"C" Flight and 578 Squadrons and 4 Group Bomber Command
It had always been a move that was very much disliked when the powers that be in Bomber Command decided to create a new Squadron, 578, in 4 Group. It was decided to transfer , from Snaith in S.Yorks,the whole of "C" Flight of 51 Sqdn. in 4 Group to form the nucleus of the new 578 Sqdn. to be based at nearby Burn , near Selby,S.Yorks. Despite the very angry protests, "C" Flight was officially designated as 578 Sqdn. even before the move to Burn was made At that time I was nearing the end of my Operational tour which had taken nearly eighteen months to complete due to my transfer from 105 Sqdn. to 51. and the time of converting on to "Heavies" in between various other postings (BAT (Beam Approach Transition )courses, night vision courses etc. before I was officially Operational again. During this time I flew Bostons, Mitchells and even a captured Junkers 88 before I was eventually posted to Snaith to continue my interrupted tour and made the majority of my Operations starting with the Hamburg raid of July 23rd. 1943 and eventually, finishing with three raids on Berlin,the last on Jan.28th.1944 . I had made the first of my trips on Mosquito's with 105 Sqdn. from Marham on Oct.27th.1942 (Power station, Antwerp, low level daylight), made an abortive Met flight at the astronomical height of 30,00ft to Hanover which had to be abandoned because of "con trails" and was then shot up ,wounded and crashed back at Marham after we had bombed the German aerodrome at Leeuwarden, Holland on Oct. 30th. and had the nose of the Mossie shot away and the port engine set on fire by the so called "Light " Flak of the ground defenses. I was in Ely Hospital for about two weeks and after a bit of sick leave I was back with the Sqdn. on a low level daylight to Courtrai Marshalling Yards, Belgium on Dec.14th.1942. I made the last of my nine "Ops" with "Mossies" to Aulnoye marshalling yards on January 13th.1943. and was then posted to 109 Sqdn. Wyton , Mosquitoe's to learn how to use "Oboe" and then as mentioned before , on various training courses Still determined to get on to something more substantial, I was eventually sent to Marston Moor, H.C.U (Heavy Conversion Unit) to crew up and was then posted to 51 Sqdn. Snaith where I continued with my tour of Ops. I was credited with 8 operational trips on Mosquito's and had completed 21 more with 51 and 578 on Halifaxes with only the last two trips of the tour being flown with 578 Sqdn. Even then we had not then moved to Burn and I flew my "C" Flight Halifax of 51. Sqdn. on Jan., both to Berlin on Jan.20th. and Jan 28th.1944 from Snaith for my last two trips but as I was now officialy with 578 when my award of the D.F.C. was announced it was as a member of 578 Sqdn. I had been taken off Ops one short of the required 30 due to the extended time that my tour had taken. The vast majority of my tour had been with 51 and although 578 had the privilege of later having the only Halifax V.C. of the war, (Cyril Barton who had trained with me in the States but a little later, and was a good friend also from the famous "C" Flight 51 Sqdn.), I always considered myself as being a 51 Sqdn. "bod" as did so many of the people that attended the 51 Squadron Reunions after the war. Ernie Herrald was Deputy Flight Commander to the beloved "Charle" Porter of "C" Flight but had finished his "ops" before the transfer to 578 took place. It was rare for crews to mingle in the little spare time available but there was always an affinity between my crew and Ernie's and we often went out together.. Ernie was one of the very few car owners, albeit a bit cramped to attempt 14 people, so he was very popular. We all had bikes and biked everywhere. It was also highly unusual for all but one of Ernie's crew to be decorated and bears witness to what was undoubtedly the most devastating period of the Bomber Commands assault on Germany's cities and towns . Midsummer 1943 until
March 1944 was the period that Bomber Command suffered it's highest losses. I was very proud of the fact that four of my crew were decorated but each and every one of them deserved it. The actual award was a bit of an anti-climax as the medal came through the letterbox one day with a very nice note from King George V1 "Greatly regretting that he was unable to personally present the medal that I had so well earned". I suggested to my M.P. some time ago that an invitation to the people who had not been to "Buck House" to receive their honours, because of the King's illness , could be given to one of the numerous "Garden Parties" that the Palace gives each year as some sort of recompense . He heartily agreed with me but I think that Bomber Command was a "No, No " by that time. I side with Edith Piaff's sentiments. Regle