Aircrew: The Story of the Men Who Flew the Bombers (16 page)

His leave completed, Harold returned by train.

The following is a selection from the daily entries in a diary kept by a U/T Pilot (a pilot under training). It covers the period from the day he joined the RAF up to the unforgettable moment when he received his pilot’s wings.

Francis George Kelsey was an unusually mature aircrew cadet. Born in the East End of London on 23 July, 1910, he was 12 or 13 years older than the average trainee flyer. His knowledge of life, and his ability to form a view of the people he met, was greater than that of the majority of those who shared the course with him. This is apparent from some of his written comments. He also shows a refreshing honesty when he assesses his own ability, or lack of ability, to cope.

It would have been a pleasure to have met Francis and had the chance to ask him some questions; particularly why he decided to volunteer for flying duties. He had a wife and small son, and his age would have exempted him from ‘front line’service. He was running his own printing business in Ilford, Essex. His father had to come out of semi-retirement to look after the family enterprise for more than five years while his son was away in the RAF. Sadly, Francis died in 1960. I am indebted to his son, Malcolm, for the privilege of quoting from his father’s diary.

The Diary of a U/T Pilot

July 7th 1941. Reported to No 1 ACRC London at 3 pm. After filling in numerous forms and having an FFI was marched off in a flight of fifty men to our billets which proved to be ‘Stockleigh Hair’, a modern block of flats in Prince Albert Road. We received our first meal in the service at 9.15 pm and it was of very poor quality. All our meals are served in the Pavilion in the Zoo at Regent’s Park … We marched there, about ¾ miles, and upon
finishing were allowed to wander around the Zoo until our following parade.

After about a week the Mess Hall was parted from the Zoo and we had to march back to parade in Flights. This was due to the fact that some of the fellows had been teasing the animals.

During the first 14 days we received inoculations, vaccinations, psychological tests, night vision test, and mathematical grading test. We were also kitted out.

July 19th 1941. Posted to ‘Viceroy Court’ two blocks further along the road. We are now in ‘Q’ Squadron. This squadron comprises all cadets who either need eye training or require special lenses in their Flying Goggles. While in this squadron we receive lectures in Mathematics and Signals.

July 27th 1941. Had a vision test. Results: Fit Pilot, unfit Observer, fit Wop/AG with special lenses.

August 3rd 1941. Today some of our flight were posted to ITWs. Those of us who are left behind continue with our lectures and after a course of 24 hours I managed to scrape through the ITW Mathematical Examinations with 61%, 60% being a pass, also passed the Signals Exam at 4 words per minute with 100%, 90% being a pass.

September 13th 1941. After 10 weeks in ACRC finally posted to No 1 ITW Babbacombe. Arose at 3 am. Breakfast 4 am. Moved off in trucks 6 am for Paddington. Left 7.15 am and arrived at Torquay at 2.15 pm. Marched up to Babbacombe. After an FFI had our first meal which was a very great improvement in both quality and quantity to that which we had received in London.

September 15th 1941. First parade at 7.25 am. After inspection, started the Initial Training Wing Course. 19 of us finally convinced the Education Officer that we have passed our Maths Exam, so we are allowed to start Navigation immediately. Except for ¼ hour at 10 am and 55 mins break at 12.30 pm and a further ¼ hour at 3.45 pm the whole of the day from 7.25 am until 6 pm is spent attending Lectures, Drill and PT. This course is very hard work and it is necessary to study every night. One afternoon per week is given over to organized games and, within reason, one may choose which sport one would like to indulge in.

September 30th. Issued with Flying Kit.

October 17th 1941. Taken our last examinations this morning …
Left Babbacombe at 11 am for my first leave since coming into service.

October 22nd 1941. Back again at 23.59. We now await posting to an EFTS. Have now discovered that most postings are abroad and fortunately any Cadet over 26 years of age or is married or has been transferred from the army is not allowed overseas for training.

November 17th 1941. … Had a scrounge round the OC’s office and found all my marks for exams which are as follows: Mathematics 61%. Navigation 87½%. Signals 95%. Law & Administration 52%. Hygiene 56%. Anti- Gas 70%. Aircraft Rec. 64%. Armaments 92%. (Law and Hygiene are both 50% passes). The passing of the exams reclassifies us to LACs with an increase of 3/-per day in pay.

Nov 28th 1941. At last a home posting. About 9 of us to go to Sywell (Northants) to be trained as night fighters. We have been selected because in our night vision test we are average or above average (I am average). We are to go on Dec 5th.

Dec 3rd 1941. Posting postponed until Dec 20th.

Dec 18th 1941. Posting cancelled. All our spirits back to zero …

Another Cadet, S Perrin, and myself have been helping in the Orderly Room for some considerable period during which I have managed to get a glimpse of my 1499A (a form that gives all results of examinations, bearing, speech, intelligence, etc). My 1499A is as follows:

PT – average. Drill – average. Speech – average. Bearing – average. Intelligence – average (although at some time there had been a mark against – below average). General Character – A keen reliable type. Not recommended for commission. I have now come to the conclusion that I am a very average person.

Dec 23rd 1941. Done our utmost to secure Christmas leave but all to no avail. At one period it was almost within our grasp, but due to an over-zealous LAC it slipped through our fingers.

Dec 25th 1941. Christmas in the service. Not a very bright prospect. Rather a pleasant surprise was our Christmas dinner. Turkey, roast pork, boiled and baked potatoes, sausage and stuffing balls, brussel sprouts followed by Christmas pudding and custard, soft drinks, beer and cigarettes. Spent Christmas night at a party at the Services Club Torquay, after going to the cinema. Although I have had a very nice Christmas, one always wishes one was a home, and being away at this time pulls at your heart strings.

Jan 1st 1942. Went to a dance last night. It was most necessary for my peace of mind. All day have been thinking of the way I have always spent Old Year’s Night and was very homesick …

The OC of the Squadron and I do not get along very well together. My civilian occupation brought me in contact with a great many people, and it has become more or less a habit to be able to sum up a person’s character after the first conversation with them. My first encounter with him did not impress me at all, in fact it was to the contrary. Incidentally, I think that this has been reciprocal upon his part. My subsequent association with him has proved my first impression. (I was in contact with him several times a day whilst working in the Orderly Room.)

He hasn’t any military bearing or manner but does his utmost to keep on the right side of the Wing Commander. During the whole of my stay never has he addressed any individual flights or given any Cadet encouragement. Neither does he seem very keen upon the work. Providing there is no trouble in the Squadron he doesn’t trouble about anything. He has done nothing for us, but nothing against us, in fact his psychological outlook is very poor. All our other officers are real gentlemen. When you do anything wrong you are reprimanded, but also given praise when doing anything outstandingly good …

Jan 13th 1942. 23 of us called into the OC’s office individually and told we are posted on an overseas posting to a hot climate. It appears the regulation regarding men over 26 years and army transfers has been altered … fortunately, we have been given 13 days embarkation leave …

When the aircrew cadets returned, they were posted to Blackpool and, after travelling all night by train, were left standing in a heavy snowstorm outside the RAF HQ from noon until 4 pm. They had not had a meal since 6 o’clock the previous evening. Eventually Francis and four others were found a billet in the attic of a boarding house. That night they froze because of a lack of blankets. On subsequent nights they slept in their flying kit.

They shivered in Blackpool for two weeks and the only practical outcome was the issue of tropical kit – during another snowstorm.

Thursday Feb 12th 1942. Left Blackpool 9 am. Boarded HMT
Ormond
[15,000 tons] at Glasgow at 4 pm. Mac and I have been separated due to the difference in our numbers which have been taken in order.

Friday Feb 13th 1942. Sailed down the Clyde and anchored off Gourock. Conditions on ship very bad. 216 men being placed in a comparatively small space, where they eat, drink and sleep. When sleeping, hammocks are almost touching. Those on mattresses sleep where they can, on tables, under tables, in fact anywhere there is space.

Sunday Feb 15th. Still at anchor.

Monday Feb 16th. Anchor up at 9 pm. Voyage commenced.

Wednesday Feb 18th … Dissatisfaction among the men regarding the difference between the Men’s and Officers’ conditions. The officers have good meals. 2 to 4 sitting at a table, with an excellent lounge for smoking, cards, etc, while men get where they can. One bright spot today, we all received a South African orange. …

Thursday Feb 19th … boat drill every morning. Have volunteered and obtained mess orderly job. Have to draw meals for our mess (18 men) serve it, and wash and clean up after each meal … actually volunteered to kill time, it certainly does. I never seem to get any time at all.

This is a large convoy, **Troopships, **Destroyers, **Aircraft Carriers and a Heavy Cruiser. Some excitement today watching (Fairey) Albacores landing on Carriers.

Friday Feb 20th. … tea was made with salt water, consequently none of us could drink it … The ship is called ‘Slave Ship’ and ‘Hell Ship’ by the men.

Saturday Feb 21st. Sea very rough. The ship is pitching, tossing and rolling all at the same time. One moment you are standing the next you are lying down. It is surprising at what angle the ship will go over without turning turtle … Had an altercation with a Squadron Leader regarding conditions and was informed it could be worse. We could have horses down here and have to clean them and still eat and sleep down here, as they did in the last war. My reply was, ‘that still thinking in last-war terms was probably the cause of our many mistakes in this war, 25 years later.’

Sunday Feb 22nd … Some excitement today when one of the planes from the carrier landed and tore his tail completely off. I actually saw this occur. Fortunately, the main planes and the fuselage stayed on the deck, so we assume Pilot was not killed. The one bright spot today was when ‘Bootle’ (the other mess orderly) and I shared a tin of salmon. He scrounged a couple of lettuce leaves,
leavings from the officers’ tables, so had salmon and lettuce sandwiches. (Naturally it was necessary to scrounge the bread also.)

Monday Feb 23nd. Today has been like a tropical summer’s day. It has been very warm. … Another aircraft cracked up on landing on the carrier, although I did not see this. We are sleeping on the boat deck tonight.

Thursday Feb 23rd. (My wedding anniversary – the 4th) Saw today for the first time flying fish. They appear to be about 8 inches long. They come out of the water, fly along for 10 to 12 yards about 1½ to 2 feet above the water then they re-enter, preferably into a wave. Their appearance in flight is that of a bird with a fish body. Their ‘fins/wings’ move so quickly that they look just like a model aeroplane gliding in to land. …

Friday Feb 27th. Heat getting worse … rose at 5.20 this morning, crept into the officers’ bathroom and had a good hot sea-water bath (have been able to obtain sea-water soap). …

Sunday March 1st 1942. Went on deck first thing this morning and found we were moving slowly into moorings. This proved to be Freetown, Sierra Leone. I should think there are between 60 and 80 ships lying off the town, including our own convoy. …

Francis gives a picture of his impressions of Freetown; its small-ness, the palm trees lining the sandy beaches, the scrub-covered hills in the hinterland. But, tantalizingly, their ship comes no nearer than 1½ miles to the shore. They hear news of a convoy disaster in the North Sea in which three troopships are reported sunk by U-boats. He wishes he could send his wife a cable to let her know he is safe. After six days the ship up-anchors and continues its voyage south. On 21 March, 1942, after five long, uncomfortable weeks at sea the ship steams into Durban, South Africa. Boarding a train, drawn up at the dockside, the men travel all through the night on a journey lasting twenty hours.

Arriving at No. 75 Air School, Lyttelton, Transvaal, he is reunited with Mac and some of his other pals who shared the attic in Blackpool. He moves, with other cadets, to EFTS at Potchefst-room. Living conditions are excellent. In the mess, meals are served by waiters. The following day they are divided into four flights of twelve men each under the guidance of a Flight Commander and six Instructors. He and Pupil Pilot Holdup are to be trained on Tiger Moths by 23-year-old Lieutenant Slater:

Tuesday May 26th 1942. … We go up and contrary to my thoughts I am not afraid but thoroughly enjoy it. I’m given the controls to fly straight and level, climbing, gliding turns and I seem to have got thoroughly at home with it … I’m back to my keenness for flying.

Thursday May 28th. … When we are about 150 feet he says, ‘I can’t believe it, we must go down and do it again’. Down we go and go through the same performance again. When we get off, he says, ‘It must be true’. I am in doubt as to what exactly he means [good or bad] … so ask him … he replies, ‘It is the first time that I have known a pupil to take off as well as that at the third attempt’. When we come in to land he tells me what to do and gives me some help with the controls … he tells me he is very pleased with my flying.

Tuesday June 2nd. Some excitement today. The instructor explained to me the method of recovering from a spin – and not to recover until he says so. I put her in and start spinning down. It seemed a devil of a time before he said recover. I immediately gave her opposite rudder, then centre and put the stick forward. The next thing I hear is, ‘I’ ve got her’, to which I reply, ‘You’ ve got her, Sir’, and then we were straight and level … When we came down he told me he thought we had ‘had it’ because I put the stick too far forward and we dived down under the vertical … I’m inclined to think he does not like spinning because he told me he would never do them for fun.

Saturday June 6th. I took off as usual and when we were up 1000 feet he asked me if my straps were tight. I replied, ‘I think so’. He said, ‘Don’t think, make sure’. After ascertaining that they were, he said, ‘I gave Holdup a slow roll this morning and afterwards his flying was much better, so I’m going to give you one to see what it will do to you’. Up we went and then he started to roll. What a horrible feeling. You roll over on your side very slowly until you are upside-down, and you are then hanging from your straps with the earth above your head. Slowly you turn right over until you are the right way up again … throughout the whole manoeuvre I had my hand on the handle of the ‘rip cord’ of my chute. … When I landed she bumped slightly and he said, ‘What did you think of that landing?’ I replied, ‘Not much’. He said he would not like to be my wife because I’m too B—dy fussy.

Wednesday June 10th. … My second period was with the Flight Commander for a progress test. I took off and he started grumbling
from the time he got in until he got out. First I was doing one thing wrong, then another until I was beginning to think I was NBG. In fact he got on my nerves. He made me land. It was a fair landing but not good. We took off again, and when we were about 500 feet he cut the engine. I immediately started to glide to enable me to keep flying speed. Down we went merrily towards the ground. I did not take her out of the glide and he did not say anything so we kept going down.

I thought, if it was good enough for him to hit the deck at 70 mph, it was good enough for me. He had cut the engine, so let him put it on again. At 30 feet from the ground, he said, ‘All right. Take your engine and climb.’ By the time I had taken my engine and levelled out we were within 10 feet of the ground.

He told me to make a circuit and land, which I did and came down a perfect 3 pointer as gently as a kitten. He got out and said, ‘All right. Make one circuit and landing on your own’. And these were the words that let me go on my first solo. … I was the first of the three of us to go solo, my time being 12.50 hours. Frank Henley was 13.20 hours and Perrin 13.50 hours. So I collected the 3/-

Thursday June 11th. … Found out that apart from Mac and Dorsie who have both flown solo in England, I have the lowest solo time in the flight of 12 cadets.

This afternoon we had to go on a funeral parade of a Pupil Pilot who was killed when he crashed at SFTS.

Tuesday June 16th. … We very nearly had a serious accident. As we were making a landing and gliding down another Tiger’ flashed in front of us, and our prop very nearly touched his tail. I gave my instructor a thorough shaking and those who saw it wondered how a collision was averted. Incidentally the plane that nearly crashed us was crashed 30 minutes later when it landed upon another plane. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt.

Wednesday June 17th. … Holdup is having some trouble. He has had 3 Flight Commander tests and 1 Chief Flying Instructor test. This morning the CFI took off with him and returned without him. It appears he did not set his tail trim, so the instructor made him get out at the far end of the field and walk back, about ¾ of a mile. 3 of the cadets have been ‘washed out’ because their progress was not satisfactory.

Thursday June 25th. Holdup finally went solo this morning after
having had 9 tests. This means I will not get so much flying in future. …

Tuesday June 30th. When taking off this morning I swung and very nearly collided with another aircraft. We passed within 20 feet of each other 30 feet up. For this my instructor said I was to wash an aircraft, later he cancelled it.

Thursday July 2nd. We had two crashes today. Both were due to the same reason, stalling too high. One of the fellows ‘dropped it’ from 30 feet, smashing the undercart, mainplane, propellor and part of the engine and centre section, leaving the nose on the ground with the tail sticking up in the air.

The pupil, who was solo, climbed out perfectly sound and was brought back to the hangar in an ambulance. The instructor called him a few choice names and told him to run around the flying field three times for being so dozy. The other crash was similar but not quite so much damage was done to the plane.