144 Squadron July 1941 - April 1942

Discussion in 'The War In The Air' started by Woodhead, Mar 7, 2011.

  1. Woodhead

    Woodhead Junior Member

    Hi Ross
    When I originally wrote up my conclusions on these events, although Chorley, The Hampden File and 5 Group Bomber Command, all said AE353 was lost on the Brest operation, I was not convinced. The night operation to Le Havre seemed a more plausible operation due to AE353s recorded loss position. Your two Hamden losses would support this.

    The orb entry is lacking in a number of details, the crew are named but their Hampden number is not and has no operation details but follows immediately after the 11 Dec Cologne operation aircraft and pilot details. The entry for the single Hampden AD921 sent to Nordeney has been added before the Cologne operation in a different hand.

    I have found that squadrons seemed to be given operations to targets they were familiar with, the first written operational entry for Le Havre since the squadron moved to North Luffenham in July 41 is 1st April 1942. Although probably considered a soft target, the squadrons limited knowledge of the target would not have been an ideal introductory operation for an inexperienced crew. A crew of five for a night time operation again not the norm.

    Looking back a day to the 10 December there was a daylight mining operation to Terschelling, could AE353 been on this operation, its loss not recorded until the following day? What does not change is its loss position recorded on the 11th so far off track!

    For those that have an interest in aircraft and their crews, AE353 had been the regular Hampden for pilot Jimmy Cantanach, he joined the squadron in August 41 from 16OTU, he took it on operations through September, October and November. He transferred to 455 Sqdn on 6 December 41. In September of 42 he flew AT109 on the transfer of Hampdens to Russia. He was forced down over Norway, becoming a prisoner of war. In 1944 he was murdered by the Gestapo, one of 50 officers shot in retribution for what is referred to as The Great Escape.

    John
     
  2. Jon144raf

    Jon144raf New Member

    Most of this new information lines up with the research I had previously done, although there is something my dad had mentioned that doesn't. He's not 100% sure, but he does remember the aircraft being damaged, and then possibly receiving friendly fire on their return. This might explain their change in course (in order to avoid friendly fire). I would try to confirm with my grandmother, but she's getting quite old at this point, and I don't want to expose her to overly emotional information.
     
  3. Leslie Cousins

    Leslie Cousins Junior Member

    Morning John/ Marc

    During lockdown I discovered P/O Cousins' (my father's) personal daily diary for 01.01.41 - 24.07.41 and have transcribed it. It contains (1) much personal minutiae about daily life and the people he served with on and around RAF Cranage, Cottesmore, Hemswell and North Luffenham and (2) fairly comprehensive descriptions of his June and July 1941 raids on Dusseldorf, Kiel, Heligoland, Elbe and Wangarooge. Obviously the diary does not cover Operation Sunrise on 24.07.41 (during which he was killed in Hampden AE238) and I hope you do not mind if I now add to the record the information you kindly gave me about that operation.

    I have an example of the propaganda leaflets which he dropped while “Nickelling” over Dusseldorf.

    If anyone wants me to let them have any of this information, please will they let me know.

    Leslie
    06.07.21
     
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  4. Leslie Cousins

    Leslie Cousins Junior Member

    Does anybody have any information on a 144 Squadron Navigator called Hayward (aka Haywire and H)? He was my father’s (HL Cousins’) close chum in 1941 and I would love to contact his descendants.

    Leslie
     
  5. Noel Harrison

    Noel Harrison New Member

    I have come late to this forum, through a set of bizarre coincidences, but I may have some information of interest..
    My father was (then) P/O R N Harrison of 144 Sqn, pilot of AE238 in which Leslie's father was killed. He left a detailed and graphic account of that operation and its aftermath which I am happy to share (it's 16 sides of double spaced typescript so not available immediately in electronic format). I also have his logbook and quite a lot manuscripts relating to his tour with 144 Sqn (Dec 40 to Sep 41). These describe in some detail the operations he was involved in (which flesh out the detail provided by the ORB) as well as the daily life on the squadron. In addition I have the letters he wrote to his mother almost daily during his tour. As I've indicated, these aren't in a format for easy publishing, but I may be in a position to answer the odd questions.
    Noel
     
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  6. Leslie Cousins

    Leslie Cousins Junior Member

    Noel
    So pleased that you have joined the forum. Your father's name is, of course, mentioned several times in my father's 1941 diary. The diary transcript (plus some information about Operation Sunrise) is now at printer's proof stage. The book is over 30,000 words. Let me know if you would like a copy.
    I would love to read your father's account of the operation and maybe, with your permission, I could possibly now insert some of this into the book?
    My email is : leslie_cousins@msn.com
    Leslie
    26.08.21
     
  7. Noel Harrison

    Noel Harrison New Member

    Leslie
    I will contact you directly by email.
    Noel
     
  8. Hi John, This post was some time ago so I hope you get to see it. My great uncle, Edgar Crowe was the wireless operator / air gunner aboard Hampden AE253 Thea flew on the reciprocal course and ended up over Ireland on the night of the 30th July 1941. P/ Beadman was the pilot, Sgt Reed the navigator, and Sgt Cheesman the rear-gunner. This was my great uncle's 9th operation of the war. He died on his 25th operation on the night of the 5th November 1941, 80 years ago this week.
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2021
  9. Hi Leslie,

    I've just discovered this forum while researching the operations my great uncle Edgar Crowe took part in for his time in 144 squadron in 1941. I've made great use of the free ORB downloads during the pandemic and have discovered a lot about his short few months in operational flying, first as a rear gunner and then as the wireless operator / air gunner (he was shot down and killed on the night of the 5th November, 1941. I'm just wondering if there are any references to Edgar Crowe in your father's diary?
    Cheers,

    Carl
     
  10. Leslie Cousins

    Leslie Cousins Junior Member

    Hi Carl
    Sorry to say that, having prepared an index to it, I know my father's 1941 diary contained no mention of Edgar Crowe (nor of Reed nor Cheesman). I also do not recall seeing his name in the notes made by his father and passed to me by Noel Harrison (see above). However Noel has more information (also see above) than I have seen so maybe you could ask him?
    Regards and best of luck in your search
    Leslie
     
  11. Hi Leslie, many thanks for checking. It's been a real "armchair adventure" going through the ORB reports and reading about the operations my great uncle was involved in. I've discovered much more than I ever thought I would.

    I even found mention of his name in Peter Steven's flight book for the one flight Edgar took with him as rear gunner... what a character he was!

    In going through these records there is one question that keeps popping up for which I cannot find an answer. I might have to post this elsewhere, but I throw it to this page to see if there are any answers: For some reason switching on the IFF did a reasonable job of dousing searchlights. I understand how IFF in the early 1940s worked, but am unsure as to why this would prove beneficial against searchlights, unless through some kind of jamming effect on the Wurzburg radar. Any ideas???

    Cheers,

    Carl
     
  12. Woodhead

    Woodhead Junior Member

    Hi Carl
    It has been a while since I started this thread and it would appear my last entry was in 2016. I started my research when you had to purchase hard copy output of 144 Squadrons ORB from the National Archive in 2009. Before downloads were available to purchase online, and the generous free availability during lock down. I did get included in my purchase a section on crew movements in and out of the squadron, a listing produced on a monthly basis, it included details on previous posting and for those that survived their next posting. Those lost, either killed or POWs were included. A lot of my research was based on the ORB, so you will have seen much of what I know. 144 Squadron appear to have been quite strict on personal photography around North Luffenham. I did have my fathers four log books so his flying record from 1940 to 46 is complete. His archive did include official and family letters so it was possible to trace, particularly for 1941, contacts that he flew on operations with. Many were killed, but families responded, from Kenya, New Zealand and Canada.
    If you can send me a private note with your email I can send you the spreads on my interpretation of what happened when your relation Edgar Crowe was part of the crew that flew in Hampden AE253 to Northern Ireland, not the intended target, Cologne. It was one of very few events my father told me about when I was a child. I was delighted when I found the actual record. He was on his third operation, to gain experience he flew this and his next op as Navigator for Sgt Freeman, pilot. A sad twist to events was that his crew he had trained with at 16 OTU flew with another pilot that night and were all killed when Hampden AE252 was lost. The loss of his crew and acting as navigator made the events of the night stick in his mind.
    The events of November 1941 the 1st to the 5th will be of personal interest. You will have seen from the ORB that my father was flying another aircraft on the 5th, the squadron prepared five Hampdens to do a roving patrol off the Frisians looking for convoys. At that time they did not fly in formation but flew individually, if visibility allowed they may have been aware of one another.

    Leslie Cousins, see the email link for him in previous chats above has my email address. I am sure he would put you in touch.

    Regards John
     

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