Joey Jacobson's War

by Peter J. Usher

  … Here are some possibilities under serious consideration – we want to head East – Palestine and Zionism is one of Monty’s guiding stars – to a lesser extent it is mine also – Monty might be shifted out east – voluntarily of course – in which case I should immediately follow – I am anxious to head that way – I might land out there – voluntarily in which case Monty would follow – the point is we are getting the world tracked down – we aim to follow some of the tracks – like you we refuse to get narrowed down, squashed in and buried – risks don’t matter – the bigger the risks – the bigger the stakes – …

  Japan and America are at war to-day. This is not a political letter so I shall let you get your facts and opinions from the papers – England though was thrilled and excited at the possibilities and also at the issues becoming that much clearer – America is probably amazed, stunned, angry and relieved as well as unprepared. …

  Don’t start counting the hours I have left – I am only beginning – this life agrees with me – I am trying to swing a deal – I want some real action – that is on fighters – not bombers – that is when I finish on bombers which will take at least the winter – that is if the weather clears long enough for me to make my few remaining trips. …

  Don’t start building any castles about the two prodigies or even one of them over here – we are just a couple of ordinary guys who are looking facts as honestly in the eye as they can and hope to shake a few people up whilst on their journey thru life – (JJL 8 December 1941)

  Joe with Monty Berger, England, late 1941. (Janet Jacobson Kwass)

  Twenty-Seven

  December Doldrums

  The winter sun skimmed along the southern horizon for a few hours each day, ascending barely more than a hand’s width by noon. Bomber Command was at its nadir, station life was in a funk. Boredom and anxiety reigned in equal measure, occasionally punctuated by a noteworthy event. The first, upon Joe’s return from leave, was his wing commander’s wedding. Both he and Roger, now senior NCO aircrew, were invited.1 He told Janine the following day that it was:

  a colossal affair to use a conservative term.

  The babe he married was wealthy. Her old man spent in the neighbourhood of 500 pounds to get rid of her – the swanky hotel in Woodhall Spa was the scene of the starting celebrations. In a pleasant atmosphere, with soft music from the instruments of a well-known orchestra in the presence of a few chosen officers and sergeants of our famous squadron, the distinguished gathering imbibed wine, cocktails and champagne to their hearts content. The more robust of the men smoked choice cigars, made mellow speeches, danced daintily and ate the finest hors d’oeuvres and salads.

  Yours truly and Roger did justice to the occasion. After two bottles of champagne and a fine cigar, plus wine and cocktails Roger passed out. I continued and drank another bottle before proceeding to the sergeants mess where the whole shindig – officers, guests, group captains, etc. were our guests – the orchestra came along and strengthened by some of our better musicians played pieces no one has ever heard before – the bar was open – drinks were on the house – to provide femininity to the mighty occasion we carted in a couple of truck loads of WAAFs – (see what you missed not joining up in the WAAFs – lucky girl). The party went ahead full blast until our bar was cleaned out – whence the whole gathering proceeded to the officers mess. There dancing took place in one room whilst an amazingly vociferous sing song bellowed forth in another. Roger’s Allouette was one of the evening’s highlights.

  Of course the whole affair was lavish and mellow – rowdy but pleasant and above all friendly. I feel that I emerged a better and wiser man – never again shall I touch champagne – at least not three quarts – it hits you after the damage is done – two hours after the last quart you feel like a million bucks. Four hours after your head feels swollen and splitting – your stomach upset – your body weak – six hours after you pass out groaning – next day you vow never again – of course I am not subject to any of those common weaknesses. I merely record how Roger and some of the other boys made out. … (JJL 10 December 1941)

  America’s entry into the war consumed Joe’s attention for the next few days.

  Initial success in Pacific all with the Japs – Prince of Wales & Repulse sunk off Malaya. U.S. caught napping & not too well prepared – Britain lacks the req’d strength at the moment – but after the original onslaught we shall get our resources – men & brains going & slowly but decisively & surely we shall win. (JJD 10 December 1941)

  The Pacific battle taking on the old familiar phase – lack of air support – unpreparedness on our part resulting in alarming setbacks – we are sure taking a pasting in the Pacific for the same reasons as in France & Crete – boneheadedness. (JJD 12 December 1941)

  Joe provided the Pony Club a “brief discourse” about these new developments:

  No doubt you are much more excited, influenced – captivated and over-awed than we are – war – real war is still a novelty for you – we have been right in the front line for a couple of years now – our one reaction is one of cheerfulness – about the same as you would feel if you were a hockey manager who secured the services of a new star during the homestretch race – especially if he had some injured player and the opposition were tough – the Stanley Cup has yet to be played for –

  For us it is like the relief of Tobruk – we held the fort while the U.S. made up her mind what she was going to do – we all know what she can do – therefore we are glad – but not too elated – you don’t get elated easily in war –

  It is all old time stuff for us – we are still in the front line and the present position is if anything worsened – it is only the ultimate results that are vitally affected – so we struggled and continue to make our sacrifices and put up with additional hardships and inconveniences but with fortified determination – don’t forget we had never lost hope – we never gave up even before Russia became our allies – and the victory picture was blotched. Now, the way to victory can be clearly seen – it requires only courage and skill – intelligence and hardware to translate that vision to a reality – we can do it – and will do it in the end –

  Where Herby stands we want to know – no doubt he will be swept like everyone else to action realizing as we did that personal considerations, future possibilities, comforts, safety, money and jobs don’t count for the time being. Everybody has to take the country’s interest and security into consideration first or there will be no personal interests.

  For my part I don’t expect too much for a long time to come – you need bitter and cruel experience to teach you – even in this grave hour in Britain itself there are selfish interests and selfish people – as well as ignorant ones, etc. – obstructing the war effort to various degrees. It is too much to expect that the people of the U.S. probably the most self-interested in the world putting self ahead of everything else – will change overnight as the danger seems to decrease – as tension eases – so will the war effort – it is a long, hard pull and it will need some good bombing raids on New York, Pittsburgh etc. to shake the people out of themselves – to put them in a position where they as individuals feel their tiny insignificance in the swirl of humanity –

  However it is all very thrilling and exciting to me – this vast, tremendous world conflict is also cruel but no more so than more insidious peacetime cruelties like – slums, poverty – disease, etc. – The potentialities and possibilities and scope of a world battle are tremendous. Living at the crossroads of history is thrilling.

  Realizing that the possibilities for winning and going ahead against losing and sinking back in world evolution can’t help but stir you profoundly.

  For once in a lifetime we have an opportunity of being lifted right above the struggle whilst at the same time being right in the midst of it all. You face the realities of life and death – the colossal issues at stake from both a human and material standpoint and take an active if minute part in the entire issue. Yet you a
re freed of the imagined luxuries of civilized life – of an often sordid struggle for existence – it is still a struggle for existence now but on a much loftier and pleasanter scale – the only difference is you stand to lose quicker in war – that is lose the struggle for existence via extermination. (JJL 15 December 1941)2

  Joe wrote home with news of his friends.

  Don’t know what happened to Les Jupp – lost contact with him – don’t know whether his mother is dead or alive – lost touch with all the old gang for various reasons – have a complete new gang including two Scotsmen – two Irishmen, two Welshmen (Dave is one), the odd New Zealander and Rhodesian and South African – also the odd Englishman – plus Roger and Pop Miller the only two other Canadians left here – … all vitally interested in politics and social progress – some fairly bright – all about as conservative as Tim Buck.3

  (JJL 10 December 1941)

  During a visit to Midfield, Monty updated the Pony Club:

  Joe has begun to think about the world of tomorrow and is out for better things. He also means to get them. It has not been new stuff to me, but it has reawakened me after a lapse of some years and with Joe’s starting spark, it has been rekindled and promises to stay lit and nurtured along. … we all have chums in our respective spheres and we like them and are happy with them, but … there is a richness and depth of feeling between Poneyites that is something extra and beyond every friendship I have ever experienced.

  … [Janine] is obviously a strong-willed person and Joe says her heart is in Belgium still. While Joe is fond of her, I think he is far from sunk and think that he can do much better for himself. The original “hitting it off” must have come from the natural set-up – girl and boy in same house, airman in love, girl lonesome and homesick – it would have been cruel had the two not got together. … (15 December 1941)

  Monty saw immediately that Joe’s relationship with Janine was mostly an infatuation fed by circumstances. Joe would soon come to see Janine as a good friend, but certainly not a prospective life partner. Only a few days before, Joe had mentioned to his parents that he had received a box of Laura Secord chocolates from Cecily: “yes I guess I must be fond of her – just don’t realize it until the candies come through … ”

  Cecily had not forgotten about Joe, but she too sensed the distance between them. On the 8th she sent an airgraph:4

  This is something new – do let me know how long it takes to receive it. I am terribly sorry I have neglected you for so long. I haven’t any good excuse and in reply to your questions in that respect I am not engaged or married or anything silly like that. By the way I would like to know if you received the candies I sent. You know I haven’t had a letter from you since your last one of September 22nd – gone down I suppose.

  They seem intent on working me very hard at school this year, between seminars, demonstrations and tests every week, my life is not my own. I have almost become a slave to my work. However, I do manage to enjoy myself at odd times. How are activities for you – social and otherwise? I hope you have a very merry Christmas. Take care of yourself and don’t get shipped to Hong Kong.

  Love

  Cecily

  Their relationship in Canada had been so brief that it was by now sustained by imagination. What they had expected or planned or committed to when Cecily left Montreal nine months before, Joe never said. Since then, Joe’s life as a warrior far from home had created a chasm difficult to bridge with civilians back in Canada, even or perhaps especially with Cecily. Now, as 1941 was coming to a close, they had no prospect of seeing each other any time soon. Joe’s inclination to keep romantic entanglements at a distance, and keep some latitude for himself, was now reinforced by circumstance. He was prepared to devote himself to duty until something else happened, either war’s end or his own. The one person in England with whom Joe had an intense emotional bond, forged by more than force of circumstance, was Monty. They would spend more and more of their free time in each other’s company.

  Hodgkinson, Harding & I have a new sprogue pilot – supposed to fly to-nite – it will take all our experience & plenty of luck to pull the guy thru the opening stages – he looks capable – needs experience – ah well – somebody trained me – guess I have to do likewise –

  (JJD 14 December 1941)

  Thus did the consequences of the previous winter’s muddling about how to crew a four-seater bomber play out. Hampden pilots who managed to survive their first two hundred hours of operations were sent on to Operational Training Units as instructors, which deprived their crews of their captains. There being no experienced pilots to spare, Joe, Duncan, and Sid would now fly with a freshman, as much as they wished otherwise. By this time the three were among the most experienced men on 106 Squadron, a picked crew that could be assigned the most demanding tasks, but also best qualified to coach a novice pilot on his first sortie. So now they would revert to freshman assignments, on which they would be the instructors, and Joe as the air observer would be the captain, even though none of them had been taught to fly. The choice was to deprive the squadron of the capabilities of one of its most experienced crews and putting it, for the time being at least, at greater risk.5

  Selfe and crew’s first assignment was to the Belgian port of Ostende. It was a target commonly reserved for freshman crews because it did not require flying over German territory. The return trip took less than four hours. They reported that they had bombed in conditions of good weather and visibility, and had observed their bomb bursts in the outer harbour.

  Took our first trip with our new pilot Robin Selfe – and got back – it was like riding a horse – teaching & training our pilot the tricks of the trade – if we can get thru two or three trips without getting caught – it will be plain sailing – but it takes plenty of luck & training before you get the hang of the Germans. (JJD 15 December 1941)

  Did a beginners trip with our new pilot – a sprogue and as green as the leaves in spring – he is a conscientious capable Englishman about 28 years old – however, he is inexperienced and not too good a flyer – we are trying to teach Robin Selfe everything we have learnt to bring him up to scratch – I felt as if I was on my last ride tonite – [he] had never weaved before so we taught him weaving on the way out – he had never seen searchlights or flak so we stooged up and down the French coast for half an hour viewing the display of fireworks before going in – on the way back we did a few mild power dives – he has a lot to learn – our petrol consumption was 106 gals per hr – it should be 70 – next time he will know to how to climb more economically – he will take a long time before he can handle a plane like Robby – which is the way you have to handle one to stand a reasonable chance of getting thru – with luck and skill by me we should manage – but it is hard for the pilot to get enough flying in to keep up – we all heaved a hearty sigh when we landed completing our first operational trip as a crew.

  (JJOD 15 December 1941)

  Joe told Janine about his new situation:

  I am not due to go on leave until around the New Year … indefinite as yet. But leave is the least of my problems. My Flight Commander graciously apologized to me because of what he had to do – give me a sprogue – yes novice pilot. True I am the Captain of our plane and I have my old gunner and wireless operator – but still the pilot is as green as the fields.

  Fortunately we know just about everything the pilot should know – altho a P/O he is capable and willing to learn – Thus we instruct him in all the ins and outs of operational flying. We have taken him up nearly every day and on one beginners night trip to Ostende. He is improving rapidly and if we don’t get sent to the hot spots for a few trips we might have a reasonable chance of pulling him thru – It’s quite an experience – this instructing. But am I getting out of this observers racket in a hurry when I am thru – It’s a pilot or else – of course when you have an experienced pilot everything is fine but when you pilot the pilot from the navigator’s pew it is slightly different – Neverthe
less the boys on the squadron all think it is quite a joke – as a matter of fact it is not too bad watching your pupil improve before your eyes to your mutual safety – but he has a long way to go yet to attain par for the course. … (JJL 18 December 1941)

  There were exceptions to the rule that captains must be pilots, and Joe’s situation was one of them. He was an experienced NCO observer paired with a commissioned but brand-new pilot, not uncommon among Hampden crews at that time. The status of the observer was under review at the highest levels of Bomber Command. John Slessor, the Commander of 5 Group (consisting mainly of Hampdens), observed that modern heavy bombers relied largely on the observer to reach and hit the target, and without him the efforts of all the others in the air and on the ground were wasted. He argued that observers, who in his experience were often more intelligent and better educated than pilots, should have equal standing with pilots for promotion, commissions, and opportunities for command, not only in the aircraft itself but in squadrons and stations. Peirse, of the old school, and still commander in chief of Bomber Command, was unmoved by such arguments, and at that very time advised the Air Ministry that observers should not be captains. Nonetheless, it did occasionally happen, and perhaps more often in 5 Group squadrons where Slessor’s views would have been known, if not necessarily shared, among his senior staff.