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Those known to have served at RAF Downham Market during the Second World War 1939-1945. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
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The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
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Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our
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Want to know more about RAF Downham Market? There are:10 items tagged RAF Downham Market available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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George Fenwick Findley 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron. My uncle George Fenwick Findley was the last of his crew members of 218 Gold Coast Squadron. They were:- Bill Streeter RAF
- Tom Mankelow RAF
- Robert Daniel Stirling DFC, pilot RAAF
- Paul Chase Miller RAAF
- Lancelot Keith Gregory RAAF
- George Seymour RNZAF
Uncle George was an air gunner. He enlisted at No2 ITS Bradfield park and trained at No2 WAGS parkes, Port Pirie, Bradfield Park, Melbourne. He travelled to England and continued his training at 11OTU, 1657CU RAF Stradishall, 1483 RAF Newmarket and joined 218 Squadron. He flew from Downham Market, Tempsford, Woolfox Lodge, and Methwold. Operations he flew were: - 3/10/1943 ops mining
- 24/10/1943 ops mining Frisian islands
- 7/11/1943 ops mining Bordeaux
- 18/11/1943 ops Mannheim
- 19/11/1943 ops Leverkusen
- 22/11/1943 ops Berlin
- 1/12/1943 Skaggerack
- 28/1/1944 ops mining Denmark
- 4/3/1944 special target
- 7/3/1944 special target
- 18/4/1944 ops mining Keil Bay
- 20/4/1944 ops bombing Chambley
- 22/4/1944 bombing Laon
- 23/4/1944 ops bombing Brussels
- 25/4/1944 ops bombing Chambley
- 1/5/1944 ops bombing Chambley
- 7/5/1944 ops mining La Rochelle
- 13/5/1944 ops mining Cherbourg
- 5/6/1944 ops special duties for D-Day
- 17/6/1944 ops bombing Montider
- 21/6/1944 ops mining Guernsey
- 24/6/1944 ops bombing Rimeux
- 23/7/1944 ops mining Brest
- 25/8/1944 ops bombing Russelsheim
- 29/8/1944 ops bombing Stettin
- 31/8/1944 ops bombing
- 10/9/1944 ops bombing le Harve
- 14/10/1944 ops bombing Duisburg
- 14/10/1944 ops Duisburg
- 18/10/1944 ops bombing Bonn
- 22/10/1944 ops bombing Neuss
- 23/10/1944 ops bombing Essen
- 26/10/1944 ops Leverkusen
- 30/10/1944 ops bombing Wesseling
- 31/10/1944 ops bombing Bottrop
The aircraft he flew in are: Wackett, Fairy Battle, Wellington, Stirling 111, Lancaster 1. He was a member of 218 squadron from 29/9/1943 to 21/10/1944 in the crew of Lancaster HA-E.
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Sgt. Thomas Arthur Jamieson 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron (d.13th May 1943) Sgt Thomas Arthur Jamieson, the only son of James and Ellen, was born on 12th February 1923 in Larch Road, Balham, London. He volunteered for the RAF and after training as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, joined 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron on 23rd April 1943. He flew his first combat operation on 5th May. His second combat op commenced on13th May, taking off from RAF Downham Market, Norfolk at 00:25 on a course for Bochum in Germany's Ruhr valley. En-route, at approximately 01:45, an unseen enemy aircraft came up from the port and underneath and opened fire with a long burst from cannon and machine gun. This killed the rear gunner, wounded the mid-upper gunner, disabled the intercom and severely damaged the plane. Jettisoning their bombs and losing fuel, they limped off towards the nearest friendly aerodrome - Chedburgh, Suffolk - where they crash landed at approximately 04:00. Of the seven crew, five were killed and the Pilot was badly injured. Only the Navigator was relatively unharmed.
Thomas Jamieson was 20 years old and is buried with his father in Wandsworth (Streatham) Cemetery, London.
The aircraft was Stirling III HA-G EF367.
The crew:
- Sgt Nichols T J (Pilot)
- P/O Pierce E G (Navigator)
- Sgt Jamieson T A (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
- Sgt Gargest J P V (Bomb Aimer)
- Sgt Cleveland S G (Mid-upper Gunner)
- Sgt Howard J S (Rear Gunner)
- Sgt Wurr I (Flight Engineer)
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Flt/Lt. Colin S. Bell DFC. 608 Squadron Flt.Lt. Colin S Bell DFC AE FRICS, longstanding member of the The RAF Club was born in 1921, joined the Royal Air Force towards the end of 1940 and his flying training was carried out in the United States of America prior to their entry into the War (before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour) in December 1941. During this interim period, he was nominally a civilian and wore civilian clothes - all provided by the Royal Air Force, of course.
Following Pearl Harbour and having been commissioned into the RAF, Colin Bell was retained by the American Army Air Corps as an advanced single engine flying instructor responsible for training American and British Cadets.
On his return to the UK in 1943, he converted to twin engine Mosquito Bombers and joined 608 Squadron (Pathfinder Group) based at Downham Market in Norfolk. During his tour of operations he carried out 50 bombing raids - all over Germany- 13 of them over Berlin.
Subsequently, he was transferred to ferry duties bringing back newly built Mosquitos from Canada to the UK with stop-offs at Goose Bay, Labrador, Bluey West 1 (on the West coast of Greenland), Reykjavik in Iceland, and finally into Prestwick in Ayrshire, Scotland. He ended his full time RAF service in 1946 flying out of Blackbushe nr Camberley carrying Diplomatic mail to Embassies situated in various parts of Europe and Africa.
Post World War 2, he qualified as a Chartered Surveyor, served for many years as a Government District Valuer, and finally set up his own firm, of which he is now the active Senior Partner, specialising in the valuation of industrial premises. His interests outside his family include walking, touring the UK, supporting the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund through speaking engagements, socialising, and enjoying good food and wine. Until recently he served on the Committee of the Air Crew Association, Biggin Hill Wing. He was made a Freeman of the City of London on 13th January 1987 and of the District of Huntingdonshire on 17th August 2013.
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F/O. Eric William "Hoot" Gibson DFC. 115 Squadron    My father initially joined the Australian Army in 1940, but decided he wanted to fly to war instead of walking, so joined the RAAF in early 1941.
His initial training was in Tasmania and then advanced training in Canada. He was then posted to 623 Sqn at Downham Market where he only completed 2 gardening sorties on Stirlings before it was disbanded.
He was then transferred to 115 Squadron at Witchford where he completed his tour of 30 operations in June 1944. His log book records at least two attacks by enemy night fighters and another is confirmed by gunners reports.
At the end of his tour, he was posted to several training units as a flying instructor and managed to survive them as well. He was awarded the DFC in 1944. Whilst he didn't speak much about the war on his return or in later years, he did comment about two particular raids to Nuremberg and Leipzig which were particularly costly to Bomber Command. He also mentioned another occasion where he was forced to land at Downham Market as there was an enemy fighter in the circuit at Witchford. This fighter was responsible for the destruction of two of 115 Squadron's returning aircraft.
The only other trip he mentioned was one where, on their return to base, they found an incendiary bomb lodged in the engine housing of the Lancaster, obviously dropped from an aircraft above. Luckily, it hadn't ignited. I still have the nose weight from that bomb with the date 1943 cast into it. The bomb had been defused by armourers and the nose weight given to Dad's Canadian tail gunner who surprised Dad with it when my parents visited him in Canada.
Dad returned to Australia in 1945 where he was a power station control room supervisor until retirement. He died in 1999 at the age of 83 years of age. He never flew an aircraft again on his return to Australia but retained a keen interest in aviation. I recall him saying that when he was a young lad, he had seen Charles Kingsford Smith's aircraft in western Victoria when it was doing joy rides to help finance his exploits.
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F/Lt. John Boyland 635 (Pathfinder) Squadron When the Second World War commenced, Jack Boyland joined the RAAF and served between 1942 and 1946. He was seconded as a Navigator to the 635 Pathfinder Force Squadron of the RAF, based at Downham Market in the UK, during 1944-45.
Jack held the commissioned rank of Flying Officer and served as a Navigator - Observer. He wore the Observers Wing (badge). The Squadron was involved in the bombing of Germany.
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F/O. John "Ian" Campbell 608 Squadron Navigator, Flying Officer John Campbell served with 608 Squadron at RAF Downham Market. He entered service at Padgate in November 1941 and was promoted to Pilot Officer on 25th of February 1944 and then to Flying Officer 25th of August 1944. He was critically injured on 10th of November 1944 when Mosquito KB360 flown by Flight Lieutenant S D Webb RCAF crashed at Friday Bridge, Cambridgeshire. He was medically discharged on 13th of November 1945 retaining his rank. He went on to become an eminent dental surgeon lecturing at Glasgow University. Born in 1923, he came from The Clachan, Drymen, Sterlingshire, Scotland. He passed away in June 1981 aged 57.
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