Operation Goodwill 1946 (Merged)

[Hipper]

In July and August 1946 sixteen Lancasters of 35 Squadron went on Operation Goodwill, a trip to the U.S.A. to show the Americans some of the 'British Flyer Boys' that had helped win the war. My late father was amongst the aircrew and I have an album of photos that illustrate this trip, plus the earlier formation flying to mark the Victory Day parade in June.

I've not seen any mention of this operation in these pages, nor indeed much on the internet so I thought I could rectify that by posting some of these photos on this thread along with a few notes which come from a booklet prepared by the late Bob Hornby from notes and photos shown to him by Colin Earnshaw, who was amongst the groundcrew of Goodwill. In addition some information is taken from Alan Cooper's book 'We Act With One Accord', a history of 35 Squadron.

I hope this is of interest.

If anyone has comments or photos and anecdotes to add, please feel free of course.

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As a warm up, this photo of Queen Wilhelmina's Palace, Soestdijk, was taken on the 29th April 1946. Squadron Leader T S Harris flew a plane on a 'flower dropping' mission to mark a Victory in Holland celebration. Unfortunately, the parachute failed to open - splat!

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On the 4th of May a flypast over Holland was carried out: R - F/O Robinson, E - F/O Hampson, A - S/L Beetham.

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Robinson's crew: W/O Sparling, F/O Wilson, F/S Angel, F/O Robinson, F/L Bullen, F/S Watson, W/O Vaughan.

[sisemen]

As an ex wearer of the forage cap for the light blues one does wonder how the hell they managed to keep them to stay put in those positions without the use of hairgrips or liquid nails. :}

[Hipper]

Perhaps they had different shaped heads in those days?

To continue, preparations were being made for a Victory Parade flypast over London to be held on the 8th June 1946. Formation practice was required. On the 28th May the squadron was filmed in practice; about three minutes of film can be seen here:

British Pathe - AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT (http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=78150)


On the 6th of June a final practice was carried out.

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'Pete' Stockwell running up.


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Line up prior to take off.


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Formation over Huntingdonshire.


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Echelon starboard.


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More formation practice

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Squadron turning over Chelmsford.

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Over Chelmsford. H - F/O Lamb, B - S/L Beetham.


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'Prang'.

[Old-Duffer]

The accident on 25 Aug 46, in which four civilians were killed, involved Lancaster TW870. The Accident Card offers a slightly different view to that published, in that the aircraft had a defective compass, which contributed to the confusion associated with the lights.

[cazatou]

Hipper

Did the "Sqn Ldr Beetham" who was Captain of aircraft "A" later become CAS? I know the MRAF was a Lancaster Pilot from the conversations we had when I flew him in the '70s and '80s.

[Hipper]

Yes, that is the same Michael Beetham, now President of the Bomber Command Association.

[Hipper]

The Victory Parade flypast took place on the 8th June 1946. The plan involved Meteors, Spitfires and Hurricanes and each flight was supposed to be at different heights to allow the faster planes to fly over or under the Lancs. Unfortunately the weather was not co-operative with a very low cloud base which caused all the planes to fly at the same height so the faster fighters went around the outside. 35 Squadron came down The Mall at 1500 feet at a speed of 184 mph in a formation of 307 aircraft!


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Over London. R - F/O Robinson, E - F/O Hampson, D - F/L Clarine, A - S/L Beetham.

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F/O Cheshire over London.

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Over Nelson's Column.

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Winco's crew. F/L Felgate, F/L Walton, F/L Hawes, F/L Kennedy, W/C Craig, F/L Davidson, F/L Cooper.

[Hipper]

The idea of a goodwill tour of the U.S. seems to have been born in February 1946 at discussions with General Ira Eaker, who had organised and commanded the US Eighth Air Force. Group Captain Richard Collard was put in charge of the operation which would involve sixteen Lancasters of 35 Squadron plus an Avro York.


The C in C of Bomber Command, Air Marshall Sir Norman Bottomley, visited the squadron at Gravely on the 3rd of July and carried out an inspection at which the air and ground crew were presented in front of their aircraft. The aircrew wore the new tropical lightweight flying suit whilst the groundcrew paraded in new white overalls.


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3rd July 1946. Squadron inspection by AO C in C Bomber Command.


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3rd July 1946. G/C Collard, Station Commander; S/L Beetham, OC A Flight; W/C Craig, OC Squadron; S/L Harris, OC B Flight.

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3rd July 1946. W/C Craig, Air Marshall Sir N Bottomley, G/C Collard, S/L Beetham, S/L Harris.


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3rd July 1946. Avro York.


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6th July 1946. Marshall of the RAF, Lord Tedder visits Gravely. Is that Tedder on the right? Dakota is C in C Bottomley's aircraft.

[Fareastdriver]

Gravely

Pounded the circuit there many times with a Vampire when it was a relief landing ground for Oakington. Subsequently took a Whirlwind 10 there to do the helicopter flying sequences for the film 'Robbery', the one about the Great Train robbers.

[FantomZorbin]

Hipper,

Re. the 'Formation over Huntingdonshire' - I reckon Huntingdon is mid-picture with Wyton at the top. Huntingdon was 'host' to the HQ of the Pathfinder force, indeed the district council offices are(were?) in 'Pathfinder House'.

[Wander00]

I have a vague memory that the Victory Flypast was led by the then Gp Capt Douglas Bader in a Spitfire

[Hipper]

FantomZorbin - the caption is the only information I have of that photo.

I tried to identify the station but couldn't! Some stations, like Gravely, no longer exist and I would think most have changed over the sixty plus years. I looked for old aerial photos on the internet and Google Earth.

The only clues would seem to be the little village, bottom left, which may have a ruined church, and a possible excavation site at the very bottom left. There don't seem to be any large aircraft on dispersals but could be some smaller ones.

[FlapJackMuncher]

Question.
Did they tour the US with guns still in place?

[Hipper]

Yes, as you will see later.

[FantomZorbin]

Hipper,
I think I've been well wide of the mark! The airfield looks nothing like Wyton and I'm sure Huntingdon wasn't that small in 1946!! (damned bi-focals!!)
Huntingdonshire was never a very large county but I can't think of any of the wartime airfields that had that particular layout. Maybe the subscribers to 'Aviation History and Nostalgia' might have an idea.

[sisemen]

You've got to hand it to Mike Beetham - Very Senior Officer present, fully fuelled Lanc close by and - fag in hand!! Probably wouldn't have put up with it when he was the boss!

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c92/allan907/BeethamFag.jpg

[Hipper]

Er, a closer inspection shows that this vice starts at the top.

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You can also see that W/C Craig has a fag in his right hand. Indeed, in defence S/L Beetham, his cigarette looks more like a pen, and if it is a fag, it's not lit (the Clinton defence).

[Boris1275]

Just out of interest, why have the Lancaster's all had their top half's re painted white?

[Noah Zark.]

As an ex wearer of the forage cap for the light blues one does wonder how the hell they managed to keep them to stay put in those positions without the use of hairgrips or liquid nails

Lashings of Brylcream!

Just out of interest, why have the Lancaster's all had their top half's re painted white?

I may stand to be corrected, but wasn't that the colour scheme of the old "Coastal Command", or perhaps tropical attire?

[Hipper]

I thought it was to do with the squadron having been planned to go to the far east to finish off the war there, until 'the bomb' was dropped, 'Tiger Force'.

Alan Cooper in his book on 35 Squadron says that 'the 16 aircraft detailed for Goodwill were painted white and black and wore the squadron badge'. The colours were already there in earlier pictures (as you can see in my first post) but the badge was added, on both sides of the cockpit, just before their departure for the U.S..

[philrigger]

;)

As an ex wearer of the forage cap for the light blues one does wonder how the hell they managed to keep them to stay put in those positions without the use of hairgrips or liquid nails

The forage cap was always to be worn with 'Attitude'.

Unlike today when the wearers look like a bunch of Italian ice cream salesmen!

[Hipper]

http://i918.photobucket.com/albums/ad28/Hipper34/14a.jpgThis picture is a crop of a photo entitled 'Formation over Huntingdonshire' and is of 35 Squadron on the 6th June 1946. The squadron at the time was based at Graveley.

The full picture can be seen here on post #3:

http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew/410951-operation-goodwill-1946-a.html

I'm struggling to indentify the station and ask if anyone has any ideas please?

[Hipper]

Before departure all airmen were fitted out with three sets of made to measure Saville Row Dress uniforms.

On the 8th July 1946, 'A' Flight consisting of eight Lancasters under W/C Craig departed Graveley on the first leg of Operation Goodwill. The C in C along with many others came to see them off at the end of the runway. 'B' Flight under S/L Harris left on the ninth with a further eight aircraft.


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'A' Flight departure for America, Graveley, July 8th 1946.

The route was Graveley - St Mawgan - Lagens (Azores) - Gander (Newfoundland) - Mitchell Field, New York. Problems with weather over Gander delayed 'A' Flight's departure from Lagens which was unfortunate as accommodation was limited and it meant that both flights were there at the same time. The squadron finally arrived at Newfoundland on the 12th. They departed Gander on the 17th for the six hour flight to Mitchell Field and over Boston they flew in formation down the coast at about two thousand feet to the airfield on Long Island.


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W/C Craig meets OC Mitchell Field, Colonel L R Parker, July 17th 1946.

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On parade. Note guns present in the turrets and the squadron badge on the side of the cockpit.


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USAAF band.


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At ease, '98 degrees in the shade'. The Avro York is in the background.

[Airclues]

Could it be RAF Gransden Lodge?

Dave

[Saab Dastard]

Looks like Bedford, before it was developed into the Royal Aeronautical Establishment base.

Bourn, possibly?

SD

[Airclues]

The runway layout is nothing like RAF Thurleigh (later to become RAe Bedford). The layout of Bourn in 1946 is similar but some slight differences.

Dave

[Hot Charlie]

The caption was a bit misleading, as the airfield is actually in Northamptonshire - Deenethorpe to be exact!

Oh the wonders of Google Earth.

Overhead view (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=52.504965,-0.58658165&z=14&t=h&hl=en-GB)

:)

[Hipper]

Thanks Hot Charlie.

My father was a navigator on that day and wrote the caption!

Interestingly, only a couple of miles to the north is Spanhoe where his Valiant crashed in 1960.

http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew/267929-valiant-crash-wittering-august-1960-a.html

[Hot Charlie]

You're welcome. I'd looked at most of East Anglia before going the other way!

The Valiant crash which sadly claimed you father's life is rather sobering incident and one that you'd hope 50 years later wouldn't be allowed to happen in today's RAF.

[forget]

Dammit! I had a suspicion it was Eighth Air Force, may have been the many runways and one hangar. I’d looked at Polebrook, Kings Cliffe (5 miles away!) and then got ‘diverted’.

Anyway, Deenethorpe, post war true story. 1990s. The Memorial to players of the Mighty Eighth had just been completed and I’d pulled into the small lay-by to admire it.

It was a beautiful summer’s afternoon, blue skies and no wind. I’d been there for ten minutes or so and got back into the car. I put the key into the ignition and the radio started up. I didn’t start the engine as the first thing I heard was the opening bars to –

Glen Miller’s Moonlight Serenade. I think Americans call them goosebumps.

SITE PAGE - Deenethorpe Airfield (http://mighty8thaf.preller.us/php/1Loc.php?Base=Deenethorpe)

[Hipper]

The following day, the 18th of July, there was formation flying over New York and from then until mid August the squadron flew and were feted all over the U.S.. They flew to Scott Field St Louis, Lowry Field Denver, Long Beach Los Angeles, Kelly Field San Antonio, Andrews Field Washington, Westover Field near the city of Springfield Massachusetts, and finally back to Mitchell Field Long Island on the 18th of August. The crews had their fair share of entertainment including visits to the races, film studios and opportunities to go shopping (I would imagine with the austere situation back home that such opportunities could not be missed).

This link shows about one minute of film of the squadron flying over New York and landing at Mitchell Field. It starts about 03.01 minutes:

Pres. Truman Honors Nisei Combat Group, 1946/07/18 : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org/details/1946-07-18_Pres_Truman_Honors_Nisei_Combat_Group)



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Long Beach Field, Los Angeles, F/L Bullen, F/L Gardner, F/L Hulbert, F/L Simpson, F/L Lewis plus a couple of friends.

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Er, surely not. San Antonio, Texas. I think F/L Bullen (my father) is hiding behind the drink tins - probably having emptied most of them!

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Andrews Field, Washington. About to take off in a Fairchild Packet to visit Fairchild Aviation Works.

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Fairchild Packet

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Fairchild Aviation Works, Maryland USA.

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[virgo]

There doesn't seem to be any NCOs among any of the crew photos - were they included in the tour but kept in the background ?

[Hipper]

There are some NCOs in post #1 in the picture of Robinson's crew.

I'm not sure of the exact facts but one paper reported 73 officers and 140 enlisted men on the tour, including of course ground crew.

From what I can see, all the men had opportunities to enjoy themselves.

[Hipper]

On arrival back at Mitchell Field, on the 18th of August there were final opportunities for sight seeing and shopping, but from the 20th the groundcrews were hard at work carrying out a full service to radar gear and general preparation for the return home.

The aircraft departed Mitchell Field on the 22nd for Gander where there was further maintenance work carried out. On the 23rd 'A' Flight departed for Lagens and then on the 25th left for St Mawgan.

Also on the 25th of August, 'B' Flight took off from Gander for the trip to Lagens. The squadron departed at night (TL Q took off at 2335 hrs) and unfortunately there was an incident that involved fatalities. TL R (TW870), piloted by F/L Pete Stockwell, had to return to Gander after twenty minutes in the air as he had problems with his DR compass. He was cleared to land but mistook two directional green lights which marked the leeward end of the runway for glide path indicators. As a result the aircraft bounced on the raised road which was parallel and twenty yards from the leeward edge of the runway. It was also marked with red lights as a prohibited area but there were some civilians standing there. The aircraft's starboard wheel hit some of them, killing three men and one woman and injuring a fourth man. The Lancaster was damaged and had to remain at Gander. On investigation, Stockwell was exonerated of all blame (source mostly Alan Cooper).

The squadron spent three days at St Mawgan where I've no doubt the customs took a keen interest in the aircraft. On the 29th August the remaining fifteen Lancasters departed St Mawgan for Graveley, flying in formation following a coastal route before turning north over Brighton for a flypast accross London and a warm reception at the home base.

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Squadron arrival at Graveley on completion of American tour, August 29th 1946. All that sun is just a memory.

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Final parade at Graveley, August 29th 1946.

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Marching on for inspection by American ambassador at Graveley, August 29th 1946.

The squadron left Graveley for Stradishall on the 18th September 1946.

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35 Squadron, Shallufa Canal Zone, Med. January 1948.

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Fate of TW870

In the heavy landing at Gander, the aircraft suffered damage to the centre section and undercarriage and was declared Cat AC on 29.8.46. In the event, probably due to cost and difficulty of repairs on site at Gander, and the large number of spare Lancasters in store, TW870 was re-categorised to Cat E and struck off charge on 31.10.46.

It remained virtually derelict at Gander until October 1950 when it was sold as scrap to Hercules Sales of Toronto, then to Freight Lift Inc (Doug Siple/Don McVicar). After the minimum work necessary, the aircraft was flown from Gander to Dorval (the engineer who rebuilt the Lancaster flew as flight engineer on the trip via Summerside to Dorval. He records that he didn’t have much to do ‘as vandals had stolen most of the instruments’). At Dorval it was converted to become a fuel tanker, including the fitting of a streamlined nose section (this nose cone had once been part of Trans Canada Airlines Lancaster X Passenger Plane KB702/CF-CMT, and had been used as a chicken coup after CF-CMT was scrapped. It was rescued, cleaned up and fitted to TW870!) The plane was then transferred to World Wide Aviation. On 6.5.52 it was registered as CF-GBA and moved to Seven Islands, Quebec where it was used to transport fuel to the outposts of the Iron Ore Company of Canada. On one of these flights the pilot, Capt AR Iba, lost control during an overweight landing in a crosswind on a gravel airstrip at Menihek, and the Lancaster hit a rockpile, caught fire and was burnt out. Both crew members were unhurt. The manifest showed a load of 2,150 gallons of diesel, 300 gallons of petrol and 800 gallons of Avgas (source Bob Hornby).

For more and slightly different information, see here:
　Lancaster Bomb Tragedy (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cannf/ct_news_lancasterbomb.htm)
　
　

[Hipper]

This is the diary of Charles Owen who was pilot of TW909 and took the AOC-in-C Bomber Command Air Marshal Sir Norman Bottomley on the Goodwill trip.

Crew
S/L R Richards DFC (Navigator)
F/L T Shepherd (Navigator)
F/L W Bolsover (Air Bomber and PA)
F/L C Dear DFC (Wireless Operator)
F/L W Robinson DFC DFM (Engineer)

Lancaster TW909

20 July 1946
Northolt - Lagens (Azores)
7 hours 40 mins
Took off in the dark in good weather, and went straight up to ten
thousand. Cruised along in the moonlight above cloud, and once the Old
Man had gone to bed everything was very quiet and straightforward.
Weather was perfect all the way, and we landed at Lagens in time for
breakfast. Tried to sleep all day but the temperature was up in the
nineties and so we weren't very successful.

21 July 1946
Lagens - Gander (Newfoundland)
8 hours 15 mins
Intended to take off after dark so as to reach Gander in daylight, but
decided to take off in the late afternoon as there was a chance of fog
over Gander at dawn. Cruised all the way at ten thousand and, except
for passing through a front about half-way, the weather was good.
Landing at Gander was a bit tricky as the VHF was more or less u/s and
all three runways were lit up simultaneously. However managed to pick
the right one, and so to an enormous breakfast at 3.30am. First
unrationed food since 1939, and we all made pigs of ourselves. The Old
Man seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.

22 July 1946
Gander - Harmon Field
1 hour 5 mins
Gander looked a little bleak in the morning, so the Old Man decided to
nip over to the Yank base on the west coast of Newfoundland. Trip over
was very straightforward, but was struck by the wildness of the
country. Precious few roads and very few houses. Saw a pranged Hudson
in the woods and went beetling down in some rather splitarse turns to
have a look, thus inviting, and getting, some rather pointed remarks
from the cabin. "C-in-C to Pilot. Just what was the purpose of that
manoeuvre?"
Landed at Harmon and saw our first American reception committee, three
staff cars and a lorry.

25 July 1946
Harmon - Mitchell Field (New York)
5 hours
Very straightforward trip down the coast to New York, punctuated by
frequent and unsuccessful attempts to contact Canadian and American
radio stations and pass position reports. Eventually contacted
Westover and passed an ETA for Mitchell. On arrival was instructed to
let down on the Range, but as we had no radio capable of picking it
up, and I wouldn't have known what to do with it in any case, this was
a bit tricky. Compromised by letting down straight ahead and then
circling the field looking hopeful, thereby getting immediate
permission to land and cutting out four Yanks who were flying on the
range. Hard luck. Reception committee of one general, one W/C, one
S/L, numerous colonels, four staff cars and a bus. Also the gentlemen
of the Press. Many photographs and the Old Man tickled pink.

26 July 1946
Mitchell - Patterson Field (Dayton)
2 hours 50 mins
Very bumpy leaving New York, with low cloud and blistering heat, not
helped by the fact that we all had shocking hangovers, including the
Old Man, who was distinctly rude on the intercomm about the
conditions. Circled over the city before leaving and admired the
skyscrapers. Cloud broke up about halfway, so climbed up to ten thou
and cooled down a bit. Feeling better by the time we reached Dayton,
and the Old Man a little more affable. Reception committee a good
average with two colonels and four cars.

27 July 1946
Patterson - Randolph Field (San Antonio)
5 hours 30 mins
Airborne at 08.30 after a shocking thrash which lasted all night.
Temperature was terrific, and Dicky passed out after ten minutes, and
was laid to rest in the nose, so thereafter I mapread all the way.
Conversation brightened a lot by Bill remarking that Dayton was the
only town where he had seen a girl's arsehole on the stage. Got to San
Antonio at last and landed at Kelly Field, only to find that plans had
been changed, so that we had to climb back in again and fly over to
Randolph. Reception was terrific, including the cadets lined up along
the runway to see us land. Committee of one general, hosts of lesser
fry and no less than eight staff and two lorries, thus establishing a
record for the trip.

28 July 1946
Randolph - Long Beach Airport (California)
5 hours 50 mins
Usual early take off, with hangovers even worse than usual after a
cocktail party (6 - 9.30) and a mess dance (9.30 - 4.00? or maybe
5.00?). Put up my first major black by over-sleeping and only waking
up 30 mins before proposed ETD. Very quiet trip at ten thou all the
way, but temperature over the desert very high, and I was thankful for
a Texas cowboy hat which I had somehow acquired the night before (Owen kept this hat for the rest of his life). Very pleasant flight rations consisting of chicken sandwiches, bananas, peaches and iced milk, which was quite a thing. Long Beach was a
amazing sight from the air, due to oil derricks clustered like trees
among the houses. Reception committee up to standard, including G/C
Collard and the advance trip from 35 Squadron.

2 August 1946
Long Beach - Scott Field (St Louis)
7 hours 25 mins
Very boring stooge across the States, not helped by the fact that the
strain of five days jag in Hollywood and Long Beach was beginning to
tell. Landed at Scott just as it was getting dark. Had intended to
refuel and press on, but the rain started to come down in sheets and
as I wasn't keen on landing at Washington at night in bad weather, we
decided to stay the night and press on in the morning.

3 August 1946
Scott - Bolling Field (Washington)
3 hous 20 mins
Still pouring with rain the next morning, but Met was pretty hopeful
so off we went. Found we had a dead cut on one mag on the stbd outer
just before take-off but decided to press on regardless as Scott Field
was pretty dreary. This nearly caused mutiny down the back, but we
ignored the frantic pleas of the sergeant fitter and took off without
incident. Weather at Washington was good, and we dropped the Old Man
off at the National Airport, where Gen Spaatz and his boys were there
to greet him. We then nipped off smartly and went across the river to
Bolling.

7 August 1946
Bolling - Harmon Field (Newfoundland)
5 hours 40 mins
Night take-off from Washington in shocking weather. Cloud base at 300'
and pouring with rain. Stooged along in cloud until somewhere near
Westover when it started to clear up. The Met forecast for Harmon was
good, but got there to find low cloud and fog with vis down to about
500 yards. Luckily they had GCA (Ground Controlled Approach) on the line so in we went. The Old Man
was most impressed, as apparently he'd never seen GCA in action
before.

8 August 1946
Harmon - Lagens
7 hours 45 mins
Weather at take-off time was distinctly duff. In fact it stank, but
once the Old Man had seen some lunatic take off in a civilian DC-4 he
seemed to think the honour of the RAF was at stake, so off we had to
go. Weather was lousy for the first two hours, but after that it
cleared up nicely and we had a quiet trip. Dawn broke abou an hour
before we reached the Azores, and we could see Pico sticking up
through the clouds when we were 50 miles out. Landed in time for
breakfast.

9 August 1946
Lagens - Prestwick
7 hours 40 mins
Took off about 22.00 intending to make Bovingdon in the early dawn and
so catch Customs with their pants down. However as we approached
Land's End we were directed to St Mawgan. We duly arrived there, and
could see the aerodrome from 6,000', but for some peculiar reason we
were diverted to Prestwick. I got a bit annoyed about this, but when I
tried to argue they got a little rude, so off to Prestwick we went to
be greeted by Customs who had just finished Prestwick and were right
on top of their form.

9 August 1946
Prestwick to Abingdon
3 hours
The Old Man very keen to get home, so pressed on from Prestwick as
soon as we had refuelled. Weather was not so hot and Gee was u/s, so
decided to crawl down the Irish Sea and up the Bristol Channel and so
in to Abingdon. The crew by now were just about all in and by the time
we reached the Bristol Channel everyone was asleep except for me and
the Old Man, who appeared in the cockpit and gallantly mapread us into
Abingdon. Very tired when we got there and so proceeded to do a
shocking landing, but the Old Man didn't complain and told us to take
14 days leave, which we thought a good show.

Kindly shown to me by Charles Owen's son Oliver, who has also written an article on his father in The Observer:

Oliver Owen discovered his father was a wartime RAF hero | Life and style | The Observer (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/nov/30/war-raf-hero-oliver-owen)

[Heave Ho]

Hi, sorry to resurrect this old thread, but the information is fascinating and the pictures are superb.
My interest is from the St Mawgan angle, and I'm trying to pin down exactly what date, and how many aircraft passed through there.
My understanding from above is that all 16 aircraft passed through Mawgan on the 8th (A Flt) and 9th (B Flt) of July.
They then returned on 25th August, leaving there for Graveley 28th, with only 15 aircarft due to the one u/s through the accident.

However the last post seems to offer different dates, and the fact that at least one other Lancaster (perhaps the whole flight of 8?) didn't pass through Mawgan on the way home at least?
Can anyone here confirm the dates at St Mawgan and the numbers of aircraft please?
Also I have a picture of 7 Sqn Lancasters at Mawgan in the same scheme, would these have been used to build up the 35 Sqn numbers to 16 aircraft, or just coincidental visitors?

Thanks in advance

[Hipper]

The log of TW909 was the solo flight of Bomber Commands C-in-C, Sir Norman Bottomley. My impression from that log is that on their return to the UK, they did not actually land at St Mawgan but were diverted to Prestwick - not exactly nearby. Why isn't explained.

35 Squadron A Flight departed Lagens on the 25th August, but I think they left late at night so arriving St Mawgan early the next morning, the 26th. Likewise, B Flight probably arrived in the early hours of the 27th. The whole 15 aircraft then departed St Mawgan on the 29th.

I have some times from my father's Flying Log:

July 9th, 1252 arr St Mawgan
July 10th 1021 dep St Mawgan
August 27th 0700 arr St Mawgan
August 29th 1000 dep St Mawgan

He was in B Flight.

The paint scheme, white and black, was original meant for Tiger Force, the proposed RAF aerial attack on Japan at the end of WW2. 7 Squadron, like 35 Squadron, was earmarked for that operation and so, presumably, was also painted those colours. I would assume that the 16 Lancasters of 35 Squadron that went on Goodwill were the Squadron's own aircraft. There's no mention of anything else in the sources I have anyway.

You could find what 7 Squadron were doing at St Mawgan at that time by looking at their Operations Record Books at The National Archives, Kew (if they exist).

[Heave Ho]

Hi Hipper,
Many thanks for your very full reply.
The photographas are fantastic, are they in your collection? Do you know if any pictures were taken while the sqn was at St Mawgan?

[Hipper]

I have an album of photos left by my father of Goodwill. I suspect that most who went of this trip were offered, or given, the album.

Many of the photos were taken by Charles E Brown, a noted aviation photographer.

There aren't any pictures taken at St Mawgan and as it was a stopover, there may not have been. There are none of Lagens or Gander either.

[Heave Ho]

As a Charles Brown fan I did wonder with some of those cloudscapes and compostions!
In the 'Aviation In Cornwall' book (Air Britain/P.London) on P.99 there is a good picture of one of the 35 sqn Lancs at Mawgan, it's the only one I've seen.

Thanks again for your response.

[uffington sb]

I was kicked out (thankfully it now seems) at my 47 yo point in 2001, and I always wore my forage gap at a jaunty angle just like those in WWII.
The younger lot would say 'Sarge it should be in the middle' FFS!!!

[chevvron]

If I remember rightly, Aeroplane Monthly did an article about this trip about 20 years ago; should be in their archives.

[Hipper]

Is this the one?

Aeroplane Monthly (http://www.payhost.net/aviation/acatalog/Aeroplane_M_July_2006.html)

[Petet]

I thought I would dig up this old thread as I am in the process of researching and documenting the history of 35 Squadron and I was wondering if anyone has any newspaper cuttings / memorabilia from the tour.

I have the articles from Flight Magazine and the magazine article mentioned above. I am also trying to locate a copy of the October 1946 article in Aeroplane Spotter.

I would love to find articles from US Papers if possible (although I understand that it was not widely reported)

Any help on this non commercial project would be much appreciated

Regards

Pete

[Petet]

Just to publicly record my thanks to everyone who helped me "offline" by providing information for this project; very much appreciated.

Regards

Pete

[Trogger]

Just finished watching an Air Ministry film about this tour. B&W and no sound but covers various aspects of the tour. Some nice air to air shots of the Lancs flying over US cities and parades on air bases. Total time is about 40 mins.

[Petet]

Trogger

Thanks for the information; are you able to provide a link?

Regards

Pete

[Trogger]

The film is in the IWM film archive. I'm watching Air Ministry films to accession them into the collection. I came across this thread while trying to identify some of the RAF officers that appeared in it.

[Hipper]

Does this film include the bit on the link in post 31?


I presume this is the film you saw:


35 SQUADRON GOODWILL TOUR USA Allocated Title (RMY 131) (http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060005914)


Is it likely to be available for viewing on the internet art some stage?

[Trogger]

There are some shots in the post 31 link which appear in the film - it doesn't have the same catalogue number as the IWM object you linked to, and as I have been viewing it to produce a catalogue summary I suspect it may not be the same. From viewing it, it appears to be 'outakes', so the RMY 131 title may be the newsreel/film released to the media at the time?

Once accessioned it will be added to the collections database - when it will be available for viewing and in what format is above my pay scale ;)

[Hipper]

Here's a link with a bit more info on the fate of TW870, the aircraft that struck and killed some civilians at Gander - see post 34:


Gander Airport Historical Society (http://www.ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_4658/lancaster_tragedy.htm)


This link includes a photo of the burning wreck after it crashed in 1953.

[Petet]

Trogger


I look forward to seeing the results of your hard work at some time in the future then.


I have 35 Squadron's ORB's for that period so if you need any help regarding the names involved please let me know.


Regards


Pete

[Trogger]

Pete,
Thanks - due to this thread I was able to ID W/C Craig - other senior officers have been possibly ID'd e.g. ACM Guy Garrod, GC Collard...

There is a clip of a female 'celeb' signing one of the Lancs, SW313 TL-B, in the US. Not sure if is was Dorothy Lamour...

There are four reels in total and maybe they have got mixed up in the years as reel 3 seems to be shot at Graveley (airfield code "GR" is in the foreground of a wide shot over airfield) and appeared to be cover the squadron leaving there for RAF Stradishall (?) yet reel 4 jumps back to San Antonio Air Depot and more shots of the crews on parade in the US.

The Lancasters certainly looked impressive in their white finish and must have been quite a sight flying in formation across the USA.

[Petet]

The ORB's seem to suggest that they attended several functions along with the rich and famous of the time.


I was advised that one veteran had a glint in his eye when he was shown some research I had done on the tour and he was reminded that he partied with Olivia De Havilland


Regards


Pete

[Dicky Ticker]

Good Evening Gentlemen, Sorry for barging in on this thread but my father in law was Sgt. Arthur J Pearce DFM and he was on this good will tour. I have a massive photo collection of this tour collected by Arthur at the time as well as other photos of him and his crew when they were on ops with 156 Squadron.

I amongst these photos are paper cuttings from the press in America. I will attach a photo or two once I have found out how to! hopefully the files will not be too large to post!

[Dicky Ticker]

It seems I am not allowed to attach photos until Mr Administrator will allow me. I also have a pile of 3"x2" (20 -ish) negatives taken by Arthur of the tour in various places and also of some aircraft. I need to get these digitalised somehow.

[Warmtoast]

Dicky Ticker


Check your PM's (click on Private Messages in top right box)

[Dicky Ticker]

Thanks for this. Apologies for the lateness in replying to your PM but I don't get on this site very much.

[Dicky Ticker]

It says in the bottom left hand corner that I may not post attachments. Does this mean I can't post photos of the tour?

[PPRuNe Pop]

No! You can certainly post photos, relevant ones in this case, but please stick to the size of 850x850 max.


I much enjoyed re-reading this thread again. One of the best.


Many thanks Hipper!

[Warmtoast]

Video Clip


British Pathe have a video clip of the 35 Sqn Lancs at Mitchel Field here:
RAF Squadron Tours U.S.A. - British Pathé (http://www.britishpathe.com/video/raf-squadron-tours-u-s-a/query/RAF+TOUR+OF+USA)

[CNH]

They seem to be painted white - why? Or is it a trick of the b&w film?

[Trogger]

White upper surfaces with black undersides - they'd been prepped for Tiger Force operations in the Far East...

[Hipper]

An additional source of info:

http://masterbombercraig.wordpress.com/post-war-raf-career/operation-lancaster-46/