大象传媒

Further down the coast we turned to fly low across land to the Atlantic sea shores of French Morocco and here many wrecks of Merchant ships and landing craft were to be seen no doubt the after math of the American onslaught into Africa.
As we went into land at Agadir we pondered on the sort of situation we would find as according to our intelligence the place was a bit of an unknown quantity and we had been warned to be prepared for anything, in fact so unsure had they been that everybody on the trip had been issued with ammunition belt and revolver. However, it turned out to be a bit of an anti climax really as we found much more friendliness and cooperation from those French airmen than we got from anybody on our first arrival at North Front, Gibraltar.
Flying at the base had completely ceased due to the lack of petrol and indeed the whole place was at a standstill as far as the internal combustion engine was concerned. Cars were parked around so it seemed just where they had run out of the juice, whilst we were at Agadir we managed to get one or two going again on our 100 octane aircraft fuel which was delivered to the base in fifty gallon drums by sea and for our exclusive use. We were at the fuel dump on one occasion when a French air force pilot requested enough petrol to get his Maryland airborne so that he could fly to Casablanca. He wanted several barrels and we were doing our best to tell him to get stuffed when Squadron Leader Deavey arrived on the scene, asked what was going on and when told did no more than asked the man how much he would be wanting to which the pilot replied, "six barrels please" and away the man went with his petrol to be airborne shortly afterwards.
While at Agadir we found the food a vast improvement over what we suffered at Gibraltar for here we had Bread, fresh meat, eggs and fresh vegetables on the menu, all served up in the superb airman鈥檚 dining hall at the base. The excellent situation and size of the airfield, was in itself very pleasing with the Atlantic rolling in not so far away on the West side, turning to look Eastwards away from the sea the range of snow covered peaks of the Atlas mountains could be seen in the distance.
We had the misfortune during those operations at Agadir to lose one Hudson and crew which apparently crashed into those Atlas mountains and we could only assume that the crew had gone in for a closer look only to be overcome by the inherent dangers of doing so although there was always the possibility that they had wandered off course but due to the distance involved we were inclined to discount that.
The flying schedule for the air crews was also light in comparison to what they had been used to with about four Hudson鈥檚 leaving at first light and returning early afternoon making it possible for both aircrew and ground staff to join company for some enjoyable evening's out in the town eating and wine drinking fairly often. On one such occasion about fifteen of us were returning to the airfield on foot at about midnight, it was very dark and as we came to some crossing, we were a bit undecided about which way to go
On looking around for someone from whom to enquire we saw a French army officer leaving a house opposite with his bike so we asked him which way we had to go. He spoke in English and was just about to direct us when he put down his bike, went back into the house quickly reappearing with a much older man who we learnt later was his farther. The old man welcomed us like long lost sheep and insisted that we come inside to meet the whole family and although a bit reluctant to do so at first, we were soon all in the house enjoying French hospitality to, the extent that conditions would allow. The house seemed to be filled with women and children the later were sleeping on any suitable table or chair as we arrived inside but were soon made to wake up to meet the English airman.
They were of course fugitives from occupied France and were enduring some pretty harsh conditions to be there. Now the Germans had gone it seemed as if our presence in their house was reassuring and they were overjoyed. They offered us wine, food, and fruit which we knew they could ill afford and it was only with some difficulty were we allowed to refuse the food, it was all done by the light of two candles that being the only light available then although it was a fairly modern building. By the time we were ready to leave the old man had become a bit emotional about our visit and as he proudly displayed a Crux de ger he had won in the First World War tears were running down his face. As we left to go on our way I believe we all felt that the welcome extended to us had been very genuine indeed.
During our time at Agadir a small detachment of P.R.U Spitfires arrived to carry out various photographic works. They remained with us for about a month and as we had complained to the pilots about the very tame sort of entrance they had made, not really being the sort of image to leave with the natives about a Spitfire, on arrival they had landed so quietly it seemed they were apologising for coming, But to their credit as they finally departed, the show they put on was well worth watching. We was getting our own Hudson鈥檚 away on patrol at the time and those Spits came across the field at full blast and so low as to blow away all the Form 700' s that we had spread out on some old wooden crates.
The picture attached is of self and two others with P.R.U Spitfire while at Agadir taken by a French air force lad, and later sent on to Gibraltar We had brought various sorts of small arms with us such as Rifles, Sten guns and it was an order that any time we went off the base we had to each carry a revolver and ammo belt. The Sten guns we had with us were early models that became a bit unreliable if not handled properly. One day we were in a, small group with one of these Sten guns discussing the various features of it when
Suddenly it started to fire and was only stopped after it had delivered about twenty rounds. To our surprise and very great relief no one fell over as by an amazing stroke of luck, which was hard to believe, the bullets had cleared everybody and in taking a quick glance around I happened to meet the gaze of Squadron/Leader Bordeaux and from the look he gave me it was obvious that Sten guns would be getting a. wide berth from him in future.
To return to Gibraltar at the end of March we made use of the flying taxi service the Americans were now running throughout North Africa with Dakota aircraft. On the day of departure we were all picked up by one of those Dakota's at Agadir and with a brief stop over at Casablanca we finally arrived back at Gibraltar.
Back at North Front changes were being considered concerning the future of 233 Squadron with a lot of talk and speculation going on as to where the next move would be. Many were hoping for a return to England but a strong rumour was suggesting that somewhere in the Azores as the most likely in order for the squadron to be best deployed in that still very important Battle of the Atlantic.

In comparison to the past year the tempo of operations at North Front was now much slower with our patrols greatly reduced.
One other important change was now taking place within 233 Squadron and that was the return to England of Wing Commander MacCombe, which made necessary the appointment of a new C/O. It was automatically assumed by everybody in the squadron that our own Squadron/Leader Deavey would get some well-earned promotion to become the next C/O but not so instead a new man was to be expected from England shortly. Regrettably, as so often seemed to happen in wartime, fate was going to decide otherwise.
A signal was receive to the effect that three Hudson air craft had left for Gibraltar, one of which had on board the new C/O expected time of arrival early afternoon. When the time arrived only two Hudson's landed and both crews seemed fairly shaken by what they had seen happen on the trip down and had a strange tale to tell. Apparently, while the three aircraft had been flying quite norma11y in a formation of three, Suddenly and without any warning the Hudson with the new C/O at the controls had turned over on to it鈥檚 back and plunged down into the sea. There seemed to be no explanation as to what might have gone wrong and both plane and crew had completely disappeared.
Promotion gained under such circumstances never left a lot of room for ce1ibration but it was almost immediately confirmed that our next Commanding Officer would be Wing Commander Deavey.
End of Report.

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