Arthur Reid beside a Halifax prior to final operation

 

RAF SERVICE

 

Arthur was initially on Home Guard duties, waiting to enlist in the Royal Air Force, which came in Autumn 1940, when he joined as a Volunteer. He was later transferred into 192 Squadron, RAF 100 Group, Special Duties, at RAF Foulsham. When war ended in 1945, Arthur was posted to Ceylon for 12 months to open a new Wireless Communication Unit in Kandy (Camp name). This was to assist in bringing home all Far East members of the Forces. His Service ceased in 1946.

 

RANKS (in order of promotions)

 

AC2 VR (Aircraftsman Second Class)

AC1 (Aircraftsman First Class) – N/A

LAC (Leading Aircraftsman) – N/A

Sergeant

Flight Sergeant

Pilot Officer

Flying Officer

F/Lt (Flight Lieutenant)

 

DUTIES

 

Enlisted as a Wireless Operator (W/Op) and an Air Gunner (WOPAG). Arthur progressed to F/Lt Signals Officer, remaining as such until demobbed in 1946.

 

MEDALS

 

Aircrew Star – (for Aircrew only)

Atlantic Star – (Coastal Command, for Naval Duties)

Italy Star – (in lieu of DFC)

Bomber Command Medal

1939-1945 Medal

Good Conduct Medal/Service Medal

 

 

SQUADRON INFORMATION

 

The Squadron was made up of a fleet of 15 planes:

 

•8 Wellingtons

•4 Halifax

•3 Mosquito

 

JOINING A CREW

 

On joining the Royal Air Force, recruits had to go through a three-day Medical in a building in Edinburgh. At the time, everyone wanted to be a Pilot and the one in charge! Unfortunately, Arthur, who would have quite liked to fly a plane, was unsuitable as his mathematics were considered insufficient. RAF aircrew were among the fittest men in the war, so he felt it a privilege to fly with them.

 

All aircrew were volunteers. This was strictly adhered to and no-one was called up to the RAF. The RAF had a unique system of picking crews. After training was finished, aircrew were left on the Parade Ground. The now fully trained men stood until a Pilot asked them if they wanted to join his crew. When on Operations, the Pilot was always in charge of the plane and the crew.

 

TRAINING

 

Morse code was taught in the Blackpool tram sheds. There were so many thousands of trainees that most of the side streets in Blackpool were full of Squads learning all the drills. From there, Arthur went on a six-week Air Gunnery Course in Wales. The new crew was posted to an OTU (Operational Training Unit) and finally for more radio communications at Yatesbury Camp in Wiltshire.

 

Flight Sergeant Arthur B. Reid

 

THE CREW

 

Normally a Wellington crew consisted of:

 

•Pilot

•Wireless Operator

•Navigator

•Rear Gunner

•Front Gunner

 

From left to right: Tosh Lines (Rear Gunner), Don Baird (Flight Engineer) Jones (Pilot), Steve Tinkler (Navigator), Arthur Reid (Wireless Operator)

 

Arthur joined 100 Group Special Duties (SD) and was in 192 Squadron. Arthur felt this a good omen being the same number as his address at home! Another crew member was a civilian highly trained in the job he was doing. In Bomber Command, there were only a few Squadrons specially trained to carry out a Special Duty of Airborne Counterintelligence, which was important top-secret work. This duty involved the seeking out of enemy frequencies (battleships, planes, submarines) and jamming them. This would nullify enemy communications. Incidentally, this civilian expert was so top secret that aircrew flying with him were separated from him by a black cloth.

 

COASTAL & BOMBER COMMAND

 

Strictly speaking, an operational tour consisted of 30 missions. However, in late Spring 1944 near the end of Arthur’s tour, the RAF Higher Command temporarily extended the number of ops required to complete a tour. Arthur completed 34 operations, recalling two types of operations:

 

•Bomber Command – flying into enemy territory.

•Coastal Command – from Norway to the coast of Spain.

 

OPERATIONS

 

A combined Air Force and Navy operation in the Bay of Biscay obtained the surrender of a German submarine. The Naval Captain, on searching the submarine, was intrigued by a strange-looking instrument (left). He had no idea what this machine was used for but brought it back to port. When handed over to the RAF, it turned out to be so valuable it became one of the main reasons for the war ending. It was called the ‘Enigma Machine’. At the time, no-one had any idea what it was used for, but when given to Back Room civilian people, it took a long time to find its purpose, but ultimately discovered it was the German method of issuing information by code. From that point on, nearly every German order was decoded by experts at Bletchley Park. At the same time, the enemy never found out that the RAF had broken their code.

 

 

OPERATION HYDRO

 

A Mosquito from 192 Squadron discovered and photographed ‘Peenemunde’ which was the area used to develop the V-Bombs (Flying Bombs). 596 heavy RAF Bombers were deployed on the mission where 40 of these were lost. The partial success of this mission proved to delay the VBomb attacks on England by six crucial months.

 

SECOND OPERATION

 

Flew from Feltwell – Lossiemouth – Thurso. Arthur wrote in his Log Book: ‘In Ambush. Bad start!’ The crew had dinner at Thurso, then joined another raid of 70 planes to discover a German battleship. The crews had to fly at 50ft off the water, which was the only method of flying under enemy Radar screen. Arthur’s plane broke down halfway, meaning they had to turn back. The rest of the raid continued, but when they arrived in Norway, there was no battleship, just a large number of German planes. This resulted in 14 planes being lost.

 

DRESDEN RAID

 

At this time, the Russians had invaded Germany. They demanded that the British were not doing enough, so the RAF were sent on a raid. During this raid, the RAF used 450 planes at night, while Americans bombed in daylight with 250 planes. Dresden was an old city mainly built of wood. When the raids began, there were so many Incendiary Bombs they caused a flash fire.

 

Following the Dresden raid, which lost so many lives, the then Prime Minister Winston Churchill who had always stated that his bombers were the main part of the war effort, effectively turned his back on them. This was probably because a General Election was due, and he felt it prudent to distance himself from any further involvement. His Victory Speech when war ended highly praised his ‘Battle of Britain fighters’, without one word of praise for Bomber Command.

 

NUREMBURG RAID

 

Nuremburg was home to the German Army. This was one of the costliest raids in Bomber Command’s history, because everything went wrong that night. During their Briefing, crews were told there would be heavy cloud providing shelter, winds would be mild, temperatures normal. However, on arrival, the skies were clear. Winds had changed direction. Temperatures were ice cold. This resulted in the heaviest losses Bomber Command had endured. In total, 97 planes were lost, with a further 100 crashing on their return or on landing. Losses were so heavy that, next morning, Bomber Command were in shock!!

 

The loss of any raid was felt most in the morning. At breakfast, there would usually be 80 or so men, but with so many empty seats, everyone knew a raid the night before had suffered heavy losses. The RAF was so efficient that, by lunch time, these seats were usually refilled.

 

Arthur counted himself lucky to be part of the Special Duties Squadron. Most of their operations were carried out in daylight. Also, the civilian on board could speak German, and on a few occasions, when near enemy planes, was able to divert them, giving false messages which did not please enemy Controllers. In total, Arthur was credited with 34 operations. Every recruit kept a Log Book of Operations. Daylight operations were marked in blue ink, night-time operations in red.

 

Arthur’s first Operation was a 1,000 Bomber Raid on Cologne during which 45 planes were lost.

 

OFF DUTY

 

Once Arthur finished his training, he was posted to Lossiemouth for a year in a Ground Radio Station. One thing Arthur remembers is that a plane required a test flight for a raid the next day. A Pilot and Arthur were detailed to carry out this test. The pilot was anything but pleased with this, and after carrying out this test decided to fly very low over the Officers’ Mess. This was called a ‘shoot up’. Unfortunately, he overshot the runway and ended up in an adjacent field. The plane started burning. The pilot got out of his escape hatch, but left Arthur in the plane on his own. He eventually got out okay and gave a Report of what had happened. Next morning, the Ground Crews were sent out to strip the plane to find that the front gunner guns were gone. This was most unusual and puzzled everyone. So, they were sent to investigate and, in the village, nearby, eventually discovered them in a cottage mounted in a cross shape above the fireplace.

 

FINALLY…

 

The 1939-1945 conflict caused Bomber Command to lose the lives of 59,000 men, with hundreds more missing. Arthur always said that these men were the bravest of the brave and it was disgraceful how their country turned against them.

 

This story was brought together in August 2010, written by Sarah Reid in collaboration with Arthur Reid, her grandfather, who has done so much to keep alive the memory of these brave men.

 

Arthur and Sarah Reid

 

NOTE: It was just as I finished writing up dear Arthur’s story into this magazine, that Linda and his son Arthur sent through to tell me:

 

‘Arthur Senior has gone Home to Our Father. Very peacefully, he is at rest in the arms of our Lord and with Stan (Forsyth). He slipped away at 12.49 on Saturday 14 September, just short of his 99th birthday in October …’

 

Our thoughts and prayers remain with you, my Angels of the North, during this sad time xxx

 

 

This article is from the Autumn / Winter 2019 issue of Confound and Destroy