In April 1943 my Grandfather, F/O Howard Kelsey, was posted to 141 Squadron stationed at RAF Predannack, near Perranporth, Cornwall. 141 Squadron was an operational squadron equipped with the Bristol Beaufighter nightfighter aeroplane. But in April 1943, instead of night fighting, the squadron was stationed at RAF Predannack to try and help Coastal Command secure the Western Approaches from the U-Boat threat against the Atlantic Convoys. Without this vital lifeline of cargo ships steaming back and forth to America, Britain would starve.
Bristol Beaufighter Mk If
The squadron leader of 141 Squadron at this time would eventually go on to become the most successful and highly decorated RAF fighter pilot of the war. His name was J.R.D."Bob" Braham and by the time my Grandfather joined his squadron, he had already been awarded two DFC's and a DSO and built himself a reputation for aggressive and determined leadership against the Luftwaffe. And yet in 1943 he was still only 23 years old.
J.R.D"Bob" Braham from "Ciel de Gloire"
Unfortunately, I have little idea how well my Grandfather got on with Bob Braham, as he really didn't like talking about his wartime experiences, but he was certainly flying in the slipstream of a giant of the service and of the war. Luckily for me and my research, Braham wrote a book of his wartime experiences titled "Scramble", so I no longer have to scratch around to try and find the less well known details of RAF life for this blog. If you get a chance to read it, I highly recommend it, it's a rollicking good read with one of the best blow-by-blow accounts of a daylight raid over enemy territory I've read so far. A great deal is made these days of the importance of rôle models, well if my Grandfather was looking for a rôle model, he needn't have looked much further.
"Scramble"- Braham, published in 1961
Now that I am researching an Operational Squadron, there is a relative wealth of resources compared to researching the training of pilots during the war. Most pilots' autobiographies skim through their trainee days in a paragraph or two, but to help me research 141 squadron, there are numerous books written by serving pilots and navigators. Alongside this, I have my Grandfather's log books, as well as three thick folders that he was given by an armourer on the squadron called Don Aris, which detail all the operations and some recollections of Mr. Aris's time with the squadron. There are quite a few blogs. that refer to 141 squadron personnel and most amazingly, the National Archives have Operational Record Books for most of the wartime RAF squadrons and Combat Reports for individual pilots. If you would like some information about 141 Squadron, I can probably supply it. Despite his 1,353 flying hours, my Grandfather had never seen "action". So, as "sprog on the squadron", in other words the new boy, how would my Grandfather fit in? At the outbreak of war, the "old boy" network was in full effect in the RAF. Most RAF officers were from public school and either Oxford or Cambridge. Therefore, they often knew each other or knew of each other's families. Indeed, recruitment to a squadron often depended either on who you knew, or how good you were at sport! However, by 1943, the number of officers had increased dramatically, and with the high casualty rate it meant that officer recruitment had opened up and they were accepting even ex-grammar school boys such as my Grandfather! Despite this, the class system of Commissioned Officers and NCO's was still in operation as it is today, so there was still a strong demarcation due to your background and aspirations. Even the nicknames given to the "Lower Ranks", or "Erks" as they were called, hinted at a disdain for their social standing. How my vehemently Socialist, anti-royalist, pro-Russian, republican revolutionary Grandfather dealt with this, I have no idea, but realistically, what could he do? I expect he felt like an outsider and kept his politics to himself. Most squadrons had a complement of 12 aircraft, and new crews usually were replacements due to a crew either finishing their tour, being posted elsewhere or because of casualties. In my grandfather's case, sadly, he and his navigator, Sgt. E.M."Smithy" Smith, where replacing two Beaufighter crews that didn't return from an "Instep" operation over the Gironde estuary and Merignac airfield near Bordeaux on 23rd March 1943. "Instep" operations, mainly over the Bay of Biscay, were introduced to try and counter attacks on Coastal Command by German interceptors. Coastal Command was equipped with long range Short Sunderland flying boats, very good for attacking U-Boats entering the Atlantic from French coastal ports, but not quick enough to fight off long range Junkers 88s or Focke Wulfe FW190 fighters.
Junkers 88 Long Range variant
Focke Wulf 190 over Bay of Biscay
"Instep" patrols, therefore maintained a presence to protect the Sunderland flying boats and Motor Torpedo boats of the inshore Navy, and perhaps get the chance to shoot down the long range FW200 (Condor) reconnaissance bombers of the Luftwaffe.
Sunderland Flying boat
Focke Wulf 200 (Condor)
The lost Beaufighters of 141 squadron, are thought to have been shot down by a large number of long range Junkers 88's that may have been alerted by an earlier "Instep" operation of 141 squadron in the same area. No sign of the lost aircraft or crews was ever found. The dead crew from Beaufighter X7846 were S/Ldr W.G. Joy aged 30 and P/O J.C. Semple aged 26. Beaufighter X7714 was piloted by Sgt. W.F. Ambler aged 20 and Sgt. A. Haigh, also aged 20, was the navigator. They are all commemorated on the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede and on a plaque in Perranporth Memorial Hall.
Plaque in Perranporth Memorial hall
My Grandfather would have known that it was important to make a good start in his new squadron. Wartime reputations were quickly made and very hard to shake off. It was expected that you made snap judgements in air combat and this extended to opinions made of other people. Sadly, my Grandfather never lost his ability to cut people down to size if they didn't measure up! His brother, who was also an RAF officer was even harsher if he sensed a weakness in you. I think the RAF inculcated this combative mentality, and when combined with "officer" status, was a heady mix which made quite a difficult person to be with after the war. Wartime characteristics of combativeness, competitiveness, aggression and a rigid certainty of who your enemies are, are often not prized in peacetime. Being quite combative and competitive myself, I really enjoyed spending time with my Grandfather. I knew if I was playing chess against him, he would make no allowances for my age, so the one time I beat him after years of trying, the exhilaration was all the more great. Reading between the lines in Bob Braham's book "Scramble", I think he put his wife through a great deal, she is often referred to as "long-suffering". I remember my own Grandmother also suffered after the war. Speaking of reputations, 141 Squadron was renowned in the RAF for having been virtually wiped out during the Battle of Britain. On 29th June 1940, equipped with Bolton Paul Defiants, on their first daylight mission, six of the nine aircraft of the squadron were shot down over the Channel by ME109s. It was a slaughter. 141 Squadron was immediately withdrawn from the front line and the Defiant was removed from daylight duty, being hopelessly outclassed, and used only in a night fighter rôle from then on.
Defiants of 141 Sqn. - IWM
Since then, 141 Squadron had had many successes, but by 1943 it was almost moribund. Bob Braham's mission was to try and develop a sense of unity and comradeship in the squadron, and to get it up and running again as a fighting unit. To help him inculcate some pride in this squadron, he had stories of bravery, a squadron emblem and a squadron song, competitive sports and plenty of parties and alcohol. But mostly he had to use his own energy and drive. He had to lead by example and be involved in everything that the squadron was doing. Today he would be called a control freak, but from all accounts, he was well respected and well liked in the squadron.
Caedimus Noctu - "We Slay by Night"
April 1943 is synonymous with the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. This was the awful climax of the terrible treatment meted out to the Polish Jews by the Nazis. Despite being untrained and with few arms, the Jewish fighters and Polish underground held up the Nazi forces for weeks, longer in fact than it had taken the Nazis to over-run most of Western Europe. In the end, the Nazis had to use massive military force to smash the uprising, even so, many Jews escaped through the sewers.
In all the excitement of describing how my Grandfather, H.C.Kelsey, had his first experience of piloting a Bristol Beaufighter whilst training at 51 OTU (operational Training Unit), I have bypassed filling in what life was like at RAF Cranfield, the base he was stationed at throughout March 1943.
RAF Cranfield - pilots eye view after the War
Cranfield was built pre-war as a result of the general militarisation of Europe that the rise of Hitler had caused. So, unlike it's twin airfield, RAF Twinwood, Cranfield was comfortable, with a full range of facilities. The trainees slept in proper barracks rather than Nissen huts, although 30 men slept in blocks designed for 15. The food was excellent as the catering officer was an ex-chef from the Savoy. There was an on-site cinema, a well stocked library, sports facilities plus a stage area which held regular live music events, often with big name singers such as Gertrude Lawrence
I recommend that you read www.wartimememories.co.uk, with a wonderful section written by Ralph Woodgate, a RADAR technician at Cranfield and Twinwood during the war. He writes that "Generally life in the RAF was not bad, long periods of utter boredom interspersed with a few exciting episodes." Those "episodes" tended to be rather dramatic, including attacks by German raiders or flying bombs, but also the sad sight of trainee pilots crashing which was very common and frequently fatal. Ralph's job, then, was the rather gruesome one of retrieving the secret RADAR equipment from the blood stained wreckage.
RAF Cranfield main hangar 1946
Although my Grandfather had encountered many crews from Commonwealth Countries already, Cranfield trainees were a very cosmopolitan bunch, with recruits from Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Jamaica all sharing a barracks. Then, in early 1943, the unit started training USAAF crews. I remember that my Grandfather wasn't too impressed with his encounters with American pilots, who were very confident of their own abilities and thought they would have the war wrapped up in no time. Night-fighting and A. I. (Airborne Interception) were brand new to the American pilots, in fact, at this time, Britain was at the forefront of this technology. Early in the war, the British RADAR systems were freely handed over to the US forces along with the British "boffins" and their valuable knowledge and expertise. From then onwards further RADAR development occurred in tandem. After the War, Boeing made a fortune selling this technology back to the RAF! The American 414th NFS had expected to train in American P-61 Black Widow nightfighters at Cranfield, however these aircraft were still not in full production, so the shortfall had to be filled with the Bristol Beaufighter. There was a mixed reaction when the US airmen were introduced to the Beau, few thought it the prettiest aircraft they had seen and many were to take an even more jaundiced view when experienced RAF pilots whispered to them that the Beau was "the most difficult of all british aircraft to fly"
A star-spangled Beau MK VI with AI MK IV radar - IWM
Indeed, the Beaufighter's vicious swing on take-off and heavy airframe, would account for rather too many crashes by US trainee pilots. One such was Lt Govoni, who on one occasion, swung on take off and "pancaked" between two buildings just off the runway. The Beaufighter came apart into small pieces and when the wreck came to rest, Govoni was able to unbuckle and step straight onto the ground. (Bristol Beaufighter - Jerry Scutts). He later applied for a transfer, having decided the British aircraft was not for him.
A Beau with US markings following a belly landing - J. V. Crow
In spite of all this, most 414th pilots mastered the Beaufighter. The squadron became operational on 10th May 1943 in Algeria and ended the war with eight victories.
Ultimately the USAAF thought that a heavily armed daylight bomber was more accurate in hitting the target and would get the job done quicker. Therefore the training for nightfighters was sidelined somewhat. Sadly, this theory was to prove very wasteful of aircrews until the long range P-51 Mustang escort came into service much later in the war.
Pilot's Log Book - March 1943
From my Grandfather's Log Book, we see he had three flights in Beaufighters on 26th March 1943, all with Sgt. Smith as his Nav/Rad. The first in number 2082 was a N.F.T (night flying Test) and Ciné Gun test for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Next was in Beau number 2080 doing gunnery and cine gun exercises for 2 and a half hours at night. The third flight for 1 hour 55 minutes was for A.I.(Airborne Interception) training and Search Light Cooperation, also at night. Sadly Beaufighter 2080 eventually crashed into anti V-bomb balloon cables in 1944, killing the pilot F/L George L Barker.
My Grandfather finished his training at 51 OTU with a flight in Beau 2100 performing Gunnery exercises, both Air to Air and Air to Sea for 2 hours and 30 minutes of daylight. Beaufighter 2100 had already had a busy war with 219 Squadron, one of the first four squadrons to get Beaufighters in Sept. 1940. She was a distinguished "old gal" having seen service on the night defence of Britain during the Blitz.
Beaufighter
The Log Book shows my Grandfather's final "Assessment of Ability" as a N. F. (Night Fighter) Pilot by the C.O. of 51 OTU, W/Cdr V. R. Moon, was "Above the Average". He was about to finally become "operational" as a very well trained officer, with 1,353 flying hours under his belt. Gone where the Battle of Britain days where pilots were thrown into the fray with a couple a weeks training behind them, now they were finely honed technicians of their craft who expected to not only compete with the German Luftwaffe, but beat it. He was young, confidant and well trained, so look out Jerry! The war that my grandfather was about to enter was still not going well for the allies. Although Monty's Eighth Army had broken through the Mareth Line in Tunisia, the Battle of the Atlantic was reaching a climax with 82 merchant ships sunk this month after the Germans added a refinement to the enigma machine, blinding the codebreakers at Bletchley. The clamour for a second front in Europe was getting more fierce with the Daily Worker calling for more help for the beleaguered Russian forces.
My Grandfather was the last person to boast in an effort to "Keep up with the Joneses". In fact his anti-snob antenna was so acute that he often lectured us about wasting our money on buying "the latest thing" if we arrived at his house with a shiny new gadget. But I can tell you a secret that he never told me, during the War he drove a Rolls-Royce, actually not one, but two! I am referring to the two Rolls Royce Merlin engines that were to power my Grandfather in his Bristol Beaufighter through the night sky. I have to admit I had never even heard of a Beaufighter until I started looking through my Grandfather's Log Books, it seems the Spitfire has taken all the glory! The Bristol Beaufighter or "Beau" as it was called was the first purpose-built nightfighter for the RAF. By fighter standards, the Beaufighter was rather heavy and slow, weighing in at over 10 tons, with a top speed of 335mph at 16,800feet. However, it was faster than the German light bombers of the time and they were it's quarry. It was stealth and good manoeuvrability, rather than speed that the night-fighter needed, as well as being able to pack a serious punch when required. The Beaufighter had all this in spades. Many crews loved the "Beau" for it's rugged construction, powerful canon, in-built radar and air cooled Merlin radial engines which didn't have problems of coolant loss and overheating if hit by enemy fire.
Bristol Beaufighter NF Mark II - Imperial War Museum
Many of the great RAF pilots were to make their names in Beaufighters. The most well known was John "Cats Eyes" Cunningham who became legendary for his ability to see so well in the dark due to his consumption of carrots! The real fact was that he and his crew Jimmy Rawnsley where amongst the first to make use of airborne interception radar, claiming their first victory on 19th November 1940, bringing down a JU88. But radar was so hush-hush that the Air Ministry, in need of a hero to boost morale, explained Cunningham's success at shooting down so many Luftwaffe bombers to his extra-ordinary "cat-like" eyes. His abilities were supposed to have been enhanced by vitamin A in carrots, a pseudo-science fact that survives to this day. Later on Cunningham grew to regret all the press coverage he received, but the need to convince the public that the RAF was fighting back against the Blitz was urgent.
Wartime poster promoting carrots
My Grandfather, F/O H.C. Kelsey was introduced to this metal monster in March 1943. Although the training arm "Beaus" of 51 OTU were older models, they would have seemed absolutely pristine to him after all the ancient Blenheims he had been flying so far. It was also enormous, twice the size of a Blenheim and obviously deadly with it's four 20 mm canon below the nose and six .303 calibre machine guns set in the wings. And what was that strange arrow like aerial sticking out of the front? More of that later...
My Grandfather's Pilot's Log Book March 1943
From my Grandfather's Log Book, it appears he had a "Demonstration" of Beaufighter 2189 for an hour and five minutes by F/O Dixon on 11th March. This would have consisted of standing behind the pilot, braced against the fuselage, trying to see what was happening in the cockpit. Then he went solo that same day to test his landing abilities, which he seemed to survive. This was no mean feat because although the "Beau" was not a difficult aircraft to fly, it was very powerful and needed your attention at all times. As Ralph Woodgate, a Radar technician writes in his memoir of his wartime work at 51 OTU,'One Man's Radar', "We had one or two crashes and murmurs started among the aircrew, who were changing over from other much less sophisticated aircraft, that it was a dangerous plane. One rumour, which began to be voiced openly on our three squadrons, was that these aircraft could not be manoeuvred or landed on one engine". To combat this, one afternoon all aircrew were ordered on parade outside one of the hangars. He continues, "After a few minutes a single Beaufighter roared in low over the horizon. It came over the field a few feet from the ground climbed almost vertically and performed every aerobatic stunt in the book. The pilot then shut off one engine, feathered the propeller and repeated all the previous manoeuvres with one propeller stationary. The plane landed, also on one engine, taxied around the perimeter track and stopped close up in front of the assembled aircrews. The engine was shut down and the pilot climbed down the ladder from the plane. The pilot was the only person in the plane, a very young woman, with her blonde hair blowing in the breeze as she walked over to report to the control tower. Not a word was spoken and the Squadron Commander dismissed the assembled aircrew. No one ever complained again regarding the performance of the Beaufighter."
Joy Lofthouse ATA Pilot
Not much is known of the work women pilots of the ATA did, they are becoming more celebrated as this link to an Air Transport exhibition commemorates.
Although the women pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary never went into combat, with thousands of hours of flying behind them, they became very proficient at the controls. There is a nice blog. about them called 'beauties-and-their-bombers', which is well worth a read.
Women of the ATA
Indeed, women were to become more and more numerous on airbases as they took on roles as flight mechanics, radar technicians, truck drivers, Ground Control operators and almost everything else apart from actual fighting.
Going from an "all male" environment to a "mixed" one was easier for some to accept than others, but I have had fun reading some of these women's wartime reminiscences in what can only be described as a more innocent time.
Back to my Grandfather's Log Book, he spent the rest of March 1943 in "Beaus" either solo or with his Nav/Rad crew Sgt E.M. "Smithy" Smith, going through cine gun, G. C. I. (Ground Control Interception) BABS (Beam Approach Beacon System) or A. I. (Air Interception) practice. These advances in technology are far better explained in the links in the text than I could ever do.
There is a mysterious flight to and from Newark-on-Trent in a Magister on 15th March, perhaps to be interviewed by a selection board for his new squadron? Or perhaps personal reasons, to visit his wife who was now fairly heavily pregnant? Who knows.
On 22nd March he had his first night flight in a Beaufighter testing his landings again and then he was up with "Smithy" to try out their air interception skills for the first time in the dark. Another huge milestone.
Events for the British Army at this time were still concentrated in North Africa around the Mareth Line. The Russians, still basking in the victory at Stalingrad, were starting to come under intense pressure after the Spring thaw. In what was the be the Wehrmacht's last victory, Kharkov was re-taken from the Russian Army. At this point Stalin agitates for a second front in Europe, which falls on deaf ears. The RAF continued to bomb targets in Europe, but were confronted with a new and strange threat from the Luftwaffe, which they coined the "tip and run raiders". These attacks on South coast towns had no discernible military purpose and recent evidence seems to suggest that the raids were carried out simply because the German pilots enjoyed the thrill of them.
28th February 1943 was a big day for my Grandfather, F/O. H. C. Kelsey, because this was the day he crewed up with his Navigator, Sgt. E. M Smith, or "Smithy" as he is known in the folklore of my family. It may not be too strong to say that crewing up with "Smithy" may well be the reason that my Grandfather survived the War and therefore he holds a very important place in the lives of myself and all my Grandparents' descendants. He was a Yorkshireman and coined many phases in that no-nonsense, pithy way that characterises the denizens of God's own County. One such was during a rather "exciting" mission over enemy territory, he was heard to mutter "Eeee, flak" and this phrase is now used by members of my family when any situation is becoming a little out-of-hand! I met him only once, at my Grandparents' golden wedding anniversary, and wish that I had had the presence of mind to sit down with him and chat. After his illustrious wartime career, he joined BOAC and retrained as a pilot. He then went on to be a pilot for BA and retired in 1983. He passed away about ten years ago, and I was sad to see his medals up for sale on an auction site. A great man.
Sgt. Edward Smith
How wartime pilots and crews teamed up seems to have been achieved in rather a haphazard, but typically British way. According to Michael Allen DFC in his book Pursuit Through Darkened Skies, he was supposed to be crewed with one P/O, but another one, Harry White, met him on the way to the squadron barrack block, and after "chatting", they crewed up and stayed together throughout the war, becoming along the way one of the most successful British night fighting crews. Mike Allen continues, "I had no possible way of being able to judge whether Harry was a good pilot or bad one! And, vice versa, he had no way of knowing whether I was going to make the grade as a navigator. If a crew survived this instant loyalty, in the main it lasted for ever." Another wartime navigator, E. G. White, in his blog., Night Fighter Navigator, writes that the P/Os and the R/Os "where put together and left to sort ourselves out." Just the fact that he and Sgt. E A Lampkin were the two youngest in the room gave them something in common, which seemed good enough reason to crew up! By late February 1943, my Grandfather was stationed at RAF Cranwell, but still training with 51OTU, I presume that he and "Smithy" must have hit it off in a similar manner because their partnership also lasted until nearly the end of the war. It gets confusing here when describing what job title these Navigators/Radio Operators (R/O) had because the job itself developed during the war from gunnery in the early daylight fighter days to Navigator in the night-time role to Radio Operator once the new Radar sets were introduced. Indeed, the top brass continued to call them Navigators well into the war because they wanted to disguise the job that they were really doing which was intercepting enemy aircraft using onboard Radar and Telecommunications. Terribly hush-hush don'tcha know!
Log Book Feb./Mar 1943
From my Grandfather's Log Book, the end of February 1943 was a difficult time, in which he only had five flights in eleven days, probably due to weather. The first flight, on 18th Feb., was a two hour trip in a Blenheim IV, with F/lt. Hobbis in the pilot's seat. The "Duty" column shows "Ex 1", but I think this is not Gunnery but Airborne Interception training as described in my previous blog. F/Lt Hobbis had already been awarded the DFC in 1941, but was destined to not survive the war. On 5th November 1943, promoted to Squadron Leader and 'A' Flight commander at 488 squadron, his port engine was reported to be on fire whilst on patrol near Bradwell Bay. He and his Navigator, F/Sgt O. L. R. Hills, baled out, Hills' body washed ashore some months later, but Hobbis's body was never recovered. Hobbies was 33 and he is remembered in the Runnymede Memorial. On 25th Feb, my Grandfather flew with F/Lt Key in the pilot's seat in a Blenheim IV. The next day he almost had his first flight in a Beaufighter, a new aircraft to him and a real 'tank' of a plane, but the exercise was abandoned, "A/C (aircraft) U/S (unserviceable)". On 27th Feb. he flew with F/O Dixon and then from the 28th onwards, he flew almost consistently with "Smithy".
Blenheim IV in flight
March 1943 continued where February left off, with F/O Kelsey and Sgt. Smith honing their night fighting skills in Blenheim IV aircraft. The exercises they were put through together included practise of N.F.T (Night Flight Test), G.C.I. (Ground Controlled Interception) and A.I. (Airborne Interception). These are all far better explained elsewhere, so please click on the links in the text if you wish to find out more.
At last, on 9th March 1943, my Grandfather flew as a passenger in Bristol Beaufighter no. 2189 and went on a "Test" with Cpl. Jones and F/O Dixon to see how he liked it. As it turns out, he liked it a great deal!
In between flights, he also kept the seat of the Link Trainer warm as it shows in this scan from the back of his Log Book.
Link Training record early 1943
I presume these "Link" practices complemented his night fighter training in the real aircraft, but I haven't been able to find out exactly what the letters and numbers refer to. If you know, perhaps you could tell me, by leaving a comment at the end of this blog.
Meanwhile, Bomber Command was still actively trying to knock out "strategic" targets in enemy territory. However, the accuracy of the night bombing raids was still poor and many civilians were being killed and injured. To try and increase accuracy, the Pathfinder Squadrons where developed. On 5th March 1943, "The battle of the Ruhr" begins, targeting the Krupps Factory at Essen, Germany,. This was the 100,000th sortie of Bomber Command.
At the same time the luftwaffe, equipped with their own onboard Lichtenstein_radar, was taking an increasingly high toll of allied aircraft and lives. From the 606 Squadron blog. I discovered that Lancaster W4847 OL-V from 83 (Pathfinders) Squadron,based at RAF Wyton, near St. Ives in Cambridgeshire was one of 14 aircraft lost out of 442 that took part in the bombing raid. The skipper was a 22 year old Canadian, Pilot Officer Henry Partridge. They took off around 7pm, but were intercepted by Messerschmitt Bf 110, piloted by Lt. Robert Denzel from 12/Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 at around 10.02pm at an altitude of 3500 metres east of Wieringen, Holland. The Lancaster was seen to struggle to make it to the Frisian coast but quickly exploded in mid-air and crashed into the Ijsselmeer near Hindeloopen, Netherlands. This was Denzel's second auschutt (victory), his first being a Halifax on 2nd March 1943. All the crew of the "Lanc" were killed. They were, Pilot Officer Henry A. PartridgeRCAF, Flight Engineer, Sergeant Roy O. FultonRCAF, Navigator, Flying Officer Leonard W. Sprackling,RAFVR,Sergeant Hayden FellRAFVR, Air Gunner,Sergeant John M. Freshwater,Sergeant John L.OrganRAF, and Air Gunner,Sergeant Arthur Dinnis RAF.
P/O Henry Partridge
The flight engineer, 21 year old Canadian, Sergeant Roy Oswald Fulton, and his crewmate, 23 year old RAF Sergeant John Lewis Organ, are buried at Hindeloopen. The navigator, 23 year old RAF Flying Officer Leonard Sprackling was buried at Workum (Spoordyk) General Cemetery and air gunner RAF Sergeant Arthur Desmond Dinnis, aged 21, at Makkum Protestant Churchyard. The remaining three crew members have no known grave and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Photographed outside the NAAFI at RAF Wyton. Left to right - Roy Fulton, John Lewis Organ and Henry Partridge
Lt Robert Denzel also made a claim for a second of the 14 aircraft that did not make it home that night. Lancaster ED431 (EA-M) of 49 Squadron was shot down west of Texel, Northern Holland, and crashed into the sea, killing all the crew. However, this claim was also made by Lt Rolf Bussman of 11/NJG1, so potentially this aircraft was attacked twice. The pilot, Sgt. James Myles Thom DFM, a popular Scotsman, was 29 when he died, and is remembered at the Runnymede Memorial. The rest of crew of "Lanc" 'M' for Mother killed that night are detailed in the aircrew remembered website.
After nearly four years of knocking lumps out of each other, Britain and Germany were still at War in January 1943. So far the War had lasted longer than the First World War with seemingly no end in sight. My Grandfather, Flying Officer H. C. Kelsey, was still learning his trade in the RAF, but he was itching to "do his bit" to help end the War as soon as possible.
To this end, after a blissful month on leave with my Grandmother in London, my Grandfather was posted to 51 OTU (Operational Training Unit) at RAF Twinwood Farm, Bedfordshire in preparation for eventually joining an Operational Unit. 51 OTU originally formed at Debden, Essex in 1941 before moving to Cranfield and Twinwood Farm, Bedfordshire in August 1941, specifically to train nightfighter crews. By January 1943, training was undertaken in Bristol Blenheims and Bristol Beaufighters, neither of which my grandfather had flown before. But he was now flying a proper combat aeroplane and would be under even more intense pressure of testing and scrutiny to assess whether he could "make the grade" as a combat pilot.
Scan of Log Book H.C. Kelsey Jan. 1943
From a scan of my Grandfather's Log Book, his first two weeks at the Unit were spent going through various "exercises" in Blenheim V and Bisley aircraft. I have to thank another blog., "Broody's War" for an explanation of what these "exercises" or "Ex" were as noted in my Grandfather's Log Book. They refer to Gunnery Practise,
From "Broody's War"
And A.I (Airborne Interception) Exercises
Also from "Broody's War"
On 15th Jan 1943 he was in the air for 1 hour 30 minutes with F/O Frenkel going through "Ex 1&2" which I assume was gunnery exercises as it was during daylight. Over the following two weeks these gunnery exercises continued with the occasional solo flight, until 29th Jan when my Grandfather was accompanied by F/Lt Young to go through "Ex 8"(Dual Quarter - Cine). This must have given a filmed record of how close the trainee's shooting was to the target? All guess-work I'm afraid.
Bristol Blenheim MkV/Bisley
Then, on 5th Feb. 1943, he navigated a Blenheim Mk1 to ferry F/Lt Bird to RAF Hullavingdon and returned solo. These ferry trips were often given to the most accomplished trainees, after all, you didn't want unnecessary crashes or injured pilots.
Bristol Blenheim MK1 in flight
On the 7th Feb. he was back in a Bisley for 45 minutes of night fighter training tutored by F/Lt Bamber. Then, on 11th Feb. he had three flights in a third Blenheim variant, a Blenheim MkIV. The first was detailed as a "N.F.T.", which meant a Night Flying Test, in which the pilot spent a twenty minutes checking over, in daylight, the aircraft he was detailed to fly that night. I'm not sure what the figure "4" after "N.F.T" means, so would be delighted if anyone can help me there? Then, that night he had two solo flights, totalling nearly 5 hours, stooging around in the freezing February night.
Bristol Blenheim Mk IV
Cockpit Drill Certificate Blenheim Aircraft 1943
Interspersed with these flights was 8 more hours of practise on the link trainer with some new exercises which I assume are different night flight patterns, as I cannot find any explanation of their meaning online. Can anyone help?
Link Trainer Exercises
The Bristol Blenheim came into service as a light, twin engined, fighter/bomber which, when first introduced in 1935, was faster than any other fighter aircraft in the RAF. But by the onset of War in 1939, it was shown to be hopelessly outclassed by the aircraft the Luftwaffe were equipped with. As we can see, the Bristol Blenheim seems to have undergone quite a few adaptations, mostly in the nose end, to accommodate a bomb aimer/navigator, or to increase it's firepower. Sadly these often either didn't work very well, or added extra weight which reduced the Blenheim's effectiveness.
1937 Advertisement
The Blenheim was sent on many early bombing raids which proved to be almost suicidal, including a daylight raid on Aalborg, Denmark, in August 1940 in which 11 of the 12 aircraft of 82 squadron were shot down. This was the second time that 82 Squadron had been almost wiped out in Blenheims.
The Blenheim was then adapted for use as the first night fighter during the London Blitz of 1939 and 1940. But, initially, it was not equipped with radar and so, due to it's lack of speed and small machine guns, as well as problems of locating the enemy at night, was almost useless. It was as late as 21/22nd July 1940 that the first Blenheim Mk1F of FIU (Fighter Interception Unit) made a successful night-time interception using airborne radar, shooting down a Dornier Do17. However the Blenheim was too slow to make a successful night fighter - some of the German bombers were actually faster, and long, fruitless stern chases back across the channel were common.
Eventually, the Blenheim was withdrawn from frontline bombing after incurring huge losses. Indeed, ground crews joked that the Blenheim rarely needed to go through an inspection as it didn't survive long enough! Yet again I think my Grandfather was a lucky man to have avoided the early disasters of the RAF, which claimed the lives of many of the full-time pre-War RAF personnel. Although sidelined from frontline action, the Blenheim was now shunted off to Training Units, especially for night fighter training, to allow new recruits to get a feel for flying a twin engined fighter/bomber. As a result they were usually fairly bashed up and antiquated examples and renowned for being really cold to fly with a biting wind often whistling through various ill-fitting hatches and windows. The Blenheim V was favoured by instructors despite being slower and heavier than the other variants due entirely to the fact it had a heated cockpit. All Blenheims apparently had a bewildering array of dials and switches positioned in a haphazard and often bizarre configuration, as Doug Gregory recounts in his book "Aeroaddict";
"The propellers (on Blenheims) could be set to fine pitch or coarse. Fine for take off and landing and coarse for cruise, where economy played a part and for higher speeds....It was necessary to change into coarse pitch by groping behind the seat to pull two mushroom-shaped knobs.....With both hands searching for knobs and levers, it was easy to forget that the aircraft still had to be flown and at night it could be quite a problem. All marks of Blenheim suffered with these strange arrangements of controls, whose positions were learned slowly and painfully,"
The Bisley was originally designed as a heavily armoured, ground attack aircraft, with a solid nose. Later on a bomb aimer window was added and it was renamed Blenheim V. Although it was outclassed in the European campaign, it still saw extended service in North Africa, the Far East and India. It seems from my Grandfather's Log Book that he was differentiating between a Blenheim V and a Bisley, but I cannot find out what the difference is between them.
Bristol Bisley of 113 Sqn. Asansol, India
January 1943 is notable as the first time the RAF make use of Target Indicator marker bombs on a raid on Berlin, in an attempt to improve the precision of it's bombing operations. Also, in February 1943, the Casablanca Directive, was issued by the joint Chiefs of Staff in an effort to weld together the bomber forces of the RAF and the USAAF to make one mighty air arm to crush the German industrial, military and economic system. However, the biggest War news outside Britain was the German surrender at Stalingrad. The history of the Battle for Stalingrad was so extraordinary in many ways, including over 800,000 German and Axis casualties and over a million Soviets killed or injured, but the biggest morale boost for the allies, was the first surrender of a German Field Marshal in history.
Hitler had hoped that Von Paulus would commit suicide before he was captured.
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Meanwhile, my Grandfather was comfortably stationed at RAF Cranfield and may have been entertained by a pantomime version of "Babes in the Woods" which was performed there at the time. With the wicked Uncle/Sheriff "baddie" being portrayed as Hitler.
