Britain at War 2013-06

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MOSQUITO NIGHT FIGHTER ACES

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FINDING THE FALLEN

AUSTRALIA’S HUNT FOR ITS MISSING

Issue 74 JUNE 2013

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‘Britain at War’ Magazine is published on the last Thursday of the proceeding month by Key Publishing Ltd. ISSN 1753-3090 Printed by Warner’s (Midland) plc. Distributed by Seymour Distribution Ltd. (www.seymour.co.uk) All newsagents are able to obtain copies of ‘Britain at War’ from their regional wholesaler. If you experience difficulties in obtaining a copy please call Seymour on +44 (0)20 7429 4000. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part and in any form whatsoever, is strictly prohibited without the prior, written permission of the Editor. Whilst every care is taken with the material submitted to ‘Britain at War’ Magazine, no responsibility can be accepted for loss or damage. Opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor or Key Publishing Ltd. Whilst every effort had been made to contact all copyright holders, the sources of some pictures that may be used are varied and, in many cases, obscure. The publishers will be glad to make good in future editions any error or omissions brought to their attention. The publication of any quotes or illustrations on which clearance has not been given is unintentional. We are unable to guarantee the bona fides of any of our advertisers. Readers are strongly recommended to take their own precautions before parting with any information or item of value, including, but not limited to, money, manuscripts, photographs or personal information in response to any advertisements within this publication.

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This month’s issue contains two articles related to the same subject – missing soldiers from the conflicts of the twentieth century. The numbers of men who have no known grave are staggering. Around 300,000 Commonwealth soldiers are remembered on memorials to the missing of the First World War in France and Belgium alone. From the Second World War, there is the Bayeux Memorial in France which commemorates more than 1,800 men of the Commonwealth land forces who died in the early stages of the Allied offensive in Western Europe and have no known grave, whilst the land forces panels on the Alamein Memorial, which forms the entrance to the Alamein War Cemetery in Egypt, commemorate more than 8,500 soldiers who have no known grave. Further afield, the Singapore Memorial bears the names of over 24,000 casualties. As Ken Wright reveals on page 25, the hunt for missing Australian service personnel continues to this day. As well as examining the work of the Australian Army’s Unrecovered War Casualties unit, he details a number of case studies from the First World War through to Vietnam. In the second article, Paul Kendall provides an in-depth account of the discovery, identification and burial of Lieutenant John Pritchard and Private Christopher Elphick, two men of the Honourable Artillery Company who, killed in 1917, remained missing until 2009. They were buried on 23 April 2013, along with seven other unidentified soldiers. What is certain is that these men will not be the last to be found and accorded full military honours. The hunt for the many thousands of other missing continues. Martin Mace Editor

COVER STORY The Royal Canadian Air Force made a huge contribution to the fight against Germany in the Second World War, and by the conflict’s end it was the fourth largest air force in the world. Indeed, two de Havilland Mosquito night fighter crews of 410 Squadron RCAF each had notable combats, though, as Andrew Thomas describes on page 107, they were a year apart. One of 410 Squadron’s most successful pilots was Archie Harrington. Along with his navigator, Flying Officer Dennis Tongue, on the night of 25 November 1944 Harrington shot down three Junkers Ju 88 night fighters. It is one of those successes, a Ju 88G-1 of 4/NJG 4, that is depicted in this month’s cover painting by the aviation artist Mark Postlethwaite GAvA. (Courtesy of Mark Postlethwaite; www.posart.com)

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72

DAMBUSTERS 70 – AIMING THE BOUNCING BOMBS

The unique characteristics of Barnes Wallis’ “bouncing bomb” – Upkeep – and its method of release called for a way to aim it accurately. As Robert Owen, Official Historian of the No. 617 Squadron Association, reveals on the 70th anniversary of the Dams Raid, that necessitated considerable thought and innovation.

Editor’s Choice: Page 53 WW1 SOLDIERS BURIED AT BULLECOURT In 2009 the remains of Lieutenant John Pritchard and Private Christopher Elphick were unearthed in a pasture in the French village of Bullecourt near Arras. Re-interred on Tuesday, 23 April 2013, the two men belonged to the 2nd Battalion, Honourable Artillery Company which suffered heavy losses during two attempts in May 1917 to capture Bullecourt. Paul Kendall recounts the struggle for this village, a battle fought amongst its ruins and shell craters.

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Features 25

FINDING THE FALLEN

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CHURCHILL’S SECRET WAR ROOMS

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THE GRIEF OF GALLIPOLI

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“EDELWEISS” IN A CLOVER FIELD

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D-DAY DOCTOR: UNSUNG AIRBORNE HEROES

Ken Wright examines the work of the Australian Army’s Unrecovered War Casualties unit in its hunt for missing soldiers. Under Westminster was a secret establishment that was officially called the Cabinet War Rooms; to those who worked there it was “The Hole”. The story of a young New Zealander who saw his comrades about to be burned alive during the fighting on Gallipoli in 1915.

Andy Saunders recounts how one Luftwaffe bomber fell into British hands and eventually returned to the air with a RAF pilot. David Tibbs MC, a doctor with the 6th Airborne Division, recalls, in conversation with Neil Barber, his arrival and duties on D-Day.

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ISSUE 74 JUNE 2013

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CRACKING THE CODE

Regulars BRIEFING ROOM

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LORD ASHCROFT’S “HERO OF THE MONTH”

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FIELDPOST

Hidden messages in coded wartime letters sent by British PoWs have been revealed for the first time in seventy years. In the fourth instalment in a series examining his “Hero of the Month”, Lord Ashcroft reveals the courageous actions of Thomas Alderson GC.

News, Restorations, Discoveries and Events from around the UK. Your letters.

KEY MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY 6: Victory on the Western Front – British

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TOGETHER TO THE END

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ATTACK IN THE NORTH SEA

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DATES THAT SHAPED THE WAR

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NORMAN WISDOM’S WAR

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IMAGE OF WAR

Graham Taylor examines the first call to arms of what became known as the Pals Battalions. On 9 January 1940, the Trinity House tender Reculver was on duty in the North Sea when a German aircraft attacked. Bernard Bale reveals how Sir Norman Wisdom was involved in real life drama during the Second World War.

NIGHT FIGHTER ACES 107 MOSQUITO Two Mosquito night fighter crews of 410 Squadron RCAF each had notable combats during which they achieved hat tricks in one night.

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troops advance through the Hindenburg Line, 1918.

We chart some of the key moments and events that affected the United Kingdom in June 1943. 26 September 1940: Blackburn Roc Battle of Britain Combat

REPORT 101 RECONNAISSANCE A look at new books and products. I WOULD SAVE IN A FIRE 114 WHAT An undercarriage indicator from a Battle of Britain Dornier at the Shoreham Aircraft Museum, Shoreham, Kent

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Briefing Room

Briefing Room • News • Restorations • Discoveries • Events • Exhibitions from around the UK

METEOR “FLIES” INTO NEW HOME

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has placed two sets of information panels at the Merchant Navy Memorial at Tower Hill, London. The panels, covering both the First and Second World War, are part of a drive to provide more information for the public. More than 100 of the panels are being erected at sites in the United Kingdom, to provide information about the many thousands of First World War casualties, from all parts of the Commonwealth, who are buried or commemorated here. The Second World War panel at the Tower Hill Memorial reveals the story of 19-year-old Donald Owen Clarke who served as an apprentice on board San Emiliano. The vessel was struck by a German U-boat on 6 August 1942. Of the crew of forty-six, only six survived. Clarke rowed solidly for two hours to clear his comrades from the burning ship. It was not until after the boat was clear that it was realized how badly he had been injured. His hands had to be cut away from the oar as the burnt flesh had stuck to it. He had pulled as well as anyone, although he was rowing with the bones of his hands. Clarke died the next day and was posthumously awarded the George Cross for his efforts. On 8 May 2013, bomb disposal officers carried out controlled explosions on three shells thought to date from the Second World War. The unexploded shells, believed to be anti-aircraft rounds, were found at a construction site in Church Manorway, Erith, Kent, on 8 May. One shell was destroyed that evening, whilst bomb disposal experts made the remaining shells safe the following day. Blue plaques honouring two decorated war heroes have been unveiled in North Hampshire. The Reverend William Addison and Brigadier Manley James each received the Victoria Cross for their exploits during the First World War. Addison, a Temporary Chaplain in the Army Chaplains’ Department, was awarded the VC for tending to wounded soldiers under heavy fire at Sanna-i-Yat, Mesopotamia, on 9 April 1916. As a 21-year-old Temporary Captain in the 8th (Service) Battalion, the Gloucestershire Regiment, James was awarded the VC for his bravery at Velu Wood, France, on 21 March 1918, during the German Spring Offensive. The two plaques were unveiled at the former homes of the two men. 6

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THE latest addition to the Jet Age Museum at at Gloucestershire Airport made its final flight to its new home on Monday, 22 April 2013. Gloster Meteor T.7 VW453, which had previously been a gate guardian at the former RAF Innsworth, now called Imjin barracks, arrived at the Airport as an underslung load from an RAF Chinook. The Meteor T7 originated from Air Staff Operational Requirement OR/238 of December 1946, which called for “a two-Seater dual control version of the Meteor F Mark IV”. Gloster set to work on the design in February the following year. A mock-

25 May 1949. It was effectively struck off charge by the RAF, with a total flying time of 381 hours 25 minutes, in March 1957. The aircraft was then used for testing by organisations such as the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down and the Chemical Defence Establishment at Porton Down. VW452 was unveiled on the gate at RAF Innsworth on 5 March 1994, replacing the former gate guardian, Javelin XH903. The Meteor carried up of the two-seater was constructed the markings of a 604 Squadron and made available to the RAF for aircraft. initial inspection The “flight” on 22 at Hucclecote April 2013, lasted for in March 1947. five minutes, with the The Meteor T.7 Chinook and Meteor was the world’s covering a distance first two-seat jet of about two miles. trainer. Built ABOVE LEFT: Gloster by Gloster, VW453 was delivered to 203 Advanced Flying School, based at RAF Driffield, on

Meteor T.7 VW453 is prepared for its final journey. (Both images © Crown Copyright 2013)

LEFT: VW453 airborne

whilst slung beneath an RAF Chinook.

HURRICANE VETERAN DIES AGED 98 SQUADRON Leader Robert Austen Kings, who died on 1 May aged 98, was a Hurricane pilot with 238 Squadron and fought in the Battle of Britain, writes Geoff Simpson. Kings, born on 22 October 1914, had joined the RAFVR before the war and had begun his pilot training. Called up on 1 September 1940, Kings eventually went to 6 OTU at Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, where, newly commissioned, he converted to Hurricanes. On the last day of the month he was posted to 238 Squadron at St Eval in Cornwall. Flying from Middle Wallop on 25 September, Kings damaged a Heinkel He 111. The next day he baled out when his aircraft was downed by fire from a Messerschmitt Bf 110. On 1 October he was forced to take to his parachute again after a collision, during a patrol, with Pilot Officer Vernon Simmonds. Kings’ chute was torn as he left the aircraft and he

was injured in a heavy landing. Bob Kings was still with 238 in May 1941 when, under the command of Squadron Leader “Jimmy” Fenton, the squadron’s CO for much of the Battle of Britain, it embarked on HMS Victorious, immediately after it was commissioned, and set off for the Mediterranean. However, the aircraft carrier was diverted to join the force established to oppose the German battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. The Hurricanes were hastily disembarked and the journey eventually resumed after Victorious had returned and refuelled. Kings reached Egypt via Malta and was initially attached to 274 Squadron. On 26 November 1941 he force landed in the desert, after an action over Sidi Rezegh, but reached British lines. After the war Kings served in India and in the UK on air traffic control and radar duties. He retired from the RAF in 1964 as a Flight Lieutenant, retaining the rank of Squadron Leader. JUNE 2013

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We welcome the submission of items of news. So if you have a story, information on an event, photograph or discovery to share then please write to us, or email us at: [email protected]

WAR ARTIST’S WORK TO GO ON DISPLAY THE National Portrait Gallery in London has announced that this summer it will be holding a major exhibition of portraits by Dame Laura Knight (1877-1970), one of the leading British artists of the twentieth century. Whilst Dame Laura is best remembered as an Impressionist

painter of the London ballet and theatre scene, she also served as an official war artist during the Second World War. As part of this, she completed several commissions for the Ministry of Information’s War Artists Advisory Committee, being one of only three British female war artists to travel aboard. Her wartime works include In For Repairs (1941), A Balloon Site, Coventry (1942), Take Off (1944), Factory Workshops and Land Girls,

amongst many others. After the war, she was the official artist at the Nuremberg Trials. One work from this period is The Dock, Nuremberg (1946). For more information on the exhibition, which runs from 11 July until 13 October 2013, please visit: www.npg.org.uk FAR LEFT: During the war Dame Laura

Knight produced a number of portraits of female members of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force for the War Artists Advisory Board. These works were aimed to attracting female recruits, and her subjects had achieved particular distinction in their field or decoration for great acts of courage. This portrait of Corporal J.M. Robins is one of those paintings; Robins was awarded the MM for her gallantry during an air raid in 1940. (© Imperial War Museum, London)

LEFT: One of Dame Laura Knight’s

paintings of munitions workers completed for the War Artists Advisory Board: Ruby Loftus Screwing a BreechRing (1943). (© Imperial War Museum, London)

THE NAMES OF THOSE KILLED IN 2012 ARE ENGRAVED ON THE ARMED FORCES MEMORIAL EACH year the names of those United Kingdom service men and women killed in the previous calendar year are added to the Armed Forces Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum at Arlewas, Staffordshire. The painstaking process of engraving the names of those men and women who lost their lives in 2012 has now started. Over 15,000 names were carved by computer when the Memorial was created, with space on the empty panels for an additional 15,000. In the years that have followed the names of those killed

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since 2007 have been engraved by hand on a yearly basis. The engraver, stonemason Nick Hindle, began the task by carefully tracing the characters of the names to be engraved, before picking up his hammer and chisel to make the first mark in the Portland Stone. The task is expected to take a month to complete. The names of those killed or who lost their lives in 2012 will be read out and dedicated in a special service for families later in the year. The Armed Forces Memorial, dedicated in the presence of HM The Queen in 2007, is the UK’s tribute to the 16,000 men and women who have been killed or lost their lives on duty or as a result of terrorist action since 1948. LEFT: Stonemason Nick Hindle begins the task of carving the names of the 2012 casualties on the Armed Forces Memorial.

The Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum has announced that it has succeeded in purchasing the museum’s site and historic Dumfries control tower. The purchase is the result of fund-raising efforts over the past seven years aimed at securing the future of the museum. Museum chairman and curator, David Reid, said: “This is a great day for the museum. Not only are we saving the cost of rent and protecting the museum from future rent increases, but by owning the site we are in a much better position to invest in new facilities and improved displays.” Over the course of nearly forty years, the museum has amassed an impressive collection of artefacts. On display is a large collection of aircraft and rare aero engines. Of particular interest and importance is the museum’s huge collection of personal histories, including log books, photographs and letters which have now been brought together in a recently-opened archive room. The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is to get a new visitor centre ahead of battle’s 100th anniversary in April 2017. The Canadian government’s Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, stated that the federal government has set aside $5 million for the project. He added that the new structure will replace a temporary visitor centre, which has served the memorial site for decades. The Battle of Vimy Ridge was the first occasion whereupon all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force participated in a battle as a cohesive formation, and thus became a Canadian nationalistic symbol of achievement and sacrifice. On Sunday, 21 April 2013, the Newark Air Museum hosted a short dedication service in memory of two airmen who were killed when Avro Tutor K4814, from 2 Central Flying School, RAF Cranwell, crashed on Thursday, 24 April 1941, writes Howard Heeley. The crash site is north-east of the current museum site which is located on part of the former RAF Winthorpe airfield in Nottinghamshire. A service of commemoration was led by museum member Rev. Alan Boyd and a plaque in the memory of the airmen was dedicated. The two casualties were Pilot Officer the Reverend Richard Inge and Pilot Officer Robert Lanchester. Pilot Officer Inge’s relatives were present, whilst goodwill messages were received from relatives of Pilot Officer Lanchester in the USA. 7

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Briefing Room

Briefing Room • News • Restorations • Discoveries • Events • Exhibitions from around the UK

BLACK WATCH MEMORIAL TO BE UNVEILED

The Australian Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, Warren Snowdon, has announced the identification of another five Australians killed during the Battle of Fromelles. The identification brings the total number of Australians identified at Pheasant Wood to 124. Some eighty-seven Australian and two British soldiers remain unidentified, while the headstones of another thirty-seven are inscribed “A Soldier of the Great War – Known unto God”. A memorial commemorating the crew of a Halifax bomber has been unveiled sixtyeight years after it was shot down over a North Yorkshire village. Halifax NA612 was returning to its base at RAF Dishforth in the early hours of 4 March 1945 when it was attacked by the German night fighter. All seven crew were killed. A stone memorial to the men has been erected in Brafferton, near Thirsk, close to the scene of the crash. This summer, English Heritage will prepare the Cenotaph for the forthcoming First World War centenary commemorations. A schedule of conservation works began at the end of April and will be completed by the end of July. The Cenotaph’s Portland stone is naturally susceptible to weathering and pollution and although English Heritage carries out maintenance every year, a more thorough cleaning is now needed. Details of some of the upcoming talks arranged by a number of the Western Front Association’s branches around the UK have been published. On 3 June 2013, the Lancashire (North) Branch will be hosting a talk by Alan Wakefield at the King’s Own Regimental Museum. The talk is entitled “Mesopotamia”. Commander Campbell and the Q-Ship VCs is the subject of a talk being given by Ian Cull to the Kent (East) Branch at the TA Centre in Sturry Road, Canterbury, on 4 June 2013. The First “Great Escape” – the breakout from Holzminden PoW Camp in July 1918 – is the subject to be examined by Neil Hanson on 12 June 2013. Hosted by the Heart of England Branch, the location is the Warwick Arms Hotel, Warwick. “First Blitz”, the 1918 bombing campaign against London, is the subject of the talk which, hosted by the Scotland (North) Branch, will be taking place in Elgin Library on 15 June 2013. For full details of each talk, and the many others arranged, including how to attend, please visit: www.westernfrontassociation.com/greatwar-current-events 8

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A statue of a Black Watch soldier is to be erected in Belgium to commemorate the more than 8,000 officers and soldiers who died and over 20,000 who were wounded in the costliest chapter of the world famous regiment’s history. The larger-than-life bronze statue of a kilted Highlander is due to be unveiled at Black Watch Corner near Ypres on Saturday, 3 May 2014. It will be the first and only memorial dedicated specifically to The Black Watch fallen of the First World War. Colonel Alex Murdoch, Chairman of The Black Watch Association, explained why this particular site was chosen for the statue: “The site chosen for the statue has been known as Black Watch Corner since the remnants of our 1st Battalion took part in a successful ground-holding action. Along with other withdrawing British forces they fought against a

numerically stronger force from the Kaiser’s Prussian Guard in November 1914.

“This action brought to an end the First Battle of Ypres and their heroic stand was to prove decisive because it stopped the German advance to the coast. If they had broken through to the coast the

war would have been over and lost. It seemed the most appropriate place to erect our monument to the fallen.” “There are a number of memorials across the world to commemorate the sacrifice and endeavours of Scottish fighting formations,” explained Black Watch Association’s ViceChairman, Lieutenant Colonel Roddy Riddell. “This statue will be a unique and powerful symbol of the fighting spirit of The Black Watch which lives on to this day. The imposing statue will stand four and a half metres high, atop a base of Scottish granite and depicts a Black Watch soldier in First World War fighting uniform of kilt, jacket and bonnet with his Lee Enfield rifle and 18-inch bayonet. It is being created by renowned Scottish sculptor Alan Herriot. It is believed that the erection of the statue, and the pilgrimage by Black Watch veterans and serving soldiers to Flanders, will be the first Scottish event in the worldwide First World War centenary commemorations.

ONE OF THE FEW REMEMBERED

A memorial has been unveiled in a Kentish wood to Sergeant Robert Henry Braund Fraser, a Hurricane pilot shot down and killed during the Battle of Britain. “Bobby” Fraser served throughout the Battle of Britain with 257 Squadron until, on 22 October 1940, he was shot down over Folkestone by Messerschmitt Bf 109s. His aircraft fell in woodland at Moat Farm, Shadoxhurst, near Ashford. Sergeant Fraser was buried at Craigton Cemetery, Glasgow. Five months earlier Bobby Fraser had been one of three Sergeants who had done their elementary training together in the RAFVR at Prestwick, Ayrshire and had become the first three pilots to arrive at Hendon to join 257 Squadron when it was re-forming. One of the others was also lost in the Battle of Britain,

Alexander “Jock” Girdwood, being killed in action on 29 October. However, Ron Forward left the RAF, as a Flying Officer, after the war and died in 1993. At a service beside the new memorial, Geoff Simpson, a trustee of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, spoke in tribute to Sergeant Fraser, before the unveiling was carried out by Michael Bax, the retiring High Sheriff of Kent, on whose land the memorial stands. A wreath was then laid by Wing Commander Bob Foster, DFC, AE, Chairman of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association. The memorial was provided without charge by Gordon Newton of The Stone Shop, East Farleigh, Kent. ABOVE: Michael Bax, left, High Sheriff of Kent, at the Bobby Fraser memorial with Wing Commander Bob Foster.

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News Feature... News Feature... News Feature... News Feature... News Feature...

ROYAL ALBERTA MUSEUM ACQUIRES PoW COLLECTION THE Royal Alberta Museum in Alberta has unveiled an important archive of prisoner of war ephemera which it has acquired. The collection had been amassed by Robert Henderson over a period of forty years. Tracking down former guards, internees and, in some cases, prisoners of war, Mr Henderson, a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer, assembled an unprecedented array of objects representative of PoW camps in Canada, their operation and many aspects of the prisoners’ day-to-day lives. The result is one of the most comprehensive collections of Second World War PoW material in Canada, if not the world, all of which was gathered with the specific stories, or provenance, associated with each object. It was during 1940 that the Canadian government first agreed to house thousands of German prisoners then being held in the United Kingdom. The British authorities were concerned that the growing numbers of German PoWs were an army of occupation in waiting. The first PoWs arrived in Canada in June and July 1941. By the end of the war, nearly 35,000 German PoWs were being held in Canadian camps, along with several thousand merchant sailors and a number of Canadian civilians (mostly of German or Italian heritage) deemed a threat to national security. Several of the twenty-six major camps established by the federal government were built in Alberta. Indeed, the camps at Lethbridge and Medicine Hat in Alberta were the largest in the country; two thirds of the PoWs in Canada were held in Alberta. Boer War and First World War veterans, too old for active service overseas, yet still eager to serve their country, were used to guard the camps and detainees. They were known as the Veterans Guard of 10

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ABOVE: A souvenir album with wood cover which was made for a camp “show and sale” by a PoW at Lethbridge Camp. Internees were on occasion allowed to make objects that could be sold to guards and the general public, with the proceeds going to the prisoners. They, in turn could use the funds to acquire clothing, food, educational and writing supplies and so forth. Inside are ten original sketches depicting camp life.

confiscated escape maps, RCMP “escaped PoW wanted” posters (which, curiously, include a number for prisoners who escaped after the war had ended), mail bags, mail service censor stamps, prisoner uniforms and PoW camp currency/ tokens. Camp life is revealed by representing the detainees’ day-to-day existence, including works of art and/or craft items made by the PoWs. Notable items include paintings and drawings, ships-in-bottles, and handmade boxes and carvings. Once processed, the collection will be assessed for display in the new Royal Alberta Museum. An online exhibition will also be developed and objects will eventually be made available for research and loans.

RIGHT: Two wood carvings of PoWs in their

camp attire – denim shirt, trousers and cap with red bulls eyes and stripes. These were carved by a prisoner at Neys Camp in Ontario, circa 1943.

Canada. When he first started collecting, Mr Henderson applied a “shotgun” approach, acquiring items from many different time periods and regions of the world. Over time he honed in on PoWs in Canada during the Second World War. In total, there are 1,192 PoWrelated objects in the collection acquired by the museum. The exhibits include items that represent the physical existence of the camps – an isolation cell door, pieces of barbed wire, a spotlight and a mock machinegun being just a few examples. The operation of the camps is detailed by articles such as guard uniforms, insignia and accoutrements, JUNE 2013

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THEY received the call they had expected, and duly registered. They were conscripts, men called forward to fight for their country. Those passed fit were seen by a recruiting officer, marked down for army, navy or air force and went home to await their instructions. This was December 1943 and, just before Christmas, they received the expected OHMS buff envelopes. To their astonishment they were ordered not to the fighting front, but to the coal front – for these men were part of the first batch of the so-called “Bevin Boys”, who, 20,000 in total, were conscripted to work down the mines as their contribution to the national war effort. The coal mining industry had seen a rise in demand with the outbreak of war, but with the fall of France and the entry of Italy into the war on the side of the Germans, these two export markets were closed virtually overnight. Almost 100 pits had to cease production. Mining was not even seen as a reserved occupation as there were so many unemployed miners. Thousands of men therefore left the industry to work in such places as munitions factories. However, by 1941, production of coal had reached critically low levels and Ernest Bevin, Minister for Labour and National Service, appealed for men to return to their old jobs and mining was added to the list of those skills bound by the Essential Work Orders. This failed to produce the required numbers

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and output continued to fall, a situation that was exacerbated by strikes and labour unrest. Many miners resented being included in the Essential Work Order as it meant that they could be prosecuted for absenteeism. Strikes and stoppages became even more widespread, with miners being fined, and output was seriously affected. Eventually it was seen that the only way to solve the problem was to conscript men from the National Service register. This was to be done by ballot, taking one in every five men from the December 1943 register. Over succeeding months further ballots were undertaken. These conscripts became known as the “Bevin Boys”. Most men, who believed they were going to fight, were appalled with being selected for the mines. They “had no objection to being called up but a very strong objection to be called down”, was how it was described. Many appealed against the decision; especially those that had already had specialist training, such as youngsters in the Air Training Corps, whose skills would be completely wasted down the pits. Few of their appeals succeeded. In total almost 48,000 men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five were called up to work in the mines. The programme ended in 1948. Though their work was essential and they were given no choice in their selection, their efforts had largely

gone unrecognised compared with those that had found themselves in the armed forces. They received no medals for their work and did not have the right to return to the jobs they had held previously, unlike armed forces personnel. Amongst those conscripted were the comedian Eric Morecambe and footballer Nat Lofthouse. The Bevin Boys’ contribution to the war was finally acknowledged when survivors became entitled to Veterans badges, the first of which were issued on 25 March 2008, marking the 60th anniversary of the discharge of the last of the Bevin Boys. Further recognition came on Tuesday, 7 May 2013, when a memorial was unveiled by the Countess of Wessex at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, Staffordshire. The memorial was designed by Harry Parkes, a former Bevin Boy who had long campaigned for recognition. Harry, now 87, worked at Beeston Colliery from 1943: “At the time, the people who lived near the mines thought we were conscientious objectors and the miners thought we were stealing their jobs. We felt that we hadn’t served our country. This memorial is the recognition that we deserve. The boys I’ve talked to have said that they can now stand up and say with pride I am a Bevin Boy, and I feel the same.” LEFT: A wartime portrait of Ernest Bevin that was drawn for the Ministry of Information. Bevin, who served as the Minister of Labour and National Service between 13 May 1940 and 23 May 1945, was also responsible for drawing up the demobilisation scheme that ultimately returned millions of military personnel and civilian war workers back into the peacetime economy.

BELOW: Former Bevin Boy Harry Parkes pictured in front of the memorial at the National Arboretum, Alrewas. (Rui Vieira/PA Wire)

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BEVIN BOYS MEMORIAL UNVEILED

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RAF VC WINNER’S GRAVE RESTORED

ON Thursday, 9 May 2013, personnel from 8 Squadron, along with members of the Victoria Cross Trust, led a community cleanup project at the Holy Trinity Church in Sunningdale near Windsor, the final resting place of ex-8 Squadron pilot and Victoria Cross holder, Air Commodore Ferdinand Maurice Felix West VC. Ferdinand West MC was a 22-year-old Acting Captain in the RAF (formerly of the Special Reserve, Royal Munster Fusiliers) flying an Armstrong Whitworth FK8, serial number C8602, when he carried out the actions for which he was subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross, the announcement of which was made in The London Gazette just three days before the Armistice. The day in question was 12 August 1918. The British Army was intending to start a major offensive, and had requested information about enemy troop positions and defences. Setting off at dawn West and his observer, Lieutenant John Haslam, spotted an enemy concentration through a hole in the mist. His citation describes what followed: “Captain West, while engaging hostile troops at a low altitude far over the enemy lines, was attacked by seven aircraft. Early in the engagement one of his legs was partially severed by an explosive bullet, and fell powerless into

the controls, rendering the machine for the time unmanageable. Lifting his disabled leg, he regained control of the machine, and, although wounded in the other leg, he, with surpassing bravery and devotion to duty, manoeuvred his machine so skilfully that his observer was enabled to get several good bursts into the enemy machines, which drove them away. “Captain West then, with rare courage and determination, desperately wounded as he was, brought his machine over our lines and landed safely. Exhausted by his exertions, he fainted, but on regaining consciousness insisted on writing his report.

Captain West’s left leg had five wounds, one of which had shattered his femur and cut the femoral artery, and had to be amputated, for which he received £250 compensation from the Air Ministry. He had a special artificial leg made and then resumed his career in the post war RAF. Air Commodore West VC died in 1988 and was buried at Holy Trinity Church, Sunningdale, Windsor. Sadly, over the years his grave has fallen in to a state of disrepair, a situation which is not uncommon for burial plots that do not fall within the remit of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. During the two-day project to restore his grave, 8 Squadron personnel were joined by a mason and restorer appointed by the Victoria Cross Trust. Gary Stapleton, the Trust’s chairman, said: “We are eternally grateful to those who see the continued memory of our military heroes as a priority, and who wish to help us preserve their final resting place in a state of utmost respect” Also participating in the restoration was the Officer Commanding 8 Squadron, Wing Commander Jim Beldon, who said: “Air Commodore Freddie West VC remains a highly imposing figure on 8 Squadron to this day. We are exceptionally proud of his legacy: he was the first RAF airman to be awarded the VC following the RAF’s formation in 1918, and his example of selfless bravery and determination has few equals even in the hallowed pantheon of Victoria Cross winners. It is the very least we can do to visit his final resting place and, along with the Victoria Cross Trust, restore his grave to a standard befitting this most remarkable airman’s service.” Work at Sunningdale was concluded by a re-dedication service led by 8 Squadron personnel. ■

TOP: A photograph of Ferdinand West taken to mark the award of the Victoria Cross.

ABOVE RIGHT: Air Commodore Ferdinand

Maurice Felix West VC’s grave prior to the restoration project. (Courtesy of Kevin Brazier/ Victoria Cross Trust)

MAIN PICTURE: Personnel from 8 Squadron at work at Holy Trinity Church, Sunningdale; note the freshly-cleaned and restored grave of Air Commodore West VC on the right. (© Crown Copyright 2013)

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16/05/2013 08:01

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THE WAR AND PEACE REVIVAL WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT TO BE MADE FOR THE LARGEST EVER PARADE OF JEEPS

FOLLOWING last year’s 30th anniversary of the War & Peace Show, the event has moved from the Hop Farm site at Beltring to a new home at Folkestone Racecourse. The change in location has also brought about a new name – The War And Peace Revival – and an enlarged format. Located near the village of Westenhanger by junction 11 of the M20 motorway, the racecourse is two miles west of Folkestone. As well as being sited in an area of South-East England that came to be known as “Hellfire Corner”, the new site also has its own wartime pedigree. The racecourse itself was used as part of Operation Fortitude (South) during the Second World War, this being the deception plan intended to fool the Germans into believing the D-Day landings would be in the Calais area, not Normandy. As part of the deception, dummy aircraft were set up along the racecourse to make it look like an active airfield. On 23 April 1944, 660 Squadron, an Army cooperation squadron, arrived at what was then known as RAF Westenhanger. The squadron was equipped with Auster Mk.IV single-engine liaison aircraft and used the racecourse to practise operations with local army units. On 12 July 1944, the squadron departed Westenhangar for France. In due course the racecourse was restored to its original use. Rubble from wartime buildings can be seen on the north side of the straight course where it meets the oval. Taking place this year between 17 and 21 July, the five-day military and vintage festival will encompass all the elements of

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the old event, plus new additions such as the Vintage Village. A fascinating series of photographs of Kent from the 1930s to the 1950s, courtesy of the War and Peace Photo Archives, will be on display. The permanent facilities at the racecourse are also described as excellent. To mark the new event, on Saturday, 20 July, the show’s organisers are planning to break the world record for the largest parade of Willys vehicles, an attempt which if successful will be included in the Guinness Book of Records. The current record for the largest parade of Jeeps and Willys vehicles is 353, a number achieved by Juan Carlos Ospina (Colombia) and Willys Colombia group in Armenia, Bogota on 7 February 2006. To succeed, the attempt has to be recorded by photographers and on video, and two independent witnesses need to be present. The primary requirements set for the attempt by the Guinness Book of Records are: The length of the line is

of no relevance, just the number of vehicles; all drivers must hold current drivers’ licenses; all participating vehicles must be moving and cover a distance of two miles; that the organisers can only count vehicles completing the whole route; that the vehicles must keep together with no gaps; and the registration number of each entrant must be recorded. The organisers point out that the “record attempt is for the most ‘Jeeps’ and we will welcome all MBs, GPWs and M201s”. All entrants will receive a certificate from the show. As with previous War & Peace shows, all Second World War veterans are invited to attend the Revival free of charge. At the same time, as this year’s event will be commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Korean War and the 50th anniversary of the end of National Service, the complimentary invitation is extended to veterans of both. For more information on the show, its location, the latest news, or for details on how to participate, please visit: www.thewarandpeacerevival.co.uk ABOVE: One of the vehicles that will be attending the War And Peace Revival, having not been displayed at the War & Peace show, is this 1944 Brockway 666 fitted with a Quick-Way revolving crane. Recovered from Normandy, where it is believed to have operated after the D-Day landings, the Brockway has completed a full restoration. (Courtesy of Mike Wilson) BELOW: A pair of vehicles seen at the

2012 event: a T17E1 Staghound “Horsa” (in the foreground) and a 1943 Daimler Mk.1 Armoured Car. (Courtesy of Mark Khan)

JUNE 2013

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LEFT and BELOW: Bill Clark, a guide at the Returned Services League Military Museum in Bendigo, pictured beside the museum’s 15cm Model 13 Short Barrel heavy field howitzer, a trophy from the First World War. (Both images courtesy of Josh Fagan/Bendigo Advertiser) BOTTOM: A battery of German 15cm Model 13

Short Barrel heavy field howitzers, the same as the gun on display at Bendigo, in position during the Battle of Arras, 1917. (Bundesarchiv, Bild 183S36048/CC-BY-SA)

of information on a number of other guns relating to earlier conflicts. The Bendigo Advertiser of 22 June 1907, for example, contains the following account: “Being disgusted with the cumbersome and obsolete gun recently sent to Bendigo, as a relic of the South African war, the City Council wrote to the Premier’s office on the matter. Yesterday a reply was received from the Premier’s secretary (Mr. R.S. Rogers), stating there was no gun that was a trophy of the South African war available that was anything like the size of the one sent to Bendigo. AT the end of the First World War several examples of enemy artillery pieces were gifted to towns and organisations around Great Britain and the Empire to commemorate the end of the war. In Australia, state trophy committees were established to administer the distribution of trophies and relics. Each committee consisted of one Senator, one Member of the House of Representatives, an Australian Imperial Force officer, a state government museum representative, and the Director of the Australian War Museum. The eventual system of distribution chosen by all the states was according to the size of a town and its population: towns (other than the capital city) with a population above 10,000 were allocated two artillery pieces and two machine-guns; towns with a population between 3,000 and 10,000 were allocated an artillery piece; towns with a population between 300 and 3,000 were allocated a machine-gun. Allocation of surplus trophies occurred in 1921 and 1922, and many towns acquired additional items for display. The regional town of Bendigo, in the state of Victoria, Australia, was eventually allocated no less than seven artillery pieces. Today, four of these guns are unaccounted for and Bill Clark, a guide at the Returned Services League Military Museum (RSLMM) in Bendigo, assisted by a volunteer organisation, the Royal Australian Artillery Historical Company, is working to document their history and establish their whereabouts. Of the remaining three guns, one, a 15cm Model 13 Short Barrel heavy field howitzer, still resides in Bendigo, on display outside the RSLMM. Another of the guns, a 105mm Light Field Howitzer JUNE 2013

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Model 1916, serial number 14607, is on permanent loan to the Watsonia RSL Club in Melbourne. At some time this gun had been moved from Bendigo and placed on the shore of Lake Eppalock. On at least two occasions it was to be removed and scrapped, though no action was taken. When the threat of scrapping occurred a third time, it was purchased for a small sum and restored. The third survivor, a 77mm gun, is understood to be privately owned. It was known to be have been used in the 1987 Australian feature film The Lighthorsemen, which details the men of an Australian light horse unit involved in the Sinai and Palestine Campaigns of 1917. Subsequent research has revealed that it was allotted as war trophy to the 5th Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment about 1920. Of the four “missing” guns, all that is known is that one is in private hands. Interestingly, the research into these seven war trophies led to the uncovering

However, the Government had two guns from South Africa, either of which would be presented to the council if it chose to accept it. One was a nine-pounder, 6ft. 6in long, mounted on a wide carriage, with wheels, the whole weighing between 14 and 15cwt. The other one was a small mountain gun 3ft 4in long, with small carriage, but no suitable wheels. On [Councillor] Andrew’s motion, it was agreed to ask for the nine-pounder.” One archive photograph of Bendigo Town Hall shows another war trophy in the background. It is believed to be an older model Krupp gun, possibly a C73 model of 1893. Several of these older guns, upgraded in the 1890s, can be found in Australia but there is no record of any of these guns being allotted to Victoria. As with the First World War trophies, the fate of these guns is also known. Mr Clark would welcome any assistance in his search for the missing guns. He can be contacted via the RSLMM. For more information, please visit: www.rslclub.com.au 15

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HUNT FOR WAR TROPHIES

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FIRST WORLD WAR RAILWAY AMBULANCE CAR ON SHOW DURING the fighting on the Western Front a complex system of casualty evacuation was developed. Casualties were initially treated at the regimental aid posts before being moved to the Casualty Clearing Stations and from there the wounded and injured men were taken to Base Hospitals which were situated further away from the front line. The casualties were often taken from the Casualty Clearing Stations to the Base Hospitals by train, although others were also taken to the Base Hospitals by canal barge or motor transport. Generally located near the coast and close to a railway line, the Base Hospitals were manned by troops of the Royal Army Medical Corps, with attached Royal Engineers and men of the Army Service Corps. They also needed to be near a port from where casualties could be evacuated for longer-term treatment in Britain. In 1917 a need arose to transport stretcher cases to a series of Base Hospitals near Trouvillesur-Mer. The hospitals were situated at the top of a plateau and the narrow gauge railway was over five miles in length. The Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (GRC&W) was given the job of building a narrow gauge carriage capable of handling stretchers easily. This was the first use of such vehicles but they went on to be used in other areas of the front.

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This resulting design was the Ambulance Van C1917. It was an improvement on the standard French railway carriage in which stretchers had to be passed through windows from a platform alongside the carriage. The War Department Light Railway design could be easily loaded from the ground at any point on the railway. The design also had end sliding doors so that the medical staff could move through the train attending to the wounded. The ambulance van was built to accommodate eight stretcher cases, as well as providing space for equipment stowage and a bench for four or five walking wounded. After the First World War several of these ambulance vans were sold to sugar beet factory railways in Northern France and four examples exist at Pithivers, a narrow gauge tourist line to the south of Paris. The Nocton Estates Light Railway, near Lincoln, bought several (possibly ten) as war surplus, and used them to transport seed potatoes to the fields from the ‘chitting’ sheds/greenhouse. They were also used for shooting parties to carry the actual guns in a purpose-built rack and bring the game back hanging on a centre rail. One of these Ambulance Vans was acquired by the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway Historic Vehicle Trust and carefully restored – built in 1918, it is

TOP and ABOVE: The Lincolnshire Coast

Light Railway Historic Vehicle Trust’s First World War trench railway vehicles on the move. The rare 1918 Ambulance Van is at the rear. (All images courtesy of Dave Enefer)

LEFT: The interior of the Ambulance Van with a number of stretchers in situ.

the only example in the UK. Situated at the Skegness Water Leisure Park at Ingoldmells near Skegness, the Trust is home to a collection of historically important First World War trench railway vehicles. These include a Class D bogie drop side wagon (manufactured in 1917 with a wooden chassis, possibly by GRC&W), a Class D bogie flat wagon (believed to have been built in 1917 with a steel chassis by Turners of Langley Mill), and a Class P ration wagon (constructed circa 1916 with 1 ton capacity or four stretcher cases). Railway spokesman John Chappell said: “We think our collection is of national significance and could be ideal for schools to visit, so children can understand something of what it was like to be on a battlefield; or as the centrepiece of events to show how men and supplies were taken to the front and how the wounded were rescued.” It is anticipated that the Trust and its collection will play an important part in the forthcoming First World War centenary commemoration events. ■ • For more information on the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway Historic Vehicle Trust and its collection, including plans for a “photo and video charter” on Friday, 13 September 2013, please visit: www.lincolnshire-coast-light-railway.co.uk

JUNE 2013

16/05/2013 08:01

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FIRST WORLD WAR “BATTLEBUS” TO BE RESTORED DETAILS OF THE HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND’S NEW FIRST WORLD WAR SMALL GRANTS PROGRAMME HAVE ALSO BEEN ANNOUNCED

AN historic First World War B-type bus – one of some 1,500 driven from the streets of London to the Western Front – is be rebuilt to full working order following a £750,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The vehicle in question is B-type B1056, which is part of the collection of the London Transport Museum. Currently an incomplete example, which is believed to consist of a rolling chassis, two axles and four wheels, it is the intention of the London Transport Museum to contract for the rebuild of B1056 to a condition which is acceptable for passenger operation during the forthcoming First World War commemorative and local community events. A number of original parts currently held in storage will be utilized along with replica components. The HLF will also fund a five-year programme of learning and participation activities with volunteers and apprentices across the entire series of centenaries of the First World War. Once completed in August 2014, the vehicle, finished in its wartime livery, will take part in a programme of commemorative events and a touring roadshow. The project will also underline the fact that while the men were away at war women were employed for the first time by the London General Omnibus Company. The B-type bus was designed, built and operated by the London General Omnibus Company, which was the principal bus operator in London

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between 1855 and 1933. Entering service in 1911, by 1913 around 2,500 examples of the design had entered service, with the result that it is considered to be the first massproduced bus. The B-type was, like similar commercial vehicles, built under the B-subsidy, itself an innovative scheme under which payment was made by the government to aid those organisations purchasing vehicles built to a particular specification. In the event of military need they could – and were, as it turned out – called upon to serve. Following the outbreak of war, the B-type’s reputation for reliability and unique design of a wooden frame, steel wheels, a worm drive and chain gearbox, as well as using, for the first time, standardised interchangeable components, made it ideal for rigorous military use. Consequently, large numbers were commandeered to act as troop and equipment transports, ambulances, and even mobile pigeon lofts, eventually swapping their bright red London General Omnibus Company livery for Army khaki. It was soon found that the glass windows on the lower deck were prone to breakage, mostly from contact with the troops’ rifles and packs. The glass was therefore removed and replaced by planks fixed to the sides of the vehicle. * On Wednesday, 15 May 2013, the HLF also launched “First World

War: Then and Now”, a £6m small grants programme to help communities across the United Kingdom mark the centenary of the First World War. The HLF is making at least £1m available per year until 2019. The new will provide grants between £3,000 to £10,000 enabling communities and groups to explore, conserve and share their First World War heritage and deepen their understanding of the impact of the conflict. Projects to which grants will be made could include researching, identifying and recording local heritage; creating a community archive or collection; developing new interpretation of heritage through exhibitions, trails, smartphone apps etc; researching, writing and performing creative material based on heritage sources; and funding for the conservation of war memorials. ■ LEFT: Cheering troops on the top decks of

converted B-type buses in a square in Arras, France. (All images courtesy of the London Transport Museum)

BELOW: British troops board modified B-type former LGOC buses at Arras, in May 1917. BOTTOM: Former London B-type buses in

service on the Western Front. It is stated that the B-type could transport twenty-four fullyequipped infantrymen and their equipment.

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MAY 2013 sees the seventieth anniversary of the height of the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest running military campaign of the Second World War, a campaign which was described as “the one that had to be won”. The month of May 1943 saw the German U-boats suffer very heavy losses, turning the tide of the battle in the favour

MAIN PICTURE: With members of the

Ship’s Company lining the upper deck in their Number 1 Uniform, HMS Edinburgh heads up the Thames, having passed through Tower Bridge, prior to mooring beside HMS Belfast. Along with HMS Blythe, a minesweeper, and HMS Illustrious, Edinburgh was visiting London to participate in the Battle of the Atlantic commemoration events, which included a St Paul’s Evensong Service, a Merchant Navy Memorial Service and a formal Commemorative Dinner, that were held in the capital during May 2013. (All images © Crown Copyright 2013)

LEFT: Royal Navy personnel

marching through London following the memorial service in St Paul’s Cathedral on 8 May 2013 – the first event commemorating the Battle of the Atlantic 70th anniversary. The service concluded with a march past St Paul’s down to Mansion House with all three ships’ companies, plus a Royal Marines Band leading the parade and giving salute to the Lord Mayor and the First Sea Lord.

of the Allies. Known to the Germans as “Black May”, so severe were their losses Admiral Dönitz ordered a retreat from the Atlantic in order to regroup; the U-boats were unable to return to the fray in significant numbers until autumn, and never regained the advantage. Celebrations marking seventy years since that time have been taking place throughout May 2013 in London, Londonderry and, at the end of the month, in Liverpool where so

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RIGHT: A wartime family photograph of Battle of the Atlantic veteran Joseph Batty-Peirson pictured between his two brothers in 1940. Ken, on the left, was serving in the RAF, whilst Eric was in the ranks of the Royal Corps of Signals. many of the Atlantic convoys sailed from. Similar events have also been held in countries such as Canada. The celebrations have enabled many surviving veterans to recount their memories of those dangerous and often deadly days in the harsh environment of

the Atlantic. Amongst those is a 95-yearold Bedfordshire veteran Joseph BattyPeirson who was in his early twenties when he signed up to join the Royal Navy in 1939 and spent years being tossed around on the world’s oceans watching as ship after ship was destroyed by enemy submarines. Mr Batty-Peirson, who enlisted as an Ordinary Seaman but left a Lieutenant, has described the constant fear and cold that surrounded him and his colleagues while they battled daily with the dangers they faced on the tempestuous Atlantic Ocean: “The Atlantic was terrible. It was so rough you would see the water rushing up and into the portholes.

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BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIONS

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In winter time the seas were so heavy and everything so cold and bleak.” Mr Batty-Peirson’s first ship was the Town-class destroyer, HMS Broadwater, in which he served for seven months on the convoy route from the Clyde to Iceland. His first night on board saw him ordered to stand watch in the Crow’s Nest, after just five minutes of constant rocking he wanted to “lie down and die”, and that was before the ship even reached open water! “There was the odd occasion when a tanker would go up in the middle of the night just a sheet of flame and there was nothing you could do about it as the submarines were just outside of the convoys.” Another veteran is 89-years-old Charles Erswell whose first ship was the M-Class destroyer HMS Milne. It was in her that Charles sailed on Convoy PQ18 in 1942, which followed the disastrous Convoy PQ17. “We were based on a destroyer on convoys out of Scapa Flow,” he recalled. “We were undertaking training but that was cut short when we were directed to join convoy PQ18. It turned out to be one of the most attacked convoys of the war. “The disaster of the previous convoy, PQ17, meant that only a small number of ships got through. The Germans thought that was it, that we were done, and so increased the number of U-boats and aircraft for the next convoy. I remember being in the gun turret when over the tannoy came the announcement that there were forty-four German aircraft heading our way; someone behind me said they were birds because they were all lined up against the skyline and of course they attacked the convoy, mainly the merchant ships.” Ted Rogers, now aged 88, was a

“The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea or in the air depended ultimately on its outcome.” Winston Churchill

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LEFT: Roland Carnegi-Jones joined the

Merchant Navy in 1941 as a 17-year-old apprentice. “I remember being shown my cabin by the Third Officer,” he said. “He had to sweep the cockroaches off the bed, it was dark and damp in there, but I was very taken with the whole thing. I had seen them [merchant ships] coming in and out of the London docks and was looking forward to serving on them – it was an adventure.”

BELOW: Yeoman Warders from the Tower of London at the top of HMS Illustrious’ ramp as she transits the Thames Barrier whilst visiting London to take part in the Battle of the Atlantic 70th anniversary commemorations.

member of the Merchant Navy who sailed on a number of ships, the first of which was torpedoed and sunk while a day away from its destination in West Africa. “The ship was carrying aircraft, armaments, vehicles and food for the British forces in West Africa,” he said. “Leaving the UK and going out was relatively calm, we had gone west to avoid the bombings and then met up with the rest of the convoy later on the way to Freetown. We were due there the next day and the captain slowed the ship to make sure we didn’t arrive ahead of time. “It happened at 11.30 hours on a Sunday. I was standing on the bridge and there was a shout from the crow’s nest that there was a torpedo heading for the starboard bow. I clearly saw two from where I was standing.” There were four torpedoes fired at the ship by the German U-boat, which had laid in wait. The order was given to abandon ship and Ted, along with most of the ship’s company, managed to get into those lifeboats and life rafts that hadn’t been destroyed in the blast and rowed as quickly as they could to get away from the sinking vessel. “They put another torpedo into it as it wasn’t sinking fast enough for them,” Ted continued. “The aircraft and tanks we had on board were blasted into the sky and were falling down around us. I remember watching the stern disappear under

the waves. It was a sad sight.” Another 88-year-old veteran is Roland Carnegi-Jones of Kent, who recalled his experiences whilst serving on the SS Lynton Grange in 1942. The ship left Liverpool on 18 December bound for North America in a convoy with another forty-four ships, when it was attacked in mid-Atlantic. Lynton Grange, which was carrying a variety of military equipment including 3,000 tonnes of explosives, was sunk along with twelve other ships from the convoy and her fifty-two man crew abandoned ship. “We managed to get into the lifeboats and were trying to row out of the way,” recalled Roland. “We saw our ship go down and could hear people shouting. I remember when it started to get quiet I heard someone calling into the dark ‘is young Jones out there’. It was a firefighter on another ship I had made friends with who had been a teacher before the war and he was calling to check I was safe. “We could still see the submarines – one came through past us and just glided along like a big grey wet thing. It was very sinister. We wondered if they might machine-gun us; it wasn’t the recognised practice, but the thought was still there all the same.” The main event of the 70th anniversary celebrations will take place in Liverpool on Sunday, 28 May 2013, when up to twenty-five Royal Navy and international ships are planned to visit. The day’s events will include a service in the Cathedral, a march through the city by current Royal Navy and Merchant Navy personnel as well as veterans, and a flypast by the Fleet Air Arm’s Royal Navy Historic Flight. ■

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‘Britain at War’ Magazine, Green Arbor, Rectory Road, Storrington, West Sussex, RH20 4EF. [email protected]

LETTER OF THE MONTH

BRAVERY IN TUNISIA SIR – Having read the “Dates that Shaped the War” in the May issue, and in particular the references to the end of the fighting in North Africa, I was reminded of the actions of one Army medic that I had once read about. That individual was Lieutenant George Frederick Barnes LRCP, MRCS. A member of the Royal Army Medical Corps, Barnes was serving with 137 Field Ambulance which, during May 1943, was attached to the 1st Battalion Irish Guards. Prior to serving in the RAMC, Barnes had been an assistant house surgeon at Ashridge Hospital, Hertfordshire, and senior casualty officer at Charing Cross Hospital. Roughly forty miles west of Tunis is the town of Medjez-el-Bab, which marked the limit of the Allied advance in North Africa in December 1942. Indeed, Medjez-elBab remained on the front line until the decisive Allied advances of April and May 1943. It was in the area of the town that Lieutenant Barnes undertook the gallant acts described here, an account based on a report from the Acton Gazette and Express of 21 May 1943 (he was the son Bernard and Margaret Julia Barnes, of Acton, Middlesex): “Lieut. G.F. Barnes, a Londoner, drove into the enemy lines after a British infantry raid in the Medjez-el-Bab area, and helped by the Germans, evacuated a seriously injured man, and his two dead companions. “The raiding force had reached its objectives and was about to withdraw with prisoners when the Germans unexpectedly counter-attacked. The action was seen by Lt. Barnes, a regimental officer who was little over a mile away. He jumped into an ambulance and flying the Red Cross pennant made for the German position. “When he was about twenty yards away the Germans beckoned to

him to come behind their lines. An officer approached and after exchanging salutes, Lieut. Barnes indicated that he wished to take back the crew of a Bren gun carrier which had been knocked out. The German ordered his men to place the members of the crew on stretchers and carry them to the ambulance. “With the officer at the wheel, the ambulance was driven back a short distance and the wounded soldier, whose injuries included a broken leg, received attention. “Shortly before Lieut. Barnes drove off on his mercy errand the enemy had opened mortar fire from positions near the ambulance which was standing head-on to their lines. The Red Cross markings on the sides could, therefore, not be seen and it was mistaken for a military vehicle. Another ambulance drove up and placed in position where the Germans could see the Red Cross symbols. The mortar fire then ceased.” Aged 24, Lieutenant Barnes lost his life in the Medjez-el-Bab area on 4 May 1943. According to The Roll of the Fallen 19391945, privately published by the University of London OTC and STC, he was “killed in action”. I have not been able to establish whether his death was linked to the event described above or a separate action. He left a wife, Margaret, and young son, Jeremy, who was aged just five months. His grave can be found in the Commonwealth War Grave Commission’s Medjez-el-Bab War Cemetery. Peter Baxter. By email

BELOW: A view of Medjez-el-Bab War Cemetery. The grave reference of Lieutenant Barnes’ last resting place is 9. A. 16. (Commonwealth War Grave Commission)

THE SINKING OF U-489 SIR – Following Chris Goss’ article “Die Another Day” in the April issue, I wonder if your readers might be interested in the following information on Oberleutnant zur See Adalbert Schmandt, commander of the U-boat U-489 which features in the piece? Schmandt was one of the survivors of the sinking of the submarine on 4 August 1943. A subsequent Allied report on the sinking and interrogation of the captured crew members noted that “several prisoners stated that U.489’s original destination was Japan. One stated that after ten days at sea she received a signal ordering her to an operational area south of Madagascar. Another stated that she was to be out four months. Still another stated that she was originally assigned to Lorient which base was later changed to Bordeaux.” As regards 33-year-old Schmandt, the same report provides this description of him: “He was a man of little education, and had served in the German Merchant Navy for ten years before the war. He was a long standing member of the Nazi party, having joined during a three year period of unemployment before Hitler’s rise to power, and was full of gratitude for what the party had done for him. “He had set and lofty ideas on the duties of an officer and managed to inoculate a high degree of security consciousness in his crew. U.489 was said to be his first command, but he had served in U-boats for some time, having done a period as Officer of the Watch in U.D.5.” Interestingly, the description of Schmandt ends with a note that he had also served aboard another submarine that your magazine has recently featured, the captured Royal Navy’s HMS Seal. The account on Schmandt concludes with the remark that he “himself would not discuss his career”. Tony Page. By email.

NO DISTINCTION!

The author of the Letter of the Month may select a book of their choice (maximum value £25) from the extensive range of titles available at www.pen-and-sword.co.uk 22

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SIR – It was good to read your review of Sean Rayment’s book Tales from the Special Forces Club in the April issue. Your reviewer, however, referred to ‘The Club’ as a ‘gentleman’s club’. In fact, nothing is further from the truth. When set up after the Second World War, after the disbandment of the SOE, it was established from the start as a rankless and sexless institution, something that continues to this day. The criteria for joining depends on what you do (or did) and not what you are. At the monthly President’s Night I attended at the Club a few weeks ago the fair sex was well represented – and as full members too. Name and address supplied.

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‘Britain at War’ Magazine, Green Arbor, Rectory Road, Storrington, West Sussex, RH20 4EF. [email protected]

SURVIVING FIRST WORLD WAR GUNS

Following Simon Hamon’s article on the war trophies on Guernsey that we featured in the February Issue, he was contacted by Bernard Plumier who had information on three more surviving First World War German 13.5cm Kanone 09 guns. The first of these, the one residing in the Botanical Gardens in Wellington, New Zealand, was also featured by Simon in his article, having been restored and placed on public display in 2006. This gun is missing its shield, which is believed to have been partially destroyed during the First World War, there being some corresponding shrapnel or fragment

damage to the left side of the barrel. On his website (details follow) Bernard also notes that the gun was captured near La Vacquerie by the New Zealand Division during an attack against the Hindenburg line. Bernard points out that a further surviving 13.5cm Kanone 09 gun can be found in Entebbe, Uganda. Described as being in a very good state of preservation, this artillery piece now forms part of a monument “offered by the ‘beloved’ President Idi Amin Dada to the Ugandese people after the Tzahal raid on Entebbe in 1976”. Markings on the breech provide the number “103” and the information that it was manufactured by Krupp AG Essen in 1917. The final 13.5cm Kanone 09 gun that Bernard had been aware of – though it is only the barrel that has survived in this instance – can be seen in the United States. Also manufactured by Krupp AG Essen in 1917, but this time with the number 128, the barrel is displayed on a transportation carriage. It forms part of a First

World War memorial in the city of Easton, Pennsylvania. The images seen here, taken by Bernard, are of this gun. Bernard has compiled a fascinating database of surviving artillery pieces. For more information please visit his website at: www.passioncompassion1418.com

BE

Co (B Co

GIBSON OVER DERWENT DAM SIR – On page 66 of your May issue there is a photo of a Lancaster’s port engines which is said to have been taken from Guy Gibson’s Lancaster G for George during a training mission over the Derwent Dam. I believe this is actually a still taken during the making of the 1955 film The Dam Busters for the following reasons: 1) The single propeller spinner visible in the photo is a pale colour; ‘Upkeep’ Lancasters had black spinners. 2) The exhaust stubs are visible. Like most wartime Lancasters the ‘Upkeep’ aircraft had exhaust shrouds. 3) The paintwork is visibly chipped and faded. The ‘Upkeep’ Lancasterss were almost brand-new, having been manufactured only weeks before the raid. Almost certainly the picture shows one of the four Mark VII Lancasters with pale spinners used in the film. Dr Colin Barron. By email.

RIGHT: The photograph referred to by Dr Barron – an image said to have been taken from Guy Gibson’s Lancaster during one of the pre-raid training flights over the Derwent Dam. (Courtesy Vic Hallam, Derwent Valley Museum) JUNE 2013

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‘Britain at War’ Magazine, Green Arbor, Rectory Road, Storrington, West Sussex, RH20 4EF. [email protected]

SWEEPS OVER SUMATRA SIR – I was particularly interested in the article “Sweeps Over Sumatra” in the April issue, as I have in my collection the Distinguished Service Cross awarded to Lieutenant Dennis Levitt who was mentioned by the author Andrew Thomas. Lieutenant Levitt was killed in the last of the three raids around Palembang, the last one being against Soengei Gerong. Levitt had joined the Fleet Air Arm in May 1941 and was posted to the Fleet Air Arm’s 1770 Naval Air Squadron in November 1943, the first unit to operate the Firefly. After the work up on type, the squadron embarked on HMS Indefatigable and sailed for Norwegian waters. Levitt took part in five strikes against Tirpitz, during which the role of the Firefly was flak suppression. He was awarded his DSC for gallantry and determination shown in the sorties known as Operation Goodwood, though the first operation that 1770 NAS took part in against Tirpitz was on the 17th July 1944, just prior to Goodwood. During Operation Lentil Levitt was the first 1770 NAS pilot to claim a Japanese fighter, a Ki 43 on the 4th January. On

Meridian 1, the raid against Palembang, he claimed a further Ki 43, with a shared Ki 43 on Meridian 2. This shared kill was with Sub Lieutenant J.P. Stott (also mentioned in the article). Unfortunately Levitt, along with his observer, Lieutenant J.F. Webb, was lost on 29 January 1945; both men have no known grave. Levitt was further recommended for a Mention in Despatches for his part in the raid, but the recommendation was unsuccessful. Had Levitt survived, I can only speculate he would have had further success and matched Stott’s claims. Unfortunately Levitt does not seem to appear on the Fleet Air Arm’s archive website and quite a few books do not mention his success. Christopher Shores’ book Air War for Burma, Volume 3, does correctly list Levitt’s claim. The son of Thomas and Sarah Levitt, of Windlestone, Co. Durham, he was killed in action age 23 and is remembered on the Lee on Solent memorial. Mark Hillier. By email.

ABOVE: Lieutenant Dennis Levitt and his

DSC.

GRENADE IDENTIFIED SIR – Recently you featured a First World War French P3 Grenade, the mechanism of which had puzzled us and you asked your readers if they could help. We had made an assumption that when the grenade landed the plunger was forced backwards. But as Mr Paul Spence explained, we had it all wrong. The French P 3 Grenade was a simple impact grenade. It functioned in the following manner: The pin was pulled out and the grenade thrown using a high angle trajectory, the cloth drogue would catch the air and slide back till its inner tube stopped on the base of the handle. This rearward movement released a spring lever which is holding down another lever which has a stud on it that is inside the metal part of the handle, the studded lever secures the internal striker. When it springs up it releases the striker which is now free to move inside the handle, but is held back by a small creep spring. Upon impact with the ground the striker shoots forward overcoming the creep spring and hits the sensitive detonator, which ignites the explosive, shattering the grenade into lethal fragments. Attached is an original diagram from a French manual that you will find useful. Mr Paul Spence has a website that your readers may find interesting. It can be found at: www.paul-spence1964.com Mel Gould. Loughborough Carillon Tower & War Memorial Museum.

LETTER UPDATE SIR - I have sent in some corrections to the letter, “A Staged Photograph”, in your April Issue. Because of email traffic difficulties, the published text was not able to be corrected before printing. While the New Zealand Government did buy 30 Wellington 1c aircraft for the fledgling RNZAF, these were to be flown

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back to New Zealand by crews sent to the UK for that purpose. There is no evidence, for or against, that 75 (NZ) Squadron RAF received any of them. It is possible that James Allen Ward’s VC action was 6/7 July 1941: the award was gazetted on 5th August. Subsequently, a Confidential Letter was received by Ward

demanding his presence at Buckingham Palace on the 23rd September for presentation of the medal by King George VI. Sadly, “Jimmy” was shot down on 15/16th September, so he was not presented with his award in person. R.J. Moore. New Zealand.

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FINDING THE FALLEN Some 35,000 Australian servicemen who were killed in action during the wars of the twentieth century still remain missing. The responsibility for dealing with notifications of the discovery of human remains, as well as following up on information that may lead to the recovery of any of these missing servicemen, falls to the Australian Army’s Unrecovered War Casualties unit. As well as examining its work, Ken Wright details a number of case studies from the First World War JUNE 2013 through to Vietnam.

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n 20 August 1918, Private 151 Henry James Wright, ‘A’ Company, 14th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, wrote to his parents from the Western Front recording his recent action and his nostalgia for home. In 1914, Henry had been one of the first to join the AIF and had not been back to Australia since he left, a period of forty months. In another of Henry’s letters there was a deep sense of frustration and despair. “Dear mother, I am ever so grateful it has fallen to me as the eldest of our four boys to carry on,” he wrote. “It does make it easier to know my brothers are safe home. We boys had as good a home as anyone could wish for. I am applying for my furlough to Australia but of course will probably have to wait my turn. I think I shall just about go out of my head at the thought of coming back to Aussie again. Well now dear mother, I draw my letter to a close hoping this finds you all in the best of health and fondest love to all. I remain your loving son.” A Gallipoli veteran – he was wounded by shrapnel in an attack on Hill 60 on 21 August 1915 (see page 41) – Henry desperately wanted to spend Christmas

ABOVE: Two members of the Australian Army’s specialist Unrecovered War Casualties unit, Captain Henry Wu on the left and Case Manager Ms Dale Morley, in the centre, cross a river in Oro Province in Papua New Guinea whilst escorted by a local guide. (All images courtesy of the Commonwealth of Australia/ Australian Department of Defence unless started otherwise) with his mother, father, wife, brothers and sisters and be able to hold in his arms for the first time, his baby son, whom he had never seen. Unfortunately, it would never happen. Thirty days later, at 16.00 hours on the afternoon of 19 September 1918, Henry was killed by shell fire whilst he slept. He was 30 years old. According to the official notification of his death, Private Wright had been “partially buried and badly wounded in the head” in the explosion and that he died instantly. The report also included information on what happened to his body: “His burial place was in the vicinity of Ascension Wood, 3,500 yards South West of Bellicourt.” On 18 August 1923, Henry’s wife, Pauline, who had enquired about the location of her husband’s grave, received a reply from the Australian Department of Defence which, in part, said: “Unfortunately, the present site of your husband’s grave cannot now be identified and as no record exists of his exhumation and removal to the Bellicourt British Cemetery, the only possible action remaining is to provide for the inclusion of his name and regimental particulars, etc., on one of the collective memorials to the 25

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TOP: An aerial view of the Australian National

Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux which was erected to commemorate all Australian soldiers who fought in France and Belgium during the First World War. It also bears the names of those who died and whose graves are not known, the latter being over 10,000 in number. (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

ABOVE LEFT: One of the many missing

Australian servicemen: Private 151 Henry James Wright, ‘A’ Company, 14th Battalion, Australian Imperial Forces. (Author)

ABOVE RIGHT: Sergeant Jeff Lyon, part

of a Field Team from the Australian Army’s specialist Unrecovered War Casualties unit, is pictured as he prepares to recover remains at a remote site near Eora Creek in the Central Province of Papua New Guinea. The creek was the site of a significant battle during the Kokoda Trail Campaign which was fought from July to November 1942. The unit was acting on information which was hoped would lead to the recovery of another missing Australian serviceman.

missing in France and Belgium.” To this day, Henry is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux in France. He is just one of the 35,000 Australians who have been classified as “killed in action” and 26

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have no known grave from the First World War through to the end of the Korean War. * The Unrecovered War Casualties-Army (UWC-A) is the Australian Army unit that scours the old battlefields of Asia, Europe and the Pacific with the sole purpose of recovering, identifying and providing a fitting internment in a military cemetery for long-lost servicemen. Their work achieves, when successful, a closure that is not only very important to relatives and friends, but to the nation as a whole. The present UWC-A team consists of three full-time staff members; Brian Manns, the Manager, and two investigation case managers, Alan Cooper for Europe and Ms Dale Morley for AsiaPacific. There is also a team of nine Army Reserve officers, who undertake the roles of investigator and researcher, and a forensic osteologist (who is involved in the study of bones). In addition, and when required, the UWC-A employs additional Reserve officers from all branches of the Armed Forces who have appropriate forensics skills such as physical anthropology, odontology (forensic

dentist) and archaeology. The unit can also call upon Army Reserve pathologists if required. Located in Army Headquarters, Canberra, Brian Manns explains the UWCA’s operating procedure: “We will receive a notification that human remains have been found and it is believed that they are Australian. These notifications can come from a variety of sources that include Australian Defence staff at an overseas High Commission or Embassy, the office of the Australian War Graves within the Department of Veteran Affairs or the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, or occasionally from individuals who are resident in other countries. “We assess the veracity of the notification. In some instances we request that the Australian Defence staff at the High Commission or Embassy make a preliminary assessment. When support from Australian Defence staff is unavailable we might ask for photographs or other evidence of the presence of remains from the informant. If a written submission is received, we examine it carefully.” It is from this point that the JUNE 2013

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UWC-A can become more intimately involved.

THE SECOND WORLD WAR During a service at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Port Moresby (Bomana) Cemetery on 1 December 2009, 91-year-old Helen Kirton, and 70-year-old Fred Logan attended the burial of four Australian soldiers killed in New Guinea during Second World War. For Mrs Kirton, it was an opportunity to at last pay her respects to her brother Lance Sergeant Jim Wheeler of the 2/1st Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery. For Fred Logan, it was his chance to say farewell to his father, who he had never known. Twenty-three-year-old Lance Sergeant Wheeler had been a member of a Forward Observer party attached to a US Army battalion near Sanananda when he was shot by the Japanese while trying to save his wounded Forward Observer Officer. For his part, 30-yearold Lieutenant Talbot Logan was leading his platoon from the 2/12 Battalion AIF during a night attack against Japanese positions at Giropa Point near Buna when he was shot and killed on 1 January 1943.

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Both soldiers were given battlefield burial. However, their graves could not be located by the grave registration units during the battlefield clearances. This remained the case until the UWC-A team, acting on information received, carried out investigations and recovery of four Australians. Sadly, despite the best efforts of the UWC-A team, the two other Australians’ remains were unable to be identified due to the lack of information. They were buried side by side with Tim Logan and Jim Wheeler with their headstones recording “An Australian Soldier – Known only to God”. “If it is then decided that an investigation is justified,” noted Brian Manns, “we assign a case officer (usually an Army Reserve officer on our staff) to conduct the investigation. The investigation will assess all information received and, when related to a discovery, we commence our research to gather historical data that will include the history of fighting in the area of interest, what units fought there and who might remain unaccounted for. We also build a picture of Allied and enemy activity as well as our own.”

INDONESIA In the dark early morning hours of 21 March 1966, an Australian four-man patrol from 2 Squadron, Special Air Service

ABOVE: The Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux was unveiled on 22 July 1938 by King George VI, whose words during the service were broadcast directly to Australia. The Australian servicemen named in this register died in the battlefields of the Somme, Arras, the German advance of 1918 and the Advance to Victory. The memorial stands within Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, which was made after the Armistice when graves were brought in from other burial grounds in the area and from the battlefields. (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) BELOW LEFT: An important part of the work undertaken in the field by members of UWC-A is liaising with the local population. This photograph shows Captain Andrew Bernie doing just that during his unit’s work in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. BELOW RIGHT: Squadron Leader Tony Lowe, an RAAF archaeologist attached to the UWC-A, exhumes remains reported to be Australian. Regiment waded into the Sekayam River in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Its mission was to reconnoitre the small Dayak village of Entabang on the opposite bank in order to determine the extent of the Indonesian military force stationed there. The strength of the river’s currents, swollen by heavy rain that had fallen upstream, swept all four men off their feet and into the inky darkness. Two of the men, Lieutenant Keith Hudson and Private Robert Moncrieff, were never seen again. What had become of them remained a

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ABOVE: One of the Second World War casualties whose last resting place was established through the work of the UWC-A was Private John Whitworth – seen here. Whitworth was a member of an Australian Z Special Unit patrol that was deployed to the Celebes in the Netherlands East Indies (now Sulawesi in Indonesia) in June 1945, in order to try and locate the crew of a US aircraft that was reported to have been shot down. The patrol encountered a strong Japanese force and two members of the patrol, Lieutenant Scobell McFerran-Rogers and an interpreter from Sulawesi named Roestan were killed and their bodies not recovered. Private Whitworth became separated from the patrol and was not seen again. The bodies of the three men were identified recently at Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery, by the UWC-A. ABOVE RIGHT: Mr Henry Fawkes, a surviving

member of Z Special Unit and the patrol during which Lieutenant Scobell McFerranRogers, Private John Whitworth and Roestan died, pays tribute to his fallen comrades during the rededication service at their graves in Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery.

BELOW: Lieutenant Scobell McFerran-Rogers. mystery until a joint Australian Army and Indonesian Armed Forces investigation team travelled to the area of the Sekayam River in May 2009. The Australians in the team were from the UWC-A and the Special Air Service Regiment. After exhaustive investigative work, the team located several local Dayak men who pointed out one possible burial site. They also provided information that the team hoped would lead to a second burial site. The unit returned to the area in October 2009 and after almost two weeks of 28

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searching and excavating in two locations beside the Sekayam River, they recovered remains that were believed to be those of Hudson and Moncrieff. Further investigations back in Australia, including examination of artefacts recovered with the bodies and scientific analysis, confirmed that they were those of the two missing soldiers. Arrangements were made to repatriate them to Australia in April 2010 aboard a Royal Australian Air Force C130 aircraft. The two men were duly welcomed home on Tuesday, 13 April 2010, during a moving ramp ceremony at RAAF Pearce near Perth. Amongst those present were members of their families, their regiment and other officials. Thanks to the tireless work of all UWC-A staff, past and present, the return of these two men means that there are no longer any Australians missing in action since the end of the Korean War. The process of recovery after a soldier’s remains are unearthed is described by Brian Manns: “In the case of a discovery we will then plan field work that will normally involve excavation and recovery. Such fieldwork will involve a field team that includes the assigned case officer, forensic specialists – archaeologist, physical anthropologist, odontologist, scenes of crime recorder and administrative support staff. “The priority of the field team will be to confirm that any remains are Australian and we do try to do this at the time of excavation or recovery. When the remains are confirmed as not being Australian, we then return them to the ground or the

person[s] who made the discovery and advise the appropriate country’s officials in the country of the discovery. “If the remains are confirmed as Australian, or the nationality cannot be confirmed, we recover the remains and keep them in our custody while we conduct further investigations. We may extract a DNA profile and undertake other forensic work. “An investigation could take more than a year to complete and the aim will always be to identify recovered remains by name. Once the investigation has run its course and we have confirmed that the remains are Australian, with or without a name, the Army will then give them a funeral with normal military honours. If we have found family members, that family will be included in the funeral.”

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE Ninety-four years after the Battle of Fromelles, and following two years of painstaking excavation, recovery and identification work by the Fromelles Project, 250 Australian and British soldiers were reinterred with full military honours in individual graves at the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery. The Fromelles Project was a joint Australian Army and Ministry of Defence project to investigate, recover, identify and reJUNE 2013

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inter the remains of Australian and British soldiers who were killed during the battle and later buried by the German forces. The Australian element of the ongoing identification of the buried soldiers is managed by the UWC-A. Amongst those who became involved in the project was Jim Braid. “One of my maternal grandfather’s two brothers, Private Downie Dodd, No.4770, ‘B’ Company, 56th Battalion AIF, was killed at the Battle of Fromelles,” he recalls. “This was the first Australian engagement in France and was made by the newlyformed 5th Division, made up of Gallipoli survivors and new recruits. The battle commenced at 6.00pm on 19th July, 1916. In the following 24 hours they suffered 5,533 casualties, the worst loss ever in Australian history. This was made up of 1,917 dead, 3,120 wounded and 496 taken prisoner. “Dodd’s identity disk had been returned to his family by the Germans and a Red Cross telegram gave information about a German Death Voucher that had been translated and confirmed that Private Dodd fell in the vicinity of Fromelles. Dodd’s battalion was one of

the reserve battalions that didn’t go into the battle but he was killed close to the German lines. The 54th Battalion’s history confirmed that during the engagement, his Company was engaged in digging a communication trench across the battlefield. Because of ABOVE: Australian and British graves in the new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery. FAR LEFT: One of the many missing soldiers identified following the work at Fromelles: 40-year-old Corporal David Frederick Livingston. Serving in the 29th Battalion AIF at the time of his death, Livingston was born at Taraville, Queensland, in 1876. He was a grazier, married, and living at 144 Simpson Street, East Melbourne, when he enlisted in November 1914. He now lies in Plot III, Row D, Grave 5 in Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery.

ABOVE RIGHT: Flight Lieutenant Lisa Snell, a

logistics officer from the RAAF Headquarters, pictured by the name of her great, great uncle, Private Norman Leslie Brumm, on the First World War section of the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial. Private Brumm was serving with the 29th Battalion (Reinforcement), AIF when he was killed on 19 July 1916 at the Battle of Fromelles. His remains, uncovered during the Fromelles project, were confirmed by DNA comparisons with Flight Lieutenant Snell’s grandfather and great uncle. As a result of this identification, Private Brumm’s identity disc was found in archives in Germany and returned to Australia. He now lies in Plot I, Row B, Grave 5 in Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery.

the huge casualties sustained, there was a shortage of ‘bomb throwers’ and volunteers were called from the men digging the communication trench. Bomb throwers obviously had to be near the enemy positions which would account for him being so close to the Germans when killed. “My mother always wanted to go to France to see his grave and could not understand that he did not have one. Lambis Englezos, a Greek-born Melbourne man who had a fascination for the Fromelles engagement, visited the place many times and then became aware that the numbers of bodies buried here and in surrounding cemeteries were incomplete and that 163 men were not accounted for. “He worked through Red Cross wounded and missing files for each of the 1,299 casualties and believed that, from the files, 175 appeared to have

LEFT: An enlistment photograph of Private

Peter Gillson of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment. Private Peter Raymond Gillson (aged 20) and Lance Corporal Richard Harold John “Tiny” Parker (24) were both Regular Army soldiers with ‘A’ Company, 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, attached to the US Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade when, on 8 November 1965, during Operation Hump in Bien Hoa province, both men were observed by their comrades to be hit repeatedly by enemy machine-gun fire at close range. Despite valiant attempts, their bodies could not be recovered owing to the heavy enemy fire which pinned down their company.

RIGHT: An enlistment photograph of Lance

Corporal Richard Parker. The remains of Lance Corporal Parker and Private Gillson were located in southern Vietnam in April 2007 and repatriated to Australia in June the same year.

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ABOVE: The identification discs of Lance Corporal Richard Parker after they were recovered during the excavation of his and Gillson’s remains northeast of Bien Hoa in southern Vietnam. RIGHT: A photograph of Private David Fisher taken at the 1st Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat in Phuoc Tuy province of South Vietnam. The location is now within the area of Baria-Vung Tau province. He is wearing American camouflage clothing and Australian webbing and is holding an Australian issue L1A1 Self Loading Rifle.

MAIN PICTURE BELOW: Members of the UWC-A pictured examining the site where it was believed that Private David Fisher was buried. The team’s archaeologist can be seen kneeling in the centre of the photo (blue and white checked shirt with tan coloured hat with a black hat band) using a trowel to remove human remains from the primary site. In the background can be seen the small mountain named Be Bac and just to the right and beyond it Nui Chua Chan near Highway 1, also in Dong Nai Province. been buried behind the German lines. He started a working list of names of those he believed had been buried by the Germans which included Private Dodd. “Lambis began to collect evidence to support his theory. There had been a German light rail that went past the site. There were photos of the line taken by a German photographer showing a flat top carriage stacked with British bodies from 19/7/16. Archival aerial photos before and after the battle showed burial pits in the later photo. German records dated 21/7/16 showed orders to prepare a burial site for 400 bodies. “With this information, Lambis persuaded the Australian Government

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to investigate. In turn, in 2007 it commissioned a team from Glasgow University to undertake a non-invasive investigation. It was confirmed that Australian and British bodies were buried there, resulting in a combined Australian and British Government effort to exhume the bodies, identify them if possible or attempt identification through DNA samples. The bodies would be re-interred with full military honours in a new cemetery. The bodies of 250 men were recovered. Of those, 94 were identified as Australian soldiers and since then with DNA testing a further 3 British and 111 Australians have been named.” Unfortunately for Jim Braid and his relatives, the DNA option was not available as the testing must come through the male line to procure a match. Dodd was one of five boys but after only two generations no males exist from that side. Attempts were made to research other suitable people in the UK and one distant relative was found, but his DNA was not conclusive.” Despite this, Jim believes that his grandfather’s brother is buried in the new cemetery.

KOREA If the remains of any Australian servicemen are ever recovered from the Korean War, they will be buried in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery at Busan (formerly

Pusan) in South Korea. This is the final resting place of Australian servicemen killed during that conflict. Listed on the cemetery’s Wall of Remembrance are the names of 339 Australians who died whilst serving with United Nations’ forces. Fortyfour of them have no known grave; of this number the fate of forty-two is unknown. The other two Australians commemorated on the Wall of Remembrance at Busan are Sub Lieutenant Richard Sinclair of 805 Squadron, RAN and Private John Hall. Sinclair was killed in action on 7 December 1951; his body was recovered and buried at sea. Private Hall was lost at sea whilst en route to Australia from Japan on 3 October 1952. The missing Australians in Korea represent all three services and comprise twenty-three infantrymen, three pilots from the Fleet Air Arm and eighteen Royal Australian Air Force pilots. The Army missing came from the three infantry battalions that formed the Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) at the time. They resulted from the withdrawal of United Nations forces from North Korea at the end of 1950, the set-piece battles

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of 1951, and from the intensive patrolling and raiding of the static warfare that set in from 1951 onwards. The Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Australian Navy missing comprised aircrew downed over enemy territory. Those from the RAN served with the Fleet Air Arm aboard the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney. The two Australian units that fought throughout the conflict, 3 RAR and 77 Squadron RAAF, incurred the bulk of the missing. Apart from Sub Lieutenant Sinclair and Private Hall, the missing servicemen all lie somewhere in North Korea or the demilitarised zone with South Korea. Many Korean War veterans have provided new avenues for investigation by giving first-hand accounts and fresh insights into the circumstances surrounding the loss of many Australian servicemen. Since 1953, North Korea has pursued an isolationist policy that has prevented UWC-A investigation teams from conducting recovery searches on its soil or in the demilitarised zone. Nevertheless, the Australian government has not forgotten its missing men and continues diplomatic negotiations in the hope that one day, some, if not all, of the missing servicemen will be found.

VIETNAM Private David John Elkington Fisher was a member of the Special Air Service Regiment on patrol in an area to the west of the Nui May Tao Mountains in what was then Long Khanh province

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in Vietnam. On 27 September 1969, after a number of contacts, the patrol was lifted out of the area in a “hot extraction”; it was during this retrieval that Private Fisher fell from the rope that suspended him below the Royal Australian Air Force helicopter into the thick jungle below. Several air and ground searches over the course of the next ten days failed to find any trace of Fisher. He was officially listed as missing in action, presumed dead and a death certificate was issued. In January 2008, and following on from successful recoveries of three other previously missing Australian soldiers in Vietnam, the Deputy Chief of the Australian Army directed that the loss of Private Fisher, the last missing Australian soldier from the Vietnam War, be investigated by the Australian Army History Unit. In time, the UWC-A became the principal investigating unit with some staff transferred from the Australian Army History Unit. An important breakthrough came from a member of the Australian Vietnamese community who told investigators that in early October 1969, he and another soldier (from the North) had found the body of a dead American (Fisher like all SASR soldiers wore US camouflage pattern uniforms) and had buried his body in a shallow grave beside the Suoi Sap. Acting on this lead, the UWC-A began a detailed and exhaustive investigation. It was an investigation that yielded results. On 28 August 2008, Private Fisher’s identity disc, wrapped in black tape, was

ABOVE LEFT: The recovery of the remains of

Private David Fisher underway. Two members of the Australian recovery team, Mr Brian Manns (centre) and Warrant Officer Class 2 Stan Albert (far right), are pictured with locally employed Vietnamese assistants. The work point is washing all of the soil excavated from the recovery site under the direction of the two Australians.

ABOVE: The identification disc of Private David Fisher. The disc was located using a metal detector operated by a Vietnamese People’s Army engineer. After careful cleaning, the name, rank and number of Private Fisher was clearly visible. found along with human remains beside the Suoi Sap stream. Private Fisher’s remains were repatriated back to Australia in October 2008. As a result of this, all of those Australian soldiers who were killed in action in Vietnam, but who had not been accorded a proper burial at the time of their death, have now been found and returned to their families. * The UWC-A’s work is far from complete, and at present the unit is investigating over eighty cases in countries such as Papua New Guinea, France, East Timor and Malaysia. Whilst it is a fact of life that most of the 35,000 casualties will remain “missing, the team is still able to say, with much pride, that “we haven’t forgotten”. ■ author would like to extend his grateful thanks · toTheBrian Manns and the Australian Department of Defence for their assistance with this article, and to Jim Braid for permission to use his personal letters.

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DOWN IN THE HOLE:

CHURCHILL’S SECRET WAR ROOMS

Under an old building in Westminster was a secret establishment from where the political and military leaders of the country directed the course of the Second World War. Officially called the Cabinet War Rooms, to those who worked and lived there, it was “The Hole”.

I

t was in 1936 that the Committee of Imperial Defence accepted that in the event of another war London would be attacked from the air and therefore the Cabinet and the Chiefs of Staff would need a place where they could meet that was safe from the bombs. This eventually took the form of what became known as the Cabinet War Rooms. With an initial budget of £500, Royal Marine Major Leslie Hollis and a civil servant, Lawrence Burgess, were assigned to find the most suitable spot for the War Rooms. After a careful survey, the place chosen was in the cellars of a building shared by the Office of Works and the

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Board of Education. In Storey’s Gate, it was within walking of Downing Street, the Foreign Office, Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. Once the location had been decided upon, the cellars had to be suitably fitted out without arousing suspicion, as it was considered to be absolutely essential that the War Rooms should be kept a closelyguarded secret. This task was handed to George Rance, an ex-Sergeant in the Rifle Brigade who was employed by the Office of Works. Described as an old soldier who knew how to scrounge, Rance cleared out the old cellars and fitted them out with tables, chairs, lights, camp beds and a few

ABOVE: The Map Room in the Cabinet War Rooms. Described as having been “the informational hub of the entire site”, everything has remained exactly as it was when the lights were finally switched off on 16 August 1945. The war rooms were stateof-the-art in 1939 and the Map Room was lit by the first fluorescent tubes in Britain. (All images courtesy of the Imperial War Museum unless stated otherwise) BELOW LEFT: The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, sits at his desk in the Map Room at the Cabinet War Rooms during the Second World War. Beside him, Captain Richard Pim RNVR takes a telephone call. (Imperial War Museum; HU44788) supplies. As one of his regular jobs was ordering furniture for the Office of Works, in order not to attract attention, when he submitted a genuine order for, say, a chair, he would order an extra one for the War Rooms. To prevent anyone stumbling upon what was happening in the cellars, special locks were fitted to the doors and only Rance held the keys. Gradually, maps and documents from the Admiralty, the War Office and the Foreign Office were smuggled into the War Rooms, addressed simply “C/o Mr Rance, Office of Works, Whitehall” and this became a code word for the entire operation. To those who worked there it simply became known as “The Hole” and they referred to themselves as moles. The initial allowance of £500 was only enough to buy wooded beams to shore up the ceilings and in due course more money was extracted from the Treasury. This enabled steel doors to be fitted and air locks for barriers in case of a gas attack. The rooms were air conditioned with the air-ducts being carried to another building half-a-mile away. Electric power was channelled to the cellar through armoured cables, but inside the cables ran along the ceilings. They were left exposed so that they could be repaired quickly and easily in the event of damage. Pumps were also provided as the cellars were at the water level of the Thames and were liable to flooding if subject to a direct hit. An emergency electricity generating plant was also installed. An independent water supply was also needed. For this they employed a water JUNE 2013

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diviner. After a day of wandering around the cellars, he pointed to a spot and said “Dig there”. They dug and sure enough found water. At first a portable stove was the only means by which hot meals could be prepared but later a fully-equipped kitchen was built with a dining room for the General Staff. * By the time that war came to the UK the Central War Rooms, as they were initially known, were ready to be occupied having been declared operational on 27 August 1939. It was here at 11.00 hours on 3 September 1939, that General Ismay, the Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence, had looked at his watch and told those gathered in the secret rooms that “we are at war with Germany”. With the outbreak of war it was quickly realised that the title Central War Rooms led to the assumption that the facility’s role was to provide co-ordination for other underground command rooms that existed and so its name was changed to the Cabinet War Rooms. The role of the War Rooms was given in a report in

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October 1939 as: 1) To maintain an up to date general picture of the war in all parts of the world for the information of the War Cabinet and the Chiefs of Staff; 2) To provide a channel for communicating very important military news to His Majesty the King and members of the War Cabinet through the War Cabinet Office; and 3) To provide a protected meeting place for the War Cabinet and Chiefs of Staff and the Chiefs of Staff organisation under air raid conditions.1 It was also described as housing the “central nucleus” of government consisting of the Prime Minister and his private office, the War Cabinet Office, War Cabinet ministers, General Headquarters Home Forces and parts of the Air Ministry and Treasury. Though the War Rooms were now equipped and manned they had still not been fully protected. Work on The Hole’s defences continued through the Blitz, the hammering and banging seemingly angering Winston Churchill more than the German bombs. On 22 October 1940, the decision was taken to increase the protection of the

ABOVE: Another view of the Map Room. The so-called “beauty chorus” of colour-coded telephones, the books and documents piled on desks, even the rationed sugar cubes found in an envelope belonging to Wing Commander John Heagerty (which was located in the bottom drawer of his desk), are all as they were left when the Cabinet War Rooms were abandoned. BELOW LEFT: Map Room officers at work in the Cabinet War Rooms during the war. Four Map Room officers, representing each of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Home Security, sat either side of the long table in the centre of the room. The Duty Officer was selected from each service in turn and occupied the seat at the head of the table. The RAF officer sitting at the end of the table has been identified as Wing Commander John Heagerty. (Imperial War Museum; MH27688) BELOW RIGHT: One of the many telephones that formed the “beauty chorus” in the Map Room – they were colour coded and used to communicate with intelligence services, other command centres or war rooms, or the War Rooms’ own switchboard. The black ’phones with green receivers were fitted with scramblers, a device that rendered the conversation meaningless and just a jumble of noise until it was unscrambled at the receiving end. This particular telephone connected the War Rooms with the War Office.

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“The most disturbing side of the naval watchkeeper’s duty was one that never ended – the plotting of convoys on the chart. When a heavy attack developed I found nothing so heartrending as the constant reduction of the number of ships in a convoy. One had to take down the cardboard symbol from the chart, erase the scribbled total on it and substitute a lower figure, perhaps only to repeat the process within a short while. Always our chart showed convoys at sea and always, it seemed, we saw one or more under attack.” Lieutenant-Commander D.P. Capper RNVR A Map Room Officer between 1941 and 1945

Cabinet War Rooms by the installation of a massive layer of concrete known as “the Slab”. This layer of reinforced concrete filled the space which was once occupied by a suite of offices just below the ground floor of the building which was immediately above the cellars.

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It was calculated that this could withstand the force of a direct hit from a 500lb bomb. Further protection was in the form of wire netting which was woven around the airshafts and the stair wells. This protection was actually more theoretical than practical, as Lawrence Burgis, the Assistant Secretary to the War Cabinet, explained after the war: “We didn’t know how unsafe we really were. True, a direct hit wouldn’t have caused us any harm, but if a bomb had come in at an angle it would have demolished us. The engineers told us later that under air attack, the fortress was one of the least safe places in London.” Unaware of its vulnerability, one night during the Blitz when a 1,000lb bomb fell within fifty yards of The Hole, Churchill complained because it wasn’t closer. “Help us test our

TOP: When in the Cabinet Room, Churchill

occupied the large wooden seat in front of the map of the world and which is seen here on the left the view near the camera.

BELOW LEFT: This large map of the world hanging on the southern wall of the Map Room was used to plot the position of convoys and the movements of individual warships and merchant vessels – the thousands of tiny dots which cover the surface of the map are pinholes left by markers shifted around by the map officers. During the war this map became so perforated that the outlines of the principal convoy routes could be seen from the other end of the room. ABOVE and BELOW: Two close-ups of sections of the convoy map showing the waters around Gibraltar (above) and the route to Malta. Note the wear on the map’s surface near the latter.

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War Rooms once, in October 1939. In fact, if the invasion of Britain had become a reality, the War Rooms were defended above ground. The Home Guard manned a pillbox at the corner of the building, and just inside the main door of the building above was a unit of Grenadier Guards – they inevitably became known as Rance’s Guards. Inside the War Rooms were men of the Royal Marines, and fitted defences,” he reportedly grumbled. to their walls were a number rifle racks. On another occasion, when a bomb Should the Germans have penetrated the demolished part of No.10 Downing War Rooms these guns would have been Street, Churchill and his family moved passed out to help hold the place to the into a flat prepared for them in a suite last man. Churchill himself still had his of offices immediately over the cellars. service revolver from his time at the front This was known as the Annexe and its with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in the First defences consisted almost entirely of World War. steel shutters fitted to the windows. It * was intended that the Churchills would It was in the Cabinet Room and the retire to their quarters (a bedsitting room) below ground in the War Rooms when the Map Room where a number of key decisions of the war were made and bombing became intense. where the movements of armies, warships Typically, though, Churchill would and aircraft were plotted and kept up often refuse to retreat to The Hole. On to date. During the one night during a “If invasion comes this is structure’s operational particularly heavy two of the Cabinet raid, one of the where I shall sit. I shall life, War Rooms were of Prime Minister’s sit there until either the particular importance. aides insisted that he went down to the Germans are driven back, or One of these was the Map Room which underground bedsit. they carry me out dead.” was in constant use James Stewartand manned around Gordon takes up the Winston Churchill, May 1940 the clock by officers story: “In deference of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air to Mrs Churchill’s wishes, Churchill in bad grace acquiesced, bundling up his papers Force. These officers were responsible for producing a daily intelligence summary and shuffling downstairs in his slippers. for the King, Prime Minister and the He undressed, got into bed, remained Chiefs of Staff. for a minute. Then he got up again, The other key room was the Cabinet took his papers and began making his Room itself. After having visited this room way upstairs. The aide remonstrated but Churchill silenced him with ‘I agreed to go in May 1940, Churchill had declared: downstairs to the bedroom ... I have been “This is the room from which I will direct the war.” When the Cabinet met here, downstairs to the bedroom. I am now Churchill was always the first to enter, and going upstairs to work and later to sleep. We have both kept our words.”2 Churchill’s defiance was epitomised by the remark he made whilst pointing to his chair at the head of the underground Cabinet table in May 1940, shortly after taking office: “If invasion comes this is where I shall sit. I shall sit there until either the Germans are driven back, or they carry me out dead.” Prior to this time and until the German invasion of France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s War Cabinet had only assembled at the JUNE 2013

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ABOVE LEFT: Located alongside the Map

Room are the Prime Minister’s quarters. In July 1940 Churchill was given this room, the former Cabinet Room, for his personal use as a combined office and bedroom and this remained as his emergency accommodation until the end of the war. Though it has been described as “the most comfortable living conditions within the facility”, Churchill only slept overnight in the Cabinet War Room on three occasions. (Imperial War Museum; MH538)

ABOVE: The Cabinet Room. This was, in effect, the inner sanctum of British government, being the room used for meetings by the Prime Minister, a select few ministers and advisers of his War Cabinet and his Chiefs of Staff. Over 115 Cabinet meetings – approximately one in ten – were held here throughout the duration of the war. BELOW: The Office of Works representative, and Clerk of the Cabinet War Rooms, Mr George Rance, adjusts the weather indicator boards in the main corridor of the Cabinet War Rooms. When a heavy raid was in progress above, it was not unusual for the board bearing the word “Windy” to be put up. After the war, Rance stayed on as the civilian custodian of the site. (Imperial War Museum; HU43777) then around him would gather the men who would debate the vital issues of the moment. Here Churchill, who had made himself Minister of Defence, would meet the Chiefs of Staff, Alan Brooke, Dudley Pound and Sir Charles Portal. In total 115 Cabinet meetings were held at the Cabinet War Rooms, the last on 28 March 1945.3 It was also from this room, and that chair, that Churchill made four of his most famous radio broadcasts to the nation. The first was on 19 May 1940, after 35

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ABOVE: The main, or central, corridor in the Cabinet War Rooms, off which lay most of the principal rooms in the facility. In 1940 traverses were constructed at intervals down the corridor as a means of diffusing the effects of shock waves in the event of bombing raids over Westminster. Churchill took a keen interest in this work and often clambered over girders to proffer advice to the workmen bricklaying or the construction of the traverse. On one such occasion he leapt off a girder into a pool of liquid cement. ABOVE RIGHT: The Chiefs of Staff conference

room. One of the most remarkable items still held at the Cabinet War Rooms is the visitors’ book. Still with its cardboard case, this contains the signatures of many VIPs, including Winston Churchill, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, Dwight Eisenhower, Clement Attlee, Hugh Dalton, Field Marshal Smuts, Field Marshal Wavell, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding and Sholto Douglas.

RIGHT: The sparse and uninviting office-

bedroom of Brendan Bracken, Churchill’s Minister of Information between 20 July 1941 and 25 May 1945.

DEEP IN THE HOLE.indd 36

the Germans had broken through the French armies, when he encouraged Britons to arm themselves, and be men of valour. A month later he told the people of the British Empire and its Commonwealth that this was their finest hour, on 21 October Churchill declared that Britain would fight on to help liberate France, and in February 1941 he said to the Americans: “Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.” While the Map Room and the Cabinet Room formed the heart of the planning operations, another, far smaller room, no larger than the size of a toilet and with a toilet door, was also, in time, of great importance. This was the Transatlantic Telephone Room. From 1943, a code-scrambling encrypted telephone was installed in the basement of Selfridges in Oxford Street and connected to a similar terminal in the Pentagon building. This enabled Churchill to speak securely with President Roosevelt, with the first conference taking place on 15 July 1943. Later extensions were installed to both No.10 Downing Street and the specially-constructed Transatlantic Telephone Room within the Cabinet War Rooms. When he was speaking to the US President, Churchill used to lock the telephone room’s door. The staff knew that when the bolt on the door had been pushed across to read “Engaged”, the corridors were to be cleared so that nothing the two leaders said could be overheard. In this room was a clock, with red hands indicating the time in Washington and black hands showing the time in London. This was to make sure that Churchill did not awake the President at some unreasonable time during the night. It was the case that neither of these proud men wanted to be waiting on the phone for the other to pick up the other end of the line. So, as James Stewart-Gordon described, a “comedy of manners” used to take place. “Consequently, once the call had been placed, Major-General Hollis or one of the secretaries held the line until he was sure the US President was actually on the phone. In Washington the same procedure was followed, and the ploy of ensuring that both men came on the line at the same time had secretarial nerves snapping like banjo strings.” The principal Cabinet Ministers also had sleeping quarters below ground so that they could be on hand at a moment’s notice, whilst the staff was provided with subbasement dormitories – an area that came to be known as “The Dock”. This was reached by a slatted staircase surrounded by bare brick walls. It was in The Dock that the typists, clerks and others tried to sleep in

bunks covered with army blankets. Insects and rats abounded in the dormitories’ cramped environment, a situation exacerbated by the unrelenting noise of the ventilation system.4 Indeed, as the war progressed the size, importance and role of the Cabinet War Rooms grew considerably and by 1941, through the addition of sections such as The Dock, it was three times bigger than it had originally been. Conditions in The Hole were certainly primitive. There was no gas cooker and not even running water or a flushing lavatory were provided. Chemical toilets, known as Elsans, had to be used and washing was done in bowls and buckets. One veteran of The Hole, Olive Margerison, recalled her time there as a typist: “The hours of work were dictated, of course, by the demands of the wartime regime. Any personnel on night duty, such as the Map Room officers, for instance, would have to respond to urgent signals and emergencies of any kind which would have repercussions occurring through 24 hours, or even longer. So, one might arrive on duty at 9am only to find that ‘all hell was breaking loose’! “Officers would be rushing up and down corridors and in and out of the typing pool with urgent draft papers for copying etc. “Interspersed with all this activity were

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RIGHT: The Transatlantic Telephone Room. This room is located near the Map Room and Churchill’s accommodation.

BELOW LEFT: The wartime entrance to the Cabinet War Rooms was in a different location to the modern entrance (which is near Clive Steps and King Charles Street) and leaving the site entailed a long and timeconsuming walk. BELOW RIGHT: One of the many fascinating exhibits in the Cabinet War Rooms is this letter which, dated 13 September 1940, describes Winston Churchill’s reaction on discovering that the facility was not as bomb-proof as he had been led to believe. (Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire) breaks for tea, lunch, dinner etc., in the Staff Canteen. If we were very busy, the Royal Marine guards would take pity on us and bring us the odd ‘cuppa’ from their kitchen … One has to remember that our working hours were officially three days on duty (sleeping in the CWR dormitory) and two days off.”5 As many of the personnel employed at The Hole spent so much time underground without seeing daylight, ultra-violet lamp treatments were given as vitamin D boosters to keep them healthy. At the same time, they often had little idea of what the weather was like on the surface. To provide this information, Rance had made a board with moveable strips. These were marked Rain, Snow, Sunny, Cloudy, Windy and so on to cover every possible climatic condition. Another board showed whether or not London was under aerial attack. As a joke Ernest Bevin would invariably change the weather board to Windy when there was an air raid in progress above! On two occasions Churchill suffered pneumonia, and the second time his legs were so weak that he could no longer climb the stairs to the War Rooms. He continued to attend Cabinet meetings in The Hole but he had to go down the stairs in a sort of sedan chair carried by two Royal Marines. He looked, to those watching, like an Indian maharaja. * On 16 August 1945, the telephones fell silent and one by one the men and women that had manned The Hole

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throughout the war turned out the lights (for the first time since the site had become operational), closed the doors and climbed the stairs into the summer sunshine. The Second World War was over. With time the historic value of the Cabinet War Rooms was recognised and their preservation became the responsibility of the Ministry of Works and later the Department for the Environment. Indeed, on 8 March 1948, Commander Sir John Maitland, the MP for Horncastle “asked the Minister of Works whether it is the intention of His Majesty’s Government to keep the War Cabinet rooms in the same state as they were in at the end of the war which is their condition at present; whether members of the public may be allowed to see these rooms; and whether details and photographs of them which would be of great interest may be made available to the public through the medium of the Press.” In his written reply, Charles Key MP, confirmed that “the more

important of these rooms will be maintained as they were used during the war”. He added: “My Department will be happy to arrange for the Press to take photographs and, in fact, some photographs have already appeared. Owing to the situation of the rooms it would not be practicable to throw [them] open for inspection by the general public …”6 In 1974 the Imperial War Museum was approached by the government and asked to consider taking over the administration of the site. Finally, in April 1984 the Cabinet War Rooms were opened to the public for the first time. The museum was reopened in 2005, following a major redevelopment, as the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms but in 2010 this was shortened to the Churchill War Rooms. Even today, the many rooms occupied by the Prime Minister and his staff remain as they were left in 1945, a timeless piece of history from the events of the Second World War. ■ · For more information on visiting the Churchill War Rooms, to discover the original Cabinet War Rooms, please see the Imperial War Museum web site at: www.iwm.org.uk/visits/churchill-war-rooms

NOTES:

1. Quoted on: www.burlingtonandbeyond.co.uk 2. James Stewart-Gordon, “This Secret Place”, Reader’s Digest War Stories, pp.54-77. 3. Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms Guidebook, 2005, p.5. 4. Joanna Moody, From Churchill’s War Rooms (Tempus, Stroud, 2008), p. 47. 5. Quoted in Joanna Moody, Ibid, p.50. 6. Hansard, vol 448, c115W.

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THE

GRIEF OF GALLIPOLI Stories of the suffering and slaughter of the First World War are all-too common. Yet few men can have faced a more harrowing prospect than that which confronted a young New Zealander who saw his comrades about to be burned alive during the fighting on Gallipoli in 1915. With no way of saving his countrymen he raised his rifle and took careful aim.

C

hunuk Bair Farm was situated on the central summit of one of the peaks on the Sari Bair ridge that dominated the landing beaches at Anzac Cove. If the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force was to break out from the narrow beachhead, its capture was considered to be essential. The landings at Anzac Cove had begun on 25 April 1915, with the 3rd Australian Brigade in the first wave. Behind came the rest of the 1st Australian Division, the 1st and 2nd Australian brigades, the New Zealand Infantry Brigade and the 4th Australian Brigade of the New Zealand and Australian Division. Resistance by the Turks had been fierce and little progress beyond the beachhead had been made. It was with surprise as much as relief when on 8 August 1915, Chunuk Bair was stormed and taken by the men of the Wellington Battalion of

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New Zealand and Australian Division, the 7th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment and the 8th Battalion, Welch Regiment, the last two both forming part of the British 13th (Western) Division which had arrived in July. After occupying the summit the men tried to dig themselves in, knowing that a counter-attack was inevitable. The ground, though, was far too rocky and they remained unsupported and without cover when the Turks attacked. The British and New Zealanders were driven back by fire from the hills on both sides and bombing parties advancing up the slope. They pulled back from the summit, finding positions which offered some protection on the reverse slope. The Turks, though, were determined to drive them off Chunuk Bair altogether. “They descended upon us in a dense, black, screaming mass, so thickly ranked that they could advance

shoulder to shoulder, and six to eight deep,” a member of Lieutenant Colonel Mahone’s Wellington Battalion, “Digger” Craven, later recalled to W.S. Blackledge when describing his memories of that day.1 “They came and we sprayed them with machine-gun bullets, threw bombs in the packed mass, tore gaps into them with volley after volley of rifle-fire. From our miserable holes and bits of breastworks we annihilated their advance line. “Then we rose to meet the second [line] with bayonets, knives, entrenching tools, cut and battered them to bits despite their overwhelming superiority of numbers. The din of battle was deafening – the cries of infuriated men, the scream of shells, the hoarse bloodBELOW: A reconstruction of the trenches dug by the Turkish troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula – and which proved so difficult to capture during the fighting at Hill 60 in August 1915. This example can be seen by visitors at Chunuk Bair. (Courtesy of Paul Reed, www.battlefields1418.com)

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LEFT: Allied troops being carried to the shore by lighters during the landings at Suvla Bay. The landing, which commenced on the night of 6 August 1915, was intended to support a breakout from the Anzac sector five miles to the south. (HMP)

BELOW LEFT: Troops being landed from lighters at Suvla Bay. The landings began at 22.00 hours on the evening of 6 August 1915, with 20,000 troops set down at Suvla Bay (‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ Beaches) with virtually no Turkish opposition other than from occasional sniper fire. The remainder of the British troops were successfully landed the following morning, albeit at disparate sites along the bay owing to reconnaissance failures. (HMP) curdling screech of a bunch of mules [gullies] surrounding it which for years blown to pieces, the stuttering crackle of afterwards were found to be ‘thigh-deep’ machine-guns, and the raucous bawling with whitening human bones, is one of the Osmanlis who came into battle with that can never be told in anything like Allah on their lips all created an inferno comprehensive detail.” of sound, a tumultuous uproar that is past When the British force eventually rallied belief.” it had become a tangled mix of regiments The Allied troops were heavily and nationalities, fighting together in little outnumbered and the Turkish attacks groups. The Turks leapt at the English, were relentless. They normally took Welsh, Scots, New Zealanders and the form of a bomb attack followed by Australians in, quite literally, hand-to-hand bayonet charges by the Turks creeping up combat, even grabbing at each other’s to the crest of the hill. throats. “The imagination boggles at “They came on us in storming waves,” such an insane vision. Momentarily it had continued Digger Craven. “The third line ceased to be a war. We clutched at each broke us, forced us back on our pitiful other then, fiends out of hell, no longer apology for trenches, human, Christian leapt into our holes and Moslems in a and hacked right and “They swept our advance line wild and reckless left into a confused of as with the swathe of some abandon jumble of destruction roughhousing ... gigantic scythe.” and death. The We rolled about the remnants fell back dirt locked in death to the second line of trenches, rallied, grips. We used stones, knives, bayonets, stiffened, fired into the charging wall of clubs, even fists, hurled ourselves upon men, killing and wounding hundreds in a one another in a fiendish bestiality.” deathly hail of musketry. But we could not It was, Digger Craven concluded, a hold them. Nothing could stop that dense “free-for-all mêlée that has no parallel in multitude. military history”. “We were thrust out again – but not Somehow the Allied force held on to beaten. Men formed in groups and its ground and though the Turks occupied charged, rallied again and again, forced the summit of Chunuk Bair, the British and the mass to waver, to stand and fight, Anzac troops still remained on its upper struggling and striving body to body. slopes. Of the 750 men of the Wellington Giant round bombs bounded into our Regiment that first climbed Chunuk Bair, lines, burst, sent a shower of steel in all only three officers and fifty-five men directions. remained unwounded at the end of the “Thereafter bloody massacre around day.2 The Farm – The Farm of Chunuk * Bair that no man who was there and The battle for Chunuk Bair had ended survived will ever forget. The story in defeat but the Turks had lost heavily of that grim plateau, and the nullahs and were neither in the mood, nor in

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MAIN PICTURE BELOW: The view north from Battleship Hill looking towards Suvla Bay. Hill 60 is between the two, on the right side of this photograph. In 1924, Charles Bean, Gallipoli veteran and Australia’s official war historian, would describe the battle fought on Hill 60 (Kaiajik Aghala) in August 1915 “as one of the most difficult in which Australian troops were ever engaged”. sufficient strength to drive the Allies off the heights entirely. The next big effort would come soon enough, but for the next few days the fighting reverted to static trench warfare. “For days afterwards we lived in trenches with regiments of dead,” remembered Craven. “We ate, drank and slept among them, for the reconstruction of our lines was a Herculean task, and there were so few in the grand total to tackle it. The dead – British, Arab, Turk and Indian – were with us so long that we came to know them. “In the daily activities of the trench warfare which followed, while carrying rations, water and ammunition, we would pass bays or broken trenches where the dead must be left to rot until enough men could be rounded up to remove them. One knew those crumpled shapes. They were always black with flies. One came to recognize them – the grotesqueness of a rump, an arm, a head, the torn and tattered scraps of rags left by the rodents. “These regiments of dead lay not merely over No Man’s Land, but sprawled horribly on the parapets along the whole front, heaped up like logs in places, in others lying half in and half out of the trenches … As the trenches were deepened and strengthened many of them were buried under the earth that was thrown out; and that was pretty grim, even for Gallipoli.” Turkish snipers made the recovery of

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SULVA POINT

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LALA BABA

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SULVA BAY

HILL 10

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JEPHSON’S POST

KUCHUK ANAFARTA

SALT LAKE

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in relation to Suvla Bay.

BELOW RIGHT: Allied troops at Suvla Bay.

Hill 60 is beyond the ridge in the middle distance. (HMP)

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bodies virtually impossible during the daytime, which meant this work had to be undertaken at night – “nights of horror” Craven called them. “It was hellish work, but it was even more hellish to have them staring at us. We went to it careless of sleep or rest. We must get rid of the flies and the stench and the creeping horror of it all.” With Chunuk Bair still in Turkish hands, the British commanders looked beyond Sari Bair to find a point, or points they could seize which could offer them the prospect of forcing the Turks from the heights that kept the expeditionary force trapped with its backs to the sea. It was finally decided that an attempt would be made to capture a number of high points surrounding Suvla Bay, which were called Scimitar Hill (Hill 70), W Hills and Hill 60 (the last also being known as Kaiajik Aghala), the last being a low Turkish-occupied knoll sixty metres above sea level at the northern end of the Sari Bair range which nevertheless dominated the Allied positions near Suvla Bay. Though the value of this aspect of the Suvla operation has been much debated, and many have cast doubt

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RIGHT: A map showing the location of Hill 60

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about what o 971 N.3 the operation POST ●CHAILAK DERE l l l l l BAIR o NUK N.2 could practically POST ● H C Ul l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l o AP EX achieve, if it N.1 POST ● SAZUBEIT DERE had succeeded the flank of the POPE’S ANZAC COVE Turkish positions ● QUINN’ S LONE on Chunuk POST PINE● Bair would N ■ have been CHATHAMS POST ● KOUA DERE threatened. The reality is, however, that the big push at Suvla came ● GABA TEPE too late. If it had been conducted in concert with the attack on Chunuk Bair, the Turks may maligned Lieutenant General Stopford not have had the capacity to contend with had instructions merely to seize Suvla both attacks at once. as a base and to take the immediate The British forces had begun landing ground surrounding it. Whilst it is true at Suvla on the 6/7 August. The muchthat Stopford showed a lack of aggression after landing IX Corps at Suvla, he did actually accomplish his objective.3 The stalled breakout of the Anzacs, however, meant that Suvla took on an increased importance. On 21 August 1915, the attack began, with Digger Craven’s company being amongst those directed to assault Hill 60. After an initial bombardment, the attack was delivered in the middle of the afternoon under a blazing sun. Before being able to mount the hill, the troops had to cross an open S

ABOVE: A general view of Suvla Bay. (HMP)

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was fed up with it all and wanted to go great number of us. Just the same, men valley in three waves. The men, from home. Hundreds did during that sunny were dropping like rotten sheep all over the South Wales Borderers, Connaught afternoon. Hill 60 was [an] anti-climax, the place. Rangers, a Ghurkha brigade, and and every man knew it was. Of all the “A score of times we dashed for elements of New Zealand and Australian death-traps, this was the biggest. Men cover in that monstrous charge, using contingents, ran as fast as they could with muttered and cursed in the desolation of boulders, clumps of scrub, dead men – their heavy packs on their backs, bent this hopelessness.” anything, anywhere for a breather. For as double, dodging the bombs and the Even Craven’s closest companion, much as a whole minute at a time we’d shells – and then machine-guns. “Red”, a giant of a man, succumbed “The automatic guns opened on us before we had gone a few yards,” “How could we lie there, a little party to the air of despondency. “If I ever out of this,” he told Craven, “I’ll continued Craven. “We dropped, adrift under a ridge, and watch those get be court-martialled before I’ll standfired in a few rounds, then up again, to for another!” Craven looked at his pushing another yard or two. It is fellows burned alive?” friend. His face was grey and haggard; damned hard fighting in the open and his eyes had lost their sparkle. stop, crouching low while officers yelled in broad daylight, especially when your They were crouching together under enemy is securely entrenched. They swept themselves hoarse.” a little ridge topped with a bush. “In half The attack was simply never going to our advance line as with the swathe of an hour there wasn’t any more left of succeed, and the soldiers knew it. Digger some gigantic scythe. Clouds of dense smoke hung heavy on the haze of that hot Craven believed that, as he put it, there was “no heart in the troops afternoon. In a measure it saved a ABOVE: The gap in the hedge through which any more”. At Chunuk Bair the the 18th Infantry Battalion passed to attack men had given everything, but Hill 60. Hill 60 is in the background and Hill had achieved nothing. The 971 is in the far distance. This image was one of a series of photographs taken on attack on Hill 60 was, in not the Gallipoli Peninsula under the direction just Craven’s view, “insane”. of Captain C.E.W. Bean, of the Australian The sheer pointlessness Historical Mission, during the months of of it sapped the troops’ February and March, 1919. (Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial, G01846) determination. As Craven said, “They were through”. LEFT: Exhausted Allied soldiers rest during Some of the men the fighting on 21 August 1915. The responded to the futility of battalions involved in the assault were already under strength prior to the attack, their ranks the fighting by just jumping decimated by the effects of illnesses such as up and charging into the hail dysentery. (Imperial War Museum; HU57426) of bullets: “When a fellow stood up to his full height BELOW: Wounded gathering at a Dressing Station at Suvla Bay. (HMP) and ran into it, we knew he

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THE GRIEF OF GALLIPOLI

that first wave of men who had charged [the enemy’s] trenches. It was as if they’d never been. Every man Jack of ’em was gone from our view – killed or captured or lying wounded in front of those accursed ditches which bristled with rifles and machine-guns. There were only the smashed and the dying.” The horror of that awful afternoon was just about to become even more terrible. The shells set fire to the low scrub and undergrowth which covered the valley and the hillside. The scorched ground was bone dry and soon the flames, “crackling over the earth like a prairie fire”, began to sweep towards where the remnants of the third wave of attackers had been forced to take cover. “The fire licked its way over vast areas of the ground. The men in front

were caught in the flames. It was spreading fan-wise over the lower slopes of the hill. It crawled over the earth like some evil thing, a holocaust come to convince us – if we needed any convincing – that we might batter ourselves for ever against these fiery mounds of Gallipoli and we should batter in vain. “We stared in horror at that expanding carpet of fire. We saw wounded men crawling and scrambling from the flames, and as they got clear of the

ABOVE: In this photograph taken of the fighting around Hill 60, smoke can be seen rising from the burning scrub on the hill’s seaward slopes. Started by bursting shells, the fires soon spread rapidly across the tinder-dry undergrowth, consuming many of the wounded as they went. (Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial, G01219) TOP RIGHT: The remains of a British pith

helmet which were found near Hill 60 on 22 February 1919 by the Australian Historical Mission to Gallipoli. It was thought to have been worn by a member of the 5th Battalion, Connaught Rangers engaged in the attack on Hill 60 on 21/22 August 1915. During the fighting the Connaught Rangers suffered 198 casualties from 700 men. (Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial, RELAWM00389)

MIDDLE RIGHT: Wounded pictured

at Suvla Bay waiting to be taken to the hospital ships anchored offshore. The total British and Commonwealth casualties during the fighting for Hill 60 amounted to approximately 2,500 men. Turkish losses are not known. Between 6 August and the end of the Suvla offensive, the British IX Corps’ losses during the August fighting amounted to 5,300 men. Anzac losses from sickness during that period were 40,000. (HMP)

RIGHT: The danger posed by fires on the

Gallipoli battlefields was a constant one in the dry summer months – as this drawing illustrates. It is an artist’s depiction of Captain Percy Hansen and Lance Corporal Breese, of the 6th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment, retrieving a wounded soldier at Yilghin Bumu on 9 August 1915. Hansen would be awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions; Breese the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Hansen’s citation states: “Captain Hansen’s battalion was forced to retire leaving some wounded behind, owing to the intense heat from the scrub which had been set on fire. After the retirement, Captain Hansen, with three or four volunteers, dashed forward several times over 300-400 yards of open scrub, under a terrific fire and succeeded in rescuing six wounded men from inevitable death by burning.” (HMP)

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THE GRIEF OF GALLIPOLI

ABOVE: Taken during February and March 1919, again at the instigation of Captain C.E.W. Bean of the Australian Historical Mission, this picture shows the remains of casualties from the 4th Australian Infantry Brigade and New Zealanders pictured on the Hill 60 battlefield near the position of an old oak tree just beside Turkish trenches. (Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial, G02079) ABOVE RIGHT: One of the many who fell in

the fighting at Hill 60: Captain Henry Philip Fry. A “gallant and most popular officer of the 10th Australian Light Horse Regiment”, Fry was killed on 29 August 1915 in a successful bayonet charge on the Turkish trenches on Hill 60. During this attack, the 10th Light Horse Regiment gained distinction by holding the captured trenches which had previously been recaptured twice by the Turks. This picture was taken earlier in the year, at either Russell Hill or Walker’s Ridge. (Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial, A05401)

BELOW: Hill 60 is today the site of the Commonwealth War Grave Commission’s Hill 60 Cemetery. The cemetery lies among the remains of some of the trenches involved in the fighting of August 1915. It was made after those engagements and enlarged after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from Norfolk Trench Cemetery and from the battlefield. Within the cemetery stands the Hill 60 (New Zealand) Memorial, one of four memorials erected to commemorate New Zealand soldiers who died on the Gallipoli peninsula and whose graves are not known. This memorial relates to the actions at Hill 60. It bears more than 180 names. fire they were shot dead by jeering Turks. Those who were too badly wounded to make the attempt were burned alive. “The stench of it all hung on the thick

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haze. Volumes of smoke rose until it seemed that all the world was afire ... it blazed with intense ferocity, travelling over the ground like liquid fire, so swiftly did it spread, destroying everything in its trail, leaving a vast parched blackness over which could be seen those who had failed to escape, blackened, smouldering heaps of debris, broken rifles with charred butts, tangles of rag ash that had once been uniforms with buttons and insignia of regiment industriously polished. For what? To become these little heaps of black dust.” As Craven later conceded, coming on top of the other reverses, watching their comrades engulfed in the flames, removed utterly the last remnants of faith and confidence in their leaders, “and brought the final touch of despair to warsickened and weary men ... I had seen many die, but never like that.” Now, though, Craven and Red were faced with a terrible dilemma, one that on-one should ever have to face. “How could we lie there, a little party adrift under a ridge, and watch those fellows burned alive? To see them squirming and struggling to get clear of the licking flames, to hear their screams – it was more than we could stand. We took aim ... even as the flames licked about them, setting fire to their clothing. ‘God forgive us!’ muttered Red”, as they fired their rifles and killed their comrades. * It is little wonder that Digger Craven

said that not only did that fire change the face of the hillside, for him it changed the world. “Things stood over that burnedout waste,” he said as he described the scene of the assault at the end of the day, “tarnished metal, jags and strips of shell, tangled wire, rifles, bayonets, entrenching tools. Little heaps of cartridge cases, where men had lain or crouched to fire, where they had died at their posts and left naught but these tell-tale bits and pieces to mark their passage.” Though a foothold was established at the base of the hill and further attempts to take the summit continued over the following days, on 29 August 1915, the attempt to take Hill 60 was abandoned. The last major assault of the Gallipoli Campaign had all been a waste of effort, and ended with the terrible waste of hundreds of lives. ■

NOTES:

1. Digger Craven, “I had to shoot my friends: Insane Carnage on a Gallipoli Farm”, The Great War ... I Was There (The Amalgamated Press, London, 1938) Part 13, pp.509-19. 2. Robin Prior, Gallipoli, The End of the Myth (Yale University Press, London, 2009), p.181. 3. Tim Travers, Gallipoli (The History Press, Stroud, 2009), p.183.

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IN A CLOVER FIELD On 3 April 1941, eyewitnesses on the ground were greeted with the unusual spectacle of a Junkers Ju 88 in RAF markings taking off from the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. Andy Saunders recounts the story of how the Luftwaffe bomber fell into British hands and eventually returned to the air with a RAF pilot.

MAIN PICTURE: A pilot of one of

Kampfgeschwader 51’s Junkers Ju 88s is pictured leaning out of the cockpit window talking to members of the ground crew. The unit’s distinctive Edelweiss emblem can be seen. (All images courtesy of the author unless stated otherwise)

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“EDELWEISS” IN A CLOVER FIELD

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unday, 28 July 1940, began as any other for Charles Gillingham on his farm at Sidley near Bexhill-onSea in East Sussex. Shortly after 05.00 hours, as he started getting ready for his daily round of chores, Gillingham heard the sound of an aircraft circling in the sky overhead. Though this quiet part of Sussex had largely escaped the attentions of the Luftwaffe, it was the height of the Battle of Britain and such sounds were not unusual. Indeed, such sounds, and sights, had become part and parcel of daily life for Gillingham and his neighbours but thus far no German raiders had really made their presence felt in the area. In any event, the local air raid warning had not

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been sounded and there was no reason to suppose that this was anything other than a circling RAF aircraft. Glancing skywards, and out towards the sea, Charles could glimpse the aircraft and reckoned it must be a Blenheim – but a few moments later it had disappeared into the mist. Then, out to sea, there was what he took to be the distant explosions of four bombs. Moments later, as the engine sounds were getting louder, Charles started to take a much keener interest. Now, out of the rolling bank of sea mist, the aircraft headed straight towards the farm, descending rapidly and clearly on an approach to land. As it got close, a rattle of Lewis gun fire from a nearby Army post startled Charles and upset the farm’s dogs and the geese. Above all the racket he watched as something spiralled up and away from the aircraft as the machine skimmed hedges and trees, lower and lower, before slithering wheels-up across the clover field and finally coming to rest not many yards from Buckholt Farmhouse. When the dust kicked up by the crash-landing aircraft

LEFT: A Junkers Ju 88 A-1 of

Kampfgeschwader 51 “Edelweiß” pictured before take-off during the summer of 1940. Stab/KG 51 and I./KG 51 were both formed on 1 May 1939, being followed by the creation of the second and third staffels between 1 December 1939 and 15 April 1940. (Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-402-0265-03A/ Pilz/CC-BY-SA)

BELOW: The Junkers Ju 88 A-1 of Kampfgeschwader 51 which force-landed at Buckholt Farm near Bexhill-on-Sea on Sunday, 28 July 1940. had settled he could clearly see the German crosses on the green fuselage as four figures emerged cautiously from the open back of the cockpit. Soldiers stationed in the immediate vicinity raced across the field towards the bomber. For his part, Charles stood rooted to the spot – transfixed by the drama of his own personal little bit of war that had suddenly and so unexpectedly arrived on his doorstep. For now, however, there were farm chores to be getting on with. They could not wait while he gaped at the German bomber. That could come later. * The bomber that had so dramatically arrived in the meadow off Watermill Lane was a Junkers Ju 88 A-1 of the 3rd Staffel of Kampfgeschwader 51 (the “Edelweiss”, or “Edelweiß”, Geschwader). With the werke nummer 7036 and carrying the fuselage codes 9K+HL, the aircraft had taken off from its base at Melun, south of

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LEFT: Two portraits of the pilot of 9K+HL, Oberfeldwebel Josef Bier. BELOW: Service personnel pictured standing by the cockpit of 9K+HL. They are, from left to right, Sapper Bill Armstrong, Sapper Wally Ely and Sapper Harry Wilde. Wally Ely is pointing at one of the bullet holes caused by the machine-gun fire of Harry Wilde, this almost certainly being the round that passed through one of Oberfeldwebel Josef Bier’s boots.

Paris, at around 22.30 hours the previous evening. The important railway town of Crewe was the target for the bomber’s four under-wing stowed 250kg bombs. However, things started to go awry with the sortie almost immediately after take-off as the direction finding apparatus failed, leaving the observer, Leutnant Wilhelm Ruckdreschel, to grapple with maps and compass headings above a blacked-out countryside. Suddenly, ahead of them, the crew could see a large town

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or city with no blackout and to their alarm realised that they were looking at Dublin in neutral Eire! A rapid turn-about took them back over mainland Britain. One question remained: where were they? Having headed east, and then due south, they finally found themselves over central London at 3,000 feet but managed to convince themselves that it must in fact be Paris because no anti-aircraft fire had engaged them. At least, they reasoned, they must be near their Melun base. Or so they thought. Still heading south as it got lighter, the crew struggled to find their home airfield. Or any airfield! Presuming they had overshot Melun they turned northwards again on a reciprocal course, until they again found themselves over London but this time down to 1,500 feet. Once more

turning about, and again heading south, they finally found themselves over the mist-covered South Downs where three fighters approached in the distance but left them alone while the crew concluded they must have been friendly Messerschmitt Bf 109s. At this point a coastline appeared below the Junkers. Given the position of the rising sun off to the east – on their left – there could be no doubting that their compass was playing tricks on them; this was the English Channel and this was the south coast of England. However, their meanderings to Dublin, followed by confused journeying across the Midlands and then back and forth across London and the south-east, meant that fuel was now too low to even make it back across the Channel, let alone all the way to Melun. Reluctantly, Leutnant Ruckdreschel ordered the four bombs to be ditched and for the pilot, Oberfeldwebel Josef Bier, to turn back in over the coast to make a forced-landing. As the bomber re-crossed the shoreline at Bexhill-on-Sea, Bier had already picked out a long flat field ahead of him that would suit his purpose. As he settled down for an exacting landing, he ordered the canopy to be jettisoned so that the crew could exit as soon as possible after coming to a halt. At the moment the canopy top tumbled away (the object seen falling to the ground by Charles Gillingham) the

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Junkers Ju 88 was struck on its port side by a number of bullets. One of them smashed through the nose glazing, went through the sole of one of Bier’s flying boots, kicking his foot off the rudder pedal, and ricocheted out without injuring him. Sapper Harry Wilde, manning a Lewis gun at one of the sites of 302 Searchlight Battery Royal Engineers, was sure the Junkers was coming in to attack and saw his short burst hit home on the bomber which “wobbled” distinctly under his hits. Not only that, but the crew had immediately thrown off the cockpit roof! Then, in front of Wilde’s astonished eyes, the Ju 88 skidded and bumped across the fields and screeched to a jarring halt. There was no doubt about it. As far as Wilde was concerned he had downed the German bomber and the cock-a-hoop searchlight battery crew later posed with their “prize”, pointing out the bullet strikes for the benefit of the camera. For Bier and Ruckdreschel, along with the radio operator Unteroffizier Heinz

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Ohls and flight mechanic Unteroffizier Martin Multhammer, a long captivity lay ahead. Taken into custody by the soldiers of the searchlight battery, the four were later interviewed by an RAF Intelligence Officer, Flying Officer C.M.D. Eales from RAF Hawkinge, before being taken under escort by the 8th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment to Cockfosters during the early afternoon. Although the war was over for the four hapless Luftwaffe airmen, the same could not be said for their aircraft. Recognising that the Junkers was in excellent condition RAF intelligence Officers from the AI(g) department ordered that it be carefully dismantled and transported to the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, for detailed examination. By 30 July the dismantling process was well

ABOVE LEFT: A shot of Sapper Bill

Armstrong, Sapper Wally Ely and Sapper Harry Wilde, from 302 Searchlight Battery Royal Engineers, posing by the Edelweiss emblem on the port side of 9K+HL’s cockpit.

ABOVE: A close-up of the cockpit of Oberfeldwebel Josef Bier’s Ju 88 whilst it was being repaired at Farnborough – the damage caused to the aircraft during its crash-landing can clearly be seen. It is known that by the time 9K+HL took to the air, with the RAF serial number AX919, the Edelweiss emblems on each side of the cockpit had been removed. BELOW: The crash site at Buckholt Farm today. (Courtesy of Robyn Saunders) BOTTOM: A distant view of 9K+HL lying in the field at Buckholt Farm.

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LEFT: Junkers Ju 88 A-1 9K+HL

in a hangar at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, being repaired and made ready for an eventual return to the air.

BELOW: The flexible ball-and-socket gun mount from 9K+HL which is in the author’s collection. BOTTOM: The Buckholt Farm

Junkers Ju 88 pictured at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough resplendent in its new RAF markings.

underway and by 31 August the aircraft was officially taken on charge by the RAE which had established that not only was the aircraft in good order but that it could be made airworthy. Accordingly, the underside damage that was caused by the belly-landing was repaired, a new canopy cover acquired and the aircraft re-painted in British camouflage and markings. Finally it was allocated the RAF serial number AX919. Fully restored and overhauled, the Junkers was ready for its first flight in the hands of Squadron Leader L.D. Wilson on 3 April 1941 and during that month it flew a total of three flights with a combined duration of one hour forty minutes for air tests and handling evaluation. It did not fly again until June of that year when it flew a thirty-minute performance test flight. It would appear, though, that AX919 was proving difficult to keep airworthy and it stayed grounded until June 1942 when it was taken by road

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to Duxford. There it was used by 1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight as a spares ship for other airworthy Junkers Ju 88s aircraft that were now on strength. Whilst the ultimate fate of 7036/AX919 is unknown it may be concluded that it was broken up for scrap at Duxford once its usefulness had been exhausted. However, at least one relic of the first Junkers Ju 88 flown by the RAF has survived. Whilst researching the incident in 1971 the author visited Buckholt Farm and met Charles Gillingham who was, then, still resident in the farmhouse. His recollection was vivid, and he duly produced original photographs of the downed bomber

along with one of the flexible ball-and-socket gun mounts that had been smashed from the broken cockpit. Locally, around Bexhill and Sidley, there was also quite a profusion of Perspex rings, crosses and small model aeroplanes made from broken bits of the smashed canopy glazing and, from time to time, examples of these still turn up. Some of the “liberated” relics were obtained by local boy Jim Spandley who hid them in adjacent hedgerows waiting to pounce when the eyes of the soldiers or Police guarding the aircraft were diverted. Apart from the Perspex, several items were spirited away by Jim and his pals long before the dismantling process had begun. Today, all trace of the event and most memories have long since passed and those who attend the regular point-topoint and gymkhana events in the field where the Junkers 88 landed will have not the slightest inkling of the drama that once took place here. Clover still flowers here, but there is no longer any trace of the Edelweiss. ■

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BURIED AT BULLECOURT

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ieutenant John Harold Pritchard was born in Wandsworth on 25 March 1886, and was educated at St Paul’s Cathedral School where he sang as a chorister. As a child he sang at the coronation of King Edward VII. Pritchard later worked as an inspector at the Alliance Assurance Company before he joined the 1st Battalion, Honourable Artillery Company as a Private on 1 March 1909. Pritchard went to France with this battalion on 18 September 1914, just weeks after the outbreak of war. By that time he had reached the rank of Sergeant. Pritchard was wounded on 26 November 1914 while on the Neuve Eglise front. He was wounded a second time on 16 March 1915, sustaining a gunshot wound to his neck. He returned to England on 21 March 1915. After recovering from his wounds he was transferred to the 2nd Battalion HAC and received a commission. He returned to France on 1 October 1916. Private 7379 Christopher Douglas Elphick was born

in Dulwich during March 1889. After completing his education at Alleyn’s School he worked as a clerk for the Prudential Insurance Company in 1904. Elphick married in June 1915 and in November that year he joined the 3rd Battalion Honourable Artillery Company. His son, named Ronald Douglas, was born in August 1916 and Elphick embarked for France in November, being posted to the 2nd Battalion during December 1916. Both Pritchard and Elphick would take part in, and survive, the night assault upon Bullecourt on 3 May 1917. By 15 May, the village was partially under British control and the 2nd Honourable Artillery Company was facing the northern perimeter of the German-occupied section of Bullecourt known as the Red Patch. This was the second time within two weeks that the battalion had taken part in operations to secure the village; it was whilst repelling a German counterattack on 15 May 1917 that Pritchard and Elphick were killed. * The first initiative to assault Bullecourt to aid Allenby’s Third Army break-out

In 2009 the remains of Lieutenant John Pritchard and Private Christopher Elphick were unearthed in a pasture in the French village of Bullecourt near Arras. Re-interred on Tuesday, 23 April 2013, the two men belonged to the 2nd Battalion, Honourable Artillery Company which suffered heavy losses during two attempts in May 1917 to capture Bullecourt. Paul Kendall recounts the struggle for this village, a battle fought amongst its ruins and shell craters. from Arras during April 1917 was an abysmal failure. Another attack, known as the Second Battle of Bullecourt, was soon launched on 3 May 1917, when the 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division had failed to secure a footing within the village, which by that time had been reduced to ruins, rubble and shell craters. Intersected by a network of trenches and LEFT: Pall-bearers carry the coffin of one

of the four Honourable Artillery Company casualties to his final resting place in H.A.C. Cemetery, at Ecoust-St. Mein, on Tuesday, 23 April 2013. There were in fact two ceremonies at the cemetery on that day. During the first, the remains of five unknown soldiers were reinterred, whilst in the second, Lieutenant John Pritchard and Private Christopher Elphick were buried together with another two unidentified soldiers of the HAC. (© Crown Copyright 2013)

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ABOVE: An artist’s depiction of the bitter fighting in the ruins of the village of Bullecourt in May 1917. (Author) ABOVE RIGHT: A portrait of Private

Christopher Elphick. (© Alleyns School)

BELOW LEFT: The men of the 2nd Battalion Honourable Artillery Company photographed in June 1916. (Courtesy of the Tank Museum) BELOW RIGHT: Private Elphick’s widow, Kate, and his son, Ronald Douglas. (Courtesy of Christopher Elphick) a labyrinth of underground tunnels linking cellars occupied by German snipers and machine-gunners, Bullecourt formed part of what was considered the impregnable Hindenburg Line which stretched for eighty miles from Arras to Soissons. Although the 62nd Division had suffered approximately 3,000 casualties in that flawed attempt to capture Bullecourt, on the opening day of the second battle, the Australian 6th Infantry Brigade had taken sections of German trenches east of the village known as OG1 and OG2 close to the Central Road. If the Australians were to consolidate and hold on to these sections of the Hindenburg Line, it was imperative that Bullecourt was captured. General Hubert Gough, Commanding Fifth Army, sent forward the 7th Division to capture the village. As part of the 7th Division, the 2nd Honourable Artillery Company, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Albert Lambert-Ward, was ordered to advance along the Bullecourt-Ecoust road and

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make a direct night time assault upon the enemy trenches which skirted the southern perimeter of Bullecourt. The 2nd Honourable Artillery Company (2 HAC) would advance east of the road while the 1st Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers advanced toward the same objective west of the same road. As the 62nd Division had failed to gain a foothold within the village, it seemed a desperately hopeless task to expect these two battalions to succeed where an entire division had failed, but as there was a sense of urgency to support the Australians who were precariously holding on to trenches east of the village, Gough wanted results. The plan was for ‘A’ and ‘B’ companies from 2 HAC to capture Tower Trench, this being the first German line and the trench that extended from OG1 and formed the southern perimeter skirting Bullecourt from east to west. Once this objective had been secured, ‘C’ and ‘D’ companies would pass through their sister battalions and capture the village. Lieutenant John Pritchard, acting Captain in command of ‘D’ Company, and Private Christopher Elphick, a member of ‘C’ Company, were about to embark on the first of two attempts to capture Bullecourt. * During the early evening of 3 May, Lieutenant Colonel Lambert-Ward and Captain E.J. Amoore, the battalion’s Adjutant, made their way out into No Man’s Land to reconnoitre the ground over which they would soon be attacking

near to the railway embankment. They could see that the area was targeted by German shellfire and in particular the railway embankment, the enemy being aware that this was the assembly area for those Allied units launching attacks upon Bullecourt. Lambert-Ward and Amoore found shelter in a ditch where they could assess the position. It was apparent to them that if they assembled their battalion by the railway embankment their men would be obliterated before the attack had begun. Lambert-Ward used his own judgment and initiative to assemble his men 300 yards behind the railway embankment and ordered them to advance three minutes prior to Zero Hour, which was set for 22.30 hours that night. His common sense approach and his ability to make appropriate decisions on the battlefield saved the lives of many of his men before they entered the battle.

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At Zero Hour, the men of 2 HAC and 1st Royal Welch Fusiliers led the advance across 300 yards of No Man’s Land towards Bullecourt. The ground over which they moved was covered with shell holes and the bodies of the fallen from the West Yorkshire Regiment killed earlier that day. In the dark of night the soldiers from these two battalions, charging with fixed bayonets, were cut down by heavy German machine-gun fire from both Bullecourt itself and from strongly-held positions in the German trenches. A creeping barrage, moving at 400 yards every four minutes, was also being laid

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down; however the wire became so entangled in the shell bursts that instead of clearing a path for the advancing troops, the barrage obstructed their path and impeded their attack; many were unable to pass beyond the wire. Visibility was greatly reduced due to smoke from the barrage and dust, which was a problem encountered earlier that day, and made worse by the darkness of night. The 22nd Infantry Brigade’s War Diary reported that “the dust and smoke from our own barrage was so intense that men actually fell into the German trench before seeing it”.1 One of the attackers, Private William

ABOVE: A Royal Flying Corps aerial photograph of the village of Bullecourt which was taken, looking north, on 24 April 1917, a few weeks before the fighting in which Lieutenant John Pritchard and Private Christopher Elphick were killed. The mound on the left of the picture, on the edge of the village, is the German strongpoint known as the Crucifix. (Author) BELOW LEFT: A sketch map of the trenches around Bullecourt as at 3 May 1917. The area known as Red Patch is clearly marked. (Author) BELOW RIGHT: A photograph of Sergeant John Pritchard of No.3 Company, 1st Battalion Honourable Artillery Company, taken in late 1914. (HAC Archives)

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RIGHT: Three of the coffins of the Honourable Artillery Company casualties pictured the night before the burial service. The one nearest the camera is that of Lieutenant John Pritchard, whilst the coffins of the two unnamed HAC soldiers lie beyond. Speaking after the burial service, 89-year-old John Harold Shell, the son of one of Lieutenant Pritchard’s sisters, still recalls his mother and her sisters talking about their lost brother: “My mother and her sisters used to talk about him in front of me, and even as a very small boy I was aware of the great sense of loss they felt. I can’t help but think what they would have felt if they could be here, and stood in the field where their brother was killed. It makes being here all the more moving – more so than I thought it would – because I know what effect it had on them.” (Courtesy of Janet Shell)

FAR RIGHT: Lieutenant John Pritchard’s ABOVE: Another aerial reconnaissance photograph of Bullecourt taken on 24 April 1917. The village is utterly destroyed, with just a few walls left standing after the devastating bombardments of the spring of 1917. As with nearly all towns and villages in the zone of fighting, the work of reconstruction began immediately after the war. Today Bullecourt is once again a quiet, rural village. (Author) BELOW: Wearing the uniform of St. Paul’s School, this photograph of the young John Pritchard was taken in 1890. A plaque commemorating him can be seen in St. Paul’s Cathedral where he was a chorister. Parry-Morris, later gave this account: “We went over at night, a frontal attack, a bayonet attack. We got into the German trenches, but they were too strong for us and we were pushed out again. They saw us coming over at once. They started machine gun fire at once … terrible machine gun fire.”2 Although they encountered heavy German resistance, both battalions reached their first objective. Having entered Tower Trench they engaged in vicious hand-to-hand combat which resulted in the capture of fifty German prisoners. Once ‘A’ and ‘B’ companies had reached Tower Trench, ‘C’ and ‘D’ companies, including Pritchard and Elphick, advanced into the village of

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Bullecourt. The Australian battalions on their right flank suffered severely, exposing the advance of these companies. Eventually these men were receiving enemy fire not only from the flanks, but also from the rear as German infantry, which had hidden in underground dugouts, reappeared. At the same time, many of the British officers were identified and targeted by snipers hiding in the rubble of Bullecourt. However, there was worse to come as the Germans launched a strong counterattack, an attack that would leave many of the men from 2 HAC encircled by their enemy. Accompanied by two signallers, Lieutenant Colonel Lambert-Ward had established his battalion headquarters in a ditch to the rear of the railway line near to Ecoust. With heavy shellfire consistently falling between Bullecourt and Ecoust it was impossible for messengers to bring reports from units which had entered the village to battalion headquarters. At one point a shell exploded close to Ward’s position killing the two signallers and rendering him temporarily unconscious, though two Brigade signallers came to his assistance, enabling him to establish communications with Brigade Headquarters. The explosion of the shell also caused Lambert-Ward to temporarily lose the use of his hearing and he was unable to hear messages conveyed to him over the telephone. Despite this, LambertWard anxiously waited for reports from his men fighting for Bullecourt. The first report confirmed that ‘A’ and ‘B’ companies were holding Tower Trench, but it added that ‘C’ and ‘D’ companies were held up in the village. At 00.30 hours on 4 May Ward received reports that ‘C’ Company was driven back to Tower Trench by a strong German counter attack from the east. More bombs and ammunition were requested by those holding Tower Trench at 01.00 hours, but this request was not immediately answered.

sword was returned to his family by the American collector Mark Cain during the service at H.A.C. Cemetery. Lieutenant Pritchard had the sword made in September 1915 while he was recuperating from injury in the UK. His battlefield will bequeathed the sword to his brother Ernest, who emigrated to the United States in 1919. Mr Cain had acquired the sword some years ago. It was placed on top of Lieutenant Pritchard’s coffin for the burial procession before being given back to his family. (© Crown Copyright 2013)

The message was later received by Lambert-Ward at Battalion HQ who promptly ordered a party of men to go to the Brigade bomb supply positioned 200 yards to the rear of the railway embankment. To their dismay no bombs were found; “with horror it was discovered that all the boxes thought to contain bombs were empty, and there were none to be had anywhere”, noted the battalion historian.3 Isolated and without supplies, the 2nd Honourable Artillery Company was in an unstable position. By 02.00 hours, further German counterattacks and bombing were pushing them back. Then enemy troops attacked through a gap in the line and ‘A’ Company of the 2/7 West Yorkshires was ordered in as reinforcements. At 02.00 hours Captain Theodore

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Clifford Bower, commanding the HAC’s ‘B’ Company, was still holding his position when he sent a message to LambertWard reporting that the German forces had launched a heavy attack. The report added that he had lost contact with the West Yorkshires on his left flank and with the Australians on his right flank. By 02.30 hours, German forces had finally overwhelmed the men of 2 HAC and driven them out of Tower Trench. “We had to retire because we were outnumbered,” continued Private William Parry-Morris. “There were too many of our men killed and wounded. When the Germans came into the trench, they were double the number of us. We had to retreat.” Even the act of pulling back was no simple task for the men were pinned down by the ferocious German machine-gun fire. Private Parry-Morris was forced to crawl back to the British line. “I was pushed out of the German trench and I got about ten yards from the German trench into a shell hole and the Germans were firing machine-guns and shelling all the time. The only way I got back to our own line was by crawling on my

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stomach 100 yards. At the end of that battle we had 98 that was left.” From 2 HAC, Captain R.J. Drury arrived wounded at Lambert-Ward’s headquarters. He came from the heavy fighting which took place in the village and testified that the battalion had been annihilated. He personally verified the written message which was sent by Bower to Lambert-Ward, that the remnants of the battalion had been beaten back from positions which they had briefly held in the village. Drury was left with thirty men who, having been amongst those forced out of the village, were now holding positions in trenches and shell holes outside the German wire. At 03.30 hours the Honourable Artillery Company was ordered to withdraw. The battalion had lost eleven officers and 200 men in this engagement. A “lot of wounded men left on the open ground, until they were collected the next day”, added Private Parry-Morris. Despite such losses, in the days

MAIN PICTURE BELOW: A solitary German soldier is photographed amongst the devastation that was once the village of Bullecourt. (Author) BELOW INSET LEFT and RIGHT: A postcard that Private Elphick sent from the front line during the Christmas of 1916. Note that he signed himself Douglas, though his full name was Christopher Douglas Elphick. (Courtesy of the Elphick family) that followed 2 HAC’s attack on Bullecourt a small section of the village remained in British hands. However, German forces were still entrenched in the south-western sector of the village which was known as the Red Patch. Despite the battering it had endured a few days previously, during the afternoon of 14 May 1917, 2 HAC was ordered to return to the village and relieve the South Staffordshires which were holding positions opposite the Red Patch. Lieutenant Colonel LambertWard made his reservations about the deployment of his depleted

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ranks in the line known to the Brigade commander, Colonel Norman. LambertWard later reported that “I pointed out to Colonel Norman that the strength of my Battalion was only 250 with 11 Lewis Guns, and it would not be advisable to take over that length of line with so few men”.4 The survivors of the earlier attacks, men such as Lieutenant Pritchard and Private Elphick, duly returned to the line opposite Red Patch. The Honourable Artillery Company completed its relief by 02.45 hours on 15 May. Then, at 04.15 hours, S.O.S. flares were fired from the direction of the Crucifix, a position to the west of Bullecourt. Lambert Ward then received a message confirming that the enemy had attacked a position held by an adjacent battalion. Shortly after this, a German counterattack was launched upon 2 HAC’s section of the line. The remnants of the battalion fought to hold off the enemy attack. Lieutenant John Pritchard had been transferred from ‘D’ Company to command ‘C’ Company, of which Private Christopher Elphick belonged. Captain Bower had

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sent a patrol into the Red Patch and reported that it “was alive with enemy and that they had been unable to get anywhere near ‘C’ Company”. ‘C’ Company, it later transpired, had been overwhelmed, and completely wiped out, by this German assault. Lieutenant John Pritchard and Private Christopher Elphick were among those killed. As a result of annihilating ‘C’ Company, German soldiers had been able to drive a wedge into the village, placing them in an advantageous position to outflank ‘B’ Company and to push it back towards Battalion Headquarters which was located within the rubble of Bullecourt. German forces had been so strong that they were able to get to within thirty yards of Lambert-Ward’s Battalion Headquarters. At 16.00 hours that day, the 22 Infantry Brigade’s Commander ordered the suspension of further attacks upon Bullecourt. But minutes after sending this message to Lambert-Ward, Captain Bower was bearing the brunt of a German counterattack from the south-west and, encountering heavy enemy shelling and machine-gun fire, his men were forced to withdraw. Major Wright and his men resisted the German assault and lost two of his officers. Among the dead was Lieutenant Clifford Jack St. Quintin. Major Wright placed ten of his remaining men under the command of Lieutenant Montgomery, an officer from the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and ordered them to carry out a bombing attack to beat the Germans back. Wright also ordered Captain Bower to attack towards the Church Cross Roads; he succeeded in carrying out these orders

ABOVE: German soldiers amongst the ruins of Bullecourt. (Author) LEFT: HRH Prince Michael of Kent presents

Private Elphick’s grandson, Christopher, with the Union Flag that had been draped over his coffin. Lieutenant Pritchard’s identity bracelet and Private Elphick’s signet ring were also returned to the respective families. (© Crown Copyright 2013)

BELOW LEFT: One of the coffins is carried by the pall-bearers during the burial service. (© Crown Copyright 2013) BELOW RIGHT: Both families chose emotive words to inscribe on their relatives’ headstones. The epitaph on Elphick’s headstone states: “Missing for so long but now returned, you will always be loved and remembered with pride.” (Courtesy of Yves Fohlen) without incurring many casualties. Later that day, Bower reached a mixed unit comprising of soldiers from the Honourable Artillery Company and 20th Battalion Manchester Regiment that was on his right flank, and a party of men from the 21st Manchesters on his left flank. During the evening, the remaining men of 2 HAC were relieved by the 8th Battalion London Regiment. The fighting at Bullecourt had reduced

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the entire 91 Infantry Brigade to the strength of a small battalion and all that was left of 2 HAC was four officers and ninety-four men. Many of the casualties were listed as missing. With no known grave, their names were later listed on the Arras Memorial. Lieutenant John Pritchard and Private Christopher Elphick were among them. For ninety-two years the pair continued to be listed as missing. Then, in August 2009, their remains, along with those of two other unidentified HAC soldiers, were found in a pasture adjacent to the Rue d’Arras in Bullecourt. This area would have represented the northern perimeter of the Red Patch during the fighting in May 1917. Didier Guerle, who owns the pasture, had been told by his grandfather, JeanBaptiste Savary, that many soldiers lay in the field, which had not been ploughed since the First World War. When Didier Guerle unearthed a gas canister he dug a little deeper and found the remains of one of the casualties. The remains of the other three were located soon after. Pritchard was identified by a silver identity bracelet inscribed with the word captain on it, whilst Elphick was named because of a signet ring bearing his initials. * On Tuesday, 23 April 2013, the Honourable Artillery Company was able to accord Pritchard, Elphick and the two unidentified soldiers a burial with full military honours in the H.A.C. Cemetery at Ecoust-St. Mein. The HAC’s Royal

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ABOVE: Serving members of the Honourable Artillery Company fire a salute during the burial service at Ecoust-St. Mein on 23 April 2013. (© Crown Copyright 2013) BELOW LEFT: The four new CWGC headstones of the Honourable Artillery Company casualties buried in the H.A.C. Cemetery at Ecoust-St. Mein on 23 April 2013 can be seen nearest the camera. The cemetery is a short distance from where the men fell in May 2013. (Courtesy of Yves Fohlen) BELOW RIGHT: Lieutenant Pritchard’s inscription, which can be seen on his standard Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone, states: “Profoundly missed, restored now to family, lost for many years, your battle is won.” (Courtesy of Yves Fohlen) Honorary Colonel, HRH Prince Michael of Kent, was present during the ceremony. Lieutenant Pritchard’s nephew and great nieces and Elphick’s two grandsons and their respective families also attended. Pritchard was serving as Acting Captain on the day that he had died. Pritchard had served in that rank since 4 April 1917, and this temporary rank was gazetted in The London Gazette on 30 June 1917, six weeks after he had been killed. Although he was an Acting Captain in command of a company at Bullecourt, and was referred to as Captain, his headstone lists him with his substantive rank of Lieutenant. The family of Lieutenant John Pritchard brought the burial service to a conclusion when they sung a cappella rendition of a poem by Tennyson called “Crossing the Bar” which had been set to the music of Sir Hugh Parry. It is fitting that Janet Shell, a professional opera singer, and three other family members maintain the singing tradition within the family which was passed down from their brave forebear – John had attended St Paul’s Cathedral School and was a chorister at the Cathedral along with his two brothers. The choice of song is extremely poignant because on the night before Lieutenant John Pritchard left for France for the final time in

1916 he sang this poem as he played the piano. Private Christopher Elphick never had the opportunity to get to know his newborn son Ronald, but his son would keep the memory of his father alive by naming one of his two sons Christopher. During the service on 23 April 2013, HRH Prince Michael of Kent presented Christopher with the Union Flag that had been draped over his grandfather’s coffin. ■

· Paul Kendall is the author of Bullecourt 1917: Breaching the Hindenburg Line. Published by Spellmount, for more information please visit: www.thehistorypress.co.uk

NOTES:

1. TNA, WO 95/1661, 22nd Infantry Brigade War

Diary.

2. IWM 9488: Interview with Private William

Parry-Morris, 2nd Battalion Honourable Artillery Company. 3. Major G. Goold Walker, The Honourable Artillery Company in the Great War 1914-1918 (London: Seeley, 1930). 4. TNA, WO 95/1661.

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D-DAY DOCTOR David Tibbs MC, a doctor with the 6th Airborne Division, recalls, in conversation with Neil Barber, his arrival and duties on D-Day with perhaps some of the most unsung heroes of the Airborne RAMC, its conscientious objectors.

B

y the spring of 1943, 21-yearold David Tibbs had completed his training as a doctor at Guy’s Hospital in London, but rather than continue with his ambition to be a surgeon, he decided to make a more immediate contribution to the war effort. The preference for most doctors was to enlist in the Royal Navy because “the uniform was better at pulling the birds!” However, at that time there were no vacancies and he therefore decided to join the Parachute Regiment. The 6th Airborne Division was forming and so once the training was complete and the required amount of jumps performed, Lieutenant Tibbs was assigned to 225 (Parachute) Field Ambulance of the 5th Parachute Brigade. There were three such Field Ambulances in the Division, one each to support the 3rd and 5th Parachute Brigades and the other for the glider-borne 6th Airlanding Brigade. On arrival, Tibbs found that around a third of the Field Ambulance staff was conscientious objectors. Colonel Malcolm MacEwan, the Division’s Assistant Director of Medical Services and one of the few men in the Airborne Forces to serve in both world wars, had recruited around 190 of such men who had been working on bomb disposal, not a safe occupation by any means, to work as parachuting medical orderlies. Tibbs quickly grew to admire them.

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ABOVE: The officers of 225 (Parachute) Field Ambulance soon after its formation in 1943. In the back row, from left to right, are: Captain Nicholson, Quartermaster; Major Daintree Johnson, Surgeon Specialist (broke his wrist and was replaced by Major Arthur McPherson, who jumped with unit on D-Day); Captain David Tibbs, MO; Captain David Clark, MO (recent arrival and remained in Bulford for Normandy campaign); Captain Leslie Hill, RASC Transport Officer; and Major Peter Essex-Lopresti, Surgeon Specialist. In the front row are, again from left to right: Captain Bill Briscoe, Catholic Padre; Captain Holland, Dental Officer; Major Dennis Thompson, Second in Command, (became Commanding Officer of 224 Para Field Ambulance shortly before D-Day and was dropped well off DZ and eventually taken prisoner); Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Harvey, Commanding Officer; Captain Maitland (later Major as Second in Command – died of wounds in Normandy); Captain John Wagstaff, MO; and Captain Tommy Wilson, MO. (All images courtesy of the author unless stated otherwise) BELOW: Glider-borne troops beside their Horsa glider, which crashed through a stone wall during its landing on the 6th Airborne Division’s drop zone near Ranville, 6 June 1944. (Imperial War Museum; B5050)

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044_1098 BAW_ 236

043_2843 BAW_ 184

D-DAY DOCTOR

F8/≥056

F8/≥056

ABOVE LEFT: An aerial photograph of the

area around Ranville taken on 24 March 1944. The fields to the north of the village, those above the name “Ranville”, represent the area of Drop Zone ‘N’.

ABOVE RIGHT: The Ranville DZ/LZ covered

in gliders following the landings on 6 June 1944. According to the Paradata website, the men of 225 (Para) Field Ambulance dropped into France at about 01.20 hours on the morning of D-Day. By around 02.30 hours, most had reached the unit successfully and joined the rear of the 12th (Yorks) Parachute Battalion heading for Le Bas de Ranville. Here they commandeered Château Guernon and established their MDS by about 04.00 hours, with the first casualties arriving soon afterwards.

BELOW: Gliders on the Ranville DZ/LZ. The height of the corn can be judged by the soldier on horseback. “These were people with deep Christian convictions such as Quakers or Plymouth Brethren, most of them well educated and hard working,” he recalled. “They were not allowed to have any rank other than private, but could not have been any more exemplary. You just asked them to do what was required and they did it without the need to bark orders, and indeed Christian names were often used. They managed to get on very well with the others and were a huge asset to the Division. Such was their competence that the surgeons gathered up many of them very quickly, making up the majority of people who worked in the surgical teams.” The Division’s first operation was

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the invasion of Normandy, and during the early hours of D-Day, 225 (Para) Field Ambulance was to land on Drop Zone (DZ) ‘N’, to the east of the Caen Canal and River Orne bridges and then rendezvous at Ranville before making its way to the prospective Main Dressing Station (MDS) that was to be set up in Château Guernon at Le Bas de Ranville. David Tibbs’ Dakota was among several hundred aircraft flying the two parachute brigades to Normandy. After a journey of around ninety minutes, the red light came on. The men stood up to prepare to exit. “Then, in the moment before my Section was to jump, a four-engine Stirling suddenly appeared, cutting diagonally across our path. Being only a few hundred feet apart, collision seemed inevitable but both pilots took violent evasive action and all my men were thrown to the floor in disarray. As No.1, hanging onto the doorway, I had seen all this very clearly. Our pilot swiftly corrected the ’plane and the green light came on immediately, but I could do nothing to help the chaos behind me and so jumped into the darkness.” On landing, Tibbs was surprised to find himself in exactly the right location at the northern end of DZ ‘N’. “I landed within about thirty feet of where I had agreed with the pilot that he would hope the Number One, myself, would land. I could see the outline of an apple tree and then beyond it, others. I realized that I was almost certainly right by this orchard that he’d agreed would be the starting point

for our stick.” Having got his bearings, Tibbs headed directly across the fields towards Ranville. “The distinctive outline of the Ranville Church Tower was clearly visible and I easily found the RV, but after twenty minutes only five of my men had arrived. Most had had to crawl to the door of the ’plane to jump and were therefore spread out over several miles instead of the halfmile we had expected.” With his batman, Frank Clark, he went to reconnoitre the church, intending to use it to gather casualties before passing them on to the MDS. “On reaching the church with Frank, a conscientious objector, we walked quietly around the outside because we didn’t know if there were any Germans about and had no idea if our troops had managed to clear the area. Then we heard the sound of approaching footsteps on the gravel, and so tucked ourselves into the shadow of a buttress of the church. I didn’t know what the hell to do. With the slow, measured footsteps coming closer, I whispered into Frank’s ear ‘Look, if it’s a German I’m going to rush him and knock him down. You can do what you like, but I’d like you to come and help if you will!’ “However, as the dim figure came alongside there was sufficient moonlight to recognise it was obviously one of ours, so we gave the password and all was well.” The church had huge oak doors that were firmly bolted and as he deliberated about what to do, the Commanding

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few men just did not understand how to work it. Its use was not all that self-evident and Officer of the Field Ambulance, they landed with their heavy kitbags still Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Harvey, arrived, strapped to one leg. furious that the church doors had not “We carried them to a waiting jeep, been opened. He fired his Sten gun at the which then took them back to the MDS. lock, with absolutely no result, but was pacified when it was pointed out that they To have only six of us to carry them was hugely laborious. A man on a stretcher is had no casualties as yet and did not need a very heavy object! to use the church. There was little more “At one stage I went to a spot where that Tibbs and his few men could do until there was a bank and to my surprise dawn. found a platoon of our soldiers with an “As soon as daylight came, it was the officer sheltering behind it and not daring task of my Section to search the DZ for to raise their heads. injured men and this now had to be “Suddenly, the door of the barn And there was I, wearing Red done with just six burst open and a very panicky albeit Crosses, openly of us. The area was covered in wheat RASC driver appeared shouting, walking about! They were obviously of nearly three feet ‘The Germans are here.” rather surprised in height, which as they had been under heavy fire and made it very difficult to spot an injured had set up a defensive position opposite man lying amongst it. However, most a small copse from which the fire was casualties found various dodges, such coming. Then a bit further on I noticed a as tying something to the end of a stick stick with a handkerchief tied to it being and waving it, so every now and again we would see a cloth or a handkerchief being waved in the air, so I walked over, calling waved and know there was someone lying my Sergeant to join me and found yet another casualty with a fractured femur. there. We carried him nearly half-a-mile back “We recovered about a dozen men to where we could pick up the jeep. scattered in the corn, mainly with Meanwhile the infantry platoon took fractured femurs. About forty-eight hours heart from my moving about so freely before we were due to jump everyone and put their heads ‘above the parapet’ was suddenly issued with a new release without drawing any immediate fire.” (“I mechanism for kitbags, but quite a

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ABOVE LEFT: A post-war view of Ranville

Church with, just visible in the distance beyond the church, some of the graves in Ranville War Cemetery. A number of Allied soldiers were also buried in the churchyard itself; forty-seven there, as opposed to 2,235 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War in the cemetery. One of these casualties buried in the churchyard was 29-yearold Lieutenant Herbert Denham “Den” Brotheridge of the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, the first British soldier to be killed by enemy fire on D-Day. Visitors to Ranville can find Lieutenant Brotheridge’s grave against the stretch of churchyard wall nearest the camera.

ABOVE RIGHT: A wartime view of Château

Guernon during its time as a Main Dressing Station. Before the Allied landings on D-Day, the château had been used by the Organisation Todt (OT). One account states that at least three OT officials were captured when troops of the 6th Airborne Division arrived at the château in the early hours of 6 June 1944.

was awarded the MC,” noted Tibbs later, “and my Staff Sergeant, Albert Hodgson, the MM, but every one of my men equally deserved this recognition”.) At around midday Lieutenant Tibbs’ group arrived at Château Guernon, just as a German attack was coming in nearby. “When we got back to the MDS, the chateau, it was absolutely full of wounded, seething with wounded, more than they could cope with at the time. There was a tremendous stonk of firing going on … “I had no specific set duties at that

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ABOVE: An Allied solider and ambulance in

front of Château Guernon during 1944. 225 Parachute Field Ambulance was formed at Castle Cary in June 1943, taking its name from 225 Light Field Ambulance of the Guards Armoured Division which had been disbanded in January that year.

RIGHT: An aerial photographic reconnaissance photograph with the location of the Main Dressing Station at Château Guernon marked. This image shows the distance travelled by Lieutenant Tibbs from his Landing Zone north of the village.

BELOW: The 18th Century Château Guernon

today.

moment and when the Dental Officer, George Holland, asked if I would go with him to bring in a wounded man lying outside in the road, I did so. It was my first experience of being in really heavy fire. We picked up the wounded man and took him in. Then I moved to another spot and saw coming up the slope the dreadful sight of two men supporting a young officer who was hopping on one leg with the other leg just trailing loosely behind him, obviously a severe injury. How on earth he had managed to come this far I don’t know. “He was an officer that I knew a little from one of the battalions, a small man who always amazed me at how frail

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he looked, someone you felt was not quite the paratroop type, but there he was, dreadfully wounded “I carried a 9mm automatic pistol and but trying to was a good shot, but what should I do if keep going. As he approached, to my the Germans burst in? Should I join in the astonishment he managed to say to me, ‘Doc, glad to see you, but I am sorry to be shoot-out or try to prevent a slaughter by indicating the Red Crosses on my arms? a damned nuisance.’ We laid him on the The wounded should not have been left ground, fetched a stretcher and carried with their weapons but they were now him inside.” fully prepared to fight. One grenade Tibbs was then put in charge of a large tossed in by the Germans would set the barn that held about eighty casualties, straw ablaze and everyone would die. many of them severely wounded. Shortly “In a short silence I heard a faint voice after, the shelling, mortaring and small at my feet calling out ‘David, David.’ arms fire grew louder as the German It was Bill Briscoe, the Catholic Padre, attack got closer. “Suddenly, the door who had suffered a of the barn burst “I felt a violent shock, like chest wound. I knew open and a very well, a much panicky RASC driver electricity, in my right arm him loved figure. He had appeared shouting, and found myself lying on been put in this barn ‘The Germans are because no-one here. They’re at the the grass.” thought he would bottom of the lane,’ survive. I knelt down and he said, ‘David, which was only fifty yards away. A badly remove my gun. If the Germans find my wounded Glaswegian sergeant levered pistol, they’ll shoot me.’ I unbuckled his himself up, picked up a Sten gun lying belt and kicked his gun under some straw. by his side and pointed it at him, snarling Carrying a pistol was a fashion and many ‘Stop yer blathering, or ye’ll be the first to Padres and Medical Officers had them. go!’ The driver disappeared hurriedly and Mercifully, there was a sudden fusillade of there was a general movement amongst shots nearby, some loud explosions and the wounded as they struggled to arm then silence, except for a few shouts. The themselves. If the Germans appeared at attacking Panzer Grenadiers had retreated the door, the wounded were going to fire because the two tanks they were at them. supporting had been knocked out.” Tibbs immediately instructed his orderlies to collect and hide all weapons.

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ABOVE: David Tibbs pictured outside the barn which had served as his own Aid Post at Putot-en-Auge, and to where he was taken after being shot by a sniper. RIGHT: The view of the main buildings at

Château Guernon – as seen from the barn that held about eighty casualties and which was placed under the command of Lieutenant Tibbs.

BELOW LEFT: An artist’s depiction of Château Guernon whilst it was being used as a dressing station during and after the Allied landings on 6 June 1944. Note the large red cross that was draped over the roof. (Courtesy of Crevette Havot) BELOW RIGHT: As indicated by this memorial plaque which can be seen in the centre of the village, Ranville was the first village to be liberated in France. This was done amid grunts of annoyance, but he knew that the wounded stood a better chance if he depended on the Red Cross to protect them. The system for dealing with the casualties at the château revolved around the Field Ambulance’s two surgeons whose first task was to assess the patient’s state. After initial bandaging, many wounds could be left alone for some hours with the patient lying where he was. However, for severe wounds and a shocked patient, various things could be done. Firstly, a plasma or blood

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transfusion had to be arranged. “A priority would be to stop haemorrhage. For instance, a casualty might be sent in with a tourniquet on, which had saved his life but would quickly cause a loss of the limb unless taken off within an hour or so. The source of haemorrhage had to be dealt with and the circulation restored. This would require an anaesthetic and operation. If the limb was so badly mangled that there was no hope of saving it an amputation would be necessary. “With abdominal wounds, a common injury where the intestines were widely exposed and lacerated, the surgeon would, using anaesthesia, repair all the damage, preventing further leakage of bowel contents into the peritoneal cavity, creating a colostomy if necessary and in this way putting the patient into a stable state. “If there was a chest wound, it was likely to be sucking air in and out of the chest cavity, with the lung on that side collapsed and unable to function, threatening the man’s life. The aperture in the chest wall would require closing by

bringing the skin together over the wound to form an airtight seal to the aperture. “Head injuries would probably need decompression by removing any pent up blood clot from within the cranial cavity by a small opening into the skull (craniotomy). If the airway was jeopardised by injuries to the throat or face, a tracheotomy could be provided.” These and other surgical procedures repaired the main damage threatening a casualty’s life and allowed transport back to an Army Main Hospital. * Lieutenant David Tibbs’ time in

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Normandy was to last for ten weeks. At Putot-en-Auge, he witnessed an incident in which three men were shot by a sniper. “One was dead, another probably so, but the third was shouting in distress, so I went out with a Red Cross flag to pull him in. He had a severe bullet injury to his genitalia and groin. As I did this I saw the second man was still blowing bubbles of blood, so with great reluctance I returned to fetch him, only to find he had now died. Without thinking, I stripped off his bandolier of ammunition and flung it to the sunken road. “As I did so there was a tremendous crack as if a gun had been fired close to my head. I felt a violent shock, like electricity, in my right arm and found myself lying on the grass. After a brief moment of confusion I realised that I had become the fourth victim of the sniper and tried to shift away before another shot followed, but found that I had no strength. “Wisely, no-one came out to help me, but one of my medics called out, ‘Try hard, sir! Try hard!’ This made me redouble my efforts and I managed to push myself on my side along to the gap in the hedge through which I had come, where hands reached out to help me. I managed to limp to my own RAP [Regimental Aid Post] but lost a large amount of blood and felt dreadful. Pain came later, but was not severe.”

Tibbs was driven to Bayeux, to the ‘blessed haven’ of an organised, tented hospital with nurses from the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service. His wound was operated upon the next day. “I found myself amongst the earliest to receive penicillin, at that time a brick red fluid dispensed by multiple injections from a single enormous syringe, causing an intolerable ache for some hours afterwards. A few days later I was taken back to England in a huge tank-landing craft.” For Tibbs, his part in the fighting in Normandy was over. As for his unit, the selfless behaviour displayed by the members of the 6th Airborne RAMC forged a great respect and affinity between the combatant and noncombatant that lasts to this day. ■

ABOVE LEFT: An X-ray of David Tibb’s wound to his shoulder; bullet splinters can be seen in his side.

ABOVE: D-Day survivors at Buckingham Palace in early 1945, having received their medals from the King. David Tibbs, second from the left, received the MC. The fascinating thing about this photograph is that second from the right is a conscientious objector, Private Bert Roe. Although they were not entitled to any such award, the Commanding Officer of the 13th Parachute Battalion, Lieutanant Colonel Peter Luard (third from right), thought so highly of him and what the conscientious objectors had done, that with everyone’s support, he was put forward for the Military Medal. Major Jack Watson, also of the 13th, stands on the end. LEFT: A newspaper cutting from November 1944 detailing awards made to David Tibbs and his brother, Ian.

BELOW LEFT: A photograph of David taken later in the war. BELOW: David Tibbs will feature in a forthcoming two-part BBC programme to be shown during the 2013 D-Day commemorations. As seen here, Dan Snow actually interviewed him in at Château Guernon.

The full story of Captain David Tibbs MC’s wartime service is told in Parachute Doctor. Edited by Neil Barber and published by Sabrestorm Publishing, for more information, please visit: www.sabrestorm.com

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ON THE WESTERN FRONT

British Troops Advance Through the Hindenburg Line, 1918

In the spring of 1917, following their severe losses in 1916 during the battles of Verdun and the Somme, the German Army on the Western Front retreated to formidable new defensive positions known as the Hindenburg Line. Consisting of a complex network of trenches and deep bunkers protected by concrete pillboxes, machine-gun nests and gun emplacements, these defences proved to be the graveyard of many Allied offensives launched that year. However, the situation was revolutionised in the spring of 1918 when the Germans elected to leave the relative safety of these positions to concentrate on an all-out offensive in a last desperate attempt to win the war before the arrival of large numbers of American troops in France. Yet despite some striking early successes, by the early summer it became clear that this reckless gamble had failed. The Germans found themselves hopelessly out of position, defending large vulnerable salients with a depleted and exhausted army. Wresting the initiative from their enemy, the

Allies decided the time was ripe to unleash a devastating counterattack. Lavishly equipped and utilising the most sophisticated weaponry and tactics honed over four bloody years of fighting, the Allies relentlessly pushed back their weakened foe along a broad front under a flurry of blows. The climax to this offensive was an assault on the Hindenburg Line in September 1918. Whilst it was not so strongly defended as in the previous year, the line was still a tough obstacle, symbolising Germany’s will and capacity to continue the war. The British Army was in the vanguard of the attack that broke through in the course of a series of spectacular operations. This victory was arguably the British Army’s greatest, yet least celebrated, triumph of the First World War. NEXT MONTH: Turning point in Burma – Gurkhas clearing enemy positions on Scraggy Hill during the Battle of Imphal, April 1944.

www.nam.ac.uk

(Image: NAM 1953-03-31-190, Neg. 136115)

KEY MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY: 6

VICTORY

Each month, through a series of ten iconic images from its archives, the National Army Museum’s Justin Saddington documents key moments in the history of the British Army since 1914, presented in order of historical importance.

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Hidden messages locked in coded wartime letters sent by British prisoners of war have been revealed for the first time in seventy years. Alan Williams explains how academics at Plymouth University worked together to crack codes used by MI9 during the Second World War.

F

or more than thirty years, Stephen Pryor had known his father was a wartime code writer. He had read the sometimes strangely-worded letters the young Sub-Lieutenant John Pryor had sent home from his prisoner of war camp, and always wondered exactly what details were contained within them. Sadly, it was not something his father could help him with as despite the fact he began to write his memoirs in 1980, the intricate details of how the code worked had long since escaped him. John Pryor was a miner’s son from Saltash, Cornwall, and was a SubLieutenant stationed in Poole at the time the war broke out. He was captured at Dunkirk in 1940 whilst assisting with the evacuation of Allied troops. In time, SubLieutenant Pryor found himself in Marlag und Milag Nord, a prisoner of war camp complex for Merchant Navy and Royal Navy PoWs some twenty miles north-east

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of Bremen, in northern Germany. The Royal Navy section, Marlag (from Marinelager, or “Navy camp”), was divided into two compounds; “O” housed officers and their orderlies, while “M” held NCOs and ratings. The part of the camp for Merchant Navy personnel, Milag (Marineinterniertenlager, “Marine Internment Camp”), was similarly divided into two. It was in Marlag that Sub-Lieutenant Pryor would spend the remainder of the war. While there, he was approached by a MAIN PICTURE BELOW: A group of Royal Navy prisoners of war in Marlag during the Second World War. Sub-Lieutenant John Pryor can be seen in the fourth row, fourth from left. (All images courtesy of Stephen Pryor/University of Plymouth) RIGHT: John Pryor pictured after the war, when he held the rank of Commander. Following his release John Pryor captained three ships based at Plymouth.

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RIGHT: Stephen Pryor with a collection of

his father’s wartime letters, documents and photographs.

BELOW LEFT: An example of the communication between MI9 and PoWs working in reverse. The wartime provenance of this game of Monopoly is reflected by the fact that the “property accessories” have been replaced by wooden parts, and a spinner has been substituted for the dice. Waddingtons made a variety of board games such as Monopoly, as well as chess sets and playing cards, that could be sent to PoWs with maps concealed within. Correspondence between Christopher Clayton Hutton, an Intelligence Officer in MI9, and Norman Watson of Waddingtons, makes reference to the “Free Parking” square on the Monopoly board. When this square was marked with a full stop it indicated that there was a map of Northern France and Germany inside. A full stop after Marylebone Station meant a map of Italy and one after Mayfair denoted a map showing Norway, Sweden and Germany. (Imperial War Museum; EPH2217) BELOW RIGHT: The cross-disciplinary research team from Plymouth University that successfully cracked the code used by Sub-Lieutenant Pryor whilst he was a PoW in Marlag. From left to right are: David McMullan, Harry Bennett, Stephen Pryor and Barbara Bond. fellow officer with links to the Directorate of Military Intelligence Section 9, otherwise known as MI9. One of MI9s roles was to communicate with British PoWs, send them advice and equipment and assist with escape attempts. “At first, my father was suspicious as to whether this officer was a German stooge,” recalls Stephen Pryor, a Governor at Plymouth University. “But, having spoken to his commanding officer within the camp, he was taught the codes. Two years later, he passed it on to three other fellow PoWs. My father always had

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a good memory and was pretty good with numbers, which I guess might have been the reason he was chosen. But each writer had their own key to memorise, and took huge risks to ensure their messages got out.” John Pryor was now part of a network of code writers which, by 1942, ensured that MI9 was in contact with prisoners in twenty-seven camps across Germany and Italy. Each camp had its own escape committee, and the code writers were vital to ensure requests for items such as maps and passports reached their intended destination without being discovered. Dr Harry Bennett, Associate Professor of History at Plymouth University, said: “Coded messages played a huge part in the war effort on both sides, as they were undoubtedly the best way to get messages or instructions through. But as the code breakers on both sides became more proficient, the codes that were used also needed to be developed. The MI9 code was especially important, as their chief mission was to source equipment and supplies for prisoners of war who would then attempt to orchestrate an escape.” The main avenue the Allied forces used to transfer messages and supplies was the PoW camps’ own parcel service and once the letters had got out, items such as currency, maps and

passports were then concealed with board games and vinyl records so they could be smuggled in. Dr Bennett added: “What we begin to see with the rise of MI9 and the Special Operations Executive is a very different branch of warfare, one that requires the use of special gadgets – this is effectively an early version of ‘Q’ branch. But their work was invaluable to the Allied war effort, as it helped thousands of Allied personnel to escape from PoW camps and evade capture thereafter. They eventually made their way back to this country, and continued to contribute to the war effort.” John Pryor died in 2011, aged 91, and his son Stephen put the twenty-one coded letters he had in his possession to one side, thinking the hidden messages might continue to remain as they had originally been intended. That was until a chance conversation with Plymouth University’s Pro-Chancellor, Barbara Bond, who had started a PhD looking at the use of silk maps during the war. Barbara, a former Ministry of Defence cartographer who later worked for the Hydrographic Office in Taunton, had a long fascination with the practice of coded letters and particularly their use by MI9 as a means of helping successful escapees to evade capture in enemy territory.

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“Producing the maps was the first stage, but MI9 had to get them to the PoW camps,” noted Barbara. “It was an incredibly ingenious operation, secreting the maps inside games boards, gramophone records and even packs of playing cards, and then sending these in parcels to the PoW camps. MI9 tried to ensure that everything reached the right camp undamaged and undiscovered. I later discovered that this was down to their use of coded letters. She and Stephen Pryor then sat and tried to crack John Pryor’s letters – they knew the numbers four and five were significant, but apart from that had very little to help them and, unsurprisingly, their efforts proved fruitless. At that point, she contacted Mathematics Professor David McMullan, who worked through the letters, bearing in mind John’s recollections about the numbers four and five. Professor McMullan discovered that the coded words alternated every four and fifth word. However, if those words happened to be “but” or “the” it then triggered an intricate alphabetical sequence and, in John Pryor’s letters, he used this code to hide requests for items such as maps and passports. “It became clear to me that each prisoner must have been given their own private key for encoding messages so, with a bit of luck, it should be possible to recover John Pryor’s full key,” Professor McMullan said. “I sat down one day with one of the letters which appealed to me because the fifth word was ‘acknowledged’ and this sounded to me like a possible end to a message. The fourth word after that in the sequence was ‘the’, and using the alphabetic key, I came up with the word ‘Elder’ which later turned out to be one of John’s fellow officers. It was a remarkable experience to see a hidden message emerge from the letter.” Researchers have now decoded nine of the letters, documents which provide an intriguing insight into how the PoWs were still heavily involved in the war effort. Naturally the code used by Sub-Lieutenant Pryor was a complicated one; too easy and it might be broken by the enemy. “It would take several hours in a classroom to explain exactly how the code worked,” said Dr Bennett., “but obviously if it was simple the Germans would have rumbled it. “First off, they would signal in one of two ways that a letter contained a code. One signal was writing the date in a continental method using numbers rather than words. The second thing they would typically do was underline the signature. Either would confirm to MI9 that the letter contained a code. “With John Pryor’s letters, every fourth or fifth word offers you a clue. You then have to take the exact letters and reorganise them in a different way to make a sensible message.” In one of his letters, Sub-Lieutenant Pryor had secreted the message “clothing and local maps obtained require some of borders especially Swiss passport information and renten marks”. Renten marks was the name of German currency at the time. Another spoke of the sinking of a German warship seven months earlier. “From these letters, we now know the PoWs were not only trying to engineer escapes but were also passing on information about key German sites, such as munitions dumps, which could then have become targets for the RAF,” continued Dr Bennett. “The letters go to emphasise just how invaluable the code writers were to the Allied war effort.” For Stephen Pryor, the success of the research project is not only an example of how several academic disciplines can work together but an amazing personal journey through his father’s wartime years. “As the codes were unravelled,” he concluded, “I could not help but feel excitement as it became clear my father and his fellow PoWs felt it was their paramount duty to try to escape and continue to fight for their country.” ■ JUNE 2013

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ONE OF THE CODED LETTERS This seemingly innocuous letter written by Sub-Lieutenant John Pryor to his parents on 22 December 1942, is in fact one that contains a hidden, coded message with information vital to the Allied war effort. Eight lines from the top is a sentence which reads: “We have just been working hard opening up our Xmas food parcels for this festive week, inside they contain several Xmas luxuries.” If you apply the code used by Sub-Lieutenant Pryor, then it actually transpires that hidden in this sentence is the word “Berlin”. Subtle markers such as underlining his name at the bottom indicated that the letter contained a message. The full coded message contained in this particular letter is: “Large munition dumps just south of new bridge at Barkau on new Berlin Marienburg road.”

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“ The unique characteristics of Barnes Wallis’ “bouncing bomb” – Upkeep – and its method of release called for a way to aim it accurately. As Robert Owen, Official Historian of the No. 617 Squadron Association, reveals on the 70th anniversary of the Dams Raid, that necessitated considerable thought and innovation. ABOVE: By the renowned aviation artist Philip E. West, “Dambuster Heroes” depicts the moment that Flight Lieutenant D.H. Maltby’s Lancaster, ED906 AJ-J, released its Upkeep bouncing bomb towards the Möhne dam. This was the fifth aircraft to attack in the early hours of 17 May 1943, and it delivered the knock-out blow to the dam wall. According to one veteran of Operation Chastise, Len Sumpter, Maltby’s bomb aimer, Pilot Officer J. Fort, used an example of the wooden aiming sight made famous by the film Dam Busters. For more information on the painting and the print editions available, please contact The Art Studio, PO Box 154, Shaftesbury, SP7 7AR, or telephone + 44 (0)1747 828810. Alternatively, Philip’s website can be seen at: www.aviationfineart.co.uk 72

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conventional bomb, designed to follow a calculated path determined by its ballistics, could be aimed using a conventional sight that would allow for airspeed, height and drift. The issue with Upkeep, as used by the Dambusters, was that its ballistics would vary according to height and air speed at release and its speed of rotation. A conventional bomb would fall through the air until it hit the ground at the point where it would detonate, whereas Upkeep travelled to the target not only through air, but also along a final path on water that was determined by the bomb’s forward speed and rotation. To function correctly, Upkeep needed to strike the dam’s wall with minimum forward motion, but still with enough back spin to cause the bomb to maintain contact with the structure as it sank. Three hydrostatic pistols would then detonate 6,600lb of Torpex at a depth of thirty feet, calculated by Wallis to be the optimum depth. It was important that Upkeep should not be released too close to the target since it might bounce over the parapet. Alternatively it might strike the dam wall so hard as to detonate instantly, with the aircraft possibly still within lethal range. Released at too great a distance, on the

other hand, and the bomb’s momentum would be expended before it reached the dam. In such circumstances, it would sink before reaching the wall. The ideal range could not be finalised until the other factors of height, air speed and rotational spin necessary for the bomb to function properly had been established. The date set for Operation Chastise, the code-name for the attack on the Ruhr dams, meant that a squadron needed to be formed and trained before this information would be available. Therefore, a method of aiming Upkeep was needed that could be established in principle and then easily adjusted when the final information became known. As 617 Squadron formed at RAF Scampton, discussions were taking place at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough. In terms of direction, the weapon should follow the line of flight, so in this respect “the pilot’s judgement alone will be adequate”. If a special sight was needed then one that had recently been developed for aiming torpedoes was expected to be sufficient. However, it was range that posed the greater problem; to address this it was agreed that something more than the pilot’s skill was going to be required. Various suggestions were made. One was release by reference to a prominent JUNE 2013

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landmark observed by another crew member – but this could pose problems of identification at high speed at night and in an unfamiliar area. Another unrealistic possibility that was considered (and no doubt soon dismissed) was the use of a landing light to indicate the point of release as soon as the target came into its beam. Whilst the research was underway, the question was also asked if simple range indicators might suffice, such as marks on the windscreen that would match against prominent points on the target at the correct distance. The main targets, the Möhne and Eder dams, had two towers on their crests which would be ideal for this purpose. Already the seeds of the eventual solution were being sown. Meanwhile, 617 Squadron was initially instructed to train for a final approach at 100 feet and at a speed of about 240 mph, with release of Upkeep to take place after passing an easily identified landmark, or at a given number of seconds after passing such a point. The squadron’s crews were expected to achieve accuracy within plus or minus forty yards of the specified release point. It also suggested that “it would be convenient to practise this over water”. It is difficult to establish a definitive chronology for development of the JUNE 2013

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methods of sighting Upkeep, but it is known that a number of variations were tried. Wing Commander Charles Dann of the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down visited No.5 Group Headquarters at Grantham on 2 April 1943. By now it was noted that the use of landmarks was impracticable. Instead Dann put forward a proposal involving two marks on the bomb aimer’s Perspex which would correspond to the two towers on the dam “with a cross piece in the cockpit to fix the position of the bomb aimer’s head”, thus giving the correct sighting angle. At the same meeting he suggested a hanging weight to enable rough estimation of height, and was asked to investigate the utility of the low-level Mark III bombsight which had been developed for attacks against submarines by Coastal Command. It was soon established that the hanging weight method did not work. As for the Mark III bombsight, the bomb aimer viewed the approaching target through a scrolling “ladder” of bars which were moving at a speed corresponding to the closing speed of the target at the correct point for release. As the aircraft

ABOVE: The cramped bomb aimer’s position in the nose of an Avro Lancaster, in this case the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre’s remarkable Avro Lancaster B Mark VII NX611, Just Jane. In the centre is the bomb sight; to the immediate right of this is the bomb allocation and distribution panel used to fuze each of the sixteen bomb stations separately and determine which order the bombs dropped from the bomb bay. In the left foreground is the bombsight computer. (HMP) approached, the target appeared to move at an increasing rate towards the aircraft. The bomb was released when the apparent speed of the target equalled that of the scrolling bars. It required considerable practice to detect the precise moment of synchronisation; after due consideration it was deemed unsuitable for use with Upkeep. Even without a special sight 617 Squadron was already practising over the bombing range at Wainfleet. The crews were soon achieving the required accuracy using standard 11½ lb practice bombs. But that was by day and without opposition. 73

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Wing Commander Dann arrived at Scampton on 10 April to discuss his sighting idea with Wing Commander Guy Gibson. A prototype was quickly produced in one of the aircraft and a trial flown against the towers of the Derwent Reservoir dam. This flight was to demonstrate the technique, without actually releasing any bombs. Since a full-sized Upkeep had yet to perform satisfactorily it was suggested that the rangefinder should be modified to permit adjustment as range data from trials became known. This flexibility would also make it possible to accommodate the different distances between the towers on the two main targets. Such a modification would at least allow bomb aimers to begin training with the sight. This requirement probably led to the development of the hand-held sight, as shown in the 1955 film, which may

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well have also been devised by Wing Commander Dann. However, this sight had a drawback. The bomb aimer in a Lancaster lay prone on a padded cushion, supporting himself on his elbows, holding the bomb release button in his right hand. Low-level flying could be rather bumpy at the best of times and some bomb aimers found it difficult to steady themselves whilst trying to hold the sight on target. To improve things, some lowered and repositioned their chest rest to give greater comfort and more freedom. By the end of April 1943, the crews were again practising over Wainfleet where special targets had been erected. These targets took the form of two large white boards, each thirty by twenty feet, which were placed 700 feet apart to simulate the towers on a dam. These blew down in a gale on 26 April, but were re-erected for the squadron to continue practising with the 11½ lb practice bombs.

From the first week of May, two more reservoirs, Eyebrook near Uppingham, and Abberton, near Colchester, were also used for practice. At Eyebrook dummy towers were erected using camouflage scrim and canvas on poles as aiming markers. On 10 May one of these was also blown down, but was quickly re-erected. As at Derwent Dam, no bombs were dropped at these reservoir targets. By now a number of bomb aimers had devised their own sights that reverted to the original concept. Flight Sergeant Len Sumpter, Flight Lieutenant David Shannon’s bomb aimer, used two chinagraph marks on the nose Perspex as the foresight with string tied to the fixing screws of the bomb aimer’s flat window and then drawn back taut to the bridge of his nose, to position his head at the correct distance. A similar version was used by Flying Officer Edward Johnson in Pilot Officer ABOVE: Entitled “Sighting the Towers”, this drawing by the aviation artist Matt Holness AGAvA depicts a 617 Squadron bomb aimer using one of the improvised aiming devices developed for the attack on the dams. (Courtesy of Matt Holness AGAvA; www.vectorfineart.co.uk) BELOW LEFT: This Perspex nose cone for an Avro Lancaster, complete with an improvised aiming device (represented by the knotted piece of string and the chinagraph marks on the Perspex), is one of the many fascinating exhibits in the RAF Scampton Museum. Note also the replica wooden sight. (HMP) BELOW RIGHT: The crew of 617 Squadron’s Lancaster ED285, AJ-T, is pictured sitting on the grass under stormy clouds at RAF Scampton on 22 July 1943. They are, left to right: Sergeant George Johnson (Bomb Aimer); Pilot Officer Don A. MacLean, (Navigator); Sergeant Ron Batson, (Air Gunner); Flight Lieutenant Joe C. McCarthy, (Pilot); Sergeant William “Bill” Ratcliffe, (Flight Engineer); and Sergeant Len Eaton, (Wireless Operator). The Rear Gunner, Flying Officer Dave Rodger, is missing from the line-up. (Imperial War Museum; TR1128)

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Les Knight’s crew, though he used double chinagraph marks to accommodate the width of the target towers. Flight Lieutenant Les Munro’s bomb aimer, Sergeant Jim Clay, used yet another variation, again with string, but using the retaining screws to which the string was attached instead of chinagraph marks. It was reported that these string and chinagraph variants were more accurate and easier to use at night than the handheld sight. While the squadron had been practising low-level flying, navigation and bomb aiming, Barnes Wallis and his team had been conducting test drops with the full-size Upkeep at Reculver, on the north Kent coast. The first totally successful drop took place on 29 April 1943, and subsequent trials provided the data needed to refine the release criteria and establish the release distance from the dam. As a result, by 7 May Wallis had established that if Upkeep was dropped from a height of 60 feet at 220 mph a range of 450-500 yards would be possible. Of this range, 250 yards was along the surface of the water. The pilots of 617 Squadron got their

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first chance to drop inert Upkeeps on 11 May. Aiming marks had been erected on the sea wall at Reculver and for the next three days aircraft made their runs towards the shore, at right angles to the coast. There were still variations in the range achieved, possibly due to the difficulty in gauging the correct height in daylight without using the spotlights. Some bombs came up the beach and leapt over the sea wall to land in the oyster beds beyond, while Flight Sergeant Sumpter’s Upkeep fell twenty yards short and struggled to make the shoreline. The final proof came on the night of 16/17 May when Operation Chastise was mounted. According to Len Sumpter, all the attacks on the Möhne Dam were carried out using the wooden sight. The first Upkeep to be released, by Wing Commander Gibson’s aircraft, sank and exploded short of the target, possibly having been hampered by the torpedo netting stretched across the lake to protect the dam. Flight Lieutenant Hopgood was hit by flak and set on fire during his run in. His Upkeep, released a fraction late, bounced over the parapet and exploded on the power house beyond

ABOVE LEFT: The man who dropped the

first of the two Upkeeps that hit the Sorpe – Sergeant George Johnson – is pictured here in the nose of a surviving Avro Lancaster. George was the bomb aimer in the Lancaster flown by Flight Lieutenant Joe McCarthy. (Courtesy of Mark Postlethwaite)

ABOVE: Another drawing by Matt Holness AGAvA, this time showing a bomb aimer, using one of the improvised aiming devices developed for Operation Chastise, in the final moments of an attack on one of the dams. (Courtesy of Matt Holness AGAvA; www.vectorfineart.co.uk) BELOW: A view of the Eder Dam today – an image that shows the two towers that were so vital to the bomb aimers during Operation Chastise. (Courtesy of Carschten) the dam. The weapon dropped by Flight Lieutenant “Mick” Martin may have struck the water at an angle for it veered off course, exploding near the left hand shore. Squadron Leader “Dinghy” Young made the fourth attack; his bomb seems to have behaved exactly as intended. It appears that it was this weapon that caused the dam’s first signs of failure. Flight Lieutenant David Maltby delivered the coup de grâce, his weapon again seemingly performing perfectly.

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At the Eder, it is probable that Squadron Leader Henry Maudslay’s bomb aimer had used the wooden sight. His bomb detonated on impact with the parapet. Contrary to what was believed at the time, Maudslay’s aircraft survived the explosion, but was shot down near Emmerich on the return flight. Flight Lieutenant David Shannon’s weapon detonated towards the right hand side of the dam – possibly on account of the difficult approach to the target that had hindered an otherwise perfect run in. Pilot Officer Knight’s Upkeep appears to have worked flawlessly and breached the dam. The Sorpe Dam did not have towers,

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and did not require the rangefinder sight. Attacks were made along the length of the dam, slightly out over the lake. Here, two Upkeeps were dropped without spin, in effect as a large depth charge, from the lowest possible height at a point mid-way along the dam – all of which would be judged by eye. Only one other Upkeep was dropped that night, by Flight Sergeant Bill Townsend. He made an attack against what he believed to be the Ennepe Dam, but which post-war analysis would suggest was the Bever Dam. With his sight set for the dimensions of the Ennepe, it would appear that this Upkeep was released at a range of some 800 yards, and so detonated short of the dam. Having analysed all the facts, we can conclude that both variants of the Upkeep bomb sight were effective in the actual attack. Any shortcomings that occurred were due to the behaviour of the weapon and the difficulty of obtaining the exact release parameters under operational conditions. ■

LEFT: Built by Avro at their Woodford

factory in Manchester, Lancaster ED825 would become one the aircraft used by 617 Squadron during Operation Chastise. Flown by Flight Lieutenant McCarthy, ED825 was the only one out of the five Second Wave aircraft to reach its target. Whilst the aircraft and its crew returned from this attack, it did not survive the war and was lost, in December 1943, whilst dropping supplies to the underground forces in France. When the wreckage was excavated, one of those who had flown in it, George “Johnny” Johnson, was present to observe the dig as it progressed. Here he holds a piece of Perspex, unearthed during the excavation, that he may well have peered through during the Dams Raid. (Courtesy of Brian Fernley)

BELOW: The only surviving bomb aimer from Operation Chastise, George “Johnny” Johnson, savours the sounds of the four Merlin engines of Just Jane at East Kirkby. (Courtesy of Mark Postlethwaite) MAIN PICTURE BOTTOM: A photograph of the Eder Dam on 17 May 1943. The attack created a massive 230 feet wide and 22 seventy-two feet deep breach in the structure. Water emptied at the rate of 8,000 cubic metres per second into the narrow valley below, producing a flood wave which roared as far as nineteen miles downstream. (Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-C0212-0043-012/CCBY-SA)

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that shaped the WAR

SEVENTY YEARS ON, WE CHART SOME OF THE KEY MOMENTS AND EVENTS THAT AFFECTED BRITAIN IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR 1

The stage and film actor, director, and producer Leslie Howard was killed when the BOAC Douglas DC-3 he was travelling in was shot down. The civilian aircraft, G-AGBB, had taken off from Portela Airport in Lisbon on a scheduled flight to Whitchurch Airport near Bristol. During the flight, the DC-3 was attacked and shot down by eight Junkers Ju 88s of Kampfgeschwader 40. The next day, The Times carried the following announcement: “The British Overseas Airways Corporation regrets to announce that a civil aircraft on passage between Lisbon and the United Kingdom is overdue and presumed lost. The last message received from the aircraft stated that it was being attacked by an enemy aircraft. The aircraft carried 13 passengers and a crew of four. Nextof-kin have been informed.”

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Following the victory in North Africa, Winston Churchill spoke to British troops gathered in the dusty heat of the Roman amphitheatre at Carthage during a visit to Tunis.

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It was announced that the number of illegitimate births in the United Kingdom had risen from 32,000 a year at the beginning of the war to 53,000. This figure represented 6.5% of the total births.

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Following the loss of the British Overseas Airways Corporation’s DC-3 G-AGBB a Short Sunderland of 461 Squadron RAAF, searching the area where the airliner was lost, was itself attacked over the Bay of

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Biscay by eight Junkers Ju 88s. The ensuing combat lasted for forty-five minutes. In the course of this fierce engagement the Sunderland’s crew shot down three of the Luftwaffe aircraft. The flying boat was badly damaged, with one of its crew killed and three wounded. Nevertheless, the pilot, Flight Lieutenant C.B. Walker, managed to bring the Sunderland safely back.

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Sixty-five British Army officers broke out of Oflag VII-B at Eichstätt in Bavaria. The tunnel used for the escape ran north from a latrine in one barrack block towards a chicken coop about ninety-eight feet away. Work had started on the tunnel in December 1942, but the rocky ground meant that progress was slow and it was not until May the following year that it was completed. On the night of the escape, sixty-five PoWs made it through the tunnel which was well-supported and equipped with forced air ventilation and electric lighting. Most of the escapees headed south towards Switzerland, sleeping by day and travelling by night. Eventually, all sixty-five were recaptured, but they had occupied over 50,000 police, soldiers and Hitler Youth for a week. BELOW: The RAF’s first autogyro squadron, 529 Squadron, was formed at Halton on Tuesday, 15 June 1943 from No.1448 Flight. A radar calibration unit, the squadron had the distinction of being the only one to operationally fly autogyros (such as that seen here) and helicopters during the Second World War. (Key Collection)

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The “Pointblank Directive” was issued which put into practice the principles agreed upon at the Casablanca Conference. These were “the progressive destruction and dislocation of the German military, industrial and economic systems and the undermining of the morale of the German people to a point where their capacity for armed resistance is fatally weakened”. The directive instructed Bomber Command and the US Eighth Air Force to attack specific targets, particularly those factories involved in the production of fighter aircraft. This was because the Allied invasion of France could not take place until the Allies had complete control of the skies above the invasion beaches. Initially this operation did not appear to produce the expected results. This was particularly the case with the massed daylight attacks by the Americans. The bulk of the German fighter force was retained in Germany to combat the Allied bombers; losses amongst US bomber crews were very high and great difficulty was found in conducting accurate bombing when under constant attack by fighters. This was until the Mustang fighter became available; these had the capacity to escort the daylight raids of the US bombers all the way to Berlin. As a consequence, German fighter losses mounted rapidly, eventually topping 2,000 per month.

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DATES THAT SHAPED THE WAR DATES THAT SHAPED THE WAR DATES THAT SHAPED THE WAR

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DATES THAT SHAPED THE WAR DATES THAT SHAPED THE WAR DATES THAT SHAPED THE WAR

LEFT: A little over eight miles long and five miles wide with sheer cliffs,

the island of Pantelleria lies fifty-three miles southeast of Cap Bon, Tunisia, and sixty-three miles southwest of Sicily. A volcanic island, it commanded the passage connecting the eastern and western basins of the Mediterranean and the approaches to Malta, as well as served as a stepping stone to Sicily and to the Italian Mainland. Its capture was therefore considered vital. For that purpose, Operation Corkscrew was launched on Friday, 11 June 1943. The 12,000-strong garrison was subdued by massive Allied aerial and naval bombardments, and surrendered soon after the landings began. Such was the success of Corkscrew that Winston Churchill later noted that the only British casualty during the capture of Pantelleria was a man bitten by a mule! Here men of the 1st Battalion, The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, advance past a burning fuel store on Pantelleria. They are, left to right: Lance Sergeant A. Haywood, Private C. Norman and Private H. Maw. (Imperial War Museum; NA3668)

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Overnight, the Luftwaffe carried a large raid on the port of Grimsby. During the course of the attack, large numbers of Sprengbombe Dickwandig 2kg or SD2 antipersonnel sub-munitions, commonly referred to as “Butterfly Bombs”, were dropped. A total of seventyfour people were killed, a further 130 injured. The British Government deliberately suppressed news of the damage and disruption caused by the Butterfly Bombs in order not to encourage the Germans to keep using them. Such was the number of the SD2s dropped, that it was more than a week before it was declared that the area had been cleared of unexploded devices, though isolated examples continued to be located. The formation of the Tactical Air Force was announced. On 1 June Air Marshal Sir John D’Albiac was named as head of the Tactical Air Force (also referred to as the Second Tactical Air Force) which was composed of four RAF Groups: No.2 Group, No.83 Group, No.84 Group, and No.85 Group. Although principally formed of fighter squadrons the Second Tactical Air Force also included a number of Boston, Mitchell, and Mosquito light and medium bombers. Its objective was to support the ground forces involved in the invasion of Normandy.

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Service trials of the RAF’s Serrate equipment began. Between this date and the night of 6/7 September 1943, 179 complete sorties were undertaken, with twenty enemy aircraft being either destroyed or damaged during these initial flights. Serrate was a radar device designed to detect German night fighter radar transmissions from their Lichtenstein aircraft interception radar. On 6 January 1942, Air Chief Marshal Leigh-Mallory, AOC Fighter Command, wrote to the Under Secretary of State suggesting that as the frequency of the Luftwaffe’s airborne intercept radar had become known, work on a homing radar device that could lock on to it should begin. The Air Interception Committee approved the proposal

for research into such a piece of equipment on 3 April 1943.

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The RAF’s Main Force conducted its first bombing raid during which the attack was controlled by what would later become known as a Master Bomber. The target was Friedrichshafen, which would be attacked by a force of sixty Lancasters. The method was devised by 5 Group which provided most of the aircraft and the controller of the raid, Group Captain L.C. Slee. As it happened Slee’s aircraft developed engine trouble and control of the attack was handed over to Wing Commander G.L. Gomm. The bombing was in two parts. The first bombs were aimed at target indicators dropped by one of the Pathfinder aircraft from 97 Squadron. The second part was a “time-anddistance” bombing run developed by 5 Group. This raid was also the first in which the aircraft flew not back to the UK but on to North Africa, becoming known as the “shuttle” raids.

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It was announced that war production in Britain was at its highest since hostilities began. There were nearly five million men and women employed in the munitions industries, and output of weapons was at its peak. The biggest sector was the aircraft industry, which had expanded to 1,600,000 workers, 40% of them women, and was turning out 26,000 aircraft a year, including 7,000 bombers. Fighting vehicles were being produced at a rate that would see 7,400 tanks and 24,000 armoured cars manufactured during 1943.

LEFT: During a photographic reconnaissance

mission on Wednesday, 23 June 1943, Flight Sergeant E.P.H. Peek of 540 Squadron, at the controls of a de Havilland Mosquito PR Mark IX, took a series of images of the German Rocket Research Establishment at Peenemünde using a Type F.52 vertical camera. Peek made two passes, thirty minutes apart, on this, the tenth reconnaissance mission to the site. The picture seen here is an enlargement of a section of one of the photographs Peek took. It shows Test Stand VII, which was used for test-firing the V2 rocket. Clearly seen at bottom centre inside the elliptical earthwork is a V2 rocket on its trailer (‘C’). Two other trailers can be seen to the right at ‘B’, whilst ‘A’ indicates anti-aircraft positions. As well as vital evidence of the V2 rocket, Peek’s images led to another discovery – the first sighting of the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet. (HMP)

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DETACHMENT LEADER THOMAS HOPPER ALDERSON GC

Jon Enoch/eyevine

Instituted by King George VI on 24 September 1940, the George Cross soon became known affectionately as the “Civilian VC” – despite the fact that seventy-six of the first 100 awards were to members of the Armed Forces, predominantly for their bomb disposal work. However, the very first recipient of the GC was a civilian – and a remarkably courageous one too. In the latest instalment of his series, Lord Ashcroft examines the actions of Thomas Hopper Alderson.

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hucydides, the Greek historian, wrote: “The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.” His comments are as apt today as they were when he penned those words well over 2,000 years ago. As someone with a lifelong interest in bravery, I would suggest there are essentially two types of valour – spurof-the moment bravery and “cold courage”. I have nothing but admiration for those who have displayed spurof-the-moment bravery, perhaps a soldier who, in the heat of battle and with his blood up, risks his life to save a wounded friend and/or comrade. However, I have an even greater admiration for those who display premeditated, cold courage, embarking on a mission or duty fully aware of the extremely high risk that they will be wounded or killed. In the words of Thucydides, these are men who confront the “clearest vision of what is before them” knowing they may lose their own life in the process. Special Forces operatives, in particular, are often called upon to display cold courage but so, too, are bomb disposal experts. It is for this reason that, over the years, I have developed a great interest in the George Cross (GC) and the bravery of the 161 recipients of the award

TOP: The damage to the Britannia Hotel in

Prince Street, Bridlington, which was caused by a single high explosive bomb which fell during a Luftwaffe attack on Wednesday, 21 August 1940. One soldier and a civilian, 25-year-old Esther Shaw, were killed in the explosion. (Courtesy of Fred Walkington MBE)

ABOVE: A portrait of Thomas Alderson GC in Civil Defence uniform, wearing both his George Cross and Silver Issue RSPCA Gallantry Medal. (Courtesy of Mrs J.P. Wilson)

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first instituted by King George VI on 24 September 1940. The decoration was created at the height of the Blitz because the King felt that no existing award was really suitable for those men who had displayed heroic deeds on the home front in parachute mine and bomb disposal work. Many men had shown incredible courage in terrifying circumstances but they were not entitled to receive the Victoria Cross (VC) because their bravery was not displayed in the face of the enemy. The GC soon became known affectionately as the “Civilian VC”. Indeed, the very first recipient of the GC was a civilian – and a remarkably courageous one too. During August 1940, Thomas Hopper Alderson displayed outstanding bravery on at least three occasions in his home town of Bridlington, Yorkshire, in his role as a Detachment Leader of Air Raid Precautions. Alderson was born in Sunderland, Co. Durham, on 15 September 1903, and was the fifth of six children. He was brought up in nearby West Hartlepool. He attended the local primary school before going to Elwick Road Senior Boys’ School, where he was head boy. As a schoolboy,

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he witnessed the bombardment of West Hartlepool by the German High Seas Fleet on 16 December 1914, an infamous act that left eighty-six civilians dead and 424 injured. After leaving school at 15, Alderson worked as an office boy and a draughtsman, before beginning an engineering apprenticeship. He then joined the Merchant Navy in 1925, becoming a first engineer; he eventually served for nine years. Alderson married and, shortly after the birth of the couple’s only child, a daughter in 1935, he became an engineer for West Hartlepool Council. He moved to Bridlington in 1938, where he got a job as a works supervisor for the local corporation. After the outbreak of the Second World War, local authorities were given responsibility for safety during air raids and they trained their own workforces in rescue work. Alderson attended a course on the subject and became an instructor. The small seaside town of Bridlington was bombed several times by the Luftwaffe and it was during this time that Alderson showed his courage in attempting to save the lives of others. During an early air raid on the town

on 15 August 1940, a pair of semidetached houses was destroyed. Alderson and his party were quickly on the scene and learnt that a woman was trapped in her demolished home. Alderson soon tunnelled under the unsafe wreckage to pull the woman to safety. Some days later, on 21 August 1940, two five-storey buildings were hit and demolished and eleven people were trapped beneath the debris. Those trapped included six people in one cellar, which had completely given way. Alderson reached the cellar by tunnelling thirteen to fourteen feet under the main heap of precariously unsafe wreckage. He worked tirelessly in cramped conditions despite the risk of flooding from fractured water pipes. This was not the only danger: enemy aircraft remained overhead and there was also a risk of a gas explosion. Finally, however, he succeeded in releasing all the trapped people even though he received heavy bruising himself. On a third occasion, some fourstorey buildings were demolished by bombing, trapping five people in a cellar. Alderson again led the rescue work and excavated a tunnel from the pavement through the foundations to the cellar. Then he tunnelled under the wreckage and rescued two people – one of whom subsequently died – from beneath a huge commercial refrigerator. During this difficult work, a threestorey wall swayed precariously in the wind directly over the position where the rescue party was working. Alderson worked almost continuously under the ABOVE LEFT: A map showing the fall of a

stick of bombs dropped during an air raid on Bridlington at 02.06 hours on 23 August 1940. Bomb (1) was a direct hit on Foley’s Café and the rear of the Woolworths store; Bomb (2) caused extensive damage to the Cock & Lion public house and the adjoining Britannia Hotel; Bomb (3) fell unexploded; Bomb (4) was a direct hit on the pleasure boat Royal Sovereign; whilst the remaining four bombs fell without causing any damage. (Based on information supplied by Fred Walkington MBE)

BELOW LEFT and RIGHT: Two views of the

damage to the Woolworth’s store in Prince Street, Bridlington that was caused during an air raid in August 1940 – a scene that was again attended by Thomas Alderson and his team. (Both courtesy of Fred Walkington MBE)

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wreckage for five hours, during which time further air raid warnings were received and enemy aircraft were heard overhead. Alderson’s GC was announced in the London Gazette on 30 September 1940, for what his citation described as “sustained gallantry, enterprise and devotion to duty during enemy air raids”. His citation ended: “By his courage and devotion to duty without the slightest regard for his own safety, he set a fine example to the members of his Rescue Party, and their teamwork is worthy of the highest praise.” In a radio interview conducted

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in October 1940, Alderson spoke of rescuing the six people from the cellar of the two collapsed fivestorey buildings. “We were called out and found a heap of ruins. The flames were still about and bombs were clomping [dropping] in the distance. We searched around and found a basement door partly uncovered,” he said. “One of the house walls was still standing and it didn’t look very safe, but we started at that basement door. We cleared it: nothing is too small to move and I passed bits of brick and plaster and wood back along the chain of men ’til I managed to get inside. The ground-floor joists had collapsed: they were jammed between the basement wall and floor, and this had given protection to four people in a corner. “There was a big farmhouse table in the middle of the floor: this had partly collapsed and was half-supporting the beams and smashed walls from the floors above. Lying on my side, I began to work a hole over the table keeping a wary eye on the unsafe debris, and then passing bricks and rubbish back along the chain of men.

ABOVE LEFT: One of the ARP personnel that served in the same unit as Thomas Alderson was Wilf Smith, seen here in his uniform with his wife Clara. (Courtesy of Fred Walkington MBE)

ABOVE RIGHT: A group photograph of

members of the ARP Rescue and Demolition Teams from Brigham, Middlesbrough and Bridlington taken on 9 October 1940. Detachment Leader Thomas Alderson GC is in civilian clothes sitting on the Mayor’s right. Wilf Smith can also be seen sitting on Alderson’s right. (Courtesy of Fred Walkington MBE)

BELOW: The scene in Prince Street in the aftermath of the 23rd August attack. Four people were killed that day – all at 13 Prince Street. The casualties were 39-year-old Evelyn Parkin, 18-year-old Betty Spear, and husband and wife 44-year-old Dorothy Watson and 40-year-old Aircraftman 1st Class James William Watson. (Courtesy of Fred Walkington MBE)

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LEFT: The medals awarded to Detachment Leader Thomas Alderson. From left to right are the George Cross, the Defence Medal, the 1953 Coronation Medal and the Silver Issue RSPCA Gallantry Medal. The latter was awarded to Alderson on 1 February 1941, for rescuing two horses from a stable in Quay Road, Bridlington that was damaged during an air raid. (Courtesy of Mrs J.P. Wilson/IWM) BELOW LEFT: Thomas Alderson and his wife, Irene, pictured outside Buckingham Palace on 20 May 1941, following the inaugural investitures of the George Cross. The recipients present that day represented all three branches of the Armed Forces as well as the civilian services. (Courtesy of Mrs J.P. Wilson) BELOW: In 1996 this commemorative plaque was unveiled in the Bridlington branch of Marks & Spencer, the store being chosen as it was located in Prince Street not far from the site of one of Alderson’s acts of gallantry. Today it can be seen in the reception area of one of the British Legion’s rest centres, Alderson House, on the seafront at South Marine Drive, Bridlington. (Courtesy of Jane Heaton/British Legion, Alderson House)

“At last there was enough space for us to slide the four people head first into the hole over the table, swing their legs ‘round and then pull them backwards through the basement door.” However, Alderson and his men then realised that a boy and girl were also still trapped under heavy joists towards the centre of the basement. “The [farmhouse] table had now to be carefully broken up and removed, and again debris was passed out bit by bit. “There wasn’t room to use standard ARP jacks. I called for motorcar jacks and with these managed to raise the main joist a little ’til it started to crack. By jacking immediately underneath the crack, I raised the joist still further. By this time, the cellar was filling with coal gas and water appeared to be rising on the floor. “The boy and girl were in severe pain so I called in a doctor to give them an injection. We had to work them free from the joist and slide 84

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them out but at last, after four hours’ work, with hand torches as our only means of light, it was done. Planes were still humming about overhead but I had been too busy to notice them.” He said of his GC: “It is a very great honour, not just for me but an honour for the whole of the Bridlington ARP services.” Alderson survived the war and afterwards joined the East Riding of Yorkshire County Council as an assistant highways’ surveyor. Later he joined the rescue section of the new Civil Defence Corps, which was designed to protect the civilian population from the threat of nuclear warfare. Alderson died after a long illness at Northfield Hospital in Driffield, Yorkshire, on 28 October 1965, aged 62. Alderson’s GC is on display in the gallery that bears my name at the Imperial War Museum (IWM), alongside the Silver Medal that he, and three other men, received from the RSPCA for rescuing two horses from a burning stable. However,

I do not own Alderson’s gallantry and service medals – they were already in the care of the IWM when the gallery opened in November 2010. I purchased my first GC in the summer of 2010: the decoration awarded to Special Constable Brendan Moss, of Coventry Police, for “superhuman efforts” during the bombing of his home city. As a result of my interest in bomb disposal work, I have twice been privileged to have been given a firsthand insight into their work. In the spring of 2010, I spent a day observing and participating in the “continuation training” of British servicemen at Merville Barracks in Essex. My hosts for the day were 621 EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Squadron, part of 11 EOD Regiment. Then, as recently as last November, I joined a team of volunteers from 11 EOD Regiment for a training day at a quarry in Somerset, when I was the guest of Felix Fund, the bomb disposal charity. The two days made me even more appreciative of the courageous work carried out by our IEDD (Improvised Explosive Device Disposal) operators, and their sense of professionalism and team-work. The GC is an inspirational decoration and, of course, it has also been awarded to many individuals outside the field of bomb disposal. There is no greater testimony to the bravery of Thomas Alderson and the other recipients of the GC than the chilling fact that eighty-six of the awards – just over half of the 161 total – have been made posthumously. ■ GEORGE CROSS HEROES Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is a Conservative peer, businessman, philanthropist and author. The story behind Alderson’s GC appears in his book George Cross Heroes. For more information visit: www.georgecrossheroes.com The Alderson GC, along with other GCs and VCs, is on public display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum (though the museum is closed for refurbishment work until July 2013). For more information visit: www.iwm.org.uk/heroes

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TOGETHER TO THE END On 27 August 1914, newspapers in Liverpool carried an announcement which suggested that business people who might wish to join a battalion of comrades, to serve their country together, should assemble at the headquarters of the 5th Battalion, The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment. It was, writes Graham Taylor, the first call to arms of what became known as the Pals Battalions.

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rom the first announcement of the declaration of war with Germany in August 1914, recruiting offices across Britain were inundated with volunteers willing to fight for king and country. This overwhelming display of patriotism prompted Edward Stanley, the 17th Earl of Derby, to believe that men who met socially as “pals” might respond well to a call for them to serve and fight together, rather than with men they did not know. Derby’s idea was put forward in the Liverpool newspapers and he wrote personally to the larger business institutions suggesting that they encourage their workforce to enlist immediately! Following the newspaper announcement, at 07.30 hours on 28 August 1914, the headquarters of the 5th

Battalion, The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment, on St Anne Street, opened its doors to a mass of young men that had gathered outside. Soon the drill hall was packed to capacity with men standing in the aisles, the doorways and even on the stairs. So many had turned up to volunteer another room below also had to be opened. Lord Derby arrived in person to

address the volunteers. He was welcomed with cheers and the waving of hats, which was repeated when he told the crowd that his brother Ferdinand was to command the new battalion. Such had been the response it was evident that there was more than enough men to form one battalion. “I am not going to make you a speech of heroics. You have given

ABOVE: Before the men of the 17th (Service) Battalion, The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment sailed for France their barracks in the old watch factory at Prescot were visited by the Liverpoolbased photography firm of Carbonora. This is one of the images that was taken at the time. (All images courtesy of the author unless stated otherwise) RIGHT: Still standing, but once again empty, the old watch factory looks much the same today as it did during the First World War – as this recent shot of what was the dining area in 1915 testifies.

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RIGHT: One of the areas of the old watch

factory that was used as sleeping quarters by the men of the 17th (Service) Battalion, The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment.

MIDDLE RIGHT: As part of the King’s

Regiment, the four Liverpool Pals battalions would normally have worn the White Horse of Hanover cap badge, but in honour of Lord Derby, the King gave them permission to wear the Derby crest of the Eagle and Child as well as his family motto of Sans Changer.

BELOW: An exterior view of the part of the Prescot site that served as the Liverpool Pals’ accommodation block. me your answer, and I can telegraph Lord Kitchener tonight to say that our second battalion is formed,” Derby said to the eager volunteers. “We have got to see this through to the bitter end and dictate our terms of peace in Berlin if it takes every man and every penny in the country. This should be a Battalion of Pals, a battalion in which friends from the same office will fight shoulder to shoulder for the honour of Britain and the credit of Liverpool.”1 The first Pals battalion had been raised. Strictly speaking the first group of colleagues forming a battalion together was the so-called “Stockbrokers Battalion”, the 10th (Service) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers, which was raised on 19 August 1914, though it was not granted battalion status until 21 August. It was composed of men who worked in the offices of the City of London who wanted to serve together. However, it was what became embodied as the 17th Battalion, The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment, that was the first true “Pals” Battalion. The actual recruiting for the Liverpool Pals began the following Monday morning at St George’s Hall on Lime Street. Even more men turned up than the previous Thursday. In anticipation of the volunteers coming from all the various aspects of the local business community, desks had been set up in the hall representing such organisations as The Cotton Association, The Law Society and Chartered Accountants, General Brokers and The Stock Exchange, and the shipping companies, amongst many others. At Wallasey, across the Mersey,

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the all-male office staff of the Liverpool Gas Company was asked to go to the boardroom, where the Chairman told the men that anyone who volunteered for the Army would be granted leave of absence with half-pay. One young man, S. Harris, has left us this description of the scene in St Georges Hall: “Hundreds of city-garbed young men [were] directed to rooms in which were clerks ready to take down recruits’ personal details, name, address, age, religion and so on; and bibles on which each man swore allegiance to the King, his heirs and successors. These formalities over, the next ordeal was in other nearby rooms, where doctors were medically examining each recruit.” Harris recounted one incident at this stage of the recruitment process which exemplified the spirit of the times. “A young man in front of me was visually examined and then told by the doctor ‘Sorry, old man, we can’t take you, you’ve got a hernia.’ Volubly protesting, the would-be soldier said that his three friends had been

accepted, and what could he do about it? ‘An operation would probably put it right,’ said the doctor. This man had the operation, and several weeks later, by one of those odd coincidences with which army life seems to abound, he managed to enlist and be posted to my platoon in which his friends were already becoming competent infantrymen.” By the first week of September recruitment was halted as some 3,000 men had been enlisted and three battalions of Pals had been raised. In October, permission was granted for a fourth battalion. These became the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th (Service) Battalions, The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment – the Liverpool Pals. Such scenes were to be witnessed throughout the land. Across the Pennines in the coal mining village of Little Houghton near Barnsley, men completing the day shift flocked to the recreation ground to hear their local branch representative of the Yorkshire Miners’ Association speak: “I put my weight behind Lord Kitchener’s recruiting drive and I hope that miners will respond to the call. Colonel Hewitt [a local solicitor] has told me that if at Houghton we get a company’s strength, or two companies, that our men will be kept together. He assures me that just as you have worked together in the pit, you will be able to work together as soldiers.” After singing the National Anthem the men surged to the colliery offices and upwards of 200 men handed in their names. * After Lord Derby’s announcement of the formation of what became the 17th (Service) Battalion, The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment, it was suggested that it should be based at the old watch factory in Prescot, a few miles from Liverpool. The factory had stood empty since 1911, so the idea was seized upon. The buildings were repainted using whitewash supplied by the Cunard and White Star Lines, whilst the electricity supply and wiring were donated by another local firm. Such was the pace at which the old factory was JUNE 2013

15/05/2013 17:13

ABOVE: Men of the 17th (Service) Battalion, The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment march past the old watch factory at Prescot – another image taken by the photographer from Carbonora during his visit.

converted into a barracks, that the first men moved in on 14 September 1914.2 It was one thing to recruit thousands of men eager to serve, but it was quite another to turn them into fighting men. The 17th Battalion was the first to begin its military training. The men would be woken at 06.30 hours for a three-mile run before breakfast. After the meal, some of them would be employed in the tasks necessary to keep the barracks functioning; others, meanwhile, would undergo rifle training. The groups would then swap round. In the afternoons they would undertake a route march. By the end of January 1915, the four Liverpool Pals battalions began training together as a brigade – the 89th. In total there were ninety-six Pals or City battalions raised across the United Kingdom. The definition of a Pals/ City battalion is a unit raised by a local authority or private body which undertook to organise, clothe, billet and feed the recruits. In addition to these there were battalions raised by Public Schools, sporting organisations, commercial organisations, ethnic or regional groups, such as the Tyneside Scottish and Irish, the Ulster Volunteer Force, and even the Boys Brigade and Church Lads Brigade. A staggering 144 privately-raised battalions were formed for the New Army which began to strengthen the British Expeditionary Force in France towards the end of 1915.3 It was not until 6 November 1915 that the Liverpool Pals, at last deemed ready to face the enemy, began their journey to France. “Once we were actually in France, we were all very anxious to get into action JUNE 2013

Together to the end.indd 89

before it was all finished,” remembered Private W. Gregory of the 18th Battalion. “There was a marvellous feeling of adventure – we were going to sort them out!” Soon after arriving in France Brigadier Stanley was told that he would have to swap one of his Pals battalions for an experienced regular battalion, to “stiffen” the brigade before entering the line. The 18th Battalion was therefore transferred to the 21st Brigade and in return Stanley received the 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. It was with this brigade structure that the Pals faced their sternest test – the Battle of the Somme. On 30 June 1916, the day before the Liverpool Pals went over the top, Stanley sent a message to all four battalions: “The day has at last come when we are to take the Offensive on a large scale, and the result of this will have a great effect on the course and duration of the war. It is with the utmost confidence that we go forward, the Battalions of which the City of Liverpool is so justly proud, determined to make a name for themselves in their first attack.” The men who had worked together, enlisted and trained together, were at last to fight together. Many would also die together. ■

LEFT: The same view today. A Grade II listed building, the factory site is under threat of development – there are outline plans to convert it into a retirement village.

BELOW: On the far right of the British front line on the Somme, alongside the French the 30th Division, the Liverpool Pals were amongst those soldiers who successfully captured Montauban on 1 July 1916. The bombardment had been effective and the German defenders were slow to react when the barrage lifted. The British and French dashed forward at 07.30 hours and the first objectives were swiftly taken. Montauban was in British hands just after 10.00 hours and remained so until 1918 when it was retaken during the German advance. Despite its success the 30th Division still suffered 3,011 casualties. It remained in the area fighting at Trônes Wood and Guillemont up until the end of July. This monument stands in the centre of the Montauban. The Liverpool Pals Memorial Fund is campaigning to have a Monument placed within Liverpool City Centre, to the memory of the men and boys who volunteered at the start of the First World War. For more information, or to assist the campaign, please visit: www.theliverpoolpalsmemorialfund.com (Courtesy of Mike J. Chapman)

NOTES:

1. Cited in Graham Maddocks, Liverpool Pals, 17th, 18th, 19th & 20th Battalions The King’s (Liverpool Regiment) 1914-1919 (Leo Cooper, Barnsley, 1996), p.24. 2. Stephen Nulty, “The Old Watch Factory Prescot, Liverpool – Then and Now”, Stand To! No.96, January 2013. 3. Roni Wilkinson. Pals on the Somme 1916 (Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2008), p.213.

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15/05/2013 17:13

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15/05/2013 12:27

BLACKBURN ROC BATTLE OF BRITAIN COMBAT

26 September 1940

T

he combat claims made by the RAF during the summer and autumn of 1940 were in the main made by Hurricanes and Spitfires with a few by the twin-engine Blenheim and turret-armed Defiant. The Defiant’s naval equivalent was the Blackburn Roc, named after the gigantic bird of Eastern legend, which was based on the Company’s earlier Skua dive bomber. It was unsuccessful and saw only brief front line service with the Fleet Air Arm before being passed to second line units. Some were transferred to the RAF and in the summer of 1940 joined No.2 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit (AACU) which was based at Gosport in Hampshire – right in the front line of the Battle of Britain. Following an attack on the airfield by Junkers Ju 87B Stukas on 18 August 1940, 2 AACU was ordered to disperse four of its Rocs, with their turrets fully armed (they were usually unarmed), around the airfield for anti-aircraft defence. They were also to hold standby for fighter defence, though it took some time to fully equip them with guns and radios. However, by 8 September two Rocs were operational and the following day one of them, L3085, was allocated to Pilot Officer D.H. “Nobby” Clarke who chose Sergeant Mercer as his gunner. The ebullient Clarke personalised his camouflaged machine with a red “Saint” within a red framed yellow diamond on the fuselage. Clarke’s Roc was declared operational on the 12th and after every anti-aircraft cooperation sortie he and Mercer harmonised the guns and trained for more warlike work. On 24 September the Luftwaffe bombed the Spitfire factory at Woolston; two days later the Supermarine works was attacked by a large force of Heinkel He 111s that extensively damaged parts of the vital site. During the late afternoon fighting, several defending Hurricanes – two from 238 Squadron and one of 607 – were shot down off the Isle of Wight. There had also been German losses resulting in their efficient air-sea rescue service sending out aircraft looking for their downed airmen. At 17.30 hours, 2 AACU received a call ordering it to send an 92

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aircraft to search for downed airmen fifteen miles south-west of St Catherine’s Point on the Isle of Wight. Clarke, with Sergeant Hunt as his gunner, was airborne in L3085 and, within fifteen minutes of the call, was heading for the search area. In the increasing gloom of the evening Clarke and Hunt searched over the grey sea for three-quarters of an hour, when Clarke noticed what he took to be a Swordfish seaplane in the distance. Puzzled by its appearance and apparent size, he closed and seeing its camouflage and large black crosses realised that it was in fact German! The Roc crew had come across a Heinkel He 59 seaplane (probably of Seenotflugkommando 1) which was also engaged on an air-sea rescue search. As Clarke approached, the Heinkel’s gunners opened fire and hit the Roc’s port wing. Hunt responded. However, the Roc’s guns could not depress so Clarke was forced to fly at zero feet below the low flying seaplane. “Diving slightly from 500 feet,” he recalled, “I overhauled him rapidly and commenced the turn as soon as I was level with the nose. Hunt opened up; I saw our tracer pouring into the enemy’s fuselage and wing centre section.” Time and again the faster Roc passed the seaplane with Hunt firing brief bursts from his four Browning machine-guns as he did so. The seaplane was hit but its gunners were also striking the Roc and as the French coast approached a frustrated Clarke was forced to break off and head back to Gosport. It was a prudent call as he was short of fuel and the Roc’s engine stopped soon after landing. The enemy fire had been accurate and ten hits were found on the Roc, including two (fortunately) unexploded incendiary rounds in the fuel tank. In his combat report, in what was probably the strangest air combat of the epic Battle of Britain, “Nobby” Clarke put in a claim for one He 59 seaplane damaged – the only claim made by a Roc during the Battle. This month’s Image of War shows Pilot Officer Clarke’s Roc, L3085. Note his personal “Saint” emblem on the fuselage. (R. Herman)

JUNE 2013

16/05/2013 09:22

ATTACK IN THE NORTH SEA On 9 January 1940, the Trinity House tender Reculver was on duty in the North Sea off Great Yarmouth when a German aircraft attacked. In the bombing that followed, one of the crew was killed, a second fatally wounded and the vessel badly damaged. ABOVE: The badly-damaged Trinity House tender Reculver pictured in the immediate aftermath of the attack on 9 January 1940. (© The Corporation of Trinity House)

Hull Grimsby

➋

BELOW: A map showing the approximate location of the attack on Reculver on 9 January 1940 – marked as (1) – and the area where she struck a mine and sank later in the year – this time indicated by (2).

North Sea

Skegness

Boston

Cromer

King’s Lynn

Norwich Peterborough

Great Yarmouth Thetford

Attack in the North Sea.indd 93

➊

F

or much of the early part of the Second World War, Luftwaffe aircraft rarely ventured over mainland Britain. Indeed, throughout the period known as the Phoney War between September 1939 and May 1940, both British and German bombers had abstained from making deliberate attacks on each other’s towns and cities. Throughout this lull, however, enemy aircraft became increasingly active in the coastal waters around the United Kingdom, not just in terms of reconnaissance flights but also in attacking shipping. In the Royal Navy’s Nore Command, which stretched between Chatham and the Humber on the East Coast, it was noted that with the passing of each month since the outbreak of war the Luftwaffe’s operations had become more frequent. Even the trawler fleet found itself becoming a target – the first fishing vessel lost in Nore Command was the Grimsby-based Pearl on 17 December 1939. The New Year ushered in a new intensity in enemy attacks on the UK’s vulnerable shipping, as the events of Tuesday, 9 January 1940, would prove. * Flying at a minimum height above the slowly clearing, but freezing sea mist, in order to avoid detection, a large force of German bombers climbed a little way into clear visibility as they approached the East Coast. In so doing, the bomber crews spotted the upper works of various scattered ships. 93

Lowestoft 15/05/2013 16:16

ATTACK IN THE NORTH SEA

ABOVE: The Trinity House tender Reculver

pictured prior to the events of 9 January 1940. (Courtesy of Rafał Zahorski/ Magemar Polska, www.bembridge.pl)

BELOW LEFT: Accounts in the press in the aftermath of the attack on Reculver made frequent reference to the fact that it had “left her funnel looking like a colander through shrapnel or bullet holes”. (Courtesy of Mark Khan) BELOW RIGHT: Such was the propaganda value of the Luftwaffe attack that a news film of the badly-damaged Reculver was made, footage that was shown on both sides of the Atlantic. The bridge on which Captain William James Lees stood throughout the half-hour assault can be seen just forward of the funnel. (© The Corporation of Trinity House) North of Cromer two small merchantmen, SS Upminster and SS Oakgrove (on passage from Santander to Grangemouth with a cargo of iron ore), were amongst the first attacked; both were sunk some fifteen miles off Cromer Knoll. To the east of this pair the SS Chrysolite was also bombed, and although damaged she was able to reach

94

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port. The Luftwaffe’s next victim was the Trinity House tender Reculver.1 The Corporation of Trinity House, more commonly known as just Trinity House, is the official General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales, and other British territorial waters, with the exception of Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Northern Ireland. It was, and indeed still is, responsible for the provision and maintenance of navigational aids, which at the time of the Second World War included large numbers of lightships. When Reculver, commanded by Captain William James Lees, had cleared Yarmouth soon after daybreak on the 9th, her duties were to relieve and resupply a number of the lightships to the east and north. Her first destination had been the Cockle Lightship. Once out in open water, the Chief Officer took over the bridge to allow the Master to go below for breakfast. It was soon after this that events quickly took a turn for the worse. The following account, published in The London Gazette, details what happened: “The Master heard the sound of aircraft and hurried on deck. About halfway to the bridge he met a messenger from the Chief Officer, saying that an enemy aircraft was flying overhead from the direction of the sun. The enemy made a dive from the clouds from about 700 feet; he passed over the ship within 100 feet. “The Master reached the bridge and took over from the Chief Officer. The aircraft circled and made another steep dive from West to East towards the sun, a little

more than mast high. The man at the wheel was the only Wireless Operator on board, so the Master took over from him. He gave the ship port helm and she swung across the enemy’s course as he attacked a second time, but one of the two bombs dropped wrecked the motor launch. The bombs also put the helm out of action. “The enemy attacked again from the West, dived and dropped another bomb amidships, which stopped the engines; he also used his machine-gun. He then climbed into the clouds and went away to the East.”2 “The ship itself was in a terrible state,” recalled one of those on board, Albert Henry Lewis. A lightship master himself, Lewis had escaped unscathed from the attack. “The worst bomb exploded abaft the engine room skylight, near

JUNE 2013

15/05/2013 16:17

ATTACK IN THE NORTH SEA LEFT: A wartime press photograph of Captain William James Lees. For their actions on 9 January 1940, Captain Lees was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire, whilst Chief Officer John Woolnough was commended. (HMP)

RIGHT: The badly-damaged and bullet-riddled Reculver berthed in Great Yarmouth following the attack. In the aftermath of the bombing, Punch published a cartoon depicting a giant Nazi vulture swooping on a lightship. (Courtesy of Rafał Zahorski/ Magemar Polska, www.bembridge.pl)

BELOW LEFT and RIGHT: Two views of

the gaping hole left by the last bomb to hit Reculver. One MP, Sir Archibald Southby, described the German attacks on Trinity House vessels as being “on a par with shooting a hospital nurse in the back”. The press spoke of “atrocities”, “villaines”, “piracy” and “frighthfulness”. (Both courtesy of Rafał Zahorski/ Magemar Polska, www. bembridge.pl)

the lightship officers’ berths, went right through the deck and the crews’ quarters, and made a shambles. It was a good job that the machine-gunning had brought us all on deck, otherwise there would have been thirty or more killed. “The swine had riddled with bullets one of the two lifeboats we had lowered, but as her bows were hanging up by the forefall we did not know this until we had tumbled in and cut the fall. She then immediately filled. We just managed to scramble out whilst she was sinking and get back on board. The two starboard side boats had been blown to smithereens by the bomb, so we had no boats left. The other port side boat had gone to the trawler with twenty-eight hands. “Luckily we discovered that the vessel was not sinking, so we got busy bandaging the casualties and preparing them for transfer to the lifeboat. This waiting was the most miserable part of the whole affair. We were cold and hungry, and those of us who were soaked through from our ducking had no chance to dry ourselves. We were

JUNE 2013

Attack in the North Sea.indd 95

eventually transferred to a tug which took us to a depot, and when I arrived home at 8pm my clothes had dried on me. “All through the last war the Germans had the greatest respect for the Trinity Service and never attacked us. We have enough to cope with in the natural perils of the sea, and in wartime the ever present danger of mines, without being callously attacked by Hitler’s ’planes. I would sooner come against a mine than any of those sky-murderers. You do have a chance to lower your boats without being bombed and machine-gunned while you are doing so, and helpless to retaliate. “It was a hellish affair, but we must be thankful it was not worse,” Lewis concluded grimly. I am a peaceful fellow, but I could have cheerfully assisted in hanging them. It was a ruthless murder!”3 The half-hour attack, which had occurred within sight of the seafront at Yarmouth had left Reculver a floating wreck, with her holds shattered by bombs, her decks split and splintered by bullets. The task now was to tend to the survivors and the wounded. The Chief Officer shepherded the men from one side of the ship to the other. A trawler, which had been a mile or so astern, moved in to assist in the rescue. The port lifeboat was soon got away with twenty-eight men in her, and they pulled towards the trawler. The fishing boat also tried to tow Reculver, but could barely stem the ebb. Of the forty men who had been on board Reculver, a mixture of the tender’s own crew and relief personnel for the lightships, one man had been killed and a further thirtytwo had been injured to varying degrees.4 The dead man was one of Reculver’s crew – 28-year-old Second Officer George Purvis who hailed from Harton, South Shields. Another man who was on board Reculver later made the following

comments to a reporter from the Yarmouth Mercury: Mercury: “We were horrified when the ’plane came for us. It is always reckoned that lightship men are not fair game, and we had got used to seeing ‘Jerries’ who never attacked our light vessels. We hadn’t a chance. We had nothing at all to answer back with. When they found out we hadn’t any ‘teeth’, they dropped [their] bombs.” Describing the attack on the lightship, another of the crew said: “The ’plane came over us and started to drop bombs … It circled the lightship five or six times and dropped four bombs, but they all missed. The ’plane’s crew then started to machine-gun us. They hit our lantern and put out the light. We tried to launch a little boat to row away and return after the attack, but we were again machinegunned.”5 Help soon reached Reculver in the form of the steam tug Tamora. This took the tender in tow and headed for the relative safety of Yarmouth. En route, the tow was passed to the Trinity House vessel Patricia which completed the slow journey to port. Word of the attack had spread quickly, and as the battered Reculver was tied up alongside she was welcomed by a sizeable crowd. “The attack ... was the talk of Great Yarmouth for quite a time after she had been brought back into the port,” declared one witness, “and the

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notion that an unarmed vessel in a sitting-duck situation should be so attacked was very distressing to all who saw the resulting damage.” Another of those present, 18-yearold J.R. Whittley, was so moved by what he saw that he promptly enlisted in the Royal Navy.6 Two days later, the attack claimed its next victim when one of the injured, 51-year-old Senior Master Frederick Leech, the captain of the Lightship Hambro who had been one of the passengers on Reculver, succumbed to his wounds. “When my friend, Mr Fred Leech, died in hospital it was a happy release,” recalled Albert Lewis, “as he was full of shrapnel and in great pain. I thought he would die in my arms on board, but we managed to bandage him up and get him in a lifeboat. I can hardly believe that my best friend has died in this way.” As for Reculver, she was repaired and returned to service – but she would not survive the year. On 14 October 1940, commanded by the recently-promoted Captain John Woolnough, Reculver hit a mine off the mouth of the Humber whilst on passage to Killingholme; five men were injured in the explosion. Taken under tow, the tender subsequently foundered in shallow water just over a mile from Spurn Point. * The attacks on shipping came to a head in the last three days of January – a period one historian described as the “North Sea Blitz”. In that period no less than seventy ships of all descriptions experienced Luftwaffe attacks in the area of Nore Command. Once again, the vessels of Trinity House featured in the list, not least the East Dudgeon Light Vessel which was bombed and sunk off Skegness – her crew of eight were forced to take to their lifeboats in a gale and only one man, John Sanders, survived to be rescued. The British government claimed that

LEFT: One can only wonder what thoughts

are going through the mind of this individual pictured standing on the deck of Reculver. Is he a survivor of the attack on 9 January 1940? One of those who did survive the bombing, a member of the various relief crews being transported on Reculver at the time, was Lampman Herbert Rumsby. Though Herbert was soon back in service, he did not live to see the end of the month; he was killed in the attack on the East Dudgeon Light Vessel on 30 January. A final victim attributable to the attack on the East Dudgeon Light Vessel occurred later the same day. The Reverend T. Jones was the vicar in Herbert Rumsby’s home village of Belton in Yorkshire. On hearing the news of Herbert’s death, Rev. Jones had “hurried out into the cold” to visit the seaman’s widow, Florence. Having reached her house in Station Road, Belton, Reverend Jones only managed a few words before collapsing and dying in a chair. (Courtesy of Rafał Zahorski/ Magemar Polska, www.bembridge.pl)

BELOW LEFT: Second Officer George Purvis was buried in South Shields (Harton) Cemetery – seen here – whilst Senior Master Frederick Leech’s lasting resting place is in Great Yarmouth’s Gorleston Cemetery. Even in death, George Purvis did not escape the attentions of the Luftwaffe for Harton Cemetery suffered heavily during air raids on the Tyneside area. It was severely damaged on several occasions, both by bombs which fell on it and by a landmine which exploded there in April 1941. Another air raid in October 1942 caused extensive damage. (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) these attacks on the Trinity House vessels had been a violation of international law, pointing out that these ships were necessary for the safety of those at sea and that they formed no part of the war effort. Speaking in The Lords on 16 January 1940, Earl Stanhope called the incident “an outrage”. It was, he continued, an action “wholly incompatible with the universally accepted principles of warfare between civilised peoples”. “These are men whose lives are devoted to the service of their fellowmen of every nation and who might claim to be immune from attack. Yet they were brutally machinegunned, two of them were killed and thirty-two were wounded by machine-

gun bullets. It is significant that all these cowardly attacks were made in weather conditions which increased the difficulties of interception by our aircraft and that they died down as soon as improved conditions made it possible for our standing patrols to press home their pursuit.”7 The Germans, meanwhile, maintained that as the lightships marked routes used by warships and convoys carrying war material they were legitimate targets. Such arguments aside, the attacks on Reculver and its sister ships in the early months of the war did much to focus attention on the vulnerability of such vessels. Indeed, by the end of 1940 many of the lightships had been replaced by buoys or red light floats. Others were removed in their entirety. Despite such actions, by the end of the war, 112 personnel of the Lighthouse and Pilotage Authorities had been killed by enemy action, men who were as much casualties of the war at sea as their colleagues in the Royal Navy. ■ Acknowledgement: The editor is grateful to Neil Jones, Records Manager at Trinity House, and Rafał Zahorski, of the shipping line Magemar Polska, for their help and assistance with this article.

NOTES:

1. J.P. Foynes, The Battle of the East Coast (1939-1945) (J.P. Foynes, Isleworth, 1994), p.11. 2. Supplement to The London Gazette of 24 May 1940. 3. Quoted in The War Illustrated, Volume 2, No.21 (26 January 1940), pp.27-8. 4. The exact number on board Reculver, and the total injured, varies from account to account. The latter, for example, has been given as high as fifty-five. 5. The War Illustrated, Ibid. 6. Great Yarmouth Mercury, Thursday, 19 March 2009. 7. Hansard, 16 January 1940, volume 115, cc.299-313.

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For years we loved his trade mark shout of “Mr Grimsdale!” but, as Bernard Bale reveals, the late and great Sir Norman Wisdom was also involved in some real life drama during the Second World War when the call was “Mr Churchill”!

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orman Wisdom’s subsequent rise to fame belies the fact that as a young man of 14, he had no home except a park bench and hardly a friend in the world apart from the owner of a tea and coffee stall near Victoria Station in London. Every night the latter gave Norman a mug of Bovril and a pie and, eventually, some good advice. “Why don’t you join the Army?” he said. “They take boys of 14 in the band.” Norman protested that he did not know anything about music. “Well, just pretend you do, they’ll teach you once you’re in,” his friend encouraged. The next day Norman went to the recruiting office in Whitehall. “It was closed, but a kindly officer gave me a bed for the night and a meal,” recalled Norman. The next day he met the Bandmaster. “He asked me a few questions, looked me in the eye and said, ‘You don’t know a thing about music, do you boy?’ He was right of course and I apologised for wasting his time,” Norman later recalled in an interview. The Bandmaster told him to leave some contact details, which was a problem all of its own since the only address he could give was that of his grandparents and he was not on the best of terms with them. A month later, though, after Norman had found a job as a page boy, a letter arrived to say that he had been accepted as a drummerboy with the King’s Own Royal Regiment based at Lichfield. Needless to say, Norman was overjoyed at the turn of events, events which marked the start of a completely new life. It was a life in which Norman Wisdom would serve in the Army three times and during one of those periods he was a key link between President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. * Having enlisted in the King’s Own Royal Regiment Norman not only

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RIGHT: Norman Wisdom in

uniform at the age of 16. Born in Marylebone, London, in 1915, Norman is said to have worked as a coal-miner, a waiter and a cabin-boy in the Merchant Navy, before joining the Army and seeing service in India. (Author)

became a drummer but took advantage of every possible opportunity to learn to play as many instruments as possible; he even began to sing with the band at special concerts and dances. The Norman Wisdom that we all came to know and love was beginning to appear. However, not long after he joined the Army, Norman left. He was reunited with his mother, whom he had not seen for five years, and she was worried that it was not really the life for him and bought him out. She found other employment for him but all the time he wanted to taste again the life he had found in the forces. Eventually she relented and gave her blessing to his return to the Army, once again as a drummer-boy – but this time with the 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales’s Own). Norman’s travels took him to India (the regiment was posted there in 1930) and as well as continuing his musical education he learned to ride and started to throw in a few stunts at displays. Such was his enthusiasm, he was soon being told to calm down a little so that he did not turn the military display into a circus. During his time with the 10th Hussars Norman also took advantage of all the sport on offer and became the British Army’s flyweight boxing champion in India, a title he kept until he left the forces. On one occasion he was shadow boxing whilst being watched by a number of his colleagues when he pretended to be knocked out by an invisible opponent. His actions left his friends in hysterics; the thought suddenly struck Norman that a combination of his music, his knockabout skills and his great sense of humour could combine to one day give him a career in comedy. In early 1936 Norman’s second spell

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NORMAN WISDOM’S WAR

ABOVE: The memorial to the 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales’s Own) at the National Memorial Arboretum. Some accounts also state that Norman served for a period in the ranks of the 4th Queen’s Own Hussars. Norman left the Army for the last time in 1946. (Courtesy of A. Carty) BELOW: Norman Wisdom, on the left, pictured during his time as a bandsman in the Army. The British actor Rex Harrison was partly responsible for Norman Wisdom’s rise to stardom having advised him to become a professional entertainer after seeing him in a Forces revue during the Second World War. (Author) in the Army came to an end and he was forced to find a new career. Like many others, however, little did he imagine that his days in Britain’s fighting forces were far from over. Whilst deciding what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, Norman took a job at Willesden telephone exchange. It was a position he was still in when war broke out, and he soon discovered that he was considered to be in a role too vital for him to be called back to the Army. Norman

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related the rest of the story himself: “I used to get very frustrated when I would walk to and from work because I passed bomb sites, each of which told their own personal story. The worst part was seeing distraught people searching through the rubble remains of their homes trying to salvage anything they could of their belongings. I really wanted to hit back at the enemy. “Eventually I was to play a small part in the downfall of Adolf Hitler, though I didn’t realise it when myself and a few colleagues were told that we were being seconded to a top secret wartime communications post off Edgware Road. It was one of the key command units of the great man himself – Winston Churchill. “Our post was in a basement two floors below ground level. From the outside, the next room looked like a storeroom but it was in fact the Strategic Command Room. I had to monitor calls between Churchill and various leading military men in different areas of the war. It might be Montgomery, Eisenhower or Patton – but each one had to be dealt with in a professional and efficient manner.” In his memoirs, Norman described in detail what the work here entailed: “I sat with other colleagues at a large switchboard … My job was to monitor calls and direct them to whichever part of the war theatre our leader needed

to reach … I would call up the hot-line numbers, usually answered by an aide, and within seconds I would be talking to the top man. “Our orders were to wait till we knew it was the person the PM wished to speak

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to in person, then plug in the appropriate line, press a button and wait for Churchill’s unmistakable growl: ‘Yes?’ ‘General Eisenhower on the line, Sir’. As long as we got the name and rank right, we were safe. Woe betide the man who got an underling by mistake. Churchill had no time to hang on, listening to empty space, either.”1 Norman would also get to meet the Prime Minister in person. “I saw quite a bit of Churchill. He even knew me by name and would often enquire if everything was all right. You had to reply in a direct style and could never

ABOVE: A number of variety artists leaving the House of Commons in May 1952, having visited a number of MPs to volunteer their services to entertain troops serving in Korea. Norman Wisdom can be seen eighth from the left. Amongst those present are: Ben Warriss, Pat Kirkwood, Jimmy Jewel, Georgie Wood, Avril Angers, Charlie Chester, Derek Roy and Christine Norden. (S&G Barratts/EMPICS Archive) RIGHT: Sir Norman Wisdom OBE

photographed in Peel on the Isle of Man on 24 July 2005. He died on 4 October 2010 aged 95. Sir Norman never passed up an opportunity to recommend joining the Army and always treasured his personal military mementoes. (Charles Roberts/Online Transport Archive)

LEFT: Norman Wisdom photographed

back in uniform once again, this time for a part in the film The Square Peg which was released in 1958. Here he is seen giving a lift on a porter’s trolley to Honor Blackman – in costume as an ATS officer – during location shooting at Woburn Green Station, Buckinghamshire. (PA Archive)

try to engage him in unnecessary conversation. “I met Churchill again after the war when I was selected to appear at the El Alamein reunion at the Empress Hall in London in 1951. The place was packed with about six thousand men. Suddenly the lights went out and a spotlight swung into the door by the podium. Three figures stood there – Monty, Ike and Churchill. The place just erupted. “I did my act and later met the three great men. Monty said a polite thank you for the performance, Ike pumped my hand enthusiastically and told me it was ‘a helluva performance’ and Churchill looked at me and said: ‘Judging by the way you fall JUNE 2013

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about the stage, if you had been blown up during the war I am sure you would have emerged unscathed. I smiled and thanked him and then I just couldn’t resist telling him that we had met before. ‘Oh?’ he queried. I told him that it had been in the Edgware Road and that I had been his switchboard operator in the communications bunker we all affectionately called ‘the bunk-up’. “With a twinkle in his eye, he smiled at me and simply said, ‘So I gather’. It was great to see him again and I felt that we had just shared a special moment.” Norman did eventually return to the Army during the war, being posted to the Royal Corps of Signals – where he remained until peace was declared. What happened after the war has become a part of show business history. On the occasions when Norman Wisdom talked of his Second World War experiences, it was always fascinating to hear him relate the times he said “I’m putting you through now Sir” to Winston Churchill. ■

NOTE:

1. Norman Wisdom with William Hall, Norman Wisdom: My Turn (Arrow Books, London, 2003), p.80.

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Reconnaissance Report... The Britain at War team scout out the latest books, DVDs and items of interest. Few names resonate more loudly in the British conscience than that of Ypres. From the First World War only the Somme conjures up more graphic images in the public imagination than those of that fortified city in Flanders. Ypres, or Ieper, is now a lovely place to visit, as so many do; the daily ceremony at the Menin Gate being the spectacular and intensely moving highlight attended by huge crowds. Understanding exactly what happened in and around Ypres almost 100 years ago, however, is far from easy and a detailed guide book is essential, thus the need for publications such as Jon Cooksey’s and Jerry Murland’s book, the first of a new series. In total the authors present twenty-five tours. They explain how to locate all the key battlefields and sites by car, bicycle and on foot. An appropriate symbol against each tour indicates which of these three the tour is designed to be most suitable for. Four of the routes are designated as car trips. These include a tour around the Salient for those with only a day to spare. This begins outside the magnificent Cloth Hall in Ieper. The thirty-mile route takes the visitor to the most notable sites in the Salient, the likes of the Passchendaele, Hill 60, Tyne Cot, Sanctuary Wood, Essex Farm, Railway Wood and Hooge Crater. Most of the routes can be walked, as one would imagine. The longest of these is eight miles, effectively a full day with stops, and the shortest just 1.7 miles around the Wijtschate sector of the Messines Ridge. When the British attacked the German positions on the ridge it was decided to eliminate a number of German strong-points. This involved the laying of twenty-four mines under the German positions, prompting Major General Sir Charles Harrington to comment on the eve of the attack of 7 June 1917, that “I do not know whether we shall change history tomorrow, but we shall certainly alter the geography”. In the event nineteen mines, holding 933,000lb of explosives, were detonated at eleven sites. What the visitor sees today at Messines is that changed landscape, with its many large, water-filled craters. The authors’ route, which also visits Wytschaete Military Cemetery

YPRES: BOOK NIEUWPOORT OF THE TO MONTH PLOEGSTEERT Battle Lines: The Western Front by Car, By Bike and on Foot

Jon Cooksey and Jerry Murland Publisher: Pen & Sword www.pen-and-sword.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-84884-793-9 Softback. 240 pages RRP: £12.99

Illustrations ✔ References/Notes ✘ Appendices ✔ Index ✔

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and the 16th (Irish) Division Memorial, is only suitable for walkers as the path through Wytschaete Woods has a barrier at each end. A longer route, visiting the main part of the ridge and the craters is 6.2 miles long and is suitable for both walkers and cyclists. The walk around Passendale (the correct modern spelling) is perhaps typical of those presented in the book. It is 7.7 miles long. It includes superb views across the battlefields from the Wieltje road before crossing the Ravebeek valley to Tyne Cot. The route is punctuated with information panels and the scenes of so many memorable events. Having spent many hours on many a foreign field twisting maps upside down and around trying to find the spot I have been looking for, the use of present-day photographs in this book (in colour) is a great help. To actually be able to see what you are looking for, rather than just a written description, is a major advantage. Modern Flemish place names are also used to help travellers find their way around, though the old names are also included in the text to ensure that the visitor can identify the sites most appropriate to them. Clarity of the maps included in any guide book is absolutely fundamental. How well those in this book can be translated when on the ground awaits my next visit, though they appear to be very simple and uncluttered which bodes well. Another feature of the book is the list of museums and Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries. This includes opening times, facilities on site, things to see and entry fees. Finally, the location of all the Victoria Cross recipients is provided as an appendix. For those who have visited Ieper they will know how thought-provoking it can be to walk around its ramparts in the early evening musing on the city’s long and violent past, as exemplified by the strength of its Vauban-built walls, and to reflect how peaceful the place has become. This is a publication that will help all visitors gain an appreciation of what happened in that part of Flanders between 1914 and 1918. • Reviewed by Alexander Nicoll.

BELOW: A view of part of the ground over which the Second Battle of Passchendaele was fought in November 1917. (HMP)

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Reconnaissance Report... GRAPHIC WAR The Secret Aviation Drawings and Illustrations of World War II

Donald Nijboer Publisher: The Boston Mills Press; www.fireflybooks.com ISBN: 978-1-55407-892-9 Softback. 272 pages. RRP: £19.95

It is a truism that a picture tells a thousand words. So, in order to assist air and ground crew to understand their own and their enemy’s aircraft during the Second World War, visual aids were used in the form of large posters and diagrams. Whilst some such illustrations were simple depictions of the silhouettes of enemy aircraft, others were highly detailed cutaways. They were produced by highly-skilled artists and amongst that number was Peter Castle, whose illustrations are included in this unique book. Graphic War is packed with highly detailed drawings of aircraft from all the main combatant countries of the Second World War, including such interesting posters as demonstrating the safe height for bombers to explanations of fighter tactics for Soviet pilots. One such diagram explains the trajectory of bombs as delivered from a B-26, to enable synchronous bombing by a number of aircraft operating in line astern. It shows both the effect of airspeed and the effect of altitude on the technique. Another, drawn in the form of a cartoon demonstrates what drag, lift, thrust and gravity mean and how they affect an aircraft. To describe such things in words would take many long sentences. In visual form these effects are absorbed in moments. Pilots and navigators needed to understand how radar signals were sent and received to enable them to avoid enemy radar. They also had to appreciate the limitations of wireless communications. Such explanations are easy understood by diagrams. One of the most intriguing sets of images in this book is that related to night photography with bombing. RAF bomber crews were required to produce a ‘bombing photo’. This photograph would show height, heading and whether or not the crew had hit the target. When the bomb release mechanism was activated, the camera was engaged. At the same time as the bombs were released a bomb-shaped photoflash was also dropped. This fell at the same speed as the bombs and when it reached 4,000 feet it exploded. The exposed film

CODE NAME CAESAR The Secret Hunt For U-boat 864 During World War II Jerome Preisler and Kenneth Sewell By February of 1944, with defeat staring Germany and Japan in the face, a German submarine, U-864, packed with advanced rocket and jet aircraft technology, a group of scientists, and tons of mercury for use in missile and torpedo detonation systems was despatched to Japan. However, British code-breakers discovered what the Axis powers were intending and a cat-and-mouse chase was conducted until the German submarine was caught and sank by HMS Venturer, which became the only submarine in history to sink another submarine in underwater combat. Publisher: Souvenir Press; www.souvenirpress.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-28564-202-7 Hardback. 287 pages. RRP: £18.99

THE MARCH EAST 1945 The Final Days of Oflag IX A/H and A/Z

Peter Green During the final days of the Second World War, 900 Allied officers, held by the Germans in Oflag IX A/H and Oflag IX A/Z, were marched east by their captors, away from the liberating American forces. The March East 1945 draws on official and eyewitness accounts from British, Commonwealth, American and German records, as well as over thirty diaries and memoirs. It graphically reveals the human story and explains how the prisoners lived until their final liberation. Complemented by 100 photographs and illustrations taken and drawn by PoWs. Publisher: Spellmount; www.thehistorypress.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-7524-7125-9 Softback. 192 pages. RRP: £14.99

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BOOK REVIEWS recorded the ground picture moments before the bombs impacted. The images in the explanatory diagrams show the differing positions of aircraft at the time of exposure and which part of the target the camera was likely to catch. Thus, flying straight on across the target would produce a different photograph from that taken if the aircraft had turned and, of course, the tightness of the turn would also influence the nature of the image that was taken. There is also a set of images that resonates with air travel today. In the same way that instruction leaflets are provided for passengers in modern aircraft showing how to safely evacuate in the case of emergency, so too was a leaflet provided for troops being carried into action in gliders, should they find their aircraft ditching in the sea. This followed the disaster which befell the gliders used in July 1943 on Operation Husky when sixty-nine gliders landed in the sea. Other ditching drills are also shown, as well as how to deal with airborne life boats when dropped to men in the water. This is a very detailed and very different book full of interesting images, the list of which far exceeds the space limited to this review. The diagrams showing the consequences of striking a barrage balloon cable, and those on how to use the cable cutters which were standard equipment on most medium and heavy bombers, sits alongside complete cutaway diagrams of the Centaurus and Griffon aero engines, and the characteristics of exhaust flames, the colour of which indicated how to adjust an engine’s fuel mixture. My personal favourite is a cartoon of a bomber crew in a dinghy looking none too pleased with their navigator, Gooney, who was always certain that he would never go too far. “But alas for Gooney, when the fuel ran out there was nothing but ocean roundabout!” · Reviewed by John Grehan Illustrations ✔ References/Notes ✘ Appendices ✘ Index ✔

OF THOSE WE LOVED A Great War Narrative Remembered and Illustrated

I.L. “Dick” Read Dick Read was among the first to respond to Kitchener’s call for volunteers in 1914. He joined the 8th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment and, within weeks, was heading for the battlefields of Northern France with the British Expeditionary Force. But the spirit of adventurous patriotism that carried him to war gradually turns to sober reflection as the fighting intensifies and he suffers the loss of friends and comrades at the Battles of the Somme and the Marne. This is a personal record of one man’s war and a profoundly moving epitaph for a lost generation. Publisher: Pen & Sword; www.pen-and-sword.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-78159-101-7 Hardback. 518 pages. RRP: £25.00

THE BRITISH AIRMAN OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR Stuart Hadaway

British airmen experienced a wide range of conditions and challenges during the Second World War. They served in every corner of the globe, operating over oceans and deserts, jungles and cities. In this fully illustrated introduction to the subject, produced to the well-known Shire format, Stuart Hadaway examines the experiences of the young men who, as well as carrying out air offensives, had to fly, navigate and defend their aircraft. The work of the Fleet Air Arm and Army air units are also covered, as are the roles of the ground-based staff. Publisher: Shire Publications; www.shirebooks.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-74781-222-7 Softback. 64 pages. RRP: £6.99

CONSOLIDATED B-24 LIBERATOR Owners’ Workshop Manual

Graeme Douglas The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was the Second World War’s most numerous Allied heavy bomber and, with over 18,000 manufactured, the most produced American military aircraft. It was operated by several Allied air forces (including the USAAF and the RAF) and navies, attaining a distinguished war record on operations in the European, Pacific, Mediterranean and China-BurmaIndia theatres. Fully illustrated, this is the latest classic aircraft to receive the highlyrecommended Haynes Manual treatment with insights into the operation and maintenance of the B-24. Publisher: Haynes Publishing; www.haynes.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-85733-159-5 Hardback. 162 pages. RRP: £21.99

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS Reconnaissance Report... D-DAY OPERATIONS MANUAL ‘Neptune’, ‘Overlord’ and the Battle of Normandy Jonathan Falconer

MALTA SPITFIRE PILOT Ten Weeks of Terror April-June 1942

Denis Barnham Originally published in 1956 as One Man’s Window, this is the journal of Flight Lieutenant Denis Barnham, who arrived on Malta in the Second World War as an inexperienced pilot, but grew into a battle-hardened Spitfire Ace over his gruelling two hundred operational hours between 13 April and 21 June 1942. This memoir, introduced by James Holland, was written by the author as he and his fellow pilots battled against terrible odds and under constant attack. His words reflect honestly, and vividly, the sheer terror of flying from Malta at that time. Publisher: Grub Street; www.grubstreet.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-909166-03-5 Paperback. 202 pages RRP: £10.00 discount.

This manual describes the development, construction, and use of a wide range of innovative machines, structures and systems, explaining their uses on D-Day and after, and revealing how they contributed to the success of Operation Overlord. This book also uses the unique Haynes Manual style to examine the technology that made D-Day possible. Included are numerous archive and contemporary photographs along with cutaway illustrations on topics such as the Mulberry Harbours, Hobart’s “Funnies” and the airborne operations and equipment. Publisher: Haynes; www.haynes.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-85733-234-9 Hardback. 178 pages. RRP: £21.99

THE DAM BUSTERS An Operational History of Barnes Wallis’ Bombs

Stephen Flower Barnes Wallis was one of the most famous inventors and designers of the Second World War. Thanks to the film and book The Dam Busters, he is still a household name today. His story is not just of the “bouncing” bombs that destroyed the dams but also of the other devices he invented, from the Wellington bomber to the Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs – all of which are examined by the author. Indeed, Wallis was one of the most prolific inventors during the war. His bombs were only eclipsed in destructive power by the atom bombs in 1945. Publisher: Amberley; www.amberleybooks.com ISBN: 978-1-4456-1281-2 Hardback. 352 pages. RRP: £30.00

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Martin W. Bowman This, the fourth volume of a five part work that provides a comprehensive insight into all aspects of RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War, begins in the spring of 1944 with an examination of the catastrophic raid on Nürnburg on the night of 30/31 March. The author follows this by looking at the disastrous attack on Mailly-le-Camp in May, as well as showing how the Allied bomber offensive played an important part in the preparations for the Normandy landings in June 1944, as well as in the aftermath. Publisher: Pen & Sword; www.pen-and-sword.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-84884-648-7 Hardback. 234 pages. RRP: £19.99

FROM THE IMJIN TO THE HOOK A National Service Gunner in the Korean War

James Jacobs The British Army’s considerable contribution to the Korean War in 1950 involved large numbers of “conscripts” or national servicemen. Plucked from civilian life on a “lottery” basis and given a short basic training, some of these men, like Jim Jacobs, volunteered for overseas duty and suddenly found themselves in the thick of a war as intensive and dangerous as anything the Second World War had had to offer. As a member of 170 Independent Mortar Battery RA from March 1951 to June 1952, Jim was in the frontline at the famous Battle of the Imjin River. Publisher: Pen & Sword; www.pen-and-sword.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-78159-343-1 Hardback. 210 pages. RRP: £19.99

DAMBUSTERS SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE COVERS BRITISH FORCES PHILATELIC SERVICE HAS ANNOUNCED A SERIES OF NEW COVERS TO AID SERVICES CHARITIES There are many ways to raise funds for charities which support Britain’s armed services but one of the most unusual is through the sale of commemorative covers, or envelopes, which are produced specifically to mark special military or state events and anniversaries. Over the years the Forces Philatelic Bureau has produced several hundred special covers which have been sold in aid of Service charities and raised many thousands of pounds. Responsibility for the Forces Philatelic Bureau was recently passed to a new organisation, the British Forces Philatelic Service (BFPS), by the British Forces Post Office (BFPO). The BFPO has dealt with all aspects of military mail, including philatelic matters, since its formation in 1882, getting mail to and from the Forces wherever they may be serving. The BFPO as we know it has been operating from not long after the introduction of the Penny Post in 1840 through to the present day where it continues to play a key role in maintaining mail communications, both official and private.

BOMBER COMMAND, REFLECTIONS OF WAR Battles with the Nachtjagd 30/31 March – September 1944

Whilst Forces Free Air Letters, known as “Blueys”, had become the traditional method of sending messages to those in the forces, these have been overtaken in popularity by eBlueys, and in the current Afghanistan operation the BFPO has been handling some 39,000 eBlueys a month alone. To help raise funds for forces charities the BFPO produce philatelic commemorative covers which it sells around the world. Whilst the design of postage stamps remains the prerogative of Royal Mail, other bodies can design their own philatelic covers. There are two types of philatelic covers – First Day Covers and Commemorative Covers. Both are special postal envelopes that become valued collector’s items. Of these there are “official” covers, which are normally defined as covers produced by private organisations or cover producers who at the same time sponsor a special handstamp for use on their front. This is the main area of activity for BFPS. Military units, ships, RAF

stations and organisations with connections to the Armed Forces sponsor covers to raise funds. Past examples of the wide range of events commemorated include VE/VJ Day, the Berlin Airlift, the Crimean War, the Battle of Britain, the Royal Tournament and the formation of the Royal Logistics Corps. However, the latest series of limited edition covers by the BFPS have been produced in conjunction with the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Dambusters raid. The dramatic images on these covers include paintings by the renowned aviation artist Mark Postlethwaite. One of these depicts the moment that the Upkeep dropped by Wing Commander Guy Gibson and his crew, during the first attack against the Möhne Dam on the night of 16/17 May 1943, is released into the water. The three commemorative covers pictured are available for purchase by post. Each cover costs £6.00 (which includes postage and packing). Please send your order in writing to the British Forces Philatelic Service, The Old Post Office, Links Place, ELIE, Fife, KY9 1AX. Cheques or postal orders should be payable to “BFPS CIC”. Proceeds from the sale of these covers will go to the Royal British Legion. Please allow 28 days from date of order. For more information, please visit: www.bfps.org.uk

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Reconnaissance Report... IN SUPPORT OF THE FEW From an Erk to Chief Technician, the Diary of Joe Roddis

Joe Roddis

It was so often the case that the pilots of Fighter Command were the ones who received all the glory during the Second World War and that the role of the support teams was somewhat overlooked. This has possibly been the fault of the media, always looking for dramatic tales to relate, for it was never the case amongst the pilots themselves who were only too well aware how much they depended upon the ground crews for their very survival. It is refreshing, therefore, to read a memoir from one of those “erks” – this being the RAF slang for a member of ground crew, which is said to originate from the Cockney pronunciation of Aircraftman. The erk in question is Joe Roddis, who kept the Spitfires of firstly 234 Squadron and then 485 Squadron in the air. The book covers his early days, training at RAF St Athan in Wales through to his first introduction to the Spitfire with 234 Squadron. Moved to Middle Wallop in August 1940 at the height of the Battle of Britain, Joe Roddis describes how the Spitfires were quickly turned round in case they were soon needed back up in the air. “When they [the aircraft] arrived we each received our own aircraft as it taxied in. The fitters and riggers stood waving their arms to guide in their pilots to where they would park, ready to be worked on. Before the pilot was out of his cockpit, the bowser would arrive and the fitter there ready to fill up the fuel tanks. All trades were now swarming over the aircraft like a lot of ants, putting to use all the skills they had learned and practised for hours on end. “The aircraft were ready, fuel, oil, air, glycol, oxygen and ammo all replenished. After flight inspections completed by all trades each Spitfire now stood, starter battery plugged in with chocks in, ropes outwards. These were stretched out ready for a quick removal when we were scrambled.” The days were long and hard during that summer of 1940. The ground crews would have to make sure that by dawn – usually around 02.45 hours – the aircraft were available for whatever state

WITH BAYONETS FIXED The 12th & 13th Battalions of the Durham Light Infantry in the Great War

John Sheen The 12th and 13th Battalions Durham Light Infantry were born out of the wave of patriotic recruitment that followed the outbreak of war in 1914. The Regimental Deport was overwhelmed by the number of men that volunteered, so much so that 2,000 recruits were sent south to Surrey. It was this group that eventually formed the 12th and 13th battalions. This detailed book draws unpublished memoirs and diaries along with letters from officers and men of both battalions. Lists of gallantry awards and nominal rolls of officers of both battalions are included. Publisher: Pen & Sword; www.pen-and-sword.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-78159-032-4 Hardback. 328 pages RRP: £25.00

CHURCHILL AND HIS AIRMEN Relationships, Intrigue and Policy Making 1914-1945 Vincent Orange

This book is devoted to Churchill’s relationship with a host of airmen between 1914 and 1945. Crucially, Churchill had supported the independence of the RAF from other services, and whilst he did bully and cajole, even abuse his airmen, he also listened to them and their plans, and inspired them. With his expert eye, respected historian and professor, Vincent Orange, has carefully studied and evaluated every detail of Churchill’s relationships with his closest officers to produce a recommended analysis of a much neglected subject. Publisher: Grub Street; www.grubstreet.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-908117-36-6 Hardback. 320 pages RRP: £25.00

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BOOK REVIEWS of readiness the squadron was told to be in. The last flight of the day could be landing as late as 22.00 hours. The true war spirit seemed to prevail at that time and as Joe Roddis proudly boasts, “There was no complaining, moaning or groaning. Everybody wanted our squadron to be the best. No days off, scroungers were not tolerated and our main aim was to keep the aircraft serviceable.” Life at Middle Wallop at this time was not just hectic, it was also dangerous, with repeated raids by the Luftwaffe. Joe Roddis relates one particular incident when he was driving a tractor with a fuel tanker on tow. He drove off to fill up the tanker just as the aerodrome came under attack. Roddis filled up the tanker and started his return journey to dispersal. “A Heinkel 111, flying very low released its bombs and they appeared to be heading my way! I threw the tractor in to neutral; leapt off and set off as fast as I could go towards the airfield boundary hedge. I just ran and ran until completely out of breath, then sank down, hands over my head and buried my face in the grass. I heard explosions in the main camp and looked up to see where the aircraft were, but not one in sight!” Roddis ran back to the tractor and safely delivered the fuel to the waiting Spitfires. In Support of the Few is full of such anecdotes, covering airfields such as Biggin Hill, Goodwood, Selsey, Funtington and Merston, and is packed with images. It deserves to do well.

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Published by Yellowman and priced at £12.00, copies of In Support of the Few are available from the Aviation Bookshop (www.aviation-bookshop.com), Kim’s Bookshop (www.kimsbookshop.co.uk), or outlets such as Goodwood Flying School and Tangmere Aviation Museum shop. All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to charity, being split between helping keep Spitfire ML407 flying and the Apuldram Centre for adults with learning difficulties, the charity selected by Joe Roddis.

WHY GERMANY NEARLY WON A new History of the Second World War in Europe

Steven D. Mercatante In this book the author sets out to challenge conventional wisdom in highlighting how the re-establishment of the traditional German art of war paved the way for Germany to forge a considerable military edge over its much larger rivals. The book then takes an entirely new perspective on explaining the Second World War in Europe. Mercatante, for example, sets out to demonstrate how Germany, through its invasion of Russia, came close to cementing a European-based empire that would have effectively challenged the Anglo-American alliance. Publisher: Casemate; www.casematepublishing.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-61200-163-0 Hardback. 400 pages RRP: £20.00

BISMARCK The Chase and Sinking of Hitler’s Goliath This volume in the excellent Britannia Naval Histories of World War II series contains the complete Battle Summary of how Bismarck was located, pursued and attacked, featuring both German and British first-hand accounts. The foreword, by Commander “Sharkey” Ward, contains pertinent quotes from Churchill on Britain’s dependence on her navy. The introduction includes the Kriegsmarine’s purpose in building the ship, the Royal Navy’s tactics and the post war debate of whether or not she was sunk by enemy action or scuttled by her crew. Publisher: University of Plymouth Press; www.uppress.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-84102-326-7 Softback. 154 pages RRP: £17.00

THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE AIR The Story of Air Combat in Every Theatre of World War Two

Merfyn Bourne This book offers a comprehensive history of the war in the air that includes the lesser known campaigns such as the fighting in Burma, Italy and East Africa as well the air offensive in Western Europe and the struggle in the Pacific. It does this by providing a step-bystep account of the air combat in each and every theatre of war. It also examines the RAF and USAAF bombing of German cities and the moral issues it raised. The book also gives full coverage of the air war over the Eastern Front, a subject which hitherto has been lesswell detailed. Publisher: Matador; www.troubador.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-78088-441-7 Softback. 406 pages RRP: £15.99

JUNE 2013

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NEXT MONTH:

JULY 2013 ISSUE ON SALE FROM 27 JUNE 2013

UNDER FIRE

For Gunner Peter Fraser, 286 Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery, his service on the Western Front during the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917 normally entailed targeting German gun batteries. However, as Fraser himself describes, the enemy was also engaged in counter-battery work. This is his vivid account of working under almost constant shellfire and gas attacks.

A GOLDFISH FOR CHRISTMAS In the Second World War, a club was formed as a tribute to aircrew who had jumped by parachute from an aircraft into the water, or whose aircraft crashed in the water, and whose lives were saved by a life jacket, inflatable dinghy, or similar device. This was the Goldfish Club. In subsequent years membership was extended to civilians and back-dated to the First World War. One of the earliest members of the club was, therefore, an airman pulled from the sea on 25 December 1914. This is his story.

FROM ICE STATION TO ACTION STATION Alexander Glen and Andrew Croft learnt to survive in harsh environments, and to lead a team of men in challenging conditions during explorations in Greenland and Spitsbergen in the 1930s. These skills would prove to be invaluable when the Arctic became a focus of attention during the Second World War.

THE ACCIDENTAL SPY

He was a member of the hated Gestapo but he took a crashed British airman, the pilot of an 88 Squadron Douglas Boston (such as the aircraft seen here being prepared for delivery to the RAF), around a secret establishment in the Pas de Calais region in August 1943. What Flying Officer Risley was shown was the construction of a new V-1 flying bomb site. Though he had no real idea what he had seen, Risley knew that somehow he had to get the information back to the UK.

PLEASE NOTE THAT CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO ALTERATION

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NIGHT FIGHTER HAT TRICKS The Royal Canadian Air Force made a huge contribution to the fight against Germany in the Second World War, and by the conflict’s end was the fourth largest air force in the world. Indeed, two de Havilland Mosquito night fighter crews of 410 Squadron RCAF each had notable combats, though, as Andrew Thomas describes, they were a year apart.

D

uring the Second World War, the majority of the RCAF’s units were formed in Britain and served in all roles, among which was that of night fighting – for which 410 Squadron was formed at Ayr on 30 June 1941. Under the command of Squadron Leader Paul Yettvart Davoud, the squadron flew its first operational sortie on 23 July when Pilot Officer Lucas, who was on night readiness, flew an uneventful patrol in Boulton Paul Defiant V1183 after being scrambled. The squadron moved to Drem at the beginning of August and the following month Davoud was promoted and

replaced by Wing Commander Lipton. On 8 December 1941, Flight Lieutenant R.L.F. Day and his gunner, Flight Sergeant J.J. Townsend, took off for an interception patrol in Defiant V1137 but on coming in to land in poor visibility crashed and caught fire. Despite his own injuries Townsend entered the blazing wreckage to pull his seriously injured pilot to safety – actions for which he later received the George Medal, the first of 410’s many gallantry awards. The following spring Bristol Beaufighters were received, followed by a further change in November 1942 to the superlative de Havilland Mosquito.

The latter began operations at Acklington alongside the Beaufighters on 3 December. The first Mosquito interception occurred five nights later when the CO, now Wing Commander F.W. Hillock, flying DZ249, gained radar contact on a Luftwaffe weather reconnaissance aircraft, though he was unable to engage it. The squadron had previously brushed with the enemy on the night of 6 September 1942, when Pilot Officer Fergusson and Pilot Officer Creed, up in a Beaufighter II on a training sortie, damaged a Junkers Ju 88 over Whitby. It was not until 22 January 1943, that BELOW: One of 410 Squadron’s most successful pilots was Archie Harrington. Along with his navigator, Flying Officer Dennis Tongue, on the night of 25 November 1944 Harrington shot down three Junkers Ju 88 night fighters. It is one of those successes, a Ju 88G-1 of 4/NJG 4, that is depicted here by the aviation artist Mark Postlethwaite GAvA. Harrington and Tongue were flying de Havilland Mosquito MM767 RA-D that night. (Courtesy of Mark Postlethwaite; www.posart.com)

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NIGHT FIGHTER HAT TRICKS

ABOVE LEFT: Squadron Leader Paul

Yettvart Davoud was 410 Squadron’s first Commanding Officer. He was an experienced pilot who arrived from 60 Operational Training Unit. Davoud was released from the RAF in July 1945 and went back to commercial flying. (PAC)

ABOVE RIGHT: Flying Officer Rayne Schultz

(centre) and Flying Officer Vern Williams (on the left) demonstrate to an American colleague, Flight Officer Dick Geary, how they fought their action on the night of 10 December 1943, when, in the space of a few minutes, they brought down three Dornier Do 217s. (V.A. Williams)

BELOW: Flying Officer Rayne Schultz and Flying Officer Vern Williams were flying Mosquito XIII HK429/RA-N on the night of 13 February 1944 when they shot down a Junkers Ju 188 into the sea in flames. Their aircraft was badly hit by return fire and they just managed to land safely. Nonetheless, it was the pair’s fifth success. (Canadian Forces) 410 Squadron at last opened its “book”. “A RED LETTER DAY in the history of 410 Sqn,” wrote the diarist. “We got our first Jerry! There was much rejoicing and everybody has been busily pounding everybody else’s back! “It happened this way – three Mosquitos from B Flight were ordered to scramble at 2030 hours. One of these Mosquito IIs, DZ929 piloted by Flt Sgt B M Haight with RO Sgt T Kipling obtained visual after AI contact at 9000 feet which he identified as a Dornier 217. He fired three bursts at 100 yards and saw strikes on the port engine. The enemy a/c turned into a spiral dive and disappeared into cloud. At approx 2050 hours, the time of the combat, the Royal Observer Corps reported an enemy aircraft crashing into the sea near Hartlepool. As both the time and location checked, the

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claim for destroyed is recognised.”

MULTIPLE SUCCESS

Among the new pilots that arrived in early 1943 was Flying Officer “Blackie” Williams, who had previously completed a tour as a Hampden pilot. With his navigator, Flying Officer R. Currie, Williams flew his first operation on 1 February in HJ926; the two unsuccessfully searched for two enemy weathermen. Another new crew was that of Sergeant Rayne Schultz and his navigator, Pilot Officer Vernon Williams. This pair claimed their first success in August 1943, but did not see any further action until the night of 10 December. Schultz, now a Flying Officer, and Williams were flying DZ292 from Hunsdon in Hertfordshire when they experienced a remarkable series of combats. “The first I saw I hit from 400 yards in the starboard engine,” Schulz subsequently told a newspaper reporter. “Then I got in another burst, and it blew up in mid air. Just before this happened I saw his bomb doors were open, as if the pilot had tried to jettison his bombs and lighten his load to escape. However, the last I saw of him was a burning mass on the sea.” This victim was a Dornier Do 217M, U5+BB w/ nr 56157, of I/KG 2. “Soon afterwards I climbed to 15,000 feet and suddenly came across another – so suddenly, indeed, that when I opened fire I had to fly through the wreckage I caused. It was with the greatest difficulty I avoided a collision with the main bit of fuselage.” The target was another of I/KG 2’s Do 217Ms – U5+CK w/nr 722747.

However, the pair’s work that night was far from over. “The third one I destroyed after a chase,” concluded Schulz. “It was a good night.” This time the vanquished was a Do 217K, U5+AS w/nr 4476, from III/KG 2. Williams also vividly described the engagement: “Our second combat sortie occurred on the clear and moonlit night of December 10, 1943 ... Our Mosquito was scrambled at 1800 hours and ordered to patrol North to South midway across the North Sea at 15,000 feet. While on course I spotted a flashing beacon off the Dutch coast, which according to a recent intelligence report, probably indicated that

a raid was in progress. Subsequently it was confirmed that this beacon was a navigational turning point for the German bombers embarking on a flight to England. “While on our patrol GCI [GroundControlled Intercept radar] control gave us a course and height to fly to investigate a bogey six miles dead ahead. I picked up a contact on my radar screen

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which indicated that it was to starboard and well below us. After overshooting our target, GCI provided additional interception data enabling me to direct my pilot on a course and height to obtain a visual contact. “After closing to 50 yards it was identified as a Dornier which then took evasive action. My pilot commenced firing which resulted in a large flash and explosion on the starboard side. At a height of 1,500 feet the Dornier opened its bomb doors and tried to jettison its bomb load. A long burst from our cannons struck and it hit

the sea burning furiously. “We were then given orders by GCI control to climb to 15,000 feet. I obtained a contact on my radar screen; we were now in the bomber stream and I could visually see Dorniers to port and starboard of our Mossie. We closed in and we opened fire from dead astern at 300 yards. At a range of 50 feet the Dornier blew up and we flew through its debris. “Meanwhile I had been holding another contact on my radar screen. I told Rayne to turn starboard and he obtained a visual which he identified as another Dornier 217 which took evasive action and descended to sea level. We were able to retain our visual as the Dornier steadied up and turned for its home base. This enabled my pilot to fire a short cannon burst which resulted in their starboard engine catching on fire. “During this engagement the Dornier’s gunner fired a defensive barrage. Our Mosquito was repeatedly hit. One cannon shell smashed our instrument panel, missing Rayne by inches. A second burst JUNE 2013

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from our cannons resulted in the Dornier’s port engine being on fire. With both engines ablaze it crashed into the sea near Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. At this point our starboard engine started to sputter and our port engine was on fire. We were able to extinguish the fire and we made an emergency one-engine landing at Bradwell Bay.” Shultz and Williams each received immediate DFCs.

OVER THE BEACHHEAD

After the so-called Baby Blitz, which 410 Squadron helped counter, the priority was to counter any threat to the build up to the invasion by the Luftwaffe whose night bombing capability was still dangerous. Fighter Command (or Air Defence of Great Britain as it had temporarily been renamed) had transferred several night fighter squadrons, including 410, to the Second Tactical Air Force in preparation for a move to the Continent after the invasion. In practice, however, until some weeks after the landings all the squadrons operated as a single night fighter force. No.410 was part of 149 Wing alongside the New Zealanders of 488 Squadron. On 5 June 1944, 410 Squadron’s CO, Wing Commander G.A. Hiltz, led four aircraft on detachment to Colerne where they provided night fighter cover to the initial landings that night by airborne forces. From Hundson ten more aircraft flew patrols but all proved uneventful; they reported that the cloud was layered up to 10,000 feet. That night five patrols were flown by 410 Squadron as part of the night fighter “Pool” to cover the 4,000 ships of Operation Neptune. One of these was flown by Flying Officer Bill Dexter, who took off at 22.00 hours for a freelance patrol over the Caen area; it was the squadron’s first over Normandy. Crossing the coast at Fécamp at 16,000 feet Dexter’s Mosquito penetrated as far as Falaise but he saw nothing except for gun flashes on the ground before landing

ABOVE: De Havilland Mosquito XIII HK465/ RA-P after a mishap at RAF Castle Camps in March 1944. This aircraft was the regular mount of Lieutenant Tench, one of the Fleet Air Arm pilots attached to the squadron. (N. Franklin) LEFT: When 410 Squadron began operations

it was equipped with the Boulton Paul Defiant. The squadron was an Article XV Squadron. Part of the Air Training Agreement that implemented the Empire Training Scheme on 17 December 1939 – often referred to as the “Riverdale Agreement”, after the UK representative at the negotiations, Lord Riverdale – Article XV made provision for the formation of distinct Dominion squadrons within the Royal Air Force’s order of battle. (C.E. Brayshaw)

BELOW: Ground crew prepare Flying Officer Rayne Schultz’s and Flying Officer Vern Williams’ Mosquito for a sortie in early 1944. (V.A. Williams) back just before 02.00 hours on the 7th. Other patrols also flew in this area, as well as between Rouen and Le Havre, and although all reported seeing bombing, all contacts proved to be friendly Lancasters. Further sorties were flown during the early hours of the 7th, these being controlled by Mobile Ground Controlled Intercept radars, though the aircrews reported the control radio frequencies “hopelessly congested”.

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ABOVE LEFT: Among the successful pilots

who claimed five victories whilst serving with 410 Squadron during 1944 was Squadron Leader Dean Somerville, seen here on the right standing alongside his navigator, Flying Officer Robinson. (Author’s collection)

ABOVE RIGHT: Mosquito XIII HK430 was

operated by 410 Squadron for much of 1944 and on 28 July that year was flown by Flight Lieutenant Bill Dexter when he and his navigator shot down a Junkers Ju 88. This aircraft was also flown by several future Aces, including Squadron Leader Dean Somerville and Lieutenant Archie Harrington. (RCAF)

One of the aircraft patrolling the Rouen area was that flown by an American, Lieutenant Archie Harrington, and his navigator, Flying Officer Dennis Tongue. When they were halfway home their Mosquito was jumped by an unidentified aircraft and Harrington had to take violent evasive action. After resting through the 7th the squadron flew more patrols over the beachhead that night into the early hours of the 8th, but again with only fleeting radar contacts. However, as Squadron Leader James Somerville closed in upon an aircraft and identified it as a Lancaster,

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the bomber’s rear gunner opened fire; the same thing happened to Harrington. During his beachhead patrol Flight Lieutenant Walter Dinsdale was also fired on and hit in the wing by a Lancaster gunner – clearly the bombers were taking no chances. Due to bad weather, 410 Squadron did not fly on the night of the 8th, going on to undertake nine patrols over the beachhead the following night. One of them found success. In the early hours of the 10th, Flying Officer Bob Snowdon, with Lieutenant L.A. Wilde RN, chased a contact but were recalled. Then shortly before 04.00 hours the pair was vectored after another. Wilde gained a radar contact at 2½ miles, obtaining a visual at about 1,200 feet range. They identified a Junkers Ju 188 and, closing to around 150 feet, Snowden fired three bursts with his cannon; the German bomber exploded and fell straight into the ground. They then chased another contact before being recalled, having claimed the squadron’s first success over Normandy. The pair scored a second success two

nights later so beginning a successful summer for the squadron over the Continent. The same night as Snowden’s second victory, Warrant Officer Walter Price and Pilot Officer Costello bagged a brace. They had taken off just after midnight on the 13th and at 02.00 hours were vectored onto a contact at 6,000 feet at five miles. “We closed the range to 1,200 feet, through violent evasive action, and identified a Do 217 using the Ross night glasses,” recalled Price. “I closed in to 400 feet astern and below, pulled the nose of the Mosquito up and fired two short bursts. The target’s port engine and wing disintegrated in a flash of orange flame.” The Dornier crashed into the ground beneath them. Price and Costello resumed their patrol, soon gaining another contact at 5,000 feet about two miles away. This was another Do 217. Price continued: “Pulling up the Mosquito’s nose we opened fire with a 3 to 5 second burst. Strikes were seen on the port wing and engine with pieces flying off. The port engine immediately burst into flames and it flipped over on its back and went into a spin burning fiercely. I orbited the

“I closed in to 400 feet astern and below, pulled the nose of the Mosquito up and fired two short bursts.”

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burning wreck until it hit the ground and exploded.” Also up was Pilot Officer Len Kearney who was put onto a ‘bogey’ that was evading and dropping Düppel (foil strips designed to clutter the radar). Closing to just 600 feet behind the target Kearney and his navigator identified a Heinkel He 177 that seemed to be carrying an object (probably an Hs 293 glider bomb) outboard of each engine. Kearney described the subsequent events:

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“We dropped back to 800 feet astern and below and opened fire but missed on the first burst. A second burst was fired from approximately 500 feet range, the whole starboard wing root and engine caught fire and a large panel blew off the starboard wing. We pulled off to port and watched the e/a burn. One crew member was seen to bale out and it then started to go down steeply while we did a starboard orbit watching him. Flames seemed to be spreading and it was going down very steeply now and hit the ground with a terrific explosion which lit us up and shook us at 6,000 feet.” However, Kearney’s port engine must have been hit by debris as it caught fire. Though it was extinguished, he was forced to crash land on an Advance Landing Ground, returning to the UK the next day. It had been an outstanding night’s work for the squadron. The following night Walter Dinsdale claimed his first victory, though his victim was unusual as he recalled at the time: “I closed to 1,000 feet and identified, with

ABOVE: When they claimed their hat trick Archie Harrington and Dennis Tongue were flying Mosquito XXX MM767/RA-D which is seen at its base of Lille/Vendeville. It was also the night fighter they were flying when they shot down a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 over Belgium a month earlier. (via C.H. Thomas) LEFT: Lieutenant Archie Harrington is seen

here with Pilot Officer Keeping. Though he had been transferred to the USAAF, Archie Harrington, who had originally joined the RCAF as a Flight Officer, was retained because of the investment already made in his training. He and others like him would also help provide the USAAF with a cadre of experienced night fighter crews when their own P-61s arrived in the European theatre. (V.A. Williams)

BELOW: A smiling Lieutenant Archie Harrington pictured by the ammunition bay of his Mosquito. He was the most successful USAAF night fighter pilot of the Second World War. Harrington transferred to the USAF when it formed, eventually retiring from the Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1963. (V.A. Williams) MAIN PICTURE BELOW LEFT: Mosquito

XXXs of 410 Squadron await their next mission to a Continental airfield after the invasion in June 1944. The nearest Mosquito, MM788, was the regular aircraft of Flight Lieutenant Walter Dinsdale who shot down one of the first “Mistel” combinations. The Mistel was originally a bomber airframe, usually a Junkers Ju 88, with the entire crew compartment replaced by a specially designed nose filled with a large load of explosives. A fighter aircraft was fitted on top, joined to the bomber by struts. The combination would be flown to its target by a pilot in the fighter; at which point the unmanned bomber was released to hit its target and explode, leaving the fighter free to return to base. (D. Tongue)

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ABOVE: On the night that Schultz and Williams completed their hat trick they identified two of their victims as Do 217Ms with in line engines – aircraft similar to this captured example, Dornier Do 217M 6158 pictured during testing at Farnborough in 1945. (A.W. Price) BELOW: The Junkers Ju 88G night fighter was a formidable opponent and the square fin and prominent radar aerials, as seen on this example, were well described by Harrington in his combat report. (via John Weal) the aid of Ross Night Glasses, a Ju 88 with a glider bomb attached to the top of the fuselage [this was clearly a Bf 109/Ju 88 ‘Mistel’ combination – author]. Closed in further to 750 feet astern and slightly below, and opened fire with a short burst. The cockpit and port wing root burst into flames immediately as it banked slowly to port, then went down suddenly in a steep dive burning fiercely and leaving a trail of sparks all the way down. It hit the ground with a terrific explosion, lighting up the whole countryside.”

HUNTING THE HUNTERS

Activity for the squadron remained intense through the summer months and as the enemy retreated from France in mid-September it moved forward to set up home at Amiens/Glisy from where, four days after arriving, Archie Harrington and Dennis Tongue shot down a Ju 87 Stuka during a patrol over the German border near Aachen. It was 410’s first victory since moving to the Continent. On 25 November 1944, Harrington and Tongue, again flying Mosquito MM767/RA-D, took off from airfield B-51 Lille-Vendeville for another patrol over the

front line. In their patrol area they found good visibility with layered clouds and clear moonlight. The patrol was uneventful for the first hour, but things soon livened up as Archie Harrington’s combat report vividly described: “I was finally handed over to ‘Rejoice’ on vector 130°, told of trade ahead between 10,000 and 15,000 … Contact obtained crossing to starboard – 15° above range 4 miles. Closed fairly rapidly to 2 miles. Then target commenced moderate evasive action. Visual obtained at 4,500 feet, height 16,000 feet. I closed right in and finally identified as Ju 88 night fighter with Ju 188 tail. It had Ju 88G-1 blister under the nose, black crosses clearly seen on the wings with radar aerials clearly seen projecting from the nose. Dropped back to approximately 600 feet and opened fire. Strikes seen in the cockpit, engines and wing roots, followed by explosion and debris. E/A dived very steeply, followed him on AI and visually. E/A was seen to strike the ground and burn. Our aircraft had been hit by debris as we fired shaking the aircraft badly.” Harrington and Tongue had shot down Ju 88G-1 w/nr 712295 of 4/NJG 4 flown by Hauptman Erwin Strobel. An ex-bomber pilot, Strobel, along with his radar operator, Unteroffizier Horst Scheitzke, and gunner, Unteroffizier Otto Palme, managed to bale out of the stricken aircraft before it crashed near Gelsenkirchen. This was Harrington’s fifth victory and thus made him an Ace. Almost immediately Dennis Tongue obtained a head on contact, though the target evaded and appeared to be trying

to intercept them. This went on for about ten minutes before they closed on the tail of Leutnant Fritchjof Fensch’s Ju 88G of 5/ NJG 4. “Climbed back up and ‘Rejoice’ gave another chase vector of 280°,” described Harrington. “Advised of head on, range 11 miles. At same time observer obtained a head on collision contact 15° above range 3 miles. Did hard port orbit, and searching regained contact, hard over to port on aircraft doing a hard port turn. Apparently he was trying to intercept us. Target commenced very violent evasive action and increased speed, climbing, diving and turning. “Closed very slowly to 4,000 feet range and target did even more violent evasive action getting out to 6,000 feet range. This lasted for 9 to 10 minutes. Visual finally obtained between 4,000 and 3,500 feet. Closed in very slowly ... Identified as Ju 88 with Ju 188 tail – another night fighter! “Dropped back to 5-600 feet and opened fire. Strikes seen on cockpit, engines and wing roots, followed by explosions. E/A did a half roll and went to port, then became straight and level, finally going into a loop. It stalled at the top of the loop and went into an inverted spin, and seen to hit the deck with a large explosion, illuminating the houses in the vicinity.” The pair then climbed back to height and located two more contacts; one was evading slightly, whilst the other approached head-on as if intercepting the Mosquito. With Tongue watching their tail against this threat of the latter, they closed the first and identified it as another Ju 88G. Harrington’s report then described their third engagement: “E/A still doing evasive, suddenly throttled back and I narrowly escaped ramming him. Then I dropped back to about 300 feet and opened fire. Strikes seen in cockpit, on engines and wing JUNE 2013

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NIGHT FIGHTER HAT TRICKS

roots. Debris flew off. E/A then started burning on port engine, fire spreading to cockpit and starboard engine. E/A going down in spiral dive to starboard. Height 12,000 feet. I followed E/A down, taking pictures of him burning. E/A went into cloud and a few seconds later a very large explosion lit up the underside of the target and continued to burn fiercely.” Their third victim was possibly the Ju 88G of 3/NJG 4 flown by Oberfeldwebel Goebel. The deadly Ju 88 night fighters that took such a heavy toll on RAF night bombers were now the prey!

“All a/c intercepted had radar aerials projecting from nose,” continued Harrington. “Exhausts were at no time visible – only occasional sparks could be seen even at high speeds. All visuals confirmed with the aid of night glasses. I claim 3 Ju 88s destroyed.” ABOVE: Post-war, 410 Squadron remained in the RCAF order of battle in the fighter role. It remains an active unit in the RCAF to this day, though now equipped with the F-18 Hornet. (RCAF) LEFT: Colonel Rayne Schultz after his final sortie with 410 Squadron – in a McDonnell Douglas F-18 Hornet! Schultz remained with 410 Squadron for two and a half years and accumulated some 800 hours of flying time, five aircraft destroyed and his first Distinguished Flying Cross before being posted to the Night Fighter OTU at Charter Hall as an instructor. He served there and later at Cranfield as an instructor and test pilot until December 1944 when he rejoined 410 Squadron now flying from Lille with 147 Wing of the Second Tactical Air Force. The war ended for the then Flight Lieutenant Joe Schultz with 410 Squadron, still equipped with the Mosquito, being stationed in Gilze Rijen. In late May 1945, Schultz was awarded a Bar to his DFC for destroying a further three enemy aircraft in the final stages of the war in Europe. He remained in the peacetime RCAF and it was shortly before his retirement that Schultz returned to visit his old squadron. (Colonel R. Shultz)

Following this unusual series of night combats, during which his Mosquito had fired 540 cannon rounds, Archie Harrington would go on to become, after his subsequent transfer, the most successful USAAF night fighter pilot of the war. He and Tongue were also the squadron’s second most successful crew (after Schultz and Williams) and with both men already having received the DFC, most unusually for a foreign junior officer, Harrington received the DSO and Tongue a Bar to the DFC. They had achieved the distinction of claiming 410 Squadron’s second night fighter hat trick almost exactly a year after the first! ■

RIGHT: Although

photographed during a daytime combat, this Junkers Ju 88G presents a similar view to that which Harrington and Tongue would have seen. (via John Weal)

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WHAT I WOULD SAVE IN A FIRE

GEOFF SIMPSON ASKS A TOP CURATOR OR TRUSTEE WHICH SINGLE ITEM IN THEIR COLLECTIONS THEY WOULD REACH FOR IN THE EVENT OF A DISASTER.

UNDERCARRIAGE INDICATOR FROM A BATTLE OF BRITAIN DORNIER Shoreham Aircraft Museum, Shoreham, Kent

Geoff Nutkins, aviation artist and curator of the Shoreham Aircraft Museum, looks back to a significant moment in British history as he decides what to save from a fictional fire. “Sunday, 15th September 1940 is considered pivotal to the outcome of the Battle of Britain and today is the date celebrated as Battle of Britain Day,” he commented. “It was also the day when the aerial battle came to Shoreham in Kent. The importance in remembering this local incident, makes this undercarriage indicator a top item in the ‘save list’ for Shoreham Aircraft Museum. “Part of the large force of enemy raiders that made course for London on that day was a Dornier Do 17Z (werke werke nummer 2555 and coded F1+FS) piloted by Feldwebel Rolf Heitsch from 8 Staffel, Kampfgeschwader 76. The Dornier was attacked and damaged by an RAF fighter before reaching the target and so Heitsch made a desperate bid to return to France. “Pursued southwards and losing height, the Dornier’s crew fought off several attacks by more fighters until two Spitfires from 609 Squadron, piloted by Flying Officer John Dundas and Pilot Officer Eugene ‘Red’ Tobin, an American volunteer flying with the RAF, pressed home their attacks on the low-flying enemy machine as it turned into the Darent Valley, just to the south of Swanley. “Knowing the fight was lost and with a badly wounded gunner, Heitsch looked to put the stricken bomber down onto one of the numerous fields that lined the slopes of the valley. So low was the Dornier that Sid Bines, sitting outside at Castle Farm, casually looked up from reading his Sunday newspaper to wave at the aircraft, not realising it was German. Swooping under high tension cables, the Dornier hit the ground and slid along a field at the farm on the western slope of the valley and quickly came to a halt. “Drawn to the spot by the circling Spitfire of ‘Red’ Tobin, many Shoreham villagers made their way to Castle Farm –

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including several members of the Home Guard, some of whom only had time to slip on their armbands and grab their Lee Enfield rifles. “Reg Hewitt, aged 14, living at one of the farm cottages, did not see the enemy machine crash, but recalled: ‘Almost immediately one of our fighters was circling overhead. It had its canopy open and the pilot waved a handkerchief at us apparently signalling for us to go back. We returned to the cottages. Within a few minutes we went back up the hill again and could see that many people had arrived and were in the field where the ’plane was.’ Reg later acquired the undercarriage indicator, which he kindly gave to the Museum. “The villagers found the Dornier bullet-riddled with the pilot amazingly unharmed, but his three crewmen were all wounded, especially the gunner, Feldwebel Stefan Schmid, who would succumb to his injuries before he could be delivered to Sevenoaks hospital. “An ARP warden, Jack Marriott, had run across the field to get to the Dornier and helped to treat Schmid. He was struck by the appearance of the enemy airman: ‘He was very young and ghastly pale, his uniform looked shabby and he had holes in his flying boots, not at all the ruthless superman type we had been led to expect.’ He remembered too Colonel Greenwood and his Home Guard taking the pilot away: ‘He [the Colonel] told me afterwards that the poor blighter seemed very shaken, so the boys and I stopped off at The Crown [in the village] and I bought him a pint before we turned him in.” Shoreham Aircraft Museum is open every Saturday, Sunday and · The Bank Holiday from Easter to the end of October. For more information

on planning your visit, please see: www.shoreham-aircraft-museum.co.uk

BELOW: With so many eye-witness records and official reports, Geoff Nutkins has been able to depict the Dornier in two paintings, “Height of the Battle” and “The Castle Farm Dornier”. It is the latter seen here. For more information on Geoff’s paintings and other work, please visit: www.aviartnutkins.com (Both images courtesy of Geoff Nutkins/Shoreham Aircraft Museum)

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