Sprog on the Squadron - 141 Squadron - RAF Predannack - April 1943

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.

News report of Warsaw Ghetto uprising 1943