Britain at War 2014-01

BRITAIN’S YOUNGEST WW1 BOY SOLDIER

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BRITAIN’S BEST SELLING MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY

Mosquito Night Fighter Ace

Private S. Lewis Enlisted Age 12

“FOUR IN TWENTY MINUTES”

The Late Arrivals Club

RAF WW2 Escapers and Evaders who Walked Back to their Units from Behind Enemy Lines

REVEALED: RARE TRENCH PHOTOS

Unofficial Pics Show Life on the Western Front

HARRY’S WAR

The Battle of Passchendaele and a Costly Attack on Polderhoek Château in 1917

BATTLE OF BRITAIN: UNDER THE BOMBS AT KENLEY

JANUARY 2014 ISSUE 81 £4.30

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Notes from the Dugout

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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ELCOME TO this, the first issue of 2014. For some time now organisations around the world have been busy preparing for August 2014, and the count-down to the First World War centenary commemorations is certainly well under way. How, though, should we remember that epoch-defining conflict – as a victory for freedom and democracy, or as a tragic and unnecessary waste of human life? Some people today might argue that the war was a terrible mistake. When we read of the appalling conditions the men had to endure and the often suicidal tactics employed by all sides it could be argued that it is scarcely credible that anyone could believe that the war was justifiable. Others might adopt a different stance. At the time, the war with Germany was seen by many as essential, even vital, to Britain’s future and to stability in Europe. This was not only in August 1914 when thousands flocked to the recruiting stations thinking that the war would quickly be won, it was a belief that continued to be held by many throughout the conflict. Whilst it is true that there were some dissenting voices, if the letters home from the front are to be credited, even those who had to live and fight in the trenches – the ones whom it might be thought would be most opposed to the enduring conflict – in the main continued to believe in what they were fighting for. Such a debate is just one of the many that the Britain at War Magazine team will be considering as we continue to prepare our First World War content over the coming months.

‘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 Flying Officer Norman Crookes MBE, DFC & Two Bars, DFC (US) was the navigator with Flight Lieutenant George “Jamie” Jameson in Mosquito XIII when, in just twenty minutes in the early hours of 30 July 1944, they encountered enemy aircraft over the English Channel. Barry M. Marsden describes what happened next - see page 36. By the renowned aviation artist Philip E. West, this month’s cover painting, entitled “Night Hawks”, depicts a de Havilland Mosquito night fighter in action. For more information on the painting, please visit SWA Fine Art’s website: www.swafineart.com

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Contents

ISSUE 81 JANUARY 2014

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Editor’s Choice 56 THE LATE ARRIVALS CLUB

A total of 2,803 RAF aircrew who were shot down during the Second World War either escaped from captivity or evaded capture. Of the latter, a fair number eventually made their way back to their units on foot. For many, reveals Mark Hillier, this would ensure their membership of an informal association known as the Late Arrivals Club.

FEATURES 28 BATTLE OF BRITAIN: UNDER THE BOMBS AT KENLEY

In the second part in a series of articles detailing the Luftwaffe raid on Kenley on 18 August 1940, the Battle of Britain’s “Hardest Day”, Andy Saunders recounts the events that day as seen through the eyes of those on the ground.

36 MOSQUITO NIGHT FIGHTER ACE

Flying Officer Norman Crookes MBE, DFC & Two Bars, DFC (US) was the navigator in a Mosquito night fighter when, in the early hours of 30 July 1944, his pilot claimed four “kills” in just twenty minutes.

42 IN THE TRENCHES

Unknown faces peer from the murky gloom of a First World War trench in a series of rare and unofficial photographs – images which give a glimpse of life in the Ypres Salient.

48 WHAT A NIGHT IT WAS

A young Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse was in a hospital in Étaples on the night of 19/20 May 1918, when German bombers came to visit.

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20 FLANDERS’ SACRED SOIL

Soil collected by British and Belgian school children from First World War battlefield cemeteries in Flanders, and which was placed in seventy specially-named sand bags, has been brought to the United Kingdom by the Belgian Navy and placed in the new Flanders Fields 1914-2014 Memorial Garden. The garden is situated at Wellington Barracks alongside the Guards Chapel, which in turn is near to Buckingham Palace.

64 THE RAF ON THE AIR: “I Captured a U-boat”

During the Second World War, RAF personnel regularly described their activities or actions on the radio for listeners of the BBC. In this month’s installment of “The RAF On The Air”, we reveal part of Squadron Leader James H. Thompson’s broadcast in which he detailed the capture of the German Type VIIC U-boat U-570 which had been on its way to join the U-boat packs operating in the area of the Northern Approaches on Wednesday, 27 August 1941.

REGULARS 6 BRIEFING ROOM

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

24 FIELDPOST Your letters.

41 IMAGE OF WAR

“Mowhawk Chief”; Squadron Leader Bill Pitt-Brown’s Curtiss Mohawk action on 10 November 1942.

72 DATES THAT SHAPED THE WAR

We chart some of the key moments and events that affected the United Kingdom in January 1944.

Subscribe and Save! Subscribe to Britain at War Magazine and make great savings on the cover price. See pages 54 and 55 for details.

“WE SHADOW ED

CHRISTMAS TRUCE 1914: “I WAS THER E” Bruce Bairnsfather

Describes The Events

of 25 December 1914

BRITAIN’S BEST SELLING MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY

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The Baedeker

BLITZ

Stuka Swansong Norwich Cathedral,

The Last Dive-Bom ber Attacks on BRITAIN’S

June 1942

Britain BEST SELLING MILITARY

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The Hardest Day HISTORY MONTHLY

Battle of Britain: Low-Level Attack

PLUS

The Sinking of U-534 RAF On The Air: Squadron Leader R. “Bob” Stanford Tuck Mountain Top Great War Memorial Restored SAS Gallantry: Major John “Jim” Almonds MM & Bar Wartime Depth Charge Blown Up at Guernsey and more …

on Kenley

CHURCHIL

GUNBOAL’S T

PLUS:

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

FOR VALOUR

Private George Peachment’s Victoria Cross action, 1915

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THE BISMARC K”

DISA R AT STUDLASTE D-DAY ND BAY A Remarkabl e First World War Survivor

Valentine Floating

NOVEMBER 2013 ISSUE

79 £4.30 Tanks Lost During

DUKWS

D-Day Exercise

Army’s amphibians SPITFIR ES in action on Gold IN ACTION FILMING Beach, 1944The Realities of ON THE War - RAF Fighters in Combat over FRONT MEMORIALS Occupied Europe How An Offensive September 1944 on 3 near Ypres in 1916 Was Caught on REVEALED: THE Camera GERMAN GREAT ESCAPE, DECEMB ER 1944 The British

BRIDGES, BELLS, CLOCKS: UNUSU AL WAR

101 RECONNAISSANCE REPORT

DECEMBER 2013 ISSUE 80 £4.30

A look at new books and products.

114 WHAT I WOULD SAVE IN A FIRE

As she discussed with Geoff Simpson, Jane Rugg, Curator of the London Fire Brigade Museum in Southwark Bridge Road, London, has chosen an item from the Blitz to “save from a fire” – an Auxiliary Fire Service uniform.

68 NO WAY HOME

At first it looks like a picture of a pile of unrecognisable wreckage. However, the clues to its identity – a 610 Squadron Spitfire shot down during a Circus operation in 1941 – can be found on the back of the photograph itself.

74 MARCHING INTO GERMANY

There was widespread civil unrest and the British troops did not know what kind of reception they would receive when, for the first time, they marched into Germany after the Armistice in 1918.

87 LORD ASHCROFT’S “HERO OF THE MONTH”

In the latest instalment in a series examining his “Hero of the Month”, Lord Ashcroft tells the story of the incredible courage of Odette Sansom GC.

92 HARRY’S WAR

Harold Victor Drinkwater maintained a remarkable diary during the First World War. One of the events he described was the fighting at Polderhoek Château, near Ypres, in October 1917.

www.britainatwar.com

82 CAUGHT IN THE NET

Peter Amos examines an unusual wartime proposal to beat the threat of the German U-boat packs – the Miles M.38A Mariner.

106 VALOUR AT THE SHARP END

Seventy years ago, a British unit’s baptism of fire in Burma helped shatter the myth of Japanese invincibility thanks to one man’s single-minded determination. Steve Snelling recounts the battle for the Kyaukchaw bunkers. JANUARY 2014

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A GEORGE Cross recipient from the Second World War will be honoured as part of a new housing estate. The main street in the new Goresbrook Village development in Barking and Dagenham will be named after Chief Petty Officer Reginald Ellingworth GC who was killed, alongside Lieutenant Commander Richard Ryan (who was also posthumously awarded the George Cross), while defuzing a mine hanging by a parachute in a warehouse in Dagenham on 21 September 1940. The other streets in the estate will be named after battles fought by the Essex Regiment during the First World War as part of the council’s centenary commemorations. TWO SECOND World War Nissen huts are to be dismantled and transported to a new location after planning permission was granted for a supermarket to be built on their existing site. The huts will be taken from Postmill Close in Wymondham, Norfolk, before construction begins. They will be transported to the 93rd Bombardment Group Museum in Hardwick. It is believed the huts could have originally been used as accommodation at Hethel during the Second World War. RESIDENTS OF Overseal, Burton-onTrent, gathered in an area of open space to plant a number of trees, with each one representing a soldier from the village who lost his life in the First World War. Mark Knight, a member of Overseal Parish Council, said: “The atmosphere was really good, lots of people getting involved, of all ages, some of whom had come to acknowledge the debt to the fallen of the war, others just because they love trees, and still more because they support the community.” CAMPAIGNERS IN Rotherham have said that they are determined to have a Second World War memorial in place in the town’s Clifton Park by Remembrance Day 2014, reports Philip Curtis. Now the local newspaper, the Rotherham Advertiser has raised money for the project, with editor Andrew Mosley declaring that, “It is unforgivable that the authorities of Rotherham have never paid for a World War Two memorial, though there is one in Clifton Park for those who lost their lives in World War One.” A list of names to go on the memorial has been compiled, covering Rotherham itself and surrounding districts. Anyone who would like to contribute to the £30,000 needed for the memorial should call Elaine Humphries on 01709 517783.

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JANUARY 2014

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

Women’s Timber Corps Memorial Unvieled A MEMORIAL to the so-called “Lumberjills” – the women who worked in forestry during the Second World War – has been unveiled on Haygate Bank in Dalby Forest, North Yorkshire. Whilst the Women’s Timber Service had been established during the First World War, it was not until April 1942 that the Home Grown Timber Department, part of the Ministry of Supply, formed the Women’s Timber Corps as part of the Women’s Land Army. Some 9,000 British women were recruited to work in forestry during the war. They carried out heavy work, felling trees by hand, working in sawmills, loading trucks and driving tractors. Home-grown timber was needed for the war effort and was used in everything from telegraph poles, pit props, packaging boxes for military supplies and weapons, gun butts, aircraft manufacture and shipbuilding. The charcoal was also used for explosives and in the production of gas masks. The Forestry Commission said 60% of timber needed in the Second World War was grown in Great Britain and 46% of trees were felled. By 1945, usable standing

The recently unveiled Lumberjill memorial. By the sculptor Ray Lonsdale and entitled “Pull Don’t Push”, it features a steel fabrication of a felled tree and two Lumberjills. (COURTESY OF THE FORESTRY COMMISSION)

timber had been exhausted. Edna Holland (nee Lloyd), now eighty-eight-years-old, from Beverley trained as a Lumberjill in Wetherby and worked across the North York Moors throughout the war. “Physically it was very, very hard work,” Mrs Holland said. “We started off by learning to fell a tree. We used the axe to put the wedge in low to the ground to know which way it was falling. We then used a cross-cut saw to fell the tree and chopped the branches off the tree with the axe.”

Speaking after the memorial’s unveiling, Sir Harry Studholme, Chair of the Forestry Commission, said: “As the Women’s Timber Corps was a section of the Women’s Land Army, there was no official recognition of its efforts during the war. There was no representative at official Armistice Day Parades and no separate wreath at the Cenotaph. In fact they had become the Forgotten Corps. In order to provide a lasting legacy to their contribution to the war effort the Forestry Commission England wanted to commission a memorial.”

Plans to Increase the Number of Listed War Memorials Are Announced THE CULTURE Secretary Maria Miller MP, who leads for the Government on First World War commemorations, has announced plans to double the number of listed war memorials. There are only 1,300 war memorials currently included on the National Heritage List for England, a figure that represents, it is believed, less than 10% of free-standing war memorials in the country. Mrs Miller added that English Heritage intends

to list up to 500 war memorials a year over the next five years. “This centenary comes at a point where living memory becomes written history,” said Mrs Miller, “so it is absolutely essential that our work to mark it speaks clearly to young people in particular. War memorials are a precious part of our heritage that keeps alive the ultimate sacrifice that so many made. It is absolutely right that we

Standing in front of St George’s Hall, Liverpool’s Cenotaph is regarded as a deeply moving testament to civic remembrance. (COURTESY OF JOHN BRADLEY)

cherish and protect them, and I welcome English Heritage’s initiative in launching this project today.” It was also announced that Liverpool’s Cenotaph is to be listed as Grade I, making it one of only three Grade I war memorials in the country. The structure, designed by Lionel Budden with sculptural work by Herbert Tyson Smith and unveiled in 1930, was listed as Grade II in 1952 but English Heritage has reassessed its architectural and historic significance. One side shows a bronze relief of the massed ranks of armed men, marching off to war. The other shows the mourners visiting a vast military cemetery. Roger Bowdler, Designation Director at English Heritage, added: “The Liverpool Cenotaph is a remarkable monument, combining the highest quality of design and artistry with a dignified and painfully poignant memorial to the losses suffered by the people of Liverpool. It fully deserves this designation at the highest grade.”

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

| BRIEFING ROOM

Appeal to Save Hooton Park Hangar AN APPEAL has been launched to restore a First World War Belfast truss hangar at Hooton Park, Ellesmere Park, Cheshire, reports Geoff Simpson. The airfield was built for the Royal Flying Corps and, before the Second World War, was the home of 610 (County of Chester) Squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force which flew Spitfires in the Battle of Britain.

A statement from the Hooton Park Trust says that, “Following the £400,000.00 refit of Hangar 2 at Hooton Park which assured the Trust of a sustainable income the board of directors now want to increase use of the site by opening up a second building. Hangar 1 a Grade II* listed building currently on the English Heritage at risk register will we hope be the building that fulfils that aim. Each

hangar comprises twin bays and this project aims (for the moment) to restore the southern-most bay of the hangar ... The wooden trusses in this bay are badly damaged and in urgent need of repair and will constitute the bulk of the work.” The Trust claims that, as a group, the buildings are the only ones of their type in Europe. For more information please see the Trust’s website: www.hootonparktrust.co.uk

First World War Submariner’s Medals Donated to RN Submarine Museum

THE MEDALS awarded to a First World War submariner have been donated to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum by his relatives. Following the outbreak of war in 1914 Frederick Williams-Freeman served as a First Lieutenant in the submarine HMS E6. Having put to sea on 5 August 1914, E6, in company with E8, made the first Heligoland Bight patrol. On 28 August 1914, E6 and E8 other boats took positions in a planned raid against the German Heligoland Bight Patrol using surface ships. On 25 September 1914, E6, under the command of LieutenantCommander C.P. Talbot, fouled a mine. The following account appeared in The London Gazette of 20 October 1914: “While diving, [E6] fouled the moorings of a mine laid by the enemy. On rising to the surface she weighed the mine and sinker; the former was securely fixed between the hydroplane and its guard; fortunately, however, the horns of the mine were pointed outboard. The weight of the sinker made it a difficult and dangerous matter to lift the mine clear without exploding it. After half an hour’s patient work this was

effected by Lieutenant Frederick A.P. Williams-Freeman and Able Seaman Ernest Randall Cremer … and the released mine descended to its original depth.” For his actions, Williams-Freeman was awarded the DSO (Cremer was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal). Between June 1915 and May 1917 Williams-Freeman commanded the submarine H9, a period that witnessed him patrolling the Eastern Approaches at the time of an attempted German High Seas Fleet incursion in August 1916. He was then appointed to the command of the submarine E12. On one occasion he volunteered to attack the battle cruiser Goeben, which had run aground off Dardanelles, even though he only had one engine still available for the battery recharging purposes – his spirited request was denied. Between December 1918, when Williams-Freeman was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander, and July 1919, he was employed on “Special Service” in the Mediterranean. In March 1919, he was in command of several Motor Launches of the InterAllied Disarmament Commission when the Bolsheviks seized power

Rear Admiral John Hervy and daughter Jo Young presenting the WilliamsFreeman medals to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum.

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BULLETIN BOARD

REMAINS OF two of the earliest buildings constructed at the wartime code-breaking centre at Bletchley Park have been discovered at the site. Built in August 1939, the two wooden huts, constructed on brick foundations, were demolished respectively in 1950 and 1986. One served as a café or shop by staff, whilst the second was initially used for analysing decrypted Enigma and other German military messages. The brick footings of the two huts were revealed as workmen dug up one of Bletchley Park’s car parks as part of a restoration program at the site. THE MINTON tile war memorial plaque inside the former Fenton Magistrates’ Court, which is being sold by the Ministry of Justice, is to be saved. The government has given an assurance that a legal covenant has been agreed meaning whoever buys the building would have a duty to preserve the memorial which was erected in 1922.

Lieutenant Frederick WilliamsFreeman. (ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF

THE ROYAL NAVY SUBMARINE MUSEUM, NMRN)

HMS E6 in Portsmouth Harbour.

in Budapest. He was lucky to survive a visitation from a Red Guard boarding party during which he and his men escaped after a daring cutting-out sortie mounted by British and Allied seamen manning ex-Austrian river gunboats. The Royal Navy Submarine Museum is currently planning a series of events, talks and a new exhibition to mark the centenary of the First World War – it is part of these that Williams-Freeman’s medals, the DSO and Bar and Croix de Guerre, will be put on display in the Royal Navy Submarine Museum.

BOGNOR ADVANCED Landing Ground (ALG) at North Bersted in West Sussex has at last been permanently remembered, writes Peter Amos. A sign commemorating the airfield and the personnel who flew from there was recently erected at the spot where one of the runways once crossed Chalcraft Lane. The airfield was briefly used by three Spitfire Mk.V squadrons in June 1943, but by far its busiest period began in March 1944 when two Norwegian and one RAF squadron, all equipped with Spitfire Mk.IXs, moved in. These were very active before and during the D-Day landings. However, in late June, No.83 Group Support Unit, with its large stocks of reserve fighter aircraft, including Spitfires, Typhoons and Mustangs, was then evacuated to Bognor ALG from Redhill, as that airfield was directly under the flight path of the V-1 flying bombs. This unit, together with two others, was then kept busy until the airfield finally closed on 26 September 1944. At the height of its use, Bognor ALG housed some 100 plus aircraft. Avro Ansons flew in casualties from the D-Day operations and were also used to carry plasma to Normandy. The air and ground crews slept in tents and approximately 100 tents were also erected for use by injured personnel en route to larger hospitals.. THE LINCOLNSHIRE Bomber Command Memorial has moved a step closer to becoming a reality after a £50,000 donation from the RAF Waddington International Air Show board of trustees who have donated the proceeds of this year’s event.

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BULLETIN BOARD

THE MELTON Aviation Society, of Melton Mobray, is aiming to raise funds for a memorial engraved with the names of the crew of a Vickers Wellington X, LN281 of 14 OTU, which crashed in a field near the town on 13 August 1944. The bomber burst into flames and all the crew were killed, though a cadet passenger survived. The plan is to also erect an information panel on or near the 70th anniversary. The society was recently contacted by 87-year-old Keith Doubleday who was one of a number of air cadets who rushed to the scene: “As I recollect one of its engines had stopped. It banked and sideslipped into the ground, bursting into flames. Many of us raced to the scene and tried to rescue the crew but it was hopeless. Being a Wellington and fabric-covered the heat was intense. The rear gunner was the most prominent of the crew and many brave attempts were made to rescue him. The metal was red hot and it was impossible to reach the gunner from inside the fuselage.”

THE LANCASHIRE (North) Branch is kicking off the Western Front Association’s series of talks for 2014 with its event on Monday, 6 January 2014. Speaking at the King’s Own Regimental Museum in Lancaster, Chris Payne will be discussing “How British Conscripts Helped to Win the War”. On 31 January 2014, David Empson returns to the Essex Branch with his presentation “Untold Stories Behind Great War Artefacts – The Latest Instalment”. The talk focuses on David’s collection of artefacts and the stories behind them. Le Cateau is the subject of Vern Littley’s talk to the Wiltshire Branch on 2 February 2014, whilst on 4 February, Dr Simon Peaple will examine the origins of the First World War when speaking to the Chesterfield Branch. Drawing on his forthcoming book The North East Railway in the First World War, Rob Langham will be speaking to the Durham Branch on Monday, 10 February 2014. Also inspired by printed material, in this case some of stories that appeared in the pages of the Victor comic, Martin Hornby, Branch Chairman, will present a lecture entitled “Comic Book Heroes” to the Somerset Branch on 12 February 2014. In this he will be describing various Victoria Cross winning actions. For full details of each event, including how to attend, please visit: www. westernfrontassociation.com/ great-war-current-events

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JANUARY 2014

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

Guernsey Aircrew Memorial ON MONDAY, 18 November 2013, Government officials and veterans gathered to mark the dedication of the foundations of a memorial for Allied aircrew shot down over the Bailiwick of Guernsey during the Second World War, writes Simon Hamon. It is hoped that the memorial will be erected in time for the 70th anniversary of the end of that conflict. The memorial will be positioned in front of Guernsey Airport’s terminal building. The final design has yet to be agreed on, but fundraising towards a target of £50,000 has already begun and has been patronised by His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor (Guernsey), Air Marshal Peter Walker CB CBE. There were more than 120 aircrew shot down in the Bailiwick waters. The main country represented is the United States Army Air Force with over eighty crew members, whilst others came from Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Czechoslovakia. The figures were produced as a result of over forty years of research by Channel Island aviation historian John Goodwin. It is hoped that family members of those known to have been killed near the Bailiwick, which includes, Alderney, Sark and Herm, will get in touch to help collate information and be able to attend the unavailing ceremony due on Battle of Britain

A wreath is laid at the site of the proposed memorial.

Week 2015. Some incidents are lacking in information, such as Sergeant Geoffrey Arthur Painting who was shot down east of Alderney after being hit by flak from German ships heading from Guernsey to Cherbourg. At the controls of a 118 Squadron Spitfire, Sergeant Painting was on an anti-shipping attack on Tuesday, 30 September 1941, when he became the youngest RAF pilot to be killed in action during the Second World War. He had lied about his age

when he enlisted in 1940 aged just 15½. The Allied Aircrew Memorial Committee are keen to know more about the pilot and the incident. Anyone wishing to make a contribution to the fund can send cheques, made payable to RAFA Guernsey, to: RAFA, Fosse Andre, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 1XZ. If anyone has information or are relatives of the aircrew are asked to contact: [email protected]

First World War Bomber Wings Recovered

STAFF FROM the Michael Beetham Conservation Centre at the RAF Museum Cosford have succeeded in recovering wing sections from Handley Page O/400 bombers which had been used to support a garage roof in Connah’s Quay, Flintshire (as detailed in the November issue). The RAF Museum was first alerted to the existence of the wings in April 2013. Senior Curator Al McLean said, “A visit to the site revealed that these were wooden wings with

a type of construction known as box spars. This suggested that the aircraft dated from the latter part of the First World War and given the size of them, there were only a few aircraft types they could have originated from. The Handley Page O/400 was the obvious candidate and after a brief look at a manual we were fairly positive that that was what we were looking at.” Following their recovery

Handley Page O/400 wings under construction. (BOTH IMAGES COURTESY OF THE RAF MUSEUM)

An annotated image of one of the wing parts in situ prior to recovery by a team from the Michael Beetham Conservation Centre.

operation the wing sections were moved into the museum’s storage facility at RAF Stafford. Here the museum houses other O/400 parts consisting of an outer panel from the upper wing, a number of interplane struts and a set of elevators, all believed to be the only known examples in the world.  www.britainatwar.com

NEWS FEATURE |

Death of Terence Clifford Iveson

Three 617 Squadron veterans pictured together at Duxford in 2003. Tony Iveson can be seen in the centre, whilst on the left is Ray Grayston and, on the right, Harry Humphries, adjutant of 617 Squadron at the time of the Dams Raid in May 1943. (ANDREW PARSONS/PA ARCHIVE)

Death of Battle of Britain and Bomber Command Veteran SQUADRON LEADER Terence Clifford Iveson, DFC, AE died on 5 November 2013, aged 94, reports Geoff Simpson. He was one of a small band of men who qualified for the Battle of Britain Clasp and were later decorated for service in Bomber Command. “Tony” Iveson was born on 11 September 1919, in York and attended the city’s Archbishop Holgate’s Grammar School. He joined the RAFVR in 1938, was called up on 1 September 1939 and before the end of the year had been sent to No.5 Flying Training School at Sealand, Flintshire. He would later recall meeting at Sealand other future Battle of Britain pilots, including John Gurteen, Burley Higgins, Denis Helcke (all killed during the Battle), Alan McGregor and Ray Holmes. Iveson’s training was delayed by illness. He eventually converted to Spitfires at Hawarden and joined 616 Squadron on 2 September 1940. At that point, the squadron, which had suffered significant casualties since coming south on 19 August, was in the process of moving from Kenley in 11 Group to Coltishall in 12 Group. Sergeant Iveson ditched in the North Sea on 16 September, twenty miles off Cromer, after

Squadron Leader Tony Iveson (right) at a House of Commons reception with HRH Price Michael of Kent and (centre) Richard Hunting, Chairman of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust. (AUTHOR)

10 JANUARY 2014

running out of fuel while pursuing a Junkers Ju 88 in Spitfire L1036. He was picked up by a motor torpedo boat and landed at Yarmouth. A transfer to 92 Squadron at Biggin Hill took place on 11 October. There followed two years as an instructor in Southern Rhodesia, before Iveson came back to the UK and joined Bomber Command. He flew Stirlings in a Heavy Conversion Unit and went on to the Lancaster Finishing School at Syerston. Now a Flight Lieutenant, he was posted to 617 Squadron. His welcome on the squadron was somewhat daunting, with David Shannon, one of the veterans of the Dams raid of 1943, remarking, “Sprog pilot – they’ll have you for breakfast”. The pair would later become friends. The German battleship Tirpitz was an Allied pre-occupation through much of the war and Iveson flew three operations against the ship in Norwegian waters during his time with 617, one of which was launched from Russia. He participated in the attack by 9 and 617 squadrons on 12 November 1944, during which the ship was sunk. Iveson’s bomb aimer reported that their Tallboy bomb landed in the middle of the smoke emanating from Tirpitz. When, on 12 January 1945, the target for 617 was U-boat pens and shipping at Bergen in Norway, Iveson’s Lancaster was assailed by German fighters and anti-aircraft fire. Severe damage to the aircraft included the port inner engine on fire. Three of the crew took to their parachutes, but Iveson eventually flew the bomber back to Sumburgh, Shetland. He was awarded an immediate DFC. Iveson was seconded to BOAC for a time before he left the RAF in 1949. He later served in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and commanded 2609 (West Riding of Yorkshire) Squadron, RAuxAF Regiment, as a Squadron Leader.

A wartime portrait of Tony Iveson. (COURTESY OF

STEVE DARLOW, AUTHOR OF FIVE OF THE FEW)

In civilian life Tony Iveson worked in television production and in high profile public relations roles. He was a long serving Chairman of the Bomber Command Association and played a leading part in campaigning for the Bomber Command Memorial which was unveiled by Her Majesty the Queen in Green Park in 2012. He was also a dedicated supporter of the National Memorial to The Few at Capel-le-Ferne. Tony Iveson’s ashes will be scattered over the North Sea by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight during 2014. www.britainatwar.com

Admiral Jellicoe's Grandson Visits Jutland Warship

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Admiral Jellicoe’s Grandson

Visits Jutland Warship NICK JELLICOE, grandson of Admiral of the Fleet, John Rushworth Jellicoe, the First Earl Jellicoe, who commanded the Grand Fleet at Jutland, recently visited Northern Ireland to inspect the work being undertaken to restore HMS Caroline, the last surviving Royal Navy warship that participated in the battle in 1916. Built on Merseyside, HMS Caroline was a C-class light cruiser which was commissioned in December 1914. She displaced 4,219 tons when loaded and within her overall length of 446 feet she mounted two Breach Loading 6-inch guns, eight Quick Firing 4-inch guns, and a single 6-pounder. She also carried four tubes for 21-inch torpedoes. After various commands, Caroline was posted to the Grand Fleet’s Fourth Light Cruiser Squadron, with which formation she was present at the Battle of Jutland, being commanded by Captain Henry R. Crooke. According to the official reports on the battle the Fourth Light Cruiser Squadron, under Commodore Charles E. Le Mesurier, led the Battle Fleet. It later supported the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla which had moved out, under Commodore James R.P. Hawksley, to attack the German High Seas Fleet. “On each occasion the Fourth Light-cruiser Squadron was very well handled by Commodore Le Mesurier,” wrote Admiral Jellicoe, “his captains giving him excellent support, and their object was attained, although with some loss in the second attack, when the ships came under the heavy fire of the enemy battle fleet at between 6,500 and 8,000 yards.” Later in the war HMS Caroline carried a flyingoff platform for the launching of Royal Naval Air Service and later Royal Air Force fighters which were used to intercept German airships operating over the North Sea. HMS Caroline’s link to Belfast came about during the Second World War where she

became the Royal Navy’s The light cruiser HMS headquarters in Belfast Caroline underway. Harbour which was used as a home base by many of the warships escorting the Atlantic and Arctic convoys. Nick Jellicoe made his first visit to Belfast to see HMS Caroline, which is moored in Alexandra Dock, before restoration work begins. “If Caroline can help tell the story of just why Jutland was so important in the first place and tell it in a way that engages a younger generation and Fund grant of £1.1m to pay for repairs to prevent any further deterioration. sparks new interest, then she will have served A joint application by NMRN and the Northern a very much higher cause,” he commented. Ireland Department for Enterprise Trade and “We have a chance to re-tell some chapters Investment for a major grant was submitted to of history, not only of the battle but through the Heritage Lottery Fund late last year. This her later role in the Royal Navy Reserves. has resulted in a further £845,000 being made It is absolutely essential that a strong available as a Round One grant to develop plans communications role be developed for Caroline for the warship’s future. The successful outcome in the upcoming World War One centenary of the Round Two application would see £14m commemorations and that she contributes and being used to fully preserve, restore and open pays her way to helping the rebirth of Belfast the ship to the public in time for the Jutland through educational tourism.”   Exhibition space within the adjacent 120-year-old centenary on 31 May 2016.    Pump House will be used to link the heritage of HMS Caroline with the area. The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) in Portsmouth, which is now responsible for the decommissioned Caroline, has secured a National Heritage Memorial

Nick Jellicoe, grandson of Admiral of the Fleet, John Rushworth Jellicoe, the First Earl Jellicoe, pictured during his recent visit to HMS Caroline, the last surviving vessel of any nation which fought at the Battle of Jutland. (BOTH

IMAGES COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL NAVY)

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JANUARY 2014 11

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Hawker Typhoon MN235's Long-Missing Radiator

Hawker Typhoon may be re-united

With Its Long-Missing Radiator BUILT BY the Gloster Aeroplane Co Ltd at Hucclecote, Gloucester, the RAF Museum’s Hawker Typhoon IB, MN235, is the sole survivor of the 3,317 examples completed. This particular airframe almost certainly owed its survival to the fact that it was shipped to the United States for evaluation purposes in 1944. This had been at the request of the USAAF who wanted to assess the type for its potential as a fighter-bomber as well as investigate possible increases in fuel capacity, writes Andy Saunders. MN235 was factory-fresh and had only forty minutes test flying recorded when it arrived in the US, where it initially flew from Wright-Paterson Air Force Base in Ohio. However, due to changing requirements the aircraft did not undertake the evaluation programme originally envisaged for it and after only nine hours testing MN235 suffered a minor accident and undertook no more flying. At this point it was at Freeman Field airbase near Seymour, Indiana, which subsequently became the test centre for the evaluation of captured enemy aircraft as well as for the flight testing of other foreign types, many of them British. By July 1946 MN235 is recorded as having its engine being prepared for storage at Freeman Field. By January 1949 the aircraft had been allocated to the National Air Museum and placed in crated storage with the reserve collection of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington. However, the Typhoon never went on public display in the USA, being held at various storage facilities until the late 1960s, by when

it was at Silver Hill, Maryland. At this time the embryonic Royal Air Force Museum was establishing itself at Hendon and a world-wide search for aircraft important to the RAF’s history was undertaken. The Typhoon at Silver Hill was quickly identified as a desirable exhibit since it was the only surviving example of its type. Consequently, the airframe was released to the RAFM in exchange for Hawker Hurricane IIc, LF686, and returned to the UK in January 1968. On its arrival in the UK, MN235 was found to be missing one 20mm cannon, its spinner, most of the engine cowlings, starboard aileron, undercarriage parts, the side panels below the cockpit, various inspection panels, and, perhaps most significantly, the large “chin” radiator/oil cooler unit which is such a characteristic feature of the Typhoon. The missing cannon was replaced from RAFM stocks; the spinner was adapted from a Handley Page Hastings spinner and other parts were made by 27 Maintenance Unit. Replacement engine cowlings were made from sheet aluminium, and the missing radiator

was replaced by a cut-down Bedford lorry unit made to look like the original from the front. Having been on display at the RAFM for many years, on 7 November 2013, MN235 was taken by road to the RAF Museum’s facility at Cosford. This, however, has coincided with a remarkable find at Freeman Field, MN235’s temporary home at the very end of the war. Many of the captured enemy aircraft evaluated at Freeman Field were broken up and scrapped there prior to the closure of the base, as were many of the other foreign aircraft tested at the site. Some of the broken aircraft parts, and many of the spares, were eventually buried on the base and in recent years a team has been established to recover, record and preserve the vast quantity of aircraft components now known to be buried there. The finds have been both extensive and remarkable. Amongst the discoveries made earlier this year was a complete Typhoon aircraft radiator. It is assumed that this originated from MN235, quite possibly having been removed either as the result of the minor accident that befell the aircraft or when the Napier Sabre engine was removed at Freeman Field for storage. Since the radiator was unearthed, there has been discussions over fitting it back on MN235. In November 2013 a spokesperson for the Freeman Field Recovery Team told Britain at War Magazine: “We are in communication ... right now to coordinate returning the radiator to the Typhoon. The aircraft is being transferred ... on loan sometime next year, and we are delighted that the two should be reunited.”

ABOVE: The Typhoon radiator recovered by the Freeman Field Recovery Team and which is believed to have originally been fitted to the RAF Museum’s MN235. (FREEMAN FIELD RECOVERY TEAM) BELOW: Typhoon MN235 on display in the RAF Museum at Hendon prior to its journey to Cosford.

(© TRUSTEES OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE MUSEUM)

⨁ Details of the Freeman Field Recovery Team’s work can be found at: www.freemanfieldrecoveryteam.com

12 JANUARY 2014

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First World War Maritime Centenary to be Marked

First World War Maritime Centenary to be Marked THE NATIONAL Historic Ships UK, an independent body set up by Government to further understanding and participation with historic vessels throughout Great Britain, has received a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £64,700 towards its War and the Sea – A Maritime Centenary project. In time, this will tell the story of sixty surviving vessels ranging from humble barges and fishing boats to impressive fighting ships. The vessels that will form part of the project include HMS Trincomalee, a sailing frigate built in 1816 and used as a training ship from 1914 to 1918, SS Nomadic, a passenger tender for Titanic that was pressed into service as an American troopship as well as seeing service as an auxiliary minesweeper and patrol ship, HMS Caroline, the last surviving British warship that took part in the Battle of Jutland (see page 11), and the humble Pembeth of Clyde. A cutterrigged oyster smack built in 1912, Pembeth of Clyde was commandeered by the Fourth Horse Artillery during the First World War as a lighter for hay to feed the horses at London Barracks. She was named Clyde after one of the renowned drum horses. Others include the Stour barge John Constable, which was scuttled for fear that she would be used

to transport German troops in the event of an invasion, and the topsail schooner Result. Built in 1893, the latter was requisitioned by the Admiralty in November 1916, subsequently being converted into a decoy ship, numbered Q23, at Lowestoft in January 1917. The National Historic Ships UK’s project will highlight significant engagements, campaigns and events during the war connected with each vessel’s service. Personal stories, photographs, manuscripts and memorabilia will be gathered together, with the public invited to contribute information about their relatives who were connected with the various vessels. The results will be used to create a touring exhibition and a dedicated “War at Sea” website. The craft to be featured are owned by a mix of museums, public organisations and private individuals. Some are in a poor state of repair and it is hoped that the information uncovered about them may assist in their future conservation by raising greater public interest. Sue Bowers, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund London, said: “This project offers a different slant on the history of the conflict by showing the direct and indirect contribution to the war effort from

vessels and their crews whether military or civilian, both in home waters and on the high seas.” Some of the ships involved have already been the subject of lottery funding. HMS Trincomalee, for example, has been the recipient of grants totalling more than £5.25 million to restore the sailing frigate which is moored in Hartlepool. SS Nomadic, meanwhile, was awarded £3.25 million in 2011 to restore the last surviving White Star Line vessel in the world which is now moored in Belfast. The lighter John Constable was granted £910,000 in 2010 so that it could be restored to provide boat trips. It is now moored at Sudbury in Suffolk. Martyn Heighton, Director of the National Historic Ships Committee, said: “People tend to forget that the First World War was a sea war as well as one of horrific land campaigns. The Battle of Jutland story is often misunderstood, [and] few people know that in 1917 Britain came close to starvation with the depredations of the German U-boats, and the intimate stories involving these islands’ smaller vessels are little known. With some sixty vessels on the national Register which took part in World War One, this project is designed to draw all of these strands into a coherent story.”

MAIN PICTURE: SS Nomadic pictured in March 2012. RIGHT: The sailing frigate Trincomalee at Hartlepool. Now a museum ship, Trincomalee holds the distinction of being the oldest British warship still afloat. (COURTESY OF JAMES HEARTON; WWW.GEOGRAPH.ORG.UK)

14 JANUARY 2014

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SAS Veteran’s Medals Sold at Auction THE MEDALS earned by one of the greatest heroes of the Special Air Service fetched more than £98,000 at auction in November 2013, almost double the pre-sale estimate. Steve Snelling tells the extraordinary story of the man behind the honours. One of its original, founding members, George Gibson “Pat” Riley was a towering figure in the early SAS. His coolness, courage and consistent good fortune was rewarded with promotion to Regimental Sergeant Major, a commission and the award of the Distinguished Conduct Medal, an honour second only to the Victoria Cross. Of the more than 360 lots sold by Spink during the auction on 21 November, Pat Riley’s military medals were specially chosen to adorn the cover of the sale catalogue.

ABOVE: Pat Riley, seen here on the right, pictured during parachute training with the SAS. www.britainatwar.com

Born in 1915 in the town of Redgranite, Wisconsin, Riley moved with his family back to Britain when he was 7. As a teenager, he found work alongside his father and grandfather in a Cumbrian granite quarry. By the age of 20, the “jovial, round-faced” youngster was a British Army soldier, his strong, six-foot frame perfectly suited to the role of Coldstream guardsman. Three years’ soldiering, which included service in Palestine at the height of the Arab Rebellion, was followed by a change of uniform when he joined the Isle of Ely Constabulary on New Year’s Day 1938. Following the outbreak of war, Riley found himself back in the Army. At the outbreak of war he volunteered for 2 Troop, 8 Guards Commando, part of Layforce under Lieutenant Colonel Bob Laycock, part of which was sent to the Western Desert in 1941. It was whilst there he learnt that he had received his call-up papers for the United States Army. However the Commando units were too large and immobile to execute surprise raids successfully, though Riley’s troop led by Lieutenant Jock Lewes launched a surprise raid during the fighting at Tobruk. After the disbandment of Layforce, Riley returned to the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards. Restless for action, he was quick to volunteer for David Stirling’s newly-formed ‘L’ Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade (as the SAS was originally known) which was based at Kabrit. He was a participant in the unit’s first operation – a daring parachute drop behind enemy lines to raid enemy airfields. The mission, carried out in November 1941, was a disaster. Blown off course by a torrential rain storm, the fifty-five-strong party was

ABOVE: A portrait of Pat Riley, the American-born former police officer and soldier who became a founding member of the SAS. TOP: Regimental Sergeant Major, later Major, Pat Riley’s outstanding medal group, headed by the Distinguished Conduct Medal, which fetched £98,400 at auction. (All images courtesy of Spink,

via Author)

scattered across the desert and lost all its equipment. Only twenty-one men made it back after a ten-day march through enemy territory during which Riley, by then a Sergeant, further enhanced a reputation for determined leadership which had already been established while serving with the Commandos at the siege of Tobruk. JANUARY 2014 15

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SAS Veteran's Medals Sold at Auction

One of the survivors later paid tribute to Riley who he claimed was “most part responsible” for their safe return. Jeff Du Vivier insisted: “He was the one who kept us going because we just wanted to fall out and die. We were demoralised. When you’re frozen stiff, soaked to the skin, hungry … you’re not looking forward to a bright future, you just want it all to end.” The infant unit continued to fare badly until the following January when a plan was made to strike at the enemy-held port of Bouerat, an important harbour for tanker’s supplying fuel to Rommel’s army. Despite being strafed by enemy aircraft and losing a canoe with which they intended to attack enemy shipping, they pressed on with Riley leading one small party against harbour installations and a petrol depot. It was an audacious operation that was not without its amusing moments. Riley later recalled: “We found an assortment of buildings stocked with rations and crates of spare parts. We placed our Lewes bombs as instructed and moved out … to quarter the area we had been given but came hard up against barbed wire. It could have been the perimeter and the last thing we wanted to do was bump a guard post or a prowling sentry. “I reversed the direction and we moved over to another set of warehouse-type buildings. Just as we were making our way to what seemed to be the door I heard someone coming out. Before I could move I bumped into him.” It turned out to be Major David Stirling, his commanding officer, who was in charge of another team of raiders. In other circumstances, the unexpected encounter could have ended

ABOVE: After the end of the war in Europe, two battalions of the SAS were airlifted to Norway where Riley, based at Bergen, was involved in the supervision and disarming of the occupying German forces. On demobilisation he rejoined the Police service. However, restless with peacetime inactivity he volunteered for the Malayan Regiment in 1950 where he worked closely with the newly-formed Malayan Scouts in their actions against Communist insurgence. He is seen here in the centre as a captain in the Malayan Regiment.

16 JANUARY 2014

ABOVE: Riley, seated far right, as a sergeant in the Coldstream Guards after the outbreak of war had curtailed his police career.

in tragedy for either or both of them, with farreaching consequences for the future of the SAS. As Riley remarked: “Good thing neither of us was trigger-happy.” Following another near miss they decided it would be safer to join forces and it was while they were together that Riley found himself caught up in a “crazy” escapade to blow up a seemingly abandoned fuel truck. When the first bomb failed to explode, Stirling and another man approached again only to discover the timer had activated. “They took great dives across the road and down the bank as the bomb went off with a ruddy great bang,” recalled Riley. “It then got hilarious. Out of the cab jumped this Eyetie driver. No boots and no trousers either. Somebody fired his gun, into the air I think, and the poor bugger saw us and ran forward to surrender … I’m surprised he didn’t die of fright. There wasn’t a man amongst us under six foot two, all with dirty, matted beards and bulging with warm clothes.” The result was a first success for the SAS and, for Riley, the award of a Distinguished Conduct Medal. Riley’s rock-like presence in the unit was confirmed when Stirling appointed him the SAS’s chief instructor. According to Stirling’s biographer, “Big Pat”, as he was widely known, became the CO’s “staunch right-hand man” and it was upon his “foresight and professionalism” that much of the unit’s success depended. Although he managed to find his way onto a number of desert raids, it was only after returning from an officers’ training course that he resumed a more active role in the force, which was, by then, commanded by Paddy Mayne. A few months later Riley found himself fighting at Termoli, in southern Italy. At one point, with shells “crumping into the streets” around them, Mayne and Riley persisted with a game of billiards! During a particularly fierce bombardment, Mayne chalked his cue with what

Riley took to be Francis Drake-style insouciance. “I thought to myself, ‘Well, if you can do it, chum, I’ll do it with you’,” recalled Riley. “And we did. We finished the game, and then went outside to get things sorted.” In due course, Riley was posted back to Britain for another training job, this time preparing new SAS recruits for the invasion of France. Typically, he managed to wangle himself a place in the frontline yet again, leading a section of heavilyarmed jeeps in a series of frantic fire-fights during the closing weeks of the war. To the end, Riley continued to bear a charmed life. In one of his last combats, he and his section succeeded in clearing a wood of enemy troops where a battalion of paratroopers had failed. With his troop commander’s jeep forced off the road, he led his men forward, shooting up a gun crew just as they were turning to engage them before pushing on into the trees. It took them fifteen minutes to rid the wood of enemy by which time they had killed ten and taken thirty more as prisoners. One of the SAS’s greatest heroes, the seemingly indestructible American-born SAS veteran died peacefully in 1999, aged 83, a larger than life figure to the very end.

RECOMMENDATION FOR THE DCM RILEY’S RECOMMENDATION, which had originally been for a Military Cross, states: “North Africa – This NCO led a party on the first Bouerat raid Feb [sic] 1942. The party placed demolition charges on many heavy enemy transport vehicles and on various dumps. By skilled and daring leadership he succeeded in bluffing the enemy sentries. Thereby he avoided giving any alarm which would have interfered with the work of other parties operating in the same area. He has shown the greatest gallantry and the highest qualities of leadership in other raids at Slonta and Nofilia in March and April 1942.”

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Britain's Youngest Great War Soldier

Britain’s Youngest Great War Soldier STAFF AT the Imperial War Museum in London have recently announced that the British Army’s youngest authenticated combatant of the First World War was a 12-year-old boy who went on to fight in the Battle of the Somme. The IWM’s declaration was made after it had recently taken possession of a collection of documents concerning Private Sidney George Lewis following a donation by his only son, Colin Lewis, who lives in Poole, Dorset, and is in his 80s. Mr Lewis had, in turn, received the documents from a relative ten years ago. The documents were authenticated by the IWM’s Head of Documents and Sound, Anthony Richards. Private Sidney Lewis was just 12-years-old when he enlisted in August 1915, joining the East Surrey Regiment at Kingston, Surrey. He had seven siblings, and his father worked as a hospital nurse. According to his birth certificate, Sidney was born on 24 March 1903, meaning he had been 12 for five months when he enlisted. The collection of documents goes on to show that by June 1916 he had been sent to France to serve on the Western Front, fighting in the Battle of the Somme for six weeks before his discharge. It would appear that whilst in France he fought with the 106th Machine Gun Company.

Private Lewis’ service on the Western Front came to an end in August 1916 following a plea to the War Office by his mother, Fanny Lewis. The documents now in the care of the IWM detail a little of the correspondence she had with the authorities. They include a memorandum sent to Fanny acknowledging the receipt of her letter and enclosed birth certificate. A subsequent letter from the Director of Recruiting at the War Office, sent on 23 August 1916, stated: “With reference to your letter of the 18th instant relative to your son, No.14645 Private S.G. Lewis, I am directed to inform you that telegraphic instructions have been issued that he is to be at once withdrawn from the firing line and sent home for discharge. On his arrival in this country he will be discharged from the Army forthwith.” After the First World War Lewis went on to re-enlist in the Army and served in Austria with the British Army of Occupation. During the Second World War he worked with a bomb disposal unit. Sidney Lewis passed away in 1969. Prior to this announcement, Richard van Emden, author of Boy Soldiers of the Great War, wrote that “the question of the youngest veteran has commanded many inches of newspaper column … That distinction perhaps belongs to a so far unidentified soldier. Known only as Private S.

ABOVE: Part of a newspaper clipping from a copy of the Daily Mirror of 18 September 1916 which, with the headline, “Joined at 12”, carries a picture of Sidney Lewis in uniform. The picture was taken as he awaited his discharge in Grantham, Lincolnshire. (BNPS)

Lewis, his story appeared in the Daily Mail in 1916; he had reputedly served several weeks on the Somme.” It was Mr van Emden’s subsequent research which eventually led to the donation to the IWM. Speaking after the IWM’s declaration, Anthony Richards said: “This is certainly the youngest First World War soldier that we hold documents for in IWM’s archives. His [Lewis’] story is quite phenomenal, not only did he enlist at the age of 12 and fight on the Somme at the age of 13, but he returned to service at the end of the First World War and worked in bomb disposal during the Second World War. He was obviously a very tenacious man and undeterred by his early experiences.” FAR LEFT: A memorandum from the Machine Gun Corps’ Officer i/c Records which, dated 24 August 1916, includes the comment, “I have to inform you that action has been taken and the lad will be discharged with all possible speed.” (COURTESY OF THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM)

LEFT: The letter sent by the Director of Recruiting at the War Office to Private Lewis’ mother on 23 August 1916. (COURTESY OF THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM)

18 JANUARY 2014

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Stolen Wartime Occupation Records Recovered

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Stolen Wartime Occupation

Records Recovered HISTORIC WARTIME papers, stolen more than twenty years ago, have been found and returned to the care of Jersey Heritage, writes Geoff Simpson. According to a statement issued by States of Jersey Police, “Thousands of documents, including Occupation material, were stolen from a room above the Bailiff’s Chambers ... and while almost all of them were recovered a handful were still outstanding and believed lost. “However, following a tip off from an expert, the States of Jersey Police tracked some of the remaining documents to Guernsey and with the help of officers there seized them and brought them back to Jersey for verification.” Approximately 500 individual documents have been recovered. These include files relating to the treatment of Jewish people in Jersey, including the publication of orders against the Jews, registration of Jews and the sale of Jewish businesses; the rationing and control of textiles and footwear – including the use of old motor tyres as footwear towards the end of the Occupation; billeting of German soldiers and costs paid by the States of Jersey for billeting; and the slaughter of animals and food rationing. “These documents have huge historical significance to Jersey,” noted the Police statement, “and in 2011 the others in the collection were inscribed on the UNESCO UK Memory of the World Register. The register includes

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records which embody pivotal moments in the history of their communities and Great Britain as a whole.” It is thought that the documents changed hands a number of times since the theft, with some of those holding them probably not aware of their value. About ninety-three per cent of the missing papers were recovered soon after the theft. The new find represents two per cent of the original haul. Jersey Police have issued an appeal for help in locating the rest. Subjects covered by these documents include material relating to the Post Office and places of public entertainment, translation of the German surrender ultimatum in 1940 and orders issued by the German Commandant on 2 July and 8 July 1940. The Bailiff of Jersey, and the island’s civilian leader throughout the Occupation, was Alexander Coutanche (1892-1973), who had been called to the Jersey Bar in 1913. He volunteered ABOVE and LEFT: Two documents which were part of the recentlyrecovered for active collection of stolen papers relating to the German occupatio n of Jersey service in the during the Second World War. (BOTH IMAGES COURTESY OF JERSEY HERITAGE) First Word War Coutanche’s fifty-third birthday, he went on with the Royal Jersey Militia, but board HMS Beagle, in St Helier roads, with the was ordered to serve as assistant German surrender party. Coutanche remarked to the Government Secretary in on the pleasure of washing with soap again and Jersey. He later volunteered for received news that his son Sub-Lieutenant John military service again, but was Coutanche, RN, of whom he had received no turned down on medical grounds. news for over a year, had been given leave to Having worked in a munitions travel to the island. factory, he did eventually serve in When King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Army in France and Belgium came to Jersey shortly afterwards Coutanche in a civil affairs role. He was was knighted. He was later made a Life Peer. appointed Bailiff in 1935. Referring to the recent Guernsey find, Linda The collection of papers shows Romeril, Head of Collections at Jersey Archive, how, from 1940 onwards, said: “We are delighted that these files have been Coutanche sought to act as a retrieved and can now join the rest of the Bailiff’s buffer between the German Chambers Archive in secure, environmentally military authorities and the controlled storage at Jersey Archive. These civilian population. He was often documents are a unique part of Jersey’s written criticised, but his efforts are now history and they can now be cared for and frequently regarded as heroic. studied by current and future generations.” On 9 May 1945, Alexander JANUARY 2014 19

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Soil From Western Front Arrives at the Flanders Fields Memorial Garden

Soil From Western Front Arrives at the Flanders Fields Memorial Garden SOIL COLLECTED by British and Belgian school children from First World War battlefield cemeteries in Flanders has been brought to the United Kingdom and placed in the new Flanders Fields 19142014 Memorial Garden. The garden is situated at Wellington Barracks alongside the Guards Chapel, which in turn is near to Buckingham Palace.

ABOVE: Some of the sandbags containing the “Sacred Soil”. The two nearest the camera contain soil from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) cemetery and Potijze Chateau Wood Cemetery respectively. The former lies south-east of Ypres, whilst the latter is to the north-east.

A total of seventy sandbags filled with the soil from First World War battlefield cemeteries began their journey to London on 11 November 2013, when they were paraded through the city of Ypres (Ieper) by soldiers of the Household Division having been placed onto a King’s Troop gun carriage at the Menin Gate with the help of schoolchildren from over sixty-three Belgian and British schools. HRH The Duke of Edinburgh attended in his role as Senior Colonel of the Household Division and Colonel of the Grenadier Guards. Almost three weeks later, on Friday, 29 November 2013, the sandbags were delivered to London by the Belgian Navy’s frigate, BNS Louise-Marie. The frigate sailed through Tower Bridge before berthing alongside HMS Belfast. This is the first time Tower Bridge has opened fully since the Diamond Jubilee River Pageant. The sandbags were then cross-decked, or moved, to the quarterdeck of HMS Belfast by Belgian naval ratings and members of No.7 Company Coldstream Guards. They were guarded overnight by staff of HMS Belfast. The following morning the seventy sandbags were loaded onto a gun carriage of ‘F’ Troop, King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, which had been positioned in Morgan’s Lane. Then a casket, symbolically containing a crucible of soil from all the battlefields, was piped ashore from HMS Belfast and placed with the bags on the limber prior to departure.

ABOVE: Petty Officer Kevin Ostyn, Belgian Royal Navy, and Guardsman Liam Gaffney, No.7 Company Coldstream Guards, with two of the sandbags on board BNS Louise-Marie prior to the soil being cross-decked to HMS Belfast. The sandbag being held by Petty Officer Ostyn contains soil collected from Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, the second largest Commonwealth cemetery in Belgium, whilst Guardsman Gaffney is lifting up soil taken from Ploegsteert.

ABOVE: The seventy sandbags are placed on HMS Belfast’s quarterdeck where they remained overnight under guard.

BELOW: The seventy sandbags containing soil from the First World War battlefields of Flanders begin their journey to the UK, from the Menin Gate, on Monday, 11 November 2013. (ALL IMAGES © CROWN/MOD COPYRIGHT 2013)

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Soil From Western Front Arrives at the Flanders Fields Memorial Garden

ABOVE: The Belgian Navy’s frigate, BNS Louise-Marie pictured having moored alongside HMS Belfast.

The 1.5 ton gun carriage, drawn by six colourmatched black Irish Draught horses, crossed Tower Bridge and passed into the City of London carrying its precious cargo. It was escorted by mounted troops from the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, senior officers of the Household Division, and troopers from the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. The processional route included St Paul’s Cathedral, Ludgate Hill, Fleet Street, Strand, Northumberland Avenue, Whitehall Place, and Horse Guards Avenue. From there it then passed under the archway in Horse Guards (a privilege normally reserved for the funeral cortege of a member of the Royal Family) and onto Horse Guards Parade where it passed through the lines of The Queen’s Guard of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment as they formed a Guard of Honour. It then made its way onto the Mall towards Buckingham Palace, where the Foot Guards saluted the procession from the Palace forecourt, then into Queen’s Gardens and through the West Gate of Wellington Barracks to a waiting Honour Guard and the Household Division Band. As the sandbags were unloaded from the gun carriage, the curator of the Guards’ Museum,

Andrew Wallis, read out one by one the names of the seventy locations they had come from. The soil was then blessed in a solemn ceremony at the Guards’ Chapel before 8-year-old Patrick Casey from Barnet was given the honour of pouring the crucible of soil into the heart of the Memorial Garden.  The Flanders Fields 1914-2014 Memorial Garden is the result of an initiative of The Guards Museum in conjunction with Flanders House in London, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain. The Memorial Garden will contain a central bed of granite engraved with the seven badges of the Household Division of the First World War. The garden will contain trees indigenous to Flanders and a bench made of Flemish Bluestone. The central circular bed of the garden, inspired by the openings in the roof of the Menin Gate, will hold the so-called “Sacred Soil” and will have the words of John McCrae’s famous poem, “In Flanders’ Fields”, inscribed upon it. Speaking after the event, Lance Sergeant Michael Moran, serving in No.7 Company Coldstream Guards, said: “This is a once in a lifetime event, and I found being part of it almost

ABOVE: The gun carriage of ‘F’ Troop, King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, loaded with the sandbags, en route through London to the site of the Flanders Fields 1914-2014 Memorial Garden. www.britainatwar.com

| NEWS FEATURE

ABOVE: The memorial’s designer, Piet Blanckaert, and 8-year-old Patrick Casey empty the casket, symbolically containing a crucible of soil from all the battlefields, into its centre.

ABOVE: The sandbags being unloaded from the gun carriage at the Guards Chapel.

overwhelming. An event like this gives us all a sense of closure. I’ve done two operational tours of Afghanistan but what those soldiers went through in the First World War was far worse … When the garden is complete it will be a quiet place to go and pay respects to all those lost in the Great War fighting for our freedom.”   Trooper Russell Jarman, Life Guards, not only rode in the procession but was also present at the Menin Gate when the soil was first handed over. He explained why the ceremony held much significance for him: “My great-grandfather was in the Royal Horse Artillery and served in the First World War. During the heat of battle when his unit had taken terrible casualties he went into No Man’s Land to save the gun and horses that were caught in the shelling. He brought the horses back to safety but was fatally wounded in the process. He was awarded a posthumous medal for bravery. He was the inspiration for me joining the cavalry. I work with horses every day, and every day think of him and what he must have gone through in Flanders. Riding with the gun carriage today was an emotional moment for me.” The memorial garden will be officially opened immediately following the ceremony at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday 2014. ⨁ For more information on the Memorial Garden or to support its completion please visit: www.memorial2014.com

JANUARY 2014 21

NEWS FEATURE |

RAF Casualty Packs are Released to the National Archives

The First RAF Casualty Packs are Released to The National Archives

ABOVE: A contemporary wartime artist’s depiction of Flying Officer Garland’s and Sergeant Gray’s attack on one of the Albert Canal bridges on 12 May 1940. (HMP) BOTTOM LEFT: Frank Ernest Beresford’s portraits of Flying Officer Donald Garland VC (on the left) and Sergeant Thomas Gray VC. (© TRUSTEES OF THE

ROYAL AIR FORCE MUSEUM)

Files Opened To The Public Include Those Relating to a Double VC Action From May 1940 FOR SOME time the Ministry of Defence had been considering the release of Second World War RAF casualty packs to The National Archives. Consequently, in 2012 a limited public consultation was held to seek the views of interested parties regarding the remaining sensitivities surrounding the files. This established that there was widespread support for the release of the packs into the public domain. With no administrative reason for these records to be retained, under the terms of the Public Records Act 1958 the National Archives agreed to the accession of those records related to RAF combat losses for permanent preservation. These records amount to some 20,500 files in total. The first tranche of 316 packs was delivered to the National Archives at Kew on 28 October 2013. Each file relates to an aircraft and all casualties associated with the aircraft are recorded on that file, as well as, if applicable, the report of initial

22 JANUARY 2014

loss, correspondence with the next of kin, and any further information received on the incident. Vince Groome, Chief Information Officer of Defence Business Services (DBS), the organisation within the MoD which is preparing the packs for release, said: “I am delighted that the first tranche of these historic records have been transferred to the National Archives. Although the focus of the DBS records team has been on reviewing and preparing the department’s records from 1983 and 1984 against the requirements of the 30- to 20-year rule change, we are equally keen to transfer remaining Second World War casualty records, and this delivery represents a first step.” Carl Basson, DBS records review team leader for the casualty packs, said: “The RAF casualty files detail the losses of the RAF in the air, at sea and on land. Many human interest stories abound in these files, from the kindness of villagers to downed airmen to the unique work and testimony of the MREU [Missing Research Enquiry Unit] set up in 1944 to trace many thousands of personnel who were listed as ‘missing, believed killed’. These files are a fascinating and valuable historical resource, and it is a great privilege for the records team to be able to review them.” The first tranche of packs delivered to the National Archives covers the period 4 September 1939 to 13 May 1940. This includes the losses from the so-called Battle of Barking Creek, a friendly fire incident that took place on 6 September 1939 and which

resulted in the first death of a British fighter pilot in the Second World War, or the costly raid on the Albert Canal Bridges on 12 May 1940. One of the aircraft shot down in the attack on the Albert Canal Bridges was Fairey Battle P2204, coded PH-K, which was flown by Flying Officer Donald Garland, his observer, Sergeant Thomas Gray, and wireless operator and air gunner, Leading Aircraftman Lawrence Reynolds. The file relating to this aircraft’s loss and the death of all three airmen on board has the reference Air 81/293 (P352000/40). For pressing on to accomplish their mission despite the exceptionally intense machine-gun and anti-aircraft fire both Flying Officer Garland and Sergeant Gray were posthumously awarded Victoria Crosses. It was noted in The London Gazette of 11 June 1940, that “much of the success of this vital operation must be attributed to the formation leader, Flying Officer Garland, and to the coolness and resource of Sergeant Gray, who in most difficult conditions navigated Flying Officer Garland’s aircraft in such a manner that the whole formation was able successfully to attack the target in spite of subsequent heavy losses.” The pack transferred to the National Archives includes a letter from the mother of Flying Officer Garland to Wing Commander Burges, thanking him for his letter of sympathy. Her letter states: “It is most helpful as my son leaves no estate beyond what is due from the service ... I am indeed proud of my son’s Victoria Cross, but I do feel his loss most keenly – he was a great lad.” There are approximately 56,000 packs in total (those files not related to battle losses are approximately 35,500 in number) and Defence Business Services plans to review and prepare about 8,000 of them by 31 March 2014. www.britainatwar.com

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LETTER OF THE MONTH

A Functional Battle of Britain War Memorial

SIR – Two items in recent issues of your magazine made me think of a unique feature near where I live. The two articles in question were the functional war memorials and the replacement of the memorial on Great Cable. These two, in a sense, come together at a well-known local beauty spot – Ditchling Beacon on the South Downs. Ditchling Beacon is the highest point in East Sussex (and the third highest point in the South Downs) and is steeped in history, having been an Iron Age hillfort as well as a warning beacon site in case of invasion from the sea. What many people do not realise is that this great hilltop is in fact itself a functional war memorial! The story of this begins with the formation of 601 (City of London) Squadron in the 1920s. This was originally composed of wealthy young men, and it is said it was formed at White’s Club in London. Entry requirements were based on whether an individual could behave like a gentleman even after consuming alcohol – allegedly a large glass of port. It became known as “the millionaires squadron”. In 1938 a young man by the name of Richard Stephen Demetriadi joined the squadron. Richard was

the son of Sir Stephen Demetriadi KBE and brother-in-law of Flying Officer W.H. Rhodes-Moorhouse whose father had been awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross in the First World War. Richard “Dick” Demetriadi was commissioned as a Pilot Officer (Auxiliary Air Force) on 25 July of that year and as a Pilot Officer RAF on 25 August 1939 following the declaration of war with Germany. On 1 August 1940 he became a Flying Officer. Ten days after his promotion, on 11 August, the Germans attacked in force. It was a fine and clear morning and the first attack was

directed at Dover harbour. This was followed by a succession of fighter sweeps over Kent and Sussex. At 09.45 hours Ventnor Chain Home detected a large build-up of Luftwaffe aircraft near Cherbourg. These aircraft were fifty-four Junkers Ju 88s of I and III/KG 54 and twenty Heinkel He 111s of KG 27. They were escorted by sixty or so Messerschmitt Bf 110s of II and III/ZG 2 and some thirty Messerschmitt Bf 109s from III/JG 2. This was the biggest single enemy formation seen so far in the Battle of Britain. To combat this force of over 150 enemy aircraft, seventy-four Hurricanes and Spitfires were scrambled from eight squadrons, including 601 Squadron which was then based at RAF Tangmere. “Dick” Demetriadi was amongst those that took to the air, in Hurricane R4092. The vast enemy formation flew directly towards Portland naval base but was intercepted by 601 Squadron off Portland Bill. Because of the heavy escort provided by the 110s and 109s, the fight over Portland was mainly fighter versus fighter and there were heavy losses on both sides. One of those that went down in the fighting was Richard Demetriadi, whose

Hurricane crashed into the sea at 10.50 hours. One of his fellow pilots later commented: “When the boats returned and Richard had not been picked up, his Squadron Leader and three others flew out to sea to find him. They covered some thirty square miles, often only fifty feet above sea level, but found no trace of either Richard or his ’plane. He must therefore have gone down with his Hurricane, suggesting that he had been shot himself.” Richard was only 21-years-old. As a tribute to his lost son, in 1953 Sir Stephen Demitriadi donated a large area of Ditching Beacon to the National Trust, some four acres of which are now managed by that organisation. A plaque to the memory of Richard Demitriadi can be found at the car park on top of the Beacon. The Beacon is used by thousands of people every year for walks and picnics and so is an entirely functional war memorial. But I wonder how many visitors realise the significance of the ground upon which they are walking as they enjoy the magnificent views across Sussex? Donald Corrigan. By email.

MAIN PICTURE: The view along the South Downs at Ditchling Beacon near Brighton. (SHUTTERSTOCK) RIGHT: The plaque commemorating Flying Officer Richard Demetriadi and the donation of land at Ditchling Beacon to the National Trust. (COURTESY OF ROBERT MITCHELL) TOP: Flying Officer Richard Demetriadi. (COURTESY OF ANDY SAUNDERS)

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The Q-Ship HMS Candytuft SIR – The November edition of Britain at War Magazine included a letter on HMS President, one of the “remarkable” Anchusa-class Q-ships. By 1917 when they started to be deployed, the returns from the desperate expedient of Q-ships were diminishing as U-Boat commanders became far more wary – as demonstrated by the unfortunate case of my great uncle Joe Adams who served on the short-lived HMS Candytuft. A young Joseph Joe joined the Navy in 1913 aged Adams. (BOTH 15.  He served mainly on HMS Duke IMAGES COURTESY of Edinburgh including seeing action OF TONY MARTIN) at the Battle of Jutland where the rest of her sister ships in the First Cruiser Squadron, under the deeply unpopular Rear Admiral Sir Robert Arbuthnot, were lost. HMS Defence, Warrior and Black Prince were all sunk with the death of over 1,800 of Joe’s squadron shipmates. He was drafted to HMS The Q-ship HMS Candytuft after Candytuft in October 1917 which the attack by U-39. then sailed for the Mediterranean. On 8 November 1917, Candytuft was also dismissed from the service, shelled and damaged by U-63 off losing his War Gratuity and medals, Cape St Vincent. The damage was despite his youth and nearly four repaired at Gibraltar and Candytuft years of exemplary war service departed for Malta on 16 November. being rated “very good” and Two days later, near Bougie, “superior” throughout.  Algeria, Candytuft lost her stern to a Prisoners had a very rough time torpedo fired by U-39. All the officers, serving hard labour. Fortunately except the captain, were killed or Joe was released after six months mortally wounded. At this point having agreed to join the Army. On the “panic party” abandoned ship his release in July 1918 he told my leaving the captain and gun crew father that he had been imprisoned waiting, using the Q-ship technique, for “saving the ship’s papers”. I for the U-Boat to surface and finish suspect that he had been ordered off the abandoned hulk. They to dispose of the ships papers but could then engage the sub at close having seen the state of the ship quarters. Sadly someone could not and expecting it to sink at any wait and Candytuft opened fire on moment he just dropped them and the periscope; a futile and dangerous went over the side only for the mistake. A second torpedo was papers to be found when it drifted not long coming and it removed ashore. Whatever the case it seems the stem of ship from just in front of very rough justice for a young sailor the bridge. The remaining hulk did who had already given nearly four not sink and finally drifted ashore to years of good service. become a total loss.  Joe survived the war. He The surviving crew returned is fondly remembered by a home. Captain Cochrane reported granddaughter as a kindly that there had been panic in the man with a happy and long crew during the action and Joe was lasting marriage but his life had subsequently court-martialled on been blighted and he experienced 18 January 1918. AB Joseph Adams a very tough time after his posting was sentenced to twelve months to the ill fated Q-ship Candytuft. hard labour “for losing his head and failing to carry out his duty”.  He was Tony Martin. By email.

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Malmesbury’s War Memorials SIR – Congratulations on the excellent article on atypical Great War Memorials. It was apposite, educational and beautifully researched. After reading it I felt compelled to write about the memorials here in Malmesbury, Wiltshire – not so much for the unusual nature of them but the quantity for such a small town of about 6,000 inhabitants. Are we unique in having so many memorials? The main memorial is off the High Street and takes the form of a Celtic Cross unveiled on 20th March 1921. It is special as it includes a civilian, Rev. E.H. Davies, a former Congregational minister who died in France where he administered to the troops. The main place of worship in the town is the Norman abbey and immediately on entering one spots a large wooden shrine, beautifully carved and displaying sixty-nine names on two brass plaques. It was originally paid for by a Captain Eliot MacKirdy T.D. J.P. Also on the south wall are two brass plates commemorating Sharland Lockstone and James Reid, erected by their respective families, Incidentally, there are other plaques to be seen to remember two men who died in the South African campaign. In the Town Hall two other forms of memorial can be seen in the upstairs meeting room. The first is a large wooden tablet of timber from HMS Britannia Cadet Training ship with a pair of doors which open to reveal sixty-six names. It was restored in 2008. Beside it is the Cirencester Conservative Benefit Society plaque which lists 127 members of their society who

served, and the thirteen who fell, which was unveiled in March 1921. Another memorial exists as a 4 foot x 1 foot 6 inch marble stone at the secondary school. Originally set up in December 1920 at a site now demolished, it has been moved twice to its present site and displays fourteen names of those who did not return from the Second World War and also, more recently, a former student killed in action in Bosnia; a poignant reminder to present students that soldiers continue to lay down their lives in modern theatres of war. I must mention also that in the United Reformed Church a wooden chair remembers the fallen of the congregation and another holds a plaque which gives praise for those who returned. Both carved chairs stand near a Berne Jones stained glass window for the fallen and returned of the Second World War. The town has other memorials to remember the dead of the second conflict and they are a memorial park with swings etc. and names of the dead on large tablets on the entrance gates. Finally a residential close has a marble plaque to remember Flight Sergeant Bernard Basevi RAF who died at sea when his Hampden ditched. It is on the site of our outdoor swimming pool. The reason for its placement here is that Bernard Basevi was instrumental in raising funds before the war to get the pool built. I trust you find these jottings of interest and I hope I have justified the claim that our small, and often flooded, town has more than the usual quantity of war memorials. Gordon Williams. Malmesbury.

The Soldiers’ Pocket Companion Sir – A fellow local historian in Bray, County Wicklow, has been told that in 1915 Lord Meath in Bray gave soldiers copies of a 167-page book called The Soldiers’ Pocket Companion before they went to the Front. Have any readers ever heard of this book – was it a generic book with blank pages for the local nobility to write a preface, or are we looking for a specific book that

was produced locally? We are unsure if we will be able to find a surviving copy as we do not know how many were printed. We would greatly appreciate it if anyone has some information about this book, or know where a copy might be found. James Scannell. By email: [email protected] JANUARY 2014 25

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The Cost of Rhubarbs

SIR – The piece on “The Cost of Rhubarbs” brought back some memories to me as many years ago I researched the life of “Jock” Wilson and wrote a piece on him in my book, Portraits of Heroes: Derbyshire Fighter Pilots in the Second World War (Amberley, 2011). I met his younger brother Donald at the time, and was in no doubt what an outstanding personality John Primrose Wilson was. His father, a Scot, was Chesterfield’s borough engineer and surveyor, and Jock, like his four brothers was educated at the town’s Grammar

Sergeant Wilson in the garden of his Chesterfield home, taken whilst on leave sometime during 1941.

School where he was Head Boy and School Sports Captain. As a sportsman he was a noted rugby player, appearing twice for Derbyshire, and an accomplished long-distance runner who also found time to act as CSM of the school Cadet Corps, a member of the SJAB and secretary of the school First Aid Club. He had an interest in amateur dramatics too, and was described by his Headmaster as “one of the best allrounders the school has produced for many years. As Head Boy he showed great keenness, efficiency and conscientiousness. The boys liked and respected him and he was completely modest and unspoiled. For many years flying has been his ruling interest. He is a first-class leader, in fact one of the best boys I have known.”  I enclose Jock’s own copy of the photograph showing him in the cockpit of W3253, and carrying a handwritten message to his brother Bill. The image can’t have been taken in July 1941 as he only joined 65 Squadron on the 21st of that month, and the aircraft actually entered service with 222 Squadron on 16 September, around the time Jock was posted to the unit. The Spitfire

Jock’s own copy of the cockpit image of Central Provinces and Berar VI, bearing his message to his brother.

force-landed on 30 November and was damaged, hence the photograph must have been taken sometime in the autumn of that year. His own copy is dated 1.1.41, obviously an error in the year, which was in fact 1942. I found some discrepancies in the identity of the aircraft Jock was flying when he was shot down. The Squadron ORB cited it as BL619, which was clearly wrong. It wasn’t AD558 – this machine certainly belonged to 222 but was a Cat.B flying accident victim on 27 February, and was SOC on 3 March. The Air Historical Branch told me that the fighter was AB869, which seemed to me to fit the bill. As Chris Goss states, Jock’s

brother William, a sergeant air gunner with 7 (Pathfinder) Squadron, equipped with Lancasters, was killed on 16 December 1943. He is buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, the second son lost to a grieving family. Many pilots hated Rhubarbs – Goss quotes Johnny Johnson on the subject. Al Deere was equally scathing, referring to “that useless and hated operation”. Incidentally, Jock’s youngest brother, less than a year old when his sibling was killed, became a goalkeeper with Arsenal and Scotland, and was later a noted television sports pundit.   Barry M. Marsden. By email.

Bunker Identification Sir – As part of the National Trust’s ‘Front line Surrey’ project we are trying to find out more about a rather up-market ‘bunker’ on Reigate Hill in Surrey. It is positioned on the crest of the North Downs. Below it, in a series of tunnels, lie the remains of SE Area Headquarters, at one time under the command of Monty before he left for Egypt. Made out of brick with a substantial concrete roof the building is sunk into the ground with normal domestic type wooden windows opening out front and rear. It has a front and rear exit/entry point. Inside there is a main room with two smaller rooms running off it, one of which might have been a

26 JANUARY 2014

kitchen the other either a toilet or larder – hopefully not at the same time! The inside is plastered and painted light green, the outside has been rendered.  The views to the south would have been impressive but are now masked by trees. It seems to be rather grand for a basic observation post. Whilst it lies near to one of the North Downs Victorian forts built in the 1890s it does not appear on a 1913 Ordnance Survey map of the hill suggesting a Second World War build. Does anybody have any information on this, please? Tim Richardson. By email: [email protected] www.britainatwar.com

LOW-LEVEL ATTACK Objective Kenley

PART 2

Low-Level Attack: Objective Kenley Under the Bombs

MAIN PICTURE: Viewed from Coulsdon, some two miles to the west of Kenley, this image shows smoke rising over the airfield at about 14.00 hours on 18 August 1940. The smoke cloud could be seen as far away as Brighton. (ALL

IMAGES COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

28 JANUARY 2014

“M

ost lovely day, beautiful day,” was how Kenley resident, Red Cross Nurse, Kathleen Rhodes, described the morning of Sunday, 18 August 1940. “Not a cloud in the sky and everything was lovely and we were busy and suddenly there was an awful noise in the sky.” That noise was the sound of the Dornier Do 17s of the 9th Staffel of Kamfgeschwader 76. The formation had been tracked all the way from the Sussex coast by Squadron Leader Anthony Norman, the Sector Fighter Controller at Kenley, and he quickly dispatched the Hurricanes of 111

Squadron, getting them off the ground in the nick of time – albeit that no order had come from Sector Control to get them airborne. Acting on his own initiative, Norman had saved the squadron from damage or destruction. He had also put them in a position from where they were ideally suited to engage the incoming low-level raiders. Norman’s Tannoy broadcasts to the airfield had also warned of the incoming raid, enabling personnel to take cover, as well as alerting both the gun crews and the Parachute and Cable anti-aircraft battery to ready their weapons; “Ground-level attack coming

in from the south, twenty-five miles” was the chilling announcement. All told, there can be little doubt that Norman’s actions did much to minimise damage, death and injury and to ready the defences such that maximum effect could be had against the attackers. Moments later, however, all of the operation room’s communications would be out of action.

ABSOLUTE PANDEMONIUM Kathleen Rhodes went outside to see what the noise was. “They were bombers coming over, German bombers making straight for us. Well we just

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On 18 August 1940, the ‘Hardest Day’ of the Battle of Britain, a formation of Dornier Do 17s flew low over the south coast with RAF Kenley as its objective. As the bombers approached the airfield the personnel on the ground ran to their positions. In the latest instalment in his series of articles detailing the raid, Andy Saunders recounts the events that day as seen through the eyes of those involved.

didn’t know what to do for the moment but we decided to look for somewhere to shelter. In the garden outside the bungalow at the back was an Anderson Shelter. It wasn’t really finished, but we thought any port in a storm and we got into this Anderson Shelter. We crouched down inside this room for a little while, not very long.1 “Well these things came over and we realised they were making for Kenley aerodrome which was on the hill behind us. We lived on the side of the hill … and down came these bombers. Well it was absolute pandemonium; the whole earth shook and dropped bombs everywhere.” 

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ABOVE & LEFT: The only aircraft wrecked in the hangars during the raid was a Miles Magister. At the time, the hangars were not generally used to house aircraft as they were considered too vulnerable. Instead, they were dispersed around the airfield to minimise the risk of multiple aircraft losses.

JANUARY 2014 29

LOW-LEVEL ATTACK Objective Kenley BELOW: A picture of the attack on Kenley underway. It was taken by war photographer Rolf von Pebal as the Dornier he was a passenger in raced across the dispersal points at the northern end of RAF Kenley. Puffs of smoke can be seen from the impacts of 20mm rounds, fired from the fixed nose positions of the Dornier Do 17s. A single 64 Squadron Spitfire sits in one of the blast pens. ABOVE RIGHT: Hidden in the puffs of smoke seen in the photograph below was this pillbox which still survived at Kenley in the late 1970s. Impact marks from the rounds fired by 9./KG 76 were still visible when this picture was taken.

30 JANUARY 2014

Not all of the personnel at Kenley, though, had gone to their shelters. Walking near the hangars on the south side of the airfield, and not having heard the Tannoy announcements, Aircraftman Ken Winstone looked towards the sound of approaching aircraft. Glancing to the south, he remarked to his colleague, Aircraftman Laurence Bell: “I didn’t know they had Blenheims here. I thought it was just Spitfires and Hurricanes!” No sooner were the words out of Winstone’s mouth than his faulty aircraft recognition became apparent. All hell broke loose around them. Diving for a nearby air raid shelter, Winstone and Bell hesitated. It was Air Raid Shelter 13! Instead, the pair piled headlong into the adjacent No.15, almost certainly unaware that their superstition would probably save their lives. On the northern boundary of the airfield, Aircraftman Second Class David Glyndower Roberts sat ready with his Parachute and Cable (PAC) antiaircraft apparatus, poised over the firing button. Alerted by Squadron Leader Norman’s warning, Roberts had tested the firing box and found that all three rocket batteries in his section of the defensive line were ready. Following the announcement of the impending attack over the Tannoy the young AC2’s finger was already hovering over the button.

Later, he compiled his official report: “I observed twin engine aircraft flying at a height of about fifty feet over the hangars and as I saw them they released bombs which appeared to drop directly on the hangars. The aircraft then came in a straight line across the landing field, slowly gathering height, and with three of them leading directly for my line of rockets. One was leading with two others following in a ‘V’ formation. They all seemed to be machine-gunning the ground defences.

“ALL CLEAR” “When the leading aircraft was within range I released my first line of nine rockets and saw it fly directly into the cables. As it touched them, a bomb exploded on the ground beneath it. By this time the other two aircraft were in range and I switched to the No.2 line but

nothing happened. No.3 line was also out of commission. One of the aircraft, however, seemed to catch the first line of rockets just below the parachute. “I tested my two remaining lines and found the circuit broken on each, presumably caused by the bomb which exploded near them. The debris had now cleared and we saw a column of smoke rising from the trees about 100 yards away and this was later identified as a Dornier 17. “After a short lull, dive-bombing started but the enemy aircraft were out of range and after the first few moments our view was entirely obscured by smoke and debris from bombs which had fallen all around us. “When the attack finished AC Knowles and I repaired the lines. They had not sustained a direct hit but had been shaken by the blast and had

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“I was only about two metres above the ground and pulled the aircraft up a little bit and put on right aileron and left rudder in order to fly between the trails in a bank. Everything appeared to be going well. Then, a hefty tug on the machine. I thought we were about to be smashed into the ground, but I was still flying. I shook the control column and the controls still responded normally to hand and feet inputs. I pushed the wings horizontal and took her down over the sloping ground. I several loose connections. Having done this we stood-by until the ‘All Clear’ was given. “On examining the [parachute] cables I found that one was missing, one was broken and several had been carried by the aircraft into the woods but had apparently slipped off the wings of the enemy aircraft. Shortly after the raid I accompanied Wing Commander England to the wreck of the Dornier 17 and he gave his opinion that there was evidence of cables being caught on the wing.”

AN EXPLODING BALL OF FIRE The aircraft that Roberts had “snared” was the Dornier Do 17 flown by Feldwebel Johannes Petersen, the lead aircraft of the left-hand or port vic of three; he had been flying just yards ahead of the Dornier flown by Feldwebel Reichel and which was carrying the war photographer Rolf von Pebal (see last month’s issue). Dragged by the cables, and possibly also having taken hits from ground fire, the stricken bomber smashed through a house at Golf Road, Kenley, just on the northern edge of the airfield and tore itself to pieces in an exploding ball of fire. There was no hope of survival for the five on board and investigators found their mutilated bodies in the strewn wreckage. Mixed amongst the www.britainatwar.com

debris of home and bomber were three 50kg bombs; another five were found in the garden of an adjacent property. At least one of the other raiders, the Dornier Do 17 flown by Feldwebel Wilhelm Raab, returned to France with evidence of a cable strike on the leading edges of one wing. Raab, having first watched bombs “bouncing down the runway like rubber balls”, would later recall his frightening encounter with the PAC defences: “What happened in the next four or five seconds was one of the most impressive events during my career as a bomber pilot. The airfield boundary might have been about 300 metres away when, suddenly, red glowing balls rose up from the ground. Each one trailed a line of smoke about one metre thick behind it with intervals of about ten to fifteen metres between each. I had already experienced machinegun fire and flak but this was a new phenomenon. What was it? “The whole thing looked like a cage, but I had no time to think what it might be as I was flying right into the ‘cage’ and in an instant I knew it must be a danger to me. I did not know how high these red balls would go, or what was concealed in the thick smoke trails. I had a split-second to make a decision. It sounds theatrical, but it was life-or-death.

noticed that the crew rose up and hit the cabin roof through Negative-G, but I was indifferent. I was overcome with indescribable relief.” Certainly, Raab and his crew had had a remarkably lucky escape and later, back in France, they found the impact marks of the cable that had almost killed them.

INVASION!

LEFT & FAR LEFT: Two pictures that show part of the old married quarters at RAF Kenley before and after the attack. For all the damage wrought at the airfield, though, there was considerable collateral damage in the neighbourhood. In the Coulsdon, Carshalton and Croydon areas, for instance, there were four civilian deaths. A further nineteen people were seriously injured and twenty-five slightly injured, whilst a man playing golf near Biggin Hill was injured by the machine-gunning that had been a feature of this raid. MIDDLE LEFT: Vehicles, not aircraft, were destroyed when this hangar at Kenley was hit on 18 August 1940.

ABOVE: Aircraftman Herbert Brotherton was taking cover in the air raid shelter that formed the blast pen walls immediately behind the tail of the parked Spitfire seen on the opposite page.

The parachute rockets that were fired by Roberts caused considerable local alarm among the civilian population outside the airfield.  JANUARY 2014 31

LOW-LEVEL ATTACK Objective Kenley

   

Approximate position of line of Parachute & Cable Launchers

Sector Operations Room

Officers Mess Station HQ Petrol Dump

Hangars

DIRECTION OF ATTACK BY THE 9th STAFFEL



ABOVE: A plan of Kenley as it would have appeared at the time of the raid on 18 August 1940. Note the location of the Parachute and Cable launchers.

Peering from an air raid shelter in her garden at Beverley Road, Whyteleafe, London Transport Auditor Lilian Clark saw a cluster of parachutes descending over Kenley. In her mind, there was absolutely no doubt; the invasion had begun and these were enemy parachute troops landing to capture the airfield. Police Sergeant “Jigger” Lee also formed the same opinion and hurriedly telephoned the duty officer at nearby Caterham Barracks to report what he supposed were enemy landings. In moments, armed Canadian soldiers were heading up Godstone Road in trucks and on motorcycles. It all added to the sense of confusion and chaos that pervaded across the area, both on and off the airfield. Such was the turmoil that considerable delays were experienced by the emergency services rushing to RAF Kenley because of road-blocks hurriedly set up by Police and Home Guard in the belief that an invasion was in progress.

THE SECOND ATTACK The Luftwaffe’s plan for the Kenley raid was that the 9./KG76 Dorniers would have been preceded by a dive-bomb attack by Junkers Ju 88s of II Gruppe KG76 and a high level attack by Dornier Do 17s of 8./KG76. Not only did the Ju 88s not reach Kenley, but the Dorniers of 8./KG76 arrived over the airfield five minutes after the low-level attack. By this time, smoke was rising in thick palls above the RAF station. From there came numerous stories surrounding the individual dramas that engulfed all who were there that day. The War Diary of the 6th Anti-Aircraft Division takes up the story: “This raid took place at 13.27 hours. It came in from the direction of Dungeness ... About 50 or 60 HE and Incendiary

bombs were dropped by the low flying raiders and a number of bombs were also dropped by the high level bombers. A number of delayed action bombs were also found. The LAA Troop HQ (43rd AA Regiment), hangars and the hospital were completely destroyed. The RAF armoury was also blown up. About eight ’planes were destroyed in the hangars. The runways were hit but are not unserviceable.” Providing the ground-defence for RAF Kenley was a detachment of Royal Scots Guards (Holding Battalion). Their War Diary, too, tells something of the havoc wreaked by the Dorniers: “The detachment HQ building was hit and demolished by the first bomb, burying 2nd Lt J.D.K. Hague beneath its debris. However, and despite considerable pain from a crushed shoulder, once he was extricated he immediately visited his posts and discovered that in one place burning petrol was forcing his men from the cover of their trenches. Collecting them together into two parties he at once led them across the open to another shelter one hundred yards away, defying the blast of ten more bombs which dropped within a few yards of him [presumably from the high-level attack] and continuous machine gun fire. Nine Scots Guardsmen were wounded in this attack but heavier casualties were undoubtedly saved by Hague’s prompt and gallant action for which he was subsequently awarded the Military Cross.”

FIRST MEDALS However, James Hague’s was not the only act of gallantry that day. In the face of machine-gun fire from three aircraft, Lance Corporal John Miller kept his Lewis gun in action to such effect that it is claimed he shot one of them down

ABOVE: An airmen surveys the shell of one of Kenley’s hangars destroyed in the bombing.

One of the aircraft that did not get away from Kenley following Squadron Leader Norman’s scramble was this Hurricane of 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron, which was subsequently wrecked by bomb blast. It was one of four 615 Squadron Hurricanes destroyed on the ground at Kenley. Another two were badly damaged.

32 JANUARY 2014

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(this was possibly Petersen’s Dornier).2 Despite having been blown up by a bomb which broke two of his ribs, Lance Corporal John Gale, meanwhile, rescued a wounded man from the wreck of the Detachment HQ and carried him across open ground under intense fire to safety.2 Both of these NCOs were awarded the Military Medal; Hague, Miller and Gale were the first Scots Guards ever to be awarded gallantry medals whilst under fire within the British Isles. The award of the Military Medal was also made to Aircraftman Second Class Roberts (gazetted on 5 November 1940). The shelter to which Hague led his parties of men was close to Air Raid Shelter 13, the one rejected by the two superstitious airmen, Bell and Winstone. It had suffered a direct hit and a number of those inside were killed; some of the casualties had been taking refuge from Kenley’s Sick Quarters. Amongst those who were killed was the Station Medical Officer, Flight Lieutenant Robert Cromie. He was a well-respected local doctor who had joined up to “do his bit”.3 Elsewhere on the airfield, other airmen had taken cover from the raid in shelters and slit trenches. Close by the crash site of Petersen’s Dornier a group of airmen crouching in a trench had been covered over with rubble from their nearby billet, hit by one of the bombs.

Squadron Spitfire that had now been blasted off its undercarriage by a bomb explosion nearby and had ended up sitting forlornly on its belly. The noise was coming from the warning horn in the Spitfire cockpit, a device to alert the pilot if he had forgotten to lower the undercarriage. Above the crackle of flames, shouted orders and clanging bells the strident blaring din of the crippled Spitfire’s warning horn resounded eerily across the battered airfield. Brotherton’s shelter had been right behind the Spitfire and, remarkably, that very dispersal pen and the lone Spitfire parked there had been caught on camera by war photographer Rolf von Pebal, just moments before an exploding bomb had blown the aircraft off its legs. Despite the mayhem that was evident across the airfield, and the rising clouds of black smoke, the casualty toll was, perhaps, surprisingly low. In total, there were nine dead and eight injured from amongst the station’s RAF personnel, although

this figure does not include casualties involving the Army or civilians.

“ONE HUNDRED BOMBS” Of the station itself, the toll was significant. The Operations Record Book for Kenley records the following: “About one hundred bombs were dropped on the aerodrome and buildings, mainly HE and incendiary. One petrol bomb was reported. Twenty-four bombs were either delayed action or duds. “Whilst bombing, the enemy aircraft attacked the gun posts, buildings and aircraft with their machine guns. Kenley was temporarily out of action and 615 Squadron were ordered to land and re-fuel at Croydon and 64 Squadron at Redhill ... Due to there being insufficient crews at Redhill for re-fuelling, 64 Squadron was then ordered back to Kenley to re-fuel. “The cables to the transmitter were cut during the raid and the electrical supply failed. Ground stripes were put out to instruct aircraft to land at satellites as RT communications were broken at 

BLASTED OFF ITS UNDERCARRIAGE Leading Aircraftman Herbert Brotherton was another who had sought cover from the bombs, this time in the air raid shelter that formed the “walls” of a dispersal pen on the north side of RAF Kenley. He emerged immediately after the raid to be greeted by the deafening sound of a blaring horn. Parked in one of the pens was an unserviceable 64 www.britainatwar.com

This photograph has been attributed as depicting one of the Kenley raiders – and more specifically the Dornier Do 17 flown by Oberleutnant Willi Stoldt of I Gruppe KG 76 – going down on 18 August 1940. It eventually crashed at Hurst Green, Oxted, with much of the burning wreckage cascading into a private dwelling, Warren Cottage, in Warren Lane.

ABOVE LEFT: The WAAF contingent at Kenley being inspected by HM King George VI during June 1940. After the attack of 18 August 1940, local residents recalled seeing WAAFs marching along adjacent roadways, clearly upset and grimy with chalk and dirt. ABOVE RIGHT: Kenley was not the only airfield or target attacked on 18 August 1940. This photograph was taken during the attack on Gosport aerodrome. A barrage balloon, almost burned out, is about to hit the ground, whilst smoke from another can be seen over the roof of the house. To the right of the building, smoke from the fires at Gosport can just be made out. The photographer, Alexander McKee, later described the sight of the barrage balloons going down in flames as “like a fiery blob of water running down a window pane”.

JANUARY 2014 33

LOW-LEVEL ATTACK Objective Kenley THE PARACHUTE & CABLE DEFENCE SYSTEM AN UNCONVENTIONAL weapon that had been installed as a form of defence against low flying aircraft, Kenley’s Parachute and Cable (PAC) system was positioned along the northern side of the airfield just outside the perimeter track, with the launchers being placed at sixty-foot intervals. These were fired vertically in salvos of nine or more to create a web of steel cables across the path of a low-flying enemy aircraft. The device consisted of a 480-foot length of steel cable which was carried 600 feet into the sky by a rocket. At the top of its trajectory, the cable was released and a parachute opened. The cable would drift slowly down to earth and, hopefully into the path of the enemy aircraft. If an aircraft did actually strike the cable a second parachute opened at the bottom of the line. This prevented the aircraft from slipping off the line. If an aircraft caught a cable on one of its wings it was hoped that the aircraft would be pulled out of control and, being at a low altitude, would crash into the ground. The PAC system had never been fired in action before the raid on Kenley on 18 August 1940. TOP RIGHT: The aftermath of the 18 August raid at RAF Kenley. Such was the extent of the destruction at Kenley that according to an English Heritage description of the airfield, repairs resulting from the damage caused can still be seen on surviving buildings.

13.23 hours. The reserve transmitter was brought into action at 13.37 hours. The operations room itself was undamaged but communications were cut. The transmitter and power were off during the above period. All dispersal tie-lines and outward lines were cut with the exception of the operations line to 11 Group. The RAF water supply also failed. “Too many civil fire brigades showed up and the roads to the airfield were congested. The hospital and the reserve hospital were both destroyed.

“Ground defences seriously hampered by the approach of the raid being screened [by hangars and trees] and could not be engaged before it had released its bombs and the fact that smoke from the low-raid prevented the high-raid being seen easily. The Ops Room, which is unprotected from attack from above, should be scrapped and a new ops room built away from the station in a concealed position ... “All hangars except one destroyed. Sick quarters demolished. Army guard room damaged. Two married quarters destroyed and one damaged. Sgts quarters partially demolished. Station HQ partially demolished. Officers Mess badly damaged. Four craters in runway immediately filled in by Royal Engineers. Three craters in taxi track and three craters in dispersal pens.” In the hours and days that followed, work went on to repair the damage. Twenty-four unexploded bombs were dealt with. The Operations Record Book for Kenley also lists the aircraft that had been hit. Those which were destroyed included four Hurricanes, a Blenheim, two Miles Magisters, one Miles Master and a single Percival Proctor. There

MAIN PICTURE and INSET ABOVE: Two views of surviving blast pens at Kenley. The airfield site was considerably changed in the post-war period; the First World War buildings had been demolished by 1964, the remaining hangar and control tower were destroyed in 1978 and the sector operations block was demolished in 1984. Some altered workshops survive, as do the officers’ mess and airmen’s institute – these last two buildings have been listed. In 2000 a memorial was erected in one of the blast pens and dedicated to all the personnel who had served at the airfield between 1917 and 1959. (BOTH IMAGES COURTESY OF MATTHEW PRICE)

34 JANUARY 2014

were also three Spitfires and two Hurricanes damaged, along with four Merlin engines. Thirty vehicles were also destroyed. The raid by 9./KG76 was all over in little more than thirty seconds; the higher-level bombing which followed was equally brief. All across the airfield there was scarcely a spot where there was not broken glass, smashed concrete, burning debris, shattered buildings and broken aeroplanes. Yet, for all that, the airfield was out of action for little more than an hour. 

NOTES 1.

2.

3.

Transcript of interview with Mrs Kathleen Miller (nee Rhodes), provided courtesy of her son, Nigel Miller. At least one of the Dornier 17s were hit by Lewis-gun fire over Kenley, with Oberleutant Hermann being struck in the chest by a Lewis round and his aircraft flown home by the navigator, Oberfeldwebel WilhelmFredrich Illg. The full account of this and other Luftwaffe losses will be covered in the next part of the ‘Low Level Attack on Kenley’ series; Part 3 ‘Running For Home.’ A commemorative plaque to Cromie hung for many years in the station chapel until RAF Kenley’s closure when it was transferred to the safe keeping of Director RAF Medical Services, RAF Hospital, Henlow.

NEXT MONTH

With the bombing over and their work done, the Dornier Do 17s turned for home, though the battle to help the casualties on the ground at Kenley continued, both on and off the airfield. However, as Andy Saunders reveals in next month’s issue, not all of the German bombers returned from the mission.

GA Promotions F_P.indd 1

02/12/2013 11:32

FOUR IN TWENTY MINUTES Mosquito Night Fighter Crew In Action

FOUR IN TWENTY Flying Officer (later Squadron Leader) Norman Crookes MBE, DFC & Two Bars, DFC (US) was the navigator with Flight Lieutenant George “Jamie” Jameson in Mosquito XIII when, in the early hours of 30 July 1944, they encountered enemy aircraft over Normandy. Barry M. Marsden describes what happened next. FAR RIGHT: Sergeant Norman Crookes pictured proudly wearing his newly-awarded radar operator’s wing. The author first encountered Norman in 1961, though at that point he was unaware of the night fighter veteran's wartime service. It was from 1969 onwards that "I grew to know Norman quite well", he noted. It was a relationship that eventually enabled this article to be written. (ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

MAIN PICTURE BELOW: By the renowned aviation artist Philip E. West, this painting, entitled “Night Hawks”, depicts a de Havilland Mosquito night fighter in action during one crew’s interception of a Messerschmitt Bf 110. For more information on the painting or the various prints, artist proofs or remarques available (including the signatories), please visit SWA Fine Art’s website: www.swafineart.com

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N

OT MANY Second World War airmen were entitled to wear the ribbons of no less than three Distinguished Flying Crosses and an American DFC, but Norman Crookes could boast all four, though in truth he never boasted about anything. In 1974 he added an MBE to his formidable list of awards and decorations, but still retained his habitual modesty. Indeed, his reputation as one of the finest of RAF night fighter navigators remains an inspiration. Norman Crookes was born at New Tupton, Chesterfield, on 23 December 1920. The son of a local builder, he went on to be educated at Tupton Hall School before winning a scholarship to King’s College, London, to study history. The department moved to Bristol to escape

the Blitz, only to be caught up in the devastation caused by Luftwaffe raids between November 1940 and April 1941. In July 1941 Norman volunteered for the RAFVR and qualified as a navigator/ radar operator before he was posted to 125 Squadron at RAF Colerne, near Chippenham in Wiltshire, as a sergeant. The squadron operated the Bristol Beaufighter II, and Norman teamed up with New Zealander George “Jamie” Jameson; the duo duly emerging as highly successful destroyers of German nocturnal raiders. Their first victory came on 28 July 1942, when they shot down a Heinkel He 111H of KG 4 off the Pembrokeshire coast, though their Beaufighter, V8136 (VA-C), was hit by return fire. They followed up with a further Heinkel of

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Y MINUTES KG53 off Milford Haven a week later, flying R2383 (VA-B), during a raid on Swansea Docks. In his logbook for 1 October 1942, Norman recorded a Junkers Ju 88 “badly scarred” during a nocturnal sortie in VA-K.

FURTHER SUCCESS The pair was then sent to Sumburgh, an airfield in the southern part of the bleak and distant Shetlands, now equipped with Beaufighter VIs, to combat enemy weather reconnaissance aircraft operating from Norway. Flying in VA-C, on 29 October they damaged another Ju 88 forty-eight miles north of their base before a gun sight failure saved the fortunate raider.

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On 5 November 1942, Crookes and Jameson were flying VA-M when the port propeller suddenly sheered; at the time they were 160 miles off shore but managed to limp back to Sumburgh. With their altitude dropping down as low as 2,000 feet, the two narrowly avoided a ditching in the icy North Sea. In due course, 125 Squadron moved to Fairwood Common, near Bristol, by which time Norman had been commissioned. On 11 February 1943, whilst flying V8515, they attacked a Dornier Do 217 of KG 2 during a Luftwaffe attack on Swansea. Two short bursts struck the bandit’s port engine and it fell away to crash in flames off the Gower Peninsula. 

JANUARY 2014 37

FOUR IN TWENTY MINUTES Mosquito Night Fighter Crew In Action RIGHT: Newlycommissioned Pilot Officer Crookes, pictured wearing his Navigator’s wing. FAR RIGHT: Wearing their flying gear, George Jameson and Norman Crookes (on the right) are shown in front of Beaufighter V8136, the aircraft in which they claimed their first victory on 28 July 1942. BELOW: An example of the de Havilland Mosquito NF.XIII, in this case HK382 (RO-T) of 29 Squadron, pictured at RAF Hunsdon, Hertfordshire. This view shows the “thimble” nose radome in which AI Mark VIII centimetric radar is fitted. (WW2IMAGES)

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FLYING THE MOSQUITO The night fighter had not escaped unscathed. Return fire from the doomed raider hit the Beaufighter, slightly wounding Norman in one knee, though Jameson was able to land safely. On another, unspecified occasion, an enemy bullet neatly pierced his observation blister, slightly nicking one finger as it passed through. A move to Exeter then saw the pair separated for training duties, with Norman posted to Twinwood, near Bedford, in July to tutor trainee navigators in the use of radar sets.

Reunited once again, in January 1944 the duo were posted to 488 Squadron, a New Zealand squadron which, based at RAF Bradwell Bay in Essex, was flying the de Havilland Mosquito NF.XIII night fighter. In May the squadron relocated to Zeals in preparation for operations in support of the D-Day landings. It was during a patrol over Normandy on 25 June 1944, flying Mosquito MM466 (ME-R) they destroyed a Messerschmitt Me 410 south-west of Bayeux. The aircraft was first identified as another Mosquito until its outline became clear, and it was despatched with two long bursts from 150 yards dead astern at 6,000 feet, whereupon it dived steeply away and hit the ground “with a vivid flash.” Three nights later the pair took off from RAF Zeals in Wiltshire at 22.35 hours, arriving in their patrol area at

23.00 hours. They were taken over by 21 Sector’s GCI (Ground Controlled Interception) controller, who informed them that there were two enemy aircraft to the east of their position." “I flew due East in the direction of flak which appeared to be coming from shipping just off the beach,” wrote Jameson in his post-combat report. “Losing height to 5,000ft I then patrolled as freelance North and South and while again flying toward the Flak, contact was obtained, range 3 miles starboard, at 2 o’clock, on the same level. “I turned starboard, losing height slightly and then turned port, following bogey who was flying due East and weaving gently. A visual was obtained at 2,000ft, 12 o’clock ... I closed in, to starboard, to obtain the best silhouette. E/A then appeared to see us. He throttled back and closed in rapidly to 75 yds., directly below.

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“Assisted by my navigator, who used his glasses, I identified the E/A as a Ju.88. E/A climbed steeply, at a low speed, and I throttled back, pulling up to 100yds astern and below. E/A appeared to flatten out or stall and began to peal off. His nose dropped and he came into my sights. I gave him a one second burst and observed strikes on the centre of the fuselage. He blew up and went into a spin, rolling over on his back and the going down, vertically, in flames. “From the light of the flames no black and white markings were seen, but I did observe a yellowish colouring which may have been camouflage ... Throughout the chase we were followed by flak from friendly shipping which caused a small hole in the fin of my A/C.”

NIGHT FIGHTER ACES The unfortunate Ju 88 was Jameson’s and Crookes’ fifth victory together. It also ensured that the two men had attained “Ace” status. Norman was duly awarded the DFC in July, the citation paying “an excellent tribute to his high skills and excellent co-operation”. However, it was the events of the early morning of 30 July 1944, that could be described as their finest hour. At the controls of the now-familiar Mosquito NF.XIII, Jameson and Crookes took off from Colerne at 02.55 hours and were given a vector of 220 degrees by TAILCOAT GCI control, the intention being to undertake a patrol over the Channel Islands. They were subsequently ordered to prowl east and west between Coutances and Saint-Lô, and at 05.00 hours were informed of “trade” approaching at a vector of 100 degrees at Angels 5. The pair saw light flak bursting ahead, and Norman obtained a contact on the radar set at a range of two miles at 5,000 feet. The possible target was approaching head-on. Moments later, Jameson spotted out a Junkers Ju 88 a mile away, outlined against the dawn as it hurtled past. Identification was www.britainatwar.com

obtained by Norman using Ross night glasses. The New Zealander turned swiftly to port in pursuit and Crookes maintained contact, using the Airborne Intercept, or AI radar, as the raider skimmed across the cloud tops ahead. At full throttle the Mosquito closed in on its victim, the RAF crew seeing explosions on the ground as the Junkers released its bomb load. At a range of 300 yards Jameson loosed off two short bursts from his four 20mm cannon from dead astern; he observed strikes on the German aircraft, hits which resulted in fires in its fuselage and port engine. “The aircraft went down through the clouds vertically and well alight,” Jameson later reported, “and about 20 seconds later it hit the ground with a terrific explosion”. The Junkers crashed some five to six miles east of Caen at 05.05 hours.

THE NEXT VICTIM As the pair orbited the crash scene, another contact was made at two miles’ distance at a height of 5,000 feet. The target, another Ju 88, was swiftly picked out flying through the top of the cloud as it sped along at 280mph. Jameson immediately gave chase at full throttle. Suddenly another Junkers emerged from the clouds ahead, flying in the same direction as the first. The enemy pilot quickly spotted his nemesis, and speedily turned to port, heading for the clouds he had just left. Jameson switched to this closer target and at 350 yards thumbed his gun button, seeing cannon shells explode around the Junkers’ starboard motor, which burst into flames. The raider disappeared in a vertical dive, well alight. Incredibly, as this second “kill” fell away through cloud, two more possible targets approached, which the crew of MM466 speedily identified as fellow Mosquitoes. As for Crookes and

Jameson’s second victim, it had crashed some five miles south of Caen, this kill, like the preceding one, was confirmed by other Mosquito crews. With little time to contemplate their success, Jameson and Crookes almost immediately picked up another aircraft 4,000 yards away, flying at 5,000 feet and crossing from starboard to port. Jameson closed to 2,000 yards, at which point Norman confirmed it as yet another Ju 88. As the Mosquito pursued its intended target, the alerted enemy pilot swiftly descended, seeking the protection of a thick cloud layer below. Two short bursts from Jameson resulted in hits on the bandit’s fuselage before it disappeared in the murk. Norman used his AI set to keep in contact, despite the Junkers’ violent evasive action and the use of quantities of metallized strips of Düppel (the German equivalent of the RAF’s “Window”) to confuse his radar signal. By this time pursuer and pursued were just above treetop height when visual contact was re-established at 4,000 yards with the Junkers flying straight ahead. “I closed in to 250 yards, dead astern,” Jameson wrote, “and gave it 

TOP LEFT: A casual (and impromptu) picture of Crookes, Jameson (on the right) and the groundcrew of Mosquito MM466. TOP RIGHT: The sharp-end of a de Havilland Mosquito NF.XIII. This is the view looking along the lower fuselage towards the tail, showing the aircraft’s armament of four forward-firing 20mm Hispano cannon. On 30 July 1944, Jameson’s four cannon had expended only 364 rounds of ammunition. (IMPERIAL WAR

MUSEUM; CH14646)

ABOVE: Another view of Jameson and Crookes (on the right) standing by the tail of their potent night fighter MM466. JANUARY 2014 39

FOUR IN TWENTY MINUTES Mosquito Night Fighter Crew In Action

ABOVE: When Jameson left for his native New Zealand, Crookes was partnered by another New Zealander, Ray Jeffs, shown on the left in this image.

ABOVE: In 1961 Norman was made headmaster of William Rhodes School, Chesterfield, a post he held for some twenty years. BELOW: In 1966 the school became home to No.2429 Squadron, ATC. In this view, Group Captain R.C. Haine, former CO of 488 Squadron, presents Norman with the Royal Warrant inaugurating the unit. Norman died on 17 April 2012.

40 JANUARY 2014

a short burst from which strikes were observed. The E/A pulled up almost vertically and turned to port with debris falling and sparks issuing from it. The enemy stalled and the nose dived into a four-acre field and exploded.” The “kill” was logged with TAILCOAT GCI control as being five miles south of Lisieux.

A DORNIER DO 17 The Mosquito climbed away to 3,000 feet where TAILCOAT control vectored them north-west towards continuing German activity. Once again flak bursts were seen ahead and at 05.22 hours contact was made with two aircraft which had ejected a great deal of Düppel to try and conceal their movements.

Jameson decided to concentrate on the nearest hostile aircraft – the twin fins and rudders identified it as a Dornier Do 217. The Luftwaffe bomber immediately vanished into cloud, scattering Düppel and manoeuvring violently. Norman maintained contact through his radar set and when the German pilot unwisely straightened out below the cloud base, where Jameson identified it flying ahead and below, it presented a good target. “I closed to 300 yards,” continued Jameson, “and fired a short burst. Strikes were seen on the fuselage which began to burn furiously.” The enemy aircraft pulled to starboard in a slow climb whilst its rear gunner loosed off inaccurate return fire before the doomed bomber dived into the ground in flames and exploded.

DISTINQUISHED FLYING CROSS The pair’s first “kill” was witnessed by Sub-Lieutenant Richardson, a navigator with 410 Squadron who saw the enemy aircraft “well alight and hit the ground”. Richardson also saw the second of Jameson’s and Crookes’ victims on fire. As no-one actually saw the second ‘kill’ strike the ground, at first only a “probable” could be claimed. However, his squadron leader thought otherwise. “It is respectfully requested,” he wrote, “that due consideration should be given to stepping up this claim to destroyed”. For their unusual feat, Jameson was awarded an immediate Distinguished Service Order, whilst Norman received a Bar to his DFC, the citation recording that “his devotion to duty has been unfailing”. The pair only shared two further patrols together. On the night of 3 August 1944, again in MM466, they destroyed another Ju 88 near Saint-Lô. Three nights later, “a vivid moonlight night”, the two men shot down yet another Ju 88 near Avranches, and damaged a second west of Vire.

STAR OF THE SHOW Following the end of his highly successful partnership with Jameson, Norman then teamed up with Ray Jeffs, another New Zealander. During their first mission on 18 August 1944, whilst flying Mosquito XXX MM622 (ME-W), they shot down a Dornier Do 217 south of Rouen. Soon after this, Norman recalled that the squadron’s aircraft were re-equipped with the Mk.10 radar. This piece of equipment was based on an American design, “but it was not generally well received, as it seemed to be a return to the earlier Mk.4 and was not an improvement”. On 23 December 1944, Norman’s birthday, the pair was patrolling the Ardennes in MT457 (ME-S) in support of US forces desperately trying to stem the German offensive in that area. They claimed a Junkers Ju 88 damaged near Malmedy – during the 1990s it was established by one researcher that this aircraft had in fact been destroyed. This “kill” was Norman’s final success. For a short while, 488 Squadron continued to operate from Amiens before a final move to Gilze-en-Rigen in Holland. Norman’s closest brush with death, apart from the engine failure over the North Sea, came on 16 April 1945, when his Mosquito suffered engine failure on take-off for an air test. The fighter smashed into a partially filled-in bomb crater, though both aircrew escaped with minor injuries. The squadron disbanded as soon as the war ended. It was on his return to the UK that Norman learned he had been awarded a second Bar to his DFC, as well as a US DFC for his work in support of American forces. During his wartime service he had shared in the destruction of at least thirteen German aircraft, the biggest achievement being the “four in twenty minutes” during the early hours of Sunday, 30 July 1944.  Acknowledgement: The author would like to thank Mrs Sheila Crookes for her invaluable help with photographs and information for this article.

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THE OUTBREAK of war in the Far East in December 1941 found the RAF's fighter force in IMAGE OF India in a parlous state. In the absence of more potent fighters, among the aircraft pressed into service was the diminutive Curtiss Mohawk, this being the British designation for the US-built Curtiss Hawk Model 75. Despite the Hawk 75's monoplane design, that made extensive use of metal in its construction, and the fact that it was driven by a relatively powerful radial engine, the type was considered obsolete by the outbreak of war. Whilst the RAF had shown interest in the design, the UK had declined to purchase any examples. Consequently, the aircraft in service in the Far East were from orders that had been placed with the US by the French before the fall of France in 1940. The aircraft sent to India were in fact Hawk 75A-4s that were fitted with the Wright Cyclone engine. The first were delivered to 5 Squadron, which was declared operational at Dum Dum in March 1942, by which time the Japanese were advancing on India through Burma. The squadron’s role was to protect the nearby vital port of Calcutta. One of 5 Squadron’s flight commanders was Flight Lieutenant Bill Pitt-Brown who was given command of the squadron in May 1942. Shortly afterwards a second squadron, No.155, also received Mohawks and in October Pitt-Brown (or “P-B” as he was known) handed 5 Squadron over to Squadron Leader Peter Bond and became the Wing Leader of the Mohawk-equipped 169 Wing. As Wing Leader he was assigned his own Mohawk and, as was his privilege, had BS790 decorated with his initials –WPB. Sweeps were made from forward bases around Cox’s Bazar, a fishing port in East Bengal (now Bangladesh). Action down the Arakan coast came the way of the Mohawks on 10 November 1942, when, during the morning, 155 Squadron escorted Bristol Blenheims of 60 and 113 Squadrons in a low level bombing attack on Akyab docks. They had a major fight over the target, in the course of which two Mohawks and a Blenheim were shot down; two Japanese Nakajima Ki 43 Oscars also fell. These were 155 Squadron’s first air combat claims.

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Later that same afternoon nine more Blenheims attacked the port of Akyab, this time with the escort being provided by 5 Squadron’s Mohawks led by the Wing Leader, Squadron Leader Bill Pitt-Brown in his personal aircraft. Staging through Feni, as they approached the target they met two formations of Ki 43 Oscars of the 64th Sentai led by Lieutenants Takahashi and Mori. The Oscars were spotted first by Pitt-Brown, but his R/T had become unserviceable so he was unable to warn his formation. Two Blenheims were shot down and a confused fight then ensued with the Mohawks making a number of claims. Bill Pitt-Brown recalled: “I was on the left wing of the high escort and as the harbour of Akyab came visible ahead I made a call of ‘Bandits 12 o’clock high’. Simultaneously I saw two tracers pass diagonally across my windscreen and automatically broke left in a steep climbing turn. Somehow, shortly afterwards, I found myself in a right hand turn at approximately a 2 o’clock position, tightening the turn with a large deflection I fired a long burst. During this time a long stream of white vapour appeared from the fuselage of the 01. “After continuing the right hand circle I finished up behind the Oscar, which was venting fuel, but at a range of 25-30 yards. Whereupon the 01 did a half roll and dived away steeply. Looking around, the sky was empty, so I turned around and went back up the Arakan coast to Feni.” Frustratingly, without his radio Bill Pitt-Brown was unable to control his formation or to fully contribute to the fight. However, he later reported the Oscar he had attacked alone, probably that flown by Warrant Officer Yamada, as having crashed; in fact it was crash-landed at Akyab by its fatally injured pilot. It had been a relatively successful day for the Mohawk Wing. Interestingly, during this first major combat the RAF pilots established that their little Mohawks could actually turn inside the highly manoeuvrable Oscars. This was Pitt-Brown’s only air combat success and he returned to the UK in May 1943 where he later became a well respected leader of a Typhoon Wing during the campaign in North West Europe. This rare photo shows Pitt-Brown’s personally marked Mohawk at the time of his only combat success. (COURTESY OF AIR COMMODORE W. PITT-BROWN)

“MOWHAWK CHIEF” 10 November 1942

IMAGE OF

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IN PICTURES AND IN WORDS Life on the Western Front FAR RIGHT: The Kodak camera that Robert Monypenny took with him to the front. Monypenny’s battalion, the 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment, formed part of the 12th Brigade of the 4th Division, and landed at Le Havre on 12 August 1914.

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HE IDENTITY of the men in the pictures is not known although they, like Lieutenant Robert Monypenny, were serving with the 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment. They were about to endure the carnage of the Second Battle of Ypres. Robert Monypenny had joined the army in August 1914 at the outbreak of war. The pictures he took were captured on a Kodak Autographical camera. First manufactured in 1914, the Kodak Autographical came to be known as “the soldiers’ camera” due to its popularity among servicemen.

On at least one occasion in early spring of 1915, he sent a small number of images home. “Here is a roll of 6 exposures, which I have taken under fire,” he wrote in his accompanying letter. “I sent them direct from the trenches, as my platoon sergeant is going home on leave, he is going to post them in London. If you get them developed, at some insignificant place & take precautions they don’t go to the press, they might be done straight away." Permission to use cameras was given by individual regiments but soon the commanding officers

of many units thought better of it. By 26 March 1915, Lieutenant Monypenny had told his aunt: “I am sending my camera home, as a strict order has just been issued that no officers are to have them. Any we’ve got we must send home.”

“I HARDLY DARED FACE MY MEN” Robert Monypenny, however, not only recorded events with his camera, he also wrote about them. Throughout the war he frequently penned letters home, often asking for items to share like tinned milk, cocoa, currant cake, preserved fruit, plain chocolate, packet soup, newspapers, razors, carbolic soap, notepaper and envelopes. In his diary and notes he also described the fighting on his part of the front. Along with his letters, Monypenny also compiled a personal memoir, a document which provides graphic details of the fighting.

Unknown faces peer from the murky gloom of a First World War trench in a series of images which provide a glimpse of life on the Western Front. Behind the camera stood Lieutenant Robert D’Arblay Gybbon Monypenny, who was, discovered Karen Farrington, already a veteran by the spring of 1915 when the pictures were taken. However, not only did Monypenny record events on film, he also wrote about them – including a graphic account of a German gas attack on 2 May 1915.

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On one occasion in early 1915, after watching two battalions of Gurkhas get blown to pieces in a failed attack, he had received orders from battalion headquarters to raid the Germans in the middle of the afternoon with seventy men. Monypenny was dumbfounded, feeling it meant certain death. By telephone he learned the order had already been queried – and confirmed. “I hardly dared face my men with such a proposition,” wrote Monypenny. “However, I got them together and explained the matter the best I could. I might as well have told them they were all going to be put against a blank wall, including myself, and be shot out of hand by a firing party. 

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MAIN PICTURE BELOW: One of the snapshots of life in the trenches on the Western Front, more specifically the Ypres Salient, that were taken by Lieutenant Robert D’Arblay Gybbon Monypenny early in 1915, before he sent his camera home at the end of March that year. (ALL IMAGES

COURTESY OF SHEILA FORD, VIA AUTHOR, UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

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IN PICTURES AND IN WORDS Life on the Western Front RIGHT: A contemporary drawing from May 1915, showing British troops during a gas alarm. Metal shell cases, steel triangles, watchmen’s rattles, klaxon horns and similar objects were all adopted as methods of giving the alarm. (HMP) FAR RIGHT: Men of ‘B’ Company, 1st Battalion Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, pictured preparing to meet a gas attack in the Bois Grenier Sector near Armentières on 20 May 1915. The men are wearing the standard, early issue pad respirators and goggles. Initially worn from May 1915 with the veil, or pad respirator, the goggles were designed to protect the eyes from irritant agents. (HMP)

OVERWHELMED BY GAS However, I made certain orders for formation attack, the whole thing seeming so utterly futile with such a minute force.” Just thirty minutes before he was due to lead two platoons into No Man’s Land he received a message cancelling the order. No reason was given. Every day, it seemed, the British trenches were shelled by the enemy: “Every now and then there would be a tremendous boom ending up in a sort of metallic twang and miles overhead would rush what sounded like half a dozen express trains and at the end of it a terrific roar and away in Ypres somewhere a great hole would be torn … Later on, down in the outskirts of Ypres, I came across one of these shell holes and it must have been 50ft across and 30ft deep. You could drop a fair sized house in it.”

At 17.00 hours on Sunday, 2 May 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres, the Germans unleashed chlorine gas on British-held trenches in the Ypres Salient. It was the first time that the 2nd Essex experienced such an attack – it was only the third time the Germans had used gas. “A thick wall of gas some 60 or 70 feet high of a greenish yellow colour was seen all along the front of the trenches held by the 12th [Brigade]”, noted the battalion’s War Diary. Monypenny later wrote a moving and dramatic account of what followed: “Another memorable day dawned on May 2nd. At 4pm that afternoon as we were watching the German lines, suddenly a huge yellowish-green vapour was ejected at high pressure and with the favourable breeze behind, rolled over us. This was the first time we had seen this chlorine cloud. We had had a whiff of it in the previous attack, but it had not been thick enough to be visible and had only made us a bit uncomfortable. The only protection we had was a small square flannel issued to each man, dipped in some ammonia solution but it was ineffectual.  

“The first instinct of the men was to blaze into it, but this soon stopped as the cloud reached us. Everyone was coughing and wheezing, fighting for breath. Men began to roll down into the bottom of the trench in their agony, the worst place to be as the heavy gas tended to collect there.  “Suddenly it was too much for some of the men who tried to avoid the gas by climbing out of the trench at the back. I suppose others seeing this followed suit, in a way this was the best thing to do to get one’s head in the upper layers of the gas where it was thinner but to me it began to look like a panic and I was afraid of a retreat as some of the men were running back.  “All I could do was to grab the nearest man to me who was leaving the trench. I could not shout or even speak, I was fighting hard for breath which became shorter and shorter, I noticed the nearest machine gunner doing his best to work his gun.  “I happened to look over the parapet to see what he was trying to shoot at and to my horror across the mist I could see forms approaching. I stumbled to the gunner’s aid but by this time we were

Daily routine in the trenches. Note the trench periscope and rifle with bayonet fixed that can be seen on the right.

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An unidentified member of the 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment is pictured by Robert Monypenny preparing a meal.

both far too gone to use the gun. I felt as if my lungs were bursting or being torn out of my mouth, everything swam in front of my eyes, I reeled and there was merciful oblivion. “It must have been three hours before I came to. It was pitch dark, at first I wondered if I was alive, I looked up and could see the reflection of Verey lights in the sky. I could hear an occasional shell and the crack of a rifle. But a great lassitude seemed to hold my body; I could scarcely breathe, the breath coming in short sharp gasps, every gasp a stab of pain. I could scarcely move my arms or legs.  “I must have lain there for another hour when a slight bit of strength seemed to come back to me and some power of coherent thought. The first thing I remembered was those advancing forms through the fog of gas. What had happened? They must have captured the position, there was scarcely any resistance, in fact they must have broken right through, perhaps by now they were in Ypres, perhaps beyond.  “How long had I lain there? Was it that night or the following night? I must

be in German occupied territory now, was I a prisoner?  “I seemed to be still in a trench of sorts, was I still where I became unconscious? If I could only collect enough strength to get up; what had happened to the others? Had the German used the bayonet and cleaned us up and had they missed me thinking me already dead? If so I might still have to undergo that unpleasant operation, there was no trusting them!  “Presently I managed to turn over. A Verey light went up and I was startled to see the form of a sentry a few yards off. Was that a German? It must be. What was I to do now? Just lie there and hope for the best or should I make a noise, would he help me or would he finish me? Then I heard a voice in a low tone speaking to a comrade. Was it German he was talking? It did not sound guttural. I strained my ears and caught an English word or two. What a relief I lay exhausted again with the reaction of it. “A few minutes later I tried to make a noise with my mouth, I could not as yet formulate any words and heard ‘Say, Bill there’s som’nut down there a-moving,

have a look will yer?’ The said Bill came groping along and as the reflection of a Verey light showed my face for a second, said, ‘Hullo, Sonny, are yer all out or is any of yer a-kicking still?’  “I do not know if I grunted or not, but he bent low. ‘Lor’ blemine Alf,’ he called to the sentry, ‘blowed if it ain’t an orficer got that there blasted gas I reckon, he’s a breathing like a gas engine. Pass the word along to our orficer will yer?  “‘How are you, Sir,? Say Alf I reckon he’s in a bad way, looks like that young fellow in D Coy what the boys call ‘Baby’.’ (This was the first time I had heard my nickname, I used to be taken for about five years younger than I was).  “It turned out that this was our reserve company, now holding our trench; Major Jones had counter-attacked with their company the Germans who had entered our trench and re-captured it. I was carried down to battalion Hqrs where the doctor had a look at me and asked questions which I tried to answer. His verdict was that it was best to let me rest there, moving me just then would do more harm than good. “Major Jones asked if he could talk to me. The doctor said that I was not to 

ABOVE: British soldiers pictured in a trench during May 1915 wearing the early issue pad respirators and goggles – the former being similar to those described by Robert Monypenny. These early British anti-gas respirators consisted of a pad of cotton waste enclosed in a pad of muslin that was tied over the nose and mouth of the wearer. The pad was soaked in a solution of sodium hyposulphite, washing soda, glycerine and water (in theory buckets of “hypo” solution were to be provided in front line trenches). Eyes were protected by a separate pair of anti-gas goggles. The “pad respirator” was issued to British troops in early May 1915, following the first mass use of cloud gas (chlorine) by the Germans at Ypres in April 1915. (HMP)

LEFT: A member of the 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment uses a mirror to observe No Man’s Land and the German trenches beyond. Note the SRD jar lying on its side to the left of this view.

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IN PICTURES AND IN WORDS Life on the Western Front

ABOVE: Another of Monypenny’s images of dayto-day life in the trenches of the Ypres Salient. ABOVE RIGHT: Another group of British soldiers, all wearing their early issue pad respirators and goggles. It is generally accepted that the Germans’ use of gas around Ypres in April and May 1915 had tactical benefits – almost all the ground that was captured as a result was held without interruption by the German Army until AugustSeptember 1917.

(HMP)

BELOW: A small group of men from Robert Monypenny’s battalion pose for the camera during a period in the trenches of the Ypres Salient in early 1915.

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speak but just shake or nod my head to any questions. “The upshot of all this was, that he had seen that we were in difficulties, had watched the cloud rolling down the valley – they were on a rise on the other side of the dip. The gas seemed to hang at the bottom and after a while the wind changed and the gas seemed to disintegrate and disperse, though they got enough to make it extremely uncomfortable but did not incapacitate them. Just before dark he decided to re-take our front line with the reserve company and he took the Germans by surprise, bayoneting them in return for having bayoneted a number of our chaps when helpless with gas. “I think I must have fallen asleep for I woke up in the early hours of the morning before daylight and found myself bumping along in a stretcher. I was deposited at the Advance Dressing Station where the MO attended to me. All that I can remember of this is that he seemed to be at his wit’s end as to what to do for us for there had been no provision made for gas poisonings. He would have attended to any sort of wounds but this was quite a new thing.  “There were several others there in various stages of poisoning and one or two had died after arriving. I think I was given a hot drink and went to sleep for a long time, the sleep being very welcome

as it seemed to relieve the fearful ache in my lungs.  “Next day I seemed considerably better, and the second day I got up and walked about, though having to drag my legs as if they were weighted.  “I told the MO I thought I would go back to duty. He replied, ‘I don’t think you ought to, but I know they are fearfully short of officers up there, however, you had better come back here as soon as you feel you cannot carry on. You seem to be recovering very much more quickly than most.’ “So I struggled back and I think my cudos with Major Jones was considerably enhanced thereby. He let me take things easily for a bit. In fact it was three weeks before my lungs felt normal again. “I learnt that during the gas attack on the second of May, OC A Coy, who were on the right of us (D), put up a splendid show. Most of his men were either down with gas or had retreated, but he grabbed one of his machine guns and with the help of one NCO, stuck to the gun, working it to the last minute and only withdrew to avoid capture or be bayoneted. I believe he was recommended for the VC but got the DSO and the NCO the DCM. “My own Company Commander, Capt Reid, had his arm shattered. Rowley got badly poisoned and went home with it. Wilmot and Capper were both wounded and that left Smith-Masters in charge of the Company and I his only officer. When we had collected and sorted out the remnants of our company, there were 52 NCOs and men all told out of about 200 who started from Armentières. “All of us for some days felt the effects of the gas. We could not have done much more than fire a rifle had the need

ABOVE: Robert Monypenny went on to serve in the military in the Second World War, helping to train officers.

arisen. Luckily we had at this time a number of splendid French 75mm batteries which continuously played on the enemy and nipped in the bud several attempted attacks. To our right, however, these attacks were more vigorously thrust home and quite a general retirement was caused, with us being the pivot that did not move.”

A TERRIBLE STRAIN Monypenny was soon promoted to captain and posted to a new battalion. During a subsequent foray into enemy trenches Captain Monypenny was injured in the head and shoulder by a shell. When he was told he was going back to “Blighty” in July 1915, he was flooded with relief. “Those months at Ypres had been a terrible strain, mentally rather than physically,” he noted, “though the physical conditions had been far from any picnic.” Later Captain Monypenny returned to the Western Front, only to be injured a second time in 1917. He was then transferred to the Indian Army and later left to pursue a variety of civilian posts. Despite the horrendous effects of his gassing in 1915, Robert Monypenny died in 1991 aged 99.  www.britainatwar.com

Western Front F_P.indd 1

02/12/2013 11:24

What a Nigh

T TOP RIGHT: Dorothea Crewdson enrolled in the British Red Cross as a VAD nurse in 1911, going on to pass her exams the following year. (COURTESY OF RICHARD

CREWDSON)

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HE LUFTSTREITKRÄFTE, as the German air force was known as from 1916, had sent its Gotha and Riesenflugzeug, or Gigant, bombers to the United Kingdom in an attempt to break British morale. Twenty-seven raids were conducted between May 1917 and May 1918, seventeen of which were delivered on London. They failed to achieve their object and so the Germans turned their attention to other targets – including the British Army bases in northern France.

Within many of these base areas were military hospitals. Though they were clearly visible from the air, with large red crosses prominently displayed, if the Army base was attacked, the hospitals inevitably were liable to be hit. By the time that Dorothea Crewdson began working at the Étaples, the base there had become part of an enormous army complex that stretched along a large swathe of the Channel coast. Dorothea arrived at No.46 Stationary Hospital in January 1918 after two years’ service at No.32 Stationary Hospital at Wimereux. She had enrolled in the British Red Cross for training as a www.britainatwar.com

WHAT A NIGHT IT WAS The Story of Dorothea Crewdson

ght it Was A young Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse was in a hospital in Étaples on the night of 19/20 May 1918, when the Luftstreitkräfte came to visit. The actions of Dorothea Crewdson that night resulted in the award of the Military Medal. This is her story.

Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse in 1911 and when VADs were permitted to become military nurses, Dorothea was amongst the first to be ordered to France in May 1915. The VADs’ main role was to relieve the regular nurses of some of the more mundane, but equally necessary, tasks required to keep a hospital functioning well. These tasks included keeping the hospitals clean and providing food for the establishment. They were also expected to learn how to prepare carts and other vehicles for the removal of stretcher cases and “must be capable of the improvising of stretchers, and the conversion of houses, public buildings, and railway stations into temporary hospitals”.1 Whilst the regular Army was fully provided with medical services, this was not the case with the TA. Following the Secretary of State for War’s, R.B. Haldane’s, Territorial scheme of 1907, new possibilities arose for cooperation www.britainatwar.com

between voluntary agencies and the Army. Consequently, on 16 August 1909, the War Office issued its “Scheme for the Organisation of Voluntary Aid in England and Wales”. This established both male and female Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) to fill certain gaps in the territorial medical services, with a similar scheme for Scotland following in December 1909. The term “VAD” also became synonymous with individual members of the detachments. Detachments were “organised for their local Territorial Force Association by the Red Cross, and to receive preliminary training in first aid and nursing from the St. John’s Ambulance Association”. After October 1914 this responsibility was transferred to the Joint War Committee of the British Red Cross Society and St. John of Jerusalem, a wartime amalgamation of the two organisations. Generally, women’s detachments were smaller than men’s, and comprised one Commandant (man or woman), one Lady Superintendent, and twenty women (of whom four were trained cooks).2 As 

MAIN PICTURE & LEFT: Members of a Voluntary Aid Detachment pictured with their motor ambulances at Étaples, France, on 27 June 1917. The exact number of women who served in the various VADs during the First World War is not known with any certainly. The Imperial War Museum, for example, states that at the outbreak of war in 1914, 46,000 women were serving in Red Cross or St John Detachments. By the time of the Armistice over 90,000 women had registered. (BOTH US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

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ABOVE: A First World War recruitment poster for the Voluntary Aid Detachments. By the artist Joyce Dennys, and depicting three nursing members in aprons and caps, the poster emphasizes the fact that VADs could serve in a variety of locations such as the Western Front, Egypt, Salonika, Mesopotamia, Russia, Gallipoli, Malta, Gibraltar and Italy. The first VAD to lay down her life serving the cause was a ladies golf champion Madge Neill Fraser, who died in Serbia. (IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM; PST3628) ABOVE RIGHT: Dorothea’s departure for the Channel ports on her way to France – Dorothea can be seen in the centre of the image, facing to the left side of the shot. Following the Matron-in-Chief's decision that VADs could be employed in military hospitals in France, no less than eighty had made the journey across the Channel by the middle of May 1915. Dorothea received her orders for her overseas posting on 22 May 1915. (COURTESY OF RICHARD CREWDSON)

with the Territorial Force, it was at first assumed that these detachments would be used for home defence only. The scheme proved popular, particularly with and immediately prior to the outbreak of war, when there were twenty-five female detachments and 551 male detachments registered with the War Office. The women who joined the VADs were a mixture, being a wide range of ages and from a wide spectrum of social classes and backgrounds. As a group they were very much defined by being upper or middle-class – in the main they were the daughters of local gentry, landowners, army officers, clergy, and professionals.3 Following the outbreak of war the pressures on the various military hospitals intensified and the need for the kind of help the VADs could provide was soon apparent. Not only did the VADs serve in the British hospitals, they also helped staff some of the French hospitals. Near Verdun, for example, there were a number of large hospitals

entirely staffed by British doctors, nurses and VADs. Dorothea’s first hospital was No.16 Stationary at Le Tréport, from where she transferred to Wimereux and then onto Étaples. The Stationary Hospitals such as No.46 at Étaples were part of the casualty evacuation chain, and were situated further back from the front line than the Casualty Clearing Stations. They were staffed by troops of the Royal Army Medical Corps, with attached Royal Engineers, and men of the Army Service Corps along with the VADs. The British hospitals were generally located near the Channel coast and were usually very large facilities, often centred on pre-war buildings such as seaside hotels. They also needed to be close to a railway line so that casualties could be transported easily by train. Some, alternatively, were situated near canals with the casualties being moved by barge. They also had to be close to a port for those that were to be evacuated to the UK for longer-term treatment.

BELOW: The South Nottingham Voluntary Aid Detachment in 1913; Dorothea is fourth from the left. Detachments were numbered by the War Office with male companies given odd numbers and female companies even numbers – this unit was No.36. (COURTESY OF RICHARD CREWDSON)

RIGHT OPPOSITE PAGE: The Voluntary Aid Detachment personnel of No.46 Stationary Hospital at Étaples. Dorothea, who served with this unit between January 1918 and March 1919, is sitting on the ground, second from the right. (COURTESY OF RICHARD CREWDSON)

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THE CALLS OF THE WOUNDED It was on the night of 19 May 1918, when the Germans extended their bombing operations to include the British camps in northern France, that the Étaples base area became a prime target. Throughout her time in France Dorothea maintained a diary and in this she detailed the events of that night. “An air raid began about 10.30 and lasted till after 2 and it was ghastly all the time,” wrote Dorothea on Monday, 20 May. “Oh what a night it was! I just can’t keep my thoughts off the happenings! It’s all been so terrible.”4 “Our poor boys tragically suffered heavy casualties, especially in the lower tank [or ward], where a bomb dropped right in front of them and inflicted heavy penalty. I don’t know how many were killed – at least fourteen or fifteen anyway. “The machine came straight up the hill and dropped four bombs. One of them just opposite my tanks and oh, the noise and light, the crash, chocking dust and smoke, and then the calls of the wounded. It was pitiful to hear them. “When the atmosphere had cleared up I got up from my crouching position to see what damage had been done and went to the assistance of a man with a nasty wound in the face, and then another who had been wounded in the buttock. It was heart-rending to see

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them. A good many of the wounded were taken over into 29 ward and it was like a shambles, all in very subdued lantern light. The end of the hut next to the one I was in was blown in too, and a great deal of damage done to it.” The attack appears to have been delivered by Bogohl 6 which was equipped at that time with Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft G.IV twinengine aircraft. These bombers had a 400kg bomb-load capacity.

FEEBLE ANTI-AIRCRAFT FIRE “We all certainly had the wind up in a greater or lesser degree that night, and the effects are still evident with a good many of us,” Dorothea wrote in her diary on 22 May, having evidently been far too busy in the days immediately following the raid to find time to write. “Apparently the raid caused something like 1,000 casualties and many deaths. No.7 Canadian caught the worst and No.2 Canadian had a good many casualties too ... the bomb that dropped in front of my tank caused the most casualties among the orderlies though, for they were all drawn up on parade by the reception hut and the ones nearest the bomb went to swell the list of dead and wounded.” The block of tanks next to Dorothea’s suffered an even closer strike, and she went to see if she could help. “The floor

was smeared with pools of gore and nearly every bed had its gruesome horrible mark – the mattresses all torn and things tossed about everywhere – the whole place a perfect wreck. How anyone escaped alive is a marvel.” In her own tank every bottle had been smashed and the whole place was riddled with bomb fragments. As Dorothea had remarked the raid had certainly hit the Canadians hard. The War Diary of No.7 Canadian Stationary Hospital provides the following detail: “Last night, about 10:30, we had a disastrous air raid as a result of which we lost two men (one killed and the other died of wounds) and had one man wounded and also the O.C. Major E.V. Hogan, wounded. “Enemy aircraft suddenly were heard, and began dropping bombs without our having received warning. Practically the entire Étaples hospital area was subjected to an aerial bombardment for fully an hour, after which the raiders departed, returning again some time after midnight, and dropped more bombs. They also employed machine guns. It is unofficially estimated that the total casualties in the Étaples area were about one thousand. Casualties were numerous in the staffs of several of the hospitals, and certain patients were also casualties. Bright moonlight last night. The anti-aircraft fire appeared to be feeble.” No.1 Canadian General Hospital recorded an even more graphic account of the devastation to No.7 Hospital:  “At the close of what had been a

TOP LEFT: By the summer of 1914 there were over 2,500 separate Voluntary Aid Detachments in the United Kingdom. At the same time, a large number of VAD hospitals had been established in Britain. It is nurses from one of these who are seen here.

(HMP)

TOP RIGHT: Two female ambulance drivers pictured in the ruins of a devastated village on the Western Front. Amongst those who served as VADs during the First World War were the author Vera Brittain, novelist Agatha Christie, and the aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. (US

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

ABOVE: The epaulette and insignia of a First World War VAD, Nurse Gwendolen Stephenson, who is seen here above left with her two brothers. Gwendolen served in a Middlesex Voluntary Aid Detachment between 1915 and 1918. (BOTH COURTESY OF MARK HILLIER)

JANUARY 2014 51

WHAT A NIGHT IT WAS The Story of Dorothea Crewdson

TOP LEFT: A Voluntary Aid Detachment dressing station on the Continent. VAD personnel undertook a variety of tasks from cleaning, cooking and elementary nursing, to driving, porterage and mechanical repairs. Their role was essentially a supportive one, assisting trained nursing staff and helping to keep hospitals and ambulance services operating.

peaceful Sunday, enemy aircraft came over the camp in large numbers ... The hospital was wrapped in slumber when the planes were immediately overhead ... During the first stage the part that suffered most was the sleeping quarters of the personnel, particularly that of the N.C.O.s and men. A number of bombs, incendiary and high explosive, were dropped in the midst of the men’s quarters. Fires were immediately started which offered a splendid target for the second part of the attack. The scene was immediately converted into a conflagration and charnel house of dead and wounded men. Bombs were also dropped on the Officers’ and Sisters’ quarters, buildings being wrecked. The SE part of the Sisters’ quadrangle was completely wrecked by a bomb, the (US LIBRARY OF inmates being killed and wounded. CONGRESS) Dorothea’s sketch map drawn in the “While the work of rescuing the aftermath of the bombing at Étaples. TOP RIGHT: An wounded was going on the enemy (COURTESY OF RICHARD CREWDSON) aerial photograph continued to drop bombs. Two of the of part of the hospital wards received direct hits and base camp at A GOLD STRIPE patients were killed and wounded. Étaples taken The report goes on to mention the The portion of the Staff and personnel after the German air raids in May devotion to duty exhibited by the that had escaped injury immediately 1918. Note the hospital staff who continued to help attended to the needs of those who had large red crosses the injured despite the continuing raid. been hit. Sisters and Officers were in on some of the Amongst those was Dorothea, as she attendance upon their wards within a hospital buildings later explained in her diary. very short time, and while the raid was in the foreground. “I found afterwards I had got a little in progress the operating room Staff were (IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM; Q12290) splinter or something in my shoulder. A working on the cases injured.” very tiny place, but it is still going to get me a gold stripe.” DOROTHEA'S WAR The British Army began awarding a The Diaries of a First World War Nurse brass “Wound Stripe” in 1916, following the approval of King George V. The badge DESPITE THE fact that they were not in the immediate forward areas, life for was worn on the left forearm, fastened Voluntary Aid Detachment personnel through the uniform cloth. Additional in the hospitals was often hard and badges were granted for subsequent challenging. It was, as Dorothea’s wounds. The issuing of the wound stripe nephew points out in his introduction was extended to members of the VADs to this book, “seldom dull”. Such a statement is borne out by the in the summer of 1917. In fact Dorothea events of May 1918 when Dorothea’s would earn more than a gold wound hospital became the subject of a stripe. That, though, would come later. German air raid – just one of the Meanwhile, two nights later, Étaples many aspects of life as a VAD which was attacked again, as Dorothea wrote she detailed in her wartime diaries. Dorothea’s War is published by in her diary of 22 May. “We managed to Weidenfeld & Nicolson. For more keep pretty cool last night when Jerry information or to order a copy please began his evil tricks again. He delayed visit: www.orionbooks.co.uk his coming for a bit and hovered in the 52 JANUARY 2014

neighbourhood and then we heard the uneven hum of his machine and presently our barrage opened up and my, what a barrage it was! “Since Monday night the defences must have been strengthened for the firing was practically continuous, right overhead, and presently the huts began to be peppered with shrapnel falling down on the iron roofs with a sharp thud. Evidently Jerry found very soon that things were too hot for him, for after one attempt to get over the centre of the camp he went off in disgust, depositing his evil load at various places in the neighbourhood.” The attacks continued. The Matronin-Chief with the British Expeditionary Force, Maud McCarthy, noted the following account of the bombing on the night of 30 May 1918: “There was a terrible raid right over the hospitals.  Practically all the Étaples hospitals suffered, those which had the most casualties being the St. John’s Ambulance Brigade hospital, where 1 Sister was killed and 5 wounded, besides many patients and personnel, the Liverpool Merchant’s Hospital (1 Sister wounded), No.24 General Hospital (2 of the nursing staff wounded, one severely), No.56 General Hospital, where there were no casualties amongst the nursing staff but the administrative block was almost destroyed, and No.26 General Hospital, as well as the two Canadian hospitals (Nos.1 and 7) which had suffered so severely before.  The St. John’s Ambulance Brigade Hospital, which was beautifully equipped, is entirely wrecked.”5 

BATTLE CASUALTY Concerned with the effect of the night time raids, it was decided that all the day staff in the hospitals should sleep in the woods at night. This included all the patients in the camp. “The camp is practically deserted except for night staff and bed patients and some who don’t bother to clear off and prefer to remain and take their chance,” Dorothea explained. “It is quite a scream now www.britainatwar.com

every night to see the members of the nursing staff from the lower hospitals coming up on their way to the woods armed with blankets and rugs to make a night of it until the worst is over.” The fact that hospitals were being bombed caused widespread outrage which prompted the Germans to justify their actions by claiming that there were no Red Cross symbols displayed. However, when this subject was raised in the House of Commons, it was noted that photographs in a German newspaper showed that the Red Cross was displayed at Étaples on 27 May. Dorothea clearly played down the extent of her injury despite the fact that she had been listed as a battle casualty (which guaranteed her entitlement of

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a Wound Stripe). The efforts of one of the other nurses during the attack of 19 May, a woman called Winifred Addie Brampton, led to her recommendation for the Military Medal. The announcement appeared in The London Gazette on 26 July 1918: “For gallantry and devotion to duty during an enemy air raid. This lady continued at duty throughout the raid, although the ward in her charge was almost completely wrecked, several patients killed, and she herself was wounded.”

DEVOTION TO DUTY Dorothea was also told that she too would be put forward for a medal, the announcement of the award of which appeared at the same time as Miss Brampton’s (and several other nurses and female medical staff): “For gallantry and devotion to duty during an enemy air raid. Although herself wounded, this lady remained at duty and assisted in dressing the wounded patients.” She was one of three nurses that received the medal for their actions on the night of 19 May 1918 alone. Approximately 128 Military Medals were awarded to women during the First World War, with possibly ninetyone of these going to nurses. “Oh I don’t want to see a gold stripe or any other sort of stripe if I have to go through such horrors to win one,” Dorothea confided to her diary. “I ought to be trying to sleep, but can’t help thinking and thinking about it all – hearing again the noise of the falling bomb and then that awful crash.” 

NOTES 1.

2.

3. 4.

5.

Thekla Bowser, Britain’s Civil Volunteers, Authorized Story of British Voluntary Aid Detachment in the Great War (Moffat, Yasr and Company, New York, 1917), p.13. Voluntary Aid Detachments in the First World War, Imperial War Museum Information Sheet No.40, compiled by Mary P. Wilkinson and Allison E. Duffield, November 2001. Ruth Cowen (Ed.), A Nurse at the Front (Simon & Schuster, London, 2012), pp.299-300. All references to Dorothea Crewdson are from Dorothea’s War, The Diaries of a First World War Nurse, which is edited by Richard Crewdson and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. TNA WO 95/3990, War Diary of Matron-in-Chief.

ABOVE: An example of the certificate presented to VAD personnel “in recognition of valuable services rendered during the war”. The recipient in this case was Gwendolen Stephenson who can be seen on page 51.

(COURTESY OF MARK HILLIER)

LEFT: Nursing Sister Dorothea Crewdson pictured in 1918; note the four Overseas Service Stripes on the right arm of her tunic. Dorothea never returned home from Etaples – she died, aged 32, on 12 March 1919 after contracting peritonitis. As her death fell within the official period covered by the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, she was buried in Etaples Military Cemetery, her grave marked by the standard CWGC headstone. Dorothea was posthumously honoured with the Associate Royal Red Cross Award for her devotion to duty and outstanding service. (COURTESY OF RICHARD CREWDSON) BELOW: Nurses survey the damage sustained during the series of air raids on the Hospital Area at Étaples. The damage seen here was to the No.9 Canadian Stationary Hospital which had been bombed on 31 May 1918. (IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM; Q11539)

JANUARY 2014 53

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A e t a L e Th

THE LATE ARRIVALS CLUB Walking Back From Behind Enemy Lines

ABOVE LEFT: Having safely returned to Allied lines, a member of the Late Arrivals Club was awarded a Winged Boot badge. This is the example presented to 272 Squadron’s Sergeant John Harper after he force-landed his Beaufighter in the Western Desert on 26 June 1942, and walked back with his navigator. (COURTESY OF THE ALEX BATEMAN COLLECTION)

56 JANUARY 2014

A total of 2,803 RAF aircrew who were shot down during the Second World War either escaped from captivity or evaded capture. Of the latter, a fair number eventually made their way back to their units on foot. For many, reveals Mark Hillier, this would ensure their membership of an informal association known as the Late Arrivals Club.

W

HEN 252 Squadron’s Flight Lieutenant Derek Frecker and his navigator, Pilot Officer Tom Armstrong, took off from the airstrip at Edku in Egypt at 11.30 hours on Sunday, 6 December 1942, neither would have been expecting what lay ahead. At the same time, the two men were not alone in Beaufighter T5045. Sergeant Paddy Clarke, a member of the squadron’s ground crew, had persuaded the CO to let him fly on an operation and had gone along for the flight. Accompanied by a second Beaufighter, X7828 flown by Sergeant J.M. Hayton and Sergeant C.H. Day, Frecker headed west to carry out his allotted task – a strafe of a twenty-five mile stretch of the coast road. It was after the pair of Beaufighters had attacked a number of Axis vehicles and two enemy

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b u l C s l Arriva camps that disaster struck. Hit by anti-aircraft fire near Wadi Tamet, T5045 was in trouble. With damaged instruments, oil pouring from the oil cooler, two hits on the starboard engine and a shattered windscreen, Frecker turned his aircraft away, managing to force-land in the desert at 13.20 hours. Thankfully, none of the three men onboard were injured, so, miles from any civilization and deep behind enemy lines, they regrouped to consider their options. With little choice, at 16.40 hours they set out to walk back to the Allied lines. It was hard-going, as Armstrong later noted in his diary: “With a tank of water and remains of kit in nav. bag slung between the three of us – rather heavy on shoulders. Sgt Clarke’s heels (or lack of same in stockings) giving trouble. Many rests.”

At 18.15 hours, the three evaders “decided to have dinner and sleep”. Having halted, continued Armstrong, they “dined off one tin of bully and biscuits. Wrapped the ’chute silk around our bodies and lay on maps and charts – but were frozen.”1 By 01.00 hours the next morning, the conditions were starting to take their toll: “Decided it was too cold to stay still so draped ourselves with water bottles, ration bags etc and set off. Found it easier to stay on course by stars, than in daytime. Everybody pretty tired – many stops until we got cold and then walked on until we warmed up again.” As the days passed, the men’s rations and water supply gradually dwindled. So did their strength. Eventually, seven days later, their long walk ended when they were located by a group of Senussi

ABOVE: Wing Commander Adrian Warburton pictured whilst serving as the Officer Commanding 683 Squadron at RAF Luqa, Malta. Below his decorations (DSO, DFC and two Bars), Warburton wears a Winged Boot badge on his left breast pocket. Warburton became one of the most successful and best-known aerialreconnaissance pilots of the Second World War. (IMPERIAL WAR

MUSEUM; ME(RAF)7589)

Arabs who gave them food, water and shelter. Fifteen days after their aircraft had crash-landed, Frecker, Armstrong and Clarke were picked up by an armoured car of the 1st Kings Dragoon Guards and finally returned to their unit. By Boxing Day, Frecker was back at the controls of a Beaufighter. For returning to their squadron from behind enemy lines, mainly on foot, the three men who had been in T5045 were eligible to become the latest members of a relatively exclusive organisation – the Late Arrivals Club.  www.britainatwar.com

LEFT: A South African Air Force pilot, serving in the Western Desert, shows off his Winged Boot badge. (COURTESY

OF THE ALEX BATEMAN COLLECTION)

MAIN PICTURE: Flight Lieutenant Derek Frecker and Pilot Officer Tom Armstrong photographed by Sergeant Paddy Clarke in front of their Beaufighter after they forcelanded behind enemy lines on 6 December 1942. (WW2IMAGES)

JANUARY 2014 57

The original caption to this picture of four late arrivers states: “As the Germans thrust at Alamein, these four men walked into the British lines. Twenty-two days before, their Wellington had force-landed at Tobruk; they had come 450 miles on foot through hostile desert.” Unfortunately, it has not been possible to establish their identity. (HMP)

ABOVE RIGHT: The Late Arrivals Club certificate presented to 272 Squadron’s Sergeant John Harper. Although it is often stated that membership of the club was limited to those serving in the Western Desert, there are accounts of aircrew from other theatres also receiving the Winged Boot. Flying Officer John Oldham, a pilot of 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron, was pitched into battle against the Japanese on the Arakan front in November 1943. He was shot down during combat with enemy bombers, baled out and arrived back at the squadron some time later with a Japanese PoW in tow. It is stated that he too became a member of the Late Arrivals Club. (COURTESY OF THE ALEX BATEMAN COLLECTION)

 104 SQUADRON

A number of members of the Late Arrivals Club were aircrew from 104 Squadron. On the night of 8/9 July 1942, for example, one of the squadron’s Wellington IIs, Z8520/N piloted by Sergeant C.S. Maxfield, came down behind enemy lines having taken off from Kabrit to bomb Tobruk. Failure of the port engine and then further problems with the starboard engine forced Maxfield to put his aircraft down fifty miles south of Sidi Barrini. The crew, all of whom survived, gathered together some supplies – four water bottles, a flask, iron rations, two parachutes, the navigator’s compass, an axe, two first aid kits, a pair of torches, and a Verey pistol with thirty to forty cartridges – and set out for home. Having walked for nearly 200 miles, and been helped by friendly Arabs on the way, the six evaders were eventually rescued by a Baltimore which landed in the desert having been alerted by one of the flares. All became members of the Late Arrivals Club. This image shows another of 104 Squadron’s Wellingtons which came to grief in the Western Desert, this time a few weeks before Maxfield’s incident. Flown by Pilot Officer R.S. White, Wellington IC Z8345/S had been detailed to attack the enemy airfield at Tmimi but also suffered engine trouble during the return flight in the early hours of 4 June 1942. Diverted to LG121, the port engine cut out in the circuit and the undercarriage, not locked down, then collapsed on landing. (WW2IMAGES)

58 JANUARY 2014

THE WINGED BOOT Escape and evasion in the Western Desert was a very different experience to being on the run across Occupied Europe. Those airmen who forcelanded in, or even baled out over, the desert faced huge expanses of inhospitable and desolate terrain, scorpions, a lack of food and water, and blistering heat in the day and freezing temperatures at night. Navigation was, as the crew of T5045 discovered, often difficult or impossible. Many efforts to reach Allied lines failed. In most cases this was because the aircrew involved were captured; others, sadly, died during their attempt. It was therefore decided that the achievements of those who reached safety should be recognized. “Somewhere in the Western Desert in June 1941, a few officers founded a club which they named the ‘Late Arrivals Club’, for entry to which there was only one qualification. No man could become a member unless, in the words of the Club rules, ‘when obliged to abandon his

aircraft on the ground or in the air, as a result of unfriendly action by the enemy, he succeeded in returning back to his squadron, on foot or by other means, long after his Estimated Time of Arrival. It is never too late to come back.’”2 To mark their membership of this exclusive club, its members were awarded a small “winged boot” emblem and certificate. The former, sand cast in silver and made by local jewellers and silversmiths, was, it is stated, the creation of Wing Commander George W. Houghton. During 1941, Houghton, the senior RAF Public Relations Officer in the Middle East, had been working in Cairo and had written a brief newspaper story of a pilot who had been shot down in the desert before spending a few days walking back to rejoin his squadron. In the article he described the pilot as a “late arrival”. The story prompted other aircrew who had suffered the same fate to write to him with the idea of creating an informal club. It was Houghton who subsequently obtained the permission

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THE LATE ARRIVALS CLUB Walking Back From Behind Enemy Lines

of the Air Officer Commanding Middle East, Lord Tedder, to issue each late arrival with the badge to wear on his flying suit or uniform.3

IN THE NEWS The club and its emblem soon captured the imagination of the press and stories of escape and evasion by the late arrivals began appearing in a number of British papers. On 11 June 1941, the Curtiss Tomahawk-equipped 250 Squadron moved to Sidi Haneish, Egypt, in preparation for its part in Operation Battleaxe, which began on 14 June. Early on the morning of 18 June eight of the squadron’s Tomahawks strafed the Capuzzo-El Adem road. However, one of the aircraft, that flown by Flying Officer Jack Hamlyn, was hit by flak. Unable to reach his base, Hamlyn crash-landed forty miles east of Tobruk, well behind enemy lines. This was the RAF’s first Tomahawk loss in the Western Desert. The story of Hamlyn’s subsequent actions was soon being reported in the UK: “In June, Flying Officer Hamlyn, after a ground-strafing raid in the Gambut zone of the Western Desert,

had to make a forced landing in enemy lines. For more than 80 miles he trekked through the desert, and eventually, with the help of friendly Arabs, regained his unit. For this exploit he became a member of ‘The Late Arrivals Club’.”4

“LOST RAF CREW IN DESERT SCRAP” Hamlyn was not alone. By 2 October the following year another reporter had noted that the “Winged Boot” was being worn by 238 RAF and Allied airmen in the Middle East,5 of whom many remarkable stories were still being told. Under the headline “Lost RAF Crew in Desert Scrap”, the following account appeared in The Sunday Post of 18 October 1942: “Six RAF men – trekking ‘home’ across the Western Desert after their Wellington force-landed while raiding Tobruk – saw two Italian lorries parked in the moonlight. Stealthily they crept up on the nearest, and the radio operator tapped the driver on the head with a revolver butt.

“‘Both lorries were filled with troops,’ said the radio man afterwards. ‘Those in the second lorry piled out and started firing on us. I hadn’t tapped the driver hard enough. He managed to wrench the revolver away from our rear gunner, who had an injured arm. He then fired and hit our chap. There was a terrific uproar of shouts and shots, but I managed to get clear. In the confusion we lost touch with our rear gunner, a Belgian, who did not manage to rejoin us.’ “The second pilot then carried on with the story: ‘I found myself in the back of the lorry milling around with a lot of Italians. It was very dark. They were very excited, and as I had no hat they took me for one of themselves. “‘I mingled with them and pretended to join the search for the rest of our lads who managed to get away. After a bit I slipped away myself and went south. After about two hours I joined the boys again.’ “The five survivors – now the latest members of the growing ‘Late Arrivals’ Club – trekked 350 miles through enemy territory to rejoin their squadron after an absence of 30 days.”

WALKING BACK Such epic walks were not unusual amongst the holders of the Winged Boot, as the events surrounding the crew of one 40 Squadron Wellington testify. Piloted by Flight Sergeant R.L. Spence RCAF, Wellington IC DV504/G had taken off from Kabrit at 22.40 hours on the evening of 7 October 1942. The crew’s mission was to bomb enemy positions at Tobruk. It was during the return flight that one engine failed, forcing the six men onboard to bale  www.britainatwar.com

JANUARY 2014

ABOVE LEFT: Flight Sergeant R.L. Spence RCAF and Sergeant J.K. Wood RAAF pictured following their return to their squadron having trekked for twenty-four days and nights on foot in the desert. The water-bottles are German, Italian and British; the leaky two-gallon can is still with them. Note their shoes, fixed with wire. They had seen the Allied barrage at Alamein from behind the enemy’s lines. (HMP)

ABOVE RIGHT: Flight Sergeant Ray Sherk pictured, prior to his posting to the Western Desert, in the cockpit of his 129 Squadron Spitfire Vb, Shooting Star II, at RAF Westhampnett in 1941. (COURTESY OF

ANDREW THOMAS)

INSET: The rear of Sergeant John Harper’s Winged Boot badge. These badges were often engraved with the recipient’s service number on the back. (COURTESY OF THE ALEX BATEMAN COLLECTION)

59

THE LATE ARRIVALS CLUB Walking Back From Behind Enemy Lines RIGHT: Flight Sergeant Ray Sherk pictured in his flying equipment. (AUTHOR)

FAR RIGHT, OPPOSITE PAGE: Because the Winged Boot badge was not officially authorized to be displayed on US uniforms in the European Theatre of Operations, it was therefore worn under the left hand lapel on an airman’s tunic or flying jacket – as is the case here. This jacket was worn by 1st Lieutenant K. Bartman USAAF. Note that Bartman wore the standard US pilot’s wings which were die struck out of sterling silver. The ribbons beneath denote an active pilot with a Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf (subsequent award), Air Medal and three Oak Leaves, and the European Theatre of Operations ribbon with three battle stars. (BOTH IMAGES

COURTESY OF TOD RATHBONE/RATHBONE MUSEUM OF WWII AVIATORS; WWW. RATHBONEMUSEUM. COM)

60 JANUARY 2014

out. Four of them, a flight sergeant and three sergeants, assembled by the wreck of their aircraft; what happened to the other two was not known at the time (it was later established that they had survived and were taken prisoner). At dawn, the four airmen took stock of their possessions. These amounted to three full waterbottles, six tins of bully, sixteen packets of biscuits, milk tablets, chewing gum, chocolate, and a little toffee, some Benzedrine tablets, matches, and four small compasses. Having agreed to set out for the Allied lines, they realised that even in a straight line (and they had to cut south to avoid capture) there were more than 300 miles of desert between them and the British front positions. Undeterred, they set off. That first day they walked from dawn until 16.00 hours, stopping only at a cairn filled with rainwater from which they drank and filled a two-gallon can they found nearby. That night each man supped on two milk tablets and all slept well, although two of them had slight injuries to their legs as a result of their parachute landing. The rest of the story was told in 1945, based on extracts from a diary which two of the men kept:6

“Second day. Set course south-east. Found water hole, had a good drink. At midday, rest and ate a can of bully. More water, had a good drink. 1800 hours, made camp by water hole. Six Hindus escaped from Tobruk came up to camp, well provisioned and plenty of water. Gave them compass. They said they were heading south into the desert. Sgt. A. was weak, his ankle giving him trouble. “Fourth day. Drank out of tin and ate some milk tablets. Two Ju.88s passed overhead, very close and low, took cover. Sighted barbed wire ahead. 1030 hours, crossed border line south of Sollum, heat terrific. Sheltered from sun beneath an u/s lorry. Found one bottle three parts full of brackish water, drank same. B.’s birthday party, had first good laugh. We had previously intended to try and walk through the whole night, but Sgt. A. was very weak, had bad ankle. Sgt. C. also very weak and bad ankle, flying boots making it very hard to walk. Going was very hard, loose rocks, unable to get good footholds. “Sixth day. (Having walked all the previous night) 0830 hours, made camp, sleep almost impossible. 1730 hours, broke camp, ate one can of chocolate,

 THE AMERICAN STYLE WINGED BOOT

16 biscuits, milk tablets. Set course due east. 2030 hours, arrived at an u/s German lorry with four cans of petrol inside same, no water. It was here Sgt. A. decided to leave us. He had been through hell since our starting, despite our efforts to help and assist him. He was wearing flying boots which gave him very little support whilst walking over loose rock. At every rest we made throughout the six days, he was with us. He used to fall down on all fours beside our leaky water can, and sucked what water had seeped out. It was horrible. He was very close to the coast, we could see patrolling planes flying east and west all day and were very close to the railroad. He gave us

In 1943, when US airmen started to return to the UK after having been shot down over enemy territory, one unknown evader started to wear the RAF’s Winged Boot emblem in an effort to mark the fact that he had evaded capture and “walked home”. A trend was started and in time one of the first actions of an American evader on his arrival in London was to visit the store of Hobsons & Sons to purchase a “wire badge” version of the Winged Boot – such as the example seen here. When the Air Forces Escape and Evasion Society was formed in June 1964, it was decided to use the Winged Boot as the basis of its logo. The society also approached Hobsons & Sons and requested they manufacture a number of items containing the Winged Boot using metallic thread and the original dies. (BOTH IMAGES COURTESY OF SIMON LANNOY)

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A Doubled Winged Foot

his mother’s address, also address of his girl-friend. He was very worried about them and anxious that they should be notified of his safety. We left him with two bottles of water and one can of chocolate and walked south-east. We walked all night, hard going. “Eighth day. (N.B. – We started walking at night. Date covers walking period). By this time we figure we are somewhere south of Sidi Barrani. Our next pinpoint will be the Mersa Matruh-Siwa Oasis road. Hope to reach same in two or three nights. 1700 hours, started walking, course slightly south of east. Since leaving Sgt A. we have been heading east, worrying about Sgt. C, did not want to get too far away from the coast. 1800 hours, here Sgt. C. decided to leave us. Like Sgt. A. he has had a tough time since our starting, it was cruel, since leaving Sollum we have been walking on loose rock. Figuring him to be no more than a day to a day and a half from the coast we left him with a water can with two bottles of water in same, a tin of chocolate, a chocolate bar, some milk tablets and some gum. He was very game. He gave us his mother’s address and wanted us to notify her of his

safety. We left him in the shelter of an u/s lorry. “Between the two of us we now had left four tins of bully-beef, three tins of ration chocolate, about 16 biscuits, about 20 milk tablets, three full waterbottles, two empty same, our two-gallon tin about three parts full. Having reckoned on the trek taking us 20 days at the beginning and having already walked eight of same we rationed accordingly for the remainder. We tried to make a can of bully-beef last the two of us three days. “Tenth day. Started walking, course south-east, hard going, rocks and sandstorm. Found old tomb, decided to remain all night, very fatigued, sandstorm intense. Ate a few biscuits, had a drink each and slept all night. “Twelfth day. Met two Arabs driving camels to Siwa Oasis. They gave us about three pints of water and two handfuls of dates in exchange for 45 piastres (all the money we had). Also gave us a good drink and a smoke out of a pipe, home-grown tobacco. ‘Smoke’ floored us. “Fourteenth day. Had a little rain shower. Managed to have a good 

ANOTHER PILOT who defied the odds and made a home run was Ray Sherk. Ray had been a pilot with 129 Squadron on Spitfires, before heading out to the Western Desert to fly with 74 Squadron. By late 1942 Sherk was attached to 601 Squadron, again flying Spitfires. On 29 September he was detailed, along with two other pilots, to attack an enemy ammunition train at a rail junction known as Charing Cross. Though the trio did not locate the train, one of the pilots, Squadron Leader Peter Mathews, spotted a Junkers Ju 52. Ray was best placed to commence the attack and, after his initial pass, guns blazing, the wing of the Ju 52 caught fire and its pilot subsequently made a forced landing. Whilst making his return to his airfield, the engine on Ray’s Spitfire gave out whilst he was flying near the Qattara Depression and he was forced to land behind enemy lines. After being captured by the Germans in the desert, Ray was shipped to Italy where his initial destination was Camp PG75. Located at Bari, this was a reception camp, so from here Ray was moved to Camp PG78 at Sulmona. The conditions here were poor; food was scarce, sanitation was poor and diseases rife. To Ray, it was a case of languish in the camp or die trying to get home. So in 1943, in the turmoil of the Italian surrender, he was able to leave the camp and set out to make his way back to the Allied lines. Having achieved his aim, Ray returned to 601 Squadron, which was by then in Italy. It was then that one of his colleagues he had trained with, Flight Lieutenant A.U. “Bert” Houle, who was flying with 417 Squadron, was to see Ray for the first time since his escape. “In the afternoon,” Houle wrote in his memoirs (The Man & The Aircraft, Lavigne Aviation Publications, Victoriaville, 2000), “I went over to 601 to see Ray Sherk, who had escaped and walked back from an Italian PoW camp. From talking to him, it seemed that life in that camp wasn’t really all sunshine. He was thin as a rake and his feet were swollen and blistered. The substantial food he had been receiving since reaching our lines was beginning to show, and the healthy colour was coming back to his cheeks.” Ray was eventually returned to the UK, being posted, as a Flying Officer, to the Spitfire Mk.IX-equipped 401 Squadron. On 15 March 1944, while on a sweep over France as part of Ramrod 655, his luck ran out once again. Following engine trouble on MJ126, Ray was forced to bale out. This time he was not captured, and instead made his way to Spain with the help of the Resistance and local French families. Not for nothing did Ray once comment that he spent a great deal of his war walking, rather than flying! He was surely entitled to a Bar to his membership of the Late Arrivals Club – if there was such a thing – or at least having the distinction of being a Double Winged Boot? MAIN PICTURE: Spitfire Vc BR382 “UF-P” was the 601 Squadron aircraft being flown by Ray Sherk when he force-landed behind enemy lines in the Western Desert on 29 September 1942. Initially taken prisoner and held in Italy, Ray eventually managed to make his way back to his unit, for which he became a member of the Late Arrivals Club. (COURTESY OF ANDREW THOMAS)

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JANUARY 2014 61

THE LATE ARRIVALS CLUB Walking Back From Behind Enemy Lines what seemed to be a motor lorry from a nearby hill about 0800 hours we headed north and were finally picked up by an advanced [British] armoured division about 5 to 10 miles north of El Maghra.”

“IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO COME BACK”

TOP: Ray Sherk pictured at Goodwood in 2010; note the Winged Boot on his collar. (AUTHOR) RIGHT: A portrait of Flying Officer Ray Sherk, who, having flown with 129, 401 and 601 squadrons, could, by the end of the war, claim to be a Double Winged Boot. (COURTESY OF

ANDREW THOMAS)

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drink out of a rock pool, not enough to collect. Sole falling off Sgt. D.’s shoe, had to fix. F/Sgt. B.’s boot also in miserable condition. “Fifteenth day. Shoes repaired. We walked until 1100 hours, our shoes were giving us trouble, wire fixings cutting into our feet, decided to stop and rest, heat terrific, had a little to eat and drink, made shelter of brush. 0630 hours, made our way to the edge of the Qattara Depression. The country down below seemed to be excellent to walk upon as seen by us from the top, so we decided to make our way down the cliff-side, same was hard going, very steep and dangerous in parts, ruined shoes completely. “Sixteenth day. Decided to stay night at a date grove. No dates; shoes giving trouble. Very weak, food and water getting low, tough going. Had a good sleep after a little to eat and drink. “Seventeenth day. Started walking, hard going, shoes giving trouble, very hot, salt marsh, fairly weak. The marsh was all dried up and we were walking over salt crags which in appearance resemble waves and were 18 to 24 inches high. Being unable to walk in between same we were compelled to walk along the top, stepping from one to another. It was very hot. The food and water were both getting low, but since starting we had always figured on having insufficient to last. “Eighteenth day. We made camp at 0900 hours. Sleep was almost impossible, partly because of exhaustion and mostly because of the continual gnawing in our stomachs and the thoughts of food and cool drinks that we could not keep out of

our minds. Towards dusk we met three Bedouin driving camels, who made us two rounds of bread six to seven inches in circumference, called ‘grassa’ and which, although they gave us almost unbearable attacks of indigestion, were devoured to the last morsel. To-night we came upon soft salt, it was tough walking – placing one foot down it would sink up to your shin in soft mud, and having no foothold it was necessary immediately to place your other foot in front of the first to keep walking. We made no more than 15 miles a day through this. “Twentieth day. Last night our food gave out: despite our rationing. Water was very low, just about two bottles full. We were very weak, shoes just about off our feet. At night we came upon five Bedouin driving about 70 camels. They gave us a handful of dates and a drink of salty water. “Twenty-first day. Attempting to walk a few miles during the day, the weather not being very hot, we came across two Bedouin grazing camels. Taking us into their camp they fed us with rice and camels’ milk diluted with water. The former tasted like macaroni and cheese, the latter, although very strong, was quite refreshing. “Twenty-second day. We entered camp amidst very curious Arabs. Fed on dates, rice and oil and drank salty water. Quite a ritual. Still very week, but recovered. “Twenty-fourth day. Arrived at a salt lake at about 0400 hours, mosquitoes unbearable. Hearing and finally sighting

Having successfully made it back, Flight Sergeant R.L. Spence RCAF and Sergeant J.K. Wood RAAF were duly welcomed into the ranks of the Late Arrivals Club, becoming proud wearers of the Winged Boot and holders of the certificate with the legend, “It is never too late to come back”. The other four men from the crew of DV504 – Sergeant K. Bowhill, Sergeant C.C. Hill RCAF, Sergeant E.A. Linforth and Sergeant A.W. Butteriss – spent the rest of the war in captivity. With no official structure behind the Late Arrivals Club, unlike the Goldfish and Caterpillar clubs, eligibility for receiving the Winged Boot is understandably ill-defined. It is believed that no definitive list of its members exist, though most accounts agree that there were some 500 late arrivers by the end of the war – all of whom had a remarkable story to tell. 

NOTES 1. 2.

3. 4. 5. 6.

Alan Cooper, Free to Fight Again (HMSO, London, 1945), p.17. R.A.F. Middle East – The Official Story of Air Operations in the Middle East from February 1942 to January 1943, (HMSO, London, 1945), p.17. The Air Forces Escape & Evasion Society (Turner Publishing, 1992). Evening Telegraph, 8 September 1941. By the end of the year, the Club had a list of 345 members. Nottingham Evening Post, 2 October 1942. R.A.F. Middle East, ibid, pp.18-19.

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THE RAF ON THE AIR Squadron Leader James H. Thompson



   - 3 

PART

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. MAIN PICTURE: The Type VIIC U-boat U-570 pictured following its surrender to the 269 Squadron Hudson flown by Squadron Leader James H. Thompson on 27 August 1941. (WW2IMAGES)

64 JANUARY 2014

O

n its first war patrol, the German Type VIIC U-boat U-570 had been on its way to join the U-boat packs operating in the area of the Northern Approaches. Having sailed from Trondheim four days previously under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans-Joachim Rahmlow, U-570 had been directed, unsuccessfully, to intercept eastbound convoy HX 145. During the early hours of Wednesday, 27 August 1941, having given up on the hunt for ships of HX 145, Rahmlow

took his boat down because the heavy seas were upsetting his inexperienced crew. Two hours later, the order to resurface was given. U-570 did just that, but at what would prove to be a most inopportune moment. As the U-boat broke the surface little could Rahmlow have realised that, of the whole North Atlantic, he had chosen to do so directly underneath a pair of patrolling Lockheed Hudsons of 269 Squadron. The appearance of the submarine brought an immediate response from the Hudsons. Unfortunately for the pilot

of one, Sergeant Mitchell, his depthcharges failed to release. Having also dropped smoke floats which proved ineffective in the rain squall, Mitchell returned to carry out a square search. Again locating U-570, he homed in the second aircraft, this time piloted by Squadron Leader James H. Thompson. Thompson subsequently gave the following broadcast on the BBC: “We knew early in the morning that there was a U-boat somewhere round that part of the Atlantic. Another Hudson out on patrol from my squadron

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had seen her twice, but both times she dived and got away. “The Atlantic didn’t look very inviting when we left that morning. The sea was rough, and covered with angry whitecaps. The clouds were low, and we kept on running into rain-storms and patches of dirty weather. We flew a good many miles close down to the sea – nothing to look at but clouds, and waves, and rain, and it was getting a bit monotonous. “The first thing I knew about the U-boat was a shout from my second pilot: ‘There’s one just in front of you.’ He pointed out

to the port bow, and there was a U-boat, roughly 1,200 yards away, just starting to crash-dive – they had seen us too. “The second pilot was standing with his face pressed to the windscreen, and he had a better view than I had, so I called out to him: ‘Let me know when it’s time to attack, Jack.’ He nodded, and a few seconds later my whole crew shouted, ‘Now!’ “When I came round again in a tight turn, the whole area of the sea was churned up into a foaming mass, and in the middle of it the U-boat suddenly

popped to the surface again. So we dived straight on to her and opened up with all the guns we had. “I had my front guns going, the wireless operator dropped on his tummy and wound down the belly gun in the floor of the aircraft, and the gunner in the turret was firing practically the whole time. We had tracer ammunition loaded, and the red streaks of the tracer were flashing all round the conning-tower, and showering up the water all round the hull of the U-boat. “To our surprise, just as we dived in again to the attack, the conning-tower hatch was flung open, and about a dozen men tumbled out, and slid down on to the deck. We thought at first they were making for their guns, so we kept our own guns going hard. The Germans who had already got out of the conning-tower didn’t like that a bit, and they tried to scramble back again. The rest of the crew were still trying to get out of the hatch, and they sort of met in the middle and argued it out. It was a regular shambles for a few minutes. We could see them very clearly, for we were close on top of them, and they were wearing bright yellow life-saving jackets, rather like our Mae Wests. 

LEFT: Following the surrender of U-570 Allied surface vessels soon arrived on the scene – one of which can be seen here. This destroyer is either HMS Burwell or HMCS Niagara. At the end of his broadcast on the BBC, Squadron Leader James H. Thompson stated: “We owe the Navy a personal word of thanks, too, for a very nice gesture they made. They came down to our station and handed over to the squadron a rather wonderful memento of the occasion, a memento of which we shall always be very proud – the U-boat’s flag.” That same flag can be seen today on display in the RAF Museum at Hendon. (HMP)

"They stuck a white rag of some sort out of the conning-tower, and waved it violently."

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JANUARY 2014 65

THE RAF ON THE AIR Squadron Leader James H. Thompson

ABOVE: A large proportion of the crew of U-570 can be seen on the submarine’s conning-tower in this image taken as one of the Coastal Command aircraft flew low overhead. (HMP)

BELOW: Photographed shortly after one of the armed trawlers arrived this image of U-570 was taken from one of the supporting RAF Catalina flying boats. (HMP)

66 JANUARY 2014

“While the Germans were all stooging about in the conning-tower we continued to attack them, circling round each time and coming in again. That made the confusion below even worse. “We went round four times, and we were just getting ready to dive on them for the fifth time when they decided they had had enough of it. They stuck a white rag of some sort out of the conning-tower, and waved it violently. We found out afterwards that it was a shirt they were using for a white flag. “We all stopped firing, but continued to circle them with all our guns trained. The Germans were determined to make us understand that they had surrendered. They got hold of some sort of white board, and waved that at us too. We were still suspicious, so I dived right over the U-boat at about fifty feet, and then flew alongside her, to see what it was all about. They followed us all round with their white flag. “We followed them all round with our guns trained on them. Practically the whole crew seemed to be in the conning-tower now, packed in so tightly they could hardly move. We were close enough to see their faces, and a glummer-

looking lot I never saw in my life. Not a smile among them! “It was only then that we began to realise that we really had captured a submarine, and they really had surrendered. “The difficulty then was how to get them in. I even suggested jokingly that I should drop my second pilot by parachute as prize crew, but he didn’t fancy it. But we were determined to get them ashore if we could, submarine and all, so we sent off signals to our base, asking for surface craft to be sent to pick them up. We soon knew that several were on their way, steaming as hard as they could go, and other aircraft were being diverted to relieve us. “All we had to do was to keep circling the U-boat with our guns trained, to prevent the crew going below; we had to intimidate the crew, and keep them in the conning-tower. We kept that up for three and a half hours, and it was a bit trying. I dared not take my eyes off them for a single second – and when we finished circling at last, I couldn’t turn my head at all, my neck was so stiff. The wireless operator had even a worse job. He spent his three-and-a-half hours signalling furiously. “At last a relief aircraft turned up, a Coastal Command Catalina flying boat. We saw it coming, and we were scared it was going to attack the U-boat, so we flew towards it signalling hard that she had surrendered, and we were trying to take her prisoner. I think the actual signal we flashed was: ‘Look after our sub., it has shown the white flag’ “The Catalina boys understood, and they started to circle her too. Then another Hudson came up, and plenty

more aircraft as the day wore on, but our petrol was getting a bit short, so we had to turn for home, and that was the last we saw of our U-boat. “Of course the job wasn’t anything like finished. We had had the incredible good luck to find the U-boat, but the Catalinas kept up the watch for hours, much longer than we did, through gales and darkness. They stuck on to the U-boat magnificently. Then the Navy came along, and they put up a grand show too, taking the U-boat in tow in the most difficult conditions, and bringing her right in to shore, with all the crew prisoners. Thompson’s Hudson had been relieved by a Consolidated Catalina of 209 Squadron – AH553 – flown by Flying Officer E.A. Jewiss. The Catalina remained on station until, at 22.50 hours on the 27th, the armed trawler HMS Northern Chief arrived. Whilst Northern Chief had been racing towards him, Rahmlow was informed by signals that if he attempted to scuttle the U-boat, then an order would be issued to open fire sending U-570 and her crew to the bottom. The threats worked, for the crew of U-570 promptly signalled their agreement. Taken in tow, the U-570 went on to become HMS Graph in Royal Navy service. Despite the best efforts of the U-boat’s crew, a wealth of vital information was gathered from the captured submarine. When the empty wooden box for U-570’s Enigma cipher machine was found – though the actual machine itself had been dumped overboard – it was discovered that a new slot had been fashioned to accommodate a hitherto unknown fourth rotor. Thompson, along with his navigator and Second Pilot, Flying Officer William Coleman, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions.  www.britainatwar.com

Token F_P.indd 1

04/12/2013 12:47

NO WAY HOME A Circus Mission 1941

“As I went in there was a h

NO WAY H MAIN PICTURE: Spitfires of 610 (County of Chester) Squadron pictured whilst airborne, on this occasion during the summer of 1940. (ALL IMAGES

COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR)

RIGHT: The wreckage of Sergeant Herbert David “Dave” Denchfield’s Spitfire I, N3249 coded DW-P, lying across a road in northern France on 5 February 1941.

68 JANUARY 2014

S

ERGEANT HERBERT David “Dave” Denchfield joined 610 (County of Chester) Squadron at RAF Acklington in Northumberland in October 1940. Commanded by Squadron Leader John Ellis, the squadron had been based at Biggin Hill during the early part of the Battle of Britain, moving to Acklington for a rest at the start of September 1940. It moved south

again in December 1940, this time to Westhampnett (now Goodwood Airfield) in West Sussex and was soon involved in Fighter Command’s offensive over Europe, albeit an offensive limited very much by the winter weather. As part of this new offensive, the RAF began a series of Circus operations on 10 January 1941; a Circus was a coordinated bomber and fighter attack on targets

in France. On this date, six Blenheims, escorted by a number of Spitfire and Hurricane equipped squadrons attacked supply dumps south of Calais. For Dave Denchfield, his part in this offensive would be short, with his last flight being on Wednesday, 5 February 1941. This mission involved twelve Bristol Blenheims from 114 and 139 Squadrons attacking targets in the Saint-Omer/ Wizernes area. As Dave remarked: “The operation of 5 February 1941 was classified Circus 3 but I feel that ‘Cockup 3’ would have been more apt.” The escort for Circus 3 was considerable with the Hurricanes of 1, 56 and 615 Squadrons acting as Close Escort, the Spitfires of 65 Squadron and 610 Squadron and the Hurricanes of 302 Squadron acting as Top Cover and the Spitfires of 41, 64 and 611 Squadrons acting as Target Support. The men of 610 Squadron, who had been on readiness during the morning, were told that they would be released from 13.00 hours that day until 06.00 hours the next day, which would allow the pilots to go off and rest. However, there was the matter of Circus 3 to attend to first. www.britainatwar.com

nt into a violent left ha n a hell of a thump from d turn, up front.”

HOME CIRCUS 3

After an early lunch, pilots from 302 and 610 Squadrons climbed into their fighters and took off. Once airborne, they headed towards Rye on the East Sussex coast. The weather was not particularly good with the cloud, its base at just 1,200 feet, being solid up to 10,000 feet. Over Rye, 610 Squadron climbed to 12,000 feet. It was then that things began to go wrong, as Dave Denchfield recalled: “At Rye we orbited and orbited, it seemed for hours, awaiting the Blenheims and the three squadrons of close escort. Our set off time was 12.30 hours but we were well past that when the CO called ‘OK Elfin – we’re off. Weavers go’. “However, we could not know that two of the close escort squadrons had not made rendezvous and had set off over the Channel. How they could have missed us orbiting away is a mystery for the cloud had suddenly disappeared along the English coast leaving the Channel and France a vast blue emptiness with not a cloud in sight. Also, eight of 65 Squadron got lost in cloud and eventually did their own thing whilst the remaining four www.britainatwar.com

were somewhere above us, although I never saw them. Finally, Target Support was to orbit Dungeness before leaving at 12.40 to cover our backs. Apparently they left at 12.35 hours and we left at 12.42 hours!”

IMPENDING DISASTER Circus 3 had all the hallmarks of a disaster. The Blenheims dropped their bombs without any interference from the Luftwaffe and headed for home. Prewarned, the Luftwaffe had scrambled fighters to intercept; these missed the bombers and instead headed for the confused Top Cover and close escort. “France stood out well in the clear weather but detail was lost due to the snow,” continued Dave Denchfield. “This was no matter for, as Weaver, I carried out the monotonous regular swinging although I did see Boulogne way off to port and I think we crossed the coast near Le Tréport. “It was then that I caught a glint way up high as I completed an inward swing, so on the next outward swing I had a good scan. I then found that the squadron was some 800 yards away so

At first it looks like a picture of a pile of unrecognisable wreckage being examined by German soldiers. However, the clues to its identity can be found annotated on the back. As Chris Goss reveals, the image shows all that was left of a Spitfire of 610 (County of Chester) Squadron shot down in a Circus operation in 1941. after a good search aft and up, I poured on the coal to catch up. Less than a minute later, I was just starting another rear check when my port wingtip erupted in sparks.” The “bounce” had been perfectly performed by Messerschmitt Bf 109s of Hauptmann Hans von Hahn’s I/JG 3 and Hauptmann Walter Oesau’s III/JG 3. Some indication of the bitter dogfights that ensued can be gained from the fact that following the mêlée a total of fifteen claims were submitted by the German pilots. These included those for five Spitfires by Leutnant Helmut Meckel (two), Oberfeldwebel Robert Olejnik, Feldwebel Hans Ehlers and Feldwebel Ernst Heesen of 2/ JG 3, a Hurricane by Oberleutnant Hans-Herbert Wulff of Stab I/ 

BELOW: Sergeant “Dave” Denchfield pictured soon after his capture; note the flying helmet strapped to his right foot after losing his boot whilst baling out.

JANUARY 2014 69

NO WAY HOME A Circus Mission 1941

ABOVE: Another of the pilots involved in the actions surrounding Circus 3 – Hans von Hahn of I/ JG 3. ABOVE RIGHT: According to some published accounts Walter Oesau was, whilst a Hauptmann with Stab III/JG 3, the Luftwaffe pilot responsible for shooting down Sergeant “Dave” Denchfield.

BELOW: Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4s of I/JG 3 pictured during late 1940.

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JG 3. Six Hurricanes were claimed by Unteroffizier Hans Schleef of 7/JG 3, Oberleutnant Max Jaczak, Feldwebel Otto Wessling and Oberleutnant Viktor Bauer of 9/JG 3, and Hauptmann Walter Oesau of Stab III/JG 3, whilst three further Spitfires were claimed by Oberleutnant Peter Ostholt of Stab III/JG 3. Added to this total, Feldwebel Wilhelm Phillip of 4/JG 26 also claimed a Spitfire near Neufchâtel as the formation crossed the coast homeward bound.

killed. Further losses resulted when Pilot Officer Stanislaw Czternastek and Pilot Officer Bronislaw Wydrowski, both of whom were 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron pilots, collided over Dover; Czternastek was killed. There was also one more casualty – Dave Denchfield: “As I went into a violent left hand turn, there was a hell of a thump from up front. My rudder pedals went slack and sloppy and the nose went down. I steepened up the diving turn easing out when I was reasonably sure I had not been followed then set course. I was completely alone and turning this way and that to clear my rear end whilst checking for damage. “Initially it didn’t look too bad – no rudder control, the elevator seemed a little less precise, oil and radiator temperatures fractionally higher than usual. Still, she [Spitfire I N3249, coded DW-P] appeared to fly OK and at 9,000 feet if she could get most of the way over the Channel before the temperatures caused mayhem, she could glide home.”

THE CASUALTIES

TAKEN PRISONER

In response, a Bf 109 was claimed as destroyed by Flight Lieutenant “Paddy” Finucane of 65 Squadron, another by Flight Lieutenant Barrie Heath of 611 (West Lancashire) Squadron, whilst Pilot Officer Wilfred Duncan Smith and Sergeant Bert Gillegin, also from 611 Squadron, claimed to have probably destroyed another. In reality, the engagement cost the Germans just two Bf 109s damaged in combat. RAF losses were much worse, albeit not as high as the Germans had claimed. Pilot Officer Geoff Hill of 65 Squadron was taken PoW whilst Flying Officer Ray Lewis of 1 Squadron, Sergeant Rowland Jones of 56 Squadron, Sergeant Harold Orchard of 65 Squadron, Pilot Officer Herbert Sadler of 611 Squadron and Sergeant Owen Jenkins of 615 Squadron were all shot down and

Denchfield’s optimism would prove to be false. Still over enemy territory, the engine’s power began to drop and the cockpit started to fill with fuel. Dave prepared to crash-land when, suddenly, “there was an expensive sounding noise and flashes of flame up front and I was gone”. Having abandoned his stricken aircraft and taken to his parachute, Denchfield recalled what happened next: “I came down in a frozen stubble field which didn’t like my bootless right foot at all (I had watched the boot fall away) and I dragged the parachute towards the only cover for miles – a short line of stunted, leafless bushes. I found some deep snow into which was pushed the parachute together with Mae West, goggles, oxygen mask. The helmet I bound to my foot with the oxygen tube. I was taking a

well needed pee when I had to lie flat for two uniforms hove into view about 200 yards away – there was only one place I could be so they came to greet me with the ‘For you ze war is over’. “We walked some 200 yards to a Ford V8 on what is now the D212 Wisques/ Wizernes road and, driving away, we stopped to have a look at the remains of DW-P obliterating most of the road.” Denchfield was taken to a Luftwaffe airfield at Saint-Omer where he met a number of III/JG 3’s pilots, one of whom asked him to sign his cigarette case. After the war, he recognised this pilot as Walter Oesau who had claimed his 40th kill that day.

THE YELLOW SCARF There is a postscript to this story. In 1991, Denchfield returned to northern France and met Monsieur and Madame Saxe who, as 17-year-olds, had watched his Spitfire burst into flames. They had also observed him being driven away by the Germans. As they talked, confirmation that it had been Denchfield they had seen shot down was established when the couple remarked on the fact that the pilot they had watched that day in February 1941 had been wearing a yellow scarf. “Which of course I did,” concluded Denchfield, “with multi-coloured dart boards all over it!” 

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N

100TH ANNIVERSARY

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DATES THAT SHAPED T 4 4

The Allied 5th Army, and in particular the British 46th Division, launched an offensive against the Gustav Line, the most rearward of the three German main defensive lines on the Italian peninsula south of Rome. In conjunction with the Special Operations Executive the USAAF launched Operation Carpetbagger, the aerial supply of weapons, equipment and personnel to resistance organisations in Europe.

10

In a joint statement, the British and American leaders announced that merchant shipping losses due to U-boats were sixty percent less than losses for the preceding year. Over the next five months U-boat losses were so heavy that by May 1944, their North Atlantic operations had virtually ceased. In this period only twenty-five merchant ships were lost in the North and South Atlantic at a cost of seventy-seven U-boats from all causes.

14

While convalescing after an illness at Marrakesh in French Morocco, Winston Churchill met General de Gaulle. Their last meeting had been in June 1943, in Algiers, just after de Gaulle’s arrival in North Africa. General de Gaulle lunched with the Prime Minister and afterwards the pair had a long and cordial conversation during which plans for Continental liberation were discussed. These included leadership of the landings, the participation of French troops in the campaign and the setting up of a French Provisional Government afterwards.

18

The first draft of 600 “Bevin Boys”, the conscripts directed to work in the mines who were named after the Labour minister Ernest Bevin, began their training on this date.

19

The Secretary of State for Air, Sir Archibald Sinclair, stated that during 1943 the aircraft of Bomber Command had dropped over 136,000 tons of bombs on Germany compared with some 2,400 tons dropped on this country by the Luftwaffe. He went on to add that between 1 January and the night of 17-18 January, RAF aircraft dropped some 6,000 tons of bombs on Germany, compared with approximately fifteen tons dropped by the enemy on this country during the same period.

20

The German blockade runner Münsterland was sunk to the west of Cap Blanc Nez (between Calais and Boulogne) after being engaged and hit by British coastal batteries whilst attempting to make its way through the Dover Strait.

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THE BATTLE FOR BERLIN

IN HALF an hour over Berlin on the night of 20/21 JANUARY 1944, a force of 769 Avro Lancasters, Handley Page Halifaxes and de Havilland Mosquitoes dropped over 2,300 tons of bombs on the city. It was the heaviest blow yet directed at the German capital, with bombs falling at a rate of eighty tons a minute. The onslaught continued in the days ahead, Berlin being attacked a further four times before the end of the month. The aircraft seen here, Lancaster B Mark I, DV305 BQ-O, was pictured after the last of these raids – that of the night of 30/31 January. That night a force of 534 aircraft was despatched and, despite the fact that the bombing had been through thick cloud, Bomber Command claimed a concentrated attack. DV305 was photographed at Woodbridge Emergency Landing Ground, Suffolk, after the severely-damaged aircraft landed there following an attack by a German night fighter over Berlin. In the course of the attack both the rear gunner and the midupper gunner were killed, and the bomb-aimer baled out having misunderstood orders. The pilot, Flying Officer G.A. Morrison, managed to bring the crippled aircraft back without any navigation aids. (WW2IMAGES)

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D THE WAR

JANUARY 1944

Key Moments and Events that affected Britain in WW2

THE US NAVY’S BIGGEST BASE IN EUROPE

DESPITE THE fact it had been commissioned on 5 February 1942, it was not until January 1944 that the US Naval Operating Base, Londonderry was officially announced as being “America’s premier naval base in Europe”. The base, which took six months to construct and included receiving and broadcasting radio stations, a 200-bed hospital, storage depots, a ship-repair base, a new quayside at Lisahally, as well as domestic accommodation and administration offices, was the US Navy’s first establishment in Europe and became the terminal for American convoys bound for Britain. The base continued in operation until July 1944 when the installation was handed over to the British authorities; a radio station remained in US service until 1977. According to the original caption to the two images seen here, the pictures were “taken at the base where British and American warships lie alongside each other; the White Ensign and the Old Glory fly side by side.” (BOTH US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

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22

The Luftwaffe launched Operation Steinbock, a night time bombing offensive against British targets. As part of the campaign, which lasted until the end of May 1944 and became referred to as the “Baby Blitz”, areas of the British capital were given code-names after devastated German cities — Berlin, Hamburg, Hanover for example – to emphasize the retaliatory nature of the operation for the air crews. The first Steinbock attack was on “München”, the Waterloo area. Allied forces, commanded by the US Army’s Major General John P. Lucas, began a series of landings on the Italian coast at Anzio and Nettuno. Operation Shingle was intended to outflank German forces occupying the Winter Line, leading to an attack on Rome which was thirty-two miles to the north. The landings were successful; as evening fell nearly 50,000 men and 3,000 vehicles had been put ashore with the loss of just thirteen men, mostly

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from mines. Despite the initial gains, the Allied ground forces failed to grasp the initiative and subsequently made slow progress.

26

An Old Bailey jury found 58-year-old Oswald John Job guilty of espionage. Born in Stepney, London, to German parents, Job, a British passport holder, had been interned by the Germans in France in 1940. He was duly recruited by the Abwehr and eventually reached Britain. Job passed his information in letters sent to persons in the detention camp he had been held in. He was hanged at Pentonville Prison on 16 March 1944, and was the oldest person executed under the Treachery Act 1940.

PRISONERS OF WAR IN THE FAR EAST

ON FRIDAY, 28 JANUARY 1944, a series of official statements was made in a number of Allied nations, including in Britain and the United States, regarding the appalling treatment of prisoners of war held by the Japanese. Speaking in the House of Commons, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Anthony Eden, made the following comments during his speech: “It becomes my painful duty to tell the House that … there are many thousands of prisoners from the British Commonwealth, including India, who are being compelled by the Japanese military to live in tropical jungle conditions without adequate shelter, clothing, food, or medical attention: and these men are forced to work on building a railway and making roads. Our information is that their health is rapidly deteriorating, that a high percentage are seriously ill, and that there have been some thousands of deaths.” Continuing his statement, Eden stated: “If that were the whole of the story it would be bad indeed; but there unhappily is worse to come. We have a growing list of cases of brutal outrage on individuals or groups of individuals. I could not burden the House with the full tale of these. But in order to give an idea of their nature I must, I fear, quote a few typical examples.” One of the cases Eden gave involved a number of Indian soldiers captured in Burma. “Having had their hands tied behind their backs, [they] were made to sit in groups by the side of the road. They were then systematically bayoneted from behind in turn, each man receiving apparently three bayonet thrusts. By some miracle, one man who collapsed subsequently recovered and escaped to our lines. That is how we know.” In his conclusions, Eden declared: “Let the Japanese Government reflect that in time to come the record of their military authorities in this war will not be forgotten.” JANUARY 2014 73

MARCHING INTO GERMANY British Army of the Rhine

MARCHING INT MAIN PICTURE: British soldiers, part of the first British Army of the Rhine, marching across the Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne. (HMP)

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I

T WAS a cold, quiet Sunday morning on the third day of December 1918 when a troop of Dragoon Guards crossed the border. Behind them was a trail of devastation. The Belgians showed the passing British troops the black debris of great bonfires where the retreating German soldiers had piled rifles and machine-guns and stores of all kinds, and set fire to them before crossing the frontier into Germany. Over most of these bonfires sentries were placed and Private Stephen Graham remarked,

the Germans were “still sufficiently German” to shoot down any Belgium who attempted to steal from these funeral pyres of the war. “We passed often the pitiful remains of but lately slaughtered cows,” wrote Graham who was serving in the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards. “Heads of cows with faces fresh and pleading, entrails of cows in horrible grey heaps all along the way. And then all billets, all fields where the enemy had camped, were left in indescribable filth. There was a complete breakdown of discipline.”

At the time this was a major concern of the BEF’s senior officers. Though the Armistice had been signed by the German high command, how the ordinary Germans would react was still not known. When those Dragoon Guards crossed the border into Germany itself in 1918, it was not without a degree of caution. Yet what they did encounter was not hostility, indeed usually they were welcomed, often with happy placards in colloquial English. These occupiers, though, were not the French, who in their march into the Rhineland would not be so warmly accepted. www.britainatwar.com

Germany had sought an armistice, under the terms of which all of its troops had to leave the territory on the west side of the Rhine. Allied forces were also to occupy a series of bridgeheads within a thirty mile radius of the cities of Mainz, Koblenz and Cologne. Yet Germany had suffered widespread civil unrest and the British troops did not know what kind of reception they would receive when, for the first time, they marched into Germany.

NTO GERMANY ON FOOT INTO GERMANY Behind the British cavalry came the infantry. Through days of very cold, incessant rain, the occupiers marched through Belgium and finally, in their waterproof capes, entered Germany with no fanfare other than the swirl of the pipes and the tapping of the drums. Nevertheless, the men were full of curiosity to see the people they called Huns and the men still talked of bayoneting and cutting throats. “Presently we began to pass cottages,” continued Private Stephen www.britainatwar.com

Graham, “and we stared at them, but could see no people. Some of us shouted, ‘Come out and show yourselves’ and ‘Come out of hiding’”. When they did at last see German civilians they paid little attention to the passing soldiers. Women talked together with their backs turned, others continued with their daily chores unmoved by the sight of the conquering enemy. The change of country brought no change in the weather, as Stephen Graham remembered: “It rained

and rained and the drums became silent, sodden and soaked with water, and we splashed patiently and mechanically on through the mud and over the broken roads. Our fours became twos, became long threads of single file as we picked our way amidst great holes and ruts and gliding rivers of yellow ooze. When there would otherwise have been a view of Germany, trailing mist, liquefying in the wind to bitter rain, swept hither and thither across our faces. On the sides of the roads was desolation.”  JANUARY 2014 75

MARCHING INTO GERMANY British Army of the Rhine

ABOVE: The final confirmation of the end of the fighting with Germany in the First World War – the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The Paris Peace Conference opened on 12 January 1919, and meetings were held at various locations in and around Paris until 20 January 1920. Leaders of thirty-two states, representing about 75% of the world’s population, attended. Eventually five treaties emerged from the Paris Peace Conference, each one dealing with one of the defeated powers. Each of the five treaties was named after a Paris suburb. The one which dealt with Germany was the Treaty of Versailles, and was signed in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace de Versailles. This picture shows the various delegations signing the Treaty of Versailles in the Hall of Mirrors. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

ABOVE RIGHT: British soldiers photographed marching through Cologne in 1919. The distinctive spires of the city’s cathedral, the Kölner Dom, can be seen in the background. (HMP)

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THE OCCUPATION OF COLOGNE To add to the misery of the drenched troops, the supply system broke down. On the positive side so far there had been no sign of resistance or of civil disorder. “Everyone, including the khaki vanguard, appeared relieved at the absence of demonstrations,” noted Captain Ferdinand Tuohy as the British troops marched into Cologne

on 6 December 1918, beyond which was the agree-upon demarcation line separating the opposing armies. “For nasty, ugly work had been duly prepared for. Machine-gunners would not hesitate that critical day, which saw but a handful of British as the lords of a great German city undoubtedly harbouring ten thousand sulking ex-Fieldgreys and Reds.”

The mayor of Cologne had wisely put up notices to his citizens to accept the occupying army. Such acceptance, he advised, was to be “without cringing and without scorn, which are not only foreign to the German character, but odious in the eyes of the enemy”. The population of Cologne, therefore, in the main displayed a “mask of indifference”, which was worn with

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ABOVE: German soldiers marching back towards the Rhine in November 1918. (HMP) LEFT: A British Army band, one small part of the first British Army of the Rhine, parades in Cologne. (HMP)

studied care. There was, Tuohy noted, method in the German submission. Cologne had gone through a period of anarchy and looting prior to the arrival of the BEF, fostered and led by de-mobbed soldiers and sailors. At one point the Red Flag had flown upon one of the city’s main buildings. The fear of the Communists, rather than the humiliation of defeat, was uppermost in the minds of the citizens. On the first day that the BEF had marched into Germany, the civilians had rushed to the churches and town halls shouting, “Save us from the Reds”. The large part of the industrial city’s pragmatic population believed that British bayonets would ensure order on their streets and for that they were grateful. Sir W. Beach Thomas, who was a journalist officially accredited to

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GHQ, related one remarkable spectacle of German gratitude. A number of Belgian soldiers had helped drive off a group of rebels. They were housed in a hotel commanding two of Cologne’s principal streets where they became all but besieged. The reason why they were trapped in the building was, as their senior officer explained, because of “an excess of popularity” and the ones doing the besieging were sections of the female population passionately wishing to show their appreciation! At noon on that first day in Cologne the British cavalry rode up to the Hohenzollern, or Hohenzollernbrücke, Bridge, built to take both road and rail traffic, which spanned the Rhine. A young trooper of the 18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary’s Own) had occupied  a sentry post on the town side.

 THE RHINE PATROL FLOTILLA

Alongside the men of the British and Dominion armies, the Royal Navy also played its part in the occupation of Cologne and the surrounding area. It was on 14 December 1918, that Commander The Honorable P.G.E.C. Acheson, MVO, DSO, RN, received orders to sail for Cologne. With his force consisting of twelve Motor Launches, he was to proceed by way of the rivers and canals of France. Despite the loss of two of the MLs en route, both of which were quickly replaced, by the end of January 1919 the Rhine Patrol Flotilla, as it was known, had established itself in Cologne, the unit’s headquarters being located at the Cologne Watersports Club just to the south of the Hohenzollern Bridge. The Flotilla’s duties included regular patrols of the Rhine within the British sector, as well as acting as the naval escort for visiting dignitaries (such as Foch, Weygand and the American General Allen) and formal visits to the headquarters of the other Allied powers during ceremonial events. This picture, taken in 1919, shows part of the flotilla during a visit to a US base at Coblenz. (HMP)

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MARCHING INTO GERMANY British Army of the Rhine THE COLOGNE POST WHENEVER BRITISH troops are stationary for a period of time, they start up a Forces newspaper. Thus it was, for example, with the Wipers Times in the Ypres Salient during the war. The occupation of the Rhineland was no different, and it was during this period that The Cologne Post was published. It was first printed on 31 March 1919, and continued to be published daily until 1923 when it became bi-weekly. It founding editor was Captain William Rolston, who was serving in the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), though it was confirmed, on 1 August 1923, that the paper was “an independent organisation not financed from Army funds”. It was printed for the British forces by the Cologne firm of Kölnische Volkszeitung. In January 1926 its name changed to The Cologne Post and Wiesbaden Times. Its last issue was published on 3 November 1929. ABOVE RIGHT: A large crowd has gathered to view a Mark V Composite tank of the 12th Battalion, Tank Corps parked in Cologne’s Domplatz. (COURTESY OF THE TANK MUSEUM)

BELOW: The Treaty of Versailles, which ended the state of war between the Allies and Germany, was signed on 28 June 1919. To mark the event, some of the guns of the British Army of the Rhine, more specifically those of the 190th Brigade Royal Field Artillery, fired a salute from the banks of the Rhine in Cologne. (HMP)

Meanwhile, a second trooper advanced half-way across the bridge and paced up to a chalk line. Facing him was a German sentry bearing arms. That sentry was the very last man of the German rearguard. One of the many British reporters present was Cecil Roberts. “It is more than 100 years since Cologne has been occupied by enemy troops,” he wrote. “Six months ago Germany would have laughed to scorn any suggestion that British soldiers would ever stand upon the banks of the Rhine. To-day we are holding the bridge that is a vital highway into the very heart of Germany and in due time the British troops will march along the Rhine and occupy the bridgehead on the left bank.” In the meantime, the two armies would face each other across the Rhine, their meeting point being the Hohenzollern Bridge. “Our sentries are posted along both sides of the bridge,” continued Roberts, “but their domain ends near the left bank entrance, which is guarded by a German soldier also with a fixed bayonet. Our sentry marches down

to the sloping way where the German ends his march, and then turns right about. If they talk they speak to each other in French, which is the soldiers’ universal language, both having had four years’ lessons on French soil.

“In addition, the bridge is guarded throughout its length by the City Guard Civilians, armed with rifles, who are under the authority of the Burgomaster. These men can be seen throughout Cologne, their work being to quell all public disturbances.

ABOVE: The hand-written caption on the rear of this photograph states that it shows a British Army band in Solingen on 24 October 1920. The band, it would seem, was preparing to march on Cologne, which was some fifteen miles to the south. (HMP)

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A pair of Mark V Composite tanks from the 12th Battalion, Tank Corps, moving through the cobbled streets of Cologne.

(COURTESY OF THE TANK MUSEUM)

“Our cavalry has established itself at the central points and by the bridgeheads. I noticed the machine-guns ready trimmed for action, with the gunners standing by, and as I emerged from the superb Cathedral, a British armoured car flashed by.”1

THE FORMAL ENTRY On 14 December 1918, Sir Charles Fergusson, the newly-appointed British Military Governor of Cologne, made his formal entry into the city. At the same time the occupying troops advanced to the perimeter of their bridgehead twelve miles away from the eastern side of the Rhine. As the cavalry crossed the river, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief the British Army of the Rhine (as it became known), General Sir Herbert Plumer, took the salute under the Union Flag. As the first squadron rode by, the rousing chords of “Rule Britannia” rang out, followed by “The Long, Long Trail”. For two hours the cavalry, Lancers, Dragoon Guards, Hussars, and Royal Horse Artillery passed over the bridge – and Sir Herbert saluted them all. The former War Correspondent Philip Gibbs was present, and wrote this account: “This morning at 10 o’clock our cavalry passed through the streets of Cologne, crossed the Hohenzollern Bridge, and went beyond the Rhine to take possession of the bridgeheads. “For some days not many British soldiers had been seen in the City of Cologne, the troops being camped in the outskirts, and it was only yesterday afternoon that the British Governor made his entry and established his headquarters in one of the hotels which www.britainatwar.com

had been taken over for the purpose. Crowds of German people gathered to see the man who will control their way of life during the British occupation, and were kept back in a hollow square by their own police when the Governor’s motor car drove in with an escort of lancers, while a band of Scottish pipers played a greeting. “This morning the passing of the cavalry over the Rhine was an impressive sight for all the people of Cologne, and for the British was another historical episode on the long journey of this war, which has led at last to this river flowing now behind the British lines. “To the German people the Rhine is the very river of their life, and down its tide come drifting all the ghost memories of their race, and its water is sacred to them as the fount from which their national legends, their old folk songs, and the sentiment that lies deep in their hearts have come forth in abundance. “In military history the Rhine has been their last line of defence, the moat around the keep of German strength; so today when British troops rode across the bridge and passed beyond the Rhine to further outposts it was the supreme sign of victory for them and of German defeat.” The next day it was the turn of the infantry. “Even as the day before the condition of the horses and the polished glitter of their riders had been a thing to thrill,” recalled an admiring onlooker, “now across that same Hohenzollern Bridge trudged the 29th, the 9th Scottish, and the 1st Canadian Divisions in waterproof capes and through cold, incessant rain. These famous formations, so representative of the BEF, were finishing up in the element they had known best – mud.” 

ABOVE: Two Mark V Composite tanks of the 12th Battalion, Tank Corps parked in Cologne’s Domplatz, near the steps of the cathedral. (COURTESY OF THE TANK MUSEUM)

THE FIRST BRITISH ARMY OF THE RHINE THE BRITISH Army of the Rhine (BOAR) was created, for the first time, in March 1919. Originally it consisted of five Army Corps (each of two divisions) and a cavalry division under the command of General Sir Herbert Plumer (who was promoted to Field Marshal on 31 July 1919). This large force was gradually reduced, so that, by August 1920, it was composed of 13,360 regular troops, including cavalry, Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, infantry, Machine Gun Corps, tanks, and the a variety of ancillary services. The BOAR was principally centred on Cologne. Overseeing the Allied occupation of Germany was the InterAllied Rhineland High Commission. Created by the Treaty of Versailles, its role was to “ensure, by any means, the security and satisfaction of all the needs of the Armies of Occupation”. The Commission came into being on 10 January 1920, when the treaty came into force.

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SEVERE PENALTIES

ABOVE: A reminder of the British occupation of Cologne and the surrounding area after the First World War – an identity card issued by the British Military Governor. Dated 24 December 1918, it was issued to a young schoolboy named Karl Welcher. (HMP) TOP MIDDLE: A guard of honour parades outside the British Commander-in-Chief’s headquarters in Cologne at 11.00 hours on 11 November 1919, the first anniversary of the Armistice that ended the fighting a year earlier. (HMP)

THE END OF THE OCCUPATION THE BRITISH and Dominion occupation of the Rhineland was authorised by Article 428 of the Treaty of Versailles. This stated: “As a guarantee for the execution of the present Treaty by Germany, the German territory situated to the west of the Rhine, together with the bridgeheads, will be occupied by Allied and Associated troops for a period of fifteen years from the coming into force of the present Treaty.” However, the following clause, Article 429, went on to state that “if the conditions of the present Treaty are faithfully carried out by Germany, the occupation referred to in Article 428 will be successively restricted as follows: i) At the expiration of five years there will be evacuated: the bridgehead of Cologne …” As a result, in December 1925, the BOAR withdrew from Cologne, though other areas of Germany remained occupied by the armed forces of other Allied nations. “Not since Wellington’s army occupied Paris after Waterloo have British troops carried out such a memorable occupation of ex-enemy territory as that which is now closing at the bridgehead of Cologne,” wrote one correspondent, John Sandes, in the Northern Advocate on 21 December 1925. “The five years’ period expired some months ago, but the evacuation was delayed because Marshal Foch reported that Germany had failed to carry out the prescribed conditions with regard to disarmament. Further undertakings given by Germany have now been accepted as satisfactory, and the evacuation of Cologne by the British troops has begun.” The Rhineland was supposed to remain demilitarized permanently. All that changed in 1936 when Hitler led the German Army back over the Rhine.

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Following the occupation of Cologne, on 14 December 1918, Sir Douglas Haig issued the following statement: “Our advance troops have crossed the Rhine and begun the occupation of the Cologne bridgehead. By the evening they had reached the general line of Oberkahhel, Siegtburg, Obenthal, and Opladen.” This was not, noted one newspaper, his only action: “Sir Douglas Haig has issued a proclamation which is posted throughout the British Army zone, warning the inhabitants against violence towards any members of the Army, mishandling army stores, or doing damage to public works, under penalty of death or other punishment. The severest penalties will be inflicted on persons hiding German soldiers, and upon civilians disobeying Sir Douglas Haig’s orders.”2 “With their river covered with machine-gun fire,” noted the reporter Cecil Roberts, “their bridge under the guard of armed sentries, and their streets patrolled with armoured cars as well as their walls posted with the proclamations of Sir Douglas Haig in the name of his Britannic Majesty, [the Germans] cannot doubt who has won the war, however indifferently they deport themselves.”3 It quickly became apparent, however, that such warnings were either headed or unnecessary.

“A VERITABLE ORGY OF CAMARADERIE” In the days following the occupation a harmonious relationship quickly developed between the German people and the British and Dominion troops. After the horrors and privations of the war, the local population was, on the whole, anxious to live life to the full and places such as Cologne which were

occupied by Allied soldiers recovered far quicker than most of those across Germany. This was largely due to the money that the thousands of British troops had available to spend. The men were paid fortnightly at standard army rates. The value of the German Mark had fallen steadily since 1914 which meant that the spending power of the British troops was correspondingly high. As a consequence the Allied troops, already elated with victory, were able to celebrate in style. “As the Mark dropped Thomas [Tommy Atkins] correspondingly opened out his living style,” recalled Captain Tuohy. “At first when celebrating, he had been satisfied with Rhine wine. But very soon he decided that Fritz was trying to palm off ‘muck’ on him and he turned to champagne. Large numbers became inveterate champagne drinkers ... It was the period of officers’ clubs and of endless entertainment ‘troupes’ for all ranks. Hard by G.H.Q. on the Domplatz, it was perhaps the most wonderful military meeting place the world has ever known. Every unit in the old BEF was represented ... while there was a constant intermingling of Americans and French, and even of Italians and Serbs and Japanese. All handshaking, all cheeroing, a veritable orgy of camaraderie.” To the Rhinelanders, the British troops

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MARCHING INTO GERMANY British Army of the Rhine

meant flourishing business, especially as they soon realised that the occupying forces were not going to be hostile. “The simple fact was that the lack of rancour, the forgetfulness, the good nature of the incoming conqueror was a surprise to these Germans,” observed Tuohy. Soon, no less than thirty theatres and forty-five cinemas had been opened. The cafés and beer halls would be packed every minute of the opening hours, which were from 12.00 hours to 15.30 hours and from 18.00 hours to 22.30 hours. Along one particular street, the Hohe Straße (one of the city’s oldest and busiest streets in the old town of Cologne), every establishment was always full of troops. It was there where stop-gap hutments had been put up to provide cheque-cashing facilities. Some mornings there would be a queue of soldiers, two or three hundred yards long, all waiting to cash their cheques. The Hohe Straße was the scene of never-ending bargaining between the troops and the shopkeepers, the latter always being accused of trying to overcharge. “Nevertheless,” remarked one of the occupiers, “it afforded a famous spectacle at this time, with the British Army on holiday in its streets and the Germans themselves somehow caught up in the atmosphere. Even in the darkest days they filled their

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Bierhalle. Beer, music and song. These formed their outlet, and about the cheapest commodities they were.” The hatred and animosity of just a few months before quickly dissipated amidst the revelry. “At the Zoo, at concerts, in cafés – there our fellows sat amid beer laughter and song, their elbows touching the enemies of yesterday as though nothing in the world had happened. After all that concentrated murder and venom of more than four years.” To add to the air of celebration, scarcely a week went by without some dignitary or other visiting the city. Usually to mark these arrivals there was a review of the forces on the Domplatz, led by a number of tanks. Amongst the first dignitaries to arrive were the King and Queen of the Belgians who flew across the border to inspect the troops. Then Marshal Foch paid a visit. He, though, arrived in real style, sailing up the Rhine in a steamer emblazoned with the Allied flags and escorted by the British Rhine Flotilla. “Much booming of guns brought the Germans out on all sides to see the man who had beaten Ludendorff and Hindenburg at their own game,” wrote one witness to this spectacle. “It was about the only time the locals emerged from their studied noninterest. They hedged the Domplatz in silence as Foch took the salute.” Joffre also visited, “looking bored”. Then Churchill in a hat “at least two sizes too small”. Earl Haig, and his successor Sir Henry Wilson, also reviewed the troops as did the Prince of Wales who used the ceremony to decorate the men of the Guards with some the medals they had been awarded. The most memorable event in Cologne, though, was the first Remembrance Day, in November 1919. This was described by Captain Tuohy: “Dense German crowds

stood motionless and mostly bareheaded as the troops, headed by Field Marshal Sir W. Robertson, preserved their first of many memory-contacts with those who had fallen. Perhaps a no less emotional Armistice remembrance used to have as its setting the Catholic Church of All Souls in Cologne. Here a catafalque would be erected draped with the Allied flags, and men of all the Allies, coloured too, would attend. But the choir which sang so sweetly, would be German. Then the Last Post from our buglers. One year after the War the picture of Germans singing by an Allied catafalque was one not easily forgotten.” Germans and British sharing those moments of remembrance together; recalling the loss and sacrifice of those days when the young men of both nations thought little of killing each other. What hope there was then? Surely no-one could have contemplated that it would all be repeated less than twenty years later. 

ABOVE: Field Marshall Earl Haig (saluting) and General Sir Herbert Plumer, the General Officer Commanding-inChief the British Army of the Rhine, pictured during their visit to Cologne as part of a tour of inspection of the Army of Occupation. (HMP)

BELOW: A review of British troops, in Cologne’s Domplatz, by the Commander of the French Fourth Army, General Henri Gouraud, in August 1919. (HMP)

NOTES 1.

The Western Times, Wednesday, 11 December 1918, p.4.

2.

Colonist, Volume LXI, Issue 14945, 16 December 1918, p.5.

3.

The Western Times, ibid.

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n I t h g u a C t e N e Th CAUGHT IN THE NET The Miles M.38 A Mariner

MAIN PICTURE: The Miles M.38A Mariner, as the re-named Miles Messenger M.38 U-0223 was referred to, pictured during the successful trials of George Miles’ arrester net system. (ALL

IMAGES COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR/ MILES AIRCRAFT COLLECTION)

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The Battle of the Atlantic hung in the balance. Warship escorts were few in number and limited in their ability to locate prowling U-boat packs. The solution was more aircraft and more aircraft carriers but in 1942 these were not available. However, reveals Peter Amos, Phillips & Powis Aircraft Ltd believed they had the answer in the Miles M.38A Mariner.

T

HE ISSUE of aerial protection for the Atlantic convoys was constantly on the minds of the men at the Admiralty in the early years of the Second World War. There was a 600-mile gap in mid-Atlantic which land-based aircraft could not reach. It was there that the U-boats lay in wait. There were two problems associated with this. The first was that there were insufficient escort carriers to protect every convoy and those that were available could only use their aircraft in relatively calm conditions. George Miles, the Chief Designer at Phillips & Powis Aircraft Ltd., believed that these problems could be solved relatively easily. He put forward his ideas in 1943.

“In view of the present urgent need for an effective anti-submarine weapon the following suggestion is advanced,” he wrote to the Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP). “A number of [merchant] ships in each convoy should be provided with a small aeroplane or aeroplanes designed primarily with the object of being able to fly at a very low speed and having exceptional visibility and reasonable load carrying capacity.” He believed that the existing, and wellproven, Miles M.38 Messenger could be utilised for such a role. “Such an aeroplane could be very easily launched by a variety of means such as a simplified form of catapult or by means of a rocket assisted take-off from a light wooden platform,” George Miles continued. “The landing apparatus would consist essentially of a sprung net arranged at an angle from

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of catapult to launch it into the air … “With regard to the landing, the ship would for this purpose steam into wind so that the aeroplane could approach astern and alight at a very low relative speed on the afterdeck. If the approach has been accurately judged, contact will have been made with the arrester device and the net will not have to absorb the landing shock but great latitude is permitted for errors of judgment on the part of the pilot or the effect of air disturbances caused by the ship’s superstructure. Even if the

the stern of the ship, together with a very simple form of arrester gear which has proved satisfactory on test. “The aeroplanes would operate in relays providing a constant patrol around the convoy over a large area. It would thus be impossible for a submarine pack to approach in daylight to within a considerable distance of the convoy without being sighted. If a submarine is detected the patrolling aircraft would drop its depth charges and simultaneously other aeroplanes could be launched to ensure the accurate placing of further depth charges much more quickly than could be effected by the convoying vessels. Moreover, it would not be necessary for these vessels to leave the convoy.”

“EVERY CHANCE OF SUCCESS” Anticipating that his suggestion would be dismissed out of hand by MAP,

BELOW: An artist’s impression of the launch system that it was proposed would be used to enable the M.38A Mariner to become airborne from a suitably equipped merchant vessel.

George Miles added the following to his plans: “Although at first sight the operation of such aeroplanes might appear to be fraught with some difficulty; as a result of preliminary trials with a machine of the type envisaged, it is felt that the launching and the alighting methods suggested have every chance of success. In any case the apparatus necessary is extremely simple and could be quickly and cheaply applied to a merchant vessel for practical tests. “It is thought that the necessary modifications and flying to prove the practicability or otherwise could be completed in a few days if ordinary commercial practice is applied. Owing to the very light weight of the aeroplane and the fact that it would be airborne at about 30 mph there is no doubt as to the ability of a very small light and simple type

aircraft is still airborne at the moment of striking the net, tests have shown that no damage is likely to occur. “The aeroplane would be fitted with a single central skid so that in the event of a forced landing on the water it would ‘hydroplane’ until almost at a standstill, giving the pilot every chance to step out and 

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LEFT: The Miles M.38A Mariner is caught in the net. Note the gap left in the net for the propeller.

ABOVE: A drawing that shows an M.38A Mariner landing into an arrestor net on the aft deck of a merchant vessel. Note how the artist has omitted to include the gap in the centre of the net for the propeller but shows a skid hitting the next below and in front of it.

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CAUGHT IN THE NET The Miles M.38 A Mariner

MILES AIRCRAFT THE WARTIME YEARS THE DEVELOPMENT and testing of the Miles M.38A Mariner was only a small part of Miles Aircraft’s remarkable wartime service – all of which is detailed in Peter Amos’ definitive Miles Aircraft – The Wartime Years. The second volume in his examination of Miles Aircraft, this 432-page A4 publication details the company’s production, research and development during the Second World War. Published by Air Britain, for more information please visit: www.air-britain.co.uk BELOW RIGHT: A cartoon depicting the approach of an M.38A Mariner – a drawing that could easily have been based on the experiences of Commander Eric “Winkle” Brown. BELOW: A close-up of Messenger U-0223 catching the arrestor cable with the hook positioned immediately in front of the tail wheel. Following the termination of the Mariner trials, U-0223 was later returned to prototype M.38/28 Messenger configuration.

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inflate his ‘K’ type dinghy. “It is not claimed that the foregoing provided a complete solution to the submarine menace since obviously it would be inoperable in times of fog. It is claimed, however, that such a scheme could be readily and quickly put into operation, would not involve extensive preparations or difficult modifications to the ships concerned and would make a very material contribution towards reducing the risks at present endured … “The possibility of operation at night has also been considered and is believed to be feasible. In this event the aircraft would hunt in pairs, one carrying depth charges and the other a searchlight to illuminate the operations.” Interesting though Miles’ idea was, it had to be proven. Consequently trials were undertaken on land in the spring of 1943. The aircraft used was the prototype Miles Messenger, U-0223, and it was fitted with a light arrester hook

and re-named the M.38A Mariner for the trials. These trials were to be carried out on a sixty-foot “deck”, which had by then been fitted with simple bungee cord arrester gear. The first trials began in April of that year and, thanks to the fine handling characteristics of the Mariner, no difficulty was found in engaging the arrester gear and landing within the confines of the small deck. Finally, to prove that the aircraft would carry the weight of two depth-charges, test pilot Flight Lieutenant Hugh V. Kennedy carried out a five minute “Overload takeoff” flight on 1 May 1943, with “human ballast” – that human ballast included George Miles and four others. On 10 June 1943, Flight Lieutenant Kennedy recorded a ten minute “Takeoff (Assisted)” flight. That assistance took the form of two light, but powerful, rockets of the type used by the Royal Navy for rocket-assisted take-off. These were attached to the aircraft and they

literally threw it into the air with a run of only a few yards.

SEA TRIALS In spite of the success of the trials on land, the authorities still remained sceptical and it proved impossible to obtain official permission to conduct trials either on a towed float, naval vessel or merchant ship. It was at this point that Mr J.A. Billmeir, Chairman of the Stanhope Shipping Line, heard about the scheme. So enthusiastic about it was he, as it afforded the possibility of saving the lives of his crews, that he offered to provide the necessary deck on the stern of one of his Stanhope Line freighters as a private venture to enable flight trials to be carried out. Under wartime regulations, however, official permission to undertake the trials had to be granted and this George Miles was unable to obtain. George Miles’ persistence paid off, and in time permission was given to carry out

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some trials on an aircraft carrier at sea. Jeremy Miles relates the story of how George Miles was due to fly the Mariner on to an aircraft carrier in the Clyde for a preliminary test. On the day of the flight, however, George was told that the carrier would be moored alongside the jetty and that the flight would have to be abandoned. George was not to be put off by such trifles and replied that he was still prepared to attempt the trial anyway. Upon his arrival he found that, although the carrier was moored alongside, as stated, the wind was blowing across the deck. Undeterred, George promptly landed the Mariner into wind, across the deck! After this it was agreed that sea trials could be undertaken, this time with Commander Eric “Winkle” Brown at the controls. “While in the Service Trials Unit at Arbroath [778 Squadron],” Brown later recalled, “I was suddenly asked to check out whether a light four-seat aircraft designed for army co-operation duties could be safely operated on an escort carrier on an ad hoc basis. The aeroplane proved to be the prototype Miles Messenger, U-0223, which was duly delivered to Machrihanish airfield, from which I was already conducting trials with a Grumman Martlet IV on the escort carriers Attacker and Hunter in the Firth of Clyde in mid-June 1943. “A quick check on the flaps-down stalling speed gave an absurd 28 mph. In consequence I decided on a carrier approach speed of 35 mph to allow sufficient control in the turbulent wake off the carrier’s flight deck. “When I arrived over Hunter on 22nd June the combined windspeed over the

deck (the carrier’s speed plus the speed of the local wind) was 30 knots, and since this was equal to my intended approach speed I had no alternative but to open up the engine and drive the M.38 on to the deck at about 45 mph. Even then I felt I was never going to catch up with the carrier. When I cut the throttle the aeroplane sat down gently and literally stood still on the deck. “The take-off was just as ridiculous. I ran the aircraft up to full power on the brakes and then released them, holding the stick well back, and the M.38 ran about its own length and then went up like a lift. Certainly for landing the lateral control left something to be desired, but even so this was the idiot’s ideal deck-landing aircraft.”

MISSED OPPORTUNITY The Mariner had surely proved itself. The trial had been undertaken in heavy rain by a pilot who had never flown the aircraft before and who was required to land on the wet deck, without the use of arrester gear and with the carrier steaming across wind. However, even under these adverse conditions, he still managed to carry out a successful take-off and landing. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the trials were a complete success, no further action was taken. The official verdict was that it was impracticable, and George Miles was informed that helicopters could do the job the Mariner had been designed for better. However, this was in 1943 and the helicopter was still in its infancy and it was going to be some time before they would be able to undertake operations of any kind. 

A series of images that shows Messenger U-0223 carrying out a trial arrested landing. These trials were carried out on a simulated sixty-foot “deck” which had been fitted with simple bungee cord arrester gear. Thanks to the excellent handling characteristics of the Mariner, no difficulty was found in engaging the arrester gear and landing within the confines of the small “deck”.

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JANUARY 2014 85

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ODETTE SANSOM GC, MBE For their bravery during the Second World War, three women were awarded the George Cross after working as undercover agents. Only one of them, Odette Sansom, survived to receive her decoration. In the latest article in his “Hero of the Month” series, Lord Ashcroft tells the story of her incredible courage.

Jon Enoch/eyevine

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I

n all prolonged global conflicts, including the two world wars, women have played a vital role in determining which side gets the upper hand. Many have toiled for long hours in factories and fields, while others have worked close to the front line giving crucial medical care to the sick and wounded. A small number of women, however, have gone to even greater lengths to serve their country, risking their life time and again without being on the battlefield. One such individual was Odette Sansom, the first woman to be directly awarded the George Cross. Indeed few recipients, in the GC’s seventy-three-year-history can have done more to earn the decoration. Odette Brailly – her maiden name – was born in Amiens, France, on 28 April 1912. Her father was killed during the First World War, at the Battle of Verdun in 1916, when his daughter was four. As a child, she suffered from temporary blindness and rheumatic fever, both of which she overcame and, in 1926, her family moved from Saint-Saëns to Boulogne. She married an Englishman, Roy Sansom, in 1931 and the couple had three daughters, two of whom were born in Britain, where the couple had moved in 1932–3. Early in 1942, and nearly three years into the Second World War, Sansom heard a broadcast that appealed for photographs of France. She wrote to the War Office explaining that she was French and where she had lived. Sansom ended up going for an interview and, on 28 June 1942, she was asked back to meet Captain Selwyn Jepson, the author and, at the time, the senior recruiting officer for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), which had been formed in the summer of 1940 after the fall of France. Jepson later told how he preferred recruiting women rather than men. When interviewed by the Imperial War Museum long after the Second World War, he said: “I was responsible for recruiting women for the work, in the face of a good deal of opposition, I may say, from the powers that be. In my view, women were very much better than men 

TOP: Odette Sansom pictured on holiday in Hampshire in August 1946. This image was taken in the days immediately after the announcement of the award of her George Cross. (PA Archive)

ABOVE: The George Cross. The announcement of the award of Odette Sansom’s GC was made in The London Gazette on Tuesday, 20 August 1946. (HMP)

Lord Ashcroft’s “Hero of the Month” 05/12/2013 10:52

ABOVE: Violette Szabo was one of the three

female SOE agents to be awarded the George Cross. She was also held at Ravensbrück, arriving there in August 1944. Unlike Odette, however, she would not survive to see the camp’s liberation, having been executed by a firing squad on or about 5 February 1945. She was aged 23. Her body was cremated in the camp’s crematorium. (HMP)

RIGHT: Odette Sansom pictured whilst on her way to Buckingham Palace to receive her George Cross from the King, 19 November 1946. (PA Archive) for the work. Women, as you must know, have a far greater capacity for cool and lonely courage than men. “Men usually want a mate with them. Men don’t work alone, their lives tend to be always in company with other men. There was opposition from most quarters until it went up to Churchill, whom I had met before the war. He growled at me, ‘What are you doing?’ I told him and he said, ‘I see you are using women to do this,’ and I said, ‘Yes, don’t you think it is a very sensible thing to do?’ and he said, ‘Yes, good luck to you.’ That was my authority!”

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Jepson’s style was to tell potential recruits: “I have to decide whether I can risk your life and you have to decide whether you’re willing to risk it.” After much soul-searching, Sansom agreed to work for the SOE. As a cover, she was enrolled in the Women’s Transport Service (part of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry or FANY), while her three young daughters went to live in a convent. What made Sansom willing to give up her children and risk her life as an undercover agent? She had a deep love of both her French homeland and her adopted country, Britain. She wanted to help the Allied cause and, because she spoke fluent French and knew France well, she concluded that her most valuable role would be with the Resistance. She was single-minded so that, once she had made her decision to join the SOE, she was determined to see her role through to the end, come what may. During her training, Sansom received an early setback. She had a bad fall during her parachute instruction and her injuries delayed her drop into France. After three abortive attempts to land her in France by air, she sailed to Gibraltar in a troopship. From there, in October 1942, she and six other agents were landed in France from a fishing boat. Her code-name was “Lise”. On 2 November 1942, she joined up in Cannes with Peter Churchill – code-name “Raoul” and the leader of the so-called

Spindle circuit. The intention had been for her to proceed to Auxerre but Churchill, realising her value to him as a courier, got permission from the Baker Street headquarters of the SOE for her to remain in Cannes. After the Germans and Italians overran southern France, Churchill and Sansom were forced to move on. Accompanied by their wireless operator, Adolphe Rabinovich, they transferred to St Jorioz, near Annecy, in the French Alps. When Churchill returned to

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Lord

London for instructions, Sansom was tricked into revealing her sympathies. She was approached by a “Colonel Henri”, who claimed to be a German officer wanting to defect to the Allies. In fact, the man was Sergeant Bleicher of the Abwehr – German military intelligence. Although Sansom was suspicious of the “officer”, her cover was blown and she and, later, Churchill – who was by then back in France from the UK – were arrested. As they were being moved, Churchill and Sansom secretly agreed that their cover story was to be that he was related to the British Prime Minister and that they were married. This story may well have saved their lives. Sansom was taken to Paris and to the notorious Fresnes prison outside the city.

There she endured terrible torture and deprivation. During fourteen brutal interrogations, she stuck to the cover story and even repeated that Churchill – in fact, her Commanding Officer – had only come to France at her insistence. She took full responsibility for her actions and insisted that she, not Churchill, should be shot. Her story was believed and Churchill only had to endure two interrogations. The Gestapo was also desperate to trace a wireless officer and a British officer working with the Resistance. They repeatedly tortured Sansom in an attempt to extract the information: her back was burned with a hot iron and her toenails were pulled out but she gave ABOVE: A portrait of Noor Inayat Khan, the third female SOE agent to be awarded (posthumously) the George Cross. Unlike Odette and Violette Szabo, Khan was imprisoned at Dachau concentration camp. It was there that in the early hours of the morning of 13 September 1944, she was one of four women who were executed by a shot to the head. Their bodies were immediately burned in the crematorium. (HMP) LEFT: From left to right, Captain Peter Churchill,

Anna Neagle (who played Odette), Odette Churchill, and Trevor Howard (who played Peter Churchill) are pictured at the film studios at Borehamwood on the set of Odette. In the film, Colonel Maurice James Buckmaster OBE, the wartime head of SOE’s F Section, played himself. Both Odette and Peter Churchill served as technical advisors during the filming, and the film ends with a written message from Odette herself. (PA Archive)

MAIN PICTURE BELOW: Surviving buildings

at the site of the former women’s camp at Ravensbrück, which is located sixty miles north of Berlin. It was here that Odette was incarcerated for nearly two years.

nothing away. This meant she not only saved the officers’ lives but their valuable secret work was able to continue. In June 1943, Sansom was sentenced to death but instead she was reprieved and 

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05/12/2013 10:53

RIGHT: Odette Sansom’s medals on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum in London.

BELOW LEFT: Odette, on the left, pictured

with two other female George Cross holders at a VC and GC Association function. Standing behind Odette is Margaret Purves GC, whilst sitting to the SOE veteran’s left is Daphne Pearson GC. (Courtesy of Tony Gledhill GC)

BELOW RIGHT: Odette, in the centre, pictured with other George Cross holders. The latter include Tony Gledhill GC (front right); Henry Stephens GC (back row, second from left); Jack Eastern GC (back row, third from left); and Carl Walker GC (back row, fourth from left). (Courtesy of Tony Gledhill GC)

taken to Ravensbrück concentration camp in northern Germany. There she was kept in solitary confinement for two years. At one stage she spent three months and eleven days in a darkened room – her personal punishment for the Allied landings in the South of France. As the war neared its end, Fritz Suhren, the German camp commandant, decided that handing over Sansom might guarantee him lenient treatment from the Allies. However, although he drove her to an American unit, Sansom was in no mood to forgive him: in fact, after the hand-over, she returned to his car and found photograph albums that were used against him at the war crimes’ trials. Her physical and mental health was frail for some time after the war. Her doctor’s report prepared at the end of 1945 concluded: “Mrs O. Sansom of 75 Harcourt Terrace, S.W.10 has been under my care since June 1945. At that time she was in a state of high nervous tension due to maltreatment received in German captivity. Some nails on her toes were missing; there was on her back a rounded scar of about half an inch in diameter, the result of a burn deliberately inflicted in the concentration camp. “Since last July she has had numerous injections of calcium, artificial sunlight and intense general medicinal treatment. Her nails have grown again but some of them are still deformed. The scar on her back is still evident. She is still receiving treatment for her general nervous condition, and anaemia.” Sansom’s George Cross was announced on 20 August 1946. Her lengthy citation ended: “During the period of over two years in which she was in enemy hands, she displayed courage, endurance and self-sacrifice of the

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highest possible order.” Sansom was reunited with her children after the war, but her marriage did not survive. In 1946, she was a witness at the trial in Hamburg of sixteen members of Ravensbrück’s staff. After the Second World War, she became a national heroine and, for many, the symbol of defiance against the Nazi regime. Furthermore, she was the only one of the three female Resistance workers awarded the George Cross to survive her ordeal at the hands of the Germans; the two other women were Violette Szabo, code-name “Louise”, and Noor Inayat Khan, code-name “Madeleine”. Both women had, like Sansom, been recruited by the SOE. Szabo was captured and tortured before being shot in February 1945, aged just 23. Her posthumous George Cross was announced on 17 December 1946, when her citation said that she “gave a magnificent example of courage and steadfastness”. Khan was captured and tortured before being shot in the back of the head in September 1944, aged 30. Her posthumous George Cross took longer and was not announced until 5 April 1949, when her citation said that she had “displayed the most conspicuous courage, both moral and physical, over a period of more than 12 months”. In 1947, Sansom married Peter Churchill, with whom she had endured so much during their time working with the French Resistance. However, the couple divorced in 1953 and she

married Geoffrey Hallowes, another former Resistance fighter, in 1956. Hallowes had already been awarded the Croix de Guerre for his “cloak and dagger” actions, while Sansom had received the Légion d’honneur. Having led such a secret life for so long, she then had to live in the public eye. In 1949, Jerrard Tickell published his book Odette: The Story of a British Agent after Sansom told him her story. A biographical film, Odette, starring Anna Neagle, was released in 1950. Sansom died in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on 13 March 1995, aged eighty-two. After her death, a plaque in her honour was placed underneath the FANY Memorial in Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, London. In February 2012, the Royal Mail released a stamp featuring Sansom as part of its “Britons of Distinction” issue. ■ GEORGE CROSS HEROES Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is a Conservative peer, businessman, philanthropist and author. The story of Odette Sansom’s courage appears in his book George Cross Heroes. For more information please visit: www. georgecrossheroes.com Lord Ashcroft’s VC and GC collection is on public display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum. For more information visit: www.iwm.org.uk/heroes For more information on Lord www.lordashcroft.com Ashcroft’s work, visit www.lordashcroft.com. Follow him on Twitter: @LordAshcroft

05/12/2013 10:53

2014

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NEW

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Produced by Key Publishing and featuring articles written with and by RAF personnel. The Official Annual Review 2014 is a 132-page special magazine that provides behind the scenes insight into the aircraft, equipment and people of one of the world’s premier air forces. HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: THE DAMBUSTERS PREPARE FOR HERRICK Behind the scenes in 617 Sqn’s anniversary year as the squadron readied for its final Afghanistan deployment

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HARRY'S WAR The Battle for Polderhoek Chateau BELOW: Utter Desolation - a view of part of the Passchendaele battlefield on 4 October 1917. This is the area which was once known as Remus Wood. On the same day that this image was taken, Second Lieutenant Harry Drinkwater and his men were moving up to attack the pillboxes (similar to the one that can be seen in the middle of this picture) at Polderhoek Château, across an identical landscape a short distance away. (IMPERIAL

H

ARRY DRINKWATER, who was born on 19 February 1889 in Stratford-upon-Avon, was one of more than 343,000 men throughout Britain who volunteered for the army in the first five weeks of the First World War. However, when called for his medical, he was told he was half an inch too short and was duly turned down. Undeterred, Harry travelled to Birmingham to try again. He wanted to join the Birmingham “Pals”. Successful in his second attempt to join up, Harry eventually joined the ranks of ‘A’ Company of the 2nd Birmingham City Battalion – the 2nd Birmingham

Pals – later to become the 15th (Service) Battalion (2nd Birmingham) Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Harry was now a proud addition to Kitchener’s New Army with an insider’s view of one of the most significant and, with hindsight, infamous socio-military phenomena of the First World War – the Pals battalions. It was at this point that Harry started to commit his thoughts to paper. His entries were at first concise. The battalion’s early organisation and training followed a similar pattern to that of most of the Pals battalions which sprang up during the late summer and autumn of 1914. It was with his departure for the Western Front

in November 1915 that Harry’s war diary began in earnest. After fighting, and surviving, until the start of 1917, Harry was accepted for officer training. In the autumn of that year he returned to the front as a second lieutenant with the 16th (Service) Battalion (3rd Birmingham) Royal Warwickshire Regiment. His first opportunity to show his mettle in his new rank could not have come in a harder school than that of Ypres in October 1917. The wet weather that had hindered the British since the start of their offensive on 31 July 1917 had improved towards the end of September,

WAR MUSEUM; E(AUS)1049)

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NO NORMAL BATTLE Longstop Hill allowing them to embark on a series of what they termed ‘bite and hold’ operations. One such operation, the Battle of the Broodseinde Ridge, which took place on 4 October was a comparative success. But to the south of the battlefield, about half-a-mile north of the village of Gheluvelt and the infamous Menin Road, the ruins of the Polderhoek Château and its series of interlocking, pillbox defences, would refuse to yield. Stubborn and painful thorns in the Allied side, the German positions at the château would have to be taken if the advance was to continue. 

LEFT: Second Lieutenant Harry Drinkwater, a portrait taken in 1920. (COURTESY OF DAVID GRIFFITHS VIA AUTHOR)

If the angry Egyptian who stepped from a carriage in the central station square in Cairo on the evening of 3 December 1919 had raised his sights just a fraction higher before pulling the trigger of his revolver, the world may have been robbed of one of the finest personal accounts of the First World War. The target was Harold Victor Drinkwater of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment who later recorded the incident in his diary, a diary he had kept faithfully since 1914. One of the other events described in the diary is the fighting at Polderhoek Château, near Ypres in October 1917, related here by the man who edited the diary, Jon Cooksey. www.britainatwar.com

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HARRY'S WAR The Battle for Polderhoek Chateau RIGHT: When this photograph was taken in October 1915, Private Harry Drinkwater was coming to the end of his of military training. In a few weeks he was on his way to the Western Front. (COURTESY OF DAVID GRIFFITHS VIA AUTHOR)

ABOVE FAR RIGHT: Private Harry Drinkwater (standing, second right) and several members of his platoon relax during the construction of new accommodation huts in Sutton Park during the battalion’s early days. Lance Corporal William James Hundy (standing, left), was the first man to enlist in the 2nd Birmingham Pals. He was killed by a German rifle grenade on 21 May 1916. Standing next to him, pipe in mouth, is his brother, Herbert Cecil Hundy. A stretcherbearer, Herbert unknowingly dug the lifeless and unrecognisable body of his younger sibling out of the debris. Herbert survived the war. (COURTESY OF DAVID GRIFFITHS VIA AUTHOR)

Harry and his comrades had been brought north to “Wipers” to try. Their attack, part of the Battle of Passchendaele, or Third Ypres, would be delivered on 9 October 1917.

“THE GAME STARTED” “Orders came from battalion headquarters that we had to move up at dusk towards the firing line, dig ourselves in and act as support to the troops occupying the front line,” Harry recorded in his diary. “We set out at 5pm in platoons at 100 yards interval. Rain had been coming down all day and although fine at the moment, and with a moon, the ground was muddy and slippery. Our difficulties were added to by the men being heavily laden ... “It was dusk before we had gone far and pitch dark when we reached our guns, which were firing for all they were worth. Our guns in this part of the Ypres Salient were numerous. The 18-pounders in front were on average only 15 yards apart from axle to axle and guns of all calibres were stretched at short intervals to 800 yards to the rear …

“And then the game started. Our road lay through batteries of these heavy guns. To speak to the men was impossible. The noise was deafening and the flashes blinding and the ground vibrating with the firing. Through this lot we had to march for three-parts of a mile. We had not gone far on the way before a couple of my men lost their nerve and by the flashes of the guns, I saw them dancing about, waving their rifles in the air and making the most hideous noises. It was no time to hold an inquest so I sent them back and hurried on.” The Germans replied with a heavy counter-barrage and when the battalion reached Sanctuary Wood it halted whilst the officers decided on the next move. “To push forward in face of the barrage seemed madness,” continued Harry in his diary, “but we had got a job to do before morning and the night was getting on. To stay seemed equal madness. In parts the wood was on fire, where falling shells had found a dry billet and the fire in turn was exploding dumps of artillery ammunition. Under these circumstances, we decided to push on ... “The men, laden to an unreasonable degree and unable to get a foothold,

Having enlisted in the ranks of the 2nd Birmingham Battalion, Private Harry Drinkwater soon found himself training for war. Here, standing fourth from left, he nonchalantly shoulders a pick as he and his fellow Birmingham Pals take a breather from trench digging practice in Sutton Park. (COURTESY OF DAVID GRIFFITHS VIA AUTHOR)

94 JANUARY 2014

often slipped into the shell-holes and we would pause to get them out. Sometimes we were lost and another pause would occur whilst we could find our bearings again. To do this, it was necessary to get into a trench so that we could use a torch. “Meanwhile, shells were coming over. From these there was no rest and we had casualties in consequence. To stand motionless in a locality which is being heavily shelled soon tells on one’s nerves. It was so in this case, as each pause occurred and shells still continued to come over, the men got restless, scattering in the dark to any cover as shells came whistling through the air, then to be collected again and pushed on. No officer was sure that he had all his men after each successive halt nor was he sure of his direction. The only reliable guide was our compass and it was by this aid that we eventually got somewhere near our position, saturated with perspiration.” Once there, Second Lieutenant Drinkwater and his men started to dig.

TRENCHES BLOCKED WITH MUD They remained there throughout the day, the men digging as deep as they could and sleeping when possible, as they waited for orders. All night they stood in the muddy trenches that were slowly filling with water. “Huge cracks appeared along the sides and as the day progressed, fell away with the weight of rain and into the bottom of the trench, in places

A trench map of the area around Polderhoek Château showing the front as it was on 5 December 1917. The British front line is marked in blue, Germans positions in red. (AUTHOR)

blocking up the way ... shells kept on falling in our vicinity with nasty regularity.” The men were in those awful positions until the night of the 8th, when they were ordered to withdraw to a new position, where Harry established his headquarters in a cellar which belonged to a lodge. The lodge in turn belonged to Polderhoek Château. The lodge was some 200 yards from the edge of a cluster of trees not sufficiently dense to be called a wood and in the centre of the trees, some 400 yards from the lodge, was the battered remains of the château, situated on a ridge. The British held the lodge; the Germans held the château. Though no actual buildings still stood, the cellars were intact and it was these that were held by the respective sides. “Rain was pouring down,” wrote Harry. “Our condition was pitiable. My boots were full of mud and had been so for some days and I was fairly wet through, either by rain or perspiration. We were, without exception, all the same.” Harry went to find his fellow officers and discovered that their conditions were even worse: “We found [Second Lieutenant W.] Walters at last. With him was [Second Lieutenant C.] Hutchinson. They were standing up to their knees in mud and water. They had no covering. Their shack – which was a ground-sheet stretched across the top of the trench – had fallen in. They were both shaking as if they had a bad attack of ague and could scarcely speak from cold. I handed them whisky and food down into the

trench. Their expression of thanks was rather pathetic. With this tonic they recovered somewhat and Walters told me he had operation orders for an attack on the château at dawn. “It was impossible to do anything there. Rain was still coming down hard, so they both climbed out of the trench and back we all went to the cellar and there studied the scheme for the attack, or that part which applied to us.”

Polderhoek Château pictured before the war. (COURTESY OF PAUL REED)

“THE RESULT MUST BE DISASTROUS” “The scheme appeared sound on paper but our condition made success improbable,” continued Harry. “We wished that those staff officers concerned, somewhere, high up in rank, who had ordered the attack, had undergone the same conditions as ourselves during the past week. There would not then have been this absurd affair. “We heard afterwards that when the brigadier received the orders in the first place, before they were handed on to the battalions concerned, he tried to get it stopped and when told that it must take place, wept, knowing very well the result must be disastrous in our weak condition … “Sergeant Badger and myself got our platoon NCOs a few at a time down into the cellar. There we explained the general idea. The whole battalion was attacking the château and two pillboxes, supported by the Norfolks on our left ... Although the platoon NCOs must have been as conscious as I was of the improbability of the attack being successful, they made no word of comment but studied the scheme, took their orders and then went up the steps and out into the night to their sections. I did admire them. They showed every signs of fatigue but would not express it in words.” Harry and the other officers gathered their men for the attack from the start point which was some fifty yards from his cellar. “The men seemed tired and done up and

As the fighting in the Ypres Salient continued it soon started to take a toll on Polderhoek Château – as this photograph testifies. By the time that Second Lieutenant Harry Drinkwater and the men of the 16th (Service) Battalion (3rd Birmingham) Royal Warwickshire Regiment made their attack, the building, and indeed its surrounding area, had been obliterated to such an extent that little of it could be seen above ground. (COURTESY OF

PAUL REED)

THE PASSCHENDAELE BATTLEFIELD BY THE time that the Battle of Passchendaele, or the Third Battle of Ypres as it is also known, had ground to a halt in November 1917, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of Allied casualties, its name had already become synonymous with the worst that the Western Front had to offer. The conditions that the men faced were described by a reporter for the Daily Mail, William Beach Thomas: “Floods of rain and a blanket of mist have doused and cloaked the whole of the Flanders plain. The newest shell-holes, already half-filled with soakage, are now flooded to the brim. “The rain has so fouled this low, stoneless ground, spoiled of all natural drainage by shell-fire, that we experienced the double value of the early work, for today moving heavy material was extremely difficult and the men could scarcely walk in full equipment, much less dig. Every man was soaked through and was standing or sleeping in a marsh. It was a work of energy to keep a rifle in a state fit to use.” Another account is provided by Jock Phillips: “[T]he whole area a natural bogland, reclaimed for farming by a complex system of dykes. The war had destroyed the dykes. This was warfare in a massive, putrid swamp. “The Germans had decided that in such terrain the best option was to build up rather than dig down. Trenches simply became efficient drains, which lowered soldiers’ morale and rotted their feet. So the Germans built reinforced concrete pillboxes with walls 90cm thick. These provided dry, sheltered conditions for the soldiers; they were largely safe from anything but direct artillery fire; and they offered small openings through which machine-guns could ward off possible attacks. The British meanwhile continued to dig.”

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HARRY'S WAR The Battle for Polderhoek Chateau RIGHT: This aerial photograph of Polderhoek Château was taken by an aircraft of 6 Squadron RFC on 2 October 1917 – just a week before Second Lieutenant Harry Drinkwater and the men of the 16th (Service) Battalion (3rd Birmingham) Royal Warwickshire Regiment made their attack. The Château itself is the distinct dark shadow that can be seen left of centre; the clearly visible structure right of centre is where a barn or similar building once stood. A close inspection of the image reveals what may be German pillboxes – it may be one such structure that can be seen below the Château just above the join between two parts of the mosaic. (WFA/IWM

MAPPING THE FRONT PROJECT; IMAGE P5341)

BELOW: A lone soldier picks his way over part of the desolate Passchendaele battlefield – an image which vividly portrays the type of ground over which Second Lieutenant Harry Drinkwater and his men had to fight in the attacks at Polderhoek. (HMP)

in places were lying down in thick mud. The officers had no clear idea of the men on their right or left or their objective and like myself were trying to find out and get some idea before the attack.” The plan of attack, which was to be delivered in two waves, saw ‘A’,’ B’ and ‘C’ companies of the 16th Royal Warwicks being supported by ‘D’ Company. As part of ‘C’ Company, Harry’s objectives were the two pillboxes; ‘A’ Company and the 1st Battalion the Norfolk Regiment were to deal with the château. Harry’s platoon was in the first wave.

OUR MEN WERE GOING STRONG Punctually, at 5.20am, just as day was breaking, the barrage opened on the château and pillboxes. We advanced and in less than two minutes, we were amongst the Germans who were lying out in shell-holes around the pillboxes and château. “Keeping well in line, we received and inflicted casualties but our men were going strong and according to plan, my platoon were keeping their eye on, and making straight for the pillboxes, the Germans running before us as we advanced. I was the left-hand man of my platoon so that I could keep them from straying into the party who were attacking the château. Actually, I was the left-hand man of the attack upon the pillboxes. “Although the attack on the château and the pillboxes was one scheme as a whole, the attack on the château was taken from a slightly different angle

which left a space of some few hundred yards between myself and their righthand man. Glancing [right] along the line as we closed up to the pillboxes, I saw my bombers and others crawling on their hands and knees close up, trying to find an opening to drop in bombs. “My platoon machine-gunner, who was advancing with me and slightly to the rear carrying a Lewis gun, was hit in the head and fell down. Hearing him fall, I looked round quickly and quickly back again and saw a German stretched out in a shell-hole. I let fly with my revolver. He was not more than ten yards away but I missed and he got up and bolted towards the pillboxes. I dropped into the shell-hole he had just left ...

“Bullets were flying about in all directions so I stayed a moment. I glanced to the right; saw our men were still crawling up to the pillboxes whilst on the left, our other men, A Company and the Norfolks, appeared to be getting round the château. It all took only a moment and I was up again and going forward. We seemed to be making good headway when, for some unexplained reason, my platoon and the remainder of the battalion on my right, began to retire. “Glancing to the right again, I found to my consternation that there was not a soul between me and the pillboxes and looking backwards saw them all retiring and 50 yards to my rear. I dropped into

“As I ran, I saw several fellows fall, one coughing up blood and all the time bullets were hacking about me. I ran for about 70 yards and dropped breathless into a shell hole, headlong into a German who had been dead for months.” 96 JANUARY 2014

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ABOVE: Another view of the battered Polderhoek Château as it appeared on a postcard sent home by a German soldier. The Château was never rebuilt and the area today is a field just to the north-east of the cutting that carries the A19 motorway. (HMP)

a shell-hole and glanced to the left. Our men were still attacking the château so I waited, thinking that perhaps they had retired for good reason and would come back again.”

“A GOOD FIGHT” “I was within 20 yards of the pillboxes and knowing them to be occupied by Germans, I dodged from shell-hole to shell-hole and lay down beside a fallen tree – out of their line of fire if they spotted me – and waited again. I had a good view of the château being attacked; I was within 100 yards of it. “The Germans were putting up a good fight. One German from the top of the ruins was slinging bombs amongst our men. I could see him, but apparently they could not yet [see us]; still our men on the left kept crawling closer, taking cover in shell-holes and behind fallen trees ... “I waited some ten minutes for our men on the right to return. They did not do so and seeing Germans emerge from the pillboxes – I was within 30 yards of them – I watched and waited for my opportunity. I bolted over a rise in the ground and, obscured from their view, waited again and then made my way to the rear to try and find my platoon. “On the way back I picked up [Second Lieutenant Frederick] Crisp with a bullet through the leg. We stopped in a shell-hole and I put a bandage round the wound. It was of no consequence, scarcely bleeding, and together we bound up one or two fellows we saw lying about then made our way back to where we thought our men had retired to and what was our front-line trench. “We had nearly reached there when we must have come under observation from the pillboxes. At any rate, a machine gun was turned on us and www.britainatwar.com

ABOVE: Taken three years after the end of the First World War, when Harry Drinkwater returned to the battlefield at Polderhoek, this photograph provides a German’s-eye view towards the skyline, annotated ‘C’ by Harry, which marks the jumping-off line from which his platoon advanced, the men then moving in line abreast towards the camera. The number 1 indicates the pillbox seen here in close-up on the right. (COURTESY OF DAVID

GRIFFITHS VIA AUTHOR)

Crisp joined the ‘great majority’ with a bullet in the brain (we were walking arm in arm). I dropped down and found Crisp beyond help and, crawling on my stomach, tumbled into the trenches myself, almost on top of Walters who was lying on the top of a couple of dead Germans, with a piece of shell through the chest.”

ANOTHER ATTACK The attack both on the château and on the pillboxes was a failure. The reason given was that when they had reached the pillboxes they heard the word ‘retire’ shouted and so they withdrew. It was later suspected that this was the tactic of a smart German. Harry now prepared his men for the inevitable counter-attack. Shortly after 08.00 hours the Germans rushed down the opposite slope into the valley. The Pals opened fire and the German advance ended when they occupied some old trenches. The enemy seemed content to hold that ground and made no further advance. “The day passed miserably dull and cold, raining at intervals. The men were very exhausted but they set to trying to clear the trench of mud. It was a hopeless task. We were in it up to our knees but it served to keep them occupied. “At night came rations. A good supply of rum was got through and we dished it out to the men. We all warmed up under its influence. Later on, Field, the Intelligence Officer, and [Second Lieutenant] Devine were sent up to reinforce us. We hoped they had come as guides to take us back but apart from the fact that they had orders to join us, they knew nothing about what was likely to happen. So we waited, hoping for relief. At dusk the men got ready to move away and we anxiously watched

ABOVE: Another picture taken by Harry during his visit to Polderhoek in 1921, this is a shot of the pillbox (marked by the number 1 in the top image) around which the fighting that he so vividly describes took place. (COURTESY OF

for relief. We waited all night.” Midnight, however, came and went. There had been no relief. “At 3am we saw a number of men appear from the rear and thought at last relief had arrived but from the officer in charge we gathered that they had not come to relieve us but to reinforce us and we were not being relieved that night. They were a company of the 14th Warwicks with orders to reinforce us and attack again next morning.” 

DAVID GRIFFITHS VIA AUTHOR)

TRENCH RAID GALLANTRY ON THE clear, starlit night of 4 June 1918, Harry Drinkwater led thirty-eight men of ‘C’ Company the 16th Royal Warwickshire Regiment on a raid of the German trenches between the villages of Arrewage and Les Puresbeques, just south of the Forest of Nieppe in the valley of the River Lys. Their orders were simple: to capture prisoners for identification and interrogation. After he had scouted the ground the previous night with his trusted sergeant Arthur Hewlings – a man who had crossed the channel on the same day as Harry more than two and a half years earlier – Harry summed up his task in the following succinct sentence: “We had to jump over a couple of German trenches, turn sharp right behind some farm buildings, cross a main road, come back again and attack a German trench in the rear.” Seriously wounded in the thigh almost as soon as the raid began at 23.45 hours, Harry nevertheless led his men in a headlong charge across No Man’s Land and raced through the German trenches and behind the farm buildings. Tearing an epaulette bearing the number of the 177th Infantry Regiment from a discarded greatcoat, before scooping up two men of the German Saxon 103rd Infantry Regiment, Harry succeeded in hauling his prisoners back to the safety of the British lines to the hearty congratulations of his CO, brigade and divisional commanders. The raid had achieved its objective at a cost of eleven wounded including himself. For his leadership that night Harry Drinkwater was awarded the Military Cross. JANUARY 2014 97

HARRY'S WAR The Battle for Polderhoek Chateau

HARRY'S WAR

The Great War Diary of Harry Drinkwater HARRY DRINKWATER’S vivid description of the fighting at Polderhoek in October 1917, which forms the basis of this article, represents a small part of his writing during the First World War. Forbidden from keeping a diary, Harry wrote his in secret, recording the horrendous conditions and constant fear, as well as the better moments. The result, edited and drawn together in a single volume as Harry’s War, is a graphic account of one man’s actions between 1914 and 1918, from private to officer, from enlistment to the front. For more information, please visit: www.randomhouse.co.uk MIDDLE RIGHT: Harry’s part in the fighting for the Polderhoek Château positions did not go unnoticed, although he had to wait almost six months – until 2 April 1918 – before his Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Grahame Deakin, saw fit to note his contribution in Harry’s record of service: “Rendered valuable services and displayed great courage and devotion to duty during heavy fighting round POLDERHOEK CHATEAU, YPRES. 6/11th Oct 1917.”

THE MEN COULD BARELY STAND Several British battalions had now been broken on the Polderhoek Château position but while the Germans in the cellars and pillboxes hung on, British successes further north could not be exploited. There was nothing for it but to try again and so a further order was issued just before midnight to the effect that Polderhoek Château was to be “assaulted and captured at all costs” at 02.00 hours on 10 October.

(COURTESY OF

DAVID GRIFFITHS VIA AUTHOR)

Again taken three years after the war, this photograph shows the rear side of one of the German pillboxes that Harry and his men attacked on 9 October 1917. Alongside the picture in his album, Harry had made the following comment: “Direct hits by our artillery are shown not to have materially affected its defensive powers.” (COURTESY OF

ABOVE: Some of the men of the 16th (Service) Battalion (3rd Birmingham) Royal Warwickshire Regiment killed during the fighting at Polderhoek in October 1917 are buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery or commemorated on Tyne Cot Memorial. (COURTESY OF THE COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION)

This time, however – and incredibly, given that it had repeatedly resisted several units attacking simultaneously – the task was handed to just a single battalion of the 14th Royal Warwicks. Of this battalion, only one company of perhaps 200 men under Captain Herbert Clement had managed to haul its way forward across the morass in the pitchblack night to Harry and his comrades, now clinging desperately to the string of mud-filled shell-holes which passed for the British front line. Quite memorable was the meeting and subsequent discussion between one of the 16th Battalion’s officers, W. Sewell, and the captain of the 14th Battalion in the pillbox. Of this incident, Harry wrote: “We, the remnants of the 16th Battalion, were fit only to be, literally, carried out of the line and given food and sleep. Some of the men could barely stand and yet here were orders brought by a captain who had himself brought a mere handful of men only, to attack the pillboxes again at dawn. “Sewell, with all the eloquence he could muster, pointed out the foolishness and impossibility of again making the attack under these conditions and the 14th Battalion captain, whilst

agreeing with all Sewell said, nevertheless had orders to carry out the affair. They sat there in the pillbox; both covered in mud – clothes, hands and face – the one unwilling to let his men be slaughtered, which is what it amounted to, and the other unwilling to disobey orders. They both looked as if they had the responsibility of the war on their shoulders, the hour of early morning helping to this end. “At daybreak the captain went along the trench to see the position for a possible excuse consummate with his conscience and was sniped through the head. By some means this second attack was cancelled. The men were almost ready to shoot themselves or anyone else who came near them as they took their packs off to stick it for another night.”

HARRY’S WAR After surviving Passchendaele, Harry and his men were moved through southern France to the Italian Front early in 1918. Returning to France immediately after the German onslaughts in the spring of 1918, his battalion helped recapture all the ground gained at such a heavy cost. In this fighting Harry led his men in an audacious and dangerous night-time raid on the German trenches and was badly wounded and recommended for a gallantry award. Being sent back to the UK for treatment, the war ended before he could be sent back to the trenches. Harry’s war was over. As for the angry Egyptian, well that is another story. 

DAVID GRIFFITHS VIA AUTHOR)

98 JANUARY 2014

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THE AUTHOR travels on much trodden ground in discussing the events from D-Day to the end of the war. Nevertheless, in its 370 or so pages, this is a worthy effort. John Buckley’s main intention, he declares, is to demonstrate that the British Army that fought through Europe under Montgomery was far more effective than has previously been thought. As Buckley points out, Montgomery was given two basic objectives by Churchill before the Allies launched the liberation of Europe. These were that the British Army should make a significant enough contribution in the fighting to ensure that Churchill could sit at the negotiating table at the end of the war on equal terms with Roosevelt and Stalin, whilst at the same time avoiding as much as possible the bloodletting that Churchill recalled so well in the fighting in Europe against the Germans in the First World War. These aims were self-evidently incompatible, yet Buckley argues that Montgomery was largely to achieve both. Having stated that, Buckley concedes that the bitter fighting in Normandy in the summer of 1944 saw casualty rates higher than those experienced at Passchendaele in 1917 and that a junior officer had only a one-in-ten chance of surviving from D-Day to the end of the war. According to Lieutenant Sidney Jary, his detachment was given the following information on arriving in Normandy

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in June 1944: “Gentlemen, your life expectancy from the day you join your battalion will be precisely three weeks.” Yet these losses were well within expectations and were considered by the War Office as “entirely acceptable”. What Buckley attempts to demonstrate is that rather than throwing bodies at the Germans as was the 1914-18 fashion, the 21st Army Group instead relied on superior firepower and logistics. As Buckley puts it, British commanders wanted to deploy metal rather than flesh to win their battles. The consequence of this philosophy was that the British were criticized for a want of aggression, particularly in failing to exploit breakthroughs when the opportunity presented itself. Buckley, whist accepting that this was the case, declares that the army was “conceptually unsuited to this type of dynamism because it had adopted operational and tactical methods that emphasised risk aversion”, and “where possible only committing to battle when the weight of Allied resources and firepower could reduce the likelihood of heavy casualties”. This, indeed, was the aim of generals before the First World War changed much military thinking. Commanders of the past would aim to commit to battle only when they felt that they had the odds stacked in their favour. This approach, nevertheless, led to accusations that the British lacked aggression and were slow and plodding in their movements. Such complaints were voiced by

| RECONNAISSANCE REPORT

Liddell Hart, who wrote in 1952 that this had been occasioned by a “national decline in boldness and initiative – from decreasing vitality or increasing domestication”! Buckley particularly emphasises the resources put into the 21st Army Group’s logistical support. Montgomery was concerned with the morale of his citizen-based (or over-domesticated?) army and wanted to ensure that it was always well-supplied. This again meant that there were to be no rash advances beyond the reach of the supporting services. This ensured that the troops were always as contented as was possible in such circumstances. An army, after all, marches on its stomach. Regarding their troops as their most valuable asset meant that the British officers treated their men with a degree of respect, refusing, as Buckley writes, to enforce compliance through fear alone and, at the same time, providing excellent medical care and logistical support and creating an atmosphere in which lives would rarely be wasted unduly in futile or risky operations. Montgomery may not have been universally popular with the troops, Buckley agrees, but most at least accepted that he knew what he was doing and would do everything to win with low casualties. Buckley has taken an interesting approach to a familiar subject and he argues his case well. REVIEWED BY JOHN GREHAN.

BOOK OF THE MONTH

MONTY'S MEN

The British Army and the Liberation of Europe John Buckley

Publisher: Yale University Press www.yalebooks.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-300-13449-0 Hardback. 370 pages RRP: £20.00 Illustrations  References/Notes Appendices  Index 



JANUARY 2014 101

RECONNAISSANCE REPORT |

The Britain at War team scout out the latest items of interest THE SECRET AGENT’S POCKET MANUAL 1939-1945

MUD & BODIES

The War Diaries and Letters of Captain N.A.C. Weir, 1914-1920 Edited by Saul David



AT JUST nineteen-years of

The Original Espionage FieldManual of the Second World War Spies

age, Captain Neil Weir found

himself a captain and company

commander in the 10th Battalion,

Introduced by Dr Stephen Bull

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders fighting in some of the most

 WITH THE embodiment and expansion

fearsome battles of the First World

of organisations such as the Special

Ypres, Vimy Ridge, Ploegsteert

War, and the supply of Special Forces

War. During his service at Loos,

Operations Executive in the Second World

and the Somme, Neil Weir wrote

units which operated behind enemy lines,

letters home and maintained what

clandestine warfare became a permanent

he called his War Dairy.

The letters are inevitably brief,

part of the modern military and political

but Neil Weir’s War Dairy is far more

assault Longueval. In this account he

the men had to endure are a feature

the following night. Unknown to Weir,

detailed. Predictably the conditions

of the writing when in Flanders. “We

have had about three days continuous

rain,” a fellow soldier wrote just before Weir’s battalion arrived at Ploegsteert, “and the result is the trenches are

flooded and the country round is a sea

of mud ankle-deep, and in some places today I have been over my knees in

it. I took 150 men to do drainage work under the R.E.s on the communication trenches on the left of where we were

before we came out. It was an endless, hopeless task. The walls had caved in

in places, and as soon as the muck was cleared out it caved in again, and it all had to be done again.”

Interestingly, during his time at

“Plug Street” Weir made the following observation: “Our telephone system

was none too good. In fact the Boche seemed to hear all our conversations

on the phone and incidentally we could hear his.”

In 1916 his battalion began training

for “the big push” which, though

as Weir acknowledges he had no specific idea what this would be,

meant practising in open warfare. This

involved training first at company level, then battalion and finally brigade level. Included in their training was a trip in

June for certain officers to Bray by bus to be shown some unusual trenches,

recalls an incident which took place

the battalion’s bombers had gone out to attack the enemy and upon their

return they approached the strongpoint held by Weir’s company. Believing

that the approaching infantry were

Germans they opened fire. Though

Weir could not be certain that his men

had actually engaged the bombers (the approaching infantry might have been Germans), the fact is that none of the

On 1 July 1916, the Battle of the

Somme began. Weir’s division was

one of the “follow up” formations and his brigade was the reserve of the

division. Weir wrote in detail about the battle, which for his battalion began in earnest on 14 July when it had to

102 JANUARY 2014

on 16 January 1916, and went on to serve on the Somme and in the Ypres Salient, where he was killed in July 1917. This is a collection of his letters to his family, friends and fellow officers. Publisher: Reveille Press; www.reveillepress.com ISBN: 978-1-908336-40-8 Softback. 56 pages RRP: £8.99

SIGINT

The Secret History of Signals Intelligence 1914-45 Peter Matthews

 IN THE First World

at the time and many examples are now

War, a vast network of

becoming available. This manual brings

units sending signals

together a selection of these dark arts and

rapidly expanded across

extraordinary objects. Publisher: Conway; www.conwaypublishing.com ISBN: 978-1-84486-215-3 Hardback. 160 pages RRP: £8.99

the globe, spawning a

HARRIER

new breed of spies and intelligence operatives to code, de-code and analyse the thousands of messages. As a result, signallers and cryptographers in the Admiralty’s Room 40 paved the way for the code breakers of Bletchley Park in the Second World War. In this book, Peter

a day he would never forget. A

 THE BRITISH designed

with German interceptors, British code-

and built the Harrier,

breakers and Russian cryptographers. Publisher: Spellmount; www.thehistorypress.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-7524-8734-2 Hardback. 256 pages RRP: £18.99

heavy bombardment destroyed his

strongpoint and his company found

the most successful

itself isolated and out of contact

vertical take-off-and-

with battalion HQ. “The Boche were

landing aircraft ever made. Combining

on us like a knife as soon as their

state-of-the-art fighter technology with a

bombardment ceased,” Weir wrote

helicopter’s ability to land vertically, the

in his War Diary. “Masses of grey

figures were to be seen coming across the then no-man’s land. We had left

our trench and formed up ... What a

this aircraft is an account of the design of

and it was found to be exceedingly

Matthews reveals the secret history of global signals through original interviews

THE BRITISH ARMY IN MESOPOTAMIA, 1914-1918 Paul Knight

a remarkable aeroplane and a tribute not

difficult to obtain any hold on them.

Some had been so knocked about that they wanted to get right back to Billon Wood. That was fatal. Luckily better

counsel was forthcoming and we held our strong line ... and mowed down plenty of grey figures.”

Neil Weir survived the war and his

of life for a junior officer during the First have been preserved.

REVIEWED BY ALEXANDER NICOLL.

only to the men and women who created

 THIS HISTORY

it, but those who flew it, often in the most

places the

dangerous conditions. Publisher: Atlantic Books; www.atlantic-books.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-84354-891-1 Hardback. 304 pages RRP: £20.00

Mesopotamian

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY SUBALTERN ON THE WESTERN FRONT Keith Brain

Publisher: Frontline Books; www.frontline-books.com ISBN: 978-1-84832-688-0 Hardback. 158 pages RRP: £19.99 References/Notes Index 

the RAF and Royal Navy in a number of War. Jonathan Glancey’s examination of

collection of men there were there

Illustrations  Appendices 

Harrier played an indispensable role for conflicts, most famously the Falklands

World War. We are fortunate that they

been practising was imminent.

nineteenth birthday. He landed in France

these organisations were put into print

Jonathan Glancey

The 18th of July, Weir wrote, was

lines. They also saw “masses” of French that the offensive for which they had

when he was just six weeks short of his

The Biography

diary and letters give us a fine account

guns being assembled. It was obvious

the hitherto secret techniques used by

Second Lieutenant on 13 October 1915,

bombers were seen again.

no doubt replicating what they might

expect when they entered the enemy

scene. Perhaps surprisingly many of

eventually gained his commission as a

so-called “forgotten fronts” of the First World War, in context of Allied operations in the Middle East. It looks at some of those involved, including General Charles Townshend whose 1915 victories led to defeat and captivity in 1916. These also include Miss Gertrude Bell, a “female Lawrence of Arabia” who played a central role in the creation of the state of Iraq, and General Frederick

THIS IS the story of

Maude whose March 1917 entry into

Second Lieutenant

Baghdad preceded General Allenby’s by

Henry King who joined

eight months.

the Inns of Court

Publisher: McFarland; www.mcfarlandpub.com ISBN: 978-0-7864-7049-5 Softback. 204 pages RRP: £38.95

Officer Training Corps



campaign, one of the

on 29 November 1914, hoping, after training, to gain a commission in the Royal Artillery. He

www.britainatwar.com

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

GREY WOLVES

CHRISTMAS IN THE TRENCHES

The U-boat War 1939-1945 Philip Kaplan

Alan Wakefield



IT IS perhaps some measure of our humanity that

the brief, partial, and entirely

unauthorised, Christmas Truce

of 1914, has become one of the most celebrated events of the

First World War. It had no lasting impact upon the course of the

conflict; no advantage was gained, no territory was won or lost. Yet this event, in many respects so normal and equally so bizarre,

continues to attract our attention and many books and articles

have been written about that first

been able to buy or had been sent from

Alan Wakefield has done, however,

the enemy, or at least none recorded.

Christmas in the trenches. What

is slightly different, in that he has investigated what happened on

the other three Christmas periods

of the war as well as the Christmas of 1918 when, if they were not yet

home, there was no fraternisation with It would seem that no such thoughts

entered the minds of the men. Possibly the war had dragged on too long, the killing just too great on both sides.

By 25 December 1918, everything

at home, there was at least peace

had changed. Whilst it might be

might be expected.

Christmas since war was declared four

and where a degree of goodwill

After the events of Christmas 1914,

which shocked senior officers who

were concerned that fraternisation

with the enemy would diminish the army’s natural aggression, strict

instructions were issued in advance of

the Christmas of 1915. “Nothing of the kind” experienced the previous year

would be permitted. To make sure of

this the artillery was ordered to open fire at dawn and to continue firing slowly all day.

Generally these orders were followed,

but at Laventie, for example, elements of the Guards Division did actually leave their trenches and met up

with the Germans in No Man’s Land.

Senior officers soon put a stop to this and it seemingly lasted for no more

than about forty minutes. Afterwards an enquiry was held. This resulted in Captain Miles Barne, temporary

thought that this would be the merriest long years before, this was far from

being the case. Men were anxious to

return home. They had fought their war and won, and they expected to reap the rewards of victory.

Indeed for some of the troops that

formed the army of occupation in

Germany this was the least festive

Christmas they had experienced. An

example of this is recounted by a group of men from the Hampshire Regiment who were billeted with a local family. “We went into a little back room and started our Christmas dinner (such

as it was). The folk in the house were

having their dinner of meat scraps and potatoes in the main room and the old lady kept coming and wanting us to

come in with them but my mate was a bit awkward and said, ‘Why don’t they leave us alone’.”

The contrast in this fascinating book,

between the Christmas of 1914, when

commander, facing a court martial.

Man’s Land to greet the enemy and

Bad weather, terrible conditions in

the trenches and almost impassable ground in No Man’s Land, restricted

all movement during December 1916.

Nevertheless, and despite the warnings from GHQ, some units climbed out

of the trenches and made their way

through the mud to greet the enemy. The Christmas of 1917 was a white

one for many at the front. Though the troops celebrated as best they could, with whatever little extras they had

www.britainatwar.com

the men disobeyed orders to cross No

exchange gifts, and the one where they were actually living with the enemy,

Arthur Ward

 USING A variety

 ARTHUR WARD’S Guide to Wartime Collectables is intended to be that –

journals, and

an easy to use source of information

memoirs, Grey

on this subject. It not only informs

Wolves details life

the novice about the major types of

on board a U-boat,

twentieth-century military collectables,

relaying tales

but also shows what they look like

of the mundane

and, importantly, what the newcomer

and the routine,

should be looking

dramatic and heroic; the fear and

for – or indeed

resilience of every crew member, from

avoiding. It is, as the

Kapitänleutnant to Mechaniker. It is a

author points out,

realistic portrait of the men who fought

important to be sure

and died beneath the surface of the

you are purchasing

Atlantic in what was, perhaps, the most

authentic military

critical battle of the war. As the U-boat

artefacts. Written by

memorial near Kiel records, by the end

a lifelong collector,

of the war, of the 39,000 men who went

this book is also full of the author’s

to sea in the U-boats, 27,491 died in

own photographs, many in colour, of a

action and a further 5,000 were made

selection of items. Publisher: Pen & Sword; www.pen-and-sword.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-84884-812-2 Hardback. 163 pages RRP: £19.99

prisoners of war. Publisher: Pen & Sword; www.pen-and-sword.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-78159-242-7 Hardback. 224 pages RRP: £19.99

LIFE IN 1940s LONDON  ONE OF the most

THE LONG SHADOW

The Great War and the Twentieth Century David Reynolds

momentous decades

 IN BRITAIN we have lost touch with

in London’s colourful

the First World War, claims author David

history was one

Reynolds. Our overriding sense now

of huge contrasts.

is of a meaningless, futile bloodbath

The Second World

for no evident purpose. Exploring big

War provided a

themes such as

heady brew of fear,

democracy and

bravery, stoicism, cowardice and crime,

empire, nationalism

set to a background of popular music

and capitalism, as

from Glenn Miller and Vera Lynn. To

well as discussing the

some, London was vibrant and exciting,

differing impacts of

but even during the war years it was

the war on Britain,

still divided by class and wealth. While

Ireland and the United

the privileged few enjoyed the relative

States, in The Long

comfort of the capital’s swankiest

Shadow the author re-examines the last

hotels, thousands of Londoners

century and sets out to demonstrate

sheltered each night on the platforms of

that the fighting of 1914-1918 is a

the underground. Publisher: Amberley; www.amberley-books.com ISBN: 978-1-4456-0826-6 Hardback. 220 pages RRP: £20.00

conflict that Britain, more than any other nation, is still struggling to comprehend. Publisher: Simon & Schuster; www.simonandschuster.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-85720-635-0 Hardback. 519 pages

BRITAIN AT WAR DIGITAL COPIES

could not be more different.

REVIEWED BY ROBERT MITCHELL.

HAVE YOU asked for an iPad or other tablet device for Christmas? If you have

Publisher: The History Press; www.thehistorypress.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-7509-5464-8 Paperback. 211 pages RRP: £9.99 Illustrations  References/Notes Appendices  Index 

A GUIDE TO WARTIME COLLECTABLES

of letters, diaries,

Mike Hutton

commanding officer of the 1st

Scots Guards and another company

| RECONNAISSANCE REPORT

then we are sure you’re looking forward to exploring all of the features of your new ‘toy’, but did you know that you could also enjoy each issue of your favourite magazine at your convenience? Britain at War Magazine is just one of a wide selection of titles from Key Publishing which are available on a range of digital devices. Why not download our



next issue? You could even dive straight into the digital age with a subscription – for a great range of offers simply visit www.pocketmags.com today!

JANUARY 2014 103

RECONNAISSANCE REPORT |

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

HAND PAINTED LEATHER FLYING JACKETS



FROM THE earliest days of military aviation, through the Second World War and beyond, squadrons and units decorated the noses of their aircraft with images of pin-up girls, cartoons and other personal designs or emblems. These images of the 1940s and 1950s have become classic Americana icons of today. It is now possible to have these types of images painted on leather flying jackets to put in your own wardrobe. This is possible thanks to a company

the Guild of Aviation Artists, meaning that you can now walk around in a piece of original artwork. It is possible to commission your very

called Flying Leather Jackets. The flying

own unique design for your leather

jackets are painted by aviation artist

jackets. Customers can also bring in

Matt Holness, an Associate member of

their own favourite leather jacket and have the image of their choice design painted on using the latest in acrylic

NORTH WALES AIRFIELDS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR

HAIG’S MEDICAL OFFICER

David Berryman

 COLONEL EUGENE “Micky” Ryan served

 AT THE outbreak of

throughout the final year of the Boer War

war in September 1939, there were

and by the time the British Expeditionary

just three airfields in North Wales – RAF

Force sailed for France in 1914, he had

Sealand on the Cheshire border, Hell’s

reached the rank of Major. He was the

Mouth (originally an air weapons range),

Medical Officer of Douglas Haig’s I Corps

and Wrexham. Over the next two years

and when Haig took over command of

a further nine were constructed, five

the BEF from Sir John French, Micky Ryan

on the mainland with the remainder on

went with him to GHQ. During his Army

the Isle of Anglesey. Intended to fulfil

service he wrote letters to his wife and

two main tasks – training and defence

maintained a diary. Entries from this

(though this includes the battle against

have been compiled into

the U-boats) – each of these airfields

this single volume by his

is examined in detail in this the latest

grandson, though the diaries

volume in Countryside Books’ renowned

themselves are incomplete. Publisher: Pen & Sword; www.pen-and-sword.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-78159-316-5 Hardback. 222 pages RRP: £19.99

and informative Airfields series. Publisher: Countryside Books; www.countrysidebooks.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-84674-313-9 Softback. 191 pages RRP: £12.95

GREAT BRITAIN’S GREAT WAR

The Papers of Colonel Eugene ‘Micky’ Ryan CMG, DSO, RAMC Edited by Eugene P. Ryan

THE WESTERN FRONT FROM THE AIR Nicholas C. Watkins

Jeremy Paxman

 THE PHOTOGRAPHS included and

 USING FIRST-HAND

analysed here were taken by the Royal

three weeks to complete and can

source material, Jeremy

Flying Corps to provide reconnaissance

include all kinds of extras including

Paxman brings to life the

for the British Army on the Western

patches and ditching whistles for

day-to-day experience of

Front and are sourced from the archive

added authenticity. With private

the British over the entire

held by the Imperial War Museum in

commissions, a CD of photographs

course of the First World

London. The images have been chosen

taken throughout the various stages

War, from politicians, newspapermen,

to reveal significant actions and have

of painting will be supplied, along with

campaigners and Generals, to the soldiers

been annotated to show the terrain

a letter of authenticity from the artist.

at the front, factory workers, nurses,

and defences, pinpointing strongpoints,

For more information, please visit:

wives and children, capturing the whole

machine-guns, mortars and

mood and morale of the nation. This book

gun batteries and were taken

reveals that life and identity in Britain

before and after the battles

were often dramatically different from

of Neuve Chapelle, Loos, La

our own, and show how both were utterly

Boisselle, Flers, Vimy Ridge,

transformed – not always for the worst –

Cambrai and Amiens. Publisher: Spellmount; www.thehistorypress.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-7524-9777-8 Softback. 144 pages RRP: £14.99

latex paints. Each jacket usually takes two to

www.flyingleatherjackets.com

by the enormous upheaval of the war. Publisher: Penguin; www.penguin.com ISBN: 978-0-670-91961-1 Hardback. 356 pages RRP: £25.00

FEBRUARY 2014 ISSUE ON SALE FROM 30 JANUARY 2014 A HELL OF A GAME THE FLYING TANKS

Private Richard Masters always reckoned that the number 9 was his lucky number. By a strange quirk of fate it was on 9 April 1918, that he found himself

On only one occasion during the Second World War were large numbers of tanks

faced with unparalleled danger. It was no luck, though, which resulted in his

flown into battle. That occasion was the Normandy landings of June 1944.

award of the Victoria Cross, only sheer, bloody, determination.

BRITISH HERO OF THE RESISTANCE

A FATAL MISTAKE

French uprising in the Vercors in the summer of 1944, a British liaison officer

Balaklava, a misinterpreted order led to a valiant, if misguided, attempt to

faced accusations of cowardice and desertion before being hailed a hero. Steve

capture the enemy’s guns. Yet the magnificent charge of the 4th Dragoon

Snelling charts the remarkable story of Major Desmond Longe MC, Croix de

Guards, 9th Lancers and 18th Hussars on the first day of the retreat from Mons

Guerre and the ill-starred “Eucalyptus Mission” and its tragic aftermath.

in August 1914 has become little more than a footnote in history.

Forced to make a hazardous escape across the Alps following a disastrous

104 JANUARY 2014

It has been likened to the Charge of the Light Brigade. As was the case at

www.britainatwar.com

VALOUR AT THE SHARP END Baptism of Fire in Burma

MAIN PICTURE: Japanese troops at a defensive position during the early fighting in central Burma.

(COURTESY OF JAMES LUTO)

VALOUR AT TH FAR RIGHT: Lieutenant Alec George Horwood VC, DCM was the first British soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross during the Burma campaign. He was born in Deptford, London, and his father served as mayor of Bermondsey. Before the war, he worked as a clerk at the London offices of Hartley’s, the jam manufacturers.

(ALL IMAGES

COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

106 JANUARY 2014

Seventy years ago, a British unit’s bloody baptism of fire in Burma helped shatter the myth of Japanese invincibility thanks to one man’s single-minded determination. Steve Snelling recounts the battle for the Kyaukchaw bunkers.

T

HE SUN had burned away the dank, dripping morning mist and the sky was raining bombs on a remote corner of Japaneseoccupied Burma. For more than an hour, the tangle of jungle-smothered hills rising sheer from the banks of the serpentine River Yu reverberated to the ear-splitting roar of an aerial bombardment never before heard on this distant battlefield. In an experiment in ground-air co-operation, wave after wave of bombers – B24 Liberators, B25 Mitchells, Vengeance dive-bombers and Hurricane fighter-bombers – drenched the teak forested slopes with high explosive and anti-personnel cluster

bombs. As an exhibition of “shock and awe”, it was mightily impressive and served as a tremendous fillip to the British, Indian and Gurkha troops “laying up” half-a-mile away from the thickening pall of smoke that swallowed the enemy position. To Sergeant Ted Kelly, a sniper in the 1st Battalion the Northamptonshire Regiment, it was all “very heartening”. “For the first and only time,” he later recalled, “I felt a degree of sympathy for the Japanese”.1 What seemed to him an “endless” concentrated bombing assault actually lasted a little over an hour-anda-half and drew to a close around dusk on Monday, 17 January 1944. In that time, fifty-four tons of bombs

had stripped a swathe of jungle almost bare, leaving a desolate patch of scorched earth studded with the blackened stumps of mutilated trees in their terrifying wake. “All we had to do the next day, we assumed, was to go in and pick up the pieces,” continued Kelly.2

BAPTISM OF FIRE The opening round in the battle for Kyaukchaw, dubbed “Chopchaw” by the British troops, signalled the beginning of a testing baptism of fire for the Northants that would yield important lessons for the 14th Army in its struggle to overcome an inferiority complex born of the Japanese Army’s earlier lightning advances through www.britainatwar.com

THE SHARP END Malaya and Burma. Defeat and retreat to the borders of India had been followed by the humiliating repulse of the first British counter-offensive in the Arakan. Orde Wingate’s costly Chindit expedition had gone some way to restoring prestige and, by the end of 1943, British and Indian troops were probing towards the banks of the Chindwin river through an inhospitable and hotly-contested “No Man’s Land”. In the vanguard of IV Corps’ forward policy was Major General Douglas Gracey’s 20 Division. Opening a new front south-east of 14th Army’s main base at Imphal, Gracey’s three brigades (32, 80, 100) were pushing beyond the limit of serviceable roads into the Kabaw valley to prepare the way for a thrust into Central Burma. Among the troops spearheading the advance from a base at Moreh were the men of the 1st Northants. The unit’s www.britainatwar.com

mission was a daunting one: to nip out a potentially dangerous Japanese position of unknown strength only recently established on steep hills above a bend in the River Yu at Kyaukchaw. This was a strategically important point where a number of tracks converged. Though isolated, the post, some twenty miles south-east of Tamu, was a formidable one. For the most part, it involved a system of mutually supporting bunkers sited to cover each other in pairs and linked by shallow “crawl" trenches which led out towards a number of one-man foxholes. Ringed by an apron fence made from captured British barbed-wire and screened by snipers, the main machinegun posts, constructed from logs and topped with eighteen-inch wide tree trunks and three feet of soil, contained at least two and, in some cases, three weapon slits. They were set on small  JANUARY 2014 107

VALOUR AT THE SHARP END Baptism of Fire in Burma

A pre-war territorial, Alec Horwood, pictured front right, served in the British Expeditionary Force in France as a corporal (acting sergeant) in the 1/6th Queen’s Royal (West Surrey) Regiment.

A young Alec Horwood. Within a decade, he would become one of the country’s greatest war heroes at the cost of his life.

rises with commanding views across the steep ridges which led onto the position and were designed for all round defence. None of this was known to the Northants when they embarked on the operation in late December 1943. Aside from the position’s rough location, they had no idea of its scale, its layout or its garrison strength. All that was certain was that the approach march over steep hills and knife-back ridges covered with seemingly impenetrable jungle would be long and torturous.

As Terence Molloy observed: “The blasting of the foliage was a doubtful blessing. We could see our objective, but equally our movements were visible to the enemy.”3 In fact, as a post-battle investigation showed, the bombing had been largely counter-productive. Not only was the main bunker site untouched – only two bombs had fallen on the position – but the slopes around it had been turned into a perfect “killing ground” with “cleared fire lanes” in which the “approach of attackers [was] more obvious from greater distances”.4

PAINFULLY SLOW

Before the war, Alec Horwood had been a champion road cyclist. A captain of the Bath Road Cycle Club (which he had joined in 1933 at the age of 19), Horwood held a string of time and distance records and was a four-times holder of the 12-hour race trophy having won it in consecutive years from 1935-37 and regained it in 1939. The Bicycle journal described him as “a man of the finest character and a true cyclist and clubman”.

Alec and Madeline Horwood. The couple met when Alec was stationed with his unit near Yeovil in 1940 and married in 1941. Madeline became a widow at the age of 23.

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The going was fearfully hard. All essential stores had to be man-handled or carried on mules. In places the gradients were so steep that men had to scramble up on hands and knees. Over hills such as these, the mortar platoon, consisting of twenty-six men, had to carry three mortars and more than a ton of bombs. Inevitably, progress was painfully slow. Not until the end of the first week in January did the battalion and a range of support and covering units, including the 2nd Battalion Border Regiment and 3/8th Battalion Gurkha Rifles, reach the swift-flowing waters of the River Yu. The attack had been fixed for 10 January 1944, but the fine weather, vital for the aerial bombardment earmarked for the first time to accompany a ground assault in Burma, deteriorated, forcing a five-day postponement which was extended by another couple of days after a report that a party of forty Japanese with six elephants had been sighted apparently moving away from the Kyaukchaw position. Only after more patrols had confirmed the enemy were still definitely occupying their defences did the bombing support mission go-ahead, albeit curtailed from a two-day operation to one lasting less than two hours. Elation on the ground at what appeared a devastatingly accurate air strike was to prove short-lived.

ALMOST CERTAIN DEATH The consequences were dire. Supported by fire from mountain guns, the leading company began its attack the following morning and quickly discovered it was going to be no walkover. As he moved forward, Ted Kelly found No.1 Company pinned down, “enfiladed by heavy and accurate machine-gun fire and … taking casualties at an alarming rate”.5 To Kelly, it seemed as though “the slightest movement” on the ridge invited almost certain death from a position no one could actually see, let alone subdue. One man, however, refused to be cowed by the fire that had stopped the attack dead in its tracks. Lieutenant Alec Horwood, the battalion’s 30-yearold mortar officer, was a man with a reputation for daring as borne out by the ribbon of the Distinguished Conduct Medal, earned as an acting sergeant with the Queen’s West Surrey Regiment. Commissioned and transferred to the Northants, “John” Horwood, as he was known by fellow officers, had shown himself to be an intense, serious-minded officer imbued with a rare determination to defeat the enemy at all costs. From dawn to dusk on that first day’s fighting, Horwood held fast at the sharp end of the Northants’ faltering assault. Ostensibly, he had accompanied No.1 Company in a supporting role, seeking www.britainatwar.com

A pipe-smoking Alec Horwood, right, with a colleague off duty in Ceylon. Horwood joined the 1st Northamptonshires in mid-1942. Fellow officer Major Terence Molloy recalled: “At that time the Battalion was going through a bad patch. Most of our old regular officers were leaving us for home after long service in India … Replacements for officers and men from several different units began to arrive. These were disgruntled at having been sent abroad … All this was not a good introduction to the Northamptons for ‘John’ (as Horwood was known in the unit) and some of his comments made at the time were justifiably scathing.”

out targets for his 3-inch mortars, but his actions went way beyond delivering accurate covering fire. In cajoling and encouraging men, most of whom were under fire for the first time, he became the galvanising spirit of the attack and its main driving force. Ignoring the hail of fire that had driven the company to ground, he ventured out into the open, darting across ground described as “a sniper’s paradise”6, to pinpoint Japanese positions. While bullets cracked around him, he established his first observation post within 120 yards of the enemy wire. From there, exposed to all manner of fire, he was not only able to bring down mortar fire to cover No.1 Company’s withdrawal after dark, but brought back with him the most detailed information yet about the extent and location of the

Japanese defences. To men whose confidence had taken a severe knock and whose enthusiasm for the fight had given way to “agonising disenchantment”7, Horwood’s heroic example had been an inspiration. John Hopkins, then a lieutenant and secondin-command of No.1 Company, was astonished by his tireless effort. During an afternoon when they had been pelted by grenades and machine-gun fire, Hopkins had not seen Horwood pause for a moment. “I don’t think he even sat down,” wrote Hopkins. “He walked about, talking to the men, pointing out enemy positions and generally encouraging everyone, myself included.”8 Brave performance though it was, it marked merely the beginning of a display of gallant leadership that all but beggared belief. 

"WE RAN LIKE HELL" ALEC HORWOOD was the only soldier in the British Army to be awarded the Victoria Cross and the Distinguished Conduct Medal during the Second World War. The former jam factory accounts clerk and road cycling champion earned his first award for an audacious escape during the disastrous 1940 campaign in Belgium and France. He was serving as a corporal (acting sergeant) with his territorial unit, the 1/6th Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment, when its was overrun by a fierce German attack across the River Escaut. Around 400 men from the battalion were killed, wounded or captured on 21 May 1940, and Horwood, together with most of his company, was forced to surrender. Marched north towards Antwerp, they were eventually incarcerated in a barn from where, on 26 May, Horwood and Captain A.R. Trench climbed out of a window and made a dash for freedom. Over the course of the next six days, they walked more than 100 miles, adopted various disguises, stole a boat and rowed along the coast from German-held Nieuport to the evacuation beaches around Dunkirk where they boarded a ship bound for Dover on 2 June. In the course of their great escape they had avoided re-capture numerous times on a hazardous march that took them, via Antwerp and Ostend, through the German lines. At one point, they ran into trouble while trying to break into a house in order to swap their uniforms for civilian clothes. “On approaching,” noted Trench, “two dogs started barking loudly; we turned round and ran like hell.” Their narrowest “squeak” came when they were almost in sight of salvation. Having skirted columns of enemy artillery and transport, they had found a boat in a narrow creek and taken shelter in a nearby house till nightfall. “After we had been resting for about an hour two Germans came in the house with revolvers,” wrote Trench. “They shouted something at us and we thought that this time we were finished. We, however, lay where we were and after they had searched the house they went out, much to our relief.” Starting out just before midnight on 1 June, they scrambled over sandbanks before drifting unseen towards the open sea, where they began rowing towards the sound of gunfire. They pulled all night, salvaging a couple of lifebelts from the burned out wreck of HMS Basilisk along the way, until they heard “the sounds of battle” and an air-raid in progress. After things quietened down, they rowed to shore and landed among French forces. Driven to Dunkirk, their luck held when a shell fell some twenty yards away from their car. Following a day of heavy bombing and shelling, they completed one of the war’s earliest “home runs” aboard a transport, “dressed in some very peculiar uniforms”. Three months later, The London Gazette announced the awards of a Military Cross to Captain Trench and a DCM to Corporal Horwood for their “great courage … considerable coolness and resource”. TOP RIGHT: Alec Horwood as a corporal in the Queen’s Royal (West Surrey) Regiment in December 1939.

Training in Ceylon. Alec Horwood, far left, with, from left to right, Lieutenant J.M. Knowles, Lieutenant P.R. Noakes, Lieutenant Hincks and Lieutenant G.C. Adnitt, all of the 1st Northamptonshires, and Lieutenant Spencer of the Royal Artillery. Knowles, Noakes and Adnitt were among the officers “left out of battle” at Kyaukchaw. Hincks, a platoon commander in No.3 Company, was wounded on 18 January 1944, and abandoned after the man escorting him back “developed hysterics”. Search parties failed to find Hincks and it was not until the following day that he made his way into Battalion HQ with wounds to his neck and shoulder. www.britainatwar.com

LEFT: The newly commissioned Second Lieutenant Alec Horwood shortly before being posted overseas to join the 1st Battalion the Northamptonshire Regiment. JANUARY 2014 109

ABOVE LEFT: Lieutenant Alec Horwood DCM, sixth from the right in the front standing row, on a 3-inch mortar training course at Sangar in India, in February 1943. Company commander Major Peter Keily described him as “an extremely capable” mortar officer. ABOVE RIGHT: John Hopkins at the wheel of a jeep later in 1944 while serving as a liaison officer at 20 Division HQ. He is flanked on the left by Captain “Bunny” Dubois of the Devons and Captain Bill Young of the Borders. Kyaukchaw was Hopkins’ first action. Writing of Alec Horwood’s final charge, he said: “Never before or since had I seen such gallantry.”

“BLOODCURDLING YELLS” No.1 Company renewed the assault the following day, though reduced by the previous day’s fighting to around fifty men. They charged out from the cover of some scrub with “great elan and bloodcurdling yells”9 to make a frontal assault in broad daylight against a position not yet fully identified. “On breasting a small crest some 40 yards from the wire, the Jap gave us a hot reception and the assault, decimated by further casualties, came to an abrupt halt,” wrote Ted Kelly. Mortar bombs and grenades rolled down on them added to the confusion, but Horwood, who was up with the leading elements, was undaunted. “He was completely unruffled by anything that happened around us,” added John Hopkins. “On one occasion, when a grenade fell near a group of men who started to shuffle away from it, ‘John’, who was standing nearby, called out, ‘Don’t take any notice of that. It’s only made of cardboard.’ At that moment, it exploded without harming anyone and ‘John’ said, ‘There you are. What did I tell you?’”10 Though they stopped short of the enemy bunkers, the Northants had edged closer to the wire. Having got so

RIGHT: Lieutenant Colonel (later Brigadier) Ted Taunton DSO heaped praise on his mortar officer. “The capture of Kyaukchaw, the first bunkered Japanese position to be captured, was the result of Horwood’s untiring endurance and devotion to duty,” he wrote.

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near, Horwood was determined not just to maintain the pressure but to push on. With the attack threatening to stall again, he seemed to Kelly to become restless and agitated. He heard him bluntly ask the company commander “why in hell he didn’t assault with his remaining troops” and “demanded that he be permitted to lead the assault”.11 The demand was refused. Horwood’s blood, however, was well and truly up. Frustrated by what he saw as a lack of “offensive spirit”, he personally confronted one man who appeared to be hanging back. Kelly witnessed the incident and, years later, wrote: “In my mind’s eye, I can see Horwood now, standing up, kukri dangling from his wrist, rifle at the aim, levelled at Cpl Stanford, a Bren gunner. “Horwood asked Stanford what he was doing and was told that he was guarding the rear. Horwood was almost apoplectic. ‘Guarding the rear? Guarding the bloody rear?’ he shouted. ‘Get the gun forward and guard the bloody front before I shoot you.’ “Stanford crawled forward a few yards but Horwood was not satisfied. ‘Forward,’ he shouted, and remained standing, emphasising each word with

a wave of the rifle until the gun was on the crest.”12 Unable to make any further headway, the remnants of No.1 Company nevertheless clung on to their advanced position some fifty yards from the wire. John Hopkins, who had been slightly wounded in the day’s attack, recalled the night that followed as being one of “real misery”, with no warm clothing, no blankets and no food.

ONE LAST ATTACK The next day saw the Northants’ position growing more precarious by the hour. The unit war diarist candidly admitted: “The men … were getting tired, and were rather shaken by being shot at and grenaded by people they very seldom saw.”13 Horwood alone among so many of his comrades, held fast to the conviction that the besieged Japanese position could be captured. “Around midday,” Hopkins later wrote, “he told me that he was convinced that a last attack would crack the position. I asked him who would do this. By now the numbers in my platoon had shrunk alarmingly and physically the men were in no condition to make a final assault.”

on slight rises, they had A sketch of one of the Japanese bunkers at Kyaukchaw. Built deeper, the defenders would have commanding views over the surrounding hills. Though a little According to the prisoner taken operated two or three machine-guns from a prone position. ample protection from the air after the position was abandoned, the overhead cover afforded s outside of the defences. unaware caught was who man a was bombardment. The only casualty

www.britainatwar.com

have

ir ces.

ABOVE: A panoramic impression of the Kyaukchaw battleground showing the Japanese position and the hills studded with shattered trees and denuded of vegetation which the Northamptonshires had to advance across.

ABOVE: This aerial photograph of the Kyaukchaw battlefield was taken by an RAF reconnaissance aircraft on 17 December 1943, a month before the aerial bombardment transformed the landscape around the Japanese positions.

THE NORTHANTS’ COMPANY NUMBERS THE STANDARD British Army infantry battalion identified its component platoons by numerals and its four rifle companies by the letters A, B, C, and D. However, by January 1944, the 1st Battalion the Northamptonshire Regiment, had become so low in strength it was decided to reduce the number of companies to three. As these were now composite companies made up from men of all four companies, it was agreed that they should be identified by numbers. LEFT: A sketch plan of the Japanese defensive positions attacked by the 1st Northamptonshires in January 1944, showing the main bunkers, trenches and barbed wire cordon. BELOW: A plan of one of the bunkers, and linking trench, which formed part of the Japanese positions at Kyaukchaw – it gives an idea of the scale and construction of these defences. The Northamptonshires had intended to attack them with ‘Beehive’ explosive charges and ‘pole charges’, a plan Sergeant Ted Kelly described as “naïve”. By the end of the action, he said most of the demolition equipment was “lying unused at the rear”.

According to Hopkins, Horwood then went back to headquarters where he presented his plan to the battalion commander. In an account written a year later, Lieutenant Colonel Ted Taunton stated that Horwood had asked permission to “go in with the final attack”. “He said quite simply that he knew he had severely mauled the enemy by his mortar fire and he wanted to complete the job and be in at the kill with the men he had so ably supported.”14 A little later, Horwood returned, bringing with him two sections from the Guerrilla Platoon of the 3/8th Gurkha Rifles, and a couple of detachments of sappers from 92 Field Company, RE who were equipped with bee-hive explosive devices and polecharges for dealing with the bunkers. The plan, hinging on a combination of courage and surprise, was simple enough and, in Ted Kelly’s assessment, “had to succeed or fail utterly”. Under cover  www.britainatwar.com

VALOUR AT THE SHARP END Baptism of Fire in Burma AUSTRALIA’S “ACE INFANTRYMAN” HAILED AS the “ace infantryman of the 2nd AIF”, Thomas Currie Derrick was the only other soldier, aside from Lieutenant Alec Horwood, to be awarded both the VC and DCM during the Second World War. Sadly, like Alec Horwood, he did not live to see the end of a conflict in which he played such a distinguished part. “Diver” Derrick, as he was known to his mates, was serving as a sergeant in the 2/48th Battalion when he earned both honours in the space of 16 months on the battlefields of North Africa and New Guinea. Born in 1914 in the small town of Berri on the Murray River, over 200 miles from Adelaide, he worked as a carpenter, a baker and a fruit-picker before becoming a farm manager. He enlisted in July 1940 and his soldierly qualities during the siege of Tobruk resulted in his promotion to corporal. By the summer of 1942, he was a sergeant and in July, during the First Battle of El Alamein, he earned the first of his gallantry awards. Having led a charge which resulted in the capture of three Italian machine-gun nests and 100 enemy troops, he singlehandedly beat off an armoured counter-thrust by successfully attacking two tanks with ‘sticky’ bombs. The citation for his Distinguished Conduct Medal, gazetted on 18 February 1943, stated: “On all occasions, both in and out of action, Sgt Derrick has been exemplary in his conduct and courage.” Nine months later, however, he surpassed even that high praise with a superlative display of brave and inspirational leadership which is widely regarded as the pre-eminent individual action performed by an Australian soldier during the Second World War. Ordered to retire after a prolonged assault up a steep cliff towards the Japanese stronghold of Sattelberg looked like ending in failure, Derrick asked for twenty minutes to make one last effort. In the fading light of 24 November 1943, he pushed ahead of his leading section and stormed one enemy post after another that was holding up his platoon. Firing short bursts from Owen sub-machine guns and Bren guns into the bunker openings, he and others then rushed forward to grenade each enemy post in turn. In this way, they cleared seven or eight machine-gun posts, most of the defenders fleeing in the face of their unstoppable surge. All told, “Diver” Derrick was credited with destroying ten enemy positions. More importantly, this courageous assault secured a vital foothold from which the battalion was able to complete the victory the following day. Derrick’s role in the capture of Sattelberg was recognised first by being given the honour of raising the Australian flag over the town from a shell-battered tree. This was followed by the announcement, on 23 March 1944, of the award of the Victoria Cross. Commissioned later that same year, Derrick rejoined his old unit as a reinforcement officer in time for the landing on Tarakan Island, in a campaign to regain the rich oilfields of Borneo. During the early hours of 23 May 1945, while resisting a Japanese attack, he was seriously wounded in the stomach and thigh. He insisted on remaining with his men until the crisis was over and was eventually evacuated to a field hospital where he succumbed the following day. TOP LEFT: Sergeant Thomas Derrick VC, DCM. (COURTESY OF THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL; 141308)

RIGHT: This view of one of the Japanese positions at Kyaukchaw – that known as “Bath” – was photographed eight months after the battle and shows the speed with which the jungle reasserted itself. “This was stripped bare when we fought over it except for the standing trees,” wrote John Hopkins. “The Japanese were dug in on the forward slope.” The spot where Alec Horwood fell is slightly to the left of the right-hand tree, about two-thirds of the way up the slope.

112 JANUARY 2014

of a smokescreen laid by the Northants’ mortars, the engineers would blow a gap in the wire with a makeshift bamboo Bangalore torpedo. The Gurkhas and engineers would then rush through and, supported by Bren gun fire from No.1 Company, storm the Japanese position. With its reliance on guts and determination, it was no surprise that Horwood should insist on personally leading what seemed to some observers a desperate, nigh on suicidal assault. Final preparations for the attack, timed to go in at 16.00 hours, were made in John Hopkins’ platoon area. He later recalled the “fearsome sight” of the Gurkhas “working themselves up” into a battle frenzy: “Their bayonets were fixed and their kukris hung by a leather thong from their right wrist, and they ground their teeth and rolled their eyes so that they seemed to show an enormous amount of white, all the while making curious, animal-like noises. “Observing this, Sergeant Pottinger, a former lumberjack, remarked, ‘Thank Christ they’re on our side!”15

CUT DOWN With the pre-battle ritual complete, the Northants’ mortars opened up, masking the bare ridge in a cloud of smoke. Then, led by Horwood, the Gurkhas leapt forward and ran straight at the enemy position. The Northants’ Bren team opened up on the left and as the smoke began to clear the Japanese realised what was

happening. Above the din, Hopkins heard them shouting “Gurkha! Gurkha!” Looking on, he saw that the attackers had reached the wire where they were being pelted by a hail of bullets. Undeterred, Horwood was seen and heard urging on his men as the ground around him was being raked by fire. Suddenly, Hopkins saw Horwood jump up onto a tree stump, “where everyone, including ourselves, could see him” and from there, with bullets and bombs bursting all around him, he continued to bravely direct the attack. It was then that things went awry. The Bangalore torpedo failed to explode and, as the last wisps of smokescreen cleared away, the attackers were left fully exposed to the intense Japanese fire as they struggled to force a way through the wire. The engineers, weighed down with their explosives, fell back. The Gurkhas, however, persisted, and set about “throwing grenades into enemy communication trenches and firing into the bunkers”. Against all the odds, it looked for a moment “as if the attack would be a success”. But the Japanese resistance was too fierce and the attackers too vulnerable. “Suddenly,” wrote Hopkins, “the inevitable happened. As I watched, I saw ‘John’ go backwards as if cut down by a scythe.”16 The rifle and bayonet he was carrying was shot to pieces and it was obvious to everyone that Horwood was dead.

OPPOSITE LEFT: The telegram sent to Madeline Horwood in March 1944 announcing the posthumous award of the Victoria Cross to her late husband.

With the leader down, the impetus went out of the attack and the Gurkhas, who had lost two men killed and six wounded, fell back along with the Northants’ Bren team. The attack which had lasted but a few minutes was over, but the heroism did not end with Horwood’s death. No sooner had the Jemadar commanding the Gurkha platoon made it back, than he asked Hopkins to give him covering fire. “He explained that Gurkhas always recovered their dead. So we opened up again and the Gurkhas rushed forward, to the terror of the Japs who thought it was another blanket as a sling, brought the body back and laid it down where I was standing.”18 Advancing through a trail of shattered trees, the young stretcher bearer had been pelted by mortars, known as “daisy cutters”, and by rifle fire from enemy troops he never saw. “It was close enough,” Jarvis later recalled, “but I wasn’t hit at all. I just crawled up the slope, picked him up and brought him back.”19 Horwood’s assault, desperately brave though it was, had failed, but, though it was not immediately apparent to the exhausted Northants, it had come close enough to success to convince the Japanese that a withdrawal would be advisable.

THE FIRST PRISONER

attack, and picked up several [sic] who had been killed.”17 As they scampered away with their casualties, the sounds of battle faded away, leaving Hopkins momentarily stunned by what he had just witnessed. The full realisation had yet to sink in when he was approached by one of the company stretcher bearers, a young soldier known as “Boy” Jarvis on account of having enlisted as a 15-year-old drummer. “Where is Mr Horwood?” he asked and a still dazed Hopkins pointed towards the spot where he had fallen and told him he was sure Horwood was dead. “‘Boy’ Jarvis then moved away,” wrote Hopkins, “and I went on doing other things until suddenly the grenades started flying again. I looked up and there, right by the tree stump, stood Jarvis, methodically unfolding a blanket. He bent down and tried to do something on the ground, but, apparently finding himself impeded, stood up again and took off his equipment and, using the www.britainatwar.com

As Hopkins’ depleted platoon of just nine men pulled back to allow mountain guns and mortars to take over with harassing fire, the shaken enemy garrison made its own plans to withdraw. Over the course of the next few days, while the Northants and supporting Indian troops belatedly attempted to box them in, the Japanese slipped away rather than face annihilation. On the morning of 25 January 1944, an Allied patrol found the Kyaukchaw position abandoned, its bunkers and trenches littered with equipment and occupied only by five bodies and a wounded enemy soldier who became the first Japanese to be captured alive since offensive operations began in central Burma. Many painful lessons had been learned, not least about the limitations of air power and the enemy’s tenacity in defence, but for the first time a Japanese bunker system, one of the strongest ever encountered by Allied troops in Burma, had been successfully taken. That it had fallen, albeit only after much heavy fighting and losses amounting to almost a quarter of the Northants’ fighting strength, owed much to the matchless courage of a single junior officer, Alec ‘John’ Horwood. His battalion commander, Lieutenant

Colonel Taunton, later wrote: “For three days and two nights, under continuous aimed fire, he displayed great gallantry and set a fine example to all ranks of cool, calculated bravery. He fought and died as he had lived, a fine officer who knew no fear.”20 John Hopkins, whose eyewitness evidence helped secure for Horwood the Burma campaign’s first Victoria Cross to a British serviceman, went further. Describing the final charge which climaxed a relentless display of valour, he wrote: “Never before or since had I seen such gallantry. ‘John’ Horwood’s action was not just a spurof-the-moment madcap dash, but a calculated, determined attempt to defeat the enemy.”21 In so doing, Horwood had helped to shatter the myth of Japanese invincibility and shown that British soldiers, well-led and well-organised, could beat them even in the most unfavourable of circumstances. 

LEFT & ABOVE: When the divisional padre returned to Kyaukchaw later in 1944 he found the original cemetery had been largely reclaimed by the jungle. A company of Indian sappers was set to work "after the Jemadar had harangued the men about a VC Sahib”. Today, Alec Horwood is commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial. FAR LEFT: In 2012, Alec Horwood’s name was added to the Yeovil war memorial at a ceremony attended by his daughter, Catherine, who he never saw. (NEVILLE STANIKK PHOTOGRAPHY)

NOTES 1.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

18. 19. 20. 21.

Ted Kelly, “With Strange Sounding Names: Kyaukchaw,” Northamptonshire Regimental Newsletter, 1980. As a sniper, Sergeant P.E. Kelly was later credited with a ‘bag’ of thirty-three Japanese, a feat which earned him a DCM during the fighting around Imphal. His first successes were achieved at Kyaukchaw. Ibid. Major Terence Molloy, correspondence with the author, 1995. Operartion No.2: Kyaukchaw, Operation Research Section report, TNA. Kelly, op. cit. Account held in the Gracey Papers, Liddell Hart Collection. Kelly, op. cit. John Hopkins, correspondence with the author, 1995 Kelly, op. cit. Hopkins, op. cit. Kelly, op. cit. Ibid. War Diary, 1st Northamptonshire Regiment. Lieutenant Colonel (later Brigadier) Ted Taunton DSO, report prepared for the History of 20 Division, Gracey Papers, Liddell Hart Collection. John Hopkins, Unpublished memoir, passed to the author. Hopkins, memoir op. cit.. Jemadar Singbahadur Gurung, of the 3/8th Gurkha Rifles, was awarded the Indian Order of Merit for his gallant leadership. Naik Parte Pun received the Indian Distinguished Service Medal for his part in the same action. Hopkins, memoir op. cit.. Eric Jarvis, interview with author, 1995. Private E. W. Jarvis was awarded the Military Medal for his outstanding act of bravery on April 20, 1944. Taunton report, op. cit. Hopkins, memoir, op. cit.

JANUARY 2014 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.

AUXILIARY FIRE SERVICE UNIFORM

London Fire Brigade Museum, Southwark Bridge Road, London THE START of the Blitz in September 1940 brought terrible dangers for men and women in the fire service, but also a considerable change in their public image. Writing of the pre-Blitz period in 1940 magazine in 2004, the historian Stephanie Maltman declared that, “feeling towards the Fire Service was at its most hostile. Firemen were subject to abuse, verbal and even physical by members of the public. Accused of being ‘war dodgers’ they were nicknamed by some 'the Darts Brigade' or the ‘Sitzkrieg’.” Then came the Luftwaffe attack on London on “Black Saturday”, 7 September 1940. In the same article Stephanie Maltman described that night in a series of vivid pictures including the firemen fighting fires at the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, among boxes of live ammunition and crates of nitro-glycerine, blazing ships’ superstructures and, in the West India Docks, a fire that, according to one

fireman, “warmed our faces even at a distance of two hundred or three hundred yards and which seemed to go back indefinitely, an endless, solid wall of flame”. Now the fire service could be seen to be populated by heroes. No wonder then that Jane Rugg, Curator of the London Fire Brigade Museum, has chosen a key item from that era to “save from a fire”. “The item I have chosen is an Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) uniform,” she told me. “Despite its initial utilitarian appearance the uniform has a deeper history. “Many AFS firefighters were originally issued with one uniform; with 57 consecutive nights of air raids during the Blitz, uniforms had to be dried out in preparation for the following evening. Some firefighters used the warm bonnets of the fire engines to put their uniforms on in their haste to dry them out. This shortage of uniforms meant that many firefighters worked in postmen’s outfits, as the Post Office had a surplus in store.

An AFS tunic on display in the London Fire Brigade Museum.

“The AFS helmet was a contrast to the peacetime helmet worn by firefighters in the 1930s. Firefighters previously wore cork helmets which had elaborate gold combs to emulate their brass predecessors. With the outbreak of the war and the mobilisation across the UK of about 89,000 men and 6,000 women for full-time service in the AFS, more

LONDON FIRE BRIGADE MUSEUM THE MUSEUM, in Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1, is open to parties booked in advance only and taken round by a guide. The maximum number of people for a party is thirty and tours can be booked for 10.30am or 2pm. Telephone 0208 555 1200 (extension 39894) or email: [email protected]. The museum’s website is: www.london-fire.gov.uk

Firemen seek shelter from the intense heat generated from a fire burning out of control in Queen Victoria Street, London, following the Luftwaffe attack on the night of 10-11 May 1941. (COURTESY OF THE LONDON FIRE BRIGADE MUSEUM)

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cost-effective uniforms were required. Helmets had to provide protection from falling debris and shrapnel and were fitted with leather pieces at the back to protect firefighters’ necks from falling embers when tackling a blaze. “The National Fire Service (NFS) was formed in 1941 to standardise the service countrywide. This was because firefighters travelled to areas where assistance was required and not all equipment was compatible. The AFS helmets were reprinted to reflect this change with the NFS emblem featured. Therefore AFS helmets are extremely rare now, because few survived the change. “The spirit of comradeship among firefighters and the dedication to their job were commendable and according to Churchill the fire service ‘were a grand lot and their work must never be forgotten’.” Jane is conscious though of the type of museum she is running and, despite having “saved” a uniform from Britain at War Magazine’s imaginary fire, she is keen to stress the dangers. She concluded her comments by saying, “Possessions can be very precious, but they are not worth risking your life over. If you have a fire, your first priority is to make sure you and everyone else gets safely out of the building. Once you have got everyone out, make sure you stay out and call the Brigade. Don’t go back into the building for anything. If there is still someone inside, tell firefighters when they arrive – they will be able to find the person quicker and more safely than you.”  www.britainatwar.com

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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

09/10/2013 09:47