╨╧рб▒с>■  {}■   z                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                ье┴s ┐2^jbjb└ └ %┬кkкk2Z      ]ЦЦЦЦЦЦЦ>>>>> J>ЧъjjjjjjjjTVVVVVV,БЇuРВЦjjjjjВ║ЦЦjjj║║║j.ЦjЦjTкJЇJЦЦЦЦjT║Ъ║TЦЦT^ Jm╗>>Ш"T Chapter XI - 1943 At the beginning of 1943, Air Chief Marshal Harris was ready to launch a major bomber offensive against Germany. His medium bombers had mostly been replaced by four-engined heavies with their bigger bomb loads; and Pathfinder Force was being equipped with new navigational aids such as H2S and Oboe-guided Mosquitos. New type target markers were also coming into production. It must, therefore, have been frustrating when he was ordered to give all priority to naval targets, and to devastate the two French towns of Lorient and St Nazaire. The Battle of the Atlantic had entered a critical stage, and the Admiralty requested that a major assault be launched against the U-boat bases in the Bay of Biscay. Harris, in 1941, had suggested that attacks should be made on the U-boat pens, which were then under construction, but his offer had been turned down. Now the pens, heavily reinforced with concrete several feet thick, were impervious to any bomb dropped on them. It was not until the end of the war that the RAF had a bomb powerful enough to breach these structures. The Squadron was now well settled in at Chedburgh. Mess parties, high pranks and drinking expeditions to neighbouring towns were the order of the day. A collection of pets was also to be seen. One, a bulldog, was owned by S/Ldr Carlyon. This dog was a regular passenger in its master's Stirling and a great favourite with the aircrew. They used to feed it with energy tablets from their survival kits! As Harold Bidmead mentioned, "He was one of the fittest dogs for miles around. You should have seen him jumping over the mess chairs and settees." To which Reg Howe replied, "I don't know about the fittest; he was certainly the horniest hound I ever came across." It was sad that the first casualty of the year should be S/Ldr Carlyon and crew. They were returning from Lorient on January 15, were tracked by a night fighter, and shot down in the English Channel just off Plymouth. Theirs was the only aircraft to be lost in January. Although the first two months of the year were largely devoted to the Admiralty programme, Bomber Command still managed to stretch its resources to mount a limited campaign against the German mainland. At this stage of the war, Harris could count on an average of 400 bombers to send out on a major raid. On one such operation to Hamburg on February 3rd, the Squadron lost two crews, those of S/Ldr Clarke and P/O Smith. Later in the month R9163, returning from a mining operation to the Bay of Biscay in bad visibility and short of fuel, crashed at Odiham, Hants. The pilot, Sgt Rundle, baled out his crew but was killed in the crash. His crew was allocated a new pilot, a Canadian named 'Dinty' Moore, but the partnership was to be of short duration, as Harold Claridge, the flight engineer, relates, "On March 9th we were going to Munich, taking off from the short runway because a Stirling had crashed on the long one just minutes before we were due to take off. We were still on the deck after reaching the end of the runway and one leg was smashed off when we hit the crown of the road outside the drome. The Stirling then crashed through a house at Chevington, set fire to two fields and finished up in front of a farmhouse. Miraculously, though knocked about and badly burned, we all survived the crash."Whilst they were at Chedburgh, Harold and his crew mates had made good friends with 'mine host' at the Marquis of Cornwallis. "All our lads", he recalls, "used to give a hand serving behind the bar, and Bill, the landlord, and his wife would give us a lovely egg and bacon supper after we had closed for the night." Many such relationships developed between the RAF and villagers, for Chedburgh was virtually an integral part of the camp, and friendships have continued up to the present day. J.F. Chafer Ltd. now occupies part of the old station and, with commendable foresight, has done everything possible to preserve the remains of Britain's wartime heritage. The briefing room and its adjoining offices remain virtually untouched and are now used for conferences. Part of the runways still remain, as does the occasional pan and parts of the perimeter track. Dotted around the area, flight buildings and other structures are also still to be seen. The Battle of the Ruhr began on March 5th, but before this date 214 had already lost two crews, one on Berlin and the other on Hamburg, during the nights of March 1 and 3. The attack opened on Essen with a force of 442 aircraft. 214 put up ten aircraft, one of which was coned and hit by flak, causing the crew to jettison the bomb load, but seven others attacked the primary target and all returned to base with the exception of Sgt Baldock and crew in BK662, who were posted missing. For the rest of the month, night operations were directed against major German targets, not without further casualties to the Squadron. P/O Carruthers went missing on Stuttgart and P/O Challis was lost over Berlin. On the night of March 29/30 two returning aircraft had a mid-air collision. F/Lt Dixon and his crew, who were freshmen, were returning from their second operational trip, a mining operation to Texel, bringing back a special mine which they had been unable to plant successfully. At the same time the rest of the Squadron's aircraft were landing after a main force raid on Berlin. W. Rowley, F/Lt Dixon's navigator relates, "We were in the circuit, at about 1000 feet, when there was a bang and I think I realised then that we had collided with another kite. Jack Dixon, the pilot, had difficulty in stabilising our aircraft and went in for a wheels-up landing. Although he got a red from the control tower, he put us down alongside the runway and we scrambled out safely. We made an inspection and found that the rear turret and port tailplane had disappeared. Our rear gunner, Sgt Burt, was killed, as was the pilot of the other plane." It was Sgt Rowley's birthday; one to be remembered! In the other aircraft, EF362, all the crew managed to bale out with the exception of the captain, F/O Cooper, who on this night had been flying the first trip of his second tour. April was generally a good month for the Squadron. Apart from the loss of four crews, it showed a success rate of 92%, higher than other Stirling squadrons, with a total of 375,000 lbs of bombs being dropped. One story worthy of mention was that of F/Sgt James, RCAF, and crew, who set out to bomb Mannheim on the night of April 16/17. Crossing over an aerodrome where in a previous flight he had been attacked by two Ju 88s, he was shot up by three Me 109s which pressed home their attacks. It is thought that the mid-upper gunner used all his ammunition trying to drive them off. The Stirling was hit throughout its length. Nos 5 and 6 starboard tanks were holed and the wing tip was on fire. James set course for home and told the crew to jump when the complete wing caught fire. All the crew escaped with the exception of the mid-upper gunner who was killed. The bomb aimer and rear gunner were later picked up by the Germans and became POWs, but the five remaining aircrew managed to evade capture and returned to the UK. One of the evaders was Sgt Groves, later F/Lt, who was second pilot on his first operational trip. He returned to operations but was killed on March 24, 1944. Many mining operations were carried out during this period and on one raid by 3 Group, six of the 25 Stirlings sent to Kiel Bay were shot down, probably all by Flak ships. These ships were deadly opponents, and Sgt Gray, returning from Rostock on April 20, lost his rear gunner, Sgt Olroyd, when hit by a shell from one of these vessels. P/O Ian Hawkins was at this time embarking on his tour with No. 214 and describes a typical sortie flown by a freshman crew: "With only three trips' experience as 2nd pilot, I went off with my own crew for our first trip; gardening somewhere off the west coast of France. It was a black night and we were virtually lost over the Bay of Biscay. Nothing for it but to steer east at 500 feet, hoping to pick up a landmark. We did, but we were too accurate, because in the darkness we flew bang into the harbour of either St Nazaire or La Rochelle Ц I forget which. Suddenly all hell broke loose and we were blinded by searchlights. I momentarily lost control and was horrified to find myself flying at 200 feet below sea level! Luckily I must have set the altimeter wrong, but all we had to show were three small holes caused by flak, one missing me by only a foot." A change of CO occurred in April when W/Cdr Smythe left the Squadron to take over RAF Methwold, and promotion to Group Captain. His place was taken by W/Cdr Clube, but he in turn only held this office for four months before being replaced by W/Cdr Des McGlinn. Meanwhile, Harold Bidmead received his commission, was made the station's entertainments officer, and was promoted to F/Lt and Squadron Engineer Officer on March 26. His organising talents were soon put to the test. When an airman who owned a vehicle went on leave, he could apply for petrol coupons which, of course, were strictly rationed. The Adjutant, George Wright, a very kindly man, would say to the applicants, "Well, if you have to go to Scotland or Cornwall you will need a good ration," and he always made sure his lads didn't go short of petrol. In time, this excessive allocation was noticed by Air Ministry which sent two wing commanders to Chedburgh to investigate, and Harold decided to help out. He met the two Wingcos and took them to the mess for drinks, making sure they were well topped up. When they arrived at George's office, phones were ringing, messages were being passed to George via his orderly room staff, and George himself was engaged in preparing a large list. "I apologise for the inconvenience," he said, "but I am preparing the night's battle order and must have it ready as soon as possible. If you could see me a little later I would be pleased to help you with any query." Harold, in his role of PRO, then took the officers on a conducted tour, finishing once more in the mess bar. By the time they had completed their evening meal it was too late to find George in his office, so they were taken down to the control tower to watch the Squadron take off for the night's operations. The following morning, both tired and heavy-headed, the Wingcos were picked up by Harold and taken to the Squadron offices. There they were informed that George had been up most of the night on Committee of Adjustment work, attending to and taking care of the belongings of personnel posted missing, but would be back later in the morning. So off they went again on another tour of inspection, and back to the bar at lunch time. That afternoon they did find George at home, but he was up to his neck in paper work. Files, clothes and personal belongings were everywhere, and a clerk was typing away in one part of the room while George dictated to another at the side of his desk. "I am sorry you keep finding me like this, gentlemen," he proclaimed, "but today is worse than yesterday. Not only am I trying to get out the Battle Order, but I have to sort out all these personal effects as well. That's apart from my ordinary routine work!" The Wingcos conferred with one another and then one said, "With all the pressure you are working under it is small wonder that you are making mistakes with the petrol sheets, but Flight Lieutenant, in future, make sure that your returns show a reasonable usage. At present this Unit is making higher demands than any other RAF squadron." Although George often sailed close to the wind when dealing with higher authority, he was first and foremost a 214 man and RAF next, and there was no length to which he would not go in looking after the welfare of his lads. In the mess one night someone suggested an educational evening. A group of the lads motored into Cambridge and relieved many of the undergrads of their mortar-boards and gowns, then returned to the mess and said they were now ready to enter into a literary discussion. Of course this was not what the proposer meant, but the lads were out for sport and this, like other parties, developed into a good-natured brawl. It was left to George the following day to placate the college authorities and make recompense for damage suffered by the mortar-boards which were now in a somewhat battered condition. On another occasion someone had suggested a horse meet. Horses and ponies, even some Shire horses, were appropriated from the local farms to attend the function. Once again it fell to George to calm the irate farmers and landowners. Of course in those days losses were high and operations were being flown most nights. Any stand-down was an excuse for a party. At stations throughout the Command the aircrew would be drinking and involving themselves in such diversions as Cardinal Puff, High Cockalaurum, Walking the Ceiling, or Bar Rugger, etc. The stresses of operational flying were temporarily forgotten as the aircrews indulged in high jinks. The comradeship had to be experienced to be believed! Although these were hard times, they were also happy ones Ц the days of one's youth. May proved to be a bad month with six crews being lost on Ruhr targets; three in one night when Dortmund was attacked. This target had been visited earlier when F/Lt Johnston's plane was one of those detailed. The crew was made up of five New Zealanders and two Canadians. They were an experienced bunch, having already completed 24 operations, but had lost their original navigator earlier when he volunteered to take the place of S/Ldr Carlyon's navigator who was sick. Doug Smellie, the bomb aimer, states, "We were coming up to the target when we were coned by searchlights. Bruce Johnston did everything possible to shake them off but to no avail. In all they held us for nearly twelve minutes. The flak meantime was knocking hell out of us, but we managed to come in for a bombing run, and I was counting off the time interval when I was badly hit in the leg. Somehow I was able to finish my bombing and jettison procedure before the aircraft turned for home. We were in a sorry state and losing petrol due to severed fuel lines, but with good fortune, and excellent work by the crew, we got back to base. My association with 214 ended there, as I was to spend the next 19 months in hospital. But the rest of the lads went on to finish their tour." Doug Smellie, his pilot Bruce Johnston, and navigator F/O Davis, were all awarded the DFC. Their aircraft, 'B' BF466, had over 150 holes in her when she returned from this trip. Little is known of the events that occurred on the night of May 25/26 when the three aircraft mentioned above were lost on Dortmund. It was the biggest loss for one night's raid since April 1, 1942. Out of the three crews, only five men survived. These were all from Sgt Wilkins' crew who parachuted out near Munchen Gladbach to become POWs. The medical history of the Squadron, contained in the Operation Record Book for May 1943, reads as follows: "The morale of the aircrews and the whole Station remains excellent. Some of the new crews are shaky and they present some difficulty, suggesting rather that training is finished too hurriedly." June started off on a quiet note, with fewer operations than usual for the beginning of the month. On June 17th a new squadron was formed at Chedburgh under the command of W/Cdr D.H. Lee. This became No 620 Squadron, formed from the nucleus of C Flight. By the middle of June all the old familiar Ruhr towns made their appearance on the Briefing Room maps once more. Further gaps were made in the Squadron's ranks when three crews went missing during the last week of the month. Syd Morrison was a Wop/AG on F/Lt Hein's crew, shot down over Mulheim on June 23. He says of this period, "I hardly got to know anything about 214. I was only with the Squadron for two months. In this time we flew twelve trips, ten on the Ruhr. Mulheim was my thirteenth operation. We had a bomb aimer, S/Ldr 'Lofty' Watkins DFC, DFM, who attached himself to our crew. He had completed two tours but wanted to do some extra trips. He insisted on officiating over the target, sometimes three run-ups to get it right. The lucky sod didn't fly with us the night we bought it! Whether Syd was aggrieved or envious of Lofty's escape I never found out." It was during this month that an evening exercise was arranged between the Police, Army, Home Guard and local RAF units. The idea was that the aircrew be dropped off by bus within a thirty mile radius of Chedburgh, and make their way back to the base without being apprehended by the Police, Army or Home Guard which would be on the look-out for them. The aircrew, of course, had no knowledge of where they were to be debussed, nor were they allowed any money or to contact a member of the public for directions. F/Lt Youseman and P/O 'Dutch' Holland joined together as a team and managed to get inside an aerodrome. They were fortunate to discover a Hall & Co. lorry with the keys in the starter switch and a tank full of petrol, so they proceeded to drive back to Chedburgh via the main gate of the drome, getting a salute from the guard as they left. This operation proved so successful that they arrived back at the base before the crew bus had returned. Dutch Holland, a navigator in P/O Matthews' crew, later lost his life, as did the rest of the crew, whilst returning from Turin. He owned a large Alsatian dog and when he failed to return, the dog went wild. It would sit out in the middle of the airfield at night and howl. In the end it is believed that the poor animal had to be shot. For the previous few months, Harris' bombers had waged a successful campaign against the Ruhr towns, led by Pathfinder Force, equipped with Oboe and H2S. Now, with his force expanding rapidly, as more men and machines became available, Harris made plans to commit Bomber Command to the destruction of one city: Hamburg. This phase of the air war opening on the night of July 24/25, known as the Battle of Hamburg, ended the Battle of the Ruhr. With the nights lengthening and the hours of darkness greater, it was Harris' intention to send his bombers further afield and seek out new and distant, previously unvisited, targets. Before this stage was reached he delivered some crushing blows to German cities nearer home. Cologne, Remscheid and Essen were all attacked and the latter town received its biggest raid thus far. Essen was our first major operation as a crew. Previously we had done one nickelling trip in a Wellington to Lille and I must say that we were totally unprepared for the scenes that met our eyes that night. Running the gauntlet of the flak and searchlights at the enemy coast was unnerving, but as we got through our tour this experience became rather commonplace. I think we all got rather blasщ in the end. Once the coastal area was cleared you were away from the flak for a while, but the biggest danger was from patrolling night fighters, or being unlucky enough to be illuminated by a master beam in some heavily defended sector. These searchlights were radar controlled and gave off a bluish beam. Once coned, all satellite searchlights would home in and hold you in their beams while every gun in the district opened up at you. There would be no warning of the attack. The master beam shone straight onto you out of complete darkness and, within seconds, scores more searchlights would hold your plane as tightly as if you were a fly caught in a spider's web. This was not all. The Germans had so many searchlights that, once you managed to get out of range of the first cone, you were picked up by those in the next sector, and so on. These methods paid off for the enemy and it was a case of 'bird in hand'. All other aircraft were ignored until the one in the searchlights was disposed of. On the outward journey during the Essen raid I saw three aircraft coned in this way and all were shot down in flames. As we neared Essen, the green and red target indicators were being dropped by the Pathfinders and the city's defences opened up as the first bombs were going down. The target indicators were phosphorous filled, glowed like neon lights, and burned for some time after reaching the ground. When we arrived to make our bombing run we were greeted with an awesome sight. Whole districts were ablaze, set alight by the thousands of incendiaries raining down. Our load that night was 7,500 lbs, mostly incendiaries. The sky was as bright as day. So many things were happening at the same time! Above us, flares marked our passage through the target. Searchlight beams groped through the sky. The bursting shells and the small black clouds marked their area of destruction. For one fleeting moment I spied an Me 109 on a recripocal course which passed quite close, too quickly for me to fire, but in that frozen moment of time I saw the pilot sitting in his sleek grey machine, the fuselage adorned with a big black German cross. If the defences were formidable, nearer at hand was a much greater threat. So concentrated was the bomber stream that dozens of aircraft were on their bombing run at the same time. The Stirling with its limited ceiling was thousands of feet below the Lancs and Halifaxes and, consequently, had to fly through a barrage of missiles coming down from above, as well as those being sent up from below. It was a terrifying experience and I was more fightened of the bombs cascading around me than of our enemy's attempts to shoot us down. As it turned out, this fear was well founded. A bomb hit our tail plane and took away the hydraulics which operated the rear turret. Later in the flight I had to release the gunner from his position by prising open the doors with an axe. On leaving a target, one feels a sense of euphoria Ц "We have made it! Eureka! Now we can relax!" Ц but this is a time of great danger. This is the time the fighters penetrate the stream in force and the combats become more numerous, or so it seemed at that period of the war. Although on this particular operation few combats were seen, on the return journey isolated strings of light marked the passage of cannon shell and tracer bullets, giving notice that predators were abroad and making their nightly kills. We made our planned landfall near Cromer, but fate had one more trick to play. A big explosion and then a ball of fire lit the sky. Two homeward bound bombers had collided, littering the sea with burning wreckage. Later we learned that one of the aircraft involved was that of our Flight Commander. This episode, and one or two of the following, happened when I was flying with No 90 Squadron, but my aim is to give readers some idea of attacks made in the second half of 1943. My experiences were shared by most Stirling crews and are indicative of the nature of operations and dangers faced in this mid-war era. In all such raids that I have thus described, aircraft from No 214 Squadron participated. 2^3Gя K╚Е╕ j%H'b,a1Г5о7З9Ш<╧?6DFIK~L∙NЎQkVoYq[¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤2^■q[Ь\1^2^¤¤¤# 0РА░╨/ ░р=!░p"░а#Ра$Ра%░ [(@ё (NormalCJmH <A@Є б<Default Paragraph Font2Z┬                  ▓ ╕,Ї:МIX2ZЩ▓N█m~2^]q[2^^`2^_╗┬HQїZ4Z zqW4Z  Rosaleen Dickson8Macintosh HD:Desktop Folder:Sqyadron 214 Book:Chapter 1I @А1Z1ZdD╥+1Z1Z(\2Z0@GРTimes New Roman5РАSymbol3Р Arial3РTimes"1И╨h0Вv&1Вv& _J&ГЮ▒е└┤┤А0U[╥  Chapter XI - 1943Rosaleen DicksonRosaleen Dickson■  рЕЯЄ∙OhлС+'│┘0xИРм╕╘рЁ  4 @ LX`hp'Chapter XI - 1943hapRosaleen Dickson43osaNormalnRosaleen Dickson431saMicrosoft Word 8.0@F├#@└ПД4├@Sи4├ _J■  ╒═╒Ь.УЧ+,∙оD╒═╒Ь.УЧ+,∙о@№ hp|ДМФ Ьдм┤ ╝ ▄'teЮ&U[b Chapter XI - 1943 TitleШ 6> _PID_GUID'AN{F51AB80B-9FCD-11D7-A840-0003930A169C}  !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`a■   cdefghi■   klmnopq■   stuvwxy■   ¤   |■   ■   ■       Root Entry         └FбЩ)ф3├~А1Table            bWordDocument        %┬SummaryInformation(    jDocumentSummaryInformation8            rCompObj    XObjectPool            бЩ)ф3├бЩ)ф3├            ■                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           ■      └FMicrosoft Word Document■   NB6WWord.Document.8