January 1944
At the beginning of the year, 404 and 144 were joined by the Torbeaus of 489 Squadron. Thus, the Wick Wing of No 18 Group was comprised of torpedo, RP and anti-flak squadrons. This particular formation had just been put together for the purpose of striking an ever-increasing amount of enemy shipping. During the month, 18 Group made 65 attacks as compared to 50 in December, and was responsible for sinking 15,659 tons of shipping.
On 3 January, F/O Symons and F/O Barcham went to Tain to take charge of the RP training that was being conducted there. January was busy with many aircraft proceeding to Tain to conduct training on this weapon.
On the 9 January, the ORB notes that the aircrew had a 'day devoted to fireside discussions'.
Reconnaissance missions were still playing an important part in the Squadron's operational taskings. On 12 January two recces were conducted that demonstrated how rich the target environment was early in 1944. Seven crews carried out a Shipping Recce in the afternoon, and sighted a small merchant vessel and two escort vessels. An earlier recce off of the Stadtlandet area conducted by two crews sighted a tanker, a merchant vessel and four escort vessels. A second recce conducted at the same time by two crews sighted a further two merchant vessels and four escorts. No attacks on these vessels were made.
On 14 January, ten 404 and seven 144 Squadron anti-flak Beaufighters set out as the escort for eight torpedo-carrying Beaufighters (Torbeaus) from 144 on an anti-shipping patrol to the Naze off of southern Norway. The makeup of the force seems confusing, but it should be remembered that the Beaufighter TFX could either be armed to carry a torpedo (Torbeau) or to carry RPs (Flakbeau). The seven anti-flak Beaufighters from 144 Squadron were led by W/C CA Willis while 404 was led by F/O WD Thomsett after S/L Gatward was forced to return to base when a hatch blew open and could not be closed.
The force were in the air for only an hour and a half when they sighted two convoys, one with three merchant vessels and two escorts, the second convoy some miles astern of the first near Lista.
The mechanics of the attacks are not clear, but it is known that both of the convoys were engaged. At 1153 hrs, the 404 anti-flak aircraft and 144 Squadron Torbeaus initiated attacks. O/404 (F/O Fair and Sgt Towns), G/404 (F/S Lorch and Sgt Huxtable) and F/404 (F/O Hodson and F/O Powell) attacked the leading escort vessel and claimed RP and 
cannon strikes. This vessel was likely the V5307 Felix Scheder, a 390-ton auxiliary whaler which received rocket strikes to the bridge area. M/404 (F/O Thomsett and F/O Webster) along with H/404 (F/O Keefe and W/O Steed) attacked the leading 4000-ton merchant vessel with M scoring two and H four hits. The 144 Squadron torpedo aircraft also attacked this vessel and reported that they saw explosions from the 404 attacks. This merchantman was likely the 5,179-ton German vessel Entrerios which received a torpedo hit on the stern and RP strikes on the bridge, foredeck and amidships. She was later confirmed destroyed, possibly by F/O Thomsett and F/O Keefe. Another steam ship, the 1,569-ton Norwegian vessel Maurita confirmed as damaged in the strike.
F/L RW Webster checks his charts (PL 29815)
F/O Johnny Symons (PL 28066)
Under the direction of Chuck Willis, the escorting RAF anti-flak Beaufighters attacked the second convoy and managed to put one of the ships out of action. This attack on the second convoy was not an optimal action, as in the anti-flak fitment severe damage could not be expected on the enemy vessels. The ORB notes that this flight 'losing contact momentarily with the other formation in the cloud' chose to engage the vessels. U/404 (F/O Symons (right) and F/O Barcham) attacked one of the escort vessels in the second convoy, claiming cannon strikes while the RPs 'undershot'. The German merchant vessel Wittekind, a 4,029-ton iron ore freighter was sunk during her voyage from Narvik to Germany. A second strike force comprising 489 Squadron also struck this convoy.
For this mission the ORB noted, "Twenty four aircraft took part in this the largest operation to date of the Wick Beaufighter Wing." Note that this formation was not called a Strike Wing in the ORB.
Unfortunately, this action was not without cost - two Beaufighters from 404 Squadron did not return. P/O NB Hunt and navigator F/O Joiner were lost, Beaufighter 'J' LZ179 was seen to emit smoke while diving to attack and was not seen again, likely a victim to a flak strike. Also lost were F/O W Wilkie and F/O Evans in W/404. The aircraft lost height rapidly when 120 miles from base and ditched. It had been hit by flak while turning in to attack and was unable to launch its RPs. F/O Hodson in 'F' circled the site, but no survivors were seen in the dinghy. Along with the two Buffalo aircraft, one of the 144 Squadron aircraft also failed to return.
On 16 January, five 404 Squadron aircraft and one from 144 Squadron took part as escorts to 144 Torbeaus on a Rover Patrol. Landfall was made at Storholm Light and the patrol turned south along the coast to Stadtlandet. During the transit, two armed trawlers were sighted who opened fire on the patrol. N/404, flown by F/O Decloux and F/O Gilhespy, was hit. "The formation set course for base at 1426 from Gtterone Light and shortly afterward two explosions were seen from the starboard engine of 'N'. It carried on for three minutes, maintaining level course. The pilot was then heard on VHF to say 'This is it, chaps,' the a/c touched down in ditching position, navigator fired a red Very light and the a/c hit the water and broke up. P/144 circled the area but no survivors, wreckage or dinghy seen ". The ORB states that the ditching had to be carried out in a heavy sea.
On 20 January, six Buffalo aircraft armed with RP, led by W/C Gatward in 'R' NE198 and escorted by an equal number of 144 Squadron anti-flak Beaufighters (including one photographic aircraft from 144) set out on patrol. The formation made landfall off Bremanger and turned north. A northbound convoy of one merchant and four escorts was sighted with a second convoy further north. All aircraft attacked the first convoy at 1131 hrs. The anti-flak aircraft took on the escort vessels while 404 concentrated on the merchantman, the 5,179-ton German merchant vessel Emsland. The ORB states that 30 rocket strikes were registered (each aircraft obtained at least two). T/404 (S/L Gatward and F/O Carlin) also attacked one of the escort vessels with RP. All planes also attacked with cannon. After this well executed attack, the Emsland was enveloped in steam and smoke and caught fire, a victim of multiple rocket strikes. She was beached as a result of the attack and was a total loss . The returning crews reported that one of the escort vessels was also damaged, with a large plume of black smoke enveloping the ship after an attack. Post war records indicate that in fact, three of the escorts received shell hits; the UJ-1102 Westfalen of 445 tons and UJ-1104 Oldenburg of 446 tons, both German Auxiliary Trawler/Sub Chasers, were listed as damaged. The third damaged vessel was the 320-ton German Auxiliary Whaler V-5304 Seehund . It is interesting to note that the ORB stated, "an enemy report admitted casualties among the crews. From a tactical point of view this was a most successful attack ".
Shulemson earns Distinguished Service Order
On 26 January, six 404 Squadron Beaufighters in strike configuration led by F/O Shulemson in 'U', and six from 144 as anti-flak escort were back in action. R/404 (F/O Fair and Sgt Towns) had to turn back to base due to engine trouble. This time the target was a convoy of three merchant vessels of 2,000 to 3,000-tons including the Finse, Orlanda and the tanker Kloveren along with three escort vessels and a minesweeper off of Stadlandet.
One of the Buffalo crews, F/O EJ Keefe and WO BG Steed, scored four hits on the minesweeper and left it burning. "F/O Keefe figuring he had been damaged made a suicide attack on one and blew it out of the water with his cannons and rocket projectiles. " This vessel was likely a 560-ton German Auxiliary Whaler escort V-5908 Penang, listed as having been severely damaged in the attacks. Shulemson also attacked this vessel. WOs HE Hallatt and AD Glasgow registered four hits on an astern escort vessel. W/O French and Sgt Hathway in 'T' tried to attack this escort vessel, but the RP sight was unserviceable and forward hatch blew open. F/O Shulemson and his navigator F/O PR Bassett also attacked the merchant with two rockets striking.
An M-class minesweeper was sunk and two merchant vessels and two escort vessels seriously damaged with unknown identities. The ORB notes that accurate flak and rockets from the convoy and flak from shore was encountered.
During the action, F/O JAC Dixon and Sgt E Pearce in 'G' NE328 were thought to have made a successful attack on the leading M/V but they almost immediately fell victim to three Me.109s and plunged into the sea. The 109s may have been alerted to the presence of the hostile aircraft when the unserviceable Beau broke radio silence rules by sending a Morse code message. This transmission "probably alerted German listening posts along the Norwegian coast. "
F/O SS 'Sid' Shulemson standing in front of his Beaufighter (PL29809)
F/O Shulemson, along with the other aircraft from Wick, was already heading for home with his damaged Beaufighter when he returned to aid a comrade. From Shulemson's log:
"Jumped by four Me.109Gs. P/O Dixon shot down. I attacked fighter chasing M/144 and had inconclusive combat"
The ORB states that Shulemson's fire was ineffective, but this aggressive action caused the lethal enemy fighter to turn its attention from the beleaguered 144 aircraft to its pursuer. For several minutes, Shulemson fought for his life, taking violent evasive action with Bassett firing in defence using the Beaufighter's machine-gun. He was taking hits from the 109, as well as from shore based flak emplacements. Using Coastal Command defensive tactics, the Beau made tight turns at very low altitude, an environment that the Me.109 was (not) best suited for. Shulemson eventually gained cloud cover and broke contact. Re-emerging from the cloud after four minutes, the enemy fighter was again sighted at 800 yards and immediately attacked. The crew fought off the Me.109 for a further ten minutes until Shulemson again made cloud cover. Due to his efforts, Shulemson eventually broke contact from the enemy fighter. A clearer insight into the life of a wartime pilot may be gleaned from the honest tone used in the final entry for that day in Shulemson's log, "Many congratulations and drinks to a badly scared crew". Shulemson won an immediate DSO for his actions being cited as a 'skillful, courageous and determined leader whose example has inspired all'. From the ORB was the following annotation, "This was considered to be a very courageous and self-sacrificing action on F/O Shulemson's part and it is quite probable that had he not attacked the ME109 M/144 would have suffered the fate of J/404."
Personnel totals for January 1944
| RCAF | | Total Strength |
Establishment |
| AIRCREW | | |
| Officer Aircrew | | | |
| Pilots | 17 | 20 | 13 |
| Navigators (W) | 4 | 13 | 13 |
| Airmen Aircrew | | | |
| Pilots | 5 | 6 | 12 |
| Navigators (W) | 6 | 15 | 12 |
| GROUND CREW | | | |
| Officers | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Airmen | 73 | 85 | 90 |
| Airwomen | 0 | 18 | 15 |
| TOTAL | 109 | 161 | 158 |
66 Operational sorties were flown during then month for a total of 272.45 hours.
