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Pilot Officer 149605 Thomas Henry Gill Ix Squadron Raf Bomber Command

Stuart Watkins

proper brummie kid
Hello everyone, I have very recently joined the forum I hope you don’t mind me telling my story, which I hope maybe of some interest to you and especially with anyone from the area with an interest in RAF Bomber Command. I must admit I do not live in Birmingham and haven’t done so since the age of 2 though I do have some very close family connections. My Grandmother who is 97 this year was born and brought up in Harbourne, 228 Tennal Road to be precise her name is Mollie Irene Jones, formerly Gill her Maiden name was Jackson Daughter of George and Alice Jackson also of 228 Tennal Road, she now lives in Kidderminster

I live in Kingswinford just outside Stourbridge; I was born at a maternity home in Harbourne think it was virtually next door to Harbourne swimming baths in July 1961 though I have always considered Kidderminster to be my home town having lived there for most of my life, incidentally my happiest memory’s as a child were spent at Tennal Road.

Here goes then it would be the late thirties just prior to the start of the Second World War my Grandmother met a chap from Weoley Castle his name was Thomas Henry Gill son of Thomas and Ellen Gill of Alwold Road Weoley Castle, not sure of the house number though. To cut a long story short they married shortly after. Tom Gill (My Granddad) joined ‘The RAF Volunteer Reserve’ and after he had undertaken some of his initial training to become aircrew he was asked if he would like to train as a Pilot which he did. He undertook most of his training in Canada during 1941/42 on returning to England he carried on with his training at RAF Syerston, Nottinghamshire on Vickers Wellingtons. In April 1943 he was posted to IX (9) Squadron RAF Bomber Command, Waddington in Lincolnshire. Shortly after this the Squadron moved to their new home at RAF Bardney which is almost exactly 10 miles to the east of Lincoln, the Squadron operated from here for the rest of WW2 save for a short spell later in 1943 when they had to operate from RAF Woodhall Spa, this was due to bomb damage to Bardney’s runways. RAF Bardney was part of 5 Group RAF Bomber Command and part of No53 Base Waddington which also encompassed RAF Skellingthorpe.

As I said previously he undertook his flight training in Canada, and was later commissioned in August 1943. He and his crew were part of the Squadrons ‘A’ Flight his regular crew were Sgt Ray Gough, age not known, Navigator from Cheltenham. Flt Sgt Brian Devine 22, Bomb Aimer from Berkshire. Sgt Bill Morton age not known, Wireless Operator RAF Bruntingthorpe. Sgt Matt McPherson 21, Flight Engineer from Glasgow. Sgt Kevin (Paddy) McDonough 23, Mid Upper Gunner from Limerick and Sgt Bob McKee 23, Rear Gunner from Bolton. Granddad was 25.

From 23rd May to 5th September 1943 he and his crew flew 20 operations 10 short of their tour which was a standard 30 with the option of taking a second tour after this. Their last op was on 5th September from which they failed to return their Lancaster crashed close to the town of Ludwigshafen which is on the opposite bank of the Rhine to the target which was Manheim. Sadly all were lost. Initially Granddad and Brian were buried together along with the crew of a Stirling close to the town of Badtolz; they were later all buried together in the Durnbach War Cemetery 20 miles south of Munich. Only he and Bill were married men and at the time of their deaths my Nan was pregnant with and gave birth to my Mother in November 1943.

During WW2 the Squadron lost many, many airmen very few of them survived to become POW’s. Grandads other ops were as follows Dusseldorf x 2, Essen, Wuppertal, Bochum, Mulheim, Elberfeld, Gelsenkirchen x 2, Cologne x 2, Turin, Hamburg x 2, Milan, Peenemunde, and the two opening raids of the battle of Berlin

Of the ops they flew 15 of the 20 were in just 2 aircraft Lancaster’s ED666, WS-G and W4964, WS-J. The later Mk1 Lancaster W4964 went on to become one of only 35 Lancaster’s to reach the milestone of 100 operations there were over 7000 built, though on three separate occasions she was damaged. The first time was on 11th June 1943 (Dusseldorf) when with Granddad and his crew on board she took a direct Flak hit over the target whilst flying straight and level for the required 18 seconds after the bombs had gone down, this was the time it took for the aircrafts cameras to take the pictures of their bombing run, it also served as proof that you had dropped your bombs on the target, no picture and your op didn’t count. The result of the Flak hit was that various hydraulic lines were fractured which rendered the gun turrets un useable they had to fly back to Bardney with the extra drag of open bomb doors which could not be closed and once reaching the airfield they had to rely on the aircrafts blow down bottles to lower the undercart and flaps. The bottles were a backup used in case of hydraulic failure they were a bit of a hit and miss affair when deployed. On getting back to Bardney they were kept up in the circuit and were the last aircraft to land probably in case of collapse on the runway. On another occasion with a different crew a 250lb case of incendiaries dropped from an aircraft above passed straight through one wing. Later in the war she scored a direct hit on the German Battleship Tirpitz with a 12,000lb Tallboy which rendered the ships steering inoperable, after this Tirpitz never put to sea again under her own steam. Tirpitz was finally sunk in a Norwegian Fjord in a later joint operation by IX and 617 Squadrons again using the 12,000lb Tallboy. She went on to reach a total of 107 ops before being retired and later scrapped after the war, a section of her fuselage is on display at the Newark Aviation Museum. During the nineties the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster PA474 wore the codes and nose art of W4964 for a number of years, which was the Johnny Walker whiskey character along with the words ‘Still Going Strong’

ED666, call sign Rosen George was a MkIII Lancaster powered by four Packard Merlin 28 engines and was built at AV Roes Chadderton plant near to Manchester. This aircraft became their regular mount in which they flew all but one of their last eleven ops. Her nose art was the Disney character ‘Goofy’, many of the Squadrons aircraft carried nose art, all painted by a very talented Corporal Jacky Pattison. Subjects included Disney characters, Ladies of the night and themes based around alcoholic beverages. I was once asked what the nose art on ED666 represented, my opinion is that it represents the Squadrons ground crews and the spanner that Goofy is holding was meant for dropping in the German works (Picture to follow) a suggestion made to me a few years ago. This aircraft was the one they flew their last op in on the night of 5th September 1943.

The Squadron converted from the twin engined Vickers Wellington to the Avro Lancaster in August 1942. IX were one of Bomber Commands premier Squadrons and took part in all the major ops of the time such as the well documented raids on the City of Hamburg, the experimental weapons site at Peenemunde on Germany’s Baltic coast, the battle of Berlin, the sinking of the Battleship Tirpitz, and they led the final main force raid of the war against Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest at Obersalzberg in Berchtesgaden, they were also one of only two Squadrons to drop the 12,000lb Tallboy from specially modified Lancaster’s. The Squadrons Wellingtons were the first aircraft in WW2 to shoot down an enemy aircraft and conversely the first to be shot down by one, (4th September 1939).

A memorial to the Squadron and all who lost their lives takes centre stage on the village green; it incorporates a Lancaster propeller and stone work taken from a Norwegian Fjord where the German Battleship Tirpitz was sunk.

I ‘am fiercely proud of my Granddad, and the men who served with him.

Thank you for taking the time to read this

Stuart
 
Welcome to the forum Stuart and what a wonderful post.
We should all be very proud of your Grandad and his colleagues.
How sad for your Mom that like many other babies born in the war years she never knew her father.
Alberta.
 
Yes what an interesting first post, just an aside IX(9) Squadron is still in existence flying the Tornado GR4.

Badpenny..
 
Really enjoyed reading that Stuart. As it happens only a few days ago I was reading the commemorative magazine celebrating 75 years of the Lancaster which also details the aircraft you mention above. Wellingtons are always of great interest to me too, designed by Barnes Wallis who also developed the Tallboy bombs.

Simon
 
Thank you everyone for the reply's and warm welcome, my interest in Granddads time in the RAF started around 1996. I remember Nan's photos of him with his crew and a couple of the aircraft he flew in as a young lad but there significance never became apparent until my adulthood, I cannot imagine what it must have been like for the wives and family's of these young lads, so many perished so we could live the lives we have today. We will always be in debt to them all whichever branch of the services they were in. Granddad was a Dairyman in Weoley Castle before volunteering for Bomber Command

Yes the Squadron still operates to this day from RAF Marham, and before that from Bruggen in Germany. They were the first Squadron to operate the Tornado back in 1982, They were originally formed in St Omer, France in 1917.

RAF Bardney is still recognizable today for what it once was, the Watch office still exists along with a good part of the perimeter track and runways. It is instantly recognizable as are many of Lincolnshire's airfields on Google Earth and is about 1 1/2 miles North West of Bardney village, off the top of my head there were around 45-50 airfields in the County on average there was around 7 miles between them in any direction, most were bomber Squadron bases.

Would love to have met Granddad and the lads he flew with. Hope the pictures are OK, more to follow.

Thank you once again

Stuart

ED666 With Ground Crew.jpg
ED666 with the Squadrons 'A Flights' Ground-crew this was
taken the day after Granddad brought her back from the raid
on the Peenemunde experimental weapons site. 17th August 1943.

Capture (2).PNG
Granddad with his crew prior to their second op Dusseldorf
25th May 1943. Back row left to right - Brian, Granddad, Bill,
Ray, Front row - Matt, Kevin and Bob. The Lancaster is W4964
this was only her 6th op and is the oldest known photograph
of her. Who could have predicted the chequered career she
would have with IX, eventually doing 107 ops. Of the 240 men
who crewed her during her career 103 of them were killed
in action whilst in other aircraft.
 
wonderful post and photos stuart...i have total respect for your grandad and his fellow crew...hope you enjoy the forum there is plenty for you to read

lyn
 
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