CONTROL TOWER THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE SOUTH WEST AIRFIELDS HERITAGE TRUST ISSUE No.17 December 2013 www.southwestairfields.com The Editor’s column Well that's it! Another year over and done with. orate this historic day. Details will be published 2014 just a week or two away. as they evolve. What have we achieved this year? Have a great Christmas holiday everyone and I Well quite a bit, the restored Nissen Hut at wish you all a Happy New Year. See you all in Smeatharpe, another successful Wings and March 2014. Wheels event, an active re-enactment group and I need articles, E-mail it, scribble it on a bit of many more members on the books. We have paper and post it, put it on the blog section of made many new friends and associates during our website, just let me have your stories. the year including a very close association with Thanks to the Internet we can flesh the article our friends at Weston Zoyland. In current times out if we need to. it is becoming increasingly more important that charity groups such as ourselves all work togeth- For updates on this and many other er to achieve our objectives. Resources are things please do go to the web site scarce and money in very short supply. It is bet- at www.southwestairfields.com. ter to share what we have and get somewhere rather than sitting around waiting for the next big Dave Steel donation before moving forward. With that in [email protected] mind we would welcome associations with other like minded organisations. So dear reader, if you know of any such groups then please try to encourage them to get in contact with us. Next year is the 70th anniversary of D-Day so expect a great event in the summer to commem- The SWAHT Christmas dinner at Lakeview Manor, Dunkeswell IInn tthhiiss IIssssuuee ●●RReeaaddeerrss LLeetttteerrss.. ●●Obituary to Gene Shaw McIntyre.. ●●AA mmeemmbbeerrsshhiipp ffoorrmm ffoorr yyoouu ttoo ffiillll iinn aanndd sseenndd ttoo uuss.. ●●AAllccoocckk && BBrroowwnn -- FFiirrsstt ttrraannssaattllaannttiicc fflliigghhtt.. ●●SSttuuffff yyoouu ccaann bbuuyy && ee--mmaaiill aaddddrreesssseess.. ●●CChhaaiirrmmaann''ss CChhaatttteerr.. ●●PPaarrtt 22 ooff JJaacckk WWaallkkeerr’’ss WWoorrlldd WWaarr IIII SSeerrvviiccee.. Chairman’s Chatter Christmas 2013 Christmas is traditionally a time for families to gather and enjoy a complete break from the otherwise busy pace of daily life during the rest of the year. It is a time for pause, for reflection, thinking about achievements (and the things we wanted to do but didn’t quite have time for) and pondering on the coming year and what surprises it might bring (hopefully all positive!). For those with children – grandchildren even, or maybe even great grandchildren, there is an opportunity to look across the generations and remember what life was like when you/we were that age. Ten years ago some farsighted people gathered to form the Southwest Airfields Heritage Trust – in those days with a clear focus on World War 2 history and the Blackdown Hills in Devon as its geographic area of concentration. Two of our Trustees – Wendy and Claude Caple – were in at the beginning, soon to be joined in 2004 by Vic Bowsher (immediate past-Chairman) and others to form what is now a nine-strong group of trustees. Membership in the past two years has expanded to an international base of around 150, and continues to build strongly. We have a small but growing cadre of members in Europe and North America, reflecting the SWAHT’s strong associations with the United States, Poland, and the Czech Republic in particular. Our geographical interest has expanded to include Exeter and Weston Zoyland. Trustees meet monthly to plan and manage our projects and events, with the aim of enriching the historical experience of our visitors from afar, as well as the people who live in the south west of England. With the trust’s growth in membership and the enlarged scope of activity, management of operations is progressively being de- volved into focused sub-committees, with the aim of easing the administrative burden on the same small group of individuals at the centre that characterize voluntary organisations – which is a roundabout way of saying we are constantly looking for more volunteers! In that context, I am pleased to welcome Brian Lane-Smith as a newly elected trustee and who has volunteered to take up the mantle of Company Secretary of South West Heritage Ltd. from Vic Bowsher, who is stepping down from the role. Brian brings significant business experience to the group, which will be enormously helpful to the Trust as it continues to expand. This is also an appropriate point to thank May Bowsher for all her hard work as Minute Secretary to the Trustees. May is retiring after many years during which she has somehow managed to turn often wide-ranging and energetic discussions into a succinct précis for follow-up action. I am pleased to welcome Hilary Thorne to the team, who has volunteered to take over from May as Minute Secretary. During 2013, our new ‘Heritage Centre’ – a restored Nissen Hut on Cherryhayes Farm at Smeatharpe – was transformed into a first class meeting place for those interested in the history of the adjacent airfield and the work of the Trust in general. It has a semi-permanent exhibition focused on RAF Upottery and its involvement in the liberation of Europe in 1944, and is one of our venues for talks and other events. Please take time out to visit - by arrangement through David Bunney or Trisha Knowles. Focus is now turning to creating a similar Heritage Centre at Dunkeswell, where we are working closely with the airfield’s owner to create a centre focused on the USAAF and USN operations there during WW2; more on that early in the new year. Plans are also afoot to create a SWAHT presence at other airfields such as Culm Head and Weston Zoyland, as part of the Trust’s long-term ambition to complete its Aviation Heritage Trail in the south west. On behalf of the trustees, I wish you a very happy and restful Christmas, and a prosperous and successfully New Year. For those who can make it, we look forward to seeing you in 2014 at any of our events. Graham Weller Christmas 2013 WESTONZOYLAND AVIATION MUSEUM (Affiliated to SWAHT) ● A ‘virtual’ museum in that it is yet to acquire permanent premises but maintains a growing photographic archive dis- played at talks and an exhibition tent alongside a very active Facebook page. ● As reported in a recent Daily Mail Online article – a perma- nent building would also act as a memorial centre for the nineteen pilots who lost their lives in the jet age. ● It was the West’s leading Meteor Jet training base and wasn’t decommis- sioned until 1958. ●RAF WESTONZOYLAND is one of the country’s oldest small airfields which started its career in the early ●1920’S.Negotiations are in progress with Westonzoyland Parish Council for placement of a suitable building taking a ground lease is secured so a suita- ble grant application can be made. Obituary to Gene Shaw McIntyre It is with the greatest of sadness and respect that we record the death of Gene McIntyre on Wednesday, 30thOctober last, at the age of 96. He was laid to rest on the following Friday. Gene Shaw McIntyre was born in Texas in 1917 and spent his early years in Memphis and in Millington, Tennessee. He was educated at the Christian Brothers College and graduated in 1936. For the next five years, he worked for short periods at a number of employments without fulfilment before joining the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941 and beginning pilot training, based at Regina, Saskatchewan. On the morning of Sunday 7th. December, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise air attack on the U.S. facilities at Pearl Harbour in the Hawaiian Islands. The US declared war on Japan during the following day and, with only six weeks to complete before his graduation as a pilot; Gene McIntyre left the Canada and returned home to join the US Navy. He was selected for aircrew and received training as an aviation ordnanceman before being posted in February, 1943 as an AOM to an operational unit flying the PBY-5A Catalina. However, his time here was short and in early March, 1943 he was posted to the US Navy Auxiliary Air Station at Camp Kearney, San Diego, California. joining many others selected to form the crews of the PB4Y-1s then being brought into service. When U.S. Navy Bombing Squadron 103 commissioned on 15th. March, 1943 Gene McIntyre was assigned to crew 5. Throughout March and April, conversion training was undertaken on the PB4Y-1, followed by low-level bombing and aerial gunnery practice. At the end of April, the aircrews collected the PB4Y-1s that were to equip the Squadron from the naval air station at Norfolk, Virginia before being deployed to the air station at Quonset Point, Rhode Island for 2 weeks intensive training in anti- submarine operations, including use of radar, sonobouys and the Mark 24 Aerial Mine. In May, VB-103 was moved to Bristol Field, Argentia, Newfoundland and, after further training, began regular patrols of the western Atlantic, and convoy escorts. The big move came in August, 1943 when the aircrews flew their aircraft across the Atlantic to the RAF Coastal Command base at St. Eval in Cornwall where anti-submarine operations were again conducted. On the move again in September, VB-103 travelled some 80 miles to the east and took over the newly constructed airfield at Dunkeswell in Devon. The aircrews’ living area was incomplete and the unmade roads and muddy conditions soon gave the camp the nickname of “Mudville Heights”. The squadron was joined by further anti-submarine units and a very successful war was waged against the German U-boats. Gene McIntyre served with VB-103 until June, 1944, achieving the rank of Aviation Chief Ordnanceman. He was then posted back to Norfolk, Virginia. This proved to be a fortuitous event as, whilst stationed there, he met his future wife, Miss. Zola Maxine Harry. They married, enjoying 69 years together. On his discharge from the Navy, in October, 1945 he joined the US Civil Service before founding his own electric appliance business, distributing the Philco, Whirlpool and Motorola brands. Later, he owned a TV and furniture business in Houston. On retirement, he moved to San Antonio and, with time on his hands, decided to trace former shipmates from VB-103, finding enough to hold the first of several reunions. In 1998, the realisation that the VB-103 reunion clashed with the annual FAW-7 reunion resulted in an amalgamation of the two events. For many years and with the assistance of his wife Maxine, Gene McIntyre produced the FAW-7 Newsletter. Compiled from the contributions of his shipmates, these publications contained much of the history of VB-103. In his book “The Greatest Generation”, Tom Brokaw lists duty, honour, patriotism and personal responsibility as values displayed by the “WW II” generation but, sadly, missing in the most recent generations. Certainly Gene McIntyre can be said to have been a member of the Greatest Generation. On a personal level, I have been privileged and proud to have known him and to have been his friend. May he rest in Peace. To his wife Maxine and to his entire family we offer our sincere condolences and sympathy. By John Gregory Jack Walker’s World War II Service. Part 2 By Andrew Walker 25 April 1945 combat patrol over the Bay of Biscay. It was spring, but then-LT (jg) Walker, serving as navi- U-326 was a Type VII-C/41 U boat built by gator, recorded the weather forecast as “poor Flender Werke AG and commissioned under the conditions with patches of fog and turbulence command of Oblt. Peter Matthes (later Kapitän- and rain.” This would be my father’s 39th com- leutnant) on 6 June 1944. As part of 4 Crew 5, B-10 “K” on 25 April 1945 Flottille (training), U- Dwight Knott, Patrol Plane Commander Kenneth Robinson, Co-Pilot 326 trained in the John Walker, Navigator North Sea until Febru- Richard Alsop, First Radioman J.B. Jones, Second Radioman ary 1945 when it Joseph Kirchdorfer, Tail Gunner sailed to Bergen (Nor- Robert Mayer, Nose Gunner R.H. Roberts, Plane Captain way) to join 11 Flot- 11th Flotilla Renfro Pace, Waist Gunner tille. After some Marco Vaccher, Waist Gunner 11. Unterseebootsflottille technical issues with the submarine’s equipment postponed its sailing, bat mission. Because the Navy trained its avia- U-326 deployed on its first combat patrol at tors to be pilots and navigators, he had flown 2100 on 28 March 1945. U-326 sailed with a the first 25 missions as co-pilot and the next 14 crew of 43 under the command of its 27-year- missions as navigator. After a meal, mission old commander. U-boat Command ordered U- briefs, and pre-flight of the aircraft it was time to 326 to proceed west and then south through the get going. Engine warm-up took some time as Iceland-Faeroes passage. Subsequent orders the cylinder heads had to reach a certain tem- directed U-326 to proceed west of Ireland and to perature. My father’s navigation charts recorded a patrol area at the southern end of the English taxiing out at 1211 hours and being airborne 5 Channel. After a radio transmission to U-boat minutes later. B-10 “K” crossed the English Command on 13 April, U-326 was not heard coast at 1226 hours and was on patrol at 1333 from again (Niestle, 2006). hours. My father’s navigation charts record the On the morning of 25 April, the Crew 5 of Squad- sea as moderate to rough. ron VPB-103, aircraft B-10 “K” prepared them- selves and their PB4Y-1 for a long-range His navigation charts also detail the frequent At no time during the attack did the submarine, course changes needed to follow the prescribed later identified as U-326, change course or patrol areas. At 1521 hours, based on the report speed, indicating the crew was unaware of the of the port waist observer, a “purple high tea” American patrol bomber. My father remembered sonobuoy was dropped but with negative results. that weather and visibility were getting worse Shortly after that false sighting in a “frontal area,” and further circling of the apparent sinking was seven French fishing boats were sighted before unnecessary. His recollection was that surface patrolling resumed. ships were directed to the area to search for survivors and debris. At 2149 hours, B-10 “K” At 1939 hours the co-pilot and the starboard with Crew 5 set course for home and at 2308 waist observer both sighted a snorkel with wake hours they landed back at Dunkeswell ending its and smoke making 6 knots on a course of 1900 successful 11-hour patrol. Ten days later, the true at the position of 48012’ N, 05042’ W. B-10 war was over. “K” was flying at 800 feet with an indicated air- speed of 155 mph. That the submarine was visu- B-10 “K” ally observed and not on radar is consistent with PB4Y-1, Bureau Number 90132 VPB-103, aircraft B-10 “K” my father’s memory. My father felt the snorkel Built by Consolidated in San Diego, CA seemed high out of the water, indicating possi- and delivered to the Navy in 1944. ble damage to the U boat. Immediately, pilot LT Crashed at Port Lyantey (Morocco) in route back to the U.S. in August 1945. Knott began his attack by turning the PB4Y-1 sharply to starboard and reducing speed. As the timeline below indicates, at this point things started to happen quickly. Afterwards The 25 April patrol was my father’s last combat 19:40 Hrs Dropped two Mk-24 “Specials” mission of the war. Soon, many in VPB-103 (homing torpedoes) and one pur- ple high tea sonobuoy would begin the trip back to the United States, 19:43 Hrs Snorkel still visible when a large transition to new aircraft, and prepare to fight explosion observed by crew 19:48 - 19:54 Dropped standard 1500-yd pattern the Japanese in the Pacific. In my father’s case, Hrs of sonobuoys – orange, blue, red, his first priority was to marry my mother, Joan and yellow high teas 20:00 Hrs Green high tea sonobuoy dropped Atyeo from Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset on to replace non-functioning purple high tea 26 May. Time was very limited and they had 20:15 Hrs Oil patch observed received special permission from the Bishop of 20:36 Hrs Knocking noises from orange high Bath and Wells and the Navy to marry. After a tea brief honeymoon, my father went to California to 21:05 Hrs German crew member sighted in oil slick, apparently dead begin flying the improved PB4Y-2 Privateer and 21:49 Hrs Set course for home my mother went to the United States to live with my father’s family in Michigan. By February 1946, by now-LT Walker was pilot and Patrol Plane Commander in Okinawa with VPB-108, Carey, Allan C., U.S. Navy PB4Y-1 (B-24) Liberator Squadrons, 2003. where he continued to fly for the next 15 months. Kingsley, Sean, Odyssey Marine Exploration, Odyssey After returning to the United States, the Navy Papers 4, Wreck Watch International. 2009 Niestle, Axel, Identification of U-boat Wreck in Bay of sent my father to Northwestern University and Biscay, UR-Report No. 003/2006. 2006. then on a series of postings across the country Walker, John S. (1945, April 25). [Official U.S. Navy navigation charts and notes]. Copy in possession of and overseas. My father remained in the Navy Andrew Walker. and retired as a Commander in 1970. During his Walker, John S. (1945, April 25). [J.S. Walker’s Aviators Flight Log Book, March 1943-April 1949]. Copy in service he accumulated 6,220 pilot hours in 22 possession of Andrew Walker. different aircraft and flying in five operational squadrons. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, two Air Medals, and seven other decora- tions. He died in Virginia in November 2006. He and my mother are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Initially U-326 was assumed to be still on patrol when the war ended on 5 May 1945 but was later declared missing and presumed lost. In 2006, an expedition to chart shipwrecks in the 19:39 Hrs: Snorkel sighted with wake and Bay of Biscay located U-326, where she and her smoke crew have rested for almost 70 years Fishing nets snagged across the sides and deteriorat- ed interior of German submarine U-326, sunk in 1945. (Kingsley, 2009). References After Action Report, 25 April 1945, VPB-103, U.S. Navy. 19:40 Hrs: Two Mk-24 “Specials” (homing tor- Birdsall, Steve, Log of the Liberators: An Illustrated History pedoes) in the water. of the B-24. 1973. Aviators Flight Log Book, J.S. Walker April 1945 Navigator’s Log, J.S. Walker 25 April 1945 Navigator’s Log, J.S. Walker 25 April 1945 Navigator’s Chart, J.S. Walker 25 April 1945