After three memorable days in the land of Sir Walter Scott, a man who seems to be the patron saint and greatest Scot to have ever lived in the eyes of the Scotch (I noted that, Dad, as he is your favourite poet), we returned to London and had another day wandering around the city. After two days in camp we were given another weekend off and this time Ian Reid, Pip, myself and another Auckland Varsity lad went to Oxford. We drove from our camp, a distance of about 40 miles and arrived early on the Saturday afternoon.
This amazing city is all I expected and I enjoyed every minute of the stay, especially wandering around the colleges. I met some NZ pilots and observers there whom I had known in NZ. We went to a dance that night and later a Wellington chap took us to a party given by some of the students in the rooms of a young Lord. They were all Lords, Dukes and Honourables and were certainly a very queer lot of undergraduates. Their accents were ridiculous, their hair was a foot long and they seemed to be absolutely bored with the war. I think Ian and I would have been involved in a fight if we had stayed much longer. How these parasites escaped conscription is a mystery; however they wouldn't have been any good in an Army. I am afraid I do not approve of aristocrats if these chaps are representative; still, it was an experience meeting them. We wandered around the colleges after the party, it was a very still, clear, and starry night and these ancient buildings looked wonderful in the moonlight. The next day was spent seeing Magdalene and Balliue Colleges, the river, deer parks and other sights of Oxford. We returned to camp last night and at present are awaiting news of further training as we are all keen to commence flying again.
We spend the evenings here in a real old-fashioned English way; we stroll down to the local village inn and have a tankard of ale with the local pensioners. They play darts with us and smoke pipes and it is a real treat to hear them discuss old Hitler. These old chaps might be a bit gruff but they are true English and are worth a dozen of those nincompoops we met at Oxford. We certainly realise to the full that there is a war on here and the sights that I have seen lately merely fill me with a desire to get into the air as soon as possible and try to do something in the cause of Old England. The spirit of these English people is simply wonderful, the way they keep going while suffering in a way our own people cannot appreciate, is really remarkable. Since arriving in England I feel proud and honoured to think that I am playing a part in fighting for such a wonderful people. I am sure that if the boys at home could only realise what is happening here and what is at stake, they would take a more active interest in this war. Well, I hope this letter arrives in NZ, I will send a covering note in case. I am fighting fit and weigh 11st 8lbs after the boat trip. Thanks for birthday greetings, had a great 23rd birthday in Edinburgh, we all celebrated it. I hope you are all well at home, love to all, Hal.
C/- NZ House, The Strand, London, Nov 4th
I think it is time I wrote home again and answered the two letters I received last week. They were written on 2nd October and 9th October respectively and the first one took 18 days, the second one only taking 11 days to arrive in England per clipper and Atlantic plane. Naturally I was very pleased to have such recent news of home and the boys were rather envious of me, as their letters can take about 8 weeks by sea. I was glad to hear that you had received my Bermuda mail and other letters. I also sent presents from Bermuda for you, Mum, Dorothy and Pat, I trust that they have duly arrived by now.
Well since I last wrote to you I have been posted to a training school in Chester, Cheshire, or actually just over the border in Wales. (ED: No. 57 Operational Training Unit at Hawarden) It is rather strange that my first home in Britain should be in the country of my ancestors. Although I have to say the climate here is simply shocking, there is no other word for it. We have fogs so thick that you can't see your nose and incessant rain and we are fed up with it. We were posted to this station on October 20th and spent the day travelling up here by train from London. That is always a pleasure as I think the English countryside in autumn is delightful.
We spent that night in Chester and drove the 3 miles out to the camp the next day. Actually this is a new station and of course things are rather disorganised, however we soon settled down. For the first week we enjoyed fairly good weather and managed to do quite a lot of flying. These new machines are delightful to fly after our old planes in NZ and we were enjoying ourselves immensely. About a week ago the weather broke and since then we have been attending lectures and going to town every day, rather boring. My Flight Commander is a NZ man by the name of Kain and strangely enough he fought in the same squadron as Cobber Kain, his namesake and fellow countryman. He is a great chap and gives the NZ boys a good time; we often go to town with him and finish up at a party. We also have two NZ instructors in our flight and actually "B" flight at this school is a real NZ outfit. The NZ boys have done very well in the RAF and that fact, combined with the name given to our troops for good behaviour in the last war, has made things very easy for us during our stay in England so far. It is certainly a real advantage to be received so well everywhere when so far from home. We have an English instructor in our flight who has the record number of machines to his credit during the war so far and he is now enjoying a well deserved rest. Naturally we are all making the most of benefiting from his experience in aerial battles and we're very fortunate to have a man like him to teach us all the methods of attack. I'm sure that when the weather clears again I am going to enjoy flying here and, of course, we are all keen to get to a squadron and get our training finished with.
Chester, itself, is a pretty town on the River Dee and is one of the oldest towns in England, being built originally by the Romans. The Cathedral is a grand old place and apparently is famous for its old vaults and cloisters. We manage to find plenty of fun here and go into town almost every night attending dances, parties and the theatre. I met a NZ girl who is acting in a travelling revue company which is playing here. She introduced me to all the company and they were exactly like the "Good Companions", you remember that book, Dad.
Mr Jordan came out to see us the other day and asked if he could do anything for us, of course all the boys wanted money from home. I don't think he can do much about that. Our long leave when we arrived bankrupted everyone and left me rather low in cash as well. Bob is still in hospital and Pip and Ian are at another school in Berkshire, however I have four other NZ boys here with me. Well, must close now and I look forward to another letter by clipper very much. Love to all, Hal.
C/- NZ House, The Strand, London, December 1st
It is time I wrote home again and as I have a free Sunday afternoon I will take the opportunity to catch up on my mail. I was very pleased to receive mail from home two days ago, written from Rotorua in October. I can just imagine how pleasant the weather would be at this time of the year and what a contrast it would present to this English winter which has now arrived with a vengeance. This climate certainly leaves a great deal to be desired and I cannot understand how anyone could ever become accustomed to this continual rain, wind and acres of mud. However there is another side to the picture and I have seen the English countryside in the autumn when it is simply beautiful and I am told that spring and summer are even better.
Most of our lads are considering applying for a transfer to the East and I am seriously thinking of it myself as the conditions in the RAF in the Mediterranean are much more like our own climate. There is also more doing at the moment in that direction, although our own branch of the RAF is really doing a lot of work in England as you have no doubt read in the papers. We were due to finish our training here at Chester three weeks ago, but the weather has been so bad, our course has been delayed. I am due to leave for a squadron any day now and am very keen to be able to do something at last after 12 months of training. It's a year on the 18th of December since I first went into camp at Woodburn and last month I flew my first solo in a Spitfire.
Last week I was given 48 hours leave and Campbell White, one of the NZ boys in that Blenheim photo, and myse
lf went down to Stoke-on-Trent, about 40 miles away from here, and saw the Corns family. I had a letter of introduction to them from Mr Hardley. They were simply staggering in their hospitality. Mr Corn spent the day showing us around his huge tile factories which were very interesting and then took us home for a meal of pheasants and wine, served by numerous servants in true English style. Cam and I had a marvellous dinner and spent the most enjoyable time at their home that we have had, so far, in England. We each had breakfast served to us in bed the next morning and altogether relaxed after six weeks of camp life. This break made us realise how wonderful it is to stay in a home occasionally and to really appreciate the comfort that we used to take for granted, just to see a family sitting around the fire cheered us both up more than anything else has for weeks. In fact, living under conditions such as I have been lately and being so far away from home has given me a new perspective on life. I realise that the family unit and home mean so much more than flying and fighting and even travelling, that the sooner this war is finished the better. All the NZ boys are the same and the main topic of conversation is what we will do "when we get home." However, on the other hand we all realise how lucky we are to be in the RAF and so far we have enjoyed every minute of flying in these super aeroplanes we are now using
It seems hard to realise that Xmas is so near, the Corns have invited me there and I think, if leave is available, I shall go and enjoy a real old English Xmas. They have a beautiful home and are really fine people. I received my birthday cake, Mum, many thanks, it was very good and was consumed by about 20 pilots with all due ceremony. I also received a welcome parcel from the Travel Club in Auckland. I will write and thank them. Love to all at home, Hal
C/- NZ House, The Strand, London, December 30th
It is time I wrote home again and as I am on leave at the moment I will take the opportunity. I received letters from you and Pat last week, posted Nov 23rd per Clipper and was pleased to have such recent news from home.
At the moment I am enjoying four days leave before going to a squadron and really commencing work. If it hadn't been for the weather I should have been posted weeks ago. I decided to come to London as such opportunities are few and far between and at the moment I am sitting in the Overseas League rooms. I always stay at this club, it is beautifully furnished and in the middle of town, just off Piccadilly, St. James Street. We are honorary members (Lord Nuffield pays 2/- a day for each of us for bed and breakfast).and there are always parties and dances at night attended by the best of London's many beautiful girls. As you can imagine I enjoy it here and, more than anything else, I spend most of my free time rambling around old places that I have always dreamed of seeing.
I am alone this time as the other NZ lads didn’t have leave just now. I'm going to see Pip and Ian if possible; they are near here on bombers. It is three months since I saw those boys. Bob is on his own at another 'drome', also on bombers. They are due to start operations over Germany very soon. Garry and I were the lucky ones going to Spitfires and I still can't believe my good fortune, you simply have no idea what the new planes are like.
To return to London, I spent this morning seeing the "Great Dictator", don't miss that picture, it is a grand show and Chaplin is as good as ever. I am also going to see "Gone With the Wind", running here in Leicester Square, as it is supposed to be a great picture. I went to a party last night, another one tonight and tomorrow being New Year's Eve, of course, there will be great celebrations. We kept on flying during Xmas to complete our training and flew Xmas morning. A heavy fog came down at noon, we finished up at the drome and then three of us went to Liverpool, only half an hour by road. We had Xmas dinner in a large restaurant there and went to a pantomime at the Empire. That evening we met the girls in the show and had a wonderful Xmas party, arriving back at the drome at 9am the next day. The party was in a lovely private home and I was very glad to have the chance of spending some of Xmas day in a home. We went back to Liverpool the next night and saw the show girls again, they were a grand crowd. Luckily we have absolute freedom when not flying and usually stay at a hotel in Liverpool whenever we feel like a change from camp, as long as we report for flying when wanted, they don't care where we are.
The next day I had a strange experience. I was leading a formation of Spitfires at 11am when a German bomber was sighted over a large town at 6000 ft. We were about ten minutes away but didn't see it and being the nearest planes to the scene, they called me up by radio to lead our Spits to attack. Unfortunately my radio had become useless (a common occurrence) a few minutes before and I was unable to hear a word. You can imagine the disappointment on landing to hear all about it and to have missed the opportunity. Although we are only just at the stage of completing our training, we had everything loaded and had the advantage of ten to one. However I suppose I will have plenty of opportunities to use the guns later on.
I have received several parcels lately, one from home sent in September, one from a sewing circle in Kohi and one from a golf club in Wellington and one from the Travel Club and one from the Canterbury Society. I am very grateful for these; they had Xmas pudding, Xmas cakes, tobacco, chocolate, socks, books and all sorts of things. I always go to NZ House when in London and read the good old Herald. I sincerely hope my Xmas mail arrived, I sent 60 Xmas cards and various parcels on Nov 2nd, so they should have been in time.
I thought of you all at Xmas time and felt rather homesick that day; however these English people know how to spend a Xmas night and at the party the rooms were decorated with holly, mistletoe and trees, a real old Dickens picture. The only thing missing being the snow, the winter is not very severe over here yet and consists more of rain and fog than snow. Well I must close now and look forward to hearing from home again very soon. I am fit as ever, living well, enjoying every minute of leave and as keen on flying as ever. Goodbye now. Best love to all, Hal.
CHAPTER FIVE
January- May 1941
The Formation of 485 NZ Spitfire Squadron
C/- Queens Hotel, Chester, Cheshire, Jan 5th (ED: To his younger brother Bruce)
At the moment the temperature is well below zero, the ground has been covered with a heavy fall of snow for days and I find it very hard to imagine you people basking in a sun that I haven't seen for weeks. We have had to get used to flying on frozen aerodromes and there is quite a technique required to land a Spitfire on snow, although the landscape looks wonderful from the air.
At the moment I am in a hotel in Chester and will be leaving tomorrow for my squadron. (ED: No. 258 Squadron) This is really a great event and the day I have been training for since Dec 18th 1939. I feel now that the rest is up to me, for after all I have the best flying training in the world behind me, the best aeroplane in the world to fly and am fighting fit, so we will see what can be done. You can also rest assured, old man, that no New Zealander over here lacks any bitterness or any will to fight these Huns to the finish. I used to think that we were fed with pure propaganda when I joined up, but I have seen enough over here to change my opinion on that subject and I am sure that people at home cannot know what is happening here and what is at stake. Of course at the moment we have a tremendous technical advantage over the enemy with our new machines, but I do not intend to underestimate the old German and I can imagine that my first few patrols next week will see me very much awake.
To revert to the lighter side of our life, I have recently spent a few days in London and wrote home from that city describing my activities. Of course leave is becoming precious at this stage and the usual tendency is to make the most of it while you can. Everyone treats us with a sort of hero-worship that is embarrassing at times. In fact I am afraid that settling down again after this war could present a strange problem to me, however I will not worry about that now. Will write again soon when I have done something worth describing. Cheerio, love to all at home, Hal.
C/- County Hotel, Newcastle upon Tyne, 7th Jan
It is time I wrote home again, I wrote last w
eek from London but was so broke I had to send it by surface mail, however will despatch this one by clipper. Since last writing by air mail I have done very little but fly all day and have completed my training at last. The weather has improved slightly. When I say improved, I mean it has started snowing instead of continual rain and when the snow freezes, the aerodrome becomes quite pleasant to land on. The whole district has been snow covered for a week and it really makes a beautiful sight from the air.
Cam White, George Marshall, Harry Dobbyn and I are at the same squadron and we spent all day yesterday travelling over here from Chester. It was a long trip across Lancashire and Yorkshire through heavy snow all the way. Of course the moors look very desolate at this time of year and the famous old towns of the "West Riding" county looked anything but inspiring under their mantle of snow, smoke and fog. We are going to our new station this morning, it is not far from this city and there we will join some more of our boys, John Hutcheson, Alan Shaw and Gary Francis who are in a Hurricane Squadron there. I'm not sure whether Gary is on Spits or Hurricanes just now. We are very fortunate to be together at the same squadron and it took a great deal of talking to manage it.
I must fly down and see Pip, Ian and Bob now I have my own plane, they are not far away at a bomber squadron and will be starting work over Germany this week. I haven't seen them for three months and what a reunion we will have when we arrive down there in our Spitfires. It certainly seems a long time since we left home last August and so much has happened in those five months that we seem to live in an entirely new world. I find it hard to believe that you are all living the same old life at home after what I have seen in England. However it is a great comfort to me to realise that home is still safe and secure and the memory of those happy days in NZ is the one ideal for which I am fighting. Unless we had some ideal to fight for this business of mass murder known as war would seem so ridiculous and farcical that I'm afraid I would lose my faith in everything. However, forgive my ramblings and when it is all over and we have settled down to sanity and security, we must see that no possibility ever occurs of this happening again.
Our Father's War Page 3
