FlyPast 02.2018

OMBER COMMAND STIRLING

probably because the Germans

weren’t expecting an attack at such

a low level and because Ogilvie

worked hard at keeping beneath the

incoming tracer.

LONGEST TRIP

For 15 Squadron’s first raid on Italy,

and Barron’s 14th ‘op’, Genoa was

the target on the night of September

28/29, 1941. He wrote in a letter

home: “The longest trip was to Italy,

as we were in the air for over nine

hours and I was at the controls for

about seven hours.”

The weather deteriorated on the

flight out. More seriously, however,

the Stirling was hit by flak as it crossed

Dunkirk so the 5,000lb (2,268kg)

of bombs in the main fuselage bay

couldn’t be dropped. The only ones

that could be released were those in

the wing root cells.

The extent of the damage was not

realised until the aircraft was on

its run over Genoa, and there was

nothing else for it but to make the

long flight back

to England with ‘hung up’ bombs.

When they were leaving Genoa,

the heavy load, combined with

deteriorating weather, forced Barron

to make a detour which took them

100 miles (160m) off course.

Presumably, he felt the extra weight

would not permit him to achieve

enough altitude in time to clear the

Alps. This meant an unexpected drain

on their fuel.

The first warning of disaster came

while passing the Channel Islands.

The flight engineer reported that

there was only enough fuel for ten

minutes’ flying. After a brief intercom

conference with his crew, Barron

decided to head for England, rather

than ditch into the sea or return to

France where they could bale out and

be taken prisoner.

He chose Coastal Command’s

Thorney Island airfield on the

coast near Chichester, West Sussex.

Meanwhile, the flight engineer

worked his magic making sure no

engine was starved. At the same time,

the radio operator

idea of a night low-level attack against

a target of opportunity. Authority was

granted by the commanding officer

of 3 Group, indicative of the ‘learn by

experience’ attitude of the time.

A newspaper article stated: “A

Stirling crossed the coast at 400 feet

and then cruised round the Ruhr

mostly at 300 feet and never above

1,000 feet. The pilot finally found a

good target and dropped his load of

bombs.”

To Barron the operation had all the

elements of a Boy’s Own Annual. He

excitedly wrote home some weeks

later: “Don’t know whether you heard

about a Stirling crossing the Dutch

coast and coming through the Ruhr

at 300 feet, but I was in it. I was a

second pilot then and our CO, a wing

commander, was captain. It was the

most exciting trip I’ve been on. At

times we were down as low as factory

chimneys and our machine was

riddled with bullet holes.” This was

probably not what his mother wanted

to read.

Apparently, on reaching the target

area, the bomb aimer couldn’t sight

their objective owing to bad visibility.

As it was too dangerous to hang

around at such low altitude, Ogilvie

opted to hit an alternative. Barron:

“The explosion nearly blew us

out of the sky. It was terrific!”

The Stirling had to run the

gauntlet of murderous light

flak for some time, surviving

Right

A bomber crew walks

past Stirling N3676

‘S-for-Sugar’, while

a member of the

groundcrew runs up the

engines. Barron piloted

this aircraft during July

1942.

Above

Barron’s crew during

his second tour in

front of Stirling ‘G-for-

George’ of 7 Squadron,

at Oakington. Left to

right: unknown, Flt Sgt

P R Coldwell, unknown,

J W Roch, J Marshall,

Barron and W Mayson.

Below

Bombing up ‘G-for-

George’ of 7 Squadron

at Oakington.

30 FLYPAST February 2018