48 Squadron - Charles Gerard McGlone

[BennetM1]

My grandfather, Charles Gerard McGlone records came back suggesting he was part of 48 Squadron for two years (July 45 - June 47), is there anywhere I can gather any information on where he was and what he was upto while there?

[DeepestSouth]

I suggest that you search '48 Sqn RAF' on line as there is quite a lot about the squadron. I'd not bother with Wikipedia but try some other sites - 48 Squadron (http://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/batt_48.htm) is quite a good start but there are others with a lot of information. There's quite possibly a squadron association which might be able to help. You could also have a look on FaceBook to see if the squadron has a presence there. Whatever you do, persevere as you may need to go down several routes to find out all there is available.

Good hunting!

[Brian 48nav]

Jefford's 1st edition of 'RAF Squadrons' shows 48 was re-equipped with the Dakota in Feb' 1944 at Down Ampney ( which is south-east of Cirencester ) and then on 14 Aug '45 was en-route to the Far East to Patenga and disbanded on 15 Jan 46.
It reformed on 15 Feb 46 ( 215 being renumbered as 48 ) at Kallang, which is near KL. It then moved to Changi, ( Singapore ) on 24 Apr 46, where it stayed until returning to KL on 1 Jun 49 for 6 months.

Depending on what his own role in the RAF was, either aircrew or ground crew -( do you know ? ) - you can get more idea of what he may have been doing. Obviously the latter meant he would have been involved in servicing the Dakota ( also known as the Douglas C47 ) - if he was a pilot or navigator or signaller he would have been flying various routes around SE Asia, maybe picking up POWs for instance.

There is a 48 Sqn Association, if you email the secretary at [email protected] he may be able to give more information.

Best of luck!

[aloominumtoob]

Is/was Kallang not in Singapore?:sad:
alt

[Brian 48nav]

Silly me! I was rushing as I had the dog to walk and then cook dinner under instruction from SWMBO, who is recovering from an operation. I was getting confused with the RMAF base, whose name now escapes me! On my visit there in Jan' 68 I just put KL in my log book! I've still to locate Patenga!

Additionally 48 Sqn was deployed to Kemajoran near Batavia, now Djakarta, in Feb 46. The RAF and British Army had a very tough time there holding on to Java until the return of the Dutch. Sadly we incurred hundreds of casualties, many of them men who would have hoped to return to UK following the end of the war with Japan.

Back again!

Petanga is near Chittagong in what is now Bangladesh

[Icare9]

BennetM1
Forgive me if this directs you elsewhere, but as I assume that's a surname, is this chap related?
MCGLONE, PATRICK. Corporal. Service Number 1055338. Died 20/12/1941. Aged 26.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
Son of Peter McGlone and of Ellen McGlone (nee Bennett); husband of Maggie McGlone (nee Hughes), of Kilbirnie.
Buried at KILBIRNIE BURIAL GROUND Sec. C. Grave 306.
(I see you're in Salford, but almost 80 years back this may be where the family originated

[BennetM1]

Brian, my grandfather was a Flight Lieutenant, so did a lot of flying, my mother said he did quite well and had a batman? She said he would fly some of the top military people about

[BennetM1]

BennetM1
Forgive me if this directs you elsewhere, but as I assume that's a surname, is this chap related?
MCGLONE, PATRICK. Corporal. Service Number 1055338 (tel:1055338). Died 20/12/1941. Aged 26.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
Son of Peter McGlone and of Ellen McGlone (nee Bennett); husband of Maggie McGlone (nee Hughes), of Kilbirnie.
Buried at KILBIRNIE BURIAL GROUND Sec. C. Grave 306.
(I see you're in Salford, but almost 80 years back this may be where the family originated

Quite possible lclare9, I know the family originally came over from Ireland in the 1800s, then onto Carlisle. I will take a look at Ancestry in the next couple of days

[Brian 48nav]

BennetM1,

If your grandfather was a pilot then he would have had a pilot's flying log book - I guess that this has not been found.

Had he served in another squadron before joining 48 - for instance I know of a chap, hopefully still alive, who completed a tour as a pilot on Lancasters with Bomber Command and then was posted to Daks initially in Burma and then other locations further east. After that tour he returned to civilian life and never flew again! Now a well known aviation artist.

I have sent the 48 Sqn association secretary an email to tell him to expect a message from you.

[ancientaviator62]

Brian48Nav,
I think you meat Simpang at KL. The one with the railway embankment running along one end of the runway.

[Brian 48nav]

AA62

That's the one - thanks. Normally I can remember what happened 50 years ago, but not yesterday!!

[BennetM1]

BennetM1,

If your grandfather was a pilot then he would have had a pilot's flying log book - I guess that this has not been found.

Had he served in another squadron before joining 48 - for instance I know of a chap, hopefully still alive, who completed a tour as a pilot on Lancasters with Bomber Command and then was posted to Daks initially in Burma and then other locations further east. After that tour he returned to civilian life and never flew again! Now a well known aviation artist.

I have sent the 48 Sqn association secretary an email to tell him to expect a message from you.

Brian

He was in 575 squadron for a couple of years 1943-1945, after his training in Canada, tried to upload his service file but for some reason it is not showing

[Warmtoast]

Brian

He was in 575 squadron for a couple of years 1943-1945, after his training in Canada, tried to upload his service file but for some reason it is not showing


575 Sqn flying Dakotas was involved in the first parachute drops for the D-Day landings and later at Arnhem towing gliders and resupply missions followed by the Rhine crossing in March 1945. His Service record should be interesting reading!

[BennetM1]

575 Sqn flying Dakotas was involved in the D-Day landings and later at Arnhem towing gliders and resupply missions followed by the Rhine crossing in March 1945. His Service record should be interesting reading!

The upload wouldn’t work so I’ll type it out later

[BennetM1]

Chares Gerard McGlone
1941 -1943, Overseas service in Canada (presume this is where he learnt to fly different planes)

File says
AC2 ACH Plt Obs
For Emerg
Reserve
LAC Remust Gp 2
Temp Sgt Remust Airman Plt
Spec Gp
Temp Flt Sgt

1943 – 1945 575 Sqn
1945 (2 months) 1333 Transport Support Conv U
1945 – 1947 – 48 Sqn ACFE
June 47 – 5 Personnel Desp Centre, duties – Deplaned 10/6/47 Leave 4 days Supy
Nov 47 – 3 Flg Trg Sch, Flg Instruct
Nov 47 – 2 Flg Trg Sch, Qual Flg Instruct
Dec 47 – Ground Combat Sch Cranwell (Digby), 5 Ground Combat Cse Supy
1949 – Cranwell, Qual Flg Instruct
1950 – Flg Refresh Sch
1951 – 1953 8 Flg Trg Sch, Flg Wing Adjt
1953 – 1954 3 School of Recruit Training Padgate, Flight Commander
1954 – South Cerney, 9 Pilot Refresher Course
1954 – Dyce, Supy ATC Summer Camp
1955 – 63 Group Reserve Centre
1956 – 9 (R & M) Div Record Office Glos

Any decoding or interpreting would be great

[BennetM1]

Service recored for Chares Gerard McGlone

1941 -1943, Overseas service in Canada (presume this is where he learnt to fly different planes)
File says
AC2 ACH Plt Obs
For Emerg
Reserve
LAC Remust Gp 2
Temp Sgt Remust Airman Plt
Spec Gp
Temp Flt Sgt

1943 – 1945 575 Sqn
1945 (2 months) 1333 Transport Support Conv U
1945 – 1947 – 48 Sqn ACFE
June 47 – 5 Personnel Desp Centre, duties – Deplaned 10/6/47 Leave 4 days Supy
Nov 47 – 3 Flg Trg Sch, Flg Instruct
Nov 47 – 2 Flg Trg Sch, Qual Flg Instruct
Dec 47 – Ground Combat Sch Cranwell (Digby), 5 Ground Combat Cse Supy
1949 – Cranwell, Qual Flg Instruct
1950 – Flg Refresh Sch
1951 – 1953 8 Flg Trg Sch, Flg Wing Adjt
1953 – 1954 3 School of Recruit Training Padgate, Flight Commander
1954 – South Cerney, 9 Pilot Refresher Course
1954 – Dyce, Supy ATC Summer Camp
1955 – 63 Group Reserve Centre
1956 – 9 (R & M) Div Record Office Glos

Hopefully, some of you experts can decipher / interpret some of what the above means

[BennetM1]

Hi Warmtoast,

following his training he was posted as follows 1943 – 1945 575 Sqn, 1945 (2 months) - 1333 Transport Support Conv U, 1945 – 1947 – 48 Sqn ACFE, June 47 – 5 Personnel Desp Centre, duties – Deplaned 10/6/47 Leave 4 days Supy, Nov 47 – 3 Flg Trg Sch, Flg Instruct, Nov 47 – 2 Flg Trg Sch, Qual Flg Instruct, Dec 47 – Ground Combat Sch Cranwell (Digby), 5 Ground Combat Cse Supy, 1949 – Cranwell, Qual Flg Instruct, 1950 – Flg Refresh Sch, 1951 – 1953 8 Flg Trg Sch, Flg Wing Adjt, 1953 – 1954 3 School of Recruit Training Padgate, Flight Commander, 1954 – South Cerney, 9 Pilot Refresher Course, 1954 – Dyce, Supy ATC Summer Camp, 1955 – 63 Group Reserve Centre, 1956 – 9 (R & M) Div Record Office Glos.

[Warmtoast]

Hi Warmtoast,

following his training he was posted as follows 1943 – 1945 575 Sqn, 1945 (2 months) - 1333 Transport Support Conv U, 1945 – 1947 – 48 Sqn ACFE, June 47 – 5 Personnel Desp Centre, duties – Deplaned 10/6/47 Leave 4 days Supy, Nov 47 – 3 Flg Trg Sch, Flg Instruct, Nov 47 – 2 Flg Trg Sch, Qual Flg Instruct, Dec 47 – Ground Combat Sch Cranwell (Digby), 5 Ground Combat Cse Supy, 1949 – Cranwell, Qual Flg Instruct, 1950 – Flg Refresh Sch, 1951 – 1953 8 Flg Trg Sch, Flg Wing Adjt, 1953 – 1954 3 School of Recruit Training Padgate, Flight Commander, 1954 – South Cerney, 9 Pilot Refresher Course, 1954 – Dyce, Supy ATC Summer Camp, 1955 – 63 Group Reserve Centre, 1956 – 9 (R & M) Div Record Office Glos.

Well probably not as interesting as I thought. What I really thought would be interesting would have been his time with 575 Sqn when they were involved with D-Day drops, Arnhem and the Rhine crossing - and his duties in these activities would have been recoded in his Flying Log Book - if available.
WT

[Innominate]

The next stage is to work through the Operations Record Books of 575 and 48 Sqns, held in the National Archives at Kew Royal Air Force operations record books 1939-1945 - The National Archives (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/raf-operations-record-books-1939-1945/) You can download them for a fee, but if you can get to Kew you can see the digitised files free of charge. It looks as though he became a flying instructor at Cranwell and later had ground postings. Returning to flying after a refresher course, he went to Dyce (Aberdeen airport) for an ATC summer camp, where he may have been giving cadets air experience flights. In 1955 he either left the full-time RAF and became a reservist (most officers and airmen had to serve a number of years in the reserve) or perhaps went to instruct reservists.

[Brian 48nav]

BennetM1

If you have spare time on your hands I recommend you look at a thread that many of us think is the best on PPRuNe - look at Military Aviation ( its nearer the top of page ) and click on 'Gaining a Pilot's Wings in WW2'. Our senior member, Danny, has written extensively about his training as a pilot in the USA, and I think other posters have covered training in Canada. It may help give an understanding of your grandfather's time training to be a pilot.

[imac2]

BennetM1

If you have spare time on your hands I recommend you look at a thread that many of us think is the best on PPRuNe - look at Military Aviation ( its nearer the top of page ) and click on 'Gaining a Pilot's Wings in WW2'. Our senior member, Danny, has written extensively about his training as a pilot in the USA, and I think other posters have covered training in Canada. It may help give an understanding of your grandfather's time training to be a pilot.

Mac, my father flew Dakotas and many other aircraft types. according to what he told me, including Typhoons over Europe I assume.

He spent some time in the Far East where the squadron was supplying the Chindits.

He was also the ADC to a US General for some time. I cannot remember the general's name but it will come back to me.

He was based at Dalcross Near Inverness. Where he was adjutant. It is now the commercial airport at Inverness.\\We lived nearby in Nairn. I have taken my eldest sister back to the house we lived in a couple of times.

I will add more in time.

[bandie]

Hi BennetM1

I've been researching my wife's father's sevice on 48 Sqn and have downloaded the available ORBs from TNA.

I've just looked at the December 45 one and see a F/O McGlone as a captain flying with the squadron out of Patenga.

Would you like me to go back through the 1945 records to see when he first appeared?

Only opertaional flying is recorded.

[Warmtoast]

imac2

He spent some time in the Far East where the squadron was supplying the Chindits.
I commented on PPRune here:
https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/329990-gaining-r-f-pilots-brevet-ww-ii-475.html#post9537436
About agent drops to Chindits etc
Post #9498

..and here's a photo of a Dak dropping agents/supplies to Chindits from the book 'SOE in the Far East'


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/800x583/image1_14_zpsb72d723c_ed3f0e4f42b8ffbc5fe7319c05399364b4f2cf 16.jpg

[BennetM1]

Hi BennetM1

I've been researching my wife's father's sevice on 48 Sqn and have downloaded the available ORBs from TNA.

I've just looked at the December 45 one and see a F/O McGlone as a captain flying with the squadron out of Patenga.

Would you like me to go back through the 1945 records to see when he first appeared?

Only opertaional flying is recorded.


Hey Bandie, apologies... only came across your reply today... if you could lokk back that would be great

my email address is [email protected]