1 Group

by Patrick Otter

  Three 103 Squadron Lancasters were lost from Elsham, the casualties including one of the oldest men to die on the raid, 32-year-old S/Ldr Jock Swanston, and one of the youngest, 20-year-old P/O John Holden. A Lancaster from 576 Squadron was badly damaged and just made it home, the rear gunner, Sgt Alf Hodson, being killed in a night fighter attack. 550 Squadron lost a single aircraft, flown by F/Lt Arthur Grain DFM, who was on his second tour. Flying with him that night was an Army officer, Major Sydney Whipp of the 7th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, one of the few soldiers to be killed on bomber operations.

  Once again 100 Squadron’s luck held, with all its aircraft making it back to Waltham, although three arrived back with varying degrees of damage. Waltham was still a lucky place to serve, and it was only going to get luckier as the year progressed.

  There were many recriminations when the survivors returned. At Kirmington the senior officer who had promised the operation would be ‘a piece of cake’ came in for particular attention while there was much criticism elsewhere at the communications failure and the hesitation shown by those in charge of the raid in keeping the bombers orbiting as the fighters got amongst them. One man who flew from Kelstern that night told the author: ‘Mailly was a gigantic cock-up. If only we had been allowed to have gone in and bombed straight away many of those lads lost that night would have returned. As it was, I thank God we saw what was happening and decided to stay clear of those target indicators around which everyone was orbiting.’

  The squadrons were given a couple of day’s rest before operations were on again, this time 52 1 Group aircraft destroying an ammunition dump at Aubigne. Just one aircraft, from 576 Squadron at Elsham, was lost but it was to cause much consternation amongst those planning the D-Day operation for, flying as second pilot, was Elsham’s base commander, Air Commodore Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman, who had flown as an observer and as a bomber pilot in the First World War. He had arrived at Elsham six months earlier from a staff job in Whitehall where he was closely involved in planning Operation Neptune, the airborne element of the coming invasion. He was flying with F/Lt James Shearer’s crew when they were attacked by a night fighter and managed to bail out along with the bomb aimer, Sgt Joe Ford, one of four Australians in the crew. They were on the run for several days before they became separated and it was after that when A/Cmdr Ivelaw-Chapman was captured.

  When news of the loss of his aircraft reached SHEAF headquarters and the Air Ministry there was alarm and some anger that an officer of his seniority and with his involvement in ‘Neptune’ was flying at all (the air commodore was later to stress that his flight had been authorised, even though he was listed as ‘additional aircrew’). Crews of all squadrons involved were questioned and they reported seeing at least two men bail out of the 576 Squadron aircraft. Then news came through from a Resistance group that A/Cmdr Ivelaw-Chapman had landed safely and was in their hands, although it was feared that a German agent had infiltrated that particular group. SOE was ordered to make every effort to get him back to England and a Lysander aircraft was scheduled to pick him up on the night of June 8th but hours before the Gestapo raided the house he was hiding in. He was later to relate that all they appeared interested in was how he had come by his French identity papers and the strength of Bomber Command. Never once did they ask the highest ranking RAF officer to fall into their hands about any involvement he might have had in the invasion planning.

  Aubigne was one of a series of tactical targets hit by 1 Group during the month. Another, an attack on rail yards at Hasselt, was to prove costly, five aircraft being lost in a raid hampered by mist which covered the target. One of them was being flown by 103 Squadron’s South African CO, W/Cmdr Hubert Goodman, the second senior officer to be lost from Elsham during May. Flying with the squadron CO was the crew of S/Ldr Vincent Van Rolleghem, a much-decorated Belgian pilot who had been taken to hospital suffering from a duodenal ulcer just before the operation. He was on his second tour with the squadron and in August 1943 the whole station was assembled to watch him being decorated with a DSO, DFC and Belgian Croix de Guerre by the AOC of 1 Group, AVM Rice. There were no survivors from either of the 103 Squadron aircraft. A replacement CO, W/Cmdr J. R. St John, a New Zealander who had flown a tour of operations on Stirlings, arrived at Elsham within a matter of days.

  German targets were also hit later in the months and 1 Group was to lose another 12 Lancasters over Dortmund and the same number in an attack on Duisburg. 100 Squadron’s good fortune ran out over Duisburg when two aircraft were lost, with just one man surviving. 550 Squadron was hit hardest on that raid, losing three Lancasters and the lives of 21 men, all to night fighters. 100 Squadron was to lose another two in the Dortmund attack while one of two lost from 103 Squadron was flown by F/Lt Godfrey Morrison, who had recently been awarded a DSO. 300 Squadron also lost a Lancaster that night when it crashed in the Ruhr Valley. A second, carrying a crew of eight, turned back with engine trouble but, as it tried to land at Faldingworth, the aircraft struck the gunnery butts, killing two of the crew and injuring the remainder, one of whom died later in hospital. Another casualty that night was a Lancaster from 626 Squadron which crashed in Belgium, killing six of the crew. The only survivor was the Canadian bomb-aimer Sgt Ken McCoy. He managed to escape capture and made it back to Lincolnshire where he was posted to 153 Squadron at Scampton where he was to be killed in March 1945 on a mining operation in a largely Canadian crew.

  A wonderful shot of 576 Squadron’s dispersals in the spring of 1944. The unnamed flight engineer was part of F/Lt Woods’ crew. The aircraft in the background is ED888, Elsham’s record-breaking Lancaster. (Elsham Wolds Association)

  Before May ended 1 Group mounted an inconclusive attack on railway yards at Aachen, going back again two nights later to finish the task. The two attacks cost the Group 14 aircraft, including three from 166 Squadron. One man who made it back to Kirmington from that raid was C Flight commander S/Ldr ‘Mack’ Mackie. It was the last of his tour with 166 and, remarkably, his 97th of the war. He was regarded by all who served with him as one of the bravest and coolest men who served with the squadron, and also one of the most superstitious. He always insisted that he fly an aircraft lettered M-Mike, the 13th letter of the alphabet. After leaving Kirmington he and his navigator, P/O Jack Stent, joined 139 Squadron flying Mosquitoes. Both survived the war.

  As May drew to a close the Lancasters of 1 Group were used exclusively to soften up defences along the French coast and early in June they were to play a key part in supporting the greatest invasion in history. One of the Group’s Lancasters was, in fact, to write itself into Operation Overlord by dropping the bombs which marked the beginning of D-Day.

  Chapter 14

  Learning the Ropes

  Bomber Training in 1 Group

  In the summer of 1944 18 heavy bombers and 43 lives were lost from Sandtoft in North Lincolnshire. Sandtoft’s resident unit was not a bomber squadron, it was 1667 Heavy Conversion Unit, whose task was to train crews in the handling of four-engined aircraft. Training was to prove a dangerous business, almost as dangerous as operational flying, both for the novice crews and their instructors, most of whom had already flown at least one tour.

  1 Group had three heavy conversion units. 1656 was at Lindholme in South Yorkshire, home also to the headquarters of Group training, 1662 was at Blyton while 1667 flew initially from Lindholme, moving to Faldingworth before finally settling at the new airfield at Sandtoft, on the northern edge of what is known as the Isle of Axholme, close to Lincolnshire’s border with South Yorkshire.

  Bomber crews’ initial training was on operational training units – OTUs – where the nucleus of future bomber crews formed and did their initial training mainly on twin-engined Wellingtons. Before the advent of the heavies, there was a natural progression to squadrons and operational flying. But once the Stirlings, Halifaxes and Lancasters began to enter service there was a need for conversion training, to learn the intricacies of four-engined flying
. Additional crew members were needed – in the case of a Lancaster, a flight engineer, whose job was vital in support of his pilot, and a mid-upper gunner.

  In the early days, squadrons had their own conversion flights but it quickly became clear that this was a wholly inadequate system and something new was needed, hence the introductions of HCUs.

  By the spring of 1942 plans were already under way for the conversion of 1 Group’s squadrons from Wellingtons to Halifaxes, which were already going into service in Yorkshire with 4 Group. The first squadron scheduled to get the new aircraft was 103 at Elsham, with two others pencilled in for Halifaxes, the newly-formed 460 RAAF at Breighton and 101, which had just moved to Holme-on-Spalding Moor from Stradishall after being transferred from 3 Group.

  A Halifax II of the type used extensively for the training of 1 Group crews. This particular picture shows an aircraft of 1658 HCU of 4 Group in which the pilot, S/Ldr Dobson, is demonstrating single-engined flying. (Sir Guy Lawrence via Peter Green)

  The first conversion flight was 103, formed at Elsham under the command of S/Ldr David Holford, on May 3, 1942, although another month was to elapse before the first aircraft arrived. They were Halifax Mk IIs, already operational north of the Humber and an aircraft which was to earn itself an awful reputation, along with its sister, the Mk V. It wasn’t until major modifications to the rudder and introduction of new and more powerful engines in the guise of the Mk III that the Halifax became the outstanding aircraft Bomber Command had hoped for.

  460’s conversion flight was formed at Breighton later in May and moved to Holme-on-Spalding Moor for a short period before returning to Breighton. 101’s conversion flight was at Oakington in Cambridgeshire one of the squadron’s former operational bases, but the impracticalities of this meant that most of its crews received their training either with 460 or with 5 Group’s 1654 HCU (which operated Stirlings) at Wigsley, near Newark.

  It was a hotch-potch system and it didn’t last long. At Breighton there was friction between 460 and 101 Squadron crews about the amount of flying time allocated on the new aircraft and it quickly became evident that specialist units were needed for what was a complex and vitally-important step on the training ladder. On October 10, 1942 1 Group’s first heavy conversion unit, 1656, was officially formed at Lindholme, with 103’s conversion flight forming its A Flight and 460’s B Flight. By the end of the month both had moved to Lindholme. 1 Group’s second conversion unit, 1662, came into being at Blyton in January 1943 with the third, 1667, in July. Initially, 1667 operated from Lindholme but a detachment moved to the almost-completed airfield at Faldingworth, just off the Market Rasen-Lincoln road, in August followed by the remainder in October when the airfield was finally able to accommodate the headquarters staff. 1667’s final move was to Sandtoft in February 1944 with Faldingworth being allocated to the Poles of 300 Squadron.

  Control of all Bomber Command’s heavy conversion units was passed to the newly formed 7 Group in November 1944, although it was to be something of a paper exercise, each HCU remaining in position and continuing to supply its former parent group with trained crews. 7 Group itself was reformed under the command of AVM George Hodson, a World War One fighter ace with 10 German aircraft to his credit. He was to be replaced early in 1945 by 1 Group’s old air officer commanding, AVM Rice.

  As we have already seen, 1 Group was initially earmarked to operate Halifaxes. But the awful problems with handling and lack of performance experienced by 4 Group squadrons coupled with the successful introduction of Lancasters into neighbouring 5 Group brought about a speedy change of heart at Bomber Command HQ. The first Halifaxes which were in squadron service with 103 were quickly withdrawn (two of these machines were, incidentally, used as test-beds for the development of the Halifax Mk III) and Lancasters began to arrive. With 3 Group also being re-equipped with the Avro bomber, Lancasters were in demand and production could clearly not cope with the re-equipment programme, the growing attrition rated and the demands of training units, so conversion units had to soldier on with their Halifax IIs and Vs.

  Bomber Command’s answer to this conundrum was the creation of Lancaster Finishing Schools, units where crews received an intensive two-week introduction to flying the Lancaster. 1 Group’s LFS was formed at Lindholme in November 1943, by which time a few Lancasters, mainly battle-weary machines from operational squadrons which came via the repair shops of maintenance units, were already in HCU service. A Flight was formed at Lindholme, B at Blyton and C at Faldingworth, each from the Lancaster elements of the three conversion units. In January all three flights plus the headquarters staff transferred to Hemswell, where work had just finished on laying hardened runways. From there 1 LFS operated until it was finally disbanded in November 1944 by which time Lancasters were in plentiful supply and all three HCUs were equipped with them, making redundant the job of the finishing school.

  The Lancaster Finishing School at Hemswell was to have an almost exemplary safety record in the 10 months it operated from there, unlike its heavy conversion unit cousins. A single Lancaster was lost in a flying accident during that time but it was to prove to be a very costly one for Bomber Command with the loss of one of its brightest young officers as well as the life of a young woman serving with the Air Transport Auxiliary, the ferry pilots who delivered new and refurbished aircraft to front-line RAF units.

  On April 8 1944 a veteran Lancaster, R5672, which had been delivered to 97 Squadron almost two years earlier and in the ensuing period had recorded some 695 hours’ flying with the squadron and with 1656 HCU, arrived at Hemswell. It had been completely overhauled and was delivered by 2nd Officer Taniya Whittall, of the ATA. It was customary for new aircraft to be tested following their arrival and, later in the day, R5672 took off from Hemswell. At the controls was 1 LFS’s commanding officer, 23-year-old W/Cmdr Frank Campling, who had won a DFC with 100 Squadron and a DSO after completing his second tour of operations with 460 Squadron at Binbrook. Also on board was Miss Whittall, who had learned to fly at Redhill Flying Club back in May, 1939 and was by now an experienced ATA delivery pilot, along with seven of the ground crew at Hemswell, Sgt Lance Regan (20), LAC Ron Freer (22), AC1s Tom King, Harold Quinton (34), Fred Spiller (19) and Ted Stevenson (20) and 20-year-old AC2 George Killick. Some time later the Lancaster dived into the ground near Caistor, 15 miles from Hemswell, exploding on impact. There were no survivors. Taniya Whittall became one of a handful of women ATA wartime casualties and the only one to die in a Lancaster.

  The casualty figures for heavy conversion units were extraordinary. 1656, 1662 and 1667 between them lost 127 aircraft in accidents and with them the lives of at least 360 men, with many more being injured. Accidents on take-off and landing were common, particularly with Halifaxes as both the Mk II and Mk V had a tendency to swing viciously in the wrong hands. Inexperience was a contributory factor to these figures but so was the inadequacy of the aircraft inexperienced crews were expected to train on. Most of the aircraft had seen extensive operational service and engine problems and structural failures were almost commonplace. Ground crews worked incredibly hard to keep these machines flying but their skills alone were not enough to offset the inherent problems with the Halifaxes.

  It was those problems which were to the lead to the first, and most costly, of all the ghastly accidents which were to dog 1 Group’s heavy bomber training units. On August 1, 1942 a Halifax II left Elsham for a routine training flight. At the controls was 19-year-old Welshman Sgt Bill Bagley and on board were another 11 men, 10 of them sergeants and a single officer, P/O Alex Simons. All seemed to go well until the aircraft was on its final approach. The port outer then failed, the Halifax stalled and spun into the ground from 400ft. There were no survivors.

  The Avro Manchester was used in small numbers for training purposes in late 1942 and early 1943 by 1 Group. (Author’s collection)

  One of the men at Elsham at the time was wireless fitter Ivor Burgess who was to witness at least three fatal crashes on
or around the airfield during his time there. ‘The Halifaxes we had at Elsham were horrible,’ he later recalled. ‘There was a problem when you applied a certain degree of bank, the tail surfaces were blanketed and the tail went up and down went the Halifax. Some of the aircraft supplied to heavy conversion units were disgraceful. They had been shot up, patched up and were mostly clapped out and no one should have been allowed to fly in them.’

  A number of experienced pilots had been attached to the conversion flights to act as instructors but even they were not immune to the problems of the Halifax II. On September 22 F/O John Purcivall took off from Breighton with three 460 men on board. Purcivall, a 30-year-old New Zealander who had flown 32 operations with 103 before volunteering to become a Halifax instructor, was demonstrating a rudder stall, always a dangerous manoeuvre on the Halifax II, when the aircraft prematurely stalled, spun and crashed near Tadcaster, killing all those on board. Two hours later, W/O Reg Fulbrook DFC, who had served alongside Purcivall at Elsham, was killed when the 103 Conversion Flight aircraft he was flying, stalled and dived into the ground near the airfield, killing all five on board. Fulbrook had been one of the men specially picked to lead the intensive Halifax training programme for crews at Elsham.