130,000 Views

Many thanks as always to everyone regarding the continuing support for the blog – another 10,000 milestone was crossed yesterday with the blog now having over 130,000 views – utterly fantastic!

I think what is more amazing is that this last 10,000 was achieved in only a little over 3 weeks, which shows a level of consistent visiting of a volume that the blog has never seen before – so for this alone, thank you everybody.

Still the material and contacts keep coming in – I have to admit I am still working back through emails, but slowly I am beginning to catch back up with everything.

The database is getting a bit more added to it everyday – it will still take I think, at least a year to get the basic crew information into it, but I have now at least managed to enter aircraft and pilot information right up to the last Op the Squadron flew to Bad Oldsloe on the 24th April 1945 (the database currently beginning from the start of 1943) – so this means that we have all Lancaster Ops that the Squadron flew – whilst there now has to be a secondary checking activity, regarding serial numbers and flight/ letter designators, I hope with he help of Ian and Chris to be able to add some Lancaster Op histories to the one for ND801 JN-X that I put up a couple of weeks ago (recent information suggesting that this first one needs an update as well!)

So as always, thank you all for your continuing support and encouragement.

cheers

Simon

Aircraft Database update 6th August 2014

Many thanks as always to Ian for another update to the 75(NZ) Squadron Aircraft Database. The database contains some new updates particularly relating to the Lancaster section and Ian has also added a note at the bottom relating to ‘Flight’ identification. Ian feels and I completely agree with him, that there appears to now be substantive evidence that a lot of existing sources for information on the aircraft that flew in the Squadron are in parts incorrect – there clearly seems to be errors relating to ‘C’ Flight and it would appear in some cases, aircraft have been identified as ‘AA’ (A or B Flight), simply through the ignorance that ‘C’ Flight (JN) even existed.

I suppose to this end, if anybody has the time to check through our database and is able to provided definitive evidence of particularly, Flight coding (photograph/ logbook entries etc) then please, as always contact us!

See the Wellington database here.
See the Stirling database here.
See the Lancaster database here.

Aircraft Database update 9th July 2014

Many thanks to Ian as always for his diligent work with the Squadron aircraft database, of which, a new update has just been uploaded!

View the Wellington records here.
View the Stirling records here.
View the Lancaster records here.

100,000 Views – utterly amazing…..

It seems as if I am celebrating every 10,000 view milestone with accelerating regularity. Despite this, it always feels like an achievement. Tonight I think we should really  stop and realise what we have all managed to achieve –   the blog has just recorded it’s 100,000 view.

I had absolutely no idea when I began this blog in the summer of 2012 that it would grow the way it has. Initially I began to write backwards as it were, recording past events of my research journey – I figured I would ‘catch up’ with the present day and it would then be a diary of my research journey about Bob and the boys he flew with.

In honest truth, I think I underestimated the reach of a blog and the interest it would generate – I was amazed when I saw it had been viewed 100, 200, 500, a 1,000 times. And then the amazing, heartbreaking and uplifting stories started to come…….

I know I always say this, but I honestly have to thank all of you. In real terms, I have become just a curator of the stories of the boy’s of 75(NZ) Squadron, without all of you who have given so generously stories, photographs, memories and your time, the blog would not be what it is today and I certainly would not be writing this 100,000 view post.

I am more determined than ever to try to ensure that everything that is passed to me will be presented on the blog – at times this is incredibly difficult to do, but I will keep going whenever I can – to those of you that have perhaps sent an email asking for information, or for those of you that have sent information, but have yet to see it posted, please bare with me, I will get back to you and it will be posted.

The strength of what we have managed to achieve is a tribute to the generosity of people – this information is yours, not mine. It is certainly not mine to take and store away, it is given to be shown and by showing it we will learn more, either about individuals, or small parts of a life or bigger tales of the Squadron.

If I didn’t envisage the way the site would grow, I certainly did not realise that the blog would also allow relatives to reconnect and meet each other, years after their Fathers, Uncles, Grandfathers or Great Grandfathers had flown together and sometimes died together as a crew – this has been an unexpected but truly rewarding aspect of my work on the blog.

And it also has been incredibly rewarding to try to help visitors, just as I was helped when I began my research journey – am I now an expert myself? – no, I don’t think so at all. I know more than when I started and I will know more tomorrow than I do today – but again, the blog has allowed me to connect with those who are experts and the sum of my knowledge is contained in the blog and the people who have contributed to it – we are all experts of small parts of the story – put together the sum is greater than the parts.

It has been an honour and a privilege to meet and work with all of you – I hope this will continue to the next 100,000 views.

Ake Ake Kia Kaha

Simon

 

 

 

Lest we forget – Reflections on ANZAC Day and why we should never forget to remember…..

John McFarland, Navigator with Henry Murray’s crew, 4 of who were lost on the night of 19th April 1944 and who now lay in Gram Churchyard, Denmark. John stood with the crew of Mauson Lammas in Aabenraa Cemetery, also in Denmark. The Lammas crew were lost 4 days later, to the same target – all were killed.

Many thanks to David, Son of John McFarland for sending images of the gravestones of the Lammas crew who now rest in Aabenraa Cemetery, having been lost on the 23rd of April 1944. These pictures were taken on the same visit to Gram Churchyard to remember the 4 of John’s crew who were lost on the 18th April 1944.

Perhaps having spent the last couple of weeks working on the reordering of the Roll of Honour, the adding of gravestones to the Roll of Honour and writing about lost crews in support of some of these image donations, I began to feel again the overwhelming sense of loss that I felt when I began to research about Dad and the Squadron. When I say overwhelming loss, in the first instance, this was entirely personal and related solely to the recent loss of my father and mixed up in this was also my painful realisation that having simply left it too late,I would now never know the answer to so many of the questions I now had for him.

As my research progressed however, with the acquisition of the Squadron Operational Record books, I began to understand the brutal regularity of the loss of crew in the Squadron. The brutality of war and death in war is obvious, but it was the cold, clipped reportage of the loss of these young boys in the official pages that struck me – the loss of another 2 or 3 crews on a certain raid became nothing other than a matter of record, no emotion or regret of loss was recorded with the up and down times and the bomb loads carried that night……..

And so to ANZAC day. To be honest, what I was going to post this year was a mystery to me until I realised the work on the Roll of Honour could be edited to present the New Zealand and Australian boys on their day. As I remarked in the ANZAC DAY post, it felt awkward to be deleting the names of the other airmen, even though they still existed on another tabbed page within my spreadsheet document.

I didn’t expect the level of views over ANZAC and the following few days – neither did I expect the number of contacts from people regarding the posts I had made or with a mention of a loved one now gone. I realised, though perhaps obvious, that the sterile pages of the ORB have become perhaps too familiar to me – walking down their corridors I now recognise dates and names and when I see them I know they will not return the following night or the following week – the ORB tells me these things as simple record of fact – a page is turned and a life is lost.

What is actually all too easy to forget, is that these boys are not forgotten. The reason that we rise at dawn to remember them is simply because we have not forgotten them. They live in the hearts of those of us that live on and their memories are something special to us. We might not understand what they did or how they did it, that they were sick with nerves before flying or were too scared to talk of their fear in case they were deemed unfit to fly – all we understand is that they did it. In doing what they did, our luxury is to be able to remember these acts rather than confront how we might deal with the same. For this alone, we should remember and celebrate their names and their faces, still smiling from those cherished photographs – they will not age as we do, their memory will not fade, as long as we never forget them.

Ake Ake Kia Kaha

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Aircraft Database – minor corrections

Many thanks to Ian for performing a few tweaks to the aircraft database regarding information on the Stirling and Lancaster pages, since the last major update last week.

See the Stirling page here
See the Lancaster page here

Aircraft Database update 2nd February 2014

Many thanks to Ian, as always, for his continuing work on the aircraft database section of the website – here is is latest update!

Wellington records here.
Stirling records here.
Lancaster records here.

Request for Information – Edward Cecil Ball, Pilot.

Many thanks to Adam for contacting me looking for more information on F/Lt. Edward Cecil Ball.

Adam has just recently started a ‘real time’ blog of his Grandfather’s time with 488(NZ) Squadron RAF, called Broody’s War, which you can get to here.

In Adam’s own words;
This blog is a tribute to my Grandfather, Andrew John Broodbank. During the Second World War, he was a Radar Operator (Navigator) with 488 (NZ) Squadron, RAF. His Operational Tour lasted from 3/ix/43 until 9/ix/44. I am lucky enough to have a significant collection of material from this period including flight logs, photos, personal journals and notes. This blog will follow, 70 years later, his time with the squadron. I hope you enjoy reading this blog, which I hope will serve as a lasting tribute to my grandfather and all those he served with.

Adam came across a reference to Edward Ball, who was killed on the 9th October 1943 whilst with 488(NZ) and was aware that he had flown previously in 75(NZ) Squadron. He asked me if I could supply any information on Eric, prior to his arrival at 488(NZ).

What follows is as much to hopefully make a contact for more information as it is to assist Adam in his initial request.

‘A’ Postings (Form 540 April 1942)
F/O E.C. Ball. GD. Posted from No.11 O.T.U. w.e.f. 26.3.42. Auth Pending.

F/O E.C. Ball (NZ40947) Appointed to rank of Acting flight Lietenant (unpaid( w.e.f. 26.3.42. and Acting Flight Lieutenant (paid) w.e.f. 26.3.42 on 15.4.42. Authy. 3 Grp Pgrm 3G/8937/5/5/P.2 d/d 13.4.42.

Form 541 April 1942 Onwards
9.4.2.42. Operations – Daylight Attack on Essen
Wellington III X3667
F/O Edward Cecil Ball RNZAF NZ40749.                                Captain
P/O Graham Edward Murdoch RNZAF. (NZ411927.           2^nd Pilot
P/O William Leslie Bridget RNZAF NZ40731.                      Navigator
F/S Summers   RAFVR.                                                              W/Optr
P/O Cyril Ingleby RAFVR 937625/ 118898.                           Fr. Gnr.
P/O Reginald Leonard Clark RNZAF NZ40734.                  Rr. Gnr.

12.4.42. Operations – Attack on Targets at Le Havre and Essen
Wellington III Z1570
Same crew including 2^nd Pilot.

14.4.42. Operations – Attack Against Targets at Dortmund and Le Havre
Wellington III X3482
P/O Murdoch remains 2^nd Pilot. P/O Clark replaced by Sgt. Smith as Rr. Gnr.

15.4.42. Operations – Attack Against Targets at Le Havre and Dortmund.
Wellington III X3482
Same crew as above

17.4.42. Operations – Attack Against Targets at Hamburg
Wellington III X1570
P/O Clark returns as Rr. Gnr. P/O Murdoch still 2^nd Pilot.

22.4.42. Operations – Attack Against Targets at Cologne
Wellington III X1570
Same crew as above.

23.4.42. Operations – Attack Against targets at Rostock
Wellington III X1570
Same crew as above.

25.4.42. Operations – Attack Against targets at Rostock and Dunkirk
Wellington III X1570
F/S P/O Douglas Howard Semmence RNZAF NZ40731 replaces F/S Summers as W/Optr.

27.4.42. Operations – Attack Against targets at Cologne and Mine Laying off Heligoland
Wellington III X1570
Same crew as above

29.4.42. Operations – Attack Against targets at Gennevilliers
Wellington III X1570
Same crew as above

6.5.42. Bombing Attacks Against Targets at Stuttgart.
Wellington III X.3646
P/O Murdoch ceases to fly as 2^nd Pilot, otherwise crew remains same as previous Op.

7.5.42. Gardening Kiel Bay.
Wellington III X.3646
Same crew as above

15.5.42. Gardening – Kiel Bay
Wellington III Z.1570
Same crew as above

19.5.42. Attacks Against Manheim and St. Nazaire
Wellington III Z.1570
Same crew as above.

30.5.42. Bombing Attacks Against Cologne.
Wellington III Z.1570
Same crew as above. Additionally Sgt. Arthur Grahame Johns RNZAF NZ41907 joins crew as 2^nd Pilot.

1.6.42. Attack Against Targets at Essen
Wellington III Z1570
Same crew as above

2.6.42. Attack Against Targets at Essen
Wellington III Z1570
Same crew as above.

5.6.42. Attack against Targets at Essen.
Wellington III Z1570
Sgt. Johns is replaced by Sgt. John ‘Jack’ Leonard Wright (later to become Squadron Leader) as 2^nd Pilot.

6.6.42. Attack Against Emden
Wellington III Z1570
Sgt. Johns returns as 2^nd Pilot.

8.6.42. Attack Against Targets at Essen
Wellington III Z1570
Same crew as above

16.6.42. Attack Against Targets at Essen
Wellington III ‘A’ –
note of ‘DNCO’. From Op notes suggests it stands for ‘Did Not Complete’ – perhaps ‘Did Not Carry Out’ ??
Sgt. Johns as 2^nd Pilot absent. Remaining crew as above.

17.6.42. Mine-Laying off Frisian Islands
Wellington III X3452
Same crew as above

19.6.42. Attack Against Targets at Emden.
Wellington III X3586
P/O William Guy Horne RNZAF NZ411983 as 2^nd Pilot.

20.6.42. Attack Against Targets at Emden.
Wellington III X3586
Same crew as above

23.6.42. Attack Against Targets at St. Nazaire and(Gardening)
Wellington III Z1570
P/O Horne is not present. Same crew otherwise as above

29.6.42. Attack Against Targets at Bremen
Wellington III Z1570
Same crew as above

Form 540 (July 1942)
‘A’ Postings
P/O Semmence, D.H. 49002 GD. Posted to No. 57 Sqdn w.e.f. 19.7.42.Auth:3 Grp Sig.P951 d/d 18.7.42.
P/O Ingleby, T.R. 103037. GD. Posted to No.11 OUT w.e.f. 25.7.42. Authy:3 Grp Sig.P.976 dated 22.7.42.
‘B’ Postings
P/O Clarke, R.L. NZ40734. GD. Attached to P.D.C. West Kirby w.e.f. 10.7.42.Auth;3 Grp.Sig.P854 d/d 4.7.42.
P/O Bridget, W.L. NZ40731 GD. Attached to P.D.C. West Kirby w.e.f. 10.7.42.Auth;3 Grp.Sig.P854 d/d 4.7.42.

Form 540 (August 1942)
‘A’ Postings, Movements
A/F/L. Ball, E.C. (NZ40749) GD. Posted to 54 OTU wef. 9.8.42. Auth.3 Gp.Sig.P510 d/d 28.7.42.

Aircraft database update

Many thanks to Ian for his continuing work on the aircraft database section of the website – here is is latest update!

Wellington records here.
Stirling records here.
Lancaster records here.

Aircraft database update

I’m afraid, in truth this ‘update’ is probably the last of 4 that Ian has sent me over the last few couple of months, but as I have much discussed (and should probably shut up now), work demands got the better of me. But, here it is, the latest version of the database, covering all of the Wellingtons, Stirlings and Lancasters that flew with 75(NZ) Squadron RAF.

Charles John Shalfoon – Pilot

I have recently been contacted by John, on behalf of his wife,  who is the niece of pilot officer Charles Shalfoon – lost with the rest of his crew on the 11th October 1942 on a Gardening Op to the Kattegat area of the Baltic Sea.

John and his wife would love to find out more about Charles and in particular would be very interested to see any photographs that might exist of the crew, or individuals from the crew.

Tragically, it was only the crews third operational flight with the Squadron and only their second flying as a crew themselves.

The Shalfoon crew were;
Sgt Charles John Shalfoon RNZAF. (NZ413897) – Pilot. Died Sunday 11th October 1942, age 22. No known grave. Commemorated on Panel 118 Runnymede Memorial.
Sgt Harold Wolfenden RAFVR (1237318) – Observer .Died Sunday 11th October 1942, age 32. Buried Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery Denmark.
Sgt Algernon Parsons RAFVR (1196149) – Wireless Operator. Died Sunday 11th October 1942, age 22. Buried Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery Denmark.
Sgt Sydney Posner RAFVR (1078313) – Front Gunner. Died Sunday 11th October 1942, age 22. Lost without trace, commemorated on Panel 91 Runnymede Memorial.
Sgt Roy Harold Scott RCAF (R.137578) – Rear Gunner. Died Sunday 11th October 1942, age 20. Buried Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery Denmark.

Oct. 6^th 1942. –  Attack against targets at Osnabruck
The crew flew with Squadron Leader Robert Stanway Crawford

Oct. 8^th 1942. – Gardening off Ostend

Oct. 11^th 1942. – Gardening in the Kattegat and Little Belt
Wellington Mk.III BK341- Failed to Return
Sgt. Shalfoon    Captain
Sgt. Wolfenden Nav.
Sgt. Parsons      Wop
Sgt. Posner        F/Gunner
Sgt. Scott           R/Gunner

ANZAC Day and Newmarket Cemetery

Tony has recently posted his plans and wishes for this coming Thursday to mark ANZAC Day at Newmarket Cemetery, but I thought it was worth pushing it up to a post, just in case anybody sees it and wishes to go along. Tony’s original comments on the ‘About’ page is as follows;

Not all forgotten here in Newmarket. Thursday being Anzac Day, at 11 am, I am arranging a placing of Dolores Crosses at the graves of 8 Kiwis resting here. 7 are from this squadron. It would be great to meet any friends.

In case anyone can make it, 11 am on Anzac Day, coming THURSDAY a little ceremony at Newmarket Cemetery where we will remember 8 Kiwis resting here, 7 of them 75 (NZ) Sqdn
Selwyn Clubb
Benjamin Franklin
Robert Harvey
John Johnston
John Walsh
Harold Welch
William Whitcombe

not forgetting the other 75 (NZ) Squadron RAF men
Stankey Curtis RAFVR
Stanley Drayton RAFVR
William Lawrence RCAF
Bertram Moffat RCAF
Francis Reddicliffe RAFVR
Phillip Stuart RCAF

Hopefully a few people might see this and come along to remember these boys with Tony

James Law RAFVR 1101018 – Pilot

Sgt James Law 11 May 1942 OTU Cambridge.
© Graham Kershaw

Many thanks to Graham for providing the following information about his relative James Law, who was tragically lost on the night of 3rd September 1942 during an Op to Emden. I will let Graham tell the story;

Through researching James’s life and career it has made me very proud of what he and thousands of others in Bomber Command did during the second  world war by giving their lives to protect the nation and fight back against evil. This article describes, the yet so short career of Sgt James Law and is a tribute to him and his crew, to be shared by others.

James Law was the son of William and Millicent Law, brother of Herbert, Fred and sisters Eva and Hilda born on the 02.02.1921, living at 53 Linnet Street, Deepdale, Preston, Lancashire, England.

Only until recently have I been fully aware of James, this came about through researching my family tree. This discovery also confirms what my Grandma once told me a number of years ago that there was a pilot in the family who was reported missing during the war.

The trail begins, James joined the RAFRV on the 18.06.40 at No 3 Recruitment Centre Padgate Warrington. On enlistment he was recommended by No 6 Aviation Candidate Selection Board for training as a “Wireless Operator / Air Gunner.

Training began in this role at No 10 (Signals) Recruitment Centre Blackpool, Lancashire.

A picture of James during his training.
© Graham Kershaw

James was then recommended for pilot training on the 25^th Oct 1940 attending the following training units at the early stages of the war :-

No 5 Initial Training Wing  – Torquay 20^th Dec 1940.

Attached to No 1 Receiving Wing – Babbacombe 21^st Dec 1940 then back to No 5 Initial Training Wing – 04^th Jan 1941.

Parachute Training Centre, Central Landing School, Ringway (which is now Manchester Airport ) – 26^th Jun 1940.

Attached to the South West Airways, Phoenix Arizona – 17^th Jul 1941.

Moving to No 31 Personnel Reception Centre, Mancton, Canada then back to the UK.

Moving to No 3 Personnel Reception Centre, Bournemouth 26^th Dec  1941.

No 12 Service Flying Training School, Grantham (Spittalgate) 28^th Jan 1942.

James began at the lowest rank of “Aircraftman 2^nd class”, which could only be held by qualified air crew. Being promoted to temporary sergeant on his qualification as “Pilot Sergeant”.

On promotion moving to No 1516 Blind Beam Approach Training Flight, Middleton, St George – 23^rd Feb 1942.

No 12 Service Flying Training School, Grantham.

No 11 and No 23 Operational Training Units (OTU) at Bassingbourn / Pershore – 05^th Jul 1942.

On completion of his training James eventually joined No 75 NZ Squadron at Mildenhall , Suffolk on the 29^th Aug  1942. From the 1942 Operational Record Book ,  James’s first operation was on the 1^st September 1942 , attacking Saarbrucken, Germany. As was normal practice, this first op was with another, more experienced crew;

Sgt. Richard Stansfield Derek Kearns      Pilot
Sgt. James Law                                            2^nd Pilot
Sgt. William John Muir Low Barclay         Observer
Sgt. Morris Watson Egerton                     Wireless Operator
Sgt. Andrew John Moller                           Front Gunner/ Air Bomber
Sgt. Harold Ernest Anzac Price                Rear Gunner

The next operation was on the 03^rd Sept 1942 in Wellington III X3396, the target being Emden northern Germany. On this flight James was the pilot. The crew was;

Sgt. James Law                                         Pilot
Sgt. Horace Llewellyn Grant                  Observer
Sgt. Rupert Ernest Renton                     Wireless Operator
Sgt. Richard Alfred William Newman   Front Gunner/ Air Bomber
Sgt. John Trevor Vivian Gill                     Rear Gunner

X3396 took off from RAF Station Mildenhall at 23.28 hours on the 3^rd September as part of a bombing raid on Emden, northern Germany. When the aircraft arrived at the target they could only bomb through 10/10 cloud cover on dead reckoning positions. It was later discovered that the aircraft had been shot down by enemy fighter aircraft and crashed at Westermarsch (southwest of Norden) at 0220 hours on the 4^th September.

All the crew mentioned above are buried at Sage War Cemetery northern Germany.

75(NZ) Squadron Aircraft Database

I am incredibly pleased to announce a significant expansion to the site – a database of the aircraft that the Squadron flew during the war. I feel this is a fantastic addition to the site and represents a unique opportunity to gather together all of the individual efforts that have been made to identify and record the histories of each aircraft.

I am immensely grateful to Ian for the incredibly generous donation of his ongoing research data base regarding the aircraft that 75(NZ) Squadron operated between 1940 and 1945. Over this period of time the Squadron flew first Wellingtons, then Stirlings and then in March 1944, finally converted to Lancasters.

Direct links to the 3 respective database pages are here;
Wellington
Stirling
Lancaster

This database is obviously very much an ongoing project, but, as with the rest of this blog, if people can find it, they may well be able to add to it. Ian, Chris and I have already spent this first day passing information between ourselves and the database will refine, correct and grow as we merge the information we already have and hopefully as people find it and offer more.

The publishing of this database is only the first step – there will now be ongoing ‘ordering’ of the information contained within it, which will attempt to correctly credit/ recognise all individuals that have contributed to it and all sources that have been used to add to it. At the same time we welcome the identification of sources, which we might have overlooked. I think Ian, Chris and I see this database as a resource for everybody, so it’s only fitting therefore, that everybody who can possibly be credited will be, within the aircraft lists.

If anybody can add a reference or wishes a source to be attributed, just mail me and we will add or correct as necessary.

The database has been created based on the careful research of Ian and others. In places, existing sources have been used, which include;
Forever Strong – The Story of 75 Squadron RNZAF 1916-1990, by Norman Franks – Random Century New Zealand Ltd.
Luck and a Lancaster – Chance Survival in World War II, by Harry Yates – Airlife Publications.
Avro Lancaster – A Definitive Record, by Harry Holmes –  Airlife Publications.
3 Group Bomber Command – An Operational Record, by Chris Ward and Steve Smith – Pen & Sword Aviation.
The Stirling Story, by Michael JF Bowyer – Crecy Publishing Ltd.
Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the second World War 1943, by W.R. Chorley – Midland Publishing

In addition to these published texts, the work of others are duly recognised from the following websites;
ADF-Serials.com and specifically the page related to 75(NZ) Squadron.
Lancaster Archive Forum (LAF) and its contributing members.
Wings Over New Zealand Forum (WONZ) and its contributing members. In particular, Dave Homewood, who started a Wellington list, almost 2 years ago on the forum http://rnzaf.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=Wartime&thread=13372&page=1