大象传媒

608 Squadron Profile (Part 2)

It would be 220 Squadron who would draw the first blood, when Anson F (K6203) scored a direct hit on a U-boat on the 13th of September 1939. They also shed the first blood together, shortly before the war began on the 5th of August 1939, when two crewmembers of each squadron perished when the aircraft crashed into a house in Middlesborough. A stark warning of the human carnage that would shortly follow.

The Storm Clouds of War

By September 19th 1939, the squadron was available for anti-submarine patrol from 0600 hours to 1600 hours with four Anson鈥檚 on standby, but the first operational flight of 608 Squadron was not made until the 21st. of September 1939, when an Anson serial number N5207, was flown by Squadron Leader G. Shaw, Flying Officer Woolcock and crewed by L.A.C. Kelly and Corporal Knott, who took off on an anti-submarine patrol in response to a false alarm.
Over Christmas and the New Year of 1940, everyone suffered freezing conditions and constant outbreaks of influenza

February 16 1940 鈥� THE ALTMARK INCIDENT

The slave ship was almost home. Two months and more had passed since she parted company from the 鈥淎dmiral Graf Spee,鈥� after receiving from the pocket battleship her last captures of Distressed British Seaman from nine ships, who were now prisoners of war. That was on December 6th 1939 somewhere in the South Atlantic, and since then while the 鈥淕raf Spee鈥� was resting and sinking even deeper into the Montevidean sandbank, the 鈥淎ltmark鈥� had ploughed a zigzag course heading northwards.
Soon, she reached the cold waters of Iceland and turned south past the towering cliffs of Norway. On February 14 she got into Norwegian territorial waters off Trondheim Fjord and was stopped and examined by a Norwegian torpedo boat. She was allowed to continue her journey, but the next day, 100 miles north of Bergen, was again stopped by a Norwegian warship, and refused a request that she should be searched. On the afternoon of Friday, February 16, she was approaching Norway鈥檚 most southernmost point; a very short distance beyond laid the Kagerrak, safety and home.
Down below in the darkness and filth of the overcrowded 鈥渇lats鈥� the 299 British prisoners must have almost lost hope as from their single peephole they watched the cliffs of Norway sail past and heard blocks of ice crunching against the ships side; on the bridge Captain Dau, a hard-bitten old Nazi, was no doubt congratulating himself that he had managed to evade the Allied patrols and that very shortly he would see on the horizon the squadrons of German planes which were to escort him to port in triumph.
But the British Admiralty decreed otherwise. Ever since that glorious day in December when they had driven the 鈥淕raf Spree鈥� into Montevideo Bay, the Royal Navy had been maintaining a constant watch for her auxiliary of evil repute and was now close on her trail.
In the early evening of February 15 1940, the crews of 220 Squadron Hudson鈥檚 K.M. and V. were warned they he would be on morning long-range patrol the next day, with a battle flight of three Hudson鈥檚, although they had no idea then of the real nature of task. In a later broadcast one of them would say 鈥淚 was aroused at 6 a.m.鈥� he said, 鈥渆arlier than had been arranged, and in the squadron operations room was told that a very special job was in hand鈥�.
鈥淲hen I heard the name 鈥楢ltmark,鈥� I looked at Lloyd鈥檚 Register of Shipping but found that the name was not there. I was given a verbal picture of the ship. I was told that she was a 20,000-ton vessel of the tanker type, and that when last seen she was painted black with yellow or white upperworks. A distinguishing feature of the ship, I was told, was that her large single funnel was aft.鈥�
鈥淲e set off first for the opposite coast. Visibility was not good, but our crews had done this journey a number of times since the war began and there was never any likelihood of any of us wandering from our course or losing touch for long. 鈥淚t later became a beautiful day with gorgeous sunshine and a Mediterranean sky. Visibility increased to more than 40 miles. I said to myself that if ever I was to have any luck I should have it now.鈥�
鈥淣ear the coast we found the sea frozen over. It looked like pack ice, with great tracks of clear water through it where the ice had been broken up by currents or ships. The coast of Norway, with its snow-covered mountains, was visible more than 30 miles away. We proceeded to comb most thoroughly an area from the extreme south point of Norway northwards. Flying well outside territorial waters. I examined every mile with binoculars. Then 15 miles ahead I saw a smudge of smoke, and a minute later a ship with a black hill and cream upper-works streaming directly towards us. We swung out slightly to get a broadside view of her.鈥�
鈥淢y heart sank when I recognized her lines that she could not be our quarry. But 15 seconds later I spotted something else - a grey ship with funnel aft, the distinctive feature of the 鈥楢ltmark.鈥� We flew up to her at 1,000 feet and inspected her through glasses at a mile range. Then we turned in on top of her for a close inspection.鈥�
鈥淛ust as we had turned to dive low on the ship I saw another aircraft of our formation also sweep down. He was going hell for leather, and I thought for a moment he would hit the sea. But he flattened out over the stern, and I came in on his tail two seconds afterwards. At the same moment I noticed that the third aircraft was also diving. As we dived my eyes were riveted on the stern searching for a name. I saw the letters about a foot high. Because of the speed at which we were diving the letters seemed to dance in a jumble. I expected that when they could be read they would spell a Norwegian name. I could not suppress a whoop of joy when I saw that the read 鈥楢ltmark.鈥� Of course we know now that the Germans had revered to her own name earlier in the week.鈥�
鈥淭he pilot of one of our aircraft told me afterwards that he saw the 鈥楢ltmark鈥檚鈥� name on the stern below what appeared to be a Norwegian flag. All the members of my crew saw the word 鈥楢ltmark.鈥� I caught sight of my men out of the corner of my eye. They were not holding one thumb up 鈥� the signal for success. Each man had both thumbs up.鈥�
鈥淔or a few moments we went wild as we swept across the 鈥楢ltmark鈥檚鈥� decks at funnel height. I could see only one man on the deck. He was hanging over the rail as if seasick or looking for mines. There was no other sign of life aboard, and not the slightest evidence of any alarm. Not a shot was fired from the 鈥楢lmark鈥檚鈥� hidden guns. But we could guess that after our three aircraft flashed over the ship, the German crew must have been feeling a bit uneasy. We noted of the 鈥楢ltmark鈥檚鈥� position and having accomplished the task of finding her, headed for home.鈥�
A few hours later, the 鈥楢ltmark鈥� was located in the little Jossing Fjord on the southern tip Norway where she had taken refuge from the persuing British Destroyers. In violation of Internation Law, the leading Destroyer H.M.S. Cossack entered the Fjord and with an armed party boarded the vessel. After a brief skirmish, the crew was overpowered and the British Prisoners freed.
Perhaps as the result of the incident, on 9th April 1940 the Norwegians woke up to the fact that their country was being invaded and this called for extensive work by both squadrons that would take a separate book to chronicle with justice. The operations also included photography, such as photographs of Kristiansund, close escort to troop ships and warships, as well as their normal work of patrolling and escorting convoys along the East Coast.
This work was not always crowned with the success it deserved. For example, on the 13th Hudson F of 220 Squadron located a dinghy with four occupants on a bearing 110 miles north east of Thornaby. The dinghy was not located again until the following day, when it was rediscovered on an identical bearing but this time without the occupants and partly submerged. Or, again, when a Wellington, S of 215 Squadron called Thornaby for D/F assistance, but was compelled to ditch 20 miles east of Whitby at 0004 hours on the 14th because it could not receive Thornaby鈥檚 reply. It was not clear whether this was due to a malfunction in its own receiver or whether it was due to the continued radio interference that seemed to have been caused either by I.C.I. Billingham or by overhead telephone wires.
In the weeks that followed, more of the work fell on 608鈥檚 shoulders since 220 was fully engaged in the Evacuation from Norway; for example, on the 4th May, 220 was helping to escort the returning troop convoys and then her work was taken up by Dunkirk Evacuation. Thus, it was the role of Anson M {R3316} of 608 Squadron that escorted the Torpedoed Destroyer H.M.S. Kelly, Captained by L. Mountbatten, back into the Tyne after it had fought off the German E boats in an encounter of Heligoland, causing her 27 fatal casualties.

1941

By mid-1941, 608 Squadron had earned the title of the North Sea 鈥淒etectives鈥�. They had flown a total of 11,000 operational flying hours. The equivalent of three and a half journeys to the moon, bringing convoy鈥檚 safely into British ports. The former Sunderland Squadron was chosen for that job because its flying men were of that dour dogged type fitted for long and arduous duties in which there was little of the glory attached in comparison to Fighter Command and 鈥済ongs鈥� were few.
Yet the North Riding Squadron which led the movement for auxiliary units to retain their identity and which two years later still possessed 70 percent of its personnel, flight and ground staff, natives of the Riding whose name it was associated with. True, only two of the original officers remained. One was the son of a Territorial unit commander who served in the Boer War, and under whose command a thousand or so Wearsiderer鈥檚 crossed the Channel and went into action in France in 1915.
By now No 608 had a fair intake of men from the Empire Training Scheme 鈥� men who were fit almost immediately to enter into active operational work. They had also achieved three records. First, they had the lowest accident rate of any squadron in the R.A.F. Secondly, was that not a single ship had been sunk or damaged when being convoyed by aircraft of the squadron. Thirdly, they had adapted and flown more types of aircraft in two years than any other squadron in the Command. When war broke out it was equipped with Demons. Then it got Avro Anson鈥檚 鈥� those flying glasshouses 鈥� and in those days went over to the German coast detecting U-boats and reporting by wireless so that heavier bombing aircraft or naval vessels could deal with them. Actually, it was the first squadron to meet the Heinkel 115 and chase them back to the German coast.
From the Anson鈥檚 they changed over to Blenheim Fighter Bombers and became daily visitors to the Norwegian coast and produced the book 鈥淕uide to Southern Norway鈥�. Next they found themselves the first to be equipped with the Botha reconnaissance torpedo-bomber, and finally they were equipped with the well-armed and comfortable Lockheed Hudson.
Now they were part of the C.I.D. of the North Sea. Routine work they called it; working almost to a timetable in their trips across the sea to the Skaggerak or along the Norwegian coast searching for signs of those convoys, by which the German鈥檚 were endeavouring to relieve the weight of traffic on their railroads, estimating the tonnage of the vessels and their escort and then bringing up the heavier bombers to work their destruction.
In the process they were able to spot and bring means of rescue to many of the gallant seamen found in open boats or on rafts.
It also may be worth mentioning that it was 608 Squadron to carry pigeons in case the wireless broke down and they possessed some from the King鈥檚 loft at Sandringham. Each plane carried two pigeons, in a nest tin container, but before they were released with their S O S messages, they were placed in a paper bag so that they dropped clear of the plane and were undamaged by the winds or slip steam before they broke open the bag and took to the wing.
On January 2nd 1942, the squadron was posted to Wick on the east coast of Scotland, and immediately began harrying shipping off the Norwegian coast. To a major extent the squadron was now diluted from its original North Riding roots. The early detachment of men to Dyce in Aberdeenshire, constant promotions and the posting of experience aircraft and ground staff to bolster new squadron, illness and casualties, caused the squadron to now take on a more cosmopolitan composition.
The crew rooms were crowded with multinational crews getting into harness, the prelude to action. Inside the Nissan huts there was a mixture of languages. Everybody had something to say 鈥� and everybody seemed to speak either a different brand of English or not English at all.
In the closing months of 1942 the squadron moved overseas to North Africa. Its role continued to be general reconnaissance and based in Algeria the squadron was credited with the sinking of U-595 and U-755.
As the campaign progressed they moved onto Sicily and Italy, until being disbanded on the 31st. of July 1944. Back in England, the following day 608 Squadron was reformed at Downham Market as part of No 8 (PFF) Group鈥檚 Light Night Striking Force. Equipped with Mosquito鈥檚, between 5/6 August 1944 and 2/3 May 1945, 608 Squadron flew 1,726 operational sorties against the key German industrial centres and ports, including Berlin, Frankfurt, Hanover, Essen, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Emden and Keil.
On the 24th of August 1945, the squadron was again disbanded and eventually reformed on the 10th of May 1946, as an Auxiliary Air Force light bomber unit based again at Thornaby. It did not receive any operation bombers before becoming a night fighter unit with the arrival of Mosquito NF 30鈥檚 in July 1947. In May 1948, its role changed again to that of a day fighter squadron and it was re-equipped with Spitfires. Finally, Vampire aircraft began to arrive in December 1949 and were flown until the final disbandment on 10th March 1957.
Addressing the 120 Officers and men of the squadron on the final parade on February 24th 1957, Earl Swinton, the honorary Air Commodore took the salute and said 鈥淵our 608 Squadron will live on the memories of those who served in it over the years.鈥�

Researched by Bob Smith.

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