In Memory of Johnny and Babe

Well done Suffolk Boy, sorry events wouldn’t let me be there. In spirit if not in body.

It’s something that will stick with you for the rest of your life and will always bring a lump to the throat.

It’s down to our generation to keep the memory alive of those who gave us the freedom we enjoy today. We salute you all.

Snapper , The book I promised you will be in the post tomorrow ( Tuesday 4th ) , I’ve been keeping the NHS busy for a few weeks (big thanks to Der from the Forum for taking the time out to nip up and see me in Ward 14 , St Johns , Livingston) –
whoever invented motorbikes really needs a kicking ,- but now I’m back at work the book will be posted ASAP

Seems like so long ago now…..

As those of you who were there will recall, I ran out of Order of Services – only printed 100 (!). A few of you saked for a copy afterwards. Well, I now have some more of the card and can print them off, so please post on this thread (can’t be deleted by me then, and it keeps the thread up the top! Don’t forget your address) and i’ll get them printed. I will post or retain until the meet-up in October as you prefer.

This shot captures exactly what the day meant to Mark.

The contingent of three from the current 609 Squadron and a chap from the RAF Regiment who just said he wanted to be there.

It was a privelege to meet guys like these. The chap with the beard told me he was heartened to see a number of younger people at the Ceremony, and that someone of Mark’s age had done such a great job of organising the event.

Next up are the Standard bearers moving off.

Mark has asked me to post a few more of the photo’s his wife Flo took with my camera. Just to give a bit more flavour.

Veterans,

Regards, kev35

Mark , your modesty is astounding , for the past year we’ve all been privileged to follow your research , to see it in fruition really puts a lump in my throat , I wish I had made the effort to get down there , well done mate , you should rightly feel proud of yourself .

Hello Snapper,

Even I wasn’t there, fantastic job you did !!!

Serge (BRAF)

Top Bloke snapper

Snapper
I think Ashley & Yak 11 Fan have said it for me, it was an honour and a pleasure and worth the journey to pay tribute for their sacrifice

It was just fantastic – everything i’d hoped for. Thanks to all of you who came, and those who would have. It was something very special that I won’t forget. And thanks too for the kind comments.

But funnily enough, it’s not actually that difficult to do. I’m not just being modest – its fiddly and takes up some time, but it really isn’t that tricky. The research was the most work, but that is something that I am doing anyway, and only because i’m going into such depth. I will post soon, when things calm down, details of what I did and how – lets see some more spring up from us lot here! We could start with P/O Moxey…..

I’d just like to echo the other’s sentiments. I’ve been talking to Mark about this since he first started to consider the idea. Over time I have watched his efforts snowball from a simple affair to the extremely well attended event we were priveleged to be a part of today. The attendance was around 150 and in the small road where the Memorial is sited it was an impressive and emotional sight. As many of you will know I am an emotional person at the best of times and today was no exception. There was probably no-one other than Ron and Betty Who had known Alan or Johnny which made the turnout seem even more impressive. I am sure Alan and Johnny would have been very proud.

So, I offer a huge vote of thanks to Mark for bringing Johnny and Alan to our attention, and for allowing us the privelege and honour of being able to take part in this act of remeberance.

Two more of those lost have been honoured and remembered and we, in our turn, have paid another fraction of the debt we owe.

Mark’s last words to me as I left today were “I’ll see you here same time next year. ” I’ve a feeling he just might…..

Finally a photograph of the lowered standards during the two minutes silence courtesy of Mark’s wife Flo.

Regards,

kev35

Many Thanks Snapper, a truly great day, a honour to have been there today

Snapper,

Fantastic job. You have obviously put a lot of time and hard work into this.

Like Steve, I felt very privileged to have been there today…thank you very much for inviting me Snapper, it was a truly memorable occasion.

Becka

Gary, it did get quite emotional.

What Snapper is a little too modest to say is that the number of people who turned out to attend the memorial and dedication service was absolutely astounding. Representatives from the Royal British Legion, Royal Air Forces Association, 609 Squadron association and the current 609 Sqn (a Royal Auxilliary Air Force Regiment unit) were all there, as indeed were three Jaguars from RAF 41 Sqn, who came past in a tight vic formation before the leader pulled up into a missing man salute.

The memorial itself is a simple yet beautiful monument to two young men who died nearly thirty years before Snapper was born, and as Snapper says, Johnny’s sister and Alan’s brother were also there to see their siblings honoured.

It must have been a huge task to organise this all, for two young men he’d never known, but that’s what Snapper did. I feel very humble and priveleged to have been there, and so in honour of Snapper’s efforts, I thought I’d just post this picture – very much like Snapper’s first one, but this one includes the man who made it all possible.

🙂

Snapper

Normally only the military salute each other and civvies dont but in this case….when I’ve finished typing…I salute you mate.

Absolutely wizard !!

There has to be two guys up there that’ll be keeping a few beers on the tab for when you eventually get up there and join ’em.

I too have a keen interest, like most others that contribute to this forum, in the aviation side of WW2, but feel a rank amatuer in comparison with what you have arranged.

Sorry I couldnt make it…after all your work on this project, the fact I couldnt get flights arranged back to UK to help or support seems a pretty poor show

Stand tall that man !

Oooeeerrr….I feel a bit emotional !

Kev with Ron Haddon.

Unveiling and Dedication Service for the Memorial to
Sergeant John Wiseman and Flight Sergeant Alan Haddon
of 609 (West Riding) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force
Killed in Action, 14th February 1943
Remembered with Honour, 14th July 2003

On Remembrance Sunday 2002 I went to look for a memorial bearing the name of a pilot who had been killed during the Second World War. I am involved with veteran members of his squadron, and as he was born locally I decided to place a poppy by his name on his village War Memorial. For various reasons I had looked in the wrong place and failed to find his name – I therefore decided that I would raise the money to erect a memorial to him. His name was Johnny Wiseman, and he was 20 years old.

Back in 1943, the world was at war. The Eastern Daily Press, the newspaper serving the region in which John had grown up, had as its main news items on Monday 15th February reports that Rostov in Russia had been captured by the Red Army, 1000 tons of bombs had been dropped on Lorient in France, and that the 8th Army were moving forward in Tunisia. While all this was going on abroad, the south coast of England was under daily attack by fighter-bomber ‘raiders’ of the German Luftwaffe flying from airfields on the Continent. There appeared on the front page of the paper on this day, and in many more papers nationally, a report on one of these raids. It had as its title ‘Four Nazis Down in Channel’. The article related to RAF Fighter Commands continuing battle against the Luftwaffe, and, in this instance, the engagement was heralded as a success. The aircraft belonging to Fighter Command were southern England’s first line of defence, and No. 609 (West Riding) Squadron, based at RAF Manston in Kent, was one of the main units involved in the patrolling and defending of the English Channel. Among the men of 609 Squadron involved in this task was a young Norfolk pilot, John Wiseman, who, along with his colleague Alan Haddon, was killed in action during this particular engagement. Outside Martham Church, there is a War Memorial to those from the village who died in the two World Wars. Johnny’s name is inscribed here, as well as on the Runnymede Memorial at Windsor with a further 20,450 other Commonwealth and Allied aircrew whose bodies were never recovered.

Sixty years and six months after the events of this winters morning, at the entrance to Johnny’s old home at Grange Farm, Martham, a memorial to himself and his flying partner Alan Haddon was unveiled by John’s sister, Mrs Betty Kennedy of Reedham, and Alan’s brother Mr Ron Haddon of Leicester in the company of around 150 people. While some were local, others had travelled from as far away as Walsall, Doncaster, Brighton and Duxford. The memorial, a pillar of bathstone, is adorned with two beautifully engraved brass plaques generously donated by the Lowestoft branch of Timpson Ltd. Attended by members of the local Royal British Legion, Royal Air Force Association and the Friends of War Memorials, bearing a total of ten standards between them. The memorial service and dedication ceremony was carried out by RAF chaplain Squadron Leader Colin Hewitt, who is based at RAF Honington in Norfolk. The service began as Jaguar jets from No. 41 Squadron led by their Commanding Officer, Wing Commander Hopkins, flew over the ceremony from RAF Coltishall which Alan Haddon occasionally flew during the summer of 1942, performed a moving flypast as a tribute to their forebears. Coming from RAF Leeming in Yorkshire was an honour party of three members of the current 609 (West Riding) Squadron, 2 of whom have just returned from the Gulf having served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. With them was Air Commodore William de Goat. ‘Billy’ has been the squadron mascot since 23rd June 1941, when the Belgian landlady of the ‘Old Jail’ public house near Biggin Hill donated him to the gallant Belgian Spitfire pilot Vicki Ortmans (whose younger brother was also to join 609), ‘Billy’ was in the advance party Dakota on its arrival in Northern France on July 1st 1944 after the invasion of Europe. The original ‘Billy’ became a legend in the RAF, and was even the subject of an article by the author John Steinbeck. His memories of Duxford are however, tinged with anger – as when the squadron departed for Biggin Hill, he somehow remained behind. According to the Squadron Operational Records Book, “The Intelligence Officer goes to Duxford to continue enquiries about F/Lt William de Goat. He finds that the day after 609’s departure the Station Adjutant ordered his immediate disposal or destruction. The service police, used to arresting him, then gave him to a farmer who sold him for meat. Great efforts are now being made to rescue him”. Fortunately, he was rescued in time to again inspire the squadrons efforts against German raiders along the South Coast. Though not the original goat ‘Billy’s’ replacement was far better behaved and looked resplendent in his new ceremonial uniform, handmade by Mrs Margaret Earnshaw of Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

The service, lasting almost one hour, began with Mr David Ridge of the 609 Squadron Association relating the story of the pilot’s loss, before S/Ldr Hewitt took over with prayers and the lesson. As he led the prayer of dedication, Betty and Ron removed the squadron flag from the memorial, unveiling the plaques, before both eulogising their long-departed siblings. After the reading by Mr Kevin Mears of a poem he had written, the memorial was blessed and highly talented 16 year old Cornet player Tom Poulson of Gorleston played the ‘Last Post’ and ‘Reveille’ as the 150 people in attendance, the youngest aged 11 months, observed a two minute silence in remembrance. With the raising of the parade’s standards, the local veterans marched from the place of remembrance to a shaded lawn at the farm where people were able to chat as light refreshments were served.

The ceremony followed a very important weekend for the squadron. Returning to Duxford airfield in Cambridgeshire, where they were first introduced to the mighty Hawker Typhoon aircraft 61 years ago in 1942, veteran officers and men of 609 (West Riding) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, were once again on the airfield for what was possibly their final (though unoffficial) reunion, with ‘The Fighter Collections’ annual Flying Legends airshow supplying a suitably evocative backdrop. This two-day event, widely regarded as the number one vintage airshow in Europe, spans an entire weekend and features an unrivalled collection of piston engined military aircraft flying in from all over Europe and the United States. With 12 wartime pilots from 609 attending, and with more friends from other squadrons joining them, the line up of aircraft were arguably eclipsed by the line up of living legends.

The main reason for 609’s presence at the show was the book launch (and signing session) of ‘609 at War’, a photographic record of the squadron from the first days of war in the north of England, up until their recall from Germany for disbandment soon after the end of hostilities. The book, compiled by Jim Earnshaw AE (who, as an auxiliary F II A served as groundcrew with 609 from 1937 until 1940, when he was posted to 238 Squadron at Tangmere) and on which I was honoured and privileged to work on for over a year retouching the 400 or so photographs used, is the end result of a ‘retirement’ devoted to collating and preserving the memory of those who fought ‘Under the White Rose’. It follows the fortunes of the squadron from convoy protection duty off the Scottish coast in the early days of the war, through the evacuation of Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain and the taking of the offensive to occupied Europe from bases in the south of England, to the defence of the South Coast from German raiders and onto the ground attack sorties of the Normandy invasion and the dying days of the Third Reich. Published by Colin Smith of Vector Fine-arts, the book (limited to 609 copies) is the culmination of 18 months concentrated work by Jim, on top of many years of putting together an incredible archive that remains as a lasting tribute to the men of 609.

In addition to the book launch and reunion, another important event for the squadron happened on the first day of the show. Lieutenant General Baron Michel Donnet, CVO, DFC, a Belgian wartime fighter pilot famed for his own book ‘Flight to Freedom’ which tells the story of his escape from occupied Belgium in a mothballed Stampe biplane under the very noses of the German Wehrmacht, flew in from Belgium to present a posthumous Belgian ‘Croix de Guerre’ to the family of the late Wing-Commander Roland ‘Bee’ Beamont, CBE, DSO*, DFC*, DFC (USA), DL, FRAeS. The Commanding Officer when John and Alan were lost, ‘Bee’ had fought in both the Battle of France and Battle of Britain, before becoming involved in the development of the Typhoon at Hawkers in Langley. Widely regarded as the father of the Typhoon (in its operational sense), Bee was its prime defender at a time when many in the Air Ministry wanted the aircraft to be abandoned. Championing the aircraft, it was Bee who was to prove that it was, indeed, a war winning aircraft, when he took command of 609 from October 1942 until May 1943, developing its role as a cross-Channel ground attack intruder aircraft and low-level interceptor, before leaving once again for Hawkers to help on the Tempest development program. He subsequently led the first Tempest wing into action over Normandy and against the V1 flying bomb threat before being shot down by ground fire in late 1944 and being taken prisoner. Postwar, ‘Bee’ was to become one of this countries greatest aviators through his work for English Electric / British Aerospace as a test pilot on the Lightning, Canberra, TSR2 and finally Tornado. In addition to his multi-decade career at the forefront of aviation, Bee also found the time to write many books on his role in 20th century aviation. 609’s connection with Belgium began in 1941 under the command of Squadron-Leader Michael Robinson. He was later followed by even more Belgian pilots, to the point that, unofficially at least, 609 fielded a Belgian Flight (one of two flights in the squadron). As such, the squadron had strong links with Belgium – a situation which is maintained to this day, with the weekends line-up of veteran pilots again counting around half of its members as Belgian.

For those who entered the Vector Fine-Arts marquee, it was a great pleasure to meet with such men as two former commanding officers of 609 – Col Raymond ‘Cheval’ Lallemand, DFC*; and S/Ldr Lawrence ‘Pinkie’ Stark, DFC*, AFC, Croix de Guerre (Belgian) – and other wartime 609 pilots such as Ken Adam (more widely known for his involvement with the James Bond films), Sir ‘Joe’ Atkinson, KCB, DFC; (609’s longest serving operational pilot) Jim Stewart, DFC; Allen Billam; Rik Dupre; Georges Jaspis, DFC; Jan Mathys; Albert Laforce; and groundcrew members Alan Enser and Danby Barber; who had all clearly enjoyed their reunion dinner and the accompanying speeches and were more than happy to reminisce as they signed books and pictures for all those in the queue. These men, not a single one of them under 80 years of age, had travelled from all over the country, and from Belgium and Canada to be here, for what was to be possibly their squadrons swan-song. Of those present, Lallemand, Stark and Atkinson had all known John and Alan and remembered them fondly.

Formed at Yeadon in February 1936 as a bomber squadron flying Hawker Harts and then Hinds, 609 changed to a fighter role in December 1938, soon converting onto the Supermarine Spitfire MK1’s that were to see them score the first of many aerial combat victories with the shooting down by Flying Officers G.D. Ayre, D. Persse–Joynt and Pilot Officer J.R. Buchanan of a Heinkel He111 on February 1940. Having fought at Dunkirk and through the Battle of Britain, 609 became the first RAF Spitfire squadron to reach 100 victories, with the shooting down by Frank Howell and Sydney Hill on 21st October 1940 of a Ju88 which had been machine–gunning Old Sarum. It was in April 1942 that 609 was to finally become acquainted with the Hawker Typhoon, (giving up their much loved Spitfire’s,) which they first used operationally on 30th June of that year from Duxford. When I spoke to ex-Commanding Officer Roland Beamont a few months before his death in 2001, he told me that “609 pioneered the use of the Typhoon for ground attack from December onwards, and this led to the great and successful Typhoon strike force from Normandy to the Baltic in 1944-45.” During the run up to D-Day, and until the end of the war, 609, who soon became a part of 123 Wing, 2nd Tactical Air Force, was continually prowling the European mainland by day and night, attacking German troops, armour, installations and locomotives. Bee added “I successfully attacked 25 trains in the first two months when I was in command of 609 squadron, that was at the end of 42, the beginning of 1943, and we went after trains in a big way to establish the capability of the aircraft in air to ground attack.” They did this with a mixture of 20mm cannon, 60lb rocket projectiles, and 500lb bombs. In September 1945, having lost 53 pilots killed, 20 missing, and a further 31 killed or missing who had transferred to other squadrons, the original 609 (West Riding) Squadron was disbanded. But the story did not end there. 8 months later, the squadron reformed with De Havilland Mosquito XXXII’s, before moving onto first the Spitfire LF XVI, and then into the jet age with the De Havilland Vampire and subsequently Gloster Meteor V and VII’s, before again being disbanded in March 1957. 609 (West Riding) Squadron was once more resurrected on 1st July 1999. Components of its current incarnation have recently returned from the Gulf, where they have been supporting forces involved in ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’

Sergeant John Wiseman was born on January 31st 1923 and grew up at Grange Farm in Martham. After finishing school he returned, working in the fields and joining the Martham Local Defence Volunteers (forerunner to the Home Guard) until he was old enough to join the Royal Air Force, training as a pilot in Canada as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Johnny returned to England in 1942, being posted to 609 (West Riding) Squadron in August, at Duxford in Cambridgeshire, flying the new Hawker Typhoon fighters. His colleague on the day of his loss was Flight Sergeant Alan Haddon, who was a couple of years older than John and had been with the squadron for eight months when John arrived. He was an experienced and successful fighter pilot. Born in the north of England, ‘Babe’, as he became known, moved to Leicester, where he worked as a trainee draughtsman before joining the RAF as aircrew. 609 was his first operational posting also.

On 14th February 1943, ‘A’ flight was at readiness. Babe and Johnny took off in perfect flying weather from Manston. Their mission was to protect some Royal Navy vessels in difficulties near the French coast. One was now lying disabled off Cap Gris-Nez, having struck some wreckage. With dawn breaking, and the boats still in range of the German coastal artillery, attempts were made to tow it to safety. Sgt Wiseman and F/Sgt Haddon were tasked with the job of close escort, while F/O Raymond Lallemand and F/O Antoni Polek patrolled close by, ready to help if needed. Then the towing cable snapped. With the boats now stationary, John and Alan could only circle relentlessly around them. It was at around this time that contact was lost between them, the Sector Controller at RAF Biggin Hill and Yellow Section (who were now mid-Channel). At approximately 11am on 14th February 1943, Sergeant John Wiseman, and Flight Sergeant Alan Haddon were shot down; The Captain of the immobile MTB was later to state that the German Focke-Wulf fighters had come up on the Typhoons, which were patrolling at 500ft and a 1000yds apart, from just above sea level.

The Eastern Daily Press recorded on the 15th: “Yesterday afternoon our fighters shot down four enemy fighters into the Channel. Two of our aircraft are missing.” It is the pilots of these two aircraft that we honoured on Monday 14th July.

The 609 (West Riding) Squadron mascot attended too, resplendant in his new handmade coat.

Air Commodore William ‘Billy’ de Goat.