Wellington Bomber crew rescue April 1941
 

Hello to all you PPRuNer detectives.:ok:

I am trying to find out any details of a Wellington Bomber crew whom my father met when he was at ITW in Cambridge 1941. His diary notes...

Friday 18th April 1941 Selwyn College Cambridge
Then we went on to a party with some very lively RAF types from Oakington who were celebrating their rescue from the North Sea yesterday after their Wellington was shot down. They had ditched in the sea and were picked up by SS ??River?? Spee???

The only crash I can find on or around 17th April is a Vickers Wellington IC from the Czechoslovak 311 Squadron but I don't think this is the right aircraft one as this one was reported shot down in Holland.

Any ideas or info would be fantastic. Cheers

Motherbird

motherbird, have searched the data bases for lost bombers but none match the date or circumstances (ditching in the North Sea). At the time in question Oakington housed No 7 Squadron which operated the Short Stirling heavy bomber. Interesting the mention of "SS River Spee" because the River Spree runs through Berlin and joins the River Havel. Wonder if someone may have been telling your Father tall stories?

Italian Air Force bomb Debden 1940
 

It could be possible that he was having his leg pulled or that the dates may be off a day or two,but most of the other entries in his have seemed to pan out.For example I had no idea that the Italians bombed England but he was told this story ...
Monday 19th May 1941
We had an interesting lecture by a fighter test pilot. He told us that when the Italians raided Debden, the airfield’s anti-aircraft guns hit an Italian bomber. This aircraft exploded and blew up the one flying behind, which broke in two, and sucked the gunner out of his plane. By some strange twist of good fortune his parachute opened. He floated down and landed on the airfield. More bombers were approaching so the Italian released his chute and ran for the nearest cover. The ground staff was amused to see him diving into their air-raid shelter.
The Italian Air Force -Corpo Aereo Italiano- played a small part in the Battle of Britain when they were stationed in Belgium. On 24 October 1940, a flight of Fiat BR 20s attacked the port of Harwich and caused minor damage On the 29 October fifteen BR.20s bombed Ramsgate and flew several more raids over the following week.



I can't find out any further details of the date of this incident or the name of this lucky crew member.


Motherbird

The conspiracy theorists would love this. :bored: In which direction did the 'very lively RAF types' disappear?

Wellington T2900. 9 Squadron. X1D WS-L.
Operation Berlin. 17th April 1941.

T2900 was one of two No.9 Sqdn Wellingtons lost on this night in two separate operations. See: N2745. Airborne 2057 17Apr41 from Honington. During the course of the next five hours a number of W/T signals were received, the last being at 0058 when SOS was transmitted. At this stage the bomber was plotted 30 miles E of Lowestoft, Suffolk, but despite an intensive investigation of the area by the Royal Navy, no trace of this Wellington and its crew were found. All are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. Sgt R.D.C.Stark KIA Sgt F.W.Baker KIA Sgt J.W.Nightingarl KIA Sgt G.Gibb KIA Sgt J.E.Johnson KIA Sgt H.F.Hurt KIA "

The plot thickens ....
 

.... if you try substituting the name of the rescuing vessel as being the trawler RIVER SPEY which, according to http://tinyurl.com/da2mvtwas converted to being a minesweeper in 1941, and exactly the sort of vessel that would have been operating in the presumed area.

Then, look at http://tinyurl.com/d3q8m3and all is revealed, and Motherbird's Dad is completely vindicated!:ok:

In which direction did the 'very lively RAF types' disappear? In the direction of a week's leave, granted personally by MRAF Lord Trenchard apparently, and so to Cambridge for an RV with Motherbird Pere .....

Jack

Brilliant work Jack, :D:D

....... and my apologies to Sgts Stark, Baker, Nightingarl (?) Gibb, Johnson and Hurt. :ouch:

As a humble interested and respectful observer could I once again add - the wonder of pprune :D:D

Congratulations Jack on that bit of research. Seems the loss data base only lists those lost on bombing missions. Here is the pilot in question, Wing Commander Roy Elliott DSO DFC.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...ham227/r-1.jpg

the wonder of pprune ......

...... coupled with the friendship of Google, and a dash of lateral thinking, and you will quickly appreciate why I feel so humbled by the exploits of men such as Wing Cdr Roy Elliott, and our friends closer to home, namely Regle and Cliffnemo.

Forget, Mustpost and Brian Abraham - It's a pleasure, as indeed I thought I had posted successfully to say last evening, not least to say how much I wish there had been a equally happy end to the search for the missing Wellington of No 9 Squadron - we of darker blue hue have our uses!

Jack

A big thanks to all three of you!!:D
Brian Abraham Forget
Union Jack

If I ever ever ever finish writing this book and get it published I'll be sure to add your names to the long list of thank yous.Trouble is every time I think I'll just correct the spelling one last time another puzzle is solved and I have to add more info.

Motherbird.

RAF Oakington is currently almsot intact with the exception of it's runways which have been broken up for hardcore. However, it's earmarked to be bulldozed for the construction of a 10,000 home new town on the site.

The local historic society is running a petition to save some of the buildings to create a small business park - one of which will house a museum of the airfield. The petition ends on the 14th of Jan 2011 and is at Help save the RAF Oakington buildings, bunkers and structures I urge anyone with any interest in saving a piece of the country's aviation heritage to spend two minutes to click on the link and sign.

It's a worthwhile cause and the historic society are also urging the local council to name some of the new town's roads after aircrew who died.

Wellington North Sea Rescue 18th April 1941
 

I am new to this forum but notice several posts about a Wellington that force landed in the North Sea on 18th April 1941. My father Graham GA Davies Spitfire pilot received a commendation directly from Air Marshall Fighter Command for finding the Wellington. Shortly after my dad was awarded the DFC. My Dad died in 1986 but I remember that he always wondered who or what was onboard the Wellington suggesting they (or what they had) must have been very important to warrant such attention. Maybe someone on this forum could help??