Tirpitz Re-Visited by Philip West
In a 10½ hour sortie to Tromso Fjord on 22nd March 1945, Sqn Ldr Frank
Dodd and P/O Eric Hill flew low under unexpected heavy fire to obtain
confirmation of the final demise of the pride of the German Navy - the
battleship Tirpitz.
Signatures : Warrant Officer Harry Barrett flew as a PR Mosquito Navigator
for 17 months from October 1945 to April 1947. He volunteered for
aircrew duties as a navigator in mid-1941, and was selected and put on
deferred service until August 1942. He trained as a Navigator /
Wireless Op at Cranwell and in Canada, qualifying in November 1943.
He was on the night-flying staff at 3(P) AFU at South Cerney for nine
months. He qualified as an air-gunner in May 1945 on the Isle of
Man. On joining 540 Squadron at Benson, he and his pilot ferried
three Mosquitoes to the Middle East and was then posted to 680 in
Palestine, where it was more dangerous on the ground than in the
air. 680 then became 13 Squadron. Harry carried out aerial
surveys in Egypt and the Greek Islands, and then went on the
Nairobi. Nine of the 15 Mosquitoes Harry flew in came to grief.
W/O Francis Joseph Baylis AFM C de G (Belg) Kings Commendation
volunteered
in October 1941 and joined the ACRC Lords in March 1942. He
completed a ITW at Baddacombe and a Wireless course at Cranwell. He
received flying training at Port Albert, Ontario and Charlotte Town PEI
and a General reconnaissance Course at Squires Gate, then OTU (PR) at Dyce.
He was posted to 544 Squadron, Benson in January 1944 and flew 63 ops,
finishing in April 1945. he was awarded the C de G with Palme and
also served on 13 (PR) Squadron at Fayid 1947-49 and awarded the AFM.
Finally, after ten minths on 540 (PR) Benson he received the Kings
Commendation.
Flt. Lt. Peter G Brearley DFC joined the RAF in 1941 from
Cambridge University Air Sqn. He obtained his wings in 1942, and
then completed a navigation course at 3 School of General Reconnaissance
and after OTU joined 140 Photo Reconnaissance Sqdn in November 1942 until
March 1944. The squadron was attached to Army intelligence revising
maps and possible coastal landing sites for the coming invasion.
Targets also included flying bomb sites in Pas de Calais area and other
varied sectors of enemy activity. At first peter flew Spitfires and
later Mosquitoes with F/O Leslie W Preston GM as navigator. He
finished his RAF service as a flying instructor on Mosquitoes.
Flying Officer Tom Clark volunteered to join the RAF in October
1941. On completion of training he spent 12 months flying with
Dominion and trained pilots at No 15 (P) AFU. At No 8 OTU Dyce he
crewed with Fl/Lt (later Sqn Ldr) W R Assheton and was posted to 540 Sqn
in May 1944. He completed 48 operations and ceased flying duties in
September 1945.
Flt. Lt. Arnold Cussons joined the RAF in July 1940, but pilot
training did not start until early 1941. After EFTS (DH82) and SFTS
(Oxford) he was told he must be an Instructor. FIS at Cranwell,
instructing at 14 SFTS Lyneham (then grass field!) then secondment to
RNZAF at Christchurch until got back to UK September 1943. 8OTU (Dyve)
then 540 Sqn, A flight, January 1944. Flew 62 operational flights
including Damage Assessment of the Tirpitz just 3 hours after it was sunk
by Lancasters. He returned to instructing in July 1945, first as Flt
Cdr Mosquitoes at PRU's 8 OTU then as CFI when Frank Dodd
left. Arnold then went to the Empire Central Flying School as a
Tutor. He left the RAF at the end of 1949 after a time flying
Hornets with 65 Sqn, Linton-on-Ouse near York.
Flight Officer Ken Ellis DFM joined the RAF in April 1942 for
training as an Observer. He received his wings as a navigator in
Canada and after subsequent OTU training was posted to 540 Squadron (PR)
at Benson in January 1944. His pilot was F/Lt Arnold Cussons DFC and
after in excess of 60 missions over Europe, Ken eventually left the
Squadron in July 1945. He and Arnold photographed the German
battleship Tirpitz within hours of it being capsized on 12th November 1944
in Tromso Fjord.
Flight Officer Eric Hill DFC DFM joined the RAF in 1941 and
crewed up with F/Lt F L Dodd AFC in January 1944. He joined 544
Mosquito PRU Squadron (detached from RAF Benson to Leuchars) in March
1944. They did all their 53 operational flights together, including
flying diplomatic mail to Churchill at the Big Three Conferences in
Moscow, Athens and Yalta. They photographed the battleship Tirpitz
at anchor in Alten Fjord (north Norway) in July 1944 having lost their
cockpit hood cover moments before. In other sorties, they survived a
half-hour chase by two ME262 jets over Magdeburg and a ME109 attack while
on one engine over the same city. Frank Dodd stayed in the service
as a pilot after the war, finally retiring as Air Vice Marshall, CBE DSO
DFC AFC*** AE LRPS.
W/O S F (Paddy) Hope joined the RAFVR in July 1940 and trained
as a WOP / Nav at Blackpool, Yatesbury, Torquay and Staverton, joining 236
Squadron, Coastal Command at Carew Cheriton, S Wales in October 1941 on
Blenheims. After 3 operations, he converted to Beaufighters Squadron
before moving to Wattisham, where he did 3 operations on Beaufighters over
the German Bight. Paddy then transferred to PRU Benson on Mosquitoes
in May 1942. He completed 20 more ops with F/O F Mckay (NZ) before
bailing out over Belgium in December 1942 after engine failure.
After evading for one month, he was captured at the Spanish frontier with
Comete Line Leader (A deJongh) and held by the Gestapo for questioning,
for four months. He was made a PoW in Germany until returning home
on 11 May 1945.
Fligh Lieutenant Walter le May DFC joined the RAF in 1941, and
trained as an Observer in Canada, joining 140 Squadrom, Army Co-operation
Command, at Hartford Bridge (now Blackbshe). The squadron, engaged
on photo reconnaissance, was unique in that one flight was equipped with
Spitfires while a second flight, converting from Blenheims to Lockheed
Venturas, was used for night operations. In June 1943 the squadron
became part ofthe 34 Wing 2nd Tactical Air Force, and later converted to
Mosquito IX & XVI. Mainly involved in night operations, he, with
his pilot, F/Lt Ray Batenburg DFC, RNZAF, crossed the French coast a few
minutes after midnight on D-Day, and took photographs of key points,
followed by nearly two hours of low level visual reconnaissance, at
heights down to 200 feet. After operational flying he was appointed
Night Ops Controller 34 Wing, and, afterwards Ops Controller at HQ2 Group,
Gutersloh.
Flight Lieutenant Tom Pratt DFC joined the RAF in 1940 and after
initial training in Paignton, Duxford and Hidlington he was posted to West
Freugh. He left there in 1943 and went to Squires Gate for
navigational training, and then to Dyce for conversion to
Mosquitoes. He was posted to 544 Sqdn at Benson and stayed until the
war was over. Tom says "I flew 68 sorties and was fortunate to
be chosen to fly to Moscow, when Churchill attended the Yalta Conference,
and had an extremely pleasant few days being entertained by the
Russians!" Tom finally left the RAF in 1946.
Flight Lieutenant Mike Randles volunteered as a Wireless
Operator in 1941, but on call up immediately remustered for aircrew.
His lengthy training as a navigator/ wireless op/ photographer culminated
in jooining 540 Squadron at RAF Benson. With his pilot, Flight
Lieutenant Guy Trevor, who sadly lost his life in a flying accident
shortly after the end of the war, he completed 35 PR operations from
Benson, Dyce (Aberdeen) from which they concentrated on Norwegian targets,
and Coulommiers in France. Their longest operation of over 1500
miles took over six ours to photograph 18 targets in Norway in November
1944. Mike claims he was a lucky one, having been shot at only twice
and escaping interception by German jets over Prague, Arnhem and Osnabruck.
Flying Officer Joe Townshend DFN joined the RAF in February 1942
and after a wireless course at Cranwell went to Canada for Navigation, GR
and an OTU on Torpedo Hampdens on Vancouver Island. He returned to
England for an OTU on Mosquitos at Dyce where he teamed up with F/Lt H C S
(Sandy) Powell DFC. After four ferry trips to Rabat in Morocco, he
joined 540 Squadron in May 1944 and completed 50 Photo Reconnaissance
operations over Europe, including finding the Tirpitz at Tromso for the
Lancasters to sink in November 1944.
In Safe Hands by Stephen Brown In Safe Hands depicts a scene during 1942. Having been damaged in
action over Northern France, the crew of a Mosquito B Mk IV has brought
their aircraft down safely into the field of an English farm.
When the De Haviland Mosquito was introduced in 1941 it was a
revelation. A precision bomber that used speed as its primary means
of defence, it was successfully employed in a wide range of roles and
across many campaigns. Made almost entirely of wood, it was
universally acclaimed by its crews for both its excellent handling and its
ability to take heavy punishment and still get home.
