大象传媒

1939-1945 WAR

When war was declared in Sept. 1939 I was a farm pupil on my godfather鈥檚 farm just about four miles to the west of Luton in Bedfordshire. My godfather鈥檚 name was Ernest Baron and he and my father went though the first war together. In the summer of 1940 we could see the red glare in the air that was London burning. My godfather was captain of the L.D.V. (Local Defence Volunteers) in the village and we put in time watching for spies and infiltrators from the top of the water tower just down the road- usually six of us. The water tower was a large concrete affair on legs and I was afraid of falling asleep and rolling off the edge. Once, being the only male on hand, I was told to put on my uniform and arrest a German paratrooper who was seen descending. As he came nearer he turned out to be a Barrage balloon which had broken free.

Sept 40 In Sept. (1940) I volunteered for the R.A.F. and sometime just before Xmas was sent to Uxbridge for a medical examination. I was accepted but nothing happened for months. In June 1941 a batch of us were sent for, first to Uxbridge and the put on a train to Devon and quartered in Babbacombe and we were marched around the district for a week or two and then marched a couple of miles to Torquay and quartered in a sea front hotel. As far as I remember after a month here we were on the move again this time to Scotland and a large boat on the Clyde called the Duchess of Athol, also known by a somewhat similar name by all who knew her. Now and again she moved down the Clyde and back to her moorings again.

Eventually we were taken off this boat and boarded another, The Stratheden, and in September we sailed. Not without a few qualms; hammocks were very close and once in the hammock one was elbow to elbow with the next door neighbour and unable to move much.

We were escorted by to smallish navy vessels for two days and then we put on speed and were on our own.
We reached Halifax, Nova Scotia, in due course and the following day were put on a train for Toronto which we reached the following day I think. We were quartered in buildings in Toronto which were part of the Agricultural show grounds. We were in Toronto for several days and then put onto a train for Georgia. Once there, buses for the last few miles to our destination the airfield at Americus to start our flying training (Souther Field, Americus).

The training consisted of three two-monthly parts. Initial training at Souther Field on Steerman P.T. 17, Secondly two months approx. on Vultee BT 13A at Cochran field and thirdly on N.A. AT6 (Master I in UK).
April 42 Most of us graduated on the 24th April 1942 and were soon heading north again. Those who had failed the flying course had already gone to an observer course or gunnery also down in Florida.
My recollection of returning to the UK is rather hazy apart from the name of the boat (鈥淥rcades鈥�).

After that a month or two during which we were doing book work in Bournemouth and Harrogate. Whilst in Bournemouth one morning shaving there was a roar and a M.E. 109 with a bomb which it released. Fortunately was behind me somewhere when it exploded.

In July 1942 I was flying again at Tern Hill south of Liverpool. On one occasion I looked down to see that all was as it should be in the cockpit after taking off and on looking up found myself more or less face to face with a large barrage balloon. Liverpool was surrounded by balloons and we were told we were liable to be fired on if getting inside.

We were at Tern Hill for August and part of September flying Masters and Hurricane I. After some leave we went to Scotland and were flying Hurricanes round Dundee and doing gunnery practise.

Nov 42. Sometime after the 17th of November six of us were sent to a transit camp in Lancashire and in due course to Ireland and onto a boat in Londonderry (This was shortly after the Allies invaded North Africa). We were on a merchant ship (not very big) and going through the Bay of Biscay it stood first on its head and then on its tail incessantly- our escorts may have been well in front to ward off trouble and we were informed that we would shortly pass an Italian submarine mother ship whose crew were abandoning ship and the mother ship was then sunk by gunfire. We continued and us six pilots were put ashore at Gibraltar.

Dec 42. On December 19th 1942 we were put on a DC3 and landed at Maison Blanche - the airfield at Algiers. We were given berths on a Liberty ship which was aground in the harbour and amused ourselves sightseeing; and a look around the Casbah. On or about the 22nd of December we were told to be on the quayside to board a ship going back to Gibraltar, and said ship was on guard duty going back and forth in the distance. I think it was called 鈥淩ainbow鈥� and whilst we sat on the quay there was a brilliant flash out at sea and the ship disappeared forever. Eventually we were put on an escort boat of a convoy heading west. After a day or two I left the others (who were playing cards I think) and went out onto the deck for a smoke when there was a huge explosion and what seemed to be half the ship went up in the air and fell down all around me. I started to go down the ladder as I had left my Mae West below but met all those below who had survived coming up. The metal ladder was horizontal and I was underneath but eventually the flow from below ceased and I managed to pull myself on to the top of it. All I could see in the dark was a small square of light at the end of the ladder and the back of a person sitting there with his legs in the water as the boat was now horizontal. Both of us tumbled out amongst a lot of sailors in the water, there were two of those plastic blown up small life boats loaded and before long with men hanging on all round the edges too. Something was under my feet which kept me above the surface, it seemed to be of wood and canvas but I never did see what it was as others joined me and each one put it that bit further under the surface. Eventually we just had our knees on it when we were assisted up rope ladders that had been hung down the sides of our destroyer escort by sailors. The boat itself was standing vertical with one man standing up against the flagstaff waving to us. It was rumoured he was going home for the chop- he had been shooting people or something forbidden. We were back in Gibraltar the next day. Of the six air cadets three were saved 鈥� Roly Hay, Jed Gray and myself and three were lost including Johnson and two others whose names escape me. (When we were pulled on to the destroyer which rescued us we were sent straight away down to wash all over with very hot water to get the oil off which was in our ears and hair etc.) Back in Gibraltar again we reported to the RAF man and were given a few days off.

On January 16th 1943 myself and Gray were taken to the airfield at Gibraltar and given a Hurricane each and told to fly to Maison Blanche the airfield in North Africa about eight miles east of Algiers and report there to the RAF. We did so and I was sent to 32 squadron. I do not know where Gray went as I do not remember meeting him again.

Feb 43. On February 3rd 1943 I was sent to a small satellite field to the west to practise landings and take offs to get thoroughly used to flying again, and on February 22nd we were on patrol on Convoy duty.

As far as my recollection goes there were two of us over any convoys going along the coast, we did a two hour stint around them and all, I think, were going from east to west and presumably came from the Suez Canal. Other squadrons were doing the same thing on either side of our patrol. Also of course we had men on standby to take on photo planes coming over from the north, and one at least was shot down and my friend Simms was taken to meet him.
April 43. In April the commanding officer and two or three of the more experienced pilots complete with ground crew went to the front line in Tunisia and had several successes there by flying at night and shooting down the enemy when they came in to land. I took their post etc. once, hence my log book shows Marylebone Paddington, two of the sandy airstrips used. We got our first Spitfire at this time and sometimes did night sweeps with Beaufighters. In May the squadron moved along the coast to Tingle (nearest town 鈥淏one鈥�) a sandy waste alive with scorpions. It was considered sensible to have the metal legs of our beds to stand in bean tins full of paraffin or something similar to keep these creatures out of our beds. Despite being very sandy there was a canal on one side which had strange frogs and amphibians. On one occasion we did sweep in formation with a Beaufighter leading all the way around Sardinia. Whilst at Tingle I got malaria and was in an army hospital, and recuperated south of Tunis and on the coast in a hotel taken over for injuries. On July 6th we were busy as high cover for the invasion of Sicily and for several days after. We also moved to an airfield in Tunisia named La Sebala almost as soon as Sicily was taken and were patrolling round Bizerta after (August). In September we moved to Salerno and were patrolling high above Naples at 20,000ft.

Jan 44. On Jan 8th 1944 I went as a passenger to Marrakech and stayed there until the 19th when I returned to La Senia. During this time we (there were 2 or 4 of us) were patrolling the hills north of Marrakech and on January 19th flew to flew to Ras el ma and on to La Senia and to Reghaia. We were here until January 31st when we flew to Foggia.
Our duties changed somewhat after we had settled in, with sweeps over the Adriatic and strafing to the north of Split and escorting Cats(?) to pick up the A.O.C. I assume 鈥淐ats鈥漴efers to a Catalina, though I don鈥檛 remember the occasion. Our duties included attacking road and rail transport to pin the enemy down. Almost in the middle of the Adriatic sea was an island known as Vis occupied by our allies the partisans who were making an airstrip so that we could land there. They did this by digging it out using spades and shovels which we later used for our planes that were able to land there. There was also a radio station there and an RAF officer who could direct us etc.

Feb 1944 From February 1944 we were involved in anything moving in Yugoslavia- harassing locomotives and transport etc. On one occasion I went No.2 to the wing commander and we hit some transport in a Village near Split. Unfortunately they returned fire and the wing commander lost an eye.

From February 1944 we were involved in attacking targets on the eastern side of the Adriatic including using Spitfires as bombers. The tactic was to fly almost over the target, turn the plane upside down and release the bomb. Not quite as easy as it sounds. On the only occasion that I attempted this manoeuvre the plane even with the engine slacked off reached tremendous speed and the wings were flapping as they were not intended.

April 44 On April 4th 1944 I was shot down by (I think) a group of men whom I imagined were partisans but shortly after passing over them the motor began to fail and I had to bail out (an account is given elsewhere) and I returned to the squadron on the 12th of April 1944 and was back flying on the sixteenth. We were doing much the same thing until the end of May escorting Rocket Hurricanes etc. My tour of duty was June 44 deemed to be over in June and on June 13th I and an Observer from one of the bomber squadrons got onto a Dakota going to Naples. The airfield at Foggia had been getting a lot more traffic lately. It was suggested that Heavy bombers from the UK after attacking oilfields at Ploesti would be short of fuel and would then get home via Italy to fill their tanks. We were in Naples for a few days waiting for a boat and I was hoping to see the ruins but it was closed, and we eventually got on our boat for Egypt. We arrived in Alexandria and contacted the RAF and were given a fortnight鈥檚 leave to get to know the place.
On reporting back to the RAF I was sent to a large training camp on the coast road from Alexandria to Cairo and just in the desert the name was Gianaclis and I found I had two comrades to share the work which was to make mock attacks from various angles to give the gunners practice and also to tow a drogue with a Defiant for them to practise on.

Aug 44 We were quite busy from the beginning of August until the 19th of October and then we had a Hurricane also to do the mock attacks. We were very busy frequently doing four trips per day. Usually we operated from the desert outside the camp and south as far as the pyramids. While on the squadron we were not allowed to hurl Hurricanes and Spitfires round too much as violent action could cause the guns to jam, but there were no restrictions here and it appeared to me that it was a better way to handle these planes if the intention was to learn handling the landing and taking off etc. We were hard at work through the winter and into 1945 and I was given a commission, however it was becoming obvious that we were winning the war and that RAF Gianaclis would be closing down shortly and I moved to the ME Security Squadron at Shallufa.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.