264 Squadron News

H M Armed Forces We Defy Jan. 2017 We Defy Issue 1/17

Editor: Geoff Faulkner, 8 Rosamond Avenue, Shipton Gorge, Bridport, Dorset DT6 4LN. 01308 897275 Email: [email protected]

May we wish you a Happy, Healthy and rewarding ew Year Reunions: Facebook or Twitter:

As yet I have had only two replies to my query as to I wonder if I missed a trick by not using this internet tool. whether you would like a reunion in 2017 at the Union In fairness, I’m a bit of a dummy regarding this and have Jack Club, so I must assume that there is little enthusi only just joined facebook and still have reservations asm for it, either because of age, health, distance or ex over it. It seems that much of it concerns the most inane pence, so I guess we let it slide. No one has suggested articles that are of no use to man nor beast. However, it any ‘get to together’ for the North of England either, alt can be useful and indeed is used by the Musical Direc hough we could easily arrange one for the South and tor of the Choral Society I belong to to play music that indeed have talked about it. The thoughts at the moment he wants us to familiarlise ourselves with, prior to a re is possibly a Premier Inn or similar and book a restaurant hearsal. or maybe hire a room at a decent pub for a meal, it’s a bit Now I don’t know if any of you are members of Face early to deal with specifics yet. book or Twitter (I haven’t a clue on the latter!), but I have just put on (with help) a note which I think , (again, Health I’m told) will go nationwide. But I have asked if anyone served on 264 RAF Night Fighter Squadron to contact The Bodens me. In honesty, I haven’t had any replies, which wasn’t Please see page 3 encouraging, but I can hope. If any of you can sort something out, I would be very Wrights grateful and it could keep the Squadron Association go I heard from Peter Wright our President around the 10th ing a bit longer (or as long as I do!). November to hear that Lindsy, his wife had had a fall in their home and broken her femur. This necessitated her Our March being hospitalised and a new hip replacement joint and repair to the femur. At the time of writing this Lindsay is Sadly nothing to report on it’s progress with other bands home and I’m told she is being careful (that’ll be the day!) and although I have tried to get something moving on Peter is a bit up and down, but overallI think he is pretty publishing it, to date no reaction. But I shall continue to positive. try to make it a popular March. The Faulkner’s My throat operation with the third partial thyroidectomy I have also tried to get the unpublished book of dear and removal of two tumours was a great success and I Eric Barwell written by Mark Woodruff an ex American am now singing again in both choirs. The only downside Marine Vetnam veteran, for possible inclusion into the is that the thyroid has caused damage to my right eye’s Squadron News, but sadly haven’t been able to contact muscles and I’m struggling a bit with double vision, alt him in Texas. I will try to chase that up as well. hough I am under a consultant for this and am keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t loose my driving licence. Our Website: Now hopping around following foot operation! Well there is no doubt that the decision to get a Squad ron Website was a really good idea. I have lost count of the number of messages I have received, enquiring The Andersons The last time I spoke to Clyde and Val, I understand about the Squadron and usually wanting details of their Clyde had had a heart attack and Val was still having relations who served on it. trouble with her eyes. We hope they are feeling a bit bet I think that about 50% of these enquiries I am able to ter! help in some way. Recently I was able to send some details to a gentleman, whose Mother was Sqdn Leader The Long’s Hunter’s wife (exCO 264 and KIA in 1940) and which I haven't heard from tem since before the reunion, but do we have some pictures of in the Squadron Archives. hope that Pauline is getting better and that Brian has got The latest was, to help an exGerman Nurse meet a over his knee replacement WingCo who was the only survivor of a Valletta crash, To all those who have been poorly or are struggling, we that killed a football team (no not the Manchester United wish you better health and the patience to deal with one) although the copilot was an ex264 pilot. Through your problems. 1 The Story of our first 264 Squadron Aircraft:

It’s great that there is interservice rivalry with the usual banter between the services. So it might come as a bit of a shock to know that we are the offspring (awful isn’t it, will we ever live it down?) The RAF was founded on 1 April 1918 by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service and was controlled by the British Government Air Ministry which had been estab lished three months earlier. The Royal Flying Corps had been born out of the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers and was under the control of the British Army. The Royal Naval Air Service was its naval equivalent and was controlled by the Admiralty. The decision to merge the two services and create an independent air force was a response to the events of World War I, the first war in which air power made a significant impact. The creation of the new force was based on the Smuts Report prepared by Field Marshal Jan Smuts for the Imperial War Cabinet on which he served to emphasize the merger of both military and naval aviation in the new service, many of the titles of officers were deliberately chosen to be of a naval character, such as flight lieutenant, commander, group cap tain, and air commodore.The creation of the RAF removed all aircraft and flying personnel from the Navy, although the Admiralty remained in control of aircraft carriers. On 1 April 1924, the Fleet Air Arm of the was formed under Air Ministry control. It consisted of those RAF units that were normally embarked on aircraft carriers and fighting ships. The Chief of the Air Staff, Lord Trenchard, his air staff and his succes sors argued that "air is one and indivisi ble" and hence that naval aviation was properly the responsibility of the RAF. The Short 225 seaplaneas was one of the most widely used types in the entire short series during the Great War. The S184 was originally designed in 1914 to carry a torpedo slung between the main floats and was a pioneer of the tor pedo carrying seaplane. If the original S184 had a 225 hp Sunbeam engine and a crew of two, a later modification known as the type ‘D’ was a single seater and carried nine 56 lb bombs in the fuselage ahead of the rear cockpit. A model of the S225 used in 1916 had a 240 hp Renault Mercedes motor and the 1917 model, of which most were built, had a 260 hp Maori motor. A still further model was fitted with a 250 hp Rolls Royce motor instead of a Sunbeam. Although mainly operated from the East coast of Britain, a number of ‘ detached’ flights flew from ba ses around the east of the Mediterranean, ours from Suda Bay in Crete. the squadron was formed from the amalgamation of two flights of the RNAS, namely Numbers 439 and 440.

Two prototype aircraft were embarked upon HMS Ben-my Chree , which sailed for the Aegean on 21 March 1915 to take part in the Gallipoli campaign.On 12 August 1915 one of these, piloted by Flight Commander Charles Edmonds, was the first air craft in the world to attack an enemy ship with an airlaunched torpedo. However, the ship had al ready been crippled by a torpedo fired by the British submarine E14.

However, on 17 August 1915, another Turkish ship was sunk by a torpedo of whose origin there was no doubt. On this occasion Flight Com mander Edmonds torpedoed a Turkish transport ship a few miles north of the Dardanelles. His formation colleague, Flt Lt G B Dacre, was forced to land on the water owing to engine trou ble but, seeing an enemy tug close by, taxied up to it and released his torpedo, sinking the tug. Without the weight of the torpedo Dacre was able to take off and return to the Ben-My-Chree . 2 The performance of the Type 184 in the climatic conditions of the Mediterranean was marginal, it being necessary to fly with out an observer and carry a limited amount of fuel, and the 184 was therefore used either as a bomber, carrying two 112 lb bombs, or for reconnaissance and gunnery observation. A Short 184, aircraft number 8359,was the only British aircraft to take part in the Battle of Jutland. Flown by Flt Lt Frederick Rut land (who became known afterwards as "Rutland of Jutland") with Assistant Paymaster G. S. Trewin as observer, the aircraft was launched from HMS Engadine at about 3.08 p.m.: flying at about 90 feet (27 m) due to low visibility, they spotted four cruisers of the German fleet, reporting their presence back to the Engadine at about 3.30. The aircraft was presented to the Imperial War Museum in 1917, where it was damaged in a German air raid during the blitz. The unrestored forward section of the fuselage is now on ex hibit in the Fleet Air Arm Museum, RNAS Yeovilton

The Bodens (continued from the first page)

I spoke to them recently and it is obvious that they are struggling a bit, David has serious problems with his memory and Gwenno has very serious eye problems. This means that they are more or less. confined to home as neither can drive anymore. Gwenno has asked that you will understand that they have difficulty in sending out Christmas cards, so has asked me to wish you all, a very happy Christmas and healthy, happy New Year (although I know by the time you receive this Christmas will just be a memory).

The Bromley Memorial Plate:

I know that I have written about this be fore, but felt it would be a nice gesture that as I write this, it is Armastice week and it would do no harm to remember some of our own Squadron fallen. The list is far too long and if I wrote their names, there is no doubt I would miss someone out , so I have just singled two out, that we have either had dealings specifically as a Squadron association, or like Frank Ferguson, have paid their own personal respects to. The one shown here is the plate we had made to present to the people of Werkendam, in Holland. It is a dedication to LAC J.S.M.Bromley , an air gunner shot down on May 13th 1940. I was privelaged to attend their Armistice day in May 2001 along with Goup Captain Hugh Tudor and his wife Audrey, David Boden (aircrew) Charles Ramsey and me (Groundcrew) to lay wreathes on the graves of some of our fallen. This was attended by most of the town and was a solomn and moving ceremony.

The other memorial is to Flt Lt Willmott who died in a tragic acci dent , when his damaged aircraft returned to base without radio or lights, they circled before landing, and touched down only to be hit by another landing Mosquito and their plane burst into flames killing Will mott. His memorial is displayed in the Mayor’s office. Frank Ferguson knew him and was able to lay wreathes on his grave (last year I think it was!)

3 Desmond Hughes story continued from the September Issue:

I was g lad that our Ma rk 2s h ad a beltfed mechani sm which m ea nt that th e ROs could d o th eir proper job and st ay a t their tubes instead of battling with drums which , under ' g', could w eigh 120 lbs o r more; there were t ee thing troubl es with the b eltfeed but after some months thes e w ere ironed out. Th er e was al so the bonu s of si x .303 m ac hine guns in the win gs if th e c annon s s hould fa il or run out of am munition . A for mid abl e beast , the B ea u!

Bac k at Cole rne for 1 25 had m ove d there w hil st I was a t Chur ch Fe nt on the new CO , Wg C dr I vins , had arri ve d. A co urt eo us a nd serious man, he was ve ry muc h the int erwar re gul ar and did n ot find i t easy to communic ate w ith the much yo un ge r amateur o fficers who made up his aircre w. He was ve ry fus sy a bout dres s and deportment and gave Jim Bailey , now deputy flight command er, a hard time about his l ength o f hair, shapeless uniform , etc etc To quo te Jim , Ivins complained th at he "t reated th e A ir Force li ke a fl yin g c lub " and "wa lke d around the airfield lik e a s hepherd "! Th e new OC 'A' Fli ght, Sqn Ldr Ham is h Kerr , was a s taid l ongter m flyi ng in str uctor , softspoke n with a mild Sco ttis h acce nt an d a po n derou s, humourle ss manner. Jim couldn 't sta nd him and t old him so w hi ch can 't have mad e f or harmo ny in th e fli ght. Though I didn 't actuall y quarrel wit h eith er o f th em, the t wo ne wco mers didn 't see m at all sui ta bl e for a fi ghte r squadr on; t he y w er e more interested in d eterminin g ho w long a B ea ufighte r could sta y a irb or ne , boo st and revs right back , th an in learnin g to fly th e a ircraft to its limits in combat situa tions .in the eve nt , neith er of them stay ed fo r very long.

The first thr ee months we nt alon g qui etl y w ith n ew Bea ufi ght ers being gradu all y co ll ected from m aint e nance u ni ts , pil ots bein g sent on t win engin e c our ses , ai r gunn ers poste d awa y, new lytra in ed ROs a rriv ing and bei ng c re we dup with their pilot s. I did m any dem onstra tion fli ght s befo re se nd ing pil ots so lo in th e Bea u; I did m y le vel b es t t o s ho w them ho w to c ount eract 'swi ng'. Mo st first s olos we re uneven tf ul but there wa s one chap who c ame o ff the runway at 90 degrees , s tag gered into the air and only got aw ay with it b y fl ying th ro ugh the gap between two h angars. I took m y time in selec tin g a n RO to fl y with , tr yin g o ut seve ral of the ne w boys , and , f in all y settl ed on Sgt Nige l Gibbs . He was v er y goo d and we staye d tog ether for three mon th s un til h e w as co mm iss ioned and , fo r s ome rea son I n eve r r ea ll y fa th omed, was pos ted to anot her s qu adr on.

Onc e my li fe a t Co lern e had se ttle d in to a rea son abl e routin e a nd th e s prin g wea th er had arri ved , I found som e 'digs ' in the vi llage o f Box, not far from the airf ie ld , and fetched P amela and the little spaniel , Ni shi . Wit h the 'two night s on , two o ff sy stem we could be t og ether quit e a lot which w as ver y go od as she wa s now e xpectin g our first baby in August. We we re li vin g in a hous e belongi ng t o two o ld lad ies who see med to spe nd th eir wa kin g hour s v iew in g th e dail y g oin gs on i n th e vi ll age t hrou gh la ce cur tain s. They we re, howeve r, ver y ki nd to u s and they we re very fond of d ogs T hey cosse ted t heir ow n by cov eri ng it wit h a delic ate , ha ndmad e S het land shaw l th row n int o it s basket!

Enemy ac ti vit y had fo r so me littl e tim e bee n minim al in our sector but on e ni ght a t t he end o f A pril we were rudely aw akened not b y a ir r aid sire ns, through whi ch we often slept th e sleep of th e y oung and hea lth y, but b y the an gry but infrequ ent b ark of 3.7 " gun s a nd the crump of bombs .

I jump ed out of b ed an d pulled the bl ack-out curtains a sid e. I had ex pe cted to see that Col ern e or the nearb y C harm y Do wn was the target but was as toni shed to see tha t Bath was bein g attack ed and was alr ea dy aglo w w ith in ce ndi ar ies ; this was on e of the fir st of the 'Ba edek er ra id s' aga in st ca th edral citi es (Ca nt er bur y, Exe ter, etc) or dered b y Hitler in retal iati on fo r the increasin gly eff ecti ve Bomb er Command raid s on hi s citi es, in cludin g Be rlin. The raid was short and shar p, las ting le ss th an an h our w ith the bomber s atta ckin g in fa st shallo w di ves .

4 I dro ve up to Colerne a ft er an earl y break fast to find it undama ged , but alre ady a hi ve of acti vit y. We had onl y received a lit tle ove r h alf of our establi shm ent o f Beaus and few crews w ere trul y night op erational in th em. We all expected a se cond r aid on Bath and lvins decre ed that ' A' Flight should fly any Beaus they could make fully serviceable and we in 'B' Flight should us e the re maining Defiants. It tr anspired that we were going to h ave more crews available than aircraft but , as I w as l ea ving the hangar after a ch at with the Engineerin g Offi cer, Fg Off 'Lofty ' Youings , I spied a Hurricane lurkin g in th e corner. I pester ed 'L ofty' to tr y and get it ser vic eable ("Never mind who it b elon gs to let's have a go !"_ and he readil y ag ree d. I had ne ver e ven sa t in a H ur rica ne c oc kpit b efo re so I du g o ut a se t of Pil ot 's Note s from som ew her e, had a goo d brows e th rou gh them an d then climb ed in and fa mili ar is ed m yse lf with all th e new taps and sw it ches , while t he f itters carri ed out th eir i nspection s a roun d me.

'Lofty' had th e Hu rr ica ne NW T read y half a n h our b efor e dark. She was a n old Mark I with eight m a chin egun s. S he w as a deli ght to f ly, li ght on th e con tro ls a nd with a b et ter view over t he e ngin e when t axy in g th an th e Defian t. I sc urr ied over th e Bri stol Channel to m ake s ure t hat th e g uns wo rke d. I pr esse d the gun butt on and th ey fir ed I took m y thumb off t he but ton and the y s till ke pt firing! Pressin g a nd re leas in g the button , I kep t the nose away from the land and sa t there helplessl y while the g uns emptied themsel ve s. I landed at dusk , told the ar mourers what had happ ened and arranged for a n ew outfit of ammunition . An hour or so later, they reported her ready for flight but said the y had not disco vered any e xplanation for th e r un away guns . There was nothin g more to be done at that tim e of night so I acc ept ed her as she was.

As expect ed, a co upl e of hours after d ar k anoth er raid on Bath d eve loped. T he Beaus of ' A' Flight wer e under GCl control som ew here. T he controll er had ord ered a 'Fighter Ni ght ' ov er B ath and allot ted p at rol hei ght s to 87 Sqn Hurri ca nes , our Defiant s and m y precio us little afte rthought. I go t off the grou nd withou t a ny trouble at all and h ad ju st re ached m y pat rol he ig ht when the f irs t raid ers ca me in and mark ed th e cit y w ith in ce ndiari es. Ex tr a g un s a nd se archli ghts had b ee n d epl oy ed and th e s oldier s put on qui te a s how , Bo fo rs 40 mm tra cer driftin g lazi ly up war d and se lf de structing we ll .below us. As th e f ir es took hold , t here we re patches of bri ght background and tw ice I h ad fleet in g g limp ses of bombe rs c rossing t hem as t hey pull ed out o f th eir dives a nd s hot o ff aga in in to t he bl ackne ss.

High explo sive bomb s ( HE) w ere no w fa llin g o n Bath a s I whee led around , cockpit canopy open , searc hin g for a target. Th ere was little moonlight so the best chance of a 'v isual ' wa s a silh ouette against one o f th e fir es but , of cours e, a ny bomber seen below me would h ave been diving and goin g fas ter than my Hurric ane. As if to rub this in , a Ju88 di ved d own past my starboard win g, the top gunner spr ayin g tracer in m y general dir ecti on as he passed.

I dived d ow n af ter him but he h ad l ots of speed in hand and , having dropped his load , slipped off into the safety of dar kness . I finished that patrol in a fury of frustration , as did all the other 125 Sqn crews; none had got into combat, all had been infuriated by the obvious heavy damage being inflict ed on the beautiful, totally nonmilitary ci ty below them. Our only consolation came when we were told that 604 ' s Beaufighters in Middle Wallop sector had got several of the bombers as they passed in and out over the south coast.

Hoping that we might have the chance to pay back the enemy for the mayhem wrought on Bath , we laid on another 'maximum effort ' next night. Again , I took my Hurricane out over the Bristol Channel and again she fired off all her ammunition whatever I did with the firing button. I had her rearmed and sat at readiness all night , but some other cathedral cit y was the target and I didn 't get into the air. I often wondered how I would have coped with runaway guns had I managed to get at a Hun over Bath! 5 This 'blooding ' of 125 albeit without a victor y saw the end of our attachment to Colerne. I took a fortnight 's leave and brought Pamela over to Ulster for the first time. We had decided that the baby should be born o ver there with Pamela relaxed in the peace of Donaghadee in the care of our e xcellent family GP and friend, Dr Ian Gilbert. We had booked a room at Johnstone House, the maternity wing of Belfast's great Royal Victoria Hospital where she could be under the wing of Mr Macafee who, my parents reckoned , was Ulster's premier gynaecologist and also a friend of the family.

Pamela had an unusual welcome to 'Whinstone '. My parents had collected us from the Heysham boat. On arri val , Pamela had just got out of the car and was admiring the splendid view outto sea when dear old Sally rushed out, stopped in front of her , turned her right round by the shoulders until she was facing her again, and declared: "Mrs Desmond you'll do! ". My lovely young wife could hardly have had a warmer welcome to the family house .

We had a most happy leave, with Pamela being introduced to all our friends. My parents adored her and she got on very well with Ian Gilbert . For me , it was sheer bliss to hear her s ing so beautifully in our music room with m y father at the piano. They became ver y special friends and gave each other enormous pleasure as they made mu sic together. Sally totally spoiled her with r ich food such as potato bread running with butter for breakfast in bed sa ying: "Och , Mrs Desmond sure ye've got to eat for the wean as well!" The whole atmosphere was so warm and caring that , when the time came for me to return to the war , I went in the certain knowledge that Pamela was safe and happy in my home. The onl y sadness at the time was that the spaniel died of a stomach complaint shortl y after I got back to Wales after which I acquired ' Scruffy' , a sort of fox terrier I rescued him from being tied up in the Mess boiler room. Thereafter, he loved people in RAF uniform but not anyone in civvies .

On m y return to Fairwood Common a new Fairwood , for in the summer sun the whole Gower looked gorgeous with inviting sand y beaches , there was a wholesale change of management '. First , Ivins was posted to command an 'intruder ' squadron (in which before long he was killed in action attacking an enemy airfield) and was replaced by Wg Cdr Padd y Green, a prewar Auxiliary with 601 (County of London) Sqn. In the Battle of Britain he had served as a flight commander with 92 Squadron and then commanded the independent 421 Flight , both on Spit fires. The job of the latter was to fly very high over the Channel and send back hot eyewitness information about the build up of the German raids . He had considerab le success in both jobs and was awarded the DFC but in his last da y fighter battle he was shot down; he managed to bale out despite being badly wounded in the thigh , his femur being bro ken.

He spent a long time in hospital but when he recovered he transferred to the night fighter role ; he came to us after having been a flight commander with 600(City of London) Squadron at Predannack on .

Next to go was Hamish Kerr who was replaced by an excellent character with a sound operational background, Sqn Ldr Gordon Denby; he became a firm friend of Jim Bailey so life in 'A ' Flight became more tranquil! Then Eric Barwell was posted for a 'rest' to a staff job at HQ No 10 Group ; I was given his job as OC 'B' Flight with promo tion to acting Squadron Leader. Thus began a long and happy relationship with Paddy G reen.

There were no attacks on Fairwood as it was a quiet sector. There were no attacks on the South Wales cities ; such little enemy activity as there was took the shape of laying mines in the Milford Haven area by night at low level so low that our Mark IV AI was quite unable to cope and defence had to be left to AA guns. However, as our chain of radar stations multiplied and improved, the sector controllers began to notice some host ile plots ap pearing right on the edge of our coverage , well to the west of Pembroke shire and south of the Irish coast.

6 The plots were intermittent and by adding DF information from the radio listening stations known as Y Service, which quickly got fixes on any transmissions from these reconnaissance aircraft , and fill ing in the gaps with basic deadreckoning navigation, a pretty useful 'bandit' track could be produced. The senior controller , Sqn Ldr Shipwright , and his deputy, Flt Lt Patterson , decided to do something about this and enlisted our aid. The idea was to send out a pair of Beaufighters every morning in the hope that the odd radar plot plus Y Se rvice DF positions would make an interception possible . As there was v ir tually no nocturnal trade for us , we were definitely enthusiastic about this proposal.

I don't know how man y sorties of Operation 'Pigstick ' were flown before we had success but it was on my second patrol , with Sgt Heijne as my Ra, that we first struck gold. I took PIt Off Dickie Bastow as my No 2. We did a sweep a few miles off the south Irish coast as far as the Old Head of Kinsale , fly ing at 5 ,000 feet just below the cloudbase. We then turned round and set course eastwards back to wards Wales, climbing to 16 ,000 feet. We were about due south of Carnsore Po int when Pat Pa tter son turned us northwest and said: "Bandit just come up 15 miles ahead!" I dived to 15,000 feet to work up speed and then saw the tiniest of black specks moving across a cloud from right to left, some 3000 feet below. Pat had pulled it off!

I opened up to full throttle and dived at over 330 IAS (indicated air speed) , keeping the rapidly grow ing target a little to starboard as I came down out of the sun. At about two miles range the enemy saw us for he suddenly opened his throttles , trailing a thin line of black smoke. As I closed in, now turning gently left , I identified it as a Ju88. I made a standard quarterattack from about 300 yards , giving a two second burst of cannon; I saw no result at all from this , probably not ha ving allowed enough lead. Tracer bullets from the top gunner flew past my starboard wingtip but as I slipped in behind I fired a four second burst from about 200 yards.

To be continued in May’s edition page 57 (plus “This time , HE)

These photos were taken in 1944 at Picauville and shows the remains of Flt. Lt. Willmott’s Mosquito following the fatal collision and fire. (See page 3). Sadly our contact with the Picauville Society has died so we have no contact with them now. They were very interested in our Squadron and have a museum devoted to an American Thunderbolt Squadron and us.

Another picture from Picauville, showing Air and Ground crew together. Sadly I haven't been able to put names to them. I wonder if frank fer- guson could remember after all this time?

7 As most of you will appreciate by my constant whinging, I do have difficulty in filling the Squadron News and have had to resort to reviving past articles, although I have tried to go back far enough that either some of you weren’t with the association then, or you will have forgotten them.

Aircraft Maintenance Problems and Solutions

Never let it be said that the Ground Crew and Engineers haven’t got a sense of humour. Here are some actual logged maintenance complaints and problems, known as ‘squawks’, submitted by Quantas Pilots and the solutions recorded by the Maintenance Engineers. By the way, Quantas is the only major airline that has never had a serious accident.

Aircrew = A Groundcrew = G A: Left inside tyre almost needs changing G: Almost replaced left inside tyre

A: Test Flight OK, except Autoland very rough G: Autoland not fitted on this aircraft!

A: No.2 Propeller seeping prop fluid G: No.2 Propeller seepage normal, 1,3 and 4 propellers lack normal seepage.

A: Something loose in the cockpit G: Something tightened in the cockpit

A: Dead Bugs on windshield G: Live Bugs on order

A: Autopilot in altitudehold mode produces a 200 fpm descent G: Cannot reproduce this problem on the ground

A: Evidence of leak in main landing gear G: Evidence removed

A: DME volume unbelievedly loud G: DME volume set to more believable level.

A: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick G: That’s what there’re there for!

A: IFF Inoperative G: IFF always inoperative in OFF position.

A: Suspected crack in windscreen G: Suspect you’re right!

A: Number 3 Engine missing. G: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

A: Aircraft handles funny G: Aircraft warned to straighten itself up, fly right, and be more serious.

A: Target Radar hums G: Reprogrammed target radar with words and music. 8 I know that I have written about Biscarosse and Instep before, but thought this article was interesting enough to add. 264 Squadron flew many operations in this area and as you will notice, it is mentioned in this extract from Air Pictorial:

Tales from the Deep......

(thanks to RICHARD P. BATESO of Air Pictorial 1982)

FOR SOME thirty-five years, from August 1944 until February 1980, two Dornier Do 24 T-3 three-engined flying-boats lay unnoticed in shallow water just off the pre-war Air France transatlantic terminal at Hour- tiquets on the north-west shore of Lake Biscarosse-Parentis. Sunk by the retreating during their abandonment of occupied France and rediscovered by local scuba divers searching for archaeological re- mains, the first of these machines (“W4+DH”, W.Nr. 1101) was raised last summer and is now displayed by the Association de Protection des Epaves du Lac de Biscarosse (APELB) near the yachting marina at Bis- carosse.

The recovery of the second aircraft (“W4+BH”, W.Nr. 1007) was given wide publicity in France, a team from the regional TV channel FR 3 “Aquitaine” filming various aspects of the salvage operation. This took place over the weekend of 19 th -20 th September 1981. Unfortunately it was found necessary to cut off the mainplanes, these being brought ashore earlier. Large airbags provided the main lifting component. The fuse- lage had to be dragged a considerable distance under water, sustaining some damage in the process. This slow haul occupied the whole of Saturday. Towards evening the Do 24 broke surface much to the relief of the crowds of patient sightseers lining the old concrete slipway – all that now remains of the once famous La- técoére factory at Biscarosse.

Among those watching was former Feldwebel Heinrich Reif, late of 1. Seenotstaffel, the Bay of Biscay air-sea rescue unit to which the pair of Do 24’s once belonged and the last pilot of “W4+BH” prior to its tem- porary consignment to a watery grave. Other guests of the Mairie and Les Amis du Musée des Hydravions came from Dornier GmbH Friedrichshafen and the town of Forchheim north of Nürnberg with which Bis- carosse is twinned. Also present were a number of former RAF Mosquito aircrew and their wives invited by APELB, the group of boatmen, divers, ex-Resistance and other local volunteers charged with carrying out the complex task of both raising and preserving these heavy flying-boats. The British party was led by G/Capt. LT Bryant-Fenn, DFC, who took part in the first successful “instep” patrol to Biscarosse on 20 th June 1943, when four Mosquitoes of No. 264 Squadron shot down a Blohm und Voss Bv 138, sunk another on the lake and destroyed two six-engined BV 222s moored there. British visitors also included W/Cdr. HE Tappin, DFC, of No. 157 squadron, who shot down another BV 222 south-west of the lake on the night of 8 th February 1944.

Early Sunday morning found Reif’s Dornier beached like a stranded whale. The long slow underwater tow had, however, taken its toll. The nose section was missing, its rear turret now folded incongruously under the aft fuselage. Although the port side of the fuselage was intact, the starboard side was badly damaged, es- pecially in the centre-section where the effect of an explosive charge set off by the Germans to scuttle the air- craft were all too apparent. Also, within hours of being exposed, the dark camouflage paint began to flake away.

Unlike the previous year, when a whole range of items including a mint MG 131 machine-gun, live ammunition, still-readable documents, parachutes, dinghies, a flare pistol and steel helmets wre recovered from the interior of “W4+DH”, nothing of value was discovered in this second Do 24. These relics, inci- dentally, are now displayed by APELB in a small temporary building on the old Latécoère site. Possibly the nose section, if located, might still yield something of interest.

It is likely, that given sufficient funds work will start on wedding together the least corroded compo- nents of the two Do 24s, to make a single display specimen. Unfortunately the machine recovered in 1980 is now constantly exposed to the elements and there seems little prospect that this situation will change in the foreseeable future. In the long term, one can but hope that the unique facility across the lake at Hourtiquets with its two fine vintage hangars and “timeless” atmosphere will be preserved intact for posterity. Ideally this site might one day form the nucleus of a French national flying-boat museum.

9 I was fortunate enough to persuade one of our members, Harry Reed to write this super article (Hope the twisted arm is feeling better now Harry!)

My Tim e with 264 Squadron - by Harry Reed

I was posted to 264 Squadron at Colerne in 1943. It was a short journey from Cha rmy Down which was perched on a hill about three mi les away . I had spent three months w ith 533 my first squadron flyin g Havocs and Bo ston aircraft. These carried 2000lbs batteries in the bomb bays and used t o power the search light in the aircraft nose. The aircraft were not armed but it was intended that formating with each one would be a Hu rricane. 533 Squadron was disbanded whe n the Turbinlight id ea wa s scr apped . It had been said that the idea had been Churchill's and co nseq uently it linger ed l ong er than ju st ified. My arr ival at the squadron was de layed as I col lected a knee injury jus t before departure was due so I spe nt a coupl e o f w eek s at RAF hospit al Wroughton and a similar spell at the RAF Rehab. Unit at Ho yl ake Cheshire. It was late January 1943 before I could effect my po sting to 264 Squadron. 264 had enjoyed it s glory days wh en equipp ed with Defiants and Ted Thorne accounted for12 enemy aircraf t shot down plus ano ther shared. Now the Defiants had left and the squadron was being equipped with Mosquito aircraft. To assist in training pilots to the twin engine a ircra ft Fit /L t Walter Gibb an inst ructor, was made available. His work was almost fini shed when I tu rned up . After my layoff I ne eded a couple of hours of dual before I was fit to make my first Mosquito solo ) flight . I spent March and April flying with my nav igator Sgt . Powell, hon ing up our night fighter skills, but these wer e laid as ide wh en the squadron wa s moved to Pedanna ck on pen insula. There were moans and groans from all secti ons when news of the relocation was known as Bath had been a very enjoy abl e location. As it tu rned out we w ere to be at Predannack f or May , June and July lovely month s to e njoy Kyn an ce and the ot her pleasan t spo ts a round t he L izar d P oint. Fly in g from Predannac k pl aced two extra hazards on crews . The airf ield had been b uilt on a bog a nd runways and taxitr ack were elevated above the soggy land. Runways etc . had to be built 18 inches or more above th e land, so a swing on takeoff could be disastrous. The other Predannack hazard was a sea fog which c ould c reep in very quick ly. It was called the Wizard and an R/T call saying “The Wizard's About " was used to giv e us warning . Our primary work was on “Instep” patro ls in the Bay of Biscay. These were of three or four Mosqitoes and were of up to five hours duration. Our patro ls really started once we had flown over the Scillies and reached B ishop Rock Light House 58 Km .S.W from Lands End . We were briefed to f ly as low as possible over the sea to give us more opportunity to surp ri se. This was a good ploy but demanded a lot of conce ntration . Of t he 20 Insteps I flew, most we re uneventful, but I managed to damage a JU88 one day before it reached cloud cover . One of our a ircraft f low n by Pi lot Office r Bill Bailey f lew h is Mossie 150 miles low ove r the sea on one engine. He made it back but opted to land at Exeter as he did not expect to be ab le to cl imb to land at cliff height Predannack . Wing Commander Allington led a sma ll formation made up of the mo re exper ienced c rews on daylight ra id on the seaplane base at Biscarosse . On one of my last Instep patrols many miles from land I spotted a rubber dinghy with four occupants. They were waving fra nti cally . I called the formation leader and he sen t me back to base to report the dinghy position. At that tim e the RAF had rescue craft for such occasions . A Lockheed Hudson with a small well equipped dinghy fasten ed to its belly would release it for descent by parachute into the sea if calm eno ugh. I gave my repo rt on la nding but never leaned a ny mo re abou t the d inghy occupants . Our Predannack stay was soon over and we flew to Fairwood Common our new base close to Swansea. 10 Here we carried out a wide variety of training exercises, including bombing, night cross coutries, and cinegun . For bombing, without aiming equipment, Wing .Co. Allington worked out a method using the aircraft gun sight, which pilots tried on the bombing range .It was good enough I. For our f irst "Flower" along with two other 264 crews we flew to Middle Wallop for briefing and bo mb loading. We were to patrol between two airfields in occupied territory , Laon and Juvincourt. Our t wo 250lb bombs were to be dropped from our MK.VI aircraft at Laon. We had strict instruct ions not to release the bombs unless we could see the airfield target. Reluctantly we did not drop our bombs on our next Flower at Florennes. Our last Flower was from Castle Camps where we were briefed by Fit Lt . Gibb the instructor that introduced me to the Mosqito. We were told that the Allies intended to assert air superiority and a massive fighter sweep over N. France was to take place the following day. RAF Intruders were to harass the resting Luftwaffe that their opposition if any would be blunted. Slips of paper were handed out indicat ing the target airfield each crew was to visit dur ing t he next ten hours. Gibbo th en said "Will those who have drawn Evraux, please stay behind ." Of cou rse I had a wi nning tick et and waited for Gibbo's message . He s imp ly exhorted us to be ca u tious as some crews vis iting Evr aux during the prev ious week, failed to return. After br iefing St az and I stud ied the map of the Evraux ar ea. It would be a dark night and there were fe w obv ious ground features to pinpoint. We noted a bridge over the river Seinne and hoped to f ind it and then set a short cour se for the ai rfi eld . This worked well but barely were we on course when I had the greatest fright of my l ife. Search li ghts pinned us and all forms of flack surrounded us. I had been flying visually a nd immediately had to sw itch on to instrum ents. I opened the thrott les and threw the aircraft into violent evas ive act ion, but bear ing in mind the course for Evraux. We soon flew through the trap and resumed course .We dropped one 259lb bomb and patrolled the area caref ully avoiding the trap before l ightening our load with the second 250lbs . At this point the ai rcraf t electr ics failed comp lete ly. With no navigat ion aids we flew north and eventua ll y I saw a flashing beacon which was identified as RAF Oak ington . Consent to la nd was given by A ldis lamp and we remained there overn ight whilst ou r elect rics were r estored . We rose early as our ai rcraft would probably be required by the squad ron at Fairwood Common. In Early Octobe r 1943 W in g. I rece ived o rders to repo rt to Win g Commander All ington . I was joine d by Frank Staz ike r my na vigator and another pilot Bi ll Bai ley wi th h is naviga tor Ji m M urphy . We were told that we were being posted to a reformed Mosqu ito squ adron in lOO Group and being assem ble d at RAF Heathfield Ayr . Bill Ba iley was placed in A fli ght 169 Squadron under Fl ight Commander Squadron Leader Ted T horne. {also ex 264}

Glossary of Terms: Instop: missions to restrict attacks on Coastal Command aircraft by maintaining a presence over the Western Approaches

Flower: Night patrols in the area of enemy airfields with the intention of preventing aircraft from taking off and at tacking those aircraft that succeeded.

Two pictures showing the aircraft that we flew in !940 the Defiant and the one on the right, were those flown if the early/mid 50’s

All very nostalgic!

11 Our regular ‘Funny Page’, I hope you enjoy them, I don’t think many of you will have seen them before:

PUNOGRAPHY

1 I tried to catch some Fog, I mist.

2 When Chemists die, do they Barium

3 Jokes about German sausages, are the Wurst

4 A soldier who survived Mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran

5 I know a guy who is addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop anytime.

6 How did Moses brew his tea, Hebrewed it.

7 I stayed up all night to see where the sun went, then it dawned on me.

8 The girl said she recognised me from the vegetarian club, but I’d never met herbivore.

9 I’m reading a book about Antigravity, I can’t put it down.

10 I did a theatrical performance about puns, it was a play on words.

11 They told me I had type A blood, but it was a Type O

12 A dyslexic man walked into a Bra

13 PMS jokes aren’t funny. Period

14 Why were the Indians here first, because they had reservations.

15 Class trip to the Coco Cola factory, I hope ther’e no pop quiz.

16 Energizer Bunny arrested, charged with battery.

17 I didn’t like my beard at first, then it grew on me.

18 How do you make Holy Water, Boil the Hell out of it.

19 What do you call a Dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.

20 When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble.

21 What does a clock do when its hungry, goes back four seconds.

22 I wondered why the cricket ball was getting bigger, the it hit me!

23 Broken pencils are pointless!

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