Nice piece for Cees….

Glad to hear that it has found a good home.

Cees

EBAY ITEM

I was the very lucky 😀 😀 😀 (in my opinion!) winner of this item!! its a small piece of 138 sqdrn history from a minor wartime incident concerning one of their Halifaxes….not even sure if names are signed by individuals or by one crew member but item is 1000% period/genuine… could anyone tell me what it actually is ?!!….could it be from a flag? perhaps part of the dinghy survival equipment? it seems to have been wet.obviously cut from a larger item, the inner pale ring is an extremly fine weave with a double line of stitching to the thin line of outer red material which seems to be impregnated with something as the material is stiff.( piece of plastic stitched over top ,to protect/display item i suppose) of course it may not be anything to do with the aircraft itself, perhaps some item on the ship ? Also, there are 5 names only (one crew member, Farr, tragically went down with the plane) so there is one missing, in ‘AGENTS BY MOONLIGHT’, page 315, all crew are listed but one name (the missing name) is listed seperatly as ‘RESCUED’ could he possibly have baled out earlier and been picked up by another vessel?
Oddly enough, the nearest item i have seen to this recently was a japanese flag in the superb martello tower museum at Point Clear……though reversed of course, which makes me think ‘flag.’
Whatever it was/is its something i will cherish and can add to my other 138 stuff. 🙂

John 35

Got hold of a copy of “Peter Five” by Freddie Clark from the local library – it was listed on the BAAC website as concerning 138 Squadron – There are lots of reproductions from the ORB in it and there does not appear to be any detail in it as to where the drop zones were actually located – However the book does mention the crash I am researching and the pilot was apparently a personal friend of the author and there is a nice anecdote about them all going out to a local pub in his car a couple of nights before he was killed, which adds some nice personal background

The book also has some individual “operations reports” reproduced which look more like the sort of thing I am after so will have to see if the one I want is at Kew?

All the crew are buried together close to the crash site in France, so will be paying my respects later in the year – if there had been any agents on board, would they also be buried locally and where would they be listed?

I have the odd copy sheet from 1664 HCU and they are totally different….Almost like a personal diary…recording the grief felt at losing crews during training etc.

Yes, you are quite correct, the ORB’s were detailed to the whim of the individual who was designated to write it up. Some gave loads of information and others the bare details.

Just out of interest, i have a 138 log book for a flight engineer, i thought that serial looked familiar and found he had flown twice in LL251!….Fighter affiliation 29/1/44,and operation JOHN 38 To France on 10/4/44……..Finally killed in LL289 on 1/2 june 44 Along with four other crew members in France on PERCY 7.
When i had the log researched,very little info was actually found in 138 ORB,But the researcher came up with loads of stuff in other files.

If you know the Squadron and the date of the drop you can request from the PRO the copies of the No 138 Squadron Operations Book, the RAF Form 541, for that date and it usually will show the aircraft and crew and the details of their task including the code name and the coordinates of the drop zone. I think the file is AIR 27/2159. Of course you can go in and look it up if you are close enough.
Deryck

SOE Halifax

Would I be right in thinking “Percy 19” would be the drop zone target code? Does anyone know any source for identifying these locations? I am particulalrly interested in knowing where/what “John 35” was? – again connected with a 138 Sqn Halifax.

🙂

… Ditched in Med Coded NF-N on Operation Percy 19, France, 11/12 July 1944 –

F/O MA Farr Killed -commemorated at Runnymede.

TT

Oh blimey! Not keen on the Op name TT!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/fabric-from-aircraft-NO-LL251-July-1944_W0QQitemZ6638439448QQihZ012QQcategoryZ112473QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

LL251- Halifax 138 Sqd Special Duties?

Worth a couple of quid I reckon…

TT

p.s.

Googled to

http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Bedfordshire/TempsfordAircrewLost1944.html

Ditched in Med Coded NF-N on Operation Percy 19, France, 11/12 July 1944 –

F/O MA Farr Killed -commemorated at Runnymede.

TT

Thanks for the heads up Ben,

But this is not the stuff I’m usally after, more the nuts and bolts type of things

Cheers

Cees