![]() It was clearly not a pleasant Op as he says, “ Coned over target. Jim’s longest Op was on his 11th, to Stettin, where the total duration was nearly ten hours. One of the ground crew actually found the piece of flak in the aircraft above the navigator’s position and Jim kept this as a souvenir. "I too had a lucky experience in that, again whilst over Germany a flak shell burst underneath the aircraft, sending a bit of shrapnel straight through my chart table, if I had been leaning over it, it would have taken my head clean off" ![]() Jim mentions having a very close personal call when some flak sliced through his navigator’s table on his tenth operation to Russelheim on 25th August 1944 as he recalls: Jim flew six ops for 622 squadron until he left, on 10th August 1944, for XV squadron, still at RAF Mildenhall with his first Op for XV squadron on 14th August 1944. His first operational flight for 622 squadron was just a few days after arrival, on 18th July 1944 to Caen, bombing German troop and tank concentrations on a daylight raid. After twelve hours of flying in a Lancaster here, Jim was posted to 622 squadron at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk. 3 LFS (Lancaster Finishing School) at RAF Feltwell in Norfolk where, as the name suggests, flight training was undertaken to convert crews to flying the Lancaster Bomber. Jim’s next training posting was to 1651 HCU (Heavy Conversion Unit) based at Wratting Common, in Cambridgeshire, continuing his training on the four engine Stirling bomber. Here he flew in the Wellington bomber and also met and first flew with pilot Bob Cameron, whom he was to go to serve with operationally. In April 1944 Jim was posted to RAF Chipping Warden, near to Banbury in Oxfordshire, to Number 12 Bomber Command OTC (Operational Training Unit). Here he took the Air Navigator AFU course over a month’s duration, adding another 17 day hours and 12 night hours to his flying time and still flying in Ansons. At this stage he had logged 58 day hours and 41 night hours.Īfter training in Canada, Jim was posted to No.1 AFU (Advanced Flying Unit) at Wigtown, at Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland. Training then proceeded until November 1943 when Jim qualified as a navigator. This was most likely providing a general familiarisation flight around the local area and taking in and learning visual references. His first logged flight in Canada was in July 1943 in an Anson flying as 1st Navigator for an hour and ten minutes. Being trained in Canada meant that he had a Royal Canadian Air Force log book (for Aircrew other than Pilot).īy this stage of the war the RAF had standardised on ranks such that all aircrew were NCOs. ![]() Canada was something of a paradise to the young airmen being trained compared to Britain with its strict food rationing. Jim's initial aircrew training took place in Canada at Winnipeg Manitoba. in June 1941 and it was a rather an inglorious start as on joining up he was immediately diagnosed with pneumonia, but as compensation during recuperation was put up in a rather grand house overlooking Regents Park. ![]()
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