PEOPLE I'VE MET ON THE WAY

(Last updated: 04.06.10 - Richard Thomas)

WWII Wireless Operator / Air Gunners: Part I

Here's the ever growing list of Wireless Operator / Air Gunners... 

Richard Thomas (2007)
Flew with Ken in 206 Squadron

Eric Crowe by Richard Crowe (2007)
Flew with Ken in 206 Squadron. Richard is the son of Eric Crowe

Ronald Stares by John Ashdown (2007)
Flew with Ken in 206 Squadron. John is the nephew of Ronald Stares

George Cairns by Moira Edge nee Cairns (2008)
Flew with Ken in 206 Squadron. Moira is the daughter of George Cairns

 

 

Richard Thomas

Rank: Flight Lieutenant
Number: 174251
Joined 206: 01/11/1941
Flew with Ken: 4 times
Born: 12/07/1920
Died: Lives in England

F/Lt Richard Thomas

  

Richard originally contacted me in January 2007 as he could see from his logbook that he flew with Ken on 4 separate occasions when converting from Lockheed Hudsons to Flying Fortresses, we have been in regular contact since that point and Richard provided me with lots of information along the way.

Richard is linked to a number of other people within the 'Memoirs' section, the main ones are:

  • Pilots: Part I: John Owen - Richard was part of John's crew
  • Pilots: Part III: William Roxburgh - Richard was part of William's crew

Richard was born in July 1920 at Middlesbrough and joined the RAF in August 1940 serving as a Wireless Operator / Air Gunner in Coastal Command 206 Squadron. During 1941 to 1943 he flew on the same 1,000 Bomber raid as Ken to Bremen and was a member of the crew which sank a U boat off Iceland.

It turns out Richard is a writer and was kind enough to send me a signed copy of his first novel based on his experiences titled 'Towards The Sun', this has been followed up with 2 further titles 'Morning Grass' & 'The Heat Of The Day', please contact me if you're interested in copies.

j.lowe50@ntlworld.com

After reading the books I established that Richard flew as part of the same crew as F/O John Owen who's mentioned within the 'Pilots: Part 1' section. They flew together from 26.08.1941 to 24.06.1942 almost exclusively on Lockheed Hudsons, some 140 flights!

As well as writing books, Richard also wrote articles for a local magazine. Some of these articles were written about his experiences and memories from his time in 206 Squadron. There are seven of these stories that involved William Roxburgh and they can be found in his Memoir, here is one involving a different pilot.

More Memories From A Wartime Flyer's Logbook - 07/02/2008

12/3/42 12:35 Lockheed Hudson AM875 Pilot F/Sgt Goodson

Anti-Sub Sweep (Landed at Castletown) 7.10 hrs

Goodson - Owen - Thomas - Simpson

It has been an uneventful trip. Flying mile after mile over a grey, stormy sea; no U-boat sightings and not even a glimpse of the odd fishing boat. Now, we were heading for RAF Wick; a diversion from landing at our normal base owing to foul weather. F/Sgt Goodson, who was standing in for P/O Roxburgh who was away on special leave, had made two attempts to land at Stornaway before deciding to fly round Cape Wrath and make for Wick. There was one major hazard, shortage of petrol. The maximum flying time for the Hudson was between 7 and 8 hours. We had been on patrol for over 6 hours and precious fuel had been used in the two abortive landing attempts; added to which I had been struggling to put out a fire in the radar generator, not an exercise to be welcomed in an already existing state of emergency.

Goodson's voice over the R/T came as a blessed relief. He had already instructed his crew to don parachutes ready to make a jump for it as he turned inland from the sea heading for the mountains and glens of Northern Scotland.

"There's an airfield directly below us. I'm going in to land."

Land we did, running out of petrol at the end of the runway. The airfield was a new one, Castletown, not yet marked on the navigational charts.

There are shaves, close shaves, and miracles. Our escape from possible death must surely come into the latter category. I have often looked back to those frantic moments in an apparently doomed aircraft and given thanks once again to the hand of providence which saved us from an untimely demise.

The photograph below was provided by Joe Griffith through Robert Stitt.

Fortress Crew

WOp/AG Jock Rimmer - Navigator F/Sgt Joe Griffith - WOp/AG Richard Thomas

Pilot Willis Roxburgh - WOp/AG Sgt Ray Simpson - Co-Pilot Sgt Lloyd Meech

WOp/AG F/Sgt Douglas Eley - Sgt Jack Churchill

Links to Ken

Richard originally contacted me to say that he could see from his logbook that he flew with Ken on 4 separate occasions when converting from Lockheed Hudsons to Flying Fortresses,  Richard provided me with the details of those 4 flights, all in Fortress IIa's.

  • 26.08.1942 - FK210 - Air to sea firing with Richard as Gunner, Flying Time 01.15 hrs
  • 26.08.1942 - FK210 - Photography exercise, Flying Time 00.20 hrs
  • 03.09.1942 - FK194 - Benbecula to Burton Wood, Flying Time 02.30hrs
  • 04.09.1942 - FK194 - Burton Wood to Middleton-St-George, Flying Time 01.35 hrs

Richard also flew in the 1,000 Bomber Raid on Bremen on the 25/06/1942, he was in one of the twelve Lockheed Hudson crews from 206 Squadron. It was the same raid that Ken piloted a crew.

 

 

Eric Crowe

Rank: Flight Sergeant
Number: 964953
Joined 206: 14/07/1941
Flew with Ken: 3 times
Born: 10/02/1917
Died: 15/12/1942

Richard Crowe contacted me after he came across the section on John Owen (His story is within the 'Pilots: Part I' section), as his father Eric Crowe was one of the crew members on that fateful flight on December 14th 1942. That incident was around 7 months before Richard was born, hence he never knew his father. However he had managed to trace his postings via Eric's Gran and Aunts and found out he was with 206 Squadron from mid 1941. Eric enlisted to the RAF on the 30th April 1940 and made it to No. 1 O.T.U Silloth on the 24th May 1941. It was on the 14th July 1941 that he joined 206 Squadron. Below are photographs sent over by Richard...

F/S Eric Crowe

                    

Interestingly Richard has a copy of a photograph from Eric's time in Silloth in No.1 OTU from June 1941. I'm certain there will be other faces linked to 206 Squadron. Having checked Ken's logbook I see Eric was there at the same time as Ken's recorded flying exercises from 18.06.41 through to 09.08.41. On the back of the photograph is the following...

No.6 (Hudson) Op. Training Course, No.1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit

Silloth, June 1941

Top Row: 3rd from Left - Eric Crowe

 

Richard also has copies of Eric's Wedding from 12th October 1942 & crew members shown below

                         Wedding Day                     Eric Crowe - C.Neill - R.N.Hildred

               

This is the same photograph that appears on John Owen's page taken the day before their fateful flight

13th December 1942

 Back Row: F/Sgt E.Crowe - Sgt D.Bryan - F/O J.Owen - Sgt C.Neill

Front Row: Sgt R.N.Hildred - Sgt W.Shanks - Sgt W.J.Parnell

 

In September 2008, with the help of Richard Crowe I found another photograph of John Owen's crew in front of Fortress FL452 'G', it was in 'Naught Escape Us' by Peter Gunn

13th December 1942

F/Sgt E.Crowe - Sgt R.N.Hildred - Sgt W.Shanks - F/O J.Owen - Sgt C.Neill - Sgt D.Bryan - Sgt W.J.Parnell

On investigation of Eric Crowe in Ken's logbook I found 3 entries that contained a match, 2 of which were just a month prior to the crash...

  • 18th Sep 1941 - Wills was the Pilot, Ken was 2nd Pilot, A/S Sweep (Hudson AM650)
  • 1st Nov 1942 - Ken was the Pilot, A/S Sweep (Fortress FK208 'B')
  • 11th Nov 1942 - Ken was the Pilot, A/S Sweep (Fortress FK208 'B')

The November flights were with Ken's normal crew of Anderson, Roberts, Miller, Morgan and Clemson, with the addition of Eric Crowe.

When I checked the National Archives I found out that Eric was part of a Hudson Crew that attacked a U-boat with 4 depth charges on the 14.02.42 with the comments 'Oil Seen' and a crew of P/O A.J.Davey, Sgt R.Lenton. The pilot was F/Lt L.M.Nelson whose story is the 'Pilots: Part I' section. Simon Nelson has validated this against his father's logbook.

There was another entry in 1942 on the 11.12.42 stating that Eric was part of a crew that attacked 2 U-Boats and faked a third as they had run out of depth charges. That crew was made up of F/O J.Owen whose story is also in the 'Pilots' section, Sgt R.N Hildred, F/S J.T.Rutherford, Sgt W.Parnell, P/O D.E.Bryan, Sgt W.Shanks 

Richard has a copy of his Service Record & Pay Book which tells us he joined 206 on the 14.05.41 and details the following…

Eric's Pay Book

 

Promotions

  • 30th April 1940 - AC2
  • 13th April 1941 - LAC
  • 17th May 1941 - Temp Sergt as a WOp/AG
  • 1st December 1942 - F/Sgt

Special Qualifications

  • WOp - 61%
  • AG - 56%

In August 2008 Richard visited the UK, we had an afternoon together to discuss all things 206 and he made several trips around the UK including Benbecula, Duxford and Sutton Coldfield to find Eric's local church. Here's a selection from those trips.

Benbecula

 

Memorial Plaque

St James, Sutton Coldfield

 

 

 

Ronald Stares

Rank: Warrant Officer
Number: 931486
Joined 206: 07/01/1942
Flew with Ken: 4 times
Born: 01/06/1918
Died: 06/01/1944

I contacted John Ashdown after seeing a message he'd left on the World War II Ex RAF website. He was asking for anyone that may have links to his uncle Ronald Stares who served in 206 Squadron. Ronald was born 01.06.1918 to his father Frederick Walter Stares and mother Harriet Stares. He enlisted on the 27.06.1940 and it's believed he trained in Ireland and Canada. John sent the following photographs of Ronald. I was contacted in November 2007 by Moira Edge whose father George William Cairns is also on this photograph, Moira was able to put names to all the faces on this photograph and the next one below.

March 6th 1943

Left to Right on the Wing:  Sgt Norris - F/S Bickell

W/Cmdr Romanes - W/O Marriot - Sgt Stares - F/S Baldwin - Sgt Clough - W/O Cairns

  

On the 6th January 1944 at 1812 hours they surprised U-Boat 270 on the surface and attacked, 6 minutes later there was radio silence, the U-Boat had shot them down. They were flying in a Flying Fortress II FA705 'U' that is a similar marked aircraft to that recorded in Ken's logbook back on the 9th April 1943 but it was FA705 'O' not 'U'.  The crew members that had been shot down were:

Squadron Leader Anthony James Pinhorn (DFC) - Aged 28
Flying Officer Joseph Henry Duncan (Co-Pilot)- Aged - 24
Squadron Leader Ralph Duncan - Aged 33
Flying Officer Francis Dennis Roberts - Aged - 34
Warrant Officer Ronald Norman Stares - Aged - 25
Warrant Officer Class 1 Donald Luther Heard - Aged - 35
Warrant Officer Class 2 Oliver Ambrose Keddy - Aged - 24
Flight Sergeant Thomas Ekersley - Aged - 31
Sergeant Robert Fabian - Aged 24

Links to Ken

An investigation into Ken's logbook yielded 2 interesting finds...

1] There are 4 separate flights recorded in a Fortress with Ken as Pilot and a 'Sgt Stares' as a member of the crew, these were all in 1942:

  • 25th Oct 1942 they conducted an A/S Escort to Force
  • 29th Oct 1942 they conducted an A/S Escort & Convoy Search
  • 29th Nov 1942 they conducted an A/S C.L.A Search
  • 1st Dec 1942 they conducted an A/S Sweep

2] There is a flight recorded in a Fortress with Ken as Pilot and a 'Sgt Fabian' as a member of the crew on the 5th November 1942, conducting an A/S Escort. As the flights with both Sgt Stares and Sgt Fabian are so close and they both happened to be part of the same crew on that fateful flight on the 9th April 1943 I'm pretty sure that Ken did fly with them both the year earlier!

Some further photographs of Ronald

March 6th 1943

Sgt Clough - Sgt Stares - W/O Marriot - W/Cmdr Romanes - F/S Baldwin - F/S Bickell - Sgt Norris - W/O Cairns

Ronald 1st on the right

 

 

George Cairns

Rank: Warrant Officer
Number: 411232
Joined 206: ??/??/1942
Flew with Ken: 1 time
Born: 22/07/1919
Died: ??/11/1995

Moira Edge nee Cairns contacted me in November 2007 after finding the website and seeing her dad on a photograph within the section on Ronald Stares above. Her dad was Warrant Officer George William Cairns and he was a Wireless Operator / Air Gunner in 206 Squadron. It also turns out that he flew with Ken (Grandad) and a number of other pilots mentioned throughout the website such as F/O Owen and F/O Roxburgh. Moira has sent the following information about her dad along with the photographs below...  

George and Mary Cairns

W/O George William Cairns

RNZAF (411232)

"George William CAIRNS was born in Kaitangata, New Zealand 1922 to George Mitchell Cairns and Catherine nee McNee.

He was working as an orchard hand at Rendez Vous Gardens, Coal Creek, Roxburgh, for his half-brother, Jim Williamson, when war broke out and he seized the opportunity of overseas travel and adventure.

He was attested for service in the NZ Air Force 27th September 1940 aged 19 and trained as a Wireless Operator / Airgunner in Canada and the UK. He joined the 206 squadron on the 19th Aug 1942 until 12th Apr 1944.

As well as flying with F/O Owen and W/O Bass, pilots such as Sgt Earl, S/L Patrick, F/O Michelson, W/C Romanes, F/O Roxburgh, F/L Vickerstaff, are listed repeatedly in George's log book.

Aircraft he flew in were Norseman, Menasco Moth, Battle, Botha, Anson, Hudson, Fortress E, Oxford, Fortress 17 BF (?), Domine and the Warwick

He met and married Mary Reid McGinigle in Paisley, Scotland. and Mary came out on the SS Rimutaka Jan 1945 (Geordie was fined in a mock court (a form of fundraising) for " importing scotch" at Roxburgh New Zealand).

Following his return from the war he worked at the Roxburgh hydro, and bought land and planted it out in fruit trees before finally buying the orchard from his half-brother. But he sometimes said maybe he should have stayed in the Air Force.

He spoke of his days in the 206 squadron, saying the camaraderie made them some of the best years of his life.

Dad would have loved all this information available to us via the internet now but sadly, he died on the 19th Nov 1995 in Dunedin Hospital.

Moira Edge nee Cairns NZ - 24th Jan 2008"

Housework at St Eval?        Azores Feb 1944 - 2nd Left: Cairns

      

Front Right: George Cairns

March 6th 1943

Left to Right on the Wing: Sgt Norris - F/S Bickell

W/Cmdr Romanes - W/O Marriot - Sgt Stares - F/S Baldwin - Sgt Clough - W/O Cairns

March 6th 1943

Sgt Clough - Sgt Stares - W/O Marriot - W/Cmdr Romanes - F/S Baldwin - F/S Bickell - Sgt Norris - W/O Cairns

Mystery Celebrity

Front Right: George Cairns and a celebrity in the middle - Recognise him?

Links to Ken

After a small amount of research I cross referenced George Cairns with Ken's logbook and the National Archives and found the match that Moira highlighted on the 11.11.1942. George was the WOp/AG and Ken was the pilot in Fortress IIA FL208 'B', they were conducting an A/S Sweep covering CNS 144, see the scan of George's logbook below...

George also flew with John Owen (whose story is in the 'Pilots' section) on the 28.09.1942 in Fortress IIA FK191 'N' from Benbecula to Stornoway. On the 12.11.1942 just a month and 2 days prior to the day John Owen and his crew were sadly lost, George had flown in that very Fortress IIA FL453 'A'

George's logbook entry: 11.11.42 'Bass'

Thanks to Moira for providing valuable insight into her dad's history and yet more links to my Grandad Ken and the 206 Squadron.