"Little Black Box" & 4th "Op" SCRAMBLE! - 141 Squadron - RAF Wittering - May 1943

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.

John Randall Daniel "Bob' Braham

Braham had brought a new aggressive attitude and a desire to "get at the Hun", his personal mission being to inspire 141 Squadron to "become the best night fighter squadron in the RAF". This attitude and his mounting number of combat victories, he had already shot down 12 enemy aircraft, 11 of them at night, caught the attention of Air Vice Marshal Basil Embury, No. 2 Group Bomber Commander, and resulted in the rapid promotion of the squadron back to frontline action. Being the "new broom", Braham swept out many personnel, with the removal of those that were deemed not "made of the right stuff" and the call for new recruits who had the  drive to attack the enemy without hesitation. If you didn't make the grade, or showed a "lack of moral fibre" you were swiftly replaced. 

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.

RAF Wittering 1944

British AI Mk.IV Radar signal display

What was this highly secret "little black box" that 141 squadron had moved to Wittering to have fixed to all it's Beaus and be schooled in it's operation? Both British and German aircraft already had onboard radar systems (A.I. Airborne Interception) by this time which were rudimentary and didn't have a very long range. 

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. 

Messerschmitt Bf110G displaying Lichtenstein radar aerials.

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. 

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.

3rd "Op" Ranger - 141 Squadron - RAF Predannack - 20th April 1943

"With a few weeks of intensive training, Bob Braham considered his (141) squadron combat ready and volunteered his crews to undertake Ranger operations over the Brest peninsular area seeking rail and road targets to destroy. Accordingly, the squadron flew it's first Ranger sorties on the night of 20th April 1943" 'Fighter Pilots of the RAF' - Chaz Bowyer

Log book April 1943

My Grandfather's Log Book now starts to reveal that his war was starting to seriously hot up. On 20th April 1943 he notes "RANGER PATROL Train pranged East of Landivisiau on BREST PENINSULAR" I will have to explain some of the jargon, but it basically means he shot up a train in France.

A Ranger patrol was a freelance flight over enemy territory by units of any size to either occupy enemy fighters or attack ground targets.  My Grandfather's patrol area was the Brest peninsular in France and it involved flying at low level over the sea to avoid German radar, then climb to 1500ft  over the Brittany coast and search inland for targets.

A "prang" is a slang word for a crash. So he is implying he not only shot at the train, but it also crashed as a result.

Landivisiau in France was quite a large town, with a fairly large goods marshalling yard. My research has shown that it was under fairly regular attack from Beaufighter squadrons in the early part of 1943 as can be seen in this "Wings for Victory" article.

Three Beaufighters from 141 Squadron carried out night Ranger operations on that night.

1. F/Lt D. C. Maltby with Nav/Rad P/O J. E. Watts in Beaufighter 1F X7805 took off from   Predannack at 23.15 hours and patrolled North of Quimper, France
2. F/O C. B. Thornton with Nav/Rad W/O C. Hall in Beaufighter 1F V8332 took off from Predannack at 23.35 but fog forced them to turn back shortly after crossing the French coast.
3. F/O H. C. Kelsey with Nav/Rad Sgt E. M. Smith in Beaufighter 1F X7589 took off from Predannack at 23.30 hours and patrolled Landivisiau, France.

Flight path Predannack to Landivisiau

The Squadron Operations Record gives the following detail;

141 Squadron ORB 20th April 1943. Signed by my Grandfather next to his attack report.

From "100 Bomber Support" - Bowman

During the attack Kelsey flew his Beaufighter so close to the stricken train that the steam, gushing out, enveloped the aircraft as it pulled out of the dive. On the return flight they were attacked by "accurate light flak" near Morlaix, to such an extent they thought they had been hit. A very eventful night!

Undoubtedly people, French people, would have been injured in this attack. Kelsey and Smith landed back at Predannack 01.25 hours. A total flight time of 1 hour 55 minutes.



This "141 Sqn. Ranger Effort" scoreboard, found in a store-cupboard in RAF Quedgley, is embellished with images of trains, trucks and boats that were attacked. These motifs were often painted on the side of the aircraft used in the attack to show off to other crews.

April 1943 was a tragic month for 141 Squadron with their first crew lost during combat, another crew to a tragic accident (please read my blog. 1st Op - Air/Sea Rescue) and two crew members killed by stepping on a minefield. LAC Smith and WAAF ACW Richards were both killed in a minefield at Church Cove. In Bob Braham's book, "Scramble", he makes much of the weather whilst stationed at Predannack, and how much the crews enjoyed exploring the coves and inlets of Cornwall in their free time. Sadly this turned out to be a dangerous pastime for one couple.

Bristol Beaufighter 1F

At the end of the month 141 Squadron transferred to RAF Wittering to begin work with a new secret "black box" for tracking and destroying enemy aircraft at night.

Alongside the dramatic but small events of my Grandfather's War, the rest of the conflict was also gathering pace. The allied forces were still fighting in North Africa with the British 8th Army finally taking "Longstop Hill" a key objective on the road to Tunis. The RAF sent 462 bombers to raid Stuttgart, with most of the bombs missing the target and falling North of the city. A large scale breakout of allied POWs from Davao Penal Colony on Mindanao Island in the Philippines alerted the World for the first time to Japanese atrocities including the Bataan Death March. The Nazis announce they have found the site of a massacre of Polish troops by the Russians in Katyn, near Smolensk. A macabre attempt at subterfuge was undertaken with 'Operation Mincemeat', where a dead body was used to try and distract the Germans from the imminent attack on Sicily by the allies. But perhaps the most portentous event was the conference held between 15th and 24th April to discuss the 'Manhattan Project'. Robert Oppenheimer, Hans Bethe, Albert Einstein and others met to update and discuss the outcomes of different areas of research regarding the power of atomic energy. The ultimate aim of this meeting was to design a 'gadget' that could be used as an atomic weapon.

2nd "Op", Search and Rescue Patrol - 141 Sqn, Predannack, Cornwall. 18th April 1943

In the Spring of 1943, RAF Predannack was the launching point for many Air-Sea rescues in the Bay of Biscay and the North Atlantic. The allied convoys transporting goods and weapons from the USA were coming under increased attack from submarines and Focke-Wulf FW200 Condor long range bombers, as Hitler hoped to starve the British into submission. This conflict became known as the Battle of the Atlantic.

Although the Beaufighter aircraft of 141 Squadron had limited range, they would be sent out in large numbers to scour the sea for other "downed" pilots, or torpedoed ships' crews, often more in hope than expectation of finding anyone. The navigation aids the RAF had were still very primitive, with only the system of "dead reckoning" and predicting wind shifts by looking at the sea surface, to help plot your course once you were beyond the range of the primitive, land based radar. Then, once the crew had reached what they thought was their search area, they had to try and pick out a small dinghy or individual person floating in sometimes very rough seas. Almost impossible you would think, but often surprisingly successful in rescuing stricken crews from "the drink".

RAF Predannack Memorial

My Grandfather, Howard Kelsey, took part in one such "search and patrol" on 18th April 1943 as he noted in his Pilot's log book. This was his 2nd "Op" (operation) as denoted by his red underlining and red number 2 in the right hand margin.

Log Book 18th April 1943

The ORB (Operations Record Book) for 141 Squadron, which is published on the Public Records Office website, tells us he took off on patrol in Beaufighter X7643 at 14.50 with his trusty navigator Sgt. E. Smith. They returned again at 17.25 after an "Unsuccessful Air/Sea rescue patrol"

18th April 1943 ORB Detail of Events

With the wonders of the internet, I found a photo of what the website claims is Beaufighter X7643, although I cannot see any identifying numbers. 

Bristol Beaufighter Mk 1F - X7643 1941- www.worldwarphotos.info

They were part of an Air/Sea Rescue search group of 5 Beaus that were ultimately successful in pinpointing a Spitfire pilot, Sgt. G. F. Emes from 602 squadron who had been shot down 8 days before whilst on a shipping reconnaissance mission. 

1. F/O H. C. Kelsey with Nav/Rad Sgt. E. Smith in Beaufighter 1F X7643

2. P/O/ A. C. Newton with Nav/Rad Sgt. V. G. McBurney in Beaufighter 1F R2149

3. F/lt D. C. Maltby with Nav/Rad F/O J. E. Watts in Beaufighter 1F X7805

4. S/L S. T. Beal ('A' Flight O.C.) with Nav/Rad P/O J. C. Hair in Beaufighter 1F X7552

5. F/O R. C. MacAndrew with Nav/Rad P/O L. Wilk in beau fighter 1F T4626

After being successfully spotted by the 141 Squadron Beaufighter crew of F/O R. C. MacAndrew and Nav/Rad P/O L. Wilk, they were able to direct a Walrus amphibious aircraft to the position to rescue the Spitfire pilot.  He was picked up in his dinghy 50 miles SW of the Lizard but due to heavy seas,  were unable to take off again so had to taxi for five hours all the way to Mullion Cove and the whole of 141 squadron "turned out to assist to pull it up onto the beach" (Braham). The pilot thankfully survived this ordeal. On this one day, 47 aircraft in total were used in Air/Sea Rescue searches by 10 Group. This level of commitment to rescue pilots was a huge morale boost and gave some reassurance to young men heading out over the sea with little to help them navigate home again.

18th April 1943 ORB Summary of Events

Walrus seaplane picking up downed pilot 1943- histomil.com

The pugnacious Beaufighter was not exactly a beautiful aircraft, which is perhaps why it got it's slightly ironic name. However, the pilot had a really good view of his surroundings through the huge glazed cockpit, with the only obstructions being the massive Bristol Hercules engines on either wing.

A Beaufighter pilot waves away the ground crew. - pinterest

The navigator, sitting half way back down the fuselage, also had really good all-round sight-lines through his perspex canopy, which made the Beaufighter an excellent aircraft for search and rescue patrols.

Beaufighter Navigator position - pinterest

During his time at RAF Predannack, my Grandfather and the other officers were billeted in the beautiful Mullion Cove Hotel, with it's panoramic views of the Atlantic.

Mullion Cove Hotel 2018

View from Mullion Cove Hotel, Cornwall

Mullion Cove entrance

This, along with many other large hotels, had been requisitioned for the war by the Government. The 141 squadron C.O. , Bob Braham, also recounts from his book, "Scramble" that their time at Predannack coincided with some generally beautiful weather and on days off, they would take a group of officers in the squadron Oxford transport aircraft to the Scilly Isles. Here they would delight in the daffodil covered islands with their  "almost tropical climate" and whilst drinking a beer in the warm sunshine, it was "difficult to imagine the war raging so close across the Channel".  I hope my Grandfather managed to tag along on one of these trips. His wartime exploits in Cornwall were one of the few stories that he would readily tell me about with a smile on his face. With the freedom of the roads due to petrol rationing and the relatively long periods of time waiting to fly, he and his mates spent many happy days exploring the secluded coves, swimming and enjoying themselves. I'm pleased he had a chance of so much fun, having seen how busy his war was soon to become.

The war was indeed still raging just across the Channel. On 19th April 1943, the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw once again had an uprising, following an attempt by the German SS auxiliary forces to complete the deportation of Jews to the death camps. The uprising continued until 16th May 1943 when the Great Synagogue of Warsaw was demolished on the orders of SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop. 13,000 jews were killed during the uprising and of the remaining residents of the Warsaw ghetto, some 50,000 men, women and children, were shipped to concentration and extermination camps, principally Treblinka.

Qualified "Above the Average" Pilot - 51 OTU - RAF Cranfield

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.

USAAF Beaufighter Vif "Fluff" - Algeria - 1943 - Simon Parry

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.

Beaufighter - 51OTU - RAF Cranfield

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.