Interesting USAAF night fighters project at MAAM

[brickhistory]

Drum roll please......................


Today, I am a published author. My book was released today. Didn't know an old crewdog could do it. If anyone ever reads it, I'd value the feedback.

[mhuxt]

Will do, brick.

[Wildcat]

Congrats on the book release Brick. Have you had the chance to see the ex-RAAF Beaufighter at the USAF Museum?

[brickhistory]

I did; got invited to attend the unveiling and was the dinner speaker at the NFS vets' dinner that evening. Gave a talk on the history of the Beau.

Edited to add: didn't mean to sound so pompous. The undeniable highlight of me being at the unveiling was the veterans who attended. The history and behind the scenes insight they gave for both air and ground ops was amazing!

The Museum did a good job on the restoration. It's still missing a few bits and pieces and the Hercules engines are essentially frozen solid, but it was great to see the big Beau.

[HealzDevo]

Even the youngest pilots of the time would have to be getting pretty old. WW2 was in 1945 and it is now 2007, therefore 62 years have elapsed since WW2, therefore even the youngest pilots would not exactly be very young, assuming flying at 18 in 1945 you have an age of 70 for that individual. Therefore I would imagine that if though there were large numbers of pilots involved, that there would be whole squadrons that have totally disappeared, swallowed up by time.

[amrit]

Would just like to say that this shameless plug of a new book will probably annoy my bank manager - yet another item on my overdraft

Just ordered it from Amazon - well, I'll read anything with Beaufighter in the title

BTW, a chap on another forum was asking after KW197 so I plugged your book to him as well. Do I get some of the royalties on that sale?

[brickhistory]

BTW, a chap on another forum was asking after KW197 so I plugged your book to him as well. Do I get some of the royalties on that sale?

First round will be on me, how's that?

Will be interested in your opinion whether positive or negative once you've read it.

Thanks!

[amrit]

Lovely - I'll have a pint of gin please!

Will let you know re. book - but will take a while as I ordered it together with another (with a delivery time of approx 4 weeks).

[brickhistory]

Originally Posted by HealzDevo

Therefore I would imagine that if though there were large numbers of pilots involved, that there would be whole squadrons that have totally disappeared, swallowed up by time.

Sadly, very true. Three of the gents I interviewed for my book died between then (2005) and now.

Did a magazine story on an RCAF Beau pilot. He's just about the last of his unit, 177 Sq RAF, left. They have stopped doing annual reunions and the organization is gone.

Salute to them all.

[amrit]

Originally Posted by brickhistory

Did a magazine story on an RCAF Beau pilot. He's just about the last of his unit, 177 Sq RAF, left.

Who was the pilot and where was the article published? Would love to get a copy as I'm a big fan of the Beau - both Silently into the Midst of Things and Beaufighters over Burma are excellent books.

[brickhistory]

My 177 Sq guy was the author of Silently into the Midst of Things.

Very nice gentleman.

Article appeared in several years ago in FlyPast; September 2004 issue.

Here's one I did subsequently that featured his observer who died last year.

BEAUS IN BURMA

177 Squadron was born and died a wartime creation. Initially envisioned as a nightfigther squadron for the defense of Calcutta, its mission was changed before any crews or aircraft were assigned to it. Instead, it became one of the unsung strike squadrons fighting the forgotten war in Burma.
As the observer to Beau pilot A. Sutherland Brown, ‘Alf’ Aldham was a RAF sergeant who ‘crewed up’ with Brown while at an advanced OTU, No 2(C) near Catfoss, Yorkshire. A slim, reserved Englishman, Alf served as the navigator, wireless operator, rear gunner, and second set of eyes for the Beaufighter. He quickly established himself as a good navigator and cool presence in the deadly game of war.
Before he got into the game, he was shipped to Canada to complete the navigator’s course. He recalls leaving the troopship from England, the Queen Mary, and stepping into New York City.
“After blacked out and rationed England, it was like wonderland. Bright lights, shops stacked with food and goodies. An eye-opener for a man who had never left the UK before. I spent nearly all my money on parcels sent back to my Mom and Dad.
“I flew my training at Mount Hope Air Base, near Hamilton, Ontario. I finished up there and was promoted to Sergeant before heading back to England and eventually meeting ‘Soggy’ at OTU.”
Following OTU, the pair waited impatiently for an aircraft to be delivered so they could ferry it to an operational theater and a posting to a squadron. During the wait, they sometimes flew as passengers during glider training flights at a nearby glider pilot training base.
Their idyll ended finally when they picked up aircraft LX996 from the Bristol factory and commenced some intensive navigation exercises. They would need to really sharpen their skills if they were to survive the upcoming journey. On August 23, 1943 they were instructed to fly the new aircraft from the UK to India. Once there, they would be assigned within the India Command.
Aldham navigated the Beau from England, across the Ju 88-infested Bay of Biscay, to Fez, Morocco. From there, he plotted a course to Tripoli, Cairo, Baghdad, Bahrain, and finally to Karachi, India. The entire trip took six days. They delivered the Beaufighter and expected to accompany it to a squadron. The Beau went, they didn’t.
Instead, Aldham and Brown were assigned to a manpower pool and waited for three months. Finally, they were assigned to a unit, but to a Communications Squadron!
Brown flew various aircraft as a ferry pilot and courier while Aldham performed somewhat different duties. He served as aircraft navigator to the famous Brigadier Charles ‘Ord’ Wingate during that individual’s training for his second foray against the Japanese. Aldham remembers, “He was as strange a bird as his reputation suggested. Also, the man really was not in good health.” Wingate subsequently died in an aircraft accident but Alf was not on board that flight.
Finally, in March 1944 the crew was posted to 177 Squadron at Feni airfield at the eastern border of India, close to Burma. Shortly after arriving, Aldham took sick and was removed from operations before he’d even started. After recovering, he was sent to a jungle survival course. After returning from that very unpleasant experience in May, when asked by his pilot “How was it?” Aldham pithily replied, “If we come down in the jungle, I’ll shoot you to save you all that trouble!”
Also at 177 Squadron was wireless mechanic W.E. ‘Ted Bellingham. His experiences of life at the squadron differ somewhat from the aircrew but are inextricably linked to the Beaufighter. He recalls, for example, one occasion when the ‘C in C’ of the entire South East Asia Command (SEAC), Lord Louis Mountbatten was inspecting the squadron at a formation. "Some aircraft returning from ops entered the pattern while the VIP was inspecting and without a word, the ground crew for the returning aircraft left formation and raced to recover ‘their’ airplanes! Such was the morale and pride in the squadron.”
Bellingham also relates a humorous in hindsight story about Beau maintenance, “I was sitting in a 3-tonner MT (motor transport truck) parked in front of a Beaufighter parked at dispersal. I was reading a copy of “Beano” when an armourer, busy removing the Beau’s cannons after an op, removed the seer, causing the cannon to ‘run away.’ A hail of shells, including incendiaries, cleared the top of the 3-tonner by inches. The result was a very frightened MT driver!”
Aldham and Brown flew almost constantly until December 1944. Brown tour expired before Alf did and returned to the UK and eventually Canada. Alf finished his combat tour with four more sorties with another pilot but says now they must have been tame because he can’t recall them now.
After 177 Squadron, Alf was posted again to the previously mentioned Communications Squadron. This time, he was sometimes the navigator for Lord Mountbatten’s personal aircraft.
“Quite different from ops, we had to wear a clean shirt and line up before the Supremo left the plane,” Alf recalls.
Returning to England, he left the RAF. He attends the frequent 177 reunions where it is remarked on his steadfast refusal to fly in any aircraft, anywhere, anytime ever since India!

[amrit]

Thank you for that - it's going into my copy of Silently.

[Wildcat]

Good story Brick. Talking about Beau's, I just picked up a copy of the following book yesterday. Looks like an interesting read.

[brickhistory]

Who's the author of 'Touched by War?' Can't make it out and would like to get a copy.


Have you read 'Coomalie(sp?) Charlie's Commandos?' Or 'Fighter Nights?' Both excellent RAAF Beau books.

[HealzDevo]

Perhaps partially off topic but I had an adopted grandmother who worked on the Spitfires in WWII. (My reference to her as I never did have an actual grandmother and she was a great family friend.) Unfortunately she is dead now but she did say that one of the sad things was knowing that in some cases, the brave young men whose plane instruments you were working on had a chance of not coming back. She died back a while ago. She would have been about 76-80 when she died. So I would like to just give a salute to all those brave pilots that never returned. And on Wednesday (25 April) it is ANZAC Day here in Australia. Our national day of commeration for all those that died in war.