Britain at War 2013-11

“WE SHADOWED THE BISMARCK”

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BRITAIN’S BEST SELLING MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY

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BLITZ Norwich Cathedral, June 1942

Stuka Swansong The Last Dive-Bomber Attacks on Britain

CHURCHILL’S

GUNBOAT PLUS:“

The Battle of Mons 1914, WW1 Bomber’s Wings Re-Discovered, The VC10’s Last Flight, WW2 German Signs Found on Guernsey, Sunderland Flying Boat Wreckage found and more...

FOR VALOUR Private George Peachment’s Victoria Cross action, 1915

A Remarkable First World War Survivor

D-DAY DUKWS

The British Army’s amphibians in action on Gold Beach, 1944

BRIDGES, BELLS, CLOCKS: UNUSUAL WAR MEMORIALS

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www.britainatwar.com Should you wish to correspond with any of the ‘Britain at War’ team in particular, you can find them listed below: Editor: Martin Mace Assistant Editor: John Grehan Editorial Consultant: Mark Khan Editorial Correspondent: Geoff Simpson Australasia Correspondent: Ken Wright Design: Dan Jarman EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES: Britain at War Magazine, Green Arbor, Rectory Road, Storrington, West Sussex, RH20 4EF or email: [email protected]. ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES: For all aspects of advertising in ‘Britain at War’ Magazine please contact Jill Lunn, Advertisement Sales Manager Tel: +44 (0)1780 755131 or email: [email protected]. GENERAL ENQUIRIES: For general enquiries and advertising queries please contact the main office at: Britain at War Magazine Key Publishing Ltd PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincs, PE9 1XQ Tel: +44 (0)1780 755131 Fax: +44 (0)1780 757261 SUBSCRIPTIONS, BINDERS AND BACK ISSUES: Britain at War, Key Publishing, PO Box 300, Stamford, Lincs, PE9 1NA Email: [email protected]

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HE OCTOBER issue of Britain at War Magazine featured the Tip and Run raids endured by Britain’s coastal towns and villages. This special section prompted a surprising amount of feedback from readers, a small part of which is reproduced in this month’s Field Post. Such a response made me realise, or more accurately, reminded me, that during the Second World War everyone was in the front line, wherever they lived or wherever they fought. There is no doubt that for some the war was the most exciting time of their lives. Young men travelling to exotic locations at the government’s expense, coupled with the camaraderie and the sense of purpose that warfare generates, may have made for a heady mixture. Similarly, some at home made a great deal of money out of the conflict. Always, though, there was danger, wherever a person might be. Nothing exemplifies this more than one of the articles in this issue about the saving of Norwich Cathedral in 1942 – see page 106. Everyday life in this lovely old building must have seemed as far away from the war as it was possible to be in Britain at that time. Yet one night in June 1942 the Luftwaffe came calling. With somewhere in the region of 15 to 20,000 incendiaries being dropped on the city in the space of just thirty-five minutes, fires spread everywhere. Even the Norman cathedral was struck and had it not been for the efforts of a mixed group of individuals, including children from the nearby Grammar school, this fine old building would have been lost. Wherever they might live or wherever they might fight, no one, it would seem, was completely safe.

‘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 bonafides 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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Martin Mace Editor

COVER STORY

The popular belief is that the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka was withdrawn from use over Britain as the consequence of unacceptable losses sustained during a number of attacks on 18 August 1940. However, limited attacks continued until October 1941. In “Stuka Swansong” on page 92 92, Andy Saunders takes a look at the circumstances of the last of the losses sustained by this dive-bomber over the British Isles. This month’s cover painting, “Stuka in my Sights”, is by the renowned aviation artist Mark Postlethwaite GAvA. For more information or to purchase a copy visit: www.posart.com

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Contents

ISSUE 79 NOVEMBER 2013

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Editor’s Choice 42 CHURCHILL'S GUNBOAT

Lying in a dry dock in Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard, berthed near the new Mary Rose Museum and Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory, is a remarkable piece of First World War history – the Monitor HMS M33. We examine the history of one of only three British First World War warships to survive.

FEATURES 28 D-DAY DUKWS

Much of the equipment and supplies required on Gold Beach during the D-Day landings was, as Major M.J.B. Hornsby OBE, RASC revealed, landed by the men and machines of the Royal Army Service Corps.

49 FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLL

Whilst many towns, cities and villages chose traditional structures such as crosses, columns, a cenotaph or obelisk, others, reveals Ann Williams, opted for a more practical way to mark the sacrifice of the fallen.

62 THE WRIGHT STUFF

With the British Expeditionary Force unable to hold its positions along the line of the Mons canal in August 1914, it was vital that the bridges were blown before the enemy could force its way across.

72 NO LONGER UNKNOWN

Western Front Association member David Tattersfield, who is also the Association’s Development Trustee, describes how the last resting place of a pre-war Territorial soldier killed in 1918 was identified.

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106 SAVING THE CATHEDRAL

On a summer’s night in 1942, the Luftwaffe came within an ace of dealing the most savage blow of the “Baedeker Blitz”. As fires raged on the roofs of Norwich Cathedral, a schoolboy fire party joined the battle to save one of the nation’s greatest architectural treasures. Steve Snelling tells the story of a remarkable wartime fire-fighting operation.

New Series! 70 THE RAF ON THE AIR

During the Second World War, RAF personnel regularly described their activities on the radio for listeners of the BBC. These broadcasts described their experiences in their own words and in effect provided the human stories behind the official communiqués. Each month we present one of these narratives, an account selected from over 280 broadcasts which were, at the time, given anonymously. In “We Shadowed the Bismarck”, Flying Officer Dennis Briggs recounts the events of 26 May 1941.

REGULARS 6 BRIEFING ROOM

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

24 FIELDPOST Your letters.

57 TANK TIMES

The latest edition of Tank Times from the staff of the Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset.

61 IMAGE OF WAR

25 July 1944 – A combat by one of the Fleet Air Arm’s 1838 Naval Air Squadron Chance Vought F4U Corsairs.

78 DATES THAT SHAPED THE WAR

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We chart some of the key moments and events that affected the United Kingdom in November 1943.

101 RECONNAISSANCE REPORT A look at new books and products.

114 WHAT I WOULD SAVE IN A FIRE

Wing Commander Erica Ferguson, project manager for the Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, selects a bust of Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding from the Bentley Priory Museum.

80 A WILDERNESS OF ASHES

When the 11th Armoured Division liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp a call was put out for help. One of the ninety-five medical students who volunteered, Michael Hargrave, recorded his experiences.

87 LORD ASHCROFT’S “HERO OF THE MONTH” In the latest instalment in a series examining his “Hero of the Month”, Lord Ashcroft details the action of Private George Peachment VC during the Battle of Loos.

92 STUKA SWANSONG

Andy Saunders takes a look at the circumstances surrounding some of the last Junkers Ju 87 Stuka losses sustained during attacks against the British Isles.

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35 THE COST OF RHUBARBS

When Fighter Command went on to the offensive early in 1941, one of the types of missions flown was named Rhubarb. The cost of such sorties to Fighter Command, writes Chris Goss, was high.

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IN 2013 the Prime Minister of New Zealand announced that a National War Memorial Park is to be created in Wellington as the Government’s key project to acknowledge the Centenary of the First World War, which will be completed in time to be the centrepiece of Anzac Day commemorations in 2015. Work towards the National War Memorial Park is progressing well and is on target to be open in time to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings on 25 April 2015. It is reported that the New Zealand Government’s focus for centenary commemorations will in large part be domestic, with many commemorations taking place at the National War Memorial Park. THIRTEEN PLAYERS from the greatest team in the history of the Heart of Midlothian Football Club (commonly known as Hearts) enlisted for service in the First World War. Of this number, seven of the first team players did not come home. All thirteen had joined the 16th (Service) Battalion (2nd Edinburgh) Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment), which was formed in Edinburgh in late November 1914 by Lieutenant Colonel G. McCrae, MP. The group of volunteers also contained some 500 Hearts supporters and ticket-holders, 150 followers of Hibernian and a number of professional footballers from Raith Rovers, Falkirk and Dunfermline. The battalion was the first to earn the “Footballers’ Battalion” sobriquet. As a tribute to their sacrifice a plaque has been placed outside the club’s Tynecastle ground. Based on an iconic team photograph taken on 25 November 1914, the plaque was unveiled on 28 September 2013. Hearts had won the first eight games of the 1914-15 season and were top of the league when the players enlisted. THE BATTLE of Britain class steam locomotive No.34053, Sir Keith Park, has been re-commissioned reports Geoff Simpson. The locomotive entered service on the Southern Railway in 1947 and was named that year, in a ceremony in Brighton, by Air Chief Marshal Park. Under British Railways ownership it was extensively rebuilt. Between 2000 and 2012 Southern Locomotives Ltd returned Sir Keith Park from scrapyard condition to working order and it now operates on the Severn Valley Railway. Present at the recommissioning were three Battle of Britain veterans, Wing Commander Dick Summers, OBE, AFM, Squadron Leader Tony Pickering and Flying Officer Ken Wilkinson.

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

Bentley Priory Museum Officially Opened THE MUSEUM at Bentley Priory, wartime home of RAF Fighter Command, has been formally opened by Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, writes Geoff Simpson. During their visit to the former mansion at Stanmore, Middlesex, the Royal couple unveiled a bust of Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding (see also page 114) and met aircrew veterans of the Battle of Britain, as well as former WAAFs who served at Bentley Priory during the Second World War. In the recreated filter room, three of the women found models of their wartime selves at work. Patricia Clark, a filterer during the Battle of Britain, said: “It is really exciting to see Bentley Priory so wonderfully restored after all these years. We, the few remaining veterans, now in our nineties, still have vivid memories of carrying out the vital work of the secret Dowding System during the

One of the renovated rooms within the Bentley Priory Museum. (COURTESY OF THE BENTLEY PRIORY MUSEUM)

Battle of Britain. It is rewarding for us to know that this wonderful museum is ready to tell future generations the full story behind the victory that saved the free world.” Wing Commander Bob Foster DFC AE, Chairman of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association, said: “Along with my fellow veterans, I felt it was so important to preserve Bentley Priory because of its enormous symbolic and strategic

significance. To see it so beautifully restored as a Museum that tells the story of Dowding and the role of Bentley Priory, as well as of the Battle of Britain aircrew and the huge network which supported us, is fantastic.” The Bentley Priory Museum is now open for visits by pre-booked groups and will open for all visitors early in 2014. More information is at: www.bentleypriory.org

Never Forget Memorial Unveiled

ON SATURDAY, 14 September 2013, the Royal British Legion unveiled its new Never Forget memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

The centre point of the memorial is a striking Poppy wreath around which Everlasting Poppies will be planted. Each of these will in turn be inscribed with the name of a specific individual,

The new Never Forget Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. (COURTESY OF THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION)

along with any relevant dates, thereby forming a permanent tribute to that person. The Royal British Legion has stated that the memorial will be maintained throughout the year and that it is not just for fallen servicemen, members of the public can also be remembered with one of the poppies. The new memorial was unveiled by Amanda Binnie whose husband, Sean, was killed in Afghanistan’s Helmand province in May 2009. Serving with The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, Corporal Binnie, was killed during a fire fight following an ambush by insurgents near Musa Qaleh whilst his unit was part of a Battle Group mentoring the Afghan National Army.

Wartime Munitions Washed Up

ON 21 September 2013, Police and coastguards in Dumfries and Galloway announced that recent storms may have dislodged munitions buried in a deep trench between Scotland and Northern Ireland, some of which were subsequently washed ashore The phosphorous flares are thought to be among thousands of tonnes of munitions which were

dumped in Beaufort’s Dyke after the Second World War. There have already been two recent incidents of them being washed up on the Galloway coastline. People using the beaches are being warned not to touch any suspicious objects. Beaufort’s Dyke is a deep trench which lies between Scotland and Northern Ireland, south of the Firth of Clyde and west of the Solway

Firth, which is more than thirty miles long and two miles wide, with a depth in excess of 200 metres. It was used for the disposal of munitions, including chemical weapons, after both world wars. The records that do exist relate to the dumping from 1945 onwards, when it is estimated that more than one million tons of munitions was dumped in the area.

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

Battle Of Britain Spitfire Pilot Dies Aged 98 SQUADRON LEADER Edward Brian Bretherton Smith, DFC, who died on 15 September 2013, aged 98, flew Spitfires with 610 (County of Chester) Squadron in the Battle of Britain, writes Geoff Simpson. Born on 12 January 1915 in Formby, Lancashire, Brian Smith became a member of 610 Squadron, in the Auxiliary Air Force in 1936. The squadron, then based at Hooton Park, was flying the Hawker Hart, exchanging that type for Hawker Hinds in 1938. Flying Officer Smith was amongst the Auxiliaries called up in August 1939 as war with Germany approached. Smith fought over Dunkirk, being credited with a share in destroying a Heinkel He 111. On May 29 1940, Squadron Leader Franks was killed and Flight Lieutenant Tom Smith, a Flight Commander, stepped up to take his place. Brian Smith was appointed ‘A’ Flight commander and shortly afterwards became an acting Flight Lieutenant. On 25 July Squadron Leader Tom Smith was killed in a crash while attempting to land at Hawkinge after combat with Messerschmitt Bf 109s. The next

day, the ‘B’ Flight commander, Flight Lieutenant John Ellis took over the squadron as an acting Squadron Leader. On 29 July a series of photographs of 610 Squadron pilots at Hawkinge, including John Ellis and Brian Smith, was taken by an official photographer and has since been much published. Early on the morning of 12 August, Brian Smith was involved in combat with enemy fighters over Romney Marsh, when his Spitfire was set on fire. He baled out with burns and was rescued from the sea.

On 30 August Brian Smith was awarded the DFC. The historian Kenneth G. Wynn credits Smith with three enemy aircraft destroyed, one probably destroyed, three damaged and one shared damaged during July and August 1940. Although Smith re-joined the squadron in September 1940 he did not resume as ‘A’ Flight commander. He was posted away in December of that year. He became an instructor and later served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, before being released from the RAF in 1946.

One of the pictures from the series that shows Spitfire pilots of 610 (County of Chester) Squadron relaxing between sorties at ‘A’ Flight’s dispersal at Hawkinge on 29 July 1940. Flight Lieutenant Brian Smith is the individual sitting on the ground on the far left. (IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM; HU1062)

Romsey War Horse Statue

LARGE NUMBERS of horses and mules were required in the First World War and it was the Army Remount Service which provided these animals. The Army Remount Service was established in 1887 to provide

A close-up of a maquette of Amy Goodman’s “Romsey War Horse” sculpture.

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animals for military service.  It played an important role in South Africa in the Boer War between 1899 and 1902, but it faced its major challenge in 1914 with the outbreak of World War I.  Between the outbreak of war and Armistice in 1918, the Remount Service dealt with more than a million horses and mules in the United Kingdom, over half of which were imported from North America. In order to handle these animals, a string of camps was set up across the country.  One of these was at Pauncefoot Hill on the outskirts of Romsey in Hampshire, the buildings of which were demolished after the war. It has been decided that a statue of a war horse, erected in Romsey’s War Memorial Park, would be a fitting tribute to these animals and the Army Remount Service.

Consequently the Romsey War Horse Project is hoping to raise the £55,000 necessary to achieve this aim. Sculptor Amy Goodman has agreed to design and cast in bronze resin a statue of a warhorse and soldier. Initially a small model (a maquette) was made in clay and then cast in bronze-resin. Limited edition copies of the maquette in bronze and bronze-resin are being produced which will be available for purchase.  Once the statue is given the definite go-ahead, work will start on the full-scale sculpture. It is hoped that the statue will be finished and raised on its plinth before the spring of 2015 but timing depends on the level of donations. To support the Romsey War Horse Project, or for more information, please visit: www.romseywarhorse.co.uk

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BULLETIN BOARD

BLETCHLEY PARK has revealed the latest stage in its on-going restoration work when Hut 11 was officially opened on 26 September 2013. The wartime Turing-Bombe hut was nicknamed the “Hell Hole” by those who operated the Bombe machines because it was so hot and noisy. The new exhibition includes quotes from the women, predominantly Wrens, which tell the story of their time at Bletchley Park. A PLAQUE has been unveiled at the Pier Head in Liverpool to remember those who lost their lives on HMT Lancastria in 1940. Lancastria had sailed from Liverpool on 14 June 1940, and made its way to the French port of Saint-Nazaire to take part in Operation Ariel, the evacuation of Allied nationals and troops from France two weeks after the Dunkirk evacuation. More than 6,000 people died while being evacuated from France when the vessel came under enemy fire. Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Gary Millar said: “It is vital that we never forget the hardships and heartaches faced by those during times of conflict. Liverpool has long had strong links with the sea and Lancastria was no exception, sailing regular scheduled routes from Liverpool to New York.” A PAIR of Second World War German 1kg incendiaries was discovered in the roof of a building in Ernesettle Crescent, Plymouth, by an electrician undertaking restoration work. The devices, dropped during the Blitz on the city, were dealt with by an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team. A CEREMONY has been held in Singapore to commemorate Operation Jaywick, one of the most notable Special Forces raids of the Second World War. In September 1943, a group of fourteen Australian and British commandos and sailors from Z Special Unit (a unit run by the Special Operations Executive) departed from Exmouth in Western Australia on a fishing boat. They slipped into Singapore’s harbour and attached mines to Japanese ships, sinking a total of seven amounting to 37,000 tons. All fourteen commandos returned home safely. However, following the raid the Japanese arrested fifty-seven civilians and civilian internees, none of whom had any involvement in Jaywick. All of those arrested were tortured, and fifteen of them died. Speaking at the ceremony, Australian High Commissioner Philip Green said that the commandos “slipped quietly” into Singapore’s Keppel Harbour, and “loudly into history”.

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THE JOINT initiative between the Guards Museum and the Government of Flanders to create a Centenary Memorial Garden in London has moved a step closer with more than 1,000 Belgian schoolchildren having gathered soil from seventy battlefields where Guardsmen fought between 1914 and 1918. The children have also been provided with a symbolic sample of soil from the adjacent cemeteries. ON 6 October 2013, a memorial to County Waterford’s First World War dead was unveiled in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, writes James Scannell. The ceremony was conducted by Barry Andrews, Chief Executive of the Irish charity GOAL, and 82-yearold James Shine, whose three halfbrothers died on the Western Front. The fifty-foot long black granite monument bears the names of 1,100 men and women from County Waterford who died in that conflict. John Deasy TD, chairman of the war memorial committee, said that the idea for the memorial had evolved and come to fruition as many of those from Waterford who had died during the First World War had no known grave. Mr Deasy said that he hoped that similar monuments would be erected in every county in Ireland by 2018. ON FRIDAY, 15 November 2013, the Worcestershire and Herefordshire Branch of the Western Front Association will host a talk by Dr Graham Winton entitled “British Cavalry in the Great War – Myth and Reality”. Dr Winton will examine the role of the cavalry during the conflict, what it did and how effective it was. The subject of a lecture hosted by the Scotland (South) Branch in Glasgow on 17 November 2013, is “Kitchener’s Keelies” – the 15th, 16th and 17th battalions Highland Light Infantry. The following day, the early work of the Imperial War Graves Commission is the subject of a talk by John Sutton, chairman of the Leicestershire and Rutland Branch, at Leicester. On 27 November 2013, David Tattersfield will be examining the attack on the “Popes Nose” on 3/9/1916 in a talk hosted by the Lancashire (East) Branch at Burnley. Meanwhile, on 28 November 2013, Linda Parker will describe the work of Anglican Army Chaplains in the First World War, especially on the Western Front, the talk being hosted by the Thames Valley Branch at Reading. For full details of each event, and the many others arranged, including how to attend, please visit: www.westernfrontassociation.com/ great-war-current-events

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

Grant to Record the Stories of Women who Served in Afghanistan

LEGASEE EDUCATIONAL Trust has received a grant from the Erach and Roshan Sadri Foundation to capture the stories and observations of women who have served in Afghanistan. It is also hoped that much will be learnt, not only from their experiences of active service, but also their observations of the conflict, the country and the role of women in that country. Commenting on the award, Legasee Trustee Martin Bisiker said: “We are confident that we’ll unearth some amazing stories from women who served in Afghanistan.

Their accounts will provide a unique perspective for young people who are learning about the role of women in the military”. An example of the kind of stories that will be captured is that of Captain Jennifer Jones who served with the Royal Artillery in Afghanistan. “It’s a sense of you know you’re there you want to be there for your soldiers, for your peers you want to do a good job,” she explained. “You want to be doing the right thing, you want to show that you know you’ve gone through all this training and can actually bring some value back to the table … “We didn’t go to Afghanistan to kill people; you go to Afghanistan to restore the peace, but if part of the role that you personally have out there is to fire big guns then anybody that thinks they’re going to do anything else other than that … [then they] probably shouldn’t be there in the first instance.” During her interview, Emma Couper, who left the Army as a Major having served twelve years in the Royal Logistic Corps, described what it was like to be under fire.: “I think the first shot that goes quite

ABOVE & BELOW LEFT: Captain Jennifer Jones RA pictured during her service in Afghanistan. (COURTESY OF

CAPTAIN JENNIFER JONES RA)

close to your head … it’s like wow that’s a bit close and you get your head down but, you are so highly trained in how you react.” Legasee are looking to interview women veterans who served in Afghanistan from 2001 onwards. If you would like to be part of the project or know someone who should be, please contact Claire by telephoning 020 3132 8642 or emailing: [email protected]

Royal Australian Navy Centenary HER EXCELLENCY, the Honourable Quentin Bryce, AC, CVO, GovernorGeneral of the Commonwealth of Australia, received a Royal Salute from thirty-seven warships berthed around Sydney Harbour during the Royal Australian Navy’s Ceremonial Fleet Review in October 2013. Amongst the vessels present was the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring. It was 100 years earlier, on 4 October 1913, when the first Australian fleet of seven warships consisting of the flagship HMAS Australia, cruisers HMA Ships Melbourne, Sydney and Encounter and destroyers HMA Ships Warrego, Parramatta and Yarra entered Jervis Bay, New South Wales, for the first time. To commemorate this event, more than thirty-seven warships participated in the International Fleet Review 2013 before gathering in Jervis Bay. The present-day warships followed the exact route taken by those first Australian ships.

HMAS Sydney leads the re-enactment of the First Fleet entry in Sydney Harbour in 1913 as part of the International Fleet Review 2013. (RAN)

After the Federation of Australia in 1901, the Commonwealth Naval Forces was formed on 1 March 1901 by amalgamating the six separate colonial navies that had been funded and operated by each of the six Australian colonies. On 10 July 1911, King George V gave approval for the Commonwealth Naval Forces to be

renamed the Royal Australian Navy, and for its ships to carry the prefix HMAS. The manpower of the fleet then stood at four hundred officers and men. Over the next two years ships were built for the fledgling navy, before, on Saturday, 4 October 1913, the RAN’s first ever Fleet Review was held.

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NEWS FEATURE | Wings From First World War Bomber Re-Discovered

Wings from First World War Bomber Re-Discovered FOR SEVERAL years, local aviation enthusiasts have been aware of a building in Connah’s Quay, Flintshire, the roof of which had been reinforced with the wings of First World War aeroplanes, writes David J. Smith. There has been speculation that they were from Caudron G.3 single-engine training aircraft built under licence by the T.M. Dutton Engineering Works which was located a short distance away across the River Dee at South Shotwick. However, a recent investigation suggests that the wings were not from a flimsy trainer but a large Handley Page bomber. The existence of the building and its roofing relics remained obscure until a local environmental campaigner took members of the Rhydymwyn Valley History Society to view the structure.

Another view of one of the long wing sections.

A distinctive metal fitting which, from drawings, confirmed the type of aircraft.

Department of the Admiralty in December 1914 for a twin-engine aeroplane capable of carrying six 112lb bombs. The Royal Naval Air Service had been responsible for the early development of bomb dropping in this country and Frederick Handley Page had planned a large aeroplane before the war. He was therefore well qualified to design an aircraft to meet this specification. The Air Department’s Director, Commodore Murray F. Sueter, was impressed by the design and asked Handley Page to produce “a bloody paralyser” of an aircraft, a classic phrase which stuck when the bomber entered service. Just a year later, on 18 December 1915, the O/100 made its first flight, the designation allegedly stemming from its 100-foot wingspan. It was the largest aeroplane that had yet been built in the United Kingdom.

Forty production O/100s were built, delivery beginning in 1916. The first squadron was formed in August 1916, but it was some time before it saw action. On 23 April 1917, three O/100s of 7 Squadron, based at Coudekeque near Dunkirk, attacked five German destroyers off Ostend. Each aircraft was carrying fourteen 65lb bombs; one ship received a direct hit and was left listing. A similar action three days later resulted in the loss of one aircraft and it was then decided that the squadron should switch to night bombing. Single aircraft bombed various targets, including naval bases at Bruges and Zeebrugge and the aerodromes from which their considerably smaller German counterpart, the Gotha, took off to bomb England. Meanwhile, development of the original design had continued at Handley Page, resulting in the

Another elaborate and distinctive metal fitting.

Formerly part of a ship’s chandlery, the building had served as a garage from the 1970s but was vacated about five years ago. It has become very dilapidated but the wing structures forming the roof supports are still in good condition, with substantial built up box spars joined by internal bracing wires and struts. A number of photographs were taken and after further investigation it was confirmed that the remains were those of a Handley Page O/100 or O/400 bomber, which were Britain’s only heavy bombers used during the First World War. The O/100 and O/400 stemmed from an official requirement issued by the Air

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Part of one of the wing sections supporting the roof of the building at Connah’s Quay. The internal bracing wires and struts between the spars are shown. (ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR/AUTHOR’ COLLECTION) www.britainatwar.com

Wings From First World War Bomber Re-Discovered

OTHER SURVIVORS

Handley Page O/400 F5417, which was subsequently civilianised and became G-EAAW with Handley-Page Transport.

O/400. Outwardly almost identical, it featured much more powerful engines. Various types were installed but the most numerous were the Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII of 375hp. The O/100 and O/400 normally carried a crew of three, consisting of pilot, navigator/bomb aimer (who doubled as front gunner when necessary) and mid-upper gunner. On occasion a separate front gunner was carried but this

Pilot’s eye view from the cockpit of a HP O/400 showing part of the wing structure.

| NEWS FEATURE

OTHER SURVIVING relics of the O/100 or O/400 can be found in the RAF Museum’s collection. They include a complete upper outer main plane panel, a substantial length of rear main wing spar and a group of four tail-plane elevators, along with a number of smaller items, such as a crumpled section of fabric skin from O/400 D4569 of 207 Squadron, which crashed in France in 1918. The museum also has a High Altitude bombsight Mk.1A, which was standard fit for the O/400, and in its Bomber Hall, a 1,650lb bomb as carried by the type. Elsewhere, there are known to be some correct vintage Rolls-Royce engines and a replica cockpit.

meant reducing the bomb or fuel load. The aircraft had an internal bomb bay with doors, to facilitate a variety of types of bombs. Regular night bombing attacks on the United Kingdom by the Germans had begun in September 1917 and the public sought retaliation in kind. In October, orders were given to launch attacks on targets in Germany which could be reached from French bases. The Handley Page bombers of 16 (Naval) Squadron were supported by two squadrons of singleengine aeroplanes. The main burden of strategic night bombing was borne by the larger type. No.16 (Naval) Squadron was absorbed into the RAF when it was created on 1 April 1918, and renumbered 216. On 6 June 1918, this meagre collection of aircraft was designated the Independent Force, RAF – sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Independent Air Force. By the autumn of that year, 216 Squadron had been augmented by four more squadrons of Handley Pages. The largest force of O/400s mustered so far, numbering forty, took off on the night of 14/15 September 1918, to attack targets in the Saar region of Germany. Their objectives included Metz, Sablon, Kaiserslautern, Ehrang and Saarbrucken. These raids were believed to be extremely damaging to the morale of the workers in the factories targeted by this first strategic air force. On 31 October 1918, the RAF had 258 O/400s on charge. Of these, thirty-one were at Aircraft Acceptance Parks

and/or contractors. One of these Acceptance Parks was at South Shotwick, where the Dutton works had established an aerodrome so that their Caudrons could be used to train military pilots. It had been planned to assemble American-built aircraft which had been shipped into Liverpool but it was only fully operational for a few months before the end of hostilities. Its main post-war role would seem to have been the disposal of most of the huge fleet of now redundant aeroplanes. This was probably the source of the wing sections at Connah’s Quay as government surplus sales were a regular occurrence in the immediate post-war years. The RAF’s operational O/400s remained in squadron service until they were replaced in 1919 by the Vickers Vimy and the de Havilland DH10 Amiens toward the end of 1919. A number of war-surplus aircraft were converted for civilian use and nine were used by Handley Page’s pioneering airline, Handley Page Transport, some of them on a London-Paris service. ⨁ It is hoped that Rhydymwyn Valley History Society can co-ordinate the recovery of the wings with interested parties. For more information if you think you can help please contact RVHS by email at: [email protected]

ABOVE: Flight Lieutenant Kilburn of 216 Squadron poses with the wreck of his aeroplane after it hit Ochey church steeple near Nancy in Alsace-Lorraine. He had been taking off at night, with a full load of petrol and 14 x 112lb bombs for a raid on Rhine factories during June 1918, when disaster struck. RIGHT: Handley Page O/400s of 7 Squadron lined up at Coudekerque in 1917 for inspection by the King and Queen of the Belgians.

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NOVEMBER 2013 11

NEWS FEATURE |

Tank Museum unveils Vehicle Conservation Centre

A view of the interior of the Tank Museum’s new Vehicle Conservation Centre. (COURTESY OF THE TANK MUSEUM)

The Tank Museum Unveils its Vehicle Conservation Centre IT WAS during the Tank Museum’s “Britain at War Show” on Saturday, 21 September 2013, that members of the public had the first opportunity to see inside its new Vehicle Conservation Centre. Built with the assistance of a £2.5m Heritage Lottery Fund grant, the centre was officially unveiled on Wednesday, 18 September 2013. Covering a total of 40,000 square-feet, the Vehicle Conservation Centre (VCC) will eventually be used to house over 100 armoured fighting vehicles. The new hall, which also includes a public observation gallery and a The FV4004 Conway inside the Vehicle Conservation Centre. Also on show in the hall “Conservation in Action” exhibition, will enable at the time of our visit was the full size replica vehicles which have never been on display of the German A7V tank, which is painted in the before to be seen by the public. markings of the example named Schnuck, chassis Speaking at the unveiling, the Museum’s number 504. (HMP) Director, Richard Smith, said: “The Vehicle Conservation Centre will provide us with much needed space; enabling us to add new exhibitions, and ensuring that our collection is stored in a dry and properly heated environment. This new centre also gives us the facilities for an on-going volunteer led conservation and preservation programme, further guaranteeing the long term future of our collection.” One of the vehicles that are being exhibited for the first time in the VCC is the Tank Museum’s Previously stored outside at the Tank Museum, FV4004 Conway. The Conway was an attempt to this Sherman M4A3 was towed into the VCC only up-gun the Centurion by mounting a 120mm L1 the day before the “Britain at War Show”. (HMP)

A selection of the vehicles that are currently housed in the new centre. (COURTESY OF THE TANK MUSEUM)

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Another of the unusual vehicles to be seen in the hall is this C20 Oxford Carrier. (HMP)

gun in a high turret made from rolled plate. The design, officially designated as a self-propelled gun, was an interim response to the Soviet Josef Stalin III heavy tank pending the introduction of the Conqueror. Based on the hull of a Centurion Mk.III and with final assembly undertaken at ROF Barnbow, the example in the VCC is the only prototype of the FV4004 built before the project was terminated in 1951. It arrived at the museum, from the Royal Military College at Shrivenham, in April 1969. Historian and Museum Trustee Dan Snow was amongst those present at the ceremony. “Yet again the Tank Museum has produced an absolutely world class facility,” he commented. “The new vehicle space gives them a chance to display even more of the collection. Being able to stand on that mezzanine level and look down on the packed ranks of tanks is a thrill. The Tank Museum is fantastic, and the best thing is that it’s still growing.”

A "TANK IN A BOX" THIS EXHIBIT, located on the mezzanine level overlooking the main floor area, is labelled as a “Tankin-a-Box”. The information panel that accompanies it states that the parts are all from a Vickers CardenLoyd Utility Tractor Mk.IA which was used by the British Army in the 1930s. The Tank Museum purchased the remains of this particular example in 1985, with the financial assistance of the Science Museum, from a scrapyard in Portsmouth. As it is such a rare vehicle, despite the condition it was considered an important addition to the Tank Museum’s collection. (HMP)

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NEWS FEATURE | German Road Signs

Wartime German road

signs found on Guernsey RECENT WORK to renovate a tram shelter on Guernsey led to the re-discovery of an unusual reminder of the German occupation of the Channel Islands during the Second World War, writes Paul Bourgaize. The 1930s tram shelter, the only structure of its kind on Guernsey, is located at a busy road junction in an area known as the HalfWay, which is situated on the main road on the island’s east coast between St Peter Port and St Sampson. The work to restore the shelter was undertaken following a campaign by a local BBC radio presenter, John Randal. John felt that such an historic building deserved to be fully preserved. Over time, the structure had seen all of its windows smashed and graffiti daubed on the walls, whilst the woodwork and paintwork had both deteriorated.

An example of a sign painted on a white marker – in this case on a junction on Red Route 6 in St Martins. (COURTESY OF THE

CHANNEL ISLANDS OCCUPATION SOCIETY)

Ian Brehaut carefully removes the remaining traces of post-war paint.

John set about raising the necessary funds required for the renovation to proceed. During the initial stages of the project many layers of flaking paint were removed; it was during this process that a well-preserved German road sign came to light for the first time in over sixty years. It was on the afternoon of Sunday, 30 June 1940, that the German occupation of Guernsey began, albeit in the form of a single Luftwaffe Dornier Do 17 which landed on the island’s undefended airfield. The following day, a number of Junkers Ju 52s flew the main “invasion” force across from France, though the operation had been delayed until the afternoon due to fog. The unenviable task of meeting the first of the occupiers fell to the chief of Guernsey’s Police, Inspector W.R. Sculpher. He had rushed to the airfield the previous evening, but by the time he had arrived, the lone bomber, flown by Hauptmann Liebe-Pieteritz, had already taken off to return to France. When news

reached him of the new arrivals, Sculpher returned. This time he encountered Major Albrecht Lanz, the senior German officer present, and handed over a prepared letter written in German which stated that Guernsey had “been declared an Open Island by His Majesty’s Government”. The Germans moved to quickly consolidate their position. The first occupation troops, in the form of men from the 216 Infanterie-Division, were shuttled in by air, whilst other units arrived by sea. After their arrival, the Germans found that, as on the British mainland, all road signs had been removed by the local authorities. Consequently they quickly set about installing their own system of road signs to meet the requirements of military manoeuvres and the supply of equipment to the ever increasing number of fortified positions. In an effort to avoid confusion, the system was kept simple. It consisted of eight red roads, or The tram shelter at the Half-Way on Guernsey’s east coast pictured following its restoration and the work to preserve the wartime German signs.

(ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF PAUL BOURGAIZE/FESTUNG GUERNSEY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

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German horse-drawn transport passes a German sign at the junction of Red Route 6 and Yellow 7 at Carmel, St Martins. (COURTESY OF RICHARD HEAUME)

ANOTHER SURVIVOR

The sign, painted on granite, which was re-discovered in Rue des Houmets.

EARLIER IN 2013 another wartime German sign was re-discovered when ivy was removed from a wall at the junction of Rue des Houmets and Ruette des Emrais in the Castel. This sign consisted of a pair of arrows, of which the lower one denoted the two yellow routes to be found at either end of the road. The upper arrow, meanwhile, indicated that it would have been possible to access Red Route 3, Rote Straβen 3, from this junction. Being an un-numbered byroad no central number in a circle is present on this particular sign. Originally painted on granite, it was considered too difficult to preserve it, so detailed photographs and tracings were taken to record it as best as possible, after which it was left exposed.

The part of the sign that indicated you needed to turn right to reach Yellow Route 3. www.britainatwar.com

This German sign was painted on the wall of St Martins Church. It indicates that this stretch of Red Route 7 led to the ring road, or Ringstraβe.

Rote Straβen, which ran roughly east to west (the main port and centre of German Command being at St Peter Port on the east coast), and eleven yellow roads, or Gelbe Straβen, which ran roughly north to south. A ring road, the Ringstraβe, looped around the outskirts of St Peter Port. A series of arrows and numbers were used to denote the different routes, and these were either hand painted on granite walls, or, if this was not possible, on to white timber boards mounted on wooden posts. The signs were in most cases approximately three feet off the ground. The signs on a main, numbered, route would display the route number in a circle in the centre with a number at each end showing the road to found at the next intersection, which was either red or yellow. For roads leading to the Ringstraβe, the arrow would point to a letter R. In cases where a road led to more than one numbered route these would be displayed by further arrows and numbers. The sign which had been painted by the occupying troops on the front of the tram shelter indicated that by turning to the north (left when looking at the shelter), Yellow Route 1 led to the road referred to as Red Route 3. Meanwhile, turning right at the junction (i.e. south) meant that you would have been heading towards Yellow Route 3. Following the island’s liberation the wooden signs quickly disappeared due to the shortage of fire wood, whilst those painted on walls were left to gradually fade away or be covered over. The significance of the sign found at the Half-

The finishing touches are applied by Ian Carr and Stuart Dyer.

A road marker from the Ringstraβe that is still visible in St Peter Port.

A close-up of part of the tram shelter's sign after restoration.

(COURTESY OF SIMON HAMON)

Way, along with the fact that not many examples of such wartime artwork have survived, attracted the attention of local preservation society Festung Guernsey. Its members became involved and some time was spent cleaning and preserving the German paintwork. The sign at the Half-Way was considered to be in a good state of preservation, this being partly due to the shelter’s over-hanging roof. As a result, following discussions, the States Department, which owns the structure, agreed to leave the sign visible. It is hoped that an interpretation board, explaining the German road system to visitors or passers-by, will be installed in the shelter in due course.

NOVEMBER 2013 15

NEWS FEATURE |

Wreckage of Wartime Trainer Located in a Canadian Lake

Wreckage of Wartime Trainer Located in a Canadian Lake

Missing RAF and RCAF airmen found by Ontario Provincial Police’s Underwater Search and Recovery Unit ON FRIDAY, 13 December 1940, two RCAF Northrop A-17 Nomads, numbers 3512 and 3521, collided in the skies over Ontario whilst undertaking a search and rescue mission. The two aircraft had taken off from RCAF Station Borden, also known as Camp Borden, to participate in the hunt for another missing airman, Leading Aircraftsman Clayton Peder Hopton, who had gone missing the previous day while training. The wreckage of the one of the two Nomads, 3512, was located lying in Lake Muskoka during January 1941, but the aircraft was not raised until the following April, once the ice on the lake had melted. The search for the second Nomad, 3521, was cancelled after the area where it was believed to be located had been inspected for several weeks without any results. The search for 3521 did not resume until a group of Muskoka residents showed interest in the aircraft and created the Lost Airmen of Muskoka Project. Consequently, in July 2010, after nearly seventy years spent under water, the wreckage of 3521 was located by the Ontario Provincial Police’s Underwater Search and Recovery Unit in Lake Muskoka. During follow-up dives in October 2012, personnel from the Royal Canadian Navy’s Fleet Diving Unit (Atlantic) recovered the remains of Flight Lieutenant Peter Campbell RAF and Leading Aircraftsman Theodore “Ted” Bates RCAF from the wreckage.

A photograph of a Nomad in front of one of Camp Borden’s hangars, taken by Leading Aircraftsman Ted Bates in 1940 shortly before his disappearance. The Nomads were not regarded as outstanding aircraft, but they did provide reliable training service logging an average of approximately 3,000 flying hours each in their four and a half years of service. (COURTESY OF TOM BATES, VIA RCAF)

Leading Aircraftman Theodore “Ted” Bates RCAF. Bates was aged 27 at the time of his death.

The burial service at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Guelph, Ontario, on 17 September 2013. (COURTESY

OF CORPORAL VICKY LEFRANCOIS, CANADIAN ARMED FORCES)

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission that will mark the lasting resting places of Flight Lieutenant Campbell and Leading Aircraftman Bates. (COURTESY OF CORPORAL VICKY LEFRANCOIS, CANADIAN ARMED FORCES)

16 NOVEMBER 2013

(COURTESY OF TOM BATES, VIA RCAF)

Flight Lieutenant Peter Campbell, who was killed aged 24. (COURTESY OF THE CAMPBELL FAMILY)

The aircraft was found broken into several sections including the engine block, the fuselage, the tail section, the port wing and the starboard wing. In addition to the remains of the two airmen, the RCN’s divers also recovered personal effects and secured the site by removing the aircraft’s three .30 calibre machine-guns. The Northrop A-17A Nomad was a military development of the commercially successful Northrop Gamma.  First delivered in 1935 to the United States Army Air Corps as a twoseat, light attack bomber, the Northrop A-17A was essentially obsolete by the start of the Second World War. Notwithstanding this fact, in June 1940, the British Purchasing Commission purchased ninety-three of the type that had originally been ordered by France, but never delivered. The RCAF subsequently acquired

a small number of these aircraft, the Nomad Mk.I as they became known in British service, exclusively for training purposes. All were assigned to No.3 Training Command RCAF and were given the serial numbers 3490 through to 3521. They were based at Camp Borden which was the largest and most important training facility in Canada during the war, housing both army training and flight training, the latter under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Lieutenant Campbell and Leading Aircraftsman Bates were laid to rest during a private ceremony at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Guelph, Ontario, on 17 September 2013, in the presence of family members and representatives from the RCAF, the RAF, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Ontario Provincial Police Underwater Search and Recovery Unit. www.britainatwar.com

NEWS FEATURE | Remains of a Sunderland Flying Boat

Divers Locate the remains of a

Sunderland Flying Boat LOCATED ON the eastern shore of Lower Lough Erne, near the village of Lisnarrick in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, RAF Castle Archdale was, at the beginning of December 1941, the home of Coastal Command’s 201 Squadron. On 1 December, six of the squadron’s Sunderland flying boats (a mixture of Mk.Is and Mk.IIs) took the air for the benefit of the press, performing a number of fly pasts which were photographed from Castle Archdale. One of the pilots involved was Flight Lieutenant David “Digger” Fletcher. Just over two weeks later, on 17 December, Fletcher and his crew took off from Lough Erne for the last time. Posted to 202 Squadron, another Sunderland unit which was based at Gibraltar, Fletcher was at the controls of Mk.II W3998 (coded ZM-F). Once airborne, Fletcher headed for the flying boat base at RAF Mount Batten, in Plymouth Sound, travelling via Pembroke Dock.

DISASTER IN PLYMOUTH SOUND

After a two-day stopover at Mount Batten, on 20 December Fletcher taxied out into Plymouth Sound to take-off for the last leg of the journey south to Gibraltar. Overloaded with extra equipment and fifteen men, Fletcher was forced to abort his first attempt for fear of striking a semi-submerged breakwater. On his second attempt, at 01.00 hours the following morning, the 28-year-old Australian lifted clear of the anti-submarine boom but, as the Sunderland rose above the breakwater, W3998’s Pegasus XVIII engines – struggling to cope with

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the extra payload – stalled and the flying boat dropped from the sky, bursting into flames on impact with the water 200 yards from Breakwater Fort. Flight Lieutenant Fletcher was killed instantly. Ten others were declared “missing, presumed dead”. Only four men survived. W3998 was reported missing at 04.20 hours. The body of Flight Lieutenant Fletcher was found washed ashore in Whitsand Bay at 14.00 hours on Christmas Eve 1941; he was buried at Plymouth (Ford Park) Cemetery. One of those four men that survived the crash was Yorkshire-born Sergeant Harry Lodge who was a 19-year-old radio operator. He described the events of that night in an interview with a local newspaper in 1983. “Normally we never wore lifejackets. They were considered cissy,” recalled Sergeant Lodge. “I somehow felt uneasy that night. It was the middle of December and the night was as black as the ace of spades. One of my colleagues saw me putting on my lifejacket and asked ‘What the hell are you doing?’ I persuaded him to put his jacket on too. I remember taking off from the water and feeling relieved that we were away safely. But the next thing I was in the water a mile out to sea off Plymouth Sound. We, plus one other crew member who was also wearing his jacket, were the only ones to survive.” Surrounded by blazing fuel and suffering from severe burns to his hands, Sergeant Lodge not only had to contend with his injuries caused during the crash but also those inflicted by the rescue boat during its search for survivors. “Actually the boat ran over me,” he continued. “I rolled aside and pushed the hull away. It nearly took my fingers off then they spotted me and I was picked up. We were apparently in the water for an hour because of the time taken to get clearance for the anti-submarine nets to be lifted.” Harry Lodge remained on the hospital’s danger list for six months with the fractured skull he received during his collision with the rescue boat having initially left doctors being doubtful he would survive. Alongside him, with the relatively

minor injuries of a broken arm and collarbone, was the crewman he had persuaded to wear a lifejacket. Bearing lasting scars across the temple from his head injuries, and his lower lip from the loss of his teeth, Harry Lodge later returned to active duty and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer. 

WRECK RE-DISCOVERED

Having lain forgotten for more than seventy years, it was a chance find during a routine drift dive by professional diver Danny Daniels that finally led to the wreckage of W3998 being re-located. An ex-Royal Navy clearance diver and former Joint Services instructor, Mr Daniels recalled the subsequent visits to the wreck site: “One of our boats was quiet the week after the initial finding, so I decided to investigate further and just two minutes into the dive I found myself alongside a large radial aero engine complete with a huge propeller.”  Making his way through a thick band of kelp, Mr Daniels continued his search and soon found a growth-encrusted piece of aircraft cowling, which concealed a bank of what at first appeared to be eight pistons. This led him to initially conclude that he had found the final resting place of a German bomber. It was during a subsequent dive, when a colleague spotted a second propeller, that is became clear that more investigation was needed. “Using ground markers and a compass, I carried out a painstaking box system search technique that revealed an AMK12 anti-shipping exercise mine, a fair amount of British .303 ammunition, www.britainatwar.com

MAIN PICTURE: One of the propellers found by divers in Plymouth Sound and which are believed to be part of the wreckage of Sunderland flying boat W3998. BOTTOM LEFT: Another view of the wreckage in Plymouth Sound. LEFT: One of the four survivors from the loss of Sunderland W3998, Sergeant Harry Lodge, pictured here in the aftermath of his recovery – note the scar on his bottom lip from where his teeth pierced his skin during the crash. RIGHT: Flight Lieutenant David “Digger” Fletcher. According to the RAF’s Aircraft Accident Form, at the time of his death, Flight Lieutenant Fletcher had amassed 1,234 hours in his log book, 704 of which were on Sunderlands. (ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF NEIL HOPE; WWW.DIVINGIMAGES.CO.UK);

another engine and two more props.” Further dives on the site uncovered the cockpit steering gear and a pair of machine-guns. Still, though, the exact identity of the aircraft was undetermined as there was no record of any aircraft having crashed at the coordinates where the wreck had been found. That was until a small piece of a broken dinner plate bearing the RAF crest was discovered. Assisted by historian Darell Jago, Mr Daniels established that the plate may well have belonged to a longlost Sunderland flying boat and the connection was made with the crash of W3998. Why the wreckage of the flying boat had not been found until now was explained by Mr Daniels: “The simple reason this Sunderland was never located was that it came down more than twice the distance as stated in its RAF accident report.”

“A GRAND FELLOW”

Flight Lieutenant Fletcher’s niece, Lois Porters, aged 75, from Brisbane, Australia, has kept letters of condolence sent to her mother by Wing Commander W.G. Abrams, 201 Squadron’s Commanding Officer. In his letter, Abrams wrote: “We have lost a grand fellow. Digger had the natural gift of instilling cheerfulness in all around him. As you know, he has done some fine work since joining the Squadron in 1940. We were sick at him being sent to the Mediterranean but this loss is a big one for us. He was about to leave when the accident happened.” Mrs Porter also said: “The fact that the wreck has at last been found and can now be recognized as a War Grave is important to us and other family members of the crew. We are grateful that a positive identification has finally been made and knowing where they fell gives everyone closure.” www.britainatwar.com

NOVEMBER 2013 19

NEWS FEATURE |

Final Flight of the VC10

Final Flight of the VC10 Vickers VC10 ZA150 refuels a pair of Typhoons during the type’s last ever air-to-air refuelling sortie on Friday, 20 September 2013. (ALL IMAGES ©

CROWN/MOD COPYRIGHT 2013)

The view of ZA150, on 20 September 2013, from the flight deck of ZA147.

The 101 Squadron crew that flew ZA147. Squadron Leader Jess Gannon can be seen second from left.

A CHAPTER in British’s aviation history closed on Friday, 20 September 2013, when the Vickers VC10 took to the skies for its final air-to-air refuelling sortie. After fortyseven years of service with the RAF, the type retired from operational duties on 25 September 2013. The VC10 is a long-range British airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance routes with a high subsonic speed, as well as comfortably making use of the shorter runways commonly in use at the time. The performance of the VC10 was such that it achieved the fastest crossing of the Atlantic (London to New York) by a jet airliner, a record still held to date for a sub-sonic airliner; only the supersonic Concorde was faster. Speaking before the last refuelling sorties, Group Captain Steve Lushington, RAF Brize Norton’s Station Commander, made the following comments: “You only have to look through the chapters of aviation history to find the VC10 has played a part somewhere along

One of the RAF’s VC10 aircraft pictured at an airfield in the Middle East. In the air transport role, the aircraft was primarily used for troop carrying, with accommodation for 124 passengers and nine crew. Use of a large, cabin-freight door on the forward left side of the aircraft allowed easy conversion of the aircraft into a dual-role passenger/freight or full-freight configuration. In its full-freight role, the cabin could hold up to 20,400kgs of palletised freight, ground equipment or vehicles, on its permanently strengthened floor. The aircraft could also be used for aero-medical evacuation, for which up to sixtyeight stretchers could be fitted.

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the line, be that the returning of those people held hostage around the world, flying the Royal Family, the Queen, heads of state and Prime Ministers to all sorts of wonderful locations as part of state visits.” The two VC10s that were deployed for the mission, ZA147 and ZA150, refuelled a Typhoon, Tornado GR4 and Hercules, along with refuelling one VC10 from another. To mark the significant role the aircraft has made to the fast jet elements of the RAF, the VC10s flew over various RAF stations including RAF Lossiemouth, RAF Conningsby, RAF Marham, RAF Leuchars, Warton, Birmingham and Prestwick. Speaking after the flight, Squadron Leader Jess Gannon, captain on ZA147, said: “It’s probably going to take a little time to sink in actually but you can see by us all that we’re all a little subdued – it’s a bit of a sad day to be fair. It’s been a big part of all of our lives for quite a long time and it’s such an iconic aeroplane so to be the guys that fly it on the last operational sortie, it’s been an absolute pleasure.” Five days after the last air-to-air refuelling sortie, ZA147 took off from RAF Brize Norton, heading to Bruntingthorpe, where the last ever landing by a VC10 took place at 16.02 hours. The captain of ZA147 for the final flight was Flight Lieutenant Paul Smith: “The weather was right on the limits of visual flying and we had to work very hard to get in here. I was 24 years old as a fresh-faced Flying Officer when I first walked up the steps of a VC10 and I’ll be 52 in February so you can guess what it means to me... She deserves a rest; she’s served us very well.” The day before had seen ZA150, the very last of the fifty-four VC10s built at Brooklands in the 1960s, make its last landing at Dunsfold in Surrey. This aircraft has been saved through the work of Dunsfold Park and Brooklands Museum, though long-term arrangements for public access have yet to be confirmed. Following the retirement of the VC10, 101 Squadron will continue to operate in the fields of air-to-air refuelling and air transport flying the RAFs newest aircraft, the Airbus A330 Voyager. www.britainatwar.com

London Blitz George Cross sold at auction MAIN PICTURE: The George Cross and War Medal awarded to Ordinary Seaman Bennett Southwell recently sold by the coin and medal specialists, Dix Noonan Webb. (Courtesy of Dix Noonan Webb, via BNPS)

ORDINARY SEAMAN Bennett Southwell, a Royal Navy rating from the bomb and mine disposal team at HMS Vernon and his officer Lieutenant J.M C. Easton, RNVR, were called to an incident in Hoxton in the East End of London on 17 October 1940. Every night since 7 September, London had been attacked by the Germans and on the night of 16/17 October a parachute mine had fallen through the roof of a house in Clifton Street, close to Finsbury Square in Shoreditch. When the pair arrived at the scene they saw that a large area had been evacuated around the tenement property and “Unexploded Bomb” notices erected round it. “The front door was open and I entered a narrow hall,” Lieutenant Jack Easton later recalled, his account being included in the auction sale particulars. “The thick dust here was familiar and eloquent to me now, and I moved cautiously, in case a too heavy footfall set the mine mechanism going again. The door on my right was the parlour, and stood directly under the hole in the roof. The door was closed, so I turned the handle and pushed gently. It yielded only a few inches and then was held. I did not use force, but sought another entry. Houses of this type had no back doors, so I returned to the street and walked a few houses along. I entered another open door, passed through the house and out by a rear window. Then I climbed over yard walls until I reached the house I sought, and entered its parlour by the simple means of breaking a window and climbing through.” Easton found the mine, a Luftmine B, known to the British as the Admiralty Type ‘C’, suspended through a hole in the ceiling, its nose within six inches of the floor. “Standing close to it,” he continued, “I looked up and saw that the parachute was wrapped partly round a chimney pot and again caught on an ancient iron bedstead in the room above. www.britainatwar.com

The reason why the door had not opened was that several planks which had been part of the bedroom floor had been pushed down by the mine. Now they rested with their one end against the door and their other end under the round nose of the mine, so forming a prop. “My first task should have been to make an easy escape route, but this would have meant disturbing the mine where it hung, and that was inviting trouble. I decided to

Bennett Southwell. Called up in July 1940, he joined the Royal Navy as an Ordinary Seaman and, having completed his initial training at HMS Ganges, volunteered for mine and bomb disposal that September.

(Courtesy of Dix Noonan Webb, via BNPS)

Another example of the type of mine that Easton and Southwell faced on 17 October 1940, pictured after it also fell through the roof of a building in London. (Courtesy of Chris Ransted)

dismantle the mine as it hung. I called my rating into the hallway and explained the position. He would remain in the passage and pass me, through the partly opened doorway, whatever tools I required. “The fuse was clear of obstructions, but when I attempted to fit the misnamed safety horns I discovered that the fuse had been damaged, probably as the bomb crashed through the house. The horns would not go into their place. I handed the attachment back to the rating as useless and took the tools for unscrewing the keep ring. The damage to this had jammed it, and, although I exerted as much effort as I could, it would not turn. I had been working to detach this ring for perhaps a minute when the bomb slipped in front of me. There was a sound of falling brickwork as the chimney pot overhead collapsed, and I heard the whirr of the bomb mechanism. Unless I got clear, I had exactly twelve seconds to live.  NOVEMBER 2013 21

NEWS FEATURE |

London Blitz George Cross sold at auction

“On such work one had to plan ahead. When I discovered that the door could not be opened without disturbing the mine I had decided on a sequence of movements if the mechanism did become active. Now, to the stimulant of the whirring sound, I grasped and pulled open the door against the weight of the planks, for now it no longer mattered if the mine were disturbed, and I ran. “I was through the hall in two leaps. As I emerged from the doorway I saw my rating [Southwell] running down the street to what he, poor devil, thought was safety. I had no time to use distance for safety, and ran across the roadway to a surface air raid shelter opposite where I was. It was a red brick and concreteroofed structure. I reached it and flung myself on its far side, its bulk between me and the house I had just left. I flung myself tight against it, face down to the ground. “I heard no explosion. It has since been explained to me that if you are near enough to an explosion of such force unconsciousness is upon you before any sound it makes reaches you, which is a merciful thing. I was blinded by the flash that comes split seconds before the explosion, but that was all I experienced. “I do not know what time passed before I became conscious. When I did I knew I was buried deep beneath bricks and mortar and was being suffocated. My head was between my legs, and I guessed my back was broken, but could not move an inch. I was held, imbedded.” A frantic rescue effort immediately started, with Easton eventually being dug out of the rubble. “To this day I do not know how long I spent in my grave,” he subsequently wrote. “Most of that

22 NOVEMBER 2013

time I was unconscious. The conscious moments are of horror and utter helplessness. Being buried alive is certainly a good example of a living hell, and in the war years to come after 1940 the brave men, women and children of London and all of the other cities and towns, and villages of Britain not only have my sympathies, but some – those who had been buried alive – had my prayers. I really knew the physical and mental torture they endured. “My rating was killed. He was beheaded by the blast. The mine destroyed six streets of workingclass homes, and it was six weeks before his body was found among the rubble.” Both Jack Easton and Bennett Southwell were awarded the George Cross for, in the words of The London Gazette of 23 January 1941, “great gallantry and undaunted devotion to duty”. Easton was still in hospital when he received the news of the award. Amid cheers from the rest of the patients in his ward, the nurses produced a bottle of champagne they had been saving for that very moment. Captain Currey RN, the CO of the Torpedo & Mining Department at the Admiralty, duly wrote to Southwell’s widow. In his letter of condolence, Currey noted that Southwell “was only with me for a very short time before he was killed, but it was sufficient for me to see that he was a very brave and courageous man”. On 20 September 2013, Ordinary Seaman Bennett Southwell’s medal group was sold for £74,000 (including fees) by the auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb. Including supporting documents, such as telegrams and letters, the medals had been given a pre-auction estimate of £50,000 to £60,000.

ABOVE: The reverse of Southwell’s George Cross. The original GC was stolen from a fête in 1945, at which point his former employer, the hosiery works of N. Corah & Sons Ltd. in Leicestershire, had a duplicate made. This was presented to the family in 1948. In 2003 the original medal appeared for sale at auction, a sale that was spotted by a member of Southwell’s family. The police were informed, the sale was stopped, and the medal was eventually returned to the family’s ownership. (COURTESY OF DIX NOONAN WEBB, VIA BNPS)

ABOVE LEFT: A Luftmine B (Admiralty Type C) pictured after it has been dealt with by a Royal Navy bomb and mine disposal unit. (COURTESY OF CHRIS RANSTED)

BOTTOM LEFT: Bennett Southwell, who was 27 years old when he was killed, was buried in Leicester (Gilroes) Cemetery. (COURTESY OF THE COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION)

GERMAN PARACHUTE MINES THE LUFTWAFFE used two main types of parachute mine, both of which had naval origins. The Luftmine A (or Admiralty Type D to the British) and Luftmine B (Admiralty Type C) weighed 1,100lbs and 2,200lbs respectively. The Luftwaffe began dropping magnetic mines into the waters around the United Kingdom during November 1939, first from Heinkel He 115 and He 111 aircraft. The mines were cylindrical in shape with a hemispherical nose, and were deployed under an artificial silk parachute, falling at about 40mph. First intentionally used against British land targets on 16 September 1940, the mines, with their charge/weight ratio of 60-70% explosive, caused considerable blast damage in built-up areas. Inevitably, they became known to the British population as “Land Mines”. (HMP)

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A Battle of Britain is Honoured on Gibraltar

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A Battle of Britain Pilot is Honoured on Gibraltar THE HEADQUARTERS building of RAF Gibraltar has been renamed in honour of a Battle of Britain pilot, reports Geoff Simpson. Formerly “Jaguar House”, the building is now “The Rene Mouchotte Building”, commemorating one of the best known Free French pilots of the Second World War. The Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, performed the renaming ceremony together with TV personality Jan Leeming, who has long campaigned for more recognition for the French airmen who served in the Battle and René Mouchotte in particular. René Mouchotte was a French Air Force instructor in North Africa in June 1940. With other pilots he disobeyed orders to stay put and escaped by air to Gibraltar, continuing to Liverpool by sea. During the Battle of Britain Mouchotte served in two Hurricane squadrons, 245 and 615. Mouchotte was subsequently posted to take command of 341 Squadron, a Free French squadron in the RAF which formed part of the Biggin Hill Wing. Another pilot who later recalled Mouchotte’s arrival was Pierre Clostermann. In his book The Big Show, Clostermann wrote: “Commandant Mouchotte, one of the first to join the F.F.F. [Free French Forces], was to be in command. A tall, dark, slim man, with piercing eyes and a voice that snapped and admitted no argument, but was followed by a warming, friendly smile. The kind of man for whom you get killed without discussion, almost with pleasure.” Mouchotte was killed on 27 August 1943, during Ramrod

Commandant René Mouchotte. At the time of his death, Mouchotte had accumulated 1,748 flying hours, including 408 operational hours flying 382 operational sorties. He had claimed two (and one shared) enemy aircraft destroyed, one “probable” and one damaged.

S.8, escorting Flying Fortresses on the first daylight raid to Blockhaus d’Éperlecques in the Pas de Calais. Again, Clostermann takes up the story following his return to Manston: “We counted heads – only ten. Commandant Mouchotte and Sergt. Chef Magrot were missing. We hung on the telephone. Biggin Hill had no information, the controller had lost all trace of Mouchotte, and none of the emergency fields had reported his arrival. Not much hope now, for his tanks must have been empty for the last quarter of an hour at least. It was a tragic blow, and the world no longer seemed the same. “When we took off to return to Biggin the sun was beginning to slip down into the sea and, on the horizon, low mists hung over the battlefield where we had left two of our comrades. We landed with navigation lights on, and we could make out a silent group in front of Dispersal. All the personnel of the squadron were there – those who had not flown to-day, the fitters, Group Captain Malan, Wing commander Deere, Checketts – anxiously waiting for fresh news, a scrap of information, anything on which to build hope. “Commondant Mouchotte, Croix de Guerre, Compagnon de la Libération, DFC … For us he had been the pattern of a leader, just, tolerant, bold and calm in battle, the finest type of Frenchman, inspiring respect whatever the circumstances.” René Mouchotte’s body was washed ashore on 3 September 1943, and was buried in Middelkerke, Belgium. In 1949 his remains were re-buried in the family vault in Paris, following a memorial service with full military honours.

MAIN PICTURE: As part of the commemoration event two RAF Typhoons visited Gibraltar. During their visit, the pair conducted a fly-past over the Gibraltar Officers’ Mess. (BOTH

IMAGES © CROWN/MOD COPYRIGHT 2013)

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NOVEMBER 2013

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LETTER OF THE MONTH

War Correspondent's Death SIR – In your last edition in the article called “No Normal Battle” you quoted from the works of Alexander Berry Austin. As you state, he was killed in Italy in 1943. Your readers might be interested to learn exactly what happened to him. Austin and two other War Correspondents were killed on 1 October 1943, and it was witnessed by yet another War Correspondent, Basil Gingell, of the Combined British Press. As the British troops were breaking out from Salerno, one of the key objectives was the bridge at Scafati over the river Sarno. Its capture on 28 September 1943, was observed and recorded by a group of War Correspondents attached to the 5th Army – William Munday, A.B. Austin and Basil Gingell. Gingell explained what happened three days after the capture of the bridge. “With the narrow foothold such as we had at the beginning along the Gulf of Salerno, it was obvious that we were never out of range of the enemy fire, for the front line was on our doorstep. Although always anxious to see battles at close quarters, it is no part of a war correspondent’s job

to take foolhardy risks, and all three [of us] were not only keen reporters but level-headed men. “We [Austin (Daily Herald), Mundy (Australian Combined Press) and Gingell (Reuters)] reached Scafati well to the fore, but while the units pushed on over the bridge we waited behind because of snipers and machine-guns that were trained on the bridge. “We had lunch by the roadside, and while sitting there we saw Stewart Sale and Frank Gillard of the BBC drive by. We hailed the new arrivals, and as the traffic moved over the bridge, we decided to walk down. We had covered perhaps 200 yards, Gillard and Sale walking on ahead, and Austin, Munday and myself following. Sale stopped to look in an air-raid shelter that was in the main street, and Gillard said that he was going on and crossed the road. By this time we had joined up with Sale and we stood at a street corner looking down the road. There was some general banter about the front line. “The four of us were standing in a little group in a space no bigger than a hearthrug when I saw a terrific flash ahead. I heard

no sound of gunfire, but the next second I felt myself bodily flung up the side of the track for more than fifty yards, while debris and dust rained down on me. I had no idea what was happening, but groping my way out I returned to the corner and there found my three companions lying as they had fallen. An ambulance attendant who darted in asked me to help him, but when he took a second glance he realized that all three were dead. He darted off to attend to others, while I stood back against the wall suffering nothing but a few scratches. “Shelling and machine-gun fire broke out ranging on the corner where the four of us had stood. Some Italians took me to their home and there I stayed until morning. A sharp battle raged round the area throughout darkness, but in the morning my three friends were buried by the roadside where we had had our lunch on the previous day; where Austin had said that he had a story that would write itself and Munday had made his plans for the following day. “Over their graves are planted three wooden crosses made by our

jeep driver, who had taken Austin, Munday and me over many miles since we landed and has himself seen more than the average share of excitement out here. There they remain, with Vesuvius in the background.” During their burial a service was held in two denominations, Roman Catholic and Protestant, over their graves. This was attended by both British and American War Correspondents attached to the Fifth Army. Many floral tributes were sent, one of which came from the GOC Fifth Army, General Mark Clark. Picture shows: the scene at the graveside during the service. In due course, on 12 October 1943, a memorial service was held in the historic Fleet Street church of St Dunstan-in-the-West. Representatives of the British, Commonwealth and US press were all present at what was described as a “crowded” service. The Minister of Information (Mr Bracken) and the Army’s Director of Public Relations (Lord Burnham), representing the War Office, were also amongst the congregation. H. James. By email.

Forty-year-old A.B. Austin’s body was exhumed and moved to Salerno War Cemetery, grave reference II.D.22.

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Marks and Spencer at War SIR – After reading your article regarding Marks and Spencer, I thought you may be interested in the attached photograph of a Marks and Spencer enamel ARP badge. Compared to other ARP badges

of the time, this one is rather large, being around two inches square. All I know about this particular badge is that it was worn by a member of staff who worked in a London store. One of the main duties of the company’s ARP wardens was to guide customers to the nearest available shelters. Chris Chandler. Lincolnshire.

The Luftwaffe’s Tip & Run Campaign SIR – The cut-off date for the cessation of the Tip & Run “mini blitz” of 4th September 1943 stated in the last issue of your magazine is, from personal experience, slightly early – certainly in South Devon. In 1943, after eight weeks in bed over the summer with chicken pox, immediately followed by measles with the complication of jaundice, my parents and grandparents decided there was no way I could start the autumn term in junior school. A holiday was needed, so my mother, grandmother and I travelled down to Kingsteignton outside Newton Abbot in South Devon to stay with a relative. It was Friday, 3rd September 1943. At Bristol Temple Meads we joined the second coach of a seventeencoach train originating from Paddington. The fully-loaded train crossed Somerset passing individual Bofors guns dug in every few miles – a result of the Luftwaffe tactics. Trains seemed to be a speciality for such attacks. Leaving Dawlish the train entered the tunnels which are a feature of the coast-hugging track. Movement could be described as a trundle along this section. At Horse Cove, looking out to sea on a beautiful afternoon, an aircraft was seen flying close by. Black puffs from anti-aircraft shells seemed to be following it: target practice? A 3.7-inch gun on the cliff above was seen to belch flame. On emerging from Parson and Clerk tunnel the train was halted at the down home signal, leaving fourteen-and-a-half coaches in safety inside the tunnels. In front was a pair of Vickers K guns manned by two soldiers, jumping around them and www.britainatwar.com

slamming on circular magazines. To my right were four 25-pounder field guns in sand-bagged enclosures stretching towards Teignmouth, their crews leaping all over the place. The corridor in the carriage had been shared with two seamen heading for Plymouth. A shout from one made me look, and there they were, stretched flat on the floor. A startled glance seawards revealed a black shape of a very angry Junkers Ju 88 with red stabs of flame coming from its nose. The Vickers’ crew had let fly a stream of tracer. Considering we were directly in front of the GWR signal box we were very lucky. That box must have seen many an attack. That section of line was the closest “civvies” could get to the Nazi’s by quite a few inches! It had been good fortune that the pre-war GWR planners had inserted a new signalled section between Dawlish and Teignmouth to better cope with the Saturday holiday traffic generated by their Riviera sales campaigns. The shell bursts hung for several minutes, black for the 3.7s and white for the Teignmouth Bofors; the later must have been at the limit of range and were exploding around the Ju 88. Throughout the week following the cessation date of the Tip & Run raids, trips into Newton Abbot were a nightmare; the siren was sounding frequently necessitating a rush for any cover. It was so bad that our “holiday” was terminated at the end of the first week. “Is your journey really necessary?” – it was the card home that allowed me to pinpoint the days involved so accurately. Keith Sanders. Berkshire.

John Cruikshank VC

SIR – It was good to read that John Cruikshank VC is still with us [News Feature, Issue 78] and able to get around and obviously enjoy himself. John would not be alive today, however, if it had not been for the work of the RAF’s first specialist in neuropsychiatry, Air Vice-Marshal Patrick O’Connor. This all came about when O’Connor was the station medical officer at Sullom Voe, the Coastal Command base in the Shetland Islands. He was there when Catalina JV928 returned after its attack on U-361 and, perforated by numerous shell holes began to sink. Cruickshank’s job done, the co-pilot taxied the flying boat hard aground on the beach. When it came to rest O’Connor went on board to give what assistance he could. He immediately realised that only a blood transfusion on the spot would give Cruickshank any chance of survival. Using such limited equipment as he had available, including a chamber pot, O’Connor stabilised the wounded pilot sufficiently to move him to hospital. Only then did O’Connor appreciate the full extent of Cruickshank’s seventy-two separate injuries, mainly in his legs and chest. O’Connor did not realise just what Cruickshank had done until news of the award of the Victoria Cross came through some time later. As was reported in your previous article the Catalina reached Sullom Voe two hours before dawn. Throughout the flight back, Cruickshank had refused to accept any morphia to ease his pain, lest it affect his judgment. Worried that the damaged craft would sink on landing, Cruickshank circled around the base until there was sufficient light to land the Catalina in the shallows so that it could then be run up onto dry land and

finally receive the attention of the base medical officer. Patrick Joseph O’Connor, the son of a farmer, was born on August 21 1914, at Straffan, Co Kildare, Ireland. He was educated at Roscrea College and at university in Dublin. After a brief period working as house surgeon at Scunthorpe District Hospital, he received an emergency commission in 1940 and was posted to RAF Coastal Command’s No 18 Group. He served at a number of stations before arriving at Sullum Voe in May 1944. According to his obituary, in the last months of the war O’Connor was sent out to the Middle East, serving in Persia and Egypt before moving to Greece and Habbaniyah, Iraq, where he was senior medical officer with the Iraqi Levies. Having decided to stay in the RAF, O’Connor returned to Britain in 1947 and had a series of postings, including to RAF Hospital Halton in Buckinghamshire, where from 1955 he specialised in neuropsychiatry. O’Connor soon built a considerable reputation in this field. In 1957 he moved to the RAF’s Central Medical Establishment and in 1964 was appointed consultant adviser in neurology and psychiatry to the RAF. He developed a particular expertise in the treatment of alcoholism and phobias among RAF personnel. He was appointed Air Commodore in 1966, and Air Vice-Marshal in 1971. O’Connor retired in 1978, but was then appointed civil consultant in psychiatry to the RAF. For 20 years he was also a consultant in neurology and psychiatry to the Civil Aviation Authority and to British Airways. He developed a private practice in Harley Street and continued to work into his eighties. He died in 2001 at the age of 86. George Lucan. By email.

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Machine-gun at Salerno

ABOVE: The crash site of Heinkel He 177 5J+PK. LEFT: Dennis Haskell with the wooden grave markers. (BOTH COURTESY OF ANDY SAUNDERS)

Wartime German Grave Markers

SIR – Following on from the news feature in Issue 78 regarding the wartime Imperial War Graves Commission grave markers found at St Mary The Virgin Churchyard at Lamberhurst, I thought the following story relating to the loss of Heinkel He 177 A-3 5J+PK might also be of interest. It is taken from the relevant chapter of my book, Finding The Foe. The policeman who had been on beat duty around The Pantiles area of Tunbridge Wells on the night of 24 February 1944, was exhausted. Although it had not been a particularly challenging shift thus far, with perhaps the odd blackout infringement to deal with or else encouraging the odd rowdy serviceman with too much drink inside him to make it home quietly, he had played an energetic game of football that day and was shattered. Creeping into a secluded shop doorway, ostensibly to check that the door was locked, he huddled into the corner and settled down for a quick nap – bundled against the cold by his cape. In the distance he had been vaguely aware of the drone of aircraft engines and gunfire, but was then startled awake by the sound of a shuffling noise coming down the street towards him. Pulling himself together he peered out in to the darkness, only to be confronted by a German airman walking towards him in flying boots, overalls and full kit. At once, the airman threw up his hands and the astonished, but still sleepy, constable marched his unexpected prisoner to the nearest police box. Picking up the

26 NOVEMBER 2013

’phone which had a direct line to the Police Station, all he could hear was the sound of a game of darts in progress in the control room. The operators were ignoring the flashing indicator lights, and, with one hand gripping the German, the policeman was forced to shout and bellow into the telephone to attract attention on the open line at the other end. Quite possibly the bemused German might have wondered at this point about the efficiency of British telephones, although as the airman reached inside his pockets to check their contents the policeman had a start. Was he going for a weapon? Still nobody answered his calls, but the now smiling German offered his captor a slip of paper he had pulled out. Taking it, the policeman saw that it was a theatre ticket for a Berlin show a few days hence, the German indicating that he wouldn’t now be requiring it. The frustrated officer considered his souvenir for a moment before slipping into his pocket; the prospects of making it to that particular show seemed remote to say the very least. Although at this rate, he thought, the war would be over before anyone came to his assistance. Eventually, the flashing indicator was noticed by the control room operators and a car was duly despatched to bring in the prisoner and red-faced constable. This slightly surreal piece of drama with its element of farcical humour rather belied a grimmer story behind the arrival of this German airman on the streets of Tunbridge Wells. Andy Saunders. By email.

SIR – It was interesting to see the picture at the bottom of the “Dates That Shaped the War” feature on page 71 of Issue 77. The picture, with the Imperial War Museum reference NA6720, was captioned: “This image shows British soldiers manning a machine-gun on the beach at Salerno while a column of smoke rises from a transport ship in the background.” As the caption does not positively identify the gun, I am happy to do so here and perhaps relate some interesting facts to it. The machine-gun in question is in fact an Italian Breda Model 37 Medium machinegun. This gun has no doubt been captured and turned against its former owners. The Model 37 fired the 8x59 M35 cartridge and was developed to replace the earlier 6.5mm machine-guns in service with the Italian Army, as the 6.5mm round was deemed not sufficiently powerful. The gun was produced by the Italian company Societa Italiana Ernesto Breda, or Breda for short. It was air-cooled, gasoperated and fired twentyround clips of ammunition. It was not, of course, uncommon to use captured enemy weapons and from records in my personal archive, I note that in March 1945 the Allies in Italy had an audited stock of captured weapons that included 640 Model 37 Breda machine-guns and 20,040 rounds of 8mm ammunition. From the same report, it is interesting to see that 1,990 7.35mm calibre “short” rifles in “doubtful” condition, along with 1,489,104 rounds of ammunition, were also in stock, as was a single 9mm Model 1910 Glisenti pistol (with no ammunition). Interestingly on page 92 on the next issue, No.78, within the “Sunk Off Tobruk” article, the picture at the top of the page also shows another captured enemy weapon in

use. The crew on this occasion are shown manning an Italian Breda Model 39 light antiaircraft gun. A number of these weapons were captured and used against their former owners in North Africa. The gun seems to have been quite well regarded and certainly seems to have been highly effective in both anti-aircraft and ground roles. The official Italian designation for the gun was Cannone Mitragliera da 20mm Mod.35. It fired the 20mm 20x138 round also fired by the German Flak 30 and Flak 38 anti-aircraft weapons. I believe some examples of captured Breda 20mm guns were mounted on vehicles and used by the Long Range desert Group. In the picture the loader is holding a twelve-round clip of ammunition. A variety of ammunition was made in the 20x138 calibre by both the Germans and Italians, and it is difficult to identify exactly what is loaded in the clip other than it is a mix of High Explosive with every third round being possibly armour piercing. Captured enemy weapons and supplies were prioritised in relation to how they were to be recovered from the battlefield, some types of equipment being more sought after than others. Interestingly, in documentation relating to battlefield salvage in North Africa, 20mm ammunition of the type fired by the Bread Model 35 is given an evacuation priority level of two. The guns themselves are listed as priority four. It might be possible to deduce from this that a number of these guns were already being used by the Allies for which the ammunition was needed rather more urgently than the weapons themselves! It seems that copious amounts of both guns and ammunition were captured – I wonder what happened to it all? Gavin Wilson. By email.

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Merchant Ship Fighter Unit Pilots SIR – I read with great interest your excellent article “The Condor Killer” in the August 2013 edition about Norman Taylor of the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit (MSFU), sadly little is known about the unit manned by brave volunteer pilots, some of whom had already suffered the rigours and horror of the Battle of Britain, as if they had not experienced enough excitement. It was interesting to learn of Norman Taylor’s early exploits in the Battle of Britain followed, then, by a description of life on board the Camships, including the excitement and also anxieties of being catapulted off the bow of a pitching merchantman in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, knowing there was nowhere to land once the mission was complete and low on fuel. The only options then were to ditch or bail out over the sea. I had no idea there were only eight operational launches during this campaign. However, I am able to provide you with information about one of the other pilots, George Varley, the grandfather of my stepson, whose Log Book is lodged with the RAF Museum at Hendon, who kindly provided us with copies some years ago. Norman Taylor and George Varley, both about 19 years old, joined the RAF at similar times and progressed through flying training before going to No.6 OTU Sutton Bridge within a

month of each other. George then joined 79 and 247 squadrons, flying Gloster Gladiators and then Hawker Hurricanes based in the West Country, whilst Norman Taylor was serving at Tangmere. They both appeared to have joined the MSFU at the beginning of June 1941. George was also initially “Banged Off” in a Fairey Fulmar at RAE Farnborough, on 1 June 1941, just a month before Norman. Further Hawker Hurricane training continued in the River Clyde and Speke areas followed by practice catapult launches off SS Empire Gale. George eventually sailed on a North Atlantic convoy to Nova Scotia in mid-October 1941. George was soon in action, exactly one year to the day before Norman. He was catapulted off the bows of SS Empire Foam on 1 November 1941, in pursuit of a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor which was shadowing the convoy. He climbed to intercept the Condor; however, due to considerable cloud cover it was able to take evasive action each time George approached. Eventually it was reported the Condor had left the area with no attacks having been made on the convoy. George’s work was successfully completed. Having been airborne for two hours, his Hurricane was low on fuel; he now had to consider his survival options. He was nowhere near land, being 700 miles to the west of

Ireland; George’s only option was to bale out. Thankfully he came down close enough to a destroyer, HMS Broke, for the crew to be able to pick him up – something they would be reluctant to do if U-boats were reported in the area. George Varley was Mentioned in Despatches and also awarded the Air Efficiency Award, small reward for such gallantry. However, the Master of the SS Empire Foam presented the ship’s Ensign to George; this is now proudly displayed with his medals, which includes the DFC, at my stepson’s home. George continued to sail with SS Empire Gale and SS Empire Flame until the beginning of May 1942. It is evident from his Log Book that MSFU pilots would occasionally be catapulted off at the end of a crossing to land at a nearby aerodrome for servicing, otherwise the aircraft were hoisted off. Also, during this time he, too, went to Yeovilton for drogue towing and to carry out aerodrome dummy deck landings. He finally left the MSFU at the end of June 1943, having completed 145 hours with the unit and given a “Good Average” Assessment. George Varley continued flying until the end of the war on Spitfires and Tempests with 222 (Natal) Squadron completing 109 offensive

A Hurricat of the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit pictured on a catapult ramp of a Camship.

(COURTESY OF CHRIS GOSS)

missions, including many over the D-Day beaches and over Europe as the Allies pressed towards Germany. He eventually reached the rank of Flight Lieutenant. Thankfully George survived the war, being demobilised in January 1946, but sadly passing away following an aneurysm in February 1982, aged 62. One has to admire the spirit and bravery of these young men, who, having volunteered for the unknown found themselves at sea, where conditions must have been pretty grim, let alone the potential for attacks from both above and below the waves. Peter T. Sinclair. By email.

The War Office and the Outbreak of War in 1914

The former War Office building in London’s Whitehall. (© CROWN

COPYRIGHT, MOD COPYRIGHT 2013)

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SIR – The news story on the sale of the Old War Office building in London prompted me to obtain a copy of the history of the building that was published quite recently by the Ministry of Defence. In it was a short, but amusing, account of the chaos that reigned within its walls in 1914. According to one visitor the War Office was a nightmare in those early days of the conflict and its rapid expansion: “It resembled Liverpool Street station on the evening

of a rainless Bank Holiday.” The number of personnel was swollen by the employment of Boy Scouts as messengers. The same visitor illustrated what he described as “an excellent innovation” with the following story: “A day or two after joining I wanted to make the acquaintance of a colonel, who I found was under me in charge of a branch, a new hand like myself, but whose apartment nobody in the place could indicate. A War Office messenger despatched to find him came back empty handed. “Another War Office messenger sent on the same errand on the

morrow proved no more successful. On the third day I summoned a Boy Scout into my presence – a very small one – and commanded him to find that colonel and not to come back without him. “In about ten minutes’ time the door was flung open and in walked the scout, followed by one of the biggest sort of colonels. ‘I did not know what I had done or where I was being taken,’ remarked the colonel, ‘but the boy made it quite clear that he wasn’t going to have any nonsense; so I thought it best to come quietly.’” Robert Matthews. By email. NOVEMBER 2013 27

TOP LEFT: DUKWs of the 21st Army Group RASC Beach Group lined up ready for loading onto LSTs at the beginning of June 1944. Within days of this picture being taken, these amphibians would be in operation off the Normandy coast. (IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM; B5150)

D-DAY DUKWS

Having landed on Gold Beach on 6 June 1944, the troops of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division were ordered to establish a beachhead before pushing on towards Bayeux. To do this, the assault troops needed support – much of which, revealed Major M.J.B. Hornsby OBE, RASC when he wrote his account in 1949, was provided by the men and machines of the Royal Army Service Corps.

S

ABOVE: A number of the DUKWs that were transported across the Channel to participate in the D-Day landings were slung from davits on the side of the LSTs – in a manner similar to that seen here in trials prior to Operation Overlord. (COURTESY OF MARK KHAN)

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TRETCHING FOR nearly five miles between the communities of Port-en-Bessin, nearest to Omaha Beach, and le Hamel and La Rivière, where it bordered Juno, the Canadian landing area, Gold Beach was the most western of the British landing beaches. To keep the assault troops working, moving and communicating, the lines of supply were vital. From tanks and ammunition to letters and food, it was essential to get the right amount of equipment and stores to the right people in the right place at the right time. On Gold Beach much of this effort fell on the DUKW-equipped General Transport (GT) companies of the Royal Army Service Corps. The DUKW is an amphibious load carrying vehicle based on the chassis and running gear of the General Motors

CCKW 353 2½ ton cargo truck. It was developed by the US Army as a means to deliver cargo from ships at sea, directly to shore. Developed in 1942, it was first used in a major amphibious operation in Europe during the Allied landings at Salerno in 1943. By 1945 some 21,000 vehicles had been built of which 2,000 were provided for the British Government. “Amphibians are controlled and operated by the RASC on exactly the same footing as other RASC load carriers,” reported the journal of the RASC in October 1943. “They are organized in platoons, which are essential parts of certain general Transport Companies. To enable each DUKW to work day and night, two drivers and two boat hook men compose the crew. DUKW drivers can be trained in fifteen days if they have www.britainatwar.com

D-DAY DUKWS Gold Beach some previous experience of small boats, in twenty days if they have none. “The very sensitive steering presents some difficulty at first. In the water the front wheels turn with the rudder, giving a 40-foot turning circle, which is rather like having three rudders. Proper maintenance, though simple, is of vital importance; the steel hull quickly corrodes without attention. The engine cowlings are fastened on deck by numerous wing nuts, which soon rust and break off if neglected, allowing water to leak into the engine hold. Maintenance takes only half an hour a day if you know the drill, but without it a DUKW quickly becomes a liability. Regularly maintained, a DUKW will run 20,000 miles without refit. This innovation in

transport vehicles enables the RASC to make a novel and far-reaching contribution to the maintenance of troops in beach landings.”

GOLD BEACH “It will be appreciated that the various sectors into which the invasion coast was divided varied greatly in nature, both topographically and hydrographically,” noted Major M.J.B. Hornsby OBE, RASC. “This naturally resulted in each sector, and in many cases each beach, presenting different problems which had to be solved on the spot in spite of excellent intelligence reports distributed prior to the operation and the detailed briefing which took place in the marshalling areas in the UK.”

“30 Corps assaulted over Gold sector, which extended roughly from Arromanches to La Rivière – a front of approximately five thousand yards – and had placed under command, for landing, 104 Beach Sub-Area. The beach sub-area was responsible for landing the assault division (50th (N) Division) and for the subsequent build-up and development of the beach areas. “The ST [Supply Troop] order of battle in this beach sub-area included a HQ RASC transport column, three amphibious GT companies for stores discharge and one amphibious GT platoon for evacuation of casualties. All amphibians employed were 2½-ton GMC DUKWs. In addition there was one wheeled GT company for work in the beach maintenance 

‘D’

indicated a vehicle designed in 1942

‘U’ meant “utility”

‘K’

indicated driven front wheels

‘W’

indicated two powered rear axles

MAIN PICTURE: A DUKW operated by the personnel of the Royal Army Service Corps heads towards the shore at Arromanches, loaded with a cargo of ammunition, during the Normandy landings, June 1944. (COURTESY OF THE RLC MUSEUM)

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D-DAY DUKWS Gold Beach RIGHT: A DUKW carrying supplies of ammunition leaves a Landing Ship Tank before making its way towards the invasion beaches, 6 June 1944. Major M.J.B. Hornsby recalled that a last minute ruling had been made by senior officers that DUKWs would be loaded “bows first” and swim off the craft “stern first” during the Normandy landings. This caused much confusion and “final trials were carried out which proved that to swim off stern first was merely to court disaster and a watery grave”. Whilst the ruling was disregarded, he concluded, “the fact that such an experiment had to be made at the last moment was inclined to upset the confidence of drivers”. (IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM; B5150)

ABOVE: A DUKW of 536 General Transport Company, RASC. The unit’s War Diary records the following in respect of D-Day: “At 0900 hours Lieutenant Day, with 23 DUKWs of ‘A’ Platoon, came in on King Beach. The DUKWs were loaded with ammunition and went to HQ 69th Brigade near Crepon, where they were unloaded. Later in the day all the rest of the serials due in on D-Day arrived and only three DUKWs were damaged by mines or underwater obstacles. Apart from the delivery of the loads on the DUKW the only work we did on D-Day was the evacuation of casualties from the beaches.” (COURTESY OF THE RLC MUSEUM)

KEEPING THE DUKW'S WORKING TO MAINTAIN the RASC’s DUKW fleet during Operation Overlord, workshop units were landed by D+2, which was, noted Major M.J.B. Hornsby, possibly on the late side as they were not able to operate fully until D+3. The fact that by D+40 only four DUKWs out of a total of 330 were off the road is evidence that the standard of maintenance and mechanical skill was of the highest order, and although the planning life of a DUKW was only regarded as sixty days many of the amphibians had become hardened veterans by the time the campaign was finished.

area. The allocation of other RASC units was normal and conformed to the present organisation. Two sections of fast launches were attached for the control of amphibians off-shore …

EMBARKATION “The beach sub-area embarked in part at Southampton and in part at Felixstowe and Tilbury. The former part which was to sail on the first tide was called Force ‘G’ and the latter, sailing on subsequent tides, was known as Force ‘L’. DUKWs were mostly stowed in LSTs (some being slung from davits) but a few were carried on Rhino ferries which were towed by LSTs. Lorries were carried in LSTs and LCTs. “D-Day was originally fixed for 5th June but early on 4th June it was postponed twenty-four hours and the first groups of craft moved out at about

07.00 hours on 5th June. The passage was uneventful but a heavy sea caused a certain amount of trouble in LCT and LST alike. In some instances the weather forced smaller craft to turn back. There was one instance of a LST with Rhino ferry in tow on which were lashed two DUKWs. The tow parted in midChannel and the ferry was a couple of cables astern before the incident was discovered. “The captain of the LST (Lieutenant Commander, US Navy) immediately inquired what load the ferry was carrying and on being informed that the load consisted of two DUKW loads of rum, gave prompt orders that regardless of minefields the ferry must be picked up! The LST lost station but the ferry and its precious cargo were recovered. Needless to say the LST re-formed station during the night.”

A number of DUKWs, with Phoenix caissons and other elements of the Mulberry Harbours in the background, are pictured on the beach at Selsey Bill prior to heading across the English Channel to participate in the D-Day landings. (US NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

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A DUKW comes ashore beside a RASC control post on Gold Beach. One history of the RASC’s wartime duties, provides this interesting insight into the Corps’ DUKWs during D-Day: “One DUKW set off a mine at sea, and survived. The Admiral sent a signal to the commanding officer; I am aware of the many and varied duties which your DUKWs so efficiently perform, but until this morning I did not realise that minesweeping was one of them. If the crew of the DUKW report at Navy House they will receive the customary award the Admiralty makes to anyone who sweeps a mine. This turned out to be a bottle of scotch. The inevitable result was that DUKWs tended to meander in search of mines!” (COURTESY OF THE RLC MUSEUM)

INVASION “H-hour for the assault of 50th (Northumbrian) Division,” continued Major Hornsby, “was at 05.25 hours 6th June which involved a landing on a rising tide and meant that RASC amphibians – of which the first wave was due to touch down at H plus 40 – would have to come ashore at a state of tide when the majority of the beach obstacles would be submerged. “The DUKWs were launched in an angry sea and headed for the shore. Visibility at the time was poor. The wind was blowing from west to north at about fifteen knots which made the beaches a lee shore and raised a considerable sea. However, enemy interference from the air was practically non-existent and that from shore batteries was ineffective. Beach obstacles were numerous but with one or two exceptions were

avoided by the drivers’ skilful handling. It was extremely difficult to handle an amphibian in that sea without having to negotiate such obstacles, but these hazards, added to a rising tide, tested the drivers’ ability to the utmost. “On one beach the first wave of amphibians was held up for some time by mortar and [machine-gun] fire and had to take cover, such as it was, amongst the sand dunes. Eventually the enemy strong point which had been offering this resistance was silenced by the assault infantry. “Altogether, on the first tide, 104 DUKWs and forty-seven three-ton vehicles were landed. These mostly contained ammunition, Royal Engineer stores for beach roadways, medical stores and … G1098 equipment [unit specific stores]. Casualties to both men and vehicles were extremely light.

“Initial dumps were established on the beaches where all preloaded stores were deposited. Then the task of reconnoitring and establishing individual units’ locations began. In most cases locations conformed to the first key plan – at any rate they were adequate for the time being, and as beaches were becoming more and more congested, movement was of necessity very restricted.”

ABOVE: The unloading of men and equipment continues on Gold Beach – in this case LST 21 is operating off Jig Green sector of Gold Beach at Arromanches. (CONSEIL RÉGIONAL DE BASSENORMANDIE/ US NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

UNDER FIRE On the night of 6 June 1944 reports were received by those on Gold Beach that enemy armour was heading for the invasion beaches in some strength from the direction of Caen. Such reports, however, proved to be unfounded, and apart from a certain amount of aerial activity the night passed quite quietly. Lieutenant Donald Holman commanded one of the RASC amphibious platoons on 6 June 1944. “About midnight I went down to the beach alone,” he recalled. “I wanted  www.britainatwar.com

LEFT: A wartime drawing depicting RASC DUKWs in action on Gold Beach during June 1944. (COURTESY OF THE RLC MUSEUM)

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Private Frederick Perkins, 5th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment, recalled the danger that the snipers posed. “Sniping went on all day. Sniping from a church by what was supposed to be a woman – sniping at DUKW drivers at different periods during the day until they decided to knock the church tower off with a Bofors gun and that put paid to that.”2 Continuing his account of the events at Gold Beach, Major Hornsby noted that “the Navy had set themselves up in a most convenient but somewhat bombscarred building commanding a good view of the anchorage, but it turned out to be right in the snipers’ line of fire, and although the Senior Service extended a hearty welcome to visitors it was not a place to be approached without considerable care!”

MAINTAINING THE BEACHHEAD ABOVE: A heavilyladen DUKW, in US service, makes its way to the Normandy beaches. (CONSEIL RÉGIONAL DE BASSENORMANDIE/US NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

BOTTOM: DUKWs shuttling between the Normandy beaches and ships waiting off shore during June 1944. (CONSEIL

RÉGIONAL DE BASSENORMANDIE/ US NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

to have a look, to see what was going on and to see what we had to do to get ready for next morning. It was fairly quiet by then, a few things coming in but not many. There was still gunfire going on, but it was mostly in the distance. “It was actually a beautiful night and as I walked along the beach I thought I was stepping on soft seaweed, but when I looked down I saw it was the bodies of our men washed up on the tide. I was actually walking on the bodies of British soldiers. I didn’t go any further; it was a bit shattering.”1 The chief menace for the DUKW crews on D-Day itself had been, noted Major Hornsby, provided by snipers who had established themselves in the closely wooded country overlooking the beaches.

THE RLC DIGITAL LIBRARY THIS ARTICLE was produced with the kind assistance of the Royal Logistic Corps Museum’s digital library. This searchable resource contains digital images of a number of documents and books, such as the gazettes and journals of the Corps which merged to form The Royal Logistic Corps in 1993, which are held in the Corps’ Library and in the Museum. For more information, please visit: www.rlcarchive.org

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“The beach maintenance area was established after a certain amount of difficulty due mainly to the existence of small enemy pockets which continued to harass the movement of stores inland,” continued Hornsby. “In any case, until D plus 3 there were insufficient ferry craft available to land large quantities of stores owing to bad weather conditions, and congestion on the foreshore. “In the initial stages of the build-up it was the practice to operate amphibians from ship-side to depot, but it was soon found that this was a most uneconomical system and was a great strain on drivers. Roads were narrow and tortuous, and in many cases DUKWs had to reverse two or three times in order to negotiate sharp bends. “Here was a problem for which no real provision had been made in the planning stage and, whilst it was now realized that some form of transhipment near the beach was necessary, it was painfully obvious that one GT company could not possibly cope with the tonnage which was being landed by amphibians as well as that being landed by beached ferry craft. It would seem that second line transport belonging to formations already

ashore might have been put to good use in a situation such as this. After all, the break-out was not to occur for some time and in the interim this transport was by no means fully occupied. “However, respite arrived in the shape of a severe storm which broke with sudden fury on 18th June. For five anxious days the tonnage discharged varied between 150 and 400 tons in contrast with the expected daily discharge of three to four thousand. In some ways this was a blessing in disguise. It allowed the shore, which was rapidly becoming swamped with stores, to be reorganised. “The RE got down to it with a will, and not only built a transhipment area to serve each beach group but also improved roads and traffic circuits. During the storm RASC DUKWs were the only ferry craft which operated continuously and then under great stress. These amphibians and their drivers proved their worth, not only unloading stores ships but in a multitude of other ways, not the least of which was sea rescue. Whilst a particularly high sea was running one DUKW driver volunteered to go to the assistance of a naval craft which was in difficulties. He brought the crew ashore and for this act was awarded the MM. “After the storm the build-up seemed to settle down to a steady routine. Transhipment areas were now operating and two more GT companies had been allotted to the beach sub-area. It was now possible to get the maximum sea turn-round from amphibians so that ships were not kept waiting in the anchorage, and at the same time there was a steady stream of stores flowing into the depots. “The transhipment areas consisted of a level piece of ground some hundred yards square on which were built a number of raised platforms and a central control tower equipped with loudhailer apparatus. Adequate entrances and exits were constructed to allow amphibians and lorries to operate on separate circuits. Cranes were provided by [the Royal Engineers] although in

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D-DAY DUKWS Gold Beach

DUKWs in British service, and more specially operated by the RASC, pictured as the breakout from Normandy and the advance across northern Europe continues.

(COURTESY OF THE RLC MUSEUM)

this particular operation RASC crane platoons were formed to cope with the additional tonnage. “The procedure was simple – the amphibians drove in on one side of the platforms, were unloaded by crane, issued with two empty cargo nets and despatched to the amphibian control point or park where they received further orders. The stores were then sorted and stacked ready for loading into lorries. It was found that sorting in the transhipment area was far more economical than indiscriminate reloading of lorries with mixed stores. Mixed loads meant that vehicles would have to travel around several depots discharging so much here, so much there. This resulted in poor turn-round time and a general tendency on the part of the driver’s to become despondent. “Control of transhipment areas was vested in the movement control element of the beach group – the assistant military landing officer. He was assisted by representatives of the Services, amongst whom was a captain RASC ... Whilst it is quite plain that transhipment is a movements problem, it was considered necessary to have ST representation in the transhipment area in the same way that such representation was found invaluable on board stores vessels and on the quayside in ports. It is of interest to note that in the organisation of the beach brigade a transhipment area staff is now included in the HQ of each beach group. “The system employed for the control of amphibians varied according to www.britainatwar.com

the types of beach. On Gold sector two different situations presented themselves. One beach was gradually shelving which resulted in stores vessels having to lie off perhaps three to four thousand yards, whereas the other beach was comparatively steep and thereby permitted vessels to come in quite close. “In the first type of beach it was not possible to control amphibians adequately from a point on the shore. It was therefore decided to establish a floating control point in the immediate vicinity of the stores ship. Here a motor fishing vessel lay at anchor and directed amphibians to specific ships. Radio communication was maintained with the shore control point and loud-hailer apparatus was used to transmit orders to DUKWs. Fast launches were also employed to ‘shepherd’ amphibians and maintain a ship-to-shore patrol. “On the second type of beach it was possible to control amphibians from a shore control point which commanded an adequate view of the anchorage. A ‘cushion’ of amphibians was established close to the control point and they were called forward as required and directed to the appropriate craft. It was possible to work this beach by day and by night, although after a certain period it was questionable whether twenty-four hour working paid dividends. The overall programme for the discharge of craft was decided at the daily ferry control conference which was presided over by the naval officer in charge and the beach sub-area commander.”

AN ASTONISHING ENGINE OF WAR It was against the background of events such as these on the Normandy beaches in June and July 1944 that the DUKW created for itself a lasting reputation. Little wonder that during the same year these amphibians were being described as those “astonishing engines of war which one of the most distinguished of administrative Generals has described as ‘the greatest thing of modern times for combined operations’. The honour of operating the amphibians in battle is prized by the RASC.” Nowhere was this more so than at Gold Beach during the D-Day landings. 

ABOVE: A Royal Army Service Corps DUKW park in North West Europe as the war draws to a close. According to the US Army Transportation Museum, between 6 June 1944 and 8 May 1945, DUKWs moved 5,050,000 tons of the 15,750,000 tons unloaded by the Allies in Europe during this period of the Second World War. (COURTESY OF THE RLC MUSEUM)

NOTES

1. Russell Miller, Nothing Less Than Victory (Penguin, London, 1994), p.473. 2. Roderick Bailey, Forgotten Voices of D-Day (Ebury Press, London, 2009), p.235.

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The Cost of

THE COST OF RHUBARBS The RAF on the Offensive

s b ar b Rhu

Sections of RAF fighters or fighter-bombers, taking full advantage of low cloud and poor visibility, would cross the Channel and then drop below cloud level to search for targets of opportunity such as railway locomotives and rolling stock, aircraft on the ground, enemy troops and vehicles on roads. The cost of these Rhubarbs in men and machines, writes Chris Goss, was high.

I

T WAS on Friday, 24 October 1941, that the general term “Fighter Sweep” was replaced by more specific titles to indicate the type of operation being undertaken. Amongst these were Rhubarbs (which had previously also been known as Mandolin operations). The object of these missions was to seek out targets of opportunity and attack them at low level during periods of poor visibility which would conceal the aircraft’s approach across the Channel. The risks involved in such operations were clearly high but, as the original operating instruction from 10 Group

indicated, pilot safety came first: “As aircraft will be operating in small numbers the main factor in this operation and selecting targets is the safety of the fighters; thus particular attention must be paid both to cloud cover and the likelihood of the pilot readily locating the target on coming through the clouds without making himself vulnerable by prolonged search … “Raids are only to be undertaken when in conditions when there is sufficient cloud cover to allow the fighters to make their flights to and from the target area in or above cloud and also enable the pilot to rapidly regain cloud cover after having

carried out his attack. Cloud conditions must include a minimum of 2,000 feet of clear air between the ground level of the target and the cloud base; thus targets selected on high ground will require a correspondingly higher cloud base.”

ATTACK ON CALAIS-MARCK Despite such sound instructions, losses on Rhubarbs were high. Amongst those that failed to return from a Rhubarb was 19-year-old Sergeant John Primrose “Jock” Wilson. A native of Chesterfield, Jock joined 222 Squadron at RAF North Weald direct from training on 8 September 1941. 

MAIN PICTURE: Sergeant John Primrose “Jock” Wilson pictured in the cockpit of a 222 Squadron Spitfire Mk.Vb, W3253, at Southend in July 1941. As can be seen here, W3253 was a presentation aircraft which duly carried the name Central Provinces and Berar VI, an Indian province, beneath the cockpit. (ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

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THE COST OF RHUBARBS The RAF on the Offensive MAIN PICTURE: This 315 Squadron Spitfire, PK-T, was pictured at RAF Northolt after having been flown on an offensive sweep over France on 21 October 1941 – just days before the term Rhubarb was officially adopted. The pilot on this occasion, when the aircraft was damaged by anti-aircraft fire (the effects of which are clearly visible), was Sergeant Jaworski. (WW2IMAGES)

Jock came from a family which had served its country well. His uncle, Air Commodore W.H. Primrose, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during the First World War – he had originally enlisted in the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders following the outbreak of war in 1914, before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps. Another uncle, Lieutenant Walter Primrose, was killed whilst serving with the RFC on 27 February 1917. Jocks’ brother, William Primrose Wilson, also followed him into the RAF but was later shot down and killed flying as an air gunner with 7 Squadron on 16 December 1943. Jock was described by his squadron as: “One of the keenest pilots ever posted to the squadron. Almost any day when weather conditions appeared at all

favourable, he would be found studying the map, checking up on the latest ‘gen’ on any possible targets. He was certainly Rhubarb-minded and knew no fear. An all-rounder in every sense, of the word, he was a fine athlete and rugger player. He was the youngest pilot on the squadron.” It was this Rhubarbmindedness that would cost him his life. Friday, 27 February 1942, was a cold dull day with low cloud and it started badly for 222 Squadron which was based at Southend in Essex. In addition to two weather checks, Green Section took off on a Sector Reconnaissance. It was whilst the aircraft were returning, flying up the River Blackwater at low level, that Green 2, Pilot Officer “Jimmy” Ross, struck the water and his Spitfire disintegrated. Ross had only joined the squadron from 53 Operational Training

Unit on 23 December 1941. His body was recovered at low tide and later buried in his home city of Edinburgh. Then at 11.35 hours that same October day, Jock Wilson (Black 1), in Spitfire AD558, and Sergeant Ralph “Bat” Batman (Black 2), at the controls of W3270, took off on a Rhubarb to the Luftwaffe fighter airfield at CalaisMarck. The pair crossed the English coast near Manston and then headed out over the English Channel at sea level. Moments later they crossed the French coast between Calais and Gravelines where they climbed into solid cloud. Flying at an altitude of 700 feet, Wilson and Batman turned sharply starboard intending to dive on their target from the north. Jock turned steeply to port; it was then that Batman lost contact with his leader, only to then

“Almost any day when weather conditions appeared at all favourable, he would be found studying the map, checking up on the latest ‘gen’ on any possible targets.”

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find himself over an airfield. There he was immediately shot at by both light and heavy anti-aircraft guns. Batman opened fire on two gun positions and a hut but, seeing no aircraft, climbed back into cloud and called up Jock to see if he was okay. Jock replied that he was looking for a target, at which point Batman remarked that he was heading for base. It was shortly after this that disaster struck both pilots.

FAILED TO RETURN Bat Batman came out of cloud, the base of which had lowered to 200 feet, but clipped the surface of the sea just off the French coast. The engine immediately began to run rough and the temperature began to rise. He called up Jock for help but got no reply. In fact all his radio calls went unanswered. One mile off Dover, his engine stopped. With few options Batman ditched in the cold waters of the Channel. www.britainatwar.com

The Spitfire immediately started to sink, taking Batman with it as he set about disconnecting his harness and oxygen tube and opening the canopy. After struggling for a minute, he managed to make it back to the surface when he was picked up almost immediately by a Royal Navy patrol vessel which took him to shore where he was admitted to hospital in Dover with slight head injuries. He would return to operational flying none the worse for wear, only to be shot down and killed two months and one day later on Circus 144 (a Circus was a bomber attack with fighter escorts conducted during daylight hours). The exact fate of Jock Wilson remained a mystery for some time. However, when a snapshot taken by a German soldier of a burning pile of wreckage near some houses surfaced, the full facts emerged. On the back of the image, written in German, was 

TOP: Pictured in June 1942, the crew of this 2cm Flak 30 anti-aircraft gun has claimed five, presumably RAF, aircraft as shot down – some of which may well have been participating in Rhubarbs. Of note in the background is a pair of captured British lorries, both of which appear to be Bedford OXDs. ABOVE LEFT: The wreckage of Spitfire Vb serial BM329 of 122 Squadron, coded MT-G, which was shot down by anti-aircraft in the early afternoon of 15 July 1942, and crashed onto the sand dunes near Boulogne.

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ABOVE: The wreckage of Sergeant “Jock” Wilson’s Spitfire pictured still burning after it crashed at Marck on Friday, 27 February 1942. BELOW AND BELOW RIGHT: Two views of the wreckage of the 81 Squadron Spitfire Mk.Vb, BM227, which was being flown by Pilot Officer Peter Evans when shot down on 29 July 1942, being inspected by German personnel.

the following annotation: “Shot down Spitfire on 27.2.42 1315 hrs at Marck.” It seems, therefore, that Jock did indeed reach his intended target only to fall victim to the anti-aircraft defences. His body was recovered and buried in a cemetery at Pihen-lès-Guînes to the west of Calais.

WING COMMANDER BRENDAN “PADDY” FINUCANE Such losses on Rhuburbs were not isolated cases, as the events of 15 July 1942 testify. At 11.46 hours that morning, 122 Squadron took to the air from RAF Hornchurch. Accompanied by 81 and 154 Squadrons, the pilots were instructed to undertake a mass Rhubarb operation. The Hornchurch Wing was led by Battle of Britain Ace Wing Commander Brendan “Paddy” Finucane DSO, DFC**. At 21, Finucane was the RAF’s youngest ever Wing Commander.

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The main target was a hutted encampment near Étaples and the aim was to attack at lunchtime when it was hoped that the defenders would be relatively relaxed. Sadly, this was not to prove to be the case. The formation headed out over Pevensey Bay at zero feet and set course for Étaples, 122 Squadron being on the starboard side of the Wing. When landfall was made just north of Étaples, still at zero feet, the two squadrons

turned to port whilst 122 Squadron made a wide left turn round the town at 2,000 feet then headed back out to sea. On their way, Squadron Leader Leon Prevot, the Belgian Commanding Officer of 122 Squadron, caught sight of an encampment in a wood – at the edge of the trees were three tents around which Prevot had spotted a number of what appeared to be German officers.  Prevot, along with Canadians Pilot Officer Bill Prest and Sergeant George

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THE COST OF RHUBARBS The RAF on the Offensive

Nadon, then attacked these tents and men. In the meantime, Flight Lieutenant Bill Williams, with Sergeant W.E. Dunsmore (also a Canadian) and Sergeant D. McIntosh, shot up a machine-gun nest and destroyed it. The entire operation was carried out at zero feet.  On forming up over the Channel to return home it was found that one of the 122 Squadron pilots, Sergeant Dennis James (Red 4; Mk.Vb BM329) was missing. None of the squadron had witnessed what had happened to Dennis James but as baling out was not an option, due to the low altitude, it was thought that he had ditched his Spitfire in the Channel. However, one of the photographs that accompany this article reveals his aircraft had crashed onto the sand dunes near Boulogne in northern France. Another of the RAF pilots was also found missing, though the demise of Wing Commander Finucane had not gone unobserved. Finucane’s Spitfire, Mk.Vb BM308, was hit in the radiator at 12.22 hours and his wingman, Pilot Officer Alan “Butch” Aikman of 154 Squadron, radioed up to report that there was a white plume of smoke coming from the fighter’s engine. Finucane acknowledged this with a “thumbs up”. The two Spitfires flew slowly out to sea, with Finucane talking calmly to Aikman as he glided northwards. Finally, some eight miles off Le Touquet, Wing Commander Finucane sent his last message. Aikman, flying alongside, saw him pull back the canopy. Before taking off his helmet, Aikman apparently heard his CO remark, “This is it Butch”. Before Finucane’s Spitfire touched down on the surface of the Channel Aikman and Pilot Officer Keith Chisholm of 452 Squadron had observed the Wing Commander either tightening or releasing his parachute release www.britainatwar.com

harness and straps. Moments later BM308 struck the water, both aircraft and pilot disappearing in a wall of spray. If Finucane had released his straps then it is possible he was thrown forward and struck the gun sight. In so doing he may have been killed outright or knocked unconscious and drowned. To this day he is reported as “missing”.

“WHAT A BLOODY END” On 29 July 1942, ‘A’ and ‘B’ Flights of 81 Squadron based at RAF Fairlop in Essex were tasked to supply two pilots each for a Rhubarb to the Furnes-Nieuport area. A Canadian, Pilot Officer Bill Large was flying Spitfire BL809, whilst Pilot Officer Harry Byford was in Spitfire BM461. The pair, representing the ‘A’ Flight contingent carried out the mission successfully, albeit both of the fighters returned with Flak damage. They landed back at Fairlop at 16.30 hours.  It was not quite the same story for the two ‘B’ Flight pilots, Pilot Officer Allen Shackleton, in Spitfire BM141, and Pilot Officer Peter Evans, who was yet another Canadian. Both failed to return, though it was thought that Peter Evans had come down in the sea. Even the following day, nothing had been heard of the men’s fate, as the squadron’s Operations Record Book noted: “Still no news of our missing pilots. Everyone is very depressed at this.” The flak damage to the two ‘A’ Flight Spitfires, however, had probably given a good indication of what had happened. Allen Shackleton (from Bisley in Surrey) is still recorded as missing so it is assumed he crashed in the sea, a victim of anti-aircraft fire. More is known of the last moments of Pilot Officer Evans.  Flying at low level, his Spitfire was hit by flak and crashed at 15.52 hours at

de Kinderlaan, north of de Polderstraat, Oostduinkerke, just south-west of Nieuport in Belgium. Twenty-year-old Peter Evans was killed and is buried in Row G Grave 120 of the Oostduinkerke Communal Cemetery. As the examples detailed here illustrate, the Rhubarb raids proved to be costly operations for what appeared to be limited gains. Apart from the low levels which the pilots frequently had to contend with, there was also the fact that the aircraft had to operate over enemy territory. This meant that they were liable to be met with antiaircraft fire and be attacked themselves by defending German pilots. Just as the German fighter pilots had found during the Battle of Britain, the pilots on Rhubarbs had only limited time over the targets due to fuel limitations whereas the German pilots could fight and break off and return to the action at will. Little wonder, therefore, that the Rhubarb operations were not generally liked. This was put into strong words by Johnnie Johnson, later Air Vice Marshal Johnson CB, CBE, DSO, DFC, when he learned of the death of Paddy Finucane: “What a bloody end. Another great pilot lost on another useless Rhubarb.” 

ABOVE: Flight Lieutenant Brendan “Paddy” Finucane DFC seated in the cockpit of his Supermarine Spitfire at RAF Kenley while serving with 452 Squadron. (WW2IMAGES)

TOP MIDDLE: A 2cm Flak 30 (Flugabwehrkanone 30) in what appears to be a freshly-dug position in France. Note the crew’s personal equipment and weapons laid out in the background.

BELOW: One of the reasons that the RAF’s Rhubarbs proved so costly – a camouflaged German antiaircraft position on the northern coast of France.

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CHURCHILL'S GUNBOAT The Monitor HMS M33

CHURCHILL’S

GUNBOAT Lying in a dry dock in Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard, berthed near the new Mary Rose Museum and Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory, is a remarkable piece of First World War history – the Monitor HMS M33. We examine the history of one of only three British First World War warships to survive. MAIN PICTURE: The M.29-class Monitor HMS M33 pictured recently in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard’s No.1 dry dock, resplendent in a dazzle camouflage pattern which was first applied in 2007. This remarkable First World War warship justifiably features in the National Register of Historic Ships. Professor Dominic Tweddle, from the National Museum of the Royal Navy, recently described M33 as “one of the rare jewels of World War I that serve to remind us of the sacrifice made at Gallipoli”. (ALL

IMAGES HMP UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

O

N 30 October 1914, just weeks after the start of the First World War, Admiral of the Fleet John “Jacky” Fisher returned to the Admiralty as its First Sea Lord. Along with the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, he put in hand a programme to build a variety of ships that would knock Germany out of the war. Amongst these were plans for a large number of shallow-draught but heavily-armed vessels that could steam close to the shore and bombard enemy positions. This was prompted by the so-called “Race to the Sea” which saw opposing trench lines extend as far as the Belgium coast of the English Channel. Churchill, keen to involve the Royal Navy in land operations wherever possible, saw this as a golden opportunity. He had already taken into Royal Navy service three ‘river monitors’ which had been built for the Brazilian navy but not delivered. These ships, HMS Severn, HMS Humber and HMS Mersey had taken part in the Battle of the Yser where they had successfully bombarded German infantry and artillery positions. Orders were therefore placed for fourteen monitors with varying armament, two of which were to carry 15-inch guns – the largest naval ordnance then in service. With these under construction, Churchill and Fisher looked at producing a number of smaller vessels with smaller guns. In February 1915, fourteen of these lighter monitors were ordered, followed in March by five monitors that would mount two of the latest 6-inch guns. Amongst these vessels, the M.29-class, was M33. Designed by Assistant Constructor Charles S. Lillicrap, the specifications of the last five monitors were based on the

42 NOVEMBER 2013

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large M.15-class which was equipped with 9.2-inch guns. Whilst the intention had been to scale down the M.15class drawings (in view of the smaller armament), in reality the results were flawed. The M.29-class weighed in at 580 tons when the original tonnage had been planned to be 355 tons. The ships also had a deeper draft and displayed a pronounced trim down by the bow, a situation exacerbated by an under-sized rudder and inadequate steering gear. In the pressured environment of war, three of the 6-inch monitors of the M.29class were ready to be launched in just

two months and on 22 May 1915, HM Ships M29, M32 and M33 slid into the water at Workman, Clark & Co.’s yard at Belfast, which had been sub-contracted to carry out the construction by Harland & Wolff just across the River Lagan. By this date, though, Churchill had another plan for M33 and rather than bombard the Germans in Belgium the new monitor was destined for Gallipoli to support the British, Commonwealth and Allied troops which had begun landing there a month earlier. It was dangerous for large, expensive battleships to be stationary in the waters  RIGHT: HMS M33’s bridge superstructure. Externally, the Monitor appears much as it would have looked in 1915-1919, though virtually all the fittings, anchors, gun turrets, and so on have been fabricated from scratch.

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NOVEMBER 2013 43

This rare wartime photograph of HMS M33 was taken in Mudros Harbour during 1916. (IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM; SP1056)

BOTTOM LEFT: A view inside what had once been M33’s engine room. The Monitor’s two vertical triple expansion steam engines powered two propellers; the boilers themselves were oil-fired. The engines and their ancillary equipment have long since been removed. (COURTESY OF MARK KHAN)

BOTTOM MIDDLE: The chart table which can be seen in the corner of the bridge on M33. The small window or opening in the wall beyond permitted communication between the bridge and the wireless room.

of the Dardanelles where they would be easy targets for prowling enemy submarines. The much smaller monitors, however, would be perfect.  HMS M33 was commissioned on 17 June 1915, under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Q.B. PrestonThomas, and nine days later she sailed to Pembroke Dock to be fitted with her B.L. 6-inch Mk.XII guns. At 18.46 hours on 1 July M33 headed off for the Eastern Mediterranean.

ACTION AT GALLIPOLI Having arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean, HMS M33 initially docked at the main Royal Navy base at Kephalo, on the island of Imbros. Amongst HMS M33’s crew – which usually comprised the Captain (a Lieutenant-Commander), First Lieutenant, Sub Lieutenant, Chief Gunner (a Chief Petty Officer, or CPO), a Surgeon Lieutenant, and between sixty-seven and seventy-seven ratings (described as “Devonport men comprising thirty-eighth seamen, signalmen, sixteen engine room artificers and eight cooks, and stewards and medical staff, all supported by a detachment of ten Royal Marines from the Royal Marine Light

Infantry”) – was Leading Signalman Henry Mulligan. In his diary entry of 31 July 1915, Mulligan wrote: “Had a view of entrance to Dardanelles last night on the way up to Kephalo … The night lit up by star shells and flashes from guns and a deafening noise kept up all the time. Enemy reported to be using seaplanes, one was chased from Tenedos to the Dardanelles this morning.”1 Two days later, on Monday, 2 August, HMS M33 sailed from Kephalo to the Turkish village of Yeni Shehr on the southern side of the entrance to the Dardanelles. Along with a number of her sister monitors, M33 had been instructed to support the landing of reinforcements along the southern shores of the Gallipoli peninsula. Having moved into a position about 8,000 yards from the coast, for the first time her 6-inch guns opened fire on the enemy. The first two shots fell short, so PrestonThomas took M33 in a little closer. The maximum range of the 6-inch guns was 14,700 yards, but the Chief Gunner, CPO M. Horrigan, was using two-thirds charges. Altogether, M33 fired twenty-six rounds before she withdrew.2 One of the witnesses of the bombardment by the monitors was

Norman Wilkinson. Serving in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve at the time, Wilkinson would later become a renowned naval artist – indeed, he would paint the scene he observed as the monitors poured down shell fire on the Turkish positions. “The shellbursts from these vessels on a still day were a wonderful sight”, he wrote. “The beautiful shapes of the dense masses of smoke resembled cumulous clouds, hanging as they did for a long time before dispersing.”3 M33 was next in action to support the landings at Suvla Bay along with a flotilla of other monitors. Her role with the 2nd Squadron of bombardment vessels was to counter any fire from the Turkish batteries sited between Anzac and Helles. These enemy guns would be able to enfilade the Anzac forces when they tried to break out of their narrow beachhead. In the afternoon of 6 August 1915, M33 was four miles off the coast just south of Gaba Tepe. She came under fire from one of the Turkish batteries but suffered no damage and at 15.15 hours she replied, shelling two enemy batteries with twenty-eight rounds of common shell and eighteen of High Explosive.

BOTTOM RIGHT: This section of HMS M33’s wardroom’s outer wall was badly damaged when it was hit by a shell during operations on the River Dvina – as recounted by Engine Room Artificer S.J. Rutland. There was no armour plating fitted to HMS M33, other than the 3-inch plating to the shields on the 6-inch guns.

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CHURCHILL'S GUNBOAT The Monitor HMS M33 A JUTLAND CONNECTION

The restored helmsman’s position on HMS M33.

The reconstructed interior of the wireless room on M33.

The troops landed at Suvla during the night and at 05.00 hours M33 opened fire on the same batteries as the previous day. After fifty-nine rounds she ceased fire, spending the rest of the day cruising up and down her allocated stretch of coast waiting for any calls from the Army for her support. No calls came but the following morning the Turkish battery identified as the North Headquarters battery was reported to be firing on the Anzac beaches. M33 engaged her with twenty-four rounds. When the Southern Headquarters battery also came into operation, M33 struck with five rounds. The monitor then shelled Turkish reinforcements that had gathered in Legge Valley to the south of the Anzac positions. Though a number of the Allied warships were targeted by the Turkish guns, M33 remained unscathed. The determined resistance displayed by the enemy was not lost on some of the monitor’s crew. “Can’t make this lot out at all,” noted Mulligan in his journal on 10 August. “heard before we left England that we were nearly in possession of the Dardanelles but it doesn’t seem very much like it. All our positions appear to be on the beach.”

HMS M33, much of the time accompanied by the monitor HMS Humber, continued to engage the Turkish positions until 14 August 1915, when she was finally able to return to Kephalo for a much-needed break, the men having had about thirty-six hours sleep in the previous eight days. For the next four months M33 continued to support the troops ashore, typically operating for forty-eight hours on station, followed by forty-eight hours at Kephalo. The range of her weapons was such that the Turkish batteries were no threat to M33 but the force of discharge of the 6-inch guns damaged the beams under the guns and had also distorted the decking plate and bulkheads. Repairs and strengthening was necessary and for six days she was secured alongside the repair ship Reliance at Mudros. Returning to duties on 1 September 1915, M33 continued to patrol off the Gallipoli coast providing support when required until the withdrawal of all forces from the peninsula in December the same year. M33 remained in the Mediterranean, being directed to Salonika where an Anglo-French force had arrived to support Serbia. Her 

A NUMBER of the fixtures and fittings that have been added to HMS M33 since her restoration began are original First World War artefacts. The aft gun is one of these objects. This 6-inch gun, a slightly later Mark XVII, was donated to the project by the Chilean Navy. It was present, and probably fired in action, at the Battle of Jutland as one of the aft guns on HMS Canada. This super-dreadnought battleship had actually been built for the Chilean Navy as Almirante Latorre, but was taken over by the Royal Navy following the outbreak of war in 1914. HMS Canada saw action at Jutland, firing forty-two rounds from her 14-inch guns and 109 6-inch shells during the battle, but suffered no hits or casualties. Repurchased by Chile in 1920, Almirante Latorre was active until 1951, when an accident in the ship’s engine room killed three crewmen. Moored at Talcahuano, the battleship became a storage facility for fuel oil. She was decommissioned in October 1958, by which time her armament had been removed, some of the guns being emplaced in shore batteries – which was the case with this gun donated to the HMS M33 project.

The shell hoist which is located aft near the aft gun turret; a pair of replica shells is positioned on the hatch to the magazine below. The vessel was capable of stowing a total of 500 rounds for the two 6-inch guns. The wooden door in background is that of the captain’s heads.

A sister ship to HMS M33, the M.29class Monitor HMS M30, is pictured here leaving Mudros Harbour in October 1915. (IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM; SP 570)

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CHURCHILL'S GUNBOAT The Monitor HMS M33 VISITING HMS M33 VISITORS TO Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and the National Museum of the Royal Navy are able to see HMS M33 in her dry dock, though it is not currently possible for visitors to go onboard. For more information, please visit: www.historicdockyard.co.uk TOP RIGHT: HMS M33’s aft gun. RIGHT & FAR RIGHT: The forecastle mounted 6-inch Mark XII gun on M33. Fitted in 1992, this particular weapon was sourced from the Royal Navy’s former gunnery school on Whale Island.

BELOW: HMS M33 pictured in 1936 whilst serving as a tender to the cruiser HMS Effingham. (COURTESY OF THE

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL NAVY)

role at Salonika was as a guardship on the boom at the entrance to Salonika harbour. M33’s job was to examine all ships entering or leaving the harbour. On 8 February 1916, M33 was moved to Stavros where she was able to engage Bulgarian positions. She remained there for some days, though there was little for her to do. Occasionally enemy aircraft appeared and on 29 March she came under direct attack, as Henry Mulligan recorded: “Lively time this morning. We had just finished exercising stations for repelling aircraft when one was sighted coming Northward. He dropped 1 bomb onshore and then made straight for us. He was joined by two others from what direction goodness knows. They dropped bombs all around us. One machine which seemed determined to have us, dropped five bombs in quick succession, the last one dropping about 10 yards from our bow. By far the hottest time we have had. We were blazing away with our 6 pounder as hard as we could. Eventually the aircraft left us and steered East.”

as “a cattle raid on the Turkish coast”, whilst in August the same year M33, accompanied by M32, were detached to assist the shelling of targets on the south coast of Turkey by the French navy. In December M33’s crew was tasked with protecting the bridge between Euboea and mainland Greece from Greek royalist troops. May 1917 saw a WAR IN THE MEDITERRANEAN return to the Gallipoli peninsula, this HMS M33 saw out the war in the Eastern time to participate in a bombardment of Mediterranean, during which time Ottoman batteries near what had been her guns fired more than 1,200 shells. Suvla and Anzac beaches. In May 1916, for example, she assisted Following the Armistice in November in salvaging the guns from her sister 1918 M33 was part of a Royal Navy monitor HMS M30 which, damaged, force sent to supervise the surrender of had been beached on Long Island in the Bulgarian forces at Stavros and Turkish Gulf of Smyrna. M33 also covered the forces at Syra. Her role as a fighting evacuation of the wireless telegraph warship had, however, seemingly station and airfield on the island. come to an end; in April 1919 she July 1916 saw the small warship provide returned to the United Kingdom to be covering fire for what was described decommissioned.

46 NOVEMBER 2013

REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA Though peace reigned across Western Europe, bitter fighting continued in Russia, generating a renewed interest in coastal bombardment vessels such as the M.29-class. By 10 May 1919, M33 had been refitted and re-commissioned. Two days later M33 was despatched to Murmansk. Part of a relief force that was to cover the withdrawal of Allied and White Russian troops, M33 was accompanied by the monitors M31, M24, M25, M26 and M27. As soon as the ice had receded in the White Sea M33 sailed across to Archangel and then up the River Dvina to help Allied troops holding the banks of the river against the Bolsheviks. In conjunction with four other shallowdraught monitors and a variety of gunboats, M33 held off the Bolsheviks, bombarding enemy positions at Seltso and

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Selemengo Wood. It was at this point that M33 was hit by an enemy shell. “At 3.00 a.m. heavy bombardment was commenced by Army and Navy to hold up enemy advance,” wrote Engine Room Artificer S.J. Rutland. “The noise and roar of the guns was terrible. At 7.00 a.m. we were hit by a large shell. The projectile struck the upper deck and exploded in the wardroom and completely ruined everything. Fortunately no one with the exception of the cat happened to be in the room. The cat having the usual nine lives escaped with a burnt tail.” The British government had decided that Britain should no longer be involved in the Russian civil war and aimed to withdraw all its forces. It would be a fighting withdrawal for M33 and on the afternoon of 7 August 1919, she was hit twice more. The first shell exploded in the steering compartment and the second, just three minutes later, penetrated the engine room but fortunately did not explode. “On entering the engine room it threw up a cloud of sparks and then made a terrible row and disturbance as it twisted and turned in the bilge before coming to rest,” remembered ERA Rutland. “I shall never forget the feeling of the minutes following the shell’s entrance and I saw she had not exploded. I think everyone’s heart was in one’s mouth. Will she explode or not? ... A few minutes later another shell carried away some wood and tore down our awning, then another exploded between our propellers.” The Russians, Rutland wrote, shelled them “unmercifully”.4 The shell that failed to explode was found to have been a British shell dated 1917. Evidently it must have been one that was sent to Russia when that country was still part of the Triple Entente and still fighting the Germans. www.britainatwar.com

Eventually the British contingent was ready to withdraw down river. With the water levels in the River Dvina unusually low, in order for M33 to make the passage she had to have her draught reduced. This meant she had to remove her 6-inch guns, her 3-inch guns and her ammunition, all of which were loaded on to barges. Suitably “equipped” with dummy guns made from driftwood, pipes and old biscuit tins, M33 was the last of the British warships to leave the upper Dvina, eventually reaching Archangel where she was later reunited with her real weapons. On 23 September 1919, M33 returned upriver as far as Spaskoe to cover the evacuation of the last 500 British troops. Monitors M33, M31, and M26 were amongst the last to leave. With their larger guns and deeper draught, monitors M25 and M27 ran aground on their way back to Archangel, forcing their crews to scuttle the pair having first removed all their guns.

SAVED FOR THE NATION The Russian war was M33’s last combat operation; she returned to Chatham on 17 October 1919. Like so many Royal Navy vessels, the monitors were redundant and M33 was laid up at the Nore prior to her conversion to a coastal minelayer. This conversion finally began on 24 May 1924 at Pembroke dock, in the process of which she lost all of her armament. She was re-commissioned on 3 February 1925 as a tender for the torpedo and mining school HMS Vernon at Portsmouth, and on 1 December that year she was re-named HMS Minerva. The late 1930s saw the renewed prospect of war, which prompted the Admiralty to examine its fleet. New faster minelayers were ordered which, as soon as they entered service, made the

old vessels such as Minerva obsolescent. Firstly she was placed in reserve, and then to dockyard control before being put up for sale. At the outbreak of the Second World War Minerva was still on the Royal Navy’s books, and she returned to service as a floating staff office at Portsmouth. In 1943 she was converted into a floating boom defence workshop, after which she was towed to the Clyde in 1944 to help service the anti-submarine booms protecting the entrance to that river. No longer Minerva, she has simply become C23. After the war she returned to Portsmouth where she remained as a floating workshop, becoming the Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service ship Minerva. Her career came to a close in 1984. As one of the few surviving warships anywhere in the world from the First World War, efforts were made to preserve her from the scrap yard. It was in 1990 that Hampshire County Council’s Museums Service acquired HMS M33 to preserve her for the nation. It is currently working in partnership with the National Museum of the Royal Navy to complete her conservation and enable full public access in time for the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign in 2015. Now, for certain, the last of Churchill’s gunboats will survive. 

ABOVE RIGHT: HMS M33’s searchlight which is located behind the bridge superstructure. It is mounted on rails so that it can be used on either side of the vessel. ABOVE LEFT: Another view of M33 in dry dock in Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard. When M33 was purchased by the Hartlepool Ship Preservation Trust in 1987, it was transported on a barge to Hartlepool for restoration, though in the event only the funnel was completed. Three years later, the First World War veteran was purchased by Hampshire County Council.

NOTES

1. The full, and definitive, story of HMS M33 is told in Ian Buxton, His Majesty’s Monitor M33, published by Hampshire County Council, 2001. 2. Ibid. 3. Norman Wilkinson, The Dardanelles (Longmans, London, 1915), p.64. 4. Quoted in Ian Buxton, ibid.

NOVEMBER 2013 47

FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLL Unusual War Memorials

The memorial gates to the park and Memorial Avenue in Iscennen Road, Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, which were erected in 1937 in honour of the town’s fallen from the First World War. The right-hand pillar of the gates, both of which are Grade II listed by the Welsh Historic Monuments organisation, CADW, details all those from Ammanford who fell in the First World War (ninety-one in total), whilst the lefthand pillar lists the town’s forty-two dead from the Second World War.

For Whom The Bells Toll Whilst many towns, cities and villages chose traditional structures such as crosses, columns, a cenotaph or obelisk to serve as a memorial to their fellow inhabitants who made the ultimate sacrifice in the First World War, others, reveals Ann Williams, opted for a more practical way to mark the sacrifice of the fallen.

P

LANS TO commemorate the fallen were already taking shape before the end of the First World War. Once people understood that repatriation of the fallen would not take place there was a greater need for somewhere people could visit to remember their loved ones and share their memories. With scarcely a town or village throughout the land that had not lost at least one serving man there was a shared sense of responsibility to remember their sacrifice and make sure that future generations did so too.  Whilst the government encouraged local communities to raise memorials they offered little in the way of guidance. Few restrictions were imposed as to what constituted a suitable memorial although there was a general feeling that religious symbols may help focus the common www.britainatwar.com

grief. Funds for memorials were raised by public subscription as was the practise of the time. The war had affected families of all classes and their relatives were anxious to contribute to their memorials. Many returning personnel also contributed to their local funds. Having seen friends and comrades fall some felt uncomfortable to be safe at home again.  Even quite small communities often raised large amounts (£100 would be around £4,000 today) so it is perhaps not surprising that some chose to erect a practical memorial of some type rather than a monument of stone, wood or metal as was more often the case. In some instances a memorial was raised in addition to a practical demonstration of remembrance; memorials within parks or gardens being perhaps the most common. 

LEFT: The Roll of Honour for Ammanford’s First World War dead.

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FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLL Unusual War Memorials FUNCTIONAL WAR MEMORIALS IT WAS surprising to see how many communities across the United Kingdom had opted to commemorate their fallen in ways that did not involve traditional structures such as crosses, columns, a cenotaph or an obelisk. But are they alone? With the forthcoming centenaries of the First World War beginning in 2014, the Britain at War Magazine team is keen to hear of similar examples to those described here by Ann Williams, both in the UK and across the Commonwealth. If your community has an unusual War Memorial, or you know of somewhere where the fallen (or, indeed, survivors) of the First World War are commemorated in an atypical manner (and these can be memorials erected by private individuals or companies), then please do get in touch. Suggestions and/or pictures can be sent by post to: Britain at War Magazine, Editorial Office, Green Arbor, Rectory Road, Storrington, West Sussex, RH20 4EF, or by email to: [email protected]

 The church was often the only building within a community to which all had access, particularly in villages, and at the time served as the centre of a community’s worship. Consequently, it was in these buildings that records of those enlisting or being called up were often displayed, along with their fate if wounded or killed. As well as the more traditional memorial plaques, places of worship may have been the site of other symbols of remembrance such as bells, lychgates and stained glass windows.  Bells have long called the faithful to worship and in some places a new bell or even a peal of bells was installed as a war memorial. This acted as a constant reminder of the sacrifice made by fellow parishioners as the bells rang out for both joyous and sad occasions. Sometimes existing bells were recast or re-hung as

a memorial with an explanatory plaque being placed in the church. The bells in at least one Oxfordshire village are believed to be engraved with the names of the fallen and at the Memorial Community Church in Plaistow, London, the names of 197 men were inscribed on the peal of ten bells which were unveiled in 1925 and rededicated in 2011. This is probably the greatest number of bells designed as a war memorial in the country.  The installation of a new organ was another option adopted in churches, again offering a constant reminder to the congregation of the sacrifice of their fellow men. These include St Gabriel’s Church, Cwmbran, and Rothley Parish Church in Leicestershire. As with the bells, the organs usually carry a plaque marking them as a war memorial. A typical example of the sentiments

MAIN PICTURE: A remarkable, and unusual, war memorial – the Coalbrook/Jackfield Memorial Bridge in Shropshire, as seen from the Jackfield side. In the centre of the bridge, which was completed in 1922, a plaque was installed listing the names of those who made the final sacrifice in addition to which, at each end, a plaque was placed. (ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR) INSET: The dedication plaque that appears at each end of the Coalbrook/Jackfield Memorial Bridge.

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summed up on such tablets can be seen in the church at Little Bollington in Cheshire. It acknowledges that the parishioners installed the organ, “to blend the worship of Almighty God with a grateful memorial of those gallant men of this neighbourhood who fought for the freedom of the world in the Great War 1914-1918.” At Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, a wooden sign on the organ reveals that it commemorates James E. Mead. An organist at the church, Mead was killed in action “whilst succouring the wounded as stretcher-bearer”. A Private in the 6th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment, Mead lost his life exactly a month before the end of the war on 11 October 1918. The inscription adds that he is, “Gratefully remembered here as Organist of this church 1905 – 1916”. The War Memorial Organ at Crediton Parish Church in Devon has an even closer connection with an organist as

it was based on plans drawn in 1915 by the church’s own organist, the coincidentally-named Second Lieutenant Harold Organ FRCO, who was sadly killed in action in 1917 aged 28. Organ was chosen out of 102 candidates for the post at Crediton, a position which he took up in April 1915. Sadly, his appointment was only to last nine months. In 1916 Organ enlisted in the Gloucestershire Regiment; it was with the 4th Battalion that he was killed near Poelcapelle on 9 October 1917. Writing to Second Lieutenant Organ’s parents, Major J.D. Newth gave the following account of his death: “Lieut. Organ was killed leading his men in the same gallant manner that he has always displayed in action since joining the Battalion. While he was giving some orders to his Platoon Sergeant soon after the attack had commenced a bullet ricocheted off his revolver and killed him instantly.” 

ABOVE: The Art Deco clock tower memorial which was erected in 1931 in Blaeavon, Torfaen.

ABOVE: The entrance to the former War Memorial Hospital in Horncastle, Lincolnshire. Despite the fact that the building no longer fulfils its original purpose, two panels each side of the door still carry messages of remembrance. The panel on the left has part of the poem “For The Fallen” by Laurence Binyon which was first published in The Times in September 1914. The inscription on the right, meanwhile, bears a variation of one of the best known epitaphs to originate from the First World War – John Maxwell Edmonds’ “When you go home, tell them of us and say, For your tomorrows these gave their today.” www.britainatwar.com

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FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLL Unusual War Memorials

ABOVE: The Memorial Gates at Charlton-on-Otmoor in Oxfordshire. LEFT: One of the two plaques that name the twelve fallen of Charlton-on-Otmoor.

The plans for the organ were completed by Organ’s successor, Cyril Church. The order for the new organ was placed on 20 October 1918, and on 18 November the same year it was decided that the new organ was to be a “Thankoffering for Victory, and as a Memorial for Parishioners who have fallen in the War, one of whom was our late permanently appointed organist”. By the end of March 1919, £1529 15s 6d of the £3,500 required had been raised through sponsors and fundraising events, including fairs, the laying of a mile of pennies, competitions and musical evenings. Finally, the organ, built by Harrison and Harrison of Durham, was dedicated on Wednesday, 16 November 1921. Interestingly, it incorporated a few old pipes which had previously been part of the organ at Chelsea Hospital and which had been taken to Crediton in 1882. At St Mary and St Michael Church at Trumpington, Cambridgeshire, an earlier organ from the 1850s was relocated within the church as a memorial, the oak frame surrounding it dedicated to those who lost their lives in the First World War, their names carved on the floor nearby. Not all war memorial organs are in parish churches. Many are in non-conformist places of worship. In Scarborough, for example, the women of the Queen Street Methodist Hall commissioned an organ, built by Messers Fitton and Hayley, to commemorate not only the fallen but also as a thanksgiving

for those men who served and returned safely to their community.  In some communities, a lectern stands as a memorial to the fallen of the First World War. A notable example can be seen at All Saints in Sudbury, where an angel carved in oak supports the desk. As a focal point for readings during the service this made a good choice. In other locations names were inscribed on panelling on the walls or on a screen. Sometimes the screens were already in place, maybe as a result of Victorian restoration, although a few were especially built as a memorial, such as that at Alston in Cumbria, which was erected in 1920. Stained glass windows, often incorporating an image of St George, the warrior saint, were installed as memorials in many parish churches but the Roll of Honour is more usually inscribed on a plaque of wood or stone nearby where they can more easily be read. Saint David’s Church, Ystalyfera, is a typical example with two stained glass windows unveiled in 1926 having a memorial stone mounted on the wall beneath. Occasionally these windows are private or family memorials to sons or fathers or even regimental memorials rather than parish memorials.  Perhaps most poignant, however, are the lychgates erected at the entrance to churchyards as war memorials. Those who lost their lives were destined not to pass through these gates to be laid to rest amongst their friends and  BELOW: The wooden shelter at Ide Hill, Kent, affixed to which are eight wooden shields which have emblazoned on them the names of the war dead of both world wars – those from the Second World War are on the bottom two plaques.

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ABOVE: The lychgate memorial at Berriew in Powys. The names of the fallen are inscribed on the inside walls of gateway. ABOVE RIGHT: The Memorial Hall in Tregaron, Ceredigion. Plaques of dedication with the names for the fallen of the First World War can be seen on the front, either side of the main door, whilst a further plaque has been added to one side for those who lost their lives in the Second World War.

ABOVE: The carved inscription on the front of the lychgate to St Bartholomew Church, Nettlebed, Oxfordshire.

ABOVE: This plaque on the interior of the lychgate at St Bartholomew Church lists the fallen of First World War. A similar panel, commemorating those who fell between 1939 and 1945, can be seen on the opposite side of the structure.

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relatives. Traditionally the point where the officiating clergy met the funeral cortege, the names of the fallen are often inscribed on plaques on the low walls supporting the roof of the structure. This was quite a common choice in some counties with Oxfordshire having at least five, including one at Nettlebed where the wooden roof is supported on flint and brick piers into which plaques of names have been set. At Berriew in Powys the names are on wooden panels, also set within the lychgate. In other locations, such as at Charlton-on-Otmoor, Oxfordshire, and Dursley, Gloucestershire, names are inscribed on the gateposts of the churchyard or cemetery. Some churches, including St Nicholas at Ringwould in Kent, and Holy Trinity in Northampton, had clocks installed on their towers. The latter was paid for by two parishioners rather than by public subscription. Whilst stained glass windows or lecterns were sometimes donated by individuals as memorials to a loved one a clock was more unusual. A clock was visible at a distance and in many cases throughout a community. It was something that would be referred to frequently and act as a constant reminder, especially if the clock were a chiming one, of the time that those who had sacrificed their lives would never see. Clock war memorials were not just confined to places of worship, however. They were the choice for many small towns in particular. As a practical memorial in a public place a clock would draw constant attention

and if fixed on a tower also provided a suitable location for the lists of names and other inscriptions. There is just such an example at Rainham, Greater London, where an elaborate brick structure built near the church supports the clock face with its clear Roman numerals. Built by a Mr Vinton using red Belgian brick and dressed with Portland stone, the brick acts as a foil for the inscribed stone plaques. It was unveiled in November 1920. At Senghenydd, near Caerphilly a clock tower stands as a memorial to the sixty-three men from the community who lost their lives in the First World War. For a town that had lost over 400 men in the worst pit disaster in British History in 1913 this extra loss must have been most deeply felt. Clock towers were quite a popular choice within Wales with five on the island of Anglesey alone. At Blaenavon, a rather striking Art Deco design clock tower stands near the Workmen’s Hall. Designed by R.J. Edmunds it was unveiled in 1931 and in 2011 underwent extensive cleaning. The square-based column has clock faces on all four sides with inscribed plaques on three of them. In Scotland, seven members of the Hearts football team are amongst those remembered on the Memorial Clock that was erected in Edinburgh’s Haymarket in 1922. Removed for tram installation works in 2008, the clock was being reconstructed during the summer of 2013 and will be in place once more for the commemoration of the outbreak of the First World War in 2014.  Freedom was one of the causes for www.britainatwar.com

FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLL Unusual War Memorials

which men believed they were fighting, so perhaps it is unsurprising that some communities chose to construct parks where people, especially those in towns, could enjoy open green space. Perhaps the most well-known is the park in Coventry. Opened in July 1921 on land sold to the city council for the purpose by the Gregory-Hood family, Lords of Styvehale Manor, the park was gradually developed over the next twenty years to include sports facilities, gardens and a café. In 1927 the imposing ninety-foot-high war memorial was added. Designed by Mr Tickner and executed in Portland Stone by John Gray, formerly of nearby Coombe Abbey, the memorial contains a room

known as the Chamber of Silence where books containing the Roll of the Fallen are held. They are open to view on Remembrance Sunday each year.  Parks, opened as memorials, often contain a more traditional memorial, too, acting as a focus for more formal acts of remembrance. At Romsey in Hampshire, for example, a cross stands near the park gates. The park itself includes a café, tennis courts, a bowling green, play area, bandstand and formal gardens, making it a place where people could come together to remember and to share the freedom for which many had given their lives. At Ammanford in Carmarthenshire plaques on the park gates in Iscennen Road record those who paid the ultimate price. Parks were also opened in Stourport, where the Memorial Gates incorporate the Stourport Coat of Arms, at Basingstoke and Herne Bay amongst many others. Some parks were quite small, formal affairs, with simple paths and traditional gardens, whereas others extended for many acres. Typical of the latter is Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd, which was originally planned as a formal garden. Constructed on part of the site used for the National Eisteddfod in 1893, it was opened as a war memorial park in 1923 by Field Marshal Viscount Allenby. The thirty-three-acre site incorporates sporting facilities for a wide range of activities in addition to a bandstand and gardens. The park is still the focus for activities throughout the year, but whilst events may change and refurbishments take place through time, the purpose of this and similar parks remains constant – to act as a focus for remembrance. Even at the end of the First World War for many communities the churches

or chapels were the only places large enough for everyone to come together for meetings. Maybe this is the reason Memorial Halls were a popular choice of war memorial for larger villages and even towns. A number of organisations came into existence shortly before or during the war that needed places for their members to meet. These included the Boy Scout and Girl Guide Movements (1907 and 1910) and the Women’s Institute (1915). A hall that could be used for social, cultural and educational purposes was something that would help bring a community together and with a Roll of Honour prominently displayed, those who had sacrificed their lives were in constant memory. 

ABOVE: The War Memorial within Romsey’s War Memorial Park. The names of those who died in subsequent conflicts have been added to this structure.

A general view of the War Memorial Park in Romsey, Hampshire. Of note is the fact that the park, created in 1920, contains a Second World War Japanese field gun, one of a pair captured by the British and brought back to the UK on the orders of Lord Mountbatten of Burma. One was donated to Romsey by Mountbatten and the other was retained in the grounds of his country estate, Broadlands.

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FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLL Unusual War Memorials RIGHT: The Institute at St Dennis, Cornwall, was created in 1922 as a War Memorial, with the names of the fallen being listed on a plaque on the front of the building. The building now serves as a Working Men’s Club. TOP RIGHT: The memorial plaque on the front of St Dennis Institute, Cornwall.

BELOW: Displayed on the end wall of the Reading Room in Tysoe, this stone panel records the names of all of the men from this Warwickshire village who served in the 1914-1918 War; the building itself was erected as a memorial to fallen comrades. A traditional memorial on the nearby green carries the names of the fallen.

The market town of Tregaron in Ceredigion was one of many Welsh communities to erect such a structure. The names of the fallen are displayed on stone plaques on the façade. In Cornwall, the St Dennis Institute, which opened in 1922, is now home to the Working Men’s Club. Here the Roll of Honour is displayed on a brass plaque.  A variation on a meeting room was the provision of a Reading Room for a community. Tysoe in Warwickshire is one neighbourhood that chose this option, dedicating it to all who served from the community. Their names are inscribed on stone tablets on an

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external wall. On a nearby green is the memorial to those who fell in the conflict. Reading rooms satisfied a thirst for knowledge and a space for people to read and study in peace away from the often overcrowded cottages of the majority of inhabitants. Ide Hill in Kent made the very practical choice of erecting a shelter over the well head (now seemingly used as a bus shelter) on the village green. Wooden shields record the names of the fallen on the façade.  Many of the young men who went to fight would have belonged to local sporting teams for football, cricket or rugby and some felt a memorial which reflected this lost youth might be appropriate. A number of sports pavilions were erected and recreational grounds set out including the one at Bierton with Broughton in Buckinghamshire. Although a traditional stone cross recording the fallen stands in the churchyard at Bierton the pavilion also carries a plaque. This informs the passer-by that the structure was built “In remembrance of those from this village who in their country’s hour of need responded to her call especially of those who returned not whose names are recorded in God’s acre. This pavilion was erected and this field given for the recreation of the people of Bierton with Broughton.” A most unusual war memorial with a sporting connection can be seen at Milborne Port in Somerset. The sport of Fives was played in the village using a purpose-built outdoor Fives wall. This area has since been converted into a memorial garden with the high wall

creating a sheltered area. With so many men wounded and still needing care after the war it is perhaps not surprising that many war memorial hospitals were built, many of them the cottage hospitals of today. Farnborough in Hampshire, Horncastle in Lincolnshire, and Tarporley, Cheshire were amongst many communities to make this choice. In larger towns and cities a new wing may have been added to an existing hospital as happened at Cardiff Royal Infirmary. The recently restored façade of this building makes the inscription stand out clearly. The banner reads 1914 King Edward VII Hospital War Memorial 1918. Two Shropshire villages share a most unusual and very practical memorial to their fallen. The communities of Coalbrook and Jackfield, all part of the industrial development now linked as the Ironbridge Museum, stood on either side the River Severn. Workers needing to access the further shore had to pay to use a ferry. Not only was this an expense but it was also hazardous especially when the river was in flood. The decision was made to use the money raised for a memorial to build a footbridge across the Severn allowing people free access to the further shore. Despite strong opposition from traditionalists at the time, those who opted to offer practical solutions and services for those still living as an act of remembrance have left a lasting legacy within their communities. Those still enjoying the amenities would do well to reflect on the sacrifices made for their freedom to do so.  www.britainatwar.com

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Tank Times

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THE WARTIME CHRISTMAS th

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FROM The eXhIBITIONS TeAM

& Sunday 8th December 2013

Sarah Lambert Over the past year, as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund project, the Exhibitions team have been busy working on three new displays. The first - ‘Conservation in Action’ - is situated in the new Vehicle Conservation Centre and opened to visitors in September. The exhibition features a mixture of film, graphics, photographs and large objects to tell the story of the care and maintenance of the Museum’s collection of vehicles. The work, with the exception of the design of graphic panels, was completed inhouse by a team of six staff and a number of volunteers.

The Tank Museum’s new, Heritage Lottery funded, Vehicle Conservation Centre (VCC) was officially opened. The 40,000 sq. ft. Vehicle Conservation Centre, which will house over 100 armoured fighting vehicles, was built with the assistance of a £2.5m Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant. The new hall includes a public observation gallery and `Conservation in Action` exhibition, and will contain vehicles which have never been on public display before. Museum Director, Richard Smith said, “The Vehicle Conservation Centre will provide us with much needed space; enabling us to add new exhibitions and ensuring that our collection is stored in a dry and properly heated environment. This new centre also gives us the facilities for an on-going volunteer led conservation and preservation programme, further guaranteeing the long term future of our collection.” Historian and Museum Trustee Dan Snow, actor Chris Barrie and Dorset’s Lord Lieutenant Mrs. Anthony Pitt-Rivers were all present as the new hall was opened. Dan Snow said, “Yet again The Tank Museum has produced an absolutely world class facility. The new vehicle space gives them a chance to display even more of the collection. Being able to stand on that mezzanine level and look down on the packed ranks of tanks is a thrill. The Tank Museum is fantastic, and the best thing is that it’s still growing.”

Inside… ● PRIVATe FORWARD ● what’s on ● BRITAIN AT A WAR WAR DAy A ● SPOILS OF WAR WAR? AR? ● DISABLeD TIgeR

From left: Richard Smith, Dan Snow, Peter Gilchrist, Doug Hulyer, Mike Hayton, Darren Parsons and Chris Barrie.

The contribution of the workshop volunteers is the real focus of the VCC, with examples of their conservation work on display. One of the Museum’s most dedicated volunteers, Darren Parsons from Southampton, co-opened the Vehicle Conservation Centre with HLF representative Doug Hulyer. Mr Parsons, an engineer for Exxon Mobile said; “Volunteering has allowed me to both learn and share my knowledge with other volunteers. We all have a different range of skills and abilities but we all find it rewarding to make an important contribution to keeping this heritage alive for visitors to enjoy.” Visitors will have the opportunity to explore the floor of the VCC during special events and experience days. Otherwise tours are conducted daily, where visitors will be able to view the centre and Conservation in Action exhibition on the mezzanine floor. The VCC will also give us the chance to start collecting again, so watch this space!

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Attention is now being turned to the Museum’s major exhibition to mark the 100 years anniversary of the start of First World War. ‘Warhorse to Horsepower’ will examine how the British Army became increasingly mechanised during 1914-1918 and how Cavalry units eventually gave up their horses for tanks during the 1920s and 30s. The role of the horse generally will also feature, including a focus on feeding, medical care and the close relationships that often developed between soldiers and their horses. Although a complex topic and one that is inevitably distressing due to the awful suffering of horses and men on the Western Front, the exhibition aims to get information across in a sensitive but also engaging way. Continued on page 2...

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FROM The eXhIBITIONS TeAM Continued…

Ever conscious of our family audience, any new exhibition at The Tank Museum must appeal to a range of ages and this requirement has been at the centre of our planning over the last year. To that end, Warhorse to Horsepower is an interactive exhibition, with a cut away Mark IV tank that gives visitors the chance to act as a crew and perform actions; there will also be opportunities for people to try on uniform and handle artefacts.

Centurion rolls into the arena in front of the newly opened VCC

BRi R T Ri Tain ain a aT T wa w R Day Day The new Britain at War show launched in September, focusing on the Korean War and the National Service years.

Model visual One of the more unusual features will be the chance to listen to nine reproduction horses who, placed at various points in the display, will talk of experiences ranging from work as a pre-war farm horse, to hauling artillery on the Somme, through to military exercises on Salisbury Plain in the 1920s. As with most exhibitions now, it is usual practice to test ideas with a range of groups and we have received differing views to this idea. However, we believe with the correct script, talking horses will be a powerful tool to educate people about the lot of horses during the First World War. For those of you who know the Museum well, Warhorse to Horsepower will be placed in the Interwar Hall of the Discovery Centre. A number of vehicles currently in the hall will be kept in place but others will be moved out into the new Vehicle Conservation Centre. By January 2014, installation of the exhibition will begin with a completion date of the end of March.

There were a number of vehicles from our collection in the arena display, as well as a contingent from the Military Vehicles Trust. Our talks and tours, including ones on the Korean War and the daily life of a National Service soldier, proved particularly popular.

We were also able to collect some illuminating memories from Royal Armoured Corp National Service Veterans; tales of freezing in Korea and polishing boots gave us a taste of what it was really like. Keith Flowers, who served in Germany as a mechanic, told stories of fixing tanks during a blizzard, but still said “he enjoyed every minute of National Service”.

Below: The Museum’s Centurion Armoured Recovery Vehicle and Cold War T-34 roar into action for the Arena Display.

This popular series was pioneered by The Tank Museum’s book on the Tiger, and more recently the Mark IV WW1 tank. Nigel has been working with a team to restore three Second World War era Churchill tanks to working order, ahead of next year’s 70th anniversary of D Day. Alongside this work, he has recorded the restoration process and the fighting history of the Churchill tank with many images from the Museum’s Archive. The manual provides a detailed account of the Churchills’ history and drills down into the nuts and bolts of the tank’s anatomy.

Above: ‘From the other side of the Iron Curtain’ – Former Eastern Bloc Tank Commander, Dag Patchet kept the audience enthralled with his talk on the Cold War from the other side.

We are pleased to announce the winner of our Armortek Raffle. Below: Visitors found out first-hand what life was like for a National Service soldier.

At the Armortek Show on Saturday 28th September Mr. Newton-Pike became the proud owner of the 1/6th Centurion tank built by Armortek. The Armortek Show was a great success, with modellers travelling from all around to meet and display their extraordinary vehicles.

The third exhibition ‘Making Tanks’ will open in spring 2015 with the design and manufacture of armoured vehicles over the last 100 years as its central theme. I will save the details for that, however, until next time.

When told of the news Mr. NewtonPike said, “I’m overwhelmed. I’ve never won anything in my life, and I’m extremely pleased to have won this fantastic model”. The Centurion model is ready to run, finished in bronze green and fitted with High Efficiency Motion Pack and Sound System – complete with Futaba 2.4 GHz 6 Channel Radio Control Unit.

Sarah Lambert Exhibitions Officer

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Tank Museum Appeal Board member Nigel Montgomery has written a detailed account of the Churchill tank in the successful Haynes Manual format.

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private Forward The donation, by his family, of a marvellous collection of letters that passed between Gunner Robert Forward and his friends and family, has been a major contribution to The Tank Museum’s Archive and Library. It contains the thoughts and views of an individual caught up in the ghastly process of war. It enables us to hear, loud and clear, the all-important voice from the ranks that is rarely heard. Conscripted in 1914, he served in tanks from the earliest days in 1916 when it was known as the Heavy Branch, Machine Gun Corps, right through to the end of the war; four long and harrowing years. It was men such as Bob Forward who kept the wheels of the Tank Corps turning, so to speak, through thick and thin. Without men like that, the Tank Corps couldn’t have become the highly efficient and powerful force it was by 1918. The attitude of these early conscripts is summed up in an article by Sergeant Littledale “The spirit of adventure called us to the tanks… and so the call for volunteers found us ready…” and though it is difficult to judge attitudes at the time, these words most likely sum up some of the feelings of those who volunteered.

In addition to the valuable collection of letters and photographs, the family has also presented us with a classic example of Tank Corps uniform that Gunner Forward had kept as a souvenir of his time as a tank man.

by David Fletcher

July and August 1917. It was a battle as much against glutinous mud as the enemy, in which tanks almost sank out of sight in the dreadful conditions and it was described by Colonel Fuller as ‘a complete study of how to move thirty tons of metal through a morass of mud and water’. As his Battalion went into the famous battle at Cambrai on 20 November 1917, Forward remained in Dorset. Although clearly the thought of battle played heavily on the mind of him and his family; he wrote to his wife, “I must warn you to be prepared for the unexpected happening if I get called”. Forward went on to join 12th Battalion, formed at Bovington in July 1917, going over to France in January 1918. The Battalion then became involved in the massive German offensive of March and April 1918, when Forward and his friends were organised into Lewis gun machine-gun teams without their tanks. After being moved up the line, in late August, Forward writes “I can hardly realise that what we have just been through is true”. Having made it to their objective “under very hot machine gun fire”, the crews’ tank pitched into a wide trench. Despite a four hour effort to move the tank, still under heavy gun fire and shelling, the crew were forced to abandon their tank.

When Forward, who came to the tanks from the 20th Battalion, The London Regiment, was struck by this spirit of From the middle of August 1918 until adventure, he was initially posted to virtually the end of October, less than B Company. B Company had a most two weeks before the Armistice, 12th inauspicious start to its military life. It Battalion was in action almost on a daily was shipped across to France in October basis. In that time the tanks themselves 1916 without any tanks, and only a covered prodigious distances, far greater handful were available after it arrived. than they had ever been designed for A month after that it was reconstituted which must stand as a tribute to these as B Battalion; it was June 1917 before tough old tanks and to the men who it was called into action at the Battle of Private Robert Forward, maintained them and kept them running Messines in the Ypres Salient, where it with his young son Robert Stanley. at a crucial time, including of course was equipped with the new Mark IV tank. Gunner Robert Forward. Private Forward had badly injured his hand in May of that Almost exactly one month before the 11th November Armistice, year, after trapping it in a tank door and so missed the battle, Forward was wounded by a direct hit to his face by a machine returning to England to have a finger removed. From then until gun bullet, which went straight through his jaw, tongue and early 1918 he remained in Britain, first at the Command Depot teeth, whilst helping one of his wounded comrades back to at Alnwick in Northumberland, then at the new Tank Corps Allied lines. Robert’s superior, 2nd Lieutenant De La Mere, writes headquarters at Bovington Camp in Dorset and ultimately at to his wife that he “can’t speak too highly of [Robert]”. Lulworth Camp on the Dorset coast which he spent in training, preparing to go back to France. Meanwhile his Battalion had Private Forward recovered, and returned to his wife and son been in the thick of the action at the Battle of Third Ypres in before the end of the war.

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It is a tank crew face mask, issued to every member of a tank’s crew to protect his face and particularly his eyes from the effects of ‘splash’. ‘Splash’ was a most unpleasant and unavoidable aspect of tank warfare, bought about when bullets from enemy machine-guns struck the armour plate of the tank. Some of the lead from the bullet, splattered on the outside of the armour, squeezed in through the slightest gaps as microscopic droplets of molten metal, tiny slivers of metal would also come off of the inside of the armour from the impact of bullets on the outside. On exposed flesh it was bad enough, it worked its way under the skin and emerged as tiny black spots, but if any of it got into your eyes it could do untold damage, even to the extent of leaving you blind. The face mask was supposed to protect you. It was made of metal covered with a thin layer of leather on each side, and was held in place by ribbons that you tied around the back of your head. The mask fitted over your nose, eyes and mouth, and the eyes were protected by thin metal plates with slots for you to see through while the mouth was covered by a layer of chain mail, hanging from the bottom of the shield and designed so that you could take a swift drink from your water container without having to remove the entire mask. In practice these masks were not popular. It was hot inside a tank and as your face sweated it was difficult to keep the mask in place. Added to which it was hard enough to breathe anyway, inside a tank, without something pressing on your nose so many crew members chose not to wear them and took the risk of damage from ‘splash’ in their stride.

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whaT’s on

Saturday 7/12 - Sunday 8/12/13

Wartime Christmas Festival Andrew Sawyer As you are all aware after a 5 year tenure as Editor of Tank Times Nik Wyness has now moved on to pastures new. As the new Marketing Manager here at the Museum, stewardship of Tank Times falls to me and I am determined that it continues not only to keep you up-to-date with all the exciting developments here, but is also an interesting and informative read. I was particularly interested in David Fletcher’s article on Private Forward’s experiences – both fascinating and truly humbling, and a superb example of what I believe we do really well in bringing those stories to life. I join the Museum at an exciting time in its development with the recent opening of the Vehicle Conservation Centre, the exciting new exhibitions that are planned over the course of the next two years and of course the beginnings of the First World War Centenary commemorations – we are going to be incredibly busy.

Throughout history, armies have collected souvenirs from the places where they have been fighting. Although today it is illegal for a British soldier to take enemy or civilian property to keep for their own personal use, in the past soldiers often collected small personal reminders of a particular battle or conflict. From tourist souvenirs bought for their family back home, to battlefield relics, these items served as a stark reminder of a time when they may have come close to death. The Museum has created a new display devoted to the objects soldiers have collected in the past. Some have a gripping story attached, like the cigarette case that saved Harry Bizley’s life. Whilst Harry was serving in North West Europe in 1945 with 49th Royal Tank Regiment, his squadron came under

fire and he and another person went to the aid of a wounded sergeant. A second volley of fire hit the other person, and severely wounded Harry. Although he lost a leg, his life was saved by the cigarette case in his breast pocket. As he was about to be flown home a Medical Officer placed a bottle of champagne on the stretcher with the words: “You’ll need this on the journey”. The champagne had been taken from the German Army. The Tank Museum has a large supporting collection of objects that help us tell the story of the people who served in armoured vehicles, and not just the vehicles themselves. These objects show the human face of warfare and help us build a richer picture of soldiers experiences in wartime.

Finally as this will be the last Tank Times of 2013, may I be the first to wish you all a Happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Access All Areas Now includes entry to the floor of the Vehicle Conservation Centre. See the inner workings of The Tank Museum in this exclusive behind the scenes tour. Tickets £55 per person.

By FyFFe chRis R Tie Ris

Saturday 5/4/14

Tiger Day 2014* Due to popular demand, The Tank Museum is hosting another Tiger Day; the essential experience for fans of the legendary Tiger Tank. At the end of last year we received a generous bequest from a past Friend of The Tank Museum, Graham Edward Luke. With funds raised from the sale of those items falling outside our collection policy, we have been able to purchase this pen and ink drawing by Fyffe Christie. Incorrectly labelled by the artist as a Tiger tank, this Panther was drawn by Christie whilst serving as a bagpiper and stretcher bearer with the 9th Battalion, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).

Andrew Sawyer Editor

Saturday 25/01/14

‘DisaBleD TigeR, R augus R, a T 1944’

I would be really keen to hear from you with suggestions of content for future editions: from a favourite vehicle you would like us to focus on, to the sort of articles you would like to see. I look forward to seeing you around the Museum when you are next visiting – please stop me and say hello.

Take a step back in time and discover how Christmas was celebrated during the two world wars and beyond!

Containing none of the shocking imagery usually associated with ‘war art’ his drawings were greatly admired by his comrades, and after the war he followed his ambition to become an artist. Tanks are not a common subject in art, with wartime depictions more readily portraying the people serving or affected by the hardships of the time. We are therefore particularly appreciative of this bequest which has enabled us to add this fine example to our collection.

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The Tank MUSeUM - The WORLD’S BeST COLLeCTION OF TANKS An Independent Museum and Registered Charity No 1102661

Saturday 28/6 - Sunday 29/6/14

TANKFEST 2014# Tickets are available now, as the World’s best display of moving armour returns to The Tank Museum. #You may not use your Annual Pass for re-admission on these dates. *For The Premium Tiger Day Experience, tickets can be bought online. For the public event Annual Pass holders will be admitted free.

IMAGE OF

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25 July 1944

FIRST 'OP' - FIRST KILL AS PART of the Fleet Air Arm’s 1838 Naval Air Squadron, 24-year-old Sub Lieutenant Ben Heffer RNZNVR was one IMAGE OF of the pilots instructed to fly their Chance Vought F4U Corsair fighters from the airfield at Minneriya, Ceylon, out to the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious. The move was in preparation for an attack on the Japaneseheld port of Sabang off the northern tip of Sumatra. Since early 1944 the British Eastern Fleet had been hitting the coasts of Sumatra and Malaya, on one occasion in company with the US carrier USS Saratoga. Opposition from Japanese fighters during the operation against Sabang was expected to be fierce as there were thought to be enemy flying training schools in the area. Consequently, many combat seasoned enemy pilots could be called on to bolster the defences. The strike on Sabang was launched on 25 July 1944, and Heffer, in his Corsair II, formed part of the stand-by combat air patrol (CAP). As the Allied ships began leaving the strike area at around 16.30 hours, with dusk starting to fall, an inbound Japanese raid was detected. The carrier’s defensive CAP was immediately ordered to scramble. Ben Heffer later recounted his eventful first operational flight: “We are off in a big hurry and climbing rapidly. I am flying number two and on the radio I hear us being vectored towards bogeys that have been picked up on radar. Soon we are at 20,000 feet and I received quite a shock to see above us two ’planes that did not look like Corsairs but very much like the captured Zero we had seen in the US. “I pushed the transmit button and I guess screamed into the mike, ‘bandits 10 o’clock high’. I received no acknowledgement – but by this time one of

WAR

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the bandits had turned towards us. He is not very far above when I pull up to face him. I fire quite a long, almost full deflection burst with no indication that I have hit anything. The recoil of the guns and the nose-up, nearly stalled attitude I have makes me fall out of the sky in an attitude I did not wish to be in at the moment and am surprised to see the Zero dive past me steeply. Maybe a lucky bullet had found its mark! “I’ll never know, and I never saw the Zero again, but thought I saw out of the corner of my eye tracers coming over my starboard wing. I’m still going down and rapidly gaining on the Zero who passed me before he can make the lower cloud layer. I fire again but see no result as he enters the clouds. “I am hurtling now and hope the Zero does not stay in the clouds. As I break through he is right in front of me. I hold the trigger down and he explodes in a ball of flame. I have to pull up hard to avoid him and the sea which is rapidly coming up. He makes a big splash.” The first Zero that has passed Heffer was in fact shot down by Sub Lieutenant F.G.L. Morgan who noted that it was black. The Corsair pilots reformed the section and in a rapidly darkening sky retuned to the dimly-lit deck of HMS Victorious. “My landing was a bit ropey,” concluded Heffer, “and once down I realized how completely buggered I was”. For his action in defending the Fleet Heffer was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, though his memorable first victory was also his last. This was also the only action that 1838 Squadron was to see as it was disbanded soon afterwards. The image seen here shows one of the Corsair IIs of the on duty section, possibly Heffer’s aircraft, powering off the deck of HMS Victorious on 25 July 1944. (US NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

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THE WRIGHT STUFF The BEF Fight for Survival MAIN PICTURE: A contemporary artist’s depiction of Lance Corporal Charles Jarvis preparing to blow up the Lock No.2 bridge at Jemappes on 23 August 1914 – an action for which he was subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross. The original caption states: “In the present war the Royal Engineers have nobly lived (and died) up to their great traditions, and several of their number have already won the VC by daring deeds, one of which is here illustrated. Lance-Corporal Jarvis … worked for three and a half hours under a most deadly fire in full view of the enemy, and eventually was successful in laying a fire charge for the demolition of a bridge.” (HMP) TOP RIGHT: The German advance underway – enemy troops pictured marching through the Place Charles Rogier, Brussels, on 20 August 1914, the very day that they entered the Belgian capital. Richard Harding Davis was an American reporter who noted the following in the hours before the German arrival: “The boulevards fell suddenly empty. There was not a house that was not closely shuttered. Along the route by which we now knew the Germans were advancing, it was as though the plague stalked.” The Belgians had taken the decision to not defend the city and the Germans marched through unhindered.

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HE BRITISH Expeditionary Force completed its assembly in the area between Maubeuge and Le Cateau on 20 August 1914. The plan (Plan XVII) was that the BEF would advance into Belgium alongside the French Fifth Army under General Lanrezac to sweep aside, or outflank, the supposedly weak right flank of the German Army. This was all part of a strategy that had been worked out years before based on the French theory that the Germans would attempt to invade across the Franco-German border where the bulk of the French Army was massed. The British force, small in comparison with the 824,000-strong French Army, was merely to protect the Allied flank on the border with neutral Belgium. The invasion of Belgium by the Germans

had not changed Allied strategy as the French considered it merely a feint to draw troops away from the main attack. It was also French policy not to stand on the defensive. Fostered by the likes of General Foch, the young officers at the Saint-Cyr military academy were taught that battles were only won by offensive action. With the Germans also advancing, the two great armies were soon to clash in what was expected to be a series of decisive battles. The tiny Belgian Army delayed the German advance for eighteen crucial days, eventually being driven back to their National Redoubt built around Antwerp. With the Germans marching on Brussels, the French Commander-inChief, General Joffre, instructed his left wing, which included the BEF, to move into Belgium to confront the enemy.

The Wright S (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

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With Lanrezac’s forces therefore deploying in Belgium, the BEF also began its movement northwards. It was expected that it would be marching for three days to take up a line facing northeast between Lens (which is about eight miles north of Mons) and the town of Binche in the Belgian province of Hainaut. Information on the movements of the enemy was sparse and the BEF had no idea that it was on a collision course with the German First Army which, with its four army corps, numbered around 160,000 men with 600 field guns. Sir John French’s I and II Corps amounted to half that figure, with half as many guns. Disaster loomed.

THE FIRST SHOT On the men tramped, through a hot, but brilliantly clear, summer’s day. 

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The British Expeditionary Force was supposed to be on the offensive, to strike at the Germans that had invaded Belgium. Within a matter of hours all that had changed. The BEF then found itself on the defensive and fighting for its very survival. Unable to hold its position along the line of the Mons canal, it was vital that the bridges were blown before the enemy could force his way across.

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THE WRIGHT STUFF The BEF Fight for Survival

FOOTSTEPS IN HISTORY:

Mariette Bridge, Jemappes, 23August 1914 te opoli Cosm Cité

Rue Lou is C aty

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4

1 Mons-Condé Canal

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 5 2

1 MILE LOCK NO.2 BRIDGE,

eur oct eD Ru

stur aul Pa Rue P

ac Isa nd mo Ed

1

de la Rue

A view looking east along the Mons-Condé Canal at Jemappes which was taken from a footbridge located at the end of Rue de Jericho. The Lock No.2 bridge was situated roughly in the middle distance where the footpath on the right bends to the right. The current railway station at Jemappes can be seen just beyond. Aside from one short stretch, the canal has not moved since the events of 1914, though it has been variously widened or narrowed. Despite this, traces of the original canal, and its workings, are still to be found. (HMP)

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64 NOVEMBER 2013

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3

stur aul Pa Rue P

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6

rte Cou Rue

n Statio

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Ahead went the cavalry, the “eyes and ears” of the army, to seek out the Germans and to maintain contact with the French Fifth Army. The BEF continued into Belgium to come into line with the Fifth Army which had already experienced its first encounter with the Germans. The French advance was brought to an abrupt halt by the Germans and, without informing the

British commander, General Sir John French, they began to retreat. Though the BEF should have still been behind the Fifth Army, it quickly found itself ahead of the French and directly in the path of the German First Army. Early on 22 August 1914, the men of ‘C’ Squadron of the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, advancing eastwards towards Obourg, encountered a patrol from the 4th (Westphalian) Cuirassiers. “I saw a troop of Uhlans [sic] coming leisurely down the road, the officer in front smoking a cigar”, recalled Corporal Drummer E. Thomas. “We were anxiously watching their movements when … they halted, as if they had smelt a rat. They had seen us!” No.1 Troop was ordered to charge by ‘C’ Troop’s commander, Captain Charles Beck Hornby. With sabres drawn, the Dragoons scattered the Cuirassiers left and right. “Bullets were flying past us and all round us”, continued Thomas. “I could see a German cavalry officer some four hundred yards away standing mounted in full view of me, gesticulating to the left and to the right as he disposed of his dismounted men and ordered them to take up their firing positions to engage us. Immediately I saw him I took aim, pulled the trigger and automatically, almost as it seemed instantaneously, he fell to the ground.” It was the first British shot, fired in anger, of the First World War.

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With this engagement, Sir John French knew that the enemy was close and the BEF took up defensive positions along the Mons-Condé Canal. It was ready to fight its first large battle of the war. The presence of the German forces was also confirmed by aerial reconnaissance. It also soon became apparent that the French forces to the east were heavily engaged and unlikely to be able to offer the British any support if they were attacked. All that Sir John French could hope to do was hold his ground and await developments. The BEF had reached the area near Mons and it was here that French intended to remain until the situation on his flank was resolved. The advantage that Mons had was that it was bisected by the Mons-Condé Canal. This gave the BEF a line they could defend with some hope of success if the Germans should attack. The canal, with an average width of sixty-four feet, was a significant barrier, with its sixteen miles of length crossed by eighteen bridges. It was vital that these bridges were barricaded and powerfully defended and, if necessary, demolished if there was any danger of the enemy forcing their way across. It was General Smith-Dorrien’s II Corps, principally its 3rd Division, which was given the task of defending the canal, facing north. I Corps, under General Haig, was drawn back across II Corps’ right flank and in contact with the French left wing, though this link was a tenuous one. The BEF’s left flank was held by the Cavalry Division. As the BEF prepared its positions as best it could, the Germans bore down upon Mons. If John French had little appreciation of what was about to unfold, his counterpart, von Kluck had a similar degree of knowledge of the British dispositions. Consequently, in the early, misty hours of the following morning, 23 August, the advanced

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 2

The stretch of Rue du Docteur Edmond Isaac, Jemappes, which crossed the Mons-Condé Canal over the Mariette bridge – the bridge that Captain Theodore Wright attempted to demolish on 23 August 1914. It was here that the men of ‘B’ Company, 1st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, were positioned. The houses in this area date from the time of the fighting; indeed, the building at the end of the street on the left was an estaminet in 1914. It is stated that at least one of the houses has damage from the fighting, though on our visit it was difficult to distinguish this from normal wear and tear. (HMP)

formations of the German Army stumbled into the British Expeditionary Force, whilst John French was away inspecting the French brigade closest to I Corps.

THE BATTLE OF MONS The first British land battle of the First World War raged for six hours before John French re-appeared. During the period of his absence, the fighting had assumed the character that it would maintain throughout the day. The Germans advancing confidently and the British, equally confidently, shooting them down. “They were in solid square blocks, standing out sharply against the skyline,” remembered one British

sergeant, “and you couldn’t help hitting them ... We lay in our trenches with not a sound or sign to tell them of what was before them. They crept nearer, and then our officers gave the word ... They seemed to stagger like a drunk man hit suddenly between the eyes, after which they made a run for us, shouting some outlandish cry that we couldn’t make out.”1 Another, a Gordon Highlander, made a similar observation. “They advanced in companies quite 150 men in files five deep, and our rifle has a flat trajectory up to 600 yards. Guess the result. We could steady our rifles on the trench and take deliberate aim. The first company were simply blasted away to Heaven  by a volley at 700 yards, and with

BELOW LEFT: Another view of German troops during their advance westwards in August 1914. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

BELOW RIGHT: British troops facing the German onslaught in 1914, though this is almost certainly a staged photograph. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

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THE WRIGHT STUFF The BEF Fight for Survival

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BELOW: Captain Theodore Wright, of the 57th Field Company RE, attempting to demolish the Mariette bridge, at the top of Rue du Docteur Edmond Isaac, Jemappes, on 23 August 1914. (HMP)

seen from the The view of the top end of Rue du Docteur Edmond Isaac as the canal in the opposite direction, i.e. from the footbridge that now crosses barricade would place of the Mariette road bridge. The Northumberland Fusiliers’ white van. (HMP) have been placed across the road roughly in the area of the

their insane formation every bullet was almost sure to find two billets.”2 Despite their heavy losses, the Germans massively outnumbered the British and it was not just the rifle fire that kept the Germans from overrunning the BEF’s positions, but also, and principally, the canal which separated the opposing forces. It was obvious that the Germans would make every effort to cross it and the bridges soon came under heavy attack. Early in the day Smith-Dorrien had given orders that the bridges should

be prepared for demolition by the Royal Engineers. The timing of their destruction, however, was delegated to divisional level or even lower and as a result some of the bridges were not prepared for demolition until they were actually being fought over. Two companies of the Royal Engineers, the 56th and 57th Field Companies, were part of the 3rd Division and it was these companies that were responsible for the destruction of the bridges – eight bridges each. Captain Theobald Wright, who was the Divisional Adjutant Royal Engineer, under the command of the Commander Royal Engineers, Lieutenant Colonel C.S. Wilson, was given the job of overseeing the demolition of the eight bridges allocated to the 57th Field Company.

THE BRIDGE AT LOCK No.2

ABOVE: A drawing which shows Private S. Heron, of the 1st Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers, “rendering great assistance to the Royal Engineers who were preparing to destroy the canal bridge at Jemappes, whilst under heavy fire”. For his actions on 23 August 1914, Private Heron was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. (HMP)

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One of those bridges was at Lock No.2 at Jemappes, a short distance to the west of Mons, which was held by a company of the 1st Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, with one section posted on the northern part of the bridge. This was one of five bridges within a three mile stretch of the canal allotted to the 57th Field Company that had to be blown if required. The bridge was an obvious objective of the Germans and soon the defenders came under accurate shell fire which was followed by a column of German infantry, four abreast, which marched down a country road immediately to the east, heading resolutely for the bridge. The enemy column was brought to a halt by the fire of a small party, under a corporal, which occupied a house in the angle between this road and the waterway. The enemy then tried an advance down the main road, but this had been blocked by a wire entanglement immediately north and west of the bridge, and by a barricade immediately south of it.

The Scots Fusiliers too were well placed, under good shelter, on both flanks of the road, and on both sides of the bridge. Under a withering fire from three sides, the Germans pressed on to the wire, only to be brought to a standstill, and then driven back with heavy losses. They then brought two field guns up to within half a mile of the canal, and opened fire with highexplosive shell upon the defenders of the bridge. One shell exploded in an occupied house on the east side of the road killing the whole of the little garrison inside. The Germans took advantage of this to rush to the western side of the road that led over the bridge and managed to establish themselves within 200 yards of the canal. From this position the Germans were able to fire into the flank of the Scots Fusiliers manning the barricade. The remainder of the advance party of the Scots Fusiliers was withdrawn to the main body on the south side of the canal.

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 Casualties were mounting rapidly until it was decided that the bridge could not be held much longer and that it should be destroyed. What happened next was described in an edition of the Sapper journal: “L. Cpl. Jarvis and Sapper Neary were detailed with ‘B’ Company Royal Scots Fusiliers, and ordered to prepare one of the bridges for demolition in case of a retirement. A small boat was procured, and two privates of the RSF were detailed to hold the boat in position. “The three girders needing separate charges required in all twenty-two slabs of gun cotton, which had to be securely fixed to the girders and tamped with clay. “During the work of placing the charges ... L. Cpl. Jarvis ... despatched Sapper Neary to obtain the exploder and leads, which were in the possession of another party under Corporal Wiltshire. “After some considerable time, the amount of fire increased, so that reinforcements had to be sent for. Capt. Traill, RSF, who was wounded in the

The footbridge that now stands on the site of the old Mariette road bridge, as seen from the approximate location of the barricades erected by the 1st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers. The German attack on 23 August came from the far side of the canal. (HMP)

knee, procured a pony and went to fetch them, and also the ammunition. By this time the firing on the position had become so violent and the casualties were so numerous that a retirement was decided upon. “L. Cpl. Jarvis was then called upon to destroy the bridge, but was still without the exploder and leads, as the sapper had not returned. He pulled along the lock to a position where no fire was being directed, crawled out over the bank, and got into the street, where he commandeered a bicycle from a Belgian, and was riding towards the market square to find the exploder himself, when he met Capt. T. Wright, the Adjutant of the RE Companies, 3rd Division ... “Capt. Wright told Jarvis to go back to the bridge and be prepared to connect up the leads, as he would fetch them in a motor car, and taking the bicycle from Jarvis, went off to fetch the necessary articles. Jarvis returned to his former position to await the return of Capt. Wright. By this time the infantry had been terribly cut up, and the general order to retire came, which practically meant every man for himself.”3

THE BRIDGE IS BLOWN

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Taken from a new bridge which carries utility cables across the Mons-Condé Canal, this is the view back along the canal towards Rue du Docteur Edmond Isaac. The footbridge seen here crosses the canal on the site of the old Mariette road bridge. (HMP)

As the enemy fire intensified Lance Corporal Jarvis ordered the remaining infantrymen back into cover whilst he continued to work on. Fusilier Private S. Heron, however, remained to help Jarvis and the pair struggled on for more than an hour. Such was the nature of their duties that they occasionally had to expose themselves fully to the enemy fire as they dashed back for extra explosives and to run out the leads. Eventually, the point was reached where the bridge was ready to be destroyed, except for the electrical plunger that was required to set the demolition off.  There was, however,

only one electrical detonator between the five bridges spaced three miles apart. Ducking down in the boat, Jarvis pulled himself along the bank to safety where he met Captain Theodore Wright, who had by that time been wounded in the head. Captain Wright told Jarvis to go back to the bridge and he would bring the necessary equipment. Whilst Captain Wright set off in his car in search of the necessary equipment, two members of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Lieutenant Boulnois and Sergeant Smith, cycled past the Lock No.2 Bridge on their way to Pont Richebe, the road bridge near Jemappes railway station. Seeing them, Lance Corporal Jarvis stopped them and obtained the plunger that Lieutenant Boulnois was carrying. The lines were connected, the demolition charges set-off and the bridge, collapsing into the canal, was, at long last, successfully put out of use.  With the Lock No.2 Bridge destroyed Lieutenant Boulnois and Sergeant Smith set-off westward to catch up with Captain Wright. They met him about  halfway to the road bridge and it

LEFT: A cigarette card which carries a portrait of Captain Theodore Wright VC. Following his death, one officer, Lieutenant Colonel Wilson, wrote to Captain Wright’s mother, Arabella: “No one has earned a VC better, and I am truly glad they have given it to him. I have known him so long, and I have always been very fond of him. He was one of the finest officers I have ever had, and I feel his loss every day.” (HMP) TOP LEFT: Captain Theodore Wright in action again, this time at Vailly-sur-Aisne on 14 September 1914. The original caption states: “As further advance was for the time not possible, the 5th Cavalry Brigade was ordered back to the south side of the Aisne. Captain Theodore Wright was in charge of the pontoon bridge by which the Brigade crossed at Vailly on September 14th, 1914. The bridge and both banks of the river were under shell fire, and while most gallantly assisting wounded men into shelter Captain Wright fell mortally wounded.” (HMP)

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THE WRIGHT STUFF The BEF Fight for Survival

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Another image of the Mons-Condé Canal looking east towards the Lock No.2 bridge, and the site of Lance Corporal Jarvis’ VC action, taken from where the Mariette road bridge, and Captain Wrights VC action, was located. (HMP)

was decided that Sergeant Smith with the plunger and cable of wire would go with Captain Wright in the car to destroy the bridges at Mariette, which was further left, whilst Lieutenant Boulnois continued on to Pont Richebe.

THE MARIETTE BRIDGE

The bridge at Mariette, some three and a half miles from Mons, was held by the 1st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers. The area had remained fairly quiet, but at 15.00 hours German infantry launched a sudden attack which took the Northumberland TOP RIGHT: Fusiliers somewhat by surprise. A Victoria Cross It is said that a number of civilians, veteran – Charles in this case a group of little Belgian Jarvis VC pictured in the 1930s. Jarvis girls, trapped between the fire of the opposing forces, ran down the was presented with his VC at road. Confused and terrified they ran Buckingham Palace backwards and forwards not knowing in 1915. He was what to do. Naturally the Fusiliers held later promoted to their fire and the Germans were able Corporal before to take advantage of this. They rushed being discharged from the Army in forward and cut the wire that the 1917. (HMP) Northumberlands had strung up and

reached the shelter of some large coal sheds on the far side of the canal. From here the Germans were then able to fire at the British infantry from virtually point blank range. It was about this time that Captain Wright and Sergeant Smith arrived in the vicinity of the Mariette bridges. Here they had two bridges to deal with. One was a short twenty-one foot span across the subsidiary canal, and the other was over the main lifting bridge beyond.4 The charges were already in place having been laid by Sergeant Smith earlier in the day. All that was needed was to connect them up, fix the lines to the electrical detonator and push the plunger. Captain Wright, with his head already bandaged due to his wound, swung himself out over the canal underneath the main lift bridge to connect the leads. He made repeated attempts to grab the ends of the cables on the bridge, but each time he raised his head above the level of the towpath he was fired upon by the German soldiers from their positions of relative safety behind the coal sheds

about thirty yards away.  Eventually he gave up the attempt and was swinging himself back under the bridge when he lost his grip and fell into the canal. Sergeant Smith went in after him and managed to pull Captain Wright to the safety of the southern bank. His valiant attempts to connect the leads failed; they had been too short. The bridge remained intact.5

FOR VALOUR Lock No.2 Bridge was the only one of the bridges allocated to 57th Field Company RE that was destroyed. The efforts of Jarvis, Heron and Wright, however, had not gone unnoticed. Private Heron received the Distinguished Conduct Medal and Lance Corporal Jarvis and Captain Wright were both awarded the Victoria Cross. Wright’s VC announcement in The London Gazette includes a second reference to an action which occurred on 14 September 1914. On this occasion Wright was helping wounded soldiers of the 5th Cavalry Brigade over a pontoon bridge when he was mortally wounded. This was observed by an officer of the Scots Greys, who wrote: “We got across the river the day before yesterday a bit before our time and we had to go back over a pontoon bridge considerably quicker than was pleasant, under a very heavy fire too. At the end of the bridge was an Engineer officer repairing bits blown off and putting down straw as cool as a cucumber – the finest thing I ever saw. The poor fellow was killed just after my troops got across. No man earned a better Victoria Cross.” He was certainly made of the right stuff. 

NOTES The son of the late William Walter and Arabella Wright, of “Talgai”, Albury, Guildford, Captain Theodore Wright was 31-years old at the time of his death. He was buried in Vailly British Cemetery. The village of Vailly-sur-Aisne was the point at which the 3rd Division crossed the river Aisne on 13 and 14 September 1914 during the Allied advance from the Marne. It fell to the German forces in 1915, was retaken by the French during the Chemin des Dames Offensive in April 1917, lost again to the Germans in June 1918 and finally captured by the French on 15 September 1918. Vailly British Cemetery was established after the Armistice when the remains of Commonwealth soldiers were brought here from other burial grounds and battlefields throughout the region. (COURTESY OF THE COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION)

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1. Quoted in John Terraine, Mons, The Retreat to Victory (Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2010), p.91. 2. Ibid. 3. The Sapper, February 1915. 4. Jack Horsfall and Nigel Cave, Mons 1914 (Leo Cooper, Barnsley, 2000), pp.81-6. 5. Ian R. Gumm, quoted at: www.inthefootsteps.com

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THE RAF ON THE AIR Flying Officer Dennis Briggs

MAIN PICTURE: Consolidated PBY Catalina AH545, the aircraft flown by Flying Officer Dennis Briggs when his crew re-discovered the battleship Bismarck on 26 May 1941. This aircraft, with a different crew on board, failed to return from an Atlantic patrol on 15 July 1942. (HMP, VIA THE LATE ANDREW HENDRIE)

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During the Second World War, RAF personnel regularly described their activities on the radio for listeners of the BBC. These broadcasts described their experiences in their own words and in effect provided the human stories behind the official communiqués. Each month we present one of these narratives, an account selected from over 280 broadcasts which were, at the time, given anonymously.

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T 03.30 hours on 26 May 1941, Flying Officer Dennis Briggs took off from Lough Erne in Northern Ireland at the controls of Consolidated PBY Catalina AH545, coded WQ-Z. Also on board this 209 Squadron flying boat were Pilot Officer Otter, Flying Officer Lowe, Sergeants Edmonds, Burton, Leigh, Dunning and Stenning, and Leading Aircraftman Martin, the Wireless Operator. The last man in the crew was co-pilot Ensign Leonard B. Smith of the United States Navy, one of seventeen American pilots operating with Coastal Command at the time. After flying for six hours, the Catalina reached its search area out in the Atlantic. At 10.30 hours, some 700 miles west of Brest, the crew spotted their prey – the German battleship Bismarck. Within moments, LAC Martin was transmitting what would be perhaps the most important sighting report of the Second World War. A survivor from Bismarck later acknowledged that the position given by the RAF crew was more accurate than that obtained by the battleship’s own navigation.

Subsequently speaking on the BBC, Pilot Officer Dennis Briggs gave this account: “We left our base at 3.30 in the morning, and we got to the area we had to search at 9.45. It was a hazy morning with poor visibility, and our job was to contact with Bismarck, which had been lost since early Sunday morning. About an hour later we saw a dark shape ahead in the mist. We were flying low at the time. I and the second pilot were sitting side by side and we saw the ship at the same time. “At first we could hardly believe our eyes. I believe we both shouted ‘There she is,’ or something of the sort. “There was a forty-knot wind blowing and a heavy sea running, and she was digging her nose right in, throwing it white over her bows. At first, as we weren’t sure that it was an enemy battleship, we had to make certain. So we altered course, went up to about 1,500 feet into a cloud, and circled. We thought we were near the stern of her when the cloud ended, and there we were, right above her. “The first we knew of it was a couple of puffs of smoke just outside the cockpit window, and a devil of a lot of noise. www.britainatwar.com

    

 � And then we were surrounded by dark brownish black smoke as she pooped off at us with everything she’d got. She’d only been supposed to have eight antiaircraft guns, but fire was coming from more than eight places – in fact, she looked just one big flash. The explosions threw the flying-boat about, and we could hear bits of shrapnel hit the hull. Luckily only a few penetrated. “My first thought was that they were going to get us before we’d sent the signal off, so I grabbed a bit of paper and wrote out the message and gave it to the wireless operator. At the same time the second pilot took control, and took avoiding action. “I should say that as soon as the Bismarck saw us she’d taken avoiding action too, by turning at right angles, heeling over and pitching in the heavy sea. When we’d got away a bit we cruised round while we inspected our damage. The rigger and I went over the aircraft, taking up floor-boards and thoroughly inspecting the hull. “There were about half a dozen holes, and the rigger stopped them up with rubber plugs. We also kept an eye on www.britainatwar.com

the petrol gauges, because if they were going down too fast, that meant the tanks were holed and we wouldn’t stand much chance of getting home. However, they were all right, and we went back to shadow Bismarck. “Then we met another Catalina. She’d been searching an area north of us, when she intercepted our signals and closed. On the way she’d seen a naval force, also coming towards us at full pelt through the heavy seas. They were part of our pursuing fleet. “When we saw this Catalina we knew she was shadowing the ship from signals we’d intercepted and because she was going round in big circles. So I formatted on him and went close alongside. I could see the pilot through the cockpit window and he pointed in the direction the Bismarck was going. He had come to relieve us – it was just as well, for we couldn’t stay much longer, because the holes in our hull made it essential to land in daylight. So we left the other Catalina to shadow Bismarck. You all know what happened after that. “We landed just after half-past nine

at night, after flying for over eighteen hours. But one of our Catalinas during this operation set up a new record for Coastal Command of twenty-seven hours on continuous reconnaissance.” A subsequent Air Ministry bulletin noted that the following signals had been exchanged between the Admiralty and the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Coastal Command in connection with the Bismarck operations. From Admiralty to the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Coastal Command: “Admiralty wish gratefully to acknowledge the part played by the reconnaissance of the forces under your command, which contributed in a large measure to the successful outcome of the recent operation.” The message sent in reply stated: “Your message very much appreciated and has been repeated to all concerned. It was a great hunt and we are eager and ready for more.” In his log book Briggs made the following brief entry, an entry that belies the importance of what his crew had achieved: “Spotted and shadowed Bismarck; holed by A/A shrapnel.” 

TOP IMAGE: Flying Officer Dennis Briggs recording his account of the re-discovery of Bismarck for broadcast on the BBC.

(HMP, VIA THE

LATE ANDREW HENDRIE)

FAR LEFT: The battleship Bismarck as seen from the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen after the Battle of the Denmark Strait on 24 May 1941. (BUNDESARCHIV, BILD 1461984-055-14/ LAGEMANN/ CC-BY-SA)

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NO LONGER UNKNOWN Sergeant Leonard Maidment

NO LONGER

UNKNOWN A

S a Territorial soldier, Leonard Maidment was not obliged to undertake overseas service but, like many hundreds of thousands of others, he volunteered in 1914 to fight abroad. His battalion was ordered first, not to France, but to India, sailing on 13 December 1914. On 29 April 1917, the battalion left India for Egypt, landing at Suez. In time, Maidment was transferred to the 2/4th Battalion Hampshire Regiment, which, in time, was ordered to France, arriving at the port of Marseilles on 1 June 1918. From there the 2/4th Hampshires headed north to the Western Front where, four days later, they joined the battlehardened 62nd (West Riding) Division as the Germans launched their last major offensive of the war. Operation Michael, the element of the German Spring, or Kaiser’s, Offensive aimed at crushing the British Expeditionary Force on the left flank of

MAIN PICTURE & FAR RIGHT: A view of Marfaux British Cemetery where, for nearly a century, Sergeant Leonard Maidment, 2/4th Battalion Hampshire Regiment, had lain in a grave marked only as that of an unknown Sergeant. The cemetery was begun after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the battlefields and from other military cemeteries in the Marne.

(ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

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After the 62nd (West Riding) Division Sergeant Leonard Maidment had been in GHQ Reserve for three was killed in action on 20 weeks, orders were received transferring July 1918. His body was it from IV Corps to XXII Corps. Along believed to have been lost with the 51st (Highland) Division it was – that was until Western to form the British XXII Corps and was Front Association member to join the French Fifth Army on the David Tattersfield happened eastern flank of the French positions. to visit a cemetery on one of his many battlefield trips and HEADING TO BATTLE came across a headstone to an On 14 July 1918, the 62nd (West Riding) Division began entraining at Doullens “Unknown Sergeant”. and Mondicourt. Even though they the Allied line, had failed. Against the French sector, however, the Germans still hoped to achieve the breakthrough that would see them reach Paris and claim a final victory. In a new offensive launched on 15 July 1918, the Germans attacked the French positions around Reims. This massive assault, known now as the Second Battle of the Marne, saw forty-three infantry divisions, backed by 5,000 guns, attack the French line and British and American units were called forward to help.

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were cramped into uncomfortable goods carriages (forty men or eight horses according to the sign on the side of the truck), the journey had been interesting. They travelled via Amiens, Beauvais, Paris, Montereau and St Florentin. Nearly two days later they clambered off the train at Sommesous and into lorries which took them to billets at Athis, close to Châlons-sur-Marne on Tuesday, 16 July. They had a restful day on Thursday, 18 July – there was even a battalion band playing in the village during the day, much to the enjoyment of troops and locals alike. This short period of pleasure could not last and the following morning, Friday, 19 July 1918, the battalion had marched off into the forest. It was a short march – just eleven miles – and they had reached their destination of Germaine by mid-morning. Leonard saw the battalion Commanding Officer, 

ABOVE: This photograph shows officers of the 62nd (West Riding) Division conferring with French and Italian officers in the Bois de Reims, July 1918. Following the Allies successful attack on 20 July, the Germans withdrew from the Marne. By the time the Germans had completed their withdrawal, they were back at the original positions from which they had started their Spring Offensive. (IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM; Q11113)

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NO LONGER UNKNOWN Sergeant Leonard Maidment RIGHT: German troops moving forward in preparation for the Second Battle of the Marne. Note the captured British tanks.

(BUNDESARCHIV, BILD 183-R28717/CC-BY-SA)

BELOW: Until his last resting place was finally identified, Sergeant Leonard Maidment had been commemorated on the Soissons Memorial which commemorates almost 4,000 men of the British forces who died during the battles of the Aisne and the Marne in 1918 and who have no known grave. (CWGC)

BOTTOM RIGHT: Relatives of Sergeant Leonard Maidment at Marfaux British Cemetery on 20 August 2013.

Lieutenant Colonel Brook, and the company commanders move off during the afternoon to reconnoitre the next stage of the march to Courtagnon. The officers returned from their reconnaissance and, at around midnight, the battalion had set off even deeper into the extensive forest. The last leg of the march was dreadful. It seemed like chaos, the babble of voices in French and Italian, whose battalions and guns would play their part in the battle to come, had been mixed with the occasional explosion of German shells. There was no light and the overgrown forest seemed dark and sinister. The line of men struggled along narrow, crowded tracks and they frequently halted then surged forward, only to halt again. Tired and behind schedule, the 2/4th Hampshires made it to the correct place at the north-east corner of the Bois de Courtagnon. However, the battalion’s officers were uneasy since they had been instructed to launch an attack against the Germans with virtually

no notice and across ground that was totally unfamiliar. They were also reliant on French and Italian artillery. Despite this, they were told that the German offensive was faltering and that a successful attack up the valley of the Ardre would mean the enemy would be pushed back to Bligny. The plan was for XXII Corps to attack down the Ardre valley at 08.00 hours on 20 July 1918, with the 51st (Highland) Division on the left side of the river and the 62nd Division on the right. The 62nd Division’s start line was from Pourcy to the Bois de Pourcy. Above the start line the valley was heavily wooded and difficult to penetrate. To the other side, and below, the valley was one to two miles wide with cornfields near the river and enclosed by steep, heavily-wooded hills each side.

ZERO HOUR

LUDENDORFF'S LAST GAMBLE

Sergeant Leonard Maidment waited with his comrades in the pre-dawn gloom of the morning of 20 July 1918,

preparing for his first combat on the Western Front. He may well have spent a few moments reflecting on how he came to be there, on the densely wooded slopes just north of Epernay. Compared to many, he had had a relatively safe war. He had seen some action in Palestine during 1917, but up to this point, the 2/4th Hampshires had lost no more than sixty men killed or died of disease. He was probably in no doubt that this was about to change. Unlike Leonard and his comrades in the 2/4th Hampshires, most of the men of the 62nd (West Riding) Division had seen plenty of action in the last year or so. Despite the almost impenetrable Yorkshire dialect of some of his new comrades, he chatted to men who talked about Beaumont Hamel, Bullecourt, Lagnicourt, Havrincourt and Bucquoy. Although these exploits were some eight months ago, these Yorkshiremen seemed most proud of their efforts at Havrincourt and the subsequent dreadful fighting at Bourlon Wood. They talked about advancing alongside

THE CHIEF Quartermaster-General of the Kaiser’s army, Erich Ludendorff, still believed that the German offensive which began in the spring of 1918 had weakened the French and that one final big push would bring the long-promised victory. The opening shots of what became known as the Second Battle of the Marne were fired on 15 July 1918. Unfortunately for Ludendorff those shots were not fired by the Germans. The French Fourth Army, under General Gouraud, had been informed of Ludendorff’s plans and they conducted a preemptive artillery bombardment onto the trenches packed with German assault troops. The attack was almost over before it had begun. The next day, the offensive was called off and instead it was the Allies that counter-attacked and, by 6 August, the Germans were back behind the Aisne. The Allies had taken 29,367 prisoners, 793 guns and 3,000 machine guns and inflicted 168,000 casualties on the Germans. Ludendorff’s last gamble had failed. The enormous effort put into the Spring Offensive, and the consequent loss of life on an enormous scale, had been for nothing. The demoralised German Army never recovered. The end of the war was little more than a 100 days away.

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“Harper’s Duds”, the affectionate name for the 51st (Highland) Division. Even though the Highlanders had been held up at Flesquières, they were pleased to be alongside the Scotsmen again, here in the wooded hills of the Bois de Reims. At 08.00 hours – ‘Zero Hour’ – Leonard would have heard the crescendo of the artillery and supporting arms. Battalions from both divisions went forward, launching the attack with French and Italian troops on either side. It was a truly international effort. In support of the initial attack, the Hampshires were flanked by two battalions of The Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment) – the 2/4th and the 5th. Heavy German artillery fire came down. In front of them, battalions of the West Yorkshire Regiment attacked towards the villages of Marfaux and Cuitron. “Surely,” remarked one officer, “there was no war in this pleasant country. But the standing crops in the undulating valley, the vineyards on the slopes leading up to the heights and the dense woods along the ridges, concealed from view hostile positions of great strength, and death lurked in the shimmering haze covering those peaceful fields and quiet uplands.”1

A WITHERING FIRE In the face of fierce German opposition, the West Yorkshires’ attack stalled. The supporting artillery barrage had fallen too far ahead and fire from the German machine-gun positions (located in the villages and wooded slopes above the villages) swept across the open fields. The West Yorkshires dug in just in front of Marfaux, still under a withering fire. As the Hampshires moved forward from their positions behind the front line they received orders to reinforce the West Yorkshire battalions. Lieutenant www.britainatwar.com

Colonel Brook instructed ‘B’ and ‘D’ companies, with ‘A’ Company in support, to continue the attempted advance on Marfaux. Into this maelstrom stepped Leonard Maidment.

NO KNOWN GRAVE Days later, back in Andover, Mr and Mrs Maidment received the much-dreaded telegram. Leonard had been killed in action on 20 July. Later they learned that his body had been lost or remained unidentified and that consequently he had no known grave. His name was therefore subsequently listed on the Soissons Memorial to the Missing. Like so many other families, the Maidments had no grave to visit, nowhere to focus their grief. All they had was a pension of 5/- per week. Leonard’s body must have been retrieved after the fighting. His remains, identified only to be those of an “Unknown Sergeant” of the Hampshire Regiment killed on 20 July, were interred at Marfaux British Cemetery. Western Front Association member David Tattersfield, who is also the Association’s Development Trustee, happened to visit the cemetery on one of his many battlefield trips. He spotted the headstone and realised that knowing the date, rank and regiment of the unknown Sergeant would give him a good chance of narrowing down the name of the individual who was lying underneath. Back home, David’s research discovered that there were only two sergeants of the Hampshire Regiment killed on that day. One lost his life in Persia (now Iran); the other was 200265 Sergeant Leonard Maidment. Armed with this information, David was able to demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt to the Service Personnel and Veterans

Agency (SPVA) that Sergeant Maidment lay under the stone. The SPVA, however, remained cautious in its declaration, explaining how it reached the conclusion that they “believed” David Tattersfield was correct in his identification, but could not go beyond that. “Our decision is based on a number of factors,” ran the wording of the letter. “These include: the fact that the body now interred at Marfaux was initially buried under a wooden cross inscribed ‘Unknown Serjeant of 2/4 Hampshire Battalion’, reports that the uniform on the body had Sjt stripes, the fact that the body was found in the area between Pourcy and Marfaux in which the Battalion was operating at that time the body was buried, the date of the death of the casualties buried either side of grave 3G3 were consistent with a date of death for the occupant of 

TOP LEFT: Soldiers from the 2/4th Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, part of the 62nd (West Riding) Division, pictured cleaning up a captured German trench in the Bois de Reims on 23 July 1918. It may well have been whilst such work was being undertaken that Sergeant Leonard Maidment’s body was found, only to remain unidentified.

(IMPERIAL WAR

MUSEUM; Q11111)

TOP RIGHT: Sergeant Leonard Maidment’s informal will. LEFT: During the ceremony at Marfaux British Cemetery on 20 August 2013, when Sergeant Maidment’s named headstone was rededicated, the sounding of The Last Post and the two minutes silence that followed allowed all those present to reflect on the events of ninetyfive years ago. NOVEMBER 2013 75

NO LONGER UNKNOWN Sergeant Leonard Maidment BELOW: Wreaths in front of Sergeant Leonard Maidment’s now fully-named Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone in Marfaux British Cemetery.

this grave of 20 July 1918, only one other Serjeant from the Hampshire Regiment is reported as having been killed on 20 July1918 (and that was in the Middle East) and the fact that Sjt Maidment is the only Serjeant from 2/4 Battalion killed in 1918, whose grave is unaccounted for. “However, in the absence of a grave exhumation report which would have been raised at the time the body was moved to Marfaux and which may give a description of the body and physical characteristics or any other physical evidence that would allow us to positively identify the body, I am afraid

that we must place a caveat on our decision and as such propose to mark the grave with a headstone stating the grave is ‘believed to be’ that of Sjt Maidment.” However, after representations the caveat “believed to be” was not included on the headstone. Then, on 20 August 2013, three greatnephews of Leonard Maidment, who had travelled to France, were present at the rededication of his now correctly named headstone. So many times the phrase “the first of the family to visit” is heard, but on this occasion

there could be no doubt that no members of the family had previously stood by Leonard’s grave to pay their respects. Under the hot mid-day sun of the late summer day, Leonard’s greatnephews and their wives gathered in the cemetery. It means that for the first time in almost 100 years, members of his family can grieve for him and remember his bravery at the spot where he was laid to rest and that the body of Leonard Maidment is no longer unknown. 

NOTE

1. The Story of the 62nd (West Riding) Division 1914-1919, Volume 1, Everard Wyrall. (Undated publication: John Lane, The Bodley Head, London.)

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After the War F_P.indd 1

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DATES THAT SHAPED T 3

H2S, THE first airborne, ground scanning radar system, which had been designed to identify targets on the ground for night and allweather bombing and which had been used from the start of the year to assist operations over Occupied Europe, was employed for the first time by minelaying aircraft in a gardening operation in the Frisian Islands. On this same night Bomber Command also undertook the first large-scale test of the G-H blind-bombing device in a raid on Düsseldorf.

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A MEMBER of the Special Operations Executive, Harry Ree, persuaded Armand Peugeot to sabotage his own factory rather than see it bombed by the RAF. The plant had been manufacturing turrets for German tanks. The Peugeot engineers made sure that the site never worked properly again during the German Occupation.

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A NEW RAF unit, No.100 (Bomber Support) Group, was formed by Bomber Command at West Raynham under the command of Air Commodore E.B. Addison. The group was formed in an effort to draw together Bomber Command’s existing Radio Counter Measures electronic warfare operations. With its headquarters at Bylaugh Hall, Norfolk, the group was also responsible for the development, operational trial and use of such equipment. Indeed, during 100 Group’s existence over thirty-two different devices were evaluated and used.

BOMBER COMMAND opened what became known as the Battle of Berlin with a force of 440 Lancasters and four Mosquitoes attacking the German capital during the night. The air raid warning was sounded at 20.11 hours and the all clear at 22.23 hours. A total of 143 people were killed in the raid, with an additional four missing, 409 wounded and 7,326 made homeless; 533 houses were destroyed, 8,493 were damaged. This marked the start of a campaign that would last until 24 March 1944.

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DESPITE PROTESTS, just before 07.00 hours, Sir Oswald Mosley, the leader of the British Union of Fascists, was released through a back entrance of Holloway prison, where he had been detained since 1940 under Regulation 18B of the Defence (General) Regulations 1939, which allowed the internment of people suspected of being Nazi sympathisers. His release was on health ground, as he suffered from phlebitis. He and Lady Mosley, who shared a flat in the prison, were reunited with their two sons, who had been cared for by friends.

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FIFTY SHORT Stirlings took part in the latest raid upon Berlin, part of a force of 764 despatched to the German capital overnight. The attack marked the last time that these aircraft would be sent into the skies over Germany.

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AIR CHIEF Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory was made Commanderin-Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force, which had been formed to control RAF and USAAF units during the forthcoming D-Day landings.

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IN AN important administrative change, RAF Fighter Command was disbanded with its squadrons being allocated to one of two other organisations. The defensive function was taken over by the Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB), of which Air Marshal R.M. Hill was appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, whilst the Second Tactical Air Force was to undertake offensive operations. AIR COMMAND South-East Asia was formed under the command of Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Peirse.

MAIN PICTURE: A Lancaster of 35 Squadron, part of the Pathfinder Force, undertaking a landing at Graveley during a FIDO test. The picture illustrates the intense heat generated by the system and the distance from the runway at which the pipes were sited. (COURTESY OF DAVID J. SMITH)

  FIDO: FOG INVESTIGATION DISPERSAL OPERATIONS HISTORY WAS made on the night of Friday, 19 NOVEMBER 1943, when four Halifaxes of 35 Squadron, which were returning from the Ruhr, found their base at RAF Graveley covered by fog, with a visibility down to just 100 yards. Within ten minutes of being lit up, the airfield’s FIDO, or Fog Investigation Dispersal Operations, cleared a lane along the runway in which the equivalent visibility was two to four miles and the bombers landed without incident. This was the first operational use of FIDO.

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By burning petrol at the rate of 100,000 gallons per hour, FIDO could produce sufficient heat to lift fog and enable pilots to take-off and land safely when poor visibility would otherwise have made flying too dangerous. Graveley’s FIDO equipment had been ready for use in January 1943, the first test burn causing so much smoke and flame that fire engines rushed to the airfield from a twenty mile radius. FIDO was eventually installed at fifteen airfields around the United Kingdom. Between 1943 and 1945, 2,500 aircraft landed safely in fog thanks to FIDO, saving the lives of 10,000 aircrew.

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D THE WAR 26

HIS MAJESTY’S Troopship Rohna carrying US troops was attacked by German aircraft in the Mediterranean north of Béjaia, Algeria. The convoy in which the British India Steam Navigation Company ship was travelling was attacked by about thirty Heinkel He 177 bombers with Henschel Hs 293 guided glide bombs. Rohna was the only ship that was hit, being struck by one of the glide bombs. A total of 1,138 men were lost, most of whom were Americans. News of the loss was suppressed at the time, details being released only gradually over time, with the full story being finally revealed in its entirety in 1967. The sinking constitutes the largest loss of US troops at sea in a single incident.

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ANOTHER TOP-LEVEL conference, the Tehran Conference (codenamed Eureka), opened on this date; this time Roosevelt and Churchill met with Stalin at the Soviet Embassy in Tehran. This was the first meeting of the “Big Three” Allied leaders. The conference continued until 1 December. Although all three of the leaders present arrived with differing objectives, the main outcome of the Tehran Conference was the commitment to the opening of a second front against Germany by the Western Allies.

THE ALLIED BOMBING OF GERMAN CITIES DURING A debate in Parliament, one MP asked the Secretary of State for Air how many acres of housing property had been destroyed in Germany since March 1943, by Allied bombing, as well how many had been destroyed in the UK during the Blitz in 1940 and 1941. In reply, Sir Archibald Sinclair stated: “My hon. Friend has been good enough to inform me that by ‘housing property’ he means all built-up property, including factories and industrial plants. Comprehensive statistics of this character are not available, but the photographic and other evidence shows beyond doubt that the area destroyed in Germany as a result of Allied bombing in the six months ended September last was many times greater than that inflicted on this country by all the German air attacks of 1940 and 1941.”

November 1943

Key Moments and Events that affected Britain in WW2

THE CAIRO CONFERENCE

A CONFERENCE opened in Cairo between President Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek on Monday, 22 NOVEMBER 1943. Codenamed Sextant the conference, which lasted for four days, was designed to discuss Allied strategy against Japan during the war and how to deal with Japan and the rest of Asia after it had ended. The day following the conclusion of the meetings, after the three leaders had safely left the conference, the Cairo Declaration was issued which stated the Allies’ intention to keep employing military force against Japan until that country’s unconditional surrender. Stalin did not attend the conference as the Soviet Union and Japan were not at war at that time. This picture shows some of the delegates at the Cairo Conference. Seated in the front row are President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill with President Inönü of Turkey who is in the centre. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

A Mosquito undertaking a FIDO landing at Graveley. (COURTESY OF DAVID J. SMITH)

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A WILDERNESS OF ASHES Liberation of Bergen-Belsen

A WILDERNESS O

When the British 11th Armoured Division relieved the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen on 15 April 1945, it found around 53,000 prisoners starving to death and riddled with typhus and dysentery. With few doctors available a call was put out and ninety-five medical students volunteered to help. One of these young students, Michael Hargrave, recorded his experiences. MAIN PICTURE: Press reporters taking notes in front of a sign erected by British troops at the entrance to Belsen soon after its liberation. (HMP)

T

HE YOUNG British officer drove round the camp. With a loudspeaker he told the prisoners that at last they were free. It was just a word. They were still behind barbed-wire and would stay so for an indeterminate length

“I now began to see the Concentration Camp proper, the first thing that struck me was the amazing bleakness of the Camp ... everything was grey or slaty-brown.” 80 NOVEMBER 2013

of time. Some would never leave the camp alive. Typhus, typhoid, tuberculosis and severe dysentery had spread throughout the camp and none of the prisoners could be allowed outside for fear of the diseases spreading.

The problem was that no-one had been prepared for this. It was difficult to comprehend the scale of the human tragedy and the impending disaster that loomed if something was not done immediately to deal with the thousands of extremely sick, weak and starving prisoners. One BBC War Correspondent, Richard Dimbleby entered Belsen, which is situated to the south-west of the town

of Bergen near Celle, in Lower Saxony, shortly after it had been “liberated” by 11th Armoured Division on the afternoon of Sunday, 15 April 1945. “I picked my way over corpse after corpse in the gloom,” he reported on 19 April. “In the shade of some trees lay a great collection of bodies. I walked about them trying to count, there were perhaps 150 of them flung down on each other, all naked, all so thin that www.britainatwar.com

S OF ASHES ABOVE: The entrance gate to Belsen through which Michael Hargrave and some of his fellow volunteers passed for the first time on Thursday, 3 May 1945. The sign seen here, described by Michael in his journal, reads “Dust spreads typhus – 5 mph”. This speed restriction was imposed to prevent the spread of dust carrying the lice which were infested with typhus. (IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM; BU4092) BOTTOM: The first page of Michael Hargrave’s handwritten journal, the contents of which have been published by Imperial College Press.

their yellow skin glistened like stretched rubber on their bones. Some of the poor starved creatures whose bodies were there looked so utterly unreal and inhuman that I could have imagined that they had never lived at all.”1 It was into this scene of horror that Michael John Hargrave and ninetyfour other medical students were thrust. Twenty-one-year-old Hargrave was in his fourth year of medical www.britainatwar.com

school when he responded to a notice asking for volunteers. At first he and his co-volunteers were not told what they had signed up for but were later informed that they were being sent to Holland to assist starving civilians. On the day they set out on their journey to the Continent, Saturday, 28 April 1945, they were told that their destination had changed – they were going to Belsen.  NOVEMBER 2013 81

ABOVE: Some of the medical students who volunteered to go to Europe, which was eventually established as being Belsen concentration camp, pictured in battledress before their departure. Michael Hargrave is second from the right. (PHOTOGRAPH BY REG SPELLER/FOX PHOTOS/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES)

THE CAMP’S LIBERATION

ABOVE: The volunteer medical students pose for a photographer outside Westminster Hospital before setting off for Belsen. Michael Hargrave is shaking hands with the Dean of Westminster Hospital Medical School. Hargrave recalled this moment in his journal: “Just before lunch on [28 April 1945] we were told that we were going to be photographed for a Press Agency so we had to get into all our equipment and then followed some very faked photographs of me shaking hands with the Dean – supposed to be saying good-bye.” (PHOTOGRAPH

BY REG SPELLER/FOX PHOTOS/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES)

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In April 1943 part of the former Army and PoW camp at Bergen-Belsen was taken over by the SS as a concentration camp and large numbers of Jews, men, women and children, were transported there from Poland, Hungary and Holland. In August 1944 the women’s camp was created for Jewish women and older girls. Amongst those that died at Belsen was Ann Frank. When the concentration camps in the east were evacuated in the path of the advancing Red Army in early 1945, tens of thousands were sent to Belsen. The population of the camp, which had stood at 15,257 at the end of 1944, increased to 44,000 by the end of March 1945, even though some 18,000 people had died there during that period. “We are engulfed in our own stinking sea of germs, lice and fleas, and everything around us is putrid and slimy,” wrote Jewish-Bosnian schoolteacher Hanna Lévy-Hass. “We are literally lying on top of each other, we provide a perfect breeding ground for the lice.”2 In February 1945 an epidemic of typhus broke out and by early March 1945, Belsen was subsiding into chaos. The food supply system, such as it ever had been, had failed altogether. Allied bombing had cut the water supply and all attempts to bury the dead had been abandoned, as one internee later recorded: “Until about March the dead had been cremated but during this month the mortality rate rose sharply and

the crematorium could no longer cope. The dead were then gathered into piles and burned in the open but this was discontinued when the military personnel in [the nearby] barracks objected to the smell. Large pits were then bulldozed out and the dead were dragged to them for burial ... But as the death rate and the physical incapacity of the internees increased, and this was most marked in the women’s laager, the dead were simply dragged as far away from the huts as possible and dumped. As exhaustion increased, the distance the corpses were dragged diminished and the piles around the huts grew.” The situation had become so bad that when SS Standartenführer Kurt Becher, who had been appointed Reich Special Commissar for the affairs of Jews and political prisoners, visited Belsen he agreed with the camp commandant Joseph Kramer that Belsen should be handed over to the advancing British Army. Brigadier-General Glyn Hughes, Deputy Director of Medical Services of the British Second Army which was the unit closest to Belsen and the one that was given responsibility for dealing with the camp. He arrived there on the afternoon that the camp was liberated. One of his officers, Lieutenant Colonel James Johnstone, later recorded the scene they found: “A very great number of dazed, apathetic Human Scarecrows wandering around the Camp in a completely aimless fashion, dressed www.britainatwar.com

A WILDERNESS OF ASHES Liberation of Bergen-Belsen in rages and some even without rags – there were piles of dead everywhere right up to the front gates.”3

THE JOURNEY TO GERMANY That same day that they learnt they were headed for Belsen, Michael and his fellow volunteers, dressed in newly-issued battledress, collected their passports, military permits and identity cards carrying their ranks. From London the group travelled by train to a transit camp near Cirencenster, where the wait to continue their journey began. It was a wait that lasted for two days. Finally, Michael’s Dakota took off from RAF Down Ampney bound for Celle airfield. Bad weather over the Channel and northern Europe forced the pilot to put down at Croydon, where the volunteers were obliged to endure further delays which only ended in a return to Down Ampney. On Wednesday, 2 May, another attempt to complete the flight to Germany was made – this time from RAF Blakehill Farm. Having landed at Celle, it was late in the afternoon when the volunteers finally arrived at the Panzertruppen Schule (Tank Training School) which was about a mile from the camp itself. The following morning, Michael and his colleagues were spoken to by Dr Arnold Meiklejohn, a nutritional expert from the School of Tropical Medicine and the man in charge of saving the surviving prisoners. In his briefing to the new arrivals, Dr Meiklejohn explained that Belsen was divided into two parts. The first, Camp I, “contained about 50,000 people when it was liberated … in which the conditions were extremely bad”. Camp II, situated nearer the Panzertruppen Schule, “contained around 15000 people, mainly men – who were comparatively fit and conditions were reasonably good”.

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“THE SIGHT THAT MET US WAS SHOCKING” Briefing over, it was time to make the short trip to the camp. “We all clambered onto the lorries … and drove along an extremely bad road for about a mile until we came to Camp I,” noted Michael Hargrave. “Here on the main gates was a red notice warning everyone that there was Typhus in the Camp … We drove just inside the gates and then stopped … We had not been told that this was the administrative area of the Camp and therefore clean and so at our first sight of it the Camp did not look too bad.” The reality, however, was soon discovered. The medical volunteers soon found that much of what the British troops had been able to do in the days since Belsen had been liberated was separate the living from the dead and to make a start in burying the thousands of bodies. The volunteers, after being sprayed with DDT, were each allocated a hut in ‘Camp I’ to ensure an even distribution of food and to care for the sick. Michael Hargrave wrote of his first impressions of the place in a daily journal which he maintained throughout his month-long stay at Belsen: “I now began to see the Concentration Camp proper, the first thing that struck me was the amazing bleakness of the Camp ... everything was grey or slaty-brown. The next thing was the dust, this was everywhere and even as you walked you left clouds of dust behind you.” The medical significance of this observation is that typhus can easily be spread through air-borne dust. “Then the Internees – they looked thin, brown and dirty and they shuffled along in a purposeless sort of way, dressed in their blue and white striped slave clothing.” Hargrave was allocated to hut 224 in Laager I (Women). “We set off towards it and noticed another striking thing 

Elements of the British Second Army pictured approaching Belsen Concentration Camp on 15 April 1945. Vehicles pass a warning sign reading “Danger Typhus” on the outskirts of the neutral exclusion zone set in place to prevent the spread of disease. (IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM; BU3927)

ABOVE: Josef Kramer, the Camp Commandant, photographed at Belsen on 17 April 1945, before being removed to the PoW cage at Celle. He was tried and executed for war crimes in December 1945. (HMP) BELOW: The British Army arrives at Belsen concentration camp. Here a Comet tank of the 11th Armoured Division passes the camp’s main gate on 15 April 1945. (IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM; BU3928)

NOVEMBER 2013 83

A WILDERNESS OF ASHES Liberation of Bergen-Belsen

“Belsen is a living death, an example of Nazi methods, the best indictment of their government one could ever find, and if ever necessary, an undoubted answer to those who want to know what we have been fighting for.” Peter Coombs - A British soldier present at the liberation of Belsen ABOVE: A photograph that illustrates the scale of the loss of life at Belsen – a member of 439 (Westmount) Squadron RCAF is pictured beside a large pile of shoes. (COURTESY

OF DRREGOR/FLICKR)

BELOW: A memorial on one of the mass graves at Belsen. The inscription simply reads: “Here lie 5000 dead. April 1945.”

about the Camp – the smell – this was a hot, humid smell mixed up with the smell of burning boots, dirty clothing and faeces and once smelt was never forgotten,” Hargrave recalled. “We eventually came into the Women’s Laager, where the smell increased in intensity. We went into the hut and were almost knocked back by the smell, but we went into one of the two main rooms. “The sight that met us was shocking – there were no beds whatsoever and in this one room there were about 200 people lying on the floor. In some cases they wore a few battered rags and in some cases they wore no clothes at all.

BERGEN-BELSEN A Medical Student's Journal THIS ARTICLE is based around the diary that medical student Michael Hargrave maintained, for his mother, during his time at BergenBelsen concentration camp. Written from an unusual perspective, this book is a compassionate account of the conditions he saw, the sickness and disease suffered by many, and the struggle to save as many lives as possible. Published by Imperial College Press, for more information please visit: www.icpress.co.uk

84 NOVEMBER 2013

“They were all huddled together one next to the other. In many cases 1 blanket having to cover 3 people. The floor was covered in faeces and soaked in urine and the people lying on the floor were in just the same state – as they all had extremely severe diarrhoea and were all too weak to move ... We had a look at one or two patients and they were quite literally just a mass of skin and bones, with sunken eyes which had a completely vacant look. They all had bites and severe scabies and some had terrible ulcers and bedsores the size of small saucers, with no dressings on them at all.” This hut was effectively a hospital and soon Hargrave and another medical student, along with a Polish doctor and nurses already at the hut, began to organise it on that basis. It was divided into wards, with one for those patients with Typhus, another for those who were post-Typhus, and one for individuals with advanced Tuberculosis. The first thing Hargrave did was to try and improve the strength of the patients so that they could better fight their illnesses. This took the form of glucose in solution, Horlicks, Ovaltine, cocoa and slabs of chocolate. This was a particular theme of Hargrave’s, as he later explained: “Thought it over in the evening and came to the conclusion that as regards any concentration camps which may be liberated in the Far East [as was suspected], if someone can find a quick and reliable cure for diarrhoea there is no need for any other form of treatment, as once you have stopped the diarrhoea the patients regain both their appetite and their strength.” For many though, the help of the students and others came too late. From the time that the camp was liberated until July 1945 when the hospital wards were converted to living quarters and the place took on the mantel of a Displaced Persons camp, a total of 13,994 people died.

Amongst the reasons for such a high mortality rate is that it was found to be impossible to keep lots of the patients in bed, or confined to a room. There was simply no way that people who had just found freedom were going to be restricted in such a manner. Consequently it was difficult to give such patients proper treatment or to stop the spread of infection. Because of issues such as this, sickness rates actually rose significantly during the first few weeks that the camp was under British control. The converse was also true, as Hargrave recounted to his astonishment when he visited another of the huts. “It was composed of 1 single large room with people, lying, sitting and standing all round the walls and also in the centre of the Hut, most of the people who were sick, were lying opposite the door and along the right wall of the hut. They were lying in roughly three rows, but they were all packed together head to foot so that there was absolutely no room whatsoever in between the rows. “The amazing thing about the Hut was the people who were fit, there must have been at least 200 fit, almost fat, well people in the hut, and yet they were content to stay there in the hut, living in those filthy, stuffy conditions, rather than move into some of the huts which were clean and half-empty.” Trying to stop the spread of disease in such circumstances was hopeless. According to Hargrave, the Polish doctor said that when the camp was first liberated there were approximately 2,000 people in need of hospital treatment but that a few weeks later that figure had risen to around 17,000. A number of deaths also occurred because the badly dehydrated patients were rehydrated too rapidly. There was little precedent for dealing with a situation such as Belsen and it was only as the medical staff began treating the patients that it became clear that what would be just a small volume of liquid www.britainatwar.com

FAR LEFT: One of a series of images taken by Colin Ball, a member of 439 (Westmount) Squadron RCAF, this image shows some of the tents and shelters in which some of the former inmates of Belsen lived in the aftermath of the camp’s liberation. (COURTESY OF

DRREGOR/FLICKR)

to a healthy person could prove fatal to someone whose body had adapted to a dehydrated state. The hearts of the weak patients could not cope with the sudden increase in blood volume. If their hearts did not fail, an increase of fluid accumulated in the lungs and effectively drowned the patients. It is also estimated that around 2,000 inmates died because they ate too much food too quickly and their intestines could not cope with the sudden rich, fat diet. The situation was not helped by the attitude of some of the inmates towards each other and towards the medical teams. “Somehow I cannot bring myself to like the internees as they are making such an infernal mess of this camp, and their destruction is so wanton as they destroy anything which is no use to them at the present moment, irrespective of the fact that they might want it later.” On Wednesday, 16 May 1945, for example, Hargrave wrote the following in his diary: “Camp II is now filled with internees who are turning what was once a really beautiful camp into a cess-pit ... it was really a heart-breaking sight ... Saw 1 man chopping up a cupboard for fire wood ... anything they could not loot they smashed, including the wash basins and iron stoves.”

RETURNING HOME Gradually though, the medical teams were able to bring most of the sickness under control and the dying ceased. Some degree of normality also crept into the camp. Hargrave noticed that part of the reason for this was that the internees were now fully clothed and this helped considerably in them getting some of their self-respect back. The clothes were supplied by the Germans. Every man, woman and child in the province of Lüneburg, where Belsen was situated, had been made to give up one suit of clothes for the Belsen prisoners. In time, and one by one, the huts were burnt to the ground. When the final hut was ready to be reduced to ashes, Colonel Bird, the newly-appointed camp commander, gave a short speech. “As the British flag did not stand for bestiality or cruelty the Union Jack had never flown over Belsen Camp. Now as the last hut

was being burnt the Union Jack would fly for the first time.” Brigadier Hughes and three other officers then took up the flame-throwers and fired them at the hut. As the hut burst into flames the Union Flag was raised above Belsen. Their job done, the young medical students were no longer needed at Belsen. Before leaving to return to the United Kingdom on Monday, 28 May 1945, Michael Hargrave had a last look round the camp. It was, he wrote, “like looking at a wilderness of ashes – with occasional raised squares of earth rising up out of it, each with their small piece of board saying ‘1000 unknown people buried here’, ‘8000 unknown people buried here’, and completely surrounding the Camp was the pine forest, which would soon grow over what remained of both Belsen Concentration Camp and the thousands of its inmates who died there.” 

NOTES

1. War Report, A Record of Dispatches Broadcast by the BBC’s War Correspondents with the Allied Expeditionary Force 6 June 1944-5 May 1945 (Oxford University Press, London, 1946), pp.401-2. 2. Ben Shephard, After Daybreak, The Liberation of Belsen, 1945 (Jonathan Cape, London, 2005), p.15. 3. The papers of J.A.D. Johnstone, quoted in Shephard, ibid.

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LEFT: The site of Belsen concentration camp today. Much of the the area has reverted to heath land or woodland in the years since the war and few traces of the camp’s buildings remain.

MAIN PICTURE: In September 1945, the British military authorities ordered the construction of a permanent memorial at Belsen. In the summer of 1946, a commission presented the design plan, which included the obelisk and memorial walls. The memorial was finally inaugurated in a large ceremony in November 1952. (COURTESY OF

JASMIC/FLICKR)

NOVEMBER 2013 85

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PRIVATE GEORGE PEACHMENT VC In the latest in his series Lord Ashcroft examines the actions of Private George Peachment VC during the opening day of the Battle of Loos on 25 September 1915 – actions for which he would become one of the youngest to receive Britain and the Commonwealth’s most prestigious gallantry award. ABOVE: An artist’s depiction of Private George Peachment going to the aid of his company commander, Captain Guy Dubs, during the Battle of Loos on 25 September 1915. (HMP)

Jon Enoch/eyevine

Lord Ashcroft_Nov2103.indd 87

D

uring the First World War, some boys who had lied about their age enlisted when they were in their mid-teens. Most had little or no imagination of the horrors that they would encounter in the trenches or the difficulties they would face, at such a tender age, away from the support and protection of their families. It was therefore little surprise that many of the teenagers who served during the Great War were looking for a father figure to guide them. Some built up close relationships with the officers in charge of them, particularly their company commanders, and this, in turn, often inspired great loyalty on both sides. George Peachment was not the youngest man ever to be awarded the Victoria Cross: that honour is held by Andrew Fitzgibbon, who was just fifteen when his great bravery at the storming of the North Taku Fort, during the socalled Second China War in 1860, was recognised. Nevertheless, Peachment remains one of the youngest to receive Britain and the Commonwealth’s most prestigious gallantry award, and his devotion to his company commander, Captain Guy Dubs, after the officer had been seriously wounded, was truly remarkable. Peachment, the son of a barber, was born in Tottington, near Bury, Lancashire, on 5 May 1897. After 

ABOVE: A portrait of Private George Peachment. (Courtesy of Steve Snelling)

Lord Ashcroft’s “Hero of the Month” 10/10/2013 18:30

being educated locally at three schools, he became an apprentice fitter at Ashworth & Parker and, later, at a second Bury firm, J.H. Riley. On 19 April 1915, Peachment enlisted into the 5th King’s Royal Rifle Corps, falsely giving his age as 19 years and one month, when he was actually only 17 years and 11 months old. To aid the deception, Peachment wore his father’s bowler hat in order to make himself look older than he was, at a time when a soldier had to be 19 in order to serve overseas. In the event his military career got off to an inauspicious start when he went absent from 07.30 hours on 2 July 1915, until 08.10 hours on 5 July, for which he was fined seven days’ pay. Peachment then

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transferred into the 2nd Battalion of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps upon being posted to France on 27 July 1915. On 19 September 1915, and by now aged 18 years and four months, he was confined to barracks for three days for having a dirty bayonet while on parade. However, just six days later, he found himself in the thick of the action on the opening day of the Battle of Loos, the largest British offensive mounted on the Western Front during 1915. The battle had begun in earnest at 06.34 hours on 25 September, although by then there had already been a four-day artillery barrage of the German front line to “soften up” the enemy. However, when the British decided to employ poison gas, things did not go to plan. Men of the 2nd Battalion King’s Royal Rifles and 1st Battalion The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment found themselves forced to go “over the top” because they were choking and coughing on their own

ABOVE: The distinctive Double Crassier near Hulloch and Loos which was one of the features held by the Germans and which dominated the surrounding battlefield. These twin spoil heaps were located in the 47th (London) Division’s area of advance during the battle. (Courtesy of Mark Khan) LEFT: The Double Crassier today – still

dominating the flat mining area around Hulloch and Loos. (Courtesy of Mark Khan)

BELOW: Into the maelstrom – British troops advance to the attack through a cloud of poison gas, as viewed from the trench which they have just left on the opening day of the Battle of Loos, 25 September 1915. This remarkable snapshot, depicting the conditions that Peachment and his fellow soldiers of the 2nd Battalion King’s Royal Rifles and 1st Battalion The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment would have experienced, was taken by a soldier of the London Rifle Brigade. (HMP) gas which had drifted back into the British front lines after the canisters had been fired at the German positions. Thereafter, two enemy machine-guns which had somehow escaped damage during the artillery bombardment took a terrible toll on the advancing British soldiers. A few of the British troops managed to reach the enemy’s barbed-wire defences

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10/10/2013 18:30

Lord

LEFT: Another of the characteristic

features of the Loos battlefield – the landmark known to the British troops as Tower Bridge. Prior to the attack on 25 September 1915, when Tower Bridge was captured, this pair of lifting towers, located at a pit in Loos-enGohelle, stood 150 feet tall and was visible from the British trenches. The towers were destroyed in 1918. (HMP)

RIGHT: A contemporary cigarette card depicting Private George Peachment VC.

but were soon cut down by heavy fire. Unsurprisingly, the attack faltered and soldiers were forced to take cover in shell holes and natural hollows. At 07.30 hours, those few who had survived began to straggle back to their trenches. Due to his bravery in going to the aid of his commanding officer, the young George Peachment was not amongst them. In the event, Captain Guy Dubs survived his serious injuries and later wrote an affectionate and moving letter to Peachment’s mother, Mary, spelling out, how courageous her son had been both in battle and in death: “I cannot tell you how sorry I am that your brave son was killed, but I hope it may be some little consolation to you to know how bravely he behaved and how he met his end ... “When we reached the [barbed] wire we found it absolutely untouched by our artillery fire and an almost impassable obstacle as a result. However we had to push on, and I gave the order to try to get through and over it. Your son followed me over the wire and advanced with me about 20 yards through it till we were only about

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18:30

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15 yards from the German trench. “None of the other men of the line were able to get as far and he was the only man with me. As a matter of fact I had not noticed your son was with me, but at this point a bomb hit me in the eye, blowing it and part of my face away. I fell to the ground, but on sitting up, found your son kneeling beside me. The German fire was at this time very intense, but your son was perfectly cool. “He asked me for my field dressing and started bandaging my head quite oblivious to the fire. His first thought was to help me, and though there was a shell hole nearby where he might have got cover, he never thought of doing so. Of course the Germans were bound to see us sitting up, and one of them threw a bomb which hit your son in the chest while at the same time I received a bullet also in the chest. “Your son was beyond feeling any pain, though still alive. I tried to drag him into the shell hole and at the same time keep him from moving, but at that moment a bullet hit him in the head and killed him. After his first wound he was bound to die, in fact he was already, immediately after he received it, unconscious to any pain. I lay beside him there all day, and eventually we were both picked up in the late afternoon when the trench was taken by a flank attack. “I can’t tell you how much I admired your son’s bravery and pluck. He lost his life in trying to help me and no man could have been braver than he was ... I have recommended him for the VC and have heard that the Commanding Officer has

seen the recommendation. “If he gets it, it is sad to think he is not in this world to receive all the congratulations he would get, but perhaps it may be a comfort to you ... Your son died the finest death that man can die, he showed the greatest gallantry a man can show; and I hope these facts may help you in your sad loss, together with the fact that he was spared all pain and suffering.” The recommendation by Dubs for Peachment’s VC was approved and the London Gazette detailed the baby-faced rifleman’s courage when publishing his citation on 18 November 1915: “During very heavy fighting, when our frontline was compelled to retire in order to reorganise, Pte. Peachment, seeing his Company Commander, Capt. Dubs, lying wounded, crawled to assist him. The enemy’s fire was intense, but, though there was a shell hole quite close, in which a few men had taken cover, Pte. Peachment never thought of saving himself. “He knelt in the open by his officer and tried to help him, but while doing this he 

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was first wounded by a bomb and a minute later mortally wounded by a rifle bullet. He was one of the youngest men in his battalion, and gave this splendid example of courage and self-sacrifice.” Peachment’s posthumous VC was presented to his mother by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 29 November 1916. His body was never recovered but he is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, which lists the names of more than 20,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers who died during the battle. I purchased Peachment’s gallantry and service medals at auction in 1996, ten years after buying my first VC. The remarkable letter from Peachment’s Company Commander to his mother accompanied the medals. In October 2006, the residents of Bury honoured their “forgotten soldier” at a ceremony to unveil a plaque commemorating the life of Peachment, the only Bury serviceman ever to be awarded the VC. I was approached by Alistair Burt, then the Conservative MP for Bury North, and asked if I would allow Peachment’s VC to be brought to the service. I readily agreed and I was later delighted to read a report in the Bury Times that the event at St Anne’s Church, Tottington, Bury,

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had been a success. The bronze plaque that was unveiled had originally been installed at Parkhills United Methodist Church but was later found in the back room of the Lancashire Fusiliers Museum. The Rev Hugh Bearne, the vicar of St Anne’s Church, told his local paper: “Noone knew we had the VC and you could cut the atmosphere with a knife when the procession entered the church. And when we played the traditional sunset hymn for the Army, there was not a dry eye in the church. We are proud and honoured to have this monument in our church.” The vicar added: “Peachment is the most distinguished man and was the forgotten man of Bury until last Sunday [the day of the service]. How there is not a George Peachment Street or something similar is staggering – and that is not a criticism of Bury as it is the same across the country.” I fully support the Government’s initiative, announced earlier this year, to lay commemorative paving stones in the home towns of all those who were awarded the Victoria Cross during the Great War. It is absolutely right that the “bravest of the brave” should receive this very special recognition. ■

ABOVE: Private George Peachment VC’s medals. (The Lord Ashcroft Collection) LEFT and BELOW: As his body was never found or identified, Private George Peachment VC is commemorated on panels 101 and 102 of the Loos Memorial which is part of Dud Corner Cemetery. The cemetery itself stands almost on the site of a German strong point, the Lens Road Redoubt, which was captured by the 15th (Scottish) Division on the first day of the battle (the name “Dud Corner” is believed to be due to the large number of unexploded enemy shells found in the area after the Armistice). On either side of the cemetery is a wall fifteen feet high to which are fixed tablets on which are carved the names of those commemorated. At the back are four small circular courts, open to the sky, in which the lines of tablets are continued, and between these courts are three semicircular walls or apses, two of which carry tablets, while on the centre apse is erected the Cross of Sacrifice. (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) VICTORIA CROSS HEROES Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is a Conservative peer, businessman, philanthropist and author. The story behind George Peachment’s VC appears in his book Victoria Cross Heroes. For more information visit: www.victoriacrossheroes.com Lord Ashcroft’s VC and GC collection is on public display at the Imperial War Museum. For more information visit: www.iwm.org.uk/heroes For more information on Lord Ashcroft’s work, visit www.lordashcroft.com, or follow him on Twitter: @LordAshcroft

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STUKA SWANSONG Stukas Over Britain

A Stuka In My Sights IT WAS Thursday, 7 November 1940, and, as Pilot Officer Tom “Ginger” Neil, of 249 Squadron, was about to discover, the official end of the Battle of Britain a week earlier did not mean an end to the action. “My first flight of the day, at about 8am, ended before it even began,” he later recalled when interviewed by the aviation artist Mark Postlethwaite. “Flying my own Hurricane GN-F, V6854, and rushing out across the grass to take off, my aircraft overturned, having fallen down an undermined bomb hole, chopping off my airscrew at the roots and damaging the reduction gear. “Luckily I was undamaged, enabling me to take off on my second flight at about 12 noon, this time borrowing the CO’s Hurricane GN-J, V7676. I was one of twelve Hurricanes vectored to about 18,000 feet in the Maidstone area. I was leading the second section of four Hurricanes. “Flying at height, neither Sector Control nor we could understand why we were not seeing the enemy as our radar plots were overlapping. Then came the dawn! The enemy was down at around 2,000 feet and bombing a long convoy of coastal ships sailing down the Thames – we were 16,000 feet too high! So, down we tumbled, finally breaking through a mass of broken low cloud at around 2,000 feet, at speeds approaching 400 mph”. The squadron headed down towards the enemy. As they burst through the bottom of hazy cloud they found themselves hurtling through the gaggle of Stukas, surprising both Luftwaffe and RAF pilots alike. As Tom Neil recalled: “The first thing I saw was a big fat Stuka surging towards me at an unseemly rate. Backwards!” So fast had been Neil’s encounter with the dive-bomber that as he approached it from astern and at high speed it had seemed for all the world as if the aircraft was flying backwards towards him. Flashing past, the three airmen exchanged momentary surprised glances with each other before both aircraft were lost in the whirling mêlée of a dogfight that had suddenly developed. This painting, by the renowned aviation artist Mark Postlethwaite GAvA, depicts the scene described by Tom Neil. Mark had asked him to suggest his most memorable day for the subject of this print. Both men worked closely on this painting to record the exact moment when Tom shot past the first Stuka and exchanged glances with the surprised German airmen. For more information on the painting, or prints available, please visit: www.posart.com

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T IS true that after 18 August 1940, Junkers Ju 87s were no longer used to attack airfields and radar installations on the British mainland during the period of the Battle of Britain. This is because all of the Luftwaffe’s VIII Fliegerkorps Stuka units were redeployed away from the Cotentin peninsula, being sent to the Pas-de-Calais where they were concentrated for the specific purpose of supporting the planned German invasion of the British Isles. There had surely been sound operational reasons

The popular belief is that the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka was withdrawn from use over Britain as the consequence of unacceptable losses sustained during a number of attacks on 18 August 1940. However, limited attacks continued until October 1941. Here, Andy Saunders takes a look at the circumstances of the last Stuka losses over the British Isles.

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for that transfer, although these reasons were not in any way connected to the supposed “unacceptable losses” of Stukas during the Battle of Britain as is often presented. The Air Ministry, in its 1948 narrative on that battle, succinctly summed up those reasons: “This move ... was in effect a new disposal of forces in preparation for the invasion itself. The dive-bombers were now placed in a tactical position for army support in the coming invasion operation in a similar manner to the other continental campaigns.”

Stuka www.britainatwar.com

The Stuka had excelled in that specific role, and with dive-bombing attacks followed up on the ground by armoured units and infantry, the quick seizure of key military objectives in the British Isles was anticipated. Such were the plans. In the event, of course, Operation Seelöwe was called-off and the Stuka force being held at readiness in the Pas de Calais became redundant. Already, German eyes were cast eastwards toward the Soviet Union. The USSR would be dealt with first. Then, with anticipated defeat in the

east, attention could again be focused on dealing with Britain. Meanwhile, the day and night Blitz evolved into a primarily night-Blitz, the Luftwaffe bomber force being greatly protected from interception by the cover of darkness. On a strategic front, a wider solution for dealing with Britain lay in starving her of food supplies through combined air and sea attacks on shipping. To this end, Göring issued further directives as to the conduct of continuing the air war against the British Isles. Amongst the ten points he set

out was included this particular order: “Attacks, [to be carried out] with fighter escort, on convoys in the Channel and on assemblies of shipping in the Thames.” The Stukas were back in business. 

A portrait of Oberleutnant Helmut Mahlke, the commander of III./StG 1 during 1940.

The Ju 87 could withstand quite an enormous amount of punishment and still get home. This was certainly the case on 14 November 1940, when many of the Stukas returned to France with considerable damage. One of those damaged dive-bombers is pictured here, having suffered extensive damage to a wing.

a Swansong (ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

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NOVEMBER 2013 93

STUKA SWANSONG Stukas Over Britain

ABOVE: A 250kg bomb leaves the cradle of a Junkers Ju 87 Stuka during a typical divebombing attack. ABOVE RIGHT: A Junkers Ju 87 waits to be “bombed-up” on a French airfield during 1940.

BELOW: Junkers Ju 87 Stukas of 2./StG 1 and their ground crews rest between sorties during 1940.

STUKAS OVER THE THAMES ESTUARY Taking the order forward, III./ Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 (III./StG 1) was the first formation detailed for action. Just like the sorties flown during the early summer of 1940, it was an attack on vessels in the Thames estuary, at around 14.30 hours on 1 November, which was the objective. With around twenty Stukas, Oberleutnant Helmut Mahlke led an action that he described as “inconclusive” although, in fact, his dive-bombers had sunk the coaster SS Letchworth near the Oaze Light Vessel. The ship, and others in the vicinity, had come under attack by the twenty or so Stukas and Letchworth took a direct hit in the engine room which sank the 1,317-ton ship immediately. Newcastleregistered, she had on board a cargo of coal from the north-east collieries. Seventeen survivors were picked out of the water, but the Chief Engineer was missing and presumably went down with his ship. The SS Lear, just ahead, had a lucky escape as bombs fell all around her. Not so lucky was the Oaze Light Vessel

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(officially, Trinity House Light Vessel 60); being close to the shipping that Mahlke’s men had attacked, LV.60 was singled out for attention. Certainly, the light vessel performed an important function at the assembly point for south-coast convoys and was on station controlling the safe passage at an entrance to a defensively mined area. Unfortunately, her six crew members all lost their lives in the attack that sent LV.60 to the bottom. Joining her was the Royal Navy minesweeper HMT Tilbury Ness, a victim of the same attack. During the raid, however, III./St G 1 lost one Stuka; W.Nr 5227 (6G+KS) flown by Gefreiter Werner Karach and radio operator Gefreiter Max Aulehner. Karach was killed, whilst Aulehner was thrown clear and rescued, unhurt, by a MTB. This aircraft, it is suggested, was shot down by anti-aircraft fire although it is entirely likely that RAF fighters may have been responsible.

In recent years, dredging of the channel near The Oaze for the Thames Gateway project resulted in the recovery of a Junkers Jumo 211 engine that may well have originated from 6G+KS. Marine surveys have also located the well-preserved wreck of Letchworth. Throughout November 1940, Stuka shipping attacks continued with the last massed operation against the British Isles taking place on the 14th. Once more, Helmut Mahlke would lead it. “The last mission of this era was a fiasco from the very start,” he wrote, “and although our escort fighters met us and flew with us across the English Channel, things soon started to go wrong. First, we had been sent out to attack shipping that had been reported in the Dover Straits area; a convoy, in fact. When we got there, there were no ships to be seen. However, and although that was annoying, we did have a secondary target; the Dover radar station. So, as we flew down towards Dover, and as we had seen no ships, we had to prepare for the attack on the big pylons. Then, getting close to Dover, our fighter escort left us because the pilots did not want to get caught in the Dover flak barrage and they stood off some distance from us. This wasn’t helpful, and we were soon in a really disastrously exposed and dangerous position.” Disastrously exposed and dangerous was certainly Mahlke’s situation. Emerging from the haze he could see approaching specks that were growing ever bigger as they raced towards his formation of approximately forty Stukas – they were RAF fighters. Meanwhile, the protective escorts had withdrawn and were observing from a distance – both out of reach of the antiaircraft guns and unable to come to the immediate aid of the Stukas or provide www.britainatwar.com

"I stopped the car and got out to stare in amazement at the sight of one lone Stuka weaving madly in an attempt to avoid the attention of four Spitfires."

essential close-cover protection. To make the situation even worse for the Stuka crews, if the distant escorts had not seen the incoming fighters then nothing could be done to alert them as they were on different radio frequencies. The fighters closing on III./St.G 1 were the Spitfires of 66 and 74 squadrons. Although the escorts did eventually respond and engage the RAF fighters, it was too late to avoid the mayhem that a couple of dozen Spitfires were wreaking in the dive-bomber’s formation. Needless to say, the Stuka pilots were more intent on avoiding attack or collision rather than continuing with their raid. Although the masts of the radar station were in sight, there could be no hope of setting the formation up into position for attack. Some of the Stukas, though, did manage to attack Dover Harbour and HM Drifter Shipmates was sunk and the vessels Lord Howe, Yorkshire Lass and Cirrus all hit, as well as some port installations which were damaged. In the general confusion it is clear that many of the Spitfire pilots shot at and claimed the same Stuka and although two did eventually go down there were multiple claims for Junkers Ju 87s definitely destroyed in a classic case of over-scoring. In this single battle 66 Squadron claimed two destroyed with three unconfirmed and three damaged, whilst 74 Squadron claimed an astonishing fourteen destroyed, two unconfirmed and three damaged. Though the claims were overexaggerated, the Stukas certainly knew that they had been in a savage fight, as Mahlke recalled: “All of my unit bar one aircraft went home with hits that day. I think the most hits we counted on one aircraft was eighty-two. The pilot who got home unscathed was one of my Staffel Kapitäns, Oberleutnant Schairer. www.britainatwar.com

He got away because he successfully out-manoeuvred very many attacks from the Spitfires.” Singly, or in straggling groups, Mahlke’s battered Stukas flew back across the Channel, low on the water, and as fast as they could go. Later, he reflected on that disastrous mission: “This event was good evidence of the quality of the Junkers 87 as well as the poor quality of senior leadership. The officer who commanded the mission knew much about fighter tactics, but very little about Stukas. It was the first time such an operation had been ordered and planned by a fighter leader, but it was a complete failure. The officer concerned was removed the next day.” One of the two Ju 87s that had been sent crashing into the Channel had been a 9th Staffel machine flown by Oberleutnant Otto Blumers and his radio operator Gefreiter Willy Koch. Fished out of the Channel, Blumers was taken prisoner as RAF intelligence was able to report: “In the afternoon six aircraft from his Staffel took off and flew northwestwards to join about fourteen other Ju 87s and a strong fighter escort. They flew across the Channel to the North Foreland, and then along the coast to Dover at a height of about 10,000 ft. “When approaching Dover, and before having made any attack, the formation was intercepted by about twenty Spitfires who were flying straight towards them. The Spitfires did not attack immediately, but circled round and delivered their attacks from the rear. The second burst of machine gun fire set his aircraft on fire and he baled out and landed in the water, being picked up by MTB and taken into Dover. The wireless operator, whom he left to his fate, is presumed to have been killed in the crash.”

THE END OF THE STUKA ATTACKS It was the end of massed Stuka operations against the British Isles, though this decision was hastened by deteriorating weather, shortening daylight hours and a lack of suitable targets. Surprisingly, several night attacks on London were made by Stukas during the winter of 1940/41. By February 1941, Stuka operations against the United Kingdom were having their last gasp and it was symptomatic of the decline in Ju 87 operations that these last sorties were flown by small groups of Kette-size formations (a Kette was a unit of three aircraft flying in a V formation). The first of the February attacks was carried out on the 5th and was an un-escorted sortie by a Kette of 2./StG 1; the 

TOP: A massed group of Stukas, a view that is typical of the large formations of these divebombers that operated against Britain during the summer of 1940. It is believed that the last large Stuka formation flew against the British Isles on 14 November 1940. ABOVE: The pilot and gunner of a Junkers Ju 87 supervise the loading of a 250kg bomb.

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STUKA SWANSONG Stukas Over Britain

READERS OFFER STUKA ATTACK! PUBLISHED BY Grub Street, in Stuka Attack! Andy Saunders takes a critical look at every operation undertaken by Ju 87s against British targets in 1940 – including those on land and at sea. Each raid is charted, covering all aspects of the attacks including participants, defending RAF fighters and those on the receiving end. Readers of Britain at War Magazine can purchase copies at the special offer price of £18 (including P&P), by telephoning 020 7924 3966 and quoting “Britain at War”. RIGHT: A Junkers Ju 87 in its typical dive bombing mode and having released one 250kg bomb and four 50kg bombs.

BELOW: The anti-submarine trawler HMT Tourmaline. Her loss marked the last occasion on which a Royal Navy vessel was sunk in British coastal waters through a Stuka attack.

attackers were ultimately engaged by four Spitfires of 92 Squadron which had been undertaking a convoy patrol from RAF Manston. Pilot Officer R. Fokes, Pilot Officer C.H. Saunders, Sergeant H. Bowen-Morris and Sergeant C.A. Ream had taken off at 08.45 hours and were near Ramsgate at about 09.45 hours when Red 2 (Saunders) spotted an explosion on one of the ships below. At first, the pilots thought the vessel had struck a mine because they could not see any aircraft, but as they went down to investigate further they encountered a Ju 87 approaching them at 5,000 feet. Fokes attacked the dive-bomber head-on, as did Saunders, but the Stuka twisted and turned as it tried to get away and the pursuit developed into a dogfight as each of the Spitfire pilots chased the hapless dive-bomber, each of them jockeying to get into firing position as the aircraft snaked around the sky. Eventually, the four pilots drove the Stuka over land and Fokes managed to get a beam shot into the aircraft just as it turned, causing it to blow up and crash. Coincidentally, this was right over 92 Squadron’s base at Manston where the

96 NOVEMBER 2013

CO, Squadron Leader “Johnny” Kent, was on hand to witness a ‘kill’ shared by four of his pilots. “Having been on the first patrol of the morning,” he recalled, “I had been back to the Mess for breakfast and was just returning to Dispersal when I heard gunfire. I stopped the car and got out to stare in amazement at the sight of one lone Stuka weaving madly in an attempt to avoid the attention of four Spitfires. All five were coming towards me and it occurred to me that I was in the line

of fire so I hid behind a vehicle that was handy. Then I saw a notice on it reading 100 Octane – it was one of the refuelling bowsers. So I darted back to my car! “Just as I reached it the Stuka reached the edge of the airfield almost directly above me at about a hundred feet. Here he was headed off by one of the Spitfires and I could clearly see both gunner and pilot in their cockpits with the De Wilde ammunition bursting around them. The Spitfire overshot and pulled away and the German made another desperate attempt to land and turned violently to port but at this instant Pilot Officer Fokes, in my aeroplane, flashed past me and gave a short burst with the cannons. I can still hear the ‘thumpthump-thump’ of them followed by the terrific ‘whoosh’ as the Stuka blew up and crashed just outside the boundary of the airfield.”1 The aircraft was W.Nr 5225, J9+BK, flown by Leutnant Ernst Schimmelpfennig with radio operator Obergefreiter Hans Kaden. Both men were killed as the Stuka exploded into the ground at Cheeseman’s Farm, Minster. The other Stukas escaped unharmed, and unseen, by the four pilots of 92 Squadron who had become focussed on their single quarry and failed to spot the other raiders in the poor visibility. www.britainatwar.com

"The aircraft levelled off and flew quite close to us down the port side and we gave it a short burst probably shooting off part of its tail fin." The ship the RAF pilots had seen blow up was the anti-submarine trawler HMT Tourmaline. Allan Waller, then Temporary Midshipman, was aboard Tourmaline when she was hit: “Dawn Broke. It was still fine and clear and the Kent coast was clearly visible in the area of the South Foreland and Deal. Three Spitfires arrived to give air cover and there was some broken cloud with a base of probably 3,000 feet. “I was at my action stations with the point-fives and we had all been at action stations almost continuously since sailing the previous afternoon. By ten o’clock we were off the North Foreland. Not far to go! Then, there was the unmistakeable scream of a Stuka dive bomber diving out of the cloud about half a mile ahead of us, the bombs were dropped but missed their target, a merchant ship. The aircraft levelled off and flew quite close to us down the port side and we gave it a short burst probably shooting off part of its tail fin. The three Spitfires fell upon it, shooting it down on the coast. “Above us was an almost completely round break in the cloud with the blue

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sky above it. I thought this was a likely place for a Stuka to dive through and had the guns trained towards it. I was right. About a minute later a Stuka dived through and right aft over Tourmaline. We lined it up on the cartwheel sights absolutely according to the drill book. “Fire was opened, and after a short burst both barrels jammed. Bad ammunition! I saw the bombs leave the Stuka and remember saying, ‘They’ve missed!’ I was wrong. Tourmaline was hit a few feet aft of the funnel, almost on the centreline. As the boats were not badly damaged, the blast must have gone directly upwards. “There was a dark grey choking cloud. I couldn’t see and my right ankle hurt. I was on the deck below the gun zareba and groped and found the rung of a ladder. I climbed up and the gun appeared to be off its mounting. Part of the metal side had gone, and there was no sign of my two companions. Smoke and steam were roaring out the top of the engine casing and ‘Number One’ was casting off the Carley Float on the port side. “I am not clear what happened in the next few minutes but have a vague

recollection of going along the deck passing a bunker hatch from which smoke and steam were pouring. I found myself on deck in the waist, amidships and ahead of the bridge structure. “The Captain shouted ‘Abandon ship!’ I could see a red and white lifebuoy against the ship’s side and started to crawl towards it when the Captain shouted: ‘Put the midshipman in the boat!’ My next recollection was being in the bottom of the boat with the steward at the helm and two or three members of crew pulling at the oars. They told me they were looking for my gun crew who had been blown over the side. They were found already being picked up by the Mastadonte. Meanwhile, game to the last, Tourmaline had gone down upright and on an even keel allowing all the surviving members of crew to get away quite easily. She had taken about ten minutes to sink.”2 Another of the last of the Stuka losses occurred just a few days later on 10/11 February and allowed the Royal Navy to avenge the loss of Tourmaline. The Stuka casualty again involved StG 1, which had sent a group of 5 Staffel aircraft against the naval base at Chatham during a full moon. That night, HM Drifter Eager was on patrol duty in the Thames Estuary when she came under attack by a Stuka at around 04.00 hours, the aircraft dropping bombs from 400 to 500 feet which fell into the sea off her port quarter. At once, Eager engaged the raider with her two Lewis guns, a Holman Projector and two rifles with “many hits being scored”. To the surprise of the 

ABOVE: On 14 November 1940 the Dover gun barrage had an impact on both defenders and attackers driving the escorting Messerschmitt Bf 109s to a distance away from the Stukas from where they could not offer protection and hampering the defending Spitfires as they engaged the enemy.

LEFT: A group of Junkers Ju 87 Stukas photographed whilst flying in formation off the South Coast of England during the summer of 1940. (WW2IMAGES)   

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STUKA SWANSONG Stukas Over Britain RIGHT: The wreckage of the last Stuka to fall on British soil – J9+BK. Both of its crew, Leutnant Ernst Schimmelpfennig and Obergefreiter Hans Kaden, were killed as the Stuka exploded into the ground at Cheeseman’s Farm, Minster. (HMP)

BELOW: Amongst the Spitfire squadrons that engaged the divebombers on 14 November 1940, was 66 Squadron. Their pilots are shown here at Gravesend during 1940 in what had been the old flying club house.

crew, the Stuka blew up in mid-air with considerable violence and fell into the sea fifty yards from the vessel. Skipper G.A. Good RNR was in the process of salvaging debris from the first Stuka when Eager was attacked by a second which dropped further bombs on the her port quarter. Although engaged by the same weaponry, and with hits observed, the Stuka flew off eastwards. During this second attack Lance Corporal E. Bowles (recorded as from the “12th Command”) was seriously wounded and taken ashore at Clacton. Later, in a signal to Flag Officer

Harwich, it was recommended that Seaman William Loftus (LT/JX.184019) be considered for decoration for “good shooting and coolness in holding his fire until the enemy ’plane was in a vulnerable position”. Undoubtedly, he had been responsible for the destruction of the Ju 87 that carried Feldwebel K. von Cramm and Unteroffizier P. Trager to their deaths. For his actions, Loftus was awarded the DSM with The London Gazette of 6 June 1941 recording his courage and skill in bringing down an enemy aircraft. The next night, another StG 1

aircraft, J9+LL of the 9th Staffel, was lost in the Thames Estuary area to unknown causes, resulting in the deaths of Feldwebel F. Lewandowski and Unteroffizier L. Rener. The Stukas were simply fading away from attacks on Britain, and by the spring of 1941 they were largely withdrawn from France in readiness for new objectives in the Mediterranean and eastwards against the Soviet Union. In attempts to cover the re-location of the Stuka force towards new fronts, dummy Stukas constructed from wood and canvas were placed at the airfields that had been vacated. They looked convincing enough from the air, and perhaps the very last gasp of Stuka operations helped to bolster that illusion when a few isolated night-bombing raids were carried out in mid-September and early October 1941 against Dover, Margate and Ramsgate. By the end of that autumn, however, the British Home Front had seen the very last of the dreaded Junkers Ju 87. Though it had not been driven away through unacceptable losses, the Stuka would never return. 

NOTES

1. Group Captain J.A. Kent, One of The Few (William Kimber, London, 1971). 2. Chief Engineman Roseveare and a stoker were killed outright in the engine room. Stoker Holroyd was very badly scalded. Waller and his gun crew were all injured and two of them suffered from exposure through being thrown into the English Channel, see Dawn Will Always Break by Allan Lansley Waller, privately published 1997.

98 NOVEMBER 2013

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A ROYAL ARTILLERY VETERAN HAS RETURNED TO THANK THE ITALIAN VILLAGERS THAT HELPED HIM EVADE CAPTURE ALMOST SEVENTY YEARS AGO continued Eric. “It did terrible damage. We were trapped behind a watertight door and the front of the ship was going down. I had never before anticipated the thought of dying, but I thought I would die. But the sailors finally managed to get us out, and somehow they kept the engines going and we limped back to Alexandria.” Around 360 personnel were lost in the

bombing, of whom 100 were soldiers; a further 280 were injured. After extensive damage control had been undertaken, Orion limped on to Alexandria at twelve knots, providing a spectacular sight as she arrived in the harbour with the mast wedged into the her funnel and significant battle damage. After the Allied withdrawal from Greece, Eric found himself once again in the desert. Here his troop was involved in a running battle with Italian and German forces from El Alamein up to Tobruk. When Rommel’s forces surrounded the town, Eric’s troop was forced to surrender. Marched across the desert to Benghazi, Eric survived on half a pint of water a day and hard biscuits before being shipped to a PoW camp at Macerata in eastern Italy. “We had to make the best of it. I spent my time making things from old tins. I made bellows to make force draft fires and one chap made a grandfather clock which actually worked! We were treated pretty fairly by the guards but rations were low and we were very dependent on Red Cross parcels, which often got filched.” When Italy capitulated news was received that the Germans were soon to take over the camp. Consequently, Eric and two comrades decided to make a daring night time escape LEFT: Lance Bombardier Eric Batteson. (Big Lottery Fund’s Heroes Return 2 Programme)

BELOW: British artillery in action during Operation Compass, following which Lance Bombardier Eric Batteson found himself sent to Greece in April 1941. (HMP)

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A CELEBRATORY RETURN FOR PoW ESCAPEE LANCE Bombardier Eric Batteson crouched in the dark watching the camp guard’s every movement before seizing his split second moment to escape to what would be an uncertain and precarious freedom high in the Italian mountains. Now, thanks to the Big Lottery Fund’s Heroes Return 2 programme, the 92-year veteran from Chester has made an emotional pilgrimage to thank the villagers of Colleregnone, in the municipality of Montemonaco, who took great risks to feed and shelter him. He even stayed in the same house owned by the same family who gave him refuge. Having completed his field training as a Lance Bombardier in the Royal Artillery in 1939, Eric Batteson first fought in Egypt in 1940, before being deployed to help defend Greece. “If we hadn’t moved back we would have been totally swamped,” he said of the fighting there. “The Germans were much better armed. The British Matilda tanks were no match for the Panzers and the Stuka attacks were terrible, we were relentlessly dive bombed. I was asleep in the back of a truck when one attack began. My battery commander, the signaller, and driver all leapt out into a ditch but I was still in the truck when two huge bombs landed, one in front and one behind. I was very lucky that day.” Eric was duly evacuated from Crete on the Leander-class light cruiser HMS Orion bound for Alexandria. On 29 May 1941, Orion was attacked by Axis aircraft. “I was in the forward part of the ship when a bomb went down the ammunition hatch and exploded,”

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SUBSCRIBE & SAVE by slipping through an unlocked gate and scrambling to freedom in the Italian mountains. Guided west by the stars they climbed by night but then switched to daylight travel to avoid stumbling over ledges in the dark. Reaching the village of Colleregnone, tired and starving, they spotted a farmer up a fruit tree and took the gamble to approach him. Eric recalls: “My memory is centred on those wonderful people who helped us. At first we would hide out in isolated places and the village girls would bring us food. Then after five months the snow came and the families hid us in their houses. They were taking a great risk. The

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Germans had recently rounded up eleven young men from a neighbouring village and shot them as a warning to anyone collaborating with the Allies.” The three men were eventually betrayed and re-captured by the Germans, being transported by train to a PoW camp in Germany. “Here there were heavy Allied bombing raids,” Eric explained. “We weren’t very popular. We would see civilians pushing their dead relatives in wheelbarrows. We were glad the German soldiers were protecting us. But treatment was a bit mixed, especially from the prison guards running the forced slave labour gangs. They were regularly bashed about. One man was shot dead because he didn’t want to urinate in front of the others.” As the Allied bombing increased Eric and his compatriots were deployed to clean up after an intense raid damaged a local oil refinery. He said: “One guy was always doing subtle sabotage and would put cement powder into air pressure instruments, and slightly open the valves on oxy acetylene canisters so that when they came to be used they were empty.” Eric remained at the camp until he was liberated on 14 April 1945, before arriving back home in time for VE day. Following his return to Collegerone, Eric said: “I think we must have been legend in that village, they remember everything. I used to be a whistler and they told me ‘don’t do that, Italian men don’t whistle’. They passed this down to their children who still joke about it. I can’t tell you what I feel about these people. They did so much.” *

Since 2004, over 51,000 people have made commemorative trips with funding from the Big Lottery Fund’s Heroes Return schemes with grants totalling over £25 million. The Big Lottery Fund has also extended its Heroes Return 2 programme so that it no longer has a fixed deadline for applications. This will ensure Second World War veterans from the UK, Channel Islands and Republic of Ireland who have yet to take advantage of the funding since the programme opened can continue to apply for grants to cover travel and accommodation expenses to enable them to make trips back to places across the world where they served. They can also receive funding to take part in an official commemoration in the UK. For details contact the Heroes Return helpline on 0845 00 00 121 or visit: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/heroesreturn

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TOP LEFT: The building in which Eric

Batteson was given shelter in the village of Colleregnone. (Big Lottery Fund’s Heroes Return 2 Programme)

TOP RIGHT: Eric Batteson, front left, pictured sat next to his wife with relatives of the villagers who gave him shelter whilst evading German forces in Italy. (Big Lottery Fund’s Heroes Return 2 Programme)

LEFT: Eric Batteson pictured in North Africa

prior to his capture. (Big Lottery Fund’s Heroes Return 2 Programme)

BELOW: The Leander-class light cruiser HMS

Orion, on which Eric Batteson was evacuated from Crete.

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Available on PC, Mac, Blackberry, Windows 8 and kindle fire from Requirements for app: registered iTunes account on Apple iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4S, 5, iPod Touch or iPad 1, 2, 3 or 4. Internet connection required for initial download. Published by Key Publishing Ltd. The entire contents of these titles are © copyright 2013. All rights reserved. App prices subject to change. 625/13

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The Britain at War team scout out the latest items of interest



THE THEME of investigating single objects is becoming a popular one. Part of its appeal is that it permits a detailed examination of specific events in detail. It also makes for easy reading as each object becomes a chapter (or in the case of TV a programme) in its own right, rather than merely part of one long story. In our modern desire for instant information such a method of consuming history makes an easily digestible snack. The only draw-back to delivering history in this way is that the choice of subjects is, necessarily, subjective. Inevitably every reader will wonder why some items have been chosen above others, but it must be admitted that this varied and diverse collection of artefacts covers most aspects of the First World War and is hard to fault. To list all the objects in this review is impracticable, so I will select some of the more unusual ones. The first of these is the Gare de l’Est. This was one of two railway stations in Paris that acted as gateways to the Western Front. Railways, as the main means of rapid land transportation, played a huge role in the First World War. Speed was, in fact, the essential factor in the first weeks of the war. The German Schlieffen Plan, for example, depended on strategic railways to move its armies quickly to the Western Front as well as transporting other forces

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to face the Russians in the east. It was the speed of the German advance which almost brought its armies to the gates of Paris before the Allied armies had concentrated. It was really only the unexpectedly stubborn defence mounted by the Belgians which delayed the Germans just long enough for the Allied armies to assemble. Once the opposing armies had settled into their defensive lines, it was the railways that supplied the troops at the front with food, munitions and transported even more men to face the enemy’s guns. Traffic through the station was not all in one direction. In the early days of the war the railways also took refugees away from the battle fronts and it was the Gare de l’Est where many arrived to seek sanctuary. Later, thousands of soldiers on leave travelled to the Gare de l‘Est en route to their homes, or the fleshpots of Paris. As the war progressed and the French railway system settled into a regular routine, by 1916 and early 1917 the Gare de l’Est was the transit point for 6,000 men each day, with six trains going eastwards and five returning from the front. Another of the unexpected objects is the Tannenberg Memorial. Though we understand the Battle of Tannenberg to be a major German victory, it did not change the nature of the war on the Eastern Front. At Tannenberg the Russians suffered

| RECONNAISSANCE REPORT

casualties of around 50,000 with a further 90,000 being taken prisoner. Losses of this magnitude would have been a staggering blow for the French or British but the Russian Army was able to absorb such losses with little noticeable effect on its operations. The monument is now situated in Poland and today is a crumbling ruin. As the author, Gary Sheffield, remarks, the ruins, once a symbol of German might, now give mute testimony to the destruction of that Germanic ideal fostered by Hindenburg and adopted by Hitler. Soap, is another of the highly imaginative objects chosen by the author. With large numbers of men living in close proximity in extremely unhygienic conditions in the trenches, the risk of infection and infestation was very high. Great stress was therefore placed on personal hygiene and the major British soap manufacturers undertook extensive advertising campaigns. One Sunlight soap advert claimed that “The British Tommy is the cleanest soldier in the world”, whilst a Lifebuoy Soap poster portrayed a British soldier in uniform with an appeal to mums and wives to not forget to “send him a tablet of Lifebuoy Soap. It cleans and protects.” Gas masks, kilts, Big Bertha, Lenin’s train, a rum jar, one of Churchill’s cigars and ninety-odd other objects make this a thoroughly fascinating and absorbing read. REVIEWED BY ALEXANDER NICOL.

BOOK OF THE MONTH

THE FIRST WORLD WAR IN 100 OBJECTS The Story of the Great War Told Through the Objects That Shaped it Gary Sheffield

Publisher: Andre Deutsch www.andredeutsch.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-780-97396-8 Hardback. 256 pages RRP: £25.00 Illustrations  Appendices 

References/Notes Index 



NOVEMBER 2013 101

RECONNAISSANCE REPORT |

The Britain at War team scout out the latest items of interest ATHENIA TORPEDOED

TANGMERE

The U-boat Attack That Ignited the Battle of the Atlantic

Famous Royal Air Force Fighter Station: An Authorised History

Francis M. Carroll

Reginald Byron and David Coxon



AMONGST THE many RAF stations that

found themselves very much on the front line

during the Battle of Britain

and France and enable Roosevelt

station had a long history

secret flights of 161 Special Duties

aerodrome was founded in 1917 for

personnel of the Special Operations

use by the RFC as a training base. In 1918, Tangmere was turned over to

the American Air Force as a training ground, and continued in this role

presented together here. Publisher: Spellmount; www.thehistorypress.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-7524-9309-1 Softback. 216 pages RRP: £14.99

to sell munitions and supplies to Britain

were the most dramatic in

well before the 1940s. Indeed, the

previously unpublished photographs, are

Americans, Canadians, and Europeans,

Neutrality Laws which allowed America

Though the war years

Tangmere’s history, the fighter

selected war journalism, illustrated with

from Liverpool to Montreal, loaded with

leading to amendments to the existing

Douglas Bader.

Squadron which used Tangmere to fly Executive into Occupied Europe. In

the chapter of the book relating to the SOE flights are included the memoirs of one of the WAAF radio operators,

circumstances after the fighting at Garden in 1944. Cotterell’s diary and

changed public opinion in the US,

base of the legendary

ended after he vanished in mysterious

liner Athenia which had been sailing

in the conflict. The sinking of Athenia

was, for a while, the home

his role in the war, which abruptly

Arnhem Bridge during Operation Market

thirty were the first Americans killed

in rural Sussex, Tangmere

this time he kept a diary, a record of

account of the sinking of the passenger

total of 112 people were lost, of whom

RAF Tangmere. Situated

part in the Normandy Campaign. During

 THIS BOOK is an

at the time of the outbreak of war. A

was the Sector Station of

crossed to France on D-Day, and took

WESTERN FRONT ASSOCIATION’S 2014 CALENDAR

to open direct communication with

 THE WFA is pleased to announce that

Winston Churchill. Publisher: Pen & Sword; www.pen-and-sword.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-78159-171-7 Hardback. 220 pages RRP: £19.99

its 2014 Calendar is now on sale. The calendar includes fourteen high-quality, modern images of scenes from the Western Front today. All of the images are specially selected from the work of several superb photographers, each of whom has generously donated their

again in 1926, when 43 Squadron,

to direct the Lysander pilots to the

LIFE, DEATH AND GROWING UP ON THE WESTERN FRONT

was posted there – there is still a

Germans were also using direction

 This book was

represents December in the

inspired by the

calendar, is a distant, but

author’s discovery

atmospheric, shot of Courcelette

of an extraordinary

British Cemetery. Located up a

cache of letters from a

muddy track to the

soldier who was killed on the Western

west of the village

Front during the First World War. The

of Courcelette, the

soldier was his grandfather, and the

cemetery was first

letters had been tucked away, unread

used in November

and unmentioned, for many decades.

1916, when it was

Intrigued by the history of these

originally known

family letters, Fletcher sought out the

as Mouquet Road

correspondence of other British soldiers

or Sunken Road

who had joined up to fight against

Cemetery.

until November that year, after

which the airfield was mothballed. Tangmere became operational

equipped with the Gloster Gamecock, row of houses in the village called Gamecock Terrace. The airfield’s

squadrons were also prominent in the RAF pageants held at Hendon during the 1920s and 1930s.

Then, with the outbreak of

war, it was a Tangmere-based

unit – 1 Squadron – that was the first RAF squadron to be sent to

France to help support the British

Expeditionary Force. Following the

events of 1940, Tangmere squadrons were heavily involved in the Dieppe raid of 1942, which included the

Daphne Olley, who worked at the Direction Finding Station.

Inside a locked room, it was her job

landing strips in France. Because the finding, the pilots could transmit

for only a few seconds. In that time

Daphne had to work out the correct

bearing and relay it to the pilot. It was tense work and Daphne recalls that

her and her colleagues “used to feel very apprehensive when we cycled around the perimeter and saw the

black Lysanders standing at dispersal. We knew we were in for a bad night.” It is an evocative as well as a very

precise account relating to a lesserknown aspect of Tangmere’s past. The inclusion of first-hand

largest aerial combat of the war to

accounts such as that of Daphne

in the preliminary operations in

which make this an important

that date, and took part not only

advance of the Normandy landings, but on D-Day itself.

After the war Tangmere became

famous as the home of the High Speed Flight and the World Speed Record was broken over the Sussex coast in 1946 and again in 1953. Britain still led the world in those now far-off days and Tangmere was at its heart.

This is a very comprehensive study

of the Tangmere station, its satellite stations, and the squadrons that flew from these as well as other

airfields within the Tangmere Sector. It provides daily summaries throughout key operations. These include the

102 NOVEMBER 2013

Olley add colour to the statistics

book, just as the fighter station at

Tangmere played an important part in modern English history.

Now Tangmere boasts a

fine aviation museum, a worthy

tribute to those long gone, but not

References/Notes Index 

The image seen here, which

The calendar is A4 (landscape) in

British soldiers whose letters and one

A3 (portrait) when hung. Prices are

diary survive. Publisher: Yale University Press; www.yalebooks.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-300-19553-8 Hardback. 328 pages RRP: £20.00

as follows:

 AS AN official British Army journalist during the Second World War, Anthony Cotterell flew



development programmes.

size when folded, and opens out to

Jennie Gray (Ed.)

Publisher: Grub Street; www.grubstreet.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-909166-19-6 Hardback. 328 pages RRP: £25.00

to sustaining the WFA’s work and

account of the experiences of seventeen

The Diaries and Journalism of Anthony Cotterell 1940-1944

REVIEWED BY ROBERT MITCHELL.

of the 2014 calendar – all profits will

Germany. This resulting volume offers an

‘THIS IS WAR!’

forgotten, halcyon days.

Illustrations  Appendices 

Anthony Fletcher

work to the WFA for the production

on bombing raids, sailed with merchant shipping convoys,

• £10.00 (inc. p&p) for UK residents (and BFPO) • £12.35 (inc. p&p) Europe (inc. Eire) • £13.50 (inc. p&p) rest of world You can order by post – an order form can be downloaded from the WFA’s website – and pay by credit card or cheque. If paying by cheque (in UK Pounds Sterling), it should be made payable to “The Western Front Association”. Address: The Western Front Association, PO Box 1918, Stockport, SK4 4WN, United Kingdom For more information, please visit:

www.westernfrontassociation.

com/shop/wfa-calendar-2014.html

www.britainatwar.com

The Britain at War team scout out the latest items of interest

SOE’S BALLS OF STEEL

GUY GIBSON DAMBUSTER

Operation Rubble, 147 Willing Volunteers and 25,000 Tons of Ball Bearings

Geoff Simpson



| RECONNAISSANCE REPORT

THE GUY Gibson

story has been told

many times, but it is still

Sophie Jackson

fascination. He was the

Germans hoped

Brave to the point of an

blockading Swedish cargo ships

one that never loses its

 IN 1940 the

archetypal flawed hero.

to cripple the British war effort by

almost total disregard

containing ball bearings, steel and tools

of danger, but highly

vital for making arms and equipment. In

unpopular with many of

desperation the newly-formed Special

those that he led. Yet

Operations Executive was asked to

lead them he did, most

source and deliver these badly needed

notably in one of the

supplies. The result was Operation

greatest air attacks of all

Rubble, a daring mission which involved

time – that against the

sneaking in under the Germans’ noses

Möhne and Eder dams.

to steal the ships. It was a dangerous

The dams raid is obviously

well-covered in Geoff

Simpson’s book, as is Gibson’s early

the story of a rear gunner with 61

All this one would expect, but Geoff

who claims that he mistook Gibson’s

life, his marriage, and RAF career.

also deals with the difficult subject

of his dog, whose name today might cause offence, and he investigates

the memorable film The Dam Busters

which helped create the legend that was Guy Gibson.

Gibson’s death was as dramatic

and controversial as so many of the other aspects of his eventful life.

Seventy years on, just how Gibson met his end is still much explored. One theory is that Gibson was

murdered by one of the members

of his own squadron who interfered

with the switch to his main fuel tank. Gibson was certainly not liked by a

large number of his men, but in killing Gibson it would mean that the much liked and amiable Squadron Leader Jim Warwick, who accompanied

Gibson as his navigator on that last flight, would also be killed.

A second theory is that Gibson was

unfamiliar with the type of aircraft

and was unable to locate the main fuel tank switch. The problem with

this theory of pilot error is that the small outer wing fuel tanks on a

Mosquito only gave the aircraft a

range of about 270 miles. The target

Squadron called Bernard McCormack Mosquito for a Junkers Ju 88 night

fighter. This came to light at an air crew reunion in the 1980s when

McCormack’s wife heard her husband

much slower aircraft. There is also

compelling evidence from the Dutch people in the area where Gibson’s

Mosquito crashed. A number of them saw Gibson’s aircraft go down and

none of them reported hearing any

gunfire or seeing any other aircraft. So just how did Gibson die? The

Amongst the appendices is an

analysis of Gibson’s relationship with Arthur Harris. The appointment of Gibson to lead 617 Squadron was not appreciated by all the senior

figures, but Gibson was Harris’ type

of man. “Harris wanted a ‘fire eater’ leading his command into action”

writes Simpson, “and Gibson clearly

epitomised what Harris had in mind.” This is an easy to read,

that night was Mönchengladbach

straightforward account of one of the

away. This means that Gibson and

book that continues those discussions.

which was more than 300 miles

Warwick would have had to have

switched tanks on the way to the

target, yet their aircraft crashed to the ground on the way back from Mönchengladbach, long after the switch would have been made.

A more recent theory is that Gibson

was the victim of a “friendly fire”

incident. This has arisen because of

www.britainatwar.com

RAF’s most discussed pilots. It is a REVIEWED BY JOHN GREHAN

Illustrations  Appendices 

References/Notes Index 

of twenty-seven former aircrew, what being a “Buccaneer Boy” actually

meant. An excellent insight into the aircraft and those who flew it. Publisher: Grub Street; www.grubstreet.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-909166-11-0 Hardback. 223 pages RRP: £20.00

CONSPIRACY OF SECRETS Bobbie Neate

Neate started to question strange events from her childhood. Her subsequent research uncovered some remarkable revelations. Her stepfather, it transpired, was the illegitimate son of an elderly serving Prime Minister, H.H. Asquith, and the young Venetia Stanley, an aristocrat’s daughter. One hundred years after these events took place, the

Allan Mallinson

truth behind one of the biggest cover-

 AS THE title and

revealed – a cover-up that touches the

sub-title suggest, in

events of the First World War. Publisher: John Blake; www.johnblakepublishing.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-84358-372-1 Hardback. 356 pages RRP: £17.99

this book the author explores the grand strategic shift that occurred in the century before the First World War, the British Army’s regeneration after its drubbings in

ups in British political history can be

WELLINGTON

and its almost calamitous experience of

 KEY PUBLISHING is

the first twenty days’ fighting in Flanders

pleased to announce the

up to the point at which the British

launch of Wellington, a

Expeditionary Force took up the pick

new magazine special

and the spade during September 1914.

commemorating Bomber

For it was then that the conflict changed

Command’s unsung warrior.

from one of rapid movement into the stagnation of trench warfare. Publisher: Bantam Press; www.randomhouse.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-593-06760-4 Hardback. 503 pages RRP: £25.00

BUCCANEER BOYS True Tales by Those Who Flew the ‘Last All-British Bomber’  THE BLACKBURN

Buccaneer was a lowlevel subsonic strike aircraft that served



squadron and, through the recollections

mother that Bobbie

Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork

Publisher: Pen & Sword; www.pen-and-sword.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-78159-055-9 Hardback. 192 pages RRP: £19.99

insight into the lifestyle of a Buccaneer

would not come home. Publisher: The History Press; www.thehistorypress.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-7524-8756-4 Paperback. 255 pages RRP: £9.99

its fight against the Boer in South Africa,

mystery continues.

events and activities, it provides an

 IT WAS after the

Britain, The Army & The Coming of the First World War

would want to fly close behind a

it fulfilled. In addition to describing

death of her beloved

mistaken identity.

Simpson questions why Gibson

the history of the aircraft and the tasks

knew there was a high chance they

1914 FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT

Regarding this theory, Geoff

chronological order, this book traces

mission and the 147 men involved

talking about how he had shot down none other than Guy Gibson, due to

from service in 1994. Arranged in

with both the Fleet

Air Arm and the RAF

before it finally retired

Until the advent of the “heavies” – the Stirling, Halifax and Lancaster – the Wellington bore the brunt of Bomber Command’s onslaught on Occupied Europe and Germany. Built using the revolutionary geodetic construction developed by Barnes Wallis, the Wellington developed a reputation for being able to take a lot of punishment and still bring crews home. Enthusiasts the world over have a great respect for the Wellington and this 100-page special magazine provides a much sought-after tribute to an incredible warplane. Available now for just £4.99 from WHSmith, Sainsbury’s and leading newsagents. Alternatively, order your copy from: www.keypublishing.com/shop.

NOVEMBER 2013 103

RECONNAISSANCE REPORT |

The Britain at War team scout out the latest items of interest

HANNS AND RUDOLF

volunteered to join the British Army. Hanns

The German Jew and the Hunt for the Kommandant of Auschwitz

later became an interpreter between British investigators and SS personnel, then an investigator. At the end of the

Thomas Harding



war he was, for a short time, part of the

WHAT AN astonishing and moving

British organisation that attempted to hunt

story this is. It describes the

down German war criminals – and it meant

hunt to track down the commandant

that the paths of the two men, Höss and

of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, by Hanns

Alexander would cross.

Alexander, the author’s great-uncle.

Hanns, or Howard if using his adopted

Hanns Alexander’s father was a doctor

British name, worked for 1 War Crimes

who ran a military hospital in the town of

Investigation Team, with orders to track

Zabern in German Alsace during the First

down the commandant of Auschwitz.

World War. He was able to resurrect his

Höss’ wife was in custody and the

pre-war practice in Berlin.

whereabouts of the children, who had

Rudolf Höss, meanwhile, found

been left to fend for themselves, was

post-war Berlin in a state of turmoil and

known to the British. By a very clever

he was far from satisfied with both his own prospects and those of Germany.

course, it was an unusual and monstrous

He was soon attracted to the idealism

order. But the reasoning behind the

of Adolf Hitler. As an early member of

extermination process seemed to me

the National Socialist Party, he was the

to be right ... I could not allow myself to

perfect man to, in time, take charge of

wonder whether or not this mass killing of

the concentration camp at Auschwitz.

Jews was necessary.”

When Höss learned that he was to

Hanns, meanwhile, had left Germany

prepare Auschwitz to become a site of

in 1936 with his twin brother and moved

mass annihilation he observed that, “Of

to Britain. When war broke out, both men

ruse, Alexander was able to persuade Mrs Höss to reveal not only where her husband was living but also the name he had adopted. In December 2006, Hanns Alexander died. At his funeral the story of his capture of one of Germany’s, if not history’s, most sadistic mass killers, was revealed to many for the first time. Amongst those gathered there on that winter’s day was Thomas

Harding. Hearing of his great-uncle’s exploits, he set about uncovering the full story. The result is this excellent book. Whilst this is, ultimately, an uplifting story, there are many bleak moments. Amongst the most chilling is part of Höss’ confession during his trial. It is the matter-of-fact manner in which he relates the bare statistics of his crime: “I commanded Aushwitz until 1 December 1943, and estimate that at least two and a half million victims were executed and exterminated there by gassing and burning, and at least another half-million succumbed to starvation and disease making a total dead of about three million.” It is, in part, thanks to Hanns Alexander that this man did not escape the hangman’s noose. Publisher: William Heinemann; www.randomhouse.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-434-02236-6 Hardback. 348 pages RRP: £20.00 Illustrations  Appendices 

References/Notes Index 



NEXT MONTH'S ISSUE DECEMBER 2013 ISSUE ON SALE FROM 21 NOVEMBER 2013 FILMING AN ATTACK

GEOFFREY MALINS was a movie-maker, sent to the front to film the battles close up and personal. When he was alerted to the fact that a bombardment was to take place, Malins suspected that it was something more. He was fortunate to capture a full-scale attack – the first assault at the Battle of St Eloi in the spring of 1916.

 CAUGHT ON CANVAS

 THE SINKING OF U-534

TWO YEARS ago Mark Laity fulfilled a long-held ambition to own an original piece of aviation art by having leading artist Mark Postlethwaite paint his tail-gunner father, Flight Sergeant Frank Laity, flying in his Lancaster in a daylight raid in 1944. In his research he learnt much about his father and his wartime service, and so rewarding was that experience he wanted to repeat it, but this time with a painting of his grandfather, Chief Petty Officer Horace Laity, DSM.

SITTING AT the Woodside Ferry Terminal is the German U-boat U-534. This was the last submarine to leave German waters at the end of the Second World War but she was spotted as she passed through the Kattegat and Coastal Command Liberators were despatched to find and sink her. On board one of the Liberators was Flying Officer Neville Baker.

THE OTHER GREAT ESCAPE

BY LATE 1944, prisoner of war camps in Britain were growing by up to 2,000 prisoners a day as the Allies pushed towards the German heartlands. Most were men tired of the war and happy to be out of it, but there were others – a sinister new group of men who might be prisoners, but who had not surrendered. These, writes, Tim Lynch, were men with a plan. 104 NOVEMBER 2013

www.britainatwar.com

SAVING THE CATHEDRAL Norwich and the "Baedeker Blitz"

Saving The C On a summer’s night in 1942, the Luftwaffe came within an ace of dealing the most savage blow of the “Baedeker Blitz”. As fires raged on the roofs of Norwich Cathedral, a schoolboy fire party joined the battle to save one of the nation’s greatest architectural treasures. Steve Snelling tells the story of a remarkable wartime firefighting operation.

MAIN PICTURE: Symbol of a city’s survival. Norwich Cathedral crisscrossed with searchlights in Philippa Ruth Miller’s evocative painting. Miller was an art teacher and fire-watcher whose school was bombed during the April raids on Norwich. In the early hours of 27 June 1942, she was involved in a vain effort to save the city’s main rescue depot from destruction. (COURTESY OF

NORFOLK MUSEUMS & ARCHAEOLOGY SERVICE)

M

AYBE IT was a premonition or some kind of sixth sense, but something was troubling Derek Griffiths as he knelt to say his prayers in the medieval crypt that doubled as a makeshift dormitory and air raid shelter. Earlier that evening, after choir practice, he had found a letter waiting for him from his parents, giving him written permission to join the school’s newly formed fire-fighting party made up of fellow boarders. Rather than risk losing it, he had passed the note to the headmaster and then gone off for a wash before descending the ancient stone staircase into the subterranean ‘dorm’ known as the Cubicles in time for the usual five minutes’ “Quiet Time” prior to turning in. It had been much the same drill for the past two years, ever since the Luftwaffe’s first visit to Norwich had

106 NOVEMBER 2013

prompted a change in the sleeping arrangements at King Edward VI Grammar School, a private educational establishment standing in the shadow of the city’s soaring Cathedral. But something about the night of 26 June 1942, felt strangely different. Perched on specially built baffle walls, rows of Kelly lamps cast a gentle glow over the lines of biscuit mattresses as Derek Griffiths listened to a “voice” in his head telling him: “Tonight, something will happen – warn your friends.”1 Unsettled by a sensation beyond anything he had ever experienced, the 15-year-old was unsure what to do. In his diary he later wrote: “I knew nothing about telepathy … Yet this feeling was so strong that I could concentrate upon nothing else. And yet when ‘Quiet Time’ was over, I did not dare mention it because I thought the other boys

would laugh and tell me not to be such a damned fool. So I let it go at that.” His uneasy sleep lasted little more than four hours until a noise that was anything but supernatural shattered the night’s peace. The wail of the air raid siren was quickly followed by the drone of aircraft overhead and the ringing of the crypt’s alarm bell which was connected to a fire-watcher’s post high up in the neighbouring Cathedral spire. “We could hardly believe it,” recalled Griffiths. “One of our number actually was in the process of putting a sock between the bell and its clapper to stop the infernal noise when we heard a noise like a hail storm outside.” It was around 02.15 hours on Saturday, 27 June 1942, and the relentless rattle which reached down into the crypt marked the beginning of a terrible and terrifying ordeal by fire during which the survival www.britainatwar.com

e Cathedral

of the city’s greatest landmark would be threatened as never before in its 800-year history.

FIRE BOMB RAID What became known as the “Fire Bomb Raid” on Norwich was the third major attack on the city in the space of two months. This was part of the so-called “Baedeker Blitz”, in which Luftwaffe bombers deliberately targeted British cultural and heritage sites in retaliation for a hugely destructive RAF attack on the Hanseatic port of Lübeck. The targets of the offensive were reputedly selected from the German Baedeker Tourist Guide to Britain, meeting the criterion of having been awarded three stars for their historical significance. This assault represented the heaviest incendiary raid of the war against towns and cities in the eastern counties.  www.britainatwar.com

LEFT: Victim of the “Fire Bomb Blitz”. The ruins of a burned-out house in the Close, seen from the Cathedral, provide a graphic illustration of the narrow margin by which Norwich’s ecclesiastical masterpiece escaped destruction. Writing in his diary on the day after the raid, schoolboy fire-fighter Derek Griffiths observed: “There is a horrible smell of burning, and of fire, and of destruction, all around.” (AUTHOR) NOVEMBER 2013 107

SAVING THE CATHEDRAL Norwich and the "Baedeker Blitz"

ABOVE: Derek Griffiths (also seen here on the right), the newest recruit to the school fire party, pictured second from the right in the front row, on parade with fellow members of ‘B’ Flight, 230 Squadron ATC, eight months after the incendiary attack on the Cathedral Close. He was 15 at the time of the raid and preparing to sit the exams for his School Certificate. Writing to his parents about his part in the fire-fighting effort, headmaster Theodore Acland said: “Derek was indefatigable and I think we can say with certainty that but for his help and the help of our other seniors… the school would not now be in its own domain.” RIGHT: Close call. The charred timbers of the steep-roofed North Transept with its lead covering melted away reveals the ferocity of the incendiary fires that burned for 14 hours and were only prevented from causing catastrophic damage by the combined efforts of Cathedral fireguards, schoolboy firefighters and a single NFS trailerpump crew.

ABOVE: The heroic class of 1942. King Edward VI Grammar School pupils and fire-fighters with headmaster Theodore Acland, sixth from the left in the front row. Most of the boys who played a prominent role in efforts to save Norwich Cathedral and their nearby school from destruction are pictured. They include head of School House, John “Watty” Watson, seventh from the left in the front row, Alastair Grant, fourth from the right in the front row, Derek Hawkins, second from the left in the front row, and Derek Griffiths, seated far right. Worn down by wartime anxieties, Acland’s spirit was said to have been broken by the loss of the Lodge and he tendered his resignation in November 1942. (ALL

IMAGES COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

LEFT: The School House fire party handbook given to Derek Griffiths and fourteen other boys in early June 1942. A few weeks’ later after only rudimentary training, they faced their baptism of fire on the very day that Derek received a letter from his parents giving him written permission to join the school’s own volunteer fire-fighting party.

Where previous aerial attacks had rained a significant number of high explosive bombs indiscriminately across Norwich, the June assault was predominantly an incendiary strike carried out by a force of around thirty bombers from KG100, Kgr 106 and I, II and III/KG2. In bright moonlight and in spite of searchlights, barrage balloons, antiaircraft fire and the presence of night fighters, the raiders carried out a ferocious attack using the city’s main riverside railway station as its aiming point.

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Later reports estimated that around 15,000-20,000 incendiaries were dropped across the city in the space of just thirty-five minutes. It was a deluge which quickly overwhelmed the efforts of fire crews and fire guards. Faced with 155 separate fires, including at least fourteen conflagrations and major blazes, some seventy smaller fires were left to burn until the arrival of more appliances. Along the riverside, the fires consumed a brewery, timber-yards and a number of mills which formed part of the worldfamous Reckitt and Colman’s mustard manufacturing base. Not far away, for the second time in less than eight weeks, the city centre was wreathed in flames. Philip Burkill, a Civil Defence messenger, subsequently encountered a Dantesque inferno as he cycled through streets “bathed in a ghastly red”. “The blaze was terrific, the heat intense,” he wrote. “Flames were roaring high into the sky and billowing out nearly 50 yds along the street.”2 Bond’s, one of the city’s most prominent and prestigious department stores, was ravaged, while a few hundred yards away desperate efforts were being made by nurses, porters, Civil Defence workers and a contingent of locally-billeted soldiers from the Scottish Horse to evacuate the

incendiary-hit Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. To a witness of the bombing, it appeared as though “Jerry was out to destroy everything”.3 Flames spreading across the city turned the sky “blood red”, but from the heights above the eastern side of the River Wensum there was one fire in particular which caught the eye of awed onlookers. It was just beyond the school playing fields bordering the river, inside the historic Close where an array of medieval buildings formed a magnificent backdrop to the majestic Norman cathedral and it’s towering, 315 foot high spire.

UNEARTHLY STORM The attack on Norwich’s architectural masterpiece was seen coming. Lodged in the Cathedral tower, at nave roof level, one of the Close’s firewatchers, part of Group 57, had observed the bombers approaching from the north-west, their relentless progress flecked with ineffectual flak. With bombs falling ever nearer, he waited long enough to be sure of the impending danger before sounding the alarm. Moments later, the first of more than 850 incendiaries began clattering onto the ground and piercing the roofs www.britainatwar.com

Bomber’s-eye view of the Cathedral environs in the heart of Norwich. The photograph was taken six years after the war when evidence of the 1942 bombing was still apparent. Just below the bottom left corner of the Cloisters, it is possible to make out the roofless remains of the former monastic warehouse and the ruins of neighbouring properties which incorporated fragments of a 12th century priory infirmary. The ruined and roofless school Lodge is also visible to the left of the main entrance, but the badly damaged North Transept has been repaired.

of buildings scattered throughout Cathedral Close. It was the din caused by this unearthly storm that sent school headmaster Theodore Acland scurrying up the stairs of the Carnary chapel crypt, which had been commandeered as a dormitory shelter, just a stone’s throw from the main entrance to the Cathedral church. He was soon back, calling out to the members of the school fire party: “Come on boys, there’s some trouble outside.”4 Rubbing the sleep from their eyes, about fourteen youngsters, most of them aged 15 or 16, quickly pulled jumpers over their pyjamas and grabbed ill-fitting steel helmets before facing their baptism of fire. Among those tramping single-file up the steps and out into the school quadrangle was the newest recruit to the fire party, Derek Griffiths. “The sight which met us was indeed forbidding,” he later wrote. “Yellow smoke everywhere; incendiary bombs ablaze everywhere.” The day boys’ cloakroom was on fire and a canister of incendiaries was blazing merrily in the playground, puncturing the smog with a searing white light as it burned itself out. “There was so much going on it was difficult to know where to begin,” remembered Griffiths. “We’d been instructed in how www.britainatwar.com

to deal with one incendiary bomb, but nobody had ever told us how to deal with about a hundred of them at the same time.”5 Undeterred, the boys split up into small parties and began tackling the fires wherever they found them. Alastair Grant joined a small group which included the headmaster and head of house, John “Watty” Watson. “It was plain that the school had been hit,” he wrote. The roof of the Arcade was burning and as he dashed off to fetch a ladder another incendiary fell into the middle of the ‘quad’ where it “proceeded to burn itself out”.6 By the time he returned, groups of schoolboys were busily engaged fighting fires with sand and stirruppumps in the manual instruction shop, the coke store, day boys’ cloakroom and science block. Bit by bit, the fires were doused. The science laboratories were saved, as were the gymnasium, the coke store and the bike shed. But any joy was tempered by the destruction wrought in the school’s newly restored Jacobean Lodge which housed four classrooms and the masters’ common room as well as a valuable collection of books and drawings. Unnoticed by the boys of the fire party, incendiaries had pierced the

roof and set light to the attic. “It went up like [a] tinderbox,” recalled Derek Griffiths. “This whole building … was engulfed in a mass of fire within about 20 minutes and became a burning ruin in no time.” Even as flames tore through the upper storeys, a group of boys led by “Watty” Watson dashed inside the burning building to rescue anything of value from the flames. As they headed in, there was a whine and another container crashed down, bursting on impact and burning harmlessly among the scattering of incendiaries already littering the playground. 

BELOW: Boys of the King Edward VI Grammar School cadet corps are put through their paces in front of the Lodge. The school also provided a strong contingent for the Air Training Corps and some of its equipment was rescued from the blitzed Lodge before it burned down.

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SAVING THE CATHEDRAL Norwich and the "Baedeker Blitz"

The Baedeker Blitz ON THE night of 28 March 1942, the RAF carried out a raid on Hitler’s Reich which signalled a dramatic change in Britain’s strategic bombing offensive and provoked a series of revenge attacks, or Vergeltungsangriffe, on some of the UK’s most historically important towns and cities. The attack on the north German coastal town of Lübeck, described by Bomber Command’s newly-appointed chief Air Marshal Arthur Harris as “more like a fire-lighter than a human habitation”, marked the beginning of a controversial new ‘area bombing’ policy designed to cow the enemy’s civilian population and turn Germany into a nation of refugees. Adjudged a success, the attack by around 200 bombers destroyed 1,425 houses, killed 312 people, terrorised an entire population and outraged the German high command. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels railed against the British “craze for destruction” while Hitler, furious at what he saw as an attack on a defenceless city of no military importance, demanded reprisals. Exeter was the first English cathedral city to bear the brunt of the Luftwaffe’s vengeance. Raided first on 23-24 April and then again, more successfully, the following night, and yet more heavily less than a fortnight later, Exeter suffered 248 civilian deaths during attacks which left large parts of the city centre devastated. In the midst of these attacks, the Luftwaffe mounted double strikes against Bath (25-26 and 26-27 April) and Norwich (27-28 and 29-30 April) which added more than 600 fatalities to the list of victims in targets which Baron Gustuv von Stumm, deputy chief of the German Foreign Office press department, said had been deliberately selected from the Baedeker guide book for their cultural significance. To overseas journalists, he declared: “We shall go all out to bomb every building in Britain marked with three stars in the Baedeker guide.” And so, unwittingly and erroneously – Karl Baedeker’s highest rating was actually only two stars – von Stumm coined the name which would forever come to be associated with the sequence of aerial attacks which continued with diminishing success through the spring and summer of 1942. Raids on York and Canterbury would follow before the Luftwaffe returned to deliver its heaviest incendiary assault of the Baedeker Blitz on Norwich on the night of 26-27 June. The attacks shook morale in the raided cities and caused significant local if short-lived disruption. By October 1942 the Luftwaffe’s offensive, hampered by a shortage of aircraft in the west and increasing losses, had all but petered out, leaving some of Britain’s most beautiful cities ravaged by fire and bomb to little effect.

ABOVE: Norwich’s magnificent Norman Cathedral which withstood the effects of high explosive bombs in 1940 and survived a storm of incendiaries in 1942. LEFT: In the shadow of the Cathedral. The former Carnary chapel, beneath which the King Edward VI Grammar School boarders slept in a makeshift dormitory that doubled as an air-raid shelter.

Among the party who made it into the burning Lodge was Derek Hawkins. He recalled: “We just grabbed what ever artefacts we could as quickly as we could. All of this rather scared the headmaster because he felt entirely responsible for our health and safety, but we managed to clear quite a bit before retiring to a respectable distance to watch it be engulfed in flames.” Unable to do any more, the boys stood in awe as the whole block of classrooms “crashed in a shower of sparks, smoke and flames to form a fire-racked ruin”.7 The loss of the Lodge signalled the end of fire-fighting at the school, but not in the Close as a whole. Indeed, it proved merely the curtain-raiser to the night’s biggest drama.

CRISIS POINT

ABOVE: King George VI staged a morale-raising visit to a blitzed Norwich in October 1942. He is seen here speaking to John Grix, third from the right. The teenage Civil Defence messenger was awarded a British Empire Medal for gallantry for his courageous efforts to maintain communications during the April blitz despite being blown off his bike by bomb bursts on five occasions in a single night.

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It is not clear precisely when the first signs of a fire were noticed burning on the roof of the Cathedral. Derek Griffiths thought he saw flames on the north transept even as he was busy battling the various school blazes. But there were too many fires and too few firefighters to deal with every incendiary and it was not until the Cathedral’s senior fireguard spotted a plume of smoke rising from the far side of the nave roof, close to the tower, that the serious nature of the threat facing the city’s most important historic building became apparent. From his post in the lower square, Arthur Whittingham recognised the danger straight away. He hurried into the Cathedral where he found one of his fire-watchers and two other men already

tackling a fire on the triforium roof. The moment many had long feared had arrived, but as the spectre of destruction loomed there was no man better placed to deal with the crisis than the leader of Group 57. Meticulous and single-minded, Arthur Whittingham cared about the Cathedral with a passion. No one knew more about its history or its construction. Every nook and cranny was familiar to him. In the years before the war, he had carried out an exhaustive survey of the site and as “surveyor to the fabric” in charge of repairs he was the obvious choice to take charge of the team responsible for protecting the building against enemy action. That the danger was real enough had been evidenced early on. The war was only a little over a year old when a cluster of bombs straddled the Cathedral. One pierced the brick dome covering a disused well between the Bishop’s Palace and the north transept without exploding, a second gouged a crater in the cloister-garth and a third burst in a nearby garden. The near misses galvanised Whittingham. Around 400 years earlier precautions had been taken to limit the risk from fire by constructing brick and stone vaulting above the Cathedral’s twin transepts. Now the building’s new protector-in-chief set about adding to those medieval defences. Walls were built between the triforium arches and the belfry, and spire windows were blocked off to prevent the tower acting as a flue. At the same time, sandbags, pails, water www.britainatwar.com

“We’d been instructed in how to deal with one incendiary bomb, but nobody had ever told us how to deal with about a hundred of them at the same time.” RIGHT: Fires burn out of control in Ber Street, in Norwich’s city centre close to Bond’s department store. Confronted by 155 separate fires, NFS crews were all but overwhelmed in the first hour following the raid. Forced to concentrate on the most “widespread” blazes, the firefighters left seventy smaller fires to burn until reinforcements arrived. (AUTHOR; ARTWORK BY DAVE CASSAN)

and stirrup-pumps were placed at strategic points and access to potentially awkward spots was made easier. Casements were made which led onto roofs, ladders straddled the exterior walls and links were constructed on the organ loft and through the nave roof to ensure every level could be reached.

THE DULL RED GLOW Vindication for Whittingham’s painstaking devotion came in the early hours of 27 June. As he clambered up to the triforium roof, the Cathedral’s senior fireguard realised that the building was threatened with catastrophe not just by a single fire, but by a scattering of burning incendiaries. He counted at least three fires along the roof of the triforium with more burning across the top of St Luke’s Chapel and the Consistory Court. There were also flames leaping from both transepts near the foot of the tower. Most worrying of all, however, was a fire that was beginning to tear through the north transept where a container filled with forty-two incendiaries had fallen out of sight and wedged itself in roof timbers within the vaulting. Unseen by any of the fireguards, it had burned long enough to gain a strong hold on the roof which was already awash with molten lead. Recognising the danger, Whittingham sent word down for as many firefighters as possible to join the battle to save the Cathedral. His plea was enthusiastically answered by the boys of the King Edward VI Grammar School fire party. www.britainatwar.com

Guided by the “dull red glow” peeping through the smoke, they abandoned the smouldering ruins of the school Lodge and made for the Cathedral where flames were already enveloping the lower spire. “A number of us, armed with stirrup-pumps and buckets of water, entered the nearest west side door, and went up those Norman turret staircases,” wrote Derek Griffiths.8 A crocodile of water-carriers quickly formed which led via the north-west turret and clerestory out onto the roof. It was a precarious journey at the best of times, but in darkness with incendiary fires all around it was a testing climb. Alastair Grant overcame a fear of heights to totter along the narrow clerestory some sixty feet above the stone floor carrying two buckets of water. He remembered becoming aware “with sudden astonishment” he was not in the least frightened as he “gazed down to the dimly visible floor with complete nonchalance”.9 Further on, Derek Hawkins recalled emerging onto a roof running with liquid lead only to see a couple of incendiaries “twinkling away” beyond reach in the Cathedral spire. “Thankfully, they just burned out of their own accord because there was nothing but stone there,” he said. All across the Cathedral small fires were being tackled by men and boys seemingly oblivious of the risks they ran of becoming trapped by the flames or of falling through damaged roofs. One of the night’s myriad unlikely heroes was gate porter Reggie Hardy. Faced by a particularly difficult blaze in

the south transept, he clambered inside the roof to tackle “them incinders” while a clergyman turned fireguard played a hose on the roof from above. Two more fires, one above the Bauchun chapel and the other above St Luke’s, proved “more tiresome”, according to Whittingham.10 Unable to reach the flames with stirrup-pumps, he later reported that two solicitors’ clerks and a Home Guard volunteer had scaled the burning roofs from where they hauled up a length of hose-pipe which they used to douse the fire. The biggest challenge, however, remained the blaze in the north transept. Heroic though the roof-top fire-fight was, the flow of water from buckets and stirrup-pumps ferried up by the intrepid schoolboys was insufficient to defeat flames leaping high into the night sky. As Derek Griffiths noted, the fire “was much larger than it appeared 

BELOW: The Norfolk and Norwich Hospital suffered heavy damage during the 27 June raid. Taken the morning after the attack, this photograph shows the jumble of bed frames heaped in front of the still-smouldering building following the mass evacuation of patients. A night of high drama was touched with farce when nurses were ordered back into the burning hospital to rescue patients’ false teeth which had been left behind in the rush to get out!

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SAVING THE CATHEDRAL Norwich and the "Baedeker Blitz"

ABOVE: Temporarily closed. The rubble and twisted remains of one of Norwich’s most prestigious department stores on the morning after the blitz. Bond’s, however, was not out of business for long. Shortly after the raid the store reopened for business, operating from a fleet of old single-decker buses. ABOVE: The one-word message sent by Derek Griffiths to his parents in Birmingham less than seven hours after the air raid which set fires raging through the Close. Having sent the telegram, he “hurried back to school in time for morning lessons”. TOP: The ruins of the school Lodge. A fine old Jacobean building, it had been restored shortly before the outbreak of war and housed the masters’ common room as well as four classrooms and a valuable collection of books and drawings by noted local artists.

from the ground”. But all was not yet lost. Realising that the combined efforts of his fireguards and schoolboy reinforcements were not enough to prevent the fire burning out of control, Whittingham turned to the already over-stretched National Fire Service for assistance. Where other pleas for help, notably at Colman’s mustard works, had either gone unanswered or been answered too late as to effect the issue, Whittingham’s call prompted an almost immediate reaction from a trailer-pump situated close by. Commanded by Fireman Jack Woolsey, the machine raced into the Close and in no time, according to Derek Griffiths, “a hose was hoisted up the outside of the north transept by means of a rope”. Then, having made their way onto the edge of the burning roof, Woolsey’s crew quickly managed to bring the fire under control,

RIGHT: A sketch of the ruined school Lodge which was drawn by senior teacher Andrew Stephenson who succeeded Theodore Acland as headmaster. (COURTESY OF

NORWICH SCHOOL ARCHIVES)

112 NOVEMBER 2013

though it would take another fourteen hours, during which time flames flickered along the ridge on three or four occasions, before it was finally extinguished with stirrup-pumps. Woolsey’s men were still toiling high up on the scorched and smokeblackened Cathedral when the grey light of dawn revealed the full extent of the damage in the Close and just how narrowly disaster had been averted.

ENERGY AND COURAGE A 100-120 square foot expanse of roof above the north transept had been burned away near the base of the tower, leaving a charred skeleton of timbers exposed to the elements. Other roofs, above the south transept and an assortment of chapels, also displayed evidence of the night’s drama, while the inventory of damage inside the Cathedral included the organ and a stone screen in the triforium. However, the main structure, the decorative walls and distinctive spire, had escaped serious damage. What some viewed as a miracle was, in fact, an epic story of survival born of a mixture of good fortune, great foresight and a gallant fight put up by a small band of fireguards, boosted by a bunch of schoolboys and a single fire crew. There was little doubt that Arthur Whittingham’s protective measures, allied to a medieval bishop’s farsighted decision to build a brick and stone vaulting, had helped prevent the fire from spreading to engulf the entire Cathedral. Luck had also played a part. As well as the large “flam” container which

had distributed its load of incendiaries over the Cathedral, a subsequent survey revealed that two more cases packed with 500 incendiaries had, providentially, failed to open before crashing to earth where they either burnt out harmlessly on the ground or on hard surfaces or failed to ignite. Fortune, however, favours the brave and there was no questioning the bravery displayed by young and old alike. In all, some nineteen separate fires were recorded in the Close that summer’s night. Sixteen, including two in the Bishop’s Palace, had been put out in time to save the buildings, three of them with the help of Woolsey’s fire crew which was instrumental in preventing the most serious fires spreading to neighbouring properties.11 It was a remarkable achievement. Aside from the blazes which tore through the school Lodge, a couple of houses on the site of an ancient infirmary and the upper storey of one other historic building, all of the battles against fire had been fought and won, sometimes in the most hazardous of circumstances. Quite rightly, the Home Office’s postraid report heaped praise on Arthur Whittingham and his fireguards while commending the “energy and courage” shown by headmaster Theodore Acland and his schoolboy fire party, not only in saving their school from destruction but in helping spare the Cathedral from a fiery end. Almost as remarkable as the Cathedral’s survival was the realisation that the deluge of incendiaries which fell about the Close had resulted in only a single injury to an inmate of a nearby Church Army hostel who suffered burns www.britainatwar.com

A 1kg German Incendiary Bomb

ABOVE: The apocalyptic scene at Reckitt & Colman’s riverside Carrow Works in the immediate aftermath of the raid on 27 June. Almost a million square feet of factory space belonging to the mustard-manufacturing business which was synonymous with Norwich was destroyed in the blitz despite the heroic efforts of the works’ own fireguards.

when a bomb penetrated the roof and burst in his cubicle. Of course, there had been a number of narrow escapes, one of which involved a couple of schoolboy fire-fighters tackling a blaze inside a former monastic warehouse. Having used an axe to batter their way into the building, they were using a stirrup-pump to douse a fire in an upstairs corridor when they heard someone shouting at them: “Don’t you know the room below is on fire?” They immediately dashed down the stairs and out into the Close just in time to see the building collapse behind them.

SCHOOL AS USUAL For the weary, smoke-begrimed boys of the school fire party there was little time to rest on their laurels. After sharing cups of piping hot tea with firemen, they wolfed down a breakfast of porridge that smelt like the smouldering buildings, only to discover that their headmaster had decreed that the usual school timetable would go ahead as planned. In recognition of their gallant endeavours, the Dean of the Cathedral offered rooms in the Lower Close Deanery to make up for the classrooms reduced to ashes in the ruins of the Lodge. Trooping out of the crypt for morning lessons, the boys of the fire party walked through a war-scarred Close with “a mild and rather unworthy sense of gratification” at seeing the looks of disbelief on the faces of the ‘day boys’ arriving for school. Alastair Grant remembered with particular pride the reaction of one teacher, a veteran of the First World War, who seemed “impressed” www.britainatwar.com

The memorial honouring the victims of the Baedeker Blitz on Norwich in the city cemetery’s garden of remembrance.

with their effort. “We did our best,” he wrote, though looking back, he could not help thinking that any examination of their night’s toil would have concluded that they could have done “a tiny bit better”.12 The school’s headmaster, who had led his boys into action , was less equivocal. In a letter written a little over a fortnight after the raid, Theodore Acland spoke with understandable pride about their gallant behaviour. But for their efforts, he felt certain “the school would not now be in its own domain”. “Not once during those hours of strenuous work did any member of the [School] house have to be asked to do more,” he added. “From the first moment they came from bed and shelter on their own initiative and worked without

A TYPICAL German B1E 1kg incendiary, similar to those which caused so much destruction in Norwich during the attack on 27 June 1942. A post-raid survey estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 incendiaries fell across the city in the space of thirty-five minutes, making it the largest fire-bomb raid mounted against East Anglia during the war. These bombs consisted of a cylindrical body, made of magnesium alloy, which was filled with thermite, an incendiary compound, to which was riveted a threefinned steel tail. These bombs did not explode, but on impact the needle in the igniter was driven into a small percussion cap, which in turn ignited the thermite filling, and, ultimately, the alloy casing itself, producing heat that was sufficient to melt steel. (HMP)

stopping. It was a time which cannot be forgotten and for which I am truly thankful.”13 However, the strain imposed by the raid and of seeing so many of his young charges placed in harm’s way took its toll on Acland. Five months later, he tendered his resignation and the following Easter, worn out by war’s extra burdens, he left the bomb-scarred school. As for Derek Griffiths, the boy whose strange premonition had become a terrifying reality and who had fought as hard as anyone to save his school and Cathedral from destruction, he found time before lessons to cycle to the nearest post office. There, at 08.38 hours, less than seven hours after the raid began, he sent the briefest of messages to his parents in Birmingham. The one-word telegram simply read: “Safe.” 

NOTES

1. Derek Griffiths, wartime diary, 26 June 1942. 2. Philip Burkill, Norwich Blitz diary, 27 June 1942. 3. May Houghton, letter, 1942. 4. Derek Griffiths, wartime diary, 27 June 1942. 5. Author interview. 6. Letter from Alastair Grant to the author, 17 March 2011. 7. Author interview. 8. Derek Griffiths, article published in the King Edward VI Grammar School magazine, undated. 9. Letter from Alastair Grant to the author, 17 March 2011. 10. Arthur Whittingham, article published in Wartime Norwich supplement to the Eastern Evening News, November 15, 1977. 11. Information taken from Home Office Report of Incendiary Bomb Raid on Norwich Cathedral and adjoining premises, A. Lockhart and H. Owen, 17 July 1942. 12. Letter from Alastair Grant to the author, 17 March 2011. 13. Letter from Theodore Acland to Derek Griffiths’ father, dated 15 July 1942.

NOVEMBER 2013 113

Save in a Fire What I Would

Geoff Simpson asks a top curator or trustee which single item in their collections they would reach for in the event of a disaster.

A BUST OF AIR CHIEF MARSHAL LORD DOWDING Bentley Priory Museum, Stanmore, Middlesex

THE START and finish of this month’s issue of Britain at War Magazine both mark the emergence of a new major museum in a building key to the history of 20th century Britain. Wing Commander Erica Ferguson, project manager for the Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, is only too well aware that the disaster of fire has struck the 18th century mansion before. While hoping very much that it never happens again, she has chosen a modern object to save if the worst does happen. It was only in September 2013 that HRH the Prince of Wales, accompanied by HRH the Duchess of Cornwall, unveiled the bust of Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding that now looks over the Bentley Priory scene. Erica explains her choice in terms of the influence that one man had over not only the building in her charge, but the course of the war and, indeed, world history. “We are telling the whole story of Bentley Priory,” she stated, “but, of

course, the most crucial and well known element of the story is how Sir Hugh Dowding, as he then was, came here, planned the role of Fighter Command in the war that lay ahead and then implemented his plans, with what is justifiably called the “Dowding System” at the centre of them, and played such a great part in saving Britain from what was likely to be a terrible fate. “We know that not everybody agrees with the way Dowding did things and that others made massive contributions to the defence of Britain in 1940, but without Dowding perhaps the Germans would have arrived in London. He certainly dominates the atmosphere here at his old headquarters and seems to be keeping an eye on things through the bust. When I pass it I am sometimes tempted to say under my breath, ‘Are we doing it right, sir?’” Added Erica: “By the way, I have tried carrying the bust and, yes, if I had to, I could save it.” If Dowding was a difficult man to know, in a working environment many of “The Few” did come to have deep

respect for him, though it was usually at a distance. The feeling was reciprocated. Dowding grieved over their losses and expressed regret that he could not see more of them. When he left Fighter Command and Bentley Priory he wrote: “My Dear Fighter Boys. In sending you this, my last message, I wish I could say all that is in my heart. I cannot hope to surpass the simple eloquence of the Prime Minister’s words, ‘Never before has so much been owed by so many to so few’. The debt remains and will increase.” In this century it was the surviving Few, through their exclusive club, the Battle of Britain Fighter Association, who were at the forefront of the campaign to save Bentley Priory after the RAF moved out. Lord Dowding, were he able to return today, would not recognise the luxury apartments that now occupy part of the site. However, he would find himself on familiar territory with the most important rooms from the RAF tenure, including his own office, as well as the view down towards London. 

MAIN PICTURE: TRH the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in the re-created filter room at Bentley Priory. BELOW LEFT: HRH the Prince of Wales unveils the bust of Dowding. (COURTESY OF THE HARROW OBSERVER)

ABOVE: Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, Commander-in-Chief of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain. (HMP)

BENTLEY PRIORY MUSEUM The Bentley Priory Museum will be fully open to the public in January 2014. Group bookings for a minimum party of ten people can be made now by calling 0208 950 5526, or emailing: [email protected]

114 NOVEMBER 2013

www.britainatwar.com

Airfix F_P.indd 1

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IOLFI & Partners

C

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agrément n° 2002-223

FebruAry 2014 ONSITe AND ONLINe IN CAEN & BILBAO

Sale of the contentS of the “Spain at War” muSeum, BilBao (Spain) an exceptional collection of arounD 60 military vehicleS, from Both the SpaniSh civil War anD WorlD War ii, incluDing: an italian ‘paveSi’ tractor tank, SchWimmWagen, küBelWagen, kettenkraD, an opel Blitz lorry, a merceDeS l3000 lorry, a merceDeS l1500, JeepS, motorBikeS anD SiDe-carS... a large collection of DeactivateD artillery WeaponS, incluDing: 2cm flak 30, 2cm flak 38 anti-aircraft gunS anD 3.7cm pak, pak 40, 88mm anD 45mm ruSSian anti-tank gunS. an important collection of 200 Deactivate eactiv eactivate D WeaponS from WorlD War W ii anD more than 200 Sp SpaniSh h regula regulation BlaDeD WeaponS. a remarkaBle group of uniformS from arounD the time of the SpaniSh civil War – incluDing repuBlican, nationaliSt, german anD italian itemS. a Significant ignificant collection rela relateD to the conDor legion anD the azul DiviSion. an extraorDinary group of more than 400 SpaniSh orDerS anD DecorationS, aS Well aS a large Set of german orDerS anD DecorationS – incluDing in thiS group a ritterkreuzträger from the conDor legion.

© UnifOrmes magazine

SaleS conSultantS: Weapons, artillery items and technical material : nicolas martin +33.6.37.47.13.26 Vehicles : Didier coste +33.6.60.64.60.85 Orders and medals : robert Seniso +33.6.08.77.55.21 Uniforms : émilie W Weyl +33.6.28.45.35.67

Paper and online catalogue available from October 2013 Caen Auctions 13, route Trouville 14000 Caen - Tel.: +33(0)231.860.813 Sales information : Xavier Aiolfi +33 6.07.43.38.05 ou [email protected] Aiolfi & Partners - http://interencheres.com/14001 - www.aiolfi.com Aiolfi-Partners_Caen2.indd 1

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