大象传媒

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I joined the RAF in December 1939. I volunteered. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檇 have been called up as the firm of engineers I was with went on to make munitions. I did a Flight Mechanics Course at Blackpool. I then went on to a fitter鈥檚 course. I was upgraded because I had done an apprenticeship in engineering which gave me a good 鈥榣eg-up鈥�.

I became an aircraft fitter and started on Wellingtons (twin-engined) which had air-cooled radial engines, so I did a specialist course at the engine manufacturers, Bristol Aeroplane Company, who made the engines (Bristol Mercurys). I later worked on Stirlings (which had the same engines) and Lancasters (which were both four-engined.). I had courses at Bristol for the Wimpeys (Wellingtons) and Stirlings, and at Derby ( Rolls-Royce) for the Lancasters.

I also went to De Havillands at Hatfield, in Hertfordshire, where they made the propellers. I had a good grounding and learnt a lot more about engineering than I did in 鈥榗ivvy street鈥�. I did six months at Blackpool. We had just got married so my wife came up to Blackpool to live with me and with 鈥榣ived out鈥� in civilian billets. After a year I had a 鈥榬efresher鈥� course up there and we did the same.

I started on the low-grade general maintenance, move on to engine changes, and from there you go on to the actual assembling of the engines. It was all quite interesting work. I should have stayed on in the RAF to be honest as I enjoyed so much but after six and a half years I thought it was time for a change!
I was in No.3 Group, Bomber Command all my service.

I joined No.75 Squadron at Feltwell and from there we moved on to Newmarket. Feltwell was a peacetime 鈥榙rome but it had all grass runways. That was alright for Wellingtons. They could take off OK when loaded up but when they brought in Stirlings they needed a longer take-off, of course. So we went to Newmarket on to the Rowley Mile Racecourse. Still on grass, of course. It was there, although I had nothing to do with it, that the first jet engine was tried out. They had a hangar well away from view. We knew it was there but were never allowed in it.

From there we went to Waterbeach, near Cambridge, where they had concrete runways. From there we went to a new 鈥榙rome at Mepal, near Ely. It was built especially for Lancasters. This was with No.75 Squadron, a New Zealand Squadron, all the time. We had a specialised 鈥榩rop鈥� gang and only certain qualified fitters could actually work on them.

I didn鈥檛 have much to do with them because once, when we were putting an engine into an aircraft at Mepal, I fell off the gantry and split my head open. You can still see the scar now. I was in hospital a long while with that and I didn鈥檛 do any work on engines afterwards. I think I could have 鈥榳orked my ticket鈥� quite easily but they didn鈥檛 push you out in those days; they were glad to hang on to people.

In fact I finished up working in the Flight Office for the last year of my service. I was in a good position to give myself a crafty 48-hours leave! We had an Irish Flight Sergeant, Spud Murphy, in charge there and his favourite saying, as the lads came through the door was, 鈥業f it鈥檚 a 鈥�48鈥� you鈥檙e wanting I鈥檓 afraid you鈥檝e had it!鈥�

He always called me 鈥楶addy鈥� although I was English. I know why. When I first went to work on the Flight I was put in a team consisting of a Scot (Jock), and a Welshman (Taffy) and myself. As he was short of an Irishman he appointed me as the 鈥楶addy鈥�!
We laugh about things now but there was a serious side to it of course. When I was working outside on the Flight before I went into inside duty we got to know the aircrews.

They would come out at night, the Medical Officer gave them their 鈥榩ills鈥� (to keep them awake) and we would say 鈥楥heerio鈥� to them. Lots and lots we never saw again, and some of those that did were really in a poor way. There was so much of it I don鈥檛 think it affected me (at least I don鈥檛 think so!) We looked after certain 鈥榩lanes 鈥� you had to sign for its airworthiness each time - which meant we dealt with the same crew.

You had to do an 鈥榓ir test鈥� every day. These lasted on average about twenty minutes. Just the pilot, a wireless operator, and yourself. You made sure you did your best and everything was working properly! Most of the crews were New Zealanders (about 90%) , they were nice chaps, and the rest were English.

In the early part of the war Lord Haw-Haw, who used to broadcast German propaganda, said on the radio that the Luftwaffe had bombed Feltwell. He was right. They had bombed us. They came out of the mist and bombed our runways. It was so bad we had to disperse to Methwold every day. Daytime we flew there andworked on the aircraft in the open spaces in the forest. Then return to Feltwell in the evening for the aircraft to be 鈥榖ombed-up鈥� before a raid. We were raided at Feltwell every other day and were everlasting scampering in and out of dugouts.

We had a VC on the Squadron, Jimmy Ward,who had been a schoolteacher in New Zealand before the War. They went on a raid in a Wellington to Munster in Germany in July 1941and were badly shot up by a German fighter. Jimmy was second pilot that night to the Squadron Leader, and had recently started on 鈥榦ps鈥�. For the first five raids they used to go as the second 鈥榙ickey鈥� or second pilot.

As they turned for home a fire started in the starboard engine; a fuel pipe which supplied the engine was fractured causing the fire They tried to put the fire out with the extinguisher from the hatch but the wind kept the fire going.

The crew were about to bale out when Jimmy volunteered to go out the centre turret hatch whilst secured round the waist by a rope and try and put the fire out. The altitude was about 6000-8000 ft. He got to the fire and smothered it with the cover of a dinghy they used to carry in case they came down in the sea. He eventually put out the fire and they got him back in to the 鈥榩lane. That鈥檚 what he got the VC for. They eventually got back to Newmarket. Sadly Jimmy Ward was lost over Hamburg the following September.

Our CO was Squadron Leader Lucas, a New Zealander, who looked like Popeye the cartoon character. He smoked a pipe just like him and had the character painted on his cockpit. He did two full tours of operations; then he went behind a desk, like me! He was a lovely chap.
We had Wellingtons to start with, then Stirlings and lastly Lancasters. They were the best to work on. There were eight machines in each of the three flights, A, B, and C. We had no regular hours. There would be a flight mechanic and rigger for each machine who would be responsible for minor repairs.

Whatever the job we just had to get it done. Sometimes we could do four or five nights straight off, depending how they were operating, It depended on the weather. You didn鈥檛 get the day off because you were o nights. You just had to see the work out. Of course, when I went on to the desk job it was a bit more regular. They used to take off between 6pm and 8pm on the raids which would last for about five hours. Berlin took six hours.

Sometimes they went to Italy which was a bit more. When they got back, usually about two or three in the morning we had to check everything, fill them up with fuel, and do any repairs. That would carry us into the day. It was day and night work with very little time off. Perhaps a couple of hours rest and that would be it. It used to vary according to what we were required to do.

You had a hut out on the Dispersal Point where you could make yourself a 鈥榖rew up鈥� and the Salvation Army van would come around twice a day . They had a hut in the village at Feltwell and even if you didn鈥檛 have any money they made sure you had something to eat.They were fantastic. When I first went into the RAF I was drawing seven shillings a fortnight, from which I made a very small allowance to my mother, who was a widow.

You got to know your aircrews and they didn鈥檛 mind where they went within reason for air tests. We did one in a Wellington at Feltwell in 1941 on a Sunday morning. I lived at Suton, and we came down the railway line to Wymondham, and did two circuits of the town. We flew so low the locals knew it was me.

I went on leave that night and when I got home they told me that a German plane had attacked the town just after we left. We had just missed them! Norfolk, being full of airfields, the Jerries could go wrong with their attacks. If they missed one there was always another close by. They were never big raids. They just wanted to make nuisances of themselves and put the airfields out of commission.

Sometimes the German airplanes would mix with our returning 鈥榩lanes in the middle of the night to cause further confusion. After the war the ground crews were flown over the places on the Continent that were bombed.

When we went over to Stirlings and Lancs the crew included a flight engineer, When they were short you could volunteer to fill a vacancy but I never did. Very few did.

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