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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1297.PDF
JUNE 5TH, 1941 Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm News »L;' and Announcements R.A.F. Benevolent Fund . "E^OLLOWING the recent announcement by-LorJ- -T Riverdale that an anonymous citizen ha'l : offered £1,000 in National War Bonds to thj ' R.A.F. Benevolent Fund if 19 others would do" the same, the Fund has just received three more •; gifts each of £1,003. One is from Lord Swinton,a former Air Minister; one from Mr. Percy Lister, of the United Kingdom Commercial Corporation.; ',, Ltd.; and the third from Lord and Lady River : a»1e. Each donor liae given the sum 'outright,, whether .the 3620.000 mark is reached or not. Naturally they hope it will be.Lord Riverdale, who is also keenly interested in the A.T.C. movement, is chairman of the AppealsCommittee of the R.A.F. Benevolent Fund. The other members are Mr. Colin F. Campbell, chair-: man of the National Provincial Bank; Mrs. Vesey /•• 'Holt; Mr. J. F. Linney, President of the Auc--. tioneers and Estate Agents Institute: Lord Luke of Pavenham; Viscount Nuffield; Mr. W. H. Senneck,who was closely connected with the late Lord Wake- field; Viscount Swinton; and Mrs. H. J. Tennant. Awards THE KING has been graciously pleased toapprove of the following awards in recogni-tion of gallantry displayed in flying operations against the enemy: — DISTINGUISHED SERVICE OEDEE. Act. Wing Cdr. K. B. F. SMITH. No. 58Squadron.—This officer has been engaged in active operations against the enemy over a long period.He participated in the first raid of the war. and since then he has taken part in numerous bomb-ing missions over Germany in addition to many convoy escorts. Throughout the whole period hehas displayed exceptional powers of leadership, courage and determination, and has undoubted^-• contributed in a large measure to the operational efficiency of his squadron. Act. Sqn. Ldr. R. SAWREY-COOKSON, D.F.C..No. 149 Squadron.—This officer has participated in numerous operational missions as captain ofaircraft, nis tenacity and determination to seek . and destroy his allotted target have been most_ marked. This was particularly so one night in .'". March, 1941, when, in an attack on the enemy:« bailie cruisers at Brest, he made twelve runs over the target before releasing his bombs. On a.:••- later occasion, when over Kiel, he was twice forced down to almost ground level by anti-air-craft fire, but, in spite of damage to his aircraft, he came back each time, eventually releasing hisbombs nver the target. His gallantry and devo- tion to duty have been outstanding, j. BAR TO THE DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS. fif Act. Fit. Lt. L. W. COI.EMAN, D.F.C..•• i.A.F.V.T!., No. 148 Squadron.-One night in '*Ti«ay, 1941. this officer was the captain of anaircraft .which carried out an attack on the aero- drome at Benina. He displayed great skill and• tenacity in locating bis target, and carried out his attack with great determination, bombing andmachine-gunning the aerodrome from different heights, sometimes from less than 1,000 feet.lie destroyed at least two Junkers 52s on the ground and damaged others. Just after he hadreturned from this attack an incoming aircraft crashed and caught fire. Though the petrol tanksand bombs on the crashed aircraft were explod- : ,ing, Fit. Lt. Coleman ran to another aircraft,. ^standing nearby, started the engine, and taxied it away to safety. Tie has continuously displayed. outstanding courage and devotion to duty, DisTiNGnsiren FLYING CROSS. - Sqn. Ldr. L. W. HOWARD, NO. 77 Squadron.—This officer lias commanded an operational flight •'• since July. 1940. During this period he has takenpart in numerous attacks on important targets in Germany, and also on the enemy-occupied portof ;Bordeaux. He has at all times displayed a fine spirit in the execution of these flights, andhas set and maintained a high standard of opera- tional efficiency throughout his command.Act. Sqn. Lcfr. R. ANDERSON, R.A.F.O., No. 83 Squadron.—This officer has participated in manyoperational flights over enemy and enemy-occu- pied territory, often in the face of intense andsustained anti-aircraft fire. In all these opera- tiona^ he has shown the greatest determination inpressing home his attacks, and, by his consistent seal and efficiency, has set a splendid cKampleto all. Act. Sqn. Ldr. K. P. HMM.ES. NO 44 Squadron.—Thit; officer hat participated in many attacks On enemy dockyards in France nnd Germany, Aridalso on important oil and rail-way depots. One TOUGH SUBJECTS : The King talking to paratroops at a recent Demonstration. night in February on returning from a raid overDusseldorf, he was attacked by an enemy fighter when over his base aerodrome. Although the portengine of his aircraft was put out of action by the enemy's fire, he displayed great skill inevading the attacker and landed safely without the help of landing lights. He has been a suc-cessful and resourceful: pilot, and has pressed home his attacks with great determination. Act. Sqn. Ldr, A. H. SMVTHE, A.F.O., No. 214Squadron.—This officer has commanded a flight for the last five months. He has completednumerous operational flights against the enemy in the execution of which he has displayed splendidleadership and great determination in his efforts 10 bomb his targets accurately. On one occasion,at Bremen, being unable to locate his allotted target owing to haze, he flew to Wilhelmshaven,where he dropped his bombs on a warehouse, start- ing two big fires, lie has set a splendid example.Act. Fit. Lt. R. E. TALUS. R.A.F.V.R.. No. 82 Squadron (since reported missing).—In April. 1941,this officer was detailed to seek and attack enemy shipping off the Norwegian coast. Flying amongthe Norwegian islands, he observed a newly built runway on a small island and five Messerschmittson the ground with their engines running; two others were flying round the aerodrome.Despite considerable anti-aircTaft fire and the presence of the two fighters. Fit. Lt. Tallis car-ried out a daring attack from a very low height. One of his bombs burst in the centre of the run-way, and another exploded beneath one of the enemy fighters as it was taking off, completc.lvdestroying it. The aircraft on .the ground were also machine-gunned. After the attack, in com-pany with another of our aircraft, he was engaged in resisting the attacks ot three enemy fighters forabout sixteen .minutes. He has carried out numer- ous operational flights, and has at all times dis-played great courage and a keen determination to reaok his objective under any condition. Aof. F/O. R, W. FASTNEDGE, R.A.F.V.R., No.139 Hquadron.— This officer was the observer in an aircraft whi< h was one. of a formation detailed toattack special targets at, Den Holder. In the face of intense anti-aircraft fire, he bombed his speci-fic target from a height of only 50 feet, scoring a direct hit. Immediately afterwards he waswounded in the leg, and, at the same time, his pilot was also hit.The aircraft began to.fly erraticallv. and F/O. Fastnedge thereby realised that his pilot must bebadly wounded. Although the aircraft was still flying at only 50 feet and within the target area,the.pilot was removed from his seat witli the aid of the air gunner, and F/O. Fftstnedge took overthe controls and flew the aircraft back to base. On arrival over the aeupdrome. the pilot wasassisted back into his seat in order that he might. land the aircraft, bat, owing to bis dazed condi-tion, he was unable to aee sufficiently. F/O. Fast- nedge guided him in, and between the'ti they madea successful landing:. The courage, initiative and ability of this ofrter, under extremelv difficult cir-cumstances, were of the highest nrdcr. Art. Fit, Lt, G, B, GOODE, R.A.F.V.R., No.105 Squadron. P/O. .1. F. HOGAN, No. 105 Squadron.In May. 1941. Fit, Lt. Uoode, P/O. Hosan and Sgt. Rowland were the pilot, navigator and wire-less operator-air gunner respectively of an air- craft which, despite the absence of cloud cover,attacked the oil storage tanks to the west of Rotterdam.In the face of intense anti-aircraft fire, Fit. Lt Goode descended to a low level, releasing bis bombsover the objective. During this attack P/O. Hogan was severely wounded by a shell which burst onthe front of the aircraft. Fit. Lt. Goode had altered course for home whenhe was attacked in turn by each of five pursuing enemy aircraft. P/O. Hogan, who had retainedconsciousness, rendered valuable assistance by giving clear instructions to his pilot, who was thusable to adopt skilful evading tactics. Sgt. Rowland was wounded in the trigger fniRerand his starboard gun put out of action. Never- theleBS, be continued firing with the remaininggun, worked the turret by hand, as the mech.mi- cal control was damaged.The attackers eventually broke away, and Fit. Lt. Ooodo, although wounded in the hand, flew hisdamaged aircraft back to this country, where be made a successful forced larding. Throughoutthe operation Fit. Lt, Goode, P/O. llo«;.n and Sgt.. Rowland displayed the greatest coiir.ii-r. fortitudeand devotion to duty. DISTINGUISHED FLYING MEDAL.Sst. Geoffrey Serpell P/OWI.AND, NO. 105 Squadron.—For citation Bee Fit. Lt. Goode andP/O. Hogan, above. London Qazette Royal Air Force AIT Ministry, May 23rd!, 1941 General Uulim Branch, The follg. are granted commns. for durn. of hns.tilities as P/Os. on prtibn. :—W/O. : (Apr, 261 C. L. Trickett. Temp. W/O.: (May 1| L. J.Brown. Fit. Sgts. : (Apr. 8) L. Ward; (Apr. 24) .1. F. Smith; (Apr. 25) G. II. Bridges; (May 1).1. A. Mc.Cudden. Sgts.: (Mar. 27) K. T. Butcher; (Apr. 3) E. R. Pierce; (Apr 24) L. C. Giles. A. .1Scolt, D.F.M.. W. S. Jenkins; (Apr. 20) K. T Sellick; (Apr. 28) G. W. Utting: (May 1) ]•'. (i.Constable, D.F.M.; (May 3) E. .1. Harrod. F/O. on probn. L. S. M. Bailev. A.r.C. is ran-firmed in bis appt. and promoted to war aubstve. rank of Fit. I,t. (Apr. ]).The follg. P/Os. on probn. are confirmed in their appl.s. and promoted to war snbstve. ran'cof F/O. :-(Apr, 1) I,. Bennett, D.F.C., W. Brail- shaw, A. K. Cook, D.F.C., J. N. Craigie, K. .1.Cutler, C. T. Dacombe, R. C. Haine, D.F.C., N. B. Harvey, G Rws J If Searby, R. R. B. 8imp-snn. F. II. Stnbbs. D.F.M., S. C. Button. R. H Wegllake, ,T. C Wheeler. R. W. Cox, W. (IMi-Arthur. 1. R. MfiHlarmlrt. O.F.C, T. F. S« ch,D.F.C.; (Apr. 71 J. It. A. Carsle.n, N. W. McT'r. I.
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