大象传媒

My World War II Experiences
by
Frederick John Cole

Part 2: Training for Bomber Command

After our training in Newquay had finished I was posted to No.16 EFTS (Early Flying Training School) that happened to be based at Burneston near Derby (my home town). Arriving there I discovered that we had been billeted in the chapel at Repton College where we were allocated bunks in the hall. The time spent there was quite enjoyable, except for the one night that I remember being the only time I was ever put on a charge.

I was due to take over guard duties at about three o鈥檆lock in the morning, but the guy who I was relieving failed to wake me up and so I didn鈥檛 report for duty and found myself on 鈥榡ankers鈥� and got a 鈥榬ollicking鈥� for it, but that was all. However, It was quite an experience. Anyway, coming back to the actual flying. Flying was based at Barton, just the other side of Burnaston and we flew the 鈥楾iger Moths鈥�. When I started flying my instructor was quite an old Flight Lieutenant but, as it happened, a very nice guy.

The first lesson was on learning the general controls of the aeroplane and what happens and so forth. We strapped ourselves in 鈥� you had to double yourself up to put the belt on because it was an open cockpit with no protection at all. So, we took off and I really enjoyed it. I got a great thrill out of spinning the aircraft down and pulling out and was doing very well. However you can get a bit relaxed after flying a bit and I must have not tied my belt as tight as I should have done because my instructor said, 鈥淵ou did tighten your belt up didn鈥檛 you?鈥� and I said 鈥淥h yes鈥� and then he turned the darned thing right upside down and I must have pulled the joystick out of the floor! Anyway, that was a lesson!

After 7 hours of flying I was given the controls of the aeroplane and told to go and do a circuit 鈥� well what a wonderful exhilarating experience! I was in control and out there flying! Then, before I knew it, I was coming in to land and did the most perfect landing (although I say it myself!). I reckon that I had a smooth landing and stopped within about 20 yards! Having stopped at 20 yards and right at the beginning of the runway, I instinctively looked at the length ahead and thought, 鈥淲hat the hells the point in going all the way down there, lets turn off!鈥� and so, without a further thought, I turned and went straight in. Much to my surprise I received the biggest 鈥榬ollicking鈥� I鈥檝e ever had! That was because I had forgotten the golden rule - once on the runway you must always go to the end. In retrospect I guess I momentarily, in my excitement and thrill of feelings of success forgot the 鈥榞olden rule鈥� and that proved to be my downfall. I think that momentary relapse cost me any chance of becoming a pilot as I had wanted but the consequence of that will evolve later in my story.

Shortly after this I have three weeks leave. This was easy to sort because Derby was where I lived anyway. While in Derby I had been in contact with Dot in Hereford but was still quite surprised when I received a letter from her saying 鈥淲hy not come and spend a few days in Hereford?鈥� I read the invite to my father who, much to my astonishment said, 鈥淲ell why don鈥檛 you go!鈥� Some of the things you do on the spur of the moment can give you some of the greatest pleasures in life.

I remember getting off the train at Hereford station just hoping that I would recognise her and of course I did. She took me to her home that was near the SAS headquarters based just outside Hereford. I met her family and was instantly made to feel at home and thought what a lovely family. The first shock though was when she took me upstairs and said, 鈥淣ow this is my bedroom and you鈥檙e sleeping here鈥�. I confess I was a bit 鈥榯aken aback鈥� for a minute, but then realised that she was sleeping somewhere else - so that was a relief in a sense! We had a great time and I got to know her youngest brother Alan really well. His arm may have been in a sling but he religiously followed the instructions that had been detailed by their mother to accompany us wherever we went 鈥� talk about a gooseberry! Anyway it resulted in the start of a friendship with Alan that has lasted from that time to this.

At the time I was non-commissioned, an LAC. We walked out one evening and called in at a pub where Dot鈥檚 father used to drink. When we went into the lounge we were told 鈥淥fficers only鈥� so we had to leave and walked into town. I forget the time, there was a dance on at the Odeon Theatre but I said, 鈥淟et鈥檚 have a drink鈥� so we went to the Garrick Hotel and asked Dot, 鈥渨ould you like a drink?鈥� and to my surprise she said, 鈥淵es please, a beer鈥�. Well in those days women never drank beer, it was gin and orange or something similar. Anyway she insisted, so I went to the bar and got 2 pints and she drank a pint just the same as I did! By then it was nearly closing time so I went and got two more beers. Well that was quite an experience to me because I had never bought a girl a drink before, (a beer at that!) and certainly never been to a pub with a girl on my own. It was no surprise that we then had a wonderfully enjoyable dance at the Odeon!

Inevitably the time came to report back to Derby and from Derby onward to Ludlow where the RAF had recently started a campsite holding area. We camped in bell tents and had to dig our own latrines. There was a house at the top on the main road going towards Shrewsbury that was used as a medical centre. However, we did not stay long. I remember one night when four of us went into Ludlow and went to a pub called 鈥楾he Feathers鈥� where we decided to try some of the local cider. I had drunk cider before so I knew how strong it was, but the other lads were novices and got quite tipsy 鈥� it was their heads that suffered the next morning, not mine!

From there we were sent to Heaton Park just outside Manchester. This was the final reception point for aircrew under training who were likely to be sent on for further training elsewhere. In Heaton we were called in one day to be given a full briefing and names were called out and the selection of what you were to be announced. In some ways I was bitterly disappointed to hear that my task was that of Bomb Aimer. I recalled my previous performance on the runway and thought that that was that, but in any case it was said that the need for Bomb Aimers was important because of the increasing number of Heavy Bombers coming into service that required a specialised and broad basis of training. We were also told that our training would ensure that we were sufficiently capable of taking over if ever an emergency arose (i.e. the Bomb Aimer took over the controls should the necessity arise).

In my case, I was sent to Canada and went on a journey that ended up in Gourock, not far from Glasgow where we were then ferried out to a large vessel at anchor. Everything was dark but once we were aboard found ourselves on the Queen Elizabeth, that, at the time had not actually been commissioned for cruise duties and was being used by the RAF for its speed to transit large numbers to and from Canada or wherever. It was a very unexpected, pleasant surprise.

The one thing I remember about the train journey were the dear ladies of the Salvation Army who always seemed to produce a sausage or something when you were having a 鈥榥ap鈥�. Apart from that I remember little about the journey, we always seemed to be in the dark and it wasn鈥檛 long before we were out at sea. At some point we were told that we were destined for Halifax or Nova Scotia and that from there we would then be transferred to Monkton, a large reception camp. After finally arriving in Monkton we decided on the first evening to go for a walk to the nearby town and there found a cinema and a shop selling bananas. We bought a couple of bananas each and went to the cinema. After the movie ended we went to the British Legion club where the only beer was bottled Pilsner ale and it was served to you at the table. Curiously, on each table was a salt pot that I think was made of pewter, rather like the ones that we used in our local fish and chip shops in England, but we had no idea what they were for until we spotted some 鈥榣ocals鈥� using them. Every time they opened a bottle of Pilsner and poured it into a glass they added salt! We rumbled in the end after talking to some of the locals that it was to take the gas out of their drink. However, it was quite novel to us at the time.

After a brief stay in Monkton we were put on a train to Lethbridge that was not too far from Winnipeg. I remember the train being quite luxurious with a full bunk to each compartment and being well looked after by a coloured gentleman. It was a very exciting and absorbing journey that seemed to go on for ages. We finally arrived in Lethbridge; it resembled a town created to serve some of the old cowboy films and flat as a pancake to walk around. Anyway we were transported by bus from there to a camp that had a small airfield. It was all very well planned and thought out.

When training started it was split into two sections; navigation and the other was bombing and gunnery and we flew in Ansons, a British made aircraft that did invaluable service throughout the war in all sorts of roles. Flights and navigation training was done at night and then we did some gunnery shooting and also dropping practise bombs. There was a warning that not far from the camp itself was an Indian Reservation and that on no account should practise bombs be dropped in that vicinity. Occasionally bombs did go astray but no questions were asked!

Whilst there we tried our hand at ice hockey - that was great fun and there were also dances every so often when some of the ladies from Winnipeg came in a coach. On one occasion we met up with 3 young ladies from the same family and were invited back to Winnipeg to meet their mother. They were a lovely family and thoroughly enjoyed the day when we were showed around Winnipeg.

Then came the day when we were briefed what the 鈥榮core鈥� was. We were called up one by one, photographed and presented with our wings. When the presentations were over there was a silence. An announcement then came that the following men had been awarded a commission. The first person called out was the name Bennett and then, much to my surprise, the name Cole, F.J. Cole. To be honest I just couldn鈥檛 believe it! It had never been my ambition to achieve Officer rank. Anyway there it was, so a new pattern of life started to evolve because from then on I was placed into different quarters and had the services of a batman. We were then sent to Winnipeg with some money for uniform allowance to be measured up for our uniforms. Later, when I went back to collect my uniform and tried it on - well I can assure you it was quite an experience getting into a uniform for the first time.

We were next sent to Lake Dolphin, further north and an advanced 鈥榞unnery鈥� training establishment. Before going there we were in contact with an organisation that arranged meetings with American families who wanted to entertain members of the RAF for a few days in the States, Minneapolis. So, as a result I found myself in Minneapolis and met by Mrs. Reynolds. She took me to meet her family and was shown around the house. I remember being taken to a luncheon one day that was attended by mainly businessmen and there was this huge table rather like 鈥楰ing Arthur鈥檚鈥� with rotating discs on the table loaded with everything you could imagine! The second thing I remember was that on the back of every butter pack was stamped 鈥淩emember Pearl Harbour鈥�. (That was the nearest I got to any sense of being in a war at that time).

The family was lovely and I got on extremely well with her daughter Ginnie. She was a great conversationalist and we spent many a time talking and also with her brother who was learning to be a fighter pilot. It included a day when we visited the lake and went out in a speedboat for most of the afternoon. It was a most enjoyable and memorable time.

After that I was back up at Lake Dolphin and started training in 鈥楩airy Battles鈥� that was a different type of flying machine altogether. The training consisted of flying and having moving targets in the air to fire at, very intensive and absorbing. Shortly after we were assigned back to Monkton, and then back home.

Another memory I recall was a Sergeant based on the camp. I happened to bump into her in Lethbridge one evening whilst having a drink on my own. We talked and it was a pleasant conversation. There was a bus that ran from the camp to town but when it was time to leave we decided to walk back as it was a beautiful moonlit night in the snow. We hadn鈥檛 walked very far when a car pulled up and the driver asked, 鈥淲here are you going?鈥� and when we replied he said 鈥淥h yes, I鈥檓 going past there鈥�. This driver was totally inebriated but we failed to realise until after we had got into the car - It was the most hair-raising drive back to camp! I suppose that formed a friendship between us and I enjoyed the acquaintance. I think her name was Miriam Campbell.

On our return to Monkton and coming home we were assigned to a vessel that was called the Louis Pasteur, an old French liner, we boarded and sailed unescorted back to Liverpool. We slept in hammocks that proved to be great fun, both getting in and out of them! We did have one or two rough nights though. The ship had a gun on the back and one night they fired it, and thank god it was only a test! 鈥� I thought the whole vessel was going to fall to bits. Anyway we made it back and docked at Liverpool.

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