大象传媒

Dad was born in 1923 and lived in Glasgow until volunteering for the RAF and joining in 1941/2. He had spent some time in the LDV/Home Guard from age 16 or so and having heard the horror stories of the trenches from the WW1 veterans decided that the RAF offered a more glamourous/exciting and interesting/safer option!

He went down to London St John's Wood initially and was exposed to both people from different places, I believe people were comparatively insular in those days, and the military square bashing regime at the outset.He expressed no strong preference about being a pilot and as most did the RAF were happy to put him down for general aircrew training.As he did well with morse and had a mathematical aptitude he went down the Wireless Operator/Observer(later known as Navigator)route.

In late 1942 he found himself in conditions of complete secrecy entrained to a port for transfer to a ship to take them to Canada for aircrew training.Imagine his surprise when on boarding the ship he found he was in Glasgow less than a mile from his home, his father was a shipyard worker,but not allowed to contact them. The trip was less than luxurious involving plenty of seasick young men etc and interesting toilet facilities!

Canada was I think pretty damn good and the training demanding but enjoyable for a keen young man.Dad did however have to take to his parachute on a training mission, when the aircraft was lost and low on fuel, landing in one of the few trees in an otherwise barren landscape and becoming something of a local celebrity in the process!

Back in England further training ensued and included an enjoyable spell in Blackpool when dancing and girls , both enthusiasms, were memorable features.

Dad arrived on an operational Squadron in October 1943, 544 at Benson in Oxfordshire. He was posted to be Navigator on twin Rolls Royce Merlin engined De Havilland Mosquito Aircraft with a crew of 2 operating unarmed and alone over Europe at very high and very low level taking photo reconaissance images. These were used for all sorts of military purposes as can be well imagined and were a vital part of the war effort. The Mosquito was a superb aircraft, fast and versatile, and viewed by many as one of the finest of the War.However, as with all such military aircraft it had its problems, one such on a training flight involving the loss of both eingines over Scotland. Again he had to take to his chute, narrowly missing landing in Loch Ness as the aircraft buried
itself in a nearby hillside!

Dad did 70 operations all over Europe with his Australian pilot, Joe Burfield, finally ending with 544 circa February 1945.He told me that something like 50% of the men he started with didn't survive and I have pictures and details of a lot of the information he gave to me over the years before he passed away in 2000.He was I think proud but a little embarasssed about his medal as he felt that others deserved equal recognition but often didn't survive to receive it. He thought he must have had
a guardian angel who saw him through.He readily admitted to being scared/very apprehensive all of the time and was mightily relieved when it was all over.I think that he and Joe were determined to do a good job,but were not reckless, and as Joe was 30 and married he was keen to get back to his lovely wife in Australia having done his bit.

Of many interesting operations were included, D Day, Arnhem, V1/V2 sites,and a trip to Moscow to take Churchills papers for the Yalta conference.Mixed in with sundry Anti aircraft fire, fist sized shrapnel through his seat, (he was in the nose at the time!), machine gun fire through the perpex nose (he was in his seat at the time!), single engined crash landings,barely controllable test dives with canopy blowing off and wings shifting back!,attacks by fighter aircraft(including Americans!) and thunderheads turning the aircraft upside down and losing several thousand feet, to name but a few!

Dad left the RAF circa 1947 for a quieter life, can't say I blame him. I wonder how I would have dealt with it all, he advised me not to try, exhilirating maybe but altogether too dangerous and arbitrary.Nevertheless I am determined to learn to fly one day, hopefully exhiliration without surfeit of danger.

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