WW2 Research Help.
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WW2 Research Help.
I am researching my Uncle's RAF career. His main flying was to deliver Beaghfighters to North Africa and probably in the last half of 1944 to Italy.
F/O Ronald Leeming flew with 1, Ferry Sqdn. and 1, Overseas Aircraft Delivery Unit, RAF Portreath. He crashed in February 1945 so I do not have his pilot 's Log Book for reference.
I would like to know the progression of a delivery flight as he seemed to have an aircraft allocated to him and his crew (P/O Dean W/Op) and the only reference I have been able to trace is date to Portreath and then several days later "crew returning from overseas".
Any information would be invaluable.
F/O Ronald Leeming flew with 1, Ferry Sqdn. and 1, Overseas Aircraft Delivery Unit, RAF Portreath. He crashed in February 1945 so I do not have his pilot 's Log Book for reference.
I would like to know the progression of a delivery flight as he seemed to have an aircraft allocated to him and his crew (P/O Dean W/Op) and the only reference I have been able to trace is date to Portreath and then several days later "crew returning from overseas".
Any information would be invaluable.
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WW2 Research Help
In all probability the ferry flights to N Africa departed UK from Portreath and routed via Gibraltar. For more details, have you considered looking at the Operations Record Books (ORB) for the ferry units you mention. These are held at the National Archives, Kew. Research there is an enjoyable experience! The ORBs for RAF Gibraltar (or North Front as it was originally known) don't tend to mention the enormous number of visitors transiting through. Sorry I can't be more help.
The book "Clean Sweep the life of AM Sir Ivor Broom" contains the following prose on his posting to the Middle East.
"First they picked up a new aircraft and spent a couple of days testing and checking it. It was a Blenheim IV fitted with long range tanks. Next they had to fly it to Portreath in Cornwall which, by then, had become an RAF airfield from where most aircraft destined for overseas, via Gibraltar, departed.
At Portreath, a surprise awaited Ivor and his crew. A number of Blenheims would be making the journey and a leader would be required: someone with experience to shepherd the others. Sgt. Pilot Broom was found to be the one with the most experience.
The flight from Portreath had its dangers and not only from the enemy. It taxed the range of the aircraft even with the extra tankage and required careful navigation for a flight which was entirely over water. Neither Spain nor Portugal were to be overflown. The Luftwaffe kept a sizeable long range fighter force in Western France. So the route, across the Bay of Biscay, had to be well out to sea. After passing Cape Finisterre, the coasts of Spain and Portugal could, if given good visibility, be kept in sight until, rounding the South East of Iberia, the crew headed due East towards Gibraltar via the straits of that name"
The book goes on to describe the difficulties of landing at Gibraltar [ runway extended into the sea, crosswinds, gusts and eddies etc.] The flight took seven hours forty minutes. Broom left Gibraltar two days later for Malta.
Other books by aircrew, who flew the route, give a similar description and I imagine that your uncle's experiences were the same.
Hope that this is some help.
"First they picked up a new aircraft and spent a couple of days testing and checking it. It was a Blenheim IV fitted with long range tanks. Next they had to fly it to Portreath in Cornwall which, by then, had become an RAF airfield from where most aircraft destined for overseas, via Gibraltar, departed.
At Portreath, a surprise awaited Ivor and his crew. A number of Blenheims would be making the journey and a leader would be required: someone with experience to shepherd the others. Sgt. Pilot Broom was found to be the one with the most experience.
The flight from Portreath had its dangers and not only from the enemy. It taxed the range of the aircraft even with the extra tankage and required careful navigation for a flight which was entirely over water. Neither Spain nor Portugal were to be overflown. The Luftwaffe kept a sizeable long range fighter force in Western France. So the route, across the Bay of Biscay, had to be well out to sea. After passing Cape Finisterre, the coasts of Spain and Portugal could, if given good visibility, be kept in sight until, rounding the South East of Iberia, the crew headed due East towards Gibraltar via the straits of that name"
The book goes on to describe the difficulties of landing at Gibraltar [ runway extended into the sea, crosswinds, gusts and eddies etc.] The flight took seven hours forty minutes. Broom left Gibraltar two days later for Malta.
Other books by aircrew, who flew the route, give a similar description and I imagine that your uncle's experiences were the same.
Hope that this is some help.
Slightly off topic but interesting nonetheless..
Squadron Leader Tommy Broom
Squadron Leader Tommy Broom
