Library Reference Number: 216
178 Squadron - Operations In Italy
No.178 Squadron was a heavy bomber squadron that spent the entire Second World War operating in the Mediterranean. It was formed on 15th January 1943 at Shandur, Egypt, around a nucleus from 160 Squadron and managed the very rare feat of carrying out its first combat mission on the very same day.
The squadron followed the Allied armies as they advanced through Libya, before on 1st March 1944 moving to Italy, remaining there for the rest of the war. As well as carrying out bombing missions over North Africa, Italy and the Balkans, the squadron was used to drop supplies to partisans, even reaching as far as Poland on occasions. It was to this RAF Unit that Bill Young eventually found himself a member. It was not a direct path there however and Bill describes his devious route towards eventually arriving as a member of No.178 Squadron.
On volunteering for service in RAF aircrew, I commenced training at No.3 Initial Training Wing (ITW), Torquay. I then joined the Flight Engineer Training Course at the RAF School of Technical Training, St Athan, South Wales. On successful completion of this training where I specialised in Halifax aircraft I was posted to a Heavy Conversion Unit at Rufforth, Yorkshire, where I joined my future crew members.
We were asked to volunteer for the Pathfinder Force (PFF) on completion of the course at Rufforth which we did, and continued our training at Warboys and Newmarket where we discovered we were being posted to No. 614 Squadron in Italy. An experienced bomber squadron, duties now included being the Target Marker Squadron for 205 Group of the Mediterranean Strategic Air Force.
Note: “Warboys” was the advanced (PFF) course for Navigators, C/O was Don Bennett (Navigator Ace).
“Newmarket” was the Radar Navigation course with exam at end for Navigators.
We picked up a brand new Halifax fitted with the latest navigational aids and flew it out to North Africa. On arrival at Maison Blanche, Algeria. We were told to park our Halifax next to others and went on by Transport Command to 614 Squadron. About this time our Pilot had been suffering from blurred vision and black-outs and was grounded. The crew were then posted back to the Middle East to a Conversion Unit at Lydda in Palestine where we learned we were converting to B24 Liberator aircraft.
In addition to converting to a different type of aircraft at No.1675 Heavy Conversion Unit, Lydda, we were joined by a different Pilot, Flt Lt John Musgrave, an experienced Liberator Pilot who had completed an operational tour in India with No.159 Squadron. It was just as well that John Musgrave was well experienced on B24s, for on my part it was a tremendous change from being well-versed on Halifax aircraft to suddenly changing to Liberators.
To begin with, the B24 had a nose-wheel in its landing gear which had to be checked before each landing otherwise not being fully locked down would produce one almighty crash. Also as flight engineer, I had to become quickly familiar with pre-flight checks, hydraulics, electrics, fuel transfer methods, and every emergency operation on all systems which may be required at a few seconds notice while in flight. This aircraft also had a walk-through bomb bay traversed by a nine-inch wide catwalk. Handy for checking hang-up bombs, but not advised for losing one’s balance with the bomb doors open.
From a struggling beginning, the B24 rose to become the most vastly produced aircraft during World War Two! By the end of the war, 19,256 B24s and B24 variants were produced, making it the most produced U.S. aircraft of all other types. In use by the RAF in the Far East, it had been known for crews to extend the maker’s range to cover distances of over 3,000 miles. This range advantage was obvious during the Battle of the Atlantic where U-boat activity had been rampant when operating outside the range restrictions of other Allied aircraft.
At No.1675 H.C.U. Lydda we proceeded through the full routine of circuits and bumps and cross country flights with bombing practice. However, somewhere in between, our Navigator Bert Cranthorne and Johnny Brennan our Rear Gunner managed to take the Arab bus to visit the Holy Land places such as Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
Our conversion to B24s completed in seven weeks, we were now considered to be ready for action and were taken back to Italy by Transport Command. We arrived at our destination by truck at No.178 Squadron, RAF Amendola, at dawn on 15th September 1944.
Foggia Plain airfields were constructed across fields with the soil compacted and raised, then covered with pierced steel planking. We shared our field with B17 Flying Fortresses; and the Americans, were usually landing at dusk as our Liberators were warming up prior to take-off. "Flying Control" consisted mainly of a caravan parked at the end of the runway from which an Aldis lamp was flashed!
For members of aircrew expected to perform at their best, living conditions at Amendola could in no way be compared to UK Airfields. We lived in war worn tents and slept on home made beds, the best of which consisted of planking balanced on empty oil drums or spare boxes. Water dripped through the porous roofs of our tents when it rained and we had nowhere to dry our clothing or blankets that had been brought from North Africa. In winter the freezing temperatures persuaded us to sleep in our flying kit to keep warm. In the morning, our wash-hand basin consisted of an upturned helmet filled with freezing water making shaving a painful business. In short, we had no ablutions, and worst of all our latrines consisted of a hole in the ground.
We were told to forget the 'flying breakfast' of bacon and eggs promised to UK-based aircrew, and our food was cooked on field kitchens fired by oil, and our diet consisted of canned meat and vegetables with occasional corned beef or spam. Dark brown "compo" tea was our reward on arriving back at base from an operation.
Now established as members of No. 178 we began to take stock of our Unit. The Squadron was formed in Egypt on 15th January 1943 and immediately began attacking targets in Tripoli. followed by other targets in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Crete. With the retreat of the enemy in Tunisia, the Squadron moved near to Benghazi and on 4th March bombed shipping in Naples Harbour. Italian and Sicilian ports were bombed during March and April to prevent supplies reaching enemy forces evacuating from North Africa. Attention was then directed to Sicily and Italy, which were heavily bombed prior to the Allied invasion. The islands of Pantelleria and Lampedusa were quickly captured, and Sicily fell in just 38 days. Two divisions of the 8th Army crossed the Straits of Messina and landed in Southern Italy in March 1944. The Italians soon surrendered, but Italy was occupied immediately by Germany's finest fighting divisions.
In July 1944, 178 Squadron moved to Amendola, near Foggia, and the following month, supply drops to the underground Polish Home Army in Warsaw began. The brave Poles were trapped between the German and Russian armies. Aircraft from Italy faced a hazardous round trip of about 1800 miles, and the resultant heavy losses severely depleted the strength of the Squadron. Aid to Warsaw finally ceased after 11th September, as the Polish uprising was cruelly crushed. We arrived at Amendola on 15th September, knowing that we were part of an attempt to bring the Squadron up to strength and continue the Mediterranean Allied Strategic Air Force bombing over enemy occupied Europe.
Our first operation was the bombing of a rail marshalling yard at Szekesfehervar in Hungary on 19th September 1944. Bert Cranthorne our Navigator attended an early briefing along with other Navigators to take note of route details, target information and timings so that maps and charts could be made ready. Timings were also given to make sure that bombing and photography were correctly phased over the target. At the main briefing all aircrews assembled to hear the final details including specific tasks appropriate to crew members. The Intelligence Officer stood in front of a map with small red flags denoting the known position of heavily defended areas, and, with eyes aimed at the navigators, usually advised them to take careful note, and avoid them if possible.
During take-off fully loaded on our third operation one of our engines exploded and caught fire. We were barely airborne and spent an anxious forty minutes trying to maintain height as I struggled along with our Bomb Aimer to jettison the un-fused bomb-load in fields clear of the airfield. The skill of John Musgrave brought us down safely with wheel brakes smoking as we ran the full length of the runway.
Our target on the 12th October was the rail marshalling yard at Bronzola in northern Italy where enemy supplies were being transported through the Brenner Pass. The meteorological forecast given at briefing proved to be inaccurate and it was not until we crossed the Italian coastline that Bert Cranthorne was able to determine our true position and calculate a course to bring us to our scheduled turning point at the southern tip of Lake Garda on time. As we neared Ferrara, I remember Bert warning "Watch out for fireworks!" but at the same moment we were hit by ant-aircraft fire which shot away the bomb doors together with six of our eight 1,000 lb. bombs together with the racks. I immediately gave a clear and full account of our damage, at the same time struggling to fight and extinguish a fire in the bomb bay, with the aircraft now dropping in a steep dive. to avoid the searchlights. Bert recalls that our ground position was accurately confirmed by the encounter and was able to give the course to continue on our mission to drop our two remaining 1,000 bombs on the target on ETA!
Many other heavily defended targets including Villach, Salonika, Szombathely, Verona, Pola and Sarajevo railway sidings. Supply drops were also made to partisan forces in Yugoslavia and northern Italy. Containers were parachuted down at low level in narrow valleys in mountainous terrain on targets marked by flares on the ground in predetermined letters or shape, and on 8th November, near Novi Pazar, the nose was hit by light flak, missing our Navigator by a few inches!
178 Squadron was also involved in mining the River Danube reducing the traffic on the River by some 75%. The Squadron also offered close support to our own and also the advancing Red Army from the East.
Bombing operations and supply drops continued into 1945 concentrating on railways, bridges, roads and other communications targets in northern Italy, Austria and Yugoslavia. On 20th March, against the rail junction at Pragersko, an ammunition train was hit and exploded causing considerable damage.
On 22nd March 1945 our mission was Villach marshalling yards in Austria. This was a difficult target set in a deep valley. Over the target the Liberator flying dead astern of us developed a fire in the port wing and spiralled to starboard and fell 2-3,000 feet before finally exploding. The crew would have had no chance of escaping from the inferno. . We discovered later that they were good friends of ours and were also approaching the end of their tour, and were in friendly competition with us to reach a total well in excess of the required 30 operations. Our tour of operations was finalized with a total of 38 missions on this very sad note. John Musgrave our Pilot, now Squadron Leader, was awarded the DSO at the end of our operational tour.
Note:
I am greatly obliged to our Navigator Bert Cranthorne who helped to revive memories of our time during the second World war. He has dedicated his book "Service with a Smile" to the 55,573 bomber aircrew who lost their lives during the war. Bert Cranthorne also noted that sadly no medal was struck to officially recognize the sacrifice and contribution made by bomber crews. The 'Italy Star' was given for service in that country, but aircrew operating over Europe from Italy did not also receive the 'Aircrew Europe Star. '