Australia’s War Diary

Within a few days of Britain’s declaration of war on September 3, the Advanced Striking Force {AASF) was flying on the Continent to cover the British Expeditionary Force {BEF) and Australians were sprinkled throughout these units. Back in England, Australians were, in fact, spread through all RAF Commands: Bomber, Fighter and Coastal.

Beside those in the RAF, there were 21 members of an RAAF contingent in England instructed to take delivery of the first three of nine Sunderland Mk 1 flying boats for the RAAF and fly them back to Australia. These men formed the nucleus of 1O Squadron RAAF and became attached to RAF Coastal Command. It was the first Dominion squadron to be employed on active service in WW2.

With the onset of winter, the Phoney War continued, both sides digging in for a long period of waiting and watching, but there were still several clashes and incidents. Christmas and New Year came and went, and after them came a growing anticipation of what might happen in the spring. The peace of the ‘Phoney War’ came to an abrupt end on April 9 when the Germans invaded Denmark and Norway. Then, a month later, it was the turn of the Low Countries . . . May, 1940, 50 years ago . . .

Europe . . .

May 1-9- RAF Bomber Command continues its nightly bombing attacks on airfields in Norway and Denmark plus minelaying sorties. Between April 9 and May 9/10, a total of 931 sorties (268 day, 663 night) are flown for a loss of 36 aircraft (17 day, 19 night). May 10 -The uneasy quiet on the Western Front suddenly ends when the Germans march across the the Ardennes plateau into neutral Belgian territory. In the early morning light, Luftwaffe Dornier and Heinke! bombers ranging over north-east France, Belgium and Holland attack a total of 23 airfields and destroy most potential opposition on the ground. The battle for air superiority is over before it even starts. Any resistance the Allied air forces can now mount will only be piecemeal and uncoordinated, although at times desperately heroic. Stuka dive bombers roam the skies almost at will, without fear of being seriously molested, and systematically destroy anything which stands in the path of the advancing panzers.

3. 30pm Tasmanian, F/O Walter Blom of 150 Squadron leads two Fairey Battles searching for a German motorised column advancing along the Neufchateau/Bertrik road in Luxembourg. After crossing the frontier his aircraft is hit by ground fire. Fuel spurts from the main petrol tank into the cockpit drenching Blom and seriously impairing his vision, but he and his crew, who are affected by the strong fumes, continue. Unable to locate their target, they find and attack a second German column but again meet concentrated machine gun fire. The other Battle is shot down. Blom’s plane is hit repeatedly but he places his bombs in the midst of the new target. Almost beyond control, he manages to fly the 90 miles (145km) back to base and land safely on punctured tyres. Battle, K9369, is so badly shot up it is condemned beyond repair. Blom will receive the DFC.

South Australian, F/O Leslie Clisby ot1 Squadron shoots down 2 Dornier Do 17s overAvaux but is hit by French AA fire. He manages to land safely on a French airfield.

In separate fights, P/OJohn Cock of 87 Squadron, also South Australian, damagesa Do 17, a Messerschmitt Bf 110 and shoots down a JunkersJu 88.

The last mission of the day is flown by 4 Battles of 226 Squadron. Two out of 4 are shot down including L5247 flown by F/O Douglas Camerson of Croydon, Victoria. Camerson dies of his wounds on the 12th.

May 11- Leslie Clisby has a phenomenal day. In a series of dogfights he destroys 3 Messerschmitt Bf 109s but his Hurricane is damaged by a Bf 110. While wrestling with the controls he damages a Heinkel He 111 which crash lands in an open field. Clisby force lands nearby and then, brandishing his revolver, rounds up the German crew. One tries to slip away but the Australian tackles him on the run. After this he marches them to a village and hands them over to French authorities.

May 12 – The RAF is decimated over the Maastricht bridges. As the Fairey Battles of 12 Squadron are cut down, and two RAF airmen earn posthumous Victoria Crosses, P/O Ian McIntosh of Glen Innes NSW, hashish aircraft, L5439 (PH-N), burst into flames. He has to crash land and is captured. Among the Hurricane pilots trying to hold the Luftwaffe fighters off is Leslie Clisby. He destroys 3 German aircraft, a Bf 109 and two Hs 126s on this day.

John Cock causes a He 111 to crash land near Armentieres. An excited French crowd gathers around the German machine which lays docile for 35 minutes but then unexpectedly explodes, killing 36 bystanders.

RAF Blenheim squadrons attack targets around Maastricht but fall prey to fighters and flak. Among those shot down is Blenheim N6219 flown by F/O Guy Gray-Smith (139 Squadron) who becomes a POW. So too does F/O William Edwards (107 Squadron) in Blenheim P4905, who had just received a DFC for his bombing attack on Stavanger airfield, Norway, on April 20/21 but F/O Bert Oakley (15 Squadron) in P9611 is killed in action.

The RAF loses at least 19 Blenheims, 11+ Battles and 10 Hurricanes on this day.

May 13-John Cock shoots down a Bf 109. Leslie Clisby destroys a Bf 110 and a He 111.

May 14 -Three out of 8 Battles from 142 Squadron fail to return from attacking bridges between Sedan and Mouzon. F/Lt Ken Rogers from Toowoomba in aircraft L5517 is KIA. The CO, S/Ldr John Hobler from Rockhampton, is shot down and injured. Despite serious facial burns, he sets fire to his plane (P2246) and leads his crew back to safety. The other flight commander, F/Lt William ‘Wiggy’ Wight of Melbourne, takes oyer the squadron. May 15- The Dutch Army capitulates at 11. 00am.

615 Squadron’s F/O HN (Bill) Fowler from Adelaide, is shot down and captured near Namur. He will later earn the distinction of being one of the few allied airmen to escape from Colditz Castle. Leslie Clisby is KIA. ·. .

May 17 – The Germans have occupied Brussels and a 60 mile (100km) breach has been made in the Allied lines. They race through to Amiens cutting off the BEF in the north west corner of France. 87 Squadron intercepts eighty Ju 87 Stukas east of Brussels. John Cock scores his fifth victory.

May 19 – To try to stem the German tide, Battle squadrons are again committed to daylight attacks and suffer heavily. 142 Squadron loses 3 out of 3, P/O Howard Taylor of Perth in K7696 is shot down and captured.

May20- In the morning the Germans take Amiens, and Abbeville falls in the afternoon. Advanced forces reach the coast at Noyelles. A German wedge, at least 20 miles (32km) wide stretching from the Ardennes to the English Channel, has split the Allies in two.

After a bombing attack on Merville, 87 Squadron’s remaining serviceable Hurricanes fly out of France and return to England. John Cock’s Hurricane is unser visible but he flies it back anyway. During eleven days of fighting, for 6 pilots and 19 aircraft lost, 87 Squadron claims 86 enemy planes. F/O Richard Glyde of Perth has been credited with 4 victories and will receive the DFC.

May 21- Norway. Two RAF squadrons, Nos. 263 {Gladiators) and 46 (Hurricanes), have been ferried to Norway on HMS Glorious. 263 has returned with new aircraft and replacement pilots, including P/O J L Wilkie of Perth formerly of 266 Squadron, and establishes itself at Bardufos.

May 26 – Evening: Orders are given to commence Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the trapped BEF from Dunkirk. RAF Fighter Command is to provide air protection. For the first time Spitfires operating from England will be involved in fighting on the Continent.

May 27- No. 53 Squadron, evacuated from France on the 19th, now flies reconnaissance sorties from Andover in Hampshire. Two Blenheims sent out in the morning fail to return. At noon, P/O G M Robinson of Per th takes off in Blenheim R3733 to recon noitre the St Omer area. Eleven Bf 109s badly damage the aircraft and wound all on board but Robinson manages to limp home safely.

Dunkirk. T he evacuation begins and by evening the first 8,000 troops are back in England.

May 28 – Dunkirk. Belgium surrenders to the Germans effective from 11. 00am. British and French troops just block the gap in time preventing the Germans reaching Nieupor t and the beaches.

F/Lt Gordon Olive of 65 Squadron is listed missing ‘as a result of air operations. ‘ Separated, damaged and alone with a dozen Bf 109s, the Queenslander is slightly injured but manages to reach Manston airfield almost out of fuel and land his Spitfire (K9903) without flaps or brakes. After a medical check, he returns to Hornchurch only to find that 65 Squadron has been transferred without him. His return seems never to have been properly recorded and even now some documents still list him as ‘missing in action’.

Sunderland RB-F, P9601, (S/Ldr Charles Pearce) is fired on by AA batteries near Boulogne while escorting a convoy up the English Channel. It is the first RAAF aircraft to come under enemy fire in WW2. Shortly afterwards six Bf 110s pass overhead but do not attack.

France. To avoid being overrun, 226 Squadron has moved back. In order to survive, the slow flying Battles fly at night but if necessary they must still operate in daylight. In a typical lone armed reconnaissance sortie, F/O Robert Bungey of Adelaide, flying Battle L5461, bombs 15 transpor t vehiclesin Alber t at 12. 30pm, a convoy on the Alber t-Peronne road, and then strafes troops until his ammunition is exhausted.

Norway. Anglo-French troops attack and take Narvik.

May 31 – Dunkirk. The evacuation continues. A record 68,014 men are recovered and in the air the RAF claims 38 German planes shot down for a loss of 28 . . .

F/O I B N ‘Hack’ Russell of Melbourne, newly returned to 609 Squadron, shares a He 111 and destroys a Bf 109. He then escor ts a damaged Spitfire back across the channel but 3 miles (5Km) shor t it ditches. Russell flies to Dover and guides mine sweeper HMS Playboy to the rescue.

Australia

May 24 – One of 4 Douglas DC-3s, A30-4 (VH-ACB) of 8 Squadron RAAF, is returned to Australian National Airways. They had been chartered from ANA on September 11, 1939, for coastal reconnaissance duties prior to the delivery of Lockheed Hudsons. A30-2 (VH-UZK) was returned on February 13; A30-3 (VH-ABR) is returned on May 28; and A30-1 (VH-UZJ) on June 8. T he RAAF has 100 Hudsons on order,the first having been delivered on February 9.

To be continued in the next issue of Australian Aviation