by Gill Griffin
I was able to live out at that time in the nearby village of Easton on the Hill and my wife and I loved to entertain the boys at home. Chas was always interested in the well-kept garden and liked to try the flowers as an addition to his diet: he said that he preferred the Wisteria. Before I left the RAF at the end of 1948, I threw a farewell party at the Old Queen’s Head just off the Victoria Road. Chas was one of my guests. He was then in civvy street, married and with small children. He was much subdued, not the Chas I remembered.
Air Commodore Al Deere. My squadron commander at Kenley, with 602 AA Squadron from July ’41 to the end of that year. I was then a very ‘sprog’ Sgt Pilot with only a short experience in 41 Squadron. Al was my hero and, although I was only an NCO when I served with him, we kept in contact and were friends up to his death. He was an excellent leader, and helped us through our learning curve at what became a very difficult time with the advent of the Focke Wulf FW190. One episode stands out in my memory. At the end of December ’41 we were ordered to Martlesham Heath to cover a minesweeping operation in the North Sea; we were told that an important convoy was coming through. The weather was awful and our first and only patrol on December 30th showed no sign of ships. The following day it was worse and there was no possibility of flying.
Remember that 602 was a Scottish outfit and most of the lads had dates for the Hogmany festivities at Kenley, some had even arranged for wives and girlfriends to stay over. Permission to fly back and return early on New Year’s Day was refused and the Scots were royally teed off. We were finally released late in the afternoon and transport was laid on but only to take us into Ipswich. I remember that with the boys of 485, we drowned our sorrows in one of the town’s pubs and were still hard at it when the landlord called time. When we showed no sign of leaving he called for help from the local police. Two brave special constables tried to evict us and were shut into a revolving door, which was kept spinning until we were ready to leave. A strong complaint was made by the chief constable to the station commander, who demanded names.These were not forthcoming and before any other action could be taken we were back at Kenley. The station commander explained to the police that we were on operational service engaged with the enemy. It was eventually agreed that an apology should be made and Al and Hawkeye Billy Wells went back by road and did it personally.
Hugh Dundas. I met (then) S/Ldr (Cocky) Dundas late in 1941 when I was at Duxford. I had gone to a mess party at Fowlmere, just the other side of Cambridge and he was another of the guests. There were also quite a number of American officers there. As the evening progressed many, including Hugh, got well oiled and things got a bit wild. The high point was to take a pair of scissors and cut off ties just below the knot. As I could not afford to buy a new tie (I was a newly commissioned P/O), I took mine off and put it in my pocket out of harm’s way. When it happened to one of the Yanks, he was very annoyed and caught ‘Cocky’ from behind, took hold of his tunic tails and ripped his beautifully tailored garment from bottom to top, straight up the seam.
Charles Dyson. He was for three months our O/C flying at AFDU Wittering in 1943. He was a bit ‘toffee nosed’ having, I believe, come from the Indian Air Force. He was the CO when I took over the FW190 to take it around Fighter Command for demos. As I had no Pilot’s Notes I spent two or three days carefully studying the beast before taking to the air. As Air Ministry were rather anxious to get the tour under way, Charles tried to bully me into action. He got rather annoyed when I refused to be rushed.
W/Cdr Donald Finlay. I first came into contact with Donald when he was 11 Group Engineer Officer. He paid regular visits to the Squadrons, including 602 at Kenley. It was his practice to take one of the aircraft for a test flip and have a few words with the pilot afterwards. I normally flew LOA and he selected this machine and talked to me on several occasions. After I had moved to AFDU he joined us for a short time as CO in place of Campbell-Orde, who was sent to the US. Donald was a fitness fanatic and turned us out for PT and cross-country runs at the crack of dawn. As it was winter when he was there, this was not exactly popular with the pilots. He also picked on me for flying duties and one morning he decided on a formation climb through 20,000 feet of cloud. By the time we came out at the top, I was seeing double but I was still tucked in behind his wing. On another occasion he took up the Mosquito, which we were testing, and made me his navigator through a series of turns and twists over mid-England. I bumped into him later when he was CO of an OTU which I visited with the FW190. Despite all this we got on very well.
Brendan Paul Finucane. At the time of his death in July 1942, he was the top- scoring fighter pilot with 32 kills. He became CO of 602 Squadron just after Christmas 1941. I was tour expired in mid-May and he left soon after to become wing leader as stated earlier in the book. I only learned much later that doubts were cast on some of his claims but in my experience they were all true. By April I had been promoted to F/Sgt and became senior NCO pilot in ‘A’ Flight. As such I flew as a sub-section leader and on a number of operations I flew as Paddy’s number two. I was Blue 3 on 28th March 1942, but missed most of the action in which Red Section was involved. It was on this operation, in the afternoon, that Group Captain Francis Victor Beamish was lost. Immediately after landing Paddy had us back to search the Channel until it became too dark to see. We returned for night landings and were back again at dawn the next morning. Sadly FVB was not found.
16th April was a big show when Le Havre was attacked. It was almost a rehearsal for Dieppe. The action was intense, the Huns up in force, the book shows Paddy having a half share in an FW190 confirmed, I had the other half but Paddy very generously withdrew his claim to give me my second confirmed victory. The previous day we did a deep penetration to Lille. A visiting doctor from Farnborough, a pilot with some experience but too many years, persuaded Paddy to allow him to fly with us. Paddy placed him as my number two, saying, ‘Fly with Len Thorne, he is very experienced, you will be safe with him.’ Wrong. As we crossed the coast the doctor, G/Cpt. Hugh Corner, and I were dropped on by two 190s and despite my calls to break, he failed to do so and was shot down. Paddy called the squadron to close on us but they were too late to help. I had to face a court of enquiry, but was exonerated from blame on the say-so of Paddy. There was a censure for allowing GC Corner to fly on that operation. Although I was exonerated, I still blamed myself, then and ever since for his death.
Although I was still (not for much longer) an NCO, I got to know Paddy very well. My wife (we were married Sept 1941 ) lived at Slough and Paddy’s fiancée, a girl-next-door romance, lived at Kingston. On days off, we travelled together on the train from Victoria. On these occasions Paddy always wore a mac to hide his decorations. I thought he was a great guy, a real hero and I was devastated when his death was announced, we all were.
In 2004, a Dublin radio station put out a one hour broadcast on him entitled ‘In Search of Paddy Finucane’. I had been interviewed by phone and so had a small part in the story. Paddy’s elder brother, Kevin, tipped me off and so I heard and taped the programme.
Hugh Godefroy. Then a flying officer, he had joined AFDU a few weeks before me. He was an excellent pilot and with F/Lt Denis Clive was detached to Farnborough to carry out comparative tests on the first FW190 to fall into our hands. This was the one that landed at Pembrey when the pilot, after bombing Portland, flew red on black and thought he was back in France. On returning to Duxford Hugh joined F/O. Walker and me to form the fighter affiliation flight under the command of S/Ldr. Jock Murray, DFM, DFC. We toured many Bomber Command airfields to teach the bomber boys how to ‘corkscrew’ in order to evade Luftwaffe attacks. Poor sods – little did they know! I remember that Hugh acquired an Alsation puppy, naturally called Spit and took him with him tucked into a parachute bag that he carried on his lap.
S/Ldr Reg Grant. The Australian CO of 452 Sqdn. We met often at briefings before ops. My enduring memory of him dates from Christmas Eve 1941. My newly wedded wife had come over to Kenley just
for the night so that we could attend a dance at Croydon airport. A small group of us went to Croydon by train and found ourselves in a carriage with, sitting opposite, several beligerent army chaps. There were five of us, myself and wife, my friend Dessie O’Connor, Reg Grant and one of his 452 pilots. The squaddies who had been in the Dunkirk evacuation, despite the presence of my wife, were all set for trouble. (One of our pilots had been badly beaten up only the week before.) Reg, who was quite a small man, faced them when they said, ‘Where were the airforce when we were being dive bombed?’ He said we were there further into France trying to stop the enemy before they got to the coast. He finally silenced them by saying that unlike those who escaped, many of our chaps, including his only brother, were shot down and killed there.
Lt Giles Guthrie. He was my counterpart in the NAFDU (Naval Air Fighting Development Unit). During my time at Duxford I had a sleeping out pass and we had rooms at a huge old farmhouse house in Duxford village. It belonged to a young couple, farmer Guy Smith and his wife Ynez. She had been a dancing instructress with one of the London big bands and loved to give parties for the officers and their wives. Giles and his lovely wife, Rhona, frequently attended and always stayed at College Farm both for Ynez’s and for mess parties, so, although we were not exactly in their social class, we got to know them very well and were never conscious of the social distinction. Many years after the war, I attended a Birmingham Chamber of Commerce lunch at the county cricket ground. Giles, who was then the chief executive of British Overseas Airways, was the guest speaker, he spotted me at the far end of my table and immediately left his seat to come round and greet me, to the amazement of the assembled company.
Jim Hallowes was briefly O/C Flying at AFDU, Wittering, from March 1943, taking over from Ted Smith, at the time of our move from Duxford to Wittering. He was there until July and I was sorry to see him go. He was a quiet, modest and very likeable man. It was not until some time later that I learned of his most distinguished career. Hallowes was given command of 222 Squadron at North Weald in June 1942. In August he took command of 165 Squadron and led it in the Dieppe operation on the 19th, destroying a Do217 and damaging another and on 8th November he damaged another FW190. Hallowes was awarded the DFC (gazetted 19th January 1943). In October 1943 he took command of 504 Squadron at Peterhead. Hallowes was promoted to acting wing commander in March 1944 and became station commander at Dunsfold. He stayed on in the RAF, in the Secretarial Branch, and retired on 8th July 1956 as a squadron leader, retaining the rank of Wing Commander. He went to work for the Ministry of Transport. Jim Hallowes died in 1987.
P/O Roy Hussey. DFC, DFM. A strikingly handsome young officer posted to AFDU for experience in 1944. He is in the group photograph taken at the Officers’ Mess dinner when W/Co Blackadder left, to be replaced by young Allan Wright. He re-turned to ‘ops’ with 19 Squadron and was sadly killed in an accident coming in to land at Dallachy in Mustang KH440 on February 20th 1945.
‘Sandy’ Johnstone was our Sqdn. Ldr. He was the C/O of 602 when I joined the squadron at Aire in July 1941. I did not get to know him before our move to Kenley as he was replaced immediately by S/Ldr Meagher. In fact, I did not meet him until long after the war when I attended a reunion in 1995. He very kindly autographed a copy of his book, which is now among my treasures.
W/Cdr John (Johnny) Kent. He was the Kenley wing leader in August 1941. An operation that is still fresh in my mind was on August 7th. 602 were flying as escort cover, flying above and to the right of 6 Blenheims. My logbook read, ‘I flew as Red 4 and when about 10 miles west of St Omer Red Section were dived on by 6 Me. 109s, they overshot and the leading e/a was attacked by W/Co Kent, who followed it down. I attacked the 2nd 109, firing a short burst from astern and slightly below. It turned onto its back and went down vertically leaving a trail of white smoke. I later claimed it probably destroyed but the W/Co confirmed that it was seen to crash so my claim was raised to one confirmed destroyed. P/O Thornton was missing.’
S/Ldr Jimmie Lacey was my flight commander very briefly in March 1942. During that month things warmed up and we started intensive operations. But by then, the FW190s were appearing in numbers and our losses started to mount. It was in this month that my friend ‘Dessie’ O’Connor, from training days, was shot down and killed. I remember Jimmie Lacey as a slim young man with very fair hair and piercing, pale blue eyes, It was many years later in the 1980s that I met him again at a Spitfire society AGM in London: by then he was very ill and died shortly after.
Sgt Bill Loud. Bill became a member of ‘A’ Flight 602 in March 1942. He flew as my number two several times and may have been in that position when he scored his first success, a ‘probable’, on May 1st 1942. I was on that show and also claimed a probable as well as a damaged. See also my comment at the end of the Paddy Finucane story.
S/Ldr James MacLachlan. Another of the really notable members of the RAF. His biography, One Armed Mac by Brian Cull and Roland Symons, was published in July 2003. I recommend it as a good read. He had two stints at AFDU, the first was as a supernumerary member but it is the second which has remained in my memory. In Aces High it says that he joined AFDU in June, but he actually joined at the beginning of May or even the end of April, as we flew together on May 3rd in a Heston Phoenix. As described earlier, it was on this trip that another light aircraft chose to join us in formation. To warn him off, Mac unscrewed his false left arm and shook it at the pilot, out of the port window. The operation with Geoff Page described in Aces High was carried out from AFDU in two of the Unit’s Mustangs. To enable them to achieve maximum speed both machines were ‘hand polished’ and we all took turns to help. On 29 June the duo participated in the destruction of six aircraft (four Hs 126s of JG 105, two each, and two KG-6 Ju-88s, sharing one with Page) in a single sortie. On his next mission on 18 July his Mustang FD442 was hit by ground fire when crossing the French coast and crash-landed. MacLachlan was critically injured. He was taken prisoner, and died on 31 July 1943. His loss in their second operation saddened us all.
Johnny Niven. We were together during training from December 1940, through SFTS, Hullavington to Operational Training at 57 OTU, Hawarden. It was there that I really became friendly with John and I have several photos of us together as Sgt Pilots. We were separated while I did my stint at 41 Squadron and I was delighted when we met again in the Segeants’ Mess at Kenley in July 1941. We flew in ‘A’ Flight and later that year John was commissioned and, due to our heavy losses, achieved rapid promotion. He became ‘A’ Flight commander and thus my immediate commanding officer. He was just 21 and I, with many others, attended his typically Scottish 21st birthday party, which took place just before he gained his commission. I vaguely remember holding him back when he tried to march round the parade ground backwards. Many, many years later we met in one of those coincidences which rarely happen. John was shot down later in the war and I believe was badly injured. During a visit some 20 years ago to Hendon, I was lunching in the restaurant when John walked up and greeted me.Not long before our meeting, he had suffered a serious heart attack and was still not in the best of health. He invited me to visit his home at Inverness for a short holiday. Sadly, before I could make the trip, he suffered a further heart attack and died.
W/Cdr Geoff Page. As mentioned in the recollection of F/Lt James MacLachlan, Geoff was another of the supernumeraries attached to AFDU. He did some general flying but his real purpose was to join S/Ldr MacLachlan in their attack on the German western training bases. We met at various air shows after the war. I made the visit to Capel le Ferne for the commemoration service of the Battle of Britain Memorial some years ago. Geoff was then seriously ill but determined to be there and we had a brief conversation. He managed to autograph my copy of his book The Guinea Pigs, which tells the story of his recovery from terrible burns to his face and hands caused when his aircraft was shot down in August 1940. He was cared for by Sir Archibald MacIndoe and was the founder chairman of the Guinea Pig Club.
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bsp; W/Com John Peel. He was another of the wing leaders at Kenley in 1941. On July 21st I made my 4th operational flight with 602 Squadron, when we escorted 3 Stirlings to bomb the railway yards at Lille. Near the target we were attacked by five 109s and the Wing Commander was badly hit but managed to return to base. F/Lt Glyn Richie was not so lucky, he was shot down and killed. On the return leg very heavy flak was experienced.
