Hi, I’m a brand-new member of this forum, but I’ve been ‘lurking’ here for a very long time. I’m posting now, as I’m after a bit of help:
My late Grandfather (S/Lt (A) Don Street DSC, RNVR) was a Fairey Swordfish Observer; serving with 816 NAS on HMS Tracker and HMS Chaser; and with 836 NAS on the MAC Ship Adula. His long-term pilot was S/Lt (A) James Francis Mason DSC, RNVR.
Mason and my Grandfather are mentioned briefly in Lord Kilbracken’s Bring Back My Stringbag, and in Ray Sturtivant’s The Swordfish Story. The latter reference describes the action for which they both won the DSC – the sinking of U366 with rockets, in defence of convoy RA57 in March 1944.
Both this account and my Grandfather’s logbook refer to the aircraft used as Swordfish ‘F’ of 816 Sqn – however, I can find no mention of the aircraft’s serial number, even in the relevant appendix to Ray Sturtivant’s book. Does anyone know of a way to find this out, or is this information lost to history?
The reason for this slightly odd request is this: I am in the middle of building a Tamiya 1:48 Swordfish Mk.II, and want to finish it accurately in the scheme worn by ‘Grandpa’s Plane’!
Any other information about my Grandfather’s career (or pointers about how to research further) would be very gratefully received. He only died last year, but had been suffering from Alzheimer’s (and therefore not made a lot of sense) for a long time…
Many thanks,
Olly.
By: ollynunn - 4th March 2011 at 12:44
Hi Mark,
Glad you found the photos interesting – I’ll have to scan some of the others.
Re the pranged Seafire’s serial: It’s very hard to read on the scan – the originals are at home, so I’ll take a look under a lens tonight.
My best guess is LR667, though.
Olly
By: Mark12 - 4th March 2011 at 12:30
Wonderful stuff. Many thanks for posting.
Could you please read off the serial number of the Seafire on its nose?
Mark
By: ollynunn - 4th March 2011 at 12:23
I thought I’d stick a few of my Grandfather’s photos on here, in case anyone found them interesting.
They were all carefully labelled in an album a few years ago, but at some point they’ve been removed from the album – I therefore have no idea of the individuals/places/dates featured in most of them!
I do know that this is S/Lt Mason (mentioned in my first post):
My Grandfather is 5th from the left, standing in the back row…
…and on the left in this shot:
This one makes me feel cold just looking at it!
And a few more…
This one is marked ‘Crown Copyright’, so isn’t a personal one – but it is very atmospheric:
Hope these are of interest to someone!
By: ollynunn - 3rd March 2011 at 08:53
Hi Lee,
Thank you for supplying the serial – that was quicker than I thought it would be!
Yes, I have my Grandfather’s Logbook, his medals, and a collection of his wartime photos – all on loan from my Grandmother, as I’m the only one who’s shown any interest in that period of his life.
I have a few of the photos scanned into my PC. If there’s any interest I can try to post them…
By: Lee Howard - 2nd March 2011 at 18:06
Olly
Swordfish II NF135 816 Sqn Chaser (‘F’), sank U-366 71 degrees 10 mins N, 14 degrees 45 mins E, 5.3.44 (Sub Lt JF Mason & Sub Lt D Street both awarded DSC and Leading Airman DG Franklin awarded DSM).
Do you happen to have your Grandfather’s logbooks still?
Rgds
Lee
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March 2, 2011 at 4:54 pm