[2] The captain, Flight Sergeant J.Y. Lee, and crew member, Sergeant H.L. Pike, were taken prisoner, while Sergeant A.F. Gunnell escaped back to England. Killed were Flight Sergeant K.S. Bell RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force), Sergeant L.H. Jones, Sergeant A.M. Wilkinson RCAF and Sergeant G. Johnson. All are buried in Weert (Tungelroij) Roman Catholic Churchyard. Source: http://www.lostbombers.co.uk/bomber.php ?id=3470
Chapter 11: Coping With Loss
[1] Reported in the Auckland Star, Thursday April 7 1949, Vol.LXXX – No. 82, p.1
[2]Cited in Max Hastings, Bomber Command, Michael Joseph, London (2nd edition), p.336. Hastings derives these figures from John Milward, The German Economy at War, London University, 1965, p.188. The 13,000 Luftwaffe aircrew killed from June to October 1944 compared with 31,000 from January 1941 to June 1944.
Chapter 12: Aboard the ‘Flying Coffin’
[1] Harris wrote this description of the Lancaster in a letter to Sir Roy Dobson of A.V. Roe &Co. (Avro), quoted on p.50 of Max Arthur, Dambusters: A Landmark Oral History, Virgin, London, 2008.
[2] The lower survival rate of crew in stricken Lancasters compared with those in Halifax or Stirling bombers was the subject of wartime research, quoted in Middlebrook and Everitt, The Bomber Command War Diaries, p.807. This concluded that one in six crewmen survived the shooting down of a Lancaster, compared with one in four for the other two. Figures cited by one New Zealand former Lancaster pilot, Douglas Hawker DFC, claim an even greater disparity, putting successful escapes by parachute at three times higher from Halifax bombers than from Lancasters. See Douglas Hawker, With Luck to Spare, Compaid Graphics, Preston, 2004, p.116. www.compaidgraphics.co.uk
[3] Martin Middlebrook, The Berlin Raids: RAF Bomber Command Winter 1943–44, Viking, London, pp.269–70.
[4] Ibid. pp.378–9. Middlebrook cites figures showing 460 Squadron lost two more aircraft, but six fewer men.
[5] Douglas Hawker describes seeing several bombers shot down by schräge Musik and assumed the danger was well known among fellow bomber pilots, so was astounded when the RAF expressed surprise, on capturing Luftwaffe airfields after the Allied invasion in 1944, to find night fighters equipped with these upward-firing guns.
[6] Middlebrook and Everitt, The Bomber Command War Diaries, pp.272, 472.
[7] Ibid., p.708. These authors cite information provided by the Air Historical Branch of the RAF and Appendix 41 of the British Official History, Vol.I V, pp.440–4.
[8] The figure of 1850 New Zealanders killed serving with Bomber Command is the result of exhaustive research by Errol Martyn for his three-volume For Your Tomorrow. It is higher than the total of 1679 dead cited by Middlebrook and Everitt, p.711, because it also includes New Zealanders recorded as RAF rather than RNZAF Bomber Command aircrew.
[9] Source: New Zealand History Online, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage, http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/in-the-trenches-western-front
[10] At an overall loss rate of 3.3 per cent, an airman might be among three in 100 not to return from a single raid. Exposing himself to that risk 30 times during a tour meant that being shot down was a statistical certainty.
Chapter 13: The Last Night
[1] Paul Zorner, Nächte im Bomberstrom: Erinnerungen 1920–1950, NeunundzwanzigSechs Verlag, Moosburg, 2007, pp.235–6. Self-translation, republished with permission.
[2] Memorandum 1251/566/P2 from RNZAF Headquarters, The Strand, London, to Air Department Wellington, 25 September 1947.
[3] Memorandum from Flying Officer C.F. Dugdale, Investigating Officer: Investigation Report from Berlin Detachment, MREU, RAF Germany to Air Ministry London, 18 October 1947. Dugdale took part in the exhumation at Marihn on 30 September 1947.
[4] Col’s Mention in Dispatches 294, dated 14 January 1944, was for bravery during the raid on Hamburg on 24 July 1943, when he dropped an 8000-pound bomb. He did not tell any of his family he had returned to operations to fly on this raid and I could find no written detail of it other than in his logbook and personal service record. The National Archives in the United Kingdom wrote in 2008 that the actual citation no longer existed. Jones’s second Mention in Dispatches was posthumous: No. 2645 dated 8 June 1944.
SOURCES
Much has been produced about Bomber Command and the Luftwaffe, including many works I have accessed as part of my research. Though other works are mentioned in the notes section, the following are those readily available books, tapes and websites that I found particularly valuable and which I would recommend to others interested in the events, the motivations, the way people felt at the time and the impact on the lives of those who survived. For this reason I comment on why I found them so useful.
Works in English
Air Ministry (UK), Pilot’s and Flight Engineer’s Notes: Stirling I, III, IV &V (3rd edition), AP1660A, January 1944.
____ Pilot’s and Flight Engineer’s Notes: Lancaster Mks I, II, VII, X (3rd edition), AP2062A, C,F &H-PN, May 1944.
Technical manuals for Stirling and Lancaster that provide extensive ‘anatomical’ drawings of these aircraft, descriptions of the various crewmen’s stations and detailed instructions on procedures for both normal flight and emergencies.
Arthur, Max, Dambusters: A Landmark Oral History, Virgin, London, 2008. Though focusing on a celebrated single operation, this book is a model of oral history that also says much about life in Bomber Command more generally.
Boiten, Theo E.W., Nachtjagd War Diaries: An Operational History of the German Night Fighter Force in the West, Vol.1: Sept 1939-March 1944, Red Kite, Surrey, 2008.
Chorley, W.R., Bomber Command Losses, Midlands Counties Publications, 1992–8.
In six volumes, one each for 1939–40 and each subsequent year, Chorley lists the names of crew members on each of the lost aircraft listed.
Falconer, Jonathan, Stirlingin Combat, Sutton edition, Gloucestershire, 2006. A thorough account of the development of this aircraft, from its arrival as the RAF’s first four-engined ‘heavy’ in 1941 to its relegation to transport duties later in the war.
A rigorous and well-paced account of the action and politics around Bomber Command’s contribution to winning the war.Hinchliffe, Peter, The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command, Airlife, Shrewsbury, (2nd edition), 1997.
A detailed study, with excellent technical explanations, of the men and their machines on both sides of the night war over Germany.
Johnston, John and Carter, Nick, Strong by Night: Histories and Memories of No.149 (East India) Squadron Royal Air Force 1918/19–1937/56, Air-Britain, Wiltshire, 2002.
A history of the squadron on which Col flew his first tour of operations, in 1942.
Lambert, Max, Night After Night: New Zealanders in Bomber Command, HarperCollins, Auckland, 2005.
The most thorough operational account yet of New Zealanders in Bomber Command, rich in anecdote as well as factual context. This first edition includes an index of names.
Martyn, Errol, For Your Tomorrow: a record of New Zealanders who have died while serving with the RNZAF and Allied Air Services since 1915, Volplane, Christchurch, 1998–99.
In three volumes Martyn profiles every New Zealand airman who died on active service during more than eight decades of last century, most during the Second World War. A meticulous record of the men who left these shores to fight in the air but never returned.
Middlebrook, Martin and Everitt, Chris, The Bomber Command War Diaries: An Operational Reference Book, 1939–1945, Viking, London, 1985.
An exhaustively researched volume that claims to catalogue chronologically every operation by Bomber Command during the war, including numbers involved and losses suffered by Bomber Command and often also casualties on the ground. An essential reference book for researchers of this subject.
Middlebrook, Martin, The Battle of Hamburg: The Firestorm Raid, first published by Allen Lane, London, 1980.
Detailed description from both sides of Operation Gomorrah, the destructi
on of Hamburg in July–August 1943.
____ The Berlin Raids: RAF Bomber Command: Winter 1943–44, Viking, London, 1988.
Similar to his book on the Hamburg raids.
Neillands, Robin, The Bomber War: The Allied Air Offensive Against Nazi Germany, Overlook, New York, 2001.
A well-balanced account of RAF and USAAF bombing offensive and the German response.
Taylor, James and Davidson, Martin, Bomber Crew, Hodder &Stoughton, London, 2004.
Produced from a BBC series of the same name, this book describes life and death in Bomber Command through the personal stories of airmen.
Taylor, Eric, Operation Millennium: ‘Bomber’ Harris’s Raid on Cologne, May 1942, Spellmount Staplehurst, 2004 (2nd edition.)
A thorough account of the first thousand-bomber raid of the war, carefully researched and with an immediacy provided by eye-witness accounts.
Works in German
Friedrich, Jörg, Der Brand: Deutschland im Bomberkrieg 1940–1945, RM Buch und Medien, Munich 2002.
A seminal German book on the Allied bombing of the Third Reich, rich in detail and staggering in its account of the suffering on both sides.
Volker Hage, Zeugen der Zerstörung: Die Literaten und der Luftkrieg: Essays und Gespräche, S.Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, 2003.
Reflective, first-hand accounts by German writers and artists who experienced the bombing, interviewed by the arts editor of the weekly news magazine, Der Spiegel.
Zorner, Paul, Nächte im Bomberstrom: Erinnerungen 1920–1950, NeunundzwanzigSechs Verlag, Moosburg, 2007.
A detailed and sobering account by one of Germany’s most successful night fighter pilots of his time in the air and his subsequent years as prisoner in a Soviet labour camp.
Leiwig, Heinz, Deutschland Stunde Null: Historische Luftaufnahmen 1945, Motorbuch Verlag, special edition, 2005.
A volume of US and RAF aerial photographs taken mostly at the war’s end, cataloguing the destruction of German cities by Allied bombing. Though the text and captions are in German, the photographs make the most powerful statement about the effects of the bombing.
Archives
New Zealand Defence Force, Trentham, holds personnel records of servicemen and women. Col’s file contained a wealth of information not known to our family until then. Write to Enquiries, Personnel Archives Enquiries Unit, New Zealand Defence Force, Private Bag 905, Upper Hutt, or email: [email protected]
Royal Air Force
The Air Historical Branch, Bentley Priory, helped with details of what happened to crew members mentioned in Col Jones’s diary and correspondence.
Officers’ Disclosures, Room 5, Building 248a, RAF Innsworth, Gloucester GL3 1EZ, provided details of Col Jones’s service record, though this was far less extensive than the records I obtained from the New Zealand Defence Force (above). Information on non-commissioned airmen and women is held also held at RAF Innsworth, by writing instead to ‘Airmen’s Disclosures’.
The National Archives (TNA), based at Kew, London, is the central archive of RAF operational records and is therefore a must for serious research into the RAF. TNA responded slowly to my queries and I was able to glean information only via its website.
Email: [email protected]
RAF Museum Hendon, London.EM
Websites
www.cwgc.org.uk
Details of service personnel who died on active service and descriptions and locations of Commonwealth War Cemeteries around the world.
www.lostbombers.co.uk
Gives the history of bombers lost on operations, including their previous operations and names of crew on board at the time they were destroyed.
www.luftarchiv.info
Useful information and bulletin board in German and English.
www.luftwaffe.cz
Profiles of prominent Luftwaffe fighters, including times and locations of shootings-down attributed to them.
www.luftwaffe-experten.org/forums/
Message board in English on air war, particularly Luftwaffe.
www.michael-reimer.com/CFS2/CFSU_Aircraft_Profiles.html
Useful for its extensive aircraft illustrations and information on Nachtjagd squadrons and their stations. Also information on USAAF and French and Russian air forces.
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/ww2aircombat.asp
Contains original, scanned documents of combat reports filed by airmen on returning from operations.
www.rafcommands.com
Provides details of the activities and locations of individual squadrons.
APPENDIX ONE
FRANK COLWYN JONES: KEY DATES IN LIFE AND SERVICE 21-Apr-08 Born in Auckland to Frank and Emma Jones
1915–21 Northcote Primary School, Auckland
1922–6 Auckland Grammar School
1927–35 Auckland University College, University of New Zealand
1930: Diploma in Journalism
1932: Graduates Bachelor of Arts in History
1936: Graduates Master of Arts (Hons) in History
1929 Reporter (temporary job) on New Zealand Herald, Auckland
1929 Employed as cadet on Auckland Star
1937–40 Follows the building of six Maori war canoes (waka)
Jun-39 Joins New Zealand Army as a Territorial (intelligence) with 1st Brigade, Auckland Regiment
Dec-39 Applies to RNZAF
Sep-40 Enters RNZAF Initial Training Wing, Levin
5-Nov-40 Departs Auckland for Canada aboard USSC vessel Awatea
24-Nov-40 Arrives at Vancouver, British Columbia
Dec 1940–Feb 1941 No. 4 Air Observers’ School, bombing and gunnery, Fingal, Ontario
Feb–Mar 1941 No. 4 Air Observers’ School, London, Ontario
Mar-41 Awarded flying badge, promoted sergeant
Mar 1941–Apr 1941 Air Navigation School, Rivers, Manitoba
May-41 Departs Halifax Novia Scotia in Atlantic convoy
Jun-41 Arrives Scotland
Posted to 20 Operational Training Unit, Lossiemouth
Oct-41 Posted to 149 Squadron, Mildenhall, Suffolk
1-Oct-41 Promoted flight sergeant
14-Jan-42 First operation against the enemy
Feb-42 149 Squadron transferred to Lakenheath, Suffolk
4-Jun-42 Promoted pilot officer
27-Oct-42 Awarded Distinguished Flying Cross
7-Nov-42 Final (33rd) op with 149 Squadron
4-Dec-42 Promoted flying officer
Dec-42 Posted to No. 1651 Conversion Unit, Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire as squadron bombing leader
14-Dec-42 Promoted acting flight lieutenant
9-Feb-43 Receives DFC from King George VI at Buckingham Palace
Jun-43 Posted to 115 Squadron, East Wretham, Norfolk, as navigation officer
24-5 July 1943 Bomb aimer on 115 Squadron Lancaster in first Gomorrah raid against Hamburg
Aug-43 Moves with 115 Squadron, still as navigation officer, to Little Snoring, Norfolk
4-Jan-44 Mentioned in Dispatches
29-Jan-44 Posted to 7 Pathfinder Squadron, Oakington, Cambridgeshire
15-Feb-44 Missing on operations to Berlin
8-Jun-44 Posthumous Mention in Dispatches
Table I
LIST OF OPERATIONS FLOWN BY FRANK COLWYN JONES DFC
Table I: *mine-laying op
WHAT BECAME OF THEM?
Col Jones’s diary and letters mention many friends and colleagues he came to know between enlisting in 1940 and his death in 1944. What follows is what I have been able to find out about what happened to some of them. Unless otherwise stated, it is assumed they are British. As most of them did not survive the war, they are listed by date of death.
Peter Jarrett, Sergeant, an early room-mate of Col’s, Jarrett died on 13 or 14 October 1941 when his 115 Squadron Wellington bomber was lost on a raid to Munich. He is buried in the Dürnbach War Cemetery, south of Munich. After Jarrett’s death, Col became very friendly with his sister,
Cecily.
Ian Gordon Harrowby, 21, Flight Sergeant, navigator, Aucklander and friend of Col Jones since training in Levin and Canada. Killed on 7 November 1941 with all his crew when their Wellington bomber crashed near Assen, Holland, for reasons unknown. All are buried at Beilen General Cemetery, Drenthe, Netherlands.
Peter John Paine, 24, Flight Sergeant, pilot, one of Col’s early room-mates and a friend who invited him to spend leave with him in Kent. After Paine died in the wreckage of his Wellington bomber on 26 March 1942, Col stayed in touch with his mother and wife, Ruth, both of whom wrote to Col’s mother after his death. Paine is buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany.
Keith Roderick, 21, Sergeant, rear gunner, killed when his rear turret was sheared off by a German night fighter plunging out of control – part of the dramatic chain of events that led to Col’s Stirling crash-landing in the English Channel on 6 June 1942, as described in Chapter 2. Roderick’s body was washed ashore on the French coast and is buried in the Parish Cemetery at Riykeyorsel, near Antwerp, Belgium.
William George ‘Crasher’ Barnes DFC, 29, Flight Lieutenant, second pilot, killed when his 149 Squadron Stirling was shot down by a night fighter on 29 June 1942 and crashed near the northern coast of Holland. He is buried in Wonseradeel (Makkum) Protestant Churchyard, Ijsselmeer.
Cecil Charlton-Jones, 28, Wing Commander, pilot, who flew down to Kent to take Col and his crew back to Lakenheath after they had been rescued from the English Channel on 6 June 1942. The Stirling piloted by Charlton-Jones was shot down by a night fighter on 28 August 1942, north of Mannheim. He is buried in Dürnbach War Cemetery, south of Munich.
William Roy ‘Al’ Greenslade DFC, AFC, Squadron Leader, a Canadian, one of Col Jones’s regular pilots, with whom he had narrowly escaped death over Hamburg in July 1942, as described in Chapter 8. Greenslade’s 149 Squadron Stirling was shot down by a night fighter over Holland, near the border with Germany, on 2 October 1942. Col was close friends with all of this, his second regular crew: F.L. ‘Bill’ Hughes, 21, Sergeant, wireless operator; W. Frederick Leonard ‘Bill’ Orange, Flight Sergeant, air gunner; Earnest Les Moore, 21, Sergeant, wireless operator/air gunner; Marshal Kenneth Smith, 21, Sergeant, flight engineer; R.F. McIntyre, Sergeant, observer; Benjamin Frederick Goldsmith, 22, Flight Sergeant, air gunner. All are buried at Jonkerbos Cemetery, near Nijmegen, Netherlands.
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