How to aim rockets as told to me by my father
- Thread starter gareez
- Start date
'A broadside from a 6" cruiser under the wings of each Beau'.
Being at the other end of a 8x60 pound rocket attack was like being 300 yards from HMS Exeter when it opened fire on you.
G*d bless your dad and all like him.
tac
Being at the other end of a 8x60 pound rocket attack was like being 300 yards from HMS Exeter when it opened fire on you.
G*d bless your dad and all like him.
tac
Since someone has revived this thread I thought I would post about a week in the life of RCAF 404 "Buffalo" Squadron....
Christmas Day of 1943 was a day off and the squadron made the most of it. Even the Headquarters staff only worked until 11 am and then went back to their rooms to build up strength to tackle the Christmas dinner. It was a full day enjoyed by both officers and men. Everyone appreciated the gifts from the Canadian Legion that had been brought back from Northolt by F/L JG Rowand two days previously. "Very good Xmas dinner today and then we retired to the flight shack to celebrate our Xmas party. We invited quite a few WAAFs and had plenty of sandwiches, etc. including 38 dozen bottles of beer. Also this morning the Orderly Officer, a Canadian with 144 Squadron, had breakfast with the boys in the Mess Hall and then came back to our billet where we proceeded to get him very drunk and later at eleven o'clock the next officer to take over had not found him yet to get his arm-band off him for himself. Last night the boys from No. 12 billet swiped two barrels of beer from the Officer's Mess and rolled them back to the hut; however, it eventually cost them 14 Pounds "
Three days later, on 27 December, six 404 Beaus provided escort to four 144 Squadron aircraft on a Rover Patrol from Stavanger to Egera area. A convoy of four merchants and three escort vessels was sighted and attacked. All of the ships were claimed as damaged with cannon fire and ### with the largest trailing smoke. Post war records have only identified one vessel; the German Auxiliary Whaler V-5301 Seeteufel of 541 tons as having been damaged by shelling. Three of the aircraft received slight damage from flak. The excitement of the day was not over because on the way home three aircraft were sighted and chased, but they managed to escape into the cloud.
To top the day off the squadron had a party. "...put on for us by the aircrew. Had a very good time and when I came into the billet afterwards the Wing Commander was tossing half crowns with the boys and S/L Gatward stayed in my room and talked till 2:30 in the morning. Our last big "do" was broadcast over the BBC. "
The next day, on 28 December, 404 was again in action under the leadership of W/C Willis in 'C' LZ449. The nine crews were "on standby for anti-flak escort...on a Rover to Stadtlandet and shipping leads east. This was changed to a squadron Rover because a Recce plane reported that the target would be out of the area where torpedoes would be effective before the torpedo aircraft arrived. All nine aircraft were airborne immediately and set out to attack with RP." The sought targets were a four-vessel convoy including a 2000-ton MV and three escorts in close to shore in the entrance to Vanelos Fjord. "All aircraft attacked with RP, owing to our aircraft originally being intended for anti-flak large results were not expected as the HE RP were not harmonized. However, at least two hits observed on the large MV." There were three merchant vessels in the area, with the 8,567-ton Oldenburg having just been sunk by the British submarine HMS Seadog. Two other merchant vessels sailing with the Oldenburg were then attacked; the tanker Else and the Motto. Several escort vessels received minor shell damage . While heading home the crew of F/O Johnsson (left) and F/O Hebert sighted two Do.24s and pounced. Johnsson saw tracer enter one of the aircraft before it escaped into cloud.
As a result of this mission, W/C Willis received serious damage to his aircraft, "the undercarriage of his aircraft damaged by flak and the tire holed, as well as the wing root and elevators being damaged. He made a splendid landing despite this handicap."
31 December "Had another big party tonight and had all the big boys of the squadron out to it and also quite a few WAAFs from the station. Had our shack all fixed up - coloured electric lights, streamers, radios and a PA system and to top it off had about 700 bottles of beer so there was plenty for everyone. "
The final entry in the ORB for 1943 was, "All members of the squadron are making plans to take up their civil lines (occupations) after victory in 1944". This was very optimistic considering that the squadron had lost 14 members since August. They had a long way to go.
Total personnel in the unit at the end of December included 23 officer pilots (including two American pilots of the US Army 8th Air Force), 12 officer navigator (W), 9 airmen pilots and 19 airmen navigator (W). For groundcrew there were 4 officers, 88 airmen and 18 airwomen.
58 operational sorties were flown for the month for a total of 232.05 hrs. The squadron had 19 Beaufighter TFX and one Blenheim Mk IV on strength.
Christmas Day of 1943 was a day off and the squadron made the most of it. Even the Headquarters staff only worked until 11 am and then went back to their rooms to build up strength to tackle the Christmas dinner. It was a full day enjoyed by both officers and men. Everyone appreciated the gifts from the Canadian Legion that had been brought back from Northolt by F/L JG Rowand two days previously. "Very good Xmas dinner today and then we retired to the flight shack to celebrate our Xmas party. We invited quite a few WAAFs and had plenty of sandwiches, etc. including 38 dozen bottles of beer. Also this morning the Orderly Officer, a Canadian with 144 Squadron, had breakfast with the boys in the Mess Hall and then came back to our billet where we proceeded to get him very drunk and later at eleven o'clock the next officer to take over had not found him yet to get his arm-band off him for himself. Last night the boys from No. 12 billet swiped two barrels of beer from the Officer's Mess and rolled them back to the hut; however, it eventually cost them 14 Pounds "
Three days later, on 27 December, six 404 Beaus provided escort to four 144 Squadron aircraft on a Rover Patrol from Stavanger to Egera area. A convoy of four merchants and three escort vessels was sighted and attacked. All of the ships were claimed as damaged with cannon fire and ### with the largest trailing smoke. Post war records have only identified one vessel; the German Auxiliary Whaler V-5301 Seeteufel of 541 tons as having been damaged by shelling. Three of the aircraft received slight damage from flak. The excitement of the day was not over because on the way home three aircraft were sighted and chased, but they managed to escape into the cloud.
To top the day off the squadron had a party. "...put on for us by the aircrew. Had a very good time and when I came into the billet afterwards the Wing Commander was tossing half crowns with the boys and S/L Gatward stayed in my room and talked till 2:30 in the morning. Our last big "do" was broadcast over the BBC. "
The next day, on 28 December, 404 was again in action under the leadership of W/C Willis in 'C' LZ449. The nine crews were "on standby for anti-flak escort...on a Rover to Stadtlandet and shipping leads east. This was changed to a squadron Rover because a Recce plane reported that the target would be out of the area where torpedoes would be effective before the torpedo aircraft arrived. All nine aircraft were airborne immediately and set out to attack with RP." The sought targets were a four-vessel convoy including a 2000-ton MV and three escorts in close to shore in the entrance to Vanelos Fjord. "All aircraft attacked with RP, owing to our aircraft originally being intended for anti-flak large results were not expected as the HE RP were not harmonized. However, at least two hits observed on the large MV." There were three merchant vessels in the area, with the 8,567-ton Oldenburg having just been sunk by the British submarine HMS Seadog. Two other merchant vessels sailing with the Oldenburg were then attacked; the tanker Else and the Motto. Several escort vessels received minor shell damage . While heading home the crew of F/O Johnsson (left) and F/O Hebert sighted two Do.24s and pounced. Johnsson saw tracer enter one of the aircraft before it escaped into cloud.
As a result of this mission, W/C Willis received serious damage to his aircraft, "the undercarriage of his aircraft damaged by flak and the tire holed, as well as the wing root and elevators being damaged. He made a splendid landing despite this handicap."
31 December "Had another big party tonight and had all the big boys of the squadron out to it and also quite a few WAAFs from the station. Had our shack all fixed up - coloured electric lights, streamers, radios and a PA system and to top it off had about 700 bottles of beer so there was plenty for everyone. "
The final entry in the ORB for 1943 was, "All members of the squadron are making plans to take up their civil lines (occupations) after victory in 1944". This was very optimistic considering that the squadron had lost 14 members since August. They had a long way to go.
Total personnel in the unit at the end of December included 23 officer pilots (including two American pilots of the US Army 8th Air Force), 12 officer navigator (W), 9 airmen pilots and 19 airmen navigator (W). For groundcrew there were 4 officers, 88 airmen and 18 airwomen.
58 operational sorties were flown for the month for a total of 232.05 hrs. The squadron had 19 Beaufighter TFX and one Blenheim Mk IV on strength.
my uncle is kia/mia in a halifax.went to attack shipping around the skagerrak.parts of his a/c along with bones/personal effects were caught in a fisherman's net.i even have an article in a local paper in dutch[?] Interviewing the night fighter pilot who shot him down.it was his second tour of duty and he died only a couple of months before the end of WWII.
