SPECIAL DELIVERY 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
April 2018 FLYPAST 69Below
Short Stirling IV
LK203/8E-B of 295
Squadron is seen
on a glider-towing
training exercise at
RAF Mount Farm just
before the Arnhem
operation.LOGBOOK MEMORIES
Examples of the 21 ‘ops’ carried out
by Fg Off Churchill and his crew
provide a fascinating insight into
an element of frontline flying that
seldom gets the limelight. Using Rae’s
logbooks and his memories, DZ codes
are given when known together with
aircraft serial numbers. Like many
RAF aircrew, Rae quoted the numbers
of the serial, omitting the letter prefix;
making precise identification of the
airframe difficult.
APRIL 11, 1944
Albemarle ‘1607’ – almost certainly
V1607. In mid-March 1944 the
unit moved from Hurn to Harwell,
Berkshire, along with fellow special
duties outfit, 570 Squadron.
“Completed drop in 3 hours, 40
minutes. Spotted a Luftwaffe Junkers
Ju 88 on its return leg over the English
Channel. A ‘Nachtjagd’ – ‘night-
hunting’ – fighter trying to shoot
down returning bombers over Britain.
They were most vulnerable when in
their circuit to land.
“It was above the cloud deck in
bright moonlight I saw him, he saw
me and we both had about three
seconds to react. We were both doing
around 180mph and both of us
turned to our respective right. No
shots were fired as we passed very
close to each other and both of us
continued on our respective ways.
“Neither of us were using lights so
we lost sight of each other. We were
a lone aircraft and routed over a zig-
zagging route so any enemy aircraft
couldn’t predict where we were going.
“We were happy when there was
a bombing raid the same night as
our operation because the enemy
night fighters were unlikely to hunt
a solitary aircraft flying low.” The
bombers were the cake, Churchill’s
Albemarle; the crumbs.
APRIL 30
DZ: Donkeyman 38, Albemarle
‘1607’. “Cargo of 15 containers.
Radio navigation system [Gee]
packed it in early and faulty
navigation on way to DZ. Analysis
of logbook entries suggest aircraft
overshot by 10 miles.”
On the eve of D-Day, 295 and 570
Squadrons shared the distinction
of dropping the first troops of the
invasion force into Normandy. After
this, 21 aircraft of 295 Squadron
towed Horsa gliders to the landing
zones. Nineteen more tracked during
the day with reinforcements.
“The training with the paratroopers
and glider pilots in the British
Army fostered co-operation verses
competition between the two forces.”JUNE 5/6
Operation Tonga – British 6th
Airborne Division ops during D-Day.
Churchill’s logbook shows: “Towed
glider ‘76’ containing 7 troops, 1 Jeep,
1 motorcycle and 1 trailer.”
He recollected: “Had to stay out
of cloud otherwise there would be
collisions due to the amount of traffic
at the time. Met the glider pilots back
in England in the pub three days later.
“In July, we converted from
Albemarles to Stirling IVs and added a
flight engineer to the crew which now
totalled six. This aircraft differed from
the bomber version in that the mid-
upper and nose gun-turrets were not
installed, reducing the overall weight
by 2,000lb and allowing a cleaner
airflow.
“This gave the aircraft a slightly
better performance. They could
handle bigger supply loads including
bulky items in the fuselage. It also
meant that the British Army glider
pilots could now ride in with us and
be employed as load dispatchers when
they weren’t needed in gliders. Theywere also a welcome insurance for me
in case I was disabled and they could
at least fly the aircraft home. This
was the first time I had flown a four-
engine aircraft.”JULY 8
DZ: Grog 18B, a Special Air Service
(SAS) supply drop. “Unable to see
any signals due to thick fog down
to ground level. All containers
returned to base.”JULY 20
DZ: Grog 20 7D. “SAS army
saboteurs south-west of Paris, only
I have no idea where. I simply
followed the navigator’s directions.”
Logbook notation: “Load returned
due to bad weather – 10/10 [solid
cloud] at 500ft.”AUGUST 24
DZ: Paul 32, Stirling ‘470’. “This
mission was unsuccessful. Bordeaux
area, blackout poor. Too many lights
on ground. When we were in the
south of France, we noted that the
blackouts were spotty. Occupation
seemed spread out too thinly.’’AUGUST 26
DZ: Glover B, Stirling ‘470’.
“Despite the thunderstorms affecting
the radio reception and not hearing
the recall, the mission was successful.
The severe thunderstorms caused
many to turn back but we dropped
24 containers.”SEPTEMBER 17 TO 21
Operation Market Garden to Arnhem
in Holland. A force of 22 Stirlings
towed heavy gliders, followed by 75
supply drops in succeeding days.
Three were lost in action. “We
flew daylight re-supply drops on
September 18, 19, 20 to the troops at
Arnhem over the three ops.” The