RAF ASW ops: Indian Ocean & Red Sea

Discussion in 'The War In The Air' started by angie999, Apr 18, 2004.

  1. angie999

    angie999 Very Senior Member

    My father had some involvement with 621 Squadron and RAF Sciuscuiban (Somaliland) in 1944/45 and I would be grateful for any pointers towards sources on this rarely mentioned little part of the war.

    I have their Christmas Day menu 1944, signed by all present. They had:

    Soup: Creme de tomato

    Poisson: Maitre d'hotel, sauce tomato de la Canadienne

    Turkey d'Asmara or porc roti de Scuiscuiban
    Pomme de terre rotis
    Stuffing: sage et onion de Hargeisha
    Petit poix verts
    Sauce browned off

    Pudding de Noel, sauce brandy de Mogafishu

    Salade de fruit avec creme Nestle

    Cafe

    Fromage et biscuits

    (all spellings as in original)
     
  2. walker1914

    walker1914 Junior Member

    There is only one book written about this long forgotten part of the war, try reading 'Wings of the Dawning' by Arthur Banks, ISBN 0 947993 74 6, its a very good book, about a totally forgotten chapter of RAF history, it should cover about 621 squadron

    Rod
     
  3. daveh

    daveh Junior Member

    The book mentioned by walker1914 only specifically mentions 621 squadron once when one of its Wellingtons found the survivors of SS Tarifa. It is however an excellant read.

    621 Sqd was formed 12/9/43 Port Reitz, Kenya for general recce duties operating Wellingtons (XIII and XIV).
    One detachment started operating from Mogadishu, Somaliland in 9/43. Sqd HQ moved there in 11/43.
    12/43 moved to Aden with detachments around various bases skirting the Red Sea
     
  4. sonofsearcher

    sonofsearcher Junior Member

    I have just found this forum after doing a Google search. My father (still living) was an RCAF officer with RAF 621 Squadron from 1943 to the end of 1944. I've read your Christmas dinner list with a smile. His memories of Scuiscuiban was that it was just a convienient flat bit of desert with a small ops building and tents to live in. Water was brought in from a hot spring located about 30 miles away in the back of the station's Ford truck. One or two Wellingtons would be rotated to the detachment for a week or more at a time. When the crew landed, they had to hand pump the plane full of fuel from 45 gallon drums and then settle into a hot and dusty waiting routine with occassion low level night flight submarine search out over the Indian Ocean. Meals were whatever you could make out of canned army rations plus whatever the rotating crews could bring in that was fresh.

    As you indicated in your first post, this it a forgotten area and part of WWII. I am curious what your father was doing in Scuiscuiban and what was his relation to 621 Squadron?
     
  5. angie999

    angie999 Very Senior Member

    My father was a RASC Sergeant, attached to the EAASC and responsible at the time as the sole European for a supply point there, but a little distance from from the RAF. One of his responsibilities was to procure fresh meat for both European and African personnel.

    I believe that there was an arrangement where he supplied meat the the RAF and he was also issued with personal items from their stores for his own use - maybe clothing, but certainly stuff like gin and cigarettes, which I think he needed to stop him going mad in the harsh conditions.

    There was something of a Sergeants Mess there and I believe he was made a member. Whenever he could get away he would go there just to relax and have people to talk to. He also had a great love of flying all his life and was disappointed to be in the Army and not the RAF, so hanging around with the RAF was a good thing from his point of view.

    During his four months or so there, one Wellington failed to return from patrol, having been lost without trace over either sea or desert.

    In his testimonial on discharge in 1946, the person who wrote it in the EAASC depot at Nanyuki (Kenya) specifically commented on what a challenging posting this had been.
     
  6. sonofsearcher

    sonofsearcher Junior Member

    Checking my father's log book, his last rotation to Sciuscuiban was in September of 1944. In November, he was posted back to England and then Canada. At that time, there was a requirement for officers with Middle East or Far East experience to help train crews for Tiger Squadrons. From your description, this may been just before your father was at Sciuscuiban but I will ask my father about his memories of local fresh meat supplies.

    In October 1943, my father was a member of one the first 621 Squadron crews to fly out of Scuiscuiban. At that time, only about half of the Squadron's planes were airworthy. (Many had been damaged in the transit flight from England as the planes had been overloaded with spare parts and the crews were unused to taking off and landing in the desert conditions. My father's original plane had ended up in a swamp off the end of the runway in Juba after being told to take off in the heat of midday.) The ground crews had not arrived yet so planes sent to detachments like Scuiscuiban were very much on their own.

    From notes in a little journal my father kept at the time, it shows that initially the crew survived on M&V. But the crew had a couple of Canadians who had grown up on farms. They eventually commandeered the station Ford truck, borrowed some rifles from the aircraft survival kit and went gazelle hunting. They would chase gazelles across the desert and shoot them from the back of the moving truck. They were able to supply fresh meat to the station and to the native tribe that was maintaining the runway. Later, this kind of activity was stopped as there was concern that over exuberant RAF and native hunting parties would destroy the truck and it was needed for delivering the water used at the station. It does sound like there was an ample supply of local game.

    Perhaps it was best that your father was in the Army. The Squadron was not being shot at everytime a mission was flown but the flying was still hazardous, especially after the planes began to wear out. My father has a back injury from one of the crashes he was in which has affected his life from that time. Or, as you mentioned, planes and crews would simply go missing.
     
  7. Kiwiwriter

    Kiwiwriter Very Senior Member

    Son of Searcher, welcome to the boards, and thank you for your father's service to Crown and Country. You can fill us in on an important and undeservedly obscure portion of World War II.
     
  8. dansavident

    dansavident Junior Member

    Hi,

    I am new to this site, hence coming to the forum late. My Uncle was a founding memeber of 621 having flown from RAF Hurn having complteted ferry training at RAF Talbenny. I did a lot of research on my Uncle & 621, and am still in contact with a few 621 members.

    I have a load of records up to the time of his death on the 23rd Nov 1943. He was a F/Sgt (pilot) and was lost with his whole crew having got lost. I believe his was the first crew to be lost in the SQD

    I have all the dates/place names if you would like the information, but the research was done over 15 years ago, so they do not come readily to mind. As with other contibutors, the only book I can fond on this theatre was wings of the dawning, but Martin Bowmans book the Geodetic giant has some referneces to 621.
     
  9. Kiwiwriter

    Kiwiwriter Very Senior Member

    (bomb_bay @ Jan 31 2006, 03:10 AM) [post=45101]Hi,

    I am new to this site, hence coming to the forum late. My Uncle was a founding memeber of 621 having flown from RAF Hurn having complteted ferry training at RAF Talbenny. I did a lot of research on my Uncle & 621, and am still in contact with a few 621 members.

    I have a load of records up to the time of his death on the 23rd Nov 1943. He was a F/Sgt (pilot) and was lost with his whole crew having got lost. I believe his was the first crew to be lost in the SQD

    I have all the dates/place names if you would like the information, but the research was done over 15 years ago, so they do not come readily to mind. As with other contibutors, the only book I can fond on this theatre was wings of the dawning, but Martin Bowmans book the Geodetic giant has some referneces to 621.
    [/b]

    Bomb Bay, thanks for your help on this, and welcome to the boards! :)

    And thank you for your uncle's service and sacrifice for Crown and Country.
     

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