RAF Bomber Command's Dam Busters - 'let all that water loose'

F/O Douglas Hackett DFC RCAF was b/a in F/Lt Warren Roberts' 405 Squadron crew, lost on the 30^th January 1944 Berlin raid. I have been preparing notes for Doug Hackett for some time now, hopefully I'll be posting his page very soon.

In mid-May 1943 P/O D Hackett was with 424 Squadron who were making preparations at RAF Topcliffe in Yorkshire for their imminent detachment to No. 205 Group in the Middle-East. Having been employed on operations against the Ruhr, Hackett and his crew (pilot Sgt Donald F G Parker RCAF) would complete their tour in Tunisia during the bombing campaign against Sicily and Italy.

The Dams raid has been researched to the nth degree, but I am able to add a contemporary view of the legend. Doug wrote a letter home 'to Mother & Dad' in Kingston, Ontario the day after the night of 617 Squadron's 'Operation Chastise' saying:-

'I've just read about the dams that were smashed open last night, that was really quite a good job. One of the fellows put a piece in the 'Line Book' about it. He asks “What's the good of our starting fires in the Ruhr if they go and let all that water loose.”'

'Not a sausage' - WW2 technical term?

The RAF is renowned for spawning a multitude of its own slang sayings.

The phrase 'not a sausage' – meaning -' nothing at all' supposedly derives (or so www.urbandictionary would have us believe) from cockney rhyming slang – 'sausage and mash' : cash. To my mind this doesn't sound quite right. I much prefer the version presented to me by one of my glass clients last week.

Sally's mother was a wartime WAAF whose explanation for the phrase 'not a sausage' stemmed from interpreting a radar screen display. If a contact appeared on her screen it would be a sausage shaped image - no contact – no sausage.

So - 'what can you see?' - 'can't see a sausage sir!'

'D-Day' + 4 - RAF 1679 ADLS Flight - ' the Mail Goes Through'.

From their same starting point at 9 ITW Stratford-on-Avon, Jim Ives and Ian Cunnison, pictured sitting next to each other (extreme right, second from front row), both went on to undertake their pilot training in the Southern States of the USA as members of Arnold Scheme class 42G. They both did their initial pilot training at Carlstrom Field, Arcadia, Florida and their basic at Gunter Field, Montgomery, Alabama, Jim then progressed to twin-engine advanced, Ian Cunnison remained with single-engine aircraft with the possible destination of RAF Fighter Command.

Despite starting from the same point, the ‘jobs’ pilots came to do were surprisingly varied, and, to use modern parlance - ‘random’. The RAF was made up of a myriad of Commands, Units, Squadrons, Special flights etc., etc., Jim went on to become a main force bomber pilot.  After various training postings back in the UK Ian eventually found himself posted, in April 1944, to 1697 ADLS at RAF Hendon whence he operated until 9^th May when the unit moved to RAF Northolt.

1697 Air Despatch Letter Service Flight was established in the run-up to ‘D-Day’ to deliver secret mail and equipment. After the landings their work included flights to the beach-head during the invasion period. 1697 ADLS operated Hurricanes fitted with under-wing storage housings or a detachable nose compartment to accommodate their cargo. The aircraft did not initially have the characteristic black and white ‘invasion’ wing stripes but after a couple of the Hurricanes were reputedly fired on by American fighters the livery was adopted.

One of 1697 Flight's more famous pilots was Squadron Leader James Eric Storrar DFC* AFC who on 10^th June 1944 flew the first Allied aircraft to land in France after ‘D’-Day, carrying classified mail and recording material for war correspondents (apparently Storrar's take-off cry was ‘Fuel and noise - let's go!’ ). Later that day F/Lt Stewart and F/Sgt Cunnison made the third successful trip to the beach-head, landing at advanced landing ground B3 at Sainte Croix-sur-Mer.

On 16^th June 1679 Flight adopted the motto ' the Mail Goes Through'.

F/Sgt Cunnison's association with 1679 Flight ended a month later on 16^th July 1944, possibly as a result of a mishap on 3^rd July when he suffered an engine failure on take-off - the incident apparently deposited his aircraft in the C/O's garden.

After a short period at RAF Doncaster's holding centre Ian Cunnison was moved via

5 Personnel Despatch Centre RAF Blackpool for a Transport Command posting to India, embarking on the troopship 'Otranto' for the four week voyage, disembarking at Bombay on 22^nd September and on to 1944 Base Reception Depot Worli where supplies and personnel were received.

Newly arrived F/Sgt Cunnison's first duty on the sub-continent was a fortnight's course at the School of Jungle Survival at RAF Mahabaleshwar, a former hill station in the Western Ghats, Maharashtra, where the instructors were Kachins – Burmese hill-men who sought to pass on the multifarious aspects of jungle survival, basic local phrases, camouflage, field-craft, use of survival kits, recognition of snakes, spiders, scorpions etc., etc. 'SJSPT M'swar' was followed by a flying refresher course at No3 Refresher Flying Unit - Poona.

Then to 1331CU at Risalpur from the end of October until three days before Christmas 1944 – for conversion to various types – Hurricanes, Spitfire MkVIII, and Dakotas amongst others, in readiness for ferrying duties. From this point however, F/Sgt Cunnison's health took a downward turn and he spent Christmas week in the B M Hospital Delhi but was fit enough to be posted to No 10 Ferry Unit, Nagpur on New Year's Eve. He was again hospitalised locally at Kamptee in early February 1945 and then returned to B M Hospital, Delhi, briefly resuming duty at 10 FU at the end of May before being moved to the Convalescent Depot Chakrath and 59 Staging Post, Nagpur at the end of July where he spent VJ Day - and then on to the Invalids Depot, BRD (Base Reception Depot) Worli on 10^th October 1945.

'The luck of the draw' had dealt Ian Cunnison a hand which he could not have expected, a wartime flying career far removed from that of the stereotypical bomber or fighter pilot.

 

LAC Ian Cunnison at Carlstrom Field

Ian Cunnison stayed on in the RAF after the war but later transferred to the Civil Service with whom he had a distinguished career.

Bomber Command 'D-Day' diversions.

From midnight on 5^th/6^th June a convoy started to make its way towards Boulogne from the English coast. The convoy was covered by aircraft from Bomber Command's 101 Squadron, operating ABC and 100 Group's 214 Squadron was flying a RCM 'Mandrel screen' operation with the intention of confusing the German's coastal radar system

German night-fighters were sent up to intercept the RCM aircraft and heavy artillery along the French coast was alerted to the convoy's presence and they opened fire on it. Searchlights were directed towards the approaching ships and E-Boats were despatched to intercept the convoy which was maintaining course at around 7 knots. Thus the ships of Operation 'Glimmer' progressed towards Boulogne for about three hours under constant scrutiny from a British G-H station.

The conclusion drawn by the G-H Station was that the pilots of RAF Bomber Command's 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron had flown a completely effective simulation of a seaborne convoy. Operation 'Glimmer' had successfully caught the attention of, and confused the German defences into thinking that a component part of the Allied invasion fleet was heading towards Boulogne.

The operation was flown by eight Short Stirling IIIs from 218 Squadron, taking off from RAF Woolfox Lodge just before midnight in two waves of five (t/o 23.39 on) and three (second wave t/o fifty minutes after the first). Aircraft were equipped with G-H and Gee boxes and were fitted with two flare chutes and manned by crews of thirteen, made up of two pilots, three navigators, a wireless operator, flight engineer, two air-gunners, two window-droppers and two replacement window-droppers.

Following practice exercises in the run-up to 'D-Day' the Stirlings were required to fly precise reciprocating 'orbits' along their required track to advance at a rate of 7 knots, dropping bundles of window at carefully timed twelve minute intervals to generate advancing radar 'targets', simulating a flotilla of ships. Navigation and speed were required to be spot-on, as was the timing of window dropping so that German radar plotted regular progress of the windowed blips.

214 Squadron's 'Mandrel' equipped Boeing B17s presented their 'Mandrel screen' over the English channel (off the Hampshire/ Dorset coast) and 101 Squadron were patrolling to the north-west of Dieppe towards Abbeville.

Slightly further to the south-west 617 Squadron were undertaking a similar timed windowing operation 'Taxable', simulating another sizeable convoy heading towards Le Havre. Despite also being very accurately flown, 617's convoy apparently drew little enemy attention.

Another example of RAF Bomber Command's contribution to the 'Second Front'.

Operation 'Glimmer' in more detail at:- http://www.hellzapoppin.demon.co.uk/glimmer.htm

BBMF Lancaster vs RCAF WW2 veteran.

I was extremely privileged to attend a small gathering at the week-end, a series of gatherings really. Many RAF Squadron Associations have disbanded in recent years as the numbers of attendant veterans of the Second World War have declined. 625 Squadron Association held their annual reunion dinner on Saturday evening followed by a memorial service, and a buffet lunch courtesy of 1228 (Louth) Squadron, ATC, the following morning. The upper and lower ages of those gathered around the Kelstern memorial had a range of about eighty years.

Passing traffic generally respected the assembly at the memorial which has been painstakingly restored by dedicated volunteers. Congratulations to 1228 Squadron for their guard of honour and to the priest for his selected reading and prayer which were totally appropriate to the reason for our being there, to the gathering and to the setting – the airfield with its remnants of wartime buildings runways, and peri-tracks with the expanses between having long since reverted to peaceful agriculture.

The minor collective disappointment was that a requested fly-past in honour of those who lost their lives in the war-time service of 625 Squadron - a main force RAF Bomber Command squadron - did not materialise. It was sad that the request had warranted neither an acknowledgement nor a reply. The BBMF Lancaster is, of course, an icon and to get the aircraft in the air involves a great deal of organisation and expense, so it is understandable that a small individual commemoration could not be accommodated this time. However, it was far better to have been honoured by the presence of three distinguished gentlemen who operated Lancasters from RAF Kelstern seventy years ago, than the aeroplane.

I had the pleasure to meet Iain Sutton, the son of Frank Sutton, rear gunner in the 625 Squadron crew of Canadian pilot Reg Price. Reg and Frank's crew had arrived at RAF Kelstern within a day of cousin Jim Ives' own posting there. It was a great honour to enjoy Reg's company and his memories of a busy military and commercial pilot's life, recounted with crystal clarity, modesty and great charm in a calm, no nonsense manner which, I have no doubt, reflected the attributes which carried his crew safely through their tour of operations.

Reg is now 93 years of age, he had flown in from Canada to take in the reunion events before travelling on to show his son, daughter and son-in law other places significant to him and his late wife Elsie whom he had met at a RAF Kelstern station dance within a week of arriving there.

                                                       Reg Price DFC and Iain Sutton

Reg assured Iain and me that he had enjoyed sharing his reminiscences with us (he had, by the way flown the BBMF Lancaster PA474 on a couple of occasions in 1948, evidenced by his log-book entries). It was certainly a very great experience for two middle-aged 'boys' to spend time with Reg, an unsung hero of the RCAF.

Next time you attend a BBMF event – look beyond the aeroplanes for the Air Force veterans, talk to them and thank them – the Lancaster is impressive but is far outshone by the likes of Reg Price DFC!

ww2 RAF Bomber Command quandry - H2S or ventral gun?

First of all - congratulations and many thanks to the Boy Genius for a job very well done in completely redesigning the website. There'll be plenty of new pages to view in the coming months.

As most of my research has been concentrated on RAF Bomber Command's 1 Group I have largely neglected the Handley Page Halifax heavy bomber. I know that aircrew who operated the Halifax were as loyal to their type as those who flew the Avro Lancaster were to theirs. News came to me this week from Canada where my good friend Ron had been in conversation with a veteran of the RCAF who had remarked that Halifaxes had the advantage of being able to shoot down night-fighters below them. I was aware that the Lancaster had the potential to have a ventral turret, but examples were apparently rare. A quick search revealed that a trial was carried out in late February 1944 to arm the Halifax bomber with a belly gun. 

 

By that time boffins had already come up with a powered gun-mounting, operated remotely by a gunner sighting through a wide-angle downward-viewing periscope which gave him only a split-second to aim and fire. A more simple modification was sought – the 'Preston Green under defence mounting Mk.II'.

At first glance Halifax III, LW650, taking off from Boscombe Down on 29th February 1944, looked like any other Halifax with an H2S radar blister beneath its fuselage. However, the scanner housing had a 0.5in. Browning machine-gun set on a USAAF style mounting ring, an aft-facing seat with a tilting back-rest was mounted in the scanner blister for the gunner. The blister had a viewing aperture allowing the gunner to search and the machine-gun mounting could be readily swung clear to give him a clear field of view, but was easily locked back into its firing position.

At that time H2S sets were deemed to be an essential bombing aid - ND360 had been fitted with a set in mid-January 1944 - but the supply of radar sets could not keep up with the demand for retro-fitting in existing aircraft as well as for the steady stream of new bombers coming out of the factories. New Halifax B Mk IIIs would, for a while at least, be fitted with the Preston Green mountings.

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/hphalifax/guns.htm

outlines details of the Preston Green Mk.II as follows:-

        Aircraft        Halifax B Mk.III
        Position        Mid-under       
        Motive power    Hand controlled
        Gun mounting    Bell adapter (US)               
        Armament        0.5in. Browning Mk.II           
        Ammunition      200 rounds in box and 50 rounds in duct
        Field of fire   Rotation 30° to each beam.
                        Elevation between 45°-90°               
        Gunsight        Free gun reflector sight Mk.III
        Dia. of bowl    49in.

Fire control Manual or electrical.

The trialling of ventral guns at this time suggests a continued awareness of the vulnerability of heavy bombers to attack from below, but whether this was also an acknowledgement that night-fighters were armed with upward firing cannon is unclear.

Once the production of H2S sets caught-up, the ventral gun modification was superseded in favour of fitting radar scanners - a decision made in favour of technology and the need to place bombs as accurately as possible. Unfortunately German night-fighters' FuG 350 'Naxos' sets homed in on H2S emissions. Would the idea of having an extra pair of eyes and a 0.5in Browning have been more appealing to bomber crews than an air to ground radar set?

Carefree times in RAF Bomber Command - USA 1942 - Arnold Scheme 42G

I was very touched by Danny's comments received this week (re:- previous blog 'many thanks anonymous emailer')

As I said in reply to Danny just now -  We ought to know what happened to all these young men. They deserve it that we know what they looked like and that they were real people.

This is the photograph which, for me, best describes them. They are acting their ages. I can name three of them, each of whom died flying operations with the RAF in 1944. Cousin Jim Ives is far right, next-but-one to him is Robbie Jones and behind him, (also in uniform) is, I believe, John Thould.

Had Jim and John just come off duty and joined other members of their training flight? Whereabouts in the south-east of the USA were they? Is it a lido or the beach?  Florida (possibly), Georgia (more probably) or Alabama (probably not)?

Does anybody recognise any of them, please? 

I wonder which of them survived the war?