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This story has been submitted to the People's War website by Don and Betty Tempest of the Lancshomeguard on behalf of Harry Andrew and added to the site with his permission.

My entry into the ranks of the Royal Air Force came in April 1943, at the age of seventeen and a half years.

We underwent Drill and assessment at the Aircrew Reception Centre, then we went on to various Courses. At the end of the Courses I was posted to ’48 Squadron’ which was a Dakota Squadron based at the Royal Air Force base at Down Ampney in Gloucestershire, which was shared by ‘271 Squadron’ which was also Dakotas.

Although we took part in many exercises, such as Glider Towing and Parachute Drops, the eventual duties of ’48 Squadron’ was as an Air Evacuation unit, which, shortly after ‘D’ Day, would be used to bring our wounded troops back to the U.K. A trip which would take only 80minutes, but which by sea would take 8 to 9 hours. This operation was known as ‘Casevac’.

The first trip was on 18th. June 1944, when eleven of our aircraft took personnel of ‘2 Tactical Air Force’ to airstrip ‘B4’ in Normandy.

RAF personnel as the troops advanced, so that the aircraft could land and take off as near to the advancing troops as possible built these ‘B’ Airstrips.

As I had been used as a Dispatcher during the training for ‘D’ Day with the Parachute Regiment, I now was part of the Dakota crew. We also had the addition of an RAF nurse.

Apart from the evacuation of the wounded, return trips were to for blood supplies, mail and relief pilots of ‘2 Tactical Air Force’ which operated from the ‘B’ Airstrips. They were mainly Typhoon Squadrons.

Repatriation of wounded eased in February 1945, but we were still in use, and on 24th. March 1945, we towed ‘Horsa’ Gliders, which were gliders made of wood, as part of Rhine crossing.

The final use of the ’48 Squadron’ was the repatriation of Prisoners of War, who were released as our Troops advanced and Prison Camps were taken. Many 1000s were flown back to the United Kingdom.

All in all some 20,000 plus wounded were evacuated by air and many lives were saved by the time factor.

For the Air Force base at Down Ampney, the end came in April 1946.

For anyone visiting Down Ampney, it is worth going into ‘All Saints’ Church. There a memorial window can be found in memory of the many crews who gave their lives. Also it is in memory of Flight Lieutenant Lord VC, who was killed in action at Arnheim on Sept 14th. 1944.

Transport Command, although never receiving the same recognition as other commends, simply got on with their job, but they do deserve to be recorded in history.

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