Where They Served

I am a musician by training and temperament (no need to comment here, if you know me!).  I have had something of an initiation into classic and vintage cars through my husband, AKA Ground Control, but now of course with acquiring ‘Chattie’ the 1935 Singer and knowing I am going to be spending most of the summer driving her, my initiation is having to be much more practical and hands-on.  A revelation in this process is seeing the engineering work being carried out on ‘Chattie’ by Pin Thetford of Thetford engineering, which is something on the level of an art form. There is an elegance in the way in which the structure and design of the car, the materials, the variables, the minuscule measurements and the almost intuitive understanding of how the whole works in harmony with its parts come together, that is a pleasure to witness. I would urge you to have a look at Pin’s latest blog about king pins and bushes, titled ‘Strange Measurements’: http://www.thetfords.com/blog/ You won’t be disappointed, I promise!  

Have a look at this website dedicated to the brave men who sat in the back of an aircraft in a turret or other exposed capsule, watching out for and firing at the enemy:  http://www.air-gunners.co.uk

Fighter pilots often owed their lives to their gunners, and vice versa.  With the changing technology and needs of warfare, gunners often changed jobs, learning to be wireless operators or radar operators. When 256 Squadron converted from Boulton Paul Defiants, which required a gunner to operate the armed dorsal turret, to Beaufighters, which had radar operators instead, the Squadron’s gunners were given the opportunity to retrain as ROs if they desired. Many of them declined and were transferred to Bomber Command in early 1942.  By Christmas that year, my father had learned that all of those who transferred were lost in action, apart from one who was a POW.

Flt Sgt Ralph Gibbons 1943

On occasion, Dad’s RO, Ralph Gibbons, even had to act as gunner in a Beaufighter when they were converted to daytime coastal command duties, operating a Vickers gas-operated machine gun. Under fire from ME109s, he did his best to defend their Beaufighter while my father put the plane into full throttle and took emergency evasive action. One plane was shot down beside them, another never returned to base. Ralph was trained initially as a ‘navigator’, and his skills and expertise were continually being developed throughout his wartime career. He spent some time on returning from North Africa as an instructor within Bomber Command, and finished his service on Mosquitos, flying not with my father but with a Flt Lt McAlpine on 23 Squadron at Little Snoring in Norfolk.  If anyone has any information on Flt Lt McAlpine, I am sure Ralph’s family would be delighted to learn more about him.

Chattie has been in the workshop of Crispin Thetford, who has done some good work in stripping the engine down and giving it a thorough overhall.  This is a work in progress.  For the petrol-heads among you, the engine before stripping looked like this:

Obviously, with some modifications since 1935 but basically still the same old machine. Crispin’s report on the work so far is wonderfully detailed, but in summary:

• New head gasket fitted nicely on the block and tightened down with a good ‘feel’.
• carburettors stripped and cleaned – previous attention to throttle spines and butterflies means these are still in good order. Engine running nicely now.
• Distributor contact sets replaced. Ignition timing didn’t need altering
• Cooling fan (a post-war modified fan blade assembly) mounting studs were very poor – in danger of failing and the bearings were breaking up the fan pulley – fan blades were pressing on the outer bearing.  So Pin has machined the centre of the blade assembly and fitted new bearings and mounting studs. Need for further mods will now be assessed.
• Sump taken off – a very wise decision as water seems to have been getting into the oil for a long time – the inside of the sump and oil baffle plate were very rusty and flaking. All cleaned up, treated and coated.  One big end cap inspected – good standard originally, some deterioration because of running with water in the oil, but probably good for another 10,000 miles. This is good news as my tour means I’ll do between 2,000 and 5,000, depending how much mileage I do directly in Chattie, and how much in the Sprinter with Chattie on the back.
• New brake master cylinder fitted.  However, there are leaks on brake pipes due to previous use of  incorrect flaring tool having weakened the copper pipe.

In Pin’s words, ‘The end result is a car which drives again – and it goes very well indeed’.  That’s the story so far.  There is a ‘But’ – but this post has been long enough, so that appears in the next update! There is also much more to assess and decisions to be made as to what other modifications we wish to make.

Booing out the old year and bringing in the new at 46 Squadron’s New Year’s Eve party, 1943:

‘The night before there had been an ENSA show, and many of the members stayed on for it. Together with the wrens, this made around seventy guests in all, and the biggest Squadron party ever. As before, after helping to decorate the Mess, I drove over to Alexandria with Jack Barnes and collected some of the wrens from the Sacre Coeur in Alexandria. It was a splendid evening. There had been a lot of rain over the previous weeks, so a large marquee was erected, and there was a huge bonfire outside. Once again the RAF Dance Band from Aboukir played for us. As midnight was counted down, Doc MacDonald made a dramatic entrance through the front door of the Mess dressed as an ancient old man, representing 1943, and was booed and heckled as he made his way through the crowded room and out at the back door. He was in fact the oldest member of the Squadron and, as it happened, I was the youngest. I therefore landed the job of representing the New Year, 1944, and, as the Doc exited bang on midnight, a flaming punch was served, and in I came, dressed as a baby with sheets for a nappy, and cheered to the nines. Not my finest hour, and no one from ENSA took my details for future bookings, but great fun all the same. We just about managed to squeeze everyone into a huge circle to sing Auld Lang Syne. It was 1.30 in the morning when Jack Barnes and I took our three wrens back into Alex. As Jack snoozed on the way home, I reflected on a year full of strange and powerful experiences. As I turned the car into the camp at 3.30 a.m., I knew that despite all the difficult things I had seen and been through, I was actually having the time of my life.’

From: ‘Flying Blind: The Story of a Second World War Night-Fighter Pilot’ published by Fonthill Media

A happy Christmas to you all.  Keep following the star.

Extract from Chapter 8: ‘Christmas and New Year in North Africa’:  Some of you may recognise Charlie Peace, featured in the previous photograph, seated cross-legged on the floor at the front of the throng.

‘The next week was the Officer’s Mess Party on 10th December. This was a big affair for the Squadron, with around fifty guests invited to a dance and a buffet supper. Owen’s Cairo West detachment was now closed and all the aircraft returned to base, so the Squadron had its full complement. We spent all morning decorating the mess with whatever we could find; mostly palm leaves, which looked marvellous, I thought. In the afternoon I put on best blue and went into Alex int he CO’s car, with Dudley Arundel, Jenx, Jack Barnes and Atkins. We had a few drinks at the Cecil to get in the swing of things and then picked up the invited Wrens from the ‘wrennery’ and took them to Idku with us in style in the three-tonner.  The party was one to remember. There were plenty of girls and eats to keep us all happy. The RAF band had been brought in from Aboukir and we danced the evening away in the open under a brilliant moon. It was a magical setting.’