Library Reference Number: 241
Operational Flying with 150 & 178 Squadrons RAF
RCAF Station, Rivers, Manitoba, originally opened in May 1942 under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan as No.1 Air Navigation School (No.1 ANS), and it was there during the period May 1942 and June 1943 that Richard Morris qualified as a Navigator and thereby completed his flying training in Canada.
Popularly known as ‘Dick’ Morris the next posting on returning to UK was entry to No.21 Operational Training Unit, Moreton-in-Marsh, where after being offered a free choice during the ‘crewing up’ process, 21-year-old Dick Morris hit it off immediately with Pilot Victor Jackson. Bill Montgomery became the imperturbable bomb-aimer, Geoff Ward, wireless operator, and rear gunner Ted Hook completed the crew. Pilot ‘Jacko’ Jackson held rank of Flying Officer, the remainder of crew members being all sergeants. All five were bachelors. Bill Montgomery at 23 years was the oldest of the five-man crew.
At the start of the Second World War No.150 Squadron flying Fairey ‘Battle’ aircraft moved to France as part of the Advanced Air Striking Force. Like the other ‘Battle’ squadrons in the AASF, No.150 suffered heavy losses during the German invasion of France in May 1940 and had to be evacuated back to Britain in mid-June 1940. In October 1940 the squadron converted to the Vickers Wellington, and became a night bomber squadron, at first with Bomber Command in Britain, before moving to Algeria in December 1942. The squadron moved forward with the advancing armies, eventually reaching the mainland of Italy in December 1943.
It was to this Squadron that Dick Morris and crew were posted after completing the OTU course. During their training at Moreton-in-Marsh the crew had blended well and afterwards were allocated a Wellington to fly to southern Italy via Morocco and Algiers arriving in Foggia eight days later. They flew all over the Balkans, Austria and northern Italy, but were not sent on the ill-fated operations in Poland dropping supplies during the Warsaw Uprising as the Wellingtons didn’t have sufficient range.
At Amendola, crews slept in tents which were bearable in summer but bitterly cold in winter. The only navigational aids were D/F radio stations scattered around southern Italy. Dick Morris stated “We did everything ourselves. Although we had been given a recommended route we just took off and navigated to the target by dead reckoning. Rivers were useful landmarks. We were completely on our own and always identified the target and made appropriate decisions ourselves.”
During this period ‘Blockbusters’ became available to No.150 Squadron while based at Amendola. These were the RAF's High Capacity (HC) bombs and had especially thin casings that allowed them to contain approximately three-quarters of their weight in explosive, with a 4,000 pound bomb containing over 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) of Amatol. Navigator Dick Morris continues “On 28th March 1944 we were briefed for another operation this time carrying a ‘Blockbuster’ with the target in this event being Milan. Those massive bombs were so large that we wondered how on earth they could be fitted into the Wellington fuselage. As it happened, the ground staff had to remove the bomb-bay doors to manoeuvre and attach the ‘Blockbuster’ into the bomb-bay.”
The crew had successfully completed four operations when after breakfast on 1st April 1944 they were told they were assigned another bombing target that night. They took off at 8 pm on a clear night in Wellington X, LN908 A- Apple. The target was the Macchi aircraft factory at Varese, north of Milan some 850 miles away in the foothills of the Alps. They were told that Varese was very heavily defended and therefore advised during briefing to fly in low to ensure the factory was hit first time to avoid having to make a second bombing run.
Monty the bomb-aimer managed a good line on the run in and released the bomb load - a mixture of high explosives and incendiaries. A few seconds later the aircraft was hit by what at first was thought to be flak. The Wellington juddered and veered to starboard. The port engine immediately cut and the Pilot briefly reported the situation to the crew and stated that he had feathered the propeller. Only powered by one engine the aircraft steadily lost altitude, and Pilot Victor Jackson put the remaining starboard engine on full boost and moved away from the mountains while struggling to maintain control of the stricken Wellington.
It was discovered later that the aircraft had sustained damage by three incendiaries, probably dropped by another aircraft flying at a much higher altitude than had been instructed at the briefing in order to escape enemy fire. One incendiary had damaged each wing and the third had smashed into the port engine. The loss of this engine put enormous strain on the Pilot to prevent the aircraft continuously being pulled to port and having to put steady and constant pressure on right side of the rudder bar to maintain control and remain on a required course.
Normally with two engines, the aircraft would have returned over a mountainous region; this being out of the question because of steadily loss of altitude, the only alternative was to follow the Po valley towards the Adriatic while also attempting to avoid enemy fire over towns such as Milan, Lodi, Cremona and Verona. It was known that some defensive points in this area were heavily fortified, but fortunately the Po valley was wide enough to evade enemy opposition while flying in this crippled aircraft which was becoming even more difficult to control with only one engine maintaining power and altitude.
Dick Morris remembers their predicament “We were a bit scared. At that low level our immediate problems were to avoid defended areas where a slow-moving Wellington would be easily picked off by the ack-ack, to keep away from hilly areas and get out to sea. The one remaining engine continued to roar away on full boost gulping fuel at an alarming rate, then a cheer went up when the sea was sighted, and a course was set aiming for the Foggia Plain.” Thirty-five miles from Amendola the fuel gauge was barely above zero and crew members were searching to ensure parachutes were close by. Two ranges of hills loomed up on either side at 3,000 feet, towering over the slowly descending Wellington unable to reach that altitude. A slight mistake now would have been fatal for the damaged aircraft which was now becoming even more difficult to control.
As the aircraft crossed the Foggia Plain the airfield was sighted ablaze with welcoming lights, but at that moment the final drop of fuel ran out and the roar of the remaining starboard engine suddenly stopped leaving an unnerving, eerie silence. This prompted the Pilot to say “The engine’s cut, we’ve got to land. Hold on!”
To stall at 1,000 feet without engines would have been disastrous - and bombers were built to fly fully powered - with no capacity to act or perform as gliders.
Pilot Victor Jackson realised he didn’t have sufficient airspeed to reach the appropriate end of the runway and therefore decided to attempt a wheels-up landing on the grass at the side of the runway which had been cleared for this emergency landing. Dick Morris in his small Navigator’s compartment heard the whistling of the wind as the aircraft descended the final few feet, but couldn’t see anything which was just as well. It only took about thirty seconds between the final engine cut out and the Wellington hitting the ground. There was a horrible splintering sound as the underside of the fuselage was ripped off. Masses of soil piled into the front of the plane filling Jackson’s and Monty’s boots with earth.
Everyone thought they had evacuated the plane in record time in case of petrol vapour causing fire; however they were outdone by the speed of rear gunner Ted Hook who was already fully a hundred yards away having swung his turret to the side and immediately taken off at high speed. Pilot Jacko was given an immediate DFC for his determination and flying skill.
The next operation undertaken by the Dick Morris crew was on 17th April 1944 with Wellington LN919, the target being marshalling yards at Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Taking off at 8.20 pm they headed east across the Adriatic making for the Alsatian coast and across mountains to Bulgaria. Descending to 7,000 feet as they approached Plovdiv which lies in the valley of the river Maritsa, Navigator Morris had no problem identifying the target as it was a clear night with good visibility. Bomb load was successfully dropped as planned and moving away they were aware of sporadic flak. Without warning the port engine cut out causing an immediate loss of altitude. This time, however, there was no chance of returning to Amendola as before, for in reaching this target they had crossed over mountains in excess of 6,000 feet.
Drawing from their earlier experience of engine loss at Varese, the crew had discussed their views on what action should be taken if engine loss occurred in the Balkans or beyond. The overall agreement was that they should head for Turkey which was the only neutral country in this area of conflict. Dick Morris recalls – “As we continued to lose height, Jacko called for a course to the Turkish border. Luckily my maps showed in one corner about one inch of the Turkish border. I was quickly able to work out a new course along the valley of the river Maritsa, away from the mountains and towards the piece of Turkey which showed on my map. Our height stabilised at 1,500 feet and we settled down for a hundred-mile trip to Turkey. Having no maps which may have shown possible mountainous regions in Turkey it had been decided we should bail out immediately after crossing the Turkish border.”
The crew elected that their Navigator having been the means of reaching Turkey, Dick Morris should be first to bail out. The crew had never received specific training for this event, therefore when jumping clear of the escape hatch, Morris was horrified when the ripcord and handle came away in his hand. He was soon to learn that this was normal, but was fortunate to be uninjured when hitting the ground heavily. He had landed in open countryside and after hiding his parachute walked away from the border. Arriving at a village he knocked on a house door which he was to discover was the home of the local policeman in the village of Gillobilu. On announcing he was with the RAF the policeman became friendly and produced thick Turkish coffee and cigarettes. Although it was the middle of the night, the local policeman summoned several villagers to come along to his house and meet this grounded aircrew member of the RAF.
By 6am it was getting lighter when Geoff appeared in the middle of a crowd of men, and shortly afterwards Monty and Ted Hook arrived on donkeys. In the afternoon they were all taken to the garrison border town of Kesan where they were delighted to be reunited with Pilot Victor Jackson. That evening they were entertained at a reception, and two days later were taken to Istanbul, and on 22nd April the crew were moved to Ankara to be interned. Life in internment was very pleasant as many British nationals living in Ankara issued invitations and even the British Ambassador Sir Knatchbll- Huggesen invited them for formal lunch where the crew managed a major gaffe by drinking from finger bowls.
Dick Morris recalls – “This pleasant situation could not last in the middle of wartime, and because the Allies were supplying arms to Turkey, in return the Turkish government periodically repatriated Allied internees. On 18th May 1944 we left on first leg of our journey, and on 4th June rejoined our Squadron at Amendola in Italy.”
During their time in Turkey Dick Morris and crew members had decided they’d had enough of flying bombers on one engine. On returning to Amendola their application to transfer to four-engine bombers was accepted. Three days later they were posted to Lydda, Palestine for a conversion course on B24 Liberators. On successfully completing the conversion course Dick Morris returned with his crew to Amendola, Italy, in July 1944 but this time as members of 178 Squadron flying in American B24 Liberators.
Dick Morris discovered there was a marked contrast in the Navigator’s situation while making the transition from Avro Wellington to B24 Liberator. Apart from the obvious change in now having the desired four engines to depend on as opposed to only two with the Wellington, the position of the Navigator’s station was totally changed. Whereas in the Wellington he had been within close proximity seated behind the Pilot and Wireless Operator, he was now the sole occupant of a Navigator’s compartment situated in the nose of the Liberator, accessed during flight by squeezing past the retracted nose wheel.
Throughout their period in the Middle East, 178 Squadron had built up a reputation for pounding enemy targets throughout the Mediterranean and its immediate area. No.178 had built up an impressive record, listing among its targets those of Crete, the Aegean Islands and the Ploesti oil refinery. They had also effectively attacked Germany’s numerous supply routes which had enabled the enemy invade and occupy countries throughout Europe.
One of those vitally important supply routes linking Germany with the grain-lands of Hungary and oilfields of Romania was the River Danube which had proved to be capable of carrying 10,000 tons of war materials daily. By March 1944 the Danube was carrying more than double the amount of German food supplies, oil and other war materials previously transported by rail, for enemy-held railway systems were now being heavily bombarded from the air.
Allied mine-laying in the Danube resulted in numerous sunken ships blocking the waterway which had a catastrophic effect on German war supplies. No.178 Squadron then continued in 1945 with bombing operations mainly concentrating on railway and communications targets in northern Italy, Austria and Yugoslavia. In addition to bombing missions, supply drops were also made in dangerous mountainous regions to partisan forces operating in northern Italy and Yugoslavia.
Having played an active role over several months the Dick Morris crew eventually completed their operational duties. Since joining No.178 Squadron in July 1944, Dick Morris had flown 36 bombing operations as a B24 Navigator and along with his crew completed his ops tour on 18th January 1945.
Dick Morris and Bill Montgomery were both commissioned in November 1944 and each received a DFC at the end of their operational tour early in 1945. Following all above events, Dick Morris went on to join No.52 Squadron Dakotas, flying as Navigator on RAF Transport duties based at Rangoon from May 1945 until May 1946.
Footnote: Much fuller details of Dick Morris’s time spent on 150 Squadron Wellingtons appear in “No Engines at 1,000 ft.” This itself, being part of a collection of stories relating to RAF Bomber Command with the title “To Hell And Back – True Life Experiences of Bomber Command at War” by Mel Rolfe, published by Grub Street, London.