Library Reference Number: 228
Every Little Helps
Hitler's personal war against me started in August 1940 when the Luftwaffe commenced their many attacks on Liverpool and where I was serving as a young policeman at the time. On the first raid one of the bombs dropped just behind my home. I didn't like that. When the bombs dropped, the nearest police officer took charge of the incident as it was called, organising the required services, ARP, ambulances, Fire Brigade and Home Guard. I was serving in the dock area and such a job was my lot on many occasions. Besides organising I had to get stuck in and clear rubble from bombed buildings and homes, in an effort to get out the injured, and in many cases, the dead. It was a harrowing experience. Police at that time was a reserved occupation, but a year later the Home Office relented and allowed us to join the Armed Forces. I joined the RAF in July 1941.
After completing ITW (Initial Training Wing) course at St.Andrews in Scotland, I was posted to the Transit Camp in Blackpool to await overseas air crew services under the Empire Training Scheme. Eventually, on board the "Stirling Castle" at Liverpool of all places, we set sail in convoy for South Africa; but not directly, for we docked in Brazil - first at Bahia, then Rio de Janeiro, before re-crossing the Atlantic to disembark at Durban.
At Durban we were welcomed by Perla Siedle Gibson, an International concert star, dressed in white, who was known as the Lady in White. All convoys which stopped, or passed through Durban would see this lady standing alone on the North Quay, with outstretched arms, singing "Land of Hope and Glory" and many more familiar tunes. She never missed a convoy from April 1940 to August 1945.
On to No.47 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) Queenstown, to take the Observer Course, day flying from there, with the navigation and bombing course, and night flying from Aliwal North, then to Port Alfred for the gunnery course. We played hard but had to work hard as two failures in any subjects meant 'kaput'. Eventually passing out, returned solo to the UK. on board the "Ile de France".
Posted to No.20 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Lossiemouth to crew up in the traditional RAF ritual of 'walk about'. It worked well and everyone seemed satisfied. Indeed it was for me, for I finished my tour with those in whom I put my trust, as they did with me. Then on to Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) at Marston Moor, where at one time the C.O. was Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, V.C. We converted on to Halifaxes before being posted to No. 158 Squadron at Lissett, where the reason for joining would begin.
In the early days of the war navigation was a little haphazard due to lack of navigational aids, but by the time I arrived on the Squadron two further navigational aids were to add to the Distant Reading Compass which was already fitted in the aircraft. I considered the D.R.C. and the new "Gee" and "H2S" equipment were most important in keeping an aircraft on track and also to assist in target finding.
The D.R.C. had a Master Unit placed near the tail of the aircraft as far as possible away from magnetic interference from engines etc., its readings were transmitted through two repeaters, one for the pilot and one for the navigator. The D.R.C. had two advantages over the ordinary magnetic compass which suffered from acceleration and deceleration errors on E and W headings and sluggishness due to other ferrous metals in the pilot's cockpit.
"Gee" involved a system of a Master Transmitting Station with two slaves stations, and the time difference between the radio signals to the aircraft from the Master Station and slave stations determined where the aircraft was at that particular time. Where the lines crossed on a lattice type chart showed that position.
"H2S" consisted of a rotating radar scanner situated below the fuselage which produced echoes of the ground over which the aircraft was flying and they gave an image on a cathode-ray tube. Where the contrast was sharp between land and water, i.e., coastlines, lakes, rivers and canals the image was clearly defined.
My personal war started on the 10th May 1944 with a trip to the marshalling yards at Lens. There was some apprehension when crossing the enemy coast at Dunkirk where there was some light flak, and I thought we had been hit as a fire started under my seat, if this is the first one what are the rest to be like, I thought, but relief, for what had caused the fire was a short circuit in the electrics.
Further raids on marshalling yards and railways followed before my first encounter with the Krauts. This was at the end of May when Field Marshal Montgomery sought help from Bomber Command to remove a Panzer division which was delaying his progress at Bourg-Leopold. We duly obliged and so precise was the bombing that the target was frequently obscured by smoke and dust. Although there was interference from night fighters, the attack was a great success and Monty was pleased to be on his way.
Soon after this we went to Sterkrade in the Ruhr to put some nasties on the Fischer Tropsch Synthetic Oil Plant. Although there were some fighters about we were never engaged. On landing back at Lissett, I was silently pleased with this operation, for it was my first into Germany and I had taken some revenge for what had been done to Liverpool.
My next two trips were to 'V' weapon sites and by damaging them we were delaying further attacks on London and the South East.
On returning from a trip to Stuttgart we were homing on a "Gee" line when just south of Newark our Flight Engineer decided to inform us that we had only fifteen minutes fuel left so we diverted to Syerston, at that time a Lancaster Finishing School, which was a little to port. We decided that we wanted an explanation from our Flight Engineer and he told us that he had fallen asleep. We landed at Syerston 7 hours 45 minutes after takeoff.
After being de-briefed by whom we considered a very inexperienced Intelligence Officer, he asked us "What happens now?. Taffy. our rear gunner, who liked his food was quick off the mark with his reply. "A flying breakfast steak. egg and chips." We got it. After re-fuelling we returned to Lissett for a proper de-briefing and another breakfast - but no steak.
In early August ten of the Squadron were briefed to bomb the 'V' weapon site at L'Hey. We, together with PFF got there early, so we all circled the target - it was a daylight -and true to tradition of PFF, they delayed lighting up until the allotted time when they would put their markers down. While this circling was going on we got hit by flak and were losing oil from one of the engines and at the conclusion of the raid everybody belted back home except us. We thought this very naughty of them, leaving us to fend for ourselves.
Later in the month we went to Duisburg on a daylight raid with 1,012 other aircraft. The Squadrons bombing time was 0909 to0911 hours and in those two minutes over the target ten of the Squadron aircraft were hit by heavy flak at 18,000 feet, and we were one of them but we all got safely back to base. Later that night 1,008 Bomber Command aircraft again bombed Duisburg, and I understand that they could map read from the coast due to the smoke we had caused earlier.
There was a disappointing end to my tour of operations for on the 23rd October we were briefed to attack Essen and our Squadron was to lead the Command. Our aircraft was to lead the Squadron. My pilot, Tommy Coles and I were F/0's and we were to lead the Main Force of 1,055 aircraft of Bomber Command to Essen. It was, as I read somewhere, asking a midshipman to be in charge of the Fleet, but that would never happen in the Navy.
However, the detail was scrubbed for a few hours due to weather, but before it was on again our crew had been informed that we had been screened and our tour was over. I would have liked to have done that trip, but maybe it was for the best for us at least.
Having finished my tour it was back to Lossiemouth as an Instructor, and after a spell there I was posted to 132 O.T.U. Coastal Command at East Fortune as a Navigation Instructor. Although there were pupils, all I can remember is that the staff consisted of Administration and Flying Control. I was surprised to find that there were no aircraft except an Oxford, which no one seemed to know anything about. The only flying personnel on the station was a tour expired pilot and myself.
He and I had sleeping out passes in Edinburgh so we decided to have more than a look at the Oxford We did all the checks, inside and out, very thoroughly may I add. There was fuel in it, so we gave it an air test and as all seemed well we set course for Turnhouse. We asked the maintenance staff there to give it a service and fill her up, which they did. We returned to East Fortune the following morning and on arrival there no questions were asked, so accordingly the two of us used 'HN 410' as a means of transport to and from our work while at East Fortune. I wonder what happened to that aircraft after we left.
I enjoyed my career in the RAF and especially Squadron life, which was casual, while at the same time there was a self inflicted discipline while flying. With anti-aircraft fire and fighters having a go at you, flying through the box barrages of flak, and heart in the mouth time, when, after dropping your bombs you kept straight and level to get a photograph of where your bombs fell. I am not afraid to tell I was frightened to hell and bloody scared at times.
It is said that as you progressed through a tour you got more experienced, maybe, but to survive you had to be very lucky and I was one of these. My two Police colleagues who joined with me were not so fortunate, as one was shot down on his twelfth trip and became a P.O. W, while the other was shot down and killed on his first op. As I said, I was lucky. I do not regret my service life for I joined as a boy and came out a man, and I am sure it shaped my future.
From "Valiant Endeavours" (1993) published by the Dumfries & Galloway Branch, The Aircrew Association.