Pilot Officer Sparrow

The Diaries of Russell James Sparrow 1908 to 1991

borrowed a cycle, I had already got one which I used for travelling backwards and forwards to camp, and we both struggled up a rather rough track but were well rewarded when we got there by the magnificent scenery. The return descent was a nightmare, steep descent on a rough track and Doff found her brakes wouldn’t work. She reached base all in one piece but was extremely lucky to do so.

We were doing a lot of flying and generally working hard. I took my Wireless Operator board on Oct. 2nd, passed O.K. and was promoted to Flight Sergeant on Nov. 2nd. I was put in charge of programming and at one stage became acting course officer.

Just before Christmas 1943 I was sent on Operations attachment to no. 9 Squadron at Bardney in Lincolnshire so another jaunt with the kitbags! Bardney was very much a wartime base, Nissen huts in wide-open spaces, a satellite of Waddington. Despite bad weather I managed to get in some good trips including one to the ‘Big City’ (Berlin) when I saw 11 of our aircraft shot down and a J.U. 88 and M.E.109 hit by their own flack. On my return to Evanton I was made acting C/O of one of the cadet training courses. Grandad Sparrow came up for a few days in July 1944 and during his stay I was called before the C.O. for an interview and was recommended for a commission. At the end of July word came through that the station was closing down in August, which meant that on my next leave, August 3rd, we all went back to Needham.

On my return to camp I had an interview with the A.O.C.(Air Officer Commanding) re my commission and was posted to Bishops Court about 30 miles from Belfast. Off I went again, spending a very rough night in a Y.M.C.A. in Glasgow and then on to Stranraer for a bumpy trip across the Irish Sea to Larne, on to Belfast and Ardglass by rail, a trip that was nearly as bad as the sea crossing. When I got

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The Diaries of Russell James Sparrow 1908 to 1991

to camp they told me why. They hadn’t got round to curved bends on the track and they were all angular! Well, after all I was in Ireland! However I arrived in one piece and again soon met up with some old pals from somewhere. The nearest village was Ballyhornan, a delightful typical Irish place where I did see pigs running in and out of the front doors of houses. The Guinness (draught) was as black as your hat and as thick as treacle. It was on the coast and I was soon in the water, the first of many dips where we used to swim across to a small island. What a place for wind and rain.

Three weeks to the day after my arrival my promotion to Warrant Officer came through and the day after that my commission, so on 14th Sept. 1944 I became P.O. Sparrow 183057. The next day off home via Belfast and Heysham, this time leaving camp at 1300 hrs. and arriving Needham at 1900 hrs. the next day, having called in at Grimwades in Ipswich to order my new kit. After a few days leave I went back to Ireland but only for 2 weeks because I was posted to Air Crew Officers School at Credenhall near Hereford. This was a toughening up course in preparation for the Far East and we had to do full ground battle training, (we were issued with khaki battle dress, heavy boots and gaiters, full webbing and rifle) command assault courses, unarmed combat, field engineering, dummy parachute drops, first aid, escape exercises etc. as well as admin. work. Aircrew bods were a happy-go-lucky crowd and this was understandable, a short life and a merry one and we had some high times. My mind goes back to two navigators who had formed a friendship at A.C.O.S., one tall, about 6 ft. 3 in. and the other short, about 5 ft. nothing, a real Mutt and Jeff pair. We did an attack on the assault course under fire from all angles, ‘Titch’ missed his cue crossing a stream on the rope, this often happened of course but remember this was November. At the completion we all made our way to the Mess for a drink and there they were at a table with pints between them and Titch absolutely unmoved although saturated and surrounded

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The Diaries of Russell James Sparrow 1908 to 1991

by a pool of water! The course finished on Nov. 15th and I went back to Ireland stopping for a night at Banstead en route. On our days off we would go into Belfast or Downpatrick or Ardblass. On Dec. 19th my posting came through for 42 O.T.U at Ashbourne in Derbyshire and was told that if I could manage to tie up all the loose ends I might get home for Christmas. These were duly tied up on the 21st, I hitched a lift by air to Speke, Liverpool, caught the train from Lime St. and arrived at Stowmarket in the early hours of next morning, completing the journey home by foot in pouring rain and arrived there at 0 2.45 hrs. much to Doff’s surprise.

After a very happy Christmas went to Ashbourne for a short stay, taking exams and tests and doing dinghy drill in the baths at Derby. We had to put on Mae Wests over full uniform, jump off the high board, swim to a dinghy which was turned over as soon as we were all in, right it and start again. On to Tilstock in Shropshire, by road to what my diary describes as ‘a somewhat dispersed camp’ which meant you had a long way to go before you got anywhere. Again our stay was short and we moved on to Sleep between Shrewsbury and Newport, another ‘big spread’ with primitive accommodation. Two days after I arrived I hitch-hiked to Chirk again, this time for Doreen’s wedding having told the R.A.F. that I was to be best man. We were now doing circuits and bumps (day and night), cross country, low flying, formation flying etc. very concentrated stuff. Early mornings and late nights, day and night, and a few orderly duties thrown in. In our limited leisure time we would go into Shrewsbury and recharge our batteries at a pub called The Old Post Office. By this time I had managed to scrounge an old R.A.F. cycle, solid and heavy, and was able to get to Chirk on odd occasions. Doff and the children came to Chirk for a holiday and I spent as much time as possible with them, sometimes flying until 0.300 hrs. and off at 0.800 hrs. and back for a late take-off the same day.

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