PEOPLE I'VE MET ON THE WAY
(Last updated: 05.09.08)
The tenth person to include within this section is Lawrence Nelson
PERSON No. 10: Simon Nelson on Lawrence Nelson (F/Lt)
Simon contacted me after he came across the site by chance and supplied me with lots of information on his father F/Lt Nelson which led to further links to Ken. Information on much of what we found is detailed below but a brief summary is that he and Ken completed their final training at Silloth at the same time and flew together on the 16th October 1942, it also turns out that from comparing log-books, they flew with 22 of the same men, 15 of the same Lockheed Hudson's and 12 of the same Flying Fortresses
Before joining 206 Squadron Lawrence Nelson had done his basic flying training at No. 14 S.F.T.S Cranfield between the 6th August and the 6th December 1940, flying Magisters and Oxfords. Then he was sent to Cape Province in South Africa and was based at No. 61 Air School at George flying Ansons from the 4th February to the 26th March 1941. He completed his final training at Silloth with No. 1 OTU, this was the same place as Ken and it turns out that they were there at the same time! Lawrence was there from 17th June 1941 with Ken starting the day after, they were both there until the 9th August 1941 at which point they joined 206 Squadron. Eric Crowe (Person No. 11 in this section) was also at Silloth at the same time.
Above is F/Lt Nelson in the cockpit of a Flying Fortress .
Below are him (1st left), Paddy Roach next to him and the rest of his crew in front of a Lockheed Hudson. You'll notice that the wheel hub caps are patterned. They apparently were painted red and white by F/Lt Nelson. The photograph is dated 6th August 1942, the last time F/Lt Nelson flew a Hudson was 2 days earlier on the 4th. This matches up with Ken as on the 5th they converted to the Flying Fortress IIA's. This Hudson turns out to be the same one Ken flew on 7 occasions, 3 times on 2nd October 1941, once on the 9th and 22nd March, 9th June, 28th July 1942.
Believed to be Hudson AM587 'D'
F/Lt Nelson is in the middle of this photograph with Paddy Roach 1st on the right, all in front of a Flying Fortress
INVESTIGATION: F/Lt Lawrence Nelson
Lawrence Nelson had served in 206 Squadron in Aldergrove and Benbecula so the odds were that he would have known Ken Bass. With that information I checked through Ken's logbook and found an entry in October 1942:
16th October 1942 - Nelson was the pilot, F/O Samuel and Ken were 2nd and reserve Pilots as well as 4 Crew and 16 passengers (Fortress IIA FL452 'G') with notes to say "To Burton Wood"
Simon was able to cross reference in Lawrence's logbook and confirmed the match!
In August 2008 Simon Nelson contacted me again with a couple of photographs of 2 Hudsons from his dad's collection. Here's the details and how they link to Ken
Hudson: AM706 'N'
Simon believes these photographs were taken by his dad although he was never recorded as flying AM706, this incident happened on the 5th February 1942 and appears in the books 'Naught Escape Us' by Peter Gunn and 'Lockheed Hudson in World War II' by Andrew Hendrie. They both state the following...
"AM706 crashed on overshoot, Aldergrove 5.2.42"
Ken 's logbook has a record of him flying this Hudson as 2nd Pilot on the 31st August 1941 on an A/S Escort to convoy (extract above). This was just 5 months before the accident.
Hudson: T5155 'J'
T5155 'J' was a Hudson that Lawrence Nelson had been piloting during his time at No. 1 OTU in Silloth before joining 206 Squadron, he was there at the same time as Ken. On the 1st August 1941 he had been on an night navigation exercise from Silloth via the Mull of Kintyre and Chicken Rock. When landing back at Silloth the Hudson ran off the edge of the runway and the port undercarriage leg collapsed resulting in minor damage and no injuries. His logbook was signed off by Wing Commander R.A.B Stone "Accident due to inexperience". Lawrence had spoken to Simon about it explaining that there were green lights on the dashboard that showed the wheels were down, they were really bright especially at night so it was common practice to place a cloth over them to avoid being blinded. On this occasion the cloth fell away blinding him at a crucial moment of the landing phase. To top things off when the Ground Crew were recovering the Hudson they somehow managed to set fire to it (possibly a discarded fag) and the aircraft was completely burnt out.
This incident also appears in the books 'Naught Escape Us' by Peter Gunn and 'Lockheed Hudson in World War II' by Andrew Hendrie. They both state the following...
"P5155 Swung on landing, u/c collapsed, Silloth, 2.8.41"
Ken 's logbook has a record of him flying this Hudson as 2nd Pilot on the 28th July 1941 Turret Firing (extract above). This was just 5 days before the accident!
Another find was that Lawrence also flew in one of Ken's Fortresses, Fortress IIA FK190 'J'. Lawrence flew this on 8 occasions; 20th May, 8th, 16th, 24th July, 16th, 27th November, 27th December 1943 and the 10th January 1944.
Fortress IIA: FK190 'J'
22 RAF Names
15 Lockheed Hudson aircraft
12 Flying Fortress aircraft
22 RAF Names
I validated the spelling of the names and that the rank matched before stating a perfect match
Name (Rank) Name (Rank)
Ackerman (F/Sgt)
Lenton (Sgt)
Chisholm (P/O)
Lovell (P/O)
Clark (F/Lt)
Morgan (F/Sgt)
Coutts (Sgt)
Nelson (Sgt)
Cowey (P/O)
Owen (F/O)
Crowe (Sgt)
Patrick (S/Ldr)
Dalton (P/O)
Ritchie (Sgt)
Delarue (P/O)
Roberts (F/Sgt)
Goodyear (P/O)
Roberts (F/Sgt)
Hards (W/Cmdr)
Hill (F/Sgt)
I validated the aircraft Code and Letter before stating a perfect match
Code (Letter) Code (Letter)
AM566 (F)
AM785 (C)
AM587 (D)
AM805 (W)
AM605 (K)
AM837 (N)
AM622 (L)
AM875 (U)
AM650 (T)
T9453 (U)
AM711 (U)
T9458 (H)
AM722 (G)
T9463 (R)
AM762 (S)
12 Flying Fortresses
I validated the aircraft Code and Letter before stating a perfect match
Code (Letter) Code (Letter)
AN520 (X)
FK208 (B)
FA695 (V)
FK210 (E)
FA702 (P)
FL451 (D)
FK190 (J)
FL452 (G)
FK194 (M)
FL457 (F)
FK195 (L)
FL460 (H)