Post by flyboy on Feb 7, 2015 14:27:52 GMT
These brave men must never be forgotten.
Some of the recollections that I gathered from the veterans who flew from RAF Hartford Bridge / Blackbushe are astonishing and show how courageous these crews were.
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October 1942
Glider Testing
Test flying of gliders was being carried out by the Aero Airborne Flight personnel who had arrived at the airfield from Farnborough where, with the ever increasing amount of flying by faster aircraft, the slower gliders were causing difficulties. This was before the airfield was even completed. RAE Observer Doreen Howell told me that at one stage near vertical 8000 feet a minute descents were being tested with the aid of a seven-foot diameter drogue parachute. On 31st October a tragic accident as one of the gliders thought to be Hotspur BT615, failed to pull out and in what was described as an extremely hard landing broke up. Of the two crew, one was killed and the other seriously injured.
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November 1942
The Airfield Opens
The Airfield was officially opened on the 1st under the control of 70Group / 35 Wing , Army Co-operation Command with
S/Ldr Houchin in Command. The Airfield was built to standard Bomber Command requirements with three runways and the main technical site and control tower were to the north of the A30 London to Southampton road .
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December1942
A Squadron Arrives
171 Squadron flying Curtis Tomahawk and North American Mustangs onto which they were converting arrived on the 5th and spent the rest of the month settling in to their new home.
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January 1943
The Airfield Is Still Not Complete
On the 1st of the month 171 Squadron disbanded to reform as 430 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force based at RAF Dunsfold , using some of their ex 171 Squadron aircraft.
S/Ldr Lukey arrived on the 9th to assume control of the airfield and found the gliders on the airfield in addition to a Flight of Bristol Blenheims from RAF Odiham. He also found the airfield to be only partly complete with workmen levelling the surfaces and gradually tidying up prior to their departure. Most of the dispersals and hangars had now been completed but work was still continuing to finish the accommodation.
The Blenheims from RAF Odiham and an interesting selection of aircraft from Farnborough formed the main workload for the RAF Controllers working in their newly-constructed control tower - which was developing certain problems. The building had been erected using considerable speed with few materials available to the contractors. Green wood had been used, for instance for the floors and as the planks dried out they were shrinking, leaving wide gaps.
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February 1943
Repairs
The tower contractors were hurriedly called back to undertake repairs. Work was quickly put in hand.
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March/April 1943
There was concern regarding the positioning of the bomb dump deep in the forest to the north west of the airfield. At a meeting called on the 10th of the month it was felt that a considerable risk existed in the event of a fire breaking out in the forest and it was not possible to bring it under control before the bomb dump was reached.
140 Squadron moved in with their Blenheims on the 12th but were never operational at the airfield as Supermarine Spitfires and Lockheed Venturas arrived in order for them to undertake their photographic role. The Venturas were equipped with a night flash illumination system and the squadron was also able to call on similarly equipped Wellingtons if required. The squadron was commanded by W/Cdr LE Mesurier and was engaged in photo mapping France and the Low Countries.
During the month Nissen huts were being constructed in front of 'The Cricketers' pub on Cricket Hill Lane, Yateley. This grassed common land area was to feel the effects of a severe gale later in the month which hampered construction as many of the corrugated iron sheets used to complete the huts were blown away.
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May 1943
The Mobile Photographic Unit.
On the 8th of the month Mosquito DD748 of the wireless Evaluation Flight at Farnborough arrived to carry out impulse signal trials.
No7 Mobile Field Photographic Unit arrived to support 140 Squadron. This Unit was fully mobile and equipped with Brownhall articulated trailers which accommodated the photographic developing and printing sections which were to handle the films being brought back by the squadron aircraft.
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June 1943.
Another Photographic Squadron.
On the 20th 140 Squadron undertook its first operation from the airfield when they dropped flares over the Cherbourg Peninsular . As more and more ground equipment on the field , hangars, sleeping quarters flight dispersals and stores were all being handed over once complete.
Another photographic squadron arrived on the 29th. This was 16 Squadron , an elite unit. It operated 16 of the 390 mph Allison powered Mustang 1 and also had Lysanders available. Due to operational concerns there was an immediate need for replacement aircraft. Spitfires had been promised but until delivered they made use of the early 140 Squadron Spitfire V's which were in far from pristine condition, to convert their pilots onto type pending delivery of their own Mk.X1's. The 140 Squadron machines were generally in a poor state and their reliability was questionable. This caused much concern but as their new Mosquito aircraft were delivered their surplus SpitfirevV's were allocated to 16 Squadron who received them with mixed feelings.
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July 1943
Shot Up Aircraft
On the 4th the airfield was called upon for th4e first time to handle aircraft returning from operations but unable to reach their home bases.All services responded smoothly as two Wellingtons of 196 Squadron landed short of fuel and a 76 Squadron Halifax from RAF Holm-on Spalding -Moor ,in Yorkshire , badly shot up and with no hydraulics , landed almost out of fuel. The tail gunner had received shrapnel wounds and was quickly transferred to a local hospital. More aircraft emergencies followed on a regular basis.
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August 27th 1943
Crash Landing
Flying Officer Norman Fairfax recalled the operation to attack a power station at Gosney in France. Six aircraft crews of 107 Squadron Boston bombers were briefed that it had to be put out of action at all costs as it produced electricity for a huge area. The aircraft had fighter cover on the way out to the target but non was to be available for the return journey.
Two Bostons flew in at 50 feet to deliver 8x50lb bombs which were fitted with 11 second delayed fuses to permit the aircraft enough time to avoid the effects of the explosions. The remaining four aircraft then commenced their run into the target but it was to prove a disaster. One of the aircraft turned too sharply and missed the intended target completely, while a second having scored a direct hit on the target collided with another in the formation and both crashed to the ground where they were seen to be on fire. A further aircraft BZ226(O) was hit by flak and crashed into the Channel killing the crew of four on board. The fourth aircraft was flow by F/O Jim Allison with F/Sgt Rod Macleod as navigator and F/O Norman Fairfax as wireless operator/air gunner.They had with them "Skeets" Kelly of the RAF Photographic Unit, who had joined them to record details of the raid. It was the crew's thirteenth operation and things soon started to go wrong for them too. They were suddenly set upon by a German FW190 fighter which attacked them from the rear.
When I spoke to him, F/O Fairfax recalled the incident very clearly. " It was a fine August evening when we left Hartford Bridge and we only met light flak on the way over, where we crossed the enemy coast. This was in contrast to the target zone where it was extremely heavy and I vividly recall seeing two of our squadron aircraft going down in flames. However, we continued, only to receive a hit in one of the engines and found ourselves falling behind what was left of the other aircraft in the formation. We were soon set upon by an enemy FW190 fighter, which surprised us from the rear. Returning fire, I advised Jim Allison, our pilot, to corkscrew in an effort to lose the fighter but this proved difficult as by now the damaged engine was out of action. I recall seeing holes appear in the fuselage as the fighter pressed home its attack. I received a terse message from the pilot, who was having major control problems by this time, to prepare for a crash landing. "Skeets" quickly scrambled up to sit on my knees, which was the correct laid-down procedure.
"Meanwhile Rod Macleod in the nose of the aircraft was in a very dangerous position as it would be the nose that would be expected to take the brunt of any collision with ground obstructions. Jim Allison, however, made a marvellous belly-landing in a ploughed field, which due to his skills caused no injury to any of us.
We were very pleased to be on the ground and in one piece. We all scrambled out in very quick time and set light to the aircraft to deny the enemy its secrets, as we rapidly made for the nearest cover.
"There had been so much going on while we were in the air that I didn't have time to consider my feelings but once on the ground and in the relative safety of our hiding place I realised just how calm it now was after the turmoil of the crash landing. "Skeets" was bemoaning the loss of his camera which he had to leave in the aircraft wreckage, as he thought that he had captured some of the best shots ever of aerial combat. As I quietly gathered my thoughts I began to think of the horror of seeing our fellow flight crews plummeting to the ground and there was , I recall, some discussion between us with speculation on which of our friends had been lost.
As we lay there trying to relax with a cigarette we reviewed our situation and I recall thinking with regret that I wouldn't be able to keep the date that I had arranged with a WAAF that evening back at the base. No doubt the others would have been thinking of their wives back home, especially Rod, as his wife was pregnant. It was soon time to make a move so we split into two groups of two and drew lots to decide who would go with whom. Jim and "Skeets" went off first and we followed a little later. Jim and "Skeets" eventually split up to make their own ways home but unfortunately "Skeets" was eventually caught and spent the rest of the war as a POW. Jim eventually made his way home via Spain and Gibraltar. Rod and I eventually got back in mid November and after a period of rest, recuperation and retrainimng all three of us returned to Hartford Bridge, but this time to serve with 88 Squadron.