They Spread Their Wings (24 page)

Under the wing of one of the squadron’s experienced ‘A’ Flight pilots, Sgt George McKeand (by end of war: Sqn Ldr, DSO, DFC), Jim and his crew familiarised themselves with their new squadron, their group locality and the aircraft itself. On five consecutive nights Sgt McKeand took Jim up to show him the ropes regarding what to look for during a pre-op air test and to put him through his paces on night take-offs and landings. Then finally the big day came.

Jim had his first taste of operational flying on the night of 20/21 April 1941. He was flying as second pilot in Sgt McKeand’s crew in Wellington R1621, one of seventeen aircraft despatched by the squadron to attack an oil storage depot in Rotterdam. The other members of McKeand’s crew were Sgts Shaw, Thomas, Turner and Page. Jim’s logbook notes simply: ‘bombed target’. At this stage of the air war the Wellington, though built with only a single pilot position, was generally operated with two pilots, while the navigator usually carried out the bomb-aiming task. The second pilot (not ‘co’-pilot), who sat on a fold-down seat or stood by the side of the first pilot, was, more often than not, a new member of the squadron who was expected to make half a dozen or so operational sorties as second pilot in order to gain experience flying under battle conditions. There were no hard and fast rules about what the second pilot should do, but the main task was to get him used to coping with what the enemy could throw at you. In his first few sorties, a second pilot kept his eyes on the pilot’s actions and in turn acted as a second pair of eyes for both the pilot and the navigator by trying to spot landmarks. He was allowed to slip into the pilot seat and take over the controls either on the way to the target or on the return leg, but gradually he worked up to being at the controls both to and over the target and for the return leg, while the captain stood by with words of advice. This was the usual way in which ‘rookie’ pilots were eased into operational flying before they were committed as captains of their own crew and aircraft – and with their very own rookie ‘second dicky’.

A few nights later, on 25/26 April, Jim was on ops again, this time going to Kiel as second pilot with George McKeand and the same crew and aircraft. A force of sixty-two aircraft went out that night; thirty-eight were Wellingtons, with No 214 Squadron providing half that number. It was to be another ‘maritime diversion’ operation, which meant that because of the growing success of German surface raiders, U-boats and Fw 200 Condor aircraft, from the beginning of March 1941 Bomber Command was diverted from its main campaign and sent out time and again over the next four months against targets that supported the German maritime offensive.

Loaded with six 500-pounders, Jim took off in R1621 at 21.00. The crew reached Kiel and saw one large fire and several smaller ones scattered on both sides of the river. At 00.45 they attacked the port area in a glide from 11,000ft releasing the six bombs in a salvo, but none of the crew observed any result. The bombing height was a compromise between bombing accuracy and keeping above the effective range of light flak and searchlights, the latter combination being subject to continuous improvements that pushed bombing heights ever higher as the war went on. The tactic of bombing in a glide, with the engines throttled back to about a quarter power, was felt to be a way of trying to confuse any sound detection and locating equipment on the ground. The return trip was uneventful and they touched down at 04.20 after almost seven and a half hours in the air.

The next operation came on 28/29 April, when R1621 was one of twenty-four aircraft launched by the squadron that night. Airborne at 21.00, they set course for the port of Brest, in which the juicy targets of the German capital ships
Scharnhorst
and
Gneisenau
were docked. However, in common with most of the squadron that night, the ships were not located because of a smoke screen, an intense flak barrage and probing searchlight defences that were encountered. Reluctantly, McKeand ordered the bomb load to be jettisoned in the sea and the aircraft returned to base at 01.40 on the 24th.

When not on ops, Jim continued to fly training sorties with his crew as, for example on 3 May, when he carried out a dusk practice-bombing and air-firing sortie. Then it was back to second ‘dicky’ duty on the night of 4/5 May 1941 against the pair of German battlecruisers bottled up in Brest. Jim flew this sortie under the critical eye of Sqn Ldr Robert Sharp in T2709. The others on board were Plt Off Waite and Sgts R. Instone, H.E. Jones and Taylor who were actually Jim’s own crew, so it was clear that the flight commander was checking him out in preparation to send him off on his own in the near future. The fact that Jim flew three sorties with Sqn Ldr Sharp is perhaps an indication of how relatively unhurried the process was of ‘easing in’ a new crew at this stage of the air war. Aircraft losses were not particularly high and there was an adequate supply of aircrew coming through the training system to feed the quantity of squadrons available at this time.

Ninety-seven bombers were sent to attack the capital ships in Brest harbour. No 214 Squadron supplied sixteen of the Wellington force of fifty-four aircraft and Sqn Ldr Sharp took off at 21.05. Reaching the target area around midnight they found the port already lit by several fires. They made their bomb run in level flight at 11,000ft, aiming the single 2,000lb and three 500lb bombs at the dry dock. Sqn Ldr Sharp believed the bombs fell on or near a ship in dry dock although no actual explosions could be seen. Once again the journey home was uneventful and they landed back at Stradishall at 03.10.

Port installations were again the primary target for Bomber Command on the night of 6/7 May 1941, when Jim Crampton and his crew were once more teamed up with Sqn Ldr Bob Sharp in T2709. Take-off was at 21.50 and they set course for Hamburg. They were unable to locate the main target so the skipper decided to drop his bombs among the flak and searchlights of Bremen from 14,000ft. The bomb load of three 250-pounders and 360 x 4lb incendiaries was released at 01.15 and Sgt Taylor in the rear turret claimed to have seen a fire start after the bombs went down. Sgt Taylor also had the chance to fire his guns in anger for the first time when he engaged two aircraft as the Wellington withdrew from the target area. He identified one as a Junkers Ju 88 and the other as a Heinkel He 111 and claimed to have damaged both aircraft.

Mannheim was the target for Jim’s next operation on 9/10 May, flying again as second pilot to Sqn Ldr Sharp in Wellington T2709, one of 146 bombers despatched to the twin cities of Mannheim and Ludwigshafen. Although Mannheim was targeted mainly for its factories producing U-boat engines and accessories, there were indications of a subtle movement towards a strategy of area bombing when the Air Staff also declared it ‘suitable as an area objective and its attack should have high morale value’. This target was a long haul and it was going to test Jim thoroughly before he was sent out as captain of his own aircraft. Take-off for T2709 was 22.15 and the primary target was reached at 01.00. The bomb load on this op was 2 x 500lb HE, 1 x 250lb HE and 360 x 4lb incendiaries, all of which were dropped in a shallow dive from 12,000ft. Afterwards, rear gunner Sgt Taylor reported that he saw the bombs bursting on the target and four fires were started, one very large. The 900-mile round trip from Stradishall was completed without incident and they landed back at 03.45.

Plt Off Jim Crampton did one more trip with Sqn Ldr Bob Sharp which took them back to Hamburg on 11/12 May in T2709. Visibility was good all the way in and out, and Jim took nominal command of the aircraft for this op. A force of ninety-one Wellingtons was despatched and it was the third time in four nights that the city had been bombed. It was around 01.45 when Jim ordered his bombs to be aimed at the dock area and released during a steady, throttled-back descent from 16,000ft down to 9,500ft. They were seen to burst on the target and start fires. Weaving his way out, he landed back at 05.00. Three Wellingtons were lost from the attacking force that night: one of which, R1462 from No 214 Squadron, was flown by 20-year-old Plt Off J. Toplis who died in the crash. John Toplis had trained with Jim at Moreton-in-Marsh and they had been posted to Stradishall together.

Plt Off Crampton had to wait three weeks for his first crack as aircraft captain entirely on his own. In the meantime, he and other pilots not on ops kept their hand in with regular training sorties. In Jim’s case this included a cross-country navigation exercise on 24 May, a fighter affiliation sortie for RAF Coltishall on the 28th and a number of formation practice sorties.

When he was back on ops he would be taking along a ‘rookie’ pilot as ‘second dicky’ and giving him the benefit of his own, albeit rather brief, experience. Plt Off Lucian Ercolani was crewed as second pilot with Jim and their joint first experiences came on 2/3 June 1941 when, as one of twelve aircraft despatched by the squadron, they were part of a force of 150 aircraft – sixty-eight Wellingtons, forty-three Hampdens and thirty-nine Whitleys – sent to Düsseldorf. In addition to Plt Off Ercolani, Jim had his usual crew with him that night in Wellington R1613: Plt Off Waite, Sgt Instone, Sgt Jones and Flt Sgt Taylor. Taking off at 23.00 they reached the target area only to find it obscured by 10/10ths cloud and haze. Unable to identify the city with any great certainty, they made a timed run in and dropped 3 x 500lb HE, 1 x 250lb HE and three containers of 4lb incendiaries from 12,000ft, aimed at where they believed the city to be. It was reported later that only 107 of the bombers claimed to have attacked the city and only very light damage and casualties were recorded by the city council. Jim, however, was probably just happy to have his first trip as captain under his belt.

German ships were back on the menu and No 214 Squadron was one of two squadrons supplying a total of thirty Wellingtons to mount an attack on the battlecruiser
Prinz Eugen
. In company with the mighty
Bismarck, Prinz Eugen
had played an important part in the recent major encounter with HMS
Hood
and HMS
Prince of Wales
, but the two German ships separated and
Prinz Eugen
headed for Brest.

The squadron sent out ten aircraft and Plt Off Crampton, with his own crew and Plt Off Ercolani, set out for Brest in R1613 at 22.45 on the night of 7 June 1941. They dropped their five 500lb bombs although, in common with the rest of the force, no hits were scored on the battlecruiser. No aircraft were lost but, low on fuel, Jim landed at RAF Hinton-in-the-Hedges. That was the last time that Plt Off Ercolani flew with Jim Crampton. However, Ercolani was not yet ready for his own aircraft and flew as second pilot with other crews a few more times before he made aircraft captain. Lucian Ercolani was destined to have a distinguished career in the RAF. The son of an Italian furniture designer and manufacturer who came to England in 1910, Lucian was educated at Oundle, leaving in 1934 to join his father’s company, the well-known furniture maker Ercol. He was decorated three times for gallantry in bomber operations over Europe and in the Far East. For one much-publicised incident, during which he was wounded and his aircraft badly damaged in an operation with No 214 Squadron on the night of 7/8 November 1941, he was awarded an immediate DSO – a high honour for someone of relatively junior rank.

Plt Off Lucian Ercolani, who flew several operations as ‘second dicky’ with Jim Crampton while on No 214 Squadron. (Via author)

On 11/12 June the target for thirteen Wellingtons from No 216 Squadron was Düsseldorf (one other aircraft was sent to Boulogne). Part of an overall force of ninety-two Wellingtons and six Short Stirlings sent to this city, Jim Crampton made the trip in N2802 with his usual crew plus another Sgt Taylor as his second pilot. Take-off was at 23.00 and the bomber approached the target at 01.05 only to find haze obscuring the city below. Accurate bombing was impossible but while Jim put the aircraft in a shallow dive from 16,000ft to 13,000ft, Plt Off Waite released the bomb load of three 500lb, one 250lb and 360 4lb incendiaries. No one saw any detonations afterwards but rear gunner Sgt Taylor reported seeing a large explosion as their aircraft was turning for home. Stradishall was reached at 03.50 without further difficulty.

When Jim and his crew roused from their well-earned slumbers, they found themselves on ops again that night, 12/13 June, and this time Hamm was ‘on the menu’. Bomber Command put railways firmly on the agenda and on this night despatched a total of 318 Wellingtons, Hampdens and Whitleys to attack marshalling yards in the Ruhr towns of Soest, Schwerte and Hamm just to the east of Dortmund. Eighty-two Wellingtons were sent to Hamm and Jim, in N2802, was one of nine aircraft despatched by No 214 Squadron. Take-off was at 23.55 and he reached the target area around 01.50. Flying at 14,000ft, poor visibility and haze made definite identification of the aiming point impossible, so he ran in on an area that he thought was the city itself and Plt Off Waite let the six 500lb and one 250lb bombs go. Flashes were seen soon afterwards but no one could say for certain where their bombs ended up and a similar situation was also reported by the other crews. An uneventful return journey saw them land back at Stradishall at 04.15.