A Special Duty
Page 18
x. Robert E. Moyers: OSS dentist with the Greek resistance, Jonathan D Clemente MD, OSS Society Journal
xi. Illyrian Venture, Brigadier ‘Trotsky’ Davies, Bodley Head, 1952, page 97.
xii. When Men and Mountains Meet, H.W. Tilman, D.S.O, M.C., Cambridge University Press 1946
xiii. 148 Squadron RAF reports 43-45 (medical reports), AIR49/996.
xiv. Signal MONKEYWRENCH to Cairo, 10th October 1943, WO202/331.
xv. Signal MONKEYWRENCH to Cairo, 1st March 1944, WO202/331
xvi. Signal Cairo to MONKEYWRENCH, 9th November 1943, WO202/331.
xvii. Illyrian Adventure, Brigadier ‘Trotsky’ Davies, Bodley Head, 1952, page 89.
xviii. 148 Squadron RAF reports 43-45 (medical reports), AIR49/996.
xix. My Grandad’s Story, Walter Davis and Sharon Black, unpublished personal document.
xx. 148 Squadron RAF reports 43-45 (medical reports), AIR49/996.
xxi. Stradling family archive.
xxii. Illyrian Adventure, Brigadier Trotsky Davies, Bodley Head, 1952.
xxiii. Major J. Field, report, 1943, TNA HS 5/124, taken from The Wildest Province, Roderick Bailey, 2009, pages 195-196.
xxiv. Stradling family archive.
Special Note:
Unless otherwise stated, all flight and crew information was sourced from:
148 Operations Record Book, December 1943, AIR27/995.
148 Sortie Reports, December 1943 (RAF form 441A), AIR23/1443.
Additional information on operations and Squadron activities from:
148 Operations Record Book Summary, December 1943, AIR27/995.
Information on lost aircraft and crews either sourced or confirmed with the help of:
Harrington Aviation Museum Society. Listing of Allied aircraft Lost on Special Duty Operations. www.harringtonmuseum.org.uk.
Chapter 3
i. Personal correspondence from Adriano Silva Baumgartner to author.
ii. Flights of the Forgotten, Ken Merrick, 1989 Arms & Armour, page 178.
iii. Through Hitler’s Back Door, Alan Ogden, 2010, page 141.
iv. ORB 624 Squadron, January 1944, AIR27/2142.
v. Through Hitler’s Back Door, Alan Ogden, 2010, page 47.
vi. Personal communication Terry Maker, Dark of the Moon website to author.
vii. Missing Believe Killed, Article by Terry Maker, Dark of the Moon website.
viii. Information taken from Aircrew Remembered website, compiled by Terry Maker.
ix. Reminiscence of Jack Pogson, via Dark of the Moon Website (Terry Maker).
x. AIR27/999 F540, Appendixes E-I.
xi. Eastern Approaches, Fitzroy Maclean, Penguin Books, 1991, page 413, and personal recollection of Jim Rosebottom, website: www.624squadron.
xii. Telegram IN Rowena to Cairo 23/1 & 12/2, WO202/399.
xiii. Eastern Approaches, Fitzroy Maclean, Penguin Books, 1991, page 432.
xiv. Partisan Picture, Basil Davidson, Bedford Books 1946, page 196.
xv. From the diary of Captain John Hibberdine, taken from The Wildest Province, Roderick Bailey, Vintage 2009, page 183.
xvi. Ostatni Lot Halifaxa, Stanislaw M. Jankowski & Jerzy Piekarczyk, Oficyna Cracovia, 1997.
xvii. RAAF Fatalities in WWII among Personnel serving in RAF Squadrons and Support Units (Alan Storr) website www.awm.gov.au.
xviii. Appendix E to Report by Lt. Col. T.N.S. Wheeler, June 1944, HS5/127, and, The Wildest Province, Roderick Bailey, Vintage Books, 2009, reproduced by permission of The Random House Group Limited, page 231.
xix. Interview with E. Elkington-Smith conducted by James Oliver for Paul Lashmar, February 1996.
xx. Stradling family archive.
Special Note:
Unless otherwise stated, all flight and crew information was sourced from:
148 Operations Record Book, January & February 1944, AIR27/996.
148 Sortie Reports (RAF Form 441A), AIR23/1443.
Additional information on operations and Squadron activities from:
148 Operations Record Book Summary, January & February 1944, AIR27/996.
Information on lost aircraft and crews either sourced or confirmed with the help of:
Harrington Aviation Museum Society. Listing of Allied aircraft lost on Special Duty Operations. www.harringtonmuseum.org.uk.
Chapter 4
i. WO202/400 Savanna telegrams, February 1943.
ii. HS5/692 Appendix G to final report 6 Dec 44
iii. My Grandad’s Story, Walter Davis and Sharon Black 2007, personal recollections.
iv. Personal correspondence fromAlan Ogden to author, 30th August 2012
v. Report on Experience, John Mulgan, Frontline Books 2010, page 126.
vi. Report on Italian Operations, 9th March 1944, AIR27/999.
vii. Interview with Eddie Elkington-Smith 1996 by James A. Oliver for Paul Lashmar.
viii. The Central Blue, Air Marshal Sir John Slessor, Cassell & Company, 1956.
ix. Don Kaiser, www.warwingsart.com/12thAirForce/Vesuvius.html
x. Recorded account by Charles Keen, 2003.
xi. Partisan Picture, Basil Davidson, Bedford Books, 1946, page 186.
xii. Partisan Picture, Basil Davidson, Bedford Books, 1946, page 191.
xiii. Cipher message 11th March 1944, SAVANNA to Cairo, WO 202/400.
xiv. Written account of Eddie Elkington-Smith (date unknown), and recorded account by Charles Keen, 2003.
xv. My Grandad’s Story, Walter Davis and Sharon Black 2007, personal recollections.
xvi. www.operationwildhorn.com
Special Note:
Unless otherwise stated, all flight and crew information was sourced from:
148 Operations Record Book, March & April 1944, AIR27/996.
Additional information on operations and Squadron activities from:
148 Operations Record Book Summary, March & April 1944, AIR27/996.
Chapter 5
i. Poland Alone, Jonathan Walker, The History Press 2008, page 157.
ii. Technical information provided by Larry Toft, personal communication, October 2012.
iii. Poland Alone, Jonathan Walker, The History Press 2008, page 156.
iv. Lotnicze wsparcie Armii Krajowej, Kajetan Bieniecki, 1994.
v. Poland Alone, Jonathan Walker, The History Press 2008, page 157.
vi. Wierchami Karpat, Jerzy Lyzwa, Instytut Wydawniczy, 1964.
vii. Reconstruction of final moments written with help from Larry Toft, Halifax pilot.
viii. Pamietnik Bronislaw Kaminski (personal diary), courtesy of Pawel Cholewa.
ix. Tom Storey debrief to Brigadier Hill, Moscow, 15th June 1944, CAB 66/53/47, TNA.
x. M.I.9 Debrief, Stradling & Hughes (WO208/3320).
xi. For Polish Freedom, A. Nina Mierzwinska-Harper, Partisan Publications 2007.
xii. My Grandad’s Story, Walter Davis and Sharon Spencer 2007, personal recollection.
xiii. Interview with E. Elkington-Smith conducted by James A. Oliver, 8th February 1996.
Special Note:
Unless otherwise stated, all flight and crew information was sourced from:
148 Operations Record Book, April 1944, AIR27/996.
Bari Flight Log, April 1944, HS4/176.
The sequence of events in this chapter were pieced together using a written account by Eddie Elkington-Smith, a personal recollection by Walter Davis, My Grandad’s Story co-written by Sharon Spencer in 2007, an account given by Walter Davis to Jonathan Walker for his book, Poland Alone, and an account of the Halifax crash by Stanislaw M. Jankowski & Jerzy Piekarczyk, Ostatni Lot Halifaxa. Further information came from a personal diary, Pamietnik Bronislaw Kaminski, Nina Harper’s Book, For Polish Freedom. First-hand information from Flight Engineer Charlie Keen in 2003, and lastly, from partisan Bronislaw Smola, interviewed in Tarnogora, April 2013.
Chapter 6
i. Shot Down & on the Run, Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork, TNA, page 212.
ii. Information provided by Bronislaw Smola and Piotr Galdys, April 2013.
iii. Conversation with Charlie Keen, 2003.
iv. Wierchami Karpat, Jerzy Lyzwa, Instytut Wydawniczy, 1964.
v. Wierchami Karpat, Jerzy Lyzwa, Instytut Wydawniczy, 1964.
vi. Wierchami Karpat, Jerzy Lyzwa, Instytut Wydawniczy, 1964.
vii. Tom Storey debrief to Brigadier Hill, Moscow, 15th June 1944, CAB 66/53/47, National Archives.
viii. My Grandad’s Story, Walter Davis and Sharon Spencer, 2007 personal recollection.
ix. O.W. Congdon, liberated POW interrogation questionnaire, WO344/70.
x. E.E. Smith, liberated POW interrogation questionnaire, WO344/101/1.
xi. Written account by Eddie Elkington-Smith (copy given to Rita Storey).
xii. www.merkki.com A collection of stories, photos, art, and information on Stalag Luft 1.
Special Note:
This chapter has been pieced together using the individual crew debriefs and personal accounts by Eddie Elkington-Smith, Walter Davis, and Charles Keen, plus Jerzy Lyzwa’s book, Wierchami Karpat, Jankowski & Piekarczyk’s book, Ostatni Lot Halifaxa, and information from Polish sources during a trip to Poland, April 2013.
Chapter 7
i. Pamietnik “Muchy”, Mikolaj Kunicki, Ksiazka i Wiedza, Warszawa 1971.
ii. Pamietnik “Muchy”, Mikolaj Kunicki, Ksiazka i Wiedza, Warszawa 1971.
iii. Pamietnik “Muchy”, Mikolaj Kunicki, Ksiazka i Wiedza, Warszawa 1971.
iv. Message from Lieutenant General Burrows to Air Commodore Roberts, AIR46/25.
v. Poland Alone, Jonathan Walker, The History Press 2008, page 93.
vi. Translated telegram provided by Paul Lashmar.
vii. Ostatni Lot Halifaxa, Stanislaw Jankowski, Oficyna Cracovia, Krakow 1997.
viii. Personal correspondence to Charles Keen from member of ‘Father John’s’ unit, 1971.
ix. Recorded account by Charles Keen, 2003.
x. Pamietnik “Muchy”, Mikolaj Kunicki, Ksiazka i Wiedza, Warszawa 1971.
xi. Tom Storey debrief to Brigadier Hill, Moscow, CAB 66/53/47, National Archives.
xii. Recorded account by Charles Keen, 2003, and Tom Storey’s debrief to Brigadier Hill, CAB66/53/47.
xiii. Kunicki letter, Zamosc, 7th March 1958, Stradling family archive.
xiv. Written account by Eddie Elkington-Smith, Storey family archive.
xv. Debrief statement by Walter Davis April 1945.
xvi. Information in this paragraph taken from My Grandad’s Story by Walter Davis & Sharon Spencer, 2007.
Special Note:
Ostatni Lot Halifaxa by Stanislaw M. Jankowski & Jerzy Piekarczyk has been a particularly helpful source of information throughout Chapters 5 to 7 and whereas every individual source has not been noted, I could not have pieced together the sequence of events without this particular book.
Chapter 8
i. Pamietnik “Muchy”, Mikolaj Kunicki, Ksiazka I Wiedza, Warszawa 1971.
ii. Letter to Patrick Stradling from Mikolaj Kunicki, March 1958. Stradling collection.
iii. For Polish Freedom, A. Nina Mierzwinska-Harper, Partisan Publications 2007, page 128.
iv. Message from Air Attaché Moscow Mission to Air Ministry London, 13th June 1944, AIR46/25.
v. Message from Lieutenant General Burrows to Air Commodore Roberts, 15th June, 1944, AIR46/25.
vi. Message from Air Commodore Roberts of 30 Military Mission to Air Ministry, 18th June, 1944, AIR46/25.
vii. Final Report by General Burrows of 30 Military Mission, WO 208/1845.
viii. Letter from General Burrows to General Slavin, 15th June 1944, AIR 46/25.
ix. For Polish Freedom, A. Nina Mierzwinska-Harper, Partisan Publications 2007, page 137.
x. For Polish Freedom, A. Nina Mierzwinska-Harper, Partisan Publications 2007, page 138.
xi. Letter from General Burrows to Mikolaj Kunicki, 15th June 1944, AIR 46/25.
xii. Open source on the internet about HMS Matchless
xiii. A.M.O. A.1274- A.1311/1942, provided by Mike Hatch, Air Historical Branch 3 (RAF).
xiv. IS9 Historical Report, www.arcre.com.
xv. My Grandad’s Story, a personal recollection 2007, Walter Davis & Sharon Spencer.
xvi. RAF Escapers, AIR 46/25.
xvii. Appendix 11. Locations of British and American Ex-Prisoners of War. 11th March 1945, AIR 46/25.
xviii. Personal written recollection, Eddie Elkington-Smith.
xix. Letter written by Tom Storey to ‘Ali’, not dated.
Chapter 9
i. TNA WO/373/103, Report on Pte Bloom, 6288542, Alfred James, The Buffs
ii. Letter from Jerzy Lyzwa to Pat Stradling, December 12th 1957.
Special Note:
I have pieced this chapter together with the help of letters from the Stradling family archive, generously shared by Mike Bedford Stradling, and letters from the Storey family archive. I have also taken information from My Grandad’s Story, a personal recollection written by Walter Davis and Sharon Spencer, and from the recollections of Charlie Keen and Eddie Elkington-Smith.
And finally
i. Report on Experience, John Mulgan, Frontline Books, London 2010, page 121-122.
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