Fathers hidden war history
Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2017 12:08 pm
Something always puzzled me about what my father did during the war. I have photo's of him headed 'sniper practice' in an army uniform, in a navy uniform with icebergs in the background, and a Tiger Moth flight log. I also know that he was in Canada at a place called Goderich. On top of that he was a draughtsman and therefore in a reserved occupation, so he would not have been asked to enlist as his skills could be put to better use designing aircraft, which I know he did as he worked at the British Aircraft Corporation at Filton near Bristol. He later went on to help develop Concorde.
So...all these years (he died a long time back) and I have always wondered what exactly he was doing to be in all of these roles. He never spoke about the war, and he isn't around to ask. He had two brothers, one was a pilot, flew Spitfires, Lancasters and anything else, amazingly he survived the war. The other one stayed in the army after the war, he was a Major.
I decided to email my sister who lives in Canada and is older than me, maybe she knew, plus my two brothers. None of us know for sure, but we came up with a best guess, based on what each of us knew.
He applied for the RAF, underwent training, but his Tiger Moth training resulted in him not being accepted, apparently his landings were too rough. It then seems that he joined the Fleet Air Arm. He was taken to Canada where planes were being produced, he flew them to the ports , took them apart, crated them, and sent them to the docks. From there they were loaded onto ships and brought back across the Atlantic in convoys on Merchant Ships. They were then reassembled. Crossing the Atlantic with U-boats around was a high risk game.
It seems he also did the North Atlantic suicide run, taking lend lease equipment to Russia.
If anyone is thinking, why do all that when he could have sat in a cosy office drawing aircraft, he was probably safer in the convoys. Filton had the crap bombed out of it throughout the war, it was a huge airfield and factory. My mother worked there, it was where they met, as to how she survived is anyone's guess, she used to casually tell me how going to work with bombs dropping around her was commonplace, no such thing as 'oooh, that's dangerous, better stay home' in those days.
I still have no idea what the army uniform and sniper practice was all about, I guess I never will now??
So...all these years (he died a long time back) and I have always wondered what exactly he was doing to be in all of these roles. He never spoke about the war, and he isn't around to ask. He had two brothers, one was a pilot, flew Spitfires, Lancasters and anything else, amazingly he survived the war. The other one stayed in the army after the war, he was a Major.
I decided to email my sister who lives in Canada and is older than me, maybe she knew, plus my two brothers. None of us know for sure, but we came up with a best guess, based on what each of us knew.
He applied for the RAF, underwent training, but his Tiger Moth training resulted in him not being accepted, apparently his landings were too rough. It then seems that he joined the Fleet Air Arm. He was taken to Canada where planes were being produced, he flew them to the ports , took them apart, crated them, and sent them to the docks. From there they were loaded onto ships and brought back across the Atlantic in convoys on Merchant Ships. They were then reassembled. Crossing the Atlantic with U-boats around was a high risk game.
It seems he also did the North Atlantic suicide run, taking lend lease equipment to Russia.
If anyone is thinking, why do all that when he could have sat in a cosy office drawing aircraft, he was probably safer in the convoys. Filton had the crap bombed out of it throughout the war, it was a huge airfield and factory. My mother worked there, it was where they met, as to how she survived is anyone's guess, she used to casually tell me how going to work with bombs dropping around her was commonplace, no such thing as 'oooh, that's dangerous, better stay home' in those days.
I still have no idea what the army uniform and sniper practice was all about, I guess I never will now??