North African desert aircraft

El Adem Pembroke

What a coincidence, the Pembroke was WV750 from Station Flight, scrapped in Cyprus sometime later,

John,

I just fished out my little souvenir of the ‘Lady be Good, a poppet adjuster from the engine and still as bright as the day it was made. The little note included says:- ‘Lady Be Good, B-24, Libya – Pembroke WV706 – 27 May 1965.

Mark

Wow, interesting stuff.

I did not know abou the Blenheim mentioned that was stripped by the locals, what a pity. I’m quite appaulled to read that the Bedouin have stripped memorials and grave markers – a great deal of those men died to save their countries.

I do now recall the SM79 thread – thanks for reminding me Station357, I’d forgotten about that one.

That Spitfire looks quite remarkable Mark12. When you say it came out of the Med, do you mean the region or the actual sea? If it was underwater, it is all the more remarkable.

I have never heard of ‘Lady Be Good’ before. Thanks guys. Where is the B24 now? I took a look at the intereseting link you supplied James, but couldn’t find it’s current whereabouts, and on that site’s forum there seems to be confusion over whether the aircraft has been recovered to Tobruk or not. Does anyone know for sure?

Jeepman, I agree about the condition of the LRDG Chevy, amazing. There is another of them in the Waiouru Museum in NZ that has been restored, so it was nice for me to see the contrast. I think the Lambeth one would look a bit more like they were when in action, rather than the pristine paint job ours has. Still, both are great relics of an amazing force.

What happened with the Avian? Was it recovered? Any story to tell here?

I read a book by the official NZ War Artist, Peter McIntyre, who served for a bit with the LRDG and went out into parts of the desert seldom visited. He said that in some area they went to, there was never any wind, and they were able to follow tyre tracks laid by some British explorer’s Rolls Royce staff car in World War One!! They were still there. An amazing place.

Did they ever take any of the heavy British bombers to the desert; like Stirlings, Lancs, Halifaxes or Wellingtons? I think the SAS used Whitleys there for paratroop transport, didn’t they? ……Imagine if an intact Stirling emerged out of a sand dune during a dust storm!! (into the realm’s of fantasy now….)

Dave

Hi John,
For some interesting stuff on Lady be Good, have a look at http://www.ladybegood.com/
Cheers / Salut

What a coincidence, the Pembroke was WV750 from Station Flight, scrapped in Cyprus sometime later, Re The Lady be Good, I recall something to this effect at the time and I believe (if this is the same aircraft) the Bev brought back the bodies reputed to be in ‘perfect’ condition. Any, more gen on this to refresh an old memory?

John,

From a close up shot the serial of the Pembroke ends in a ‘6’.

Lady be Good was discovered by BP oilmen in May 1958.

That’ll be my Auntie Shelagh then.

Mark

John,

My Uncle, Grp Capt ‘Jack’ Frost was Station Commander at El Adem at that time. Here is a shot he took of the ‘Lady be Good’, having flown a Pembroke out to it, to supply the SAS on a training exercise.

At that time, within the theatre, there was confusingly a senior army officer also with the name of Frost. They became known as ‘Air Frost’ and ‘Ground Frost’ respectively – problem solved.

Mark

What a coincidence, the Pembroke was WV750 from Station Flight, scrapped in Cyprus sometime later, this was once the Station Hack at RAF Katunayake when I was there in 1958-60. Often this and a Beverley would fly to Kufra Oasis and Al Gaorubub (Sp). Your uncle visited me when I was in RAF Akrotiri hospital as a patient and whilst I was away his wife visited my wife in the hotel we lived in in Tobruk. I have comments of this in my diaries from this time.

Another good mate of mine from this time was Mick Frost whom I am back in touch with after all these years.

Re The Lady be Good, I recall something to this effect at the time and I believe (if this is the same aircraft) the Bev brought back the bodies reputed to be in ‘perfect’ condition. Any, more gen on this to refresh an old memory?

LRDG Chevrolet WA

You only have to see the LRDG Chevrolet WA in the IWM to see the state of preservation. This was recovered from the desert about 15 years ago by the LRDG Association and instead of being restored has simply been coated in a preservative – the condition is remarkable. The full story appeared in an After the Battle many moons ago but I’m sure that most of you who have been to Lambeth know the piece of kit I’m referring to.

And don’t forget Captain Bill Lancaster’s Avro Avian which was lost pre-war but found in the 60s/70s by a Legion Etranger patrol.

Some years back I think around 1985-6, I was at the West Malling Warbirds Show and got talking to a veteran who had been in North Africa, he told me that he had seen P-40s buried unused as they came off the transports due to the allies quick advance they apparently weren’t needed.
I don’t know if this is true or one of those ‘friend of a friend’ stories so to speak.
But there again look at ‘Glacier Girl’.

Frosty

I had a two year stint at RAF El Adem, 18 miles due south of Tobruk in the Libyan Desert between 1963-65. .

John,

My Uncle, Grp Capt ‘Jack’ Frost was Station Commander at El Adem at that time. Here is a shot he took of the ‘Lady be Good’, having flown a Pembroke out to it, to supply the SAS on a training exercise.

At that time, within the theatre, there was confusingly a senior army officer also with the name of Frost. They became known as ‘Air Frost’ and ‘Ground Frost’ respectively – problem solved.

Mark

There was a thread here not so long ago about a Savoia-Marchetti SM-79 found in the desert:

http://forum.airforces.info/showthread.php?t=23138&highlight=italian

Regards,

Paul

El Alamein

DaveH

Well this Spitfire came out of the Med in July 1999.

Here is a shot I took at El Alamein in Jan 2001 after the REAF had tidied it up.

Subsequent research proved ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ that it was Mk V BR491.

Mark

I had a two year stint at RAF El Adem, 18 miles due south of Tobruk in the Libyan Desert between 1963-65. I recall walking towards the transmitter aerials (always kept a fix on these due to disorientation!) and we came across an old British/Oz Army camp, we knew it was Allied as the stones were whitewashed to mark out a road system!

Among bits of debris we came across part of a Lysander wing and prop blade, due to the dryness of the region these were in good condition as were a load of German Tanks and other vehicles in a compound that was up until 1965 boobytrapped. there was also an underground German Military Hospital built into an escarpment twixt El Adem and Tobruk again this was booby trapped but was supposed to be intact.

I wonder if these camps are still there and what secrets may be stowed within the compounds. There is a Long Range Desert Group Site at http://www.lrdg.org/ who may have some info.

There was a thread a while ago about Blenheims which showed one about 20 years after it had put down with engine problems (I think. I shall go and look for it shortly).
A museum team was apparently dispatched some years later to recover it – only to find that the locals had stripped it for scrap metal.
Similarly the HP Hermes which put down in the Sahara and, it was hoped, was fairly intact and might be able to release items for preservation also disappointed – the locals had melted that down too.
As I recall the local Arabs were quite happy to melt down any metal they could find – tanks, lorrys, aircraft, even memorials and grave markers. The only things which might survive are those that have been buried and not previously found, since the Bedouin would probably react in the same way most of us would if we found a £10 note in the street – snatch it up before someone else does! Telling them that this wreck is worth something to someone is almost certainly a waste of time: other than the Lady Be Good does anyone know of anything coming out of the desert after being lost a decade or more ago?

Flood.™

Err…

‘Lady be Good’?