep in one of the deep mess armchairs when I was woken by Alan Smart. I had just been awarded an immediate DFC, the first decoration to be awarded on our new squadron. A little later I was called once more to see the squadron commander, to be told that my crew had been awarded a further three decorations and I had to recommend the recipients. This was an extremely hard task but I eventually put forward Andy Hicks, Mickey Rooney and Bill Griffiths. So Andy received the DFC and Mickey and Bill the DFM. In truth all the crew had earned these decorations.
Our crew completed 13 trips at Leconfield, finishing with an operation to Düsseldorf on 22nd April. As it was the period just before D-day we completed slightly more operations than the normal 30, our extra sorties being attacks on French targets – mainly rail junctions. Norman Hawkridge, our bomb-aimer , had left us the previous month when he had been sent on a bombing leader's course. This is why Norman does not appear in the crew photograph, taken that April outside the house at Leconfield where Andy and I lived.
The sad thing about that last operation was that two crews were on their final sortie that night. Colin Penfold, a New Zealander, and his crew had joined 158 Squadron at the same time as us and had moved with us to 640. They were lost over Düsseldorf with all the crew killed except the second pilot who managed to bail out just in time.
Looking back there is no doubt that we were blessed with good fortune during our squadron life. We had no serious combats with German fighters and although occasionally coned in searchlights we had always broken free. Colleagues, such as lan Smart had fought off night fighter attacks and sustained severe aircraft damage whereas we were very lucky. We would fly towards or away from the target watching others of our bombers being shot down either side of us.
Quite early on in our tour we had adopted our own tactics which may have helped. A Bomber Command operation in 1943 and early 1944 would usually consist of about six
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waves following the pathfinders who would be in the lead. Waves would be allocated a specific time and height over the target, they would be separated by around 10 minutes and would have a bombing window of about 5 minutes.
After take off aircraft would climb to bombing height and set course from an assembly point: Goole for the northern bomber groups if flying east, or Reading if going south east. Bombing height was around 22000 feet for the Halifax 3 and crews were briefed to fly out at that altitude. However, we usually flew much lower, at about 8000 feet, on the premise that the German aircraft would sooner hunt in the main stream above us than try to pick off the odd single aircraft. Some ten minutes before the target we would climb up to the correct height, bomb and descend when well clear of the area.
Just before our final trip we attended a briefing by an intelligence officer from Command who told us that only three large German cities remained free from attack: Chemnitz, Breslau and Dresden and that all would be bombed eventually. And during the War I never heard anyone, service or civilian, object to the policy of saturation bombing. We all admired our Commander in Chief. He was known to the bomber crews as Butch Harris, not Bomber Harris.
Our crew was now dispersed: I was sent to Scotland to a training unit and Andy went to a similar station in the West Country. But we arranged our leaves to coincide so that Andy spent half of each leave in North London with us and the other half in Truro. When news came through that my brother had been killed at Boundary Bay in Canada I was in the North of Scotland but Andy went to my home immediately to help my mother handle the shock.
In September 1944 I had to attend an investiture for the award of my DFC and, as I was serving in Scotland, the ceremony took place at Holyrood House in Edinburgh while the King was in residence there. I was allowed to invite two guests and Andy brought my mother up from London.
Our last meeting, before Andy returned to Canada, was on 2nd July 1945 when he was best man at my wedding. Bill Griffiths was the only other crew member to attend that day. Andy had been due to return home earlier in the year but he delayed for the wedding. On our wedding night Margaret and I were staying at a London hotel after leaving the reception. When we went out to eat later that evening we found that Andy, together with another guest, Lois Hammerbeck, had come to the West End and tracked us down to the restaurant where they joined us.
After the War the crew went their separate ways:
[underlined] John Cotter [/underlined] remained in the RAF until 1962. He then flew with an airline until finally retiring in 1983. He now lives in Brighton.
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[underlined] Andy (Vic) Hicks [/underlined] returned to Canada and worked in accountancy and the hotel industry. He eventually retired to Calgary where he died in 1997.
[underlined]Norman Hawkridge [/underlined] worked in banking and insurance before retiring to Cumbria. Norman died on 20th May 2005.
[underlined]Harry Reid [/underlined] was demobilized in Rhodesia where he was stationed. He worked on the railways but he and his family returned to the UK in 1961. Harry died in 1998.
[underlined]Mickey Rooney [/underlined] stayed in the RAF and was commissioned. He was killed in an aircraft accident c1950.
[underlined]Bill Griffiths [/underlined] emigrated to Australia in 1961. After some years of ill-health Bill died in 2003.
[underlined]Wally Lomax [/underlined] returned to Lancashire and died in 2001.
Other personalities mentioned:
Sqn. Ldr. Penman DSO, DFC remained in the RAF after the War. He died in 2004.
[underlined] David Leicester DFC* [/underlined] completed his tour 3 weeks before I did. He went straight to a Lancaster conversion unit and then to a pathfinder squadron – No. 35. After completing 68 operations, without a break, he returned to Australia in January 1945. On applying to Qantas he was found to be unfit for civil flying and he left aviation. He is now retired and lives in Adelaide.
[underlined] Wg. Cdr. T. Hope DFC [/underlined] was shot down over Belgium on a raid to Nuremburg. Only 3 crew members survived to be taken prisoner: Hope, his flight engineer and mid-upper gunner. After the War Hope resumed his civil flying career as Chief Pilot with Scottish Aviation.
[underlined] Sqn. Ldr. Neil Elliott [/underlined] was shot down on a raid to Berlin on a night when the Squadron losses were 20%. His 2 gunners were lost and the rest of the crew became prisoners. Neil Elliott stayed in the RAF and when I went through Staff College in 1958 he was on the directing staff. He died of a heart attack in the 1960’s.
[underlined] Wg. Cdr. Jock Calder DSO*, DFC [/underlined] completed his second tour as CO of 158. In 1958 he was on the same course as me at Staff College. He died in 1997.
[underlined] Gp. Cpt. John Whitley DSO [/underlined] retired from the RAF in 1962 as an Air Marshal. I met him several times after the War. A very nice man.
[underlined] Gp. Cpt. Leonard Cheshire VC, DSO** DFC [/underlined] became a legend in Bomber Command and received the VC. After the War he founded the Cheshire Homes. He was the Principal Speaker at the first 4 Group Dinner I attended in 1992. He died a few years later.
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[underlined] Douglas Robinson. [/underlined] Just after the War I was a flying instructor at Moreton-in-Marsh and we were refreshing returned ex-pow pilots. Low and behold Doug Robinson appeared on the course and later, when he worked in teaching, he would bring cadets to the RAF for annual camps and we met a couple of times. He published a book in 1997 from which I found that Doug had had a very tough war – in sharp contrast to my own lucky run. On returning from training in South Africa his boat was torpedoed off the West African coast and Doug spent 8 days in an open boat. Midway through his tour his crew was about to go on leave when they were called out for an attack on Berlin. His aircraft was badly damaged by flak and the crew had to bale out over Holland. The flight engineer’s parachute had been destroyed so Doug stayed with the engineer and crash-landed the aircraft in a field. If anyone deserved a gallantry medal he did, but he did not get one. And he did not have a very pleasant time in prison camp.
[underlined] Dave Rosenthal. [/underlined] After prison camp Dave returned to Canada and I met him again at a 158 reunion in the ‘90’s.
[underlined] ‘Bluey’ Mottershead. [/underlined] ‘Bluey’ completed his tour and was awarded the DFC. After the War he formed the 158 Association and ran the squadron reunions for many years.
[underlined] Alan Smart DFC [/underlined] Alan completed his tour and after the War returned to commerce in the Hull area. Alan died on 3rd October 2002.
[underlined] ‘Ruby’ Eayrs DFC. [/underlined] Retired from the RAF as a Group Captain. He merited a long obituary in the Telegraph when he died in 1992.
[underlined] Crew Operations: [/underlined]
1. 28 OTU 4/5/43 Rouen - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Lomax
2. 158 Sqn 28/6/43 Cologne – Cotter (2nd pilot with another crew)
3. 158 Sqn 24/7/43 Hamburg – Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/ Reid/Rooney/ Griffiths/Lomax Log book records – Fighters none seen, Flak negligible, Weather good, Large fires, Bomb Load 1 x 2000 lb. 12 Aircraft lost. Landed Eastmoor short of fuel.
4. 158 Sqn 29/7/43 Hamburg – Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax Flack negligible, Heavy concentrations of searchlights, Weather clear over target, Large fires south of City. 30 aircraft lost.
14
5. 158 Sqn. 2/8/43 Hamburg – Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. 10/10 cloud over target, Heavy thunderclouds up to 20000 feet, AA barrage, No fighters seen, Fires scattered over target area, Bombed heaviest concentration, Bomb load – 2x1000 48x30 630x4lb 31 aircraft lost
6. 158 Sqn. 9/8/43 Mannheim - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. More than half cloud over target, Fighter encountered over Boulogne, Landed Barford St John fuel short, 16 aircraft lost
7. 158 Sqn. 17/8/43 Peenemunde - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. Weather clear, Smoke screen over target, Bright Moon, Flak negligible, Searchlights nil, No combats seen, Bombed @ 0013 – 1x2000 1x1000 6x500lb, Landed Wymeswold, 41 aircraft lost
8. 158 Sqn. 22/8/43 Leverkusen - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. Full cloud over target, AA barrage, 2 fighters & 1 combat seen over target. No pathfinder markers seen, 5 aircraft lost.
9. 158 Sqn. 16/9/43 Modane Italy - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. Ran into heavy cloud 30 minutes from target. Forced to turn back owing to severe icing over Alps. 5 aircraft lost.
10. 158 Sqn. 22/9/43 Hannover - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. Large concentrations of searchlights ringed round target. Flak heavy in cones, 5 British aircraft seen going down over target, weather good, large fires. 31 aircraft missing.
11. 158 Sqn. 23/9/43 Mannheim - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. Searchlights heavy, flak cooperating with them, many fighters over target, heavy fires seen, weather good, 2 engines cut on landing approach, fuel short. 37 aircraft missing.
12. 158 Sqn. 27/9/43 Hannover - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. Good weather, searchlights and fighters cooperating effectively over target, 38 aircraft missing, landed at Downham Market.
13. 158 Sqn. 29/9/43 Bochum – Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax/plus Sgt Cipriani as 2nd pilot. Good visibility over target, heavy concentrations of searchlights, little flak, no fighters seen, heavy fires in target area, 8 aircraft missing.
[page break]
14. 158 Sqn. 3/10/43 Kassel - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. Weather clear, defences weak over target, attack well concentrated, 24 aircraft missing.
15. 158 Sqn. 4/10/43 Frankfurt - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. Cloudy over continent, target clear, large numbers of searchlights surrounding target, successful prang, 12 aircraft missing.
16. 158 Sqn. 23/10/43 Kassel - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax plus Flt Sgt Vicary as 2nd pilot. Flying in cloud most of way but target clear, defences moderate, no combats seen, landed Catfoss, 44 aircraft missing.
17. 158 Sqn. 3/11/43 Dusseldorf - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax plus Flt Sgt Edwards as 2nd pilot. Full cloud en route but target clear, no flak, searchlights weak owing to ground mist, many combats sighted, fires well concentrated, 19 aircraft missing.
18. 158 Sqn. 22/11/43 Berlin - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax plus Sqn. Ldr. McCormack as 2nd pilot. Full cloud below us over whole of Germany, heavy flak at defended areas along the route, especially Hannover, bombed on Wanganui flares, 26 aircraft missing.
19. 158 Sqn. 25/11/43 Frankfurt - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. Full cloud over target, flak nil, no fighters seen, fires rather scattered, 13 aircraft missing.
20. 158 Sqn. 26/11/43 Stuttgart - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax plus F/O Thompson supernumerary. Heavy searchlight defences over Frankfurt, many combats sighted, also combats over Frankfurt, heavy flak over target, flak damage sustained over Saarbruken, landed Tangmere, 32 aircraft missing. (Flying Officer Thompson was a schoolmaster and officer in the Air Training Corps and he had a gammy leg due to a World War I wound. The crew thought he was pretty brave to come on an operation like this as a volunteer).
21. 158 Sqn. 3/12/43 Leipzig - Cotter/Hicks/Portsmouth/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax plus Sgt Wisbey as 2nd pilot. Many combats sighted en route out, full cloud over target, accurate flak over Dessau, 24 aircraft missing.
16
22. 640 Sqn 30/1/44 Berlin – Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Wong/Salvoni/Lomax. Full cloud over target and all Europe, many rockets seen over target but no combats, number 5 and 6 tanks froze up, (water in fuel) landed Little Snoring, have lost 247 gallons, 33 aircraft missing.
23. 640 Sqn 15/2/44 Berlin – Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax plus F/O Cameron as 2nd pilot. Full cloud over target, bombed on Wanganui flares, no combats, flak ineffective, very quiet for Berlin, bomb load all incendiaries, 43 aircraft missing.
24. 640 Sqn 19/2/44 Leipzig - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax plus Flt Sgt Burke as 2nd pilot. Full cloud over target, ran into heavy searchlight at Emden, missed markers and hit Berlin, many combats seen, 79 aircraft missing.
25. 640 Sqn 20/2/44 Stuttgart – Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Stilliard. Moderate cloud over target, fires well concentrated, flak moderate, quiet trip, 10 aircraft missing.
26. 640 Sqn 24/2/44 Schweinfurt - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax plus Lt Kornegay USAAF as 2nd pilot. Clear over target, fires well concentrated, flak heavy, searchlights weak, combats seen en route, 35 aircraft missing.
27. 640 Sqn 6/3/44 Trappes – Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. No opposition at all, Bombed railway lines with 12,000lbs HE, aiming point photograph.
28. 640 Sqn 7/3/44 Le Mans – Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. A little heavy flak over target, bombed railways through heavy cloud cover, bomb load 11,500lbs.
29. 640 Sqn 15/3/44 Stuttgart – Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Austen plus Flt Lt Cassells as 2nd pilot. Much cloud en route, heavy opposition from fighters, landed at Westcot, 40 aircraft missing.
[page break]
17
30. 640 Sqn Nuremberg – Cotter/Gray/Sproulle/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. Half cloud cover en route, fighter opposition heavy in extremes, opposition fierce over target, coned at Calais on home route, 96 aircraft missing. *See note.
31. 640 Sqn Paris – Cotter/Hicks/Sproulle/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. Full moon, attacked marshalling yard at Villeneuve, souther suburbs, flak moderate, 11 aircraft missing.
32. 640 Sqn Tergnier – Cotter/Hicks/Broadbent/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. Full moon, clear over target, no fighters seen, rocket flak bursting at 12,000ft on route out. 22Aircraft missing.
33. 640 Sqn Tergnier - Cotter/Hicks/Broadbent/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax. Marshalling yards bombed, aiming point on photo, rockets seen in bomber stream, 14 aircraft missing.
34. 640 Sqn Dusseldorf - Cotter/Hicks/Sproulle/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax plus P/O Maxwell as 2 nd pilot. Searchlights numerous but no flak, no combats, weather good, 42 aircraft lost.
[underlined] Aborted Operations [/underlined]
1. 27/7/43 Hamburg - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax
Turned back before enemy coast with one engine surging badly.
2. 24/8/43 Berlin - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax
Turned back before enemy coast with rear gunner's oxygen supply unserviceable.
3. 8/10/43 Hannover - Cotter/Hicks/Hawkridge/Reid/Rooney/Griffiths/Lomax
An engine failed just after take-off
The second pilots shown above were new arrivals on the Squadron and the procedure was they were sent out on one trip with an experienced crew before operating on their own. Also, a number of other crew members flew with me during the tour and all non-regular crew members are shown below:
18
Sgt Cipriani RAF - Later killed in action 22/10/43
F/Sgt Vicary RAAF – Later bailed out over UK 16/2/44 and left the Squadron
F/Sgt Bush RAAF – Shot down, POW 31/3/44
P/O Portsmouth RAF – Completed tour
F/Sgt Edwards RAAF – Later killed in action 20/12/43
S/Ldr McCormack RAAF – Shot Down, POW, 29/1/44
F/O Thompson ATC – Schoolmaster
Sgt Wisbey RAF – Killed in action 28/6/44
Sgt Wong RAF – Completed tour
F/O Salvoni RAF – Killed in action
F/O Cameron RCAF Killed in action 17/6/44
F/Sgt Burke RCAF – Killed in action 31/3/44
Sgt Stilliard RAF – Killed in action 31/3/44
Lt Kornegay USAAF - Completed tour
F/Lt Cassels RAF – Completed tour
F/O Austen RAF – Shot down, POW, 31/3/44
W/O Gray RCAF – Completed tour
F/Lt Sproulle RAF – Completed tour
F/Sgt Broadbent RAF - Completed tour
P/O Maxwell – Not known
[underlined] Note. Nuremburg. [/underlined] Once again we had a trip without running into any opposition. Norman had gone off on his bombing leaders' course so Tommy Sproulle, the Squadron Bombing Leader, came with us. Andy was also away and was replaced by a Canadian navigator on his first trip. It was a moonlight night and all the way out and back we saw combats to the east of us with our aircraft invariable going down in flames. Because I had the Bombing Leader on board I flew at the briefed operating height, mixed in with the stream. Shortly before we reached the final turning point for Nuremburg the navigator was unsure of his position. Then I saw target indicators going down ahead and told the crew that I had Nuremburg in sight, even though we were some 15 minutes ahead of ETA. Tommy bombed on the markers and we set course for home for a personally uneventful return. Then as we flew north over Lincolnshire all the airfield lights were out and at Leconfield the Drem flarepath had to be turned on for us. We were 30 minutes ahead of ETA because we had bombed Schweinfurt instead of Nuremburg. Our squadron lost 3 aircraft with 18 killed. All the Captains were RCAF including Jim Laidlaw, married the month before, and F/Sgt Burke who had flown with me only a few weeks earlier. In total the Command had 545 men killed.
JDC/Revision 2/Jun 05
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
Extracts from war diaries and information on aircraft crews and lists of bombing operations
Description
An account of the resource
Describes training and crewing up at operational training unit on Wellingtons. Mentions staying in London on leave with RCAF colleague, using the Canadian forces club London and dining at the Ritz. Includes diary entry describing operational baptism. Continues with coverage of training at heavy conversion unit and eventual posting to 158 Squadron. Describes first operations to Hamburg n detail as well as life at RAF Lissett. Relates story of being detailed to ferry an aircraft back from an airfield in the south of England and spending a day in London. Continues recounting other events from diary and mention that squadron lost 15 aircraft in August 1943. Mentions last operation in 1943 and getting his commission, converting to new Halifax and transfer to 640 Squadron at RAF Leconfield. Writes of life on new station and in officers mess. Comments of some of the operations flown and awards of decorations to him and his crew. Mention his last operation to Düsseldorf. Writes about his crew's tactics and dispersal of crew after finishing his tour of operations and their subsequent history. Covers history of other individuals named in the memoir. List crew operations with comments on losses. Follows a list of non-regular crew members he flew with during his tour. Concludes with account of his operation to Nuremburg including mention of aircraft lost.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
J D Cotter
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-08-28
Format
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Nineteen page printed document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BCotterJDPCotterJDPv1
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 Australian Air Force
Royal New Zealand Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
United States Army Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
England--Truro
England--Leicestershire
France
France--Rouen
England--Yorkshire
Germany
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Peenemünde
Germany--Leverkusen
Italy
France--Modane
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Stuttgart
Germany--Schweinfurt
France--Soligny-la-Trappe
France--Le Mans
France--Paris
France--Tergnier (Canton)
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
England--Cornwall (County)
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
2018-08-28
1942-08
1943-02-23
1943-03
1943-05-05
1943-05-14
1943-08
1943-12-03
1943-06-27
1943-07-24
1943-07-29
1943-08-02
1943-08-09
1943-08-17
1943-08-22
1943-09-16
1943-08-22
1943-08-23
1943-08-27
1943-08-29
1943-10-03
1943-10-04
1943-10-23
1943-11-03
1943-11-22
1943-11-26
1943-12-03
1944-01-30
1944-02-15
1944-02-19
1944-02-20
1944-02-24
1944-03-06
1944-03-07
1944-03-15
1944-03-30
1944-04-09
1944-04-10
1944-04-17
1944-04-22
1943-07-27
1943-08-24
1943-10-08
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
Jan Waller
158 Squadron
1652 HCU
28 OTU
4 Group
466 Squadron
640 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bomb aimer
bombing of Nuremberg (30 / 31 March 1944)
crewing up
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Medal
Distinguished Service Order
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
mess
military living conditions
navigator
observer
Operational Training Unit
RAF Leconfield
RAF Lissett
RAF Marston Moor
RAF Wymeswold
searchlight
training
Wellington
wireless operator
-
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31870/EHoganPJHoganDH450120-0002.1.jpg
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hogan, P J
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
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Hogan, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Ninety-six items and a sub-collection with twenty two items..
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Pat Hogan (436464 Royal Australian Air Force) and contains letters home to his family, his flying log book, accounts of his aircraft being shot down and him baling out, official documents, certificates and photographs.
He flew operations as a navigator with 466 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Elizabeth Anne Lusby and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
A436464 Fl Sqn HOGAN P.
[deleted] 466 Sqdn [/deleted] RAAF
AUSPO LONDON
20/1/45.
Dear Dad,
I’ve just about settled down once more on just another new station. We are now with an Australian Squadron & it is rather the goods. They seem to get along in a much more easy going manner that[sic] the Pommies & dispense with a lot of the usual flannel. We are on an excellent station & our billets are just the shot. It was a [indecipherable word] & we live in large brick blocks which are centrally heated. We have all mod cons. Just outside our dormitory – even down[?] to hot baths.
Besides it is a great help to have a locker for your clothes etc instead of living out of the old kit bag as previously. As we may have a little time on our hands here
[page break]
I think I may start up an accountancy course to keep me out of mischief. Naturally we are still feet[?] deep in snow but all paths & roads are paved so there is no mud which is also rather a change. We’ve been outside for about an hour having snow fights – [indecipherable word] silly I know but it keeps one warm. Plenty of sliding on one’s overcoat & all that sort of thing.
By the way, I don’t think I even acknowledged [deleted one word] the fact that [indecipherable word] “Clueless Crew” [indecipherable word] ticker arrived several weeks ago. Having heard nothing further I guess we’ve had it. There was a cake at my last station – I told them to readress[sic] it & send it on here – rather than carry it. I noticed on the outside it was from M. HOGAN & M. KNIGHT, so thanks to them both although I haven’t got it yet.
Apart from one other crew who preceeded [sic] us here by a few days
[page break]
I’ve not struck[?] a soul[?] I know.
Still waiting to hear how Kev got on with his exams. It[?] is a while now since I’ve heard from you but I guess it will be a week or so again before our mail comes through again.
I’m darned[?] if I can dig up anything to write about at the moment. Hope you all had an enjoyable leave.
How are the nags treating you these days? Well, Dad, maybe I can fill one of these next time. Hoping you are all well. Love to you all
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 Pat Hogan to his father
Description
An account of the resource
Writes that he has settled down at new station and that they are now with an Australian squadron who are more easy going that the English. Comments on good conditions on new station. Mentions stating his accountancy course and that they are deep in snow. Writes about receiving cake and catches up on family news.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
P J Hogan
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-01-20
Format
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Four sided handwritten airmail letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
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EHoganPJHoganDH450120
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 Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
Australia
Victoria--Bendigo
Victoria
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-01-20
Contributor
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Sue Smith
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.
466 Squadron
military service conditions
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31951/EHoganPJHoganM450413-0001.2.jpg
4fde7ecc03c56445c4f5b5db7ad748ab
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31951/EHoganPJHoganM450413-0002.2.jpg
8ab5f8fd34d4c5b81ace3f6d724255b9
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
Hogan, P J
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Ninety-six items and a sub-collection with twenty two items..
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Pat Hogan (436464 Royal Australian Air Force) and contains letters home to his family, his flying log book, accounts of his aircraft being shot down and him baling out, official documents, certificates and photographs.
He flew operations as a navigator with 466 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Elizabeth Anne Lusby and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
A436464 F/S HOGAN P.
RAAF AUSPO
LONDON.
13/4/45.
Dear Marie,
Thanks firstly for the cable & the couple of airgraphs which have arrived over the last 2 days (today's was only written on the 2nd). I've been doing pretty well recently with mail. News certainly gets around. One day I had 12 & yesterday [indecipherable number].
I've had airletters from the parents of each of the boys & it gives me wonderful satisfaction to know that I appear to have been at least some consolation in each case. They have all taken it very well indeed although Dr Shelton was particularly upset when he wrote me.
In all I got & dispatched [indecipherable number] group photographs to friends & relatives – I sent one home. I don't
[page break]
know why but I'm already starting to get parcels from round England here as well as some very enticing invitations.
Maurice Dyer, with whom as you will no doubt remember, I've been so pally since [indecipherable word] did not come back here last Sunday. I guess I'd better write his wife one of these days.
Still bludging around & getting no air under my feet. Rather monotonous but it is not so bad now that we are having weather almost worthy of an Australian spring. McDonald still has not left the conversion unit & the way things are going I think we've just about had it. It can't last much longer over here. However I would like to have had another crack before it packs in.
You seem to have been very busy over Easter but it is probably better that way that being quietly on your own. Pleased to know the old fair was once more a success.
Thank the rest of the family for letters. I'll eventually get round to answering them. This is my 6th tonight
[page break]
“Willie” Williams my new bomb aimer has just come in to see me. He is rather flushed as he nicked off to Bridlington today & sunbathed. I wish he’d have come to suggest it to me before he went.
We had intended having a big beano this week Roger Laing & Wally’s 21st were coming off as well as Alan’s 22nd, my 23rd all within 6th & 16th April. Roger is in getting drunk tonight (his birthday) but as I didn’t even feel like it for my own, I didn’t bother tonight.
I’d forgotten about the [indecipherable word] fiver you’d better take out some more tickets on my behalf. Sorry to hear the Phelan kids have been sick. Did the drought break?
Thanks again for all the Masses etc. over the prang. And the letters, Pleased the concert went off O.K.
Well, Marie, space is rather limited so I’ll bid you all the best again. There is no need to worry I haven’t so much as developed the familiar “twitch” so prevalent amongst operational aircrew. My only regret is that I don’t look like having another crack.
Love to all, Pat.
[page break]
AIR LETTER
Miss Marie Hogan
67 Chapel St.,
Bendigo Vic.
Australia.
A436464 F/S HOGAN P.
RAAF AUSPO
LONDON.
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 Pat Hogan to Miss Marie Hogan
Description
An account of the resource
Reports arrival of recent mail. Writes that he has received letters from the parents of each of the boys who seem to have taken it well apart from on father who was upset when he wrote. Catches up with other news of acquaintances. Says life is monotonous but the weather is better. Comments that it could not last much longer but he would have liked another crack at it before it was over. Discusses activities at home and at his location. Mentions parties planned for various events. Continues with other gossip and tells he not to worry as he has not developed the "twitch" prevalent amongst operational aircrew.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
P J Hogan
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-04-13
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four sided handwritten airmail 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
EHoganPJHoganM450413
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 Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
Australia
Victoria--Bendigo
Victoria
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-04-13
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jan Waller
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.
466 Squadron
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31952/EHoganPJHoganM450427-0001.1.jpg
aa257a3d5186a9ea87710633d1b483b0
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31952/EHoganPJHoganM450427-0002.1.jpg
fb1694ecc563c65e63690cede6c7a4b9
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
Hogan, P J
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Ninety-six items and a sub-collection with twenty two items..
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Pat Hogan (436464 Royal Australian Air Force) and contains letters home to his family, his flying log book, accounts of his aircraft being shot down and him baling out, official documents, certificates and photographs.
He flew operations as a navigator with 466 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Elizabeth Anne Lusby and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
A436464 F/S HOGAN P.
RAAF AUSPO
LONDON
27/4/45.
Dear Marie,
Thanks a lot for keeping up the stream of mail. I know my efforts from this end have been pretty poor but there has been little to write about & one gets so cheesed off hanging about.
Did my first op. For 7 weeks, a day or two ago. It was an easy one but we kept up our old form by getting a piece of flak through the windscreen. In this new crew I have the least number of ops. & in all they have quite a few hours between them & we should do alright together.
We are going on leave on Sunday. I’m forgetting the Irish trip for the time being, as I
[page break]
[indecipherable word] I’ll have far better opportunity when the war is over & we are hanging about waiting to get home. From what I can see it will take quite some considerable time to get rid of us from here & I reckon it will be a longer break then.
Sorry if you took me wrongly about the money, I know you have been very careful with it & appreciate your efforts very much. As for the lodge, I thought it was costing more, & seeing as I’ve kept it going this long you might as well keep it going.
I won’t worry a lot about the Bendigo election for frankly state politics aren’t worth it in my opinion. Please don’t bother getting addresses for me to look up anywhere for I already have plenty I know I’ll not be calling on as it is. I know you mean well but it would probably offend the donors if they knew I had no intention of calling there anyway.
[page break]
I’m afraid I’ve lost Neville Cox’s address, so I can’t write him. Had a letter from Dan yesterday also from Mrs Hilton & Mrs Johnson.
Glad to know everything is O.K. at home & going along serenely.
Sorry I’m pottering around so long with this letter, but honestly, I can find little to write about.
Love to all at home,
Pat.
[page break]
AIR LETTER
Miss Marie Hogan
67 Chapel St.,
Bendigo Vic
Australia
F/S HOGAN P.
RAAF AUSPO
LONDON
[stamp] 466 SQUADRON R.A.A.F. 27APR 1945
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 Pat Hogan to Miss Marie Hogan
Description
An account of the resource
Thanks her for letters but says there had been little to write about his end and he was cheesed of with hanging about. Reports doing his first operation for seven weeks, it was an easy one but was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Talks a little of his new crew. Speculates over how long it will take to get home when the war is over. Discusses money issue and local politics at home and other gossip.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
P J Hogan
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-04-27
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
Australia
Victoria--Bendigo
Victoria
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-04-27
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four sided handwritten airmail 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
EHoganPJHoganM450427
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 Australian Air Force
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jan Waller
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.
466 Squadron
anti-aircraft fire
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31955/EHoganPJHoganM450911-0001.1.jpg
672832f23323c0147a1b9af9b022c2f8
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31955/EHoganPJHoganM450911-0002.1.jpg
47fbea583fd4f78721b2f93886bdb82a
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
Hogan, P J
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Ninety-six items and a sub-collection with twenty two items..
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Pat Hogan (436464 Royal Australian Air Force) and contains letters home to his family, his flying log book, accounts of his aircraft being shot down and him baling out, official documents, certificates and photographs.
He flew operations as a navigator with 466 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Elizabeth Anne Lusby and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Aus 364 464
P/O Hogan PJ
RAAF
Aus PO
London WC2
11/9/45
Dear Marie,
I think I’ve a couple of letters of yours since last I wrote. Incidentally I am now stationed in Herts about 3 miles from the village of Royston, which is about 2/3 the size of Driffield. We are only 2 hours from London on the train. So far I’m not too impressed , as the Yanks left this place in rather a mess, & the tucker & …. …also poor compared to Driff. However our Aussie Group Commander arrived today & no doubt he’ll again throw his weight about(…. …. …. …. ) to see that things are brought up to scratch for us. …. …. …. Scottie. Junior officers at the moment are definitely kicking …. …. …. Another squadron arrived here the other day & we did …. …. …. Our crew has a little pre war …. …. …. Quarters…. ….have housemaids hence (or knees) getting …. …. In. We have no batwomen yet.
Before leaving Yorkshire last weekend I was lucky enough to see the Aussie cricketers in action against a fairly strong English team at Scarborough. Our lads hit up 500 in a day. Pepper got 168 but Miller failed miserably only getting 71 in the 30 mins he was at the wicket. The Pongoes were out for 250 odd & 140 the only one to get … was Fishlock with 95 &35. Hutton made 42 & 0. Ellis had them completely tied up getting 10 wickets in all. Pepper and Pettiford also bowled well. You had better send me Flegg & Sons address again. I’ve often thought of them in London, but their telephone address is down in Surrey somewhere.
The only eatables we need here now I think is tinned butter for toast making in the winter. I have a little electric stove. I hardly see myself home for Christmas. Don’t worry about it if they are unproanable ? unprobable, but other blokes get films just in parcels in ordinary cake tins without any special wrapping at all. The address of the Colletts is - 17 Prospect Terrace, Allerton, Bradford, Yorks.
I didn’t know Leo Francis had made the grade at North. Glad to hear of the release of Pat Cross, Alec Breen etc.
We are now on Liberators & I hope to be on the India run within a month or so. We may … get as far as Singapore to collect …. …. …. ….
Re Dad’s queries …. …. …. …. …. Life forbids the …. …. …. ….enough to do …. …. ….It’s pretty grim …. …. ….down eventually. …. …. ….is impossible at present. Is Dan talking of going home yet? Bert Evatt is over now & is really brilliant I think. What a gig he makes Chifley look. Ford also looks a fool beside him. At least Evatt seems to be the only one with any clues at all on the Japs. He released Justice Weller’s list of atrocities yesterday to the papers & it rather rocked them.
Hope you are all well.
Love to all
Pat
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 Pat Hogan to Miss Marie Hogan
Description
An account of the resource
Reports arrival of her previous letters and says he is now stationed in Hertfordshire a few miles from Royston. States that the Americans had left the place in a mess. Writes about Australian cricket side's scores and performance. Gives address of friend in Bradford. Catches up with news and gossip. Part of this letter is damaged and unreadable.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
P J Hogan
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-09-11
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four sided handwritten airmail 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
EHoganPJHoganM450911
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 Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
England--Hertfordshire
England--Royston (Hertfordshire)
Australia
Victoria--Bendigo
Victoria
England--Herefordshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-09-11
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.
466 Squadron
RAF Bassingbourn
sport
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31956/EHoganPJHoganM450930-0001.1.jpg
ea3c44f6ec93b5bdbb36d50614b29ca0
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31956/EHoganPJHoganM450930-0002.1.jpg
a3e9a1ec60717eba62490558a3287496
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
Hogan, P J
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Ninety-six items and a sub-collection with twenty two items..
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Pat Hogan (436464 Royal Australian Air Force) and contains letters home to his family, his flying log book, accounts of his aircraft being shot down and him baling out, official documents, certificates and photographs.
He flew operations as a navigator with 466 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Elizabeth Anne Lusby and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
A436464 P/O P.J. HOGAN
RAAF AWSPO
LONDON
30/9/45
Dear Marie,
So as not to lose on the sterling value I [indecipherable words] home a letter money shortly. If [indecipherable words] later send home for [indecipherable words] has gone down other
[indecipherable words] £15 in every £20 I have [indecipherable words] not yet decided [indecipherable words] & if so how [indecipherable words] at the [indecipherable words] but I [indecipherable words] before I leave.
Re Christmas [indecipherable words] there is much you can send [indecipherable words] We now have RAAF canteens & we can [indecipherable word] up to £5 worth of goods per [indecipherable words] Hence don’t bother about cakes or [indecipherable words] It includes fruit & everything you [indecipherable word] imagine. Besides we’ll either go [indecipherable words] or get cracking very shortly [indecipherable word] we will be out of this country more often than in it. When here we will
[page break]
be on leave anyhow. As things are now I’m very cheesed at hanging around. I’ve not flown for 14 days & am wishing I could chuck it in. I went [indecipherable word] to London a couple of days & spent one night & met hundreds of blokes I know, mostly awaiting [indecipherable word] or working for civvy jobs over here – getting up to a tenner besides their service pay and allowances. Went to Hammersmith Palais which is now devoid [indecipherable word] yanks spent the night changing partners [indecipherable word] towns at home [indecipherable word] dance [indecipherable words] we were even getting topped in the last [indecipherable words] I saw Duffy’s [indecipherable words] in the [indecipherable words] & Deborah Kerr.
[indecipherable words] & Carlton are playing off [indecipherable words] I’ll tip Santa. The [indecipherable words] are on their way to [indecipherable word] now but Australia are now still allow the [indecipherable words] over here. The last [indecipherable word] team have carried all before them then so have [indecipherable word] the swimming team. The [inserted] [indecipherable word] [/inserted] won at Henley last week & the
[page break]
touring rugby side easily won their first match last Saturday. However Horace [indecipherable word] hasn’t been doing too well.
Glad you got in on [indecipherable words] you all down in the [indecipherable words] exams! By the way I’ve recently [indecipherable word] home about 8 envelopes containing about [indecipherable word] or 70 snaps. I was [indecipherable word] to start an album [indecipherable word] me.
Don’t know anything yet when about when well be [indecipherable word] . On leave I guess I should be discharged soon after my months leave when I get home.
The political situation I would [[indecipherable words] stems a bit [indecipherable words] the big [indecipherable words] feeling [indecipherable words] if working a little hard [indecipherable words] pink or as near to it as [indecipherable words] forget now if you are taking [indecipherable words] I’ll also have [indecipherable words] if you’ll get it please.
Regards & love to all, I’ll be seeing you
Pat
[page break]
BY AIR MAIL
AIR LETTER
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 Pat Hogan to Miss Marie Hogan
Description
An account of the resource
Writes about contents not to bother with in food parcels. Writes of not flying for 14 days and other activities. A large part of this letter was damaged and is unreadable.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
P J Hogan
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-09-30
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four sided handwritten airmail 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
EHoganPJHoganM450930
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 Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
Australia
Victoria--Bendigo
Victoria
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-09-30
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Peter Bradbury
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.
466 Squadron
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2022/31960/SHoganPJ436464v10003.2.jpg
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2022/31960/SHoganPJ436464v10004.2.jpg
4b690a2e2c0e54cd6bc0c74496803af5
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
Hogan, P J. Document file
Description
An account of the resource
Twenty-two items. Contains photographs and official documents.
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
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
Patrick Joseph Hogan's personal record of service
Description
An account of the resource
Personal details. Rank Flying Officer, 466 Squadron flying. List courses.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page printed document handwritten filled in
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Service material
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SHoganPJ436464v10003, SHoganPJ436464v10004
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 Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Australia
Victoria--Bendigo
Victoria
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-12-12
1945-08-12
1946-01-03
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
466 Squadron
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2022/31966/SHoganPJ436464v10010.2.jpg
960ccecc1620ffcb7937287d51a511cc
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2022/31966/SHoganPJ436464v10011.2.jpg
9734955af8433f4215ce14680e1c364a
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
Hogan, P J. Document file
Description
An account of the resource
Twenty-two items. Contains photographs and official documents.
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
FMA/ [underlined] ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE. [/underlined]
[underlined] CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE. [/underlined]
[underlined] REF. No. [/underlined] : RX150336 C5O
[underlined] NUMBER: [/underlined] 436464 [underlined] RANK: [/underlined] F/O. [underlined] NAME: [/underlined] Patrick Joseph HOGAN
[underlined] DATE OF BIRTH [/underlined] : 8th April, 1922.
[underlined] DATE OF ENLISTMENT AS AIRMAN [/underlined] : 15th January, 1943.
[underlined] DATE OF DISCHARGE AS AIRMAN [/underlined] : 11th June 1945.
[underlined] DATE OF APPOINTMENT TO PILOT OFFICER [/underlined] : 12th June1945.
[underlined] NATURE OF SERVICE [/underlined] : General Duties Branch, Citizen Air Force, called up for the duration and twelve (12) months thereafter.
[underlined] PROMOTIONS [/underlined] : Flying Officer 12.12.45.
[underlined] POSTINGS & MOVEMENTS [/underlined] : No. 4. R.D. Busselton 15.1.43.
No. 5. I.T.S. Clontaff 27.2.43
No. 2. A.C.S. Mount Gambier 22.7.43.
No. 2. B.A.G.S. Port Pirie 18.10.43.
No. 3. A.C.S. Port Pirie 9.12.43.
No. 1. E.D. Ransford 7.1.44. 7.1.44.
Embarked Melbourne 29.1.44.
Disembarked United Kingdom 12.3.44.
No.11. P.D.R.C. 12.3.44.
R.A.F. Station West Freugh 16.5.44.
No.41. Base 29.9.44.
No.466. Squadron 19.1.45
Embarked United Kingdom for Australia 30.11.45.
Disembarked Melbourne 3.1.46.
No. 1. P.D. Exhibition 3.1.46.
[underlined] ATTACHMENTS [/underlined] : Royal Air Force fro, 29.1.44. to 2.1.46.
Aircrew Training School, from 29.9.44. to …………
[underlined] HONOURS & AWARDS [/underlined] : Nil.
[underlined] DATE OF TERMINATION OF APPOINTMENT [/underlined] : 23rd February, 1946.
[underlined] PLACE OF TERMINATION OF APPOINTMENT [/underlined] : No. 1. P.D. Exhibition.
[underlined] REASON FOR TERMINATION OF APPOINTMENT [/underlined] : On Demobilisation.
[underlined] CERTIFIED [/underlined] : That the above is a true and correct statement of the service and of the date, place and reason for termination of appointment of the above named officer who in the present war has served outside Australia.
: “This member is a charge against the Imperial Government if, and only if, his disability is found to have arisen from an
[page break]
…….2/
[underlined] CERTIFIED [/underlined] : occurrence happening between 29.1.44 and 2.1.46. whilst he was attached to the Royal Air Force”.
[underlined] ATTACHMENTS [/underlined] : Date ceased attachment to Aircrew Training School not yet received this Headquarters.
H.W. HALL,
for WING COMMANDER D.P.S.
for AIR MEMBER FOR PERSONNEL
9 FEB 1949
[page break]
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
P J Hogan certificate of service
Description
An account of the resource
Contains personal details dates of service and discharge, promotions and postings and movements.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page typewritten document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Service material
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SHoganPJ436464v10010, SHoganPJ436464v10011
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 Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Australia
Western Australia--Busselton Region
Queensland--Moreton Bay District
South Australia--Mount Gambier
South Australia--Port Pirie
Victoria--Melbourne
Great Britain
Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway
Victoria
Queensland
South Australia
Western Australia
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-01-15
1945-06-11
1945-06-12
1946-12-12
1946-02-23
1943
1944
1945
1946
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
Steve Christian
466 Squadron
RAF West Freugh
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2022/31968/SHoganPJ436464v10013.2.jpg
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2022/31968/SHoganPJ436464v10014.2.jpg
1bea37506dbd7567c79248d3ff0dc726
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
Hogan, P J. Document file
Description
An account of the resource
Twenty-two items. Contains photographs and official documents.
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
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
P J Hogan record of postings
Description
An account of the resource
Gives personal details, navigator and list posting units and dates. Shows aircraft flown as Battle, Anson, Wellington and Halifax.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page printed document with typewritten entries
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Service material
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SHoganPJ436464v10013, SHoganPJ436464v10014
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 Australian Air Force
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
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.
466 Squadron
aircrew
Anson
Battle
Halifax
navigator
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2022/31972/SHoganPJ436464v10019.1.jpg
8f57123e910df52b10d3a4a08097ca95
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2022/31972/SHoganPJ436464v10020.1.jpg
bba682cb7ead70ccf3fb799b7641a1a6
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
Hogan, P J. Document file
Description
An account of the resource
Twenty-two items. Contains photographs and official documents.
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
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
Pilot Officer P J Hogan's RAF officer record of service
Description
An account of the resource
Aircraft flown Battle, Anson, Wellington, Halifax. Navigator. Medical examination at RAF Waddington. address in Australia, next of kin. List of postings to units.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page printed document with typewritten entries
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Service material
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SHoganPJ436464v10019, SHoganPJ436464v10020
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 Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Australia
Victoria--Bendigo
Victoria
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-05-10
1943
1944
1945
1946-02-23
1945-01-19
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.
466 Squadron
Anson
Battle
Halifax
RAF Waddington
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2022/31973/SHoganPJ436464v10021.1.jpg
5ee6cb0038142fa4456e10dd20065198
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2022/31973/SHoganPJ436464v10022.1.jpg
f71849d5be380de0b333e3b24c39b710
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
Hogan, P J. Document file
Description
An account of the resource
Twenty-two items. Contains photographs and official documents.
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
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
P J Hogan RAAF airman's record sheet
Description
An account of the resource
Includes personal details and list postings from 1943 to 1945. Promotions up to Flight Sergeant. Commissioned in June 1945.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page printed document with handwritten entries
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Service material
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SHoganPJ436464v10021, SHoganPJ436464v10022
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 Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Australia
Victoria--Bendigo
Victoria
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944
1944
1945-06-11
1943-01-15
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.
466 Squadron
aircrew
navigator
promotion
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2022/31976/SHoganPJ436464v10025.1.jpg
ba6124aa48758a26217f0c443590e3bf
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2022/31976/SHoganPJ436464v10026.1.jpg
f453387878c178e83ceb2988a4786e83
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
Hogan, P J. Document file
Description
An account of the resource
Twenty-two items. Contains photographs and official documents.
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
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
RAF Confidential report Pilot Officer P J Hogan on posting
RAF Form 1369
Description
An account of the resource
Contains personal details,, reporting officers opinion and grades. Remarks of CO and next senior officer.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
A Holdings
W W G Scott
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-10-26
1945-10-29
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page printed document with typewritten entries
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Service material
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SHoganPJ436464v10025, SHoganPJ436464v10026
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 Australian Air Force
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-06-11
1945-10-25
1945-10-26
1945-10-29
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.
466 Squadron
aircrew
navigator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2022/31977/SHoganPJ436464v10027.1.jpg
2004872f7aa5ae186fa1274987bb5a50
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
Hogan, P J. Document file
Description
An account of the resource
Twenty-two items. Contains photographs and official documents.
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
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
Training, non-operational and operational details
RAAF Form P/P 151
Description
An account of the resource
Lists training details. Aircraft Anson and Battle in Australia. Advanced training in United Kingdom on Anson, Wellington and Halifax at West Freugh, Lichfield and Richall. Operational flying on Halifax 466 Squadron at RAF Driffield and 466 Squadron B-24 at RAF Bassingbourn. Gives hours at each stage.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page printed document with handwritten entreis
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
SHoganPJ436464v10025
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 Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway
England--Staffordshire
England--Lichfield
England--Yorkshire
England--Selby
England--Cambridgeshire
Australia
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.
466 Squadron
aircrew
Anson
B-24
Battle
Halifax
navigator
RAF Bassingbourn
RAF Driffield
RAF Lichfield
RAF Riccall
RAF West Freugh
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2022/31979/SHoganPJ436464v10029.1.jpg
8194ab479b3d06ef77ee88944e503c87
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
Hogan, P J. Document file
Description
An account of the resource
Twenty-two items. Contains photographs and official documents.
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
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
P J Hogan general conduct sheet
Description
An account of the resource
Certified several times on several dates with no entries
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page printed document with handwritten entries and stamps.
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Service material
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SHoganPJ436464v10029
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 Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway
England--Staffordshire
England--Lichfield
England--Yorkshire
England--Selby
Western Australia--Busselton
Queensland--Moreton Bay District
South Australia--Port Pirie
Victoria--Melbourne
Australia
Victoria
Queensland
South Australia
Western Australia
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-01-15
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.
466 Squadron
RAF Lichfield
RAF Riccall
RAF West Freugh
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31987/SHoganPJ436464v20001.1.pdf
6982095bf5f3681f372a24ce91037a4d
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
Hogan, P J
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Ninety-six items and a sub-collection with twenty two items..
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Pat Hogan (436464 Royal Australian Air Force) and contains letters home to his family, his flying log book, accounts of his aircraft being shot down and him baling out, official documents, certificates and photographs.
He flew operations as a navigator with 466 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Elizabeth Anne Lusby 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/.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Multipage printed book with handwritten entries
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
SHoganPJ436464v20001
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 Australian Air Force
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Description
An account of the resource
P J Hogan’s log book covering the period from 20 August 1943 to 7 October 1945.
Detailing his flying training and operations flown as navigator. He was stationed at RAAF Mount Gambier (2 AOS), RAAF Port Pirie (2 B&GS, 3 AOS), RAF West Freugh (4 OAFU), RAF Church Broughton (27 OTU), RAF Riccall (1658 HCU) and RAF Driffield (466 [RAAF] Squadron). Aircraft flown in were Anson, Battle, Wellington and Halifax. Targets were Mainz, Wanne-Eickel, Gelsenkirchen, Goch, Kamen, Essen, Wangerooge and two illegible. He flew six night and four day operations with 466 Squadron making a total of 10. His pilots on operations were Pilot Officer Shelton and Flight Lieutenant McDonald.
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
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Terry Hancock
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Australia
Germany
Great Britain
Germany--Essen
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Goch
Germany--Kamen
Germany--Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Germany--Wangerooge Island
Germany--Wanne-Eickel
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944
1945
1945-01-01
1945-01-02
1945-01-03
1945-01-04
1945-01-07
1945-01-08
1945-01-20
1945-01-21
1945-01-23
1945-01-24
1945-01-27
1945-03-03
1945-03-04
1945-04-25
1945-06-07
1945-07-05
Title
A name given to the resource
P J Hogan flying log book
1658 HCU
27 OTU
466 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
Air Observers School
aircrew
Anson
B-24
Battle
Bombing and Gunnery School
Cook’s tour
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
navigator
Operational Training Unit
RAF Church Broughton
RAF Driffield
RAF Riccall
RAF West Freugh
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31990/SHoganPJ436464v20009.1.pdf
ddc8344c92266c46bf52a9d1afb896eb
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
Hogan, P J
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Ninety-six items and a sub-collection with twenty two items..
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Pat Hogan (436464 Royal Australian Air Force) and contains letters home to his family, his flying log book, accounts of his aircraft being shot down and him baling out, official documents, certificates and photographs.
He flew operations as a navigator with 466 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Elizabeth Anne Lusby and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] P/O Alan Shelton [/underlined]
On the 12th October 1980 I spoke with Pat Hogan who had been a member of the Air Crew of P/O Alan Shelton, (Moira’s elder brother.) I asked him in particular to tell me something of the events of the fatal night of 3/4 March 1945, over 35 years ago.
Pat had his official Log Book with him and we discussed the matter briefly. He asked for more time to recollect his thoughts, and, true to his promise, on the 2.11.1980 delivered to me his written remembrances of the events, which I reproduce below, word for word.
"As a prelude I will say that I was fortunate to attend the Annual R A A F Air Crew Europe Dinner on Grand-Final Eve in September 1979. The guest speaker had been flown out from England. Air Vice Marshall D.C.T. Bennett, C.B., C.B.E., D.S.O. was of Queensland origins. He joined the RAAF and qualified as a pilot at Pt. Cooke is the early thirties. He transferred to the R.A.F. because of lack of funds (& therefore opportunities) in Australia. He specialised in D.R. Navigation (Direct Reckoning) and wrote the R.A.F. Navigation Training Manuals. Pre-war he broke numerous world records in distance flying without refuelling and became recognised as the world's greatest authority in Air Navigation. Whilst commanding a Bomber Squadron he recognised the need for more accurate and skilful bombing techniques and so conceived the idea of a Pathfinder Force. It took him a long while to get the idea accepted by authorities but eventually became both the founder and Commander-in-Chief of Pathfinder Force. In so doing he became the youngest A.V.M. ever appointed at 34 years of age.
During his speech he repeated his conviction that [underlined] each [/underlined] and [underlined] every [/underlined] operation by a Bomber Command Crew over Enemy Territory was the equivalent, in terms of the danger of death, of any major military or naval battle.
In July I was posted to an RAAF Operational Training Unit (O.T.U.) at Litchfield in the Midlands. Litchfield was a moderately small town but
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had a large Anglican Cathedral.
All the trainees were addressed after lunch on the day we arrived. We were told we would be there about 10 days and that we were to mingle with trainees of all other categories and by the end of the ten days, the pilots were to form crews with people who were all individually compatable [sic] . Naturally the pilot was to be Crew Captain.
Within an hour or so a pilot approached me and introduced himself as Alan Shelton. We had a chat about our origins, background, families and interests. We soon got on to Aussie Rules and Alan's interest in South Melbourne. He asked whether I would like to join his crew as his navigator as he was sure we would have no worries in getting along together. I readily accepted and Alan took me to meet Roger Johns [deleted] h [/deleted] on [deleted] e [/deleted], whom he had known at Melbourne University. Rover was to be the Bomb Aimer.
We met several Wireless Operators and we all agreed that the diminutive and likeable Greg Dixon from Chatswood, Sydney was the one for us.
Roger Laing from Adelaide was to be the Mid-upper Gunner. Our first tail gunner was not medically fit and we got a real bonus when he was replaced by the big and friendly Bill Bullen. Bill (like myself) was from Bendigo but had been a sergeant in an Infantry Btn with the 9th Div. in North Africa, the only one of us with experience in warfare.
We found that by tea time on that first evening the four or five personnel who were not already in a crew were rushing about to looking for a vacancy.
I think Alan probably commenced learning to fly a twin engined Wellington (Wimpey) at this stage, doing take offs, circuits and landings - 'Circuits & Bumps' until going solo. The rest of us were attending lectures, escape duties etc.
The Catholic Chaplain at Litchfield was Fr. O’Mahoney, formerly of Xavier College and presently Parish Priest of Glenelg, S.A.
We were then posted, as was each alternate course, to the satellite station some distance away at Church Broughton, Derbyshire. When we arrived there was fierce bargaining with the outgoing course to proc-
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ure bicycles. We were housed in Nissen Huts but the landing field was about 2 miles away on land belonging to Rolls Royce. On the same land was another airfield heavily fortified and strictly out of bounds.
Our flight commander at Church Broughton was, at that time, the highest decorated Australian flying in the RAAF in England, Sqdn Leader Dave Shannon, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar. He was a veteran of over one hundred operations and had reached the ripe old age of 22 years. David, from Adelaide, got the direct hit that broke the wall of the Moehne Dam with the 'skip' bombs of the "Dambusters". His right leg was completely encased in plaster. Our imaginations ran wild on what had happened to him & we were somewhat disappointed to learn it was a result of some frivolity in the Officers' Mess on pay night at Litchfield.
We did intensive courses, lectures and simulated training sessions in our own categories. We came together flying as a crew in all sorts of exercises designed to give each of the crew the facility to improve his particular skills. This boosted the morale and confidence of each member of the crew working as a team and drove home the complete interdependence we had on each other under the quiet but firm leadership of Alan Shelton - hence we blended into a very harmonious unit.
Our relaxation periods, outings and social evenings were also a very important factor in the "getting to know you" process. We were not very interested in the local dances when we found they were alternately "White nights" and “Black nights" with the same girls in attendance. Authorities had learned that it was better to keep the American Negroes segregated. At that time our two favourite female singers on the BBC were Vera Lynn and Anne Shelton. Alan boasted that with such a lovely voice Anne must have some family connection in the distant past. Alan was even more sure when we saw a magazine (head and shoulders) photo with a very pretty face and long, well groomed, blonde hair. When we got a couple of days off we went up to London (Alan, Roger, Greg & I). The gunners had individual interests elsewhere. Anne was co-starring in a concert with one of the large bands – Alan aff-
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irmed that he would go around to the stage door after the concert to introduce himself. She certainly had a nice voice and a pretty face, but claims to relationship ceased when Alan found she was "like the side of a house", or a "Sherman Tank". At interval he declared he had seen enough (no - too much) and suggested we go to a favourite haunt of Australians wanting a feed "Dirty Dicks" off Fleet Street. We always enjoyed the steak at the sleazy one-eyed Greek's place. The fact that it was horse was not mentioned. The following night we went to a stage play. Just before the lights went out all eyes turned to see an elegantly dressed woman in an evening gown - most unusual in London at that time. Her companion was a large chap in a grubby overcoat, whom we recognized as Robert Newton. We had recently seen him in a film playing the Mad Hatter in "Hatter's Castle".
At first interval we went to the crowded bar and had had one drink when the bell went. The barmaid said to us "a gentleman has just paid for another drink for you". Around came Robert Newton and said: “Thats [sic] a bloody awful play, you might as well stay here and enjoy a few quiet drinks while the audience squirm in their seats". With a dead pan face he told us lots of stories about London, his dark eyes rolling and moving the whole time - just as they did when he later played Bill Sykes in Oliver Twist. He would not let us buy a drink but eventually put down a £1 note and said, "I wish I could show you the real London";"unfortunately I've got to go back and try to make peace. Someone might as well enjoy themselves - cut that out", and back he went.
We were in high spirits when we went down to the underground to make our way back to the Red Cross Club we were staying at. We were horrified to see the whole platform covered with people who had been bombed out that night. They were all so cheerful and making cockney cracks - "'Watch it cock, dont [sic] stand on me, stand on the missus, she's got more padding."
On completion of O.T.U Alan received his commission. Because there was a lot of fog and snow, flying was restricted at all levels from Operations over Germany to Training Units. Hence we were sent to a
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Commando Training Unit at Acaster Malbis a few miles out of York. Shortly before, this had been vacated by some of the famous "Red Devils" of Arnham [sic] fame. This course had the multipurpose of keeping us fit, tired and thus reasonably happy until we were ready to recommence flying at Heavy Conversion Unit at Riccall (York).
On arrival at Riccall in November 1944, we were introduced to the type of aircraft we would eventually fly on operation - the Halifax Mk 111 ("Halibags"). We were also introduced to much more sophisticated radar equipment, aids and skills. Just as importantly we also welcomed the seventh member of the crew - our new Flight Engineer. Wally Welsh was a tall, thin, shy, gangling, fair haired 18 year old youth from Devonshire. A little apprehensive for a start, he soon integrated very well in the crew of Australians.
Alan got on with the inevitable "Circuits & Bumps" in learning to fly the 4 engined Halifax. We all had long sessions day and night, attending lectures and learning new procedures to master new equipment with simulated exercises to tune our skills. As a crew we all had "circuits & bumps", whilst Alan practiced 3 engine, 2 engine and single engine landings. Then on to bombing practice, gunnery practice and cross country flights of long duration, both day and night.
A couple of incidents are worth recording at this stage. On a daylight exercise we caught up to and passed an "old Wimpey". With youthful exuberance, Alan gave the other pilot the V sign as we went past. To the amazement of Alan, the gunners and Roger, the Wellington flew past us with both engines feathered. Bill Bullen commented "Have a look at where the rear turret should be! It looks like a duck's arse with smoke pouring out". Without knowing it they had just seen their first jet engined aircraft, with Wing Commander Rolls in charge. He was from the high security base [deleted] near [/deleted] [inserted] at [/inserted] Church Broughton. Some of these four crew members could not work out how an old Wimpey could "leave us for dead” with neither engine working.
One night exercise was designed to take us virtually around England and Scotland. As we approached Lands End in heavy cloud we were tossed about in a
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violent electrical storm. Alan had to fight very hard to maintain control. When we got on top he asked me for a course designed to take us up about N/N/E off the Cornish coast to cross into Wales. When a break came in the clouds, Alan saw the coast coming up at the estimated time. Hence we all got quite a shock when anti aircraft flak started to burst around us for the first time. We realised we were over the small pocket of resistance still holding on to Dunkirk - our compass had gone haywire in the electrical storm. We came down to low level and "unflappable Alan" flew over the heavily fortified Southampton with Alan using the distress call "Mayday" and Wally firing. Red Verey Cartridges and we map-read our way back to Riccall.
On time off (e.g. 48 hours leave pass) Wally would head for home, the gunners had undisclosed plans and the other four of us usually headed for Leeds. On the first occasion we stopped at a large hotel built over the main railway terminal. We were told we could not go near the fourth floor as the whole floor was occupied by an Indian Maharajah and his entourage.
We came home about 1 a.m. to find the doorman asleep at his post and the lifts were out of action. We started up the stairs, and when we got to the 4th could not resist a look. There was no one about and we were intrigued by the variety of shoes and kneeboots, some with ornate silver and brass fittings, and outside the doors for cleaning. We all looked at one another and grinned with the one idea in mind. We spread the Indian boots and shoes on all 12 floors, as also all those of the other guests, including our own.
Alan was up early, dressed and in socks and demanding a frustrated "boots" ([deleted] or [/deleted] [inserted] a [/inserted] poor young bloke of about 75) to immediately find his new officer issue shoes- thence down to reception to join the queue of protesting guests.
On another occasion we went to Edinburgh, and stayed at the Victoria League Club in Princes Street. When we got in one evening, the hostess asked could we please stay in until lunch time the next day as the Royal Family were coming the next day and wished to meet all Dominion Airman staying there. With tongue in cheek Alan told her that would not be possible as we had arranged an escorted
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trip over the "Bass" brewery next morning. As it was only available once a week , we were sorry we would have to decline the kind invitation to meet the Royal Family. The hostess got on the phone to the manager of the brewery next morning and arranged a "private" tour the following day. Whilst we were waiting Alan introduced me to a Flt/Sgt Groves from Mordialloc. Just then we were asked to form a circle around the room and Alan and I were on either side of this chap. We were wearing name tags and the hostess introduced us all to the King, the Queen, Princess Elizabeth (in A.T.S. uniform) and little Meg, and we shook hands with each. Because of the King's impediment the Queen spoke to each third bod. She asked Ken "Where do you come from Sgt ?" = " Melbourne, Your Majesty" - "Which suburb "? - " Dudley Flats, Your Majesty" - "A lovely area isnt it, Sgt." - "Delightful, your Majesty". It was hard to control our mirth until we were out of earshot. See "Dudley Flats" Photo p.15
The 2 1/2 hours of stooging around the brewery, climbing ladders to look into smelly vats, definitely did not justify the supposed reward of a couple of glasses of free beer.
These stories are inserted to show that whilst we had to take serious risks, work long hours, take enormous responsibilities on young shoulders, we were also [inserted] fun [/inserted] loving boys at heart.
Leeds was a favourite spot for us is was easy to get to on leave at short notice. Also by this time we had found an [underlined] 'old' [/underlined] widow (Mrs Ackeroyd) who lived close into the city and would give us accommodation for a very nominal amount in return for a few food coupons. ‘OLD’ is all in the eye of the beholder. I am probably considerably older now than she was then. Apart from shows, Leeds was the "Black Market" Town of the North. Whilst we did not smoke the four of us always took our weekly ration of a carton of American cigarettes at a nominal fee. On one occasion in Leeds we were able to barter (in a pub) 2 cartons of Camels for a tin of Mushrooms, a tin of tomatoes and 2 Australian peaches (wrapped in cotton wool.) For a couple of days we dreamed of a magnificent feast on these delicacies. Off duty back at Riccall we got on the bikes and toured the
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farms buying eggs. It was highly illegal and we felt the price was exorbitant at three pence each but we eventually got 14 eggs. We obtained a loaf of bread, but how would we ever get butter. ? Alan said “Leave it to me". Next day he was almost hysterical when he turned up with 1/2 lb of butter. He told us he had got up early, gone to the Officers Mess and sat at a table where he knew a number of R.A.F. Instructors usually sat. He read the morning paper, folding part on his lap. He put the butter from the table in the paper on his lap and put the empty butter plate at the far end of the table. When the English Officers arrived he ordered his breakfast, still reading the paper and not involved in conversation. When his breakfast arrived he politely asked one of the R.A.F. Officers would he mind passing the butter please. As there was no butter the Englishman called the stewardess and ticked her off for not putting butter on the table. She said she had put it there. He said she obviously had not. She burst into tears but eventually produced another 1/2 lb. Whilst the English Officers discussed the dreadful proposition of a stewardess trying to pinch butter, Alan ate his breakfast and departed. The lass stopped him in the passage, apologised for crying and said she was grateful that Australian Officers were so kind and understanding, whilst English Officers were so harsh and cruel.
As a crew together we cooked our meal on the pot-bellied coal heater in the middle of our hut, and further cemented our crew relationship.
By mid-January 1945 we had been deemed a crew fully trained and ready for Operations. The only ingredient lacking was experience. We were sent to fill a vacancy on 466 Sqdn RAAF, Driffield. Driffield had been a pre-war ‘drome and "Bulldust Castle”, the living quarters, and all other buildings looked very imposing compared to any other station we had been on. On arrival we had a great feeling of humility, expectation and awe knowing we were the only crew on the Sqdn which had not yet experienced an operation over enemy territory.
Alan did his first operation as second pilot (2nd Dicki) with an experienced crew under the leadership of F/L Bob Molyneaux. (Bob recently retired from C.B.A. Bank and he and his wife Billie have settled in Anglesea).
Alan did another 9 operations as our Crew captain – the last
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being on 3/4 March 1945.
On 1st February, we were at last blooded, doing our first operation as a crew. We were checked into the briefing room by armed guards, the C.O. lifted a blind covering a large Map of Europe. We were to attack a railway junction and marshalling yards at Mainz. The Nav. Leader explained the route and how to gain or lose time if necessary - the bombing Leader described the type and quantity of bombs to be carried, the Met. Officer explained the expected weather and cloud conditions - Bill Harrison, the Intelligence Officer, explained the build up of enemy troops, tanks and equipment in the target area, pointed [deleted] our [/deleted] [inserted] out [/inserted] heavily fortified gun emplacements along the route, to be avoided, and finally eased the tension by giving us the address of Cooks in Mainz so that if we were shot down over target we could go to Cooks and book a trip home. Then a hurried couple of hours on flight planning, a meal, collect parachutes, into a truck and out to our aircraft.
Being a new crew we were allocated the worst aircraft on the Sqdn - K for King. The type of target is briefly described in my log book as Communications. We carried 7000 lbs of High Explosive Bombs. On the route in Alan had great difficulty endeavouring to get the required "revs" out of the engines. Consequently we were slightly behind and remembered all the wall poster warnings about the night fighters picking off the stragglers. Sure enough, Bill Bullen spotted a night fighter stalking us from the Port Quarter Beam. He calmly called out the reducing distances holding off his fire and as it got almost to its firing range and Bill gave the sharp instruction "Down Port - Go." Alan dived sharply to the left. The gunners opened fire as the fighter went over us, not being able to follow us with his extra speed We then rolled to starboard and climbed quickly to our operational height as the force of G hit us all in the tummy. I spent the next 5 minutes crawling around the floor retrieving calculator, protractor, ruler, pencils, etc. Again as a straggler we had trouble avoiding search-lights and anti-aircraft flak having to frequently change our altitude.
Over the target area there was a great amount
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of excited chatter as the gunners and Roger Johns [deleted]t [/deleted] on and Wally described the colourful bombing, the incendiary fires, the aircraft hit by flak and those colliding. I eventually chimed in with "How the bloody hell do you expect me to plot courses out of the target area if you keep gabbling?". Alan demanded quiet and all future reporting was brief and only when necessary. Roger inspected the Bomb Bay and found one bomb had 'hung up'. This necessitated releasing it in an allocated area in the North Sea. Here I had made a 'blue'. It is obvious that the area to drop these bombs would be on our route home and allied shipping would be kept out of that area. I had made an error in writing down the latitude of the bomb disposal area. Over conscientiously I took them 60 miles north of where we should have got rid of it, as Roger went down to release it. With the slow aircraft and me taking us the extra distance we were about 20 minutes late back to base in the old crate.
Neither or these basic errors occurred again and as we went on further operations we kept learning, always asking advice from experienced crews, improving our techniques avoiding the hazards and working better as a team. It was also necessary to develop a good relationship with the mechanics fitters, riggers etc who serviced our aircraft - the cigarettes are handy here.
Our fifth operation (20/2/45) was our most memorable one. Old K for King had oil pressure problems in warm up before take off. We were quickly transferred from the Worst aircraft on the Sqdn to the best. The standby was L for Love - belonging to the C/O, Wing Commander Alan Wharton.
As it turned cut the boffins (planners) goofed on this one. The idea was that the main stream was to bomb a section of the Dortmund- Emms canal. We were in a small group which flew over the main target about 15 minutes before the main stream to give Jerry the impression the target was further East. We flew on past our own target, a synthetic oil refinery at Reisholz with 8000 lb Bomb Load. After about 60 miles we turned back and approached our target. As we came in on our bombing run, from the comments of those looking we were flying into the moon.
We were in a line of four aircraft, almost wing tip to wing tip – two on our left – one on our right – in bright moonlight. We were attacked by ME109 fighters,
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being beautifully silhouetted for them. The bomber on our left dived to Starboard and the one on our right dived to Port, both underneath us. To avoid collision Alan had no option but to calmly continue, straight and level, and drop our bombs and cop it sweet from the fighter attacking us. An oil line was severed on the Starboard Outer engine and Alan had to feather it. Shortly after the Starboard Inner also gave up the ghost and Alan had to work frantically adjusting trim etc. Bill Bullen reported that a shell had gone right through his turret, front and back, about 1/2" above his head. The turret could not turn hydraulicly but "not to worry" he could turn it manually.
Greg Dixon and I saw out for the first time on an operation as a shell had grazed down the port side of the aircraft taking a 6" strip off the fuselage. Wally went on an inspection tour and reported the Elsom [sic] (Toilet-Can) had been blown to bits and the interior of the aircraft would scarcely pass examination by a Health Inspector.
Roger Johnson reported there was a 1000 lb bomb stuck in the bomb-bay and Alan found the hydraulics would not open the bomb-bay doors.
Wally Welch got busy transferring fuel from the Starboard Tanks to the Port Tanks. Alan kept coaxing L for Love along as we gradually lost altitude. Over the North Sea the Port Inner seized and [inserted] had [/inserted] to be feathered.
There was a crash drome near FLAMBOROUGH Head but not one of us questioned Alan's decision to return to Driffield or his ability to land on one engine with a 1000 lb bomb. He also found the hydraulics would not operate the [deleted] oboe [/deleted] [inserted] oleo [/inserted] legs (landing wheels). Control asked us to circle whilst more ambulances and fire carts were lined up. Keeping Wally to assist him Alan ordered the rest of the crew into the centre of the aircraft and to brace themselves against struts and bulkheads as firmly as possible to avoid breakage of limbs. He put her down beautifully [inserted] on her belly [/inserted] on the tarmac and seeing the sparks flying I
wondered whether the bomb would blow or the fuel ignite and we all made a hasty exit.
At this stage Alan Shelton was regarded around the squadron as a quiet, friendly, likeable young pilot, improving with experience. After this incident his stocks
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improved considerably and every one on the base became aware of him as they all went to have a look at the wreck. Air crew and ground staff - fitters, cooks, riggers, drivers, armourers, clerks - came and shook us all by the hand. Certainly Alan took a bit of ribbing for "writing off" the C.O's aircraft but the friendliness and admiration were gratifying.
We then then did 3 daylight operations - a different ball game. The second of these was to a synthetic Oil Refinery at Kamen to the North of the Ruhr Valley. The Germans apparently foxed us with camauflage [sic] and we evidently bombed a mocked up [deleted] facemile [/deleted] [inserted] FACSIMILE [/inserted] .
There was another abortive attack on Kamen in which we had no part. On the night of the 3rd March we set off on a more successful raid on this Oil Refinery.
It started with the usual joint crew briefings, explanations of target, hazards that might be encountered, type and weight of bombs to be carried, met. intelligence, etc. Thence to our individual sections for flight planning, off to the Mess for eggs and bacon and our chocolate ration for the trip. (Eggs and chocolate were on strict ration, available only to aircrew on a trip and expectant mothers.)
A rush to collect our parachutes and the cheerful lasses pointing out the large Wall Sketch with the caption: "It wont [sic] mean a thing, if you don’t [sic] pull the string" Near the parachute section was the Chapel and Fr. Baron our chaplain (from Lancashire) always waited in case we had the time to slip in. On this night Alan, Roger, Wilf Tobin (also shot down that night), several others and myself slipped in for less than a minute, received a General Absolution and Holy Communion.
The trip itself was undoubtedly the most uneventful we had encountered to date. We were fairly relaxed as we crossed the coast and were very surprised when the gunners reported a heavy barrage of Anti Aircraft fire from our own Coastal Batteries. We immediately correctly assumed that there were intruders in our midst and I gave Alan a course to take us directly to Driffield. This took us close to the Leconfield Airfield Circuit which we were supposed to give a wide miss.
We were the second aircraft back to Base. As we were on our landing approach, Joe Moss landed. Unfortunately
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one of his engines caught fire and he went into standard procedures to quell the fire. As we were about to touch down (Joe had not given the 'Runway Clear' call) Control called "Braemar to Rudkin Charlie - Overshoot ". Alan instinctively obeyed the command, gunned the motors to full revs; [deleted] replying [/deleted] “Runway Clear ", called Joe – alas too late for us.
The crew members who occupied the nose, Roger Johnson, Greg Dixon and I, always had to come back to benches in the centre of the aircraft for landing. It was called the "rest position".
Alan had to fly to an allocated height and rejoin the queue for landing. When we were instructed to land we approached once again. As we got down to about 200 feet the lights went out and with it an urgent message from control "Braemar to all Rudkin Aircraft - Scramble - Intr[deleted] e [/deleted] uders".
As Alan climbed again he urgently requested me to return to my navigation table and give him a course to another drome. In my haste I left my parachute in the 'rest position' - a mistake which undoubtedly saved my life.
As we were flying roughly West we went to dromes in that direction and found all three we went to blacked out. With the extra take offs we had used more fuel than normal and Wally warned we were getting very low. We decided to gain height to a safe 4000’, turn to the East, bale out and let the aircraft crash in the sea.
As we turned on to 90 o we were unfortunate enough to fly into the firing line of a Junkers 88 night fighter. The radial engines of a Halifax present a lighted circle from the front at night. It was relatively easy for the Hun to shoot out the four engines, a target rarely presented to him. Alan gave us the order to Bale Out, wishing us good luck very calmly and said he would try to control the kite. Under my chair was the front hatch which those crew members in the forward position were supposed to use to escape. I had to climb over 2 bulkheads to get to my 'chute. When I got to the mid hatch it was already open as Roger Laing had gone out. Wally Welsh was standing there looking at the flames. I pushed him out and followed immediately pulling my rip -cord as I went.
Wally must have waited to ensure he was clear of the tail-plane. His parachute had opened but did not break his fall, indicating he was under the safety limit of 800’ when he pulled it.
After my first headlong rush downwards, it was a
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relief in the darkness to feel the jolt as the parachute filled with air and I found myself sitting in the harness. I looked up and saw a bomber attacked and blow up. I was counting the parachutes opening when I hit the deck reasonably gently, as I was in a fallowed paddock.
After a fairly eventful night we [deleted] all [/deleted] [inserted] three [/inserted] arrived back at Driffield the next afternoon. We were grounded for some time and flew on one more operation on Anzac Day 1945, with a crew of four other 'odd bods'.
Bill Bullen was killed in the early fifties, after buying a saw mill at Beaufort. He was felling a tree and it crushed him. I saw Roger Laing in 1946 and 1947 but on my last couple of trips to Adelaide some years ago, I was unable to trace him.
Alan Shelton was a very likeable young man who got along with all and sundry. He had a very keen sense of humour - often concealed by asking a seemingly naive question which produced a hasty reply. He loved to make people 'bite'. He was healthy of body and mind, and clean of body and mind.
He was calm in everything he did even in his last moments. It was a pleasure to work with him and under him, as it was to enjoy his companionship. He was always quietly confident in his own ability and let each of his crew feel he had complete confidence in them. Mercifully Alan would have died on impact and would not have suffered.
This has been written on the days of Nov 1 and 2 It raises the thought that All Saints Day honors [sic] all the people who have made the grade into Heaven without being canonised - millions upon millions through history.
On All Souls Day we pray for the repose of the souls of our relatives and friends.
My final tribute to Alan Shelton is to suggest to his family that, instead of praying for him, they might try praying to him.
Pat Hogan
2/11/1980.
P.S. Alan, Roger and Greg were buried at Harrogate, Yorkshire. Wally was buried at Weymouth, Dorset, where his parents retired.
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Title
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Pat Hogan's recollection of events on 3/4 March 1945 written to a relative of Flying Officer Alan Shelton
Description
An account of the resource
Recounts his attendance at an annual RAAF Air Crew Europe Dinner in September 1979 where the quest speaker was Donald Bennett. He then recounts his activities and training from July 1944 at Lichfield where he was crewed up and subsequently Church Broughton. He writes about visiting parts of United Kingdom on leave and of his other activities including meeting the royal family. Continues with his eventual posting to 466 Squadron at RAF Driffield and accounts of the crews first operations. There follows a long accent of the crew's last operation where on return the were diverted owing to German intruder aircraft in the area. Their aircraft was attacked by a Ju-88 and he had to bail out. He and another two crew survived. He continues with a tribute to crew member Alan Shelton. Ends with b/w photograph of a man sitting in front of a hut from the Melbourne Heralds Sun newspaper - reference meeting the Royal family on page 7.
Creator
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P J Hogan
Date
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1980-11-02
Format
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Fifteen page printed document
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
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SHoganPJ436464v20009
Coverage
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Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
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Great Britain
England--Staffordshire
England--Lichfield
England--Derbyshire
England--Yorkshire
Germany
Germany--Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate)
England--Selby
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Kamen
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-11
1980-10-12
1980-11-02
1944-07
1945-01
1945-02-01
1945-02-20
1945-03-03
1945-03-04
Contributor
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Peter Bradbury
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IBCC Digital Archive
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
466 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bale out
Bennett, Donald Clifford Tyndall (1910-1986)
bomb aimer
bombing
briefing
crewing up
Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain (1926 - 2022)
entertainment
faith
final resting place
George VI, King of Great Britain (1895-1952)
Halifax
Halifax Mk 3
home front
Ju 88
killed in action
Me 109
military living conditions
military service conditions
navigator
pilot
RAF Acaster Malbis
RAF Church Broughton
RAF Driffield
RAF Lichfield
sanitation
shot down
training
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31991/SHoganPJ436464v20014.2.jpg
5ad897048e9c7784e28168e321a540cb
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
Hogan, P J
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
2017-12-05
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Ninety-six items and a sub-collection with twenty two items..
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Pat Hogan (436464 Royal Australian Air Force) and contains letters home to his family, his flying log book, accounts of his aircraft being shot down and him baling out, official documents, certificates and photographs.
He flew operations as a navigator with 466 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Elizabeth Anne Lusby 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
Certificate of Service
Description
An account of the resource
For Pat Hogan in Royal Australian Air Force from 15 January 1943 to 23 February 1946.
Format
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One page printed document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
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SHoganPJ436464v20014
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 Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Australia
Victoria--Bendigo
Western Australia--Perth
Victoria
Western Australia
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-01-15
1946-02-26
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.
466 Squadron
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31992/SHoganPJ436464v30005-0001.2.jpg
77ef0fd199f63f8e4f4540ef849ddbf0
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31992/SHoganPJ436464v30005-0002.2.jpg
3cb9494ae25e27c4de3bd8154ece2a4f
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
Hogan, P J
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Ninety-six items and a sub-collection with twenty two items..
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Pat Hogan (436464 Royal Australian Air Force) and contains letters home to his family, his flying log book, accounts of his aircraft being shot down and him baling out, official documents, certificates and photographs.
He flew operations as a navigator with 466 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Elizabeth Anne Lusby and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] Report on Loss of Aircraft on Operations. [/underlined]
[underlined] Aircraft: [/underlined] Halifax III. NR. 179. 'C' of No: 466 Squadron.
[underlined] Date: [/underlined] 3/4th March, 1945. [underlined] Target. [/underlined] KAMEN.
[underlined] Special Equipment. [/underlined] H.2.S – Fishpond – Nitrogen filled petrol tanks.
[underlined] Cause of loss. [/underlined] – Fighter attack (intruders).
[underlined] Information from: [/underlined]
A. 136464 F/Sgt. P. HOGAN – Navigator.
A. 431933 F/Sgt. V. BULLEN. - Rear Gunner.
A. 115148 F/Sgt. G. LAING. - Mid Upper Gnr.
[underlined] Other members of crew: [/underlined]
A. 428602 F/O A.P. SHELTON – Pilot. Killed.
A. 437965 F/Sgt. R.R. JOHNSON. - Bomb Aimer. Killed.
A. 428968 F/Sgt. G.N. DIXON. - W/Operator. Killed
1606174 Sgt. W.E. WELSH. - F/Engineer. Killed
This crew were on their 10th Operational sortie.
[underlined] Narrative: [/underlined]
During the sortie, prevailing winds had been slightly different from forecast and this had necessitated the use of increased speed and greater fuel consumption. [indecipherable word] was reached at 6,000ft. And navigation lights were switched on. Height was lost down to 3,000ft. at the Wash, and a large amount of enemy fighter activity was seen over Norfolk. All lights, including resin lights, were therefore switched off.
2. On arrival at base airfield (Driffield), Flying Control gave instructions for aircraft lights to be dim, and for this aircraft to circle at 1,700ft. Later the aircraft was called down to 1,400ft, and finally given “prepare to land”. However, when approaching the funnel Flying Control did not give permission to land and the aircraft had to overshoot. The Pilot went round again, was given permission to land, and then when at 150ft. On R/T to proceed on a dog leg.
3. The Pilot climbed to 1,500ft. And flew West towards Pocklington on a Gee lattice line. The flight Engineer reported only 16 minutes endurance left and the Pilot therefore climbed up to 4,000ft. In case the aircraft had to be abandoned. The Bomb Aimer was in the nose and he reported a fighter coming from the port bow down. The Mid Upper gunner swing [sic] his guns in this direction but was unable to get a visual and the next moment the fighter opened fire. Fishpond was not in [indecipherable word].
4. Events then happened with great rapidity and in the opinion of a witness on the ground only 30/40 seconds elapsed between the bomber being set on fire and the subsequent crash. The Mid Upper gunner stated that both port engines were on fire. The H2S. modulator received a direct hit and the port side of the fuselage forward of the rear exit was set alight. The Navigator, who was at his table, saw a strike on the fuselage just above his table. The Aircraft went fairly quickly into a dive to port and the Pilot gave emergency bale out instructions.
5. The Mid Upper Gunner opened the rear exit door with difficulty and taking his helmet off, left head first. He was wearing suede boots and made a heavy landing in a field, a lightly spraining his ankle,
/over..
[page break]
6. The Navigator had to return to the rest position to recover his parachute. He passed The Bomb Aimer who, with his parachute on, was making for the front hatch. On reaching the rear exit the Flight Engineer was in front of the Navigator but delayed jumping and the Navigator left first. He left feet first and made a clean exit, although the aircraft by this time was in a dive. He made a good landing although he had left at very low height.
7. The Rear Gunner turned his guns to port and had difficulty to keep the port door open as the slip stream blew it back. He was wearing suede boots, size 10 and is right foot caught between the knee guard and the box under his seat. The aircraft was in a steep dive and flames were around the turret when he finally extricated himself by pulling his right foot out of his boot. He pulled the ‘D’ ring quickly but made a very heavy landing and was knocked out, but sustained no serious injuries.
8. All the other members of the crew were killed. The Flight Engineer was the only other member of the crew to leave the aircraft but he apparently left at too low an altitude. The Pilot had fitted his chest type parachute on as soon as the flight Engineer had warned of petrol shortage.
9. The Rear gunner stated that exit from the rear turret should be made easier and suggest the fitting of a saddle type seat which would occupy less space.
[underlined] 4G/221/9/1/Int.
28th. March 1945 [/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
Report on loss of aircraft on operations
Description
An account of the resource
Gives account of Halifax of 466 Squadron in which P J Hogan was navigator being shot down by German intruder aircraft on night 3/4 March 1945. The navigator and two gunners baled out successfully. The engineer left the aircraft but his parachute did not open and he was killed along with the other members of the crew.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-03-28
Format
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Two page typewritten document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Service material
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SHoganPJ436464v30005
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 Australian Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Yorkshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-03-03
1944-03-04
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jan Waller
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.
466 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bale out
bomb aimer
flight engineer
Halifax
Halifax Mk 3
killed in action
navigator
pilot
RAF Driffield
RAF Pocklington
shot down
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31994/SHoganPJ436464v30004.2.pdf
c009afc9202c6f751eeda05fc8efa512
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
Hogan, P J
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
2017-12-05
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Ninety-six items and a sub-collection with twenty two items..
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Pat Hogan (436464 Royal Australian Air Force) and contains letters home to his family, his flying log book, accounts of his aircraft being shot down and him baling out, official documents, certificates and photographs.
He flew operations as a navigator with 466 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Elizabeth Anne Lusby and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] PAT HOGAN [/underlined]
As we crossed the coast at Orfordness, Norfolk I suppose you’d call it, the gunners reported heavy ack-ack and we immediately deduced that there must be intruders because whenever we crossed the English coast going in or out the pilot had to immediately switch on a radar device called IFF, Identification Friend or Foe. With all the ack-ack activity which the gunners reported we deduced that there were intruders with us, and according to the planning we had to fly well in West and then come back North East to Driffield to dodge other airfields. And the pilot, Alan Shelton, and myself decided that we’d head straight for home, and we skirted Leconfield, the nearest ‘drome to us, and we were the first aircraft back, Joe Moss, an engine caught fire as he landed and he went into a fire drill and didn’t call “Runway clear”, and we were directed to overshoot. And then, having done that, a lot of other aircraft had arrived back and been put into the circuit, so we had to go up to the top and work our way down. And the next time we worked our way down, once again we were coming to the perimeter fence when the lights went out and the intruders were there and we were just told to go wherever we could.
For any landing the three crew members in the nose, the Wireless Operator, the Bombaimer, and the Navigator, had to come out of the nose and sit on a bench in the centre of the aircraft which they called the Rest Position in case the oleolegs collapsed on landing. We went back there for the two aborted landings, and when we were told to overshoot a second time, and the lights had gone out, the pilot said, “Get down to your table quickly and give us a course to somewhere.” And I rushed down and made the so-called error of leaving my parachute back on the Rest Position, which probably saved my life in the end.
We went to about four ‘dromes – the one I went first to was slightly south of west called Burn, and then we went to Pocklington, but with the wind a headwind and not as predicted, and with the two aborted landings and increased power for take-offs where the pilot had to open the throttles to full to get off we obviously used up a fair lot of juice, and the Engineer gave us a warning that we had only a few minutes flying time left. So Alan decided to climb to 4,000 feet. We were down at deck level sort of going from ‘drome to ‘drome to try and keep away from the Junkers. We couldn’t find a ‘drome with lights on. Strangely enough all the ones who went north were able to get down. As we got to 4,000 feet the idea was to head it east so it wouldn’t land on any houses or towns. As we turned east unfortunately we ran straight into a Junkers who was down below us. We didn’t see him until the Bombaimer reported him as he fired and shot out the two port engines, and we went into a spiral [inserted one indecipherable word] port. The pilot, Alan, tried to hang on to it, to get us out as he ordered us to bale out. Then I suddenly realized that I
[centred] 1 [/centred]
[page break]
hadn’t got my parachute, and I told the bombaimer that he’d have to open the door that was under my chair, the front escape hatch, and then I had to get up the steps, over one bulkhead, to get my papachute, and then over the second bulkhead. The mid-upper gunner had gone out the rear hatch on the port side and it was still open. It was all in flames and the Engineer was sort of standing there and looking at the flames. I shoved him out; the rear gunner had gone out through the rear turret – he was a big fellow for a gunner, ex-infantry, size ten boots, he got his foot caught under the chair – they could swing their turret around 180 degrees and get out; and going down with flames all round him, he decided to pull his parachute and his foot pulled out of the boot. He sprained his ankle, but the two gunners were able to talk to one another on the way down. They each made the bank of a little creek – they called it a river – the mid-upper gunner eventually found a tree with a branch about 20 feet up which went acroos[sic] and he jumped from there and sprained [underlined] his [/underlined] ankle.
It was hard to identify the Fight[sic] Engineer the next day. His parachute had opened but not broken his fall. He was 18 or 19 years-old; I had just pushed him out of the rear hatch. He obviously had no realization of the height, whereas I had an altimter[sic] in front of me. I knew that we were getting pretty low. I think he must have counted before he went out to make sure that he was clear of the tail fins. I went out last.
As my parachute broke my fall – it was pitch dark – I was looking up, counting the bods out, I counted six coming out of an aircraft above me when I hit the deck, which was a fallow paddock. I was coming down at normal speed probably only during the last 50 feet.
The next day I could only identify the Engineer by his ring and his white curly hair; his limbs had come away from his body and so on. I’m a bit vague on all the now.
From where I landed I walked towards where I heard a dog barking and got to a little farm cottage. I kept throwing pebbles up to a top window, and a Yorkie, very dumb farmer’s labourer, put his head out. I could make no sense out of him at all, so I walked up the road and I heard some voices – two blokes in a ditch on the side of the road, and they kept yakking about rockets that they’d read about in the papers, and I said, “It’s not rockets, it’s some intruders”, I said, “Do you live around here?”, and they said, “Yes, off the road, just back there, in a house”. I said, “Have you got families?”. And they said, “Yes”. And I said, “Well, where are they?”. And they said, “Oh, back in the house.” I said, “What are you doing down here?”. They said, “We’re not going to stay up there while there are rockets around.” I said, “You don’t have to worry about them. Take me back there”.
We went back to their house and I asked if I could ring the
[centred] 2 [/centred]
[page break]
Squadron. And they asked, have you got any money on you? You might think that strange, but the way the British government abused the farmers, took all their produce from for practically nothing, and these two families are trying to struggle … I had my hands burned, so I said, “Well, I’m not supposed to carry anything but look through my pockets, and they found a shilling, and I said, I’ll reverse the phone call, and I reversed the phone call and got Alan Wharton who was trying to shut up the noise all around him, all the excitement going around. I said, I’m fairly certain the gunners got out, and I pushed the Engineer out, and he put a notice on the board apparently, “Gunners and Navigator O.K.; query the rest.” And he said, “Where are you?”, and I said, ”Buggered if I know”, and he said, “Well, how can I come and get you?” I said, “Forget about it, I’ll look after myself”. Then I asked for a drink at this place, and they got me some milk and said, “Have you got any money?”. I got them to go through my pockets and they found a shilling. It was an eerie feeling. The two women were in heavy nightdresses, and all down the stairs of the two families were kids with their heads through the rails of the banisters. So then I took off down the road, and I heard a car coming, no lights, and I blew my air-sea-rescue whistle as the bloke went past and he pulled up, and he was the fire officer of the district. All around the horizon there were aircraft burning, and the rat-tat-tat of the ammunition belts was making this noise of gunfire. We drove to the first aircraft, and there was a French mob there that had just emptied their foam onto it, and another fire truck wa[sic] arriving, and this District Fire Officer said, “Oh, I’ll be here all night. You’d better go back with them, meaning the Frenchmen. I went with these Frenchmen in the fire cart and they’re going like buggery, they’re going over narrow bridges, scraping both sides, with a right-hand turn at the end of the bridge, scraping the houses. And I ended up at this French ‘drome, and the girl who interviewd[sic] me, a Flight Officer with two rings, she kept saying, “You’re very calm, Aussie.” And she was in a hell of a state because her faince,[sic] who was on the last trip of his third tour, was probably the sixth one in the aircraft from which I’d counted the parachutes. She knew he was dead. The doctor then dug me in the ribs and said, “Drink this”. He handed me a big NAAFI cup and I took a big swig and it was neat rum, nearly ripped the top of my head off. He ended up making me drink three of these, then he took me away, dressed my hands, and put me in the hospital. I’d burned them opening the hatch, and pushing Wally there.
The shock hit me after a couple of days, but it wasn’t too bad. I went on with 466 for another three months when it was nade[sic] a transport unit. All this happened on our tenth op. The pilot, bombaimer, and wireless operator were all my closest mates – we did everything together but none of them got out – two were from Melbourne, one Sydney. They were in the nose, the frame would have been twisted and it would have been impossible to get out that way. Another got shot down from 466 – they all got out but their aircraft lobbed on a
[centred] 3 [/centred]
farmhouse and killed two people. Al Schrank was the pilot. One person was saved from the farmhouse, but Al then had to survive the trauma of going to the Coroner’s Court and found found[sic] that the third one had died. Greg Dixon, from Chstswood,[sic] Sydney, killed… I caught up with his sister the last re-union, Sydnay, for the first time since I went there just after the War, Bill Bullen[?], the rear gunner, he was from Bendigo, killed in a sawmill acident[sic], approximately 1953 I would think. Roger … Roger rang me last night, from Katherine. He reckons Alice Springs is too cold for him at the moment. He’s had pneumonia twice. Adelaide he came from. Wally Welsh, I went to his village, Piddlehampton, found a couple of his cousins still there. (VOICE BREAKING). He was the Engineer. Roger Johnson’s mother was a big shareholder in Holeproof, he was doing medicine too (like Alan Shelton), he’d done two years engineering, then one year medicine, he was the Bombaimer.
I think the first five trips we did on operations were the shakiest, mainly because the aircraft they gave us for the first four trips couldn’t keep up, which meant you got there late and you got the fighter attacks. Then I made a blue on my first trip; we had a bomb hung up and I took them 60 miles north to drop it, when the obvious thing is you drop it on the way home, you drop it in the sea – they keep the shipping away. On our fifth trip the oil presure[sic] in one engine wouldn’t come up to the expectations – they switched us over to the C.O.’s aircraft, which was the standby aircraft, a brand new one, and the boffins had made an error. The main stream were on the Dortmund/Ems Canal, we went out before them and flew over their target, then went along and 60 miles past ours and then came back, but we were silhouetted against the moon, four of us wingtip to wingtip approachong[sic] the target, and when the ME109s got on to us, the one on our portside took evasive action to starboard, and the one on our starboard side to port, and both came underneath use, and we had to sit there and take it. We got a lot of shells; it was the only time I saw out, I think, when there was a strip off down the side. A shell had just missed the rear gunner by about half an inch of his head, but it had hit the Elsan cans and spread shit from one of the aircraft to the other and stank like hall; one engine went out then, and coming across France another engine went out, and over the North Sea another engine cut out, and we had a 1,000 pound bomb hung up that night too, and the hydraulics weren’t working, we couldn’t get the bomb doors open so the Bombaimer couldn’t free it, then we had to belly land with a thousand pound bomb alongside the runway on the grass, but we were told to fly around. And the Engineer’s working like hell, pumping petrol from one tank to another to keep this engine going. They told us to keep circling while a lot of fire carts and ambulances lined up, and then lying and waiting with your feet braced against these bulkheads, your imagination running wild that the bomb might go off and, if you want, catching fire, and seeing the sparks as the belly hit the deck. We got out of that very quickly. February 20th 1945 was the date of the fatal trip.
[centred] 4 [/centred]
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
Pat Hogan's account of being shot down and baling out
Description
An account of the resource
Pat Hogan's account of being shot down and baling out when his aircraft was attacked by an intruder while back in United Kingdom. Aircraft was diverted due to intruder and was nearly out of fuel. After order to bale out Hogan had to go back to get his parachute. The rear and mid-upper gunners had left the aircraft. The engineer left the aircraft but his parachute did not open. Gives account of events after reaching the ground on bale out. Writes of the effect that the accident had on him and about his crew mates and friends. Relates story of another squadron aircraft that crashed in United Kingdom killing two people in a farm house. Writes about his first five operations.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
P J Hogan
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four page printed document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SHoganPJ436464v30004
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 Australian Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Yorkshire
Germany
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-03-03
1945-03-04
1945-02-20
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
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.
466 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bale out
bomb aimer
bombing
flight engineer
forced landing
killed in action
Me 109
navigator
pilot
RAF Driffield
sanitation
shot down