1
25
112
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1921/41094/PHenningtonAJM17060009.2.jpg
3a9e59d110d2b854e1bfb7c48b60f3ee
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1921/41094/PHenningtonAJM17060010.2.jpg
4ab3f543a488bd74b1759c677f02f626
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
Henington, A J M
Henington, Albert John Maurice
Bertie Henington
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
2017-08-10
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Henington, AJM
Description
An account of the resource
32 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Albert John Maurice Henington (1604946, 154960 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, diary, photographs and documents. He flew operations as a navigator with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by John Tim Henington MBE and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Bertie Henington's decorations
Description
An account of the resource
Photographs of Bertie's Medal with a slip authorising him to wear the medals - 1939/45 Star, France & Germany Star and Defence Medal.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Physical object
Physical object. Decoration
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two colour photographs
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHenningtonAJM17060008, PHenningtonAJM17060009
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
97 Squadron
RAF Coningsby
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1921/41092/PHenningtonAJM17060006.2.jpg
d524cbfc57d053ad3da1abd54dc122aa
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
Henington, A J M
Henington, Albert John Maurice
Bertie Henington
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
2017-08-10
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Henington, AJM
Description
An account of the resource
32 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Albert John Maurice Henington (1604946, 154960 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, diary, photographs and documents. He flew operations as a navigator with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by John Tim Henington MBE and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Bertie Henington and Crew
Description
An account of the resource
The crew of seven under the nose of their Lancaster JB663 ZN-A, 'King of the Air'. On the nose is an eagle and a large number of operations recorded. In the background a bicycle and a hangar.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHenningtonAJM17060006
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Stilgoe
106 Squadron
97 Squadron
aircrew
hangar
Lancaster
nose art
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1921/41090/PHenningtonAJM17060001.2.jpg
66b786b74bab05d04cfecb6b64adc624
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1921/41090/PHenningtonAJM17060002.2.jpg
0027c62d449850e82553723d20cf9efd
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1921/41090/PHenningtonAJM17060003.2.jpg
fa9e3d89326692a57e640738e5609385
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
Henington, A J M
Henington, Albert John Maurice
Bertie Henington
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
2017-08-10
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Henington, AJM
Description
An account of the resource
32 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Albert John Maurice Henington (1604946, 154960 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, diary, photographs and documents. He flew operations as a navigator with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by John Tim Henington MBE and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
97 Squadron Group Photograph
Description
An account of the resource
Three photographs of the left, centre and right of a squadron group identified as 97 Squadron. A dog mascot is front and centre.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three b/w photographs
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHenningtonAJM17060001, PHenningtonAJM17060002, PHenningtonAJM17060003
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
97 Squadron
aircrew
animal
ground crew
ground personnel
Lancaster
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/636/40428/SRoyallGL1801494v10079.1.jpg
cb42631fca5a5659584e70612d3591be
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/636/40428/SRoyallGL1801494v10080.1.jpg
cb5bfcaf5669a022e200746072c068a7
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
Royall, George
G Royall
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Royall, G
Description
An account of the resource
46 items. An oral history interview with Warrant Officer George Royall (1801494 Royal Air Force) his flying log book, photographs, correspondence, course notes, examinations, newspapers and parts of magazines. He served as a bomb aimer on 166 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by George Royall and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-07-20
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Aircraft of Bomber Command completing more than 100 operations
Description
An account of the resource
First page lists 13 lancasters and one Halifax by registration number and gives the number of operations flown, the squadrons they belonged to and their fate (disposal).
Second page lists a further 22 Lancasters by registration number only.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Personal research
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page type-written document
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Royall, George. No 166 Squadron
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SRoyallGL1801494v10079, SRoyallGL1801494v10080
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
100 Squadron
101 Squadron
103 Squadron
15 Squadron
156 Squadron
158 Squadron
166 Squadron
467 Squadron
50 Squadron
550 Squadron
576 Squadron
61 Squadron
7 Squadron
83 Squadron
97 Squadron
bombing
Halifax
Lancaster
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/636/40415/SRoyallGL1801494v10039-51.2.pdf
6f430a2711cd739e7bd8e60657eec07b
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
Royall, George
G Royall
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Royall, G
Description
An account of the resource
46 items. An oral history interview with Warrant Officer George Royall (1801494 Royal Air Force) his flying log book, photographs, correspondence, course notes, examinations, newspapers and parts of magazines. He served as a bomb aimer on 166 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by George Royall and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-07-20
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
Lancasters issued to No. 166 squadron between September 1943 and April 1945
Description
An account of the resource
12 pages listing 204 aircraft that were flown by No. 166 Squadron. Six columns record each aircraft's registration number, the date received, where it came from, the code letters and details of it's loss or disposal. For some aircraft the number of hours flown is also recorded. The list is ordered by registration number. There are eight addenda, each giving further details about an individual aircraft and it's crew. The cover page has an image of a Lancaster carrying the code letters of No. 166 Squadron.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Twenty-one pages printed document
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Royall, George. No 166 Squadron
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SRoyallGL1801494v10039-51
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-09
1943-10
1943-11
1943-12
1944-01
1944-02
1944-03
1944-04
1944-05
1944-06
1944-07
1944-08
1944-09
1944-10
1944-11
1944-12
1945-01
1944-02
1944-03
1944-04
1944-05
1944-07
1944-12
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
France
France--Abbeville
France--Aube
France--Aubigny-sur-Nère
France--Calais
France--Dieppe
France--Poitiers
France--Saint-Cyr-l'École
France--Saint-Dizier (Haute-Marne)
France--Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
France--Thoiry (Yvelines)
Great Britain
England--Essex
England--Maldon
England--Lincolnshire
England--Barnetby le Wold
England--Barton-upon-Humber
England--Brigg
England--Caistor (Rural District)
England--Lincoln
England--Market Rasen
England--Nottinghamshire
Germany
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Diepholz
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Freiburg im Breisgau
Germany--Geilenkirchen
Germany--Gerolstein
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Hennef-Sieg
Germany--Lehnin (Kloster Lehnin)
Germany--Mönchengladbach
Germany--Nordstemmen
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Steinheim (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Germany--Treuenbrietzen
Germany--Welver
Germany--Westerburg
Netherlands
Netherlands--Apeldoorn
Netherlands--Nijmegen
Netherlands--Oisterwijk
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Personal research
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription
Pending review
100 Squadron
101 Squadron
103 Squadron
12 Squadron
153 Squadron
1656 HCU
166 Squadron
1660 HCU
1667 HCU
300 Squadron
460 Squadron
49 Squadron
550 Squadron
57 Squadron
576 Squadron
97 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
bale out
bomb aimer
bomb struck
Bombing of Mailly-le-Camp (3/4 May 1944)
bombing of Nuremberg (30 / 31 March 1944)
Conspicuous Gallantry Medal
crash
final resting place
flight engineer
forced landing
Fw 190
Heavy Conversion Unit
Hurricane
Ju 88
killed in action
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Me 109
Me 110
mid-air collision
mine laying
navigator
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Operation Dodge (1945)
pilot
prisoner of war
RAF Bradwell Bay
RAF Coningsby
RAF Hemswell
RAF Kirmington
RAF Leeming
RAF Lindholme
RAF Manston
RAF Syerston
RAF Woodbridge
shot down
tactical support for Normandy troops
take-off crash
training
V-1
V-weapon
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/636/40412/SRoyallGL1801494v10003.1.jpg
b3f0a7b90ba6c20cf497ba406cdcba4f
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/636/40412/SRoyallGL1801494v10004.1.jpg
647c69ad84a9d01a7b1a4e38641abdb7
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/636/40412/SRoyallGL1801494v10005.1.jpg
3034e0690253edfbce602ffd42043ddc
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
Royall, George
G Royall
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Royall, G
Description
An account of the resource
46 items. An oral history interview with Warrant Officer George Royall (1801494 Royal Air Force) his flying log book, photographs, correspondence, course notes, examinations, newspapers and parts of magazines. He served as a bomb aimer on 166 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by George Royall and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-07-20
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
No 166 Squadron history
Description
An account of the resource
A three-page potted account of the squadron's history.
Page one begins with the reformation of the squadron in 1936 and gives details of the aircraft operated, the stations flown from and the roles the squadron played in training and operations.
Page two describes three miscellaneous incidents that occurred on the squadron, including one where the mid-upper gunner accidentally shot and killed the rear gunner.
Page three contains details about three notable Lancasters.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1936-11
1938-06
1939-05
1940-04
1943-01-27
1943-01-28
1943-01-29
1943-01-30
1943-05
1943-09-20
1943-10-18
1943-11-22
1944-04-10
1944-06-26
1944-06-27
1944-10-07
1944-11-10
1945-04-24
1945-05-07
1945-08-20
1945-09-28
1945-02-20
1947-01-08
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
France--Lorient
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Oxfordshire
Germany
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Kassel
Netherlands
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Personal research
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three-page printed document
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Royall, George. No 166 Squadron
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SRoyallGL1801494v10003, SRoyallGL1801494v10004, SRoyallGL1801494v10005
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
10 OTU
103 Squadron
142 Squadron
150 Squadron
153 Squadron
1656 HCU
166 Squadron
550 Squadron
576 Squadron
97 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
bombing
crash
Heavy Conversion Unit
killed in action
Lancaster
mine laying
Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945)
Operational Training Unit
RAF Abingdon
RAF Kirmington
RAF North Killingholme
RAF Scampton
take-off crash
training
Wellington
Whitley
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1465/38909/PSawKC1501.2.jpg
82d822305601d1fe14d10f0db026c209
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
Saw, Kenneth
K C Saw
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-11-02
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Saw, KC
Description
An account of the resource
Seven items. The collection concerns Kenneth Charles Saw DFM, (632221, 55612 Royal Air Force). He flew as an air gunner with 97 Squadron before retraining as a pilot and gaining a commission. Collection contains official documents, record of his operation, citation for award of DFM, a squadron crest and a notebook cover for information on German ordnance.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Tony Saw 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
97 Squadron crest
Description
An account of the resource
Vertical arrow through circle. Moto - achieve your aim.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Artwork
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Colour squadron crest
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PSawKC1501
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
97 Squadron
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1465/38906/MSawKC55612-151102-02.1.jpg
89af86f5c2310f9e878cec857c94ea91
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
Saw, Kenneth
K C Saw
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-11-02
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Saw, KC
Description
An account of the resource
Seven items. The collection concerns Kenneth Charles Saw DFM, (632221, 55612 Royal Air Force). He flew as an air gunner with 97 Squadron before retraining as a pilot and gaining a commission. Collection contains official documents, record of his operation, citation for award of DFM, a squadron crest and a notebook cover for information on German ordnance.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Tony Saw 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
Details of sorties carried out with 97 Squadron
Description
An account of the resource
Lists 35 successful operational sorties between 7 November 1941 and 15 November 1942.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-11-07
1941-12-07
1941-12-18
1942-01-10
1942-05-08
1942-05-19
1942-05-22
1942-05-29
1942-06-01
1942-06-25
1942-07-11
1942-07-23
1942-07-25
1942-07-26
1942-07-29
1942-08-11
1942-08-12
1942-08-15
1942-08-17
1942-08-24
1942-08-27
1942-09-01
1942-09-04
1942-09-06
1942-09-08
1942-09-10
1942-09-14
1942-10-02
1942-10-06
1942-10-12
1942-10-15
1942-10-17
1942-11-10
1942-11-15
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
Italy
Belgium
Poland
France--Boulogne-sur-Mer
Germany--Aachen
France--Brest
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
Germany--Emden (Lower Saxony)
Belgium--Ostend
France--Gennevilliers
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
Germany--Essen
Germany--Bremen
Poland--Gdańsk
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Saarbrücken
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Osnabrück
Germany--Wismar
Germany--Cologne
France--Le Creusot
Italy--Milan
Italy--Genoa
Germany--Rostock
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Germany
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page typewritten document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MSawKC55612-151102-02
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
97 Squadron
bombing
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1465/38905/OSawKC55612-151102-010001.2.jpg
0af2ad64a88e2ca6893b6bad2223bbee
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1465/38905/OSawKC55612-151102-010002.2.jpg
133f9e244eb8010a374a8bbeddbeb839
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
Saw, Kenneth
K C Saw
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-11-02
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Saw, KC
Description
An account of the resource
Seven items. The collection concerns Kenneth Charles Saw DFM, (632221, 55612 Royal Air Force). He flew as an air gunner with 97 Squadron before retraining as a pilot and gaining a commission. Collection contains official documents, record of his operation, citation for award of DFM, a squadron crest and a notebook cover for information on German ordnance.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Tony Saw 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
Kenneth Saw's RAF personnel documents
Description
An account of the resource
Some personal details of Kenneth Saw with dates of enlistment and discharge. Includes mention of award of DFM. Mustered as mechanic, then air gunner and finally u/t pilot. Ranks was flight sergeant. Includes postings including 97 Squadron.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1939-01-26
1945-03-02
1943-06-11
1941-10-13
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Buckinghamshire
England--Aylesbury
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Service material
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page printed form with handwritten entries
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
OSawKC55612-151102-010001, OSawKC55612-151102-010002
97 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
Distinguished Flying Medal
George VI, King of Great Britain (1895-1952)
Operational Training Unit
pilot
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1975/38462/PWheelhouseE1703.2.jpg
1b0a106abc9dc7abfa95e90ebbffc7fe
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
Wheelhouse, Edith
E Wheelhouse
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-10-27
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
Wheelhouse, E
Description
An account of the resource
Seven items. The collection concerns Corporal Edith Wheelhouse and contains newspaper clippings and photographs. She served in the WAAF at RAF Scampton and RAF Coningsby.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Jean Valerie Cann and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
VE Day Poster
Description
An account of the resource
Two Lancasters, OF-J and OL-J, flying side by side. The poster has VE day and 8th May 1945. At the top is a crest with LIV Bomber Base.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-05-08
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph with overlays
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PWheelhouseE1703
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
83 Squadron
97 Squadron
Lancaster
Pathfinders
RAF Coningsby
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1812/36180/PMadge1701.1.jpg
2e72cf0930250a536b37e3b52ed71de8
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
Madge, JG
JG Madge
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
2017-03-19
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
Madge
Description
An account of the resource
Ten items. The collection concerns Warrant Officer John George Madge (1398434 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as an air gunner with 97 Squadron and was killed 11 November 1944. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Ann Flint and catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle. <br /><br />Additional information on John George Madge is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/114688/">IBCC Losses Database.</a>
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/.
Description
An account of the resource
A head and shoulders portrait of Sergeant John George Madge in uniform with air gunners brevet..
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Title
A name given to the resource
John George Madge
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
PMadge1701
97 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
killed in action
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1397/36105/PHorneH1502.2.jpg
265aec5e41bbc29a05b39979bbadb46d
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
Horne, Harry
H Horne
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-03-03
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Horne, H
Description
An account of the resource
Two items.
The collection concerns Harry Horne (b. 1922, 1131726 Royal Air Force) and contains a photograph and a painting. He served as an air gunner with 97 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Michelle Denise Price-Horne and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
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
97 Squadron aircrew at RAF Woodhall Spa
Description
An account of the resource
A large group of airmen in a mixture of battle dress and flying gear with parachute harnesses and Mae Wests kneeling and standing in front of three crew busses.
97 Squadron aircrew at RAF Woodhall Spa waiting to join their aircraft to fly to their new base at RAF Bourne. 17 April 1943. Harry Horne in in the centre of the photograph.
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-04-17
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-04-17
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
one b/w photograph
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
PHorneH1502
97 Squadron
aircrew
RAF Woodhall Spa
service vehicle
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1397/36104/PHorneH1501.2.jpg
3a7356b70862973382e4a34e57457360
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
Horne, Harry
H Horne
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-03-03
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Horne, H
Description
An account of the resource
Two items.
The collection concerns Harry Horne (b. 1922, 1131726 Royal Air Force) and contains a photograph and a painting. He served as an air gunner with 97 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Michelle Denise Price-Horne and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
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
Portrait of Harry Horne
Description
An account of the resource
Portrait of Harry Horne with sergeants stripes and air gunner brevet.
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Artwork
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One painting
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
PHorneH1501
97 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
arts and crafts
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1509/34606/BTunaleyJNettletonJDv1.1.pdf
54e050f05dcfba0e9e1dead4ea7651e5
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
Nettleton, John Dering
J D Nettleton
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-05-13
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Nettleton, JD
Description
An account of the resource
Seven items. The collection concerns John Nettleton VC (1917 - 1943. Royal Air Force) and contains photographs and a biography including descriptions of the Augsburg operation. He flew operations as a pilot with 44 Squadron. <br /><br />Additional information on John Nettleton is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/117147/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by J Tunaley and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
John Dering Nettleton, VC (28 June 1917-13 July 1943)
Date of Birth: 28 June, 1917
Place of birth: Nongoma, Natal Province, South Africa
Early Life:
John Nettleton was the grandson of Admiral A T D Nettleton, Paymaster-in-Chief of the Royal Navy. He was educated at Stanbury's private school in Cape Town, and wishing to follow the family tradition, attempted to gain entrance to RN College Dartmouth. However, he failed to pass the entrance exam. Consequently, in 1930 he joined the famous South African training ship "General Botha" as a cadet at age 13 yrs, from where he graduated three years later, becoming Third Officer on MS Mattawin, one of the ships of the Elder-Dempster Line. After serving for 18 months, he returned to Cape Town and took up a civil engineering apprenticeship. He worked in various parts of South Africa, all the while remaining a member of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR).
RAF Career:
During a visit with his mother to England, seeking a more fulfilling career, he decided to join the RAF, which he did on 6 October 1938 (aged 21). After elementary pilot training he was accepted as a short service commissioned officer, beginning his flying career in Reading. He was commissioned in December 1938 and graduated as a pilot on 22 July 1939.
His first posting was to 207 Squadron at Cottesmore to fly the Fairey Battle. He then transferred to Handley Page Hampdens on 185 Squadron, also at Cottesmore. He was promoted to Flying Officer in July 1940 and to Flight Lieutenant in February 1941. Four months later, on 26 June 1941, Nettleton joined 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron, at RAF Waddington, again flying Hampdens – his first operational posting, which involved him flying several sorties over Europe. Just a month later he was promoted to Squadron Leader and was Mentioned in Despatches in December 1941.
On Christmas Eve, 1941, the first Lancaster Bombers to reach an operational unit arrived at Waddington and John Nettleton led the first raid on 3 March 1942 – a mining drop in the Heligoland Bight. The Augsburg Raid, for which he was awarded his Victoria Cross, took place on 17 April 1942 (see details below)
John met his wife, Betty Isabel Hevelock, during a visit to London five weeks after the Augsburg Raid (May 1942). Betty was originally from Paignton in Devon and was a WAAF. Just one week later, on 1 June, 1942, they were engaged. Shortly afterwards, he was sent on a goodwill tour to America, with 14 other war heroes. This took in visits to 21 American cities and included a ticker-tape parade along Broadway in New York, as well as a dinner in Hollywood with 15 film actresses. He returned to the UK and almost immediately married Betty in Lincoln on 17 July.
On 1 November, Nettleton attended the investiture at Buckingham Palace and received his Victoria Cross from HM The King. He refused to be grounded or become an instructor, so was promoted to Wing Commander and, in early 1943, returned to operations as the
[page break]
Commanding Officer of 44 Squadron, who were by now based at Dunholme Lodge, just five miles north of Lincoln.
In the weeks to follow, he led the Squadron on two major raids, one on Berlin and the other on the U-boat pens at Lorient.
John Nettleton was killed on the night of 12/13 July 1943 (aged just 26), during a heavy raid on Turin in Italy. The Sicilian invasion had begun two days earlier and it was imperative that German reinforcments [sic] were prevented from being brought through to Turin and Milan. His Lancaster KM-Z ED331 took off from Dunholme Lodge in Lincolnshire and, having successfully attacked Turin, was believed to have been shot down by a night-fighter off the Brest peninsular on his way home. His body and those of his crew were never recovered. All are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
John Nettleton's death was officially announced on 23 February, 1944, just four days after the birth of his son, also named John, was announced. [John Dering Nettleton junior is still alive and himself has a son, (James I think but not absolutely certain)].
Memorial
RAF Dunholme Lodge ceased to be an operational station at the end of World War 2. Part of the airfield and buildings were purchased by The Reverend William Farr to establish a secondary school, and this was opened in 1952.
On 4 November 2010, a memorial to John Nettleton VC was dedicated in the William Farr School. The Headmaster, Paul Strong (himself the great grandson of a VC winner), even managed to arrange for a Lancaster from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight to pass over the school to mark the occasin. [sic] Subsequently, the Victoria Cross Society added its own contribution to the school's memorial room, presenting a framed Victoria Cross display, dedicated to John Nettleton VC.
In addition, John Nettleton and his crew of seven on the Turin raid are commemorated on the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede. (The memorial's panels contain the names of more than 20,000 air force personnel who died during the Second World War and have no known grave. They served in Bomber, Fighter, Coastal, Transport, Flying Training and Maintenance Commands, and came from all parts of the Commonwealth. Slome [sic] were from countries in continental Europe which had been overrun but whose airmen continued to fight in the ranks of the Royal Air Force.)
There is also a painting of the Augsburg Raid, commissioned by the Sergeant' Mess at RAF Waddington, where it now hangs, and executed by Gordon Sage. The artist consulted with Bert Dowty, a front gunner on the raid (part of WO Crum's crew in T-Tommy) and Pat Dorehill (Nettleton's crew), on the details he portrays.
Award of the Victoria Cross
John Nettleton was awarded his Victoria Cross for his leading role in the Augsburg Raid on the MAN factory near Munich. His VC was gazetted on 24 April 1942, less than a week after his return from the raid, as follows:
[page break]
"Squadron Leader Nettleton was the leader of one of two formations of six Lancaster heavy bombers detailed to deliver a low-level attack in daylight on the Diesel engine factory at Augsburg, in Southern Germany, on the 17 April 1942. The enterprise was daring, the target of high military importance. To reach it and get back, some 1000 miles had to be flown over hostile territory. Soon after crossing into enemy territory his formation was attacked by 25 to 30 fighters. A running fight ensued. His rear guns went out of action. One by one the aircraft of his formation were shot down until in the end only his own and one other remained. The fighters were shaken off but the target was still far distant. There was formidable resistance to be faced. With great spirit and almost defenceless, he held his two remaining aircraft on their perilous course, and after a long and arduous flight, mostly at only 50 ft. above the ground, he brought them to Augsburg. Here anti-aircraft fire of great intensity and accuracy was encountered. The two aircraft came low over the roof tops. Though fired at from point blank range, they stayed the course to drop their bombs true on the target. The second aircraft, hit by flak burst into flames and crash-landed. The leading aircraft, though riddled with holes, flew safely back to base, the only one of the six to return. Squadron-Leader Nettleton, who has successfully undertaken many other hazardous operations, displayed unflinching determination as well as leadership and valour of the highest order."
Nettleton's Mother, upon hearing of her son's endeavours and his award of the VC, apparently expressed a mother's anxiety when she related that although thrilled, she hoped her son would not be sent on "too many of these dangerous exploits after this", and although proud, was also "thankful" for his safe return.
The Augsburg Raid – 17 April 1942
In April, a daylight bombing mission was planned by RAF Bomber Command against the MAN diesel engine factory at Augsburg (near Munich) in Bavaria. With the increasing Allied losses being suffered in the Battle of the Atlantic, this factory, which was responsible for the production of half of Germany's U-boat engines, was rated as one of the most important targets in Germany. The mission was to be the longest low level penetration so far made during World War II, and it was the first daylight mission flown by the new Avro Lancaster.
Unfortunately, radar aids which facilitate precision bombing at night were not yet available and past performance precluded any likelihood of such an operation being successful without them. For this reason the raid was to take place in daylight. In addition, long-range escort fighters did not exist at that time, therefore, the force had to carry out the raid unsupported.
The operation, involving a round trip of some 1250 miles, mostly over enemy territory, was among the most audacious undertaken to date by Bomber Command. From the point of view of precision, in both bombing and navigation, it was certainly one of the most ambitious. For a week prior to the attack, the selected crews were withdrawn from operations to practise formation flying at low level, including flights over the hills in Scotland. The greatest secrecy was maintained and the crews themselves were not told of the target until briefed just hours before take off on the day of the raid. The whole operation was planned very carefully and, since the crews had to be able to identify a single shed in the middle of the complex factory, they studied photographs and pencil sketches.
[page break]
Twelve Lancasters, in two sections of six, from each of Nos 44 and 97 Squadrons were to fly the outbound leg at the lowest possible level. The attack was also to be made at low level, using 1000 lb general purpose high explosive bombs, fused with a delayed action of eleven seconds.
The return flight, most of which would be at night, was to be made individually at a more customary altitude. The low level approach was intended to delay the appearance of the aircraft on enemy radar screens and, in the event of interception, to make the task of the German fighters more difficult. It was also considered the best defence against Flak. A large scale diversion, in the form of raids in the Pas de Calais area by 30 Bostons with fighter escorts, was also arranged.
The mission was scheduled for 17 April 1942, to be led by Squadron Leader Nettleton, flying Lancaster Mk 1, R5508, coded "KM-B". Briefing took place at [12 noon] and at [15.00]
Nettleton took off from Waddington with the first vic, followed by Flt Lt R Sandford leading the second.
The second section of six No 97 Sqn aircraft took off from Woodhall Spa. Sqn Ldr J S Sherwood led the first vic and Flt Lt D J Penman the second. At the French coast Nettleton took his section down to 20 feet. Maintaining between 20 and 30 feet, the formation kept as tight as possible as they flew wing tip to wing tip over hills and skimmed down valleys, anticipating by twenty years the tactics adopted as standard in the sixties by subsequent generations of bomber crews.
Frequently the Lancasters had to ease up to clear trees that appeared ahead. Then their flight path clipped the German fighter base at Beaumont le Roger, where Me109s and FW190s were recovering after operations against the very diversionary forces intended to draw enemy aircraft away from the Lancaster force. These fighters belonged to the II Gruppe/Jagdgeschwader 2 (Richthofen). Spotting the unescorted Lancasters, they turned towards their prey, a fighter pilot's dream!
Attacking first the rear vic, L7575 skippered by WO Beckett was subjected to a hail of fire from Hauptman Heine Greisert. Within seconds it was transformed into a mass of roaring flames and then dived into a clump of trees. Feldwebel Bosseckert tackled Flt Lt Nick Sandford, setting fire to all four engines before his R5506 hit the ground and exploded in a fireball. Then the pack turned on WO Crum, and L7548 was subjected to numerous attacks from a number of directions in the course of which the interior became a nightmare of ricocheting bullets. Both rear and mid upper gunners called out that they had been hit, and a fire started in the port wing. To climb would have been fatal and Crum ordered the bomb load to be jettisoned safe while he prepared to force land on any open ground that presented itself. Such a manoeuvre had been foreseen and discussed during the preparation for the raid. Now Crum and his crew were to benefit from his thorough preparation, for they all survived the subsequent arrival. Their assailant had been Unteroffizier Pohl, flying Me109 "Black 7", and his victory was recorded in the Jagdgeschwader's "Game" book as their 1,000th "Luftsieg" of the war.
[page break]
Having disposed of the rear vic, the German fighters turned on Nettleton's formation. Major Oesau and his wing man, Oberfeldwebel Edelmann, commenced firing and closed to within 10 metres of WO Rhodes. Both port engines erupted into flames followed quickly by the starboard motors. L7536 reared up abruptly, stalled and plunged vertically straight down, missing its compatriots by inches. They, too, had suffered. The engagement had lasted barely 15 minutes yet fortunately, at this point, the fighters broke away, presumably to refuel and re-arm.
Nettleton flew on, together with the remaining survivor, Flt Lt Garwell. Fortunately, they met no further opposition until they reached Augsburg. To men more accustomed to flying at great heights in darkness, this flight seemed full of incident. Horses and cattle in fields scattered in front of them and two Germans out riding had their horses bolt as the Lancasters roared overhead!
At Lake Constance, Nettleton circled before running in for a timed attack. Augsburg was hidden behind a hill at this stage and did not come into view until he was clear of the crest. From there it was straight ahead.
The two bombers crossed the Munich-Augsburg railway at Mering and had originally intended to fly directly to the target. However, since the presence of many tall factory chimneys would have forced them to climb, they chose instead to follow the river Lech and then turned in to attack the target from the east.
The factory showed up as predicted in the pre-flight brief, where a canal forks from a river. Light flak came up and, because they were so low, the German gunners frequently shot into their own buildings. There were a large number of quick-firing guns and the bursting shells made holes in both the Lancasters. Their target – the engine shed – appeared on the nose and Nettleton rose slightly as he released his four 1000lb bombs. He then commenced evasive action.
Garwell then attacked, but was almost immediately hit and burst into flames. Nettleton saw him turn and carry out a forced landing about two miles from Augsburg. The rear gunner, Sgt Huntley, saw their bombs explode, throwing whole sections of building into the air. As Nettleton turned for home, light was just beginning to fail. He remained at low level and waited until it was quite dark before climbing.
Sherwood's formation arrived just as the previous two aircraft attacked. They, too, flew in against a heavy and well-concentrated fire. One rear gunner retaliated successfully and shot a German counterpart off the roof of a building. Three miles from the target, WO Mycock's aircraft was hit in the front turret. The hydraulic oil caught fire and the aircraft fell in a mass of flames.
Sherwood then bombed but was also hit and set on fire. He was last seen 10 miles from Augsburg, burning on the ground. Flt Lt Deverill was also hit and a fire started in the fuselage. Fortunately, this was extinguished just as the aircraft came to the release point and he was able to bring his aircraft home.
Nettleton finally landed near Blackpool and returned to RAF Waddington with his crew by train.
[page break]
Of the total force of 12 aircraft, eight had bombed the target but only five returned home. All of these had been severely damaged. However, their target, the main diesel shop, was severely damaged by direct hits and a subsequent fire. It was believed that the production of diesel engines was severely delayed.
HM The King, approved the following awards for gallantry to members of the Nettleton crew and, in addition, Flt Lt Nick Sandford, who was reported missing during the Augsburg raid, was also awarded the DFC.
Sqn Ldr J D Nettleton – Victoria Cross
Ft Lt L S McCure – Distinguished Flying Cross
Plt Off D O Sands – Distinguished Flying Cross
Pt Off P Dorehill – Distinguished Flying Cross
Sgt C F Churchill – Distinguished Flying Medal
Sgt D N Huntley – Distinguished Flying Medal
Flt Sgt P H Harrison – Distinguished Flying Medal
Ft Sgt L Mutter – Distinguished Flying Medal
Other than Nettleton himself, three other members of his crew, (McClure, Huntley and Mutter) were later lost on operations with 44 Squadron. Of the remaining four, Charlie Churchill later became a POW, Pat (Patrick) Dorehill finished the current and a subsequent tour with the Squadron while Frank Harrison also survived a further tour, in this instance with No 97 Squadron.
[page break]
First hand accounts by surviving crew members:
Sgt C Churchill (Wireless Operator, Sqn Ldr Nettleton's crew): Nettleton opened by saying that, unlike a normal briefing, at the end of this one there wouldn't be the ritual "Any questions?" We were to listen attentively and then keep quiet. We, who represented the most experienced crews on the Squadron, were temporarily withdrawn from operations. We were to undertake special training in the course of which we would develop techniques for flying in daylight in close formation, not only at high speed but also at very low level! It sounded very exciting and, as he warned us, very dangerous. We were told to say absolutely nothing about the flying we were doing. "Think what you will", said Nettleton, "but keep your mouth shut".
Of course, this opened the gates to speculation, hasty types saw us as the beginning of a new formation like the later Pathfinders. More speculative observers considered we were to reduce enemy defences prior to the invasion of France. The 'couldn't care less' types only saw it as a reprieve from Ops so they could whoop it up more regularly in Lincoln.
We started with the loose formation over the sea, which gradually got tighter and lower. Finally, we were flying with our wing tips overlapping just over the sea. Then we moved to flights over land, to sorties over Scotland. It was exhilarating, flying down the valleys, scattering sheep in the process. Now and again we flew alongside trains and, much to the amazement of the passengers, even below them where the tracks ran along an embankment.
On 17 April it was on. In the manner of all aircrew, as soon as we entered the briefing room we scanned the wall map to determine the "Target for Tonight". This one was different and that's the understatement of the year. That morning will live in my memory when all else has faded. The course drawn on the map went across one wall and well into that on the adjoining one. I thought I was dreaming. This I cannot believe, I thought, it takes us to Bavaria!
Also present were some very high ranking officers which, with everything else, made the briefing a very solemn affair. One of them opened proceedings observing that this was the biggest attempt to date made by the Lanc. (How right you are, I thought.) Do not be overawed by the distance to your objective, the position is this. The allies are being brought to their knees by efficient German submarine packs which operate in the Atlantic. Our convoys are being massacred and we are losing this battle. The situation is now critical. We in the RAF have been tasked with striking a major blow in an attempt to break, if only for a short time, a very efficient and formidable foe. He went on to explain at length that, if we could successfully bomb and neutralise our target, the M.A.N. Diesel Factory at Augsburg, the supply of diesels to more than half the submarine fleet would be interrupted, thus dealing a heavy blow to the enemy's war effort. The Lancaster was the only aircraft in Bomber Command that could strike a target some 1,000 miles inside enemy territory in daylight and stand a fighting chance of survival.
[page break]
This made us feel a little easier. Nevertheless, I could not see us getting away with it. Bomb the target, yes, I thought but to get back afterwards, ha! This I cannot visualise.
We were to f1y [sic] in two vics of three and were also to be followed by six more kites from 97 Sqn based at Woodhall Spa.
Seven very serious crews returned to their quarters to make preparations. I wrote some letters and had a meal, then I tried to take a nap, but was far too tense to think of anything other than the impending operation.
At 1500 hrs. six Lancasters with their 1,000lb bombs and laden to capacity with fuel, left Waddington. As we coasted out we went right down to sea level to avoid detection by the enemy radar. I can recall our slipstream ruffling the water as we flashed along. Overland, crossing the patchwork of fields, people waved sheets and suchlike and we all had a good laugh at the sight of a group of Germans on horseback scattering in all directions.
As we passed over some wooded country, some flak opened up and I could see lines of tracer peppering two of our kites. In the process, we presumed that they put paid to Beckett's rear turret for it was to remain silent throughout the action that we were shortly to encounter. Overall, we were lucky to escape from such an engagement so lightly. We were at the peak of our alertness and, reminiscent of our training in Scotland, we flew alongside a train passing along an embankment. We could see straight through the windows. There were no passengers to be seen, presumably they were all lying on the floor, even the engine seemed to be driving itself. Our gunners, Frank Harrison mid upper, Buzzer Huntley front and Len Mutter in the rear, all asked to rake the train, but Nettleton would not hear of this and told them to hold their fire until we were either intercepted or at the target. How wise he was!
We thundered over France but, unknown to us, overhead were two fighter squadrons returning to their base near Evereux. Beckett spotted some 30 or so and called over the RT, "109s 11 o'clock high". Nettleton tersely told the formation to close up and use concentrated gunfire. At this height there was no question of evading. The Messerschmitts subjected us to severe fire and came so close during their break away that I could clearly see the pilots' faces behind their oxygen masks. One aircraft sported a distinctive yellow spinner. When I reported this during my post flight debrief, I was subsequently told that this sighting had identified the location of a unit that had been withdrawn from the Middle East.
In the running battle that followed, we were sitting ducks for such a force of fighters. WO Beckett was the first casualty; almost at once he was ablaze and disintegrating. There was no chance of any survivors as he hit the deck. WO Crum was next. Later, I found out that, amazingly, he had managed to pancake successfully and all his crew survived.
Nick Sandford, leader of the rear vic, was now alone and no match for the three 109s that harried him. He flew low with his damaged Lanc but to no avail. I believe that a wing
[page break]
touched the ground and that was it. I saw the undercarriage wheels bouncing through the flames, again surely no survivors.
Then the aircraft on our starboard side took a fatal hit. It reared up poised [sic] for a second and then turned on her back and dived to the ground. No hope for Dusty Rhodes and his crew. Four gone and only two of us left. Jerry came in for another attack and gave both of us a battering. Garwell's wing tip was flapping like a bird's wing, but we pressed on. We summed up. We were still less than half way to the target but we were going on and for two more hours on we went.
Suddenly, we were there, Augsburg. There was the factory alongside the river as briefed. Then it all started as the flak began pumping shells up at us. Buzzer Huntley, in the front turret, shouted excitedly that he had scored a direct hit on a flak position. Shortly afterwards McClure, the bomb aimer, placed his bombs plumb on the factory roof. Ginger Garwell was in close attendance. The fuse delays of 11 sec. enabled us to see our bombs explode. Then Ginger collected another shell just about midships and it was curtains for him. He pulled back his window and gave us an inverted V sign and then pancaked.
We turned for home and, thank the Lord, saw no more flak or fighters, just a few searchlights. After we seemed to have been airborne for hours I heard Nettleton say to Des Sands, the Navigator, that we should have spotted the coast of France long ago. "I am going to call for assistance despite the radio silence". He then spoke to me and said, "Radio Operator, call base and get a fix". I asked if I could use the top priority SOS, to which he replied "Use what you like but get me a course for home". This was my moment. I tapped it out, SOS.... SOS.. followed by our special callsign V, followed by our aircraft call sign and a request in code for a fix and homing. All radio traffic seemed to stop and there was only a gentle mush in my earphones. Then, suddenly, it was broken by the most beautiful resonant morse I have ever heard. First we received instructions to turn through 90 degrees and then K. This meant carry on, maintain contact and don't lose me, as if I would! Eventually, we were brought to Squires Gate, Blackpool, where we landed with our tanks all but dry. I tapped out X496, which meant, 'We have landed'. This was acknowledged, AR, followed by the unofficial GBY – God Bless You. From then on we were famous.
Sgt F Harrison (Mid Upper Gunner, Sqn Ldr Nettleton):
On 13 April, we carried out a short daylight formation sortie. After two more such trips, there followed on 15th a cross country of 5hrs 20min duration. Two days later, we went to Augsburg. This was my first bomber Op. My one undying memory of the briefing is of a Rhodesian WAG who spent the time reading a novel! When I mentioned it, he replied that this was his last opportunity to finish it. He was wrong, although his chance to finish his book was delayed by a number of years. By that evening he was a POW!
On the raid, we flew in two vics of three. Nettleton led with Garwell to port and Rhodes to starboard. The second vic tucked in close behind. I never saw the No. 97 Sqn contingent. All went well until shortly after crossing the French coast. Then I saw a mass of German fighters manoeuvering [sic] and diving down onto our tails. Len Mutter, in the rear turret, and I fired like mad throughout the entire engagement as the fighters, one after another, came
[page break]
up behind us and then broke off to port. They were only within range of my 303s for a short time, whereas they seemed able to fire at us throughout their pass until they broke away.
The rear vic was shot down almost immediately. Then Rhodes was hit in the port wing and it began to drop, which would have meant curtains for us. He levelled momentaril1y and seconds later hit the deck. A wheel bounded out of the inferno and seemed to chase after us. The end of the action saw but two of us remaining. Only one of my twin Brownings was operating and only one of Len's four.
All went well until the target, where we carried out a successful attack at low level as briefed. The brisk light AA claimed Garwell and, alone, we headed for home. As the light failed we were able to climb but, with the heavy broken cloud, it became apparent that we were very lost. At a late stage a beacon was spotted. Des Sands consulted his flimsies and concluded the code letters indicated either Hurn or Squires Gate. The Skipper plumped for Squires Gate, used their call sign on RT and asked for permission to land which, after 9 hrs 45 min, we did with much relief.
Squires Gate kindly accommodated us for the night and then, next day, Nettleton asked us whether we wanted to fly home or go by train. We went by train. I, for one, had been amazed when undressing, to find my underwear as clean as it had been that morning.
Later the crew was scheduled to tour the USA on a propaganda trip, for which I was allocated a new uniform. Apparently objections were raised over an exclusive No 5 Group Bomber 'Do' so only Nettleton and Buzzer Huntley eventually went, accompanied by bods drawn from other Commands.
WO Crum (pilot): The long training trip with six of us in formation at nought feet had been a very enjoyable affair. We had left our base at Waddington, flown south to Selsey Bill, done a smart about turn and proceeded to the North of Scotland, done another about turn and, finally, did a shoot up of the hangars at Waddington. We had all suspected that this was a prelude to something more sinister, and so it was, for the subsequent briefing revealed that our target was to be the MAN diesel engine factory at Augsburg. Thus, it all tied in, for we were to travel the whole distance in formation and at low level, and the target was to be this particular factory, to deny the Germans getting engines for their convoy sinking submarines. To carry out the intentions, we each carried 1,000 lb bombs and our full complement of 2100 gallons of petrol.
Recalling the day's events more than thirty years later, WO Crum was to lapse into the present tense as, mentally, he flew the trip again. Came the day, 17 April, a very nice one and, for me, a day of decision. Taking off was uneventful, as was the trip to Selsey Bill. Right there stood the Navy and one of the things we never did was to fly near them for fear of attracting their gunfire. Thus we did a quick turn which, at nought feet in a thirty ton bomber in close formation, causes one to perspire. The English Channel sped by and the French cliffs appeared. Nothing shot at us. Onwards, over their countryside we flew.
[page break]
while briefly in the distance I could see another Squadron heading for the same target as ourselves.
Then things began to happen for, suddenly, we are flying alongside a German aerodrome where fighters are taking off to intercept us. We keep very close as cannon and tracer shells from the rear pass through the formation, ricocheting off the land and hitting the sides of haystacks and houses. Some confusion seems to set in as aircraft are hit; flames from Joe Beckett and smoke from Dustv [sic] Rhodes. My own port outer becomes useless as I press even lower up one of the forest firebreaks below tree top level and under power cables. Soon my port inner goes along with part of the fuselage at my side. Shells rattle off the steel plate at the back of my seat. Because we are maintaining a fast speed and my port engines are useless, I have to keep my starboard engines racing more than I would want to. This is carrying me over to the port side of the Squadron where I have to shut off and allow myself to drift back to my own position. By doing this I am dropping behind and it must not be long before I have more attention from the fighters. This is not long in coming and, when half of my tail unit is missing, the RT goes dead and smoke starts coming from one of the dead engines. I had to make that decision that I mentioned before. The bombs have to be dropped safe, the new equipment we carry destroyed and a quick landing attempted. Everything goes to order and we finish up with a wheels up landing 20 yards from the edge of a wood.
Poor Bert Dowty, the front gunner, was trapped in his turret unable to turn it. Dick Dedman the co-pilot was still holding on beside me, John Miller in the mid upper turret had suffered a cut face and later found a spent bullet in his flying boot. As for me, I too had a cut face, while the others, Nick Birkett, Sandy Sanderson and Frank Cobb, came out of it OK. I was able to step out, for the side of the Lanc had disappeared, as had the windscreen in front of me. Nick Birkett had climbed through the top hatch expecting the wheels to be down and jumped, landing on ground much sooner than he expected. I had to take the axe and chop Bert Dowty out. It must have been an awesome sight for a lad in his teens to be attacked by a man with blood on his face wielding an axe on this, his first operational daylight trip.
The Lanc lies there bent but proud. Still on the secret list! She would be a valuable asset to the Germans. It must have been quite a sight, British aircrew standing around trying to set fire to their aircraft. With petrol flowing we were trying to light it with matches and cigarette lighters until someone attacked it with a Verey pistol and then she started to burn. As the blaze increased, so the ammunition started to explode and we departed in haste. Remembering that at least one of our aircraft had come down nearby. I decided to dash over and see what help I could render after putting the other five on their way.
It was like looking for the end of the rainbow, the clouds of smoke never seemed to get nearer while overhead, German fighters were milling around, no doubt gloating over the fallen Lancs burning below them. Then, hearing the engine noise of motor cycles and other vehicle, I abandoned my mercy mission. So, remembering the rule to put 15 miles between yourself and your aircraft, I set off to join a party of French folk working in the
[page break]
field. One of them took me to his very substandard house and changed my uniform for civvies. He gave me some food and I gratefully went on my way.
I walked into the night but, after passing a military barracks, decided not to push my luck any more and lay down in a copse for a rest. To acclimatise myself, I advanced slowly until the following night when I slept under some hay in a barn. Early next morning, I was still dozing when a woman came in with her pike, presumably to get hay for her cattle, and chose the bit covering me. Not relishing her pike, I stood up, giving her quite a fright in the process. I feigned to be Belgian. She summoned her husband and within a short time they offered me breakfast. As I was eating and conversing with them in basic French, a party of German soldiers walked in. The coincidence leaves little to the imagination.
So my trip landed me in German hands and then via Chartres, Paris, Frankfurt on Main, to Stalag Luft 3. The rest of my crew stayed free from capture until they reached the South of France. To complete the circle, one night towards the end of the war, as we were marching through a town in East Germany, I heard a voice calling "Crummy". There to greet me were four of my crew.
In the front of WO Crum's Lanc was Bert Dowty (Front Gunner): We set off with the intention of forming up over Grantham. Ahead of us in the distance I could see the 97 Sqn aircraft. Once we had coasted out at Selsey Bill, we were quite low and stayed there for the rest of the trip. We thundered across France getting an occasional excited wave from the ground when, suddenly, I was aware that we were flying across an airfield, which later I was to discover was at Beaumont Le Roger. We were the right hand aircraft of the vic, Sandford was leading, and Beckett was off to the left in the No. 3 position. We tracked along the tarmac peri track while off to my right three Jerry aircraft were in the act of landing. One was well down the runway, another just on and the third in the act of touching down. Around the perimeter were gun emplacements, similar to our Bofors, and I watched the passage of two clips of five that were loosed at us. Fortunately they did not come close to causing any discomfort.
A short time later the fighters were among us. never heard subsequent transmissions over our intercom, presumably because an early hit had caused some damage. I remember checking during a brief pause in the action to see if my jack plug had been pulled out. I would estimate that we were at this stage around 100 to 200 ft, but not so low that the fighters couldn't pass beneath us. The action was lively with the Me109s coming very close. One presented a full wing span to me as he broke below, I could clearly see into the cockpit and pick out the pilot's face and mask. Naturally I gave him a squirt in the process but to no immediate effect. I did see a couple go down in such a manner that I think it unlikely that they recovered, but I was too busy with the next phase to be able to wait and observe an impact. Then I looked across and saw that we were a little behind the formation, Joe Beckett to our left and now slightly forward was a mass of flames. He plunged into the deck.
I was still hammering away with my guns when we hit the deck ourselves. Although this was a surprise because Crummy had done such a good job that, apart from a shaking, I
[page break]
wasn't at all hurt. It was thanks to his efforts that, out of all those brought down that fateful day, ours was the only crew to survive intact. Unfortunately, because of the action, my guns were swung to the beam and I couldn't get out.
Without intercom I was, of course, completely unaware of events elsewhere in the crew. All I could think of was a full load of delays which I thought were still sitting in the bomb bay. I dismounted the gun, using it as a battering ram to smash away at the perspex windows. Suddenly an axe head appeared through the side of the fuselage to my left; Crummy was getting me out. In no time at all, I was freed. Our Lanc. rested in a wheat field belonging to the farm Bois-Normand, near the hamlet of Folleville, and some 10 km North of Conches.
A number of crews had completed the preparation but had not participated in the raid, WO Wright was one of these.
Flt Sgt Bud Gill, Rear Gunner (WO Wright): Initially we were not told anything about the raid but simply that we were to practise flying at low level or 'hedge hopping' as we called it. Although the flights were laid out in general taking place over Yorkshire and Scotland, sometimes but not always in formation, we were at liberty to do anything that would give us the feel of low level. We took great delight in attempting, and succeeding, in blowing the heads off the tulips in Lincolnshire. WO Jones came back with sheep's wool in the engine cowlings.
When we did get the message about the target, everyone was really excited. We had trained hard and earnestly, calling for skill and endurance especially from the pilots and navigators and felt that we were good at it. I was personally quite down when, through no fault or shortcoming in the crew, we were not selected for the raid. Even afterwards, when the results and casualties were known, I still felt the same. It was a very important target and it would have been a great achievement to have been part of it.
[page break]
Sources of Information:
Grateful thanks to Mr Henry Horscroft, Secretary of 44 Squadron Association, who freely provided invaluable information and most especially photographs from the Association's records.
The Journal of The Victoria Cross Society, 18th edition, March 2011, pp46-49. Ed: Brian Best BA (Hons)
Wikipedia entry for John Dering Nettleton
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dering_Nettleton)
Information regarding the Air Forces Memorial, Runnymede:
http://www.stephen-stratford.co.uk/runnymede.htm
Low Level Lancaster Raid on Augsberg (sic)
http://ww2today.com/17th-april-1942-low-level-lancaster-raid-on-augsberg
No 44 (Rhodesia) squadron and the Raid on Augsburg. 17 April 1942 by Ross Dix-Peek:
[missing words]
[photograph]
[page break]
Six photographs
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
John Nettleton VC
Description
An account of the resource
A biography of John from his attempts to join the South African navy to his time in the RAF.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
South Africa--Nongoma
South Africa--Cape Town
Great Britain
England--Reading
Germany--Augsburg
England--London
United States
New York (State)--New York
England--Paignton
England--Lincoln
Germany--Berlin
France--Lorient
Italy--Turin
Italy--Milan
France--Brest
England--Runnymede
France--Pas-de-Calais
Germany--Mering
England--Blackpool
England--Grantham
Italy
France
California
New York (State)
Germany
South Africa
England--Berkshire
England--Devon
England--Sussex
England--Lancashire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Surrey
England--Selsey (West Sussex)
California--Los Angeles--Hollywood
France--Folleville (Somme)
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Personal research
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
15 printed sheets
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BTunaleyJNettletonJDv1
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
185 Squadron
207 Squadron
44 Squadron
5 Group
97 Squadron
anti-aircraft fire
Battle
bombing
Bombing of Augsburg (17 April 1942)
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Medal
Fw 190
George VI, King of Great Britain (1895-1952)
Hampden
Lancaster
Me 109
memorial
mine laying
prisoner of war
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Dunholme Lodge
RAF Waddington
RAF Woodhall Spa
Stalag Luft 3
training
Victoria Cross
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1165/34343/PTownsleyH1801.2.jpg
225713ef47bb08f60982793b075b886b
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Townsley, Henry
H Townsley
Description
An account of the resource
Four items. An oral history interview with Warrant Officer Henry Townsley DFM (b. 1920, 994575 Royal Air Force), a memoir, list of operations and artwork. He flew operations as a flight engineer with 97 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Henry Townsley and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-03-14
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Townsley, H
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lancaster
Aiming Point Certificate
Description
An account of the resource
Drawing of a Lancaster with names of crew (including Sgt Townsley) on bombs falling from bomb bay. Clouds in background and signatures on bottom. Annotated 'Lorient 13/14/2/43, 97 Squadron'.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-02-12
1943-02-13
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
France
France--Lorient
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Artwork
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Black and white artwork with text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PTownsleyH1801
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
97 Squadron
aircrew
arts and crafts
Lancaster
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1792/32521/PWilsonH1503.1.jpg
bd5194f39b38258a10a986e5843e7a76
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Wilson, Harold
H Wilson
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-01-09
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Wilson, H
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Harold Wilson DFM (Royal Air Force) who flew two tours completing 45 operations as a bomb aimer on 9 and 97 squadrons. Collection contains an identity document, a letter, his flying log book, a memoir and photographs (including some while he was a member of a missing research and enquiry unit in Germany after the war).
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Barbara Armstrong and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Deelen airfield
Description
An account of the resource
Target photograph showing an airfield with triangle of runways with buildings bottom and right. Bomb bursts are visible across the airfield. Caption '3248 CON. 15.8.44// 8" 17600, 080, 1208, DEELEN A/D Q., 11x1000, 4x500C35secs. F/Lt LASHAM, Q97'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-08-15
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PWilsonH1503
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Netherlands
Netherlands--Arnhem
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-08-15
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Geolocated
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
97 Squadron
aerial photograph
bombing
bombing of Luftwaffe night-fighter airfields (15 August 1944)
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
RAF Coningsby
target photograph
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1765/30835/PLayneWH1701.2.jpg
8e98feca140a4ab4352095ddc315bcf1
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Layne, Wally
Walter Henry Layne
W H Layne
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-06-07
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Layne, WH
Description
An account of the resource
100 items. The collection concerns Walter 'Wally' Layne (b. 1916, 963012, 40348 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, prisoner of war diary, personal and official correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 97 Squadron and became a prisoner of war after being shot down.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by D Layne and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[photograph]
[page break]
Caption for photograph supplied by donor.
Back row left to right. Edward Pullen, became a Wing Commander, killed in action 20 December 1943 when serving with 50 Squadron. My father (Layne) completed a tour with 50 Squadron and a tour with 97 Squadron and survived the war. Welford went to 50 Squadron and survived the war. I believe the airman back row, third from left is Israel Jacobovitch who served under the name of Jackson. He was lost 9 days after joining 50 Squadron in Hampden AE 226. On Jackson’s left (our right) is A/G John Matthews of 144 Squadron. He survived the war. Third row, extreme left hand side is Sgt Bruce Dundas (Lord Dundas of Orkney). Killed 24/02/1942 144 Squadron. Lord Dundas Of Orkney was shot down by a member of the German nobility, Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld. On the same row George Hosford Bradley was killed 28/8/1941 when his 14 OTU aircraft exploded in mid-flight when on a cross country. Second row, Bousfield, third from right was lost with his crew consisting of Sgt. E R. Bousfield, Sgt. J E S. Burke, F/S. J H. Tittley, and AC1.H L. Reed on 19th July 1941. 50 Squadron moved from Lindholme to Swinderby and the squadron departed Lindholme in formation. Shortly after take-off Hampden AD 897 rolled onto it’s back and flew inverted for a few seconds before diving into the ground killing Sgt. Bousfield and crew
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
Thirty-five airmen
Description
An account of the resource
Thirty-five airmen wearing greatcoats and side or peaked caps sitting and standing in four rows.
Submitted with caption 'Back row left to right. Edward Pullen, became a Wing Commander, killed in action 20 December 1943 when serving with 50 Squadron. My father (Layne) completed a tour with 50 Squadron and a tour with 97 Squadron and survived the war. Welford went to 50 Squadron and survived the war. I believe the airman back row, third from left is Israel Jacobovitch who served under the name of Jackson. He was lost 9 days after joining 50 Squadron in Hampden AE 226. On Jackson’s left (our right) is A/G John Matthews of 144 Squadron. He survived the war. Third row, extreme left hand side is Sgt Bruce Dundas (Lord Dundas of Orkney). Killed 24/02/1942 144 Squadron. Lord Dundas Of Orkney was shot down by a member of the German nobility, Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld. On the same row George Hosford Bradley was killed 28/8/1941 when his 14 OTU aircraft exploded in mid-flight when on a cross country. Second row, Bousfield, third from right was lost with his crew consisting of Sgt. E R. Bousfield, Sgt. J E S. Burke, F/S. J H. Tittley, and AC1.H L. Reed on 19th July 1941. 50 Squadron moved from Lindholme to Swinderby and the squadron departed Lindholme in formation. Shortly after take-off Hampden AD 897 rolled onto it’s back and flew inverted for a few seconds before diving into the ground killing Sgt. Bousfield and crew'.
Additional information about this item was kindly provided by the donor,
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PLayneWH1701
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Yorkshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-12-20
1942-02-24
1941-08-28
1941-07-19
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription. Under review
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Peter Bradbury
14 OTU
144 Squadron
50 Squadron
97 Squadron
Hampden
killed in action
Operational Training Unit
RAF Lindholme
RAF Swinderby
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1412/26742/PTindallAJ1503.2.jpg
1972641f811f740d6d8f8f4fdc6ca958
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1412/26742/PTindallAJ1504.2.jpg
f53d7889777417ec41c2dbb54169d74b
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Tindall, Arthur John
A J Tindall
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-04-03
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Tindall, AJ
Description
An account of the resource
Nine items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Arthur John Tindall DFC (1388739 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 97 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by June Tindall and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Arthur Tindall and his crew
Description
An account of the resource
Seven airmen in flying kit, standing by the rear of their Lancaster.
Arthur Tindall is second left.
On the reverse is a photographer's mark '9741'.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PTindallAJ1503,
PTindallAJ1504
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
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
97 Squadron
aircrew
Lancaster
pilot
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1412/26737/MTindallAJ173966-150815-01.1.pdf
a1be5ac8a0b08b29a93ddf0e2b323d17
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Tindall, Arthur John
A J Tindall
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-04-03
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Tindall, AJ
Description
An account of the resource
Nine items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Arthur John Tindall DFC (1388739 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 97 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by June Tindall and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
EE179 OF-T Transferred to 44 Sqn. Shot down 3/12/43. Attacking Berlin = no survivors.
JB470 OF-T Transferred to 635 Sqn. Shot down (Nightfighter) 12/4/44. No survivors.
ND355 OF-T Transferred to 635 Sqn. Crashed at Bokel 27/8/44. 5 survivors – all POW.
ME625 OF-T Collided with ND981 OF-H on 23/6/44. Both crashed = one survivor.
ND 589 OF-D Returned to Avro. Converted to Air Sea Rescue Mk.III. Finally scrapped Oct. 46.
PB181 OF-D Transferred to 83 Sqn. Collided with 97 Sqn aircraft on 8/2/45. Both aircraft crashed. No survivors.
[underlined] The Targets [/underlined]
7/10/43. Stuttgart. Fairly successful raid, but Boblingen (16K north) was attacked by second wave
8/10/41 Hanover Very accurate bombing. Hanovers worst raid of the war.
18/10/43 Hanover Raid scattered. Most bombs falling in open country north and north west of city.
20/10/43 Leipzig Very scattered bombing due to “appalling” weather.
22/10/43 Kassel Main raid “exceptionally accurate and concentrated.. There was a firestorm.
3/11/43 Colonge Bombs hit centre of city “with extreme accuracy”
18/11/43 Berlin Marking and bombing carried out blind – very scattered result
22/11/43 Berlin The most effective raid on Berlin of the war. Vast area of destruction.
23/11/43 Berlin Although cloud covered, most aircraft on target. Much damage.
26/11/43 Frankfurt Less than half of Force reached target. Very scattered bombs.
26/11/43 Stuttgart Bombing very scattered. Little damage.
2/12/43 Berlin Incorrect wind forecast – widely scattered bombing, Siemens factories hit.
3/12/43 Leipzig Accurate bombing. Leipzigs worst raid of the war.
16/12/43 Berlin “Reasonably accurate” Housing and railways badly hit.
20/12/43 Frankfurt German decoy fire site and dummy TIs caused scattered bombing.
24/12/43 Berlin Suburbs hit. Pathfinder radar problems and thick cloud.
14/1/44 Brunswick Unsuccessful – 10 houses destroyed, 4 people killed. Nearby villages bombed.
27/1/44 Berlin Again thick cloud. South and eastern areas of city bombed.
30/1/44 Berlin Heavy damage in city centre – but much bombing in surrounding countryside.
21/2/44 Stuttgart Considerable damage in city centre. Bosch factory heavily damaged.
25/2/44 Augsburg. Controversial result – beautiful town completely destroyed.
1/3/44 Stuttgart Housing, Daimler Benz factory and main railway station badly damaged.
15/3/44 Stuttgart Poor PFF marking- most bombing fell in open country SW of city.
18/3/44 Frankfurt Extensive damage in central, eastern and western areas of city.
22/3/44 Frankfurt Damage even more severe, especially in western district.
11/4/44 Laon Only a corner of the railway yards was hit.
22/4/44 Brunwick First 5 Grp low level marking- not very successful.
23/4/44 Munich Much devastation particularly to railway installations.
26/4/44 Schweinfurt Failure – most bombs fell outside Schweinfurt.
28/4/44 Kjeller Airframe factory. Very successful accurate bombing.
31/5/44 Maisy Gun Battery. Thick cloud. Only 6 aircraft bombed.
6/6/44 St Pierre du Mont Railway installation – No report due to invasion confusion.
6/6/44 Argentan Much damage to railway installation.
9/6/44 Etampes Railway and road systems badly damaged
12/6/44 Poitiers This attack was the most accurate of many attacks this night. Railway yards.
21/6/44 Gelsenkirchen Oil Plant – all production ceased for several weeks.
24/6/44 Prouville Flying Bomb site, so many craters, difficult to assess results.
4/7/44 St Leu D’ Esserent. Underground F/bombs store. Very accurate bombing.
20/7/44 Coutrai Railway yards and junctions. Devastated.
24/7/44 Donges Oil Depot. Devastated.
25/7/44 Stutgart No German report available on this raid.
31/7/44 Joigny-laroche Railway yards. Very accurate attack in excellent weather.
6/8/44 Bois du Casson Flying bomb site. Very scattered bombing.
11/8/44 Givors “Exceptionally accurate “ attack on Railway yards.
14/8/44 Brest Clemenceau & Gueydon both left sinking.
[Page Break]
[underlined] Fl/Lt. A.J. Tindall DFC [/underlined]
[underlined] Operations with 97 Squadron [/underlined]
[underlined]7/8 October 1943 [/underlined]
Lancaster Mk.III EE179 OF-T Target: : STUTTGART
Crew: Sgts A.A. Johnson. J.A. Pearson. K. Swale. P/O J. Peden. Sgt [inserted] A.J [/inserted] [deleted] J.A [/deleted] Tindall Sgt J.H. McGregor. F/Sgt E.H. Hansen.
Bomb Load: 1 x4,000lb. 10 x 500lb.
Time up: 21:06 Down 03:24
Primary target Stuttgart attacked. 18,000ft. 8/10ths cloud. Bombed point between yellow and red TIs in bombsight. Own results not seen. Two glows from fires seen.
8/9 October 1943
Lancaster Mk.III JB190 OF-Y Target: Hanover
Crew: Normal.
Bomb Load: 1 x 4,000lb. 6 x 1,000lb.
Time up: 22:57. Down: 03.40.
Primary target bombed. 19,000 ft. Clear sky. Vis. good. Bombed on one yellow TI marker in bombsight. Had no time to verify results visually as Flight Engineer was ill. One particularly big fire was noticed.
18 October 1943
Lancaster Mk.III EE179 OF-T Target: HANOVER
Crew: Normal.
Bomb Load: 6 x 2,000lb.
Time up: 17:23 Down 22:11
Primary target Hanover bombed. 20,000ft. 10/10ths cloud. No moon. Bombed centre between two red and one green TIs. Big red glow illuminated cloud followed by a similar one three minutes later. Nothing else seen.
20/21 October 1943
Lancaster Mk.III EE179 OF-T Target: LEIPZIG
Crew: Normal.
Bomb Load: 1 x 4,000lb. 7 x 500 lb.
Time up: 17:47. Down 00:07
Target Leipzig attacked. 21,000ft. 9/10th cloud. Bombed on one red cascading TI marker in bombsight. No other TIs seen. Nothing else observed except scattered incendiaries.
22 October 1943
Lancaster Mk.III EE179 OF-T Target: KASSEL
Crew: Normal, plus F/Lt E.F. Cawdery, 2nd Pilot.
Bomb Load: 1 x 4,000lb. 6 x 1,000lb.
Time up: 18:30. Down 23:28
Kassel attacked, 20,000ft. No moon, no cloud, vis. good. Bombed centre point between two red TI markers. TIs well concentrated over aiming point. Too early on target for results.
[Page Break]
3 November 1943
Lancaster Mk.III EE179 OF-T Target: COLOGNE
Crew: Normal, plus F/L Cawdery.
Bomb Load: 1 x 4000lb. 6 x1,000 lb. 4 x 500lb.
Time up: 17:26. Down: 21:36.
Target Cologne. Moonlight clear sky, hazy below. 20,000ft. Bombed on cluster of red and green TIs- red actually in bombsight. Many bomb burst seen to slightly overshoot reds. Long line of fires seen as aircraft left target.
18/19 November 1943
Lancaster Mk.III JB470 OF-T Target: BERLIN
Crew: F/L Cawdery now pilot. F/Sgt Johnson with another crew shot down and killed on this raid.
Bomb Load: 4 x 2,000lb.
Time up: 17:30 Down: 00:05.
Berlin attacked from 20,000 ft. 10/10th cloud. Vis. poor. TIs at first appeared spread but improved later. Starboard inner engine and bomb doors holed by heavy flak.
22 November 1943
Lancaster Mk.III JB470 OF-T Target: BERLIN
Crew: F/L Cawdery, normal crew.
Bomb Load: 7 xTI. 1 x 4, 000lb. 3 x 1,000 lb.
Time up: 17:25. Down: 23:10.
9/10ths – 10/10ths cloud, tops at 6,000ft. Vis. good. Bombs released on cluster of three TIs red and one green.
23 November 1943
Lancaster Mk.III JB470 OF-T Target: BERLIN
Crew: Normal
Bomb Load: 4 x TI, 1 x 4,000lb.
Time up: 17:30 Down: 23:50
Berlin bombed from 19,000ft. Aiming point identified by cluster of TI reds and few greens. Large patch of fires seen on arrival in target area.
26 November 1943
Lancaster Mk.III JB470 OF-T Target: FRANKFURT
Crew: Normal
Bomb Load: 6 x TI. 1 x4, 000lb. 6 x 1,000 lb.
Time up: 00.35. Down: 06:00.
Frankfurt attacked from 20,000ft. Target identified by red TIs. Sudden glow observed below clouds at 02:50 hrs. No markers seen.
26/27 November 1943
Lancaster Mk.III JB470 OF-T Target: STUTTGART
Crew: Normal
Bomb Load: 6 x TI. 1 x4,000lb. 5 x 1,000 lb.
No times entered in ORB. Average for other aircraft Up 17:30 Down. 00:10.
Stuttgart bombed from 21,000ft. Only one TI red seen over target but fires were reflected on clouds, and ref glow was seen for 60 miles on track home.
[Page Break]
2 December 1943
Lancaster Mk.III JB470 OF-T Target: BERLIN
Crew: Normal.
Bomb Load: 5 x 2,000lb.
Time up: 17:20. Down: 23.50
Target located by aid of “Y” and bombed from 19,000t. On target too early to observe results. Glow from fires seen on return. Red TIs appeared to be accurate.
3 December 1943
Lancaster Mk.III JB470 OF-T Target: LEIPZIG
Crew: P/O E.E. Osler replaces F/O Peden.
Bomb Load: 1 x 4,000lb. 4 x 2,000 lb. 1 x 500lb.
Time up: 17:20. Down: 23:30
Leipzig bombed from 17,000ft. “Y” equipment used for locating target. Vis. good. Aircraft was early on target but on leaving glow from fires could be seen.
16/17 December 1943
Lancaster Mk.III JB470 OF-T Target: BERLIN
Crew: It is now [underlined]S/L [/underlined] Cawdery. F/O Peden is back. Plus F/Lt. E. Clarke as 2nd Pilot.
Bomb Load: 5 x2, 000lb.
Time up: 16:50. Down: 00:35
Berlin bombed from 19,500ft. Vis. good. 10/10ths cloud tops at 3,000ft. TIs and Wanganuis fairly well concentrated. No results seem owing to cloud.
20 December 1943
Lancaster Mk.III JB470 OF-T Target: FRANKFURT
Crew: Normal.
Bomb Load: 6 x 2,000lb.
Time up: 17:25. Down: 21:59
Frankfurt bombed from 19,000ft. 6-7/10ths cloud. Vis. very good. Target located on “Y”. One Wanganui flare observed falling at 19:27hrs. Many yellow TIs fells after 19:30hrs. Little immediate results but huge red explosion seen from distance at 19:48hrs. Fires were visible from 70 miles.
24 December 1943
Lancaster Mk.III JB470 OF-T Target: BERLIN
Crew: Normal.
Bomb Load: 5 x2,000lb.
Time up: 00:21. Down: 07:15
Target attacked from 20,500ft. TIs and Wanganuis well concentrated. Cloud prevented observation of results. Rear gunner observed glow from some distance on track home.
14 January 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND355 OF-T Target: BRUNSWICK
Crew: Normal, plus S/L J. Simpson, 2nd Pilot.
Bomb Load: 16 x flares. 3 xTI. 1 x 4,000lb. 4 x 1,000 lb.
Time up: 16:51. Down: 22:01
Primary target attacked in fairly good visibility. Bombs released in centre of concentration of Wanganui flares. Majority of Wanganui flares scattered.
[Page Break]
27/28 January 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND355 OF-T Target: BERLIN
Crew: PROMOTIONS!! S/L Cawdery. F/Sgt Pearson, F/Sgt Swale. F/L Peden. F/Sgt Tindall F/Sgt McGregor. F/Sgt Hansen.
Bomb Load: 4 xTI. 1 x4,000lb. 4 x 1,000 lb.
Time up: 17:20. Down 00:25
Primary target bombed on H2S. Wanganui concentration good and compact. No results observed owing to 10/10ths cloud.
30 January 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND415 OF-Z Target: BERLIN
Crew: Normal.
Bomb Load: 5 x Flares. 4 x TI. 1 x 4,000lb. 4 x 1,000 lb.
Time up: 17:30. Down: 23:45
Berlin successfully bombed. Bombs dropped in centre of concentration of Wanganuis. No fires or bomb burst seen, but slight reflection on clouts form red and green TIs.
21 February 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND355 OF-T Target: STUTTGART
Crew: It is now [underlined] P/O [/underlined] Pearson
Bomb Load: 4 x Flares. 4 x TI. 1 x 4,000lb. 5 x1,000lb.
Time up: 00:25. Down: 07:00
Bombed target at 19,000ft with H2S. Weather 4/10ths cloud tops 5,000ft. Vis. good. Large explosion seen.
25/26 February 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND355 OF-T Target: AUGSBURG
Crew: Normal.
Bomb Load: 21 Flares. 1 xRSF. 3 x TI. 1 x 4,000lb. 3 x 1,000lb.
No times entered in ORB. Average for other aircraft up 19:00 Down 02:10
Augsberg bombed from 18,000ft. Vis. good with a clear sky. H2S used for bombing. Green TIs were clear and formed circle round target. A red/green salvo appeared to overshoot.
1/2 March 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND355 OF-T Target: STUTTGART
Crew: Normal
Bomb Load: 4 x Flares. 2 xTIs. 1 x 4,000lb. 5 x 1,000 lb.
Time up: 23:40. Down 06:45
Stuttgart bombed from 20,000ft. 10/10ths cloud, vis. good. Good concentration of Wanganui flares. Good explosion observed of orange coloured flames.
15/16 March 1944
Lancaster Mk.III JND355 OF-T Target: STUTTGART
Crew: Normal. It is now [underlined] P/O Swale [/underlined]
Bomb Load: 20 x flares. 4 x 4 TI. 1 x 4000lb. 2 x1,000 lb.
Time up: 19:25 . Down: 02:20
9/10ths cloud over Stuttgart. Vis. good, bombed on H2S. The first Wanganui went down at 23:11hrs Three minutes later a good concentration of Wanganuis at about 5 miles to the east – one only which was being bombed by Main Force. No results could be observed.
[Page Break]
18/19 March 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND355 OF-T Target: FRANKFURT
Crew: Normal
Bomb Load: 20 x Flares. 4 xTI. 1 x4,000lb. 1 x 1,000 lb. 2x 500lb
Time up: 19:25. Down 00:15
Frankfurt bombed from 18,000ft on H2S. Nothing was seen in target area except flash from own bomb. After bombing 4 or 5 large flashes seen.
22 March 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ME625 OF-T Target: FRANKFURT
Crew: Normal.
Bomb Load: 20 x Flares. 4 xTI. 1 x 4,00lb. 1 x1,000lb. 2 x 500 lb. 1 x red/yellow Flare..[sic]
Time up: 18:45. Down:23:50
2/10th cloud over target, vis. good. Bombed from 18,500ft on H2S. Two green TIs descended and one red/yellow stars fell at the same time as aircraft bombed target at the same spot. One 4,000lb HC observed to explode over built up area.
11 April 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ME625 OF-T Target: LAON
Crew: Normal.
Bomb Load: 6 x 1000lb GP. 6 x 1,000lb MC.
Time up: 01:25. Down: 05:10
Vis. good over Laon. No cloud. Bombed from 15,700ft in centre of green TIs. Red and greens were tight together and marking was constant. Bursts of own bombs seen. Target could not be identified visually but was seen from light of photo flash.
[underlined] RAF CONINGSBY [/underlined]
22/23 April 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ME625 OF-T Target: BRUNSWICK
Crew: It is now [underlined] P/O [/underlined] Tindall. F/Sgt Hansen replaced by F/Sgt R..M.Clarke
Bomb Load: 12 x 4 7” flares. 1 x 4.5” flare. 1 x green TI.
No times entered in ORB. Average from other aircraft Up: 23:05 Down 04:50
Weather over target 6-8/10ths cloud. Hazy, visibility bad. Flares scattered. One RSF seen to south-east, outside area of flares.
24/25 April 1945
Lancaster Mk.III ME625 OF-T Target: MUNICH
Crew: W/O Clarke as rear gunner
Bomb Load: 12 x cluster flares. 1 x green TI No.4
Time up: 20:53. Down 06:27.
Bombing by visual on markers at datum point, H2S over target. Had good run from yellow TI. Our flares went straight across town which was clearly seen. Concentration of fires seen after leaving target. Glow seen for 100 miles.
26/27 April 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ME625 OF-T Target: SCHWEINFURT
Crew: W/O Clarke as rear gunner.
Bomb Load: 12 x 7” flares. 2 x green TI No.4.
Time up: 21:33. Down 05:44
No cloud, slight haze, visibility good. Bombed on H2S. Several lots of flares were down and one green TI which Master Bomber was instructing aircraft to bomb. All flares dropped on one run as original 6 not gone before orders were received to back up.
[Page Break]
28/29 April 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ME625 OF-T Target: KJELLER (OSLO)
Crew: W/O Clarke as read [sic] gunner.
Bomb Load: 6 x clusters 7” flares. 1 x yellow TI no.4. 5 x1000lb MC.
Time up: 21:08. Down 04:12
Good visibility permitted visual identification of runway on airfield. Flares dropped across runways between aiming point “A” and “B”. RSF on roof of one building (Aiming point “A”). Bombs dropped running due west across target. As we were early to bomb, results not seen but rear gunner saw stick of bomb bursts on building as we were leaving the area.
31 May/1 June 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND981 OF-H Target: MAISY
Crew: S/L J.A. Ingham. P/O J.A. Pearson. P/O K. Swale. F/L J. Peden. P/O A.J. Tindall.
F/O F.P.L. Broome (Permanent). W/O E.H. Hansen
Bomb Load: 6 x 7 4.5” clusters. 8 x1, 000lb MC. 3 x 4.5” reco flares.
Time up: 23:03. Down 02:23
Target located by yellow T1 and H2S. Yellow (Oboe) at 00:45 hrs followed by two others at 00:47hrs in target area. Slightly visible above cloud. Instructed at 00:50hrs approx. on VHF, confirmed by W/T to return to base by ordered route. Landed Chipping Norton.
6 June 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND589 OF-D Target: ST. PIERRE DU MONT
Crew: S/L J.A. Ingham. (Deputy Controller) Normal crew.
Bomb Load: 11 x1000lb MC. 4 x 1,000 lb GP.
Time up:02:52. Down:06:56
Weather over St. Pierre du Mont 10/10th cloud base 8,500 – 9,000ft. Broken low cloud below. Target identified visually and by Oboe markers red TIs. Layer of cloud made it impossible to bomb from any greater height than 9,000ft. Controller gave orders to decrease height but 2,000ft. Oboe markers not down on time; first one seen in sea just off shore. PFF very good and green TIs were rather scattered at first. Bombing Oboe seemed to be fairly good. Sticks seen bursting or target. Visibility was impeded by ice on the bomb aimer’s Perspex and pilots’s windscreen. VHF rather noisy on channel B and changed to channel C on Controllers order. Still a lot of interference probably due to people transmitting at the same time.
6/7 June 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND589 OF-D Target: ARGENTAN
Crew: Normal plus F/L W.G. Cooper (Vis. B/Aimer)
Bomb Load: 2 x red/green star Flares. 3 x green TI no.23. 15 x 500lb MC.
No times entered in ORB. Average for other aircraft Up 23: 30 Down 03:20
Good vis. 10/10ths Stratus cumulus 6-7,000ft. Target located visually. Green TI lighting actual buildings. Backing up was on the target too. Marking went through very well indeed in spite of the fact that most of the illuminating flares overshot by about 2 miles. Oboe marker was not seen but it may have burst on the ground. On reaching the target 00:53hrs, appeared to be large buildings in the town itself well on fire. Attack appeared successful. Marking appeared 60 yards west of aiming point and bombing generally was w [sic]
[Page Break]
9/10 June 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND589 OF-D Target: ETAMPES
Crew: Normal.
Bomb Load: 2 x TI green. 2 xTI red. 2 x TI yellow. 2 x Flares green/red stars 10 x 500lb MC.
3 x 4.5” rec. flares.
Time up: 21:56. Down: 02:10
Weather 10/10ths cloud, base 7,500ft. Vis. moderate, slight haze. Target traced by Oboe marker. First flares were 2-3 minutes late. Oboe marker also one minute late. Initial marking was not quite as ordered and a long time elapsed before permission given to bomb at H+14, meantime some aircraft had bombed. Released green TI on RSF on Controller’s orders 00:05hrs approx. (after one dummy run), then attacked by fighter for two minutes. Patter between gunners and pilot was seriously impeded by VHF. In spite of this, the gunners succeeded in shooting the fighter down on Controllers instructions. As an anti-climax, our bombs released safe as during attack by enemy aircraft the switch was put in Safe in case we had to jettison, and this was forgotten when bombs were dropped. Controllers instructions on VHF passed on by W/T Spoof yellow TI seen to cascade after attack but quiet useless as a decoy.
12/13 June 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND589 OF-D Target: POITIERS
Crew: S/L Ingham (Deputy Controller 1) Normal crew..
Bomb Load:2 x flares green/red. 2 x 1 000lb MC. 2 x TI green. 1 x TI yellow. 9 x 7” clusters.
Time up: 22:27. Down: 04:47
Good vis. broken stratus layer at 6,500 ft. Location by H2S. Bombing started by overshooting as markers were a bit scattered and tended to be to port. After large red TI was dropped, bombing improved but some sticks were still scattered far and wide. Oil or petrol explosion at 01:52hrs 300 yards south of large red.
21/22 June 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND589 OF-D Target: GELSENKIRCHEN
Crew: S/L Ingham (Deputy Controller 1) Normal crew.
Bomb Load: 4 x TI red. 1 x TI yellow No.16. 9 x7” cluster. 2 x flares green/red stars.
Time up: 23:08. Down: 03:29.
10/10th cloud, tops estimated 3,000ft. Target identified by yellow Oboe marker. First Oboe went down at 01:30.5hrs. This was ahead. At 01:32hrs another Oboe went down starboard quarter approx.. 1 ½ miles north of first Oboe, cascading from about 5,000ft, which was confusing as we were not expecting more than one (at H-hour only). Saw one red TI go down some miles north of main cluster. We took over from Controller at 01:20hrs as he was having engine trouble. Ordered Flare Force not to drop flares and sent Marking Force home. . [sic] Ordered Main Force to bomb southerly TI at 01:38.5hrs.
24/25 June 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND589 OF-D Target: PROUVILLE
Crew: S/L Ingham (Deputy Controller 1) Normal Crew.
Bomb Load: 4 x TI red No.16. 1 x TI yellow No.16. 2 x flares red/green stars. 9 x7 x 4.5”clusters.
1x 4.5” rec. flare.
Time up: 22:49. Down: 02:10
No cloud, ground haze, vis. moderate. Target located by yellow Oboe marker. This fell 2 minutes early at 00:10 and a second at 00:11hrs almost together. No Mosquito marking seen except one RSF which appeared momentarily. Controller asked for Mosquitos to mark but nothing happened. Further flares were requested and dropped. No Wanganuis dropped to indicate so second flares were dropped on H2S. At Controller’s request own aircraft dropped two red TI on H2S and backed up with two more on 4th run. Controller ordered bombings on red TI dropped by D/97 – at 00:35hrs approx. Final Cease Bombing signal and order to go home not heard. Over target for 30 minutes.
[Page Break]
4/5 July 1944
Lancaster Mk.III ND589 OF-D Target: ST. LEU D’ESSERENT
Crew: Now [underlined] W/C [/underlined] Ingham (Deputy Controller 1) Normal Crew.
Bomb Load: 6 x T1 green. 2 x TI yellow. 5 x 1,000lb MC. 1 x 1,000lb MC (LD)
Time up: 23:30. Down: 03:35
Searchlight belt extended 15 miles approx. further SW, no indication of radar control, attacked by two fighters at 01:10hrs – 49.47N 0135E at 14,00oft and sustained damage to mort mainplane. Handed over to Deputy 2 by W/T – acknowledged 01:16 hrs approx.. Target not attacked.
20/21 July 1944
Lancaster Mk.III PB181 OF-D Target: COURTRAI
Crew: W/C Ingham (Deputy Controller 1) Normal Crew.
Bomb Load: 9 X 7” clusters. 3 X yellow TI No. 16. 2 x Wanganui flares green/red star.
Time up: 23:08. Down: 02:16
Nil cloud, moderate base. First Oboe went down slightly early. Marking very rapid and successful. Bombing at first was a little wide north and south and west. After first few sticks bombing was good. Clouds of smoke tended to obscure markers. Controller called in VBU at 01:00hrs (attack had been ordered 00:57hrs). Some fighter activity.
24/25 July 1944
Lancaster Mk.III PB181 OF-D Target: DONGES
Crew: W/C Ingham (Deputy Controller 1) Normal Crew.
Bomb Load: 6 x7” clusters. 2 x yellow TI No.16. 5 x 1000lb MC (LD 6 hours) 2 x Flares green/red stars.
Time up: 22:42. Down: 03:47
Nil cloud below 16,000ft. Slight haze. Target identified on H2S. Raid opened up with Oboe marker one minute early. Flare illuminated target, marked by Mosquitos, assessed as being 200 yards east of aiming point. This green TI was backed up and produced a concentration of markers round the aiming point. Bombing order given at 01:14hrs. Bombing seemed to be quite concentrated around the green TIs.
25/26 July 1944
Lancaster Mk.III PB181 OF-D Target: STUTTGART
Crew: W/C Ingham Normal Crew.
Bomb Load: 6 x 4 flares white. 2 x TI red LB. 1 x 4,000lb. 4 x 500 lb. 1 x flare green/red.
Time up: 22:00. Down 05:20
8/10ths thick cloud, tops 18,000ft. Vis. moderate. Target located on GPI run. General concentration of TIs was good, mainly red, some greens seen.
31 July 1944
Lancaster Mk.III PB181 OF-D Target: JOIGNY-LAROCHE
Crew: Normal Crew, plus F/Sgt M.H. McBride, Front Gunner.
Bomb Load: 4 x 500lb MC ( ½ hr). 11 x 1,000 LB (1hr).
Time up: 17:20 Down: 23:20
Weather good, no cloud, slight haze. Located target by visual on canal and yards and by TIs. Lax attention to height caused trouble when the two forces divided. A gap of at least 500ft should be left between the two forces. Navigation could be better controlled if the Path Finder Force were not divided. Flying speed after the target was increased above that laid down by 10mph at least. It would be better policy to reduce rather than increase speed after leave the target, to allow formation to close up the straggle due to bombing, and also to allow any aircraft damaged to have a chance to keep up. Landed at Swinderby.
[Page Break]
6 August 1944
Lancaster Mk.III PB133 OF-C Target: BOIS DU CASSON
Crew: Normal
Time up: 09:12. Down 13:59.
There are no individual crew reports for 6/8.44. No Bombs Loads are listed But there is a resume of the operation carried out that day.
[underlined] Weather [/underlined]
Clear, break over target, cumulus tops 15,000ft to 20,000ft in target area.
[underlined] Results [[/underlined]
Crossing English coast Controllers Gee and intercom failed. As planned to home to target on Gee, handed over to G/38 (F/L Drinkall-missing)). [sic] Controller and Deputy changed position, Controller having fixed up poor intercom on 1196 (after 7 minutes) stood by in advisory capacity. About 40 miles inland a big cumulus cloud was lying across track. Deputy descended to 16,000ft and broadcast that he was going to take Force below the cloud. Controller warned him not to go below 15,000ft, and next advised him to turn to starboard. Deputy ordered Force to diverge and dive through cloud. Formation broke up in cloud. On emerging, Main Force were scattered over many miles of sky. There were some attempts to gather into a bunch (or bunches) but impossible to regain proper formation. As a result some aircraft appeared to bomb the primary. The number bombing was not large enough to impede daylight bombing runs and the other bombing of the target that did occur was believed accurate. Other aircraft bombed as best they could with some mistaking pin-points owing to icing troubles and the rush. Attack scattered over a large area.
Aborted : S/97 aborted mission, unable to identify target
Missing J/97 ND 840 (F/O Bucknell)
Opposition encountered: Moderate heavy flak seen. Fighters in target area attacked aircraft which were most dispersed on breaking cloud.
11/12 August 1944
Lancaster Mk.III PB181 OF-D Target: GIVORS
Crew: W/C Ingham (Deputy Controller 1) Normal Crew.
Bomb Load: 6 x red TI No. 16. 2 x yellow TI No . 16. 1 x yelow [sic] TI B22.
2 x Flares green/red. 4 x 1,000lb. 1 x 1 ,000lb (LD)
Time up: 20:39. Down: 05:17
Weather clear. Target located by illuminating flares. Unable to contact Controller so took over controlling. First flares fell two miles east, not illuminating target properly. Flares very scattered, heard green Force Controller ask for reserve flares. Marker Leader requested Wanganui but it did not function as a skymarker and went sraight [sic] down. We postponed H-hour for 5 minutes at 01:00hrs reserve flares then forthcoming, which gave good illumination. First red TI (at 01:012 hrs) assessed as 600 yards south, then second red TI more accurate on aiming point. This was backed up by third red which fell at least 500 yards to west. B/U asked to back up centre TI at 01:07hrs, which promptly went out. This left two inaccurate ones so instructed B/U to drop red directly between two and did so myself at 01:11 hrs. These TIs were subsequently thought to be in marshalling yard itself and were assessed by Marker Leader as 300 yards east of aiming point, so Main Force were ordered to bomb these with zero wind and ignore most westerly red TI, which was not cancelled as main concentration was obvious. Bombing subsequently well concentrated on these, though some ticks overshot to north and south. One or two fires seen. Yellow datum point TI not dropped by us as top pre-occupied as Controller. Landed at Witchford.
14 August 1944
Lancaster Mk.III PB 181 OF-D Target: BREST (Shipping)
Crew: Normal.
Bomb Load: 8 x1,000lb. ANM 65
Time up: 17:44. Down: 22:26
Weather clear, good visibility. Target identified visually. Two of our stick of bombs observed bursting on the cruiser. Tanker was seen burning after the attack. Winds received B3 100/7, B1 200/9, B4 126/5, B5 148/9. Winds sent 150/6 at 20:12hrs. Bombing heading received at 20:16 hrs as 010T.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Arthur Tindall's service and operations
Description
An account of the resource
A list of aircraft, operations and details of each operation undertaken by Arthur Tindall.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Ten typed sheets
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Rendsburg
Germany--Stuttgart
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Augsburg
France--Laon
Germany--Munich
Germany--Schweinfurt
Norway--Kjeller
France--Normandy
France--Argentan
France--Poitiers
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
France--Abbeville
France--Oise
France--Donges
France--Joigny
France--Paris
France--Givors
France--Brest
Great Britain
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Lincolnshire
Belgium--Kortrijk
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Braunschweig
France--Étampes (Essonne)
France--Saint-Pierre-du-Mont (Landes)
France
Germany
Belgium
Norway
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MTindallAJ173966-150815-01
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944
1944-06
1944-07
1944-08
1944-06-05
1944-06-06
1944-06-24
1944-06-25
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Claire Monk
44 Squadron
635 Squadron
83 Squadron
97 Squadron
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
bombing
bombing of Kassel (22/23 October 1943)
bombing of the Creil/St Leu d’Esserent V-1 storage areas (4/5 July 1944)
bombing of the Normandy coastal batteries (5/6 June 1944)
bombing of the Pas de Calais V-1 sites (24/25 June 1944)
Distinguished Flying Cross
flight engineer
Gee
H2S
Lancaster
Mosquito
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Oboe
Pathfinders
RAF Coningsby
RAF Swinderby
RAF Witchford
target indicator
V-weapon
wireless operator
-
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
Stephenson, Stuart
Stuart Stephenson MBE
S Stephenson
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Stephenson, S
Description
An account of the resource
20 items. An oral history interview with Stuart Stephenson MBE, Chairman of the Lincs-Lancaster Association, and issues of 5 Group News.
The collection was catalogued by Barry Hunter.
In accordance with the conditions stipulated by the donor, some items are available only at the International Bomber Command Centre / University of Lincoln.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Copies sent to:
Stns. 9
S Th 10
B 6.
[Indecipherable] 2
Base 1
[Stamp] Base Copy.
V GROUP NEWS V
JUNE * 1944 * [deleted] SECRET [/deleted] * NO * 23
FOREWORD by A.O.C.
June has proved to be a month of record achievements. For the first time in its history the Group despatched 3,000 sorties of which a very high percentage were successful. Much of this success is due to the flare and marking teams who are now getting into their stride, and there has been a similar improvement in bombing. For the first time the average crew bombing error from 20,000 feet for the whole Group is below 200 yards. If the reduction of 50 yards which was achieved during June can be repeated during July, the number of bombs falling on the average target will be increased by something in the order of 50. This can be seen by looking at any P.R.U. photograph and counting the number of craters which are shown in open fields on either side of the target.
I therefore ask all crews to continue with their efforts to reduce bombing errors in the knowledge that by doing so they will add to the striking power of the Group to an extent which could be achieved by no other means. The new orders for maintenance which have recently been issued should help the Instrument Section, upon whom so much depends, to improve the serviceability of the sight, and eliminate minor inaccuracies.
On two occasions during the month the Group came up against the main strength of the German Night Fighter Defences, and on both occasions suffered serious losses; although over the whole month the missing rate was below the average for previous months. Nevertheless these instances show the vital importance of gunnery and the need for improving results by every means in our power.
There is ample evidence that the combined power of the rear and mid-upper turrets will bring down enemy fighters if the aim is correct. As an example, there is the case of “M” of 207 Squadron whose crew on the night of June 9/8th destroyed two JU. 88 and one ME.110. Although results such as this will always remain exceptional, it should be possible to improve the accuracy of aim over the present general standard. Fighters are now available in 1690 Flight for affiliation exercises and every chance must be taken whenever the weather is suitable especially at night. The bombing team has shown how greatly it can improve its results by methodical training and analysis and I now look to the gunnery team to do likewise. I will do everything in my power to provide them with means and facilities for training, but much is a matter for each gunner. Night vision, methodical search, aircraft recognition, turret manipulation, clearing stoppages, can only be improved by hard individual work.
The effort which the Group has put in during the month had been made possible by the high standards of serviceability which have been achieved, and I congratulate all ranks who have helped to get aircraft and equipment into the air. The Armament sections have loaded a record tonnage of bombs while all other sections on each station have contributed their full share to the success achieved.
Finally, I congratulate No. 51 Base on completing more than 8,000 hours of training and passing out a record number of crews. In particular I would mention No. 5 L.F.S. who completed a month’s flying with no avoidable flying accidents.
[Page break]
GUNNERY
[Underlined] BASE GUNNERY LEADERS [/underlined]
June has seen the establishment of a S/Ldr Air Gunner at each Base, and a list of the officers concerned is appended at the foot of this paragraph. Whilst these officers will be concerned with all Gunnery matters, their main functions is to improve the standard of training throughout the Group, as it has long been realised that with long periods of operations the Squadron Gunnery Leaders are fully occupied and can find little time for all the other aspects of Gunnery. The Base Gunnery Leaders will, therefore, be able to devote their time to improve training facilities and equipment, and to ensure that the equipment is available in sufficient quantity to ensure the maximum benefit being obtained from it. They will also be able to supervise the preparation of Gunners for Gunnery Leader, A.G.I. and Specialist Sighting Courses, to enable the candidates to have the best possible chance of passing these courses, thus avoiding wastage of valuable vacancies. The appointment of these Officers to S/Ldr posts offers more advancement for Gunnery Leaders, and is an indication that the importance of air gunnery is receiving recognition. We wish the officers concerned good luck in their new appointments, and hope that very shortly dividends will be paid by this new establishment.
51 BASE – S/LDR HIPKIN
52 BASE – F/LT McCURDY
53 BASE – F/LT BEALE
54 BASE F/LT HOWARD
55 BASE – F/LT BREAKEY
[Underlined] GUNNERY LEADERS’ MOVEMENTS [/underlined]
An error appeared in the Movement’s column for May, regarding 467 and 44 Squadrons, and is corrected below.
F/Lt Clarke ex 1660 Con. Unit to 44 Sqdn.
F/Lt Cleary ex 27 O.T.U. to 467 Sqdn.
Other movements are:-
S/Ldr Undery ex 1690 B.D.T.F. to H.Q. No. 5 Group.
F/Lt Cass, ex L.F.S. to 630 Sqdn.
[Underlined] COMBAT REPORTS [/underlined]
Considerable time is wasted in returning incorrect combat reports to Squadrons, through claims being made which do not conform to the standards laid down by Bomber Command, as issued to all Units. The Gunnery Leaders must ensure that information entered is correct in every detail and that all claims are submitted under one of the headings, i.e. “Destroyed”, “Probably Destroyed” or “Damaged”. Numerous incidents occur when information regarding Tail Warning Devices is incomplete, and it is emphasised that this is most important and must be included in combat reports. Combat reports could be forwarded to Headquarters 5 Group more quickly than at present; the standard pro-forma is now in general use and should help in the preparation of reports. Units should check that only this amended pro-forma is used for this purpose.
This Month’s Bag
[Cartoon]
[Underlined] DESTROYED [/underlined]
Sqdn. A/C Letter Date Type of E/A
207 “M” 7/8.6.44. JU. 88 (c)
207 “M” 7/8.6.44. JU. 88 (c)
207 “M” 7/8.6.44. ME. 410 (c)
630 “Y” 9/10.6.44. JU. 88 (c)
44 “O” 9/10.6.44. ME. 109 (c)
97 “D” 9/10.6.44. DO. 217 (c)
50 “U” 15/16.6.44. JU. 88 (c)
207 “F 21/22.6.44. ME. 109
57 “G” 24/25.6.44. ME. 109
57 “G” 24/25.6.44. JU. 88
97 “Q” 24/25.6.44. JU. 88 (c)
207 “B” 24/25.6.44. ME 109
[Underlined] PROBABLY DESTROYED [/underlined]
106 “G” 6/7.6.44. ME. 110 (c)
467 “X” 21/22.6.44. T/E.
[Underlined] DAMAGED [/underlined]
207 “J” 1.6.44. T/E (c)
57 “P” 1.6.44. JU. 88
50 “D” 6.6.44. ME. 410
9 “O” 6/7.6.44. JU. 88 (c)
630 “O” 6/7.6.44. JU. 88 (c)
630 “V” 9/10.6.44. JU. 88 (c)
97 “Q” 9/10.6.44. JU. 88 (c)
106 “F” 14/15.6.44. FW. 190 (c)
207 “D” 24/25.6.44. ME. 109
Claims annotated (c) have been confirmed by Headquarters, Bomber Command.
[Underlined] ODD JOTTINGS [/underlined]
A new type of two-piece flying suit is on trial in 53 Base, and the results will, in due course, be made available.
Replies have been received from all Units in the use of the Pilot type parachute for rear gunners and recommendations forwarded to H.Q. Bomber Command. With slight modification to the turret, this idea seems feasible, but may call for a revision in the type of clothing to be worn.
Ampro projectors are appearing in operational units for assessing Cine Gyro films. The establishment is one per station.
Units are again reminded that filters suitable for the Shadowgraph and 16 m.m. projector for use in night vision training are available. When requesting an issue of these filters from H.Q. 5 Group, units are to confirm that they have a [underlined] fully [/underlined] blacked out room for night vision training.
CLAY PIGEON SHOOTING
Instructions have now been issued to all Stations to construct a sandbag traphouse for clay pigeon shooting, and full details given for the layout of the range. Severn P.F.O’s are attending the Instructor’s Course on the 7th July, and the remainder on the 23rd July; these instructors will pass on to Unit Gunnery Leaders instructions for these practices, to ensure that at least two officers are available for conducting the exercises. Gunnery Leaders should press for the construction of the traphouses and ensure that all equipment is overhauled and ready for use.
AIR TRAINING CARRIED OUT IN CONVERSION UNITS AND SQUADRONS DURING JUNE.
[Table of Fighter Affiliation and Air Firing Exercises by Squadron]
Fighter Affiliation Grand Total = 1493
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944. PAGE 2
[Page break]
AIR BOMBING
[Underlined] ATTACKS ON LIMOGES MARSHALLING YARDS [/underlined]
1,424 bombs were dropped. Of this total 844 craters have been counted on the P.R.U. photographs. We can therefore only consider 59% of the total number of bombs dropped.
The M.P.I. of all craters was established and a circle of radius 150 yards was drawn. Inside this circle the number of craters that could be counted totalled 152 and the remaining 692 craters were counted outside the circle. Therefore the Pilot and Air Bomber’s error for 692 bombs was greater than 150 yds.
With our 152 bombs inside the 150 yards circle we achieved 10 hits per acre and if we assume that of the bombs not counted, we obtained the same percentage inside 150 yards our hits per acre would increase to 17.
There were 211 bombs between the 150 yards and 250 yards circles. The maximum errors permissible for these bombs to get them into the 150 yards circle are:-
125 yards – average line error
160 yards – average range error
We all agree that these limits are reasonable and that crews should not have errors in excess.
Now, if the bombs had been contained in the limits of 125 yards line and 160 yds. range, our resultant average radial error about the M.P.I. would be 175 yards. This would mean that instead of sending the 96 aircraft to Limoges that we had to, we need only have sent 59 aircraft to achieve the same number of hits. We would then have had 37 aircraft free to attack the factory at ??? There were, of course, 330 bombs seen outside the 250 yards circle and great effort must be made to eliminate the errors that were responsible.
The Moral! – You must practice, practice and practice until you are a certain “A” category crew.
!!! [Underlined] CREW CATEGORISATION [/underlined] !!!
A+ Crews – 60 yards or less
A Crews – 100 yards or less
B Crews – 100 yds. to 150 yds.
C Crews – 150 yds. to 200 yds.
D Crews – Over 200 yards.
[Underlined] RESULTS [/underlined]
[Table of Crew Categories by Base]
[Underlined] “GEN” FROM THE BOMBING RANGES [/underlined]
[Underlined] EPPERSTONE: [/underlined] Plotted 1597 bombs aimed by 309 aircraft.
[Underlined] OWTHORPE: [/underlined] Plotted 1510 bombs aimed by 319 aircraft.
[Underlined] WAINFLEET: [/underlined] Plotted 2056 bombs aimed by 440 aircraft.
HIGH LEVEL BOMBING TRAINING
[Table of High Level Bombing Training Statistics by Squadron and Conversion Unit]
THE BEST RESULTS FOR JUNE
In the April “News” it was threatened that owing to the improvement in Crew Errors, it may be necessary to lower the qualifying figure for the inclusion of errors in this column. June has produced the largest number of below 100 yards errors yet, and in consequence only those crews who have obtained crew errors of 80 yards or less, converted to 20,000 ft. can receive publicity.
Squadron or Con. Unit. Pilot Air Bomber Navigator Error at 20,000 feet.
9 F/O Blackham F/O Elphick F/O Wenger 72 yards
44 F/L White Sgt Jenkins F/S Jones 66 yards
P/O Baxter W/O Young W/O Rutherford 50 yards
P/O Stewart Sgt Stubbs Sgt Wright 65 yards
49 P/O Appleyard F/S Jameson F/S Blumfield 78 yards
P/O Arnold F/O Dewar W/O Fleming 72 yards
57 F/S Clark Sgt Johnson Sgt Lugg 65 yards
83 P/O Meggeson W/O Franklin F/O Wicker 65 yards
F/O Kelly F/O Irwin Sgt Burleigh 58 & 64 yards
97 F/L Van Raalte F/O Arnold F/S Williams 52, 69 & 78 yards
S/L Ingham F/O Perkins F/L Chatten 69 yards
467 P/O Waugh F/S Southgate F/O Semple 67 yards
F/L Brine F/S Luton F/S Sutton 80 yards
617 P/O Duffy F/O Woods F/O Bell 42 yards
F/O Knights P/O Bell F/O Rhude 48 yards
P/O Jingles F/S Hazell F/O Beal 63 yards
619 P/O Johnson Sgt Vaughton F/S Tranter 79 yards
F/L Howes F/O Baker F/L Harrison 74 yards
1654 C.U. F/S Beharrie Sgt Dean Sgt Brownhall 74 yards
F/S McKechnie F/S Wallace Sgt Little 53 yards
1660 C.U. P/O Dyer F/S Howard F/S Lemaire 74 yards
F/S Millar F/O Banks W/O Wilday 70 yards
1661 C.U. F/O Franks F/O Orry Sgt Roe 78 yards
F/O Furber Sgt Le Marquand F/O Hassel 78 yards
5 L.F.S. S/L Smith Sgt Wallis Sgt Page 49 yards
F/O Edwards F/S Wallace F/O Nunn 54 yards
Congratulations to F/L Van Raalte and crew, 97 Squadron for the outstanding 3 exercises!!!
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944. PAGE 3
[Page break]
AIR BOMBING (CONTD.)
[Underlined] “GEN” FROM THE SQUADRONS [/underlined]
[Underlined] 50 Squadron (F/Lt Hearn, D.F.C) [/underlined] report that to try and reduce bombing errors to a minimum a system of practice bomb plotting on small perspex covered boards is being inaugurated. The errors will be plotted on this board and the reason explained verbally to the Air Bomber, Captain and Navigator. In case of suspected instrument error the Bombing Section will examine the results plotted with the Instrument Section.
[Underlined] 57 Squadron (F/L Keats) [/underlined] report that a modification to permit the emergency jettisoning of smaller H.E. bombs only when a mixed load of 4,000 H.C. and other H.E. bombs is carried has been suggested by an Air Bomber and submitted for approval. An isolation switch would be incorporated in the circuit between the Connell Pre-Selector and No. 13 Station. This switch would be permanently wired down except when the special load of 4,000 H.C. and other H.E. bombs is carried, in which case it would be left up for take-off and put down by the crew when a height of 4,000 feet is reached. In the event of engine failure at take-off, the pilot could jettison the smaller H.E. bombs safe with the jettison toggle instead of the normal jettisoning of containers by Type H Jettison.
[Underlined] 52 Base [/underlined] report that [underlined] 12 [/underlined] aircraft took off between [underlined] 08.30 hours and 09.30 hours [/underlined] on 4th July to carry out High Level Practice Bombing. Early morning details can be sure of the best bombing weather!!
[Underlined] 106 Squadron (F/L Morgan) [/underlined] report the following outstanding exercise:-
Pilot:- F/O Meredith
Air Bomber:- F/O Mitchell.
As the port outer engine had to be feathered before completion of the cross country, bombing was carried out on only three engines. As Gee was thus u/s and as petrol was running short, no wind was found, but the wind velocity found on the last leg of the cross country was used for bombing. This wind velocity was found at 18,000 feet, whereas the bombing was carried out at 14,000 feet owing to having only three engines. Thus a fairly large vector error of 214 yards (Converted to 20,000 feet) resulted, but the bomb aimer’s error was only 16 yards at 14,000 feet, which is an error of 19 yards when converted to 20,000 feet.
[Underlined] BOMBING LEADERS’ CORNER [/underlined]
Bombing Leaders in 54 Base are:-
83 Squadron – F/L Bedell
97 Squadron – F/L Rogers, D.F.C.
627 Squadron – F/L Mitchell
[Underlined] F/L Harris, D.F.C. [/underlined] has arrived from H.Q. 6 Group to take over Bombing Leader duties at No. 5 L.F.S. Syerston.
[Underlined] F/L Honnibal [/underlined] (ex 92 Group) has succeeded F/L Keats as Bombing Leader to 57 Squadron.
[Underlined] F/L Keats [/underlined] (57 Squadron) has moved to H Q 92 Group.
[Underlined] BOMBING LEADERS’ COURSES [/underlined]
F/O Clegg (44 Squadron), F/S. Booth (619 Squadron) and F/O Linnett (207 Squadron) obtained “B” Categories on No. 84 Course and F/O Nugent (61 Squadron) obtained “B” Category on No. 85 Course.
[Underlined] SQUADRON BOMBING COMPETITION [/underlined]
The month of June was notorious for bad weather, numerous operations and stand-by’s. Hence the competition entries were fewer in number than of late. It has been decided to include the Conversion Units in the Competition under the same rules as for the Squadrons. It is realised, however, that they have an advantage over Squadrons in so far as they have considerably more qualifying entries from which to make selection. However it is hoped that squadrons will make determined efforts to beat the Conversion Units in July. Out [sic] congratulations are extended to 51 Base for their high standard, and their commanding positions in this, their first entry!!
PILOT AND AIR BOMBER’S ERROR AT 20,000 FEET
1st 1654 C.U. – 60 yards
2nd 619 Squadron – 62 yards
3rd 1660 C.U. – 68 yards
4th 1661 C.U. – 69 yards
5th 44 Squadron – 70 yards
6th 467 Squadron – 78 yards
7th 5 L.F.S. – 83 yards
8th 49 Squadron – 85 yards
9th 83 Squadron – 90 yards
10th 9 Squadron – 92 yards
11th (630 Squadron- 96 yards
(106 Squadron 96 yards
13th 463 Squadron- 107 yards
14th 97 Squadron – 109 yards
15th 207 Squadron – 116 yards
16th 57 Squadron – 124 yards
Non-qualifying Squadrons:-
17th 50 Squadron (6 exercises)- 106 yards
18th 61 Squadron (3 exercises)- 91 yards
[Underlined] BOMBING LEADER COMPETITION [/underlined]
F/Lt Walmsley, D.F.C. – 52 Base – 76 yards
[Underlined] BIGCHIEF COMPETITION [/underlined]
G/Capt Johnson, D.F.C., A.F.C. – 88 yards
(R.A.F. Station, Syerston)
[Underlined] ? ? AIR BOMBERS’ QUIZ ? ? [/underlined]
1. What can cause an apparent Vector error in practice bombing?
2. List the possible causes of Large Random Errors.
3. What errors in practice bombing will be caused by low suction?
4. If you set the wrong T. V. what kind of error will you get?
[Underlined] MARK XIV BOMBSIGHT – DO’S AND DON’T’S [/underlined]
DO:- (i) set Bomb T.V. (the TV’s of all bombs likely to be dropped should be recorded on the levelling card on the top right-hand corner of the computor).
(ii) Set Target height against Q.F.E. ([underlined] SEA LEVEL PRESSURE [/underlined]).
(iii) Set [underlined] INDICATED [/underlined] Wind Speed because Bombsight Computor works on Indicated Air Speed and indicated height (indicated wind can be found from true wind by SUBTRACTING 1.5% per 1000 ft of height).
(iv) Synchronise bombsight compass with Pilot’s D.R. repeater (by pressing in and turning the synchronising knob on the side of the Computor box.)
(v) Check that sufficient suction is reaching the bombsight gyros.
(vi) Remember to turn on air supply to the bombsight by means of the Bombsight Cock.
(vii) Be sure that the Pilot puts main control cock of “George” to OUT when Bombsight is to be used, or no compressed air will be available.
(viii) Keep the bombsight clean and check all the loads are correctly attached.
(ix) Liaise with the Instrument Section who maintenance [sic] your bombsight.
DON’T (i) Use the Emergency Computor until you have checked the bombsight and tried to correct the fault.
(ii)Touch the reflector glass of the Sighting Head when the gyro is running (the gyro is always running when the engines are running).
(iii) Forget to adjust the levelling scales for the all-up weight. (The Flight Engineer will know the A.U.W.).
(iv) Put any pressure on the reflector glass – even the edge of a map may lead to the toppling of the gyro when the engines are running.
(v) Let anything, not even your oxygen mask, press on the Sighting Head. (The upper part is supported on anti-vibration mountings which prevent the bearings of the gyro being damaged – the least pressure can make the alignment inaccurate).
(vi) Stow parachute, window, etc. near any of the leads to the Computor Box or Sighting Head.
(vii) Forget to liaise with the bombsight maintenance staff.
[Underlined] OPERATIONS (Continued from back page) [/underlined]
were daylight attacks) with varying degrees of success. Notable among these attacks were the operations in daylight against WATTEN and SIRACOURT on the 19th and 25th respectively. In both cases direct hits are claimed on the launching ramps involving damage which, it is hoped, will put them out of -commission at least temporarily.
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944. PAGE 4
[Page break]
NAVIGATION
No long range sorties have been carried out during the month; in fact almost all the targets have been in Gee range. No Navigational difficulties therefore have been experienced. Broadcast winds have not been attempted during the month because of shallow penetration.
One major navigational “boob” was, however made during the month by a Navigator of No. 106 Squadron. The aircraft was detailed to attack a Ruhr target, and reached the enemy coast on track and on time. The Navigator then gave the next course to the pilot who in error steered 100° different from that given him. The Navigator was at fault in not checking the course with the pilot. The aircraft continued on the wrong course for six minutes until a Gee fix was obtained. The sortie was eventually abandoned because of the time element. This is another example of what can happen if you do not carry out the correct drills. Immediately the pilot says “on course” make it your first duty to check the true course steered.
[Underlined] ANALYSIS OF WIND FINDING. [/underlined]
During the month an analysis of errors which may arise in windfinding has produced the following probable error:-
Probable Error
(i) Inability to read A.P.I. to nearest half minute of Lat. and Long. 1 mile
(ii) Inability to plot a position in Lat. and Long. accurately (e.g. Air Position and Gee fix) 1/2 mile (at least)
(iii) Inherent error in H2S fixes of at least half a mile. 1/2 mile
(iv) Inability to plot an H2S fix to within 1/2 mile because of mile scale limitations on chart 1/2 mile
(v) Probable error in synchronising of D.R. compass repeaters when airborne. 1 mile
(vi) Error in Compass swing of at least 1°. 1 mile
(vii) Probable error in measuring off length of wind vector, because of mile scale limitations, on chart. 1/2 mile
[Underlined] Total [/underlined] 5
Therefore if a wind was found over a period of 15 minutes it would be possible to obtain an error of 20 m.p.h!! Fortunately, of course, some of the errors will cancel out, but even then there will always be a residue which, multiplied by four, may still give a large error.
It will be noticed that careless errors in taking of Gee and H2S fixes, reading off A.P.I. co-ordinates, incorrect plotting etc. have not been mentioned.
The problem now is, how can we eliminate the above errors. Action has already been taken to eliminate points (iv) and (vii). Station and Squadron Navigation Officers are urged to discuss the above list with all Navigators on the Squadron, and submit any suggestions to Group Headquarters immediately.
Don’t be afraid to give us all your suggestions. Remember, the more accurate w/v’s we obtain, the more accurate the bombing, concentration and timing.
Referring back to careless errors, by far the largest of these are plotting and computing errors. A list of exercises to improve plotting and computation was forwarded to each S.N.O. some weeks ago. It is the responsibility of each S.N.O. to see that these exercises are completed at regular intervals. Short computation tests, lasting 15 – 20 minutes should be completed every morning if this is possible. There is always a spare half hour between assembly at the flights and commencing N.F.T’s. The plotting tests should be carried out at least once every fortnight, particular stress being laid on wind finding. Make it a point always that the tests are analysed immediately after completion, and the results made known as soon as possible.
Many Squadrons have adopted the above procedure, and are being well repaid. There are still one or two Squadron Navigation Officers, however, who say they are too busy to do such things. Don’t let this be your excuse – try it conscientiously and well for the next fortnight, and note the improvement in the work of your Navigator.
[Underlined] AIR POSITION INDICATOR [/underlined]
All Navigators will now be conversant with the resetting modification fitted during the past months. It is hoped that maximum use is being made of this device, which should considerably simplify resetting.
Yet another modification to simplify resetting has been suggested by the Navigation Staff at Syerston. It is the fitting of a “winder handle” to the resetting knob. Only one handle need be used when resetting and, much more important, the time taken to reset will be reduced by at least 2/3rds. The above modification has been submitted to Bomber Command for approval, and as soon as this is obtained, all aircraft will be modified.
Several Squadrons have been persevering with the graphical resetting procedure, but this has not proved very successful. When the modification suggested by Syerston has been fitted to all aircraft, all objections against resetting regularly will have been overcome, and it will be possible to adopt the standard procedure of resetting the A.P.I. regularly.
[Underlined] NAVIGATION TECHNIQUE [/underlined]
During the summer months it is hoped we may further the Navigation technique to such an extent that Navigation will be considerably simplified during the winter period. We must aim for simplification and standardisation in use of A.P.I., H2S and log and chart keeping. This will be of considerable benefit to the Conversion Units. At the present time a Navigator is taught one method at the Conversion Unit and another on the Squadron – consequently he is proficient at neither. Ideas are being collected from Squadrons and it is hoped to present to Squadrons and Conversion Units the ideal Navigation technique. Let us have your suggestions.
[Underlined] PRACTICE BOMBING WINDS [/underlined]
The results of the drive on practice bombing and wind finding have, on the whole, been satisfactory – but in certain cases they have been disappointing. The Conversion Unit Navigators have surpassed many operational Navigators. A vector error of less than 5 m.p.h. should be your aim.
Improvements have been made during the last 7 or 8 weeks, and the average vector error produced this month is 7 3/4 m.p.h. – a commendable effort on the whole but there is still room for improvement.
It was stated in last month’s News that a monthly Bombing Wind Finding Competition would be held. It was the intention to publish the best eight vector errors for the month, but so far there have been 14 instances where NIL vector error was obtained and a further 14 instances of vector errors of 2 m.p.h. and below! It has therefore been decided to issue the AVERAGE vector error obtained by each Squadron and Conversion Unit for the month. The order is as follows:-
[Table of Average Vector Error by Squadron]
[Underlined] Average Error: [/underlined] Squadrons – 7 m.p.h.
Con. Units – 8 m.p.h.
It will be noted that only one Squadron has achieved the ideal, i.e. a mean vector error of 5 m.p.h.
[Underlined] UNION NEWS [/underlined]
S/Ldr Day, D.F.C. Base Nav. Officer, Scampton to Ops.II H.Q. 5 Group.
S/Ldr Mould, D.F.C. S.N.O. Dunholme to Base Nav. Officer, Scampton.
F/Lt. Bray, D.F.C. 207 Sqdn. to S.N.O. Dunholme.
F/Lt. Woodhouse, D.F.M. 44 Squadron Nav. Officer reported missing.
F/Lt. Craven 50 Squadron Nav. Officer reported missing.
F/Lt. R. Adams, D.F.C. 630 Squadron Nav. Officer reported missing.
F/Lt. Lascelles, D.F.C. 1654 C.U. Navigation Leader to be Squadron Nav. Officer No. 50 Squadron.
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944. PAGE 5
[Page break]
ARMAMENT
[Underlined] A RECORD MONTH [/underlined]
The month of June produced two new records when a total of 3000 sorties was flown, resulting in 11,708 tons of bombs dropped on enemy territory, an increase of 3,000 tons over our previous record in May. All armament personnel can be justifiably proud of their contribution, particularly as this phenomenal tonnage represents only a fraction of the tonnage actually handled during the month.
[Underlined] ELECTRICAL BOMBING GEAR [/underlined]
One drop of water in the wrong place may result in several thousands of pounds of high explosive failing to reach the target – a startling yet true statement. Bad weather has necessitated leaving aircraft bombed up for several consecutive days, and as no aircraft can be guaranteed waterproof, it is quite possible that some of our recent “summer weather” has seeped into the bombing circuit.
All Armament Officers are reminded if the correct procedure to be carried out when aircraft are left bombed up after the cancellation of operations, and a quick reference to Air Staff Instructions would not be amiss at this stage. Are your electrical circuits tested each day, and do you always remove pyrotechnics from the aircraft immediately after the cancellation? Check up on these and all other relevant points, and ensure that the [underlined] full [/underlined] load reaches its destination, and not just a small fraction of it.
[Underlined] ARMAMENT BULLETIN [/underlined]
The Bomber Command Armament Bulletin for June has now arrived and contains some very interesting and useful information, particularly the suggestions made for improving the condition of bomb dumps in general. Page 9 of the Bulletin refers to the difficulties encountered in the storage of cluster projectiles and introduces a new type of tracking which is intended form a temporary hard standing in bomb dumps which have no suitable storage space for this particular weapon. Supplies of this Summerville tracking have already arrived at some stations in the Group and although it is, as yet, too early to express an opinion as to the efficiency of this equipment, it is considered that it will prove to be a very great asset.
FAILURES TABLE
[Table of Armament Failures by Types and Squadron]
A= MANIPULATION B = MAINTENANCE C = ICING
D = TECHNICAL E = ELECTRICAL F = OBSCURE
[Underlined] GUN FREEZING [/underlined]
Although the immediate danger of gun failures due to freezing has now passed, the problem of preventing such failures is still being very carefully investigated, and to assist in this investigation samples of hydraulic fluids have been taken from gun turret systems of operational aircraft for analysis by the Ministry of Aircraft Production.
A [indecipherable] of water in suspension in hydraulic fluid is sufficient to cause the oil to freeze at a considerably higher temperature, and consequently the importance of ensuring that oil containers used to fill gun turret systems are free from water, cannot be too strongly stressed. Results of this analysis will be forwarded to all Bases and Stations when received. We hope that they will be negative.
[Underlined] AMMUNITION [/underlined]
The repeated changing of ammunition from night to daylight sequence results in all ammunition bolts being handled several times a week. If ammunition is transported in suitable containers and handled carefully when being loaded into the aircraft, no misalignment should occur.
The necessity for ensuring that only correctly aligned ammunition is loaded into gun turrets should be brought to the attention of all armourers and air gunners.
NAVIGATION TRAINING
The emphasis during the past month has been on wind finding for practice bombing, and we are pleased to say that Navigators on the Training Base have risen to the occasion and produced excellent results. The most notable performances have come from Winthorpe, where seven Navigators obtained a Nil vector error. This drive on wind finding has created a desire to find equally correct winds during Navigational exercises. The result has been a big improvement in track keeping and timing.
From time to time improvements on the A.P.I. are suggested. The latest suggestion comes from F/O Richardson of No.5 L.F.S., who has suggested a modification to facilitate re-setting. This modification, if adopted, will reduce the time taken to reset the A.P.I. by at least 2/3rds. Good work Syerston!
H2S training is getting into its stride at Wigsley, and 1/3rd of each course is now being trained. Only one trainer is available at Wigsley at the moment, but as soon as the second trainer arrives it is the intention to train 50% of all crews. Winthorpe and Swinderby Conversion Units are already training half their inputs. Pupils are receiving approximately 14 hours air training, and at least 20 hours ground training. When more aircraft are available it will be the policy to train more crews rather than increase the number of flying hours per pupil.
Bullseye exercises have been seriously interrupted by bad weather, but 10 and 12 Groups have co-operated to the maximum extent on every possible occasion, and several good exercises have been completed.
[Underlined] THIS MONTH’S “OVER KEENNESS” [/underlined]
A Navigator on a cross country flight who was endeavouring to work the Swinderby system of obtaining six minute fixes and winds, experienced Gee failure. He immediately instructed his W/Operator to obtain a M/F fix every six minutes. The W/Op. found the ether rather congested, so he attempted priority fixes – much to the concern of the M/F Section, R.O.C, 5 Group and No. 51 Base!
Public Relations
Public Relations work during June has been rather confused owing to the altered nature of the Command’s operations, and the uncertainty of many circumstances. Only a few reports were issued to the press at any length by the Air Ministry News Service.
Three war correspondents have flown in Group aircraft on operations: Mr. Ronald Walker, of the “News Chronicle” who went over Caen with S/Ldr. Fairburn of 57 Squadron on June 12/13; Mr. R.J. Kiek, of the Netherlands Press Agency, who flew over a French target with his countryman, F/O Overgaadu of No. 207 Squadron, on June 16/17; and Mr. Kent Stephenson, B.B.C. War Reporter, who unfortunately failed to return with W/Cdr. Crocker of No. 49 Squadron on June 21/22.
(Continued in Column 2)
(Continued from Column 3)
Three parties came to our stations: June 1st, Dunholme, Mrs. Billingham (Reuters), Miss Tredgold (South African Argus) and Mr. Fletcher (Sport and General Press Agency Photographer) for the visit of the Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia: June 17th, Waddington, Mr. W. Farmer, of the “Melbourne Herald”; and June 22nd, Waddington, Mr. Wilkins and Miss Elizabeth Riddell (journalists) and Mr. J. Warburton (Sport and General photographer), for the visit of the Duke of Gloucester.
A party of employees of the Firma Chrome Plating Co., of Sheffield, visited the Sheffield Squadron (No.49) on June 3rd.
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944.
[Page break]
SIGNALS
[Underlined] WIRELESS OPERATORS (AIR) [/underlined]
June was quite a fair month from the aircraft signals point of view, but improvement can and must be made. It is hoped every endeavour will be made by Signals Leaders to raise the standard of Aircrew Signals operating to a high state of efficiency.
Have all Signals Leaders read and digested 5 Group Signals Instruction No. 13, and acquainted all their operators with its contents?
This instruction lays down the requirements for W/T Control Operators. Endeavour should be made to bring every Operator up to the standard required. Two Squadrons have already carried out air tests with quite satisfactory results. One important point – once an operator reaches the standard required, he must, by constant practice maintain that standard, and to ensure that he does, he may be required to do an air test with Group at any time, without previous warning.
[Underlined] DAILY INSPECTIONS. [/underlined]
Signals Leaders, do you ever take a quick run out to your aircraft and check over the “Daily” done by your W/Ops?
An aircraft of this Group took off on Ops one night, was only airborne a short time when the intercom. failed. Cause – faulty 2v 20 Acc! The W/Op did not carry out the correct drill for the use of emergency intercom. as laid down in 5 Group Aircraft Drill No.11, Appendix “A”. Result – one early return and one load of bombs the Hun did not receive. Was this the only dud 2v 20 Acc. airborne that night? Or was he the unfortunate W/Op. who, through his lack of knowledge or carelessness in carrying out his emergency drill, was found out? We wonder!! It would be worthwhile checking up on these accs. in the aircraft. Yes, there was a lot of truth in the film “BOOMERANG” !
The new Wireless Operators (Air) log has now gone to the printing press and should be available for issue very soon. We hope to see some very neat and fully detailed logs returned, just to show your appreciation.
[Underlined] GOOD SHOWS [/underlined]
This month’s Good Show comes from 57 Squadron, by an operator who showed coolness and initiative in fixing up his broken dinghy aerial (fixed) and operating his dinghy radio, thus enabling the rescue aircraft to “home” on his signal.
The aerial mast was broken while erecting, and the operator fixed his aerial lead into the aerial part while other members of the crew took turns at holding the aerial aloft, by the insulated part which separates the aerial from mast.
This is an excellent example of cool and intelligent thinking under very difficult circumstances.
[Underlined] EARLY WARNING DEVICES [/underlined]
The co-operation of W/Op. and Gunner reporting on unserviceability of Early Warning Devices is improving, but there are still the few cases of discrepancy appearing in these E.W.D. reports and Combat reports. Just a little more drive in this direction will eradicate this, so Signals Leaders and Radar Interrogators, do your stuff.
Manipulation failures are still occurring, mostly due to lack of experience, and every effort must be made to eliminate them. Efforts are being made for every Squadron to have one Early Warning Device Instructor, and quite a few Squadrons have them already. Signals Leaders, get your W/Ops over to them for that little extra instruction which means all the difference between failure and serviceability of your E.W.D. and sends your Squadron percentage of serviceability soaring.
The cards, depicting combats on Monica, sent from this Group to Headquarters Bomber Command, are now in the process of being reproduced and will soon be available for issue to Squadrons and Conversion Units.
[Underlined] GROUP W/T EXERCISE [/underlined]
The alteration to the time of the Group W/T exercise has met with universal approval from all Squadrons, and there has been some good operating. The reallocation of Squadrons to Sections 1 and 2 should also help to make the exercise more interesting by eliminating the possibility of any two transmitters “blotting out” each other due to their close proximity.
[Underlined] VALETE ET SALVETE [/underlined]
Our heartiest congratulations to W/Cdr. Skinner on his promotion and his appointment as Officer Commanding No. 14 Radio School. We wish him every success in his new sphere.
Our congratulations also go to S/Ldr. Andrews on his appointment as Signals Leader, 92 Group.
Five Group are poorer by two very popular officers.
44 Squadron will welcome F/O Hughes (a former 44 Sqdn. W/Op) as Signals Leader.
[Underlined] W/T FAILURES [/underlined]
The W/T failures percentage against total operational sorties has shown a great decrease during the month. There were 27 failures reported out of 3,000 sorties – the percentage being 0.9, the lowest figure for many months. The maintenance personnel are to be commended for repeating last month’s record of zero maintenance failures. Out of this enormous number of sorties, only two aircraft returned early as a result of signals defects. The number of component failures (equipment) was 14. Surprisingly enough, not one condenser or resistor defect was reported; R. 1155 output valves again proved troublesome.
[Underlined] V.H.F. FITTING [/underlined]
At the time of going to press, 200 aircraft are fitted with V.H.F. equipment. The speed of fitting has placed us well ahead of schedule. Units are reporting that they are receiving a considerable number of crystals which on test have been found inactive. R.A.E., Farnborough, have evolved a modification (R.T.I.M. No.629) employing a choke unit type 45, which, in A. D. G. B. aircraft has proved quite successful. When the choke units become available, units will be notified.
[Underlined] MANDREL [/underlined]
There are two main reasons why the total number of Mandrel fitted aircraft in this Group has fallen. They are (a) supplies of Col.9 not forthcoming, and (b) large scale V.H.F. fitting drive, which has absorbed all available Signals manpower in the squadrons. It is emphasised, however, that squadrons must ensure that all their complete Mandrels are fitted as soon as possible. The Countermeasure Party is still available at Group Headquarters in readiness to offer assistance.
[Underlined] CARPET II [/underlined]
Contrary to many beliefs, Carpet II is in no way connected with Persian Markets. It is, however, a new radio countermeasure device fitted to the Illuminating Force aircraft of this Group. It is quite popular with the C.S.O!
[Underlined] RADAR [/underlined]
Base Signals and Radar Officers attended a conference at Group Headquarters on 16th June, to discuss the Bomber Command proposed establishment of Radar personnel. After considerable discussion and divergence of opinion the proposals were accepted. Some alterations were suggested in connection with accommodation and holdings of spare equipment, and these were forwarded to Bomber Command. It is understood that the proposals are now being considered by the Establishment Branch at Bomber Command.
[Underlined] BOOZER [/underlined]
Sufficient Boozer equipment became available during the month to enable fitting to proceed in our two Boozer squadrons. As this equipment is in very short supply, every effort must be made to make immediate use of all that is available. Test equipment is at the moment, difficult to obtain, but a proposed re-distribution of the total Command holdings should ease this situation.
[Underlined] REPEATER INDICATORS [/underlined]
It has become increasingly obvious from scrutiny of combat reports that Tail Warning Devices are not being watched continuously by the Wireless Operator. Originally it had been hoped that with training and experience a W/Op would be able to carry out his W/T work whilst, at the same time keeping one eye on the Tail Warning Device, but this has been found to be very difficult. The possibility of repositioning the Tail Warning Indicator so that two of the crew can watch it, has been thoroughly investigated, and found impracticable. Experiments have been made to ascertain the possibility of using a second indicator. This repeater indicator is located adjacent to the Gee indicator. An indicator standard for both Monica IIIA and V, has been designed and tested by the Group Trouble Shooting Party. It has proved quite satisfactory and Bomber Command have been asked to arrange for its early introduction. The design of a simple Fishpond repeater indicator proved too great a problem, and it is now expected that a second standard Fishpond indicator will be the only answer.
[Underlined] GEE [/underlined]
Gee was once again the leader in serviceability, showing a new high percentage of 97.77 out of 2,639 sorties. This was obtained in spite of the decrease in new equipment available, and a consequent reduction in the spare sets which squadrons were able to hold.
(Continued on Page 8 Column 1)
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944. PAGE 7
[Page break]
SIGNALS (CONT.)
[Underlined] H 2 S [/underlined]
A total of 1249 sorties was completed by aircraft equipped with H 2 S Mark II, and of these 103 experienced difficulty; the remaining 91.76% were serviceable throughout the sorties. The fitting of this equipment to 619 Squadron has not yet been completed, but it is proceeding as fast as circumstances will allow. The movement of the Bomber Command Fitting Party to Dunholme will ease considerably the strain of fitting now being carried out by squadron personnel. The supply of fitted aircraft is keeping pace with the number of trained crews.
Mark III H 2 S has shown a decided improvement and the 76 sorties completed resulted in a serviceability of 92.11%. Supply of this equipment is still very grim, but does show signs of improving.
[Underlined] FISHPOND [/underlined]
As is to be expected, this equipment followed in step with H2 S, 92.72% of the 1236 sorties being free of difficulty. Training has shown very decided improvement and the operational reports indicate that W/Ops. are having increased success with this equipment.
[Underlined] MONICA [/underlined]
Monica IIIA remained at almost the same level as May. 830 sorties were completed, and there were 39 difficulties reported. The remaining 95.31% gave completely satisfactory results. Monica V came closer than ever to overtaking its predecessor with a percentage serviceability of 93.91. The more prevalent causes of unserviceability have been almost eliminated, and the lesser difficulties will no doubt diminish as further experience is gained by Radar personnel. The supply position of both types of Monica becomes increasingly difficult, so squadrons must do their utmost to conserve their existing equipment, and to keep all sets serviceable. The delivery of a Monica Trainer to the Aircrew School at Scampton should help squadrons considerably in their training programme.
The serviceability figures for the month are very gratifying. They indicate a decided increase in the standard of training and workmanship of Radar personnel. In these days of intensive operations, it requires hard work to keep all our equipment serviceable, but the bombing results are more than worth the effort. With the introduction of the proposed establishment, and an adequate number of Radar vans, we should be able to meet the rain and altitude trials of winter on better than equal terms.
[Underlined] TELEPHONE EXCHANGES [/underlined]
Last month’s issue of the News contained a cartoon for which we, in Signals, accept no responsibility. We are delighted, however, to be given the opportunity to refute the allegation of inefficiency which was inferred by publishing the following bouquet.
Skellingthorpe has produced some surprising figures showing the number of calls handled by the Admin PBK during a 24-hour non-operational period. A total of 3,725 calls was handled during this period, and of these 3,143 were extensions – to – extension calls. The Station Commander comments – “My opinion of our operators, always high, has gone up still further”, and – “at Skellingthorpe we have an exchange staff second to none”. We hope that this latter remark will be accepted as a challenge by other exchanges within the Group.
[Underlined] TELEPRINTER TRAFFIC [/underlined]
In April of this year, this Headquarters Signals Office was handling about 9,000 teleprinter messages per week. A drive was then inaugurated to divert traffic to less congested channels, such as D.R.L.S., and our weekly total fell in five weeks by 4,000 messages!
Now that “D” Day has passed, however, the total is commencing to rise. This must be checked, since as the Western Front develops, our commitments increase – It’s often quicker by postagram – at any rate for Admin messages.
EQUIPMENT
[Underlined] LANCASTER SPARES [/underlined]
This month sees a changeover in our method of demanding spares for Lancasters. Instead of demanding straight on to the M.P.O. demands are now placed on No.207 M.U. who are in a position to supply.
Equipment Officers will help No. 207 M.U. provisioning to a great extent by keeping a close watch upon demands for Lancaster spares, and ensuring that demands are going to No.207 M.U. and not to the M.F.O.
[Underlined] MECHANICAL SWEEPERS [/underlined]
A point to watch is the serviceability of mechanical sweepers. If these machines go u/s it means that runways cannot be kept clear of flints and stones, which means a rise in consumption of tyres. The aircraft tyre situation is still acute, and every care must be taken to get the maximum amount of life out of every tyre.
Equipment officers should therefore look into the holdings of spares for mechanical sweepers, and in conjunction with the M.T. Officers provision wisely on those parts which have a habit of going u/s. This will keep the sweepers serviceable and the consumption of tyres down.
[Underlined] WINTER CLOTHING [/underlined]
Now the English summer is upon us it would be wise to overhaul items of winter clothing such as overcoats, waterproof overalls, leather jerkins etc., and get them into good trim for the forthcoming winter.
It would be better to do it now instead of waiting for the winter when these items will be in great demand.
[Underlined] BLANKETS [/underlined]
Instances have occurred where it has been found that Stations have been holding blankets far in excess of their entitlement as laid down in A.M.O. A. 700/43. A quick check of stocks may mean the release of many blankets with a subsequent saving of man-hours at the factory which manufactures them.
[Underlined] EQUIPMENT (Continued from column 2) [/underlined]
[Underlined] OXYGEN TRANSPORT CYLINDERS [/underlined]
Attention is drawn to Headquarters Bomber Command letter BC/S.21459/E.6, dated 30th June, 1944.
The scale of issue of these items is 32 per squadron. Equipment Officers should make every effort to reduce any surplus holdings and return these cylinders to the M.U.
GARDENING
5 Group’s gardening this month amounted to two small but useful operations by No.44 Squadron against two of the Biscay U-Boat lairs, on the nights of 6/7th and 8/9th. Planting was done in H 2 S from high altitude and some excellent P. P. I. photographs were obtained. A total of 30 vegetables was planted.
Although the record breaking figures of April and May were not reached, the Command planted the considerable total of 1772 vegetables, in some 20 gardens. Over 1,000 were directed against the U-Boats – off their bases and in their approach routes to the Western end of the English Channel. This, combined with vigorous and successful action by air and surface striking forces has brought almost to nothing the threat to our Invasion supply lines, in spite of the massing of the U-Boats to the West of the Channel in the first few days. Nearly 600 vegetables were laid in the Channel itself, to impede enemy surface craft – principally E-Boats – in their anti-invasion operations. (Here, we gratefully admit, we were helped more than a little by the wholesale slaughter of these vermin in their harbours by the bombers). Certain North Sea gardens received some 150 vegetables, and Mosquitos of 8 Group planted a small number in the Kettegat.
During the three months preceding “D” Day well over 7,000 vegetables were planted by the Command, 5 Group being responsible for 908. These figures show that in actual quantity we distributed about one eighth of the Command total. What they do not show is that nearly all our operations were special ones, involving either exceptionally long distances (DANZIG); exceptional accuracy from very low level (KONIGSBURG CANAL); exceptional weight of attack in one night (KEIL BAY) or gardening in daylight (KATTEGAT). We do little routine gardening, and so do not get regular practice, but our recent successes show the value of keeping up to date in slack periods.
Results are beginning to come through, but details of casualties still refer to at latest three months ago; in fact, in the latest list we discover that 5 Group sank a U-Boat in April [underlined] 1943! [/underlined] Fortunately some reports get through more quickly than that, and news of the tremendous indirect effects of the pre-invasion gardening is plentiful. We hear of the route from TRELLEBORG to KIEL (150 miles) being marked with a [underlined] WRECK [/underlined] buoy every 1 – 2 miles; of Swedes and Finns laying up their ships rather than risk out mines, and the Ministry of Economic Warfare states that the mining of the Kiel Canal, backed up by the mining which preceded and followed it in the Baltic and North Sea approaches to the Canal, caused an [underlined] IRRECOVERABLE [/underlined] loss of 3 million tons of overall imports/exports to the German War Machine.
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944. PAGE 8
[Page break]
AIR SEA RESCUE
June brought a record number of operational sorties and, at the same time, an increase in the known number of incidents involving Safety Drills.
A squadron aircraft disappeared over the Irish Sea on a navigational exercise with the loss of the entire crew. Four crews had occasion to use the Parachute Drill, two were successful; in the third, four members who baled out were lost in the sea; in the fourth the rear gunner had a cannon shell through his parachute, and a gallant attempt by the Air Bomber to share his own parachute was un successful.
[Underlined] 9/10th June. [/underlined] S/44 Squadron returning from operations, got out of control in bad weather. Its position was uncertain, and the captain ordered the crew to abandon the aircraft. Four members had jumped when the pilot regained control. They fell into the Thames Estuary and were drowned. The aircraft landed at base. None of those lost attached their K-type dinghies before jumping. [Underlined] MORAL [/underlined] – If in doubt about your position always take your dinghy with you.
[Underlined] 21/22nd June. [/underlined] Z/44 Squadron was hit in the starboard elevator from extreme range by a night fighter over enemy territory. The aircraft dived sharply with the elevators jammed, and when over the vertical the pilot considered he had no hope of recovery and ordered the crew to abandon. The Air Bomber was jammed against the rear of his compartment. The Rear Gunner was caught in his turret and trapped by piles of ammunition on his lap, caused by a runaway servo feed. Four members baled out and their parachutes were seen to open. The captain eventually regained control and flew the aircraft back to base, navigated by the Air Bomber.
S/630 Squadron was badly shot up by a fighter. Wings and fuselage were riddled, and the rear turret so badly damaged it was a wonder the gunner escaped injury. The rear gunner had a cannon shell through his parachute.
With the assistance of two crew members, the pilot flew the aircraft back to this country where, due to damage, he found he could not turn and so was forced to bale out his crew.
At the risk of grave personal injury, the Air Bomber allowed the Rear Gunner to attach his parachute clips to the “K” Dinghy ”D” rings of his (the Air Bomber’s) harness, and the two went out together. Unfortunately, his “D” rings tore through the webbing when the parachute opened and the Gunner was lost.
[Underlined] SUCCESSFUL DITCHING [/underlined]
A/57 Squadron on the same night was returning across the North Sea at 7000 feet when all engines failed, apparently through shortage of fuel. The Captain immediately warned his crew, and ordered the Wireless Operator to transmit S.O.S. The Wireless Operator switched I.F.F. to “Distress” and transmitted “S.O.S.” and the aircraft callsign about ten times before being ordered to his ditching station.
The aircraft ditched ten minutes later. The pilot made use of his landing light which helped him to judge his height, but having no power the aircraft struck the water very severely breaking off the tail. The Captain’s harness had not been tightened sufficiently and he was flung upwards, making a large hole in the perspex and cutting his face deeply. The pilot left the aircraft by means of this self-made hole. The Flight Engineer was also flung upwards and cut his nose on the fuselage roof. The gunners were flung over the flapjack but were uninjured, falling on top of the Air Bomber who was also unhurt, and the Navigator cut the back of his head.
Exit was made from the aircraft “except-
(continued on page10, col.3)
[Underlined] SAFETY DRILL COMPETITION RESULTS [/underlined]
[Underlined] Place Dinghy Drill Parachute Drill [/underlined]
1 52 Base 52 Base
2 53 Base 55 Base
3 55 Base 53 Base
[Table of Drill Results by Squadron]
No crews in No. 54 Base were tested during the month.
[Underlined] Points arising from Safety Drill Tests. [/underlined]
(a) A number of crews have not thoroughly read “5 Group Aircraft Drills”.
(b) Insufficient use of made of the intercom in practicing “Safety Drills” – the more use that is made of the intercom the more informed and less worried the crew will be.
[Underlined] FOOTNOTE. [/underlined]
The monthly summary of Ditchings in Home Waters for May, 1944, shows that 508 airmen were concerned, of whom 242 (47.2%) were saved – a marked percentage increase in lives saved.
RECENT GOOD SHOWS
An aircraft of No. 207 Squadron, flown by F/O Smart, collided over the target with another Lancaster which broke cloud above on the port quarter. In spite of the fact that the entire port fin and rudder were torn away and the port tail plane, elevator and aileron badly damaged, F/O Smart completed the bombing run and showing great skill, flew the aircraft back to this country where he made a successful landing.
By his prompt action, F/O Sanders of No. 463 Squadron averted what could have been a serious accident. He was taking off with full bomb load when the starboard tyre burst at a speed of approximately 90 m.p.h. Displaying great skill, he controlled the swing and made a successful take off, and after completing the sortie landed his aircraft in such a way that only minor damage was sustained.
P/O. Meggeson of No. 83 Squadron showed a fine example of airmanship. The port inner of his aircraft caught fire. Though he was unable to operate the fire extinguisher or feather the propeller, by maintaining a very low airspeed, he succeeded in controlling the fire and few his aircraft back to base, where he made a successful landing.
As a result of combat with an enemy fighter, and aircraft of No. 61 Squadron, piloted by P/O Passant, was severely damaged. The starboard fin and rudder were shot away, the fuselage and starboard main plane badly damaged, and the starboard tyre burst. P/O Passant displayed great skill and determination in flying the aircraft back to this country where he made a successful landing.
- AND SHOWS NOT SO GOOD
Whilst making a night approach in 7 miles visibility, and aircraft struck a tree 1000 yards from the end of the runway. When the aircraft eventually landed the Pilot stated he had had a successful trip but that the aircraft felt very heavy to handle. This was not surprising as he was still carrying full bomb load when he landed.
Whilst flying at 8000 feet, all four engines of a Stirling cut. The aircraft lost height to 600 feet before the engines were re-started. The First Engineer was changing tanks when the engines cut. They started again when the Second Engineer turned the petrol on!
In broad daylight, after a clear straight run of 200 yards, a pilot taxied his aircraft into an M.T. vehicle standing on the perimeter track.
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944. PAGE 9
[Page break]
ENGINEERING
The number of sorties carried out totalled exactly 3,000; this constitutes an excellent effort when it is considered that this number of sorties affected serviceability very little and a much larger number could have been laid on had the weather permitted and circumstances required them.
A large number of acceptance checks had to be carried out during the month and some excellent work was carried out by the Group Servicing Section, and the very fine spirit which exists within the Group was made evident by bases which had few acceptance checks to carry out volunteering to accept aircraft for check from other bases. This greatly decreased the period which would normally have elapsed to bring this large number of Lancasters to operational standard.
1.003% of aircraft which either failed to take off or returned early were due to technical faults for which the Engineering Branch is responsible. This 1.003% includes defects beyond our immediate control and remedial modification action is being taken in respect of many of the defects. It is good to know that not one of these aircraft failed due to a maintenance defect, and squadrons are to be congratulated on this aspect. The following squadrons had no early returns or cancellations due to Engineering defects during June, and are awarded a “big hand”:-
44, 83, 97, 467 and 619 Squadrons.
Failures are still occurring of the now famous oil pipe from relief valve to dual drive, and it is hoped that all promises made during June will reach fruition during July.
[Underlined] GROUND EQUIPMENT [/underlined]
The effort which is put in by maintenance personnel to maintain this high standard of aircraft serviceability has been increased on many stations to maintain a similar high standard of serviceability of ground equipment. It is pleasing to see the drive which is progressing to maintain these essential aids to serviceability. When a “set-up” looks efficient, it invariably is efficient. Nothing looks so inefficient as a dirty hangar with trestles, wheels, cowlings and any odd items lying around the floor in pools of oil, whilst engine platforms are oil saturated and the equipment generally filthy. This state of affairs does not exist at any station in this Group, but there is considerable room for improvement on certain stations. Once a high standard of efficiency has been achieved it can easily be maintained, but don’t sit back and maintain your present standard unless it is highly efficient.
Many grand jobs have been carried out during June to keep the serviceability high and it is very difficult to pick out any single base in this News.
[Underlined] ELECTRICAL AND INSTRUMENTS [/underlined]
During the past month a drive was made to improve the maintenance of the Mark XIV Bombsight. Results have shown a marked improvement, but we will not be satisfied until every sight in the Group can be guaranteed accurate. Much more care must be taken in the levelling and lining up, as it is in these operations that most of the errors occur. The Mark XIV Bombsight is one of those instruments which requires plenty of liaison between Electrical officers and the Air Bombers’ Union, and it has been noted that this is now very effective.
Electrical sections deserve a pat on the back for the very intensive efforts they have put in during the latter half of the month. The list of modifications does not get any shorter, yet initial checks are still being completed in 24 hours.
[Underlined] TRAINING UNIT SERVICEABILITY [/underlined]
[Table of Aircraft Serviceability for Stirlings and Lancasters]
Flight Engineers
[Underlined] ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUTANTS [/underlined]
Many more administrative adjutants to the Chief Technical Officer are required; these adjutants will be volunteers from tour expired commissioned Flight Engineers. They will be responsible to the C.T.O. for the efficient administration of the Servicing Wing, and for the discipline and welfare of all the technical personnel on its strength.
Apart from this new post for Flight Engineers, there are also vacancies for administrative duties in the M.T. Section on Base Stations, and the duties will generally be the same as Adjutant to the C.T.O.
It will be seen that these posts have created quite a new avenue for Flight Engineers, but every facility will be given them to improve their engineering knowledge while undertaking administrative duties as their primary roles.
Flight Engineer Leaders must bring those vacancies to the notice of the commissioned Flight Engineers who are about to finish their tour of operations.
[Underlined] NON-COMMISSIONED FLIGHT ENGINEERS [/underlined]
A course of instruction for newly screened N. C. O. ‘s commenced at St. Athan on 7th June 1944. The object of this course is to train screened Flight Engineers to take up their new duties as Instructors in Heavy Conversion Units and Lancaster Finishing Schools.
Revision and technical subjects are included in the syllabus, but the course is designed mainly to teach the technique of lecturing.
As this course is most important to new instructors, it is hoped that all Flight Engineers will be enthusiastic, for much will depend on their results if the standard of lecturing is to improve in our Conversion Units and Schools.
TRAINING
Despite the bad weather towards the end of the month, 51 Base flew a total of over 8,000 hours and produced 130 crews for Squadrons.
Twice during the month, 1654 Conversion Unit, taking a leaf from the book of 1661 for May, laid on “operational” take offs for aircraft on night exercises. They got 17 and 22 off on these occasions in almost as many minutes.
Re-organisation of the Heavy Conversion Units commenced in the last week of the month to ensure that training of crews under the summer output can be increased to the highest level. Under this new system intakes of 11 every six days will go into the Heavy Conversion Units and the Group target figure for the month is 160 crews.
Each Conversion Unit now consists of 3 large flights, each of which is sub-divided into two. The Stirling Academy has also been split up into three parts, each one becoming the nucleus of a small flight at each Conversion Unit.
The Base had a very much better month from the accident point of view, and tyre bursts are now the only chronic complaint left. Undercarriage pylon failures have been reduced and coring has slipped rapidly out of the Base vocabulary.
New appointments within Base include Wing Commander Derbyshire, D.F.C., as Chief Instructor, 1660 Conversion Unit, and Wing Commander Kingsford Smith as Chief Instructor 1654 Conversion Unit.
[Underlined] AIR SEA RESCUE (Continued from page 9) [/underlined]
ionally quickly” and all the crew members were in the dinghy almost before they knew it. The kite container was lost in transit, but all other equipment was transferred to the dinghy – a parachute found its way in, but was afterwards lost in the excitement of getting clear of the aircraft which was keeling over and threatening to come down on top of the dinghy.
This crew merely got their feet wet in boarding the dinghy but later got the seats of their pants wet because of a small hole in the dinghy which was subsequently plugged.
The pilot was weak from loss of blood, and shock, so the Air Bomber took charge and bullied the rest of the crew into activity. They say this did the world of good. The aircraft floated for about 10 minutes.
The dinghy mast was broken when being stepped, but the Wireless Operator managed to connect the aerial to the dinghy radio and almost continuous transmissions were made with other crew members holding the mast erect. Some hours later they were spotted by 91 Group Wellingtons which brought in an A.S.R. Hudson. A Lindholme dinghy was dropped, but failed to inflate though the crew managed to collect three of the ration containers. About 14 1/2 hours later a Naval Launch picked up the crew and took them into Yarmouth.
This crew had done a practice dinghy drill on the day before the incident, and attribute much of the success of this ditching to that fact.
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944. PAGE 10
[Page break]
ENEMY AGENTS – CARELESS TALKERS
On the 30th January, 1942, there was published a document of some importance – to wit A.M.C.O. A.9 of that year.
It was important because it cleared the air of a good deal of confusion on the subject of security, and it achieved this by defining the functions of Security Organisation – thereby defining what is meant by the term ‘Security’ – and it laid down the organisation by which these functions were to be performed.
Security was by no means a new subject. Prior to the appearance of A.M.C.O. A.9/42, a vast number of thoughts on the subject had already made themselves felt, chiefly in the form of posters. They bore a slogan – “CARELESS TALK COSTS LIVES” – they sought to impress the truth of this slogan by representing pictorially such distressing events as ships being blown up, aircraft being shot down, and so on, all, by implication, the result of the wrong word being spoken at the wrong time in the wrong place. These were reinforced, in lighter vein, by coloured drawings, more or less amusing, of Hitler listening beneath a table at which, presumably, two people were discussing the future plans of the Allies; of Hitler repeated ad infinitum in the pattern of the wall paper; of Hitler looking out of the frames of otherwise harmless pictures: all of them indicative of the ubiquity of Hitler, and of the truth of that apalling [sic] statement “Walls have ears”.
And since the appearance of A.M.C.O. A.9/42, these pictorial exhortations to verbal discretion have been emphasised to us, in the R.A.F., by a quantity of printed matter in the form of lectures, bulletins, reports, instructions which, if expressed in terms of tonnage of paper they consumed, or if placed end to end, or on top of each other in one column, would, one feels sure, provide much indigestible food for thought in the shape of one of those totals which impress more by number of their digits than by any meaning they are able to convey to the ordinary mind. Add to this the number of words which must have been spoken in lectures on this subject since the 30th January, 1942, the countless man-hours devoted to the study and promulgation of this gospel of silence, and our total will become more astronomical and, therefore, more meaningless than ever.
Staggering as this total would be, however, it would never reach the dimensions of those our enemies could provide in the same field of endeavour, for the very good reason that they had been at it long before we commenced piling ours up. Japan, for instance, had been preaching the gospel of silence to her people for something like twenty years before Pearl Harbour. She taught it not only to her soldiers, sailors and airmen, but to the man in the factory, the woman in her home, the pedestrian on the street; with the result, as the writings of any of the foreign newspaper correspondents, some of whom had been in the country for years, will tell you, it was next to impossible to find out anything worth knowing about the country’s strength, or her intentions.
And what of Germany? Those Germans who were not born silent, or had not achieved silence by the time Hitler took them over, had silence so thoroughly thrust upon them that they really came to understand how and to know that even the walls of their own homes could grow ears. They were left in no doubt whatever upon the value of silence when it came to discussing either the affairs of the Party or of the Fatherland.
All of which surely points to the conclusion that silence in war-time, or, in other words, Security of Information, must be a matter of very great importance. Of course it is. You know that already. The meanest intelligence, you will point out, can grasp quite easily the simple truth that, if you prevent the enemy from knowing what you are up to, you place him at a serious disadvantage; you render him, so to speak, both deaf and blind, and, therefore, easier to deal with. Any fool knows that.
They [sic] why do people talk? Why do they write home letters full of chatty information about their stations? Why does one feel so certain that, were it possible to tap, at once all the telephone lines in the vicinity of our stations all over the country, one would become possessed of a mass of service information about all sorts of things and people – whither, why and when such a squadron is moving, who have finished their tours, where people are posted to, who didn’t come back last night, who the new C.O. is, and where he comes from, what the weather is like, what are the chances of a scrub tonight, how the R.A.F. is fed, clothed, housed, organised – and so on and so on? Not to be too depressing about it, let it be stated at once that one would probably, even certainly, gain much less information than would have been the case say two years ago; but who would like to bet that there still wouldn’t be plenty to be picked up?
So, why, after all the effort that has been made, all the money that has been spent, the paper that has been used, the words that have been spoken, should this be so? Now here, it is suggested, lies the root of the matter, and if this root can be dug up and examined, the apparently indestructible weed of Service Gossip, a weed which, while harmless, perhaps, nine times out of ten, can, on that tenth time, produce enough poison to be fatal to precious lives and expensive material, can be understood, and to understand any problem is the first step towards solving it.
Let us examine it then. People talk because that is the easiest and most natural way for them to express their thoughts. They talk their thoughts, they think about their daily lives; therefore, they talk about their daily lives. Now apply that formula to the R.A.F. and what do you find? You discover a service filled, for the most part, with very young people, a number of them still in their formative years. They talk their thoughts, they think their lives, their lives are, at the moment, the R.A.F; therefore they talk about the R.A.F. To go on from here; they are young people who have been brought up in countries in which free speech, outside the debateable limits of the law of scandal, is as instinctive as breathing. They have never had occasion to practice this habit of silence - a most difficult habit to acquire – and finally, they serve in a force which has been publicised, photographed and if one may use such a word, glamourised, more than any other organisation ever has before. Flying, as the R.A.F. flies, is a continual source of wonder to the lay mind. This business of lifting tons of explosive material off the earth at one spot, transporting it at phenomenal heights to another spot hundreds of miles away, and there dropping it in spite of such discouragements as flak, fighters, the weather, and so on, is something of a miracle to the civilian, and, naturally enough, he wants to know about it. The youngsters of the R.A.F. are, of course, the horse’s mouth, which is given every encouragement to open itself, and to remain open. And when a W.A.A.F. goes home on leave Mother wants to know what it’s all like – the food, the quarters, the station, what they do there and that gives her mother something to talk about to somebody who will pass it on to somebody else who will…..why go on?
It is, you see, a personal problem. There is no mass-produced solution to it. It is every man and woman for himself, and only he and she can deal with it. How? Well, try this recipe. Try writing home letters in which you never even refer to the Station upon which you work, beyond, of course, the address in the top left hand corner. Apply the same rule when you leave your Station, even when you meet another R.A.F. type. Regard every telephone you use as a menace because it is you who are using it, and finally, when you have finished your work for the day, don’t make conversation out of it in the mess or the canteen. Try these four riles as an act of self-discipline, and never relax, and you will solve all your problem and, what is far more important, you will solve one of the great problems which confront your country. Difficult? Yes, very. Impossible? No. It has been done. There is a station which once had the privilege of guarding part of a great and important secret. It wrote its letters by the thousand, it went to the nearest town, it went on leave. But never a word got out. No less than 12,500 letters from that Station were opened over a period of three weeks, and only two minor indiscretions were discovered in them, both after the great event. If you were a stranger, you couldn’t get very far on that station without being questioned; every rumour heard on or off it was faithfully reported – just in case. The result is history, not only because the event referred to was one of the best kept secrets and, therefore, one of the most successful undertakings of the war, but because it provided proof that, with the problem fully explained to them, the A.C.2. and A.C.W.2. can keep a secret, can keep their mouths shut and their pens discreet, and can do so as a matter of conscience, and as an act of self discipline.
Now if only the civilian could be persuaded not to make the R.A.F. talk……
(Continued from Col. 3 page 12)
(c) I.A.S. within 2 m.p.h. and height within 50 feet.
It’s practice which, makes perfect.
Gunnery is the order of the day for you and your crew again. Keep a banking search going. See that your guns and gunners are in first class condition. Check up on your corkscrew and patter.
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944. PAGE 11
[Page break]
[Cartoon] SPORTS [Cartoon
[Underlined] CRICKET [/underlined]
June was not a cricketers’ month; the weather was “flaming [sic] but not in the sense of the old adage. Fielders and batsmen alike quailed before wind and rain. As a cricketers’ month it was grand for Rugger. In spite of the weather, however, several stations got in a full programme.
[Underlined] SCAMPTON [/underlined] – This station managed to complete the amazing total of 25 games. In addition, W.A.A.F. personnel played four games. Any challengers for an inter-station W.A.A.F. game? The Aircrew School represented the Station in five of the games, and themselves played 10 inter-course matches.
[Underlined] FISKERTON [/underlined] – had five station matches, one of which, with Woodhall, was abandoned after Fiskerton had knocked up 87 for 8. Their other games were as follows:-
V Dunholme at Dunholme – Fiskerton 72 for 7 Dunholme 68 all out
V Fiskerton Village at the Camp – Fiskerton 108 for 6 Village 29 all out
V Bardney at Fiskerton – Fiskerton 62 all out Bardney 22 all out
V Scampton at Scampton – Scampton 120 for 9 Fiskerton 71 all out
In addition to this successful record several inter-section games were played.
[Underlined] BARDNEY [/underlined] managed five station games, and are now getting into their stride under the captaincy of F/Lt Wardle.
[Underlined] DUNHOLME LODGE [/underlined] had three wins, one draw, and one loss from five games. They beat 5 Group H.Q., Welton Home Guard and Scampton, drew away with 5 Group H.Q. and suffered their only defeat at home with Fiskerton. An inter-section knock out is in full swing, with 12 teams competing.
[Underlined] METHERINGHAM [/underlined] had an unlucky month, with four postponed matches out of the six arranged. Against Coningsby, Metheringham scored 37 for 1 (Coningsby 179 for 7) before rain stopped play. The only completed game was with R.C.A.F. Digby, who hit 60 for 6 against Metheringham 56 all out.
Inter-section games produced some close results, viz:
Flying Control 55 for 7 V R.A.F.Regt. 50 all out
“B” Flight 60 all out V “A” Flight 36 all out
Servicing Wing Fitters 60 all out V Servicing Wing Riggers 65 all out
“B” Flight 43 for 5 V “A” Flight 39 for 9
In the Base Commander’s Trophy, 106 Sqdn dismissed 617 for 70 runs, but they could not bat and the game was abandoned.
[Underlined] 5 Group H.Q. [/underlined] played five games, four of them being away, since the 5 Group pitch has not yet “settled down”. They produced the following results:
V Dunholme, at Morton. 5 Group 148 for 8 Dunholme 89 for 8 (Draw)
V Dunholme at Dunholme. Dunholme 129 for 6 5 Group 64 all out (Lost)
V Swinderby at Swinderby. Swinderby 88 for 7 5 Group 83 all out (Lost)
V 93 M.U. at Collingham M.U. 77 all out 5 Group 84 for 6 (Won)
V Newark Town at Newark Newark 77 for 8 5 Group 72 for 5 (Lost)
There were two intersection games, in one of which the “Hall” beat the rest by 136 for 8 against 99 for 8.
[Underlined] GROUP CRICKET COMPETITION [/underlined]
Woodhall beat Coningsby in the final of “A” Section, so now Syerston (winners of “B” Section) meet Woodhall in the deciding game for the Trophy. The game will probably be decided on Saturday or Sunday (July 15th or 16th) at Woodhall Spa. Woodhall have taken over the town’s local ground, and with the addition of a score board and sight screens now have one of the finest grounds in the Group. The game will be one of the features of Woodhall’s “Wings for Victory” Week, and given good weather will be a highly successful event between two of the strongest Group teams. It is hoped that the A.O.C. will be able to present the handsome silver bowl to the winning side.
[Underlined] ATHLETIC MEETINGS [/underlined]
[Underlined] METHERINGHAM [/underlined] ran a highly successful Athletic Meeting on Saturday, 3rd June, when favourable weather for once coincided with a stand-down. Fourteen events were contested on an inter-section basis, the trophy being a shield presented by Corporal Ward, Instrument Section. The final placings of the teams were as follows:-
Winners: Navigators – 137 points
Second Pilots – 93 points
Third W/Ops. – 83 points
Fourth Rear Gnrs. – 82 points
Fifth Air Bombers – 78 points
Sixth Engineers – 63 points
Seventh M.U.Gunners – 43 points
Mrs. McKechnie presented the shield to F/Sgt. Croft, who assisted the Navigators by winning the 440, 880 and mile. Another outstanding performance was by F/O Gantschi (Air Bomber) who won the 100, 200, 220 and Long Jump.
[Underlined] 54 BASE INTER-SQUADRON SPORTS MEETING [/underlined] was on Saturday 17th June. 83 Squadron won the Base Commander’s Trophy, scoring 35 points, but 106 Squadron, with 33 points and 617 with 32 points, were good losers. 106 Squadron, feeling fit, provided winners for the 440, 880, mile, 3 miles and Long Jump. F/Sgt. Croft again had a field day, winning the 440, mile, 3 miles, and running second in the 880 yards. There was a big crowd at the games, and enthusiasm ran high. Lord Brownlow, Lord Lieutenant of the County, presented the prizes.
[Underlined] 93 M.U. SPORTS [/underlined] 93 M.U., whose work is so completely bound up with 5 Group, ran a highly successful Field Day on June 24th. Besides the usual athletic events, side shows, boxing and dancing made up an excellent programme. They plan another Gala Day, in aid of the P.O.W. Fund on August Bank Holiday Monday, and any personnel who can reach Swinderby will be sure of an enjoyable day.
SECOND THOUGHTS FOR PILOTS
[Underlined] FRESHMEN [/underlined]
Get down to crew Gunnery problems in July. Check your knowledge of the corkscrew, polish up your patter and do all the fighter affiliation you can.
Careful trimming of your aircraft ensures accurate flying. The correct sequence of action is:-
Fly the aircraft straight and level, trim the elevators, trim all load off the rudder and finally trim out any aileron load.
2.5° of skid at 10,000 ft. means an error of 250 yards on the ground. This common bombing error is often unconsciously caused by pilots sitting tense and rigid on the bombing run. Ensure the aircraft is properly trimmed and the [underlined] relax [/underlined] and fly the aircraft naturally and carefully.
If you find it difficult to read the instruments when coned by searchlights, get your navigator to call the airspeed. Make it a standing arrangement with him.
Here are the common faults in night circuits, don’t allow these errors to “creep” in.
(i) Edging in towards the flare path on the down wind leg.
(ii) Not allowing for drift on approach.
(iii) Failing to close the throttles when touching down.
(iv) Going too far across wind before the final turn in.
Should you have to land without flaps, remember to lengthen your downwind leg as the approach will be flatter and therefore longer. Start the final turn in earlier since the turn without flap will be wider, and approach at 125 m.p.h. Touch down as soon as possible and expect a longer landing run, and be prepared to use brake progressively.
[Underlined] VETERANS [/underlined]
Are you brake conscious? Brake efficiency falls off with rise in temperature of – brake shoes and drums. Avoid continual use of brakes, control direction by engine and release brakes as soon as possible to allow heat to go into the air and not up into the tyres. Never apply full brake at once. This induces tyre creep.
If you have to land in a very strong, gusty wind, use only 40° of flap and aim to do a wheel landing. Make a normal approach and when the wheels touch, ease the stick [underlined] slightly [/underlined] forward and keep it steady till the tail sinks on to the ground.
A word on Met; remember that forecast height of cloud base id always height above sea level. Bear this in mind if you are forced to break cloud at a diversion aerodrome, and allow for height of ground.
Have you and your crew an “A” category for bombing? You can have if you accept nothing less than these limitations;
(a) Course within 1° (b) Bank within 2°
(Continued on page 11 Col.3)
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944. PAGE 12
[Page break]
ACCIDENTS
The award of the Silver Model Lancaster to the Unit having the best accident rate for the six months ended June goes to No. 106 Squadron. This squadron had one accident for a total of 6,848 flying hours. Nos. 49 and 57 Squadrons also had one avoidable accident, for a total of 6,743 and 6,294 hours respectively. These squadrons are to be congratulated on a splendid achievement, It’s up to the other Squadrons to dethrone the champions during the next three months. GO TO IT!!
Altogether there was a decided improvement in the number of avoidable accidents during June.
36 aircraft were damaged in the Group by causes other than enemy action. This is a reduction of 15 compared with May, and the improvement is also reflected in the avoidable accident total which stands at 16 for June as opposed to 20 in May.
Of the aircraft damaged, 12 were CAT A, 5 CAT AC, 5 CAT B, and 14 CAT E.
[Underlined] AVOIDABLE ACCIDENTS – 51 BASE RECORD [/underlined]
51 Base are to be congratulated for the lowest number of avoidable accidents for a long time; 4 aircraft were damaged under this category. The squadron total of 12 for the month was an increase of 2 over May’s total. Details are as follows:-
Squadron – Ground collisions (taxying) 3; overshoots landing 2; undershooting 1; Swings landing 1; Flying into high ground 1; Collision in air 1; errors of judgement 3; TOTAL 12.
51 Base – Swings taking off 1; Swings landing 2; Taxying 1; TOTAL 4
[Underlined] ACCIDENT CAUSES [/underlined]
[Underlined] Taxying. [/underlined] 3 of the 4 taxying accidents in the Group follow the usual pattern. One struck a trestle outside dispersal at night, and no taxying light was being used. Another hit an M/T van left unattended just off the perimeter track, while a third (a Stirling) broke its tail wheel when it ran off the perimeter track. The 4th taxying accident was caused by a Flight Engineer starting up the engines of a Lancaster without permission. Brake pressure was low and the aircraft moved forward and struck another parked alongside.
[Underlined] Swings [/underlined] Three of these occurred on landing. One was a Mosquito in which the pilot, flying a Mosquito for the first time, was not quick enough in correcting. The other two landing swings were by pupil pilots on Stirlings, and were due to inexperience more than anything else. They both knew the correct drill, however, but were slow to react. The swing on take off occurred in a Stirling, when a pupil pilot opened the throttles too quickly and failed to control the violent starboard swing which followed. The undercarriage collapsed.
[Underlined] Other Accidents. [/underlined] A Lancaster returning in poor weather descended through cloud and hit a hill 500 feet above sea level. This accident has not yet been fully investigated, but preliminary evidence indicates that the pilot lost height contrary to orders at briefing.
Another Lancaster on return from Ops. in good weather hit a tree 1000 yards from the runway on his approach. The wing tip was torn off but the pilot went round again and made a good landing on his second attempt. In this instance the bombs were still on board unknown to the pilot. His Air Bomber had told him that all bombs had gone. Air Bombers please note!!
Two Lancasters overshot on landing at strange airfields on return from operations. The bomb load exploded after one of them crashed.
A formation flying collision resulted in the destruction of two aircraft this month. Number 3 of a “Vic” formation knocked the tail off the Leader.
The two remaining avoidable accidents cocurred [sic] on operational flights. One pilot lost control in cloud on return and ordered his crew to bale out. Four of them left before control was regained. They had not been told to take their ‘K’ type dinghy packs with them and landed in the sea. The aircraft made a safe landing at base.
A Mid-Upper Gunner firing at searchlights on the ground damaged the port fin of his aircraft with a burst. The solenoid had jumped from its bracket. The gunner was at fault.
RADAR/NAV
[Underlined] GEE [/underlined]
Most operations were within normal Gee range and no exceptional results have been recorded. There has, however, been a substantial decrease in jamming which may be due to the increase in the number of frequencies now in use.
Non-H 2 S squadrons are now equipped with the new R.F. Unit 27 and have had several chances of using it during the month. As yet there has been no opportunity to test its efficiency at long range, but reports indicate the signal strength to be good with little or no interference. It is hoped that the supply position in regard to these new units will improve shortly and H 2 S Squadrons can then be equipped.
Several changes in Gee transmissions have taken place recently, and it would be advisable for all navigators and wireless operators to check upon these and make sure they are using the right frequencies and aerial loading stud at the right time.
One word regarding Gee homing. It is apparent from recent operations that navigators are not checking up with Gee on the position of the markers. There is little excuse for this, as most operations at the present time are within normal Gee range and subject to little or no interference. Navigators would be well advised to check up on their homing procedure now – because sooner or later the time will come when owing to weather conditions bombs may have to be released on Gee.
With regard to Gee training, a modification is being issued shortly which will enable navigators to carry out dry swims and Gee homing procedure with the trainer. The first will be issued to Scampton Aircrew School and should prove an interesting and invaluable “toy”.
[Underlined] H 2 S [/underlined]
The targets this month have been rather disappointing for the H 2 S operator, and H 2 S has been little used. Whilst Gee may seem much simpler to use it is essential for all operators to use H 2 S as much as possible on these short range operations to augment training. We may switch to the longer range targets with little or no notice, and if operators have been relying to a very great extent on Gee, some difficulty with H 2 S may be experienced.
Just a word to Captains; your navigator depends to a very great extent upon the bomb aimer and his efficient manipulation of the equipment. If you are keeping him in the nose the whole of the time on these short operations he is getting little or no H 2 S training. A.S.I. BL/17 dated 26th April, 1944, details the duties of Air Bombers in H 2 S aircraft and however short the operation, Captains must see that this instruction is complied with.
One word with regard to H 2 S training on operational squadrons. With the present commitments there is very little opportunity for air training, but this does not prevent operators from obtaining as much ground training as possible. Ground trainers are available at all Units and they are yours to use at will. Squadron Navigation Officers and H 2 S Instructors should ensure that all operators get at
(Continued in Col. 2)
[Underlined] RADAR/NAV (Continued from col.3) [/underlined]
least 30 minutes practice every day and should make periodic tests to see that operators are remaining efficient.
H 2 S operators will be interested to hear that 54 Base have been carrying out some experiments in the assessment of a Paramatta attack, and conclusions reached show that assessments can be made to within approximately 1/2 mile of the correct position. If this assessing can be carried out on operations it may prevent many attacks from developing around T.I’s a considerable distance from the aiming point. Preliminary trials are now being attempted with regard to Wanganui attacks and it is hoped that something useful may be produced for next winter’s operations.
Training at Conversion Units is progressing satisfactorily and Wigsley is now producing H 2 S trained crews.
There are still a few people in the Group who are sceptical about the amount of H 2 S. training carried out at No. 51 Base and in fairness to the effort being made by the Conversion Units, it would be advisable to outline the training being carried out by them.
Up to June 1st this year, 111 H 2 S trained crews have been produced by the Conversion Units, of which only 6 were sent to non-H 2 S squadrons (of these crews, 3 were Flight Commanders and 3 Australians).
With the increase in the number of H 2 S squadrons it became increasingly apparent that more crews would have to be trained by the Conversion Units and instructions were issued to that effect.
Despite the fact that [underlined] extra time or aircraft [/underlined] are allowed for this training, the Conversion Units are now taking 50% of the
(Continued on page 14 col.1)
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944. PAGE 13
[Page break]
HONOURS & AWARDS [Cartoon]
The following IMMEDIATE awards have been approved during the month:-
[Underlined] 44 SQUADRON [/underlined]
F/L P.A. DOREHILL, D.F.C. D.S.O.
F/O McKENZIE D.F.C.
[Underlined] 50 SQUADRON [/underlined]
F/O B.H. BOTHA D.F.C.
[Underlined] 57 SQUADRON [/underlined]
P/O R.E. WALKER D.F.C.
[Underlined] 106 SQUADRON [/underlined]
W/O J.A. CUNNINGHAM D.F.C.
[Underlined] 207 SQUADRON [/underlined]
F/O T.T. SMART D.F.C.
F/O W. McINTOSH, D.F.M. D.F.C.
P/O C.B. SUTHERLAND D.F.C.
[Underlined] 617 SQUADRON [/underlined]
F/O G.S. STOUT D.F.C.
[Underlined] 627 SQUADRON [/underlined]
F/L H. STEERE, D.F.M. D.F.C.
F/L R.F. DAVIES, D.F.C. Bar to D.F.C.
[Underlined] 630 SQUADRON [/underlined]
A/F/L/ G.H. PROBERT D.F.C.
The following NON-IMMEDIATE awards were approved during the month:-
[Underlined] 9 SQUADRON [/underlined]
F/L L.C.A. HADLAND D.F.C.
F/O W.W.W. TURNBULL D.F.C.
A/F/L E.M. ARMSTRON D.F.C.
F/O M.J. MAY D.F.C.
F/O F.B. HALL D.F.C.
F/SGT J.W. GREENWOOD D.F.M.
SGT J. WATERHOUSE D.F.M.
P/O A.E. GILES D.F.C.
P/O B.G.L. ROGERS D.F.C.
[Underlined] 9 SQUADRON (Contd.) [/underlined]
P/O W.A. GALL D.F.C.
F/O J.A. PRIOR D.F.C.
P/O W.F. POSSEE D.F.C.
P/O F.G. HAYLER D.F.C.
F/SGT J. LEVER D.F.M.
F/SGT W.I. WILKINSON D.F.M.
F/SGT J.C. DICKINSON D.F.M.
SGT D.E. LAYSHON D.F.M.
F/SGT R.H. McFERRAN D.F.M.
F/SGT F. LOMAX D.F.M.
F/SGT J. RYAN D.F.M.
SGT J.H. TURNER D.F.M.
F/SGT LOMAS D.F.M.
F/O D.H. PEARCE D.F.C.
F/O McMASTER D.F.C.
P/O J.D. DUNCAN D.F.C.
P/O S.W.A. HURRELL D.F.C.
P/O H. BLOW D.F.C.
F/SGT H.F. SMITH D.F.M.
[Underlined] 44 SQUADRON [/underlined]
SGT L.J. HUMMELL D.F.M.
SGT F. GARRETT D.F.M.
P/O F.B. SOAPER D.F.M.
F/SGT K.R. BLUNDELL D.F.M.
SGT R.H. BATEMAN D.F.M.
A/F/L R. McCURDY, D.F.C. Bar to D.F.C.
P/O T.W. BLACK D.F.C.
F/SGT E. BARTON D.F.M.
F/SGT P.A. DEACON D.F.M.
F/SGT M.C. WRIGHT D.F.M.
F/SGT E.D. PRATT D.F.M.
P/O A.C. BAKER D.F.C.
F/O R.H. MAURY D.F.C.
F/O A. RIMMER D.F.C.
SGT D. CHARLES D.F.M.
F/SGT A.J. GURR D.F.M.
F/SGT W.H. BARKER D.F.M.
SGT WILLETT D.F.M.
SGT R.H. TURRELL D.F.M.
P/O J.A.W. McCALLUM D.F.C.
SGT H.G. CAPPS D.F.M.
F/SGT H.S. TILLER D.F.M.
SGT J.C. THOMPSON D.F.M.
F/SGT F.H. BARNES D.F.M.
SGT E. HEDLEY D.F.M.
F/SGT M.M. SCOTT D.F.M.
[Underlined] 49 SQUADRON [/underlined]
F/SGT J.H. PRYOR D.F.M.
[Underlined] 49 SQUADRON (Contd.) [/underlined]
P/O J.V. REDDISH D.F.C.
F/SGT S.E. STEVENSON D.F.M.
P/O C.R. ROANTREE D.F.C.
F/SGT D. ANDREW D.F.M.
P/O BLACKHAM D.F.C.
F/SGT M.R. PRICE D.F.M.
F/SGT V.F. PITCHER D.F.M.
P/O D. JONES D.F.C.
F/O W.J.V. HAMILTON D.F.C.
F/SGT J.J. PAGE D.F.M.
P/O G.M.E. WELLER D.F.C.
SGT J.A. KIRWAN D.F.M.
W/CDR A.A. ADAMS D.F.C.
[Underlined] 50 SQUADRON [/underlined]
P/O D.J. LUNDY D.F.C.
P/O L. DURHAM D.F.C.
F/O M.J. BEETHAM D.F.C.
P/O P.E. THOMPSON D.F.C.
F/O H.R. MOSSOP D.F.C.
F/O K.W. ODGERS D.F.C.
F/O P.A. CUNNINGHAM D.F.C.
F/O A.H. BIGNELL D.F.C.
F/SGT J.C.A. RODGERS D.F.M.
F/SGT N. HORSLEY D.F.M.
F/SGT A.D.F. SPRUCE D.F.M.
F/O L. HORNER D.F.C.
F/O H.S. SHORTT D.F.C.
F/O R.G.G. PAGETT D.F.C.
F/SGT D.E. WESTERMAN D.F.M.
F/SGT R.A. COLLINGWOOD D.F.M.
F/SGT C. TURNER D.F.M.
F/SGT R. STANWIX D.F.M.
F/SGT A.L. BARTLETT D.F.M.
F/O A.S. KEITH D.F.C.
P/O A. MORRISON D.F.C.
W/O J.A. WILDING D.F.C.
SGT W.M. RUNDLE D.F.M.
[Underlined] 57 SQUADRON [/underlined]
F/L D.H. REID D.F.C.
SGT J.C. EVANS D.F.M.
P/O E.A. DOWLAND D.F.C.
P/O C.J.M. MARTIN D.F.C.
SGT T. DAVIES D.F.M.
F/O J. SIMMS D.F.C.
P/O J.H. COLLINS D.F.C.
(Continued on page 15, Column 1)
[Underlined] RADAR/NAV (Contd. From page 13 Col.2) [/underlined]
crews passing through and giving them full H 2 S ground training with 10 – 15 hours air training. This output will be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of all H 2 S squadrons. These crews should reach the squadrons by the middle of August.
In the meantime H 2 S squadrons will have to put up with a quota of non H 2 S crews and continue to train them.
To further ease the training commitments of both the Conversion Units and squadrons, it is hoped that H2S training will be introduced into the Scampton Aircrew School by the middle of August. This training will consist of approximately 5 hours lectures with further time in manipulation of the H 2 S synthetic trainer. It is to be appreciated that this training will have to be in addition to the present essential navigational training carried out at the School, and navigators and air bombers must be prepared to undertake some of it in their spare time.
PHOTOGRAPHY
[Underlined] SUMMARY OF PHOTOGRAPHIC RESULTS [/underlined]
[Table of Photographic Results by Squadron]
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944. PAGE 14
[Page break]
Aircrew Volunteers
(a) New Volunteers
(b) Accepted by A.C.S.B.
(c) Posted for training
(d) Awaiting interview by A.C.S.B.
[Table of Aircrew Volunteers by Base and Station]
WAR SAVINGS
(a) Pence saved per head of strength
(b) %age of personnel contributing
(c) Total amount saved
[Table of War Savings by Station]
TOTAL £15,498 13 9
LINK TRAINER
The number of hours link practice carried out by pilots during the month shows an increase over last month’s total. There is, however, still room for improvement in the standard of instrument flying. This can only be achieved by close co-operation between Link Instructors and Pilots.
The new Link Syllabus was distributed to Stations in the middle of the month and should now be in use at all Units. It is again emphasised that this Syllabus is progressive and if full value is to be obtained from it, Pilots and Flight Engineers must ensure that they complete all exercises, and keep an accurate record of the exercises carried out.
[Table of Link Trainer by Squadron]
[Page break]
[Blank page]
[Page break]
HONOURS & AWARDS
(CONTINUED)
[Underlined] 57 SQUADRON (Contd.) [/underlined]
SGT J.T.WATTS D.F.M.
SGT F.A. SIMMONDS D.F.M.
F/O G.S. JOHNSON D.F.C.
SGT F. ROBERTS D.F.M.
F/O R. DAVIS D.F.C.
F/SGT R.W. CLEARY D.F.M.
F/O K.D. SMITH D.F.C.
[Underlined] 61 SQUADRON [/underlined]
P/O E.A. WILLIAMS D.F.C.
P/O J.E.R. WILLIAMS D.F.C.
SGT L.G. BOLTON D.F.M.
F/SGT C. BALDWIN D.F.M.
P/O E.H. WALKER D.F.C.
F/SGT L.W. CROMARTY D.F.M.
F/SGT R.A. BUNYAN D.F.M.
P/O W.C. MacDONALD D.F.C.
F/O N.F. TURNER D.F.C.
P/O D.E. TREVETHICK D.F.C.
P/O G.A. TURNBULL D.F.C.
SGT. W.A. LEE D.F.M.
P/O J. BARR D.F.C.
P/O C.A. HAIGH D.F.C.
F/SGT LYNCH D.F.M.
F/O S.J. BEARD, D.F.C. Bar to D.F.C.
F/SGT C.P. STEEDSMAN D.F.M.
SGT G.M. WARD D.F.M.
SGT McQUILLAN D.F.M.
F/SGT C. WILCE D.F.M.
[Underlined] 106 SQUADRON [/underlined]
P/O J.C. BELL D.F.C.
F/O A.F. POORE D.F.C.
F/O G.E.D. TOOGOOD D.F.C.
P/O A.E. BRISTOW D.F.C.
F/SGT J. GRAVES D.F.M.
F/O R.J. ELSEY D.F.C.
F/O R.A. ROBERTS D.F.C.
F/SGT V. LYNCH D.F.M.
P/O P.J. RICHARDS D.F.C.
F/O W.R. LEE D.F.C.
F/O J.H.S. LEE D.F.C.
SGT T.C. WALLER D.F.M.
F/SGT G.R. CARLILE D.F.M.
F/O F.M. MIFFLIN D.F.C.
F/SGT A.D.J. GROOMBRIDGE D.F.M.
F/O C.J. DUNN D.F.C.
P/O R.A. HINCKLEY D.F.C.
F/O D.L. CRAMP D.F.C.
F/O D.V. GIBBS D.F.C.
F/L C.J. GINDER D.F.C.
F/SGT D. PINCKARD D.F.M.
F/SGT F. MYCOE D.F.M.
F/LT W.A. WILLIAMSON D.F.C.
F/SGT F.L. HIGGINS D.F.M.
F/O D.A. PAGLIERO D.F.C.
F/O R.L. WAKE, D.F.C. Bar to D.F.C.
F/SGT R. APPLEYARD D.F.M.
SGT V.H. BLACKWELL D.F.M.
P/O J. O’LEARY D.F.C.
F/O A.V. WITHERS D.F.C.
F/O R.P. RAMSAY D.F.C.
F/SGT S.J. HALVORSEN D.F.M.
SGT J.G. LANCASTER D.F.M.
F/SGT E. CLODE D.F.M.
SGT R.F. LAWRENSON D.F.M.
[Underlined] 207 SQUADRON [/underlined]
F/SGT J.G. MYERSCOUGH D.F.M.
SGT D. FRISKEY D.F.M.
F/SGT E.C. THOMPSON D.F.M.
P/O C.W. BARNETT D.F.C.
SGT W.G. LAMONT D.F.M.
F/SGT J. SKELTON D.F.M.
P/O R.G. CAMPBELL D.F.C.
P/O D.R. DEARMAN D.F.C.
P/O K.L. WRIGHT D.F.C.
F/SGT E.H. BUNN D.F.M.
SGT D.C. MARK D.F.M.
SGT F.H. HAZEL D.F.M.
SGT F.C. DOWLING D.F.M.
SGT R.M. GALLOWAY D.F.M.
[Underlined] 207 SQUADRON (Contd.) [/underlined]
F/LT H.L. McCARTHY D.F.C.
F/O D.S.P. SMITH D.F.C.
F/O C.T. HARPER D.F.C.
F/O A. HOLLINGS D.F.C.
[Underlined] 463 SQUADRON [/underlined]
F/O R.A. CURTIS D.F.C.
F/O E.R. FREEMAN D.F.C.
F/O A.E. VOWELS D.F.C.
F/O W.H. BROOKER D.F.C.
P/O H.R. MAHON D.F.C.
F/O F.B.M. WILSON D.F.C.
F/O J.E.R. REES D.F.C.
F/SGT J.B. CHILDS D.F.M.
[Underlined] 467 SQUADRON [/underlined]
F/LT D.F.S. SMITH D.F.C.
F/O F. MORRIS D.F.C.
P/O A.R.T. BOYS D.F.C.
F/O W.H. GOLDSTRAW, D.F.C. Bar to D.F.C.
W/O H.C. CHANDLER D.F.C.
F/O D.T. CONWAY D.F.C.
F/O J.A. COLPUS D.F.C.
P/O M.F. SMITH D.F.C.
P/O N.D. MARSHALL D.F.C.
F/O F.J. NUGENT D.F.C.
F/O H.S.L. CROUCH D.F.C.
F/O G.G. ABBOTT D.F.C.
P/O A.A. TAYLOR D.F.C.
P/O A.P. SPERLING D.F.C.
F/SGT G. NOBLE D.F.M.
[Underlined] 617 SQUADRON [/underlined]
F/O P.N. BUTTLE D.F.C.
P/O P.E. PIGEON D.F.C.
P/O H.A. WEEKS D.F.C.
P/O J.H. CLAY D.F.C.
F/O E. WILLSHER D.F.C.
W/O J. DACEY D.F.C.
F/O J.S. WATSON D.F.C.
F/SGT McCLELLAN D.F.M.
F/SGT L. EATON D.F.M.
F/SGT R.J. HENDERSON D.F.M.
F/SGT APPLEBY D.F.M.
F/SGT W. HOWARTH D.F.M.
F/O R. ADAMS D.F.M.
F/O A. HILL D.F.C.
F/LT WILSON, D.F.C. Bar to D.F.C.
[Underlined] 619 SQUADRON [/underlined]
F/O J.G. THOMPSON D.F.C.
F/O H.L. VICKERSTAFFE D.F.C.
F/O W.E.D. BELL D.F.C.
P/O G.G. TAYLOR D.F.C.
F/SGT J.A. FEATHERSTONE D.F.M.
F/O N.B. MORRISON D.F.C.
W/O B.T.J. HUCKS D.F.C.
W/O C.G. TURNBULL D.F.C.
SGT M.H.G. KING D.F.M.
P/O J.P. HIND D.F.C.
P/O J.I. JOHNSON D.F.C.
P/O E.K. ALLEY D.F.C.
P/O R.T. BOULTBEE D.F.C.
F/O P.H. TAYLOR D.F.C.
W/O R.A. WESTAD D.F.C.
F/O T. WILKIE D.F.C.
F/O JOHNSON-BIGGS D.F.C.
F/LT R. AYTOUN, D.F.C. Bar to D.F.C.
F/SGT J.H. BRYANT D.F.M.
[Underlined] 630 SQUADRON [/underlined]
P/O A.C. BLOIS D.F.C.
P/O T. SMART D.F.C.
W/O L.H. TODD D.F.C.
P/O R.T. HUGHES D.F.C.
F/O G.W. BRAKE D.F.C.
W/O D. ROBERTS D.F.C.
F/O A.J. WRIGHT D.F.C.
F/O K.R. AMES, D.F.C. Bar to D.F.C.
P/O F.R.G.A. HIGGINS D.F.C.
W/O H. GLASBY D.F.C.
F/SGT T.H. SAVAGE D.F.M.
FLYING CONTROL
All stations are to be congratulated on the excellent landing times produced this month, in which the average for the Group is below the 2 minutes per aircraft mark. In particular, Waddington recorded consistently good times for each operation. One [sic] the night of the 24/25th June this Station landed 32 AIRCRAFT IN 31 MINUTES, the average being less than 1 minute per aircraft. This is a record for the Group, and probably for the Command.
One word of warning, however; recently aircraft from another Group were diverted and on arrival at the diversion airfield proceeded to use their own Group landing scheme, with which the diversion control staff were not familiar. It is sufficient to say that confusion followed, with extreme danger to the aircraft and crews concerned. A.S.I. FC/11 contains the standard diversionary control procedure and must be adhered to.
[Underlined] STONES, CONCRETE AND METAL [/underlined]
Every stone, every sharp edge of concrete, every spent cartridge or piece of metal, constitutes a menace to tyres.
During the last 3 month there has been a very high average of tyres changed on accounts of cuts – (25 per station per month). Recently, endeavours have been made on stations to overcome this menace, but the intensified clean-up of perimeters, runways and dispersals must be maintained.
FLYING CONTROL must ensure that not the smallest break in the perimeter track or runway is overlooked, that grading does level up with the perimeter track and runways, and that any looseness in the surface of the French drains is attended to at once. Station Admin and Clerks of Works must help to the utmost.
GROUND CREWS must assist by seeing that their dispersals are thoroughly clean, and AIRCREWS watch carefully that cartridges cease to be a menace to tyres.
TRANSPORT – keep the sweepers fully serviced and see that nothing is loose on vehicles employed on the airfield.
ARMAMENT, too, can assist by ensuring that the access roads to the bomb dump are clear of stones and that wooden chocks from bomb trolleys are recovered before aircraft move. A 4” x 3” block with nails in it is not healthy treatment for a tyre!
ONLY BY FULL CO-OPERATION CAN THE ULTIMATE AIM BE ACHIEVED-AN AIRFIELD 100% SERVICEABLE.
JUNE LANDING TIMES
[Table of Landing Times by Station]
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944 PAGE 15
[Page break]
OPERATIONS
At dawn on the 6th of this month, the first Allied troops landed on the Normandy coast. A contribution towards the success of this amphibious operation was no doubt made in the effective silencing of most of the shore batteries. During the last month and again on three nights prior to D – Day this was one of the Group’s tasks. The heavy railway gun battery at WIMERAUX was attacked on the 2/3rd and although the interpretation report embraces previous attacks, there is no doubt that severe damage was inflicted; a large number of new craters being seen around the target. Both the western turntables have received direct hits.
The coastal defence batteries at MAISY (4/5th), ST PIERRE DU MONT (5/6 th) and LA PERNELLE (5/6th) next received our attention. Little could be gleaned from photographic cover as to the precise damage to the targets, but their apparent failure to contest our landing bears testimony to the success of the raids.
Another pre-invasion target was the Radar Jamming Station at FERME D’URVILLE. This target was attacked on 3/4th and, to quote A.I.C.U. “The station is completely useless”.
Our beachhead having been secured, our bombing role turned to close support of the land forces. The 21st Panzer Division was moving into CAEN to threaten the British Beaches. Two road bridges in this town were accordingly scheduled for attack on the 6/7th; both bridges were hit, and the road approaches heavily cratered, presenting an embarrassing obstacle to the Hun. On the same night an attack was directed against the ARGENTAN Railway centre. This raid also was calculated to hamper the arrival of reinforcements, which object was achieved by the severing of almost all the tracks and the destruction of many essential buildings.
During the day of the 7th, elements of the 17th Panzer Division were concentration [sic] in the FORET DE CERISY, a number of ammunition dumps, fuelling points and tank harbours having been located in this area. This was our assignment for the night 7/8th, and although results were not spectacular, many bombs fell on the aiming point.
The battle of communications continued on 8/9th against targets south of the battle area, when the marshalling yard at RENNES and rail junction at PONTAUBAULT were attacked. Severe damage was sustained at the former target while at the latter, the tracks were cut at several points.
One of the outstanding operations of the month was against the SAUMUR tunnel on the 8/9th. Already the railway junction had been attacked on 1/2nd with excellent effect, but the later attack on the tunnel left no doubt that the line would be denied the enemy for some time to come. A direct hit on the roof of the tunnel at its southern entrance has probably caused a major collapse while the tracks and embankments are severely damaged.
Our attack on the railway junction at ETAMPES on 9/10th was rendered extremely difficult owing largely to adverse weather, although hits were scored on the electrified railway north east of the junction.
The possibility of the enemy using the PARIS/ORLEANS route to effect troop movements led to a request for the destruction of the marshalling yard at ORLEANS on 10/11th. The mission was successfully undertaken, all through lines being severed and further damage sustained to rolling stock railway depots etc.
The attack on POITERS on 12/13th in which very severe damage was inflicted on the railway facilities was designed to delay the 2nd S.S. Division, believed to be moving up from South France.
On the same night support was given to our troops advancing East and West of CAEN, by the further bombing of the town’s road bridges.
The Lehr Panzer Division is reported to have visited AUNAY SUR ODON on the same night as aircraft from this Group, namely, 14/15th. AUNAY is completely obliterated – speculation is rife as to the fate of the Panzers.
Photos taken the day following the attack on the LIMOGES marshalling yard (23/24th) indicate that fires were still burning in the area, and that all tracks in the sorting sidings have been blocked.
AT VITRY LE FRANCOIS on 27/28th damage was almost entirely confined to the west end of the marshalling yard where all the tracks have been cut. Other damage throughout the yard is apparent.
For 48 hours the spotlight of war turned from the battlefield to the sea, to the harbours of LE HAVRE and BOULOGNE where a powerful force of small craft had been assembled by the enemy with a view to menacing our supply lanes. It is now reported that as a direct result of the two raids on 14/15th and 15/16th no fewer than 80 vessels have been sunk or seriously damaged. Damage to port installations is also severe.
Oil targets have been attacked sporadically since the war began, but in the knowledge that the enemy is suffering from fuel shortage we returned on three occasions to attack his resources.
At CHATELLERAULT on 15/16th a fuel dump was raided, considerable damage resulting to storage units.
The attacks on WESSELING and SCHOLVEN Synthetic Oil Plants on 21/22nd were not, however, satisfactory and, influenced by bad weather conditions, were off the mark.
During the month two gardening operations were undertaken, on 6/7th and 8/9th.
In the concluding phases of June our attention was diverted from Normandy to the rather more immediate problem of combating the flying bombs which had commenced to operate over this country on 12/13th. On the whole, weather was exceedingly unco-operative, but, despite this, 10 missions were launched (three of which,
(Continued on page 4 Col. 2)
WAR EFFORT
[Table of Operations with Sorties, Accidents and Stars Awards, by Squadron]
Squadrons are placed in the above table in order of “successful sorties per average aircraft on charge”. In view of their special duties, Nos. 83, 97, 617 and 627 Squadrons are shown separately. In cases where a crew has flown aircraft of another squadron, the sortie is divided between the two squadrons.
5 GROUP NEWS. NO.23. JUNE, 1944.
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
V Group News, June 1944
5 Group News, June 1944
Description
An account of the resource
Five Group Newsletter, number 23, June 1944. Includes a foreword by the Air Officer Commanding, and features about gunnery, air bombing, navigation, armament, navigation training, public relations, signals, gardening, equipment, air sea rescue, recent good shows, and shows not so good, engineering, training, flight engineers, enemy agents - careless talkers, signals, second thoughts for pilots, accidents, radar / nav, honours & awards, photography, aircrew volunteers, war savings, link trainer, flying control, operations, and war effort.
In accordance with the conditions stipulated by the donor, this item is available only at the University of Lincoln.
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
1944-06
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Anne-Marie Watson
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
18 printed sheets
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
MStephensonS1833673-160205-27
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
1944-06-05
1944-06-06
1944-06-08
1944-06-09
1944-06-14
1944-06-15
1944-06-16
1944-06-19
1944-06-20
1944-06-22
1944-06-24
1944-06-25
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
Germany
Great Britain
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
France--Boulogne-sur-Mer
France--Caen
France--Étampes (Essonne)
France--La Pernelle
France--Le Havre
France--Limoges
France--Paris
France--Rennes
France--Saint-Pierre-du-Mont (Landes)
France--Saumur
France--Vitry-le-François
Germany--Wesseling
France--Villers-Bocage (Calvados)
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
5 Group
617 Squadron
627 Squadron
83 Squadron
97 Squadron
air gunner
air sea rescue
aircrew
bomb aimer
bomb dump
bombing
bombing of the Boulogne E-boats (15/16 June 1944)
bombing of the Le Havre E-boat pens (14/15 June 1944)
bombing of the Normandy coastal batteries (5/6 June 1944)
Bombing of the Saumur tunnel (8/9 June 1944)
bombing of the Siracourt V-weapon site (25 June 1944)
bombing of the Watten V-2 site (19 June 1944)
bombing of the Wizernes V-2 site (20, 22, 24 June 1944)
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Medal
ditching
flight engineer
Gee
H2S
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
mine laying
navigator
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
pilot
radar
RAF Dunholme Lodge
RAF Scampton
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
rivalry
service vehicle
tactical support for Normandy troops
tractor
training
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/509/17753/PDobleRG1513.2.jpg
70236c2ed5c785d4bb6489dd3e986d73
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/509/17753/PDobleRG1514.2.jpg
9e901750be35031174a5bcf694c01a8c
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/509/17753/PDobleRG1515.2.jpg
bc1630b2b014f5159bea65a11cf3a5a3
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
Doble, Ronald George
R G Doble
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Doble, RG
Description
An account of the resource
13 items. An oral history interview with Ronald George Doble (3030256 Royal Air Force) his log book, service documents and photographs. George Doble served as a wireless operator / air gunner with 97 Squadron
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-11-17
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.
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
Andrew St.Denis
Sergeant Ronald Doble – 3030256. Was born in London and initially served in the Air Training Corp, No,336 Squadron before joining the RAF aged 18, towards the end of WWII. Starting training for Radio Operator and Air Gunner, but switching to focus on Gunnery, this was on Wellington’s at Morton-in-Marsh. Completing training at No.1660 Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Swinderby and then No.1653 HCU at RAF Lindholme, both in Lancaster’s the war in Europe had finished. Joining No.97 Squadron at RAF Hemswell, flying in Lincoln’s he flew as a rear gunner and took part in equipment tests such as Rebecca/Eureka, Radio Navigation equipment. After leaving the RAF Ronald entered an apprenticeship as a panel neater, building body’s for Talbots and Sunbeams at Rootes Group.
Factual ‘CV’
20 August 1945 – 9 November 1945: No 2 Air Gunnery School at RAF Dalcross – Aircraft: Wellington.
10 November 1945 - 1 November 1946: 21 Operational Training Unit at Moreton-in-Marsh – Aircraft: Unknown.
1 November 1946 – 9 November 1946: 1660 HCU at RAF Swinderby – Aircraft: Lancaster.
10 November 1946 – 26 March 1947: 1653 HCU at RAF Lindholme – Aircraft: Lancaster.
27 March 1947 – 1 July 1947: 97 Squadron at RAF Hemswell, Lincolnshire – Aircraft: Lincoln.
Biography
Born in Hammersmith, London to a working-class family, Ronald George Doble recounts his service in the RAF before leaving in 1947. Doble left school, aged thirteen, to work behind a guillotine cutting metal. Upon witnessing the bombing of London during the Second World War, Doble joined the fire watchers, tasked with dealing with the fallout of oil bombs before making the choice to join the RAF, beginning at the Air Training corps. Soon after he was sent to Grove court air crew receiving centre. Here he recalls a memory of a group of him and his new friends playing around with a mess tin which flew through the window and fall onto a flight sergeant with fifty men on parade. Doble was then sent to Yatesbury, where he was picked up as a wireless operator air gunner, undergoing a nine-month course.
Finding that there was no longer any use for his position, Doble went to Clapham, London where he took an educational course in preparation for taking the aptitude test at RAF Regiment Locking. Upon passing the test, he was posted to the Initial Training Wing at Bridgenorth. Once completing training at Bridgenorth, Doble was moved to Dalcross Air Gunnery school before proceeding to move to Moreton-in-Marsh, 21 operational training unit, then to the 1965 HCU and then finally ending up in Hemswell in Lincolnshire. However, when he and other gunners began to be de-ranked, they made the decision to leave the RAF and chose to continue an apprenticeship in Filey, making Sunbeams, Talbots, and Humbers Bodies. Within this job, Doble would get lead poisoning before being left without a job and finishing his career as a panel beater on car repairs in Haddenham.
This collection including an oral interview, with reference to stories ranging from attempting to carry a piano out of a building during a bomb attack and getting stuck and running out of oxygen whilst attempting to do a drogue firing. https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/8411 There are also multiple photographs detailing the different services he was part of and the men he served with, as well as some of the aircrafts he flew. One such photograph shows Doble as well as other RAF airmen being introduced to King George VI and his family with an ‘x’ added by a fellow airman to show Doble amongst the men. https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/17743 The collection includes an article about a Bomb Aimer and Navigator who refused to fly, destroying their maps in the process. Despite being allowed to fly after this event, they did so again and was ultimately charged with Lack of Moral Fibre. https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/17746 Finally, Doble’s log and service and release book shows his service across his entire career as well as the aircrafts he flew in each place, something which he explores within his oral interview. Upon his release, Doble was described as an ‘extremely capable and efficient worker… of a very pleasant and cheerful nature’, and once again his interview serves to reflect the type of man he was and still is. https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/17747
Amy Johnson
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
Ted Haywood & Tom Carter
Description
An account of the resource
Two photographs, the first is of two airmen, one squatting and one standing behind. It is captioned 'Ted & Tom Bomb aimer & w/op 21 OTU'.
The second is a larger version of the same image and on the reverse is
'F/Sgt Tom Carter W/Op
F/Sgt Ted Haywood B/A
My crew members
21 OTU 97 Sqdn
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two b/w photographs
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
PDobleRG1513, PDobleRG1514, PDobleRG1515
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
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
21 OTU
97 Squadron
aircrew
bomb aimer
Operational Training Unit
training
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/949/9457/PWrigleyJ17040014.1.jpg
70fb2545ab9eee0b312ffd2fe4f77af0
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Wrigley, James. Album
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph album containing 51 photographs of James Wrigley's family, training and post war service in the United States and the Far East with 97 Squadron.
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
Wrigley, J
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-09
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
Lincoln and Sigs Inst Course
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph 1 is a side view of a Lincoln, captioned ''Dirty Dog' (Lincoln RF505 'D') 97 Sqdn Karachi, Pakistan, 1948.'
Photograph 2 is ten airmen arranged in two rows, the front row of six is seated with four men standing behind. It is captioned 'Sigs. Inst. Course. St Athan. May 1945
N.C.Pipin C.J.Weale A.J Daniels W.T Atkins
Self, D.K. Ottley D. Ekhorst J.H.Jenkinson H.L. Durban F.N. Bradley'
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1948
1945-05
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two b/w photographs from an album
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
PWrigleyJ17040014
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Pakistan
Pakistan--Karachi
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1948
1945-05
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.
97 Squadron
aircrew
Lincoln
RAF St Athan
training
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/949/9456/PWrigleyJ17040013.1.jpg
d43e2448acc4300d36559ac067ff3fb2
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Wrigley, James. Album
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph album containing 51 photographs of James Wrigley's family, training and post war service in the United States and the Far East with 97 Squadron.
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
Wrigley, J
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-09
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
Beaufighter, Spitfire and Lincoln
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph 1 is an air-to-air view of a flying Beaufighter, captioned 'Beaufighter formation, Negombo, Ceylon, 1948.'
Photograph 2 is an air-to-air view of a Spitfire taken from a Lincoln, captioned 'Spitfire breakaway, Shallufa Egypt 1948.'
Photograph 3 has been removed and was captioned 'No 1 A.G.S. Pembrey 1943.'
Photograph 4 is a large group of airmen arranged in four rows in front of a Lincoln. It is captioned '97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron RAF Hemswell Nov 17 '47'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1948
1947-11-14
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three b/w photographs from an album
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
PWrigleyJ17040013
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. Fighter Command
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Egypt
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka--Negombo
Egypt--Suez
North Africa
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1948
1947-11-14
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.
97 Squadron
Beaufighter
Lincoln
RAF Hemswell
Spitfire
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/949/9454/PWrigleyJ17040011.1.jpg
1ae8ac746de5a619a7fc8e1291e15a47
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Wrigley, James. Album
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph album containing 51 photographs of James Wrigley's family, training and post war service in the United States and the Far East with 97 Squadron.
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
Wrigley, J
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-09
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
Tengah Open Day
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph 1 is a front view of a Beaufighter.
Photograph 2 is the nose of a Spitfire.
Photograph 3 is a Vampire flying by.
Photograph 4 is front view of a Lincoln.
They are captioned 'Open Day, Tengah, Singapore 1948. Beaufighter, Spitfire, Vampire & Lincoln "L" 97 Sqdn (S.S.)'
Photograph 5 is 12 Spitfires flying in formation.
Photograph 6 is a side view of a C-47.
They are captioned 'Spitfire formation and Dakota Tengah Open Day'.
Photograph 7 and 8 are side views of a Lincoln, captioned 'Thor II at Tengah 1948'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1948
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Eight b/w photographs from an album
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
PWrigleyJ17040011
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. Fighter Command
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Indonesia
Indonesia--Jawa Tengah
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1948
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.
97 Squadron
Beaufighter
C-47
Lincoln
Spitfire
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/408/7610/SChattertonJ159568v10521.1.jpg
47f60047d7963b61d954a9a19a515d0f
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/408/7610/SChattertonJ159568v10522.1.jpg
2660b2c30b322c8662f4f2238c5e696d
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
Chatterton, John. 44 Squadron operations order book
Description
An account of the resource
Collection consists of 521 items which are mostly Operations orders, aircraft load and weight tables and bomb aimers briefings for 44 Squadron operations between January 1944 and April 1945. <br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by M J Chatterton and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. <br /><br />This collection also contains items concerning Dewhurst Graaf and his crew, and Donald Neil McKechnie and his crew. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/109020/">Dewhurst Graaf</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/115642/">Donald Neil McKechnie</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-03-14
Rights
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
Chatterton, J
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Boxed] JOIGNY-LA-ROCHE [Underlined] 619 [/underlined] [/boxed]
DATE 31-7-44
QBPHZYAFK TUOG RUWXY PT
[Table of bomb loads]
PETROL [deleted] 1500 [/deleted] 1530
DISTRIBUTOR 15YDS.
T.V. 1600 1385 1600 1385
BOMB WEIGHT 13, 080
ALL UP. WEIGHT. [Deleted] 65,080 [/deleted] 65,596
[Table of heights] – NIL -
TIME OFF 1700 E.T.R. 2300 ZERO. 2030. TOT. 1 minute.
WINDOWS. 30 PKGS – old type. EFFORT. 1
TIME TO TARGET. [deleted] 2 [/deleted] 3.12 TARGET HEIGHT. 150 FT
TARGET GROUND SPEED. 218
BOMBING HEIGHTS. 12-15000FT
[Boxed] [Table of aircraft and weights] [/boxed]
4703E/5/1.
[Page break]
Bomb aimer to man front guns until H-10.
97 Sqdn leading. – Yellow Force Southern Target & Visual Signals. 2 Horizontal bars 1’ wide across the fin two feet apart.
Western APT – all A/C to Starboard.
[Underlined] W S & D [/underlined] Passed out at H-5. [Deleted] Tail wind going in. [/deleted]
S/C over Waddington for posn. A. 1 Vic at 10000’ another Vic at 12,500’
[Underlined] Marking [/underlined] – 4 Mosq. (with Main Force to Posn. E)
Red TI’s going down on the EAST of our A.PT.
[Boxed] BOMB [underlined] VISUALLY [/underlined] from TARGET MAPS. [/boxed]
[Diagram]
[Underlined] Heading on track. [/underlined]
No orbiting. Bombs must be brought back if no bombing on first run.
65’s – 1385.
59’s – 1600
[Table of bombing waves and heights.]
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
Bomb aimers briefing 31 July 1944 - Joigny-La-Roche
Description
An account of the resource
Shows three bomb loads for nine, four and five aircraft respectively. Details weights, Window, timings and bombing height. On the reverse notes that 97 Squadron leading and details aiming points. Join over Waddington and formation of vics at 10000 and 12500 feet. Covers marking plan and shows sketch map of target area. Lists aircraft letters with corresponding heights. Lists some aircraft with 65 and 59 bombs.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-07-31
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two sides front form document partially filled in on the reverse handwritten
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
SChattertonJ159568v10520, SChattertonJ159568v10521
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
France--Joigny
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-07-31
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Anne-Marie Watson
97 Squadron
aircrew
bomb aimer
bombing
briefing
RAF Waddington
target indicator
Window