February & March 1944

February 1944

While the Beaufighters were actively employed on escort and recce tasks during February, making many more sorties than in January, only one successful strike was reported.

On 1 February, a formation of nine 404 Beaufighters were escorted by five 144 Squadron aircraft on a RP Rover. S/L Ken Gatward led this mission. Making landfall at Utvaer, S/L Gatward realized that the visibility and cloud would not allow for a coordinated attack in the patrol area so, taking the initiative he turned his force to the north, searching for better weather and targets. 75 miles to the north, the force found and attacked a merchant vessel and four (three) escort vessels southbound off Stadtlandet. After the RAF aircraft had damaged a large escort ship astern of the M/V causing an explosion and fire, the RCAF crews in sections of three attacked the merchant vessel and two escorts. As a result of these well-coordinated attacks, the 3,096-ton German freighter Valencia was hit with RPs at the water line and on the superstructure, as well as by cannon fire and sank . The 527-ton German escort vessel UJ-1702 (FD62), an Auxiliary Trawler/Sub Chaser was also destroyed likely due to RP strikes from S/L Gatward. The attacks were made in very poor visibility and in the face of intense flak from the ships and shore. Post attack reports by the aircrew state that it was believed that three vessels were left burning, but only the two sinkings are noted in the CCWR. There were no casualties to the attacking force.

On 4 February, F/O Sydney Shulemson received the awarding of an immediate Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his actions as recounted on 26 January 1944. He is one of the youngest persons to receive this award during WW2. "This Officer has been working very hard. The Squadron is justly proud of him. "

On 11 February, the following awards were announced; pilot F/L KS Miller and his navigator P/O J Young were awarded the DFC. S/L AK Gatward (DFC) and Cpl GA Blower (Fitter) were recorded as having been Mentioned in Despatches.

F/L KS Miller, DFC (PL 28063)

The following was recorded in the ORB for 18 February,
"We received a signal from RCAF o/s (overseas) HQ today stating that a group of Toronto businessmen are anxious to adopt the squadron. The proposition appears to be a beneficial one from the standpoint of all ranks and we are pleased to accept this very kind offer. Leader of the group is Mr. R Pearce of the 'Northern Miner Press' of Toronto, and the group will undertake the task of supplying comforts, sports equipment and etc."

On 21 February, "The Squadron mascot 'Pete', an Irish Setter pup, adopted by the Squadron when his owner, F/L Munro was reported missing (11 Nov 43) is sick with pneumonia. It is rumored the Medical Officer, F/L G 'Doc' Beacock, has prescribed Sulpha tablets. The report is that 'Pete' is coming along fine." On 23 February it is reported that the popular pup was out of danger.

Pete and 'Chris' Christison (Christison collection)

After taking off to participate on a convoy escort, C/404 (F/O AH Hodson and F/O PA Powell) experienced some problems about halfway through the task.
"The pilot noticed smoke coming from the batteries behind the pilot's seat. He called the Navigator up to investigate. F/O Powell removed the wires from the terminals and the smoking stopped. When replacing wires, a small fire started but was quickly put out by the Navigator. The terminals were tightened, and all seemed in order, so the pilot decided to complete the patrol and not return to base before dark. After turning for home it was found that with exception of the intercom, all navigation, signals and wireless equipment was unserviceable. With the very low cloud, it was dangerous to fly inland so F/O Hodson flew on the coastline. He actually made landfall within 20 miles of base, but owing to darkness missed the station. The Pilot then decided to turn out to sea with the intention of ditching. However, they flew over a night Naval exercise in progress. One of the searchlights pointed its lights in the general direction of base and satellite lights were on, then the base put on the runway lights and after two attempts, F/O Hodson landed the aircraft safely. It was a very thrilling experience for this crew."

Personnel totals for February 1944

RCAF		Total Strength	Establishment
	AIRCREW
Officer Aircrew
Pilots	28	28	13
Navigators (W)	6	15	13
Airmen Aircrew
Pilots	5	6	12
Navigators (W)	7	15	12
GROUND CREW
Officers	4	4	3
Airmen	70	86	90
Airwomen	0	18	15
TOTAL	120	172	158

94 Operational sorties were flown for the month for 400.40 hours.

March 1944

March entered like a lion and for the Canadians at Wick there arrived something new to occupy their time - snow. From the 1st to the 4th, it seemed as if the snowfall would never stop, and accumulated faster than the Herculean efforts to clear it. As one Buffalo recalled,

"there was not just a little bit of snow, but tons of the stuff. All available aircrew were on the end of a shovel. Creaking, aching and complaining muscles were the order of the day and no sign of the end of it at all". This was to continue for days and it became obvious that people were not happy as this excerpt from the Squadron War Diary points out: "More snow than ever. What a life! Anyway, we have the honour of being the highest paid snow removers in the British Isles. All our work of yesterday is undone by good old mother nature. And the glory of it all was that SHQ and the ground wallahs had to lend a hand on the job. Snow fell all day but progress was made and by 1700 hours people were dropping in their tracks, but enough was done to finish the runway. Naturally after such strenuous exercise there was a small party in the mess, but nothing serious other than a bit of beer throwing and broken glass".

From the ORB on 5 March, "There was an odd accident today. A/C 'L' was being towed to the hangar and due to the slippery conditions of the road, the tractor skidded and swung about face and rode under the tail plane. The driver, LAC CN White (right), R72991 showed presence of mind in staying with the tractor and keeping it in a straight line. The top of the tractor was damaged and the a/c suffered slight damage to the tail plane. The driver was unhurt." LAC White, from Charlottetown was Mentioned in Despatches for his efforts.

LAC CN White (PL 28090)

During a patrol on 6 March, an American USAAF pilot with 404, Lt Guyott struck two seagulls. "The pilot was unaware that he had struck anything until after landing, when it was discovered that one of the birds had penetrated well inside the port wing, while the other bird struck the leading edge. There was slight damage to the wing. The servicing personnel suggest that all pilots that collide with any Sumburgh convoys be detailed to remove the deceased birds from the A/C as the odour is terrific."

Several Americans flew with 404 during the war, some as members of the RAF and RCAF, and some (after Dec 7 1941) with the USAAF. At left is Lt Freddie Guyott in his American flight kit. He originally trained with the RCAF. (PL 28074)

Further development of RP tactics is noted with a quick entry in the records on the 7th that aircraft "had RP splash practice." On the same day, S/L Gatward conducted a night flying test using the RPs. "This had the civilian population thinking that there was a raid on, as the test made quite a boom."

Little comments noted in the ORB, such as one on the 15th, must have driven the servicing personnel nutty. Many times throughout 404's history, comments that servicing was excellent are evident, so it must have been the importance of an upcoming mission that prompted the entry, "All A/C are to be kept serviceable for immediate work..."

WO Red McGrath, GM, on leave after being awarded the George Medal (PL 26994)

On the same day, it is noted that W/O WL McGrath was to be awarded the George Medal for his actions in saving the life of his pilot, Johnny Cummins after the horrific crash of 16 December 1943. A serious accident was narrowly avoided on 15 March "Had a very close call today as the boys had two cannons lying out in front of 'N' (144) on a couple of boxes and one went off as an RAF armourer picked it up by the breech end just as I passed the muzzles. Pretty hard on the ears and also could have had both legs blown off just above the ankles. " For three days, commencing on 16 March, 404 and 144 Squadrons (and later other units) participated in a major ALT (Aerial Light Torpedo) exercise with 404 acting as the anti-flak portion of the formation. This is a very interesting annotation, as it demonstrates that 404 in fact flew an RP profile during such sorties, and did not, in fact, actually drop the torpedoes themselves. There seems to be some confusion in published facts about 404 that the squadron did drop torpedoes operationally. The editor has not been able to find any conclusive evidence that this was the case. In April 2005 a letter was received from Mr Bert Ramsden, a pilot who flew with 404, states that he has no memory of the squadron ever dropping the weapon. All of the ALT training conducted over the two days had the crews buzzing about the possibility of the units participating in a major naval strike in the near future. On 18 March, the largest formation of the exercise took off with 72 aircraft participating, involving "the numerous squadrons that are now on the Station."

On 23 March, five 404 Beaufighters in company with four torpedo and two cannon Beaufighters from 144 Squadron conducted a Rover Patrol from Svinoy light to Ytterone light. The formation made landfall at Svinoy light and turned south and found an enemy convoy of two merchant vessels and three escort ships off Krakanes light (Vaagso). Gatward (with navigator F/O J Carlin) in 'A', leading the formation, went in with F/L VT Robinson (navigator F/O WD Devine) in 'J' to conduct the anti-flak attack on the first M/V with both pilots scoring hits with RP, also using their cannons to good effect. Gatward also made cannon attacks on the leading escort vessel. F/O P Dwornick with F/S RS Porter concentrated on the leading escort ship and saw his shells explode on the target but did not claim any RP strikes. WO AB French and F/S E Hathaway shot the escort vessel astern with cannon fire and did not claim any RP hits. F/S JW Heavner and W/O EE Baker, who had been attacking another M/V in the vicinity that was stationary in a bay north of Vaagso, then joined the fray and raked two of the flak ships with cannon bursts. The aircrew felt that the convoy was left with its larger vessel of 3,000 tons seriously damaged and all three escorts battered. One of the 144 Squadron aircraft failed to return. A Norwegian researcher states that on 23 March, four vessels were damaged near Stadtlandet. The two merchant vessels were the 1,584-ton Norwegian Kaupanger and the 985-ton Norwegian Gol. The escort vessel was the 289-ton German V-5104 Wirbel and a coastal express (ferry), the 898-ton Norwegian Ryfylke was damaged near Jaeren, possibly this was the vessel attacked by Heavner. The Ryfylke was beached after the attack but was raised and returned to service.

F/O WD Armour (PL 28085) was killed in a flying accident while conducting RP training.

F/O WD Armour (left) and Sgt E Stephens were lost on this day in Beaufighter LZ177. Armour was buried in Wick while the family of Sgt Stephens elected to have a private service. "Just as our boys were coming in one of our kites which was practicing with RPs went into a dive to shoot them off and he didn't level out properly and crashed into the water. On impact the kite disintegrated and the boys were killed. " The ORB notes, "on practice RP splash target in Sinclair Bay was seen to make attack at a very steep dive. After releasing RP the A/C pulled up into a high speed stall and flipped over on its back then crashed into the water. The A/C broke up and the bodies have been recovered."








F/L GV Stevens, 404 Adjutant (PL 28091).

F/L Stevens was Adjutant of the Squadron from Mar 43 to Oct 44, but suffered a lengthy illness during his tenure. An interesting story in the ORB involves the Squadron's Adjutant, F/L Stevens (below left; PL 28091); "The Squadron discip(linarian) decided to clean the Adjutant's set of sheep horns but some aspiring artists got ahold of them and did a real job of rainbow painting. After this desecration there was much activity and use of paint remover before they were restored to the Adjutant's office in a much better condition. There are numerous stories as to how he came into possession of the horns, one of them being that he was in the cockpit of an aircraft and pressed the buttons that fired the cannons. The next thing F/L Stevens knew was that there was an irate farmer demanding payment for one sheep."



Monte Rosa (Monterosa) Troop Ship

Another attack on shipping, this time against fierce opposition, owed its success to the resolute and skillful leadership of the Squadron Commanding Officer, Chuck Willis. On 30 March, nine 404 Beaufighters armed with RPs in the anti-flak role were out in formation with four Torbeaus and five Flakbeaus of 144 Squadron in search of 13,882-ton troop ship, the Monte Rosa. A destroyer, two other escort vessels and numerous aircraft escorted this large vessel. The troop ship's movement had been reported by 'special intelligence' and was observed off of Haugesund by a 333 (Norwegian) Squadron Mosquito. A day earlier, the Squadron had been involved in an unsuccessful search for this convoy containing "a very large vessel".

The formation flew in two parts, the first under the leadership of W/C Willis and navigator F/L FA Kent in 'A' LZ297, the second was led by F/L V Robinson and F/O WD Devine in 'P' LZ314.

The formation made landfall Utsire Light and almost immediately sighted the target. Seeing the strength of the enemy's air protection and realizing that an intense barrage of flak would also be encountered, Willis gave exact instructions to each of the aircraft as to the form of attack that was to be employed. As the Beaufighters approached the target at low altitude, the enemy air escort of approximately nine Me.109s and FW.190s, five Me.110s, two Arados and a BV.138 turned towards the shore "and waited for the formation to attack". Following the Wing Commanders instructions, the attacking force gained altitude and then, in the face of terrific flak which opened up from all the ships as well as from the shore batteries, dived on the convoy. P/O Mallalieu and W/O J Perry in 'C', F/O JE Young and F/S L Webster in 'Y' and F/O AR Fair and F/S R Towns in 'G' attacked the Monte Rosa with RP and cannon. 'Y' and 'G' claimed probable underwater hits while defensive flying by 'C' caused the RPs to miss. Mallalieu and Perry were new to the Squadron and were on their first strike, yet showed the coolness and determination normally only seen with experienced and confident crews. After their attack, the crew chased off a Me.110 that was attacking Smith and Kessler in 'L'.

F/O EJ Keefe and W/O BG Steed in 'E', along with F/O NF Smith and F/S SA Kessler in 'L' and F/O JH Symons and F/O LJ Barcham in 'M' concentrated their RP and cannon fire on the destroyer which was immediately astern of the troop ship. The destroyer took evasive action but all attacking aircraft claimed numerous hits with both weapons. Keefe's aircraft was seriously damaged in the attack by flak, sustaining hits in the tail plane and starboard mainplane with the fuselage being sprayed by machine gun bullets. In the face of this damage, Keefe and Steed pressed the attack and over flew the destroyer before successfully returning to base.

The enemy aircraft now returned to the scene of combat at low altitude then climbed up behind the attacking Beaufighters and engaged.

After making RP and cannon strikes on the rearmost enemy escort vessel, F/O JLF Rancourt and F/S C Evans in 'K' went for three Me.110s, one of which he shot down in flames. "F/O Rancourt also had the success and good management to shoot down an Me.110. This is a twin-engined fighter and he blew it to pieces with only about 15 rounds from each cannon. He made such a direct hit on it that it exploded in mid-air when the high explosive and incendiaries hit it. " He then turned on another 110 but was driven off by an FW.190. P/O Mallalieu also had an inconclusive combat with a Me.110. The determined and effective work of the Beaufighters enabled the torpedo aircraft to get in their attacks on the main target. The large ship was left smoking and the destroyer was enveloped in clouds of steam.

"A large percentage of the success of the strike must go to the Navigators in all aircraft for assisting their pilots in evasive action."

144 Torbeaus claimed two torpedo strikes for their efforts in the attack. Against these results, however, the squadron lost two crews; their popular and very able Commanding Officer, Chuck Willis with his navigator, F/L FA Kent in 'A', along with F/L VT Robinson and his navigator F/O WDM Devine in 'P'. Willis was later reported to be a prisoner of war, after being plucked from the sea by a Blohm and Voss flying boat (BV.138). A/C 'K' (Rancourt and Evans) reported that they heard 'P' call out a distress signal and that he was ditching. A dinghy was observed with two men swimming toward it, it is unknown if this was the Willis or Robinson crew. Smith and Kessler reported seeing a twin-engined aircraft crash into the sea, "It is hoped that this was Rancourt's ME 110 and not A/C 'A'".

Navigator F/O WD Devine (left) and his pilot F/L VT Robinson were killed during a daring attack on a heavily defended troopship Monterosa (PL 28069 and 28071)

Upon return from the sortie, some very tricky landings were made by the shot up aircraft. F/O Keefe was able to land his aircraft without flaps or brake, and P/O Mallalieu landed with a flat tire. Gowler noted that Keefe's aircraft was "badly shot up, in fact, will be written off because it looks more like a sieve than an aeroplane. "

The ORB is candid with some of the tales told by aircrew and should be included. "F/O Rancourt, who hales from Beauce County, was heard to say 'That Jerry, he put holes in my perspex. I don't like those things so I shoot him down'. F/O Norm Smith said, 'I went in close, let go my load then closed my eyes and beat it like hell for home'. The ardour of the party that followed was dampened by our losses."

The Monte Rosa, damaged near Utsire, limped into Aarhus, Denmark on 3 April. "Of the 7 kites that got back only two were intact.

As a result of the loss of W/C Willis, S/L Gatward, DFC, took the helm of the Buffalo squadron.

W/C Ken Gatward, DSO, DFC, the squadron's sixth Commanding Officer. In this Buffalo photo, he was just completing his third tour of operations. (PL 41043)

Number of personnel on Squadron for March, 1944

RCAF		Total Strength	Establishment
	AIRCREW
Officer Aircrew
Pilots	20	23	13
Navigators (W)	6	11	13
Airmen Aircrew
Pilots	4	4	12
Navigators (W)	7	18	12
GROUND CREW
Officers	3	5	3
Airmen	75	89	90
Airwomen	0	18	15
TOTAL	115	168	158

There were 78 operational sorties flown for the month for a total of 346.15 hours.