Tag Archives: RAF

The Surly Bonds of Earth

Plastic Poppies at Wilford

Just a few notes. I’m short of time and style must give way to speed.

Off to Nottingham for a while tomorrow – we have things like blood tests and parcel deliveries to attend to, and more things to pack.

The splint on my wrist, after failing me yesterday, is back doing its job and everything feels more comfortable. Having said that, I am quite frustrated by the constant small things that keep going wrong with me and my life.

The methotrexate injection sage is an example of this – basically two months messing about to get a prescription changed from pills to injections. So much red tape! Hopefully that will all be settled next week. It will make the move easier because they only give me 4 weeks of pills, but I get 12 weeks of injections.

Poppies with bee

It was the meeting of the Military History Group tonight – a detailed piece of research done by one of the members on airfields of WW2 and the squadrons that used them. It was packed with tantalising snippets of information, but there was so much else to get through that we didn’t have time to fully appreciate them. Did you know, for instance, that the great airfield expansion plan of the 1930s (when the government finally realised we were in deep trouble) was the work of the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, the man who designed the Cenotaph and was involved in much of the Commonwealth War Graves architecture. To be honest, I thought he was dead by WW2, but he didn’t actually die until 1944.

He also mentioned (briefly) John McGee, an American serving in the RCAF. It seems he would like it read at his funeral. At that point I would have had a slide and a quote up on the screen, but he just passed on to another list. It’s here for people who don’t know it or, like me, never get tired of it. Sentimental? Yes, me and the poem.

There was also the story of the WAAF who took an unexpected flight. He dismissed that in a few lines and went back to talking about aeroplanes and bomb loads and runway lengths.

Poppies in the Mencap garden – Wilford

It took well over an hour. I know this because there is a clock in the room. I didn’t look at the start time but it was before 8..00 and it went on until almost 9.30. Julia, meanwhile, was beginning to think I’d been kidnapped.

Two other members provided extra material – one brought models of various aircraft mentioned in the talk and another brought some paperwork relating to a WW2 RAF bomber crewman from Peterborough. It was nice to see other people joining in. It was also nice to be in a warm room. I always find the heating to be insufficient at the

Poppies at East Leake

Numismatic Society.

My Latest Acquisition

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This came through the post today. It’s nice to know the post is still working, as I am still waiting for a parcel from two weeks ago.

It’s an RAF Eagle made from perspex (or lucite or plexiglass if you prefer). This is typical WW2 work – they didn’t have any perspex in the Great War. Well, I’m fairly sure they didn’t. It was first developed in the nineteenth century but seems to have been commercially available from the 1930s.

Traditionally it’s always said to be from aircraft windows, and it’s true that it is mainly made up in ways that reflect its use by the RAF. Apart from the availability of perspex there was also access to workshops. It’s a myth that “trench art” was made in the trenches. When you examine the facts you’ll see a lot was made after the war and made by people with access to decent tools. And, of course, when you look at eBay, you can see that a lot of it looks like it has been made in the last ten years.

I’ll photograph a few more pieces later.

RAF Eagle Sweetheart WW2

Torpingtons, Tankers and What Might Have Been…

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We bought an accumulation of ephemera last week from the family of a DFC winner, Flt Lt Charles Stein. He flew in Wellington bombers with 38 Squadron in Malta and North Africa. They were, at one point, converted to carry torpedoes, and had some important successes in the Desert campaign. In this role they were known as “Torpingtons”.

His DFC was awarded for his part in a successful torpedo attack on an Italian tanker bringing fuel to Rommel’s Afrika Corps. (See London Gazette 5th February 1943 – Pilot Officer Charles Lourie STEIN (131139), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No. 38 Squadron).

As a result of this, and several other attacks, the Afrika Korps eventually ground to a halt when the Panzers and Luftwaffe ran out of fuel.

We have a selection of propaganda leaflets, maps and other bits and pieces that he accumulated during his flying days.

Wellington crew – 38 Squadron

He’s one of the young men in this photograph. Five of them wrote their details on the back – at least three, possibly four, didn’t make it. They were, I think, an earlier crew than the one he won his DFC with, and died in several different actions.

Three were killed on operations with 38 Squadron, one was probably killed with another squadron (there aren’t quite enough details to confirm this), and I can’t read the name of the final man.

Stein himself ended up in hospital with diphtheria after winning the DFC and wrote to his parents with the news while he was still in hospital. While he was there his crew was posted as missing when they failed to return from a mission. As there are no reports of enemy action that night it is likely they suffered engine failure and went down in the sea. Or, as they flew low searching for shipping, it’s possible they just flew into the sea.

According to the details we were given, Mr Stein went on to have a long and happy life, successful both in business and in bringing up a family. One child became an academic, one a professional violinist and the third worked in fashion. It makes you wonder what the other aircrew could have done if they’d been given a chance.

And then there are the other questions. If he’d been with them would he have died? Or would his experience have helped the crew survive?

His main regret, according to his daughter, was that he wasn’t allowed to keep the jacket he was wearing in the photograph.

WW2 propaganda leaflet

Not all the leaflets are as interesting as this.

Football, a Spider and an Educational Parcel

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We didn’t have much to do in the way of packing parcels this morning, or much activity from customers, so I was able to continue with the soul-crushing task of compiling a drop-down menu of Topical Times football cards for the eBay shop.

They aren’t like normal cards, which had to fit in a cigarette packet or pack of gum, these were given away with a magazine. The ones I did this morning are the miniature size – as wide as a cigarette card but about twice as high. This makes them difficult to photograph efficiently as they need cropping whichever way you do them. They are also in black and white, which makes them look very similar – I’m used to a world where football shirts come in different colours, not just black, white and grey.

Having said that, they had better names in 1938.

James Argue – Chelsea FC

Sam Barkas - four of his brothers were also professional footballers, as was his cousin Billy Felton

Sam Barkas – Manchester City

There were five Barkas brothers, all professional footballers. Sam and his cousin Tommy Felton both played for England.

We were lucky during the week when a lady rang up with a few things to sell – I checked if she had anything else and was able to buy some WW2 propaganda leaflets and wartime maps. They had belonged to her late father. but she was (quite rightly) keeping his DFC and other medals. More of this later.

Towards the end of the afternoon we had a number of sales, which we packed ready for Monday morning.

I scanned some of the propaganda leaflets ready for auction next week. This, though tatty, is probably the best of the lot – a magnificently evil Nazi spider with Hitler’s face.

WW2 propaganda leaflet

My Greek was weak in the 1970s when I actually made a serious effort. It’s worse now.

I’m still good at sticking stamps on envelopes though, as you can see here.

£3.95 – absolute bargain!

History, nature, Christmas, royalty – it’s not an envelope, it’s an education. The Winston Churchill stamp provides balance to the Nazi spider.

Landguard Point, Felixstowe

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We went to Landguard Point while were were in East Anglia earlier in the week. We were in Felixstowe saw the sign and in our normal holiday mode simply followed it. We follow a lot of random signs.

Sometimes you find something interesting, and sometimes you find a sun-blasted shingle bank with a variety of marginally interesting things to see.

War Memorial – Landguard Point

The aeroplane in question was a Handley-Page Hampden which flew into a barrage balloon cable en route between RAF Waddington and Emmerich in Germany.

HMS Beehive

HMS Beehive was a stone frigate, as the Navy calls them. As you can see from the plaque it was a busy place.

I’ve always thought that the contribution of the Coastal Forces has been largely forgotten over the years. Peter Scott is mainly remembered for his work with birds rather than for his time with coastal forces in the war, whilst Patrick Troughton is mainly remembered for playing Dr Who.

If they’d flown aeroplanes everyone would remember them. The same goes for Robert Hichens. He’s a very interesting man when you read his life story but does anyone remember him? He’s buried in Felixstowe, but I didn’t realise that until I was researching the link or I’d have taken a picture for the blog.

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Life after the Care Farm