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| Bristol Beaufighters in formation 1943 |
At 14.10 hours on 30th April 1943, all 16 aircraft of 141 Squadron, bar one, which was out on an Air/Sea Rescue mission, were led off in formation by their Wing Commander "Bob" Braham from RAF Predannack, Cornwall. After a short cross-country flight, they landed at RAF Wittering at 15.40 hours. This was to be their new base and serve as home for the new and highly secret mission that their C.O. had volunteered them for. The rest of the ground crew personnel left by train and arrived a day later on 1st May, unless they were lucky and had managed to hitch a lift in one of the squadron aeroplanes. This is what must have happened to F/Sgt Mugleston, as he is noted as an extra passenger in F/O Howard Kelsey's Pilot's Log Book for the flight to Wittering in Beaufighter 4626, alongside his usual crew, Nav/Rad Sgt 'Smithy' Smith. I've no Idea what happened to Mugleston after this, but hopefully my Grandfather got a drink out of it!
W/C Braham was going to miss Cornwall and wrote in his book "Scramble";
" ...we took off from Predannack to fly to Wittering...I had a feeling of regret. At Predannack the squadron had rejuvenated and had lost forever it's sense of inferiority."
That sense of inferiority stemmed from the day 141 squadron had been removed from frontline duties during the Battle of Britain after being almost wiped out on one sortie. Since then, despite being moved to night fighter duties, 141 sqn. had been very much in the doldrums and a bit of a laughing stock, despite the bravery and sacrifice exhibited by individual crews, shuffling back and forth from one base to another with little future direction, until the arrival of W/C Braham.
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| John Randall Daniel "Bob' Braham |
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| Charles Vivian Winn |
It is perhaps for this reason a new Squadron Leader was drafted in to over take 'A' flight. Sq/Ldr Winn was a larger than life character and a friend of Braham from earlier days. He brought with him his Nav/Rad, F/lt "Scotty" Scott who was renowned for a facial twitch. When he was "ragged" about this by his new mess mates his reply was "What do you expect, if you have to fly with a clot like Winn".
RAF Wittering, the new base for 141 Squadron, was then in Northamptonshire, but after the boundary changes, is now in Cambridgeshire. It had been a Royal Flying Corps aerodrome during the 1st World War, and closed soon after. Then, during the late 1920's it was re-opened and a substantial number of hangars, barracks and concrete aprons were constructed. So this was a purpose built airfield and had already come under some concerted attack by the Luftwaffe, particularly in 1941. The airfield had grass runways and had one of the longest landing runs in the country, consequently it was a popular diversion for bomber aircraft returning, damaged from raids over Europe.
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| RAF Wittering 1944 |
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| British AI Mk.IV Radar signal display |
This, in combination with the land based Radar (G.C.R. Ground Controlled Radar) on home soil would give a pretty accurate picture of the direction and size of enemy raids at night over Britain. But what were the RAF going to do now they were on the offensive over the Reich? Another problem the RAF had was A.I. Radar was no good at identifying the difference between allied bombers and enemy night-fighters in the crowded night skies over German cities during a bombing raid. Sadly there were numerous reports of so called "friendly fire" where British crews had shot down aircraft from their own side. To try and aid confirmation of friend or foe a way of tuning into the Lichtenstein radar frequencies of the German night fighters had been developed.
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| Messerschmitt Bf110G displaying Lichtenstein radar aerials. |
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| Diagram of Serrate signal display top and AI Radar signal below |
If there was an enemy aircraft within range and it had it's FuG 212 Lichtenstein radar set turned on, the new British device made it possible to detect it and "home in" on the radar signals it was sending out and set course to intercept it. Once close enough, the navigator would switch back to the A.I. radar system to close in on the target, in the safe knowledge it was definitely the enemy. Well that was the theory anyway. The name of this new device was called 'Serrate' because of the jagged signal it gave in the cathode ray tubes on the set the Nav/Rad would sit and operate.
The development of radar by the British boffins is explained in much better detail in this rather wonderful BBC series "The Secret War". Well worth a watch if you can find it. (https://dai.ly/x123k8x)
I'm not sure how well my Grandfather understood the workings of this radar technology, later in life he was very sceptical when I tried to explain to him how a microwave oven worked, perhaps he wasn't very "clued up" about radio waves. Perhaps even his Nav/Rad Sgt. "Smithy" Smith didn't know exactly how it all worked, but he certainly became expert at how to make sense of the flickering, jagged lines on his 'Serrate' homing box and to combine that with his radar set to pinpoint where the enemy were in the blackness of the night sky.
One thing I am fairly certain of is that on 4th May 1943, my Grandfather went on leave for 7 days, as noted in his Log Book, and flew back to Predannack.
Now this leads me to believe that perhaps my Grandmother, Audrey Victoria "Vicky" Kelsey, who was now 6 months pregnant, had been billeted in Cornwall somewhere, and he was going back to see her? If this is so, I hope they had a lot of fun exploring the small coves and beaches of deepest Cornwall. Most wartime RAF aircrew wives were kept in blissful ignorance of what their husbands were up to, and this was doubly so with the invention of this new top secret "Little Black Box".
He returned to duty on 11th May to find a very busy squadron getting packed up ready to move to RAF Drem in Scotland for further "serrate" training. It was thought that Wittering was a bit too close to the enemy coast and the radio and RADAR signalling during training flights may be picked up. Sadly this date held the some tragic news with the loss of another crew, F/Sgt Judge and Sgt Blower, as detailed in my last blog post.
On the 12th May the first 6 aircrew of "A" flight flew from Wittering to Drem to begin training in their "Serrate" equipped Beaufighter 1Fs. Drem was home to 1692 (Radar Development) Flight which flew Defiants equipped with transmitters that could imitate the German Lichtenstein AI radar and would serve as 'bogeys' for the 141 squadron navigators to practice on.
On the night of 13th May my Grandfather's Log Book details a "Scramble" as his 4th "Op", with no further comment. This probably means that they encountered nothing and after 'tooling about' in the night skies for an hour and five minutes they returned to base none the wiser. There is no mention of this in the detailed "History of 141 Squadron" written by Don Aris.
Meanwhile, the RAF were maintaining the bombing offensive on industrial and urban targets on the Rhine and the Ruhr. On the night of 4th May, 596 aircraft were sent to bomb Dortmund, 30 didn't return. Severe damage was caused in central and northern parts of Dortmund. It was reported that 1,218 buildings were destroyed and 2,141 seriously damaged including the Hosch and Dortmund Union steel factory buildings and many factories in the dock area. At least 693 people were killed, 200 aircrew were taken prisoner and 1,075 people were injured. Luftwaffe pilot, Lt. Robert Denzel of 12 Nachtjagd Geschwader 1 shot down his fourth and fifth allied aircraft on this night. The first, a Short Stirling III BF505 of 218 Squadron, captained by F/Lt. Wilbur L Turner, crashed at Murmerwoude, Holland, killing Turner and four of his crew mates, three others were taken prisoner.
The second was a Handley Page Halifax MKII HR667, of 102 Squadron, captained by S/Ldr J.B. Flowerdew. It crashed at Vooreg, east of Westergeest, Holland. Sadly, all the crew were killed, but only two bodies were found in the wreckage. A third was apparently found dead in a nearby canal by a fisherman, but he left it there to sink below the water, without reporting it to the authorities. The families of the other five missing men never found out what happened to their loved ones. A memorial was laid for them by the Dutch people in May 2015.
Events in the wider World War were starting to edge in favour of the allies. The Battle of the Atlantic was still raging, however May 1943 was known after the war as "Black May", as it was a turning point with technological improvements leading to a greater number of U-Boats destroyed and a decline in numbers of allied shipping being sunk. In Africa, the remaining German Africa Korps and Italian troops surrendered, the allies took over 250,000 prisoners of war. And the famous "Dambusters Raid" is judged a success.
One thing I am fairly certain of is that on 4th May 1943, my Grandfather went on leave for 7 days, as noted in his Log Book, and flew back to Predannack.
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| F/O Kelsey Log Book May 1943 |
Now this leads me to believe that perhaps my Grandmother, Audrey Victoria "Vicky" Kelsey, who was now 6 months pregnant, had been billeted in Cornwall somewhere, and he was going back to see her? If this is so, I hope they had a lot of fun exploring the small coves and beaches of deepest Cornwall. Most wartime RAF aircrew wives were kept in blissful ignorance of what their husbands were up to, and this was doubly so with the invention of this new top secret "Little Black Box".
He returned to duty on 11th May to find a very busy squadron getting packed up ready to move to RAF Drem in Scotland for further "serrate" training. It was thought that Wittering was a bit too close to the enemy coast and the radio and RADAR signalling during training flights may be picked up. Sadly this date held the some tragic news with the loss of another crew, F/Sgt Judge and Sgt Blower, as detailed in my last blog post.
On the 12th May the first 6 aircrew of "A" flight flew from Wittering to Drem to begin training in their "Serrate" equipped Beaufighter 1Fs. Drem was home to 1692 (Radar Development) Flight which flew Defiants equipped with transmitters that could imitate the German Lichtenstein AI radar and would serve as 'bogeys' for the 141 squadron navigators to practice on.
On the night of 13th May my Grandfather's Log Book details a "Scramble" as his 4th "Op", with no further comment. This probably means that they encountered nothing and after 'tooling about' in the night skies for an hour and five minutes they returned to base none the wiser. There is no mention of this in the detailed "History of 141 Squadron" written by Don Aris.
Meanwhile, the RAF were maintaining the bombing offensive on industrial and urban targets on the Rhine and the Ruhr. On the night of 4th May, 596 aircraft were sent to bomb Dortmund, 30 didn't return. Severe damage was caused in central and northern parts of Dortmund. It was reported that 1,218 buildings were destroyed and 2,141 seriously damaged including the Hosch and Dortmund Union steel factory buildings and many factories in the dock area. At least 693 people were killed, 200 aircrew were taken prisoner and 1,075 people were injured. Luftwaffe pilot, Lt. Robert Denzel of 12 Nachtjagd Geschwader 1 shot down his fourth and fifth allied aircraft on this night. The first, a Short Stirling III BF505 of 218 Squadron, captained by F/Lt. Wilbur L Turner, crashed at Murmerwoude, Holland, killing Turner and four of his crew mates, three others were taken prisoner. |
| Crew of Stirling III BF505 - F/Lt Turner back row, second left. |
The second was a Handley Page Halifax MKII HR667, of 102 Squadron, captained by S/Ldr J.B. Flowerdew. It crashed at Vooreg, east of Westergeest, Holland. Sadly, all the crew were killed, but only two bodies were found in the wreckage. A third was apparently found dead in a nearby canal by a fisherman, but he left it there to sink below the water, without reporting it to the authorities. The families of the other five missing men never found out what happened to their loved ones. A memorial was laid for them by the Dutch people in May 2015.
Events in the wider World War were starting to edge in favour of the allies. The Battle of the Atlantic was still raging, however May 1943 was known after the war as "Black May", as it was a turning point with technological improvements leading to a greater number of U-Boats destroyed and a decline in numbers of allied shipping being sunk. In Africa, the remaining German Africa Korps and Italian troops surrendered, the allies took over 250,000 prisoners of war. And the famous "Dambusters Raid" is judged a success.
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