CONTROL TOWER THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE SOUTH WEST AIRFIELDS HERITAGE TRUST

ISSUE No.17 December 2013

www.southwestairfields.com The Editor’s column

Well that's it! Another year over and done with. orate this historic day. Details will be published 2014 just a week or two away. as they evolve. What have we achieved this year? Have a great Christmas holiday everyone and I Well quite a bit, the restored Nissen Hut at wish you all a Happy New Year. See you all in Smeatharpe, another successful Wings and March 2014. Wheels event, an active re-enactment group and I need articles, E-mail it, scribble it on a bit of many more members on the books. We have paper and post it, put it on the blog section of made many new friends and associates during our website, just let me have your stories. the year including a very close association with Thanks to the Internet we can flesh the article our friends at Weston Zoyland. In current times out if we need to. it is becoming increasingly more important that charity groups such as ourselves all work togeth- For updates on this and many other er to achieve our objectives. Resources are things please do go to the web site scarce and money in very short supply. It is bet- at www.southwestairfields.com. ter to share what we have and get somewhere rather than sitting around waiting for the next big Dave Steel donation before moving forward. With that in [email protected] mind we would welcome associations with other like minded organisations. So dear reader, if you know of any such groups then please try to encourage them to get in contact with us. Next year is the 70th anniversary of D-Day so expect a great event in the summer to commem-

The SWAHT Christmas dinner at Lakeview Manor, Dunkeswell

In this Issue

●Readers Letters. ●Obituary to Gene Shaw McIntyre. ●A membership form for you to fill in and send to us. ●Alcock & Brown - First transatlantic flight. ●Stuff you can buy & e-mail addresses. ●Chairman's Chatter. ●Part 2 of Jack Walker’s World War II Service. Chairman’s Chatter Christmas 2013

Christmas is traditionally a time for families to gather and enjoy a complete break from the otherwise busy pace of daily life during the rest of the year. It is a time for pause, for reflection, thinking about achievements (and the things we wanted to do but didn’t quite have time for) and pondering on the coming year and what surprises it might bring (hopefully all positive!). For those with children – grandchildren even, or maybe even great grandchildren, there is an opportunity to look across the generations and remember what life was like when you/we were that age.

Ten years ago some farsighted people gathered to form the Southwest Airfields Heritage Trust – in those days with a clear focus on World War 2 history and the Blackdown Hills in Devon as its geographic area of concentration. Two of our Trustees – Wendy and Claude Caple – were in at the beginning, soon to be joined in 2004 by Vic Bowsher (immediate past-Chairman) and others to form what is now a nine-strong group of trustees.

Membership in the past two years has expanded to an international base of around 150, and continues to build strongly. We have a small but growing cadre of members in Europe and North America, reflecting the SWAHT’s strong associations with the United States, Poland, and the Czech Republic in particular. Our geographical interest has expanded to include Exeter and Weston Zoyland.

Trustees meet monthly to plan and manage our projects and events, with the aim of enriching the historical experience of our visitors from afar, as well as the people who live in the south west of England. With the trust’s growth in membership and the enlarged scope of activity, management of operations is progressively being de- volved into focused sub-committees, with the aim of easing the administrative burden on the same small group of individuals at the centre that characterize voluntary organisations – which is a roundabout way of saying we are constantly looking for more volunteers!

In that context, I am pleased to welcome Brian Lane-Smith as a newly elected trustee and who has volunteered to take up the mantle of Company Secretary of South West Heritage Ltd. from Vic Bowsher, who is stepping down from the role. Brian brings significant business experience to the group, which will be enormously helpful to the Trust as it continues to expand.

This is also an appropriate point to thank May Bowsher for all her hard work as Minute Secretary to the Trustees. May is retiring after many years during which she has somehow managed to turn often wide-ranging and energetic discussions into a succinct précis for follow-up action. I am pleased to welcome Hilary Thorne to the team, who has volunteered to take over from May as Minute Secretary. During 2013, our new ‘Heritage Centre’ – a restored Nissen Hut on Cherryhayes Farm at Smeatharpe – was transformed into a first class meeting place for those interested in the history of the adjacent airfield and the work of the Trust in general. It has a semi-permanent exhibition focused on RAF Upottery and its involvement in the liberation of Europe in 1944, and is one of our venues for talks and other events. Please take time out to visit - by arrangement through David Bunney or Trisha Knowles.

Focus is now turning to creating a similar Heritage Centre at Dunkeswell, where we are working closely with the airfield’s owner to create a centre focused on the USAAF and USN operations there during WW2; more on that early in the new year. Plans are also afoot to create a SWAHT presence at other airfields such as Culm Head and Weston Zoyland, as part of the Trust’s long-term ambition to complete its Aviation Heritage Trail in the south west.

On behalf of the trustees, I wish you a very happy and restful Christmas, and a prosperous and successfully New Year. For those who can make it, we look forward to seeing you in 2014 at any of our events.

Graham Weller Christmas 2013

WESTONZOYLAND AVIATION MUSEUM (Affiliated to SWAHT) ● A ‘virtual’ museum in that it is yet to acquire permanent premises but maintains a growing photographic archive dis- played at talks and an exhibition tent alongside a very active Facebook page. ● As reported in a recent Daily Mail Online article – a perma- nent building would also act as a memorial centre for the nineteen pilots who lost their lives in the jet age. ● It was the West’s leading Meteor Jet training base and wasn’t decommis- sioned until 1958. ● RAF WESTONZOYLAND is one of the country’s oldest small airfields which started its career in the early ● 1920’S.Negotiations are in progress with Westonzoyland Parish Council for placement of a suitable building taking a ground lease is secured so a suita- ble grant application can be made. Obituary to Gene Shaw McIntyre

It is with the greatest of sadness and respect that we record the death of Gene McIntyre on Wednesday, 30th October last, at the age of 96. He was laid to rest on the following Friday.

Gene Shaw McIntyre was born in Texas in 1917 and spent his early years in Memphis and in Millington, Tennessee. He was educated at the Christian Brothers College and graduated in 1936. For the next five years, he worked for short periods at a number of employments without fulfilment before joining the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941 and beginning pilot training, based at Regina, Saskatchewan. On the morning of Sunday 7th. December, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise air attack on the U.S. facilities at Pearl Harbour in the Hawaiian Islands. The US declared war on Japan during the following day and, with only six weeks to complete before his graduation as a pilot; Gene McIntyre left the Canada and returned home to join the US Navy. He was selected for aircrew and received training as an aviation ordnanceman before being posted in February, 1943 as an AOM to an operational unit flying the PBY-5A Catalina. However, his time here was short and in early March, 1943 he was posted to the US Navy Auxiliary Air Station at Camp Kearney, San Diego, California. joining many others selected to form the crews of the PB4Y-1s then being brought into service. When U.S. Navy Bombing Squadron 103 commissioned on 15th. March, 1943 Gene McIntyre was assigned to crew 5. Throughout March and April, conversion training was undertaken on the PB4Y-1, followed by low-level bombing and aerial gunnery practice. At the end of April, the aircrews collected the PB4Y-1s that were to equip the Squadron from the naval air station at Norfolk, Virginia before being deployed to the air station at Quonset Point, Rhode Island for 2 weeks intensive training in anti- submarine operations, including use of radar, sonobouys and the Mark 24 Aerial Mine. In May, VB-103 was moved to Bristol Field, Argentia, Newfoundland and, after further training, began regular patrols of the western Atlantic, and convoy escorts.

The big move came in August, 1943 when the aircrews flew their aircraft across the Atlantic to the RAF Coastal Command base at St. Eval in Cornwall where anti-submarine operations were again conducted. On the move again in September, VB-103 travelled some 80 miles to the east and took over the newly constructed airfield at Dunkeswell in Devon. The aircrews’ living area was incomplete and the unmade roads and muddy conditions soon gave the camp the nickname of “Mudville Heights”. The squadron was joined by further anti-submarine units and a very successful war was waged against the German U-boats. Gene McIntyre served with VB-103 until June, 1944, achieving the rank of Aviation Chief Ordnanceman. He was then posted back to Norfolk, Virginia. This proved to be a fortuitous event as, whilst stationed there, he met his future wife, Miss. Zola Maxine Harry. They married, enjoying 69 years together.

On his discharge from the Navy, in October, 1945 he joined the US Civil Service before founding his own electric appliance business, distributing the Philco, Whirlpool and Motorola brands. Later, he owned a TV and furniture business in Houston. On retirement, he moved to San Antonio and, with time on his hands, decided to trace former shipmates from VB-103, finding enough to hold the first of several reunions. In 1998, the realisation that the VB-103 reunion clashed with the annual FAW-7 reunion resulted in an amalgamation of the two events.

For many years and with the assistance of his wife Maxine, Gene McIntyre produced the FAW-7 Newsletter. Compiled from the contributions of his shipmates, these publications contained much of the history of VB-103. In his book “The Greatest Generation”, Tom Brokaw lists duty, honour, patriotism and personal responsibility as values displayed by the “WW II” generation but, sadly, missing in the most recent generations. Certainly Gene McIntyre can be said to have been a member of the Greatest Generation. On a personal level, I have been privileged and proud to have known him and to have been his friend. May he rest in Peace.

To his wife Maxine and to his entire family we offer our sincere condolences and sympathy.

By John Gregory Jack Walker’s World War II Service. Part 2 By Andrew Walker

25 April 1945 combat patrol over the Bay of Biscay. It was spring, but then-LT (jg) Walker, serving as navi- U-326 was a Type VII-C/41 U boat built by gator, recorded the weather forecast as “poor Flender Werke AG and commissioned under the conditions with patches of fog and turbulence command of Oblt. Peter Matthes (later Kapitän- and rain.” This would be my father’s 39th com- leutnant) on 6 June 1944. As part of 4 Crew 5, B-10 “K” on 25 April 1945 Flottille (training), U- Dwight Knott, Patrol Plane Commander 326 trained in the Kenneth Robinson, Co-Pilot John Walker, Navigator North Sea until Febru- Richard Alsop, First Radioman ary 1945 when it J.B. Jones, Second Radioman Joseph Kirchdorfer, Tail Gunner sailed to Bergen (Nor- Robert Mayer, Nose Gunner R.H. Roberts, Plane Captain th way) to join 11 Flot- 11 Flotilla Renfro Pace, Waist Gunner tille. After some 11. Unterseebootsflottille Marco Vaccher, Waist Gunner technical issues with the submarine’s equipment postponed its sailing, bat mission. Because the Navy trained its avia- U-326 deployed on its first combat patrol at tors to be pilots and navigators, he had flown 2100 on 28 March 1945. U-326 sailed with a the first 25 missions as co-pilot and the next 14 crew of 43 under the command of its 27-year- missions as navigator. After a meal, mission old commander. U-boat Command ordered U- briefs, and pre-flight of the aircraft it was time to 326 to proceed west and then south through the get going. Engine warm-up took some time as Iceland-Faeroes passage. Subsequent orders the cylinder heads had to reach a certain tem- directed U-326 to proceed west of Ireland and to perature. My father’s navigation charts recorded a patrol area at the southern end of the English taxiing out at 1211 hours and being airborne 5 Channel. After a radio transmission to U-boat minutes later. B-10 “K” crossed the English Command on 13 April, U-326 was not heard coast at 1226 hours and was on patrol at 1333 from again (Niestle, 2006). hours. My father’s navigation charts record the On the morning of 25 April, the Crew 5 of Squad- sea as moderate to rough. ron VPB-103, aircraft B-10 “K” prepared them- selves and their PB4Y-1 for a long-range His navigation charts also detail the frequent At no time during the attack did the submarine, course changes needed to follow the prescribed later identified as U-326, change course or patrol areas. At 1521 hours, based on the report speed, indicating the crew was unaware of the of the port waist observer, a “purple high tea” American patrol bomber. My father remembered sonobuoy was dropped but with negative results. that weather and visibility were getting worse Shortly after that false sighting in a “frontal area,” and further circling of the apparent sinking was seven French fishing boats were sighted before unnecessary. His recollection was that surface patrolling resumed. ships were directed to the area to search for survivors and debris. At 2149 hours, B-10 “K” At 1939 hours the co-pilot and the starboard with Crew 5 set course for home and at 2308 waist observer both sighted a snorkel with wake hours they landed back at Dunkeswell ending its and smoke making 6 knots on a course of 1900 successful 11-hour patrol. Ten days later, the true at the position of 48012’ N, 05042’ W. B-10 war was over. “K” was flying at 800 feet with an indicated air- speed of 155 mph. That the submarine was visu- B-10 “K” ally observed and not on radar is consistent with PB4Y-1, Bureau Number 90132 my father’s memory. My father felt the snorkel VPB-103, aircraft B-10 “K” Built by Consolidated in San Diego, CA seemed high out of the water, indicating possi- and delivered to the Navy in 1944. ble damage to the U boat. Immediately, pilot LT Crashed at Port Lyantey (Morocco) in route back to the U.S. in August 1945. Knott began his attack by turning the PB4Y-1 sharply to starboard and reducing speed. As the timeline below indicates, at this point things started to happen quickly. Afterwards The 25 April patrol was my father’s last combat 19:40 Hrs Dropped two Mk-24 “Specials” mission of the war. Soon, many in VPB-103 (homing torpedoes) and one pur- ple high tea sonobuoy would begin the trip back to the United States, 19:43 Hrs Snorkel still visible when a large explosion observed by crew transition to new aircraft, and prepare to fight 19:48 - 19:54 Dropped standard 1500-yd pattern the Japanese in the Pacific. In my father’s case, Hrs of sonobuoys – orange, blue, red, and yellow high teas his first priority was to marry my mother, Joan 20:00 Hrs Green high tea sonobuoy dropped Atyeo from Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset on to replace non-functioning purple high tea 26 May. Time was very limited and they had 20:15 Hrs Oil patch observed received special permission from the Bishop of 20:36 Hrs Knocking noises from orange high Bath and Wells and the Navy to marry. After a tea brief honeymoon, my father went to California to 21:05 Hrs German crew member sighted in oil slick, apparently dead begin flying the improved PB4Y-2 Privateer and 21:49 Hrs Set course for home my mother went to the United States to live with my father’s family in Michigan. By February 1946, by now-LT Walker was pilot and Patrol Plane Commander in Okinawa with VPB-108, Carey, Allan C., U.S. Navy PB4Y-1 (B-24) Liberator Squadrons, 2003. where he continued to fly for the next 15 months. Kingsley, Sean, Odyssey Marine Exploration, Odyssey After returning to the United States, the Navy Papers 4, Wreck Watch International. 2009 Niestle, Axel, Identification of U-boat Wreck in Bay of sent my father to Northwestern University and Biscay, UR-Report No. 003/2006. 2006. then on a series of postings across the country Walker, John S. (1945, April 25). [Official U.S. Navy navigation charts and notes]. Copy in possession of and overseas. My father remained in the Navy Andrew Walker. and retired as a Commander in 1970. During his Walker, John S. (1945, April 25). [J.S. Walker’s Aviators Flight Log Book, March 1943-April 1949]. Copy in service he accumulated 6,220 pilot hours in 22 possession of Andrew Walker. different aircraft and flying in five operational squadrons. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, two Air Medals, and seven other decora- tions. He died in Virginia in November 2006. He and my mother are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Initially U-326 was assumed to be still on patrol when the war ended on 5 May 1945 but was later declared missing and presumed lost. In 2006, an expedition to chart shipwrecks in the 19:39 Hrs: Snorkel sighted with wake and Bay of Biscay located U-326, where she and her smoke crew have rested for almost 70 years

Fishing nets snagged across the sides and deteriorat- ed interior of German submarine U-326, sunk in 1945. (Kingsley, 2009).

References

After Action Report, 25 April 1945, VPB-103, U.S. Navy. 19:40 Hrs: Two Mk-24 “Specials” (homing tor- Birdsall, Steve, Log of the Liberators: An Illustrated History of the B-24. 1973. pedoes) in the water. Aviators Flight Log Book, J.S. Walker April 1945

Navigator’s Log, J.S. Walker 25 April 1945 Navigator’s Log, J.S. Walker 25 April 1945

Navigator’s Chart, J.S. Walker 25 April 1945 ALCOCK AND BROWN THEIR HEROIC FLIGHT By Kenneth Grimward

On 14 June 1919 warmer air and went down to being only 600 ft John William Al- above the Atlantic waves. cock and Arthur Whitten Brown When Vickers entered the Daily Mail competition were the first avia- for this flight in 1919 a £10,000 prize was of- tors to fly the Atlan- fered to the first person to fly the Atlantic non tic non stop, taking stop. Vickers sought to ask both Captain Alcock, some 16 hours and a very experienced pilot in the RFC/RAF during averaging speeds the war years and also Lieutenant Brown as the of 110 mph over navigator. Oddly enough both these men were some 1,850 miles taken prisoners during the latter part of the war of sea. From St after both their respective aircrafts were shot John’s, New Foundland to Clifton, Ireland in down. Both men were keen to accept the chal- their Vickers Vimy landing on a peat bog, tipping lenge of the crossing and Vickers started to con- up with the aircraft’s nose firmly embedded in vert their (Vickers Vimy) biplane which was the soft ground, but both men were unharmed. designed in the last year of the war (1918) as a long range night bomber, however it came into service too late to be very effective. The Mark I version of this aircraft was powered by the His- pano engines delivering 200 HP each. The lat- ter version with Alcock and Brown was fitted with Rolls Royce Eagle Engines delivering some 350 HP each. Larger fuel tanks were installed to cover the Atlantic crossing

Their flight, to say was hazardous, would be al- most undermining. Such courage was shown as the event was fraught with danger, must have seemed that God himself had placed adversity in their path, with gales, severe icing, heavy rain and fog. Throughout this flight Brown had to step out on the wing to break ice off the air in- takes and Alcock dealt with the engine on the The structure of the aircraft was rather typical of other side. the time. A slab sided wooden and canvas cov- Also the air speed indicator (ASI) iced up during ered fuselage and wings with wooden ribs, lead- the flight making it impossible for accurate dead ing and trailing edges, canvased and doped. reckoning navigation. They decided to reduce Two four bladed wooden props were fixed to the the height of the aircraft in the hope of finding engine. The undercarriage was double wheeled and fixed. After this momentous flight King George V knighted both men and Winston Churchill, the then Secretary of State for war, presented them with their prize of £10,000. Sadly in December 1919 Alcock was killed in an air crash. Brown who was born in Scotland of American parents, died in 1948. The Vickers Vimy was named after the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1918.

We must never forget these two men who braved the Atlantic The first non-stop transatlantic flight crash-land- in 1919 in their con- ed four kilometres south of Clifden, County Gal- verted first world war way, Ireland on June 15th 1919. There is a bomber who laid memorial cairn around four metres in height on down the founda- the site of Marconi's first transatlantic wireless tions of international station, five hundred metres from the crash site. air travel and a stat- The inscription on the cairn reads "Alcock and ue of this great Brown, landing site, 500 meters" with an arrow achievement is erect- pointing towards the bog in the centre of the pic- ed as a tribute to ture. (Text and photo from Wikipedia). them at London Hea- The actual aircraft used for the flight can be throw Airport. seen in the “flight” section at the Science Muse- um in London. (www.sciencemuseum.org.uk)

In 1927 Charles Lindbergh flew from New York to Le Bourget, Paris being some 3600 miles in 33 hours 30 minutes non stop in his specially Alcock and designed aircraft called the “Spirit of St Louis” Brown taking which underlined Alcock and Brown’s initial on mail prior to great achievement. their transat- lantic flight in 1919. The eight years which separated these two flights proved a great pathway in aviation sci- ence in that we saw the development of passen- ger aircraft. PUBLICATIONS

Out of Dunkeswell, published by South West Airfields Heritage Trust, 2010 Price £7.50

Illustrated is the front cover of ‘Out of Dunkeswell’, published by the Trust in 2010 in its second edition, with additional material by Trustee and our News- letter Editor, Dave Steel. It sells at £7.50 (£5.00 to Members). It tells the story of the anti-submarine units which operated from RAF/NAF Dunkeswell during World War II, and represents very good value for anyone interested in the subject.

USAAF antisubmarine units played a minor role in the Battle of the Atlantic, but made a far greater contribution in assisting British forces on patrol in the Bay of Biscay. To reach patrol areas in the Atlantic from July 1940 until October 1943, almost a year after the USAAF ceased antisubmarine opera- tions, most German submarines sailed from four French ports through the Bay of Biscay.

Approximately 300 miles from north to south and 120 miles east to west, the Bay of Biscay was a relatively confined transit area that could be patrolled by long-range aircraft flying from bases in Britain. RAF Coastal Command, in charge of Britain's aerial antisubmarine effort, patrolled the bay and was subsequently joined first by the USAAF Antisubmarine Group and subsequently by the US Navy's Fleet Air Wing 7, which replaced it.

Both organisations flew versions of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator (PB4Y-1 in US Navy service) and operated variously from RAF St Eval in Cornwall, RAF Dunkeswell and RAF Upottery in Devon. The book draws on historical material from various sources under the authorship of Mike Jarrett, Bernard Stevens and David Steel.

Mudville Heights, by David Earl, 2011

Price £16.95

This paperback - published by its author, David Earl - presents a well- illustrated picture of life at Dunkeswell during WW2. The base opened under the control of the RAF, but was populated mainly by USAAF and later USN personnel. Responsibility for the base eventually passed from the RAF to the USN and it became the only designated US Naval Air Facility in the UK.

Conditions on-base were far from adequate, with roads and paths around the living quarters just a sea of `mud`. It was those conditions, combined with harsh winters that resulted in the nick-name “Mudville Heights". As one crew member put it "The name just kinda stuck!".

This well illustrated book tells the fascinating story of the air- and ground- crews resident at WW2 Dunkeswell, with first hand accounts from the men who served there.

This book is now unavailable at Amazon but it is still advertised at waterstones.com DVDs

The Airman - Memorial Sculpture Unveiling at RAF Exeter

On March 27th 2012, the Mayor of Exeter, and the Head of Devon County Council, together unveiled a life-size bronze sculpture of a WW2 fighter pilot by local artist Frances Margaret. The event was the culmination of years of effort by a small group within the Trust led by Robin Gilbert and, thanks to David Chapman-Andrews, was captured on video. David has compiled his footage into an edited programme that includes clips from WW2 operations at RAF Exeter and published it on a commemorative DVD.

Available through our web-site at £10.00 or contact [email protected]

The South West Airfields Trust – D-Day 60th Anniversary 2004

Copies of this DVD are still available at £5.00. All proceeds will go to the 70th Anniversary Event being planned for 2014.

Upottery Airfield Memorial Dedication

Copies of this DVD are still available at £5.00 each. All proceeds will go towards the 70th Anniversary of D-Day Event being planned for 2014. Contact e-mail addresses We have had a bit of a revamp of the contact addresses we use for members and officers of the trust. This is to make it easier and a little more logical to contact us. Chairman: [email protected] Anything to do with events: [email protected] Membership: [email protected] The Website: [email protected] Publications: [email protected] This Newsletter: [email protected] Research and Historical information: [email protected]

We will be adding more addresses as and when we sort them out. Any general en- quiries please send to either the chairman or newsletter addresses. They will be dealt with. The last page

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