My father was born on the 12th of December 1921, the only on of farming
parents. The farm was just outside the Roman village Ventra Silrum, better known as Caerwent.
Dads father was a lay preacher and a follower of John Wesley, he did not
approve of dad joining the R.A.F:- He never inherited the farm.
Dad first tried to join the R.A.F after a little girl playing by the Severn
tunnel junction was killed by a German plane flying overhead. Nothing else
was around at this time. Dad was eventually recalled in February 1941 and
was told that he would need to be prepared to fly. He trained as a fitter
engineer at R.A.F Cosford and worked on Hampdens, Manchesters and
Lancasters. He was then posted to Swinderby in 1942 and left in charge of a
major overhaul team working on Lancasters, attending Rolls Royce in Derby to
qualify as a test engineer.
In May 1943 due to a shortage of flight
engineers, he joined a Lancaster crew to take part in operational rids
flying over Germany. Dad’s role as a flight engineer included controlling
engine pressures, temperatures and fuel consumption, assisting the pilot and
taking over the controls as and when required. He also had to plot a
navigational course using the stars, send emergency radio signal and man the
gun turrets. Before he earned his Pathfinder badge he was required to carry
out the visual bomb aiming.
The crew he flew with consisted of 7 young men:-
Pilot squadron leader-Mitchell (who later became group captain,) a Canadian
Flight engineer- Norman Jones (dad), Navigator, Bomb aimer, Wireless operator, Mid upper Gunner, Rear gunner-Known as “tail end Charlie,” a very lonely position.
In June 1943, the crew were posted to No. 9 Squadron Bardney Lincoln. The
Lancaster was U-Uncle. By then Dad had completed his first operational
tour, which consisted of 30 operations flying over enemy territory mainly at
night, 7 to 8 hours through search light and enemy flak. From the minute
they flew over France they were under attack and often returned to base with
a damaged plane.
Dad was then invited to join the Pathfinders along with his Lancaster crew,
and joined 83 Pathfinder squadron. The Pathfinders were the Lancaster crews
who flew in first, dropping flares to mark targets for the bombers. They
circled around and above the target until the last bomber left. Sometimes
the Pathfinders had to re-mark the targets before finally flying over and
dropping their load. They were the crews that went in first and were the
last to leave.
The crew were very close, in fact Mitch, Dad’s pilot, refused to fly
without him. They practiced “the
corkscrew” to evade enemy fighters. They would complete this move by
closing the throttle so that the plane would drop, and then increase the
throttle on the climb. This would cause the plane to corkscrew. No mean
feat when you consider the size of the Lancaster, 69 feet and 6 inches in
length, with a wingspan of 102 feet and 4 large Merlin engines, plus fuel.
On one occasion whilst flying, there was a group captain who was on board as
an observer. The rear gunner called out “corkscrew right,” so
immediately dad and his pilot carried out this procedure, dad then glanced
over his shoulder to see his “special passenger” dangling in the air due
to the force of the corkscrew, and then of course when they came out of it
he landed rather forcefully! On return to base he gave the crew an
excellent report and stated “they will be the crew that survive.”
On the worst night 17 planes took off and only 7 came back, a total loss of
70 men from No. 9 squadron.
The D.M.F was awarded to dad in 1944 for courage and coolness of a high
order.
Prior to D-day he was involved in clearing the beaches ready for the
landings. On June the 6th 1944, he took off at 01.45am to bomb La Paenelle;
this was the start of the invasion. The following night he flew to Caen and
on the 8th to Auranches. When he had completed his 2nd operational tour,
dad had to accept being posted as a flying instructor to R.A.F Wigsley on
Stirlings. You were considered lucky to complete 5 ops in all, dad
completed 60.
His next posting was to R.A.F Hendon as a second pilot, where he flew VIPs
in Dakotas to visit the concentration camps. He also completed a trip to
Lagos in West Africa.
Dad was commissioned in October 1944, and this relatively easy posting was
not to last for long. The next posting was training on rescue gliders and a
trip to Burma to carry out this work. He served in Mingladon and Akyab,
making many friends along the way. Whilst serving in the Far East he became
very ill with Dinghue fever and jaundice. Dad still worried bout his
friends in Burma to this day because of the political state of the country.
My father remained in contact with Mitch until approximately 2 years ago,
when he received a goodbye letter. Naturally this was very upsetting.
Trying to gather information about dad R.A.F experiences has been an uphill
struggle, because for many men of my father’s age it is not an easy
subject.
I feel that I must mention here, because so much has been written about
bomber command, that on all bombing missions it was instilled in the crews
that they must aim for targets, e.g. Hamburg, where the U-boats were held
in pen, factories, communications and marshalling yards. Never once did the
crew think they were bombing civilians.
During this operational tour they flew to Berlin, Hamburg, Nuremburg,
Hanover, Munich, Essen, Manheim, Munchen, Gladbach, Remscheid, Frankfurt,
Leipzig, Kassel and Milan.
Over 55,000 bomber crew lost their lives, sometimes whilt training in this
country. I know my father still has nightmares about his wartime service,
and you can only begin to imagine what it must have been like night after
night, returning to base, going to bed to catch up on sleep and awaken to
see empty beds next to you.
My mother also served in the R.A.F and this is where my parents met. They
married in Yorkshire in January 1944 then travelled to Chepstow on
honeymoon, only to find a telegram waiting calling dad back to service.
They went on to have 3 children, myself and a younger sister and brother.
Ad continued in the R.A.F until 1946 and remained in the reserve until 1960. He also ran the A.T.C until we moved to West Wales. He now has 6
grandchildren, 7 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great grandchildren, who
are all extremely proud of him!
