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No. 100 Group Intrudere Også No
Rutekort udarbejdet af No. 100 Group for operatiner natten mellem den 7. og 8. marts 1945. No. 100 Group intrudere Også No. 100 Group var i fuld sving i løbet af natten mellem den 7. og 8. marts 1945, hvor man støttede både angrebet til Dessau samt bombningen af Harburg og Heide. No. 100 Group afsendte 11 Mosquitoes med Mk. XV radar på low level intruder missioner. Tre Mosquitoes gennemførte ikke togtet (en fordi navigatøren blev syg, en fordi der var motorproblemer og en på grund af overisning). Fire af Mosquitoerne kom fra No. 23 Squadron og de sidste fire fra No. 515 Squadron. Low level intruderne havde til opgave at afpatruljere flyvepladserne Griefswald, Neuruppinm, Burg, Parchim, Ludwigslust og Rechlin, der alle var oplyste. Det samme var flyvepladserne Flensburg, Widdstock, Jagel, Husum, Stendal, Anklam, Tutow, Peenemünde og Barth. Klokken 23.25 befandt F/O F L Heath og F/Sgt J W Thompson fra No. 23 Squadron sig i 1.200 fods højde over flyvepladsen Stendal i deres Mosquito PZ288, da en Fw 190 netop var startet. Det tyske fly havde tændt navigationslysene og blev angrebet af F/O Heath, der affyrede 200 skud med sine fire 20 mm maskinkanoner. Træffere blev set på venstre vingerod samt krop af Fw 190eren, som styrtede ned og eksploderede. F/O Heath og F/Sgt Thompson, der var på deres respektive 22. og 21. togt ved No. 23 Squadron, havde til opgave at afpatruljere den tyske flyveplads Burg. De krydsede ind over Vlieland klokken 21.29 i 10.000 fods højde. Deres beretning af angrebet lyder: 'At 23.25 hours, an aircraft was observed taking off from Stendal airfield, burning navigation and downward recognition lights. -
Raaf Personnel Serving on Attachment in Royal Air Force Squadrons and Support Units
Cover Design by: 121Creative Lower Ground Floor, Ethos House, 28-36 Ainslie Pl, Canberra ACT 2601 phone. (02) 6243 6012 email. [email protected] www.121creative.com.au Printed by: Kwik Kopy Canberra Lower Ground Floor, Ethos House, 28-36 Ainslie Pl, Canberra ACT 2601 phone. (02) 6243 6066 email. [email protected] www.canberra.kwikkopy.com.au Compilation Alan Storr 2006 The information appearing in this compilation is derived from the collections of the Australian War Memorial and the National Archives of Australia. Author : Alan Storr Alan was born in Melbourne Australia in 1921. He joined the RAAF in October 1941 and served in the Pacific theatre of war. He was an Observer and did a tour of operations with No 7 Squadron RAAF (Beauforts), and later was Flight Navigation Officer of No 201 Flight RAAF (Liberators). He was discharged Flight Lieutenant in February 1946. He has spent most of his Public Service working life in Canberra – first arriving in the National Capital in 1938. He held senior positions in the Department of Air (First Assistant Secretary) and the Department of Defence (Senior Assistant Secretary), and retired from the public service in 1975. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree (Melbourne University) and was a graduate of the Australian Staff College, ‘Manyung’, Mt Eliza, Victoria. He has been a volunteer at the Australian War Memorial for 21 years doing research into aircraft relics held at the AWM, and more recently research work into RAAF World War 2 fatalities. He has written and published eight books on RAAF fatalities in the eight RAAF Squadrons serving in RAF Bomber Command in WW2. -
Their Stories
NORTH YORKSHIRE’S UNSUNG HEROES THEIR STORIES Acknowledgements We are indebted to the men and women who have given their time to share their valuable stories and kindly allowed us to take copies of their personal photographs. We are also extremely grateful to them for allowing their personal histories to be recorded for the benefit of current and future generations. In addition, we would like to thank Dr Tracy Craggs, who travelled the length and breadth of North Yorkshire to meet with each of the men and women featured in this book to record their stories. We would also like to thank her – on behalf of the Unsung Heroes – for her time, enthusiasm and kindness. © Copyright Community First Yorkshire, 2020 All rights reserved. The people who have shared their stories for this publication have done so with the understanding that they will not be reproduced without prior permission of the publisher. Any unauthorised copying or reproduction will constitute an infringement of copyright. Contents Foreword 3 Introduction 4 Their stories 5 – 45 Glossary 46 NORTH YORKSHIRE’S UNSUNG HEROES I THEIR STORIES Foreword North Yorkshire has a strong military history and a continuing armed forces presence. The armed forces are very much part of our local lives – whether it’s members of our own families, the armed forces’ friends in our children’s schools, the military vehicles on the A1, or the jets above our homes. The serving armed forces are visible in our county – but the older veterans, our unsung heroes, are not necessarily so obvious. With the Ex-Forces Support North Yorkshire project we wanted to raise the profile of older veterans across North Yorkshire. -
Flying Officer David Elwyn Walters Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Flying Officer David Elwyn Walters Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 1940-46 Preface This is an attempt to tell as much as possible of the story of my father’s service in the Royal Air Force between 1940 when he enlisted and the date of his discharge after the Second World War in 1946; his journey through the ranks from enlisted man to commissioned officer and from “Blighty” to Africa, the Middle and Far East and back again. While it tries to tell of a more memorable time in his life, rather than the story of his whole life, it’s fair to say that the period of his service during the war and after was probably the most important part. Many of the details of everyday life are now forgotten, gone to the grave with those who lived through those momentous events but some of the tales are retold here, albeit with some minor unintentional changes, omissions or even additions; that all depends upon my own memory and how much of the stories my father chose to remember and some of the letters that were somehow saved. He was just an ordinary bloke from an ordinary background who found himself taking part in some of the most extraordinary times in history. He didn’t do anything to mark him out from the rest, just an ordinary bloke doing what had to be done as his part to end the madness of war and he survived. If I have to dedicate this small work to anyone then obviously it has to be first to my father and mother and then to the 125,000 other ordinary blokes, brave men every last one who answered the call and nightly flew against the Nazi evil as “The Bomber Boys”; the men of RAF Bomber Command and the 55,573 who failed to return. -
Operation Olympic
MAGAZINE INSIGHTISSue 4 2012 RAF RUGBY MORRIS SHIELD 8 SQUADRON OPERATION OLYMPIC RAF WADDINGTON INTERNATIONAL AIRSHOW 2012 InsIghtMAGAZINE 1 THE MAGAZINE OF RAF WADDINGTON IS noW onLine: WWW.THEINSIGHTONLINE.CO.UK 2 InsIghtMAGAZINE InsIghtMAGAZINE 3 INSIGHT MAGAZINE Issue 4 2012 From the Editor… Who would have thought? s we find ourselves halfway and Spitfires blazing across the through 2012, a comment Channel, a visit to the trenches at made last year by Insight’s the Somme and the WWI monuments outgoing Editor, Sqn Ldr expressing new hope for lasting Vanessa Plumley, continues to ring peace bring home the brutality Atrue, yet again: “changes continue and tragedy of the total war that at RAF Waddington.” As I sit here gave birth to the Royal Air Force. alongside our new Deputy Editor, Fg Similarly this edition, we have a Off Anna Sznerch, with me pondering few modern day beginnings. These EDITORIAL TEAM: my broken foot and Anna considering include the international debut at [email protected] who in their right mind named myself, the Waddington Airshow of the External Email: Use personal email addresses listed someone whose native Yank-brand outstanding Korean Black Eagle Tel: 01522 720271 (7801Ext No.) English is anything but the Queen’s, Display Team, our own Sentry’s Editor: as the new Insight Editor, we bring overflight of the Olympic Torch relay, (Sqn Ldr) Mark Brammer you an August Edition of many ‘firsts’ and the passing of another kind of [email protected] and ‘beginnings’ from across RAF torch at North Hykeham Air Cadets. Deputy Editor:Flying Officer Anna Sznerch Waddington and our wider community. -
World War Two Memorial the Following Pages Commemorate the Men from Faringdon Who Died in the Second World War
Faringdon World War Two Memorial The following pages commemorate the men from Faringdon who died in the Second World War. In addition to the 34 listed on the Faringdon War Memorial, these pages include those who are buried in All Saints’ Churchyard (Habgood, Harrison, Morbey and Tarr) and in the Nonconformist Cemetery on Canada Lane (Heron) who are not named on the Faringdon War Memorial. There is also a tribute to Anthony Pepall, Jack Bryan’s friend, who was killed on the retreat to Dunkirk. The information has been compiled from data obtained from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission web site and other records. If you can add any further details, please contact me or Faringdon Town Council. Dr M L H Wise: Tel: 01367 240597 Faringdon Town Council: Tel: 01367 240281 In Memory of Able Seaman ROYCE LEONARD BAILEY P/JX 519294, H.M.S. Isis, Royal Navy who died, age 19, on 20 July 1944 Son of Leonard and Lilian Bailey, of Faringdon, Berkshire. Remembered with honour Faringdon War Memorial and PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL Commemorated in perpetuity by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Standing on Southsea Common overlooking the promenade in Portsmouth, Hampshire, is the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. It commemorates nearly 10,000 naval personnel of the First World War and almost 15,000 of the Second World War who were lost or buried at sea. (See next page for the history of HMS Isis.) HMS Isis (D87), named for the Egyptian goddess, was an I-class destroyer laid down by the Yarrow and Company, at Scotstoun in Glasgow on 6 February 1936, launched on 12 November 1936 and commissioned on 2 June 1937. -
The Last Flight of Whitley Z.9425, of No
2020 www.BritishMilitaryHistory.co.uk Author: Robert PALMER Armstrong Whitworth Whitley GR Mk. VII No. 502 Squadron THE LAST FLIGHT OF: WHITLEY Z.9425 A narrative of the last flight of Whitley Z.9425, of No. 51 Squadron based at R.A.F. Chivenor, which crashed between Chelfham and Stoke Rivers north of Barnstaple on 24 September 1942. The pilot, F/L PARKER, and two passengers died, but two other air crew survived. Copyright ©www.BritishMilitaryHistory.co.uk (2020) 29 April 2020 [THE LAST FLIGHT OF WHITLEY Z.9425] The Last Flight of Whitley Z.9425 Version: 2_1 This edition dated: 29 April 2020 ISBN: Not yet allocated. All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means including; electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, scanning without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Author: Robert PALMER, M.A. (copyright held by author) Researcher: Stephen HEAL, David HOWELLS & Graham MOORE Published privately by: The Author – Publishing as: www.BritishMilitaryHistory.co.uk 1 29 April 2020 [THE LAST FLIGHT OF WHITLEY Z.9425] Contents Chapter Pages Introduction 3 The Armstrong Whitworth Whitley 3 – 5 Operational History with Coastal Command 5 – 6 Circumstances of the Crash 7 – 9 Court of Inquiry 9 – 10 Accidents Investigation Branch 10 The Air Crew 10 – 19 68819 F/L D. S. PARKER, R.A.F.V.R. 10 – 16 Sgt E. F. GOODWIN, R.A.F.V.R. 16 – 18 1056193 Sgt H. A. ROBERTS, R.A.F.V.R. 18 639860 Cpl R. -
Another Dozen
ANOTHER DOZEN A STUDY OF THE MEN OF MOULTON VILLAGE WHO DIED SERVING HUMANITY IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR 1939 - 1945. Compiled and written by Geoff Crompton e-mail: [email protected] Telephone Contact 01606 76818 DEDICATION THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MY WIFE LOIS WHO DIED IN JUNE 2004 AS I WAS FINALISING MY RESEARCH FOR THIS MANUSCRIPT. WE WERE MARRIED FOR 47 YEARS AND I MISS HER. i First published in 2005 by Contents © Geoffrey A Crompton Forward © Joy Bratherton ISBN NUMBER 0-955136-0-7 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library Printed by: Prontoprint Halton / Northwich ii FOREWORD Glorious. A word used so often to describe the dead of the two World Wars. Our Glorious Dead….. Over ten years ago I was hawking a copy of my first book from publisher to publisher and being told time and time again there was no market for a book about the men from a Cheshire village who died in the Great War. I decided to publish it myself and since then have written a further three books with colleagues who felt the stories should be told. From towns and villages the length and breadth of the Empire young men have flocked to the colours to take part in these great adventures. -
Wycombe-World-Autumn
The Magazine of RAF High Wycombe Autumn 2018 Winter 2015 Winter Wycombe World Photography by George Parish DANGEROUS MOONLIGHT | 60 SECOND SPOTLIGHT | LIFE AFTER THE RAF Main Road, Naphill, HP14 4QA Tel: 01494 562210 Family Friendly • Dog Friendly • Good Beer Guide since 2008 • Real Fires • Excellent smoking area & gardens Award Winning Great locals and “Choose real life “ great staff for a Traditional British Pub or Wheel Life! great atmosphere!” A quirky pub - it’s bigger than it looks! ” With 2 bars and a function/dining area. Excellent homemade food - allergies catered for. Bronze Award www.thewheelnaphill.com [email protected] in Buckinghamshire Station Commander’s Foreword Contents Autumn 2018 Group Captain Rob Woods OBE MA BEng (Hons) RAF an exceptionally busy nearby Cowleaze Wood to year commemorating, remember seven airmen celebrating and inspiring of No. 51 Squadron who locally and up and down were based at RAF Snaith the country; some of in Yorkshire. Their Halifax our personnel have also aircraft, LW579, crashed contributed to anniversary on 31st March 1944 as it events overseas too. The returned from a raid, killing ‘picture board’ on pages all on board. It is not clear 22/23 captures some of why the Halifax lost height Editorial Team these moments but there and hit the hill just West OIC: Fg Off Adam South Ext 6662 were many, many more to of Stokenchurch but it was Editor: Cpl Daniel Phillips Ext 4526 make us all proud. one of six aircraft that the Deputy Editor: WO Claire Old Ext 5251 Mailbox: HWY-EditorWycombeWorld@ squadron lost in the same More recently, our night on the same mission. -
A 97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron, Path Finder Force Aircrew
A 97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron, Path Finder Force Aircrew. 27th April 1943 – 11th May 1944 Contents Page Number Forward 4 The Original Crew 5 - 6 97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron 7 - 8 Original Individual Crew Members 9 Sgt WN Roberts Pilot/Captain RAF (Flying Officer Roberts DFM) 9 - 30 Sergeant JR Chapman RCAF Mid Upper Gunner RCAF (Warrant Officer 31 -34 DFC) 1072007 Sergeant DED Harvey Wireless Operator RAFVR (Pilot Officer 34 - 40 DFM) 138589 Pilot Officer LC Jones, Bomb Aimer RAFVR (Flt Lt DFC) 40 - 42 658210 Flight Sergeant Samuel Joseph Peek DFM Navigator 43 - 47 Number 8 (Path Finder Force) Group 47 - 48 General Facts Regarding Air Crews 48 - 49 97 Squadron Operations Record Book August – December 1943 49 - 106 1172743 Warrant Officer Victor Allenby Davis DFM RAF (Time Line 50, 97 & 70 - 93 582 Squadrons) 97 Squadron Operations Record Book January – June 1944 110 - 172 134059 Flight Lieutenant Arthur William Weston RAFVR Navigator (Time 111 - 120 Line 9 & 97 Squadrons) NZ414691 Flight Lieutenant JB Smith DFC RNZAF (Time Line 466 & 97 137 - 163 Squadrons) 537312 Sergeant A R Rowlands RAF (Time Line 19 Squadron, RAF Jurby, 163 - 168 South Africa, 86 Maintenance Unit, 41 Air School South Africa, 61 Maintenance Unit and 97 Squadron) J17360 Flying Officer Sherman Air Gunner RCAF (Time Line: B Company 2nd 178 - 193 Battalion Canadian Scottish CASF, 49 & 97 Squadrons) LESQUIN COMMUNAL CEMETERY 194 - 195 RAF Coningsby 196 Life in the PFF: Keeping a Lancaster Flying 197 2 References 198 - 200 Appendix A: 97 Squadron Combat Report -
RAF Pocklington and Local Area Losses Aircraft Accidents & Losses at and Near RAF Pocklington in WW2
RAF Pocklington and Local Area Losses Aircraft Accidents & Losses at and near RAF Pocklington in WW2 The Halifax HR792 shown here made an emergency landing on the Isle of Lewis in WW2 and has been restored by the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington where it is now on permanent display. Although HR792 was not an RAF Pocklington aircraft, it is representative of the type flown from RAF Pocklington by No. 405 Squadron from April 1942 and later No. 102 Squadron to May 1945. Evident is the radome for the H2S radar scanner mounted under the central fuselage; also the much-revised fin & rudder shape which transformed handling and thus flight safety (see Part 1). © Pocklington & District Local History Group Aircraft Accidents & Losses at and near RAF Pocklington in WW2 Introduction © Copyright notice The article on the WW2 airfield at RAF Pocklington on the Pocklington & District Local This article is copyright the Pocklington & Local District History Group and no part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including History Group website included details of several aircraft accidents and losses within the airfield photo-copying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in boundary and the adjacent Pocklington parish. writing from Andrew Sefton. Contact Email: [email protected] Nevertheless, there were well over 100 aircraft losses during WW2 at Pocklington airfield and within the local area primarily covered by the History Group (including the neighbouring airfields at RAF Elvington, Full Sutton, Holme-on-Spalding Moor – colloquially abbreviated throughout to ‘HOSM’ – and Melbourne), primarily involving the Halifax bomber, and this companion article sets out to record them. -
Hamburg Fotograferet I 1945
Blohm & Voss skibsværftet i Hamburg fotograferet i 1945. På billedet ses tydeligt en række ubåde under bygning på de delvis overdækkede beddinge midt i billedet. Hamburg Blohm & Voss skibsværftet i Hamburg var aftenens andet hovedmål. Skibsværftet ligger direkte modsat centrum af Hamburg på sydsiden side af den nordlige arm af Elben. Skibsværftet fyldte 145 acres og der var omkring 12.000 ansatte på Blohm & Voss i Hamburg. Før krigen bygge man blandt andet slagskibet Bismark og den tunge krydser Admiral von Hipper på Blohm & Voss, men efter krigens start koncentrerede skibsværftet sig udelukkende om at bygge u-både. Op til juni 1944 byggedes hele 171 u- både af typen VII-C på værftet, men herefter gik man over til at bygge de prefabrikerede Type XXI u- både, hvoraf 50 blev søsat. Af disse blev 40 afleveret til den tyske krigsmarine. US Strategic Bombing Survey beskrev i 1945 Blohm & Voss således (uddrag): 'Blohm & Voss occupies a roughly triangular-shaped area of about 145 acres, of which 25 per cent is in buildings, 12 per cent is covered by slipways and five per cent is occupied by the graving dock. The principal physical equipment of the yard consist of: a. Over 100 sizeable shop and office buildings. b. Three power plants with an average capacity of 6.000 KW each. c. Heating plant. d. Gas plant for production of acetylene, oxygen and hydrogen. e. Eight slipways, five of which are of modern construction with a light steel superstructure carrying travelling cranes and three are in the old part of the plant. f.