RAF 624 (Special Duties ) Squadron

 

 

 

 

 

 

As recounted to Jeff Denness by Colin Ogilvie who was Flight engineer of “ YOYO Y YORK”, the call sign of Halifax JP160. Jeff is the eldest son of the late Pilot Officer Edwin  (Ted) Denness who was pilot of the crew in which Colin did his tour of operations. Both were awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French Government as a result of the Barcelonette mission, which is referred to in these memoirs. Colin modestly fails to mention this and I felt it only right and proper that recognition should be made.

 

The Crew gets together

I first met your father in Sept 1943 at 1663 conversion unit. Other members of the crew were, Ron Brown – Navigator, Johnny Carroll - wireless operator, Johnny Weeks - Bomb aimer, “Gene” Tunney - Mid upper gunner/despatcher, Albert Sutton - rear gunner.

Before coming to Rufforth your dad would have been through initial training wing ITW quite possibly Padgate before being posted to elementary flying school in the States. From there he would have gone to advanced flying school before returning to UK to a holding unit. From this unit he would have gone to an ‘O.U.T.’, Operational Training Unit where he would have crewed up with five other members i.e. Bomb-aimer, Wireless operator, Navigator and two gunners. This period involved flying Wellingtons and lasted a few months. From there the crew was posted to 1663 Heavy Conversion Unit to move from twins onto multi-engined aircraft and this is where I (Colin Ogilvie) came into the picture. I joined the crew by a similar route and during our time at Rufforth we became familiar with the Halifax V doing circuits and bumps, air to air firing, bombing runs and cross country flying. During this period our social life developed with trips into York, mostly to Betty’s bar or to the cinema. In this unit we resided in a Nissen hut where the only source of heat was a circular stove situated at the centre of the hut fuelled by a weekly, “insufficient”, coal ration. Johnny Carroll in true Aussie fashion purloined two keys, one to the coal store and the other the blanket store enabling us to have a white hot stove and to sleep with six blankets apiece (not forgetting the linen sheets which we bought ourselves). November and December in Yorkshire can be very cold so JC became a bit of a hero.

After breakfast the crews had to form up to march to their various sections. Pilots and engineers were referred to as ‘drivers and stokers’ and collected together. These groups were supposed to march off in true RAF style but in truth were a shambling crocodile more interested in Jane of the Daily Mirror than keeping in step. 

After three months at Rufforth we were posted to 76 squadron at Spalding Moor a very, very despondent place owing to the heavy losses encountered. However, before commencing operations there, a call went out for volunteers for a  ‘Special Duties ‘ squadron based overseas. After a discussion and agreement from most of the crew, (I think JC wanted to stay in the UK), we volunteered and were subsequently posted to 301 flying training unit based at Lyneham. Here we met up with our new aircraft and completed consumption tests, air to air firing, night take off and landing etc.

On the 14th January 1944 we were sent to Hearn Airfield, which is now Bournemouth civil airport. During our time there we were confined to camp as, subject to weather conditions, we could have left for North Africa at any time. However, after a week of sitting around in the mess we decided to break camp and go to a dance in Bournemouth. To make sure that we were in communication in case of an emergency, we arranged with a code message with the cookhouse staff. If the flight was on they would tell us that ‘late supper was available’. After a few drinks we were having an enjoyable time at the dance when JC came back from phoning the base to tell us that ‘supper was on’. At first we didn’t believe him because he was a bit of a joker but eventually convinced, we rushed out to get back to our unit only to find a large queue for taxis. Not to be outdone JC went to the head of the queue, pushed an army captain out of the way with the words “ sorry sir but this is an emergency.”  which the captain accepted but left his girlfriend very indignant. The four of us, your Dad, JC, Ronny Brown and I returned to meet up with the much relieved remaining 3 members of our crew and just in time for briefing which included an instruction to look for an aircraft which had ditched in the Bay of Biscay.

 

North Africa and Operations with 624.

We took off on the 16th January 1944 in our Halifax II ‘JP160’ and landed at Rabat Sali in North Africa after an 8 hour and 5 min flight. Sadly, despite searching, we saw no sign of dinghy or wreckage.  

Rabat Sali was run by the Americans and an amusing incident still stays in my mind.

Most aircrew during this time smoked and cigarettes in the UK were rationed. After a breakfast that consisted of fried eggs with pineapple in the yolks, bacon, some other unidentified fruit and flapjacks with maple syrup (not our usual fare), we asked if we could purchase cigarettes and chocolate. On being directed to a low building we found an American Sergeant behind the counter who asked if he could help us. Tentatively we asked if we could have a packet of cigarettes each.

“Only one?” he asked,  “ you can have two! “. Imagine our surprise when we were handed two packs of 200 and not the packets of 20 we had expected.

On the 18th January we took off for Maison Blanche, a trip which lasted 4 hours and 30 minutes. Two days later after a 4 hour 40min trip we moved on to Brindisi, ready to begin ‘ops’ over the Balkans.  

Our arrival at Brindisi was quite an eye opener as the place was devasted by bombs and shellfire having been taken from the Germans only months before. Most of the signs were still in German and the billet we were allocated had no lights or beds. This is where my engineering tool kit came in handy as I was able to knock up timber cots and palliasses filled with sawdust. The switchgear I rigged up to control the lights, although primitive and risky from an insulation point of view, functioned adequately enough. And so our stay at Brindisi began!

My first two ops were with an American Flight Sgt Ferguson from Georgia who couldn’t understand my Scottish accent. However, we survived and it was the end of January before we were reunited as a crew again. We then went on to complete our first two ops over Yugoslavia. [1]

 On the 8th Feb we set off to Blida in Algeria and did our first op over Southern France on 13th February 1944, a trip which lasted 7.1/2 hours. March was a busy month for us as we completed 10 ops, all in JP160.

April was not quite so busy and we only did 7 ops but one incident, which happened in this month, is worth relating. It had rained all day and during briefing for that night’s op the Met officer said there would be “showers all the way.” By this time the rain was bouncing about a foot off the ground and one wag asked,  “ showers like we are having outside just now?” and the met man, deadly serious replied “ Exactly “. I think that we were No. 1 up for take off that night. We start up checking for mag drop, air pressure etc. as we taxied round the perimeter to the end of the runway and then we were told to hold off as a Wellington with engine trouble had been given emergency priority to land. This aircraft tried to abort its landing but couldn’t gain height and crashed into a farm killing all 5 crew members and 3 civilians. As our engines were overheating by this time and the rain was still heavy, we requested permission to cut the engines and join the queue further back. This was granted and No.2 who had started his engines later than us, became No.1. He accelerated down the runway and began to lift off but for some reason nose-dived into the ground at the end of the airfield, killing all 7 crew members. Imagine the scene, a fire burning to the left of the runway a fire burning straight ahead and now as No.2 we were told to take off. We were getting revved up prior to becoming airborne when a vehicle raced down the length of the queue flashing a red light to cancel that night’s operation. I was never so glad to feel my feet on firm ground again when we exited the aircraft even though the ground was a sea of mud.

May wasn’t such a busy month as we only completed 7 ops, but June although also a seven op month contained a trip to Barcelonette to relieve the Maquis trapped on a plateau. This op was originally scheduled for four squadron, two RAF and two American however the weather was so bad over the Med. and Southern France that one by one the sorties were cancelled until only the most experienced crews of 624 were left. I think this number four or five including us. The drop was apparently a success and according to Colonel Buckmaster of SOE, saved the lives of Col. Hislop and Captain Johnson as well as countless members of the Maquis.

Two operations in July 1944 completed our tour numbering 38 sorties all told.

 

Incidents and recreation.

In between operations I can still recall the following incidents that took place during our tour, some amusing some not so.  

When we arrived at Blida we were accommodated in tents…two men to each tent. There had been a spate of robberies by Algerian Arabs who used to cut through the lower walls of the canvas and remove any personal items they could get their hands on. Ron Brown the navigator and I shared and early one morning I was wakened by Ron whispering to me to keep my head down as he was sure there was an intruder outside and he intended firing a shot from his pistol over the top of my prone body. Needless to say I was not too confident about Rons’ marksmanship especially in the darkness and I shouted “ no way “. The Arab hearing this scuttled away.  

After some time under canvas we were moved into chalets previously occupied by the French Military which consisted of four rooms, a shower cubicle and an entrance hall which was used as a bedroom. Occupying the latter in one chalet was a Canadian called ‘Red’ Symms who was a collector of handguns. Poker and bridge were the main card games and Symm’s billet became a popular venue for poker games. One day, during a game in which Red was absent, a player complained about the state of the playing cards and asked if anyone had another deck.  Another replied that ‘Red’ would probably have some in his tin box, which was stored under his bunk and contained his personal effects. As one of the players was about to open the box he was stopped by another resident of the chalet who shared with ‘Red’. He proceeded to demonstrate why opening the box was inadvisable. When everyone was cleared out of the way, the lid was lifted and a gun discharged into the floor where a head would have been. This was Symms way of dealing with the Arab pilferers, however it didn’t meet the approval of the card school and they subsequently insisted that he dismantle his booby trap.

For recreation we sometimes travelled into Algiers where, if you could stand the smell of the local cigarettes, you could enjoy a coffee. The Casbah of Algiers made famous by a Charles Boyer film of that name was a magnet for some people but not us as it contained narrow streets festooned with washing and populated by people who showed a dislike for us in their very eyes. JC however was determined to visit the place and talked us all into going. Out of the seven of us only one had his pocket picket…guess whom…JC.

Blida sits at the bottom of the Atlas mountains and someone had the idea of visiting one of the ski resorts situated high up and popular with the French Algerians. Requisitioning a 15-cwt truck, we all piled in for a days skiing but on arrival at the resort we all decided to visit the bar for a pre ski drink. Six hours later when the truck returned for us we were still in the bar, somewhat merry and wondering where the ski hire was.

 

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Memories of 624 Squadron and  ‘YOYO Y YORK’.by Colin Ogilvie

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