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Those who Served
Billy Vale . Home Guard Feltwell Btn. |
A/Sqd.Ldr. Ralph Van Den Bok DFC.. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve "B" Flight (CO) No. 214 (FMS) Sqdn from East Horsley, Surrey) Further to my researches into the service career of this interesting and remarkable man, with whom my father flew a number of missions or "Ops" in 1944/45,I now have something approaching a proper "story".
Ralph Van Den Bok was born in London, in about 1907, of a Dutch father and Australian mother. After school, he attended Dulwich College, and by the outbreak of WW2, was working at the London Stock Exchange. In 1940,he applied to join the RAFVR, and was granted a commission as a Pilot Officer on Probation (July,1940). After training as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, Ralph joined No.408 (Goose) Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force, with whom he flew 30 Operations as a "Wireless Air Gunner ", to use RCAF parlance.
In August 1941, Ralph was "Gazetted" as a Flying Officer, and continued to serve with No.408 Sqdn, rising to become a leader , and so always flying with the Squadron Commanding Officer, Wing Commander John D Twigg, RCAF. In the summer of 1942, following a brave but unsuccessful attack on the German cruiser "Scharnhorst", and having exhibited outstanding devotion to operational flying, Ralph was awarded his first DFC (Gazetted August 1942, at which time he was also Gazetted as a Flight Lieutenant). Within a few weeks, however, Ralph's aircraft, a Handley-Page Hampden, was shot down over Belgium, returning from a mission to bomb Saarbrucken, by Luftwaffe night-fighter "Ace" Hauptmann Wilhelm Herget in a JU 88. The pilot Wing Commander Twigg and the rear gunner, Flt/Lt Maitland DFC were killed, but Ralph and Flt/Lt Gordon Clayton Fisher, RCAF, baled out and after contacting Belgian esacape organisations , in Ralph's case "Comete" ,they returned to the UK. Ralph was then awarded a second DFC, Gazetted November 1942.
Ralph was then accepted for training as a pilot,and was sent to Hagersville, Ontario, Canada,where he was awarded his wings, aged 38. Returning to Britain, he joined No. 12 OTU at Chipping Warden, where he "crewed up" with my father, then Flt/Sgt John Mills RAFVR, who became Ralph's Wireless Op/Air Gunner, they first flew together in Wellington bombers in June 1944. After further training in Stirlings of 1657 Conversion Unit, they became "operational" with No.214 (Federated Malay States) Squadron, which flew Radio Counter-Measures (radio/radar jamming) sorties using Boeing B 17 "Flying Fortress" aircraft, from RAF Oulton in Norfolk.
In January 1945, Ralph was promoted to Acting Squadron Leader,and became Commanding Officer of "B" Flight of No.214 Squadron.By the end of hostilities,in May 1945, Ralph had flown a further 17 "Operations",and had exhibited such qualities of leadership and devotion to duty that he was awarded his third DFC ,in October (Gazetted November 1945). He remained in the RAF,in the rank of Flight Lt. for many years after the war, resigning his commission (as a Sqd/Ldr) in the Reserve in 1955. After flying a Proctor for a while with Standard Oil (ESSO), Ralph was, sadly, badly hurt in the Lewisham Rail Disaster of 1957, losing a leg to gangrene. He died in Salisbury in 1976.
I am deeply indebted to Adrian Van Den Bok, in Australia,for all the information he has provided about the life of his admirable and inspirational father, without whose skill and professionalism I would not be here today to write this tribute. |
Sqdn Ldr Ralph Van Den Bok DFC & 2Bar.. RAFVR 214 squadron I am most interested in Squadron Leader Ralph Van Den Bok, DFC & 2Bar. RAFVR, as my father, Flying Officer John Tudor Mills (Wop/AG), flew on Ops with him in Boeing B17 F & G aircraft of 214 Sqdn, based at RAF Oulton, Norfolk, part of 100 group, during 1944/45. Records of the squadron's activities are somewhat sparse, in view of what they did (ECM etc). I have been quite unable to determine S/Ldr Van Den Bok's nationality, although I suspect that he might have been Canadian,as he was awarded his first DFC in 1942, as a Flying Officer, whilst operating with 408 (Goose) Squadron, RCAF (although he himself was RAFVR). From bits and pieces that I have managed to unearth, I gather that he was shot down by Flak at some point and escaped through Belgium, but I don't know the details. 3 DFC's is quite an achievement, he was awarded one of them for "Devotion to operational flying", or words to that effect. I would really like to find out more about him. |
Sqd.Ldr Pieter Robert Marie van der Heijden . Royal Air Force 541 Squadron from Holland) My Uncle, Squadron Leader Pieter Robert Marie van der Heijden was stationed at RAF Benson with the 541 Sqadron from 28/7/1940 until he was killed on a photo rec mission off the coast of Holland, year unknown. I would very much like to hear from anyone who knew my Uncle Pieter and any details of his fateful mission. I understand he had the reputation of being somewhat of a "maverick" amongst his conteporaires and was shot down whilst flying a mosquito on recon, as a result of low flying over his homeland. Also anyone who may have known his younger brother, Johanus or "Johnnie" who was killed after the war, when his plane blew up during radar testing in July 1945
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Sgt Carolus Ludovicus "Charles" van Heugten . Royal Air Force 320 Sqd. from Netherlands) (d.22nd Nov 1942) Carlus Ludovicus van Heugten was my wife's uncle. He was from a family of military pilots. His brother Fons was a military pilot in The Netherlands before the war and emigrated to Australia afterwards. His brother Willem, my father in law, got his training in the Netherlands in 1923 at 17 year of age from the first military instructor here, Versteegh. He later on moved to former East Indies (now Indonesia) to serve with the N.I. Navy Airforce. At the Japanese attack he moved to Australia via Broome and from there to the USA to join as flight instructor the Royal Netherlands Military Flying School in Jackson, Mississippi. He ended his carreer as airline pilot with KLM. |
Johannes Antonius "Joop" van Lunenburg . Dutch Army (d.24th Jan 1944) Around 1999 I learned from an aunt that I was named after my uncle Joop, Johannes Antonius van Lunenburg
as I have same initials. Until then uncle Joop has never been mentioned by neither his four brothers nor his
two sisters. Before my mother died at the age of 92 she gave me a picture and an "in memoriam" of Uncle Joop.
but no further story and from my side I asked no further questions. Surfing around the internet for my last name I
came at the Institute of Genealogie in Holland and to my surprise I found a death certificate of my uncle made
in Chech and German language more or less confirming what was on the "in memoriam" and the cause of death,
blood poissoned because of etc. It also states that he was a Dutch soldier and in a firm handwriting there
is STALAG XIA. In my opinion Stalag means POW camp but how does a dutch soldier get there and why
has nobody ever talked about him. I have my thoughts but is it possible to get a story straight?
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Leroy "Bud" Van Natta . US Army 634th AAA AW Battalion 106th Inf Division My father, Leroy (Bud) Van Natta was captured during the battle of the bulge and sent to Stalag 4B, where he spent the remainder of the war. He was in the 634th AAA AW Battalion attached to the 106TH. He mentioned that they used to smuggle in cirgarettes into the camp in the sleeves of there coats. Once he mentioned that an SS Officers' son approached the fence and asked a prisoner for some gum and when the prisoner did not have any the Kid told the guards to shoot the prisoner which they did. If anyone remembers my Dad please let me know.
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FO John Victor Van Tighem DFC. Royal Canadian Air Force 428 Ghost Squadren from Strathmore AB) |
F/O Reginaif van Toen . Royal Air Force 10 OTU |
Sgt. W. Vandalli . RAF 300 Sqd. |
L/Cpl. Frank Ernest Varney . British Army 10 Troop 11th Commando from Nottingham) My Dad, Frank Varney, served with 11th commando 10 troop in the raid to capture Rommel in November 1941, Operation Flipper. He also spent a period of time at a POW camp PG65 in Italy. I would love to hear from any of his mates.
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Gnr. Herbert Varney . British Army Royal Artillery My Grandfather, Gunner Herbert Varney, was captured in June 1940 somewhere near Calais. He was transported to Stalag XXB where I think he spent the remainder of the war. I would be grateful if anyone has any information/ photographs which mention or show him. His POW number was 8406. Unfortunately my Grandfather passed away in June 1977, but my Grandmother is very interested in any mention of him.
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Flying Officer A R Vaughan . RCAF 582 Squadron 582 Squadron lost 5 aircraft on 23/12/44 whilst on operations to Cologne.
Lancaster PB523, took off from Little Stoughton at 10.29hrs. Crew were
F/Lt Peter Alfred Thomas, DFC, RAF 172593, killed, age 22.
F/Sgt Vivian George Hobbs, RAF 1816098, killed age 20
F/O W.E.Vaughan, RCAF, POW
F/Lt A.R.Whittaker, POW
W/O H.Fuller, POW
Sgt G.Fallon, POW
W/O2 Frederick William Campbell, RCAF J/94493, killed, age 29
The Lancaster is believed to have crashed at Oppiter (Limburg), 4km SE of Bree in Belgium, though it is likely some of the crew baled out over Germany.
F/O Hobbs lies in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, his death being attributed to a collapsed parachute canopy. F/L Thomas was originally buried at Oppiter but his grave is now at Heverlee War Cemetery, while WO2 Campbell RCAF, who was laid to rest alongside his skipper, has been taken to Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Holland.
—From Bomber Command War Diaries - Martin Middlebrook & Chris Everitt
Lancaster PB523 was one of 27 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitoes of 8 Group to attack the Gremberg railway yards.
The raid went very badly. The force was split into 3 formations, each led by an Oboe-equipped Lancaster with an Oboe Mosquito as reserve leader. During the outward flight, 2 Lancasters of 35 Squadron collided over the French coast and their crews were all killed. On approaching the target, it was found that the cloud which had been forecast had cleared and it was decided to allow the bombers to break formation and bomb visually; this move was made because the formations would have been very vulnerable to Cologne's flak defences during the long, straight Oboe approach. Unfortunately the order to abandon the Oboe run did not reach the leading Lancaster, a 582 Squadron aircraft piloted by Squadron Leader R A M Palmer DFC (on loan from 109 Squadron), who continued on with his designated role, even though his aircraft was already damaged by flak. German fighters, who were being directed to intercept an American bomber force, also appeared and attacked. The bombs from Squadron Leader Palmer's aircraft were eventually released and hit the target but his plane went down out of control and only the tail gunner escaped, by parachute. Squadron Leader Palmer, on his 110th operation, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, the only Oboe VC of the war; his body is buried in the Rheinberg War Cemetery with the other men who died in the Lancaster.
The formation suffered further losses when another Lancaster and a Mosquito were shot down by Flak ANF fighters and a further Lancaster was abandoned by its crew over Belgium. The losses were thus 6 aircraft out of the 30 dispatched.
I am desperately searching for any information about Pilot Officer Frederick William Campbell, known as Teddy, of 582 Sqd RCAF, age 29, of Pembrooke, Nova Scotia who died in action December 23, 1944. He is my half-brother's father and we know nothing at all about him. My 70 year-old brother was adopted and never met or knew his Dad. Very sad circumstances. I am determined to search until I have answers. He died while serving his country and deserves to be recognized by his son for his bravery.
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Sgt. Arthur James Vaughan . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 242 Squadron (d.26th April 1941) I live on the south coast in a place called Telscombe Cliffs, near to Newhaven Harbour. About 2 miles going inland from the coast is a little hamlet of about 6 cottages and a lovely old Saxon church and it goes by the name of Southease. In the little churchyard the graves go back 200 plus years apart from one and it is a typical war grave headstone with the RAF arms on the front, buried in the grave is Pilot Sgt. Vaughan. What we would like to unravel is the mystery of how Sgt. Vaughan came to be buried in our little churchyard. We are more than honoured to have Sgt. Vaughan in our church grounds but it would be nice just to know a little more about this very brave man.
Sgt. Vaughan was flying Hurricanes in 242 Squadron, being based at Stapleford Tawney, North Weald from April 9th to May 22nd and was shot down and killed near Chartham in Kent. We know he was married to a lady called Christine. Another strange thing was his age, he was 41 when he was shot down. As he was RAF Volunteer Reserve could he have been a ferry pilot who was in the wrong place at the wrong time? Does anybody know how Sgt. Vaughan came to be laid to rest in our little churchyard? If there is anyone with any clues no matter how small we would love to be able to put his story to rest. We always place flowers on his grave on the anniversary of his death and say a little pray and thanks for the ultimate price he paid so we can tell this story.
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Cpl David Elwyn Vaughan . Army Royal Army Service Corps from Glynneath, South Wales) (d.14th Aug 1940) I am desperately trying to trace my Grandfather, David Vaughan who died in the Second World War aged 27. His wife was Annie may Vaughan and she died aged 33 in 1950.
They lived in Glyneath, South Wales and the circumstances surrounding his death are vague.
His only son died in 1993 and his only daughter, my mum is unable to recall any memories due to his death when she was only 9 years old
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Flying Officer W E Vaughan . RCAF 582 Squadron 582 Squadron lost 5 aircraft on 23/12/44 whilst on operations to Cologne.
Lancaster PB523, took off from Little Stoughton at 10.29hrs. Crew were
F/Lt Peter Alfred Thomas, DFC, RAF 172593, killed, age 22.
F/Sgt Vivian George Hobbs, RAF 1816098, killed age 20
F/O W.E.Vaughan, RCAF, POW
F/Lt A.R.Whittaker, POW
W/O H.Fuller, POW
Sgt G.Fallon, POW
W/O2 Frederick William Campbell, RCAF J/94493, killed, age 29
The Lancaster is believed to have crashed at Oppiter (Limburg), 4km SE of Bree in Belgium, though it is likely some of the crew baled out over Germany.
F/O Hobbs lies in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, his death being attributed to a collapsed parachute canopy. F/L Thomas was originally buried at Oppiter but his grave is now at Heverlee War Cemetery, while WO2 Campbell RCAF, who was laid to rest alongside his skipper, has been taken to Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Holland.
—From Bomber Command War Diaries - Martin Middlebrook & Chris Everitt
Lancaster PB523 was one of 27 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitoes of 8 Group to attack the Gremberg railway yards.
The raid went very badly. The force was split into 3 formations, each led by an Oboe-equipped Lancaster with an Oboe Mosquito as reserve leader. During the outward flight, 2 Lancasters of 35 Squadron collided over the French coast and their crews were all killed. On approaching the target, it was found that the cloud which had been forecast had cleared and it was decided to allow the bombers to break formation and bomb visually; this move was made because the formations would have been very vulnerable to Cologne's flak defences during the long, straight Oboe approach. Unfortunately the order to abandon the Oboe run did not reach the leading Lancaster, a 582 Squadron aircraft piloted by Squadron Leader R A M Palmer DFC (on loan from 109 Squadron), who continued on with his designated role, even though his aircraft was already damaged by flak. German fighters, who were being directed to intercept an American bomber force, also appeared and attacked. The bombs from Squadron Leader Palmer's aircraft were eventually released and hit the target but his plane went down out of control and only the tail gunner escaped, by parachute. Squadron Leader Palmer, on his 110th operation, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, the only Oboe VC of the war; his body is buried in the Rheinberg War Cemetery with the other men who died in the Lancaster.
The formation suffered further losses when another Lancaster and a Mosquito were shot down by Flak ANF fighters and a further Lancaster was abandoned by its crew over Belgium. The losses were thus 6 aircraft out of the 30 dispatched.
I am desperately searching for any information about Pilot Officer Frederick William Campbell, known as Teddy, of 582 Sqd RCAF, age 29, of Pembrooke, Nova Scotia who died in action December 23, 1944. He is my half-brother's father and we know nothing at all about him. My 70 year-old brother was adopted and never met or knew his Dad. Very sad circumstances. I am determined to search until I have answers. He died while serving his country and deserves to be recognized by his son for his bravery.
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Sgt. Charles William Vause . Royal Air Force 44 Squadron from Scunthorpe) My father Bill Vause was a mid upper gunner in a Lancaster III with 44 Rhodesia Squadron in 1944. He was sShot down over Denmark on 3/4th April 1944 in Risgård Bredning Bay in Denmark, the aircraft exploding just before it hit the water. Dad and one other survived and ended up in Stalag Luft VII for the duration of the war until liberated by the Russians. His best friend Dennis is buried nearby see this link
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F/O Josef Franck Vejlupek . Royal Air Force 310 Sqd. from Klatovy, Czech Republic ) He was one of last three to fly a Spitfire on an offensive/ combat sortie on 1.1.1951. Has anyone any info on service with 32 and 310 Sqdns? |
P.O. G. A. Ventris . Royal Navy HMS Forfar P.O. Ventriss was amongst those who survived the sinking of HMS Forfar on the 2nd of December 1940. |
Pvt. Vito Vincent " " Verga . US Army from Brooklyn, New York) My grandfather, Vito Virga passed away in December 2009. He would have been ninety in January 2010. He was a POW at Stalag 9B in 1945. I found some records online and had them sent to me. Wish I would have got him to talk about the war to me so I could have more information. The best to all that are still remembering this time at war. |
P/O James Edward Vernon DFC.. Royal Air Force 150 Squadron from Queenstown, New Zealand) (d.7th Jun 1940) James Vernon 1915 – 1940
James Edward Vernon was born on 21 August 1915, at Roxburgh, Central Otago, son of George and Jemima Vernon. The Vernons were a mining family, originally from Waikaia, subsequently moving to Roxburgh and later Glenorchy. James attended Otago Boys High School for three years secondary education from 1929 until 1931, passing his matriculation. He played rugby and cricket for his school, and later played senior rugby for Glenorchy, where his father was gold-mining. Following the family tradition James became manager of an alluvial gold mining company at Queenstown.
In 1937 James applied for a Short Service commission in the Royal Air Force, and on being selected was commissioned as a Pilot Officer and posted to No.1 Service Flying Training School, Wigram to undertake preliminary flying training and obtain his ‘A’ flying licence. On 15 November 1937 he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer at Wigram. On 18 July 1938 he embarked on the Akaroa at Auckland to proceed to the United Kingdom.
On reporting to the Air Ministry, Pilot Officer Vernon was instructed to proceed to RAF Depot Uxbridge, Middlesex on 23 August 1938, for a short disciplinary course. This completed, he was posted to 150 (Bomber) Squadron for squadron flying duties, flying Fairey Battle bombers. Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, 150 Squadron was moved to France as the part of the Advanced Air Striking Force and in May 1940 was one of the Battle squadrons which attacked the Meuse bridges in an attempt to stem the German advance.
The Fairey Battle first flew in 1936. After the First World War, relatively slow, light day bombers were considered militarily feasible until, early in the Second World War, Fairey Battles were blown from the sky by fast single-seat fighters and anti-aircraft fire. Their place in the military armoury was filled by fighter aircraft which were fast and could effectively defend themselves after dropping their bomb. The Fairey Battle has been described as a disaster, being too slow, vulnerable and under-gunned for air warfare in Second World War. Those surviving the early war years were reallocated to training duties.
James Vernon undertook a three months course in navigation at the School of Air Navigation from December 1939 to February 1940. Apart from that, he remained with his squadron in England and France undertaking operational flying for the remainder of his service. During this time he was promoted to Flying Officer.
On 26 May 1940, Flying Officer Vernon led an action for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He took off at 0925 from Pouan, east of Paris, to attack a German headquarters at a Château at Roumont near Recogne in Belgium, some 250 kms away. His crew comprised Flight Sergeant G Busby and Leading Aircraftman L W Rutland. In the vicinity of the target the formation he was leading lost touch while flying through a storm, but Vernon went on to locate and bomb his objective. On the return flight he was attacked by six Messerschmitt 110s, but by skillful flying he evaded their initial attacks and his gunner was able to shoot down one Messerschmitt and set fire to another. However, the remaining fighters continued to attack and seriously damaged the British bomber. With its engine failing, the aircraft began to lose height rapidly and Vernon was forced to land in enemy territory near Avioth (Meuse), 6 km NNE of Montmedy, France. He assisted his wounded crew from the aircraft and set it on fire. A German patrol approached and took the wounded men prisoner, but Vernon managed to escape, reach the French lines, and make his way back to his unit. Sgt Busby was interned in Camp 357 (POW No.38248), and LAC Rutland in Camps 8B/L6/357 (PoW No.18162).
26th of May was the day that the evacuation of British forces in France was ordered to begin from Dunkirk. The evacuation was completed on 3 June, and on 13 June the Germans entered Paris. But just 12 days after he was shot down at Montmedy, Flying Officer Vernon was killed in action. With his crew Sergeant (W.Op./Air Gnr.) Jack F. Atkins, RAFVR 751819, age 20, and Sergeant (Obs.) George W. Clawley, RAF 533480, age unknown. He took off on 7 June 1940 from Echemines, southeast of Paris, to attack a vehicle convoy at Vergies, near Abbeville, south of Dunkirk, some 250 km away. The aircraft failed to return, and Vernon and his crew were posted as missing. In due course his death was presumed to have occurred on 7 June 1940 as a result of air operations. After the war it was established that he had been buried in the cemetery at Vergies. His grave is in Vergies Communal Cemetery Row 1. Grave 21. His crewmates are buried together in Graves 19-20. James was 24 years old.
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Joan Verrall . Land Army My name is Joan Hollins (nee Verrall) I served in the Land Army in the Kent villages of Headcorn and Smarden. I would like to hear from anyone who served in either of these villages betwween 1942 until 1945
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Grenadier Koos "Jack" Versteeg . Garderegiment Grenadiers en Jagers IIe Bataljon 3e compagnie from The Hague) My grandfather, Koos Versteeg joined the Royal Durch Army in 1936. He fought in the Battle in Ypenburg, The Hague and he was a POW from 1943 untill 1945.
He arrived on the 29th of May 1943 in camp Amersfoort. He was taken to Altengrabow (Stalag 11A) on the 3rd of June 1943 After a month he was taken to Muhlberg and stayed in Stalag 4b and 4c.
After a while he was taken to Knippelsdorf to work on a local farm. The farmer was called Lehmann and I would like to find out more about him.
During his time in Knippelsdorf he was taken to a French Lazaret in Jessen several times together with Jack Tromp. I was fortunate to talk to my grandfather about the war and he told me a lot when I was little.
He kept a journal and registered all names of the people he met.
So perhaps if my grandfather is in the timeline of anybody, please contact me.
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Cpt. Philip Louis Vian . Royal Navy HMS Cossack |
Charles Gordon Vicary . Royal Air Force 101 Squadron from Exeter) I flew on Lancaster PA237, 23rd of Feb 1945 in the raid of Pforzheim and was shot down. When jumping out the landing looked to be a good one, but it turned out to be a ploughed field that had frozen! I was taken POW and was taken to Moosberg. |
Pte. George Vickers . British Army Royal Army Medical Corps from Bethnal Green, London) My father, George Vickers passed away recently, whilst sorting through his paperwork I found details of his service during WW2. He was in N.W. Europe between 14.11.1944 till 29.10.1945, then he was posted to the Middle East from 19.12.1945 till 14.08.1946. I would be grateful if anyone could tell me anything that might help me find out what he did. He never talked about the war to me but he mentioned once to my brother, when pressed, that he was a stretcher bearer and he saw some awful sights. |
Brian Campbell Vickery . Civilian Chemist Royal Ordnance Factory 37 Making explosives
I was in the middle of studying at Oxford University for a degree in chemistry when World War 2 was declared. Oxford became crowded, as the government moved several civil service departments there. Our only direct contact with military matters was watching for firebombs at night on the roofs of laboratories (in fact, Oxford was never bombed). Just before my final exams in 1940, there came the evacuation of our army from Dunkirk, and for some reason troops of exhausted rescued soldiers came tramping through Oxford on their way to camp. Preoccupied by these glimpses of reality, there is little wonder that my exam results were poor!
In the summer of 1941 I finished my research year, and received an official letter: report to the Royal Ordnance Factory 37 near Bridgwater, Somerset, to work there as a 'plant chemist'. The factory was in the countryside, a few miles outside the town. It was just starting up, to make two explosives, tetryl and RDX. I had never been in a factory before, let alone an explosives factory, and the same was true of 95 percent or more of the staff, many drawn from the towns and villages of Somerset. Only a few senior chemists and foremen had any experience. RDX was a new chemical, designed by a government laboratory, and had never been made on an industrial scale. So we all had everything to learn.
I was assigned to the RDX plant. On arrival, I was told to put on overalls. 'Have you ever seen an industrial pump?', I was asked. 'No'. 'So here is a spanner, here is a pump, take it to pieces and see how it works'. My first lesson in industrial chemistry.
The factory made explosives 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, throughout the rest of the war (bar a few grand shutdowns for major maintenance). So there were three shifts of work each day. Apart from the two explosives plants, there were others making acids and other ingredients. Altogether there were employed about 50 plant chemists, a similar number of foremen, and the total workforce approached 3000. Between 1941 and 1945, about 20,000 tonnes of RDX were produced. In a chemical factory, it is the chemicals that do the main work, by interacting between themselves to make new ones. The people have the job of lugging the chemicals from one place to another, putting the right ones together in the right quantities, and watching thermometers and other indicators to see that the process is not getting out of control - a boring but vital job. Because RDX was so new, there was much not known about it, so the factory also had its own laboratory with another substantial group of chemists exploring its behaviour and checking on its quality.
What does a 'plant chemist' do? While the foreman allocates workers to jobs and supervises the work, the chemist is there to see that technically things are going as they should, and to give technical instructions on what to do when they aren't. We had many an emergency to cope with. Once on my shift, the temperature of a reaction vessel started to climb. We increased the flow of cooling water, brought in extra hoses, even stopped the inflow of chemicals into the vessel - all to no effect. The temperature went on climbing. I felt in my guts that something nasty was going to happen, so I got everybody out of the reaction room. The liquid in the vessel boiled, and scalding hot acid was spewed and sprayed about the room. Thank god no-one was caught by it.
RDX itself was a very safe chemical, a white powder. You could hammer it, even burn it without danger of explosion. The big problem for us was the very strong acid used to make it - the liquid acid itself, or even its fumes. From time to time acid tanks were emptied, and we would go inside them to clean them - and often come out gasping and choking from the fumes.
We ate, in the middle of each shift, in a works canteen. Changing shifts and meal times each week, on canteen food, was not very good for the stomach. Every so often I was employed on a 'yield' test. This involved supervising the measurement of the input of all chemicals, and the output of explosive, over a period of 24 hours - working three shifts in a row. The worst feature of this exercise, apart from the lack of sleep, was eating the same canteen meal three times in a day!
From the raw RDX explosive we made two products. If you mixed RDX and TNT together, heated and stirred them, you got a toffee-like material. This was broken up into slabs and shipped out to shell-filling factories. There it could be remelted and poured into shells - they became the 'blockbuster' bombs used by the RAF. On the other hand, if you mixed RDX with the right sort of oil, you got a product like plasticine. This became the famous plastic explosive now known as Semtex, used not only by the Resistance in France but by many a terrorist since.
The manufacture of this plastic explosive gives an interesting picture of the realities of chemical production at that time. The oil was made from three materials: 'mineral jelly' (a petroleum byproduct), chunky sheets of crepe rubber, and slabs of beeswax (the product, we were told, of large African bees). These last two were chopped into small pieces, and heated together in a vat with the jelly and a little lecithin (a vegetable protein). They were rendered down into an oil, and heating was continued until the oil was 'the right viscosity' (stickiness). Viscosity was tested by taking a small sample of the oil on a dipstick, and touching a plate with this to see if it seemed 'sticky enough'. A batch of freshly made RDX was stirred into a large container with water, and heated. A dose of oil was poured in. If you were lucky, granules of RDX coated with the oil were formed, and these could be filtered off through a tap at the bottom of the container. If out of luck, the oil and RDX formed a single glutinous mass that had to be dug out. Oily granules were next loaded into water-jacketed vessels, heated and stirred – the vessels were in fact dough-mixers used in bread-making. Then the 'dough' was forced through heavy rollers. This was continued until the plastic was 'the right plasticity'. Plasticity was measured by taking a sample, cooling it, rolling it into a small sausage, and trying to stretch the sausage to see how quickly it broke. Unusable plastic was too crumbly, and broke too quickly.
At one time, we were getting too many unusable batches of plastic. For each batch of RDX, the works laboratory routinely made an analysis of the distribution of particle sizes. We had the idea that particle size might affect plasticity, and I looked back over our production records to seek some correlation. At first, no success, but then I speculated that the very large particles in a batch of RDX might be aggregates of small particles, that would break down during plastic production, so in the analysis we should add them to the count of small particles. This was successful – poor plasticity seemed to be correlated with an excess of small particles as now counted. We set a threshold value, and in future used for plastic explosive only RDX batches with the amended small-particle content below that threshold (other batches went into RDX-TNT toffee). Now most batches of plastic proved to be usable.
As well as the danger from acid, there were always mechanical accidents, and I was the victim of one. A process in making Semtex was to squeeze the plastic between big spring-loaded rollers. One day a fitter and myself were cleaning the rollers. The start button was on the other side of the machine, and he went round to switch the rollers on to test them. 'Are you clear?' he called. 'Yes', I replied, but I reached to pull out my cleaning rag. The rollers sucked in the rag and me, and took off the top of a thumb - luckily not the whole hand.
I went to Bridgwater hospital. Most of the regular staff had been drafted into military service, and those who remained were not the best. Because of inadequate antiseptics, a swelling crept up my arm, and the nurses desperately put the arm into a heated box to drive out the infection - happily successfully. One night the head (or perhaps only?) surgeon and the matron got drunk together, and at midnight decided to 'do the rounds', waking up the whole hospital.
Apart from working on the plants, men in the factory served in a unit of the Home Guard - and Dad's Army was not too far from the truth. German aircraft did not come near Bridgwater, let alone German troops, so our activities were mainly training for the action that never came, and sleepless nights guarding local bridges. We had one significant engagement. We were training with dummy mortars (no explosive) outside the factory. A shell was accidentally launched towards the factory, sailed in, hit and smashed the main steam-line, and closed down the whole works.
Working daily together on our RDX plant for four years led to close friendships - even though we scattered after the war and few of these friendships were maintained. One man I greatly admired was our senior plant foreman, Geordie Perkins. He was indeed a 'Geordie'. As a youth he had followed his dad into the Durham coal mines, but he soon had enough of it. If he left, it would put his father in a bad light. So they staged a fist-fight in the mine, Geordie shouting that he wanted out, his dad shouting that he would make him stay. The mine superintendent was so disgusted that he sacked Geordie on the spot. For some years he drifted doing navvy work on the roads, but eventually - because he was a very capable organiser - got more responsible work.
I lived in digs in Bridgwater at first, and came into contact with an amateur dramatics group. We had a lot of fun putting on plays for the local populace - probably more fun than the audiences had. In 1944 it was the centenary of the Cooperative movement (started at Rochdale a hundred years before). A playwight wrote a pageant, telling the history of the movement over the century, and every local cooperative society was encouraged to stage it. Printed copies of the play were provided, together with a 'production manual', and gramophone records of music and songs to be played during the show. The Bridgwater co-op decided to have a go, and asked the director of our amateur group to produce the pageant, with me as stage manager.
The characters in the pageant were to be played by those connected with the local co-op - employees or members - so it was indeed an amateur show. There was one problem - it was an historical display, so it needed period costumes. The only source was the theatrical costumiers of London. So I was despatched by train up to the big city to seek out the required outfits. Since co-ops all around the country were doing the same, costumes were in great demand. After a lot of searching, I found a costumier who could provide what we wanted, but rental prices were soaring by then. I had to telephone to Bridgwater for permission to clinch a deal. There was no subscriber dialling in those days, and the telephone system was very overloaded, so I rang the exchange and asked for the number, waiting long for a connection. During the wait, the Germans were sending over their little powered bombs - 'doodlebugs', as we nicknamed them. You would hear their engines chugging, then they would cut off and start to fall, and you waited breathless for the bang. Both the operator and I could hear them and we exchanged comments: 'ooh, that one sounded close'.
Eventually we got our costumes, did our rehearsals, and the big day arrived - a good turnout from local co-op supporters. Though once again it was like Dad's Army, the sight of local characters on stage went down well with the audience. The co-op butcher, due to play some historic role, became gloriously drunk and incapable. We got him into costume, pushed him on stage, told him to wave his arms, and I spoke his words from behind a screen. And that was our pageant.
During the last year of war I moved to the factory hostel, and made new friends. The summer of 1945 was hot, and I spent happy hours with the Irish girl who would later become my wife, cuddling in the sunny fields when we were off work. At last came the day of Victory in Europe. Everyone, of course, went to the pubs to celebrate. In the pub where my girl and I went with English friends, there was a contingent of Irish workers from the factory. They started singing Republican songs, leading up to 'The hanging of Kevin Barry'. At the end, there was a shout: 'That's what the bloody English did to the Irish' and all hell broke loose. My girl and I ran. Thus World War 2 in Europe ended, and an older one broke out again.
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Sgt. Roy Vigars . Royal Air Force flt eng. 419 Sqd. |
William Henry Village . British Army REME from Birmingham) |
Flying Officer Villis . RAF 59 Squadron |
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