F/Sgt T.Riggler

152 Squadron

Thanks, Ettrick. You’re correct – the website is www.152hyderabad.co.uk and it’s full of interest, but does not carry the information I am seeking. I’ll have to keep on looking!

I think a site exists for 152 Hyderabad sqn.
Cheers

152 Squadron

Thanks, Snapper. I’ll keep looking!

Sorry old chap, I only study 609 Sqdn. There is someone on here who researches 152 though I think.

Sgt K C Holland, RAF (Australian)
An excellent forum! I’m new here, but have been involved with aviation and WW2 topics since an early age. I’m impressed with your knowledge, Snapper.

Perhaps you know something about Kenneth Christopher Holland, of 152 Squadron, one of the Battle of Britain “few”, who I am currently researching? He died on Sept 25, 1940 after a battle with a Heinkel 111, his Spitfire crashing at Woolverton, just south of Bath. Would be grateful for any information, or suggestions on where I can discover more.

No. Many photographers : press, personal (air and ground crew) air ministry, gun camera, all sorts.

Wow impressive. just out of interest are the photographs all bty the same photographer?

Of course!!!

Do I assume correct that you have this on file so you do not have to write it all again?

Good stuff Snapper.

Brian.

Mind you, I’m always writing and researching. I’m apparently quite good at it. But then again, that’s only if I’m interested in the subject.

No, just this, which is NOT actually available from Amazon, but exclusively from me and Jim. Amazon seem to think they can offer it for that price but they are sorely disappointed. It would cost them £25 plus postage, same as everyone else:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bee-Beamonts-WWII-Log-Books/dp/0955310105/sr=1-10/qid=1158872738/ref=sr_1_10/026-4270311-8393222?ie=UTF8&s=books

Thing is, they don’t even have the title correct.

“WOW”, if that’s just off the top of your head, I hate to think what would be written from your deep thoughts Snapper!! War and peace perhaps 😮 😀

Brian.

No. It’s on the tip of my tongue though.

42396 Flight Lieutenant ‘Johnny’ Curchin, DFC

John Curchin was born in Hawthorn, Victoria on January 20th 1918. His family had sailed for Australia in 1918, arriving at Melbourne when Susannah Curchin was eight months pregnant, John Curchin therefore becoming an Australian citizen at birth. Johns father, Henry Wallace Curchin, was born on 11th December 1875 at 18 Church Street, Hartlepool, Durham and his Mother Susannah Verrill on 27 June 1878 in Staithes, Yorkshire. The family settled in the seafront area of Newcastle, New South Wales and this is where John spent his first five years, together with his sister Dorothy who was thirteen in 1918, his other sister Margaret, eight and his little brother Ivan who was two. There had been another brother, Henry, the Curchins first child, born in 1901, but tragically he had died at his school in Market Rason at the age of twelve, something that his parents never really got over. Henry Curchin was a naval architect who had helped design many ships during the First World War. Henry went out to Australia to be CEO for the Commonwealth of Australia to reorganise the Australian Merchant Navy for five years. In Australia his duties were concerned with the reorganizing of the Australian Merchant Service after the losses of WW1. Although the family stayed in Australia until 1923, Henry came back to England for a period in 1920 to supervise the refitting of HMS Hood. The ship was originally launched on 22nd August 1918 by Lady Hood, widow of Admiral Sir Horace Hood who had been killed at the Battle of Jutland on board HMS Invincible. He settled in Middlesex and set up company Watson and Curchin. When the Curchin family returned to England in 1923 Henry developed a Naval architect’s business, with one of his colleagues, called Watson and Curchin. The family bought a house in Old Park Ridings, Grange Park, Enfield, Middlesex where they lived during the twenties and thirties and a school friend of Johnny’s, Ralph Watkinson, who lived in the same road, told his wife that whenever he went round to play with Johnny, his sister Dorothy, who was by then in her early twenties, would always make a fuss of them giving them sweets and cakes. Both boys distinguished themselves in the yearly school Sports Day. An entry in the school athletic records lists Curchin J. as being the record holder for throwing the cricket ball 192 feet at the age of 12 in 1930. In a school photograph for 1929, when he would have been about eleven years old, he is pictured with his tongue sticking out and an impish great smile on his face. This was whilst a pupil at the school at which John and his brother Ivan were enrolled in 1923 at the ages of five and seven respectively. A small private school called The Winchmore Hill Collegiate School, it had been opened in 1906 by Mr & Mrs John Temblett-Wood and was well thought of in the district. It had accommodation for about one hundred boys from five years old to eighteen. The school concentrated on teaching good behaviour, good manners and good speech, and if at the same time a little formal education could be imparted as well then so much the better. The boys wore Eton collars with their smart school uniform and always had to wear their caps in the street so that they could raise them if they met any grown ups whom they knew. The school sports field was just across the New River which was a canal which brought drinking water to the people of London and contained small fish such as “Bulldozers” which the boys used to try and catch during break times, usually without any success. The academic record of the school between the wars was fairly good and many of the pupils sat and passed the various external examinations and went on to minor Public Schools such as Lancing College and Company Schools such as Merchant Taylors, Stationers and Mercers. Those that stayed on at the Collegiate could take the School Certificate and London Matriculation Examination. After eight years at the Collegiate Johnny Curchin passed the Common Entrance examination in 1931 and like his brother Ivan before him left to go the Merchant Taylors School as a day boy from 1930 to 1934. The Head Master at the time was Spencer Leeson who later became Head Master at Winchester and subsequently Bishop of Peterborough. During this time, John’s father, Henry and the two boys Ivan and John all won cups for shooting at Bisley. Watson and Curchin Naval Architects and Ship Designers had had a difficult time during the Depression and were just getting back on their feet when in September 1934 Henry Curchin died of cancer (Johns mother died in May 1974 at age 95. Her body was cremated and the ashes were scattered over Henry’s grave in Edmonton Cemetery.) Ivan had left Merchant Taylors the year before after taking his leaving examinations and had found a position as a Journalist. Now the family could not afford to keep Johnny on at school and he too had to leave, finding a position with a City shipping firm called JI Jacobs. His home at this time was right next door to the Enfield golf club, and by the time he got on to his squadron he was known to be a scratch golfer. In June 1939 he joined the RAF on a Short Service Commission, Commissioned as Acting Pilot Officer on 5th August 1939. On 26th April he received Confirmation in the rank of Pilot Officer on probation (dated 6th April 1940) in the London Gazette. With training completed, Curchin was posted to 600 (City of London) Squadron, motto ‘Praetor Seccentos’ (more than six hundred) on May 4th 1940, being promoted to Pilot Officer on 6th June. After initial training he converted to Blenheims, and gradually built up his experience. On 10th May 1940 6 of the squadron’s Blenheims were sent to attack Waalhaven Airfield near Rotterdam, but five out of the six were shot down by German Bf.110 aircraft and seven aircrew killed including the C.O. S/Ldr. Jimmy Watts, although Johnny was not been involved in in this raid. Trained pilots were badly needed on other squadrons to replace those killed in combat, and shortly after this three of the squadron pilots were transferred to 609 Squadron who were also based at Northolt. One of the three was Johnny Curchin, the others being P/O Miller and Sgt Feary. He moved to 609 Squadron at Northolt on June 11th. Curchin shared a He111 on July 12th. The London Gazette records his confirmation in the rank of Pilot Officer (dated 12th June 1940) on 23rd July. He shot down a Bf110 and damaged another on August 8th, destroyed a Bf109 on the 25th, destroyed a Bf109 and probably a Do17 on September 7th, he shgared in the destruction of two Do17’s on the 15th, heclaimed a Bf109 on the 24th, two He111’s on the 25th and another He111 on the 26th. Curchin was awarded the DFC on 1st November 1940 with the following citation: Pilot Officer John CURCHIN (42396), No. 609 Squadron. This officer has displayed great keenness and skill in combat against the enemy. On a recent occasion he pursued an enemy aircraft thirty miles out to sea and finally destroyed it. He has destroyed at least seven hostile aircraft and shared in the destruction of others. Awarded, the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was decorated by the King in February 1941. The diary entry of Tadeusz Nowierskis dated 10th December reciords: “…Together with P/O Curchin, we both gave two Messerschmitt’s a long chase almost right up to the French coast, but our good old trusty Spitfires were already out of breath at that altitude.” In a letter to Stephen Beaumont written in January 1941, Frank Howell reports: “… the Squadron is very different now, 10 Sergeant Pilots and 13 Officers. Good lads most of them but terribly lacking in the essential training. Forshaw has got B Flight with Aggie (Agazarian), Johnny Curchin and the three Poles.” He was promoted to Flying Officer on 6th April and was appointed B Flight Commander the same month. He destroyed a Bf109 and shared another on May 8th. The Squadron was surprised by Bf109s on June 4th 1941 and he was reported Missing. He is believed to have collided at approximately 20:30 hours whilst flying Spitfire P8204 with Bf109F-2 werknummer 6707 coded <3-+- of Stab/JG53, flown by Feldwebel H. Ruhl, crashing into the sea off Dover. Curchin accompanied by his great friend Sydney Hill and nine other pilots, had been involved in a dog fight with just 3 Me 109s, but 609 came out of it so badly that only 6 out of the 11 Spitfires made it back to Biggin Hill. Calls eventually came from West Malling where four had landed and another was reported to be at Manston. Curchin had been shot down and killed. Flight Lieutenant Paul Richey, brother-in-law of the CO, who was later to command 609 himself remembered the tragedy “Sydney Hill was so upset that he really never got over it. They were good scratch golfers and John drank a lot. Sydney drank too, but not so much. He would wake up in the morning and his eyes would clear and he would fly” His body was never found. He is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 13 and was among 453 aircrew killed operating out of Biggin Hill in World War 2. His promotion from Pilot Officer to Flying Officer (dated 6th April 1941) was gazetted on 18th July 1941, although the Squadron Form 540 Operations Records Book records him as being promoted on the 4th April from Pilot Officer to Flight Lieutenant.

Claims Total: 8 and 5 shared destroyed, 1 shared unconfirmed destroyed, 1 probable, 1 damaged.

I have well over 2000 photos. Can’t be arsed to look through them. Far too busy, sorry!

Snapper, do have information of the top of you head about J.Curchin and any additional photographs?

Scaley 😉

Many thanks Snapper. 🙂

Heading out, just a quickie off the top of my head…..

904492 / 114032 Pilot Officer Thomas Charles ‘Tommy / Hairwave’ Rigler DFC DFM

Born on 13th July 1909 in Poole, Dorset, Rigler joined the RAF in 1940 and was posted to 609 Squadron as a Sergeant Pilot in February 1941 at Warmwell under S/Ldr Michael Robinson. On his first sortie on 8th May 1941 he Destroyed two Bf.109’s, and Destroyed another and shared in Damaging one on 4th June. On the 22nd he Destroyed a Bf.109F and two Bf.109Es, for which he received the DFM. On 24th June he claimed a Probable and a Damaged and Destroyed another Bf.109 on 24th July. On 7th August he claimed a Damaged but was (subsequently wounded whilst attacking a Flak ship, his aircraft being badly damaged, although he managed to fly back to England – nb, check this) and after some weeks in hospital he returned to the squadron. On 27th August he taxied a new Spitfire, PR-R, into a Spitfire of 92 Squadron and it was subsequently written off. He was Commissioned as a Pilot Officer on 1st December 1941and on 15th December was attacking shipping off the Dutch coast, in Spitfire AB859 when he was hit by flak and wounded in shoulder, right arm and leg. (He landed at RAF Martlesham heath and was found unconscious in the cockpit, being lifted out and taken to hospital nb, check this). Returning to 609 later he claimed the last Spitfire victory for 609 before re-equipping with Typhoons on 25th April 1942, when he destroyed his eighth Bf.109. On 6th May 1942 he was posted to 610 Squadron at Ludham flying Spifire MkVb’s before being his tour ended and he was rested from operations and (posted to the Air Ministry nb, check this). On 1st December 1943 he was promoted to the rank of Squadron Leader and in July 1944 he joined 504 Squadron as a Flight Commander, being posted to 229 Squadron at Matlaske on Spitfire MkIX’s in October. This unit was renamed 603 Squadron shortly afterwards and in January 1945 he became the Commanding Officer, leading 603 on dive bombing missions over Holland and Northern Germany until in April 1945 he was posted to Catfoss as an instructor, being awarded the DFC on 1st May 1945 with the following citation: ‘This officer has completed a very large number of sorties and throughout has displayed keenness and devotion to duty worthy of the highest praise. He has led the squadron on very many low level and harassing attacks on a variety of enemy targets and much success has been achieved. By his great skill and fine fighting qualities, Squadron Leader Rigler has contributed materially to the high standard of operational efficiency of the squadron he commands.’ He was posted to the Administration and Special Duties Branch on 26th March 1946 having dropped a rank to Flight lieutenant.

ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE.
GENERAL DUTIES BRANCH.
To be Plt. Offs. on prob. (emergency): —
1st Dec. 1941.
904492 Thomas Charles RIGLER, D.F.M.
(114032).

ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE.
GENERAL DUTIES BRANCH.
Promotion.
The undermtd. are granted the rank of Sqn.
Ldr. (war subs.): —
1st Dec. 1943.
T. C. RIGLER, D.F.M. (114032).

1st May 1945
Distinguished Flying Cross.
Acting Squadron Leader Thomas Charles RIGLER,
D.F.M. (114032), R.A.F.V.R., 603 Sqn.
This officer has completed a very large number
of sorties and throughout has displayed keenness
and devotion to duty worthy of the highest praise.
He has led the squadron on very many low level
and harassing attacks on a variety of enemy
targets and much success has been achieved. By
his great skill and fine fighting qualities, Squadron
Leader Rigler has contributed materially to the
high standard of operational efficiency of the
squadron he commands.

Transfer between branches.
The undermtd., to the Admin, and Spec. Duties
Br.: —
Fit. Lt. T. C. RIGLER, D.F.C., D.F.M. (114032).
26th Mar. 1946.