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…As squadron commander, he was expected to fly on operations occasionally; but that was not Barker’s way, and he attacked many heavily defended targets. A fellow pilot recalled that “he was incredibly brave, and always put himself on the most dangerous sorties”. By the end of April 1945, a large…
…Special Operations Executive. Commissioned into a Royal Engineers searchlight battalion, units transferred to Royal Artillery. Served at Combined Operations Headquarters before joining SAS as intelligence officer. Prisoner of war severely injured trying to escape. SPECIAL OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE, & Cols Airey NEAVE & James LANGLEY, MI9 ESCAPE & EVASION & +…
Squadron Leader John Rowland – obituary Squadron Leader John Rowland was a pilot awarded the DFC twice in three days during bombing operations over Germany in 1943 06 January 2015 • 17:48 pm Courtesy of the Daily Telegraph Squadron Leader John Rowland, who has died aged 94, was awarded the…
…in January 1924, here represents “I” Company in the 3rd Battalion, the 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment, the original main component of the United States Army 101st AIRBORNE DIVISION (filmed as The Band of Brothers) and took part in both Operations OVERLORD and MARKET GARDEN and, after his wounding, through his…
Squadron Leader Larry Curtis flew more than 70 bombing operations during the Second World War and had the very unusual distinction for a wireless operator of earning two DFCs. He had already completed two bomber tours when he arrived on No 617 Squadron in July 1943 as one of the…
…he was seconded to the Berkeley…as one of the British members of the Manhattan Project, where heavy radioactive isotopes were being produced for nuclear weapon studies, in what was then the world’s largest cyclotron (an early form of particle accelerator), Curran Invented a highly compact scintillation counter for determining levels…
…the main thrust of an enemy determined to get across the river in strength. At 11am, the enemy launched a violent attack and pushed forward a bridging parry into the sunken bottom of the river. Annand, then a Second Lieutenant, led a counter-attack against this group. When the ammunition ran…
…sea areas, with their massive FLEET TRAINS stretching back thousands of miles; his striking memories of flying over Japan from June was the lack of major roads, with the infrastructure seeming to exist on increasingly vulnerable air, sea and rail links; 1834’s main target priorities were again COUNTER AIR with…
…the lunatic asylum, who came out wearing nightshirts and shouting: “Hello Tommy!” ‘Parachutes open overhead as waves of paratroops land in Holland during operations by the 1st Allied Airborne Army. September 1944 On arrival at Oosterbeek, they came under fire from enemy 88 mm anti-tank guns. Dauncey led a fighting…
…– and he and Braham were posted as instructors to No 51, a night fighter Operational Training Unit at Cranfield. Keen to return to operations, in early June the two men slipped away for an unofficial weekend visit to their old squadron, No 29, in Kent. During a night sortie,…
…victory. He also led fighter-bomber attacks against airfields in Sicily. Finally, after 18 months on operations he was rested and returned to England to train fighter pilots. Following a period in command of No 41 Squadron flying Spitfires on escort duty, he was seconded to the 100th Fighter Wing of…
…Johnny Gibson In 1943 he went with 15 Squadron to New Georgia as operations officer. Subsequently, he commanded and led the squadron, equipped with Corsair fighters. In the heavy fighting of the Bougainville Pacific landings, he destroyed a Japanese Zeke fighter on January 23 1944. After again returning to Europe,…
…1500 airplanes, including 222 Halifaxes and 109 Stirlings. ‘Her love of flying had been ignited by a chance encounter one day just before the war. She had struck up a conversation with a pilot at Haldon airfield in Devon one day and had, off the cuff, enquired whether women could…
…London, but his training was incomplete when war broke out, so he qualified as an air gunner instead. Blenheim bombers attack enemy vessel, just east of Le Touquet by David Rowlands Peter first saw operations in a Bristol Blenheim Mk.I squadron, No.236, based at North Coates. In March 1940,…
…landing 0830hrs D-DAY at OUISTREHAM on NORMANDY INVASION’s left flank at SWORD BEACH “S:’; wounded during the war, he signs for all COMBINED OPERATIONS & the Sth-& all DESTROYER FLOTILLAS; post-war he was active again (OBE Near East Operations for SUEZ 1956) and his last two naval appointments were as…
…with Air Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard, Chief of the Air Staff. Itching to fly again, Dunn started training for Mosquito “Pathfinder” Operations, but was withdrawn because of his staff commitments. After a stint at Fighter Command he was promoted group captain and placed in charge of anti-V2 operations at 12…
…Crew arrived back at base with the Dornier’s trailing aerial wrapped around his Beaufighter’s starboard propeller. Crew’s second encounter developed into a long, drawn-out chase as he stalked the Dornier well out to sea off the Isle of Wight. As the enemy pilot twisted and turned to evade his pursuer,…
…was chief test pilot of the ill-fated British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) TSR2 supersonic bomber-reconnaissance programme until the aircraft’s abrupt and brutal cancellation by the government. Later Beamont directed British Aerospace and Panavia international flight operations of the multi-role combat Tornado until its introduction to RAF and other NATO operational squadrons….
…was stationed at Tangmere during the Battle of Britain. No 11 Fighter Group’s Operations Room, Uxbridge by Charles Ernest Cundall (1943) © IWM Art.IWM ART LD 4140 Corporal Claire Legge: Behind the controller’s dais in the ops room there were four cabins which were monitoring the four radio channels. They…
1928 HALTON Apprentice. Representing 70 & 7 Squadron STIRLINGS, and Air Vice Marshal Don BENNETT‘s PATHFINDER FORCE for BOMBER Operations IWM Oral History: Thomas Gilbert Mahaddie British NCO served as pilot with 77 Sqdn, No 4 Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 9/1939-6/1940; officer served with 7 Sqdn, Pathfinder Force,…
…Mosquito aircraft at Swannington with Ben Benson again on Bomber Support operations they would destroy mostly Ju-88 nightfighters over Germany, increasing their score to about ten enemy aircraft. Lewis Brandon’s book ‘Night Flyer’ in 1961 describes the difficult techniques involved in nightfighter operations and their joint careers on wartime flying….
…50th ANNIVERSARY celebrations of the “FORGOTTEN FLEETS” with the excellent unqualified support of Col Stephens & the CITY of PORTSMOUTH (the “Flagship of Maritime England”) & wrote “SAKISHIMA” & “KAMIKAZE” to expand their written WITNESS HISTORY. His inclusion encapsulates all 500 SHIPS and more than 500,000 ROYAL NAVY, ROYAL MARINES,…
Wing Commander Lucian Ercolani was a wartime bomber pilot decorated three times for gallantry in operations over Europe and in the Far East; he was later chairman of the family furniture company Ercol. On the night of November 7/8 1941, Ercolani took off in his Wellington of No 214 Squadron…
…for NAVAL FIGHTER OPERATIONS, firstly with catapult HURRICANE CAMSHIPS, CONVOY ESCORT and on long range NIGHT INTRUSION and Night Fighting Radar development with the FIGHTER INTERCEPTION UNIT. As well as joining the BRITISH AIR COMMISSION on US Naval testing before attending the Empire Test Pilots’ School and later his 1956…