Library Reference Number: 236

My Two Tours In Bomber Command - And More

Squadron Leader Jack Jarmy DFC

I volunteered for RAF aircrew and was attested at RAF Uxbridge on 17 April 1941 – just ten days before my 19th birthday. After being put through the mill of the selection process at ACRC at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, I was sent to No 9 Initial Training Wing (ITW) at Stratford-upon-Avon. Next I went on to EFTS at Clyffe Pypard in Wiltshire, for ab-initio flying training in Tiger Moth biplanes, on which I did about 20 hours, of which 8 hours were solo. Air Ministry policy then resulted in pilot training in UK being curtailed and I was selected for pilot training in North America.

On 6 January 1942, along with many other aircrew trainees, I embarked at Gourock on the River Clyde near Glasgow on HMT ‘Wolfe’ (previously known as ‘The Mont Calm’). Sailing in convoy, we slept in hammocks and the Atlantic crossing took 8 days. The weather was atrocious, varying from 18 inches of ice on everything, to lovely sunshine when we headed south, then north again, to disembark at Halifax, Nova Scotia. We cheered when we saw a Catalina flying boat escorting us for the last two days of the crossing.

We spent 10 days at RCAF Moncton and then travelled south by train for 3 days into America, arriving at Turner Field, Albany, Georgia, where we were kitted out with United States’ khaki uniform, but retained our RAF forage caps. We had 3 weeks of physical training, drill and lectures of American history: the food was good and they apologised for having only 31 flavours of ice cream – because of the war, in which they had only recently joined!

We then moved on to Carlstrom Field, Arcadia, Florida, flying Stearman PT17 biplanes: next I moved on to Gunter Field, Montgomery, Alabama, for my basic pilot training on Vultee BT13 monoplanes. But it was there that, after about 100 hours flying, I succumbed to the system and was sent back to Canada, where I was re-selected for navigator training. I was sent to No 7 Air Observers’ School (AOS) at Portage La Prairie near Winnipeg. Here we flew in Avro Anson twin-engined aircraft but had to contend with a lot of snow. After each fall, the runways were rolled. But here I had success and graduated as a Pilot Officer Navigator in November 1942.

My group returned to UK by sea across the Atlantic, but this time we were on board the SS ‘Queen Elizabeth’. The crossing was done, unescorted, in 3 days, and also on board were about 17.000 servicemen, mostly Americans. My operational training got underway in April 1943 at No 11 OTU based at RAF Westcott/Oakley near Aylesbury, flying the Vickers Wellington 1C, in which the navigator improved his muscle strength no end, by having to wind the undercarriage up and down, each selection involving 120 turns of the handle! My pilot was a New Zealander, Sgt Alan Mayfield, and our Bomb Aimer a Scot, Jock Somerville. Apart from a crash-landing during one take off, when an engine on the Wellington failed, we progressed well and moved on to No 1651 Conversion Unit (CU) at RAF Waterbeach near Cambridge, to convert on to the Short Stirling 1.

July 1943 saw us joining No 75 (New Zealand) Squadron at RAF Mepal near Ely, to fly the Stirling III, the squadron having recently moved there from Newmarket, where they had operated Wellingtons. On 18 July, in a Stirling, we were briefed for a daylight fighter affiliation exercise over the UK, when RAF fighters could be expected to intercept us – and we could practise our evasive manoeuvres. But we experienced a few tense moments when an over zealous RAF Hawker Typhoon pilot flew too close to us – and clipped off our starboard wing-tip as we corkscrewed to confuse him. The Typhoon pilot baled out successfully as his aircraft spun downwards, out of control. But our aircraft was made of ‘Stirling stuff’ and sustained only slight damage.

Our initiation into operations came just a week later, when we were sent on a ‘Gardening’ operation, the code name for laying ‘vegetables’ (sea mines) near the Frisien Islands, off the north coast of Holland and Germany.

Here is the list of the operations in which I took part:

Date	Target	Flying Hours	Remarks
30 Jul 43	Frisien Is	4.00	‘Gardening – laid 5 mines;
3 Aug 43	Hamburg	6.30	Bombing

This was our fist bombing operation: it nearly ended in disaster, for, as we approached the enemy coastline at 13,550 feet, all four engines cut. Hands reached for parachutes as the Stirling went into a steep descent; however, in what seemed a lifetime, and a loss of 4000 feet, the engines spluttered back into life, whilst our Engineer apologised for pushing the cocks the wrong way. He never made that mistake again! We staggered back up to maximum altitude and attacked Hamburg, which was one of the most successful raids we did: the fires could still be seen when we were 100 miles to the west, over the North Sea on the way home.

Date	Target	Flying Hours	Remarks
6 Aug 43	Bordeaux Approaches	6.50	'Gardening - laid three mines

Returning across France at 1000 feet in bright moonlight, our Bomb Aimer sighted a train, which we circled, before diving down to low level and attacked it with our front and rear Browning machine guns. Finally, the steam locomotive exploded. Subsequently, at de-briefing, we were warned not to do this again, as the Garmans had recently introduced flak trains, which would provide a deadly reception for heavy bombers at low level. Nevertheless, this little diversion into fighter tactics left us quite elated!

Date	Target	Flying Hours	Remarks
10 Aug 43	Nuremberg	7.50	Bombing
12 Aug 43	Turin	8.40	Bombing
16 Aug 43	Turin	8.35	Bombing Diverted Waterbeach (fog)
17 Aug 43	Peenemunde	8.00	Bombed at 8000 feet

The trip to Turin and back provided a welcome break from German opposition, with little enemy action – and sighting Mont Blanc in the moonlight was memorable.

We made this attack on the German rocket experimental establishment on the Baltic coast from about 8000 feet. As we approached the Pathfinder markers, I fortunately stepped up into the astrodome and, on looking up, I saw a Lancaster with its bomb doors wide open, about 100 feet above us. I shouted ‘Turn hard port’ into the intercom and, as we moved away, a stick of high explosive bombs dropped past our starboard wing tip: obviously the Lancaster’s Bomb Aimer, focusing on the target indicators ahead, had not seen us just below him.

Date	Target	Flying Hours	Remarks
7 Aug 43	Nuremberg	8.00	Bombing Landed Ford (short of fuel)

Returning from this raid provided us with another close shave, as we landed at RAF Ford near Chichester and the West Sussex coast, after 8 hours flying time – with our fuel gauges showing zero – and as we taxied into dispersal, two engines cut, through lack of fuel.

Our aircraft had suffered considerable flak damage so, after a few hours sleep, we travelled back to base in Cambridgeshire by train, all of us still in our flying kit, complete with our parachutes, sextant and other kit, which attracted a lot of interest amongst our fellow train passengers!

Date	Target	Flying Hours	Remarks
30 Aug 43	Gladbach	4.00	A/c u/s Returned to base by train
31 Aug 43	Berlin	7.30	Bombing
5 Sep 43	Mannheim	6.30	Bombing
8 Sep 43	Boulogne	2.00	Bombing
15 Sep 43	Montlucon	6.00	Bombing
16 Sep 43	Modane	7.40	Bombing
22 Sep 43	Hanover	6.10	Bombing
23 Sep 43	Mannheim	6.30	Bombing
3 Oct 43	Kassel	5.30	Bombing
4 Oct 43	Frankfurt	6.00	Bombing
8 Oct 43	Bremen	5.15	Bombing
18 Nov 43	Mannheim	6.00	Bombing
19 Nov 43	Leverkusen	4.30	Bombing. Diverted to Bradwell Bay

All Stirling squadrons were suffering heavy losses at this time and ‘75’ became known as the ‘Chop Squadron’ in No 3 Group, because our losses were particularly severe, frequently in excess of 10%. We were just unlucky to be on Stirlings, for in no way were the crews to blame. One of the main problems was that we could not climb above 14,000 feet with a full fuel and bomb load and were thus exposed to more enemy flak and fighter interceptions. In spite of all this, crew morale remained high, although I confess that we were somewhat fatalistic.

But, on 15 December 1943, still with several more ops to do to complete 30, we attended the daily ‘Morning Prayers’ briefing and were astonished to learn that HQ No 3 Group had ordained that our crew and one other had completed our tours, the first on our squadron to do so since we arrived – a most acceptable Christmas present! By then, we had done 21 ops. (Within a month, Stirlings were withdrawn from front-line raiding on main targets – because of the heavy losses they were sustaining).

I found New Zealanders excellent comrades and highly efficient airmen. We shared frequent tense moments when flying together, every crew member depended on each other and a great spirit of comradeship existed at all times. Their popularity was enhanced by the sharing of their frequent food parcels from home in New Zealand, which included delicacies such as tinned oysters and rich fruit cake, unheard of luxuries in wartime Britain.

Throughout the year of 1944, I was instructing at No 3 Lancaster Finishing School at RAF Feltwell on Lancasters. Here the courses ran for a month and newly-constituted crews arrived from the Stirling Conversion Unit, to fly the Lancaster and to be briefed on operational techniques. All the staff instructors had done at least one tour of ops, some two, and many of the pilots were already highly decorated. The new crews flew many sorties of circuits and landings and the experienced staff members of the various aircrew categories passed on their experience. We even had staff who had been shot down on ops, but who had evaded capture and got back to UK, so they were able to pass on invaluable information. Few of the Lancasters then in service had H2S radar at this stage and, as a navigation instructor, I was able to pass on useful tips about the vital need to keep on track, making the Time on Target and teaching such techniques as dog legs, to lose time. In all, it was a very interesting and rewarding year.

In January 1945, I was re-crewed and posted to No 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron at RAF Chedburgh near Bury St Edmunds for my second tour on operations. My new skipper was Flight Lieutenant Guinane, an experienced ex-flying instructor, but on his first operational tour. Our two gunners, who were both aged 28 (and thus considered so old as to be seen as senile) were also on their second tours and thus very experienced as well.

Our ops began in early February 1945:

Date	Target	Flying Hours	Remarks
7 Feb 45	Wanne-Eikel	6.10	Daylight raid on oil plant Poor Weather
8 Feb 45	Hohenbudberg (Krefeld)	4.40	Bombed railway yards
13 Feb 45	Dresden	9.25	Three combats & damage
14 Feb 45	Chemnitz	7.45	Two combats

We nearly came to grief on this raid. After being attacked several times by German fighters in the target area, I climbed into the astrodome about 10 minutes after we had bombed, to check the stars, and I found Polaris on our port (left) side, rather than to starboard, as it should have been: we had been heading east – and for the Russian front! Our H2S radar was unserviceable and the DR compass was damaged. Recovering composure, we navigated back to base using the gyro, P12 compass and astro-compass checks, when available, to land 9 hours 25 minutes after take-off, our longest sortie.

Before long, as a crew, we qualified to act as Target Markers and undertook many daylight raids, in support of the Allied armies advancing through the Low Countries into Germany.

Date	Target	Flying Hours	Remarks
18 Feb 45	Wesel	5.00	Daylight raid
20 Feb 45	Dortmund	5.30	Daylight raid
1 Mar 45	Kamen	5.20	Daylight raid
2 Mar 45	Cologne	5.00	Daylight raid
4 Mar 45	Wanne-Eikel	4.30	Daylight raid
5 Mar 45	Gelsenkirchen	5.10	Daylight raid
7 Mar 45	Dessau	9.05	Flak damage
9 Mar 45	Datteln	5.10	Daylight raid
14 Mar 45	Datteln	4.45	Daylight raid
18 Mar 45	Hattingen	5.10	Daylight raid
22 Mar 45	Bocholt	4.40	Daylight raid
29 Mar 45	Hallendorf	6.40	Daylight raid
13 Apr 45	Kiel	6.00	Night raid
14 Apr 45	Berlin	8.10	Night raid
18 Apr 45	Heligoland	4.40	Daylight raid Starboard outer engine on fire on run-up to target.
24 Apr 45	Bad Oldesloe	6.20	Daylight raid

The Bad Oldesloe raid on the railway yards between Hamburg and Lübeck brought my second tour to an end: and by then, I had done a grand total of 41 ops. This was just two days before my 22nd birthday. A few days later, the war in Europe was over.

Whilst on leave a short while later, I received notification of the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), together with a letter from HM King George VI, apologising for not being able to present the decoration personally.

I elected to stay in the RAF and, in May 1945, I was sent to RAF Credenhill, near Hereford, to attend an Administration course, after which I was posted as station adjutant at RAF Blankenay Hall near Digby, Lincolnshire, which was a Sector HQ in Fighter Command. Nine months later, on the closure of that unit, I was posted to No 1335 Conversion Unit at RAF Molesworth, in Cambridgeshire, again as station adjutant. This unit then moved to RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk and became No 226 OCU with Gloster Meteor jet fighters. A while later, another move took me to RAF Chivenor in North Devon, again as station adjutant for No 203 OCU, with Spitfires. It was here that I was granted a permanent commission on 15 September 1948.

After making several applications to return to flying duties, in 1949 I was sent on a refresher flying course and to the Hastings OCU at RAF Dishforth in Yorkshire, which led to me being posted to No 511 Squadron at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, flying Hastings on the RAF’s then well-established routes across the Middle East to Singapore and the Far East, carrying passengers and freight. We also flew into Korea during the war there and returned in a casualty evacuation role, bringing out seriously wounded Turkish personnel. We were photographed for newspapers in Singapore and dubbed ‘a United Nations crew’, because our skipper was a captain in the USAF (on an exchange posting with the RAF), we had a Polish co-pilot, an Irish Engineer and myself, together with Australian doctors and nurses.

In May 1953, I was posted abroad as station adjutant at RAF Castel Benito in Libya, in the desert about 15 miles south of Tripoli, and an important staging post on Transport Command’s routes eastwards: the station was later re-named RAF Idris (after the Libyan King).

On 1 January 1953, I was promoted to squadron leader rank and posted to HQ Transport Force at RAF Fayid in the Canal Zone, co-operating with the army, controlling paratroop exercises and scheduling the flying effort of the Middle East Transport Wing. In July 1953, a further move resulted in being appointed Senior Administrative Officer at RAF Shallufa, again in the Canal Zone, to the north of the town of Suez. Just 18 months after I arrived there, the station commander was posted back to UK and I became OC RAF Shallufa, subsequently handing over the station to a group of Egyptian Air Force officers (several of whom had been trained at RAF Cranwell): this was on 3 November 1954. I then flew to RAF Idris where my car had remained for the previous two years and spent 6 weeks motoring the 5000 miles home to UK, via Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Gibraltar, Spain and France – quite an experience!

My next posting early in 1955 was as Senior Personnel Staff Officer at HQ No 18 Group, Coastal Command, at RAF Pitreavie Castle, not far from Edinburgh, near the Forth Railway Bridge: here I spent the next two-and-a-half years, but always seeking to return to flying duties. My wish was granted on 19 November 1957 and I completed the Maritime Reconnaissance course at RAF Kinloss on Avro Shackletons, before being appointed as a flight commander on No 204 Squadron with Shackletons at RAF Ballykelly in Northern Ireland. Here we flew very long sorties, of 12 to 15 hours duration, over the North Atlantic and Arctic areas, co-operating with the Royal Navy and NATO Forces. We also did detachments to Gibraltar and Malta. And, of course, we could be sent anywhere when a Search and Rescue operation was mounted.

In 1960, I was sent to fill the post of Air 1 at Air HQ Gibraltar, planning and controlling maritime aircraft participation in NATO exercises: this proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable tour, after which I was sent back to Northern Ireland, to HMS Sea Eagle, to the staff of the Joint Service Anti-Submarine School at Londonderry, concerned with operational anti-submarine tactics and RAF exercises of these aircraft. In 1960, I moved on to RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall, to the staff of the RAF’s Maritime Operational Training Unit, taking charge of the ground training aspects of the courses we ran. Then, for my final tour in the General Duties (Flying) Branch, I was sent to be OC Operations Centre, at the RAF HQ at Episkopi in Cyprus, a most pleasant assignment. Here, additionally, I had responsibility for Search and Rescue and Mountain Rescue operations, as well as exercises: this involved dealings with the national authorities in Greece, Turkey and Iran.

But on reaching the age of 49 years, I had to transfer from flying duties to the RAF’s Supply Branch: by then, I had a grand total of 2400 flying hours in my RAF Log Book. I underwent the Supply Officers’ course at RAF Upwood near Huntingdon, before a posting to RAF Ternhill, Shropshire, as OC Supply Squadron: this was a busy station, the home of both the RAF’s main helicopter training - and the RAF’s Air Traffic Control School. My last appointment in the RAF was as OC Packaging Squadron at No 14 Maintenance Unit, RAF Carlisle.

I retired from the Active List on 26 April 1977, to complete 36 years service. With my wife, Joyce, we settled a short while later in Gatehouse-of-Fleet in south-west Scotland. I am fortunate to have good health and I continue to enjoy life to the full – having reached the age of 91 year in 2013

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