大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Woodbridge library staff on behalf of Michael Collyer and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

I had an unusual war, having joined the 6鈥� howitzer battery of the 58th territorial regiment of the Royal Artillery in the spring of 1939. I attended the summer camp and was called up on Sept 2nd at the outbreak of the war.
Within a few weeks I was discharged from the army and sent back to my reserved occupation as an engineer at Ransomes of Ipswich, working on government contracts, so ended my service as a gunner!
I worked 12-hour shifts nights and days for 2 years serving in the LDV, which became the Home Guard and having my second cap badge of the Suffolk Regiment, and becoming a private.
I then volunteered for the RAF being able to join as an aero engine fitter, and acquired my third cap badge of rank as an Aircraftman 2nd class.
5 years was spent with the RAF serving 6 months at training school at Hednesford after the initial square bashing at Padgate. Having passed my exams and become Aircraftman 1st class, I had my first posting to Wick, the most northerly point of Scotland, with 4 feet of snow to greet me! Wick proved to be a temporary posting of just a short period before going to Silloth, just on the English/Scottish border. It was a coastal command-training unit where aircrews came for their initial tuition before starting operations. American Lockheed Hudsons were our aircraft and about 100 were stationed there. Several of them were used to make up the first 1,000-bomber raid.
I did about a year at Silloth. This was followed by my next move to Northcoates in Lincolnshire, a Beaufighter 236 squadron of coastal command, part of a wing that covered the Dutch and Danish coast destroying enemy U boats. At one stage I was maintaining the squadron leader鈥檚 aircraft and he would take me up with him on practice flights whilst trying out the newly fitted rockets, which had just been added to the machine guns already fitted. It was quite thrilling in a power dive of 320 MPH, watching the rockets leave the aircraft and strike home against the old USA destroyer, which had been beached adjacent to the aerodrome for target practice. Of the two other squadrons that formed the wing, one was similar to ours but the other carried torpedoes. Our Wing Commander at that time was W/C Wheeler and his aircraft was fitted with a camera, which he operated during the action. On returning home he would have all the ground staff in the station cinema and show us the action films, which were really marvellous. W/C Wheeler survived the war and became Air Chief Marshal GCB CBE DSO DFC AFC. He also had a knighthood bestowed on him; a remarkable man.

I had also been promoted, first to Leading Aircraftman and then Corporal having my own crew to look after whilst doing the maintenance, and overhauls of the Beaufighter. They were fitted with Bristol Hercules radial engines; very powerful, and they had sleeve valves, which made them very quiet and efficient too. I鈥檓 afraid our losses of crews of both aircraft were quite heavy. During the two and a half years I spent with 236 I reckon I saw about 3 times the aircrews lost and replaced. I thought I would see the war out at Northcoates. I had spent time at the Bristol works where the engines were made, another spell at Cricklewood where the propellers were produced,
and another visit to where the carburettors were made.

Out of the blue came a posting to Burma and I thought OK my luck has changed! But when I went for my medical check, the M.O. said, 鈥滺ave you had any ear trouble? You have got both eardrums perforated. I can鈥檛 send you to the tropics; you would become infected within 24 hours. I shall have to take you off the Burma draft and regrade you to grade 3 Western Europe only!鈥�
It was assumed that I would go to Burma; so another N.C.O. had been posted in my place and I had to move on. I ended up in Northern Ireland with 120 squadron at Ballykelly. They were operating from Reykjavik in Iceland but flew to Ballykelly for all maintenance and overhaul.

It was my first time with four engine aircraft. They seemed huge after the twin engine Beaufighters! They had radial engines and had a very long range of flight. The U-boats had been a real menace to our merchant ships, particularly in the mid Atlantic where they concentrated, knowing that our aircraft had difficulty remaining in that area for any long period.

The Liberators were the answers to that problem and eventually overcame the U-boat menace and helped to shorten the war by destroying many of them and reducing our shipping losses.

The war eventually ended and 120 Squadron was posted back to England. Tempsford in Bedfordshire was our next move, all the bomb bays were taken out of the Liberators and seats fitted and troops were flown back from the Far East. After a while we moved again to Honington in East Anglia and I was almost home before getting demobbed in the summer of 1946. Going back to my time with 236 Beaufighter at the time of D Day the squadron were detatched to Davidstow Moor in Cornwallto give them a longer flying range over the Cherbourg area.
Whilst in charge of a maintenance crew at Northcoates I usually went up with the aircraft on it's test flight after an overhaul to see if any of the snags wanted sorting out. As groundcrew I was lucky enough to enjoy several hours of flying in about 10 different types of plane.
Altogether I was very fortunate in my wartime experiences, having a good look around the country and meeting some very nice comrades and ending up in one piece despite having some near misses with enemy bombs and bullets.

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