Carriers

I am posted straight out to 802 Fleet Fighter Squadron aboard the HMS Glorious for duty in the Mediterranean. It came as a surprise because I thought I would go to a naval flying school in England first.
in a letter home, July 1938

HMS Glorious

Traveling through France with stops in Lyon and Marseille, Bill joined HMS Galatea bound for Dekheila where he would serve on 802 FF Squadron, in HMS Glorious. During his time in Egypt he travelled extensively around the country, visiting aerodromes such as Aboukir, Ismalia, Heliopolis (now a suburb of Cairo), El Amiriya, Abu Suier and Mersa Matruk. On a return flight from Heliopolis to Dekheila he and F/O Smith flew low over the pyramids and Bill snapped some pictures.

Between August 1938 and late November 1939 Glorious and 802 would often move between Egypt, Malta and Gibraltar, with a couple stops in Greece and one in Cyprus. During this period Glorious had frequent sea exercises and 802 were having lectures and air drills. They did formation flying, day and night, Submarine Air Patrols, coordinated attacks on the Mediterranean fleet, dive bombing exercises, aerobatics and of course, deck takeoff and landings. Bill did plenty of sight-seeing when he was not busy with work and his Letters show us just how taken he was with these foregin shores. For all the training, there was plenty of R & R it appears; socials, dances, dinner parties and of course, drinking. There was picture shows on Glorious' deck once a week and plenty of swimming in the Mediterranean.

By the time war was declared on September 3rd, Bill had been in the air with the RAF and FAA for three years. With shortened training for pilots at the outset of war, his lenghty training period and years of experience would bode well for him in the coming years, he thought. For an amazing account of his time with 802 and Glorious I strongly encourage you to read the Letters between August 1938 and December 1939. They are filled with such detail and his signature humour.

The Ark Royal is still about - and will probably live to die of old age and piston slap. Heard a good story about some German prisoners in Ark who said it couldn't be Ark Royal - Ah! You English manufacture another one!
in a letter home, June 1941

HMS Ark Royal

On April 22nd 801 Squadron along with Squadrons 800, 810 and 820 embarked HMS Ark Royal. 801 was equipped with 9 Skuas and 3 Rocs. That same day Ark Royal and Glorious departed Scapa Flow for Norway at high speed. They arrived off Trondheim two days later. Admiral Wells opted to keep the carriers well off shore creating long flights to and from the combat areas for the Skuas. On the day they arrived, April 24th, 27 Skuas operated as fighter patrols, with 17 Sea Gladiators and 5 Rocs providing Fleet defence.

Between the 24th and May 1st Ark Royal Squadrons operated 127 sorties, including 72 fighter sorties by Skua Squadrons. During this time they claimed 13 German aircraft destroyed, with another 17 damaged.
On May 1st they departed for Scapa Flow to refuel, arriving on May 3rd. Departing again on May 4th to support Allied Group Forces in the area of Narvik and Trondheim. 801 was now operating 9 Skuas. On May 14th Ark Royal moved further out to sea and her Squadrons provided air cover for troop convoys heading to Norway. On May 21st they were back off the Norwegian coast near Narvik to cover the troop landings.
On May 22nd all carriers operating off Norway, which included Ark Royal, Glorious and Furious headed back to Scapa Flow, arriving May 24th. At some point between May 24th and Ark Royals departure to return to Norway 801 Squadron was disembarked. This would be the end of Bill's time in Ark Royal. From here, 801 was assigned to RAF Coastal Command.

Indomitable is a very fine carrier and of course being the Flagship we are the No. 1 carrier afloat - your son Willy being the senior fighter pilot.
in a letter home, April 1943

HMS Indomitable

On October, 13th 1941 Bill joined 880 F.F. Squadron, as senior pilot, aboard HMS Indomitable, immediately joining the flying trials being conducted at that time. Indomitable sailed for Bermuda on the 18th of that month traveling in convoy part of the way. She arrived in Bermuda on the 27th of October and then on to Jamaica on the 31st. On November 3rd while entering Kingston she ran aground on a pinnacle rock. Unable to move until the next day, she did so with substantial damage to her hull forward. Indomitable then headed to Norfolk, Virginia, November 6th, arriving on the 10th. While she underwent repairs at Norfolk, 880 disembarked, operating from USNAS Norfolk. 880 re-embarked Indomitable on the 22nd as she did a brief trial run and then headed for Jamaica, arriving on the 25th. After nearly a month of work ups she departed for the Far East, making Cape Town on the afternoon of December 31st. She then departed for Aden (Yemen) on January 2nd, 1942. On January 10th while in the Gulf (Persian) they are met by destroyer escort HMAS Napier, Nizam and Nestor, arriving Aden on the 11th. They left the following day for Port Sudan. January through March 1942 saw Indomitable primarily ferrying RAF aircraft to Batavia (now known as Jakarta) and Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka). In April they are at Bombay, India.

On May 3rd they joined Convoys Y and Z off Madagascar in preparation for allied landings (Operation Ironclad). On May 5th, taking off at 0620 Bill flying Hurricane 7055 flew a Patrol over Diego-Suarez. On the 6th using the same machine, he left Indomitable's deck at 0535 for Patrol of Troop Landings. In fact he used the same machine for each of his flights and again was patrolling the beaches the next afternoon. No flying is listed in his log book between the 8th and 19th.

On the 8th of May, French submarine Monge attacked HMS Indomitable off Diego-Suárez, Madagascar at 0756 hours; all torpedoes missed. British destroyers HMS Active and HMS Panther counterattacked and sank Monge.

On the morning of May 20th and 21st he flies morning patrols with an interception on the latter (no notes available). In June Indomitable is under refit and 880 disembark's at Port Rietz, Kenya. Between May and July 880 would disembark Indomitable twice between 22.05.42 to 10.06.42 and 16.06.42 to 09.07.42. During the latter Bill and three other pilots would take the opportunity to fly to Tanga in Tanzania and climb Kilimanjaro. There is a picture of Bill on Kilimanjaro in the Gallery section. In late July Indomitable returned to Gibraltar and in early August joined Victorious, Furious, Eagle and Argus in the Atlantic for joint exercises in multi-carrier operations and fighter direction. Indomitable then formed part of Force Z covering passage of a military convoy (WS21S) to Malta.

>>>Note: Bill was assigned to 800 Squadron between 23.06.42 and 04.09.1942 which was also operating from Indomitable.<<<

On August 11th at 1155 and 12th at 0810 Bill flew Hurricane 6817 on Patrols over the central Med. During the latter, they intercepted 20-30 JU88's (as noted in his log book). During this melee he was credited with shooting down two enemy aircraft, with one of those shared with Sub Lt. J.L. Hastings. During this last attack his plane itself was hit and he lost engine power. In returning to Indomitable he was given the choice between ditching alongside an escort destroyer, or making a dead-stick landing on Indomitable. Bill opted for the later and made a perfect landing. (As if there was any doubt!). At 1555 flying Hurricane 4550 Bill flew another Patrol. Besides Bill's log book entry I currently have no details as to what happened during this patrol. Shortly after returning to Indomitable the ship was attacked by (12) Ju 87's which hit her with 1100lb bombs. You can read the damage report here. During the attack Bill's first log book and passport were lost. Two hours after being hit HMS Indomitable signaled she could make 17 knots. An hour later she was making 28.5 knots toward the safety of Gibraltar. In September Indomitable made passage to the USA for repair and refit. Bill was granted leave upon return to Gibraltar spending most of this time in London. Before Indomitable returned to England for active service, Bill and 880 served in HMS Argus for the North Africa landings.

On November 10, 1942 Bill was awarded an M.i.D,

"For bravery and dauntless resolution when an important convoy was brought through to Malta in the face of relentless attacks, day and night, from submarines, aircraft, and surface forces."

It would be March 3, 1943 before 880, with Bill now it's Commanding Officer, would rejoin HMS Indomitable. In mid-June Indomitable sailed to Gibraltar and then on to Algiers. On July 5th Indomitable, with HM Battleships, Warspite, Valiant, Nelson and Rodney, carrier HMS Formidable, HM Cruisers Aurora and Penelope and a screen of five destroyers sailed from Algiers to cover military convoys heading for Sicily. As part of Force H deployed in the Ionian Sea (July 10th) they were to prevent interference by the Italian Navy during landings in Sicily. On July 13th Indomitable was torpedoed by an aircraft which had been wrongly identified as a returning Swordfish. Bill's log book reads, "Indomitable torpedoed by enemy aircraft night of July 13th. (Very loud bang!)". The next morning, according to Bill's log book, he flew to Formidable. (Note: I am not sure as to the reason for this flight). On July 29th again according to his log book he flew from Indomitable to Gibraltar.

You can read more on this carriers Wikipedia page.

For information about HMS Indomitable's service visit naval-history.net HERE.

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
C.S. Lewis

HMS Argus

After Seafire familiarization at Stretton between September 18 and 21st (1942), Bill rejoined 880 (as it's Commanding Officer) at Machrihanish on the west coast of Scotland. During the month he would operate mostly Spitfires, with a couple Seafire flights towards the end of the month.

In early October 880 began aerobatics, formation and R/T test flights both with HMS Argus and around the Machrihanish area. HMS Argus (with 880) departed England for Gibraltar in the latter part of October. On November 4th, Bill is flying a patrol over the convoy heading for Algeria to take part in the North Africa landings (Operation Torch).

November 8th he flies three separate patrols, starting at 0555. The first two of the day are over A & B beaches and Blida Aerodrome (note that the British 11th Infantry Brigade took this airport on the day). And lastly, taking off from Argus at 1530 hours he patrols over Maison Blanche.

On the 9th he flew a patrol over Algiers and Blida and on the 10th patrolled the Fleet before landing at Maison Blanche. The next day it was back to Argus and the journey back to Scapa Flow.

On November 20th at 1430 hours Bill departed Argus once more for Machrihanish. The next day he was on his way to Hatston, via Inverness to enjoy a peaceful Christmas. On March 3, 1943 880 would begin to rejoin HMS Indomitable.

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
C.S. Lewis

HMS Stalker

A couple of weeks after leaving HMS Indomitable (which had been damaged by a torpedo attack), 880 which was operating from Gibraltar, embarked HMS Stalker. Bill landed on Stalker in the early afternoon of August 16th. Here, he and 880 had wing drills and on Spetember 1st Stalker took passage from Gibraltar to Malta, to join Force V.

They arrived at Malta on the 5th for Avalanche deployment. On September 8th aircraft from Stalker provided air cover for the troop convoys (Bill did not fly on this day).

From September 9th to 12th, with Bill as Wing Leader, 880 flew 10 sorties over Capri and beaches in support of troop landings. Bill racked up 13.30 hours in these 4 days. It should be noted that 880 was equipped with Seafire's (the Naval version of the Spitfire) during this time.

On September 20th HMS Stalker departed for Gibraltar and left Gibraltar on the 30th as part of an escort for a military convoy heading back to England. Detaching from convoy MKF24 on arrival in Clyde on October 6th. On this same day 880 disembarked HMS Stalker for Ballyhalbert in County Down, N. Ireland and a much needed rest. He and 880's next carrier deployment would be with HMS Furious.

HMS Furious

Starting February 3, 1944 Bill would operate between HMS Furious and Skeabrae (Scotland) in actions over Norway. He flew between Skeabrae (occasionally Arbroath) and the ship on nineteen occasions between the above noted date, and August 15th. During this time he flew CAP over the fleet during two separate operations against the German battleship Tirpitz. As well as providing further cover during strikes on shipping.

During this time 880 was equipped with 12 new Seafire F.III's and Bill flew No. 858 almost exclusively. On May 11th he absented himself, by special request, from the war zone for a fly past for the King.

On August 3rd he flew a sortie against enemy shipping over Bergen and upon returning to ship learned that he had been appointed Commander Flying of HMS Ruler, effective August 22nd.

On August 15th, flying Horent Moth #731, Bill flew from Skeabrae to HMS Furious to say goodbye to the Squadron and ships officers. This marked the end of his time with Furious and 880 Squadron.

I imagine it wasn't easy to say goodbye. As going away gifts he received a bottle of Scotch and a wooden carving of the 880 crest. Read about his time with HMS Ruler.

HMS Ruler

Bill's time as Commander Flying in HMS Ruler is well documented by Peter Lawson in the Story section of this website. Rather than duplicate the information, you can read about it there.