The History of RAF Millom - and the Genesis of RAF Mountain Rescue

Dedicated to the memory of Corporal Fitter Donald Earl Wrathall (sea and mountain rescue) RAF Millom 1942-1945

the history of

RAF MILLOM

And the Genesis of RAF Mountain Rescue

John Nixon

ULVERSTON • CUMBRIA

Acknowledgements My sincere thanks to all those wonderful men and women both at home and abroad who have shared and contributed their memories and photographs to what has been an incredibly enjoyable and exciting project.

And to Russell Holden of Pixel Tweaks whose hard work and patience made this book possible and Ken Ellis for providing a generous foreword to my book

Published in 2016 © Copyright John Nixon www.johnnixonauthor.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-9934679-9-8 Cover and Book Design by Russell Holden www.pixeltweakspublications.co.uk

All rights reserved without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book, John Nixon.

This book is an update of ‘Oh Mother, it’s a lovely place’ Published in 2009

for more information about John and his books please see his website - www.johnnixonauthor.co.uk

ULVERSTON • CUMBRIA

Foreword Contrary to popular belief, writing history is simple. It takes no great skill to assemble facts, throw in a few dates and cobble together some photographs. But the result is always the same a dry and lifeless pile of words and images. Too many writers think that such efforts make them a ‘historian’ far from it.

Writing balanced, vibrant, memorable history is a rare talent. A historian worth his salt doesn’t casually visit a subject; he immerses himself in it to the extent that he becomes part of the story. That’s how John Nixon does it and he is a shining example of what makes a real historian stand out from the crowd.

His drive, determination, understanding and passion for the aviation heritage of his native South Lakeland gives meaning and purpose to locals, former RAF personnel, their children and generations to come.

While clutching documentation sending them somewhere they’d never heard of, RAF personnel must have thought that they had sinned mightily as they approached Millom. Surely this was the back of beyond? What sort of punishment was this?

They were not the only ones questioning what the future held. As the construction crews gave way to hangars and aircraft in the first weeks of 1941, a small town called RAF Millom emerged out of the land west of Haverigg.

Residents of the area contemplated their new neighbour with a mixture of concern and pride. One thing was certain: for the locals and those in uniform, their lives would never be the same again.

In this book John brings the endeavours and exploits, tragedies and triumphs of six decades ago back to life. Leaping out of every page are vivid descriptions from those who took part in a momentous era. Their precious memories have been saved and presented with great care for us all to cherish.

Whatever your interest, be it aviation history, local heritage, or wanting to know what family members did at RAF Millom, this book is a delight from cover to cover. South Lakeland is extremely fortunate to have such a dedicated and proficient custodian of its legacy in John Nixon.

Ken Ellis Contributing Editor, FlyPast Magazine People’s Republic of Rutland

Contents Introduction PART ONE Chapter One A brief historical backdrop to the creation of RAF Millom........................... 1 Chapter Two 1941 – Flying machines but poor latrines!........................................................ 4 Chapter Three No.2 Bombing & Gunnery School becomes No.2 Air Observer School....... 19 Chapter Four 1942 – Including a brief visit by the Luftwaffe!................................................ 37 Chapter Five 1943 – Trials, Tragedies and Foundations Laid for a Unique Service........... 61 Chapter Six 1944 – Mountain Rescue, the Birth of an Officially Dedicated Team........... 82 Chapter Seven 1945 – An End To Flying And Yet Another Change of Role.......................... 106 Chapter Eight 1952 – The arrival of Officers and Gentlemen.................................................. 111 PART TWO

Anecdotes and recollections by those who served at RAF Millom........ 119 ADDENDUM A New and Cold War Brings the old Station to life again............................... 349 The Royal visit by HRH Princess Margaret1962.............................................. 354 1967 – PORRIDGE!............................................................................................. 357

Chapter One

TROUBLED TIMES A brief historical backdrop to the creation of RAF Millom

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hen Hitler came to power in 1933 he withdrew Nazi Germany from the League of Nations, which caused the collapse of the International Peace Conference in Geneva, and created great alarm here in Britain. At this time also, the Luftwaffe was being covertly trained for hostilities behind the smokescreen of gliding clubs and commercial flying. So great was British concern that a committee was set up to assess and report on the potential dangers of the situation. It was to conclude in its report that ‘Nazi Germany was now Britain’s ultimate potential enemy and that should aerial bombardment of our country by Germany begin, it would not be confined to our capital city’. A period of expansion by the RAF on a scale never before undertaken was about to begin. By the time war was declared on 3 September 1939, the Emergency Powers Act had been established which authorised the requisitioning of any suitable land for military purposes. An area of level ground, 1½ miles south west of Millom in Cumberland was deemed suitable, plans were duly drawn, submitted and approved.

Work Begins Though RAF Millom spent its life as a training airfield, it was in fact build under the jurisdiction of No. 9 Group Fighter Command, Speke Sector, as an advanced fighter station. This may well have been as part of a protection plan for the West coast, should the Germans occupy Ireland, and perhaps the Isle of Man. Although we cannot pinpoint with any certainty the exact day on which work began, we do know however that the construction of RAF Millom was undertaken by the Construction Firm Constable and Hart. Mr Alan Shute of Millom recalled for me that he had worked as an office boy for the company before being lured to the ranks of the carpenters by the promise of higher pay.

He was also able to tell me that the land for the airfield was requisitioned from Layriggs Farm, Hemplands Farm, a piece known locally as ‘Van Diemans Land’, and Gelderbanks, along with some which belonged to Bankhead Farm. RAF Millom was to have eight Bellman Type hangars, which were constructed by Carters of Sheffield, and ‘blister’ type hangars around its dispersal points. The Bellman hangars appear to have been used, almost exclusively, for maintenance whilst the ‘blister’ type hangars, constructed from curved corrugated steel and open at both ends, offered shelter for otherwise openly dispersed aircraft.

The Enemy Brings the War to Millom With the German aerial bombardment of Britain gaining momentum, all centres of industry and those living close to them were at risk. Whilst the construction of RAF Millom was nearing completion, the Luftwaffe operating from occupied western France launched a bombing raid on Millom Ironworks. The date was 2 January 1941 when, in the small hours of the morning, the German raiders released their bomb load, missing the Ironworks and instead hitting the houses of Steel Green on the outskirts of Millom, destroying three houses and killing five civilians. Those killed were John Morgan, aged 56, Stephen Balton, aged 62, and three members of the Geldard family – William, aged 51, Isabella, aged 43, and William, aged 17. William and Isabella’s daughter, Margaret, survived as, by good fortune, she was staying that night with a friend in Newton Street, Millom.

The small community was still reeling with shock from the horror of that night when days later a lone German raider dropped two 2,300 pound bombs on Haverigg village. Fortunately they fell in a field close to the edge of the village and missed any housing. It was fortunate too that both missiles were fitted with time delay fuses and evacuation of the area was possible. After several hours one of the bombs exploded leaving a huge crater, but the other remained dormant and in due course people were allowed to move back in to their homes, where they tried to ignore their new German neighbour. It was obvious to those who investigated immediately after the event that the unexploded bomb had penetrated to a great depth and extraction at the time was not thought possible.

It would be 1949 and involve many days of hard work before the bomb was found, removed and disarmed – a great relief to the residents of Haverigg.

Photo courtesy of NW Evening Mail

Aerial photo taken the morning after the bombing of Haverigg. The large crater shows (top) where the first bomb detonated and the lower crater shows where the second bomb pentrated but failed to explode.

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Chapter Two

1941 Flying machines but poor latrines!

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hilst men and machines had been arriving for several days, it was on 20 January that RAF Millom was officially opened as No. 2 Bombing and Gunnery School.The airfield’s operational records book (ORB), a daily service diary, records on that day that the Opening Up Party consisted of Flt/Lt Davenport Adjutant and 112 NCOs and Airmen.

Available on-site equipment was listed as: • 1 Blackburn Botha Aircraft L6169 from No. 48 Maintenance Unit • 2 Ford V8 3 Tonne Lorries • 1 Albion Ambulance • 2 Morris Light Ambulances • 1 Hillman Minx Staff Car 5 Fordson Tractors • 1 Norton Motorcycle The opening ORB entry then goes on to paint a rather bleak picture of life for those on the new station: ‘The building of the station was far from complete, in particular only a few airmen’s barrack huts were ready for occupation. The Officers’ and Sgt’s Mess is not ready. The roads are in a bad state and the ground is waterlogged. Unexpected difficulties have been experienced in laying the deeper parts of the sewerage and drainage system so it was not anticipated that the ablutions and the lavatories in the airmen’s sections would be fully working for another six weeks. A smaller section of the drainage system serving the Officers’ Mess is expected to be ready in one week. The non-delivery of essential stores caused difficulties, e.g., no mattresses were available so the men had to sleep on blankets, and dining tables and forms had to be improvised from the builders’ materials. Dry bucket latrines were instituted in the ablutions building and external canvas walled latrines commenced. It was found impossible to dig trench latrines as the water was only 16 – 18 inches from the surface in all parts of the station.

Excrement was disposed of in a deep pit in the adjacent sand dunes. The feeding and housing of the airmen was satisfactory but bare. The Officers were billeted in 4

the nearby town of Millom and the surrounding country. There is very little spare accommodation in the district as this has all been taken by workmen from the nearby Ironworks and Mines, those employed on airfield construction, and by evacuees from industrial towns’.

Author’s Note: To this day, drainage and any maintenance that requires digging proves a major headache to HM Prison Service as the water table on what has always been the built-up area of the old airfield site (now HMP Haverigg) is frequently found not more than 16 inches below surface level.

On 21 January Group Captain A.M. Wray, MC, DFC, AFC, arrived at RAF Millom and assumed command of the new station, along with Wing Commander C.C. O’Grady who was to take up post as RAF Millom’s first Chief Instructor. Grp/Cpt Wray was a decorated veteran of the First World War and other conflicts, having served with the Royal Flying Corps. It would be quite easy to devote a complete chapter to his character and service history, suffice to say that all who served under him remembered him fondly and with the greatest respect and admiration.

Arriving at RAF Millom that same day came a further 84 NCOs and airmen, along with yet more of the equipment needed to bring the new airfield to operational status. For all the hardships encountered, progress was steadily made and 25 January 1941 was marked by the arrival of four Blackburn Botha aircraft, the first of many of their type which, having been found to be operationally useless due to their weight and lack of power, were sidelined for training purposes.

It would become apparent that even in the hands of the most experienced pilot, the Botha could prove to be nothing short of, at best, a liability and in several cases, quite lethal.

Author’s Note: The RAF Millom Collection collection is fortunate enough to have one of the largest, if not the largest, piece of Botha wreckage in existence. This item is an almost complete wing tip, a section of some eight feet in length and even a cursory examination of this piece of airframe and diagrammatic plans for the type speak of a very robust aircraft. The Botha’s main ‘Achilles’ heel’ was its lamentable lack of power and at bases like RAF Millom, also 5

Blackburn Botha

its operational environment as we shall see. The very first Botha flew on 28 December 1938 (the prototype) and a further slight modification on 7 June 1939. The Air Ministry was sufficiently impressed to order 580 of these new aircraft and manufacture began at the outbreak of the war in factories at Brough and Dumbarton.

Found on an abandoned German Airfield at the close of hostilities, this aerial photograph shows that with RAF Millom barely completed, in 1940, the Germans had already overflown the new airfield and made note of transport routes etc.

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Very quickly the Botha’s shortcomings became painfully obvious – weighing over 12,000 lbs empty, even with it’s uprated 930hp Bristol Perseus XA radial engines, the Botha could only manage a top speed of Blackburn Botha 250mph, its max range being 1,270 miles and its rate of climb a very poor 985 feet per minute. It would be remiss of me not to include the following tale told to me by a visitor to the RAF Millom Collection who knew a pilot who test flew an early Botha, and was asked to submit a written appraisal of the aircraft and the experience. An apocryphal tale it may be, but I was told the report read something like this – “I am … etc, etc, and have duly, as instructed, etc. The aircraft handles poorly until approaching take off … etc, etc, though responds reasonably well when up to full flying speed”. He concluded his report by commending the room for aircrew but stated “the Botha is incredibly underpowered and access for the pilot to the cockpit is quite difficult. It is my recommendation that access to the Botha cockpit is rendered impossible as soon as is possible”.

Throughout January 1941 men, machinery and aircraft flowed steadily into No.2 Bombing and Gunnery School RAF Millom. On 31 January 1941, Millom’s ORB records the total strength of the new station as 28 Officers and 458 other ranks. It further records that all Officers were billeted or living out in the local community. No Senior NCO accommodation was available at this time, although Corporal and aircrew accommodation was provided for 405. Senior NCOs were occupying bunks at the end of airmen’s barrack huts, and huts built for 26 airmen were in fact accommodating 30. The drainage system for the Officers’ Mess sector of the station is recorded as almost complete. ORB records at the close of the month tell us that the station had on strength, 12 Blackburn Bothas and 4 Fairey Battle Aircraft, and that prior to the commencement of flying, a meeting was convened to decide the structure of the new station. It was decided to organise the new airfield as three wings – a Defence Section training wing consisting of a bombing squad, a Gunnery Squadron, towing targets for gunnery practice, etc, each squadron having an instructional and flying flight. A third maintenance wing was to consist of a maintenance squadron and workshops, and would include all services and administration sections.

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Millom’s ORB entry for 31 January 1941 concludes by stating: ‘flying has commenced at the station, pilots inexperienced in Botha A/C being given dual instruction’.

Author’s Note: Fairey Battle Aircraft – designed as a two seater bomber and powered by the 1035 Rolls Royce Merlin engine, the type enjoyed limited success with the advanced striking force in France and later with Coastal Commands. However once again, as with the Botha, its lack of power, Fairey Battle speed and range meant that the type was destined to find its way from operational duties to be utilised for training purposes. The Battle could be used for gunnery training as many were fitted with a Browning machine gun in the rear of the cockpit, or as target towing aircraft.

At Millom most of the Battles seem to have performed the latter duty. Target towing involved the towing of a fabric target, or drogue, a safe distance behind the towing aircraft to provide an airborne target for pupil air gunners to hone their classroom taught skills upon. At this stage in Millom’s history the pupils would be firing from the mid-upper turret of a pursuing Botha and the success of the exercise (or otherwise) was easily established by examination of the target upon landing.

On 3 February 1941 the final stage of Millom’s opening up programme was put into operation and the process of posting the unit up to its full strength had begun. At this point Millom was still experiencing a serious shortfall in equipment and ORB records no dining tables or forms supplied – considerable difficulty with the serving of meals. Sleeping arrangements were also proving to be an increasing worry as the station strength rapidly increased. Due to what Millom’s ORB describes as ‘hastening action’ (someone kicked someone’s backside), 1,000 mattresses arrived just in time to accommodate the station’s next surge in numbers.

Newly completed and situated to the south of the airfield a moving target range was now coming into use. This consisted of a small rail track around which a wooden model of an aircraft would travel whilst gunnery pupils practiced deflection firing at it from an aircraft gun turret placed nearby. The system was powered by electricity and whilst the generator buildings are long gone, much of the range, including the huge concrete stop butt can be seen today.

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RAF Milloms’ moving Target Range - past and present

Milloms’ target practice range, photo RAF Millom museum courtesy of Joe Crawford

Left to right. Concrete range stop butt, transformer house and ammo store and service pit for the moving target (situated safely to the rear of stop butt).

Entire layout of RAF Milloms’ moving target range (present day)

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An additional role for No.2 Bombing and gunnery school On 4 February 1941 Grp/Cpt Wray and W/Cdr O’Grady attended a conference held at HQ Flying Training Command to discuss the conversion of RAF Millom into a combined Bombing & Gunnery, and Air Observer School. The conference accepted that Millom should take on the role of a combined school and that only Air Observers (Navigators as they would come to be known) should be trained there.

In so far as on-site services were concerned, some progress had been made, however sewage disposal appears to have been a continuing problem to the extent that Millom’s local MP raised in the Commons the issue of the conditions personnel were being force to endure on the new station and suggested that as things stood, the airfield was not yet suitable for occupation. His allegations were considered to be baseless and Millom was left to struggle on. I have wondered on more than one occasion whilst strolling through those lovely sand dunes at Haverigg whether they owe their lush and plentiful vegetation and flowers to RAF Millom’s early sewage disposal methods.

A grim day for RAF Millom Aircraft continued to arrive at Millom to bring their numbers to required strength and did so midst various training and other flights from the station. All this activity took place without incident until on 24 February 1941, Millom’s ORB records the Unit’s first two accidents. Both of these incidents involved Blackburn Bothas, one fairly minor with slight injury, and the other a horrifying harbinger.

I quote directly from Millom’s ORB for the day: 24/2/41 – Flying accident, Botha L6247 swung off runway on landing and hit obstruction. Pilot slightly injured. Crash. Botha L6262 on flight to Detling, Kent, dived out of control into ground near Tonbridge. Aircraft completely wrecked and burnt out. All four crew killed. Pilot P/O S.G. Rodd, Crew Sgt G.L. Pitman (Pilot Navigator), LAC P. L. Jackson, AC1 H. Davenport. Bodies mutilated and unidentifiable.

Author’s Note: The shock of this latter horrendous loss will doubtless have reverberated throughout the whole of the new unit. With no firm conclusions reached at the time as to the cause of such a crash, we can fairly confidently assume, in the light of what was to transpire in the coming months, that a failure of one of the aircraft engines is a likely culprit.

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Station life went on with all the usual scrapes and difficulties of service life during the war years. Those who served at Millom during this time speak of fairly Millom Botha at rest. Photo courtesy of Mr Frank Wilson regular but manageable problems with the Botha engines but it would only be a matter of weeks before a serious and life threatening problem with the Botha manifested itself once more. Several nationalities of servicemen and women served at Millom during the war years, but frequently it was the station’s Polish pilots who were most mature in years and with the most flying experience, having been forced to leave the country of their birth after previously serving as pilots in their native Poland.

One such man was P/O Jacob Spychala. If the Blackburn Botha is to be the villain of this piece then P/O Spychala must surely be considered the hero, for on two notable occasions displaying both courage and incredible airmanship and skill, he saved the lives of both himself and his crews when confronted with two separate Botha engine failures.

The RAF Millom Collection was fortunate to have in its possession the entire account of one such incident given to the museum by an unrecorded source.

Here is the incident as recounted for officialdom by P/O Spychala and his crew. Sadly the print on the original document has suffered with the passage of time, so the report has been reproduced exactly as it was submitted, and in the same format.

Botha in flight

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Report on flying accident or forced landing not attributable to enemy action CERTIFIED TRUE TRANSLATION (SIGNED T CLASTULA P/O 15.4.1941 From: P/O J Spychala, Flight, No. 2 B & GS Millom To: I/C Flying, No. 2 B &GS Millom Date: 14 April 1941 Subject: Accident to Botha No L 6283 Sir, I have the honour to report to you as follows. April 14, 1941, I took off at about 2pm on Botha No 6283 for practice bombing from high level 6,000 feet. I had on board the following crew – Sgt Outhall, LAC Bicknell and LACBaker. During the climbing both engines were working well and everything on engines controlling gauges was normal as prescribed. When I climbed up to 6,000 feet, one of the pupils found wind speed and bombing by fine course method and then I started a practice bombing. I was coming over the target from two directions. After two bombs were dropped, the clouds lower than 6,000 feet came over the target and so I must glide lower. I throttled back to –3 boost and then I started the gliding (climb indicator –10) when I was on good height for bombing (height between 5,000 and 4,500 feet) I started holding up turning in the same time from East to West. I was at this moment over the south coast of bay at Duddon river. Suddenly I felt the slight vibrations of port engine. The revolutions of port engine started to go down slowly. I did all vital actions for one engine flying using in the same time the rudder and rudder trimmings. I put the airscrew of port engine on full coarse pitch and I closed the throttle of this engine. As I had quite a lot of height (about 2,500 feet) before approach to landing and steering to the aerodrome, I decided to put my undercarriage down in order to have all completed in the last moment, but in this time the vibrations increased rapidly and were so strong that I was afraid that the engine would go off.

In this moment I realised that I should probably have to do a forced landing outside of the aerodrome and then I put my selector lever of undercarriage back to ‘up’ position. I thought that I shall be able to reach the beach but the vibrations were very strong and the smoke was pouring from the port engine. I switched off this engine and in order to decrease the vibrations I throttled slightly back my starboard engine. As an effect of this, I started to lose 12

height so rapidly that I decided to do a forced landing straight ahead. The ground below me was hills. I chose the field which seemed to be the best one in this place. It was quite clear for me that I should not avoid the great damage of my aeroplane. I decided to do all possible for safety of my crew. The line of trees was running across the field. I wanted to lose my speed before these trees in order to land on the part of the field behind the trees which was too short for losing my speed over it and land on it. On the other end of this field there were the bushes being on the steep hill. I did the approach on speed about 100 knots (my flaps were up as before I was trying to reach the beach and after it was too late to put them down). During the approach I switched off my both main switches of starboard engine and I turned off petrol cocks.

I hit the trees with my tailplane (the trees were too low). As I saw that my speed is still quite high and that I am going into the bushes, I decided to turn in order to hit the bushes with my wing first and in this way diminish the shock. I succeeded and the aeroplane stopped on the bushes. Nobody from my crew was hurt or injured. All got out from the aeroplane in good spirit. From my point of view, the damage of aeroplane is about 40%. I do not know the damage of my port engine. I landed on fields aside Goldmire Quarry near the town of Dalton-in-Furness. Short time later after I landed the Police with Inspector W.T. Quinn came to the place of the accident and the people from artillery from Barrow as well. I gave the aeroplane into their protection and then I went to the police station in Dalton-in-Furness from where I was picked up

by RAF ambulance from Millom.

Signed: J Spychala

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The following three reports are once again faithful reproductions of those reports submitted by the crew of L6283 following this incident.

NO. 2 BOMBING & GUNNERY SCHOOL MILLOM, CUMBERLAND 14 APRIL 1941 REPORT ON CRASH – BOTHA A/C L6283 I was the instructor in the above named aircraft which was doing a high level bombing exercise on No. 1 target. We took off at 14:00 hrs (approx), and after having found WDEB, made several runs over the target during which two bombs were dropped. Cloud banks made it impossible to drop bombs on two of the runs so the captain, P/O Spychala, suggested that we go and do low level bombing. I agreed and we had just started to come down to 4,000 feet when at 14:35 hrs (approx) the cabin became full of smoke and the port engine lost revs rapidly until it was just ticking over (height approx 4,500 feet). The pilot made several attempts to make the engine pick up but these were unsuccessful so he put the starboard engine up to full revs. After a few moments the aircraft began to judder violently and we lost height rapidly. Shortly before this the pilot had lowered the undercarriage thinking that we might make the aerodrome, but owing to the direction of the turn he was forced to take this was not possible, so the undercarriage was raised again. We eventually force landed in a field near the town of Dalton-in-Furness (time approx 14:40 hrs). The first impact was taken by a row of small trees and after broadsiding across the field, we eventually came to rest in a clump of trees which were growing on the side of a railway cutting. The starboard tailplane was torn away on the first impact and when the machine came to a stop I noticed that the fuselage appeared to be fractured under the leading edge of the main plane and petrol was running out of the starboard tank. It was impossible to replace the safety pins in the bombs as before we went down I ascertained that the bomb doors were closed. All the occupants of the machine were unhurt and I dispatched LAC Baker, who was one of the crew, to the nearest telephone. An armed guard was soon on the scene.

Signed: F J Outhall Sgt 14th April 1941 LAC Bicknell JB April 14th 1941

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To Officer Commanding No 2 BAGS Millom, Cumberland 13:55 hrs airborne. 14:04 hrs, finding windspeed and direction, 5,000 – 6,000 feet. 14:20 hrs, 1st bomb dropped. 14:25 hrs, 2nd bomb dropped. Height altered from 6,000 to 5,000 feet owing to bad visibility due to cloud. 14:30 (approx) turning to come onto course for third bomb heading approx south. Port engine spluttering, starboard engine full throttle, maximum pitch. Aircraft turning to starboard position approx SE Barrow, near coast. 14:35 hrs A/C shuddering badly, losing height rapidly, undercarriage down, still losing height. Undercarriage up again, A/C heading approx NW, losing height, undercarriage partially down. 14:36 – 14:40 hrs, prepare to make forced landing avoiding village, making for field which looks almost flat. 14:40 hrs approx, hit small ridge of earth and trees head on. A/C swings to port, slides thus into clump of trees, comes to rest, both engines dead, no fire.

Signed: J B Bicknell LAC Baker GS UT Observer April 14th 1941

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To the Commanding Officer No 2 BAGS Millom, Cumberland Sir Re Landing at Dalton of Botha Aircraft L6283 Whilst flying at between 4,000’ and 5,000’ this afternoon the port engine suddenly seized and almost stopped. We lost height very rapidly and for a while some flares came from behind the engine cowling, but eventually this fire was extinguished. We thought at first that it would be possible to reach the aerodrome but unfortunately we were only able to fly in a gradual turn away from this and as we were still losing height, it became obvious that a forced landing was imminent. It was not possible to reach any flat land or the beach and the pilot chose the most suitable looking field in the vicinity. At our side of this field there was a stone wall and a row of trees, and the pilot hit three trees in order to lose as much speed as possible. I should have mentioned that when we were still about 2,000’ up, a terrible vibration started from the port engine which shook the whole craft to such an extent that we thought that possibly the port engine might break away from its mountings and might even have taken the wing with it. At about 800’ the pilot put his undercarriage down but decided against using it and put it up again. Actually when we hit the ground it was not quite up. After hitting the trees we landed on a field and as we crashed the pilot turned the aircraft broadside on and we landed amongst the trees at about 14:40 hrs.

Signed: Gerald Baker

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And there we have a detailed account, told first hand by those who had experienced a Botha engine failure and survived.

It was now becoming obvious that even in the hands of a very skilled pilot, the Botha’s power/weight ratio meant that the loss of an engine resulted in a white knuckle descent to the most likely usable section of ground below the aircraft. As the Pilot’s report clearly indicates, even with 2,500 feet altitude over the Duddon Estuary it was impossible for him to make the obvious choice of his airfield or the flat sandy expanses of the beach.

Even when on the ground, taxiing, and when stationary, the poor old Botha seems to have attracted more than its share of bad luck. The very day after the Dalton disaster Millom’s ORB records that Battle A/C L5785, Pilot Sgt Dudiewieq, suffered engine failure causing forced landing on the aerodrome, when his machine ran into stationary Botha A/C 6431. Slight damage to Battle A/C, Botha write off. Unrepairable, except engines which received no damage.

That same afternoon, ORB records Taxiing accident to Botha L6285 – fouled hangar door, damage repairable at unit. The Botha engines were a continuing cause for concern over the following weeks, ORB, 26/4/41, Botha L6525 A/C involved in a forced landing with undercarriage retracted. Power failed during take-off and A/C landed at end of runway – crew uninjured, 28/4/41 Botha A/C L6246, Pilot Sgt Wildgoose, forced landing after starboard engine failed on takeoff, A/C landed without damage, crew uninjured. 4/5/41 Botha L6462 forced landing after engine failure, no other damage.

Millom towns’ newly formed air cadet squadron pose with Botha L6283 shortly before its demise

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For me the performance of the Botha’s engines was summed up best by a pilot who flew them on more than one occasion – he said “they were as predictable as the workings of a newborn baby’s bum”– One cannot help but agree.

This dangerous state of affairs was obviously completely unacceptable and on 11/4/41 Millom’s Engineer Officer attended a meeting in London to discuss the technical aspects and operating conditions for aircraft stationed at Squires Gate (Blackpool) and Millom, and to explore the reasons for the repeated failure of Perseus engines in Botha Aircraft. At Millom some 10 engines had to be replaced due to excessive oil consumption and this was ascribed to the action of sand being blown around the two newly completed coastal sites. It was decided to fit filters to all engine air intakes and this was to improve reliability considerably.

Unamed group pose with newly completed pillbox (this pillbox survives to the present day) photo courtesy of Mr B Woan

By the end of May Millom’s defence system appears to have been approaching completion, with anti-aircraft guns being positioned around the station and ORB recording the completion and manning of four pillboxes on the perimeter of the aerodrome, fitted with Lewis machine guns and manned 24 hours a day.

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Chapter Three

No.2 Bombing & Gunnery School becomes No.2 Air Observer School

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AF Millom’s ORB records that following a meeting of Flying Training Command it was decided that Millom’s training role would change to that of Training Air Observers (or Navigators) but that the station would retain an element of bombing and gunnery training also. After interviewing several veterans of Millom’s early months it is apparent that the Blackburn Botha was earning itself an awesome reputation as a very dangerous aircraft indeed. Even with filters fitted to the air intakes of its engines it was frequently involved in scrapes and incidents caused by other components, brakes, etc. For example 5/6/41 Botha L6392 swung off runway on take-off, crew uninjured, repairable at unit; Botha L6379 force landed downwind, crew uninjured, repairable at unit; 11/6/41, Botha L6440 force landed near Hawick due to engine failure, extensively damaged by obstructions. Clearly this was a state of affairs that could not be allowed to continue and Millom’s ORB records that on 21/6/41 Station Commander Grp/Cpt Wray and Station Engineer Sqdrn/Ldr Christmas went by air to HQ25 GRP and later to HQ FTC to discuss the question of Botha serviceability. In order to fulfil the flying programme and alleviate difficulties caused by a high number of engine replacements, it was decided to loan 18 Avro Anson Aircraft to Millom. From this point on, the Botha’s days were numbered, though sadly it was to add further to its already dubious reputation before the last of its type left RAF Millom.

Author’s Note: Avro Anson A/C – A twin engined light bomber used for various duties including coastal command. With its two Armstrong Siddeley ‘Cheetah’ radial engines and a top speed of 188mph, the type fairly quickly found its way into a training role. In the mid upper position the Anson carried a glazed rotatable gun turret with two .303 Browning machine guns and with ample cabin space for pupils, it was ideal for, and indeed used for, the training of wireless operator/ 19

air gunners/Navigators and to give dual instruction to pilots. As its role as a navigational trainer grew, more and more appeared at Millom, minus their gun turrets, these having been removed and covered by a continuation of the fabric and dope covering the airframe.

This photo shows the world’s only MKI Avro Anson in flying condition. This fantastic restoration was carried out by Bill Reid of New Zealand. I am deeply indebted to Mr Tony Clarry through whom I was able to acquire this photograph and Mr Gavin Conroy who has very generously allowed me to use his excellent photographic work as part of this publication.

Navigational training flights were frequently over 3 hours in duration and because of the constant need for fully trained navigators for operational duties, were often flown in less than ideal weather conditions. A fairly typical training ‘sortie would be, for example, take off from Millom, fly to a given point in Scotland then on to Chicken Rock (just off the Isle of Man), fly down to the Isle of Anglesey and back to base at RAF Millom. It must be kept in mind that on occasion these training flights were taking pilot and crew over some of the most inhospitable and mountainous terrain in the north of England, not to mention the Irish Sea. Instruments in those war years were nowhere near as accurate as they are today and with many aircraft using the same airspace, and no air traffic control, the experience could be an interesting one.

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