Note: This is a work in progress! Article currently being researched, written, revised & updated.
Page last updated: Sunday, 16 December 2018
Page last updated: Sunday, 16 December 2018
Military Awards
THE MOST HONOURABLE ORDER OF THE BATH, C.B. (Military) neck badge in silver-gilt and enamels THE ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, C.B.E. (Military) 2nd type neck badge DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS, G.V.R., with Second Award Bar; 1914-15 STAR (2nd Lieutenant. 1/4th Battalion Norfolk Regiment.) BRITISH WAR AND VICTORY MEDALS (Lieutenant, R.A.F.) GENERAL SERVICE 1918-62, 1 clasp, Iraq (Flying Officer., R.A.F.) 1939-45 STAR; AFRICA STAR; DEFENCE AND WAR MEDALS GREEK WAR CROSS 3rd Class 1916-1917 |
Charles Basil Slater Spackman was born in Norfolk, on 4 July 1895, joined the British army as a private in August 1914, commissioned on 3 April 1915, serving in Gallipoli and Egypt with the 1/4th Battalion Norfolk Regiment. Service No. 08123.
He was seconded into the Royal Flying Corps in October 1916, completed flying training and served on the Salonika front in Macedonia with No’s 47 and 150 Fighter Squadrons 1917-18. During this period, Spackman was credited with shooting down three enemy aircraft. He transferred into the Royal Air Force in April 1918 and between the wars served in Egypt, Palestine, Sudan, Aden and Iraq where he received the Distinguished Flying Cross award & bar. During the inter-war period, Spackman rose through the officer ranks of the Royal Air Force and was involved in training and building up British air defences in Britain and the Middle East. During the Second World War Spackman served in Egypt & Libya 1939-41; as Air Officer Commanding Sudan and Eritrea 1941-42; H.Q. Fighter Command 1942; Air Officer in command of Administration 1943-45 and involved with D-Day operations and promoted to Air Vice Marshal. He was subsequently Air Officer Commanding No. 19 Group, Coastal Command, 1945-47 & Senior Air Staff Officer British Air Forces of Occupation, Germany: 1947-50. He retired in 1950 at age 55, studied at Hammersmith School of Art, moved to Ireland & lived in Tracton, Minane Bridge, Co. Cork c.1955-1971, becoming well known as an accomplished artist. Air Vice-Marshal Spackman, C.B., C.B.E, DFC (Bar) died in Cork on 7 December 1971 aged 76. |
Charles Basil Slater Spackman was known to myself and neighbours in Tracton in south Cork of the Nineteen Sixties as simply 'Basil'.
Basil was a quietly spoken, tall Englishman with a vague military bearing who lived nearby with his German wife, Gretta.
He was known to all as a friendly, personable retired man who enjoyed dabbling as an artist. Adjacent to their home bungalow 'Green Fields' (built and lived in by my Grand-Uncle until his death in 1950), Basil had his studio. This former farm worker's cottage - long since demolished - to a visiting eight year old across the fields seemed a magical place with various art works at different stages of completion, an amazing array of various brushes, palates, knives, easels and the strong, sharp scents of bright oil paints in large aluminium tubes, bottles of turpentine and murky linseed oil.
Basil was both talented and prolific as an artist. He had already held multiple art exhibitions in Cork, Dublin, London as well as the Royal Scottish and Welsh Academies in the 1960s but he was also known for gifting many of his works, especially to neighbours. Among his patrons included Daisy Corrigan, founder of Regina Mundi Girls Secondary School in Cork and coincidentally, a later resident of 'Green Fields'. There was the vague rumour in the parish that this English artist had been involved in some way with the Berlin Airlift of 1948/1949. But other than that, little to nothing was known of his life before he settled in Tracton, Minane Bridge and perhaps Basil preferred to keep it that way.
Now, almost 50 years later, as part of historical research on Diarmuid Lynch, much more has been gradually discovered on this retired English gentleman artist who took the time and effort to teach me, as an unappreciative eight year old, the art of watercolours.
This article on Basil's life has been gleaned and sifted from multiple and varied sources as he left no known autobiography, no personal notes and no written observations. Some of his military records and RAF notebooks are currently in the British National Archives and available for personal inspection but not as yet accessible on line. Much of the information here has been pieced together from fragments of data, public records, occasional references discovered by chance, some contributing emails from readers plus a degree of pure luck and old fashioned persistence & cross referencing. There are a few asides, some interesting discoveries of people and events connected to Basil's life and links to more detailed information sources such as aircraft technical specifications, military engagements, events etc.
I'll explore Basil's career as a military officer who rose through the ranks of two British armed services over two World Wars, from a teenage foot soldier who enlisted during the euphoria at outbreak of war in 1914 to his retirement as a decorated Royal Air Force Vice-Marshal (the equivalent of a Two Star General) in 1950. His life story is quite literally something out of a Nineteen Thirties Boys Own storybook. Contemporary reports, audio/video, diaries and recollections are used as an insight to experiences shared by Spackman and others.
However, one aspect of Basil's life which is well documented and survives through the years to today are of course his art works. Some examples of these are also included here in the later part of the article. His works occasionally surface in various Irish, UK and US auction rooms and each has that distinctive style and recognisably clear signature that marks them out. Many remain in private collections and a number in both Irish and British public collections.
Considering his life experiences prior to retirement, the simply joys of painting landscapes in his adopted (and peaceful) Irish countryside must have been both cathartic and a dramatic contrast - after all, the odds of surviving as an Infantry officer in Suvla Bay during the disastrous Dardanelles campaign of 1915 and then as a pioneering aviation flying officer in the Royal Air Force during the First World War and inter-war years were slim indeed.
As more information is discovered on Basil's life either through research, online sources or passed over by readers, this article will be added to and expanded, so please, consider this as simply a work in progress. Check back from time to time to see the latest updates to a fascinating life story. An updates record is available at the end of this site.
Special thanks to Brendan Barry, Patricia Bogan, Helen and a few other contributors who would rather remain anonymous for their submissions and comments.
As ever, should you the reader have any additional information to add (or to correct for that matter) then do get in contact.
Click on the little letter icon at the top right of this page to drop me an email. I'll be delighted to add, or where valid change or correct information and of course credit any details.
Ruairi Lynch
September 2018
Basil was a quietly spoken, tall Englishman with a vague military bearing who lived nearby with his German wife, Gretta.
He was known to all as a friendly, personable retired man who enjoyed dabbling as an artist. Adjacent to their home bungalow 'Green Fields' (built and lived in by my Grand-Uncle until his death in 1950), Basil had his studio. This former farm worker's cottage - long since demolished - to a visiting eight year old across the fields seemed a magical place with various art works at different stages of completion, an amazing array of various brushes, palates, knives, easels and the strong, sharp scents of bright oil paints in large aluminium tubes, bottles of turpentine and murky linseed oil.
Basil was both talented and prolific as an artist. He had already held multiple art exhibitions in Cork, Dublin, London as well as the Royal Scottish and Welsh Academies in the 1960s but he was also known for gifting many of his works, especially to neighbours. Among his patrons included Daisy Corrigan, founder of Regina Mundi Girls Secondary School in Cork and coincidentally, a later resident of 'Green Fields'. There was the vague rumour in the parish that this English artist had been involved in some way with the Berlin Airlift of 1948/1949. But other than that, little to nothing was known of his life before he settled in Tracton, Minane Bridge and perhaps Basil preferred to keep it that way.
Now, almost 50 years later, as part of historical research on Diarmuid Lynch, much more has been gradually discovered on this retired English gentleman artist who took the time and effort to teach me, as an unappreciative eight year old, the art of watercolours.
This article on Basil's life has been gleaned and sifted from multiple and varied sources as he left no known autobiography, no personal notes and no written observations. Some of his military records and RAF notebooks are currently in the British National Archives and available for personal inspection but not as yet accessible on line. Much of the information here has been pieced together from fragments of data, public records, occasional references discovered by chance, some contributing emails from readers plus a degree of pure luck and old fashioned persistence & cross referencing. There are a few asides, some interesting discoveries of people and events connected to Basil's life and links to more detailed information sources such as aircraft technical specifications, military engagements, events etc.
I'll explore Basil's career as a military officer who rose through the ranks of two British armed services over two World Wars, from a teenage foot soldier who enlisted during the euphoria at outbreak of war in 1914 to his retirement as a decorated Royal Air Force Vice-Marshal (the equivalent of a Two Star General) in 1950. His life story is quite literally something out of a Nineteen Thirties Boys Own storybook. Contemporary reports, audio/video, diaries and recollections are used as an insight to experiences shared by Spackman and others.
However, one aspect of Basil's life which is well documented and survives through the years to today are of course his art works. Some examples of these are also included here in the later part of the article. His works occasionally surface in various Irish, UK and US auction rooms and each has that distinctive style and recognisably clear signature that marks them out. Many remain in private collections and a number in both Irish and British public collections.
Considering his life experiences prior to retirement, the simply joys of painting landscapes in his adopted (and peaceful) Irish countryside must have been both cathartic and a dramatic contrast - after all, the odds of surviving as an Infantry officer in Suvla Bay during the disastrous Dardanelles campaign of 1915 and then as a pioneering aviation flying officer in the Royal Air Force during the First World War and inter-war years were slim indeed.
As more information is discovered on Basil's life either through research, online sources or passed over by readers, this article will be added to and expanded, so please, consider this as simply a work in progress. Check back from time to time to see the latest updates to a fascinating life story. An updates record is available at the end of this site.
Special thanks to Brendan Barry, Patricia Bogan, Helen and a few other contributors who would rather remain anonymous for their submissions and comments.
As ever, should you the reader have any additional information to add (or to correct for that matter) then do get in contact.
Click on the little letter icon at the top right of this page to drop me an email. I'll be delighted to add, or where valid change or correct information and of course credit any details.
Ruairi Lynch
September 2018
Basil's parents were the Church of England curate of the Norfolk parish of Happisburg and Walcott, the Rev. George Spackman.
and Edith Blanche Slater.
George was born in 1863 in Farringdon, Berkshire, the son of Mary & Frederick Charles Spackman (1826-1895), a General Medical Practitioner.
Edith Blanche was born in 1862, in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, the youngest daughter of Charlotte (1818-1904) & John Slater (1809-1899), a Bank Manager originally from Bath, Somerset.
Below: The 1871 Census details of the Spackman & Slater families overnight on April 2nd:
and Edith Blanche Slater.
George was born in 1863 in Farringdon, Berkshire, the son of Mary & Frederick Charles Spackman (1826-1895), a General Medical Practitioner.
Edith Blanche was born in 1862, in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, the youngest daughter of Charlotte (1818-1904) & John Slater (1809-1899), a Bank Manager originally from Bath, Somerset.
Below: The 1871 Census details of the Spackman & Slater families overnight on April 2nd:
George Spackman had been ordained in 1887 as a minister in the Church of England and was appointed as curate/parson to the parish of Happisburg and Walcott in Norfolk around 1889. There, he was assisting the seventy two year old resident Vicar, Rev. James Slater in St. Mary's Church and was lodging near the church in Happisburg (above).
This appointment to the quiet Norfolk parish near Norwich was fortuitous.
In 1890, Spackman was introduced to the Vicar's visiting niece, Edith Blanche and after a brief courtship, they were married on September 29, 1891 in St. Nathaniels, Bristol with the Rev. James performing the ceremony.
below: a transcript of the 1891 Census:
This appointment to the quiet Norfolk parish near Norwich was fortuitous.
In 1890, Spackman was introduced to the Vicar's visiting niece, Edith Blanche and after a brief courtship, they were married on September 29, 1891 in St. Nathaniels, Bristol with the Rev. James performing the ceremony.
below: a transcript of the 1891 Census:
Within a year, their first child, Mary Constance Irene Spackman was born on 15 June, 1892 in Happisburg and baptised on 17 July, 1892 by Rev. Slater.
below: the Happisburgh Parish Baptism register for 1892.
Spackman's paternal Grandfather, Frederick Charles Spackman (b.1826) died May 5, 1895 as reported in The Lancet:
George and Edith's second child, Charles Basil Slater was born on July 4, 1895 also in Happisburg and baptised in St. Mary's on 13 August, 1895. Named after his paternal Grandfather who had passed away two months previously and as was customary at the time, Basil was also given his Mother's maiden surname.
The family lived in Happisburg until c. 1900 when the Rev. Spackman was appointed to his own parish as the vicar of St. Bartholomew's Sloley, Norwich (aproximately 10 miles from Happisburg). The family's new residence was The Rectory, Sloley.
George and Edith's second child, Charles Basil Slater was born on July 4, 1895 also in Happisburg and baptised in St. Mary's on 13 August, 1895. Named after his paternal Grandfather who had passed away two months previously and as was customary at the time, Basil was also given his Mother's maiden surname.
The family lived in Happisburg until c. 1900 when the Rev. Spackman was appointed to his own parish as the vicar of St. Bartholomew's Sloley, Norwich (aproximately 10 miles from Happisburg). The family's new residence was The Rectory, Sloley.
At the end of the 19th century, the British Empire was nearing the zenith of its empire and territorial holdings. With unchallenged naval superiority, Britain extended formal control over India and large swaths of Africa, as well as indirect economic control over many more nations.
Below is a fascinating late Victorian alphabet children's book, written and illustrated by Mary Frances Ames (writing as Mrs. Ernest Ames), to teach young Britons their ABCs — "along with a veneration for military might, empire, and colonialism. That global hegemony is celebrated with racist illustrations of tiger hunts in India, “naughty” Africans in chains, and fearsome displays of military power to excite the next generation of conquerors."
However, the militarisation of childhood and the normalisation of military might and empire was not just a British phenomenon - this exaggeration and over estimation of the military in society is also evident from French, American, Japanese and particularly German children's books, toys and education from this era. All was to change, utterly, within a decade.
(click on play icon [ > ] to view. To view this book at a faster speed, click settings on the lower right and increase to 2)
Below is a fascinating late Victorian alphabet children's book, written and illustrated by Mary Frances Ames (writing as Mrs. Ernest Ames), to teach young Britons their ABCs — "along with a veneration for military might, empire, and colonialism. That global hegemony is celebrated with racist illustrations of tiger hunts in India, “naughty” Africans in chains, and fearsome displays of military power to excite the next generation of conquerors."
However, the militarisation of childhood and the normalisation of military might and empire was not just a British phenomenon - this exaggeration and over estimation of the military in society is also evident from French, American, Japanese and particularly German children's books, toys and education from this era. All was to change, utterly, within a decade.
(click on play icon [ > ] to view. To view this book at a faster speed, click settings on the lower right and increase to 2)
In the 1901 Census records, the residents at the Rectory, Low Street, Sloley overnight on March 31st were:
In 1901, George and Edith's youngest child, Monica Hope Spackman was born.
The 1907 Ownership Electors register for the Parish of Sloley shows George Spackman as one of only six electors.
In 1901, George and Edith's youngest child, Monica Hope Spackman was born.
The 1907 Ownership Electors register for the Parish of Sloley shows George Spackman as one of only six electors.
The British Census of 1911 shows the residents of The Rectory, Low Street, Sloley overnight on April 2, 1911:
Basil was then a fifteen year old boarding student at Lancing College public school, West Sussex.
Mary Irene aged 18 is recorded as living in Reading, Berkshire with her Aunt, Clara Penson.
Interestingly, the wonderfully named Playford Rawdon MacNamara (born Bombay 1902, died Waveney, Suffolk 1994), considering his age may have been related to the Spackman family although classed as a 'boarder'. Research shows that he married the artist Olive Helga McCormick (1906-1986) in London in 1935. A lifetime career military officer, by 1945 as a Major with the 3rd Battalion, 15th Punjab Regiment, he was awarded a DSO for wartime service in Italy, later promoted to Brigadier 17th Indian Infantry Brigade where he finished his Indian Army service on India's Independence in 1947.
Mary Irene aged 18 is recorded as living in Reading, Berkshire with her Aunt, Clara Penson.
Interestingly, the wonderfully named Playford Rawdon MacNamara (born Bombay 1902, died Waveney, Suffolk 1994), considering his age may have been related to the Spackman family although classed as a 'boarder'. Research shows that he married the artist Olive Helga McCormick (1906-1986) in London in 1935. A lifetime career military officer, by 1945 as a Major with the 3rd Battalion, 15th Punjab Regiment, he was awarded a DSO for wartime service in Italy, later promoted to Brigadier 17th Indian Infantry Brigade where he finished his Indian Army service on India's Independence in 1947.
The role of the public school played a large part in the creation of the ruling caste and Spackman's education in the Edwardian era was no different. While English law from the 1860's onwards regarded education as a right, irrespective of poverty, the access and leisure time required to commit to education had frequently been only in reach of those from the upper classes.
John Corbin, in his 1895 book, Schoolboy life in England, An American View, stresses the role in which public schools played in English society:
John Corbin, in his 1895 book, Schoolboy life in England, An American View, stresses the role in which public schools played in English society:
Because of this importance, a boy of ten or younger would be shipped off to boarding school from the far-flung outposts of the Empire by his Colonial administrator father, or the scion of a millionaire industrialist, newly monied families or clerical families such as the Spackmans. Not all families of course could afford such educational expense with the upper tier of public schools, perhaps least of all Church of England clergymen in less affluent and smaller parishes.
Second level schools catered, in the main, for those boys having an aspirational middle-class background - the sons of professional or otherwise commercially successful fathers and socially ambitious mothers. Pupils being prepared as gentlemen represented two distinct social groupings. The first included upper-class sons of the aristocracy and major landowners. The second embraced the professional, military, agricultural, ecclesiastical and commercial middle-classes - gentlefolk who had achieved, or at least aspired towards, high (or higher) social standing
Spackman was sent to be educated at the then considered minor second level public school, Lancing College in West Sussex from c.1905-1913.
Lancing had been founded as a private school by Nathaniel Woodard in 1848 specifically aimed at the sons of ‘clergymen and other gentlemen’. One of about twenty new schools established during the nineteenth century to cater for the growing middle classes, Lancing during this era has been regarded as somewhat cold, grey and austere but then, so were almost all Edwardian public schools. Poor food, spartan conditions, little privacy, a strong core of religion combined with rigorous discipline and a thorough education based on cultural superiority developed a sense of position and duty in the boys.
John Corbin described part of every boy's public school education up until the late 1970's - fagging:
Second level schools catered, in the main, for those boys having an aspirational middle-class background - the sons of professional or otherwise commercially successful fathers and socially ambitious mothers. Pupils being prepared as gentlemen represented two distinct social groupings. The first included upper-class sons of the aristocracy and major landowners. The second embraced the professional, military, agricultural, ecclesiastical and commercial middle-classes - gentlefolk who had achieved, or at least aspired towards, high (or higher) social standing
Spackman was sent to be educated at the then considered minor second level public school, Lancing College in West Sussex from c.1905-1913.
Lancing had been founded as a private school by Nathaniel Woodard in 1848 specifically aimed at the sons of ‘clergymen and other gentlemen’. One of about twenty new schools established during the nineteenth century to cater for the growing middle classes, Lancing during this era has been regarded as somewhat cold, grey and austere but then, so were almost all Edwardian public schools. Poor food, spartan conditions, little privacy, a strong core of religion combined with rigorous discipline and a thorough education based on cultural superiority developed a sense of position and duty in the boys.
John Corbin described part of every boy's public school education up until the late 1970's - fagging:
Amongst many famous former pupils of Lancing, Evelyn Waugh, after suffering rigorous regimentation and fagging at Lancing (1917-22), caustically commented : ‘Anyone who has been to an English public school will always feel comparatively at home in prison’. His unfinished public-school story featuring the protagonist of his novel Brideshead Revisited is set at a fictional version of Lancing.
The Edwardian sense of position, patriotism and duty extended from c.1908 to include military training. By the end of that year, most public schools including Lancing had formed junior divisions of the Officers’ Training Corps (OTC). These followed measures introduced following ‘national efficiency’ pressures and standing army evaluation which became known as The Haldane Reforms.
The public school scheme was designed to ensure a generation of elite schoolboys who would be physically and attitudinally prepared for wartime service as young officers. The OTC, having become a regular feature of the typical curriculum in the pre-war years, certainly modified and shaped pupil attitudes towards the military. The Edwardian educational curriculum was already infused with classically-inspired beliefs that glorified war, together with views as to England’s achievements in securing, retaining and policing Empire possessions, and largely the opportunity for participation as a cadet in a national army was welcomed by boys and their parents.
Armed drill, live firing, exercises and summer camps all added to the cachet of being part of the OTC as a privileged youngster.
Attainment of various OTC certificates during the school year entitled cadets to circumvent some aspects of training should they volunteer during wartime. Undoubtedly (and with the benefit of hindsight), the Public School OTC was central to fast-track ex-public schoolboys to become subalterns in the event of war.
Christopher Hudson wrote that the young men of these boarding schools were “brought up in a regime of muscular Christianity, team games, cold showers, and immersion in history and the classics. They read Henry and Kipling and the famous Newbolt poem with the line, ‘Play up, play up, and play the game!’. In a society defined by class and the accent with which a person spoke the language, public school boys were taught it was their destiny to lead lesser men, to set an example, and to inspire others through their gallantry.
John Lewis-Stempel wrote of the public schools: “They trained a whole generation of boys to be waiting in the wings of history as military leaders....The young gentlemen from Eton and the Edwardian public schools paid a terrible price for this duty … but there was one unassailable and surprising truth about it. The more exclusive your education, the more likely you were to die.”
For more information, click here for an interesting thesis 'Public Schools and First World War Volunteering' Paul Methven, 2013.
The Edwardian sense of position, patriotism and duty extended from c.1908 to include military training. By the end of that year, most public schools including Lancing had formed junior divisions of the Officers’ Training Corps (OTC). These followed measures introduced following ‘national efficiency’ pressures and standing army evaluation which became known as The Haldane Reforms.
The public school scheme was designed to ensure a generation of elite schoolboys who would be physically and attitudinally prepared for wartime service as young officers. The OTC, having become a regular feature of the typical curriculum in the pre-war years, certainly modified and shaped pupil attitudes towards the military. The Edwardian educational curriculum was already infused with classically-inspired beliefs that glorified war, together with views as to England’s achievements in securing, retaining and policing Empire possessions, and largely the opportunity for participation as a cadet in a national army was welcomed by boys and their parents.
Armed drill, live firing, exercises and summer camps all added to the cachet of being part of the OTC as a privileged youngster.
Attainment of various OTC certificates during the school year entitled cadets to circumvent some aspects of training should they volunteer during wartime. Undoubtedly (and with the benefit of hindsight), the Public School OTC was central to fast-track ex-public schoolboys to become subalterns in the event of war.
Christopher Hudson wrote that the young men of these boarding schools were “brought up in a regime of muscular Christianity, team games, cold showers, and immersion in history and the classics. They read Henry and Kipling and the famous Newbolt poem with the line, ‘Play up, play up, and play the game!’. In a society defined by class and the accent with which a person spoke the language, public school boys were taught it was their destiny to lead lesser men, to set an example, and to inspire others through their gallantry.
John Lewis-Stempel wrote of the public schools: “They trained a whole generation of boys to be waiting in the wings of history as military leaders....The young gentlemen from Eton and the Edwardian public schools paid a terrible price for this duty … but there was one unassailable and surprising truth about it. The more exclusive your education, the more likely you were to die.”
For more information, click here for an interesting thesis 'Public Schools and First World War Volunteering' Paul Methven, 2013.
In many parts of England today, an ornamental wooden or metal village sign is erected in a prominent location such as a village green. The design often depicts a particularly characteristic feature of the village or a scene from its history, heritage, or culture with designs usually made by the local community. The custom started in Norfolk c.1905 when King Edward VII suggested that village signs would aid motorists and give a feature of interest on the Sandringham Estate.
Sloley village appears in the Domesday Book (spelled as Slaleia in 1086 from the old English word for blackthorn and ‘leah’ meaning a grove) These blackthorn trees appear next to St. Bartholmew’s church and with a ploughed field and awheatsheaf marking the agricultural of the area. The three flaying knives on the shield are said to mark the martyrdom of St. Bartholomew who is said to have been flayed alive in the first century. The cheerful character at the front, dangling a leg over the front of the current sign erected in 1995 is said to be the Norman landowner of the region, Ralph de Beaufour with a goblet of eau-de-vie.
Sloley village appears in the Domesday Book (spelled as Slaleia in 1086 from the old English word for blackthorn and ‘leah’ meaning a grove) These blackthorn trees appear next to St. Bartholmew’s church and with a ploughed field and awheatsheaf marking the agricultural of the area. The three flaying knives on the shield are said to mark the martyrdom of St. Bartholomew who is said to have been flayed alive in the first century. The cheerful character at the front, dangling a leg over the front of the current sign erected in 1995 is said to be the Norman landowner of the region, Ralph de Beaufour with a goblet of eau-de-vie.
1914 by Wilfrid Owen
War broke: and now the Winter of the world
With perishing great darkness closes in.
The foul tornado, centred at Berlin,
Is over all the width of Europe whirled,
Rending the sails of progress. Rent or furled
Are all Art's ensigns. Verse wails. Now begin
Famines of thought and feeling. Love's wine's thin.
The grain of human Autumn rots, down-hurled.
For after Spring had bloomed in early Greece,
And Summer blazed her glory out with Rome,
An Autumn softly fell, a harvest home,
A slow grand age, and rich with all increase.
But now, for us, wild Winter, and the need
Of sowings for new Spring, and blood for seed
War broke: and now the Winter of the world
With perishing great darkness closes in.
The foul tornado, centred at Berlin,
Is over all the width of Europe whirled,
Rending the sails of progress. Rent or furled
Are all Art's ensigns. Verse wails. Now begin
Famines of thought and feeling. Love's wine's thin.
The grain of human Autumn rots, down-hurled.
For after Spring had bloomed in early Greece,
And Summer blazed her glory out with Rome,
An Autumn softly fell, a harvest home,
A slow grand age, and rich with all increase.
But now, for us, wild Winter, and the need
Of sowings for new Spring, and blood for seed
Little is known of Spackman's public school education and teenage years, but aged just nineteen during the summer of 1914, he is understood to have already been a part-time member of the Territorial Forces in the 1/4th Battalion, The Norfolk Regiment.
These military volunteer forces previously known as the 'Militia' were reorganised between 1905-12 to become the 'Territorial Force', designed to be a home defence force but a reserve that could also be moved overseas if required. These changes were not universally popular and caused controversy at the time as Volunteer infantry units lost their unique identities, becoming Territorial battalions of Regular Army infantry regiments. Men were not obliged to serve overseas, although they could agree to do so if required.
In 1908, Norfolk raised three Territorial infantry battalions, the 1/4th, 1/5th and 1/6th and one cavalry battalion, the King’s Own Royal Regiment of Norfolk Yeomanry. There was a degree of localisation in the recruitment, the 1/4th Battalion (which included Spackman) came from the Norwich and southern Norfolk, the 1/5th from the northern part of the county and the 1/6th from all parts of the county.
This part-time form of soldiering attracted a number of volunteers and the nickname 'Terriers' and 'Saturday Night Soldiers' was created for these volunteers whose primary role was that of home defence.
The Europe of Spackman's youth had not experienced war involving all the Continent’s major powers since the fall of Napoleon almost a century earlier. Although European society had been transformed in the interim, the changes had made war more difficult rather than impossible, and the underpinnings of the long 19th-century peace had grown fragile. The trigger for war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a diplomatic crisis when Austria-Hungary with German support, delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia and as a result, entangled-international-alliances formed over the previous decades, were invoked. Within weeks the major powers were at war, and the conflict soon spread around the world.
Russia was the first to order a partial mobilisation of its armies on 24–25 July, and when on 28 July Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia declared general mobilisation on 30 July. Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Being outnumbered on the Eastern Front, Russia urged its Triple Entente ally France to open up a second front in the west. Over forty years earlier in 1870, the Franco-Prussian War had ended the Second French Empire and France had ceded the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine to a unified Germany. Bitterness over that defeat and the determination to retake Alsace-Lorraine made the acceptance of Russia's plea for help an easy choice, so France began full mobilisation on 1 August and, on 3 August, Germany declared war on France. The border between France and Germany was heavily fortified on both sides so, according to the Schlieffen Plan, Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France from the north, leading the United Kingdom to declare war on Germany on 4 August due to their violation of Belgian neutrality.
So began the global war originating in Europe that was to last until November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised. Over nine million combatants (an average of 5,600 each day) and seven million civilians died as a result of the war (including the victims of a number of genocides), a casualty rate exacerbated by the belligerents' technological and industrial sophistication, and the tactical stalemate caused by gruelling trench warfare.
It was to become one of the deadliest conflicts in history and precipitated major political change, including the Revolutions of 1917–1923 in many of the nations involved. Russia's sufferings led to the rise of communism, Germany's helped produce Nazism. Unresolved rivalries at the end of the conflict contributed to the start of far worse second world war twenty-one years later. Colonial mandates after the war gave rise to conflict still being experienced today in Iraq, Palestine and Syria.
Norfolk, August 1914
With the outbreak of war in August 1914, Britain quickly recruited a huge volunteer citizens' army. In just eight weeks, over three-quarters of a million men in Britain & Ireland had joined the British forces.
The nineteen year old, Charles Basil Spackman, as a territorial volunteer in 1/4th Battalion of The Norfolk Regiment assembled in Norwich in early August 1914 and was assigned the rank of Private in the 1/4th and issued with the serial number 08123.
This number was to remain with him for the rest of his military career.
Below: This simple strip of red cloth, printed with the figures “5 BNR,” represents the struggle of the British Army to prepare Norfolk volunteers for their part in fighting the war. This armband was issued to a new recruit into the 1/5th Territorial Battalion due to a lack of uniforms and badges. (Spackman would have worn a similiar item reading "4 BNR" for the 4th Battalion Norfolk Regiment.
These military volunteer forces previously known as the 'Militia' were reorganised between 1905-12 to become the 'Territorial Force', designed to be a home defence force but a reserve that could also be moved overseas if required. These changes were not universally popular and caused controversy at the time as Volunteer infantry units lost their unique identities, becoming Territorial battalions of Regular Army infantry regiments. Men were not obliged to serve overseas, although they could agree to do so if required.
In 1908, Norfolk raised three Territorial infantry battalions, the 1/4th, 1/5th and 1/6th and one cavalry battalion, the King’s Own Royal Regiment of Norfolk Yeomanry. There was a degree of localisation in the recruitment, the 1/4th Battalion (which included Spackman) came from the Norwich and southern Norfolk, the 1/5th from the northern part of the county and the 1/6th from all parts of the county.
This part-time form of soldiering attracted a number of volunteers and the nickname 'Terriers' and 'Saturday Night Soldiers' was created for these volunteers whose primary role was that of home defence.
The Europe of Spackman's youth had not experienced war involving all the Continent’s major powers since the fall of Napoleon almost a century earlier. Although European society had been transformed in the interim, the changes had made war more difficult rather than impossible, and the underpinnings of the long 19th-century peace had grown fragile. The trigger for war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a diplomatic crisis when Austria-Hungary with German support, delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia and as a result, entangled-international-alliances formed over the previous decades, were invoked. Within weeks the major powers were at war, and the conflict soon spread around the world.
Russia was the first to order a partial mobilisation of its armies on 24–25 July, and when on 28 July Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia declared general mobilisation on 30 July. Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Being outnumbered on the Eastern Front, Russia urged its Triple Entente ally France to open up a second front in the west. Over forty years earlier in 1870, the Franco-Prussian War had ended the Second French Empire and France had ceded the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine to a unified Germany. Bitterness over that defeat and the determination to retake Alsace-Lorraine made the acceptance of Russia's plea for help an easy choice, so France began full mobilisation on 1 August and, on 3 August, Germany declared war on France. The border between France and Germany was heavily fortified on both sides so, according to the Schlieffen Plan, Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France from the north, leading the United Kingdom to declare war on Germany on 4 August due to their violation of Belgian neutrality.
So began the global war originating in Europe that was to last until November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised. Over nine million combatants (an average of 5,600 each day) and seven million civilians died as a result of the war (including the victims of a number of genocides), a casualty rate exacerbated by the belligerents' technological and industrial sophistication, and the tactical stalemate caused by gruelling trench warfare.
It was to become one of the deadliest conflicts in history and precipitated major political change, including the Revolutions of 1917–1923 in many of the nations involved. Russia's sufferings led to the rise of communism, Germany's helped produce Nazism. Unresolved rivalries at the end of the conflict contributed to the start of far worse second world war twenty-one years later. Colonial mandates after the war gave rise to conflict still being experienced today in Iraq, Palestine and Syria.
Norfolk, August 1914
With the outbreak of war in August 1914, Britain quickly recruited a huge volunteer citizens' army. In just eight weeks, over three-quarters of a million men in Britain & Ireland had joined the British forces.
The nineteen year old, Charles Basil Spackman, as a territorial volunteer in 1/4th Battalion of The Norfolk Regiment assembled in Norwich in early August 1914 and was assigned the rank of Private in the 1/4th and issued with the serial number 08123.
This number was to remain with him for the rest of his military career.
Below: This simple strip of red cloth, printed with the figures “5 BNR,” represents the struggle of the British Army to prepare Norfolk volunteers for their part in fighting the war. This armband was issued to a new recruit into the 1/5th Territorial Battalion due to a lack of uniforms and badges. (Spackman would have worn a similiar item reading "4 BNR" for the 4th Battalion Norfolk Regiment.
On August 4th 1914, as Germany invaded Belgium, Britain declared war with Germany. This sent cheering crowds surging through London to gather outside Downing Street and Buckingham Palace singing patriotic songs and the National Anthem.
In Norfolk, a local historian described the day as Spackman and hundreds of others mobilised: "the 1/4th and 1/5th Territorial Battalions of the Norfolk Regiment mobilized with such efficiency that they amazed detractors, who had termed the territorials “Saturday night soldiers.”
The 1/4th Battalion assembled at Drill Hall in Chapel Field, Norwich and were billeted at the City of Norwich School on the Newmarket Road. Armbands like the one pictured above were issued while new recruits waited for their uniforms, which were scarce and often took some time to be issued. Men trained in their civilian clothes and wore armbands like this to indicate which battalion they were part of. However despite such demonstrations of efficiency, during the first weeks of war few battalions of the Norfolk Regiment were at full strength. With Lord Kitchener’s appointment as the Secretary of State for War came a great call for men to join the war effort. The Eastern Daily Press called upon the “loyal men of Norfolk” to join the 1/4th Battalion.
On August 11th, the 1/4th Battalion left by special train for Ingatestone in Essex and from there on to Purleigh. Training for war was actively carried on and the 1/4th joined with the 1/5th for training in Colchester on August 19th where both battalions remained until the Spring of 1915.
New recruits were sent with the territorials to train in Essex but they soon found that not only uniforms and boots were in short supply but also rifles and military equipment. The commanding officer for the 1/4th Norfolks, Colonel Harvey, resorted to an appeal to the people of Norfolk for 1,000 flannel shirts and pairs of socks for the under-equipped men.
The author, John Hargrave (1895-1982) recalls what life was like as a new recruit:
In Norfolk, a local historian described the day as Spackman and hundreds of others mobilised: "the 1/4th and 1/5th Territorial Battalions of the Norfolk Regiment mobilized with such efficiency that they amazed detractors, who had termed the territorials “Saturday night soldiers.”
The 1/4th Battalion assembled at Drill Hall in Chapel Field, Norwich and were billeted at the City of Norwich School on the Newmarket Road. Armbands like the one pictured above were issued while new recruits waited for their uniforms, which were scarce and often took some time to be issued. Men trained in their civilian clothes and wore armbands like this to indicate which battalion they were part of. However despite such demonstrations of efficiency, during the first weeks of war few battalions of the Norfolk Regiment were at full strength. With Lord Kitchener’s appointment as the Secretary of State for War came a great call for men to join the war effort. The Eastern Daily Press called upon the “loyal men of Norfolk” to join the 1/4th Battalion.
On August 11th, the 1/4th Battalion left by special train for Ingatestone in Essex and from there on to Purleigh. Training for war was actively carried on and the 1/4th joined with the 1/5th for training in Colchester on August 19th where both battalions remained until the Spring of 1915.
New recruits were sent with the territorials to train in Essex but they soon found that not only uniforms and boots were in short supply but also rifles and military equipment. The commanding officer for the 1/4th Norfolks, Colonel Harvey, resorted to an appeal to the people of Norfolk for 1,000 flannel shirts and pairs of socks for the under-equipped men.
The author, John Hargrave (1895-1982) recalls what life was like as a new recruit:
"....What a motley crowd we were: clerks in bowler hats; “knuts" in brown suits, brownties, brown shoes, and a horse-shoe tie-pin; tramp-like looking men in rags and tatters and smelling of dirt and beer and rank twist. Old soldiers trying to "chuck a chest”; lanky lads from the country gaping at the houses, shops and people. Rough, broad-speaking, broad-shouldered men from the Lancashire cotton-mills; shop assistants with polished boots, and some even with kid gloves and a silver banded cane. Here and there was a farm-hand in corduroys and hob-nailed, cow dung-spattered boots, puffing at a broken old clay pipe…
Once down at the parade-ground we looked about for "Section E" and found their lines in the hundreds of rows of bell-tents. Life for the next few days was indeed "hand to mouth." We had to go on a tent-pitching fatigue under a sergeant who kept up a continual flow of astoundingly profane oaths.
Food came down our lines but seldom. When it did come you had to fetch it in a huge '' Dixie " and grope with your hands at the bits of gristle and bone which floated in a lot of greasy water… Everyone was starving. We had continually to "fall in” in long rows and answer our names. This was "roll-call," and roll-call went on morning, noon, and night. Even when your own particular roll-call was not being called you could hear some other corporal or sergeant shouting — "Jones F. — Wiggins, T. — Simons, G. — Harrison, I. . . ." and so on all day long.
There were no ground-sheets to the tents. We squatted in the mud, and we had one blanket each, which was simply crawling. We were indeed in a far worse condition than many savages. Then came the rain. We huddled into the tents. There were twenty-two in mine, and, as a bell-tent is full up with eighteen, you may imagine how thick the atmosphere became. One old man would smoke his clay-pipe with choking twist tobacco. Most of the others smoked rank and often damp "woodbines." The language was thick with grumbling and much swearing. At first it was not so bad. But someone touched the side of the tent and the rain began to dribble through. Then we found a tiny stream of wet slowly trickling along underneath the tent-walls towards the tent-pole, and by night time we were lying and sitting in a pool of mud.
For seven months we did the same old squad- drill every day, at the same time, on the same old square, until at last we all began to be unbearably "fed up." The sections became slack at drill because they were over-drilled and sickened by the awful monotony of it all....During those seven dreary months, in that dismal slum-grown town, we learnt all the tricks of barrack-life. We knew how to "come the old soldier”; we knew how and when to ' wangle out “of doing this or that fatigue;we practised the ancient art of” going sick “when we knew a long route march was coming off next day....We knew how to "square" the guard if we came in late, and the others learnt how to dodge church parade. Route marches and field-days were a relief from the drill square.
For five months we got no issue of khaki. Many of the men were through at the knees, and tattered at the elbows. Some were button less and patched. I had to put a patch in my shorts. Our civilian boots were wearing out — some were right through. Heels came off when they " right turned' others had their soles flapping as they marched. The people called us "Kitchener's Rag-time Army." We became so torn, and worn, and ragged, that it was impossible to go out in the town. For five months we went about in civilian clothes. We were a disgrace as we marched along. Yet because no order had been given to that factory to supply us with uniforms, we had to wait…
“At Suvla Bay”. John Hargrave. Constable & Co. 1916
Despite the strain that these extra men put on resources, in actual fact by mid-August very few volunteers had come forward to enlist in the various battalions of the Norfolk Regiment. On August 17th, as the British Expeditionary Force landed in France, only about 500 men, excluding reservists and territorials, had signed up. Norfolk men were slow to join up for a number of reasons. Farms needed men for the harvest and work had already been delayed by bad weather. For labourers, the prospect of earning extra money gathering the harvest was too valuable to turn down despite the emotional calls to join the colours. Also Norfolk’s other important industry, boot and shoe manufacture, had turned to the production of army boots and had full order books. Employed men found Kitchener’s appeal ambiguous and feared impending unemployment on their return from the front – his appeal asked for “general service for a period of three years or until the war was concluded.” but many believed that the war would be quite literally, over by Christmas 1914.
The local MP, Ian Malcolm stepped in and led a powerful recruiting drive throughout East Anglia. Malcolm exploited the traditional rivalries between Norfolk and Suffolk by convincing the young Norfolk men he spoke to that more men in Suffolk had rushed to enlist. Financial incentives and guarantees of work on return also helped to convince many to enlist. By the latter months of 1914 and the beginning of 1915 the men of Norfolk had started responding to Kitchener’s call in their thousands. More and more volunteers flocked to the recruiting offices.
During the First World War the Norfolk Regiment had two regular battalions, three Service (or Kitchener) battalions and two Territorial battalions on active service abroad. The 1st Battalion crossed to France with the British Expeditionary Force in early August 1914. There, the Battalion served on the Western Front, and was joined by the 7th, 8th and 9th (Service) Battalions in 1915. The 2nd Battalion served in Mesopotamia, while the 1/4th and 1/5th Territorial Battalions were eventualaly destined to fight a bloody, devastating campaign in Gallipoli, Suvla Bay and the Middle East. There were also a number of Battalions used for training and home service, such as coastal defence. Norfolk, with it's easy access to the sea was viewed as a strategic location for a possible German invasion - such as outlined in 'The Riddle of the Sands' by Erskine Childers who went on to play a substantial and tragic role in the Irish independence struggle.
As for the rest of Britain and Ireland, the process of enlistment during the first weeks of war was broadly identical:
The local MP, Ian Malcolm stepped in and led a powerful recruiting drive throughout East Anglia. Malcolm exploited the traditional rivalries between Norfolk and Suffolk by convincing the young Norfolk men he spoke to that more men in Suffolk had rushed to enlist. Financial incentives and guarantees of work on return also helped to convince many to enlist. By the latter months of 1914 and the beginning of 1915 the men of Norfolk had started responding to Kitchener’s call in their thousands. More and more volunteers flocked to the recruiting offices.
During the First World War the Norfolk Regiment had two regular battalions, three Service (or Kitchener) battalions and two Territorial battalions on active service abroad. The 1st Battalion crossed to France with the British Expeditionary Force in early August 1914. There, the Battalion served on the Western Front, and was joined by the 7th, 8th and 9th (Service) Battalions in 1915. The 2nd Battalion served in Mesopotamia, while the 1/4th and 1/5th Territorial Battalions were eventualaly destined to fight a bloody, devastating campaign in Gallipoli, Suvla Bay and the Middle East. There were also a number of Battalions used for training and home service, such as coastal defence. Norfolk, with it's easy access to the sea was viewed as a strategic location for a possible German invasion - such as outlined in 'The Riddle of the Sands' by Erskine Childers who went on to play a substantial and tragic role in the Irish independence struggle.
As for the rest of Britain and Ireland, the process of enlistment during the first weeks of war was broadly identical:
Join the queue
After war was declared, recruiting offices were quickly besieged by eager volunteers. Public buildings were turned into recruiting offices across the country. Administrative and medical staff were found to work in them and process the thousands of men eager to fight.This photograph shows the queue outside the Central London Recruiting Depot at New Scotland Yard in August 1914. Some areas experienced such a rush that they sent men away with an appointment to come back another day. Although most men waited patiently for their turn, there were reports of queue jumping and mounted police being sent to control the crowds. Medical examination The Army could not accept every volunteer. All new soldiers had to meet age restrictions, nationality criteria, and pass a medical examination. This was designed to reject those with health conditions and a physique deemed unfit for the rigours of a soldier's life and role. Minimum physical standards fluctuated during the war. When the rush of recruits was at its peak, the height limit was raised from an original 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 6 inches to prevent an unmanageable flood of volunteers. It was subsequently lowered on a number of occasions in response to dwindling numbers of new recruits. But in the chaos of early 1914, a blind eye was often turned to official standards. Examinations could be brief and hasty, allowing many underage or unfit men to slip through into the Army. Make a solemn promise If successful in the various medical tests, new volunteers had to make a solemn promise to do their duty. In a ceremony led by recruiting officers, new soldiers swore an oath of allegiance to the King upon a Bible. But, with so many men eager to join up, the process was often rushed. Sometimes men were asked to recite the oath simultaneously in groups to speed up the process. The oath required every new recruit to swear to 'faithfully defend His Majesty, His Heirs and successors…against all enemies'. It also required each man to promise to obey the authority of 'all Generals and Officers set over me'. Recruits pledged to serve as long as the war lasted. Join an Army Unit Lord Kitchener was Secretary of State for War and responsible for the recruitment campaign. His first appeal on 7 August 1914 was for 'an addition of 100,000 men' to the Army. Within eight weeks nearly 750,000 men had enlisted. Some new soldiers took on specialist roles if they had a special skill like being able to drive. But most volunteers became infantrymen in new battalions, each numbering around a thousand men, which were attached to existing regiments. Many of the new units were 'Pals' battalions. These units allowed friends, workmates or those with some other common bond - like sporting success - to fight together. Spackman joined the 1/4th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment (infantry) as a Private. The Battalion was initally based in Norwich and part of Norfolk and Suffolk Brigade, East Anglian Division and would have been his local detachment. On August 11th, the 1/4th Battalion left by special train for Ingatestone in Essex. From there to the military camp and training for war at Purleigh, Essex. Basic Training A recruit's transformation from civilian to soldier really began in one of the many training camps which were set up all over Britain. Over an average of three tough months, the volunteers left their old lives far behind. They learned military discipline, drill and how to fight with rifle and bayonet. Many lived in tents and their lives were now controlled by the Army. Men from every walk of life, from clerks and teachers to factory and shop workers, were crammed together. For many it was their first time away from home. The camps which sprung up across Britain bred tensions in some areas, with worries about drunkenness and relationships between soldiers and women. The Army struggled to supply new soldiers with everything on the uniform and equipment list. While officers were expected to buy their own uniform from a military outfitter, everything from boots and trousers to caps and vests had to be hurriedly produced and distributed for the other ranks. Thousands were issued with the temporary 'Kitchener Blue' uniform and a cardboard cap badge. Some recruits thought these substitute uniforms made them look like postmen. Others were made to wait many weeks before they received any uniform at all, and reports of clothing theft in camps were common. Learning how to use a rifle was a critical part of a new soldier's training, but weapons and uniforms were in desperately short supply. Many had to make do with a wooden 'rifle' until a real firearm arrived. Leadership In a country defined by class, only 'gentlemen' from the upper- and middle-classes were expected to become new officers in 1914. Britain's public schools and universities were the main recruiting grounds for the new leaders needed en masse to manage the hundreds of thousands of new soldiers in the ranks. Young officers were taught how to control and care for men and how to command their respect. The most junior infantry officers, second lieutenants, were often only teenagers. Each had to lead a platoon of around 30 men, many older and from much tougher backgrounds than themselves. As casualties mounted during the war, new officers were increasingly drawn from the other ranks. The weeks and months spent as a trainee soldier improved the health of many men. Some put on weight from Army food and arduous exercises, such as the route march through London's Regent's Park seen in this photograph. The time spent in training created a spirit of comradeship as soldiers became familiar with each other's habits and lives, and men learned to operate as a cohesive unit. Soldiers departing for the fighting front from Britain's coastal ports were often waved off by patriotic civilians. For most, it would be their first time abroad. For many, they would never return. Each soldier carried a message from Lord Kitchener in his pay book, reminding him to be 'courteous, considerate and kind' to local people and allied soldiers, and to avoid 'the temptations both in wine and women'. Once basic training was completed, Spackman and the other recruits to the 1/4th Battalion Norfolks were placed on coastal defence work and guard duty in event of a seaborne invasion for the next five months. Kitchener believed that the Territorial Force was better used in home defence rather than as a means of expanding the field army. In this time, Spackman was promoted to Lance Corporal (the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer between private and corporal). By September 1914, the army had grown in size from 386,000 to 825,000 and the intention was to place over a million British troops in France within weeks. Three British cruisers were sunk by U-Boats with the loss of 1,500 in the North Sea and German forces continue their advance through Belgium. The first decisive battle on the Western Front at The Marne drove German forces back as trenches began to appear. |
Over the next few months, more Belgian cities fell to German forces on the Western Front while on the Eastern Front, after some advances, the Russians routed German forces. Stalemate resulted in the West between equally matched forces and a continuous line of defensive trenches stretched from the North Sea to Switzerland. Against trenches there could be no manoeuvres or brilliant tactics. The trench system gradually wore down both sides in a war of attrition, futile attacks against well defended trenches destroyed many of Europe's generation.
Over half a million Allied troops were now prisoners in Germany, four German cruisers were sunk in an engagement off the Falkland Islands and German warships shelled eastern coastal towns.
Over half a million Allied troops were now prisoners in Germany, four German cruisers were sunk in an engagement off the Falkland Islands and German warships shelled eastern coastal towns.
The outbreak of war in 1914 was no small inspiration for the many songwriters, lyricists, professional singers and musicians, and resulted in the creation of a huge body of work devoted to wartime themes. Thousands of songs were written about the War, most destined to disappear before or soon after the cessation of hostilities, but some became big hits at the time and are still known and sung a century later. Recruitment songs – such as ‘We Don’t Want To Lose You, But We Think You Ought To Go’ and ‘Britannia Needs You Like A Mother’ – were prominent early but soon gave way to evocations of home and nostalgia as the grim realities of war became more apparent. ‘It’s A Long Way To Tipperary’ actually came out two years before fighting commenced but became the first ‘hit’ of the War, taking on a life of its own for soldiers from most countries involved. ‘Keep The Home Fires Burning’, released in 1914, resonated similarly throughout the War years, and beyond.
The best of the sentimental love songs from the period, such as ‘K-K-K-Katy’ and ‘If You Were The Only Girl In The World’, also found a place in collective hearts and minds. As the War continued with little sign of resolution, satirical numbers like ‘Oh! It’s A Lovely War’ endeavoured to make light of the gloomy situation, while rousing songs like the enormously popular ‘Pack Up Your Troubles’ were helpful in lifting or maintaining spirits, and proved equally important to both those at home and abroad.
For the fighting man, popular songs performed several functions: bonding units; boosting morale; relieving boredom; and complementing endless marches. Troops quickly became familiar with the full repertoire of ‘trench songs’. These bawdy ditties, usually derivations of well-known songs.In time, these parodies with re-hacked lyrics were probably sung as frequently as the original versions, both home and abroad. Invariably the lyrics of the new, irreverent versions sprang from the same satirical well: mocking the enemy; knocking the military establishment; championing one’s own unit (by deriding all others); extolling the virtues (but regretting the absence) of women, or beer, or both; and so on. At the Front, these simple tunes made for easy accompaniment by pocket instruments like tin whistles or mouth organs. Access to the newer portable gramophones at military sites also supplied opportunities for some troops to hear the latest music from home – and provide fresh ammunition for jaunty revisions. For examples see here.
As the War continued to rage, and casualty lists grew, songs of loss and lament became more common, and anti-war sentiment also found expression in songs like ‘I Didn’t Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier’.
Below are a number of British, French, German and American tunes of the era. Just click to play.
The best of the sentimental love songs from the period, such as ‘K-K-K-Katy’ and ‘If You Were The Only Girl In The World’, also found a place in collective hearts and minds. As the War continued with little sign of resolution, satirical numbers like ‘Oh! It’s A Lovely War’ endeavoured to make light of the gloomy situation, while rousing songs like the enormously popular ‘Pack Up Your Troubles’ were helpful in lifting or maintaining spirits, and proved equally important to both those at home and abroad.
For the fighting man, popular songs performed several functions: bonding units; boosting morale; relieving boredom; and complementing endless marches. Troops quickly became familiar with the full repertoire of ‘trench songs’. These bawdy ditties, usually derivations of well-known songs.In time, these parodies with re-hacked lyrics were probably sung as frequently as the original versions, both home and abroad. Invariably the lyrics of the new, irreverent versions sprang from the same satirical well: mocking the enemy; knocking the military establishment; championing one’s own unit (by deriding all others); extolling the virtues (but regretting the absence) of women, or beer, or both; and so on. At the Front, these simple tunes made for easy accompaniment by pocket instruments like tin whistles or mouth organs. Access to the newer portable gramophones at military sites also supplied opportunities for some troops to hear the latest music from home – and provide fresh ammunition for jaunty revisions. For examples see here.
As the War continued to rage, and casualty lists grew, songs of loss and lament became more common, and anti-war sentiment also found expression in songs like ‘I Didn’t Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier’.
Below are a number of British, French, German and American tunes of the era. Just click to play.
"It's a Long Way to Tipperary", a British music hall song written by Jack Judge and co-credited to Henry James "Harry" Williams was some believe allegedly written for a 5-shilling bet in Stalybridge on 30 January 1912 and performed the next night at the local music hall. Now commonly called "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", the original printed music calls it "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary". It became extremely popular among soldiers in the First World War and is remembered as a song of that war.
|
This cheery, upbeat marching song was written in 1915 by Welsh brothers Felix Powell (an army staff sergeant) and George Henry Powell (who became a conscientious objector). It surfaced in music hall and interwar films such as Laurel and Hardy’s Pack Up Your Troubles (1932). In Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) it is sung, ever louder and with deepening emotion, as the first wounded soldiers from the battle of Mons arrive at Charing Cross station. Wilfred Owen used the refrain in his poem Smile, Smile, Smile (1918), a sardonic reference to the false cheer of young soldiers heading out to the front, only to be felled.
|
"Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" a music hall song written by Arthur J. Mills, Fred Godfrey and Bennett Scott in 1916. It was popular during the First World War and tells a story of three fictional soldiers on the Western Front suffering from homesickness and their longing to return to "Blighty" - a slang term for Britain.
Florrie Forde was an Australian popular singer and Music hall entertainer. one of the most popular stars of the early 20th century music hall. |
"Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)" is a popular song, written in 1892 by British songwriter Harry Dacre, with the well-known chorus, "Daisy, Daisy / Give me your answer, do. / I'm half crazy / all for the love of you", ending with the words, "a bicycle built for two".
The song is said to have been inspired by Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, one of the many mistresses of King Edward VII. It is the earliest song sung using computer speech synthesis, as later referenced in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). |
"Good-bye-ee!" is a popular song which was written and composed by R. P. Weston and Bert Lee. Performed by music hall stars Florrie Forde, Daisy Wood, and Charles Whittle, it was a hit in 1917.
Weston and Lee got the idea for the song when they saw a group of factory girls calling out goodbye to soldiers marching to Victoria station. They were saying the word in the exaggerated way which had been popularised as a catchphrase by the comedian Harry Tate. |
"If You Were the Only Girl (In the World)" is a popular song written by Nat D. Ayer with lyrics by Clifford Grey. It was written for the musical revue "The Bing Boys Are Here" premièred April 1916 at the Alhambra Theatre, London.
The song was published in 1916 and republished in 1946. It has become a standard, recorded by many artists. |
The “Colonel Bogey March” is a British march that was composed in 1914 by Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts (1881–1945) (pen name Kenneth J. Alford), a British Army bandmaster who later became the director of music for the Royal Marines at Plymouth. The sheet music was a million-seller and became popular again in 1940.
English composer Malcolm Arnold used the tune in the score for the 1957 film 'The Bridge on the River Kwai" |
Florrie Forde's song Hold Your Hand Out Naughty Boy, a catchy tune that is both innocent and full of innuendo became quite a hit with ANZAC and British troops midway through the war.
"Last night a 'neath the pale moonlight, I say you I saw you with a new girl in the park. You were strollin', full of joy. And you told me you'd never kissed a girl before! Hold your hand out you naughty boy" The song was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry in 2013 |
|
|
|
The war came closer to Spackman in January 1915 as Zeppelins bombed the Norfolk towns of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn and the threat of naval bombardment of the region was temporarily averted when the German cruiser, Blucher was sunk after being spotted off Yarmouth. In February, Germany's strategic submarine blockade of Britain and Ireland began in a gamble to reduce trade, foodstuffs and military material. The Royal Navy carried the war to the Turkish enemy with bombardment of forts in the Dardanelles and Turkish attempts to take the Suez Canal were defeated. During March, the Royal Navy blockaded all German ports bringing some economic pressure to bear on Berlin.
There were rumours of war, and that'sall we knew of it. There were fresh rumours each day. We were going to Egypt. We were to be sent to the East Coast for "home defence." That offended our martial ardour. When were we going out? Should we ever get out? Had we got to do squad drill for “duration”
Now and then a batch of men were put into khaki which arrived at the quartermaster's stores in driblets. Some had greeny puttees and sandy slacks, a “civvy“coatand a khaki cap. Others were rigged out in “Kitchener’s workhouse blue," with little forage caps on one side. The sprinkling of khaki and khaki-browns and greens increased every time we came on parade the drill went on like clockwork.
The spark of patriotism which was in each man when he enlisted was dead. We detested the army, we hated the routine, we were sickened and dulled and crushed by drill…the horror of barrack-room life, with its unending flow of filthy language, and its barren desolation of yellow-washed walls and broken windows.
“At Suvla Bay”. John Hargrave. Constable & Co. 1916
After a number of months of coastal defence guarding work, Spackman was promoted again, and commissioned as a junior officer on April 3, 1915: Second Lieutenant with the 1/4th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment. This was to be the first of many appearances of Spackman's name in The London Gazette over the next 35 years:
The London Gazette is one of the official journals of record of the British government, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published. The London Gazette claims to be the oldest surviving English newspaper and the oldest continuously published newspaper in the UK, having been first published on 7 November 1665 as The Oxford Gazette. (This claim is also made by the Stamford Mercury and Berrow's Worcester Journal) As The Gazette is not a conventional newspaper offering general news coverage, it does not have a large circulation. However, it is an invaluable source of historical information.
below: an example of the application form to be commissioned in the Territorial Force.
below: an example of the application form to be commissioned in the Territorial Force.
Junior Military Officers "The Lost Generation"
The basic unit of foot soldiers during the war was the platoon of up to 50 men under the command of a Lieutenant, the second lowest commissioned officer rank. The lowest rank was that of Second Lieutenant. The official title of these two junior officers was subaltern; however, they were often called “warts.” Any man over 18 and with a private school education was deemed officer material and, given a minimum of training, enough to competently lead his men into battle.
Overwhelmingly, the junior officer volunteers were educated in British public schools and came almost exclusively from the British upper classes and had filled the classrooms of 120 elite schools. John Lewis-Stempel wrote of these schools: “They trained a whole generation of boys to be waiting in the wings of history as military leaders....The young gentlemen from Eton and the Edwardian public schools paid a terrible price for this duty … but there was one unassailable and surprising, truth about it. The more exclusive your education, the more likely you were to die.”
Christopher Hudson wrote that the young men of these boarding schools were “brought up in a regime of muscular Christianity, team games, cold showers, and immersion in history and the classics. They read Henry and Kipling and the famous Newbolt poem with the line, ‘Play up, play up, and play the game!’. In a society defined by class and the accent with which a person spoke the language, public school boys were taught it was their destiny to lead lesser men, to set an example, and to inspire others through their gallantry.
The subalterns had to be the first ones over the top of the trench and the last ones to retreat. The idea was that through this display of careless bravado they would inspire their men to follow them into Hell. The casualty rates among the junior officers were horrific. The title of John Lewis-Stempel’s book Six Weeks: The Short and Gallant Life of the British Officer in the First World War, perfectly describes the fate of most; the life expectancy of a lieutenant in the Western Front was just 42 days.
Guy Chapman of the Royal Fusiliers recalled: “I was not eager, or even resigned to self-sacrifice, and my heart gave back no answering throb to thoughts of England. In fact, I was very much afraid; and again, afraid of being afraid, anxious lest I show it.”
The public school subalterns were an easy target. Because they enjoyed a better diet and physical fitness than the working class men they led they were, on average, five inches taller. Charging across “No Man’s Land” with nothing but a pistol, junior officers were obvious targets for German troops; they dropped in their thousands. One in five of the students drawn from Oxford and Cambridge Universities were killed in action. “The universal expectation of a subaltern was a hospital bed or interment in the soil.’ with mortality rates ranging from 65-81% which was, at it's lowest estimate, double the rate of enlisted men.
Bloodshed on this scale prompted the British historian A.J.P. Taylor to write “The slaughter of the subalterns in World War I destroyed the flower of the English gentry.” The American novelist Gertrude Stein, who lived through the Great War, described the men of all social classes and nationalities who went into its meat grinder as “The Lost Generation"
The basic unit of foot soldiers during the war was the platoon of up to 50 men under the command of a Lieutenant, the second lowest commissioned officer rank. The lowest rank was that of Second Lieutenant. The official title of these two junior officers was subaltern; however, they were often called “warts.” Any man over 18 and with a private school education was deemed officer material and, given a minimum of training, enough to competently lead his men into battle.
Overwhelmingly, the junior officer volunteers were educated in British public schools and came almost exclusively from the British upper classes and had filled the classrooms of 120 elite schools. John Lewis-Stempel wrote of these schools: “They trained a whole generation of boys to be waiting in the wings of history as military leaders....The young gentlemen from Eton and the Edwardian public schools paid a terrible price for this duty … but there was one unassailable and surprising, truth about it. The more exclusive your education, the more likely you were to die.”
Christopher Hudson wrote that the young men of these boarding schools were “brought up in a regime of muscular Christianity, team games, cold showers, and immersion in history and the classics. They read Henry and Kipling and the famous Newbolt poem with the line, ‘Play up, play up, and play the game!’. In a society defined by class and the accent with which a person spoke the language, public school boys were taught it was their destiny to lead lesser men, to set an example, and to inspire others through their gallantry.
The subalterns had to be the first ones over the top of the trench and the last ones to retreat. The idea was that through this display of careless bravado they would inspire their men to follow them into Hell. The casualty rates among the junior officers were horrific. The title of John Lewis-Stempel’s book Six Weeks: The Short and Gallant Life of the British Officer in the First World War, perfectly describes the fate of most; the life expectancy of a lieutenant in the Western Front was just 42 days.
Guy Chapman of the Royal Fusiliers recalled: “I was not eager, or even resigned to self-sacrifice, and my heart gave back no answering throb to thoughts of England. In fact, I was very much afraid; and again, afraid of being afraid, anxious lest I show it.”
The public school subalterns were an easy target. Because they enjoyed a better diet and physical fitness than the working class men they led they were, on average, five inches taller. Charging across “No Man’s Land” with nothing but a pistol, junior officers were obvious targets for German troops; they dropped in their thousands. One in five of the students drawn from Oxford and Cambridge Universities were killed in action. “The universal expectation of a subaltern was a hospital bed or interment in the soil.’ with mortality rates ranging from 65-81% which was, at it's lowest estimate, double the rate of enlisted men.
Bloodshed on this scale prompted the British historian A.J.P. Taylor to write “The slaughter of the subalterns in World War I destroyed the flower of the English gentry.” The American novelist Gertrude Stein, who lived through the Great War, described the men of all social classes and nationalities who went into its meat grinder as “The Lost Generation"
Conventional warfare no longer existed. Warfare was now mechanised and industrial. A massive Allied spring offensive around Ypres in Western Belgium on April 22 prompted German forces to the first use of poison gas in warfare and resulted in heavy Allied losses and reciprocated use.
In the Dardanelles, a new front was opened up at Gallipoli by British, ANZAC and French troops.
The 1/4th Battalion & Spackman was on the move again a few days later, from Colchester in Essex to Bury St Edmunds Military Camp in Suffolk where the following photograph of the 1/4th Battalion Officers was taken in May 1915.
Below: the first known photograph of Spackman.
In the Dardanelles, a new front was opened up at Gallipoli by British, ANZAC and French troops.
The 1/4th Battalion & Spackman was on the move again a few days later, from Colchester in Essex to Bury St Edmunds Military Camp in Suffolk where the following photograph of the 1/4th Battalion Officers was taken in May 1915.
Below: the first known photograph of Spackman.
Officers of the 1/4th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment, Bury St Edmunds, May 1915
Left to right, Back row: Lt. VCC Corke Lt. TN Flatt, Lt WW Flatt, 2/Lt EM King, Lt WV Morgan, Lt GK Hampton, 2/Lt GCH Culley, Lt B Boswell, Lt HM Taylor, 2/Lt SJ Steel, 2/Lt Collison, 2/Lt RB Caton, 2/Lt JH Jewson, Lt RW Moore, Q-M.
Middle row: Capt. GHK Fisher, Capt. WH Jewson, Capt. SD Page, Capt. CWW Burrell, Maj. HR Fletcher, Lt. Col. JR Harvey DSO, Capt. CP Hines, Capt. EW Motgomerie, Adjutant, Capt. Rudd, Capt. HW Back, Capt. BM Hughes.
Front row: 2/Lt HJ Bradshaw, 2/Lt RW Thurgar, 2/Lt RE Burrell, 2/Lt CB Spackman, 2/Lt CAB Elliot, 2/Lt RCBMT de Poix, 2/Lt SJM White, Lt Sir TR Berney Bt, Lt GH Wood
(with thanks to Norfolk in World War 1 website. https://norfolkinworldwar1.org)
Left to right, Back row: Lt. VCC Corke Lt. TN Flatt, Lt WW Flatt, 2/Lt EM King, Lt WV Morgan, Lt GK Hampton, 2/Lt GCH Culley, Lt B Boswell, Lt HM Taylor, 2/Lt SJ Steel, 2/Lt Collison, 2/Lt RB Caton, 2/Lt JH Jewson, Lt RW Moore, Q-M.
Middle row: Capt. GHK Fisher, Capt. WH Jewson, Capt. SD Page, Capt. CWW Burrell, Maj. HR Fletcher, Lt. Col. JR Harvey DSO, Capt. CP Hines, Capt. EW Motgomerie, Adjutant, Capt. Rudd, Capt. HW Back, Capt. BM Hughes.
Front row: 2/Lt HJ Bradshaw, 2/Lt RW Thurgar, 2/Lt RE Burrell, 2/Lt CB Spackman, 2/Lt CAB Elliot, 2/Lt RCBMT de Poix, 2/Lt SJM White, Lt Sir TR Berney Bt, Lt GH Wood
(with thanks to Norfolk in World War 1 website. https://norfolkinworldwar1.org)
On May 8th, the Lusitania was sunk off the coast of Kinsale with the loss of 1,198. May 10th brought the first Zeppelin air raid on London.
On May 21, the 1/4th Norfolk Battalion was re-titled for service purposes as part of the 163rd Brigade, the 54th (East Anglian) Division which also included the 1/5th Norfolks along with the 1/8th Hampshires and 1/5th Suffolks and were sent to Watford Military Camp for further arms training and eventual dispersal on overseas service.
The 1/4th Battalion remained in Watford completing arms training until Thursday July 29 when it moved by special train to Liverpool along with the 1/8 Battalion Hampshires and 1/5 Suffolks.
Lance Corporal Frank Le Brun of the 1/8 Battalion Hampshire Regiment - Princess Beatrice's Isle of Wight Rifles kept a diary of his journey from Watford to Liverpool and then on to the Dardanelles as part of the same troop movement that included Spackman. Excerpts of Le Brun's diary have been included to give a flavour of what these troops would have experienced.
(with Thanks to Judy Waugh, author of "Trench Art - the stories behind the talismans" (Fontaine Press, Australia. 2016.)
Thursday, July 29: "Left Watford about one pm for Dardanelles via Liverpool Aquitania..on board same night"
Friday, July 30: "Left Alexandra Dock about 1.30pm"
Spackman, Le Brun and the rest of the 163rd Brigade, half the 162 Brigade and the 54th (East Anglian) Divisional HQ embarked on the SS Aquitania, sailing at 1:15pm that afternoon on an eleven day voyage to the Dardanelles via Mudros, on the island of Lemnos in Greece (the allied base during the Dardanelles Campaign).
On May 21, the 1/4th Norfolk Battalion was re-titled for service purposes as part of the 163rd Brigade, the 54th (East Anglian) Division which also included the 1/5th Norfolks along with the 1/8th Hampshires and 1/5th Suffolks and were sent to Watford Military Camp for further arms training and eventual dispersal on overseas service.
The 1/4th Battalion remained in Watford completing arms training until Thursday July 29 when it moved by special train to Liverpool along with the 1/8 Battalion Hampshires and 1/5 Suffolks.
Lance Corporal Frank Le Brun of the 1/8 Battalion Hampshire Regiment - Princess Beatrice's Isle of Wight Rifles kept a diary of his journey from Watford to Liverpool and then on to the Dardanelles as part of the same troop movement that included Spackman. Excerpts of Le Brun's diary have been included to give a flavour of what these troops would have experienced.
(with Thanks to Judy Waugh, author of "Trench Art - the stories behind the talismans" (Fontaine Press, Australia. 2016.)
Thursday, July 29: "Left Watford about one pm for Dardanelles via Liverpool Aquitania..on board same night"
Friday, July 30: "Left Alexandra Dock about 1.30pm"
Spackman, Le Brun and the rest of the 163rd Brigade, half the 162 Brigade and the 54th (East Anglian) Divisional HQ embarked on the SS Aquitania, sailing at 1:15pm that afternoon on an eleven day voyage to the Dardanelles via Mudros, on the island of Lemnos in Greece (the allied base during the Dardanelles Campaign).
The 1,000 strong Battalion of troops and 26 officers that made up the 1/4th Battalion was commanded by the adjutant, Captain E.W. Montgomerie, owing to the illness of the Commanding Officer, Colonel Harvey and Spackman was one of thirteen Second Lieutenants assigned.
By the time the Aquitania sailed for Gallipoli, the Allied Dardanelles campaign had been disastrous. All aboard would have been acutely aware of the Allied losses and the military stalemate in the area.
This was to be the first and last journey overseas for the majority aboard. Many would never return.
The Service and Casualty Form (Army Form B103). Each member of the armed forces received one of these forms. This military record card gives basic personal information, details promotions (acting temporary, local or substantive), appointments, transfers, postings, attachments, forfeiture of pay, wounds, accidents, admission to and discharge from hospital, Casualty Clearing Stations and so on. Date of disembarkation and embarkation from a theatre of war (including furlough) are also included. The whole basic structure of the soldier’s career is here and can run to several pages. Where relevant, information relating to awards for Gallantry, Courts Martial and Prisoner of War details were also recorded. Below is the start of Spackman's 'Casualty Form' registering his embarkation aboard H.M.T. Aquitania bound for M.E.F. (Mediterranean Expeditionary Force) in Gallipoli and Suvla Bay on July 29, 1915. Note: the event date is recorded in the second column from the right. The date on the extreme left is the date the record was made.
All Spackman's Army Form B103 records are courtesy of Royal Air Force digitisation project https://www.casualtyforms.org/
By the time the Aquitania sailed for Gallipoli, the Allied Dardanelles campaign had been disastrous. All aboard would have been acutely aware of the Allied losses and the military stalemate in the area.
This was to be the first and last journey overseas for the majority aboard. Many would never return.
The Service and Casualty Form (Army Form B103). Each member of the armed forces received one of these forms. This military record card gives basic personal information, details promotions (acting temporary, local or substantive), appointments, transfers, postings, attachments, forfeiture of pay, wounds, accidents, admission to and discharge from hospital, Casualty Clearing Stations and so on. Date of disembarkation and embarkation from a theatre of war (including furlough) are also included. The whole basic structure of the soldier’s career is here and can run to several pages. Where relevant, information relating to awards for Gallantry, Courts Martial and Prisoner of War details were also recorded. Below is the start of Spackman's 'Casualty Form' registering his embarkation aboard H.M.T. Aquitania bound for M.E.F. (Mediterranean Expeditionary Force) in Gallipoli and Suvla Bay on July 29, 1915. Note: the event date is recorded in the second column from the right. The date on the extreme left is the date the record was made.
All Spackman's Army Form B103 records are courtesy of Royal Air Force digitisation project https://www.casualtyforms.org/
The Dardanelles, a narrow 60-mile-long strip of Turkish waters dividing Europe from Asia, has been of great strategic significance for centuries. With the outbreak of war in August 1914, The German army had quickly delivered a crushing blow to Russia at Tannenberg and had been driving eastwards. In October, Turkey sided with Germany and Austria-Hungary and began shelling Russian ports on the Black Sea as the Allies declared war on Turkey.
Allied planners understood that gaining control of the narrow straits of the Dardanelles leading to the Sea of Marmara and the Turkish capital, Constantinople would re-establish communications with Russia and release wheat and shipping locked in the Black Sea by Turkey. The main advantage was to create a diversionary movement which would threaten Germany from another front.
On 2 January 1915, the British government received an urgent appeal from Russia, asking for a British attack on Turkey to divert the Turks from the Caucasus where Russian forces were in danger of being overrun. Besides this, British strategists had for many years before the war believed that the best defence of Egypt and the Suez Canal was an attack on Turkey.
The First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, had for some time been concerned over the comparatively inactive role played by the Royal Navy, and there was growing anxiety within the War Council about the stagnating military situation on the Western Front, where there seemed to be little headway against the German line. Churchill & The War Council believed that knocking the Ottomans out of the war would undermine Germany by opening up a third front. They theorised that as a result of this attack, Britain and France would be able to help their weakest partner, Russia; that the Suez Canal and Britain’s Middle Eastern oil interests would be secured; and that undecided Balkan states, including Bulgaria and Greece, would join the Allied side but it was based on the mistaken belief that the Ottomans were weak and could easily be overcome.
The Russian request spurred Churchill to ask the Commander of the British Naval Squadron in the Aegean if the Dardanelles could be forced and Constantinople taken by naval forces alone, i.e. without a substantial land contribution. The answer Churchill received was heavily qualified, but he did not inform the War Council of these reservations and plans were drawn up.
Bombarding the forts
The British Royal Navy could have gone a long way towards achieving these goals by steaming through the Dardanelles straits a few months earlier following outbreak of war, shelling Constantinople and perhaps putting the government to flight. Instead, they cautiously tested the range of the Turkish guns by bombarding the shore batteries. On 19th February, an Anglo-French fleet attacked the Ottoman forts at the mouth of the Dardanelles with little effect. However, British Naval Command remained convinced that the Ottomans had been weakened. The Turkish commanders immediately became aware of their vulnerability to further attacks and strengthened their defences to include carefully laid minefields, well-sited guns and searchlights that swept the narrows at night.
A month later, a British and French fleet that included 18 battleships, attempted to force its way through to Constantinople. Three capital ships were lost and three crippled. It was an utter failure, the combination of Turkish mines and mobile howitzers being more than a match for the fleet of ageing battleships that had been committed to the operation. Unknown to the Allies, the Turkish gun batteries had almost exhausted their ammunition supplies in this effort, and the fleet could have sailed on through the straits with little further damage. Instead, the naval commanders came to the conclusion that they could not force their way through the Dardanelles unless troops were first sent to occupy the Gallipoli Peninsula in force to remove the Turkish threat. Planning for the landing of troops on Gallipoli commenced.
This naval defeat persuaded British Field Marshall Horatio Herbert Kitchener to re-direct ground forces away from the Western Front to support a combined military and naval operation to capture the Ottoman forts along the Dardanelles' western shores. So, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force was formed as part of the British Army, under General Sir Ian Hamilton.
Part of these re-directed troops included some 4,000 men of the Australian Imperial Force, all volunteers who had been en-route to Europe to fight against German forces. The troopships from Australia had been diverted to Egypt in October 1914 due to a shortage of accommodation and training areas in Britain, and were now training in tented camps at Mina, just outside Cairo.
Allied planners understood that gaining control of the narrow straits of the Dardanelles leading to the Sea of Marmara and the Turkish capital, Constantinople would re-establish communications with Russia and release wheat and shipping locked in the Black Sea by Turkey. The main advantage was to create a diversionary movement which would threaten Germany from another front.
On 2 January 1915, the British government received an urgent appeal from Russia, asking for a British attack on Turkey to divert the Turks from the Caucasus where Russian forces were in danger of being overrun. Besides this, British strategists had for many years before the war believed that the best defence of Egypt and the Suez Canal was an attack on Turkey.
The First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, had for some time been concerned over the comparatively inactive role played by the Royal Navy, and there was growing anxiety within the War Council about the stagnating military situation on the Western Front, where there seemed to be little headway against the German line. Churchill & The War Council believed that knocking the Ottomans out of the war would undermine Germany by opening up a third front. They theorised that as a result of this attack, Britain and France would be able to help their weakest partner, Russia; that the Suez Canal and Britain’s Middle Eastern oil interests would be secured; and that undecided Balkan states, including Bulgaria and Greece, would join the Allied side but it was based on the mistaken belief that the Ottomans were weak and could easily be overcome.
The Russian request spurred Churchill to ask the Commander of the British Naval Squadron in the Aegean if the Dardanelles could be forced and Constantinople taken by naval forces alone, i.e. without a substantial land contribution. The answer Churchill received was heavily qualified, but he did not inform the War Council of these reservations and plans were drawn up.
Bombarding the forts
The British Royal Navy could have gone a long way towards achieving these goals by steaming through the Dardanelles straits a few months earlier following outbreak of war, shelling Constantinople and perhaps putting the government to flight. Instead, they cautiously tested the range of the Turkish guns by bombarding the shore batteries. On 19th February, an Anglo-French fleet attacked the Ottoman forts at the mouth of the Dardanelles with little effect. However, British Naval Command remained convinced that the Ottomans had been weakened. The Turkish commanders immediately became aware of their vulnerability to further attacks and strengthened their defences to include carefully laid minefields, well-sited guns and searchlights that swept the narrows at night.
A month later, a British and French fleet that included 18 battleships, attempted to force its way through to Constantinople. Three capital ships were lost and three crippled. It was an utter failure, the combination of Turkish mines and mobile howitzers being more than a match for the fleet of ageing battleships that had been committed to the operation. Unknown to the Allies, the Turkish gun batteries had almost exhausted their ammunition supplies in this effort, and the fleet could have sailed on through the straits with little further damage. Instead, the naval commanders came to the conclusion that they could not force their way through the Dardanelles unless troops were first sent to occupy the Gallipoli Peninsula in force to remove the Turkish threat. Planning for the landing of troops on Gallipoli commenced.
This naval defeat persuaded British Field Marshall Horatio Herbert Kitchener to re-direct ground forces away from the Western Front to support a combined military and naval operation to capture the Ottoman forts along the Dardanelles' western shores. So, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force was formed as part of the British Army, under General Sir Ian Hamilton.
Part of these re-directed troops included some 4,000 men of the Australian Imperial Force, all volunteers who had been en-route to Europe to fight against German forces. The troopships from Australia had been diverted to Egypt in October 1914 due to a shortage of accommodation and training areas in Britain, and were now training in tented camps at Mina, just outside Cairo.
Troops would have to land
Although one of the initial attractions of the Dardanelles operation had been that it would not require a significant number of troops, and even then mainly in a garrison role on the Gallipoli peninsula once the straits had been forced and the Turks cleared from the area, the War Council gradually came to the view that troops would have to be landed on the peninsula to overcome the Turkish defences so that mine clearing operations could proceed with minimal interference, thus allowing the fleet to force the straits and advance towards Constantinople. The only regular British division not committed to the Western Front, the 29th, was not deemed sufficient by itself to carry out the land operations against the Turks. Churchill added the Royal Naval Division, the French committed a division, and the Australian and New Zealand forces, then training in Egypt, were conveniently on hand to swell the available numbers.
The landings are planned
The Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, General Sir Ian Hamilton, decided to mount his main attack at the base of the Gallipoli peninsula, landing the bulk of his forces on five beaches around Cape Helles, with a secondary landing by Australian and New Zealand troops designed to seize the Sari Bair Ridge, thereby providing cover for the remainder of the force to move to the eastern side of the peninsula thus cutting it off from Turkish reinforcements. The Royal Naval Division would mount a diversionary attack, and the French would land on the Asiatic coast to prevent heavy Turkish batteries from interfering with the British landings at Cape Helles.
Sir William Birdwood, General Officer Commanding Australian and New Zealand forces, had little time to prepare. The 3rd Brigade had been on the island of Lemnos, off the coast of Gallipoli, since early March; it was joined on April 12th by the 1st and 2nd Brigades, and together they carried out a number of practice landings. Time was short, however, and the operation, originally scheduled for April 23rd, was postponed by bad weather until the 25th
Below: BBC News drone footage of Galipoli and an overview of the conflict. Click to play.
Although one of the initial attractions of the Dardanelles operation had been that it would not require a significant number of troops, and even then mainly in a garrison role on the Gallipoli peninsula once the straits had been forced and the Turks cleared from the area, the War Council gradually came to the view that troops would have to be landed on the peninsula to overcome the Turkish defences so that mine clearing operations could proceed with minimal interference, thus allowing the fleet to force the straits and advance towards Constantinople. The only regular British division not committed to the Western Front, the 29th, was not deemed sufficient by itself to carry out the land operations against the Turks. Churchill added the Royal Naval Division, the French committed a division, and the Australian and New Zealand forces, then training in Egypt, were conveniently on hand to swell the available numbers.
The landings are planned
The Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, General Sir Ian Hamilton, decided to mount his main attack at the base of the Gallipoli peninsula, landing the bulk of his forces on five beaches around Cape Helles, with a secondary landing by Australian and New Zealand troops designed to seize the Sari Bair Ridge, thereby providing cover for the remainder of the force to move to the eastern side of the peninsula thus cutting it off from Turkish reinforcements. The Royal Naval Division would mount a diversionary attack, and the French would land on the Asiatic coast to prevent heavy Turkish batteries from interfering with the British landings at Cape Helles.
Sir William Birdwood, General Officer Commanding Australian and New Zealand forces, had little time to prepare. The 3rd Brigade had been on the island of Lemnos, off the coast of Gallipoli, since early March; it was joined on April 12th by the 1st and 2nd Brigades, and together they carried out a number of practice landings. Time was short, however, and the operation, originally scheduled for April 23rd, was postponed by bad weather until the 25th
Below: BBC News drone footage of Galipoli and an overview of the conflict. Click to play.
Gallipoli Landings - 25 April 1915
General Sir Ian Hamilton's invasion plan of 25 April was to land his infantry at strategic points along the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula. These units would then cross to the western side and take the Ottoman forts at Kilitbahir, thereby disabling their heavy guns and allowing the navy to pass unhindered through the narrows of the Dardanelles.
The British 29th Division would land across 5 beaches named S, V, W, X and Y at Cape Helles, on the southernmost tip of the peninsula. They would then advance as one force, first taking the high ground of Achi Baba and the nearby village of Krithia, before crossing to capture the forts defending the narrows.
The ANZAC battalions would land on Z beach, north of Kabatepe and advance inland, first capturing their own high ground objective, Hill 971 then another hill, Maltepe, closer to the Dardanelles, before reinforcing the British attack at Kilitbahir. The invasion was scheduled to take place before dawn, under cover of darkness, in order to retain the element of surprise.
The ANZAC landing at Z Beach began at about 01:30 with troops coming ashore in disarray and under fire by around 04:15.
The French would make a diversionary landing at Kum Kale on the Asian side of the Dardanelles before re-embarking and crossing to meet the British at the eastern side of Cape Helles. Meanwhile, the Royal Naval Division would create a diversionary feint at Bulair Isthmus further north on the Gulf of Saros.
However the Ottoman 5th Army, directed by German General Otto Liman Von Sanders, had prepared for these 'surprise' attacks, deploying regiments spread thinly across the peninsula guarding the most likely landing sites between Helles and Suvla Bay. And all the while keeping the main force in reserve and prepared to reinforce the specific sites of the landings.
In the early hours of the 25th, with minimal casualties endured on both sides, men of the British 29th Division landed at the lightly defended S and X beaches and held them until they were taken over by the French two days later.
Further west, the V beach landing encountered a strong defence from the Ottoman forts and machine guns. The death toll in the crammed landing boats was appalling. As no landing could be made, the main force was redirected to come ashore at W beach, which was taken at great cost from a small company of Ottoman defenders who held off a force many times their number. British casualties were horrific, involving over half a battalion of men.
Further up the coast at the undefended Y beach, 2,000 men landed without an objective and in the absence of clear orders, were late in beginning their fortifications. This in turn led to their being caught out by an Ottoman counter attack which killed over 700 of the landing party and forced the remainder to evacuate.
28 April, 8 May and 4 June 1915 Battles for Krithia and May offensives at Anzac Cove
Three days after the initial landings and despite heavy casualties, Hamilton ordered a renewed attack on the village of Krithia, on the 28th April.
The French held the right flank at Helles while the British approached from the south and west. The attacking force struggled against both the increasingly rugged terrain and a determined defence by Ottoman troops of their homeland. Ultimately, exhaustion and further casualties forced a British retreat on the same day. Though relatively minor in scale, the significance of this First Battle for Krithia was in the exposure of the false assumption by British commanders of a swift victory over an inferior enemy.
At Anzac Cove on May 2nd, the New Zealand and Australian Division commander, General Godley, ordered an attack on the high ground of Baby 700 from the frontline posts of Russell's Top and Quinn's Post. An initial advance was lost overnight and thousands of men were killed with no ground gained on either side.
General Hamilton then moved two brigades, the Australian Second Infantry Brigade and the New Zealand Infantry Brigade, from Anzac Cove to Helles as reserves for the Second Battle of Krithia, which began on 6 May. The British strategy called for the same overly complex plan as the first attempt and gained no more ground, and again yielded horrendous casualties. Over a third of the men in the attack were wounded or killed.
On the 19 May, despite a lack of artillery ammunition, 42,000 Ottomans launched a surprise assault at Anzac Cove. Although being badly outnumbered, the ANZAC force of 17,000 men was prepared for an assault, with strong defences and superior firepower. The clash resulted in 3,000 Turkish deaths against only 160 on the ANZAC side. A truce on the 24 May allowed for the burial of the large numbers of Ottoman dead lying in no man's land.
Back in London, many politicians but particularly Conservatives, blamed Churchill for the failure of the Dardanelles campaign. Amid growing Conservative pressure, in May, Asquith agreed to form an all-party coalition government; the Conservatives' one condition of entry was that Churchill be demoted from his position at the Admiralty. Churchill ultimately accepted his demotion to the position of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster where he remained until November.
By mid-1915, the key problem of heavily fortified artillery in the Dardanelles persisted. On 4 June, Hamilton ordered a third attack on Krithia. The attacking force reached advanced positions under cover of darkness in an attempt to capture Ottoman frontline trenches 1,000 yards in front of the village. The new plan was to bombard these trenches then feint an infantry attack, thereby drawing out troops to the firing line and subjecting them to a further bombardment. Nine thousand Ottoman soldiers were indeed killed but Allied losses also ran high at 6,500, and only a few metres of ground were gained for the enormous loss of life.
A chronic shortage of high explosive shell for the field artillery (due to the dismal performance of the ordnance industry in the UK) meant that shrapnel – effective against troops in the open but useless against well wired trench systems - was totally ineffective in support of frontal infantry attacks
July 1915
After over three months of fruitless and costly attacks on the Turkish positions defending Krithia and Achi Baba, living conditions in the Helles beach-head were almost unendurable; thousands of unburied corpses lay between the opposing lines, giving rise to plagues of rats and millions upon millions of ‘corpse flies’ which, feeding voraciously on decomposing bodies, led to widespread outbreaks of disease, notably dysentery, greatly aided by poor trench hygiene.
The Turkish soldier, formerly regarded with amused contempt following the Ottoman army’s defeats in the Balkans, proved to be brave, enduring and deeply patriotic when well led and fighting on his home ground. The entire allied line, from the Aegean on the left to the Dardanelles on the French right, was barely four miles in length.
Nearby at Anzac, living conditions were if anything more fraught as the front line was never more than a thousand yards from the beach . Due to the tumbled terrain there could be no continuous front line, especially on the left or northern flank where the ground was (and still is) broken by dried watercourses susceptible to flash flooding in rainstorms. Where no continuous line existed the Anzacs relied on defended posts and on their patrolling skills to dominate the enemy. The high summits of the Sari Bair ridge, rising 971 feet above sea level at Koja Kemen Tepe - the objective for 25 April - remained firmly in Turkish hands.
After over three months of fruitless and costly attacks on the Turkish positions defending Krithia and Achi Baba, living conditions in the Helles beach-head were almost unendurable; thousands of unburied corpses lay between the opposing lines, giving rise to plagues of rats and millions upon millions of ‘corpse flies’ which, feeding voraciously on decomposing bodies, led to widespread outbreaks of disease, notably dysentery, greatly aided by poor trench hygiene.
The Turkish soldier, formerly regarded with amused contempt following the Ottoman army’s defeats in the Balkans, proved to be brave, enduring and deeply patriotic when well led and fighting on his home ground. The entire allied line, from the Aegean on the left to the Dardanelles on the French right, was barely four miles in length.
Nearby at Anzac, living conditions were if anything more fraught as the front line was never more than a thousand yards from the beach . Due to the tumbled terrain there could be no continuous front line, especially on the left or northern flank where the ground was (and still is) broken by dried watercourses susceptible to flash flooding in rainstorms. Where no continuous line existed the Anzacs relied on defended posts and on their patrolling skills to dominate the enemy. The high summits of the Sari Bair ridge, rising 971 feet above sea level at Koja Kemen Tepe - the objective for 25 April - remained firmly in Turkish hands.
Above - recruitment posters for the Dardanelles, Australian and Turkish.
Life in the Trenches
Life in the front line was one of constant strain. Opposing trenches were sometimes only a few metres apart, close enough to throw hand grenades from one to the other. At any moment, day or night, the Ottoman soldiers needed only to rush across a few metres of ground to enter the Australian trenches. It was dangerous to look over the top as hidden snipers were on the lookout for the foolhardy. At night half the men in the front trench stayed awake, while others slept in holes cut into the trench wall. Under these circumstances the front line was a place of great tension, even when there was no fighting. Some men found the permanent threat of danger too much for their nerves and troops were rotated through the front line every few days to alleviate the strain. While safer, men taking a break in the rear had little rest. The trench system had to be enlarged, tunnels dug, tracks made from the beach to bring forward ammunition, food and water, and dugouts terraced along the hillsides to accommodate headquarters, medical aid posts and supplies. After labouring all day the men 'resting' from the front line often slept on the ground behind it, in case they were needed to repel an enemy attack.
Many factors contributed to making the Gallipoli battlefield an almost unendurable place for all soldiers. The constant noise, cramped unsanitary conditions, disease, stenches, daily death of comrades, terrible food, lack of rest and thirst all contributed to the most gruelling conditions.
The Anzacs were literally clinging onto the edge of a cliff with the sea at their backs and the Turks occupying the higher ground. They were forced to dig extensive trench and tunnels systems and to endure a semi-subterranean existence of cramped and filthy living and working conditions under constant shellfire. Incessant noise from shelling, bombing, artillery, machine-gun and rifle fire caused psychological and physiological problems for the soldiers. These included shell shock, stress from unceasing exposure to loud mechanical noises, hearing impairment and lack of sleep.
Life in the front line was one of constant strain. Opposing trenches were sometimes only a few metres apart, close enough to throw hand grenades from one to the other. At any moment, day or night, the Ottoman soldiers needed only to rush across a few metres of ground to enter the Australian trenches. It was dangerous to look over the top as hidden snipers were on the lookout for the foolhardy. At night half the men in the front trench stayed awake, while others slept in holes cut into the trench wall. Under these circumstances the front line was a place of great tension, even when there was no fighting. Some men found the permanent threat of danger too much for their nerves and troops were rotated through the front line every few days to alleviate the strain. While safer, men taking a break in the rear had little rest. The trench system had to be enlarged, tunnels dug, tracks made from the beach to bring forward ammunition, food and water, and dugouts terraced along the hillsides to accommodate headquarters, medical aid posts and supplies. After labouring all day the men 'resting' from the front line often slept on the ground behind it, in case they were needed to repel an enemy attack.
Many factors contributed to making the Gallipoli battlefield an almost unendurable place for all soldiers. The constant noise, cramped unsanitary conditions, disease, stenches, daily death of comrades, terrible food, lack of rest and thirst all contributed to the most gruelling conditions.
The Anzacs were literally clinging onto the edge of a cliff with the sea at their backs and the Turks occupying the higher ground. They were forced to dig extensive trench and tunnels systems and to endure a semi-subterranean existence of cramped and filthy living and working conditions under constant shellfire. Incessant noise from shelling, bombing, artillery, machine-gun and rifle fire caused psychological and physiological problems for the soldiers. These included shell shock, stress from unceasing exposure to loud mechanical noises, hearing impairment and lack of sleep.
Food was a major concern to all soldiers. There is no denying that the rations issued to the Anzacs and British forces provided very poor nutrition due to the unvarying diet of processed foods: canned meat (corned “bully” beef, bacon or Maconochie’s beef stew), hard tack biscuits and watery jam. The diet was varied sometimes by sugar, condensed milk, rice and cocoa, but there was a distinct lack of fresh fruit or vegetables. These rations were intended to be lived on for only short periods of time by British army divisions, not for extended months as was the case at Gallipoli. Living on these rations caused major health problems for the soldiers. The Turkish forces were provided with a wider variety of food. This was centrally prepared by cooks and consisted of fresh local foods, although it was often lacking in meat.
The poor nutritional content of the British rations contributed to the physical decline of the Anzac and British troops at Gallipoli. The unappetising and unvaried diet affected the soldiers’ morale and psychological well-being. It also increased their susceptibility to disease, which spread rapidly during the summer months of the campaign.
Disease swept through both Anzac and Turkish forces at Gallipoli. Dysentery, tetanus and septic wounds plagued the soldiers and necessitated the evacuation of thousands of men from the battlefield. The latrines were open and rudimentary.
There were no bathing facilities and few opportunities to wash bodies or clothes. The lack of sanitation in the Anzac areas caused the rapid spread of dysentery, known as the “Gallipoli Gallop”. The unburied corpses in and around the front-line areas were the perfect breeding ground for flies. These were almost unbearable in the summer months, flies spread diseases rapidly through the troops living in cramped, over-crowded trenches and dugouts and unable even to wash their hands. Lice and fleas were also a major problem for soldiers during the summer months.
The local water supply was very limited in the British- and Anzac-held areas of the peninsula. At Anzac Cove in particular, the water supply was a serious problem that contributed to the soldiers’ ill-health and exacerbated the wretched sanitary conditions.
Soldiers in front-line positions were issued only small amounts of water per day and the water quality was poor. Thirst and dehydration were common amongst the men. Often their only drink was extremely strong black tea.
Other factors that characterised the life of soldiers during the 1915 conflict were psychological. These included homesickness, fear, anxiety, misery, the constant threat of death, killing and grief at the loss of mates, brothers and comrades on a daily basis.
Overall, these were appalling conditions, which indicate the wholly inadequate planning and response of the British and Allied military authorities to basic human needs and a failure in their duty of care to their soldiers. The Anzac soldiers earned the respect of others largely because of the projected image of their laconic good humour in the face of the most terrible circumstances. However, some soldiers could not handle these conditions at all and understandably succumbed to mental, physical and emotional injuries. The conditions took their toll on even the most stoic and fortunate of survivors, who felt the effects of their time at Gallipoli decades after the conflict.
below: The carnage and loss of Gallipoli & Suvla Bay commemorated in folk songs - both British and Turkish. Click to play.
The poor nutritional content of the British rations contributed to the physical decline of the Anzac and British troops at Gallipoli. The unappetising and unvaried diet affected the soldiers’ morale and psychological well-being. It also increased their susceptibility to disease, which spread rapidly during the summer months of the campaign.
Disease swept through both Anzac and Turkish forces at Gallipoli. Dysentery, tetanus and septic wounds plagued the soldiers and necessitated the evacuation of thousands of men from the battlefield. The latrines were open and rudimentary.
There were no bathing facilities and few opportunities to wash bodies or clothes. The lack of sanitation in the Anzac areas caused the rapid spread of dysentery, known as the “Gallipoli Gallop”. The unburied corpses in and around the front-line areas were the perfect breeding ground for flies. These were almost unbearable in the summer months, flies spread diseases rapidly through the troops living in cramped, over-crowded trenches and dugouts and unable even to wash their hands. Lice and fleas were also a major problem for soldiers during the summer months.
The local water supply was very limited in the British- and Anzac-held areas of the peninsula. At Anzac Cove in particular, the water supply was a serious problem that contributed to the soldiers’ ill-health and exacerbated the wretched sanitary conditions.
Soldiers in front-line positions were issued only small amounts of water per day and the water quality was poor. Thirst and dehydration were common amongst the men. Often their only drink was extremely strong black tea.
Other factors that characterised the life of soldiers during the 1915 conflict were psychological. These included homesickness, fear, anxiety, misery, the constant threat of death, killing and grief at the loss of mates, brothers and comrades on a daily basis.
Overall, these were appalling conditions, which indicate the wholly inadequate planning and response of the British and Allied military authorities to basic human needs and a failure in their duty of care to their soldiers. The Anzac soldiers earned the respect of others largely because of the projected image of their laconic good humour in the face of the most terrible circumstances. However, some soldiers could not handle these conditions at all and understandably succumbed to mental, physical and emotional injuries. The conditions took their toll on even the most stoic and fortunate of survivors, who felt the effects of their time at Gallipoli decades after the conflict.
below: The carnage and loss of Gallipoli & Suvla Bay commemorated in folk songs - both British and Turkish. Click to play.
|
|
August 1915
By the beginning of August 1915, the opposing forces on the Gallipoli Peninsula were roughly evenly matched. The Ottoman Fifth Army, repeatedly reinforced since April, now consisted of sixteen divisions numbering 250,000 men, but about a third of these were deployed across the straits, guarding the Asiatic side, or further north at the peninsula’s narrowest point on the eastern end of the Gulf of Saros. At the main battlefields of Cape Helles and ANZAC, eleven Turkish divisions (many under strength following hard fighting) occupied the trenches or were held in reserve nearby, facing the nine Allied divisions of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force with around 150,000 troops.
However by late summer fresh British troops were finally becoming available with the mobilization of the first divisions from “Kitchener’s New Army,” formed from the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who responded to Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener’s patriotic call to duty beginning at the outbreak of war.
Kitchener agreed from requests of the Allied Commander in the Dardanelles, Sir Ian Hamilton, in an effort to break the stalemate to send two of the new divisions, the 10th (Irish) and 11th (Northern), to Gallipoli to carry out the amphibious landing, as well as the 53rd (Welsh) and 54th (East Anglian Division) to reinforce them once on shore. Another New Army division, the 13th (Western), was already ashore at the ANZAC position. The other Allied forces on the peninsula would stage diversionary attacks to distract the Turks and tie down their forces during the landings.
Part of the 54th (East Anglian Division) including the 1/4th Norfolk & Second Lt. Spackman were now sailing aboard the SS Aquitania to take part in a landing on an unknown part of the Turkish Agean coast; Suvla Bay.
The Aquitania, while kitted out as a troopship, was nonetheless a glamorous way to go to war. One of the sister ships to the Mauretania and the Lusitania, she was the Cunard flasgship with her maiden voyage in May, 1914 on the Transatlantic route. With the outbreak of war she was taken by the Navy and changed to an armed cruiser until 1915 when taken and transformed into a troopship and later a hospital ship, she was primarily involved in the Dardanelles campaign. She ended an illustrious career in 1950 after steaming 3 million miles in 450 voyages, carrying 1.2 million passengers over nearly 36 years, making her the longest-serving Express Liner of the 20th century. Aquitania was the only major liner to serve in both World Wars, and was the last of the four-funnelled passenger ships.
below: Cunard advertising from c.1914 featuring the Aquitania.
below: Cunard advertising from c.1914 featuring the Aquitania.
Dardanelles Troop Diaries - Frank Le Brun
Saturday, July 31: "Well out...no land in sight. Escort of 5 torpedos (boats) had to turn back presumably owing to rough sea..high winds" |
Dardanelles Troop Diaries - John Gordon Hargrave
Another diarist shipping to The Dardanelles at the time was the writer John Gordon Hargrave.
Hargrave (1894-1982), was a prominent youth leader in Britain during the 1920s and 1930s, leader of the Kibbo Kift movement, described in his obituary as an 'author, cartoonist, inventor, lexicographer, artist and psychic healer'. He was a Utopian thinker and a figure-head for the Social Credit movement in British politics. When World War I broke out, Hargrave joined the Royal Army Medical Corps, and saw action at the Battle of Gallipoli. Hargrave's Quaker pacifism was reinforced by the horrors of war. The experience convinced him that modern civilisation had gone awry and he voiced his feelings in his angry polemic of 1919, The Great War Brings It Home. This was a call to action for all groups concerned with the health and character of future generations. Excerpts from his book “At Suvla Bay” published by Constable & Co. in 1916 are included and give a surprising insight into the war zone and a soldiers everyday life in the Dardanelles. For more on John Hargrave, click here and here |
"...The fact of our departure had been carefully kept quiet, and our destination was unknown. It might have been a secret expedition in search of buried treasure. Yet, in spite of all precaution, we might be torpedoed at any moment and go down with all hands, or strike a mine and be blown up. We knew that victory or defeat were hanging in the balance, and perhaps the destiny of nations. But while the magnitude of the venture has left no impression… |
above: Aquitania arriving at Lemnos, August 1915.
This illustration and others here were by Norman Wilkinson CBE RI (1878 – 1971). Wilkinson was a British artist who usually worked in oils, watercolors and drypoint. He was primarily a marine artist, but he was also an illustrator, poster artist, and wartime camoufleur. Wilkinson invented dazzle painting to protect merchant shipping during World War I. Wilkinson, serving in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was in Mudros and Suvla Bay at the same time as Spackman. These illustrations and excerpts are from his book "The Dardanelles', published by Longmans Green. 1915.
This illustration and others here were by Norman Wilkinson CBE RI (1878 – 1971). Wilkinson was a British artist who usually worked in oils, watercolors and drypoint. He was primarily a marine artist, but he was also an illustrator, poster artist, and wartime camoufleur. Wilkinson invented dazzle painting to protect merchant shipping during World War I. Wilkinson, serving in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was in Mudros and Suvla Bay at the same time as Spackman. These illustrations and excerpts are from his book "The Dardanelles', published by Longmans Green. 1915.
Friday, August 6
The SS Aquitania " reached Mudros harbour on the island of Lemnos at 07:30hrs without incident. The 2,000 or so troops aboard (including Spackman and men from the 1/4th and 1/5th Battalions Norfolk Regiment) remained onboard until August 9.
Mudros harbour was certainly broad enough to sustain British and French warships, although it was recognised at an early stage that there was a potentially troublesome absence of suitable military facilities. Nonetheless Lemnos gained instant importance with the decision to place the port under British control, specifically in the form of Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss, who was handed a brief to prepare the then largely unused harbour for operations against the Dardanelles. In the event Lemnos proved as problematic as expected with regard to facilities and supplies. Troops intended for Gallipoli were required to train in Egypt; similarly the port found it difficult to cope with casualties incurred during the campaign. Once the campaign was called off in evident failure at the close of 1915, Mudros' importance receded although it remained the Allied base for the blockade of the Dardanelles for the duration of the war.
The SS Aquitania " reached Mudros harbour on the island of Lemnos at 07:30hrs without incident. The 2,000 or so troops aboard (including Spackman and men from the 1/4th and 1/5th Battalions Norfolk Regiment) remained onboard until August 9.
Mudros harbour was certainly broad enough to sustain British and French warships, although it was recognised at an early stage that there was a potentially troublesome absence of suitable military facilities. Nonetheless Lemnos gained instant importance with the decision to place the port under British control, specifically in the form of Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss, who was handed a brief to prepare the then largely unused harbour for operations against the Dardanelles. In the event Lemnos proved as problematic as expected with regard to facilities and supplies. Troops intended for Gallipoli were required to train in Egypt; similarly the port found it difficult to cope with casualties incurred during the campaign. Once the campaign was called off in evident failure at the close of 1915, Mudros' importance receded although it remained the Allied base for the blockade of the Dardanelles for the duration of the war.
“A distant view of Mudros, one of the finest natural harbours in the eastern Mediterranean, showed a vast concourse of ships, which grew in interest and numbers as we approached. Eventually we steamed between lines of warships to an anchorage given by signal. I have seen many reviews and naval pageants, but nothing to compare, in interest, with the assemblage of ships that we now witnessed. British battleships, French battleships, cruisers of both nations; a Russian cruiser, the Askold (which had incidentally been badly hammered in the war with Japan) Destroyers, torpedo boats of all ages, submarines (some fresh with the laurels of raids in the sea or Marmora), North Sea trawlers, tramp steamers, transports, food ships, motor boats, Greek sailing vessels, motor barges for landing troops, private yachts taken over by the Admiralty (the Admiral conducting operations being himself in one of these) and endless other craft gathered from everywhere to assist in the enormous undertaking of supplying food and munitions and to guard the routes to various other bases established in the islands around. Towering above all the vessels could be seen the Aquitania and the Mauretania, their immense bulk dwarfing every ship in the harbour…ashore were camps in every direction, that of the French being the most conspicuous…a vast arid mound, looking terribly hot, with clouds of sand blowing continually across it…”
Norman Wilson, 1915
Above: ANZAC troops arrive at Lemnos. Upper right: view of Lemnos Harbour, Troops were either disembarked by launch or towed in a number of rowing boats lashed together.
While Spackman and 4th Norfolks were in Lemnos awaiting transfer, the British launched a renewed attack.
As darkness fell on 6 August the fleet of ships carrying IX Corps arrived in Suvla Bay and began to disembark the already baffled troops of Major General Hammersley's 11th (Northern) Division. General Stopford remained afloat, incommunicado except by word of runners and lamp signals which remained incomprehensible to the troops ashore. On the island of Imbros, where he had earlier set up his General Headquarters, Hamilton awaited news from Suvla in growing frustration. From the Heights of Sari Bair, five miles distant, the Anzacs watched in fascinated disbelief as IX Corps, instead of advancing rapidly to take its allotted objectives, stayed close to the shore; fires were lit, meals were cooked, swimming parades and football followed. Several commanding officers declined to advance as they had received no orders to do so. By now, on the heights of Anzac, terrible things had happened, making the comparison with the inertia at Suvla all the more damning.
John Hargrave recalled the events viewing the attack from a troop transport ship:
As darkness fell on 6 August the fleet of ships carrying IX Corps arrived in Suvla Bay and began to disembark the already baffled troops of Major General Hammersley's 11th (Northern) Division. General Stopford remained afloat, incommunicado except by word of runners and lamp signals which remained incomprehensible to the troops ashore. On the island of Imbros, where he had earlier set up his General Headquarters, Hamilton awaited news from Suvla in growing frustration. From the Heights of Sari Bair, five miles distant, the Anzacs watched in fascinated disbelief as IX Corps, instead of advancing rapidly to take its allotted objectives, stayed close to the shore; fires were lit, meals were cooked, swimming parades and football followed. Several commanding officers declined to advance as they had received no orders to do so. By now, on the heights of Anzac, terrible things had happened, making the comparison with the inertia at Suvla all the more damning.
John Hargrave recalled the events viewing the attack from a troop transport ship:
A pale pink sunrise burst across the eastern sky as our transport came steaming into the bay. The haze of early morning dusk still held, blurring the mainland and water in misty outlines. Some of us had slept, and some had lain awake all night. Rapidly the pink sunrise swept behind the rugged mountains to the left, and was reflected in wobbling ripples in the bay.
We joined the host of battleships, monitors, and troopships standing out, and "stood by." We could hear the rattle of machine-guns in the distant gloom beyond the streak of sandy shore. The decks were crowded with that same khaki crowd. We all stood eagerly watching and listening. The death-silence had come upon us. No one spoke. No one whistled.
We could see the lighters and small boats towing troops ashore. We saw the men scramble out, only to be blown to pieces by land mines as they waded to the beach. On the Lala Baba side we watched platoons and companies form up and march along in fours, all in step, as if they were on parade. It was not yet daylight. We could see the flicker of rifle-fire, and the crackle sounded first on one part of the bay, and then another. Among the dark rocks and bushes it looked as if people were striking thousands of matches Mechanical Death went steadily on. Four Turkish batteries on the Kislar Dargh were blown up one after the other by our battle-ships. We watched the thick rolling smoke of the explosions, and saw bits of wheels, and the arms and legs of gunners blown up in little black fragments against that pearl-pink sunrise.
The noise of Mechanical Battle went surging from one side of the bay to the other — it swept round suddenly with an angry rattle of maxims and the hard echoing crackle of rifle-fire.
Now and then our battle-ships crashed forth, and their shells went hurtling and screaming over the mountains to burst with a muffled roar somewhere out of sight.
Mechanical Death moved back and forth. It whistled and screamed and crashed. It spat fire, and unfolded puffs of grey and white and black smoke. It flashed tongues of livid flame, like some devilish ant-eater lapping up its insects . . . and the insects were the sons of men.
Mechanical Death, as we saw him at work, was hard and metallic, steel-studded and shrapnel- toothed. Now and then he bristled with bayonets, and they glittered here and there in tiny groups, and charged up the rocks and through the bushes. The noise increased. Mechanical Death worked first on our side, and then with the Turks. He led forward a squad, and the next instant mowed them down with a hail of lead. He galloped up a battery, unlimbered — and before the first shell could be rammed home Mechanical Death blew the whole lot up with a high explosive from a Turkish battery in the hills.
And so it went on hour after hour. Crackle, rattle and roar; scream, whistle and crash.
We stood there on the deck watching men get killed. Now and then a shell came wailing and moaning across the bay, and dropped into the water with a great column of spray glittering in the early morning sunshine. A German Taube buzzed overhead; the hum-hum-hum of the engine was very loud. She dropped several bombs, but none of them did much damage.
The little yellow-skinned observation balloon floated above one of our battleships like a penny toy. The Turks had several shots at it, but missed it every time.
The incessant noise of battle grew more distant as our troops on shore advanced. It broke out like a bush-fire, and spread from one section to another. Mechanical Death pressed forward across the Salt Lake…The crack and crash was deafening, and it literally shook the air . . . it quivered like a jelly after each shot.
The fighting got more and more inland, and the rattle and crackle fainter and farther away. But we still watched, fascinated. The little groups of men lay in exactly the same positions on the beach. That platoon by the side of Lala Baba lay in a black bunch, stone dead. We could see our artillery teams galloping along like a team of performing fleas, taking up new positions behind Lala Baba. So this is war.? Well, it's pretty awful! Wholesale murder . . . what's it all for? Wonder how long we shall last alive before Mechanical Death blows our brains out, or a leg off . . . So mechanical and senseless.
“At Suvla Bay”. John Hargrave. Constable & Co. 1916
In a joint effort, the ANZACs attempted to break out from their beachhead 8 km south and take the high ground at Lone Pine whilst a British contingent of 20,000 new troops (including the 10th (Irish) Division of 17,000 volunteers) led by General Sir Frederick Stopford made an amphibious landing on Sulva Bay on the north side of Gallipoli.
The landings took the Turks by surprise: although the Ottoman and German commanders guessed a new amphibious assault was coming, they disagreed as to where it would fall, thanks in part to elaborate ruses by British intelligence agents. As a result Essat Pasha, commanding the Turkish III Corps in the center of the peninsula, believed it would hit further south near the promontory called Kabatepe, while Liman von Sanders, the German general commanding the Turkish Fifth Army, was convinced they would strike further north, near the town of Bulair on the Gulf of Saros.
Only one Turkish officer, 19th Division commander Mustafa Kemal (later Kemal Atatürk) correctly predicted that the Allies would land at Suvla Bay – but his colleagues dismissed the idea, arguing the Allies would never attack in an area with such strong natural defenses, with rugged hills looming over a wide, exposed coastal plain whose only feature was a shallow salt lake that was dry for most of the year. Consequently there were virtually no Turkish troops actually holding these defensive positions, with just a thin covering force of just 1,500 Turks facing around 25,000 Allied attackers in the first wave.
But now disaster – or rather disastrous incompetence – struck. The British officer in charge of the Suvla Bay landings, Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stopford, had never commanded troops in combat before; he soon turned out to be one of the worst commanders of the war. The amphibious landings were a disaster. Some were landed on the wrong beach, others, given the initial task of clearing the Turks off the low hill of Lala Baba, advanced enthusiastically to the attack, their baptism of fire. Elsewhere in the bay, as landing craft ran aground and further landings were made on the wrong beaches, chaos reigned. When daylight came its extent was revealed. Leaderless men were already milling around on the shore, water was running out, and the divisional commanders had lost control of the battle; not that there was much of one as the Turks, having inflicted heavy losses on their attackers had pulled back to the higher ground overlooking the plain, from which they could view the confusion on and around the beaches.
After getting his two divisions ashore (Stopford remained aboard his command vessel), instead of immediately pressing on to Kavak Tepe and Tekke Tepe, Stopford let the troops rest while supply teams finished unloading all their food, tents, mules, and other not-particularly-crucial items on shore.
As the men bathed in the sea and sunned themselves on the beach, precious hours passed, giving von Sanders a chance to rush two divisions (the 7th and 12th) south from Bulair to bolster the meager defensive force. On August 8 the British divisions gradually moved forward and captured one of the first defensive positions, called Chocolate Hill and on August 9-10 they were reinforced by the 53rd and 54th Divisions. One new arrival, John Gallishaw, later recalled the journey up to the front lines: “Under cover of darkness we moved away silently, until we came to the border of the Salt Lake. Here we extended, and crossed it in open order, then through three miles of knee high, prickly underbrush, to where our division was entrenched... From the beach to the firing line is not over four miles, but it is a ghastly four miles of graveyard.”
But it was already too late: 72 hours had passed and two more Turkish divisions, the 4th and 8th, had arrived from the southern part of the peninsula. In short, Stopford had frittered away the element of surprise for no good reason at all. His incompetence would cost thousands of lives.
“Like Corn Before a Scythe”
With the Suvla Bay landings inexplicably stalled after its initial success on August 6, the ANZAC breakout ran into serious trouble in the days that followed as the Turkish 5th, 9th, 16th, and 19th Divisions arrived and strengthened their defensive positions in the rough, broken terrain of the Sari Bahr hills.
Saturday, August 7
Nonetheless at dawn on August 7 the Australian Light Horse infantry continued to press the attack with an all-out assault on “The Nek,” a narrow ridge connecting two hilltops. Their orders had been to charge sixty yards uphill to the Turkish trenches the moment the preliminary artillery barrage ceased. Tragically their brigade headquarters had failed to ensure that watches had been synchronised with the artillery and the ships offshore which were also providing support. There was a silence of seven minutes before the men were ordered over the top, during which the Turks had time to set up their machine guns and man their trenches.
The result was one of the bloodiest engagements of the Gallipoli campaign, as recalled by Lieutenant William Cameron, who saw the dismounted Australian 3rd Light Horse Brigade charging the Turkish positions on foot: "We saw them climb out and move forward about ten yards and lie flat. The second line did likewise ... As they rose to charge, the Turkish Machine Guns just poured out lead and our fellows went down like corn before a scythe. The distance to the enemy trench was less than 50 yards yet not one of those two lines got anywhere near it..."
With the Suvla Bay landings inexplicably stalled after its initial success on August 6, the ANZAC breakout ran into serious trouble in the days that followed as the Turkish 5th, 9th, 16th, and 19th Divisions arrived and strengthened their defensive positions in the rough, broken terrain of the Sari Bahr hills.
Saturday, August 7
Nonetheless at dawn on August 7 the Australian Light Horse infantry continued to press the attack with an all-out assault on “The Nek,” a narrow ridge connecting two hilltops. Their orders had been to charge sixty yards uphill to the Turkish trenches the moment the preliminary artillery barrage ceased. Tragically their brigade headquarters had failed to ensure that watches had been synchronised with the artillery and the ships offshore which were also providing support. There was a silence of seven minutes before the men were ordered over the top, during which the Turks had time to set up their machine guns and man their trenches.
The result was one of the bloodiest engagements of the Gallipoli campaign, as recalled by Lieutenant William Cameron, who saw the dismounted Australian 3rd Light Horse Brigade charging the Turkish positions on foot: "We saw them climb out and move forward about ten yards and lie flat. The second line did likewise ... As they rose to charge, the Turkish Machine Guns just poured out lead and our fellows went down like corn before a scythe. The distance to the enemy trench was less than 50 yards yet not one of those two lines got anywhere near it..."
above: "Landings at ‘A’ Beach, August 7, 5.30am" The Dardanelles. Norman Wilkinson. Longmans Green. 1915
Few if any of the Light Horse reached the enemy trench and the defenders suffered no casualties. At Lone Pine, however, where the Australians had sapped half way across no-man's land, undetected by the Turks, prior to the attack, total surprise was achieved. The attackers sprang from their saps and dashed for the Turkish line a hundred yards ahead. Once there they found that the enemy trenches had been covered by heavy baulks of timber; these were wrenched off and a savage hand-to-hand battle raged underground for 48 hours before Lone Pine was firmly in Australian hands, where it remained until the final evacuation.
Things weren’t going much better elsewhere. At Helles, where a significant diversionary attack had been planned in the belief that it would divert Turkish attention from the main assault at Sari Bair, there was yet another disaster and while heavy casualties were inflicted on the attackers, no gains were made, nor were any Turkish troops diverted from the Anzac and Suvla fronts. The Hampshires, who had gone into battle near their war strength of just under a thousand, came out of the line under a second lieutenant and with barely two hundred men.
Gerald Hurst, an officer with a battalion of Manchesters, described a futile assault on the Turkish positions at Cape Helles on August 7: “It was at once obvious that our guns had been unable to affect the strength and resisting power of the enemy's front line. Each advancing wave of the Manchesters was swept away by machine-gun fire. A few of them gallantly reached the Turkish trenches and fell there.”
Captain Poole Hickman, the officer commanding D Company of the 7th Royal Dublin Fusiliers wrote of the landing a few days later: "Our first two boats, consisting of A and C Companies, started landing at 5.50 am but did not get ashore without mishap, as shrapnel struck the boat, killing one man and wounding eleven. At about 8 am we commenced a general advance. It was allotted to us, and to another Irish regiment, to take a certain hill which was exactly three and a half miles from where we landed.
We had not advanced 100 yards when we were greeted with a perfect hail of shrapnel. And shrapnel is not a pleasant thing. You hear a whistle through the air, then a burst, and everything within a space of 200 yards by 100 yards from where shrapnel burst is liable to be hit. The wounds inflicted are dreadful – deep, big irregular gashes, faces battered out of recognition, limbs torn away. The enemy guns had got the range to a yard and a tornado of high explosives and shrapnel swept the place. Your only chance was to start immediately after a burst and run as fast as you could across this place as there was some cover at the other side.The heat was intense and the going very heavy. We advanced in long lines with two paces between each man and about eight such lines altogether at the start.
About three o’clock in the afternoon we were within 600 yards of the hill which was fairly high – a network of trenches and sides covered with furze and thorny scrub, which afforded cover from view. A and D Companies, led by Major Harrison, took the hill at the point of the bayonet, the Turks fleeing in all directions. It was a magnificent performance and we have been personally congratulated on it. We called the hill Fort Dublin. Our casualties were over 100 including Major Tippett, shot dead and Lieutenant Julian who has, I hear, since died. D Company lost 22 altogether, but only one killed outright though I am afraid some of the others will not recover. It was just dusk when the hill fell and then we had to go and get water for men who were parched with the thirst."
Few if any of the Light Horse reached the enemy trench and the defenders suffered no casualties. At Lone Pine, however, where the Australians had sapped half way across no-man's land, undetected by the Turks, prior to the attack, total surprise was achieved. The attackers sprang from their saps and dashed for the Turkish line a hundred yards ahead. Once there they found that the enemy trenches had been covered by heavy baulks of timber; these were wrenched off and a savage hand-to-hand battle raged underground for 48 hours before Lone Pine was firmly in Australian hands, where it remained until the final evacuation.
Things weren’t going much better elsewhere. At Helles, where a significant diversionary attack had been planned in the belief that it would divert Turkish attention from the main assault at Sari Bair, there was yet another disaster and while heavy casualties were inflicted on the attackers, no gains were made, nor were any Turkish troops diverted from the Anzac and Suvla fronts. The Hampshires, who had gone into battle near their war strength of just under a thousand, came out of the line under a second lieutenant and with barely two hundred men.
Gerald Hurst, an officer with a battalion of Manchesters, described a futile assault on the Turkish positions at Cape Helles on August 7: “It was at once obvious that our guns had been unable to affect the strength and resisting power of the enemy's front line. Each advancing wave of the Manchesters was swept away by machine-gun fire. A few of them gallantly reached the Turkish trenches and fell there.”
Captain Poole Hickman, the officer commanding D Company of the 7th Royal Dublin Fusiliers wrote of the landing a few days later: "Our first two boats, consisting of A and C Companies, started landing at 5.50 am but did not get ashore without mishap, as shrapnel struck the boat, killing one man and wounding eleven. At about 8 am we commenced a general advance. It was allotted to us, and to another Irish regiment, to take a certain hill which was exactly three and a half miles from where we landed.
We had not advanced 100 yards when we were greeted with a perfect hail of shrapnel. And shrapnel is not a pleasant thing. You hear a whistle through the air, then a burst, and everything within a space of 200 yards by 100 yards from where shrapnel burst is liable to be hit. The wounds inflicted are dreadful – deep, big irregular gashes, faces battered out of recognition, limbs torn away. The enemy guns had got the range to a yard and a tornado of high explosives and shrapnel swept the place. Your only chance was to start immediately after a burst and run as fast as you could across this place as there was some cover at the other side.The heat was intense and the going very heavy. We advanced in long lines with two paces between each man and about eight such lines altogether at the start.
About three o’clock in the afternoon we were within 600 yards of the hill which was fairly high – a network of trenches and sides covered with furze and thorny scrub, which afforded cover from view. A and D Companies, led by Major Harrison, took the hill at the point of the bayonet, the Turks fleeing in all directions. It was a magnificent performance and we have been personally congratulated on it. We called the hill Fort Dublin. Our casualties were over 100 including Major Tippett, shot dead and Lieutenant Julian who has, I hear, since died. D Company lost 22 altogether, but only one killed outright though I am afraid some of the others will not recover. It was just dusk when the hill fell and then we had to go and get water for men who were parched with the thirst."
Frank Le Brun noted in his diary for Saturday August 7: " We are lying in a Bay off the Isle of Lemnos. On all sides one sees camps which I believe are rest camps for the soldiers brought from the firing line which is, they say, not many miles from here. The Bay is quite a sight full of all kinds of sea craft passing to and fro. We see troop ships cruisers hospital ship etc., no less than seven of the latter passed us yesterday. Laying off about 100 yds away is the Lord Nelson."
Sunday, August 8
In fact the battle was only just beginning. By the morning of August 8th, the Turks had created a very strong defensive position on top of the second tallest ridge in the Sari Bahr range, called Chunuk Bahr, which the ANZAC forces and British troops of the 13th Division had to capture for the rest of the plan to work. The New Zealand Brigade of the New Zealand and Australian Division carried out the main assault uphill against the Turkish positions and suffered severe casualties, but finally managed to dig in near the hilltops as reinforcements from the 13th Division began to arrive. One British officer, Aubrey Herbert, witnessed part of the battle from a distance:
Sunday, August 8
In fact the battle was only just beginning. By the morning of August 8th, the Turks had created a very strong defensive position on top of the second tallest ridge in the Sari Bahr range, called Chunuk Bahr, which the ANZAC forces and British troops of the 13th Division had to capture for the rest of the plan to work. The New Zealand Brigade of the New Zealand and Australian Division carried out the main assault uphill against the Turkish positions and suffered severe casualties, but finally managed to dig in near the hilltops as reinforcements from the 13th Division began to arrive. One British officer, Aubrey Herbert, witnessed part of the battle from a distance:
"...We saw our men in the growing light attack the Turks. It was a cruel and beautiful sight, for it was like a fight in fairyland; they went forward in parties through the beautiful light, with clouds crimsoning over them. Sometimes a tiny, gallant figure would be in front, then a puff would come and they would be lying still… Meanwhile, men were streaming up, through awful heat..."
Captain Poole Hickman recalled:
At 1.30 on Sunday morning I eat a biscuit which was my first food since breakfast the previous morning. The enemy counterattacked during the night but were easily driven off. All Sunday morning and afternoon a furious fight was going on on the ridge to our right where our forces had the advantage. Meanwhile all day shrapnel and high explosives were spoiling our day’s rest and the place was full of snipers.
These snipers are the very devil. If you put your head up at all, bullets whizz past you. They are up trees, in furze and every conceivable hiding place, and it is very hard to spot them.
On Monday there was a tremendous fight for the hill on our left by an English division. The brigade on the right ran out of ammunition and D Company was called upon to supply them. I sent 40 men under Captain Tobin to bring up 20,000 rounds to the support, and took 80 men myself with 40,000 rounds.
One of my best sergeants, Edward Millar, was killed. He died gallantly and his name has been sent forward for recognition.
Our Company’s casualties amounted to 40 out of 188 men landed on Saturday morning. I forgot to say that we discarded our packs at the landing and have never seen them again and all this time we never had even our boots off, a shave, or a wash, as even the dirtiest water was greedily drunk on the hill where the sun’s rays beat pitilessly down all day long, and where the rotting corpses of the Turks created a damnably offensive smell. That is one of the worst features here, unburied bodies and flies, but the details are more gruesome than my pen could depict.
In the afternoon of August 8 a naval bombardment forced the Turks off the hilltops, which New Zealand, British, and Indian Gurkha troops now occupied. From here they could see the glinting surface of the Dardanelles and "The Narrows" on the other side of the peninsula; their goal was in sight. But they wouldn’t hold their hard-won prize for long: the Turks, fully aware of Chunuk Bahr’s strategic importance, were determined to get it back whatever the cost.
Victor Jefferson from Rathmines in Dublin, a member of D Company, 7th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, sent the following account to his mother of his experiences on landing on the shores of Suvla Bay:
Victor Jefferson from Rathmines in Dublin, a member of D Company, 7th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, sent the following account to his mother of his experiences on landing on the shores of Suvla Bay:
‘We were under very heavy shrapnel and rifle fire the whole day. Saturday’s fight was a very stiff one, and we were unlucky in having it the first day. However, I suppose it will prepare us for what is to come. Everyone is delighted with the way the regiment fought, and the General told us we might be proud of it. So far I have escaped unhurt, but have had some lucky escapes. Last Monday we had to bring ammunition up to the firing line, when one bullet struck my helmet, but nothing else.’
John Hargrave recalled:
We used to start long before daylight, when the heavy gloom of early morning swept mountain, sea and sand in an indistinct haze ; when the cobwebs hung thick from thorn to thorn like fairy cats' cradles all dripping and beaded with those heavy dews. The guard would wake us up about 3.30 A.M. We were asleep any- where, lying about under rocks and in sandy dells, sleeping on our haversacks and water- bottles, and our pith helmets nearby. We got an issue of biscuit and jam, or biscuit and bully-beef, to take with us, and each one carried his iron rations in a little bag at his side.
So we set off — a long, straggling, follow-my-leader line… No one whistled those rag-time tunes; no one tried to make jokes, except the very timid, and they giggled nervously at their own.
No one spoke unless it was quite necessary. Each man you passed asked you the vital question:
"Any water?”For a moment as he asks his eyes glitter with a gleam of hope — when you shake your head he simply trudges on over the rocks and scrub with the same fatigued and sullen dullness which we all suffered.
The country about the landing-place, as seen from the sea, was described by Colonel Harvey in the 1/4th Battalion official reports:
"On the left SuvIa Point with Nebrunessi Point to the right formed a small bay, known as SuvIa Bay, some mile and a half across. To the right of Nebrunessi. Point a long, gently curving sandy beach, some four or five miles in extent, terminated where the Australian position at Anzac rose steeply to the Sari Bair range. Inside and immediately in front was a large, flat, sandy plain covered with scrub, while the dry salt lake showed dazzlingly white in the hot morning sun. Immediately beyond was Chocolate Hill, and behind this lay the village of Anafarta some four miles from the shore. |
Monday, August 9
The 1/4th & 1/5th Battalion Norfolk Regiment transferred from HMT Aquitania to the SS Osmaniah where they spent a night in difficult and cramped conditions en route to Imbros and the battle front.
Jack Lock (1896-1991) - a soldier with the 1/4th Battalion Norfolk Regiment was also aboard. During the voyage out, Jack earned extra pay working as a stoker in the ship’s boiler room - a highly dangerous job as in the event of a torpedo strike, stokers generally did not survive.
From this date on, Jack kept a diary, (click here) a graphic record of his daily life and the chaos of the Dardanelles which greatly adds to the existing documentary records of the time:
"Left Lemnos on “SS Osmanieh, Khedivial Mail Co." at about 3:30pm Monday August 9th and stopped a few miles from the firing line at ____. Passed scores of operations en route and could see and hear heavy guns firing from battleship nearer land. Could see flash of guns and search lights at intervals during the night. At 1pm Tuesday our boats drew in a few miles closer to the firing line (Gulf of Saros). Booming of guns continuous and much louder. Can see shells bursting.."
Le Brun also accompanied the Norfolks and recorded in his diary: "Boarded Osmanieh for ................... at about four a.m. conditions awful no food for 14 hours then only hard biscuit. Bought chocolate & biscuit from Greeks who came and laid by - went aboard Aquitania for dinner. Left shortly after dinner up the Dardenelles (saw warship firing) to nearer base Slept aboard this boat, hot daytime cold at nights..."
below: Troop transports at Suvla Bay, August 1915. Illustrations from "The Dardanelles". Norman Wilkinson. Longmans Green. 1915
The 1/4th & 1/5th Battalion Norfolk Regiment transferred from HMT Aquitania to the SS Osmaniah where they spent a night in difficult and cramped conditions en route to Imbros and the battle front.
Jack Lock (1896-1991) - a soldier with the 1/4th Battalion Norfolk Regiment was also aboard. During the voyage out, Jack earned extra pay working as a stoker in the ship’s boiler room - a highly dangerous job as in the event of a torpedo strike, stokers generally did not survive.
From this date on, Jack kept a diary, (click here) a graphic record of his daily life and the chaos of the Dardanelles which greatly adds to the existing documentary records of the time:
"Left Lemnos on “SS Osmanieh, Khedivial Mail Co." at about 3:30pm Monday August 9th and stopped a few miles from the firing line at ____. Passed scores of operations en route and could see and hear heavy guns firing from battleship nearer land. Could see flash of guns and search lights at intervals during the night. At 1pm Tuesday our boats drew in a few miles closer to the firing line (Gulf of Saros). Booming of guns continuous and much louder. Can see shells bursting.."
Le Brun also accompanied the Norfolks and recorded in his diary: "Boarded Osmanieh for ................... at about four a.m. conditions awful no food for 14 hours then only hard biscuit. Bought chocolate & biscuit from Greeks who came and laid by - went aboard Aquitania for dinner. Left shortly after dinner up the Dardenelles (saw warship firing) to nearer base Slept aboard this boat, hot daytime cold at nights..."
below: Troop transports at Suvla Bay, August 1915. Illustrations from "The Dardanelles". Norman Wilkinson. Longmans Green. 1915
Tuesday, August 10
Spackman was among the final Allied reinforcements brought in to the already crowded beach landing point of the 54th division in Suvla Bay - known as 'A Beach' opposite Hill 10 - at 17:00hrs and moved up the beach towards Suvla Beach to a point near Ghazi Baba. Both the 1/4th & 1/5th Battalions bivouacked on the beach and awaited orders - they would remain there until early morning of the following day.
Jack Lock noted where they had landed:
"Name of place Kurija Dere. We landed just as it was getting dark, proceeding a mile or two in pitch dark over rough ground covered with patches of stumpy grass. We then bivouaced for the night and were told to get as much rest as possible in order to be up at dawn.."
Frank Le Brun wrote in his diary: "Still aboard Osmanieh living on Iron Rations simply squashed on here. Sitting on cold water tank on top deck. Managed shave this morning. Saw enemy "Taube" come over attempted to drop bomb on Warship. Chased by our aircraft and fired at." Le Brun landed at Suvla the following day and moved up just behind the firing line. There he was seriously wounded, evacuated to a hospital ship where he died on August 14. He was buried at sea.
Below: "A Beach August 1915" from "The Dardanelles". Norman Wilkinson. Longmans Green. 1915, a recruitment poster referencing Gallipoli. and the original diary entries by Jack Lock.
As Spackman was landing in Suvla Bay, Mustafa Kemal (now in charge of several divisions) launched a furious counterattack by the Turkish 8th and 9th Divisions, supported by artillery on the Hill 971. The attack culminated in a dramatic charge by the Turkish infantry, while British naval bombardment rained shells on the blood-soaked hilltop.
Kemal later recalled: "Chonkbayir [Chunuk Bair] was turned into a kind of hell. From the sky came a downpour of shrapnel and iron. The heavy naval shells sank deep into the ground, then burst, opening huge cavities all around us. The whole of Chonkbayir was enveloped in thick smoke and fire. Everyone waited for what Fate would bring. I asked one commander where his troops were. He replied, “Here are my troops – those who lie dead around us.”
The British and ANZAC units holding the hilltop were simply wiped out of existence by the Turkish artillery and repeated infantry charges. Herbert noted the incredible cost of the battle: “The N.Z. Infantry Brigade must have ceased to exist. Meanwhile the condition of the wounded is indescribable. They lie in the sand in rows upon rows, their faces caked with sand and blood… there is hardly any possibility of transporting them… Some unwounded men almost mad from thirst, cursing.”
Sir Compton Mackenzie, an official observer with the British forces at Gallipoli, recorded similar impressions after the battle for Chunuk Bahr: “I went back outside the hospital, where there were many wounded lying. I stumbled upon poor A.C. (a schoolfellow), who had been wounded about 3 a.m. the day before, and had lain in the sun on the sand all the previous day… It was awful having to pass them. A lot of the men called out: “We are being murdered.”
After achieving initial surprise, the British landings at Suvla Bay and the coordinated attack from ANZAC had once again resulted in stalemate, at a cost of 25,000 British casualties versus 20,000 for the Turks in just the period August 6-10 alone.
Kemal later recalled: "Chonkbayir [Chunuk Bair] was turned into a kind of hell. From the sky came a downpour of shrapnel and iron. The heavy naval shells sank deep into the ground, then burst, opening huge cavities all around us. The whole of Chonkbayir was enveloped in thick smoke and fire. Everyone waited for what Fate would bring. I asked one commander where his troops were. He replied, “Here are my troops – those who lie dead around us.”
The British and ANZAC units holding the hilltop were simply wiped out of existence by the Turkish artillery and repeated infantry charges. Herbert noted the incredible cost of the battle: “The N.Z. Infantry Brigade must have ceased to exist. Meanwhile the condition of the wounded is indescribable. They lie in the sand in rows upon rows, their faces caked with sand and blood… there is hardly any possibility of transporting them… Some unwounded men almost mad from thirst, cursing.”
Sir Compton Mackenzie, an official observer with the British forces at Gallipoli, recorded similar impressions after the battle for Chunuk Bahr: “I went back outside the hospital, where there were many wounded lying. I stumbled upon poor A.C. (a schoolfellow), who had been wounded about 3 a.m. the day before, and had lain in the sun on the sand all the previous day… It was awful having to pass them. A lot of the men called out: “We are being murdered.”
After achieving initial surprise, the British landings at Suvla Bay and the coordinated attack from ANZAC had once again resulted in stalemate, at a cost of 25,000 British casualties versus 20,000 for the Turks in just the period August 6-10 alone.
The commander-in-chief, Sir Ian Hamilton, now decided on another attempt to take the strategic Anafarta ridge with the aid of the 54th East Anglia Division, when the last of his reinforcements landed. Howver, between the landing place and the Kuchak Anafarta Ova position lay a difficult and intricate terrain of small fields, dusty deep ditches and high, scraggy hedges. The Turks had taken up various positions in the area and with snipers in place, were picking off troops.
The 163rd Brigade were about to be thrown into battle, detailed to clear the area of Turkish detachments from August 12th.
Captain Billy Ritchards of the 6th Battalion Dublin Fusiliers was somewhere in Suvla Bay on this day when he wrote this letter to his father in Dublin, telling what has been taking place on the battlefield:
“We have been fighting for four days and I am sorry to say may have lost most of the battalion...We were doing fatigues for the first two days and only lost about 10 men but yesterday morning about 3a m, we were called up to stop a counter attack. In about two hours we lost 12 officers and about 450 men. How I got through I shall never understand, the shrapnel and bullets were coming down like hail.
In the last five nights I have had about five hours sleep but still feel fairly fit in body but my heart is broken for all those fellows I like so much. I would like to see some of the young lads who are staying at home get a few days of this. If they weren’t killed they would or should die of shame...After yesterday I have a feeling I shall get through this ‘job’.Capt Richards died from wounds received in a bayonet charge five days after the letter was sent.
The 163rd Brigade were about to be thrown into battle, detailed to clear the area of Turkish detachments from August 12th.
Captain Billy Ritchards of the 6th Battalion Dublin Fusiliers was somewhere in Suvla Bay on this day when he wrote this letter to his father in Dublin, telling what has been taking place on the battlefield:
“We have been fighting for four days and I am sorry to say may have lost most of the battalion...We were doing fatigues for the first two days and only lost about 10 men but yesterday morning about 3a m, we were called up to stop a counter attack. In about two hours we lost 12 officers and about 450 men. How I got through I shall never understand, the shrapnel and bullets were coming down like hail.
In the last five nights I have had about five hours sleep but still feel fairly fit in body but my heart is broken for all those fellows I like so much. I would like to see some of the young lads who are staying at home get a few days of this. If they weren’t killed they would or should die of shame...After yesterday I have a feeling I shall get through this ‘job’.Capt Richards died from wounds received in a bayonet charge five days after the letter was sent.
Irrespective of where the troops were based, military Inspections were an important part of daily routine in the trenches and close to the line. This drawing of a soldier’s kit was sketched by Company Sergeant Major Walter Hipkin of the 1st Battalion, Norfolk Regiment as instruction to the men in his company to ensure that they had the correct kit laid out ready for inspection by a junior officer:
"If we take a look at the kit that Hipkin has drawn, some items are more familiar than others. The “housewife” that Hipkin has drawn in the middle of the picture is what soldiers called the kit that contained everything that they would need to carry out repairs to their clothing. The “housewife” was also sometimes referred to as a “hussif.”
The P.H. helmet and the box respirator were vital pieces of kit in the event of a gas attack. The P.H. (Phenate Hexamine) helmet was a gas mask issued by the British Army to protect troops against chlorine, phosgene and tear gases. Box respirators were comprised of a mouthpiece connected via a hose to a box filter, which contained chemicals that neutralised the gas and delivered clean air to the wearer.
Hipkin’s note at the bottom refers to a particularly poignant part of a soldier’s kit. With the outbreak of war, a new red identity disc was introduced. The idea was that this disc should be removed from the soldier’s dead body for administrative purposes, but this led to many unidentified bodies. Some soldiers had their own additional discs made, but it was not until November 1916 that they were officially issued with two – one to be removed and one to be left on the soldier’s body."
The P.H. helmet and the box respirator were vital pieces of kit in the event of a gas attack. The P.H. (Phenate Hexamine) helmet was a gas mask issued by the British Army to protect troops against chlorine, phosgene and tear gases. Box respirators were comprised of a mouthpiece connected via a hose to a box filter, which contained chemicals that neutralised the gas and delivered clean air to the wearer.
Hipkin’s note at the bottom refers to a particularly poignant part of a soldier’s kit. With the outbreak of war, a new red identity disc was introduced. The idea was that this disc should be removed from the soldier’s dead body for administrative purposes, but this led to many unidentified bodies. Some soldiers had their own additional discs made, but it was not until November 1916 that they were officially issued with two – one to be removed and one to be left on the soldier’s body."
Wednesday, August 11
The 1/5th Battalion moved off in the early hours to join up with the 10th Division.
Spackman and the 1/4th Norfolk, were left on the beach to manage the unloading of stores and equipment after the landing on August 10th, were advised on the evening of the 11th that the battalion would be moving out at 5.30am next morning to take up battle positions in support of the main attack on Kuchuck Anafarta Ova planned for the late afternoon.
Water was in short supply and there was little to no shelter from the searing heat on the precarious toehold in Turkey.
"Up at 4 o'clock. Stand to arms for 2 hours. Help to carry stores and munitions out from landing stage to H.Q. Without water for a time." Jack Lock.
"...The traffic about " A " Beach was always congested. It reminded you of the Bank and the Mansion House crush far away in London town. Here were clanking water-carts, dozens of them waiting in their turn, stamping mules and snorting horses ; here were motor-transport wagons with " W.D." in white on their greysides ; ambulance wagons jolting slowly back to their respective units, sometimes full of wounded, sometimes empty. Here all was bustle and noise. Sergeants shouting and corporals cursing; transport-officers giving directions; a party of New Zealand sharp-shooters in scout hats and leggings laughing and yarning ; a patrol of the R.E.'s Telegraph Section coming in after repairing the wires along the beach ; or a new batch of men, just arrived, falling in with new- looking kit-bags..".
John Hargrave. “At Suvla Bay”. Constable & Co. 1916
Thursday, August 12
The 1/4th Battalion including 2nd Lieutenant Spackman in 'B company' moved inland to join the support trenches of the 163rd Brigade. The front line consisted of the 5th Norfolks, 8th Hants, and 5th Suffolk Regiments. Water was issued throughout the line - two pints that was to last three days, totally inadequate for the 40c heat and with little shelter from the searing sun. Many of the officers and men were said to be in poor physical condition due to the climate and widespread dysentery.
"Up at 4 o'clock. Directly after breakfast went out with h+s. Saw a dead man on the way, was the first taste of war for me. While working, a shrapnel bust close by, but no damage done. Several shells fell round about. I was water carrier, so after a while I went back, but after being there a day was told to join company at Firing line. While walking their saw awfull sights of wounded and killed." Jack Lock.
The 1/4th Norfolk Battalion Battle Diary maintained by Captain Montgomerie records the events:
The 1/5th Battalion moved off in the early hours to join up with the 10th Division.
Spackman and the 1/4th Norfolk, were left on the beach to manage the unloading of stores and equipment after the landing on August 10th, were advised on the evening of the 11th that the battalion would be moving out at 5.30am next morning to take up battle positions in support of the main attack on Kuchuck Anafarta Ova planned for the late afternoon.
Water was in short supply and there was little to no shelter from the searing heat on the precarious toehold in Turkey.
"Up at 4 o'clock. Stand to arms for 2 hours. Help to carry stores and munitions out from landing stage to H.Q. Without water for a time." Jack Lock.
"...The traffic about " A " Beach was always congested. It reminded you of the Bank and the Mansion House crush far away in London town. Here were clanking water-carts, dozens of them waiting in their turn, stamping mules and snorting horses ; here were motor-transport wagons with " W.D." in white on their greysides ; ambulance wagons jolting slowly back to their respective units, sometimes full of wounded, sometimes empty. Here all was bustle and noise. Sergeants shouting and corporals cursing; transport-officers giving directions; a party of New Zealand sharp-shooters in scout hats and leggings laughing and yarning ; a patrol of the R.E.'s Telegraph Section coming in after repairing the wires along the beach ; or a new batch of men, just arrived, falling in with new- looking kit-bags..".
John Hargrave. “At Suvla Bay”. Constable & Co. 1916
Thursday, August 12
The 1/4th Battalion including 2nd Lieutenant Spackman in 'B company' moved inland to join the support trenches of the 163rd Brigade. The front line consisted of the 5th Norfolks, 8th Hants, and 5th Suffolk Regiments. Water was issued throughout the line - two pints that was to last three days, totally inadequate for the 40c heat and with little shelter from the searing sun. Many of the officers and men were said to be in poor physical condition due to the climate and widespread dysentery.
"Up at 4 o'clock. Directly after breakfast went out with h+s. Saw a dead man on the way, was the first taste of war for me. While working, a shrapnel bust close by, but no damage done. Several shells fell round about. I was water carrier, so after a while I went back, but after being there a day was told to join company at Firing line. While walking their saw awfull sights of wounded and killed." Jack Lock.
The 1/4th Norfolk Battalion Battle Diary maintained by Captain Montgomerie records the events:
"12th August. - Had to meet guides from 5th Norfolk at 6 a.m.
We started off at 5.40 for the mile walk, arrived at rendezvous, but no guide. Waited with battalion quarter of an hour, and then I left with adjutant to find 5th Norfolk. Eventually found them, only to find Sir H. Beauchamp had just left. Learned where I was expected to be, so sent for the battalion.
Busy digging all morning. We were about to complete trenches when we were ordered to move and go in reserve to the brigade in an advance..."
An Allied naval support bombardment began at 3.15pm and the advance began 45 minutes later, the 4th Norfolk following in support behind the 5th Suffolk. The order to 'Fix Bayonets' was given even though the troops were at least a mile and a half from the Turkish line.
"...The advance started 4 p.m. My orders were to follow on the left flank, as that one was unprotected. The three battalions advanced rapidly and all seemed well until I came to the top of a hill which overlooked the valley on the other side of which were Turkish trenches. I could see that they [" They " evidently means the British.] were under shrapnel fire and seemed to be in trouble..."
As soon as the advance began, the 1/5th Norfolk received an order to change direction which resulted in a large gap forming between the battalions. At around 5pm, heavy Turkish artillery, rifle and sniper fire halted the main advance except for the 5th Norfolk which managed to continue advancing uphill through a wooded area. In the smoke and din of exploding shells, rifle fire and confusion of battle, the 1/5th Norfolks advanced through a steeply wooded area.
Sir Ian Hamilton, Commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in a dispatch published on January 6, 1916 described what took place next and managed to begin a mystery as to the fate of Colonel Beauchamp, fifteen officers and 250 men of the 1/5th Norfolks:
Sir Ian Hamilton, Commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in a dispatch published on January 6, 1916 described what took place next and managed to begin a mystery as to the fate of Colonel Beauchamp, fifteen officers and 250 men of the 1/5th Norfolks:
‘The 1/5th. Norfolk were on the right of the line and found themselves for a moment less strongly opposed than the rest of the brigade. Against the yielding forces of the enemy Colonel Sir H. Beauchamp, a bold, self-confident officer, eagerly pressed forward, followed by the best part of the battalion. The fighting grew hotter, and the ground became more wooded and broken. At this stage many men were wounded, or grew exhausted with thirst. These found their way back to camp during the night. But the Colonel, with sixteen officers and 250 men, still kept pushing on, driving the enemy before them. … Nothing more was ever seen or heard of any of them. They charged into the forest and were lost to sight or sound. Not one of them ever came back.’
The 1/4th Battalion Norfolks Battle Diary continued:
"...I saw Captain Fisher just behind and sent him forward with "B" company. "A" company on left had already gone forward, and half "D" company also on extreme left; half "C" company on my right had wandered off to right and had gone to support of the Hampshires. Seeing that it was useless to send more troops into the valley, with no other troops coming up in rear, I halted there and prepared for all eventualities. It soon became apparent that the brigade was in difficulties.
An officer of the 5th Suffolks came rushing back, asking for support and saying the enemy were surrounding him. He could not tell me anything definite. After he had cooled down a bit, he said that the enemy were getting round their right flank. It then appeared to me that the enemy must be retreating across the front of the Hampshires and 5th Norfolk. I sent him back with a few men and told him to let everyone know I was ready to help them from my hill.
It was very difficult to absolutely locate their position. I sent a message telling the brigade head-quarters that I was going to hold the ridge overlooking the valley, but it was a long time before I could find them. I later saw the brigade major, who told me they were having an awful time in front, and would probably have to retire, and that I must be prepared to help them back. All through the night men were coming in who had lost their units, and I think I had 200 men with me next morning. I gave them water, of which they were in great need...."
For further information on the 1/5th Battalion Norfolks action on August 12, 1915, visit Steve Smith's excellent website here.
Friday, August 13
Captain Montgomerie of the 1/4th Battalion Norfolks noted in the battle diary recorded the next day's events:
Friday, August 13
Captain Montgomerie of the 1/4th Battalion Norfolks noted in the battle diary recorded the next day's events:
" Next morning we learnt that the first line of the brigade were holding their own in a clump of trees about 1,500 yards to our right front. I held part of the ridge overlooking the valley with three platoons; the enemy being on my left flank, from where he sniped us day and night, but luckily with very little effect. I had a post on No. 2 and patrolled No. 1, but the snipers laid low.
We dug in all day, but the men were very exhausted, and in want of food and water, and were not capable of much manual labour.
The Essex brigade made an attack towards the Anafarta wells, but it had no effect..."
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
"RF busy looking for water. Found a muddy pool which we would not think of drinking in England, but the water was a treat. During morning our men of our platoon were sent to carry rashens to men in the 1st line. I was one. We went under heavy rifle and shell fire. 1 man killed and some wounded getting there. When we got there luckily we found a well of cold water, quite a treat too. We then waited for orders to go back or some guide to take us, but the fire was so heavy we had to stop there till night time. On twilight the Essex came to relieve us. When they were advancing the snipers were so heavy and the shell, they thought we were firing at them, so they began to fire at us with machine guns. It gave me a shock. After a while we got home and rested for the night."
Jack Lock
Saturday, August 14
Saturday, August 14
" Our men were now getting exhausted from hard work and lack of food. We sent up some food to them in the early morning. They were well off for water as they had four wells, but they ran considerable risk in getting it. "
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
below: "Balloon ship Hector with Kite Balloon up ‘spotting’ off the left flank". The observers in the balloon were able to see the Turkish gun emplacements and then to correct warships shelling targets. These balloons were stable during high winds.
French Flagship Suffren shelling Turkish positions off Suvla. Illustrations from 'The Dardanelles' Norman Wilkinson. Longmans Green. 1915
A constant theme of the Dardanelles is the lack of water. Water was the single most valuable commodity and the most difficult to supply. John Hargrave recalled:
The water tank-boats brought it from Alexandria. It was filthy water, full of dirt, and very brackish to taste. Also it was warm. During the two months at Suvla Bay I never tasted a drop of cold water — it was always sickly lukewarm, sun-stewed.
It was one muddle and confusion of water tanks, pier-planks, and pontoons, huge piles of bully- beef, biscuit and jam boxes. Here we came each evening with the water-cart to get our supply of water, and here the water-carts of every unit came down each evening and stood in a row and waited their turn. The water was pumped from the water-tank boats to the tank on shore.
All day long high explosives used to sing and burst — sometimes killing and wounding men, sometimes blowing up the bully-beef and biscuits, sometimes falling with a hiss and a column of white spray into the sea. It was here that the field-telegraph of the Royal Engineers became a tangled spider's web of wires and cross wires. They added wires and branch wires every day, and stuck them up on thin poles. Here you could see the Engineers in shirt and shorts trying to find a disconnection,or carrying a huge reel of wire. Wooden shanties sprang up where dug-outs had been a day or so before. Piers began to crawl out into the bay, adding a leg and trestle and pontoon every hour. Near Kangaroo Beach was the camp of the Indians… Here they were laying a light rail from the beach up with trucks for carrying shells and parts of big guns.
Sunday, August 15
Captain Montgomerie briefly noted that...
"... lt was decided that our first line should be relieved by the Essex brigade. I, from my ridge, was to give covering fire.."
Meanwhile, after a week of indecision and inactivity, the British commander at Suvla, Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stopford was dismissed aboard his command vessel moored safely in the bay. His performance in command is often considered one of the most incompetent feats of generalship of the First World War.
And there was the constant threat from snipers:
"All we could do was to keep down the fire of the snipers by shooting into the trees. Rumour has it that some of these snipers were tied to trees, with water and food within reach. Women snipers have been caught within our lines with their faces, arms, legs, and rides painted green."
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
Monday, August 16
The surviving members of the 1/4 Norfolk battalion was moved to a point near Kiretch Tepe Sirt on the ridge running north-east from SuvIa Point, where the 31st Brigade was. Captain Montgomerie wrote:
" ...I was relieved on the ridge by the 4th Essex early in the morning. The battalion joined up in trenches some 300 yards in rear of the ridge. We were busy digging trenches all day, and trying to collect the men to their various companies. In the late advance we had been in reserve, and three companies and one platoon had reinforced the first line, so they had become very scattered... In the afternoon the 10th division advanced along the ridge and cleared the whole hill of the enemy. Unfortunately we were unable to hold on to the extreme east of it. It was a fine sight to watch from the valley below. "
Tuesday, August 17
Spackman and the 1/4th Battalion remained in position during the day.
Various soldiers from different units were straggling back to the 1/4th Battalion, the remainder of the 5th Norfolk were now put under command of Captain Montgomerie. Nothing had yet been found of the missing officers and men from the 5th Norfolk and it was presumed that many had either been killed in action in an area now controlled by the Turks or taken prisoner.
During all this time the troops had been very short of water, often having only about a mugfull each day. With scant supplies, the priority was to get water. The Battalion diary records ...
" ...Battalion sank several small wells in the hope of finding water, but these produced nothing more than brackish and muddy puddles. Water, in these first weeks, was sent to the battalion in skins, and in the extreme heat a great deal of it evaporated. Later, when petrol tins were used they were found to be more satisfactory. All the water was brought in tank steamers from Egypt and pumped on to the Peninsula, where it was stored and distributed....A quiet day improving trenches. Had a little shrapnel in the morning on the right. Bampton was killed by one of the shells.
I was ordered to take over the lines held by the 8th Hampshires on ridge just to right of where I had been previously. This suited us well, as we would then have all four companies in that line. I had made all arrangements, and we were starting to move when I was sent for to brigade head-quarters, and told to take the battalion in support of 30th brigade on top of Kiretch Tepe. At this time I had also under me the remnants of the 5th Norfolk, which consisted of 150 men under one officer - Lieutenant Evelyn Beck. I sent out orders to collect the various companies and had to rapidly issue ammunition, water, and food. While preparing to move our men were heavily shelled with shrapnel and a few high explosives. We lost eight men. We started our movement up the hill at 7 p.m. It was a very tedious climb and as we were all heavily laden it was very slow. Anyhow, we managed to arrive at the brigade headquarters at 12 midnight without any mishap. We were put right away into some trenches facing south on top of the ridge. "
While there the shortage of water and food and the hardships they had encountered much reduced the health of the battalion, and the majority were suffering from mild or severe forms of dysentery. This disease, jaundice, and various fevers, for the remainder of the campaign caused far more casualties than the Turks.
The descriptions of the fighting in long forgotten letters and memoirs – of machine guns and snipers and grenades, of lethal shrapnel bombs exploding overhead, of the groaning of the wounded, waiting, hoping a stretcher-bearer would rescue them, of flies feasting on rotting corpses, of survivors crushing fists-full of wild thyme to smother the stench of the dead, and of the young soldiers parched for want of water – all pale with what the reality of the desperation on both sides.
Jack Lock's diary continued with a brief entry: "Up at dawn. Set to work dodging bullets."
Wednesday, August 18
The 1/4th Battalion remained in position during the day, but in the evening were moved to relieve the 6th Munster Fusiliers on Saddle Ridge near Jephson's Post.
The descriptions of the fighting in long forgotten letters and memoirs – of machine guns and snipers and grenades, of lethal shrapnel bombs exploding overhead, of the groaning of the wounded, waiting, hoping a stretcher-bearer would rescue them, of flies feasting on rotting corpses, of survivors crushing fists-full of wild thyme to smother the stench of the dead, and of the young soldiers parched for want of water – all pale with what the reality of the desperation on both sides.
Jack Lock's diary continued with a brief entry: "Up at dawn. Set to work dodging bullets."
Wednesday, August 18
The 1/4th Battalion remained in position during the day, but in the evening were moved to relieve the 6th Munster Fusiliers on Saddle Ridge near Jephson's Post.
" The battalion was still only in fighting order, i.e. with haversacks only and no packs, and they were unable to get any blankets or change of underclothes till the end of August. While in the day it was extremely hot, at night it became very cold, so much so that it was almost impossible to get much sleep....Remained quiet, during the day. Orders were received in evening to relieve the 6th Munsters and Inniskillings in front line facing east. The Essex brigade was to relieve us. This relieving was muddled through all right. We had to do a lot of digging to make things safe. "
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
"Up at dawn in trench where there were snipers not far off. Several of our fellows were wounded. Then that continued till night. Then there was silence for a time..."
Jack Lock
From August 19th to 27th, Spackman and the 1/4th Norfolk Regiment Battalion remained in the front line.
Thursday, August 19
" All quiet during day. Worked hard all night fetching food, water, etc., and improving the trenches..."
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
"Up at dawn in same trench, snipers not so much trouble. Battle ship shell on our left but her guns done good work. We enlarged dug out, made it more comfortable."
Jack Lock
Robert Howlett, 1st/4th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment. Killed in Action on the 19th August 1915 whilst serving in the front line
below: Ship’s boats towed to a Hospital ship with wounded. The shallowness of the water inshore made evacuation of the wounded difficult. Ships boats were rowed ashore, the wounded loaded in and boats rowed out to be taken in tow by picket boats to hospital ships. Middle: Hospital Ships at Kephalo – the less seriously wounded troops were brought from the battlezone by hospital carriers and either landed at rest camps on the island or moored alongside Hospital Ship Aquitania in Mudros Harbour and handed over serious cases for transport back to Britain.
Illustration from 'The Dardanelles'. Norman Wilkinson. Longmans Green. 1915
Illustration from 'The Dardanelles'. Norman Wilkinson. Longmans Green. 1915
Friday, August 20
"Were relieved of Jephson's Redoubt by Essex; so organized the line with two companies in firing line and two in support. "
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
"A nothing doing much. My mate went down at last to fetch water. He Brought some sugar and meat back so we had a good supper that night. He was done up so I done his guard for him. While I was doing it, the enemy tried to break the lines in search light, but it did not come off.."
Jack Lock
Harry Codling, 1st/4th Battalion Norfolk Regiment. Killed in Action on the 20th August 1915
Saturday, August 21
"Standing to arms at 3 p.m. as an attack was commenced on our right. There was no movement in our part of the battle-field. At night a party of Turks tried to make 'an advanced trench but this was stopped by the torpedo boat on the left and the machine-guns. "
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
"Up before dawn and shifted into trenches 20 yards behind firing line. Supposed to be rest trenches. Improvement in rations, tea, sugar bacon, jam, dessicated vegetables, biscuits, condenced milk and corn beef, so had a proper fill out. After that we had order to stand too at 5pm, but did shift that night."
Jack Lock
Sunday, August 22
"A very quiet day; very little sniping. The enemy shelled us for the first time in this position, two shells fell very near. They are undoubtedly trying to hit the machine-guns near us. They shrapnelled the ridge farther along, and did a little damage to the Essex. "
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
"Awakened by our machine Guns and rifles about 4am. We then shifted into our dug outs we left the previous day. Good news, we heard the mail had arrived."
Jack Lock (no further entry by Jack until Wednesday, August 25, 1915.)
Monday, August 23
"A quiet day. A little shelling in morning and evening. One shell hit head-quarters dug-out, but did no damage. These common shells do little damage. Sniping was bad in morning.."
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
Here was the field post-office with sacks and sacks of letters and parcels. Some of the parcels were burst and un-addressed ; a pair of socks or a mouldy home-made cake squashed in a card- board box — sometimes nothing but the brown paper, card box and string, an empty shell — the contents having disappeared. What happened to all the parcels which never got to the Dardanelles no one knows, but those which did arrive were rifled and lost and stolen. Parcels containing cigarettes had a way of not getting delivered, and cakes and sweets often fell out mysteriously on the way from England.
Things became jumbled.
The continual working up to the firing-line and the awful labour of carrying heavy men back to our dressing station: it went on. We got used to being always tired, and having only an hour or two of sleep. It was log-heavy, dreamless sleep . . . sheer nothingness. Just as tired when you were wakened in the early hours by a sleepy, grumbling guard. And then going round finding the men and wakening them up and getting them on parade. Every day the same . . . late into the night.
“At Suvla Bay”. John Hargrave. Constable & Co. 1916 (illustration below sketched by Hargarve)
Tuesday, August 24
"Very quiet all day; very little sniping. The Turks tried to shell our trenches with H.E., but they all fell well short of our line. Orders received to be prepared to be relieved by the 162nd brigade to-morrow night. At about 6 p.m. this order was cancelled and we remained in our present place."
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
What is not described in the Battle Diaries maintained by Captain Montgomerie is the reality of trench warfare under a blistering climate. Private Ernest Lye wrote of “the cries of the wounded and seeing corpses rotting in the glare of the sun”.
Then there were the diseases such as dysentery, where an uncontrollable bloody diarrhrea with crippling abdominal pains would spread throughout the closely packed troops.
Towards the end of August the Norfolk battalions were moved farther down the Gallipoli Peninsula, and both Jack Lock and Captain Montgomerie record events in their diaries which gives the following accounts of the move and of events succeeding it :
Wednesday, August 25
"All quiet."
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
"Up at dawn. Move into rest trenches. Great improvement in rations. About 7am I was called upon to act as stretcher bearer. While stopping to rest was wounded by shrapnel. Went to dressing station and had it dressed. I then walked to a red cross place where I had some coffee which was a treat. They took me to another place close to the sea to wait for ship ready to get on Hospital ship..."
Jack Lock
Many of the wounded died in bush fires. The reporter Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, from a vantage point on the hill of Lala Baba, described such a scene on August 25:
“I watched the flames approaching and the crawling figures disappear amidst dense clouds of black smoke. When the fire passed on, little mounds of scorched khaki alone marked the spot where another mismanaged soldier of the King had returned to mother earth.”
John Hargraves wrote of the same event:
"One evening, the 25th of August, bush-fires broke out on the right of Chocolate Hill.
The shells from the Turks set light to the dried sage, and thistle and thorn, and soon the whole place was blazing. It was a fearful sight. Many wounded tried to crawl away, dragging their broken arms and legs out of the burning bushes and were cremated alive.
It was impossible to rescue them. Boxes of ammunition caught fire and exploded with terrific noise in thick bunches of murky smoke. A bombing section tried to throw off their equipment before the explosives burst, but many were blown to pieces by their own bombs. Puffs of white smoke rose up in little clouds and floated slowly across the Salt Lake. The flames ran along the ridges in long lapping lines with a canopy of blue and greysmoke. We could hear the crackle of the burning thickets, and the sharp “bang! '' of bullets. The sand round Suvla Bay hid thousands of bullets and ammunition pouches, some flung away by wounded men, some belonging to the dead. As the bush-fires licked from the lower slopes of the Sari Bair towards Chocolate Hill this lost ammunition exploded, and it sounded like erratic rifle-fire. The fires glowed and spluttered all night, and went on smoking in the morning…
Thursday, August 26
"Quiet all day except for the sniping. Received orders to be prepared to be relieved by the 32nd brigade. They reckoned to be up to relieve us about 9.30 p.m. They arrived about 11.15 p.m., and then the head of the column had come wrong and had come to us instead of to the 5th Norfolk on the left. We had to get them clear, and then started putting them in our trenches.' It was a long job, and, to add to our troubles, a gale sprang up with a certain amount of rain. A most uncomfortable night. We 'got back to the reserve trenches about a mile in rear about 4 a.m.
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
"Woke up finding a comrade dead which had suffered greatly during the night. Breakfast came, tea, bread and bacon, quite a treat after biscuits for 3 weeks. They took us to the hospital ship (S.S. Nevasa Glasgow) in small towing boats drawn by a small steamer. I saw many wounded brought in and had their wounds dressed. I had mine done again about 9:30am. I then rested for a time till dinner came. We had some lovely stew and rice which was also a treat. We could not hear so much of the guns, only slight and so we carried on till the rest of that day"
Jack Lock
Friday, August 27
"A quiet day. Had a shave for the first time since landing. Prepared to move into reserve that night. Time of moving unknown. "
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
"Woke up finding ship was sailing just before dawn. First she stopped at Lemnos. We had breakfast. After that we had our wounds dressed. Then went up stairs finding a Thetford pall, so it was company for me."
Jack Lock
Saturday, August 28
"Started off to reserve about 1.15 a.m. . It was only a short march but rather a fatiguing one. Men weak from dysentery and unable to keep up, but we eventually reached our new bivouac about 4 a.m. We were put down by the sea underneath the cliff. Little space, so we are very crowded. Not much cover if we are heavily shelled. Had a bread ration for the first time since leaving the 'Aquitania.' Battalion was put on duty. Each company on fatigue of some kind."
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
"Up at 6am, breakfast at 8am. Had our wounds dressed again. During the morning the ______ [ED: Itonas???], another Hospital ship, drew up beside us. I wondered what she came for but I soon saw the orderlys taking the stretcher cases off our boat and putting them on her. I watched them for several minutes. I then went on her myself and had a look round. Saw Indians painting the ships bow. It was a sight to see them climb the ropes with their big toe. Of course I could not speak to them. I soon found out that there was a canteen there, so I went and fetch my mate some chocolate. Had wounds dressed. After dinner we shifted off the Nevasa on to a little steam boat and landed to another hospital. We were sorted out to different camps and had light refreshments when landed. Tea time came, then we rested for the night.."
Jack Lock
(Jack was now on convalesence leave due to his wounds. His diary entries in the war zone continued on Saturday, October 9, 1915 when he returned to the 1/4th Norfolk Battalion.)
Sunday, August 29
A complete rest.
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
Monday, August 30
Battalion ordered to go to "A" beach on fatigue duty until relieved. Sent the four companies under Captain Burrell - 485 strong. Staff and sick remained behind. I went with brigade head-quarters to Anzac to see the trenches we were to occupy. Were met by brigade-major of New Zealand Mounted Brigade, and were taken to General Cox's head-quarters, where he explained situation to us. The New Zealanders had taken half Hill 60 and were at close quarters to the Turks. Very necessary that hill should be held. Later, went to communication trench behind, where we could see the whole situation. Both sides busy digging and throwing bombs.
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
Tuesday, August 31
Companies on fatigue not relieved, and remained at A beach.
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
Wednesday, September 1
Companies returned to Lala Baba. Orders received to be prepared to move to Anzac next day.
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
Thursday, September 2
Move to Anzac postponed.
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
Friday, September 3
Moved to Anzac area. Left Lala Baba at 9.30, reached Anzac Kurja, about one mile from our destination, about 11 p.m. Guide from 5th Suffolks met us to show us the way. Got lost and had to find the way ourselves. Arrived at our destination 4 a.m.
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
Saturday, September 4
Remained in bivouac. Orders received to take over, on 5th, trenches now occupied by 5th Essex.
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
Sunday, September 5
Relieved 5th Essex at 8 p.m.
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
Monday, September 6
All was quiet during the day, but we saw that the Turks were sapping up to us. Started taking steps to defeat them. At night a few bombs were thrown, and some shots fired. Nothing of importance.
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
Tuesday, September 7
'A' and 'B' relieved by 'C' and 'D' about 4 a.m. Only just managed to get the relieving done in time.
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
Wednesday, September 9
More or less quiet. We lose a few men every day, principally from a gun on our right flank which nearly enfilades us, and fires at a pretty close range. The fault lies chiefly with the men, who will not take proper care of themselves, nor make their dug-outs deep enough. Head-quarters moved up this evening to entrance of communication trench to front line. Colonel Harvey arrived, but went to command brigade."
Captain Montgomerie - 1/4th Battalion Diary entry
By the 9th of September, the 1/4th Battalion official reports show that the embarkation strength of twenty-six officers and 1,000 other ranks a month earlier was now reduced to thirteen officers and 580 men. Thirteen officers and four hundred and twenty men were dead. With Colonel Harvey's arrival, Montgomerie it seems was ordered to continue maintaining the battle diary:
Special mention must be made of the activities of the various Norfolk County Red Cross and Regimental and other associations, who were good enough to send out large consignments of cigarettes, tobacco, chocolate, fly-nets, and other luxuries, which were most welcome. Perhaps the most acceptable of all was a consignment Of 2,000 or 3,000 sandbags made by various ladies in Norfolk which arrived early in September, at a time when sandbags in the front line were very scarce. This consignment was put to excellent use, and added not a little to the safety in the trenches and to the comfort of the men in the dug-outs
By about September, owing to. the fact that great numbers of troops had been living in a small space, flies began to abound and became a perfect curse. It was impossible to prepare any food without it becoming covered with a horde of filthy black flies, and at all times of the day they were continually tormenting the troops and spreading disease.
About the middle of October the rations greatly improved and, instead of bully beef and biscuits, rations of beef, bread, cheese, and all kinds of jam and marmalade were frequently sent up.
The closer we crept to the shores of Suvla Bay, and the deathbed of the Salt Lake, the more exact and vivid are the impressions ; the one is like an impressionist sketch — blobs and dabs and great sloshy washes ; but the memories of Pear-tree Gully, of the Kapanja Sirt, and Chocolate Hill are drawn in with a fine mapping pen and Indian ink — like a Rackham fairy-book illustration — every blade of dead grass, every ripple of blue, every pink pebble ; and towards the firing-line I could draw it now, every inch of the way up the hills with every stone and jagged rock in the right place.
So all this seemed sheer waste. Thousands of lives wasted — thousands of armless and legless cripples sent back — for nothing. The troops soon realised that it was now hopeless. You can't “kid“ agreat body of men for long. It became utterly sickening — the inactivity — the waiting — for nothing. And every day we lost men. Men were killed by snipers as they went up to the trenches. The Turkish snipers killed them when they went down to the wells for water.
The whole thing had lost impetus. It came to a standstill. It kept on “marking time," and nothing appeared to move it.
John Hargrave. “At Suvla Bay”. Constable & Co. 1916
Trench art is any decorative item made by soldiers, prisoners of war, or civilians where the manufacture is directly linked to armed conflict or its consequences. It offers an insight not only to their feelings and emotions about the war, but also their surroundings and the materials they had available to them. Not limited to the World Wars, the history of trench art spans conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to the present day.
Art objects from the trenches of the First World War were generally created during pauses in battle, which could last weeks or months. These extended periods of time offered the soldiers’ ample time to carve, weld, or etch scrap metal into souvenirs. A soldier certainly needed a hobby to occupy his mind during these seemingly endless periods of inaction; the spent shell casings were plentiful so they became his material of choice. It was generally considered by the commanding officers as a necessary form of occupational therapy, and they didn’t mind seeing a reasonable amount of the valuable metal siphoned off to be used by the soldiers; as idle hands and minds were considered far more dangerous than a few hundred pounds of missing brass.
Groups of soldiers often formed small manufacturing cooperatives, similar to knitting circles found in their villages back home. Soldiers with sought after skills, such as etching or welding, were in high demand. While less artistically skilled solders collected and prepared the raw materials and assisted in the polishing the finished pieces of trench art. Although most soldiers took great pride in creating their own souvenirs, an economy of barter developed around the cottage industry of creating trench art. The less artistically inclined soldier’s often traded food or other scarce items for souvenirs to send home.
Below: An 18 pound shell transformed into a jug at Gallipoli. Empty shell casings were also turned into decorative items such as floral vase and lighthouse.
Art objects from the trenches of the First World War were generally created during pauses in battle, which could last weeks or months. These extended periods of time offered the soldiers’ ample time to carve, weld, or etch scrap metal into souvenirs. A soldier certainly needed a hobby to occupy his mind during these seemingly endless periods of inaction; the spent shell casings were plentiful so they became his material of choice. It was generally considered by the commanding officers as a necessary form of occupational therapy, and they didn’t mind seeing a reasonable amount of the valuable metal siphoned off to be used by the soldiers; as idle hands and minds were considered far more dangerous than a few hundred pounds of missing brass.
Groups of soldiers often formed small manufacturing cooperatives, similar to knitting circles found in their villages back home. Soldiers with sought after skills, such as etching or welding, were in high demand. While less artistically skilled solders collected and prepared the raw materials and assisted in the polishing the finished pieces of trench art. Although most soldiers took great pride in creating their own souvenirs, an economy of barter developed around the cottage industry of creating trench art. The less artistically inclined soldier’s often traded food or other scarce items for souvenirs to send home.
Below: An 18 pound shell transformed into a jug at Gallipoli. Empty shell casings were also turned into decorative items such as floral vase and lighthouse.
Saturday, October 9
Jack Lock's war diary continues on his return to the 1/4th Battalion Norfolk Regiment:
I returned to duty with the boys who were at Anzask [ED: Anzac Cove]. I was rather supprised to find such a small battalion, but the rest of them still stuck it. Some of the boys had altered so I did not know them. Some of them had got so thin and wore out. Well the next day I was sent out with a Fateeg party [ED: Fatigue party] to Hill 10 trench digging. I saw some sights as I was going along the sap. I saw a dead mans fingers sticking out of the ground. There were one or two snipers above, but not so many as there was on the left. The next day I was sent to our own trenches, where I saw some more sights. The turks were only 100 yards away in some places. I was greatly interested in the periscope. I asked if I could look through. There I saw, about 5 yards in front of the trench, a group of dead men laying, some turks and some of our own men. I could see the Turks trenches quite plain, but not the Turks. As I was walking along the sap I saw a periscope rifle I was also interested in that it...
Jack Lock
Now came a period of utter stagnation. It was a deadlock. We held the bay, the plain of Anafarta, the Salt Lake, the Kislar Dagh and Kapanja Sirt in a horse-shoe. The Turks held the heights of Sari Bair, Anafarta village, and the hills beyond "Jefferson's Post" in a semicircle enclosing us. Nothing happened. We shelled and they shelled — every day. Snipers sniped and men got killed; but there was no further advance. Things had remained at a standstill since the first week of the landing.
Rumours floated from one unit to another:“We were going to make a great attack on the 28th “— always a fixed date; “the Italians were landing troops to help the Australians at Anzac" — every possible absurdity was noised abroad.
John Hargrave. “At Suvla Bay”. Constable & Co. 1916
From November, The Norfolk Yeomanry, afterwards the 12th (Yeomanry) Battalion Norfolk Regiment, shared the various support duties with the 1/4th taking tours of duty at the front line.
Munro recommended evacuation to a reluctant Kitchener, who in early November was sent to inspect the peninsula before a decision was made. Concerned for the strength of confidence in his standing, Kitchener took his seals of office with him so he could not be sacked in his absence. Kitchener spent just over two hours at Anzac surveying the Turkish line from Australian trenches inland of the Sphinx and at Lone Pine. Two days later, after further consultation with senior commanders, he recommended to the British War Cabinet that Gallipoli–Anzac, Suvla and Helles all be evacuated. Without significant reinforcement and the bringing in of considerable artillery resources, little progress could, in his opinion, be made against the strengthening Turkish trenches. This was especially so at Anzac where a further surprise attack, such as had been conducted in August against Chunuk Bair and Kocacimentepe, was virtually impossible. Moreover, local commanders were extremely worried about the problems of supplying Gallipoli throughout the winter with its many severe storms.
Below: Kitchener investigates the trenches at Suvla and Gallipoli
The untenable nature of the Allied position was made apparent by snow blizzards followed by a heavy rainstorm on 26/27 November 1915. The downpour at Suvla lasted for three day and soon all the valleys that had been used for passage became torrents. Troops drowned in their trenches as shallow burials of Allied and Turkish soldiers, washed their bodies into the trenches. Many more troops froze to death in another blizzard and successive snow storms and thousands were invalided out due to frostbite. A great number of the barges and lighters which were used to bring the supplies and land the troops from the ships in the bay were wrecked on the shore.
In early December, the 1/4th Battalion's Commanding Officer, Colonel Harvey was invalided from Suvla, leaving only Eleven officers (including Spackman) and 199 men of the 1/4 Battalion fit for duty in Suvla Bay.
The untenable nature of the Allied position was made apparent by snow blizzards followed by a heavy rainstorm on 26/27 November 1915. The downpour at Suvla lasted for three day and soon all the valleys that had been used for passage became torrents. Troops drowned in their trenches as shallow burials of Allied and Turkish soldiers, washed their bodies into the trenches. Many more troops froze to death in another blizzard and successive snow storms and thousands were invalided out due to frostbite. A great number of the barges and lighters which were used to bring the supplies and land the troops from the ships in the bay were wrecked on the shore.
In early December, the 1/4th Battalion's Commanding Officer, Colonel Harvey was invalided from Suvla, leaving only Eleven officers (including Spackman) and 199 men of the 1/4 Battalion fit for duty in Suvla Bay.
'The finest of all deaths in the finest of all causes'
Despite the mounting casualties, The Irish Times defended the Gallipoli and Suvla Bay campaign in an emotional editorial:
Despite the mounting casualties, The Irish Times defended the Gallipoli and Suvla Bay campaign in an emotional editorial:
‘Sometimes we may be tempted to ask: was it worth the while? Was it really necessary that this only son of his mother should fall to a Turkish bullet, that the career of that brilliant young barrister should end in a scuffle on a foreign sandhill?
We venture to say that even the bitterest loss in this campaign has been worth the while - worth it for the soldier himself, for his loved ones, for Ireland. The soldier has died the finest of all deaths in the finest of all causes. In his short life he has done a greater thing than any who survive him at home will ever do...He has left to his family the consolation of a proud and tender memory. His death is a message of hope to his country. Of those who will never come home we can truly say, as the Spartans said of their dead at Thermoppylae, that their tombs are altars, their lot glorious and beautiful....
The Unionists and Nationalists who fought at Ypres and stormed the hill at Suvla have sealed a new bond of patriotism. The spirits of our dead soldiers will cry trumpet-tongued against the deep damnation of internecine strife in Ireland.‘
Evacuation
Once the decision had been taken to evacuate, the biggest problem was how to leave the peninsula without arousing the suspicions of the Turks. A detailed evacuation plan was devised by an Australian, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Brudenell White. This involved elaborate deception operations such as the so-called ‘silent stunts’ of late November where no artillery fire or sniping was to occur from the Anzac lines. It was hoped that this would accustom the Turks to the idea that preparations were underway for the coming winter. Hopefully, the enemy would not, therefore, interpret these silences as a withdrawal. Right to the end, great care was taken to keep up the kind of irregular rifle and artillery fire from Anzac that would be expected by the Turks.
An evacuation schedule planned for the leaving of Anzac in three stages. In the ‘preliminary stage’, to be set in motion while awaiting word from London that the British Cabinet had approved Lord Kitchener’s recommendation to evacuate, men and equipment would be taken off consistent with a garrison preparing for a purely defensive winter campaign. After Cabinet approval, the ‘intermediate’ stage would commence, during which the number of soldiers on Anzac would be reduced to a point where they could still hold off a major Turkish attack for about one week. During the first two stages, the Anzac garrison would fall from 41,000 to 26,000.
The 1/4th Battalion were withdrawn from Reserve Alley, ANZAC and 1/5th Battalion Norfolk's were evacuated overnight on December 7/8th to Mudros. The 1/4th strength then being 11 officers including Spackman and 199 other ranks having lost 15 officers and 801 men since landing on August 10th.
The remaining 26,000 troops were then withdrawn over two nights in the ‘final’ evacuation on 18-19 and 19-20 December 1915. In the event, by 18 December at the end of the ‘intermediate’ stage, there were only 20,277 soldiers left at Anzac. Although Anzac Cove was used, the chief evacuation points were the piers at North Beach. It was at North Beach, therefore, that many men spent their last moments on Anzac and caught their last glimpses in the dark of the Sari Bair Range as they pulled away from the piers.
Multiple ruses were followed to disguise the troop movements and presence. Evacuations were only carried out at night. At Anzac Cove, troops maintained silence for an hour or more, until curious Ottoman troops ventured to inspect the trenches, whereupon the Anzacs opened fire. A mine was detonated at the Nek which killed 70 Ottoman soldiers. Australian Lance Corporal William Scurry's invention of a self-firing rifle, rigged to fire by water dripping into a pan attached to the trigger, were widely used to disguise the planned departure.
An Australian observer watched a busy night scene at North Beach: "I went down to see the sending away of the British Labour Corps [the ‘Old and Bold’] and Egyptians and Maltese. Flares were burning on Williams’ Pier and Walker's Ridge. Baggage was piled on the wharf–mostly field ambulance; four gun-teams made their way through the crowd out towards the left; ammunition was being carried in on gharries [a type of horse-drawn Indian carriage] and taken on to the pier or stacked on the beach … truck-load after truck-load of warm winter clothing was being sent running down the little railway on Williams’ Pier."
Quoted in C E W Bean, The Story of Anzac, Sydney, 1924, Vol II, pp. 865-866
The Allied force was embarked, with the Australians suffering no casualties on the final night but large quantities of supplies and stores fell into Ottoman hands.
Suvla and Anzac were evacuated simultaneously, the last troops leaving before dawn on 20 December 1915. On 28 December a further decision was taken to evacuate the British and French at Cape Helles. Once again the force slipped away unobserved on the night of 7/8 January 1916. In terms of achieving its objective, the evacuation was the best-executed move of the entire campaign. With almost no loss, over 80,000 men were evacuated in December and January.
Despite predictions of up to 30,000 casualties,35,268 troops, 3,689 horses and mules, 127 guns, 328 vehicles and 1,600 long tons (1,600 t) of equipment were removed. 508 mules which could not be embarked were killed so as not to fall into Ottoman hands and 1,590 vehicles were left behind with smashed wheels. As at Anzac, large amounts of supplies (including 15 British and six French un-serviceable artillery pieces which were destroyed), gun carriages and ammunition were left behind; hundreds of horses were slaughtered to deny them to the Ottomans. A sailor was killed by débris from a magazine that exploded prematurely and a lighter and a picket boat were lost.
From Mudros, the battalions were shipped to Alexandria in Egypt on the MT Victorian arriving on December 19th. Command was assumed by Lieutenant-Colonel W. A. Younden. Both 1/4th and 1/5th Norfolks were based at the Sidi Bishr camp until February 1916. Egypt was the nearest British territory where all the evacuated troops could be properly refitted, rested, reorganised and medically treated. Almost all of the evacuated troops were 'run down, lice and flea ridden and in poor physical shape'
This was to be Basil Spackman's first of many future postings to Egypt.
Spackman's Service and Casualty Form shows that on December 27, 1915 he was formally required to relinquish his position of Acting Captaincy of his company in 1/4th Battalion Norfolk Regiment 'on ceasing to command a company' in the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force as directed by the G.R.O. list 220.
Aftermath of Suvla Bay & Gallipoli.
The queer thing is, that when I look back upon that " Great Failure " it is not the danger or the importance of the undertaking which is strongly impressed so much as a jumble of smells and sounds and small things….
The glitter of someone carrying an army biscuit-tin along the mule track ;
the imprinted tracks of sand-birds by the blue Aegean shore;
the stink of the dead ;
a dead man's hand sticking up through the sand ;
the blankets soaked each morning by the heavy dew ;
the incessant rattle of a machine-gun behind Pear-tree Gully ;
the distant ridges of the Sari Bahir range shimmering in the heat of noon-day;
the angry " buzz '' of the green and black flies disturbed from a jam-pot lid ;
the grit of sand in the mouth with every bite of food;
the sullen dullness of the overworked, death-wearied troops ;
the hoarse dried-up and everlasting question : "Any water?";
the silence of the Hindus of the Pack-mule Corps ;
the " S-s-s-e-e-e-e-o-o-o-op ! — Crash! ' — of the high explosives bursting in a bunch of densely solid smoke on the Kislar Dargh, and the slow unfolding of these masses of smoke and sand in black and khaki rolls ;
the snort and stampede of a couple of mules bolting along the beach with their trappings swinging and rattling under their panting bellies ;
the steady burning of the star-lit night skies ;
the regular morning shelling from the Turkish batteries on the break of dawn over the gloom-shrouded hills ;
the far-away- call of some wounded man for " Stretchers ! Stretchers! " ;
the naked white men splashing and swimming in the bay ;
the swoop of a couple of skinny vultures over the burning white sand of the Salt Lake bed to the stinking and decomposing body of a shrapnel-slaughtered mule hidden in the willow-thickets at the bottom of Chocolate Hill ;
a torn and bullet-pierced French warplane stranded on the other side of Lala Baba — lying over at an angle like a wounded white seabird ;
the rush for the little figure bringing in " the mails " in a sack over his shoulder ;
the smell of iodine and iodoform round the hospital-tents ;
the long wobbling moan of the Turkish long- distance shells, and the harmless " Z-z-z-eee-e- e-o-ooop!" of their "dud'' shells which buried themselves so often in the sand without exploding ;
the tattered, begrimed and sunken-eyed appearance of men who had been in the trenches for three weeks at a stretch ;
the bristling unshaven chins, and the craving desire for " woodbines " ;
the ingrained stale blood on my hands and arms from those fearful gaping wounds, and the red-brown blood-stain patches on my khaki drill clothes ;
the pestering curse of those damnable Suvla Bay flies and the lice with which every officer and man swarmed.
The awful — cut-off, Robinson Crusoe feeling — no letters from home, no newspapers, no books . . .
sand, biscuits and flies ;
flies, bullybeef and sand ...
John Hargrave. “At Suvla Bay”. Constable & Co. 1916
The Allied campaign was plagued by ill-defined goals, poor planning, insufficient artillery, inexperienced troops, inaccurate maps, poor intelligence, overconfidence, inadequate equipment, and logistical and tactical deficiencies at all levels. Geography also proved a significant factor. While the Allied forces possessed inaccurate maps and intelligence and proved unable to exploit the terrain to their advantage, the Ottoman commanders were able to utilise the high ground around the Allied landing beaches to position well-sited defences that limited the Allied forces' ability to penetrate inland, confining them to narrow beaches. The campaign's necessity remains the subject of debate, and the recriminations that followed were significant, highlighting the schism that had developed between military strategists who felt the Allies should focus on fighting on the Western Front and those that favoured trying to end the war by attacking Germany's "soft underbelly", its allies in the east.
Allied losses were confirmed as 25,000 dead, 76,000 wounded, 13,000 missing presumed killed and 96,000 hospitalised due to illness.
1/5th Battalion Norfolks
As for the 5th Battalion Norfolks, the Colonel, fifteen officers and two hundred and fifty other ranks that had charged up the hill on August 12th, 1915 never did return. On the various reconnaissance ventures close to the area, nothing was found of the officers and men, no equipment, no messages and no remains. The men had disappeared and the mystery as to their fate would remain unsolved until after the war.
The fate of the battalion was discovered four years later in 1919 when the Commonwealth War Graves Commission began searching the battlefields and temporary graves at Gallipoli for the remains of Allied soldiers for proper burial. There an investigator discovered a cap badge belonging to a soldier of the Norfolk regiment in sand 800 meters behind the Turkish lines at Suvla Bay. The area was investigated and what was found led the commanding officer to write home triumphantly on September 23rd:
"We have found the 5th Norfolks...-there were 180 in all; 122 Norfolk and a few Hants and Suffolks with 2/4th Cheshires. We could only identify two - Privates Barnaby and Cotter. They were scattered over an area of about one square mile, at a distance of at least 800 yards behind the Turkish front line. Many of them had evidently been killed in a farm, as a local Turk, who owns the place, told us that when he came back he found the farm covered with the decomposing bodies of British soldiers which he threw into a small ravine. The whole thing quite bears out the original theory that they did not go very far on, but got mopped up one by one, all except the ones who got into the farm."
When this news reached the War Office in London, they sent a chaplain who had served during the campaign back to Gallipoli to investigate. The Rev Charles Pierrepoint Edwards further examined the area where the cap badge had been uncovered and in the mass grave containing 180 bodies, 122 were identified as members of the "Vanished Battalion." The remains included those of their commanding officer, Lt-Col Beuchamp, who was identified by the distinctive shoulder flashes on his uniform. Of the 266 officers and men reported as missing, 144 remained unaccounted for, but a number of these had been captured and some had subsequently died in the notorious Turkish prison camps. A few had survived captivity to describe what had happened, but their stories and the report of the Rev. Pierrepoint Edwards did not emerge fully until half a century later.
In his book The Vanished Battalion (1991) author McCrery revealed new evidence that explained why the full facts discovered by the clergyman who visited the mass grave were not revealed in 1919. He found there was evidence of an official cover-up to conceal evidence of both a military blunder and a war crime. For it emerged that of the bodies discovered that many had been shot through the head as the Turkish soldiers did not generally take prisoners of war. In addition, the Turks it was alleged, habitually collected fallen soldier's ID tags and so any positive identification of remains was impossible. McCrery's evidence was backed up by the story of a British survivor of the massacre, who testified before his death in 1969 that he had seen Turkish soldiers bayoneting wounded and helpless prisoners and shooting others in the wood where the battalion disappeared. The survivor escaped only because of the intervention of a German officer who saved his life and he spent the remainder of the war in a prison camp.
It also appears that the Rev Charles Pierrepoint Edwards concealed this disturbing evidence in his report to the War Office so as to spare the feelings of the families and the King, who continued to believe their loved ones died gallantly in battle with the enemy. Furthermore, McCrery points out that Sir Ian Hamilton - the Allied commander responsible for the campaign - had an personal interest in making the disappearance of the battalion appear more mysterious than it actually was. His initial dispatch to Kitchener suggested the disappearance of the battalion was inexplicable.
During the campaign, the King personally telegraphed Hamilton (see below) asking about the fate of Captain Beck and his Sandringham company, the 5th Battalion Norfolks. McCrery asks:
"What was he to say? 'Sorry, but I've just sacrificed them all quite needlessly in yet another botched attack?' His best course of action, I believe, was to create an air of mystery and thereby stop any form of enquiry into their loss or his leadership."
The Dardanelles Effect The Dardanelles had a strong effect on Irish, Australian and Turkish public opinion. From political nationalism to folk songs, this was the first large scale sense of loss experienced by all combatant nations for generations. However, the death and destruction of Gallipoli and Suvla Bay were just the prelude to the slaughter to come on The Somme, Verdun & Paschendale. |
Ireland: The enormous casualties at Gallipoli & Suvla Bay among Australian, New Zealand, British and Irish soldiers who had volunteered to fight in the British Army was the first major loss of men in the war and experienced by many nations on the home front. This loss was keenly felt in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. Approximately 210,000 Irishmen joined up and served in the British forces during the war. This created mixed feelings for many Irish people, particularly for those with nationalist sympathies. While they broadly supported the British war effort, they also felt that one of the moral justifications for the war, "the freedom of small nations" like Belgium and Serbia, should also be applied to Ireland, which at that time was under British rule.
Katherine Tynan, a well-known writer and poet in early 1900's Ireland, powerfully conveys the devastation wrought by the Gallipoli campaign in Dublin in 1915: ‘Dublin was full of mourning, and in the faces one met there was a hard brightness of pain as though the people’s hearts burnt in the fire and were not consumed’. Tynan had two sons serving in the British Army during the war and although neither were at Gallipoli, the family had many friends who were killed in the campaign.
The Gallipoli campaign also affected Irish attitudes to the Great War. Tynan described the news of the causalities suffered by the 10th division at Suvla Bay as being the first moment of bitterness for many Irish people in relation to the war: ‘...we felt that the lives had been thrown away and that their heroism had gone unrecognised...The brutal reality of war had been brought home to the Irish people with the nightmarish horrors of the Gallipoli campaign and the casualties of Suvla Bay particularly difficult to accept and process: ‘Suvla –the burning beach, and the poisoned wells, and the blazing scrub, does not bear thinking on’.
On a visit from Mayo to Dublin in summer 1915, Tynan encountered two ‘new war-widows’ and another girl whose brother had been killed at Gallipoli. She powerfully evokes the desperate grief experienced by these young women: “One got to know the look of the new widows –hard, bright eyes, burning for the relief of tears, a high feverish flush in the cheeks, hands that trembled, and occasionally an uncertain movement of the young head”.
Australia & New Zealand: Gallipoli greatly affected both Australian & New Zealand society and sense of identity. Australia suffered more causalities than any Commonwealth nation and with a small population, every Australian had lost a brother, a father, a friend or a neighbour. Each community lost a generation of young men who would have otherwise contributed so much. With the end of war, over 6000 memorials were built across the nation and over a century later, Australia still remembers the soldiers who enlisted, fought and sacrificed their lives for the country. Although Gallipoli was a huge military failure it has become a symbol of both Australia & New Zealand's national identity, achievement and existence.
Katherine Tynan, a well-known writer and poet in early 1900's Ireland, powerfully conveys the devastation wrought by the Gallipoli campaign in Dublin in 1915: ‘Dublin was full of mourning, and in the faces one met there was a hard brightness of pain as though the people’s hearts burnt in the fire and were not consumed’. Tynan had two sons serving in the British Army during the war and although neither were at Gallipoli, the family had many friends who were killed in the campaign.
The Gallipoli campaign also affected Irish attitudes to the Great War. Tynan described the news of the causalities suffered by the 10th division at Suvla Bay as being the first moment of bitterness for many Irish people in relation to the war: ‘...we felt that the lives had been thrown away and that their heroism had gone unrecognised...The brutal reality of war had been brought home to the Irish people with the nightmarish horrors of the Gallipoli campaign and the casualties of Suvla Bay particularly difficult to accept and process: ‘Suvla –the burning beach, and the poisoned wells, and the blazing scrub, does not bear thinking on’.
On a visit from Mayo to Dublin in summer 1915, Tynan encountered two ‘new war-widows’ and another girl whose brother had been killed at Gallipoli. She powerfully evokes the desperate grief experienced by these young women: “One got to know the look of the new widows –hard, bright eyes, burning for the relief of tears, a high feverish flush in the cheeks, hands that trembled, and occasionally an uncertain movement of the young head”.
Australia & New Zealand: Gallipoli greatly affected both Australian & New Zealand society and sense of identity. Australia suffered more causalities than any Commonwealth nation and with a small population, every Australian had lost a brother, a father, a friend or a neighbour. Each community lost a generation of young men who would have otherwise contributed so much. With the end of war, over 6000 memorials were built across the nation and over a century later, Australia still remembers the soldiers who enlisted, fought and sacrificed their lives for the country. Although Gallipoli was a huge military failure it has become a symbol of both Australia & New Zealand's national identity, achievement and existence.
Dublin, 1916,
An armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week, April 1916 was launched by Irish republicans to forcibly end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in the First World War. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798, and the first armed action of the Irish revolutionary period. The rebellion was quickly quelled by British forces, but the Rising and the execution of the leaders that followed, marked a turning point for many Irish people. Some had opposed the action of the rebels, but the public revulsion at the daily executions added to the growing sense of alienation from the British Government.
Canon O'Neill, a clergyman from Ulster was reflecting this sense of alienation when he wrote "The Foggy Dew". In 1919, he attended the first sitting of the new Irish Parliament elected after the General Election of 1918. The names of the elected members were called out, but many were absent. They had been arrested and jailed in Britain. Their names were answered by the reply in Irish: "faoi ghlas ag na Gaill" which means "locked up by the foreigner". It had a profound effect on O'Neill and some time after this he wrote "The Foggy Dew". The song tells the story of the Easter Rising but more importantly, it tries to reflect the thoughts of many Irish nationalists at the time who had come to believe that the Irishmen who fought for Britain during the war should have stayed home and fought for Irish independence instead. O'Neill sums up this feeling in the lines: "‘Twas far better to die ‘neath an Irish sky, Than at Suvla or Sud el Bar."
"And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" is a moving, emotional song written by Scottish-born Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle in 1971. The song describes war as futile and gruesome, while criticising those who seek to glorify it. This is exemplified in the song by the account of a young Australian soldier who is maimed at the Battle of Gallipoli. The protagonist, who had travelled across rural Australia before the war, is emotionally devastated by the loss of his legs in battle. As the years pass he notes the death of other veterans, while the younger generation becomes apathetic to the veterans, their cause and their sacrifice. The song incorporates, at its conclusion, the melody and a few lines of lyrics of the 1895 song Waltzing Matilda by Australian poet Banjo Paterson.
The Foggy Dew
by Canon Charles O’Neill (1887–1963) 1919 (click above to play)
As down the glen one Easter morn to a city fair rode I
There armed lines of marching men in squadrons passed me by
No pipe did hum, no battle drum did sound its loud tattoo
But the Angelus Bell o'er the Liffey's swell rang out in the foggy dew
Right proudly high over Dublin Town they hung out the flag of war
'Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sud-El-Bar
And from the plains of Royal Meath strong men came hurrying through
While Britannia's Huns, with their long range guns sailed in through the foggy dew
Oh the night fell black, and the rifles' crack made perfidious Albion reel
In the leaden rain, seven tongues of flame did shine o'er the lines of steel
By each shining blade a prayer was said, that to Ireland her sons be true
But when morning broke, still the war flag shook out its folds in the foggy dew
'Twas England bade our wild geese go, that "small nations might be free";
Their lonely graves are by Suvla's waves or the fringe of the great North Sea.
Oh, had they died by Pearse's side or fought with Cathal Brugha*
Their graves we'd keep where the Fenians sleep, 'neath the shroud of the foggy dew.
Oh the bravest fell, and the Requiem bell rang mournfully and clear
For those who died that Eastertide in the springing of the year
While the world did gaze, in deep amaze, at those fearless men, but few,
Who bore the fight that freedom's light might shine through the foggy dew
As back through the glen I rode again and my heart with grief was sore
For I parted then with valiant men whom I never shall see more
But to and fro in my dreams I go and I kneel and pray for you,
For slavery fled, O glorious dead, when you fell in the foggy dew.
by Canon Charles O’Neill (1887–1963) 1919 (click above to play)
As down the glen one Easter morn to a city fair rode I
There armed lines of marching men in squadrons passed me by
No pipe did hum, no battle drum did sound its loud tattoo
But the Angelus Bell o'er the Liffey's swell rang out in the foggy dew
Right proudly high over Dublin Town they hung out the flag of war
'Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sud-El-Bar
And from the plains of Royal Meath strong men came hurrying through
While Britannia's Huns, with their long range guns sailed in through the foggy dew
Oh the night fell black, and the rifles' crack made perfidious Albion reel
In the leaden rain, seven tongues of flame did shine o'er the lines of steel
By each shining blade a prayer was said, that to Ireland her sons be true
But when morning broke, still the war flag shook out its folds in the foggy dew
'Twas England bade our wild geese go, that "small nations might be free";
Their lonely graves are by Suvla's waves or the fringe of the great North Sea.
Oh, had they died by Pearse's side or fought with Cathal Brugha*
Their graves we'd keep where the Fenians sleep, 'neath the shroud of the foggy dew.
Oh the bravest fell, and the Requiem bell rang mournfully and clear
For those who died that Eastertide in the springing of the year
While the world did gaze, in deep amaze, at those fearless men, but few,
Who bore the fight that freedom's light might shine through the foggy dew
As back through the glen I rode again and my heart with grief was sore
For I parted then with valiant men whom I never shall see more
But to and fro in my dreams I go and I kneel and pray for you,
For slavery fled, O glorious dead, when you fell in the foggy dew.
The Band Played Waltzing Matilda (by Eric Bogle) (click above to play)
When I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in 1915 my country said: Son,
It's time to stop rambling, there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
When the ship pulled away from the quay
And amid all the tears, flag waving and cheers
We sailed off for Gallipoli
It well I remember that terrible day
When our blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell they call Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk, he was ready, he primed himself well
He rained us with bullets, and he showered us with shell
And in five minutes flat, we were all blown to hell
He nearly blew us back home to Australia
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
When we stopped to bury our slain
Well we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then it started all over again
Oh those that were living just tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
While around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
And when I awoke in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
I never knew there was worse things than dying
Oh no more I'll go Waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me
They collected the wounded, the crippled, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind and the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And when the ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thank Christ there was no one there waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And the Band played Waltzing Matilda
When they carried us down the gangway
Oh nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared
Then they turned all their faces away
Now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Renewing their dreams of past glories
I see the old men all tired, stiff and worn
Those weary old heroes of a forgotten war
And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men still answer the call
But year after year, their numbers get fewer
Someday, no one will march there at all
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong
So who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
Below - film clips on the Gallipoli campaign. (click to play)
When I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in 1915 my country said: Son,
It's time to stop rambling, there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
When the ship pulled away from the quay
And amid all the tears, flag waving and cheers
We sailed off for Gallipoli
It well I remember that terrible day
When our blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell they call Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk, he was ready, he primed himself well
He rained us with bullets, and he showered us with shell
And in five minutes flat, we were all blown to hell
He nearly blew us back home to Australia
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
When we stopped to bury our slain
Well we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then it started all over again
Oh those that were living just tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
While around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
And when I awoke in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
I never knew there was worse things than dying
Oh no more I'll go Waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me
They collected the wounded, the crippled, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind and the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And when the ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thank Christ there was no one there waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And the Band played Waltzing Matilda
When they carried us down the gangway
Oh nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared
Then they turned all their faces away
Now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Renewing their dreams of past glories
I see the old men all tired, stiff and worn
Those weary old heroes of a forgotten war
And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men still answer the call
But year after year, their numbers get fewer
Someday, no one will march there at all
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong
So who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
Below - film clips on the Gallipoli campaign. (click to play)
‘Your sons are now lying in our bosom’ Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
In 1934, Atatürk displayed considerable magnanimity, not to say humanity, in written comments directed at the relatives of dead Anzac soldiers. His words are inscribed on a large monument standing beside one of the prettiest cemeteries on the peninsula, Ari Burnu, a small grassy place bathed in dappled sunlight with the waters of Anzac Cove lapping against it.
Referring to those who attacked his country as heroes, he wrote to still grieving Australian and New Zealand mothers, saying their sons would rest in peace.
In 1934, Atatürk displayed considerable magnanimity, not to say humanity, in written comments directed at the relatives of dead Anzac soldiers. His words are inscribed on a large monument standing beside one of the prettiest cemeteries on the peninsula, Ari Burnu, a small grassy place bathed in dappled sunlight with the waters of Anzac Cove lapping against it.
Referring to those who attacked his country as heroes, he wrote to still grieving Australian and New Zealand mothers, saying their sons would rest in peace.
Spackman, one of the few surviving Junior Officers with the 1/4 Battalion Norfolks was recovering during late December 1915 and January 1916 in the Sidi Beshr rest camp close to Alexandria on the Mediteranean coast of Egypt. This was a tented military base adjacent to a Prisoner of War and internee camp for German and Austro-Hungarian nationals who had been resident in Egypt at the outbreak of war.
Behind the lines the pattern of daily life was certainly far removed from the hardship and horror of the front line trenches in Suvla. Troops in reserve were safe from immediate enemy assault or sniper fire although the risk of sporadic air attacks remained. Accommodation and other amenities were usually much more comfortable, food was far better as was medical care. All of the troops would have been assessed, de-loused and given cleaning facilities en-route to Egypt. The more seriously injured would have been taken off to a hospital ship while at sea and the walking wounded were treated properly at field hospitals on arrival in Alexandria. For the majority however, after a few days rest, the hard work began. Soldiers who passed muster spent long days marching and drilling, cleaning their kits, attending lectures and labouring on repairs and improvements to trench networks, camps and roads.
In their spare time, soldiers wrote letters and diaries, sketchesd, read books and magazines, pursued hobbies, played cards or gambled. There were also opportunities for more-organised social activities. Sports events were highly popular and were encouraged by the military authorities as a means of maintaining fitness and camaraderie. Many soldiers competed in boxing tournaments, athletics competitions, and football and cricket matches.
Music and theatre were also popular diversions. Brass and pipe bands, choirs and concert parties toured camps and put on shows for the troops. Other soldiers entertained their mates with impromptu musical, pantomime and comedy performances. Hymn singing was a popular feature of church services.
Camp canteens provided refreshments to the ranks, while officers enjoyed the more sophisticated surroundings of officers' clubs. Those granted longer spells of leave often had the opportunity to travel to nearby towns or cities where a range of entertainments – both respectable and illicit – were on offer.
Behind the lines the pattern of daily life was certainly far removed from the hardship and horror of the front line trenches in Suvla. Troops in reserve were safe from immediate enemy assault or sniper fire although the risk of sporadic air attacks remained. Accommodation and other amenities were usually much more comfortable, food was far better as was medical care. All of the troops would have been assessed, de-loused and given cleaning facilities en-route to Egypt. The more seriously injured would have been taken off to a hospital ship while at sea and the walking wounded were treated properly at field hospitals on arrival in Alexandria. For the majority however, after a few days rest, the hard work began. Soldiers who passed muster spent long days marching and drilling, cleaning their kits, attending lectures and labouring on repairs and improvements to trench networks, camps and roads.
In their spare time, soldiers wrote letters and diaries, sketchesd, read books and magazines, pursued hobbies, played cards or gambled. There were also opportunities for more-organised social activities. Sports events were highly popular and were encouraged by the military authorities as a means of maintaining fitness and camaraderie. Many soldiers competed in boxing tournaments, athletics competitions, and football and cricket matches.
Music and theatre were also popular diversions. Brass and pipe bands, choirs and concert parties toured camps and put on shows for the troops. Other soldiers entertained their mates with impromptu musical, pantomime and comedy performances. Hymn singing was a popular feature of church services.
Camp canteens provided refreshments to the ranks, while officers enjoyed the more sophisticated surroundings of officers' clubs. Those granted longer spells of leave often had the opportunity to travel to nearby towns or cities where a range of entertainments – both respectable and illicit – were on offer.
Spackman's military record shows that he was recoverng at Sidi Beshr from December 19, 1915 until admitted to the 19th General Hospital in Alexandria on 26th January to 16th March for what was recorded as "Antral Disease (moderate)"
(Today this condition is known as an Antral or Peptic Ulcer and a contributing factor is long term stress. Illnesses such as peptic ulcers and heart conditions remain a feature of post combat stress disorders. (more detail pending research WW1).
In 2018, I discovered what is probably the earliest Spackman art work. This is a 12.6 x 17.9cm (5" x 7") watercolour signed and dated 1916. Not authenticated of course, but the signature appears to be "Chr. B Spackman 1916" (his signature forty years later is included for comparison). if it is an actual Spackman art work, then it was painted while he was in Egypt aged 20-21 and judging by the subject matter - an English country home at sunset with a statuesque cedar - quite definitely a romanticised view or perhaps a recollection of the family home in Norfolk?
On release, Spackman was transferred to the Mena military camp (which had been the staging camp for the ANZACs the previous year), ten miles from Cairo and within sight of the Pyramids. Mena, and others like it, were used as a springboard for the whole division to bolster the heavily defended Suez Canal. A number of forts and camps along the canal formed a line of defence that lay practically undisturbed for the rest of the year. Nevertheless, the threat of Turkish attack remained constant. Over the next 12 months, the 1/4th Battalion and 1/5th Battalion moved from camp to camp, fortifying the lines and re-training fresh recruits.
Captain Buxton of the 1/5th wrote:
“From 1916 onwards the Suez canal was defended by a series of fortified posts in the desert on the eastern side. These posts were about two to four miles apart…. Rations and water were brought up to these posts daily on camels from railhead…. the troops were employed daily in completing the defences of the posts by surrounding them with broad wire entanglements, digging fire trenches or communication trenches or dugouts. The trench digging was especially tedious… owing to the soft sand continually falling in.”
The 1/4th Battalion as part of the 54th East Anglian Division at the end of March moved to Ghaloufa just a few miles north of the Suez Canal.
Suez Canal. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 gave Britain an invaluable line of communication to it's Indian Empire and colonial possessions in the Far East. The British Government also realised that this vital artery would have to be protected at all costs in the event of any future global conflict. The Canal’s integrity and security became a cornerstone of Imperial policy from the mid 1870s resulting in an embroilment in Egyptian affairs from 1882 to 1898. The conclusion of the Protective Powers operations gave Britain’s Consul General a premier position in Egyptian foreign policy and defence. by 1912 as the world situation deteriorated and war with Germany seemed inevitable, the security of the Canal became an urgent priority. It wasn't just the British who were acutely aware of how important the Suez was. In the pre-war German press, the Suez Canal had been spoken of as Britain’s ‘jugular’ and intelligence reports indicated that a major Turkish advance across the Sinai desert from the Ottoman’s eastern empire would be attempted, in an effort to destroy or blockade the Canal. By January 1915 the total British forces in Egypt numbered some 70,000 troops, made up of British, Australian, New Zealand and Indian regiments. The one hundred miles of the Canal from Port Said to Suez had been divided into three sectors and a small RFC contingent for reconnaissance, and hopefully early detection of Turkish forces attempting a crossing of the desert from the east.
Two men who were to exert a strong influence on Ireland from 1914, were British and both served in Egypt at this time.
The British Commander of the Egypt & Sinai since 1914 was Sir John Grenfell Maxwell (1859-1929). Previously Chief Staff Officer of the Third Army Corps stationed in Ireland at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham (1902-04), he was General Officer Commanding British Troops in Egypt in 1908 and was then deployed on the Western Front Aug-Dec 1914.
The British Commander of the Egypt & Sinai since 1914 was Sir John Grenfell Maxwell (1859-1929). Previously Chief Staff Officer of the Third Army Corps stationed in Ireland at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham (1902-04), he was General Officer Commanding British Troops in Egypt in 1908 and was then deployed on the Western Front Aug-Dec 1914.
Maxwell was returned to his role as General Officer Commanding British Troops Egypt in late 1914 and in that capacity, successfully held the Suez Canal against the Ottoman Raid on the area in 1915. Frustrated at his role in Egypt - he regarded his position as little better than Quartermaster General to the Army, with his role seemingly one of providing endless training and supplies to troops destined for Gallipoli, Salonika and Palestine - he requested that he be recalled home to Britain, a transfer that took place in March 1916. Based at HQ, he was not to be there long.
At the outbreak of the Easter Rising in Ireland in April 1916, Maxwell was sent to Ireland to "restore order", arriving on Friday 28 April as "military governor" with "plenary powers" under Martial law, replacing General Friend as the primary British military commander in the country. Maxwell now set about dealing with the rebellion under his understanding of Martial law and somewhat ruthlessly at that. During the week of 2–9 May, he was in sole charge of trials and sentences by "field general court martial", in which trials were conducted without defence counsel or jury members and in camera. He ordered the arrest of 3,400 civilians, of which 183 were tried and received sentences, 90 of whom were sentenced to death including my Grand-Uncle Diarmuid Lynch. Fifteen of the rebels were shot between 3rd and 12th May when following public and political outcry, the remaining death sentences commuted to life imprisonment. |
Maxwell did nothing to quell public anger about the shooting of civilians during Easter Week by the British army. In particular, Maxwell brushed aside the shootings when troops from the South Staffordshire Regiment ran amok in North King Street killing a number of civilians. He was also slow to act in regard to two other series of killings of prisoners, the Portobello shootings by Captain Bowen-Colthurst particularly of the pacifist Francis Sheehy-Skeffington and the Guinness shootings of two workers and two officers by a nervous sergeant who decided they were saboteurs.
General Maxwell has also been criticised for the arrests and internment of thousands of people across Ireland after the rebellion, most of whom were innocent. The saying is that Maxwell was the catalyst for the end of the British Empire and while that is certainly debatable, what is factual is that his treatment of the rebels, the vast imprisonment of thousands combined with the populations gradual realisation that constitutional process would not and could not bring independence led to the The War of Independence 1919-1921, Treaty, division of Ireland and emboldened British colonies elsewhere to seek their freedom, in turn hastening the end of Empire.
General Maxwell has also been criticised for the arrests and internment of thousands of people across Ireland after the rebellion, most of whom were innocent. The saying is that Maxwell was the catalyst for the end of the British Empire and while that is certainly debatable, what is factual is that his treatment of the rebels, the vast imprisonment of thousands combined with the populations gradual realisation that constitutional process would not and could not bring independence led to the The War of Independence 1919-1921, Treaty, division of Ireland and emboldened British colonies elsewhere to seek their freedom, in turn hastening the end of Empire.
There's another Irish connection with the British military serving in Egypt at the time.
Serving on an early aircraft carrier Raven II was one of the heroes of the Gallipoli campaign, Flight Commander Lieutenant Charles Humphrey Kingsman Edmonds, the first man to successfully attack a ship with a torpedo from the air. In early January, he and his navigator/observer Lieutenant Robert Erskine Childers, suffered engine failure while on patrol in their Short Type 184 Seaplane. They landed in heavy seas and quickly the aircraft capsized. Fortunately, Edmonds and Childers were rescued by HMT Charlsen.
Robert Erskine Childers DSC (25 June 1870 – 24 November 1922), universally known as Erskine Childers, was a British writer, whose works included the influential novel "The Riddle of the Sands", and an Irish Republican revolutionary who smuggled guns to Ireland in his sailing yacht Asgard in 1914. He served in Gallipoli & Egypt as a navigator/observer with the RAF and later as a Group Inteligence Officer. He became involved in the Irish struggle for Independence 1919-1921 as Director of Publicity and was elected to the First Dail in 1921. A member of the Peace Treaty talks in London 1921, he opposed the Treaty. During the Irish Civil War, he was arrested and executed by the authorities of the nascent Irish Free State. He was the son of British Orientalist scholar Robert Caesar Childers; the cousin of Hugh Childers and Robert Barton; and the father of the fourth President of Ireland, Erskine Hamilton Childers. More information here.
Serving on an early aircraft carrier Raven II was one of the heroes of the Gallipoli campaign, Flight Commander Lieutenant Charles Humphrey Kingsman Edmonds, the first man to successfully attack a ship with a torpedo from the air. In early January, he and his navigator/observer Lieutenant Robert Erskine Childers, suffered engine failure while on patrol in their Short Type 184 Seaplane. They landed in heavy seas and quickly the aircraft capsized. Fortunately, Edmonds and Childers were rescued by HMT Charlsen.
Robert Erskine Childers DSC (25 June 1870 – 24 November 1922), universally known as Erskine Childers, was a British writer, whose works included the influential novel "The Riddle of the Sands", and an Irish Republican revolutionary who smuggled guns to Ireland in his sailing yacht Asgard in 1914. He served in Gallipoli & Egypt as a navigator/observer with the RAF and later as a Group Inteligence Officer. He became involved in the Irish struggle for Independence 1919-1921 as Director of Publicity and was elected to the First Dail in 1921. A member of the Peace Treaty talks in London 1921, he opposed the Treaty. During the Irish Civil War, he was arrested and executed by the authorities of the nascent Irish Free State. He was the son of British Orientalist scholar Robert Caesar Childers; the cousin of Hugh Childers and Robert Barton; and the father of the fourth President of Ireland, Erskine Hamilton Childers. More information here.
Suez Canal Defence work
Meanwhile, for Spackman and the 1/4th Battalion, war was getting closer again and the enemy was reported as attacking another part of the Suez line on Easter Monday, April 24th. They stood to arms and were asked to maintain vigilance, but nothing occurred. Meanwhile in Dublin, the Easter Rising had begun on the same day.
In Suez, Spackman and the 1/4th Battalion continued their general defence work until May 28th when they entrained for Serapum, some 38 miles south, at the other end of the Bitter lakes and near the Suez Canal. Here they were positioned to defend the Canal.
Meanwhile, for Spackman and the 1/4th Battalion, war was getting closer again and the enemy was reported as attacking another part of the Suez line on Easter Monday, April 24th. They stood to arms and were asked to maintain vigilance, but nothing occurred. Meanwhile in Dublin, the Easter Rising had begun on the same day.
In Suez, Spackman and the 1/4th Battalion continued their general defence work until May 28th when they entrained for Serapum, some 38 miles south, at the other end of the Bitter lakes and near the Suez Canal. Here they were positioned to defend the Canal.
While in Serapeum, Spackman was promoted to Lieutenant 1/4th Norfolk Regiment on June 1.
Within days, the camp came under attack from enemy Turkish aircraft as they circled and dropped five bombs but with no casualties and no return fire. The war diary records a total of 2 military casualties during June 1916: 1 man died from ‘wounds self-inflicted’ and 1 drowned while on duty. The Battalion continued with its monotonous duty of ‘Guards, Outposts, Patrols, Fatigues and Training.’
below: a first hand report from a Daily Telegraph journalist in Egypt (reprinted in 'The Aeroplane' July7, 1916.
Within days, the camp came under attack from enemy Turkish aircraft as they circled and dropped five bombs but with no casualties and no return fire. The war diary records a total of 2 military casualties during June 1916: 1 man died from ‘wounds self-inflicted’ and 1 drowned while on duty. The Battalion continued with its monotonous duty of ‘Guards, Outposts, Patrols, Fatigues and Training.’
below: a first hand report from a Daily Telegraph journalist in Egypt (reprinted in 'The Aeroplane' July7, 1916.
In late July, Spackman and the Battalion had a change of scenery as they moved 20 miles north by train to El Ferdan. Then in August they moved back to Serapeum, where the 1/4th Battalion stayed until January, 1917. The war diary notes no significant events, just more ‘Guards, Outposts, Patrols, Fatigues and Training.’
The most exciting experience, at least for some of the men, was a trip to the seaside camp at Sidi Bishr during September and October. On the whole, their military service in Egypt it sounds incredibly boring and monotonous and probably was, just one long round of routine, undertaken in the sun and heat but without the threat of death from enemy attacks, bombardment and sniping.
Perhaps it was this monotony of duty in Egypt and certainly his experiences in Suvla Bay that forced Spackman to consider his future options somewhat. The decision he made was to completely change the course of his life and largely contributed to his survival.
In October 1916, Spackman applied for training as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps.
Transfer from military units to training as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps was both easy or difficult depending on the military situation with the soldier or officer's unit. At the beginning of the war, the RFC was only interested in officers with aviation experience. No one would be accepted into the Flying Corps unless he possessed a pilot’s license: the certificate issued by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). The FAI certificate was known universally as the “ticket.” Ironically, possession of a ticket didn’t mean that the RFC believed a man could actually fly. Cadets still had to undergo complete flying training; Arthur Roy Brown wrote home in 1916 that the FAI ticket “really amounts to nothing here.”
As the war progressed, the Royal Flying Corps was forced to be less picky in its approach to recruitment. The requirement that candidates have an FAI ticket was dropped in July 1916 as casualties (both in the air and on the ground) in the Somme offensive reduced the number of transfer candidates at the same time as demand for new pilots increased. Beginning in late summer 1916, and continuing through mid-1917, the RFC made periodic appeals to infantry, cavalry and artillery units for men to transfer to the RFC and it would have been at this time that Spackman made his application for transfer from the 1/4th Norfolk Regiment to the Royal Flying Corps.
Inevitably, some candidates were “encouraged” by their superiors to transfer as they didn’t fit in or were otherwise considered "disreputable". For example, Alan Duncan Bell-Irving was told by his company commander to apply for an RFC transfer (which the commander immediately endorsed) as Bell-Irving had been seen by a group of generals standing behind some defence works wearing only shirt and boots, having taken off his kilt in order to burn the lice & fleas from it. “You’re not one of us” his CO said. Incidentally, Bell-Irving's fellow junior officers referred to the RFC as “the suicide club.” and with good reason.
A special case from Canada, just for the sake of interest was that of Robert A. Logan, of Edmonton, Alberta, who joined the Canadian Army in January 1915. When he heard that the Royal Naval Air Service was looking for pilots, he applied to get out of the army so that he could join the navy -- what was called “discharge by purchase.” This involved the individual in question paying a sum of money in order to get out of the service, and was at the time against regulations. Logan’s army Commanding Officer decided that since Logan wanted to fly at the front, he’d bend regulations and told Logan that he could have his discharge so long as he paid the CO $18 and promised to take the man up for a joyride if they ever met again.
Once a candidate’s application for transfer had been approved by a superior, he was interviewed and examined by the RFC to see if he would be a suitable candidate. After Smith-Barry’s Gosport System was introduced in autumn 1917 these examinations were put on a more rigorous footing (with serious attempts to sort candidates psychologically, for example, to see what types of flying work they’d be suited for). Before this time, however, the RFC medical and psychological examinations were rather cursory.
This medical casualness seems to have been especially notable at times of personnel shortage in the RFC -- late 1916 and spring 1917 in particular. A.D. Bell-Irving described his interview as “a thoroughly British examination: more concerned with my motivation than any obscure medical matters. When a tray of coloured wool was produced I suggested: ‘If you’re in a hurry, Sir, we don’t need that...’ Modestly I turned to him: ‘You see, I’m something of an artist, in an amateur way.’ Col. Festing was more interested in R.F.C. reinforcements, and my colour-blindness went undetected.”
Spackman's request was granted, and on completition of the 'stringent' interview process, on 29 November, 1916 he was seconded/transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (the precursor to in Alexandria as part of the 20th Reserve Wing and from 30 November he attended the No 3 School of Aeronautics in Aboukir.
The most exciting experience, at least for some of the men, was a trip to the seaside camp at Sidi Bishr during September and October. On the whole, their military service in Egypt it sounds incredibly boring and monotonous and probably was, just one long round of routine, undertaken in the sun and heat but without the threat of death from enemy attacks, bombardment and sniping.
Perhaps it was this monotony of duty in Egypt and certainly his experiences in Suvla Bay that forced Spackman to consider his future options somewhat. The decision he made was to completely change the course of his life and largely contributed to his survival.
In October 1916, Spackman applied for training as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps.
Transfer from military units to training as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps was both easy or difficult depending on the military situation with the soldier or officer's unit. At the beginning of the war, the RFC was only interested in officers with aviation experience. No one would be accepted into the Flying Corps unless he possessed a pilot’s license: the certificate issued by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). The FAI certificate was known universally as the “ticket.” Ironically, possession of a ticket didn’t mean that the RFC believed a man could actually fly. Cadets still had to undergo complete flying training; Arthur Roy Brown wrote home in 1916 that the FAI ticket “really amounts to nothing here.”
As the war progressed, the Royal Flying Corps was forced to be less picky in its approach to recruitment. The requirement that candidates have an FAI ticket was dropped in July 1916 as casualties (both in the air and on the ground) in the Somme offensive reduced the number of transfer candidates at the same time as demand for new pilots increased. Beginning in late summer 1916, and continuing through mid-1917, the RFC made periodic appeals to infantry, cavalry and artillery units for men to transfer to the RFC and it would have been at this time that Spackman made his application for transfer from the 1/4th Norfolk Regiment to the Royal Flying Corps.
Inevitably, some candidates were “encouraged” by their superiors to transfer as they didn’t fit in or were otherwise considered "disreputable". For example, Alan Duncan Bell-Irving was told by his company commander to apply for an RFC transfer (which the commander immediately endorsed) as Bell-Irving had been seen by a group of generals standing behind some defence works wearing only shirt and boots, having taken off his kilt in order to burn the lice & fleas from it. “You’re not one of us” his CO said. Incidentally, Bell-Irving's fellow junior officers referred to the RFC as “the suicide club.” and with good reason.
A special case from Canada, just for the sake of interest was that of Robert A. Logan, of Edmonton, Alberta, who joined the Canadian Army in January 1915. When he heard that the Royal Naval Air Service was looking for pilots, he applied to get out of the army so that he could join the navy -- what was called “discharge by purchase.” This involved the individual in question paying a sum of money in order to get out of the service, and was at the time against regulations. Logan’s army Commanding Officer decided that since Logan wanted to fly at the front, he’d bend regulations and told Logan that he could have his discharge so long as he paid the CO $18 and promised to take the man up for a joyride if they ever met again.
Once a candidate’s application for transfer had been approved by a superior, he was interviewed and examined by the RFC to see if he would be a suitable candidate. After Smith-Barry’s Gosport System was introduced in autumn 1917 these examinations were put on a more rigorous footing (with serious attempts to sort candidates psychologically, for example, to see what types of flying work they’d be suited for). Before this time, however, the RFC medical and psychological examinations were rather cursory.
This medical casualness seems to have been especially notable at times of personnel shortage in the RFC -- late 1916 and spring 1917 in particular. A.D. Bell-Irving described his interview as “a thoroughly British examination: more concerned with my motivation than any obscure medical matters. When a tray of coloured wool was produced I suggested: ‘If you’re in a hurry, Sir, we don’t need that...’ Modestly I turned to him: ‘You see, I’m something of an artist, in an amateur way.’ Col. Festing was more interested in R.F.C. reinforcements, and my colour-blindness went undetected.”
Spackman's request was granted, and on completition of the 'stringent' interview process, on 29 November, 1916 he was seconded/transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (the precursor to in Alexandria as part of the 20th Reserve Wing and from 30 November he attended the No 3 School of Aeronautics in Aboukir.
As for the 1/4th Battalion? The battalion moved to Palestine where they were part of increasingly bloody and desperate fighting against the Turks. The following year during the Second Battle of Gaza on April 19, 1917, the 1/4th & 1/5th Battalion was largely decimated, with over 75% of the officers and men killed in action.
As for the 1/4th Battalion? The battalion moved to Palestine where they were part of increasingly bloody and desperate fighting against the Turks. The following year during the Second Battle of Gaza on April 19, 1917, the 1/4th & 1/5th Battalion was largely decimated, with over 75% of the officers and men killed in action.
Mary Spackman
Little is known of Basil's siblings but research discovered that Basil's sister Mary at this time was living at 27 Devonshire Rd, Westbury Park, Bristol. Aged 24, from 18 October 1916 she was working as a nurse at the Military Hospital: 2nd Southern General Hospital, Bristol. She volunteered for nursing duty in France the following year, (see nursing poster below) beginning service on the war front on 19 June 1917 (Voluntary Aid Detachment) and ended service on 12 March 1919. Her British Red Cross service record shows the general information but not her location(s) served in France.
Little is known of Basil's siblings but research discovered that Basil's sister Mary at this time was living at 27 Devonshire Rd, Westbury Park, Bristol. Aged 24, from 18 October 1916 she was working as a nurse at the Military Hospital: 2nd Southern General Hospital, Bristol. She volunteered for nursing duty in France the following year, (see nursing poster below) beginning service on the war front on 19 June 1917 (Voluntary Aid Detachment) and ended service on 12 March 1919. Her British Red Cross service record shows the general information but not her location(s) served in France.
“Young men in their prime having the time of their lives, securely distant from the horror of the trenches”
The Royal Flying Corp No. 3 School of Military Aviation (No3 SoMA) opened on 25 November 1916 in Aboukir near Alexandria, Egypt. Spackman was among the first sixty pupils selected for the inaugural flight air combat training course which began on November 30 and was assigned to No. 22 (Reserve) Squadron as a "U/T Pilot" an Under Training Pilot.
Air combat was in its infancy when the First World War began, only 11 years after the Wright Brothers invented the airplane and took it for its first successful flight in 1903. However, that infant grew up fast. Beginning with dirty looks and shaken fists during encounters between opposing pilots and aircrew, the battles quickly escalated when grenades and other objects were thrown at or dropped on planes by opposing combatants. Soon, they began popping at each other with pistols and rifles and that escalated again as nations figured out how to mount machine-guns on their aircraft that could fire between the propellor. The planes themselves were simply wood, wire and doped canvas, flimsy, light, exceptionally flamable and prone to breaking up in flight. The engines were about 60-90 horsepower, the ceiling heights about 3,000 meters (9850ft). These aircraft took off at 95-100kph (60mph), cruised at 125/130kph (80mph) and landed at about the same speed.
In Egypt, the No. 20 Training Wing was formally established in November1917, with its headquarters based at Heliopolis. This became the base for No. 32 and No. 38 Training Wings, along with the No. 5 Cadet Wing and No. 3 School of Aeronautics.
Before November 1917, the Egyptian training centre was located at Ismailia, and was so small when it opened in June 1916 that it had only two aircraft and most of its buildings were not yet complete. The training programme was equally so small before mid-1917 and in the last two months of 1916, only forty pilots graduated. By the end of 1917, this number had grown only to a one-month maximum of fifty-nine in August with the monthly graduation average being thirty-seven pilots. This number pales in comparison to the monthly average of 435 pilots the RFC in Britain produced.
adverts from 'Aeroplane' weekly magazine October-December 1916
No British pilot, except for balloon observers, was issued with a parachute during the war.
From reading pilots’ diaries, letters, and books, it is clear that the absence of a parachute caused considerable consternation. Flying Officer Arthur Gould Lee made his feelings very clear. The supply of parachutes would not only ensure that ‘every pilot would sacrifice a little performance to have a chance to escape from break-ups and flamers’ but would also be a ‘great boost for morale’. The reality of not having a parachute was described by Gould Lee: ‘What a way to die, to be sizzled alive or to jump and fall thousands of feet. I wonder if you are conscious all the way down? I’d much prefer a bullet through the head and have done with it’
Pilots dreaded dying in a flaming airplane and Ace fighter pilot, Mick Mannock, after witnessing one of his victims going down in flames, wrote in his diary: ‘It was a horrible sight and made me feel sick’ . Mannock along with thousands of other pilots was known to carry his service revolver with him whilst flying as he would prefer to shoot himself rather than die in a flaming airplane. (Mannock was killed in action, July 1918)
Gould Lee describes how a friend of his died in a plane whose wings suddenly folded back, one after the other, causing the plane to dive vertically: "They could see him struggling to get clear of his harness, then half standing up. They said it was horrible to watch him trying to decide whether to jump. He didn’t and the machine and he were smashed to nothingness. … God imagine his last moments, seeing the ground rush up at him, knowing he was a dead man, unable to move, unable to do anything but wait for it. A parachute could have saved him, there’s no doubt about that. What the hell is wrong with those callous dolts at home that they won’t give them to us?’ "
The official line was that by providing parachutes, pilots would be more prepared to abandon their aircraft rather than nursing it to the nearest landing area and that chutes were too bulky for use in the cramped cockpits. The German air force thought otherwise and issued most of their crews with parachutes, something the RAF only started to discuss in 1917 with testing successfully carried out by the aircraft builders, Royal Aircraft Factory on the Calthrop parachute. There would be no British order for free-fall parachutes until September 1918 and then standard issue and training was not implemented until 1923.
These early German parachutes were sometimes as deadly as the damaged aircraft as many times the lines became entangled with the aircraft or the chute simply failed to operate. A number of German fighter pilots did survive bailing out including one Hermann Goring. (see opposite)
Aircraft cockpits at that time also were not large enough to accommodate a pilot and a parachute, since a seat that would fit a pilot wearing a parachute would be too large for a pilot not wearing one. This is why the German type was stowed in the fuselage, rather than being of the "backpack" type. Weight was – at the very beginning – also a consideration since planes had limited load capacity. Carrying a parachute impeded performance and reduced the useful offensive and fuel load.
The understanding that pilots were difficult to train and far more valuable than aircraft didn’t sink in until a year after the War ended. Parachutes were then issued.
Advert below from 'The Aeroplane' magazine. February 1919
From reading pilots’ diaries, letters, and books, it is clear that the absence of a parachute caused considerable consternation. Flying Officer Arthur Gould Lee made his feelings very clear. The supply of parachutes would not only ensure that ‘every pilot would sacrifice a little performance to have a chance to escape from break-ups and flamers’ but would also be a ‘great boost for morale’. The reality of not having a parachute was described by Gould Lee: ‘What a way to die, to be sizzled alive or to jump and fall thousands of feet. I wonder if you are conscious all the way down? I’d much prefer a bullet through the head and have done with it’
Pilots dreaded dying in a flaming airplane and Ace fighter pilot, Mick Mannock, after witnessing one of his victims going down in flames, wrote in his diary: ‘It was a horrible sight and made me feel sick’ . Mannock along with thousands of other pilots was known to carry his service revolver with him whilst flying as he would prefer to shoot himself rather than die in a flaming airplane. (Mannock was killed in action, July 1918)
Gould Lee describes how a friend of his died in a plane whose wings suddenly folded back, one after the other, causing the plane to dive vertically: "They could see him struggling to get clear of his harness, then half standing up. They said it was horrible to watch him trying to decide whether to jump. He didn’t and the machine and he were smashed to nothingness. … God imagine his last moments, seeing the ground rush up at him, knowing he was a dead man, unable to move, unable to do anything but wait for it. A parachute could have saved him, there’s no doubt about that. What the hell is wrong with those callous dolts at home that they won’t give them to us?’ "
The official line was that by providing parachutes, pilots would be more prepared to abandon their aircraft rather than nursing it to the nearest landing area and that chutes were too bulky for use in the cramped cockpits. The German air force thought otherwise and issued most of their crews with parachutes, something the RAF only started to discuss in 1917 with testing successfully carried out by the aircraft builders, Royal Aircraft Factory on the Calthrop parachute. There would be no British order for free-fall parachutes until September 1918 and then standard issue and training was not implemented until 1923.
These early German parachutes were sometimes as deadly as the damaged aircraft as many times the lines became entangled with the aircraft or the chute simply failed to operate. A number of German fighter pilots did survive bailing out including one Hermann Goring. (see opposite)
Aircraft cockpits at that time also were not large enough to accommodate a pilot and a parachute, since a seat that would fit a pilot wearing a parachute would be too large for a pilot not wearing one. This is why the German type was stowed in the fuselage, rather than being of the "backpack" type. Weight was – at the very beginning – also a consideration since planes had limited load capacity. Carrying a parachute impeded performance and reduced the useful offensive and fuel load.
The understanding that pilots were difficult to train and far more valuable than aircraft didn’t sink in until a year after the War ended. Parachutes were then issued.
Advert below from 'The Aeroplane' magazine. February 1919
Flight Training
The Commanding Office of No. 22 (Reserve) Squadron was a non-nonsense aviation pioneer, Harold Blackburn, MC, AFC (1879 – 1959) . In the pre-war years, Blackburn was the first pilot to carry newspapers for commercial sale by air and on 22 July 1914 piloted the first scheduled airline service in Great Britain. He was a training instructor and a demonstration pilot and with the outbreak of war, had been an air commander in France and in the Sinai where he won the Military Cross.
Blackburn's policy was simply to operate an assembly line for aircraft pilots. Each month, sixty trainee pilots would begin the flight training course and provided the student could pass various rudimentary exams and of course survive (more than half of the war's pilots that died did so during training) then three months later they could expect to be commissioned and placed on combat duty. In the air over France, their life spans at worst could be measured in days with the average pilot lasting only 11 flying hours before being shot down and killed.
These young men were learning not only how to fly aircraft, but also aerial gunnery, fighting tactics, artillery observation, navigation and bomb dropping. Egypt was a perfect location for this early flight combat training school. Constant sunshine and warm temperatures made it easier and faster to complete both training and the mandatory fifteen hours solo flying than in wet and wintry Britain which meant more pilots were released for combat duty. However, the operating hours for these trainees in Aboukir was from dawn to midday as the intense heat made air conditions dangerous between mid-morning to dusk. Aboukir was no glamour posting - it was grim. Hot, dry, dusty and the ever present threat of dysentery made life difficult. If an aircraft had to land unexpectedly in the adjacent desert, then considering the climate and the 'questionable loyalties of some of the locals', survival was not a good prospect.
The School of Military Aeronautics presented what for all intents and purposes was a concentrated university course, compressed into the space of a number of months. Cadets were under parade discipline at all times while being instructed, and were required to salute an instructor when speaking to him, even if their probationary rank was higher than the instructor’s.
Cadets almost universally seem to have regarded ground instruction as complicated and pointless. While practical courses in aerial observation and wireless telegraphy were vital, it’s doubtful anyone learned anything useful from courses on the workings of aneroid barometers, the manufacture of engine parts or the proper method of stitching linen to cover aircraft (a course called “sail-making”). As an example of how pointless this could be: cadets were required to know all of the parts of a Lewis gun and be able to replace a broken bolt -- even though it was known that it was impossible to do this while flying, and replacement parts weren’t even carried in aircraft. Norman R. Anderson’s cadet log-book contains four pages of close-written notes on the Lewis gun, including detailed descriptions of why the gun works the way it does. This information was taught not because it had been proven useful, but because it had always been part of the ground-school curriculum. (Cadets also took courses in mess room etiquette; I doubt these lessons were retained once airmen reached frontline squadrons.) Significantly, there were no classes in the theory or mechanics of flight until late 1917.
Daily Routine
While attending the School of Military Aeronautics, cadets studied in and were barracked in tents. A typical day began with a six o’clock wakeup call, breakfast and then a parade from barracks to a large open space where the assembled cadets were inspected. They then broke into squadrons of 10 to go to classrooms. There were two lectures and two periods of practical work each day, with two 15-minute recesses, and classes ended at 4 p.m. From then until the following morning the time was the cadet’s own -- unless the CO had instituted Study Parades, in which case cadets were expected to remain in their rooms studying. C.H. Andrews described this as “practically amount[ing] to a Confined to Barracks all week.” Cadets could also get C.B. for minor infractions of discipline.
Until they were finished with their training, all RFC candidates (whether direct-entry or transferee from other units) were considered cadets and their ranks were strictly probationary; rank badges could not be worn. To demonstrate their cadet status, candidates were required to wear a white band around their peaked caps; this band covered the normal hat-band just above the brim. A typical cadet class would see a mix of uniforms, transferees wearing their regimental jackets while direct-entry cadets wore the RFC “maternity” jacket. Regulations stated that breeches and puttees were supposed to be worn while on duty (long stockings in place of puttees were not permitted); slacks could be worn when off duty. In practice (“as usual,” wrote Robert Logan in a letter home) these regulations were often ignored. Interestingly, while the Sam Browne belt was required wearing at all times while on duty, you were not to wear it to dinner.
Officers’ uniforms, incidentally, cost at least £50 each and were tailor-made. Cadets were given a £50 allowance upon acceptance with the understanding that this was to be spent on a uniform. Few RFC officers ever had more than the one uniform the government paid for. (It took about three weeks to have a new uniform delivered.)
A Second Lt. (probationary) cadet earned 7 shillings sixpence a day while at SMA. As soon as he’d graduated from ground school and been posted to a training squadron, pay went up to 11 shillings sixpence (the extra 4 shillings was flying pay) daily plus 4 shillings tuppence daily allowance. This amounted to 109 shillings eight pence per week or £5.4/6. (Equivalent to £454 or €512 weekly all found in 2018) Considering the average wage of an agricultural labourer at the time was around £1.10/6, it was a reasonable rate to risk your life for King and Country.
Aircraft
The most common training aircraft type for basic training was the Maurice Farman MF.11 (known unofficially as the Shorthorn for its abbreviated landing skids when compared with those of the earlier MF.7). To instructors and trainees alike the Shorthorn was more commonly known as the “Rumpety,” probably for the rattling sound its air-cooled Renault engine made. (The tolerances between cylinder and piston were larger than normal to allow for heat expansion of the metal, resulting in very loud rattling when the engine was cold.) The Shorthorn was not a good choice for primary training. It was underpowered and had a very high drag factor, being a pusher (the propellor situated to the rear of the pilot) with a profusion of bracing wires. (In fact, the Shorthorn looks like a Victorian bathtub caught in a baling-wire explosion.) As a result, its stall speed was only about five m.p.h. under its top speed. No pilot had a good word to say about the Shorthorn. Comments range from “An experience never to be forgotten” to “not a very stable machine” to “a beastly machine... an awkward crate.”
However by the time Spackman began training in Egypt, these aircraft had largely been replaced. He and countless other trainees learned to fly in the Curtis JN 4 'The Jenny'. They gained further experience with Avro 504s. Reserve Squadron 22 was for intermediate training and the sister Reserve Squadron 23 was for advanced training with the Bristol Scout 4684 and the BE.2cs Reconnaissance Scout.
Flight training in Aboukir & Heliopolis, as with other training establishments was rudimentary and dangerous. Of the 22,000 pilots trained by the RFC/RAF in Britain and Egypt during the war, one in five died either during training or in combat. Of these 4,400 casualties, 90% of deaths were due to training or lack of experience in the air, 8% lost were due to aircraft failures such as engine or air frame breakups and just 2% of pilots killed was a result of enemy action.
A major reason for such high losses of trainee pilots was that all of the British air flight training schools suffered from apathetic or incompetent instruction. Flight Lieutenant L. L. MacLean, who was trained in Egypt, writes of a poor pupil-instructor dynamic in Heliopolis. He states plainly that instructors were more interested in the care and maintenance of their aircraft and conveying that interest to their pupils than they were in actually teaching the art of flying let alone combat training.
It was only after the formal establishment of the training wing that Egypt made a measurable contribution to the war effort: the number of graduates jumped from 49 in December 1917 to 139 in January 1918 as resources were added and the need for replacement pilots. Despite the expansion of its training programme, the RFC still faced a massive deficiency in pilot output. By the summer of 1917, this deficiency was nearing crisis level, the RFC required 5,841 pilots to replace those lost early in the year and to expand the service. However, the RFC had only 4,650 pilots available to fill this gap, leaving a shortfall of at least 800 pilots.
Dual Instruction
As soon as a cadet arrived at a training squadron, he began flying (weather permitting). His first trips were always as a passenger, but these first flights still had a powerful effect, and many men wrote down their feelings and impressions of their first time in the air. After this first familiarization flight, cadets began to take dual instruction.
For most of the war, pilots learned to fly by the seat of their pants: by resting hands and feet lightly on the controls while the instructor flew the plane, a cadet attempted to absorb what the instructor was doing while observing the results of these actions on the machine. Until the introduction of the “Gosport tube” (a speaking tube that allowed very limited conversation), there was almost no communication between instructor and pupil in the air. One instructor, Lt. Russell, sometimes handed notes to a pupil in the front seat (the notes were sometimes rather rude in nature). Some instructors “were known to stand up and hit the cadet on the head with a monkey wrench or anything available” if the unfortunate pupil froze at the controls.
Dual flights were always of short duration; they took place at low altitudes (always under 1,000 feet) and within sight of the airfield. This was because, since a limited number of cadets could be airborne at any one time, the remainder would stand on the field and watch. “We stood on the edge of the field,” wrote E. C. Burton, “while an extra instructor made suitable remarks such as, ‘Look at this silly nut... he is flattening out way too high... he’ll crash for sure.’ He did.” Cadets practised turning (it was important that they learn the flow from rudder to aileron in a turn, lest the machine skid rather than turn smoothly) and landing. In fact, many training flights were little more than a succession of landings and takeoffs.
Early morning and early evening tended to be the most active flying times, because that was when the air was most likely to be calm. “If the wind sprung up suddenly when a number of students were in the air,” wrote R.V. Dodds, “it could be expected that 5 or 6 would crash in landing.” Such restrictions meant that it could take weeks for a cadet to amass two or three hours of flight time.
below: an aerial view of Heliopolis, the RAF Base and training centre in late 1916. Photograph was taken by a German reconaissance aircraft and later published in Germany. This reprint dates from 'The Aeroplane' magazine of March 1921. Also below is an example of a Training Brigade Transfer Card for Lt. S.J.Sibley who joined the RFC in September 1915. Lt. Sibley was posted as missing in action in February 1918 after failing to return from a sortie. A syllabus for the first formalised Flight Instructors course for September 1917.
Going Solo
Up until the autumn of 1917, Cadets received only a few hours of dual instruction before soloing. E.C. Burton (early 1917) had just two and a half hours of instruction before soloing, and he wrote that others in his squadron had two hours or less. A.D. Bell-Irving (mid-1916) had under two hours; R.V. Dodds (late 1916) had three hours’ dual; Bill Lambert and Donald MacLaren (both mid-1917) had five and a half and three and a half hours’ dual respectively. A cadet’s first solo flight usually came without warning. W.C. Gibbard had just finished a series of landings when his instructor stepped out and told him to go up and around again by himself. “You can’t imagine what a thrill it is to go through it,” wrote William Lambert. “Can you do it or can’t you? You will have to find out.”
Initial solo flights were similar to dual flights: they were of 15 to 20 minutes’ duration, done at low altitude and within sight of the airfield. The landing was usually the most difficult part. Normally, once a student had soloed he returned to dual instruction for a while longer.
RFC training was, hardly suprisingly, incredibly costly in terms of both machines and men. The RFC had an attitude toward training accidents that seems now to be shockingly casual. William Lambert’s first solo ended in a perfect three-point landing. Unfortunately, he was still 10 feet up in the air at the time, and when he relaxed the controls his machine pancaked straight down, driving the undercarriage up through the lower wings. After checking to be sure that Lambert wasn’t hurt, the instructor pointed to another machine and told him to try again. This was a very common experience, and the typical training airfield and its surroundings were constantly littered with crashed aircraft in varying degrees of repair or held for spare parts.
There could be upwards of two dozen crashes per day at each airfield when flying was going on at full pace; this led to a steady hemorrhage of cadets; on average, one trainee pilot died each day in the UK before improvements were made under the Gosport System (details on thislater), and several others were seriously injured. In a typical day (21 October 1917), C.H. Andrews recorded 17 crashes at his training squadron. One cadet was killed and five were injured seriously enough to be sent to hospital. And this was in Canada, which had a much better safety record than did Britain; 129 cadets died in Canada compared with over 8,000 in Britain, and the fatality rate per hour flown in Canada was one percent that of Britain. Ambulances were on constant duty, motors running, at training squadron airfields; Cadets referred to ambulances by the name “Hungry Lizzie.”
It could be argued that the constant death and injury helped to inure cadets to the casualties they’d encounter when they reached the front. The evidence, though, suggests that training-squadron deaths shocked cadets. Though outwardly they tried to maintain a show of light-heartedness, diary entries show that the strain was there and having an effect. When Harold Price lost two friends to an R.E.8 crash in late spring, 1917, he was shattered and closeted himself in his room. “Haven’t the heart to see anyone,” he wrote in his diary, and added that he could not write home under these circumstances because this kind of news could not be shared with family. In public, though, the attitude was more stern. Price notes with approval a colleague’s exasperation with the emotional, public response of two women friends to the deaths. “We boys do not talk about [death],” he wrote, “except very privately and quietly, in two or threes, and then in almost an impersonal manner.”
Flight Instructors
Most RFC cadets who wrote about their instructors seem to have remembered them fondly, or at least with respect. They seem to have been for the most part good men -- though W.C. Gibbard notes cautiously that “a very few were heartily despised.” It must be remembered, though, that for most of the war instructors were as often as not men who were, for one reason or another, no longer capable of serving as front-line pilots. A spell at a training squadron was considered by RFC brass to be just the thing to restore a pilot’s vitality after six nerve-wracking months at the front. That this was not often the case is revealed by the hearty dislike most pilots felt on being assigned duty as instructors. It is also revealed in the propensity of instructors for having their cadets solo after so little dual instruction. No pilot, having survived six months of wrenching front-line duty, wanted to be killed by a clumsy pupil. Though few wrote about it in those terms, there’s something viciously Darwinian in the sink-or-swim approach of RFC training.
There was also a practical side to the limited dual instruction given before autumn 1917. The simple fact is that, while instructors certainly knew how to fly, they knew very little of the mechanics of flight, and could seldom explain to their pupils why aircraft in flight behaved the way they did. What’s more, the RFC made no attempt whatsoever to disseminate what information did exist. For example, by the end of 1916 the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough had completed a series of aerodynamic studies on spinning, knew what caused a spin and -- most important -- knew the proper method of recovery from a spin. Yet, more than six months later, instructors were still completely ignorant on this vital subject. E.C. Burton was told by his instructors “that not much was known about spins but it was best to keep out of a spin by avoiding a stall, but ‘If you get into a spin it might be best to keep your hands and feet off the controls and it would come out itself’.” As such, Burton and his fellow cadets received no instruction on recovery from spins; nevertheless, he wrote, “cadets were encouraged to loop, roll and spin on their own.” Most bad accidents, he suggests, were caused by stalling. Under these circumstances, perhaps it’s a wonder more cadets weren’t killed.
After the First Solo Flight
The unspoken consensus of RFC instructors before autumn 1917 was that students had a better chance of becoming good pilots if they taught themselves. This amounted to tacit admission that there was little that an instructor could teach beyond the rudiments of taking off, turning, simple maneuvers and landing.
Accordingly, students spent ten times as much flying time solo as they did under instruction. The cadets were encouraged to fly higher and further as they became more comfortable with the process, and the duration of solo flights increased to 45 minutes, an hour, or more. Cadets flew as high as 3,000 feet; Price on one flight reached 9,000 feet, which his CO told him was a record for his training squadron. Most pupils were reluctant to push themselves too far, though. C.H. Andrews wrote of climbing “into the bottom of some clouds at about 3,000 ft, but did not have enough nerve to try and get above them. I was afraid of getting into a large one and loosing my sense of equilibrium.” W.C. Gibbard wrote, “I was no dare devil and when a thunderstorm appeared I gave it a wide berth and landed.” There were good reasons for being cautious; Gibbard goes on: “Many others took the opportunity to see a storm at too-close quarters. The result was about 7 crashes by cadets... ‘Hungry Lizzie’ was sure busy that day. Several of the crashes were fatal.”
Elementary flight training was done early in the morning and late in the afternoon, because at those times the air was most calm. Daytime heating resulted in thermals and higher winds during mid-day; thermals caused crashes because most pupils were unable to deal with the turbulence while higher winds caused crashes as these induced stalling in the under-powered elementary training aircraft. Accordingly, cadets at elementary training squadrons were usually wakened at 5 or 5:30 am during flying weather. Gibbard remembers trumpets being used to wake the cadets -- but adds that wakeup calls were seldom necessary. “We lived for flying,” he wrote, “and were in despair when shortages of machines, sickness, orderly duty etc. grounded us. Outside social activity was non-existent and not desired. No time for anything that did not further our aviating.”
Spackman's basic flight training was considered complete by December 1916 and he moved to the next phase of training at the RFC No 23 (Reserve) Squadron in Aboukir the following month.
Going Solo
Up until the autumn of 1917, Cadets received only a few hours of dual instruction before soloing. E.C. Burton (early 1917) had just two and a half hours of instruction before soloing, and he wrote that others in his squadron had two hours or less. A.D. Bell-Irving (mid-1916) had under two hours; R.V. Dodds (late 1916) had three hours’ dual; Bill Lambert and Donald MacLaren (both mid-1917) had five and a half and three and a half hours’ dual respectively. A cadet’s first solo flight usually came without warning. W.C. Gibbard had just finished a series of landings when his instructor stepped out and told him to go up and around again by himself. “You can’t imagine what a thrill it is to go through it,” wrote William Lambert. “Can you do it or can’t you? You will have to find out.”
Initial solo flights were similar to dual flights: they were of 15 to 20 minutes’ duration, done at low altitude and within sight of the airfield. The landing was usually the most difficult part. Normally, once a student had soloed he returned to dual instruction for a while longer.
RFC training was, hardly suprisingly, incredibly costly in terms of both machines and men. The RFC had an attitude toward training accidents that seems now to be shockingly casual. William Lambert’s first solo ended in a perfect three-point landing. Unfortunately, he was still 10 feet up in the air at the time, and when he relaxed the controls his machine pancaked straight down, driving the undercarriage up through the lower wings. After checking to be sure that Lambert wasn’t hurt, the instructor pointed to another machine and told him to try again. This was a very common experience, and the typical training airfield and its surroundings were constantly littered with crashed aircraft in varying degrees of repair or held for spare parts.
There could be upwards of two dozen crashes per day at each airfield when flying was going on at full pace; this led to a steady hemorrhage of cadets; on average, one trainee pilot died each day in the UK before improvements were made under the Gosport System (details on thislater), and several others were seriously injured. In a typical day (21 October 1917), C.H. Andrews recorded 17 crashes at his training squadron. One cadet was killed and five were injured seriously enough to be sent to hospital. And this was in Canada, which had a much better safety record than did Britain; 129 cadets died in Canada compared with over 8,000 in Britain, and the fatality rate per hour flown in Canada was one percent that of Britain. Ambulances were on constant duty, motors running, at training squadron airfields; Cadets referred to ambulances by the name “Hungry Lizzie.”
It could be argued that the constant death and injury helped to inure cadets to the casualties they’d encounter when they reached the front. The evidence, though, suggests that training-squadron deaths shocked cadets. Though outwardly they tried to maintain a show of light-heartedness, diary entries show that the strain was there and having an effect. When Harold Price lost two friends to an R.E.8 crash in late spring, 1917, he was shattered and closeted himself in his room. “Haven’t the heart to see anyone,” he wrote in his diary, and added that he could not write home under these circumstances because this kind of news could not be shared with family. In public, though, the attitude was more stern. Price notes with approval a colleague’s exasperation with the emotional, public response of two women friends to the deaths. “We boys do not talk about [death],” he wrote, “except very privately and quietly, in two or threes, and then in almost an impersonal manner.”
Flight Instructors
Most RFC cadets who wrote about their instructors seem to have remembered them fondly, or at least with respect. They seem to have been for the most part good men -- though W.C. Gibbard notes cautiously that “a very few were heartily despised.” It must be remembered, though, that for most of the war instructors were as often as not men who were, for one reason or another, no longer capable of serving as front-line pilots. A spell at a training squadron was considered by RFC brass to be just the thing to restore a pilot’s vitality after six nerve-wracking months at the front. That this was not often the case is revealed by the hearty dislike most pilots felt on being assigned duty as instructors. It is also revealed in the propensity of instructors for having their cadets solo after so little dual instruction. No pilot, having survived six months of wrenching front-line duty, wanted to be killed by a clumsy pupil. Though few wrote about it in those terms, there’s something viciously Darwinian in the sink-or-swim approach of RFC training.
There was also a practical side to the limited dual instruction given before autumn 1917. The simple fact is that, while instructors certainly knew how to fly, they knew very little of the mechanics of flight, and could seldom explain to their pupils why aircraft in flight behaved the way they did. What’s more, the RFC made no attempt whatsoever to disseminate what information did exist. For example, by the end of 1916 the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough had completed a series of aerodynamic studies on spinning, knew what caused a spin and -- most important -- knew the proper method of recovery from a spin. Yet, more than six months later, instructors were still completely ignorant on this vital subject. E.C. Burton was told by his instructors “that not much was known about spins but it was best to keep out of a spin by avoiding a stall, but ‘If you get into a spin it might be best to keep your hands and feet off the controls and it would come out itself’.” As such, Burton and his fellow cadets received no instruction on recovery from spins; nevertheless, he wrote, “cadets were encouraged to loop, roll and spin on their own.” Most bad accidents, he suggests, were caused by stalling. Under these circumstances, perhaps it’s a wonder more cadets weren’t killed.
After the First Solo Flight
The unspoken consensus of RFC instructors before autumn 1917 was that students had a better chance of becoming good pilots if they taught themselves. This amounted to tacit admission that there was little that an instructor could teach beyond the rudiments of taking off, turning, simple maneuvers and landing.
Accordingly, students spent ten times as much flying time solo as they did under instruction. The cadets were encouraged to fly higher and further as they became more comfortable with the process, and the duration of solo flights increased to 45 minutes, an hour, or more. Cadets flew as high as 3,000 feet; Price on one flight reached 9,000 feet, which his CO told him was a record for his training squadron. Most pupils were reluctant to push themselves too far, though. C.H. Andrews wrote of climbing “into the bottom of some clouds at about 3,000 ft, but did not have enough nerve to try and get above them. I was afraid of getting into a large one and loosing my sense of equilibrium.” W.C. Gibbard wrote, “I was no dare devil and when a thunderstorm appeared I gave it a wide berth and landed.” There were good reasons for being cautious; Gibbard goes on: “Many others took the opportunity to see a storm at too-close quarters. The result was about 7 crashes by cadets... ‘Hungry Lizzie’ was sure busy that day. Several of the crashes were fatal.”
Elementary flight training was done early in the morning and late in the afternoon, because at those times the air was most calm. Daytime heating resulted in thermals and higher winds during mid-day; thermals caused crashes because most pupils were unable to deal with the turbulence while higher winds caused crashes as these induced stalling in the under-powered elementary training aircraft. Accordingly, cadets at elementary training squadrons were usually wakened at 5 or 5:30 am during flying weather. Gibbard remembers trumpets being used to wake the cadets -- but adds that wakeup calls were seldom necessary. “We lived for flying,” he wrote, “and were in despair when shortages of machines, sickness, orderly duty etc. grounded us. Outside social activity was non-existent and not desired. No time for anything that did not further our aviating.”
Spackman's basic flight training was considered complete by December 1916 and he moved to the next phase of training at the RFC No 23 (Reserve) Squadron in Aboukir the following month.
Curtis JN4 'Jenny' Trainer
|
|
click above to play
Avro 504
click above to play
Bristol Scout
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2a
|
|
There's an Irish connection with Robert Raymond Smith Barry AFC (4 April 1886 – 23 April 1949)
His most notable contribution was in developing flying instruction methods. In December 1916 he masterminded a complete reorganisation of flying training methods at Gosport. This new training method later became known as the "Gosport System" and was adopted worldwide. The curriculum combined classroom training and dual flight instruction. Students were not led away from potentially dangerous manoeuvres but deliberately exposed to them in controlled environments so they could learn to recover from errors of judgement. Choice of training aircraft used later settled on the Avro 504J. Smith-Barry was later described by Lord Trenchard as the man who "taught the air forces of the world how to fly"
His obituary is here. To listen to a BBC radio documentary on Smith Barry - click here
As for the Irish connection - his family home was Fota House in Cork. Details here.
His most notable contribution was in developing flying instruction methods. In December 1916 he masterminded a complete reorganisation of flying training methods at Gosport. This new training method later became known as the "Gosport System" and was adopted worldwide. The curriculum combined classroom training and dual flight instruction. Students were not led away from potentially dangerous manoeuvres but deliberately exposed to them in controlled environments so they could learn to recover from errors of judgement. Choice of training aircraft used later settled on the Avro 504J. Smith-Barry was later described by Lord Trenchard as the man who "taught the air forces of the world how to fly"
His obituary is here. To listen to a BBC radio documentary on Smith Barry - click here
As for the Irish connection - his family home was Fota House in Cork. Details here.
The Gosport Tube revolutionised pilot training. It was invented in 1917 by Robert Raymond Smith-Barry at his School of Special Flying in Gosport. It was a speaking tube designed to enable flight instructors to give instructions to their students while flying. Prior to this, the instructor had to bellow instructions to the student pilot. Thanks to the RAF Museum Cosford.
RFC Flight Training scrapbook, Aboukir 1916-17
The Student "Huns"
During WW1 RFC/RAF flying instructors nicknamed their students 'Huns' because they thought that they were as dangerous as the enemy. Below is an article published in'Flying' magazine, May 2, 1917 written by one of these student 'Huns' which gives an insight to the RFC flight training that all student pilots, including Spackman, would have experienced.
'The Instructor' a poem follows with some sound advice for all pilots.
Hun (or The Hun) is a term used in reference to the pre-medieval Hunnic Empire of Attila. This term was used heavily during World War I and was often seen on Allied war posters.
The origin of the term was a reference to Attila the Hun in Wilhelm II's notorious "Hun speech" (Hunnenrede) delivered on 27 July 1900, when he bade farewell to the German expeditionary corps sailing from Bremerhaven to defeat the Boxer Rebellion. The relevant part of the speech was:
Kommt ihr vor den Feind, so wird derselbe geschlagen! Pardon wird nicht gegeben! Gefangene werden nicht gemacht! Wer euch in die Hände fällt, sei euch verfallen! Wie vor tausend Jahren die Hunnen unter ihrem König Etzel sich einen Namen gemacht, der sie noch jetzt in Überlieferung und Märchen gewaltig erscheinen läßt, so möge der Name Deutsche in China auf 1000 Jahre durch euch in einer Weise bestätigt werden, daß es niemals wieder ein Chinese wagt, einen Deutschen scheel anzusehen!
When you meet the enemy, he will be defeated! No quarter will be given! No prisoners will be taken! Those who fall into your hands are forfeit to you! Just as a thousand years ago, the Huns under their King Etzel made a name for themselves which shows them as mighty in tradition and myth, so shall you establish the name of Germans in China for 1000 years, in such a way that a Chinese will never again dare to look askance at a German.
The theme of Hunnic savagery was then developed in a speech of August Bebel in the Reichstag in which he recounted details of the cruelty of the German expedition which were taken from soldiers' letters home, styled the Hunnenbriefe (letters from the Huns). The Kaiser's speech was widely reported in the European press and then became the basis for the characterisation of the Germans during World War I as barbarians and savages with no respect for European civilisation and humanitarian values. By coincidence, Gott mit uns ("God is with us"), a motto first used in the Kingdom of Prussia and later the German Empire, may have contributed to the popularization of 'Huns' as British Army slang for Germans by misreading 'uns' for 'Huns'.
The origin of the term was a reference to Attila the Hun in Wilhelm II's notorious "Hun speech" (Hunnenrede) delivered on 27 July 1900, when he bade farewell to the German expeditionary corps sailing from Bremerhaven to defeat the Boxer Rebellion. The relevant part of the speech was:
Kommt ihr vor den Feind, so wird derselbe geschlagen! Pardon wird nicht gegeben! Gefangene werden nicht gemacht! Wer euch in die Hände fällt, sei euch verfallen! Wie vor tausend Jahren die Hunnen unter ihrem König Etzel sich einen Namen gemacht, der sie noch jetzt in Überlieferung und Märchen gewaltig erscheinen läßt, so möge der Name Deutsche in China auf 1000 Jahre durch euch in einer Weise bestätigt werden, daß es niemals wieder ein Chinese wagt, einen Deutschen scheel anzusehen!
When you meet the enemy, he will be defeated! No quarter will be given! No prisoners will be taken! Those who fall into your hands are forfeit to you! Just as a thousand years ago, the Huns under their King Etzel made a name for themselves which shows them as mighty in tradition and myth, so shall you establish the name of Germans in China for 1000 years, in such a way that a Chinese will never again dare to look askance at a German.
The theme of Hunnic savagery was then developed in a speech of August Bebel in the Reichstag in which he recounted details of the cruelty of the German expedition which were taken from soldiers' letters home, styled the Hunnenbriefe (letters from the Huns). The Kaiser's speech was widely reported in the European press and then became the basis for the characterisation of the Germans during World War I as barbarians and savages with no respect for European civilisation and humanitarian values. By coincidence, Gott mit uns ("God is with us"), a motto first used in the Kingdom of Prussia and later the German Empire, may have contributed to the popularization of 'Huns' as British Army slang for Germans by misreading 'uns' for 'Huns'.
Above - German war posters highlighting the new aircraft coming into service and that pilots were needed. Below is an entertaining description of what awaits a new recruit to the British air force (published in the Daily Telegraph, September 1918. There's also some insight into the food rationing system, detailing just what can be purchased 'off coupons' at the time.)
Higher Training
A pilot’s elementary training was considered to have been completed once he’d spent between 10 and 20 hours in the air (R.V. Dodds had just under 10 hours in autumn of 1916; Spackman around 11 hours, Donald MacLaren had 21 hours in summer 1917) and had made 30 successful landings at the airfield and one, under simulated emergency conditions, away from the home field. At this point the Cadet was posted to another training squadron for what was referred to as higher training.
Higher training was done on a variety of machines, and this was most pilots’ introduction to rotary-powered aircraft. Dodds flew Avro 504s and B.E.2s; Harold Price flew Avros and R.E.8s; A. Roy Brown flew Avros and B.E.2s (which he preferred to the Avro; it had better gliding characteristics, he wrote). Spackman received his higher training on the B.E. 2C at the No 23 Reserve Squadron starting in early January, 1917.
Whenever possible, cadets at higher training squadrons were encouraged to fly every day. Whereas at the elementary training squadron all flying had been basic in nature, involving little more than circuits of the airfield and landings, higher training broadened the scope considerably. Instructors regularly sent cadets on distance flights cross-country (Harold Price took notes of the castles and cathedrals he was able to see from the air). Other flights required the students to climb above 8,000 feet, while others were devoted to specific activities such as observation, aerial navigation, the interpretation of ground-based signals from the air, and even bombing practice. Because higher training machines were better (and better-powered) aircraft, there were fewer restrictions on flying than in elementary squadrons.
Higher training also introduced pupils to aerial gunnery. Sometimes cadets fired a few rounds at elementary schools (when the weather was too poor for flying, cadets spent their time disassembling, assembling and very occasionally firing machine-guns; Lambert writes that elementary training in machine-gun firing provided pupils with just 10 rounds per session), but for the most part gunnery training was introduced at higher training squadrons. In late-1917 a Canadian innovation, the camera gun, was brought to Britain; before that time, aerial gunnery practice consisted of students firing a Lewis gun at a target being pulled by a tow-plane (which could usually be identified by the bullet-holes in its rudder). Gunnery practice was also performed on the ground, with an aircraft-silhouette target being used. To remind pupils that a target had to be “led” in order to be hit, sometimes target or gunner would be made mobile, moving on a circular railroad track.
Higher training increased considerably in importance as the war progressed. In the period late-1916 through mid-1917, though, the demands of the front often meant that this time had to be cut short. R.V. Dodds, who trained from autumn 1916 through spring 1917, spent just 45 hours in higher training, over a period of about two months. He totalled 54 hours of instruction. By contrast, Donald MacLaren, who began his training in late June 1917, wasn’t sent to the front until five months later. Bill Lambert, who began at the same time as MacLaren, didn’t go to the front until March 1918 -- though in his case he spent several months as an instructor before doing his final training. MacLaren had almost 90 hours when he was posted; Lambert considerably more.
During flight training in the B.E.2C aircraft, Spackman "side-slipped on a turn" on February 7th, crashed and was injured.
Spackman's RFC Casualty Card (below) is one of nearly 55,000 casualty cards held by the Royal Air Force Museum. These cards record a wide range of incidents, from deaths in aerial combat to flight training accidents to off-duty dancing mishaps. Spackman's card contains a great deal of information and details the event, location and that he was 'under instruction' at the time of the accident. Note that he was known by his second name 'Basil' at this stage. It is believed he began to use his full name Charles Basil Slater Spackman & initials 'C.B.S. Spackman' shortly after qualification as a Flying Officer as another Spackman was also in service with the RFC in France.
A pilot’s elementary training was considered to have been completed once he’d spent between 10 and 20 hours in the air (R.V. Dodds had just under 10 hours in autumn of 1916; Spackman around 11 hours, Donald MacLaren had 21 hours in summer 1917) and had made 30 successful landings at the airfield and one, under simulated emergency conditions, away from the home field. At this point the Cadet was posted to another training squadron for what was referred to as higher training.
Higher training was done on a variety of machines, and this was most pilots’ introduction to rotary-powered aircraft. Dodds flew Avro 504s and B.E.2s; Harold Price flew Avros and R.E.8s; A. Roy Brown flew Avros and B.E.2s (which he preferred to the Avro; it had better gliding characteristics, he wrote). Spackman received his higher training on the B.E. 2C at the No 23 Reserve Squadron starting in early January, 1917.
Whenever possible, cadets at higher training squadrons were encouraged to fly every day. Whereas at the elementary training squadron all flying had been basic in nature, involving little more than circuits of the airfield and landings, higher training broadened the scope considerably. Instructors regularly sent cadets on distance flights cross-country (Harold Price took notes of the castles and cathedrals he was able to see from the air). Other flights required the students to climb above 8,000 feet, while others were devoted to specific activities such as observation, aerial navigation, the interpretation of ground-based signals from the air, and even bombing practice. Because higher training machines were better (and better-powered) aircraft, there were fewer restrictions on flying than in elementary squadrons.
Higher training also introduced pupils to aerial gunnery. Sometimes cadets fired a few rounds at elementary schools (when the weather was too poor for flying, cadets spent their time disassembling, assembling and very occasionally firing machine-guns; Lambert writes that elementary training in machine-gun firing provided pupils with just 10 rounds per session), but for the most part gunnery training was introduced at higher training squadrons. In late-1917 a Canadian innovation, the camera gun, was brought to Britain; before that time, aerial gunnery practice consisted of students firing a Lewis gun at a target being pulled by a tow-plane (which could usually be identified by the bullet-holes in its rudder). Gunnery practice was also performed on the ground, with an aircraft-silhouette target being used. To remind pupils that a target had to be “led” in order to be hit, sometimes target or gunner would be made mobile, moving on a circular railroad track.
Higher training increased considerably in importance as the war progressed. In the period late-1916 through mid-1917, though, the demands of the front often meant that this time had to be cut short. R.V. Dodds, who trained from autumn 1916 through spring 1917, spent just 45 hours in higher training, over a period of about two months. He totalled 54 hours of instruction. By contrast, Donald MacLaren, who began his training in late June 1917, wasn’t sent to the front until five months later. Bill Lambert, who began at the same time as MacLaren, didn’t go to the front until March 1918 -- though in his case he spent several months as an instructor before doing his final training. MacLaren had almost 90 hours when he was posted; Lambert considerably more.
During flight training in the B.E.2C aircraft, Spackman "side-slipped on a turn" on February 7th, crashed and was injured.
Spackman's RFC Casualty Card (below) is one of nearly 55,000 casualty cards held by the Royal Air Force Museum. These cards record a wide range of incidents, from deaths in aerial combat to flight training accidents to off-duty dancing mishaps. Spackman's card contains a great deal of information and details the event, location and that he was 'under instruction' at the time of the accident. Note that he was known by his second name 'Basil' at this stage. It is believed he began to use his full name Charles Basil Slater Spackman & initials 'C.B.S. Spackman' shortly after qualification as a Flying Officer as another Spackman was also in service with the RFC in France.
Spackman's Royal Flying Corps Casualty Card. Full Name: Spackman, 2/Lt B. ID OC0242531 Object CC2_22447
Rank: 2Lt. Organisation: Norfolk Regiment # Royal Flying Corps
Unit: 23 Reserve Squadron (RFC) - Pilot
Casualty date: February 7th 1917
Accident: Flying accident, side slipped on turn.
Result of accident: Injured Place: Aboukir/ME
Aircraft: Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c
Aircraft serial: not recorded
Engine type: Not recorded Source: http://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/spackman-b
Further research uncovers some additional information.
The Casualty Card above records Spackman's aircraft accident of February 7, 1917 and his resulting hospitalisation. The fact that he was now with the 22nd (or 23rd depending on which card you read) Reserve Squadron RFC in Aboukir is recorded on his Service and Casualty Form (Army Form B103) but it also shows that following treatment for injuries sustained in the flying accident, he was next treated for a common affliction that many officers and men in armies contracted during wartime, syphilis.
It is noted that he was admitted to No. 17 General Hospital, Alexandria on February 9th, transferred from the field hospital at Aboukir where he had been hospitalised since his flying accident on February 7th.
below: Spackman's Service and Casualty Form (Army Form B103) for February, 1917
For just under a month, he was treated for the disease in Alexandria before being 'discharged to duty' on March 8, 1917.
As an aside, venereal disease caused a huge and preventable drain on both the Allied and Central Powers army resources, but all too often, military counter-measures were poorly conceived or hampered by moral objections from home. In British military law, only the concealment of VD, not the contraction of a disease itself, was punishable as a crime. Nevertheless, servicemen who were hospitalised with VD found themselves penalised by an antiquated system of ‘hospital stoppages’. In the days before a National Health Service, any man admitted to hospital for reasons not connected with his military service was liable to have money stopped from his pay to help cover the cost of his treatment. Although ‘hospital stoppages’ were finally abolished in October 1917, a levy was retained in cases where a man was deemed to have been admitted ‘through his own fault’, VD patients and alcoholics being the principle targets. ‘Hospital stoppages’ became, in effect, a fine.
A New Zealander, Ettie Rout was serving as a nurse in Egypt in 1917 and became aware of the problems posed by VD but in contrast to many feminists of her time, was convinced that VD should be treated as a medical issue, not a moral one. In 1917 she designed and began selling prophylactic kits to the troops on her own initiative. A letter to the New Zealand Times advocating condoms and clean brothels caused such outrage that for the rest of the war her name was forbidden to appear in print on pain of a £100 fine, and a deputation of society women called for her activities to be immediately suppressed. Her letter nevertheless persuaded the New Zealand authorities to sanction the free issue of her kits to the troops abroad, but this was carefully kept secret from the populous at home. Despite being decorated by the French for her war work, which included the establishment of a hygienic brothel for New Zealand troops in Paris in 1918, her activities were deliberately concealed in her own country – as late as 1936, her obituaries avoided any mention of her wartime service.
Released from hospital and returning to training on March 8th with No. 23 Reserve Squadron and later attended the School of Aerial Gunnery in Aboukir to continue his flying training with aerial tactics and armaments.
Spackman completed his training on April 16, 1917 and with the mandatory fifteen hours solo flying time completed, he was 'graded as Flying Officer with effect from 17.4.17' but 'subject to the approval of the War Office'.
Below - an example of the Royal Flying Corps Graduation Certificate .
Spackman received his wings and was posted to the 20th Reserve Wing pending War Office approval and posting instructions.
A thirty-three year flying career with the Royal Air Force had begun.
The original Royal Flying Corps (RFC) Pilot's brevet or Pilot's Wings was designed by senior officers General Sir Frederick Sykes and General Sir David Henderson. It consisted of the wings of a swift in white silk embroidery with the monogram of RFC encircled by a laurel wreath of brown silk. The monogram was surmounted by a crown. The Wings were given Royal approval by King George V in February 1913 under Army Order 40/13 and became the symbol of qualification worn by trained pilots. The design of the flying badge was the first of its kind in the world. It has been used as the basis of pilot's badges for the air forces of many countries.
Prior to the introduction of the Gosport System, there doesn’t seem to have been any consistency in the way a military pilot's "Wings" were awarded. Evidence suggests that before autumn 1917 at least, there was no ceremonial parade at which wings were awarded. In some cases, Cadets weren’t even told that they were allowed to wear wings; William Gibbard wrote that he and his fellows started wearing their wings while off duty once they’d soloed, but kept them either pinned on or loosely stitched, so that they could be removed quickly if a senior officer hove into view. These cadets didn’t wear wings full-time until they were sent to the front. Technically, pilots weren’t allowed to wear wings until they had been qualified for service at the front. A.D. Bell-Irving received his wings the day before he was posted to the front, and that’s the standard that the Gosport System adhered to.
The Gosport System spelled out exactly what a pilot had to do in order to earn his wings.
A. To graduate a pilot must have:
1. Undergone instruction at a School of Military Aeronautics.
2. Had 20 hours solo in the air. [Handwritten amendment reads: “25 hours solo + dual combined”]
3. Flown a service aeroplane satisfactorily.
4. Carried out a cross-country flight of at least 60 miles successfully--during which he must have landed at two outside landing places under supervision of a R.F.C. officer.
5. Climbed to 8,000 ft. and remained there for at least 15 mins., after which he will land with his engine stopped, the aeroplane first touching the ground within a circular mark of 50 ft. in diam.
6. Made two landings in the dark, assisted by flares (only applicable to B.E. and F.E. 2 pilots; pilots of other machines may do this at discretion of Wing Commanders and Commandant C.F.S.).*
B. Pilots will not wear wings until they are qualified for service overseas as under:--
1. Passed tests applicable on p. 6--7. [These are the tests in “A” above.]
2. Have had air experience 30 hours solo, of which not less than five hours must be done on a service type. [Handwritten amendment reads: “Have had dual control instruction + solo air experience amounting in all to 35 hours: of which no less than 5 hrs must be made upon a service type.”]
3. Carried out 15 ‘tail down’ landings on service type. He will then be known as a service pilot and will wear wings.
C. If a service pilot is required for overseas on a type other than that on which he is qualified as such, he must do a further five hours solo and 15 ‘tail down’ landings on new type.”
* Night landings were required for B.E. 2 pilots because this machine was used for anti-Zeppelin work, while the F.E. 2 was used in night bombing.
This was a minimum standard. Many pilots who went to the front in later 1917 and 1918 did so with upwards of 80 hours experience, up to a quarter of that on service types. Of course, this standard was equally often honoured in the breach, especially in the spring of 1917, when aircrew were being killed, injured or captured on their first or second trip over the lines and replacements were needed on a daily basis.
Prior to the introduction of the Gosport System, there doesn’t seem to have been any consistency in the way a military pilot's "Wings" were awarded. Evidence suggests that before autumn 1917 at least, there was no ceremonial parade at which wings were awarded. In some cases, Cadets weren’t even told that they were allowed to wear wings; William Gibbard wrote that he and his fellows started wearing their wings while off duty once they’d soloed, but kept them either pinned on or loosely stitched, so that they could be removed quickly if a senior officer hove into view. These cadets didn’t wear wings full-time until they were sent to the front. Technically, pilots weren’t allowed to wear wings until they had been qualified for service at the front. A.D. Bell-Irving received his wings the day before he was posted to the front, and that’s the standard that the Gosport System adhered to.
The Gosport System spelled out exactly what a pilot had to do in order to earn his wings.
A. To graduate a pilot must have:
1. Undergone instruction at a School of Military Aeronautics.
2. Had 20 hours solo in the air. [Handwritten amendment reads: “25 hours solo + dual combined”]
3. Flown a service aeroplane satisfactorily.
4. Carried out a cross-country flight of at least 60 miles successfully--during which he must have landed at two outside landing places under supervision of a R.F.C. officer.
5. Climbed to 8,000 ft. and remained there for at least 15 mins., after which he will land with his engine stopped, the aeroplane first touching the ground within a circular mark of 50 ft. in diam.
6. Made two landings in the dark, assisted by flares (only applicable to B.E. and F.E. 2 pilots; pilots of other machines may do this at discretion of Wing Commanders and Commandant C.F.S.).*
B. Pilots will not wear wings until they are qualified for service overseas as under:--
1. Passed tests applicable on p. 6--7. [These are the tests in “A” above.]
2. Have had air experience 30 hours solo, of which not less than five hours must be done on a service type. [Handwritten amendment reads: “Have had dual control instruction + solo air experience amounting in all to 35 hours: of which no less than 5 hrs must be made upon a service type.”]
3. Carried out 15 ‘tail down’ landings on service type. He will then be known as a service pilot and will wear wings.
C. If a service pilot is required for overseas on a type other than that on which he is qualified as such, he must do a further five hours solo and 15 ‘tail down’ landings on new type.”
* Night landings were required for B.E. 2 pilots because this machine was used for anti-Zeppelin work, while the F.E. 2 was used in night bombing.
This was a minimum standard. Many pilots who went to the front in later 1917 and 1918 did so with upwards of 80 hours experience, up to a quarter of that on service types. Of course, this standard was equally often honoured in the breach, especially in the spring of 1917, when aircrew were being killed, injured or captured on their first or second trip over the lines and replacements were needed on a daily basis.
Spackman's first posting was that as a Flying Officer to HQ, 20th Wing in Salonika, Greece.
The London Gazette notes the details in it's edition of 25 May:
The London Gazette notes the details in it's edition of 25 May:
The RFC 16th Wing in Salonika now requested the Spackman complete some additional advanced fighter training and flying hours. On July 1, Spackman reported to the RFC Base Depot from the 23 RS awaiting instructions and embarkation. He finally received his orders was posted as a Flying Officer to HQ, 16th Wing (Salonika), applied for passage and shipped out the next day, July 2nd on the HT 'Menominee' " a dirty, one funnel old transatlantic liner' to the Macedonian Front.
Before sailing for Greece, Spackman, like all RFC flying officers would have had to furnish his own uniform and kit.
Specialised flying clothing was not made available as a standard issue let alone purpose manufactured to military pilots needs until after the war. By 1916, many aircraft was capable of reaching altitudes above 20,000ft (6,100m) where in winter months temperatures below -40c would not be uncommon. This, combined with flying in an open cockpit and without fitted oxygen-feed systems, put considerable physiological stress on pilots. Without the benefit of purpose-designed flying kit, pilots looked elsewhere for equipment and clothing that could be easily obtained. Motorsports and in particular, motorcycling provided a ready source of suitable leather helmets, gloves and goggles. Manufacturers such as Burberrys, Grieves and Selfridges produced the more desirable leather goods and it wasn't long before fashion conscious aviators were attempting to outdo each other by purchasing the best branded items of flying clothing. The basic essentials of a helmet, goggles, gauntlets, boots and a flying jacket or coat would be the minimum for flying in the summer or at low altitudes. For braving the extremes of winter cold, much more protection was required.
Here's how involved the clothing regime was for RAF pilots prior to flying as recalled by a former First World War pilot in the 70's:
Specialised flying clothing was not made available as a standard issue let alone purpose manufactured to military pilots needs until after the war. By 1916, many aircraft was capable of reaching altitudes above 20,000ft (6,100m) where in winter months temperatures below -40c would not be uncommon. This, combined with flying in an open cockpit and without fitted oxygen-feed systems, put considerable physiological stress on pilots. Without the benefit of purpose-designed flying kit, pilots looked elsewhere for equipment and clothing that could be easily obtained. Motorsports and in particular, motorcycling provided a ready source of suitable leather helmets, gloves and goggles. Manufacturers such as Burberrys, Grieves and Selfridges produced the more desirable leather goods and it wasn't long before fashion conscious aviators were attempting to outdo each other by purchasing the best branded items of flying clothing. The basic essentials of a helmet, goggles, gauntlets, boots and a flying jacket or coat would be the minimum for flying in the summer or at low altitudes. For braving the extremes of winter cold, much more protection was required.
Here's how involved the clothing regime was for RAF pilots prior to flying as recalled by a former First World War pilot in the 70's:
“ ….. clothing had therefore to be put on just before flying, otherwise the body would give out moisture which would freeze again at altitude. Dressing would then be in strict sequence. Silk underwear, close-woven woollen underwear duplicating the silk and worn loose, cellular two-inch squared vest, silk inner shirt, Army khaki shirt, two pullovers, tight woven gabardine Sidcot Suit lined with lamb’s wool and muskrat-lined gauntlets with silk inners. Thus dressed the pilot could tolerate temperatures of minus fifty degrees Centigrade – though high wind, poor fit, sweat before dressing or the poor circulation of an unfit man could chill him to the point of tears at ten degrees Fahrenheit.
One final military touch before leaving the dressing hut – the presentation for signature of an Army form FS20. ‘Date, time, pilot’s name, thigh boots, fur-lined boots, gauntlets, fur-lined goggles with Triplex glasses, Sidcot suit & oversleeves. These are the property of the public. Losses due to exigencies of campaign must be certified by the Officer Commanding. The final adjustment would be to the head area. A silk scarf would be wound carefully around the throat to prevent air entering the vulnerable neck area and getting inside the flying suit as well as preventing skin chafing from that constant turning round in flight to check for enemy behind the tail-plane.
The face would then be smeared with whale-oil, surrounded by a balaclava helmet and covered with a non-absorbent face mask, ideally of Nuchwang dog-skin from China. If dog-skin was unavailable, the mask would be wolverine fur, favoured anyway by the Canadian flyers since breath would not freeze on it. The triplex goggles, which covered the single gap in the mask (32s 6d over a London shop counter) were of fur lined moulded sponge-rubber with sage-green-tinted-glasses to absorb ultra-violet rays. Various preparations would finally be rubbed on to the glass to counter fogging below ten degrees Fahrenheit and frosting at minus ten, with perhaps a touch of ointment on the lips, though pilots philosophically accepted the facts that all lips cracked at altitude whatever specifics were used.
Fully dressed, the flight would walk together to the CO’s hut stumping as noisily and heavily as lunar astronauts.”
illustrated below is an example of the full kit required by pilots, in this case 2nd Lieutenant R.G. Mitchell, dated 26 March 1918, and a bill from a military tailor for his new RAF kit.
Arriving in Salonika (Thessaloniki) on July 6, HQ 16th Wing assigned Spackman as a Flying Officer to No.47 Squadron and he moved to No. 47's base at Kirec. (now known as Asvestochori, Thessaloniki)
No. 47 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed at Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire on 1 March 1916 as a home defence unit, protecting Hull and East Yorkshire against attack by German Zeppelins, being equipped with a mix of aircraft, including Armstrong Whitworth F.K.3s, FK.8s and Royal Aircraft Factory BE.12s. After six months training and flying defensive patrols, it was split up, with two flights joining 33 Squadron, and the remainder being sent to Salonika in Greece, to support forces fighting on the Macedonian Front, arriving on 20 September 1916.
The London Gazette noted on August 3 that Spackman as a 2nd Lieutenant with the Norfolk Regiment was to be a temporary Lieutenant while serving with the RFC effective from 1 July, 1917:
Above: Details from Spackman's 'Form B103' the unfortunately named 'Casualty Form - Active Service' shows his record card begins for his service in Salonika. Arriving on July 6 in Salonika at the R76 Base Deport, received his posting to the 47 Squadron and arriving at the air base later the same day. The next entry would be in February 1918.
Below: Next of Kin details: Rev. G. Spackman. 20 Downs Park East, Bristol.
Below: Next of Kin details: Rev. G. Spackman. 20 Downs Park East, Bristol.
Spackman is noted as a Flying Officer with the No 47 Squadron on War Office records for 31 August and 15 November, 1917.
The London Gazette in it's fourth supplement published on September 10 noted that Spackman as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 1/4th Norfolk Regiment had been promoted to Lieutenant since June 1, 1916, his order of precedence was established and that he was to remain seconded to the Royal Flying Corps.
The London Gazette in it's fourth supplement published on September 10 noted that Spackman as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 1/4th Norfolk Regiment had been promoted to Lieutenant since June 1, 1916, his order of precedence was established and that he was to remain seconded to the Royal Flying Corps.
Spackman's pay rate now increased to ten shillings a day while off active service and eighteen shillings a day while on duty. Duties would have been seven days per week for weeks on end, so a reasonable pay scale of £6 a week (£325 equivalent weekly in 2018) to risk death and destruction on a daily basis.
Salonika - 'The Casablanca of the Great War'
Now called Thessaloniki, the city itself had, until a few years before, been one of the jewels of the Ottoman Empire – a mysterious compound of the exotic and the cosmopolitan, the place to which St Paul had addressed his Letter to the Thessalonians, in which Roman ruins stood beside ancient basilicas, recently converted back to churches from being mosques. From the port, serving the Balkans, it was possible to see Mount Olympus, home of the ancient gods, across the bay. But outside the city, the countryside hadn’t changed much from the days when Lord Byron was there, its tracks – there were no proper roads – still haunted by brigands. Before 1914, the Balkans had already suffered several years of intense fighting. In 1912 Salonika was captured from the Ottomans by the Greek army – to the mortification of the Bulgarian army, which arrived the next day. (The Bulgarians, seeking to negotiate with the Ottoman commander Hassan Tahsin Pasha, were told ruefully: “I have only one Thessaloniki, which I have surrendered.”)
Salonika - 'The Casablanca of the Great War'
Now called Thessaloniki, the city itself had, until a few years before, been one of the jewels of the Ottoman Empire – a mysterious compound of the exotic and the cosmopolitan, the place to which St Paul had addressed his Letter to the Thessalonians, in which Roman ruins stood beside ancient basilicas, recently converted back to churches from being mosques. From the port, serving the Balkans, it was possible to see Mount Olympus, home of the ancient gods, across the bay. But outside the city, the countryside hadn’t changed much from the days when Lord Byron was there, its tracks – there were no proper roads – still haunted by brigands. Before 1914, the Balkans had already suffered several years of intense fighting. In 1912 Salonika was captured from the Ottomans by the Greek army – to the mortification of the Bulgarian army, which arrived the next day. (The Bulgarians, seeking to negotiate with the Ottoman commander Hassan Tahsin Pasha, were told ruefully: “I have only one Thessaloniki, which I have surrendered.”)
Military operations in Macedonia had commenced on 5 October 1915, when the French and British forces (including the 10th (Irish) Division) landed at the then neutral Greek port of Salonika (now Thessaloniki) with the intention of providing aid to the Serbian Army which was under pressure from the advancing Austro-Hungarians and Bulgarians. They were just too late. The Serbs had been defeated. The Connaught Rangers, the Royal Irish Fusiliers and the Hampshire Regiment fought the Battle of Kosturino to cover their epic and painful retreat across the Albanian mountains. Thereafter, the French and British threw a ring of barbed wire fortifications around Salonika (it became known as The Birdcage) and occupied the plains; while the Bulgarians dug themselves into the mountains. That was how things remained until the last months of the war. Stalemate.
The Allies found offensive action extremely difficult, as the Bulgarians and their German Allies held the high ground in rocky mountainous country. At the same time, the Central Powers were content to contain the Allies in what was described as ‘the biggest internment camp’, containing some 600,000 British, French, Serbian and later, Greek troops. This drew forces away from the main theatre of war on the Western Front.
On this stagnant and largely forgotten front, the troops remained, in the words of F. Nash, who served with the RAMC and the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, “bedded fast in slab and thick monotony like flies in treacle”. After a mere two years of peace, villages were still deserted, houses wrecked. Posted upcountry in what resembled a desert, Military and Air Force officers shared a single ambition: to get to Salonika on leave. With a nurse.
Salonika was small but colourful. The old town was made up of wooden houses that cascaded down the hill from the fort, with latticed windows on the first floor to conceal the ladies of the house. Open drains ran down the centre of the street. About 1900, the Ottoman governor had succeeded in modernising the lower city, creating brightly lit boulevards on the model of Paris. Not only had the population barely become Greek, but the majority were of somewhat ambiguous nationality at the best of times. For more than half were Jews. They were descended from families who had been expelled from the Iberian peninsula in the 15th century – and they still spoke Ladino, a kind of Spanish Yiddish. (The vibrant Jewish community continued until the city fell to the German forces on April 22, 1941 and remained under German occupation until 30 October 1944. The city suffered considerable damage from Allied bombing and almost all of its entire Jewish population were exterminated by the Nazis. Barely a thousand Jews survived.)
To add to the complications in 1917, Greece was, despite the presence of the Anglo-French armies, officially neutral. The Allies had been invited to Salonika by the prime minister, Eliftherios Venizelos, but the king was the brother-in-law of the Kaiser. Salonika’s neutral status meant that the enemies of the French and British could, to begin with, maintain consulates. Spying was rife.
But there were more than spies in Salonika. It had cafes, restaurants, the clubs that the British established wherever they went in the world, music halls where rowdy young subalterns and flying officers could misbehave – and other entertainments around the railway station where the number of brothels had multiplied since the arrival of so many soldiers. Nurses were the only respectable females of their own type that the officers were likely to find on the Salonika Front. They either lived in tented cities on the outskirts of Salonika itself or in tents in the wild, where they had to improvise everything for themselves. They were a venturesome breed, and very much in demand, if only as a reminder of home. Their lot was not as unremittingly terrible as that on the Western Front: skirmishes took place in the foothills but not trench warfare. But they did not get leave. They were out there for the duration, galled that the public in Britain thought they were having an easy time of it. That was hardly the case. Only officers were allowed inside the Birdcage (as they called Salonika from the barbed wire fortifications surrounding it). The men had to stay in their camps. Since there was little fighting to do, the authorities had to put their minds to entertainment. What would keep them from getting restless?
The answer was shows. All kinds were put on. They used whatever human talent was to hand. Displays on the parallel bars were prominent in the army gymnasts’ performance, for example. Others were of a more amateur kind – but still taken seriously. One brigade built its own theatre, where a troupe of 250 soldiers was relieved normal duties to mount entertainments. Bints – the often quite ordinary soldiers whose task it was to impersonate women – were sometimes accorded super star status. This was not principally because of what, in old public schools, would have been called “vice”: homosexuality was largely, though not wholly repressed. The bints’ turns on stage allowed many in the audience to forget the madness of being stuck for years in an uncomfortable foreign clime, and remember the mothers, wives, girlfriends and sisters from whom they were parted.
There was a wonderfully British determination to make the best of things. There were plenty of horses to be put through their paces at divisional horse shows. Hunts were formed. Tortoises were raced. One soldier sent home for his cello. Farms and gardens were established, partly to grow food (necessary, since all supplies had to come in by ship and were vulnerable to Austrian U-Boats) but also for the love of the plants that the quartermasters knew from their gardens in the Home Counties. Which added credence to the derogatory name by which the armies were known – the Gardeners of Salonika.
The hospitals were entirely staffed by women, some of them entirely so: the stalwart ladies who organised them, initially without the help or recognition of the military command, did so to free the maximum number of men for fighting duties. Many of them were also suffragettes, who wanted to show that the supposedly frailer sex could do more than stay at home knitting socks. Although the hospitals also managed to put on shows, of a decorous kind, the nurses were often busier, until 1918, than the soldiers. For while the British, on the right of the Front, had little to do after Kosturino, the French, on the left, saw more action; and the Serbs were forever fighting, ferociously in the mountains. Hospital beds that weren’t filled with wounded soldiers were occupied by malaria cases (soldiers objected to wearing mosquito veils in the heat of the Greek summer). Malaria often struck the nurses themselves and accounted for most of the deaths and medical evacuations from the area.
No. 47 Squadron was sent to Salonika, to supplement No.17 Squadron and support forces fighting on the Macedonian Front, arriving on 20 September 1916 and locating to an airfield at Kirec (Under Turkish rule, the town was known as Kireç, later named Asvestochori, Thessaloniki)
The squadron was equipped with a mix of aircraft, including two flights of Armstrong Whitworth F.K.3s, FK.8s and one flight of Royal Aircraft Factory BE.12s.
In the main, the air war over the Salonika Front was conducted in what might be described as a chivalrous and gentlemanly fashion, with airmen of both sides adhering to the rules of war and a standard of what they would have regarded as decent conduct.
The Allies found offensive action extremely difficult, as the Bulgarians and their German Allies held the high ground in rocky mountainous country. At the same time, the Central Powers were content to contain the Allies in what was described as ‘the biggest internment camp’, containing some 600,000 British, French, Serbian and later, Greek troops. This drew forces away from the main theatre of war on the Western Front.
On this stagnant and largely forgotten front, the troops remained, in the words of F. Nash, who served with the RAMC and the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, “bedded fast in slab and thick monotony like flies in treacle”. After a mere two years of peace, villages were still deserted, houses wrecked. Posted upcountry in what resembled a desert, Military and Air Force officers shared a single ambition: to get to Salonika on leave. With a nurse.
Salonika was small but colourful. The old town was made up of wooden houses that cascaded down the hill from the fort, with latticed windows on the first floor to conceal the ladies of the house. Open drains ran down the centre of the street. About 1900, the Ottoman governor had succeeded in modernising the lower city, creating brightly lit boulevards on the model of Paris. Not only had the population barely become Greek, but the majority were of somewhat ambiguous nationality at the best of times. For more than half were Jews. They were descended from families who had been expelled from the Iberian peninsula in the 15th century – and they still spoke Ladino, a kind of Spanish Yiddish. (The vibrant Jewish community continued until the city fell to the German forces on April 22, 1941 and remained under German occupation until 30 October 1944. The city suffered considerable damage from Allied bombing and almost all of its entire Jewish population were exterminated by the Nazis. Barely a thousand Jews survived.)
To add to the complications in 1917, Greece was, despite the presence of the Anglo-French armies, officially neutral. The Allies had been invited to Salonika by the prime minister, Eliftherios Venizelos, but the king was the brother-in-law of the Kaiser. Salonika’s neutral status meant that the enemies of the French and British could, to begin with, maintain consulates. Spying was rife.
But there were more than spies in Salonika. It had cafes, restaurants, the clubs that the British established wherever they went in the world, music halls where rowdy young subalterns and flying officers could misbehave – and other entertainments around the railway station where the number of brothels had multiplied since the arrival of so many soldiers. Nurses were the only respectable females of their own type that the officers were likely to find on the Salonika Front. They either lived in tented cities on the outskirts of Salonika itself or in tents in the wild, where they had to improvise everything for themselves. They were a venturesome breed, and very much in demand, if only as a reminder of home. Their lot was not as unremittingly terrible as that on the Western Front: skirmishes took place in the foothills but not trench warfare. But they did not get leave. They were out there for the duration, galled that the public in Britain thought they were having an easy time of it. That was hardly the case. Only officers were allowed inside the Birdcage (as they called Salonika from the barbed wire fortifications surrounding it). The men had to stay in their camps. Since there was little fighting to do, the authorities had to put their minds to entertainment. What would keep them from getting restless?
The answer was shows. All kinds were put on. They used whatever human talent was to hand. Displays on the parallel bars were prominent in the army gymnasts’ performance, for example. Others were of a more amateur kind – but still taken seriously. One brigade built its own theatre, where a troupe of 250 soldiers was relieved normal duties to mount entertainments. Bints – the often quite ordinary soldiers whose task it was to impersonate women – were sometimes accorded super star status. This was not principally because of what, in old public schools, would have been called “vice”: homosexuality was largely, though not wholly repressed. The bints’ turns on stage allowed many in the audience to forget the madness of being stuck for years in an uncomfortable foreign clime, and remember the mothers, wives, girlfriends and sisters from whom they were parted.
There was a wonderfully British determination to make the best of things. There were plenty of horses to be put through their paces at divisional horse shows. Hunts were formed. Tortoises were raced. One soldier sent home for his cello. Farms and gardens were established, partly to grow food (necessary, since all supplies had to come in by ship and were vulnerable to Austrian U-Boats) but also for the love of the plants that the quartermasters knew from their gardens in the Home Counties. Which added credence to the derogatory name by which the armies were known – the Gardeners of Salonika.
The hospitals were entirely staffed by women, some of them entirely so: the stalwart ladies who organised them, initially without the help or recognition of the military command, did so to free the maximum number of men for fighting duties. Many of them were also suffragettes, who wanted to show that the supposedly frailer sex could do more than stay at home knitting socks. Although the hospitals also managed to put on shows, of a decorous kind, the nurses were often busier, until 1918, than the soldiers. For while the British, on the right of the Front, had little to do after Kosturino, the French, on the left, saw more action; and the Serbs were forever fighting, ferociously in the mountains. Hospital beds that weren’t filled with wounded soldiers were occupied by malaria cases (soldiers objected to wearing mosquito veils in the heat of the Greek summer). Malaria often struck the nurses themselves and accounted for most of the deaths and medical evacuations from the area.
No. 47 Squadron was sent to Salonika, to supplement No.17 Squadron and support forces fighting on the Macedonian Front, arriving on 20 September 1916 and locating to an airfield at Kirec (Under Turkish rule, the town was known as Kireç, later named Asvestochori, Thessaloniki)
The squadron was equipped with a mix of aircraft, including two flights of Armstrong Whitworth F.K.3s, FK.8s and one flight of Royal Aircraft Factory BE.12s.
In the main, the air war over the Salonika Front was conducted in what might be described as a chivalrous and gentlemanly fashion, with airmen of both sides adhering to the rules of war and a standard of what they would have regarded as decent conduct.
|
|
Below: Castrol Oils light hearted take on the future of aircraft (published 1916) of what the near future holds.
Armstrong Whitworth FK3
General Purpose /Trainer Designer: Frederick Koolhoven First flight: 1915 Primary user: Royal Flying Corps Produced: 1915–1917 Number built c.500 Developed from Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2 General characteristics Crew: 2 Length: 29 ft (8.84 m) Wingspan: 40 ft (12.19 m) Height: 11 ft 11 in (3.63 m) Wing area: 442 ft² (41.1 m²) Empty weight: 1,386 lb (629 kg) Max. takeoff weight: 2,056 lb (983 kg) Powerplant: 1 × RAF 1A inline piston engine, 90 hp (67 kW) Performance Maximum speed: 77 knots (89 mph, 143 km/h) at sea level Service ceiling: 12,000 ft (3,660 m) Endurance: 3hr Armament 1 × 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun in rear cockpit or up to 112 lb (51 kg) bombs (if flown as single seater) |
Arthur Stopher was amongst the first trainee pilot group in Egypt with Spackman. Assigned to Squadron 47 in Salonika, he had a short lived service as a Flying Officer.
On a sortie in February 1917 he landed in error at the enemy Bulgarian aerodrome at Demi Hissar. There, he was taken prisoner and his Armstrong Whitworth FK3 (serial 6219) was captured undamaged. Perhaps this navigation error was due to inexperience but it was the end of his flying days. Stopher spent the rest of the conflict as a prisoner of war in Bulgaria. His captured aircraft was pressed into service by the Bulgarians for 42 night bombing raids until the 23rd May 1918 when it was destroyed.
Stopher was repatriated in 1919 and in July 1920 joined the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Details here.
The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC), generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a paramilitary unit of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence. It was set up in July 1920 and made up of former British Army officers, most of whom came from Great Britain. Its role was to conduct counter-insurgency operations against the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The Auxiliaries became infamous for their reprisals on civilians and civilian property in revenge for IRA actions, the best known example of which was the burning of Cork city in December 1920. The Auxiliaries were distinct from the so-called Black and Tans, former soldiers recruited into the RIC as Temporary Constables. The Auxiliaries and the RIC were disbanded in early 1922, following the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
Stopher was posted to A Company based in Woodstock House, Inishtoige, Kilkenny, becoming Section Leader & later Platoon Commander in the area. The story of A Company's time in Kilkenny (1920-22) is here.
Following Irish independence, Stopher served as a career police office in Palestine, Ceylon and Malaya. His service history is here.
On a sortie in February 1917 he landed in error at the enemy Bulgarian aerodrome at Demi Hissar. There, he was taken prisoner and his Armstrong Whitworth FK3 (serial 6219) was captured undamaged. Perhaps this navigation error was due to inexperience but it was the end of his flying days. Stopher spent the rest of the conflict as a prisoner of war in Bulgaria. His captured aircraft was pressed into service by the Bulgarians for 42 night bombing raids until the 23rd May 1918 when it was destroyed.
Stopher was repatriated in 1919 and in July 1920 joined the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Details here.
The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC), generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a paramilitary unit of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence. It was set up in July 1920 and made up of former British Army officers, most of whom came from Great Britain. Its role was to conduct counter-insurgency operations against the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The Auxiliaries became infamous for their reprisals on civilians and civilian property in revenge for IRA actions, the best known example of which was the burning of Cork city in December 1920. The Auxiliaries were distinct from the so-called Black and Tans, former soldiers recruited into the RIC as Temporary Constables. The Auxiliaries and the RIC were disbanded in early 1922, following the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
Stopher was posted to A Company based in Woodstock House, Inishtoige, Kilkenny, becoming Section Leader & later Platoon Commander in the area. The story of A Company's time in Kilkenny (1920-22) is here.
Following Irish independence, Stopher served as a career police office in Palestine, Ceylon and Malaya. His service history is here.
above: 'Cavalry of the Clouds' a World War 1 documentary from 1987. To view - Press [>] play.
During this period, Spackman is credited with shooting down two enemy aircraft flying a S.E.5a Registration C9501 with No.47 Squadron. (Precise information regarding these is under research currently and will be uploaded when available.)
8 April 1917 – The German bombing formation which had been terrorising British forces on the Salonika Front today attacked Yanesh railhead and its vicinity, but inflicted little damage. Aircraft from 17 and 47 Squadron RFC took off to intercept in their BE12s. Captain Franklin Geoffrey Saunders was wounded while attacking the formation but got back to the aerodrome. One of the German bombers, a Friedrichshafener was hit by anti-aircraft gun-fire. Two other RFC pilots forced one of the German aeroplanes, a Friedrichshafen GII, which had been damaged by anti-aircraft gun-fire, to land near the aerodrome at Snevche: the crew of three, two officers and one mechanic, were taken prisoner
2 May 1917: On the Salonika Front, 47 Squadron RFC and the RNAS had been cooperating to carry out reconnaissance and artillery spotting of Turkish positions. On this date a combined mission by a Sopwith Strutter (9748), with Flight Sub-Lieutenant Holbrook Lance Gaskell and 2nd Lieutenant James Watt from 47 Squadron came to grief. Their aircraft was hit repeatedly by Turkish anti-aircraft fire. Gaskell attempted to fly back to the aerodrome but on the way back, one of the wings folded. The aircraft plummeted from 5000 feet and crashed. Both men were killed.
There had been little military activity on the ground on the Macedonian front since the end of May 1917. However, 17 and 47 Squadrons continued to carry out almost daily bombing attacks in formations of seven or eight aeroplanes on Drama, Angista, and Porna stations on the Constantinople railway; camps at Tushchulu north-east of Lake Butkovo, and the Bulgarian Second Army head-quarters at Sveti Vrac beyond the Rupel pass ; Dedeli, the head-quarters of the Bulgarian First Army; depots at Petric, in the valley of the Strumica, and at Cerniste, Platanenwald, and Cestovo in the Dojran area; and the aerodromes at Drama, Livunovo, Gereviz, and Hudova.
A large number of these missions have been completely unopposed by enemy aircraft, but on July 8th, the German aricraft went up. Captain John Emile Alexander O’Dwyer from 17 Squadron was on a bombing mission near Petrich when he attacked by by two Roland D.IIIs in his BE2e. His engine was hit and he was forced down in enemy territory. When trying to burn his aircraft, as was usual practice at the time, he later claimed that he was fired on by the enemy aircraft which at the time would have been considered pretty out of the ordinary. In the end however, in was uninjured and taken prisoner. 2nd Lieutenant Howard Charles Brufton from 47 Squadron was not as lucky. He was was flying solo in a DH4 when he was attacked by an enemy aircraft. THe DH4 was seen to break up in the air and crash killing Brufton.
New aircraft were frequently allocated to various squadrons in the area - primarily due to performance improvements but also to replace losses in action, engine failure as well as the occasional 'prang' or crash of an aircraft. (There's an extensive list of RAF slang phrases - many dating from this era - available here.)
A trawl through some of the available online archives produces some remarkable records of over a century ago.
For example, in the records of RFC aircraft contracted by the British Ministry of Defence, it shows that of 50 dual control 90 HP Armstrong Whitworth F.K.3s ordered on June 19, 1916, the manufacturer sub-contracted the work to Hewlett & Blondeau in Luton and these aircraft were duly completed - serial numbers A1461 to A1510 by late January 1917.
Of these a number including aircraft serial number A1470 were shipped from England on February 28, 1917 to No. 17 Squadron, Salonika. From there it was assgned to No 47 Squadron at Kirec (October 27, 1917) and assigned to Flight Officer C.B.S. Spackman who flew it in various sorties including combat on November 28, 1917. It's also noted that on December 7, 1917, Spackman crashed it during flight testing (purpose of testing unstated) but was not seriously injured. The aircraft was repaired over the remainder of December 1917 and was listed as back in action on January 24 1918 until July when it was assigned to No 17 Training Depot Station. The aircraft finally received a 'Signed off Charge' in February 1919 as was no longer usable or wanted by the Air Force and was disposed of.
During this period, Spackman is credited with shooting down two enemy aircraft flying a S.E.5a Registration C9501 with No.47 Squadron. (Precise information regarding these is under research currently and will be uploaded when available.)
8 April 1917 – The German bombing formation which had been terrorising British forces on the Salonika Front today attacked Yanesh railhead and its vicinity, but inflicted little damage. Aircraft from 17 and 47 Squadron RFC took off to intercept in their BE12s. Captain Franklin Geoffrey Saunders was wounded while attacking the formation but got back to the aerodrome. One of the German bombers, a Friedrichshafener was hit by anti-aircraft gun-fire. Two other RFC pilots forced one of the German aeroplanes, a Friedrichshafen GII, which had been damaged by anti-aircraft gun-fire, to land near the aerodrome at Snevche: the crew of three, two officers and one mechanic, were taken prisoner
2 May 1917: On the Salonika Front, 47 Squadron RFC and the RNAS had been cooperating to carry out reconnaissance and artillery spotting of Turkish positions. On this date a combined mission by a Sopwith Strutter (9748), with Flight Sub-Lieutenant Holbrook Lance Gaskell and 2nd Lieutenant James Watt from 47 Squadron came to grief. Their aircraft was hit repeatedly by Turkish anti-aircraft fire. Gaskell attempted to fly back to the aerodrome but on the way back, one of the wings folded. The aircraft plummeted from 5000 feet and crashed. Both men were killed.
There had been little military activity on the ground on the Macedonian front since the end of May 1917. However, 17 and 47 Squadrons continued to carry out almost daily bombing attacks in formations of seven or eight aeroplanes on Drama, Angista, and Porna stations on the Constantinople railway; camps at Tushchulu north-east of Lake Butkovo, and the Bulgarian Second Army head-quarters at Sveti Vrac beyond the Rupel pass ; Dedeli, the head-quarters of the Bulgarian First Army; depots at Petric, in the valley of the Strumica, and at Cerniste, Platanenwald, and Cestovo in the Dojran area; and the aerodromes at Drama, Livunovo, Gereviz, and Hudova.
A large number of these missions have been completely unopposed by enemy aircraft, but on July 8th, the German aricraft went up. Captain John Emile Alexander O’Dwyer from 17 Squadron was on a bombing mission near Petrich when he attacked by by two Roland D.IIIs in his BE2e. His engine was hit and he was forced down in enemy territory. When trying to burn his aircraft, as was usual practice at the time, he later claimed that he was fired on by the enemy aircraft which at the time would have been considered pretty out of the ordinary. In the end however, in was uninjured and taken prisoner. 2nd Lieutenant Howard Charles Brufton from 47 Squadron was not as lucky. He was was flying solo in a DH4 when he was attacked by an enemy aircraft. THe DH4 was seen to break up in the air and crash killing Brufton.
New aircraft were frequently allocated to various squadrons in the area - primarily due to performance improvements but also to replace losses in action, engine failure as well as the occasional 'prang' or crash of an aircraft. (There's an extensive list of RAF slang phrases - many dating from this era - available here.)
A trawl through some of the available online archives produces some remarkable records of over a century ago.
For example, in the records of RFC aircraft contracted by the British Ministry of Defence, it shows that of 50 dual control 90 HP Armstrong Whitworth F.K.3s ordered on June 19, 1916, the manufacturer sub-contracted the work to Hewlett & Blondeau in Luton and these aircraft were duly completed - serial numbers A1461 to A1510 by late January 1917.
Of these a number including aircraft serial number A1470 were shipped from England on February 28, 1917 to No. 17 Squadron, Salonika. From there it was assgned to No 47 Squadron at Kirec (October 27, 1917) and assigned to Flight Officer C.B.S. Spackman who flew it in various sorties including combat on November 28, 1917. It's also noted that on December 7, 1917, Spackman crashed it during flight testing (purpose of testing unstated) but was not seriously injured. The aircraft was repaired over the remainder of December 1917 and was listed as back in action on January 24 1918 until July when it was assigned to No 17 Training Depot Station. The aircraft finally received a 'Signed off Charge' in February 1919 as was no longer usable or wanted by the Air Force and was disposed of.
Ask any pilot to name their most precious personal belonging from their time in the RAF and their Log Book (or log books for seasoned campaigners) will feature heavily in the answers. These log books provide enormous historical information on a RFC/RAF pilot. This is the log book of British air ace Lieutenant Alexander George Vlasto, from 31 August 1917 to 11 July 1918. Log books continue to be used to record individual flights and hours flown made by servicemen. They recorded observations such as weather and events which occurred whilst in flight.
in the searing heat of summer, with a wind from the scorching plains blowing down the avenues of Salonika that the prewar Ottoman governor had aligned on Mount Olympus, a fire broke out on August 17, 1917. The origin was probably innocent – a lamp knocked onto the straw in a basement where chickens were kept, perhaps – but it did far more damage than the enemy was able to inflict. Two-thirds of the city burnt down. Much of the local population were reduced to living in tents – conditions that seem to have prefigured those in which the thousands of refugees from Syria
No.17 and 47 Squadron RFC continued throughout the autumn to make bombing attacks in an attempt to harass enemy troops. German pilots were for some unknown reason reluctant to contest these attacks too often and raids went unopposed. However, when they could be bothered the consequences were rarely good for the Royal Flying Corps as the Germans had relatively modern Albatrosses and Halberstadts.
By September 1917, to allow for an extension of air operations in Salonika, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Salonika forces urged the War Office to increase air strength by sending bombers and up-to-date fighters. The response from London had not been encouraging. The War Office sent a few S.E.5a fighters arriving in December 1917, but it was not until the spring of 1918 that enough had been received to bring about a change in the general air position.
Despite losses, there existed a certain spirit between the Allied and Central Powers Air Forces. One such example took place on October 29th, 1917: On this occasion five of No. 47 Squadron's aircraft including Spackman were attacking an ammunition dump at Cestovo when they were jumped by eight Albatross and Halberstadt fighters. In the ensuing fight 2nd Lt. P. D. Montague in a B.E.12 (A4040) and 2nd Lt. J. R. F. Gubbin with Air Mechanic T. H. Bury in an F.K.8 were shot down. Gubbin was badly wounded and died of his wounds on 20 November 1917. Bury was taken prisoner.
No.17 and 47 Squadron RFC continued throughout the autumn to make bombing attacks in an attempt to harass enemy troops. German pilots were for some unknown reason reluctant to contest these attacks too often and raids went unopposed. However, when they could be bothered the consequences were rarely good for the Royal Flying Corps as the Germans had relatively modern Albatrosses and Halberstadts.
By September 1917, to allow for an extension of air operations in Salonika, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Salonika forces urged the War Office to increase air strength by sending bombers and up-to-date fighters. The response from London had not been encouraging. The War Office sent a few S.E.5a fighters arriving in December 1917, but it was not until the spring of 1918 that enough had been received to bring about a change in the general air position.
Despite losses, there existed a certain spirit between the Allied and Central Powers Air Forces. One such example took place on October 29th, 1917: On this occasion five of No. 47 Squadron's aircraft including Spackman were attacking an ammunition dump at Cestovo when they were jumped by eight Albatross and Halberstadt fighters. In the ensuing fight 2nd Lt. P. D. Montague in a B.E.12 (A4040) and 2nd Lt. J. R. F. Gubbin with Air Mechanic T. H. Bury in an F.K.8 were shot down. Gubbin was badly wounded and died of his wounds on 20 November 1917. Bury was taken prisoner.
Shortly after the incident a message was dropped on Yanesh airfield by a German aircraft which read:
"On the 29th October, 1917, one of your comrades met with a hero's death in an air fight. He was buried with due honours and a memorial stone has been put up over his grave, but without an inscription as his name is not known to us. In order that we may make good this deficiency kindly inform us as to his name and the date and place of his birth".
A lone British aircraft within hours flew over the German base and dropped a message with the details of the deceased Flying Officer's name and personal details. These were duly added to the memorial. Montague was one of the loose collective of friends known as the 'Bloomsbury Set' and included Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strachey. Montague's grave location, along with many others was lost towards the end of the war.
There was a mutual appreciation between the British, German & Bulgarian pilots which included sending messages to confirm the survival of pilots who crashed behind each others lines. Strictly against protocol but with perhaps tongue very firmly in cheek, pilots from 17 Squadron went so far as to suggest a social gathering on the eastern shore of Lake Tahinos. The meassage read “As we have met so often in the air and peppered one another, we should also be very pleased to make the personal acquaintance of the German airmen of Drama”. On another occasion after dining with his captors, a British pilot sent a message back to his base c/o of a passing German aircraft asking them to drop over some army coffee as the Germans only had tea. A few days later a package of coffee duly arrived.
"On the 29th October, 1917, one of your comrades met with a hero's death in an air fight. He was buried with due honours and a memorial stone has been put up over his grave, but without an inscription as his name is not known to us. In order that we may make good this deficiency kindly inform us as to his name and the date and place of his birth".
A lone British aircraft within hours flew over the German base and dropped a message with the details of the deceased Flying Officer's name and personal details. These were duly added to the memorial. Montague was one of the loose collective of friends known as the 'Bloomsbury Set' and included Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strachey. Montague's grave location, along with many others was lost towards the end of the war.
There was a mutual appreciation between the British, German & Bulgarian pilots which included sending messages to confirm the survival of pilots who crashed behind each others lines. Strictly against protocol but with perhaps tongue very firmly in cheek, pilots from 17 Squadron went so far as to suggest a social gathering on the eastern shore of Lake Tahinos. The meassage read “As we have met so often in the air and peppered one another, we should also be very pleased to make the personal acquaintance of the German airmen of Drama”. On another occasion after dining with his captors, a British pilot sent a message back to his base c/o of a passing German aircraft asking them to drop over some army coffee as the Germans only had tea. A few days later a package of coffee duly arrived.
The London Gazette reported that Spackman was to have pay and allowances of rank effective from July 1, 1917 and to remain seconded to the Royal Flying Corps:
The London Gazette reported that Spackman was to have pay and allowances of rank effective from July 1, 1917 and to remain seconded to the Royal Flying Corps:
The August 9, 1917 edition of Flight Magazine also contained details of Spackman's General List promotion, amongst the many other Second Lieutenants who transferred from the Army to the Airforce and were allowed to be Temporary Lieutenants while serving with the Royal Flying Corps.
Flight Magazine was the first aeronautical weekly in the world, first appearing on the newstands on 2 January 1909 as the official journal of the Aero Club of the United Kingdom. In 1962 it was renamed Flight International and is still published today
Flight Magazine was the first aeronautical weekly in the world, first appearing on the newstands on 2 January 1909 as the official journal of the Aero Club of the United Kingdom. In 1962 it was renamed Flight International and is still published today
Meanwhile, back on the Macedonian front, not all actions taken during the air war were regarded as chivalrous.
A particular event involved the German ace Ltn Rudolf von Eschwege from FA 30, the ‘Eagle of the Aegean’, who was the undisputed leading fighter pilot of the Central Powers with twenty victories to his credit, took place in November 1917. Von Eschwege was hunting Allied observer kite balloons at the time, having downed one on 28 October and another on 15 November.
To counter him, on 21 November, the British 17th Kite Balloon Section sent up an unserviceable Caquot balloon BMS 7, with an explosives-laden basket suspended beneath it, complete with dummy observer. The balloon ascended to an unusually high 2,500 feet. As expected, von Eschwege located the balloon, attacked and as he drew near his target, the explosives were detonated, killing the German pilot instantly. It seems that many RFC pilots thought that the ruse was a mean trick and quite unfair, though perhaps kite balloon observers saw it in a different light. Some days after Ltn von Eschwege’s demise, an RFC aeroplane from No. 47 Squadron flew over FA 30’s aerodrome at Drama, and dropped this message:
"To the Bulgarian-German Flying Corps in Drama. The officers of the Royal Flying Corps regret to announce that Ltn von Eschwege was killed while attacking the captive balloon. His personal belongings will be dropped over the lines some time during the next few days".
Ltn von Eschwege’s personal items, together with photographs of his funeral, when he was buried with full military honours, were air delivered to the enemy a few days later.
The next day a German plane dropped a wreath and a message:
"To the Royal Flying Corps, Monuhi. We thank you sincerely for your information regarding our comrade Lt. von Eschwege and request you permit the accompanying wreath and flag to be placed on his last resting place, Deutches Fliegerkommando."
Rituals, superstitions, and unwritten rules have governed the lives of pilots since the First World War.
Flying was particularly risky and many fighter pilots attempted to ward off bad luck by carrying lucky charms or mascots on service. These charms took many forms. Some are traditional good luck items such as a rabbit's foot or medal of Saint Christopher (the patron saint of travellers). Others are mundane objects with a special meaning to the individual - a coin given by a relative or a girlfriend's silk stocking. Many wore mis-matching socks and shoes and most refused to be photographed before a mission for fear of jinxing the operation. The danger and stress of operational life tended to encourage belief in a favourite mascot and these helped to maintain morale and give pilots the courage and confidence to face each operation - particularly when pilot expectancy was around three weeks. Even highly experienced pilots had their own lucky mascots, showing perhaps that they knew skill alone was not enough to ensure their well being.
Below are some examples of lucky charms given to RFC-RAF pilots & one particular German pilot during the First World War.
Left is 'Fumsup' carried by 2nd Lt. Chisman of No. 204 Squadron made of silver and the head of wood so its owner would 'touch wood' for good luck. Named 'Fumsup' for the phrase his sister used to sign off her letters to him.
Middle is a teddy bear carried by Lt. W. 'McScotch' MacLanachan ' an ace pilot of No. 40 Squadron who shot down seven enemy aircraft over the Western Front and survived the war. Teddy Bear manufacturers were also called into service to manufacture linings for flying helmets and suits.
Right is a blue dachsund in possibly Blue Lace Agate or Lapis Lazuli owned by Baron Manfred von Richtofen. Notoriously superstitious, he never flew without his lucky jacket, scarf and 'Fritz' the little dachsund. The little charm was in his flying jacket pocket after he was killed in action 1918.
All these items are now in the care of the Royal Air Force Museum, Shifnal, Shropshire and reproduced here with thanks.
Flying was particularly risky and many fighter pilots attempted to ward off bad luck by carrying lucky charms or mascots on service. These charms took many forms. Some are traditional good luck items such as a rabbit's foot or medal of Saint Christopher (the patron saint of travellers). Others are mundane objects with a special meaning to the individual - a coin given by a relative or a girlfriend's silk stocking. Many wore mis-matching socks and shoes and most refused to be photographed before a mission for fear of jinxing the operation. The danger and stress of operational life tended to encourage belief in a favourite mascot and these helped to maintain morale and give pilots the courage and confidence to face each operation - particularly when pilot expectancy was around three weeks. Even highly experienced pilots had their own lucky mascots, showing perhaps that they knew skill alone was not enough to ensure their well being.
Below are some examples of lucky charms given to RFC-RAF pilots & one particular German pilot during the First World War.
Left is 'Fumsup' carried by 2nd Lt. Chisman of No. 204 Squadron made of silver and the head of wood so its owner would 'touch wood' for good luck. Named 'Fumsup' for the phrase his sister used to sign off her letters to him.
Middle is a teddy bear carried by Lt. W. 'McScotch' MacLanachan ' an ace pilot of No. 40 Squadron who shot down seven enemy aircraft over the Western Front and survived the war. Teddy Bear manufacturers were also called into service to manufacture linings for flying helmets and suits.
Right is a blue dachsund in possibly Blue Lace Agate or Lapis Lazuli owned by Baron Manfred von Richtofen. Notoriously superstitious, he never flew without his lucky jacket, scarf and 'Fritz' the little dachsund. The little charm was in his flying jacket pocket after he was killed in action 1918.
All these items are now in the care of the Royal Air Force Museum, Shifnal, Shropshire and reproduced here with thanks.
In January 1918 the German cruiser Goeben ran aground after making a sortie from the Dardenelles and three aircraft from No. 47 Squadron and three from No. 17 Squadron left the battlefront temporarily to attack the ship. She was bombed day and night from the 22nd to the 24th but suffered no appreciable damage from the 15 tons of light bombs aimed at her.
While the British were not the first to make use of heavier-than-air military aircraft, the RAF is the world's oldest independent air force.
The RAF was founded on 1 April 1918 by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service and was controlled by the British Government Air Ministry which had been established three months earlier. The Royal Flying Corps had been born out of the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers and was under the control of the British Army. The Royal Naval Air Service was its naval equivalent and was controlled by the Admiralty. The decision to merge the two services and create an independent air force was a response to the events of the war, the first war in which air power made a significant impact. The creation of the new force was based on the Smuts Report prepared by Field Marshal Jan Smuts for the Imperial War Cabinet on which he served. To emphasize the merger of both military and naval aviation in the new service, many of the titles of officers were deliberately chosen to be of a naval character, such as flight lieutenant, wing commander, group captain, and air commodore. The newly created RAF was the most powerful air force in the world on its creation, with over 20,000 aircraft and over 300,000 personnel (including the Women's Royal Air Force). At the time of the merger, the Navy's air service had 55,066 officers and men, 2,949 aircraft, 103 airships and 126 coastal stations. The remaining personnel and aircraft came from the RFC. |
When the Royal Air Force (RAF) was formed in 1918 the Pilot's brevet or Pilot's Wings design was changed slightly. The wing shape took the form of an eagle and the monogram became RAF.
R.A.F. Roundels
When the First World War started in 1914 it was the habit of ground troops to fire on all aircraft, friend or foe, so that the need for some form of identification mark became evident. At first the Union Flag was painted under the wings and on the sides of the fuselage. It soon became obvious that at a distance the St George's Cross of the Union Flag was likely to be confused with the Iron Cross that was already being used to identify German aircraft. After the use of a Union Flag inside a shield was tried it was decided to follow the lead of the French who used a tricolour cockade (a roundel of red and white with a blue centre). The British reversed the colours and it became the standard marking on Royal Flying Corps aircraft from December 1914, although it was well into 1915 before the new marking was used with complete consistency. The official order stated: All aeroplanes of the RFC to be marked on the underside and on the rudder with concentric circles similar to those on the French machines but with the colours reversed, that is with a red circle inside a blue ring. The circles to be as large as possible. In addition a Union Jack 2ft x 1½ft will be painted on the wing tips outside the circles. From June 1915, the RFC roundel became standard on all British military aircraft With the same roundel being carried by RFC and RNAS aircraft, the use of the Union Jack was discontinued. The Royal Flying Corps and its successor the Royal Air Force have employed numerous versions of the roundel since then. By 1917, a thin white outline was usually added to the roundel, to make the blue of the outer circle easier to distinguish from the dark camouflage colours produced by the protective doping on canvas coverings. On squadrons operating at night there was not the same need to make the marking more conspicuous, in fact it became customary to overpaint the white ring of the roundel itself - either in the camouflage finish of the aircraft as a whole, or in red. By the end of the war this had become standardised as the so-called "night roundel" of blue and red, that continued to be used on the dark NIVO green camouflage of post-war night bombers. Most RAF aircraft now had a silver finish (bare metal or aluminium doping) so that the national markings were conspicuous enough without outlining. During the late 1930s, RAF and FAA aircraft were once again camouflaged, and a new outline was introduced, this time trainer yellow, and the same width as the blue and white rings. |
"Flying in those days was really flying... All the aeroplanes were vastly under-powered. You only flew by meticulous attention to what was going on all the time. You were near stalling point most of the time and if an engine died on you as they frequently did in those days, particularly if you were taking off, there was damn little hope for you. Even if you were up in the air you had to find somewhere to get down and fields seemed to be terribly small in those days and of course we didn't have tricycle undercarriages and you had to land with your tail skid down and so on and you could still run quite a long way..."
Air Marshall Frank Groom. Recollections of an RAF Pilot, First World War. Imperial War Museum deposition, 1980.
February 1, 1918: Spackman is noted on his military record as being on leave from February 1 to April 30, 1918. The military detail of his file shows that he left Salonika by train to Bralo and then south to Itea on the Gulf of Cornith. From there, he sailed for Tarranto in Italy with the '12th Leave Party emarked for the UK " leaving on February 7 (where the records end).
This was the first time Spackman was home in Britain since being shipped overseas as a Private in July 1915. He is noted as returning to the port of Itea from Tarranto on April 25. He spent a few days in southern Greece before returning to Salonika on May 1 and reporting for duty at 47 Squadron on May 2.
Royal Flying Corps to Royal Air Force from April 1,1918.
No. 17 Squadron
No. 47 Squadron
No. 150 Squadron
Royal Flying Corps to Royal Air Force from April 1,1918.
- 16th Wing Headquarters - moved to Salonika from UK - September 20, 1916. Composed of:
- No. 17 Squadron, from UK - July 21, 1916
- No. 47 Squadron, from UK - September 20, 1916
- No. 150 Squadron, formed in theatre April 1, 1918
- Composite Fighting Squadron, formed in theatre March 1917; broken up about May 1917
- Headquarters No. 22 Balloon Company; from UK February 12, 1917
- No. 17 Balloon Section, from UK September 20,1916
- 26 and 27 Balloon Sections, both from UK February 12, 1917
No. 17 Squadron
- RAF BE2c (Jul-16 to Jun-18)
- Bristol Scout (Jul-16 to Sep-16)
- RAF BE12a (Dec-16 to Sep-18)
- Spad VII (Jul-17 to Dec-17)
- Nieuport 17 (Aug-17 to Dec-17)
- RAF SE5a (Dec-17 to Apr-18)
- Armstrong Whitworth FK8 (Mar-18 onwards)
- Airco DH9 (Aug-18 onwards)
No. 47 Squadron
- RAF BE12 (Oct-16 to Apr-18)
- Airco DH2 (Feb-17 to Jan-18)
- Armstrong Whitworth FK3 (Feb-17 to Jul-18)
- Vickers FB19 Mk2 (Jun-17 to Apr-18)
- RAF BE12a (Sep-17 to Feb-18)
- RAF BE2e (Oct-17 to Apr-18)
- RAF SE5a (Nov-17 to Apr-18)
- Bristol M1C (Feb-18 to May-18)
- Armstrong Whitworth FK8 (Mar-18 onwards)
- Airco DH9 (Aug-18 onwards)
No. 150 Squadron
- Bristol M1C (Apr-18 onwards)
- RAF SE5a (Apr-18 onwards)
- Sopwith Camel (May-18 onwards)
- RAF BE12a (Jul-18 onwards)
- RAF BE2e (Aug-18 onwards)
While Spackman was on leave, the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) combined to become the Royal Air Force - at the time the largest air force in the world. As a result of the amalgamation of air services, a massive re-organisation of the air resources and squadrons took place and hundreds were promoted.
Some months previously, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Salonika forces urged the War Office to increase air strength by allocating bombers and up-to-date fighters to allow for an extension of air operations on the Macedonian front. The response had not been encouraging. The War Office sent a few S.E.5a fighters in December 1917, but it was not until the spring of 1918 that enough had been received to bring about a change in the general air position. With the formation of a fighting squadron, No. 150, in April 1918, air superiority passed to the British, and it was retained until the end of the war.
Spackman was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and re-assigned to No. 150 Squadron, 'B Flight' based at Kirec in Thessalonika.
No.150 Squadron R.A.F. had been formed with one flight from each of No.17 and 47 Squadrons in April 1918 by detaching those squadrons’ fighter aircraft and pilots and combining them into a dedicated fighter unit commanded by Major William McBain MC5 (formerly Royal Field Artillery).
The Squadron operated from two bases: Marian and Kirec.
'A Flight' based at Marian flew S.E.5a's commanded by Capt. Gerald Ernest Gibbs MC.
'B Flight' operated from Kirec with a mix of B.E.12s and Bristol M.1Cs under command of Capt. Acheson Gosford Goulding MC (from Holland, Manitoba, who was by then credited with nine aerial victories). Spackman was assigned to this flight and saw service with the unit from May 1 to October 7, 1918.
A third flight was formed, 'C Flight' also based in Kirec flying Sopwith F.1 Camels under Capt. Herbert James Scales MC. (killed in an accident flying Sopwith Camel C1597 on 12 June 1918)
To add to the logistical difficulties, there was also at least one B.E.2e, and some borrowed French Nieuport 17s operated by all three flights as well as using an aerodrome at Amberkoj.
Below: Spackman's service record noting the transfer from 47 Squadron to 150 Squadron on May 1, 1918:
Some months previously, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Salonika forces urged the War Office to increase air strength by allocating bombers and up-to-date fighters to allow for an extension of air operations on the Macedonian front. The response had not been encouraging. The War Office sent a few S.E.5a fighters in December 1917, but it was not until the spring of 1918 that enough had been received to bring about a change in the general air position. With the formation of a fighting squadron, No. 150, in April 1918, air superiority passed to the British, and it was retained until the end of the war.
Spackman was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and re-assigned to No. 150 Squadron, 'B Flight' based at Kirec in Thessalonika.
No.150 Squadron R.A.F. had been formed with one flight from each of No.17 and 47 Squadrons in April 1918 by detaching those squadrons’ fighter aircraft and pilots and combining them into a dedicated fighter unit commanded by Major William McBain MC5 (formerly Royal Field Artillery).
The Squadron operated from two bases: Marian and Kirec.
'A Flight' based at Marian flew S.E.5a's commanded by Capt. Gerald Ernest Gibbs MC.
'B Flight' operated from Kirec with a mix of B.E.12s and Bristol M.1Cs under command of Capt. Acheson Gosford Goulding MC (from Holland, Manitoba, who was by then credited with nine aerial victories). Spackman was assigned to this flight and saw service with the unit from May 1 to October 7, 1918.
A third flight was formed, 'C Flight' also based in Kirec flying Sopwith F.1 Camels under Capt. Herbert James Scales MC. (killed in an accident flying Sopwith Camel C1597 on 12 June 1918)
To add to the logistical difficulties, there was also at least one B.E.2e, and some borrowed French Nieuport 17s operated by all three flights as well as using an aerodrome at Amberkoj.
Below: Spackman's service record noting the transfer from 47 Squadron to 150 Squadron on May 1, 1918:
No.150 Squadron was notable for being one of the two R.A.F. squadrons to operate the Bristol M.1C monoplane fighter (having inherited them from parent units). The Bristol monoplanes were fast and agile machines, much prized by Instructors at Schools of Aerial Fighting in the U.K., but were ruled out of operations on the Western Front on the rather dubious ground that they were considered to have a landing speed too fast for use on the sometimes soggy aerodromes of the Western Front and so the machines saw combat only on what was termed the ‘sideshow’ Fronts of Macedonia, Mesopotamia and Palestine, where, perhaps, their modest armament of only one Vickers machine gun was not as disadvantageous as it would have been over France and Flanders.
With the formation of No. 150 Squadron, air superiority rapidly passed to the British, and it was retained until the end of hostilities.
With the formation of No. 150 Squadron, air superiority rapidly passed to the British, and it was retained until the end of hostilities.
Arthur Eyguem De Montaigne Jarvis (1894 - 1969) was a Canadian World War I flying ace credited with 5 victories.
Group Captain Acheson Gosford Goulding DFC MC (1893 – 1951) was a Canadian World War I flying ace credited with nine aerial victories. After infantry service, he transferred to aviation and served in Asia Minor and the Balkans. After winning the Military Cross for courage, he returned to civilian life at war's end. He gave up a business career to return to service for World War II as a Group Captain.
Captain Frederick Dudley Travers DFC (1897-1975) was an English World War I flying ace credited with nine aerial victories. His later life saw his continued service to his nation in both the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and in civil aviation. He pioneered air routes into Africa, the Middle East, and India. He also became proficient in piloting flying boats. He flew civilian aircraft into the war zones during World War II. By the end of his civil aviation career, he had flown over two million miles and logged 19,000 accident-free flying hours. Upon his retirement from the RAF, he had served for almost four decades.
On the other side of the lines, the German Jasta 38 (Royal Prussian) squadron was formed on 30 June 1917 with pilots from the independent Jasta Vardar, FA 30 and KG I and was based at Hudova. The first commanding officer was Obltn Rudolf Böhm, formerly from KG I, who led the unit until November (he was sick with malaria in October, and Ltn Renatus Heydacker was the acting commander), when he was succeeded by Obltn Kurt Grasshoff, who remained in command until killed in action on 12 June 1918. The next commander was Ltn Fritz Thiede, who we will encounter again later in this narrative. By September 1918, the Jasta was equipped with the Albatros D.Va and based at Kalkova, in support of the German 11. Armee in Macedonian Army Group von Scholtz.
With the establishment of the dedicated fighter support unit 150 Squadron and it's pilots flying up to-date aircraft, the balance of air power shifted dramatically and the enemy air service was quickly dominated. This released Nos. 17 and 47 Squadrons to increase their offensive bombing activities, in which they were helped from time to time by naval air detachments stationed at Thasos and Stavros. The two-seaters of Nos. 17 and 47 Squadrons, could be employed for bombing only if the observers/gunners were left behind, and protection was therefore provided by fighting escorts from No. 150 Squadron.
Press reports on the RAF performance in Macedonia:
On the morning of the May 8, as an example, twenty aeroplanes from Nos. 17 and 47 Squadrons, escorted by fighters from No. 150 Squadron, bombed Drama. Eighteen of the same bombers attacked the aerodrome again in the afternoon, and sixteen naval aircraft also bombed the same target during the day: damage was done to hangars and to aeroplanes on the ground.
On May 13, ten aircraft from the detachment working at Thasos, flew to Marian aerodrome for two days' work in co-operation with Nos. 17 and 47 Squadrons. On the journey to Marian the naval bombers made a diversion to attack an enemy dump at Chepeldze, and after taking on a new load of bombs at Marian they attacked the dump at Marinopolje station, which had been previously bombed by fourteen aeroplanes from Nos. 17, 47, and 150 Squadrons. Next day the main targets were the dumps at Livunovo and Kakara, and the station at Demir Hisar, all squadrons taking part, after which the naval aeroplanes flew back to their base at Thasos.
On May 23, sixteen aeroplanes from Nos. 17 and 47 Squadrons, escorted by eleven fighters from No. 150 Squadron, dropped 1.25 tons of bombs on the aerodrome at Hudova on the Dojran front.
May 29, when the 7th South Wales Borderers made a raid on the Dojran front, ten aeroplanes, with an escort of eleven fighters, bombed the station, dump, and aerodrome at Hudova. On the same day an aeroplane observed for the fire of the 424th Siege Battery (8-inch howitzers) which had been loaned to the French for direct support on the main front
May 30, supporting an attack by Greek infantry, ten Royal Air Force aircraft with support from 150 Squadron again bombed Hudova, the objective being the aerodrome, where hangars were damaged and a petrol dump set on fire. Ground troops captured the area along with 1,812 prisoners. The victory, although a minor one, caused elation in Greece, where it helped to consolidate the position of M. Venizelos and to cement the unity of the Greek army.
With the establishment of the dedicated fighter support unit 150 Squadron and it's pilots flying up to-date aircraft, the balance of air power shifted dramatically and the enemy air service was quickly dominated. This released Nos. 17 and 47 Squadrons to increase their offensive bombing activities, in which they were helped from time to time by naval air detachments stationed at Thasos and Stavros. The two-seaters of Nos. 17 and 47 Squadrons, could be employed for bombing only if the observers/gunners were left behind, and protection was therefore provided by fighting escorts from No. 150 Squadron.
Press reports on the RAF performance in Macedonia:
On the morning of the May 8, as an example, twenty aeroplanes from Nos. 17 and 47 Squadrons, escorted by fighters from No. 150 Squadron, bombed Drama. Eighteen of the same bombers attacked the aerodrome again in the afternoon, and sixteen naval aircraft also bombed the same target during the day: damage was done to hangars and to aeroplanes on the ground.
On May 13, ten aircraft from the detachment working at Thasos, flew to Marian aerodrome for two days' work in co-operation with Nos. 17 and 47 Squadrons. On the journey to Marian the naval bombers made a diversion to attack an enemy dump at Chepeldze, and after taking on a new load of bombs at Marian they attacked the dump at Marinopolje station, which had been previously bombed by fourteen aeroplanes from Nos. 17, 47, and 150 Squadrons. Next day the main targets were the dumps at Livunovo and Kakara, and the station at Demir Hisar, all squadrons taking part, after which the naval aeroplanes flew back to their base at Thasos.
On May 23, sixteen aeroplanes from Nos. 17 and 47 Squadrons, escorted by eleven fighters from No. 150 Squadron, dropped 1.25 tons of bombs on the aerodrome at Hudova on the Dojran front.
May 29, when the 7th South Wales Borderers made a raid on the Dojran front, ten aeroplanes, with an escort of eleven fighters, bombed the station, dump, and aerodrome at Hudova. On the same day an aeroplane observed for the fire of the 424th Siege Battery (8-inch howitzers) which had been loaned to the French for direct support on the main front
May 30, supporting an attack by Greek infantry, ten Royal Air Force aircraft with support from 150 Squadron again bombed Hudova, the objective being the aerodrome, where hangars were damaged and a petrol dump set on fire. Ground troops captured the area along with 1,812 prisoners. The victory, although a minor one, caused elation in Greece, where it helped to consolidate the position of M. Venizelos and to cement the unity of the Greek army.
Inverted Jenny
The Inverted Jenny (also known as an Upside Down Jenny, Jenny Invert) is a United States postage stamp first issued on May 10, 1918 in which the image of the Curtiss JN-4 airplane in the center of the design is printed upside-down; it is probably the most famous error in American philately. Only one pane of 100 of the invert stamps was ever found, making this error one of the most prized in all philately. The last stamp sold for $1.35 million in 2016 (originally owned by a collector from Northern Ireland) |
Animal mascots were common amongst troops and RFC squadrons at the front and although cats and dogs were the most common, goats, chickens and ponies also featured. Australian forces even brought kangaroos and koalas with them. Below is the fox cub mascot of the 32 squadron with an unknown member of the Squadron sitting in an SE5a.
|
Early in June air reconnaissance reports by 150 Squadron showed that Bulgar ammunition dumps behind the Dojran front had increased in size, as had camps and dumps in the Strumica valley. While enemy aerodromes appeared to remain unchanged, there was a large scale increase in aerial combat during which Spackman shot down two aircraft.
While all the signs were pointing towards an imminent ground attack by Central Powers forces, the confirmation of this came from an unexpected quarter. Towards the middle of June, Bulgarian deserters began to cross to the British lines in unusual numbers, and they brought with them the same story—that they had surrendered to avoid taking part in a battle which was about to take place between lakes Dojran and Tahinos.
Lieutenant-General Sir C. J. Briggs, commanding the XVI Corps, took full precautionary measures, but on June 17, newly arrived deserters gave the information that the attack, which had apparently been planned to coincide with the Austrian offensive on the Piave on the 15th of June, had had to be cancelled on account of a mutiny among the Bulgar soldiers. As soon as it was clear that there would be no enemy attack, relief movements on the British front were resumed.
While all the signs were pointing towards an imminent ground attack by Central Powers forces, the confirmation of this came from an unexpected quarter. Towards the middle of June, Bulgarian deserters began to cross to the British lines in unusual numbers, and they brought with them the same story—that they had surrendered to avoid taking part in a battle which was about to take place between lakes Dojran and Tahinos.
Lieutenant-General Sir C. J. Briggs, commanding the XVI Corps, took full precautionary measures, but on June 17, newly arrived deserters gave the information that the attack, which had apparently been planned to coincide with the Austrian offensive on the Piave on the 15th of June, had had to be cancelled on account of a mutiny among the Bulgar soldiers. As soon as it was clear that there would be no enemy attack, relief movements on the British front were resumed.
The Royal Air Force Lists were comprehensive documents – providing details on the Commissioned Officers of the RAF, Appointments of the Air Ministry and various HQs, Honorary Commissions, Gradation Lists (including WAAF and RAF Nursing Services), Warrant Officers and Lists for Reserve and Retired Officers. These lists were published every months throughout the duration of the First World War and on through to the 1950s. Rather curiously the books featured advertisements towards the end by organisations associated with the RAF. Earlier lists carried a fair number of commercial advertisements from privately owned businesses, suggesting that these lists were not ‘SECRET’ and were meant for public circulation. Opposite: the first edition of the Air Force List was published by the newly created Air Ministry in April 1918 (corrected to February 1918). |
On 3 June 1918, Spackman was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, amongst the first pilots to receive this award.
His citation was not specified in The London Gazette but believed to be for "acts of gallantry when flying in active operations against the enemy' with No’s 47 and 150 Squadrons in Salonika.
The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) is the third-level military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, instituted for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy”
The award was established on 3 June 1918, shortly after the formation of the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was originally awarded to RAF commissioned and warrant officers. Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross are entitled to use the post-nominal letters "DFC". A bar is added to the ribbon for holders of the DFC who received a second award. During the First World War, approximately 1,100 DFCs were awarded, with 70 first bars and 3 second bars. The award has the shape of a silver cross and was designed by Edward Carter Preston. On the obverse aeroplane propellers are superimposed upon the vertical arms of the cross. Within a central winged roundel, encircled by a wreath of laurels and surmounted by a Imperial Crown, appear the letters RAF. In the central circle on the reverse the Royal Cyphers, GV, GVI, EIIR, appear above the date 1918. The year of issue is engraved on the lower arm of the award. The DFC is issued unnamed. The ribbon is 1.25 inches wide, and consists of alternating violet and white stripes, each 0.125 inches wide, leaning at 45 degrees from the vertical. Until 1919, the stripes were horizontal |
During July and August 1918, there were no important operations on the ground, but No. 17 & 47 air squadrons continued their bombing attacks, usually made by twenty or more aircraft at a time, on aerodromes, railheads, and dumps. In all of these sorties, fighter support was provided by 150 Squadron.
July 3 1918: 150 Squadron took delivery of a number of Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a aircraft including aircraft serial number C9501. The S.E.5 was a British biplane fighter, one of the fastest aircraft of the war, while being both stable and relatively manoeuvrable. According to aviation author Robert Jackson, the S.E.5 was: "the nimble fighter that has since been described as the 'Spitfire of World War One".
July 26, 1918: Spackman's Third Victory
12:20hrs Unit 150. Spackman flying an S.E.5a (B30) aircraft Serial No C9501 (example opposite) was in a dogfight over Elisan against a German DFW C.V. over Elisan.
He claimed his third victory with the German aircraft shot down over Allied lines in a joint effort with the Canadian Ace, Lieut. Arthur Eyguem de Montaingne 'Jacko' Jarvis. (1894-1969).
In August the RAF co-operation with the artillery gradually increased in volume, and the squadrons were also called upon to extend their photography of enemy territory.
The reason for this expansion of the co-operation between the RAF and Army was the impending Allied offensive planned for early September. The Salonika campaign up until then had been largely a defensive role, maintaining the status quo and with no plans by London, Paris or Athens for a major ground offensive in the Balkans. However, with the possibility that Central Powers forces were massing for an attack, a counter offensive was planned by Allied forces.
Many R.A.F. officers were now posted on a brief leave - Spackman's military record shows him being on leave in Athens for ten days from 17-27 August.
12:20hrs Unit 150. Spackman flying an S.E.5a (B30) aircraft Serial No C9501 (example opposite) was in a dogfight over Elisan against a German DFW C.V. over Elisan.
He claimed his third victory with the German aircraft shot down over Allied lines in a joint effort with the Canadian Ace, Lieut. Arthur Eyguem de Montaingne 'Jacko' Jarvis. (1894-1969).
In August the RAF co-operation with the artillery gradually increased in volume, and the squadrons were also called upon to extend their photography of enemy territory.
The reason for this expansion of the co-operation between the RAF and Army was the impending Allied offensive planned for early September. The Salonika campaign up until then had been largely a defensive role, maintaining the status quo and with no plans by London, Paris or Athens for a major ground offensive in the Balkans. However, with the possibility that Central Powers forces were massing for an attack, a counter offensive was planned by Allied forces.
Many R.A.F. officers were now posted on a brief leave - Spackman's military record shows him being on leave in Athens for ten days from 17-27 August.
Lake Doiran Incident. Tuesday, September 3, 1918
In preparation for the opening of the allied offensive, the work of the RAF squadrons was mainly to help the artillery to register targets, and also with aerial photography of the enemy positions. The arrival of some D.H.9 aircraft made extended reconnaissances of up to 300 miles possible. Aerial fighter support was provided by rotation of pilots from the three flights of 150 Squadron. Early morning of 3 September, 25 year old Canadian Lt. James Pomeroy Cavers (opposite) of No.150 Squadron was flying a Bristol M1C C4907 while escorting Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8 C8496 of No.17 Squadron, piloted by 2Lt Percy Gardiner Spargo DCM 18 with Lt. Alan Mathison Parkes (formerly 15th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment) as observer, on a photographic reconnaissance mission over Nikolic. |
Five enemy aircraft (identified as Albatros D.V by the A.W. crew and as both ‘uncertain’ and Siemens Schuckerts by other British airmen were seen flying between Cestovic and Doiran.
The British machines turned for home, but were intercepted at 9500 feet over Lake Doiran. Lt. Parkes fired twenty rounds at close range from his Lewis Gun at one of the enemy machines, which then disappeared in a steep dive; the A.W. crew did not see it again. Perhaps oddly, rather than concentrate on the A.W., with its valuable photographic plates, the enemy aircraft turned their attention to the escorting Bristol.
The fight descended over the Lake, and caught the attention of Capt. George Cecil Gardiner of No.150 Squadron, who was leading a flight of S.E.5as and Sopwith Camels at 13,000 feet on their way back from escorting a bombing mission. The British formation dived to the rescue, but as they approached “the Allied Plane appeared to fall to pieces and drop into the south end of the Lake” (Lt. F.D. Travers’ Combat Report). Lt. Cavers’ fate isn’t mentioned by the pilots who flew to his aid, so it is likely that they lost sight of him once combat began with the enemy formation. However, the crash of the monoplane was seen by Allied troops on the southern shore of the Lake, who reported that at least two of the German Albatross fighters flew over at low level and machine-gunned the pilot while he struggled in the water, resulting in his death.
The victory over Lt. Cavers in C4907 was credited to Ltn Fritz Thiede (1896-1981) as his fifth. Thiede was the Staffelfuhrer of Jasta 38 and some believe that his actions of perhaps shooting at Lt. Cavers as he struggled in the water was not exactly out of character based on previous events in the area. The evidence however is somewhat circumstantial. Thiede went on to serve in the Luftwaffe 1939-45 and was the personal pilot for both Himmler and Heydrich.
Afterwards In the ensuing action, the British pilots claimed four victories: Lt. Walter Ridley, (formerly British Columbia Regiment), in S.E.5a B163 claimed an Albatros that had detached from the main formation; he reported that it crashed one mile north of Lake Doiran at 0800. He next chased another Albatross, but was unable to engage.
Lt. F.D. Travers in S.E.5a B4176* concentrated on two Albatross that had turned towards the Bulgarian lines, and fired a long burst from both his guns into one of them; the enemy machine appeared to stall then fall out of control towards the North West corner of Lake Doiran at 0815. He then turned to meet the other Albatross and fired a long burst into it before it spun and crashed east of Cerniste at 0820.
Capt. G.C. Gardiner (formerly Royal Irish Rifles) in Camel D6549 saw an Albatros pursued by Lt. Travers. At 500 feet the enemy aeroplane flattened out, enabling Capt. Gardiner to get on its tail and send it down west of Cerniste hospital at 082021 by which time the Camel had descended to only 20 feet. Capt. Gardiner’s report made it clear that the Albatros was already out of control when he fired on it, due to Lt. Travers’ attack.
Lt. Charles Basil Slater Spackman in S.E.5a C9501 witnessed the crash of one enemy aeroplane near the North West edge of the lake after combat with another S.E.5a. He attacked another Albatros at 2000 feet over the Cerniste Valley; the enemy machine spiralled away and was shot down by another S.E.5a.
2Lt H.F. Brunton in Camel C1598 also took part in the fight, and fired at two enemy aircraft, which he identified as Siemens-Schuckerts
Lt. Cavers' body was never recovered from Lake Doiran. He is commemorated today in the Allied Military Cemetery in Doiran, Salonika.
Squadron Commander Captain A.G. Goulding wrote to this brother, Major Dyas shortly after the event:
Dear Major Dyas :
You will have heard through official sources of the loss of your brother, and it is with the deepest sympathy I endeavour to portray the most gallant way in which he carried out his duty and so added his name to that glorious list of those who have given their utmost.
He had been doing the most excellent work, and three days previous to his death, had been successful in sending two enemy machines to earth, and his loss is deeply regretted by all. He was on escort duty, protecting a reconnaissance machine, when he was attacked by six enemy machines. His engine and controls were hit and he was forced to come down followed by the enemy. The combat had been over Lake Doiran into which he was forced to descend. A formation of his squadron saw the fighting and went to help as fast as possible, but unfortunately arrived too late to save your brother, but succeeded in shooting down four of the six “Hun” machines.
Cavers was an excellent swimmer and I thought he probably had managed to reach shore, and sent out patrols at night in an endeavour to find him, but in this I was disappointed. He was an excellent fellow and most popular in the squadron. His death though quickly avenged is keenly felt, and all officers deeply sympathise.
The General Officer commanding the army in Salonika sent the following telegram to the Squadron which I think you will be glad to read.
“I greatly regret the loss sustained in Lieut. Cavers’ death, he was a splendid example.”
Your brother’s kit is being forwarded. If there is anything further I can do to assist you I shall be only too glad to do so.
Sincerely,
A. G. Goulding
Letter courtesy of Upper Canada College, Toronto website: http://uccremembers.ca/old-boy/lieutenant-james-pomeroy-cavers-10/
Captain C. Hodgkinson Smith of the 16th Wing in RAF HQ Salonika wrote to Ltn. Calvert's mother on September 7, 1918:
Headquarters,
Royal Air Force,
Salonika.
7-9-1918.
Dear Madam :
You will doubtless have heard of your son’s death both officially and from his Squadron Commander (Capt. Goulding) so I will not go into details. I write in the name of the Wing Commander (‘Col. Todd) Officers, N.C.O’s and men of the 16th Wing to offer our heartfelt sympathies in the sad loss you have sustained of so brave and good a son. He was absolutely fearless, and his high moral character set a good example to all those who came in contact with him. He was one of our best pilots, and had brought down two enemy machines in flames the two days previous to the date on which he himself was unfortunately brought down by 5 or 6 enemy machines, which he bravely attacked.
In his death the British Empire and the R.A.F. are heavy losers, and we all of us here cannot express our sympathies with you too greatly.
If there is anything I can do please ask. His personal effects, etc., are all sent to you through the usual Military Channels and will arrive some day.
Yours truly,
C. Hodgkinson Smith,
Capt. S.O., 1 6th Wing R.A.F.
Letter courtesy of Upper Canada College, Toronto website: http://uccremembers.ca/old-boy/lieutenant-james-pomeroy-cavers-10/
The day after Lt. Cavers was killed, Lt. Frederick Dudley Travers of No. 150 Squadron encountered an enemy aircraft while returning from an escort mission. He engaged with the enemy aircraft and managed to force the aircraft to crash land, whereupon the enemy pilot manages to escape by running across a field.
This lucky find of Lt. F.D.Travers' actual handwritten air combat report on the event and describes the encounter in detail and shows the level of detail required. (Thanks to the RAF Museum, Shropshire)
Opposite how the London Daily Telegraph reported on the events of September 3 over a week later published on September 10. Censorship of field reports generally did not permit newspaper publication of specific losses in any of the armed services. 'The Aeroplane' newspaper on October 14 published details that Lt. Cavers was officially posted as 'missing'. |
Autumn 1918: Allied Offensive in Macedonia.
By the autumn of 1918 it was evident that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was on its last legs and, as harvest time drew near, even the hard-fighting Bulgarian army began to seep away from the battlefield. Greece had been on the verge of civil war for some time, divided between the followers of the Nationalist Prime Minister Venizelos and the King, who was compelled to resign by the allies when it seemed he might throw in his hand with the Central Powers. At one crucial stage the British fleet opened fire on the royal palace.
As the Allied armies in France were poised to attack the Hindenburg Line in mid-September 1918, those in Macedonia and Palestine were also about to commence major offensives. By September 10, both France & Britain agreed joint operations in Macedonia would begin on September 14.
British and Greek forces began an artillery bombardment on the 14th and ground forces attacked Bulgarian lines to the west of Lake Doiran on September 18. British, French and Serbian troops were supported by No.17 & No.47 Squadrons on bombing missions over aerodromes and ammunition dumps, while they were protected in turn by No.150 Squadron who also provided reconnaissance and attack. Two days of heavy fighting followed during which the RAF crews carried out low level attacks but most pilots reporting back that little could be seen due to the intense smoke and dust on the battlefields. Attacks were successfully made on military bases and ammunition dumps to the rear of the lines and the only appearance by a Bulgarian aircraft over the battle area was swiftly dispatched by 150 Squadron and was the last appearance by a Central Powers aircraft in the region. Sfter two days, ground forces had advanced 10 km (6 miles) across a 30 km (19 mile) front.
However on the ground, not all was going the Allies way.
When the Bulgarian Chief of Staff suggested to his royal master, Tsar Boris, that it would be prudent to sue for peace, he was swiftly told that there would be no surrender and that he was to go out and die with his troops. Throwing all that they had into battle, the Bulgarians managed to beat off one final allied attack, inflicting such heavy casualties on the British troops on September 20, that their commander, General Milne, informed the French Commander-in-Chief that his men could do no more. In one brigade alone, the 65th of the 22nd Division, only 200 officers and men remained.
But this was to be the Bulgars' last throw as their forces around Lake Dorian were now pulled back to counter-attack Allied forces in the east. To do so, they moved though the Kosturino Pass.
On September 21, an RAF reconnaissance patrol from 47 Squadron returned and reported that the Bulgarian army were withdrawing northwards en-masse. Aircraft were immediately dispatched from No.17, 47 & 150 Squadrons to bomb, straffe and harass the retreating troops and transports and continued for a number of days.
below -The Bulgarian retreat as reported by the Daily Telegraph September 24, 1918
Autumn 1918: Allied Offensive in Macedonia.
By the autumn of 1918 it was evident that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was on its last legs and, as harvest time drew near, even the hard-fighting Bulgarian army began to seep away from the battlefield. Greece had been on the verge of civil war for some time, divided between the followers of the Nationalist Prime Minister Venizelos and the King, who was compelled to resign by the allies when it seemed he might throw in his hand with the Central Powers. At one crucial stage the British fleet opened fire on the royal palace.
As the Allied armies in France were poised to attack the Hindenburg Line in mid-September 1918, those in Macedonia and Palestine were also about to commence major offensives. By September 10, both France & Britain agreed joint operations in Macedonia would begin on September 14.
British and Greek forces began an artillery bombardment on the 14th and ground forces attacked Bulgarian lines to the west of Lake Doiran on September 18. British, French and Serbian troops were supported by No.17 & No.47 Squadrons on bombing missions over aerodromes and ammunition dumps, while they were protected in turn by No.150 Squadron who also provided reconnaissance and attack. Two days of heavy fighting followed during which the RAF crews carried out low level attacks but most pilots reporting back that little could be seen due to the intense smoke and dust on the battlefields. Attacks were successfully made on military bases and ammunition dumps to the rear of the lines and the only appearance by a Bulgarian aircraft over the battle area was swiftly dispatched by 150 Squadron and was the last appearance by a Central Powers aircraft in the region. Sfter two days, ground forces had advanced 10 km (6 miles) across a 30 km (19 mile) front.
However on the ground, not all was going the Allies way.
When the Bulgarian Chief of Staff suggested to his royal master, Tsar Boris, that it would be prudent to sue for peace, he was swiftly told that there would be no surrender and that he was to go out and die with his troops. Throwing all that they had into battle, the Bulgarians managed to beat off one final allied attack, inflicting such heavy casualties on the British troops on September 20, that their commander, General Milne, informed the French Commander-in-Chief that his men could do no more. In one brigade alone, the 65th of the 22nd Division, only 200 officers and men remained.
But this was to be the Bulgars' last throw as their forces around Lake Dorian were now pulled back to counter-attack Allied forces in the east. To do so, they moved though the Kosturino Pass.
On September 21, an RAF reconnaissance patrol from 47 Squadron returned and reported that the Bulgarian army were withdrawing northwards en-masse. Aircraft were immediately dispatched from No.17, 47 & 150 Squadrons to bomb, straffe and harass the retreating troops and transports and continued for a number of days.
below -The Bulgarian retreat as reported by the Daily Telegraph September 24, 1918
On the 25th, Allied forces invaded Bulgaria as anti-war riots and proclamations of soviets in various cities saw the Bulgarian resistance crumble.
Long range reconnaissance flights were mounted in an attempt to discover what was happening behind the lines, all returned with news that the retreat was in full flight northwards. On September 28, a large column of troops were discovered in the Kosturino (Kryesna) Pass who were largely destroyed by 17, 47 & 150 Squadrons.
Long range reconnaissance flights were mounted in an attempt to discover what was happening behind the lines, all returned with news that the retreat was in full flight northwards. On September 28, a large column of troops were discovered in the Kosturino (Kryesna) Pass who were largely destroyed by 17, 47 & 150 Squadrons.
"Pilots made two or three journeys and there was a total of twenty-nine bombing flights...all aeroplanes attacked also with machine-guns. Probably the greatest effect was obtained by six pilots of No. 47 Squadron when they bombed convoys in the Kryesna pass at 5.30 p.m. They carried forty-four bombs of 20-lb. weight, and half of these exploded directly among the transport, blowing some of it off the road, piling up wagons and causing a general panic.
When making their way home from a reconnaissance flight which had taken them as far as Kyustendil, the pilot and observer in a D.H.9 saw twelve guns, oxen-drawn, among the retreating columns north of Kryesna. The pilot dived and machine-gun fire was opened from a height of 500 feet, some of the men and oxen were seen to fall. An American diplomat subsequently stated that he was in his motor-car on the road at the time the aeroplane attack was made and that he saw several of the oxen and drivers killed or wounded: he himself had a narrow escape.
On the 29th the mist was thick again. The first air observer over the Kryesna pass in the morning found that the traffic blockage had been cleared during the night, but that columns of transport and troops were on the move south of the pass. Seven pilots set out to attack these columns, and among the sixty-three bombs dropped were three of 112lb weight, many direct hits were made.
The War in the Air - Vol VI by H.A.Jones. Oxford University Press, 1937 p.312
This was to be the last offensive RAF air operation against Bulgarian forces.
Mist and clouds throughout the remainder of the day prevented a continuance of the bombing.
However, earlier in the day, the Bulgarian government had sought an armistice and at 10 pm on September 29, a Convention was signed by General Allied Forces Franchet d'Esperey and by plenipotentiaries of the Bulgarian Government in which hostilities ceased at noon on the following day, September 30.
The activities of the Royal Air Force on the morning of the 30th were mainly confined to reconnaissance flights by 47 & 150 Squadrons, one of which was made to Sofia, which was found cloud-obscured. Meanwhile, Staff officers who inspected the routes from Cestovo to Kosturino were stunned by what they saw. Their observation was summarised in a telegram sent by advanced general head-quarters to the Sixteenth Wing, saying: 'The routes from Cestovo valley to Kosturino show 'signs of the indescribable confusion that must have existed 'in the retreat of the Bulgar army. Guns of all kinds, motor-cars, machine-guns, rifles, and every kind of war 'material abandoned. Dead animals are strewn every- 'where, indicating that our R.A.F. must have contributed 'largely to bringing about this state of things.' The intelligence officer of No. 47 Squadron, who had been sent forward on the 26th of September to inspect the area reported that 300 transport wagons had been destroyed in one area with their horses and oxen lying dead. In a ravine there was 'a vast number of pack animals', and at the hospital at Rabrovo more than 700 human bodies had been collected for burial. Every few yards along the Rabrovo-Kosturino road were dead animals, derelict motor-cars and abandoned, transport of all kinds.
Although Bulgaria had surrendered, the war was not over. The German supreme command, however, to whom the rapid collapse of Bulgaria had come as a surprise, had no illusions. They knew that the position of their allies Austria-Hungary and Turkey was now doubtful. The war by 1918 had been a war of exhaustion. Turkey had lost some 1.5 million men, mass desertions continued as food shortages and collapse of public health and sanitation were producing 50% infant mortality rates and typhus, malaria and smallpox were endemic. Food shortages, near famine and the rising tide of socialism and peace strikes led to widespread unrest in Austria-Hungary. Amongst the diverse nationalities within the empire, there was the feeling that an Allied victory would bring independence.
General Franchet d'Esperey decided to direct Allied troops north towards the Danube, rather than to Constantinople, and he ordered a rapid forward movement. The British troops began to advance accordingly, but a newly assembled army under the command of General Milne was to secure the passage of the Dardanelles to enable the Navy to take action against Constantinople. Milne's army wheeled eastwards through Thrace, seizing bridgeheads and preparing for battle with the Turks.
Spackman and the RAF squadrons based in Macedonia were now ordered to overhaul their aircraft and prepare to transport equipment and stores eastwards towards Turkey. Some of the pilots and aircraft were now used to transport officials to Sofia and other locations in Bulgaria and to select suitable landing grounds for forward aerodromes. Reconnaissances, meanwhile, were made by No. 47 Squadron from the former German aerodrome at Drama. It was decided to send a Flight from No. 17 Squadron for co-operation with the XVI Corps from an aerodrome near Philapoppulos, and to organize a Composite FHght from Nos. 47 and 150 Squadrons for work with the XII Corps from an aerodrome near Gumuljina.
By now, the Turks had already decided that to continue fighting was pointless and began to explore the possibility of an Armistice and used an unusual intermediary. General Sir Charles Townshend who had been held on comfortable captivity in Turkey since surrendering at Kut-al-Amara in 1915. He was invited by the Turkish government to travel to Lemnos and negotiate surrender terms on behalf of Turkey with the Senior Allied Naval Officer.
Townsend was successful and the allied fleet sailed unmolested through the Dardanelles and on to Constantinople and on October 31st, the Turks signed an Armistice.
For Spackman and thousands of other Allied airmen and troops, the war in the Balkans was over.
Spackman, since October 8, 1918, was already moving squadrons and is recorded as transferring to Egypt from Salonika on October 8 aboard HS Hamsang.
Arriving in Port Said on October 15, he joined the RAF Base Depot on October 19 and then onwards to take up a posting with the 58 Training Squadron (which had moved from Farnborough to Suez in 1917).
A new Army Form B103C 'Casualty Form - Officers' was opened for Spackman.
Mist and clouds throughout the remainder of the day prevented a continuance of the bombing.
However, earlier in the day, the Bulgarian government had sought an armistice and at 10 pm on September 29, a Convention was signed by General Allied Forces Franchet d'Esperey and by plenipotentiaries of the Bulgarian Government in which hostilities ceased at noon on the following day, September 30.
The activities of the Royal Air Force on the morning of the 30th were mainly confined to reconnaissance flights by 47 & 150 Squadrons, one of which was made to Sofia, which was found cloud-obscured. Meanwhile, Staff officers who inspected the routes from Cestovo to Kosturino were stunned by what they saw. Their observation was summarised in a telegram sent by advanced general head-quarters to the Sixteenth Wing, saying: 'The routes from Cestovo valley to Kosturino show 'signs of the indescribable confusion that must have existed 'in the retreat of the Bulgar army. Guns of all kinds, motor-cars, machine-guns, rifles, and every kind of war 'material abandoned. Dead animals are strewn every- 'where, indicating that our R.A.F. must have contributed 'largely to bringing about this state of things.' The intelligence officer of No. 47 Squadron, who had been sent forward on the 26th of September to inspect the area reported that 300 transport wagons had been destroyed in one area with their horses and oxen lying dead. In a ravine there was 'a vast number of pack animals', and at the hospital at Rabrovo more than 700 human bodies had been collected for burial. Every few yards along the Rabrovo-Kosturino road were dead animals, derelict motor-cars and abandoned, transport of all kinds.
Although Bulgaria had surrendered, the war was not over. The German supreme command, however, to whom the rapid collapse of Bulgaria had come as a surprise, had no illusions. They knew that the position of their allies Austria-Hungary and Turkey was now doubtful. The war by 1918 had been a war of exhaustion. Turkey had lost some 1.5 million men, mass desertions continued as food shortages and collapse of public health and sanitation were producing 50% infant mortality rates and typhus, malaria and smallpox were endemic. Food shortages, near famine and the rising tide of socialism and peace strikes led to widespread unrest in Austria-Hungary. Amongst the diverse nationalities within the empire, there was the feeling that an Allied victory would bring independence.
General Franchet d'Esperey decided to direct Allied troops north towards the Danube, rather than to Constantinople, and he ordered a rapid forward movement. The British troops began to advance accordingly, but a newly assembled army under the command of General Milne was to secure the passage of the Dardanelles to enable the Navy to take action against Constantinople. Milne's army wheeled eastwards through Thrace, seizing bridgeheads and preparing for battle with the Turks.
Spackman and the RAF squadrons based in Macedonia were now ordered to overhaul their aircraft and prepare to transport equipment and stores eastwards towards Turkey. Some of the pilots and aircraft were now used to transport officials to Sofia and other locations in Bulgaria and to select suitable landing grounds for forward aerodromes. Reconnaissances, meanwhile, were made by No. 47 Squadron from the former German aerodrome at Drama. It was decided to send a Flight from No. 17 Squadron for co-operation with the XVI Corps from an aerodrome near Philapoppulos, and to organize a Composite FHght from Nos. 47 and 150 Squadrons for work with the XII Corps from an aerodrome near Gumuljina.
By now, the Turks had already decided that to continue fighting was pointless and began to explore the possibility of an Armistice and used an unusual intermediary. General Sir Charles Townshend who had been held on comfortable captivity in Turkey since surrendering at Kut-al-Amara in 1915. He was invited by the Turkish government to travel to Lemnos and negotiate surrender terms on behalf of Turkey with the Senior Allied Naval Officer.
Townsend was successful and the allied fleet sailed unmolested through the Dardanelles and on to Constantinople and on October 31st, the Turks signed an Armistice.
For Spackman and thousands of other Allied airmen and troops, the war in the Balkans was over.
Spackman, since October 8, 1918, was already moving squadrons and is recorded as transferring to Egypt from Salonika on October 8 aboard HS Hamsang.
Arriving in Port Said on October 15, he joined the RAF Base Depot on October 19 and then onwards to take up a posting with the 58 Training Squadron (which had moved from Farnborough to Suez in 1917).
A new Army Form B103C 'Casualty Form - Officers' was opened for Spackman.
This brief posting lasted until November 19, 1918.
As for No.150 squadron? This remained in Macedonia after the war, disbanding on 18 September 1919 (reformed again in 1938-45 & 1956-63)
With the German military faltering, Bulgaria, Turkey and Austria Hungary already surrendered and with widespread loss of confidence in the Kaiser, Germany moved towards the inevitable surrender. Prince Maximilian of Baden took charge of a new government as Chancellor of Germany to negotiate with the Allies. Negotiations with President Wilson began immediately, in the hope that he would offer better terms than the British and French. Wilson demanded a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary control over the German military. There was no resistance when the Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann on 9 November declared Germany to be a republic. The Kaiser, kings and other hereditary rulers all were removed from power and Wilhelm fled to exile in the Netherlands. Imperial Germany was dead; a new Germany had been born as the Weimar Republic. Armistice terms were agreed and signed early on November 11.
At 11am on November 11, 1918, the guns fell silent. Church bells pealed, factories closed and pubs remained open as streets filled with people in Britain. Celebrations were more muted in France while in Germany, there was incredulity and the gradual rise of the 'stab in the back' myth of betrayal by the leadership. There was finally peace, but ultimately, the peace that failed.
By war’s end, Spackman was 23 years old, had seen service as a Private in the 1/4th Battalion Norfolks, served in Suvla Bay, served in Egypt, transferred to the RFC, trained as a pilot, scored three kills, promoted to Flight Lieutenant and awarded a DFC and was now back in Egypt with the 58 Training Squadron.
From war's end, there followed a period of political and social chaos throughout the Balkans, the eastern Mediterranean and the tottering Ottoman Empire. It was the moment of destiny for Mustafa Kemal and he took it with both hands, forming an alternative provisional government at Angora (Ankara)and declaring it the new capital of Turkey when he eventually secured power.
At 11am on November 11, 1918, the guns fell silent. Church bells pealed, factories closed and pubs remained open as streets filled with people in Britain. Celebrations were more muted in France while in Germany, there was incredulity and the gradual rise of the 'stab in the back' myth of betrayal by the leadership. There was finally peace, but ultimately, the peace that failed.
By war’s end, Spackman was 23 years old, had seen service as a Private in the 1/4th Battalion Norfolks, served in Suvla Bay, served in Egypt, transferred to the RFC, trained as a pilot, scored three kills, promoted to Flight Lieutenant and awarded a DFC and was now back in Egypt with the 58 Training Squadron.
From war's end, there followed a period of political and social chaos throughout the Balkans, the eastern Mediterranean and the tottering Ottoman Empire. It was the moment of destiny for Mustafa Kemal and he took it with both hands, forming an alternative provisional government at Angora (Ankara)and declaring it the new capital of Turkey when he eventually secured power.
At the Armistice, the R.A.F. had become the most powerful and largest air force in the world with some 22,000 aircraft and more than 313,000 officers and other ranks. Demobilisation planned to reduce these numbers by 72% down to a maximum force of 81,500 with the loss of 213,000 officers and other ranks.
Air Force casualties during the war amounted to 16,623. Of this total, 6,166 (4,579 officers) were killed, 7,245 (5,369 officers) were wounded and 3,212 (2,839 officers) were missing. By comparison, the total German air casualties were 15,906 (6,890 officers).
Spackman's record now shows that on November 30, he was posted as an Assistant Instructor to the 20 TDS (Training depot Station) at Aboukir, Egypt and on December 4, assumed command of 'A Flight'.
Air Force casualties during the war amounted to 16,623. Of this total, 6,166 (4,579 officers) were killed, 7,245 (5,369 officers) were wounded and 3,212 (2,839 officers) were missing. By comparison, the total German air casualties were 15,906 (6,890 officers).
Spackman's record now shows that on November 30, he was posted as an Assistant Instructor to the 20 TDS (Training depot Station) at Aboukir, Egypt and on December 4, assumed command of 'A Flight'.
By the time the war ended the training wing in Egypt (expanded to brigade size in February 1918) was a fully-functioning training centre complete with bombing, observation, fighting, instructors schools and a full cadet programme, which alone passed 1,774 cadets to the higher schools between November 1917 and November 1918. A vast improvement to the spartan training centre that Spackman experienced in 1916-17.
The experience of the war set in motion an idea that was to have a potent influence on the future of warfare: the notion that wars could be won by air power alone. The appalling casualties endured by the infantry in the long stalemate of the trenches provided a powerful motive for seeking some other way of fighting and winning a war. The German example of aerial bombardment by airships and Gotha bombers on London, suggested what that new way of fighting would be.
Following the end of war and the accompanying British defence cuts, the newly independent (and still temporary) RAF waited nine months to see if it would be retained by the Cabinet. The remaining 6,500 officers including Spackman, all holding temporary commissions or seconded from the Army and Navy and who wished to continue service, were now required to apply for permanent commissions. The Cabinet sanctioned a maximum of 1,500 and the Air Ministry in turn offered positions to 1,065 of the applicants, publishing the first list on 1 August 1919, 75% of them short-term (two to five years). The service as a whole had been reduced in strength to 35,500.
below: Demobilisation as seen by RAF aircraft mechanics - from The Aeroplane, January 1919
Following the end of war and the accompanying British defence cuts, the newly independent (and still temporary) RAF waited nine months to see if it would be retained by the Cabinet. The remaining 6,500 officers including Spackman, all holding temporary commissions or seconded from the Army and Navy and who wished to continue service, were now required to apply for permanent commissions. The Cabinet sanctioned a maximum of 1,500 and the Air Ministry in turn offered positions to 1,065 of the applicants, publishing the first list on 1 August 1919, 75% of them short-term (two to five years). The service as a whole had been reduced in strength to 35,500.
below: Demobilisation as seen by RAF aircraft mechanics - from The Aeroplane, January 1919
The pressing problem for military aviation in the immediate post-war years was to persuade tight fisted and almost bankrupt governments to fund it adequately. The United States shed almost 95% of it's air force manpower by 1920. Within a year of war's end, the RAF shrank from 3000,000 officers and men to under 40,000. The French, worried about Germany, kept a larger air force operational which enabled the RAF Chief of Air Staff, Trenchard, to use the 'threat' of French aerial strength as an argument for building up the RAF in the 1920s.
1919 may have been the first year of peace in five years but it did not start well for Spackman. While serving as an Assistant Instructor to the 20 TDS with command of 'A Flight', an old health issue reappeared and he was hospitalised from January 6 to 28 in the General Hospital, Suez. On release he returned to the 20 T.D.S.
However, the following day on January 29, Spackman was admitted again and remaining until his release on February 14 when he rejoined the 20 T.D.S. Judging by the entries crossed off in pencil, he may have been suffering from Influenza.
On February 21, he is recorded as taking a two day leave of absence , returning to duty on February 23.
Politically, the situation in Egypt had changed. In the aftermath of World War One, the large British Imperial Army in Egypt which was the centre of operations against the Ottoman Empire was quickly reduced with demobilization and restructuring of garrisons. Free of the large British military presence, the revolutionary movements were able to more effectively launch their operations. From March to April 1919, there were mass demonstrations that became uprisings that became known in Egypt as the 1919 Revolution. Almost daily demonstrations and unrest continued throughout Egypt for the remainder of the Spring. To the surprise of the British authorities, Egyptian women also demonstrated. The anti-colonial riots and British suppression of them led to the death of some 800 people.
Spackman's available military records end with his May 17, 1919 embarkation from Port Said aboard HMT Nile bound for the UK.
On February 21, he is recorded as taking a two day leave of absence , returning to duty on February 23.
Politically, the situation in Egypt had changed. In the aftermath of World War One, the large British Imperial Army in Egypt which was the centre of operations against the Ottoman Empire was quickly reduced with demobilization and restructuring of garrisons. Free of the large British military presence, the revolutionary movements were able to more effectively launch their operations. From March to April 1919, there were mass demonstrations that became uprisings that became known in Egypt as the 1919 Revolution. Almost daily demonstrations and unrest continued throughout Egypt for the remainder of the Spring. To the surprise of the British authorities, Egyptian women also demonstrated. The anti-colonial riots and British suppression of them led to the death of some 800 people.
Spackman's available military records end with his May 17, 1919 embarkation from Port Said aboard HMT Nile bound for the UK.
There is scant information available to establish conclusively where Spackman was based during this period from May to October 1919 but it is reasonable to assume that he took a period of extended leave possibly to treat a recurring health issue and/or was assigned to an RAF base.
We next pick up the trail on October 10, 1919 when Spackman was one of the huge number of Officers "transferred to the Unemployed List" during the RAF's rapid downsizing after the Great War. This meant that although he was nominally attached to the RAF, with no aircraft to fly, he was not paid. Many other officers in a similar situation “relinquished their commissions on ceasing to be employed” and returned to civilian life. Spackman chose not to do so and remained on the RAF Unemployed list.
Two weeks later on October 24, Spackman was awarded a ‘Short Service Commission in the rank of Flying Officer’. This was a short term contract for a fixed period after which the pilot may have been returned to the 'Unemployed List', relinquish their commission, be transferred to an operating squadron, have the short service commission cancelled and reinstated or be promoted.
We next pick up the trail on October 10, 1919 when Spackman was one of the huge number of Officers "transferred to the Unemployed List" during the RAF's rapid downsizing after the Great War. This meant that although he was nominally attached to the RAF, with no aircraft to fly, he was not paid. Many other officers in a similar situation “relinquished their commissions on ceasing to be employed” and returned to civilian life. Spackman chose not to do so and remained on the RAF Unemployed list.
Two weeks later on October 24, Spackman was awarded a ‘Short Service Commission in the rank of Flying Officer’. This was a short term contract for a fixed period after which the pilot may have been returned to the 'Unemployed List', relinquish their commission, be transferred to an operating squadron, have the short service commission cancelled and reinstated or be promoted.
The RAF now began to practise the use of air power in a series of small scale colonial conflicts.
The end of the Great War brought little respite to British forces who still had an empire to protect and in May 1919, not for the first or last time, they became embroiled in a brief but bloody war with the Kingdom of Afghanistan.
The fighting resembled more of what the British and Indian Armies were used to before 1914 and the modern technologies that had arisen from the Western Front seemed out of place in the battles against tribesmen and armed militia. Nevertheless towards the end of May a plan was being devised for an air strike on the Royal Palace in Kabul that would hopefully dissuade King Amanullah from further hostilities and to toe the line. The aircraft chosen for the long range mission was Handley Page V/1500 J1936. This aircraft was available because it had just completed a record breaking flight from Britain to India. The aircraft was armed with four 112lb bombs on bomb racks that had to be sourced from a squadron of B.E.2cs while sixteen 20lb hand thrown bombs were carried in the fuselage to be tossed out over the target.
On May 24th 1919 the aircraft took off from Risalpur with Group Captain Robert Halley at the controls and Lt Ted E. Villiers as observer/bombardier. The V/1500 reached Kabul in three hours and made its attack on the Royal Palace, the King’s forces having almost no defence other than to fire their bolt action rifles in to the air at the plane as it circled overhead making attack after attack. Inside the palace there was chaos despite the fact that the bomber's’ aim was not exactly precise and most of the bombs missed the main building. The horror of being attacked from the sky sent many of those in the palace rushing in to the streets to escape including many of the women of the King’s harem. Even after the attack was over King Amanullah found it difficult to control the situation, the psychological impact on the population being unprecedented and within a few days of the attack he began negotiating peace terms with the British. It was the first time in history that an aircraft had been the decisive factor in ending a conflict.
December 1919: Egypt - 142/55 Squadron, Suez.
Spackman returned to Egypt in December 1919 to take up duty as a Flying Officer with 142 Squadron Royal Air Force based in Suez. Another RAF Officer, the future Air Marshall Victor Groom, recalled his journey from London to Egypt in December 1919, probably at the same time as Spackman:
In those days you carried everything in a valise, a roll up thing which carried your camp bed and all your uniforms and everything else including blankets...
My orders were to report to a train from Victoria station to Dover... I joined a troop train in France and it took us three days to get from the northern coast of France down to Marseille. The train had no dining car, no corridors and no heating. To shave, when the train stopped in the morning, a series of tents was put up by the side of the railway and there we were given our meals during the course of this trip. We used to take our mugs along to the engine driver to get some hot water so that we could shave and it really was a most distressing experience from the point of view of travel that I've ever had and I've had some pretty miserable journeys...the carriages weren't even very comfortable and of course frightfully dirty and it was in December.
On arrival we were sent to a transit camp a few miles outside Marseille...We sailed from Marseille (to Alexandria) on December 6, 1919. The boat was very full, but it was lovely in the sunshine and we able to spend most of the days on deck. There were a hell of a lot of us in one cabin, the Air Men spent most of the time, as they always do in troopships, playing 'Housey-Housey' *
We eventually arrived in Alexandria... The smell was something appalling...
Air Marshall Victor Groom - Imperial War Museum deposition, 1980.
* Housey-Housey was the early name for a game familiar today - Bingo.
The spread of housey-housey as a gambling pastime was undoubtedly assisted by its adoption by the services in a century where two World Wars ensured that the majority of the population would have contact with military service and its associated way of life. The game was played by officers and men, and was entirely voluntary. Whether as a result of the boredom of war, or the prospect of winning a prize, the game was immensely popular with descriptions of games including accounts of large numbers of eager participants. Harold Sidall played the game as a sailor and described one game:
"One of the highlights was on the evening of payday, when Tombola - known as Bingo - was played in the Fleet Canteen. With such a huge collection of players from the two fleets, the money prizes were something to be desired. When the Tombola caller called "Eyes Down", the silence became momentarily overwhelming. Concentration honed to a fine pitch, pencils at the ready and the first number called in naval jargon was comparable to the "They're Off" at Derby Day. The last house of the evening was always called a 'doubler', which meant that the price of a ticket was doubled. Just imagine the value of the 'House' and the anticipation of the crowd! With the game being drawn out there would be frequent shouts of "Shake 'em up", as frustrated punters waited for that certain number. When that certain number was called, the cry of "Here you are" rang out and an almighty groan would come from the remainder of the hopefuls. When the winner went up to collect his cash a number of appellations of doubtful origin would be rendered with good humour, but 'twould be like water off a duck's back..."
Officers also played the game, although if Evelyn Waugh's account (first published in 1952) is considered accurate, the game was not so well known amongst them. Nevertheless, this passage of his book Men at Arms (part one of the 'Sword of Honour' trilogy) bears many similarities to the games described by other ranks serving: "...The Brigadier announced after dinner in the mess: "When the tables have been cleared there will be a game of Housey-housey, here. For the benefit of the young officers I should explain that it is what civilians, I believe, call Bingo. As you are no doubt aware, it is the only game which may be played for money by His Majesty's Forces. Ten per cent of each bank goes to the Regimental Comforts Fund and Old Comrades' Association. The price of each card will be three pence." ...The brigade major sat at the corner of a table with a tin cash box and a heap of cards printed with squares and numbers. Each bought a card as he came in... At last after much borrowing and searching of pockets the game began suddenly with the command: 'Eyes down for a house.' Guy stared blankly at the Brigadier, who now plunged his hand in the pillow-case and produced a little square card. 'Clickety-click,' said the Brigadier disconcertingly. Then: 'Sixty-six.' Then in rapid succession, in a loud sing-song tone: 'Marine's breakfast number ten add two twelve all the fives fifty-five never been kissed sweet sixteen key of the door twenty-one add six twenty-seven legs eleven Kelly's eye number one and we'll...' He paused. The regular officers and 'Tubby' Blake gave tongue: 'Shake the bag.
RAF Suez
RAF Suez was no glamour posting. The airfield was little more than a dirt strip a few miles north of Suez city and was known as LG-216 & LG-217 (Landing Ground 216 & 217) with accommodation huts for officers and canvas tents for the aircraft hangers and air mechanics.
No. 142 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was formed at RFC Ismailia, Egypt in 1918, flying a mixed bag of reconnaissance and bomber aircraft. On the formation of the Royal Air Force, in April 1918, 142 Squadron was at RFC Julis in Palestine, becoming No. 142 Squadron RAF. After operations in Palestine the squadron retired to RAF Suez, commanded by Flight Lt. Elliot Smith flying DH9 two seater fighter/bombers. 142 Squadron was not going to be in existence for long. It was disbanded and reformed as 55 Squadron in February 1920)
below: Spackman's entry in the Royal Air Force Monthly Air Force List for December 1919. This shows 1 April 1918 as the begining of service with the RAF (the date of it's founding and Spackman's transfer from the RFC) and the appointment date as a 'Short Service Commission' rank of 24 October 1919. His seniority within the RAF Flying Officers in that month was ranked as No. 828 of 3,570. Note the awards listing for Spackman and others. 'A' refers to 'Aeroplane' and 'Ad' refers to 'Administration'
The spread of housey-housey as a gambling pastime was undoubtedly assisted by its adoption by the services in a century where two World Wars ensured that the majority of the population would have contact with military service and its associated way of life. The game was played by officers and men, and was entirely voluntary. Whether as a result of the boredom of war, or the prospect of winning a prize, the game was immensely popular with descriptions of games including accounts of large numbers of eager participants. Harold Sidall played the game as a sailor and described one game:
"One of the highlights was on the evening of payday, when Tombola - known as Bingo - was played in the Fleet Canteen. With such a huge collection of players from the two fleets, the money prizes were something to be desired. When the Tombola caller called "Eyes Down", the silence became momentarily overwhelming. Concentration honed to a fine pitch, pencils at the ready and the first number called in naval jargon was comparable to the "They're Off" at Derby Day. The last house of the evening was always called a 'doubler', which meant that the price of a ticket was doubled. Just imagine the value of the 'House' and the anticipation of the crowd! With the game being drawn out there would be frequent shouts of "Shake 'em up", as frustrated punters waited for that certain number. When that certain number was called, the cry of "Here you are" rang out and an almighty groan would come from the remainder of the hopefuls. When the winner went up to collect his cash a number of appellations of doubtful origin would be rendered with good humour, but 'twould be like water off a duck's back..."
Officers also played the game, although if Evelyn Waugh's account (first published in 1952) is considered accurate, the game was not so well known amongst them. Nevertheless, this passage of his book Men at Arms (part one of the 'Sword of Honour' trilogy) bears many similarities to the games described by other ranks serving: "...The Brigadier announced after dinner in the mess: "When the tables have been cleared there will be a game of Housey-housey, here. For the benefit of the young officers I should explain that it is what civilians, I believe, call Bingo. As you are no doubt aware, it is the only game which may be played for money by His Majesty's Forces. Ten per cent of each bank goes to the Regimental Comforts Fund and Old Comrades' Association. The price of each card will be three pence." ...The brigade major sat at the corner of a table with a tin cash box and a heap of cards printed with squares and numbers. Each bought a card as he came in... At last after much borrowing and searching of pockets the game began suddenly with the command: 'Eyes down for a house.' Guy stared blankly at the Brigadier, who now plunged his hand in the pillow-case and produced a little square card. 'Clickety-click,' said the Brigadier disconcertingly. Then: 'Sixty-six.' Then in rapid succession, in a loud sing-song tone: 'Marine's breakfast number ten add two twelve all the fives fifty-five never been kissed sweet sixteen key of the door twenty-one add six twenty-seven legs eleven Kelly's eye number one and we'll...' He paused. The regular officers and 'Tubby' Blake gave tongue: 'Shake the bag.
RAF Suez
RAF Suez was no glamour posting. The airfield was little more than a dirt strip a few miles north of Suez city and was known as LG-216 & LG-217 (Landing Ground 216 & 217) with accommodation huts for officers and canvas tents for the aircraft hangers and air mechanics.
No. 142 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was formed at RFC Ismailia, Egypt in 1918, flying a mixed bag of reconnaissance and bomber aircraft. On the formation of the Royal Air Force, in April 1918, 142 Squadron was at RFC Julis in Palestine, becoming No. 142 Squadron RAF. After operations in Palestine the squadron retired to RAF Suez, commanded by Flight Lt. Elliot Smith flying DH9 two seater fighter/bombers. 142 Squadron was not going to be in existence for long. It was disbanded and reformed as 55 Squadron in February 1920)
below: Spackman's entry in the Royal Air Force Monthly Air Force List for December 1919. This shows 1 April 1918 as the begining of service with the RAF (the date of it's founding and Spackman's transfer from the RFC) and the appointment date as a 'Short Service Commission' rank of 24 October 1919. His seniority within the RAF Flying Officers in that month was ranked as No. 828 of 3,570. Note the awards listing for Spackman and others. 'A' refers to 'Aeroplane' and 'Ad' refers to 'Administration'
Suez
In early February 1920, Spackman is noted as a Flying Officer in the RAF Lists with the newly re-formed 55 Squadron based in Suez (LG-216 & LG-217).
One of the early strategic bombing forces during the war, 55 Squadron at wars end had ended up running British Forces airmail rather than armaments until disbanding on January 22, 1920. The squadron was reformed on February 1, 1920, when 142 Squadron at Suez was re-numbered (Re-numbering of squadrons at this stage was where less distinguished squadron numbers were abolished and re-introducing previously disbanded squadron numbers which had 'better names and reputations'
Initially equipped with Airco DH.9s, these were gradually replaced by DH.9As.
Squadron Leader Charles Nicholas took over command in February, 1920.
In October 2018, I discovered a unique oral history recording in the Imperial War Museum, London archives. A deposition was made in 1980 by the then 82 year old retired Air Marshal Victor Groom as he recalls over two hours, his career with the RAF from the First World War, through to service in Constantinople & Iraq. Groom was a fellow Flying Officer pilot of Spackman's in 55 Squadron during the period 1920-22 and help provide some insight into an RAF officer's life at the time with some vivid recollections and impressions of the era in Egypt, Constantinople and Iraq.
Groom recalled service life in 1920 Suez as an RAF officer:
In early February 1920, Spackman is noted as a Flying Officer in the RAF Lists with the newly re-formed 55 Squadron based in Suez (LG-216 & LG-217).
One of the early strategic bombing forces during the war, 55 Squadron at wars end had ended up running British Forces airmail rather than armaments until disbanding on January 22, 1920. The squadron was reformed on February 1, 1920, when 142 Squadron at Suez was re-numbered (Re-numbering of squadrons at this stage was where less distinguished squadron numbers were abolished and re-introducing previously disbanded squadron numbers which had 'better names and reputations'
Initially equipped with Airco DH.9s, these were gradually replaced by DH.9As.
Squadron Leader Charles Nicholas took over command in February, 1920.
In October 2018, I discovered a unique oral history recording in the Imperial War Museum, London archives. A deposition was made in 1980 by the then 82 year old retired Air Marshal Victor Groom as he recalls over two hours, his career with the RAF from the First World War, through to service in Constantinople & Iraq. Groom was a fellow Flying Officer pilot of Spackman's in 55 Squadron during the period 1920-22 and help provide some insight into an RAF officer's life at the time with some vivid recollections and impressions of the era in Egypt, Constantinople and Iraq.
Groom recalled service life in 1920 Suez as an RAF officer:
" ...we weren't doing anything in particular [in Suez] at that time, we were flying occasionally but nothing serious. We used to go down and play golf at Suez on an ordinary sandy golf course with browns and no greens of course... On Saturday nights we used to go across to Portuvic which was over the causeway from Suez, to the French Club where they used to hold a dance every Saturday night...Most of us didn't dance, but there was a very charming wife of a padre, an army padre in Suez at the time and she decided to start dancing classes for young officers...and so several of us joined this class and I remember doing our one two threes straight up and down the floor, learning how to waltz.
Just outside Suez at that time was a very large transit camp for Indian Army regiments who were being evacuated both from the Middle East and from Europe back to India, but of course the amount of shipping which was available was very small in those days and people waited in this camp for a very considerable time while the ships went backwards and forwards to India. So, a lot of these British Officers with Indian Army regiments had their wives out in Suez and so of course they formed estimable dancing partners...
We used to fly very little at the time but we played games - one of the great sources of attraction in those days were the officers from the transports which were taking the troops back to India...they would get up a team and come out and play us at football or golf and in return would invite some of us aboard to have a damn good dinner - they fared much better in the troop ships than we did in the Officer's mess on shore...
We did no operational flying at all at that time - there was nothing to operate against. I remember taking an inspector of ports and lights and flying him down the Gulf of Suez to have a look from the air at the various lighthouses...
There was a hotel called the Bel Air where we used to go and sit on the verandah and watch the populace go by which was near the railway station in Suez and we used to dine there occasionally and get very indifferent dinners. The Saturday night 'do' in the French Club at Portuvic was the great highlight. The rest of the time was spent playing tennis or golf or something of that sort ...the occasional guest night in the mess when we used to entertain the officers from the Indian transit camp and our favourite pastime on those occasions was a terrible thing called "Cardinal Puff" * This was a favourite game played on guest nights...
There was an oil refinery in Suez that used to blow terrible smells over us when the wind was blowing in that direction.
We had no technical officers in the Air Force...so everybody who flew had to do something else. I was made to be the armament officer. Why? I don't know except that I had fired a gun in the air and I knew how to maintain it as I learned in the School of Aeronautics but I didn't know much more about it. The armoury was in a Nissen hut and the airmen for security sake, there were three airmen, used to sleep in this hut. There was a Sergeant Armourer who slept in the Sergeant's Mess...but the sand and the dust were everywhere....
Our orders were very very strict about our relationship with the natives - we kept them at arms length.
Air Marshal (Rtd) Victor Groom. Oral History Deposition to the Imperial War Museum, January 31, 1980.
* Cardinal Puff is a drinking game that has remained very popular in the British armed services. The applicant (or victim) would be seated at a table with a pint of beer in front of him. He would then say “I drink to the health of Cardinal Puff once”. He would take a sip of beer and then start a strict sequence of determined movements of finger tapping, leg tapping, etc., each movement performed just once. If this was successfully completed he would say “I drink to the health of Cardinal Puff twice”. He would then perform the same sequence but each movement done twice and so on.
This procedure was watched very closely by the other members of the mess. The slightest mistake would be greeted with howls of derision and failure required the applicant to quickly drink the rest of his beer and start again with a fresh pint. This could continue with third and fourth times, etc. The number of successful sequences determined your rank in the society and failure resulted in hangover.
Opposite: luggage label (1920) for the Hotel Bel Air, Suez.
This procedure was watched very closely by the other members of the mess. The slightest mistake would be greeted with howls of derision and failure required the applicant to quickly drink the rest of his beer and start again with a fresh pint. This could continue with third and fourth times, etc. The number of successful sequences determined your rank in the society and failure resulted in hangover.
Opposite: luggage label (1920) for the Hotel Bel Air, Suez.
Air Marshal Victor Groom (1898-1980) Oral History
Air Marshal Groom at 82 gave this warm, entertaining but occasionally tetchy oral history on his RAF experiences in January 1980. These recordings made for the Imperial War Museum are of particular interest as he was a fellow pilot of Spackmans, both in 55 Squadron 1920-1922 serving in Egypt, Constantinople & Iraq.
Click on the logo above or here to access. The two hour and five minute deposition is broken into seven separate sound files.
Recording 1: Training and First World War
Recording 2: Palestine, 55 Squadron: Egypt & Constantinople
Recording 3: 55 Squadron: Constantinople, Iraq
Recording 4: 55 Squadron: Iraq - Baghdad
Recording 5, 6 & 7: 55 Squadron: Iraq - Mosul
With thanks to the Imperial War Museum, London. © IWM
Air Marshal Groom at 82 gave this warm, entertaining but occasionally tetchy oral history on his RAF experiences in January 1980. These recordings made for the Imperial War Museum are of particular interest as he was a fellow pilot of Spackmans, both in 55 Squadron 1920-1922 serving in Egypt, Constantinople & Iraq.
Click on the logo above or here to access. The two hour and five minute deposition is broken into seven separate sound files.
Recording 1: Training and First World War
Recording 2: Palestine, 55 Squadron: Egypt & Constantinople
Recording 3: 55 Squadron: Constantinople, Iraq
Recording 4: 55 Squadron: Iraq - Baghdad
Recording 5, 6 & 7: 55 Squadron: Iraq - Mosul
With thanks to the Imperial War Museum, London. © IWM
With thanks to a tremendous resource for all things Royal Air Force: www.rafweb.org - further details on these aircraft? Click DH9 and DH9A
55 Squadron Officers July 1920
Squadron Leader
Charles H. Nicholas (1894-1966) Air Commodore C.H.Nicholas, DFC, AFC. Qualified as a pilot in 1916, later OC Aerial Fighting School and No. 5 Fighting School, Egypt 1917-18. OC 216 Squadron, 55 Squadron (24 Jun 20 to 10 Jun 21) and organised move of 55 Sqd from Constantinople to Iraq and Baghdad. Later OC 20 Squadron, North West Frontier, India and HQ RAF India. SASO HQ 13 (Fighter) Group from 1939-43 before retiring as Duty Air Commodore, HQ Fighter Command in 1944. |
Flight Lieutenant
Reginald S Maxwell (1894-1960) Group Captain Reginald Stuart Maxwell, MC, DFC & Bar, AFC (20 July 1894 – 1 July 1960) was a British flying ace during World War I. He continued in RAF service until 1941, and served in the RNVR during World War II. Details here. |
Flight Lieutentant
Harold H James (1894-1969) Squadron Leader Harold Hindle James, OBE, CG. Educated at Dulwich and Oxford, James was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the Somerset Light Infantry 1914 before transfering to the RFC in 1916. Transfered to 55 Sqd. as Flight Lieutenant, he later served as an RAF Intelligence and Special Services Officer in Iraq 1924-25. Fluent in Arabic, he lived in Egypt for most of his life. Received an OBE in 1930 for services in Iraq, retired from the RAF 1931. A detailed family website on his life is here. |
Flight Lieutenant
John W.B. Grigson (1893-1943) Air Commodore John William Boldero "Jack" Grigson DSO, DFC & Two Bars (26 January 1893 – 3 July 1943). Enlisted as a Ordinary Seaman in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in February 1913. Commissioned into the fledgling Royal Naval Air Service in 1916, was posted to the seaplane carrier HMS Ark Royal in August 1917 and shortly after awarded a permanent commission as a Captain. By January 1920 he was commanding a flight of DH9s and DH9As of 55 Squadron in Egypt. Awarded the DFC in September 1918, a first bar in December 1919 and a second bar on 28 October 1921 'for services in Mesopotamia'. He saw action in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Caspian, Eqypt and Iraq. In 1920 John Grigson was awarded the DSO 'for gallant and distinguished service' in Southern Russia. He continued to climb the Royal Air Force promotion ladder: Officer Commanding, 55 Squadron in 1929; Officer Commanding, No 2 (Indian Wing) Station, Risalpur in 1935; and Air Officer Commanding, Palestine and Trans-Jordan in 1940. On 23 April 1941 Grigson assumed command of the British Air Forces in Greece. By 1943 Acting Air Officer Commanding, Rhodesian Training Group. Killed in a flying accident near Bulawayo on Saturday 3 July 1943. Buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe). The announcement in The Times includes the anguished appeal: 'Please, no letters.' |
Flying Officer
Frank Carpenter Scant information other than he was commissioned as a Flying Officer c. mid 1918. shot down by ground fire over the lines and taken prisoner in August 1918 and released following the Armstice. Believed to have left the RAF c. late 1920s but rejoined during World War 2. Retired as a Group Captain RAF in 1946. Further information pending. |
Flying Officer
Reginald J. P. Grebby (1895-1924) Little has been found on R.J.P. Grebby - records show that he was with 111 Squadron flying Nieuports in Palestine, January 1918. In June 1919, was awarded the DFC in the Kings Birthday Honours list. May 1922 has the notification that he 'relinguishes short service commission on account of ill health contracted while on active service'. The final note is that R.J.P. Grebby died in Geneva from pneumonia in November 1924, aged 29. |
Flying Officer
Leslie Millington Iles (1894-1974) Air Vice Marshall Leslie M. Iles, CBE, AFC intially joined the army as a gunner in the Gunner, 1/1st Hampshire Royal Horse Artillery later transferring to the RFC & commissioned in 1917. After service in Palestine, flew with 55 Squadron July 1920-March 1921, transferring as a flight instructor. Later Wing Commander and OC 102 Squadron 1937-1940. Group Captain 1940, Air Commodore 1942 and Air Vice Marshall 1945, retired 1948. Full history here. |
Flying Officer
Roland Hood Little is known of Roland Hood in the RFC and RAF. He was part of 55 Squadron for a short period, transferring to Inland Area No.7 Group in Britain c. 1922 with Victor Groom. In October 1923 he was transferred to the Reserve RAF. The next mention is promotion from Flying Officer RAF Reserve to Flight Lieutenant RAF Reserve in September 1940. |
Flying Officer
Victor E Groom (1898-1990) Air Marshal Sir Victor Emmanuel Groom, KCVO, KBE, CB, DFC & Bar (4 August 1898 – 6 December 1990) was a senior officer in the British Royal Air Force and a flying ace of the First World War credited with eight aerial victories. He rose to become a consequential participant in air operations to support Operation Overlord, the invasion of France during the Second World War. Promoted from air vice marshal to air marshal in 1952 and appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He took command of the Middle East Air Force in February 1952 and Technical Training Command in July 1952. Groom retired to Putney on 26 September 1955. His oral history deposition with the Imperial War Museum which is included here . Further information here . |
Flying Officer
Dudley L. Evans |
Flying Officer
James Silvester |
Flying Officer
Theodore L. Lowe |
Flying Officer
Hector G. McKechnie |
Flying Officer
John M. Wyer |
Flying Officer
Rodney T. Carter |
Flying Officer
Reginald C, Pretty |
Flying Officer
Harry N.V.Le V. Noel |
Flying Officer
Bruce G. Drake |
Flying Officer
Ernest Bird |
Flying Officer
John T.A.Lochner |
Constantinople: July-September 1920
Spackman and the entire 55 Squadron were shortly to be relocated to Constantinople as part of 'Q Force', the Allied forces occupying Constantinople and the Dardanelles following the Ottoman's defeat in the war.
Following the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918, the victorious Allied Powers occupied much of Turkey and sought to partition the Ottoman state through the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres. This occupation of the capital and nation was certainly unpopular - the first time in 465 years that the state was held by non-Ottoman forces. This Allied occupation force hastened the establishment of the Turkish National Movement and led to the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923) fought between the Turkish National Movement and the proxies of the Allies – Greece on the Western front, Armenia on the Eastern, France on the Southern and the United Kingdom and Italy in Constantinople.
HMS Ark Royal was assigned to ship the dismantled Airco DH.9 aircraft, stores, fuel, equipment, air and ground crews from Egypt to Constantinople during February 1920. Arriving in Alexandria on February 18, 1920, the Ark Royal had just come from supporting the Royal Air Force in British Somaliland in the campaign against Mohammed Abdullah Hassan - the RAF's first aerial policing outing.
The ship was the first in history to be built as an aircraft carrier in 1914 and had already seen service in Gallipoli and against the Groeben in 1918. After the end of the war, Ark Royal mostly served as an aircraft transport and depot ship for aircraft in support of White Russian and British operations against the Bolsheviks in the Caspian and Black Sea regions during the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Below: Ark Royal c.1921
The Ships Log of HMS Ark Royal holds a great deal of detail on the voyage. It details that 55 Squadron stores, aviation fuel, aircraft and personnel were taken aboard at Alexandria in under four days from February 19-22, sailing on to Malta on February 22 where they docked at the Grand Harbour for ten days from February 26, taking on additional RAF stores, personnel and equipment before finally sailing for Constantinople on March 8, 1920.
Ark Royal's Log contains routine information as to the course headings, weather, position, details of various vessels passing and the routine on board activities which ranged from RAF mechanics working on aircraft, trimming sailcloth for repairs to wings, bedding being aired and the minutiae of a voyage with records of equipment accidentally lost overboard (a drill and a brass boathook).
On March 12, Ark Royal docked in Constantinople and over the following week, 55 Squadron aircraft, fuel, stores and equipment were unloaded and relocated to the new airfield base in the seaside suburb of Maltepe. The pilots were not to follow until July 1920.
below: Ark Royal log for 23 February, 1920. Each Log was maintained annually and closed at the end of each year. Retained by the Navy, this particular log book is marked as closed for fifty years and not available for viewing at the National Records office until 1970.
The Ships Log of HMS Ark Royal holds a great deal of detail on the voyage. It details that 55 Squadron stores, aviation fuel, aircraft and personnel were taken aboard at Alexandria in under four days from February 19-22, sailing on to Malta on February 22 where they docked at the Grand Harbour for ten days from February 26, taking on additional RAF stores, personnel and equipment before finally sailing for Constantinople on March 8, 1920.
Ark Royal's Log contains routine information as to the course headings, weather, position, details of various vessels passing and the routine on board activities which ranged from RAF mechanics working on aircraft, trimming sailcloth for repairs to wings, bedding being aired and the minutiae of a voyage with records of equipment accidentally lost overboard (a drill and a brass boathook).
On March 12, Ark Royal docked in Constantinople and over the following week, 55 Squadron aircraft, fuel, stores and equipment were unloaded and relocated to the new airfield base in the seaside suburb of Maltepe. The pilots were not to follow until July 1920.
below: Ark Royal log for 23 February, 1920. Each Log was maintained annually and closed at the end of each year. Retained by the Navy, this particular log book is marked as closed for fifty years and not available for viewing at the National Records office until 1970.
The Ark Royal continued on to the Black Sea evacuating Russian refugees and wounded anti-Bolshevik troops from the Russian Civil War at Sochi. An outbreak of Typhus aboard followed resulting in quarantine and as noted in the ship's log, that the vessel had to be disinfected and stocks of blankets, sheets etc thrown overboard due to their 'verminious condition'
The 55 Squadron pilots followed on from Suez on July 8, 1920 aboard the MT Tamboy. Victor Groom recalled sixty years later:
"We received orders that we were going to be sent to Turkey. We were told also that we were going to be re-equipped with DH9As... Maxwell, who was my Flight Commander, went off to Alexandria to the aircraft depot and brought back a DH9A and received some instruction on it. We only had that one DH9A at Suez (when) we were packed up to go off to Alexandria. All the spares had been put together and packed up. Nobody ever told us anything in those days - we left in complete ignorance about that was going on. We went by train to Alexandria where there were two old boats and the one we embarked on was SS MT Tamboo [equipment and the DH9A went in the other unnamed vessel].. The boat was very small...terribly crowded. I never knew why we were going there at that time...we went past Gallipoli which was all very much in our minds...I've got a recollection that somebody did tell us about Gallipoli as we went through [possibly Spackman] and we went on to a place called Fenerake which is opposite Constantinople on the Asia Minor side. We weren't there very long when a train was brought alongside with a lot of floats on which all the aeroplane cases were loaded and all the spare parts and everything else. Carriages were attached to this into which we got and off we went at night time..." |
"We were unloaded [later] at night, everything just dumped..we unpacked everything at the side of the railway at a place called Maltepe...we were a tented camp at a polo ground in peacetime. RAF airfields at the best were never more than 400 yards square.
We were in the course of erecting things at this camp when an irate Major General rode up with an ADC and said 'What the hell are you doing here...you can't do anything here, you're in front of my troops...you're in the front line!" Well, we didn't know there was any enemy at that stage and in fact I didn't know what it was all about at all. We said 'Well we're here and we can't move our aeroplanes anywhere else. We have got to have this flat bit of ground in which to take them off and there's only one thing for you to do is the remove your troops' at least the CO said this to the General and presumably he did because we went on there at Maltepe...We had a Doctor named Canton, [Thomas Joseph Xavier Canton] an Irishman, a Roman Catholic, slightly mad."
Constantinople was very heavily occupied...a very large military force - I never really discovered why we had been sent to Turkey..I never saw any enemy, I certainly never took part in any raids against anybody but I did learn from the squadron afterwards [as Groom had been hospitalised with Malaria] they were involved in some operations of some sort against somebody but who I haven't the foggiest idea...
Air Marshal (Rtd) Victor Groom. Oral History Deposition to the Imperial War Museum, January 31, 1980.
We were in the course of erecting things at this camp when an irate Major General rode up with an ADC and said 'What the hell are you doing here...you can't do anything here, you're in front of my troops...you're in the front line!" Well, we didn't know there was any enemy at that stage and in fact I didn't know what it was all about at all. We said 'Well we're here and we can't move our aeroplanes anywhere else. We have got to have this flat bit of ground in which to take them off and there's only one thing for you to do is the remove your troops' at least the CO said this to the General and presumably he did because we went on there at Maltepe...We had a Doctor named Canton, [Thomas Joseph Xavier Canton] an Irishman, a Roman Catholic, slightly mad."
Constantinople was very heavily occupied...a very large military force - I never really discovered why we had been sent to Turkey..I never saw any enemy, I certainly never took part in any raids against anybody but I did learn from the squadron afterwards [as Groom had been hospitalised with Malaria] they were involved in some operations of some sort against somebody but who I haven't the foggiest idea...
Air Marshal (Rtd) Victor Groom. Oral History Deposition to the Imperial War Museum, January 31, 1980.
Spackman and the pilots of 55 Squadron were now based at the small airfield at the seaside suburb of Maltepe for two months. While there, he received the Greek War Cross (Military Medal, 3rd Class) conferred by the King of the Hellenes. (opposite)
From the London Gazette 12 July 1920: This Medal was established by the Venizelist "National Defence" Government on 28 February 1917, and confirmed by Royal Decree on 31 October, shortly after the entry of the whole of Greece in the First World War. Its creation was inspired by the French Croix de guerre, and it was awarded to military personnel of all branches for acts of valour in the Macedonian Front (1916–1918). The medal was designed by the French sculptor André Rivaud, featuring a silver medal consisting of a vertical sword on a circular wreath, with a horizontal plaque, bearing the ancient Spartan motto "Η ΤΑΝ Η ΕΠΙ ΤΑΣ" ("[return home] either with your shield, or upon it") underneath. The reverse bears the inscription "ΕΛΛΑΣ" ("Greece") and underneath the dates "1916–1917". The ribbon was black, edged with blue, and 35–37 mm wide. The cross was awarded in three classes, distinguished by the devices born on the ribbon: the 3rd class being plain, the 2nd class bearing a bronze five-pointed star, and the 1st class a bronze palm leaf.
|
During World War I (1914-18), strategists for all the major powers increasingly perceived oil as a key military asset, due to the increased use of oil-powered naval ships, army vehicles and aircraft. Use of oil during the war increased so rapidly that a severe shortage developed in 1917-18.
National strategists also understood that oil would assume a rapidly-growing importance in the civilian economy, making it a vital element in national and imperial economic strength and a source of untold wealth to those who controlled it. Already in the United States, John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil Company, was the world's richest person.
The British government, ruling over the largest colonial empire, already controlled newly-discovered oil in Persia (now Iran) through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Since Britain lacked oil, British strategists wanted still more reserves to assure the future needs of their empire. Discovery of oil in 1908 in Iran – an event that changed the fate of the Middle East – gave impetus to the search for oil in Mesopotamia. Among the pre-war foreign powers, the British, viewing Mesopotamia as a strategic gateway to their Indian colony and oil as lifeblood for their Imperial Navy & Army, were most aggressive in their pursuits in the region. Initial surveys of the area by geologists (posing as archaeologists) in 1910 established the virtual certainty of large oil reserves in eastern and southern Mesopotamia.
Winston Churchill, soon after he became First Lord of the Admiralty in 1911, declared oil to be of paramount importance for the supremacy of the Imperial Navy. Just before war broke out in 1914, British and German companies had negotiated joint participation in the newly-founded Turkish Petroleum Company that held prospecting rights in Mesopotamia. The war ended the Anglo-German oil partnership and it exposed the territories of the German-allied Ottoman Empire to direct British attack.
As war continued, oil seemed ever more important and shortages ever more menacing to the imperial planners. Sir Maurice Hankey, powerful Secretary of the British War Cabinet, wrote to Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour during the war's final stage, to argue that oil had become absolutely vital to Britain and that oil resources in Mesopotamia would be crucial in the future. "Control of these oil supplies becomes a first-class war aim" Hankey said enthusiastically, as British troops closed in on Baghdad.
Unfortunately for the British, they had ceded much of the oil-producing area in northern Iraq to their French ally in the secret Sykes-Picot Accord of early 1916, carving up the soon-to-be defeated Ottoman Empire. British diplomacy and military plans changed course to recoup what had already been given away. In August 1918, Balfour told assembled Prime Ministers of the British Dominions that Britain must be the "guiding spirit" in Mesopotamia, so as to provide a key resource that the British Empire lacked. "I do not care under what system we keep the oil," he said. "But I am quite clear it is all-important for us that this oil should be available." To this end, British forces raced to capture the key northern city of Mosul several days after the armistice was signed. Britain thus outmaneuvered the French, establishing a military fait accompli in the oil zone of Northern Mesopotamia.
The French were furious. France, too, lacked oil fields in its home terriorites, and its politicians and imperial strategists saw Mesopotamia as a key resource for France's future industrial and military might. In the months after the armistice, nothing caused greater friction between the two allies than the oil question. During the Versailles Peace Conference, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and his French counterpart Georges Clemenceau nearly came to blows over Mesopotamian (Iraqi) oil, according to eyewitness accounts. US President Woodrow Wilson apparently intervened and only barely restrained them. Finally, in the secret San Remo Agreement of 1920, the two rivals agreed to give Britain political control over all Mespotamia, in return for France taking over the German quarter share in the Turkish Petroleum Company. All this before a drop of oil had been discovered in the disputed territory.
The French government was not satisfied with its secondary role in world oil, fearing the might of the big British and US companies. In an effort to strengthen and "liberate" France, the government in Paris set up the Compagnie Francaise des Pétroles in 1924 to take up the French share in Mesopotamia. Further French legislation in 1928 referred to the company as an instrument to curtail "the Anglo Saxon oil trusts" and to develop Mesopotamian oil as a strategic resource of the French empire.
The uneasy settlement between the British and the French did not end the great power dispute over Iraq's oil, however. The United States government and US oil companies were furious at the Anglo-French agreement, which left nothing for them! Before the end of 1920, following the companies' strategic prompting, the US press began to denounce the Anglo-French accord as "old-fashioned imperialism." In Washington, some talked of sanctions and other measures against these ungrateful recent allies. Relations between Washington and London cooled swiftly and a young State Department legal advisor, Allen Dulles drew up a memorandum insisting that the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC) concession agreement with the dismembered Ottoman Empire was now legally invalid and would no longer be recognized by the United States.
Soon London bowed to this transatlantic pressure and signaled that it was ready for a deal that would give the US a "fair" share. In response, Washington told its major oil companies that they should act as a consortium in future negotiations. Walter Teagle, Chairman of Jersey Standard (later Exxon), the biggest US company, took the lead role as negotiator for the consortium. Thus began lengthy secret talks in London. No oil had yet been found, but prospects had brightened.
In October 1927, the British exploration team under D'Arcy hit a gusher, proving oil reserves in large quantities near Kirkuk in northern Iraq. In July 1928, the quarreling parties finally reached a famous accord, known as the "Red Line Agreement," which brought the US consortium into the picture with just under a quarter of the shares and an agreement to jointly develop fields in many other Middle East countries falling within the red line marked on the map by the negotiators.
Throughout this phase, as in all later phases of Iraq's oil history, major international powers combined national military force, government pressure and private corporate might to win and hold concessions for Iraq's oil. The defeated and dismembered Ottoman Empire and its defeated ally Germany lost all oil rights they might otherwise have claimed. At the same time, the three victors of the war – Britain, France and the United States – shared out Iraqi oil among themselves on a basis of relative power. The dominant colonial power, Britain, came out with nearly a half share, while the two lesser powers on the regional stage – the US and France – each won close to a quarter share.
D'Arcy, who discovered Iraq's oil, died a poor man, while Calouste Gulbenkian, the crafty businessman who had put together the company, managed to extract a five percent personal share, making him one of the world's richest men.
The people of Iraq were not consulted, nor did they derive any benefit from these arrangements. The following century was to be devastating for what was once the 'cradle of civilisation'
National strategists also understood that oil would assume a rapidly-growing importance in the civilian economy, making it a vital element in national and imperial economic strength and a source of untold wealth to those who controlled it. Already in the United States, John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil Company, was the world's richest person.
The British government, ruling over the largest colonial empire, already controlled newly-discovered oil in Persia (now Iran) through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Since Britain lacked oil, British strategists wanted still more reserves to assure the future needs of their empire. Discovery of oil in 1908 in Iran – an event that changed the fate of the Middle East – gave impetus to the search for oil in Mesopotamia. Among the pre-war foreign powers, the British, viewing Mesopotamia as a strategic gateway to their Indian colony and oil as lifeblood for their Imperial Navy & Army, were most aggressive in their pursuits in the region. Initial surveys of the area by geologists (posing as archaeologists) in 1910 established the virtual certainty of large oil reserves in eastern and southern Mesopotamia.
Winston Churchill, soon after he became First Lord of the Admiralty in 1911, declared oil to be of paramount importance for the supremacy of the Imperial Navy. Just before war broke out in 1914, British and German companies had negotiated joint participation in the newly-founded Turkish Petroleum Company that held prospecting rights in Mesopotamia. The war ended the Anglo-German oil partnership and it exposed the territories of the German-allied Ottoman Empire to direct British attack.
As war continued, oil seemed ever more important and shortages ever more menacing to the imperial planners. Sir Maurice Hankey, powerful Secretary of the British War Cabinet, wrote to Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour during the war's final stage, to argue that oil had become absolutely vital to Britain and that oil resources in Mesopotamia would be crucial in the future. "Control of these oil supplies becomes a first-class war aim" Hankey said enthusiastically, as British troops closed in on Baghdad.
Unfortunately for the British, they had ceded much of the oil-producing area in northern Iraq to their French ally in the secret Sykes-Picot Accord of early 1916, carving up the soon-to-be defeated Ottoman Empire. British diplomacy and military plans changed course to recoup what had already been given away. In August 1918, Balfour told assembled Prime Ministers of the British Dominions that Britain must be the "guiding spirit" in Mesopotamia, so as to provide a key resource that the British Empire lacked. "I do not care under what system we keep the oil," he said. "But I am quite clear it is all-important for us that this oil should be available." To this end, British forces raced to capture the key northern city of Mosul several days after the armistice was signed. Britain thus outmaneuvered the French, establishing a military fait accompli in the oil zone of Northern Mesopotamia.
The French were furious. France, too, lacked oil fields in its home terriorites, and its politicians and imperial strategists saw Mesopotamia as a key resource for France's future industrial and military might. In the months after the armistice, nothing caused greater friction between the two allies than the oil question. During the Versailles Peace Conference, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and his French counterpart Georges Clemenceau nearly came to blows over Mesopotamian (Iraqi) oil, according to eyewitness accounts. US President Woodrow Wilson apparently intervened and only barely restrained them. Finally, in the secret San Remo Agreement of 1920, the two rivals agreed to give Britain political control over all Mespotamia, in return for France taking over the German quarter share in the Turkish Petroleum Company. All this before a drop of oil had been discovered in the disputed territory.
The French government was not satisfied with its secondary role in world oil, fearing the might of the big British and US companies. In an effort to strengthen and "liberate" France, the government in Paris set up the Compagnie Francaise des Pétroles in 1924 to take up the French share in Mesopotamia. Further French legislation in 1928 referred to the company as an instrument to curtail "the Anglo Saxon oil trusts" and to develop Mesopotamian oil as a strategic resource of the French empire.
The uneasy settlement between the British and the French did not end the great power dispute over Iraq's oil, however. The United States government and US oil companies were furious at the Anglo-French agreement, which left nothing for them! Before the end of 1920, following the companies' strategic prompting, the US press began to denounce the Anglo-French accord as "old-fashioned imperialism." In Washington, some talked of sanctions and other measures against these ungrateful recent allies. Relations between Washington and London cooled swiftly and a young State Department legal advisor, Allen Dulles drew up a memorandum insisting that the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC) concession agreement with the dismembered Ottoman Empire was now legally invalid and would no longer be recognized by the United States.
Soon London bowed to this transatlantic pressure and signaled that it was ready for a deal that would give the US a "fair" share. In response, Washington told its major oil companies that they should act as a consortium in future negotiations. Walter Teagle, Chairman of Jersey Standard (later Exxon), the biggest US company, took the lead role as negotiator for the consortium. Thus began lengthy secret talks in London. No oil had yet been found, but prospects had brightened.
In October 1927, the British exploration team under D'Arcy hit a gusher, proving oil reserves in large quantities near Kirkuk in northern Iraq. In July 1928, the quarreling parties finally reached a famous accord, known as the "Red Line Agreement," which brought the US consortium into the picture with just under a quarter of the shares and an agreement to jointly develop fields in many other Middle East countries falling within the red line marked on the map by the negotiators.
Throughout this phase, as in all later phases of Iraq's oil history, major international powers combined national military force, government pressure and private corporate might to win and hold concessions for Iraq's oil. The defeated and dismembered Ottoman Empire and its defeated ally Germany lost all oil rights they might otherwise have claimed. At the same time, the three victors of the war – Britain, France and the United States – shared out Iraqi oil among themselves on a basis of relative power. The dominant colonial power, Britain, came out with nearly a half share, while the two lesser powers on the regional stage – the US and France – each won close to a quarter share.
D'Arcy, who discovered Iraq's oil, died a poor man, while Calouste Gulbenkian, the crafty businessman who had put together the company, managed to extract a five percent personal share, making him one of the world's richest men.
The people of Iraq were not consulted, nor did they derive any benefit from these arrangements. The following century was to be devastating for what was once the 'cradle of civilisation'
The end of World War One left Britain and France in command of the Middle East as the defeated Ottoman Empire fell apart. The Allies then carved up the region with a series of "mandates" under terms of the Versailles Treaty and approved by the League of Nations. These were essentially zones of political influence, control and potential commercial benefits with oil as the major prize (see opposite)
In early 1920, Britain and France signed the San Remo Treaty confirming Britain's control over Iraq, Transjordan and Palestine and France's control over Syria and Lebanon. All of these territories were governed under a League of Nations Mandate 'A' Class, which considered eventual independence of each country within twenty five years. Britain's responsibility was to ensure that Iraq, Transjordan and Palestine would eventually reach the four criteria for internationally sanctioned sovereignty: maintaining territorial integrity, political independence, public peace, adequate financial resources to operate as a state and laws that gave equal justice for all.
The British mandate of Mesopotamia covered a huge area, roughly corresponding today to most of Iraq, Kuwait, parts of Northern Saudi Arabia, the eastern parts of Syria, Southeastern Turkey, and regions along the Turkish–Syrian and Iran–Iraq borders.
Winston Churchill, then Secretary of State for War was (publically at any rate) distinctly unimpressed with Mesopotamia and condemned the mandate system for imposing on Britain the liability of a territory with little more than ‘a score of mud villages, sandwiched in between a swampy river and a blistering desert, inhabited by a few hundred half naked families, usually starving, are now occupied … and are likely to remain occupied in the future unless policy is changed, by Anglo-Indian garrisons on a scale which in India would maintain order in wealthy provinces of millions of people’. No mention was made of the potential but as yet untapped oil reserves in the area.
Less colourfully, he told Lloyd George that he was ‘immensely concerned’ at the cost to the British Exchequer of maintaining Mesopotamia, which would be at least £25 million in 1920 – far exceeding ‘any return that can be secured for many years from the province’.
The concept of welding together a new country and subjugating disparate ethnic and rival religious groups who felt that they had simply swapped one imperial Turkish master for another British one, certainly proved to be costly and trouble quickly ensued. Many Iraqis viewed the mandate as little more than an annexation and betrayal of British wartime promises made of future self-determination.
Opposition to British rule intensified, a unilateral declaration of independence was made early in 1920 which was followed quickly by a fatwa as the region tottered towards revolt.
A new way of controlling Iraq was needed, and the man who needed it most was Churchill. As war secretary in Lloyd George's coalition government, Churchill had to square huge military budget cuts with British Imperial determination to maintain a grip on its mandate in Iraq.
Lord French, as Irish Viceroy had suggested in 1919 that much of Ireland (which was in growing rebellion against British rule) could be controlled from the air through targeting bombing. Nothing came of the suggestion however during late January 1920, a small force of twelve RAF aircraft had helped quell a twenty year rebellion in British Somaliland without the use of troops. In February, Churchill asked RAF Chief of the Air Staff Hugh Trenchard to draw up a plan whereby Mesopotamia could be cheaply policed by aircraft armed with machine guns, shrapnel & gas bombs and supported by as few as 4,000 British and 10,000 Indian troops.
The result became known as "aerial policing" using the air force to control large swathes of territory. Simply put, it was a policy of policing the Empire 'on the cheap' that Churchill had first mused on in the House of Commons in March 1920, before the Iraqi uprising had even begun.
"It may be possible to effect economies during the course of the present year by holding Mesopotamia through the agency of the Air Force rather than by a military force. It has been pointed out that by your Air Force you have not to hold long lines of communications because the distance would only be one or one-and-a-half hours' flight by aeroplane. It is essential in dealing with Mesopotamia to get the military expenditure down as soon as the present critical state of affairs passes away." They could ‘operate in every part of the protectorate [and] enforce control, now here, now there, with- out the need of maintaining long lines of communication eating up troops and money’.
The RAF personnel could live in comfortable, hygienic barracks. New types of aircraft could be developed for moving small military forces to trouble spots, with specialised airborne weapons for policing purposes. As early as April 1919, Churchill had approved ‘the general policy of using poisonous gas against uncivilised tribes’. A few months later the Air Staff admitted that‘although considerable time and trouble was expended on research during the war, we have not yet evolved suitable and practicable gas bombs for use from aircraft’.
The Royal Air Force Staff hastened to back up their minister’s initiative, holding that the unique properties of the new air arm made it not just a replacement but an improvement on traditional military methods of control. ‘The “long arm” of the new weapon renders it ubiquitous, they proclaimed – or at least, it was ‘practicable to keep a whole country under more or less constant surveillance’. And that surveillance had a special quality – ‘from the ground every inhabitant of a village is under the impression that the occupant of an aeroplane is looking directly at him’. Rebellion could be nipped in the bud by prompt action, and indeed patrolling and leaflet-dropping ought to prevent ‘the seeds of unrest from being sown...Strong and vigorous action must in time compel the submission of the most recalcitrant tribes’, and do so ‘without the use of punitive measures by ground troops’.
Then there was always the option of targeted bombing and straffing of selected targets so that the Imperial message could be made clear to the natives.
Armed revolt broke out in late June 1920 and soon gained momentum as the British garrisons in the mid-Euphrates region were light and not particularly well equipped. By late July, armed tribal rebels controlled most of the mid-Euphrates region as British forces retreated. The success of the tribes caused the revolt to spread to the lower Euphrates and all around Baghdad.
In early 1920, Britain and France signed the San Remo Treaty confirming Britain's control over Iraq, Transjordan and Palestine and France's control over Syria and Lebanon. All of these territories were governed under a League of Nations Mandate 'A' Class, which considered eventual independence of each country within twenty five years. Britain's responsibility was to ensure that Iraq, Transjordan and Palestine would eventually reach the four criteria for internationally sanctioned sovereignty: maintaining territorial integrity, political independence, public peace, adequate financial resources to operate as a state and laws that gave equal justice for all.
The British mandate of Mesopotamia covered a huge area, roughly corresponding today to most of Iraq, Kuwait, parts of Northern Saudi Arabia, the eastern parts of Syria, Southeastern Turkey, and regions along the Turkish–Syrian and Iran–Iraq borders.
Winston Churchill, then Secretary of State for War was (publically at any rate) distinctly unimpressed with Mesopotamia and condemned the mandate system for imposing on Britain the liability of a territory with little more than ‘a score of mud villages, sandwiched in between a swampy river and a blistering desert, inhabited by a few hundred half naked families, usually starving, are now occupied … and are likely to remain occupied in the future unless policy is changed, by Anglo-Indian garrisons on a scale which in India would maintain order in wealthy provinces of millions of people’. No mention was made of the potential but as yet untapped oil reserves in the area.
Less colourfully, he told Lloyd George that he was ‘immensely concerned’ at the cost to the British Exchequer of maintaining Mesopotamia, which would be at least £25 million in 1920 – far exceeding ‘any return that can be secured for many years from the province’.
The concept of welding together a new country and subjugating disparate ethnic and rival religious groups who felt that they had simply swapped one imperial Turkish master for another British one, certainly proved to be costly and trouble quickly ensued. Many Iraqis viewed the mandate as little more than an annexation and betrayal of British wartime promises made of future self-determination.
Opposition to British rule intensified, a unilateral declaration of independence was made early in 1920 which was followed quickly by a fatwa as the region tottered towards revolt.
A new way of controlling Iraq was needed, and the man who needed it most was Churchill. As war secretary in Lloyd George's coalition government, Churchill had to square huge military budget cuts with British Imperial determination to maintain a grip on its mandate in Iraq.
Lord French, as Irish Viceroy had suggested in 1919 that much of Ireland (which was in growing rebellion against British rule) could be controlled from the air through targeting bombing. Nothing came of the suggestion however during late January 1920, a small force of twelve RAF aircraft had helped quell a twenty year rebellion in British Somaliland without the use of troops. In February, Churchill asked RAF Chief of the Air Staff Hugh Trenchard to draw up a plan whereby Mesopotamia could be cheaply policed by aircraft armed with machine guns, shrapnel & gas bombs and supported by as few as 4,000 British and 10,000 Indian troops.
The result became known as "aerial policing" using the air force to control large swathes of territory. Simply put, it was a policy of policing the Empire 'on the cheap' that Churchill had first mused on in the House of Commons in March 1920, before the Iraqi uprising had even begun.
"It may be possible to effect economies during the course of the present year by holding Mesopotamia through the agency of the Air Force rather than by a military force. It has been pointed out that by your Air Force you have not to hold long lines of communications because the distance would only be one or one-and-a-half hours' flight by aeroplane. It is essential in dealing with Mesopotamia to get the military expenditure down as soon as the present critical state of affairs passes away." They could ‘operate in every part of the protectorate [and] enforce control, now here, now there, with- out the need of maintaining long lines of communication eating up troops and money’.
The RAF personnel could live in comfortable, hygienic barracks. New types of aircraft could be developed for moving small military forces to trouble spots, with specialised airborne weapons for policing purposes. As early as April 1919, Churchill had approved ‘the general policy of using poisonous gas against uncivilised tribes’. A few months later the Air Staff admitted that‘although considerable time and trouble was expended on research during the war, we have not yet evolved suitable and practicable gas bombs for use from aircraft’.
The Royal Air Force Staff hastened to back up their minister’s initiative, holding that the unique properties of the new air arm made it not just a replacement but an improvement on traditional military methods of control. ‘The “long arm” of the new weapon renders it ubiquitous, they proclaimed – or at least, it was ‘practicable to keep a whole country under more or less constant surveillance’. And that surveillance had a special quality – ‘from the ground every inhabitant of a village is under the impression that the occupant of an aeroplane is looking directly at him’. Rebellion could be nipped in the bud by prompt action, and indeed patrolling and leaflet-dropping ought to prevent ‘the seeds of unrest from being sown...Strong and vigorous action must in time compel the submission of the most recalcitrant tribes’, and do so ‘without the use of punitive measures by ground troops’.
Then there was always the option of targeted bombing and straffing of selected targets so that the Imperial message could be made clear to the natives.
Armed revolt broke out in late June 1920 and soon gained momentum as the British garrisons in the mid-Euphrates region were light and not particularly well equipped. By late July, armed tribal rebels controlled most of the mid-Euphrates region as British forces retreated. The success of the tribes caused the revolt to spread to the lower Euphrates and all around Baghdad.
Above - part of an editorial in 'Aeroplane', a British weekly newspaper/magazine published April 14, 1920. A century on from publication, such overt, and institutional racism is both surprising and shocking to a 21st century reader but was quite commonplace and even acceptable in many circles - and it seems aviation was no exception. Some research by the historian Gavin Schaffer in 'Racialising the Soldier' has shown that institutional racism amongst the British armed services was evident throughout the First World War but it was not until after 1918.." that formal and total mechanisms of racial exclusion at all levels were introduced. The newest service, the Royal Air Force, led the way..in 1923 Air Ministry regulations explicitly excluded recruits who were not of ‘pure European descent’ from joining the Royal Air Force. Similar restrictions were placed on the British army and Royal Navy in the interwar period." These regulations were strictly maintained until the outbreak of the Second World War, when necessity finally permitted non-European airmen to serve in the RAF.
Churchill now authorised immediate reinforcements that included two squadrons of the Royal Air Force. The airmen would not have it all their own way, however. Unsurprisingly, there was resistance from the start within the government from some who saw air attack as indiscriminate and even inhumane, as well as from Army Generals who believed that only the direct physical contact of ground forces could really do the job. Sir Henry Wilson mocked the project as ‘a fantastic salad of hot air, aeroplanes and Arabs’. Harold Dickson suspected that ‘it will not take long before the wily Arab gets to learn the limits of an aeroplane’s power’.
Despite some opposition, RAF Chief Trenchard was given authorisation to begin the policy of 'Aerial Policing' in Iraq. Around the same time,Trenchard helpfully wrote that the RAF could also even suppress "industrial disturbances or risings" in Britain if required. Whatever about using air support to quell uprisings overseas, the suggestion that the Royal Air Force could be used in the homeland was a step too far.The idea was not to Churchill's liking and Trenchard was advised not to refer to this proposal again.
The RAF went into action in Iraq for the first time in July 1920. The order issued by one RAF wing commander, J.A. Chamier, to his pilots specified: “The attack with bombs and machine guns must be relentless and unremitting and carried on continuously by day and night, on houses, inhabitants, crops and cattle.”
The Air Minister Lord Thomson, detailed how one district of "recalcitrant chiefs" was subdued in the Liwa region on the Euphrates: "As they refused to come in, bombing was then authorised and took place over a period of two days. The surrender of many of the headmen of the offending tribes followed."
One young RAF squadron commander who served in Iraq, Arthur Harris reported after a mission: “The Arab and Kurd now know what real bombing means, in casualties and damage: They know that within 45 minutes a full-sized village can be practically wiped out and a third of its inhabitants killed or injured.”
(Harris later became Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Bomber Command during the height of the strategic bombing campaign against Germany in 1942 until German surrender in 1945. Harris's preference for area bombing over precision targeting remains controversial, partly because many senior Allied air commanders thought it less effective and partly for the large number of civilian & air crew casualties and destruction this strategy caused in Continental Europe. Harris had been known as ‘Bomber Harris’ from his service in Iraq but from 1942, he was better known as ‘Butcher Harris’ amongst the RAF air crews.)
The Royal Air Force records state simply that “During the first week of July, 1920, there was fierce fighting around Samawa and Rumaitha on the Euphrates" but as Churchill told the Cabinet on 7 July, ‘our attack was successful.... The enemy were bombed and machine-gunned with effect by aeroplanes which cooperated with the troops’.”
Despite some opposition, RAF Chief Trenchard was given authorisation to begin the policy of 'Aerial Policing' in Iraq. Around the same time,Trenchard helpfully wrote that the RAF could also even suppress "industrial disturbances or risings" in Britain if required. Whatever about using air support to quell uprisings overseas, the suggestion that the Royal Air Force could be used in the homeland was a step too far.The idea was not to Churchill's liking and Trenchard was advised not to refer to this proposal again.
The RAF went into action in Iraq for the first time in July 1920. The order issued by one RAF wing commander, J.A. Chamier, to his pilots specified: “The attack with bombs and machine guns must be relentless and unremitting and carried on continuously by day and night, on houses, inhabitants, crops and cattle.”
The Air Minister Lord Thomson, detailed how one district of "recalcitrant chiefs" was subdued in the Liwa region on the Euphrates: "As they refused to come in, bombing was then authorised and took place over a period of two days. The surrender of many of the headmen of the offending tribes followed."
One young RAF squadron commander who served in Iraq, Arthur Harris reported after a mission: “The Arab and Kurd now know what real bombing means, in casualties and damage: They know that within 45 minutes a full-sized village can be practically wiped out and a third of its inhabitants killed or injured.”
(Harris later became Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Bomber Command during the height of the strategic bombing campaign against Germany in 1942 until German surrender in 1945. Harris's preference for area bombing over precision targeting remains controversial, partly because many senior Allied air commanders thought it less effective and partly for the large number of civilian & air crew casualties and destruction this strategy caused in Continental Europe. Harris had been known as ‘Bomber Harris’ from his service in Iraq but from 1942, he was better known as ‘Butcher Harris’ amongst the RAF air crews.)
The Royal Air Force records state simply that “During the first week of July, 1920, there was fierce fighting around Samawa and Rumaitha on the Euphrates" but as Churchill told the Cabinet on 7 July, ‘our attack was successful.... The enemy were bombed and machine-gunned with effect by aeroplanes which cooperated with the troops’.”
In the midst of this aerial campaign in Mesopotamia, Squadron No. 55 and Spackman received orders to move from their comfortable and cosmopolitan seafront suburban airfield at Maltepe, Constantinople. Destination: Basra in southern Mesopotamia (Iraq).
HMS Ark Royal returned to Constantinople on August 30, 1920 mooring near the main railway terminus, Haidar Pasha Station to take the squadron aboard. The ship's log records the activity over the next few days as dismantled aircraft, fuel, stores, provisions and equipment were winched aboard and stowed for the long journey to Basra.
Victor Groom recalled the move as being 'absolutely appalling'
HMS Ark Royal returned to Constantinople on August 30, 1920 mooring near the main railway terminus, Haidar Pasha Station to take the squadron aboard. The ship's log records the activity over the next few days as dismantled aircraft, fuel, stores, provisions and equipment were winched aboard and stowed for the long journey to Basra.
Victor Groom recalled the move as being 'absolutely appalling'
The squadron and the aircraft park were both being embarked into this one ship, the HMS Ark Royal. The Ark Royal was really like a very small tanker but without any tanks in it but an enormous well. It had the engine and the bridge aft and such sleeping accommodation as there was and in front of this was a deck with a hanger built over it and then in front of that was this enormous well in which the seaplanes were lowered into the well...the RNAS squadron that had used this was very small and here we were, an aircraft park and a squadron with all its aeroplanes were being loaded into this.
We were put into this ship...the wings had been taken off of the aeroplanes, DH9As then of course..the aeroplane cases with the wings inside were lowered into the hold. The aeroplane then less wings still with its undercarriage and engine in were then lowered onto the top of each aeroplane case and lashed down and that's how they travelled from Fenerake, back through the Suez canal, down the Persian Gulf and on around to Basra...conditions were absolutely appalling.
A lot of the officers were sleeping in boats up on deck because there wasn't enough cabin space and anyway it was terribly hot. The top speed of the Ark Royal was 8 knots, we had a following wind down the Red Sea, I think we had two airmen die of heat stroke, many of us suffered with rashes from heat. Aden which has a reputation for being a very hot place was heaven when we arrived there in September 1920.
It was an appalling journey...
Air Marshal (Rtd) Victor Groom. Oral History Deposition to the Imperial War Museum, January 31, 1980.
On September 3, Spackman and the officers and men of 55 Squadron boarded before sailing the following morning at 05.20hrs.
By late afternoon, Ark Royal was sailing past the Dardanelles and Gallipoli once more on a course for Port Said. Reaching the Egyptian port by mid afternoon on September 7, there was a brief layover before sailing through the Suez Canal overnight and setting course for Aden. En route, on September 11, Ark Royal stopped at sea to offer medical assistance to a passing vessel before briefly berthing in Aden three days later to take on oil and water and to remove to hospital a number of RAF mechanics who had become ill from heatstroke. Hours later, the Ark Royal was back at sea again on an uneventful nine day voyage to Basra, southern Iraq where she berthed at midday, September 23. Four days later, the Squadron was entirely unloaded and within a week was ready for it's air policing service in Basra, southern Iraq. Ark Royal now sailed back to Britain and for a refit and reserve in Rosyth, Scotland
Victor Groom recalled the Squadron's arrival in Mesopotamia:
By late afternoon, Ark Royal was sailing past the Dardanelles and Gallipoli once more on a course for Port Said. Reaching the Egyptian port by mid afternoon on September 7, there was a brief layover before sailing through the Suez Canal overnight and setting course for Aden. En route, on September 11, Ark Royal stopped at sea to offer medical assistance to a passing vessel before briefly berthing in Aden three days later to take on oil and water and to remove to hospital a number of RAF mechanics who had become ill from heatstroke. Hours later, the Ark Royal was back at sea again on an uneventful nine day voyage to Basra, southern Iraq where she berthed at midday, September 23. Four days later, the Squadron was entirely unloaded and within a week was ready for it's air policing service in Basra, southern Iraq. Ark Royal now sailed back to Britain and for a refit and reserve in Rosyth, Scotland
Victor Groom recalled the Squadron's arrival in Mesopotamia:
Tenders came alongside and the spare parts and everything were hoisted out of the aeroplane, down into the tenders and ferried ashore not to Basra but across to a place called Tanooma, which was on the east side of the Gulf, not far from Basra.
We went into the transit camp while the aeroplanes, still on their wheels, without any wings on, were towed along the road up to the landing ground. The aeroplane cases were put on lorries and taken off to the airfield where the airmen then started to assemble them.
[Following the Arab uprising] the British were cut off around various areas. The area around Basra was encircled by the Arabs and there was nothing in the way of a military force between there and Kut El Amara which was a long way up country
This was about the 23rd of September [1920] and my first night ashore in this transit camp, very very hot, we didnt have any mosquito nets and we slept under big fans which slowly revolved [and] which kept out the sandflies and mosquitos..[Groom was hospitalised in Bet Nama the next day on contracting Sandfly fever]... I cant remember how long I was there [in the Basra hospital] but I know it was long enough for the Squadron to have erected it's aeroplanes and flown them up to Baghdad!
55 Squadron was temporarily based in Tanooma, on the banks of the Euphrates opposite Basra, flying DH9As, and taking up 'air policing' duties over what is now southern Iraq and Kuwait. Basra must have been quite a contrast to the more cosmopolitan and modern Constaninople. Basra's climate remains consistently one of the hottest areas in Iraq, with summer temperatures regularly exceeding 50 °C (122 °F). British forces had captured the area in 1916 and shortly afterwards produced a handbook for troops warning of the myriad dangers to health in the Basra region:
"...Malaria is the principal disease of the country… It is found in a severe form at Basra. Small-pox, diphtheria, dysentery, ophthalmia, typhoid fever, tuberculosis (which is on the increase), syphilis and other venereal diseases are more or less endemic, especially in the towns. There has been plague at Basra as recently as 1910: still, plague is no longer the scourge of Mesopotamia, as it used to be; indeed, cholera is probably in these days a much more potent evil....The ‘Baghdad Boil’ (the native Ukht) is a… slow, sloughing ulcer, which generally attacks the face, hand, wrist and ankle, not generally amenable to treatment, but disappearing of itself after a tedious course, perhaps for about one year (hence the Persian name yalek meaning ‘yearly sore’). With hardly a single exception, Europeans are attacked within a year of their arrival… treatment by carbonic acid snow will possibly reduce the boil for a time, but in that case it is likely to return sooner or later. If the boil is left alone, the disease will not come back when once it has run its course. …the parasite causing it, a flagellate called Leishmania, is certainly injected by the bite of some noxious insect, probably a sand fly..."
A Handbook of Mesopotamia Vol I (1916)
Little had changed in the area since 1916, and if the health hazards were not enough, there were snakes, scorpions and the occasional Shamal winds. These normally last three to five days and produce 70km/hr dust and sandstorms several thousand meters high, damaging equipment and dramatically impacting on health and transport. One report of the time commented that the area had 'square miles and square miles of damn all and far too much time in which to see it"
The use of aircraft shifted the advantage to the British and played a huge role in ending the revolt. Eventually the rebels began to run low on supplies and funding and could not support the revolt for much longer while British forces were becoming more effective.
"...Malaria is the principal disease of the country… It is found in a severe form at Basra. Small-pox, diphtheria, dysentery, ophthalmia, typhoid fever, tuberculosis (which is on the increase), syphilis and other venereal diseases are more or less endemic, especially in the towns. There has been plague at Basra as recently as 1910: still, plague is no longer the scourge of Mesopotamia, as it used to be; indeed, cholera is probably in these days a much more potent evil....The ‘Baghdad Boil’ (the native Ukht) is a… slow, sloughing ulcer, which generally attacks the face, hand, wrist and ankle, not generally amenable to treatment, but disappearing of itself after a tedious course, perhaps for about one year (hence the Persian name yalek meaning ‘yearly sore’). With hardly a single exception, Europeans are attacked within a year of their arrival… treatment by carbonic acid snow will possibly reduce the boil for a time, but in that case it is likely to return sooner or later. If the boil is left alone, the disease will not come back when once it has run its course. …the parasite causing it, a flagellate called Leishmania, is certainly injected by the bite of some noxious insect, probably a sand fly..."
A Handbook of Mesopotamia Vol I (1916)
Little had changed in the area since 1916, and if the health hazards were not enough, there were snakes, scorpions and the occasional Shamal winds. These normally last three to five days and produce 70km/hr dust and sandstorms several thousand meters high, damaging equipment and dramatically impacting on health and transport. One report of the time commented that the area had 'square miles and square miles of damn all and far too much time in which to see it"
The use of aircraft shifted the advantage to the British and played a huge role in ending the revolt. Eventually the rebels began to run low on supplies and funding and could not support the revolt for much longer while British forces were becoming more effective.
55 Squadron were quickly moved north to Baghdad, arriving at the Baghdad RAF West Aerodrome in early October 1920.
For the remainder of 1920 and the following year, Spackman and fellow pilots flew sorties throughout Central and Northern Iraq as part of the 'Aerial Policing' imperial policy. He was involved in action in areas near cities such as Kirkuk, Mosul, Tikrit, Erbil, Basra and Baghdad. All since 2003 have an unfortunate familiarity.
Victor Groom recalled the RAF operations in RAF Baghdad West:
The airforce airfield at Baghdad was at Bagdhdad West, a scratch of desert, flat ground...on it was 55 Squadron, newly arrived, there also was 30 Squadron equipped with DH9As and 6 Squadron which was equipped with Bristol fighters. We were all in tents and Baghdad in the winter time can be very, very cold indeed, but not as cold as it was in Mosul where I went afterwards but it was very cold and we had E.P. tents [a double square tent] and parrafin stoves to keep us warm... but of course eternal dust when you're out in the desert like that, everything is dusty. The only time it's not dusty is in the Spring when you get a little rain and then overnight, everything turns green but it doesn't stay green for long.
We had three flights of four aeroplanes each...four officers didnt fly, an armaments officer, signals officer...a chap named Alan who was the equipment officer...and there was one other chap, I don't know what the devil he did, Lockner, he didn't fly and I dont know what he did at that time but the rest of us were all flying...you had our own individual aircraft and in each flight, the aircraft were lettered according to the flight and numbered. [Groom flew B4]
The aeroplanes had their own numbers on as well of course but you never referred to them by the number, the serial number on the tail of the aeroplane except officially in the log books of course. But from flight orders point of view...you always talked about B1 or B2 or B3 or B4.
[The aircraft] were two seaters, if you flew with anybody you flew with either your rigger or your fitter, My rigger at that time was a man named Hughes and my fitter was Austerman. Hughes flew with me more than anybody else.
Air Marshal (Rtd) Victor Groom. Oral History Deposition to the Imperial War Museum, January 31, 1980. Recording 3.
Above: the main aircraft used in 'Aerial Policing' was the Airco DH.9A a single-engined light bomber designed and first used shortly before the end of the First World War. It was a development of the unsuccessful Airco DH.9 bomber, featuring a strengthened structure and, crucially, replacing the under-powered and unreliable inline 6-cylinder Siddeley Puma engine of the DH.9 with the American V-12 Liberty engine.
Colloquially known as the "Ninak" (from the phonetic alphabet treatment of designation "nine-A"), it served on in large numbers for the Royal Air Force following the end of the war, both at home and overseas, where it was used for colonial policing in the Middle East, finally being retired in 1931. Over 2,400 examples of an unlicensed version, the Polikarpov R-1, were built in the Soviet Union, the type serving as the standard Soviet light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft through the 1920s.
The DH.9A was one of the key weapons used by Britain to manage the territories that were in its control following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following the Great War. Five squadrons of DH.9As served in the Middle East, occasionally carrying out bombing raids against rebellious tribesmen and villages. It's endurance of more than five hours, flexibility and ease of operation made it ideal for operations in Mesopotamia. An additional radiator was fitted under the fuselage to cope with the high temperatures, while additional water containers and spares (including spare wheels lashed to the fuselage) were carried in case the aircraft were forced down in the desert, the DH.9A's struggling under ever heavier loads. Despite this the aircraft served successfully, with the Liberty engine being picked out for particular praise for its reliability ("as good as any Rolls Royce") in such harsh conditions.
The DH9A had a maximum speed of 183 kph (114 mph) at 3,050m (10,000ft) and could reach a height of over 5,100m (16,500ft). As a combat aircraft, it could carry 204kg (450lb) of bombs on underwing and fuselage racks and armed with a forward firing 7.7mm Vickers machine gun and one rear firing 7.7mm Lewis gun.
Colloquially known as the "Ninak" (from the phonetic alphabet treatment of designation "nine-A"), it served on in large numbers for the Royal Air Force following the end of the war, both at home and overseas, where it was used for colonial policing in the Middle East, finally being retired in 1931. Over 2,400 examples of an unlicensed version, the Polikarpov R-1, were built in the Soviet Union, the type serving as the standard Soviet light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft through the 1920s.
The DH.9A was one of the key weapons used by Britain to manage the territories that were in its control following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following the Great War. Five squadrons of DH.9As served in the Middle East, occasionally carrying out bombing raids against rebellious tribesmen and villages. It's endurance of more than five hours, flexibility and ease of operation made it ideal for operations in Mesopotamia. An additional radiator was fitted under the fuselage to cope with the high temperatures, while additional water containers and spares (including spare wheels lashed to the fuselage) were carried in case the aircraft were forced down in the desert, the DH.9A's struggling under ever heavier loads. Despite this the aircraft served successfully, with the Liberty engine being picked out for particular praise for its reliability ("as good as any Rolls Royce") in such harsh conditions.
The DH9A had a maximum speed of 183 kph (114 mph) at 3,050m (10,000ft) and could reach a height of over 5,100m (16,500ft). As a combat aircraft, it could carry 204kg (450lb) of bombs on underwing and fuselage racks and armed with a forward firing 7.7mm Vickers machine gun and one rear firing 7.7mm Lewis gun.
Groom recalled a close encounter with hostile Arab tribes near Hillah, south of Baghdad.
"We were doing reconnaissance...Baghdad was virtually besieged, there were a lot of troops there but the whole of Iraq between there and Basra was cut off...
In November 1920, I went with Maxwell who was my flight commander to do a reconnaissance of the railway between Baghdad and Basra. The railway was always being cut and we obviously, the officers and pilots were trained to do reconnaissance things whereas the airmen, the fitters and the riggers who flew as our passengers in the back seat...weren't trained to do reconnaissance so one of the other pilots went with the flight commander or another pilot to do this...
There was an outpost at a place called Hillah [100km south of Baghdad on the Euphrates] this was a small camp where there was a detatchment of the army... but there was also a small airfield within the perimeter and 6 Squadron with it's Bristol fighters had a detachment there...we passed over this on our way down from Baghdad following the railway - done at very early morning - I was flying the back seat of course and it wasn't long afterwards that I felt water coming into me in the back cockpit and there was only one place that water could be coming from and that was the engine and it was quite obvious because the temperature gauge on the dashboard suddenly shot round to boiling point and the engine seized up. There was no alternative but to land.
One often thinks the desert is a very flat area but believe me when you are looking for somewhere to land, it's far from flat. In this particular place it was cut up with irrigation ditches and bunds and all sorts of things. Maxwell was absolutely a first class pilot and he put down the DH9A in a comparatively small and flattish bit of the desert about 300 yards away from a big bund.
Well, when the aeroplane engine stopped running, we looked at one another and we got out of the aeroplane and we didn't know what the hell to do. 'L.E.' Lloyd Evans, who was flying the other aeroplane was circling around above us and obviosly would be able them what had happened...without a wireless operator you couldn't communicate by morse and I knew Lloyd Evans only had my rigger in the back of his aeroplane so he couldn't send a wireless message back to base to say what had happened. Well anyway, Maxwell and I were wondering what the hell we would do. Lloyd Evans was circling around and obviously coming down and made an approach to land.
Lloyd Evans was not as good a pilot as Maxwell and we were both terrified that he would probably crash as it was pretty rough ground..we waved our arms at him and tried to shoo him off but he took no notice and came in and landed He taxied up towards us and he got out of his aeroplane and he came over and said 'I say you chaps, I think you had better come up with me'.
They were only two seater aeroplanes after all and he had Hughes already in the back seat. However Maxwell and I decided that this was the only salvation really, we were miles away from anywhere, quite a long way from Hillah, and knowing what had happened on the other occasions when people had been ambushed, we weren't very anxious to fall into the hands of the Arabs who have a habit of treating you very badly indeed.
Although we used to carry 'Blood Chits'* so called offering a reward of a hundred, thousand Rupees, for our safe return, we knew that didn't happen.
* Blood Chit or Blood Chip. In the simplest sense, a blood chit is a prepared message, written in local languages, that a crash-landed or lost pilot can present to most anyone who might help. It offers a rough description of the predicament – “I am not from here and would like to get back to where I belong” – along with both a request for aid and the promise of a reward for assistance. The chits continue to be carried by many air crews, particularly fixed-wing air crews, and by other service members deemed to be at what the military calls “high risk of isolation.”
Blood chits were first used in a systematic way by the British Army in 1842 in the mountains of Afghanistan. In World War I, British Royal Flying Corps pilots in India and Mesopotamia carried a "goolie chit" printed in four local languages that promised a reward to anyone who would bring an unharmed British aviator back to British lines. The British officer John Masters recorded in his autobiography that Pathan women in the North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955) of British India (now modern day Pakistan) during the Anglo-Afghan Wars would behead and castrate non Muslim soldiers who were captured, like British and Sikhs The U.S. military began their own blood-chit program in the China theater of operations with the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941-42 under General Claire Chennault. This program quickly grew throughout the U.S. military and was in use throughout all theaters of operation with much success. Blood chit usage by the U.S. military in World War II was in the tens of thousands. They were issued only to aircrew members. Payments ranged from $50 to approximately $250 depending upon the theater. The blood chit program continued through the Korean and Vietnam wars. During the Korean War, approximately 42 payments were made for the safe return of U.S. fliers. During one six-month period of the Vietnam War, 13 payments being made. After the Vietnam War the program was disestablished and then re-established for Desert Storm and has been in continuous use ever since. The program has been expanded beyond aircrew so that all U.S. military members deemed High Risk of Isolation are to be issued blood chits after receiving required training in their use. Blood chits are controlled items and are issued and tracked very closely and are currently believed to range in values to $250,000. |
A "blood chit" issued to the American Volunteer Group Flying Tigers 1941-42. The Chinese characters read: "This foreign person has come to China to help in the war effort. Soldiers and civilians, one and all, should rescue and protect him". (R.E. Baldwin Collection)
|
Groom continued his recollections of the encounter near Hillah:
"....There was an old friend of mine that I had known in Egypt who had come out to Iraq and was posted to the 84 squadron at Shiba and it was at the time when there were gunboats operating in that part and a gunboat, I think it was called the Firefly had gone aground. Boquet-Pugh had been flying his 9A to drop food on the Firefly. Unfortunately he had engine trouble or was shot down and he landed in the river. Unfortunately instead of swimming to the Firefly, which eventually got away, he went to the shore where he was captured by the Arabs. Eventually all we got of Boquet-Pugh was the remains of his hand and lower arm inside his flying gauntlet - they had obviously chopped him up - so as you can see, the blood chits really weren't of very much value and so you can't be surprised that Maxwell and I (not withstanding the idea of four people in a two seater aeroplane..it was quite unique at that time, I'd never heard of anybody doing it before, decided that this was the better part of valour.
Well, I was flying in the back seat and we used to carry a Lewis gun, and as it used to get in the way, it was tied down to the scarf ring with a bit of string around the spade grip. I thought I had better go and get this gun - we didn't want it to fall into the hands of the Arabs from the aeroplane. I suppose Lloyd Evan's aeroplane was about 100 yards from ours and ours was about 300 yards from the bund. I went back to the aeroplane...and of course couldn't undo the string. Looking over towards the bund...were heads bobbing along, obviously Arabs on horseback riding along making for a gap further along. I gave up any idea of undoing the string...I pinched the cartridge guide spring out of the Lewis gun so that would make it inoperative and I jumped to the ground. I was wearing flying kit at the time, flying boots as well and ran a hundred yards while the Arabs, on horseback were coming over the bund not three hundred yards away. General Haldane who was commanding the army in Mesopotamia at the time wrote that I ran the fastest hundred yards of anybody dressed up in flying kit.
I arrived at the aeroplane, Lloyd Evans had got the engine running, Hughes was in the back seat, Maxwell who was a big hefty chap virtually lifted me off the ground, threw me in the air and somehow I got into the back cockpit, jammed in with Hughes, we couldn't move. Maxwell laid himself out on the bottom plane - the 9A of course is a biplane with struts and outer struts and he put himself with his head forward on the bottom plane with his left arm over the leading edge of the plane and his right arm around the base of the struts and the flying wires to hold himself in position with his legs straddled behind him along the length of the plane.
L.E. opened up the engine and off we went bumpity bumpity bump over the desert and eventually into the air. By this time the Arabs were riding round and round our aeroplane...had set fire to it and the ammunition and petrol tanks blew up and a number of them were killed. Meantime, we set off for Hilla...we landed on this little strip and taxied up to where the Bristol Fighters were as the chaps were coming out of their tents and they were absolutely astonished to find four people coming out of this aeroplane. They weren't as surprised as we were when we realised that in addition to having four of us up, we also had sixteen Cooper bombs aboard this aeroplane..we'd forgotten they were on the aeroplane, with four up and all those bombs on board, I think we were damned lucky.
Groom recalled the Royal Air Force squadrons that were in Baghdad at the time along with the difficulties and methods of starting aircraft engines at the time:
84 Squadron was based in Basra, 3 Squadrons (including 55 Squadron) at Baghdad West and a detachment from 30 Squadron at Mosul and there was an aircraft park at Baghdad. The whole was formed under one wing, 31 Wing, commanded by WC Burnett. He was always known as 'Screaming Lizzie'
(Charles H.) Nicholas, who was commanding us at Baghdad was called back to England and we had a chap named Gaskell-Blackburn replace him...the Liberty Engines were very, very difficult to start and we all went off to see Nicholas off in his aeroplane - he was flying down to Basra to get a boat, he may have been going back across the desert route - we couldn't get his aeroplane to start.
(The method of stating aeroplanes in those days was Heath-Robinson* in the extreme degree. It was too high off the ground to swing the propeller as we did in a Bristol Fighter, the prop was too high up you could virtually only get hold of the tip of it and we had four bladed propellers so what you did was put a little bag over the tip of one of the blades with a long rope on it and you turned this over so that the blade with the bag on the end - it was called 'a bag and rope' - was at about three o'clock with the rope coming down. Then three men would hang onto the rope and then on the word from the pilot when he switched on and said "Contact", the three men would run and pull on the rope and pull the blade of the propeller downwards with the bag on until it got to the bottom, the bag would fall off and with luck the engine would fire - sometimes. Not a lot, that was the devil.)
* Heath Robinson, a British cartoonist (1914-1944) has been used to describe absurdly complex, makeshift contraptions. More details here.
The use of aircraft shifted the advantage to the British and played a large role in ending the revolt.
Eventually the rebels began to run low on supplies and funding and could not support the revolt for much longer while British forces were becoming more effective.
Squadron Leader H.H. James who served with Spackman, recorded in 1924, a visit to the villages of Sukhair and Ja'ara which had been bombed in 1920:
Sources: http://www.johnbarnard.me.uk/docs/HHJ_Docs/HHJ-17-6%20Iraq%2059-71.pdf available at: http://www.johnbarnard.me.uk/HaroldHindleJames.html
The revolt ended in late 1920 when the rebels surrendered Najaf and Karbala to the British authorities. 6,000 to 10,000 Iraqis and around 500 British and Indian soldiers died during the revolt. The RAF flew missions totalling 4,008 hours, dropped 97 tons of bombs and fired 183,861 rounds for the loss of nine men killed, seven wounded and 11 aircraft destroyed behind rebel lines. The revolt caused British officials to drastically reconsider their strategy in Iraq. The revolt cost the British government £40 million, which was twice the amount of the annual budget allotted for Iraq and a huge factor in reconsidering their strategy in Iraq. It had cost more than the entire British-funded Arab rising against the Ottoman Empire in 1917-1918.
With the end of the uprising by December 1920, there had been a number of personnel changes in 55 Squadron and the monthly Air Force list now records two Squadron Leaders (Gaskell-Blackburn & Maxwell), two Flight Lieutenants (Hazell & Grigson) and 16 Flight Officers including Basil Spackman.
Opposite: Vivian Gaskell-Blackburn (1892-1956) . Gaskell-Blackburn held the Distinguished Service Cross and the Air Force Cross. He served in the Royal Air Force and the Royal Naval Air Service between 1914 to 1947 including participating in the first ever carrier-borne air strike in 1914, served in East Africa and was twice decorated for his gallant deeds in the Mesopotamia Campaign 1915-16. Appointed a Lieutenant-Colonel in the newly established Royal Air Force, and subsequently awarded the A.F.C., Gaskell-Blackburn retained his links with the Senior Service by gaining permission to wear a beard. He then took command of No. 55 Squadron at Mosul and won a final "mention" ‘for distinguished service rendered during active operations in Iraq during 1920-21 (London Gazette 10 October 1922 refers). Thereafter he held many further commands, among them an Armoured Car Company in Iraq during 1931 and a period as Commandant of the School of Balloon Training at Larkhill. He was finally placed on the Retired List as a Group Captain in 1947. He retired to Co. Kerry and died in October 1956 and is buried at St. Michael & All Angels, Dromod, Waterville
October 2018: Research underway on 55 Squadron (Mosul) personnel. Details will be updated in future posts.
Opposite: Vivian Gaskell-Blackburn (1892-1956) . Gaskell-Blackburn held the Distinguished Service Cross and the Air Force Cross. He served in the Royal Air Force and the Royal Naval Air Service between 1914 to 1947 including participating in the first ever carrier-borne air strike in 1914, served in East Africa and was twice decorated for his gallant deeds in the Mesopotamia Campaign 1915-16. Appointed a Lieutenant-Colonel in the newly established Royal Air Force, and subsequently awarded the A.F.C., Gaskell-Blackburn retained his links with the Senior Service by gaining permission to wear a beard. He then took command of No. 55 Squadron at Mosul and won a final "mention" ‘for distinguished service rendered during active operations in Iraq during 1920-21 (London Gazette 10 October 1922 refers). Thereafter he held many further commands, among them an Armoured Car Company in Iraq during 1931 and a period as Commandant of the School of Balloon Training at Larkhill. He was finally placed on the Retired List as a Group Captain in 1947. He retired to Co. Kerry and died in October 1956 and is buried at St. Michael & All Angels, Dromod, Waterville
October 2018: Research underway on 55 Squadron (Mosul) personnel. Details will be updated in future posts.
|
The RAF Hendon Aerial Pageant, 1920
"The RAF Displays held at Hendon between 1920 and 1937 were unique, in that no other air force attempted to project a vision of itself, its capabilities and its responsibilities in so public a way, on such a large scale and over such a long period. Of course, that's largely because there weren't many air forces around. Or rather, they did exist, but not independently of their nation's army and navy. Putting on such a big show was important for the RAF precisely because it was newborn: it needed to convince everyone (parliamentarians, journalists, the public, the other services, other nations) that it was necessary and/or that it was successful. Hendon seemed to have fulfilled this very well, judging by press attention and attendance numbers." Dr. Brett Holman. www.airminded.org in 1920, the fledgling RAF became involved in some early but very effective self-promotion by staging the first aerial display at Hendon aerodrome, north London on Saturday, July 3rd. Organised by the RAF Inland Area, the objective of the display was to promote the Royal Air Force through visual drama and of course to both act as a shopfront for aircraft sales and a visual display of strength and power. " "The pageant aimed to convince taxpayers that the Royal Air Force gave them value for money and that they need not fear the onslaught of another power" There was an impressive turnout for the first aerial pageant with the crowd estimated at about 40,000. Not really surprising there was such an attendance as the programme was full of service aircraft, aerobatics, displays of new aircraft and mock combat set pieces between fighters and bombers. The closing 'events of the day' were the destruction of an old kite balloon by by 'Flight-Lieut. Hazell, D.S.O., M.C., D.F.C. '34 Huns and 16 balloons to his name' flying a Sopwith Snipe followed by an aerial fireworks display. The popularity of the display was such that the RAF staged an annual event at Hendon for the next eighteen years. The event was popular imperialism on show for just one day per year but a show that required vast resources, highly trained pilots and ground crew as well as detailed planning and training for the event up to twelve months in advance. In fact the RAF argued that each pageant contained manoeuvers that held a direct military purpose and that flying was essentially 'safe' as well as being essential for preservation of the nation's security. Within a few years, the annual display ending of set piece dramas became largely Imperial propaganda as well as politically drawing attention to the part the new air service and it's personnel was playing in upholding and preserving Empire. |
By January 1921, No. 55 Squadron and Spackman continued RAF operations at Baghdad West Aerodrome with a small detachment remaining in Tanooma, Basra.
March 15 brought Spackman a permanent commission within the RAF, retaining his position as Flying Office and seniority backdated to October 24, 1919. The London Gazette reported:
Air Marshal Sir Ralph Squire Sorley, KCB, OBE, DSC, DFC, FRAeS, FRSA (1898 – 1974) was a World War I pilot with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Air Force, who was also a senior commander during World War II. After the War he held several senior RAF appointments until his retirement in 1948 in the rank of Air Marshal. He was instrumental in the specification of the armament of both the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane, he founded the Empire Test Pilots' School, foresaw the need for air-to-air missiles in the post-World War II world and, having left the RAF to join De Havilland, provided the RAF with such a weapon system.
Below: the Aeroplane Magazine also reported in it's 21 March 1921 edition of Spackman's commission:
By March 20, 1921, the entire No. 55 Squadron re-located to Mosul, 250 kms north of Baghdad on the banks of the Tigris.
(At the end of Ottoman involvement in World War I after the signature of the Armistice of Mudros, (October 1918) British forces occupied Mosul. After the war, the city and the surrounding area became part of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (1918–20) and shortly Mandatory Iraq (1920–32). This mandate was contested by Turkey which continued to claim the area based on the fact that it was under Ottoman control during the signature of the Armistice. In the Treaty of Lausanne, the dispute over Mosul was left for future resolution by the League of Nations. Iraq's possession of Mosul was confirmed by the League of Nations brokered agreement between Turkey and Great Britain in 1926. Former Ottoman Mosul Vilayet eventually became Nineveh Province of Iraq, but Mosul remained the provincial capital. Mosul's fortunes revived with the discovery of oil in the area, from the late 1920s onward. It became a nexus for the movement of oil via truck and pipeline to both Turkey and Syria.)
The Desht-I-Harrir Incident. 12 September,1921
On September 12, 1921, Flying Officers Damant, Spackman and Teagle of No. 55 Squadron were flying DH9A's in Army support in the Desht-I-Harir area (about 100kms due east of Mosul) on a low-level reconnaissance. The flight came under attack from tribesmen and Flying Officer C. H. Teagle in aircraft H153 was hit by a rebel bullet and forced to crash land. This caused him further injuries, his gunner/observer was also hurt and the aircraft badly damaged in the landing.
It was the familiar situation of either having an airlift of the pilot and observer back to base for medical attention or a far longer, punishing & more dangerous overland trek to the nearest base hospital. The Army troop signalled the next two 'Ninacks' (DH9A's) arriving for operations to land nearby. The pilots of each aircraft, Flying Officers Frederick Damant and Charles Spackman, thought it feasible to carry the two injured officers in the rear cockpits, but the displaced gunner/observers would be little more than two extra mouths for the Army to feed. After some discussion and persuasion, both the gunner/observers volunteered to fly out lying on the wings of Spackman's aircraft, lashed to the fabric and wood with rope. From there, Spackman managed to take off with the extra three passengers followed closely by Damant providing support. Some time later, after landing back in Mosul, F/O Teagle was taken to hospital.
However, four days after Spackman's display of initiative and cool nerve, Cyril Hollis Teagle died of his injuries on 16 September 1921 at the Mosul Military Hospital and was buried in the British Military Cemetery with full military honours. (Ninety Five years later, Teagle's and hundreds of other gravesites in the military cemetery were destroyed by ISIL forces that held Mosul from 2014-2017.)
Results of Air Policing in Iraq
As far as the British government was concerned, the strategy of air policing was a pragmatic success. Iraq was effectively subdued by a handful of RAF squadrons and a small force of troops.
Lord Thomson went on to spell out why air power was essential in Iraq. The language may have changed over the last 90 years, but some of the argument sounds familiar:
"The alternatives to the employment of the air arm in backward countries of poor communications and with a wide scattered population are, first, an occupation by ground forces so complete as to put out of the mind of disaffected elements any hope or temptation to resist government authority. Occupation on this scale would involve large numbers of troops and heavy expenditure."
For the RAF though, the lessons of Iraq were doctrinal, not budgetary. They came to believe that bombing was enough to win a war. As the historian AJP Taylor put it: "Here was an independent strategy of the air. From this moment, it was accepted that bombs could not only quell tribal revolts, but could win a great war."
Schemes of air control similar to that practiced in Mesopotamia were set up in the Palestine Mandate in 1922 and in the Aden Protectorate six years later. Aircraft were active at various times throughout the Empire - seeing action against rioters in Egypt, tribesmen on the North-Western Frontier in India, pastoralists in the Southern Sudan and nomads in the Somali hinterland. The air force also intervened against organised workers in the British class struggle and against Irish Republicans fighting for independence in Ireland in 1920/21.
As the Treasury imposed strict limits upon military spending, each of the three services fought hard against the others for a larger share of a smaller whole, so the Air Ministry tried to extend the geographical limits of air policing to gain prestige, influence and funds.
The effect of ‘Aerial Policing’ was to have a widespread and historic influence that is still felt today. The campaign heavily influenced several of the RAF squadron leaders in Mesopotamia at the time. Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris - who in 1942 assumed the leadership of RAF Bomber Command - had seen service in the region. For Harris, what was true of Iraq could also be true of Germany. As historian AJP Taylor said of him: "He genuinely believed that the German people could be cowed from the air as he had once cowed the tribesmen of Iraq" The destruction of Hamburg, Dresden and scores of other German cities and towns followed. Around 600,000 Germans, mostly civilians, perished. But although the crews of Bomber Command fought with great gallantry - more than 55,000 crewmen were killed, the RAF's strategic bombing campaign alone could not force Germany's surrender. The Allied armies rather than the combined British and US Air Forces were required to destroy Hitler's war machine.
More than 90 years after the RAF's first bombing campaign in Iraq, the legacy of "aerial policing" can be argued as still persisting. For example, US strategy in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan is the direct descendant of that original British campaign in Mesopotamia in 1920-23.
Mentioned in Dispatchs - 28 October 1921:
"The undermentioned officer of the Royal Air Force have been mentioned for distinguished service in a dispatch received from Lieutenant-General Sir J. A. L. Haldane, K.C.B., D.S.O., General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force :— Spackman, Flying Officer Charles Basil Slater, D.F.C., R.A.F."
A member of the armed forces mentioned in dispatches is one whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which his or her gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy is described. There were strict criteria on the award. For example, Service men and women of the British Empire or the Commonwealth who are mentioned in despatches (MiD) are not awarded a medal for their action, but receive a certificate and wear an oak leaf device on the ribbon of the appropriate campaign medal. A smaller version of the oak leaf device is attached to the ribbon when worn alone. Prior to 2014 only one device could be worn on a ribbon, irrespective of the number of times the recipient was mentioned in despatches. Where no campaign medal is awarded, the oak leaf is worn directly on the coat after any medal ribbons. In the British Armed Forces, the despatch is published in the London Gazette. For 1914–1918 and up to 10 August 1920, the device consisted of a spray of oak leaves in bronze worn on the ribbon of the Victory Medal. Those who did not receive the Victory Medal wore the device on the British War Medal. Established in 1919, it was retrospective to August 1914. It was not a common honour with, for example, only twenty-five members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in the First World War mentioned in despatches. In all, 141,082 mentions were recorded in the London Gazette between 1914 and 1920.
From 1920 to 1993, the device consisted of a single bronze oak leaf, worn on the ribbon of the appropriate campaign medal, including the War Medal for a mention during the Second World War.
(At the end of Ottoman involvement in World War I after the signature of the Armistice of Mudros, (October 1918) British forces occupied Mosul. After the war, the city and the surrounding area became part of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (1918–20) and shortly Mandatory Iraq (1920–32). This mandate was contested by Turkey which continued to claim the area based on the fact that it was under Ottoman control during the signature of the Armistice. In the Treaty of Lausanne, the dispute over Mosul was left for future resolution by the League of Nations. Iraq's possession of Mosul was confirmed by the League of Nations brokered agreement between Turkey and Great Britain in 1926. Former Ottoman Mosul Vilayet eventually became Nineveh Province of Iraq, but Mosul remained the provincial capital. Mosul's fortunes revived with the discovery of oil in the area, from the late 1920s onward. It became a nexus for the movement of oil via truck and pipeline to both Turkey and Syria.)
The Desht-I-Harrir Incident. 12 September,1921
On September 12, 1921, Flying Officers Damant, Spackman and Teagle of No. 55 Squadron were flying DH9A's in Army support in the Desht-I-Harir area (about 100kms due east of Mosul) on a low-level reconnaissance. The flight came under attack from tribesmen and Flying Officer C. H. Teagle in aircraft H153 was hit by a rebel bullet and forced to crash land. This caused him further injuries, his gunner/observer was also hurt and the aircraft badly damaged in the landing.
It was the familiar situation of either having an airlift of the pilot and observer back to base for medical attention or a far longer, punishing & more dangerous overland trek to the nearest base hospital. The Army troop signalled the next two 'Ninacks' (DH9A's) arriving for operations to land nearby. The pilots of each aircraft, Flying Officers Frederick Damant and Charles Spackman, thought it feasible to carry the two injured officers in the rear cockpits, but the displaced gunner/observers would be little more than two extra mouths for the Army to feed. After some discussion and persuasion, both the gunner/observers volunteered to fly out lying on the wings of Spackman's aircraft, lashed to the fabric and wood with rope. From there, Spackman managed to take off with the extra three passengers followed closely by Damant providing support. Some time later, after landing back in Mosul, F/O Teagle was taken to hospital.
However, four days after Spackman's display of initiative and cool nerve, Cyril Hollis Teagle died of his injuries on 16 September 1921 at the Mosul Military Hospital and was buried in the British Military Cemetery with full military honours. (Ninety Five years later, Teagle's and hundreds of other gravesites in the military cemetery were destroyed by ISIL forces that held Mosul from 2014-2017.)
Results of Air Policing in Iraq
As far as the British government was concerned, the strategy of air policing was a pragmatic success. Iraq was effectively subdued by a handful of RAF squadrons and a small force of troops.
Lord Thomson went on to spell out why air power was essential in Iraq. The language may have changed over the last 90 years, but some of the argument sounds familiar:
"The alternatives to the employment of the air arm in backward countries of poor communications and with a wide scattered population are, first, an occupation by ground forces so complete as to put out of the mind of disaffected elements any hope or temptation to resist government authority. Occupation on this scale would involve large numbers of troops and heavy expenditure."
For the RAF though, the lessons of Iraq were doctrinal, not budgetary. They came to believe that bombing was enough to win a war. As the historian AJP Taylor put it: "Here was an independent strategy of the air. From this moment, it was accepted that bombs could not only quell tribal revolts, but could win a great war."
Schemes of air control similar to that practiced in Mesopotamia were set up in the Palestine Mandate in 1922 and in the Aden Protectorate six years later. Aircraft were active at various times throughout the Empire - seeing action against rioters in Egypt, tribesmen on the North-Western Frontier in India, pastoralists in the Southern Sudan and nomads in the Somali hinterland. The air force also intervened against organised workers in the British class struggle and against Irish Republicans fighting for independence in Ireland in 1920/21.
As the Treasury imposed strict limits upon military spending, each of the three services fought hard against the others for a larger share of a smaller whole, so the Air Ministry tried to extend the geographical limits of air policing to gain prestige, influence and funds.
The effect of ‘Aerial Policing’ was to have a widespread and historic influence that is still felt today. The campaign heavily influenced several of the RAF squadron leaders in Mesopotamia at the time. Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris - who in 1942 assumed the leadership of RAF Bomber Command - had seen service in the region. For Harris, what was true of Iraq could also be true of Germany. As historian AJP Taylor said of him: "He genuinely believed that the German people could be cowed from the air as he had once cowed the tribesmen of Iraq" The destruction of Hamburg, Dresden and scores of other German cities and towns followed. Around 600,000 Germans, mostly civilians, perished. But although the crews of Bomber Command fought with great gallantry - more than 55,000 crewmen were killed, the RAF's strategic bombing campaign alone could not force Germany's surrender. The Allied armies rather than the combined British and US Air Forces were required to destroy Hitler's war machine.
More than 90 years after the RAF's first bombing campaign in Iraq, the legacy of "aerial policing" can be argued as still persisting. For example, US strategy in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan is the direct descendant of that original British campaign in Mesopotamia in 1920-23.
Mentioned in Dispatchs - 28 October 1921:
"The undermentioned officer of the Royal Air Force have been mentioned for distinguished service in a dispatch received from Lieutenant-General Sir J. A. L. Haldane, K.C.B., D.S.O., General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force :— Spackman, Flying Officer Charles Basil Slater, D.F.C., R.A.F."
A member of the armed forces mentioned in dispatches is one whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which his or her gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy is described. There were strict criteria on the award. For example, Service men and women of the British Empire or the Commonwealth who are mentioned in despatches (MiD) are not awarded a medal for their action, but receive a certificate and wear an oak leaf device on the ribbon of the appropriate campaign medal. A smaller version of the oak leaf device is attached to the ribbon when worn alone. Prior to 2014 only one device could be worn on a ribbon, irrespective of the number of times the recipient was mentioned in despatches. Where no campaign medal is awarded, the oak leaf is worn directly on the coat after any medal ribbons. In the British Armed Forces, the despatch is published in the London Gazette. For 1914–1918 and up to 10 August 1920, the device consisted of a spray of oak leaves in bronze worn on the ribbon of the Victory Medal. Those who did not receive the Victory Medal wore the device on the British War Medal. Established in 1919, it was retrospective to August 1914. It was not a common honour with, for example, only twenty-five members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in the First World War mentioned in despatches. In all, 141,082 mentions were recorded in the London Gazette between 1914 and 1920.
From 1920 to 1993, the device consisted of a single bronze oak leaf, worn on the ribbon of the appropriate campaign medal, including the War Medal for a mention during the Second World War.
Above: aircraft manufacturing companies heavily advertised during the early 1920's. Note the 'Avro Baby' touting London to Turin in under ten hours on 20 gallons of petrol. Below is an advert from the Supermarine Aviation Co. who went on to win the Schneider Trophy and to develop the Supermarine Spitfire. Details here.
Spackman was appointed as Flight Lieutenant on 1 January to No. 55 Squadron in Mosul, 400 km north east of Baghdad.
He was now the senior officer sharing commanding of the Squadron with two others.
The RAF policy of 'Air Policing' continued throughout 1922 and for the most part, in Iraq until 1930.
Churchill consistently urged that the RAF use mustard gas during these raids, despite the warning by one of his advisers that "it may....kill children and sickly persons, more especially as the people against whom we intend to use it have no medical knowledge with which to supply antidotes". In the event the air force did not use gas bombs - it's understood for technical rather than humanitarian reasons. Even without gas, the campaign was brutal enough. The bombing campaign from the air started in 1923 and the results were instant and dramatic. Some Iraqi villages were destroyed merely because their inhabitants had not paid their taxes. The British authorities always maintained in public, however, that people were not bombed for refusing to pay - merely for refusing to appear when summoned to explain their non-payment.
The primitive bombs sometimes did not explode, and tribal children developed a passion for playing with the duds. When the air force proposed using bombs with delayed action fuses, one senior officer protested that the result would be “blowing a lot of children to pieces". Nevertheless, the RAF went ahead - without the knowledge of the civilian High Commissioner for Iraq, Sir Henry Dobbs - as the use of delayed-action bombs prevented tribesmen from tending their crops under cover of darkness.
By now, after almost two years of the Aerial Policing policy, formal concerns were raised on the rising civilian casualties in Mesopotamia. The RAF sent a report to the British Parliament outlining the steps that its pilots had taken to avoid civilian casualties. "The air war was less brutal than other forms of military control", it stated, concluding that “the main purpose is to bring about submission with the minimum of destruction and loss of life.” Knowing the truth, at least one military officer resigned. Air Commander Lionel Charlton sent a letter of protest and resigned as Staff Officer in Iraq in 1924 over what he considered the “policy of intimidation by bomb” after visiting a local hospital full of injured civilians. It is said that the RAF administration recalled him to England in 1925, promising not to otherwise damage his career provided he took his protests no further; but nevertheless placed him on the retired list in 1928.
Another of 55 Squadron's pilots was Hugh Walmsley (later Air Marshall Sir Hugh Walmsley of Bomber Command). In his papers at RAF Museum Hendon is the following report of an RAF bombing of the village of Risib in February 1922 as transcribed from a villager who experienced the attack:
"On Monday, the 1st February, the people of Risib were celebrating twelve weddings. I was with them and in the afternoon we were sitting in a small valley where the people were dancing and beating drums and firing rifles and so on and thoroughly enjoying themselves. There may have been a few people left in the houses but most of the population was at the dance.
Someone cried 'The aeroplanes are coming' and five machines flew over the place three times. I said to the people 'Run away, they are going to drop bombs. They won't drop them on people so clear out altogether.' But the people said 'Nonsense, lies, they won't drop bombs.'
Then a bomb dropped and there was smoke. I said 'Look at that!' They said 'It's nothing, it's only paper.' There was another smoke bomb and then a real bomb was dropped. It was a small one and it fell in the cultivation without making a big explosion. I said 'Run away,' but they replied 'This is only a threat.' I said 'I'm going.' They said 'No, if we die, we die together.' Another bomb dropped and the women ran to their houses but the men remained in the valley. Then more bombs dropped, big ones with loud explosions. We all ran away and scattered and there was yet more bombing.
At sunset when the aeroplane had gone we all returned to the houses, and I went to the A Yeminis and had a meeting […]. There we heard of casualties which had occurred among those who ran to their houses. The killed were two boys aged four and five […], one girl aged five […] and one woman[…]. One woman was wounded in the leg, another […] was badly wounded and has perhaps since died and the small daughter of Abdulla […] has been slightly wounded. One she camel was killed and three were wounded. These casualties are from God and no one is to be blamed.
I spoke to the meeting and said 'Pay the fine.' The Shaikh supported me. […] I tried to collect the fine […] but I was unable to do so."
(Of the 47 senior officers in RAF Bomber Command 1942-45, 26 saw service in Iraq during the 1920s.)
Spackman Awarded Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross - The London Gazette, 10 October 1922:
‘For gallant and distinguished service in Iraq 1921-22.’ The following recommendation was submitted for approval by His Majesty the King on 9 September 1922: ‘For conspicuous courage and devotion to duty in the air throughout the operations in South Kurdistan from May to September 1921. While taking part in operations with a column of Levies and Police on September 12th, 1921, he landed in a most difficult country and picked up an injured pilot (who had been forced to land his machine), displaying great gallantry and marked skill in effecting a good landing under difficult conditions, and taking off again with an excessive load.’
Only four D.F.C’s and two Bars awarded for Iraq in 1922.
He was now the senior officer sharing commanding of the Squadron with two others.
The RAF policy of 'Air Policing' continued throughout 1922 and for the most part, in Iraq until 1930.
Churchill consistently urged that the RAF use mustard gas during these raids, despite the warning by one of his advisers that "it may....kill children and sickly persons, more especially as the people against whom we intend to use it have no medical knowledge with which to supply antidotes". In the event the air force did not use gas bombs - it's understood for technical rather than humanitarian reasons. Even without gas, the campaign was brutal enough. The bombing campaign from the air started in 1923 and the results were instant and dramatic. Some Iraqi villages were destroyed merely because their inhabitants had not paid their taxes. The British authorities always maintained in public, however, that people were not bombed for refusing to pay - merely for refusing to appear when summoned to explain their non-payment.
The primitive bombs sometimes did not explode, and tribal children developed a passion for playing with the duds. When the air force proposed using bombs with delayed action fuses, one senior officer protested that the result would be “blowing a lot of children to pieces". Nevertheless, the RAF went ahead - without the knowledge of the civilian High Commissioner for Iraq, Sir Henry Dobbs - as the use of delayed-action bombs prevented tribesmen from tending their crops under cover of darkness.
By now, after almost two years of the Aerial Policing policy, formal concerns were raised on the rising civilian casualties in Mesopotamia. The RAF sent a report to the British Parliament outlining the steps that its pilots had taken to avoid civilian casualties. "The air war was less brutal than other forms of military control", it stated, concluding that “the main purpose is to bring about submission with the minimum of destruction and loss of life.” Knowing the truth, at least one military officer resigned. Air Commander Lionel Charlton sent a letter of protest and resigned as Staff Officer in Iraq in 1924 over what he considered the “policy of intimidation by bomb” after visiting a local hospital full of injured civilians. It is said that the RAF administration recalled him to England in 1925, promising not to otherwise damage his career provided he took his protests no further; but nevertheless placed him on the retired list in 1928.
Another of 55 Squadron's pilots was Hugh Walmsley (later Air Marshall Sir Hugh Walmsley of Bomber Command). In his papers at RAF Museum Hendon is the following report of an RAF bombing of the village of Risib in February 1922 as transcribed from a villager who experienced the attack:
"On Monday, the 1st February, the people of Risib were celebrating twelve weddings. I was with them and in the afternoon we were sitting in a small valley where the people were dancing and beating drums and firing rifles and so on and thoroughly enjoying themselves. There may have been a few people left in the houses but most of the population was at the dance.
Someone cried 'The aeroplanes are coming' and five machines flew over the place three times. I said to the people 'Run away, they are going to drop bombs. They won't drop them on people so clear out altogether.' But the people said 'Nonsense, lies, they won't drop bombs.'
Then a bomb dropped and there was smoke. I said 'Look at that!' They said 'It's nothing, it's only paper.' There was another smoke bomb and then a real bomb was dropped. It was a small one and it fell in the cultivation without making a big explosion. I said 'Run away,' but they replied 'This is only a threat.' I said 'I'm going.' They said 'No, if we die, we die together.' Another bomb dropped and the women ran to their houses but the men remained in the valley. Then more bombs dropped, big ones with loud explosions. We all ran away and scattered and there was yet more bombing.
At sunset when the aeroplane had gone we all returned to the houses, and I went to the A Yeminis and had a meeting […]. There we heard of casualties which had occurred among those who ran to their houses. The killed were two boys aged four and five […], one girl aged five […] and one woman[…]. One woman was wounded in the leg, another […] was badly wounded and has perhaps since died and the small daughter of Abdulla […] has been slightly wounded. One she camel was killed and three were wounded. These casualties are from God and no one is to be blamed.
I spoke to the meeting and said 'Pay the fine.' The Shaikh supported me. […] I tried to collect the fine […] but I was unable to do so."
(Of the 47 senior officers in RAF Bomber Command 1942-45, 26 saw service in Iraq during the 1920s.)
Spackman Awarded Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross - The London Gazette, 10 October 1922:
‘For gallant and distinguished service in Iraq 1921-22.’ The following recommendation was submitted for approval by His Majesty the King on 9 September 1922: ‘For conspicuous courage and devotion to duty in the air throughout the operations in South Kurdistan from May to September 1921. While taking part in operations with a column of Levies and Police on September 12th, 1921, he landed in a most difficult country and picked up an injured pilot (who had been forced to land his machine), displaying great gallantry and marked skill in effecting a good landing under difficult conditions, and taking off again with an excessive load.’
Only four D.F.C’s and two Bars awarded for Iraq in 1922.
Above: Spackman's Medal Card from the National Archives. It's a poor copy and the watermark doesn't help but some details are legible. The index cards were created by the Army Medal Office in Droitwich. Each card details a participants medal entitlement. Some of the cards have additional annotations about awarded medals. Other ranks were automatically sent their medals, but officers had to claim their medals. This card sign off date is May 8, 1922 and is one of number that survived the Blitz.
Spackman is noted as now having returned to Britain from Iraq, and noted as a ‘Supernumerary’ at the RAF Depot on 18 March 1923. Little further information is available to date as the Monthly Air Force Lists remain to be digitised for the period 1923-1930.
Within a few months, on July 23, Spackman was promoted to Flight Commander No. 41 Squadron based at RAF Northolt - a posting he was to retain for the next four years.
No. 41 Squadron had seen service from 1916-1919 on the Western Front. During the war, the Squadron's pilots and ground crews had been awarded four DSOs, six MCs, nine DFCs, two MMs and four Mentions in Dispatches. The pilots were credited with destroying 111 aircraft and 14 balloons, sending down 112 aircraft out of control, and driving down 25 aircraft and five balloons. Thirty-nine men were killed or died on active service, 48 were wounded or injured, and 20 pilots became Prisoners of War. The squadron was disbanded in 1919 as part of the post-war service reductions.
The squadron reformed at RAF Northolt on 1 April 1923 as a single flight equipped with six Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe. This was a single-seat biplane fighter designed and built by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War, and came into squadron service a few weeks before the end of the conflict in late 1918. The Snipe was not a fast aircraft by the standards of its time, but its excellent climb and manoeuvrability made it a good match for contemporary German fighters. It was selected as the standard postwar single-seat RAF fighter and was gradually replaced in No.41 Squadron by the Armstrong Whitworth Siskin III biplane. The first Siskin IIIs were delivered to No. 41 Squadron in May 1924, quickly followed by No. 111 Squadron. The Siskin III was popular in service, being highly manoeuvrable, although slightly underpowered and used by eleven RAF squadrons. The last operational RAF Siskins were replaced in October 1932 by Bristol Bulldogs. The Siskin presented exhibitions of flying at every RAF display from 1925 to 1931.
Spackman's role as flight commander was that as the leader of a constituent portion of an aerial squadron in aerial operations, often into combat. That constituent portion is known as a flight, and usually contains six or fewer aircraft, with three or four being the usual number. Historically, the role of a flight commander in fighter aircraft has been that of principal attacker in air-to-air combat, with the other aircraft in a flight supporting and protecting him from counter-attack as a wingman or wingmen. This delineation of roles came into being very early in the history of aerial warfare, as Oswald Boelcke, Roderic Dallas, and Mick Mannock all derived the basic tactics of successful air-to-air combat from their flying experiences during World War I c. 1916.
The flight commander position has traditionally been held by a captain, naval lieutenant, or Commonwealth air force flight lieutenant, with the wingmen being both junior and subordinate to him.
Within a few months, on July 23, Spackman was promoted to Flight Commander No. 41 Squadron based at RAF Northolt - a posting he was to retain for the next four years.
No. 41 Squadron had seen service from 1916-1919 on the Western Front. During the war, the Squadron's pilots and ground crews had been awarded four DSOs, six MCs, nine DFCs, two MMs and four Mentions in Dispatches. The pilots were credited with destroying 111 aircraft and 14 balloons, sending down 112 aircraft out of control, and driving down 25 aircraft and five balloons. Thirty-nine men were killed or died on active service, 48 were wounded or injured, and 20 pilots became Prisoners of War. The squadron was disbanded in 1919 as part of the post-war service reductions.
The squadron reformed at RAF Northolt on 1 April 1923 as a single flight equipped with six Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe. This was a single-seat biplane fighter designed and built by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War, and came into squadron service a few weeks before the end of the conflict in late 1918. The Snipe was not a fast aircraft by the standards of its time, but its excellent climb and manoeuvrability made it a good match for contemporary German fighters. It was selected as the standard postwar single-seat RAF fighter and was gradually replaced in No.41 Squadron by the Armstrong Whitworth Siskin III biplane. The first Siskin IIIs were delivered to No. 41 Squadron in May 1924, quickly followed by No. 111 Squadron. The Siskin III was popular in service, being highly manoeuvrable, although slightly underpowered and used by eleven RAF squadrons. The last operational RAF Siskins were replaced in October 1932 by Bristol Bulldogs. The Siskin presented exhibitions of flying at every RAF display from 1925 to 1931.
Spackman's role as flight commander was that as the leader of a constituent portion of an aerial squadron in aerial operations, often into combat. That constituent portion is known as a flight, and usually contains six or fewer aircraft, with three or four being the usual number. Historically, the role of a flight commander in fighter aircraft has been that of principal attacker in air-to-air combat, with the other aircraft in a flight supporting and protecting him from counter-attack as a wingman or wingmen. This delineation of roles came into being very early in the history of aerial warfare, as Oswald Boelcke, Roderic Dallas, and Mick Mannock all derived the basic tactics of successful air-to-air combat from their flying experiences during World War I c. 1916.
The flight commander position has traditionally been held by a captain, naval lieutenant, or Commonwealth air force flight lieutenant, with the wingmen being both junior and subordinate to him.
RAF Northolt was used as a testing area for the nearby Fairey Aviation Company between 1917 and 1928 and occasionally, various other aircraft were assessed and tested by qualified RAF pilots from No. 41 Squadron.
Flying Accident, Thursday, June 5
In early June, a new de Havilland two seat single engined biplane arrived at the base. The de Havilland DH.42 'Dingo' J7006 was designed for fighter-reconnaissance and army cooperation roles and the structure throughout was wood, with fabric covering on the wings and empennage, but with de Havilland's usual thin plywood cover on the fuselage. This aircraft was intended as another potential replacement for the DH9A.
The Dingo flew for the first time by de Havilland on 12 March 1924 with a 410 hp (305 kW) Bristol Jupiter III radial engine and the aircraft was passed to the RAF for assesment. Top speed according to de Havilland was around 200km/hr with a ceiling of 4785m (15,700ft).
No. 41 Squadron Leader G.W. Murlis-Green (1895-1958) took the 'Dingo' J7006 up early on Thursday, June 5 for a test flight. On his return, Murlis-Green reported the aircraft to be all correct. A few minutes later, Flight Lieutenant Robert H.C.Usher MC AFC who was serving with the Superintendent of RAF Reserves Headquarters at RAF Northolt, took the 'Dingo' J7006 for a second test flight. At around 15,000 feet, the aircraft suffered structural failure and broke up in mid-air, killing the 27 year old pilot.
Flying Accident, Thursday, June 5
In early June, a new de Havilland two seat single engined biplane arrived at the base. The de Havilland DH.42 'Dingo' J7006 was designed for fighter-reconnaissance and army cooperation roles and the structure throughout was wood, with fabric covering on the wings and empennage, but with de Havilland's usual thin plywood cover on the fuselage. This aircraft was intended as another potential replacement for the DH9A.
The Dingo flew for the first time by de Havilland on 12 March 1924 with a 410 hp (305 kW) Bristol Jupiter III radial engine and the aircraft was passed to the RAF for assesment. Top speed according to de Havilland was around 200km/hr with a ceiling of 4785m (15,700ft).
No. 41 Squadron Leader G.W. Murlis-Green (1895-1958) took the 'Dingo' J7006 up early on Thursday, June 5 for a test flight. On his return, Murlis-Green reported the aircraft to be all correct. A few minutes later, Flight Lieutenant Robert H.C.Usher MC AFC who was serving with the Superintendent of RAF Reserves Headquarters at RAF Northolt, took the 'Dingo' J7006 for a second test flight. At around 15,000 feet, the aircraft suffered structural failure and broke up in mid-air, killing the 27 year old pilot.
An inquest into the circumstances of the death of R.H.C Usher was held in RAF Northolt on Saturday, June 7 and reported in some daily newspapers on Monday, June 9:
FELL THREE MILES
R.A.F. Footballer's Crash in Flames.
The terrible dive, from a height of 15,000 feet, in which Flight-Lieut. R. H. C. Usher, the famous Rugby player, lost his life, was described at the inquest at Northolt Aerodrome on Saturday. Before the machine reached the ground the petrol tank caught fire and the machine crashed in a mass of flames. Squadron-Leader G. W. Murlis-Green said he flew the machine earlier in the day to test it and reported all correct. Flight-Lieut. Spackman, when asked if he had any theory as to the cause of the accident, could only suggest that there had been a general break-up of the machinery. In recording a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence, the coroner expressed his sympathy with Mr Usher's relatives and said the Rugby world had sustained a severe loss by his death. (Western Daily Press, Bristol, England)
A second flight of 6 Armstrong Siskin III was added in April 1924 with the remaining Sopwith Snipe phased out in the next year.
FELL THREE MILES
R.A.F. Footballer's Crash in Flames.
The terrible dive, from a height of 15,000 feet, in which Flight-Lieut. R. H. C. Usher, the famous Rugby player, lost his life, was described at the inquest at Northolt Aerodrome on Saturday. Before the machine reached the ground the petrol tank caught fire and the machine crashed in a mass of flames. Squadron-Leader G. W. Murlis-Green said he flew the machine earlier in the day to test it and reported all correct. Flight-Lieut. Spackman, when asked if he had any theory as to the cause of the accident, could only suggest that there had been a general break-up of the machinery. In recording a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence, the coroner expressed his sympathy with Mr Usher's relatives and said the Rugby world had sustained a severe loss by his death. (Western Daily Press, Bristol, England)
A second flight of 6 Armstrong Siskin III was added in April 1924 with the remaining Sopwith Snipe phased out in the next year.
The Armstrong Whitworth Siskin IIIA: a British biplane single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1920s produced by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. The Siskin, arguably one of the least attractive of all interwar RAF biplanes was nonetheless one of the most prolific with at least 450 examples being built (340 IIA's).
This was the first all metal fighter but with an open cockpit, a cold experience for any pilot as it could reach 8,230m (20,000 ft). By comparison with the Siskin III, the Siskin IIIA introduced a number of major design changes, including a lengthened fuselage with raised aft decking, less upper wing dihedral, and redesigned vertical tail surfaces lacking the lower ventral fin. It was first introduced into Royal Air Force service in 1924 and was powered by an Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar radial engine. The Siskin IIIA entered RAF service with No.111 (Fighter) Squadron at Duxford in September 1926 and was followed by ten others, all UK-based; Nos.1, 17, 19, 25, 29, 32, 41, 43, 54 and 56. The type was retired from front-line RAF service in October 1932, being replaced by the Bristol Bulldog. The Siskin IIIA first flew on 20 October 1925, and was ordered for the RAF in June 1926, 412 being built, including 47 dual-control trainers, 17 of the single-seaters being supplied to the RCAF. Of the total production, the parent company built 159 (Blackburn building 42, Bristol 85, Gloster 74 and Vickers 52). The only other country to fly the Siskin was the RCAF, which received 12 examples. No example of the Siskin survives today.
This was the first all metal fighter but with an open cockpit, a cold experience for any pilot as it could reach 8,230m (20,000 ft). By comparison with the Siskin III, the Siskin IIIA introduced a number of major design changes, including a lengthened fuselage with raised aft decking, less upper wing dihedral, and redesigned vertical tail surfaces lacking the lower ventral fin. It was first introduced into Royal Air Force service in 1924 and was powered by an Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar radial engine. The Siskin IIIA entered RAF service with No.111 (Fighter) Squadron at Duxford in September 1926 and was followed by ten others, all UK-based; Nos.1, 17, 19, 25, 29, 32, 41, 43, 54 and 56. The type was retired from front-line RAF service in October 1932, being replaced by the Bristol Bulldog. The Siskin IIIA first flew on 20 October 1925, and was ordered for the RAF in June 1926, 412 being built, including 47 dual-control trainers, 17 of the single-seaters being supplied to the RCAF. Of the total production, the parent company built 159 (Blackburn building 42, Bristol 85, Gloster 74 and Vickers 52). The only other country to fly the Siskin was the RCAF, which received 12 examples. No example of the Siskin survives today.
Spackman developed an interest in oil and watercolour painting during his tours of duty in Egypt and Mesopotamia.
No known examples of his early works were known of until this canvas in oils, signed and dated 1924 'Promenade Sous Les Pins" was sold in 2015 by the Brussels auction house, Horta. Possibly painted in the South of France during his summer leave, 1924.
1925: The average price of a pint of beer in 1925 was around 5d, pint of milk 3d and the average male weekly wage was about £5, roughly £125 nowadays. For couples with cash to spare, a trip to see one of Noel Coward's three West End plays was quite the thing, but as the Charleston had just flapped its way across from America, many preferred to go dancing. The BBC was now reaching an audience of ten million and George Bernard Shaw won the Nobel Prize for Literature with 'St. Joan' Winston Churchill as Chancellor announced Britain's return to the gold standard and knocked sixpence off income tax. Benito Mussolini assumed full dictatorial powers in Italy declaring himself answerable only to the King, and in Russia Leon Trotsky was fired by Joseph Stalin and effectively placed under house arrest. The teaching the theory of evolution was banned in Tennessee and five other US states. Germany saw the election of Hindenburg as President but the country continued to be denied rights to maintain an army and air force by the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, but had covertly maintained pilot training and closely followed developments in military aviation technology and tactics. This was partly achieved through the development of civil aviation with the establishment of Lufthansa. Air clubs and flying schools further assisted under the guise of sports aviation.
In sport, England's most prolific batsman, Jack Hobbs, scored his record 2,000th test run at the age of 42, and Sheffield United won the FA Cup. By the end of the year, Margaret Thatcher, Peter Sellers, Robert F. Kennedy, Paul Newman, Rod Steiger and Blues legend BB King had all been born, and the first-ever television transmitter had been created in England.
In sport, England's most prolific batsman, Jack Hobbs, scored his record 2,000th test run at the age of 42, and Sheffield United won the FA Cup. By the end of the year, Margaret Thatcher, Peter Sellers, Robert F. Kennedy, Paul Newman, Rod Steiger and Blues legend BB King had all been born, and the first-ever television transmitter had been created in England.
Flying accidents at Northolt:
22 May:
A Sopwith Snipe (E6794) of No. 32 Squadron, Kenley stalled and crashed in RAF Northolt at 9.10pm killing Flying Officer Arthur R. Woodyatt (21). The aeroplane was on its way to Wembley to take part in the spectacle of London defended at the Stadium. Its place in the squadron was taken by a spare machine which was in reserve, and none of the officers in the other machines knew of the fatality till they returned to the aerodrome.
June 16:
Twenty Two year old Flying Officer Anthony Clifford Addams was killed flying a Siskin aircraft. "A fatal error of judgement" commented the West Middlesex Coroner at the Northolt Aerodrome inquest and a verdict of Accidental death was recorded. Adams was the 38th RAF pilot killed in aircraft accidents with 137 by the end of year. Flying remained an incredibly dangerous occupation. The following year, the No. 41 Squadron Inter-Flight Adams Cup Competition was inaugurated in his honour.
(see following for further information on RAF fatalities in 1926: http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17306-RAF-fatalities-1926 )
No 41 Squadron was now fully re-equipped with Siskins and a third flight added in July.
Spackman, then a thirty year old appears in a services report on R.A.F. Boxing, December 3 at Henlow. Fighting in the Light Heavyweight division, he lost to a P.O.Thorn in the third round when the referee stopped the match.
22 May:
A Sopwith Snipe (E6794) of No. 32 Squadron, Kenley stalled and crashed in RAF Northolt at 9.10pm killing Flying Officer Arthur R. Woodyatt (21). The aeroplane was on its way to Wembley to take part in the spectacle of London defended at the Stadium. Its place in the squadron was taken by a spare machine which was in reserve, and none of the officers in the other machines knew of the fatality till they returned to the aerodrome.
June 16:
Twenty Two year old Flying Officer Anthony Clifford Addams was killed flying a Siskin aircraft. "A fatal error of judgement" commented the West Middlesex Coroner at the Northolt Aerodrome inquest and a verdict of Accidental death was recorded. Adams was the 38th RAF pilot killed in aircraft accidents with 137 by the end of year. Flying remained an incredibly dangerous occupation. The following year, the No. 41 Squadron Inter-Flight Adams Cup Competition was inaugurated in his honour.
(see following for further information on RAF fatalities in 1926: http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17306-RAF-fatalities-1926 )
No 41 Squadron was now fully re-equipped with Siskins and a third flight added in July.
Spackman, then a thirty year old appears in a services report on R.A.F. Boxing, December 3 at Henlow. Fighting in the Light Heavyweight division, he lost to a P.O.Thorn in the third round when the referee stopped the match.
Air Marshal Sir John Salmond made a pre-meditated jump from 2,000 ft over Northolt in July 1926 to demonstrate and test the new Irwin parachute which was being issued as standard equipment to all Flying Officers and trainees. That's certainly one way of showing faith in a product.
Another flying accident occured on January 28th when World War Ace, Flight Lieutenant William Geoffrey Meggitt MC, a pilot with 41 Squadron was killed when his Siskin III (J7171) crashed into a garden at Beatrice Avenue, Norbury, London.
April 26:
April 26:
|
|
|
"A DRESS REHEARSAL: Our picture shows a formation of Siskins from No. 41 Squadron, led by Squadron Leader F. Sowrey, practising, at Hendon, the "Musical Flight," which will form one of the features of the Royal Air Force Display on July 2. The band plays popular airs, which are transmitted by wireless to the pilots up above, who execute various evolutions to the music."
On May 29, Edith Blanche Spackman (nee Slater) died aged 65 at Nempnett, Chew Stoke near Bristol. Resident at time with her husband, Rev. George Spackman at 19 Florence Park, Redland, Bristol. Spackman's mother is buried at Saltford Churchyard, Somerset. (Plot NE20) in the same churchyard as her parents, John (1809-1899) and Charlotte (1818-1904).
Probate was granted on 22 July 1927 to Matthew Henry Laxton solicitor of Orchard Street, Bristol, the Reverend George Spackman and Charles Basil Slater Spackman listed as a flight lieutenant at RAF Northolt. Net estate was £2222 8s. 4d.
Probate was granted on 22 July 1927 to Matthew Henry Laxton solicitor of Orchard Street, Bristol, the Reverend George Spackman and Charles Basil Slater Spackman listed as a flight lieutenant at RAF Northolt. Net estate was £2222 8s. 4d.
On September 1, Spackman was transferred to Administration Staff, HQ RAF Halton, Buckinghamshire where he was to remain for almost a year. His role and duties there have yet to be determined as at the time, RAF Halton had just two functions - the No. 1 School of Technical Training for aircraft mechanics and the newly opened purpose-built military hospital, the Princess Mary RAF Hospital. This hospital primarily operated as an institute for pathology and tropical medicine, developing a cure for Sandfly fever and later the first in the world to use penicillin on a large scale in 1940, just after its discovery. A small grass airfield was in use at the time but with little to no aircraft activity recorded.
After a year of 'flying a desk', Spackman was appointed Flight Commander of No 8 Squadron, Aden Protectorate, Arabia.
This posting was from August 17, 1928 to January 1930.
The Aden Protectorate (Arabic: محمية عدن Maḥmiyyat ‘Adan) was a British protectorate, a commercial and strategic port city in southern Arabia which evolved in the hinterland of the port of Aden and in the Hadramaut following the conquest of the area in 1839.
Aden was the gateway to India – the jewel in the British Empire crown. As Gibraltar guarded the entrance to the Mediterranean, so Aden guarded the entrance to the Red Sea, and – most important – the Suez Canal. In these days before efficient air transport the shipping routes between England and the Sub-continent of India were vital and Aden was the major port between the two.
Roughly equidistant from the Suez Canal, Mumbai, and Zanzibar, it was a refuelling and trans-shipment stop for shipping entering or exiting Suez and bound for India & Australia.
In 1850, Aden was declared a free trade port with liquor, salt, arms, and opium trades all passing through the city and it became a military and naval garrison governed as part of British India. Prior to the First World War, the other colonial power in the region was The Ottoman Empire and with Turkey’s withdrawal from the area following defeat in 1918, the territory to the north-west became an independent state, The Yemen. It's neighbours were 'The Empty Quarter' Rub' al Khali desert (now part of Saudi Arabia) to the north and Oman to the east.
This posting was from August 17, 1928 to January 1930.
The Aden Protectorate (Arabic: محمية عدن Maḥmiyyat ‘Adan) was a British protectorate, a commercial and strategic port city in southern Arabia which evolved in the hinterland of the port of Aden and in the Hadramaut following the conquest of the area in 1839.
Aden was the gateway to India – the jewel in the British Empire crown. As Gibraltar guarded the entrance to the Mediterranean, so Aden guarded the entrance to the Red Sea, and – most important – the Suez Canal. In these days before efficient air transport the shipping routes between England and the Sub-continent of India were vital and Aden was the major port between the two.
Roughly equidistant from the Suez Canal, Mumbai, and Zanzibar, it was a refuelling and trans-shipment stop for shipping entering or exiting Suez and bound for India & Australia.
In 1850, Aden was declared a free trade port with liquor, salt, arms, and opium trades all passing through the city and it became a military and naval garrison governed as part of British India. Prior to the First World War, the other colonial power in the region was The Ottoman Empire and with Turkey’s withdrawal from the area following defeat in 1918, the territory to the north-west became an independent state, The Yemen. It's neighbours were 'The Empty Quarter' Rub' al Khali desert (now part of Saudi Arabia) to the north and Oman to the east.
To the south, the port city of Aden and 9,000 square miles of sparsely populated and unforgiving terrain remained under British control. A small armed force, naval vessels and a number of aircraft were maintained as a deterrent defence force against any incursion from the Yemen or by sea.
Aden by 1920 was described as "the chief emporium of Arabian trade, receiving the small quantities of native produce, and supplying the modest wants of the interior and of most of the smaller Arabian ports." noted as a salt and coffee exporter along with frankincense, wheat, barley, alfalfa, millet and potash.
Since 1919, Yemen's leader Imam Yahya, who claimed sovereignty over the entire area, had refused to recognise the boundary between Yemen and the Protectorate delimited by an Anglo-Turkish Commission and his forces had steadily encroached on territory claimed by the British. In the Dhala area, Yemeni encroachment had reached a depth of 30 miles, bringing the nearest post to within 50 miles of Aden. Without massive military reinforcements, the British in Aden were powerless to repel this intrusion.
In 1928, the task of defending Aden passed from the British War Office to the Air Ministry and as the bulk of the British ground forces were withdrawn, the Royal Air Force presence increased from a single flight to a full squadron of twelve aircraft, No. 8 Squadron.
Aden by 1920 was described as "the chief emporium of Arabian trade, receiving the small quantities of native produce, and supplying the modest wants of the interior and of most of the smaller Arabian ports." noted as a salt and coffee exporter along with frankincense, wheat, barley, alfalfa, millet and potash.
Since 1919, Yemen's leader Imam Yahya, who claimed sovereignty over the entire area, had refused to recognise the boundary between Yemen and the Protectorate delimited by an Anglo-Turkish Commission and his forces had steadily encroached on territory claimed by the British. In the Dhala area, Yemeni encroachment had reached a depth of 30 miles, bringing the nearest post to within 50 miles of Aden. Without massive military reinforcements, the British in Aden were powerless to repel this intrusion.
In 1928, the task of defending Aden passed from the British War Office to the Air Ministry and as the bulk of the British ground forces were withdrawn, the Royal Air Force presence increased from a single flight to a full squadron of twelve aircraft, No. 8 Squadron.
No. 8 Squadron formed in 1915, seeing action in France and with the army of occupation of Germany and disbanding in early 1920. The Squadron was reformed at Helwan, near Cairo, as a day-bomber squadron equipped with the Airco DH.9A in October 1920. It moved to Basra, Iraq in the Air Policing role in February 1921.The squadron was later deployed to Kirkuk in July 1922, where it operated against a Kurdish rebellion and Turkish infiltration, and helping to evacuate forces allied to the British from the city of Sulaymaniyah in September 1922. In November–December 1923 the squadron was deployed in air policing operations against Marsh Arabs in the Tigris-Eurphrates marshes.
In February 1928, in response to tribal unrest in Aden, 8 Squadron was deployed to RAF Khormaksar in Aden, where it continued in the air policing role for the remainder of the inter-war years. Known as 'Aden's Own Squadron' The squadron replaced its elderly DH.9As with new Fairey IIIF light bombers from January 1928.
No.8 was to operate in conjunction with locally raised Levies (the Aden Protectorate Levies - APL) to provide the ground element for internal security operations. It was not long before it became clear that air operations in the interior of the Aden Protectorate needed armoured car support as well and this was provided by a detachment from the armoured car wing in Iraq, which became known as “D” flight of the resident flying squadron in Aden.
Below: DH9A, Fairey IIIf and Crossley armoured car. Click images for more information.
In February 1928, in response to tribal unrest in Aden, 8 Squadron was deployed to RAF Khormaksar in Aden, where it continued in the air policing role for the remainder of the inter-war years. Known as 'Aden's Own Squadron' The squadron replaced its elderly DH.9As with new Fairey IIIF light bombers from January 1928.
No.8 was to operate in conjunction with locally raised Levies (the Aden Protectorate Levies - APL) to provide the ground element for internal security operations. It was not long before it became clear that air operations in the interior of the Aden Protectorate needed armoured car support as well and this was provided by a detachment from the armoured car wing in Iraq, which became known as “D” flight of the resident flying squadron in Aden.
Below: DH9A, Fairey IIIf and Crossley armoured car. Click images for more information.
In late February 1928, the commander of the Yemeni garrison in Qa’taba abducted two sheikhs from the Protectorate. The British retaliated by bombing Yemeni border garrisons until, in March, the two captives were released. A temporary truce with the Imam followed, and Major (later Sir Trenchard) Fowle, the Assistant British Resident, accompanied by Sultan Abdul Karim Fadhl of Lahej, travelled overland to Taiz to discuss a possible basis for a political settlement.
The Imam asked for the truce to be extended until the middle of July, to which the British agreed on condition that the Imam’s forces evacuated Dhala by 20 June. The deadline passed, and warning leaflets dropped by the RAF over Yemeni towns went unheeded. Bombing of the border garrisons was resumed, and later extended to include military targets in Taiz, Dhamar, Ibb and Yarim. This activity spurred Qutaibi tribesmen to attack and expel the Yemeni post at Sulaik, south of Dhala. Their success raised morale within the Protectorate where previously panic had set in due to rumours of an imminent Yemeni advance. The military strategy of combined forces of heavily armed aircraft, friendly tribes and limited ground troops co-ordinated by a single officer was successful and resulted in few casualties.
Spackman took up his new command on August 17. Just a few days before, a fatal crash occurred as a Fairey IIIF on approach to Aden was hit by a sudden sandstorm.
The effect of air power was such that by late August 1928, the religious ruler of Yemen prohibited his forces from any further incursions south of the border. While there was an occasional ‘hit and run’ raid from these forces, there was no further organised attacks on Aden by Yemen.
The maintenance of internal security in Aden was far more complex. The tribal affiliations in the area were divided along religious & family connections and were ever changing. The prevailing view among the British colonial authorities was that acts of dissidence could not be ignored by the authorities as further unrest would only ensue. Air action was initiated frequently by the civil authorities for minor infractions. The RAF responded with 'fairly routine but effective procedures for applying air control'.
Official records show that when the RAF flew, it was primarily for reconnaissance, mapping, communications, casualty evacuation, mail carrying or training purposes. Very few missions flown involved the release of weapons. Frequently just the presence of a number of aircraft over a village or town and dropping of warning leaflets was enough to control a situation. On average, just one operation per year involving the release of weapons took place. When offensive missions did take place, these were subject to rigorous constraints and then usually limited to livestock, crops and vacant property after warnings had been issued.
Where an offense such as a crime, raid or disturbance takes place, the authorities investigated and made a decision of guilt is and a fine levied (in money or rifles). If the fine was not paid, the RAF targeted and photographed the transgressors property. The guilty party was then given 24 hours notice to evacuate the area. If payment was made in this time, then the operation was cancelled. If no response was made, another notice was given by air just one hour prior to operations. If there was no response, then within the hour, a number of RAF aircraft would overfly and bomb the property, usually ending it's destruction.
Given the comparatively short range of aircraft of that time, landing grounds at regular intervals were a necessity, particularly along the coast on the route developed to link Aden with Iraq. From 1928, the RAF began building and extending air strips in remote regions which allowed political officers to visit tribes and settlements in the interior, some of which had not been visited in a generation.
The Imam asked for the truce to be extended until the middle of July, to which the British agreed on condition that the Imam’s forces evacuated Dhala by 20 June. The deadline passed, and warning leaflets dropped by the RAF over Yemeni towns went unheeded. Bombing of the border garrisons was resumed, and later extended to include military targets in Taiz, Dhamar, Ibb and Yarim. This activity spurred Qutaibi tribesmen to attack and expel the Yemeni post at Sulaik, south of Dhala. Their success raised morale within the Protectorate where previously panic had set in due to rumours of an imminent Yemeni advance. The military strategy of combined forces of heavily armed aircraft, friendly tribes and limited ground troops co-ordinated by a single officer was successful and resulted in few casualties.
Spackman took up his new command on August 17. Just a few days before, a fatal crash occurred as a Fairey IIIF on approach to Aden was hit by a sudden sandstorm.
The effect of air power was such that by late August 1928, the religious ruler of Yemen prohibited his forces from any further incursions south of the border. While there was an occasional ‘hit and run’ raid from these forces, there was no further organised attacks on Aden by Yemen.
The maintenance of internal security in Aden was far more complex. The tribal affiliations in the area were divided along religious & family connections and were ever changing. The prevailing view among the British colonial authorities was that acts of dissidence could not be ignored by the authorities as further unrest would only ensue. Air action was initiated frequently by the civil authorities for minor infractions. The RAF responded with 'fairly routine but effective procedures for applying air control'.
Official records show that when the RAF flew, it was primarily for reconnaissance, mapping, communications, casualty evacuation, mail carrying or training purposes. Very few missions flown involved the release of weapons. Frequently just the presence of a number of aircraft over a village or town and dropping of warning leaflets was enough to control a situation. On average, just one operation per year involving the release of weapons took place. When offensive missions did take place, these were subject to rigorous constraints and then usually limited to livestock, crops and vacant property after warnings had been issued.
Where an offense such as a crime, raid or disturbance takes place, the authorities investigated and made a decision of guilt is and a fine levied (in money or rifles). If the fine was not paid, the RAF targeted and photographed the transgressors property. The guilty party was then given 24 hours notice to evacuate the area. If payment was made in this time, then the operation was cancelled. If no response was made, another notice was given by air just one hour prior to operations. If there was no response, then within the hour, a number of RAF aircraft would overfly and bomb the property, usually ending it's destruction.
Given the comparatively short range of aircraft of that time, landing grounds at regular intervals were a necessity, particularly along the coast on the route developed to link Aden with Iraq. From 1928, the RAF began building and extending air strips in remote regions which allowed political officers to visit tribes and settlements in the interior, some of which had not been visited in a generation.
In 1929, one of the Aden Protectorate tribes, the Subehis began carrying out raids on neighbouring tribes and threatening the trade routes that crossed into Yemen. The British administration was forced into action with a refusal by the Subehis to pay taxes along with murder, theft of livestock and two police camels.
Aden's High Commissioner sanctioned the use of force again to punish the tribe for their offences. "...one month of (air) punishment...should made them ready to accept the British terms..."
Operations against the Subaihi commenced in January and involved destroying crops with incendiary bombs and bombing villages after giving warning so they could be evacuated. Aircraft targeted the tribe both day and night in harrassment operations. This pressure eventually eventually forced the Subaihi to sue for peace, with the rebel chiefs paying fines.
The occasional ‘hit and run’ raids from The Yemen into Aden continued. One such raid into Aden territory in 1933 led to an ultimatum issued to the neighbouring state. Talks followed and in 1934, an Anglo Yemeni Treaty of Friendship was agreed. This allowed the use of trade routes by Yemeni merchants to the port of Aden but trouble quickly flared when these rich traders were attacked by Protectorate tribes. The RAF was now sent in to deal with these home grown raiders in the same way as the earlier Yemeni incursions were dealt with. In 1937, the Settlement was detached from government with India and became the Colony of Aden, a British Crown colony. Gradually, the Arabic tribal and cultural system shifted during the late 1930’s and 40’s. With growing Arab nationalism, anti-colonialism and radicalisation in the 1960’s all control of the territory was lost and led to a British withdrawal from the region in 1967.
In the Imperial War Museum, London are photographs taken by Spackman during his service in Aden (catalogue number PC 1177) These show wreckage of aircraft crashed during training flights in Egypt; Fairey IIIF aircraft of No.8 Squadron and aerial photographs taken over Aden in 1928-1929: Al Hajar, Ash Shabr, Beidha, Bir Ali, De Sura, Dar am Farsha, Dhali Fort, El Jaud, Hauta, Izan, Mukalla, Reyshan, Shiban, Tarim, Urkub Kotaibi, Zakho, the RAF Compund at Khormaksar and the SS HERMES aground (July 1929).
Aden's High Commissioner sanctioned the use of force again to punish the tribe for their offences. "...one month of (air) punishment...should made them ready to accept the British terms..."
Operations against the Subaihi commenced in January and involved destroying crops with incendiary bombs and bombing villages after giving warning so they could be evacuated. Aircraft targeted the tribe both day and night in harrassment operations. This pressure eventually eventually forced the Subaihi to sue for peace, with the rebel chiefs paying fines.
The occasional ‘hit and run’ raids from The Yemen into Aden continued. One such raid into Aden territory in 1933 led to an ultimatum issued to the neighbouring state. Talks followed and in 1934, an Anglo Yemeni Treaty of Friendship was agreed. This allowed the use of trade routes by Yemeni merchants to the port of Aden but trouble quickly flared when these rich traders were attacked by Protectorate tribes. The RAF was now sent in to deal with these home grown raiders in the same way as the earlier Yemeni incursions were dealt with. In 1937, the Settlement was detached from government with India and became the Colony of Aden, a British Crown colony. Gradually, the Arabic tribal and cultural system shifted during the late 1930’s and 40’s. With growing Arab nationalism, anti-colonialism and radicalisation in the 1960’s all control of the territory was lost and led to a British withdrawal from the region in 1967.
In the Imperial War Museum, London are photographs taken by Spackman during his service in Aden (catalogue number PC 1177) These show wreckage of aircraft crashed during training flights in Egypt; Fairey IIIF aircraft of No.8 Squadron and aerial photographs taken over Aden in 1928-1929: Al Hajar, Ash Shabr, Beidha, Bir Ali, De Sura, Dar am Farsha, Dhali Fort, El Jaud, Hauta, Izan, Mukalla, Reyshan, Shiban, Tarim, Urkub Kotaibi, Zakho, the RAF Compund at Khormaksar and the SS HERMES aground (July 1929).
|
|
|
The programme for the tenth RAF Hendon air display on Saturday, July 13 1929 gives an insight into the training and tactics of that time. Apart from pure flying & the latest aircraft displays, the usual set-piece demonstrations included “Army cooperation aircraft swooping down low and collecting messages strung between two up-ended rifles”, “artillery observation from the air of guns registering on an unseen target”, “the convergent bombing of an encampment” and the “thrilling fights between single-seaters and fast day bombers”. It showed little technological or strategic progress and highlighted the perceived importance of keeping the peace in the post-war empire, with of course some bells and whistles thrown in to produce a visual spectacle for the British public.
Spackman was transferred from Aden to Britain - based at the RAF Depot, Uxbridge (08 Jan - 10 May 1930).
His position while there remains unknown.
RAF Uxbridge was formerly a Canadian Convalescent Hospital in 1915, joined by the Royal Flying Corps Armament School and in April 1918 became a RAF station. The Recruits Training Depot and a detachment of the RAF Depot from RAF Halton arrived in August 1919, merging to form No. 1 Depot, RAF Uxbridge. The station itself was then designated RAF Central Depot, Uxbridge. The site was then split to form two new RAF stations, RAF Hillingdon and RAF Uxbridge. T. E. Lawrence, better known as "Lawrence of Arabia", underwent initial training at the Uxbridge Depot in 1922 after enlisting in the RAF under the assumed name John Hume-Ross. He recounted his experiences in The Mint. The Air Ministry chose RAF Uxbridge as the new base for Air Defence of Great Britain in January 1926 owing to its proximity to Whitehall. The site had the added advantage of lying on the fringes of London and therefore difficult for an enemy to locate and bomb. The base became more famous during the Battle of Britain in 1940 with the Group Operations Room which allocated fighter resources.
Spackman was appointed Flight Lieutenant, No. 111 Squadron. (11 May 1930 - 26 July 1931 )
No. 111 (Fighter) Squadron was formed in 1917 in the Middle East as No. 111 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps during the reorganisation of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force after General Edmund Allenby took command during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The squadron remained in the Middle East after the end of the First World War until 1920 when it was renumbered as No. 14 Squadron. The squadron was reformed in 1923 at RAF Duxford, equipped with a single flight of six Gloster Grebe fighters, the first Grebes to enter service with the RAF. These were supplemented by a second flight of First World War-vintage Sopwith Snipes in April 1924, and by a third flight of Armstrong Whitworth Siskins in June 1924, completely equipping itself with Siskins in January 1925. The squadron, tasked with defending London, replaced its Siskins with Bristol Bulldogs in January–February 1931.
No. 111 (Fighter) Squadron was formed in 1917 in the Middle East as No. 111 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps during the reorganisation of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force after General Edmund Allenby took command during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The squadron remained in the Middle East after the end of the First World War until 1920 when it was renumbered as No. 14 Squadron. The squadron was reformed in 1923 at RAF Duxford, equipped with a single flight of six Gloster Grebe fighters, the first Grebes to enter service with the RAF. These were supplemented by a second flight of First World War-vintage Sopwith Snipes in April 1924, and by a third flight of Armstrong Whitworth Siskins in June 1924, completely equipping itself with Siskins in January 1925. The squadron, tasked with defending London, replaced its Siskins with Bristol Bulldogs in January–February 1931.
While a Flight Lieutenant in No. 111 Squadron, Spackman oversaw the introduction and pilot training of the Bristol Bulldog aircraft during January-February 1931.
In June, Spackman was promoted to Commanding Officer & Squadron Leader, No. 1 Squadron.
In June, Spackman was promoted to Commanding Officer & Squadron Leader, No. 1 Squadron.
No. 1 Squadron's origins go back to 1878 when its predecessor, No. 1 Balloon Company, was formed at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich as part of the Balloon Section. The Squadron saw action during the First World War with Nieuport 17s and 24s at Bailleul & S.E.5s from early 1918. No. 1 Squadron had among its ranks no fewer than 31 flying aces by war's end. The squadron returned to the UK from France in March 1919, being formally disbanded on 20 January 1920. The next day it reformed at Risalpur in the North West Frontier of India (now part of Pakistan), flying the Sopwith Snipe and from January 1920. It moved to Hinaidi near Baghdad in Iraq in May 1921, to carry out policing duties, retaining its Snipe. It remained in Iraq, carrying out strafing and bombing against hostile tribal forces until November 1926 when it was disbanded. In early 1927 it was reformed at RAF Tangmere, Sussex as a Home Defence Fighter Squadron, equipped with the Armstrong Whitworth Siskin.
RAF Tangmere which was in Tangmere, 3 miles (5 km) east of Chichester, West Sussex, England, was a Royal Air Force station famous for its role in the Battle of Britain. Famous Second World War ace wing commander Douglas Bader was based here in 1941. The station closed in 1970.
RAF Tangmere which was in Tangmere, 3 miles (5 km) east of Chichester, West Sussex, England, was a Royal Air Force station famous for its role in the Battle of Britain. Famous Second World War ace wing commander Douglas Bader was based here in 1941. The station closed in 1970.
In March 1932 the British Cabinet accepted the increasingly obvious political and military signals from abroad and yielded to demands from the Chiefs of Staff for improvements in the capabilities of all three Services. By the end of 1932 the Air Ministry was well advanced in planning aircraft deployments at home and overseas and the problem of defending RAF installations and aircraft on the ground appeared on the Air Staff agenda.
Feb 10, 1932 - the first Hawker Fury (K2048) was assigned to Spackman. K2048 remained with the squadron for a number of years before moving to No. 25 Squadron until scrapped in December 1937. This was a revolutionary fighter for the time - the first 200 mph aircraft (50 mph more than it's predecessor, the Siskin). Classed as an interceptor-fighter, it had an exceptional rate of climb for the era (20,000 ft in nine minutes) which meant it theoretically could remain on the ground until any enemy bombers were sighted and still intercept them before reaching the target of London. It had better vision and 'beautifully balanced controls'
|
|
March 8: Spackman is noted as attending the Royal Levee (Reception) with other RAF Officers at St. James's Palace.
July: The RAF Annual Air Exercises or to give it the full title: "Air Defence Exercises of the Air Defence of Great Britain Command of the Royal Air Force" was a feature of the interwar years RAF training routine. Lasting anything from four to fourteen days, the participating RAF squadrons were placed in either the attacking or defending sides and given fanciful names such as Southland and Northland or Redland or Blueland. A boundary line would be set such as Liverpool-Reading-Croydon and targets to be attacked were agreed in advance. Largely the exercise was unrealistic - for example the use of cloud for tactical purposes was forbidden, not more than one fighter was permitted to attack a bomber at any one time and then when attacked, the bomber was not to take evasive action. A distance of 100 yards between opponents was the closest allowed and naturally no ammunition or bombs to be carried. The final stipulation was that pilots were forbidden to go beyond gliding distance of the coast. However, these exercises did highlight fundamental issues.
The 1931 exercises highlighted the failure of interceptor fighter aircraft to successfully engage the bombers primarily as they were simply unable to locate them and when they did, had inadequate speed. The bombers also had difficulty in finding and hitting their targets. Aircraft improvements were made in addition to two way radio.
The 1932 exercises ran from 18:00 Monday, July 18 to 03:00 on Friday, July 22 and with no foreign attaches, representatives of other services and no press. Spackman was the commanding officer of No. 1 Squadron (flying out of Northolt), one of twelve other squadrons of the Northland Air Force.
July: The RAF Annual Air Exercises or to give it the full title: "Air Defence Exercises of the Air Defence of Great Britain Command of the Royal Air Force" was a feature of the interwar years RAF training routine. Lasting anything from four to fourteen days, the participating RAF squadrons were placed in either the attacking or defending sides and given fanciful names such as Southland and Northland or Redland or Blueland. A boundary line would be set such as Liverpool-Reading-Croydon and targets to be attacked were agreed in advance. Largely the exercise was unrealistic - for example the use of cloud for tactical purposes was forbidden, not more than one fighter was permitted to attack a bomber at any one time and then when attacked, the bomber was not to take evasive action. A distance of 100 yards between opponents was the closest allowed and naturally no ammunition or bombs to be carried. The final stipulation was that pilots were forbidden to go beyond gliding distance of the coast. However, these exercises did highlight fundamental issues.
The 1931 exercises highlighted the failure of interceptor fighter aircraft to successfully engage the bombers primarily as they were simply unable to locate them and when they did, had inadequate speed. The bombers also had difficulty in finding and hitting their targets. Aircraft improvements were made in addition to two way radio.
The 1932 exercises ran from 18:00 Monday, July 18 to 03:00 on Friday, July 22 and with no foreign attaches, representatives of other services and no press. Spackman was the commanding officer of No. 1 Squadron (flying out of Northolt), one of twelve other squadrons of the Northland Air Force.
|
|
July
It was Northland and Southland again in the 1933 Air Defence of Great Britain Exercises (17-21 July). Southland's base was in theory located 'just across the English Channel', while Northland's base was one thousand square miles around London. Northland was a developed nation dependant on exports and Southland had attempted to embargo it's neighbour. Northland's air force was twelve fighter squadrons and an extensive ground control system but no anti-aircraft guns. Spackman was again part of the air force defending Northland flying out of Upavon.
For the first time in the exercises history, the targets were military and industrial. Multiple 'raids' were carried out by day and night bombers with interception rates measured. 66% of day raids and 75% of night raids were succesfully intercepted. The conclusion was that an enemy bomber attack could not be stopped from reaching their targets. Little had changed in fighter aircraft performance during the 1920s aside from some increases in speed. There was still just the Vickers and Lewis guns for armament, open cockpits and outmoded tactics. As the 1930's progressed, major changes in aircraft and combat strategy would be necessary.
It was Northland and Southland again in the 1933 Air Defence of Great Britain Exercises (17-21 July). Southland's base was in theory located 'just across the English Channel', while Northland's base was one thousand square miles around London. Northland was a developed nation dependant on exports and Southland had attempted to embargo it's neighbour. Northland's air force was twelve fighter squadrons and an extensive ground control system but no anti-aircraft guns. Spackman was again part of the air force defending Northland flying out of Upavon.
For the first time in the exercises history, the targets were military and industrial. Multiple 'raids' were carried out by day and night bombers with interception rates measured. 66% of day raids and 75% of night raids were succesfully intercepted. The conclusion was that an enemy bomber attack could not be stopped from reaching their targets. Little had changed in fighter aircraft performance during the 1920s aside from some increases in speed. There was still just the Vickers and Lewis guns for armament, open cockpits and outmoded tactics. As the 1930's progressed, major changes in aircraft and combat strategy would be necessary.
September
Flight Magazine featured No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron in the September 7, 1933 edition:
Flight Magazine featured No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron in the September 7, 1933 edition:
In many photographs of the inter-war period, particularly at air-displays, RAF flying teams are seen dashingly dressed in a white overall. These were issued to RAF pilots for air-displays and were used as a ‘mark of status’ up to late 1940 for all of those who had flown in those formative days. These suits were introduced in the early 1930s and were generally made to keep the wearer warm, protect their uniforms, practical with plenty of pockets for maps, pencils etc and durable as all were coated with a fire retardant.
As for the pilots and ground crew pictured in 1933? Here's what has been discovered so far (left to right):
As for the pilots and ground crew pictured in 1933? Here's what has been discovered so far (left to right):
Group Captain Thomas Percy (Tom) Gleave CBE (1908–1993) was a British fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain. He was shot down in his Hurricane during the summer of 1940 and badly burned. He was one of the first patients treated by Sir Archibald McIndoe, the pioneering plastic surgeon at the Queen Victoria Hospital.
G.J.S Chatterton
H. Pilling
Flight magazine - September 7, 1933 issue below. Click to download each page file.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December
Squadron Leader Spackman was posted to No. 23 Group H.Q. Inland Area, Stanmore from 1st December for Personnel Staff duties. This Group controlled all UK flight and ground training units. Research is ongoing for this posting.
Spackman was presented on his transfer to No. 23 Group with a gift from his fellow No.1 Squadron Officers - a silver model of his Hawker Fury aircraft which survives today.
(with thanks to Brendan Barry for information and photographs)
Squadron Leader Spackman remained at No. 23 Group H.Q. Inland Area, Stanmore during 1934 for Personnel Staff duties. This Group controlled all UK flight and ground training units. Coinciding with a massive boost in RAF squadron and aircraft numbers, this was a concerted effort to bring the air service up to strength with Britain's European neighbours. The aim was to have around 1,310 operational aircraft by 1938. Around this time, France had 1,650 aircraft, Italy some 1,500 and Russia 1,550.
|
|
Spackman was on the move again during February, taking up a posting in R.A.F. Headquarters Middle East based in the Villa Victoria, Cairo from March 2 as a Squadron Leader and member of the Air Staff. There he was noted as completing examinations in colloquial Arabic.
The British had based forces in Egypt since 1882 and interest in the security of the Suez Canal remained after the 1914-18 war and increased with the growth of aviation and the discovery of oil in Iraq. It was of critical strategic Imperial advantage that Egypt and the Middle East was stable, peaceful and pro-British.
The RAF presence in the Middle East from the time of the First World War was similar to that of the Middle East Command of the British Army, with operational responsibility for Egypt, the Sudan and Kenya, and administrative responsibility for Palestine and Transjordan. Separate RAF Commands held operational responsibility for Iraq and Aden while RAF Mediterranean held responsibility for Malta. However, interwar planning held that in times of war, Middle East Command would assume control over all of these commands.
A small Royal Flying Corps presence was deployed to the Middle East in late 1914. By 1 July 1916 this force had grown sufficiently to be raised to a brigade as Middle East Brigade. By December 1917 Middle East Brigade had grown to become HQ RFC Middle East which was renamed to RAF Middle East in April 1918. It renamed again to RAF Middle East Area in March 1920, then back to RAF Middle East in April 1922, and finally became RAF Middle East Command on 29 December 1941.
The Middle East command was increasingly important as it became the main training ground and deployment area for the RAF with standing orders of the continued maintenance of internal peace in the areas of British interest.
However by 1935, the political situation in the Middle East was changing rapidly. The Italian North African colonies of Tripoli and Cyrenaica had joined together as Libya in January. In February, the Italo-Abyssian Crisis began as Italian forces built up in the Italian colonies of Eritrea and Italian Somaliland, as Mussolini threatened an invasion of Abyssinia. Protests & economic sanctions proposed by The League of Nations resulted in Italy leaving the League and in October, Italy invaded Ethiopia and within six months occupied the state. Negotiations for Egyptian independence from Britain were also underway when Italy invaded and King Farouk feared that the Italians may also invade Egypt or drag it into the fighting. Then there was the question of Sudan, which, under the terms of the existing Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Agreement of 1899, stated that Sudan should be jointly governed by Egypt and Britain, but with real power remaining in British hands.
In Germany, Hitler orders the reinstatement of the Luftwaffe in violation of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in February. In March announces German re-armament and April, re-introduces conscription. By September, the Nuremberg Laws were enacted removing citizenship from German Jews and forbidding marriage and relationships between Germans and Jews.
The Italian Air Force was now powerful enough to force RAF units to strategically relocate from Malta to Alexandria in Egypt. From there, fighter & ground experience in operating from advanced desert headquarters at various locations in the Egyptian desert would prove invaluable within a few years. However the perennial problem remained the heat, sand and dust. This had a detrimental effect on engines, aircraft, guns and bomb gear as well as with supplies of food, fuel, water and general living conditions.
The British had based forces in Egypt since 1882 and interest in the security of the Suez Canal remained after the 1914-18 war and increased with the growth of aviation and the discovery of oil in Iraq. It was of critical strategic Imperial advantage that Egypt and the Middle East was stable, peaceful and pro-British.
The RAF presence in the Middle East from the time of the First World War was similar to that of the Middle East Command of the British Army, with operational responsibility for Egypt, the Sudan and Kenya, and administrative responsibility for Palestine and Transjordan. Separate RAF Commands held operational responsibility for Iraq and Aden while RAF Mediterranean held responsibility for Malta. However, interwar planning held that in times of war, Middle East Command would assume control over all of these commands.
A small Royal Flying Corps presence was deployed to the Middle East in late 1914. By 1 July 1916 this force had grown sufficiently to be raised to a brigade as Middle East Brigade. By December 1917 Middle East Brigade had grown to become HQ RFC Middle East which was renamed to RAF Middle East in April 1918. It renamed again to RAF Middle East Area in March 1920, then back to RAF Middle East in April 1922, and finally became RAF Middle East Command on 29 December 1941.
The Middle East command was increasingly important as it became the main training ground and deployment area for the RAF with standing orders of the continued maintenance of internal peace in the areas of British interest.
However by 1935, the political situation in the Middle East was changing rapidly. The Italian North African colonies of Tripoli and Cyrenaica had joined together as Libya in January. In February, the Italo-Abyssian Crisis began as Italian forces built up in the Italian colonies of Eritrea and Italian Somaliland, as Mussolini threatened an invasion of Abyssinia. Protests & economic sanctions proposed by The League of Nations resulted in Italy leaving the League and in October, Italy invaded Ethiopia and within six months occupied the state. Negotiations for Egyptian independence from Britain were also underway when Italy invaded and King Farouk feared that the Italians may also invade Egypt or drag it into the fighting. Then there was the question of Sudan, which, under the terms of the existing Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Agreement of 1899, stated that Sudan should be jointly governed by Egypt and Britain, but with real power remaining in British hands.
In Germany, Hitler orders the reinstatement of the Luftwaffe in violation of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in February. In March announces German re-armament and April, re-introduces conscription. By September, the Nuremberg Laws were enacted removing citizenship from German Jews and forbidding marriage and relationships between Germans and Jews.
The Italian Air Force was now powerful enough to force RAF units to strategically relocate from Malta to Alexandria in Egypt. From there, fighter & ground experience in operating from advanced desert headquarters at various locations in the Egyptian desert would prove invaluable within a few years. However the perennial problem remained the heat, sand and dust. This had a detrimental effect on engines, aircraft, guns and bomb gear as well as with supplies of food, fuel, water and general living conditions.
From 1936, RAF operations in the Middle East began to be impeded by the political changes in London, Europe and the Middle East. In violation of the Treaty of Versailles and Locarno Treaties, Nazi Germany reoccupied the Rhineland in March.
A nationalist uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Palestine against the British administration began in April. Demanding Arab independence and the end of the policy of open-ended Jewish immigration and land purchases with the stated goal of establishing a "Jewish National Home". The revolt continued until 1939.
April 23
Spackman's sister, Mary Constance Irene died aged 43 on April 23, 1936 in Camberwell House, 33 Peckham Road, Surrey.
We know little of Mary's life other than a few snippets of discovered archival information. Her career had been in nursing, serving in France during the war but little else is known until her death. The Grant of Probate lists her as 'a spinster' (unmarried) employed in administration and research shows that Camberwell House in Surrey was from 1846 until 1955, one of the privately operated, metropolitan mental health facilities termed even in the 1940's as a 'Lunatic Asylum'. During the 1870's this institution was the second largest facility in London with over 360 patients but had dramatically reduced both it's resident and staff numbers by 1920.
Patient and staff records of private mental hospitals in both Britain and Ireland have notoriously poor survival rates. As commercial enterprises it appears that they generally kept records no longer than they had to or were legally required to, preferring not to use expensive real estate for the storage of archives. Such records were deemed unimportant and on closure, there was often no successor body to inherit the few records that remained and save them from destruction.
All that remains of the Camberwell House hospital archives today are mere fragments. Only three casebooks for the entire century of providing mental health services remain, one is held by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the other two at the Wellcome Library. These books describe patients admitted between 1847-1863. No other records exist. The building was sold in 1955 and is now part of the Camberwell College of Art.
Nothing is known so far of Mary's last years but future research should provide some results.
The Grant of Probate shows that her net effects were £779.11.3 and were bequeathed to her father, the Rev. George Spackman.
A nationalist uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Palestine against the British administration began in April. Demanding Arab independence and the end of the policy of open-ended Jewish immigration and land purchases with the stated goal of establishing a "Jewish National Home". The revolt continued until 1939.
April 23
Spackman's sister, Mary Constance Irene died aged 43 on April 23, 1936 in Camberwell House, 33 Peckham Road, Surrey.
We know little of Mary's life other than a few snippets of discovered archival information. Her career had been in nursing, serving in France during the war but little else is known until her death. The Grant of Probate lists her as 'a spinster' (unmarried) employed in administration and research shows that Camberwell House in Surrey was from 1846 until 1955, one of the privately operated, metropolitan mental health facilities termed even in the 1940's as a 'Lunatic Asylum'. During the 1870's this institution was the second largest facility in London with over 360 patients but had dramatically reduced both it's resident and staff numbers by 1920.
Patient and staff records of private mental hospitals in both Britain and Ireland have notoriously poor survival rates. As commercial enterprises it appears that they generally kept records no longer than they had to or were legally required to, preferring not to use expensive real estate for the storage of archives. Such records were deemed unimportant and on closure, there was often no successor body to inherit the few records that remained and save them from destruction.
All that remains of the Camberwell House hospital archives today are mere fragments. Only three casebooks for the entire century of providing mental health services remain, one is held by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the other two at the Wellcome Library. These books describe patients admitted between 1847-1863. No other records exist. The building was sold in 1955 and is now part of the Camberwell College of Art.
Nothing is known so far of Mary's last years but future research should provide some results.
The Grant of Probate shows that her net effects were £779.11.3 and were bequeathed to her father, the Rev. George Spackman.
In May, Italian forces occupy Abyssinia and Italian East Africa is formed from the Italian territories of Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Italian Somaliland. London advocated a carefully diplomatic approach in the Middle East, doing nothing in the region that would impair the existing relations with Italy. The Middle East was no longer representing the main area of RAF strength as efforts were being made in Britain to counter the increasing threat from Germany. As a result, preparations for war were limited. A small and inadequately equipped and provisioned British and Commonwealth army, navy and air force were now garrisoned on the Suez Canal and the Red Sea route, vital to British communications with its Indian and Far Eastern territories. Twelve new airfields however were constructed in these years but many military assets returned to Britain.
Churchill continued to praise Mussolini, regarding his regime as a bulwark against the perceived threat of communist revolution, going as far (in 1933) as to call Mussolini the "Roman genius ... the greatest lawgiver among men." However, he stressed that the UK must stick with its tradition of Parliamentary democracy, not adopt fascism.
July saw the start of the Spanish Civl War when the Spanish Army of Africa launches a coup d'état against the Second Spanish Republic.
In Egypt, the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty was eventually signed in August. Under it's terms, the United Kingdom was required to withdraw all its troops from Egypt, except those necessary to protect the Suez Canal and its surroundings which numbered 10,000 plus auxiliary personnel. Additionally, the United Kingdom would supply and train Egypt's army and assist in its defence in case of war. The treaty was to last for 20 years. With rising tension in Europe, while the treaty expressively favoured maintaining the status quo it was not welcomed by Egyptian nationalists like the Arab Socialist Party, who wanted full independence. The Treaty agreement ignited a wave of demonstrations against the British and the Wafd Party, which had supported the treaty.
September 10:
Just months after Mary's death, Spackman's father, the retired Rev. George Spackman (73) died in Peterborough, Northamptonshire as a result of a road traffic accident. He had been residing with his daughter (Monica Hope Spackman) at 20, St.Martin's, Stamford, Linconshire and was accidentally killed by a lorry while crossing the Great North Road, Stamford.
The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer West Yorkshire reported on September 11:
RETIRED VICAR KILLED.
Lorry Accident on Great North Road.
The Rev. George Spackman, a retired clergyman residing at High Street, St. Martin's, Stamford, with his daughter, was killed Instantly when he was knocked down by a lorry and trailer.
The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer of September 12 reported on the inquest:
Vehicle brakes should be tested dally & retired Vicar's Death.
A verdict Accidental death was returned at the Inquest last night on the Rev. George Spackman (73) a retired vicar living at Stamford, who was killed by a lorry while crossing the Great North Road, Stamford, on Thursday.
Probate was granted in October, 1936 and finalised later that year along with Mary Spackman's estate, all went to Spackman's youngest sister, Monica Hope Spackman (then unmarried, aged 34).
Churchill continued to praise Mussolini, regarding his regime as a bulwark against the perceived threat of communist revolution, going as far (in 1933) as to call Mussolini the "Roman genius ... the greatest lawgiver among men." However, he stressed that the UK must stick with its tradition of Parliamentary democracy, not adopt fascism.
July saw the start of the Spanish Civl War when the Spanish Army of Africa launches a coup d'état against the Second Spanish Republic.
In Egypt, the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty was eventually signed in August. Under it's terms, the United Kingdom was required to withdraw all its troops from Egypt, except those necessary to protect the Suez Canal and its surroundings which numbered 10,000 plus auxiliary personnel. Additionally, the United Kingdom would supply and train Egypt's army and assist in its defence in case of war. The treaty was to last for 20 years. With rising tension in Europe, while the treaty expressively favoured maintaining the status quo it was not welcomed by Egyptian nationalists like the Arab Socialist Party, who wanted full independence. The Treaty agreement ignited a wave of demonstrations against the British and the Wafd Party, which had supported the treaty.
September 10:
Just months after Mary's death, Spackman's father, the retired Rev. George Spackman (73) died in Peterborough, Northamptonshire as a result of a road traffic accident. He had been residing with his daughter (Monica Hope Spackman) at 20, St.Martin's, Stamford, Linconshire and was accidentally killed by a lorry while crossing the Great North Road, Stamford.
The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer West Yorkshire reported on September 11:
RETIRED VICAR KILLED.
Lorry Accident on Great North Road.
The Rev. George Spackman, a retired clergyman residing at High Street, St. Martin's, Stamford, with his daughter, was killed Instantly when he was knocked down by a lorry and trailer.
The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer of September 12 reported on the inquest:
Vehicle brakes should be tested dally & retired Vicar's Death.
A verdict Accidental death was returned at the Inquest last night on the Rev. George Spackman (73) a retired vicar living at Stamford, who was killed by a lorry while crossing the Great North Road, Stamford, on Thursday.
Probate was granted in October, 1936 and finalised later that year along with Mary Spackman's estate, all went to Spackman's youngest sister, Monica Hope Spackman (then unmarried, aged 34).
The Rome-Berlin Axis is formed in October and in November, the Anti-Comintern Pact (an anti-Communist pact) concluded between Germany and Japan (later to be joined by other, mainly fascist, governments) and directed against the Communist International.
1937
Spackman was advancing rapidly in the senior ranks of the Royal Air Force.
He was promoted from Squadron Leader to Wing Commander at RAF HQ, Middle East, Cairo effective from January 1, 1937.
His responsibilities now included commanding a flying wing, typically a group of three or four aircraft squadrons.
May – The German Condor Legion Fighter Group, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist Francisco Franco's forces in the Spanish Civil War and Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister on the retirement of Stanley Baldwin.
Spackman was advancing rapidly in the senior ranks of the Royal Air Force.
He was promoted from Squadron Leader to Wing Commander at RAF HQ, Middle East, Cairo effective from January 1, 1937.
His responsibilities now included commanding a flying wing, typically a group of three or four aircraft squadrons.
May – The German Condor Legion Fighter Group, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist Francisco Franco's forces in the Spanish Civil War and Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister on the retirement of Stanley Baldwin.
The Royal Air Force 'Middle East Command' independent air commands in Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Aden and Malta were by 1938 incorporated into one command for the region with Egypt, The Sudan and Kenya based in Villa Victoria, Cairo.
Below: An Arabic brass presentation plate to Spackman on his departure from RAF HQ Cairo to Helwan as Wing Commander and Air Officer Commanding. The dates inscribed are 1920-21: Spackman's tour of duty in Iraq with 55 Squadron and 1936-38 as Wing Commander with RAF HQ. The Arabic inscription reads as 'Souvenir' and the metalwork artist's name - Sabek Gim.
Special thanks to Brendan Barry for these photographs and for the inscription translation.
As of 1939, RAF Air HQ Middle East commanded all Royal Air Force units stationed or operating in Egypt, Palestine and Trans-Jordan, the Sudan, East Africa, Cyprus, Turkey, Iraq and adjacent territories, the Balkans, Aden and Somaliland, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf.
Spackman had been with the RAF Air General Staff in the Middle East sector since March 1935. His next promotion was that of Officer Commanding RAF Helwan on January 16, 1939.
Spackman had been with the RAF Air General Staff in the Middle East sector since March 1935. His next promotion was that of Officer Commanding RAF Helwan on January 16, 1939.
Spackman was now in overall command not only of the airbase, it's personnel and security but also of the following squadrons which were rotated through Helwan:
Helwan was the site of a major RAF station in Egypt well before the war, on the edge of the eastern desert 15 miles (25 km) south of Cairo, with both the Nile and railway links close at hand. The size of the encampment is readily seen from the aerial photo above. On the apron outside the vast main hangar are 6 Vickers Wellesleys, most probably of 45 Squadron. No dispersals are visible but signs of a heightened state of readiness, with a number of slit trenches in evidence. Taken together, these suggest a date between the Munich crisis of October 1938 and June 1939, when 45 Squadron re-equipped with Blenheims.
In May 1938, Squadron 211 was one of several deployed to RAF Middle East. Based at RAF Helwan in Egypt with 18 Hind aircraft, the squadron was organised into three flights of six, with 14 officers and about 180 other ranks. This included 18 pilots, split equally between officers and NCOs. In January 1939, the Squadron largely moved to RAF Ismailia where in April it re-equipped with the Bristol Blenheim Mk.I twin-engined light bomber. With nine or twelve Blenheims, the squadron establishment was set at 360 officers and men. Squadron 211 "B" Flight were attached to Helwan until detached to Sudan 2 June 1940.
In mid-1939, General Archibald Wavell was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the new Middle East Command, over the Mediterranean and Middle East theatres. Wavell was made responsible for the defence of Egypt through the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, British Troops Egypt, to train the Egyptian army and co-ordinate military operations.
To the west in Libya, the Regio Esercito Italiana (Royal Italian Army) had stationed around 215,000 troops while in Egypt, Wavell had some 86,000 troops at his disposal to protect not only Egypt but Sudan, Iraq, Syria, Iran and East Africa - all on a depleted military budget and with little modern equipment. To the south, was the Italian East Africa territory (Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI), formed from Ethiopia after the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in 1936 with the colonies of Italian Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. Stationed there were some 130,000 Italian and African troops but lightly equipped with limited armour and aircraft.
By the summer of 1939, British fighter strength was a mere three squadrons. RAF aircraft available in the region were ageing and few. Only 40 Gladiators, 70 Blenheims, 24 Bombay and Valentia transports, 24 Lysanders and 10 Sutherlands were operational from Egyptian airfields and all largely outclassed by Axis aircraft. Further south in Sudan, Kenya and Aden were 85 Wellesleys and Blenheims and just a few more Gladiators. In Kenya, there were three squadrons of the South African Air Force - one of Gladiators, another of Fairey Battles and even a single Junkers JU-86 aircraft acquired from Germany before war began. There were no modern fighters and no long range bombers in the entire Middle East Command and with few possibilities of receiving any. A constant concern was that of equipment supply and replacement.
Against this scattered, obsolescent and difficult to reinforce British force, it was estimated that the Italians could immediately put twice as many superior aircraft into the North African and East African zones and could also be easily reinforced with Italy's domination of the Mediterranean. There was only one rudimentary radar set in the region and early warning of enemy aircraft raids were limited to a number of Egyptian manned observer posts in the desert.
Helwan was the site of a major RAF station in Egypt well before the war, on the edge of the eastern desert 15 miles (25 km) south of Cairo, with both the Nile and railway links close at hand. The size of the encampment is readily seen from the aerial photo above. On the apron outside the vast main hangar are 6 Vickers Wellesleys, most probably of 45 Squadron. No dispersals are visible but signs of a heightened state of readiness, with a number of slit trenches in evidence. Taken together, these suggest a date between the Munich crisis of October 1938 and June 1939, when 45 Squadron re-equipped with Blenheims.
In May 1938, Squadron 211 was one of several deployed to RAF Middle East. Based at RAF Helwan in Egypt with 18 Hind aircraft, the squadron was organised into three flights of six, with 14 officers and about 180 other ranks. This included 18 pilots, split equally between officers and NCOs. In January 1939, the Squadron largely moved to RAF Ismailia where in April it re-equipped with the Bristol Blenheim Mk.I twin-engined light bomber. With nine or twelve Blenheims, the squadron establishment was set at 360 officers and men. Squadron 211 "B" Flight were attached to Helwan until detached to Sudan 2 June 1940.
In mid-1939, General Archibald Wavell was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the new Middle East Command, over the Mediterranean and Middle East theatres. Wavell was made responsible for the defence of Egypt through the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, British Troops Egypt, to train the Egyptian army and co-ordinate military operations.
To the west in Libya, the Regio Esercito Italiana (Royal Italian Army) had stationed around 215,000 troops while in Egypt, Wavell had some 86,000 troops at his disposal to protect not only Egypt but Sudan, Iraq, Syria, Iran and East Africa - all on a depleted military budget and with little modern equipment. To the south, was the Italian East Africa territory (Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI), formed from Ethiopia after the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in 1936 with the colonies of Italian Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. Stationed there were some 130,000 Italian and African troops but lightly equipped with limited armour and aircraft.
By the summer of 1939, British fighter strength was a mere three squadrons. RAF aircraft available in the region were ageing and few. Only 40 Gladiators, 70 Blenheims, 24 Bombay and Valentia transports, 24 Lysanders and 10 Sutherlands were operational from Egyptian airfields and all largely outclassed by Axis aircraft. Further south in Sudan, Kenya and Aden were 85 Wellesleys and Blenheims and just a few more Gladiators. In Kenya, there were three squadrons of the South African Air Force - one of Gladiators, another of Fairey Battles and even a single Junkers JU-86 aircraft acquired from Germany before war began. There were no modern fighters and no long range bombers in the entire Middle East Command and with few possibilities of receiving any. A constant concern was that of equipment supply and replacement.
Against this scattered, obsolescent and difficult to reinforce British force, it was estimated that the Italians could immediately put twice as many superior aircraft into the North African and East African zones and could also be easily reinforced with Italy's domination of the Mediterranean. There was only one rudimentary radar set in the region and early warning of enemy aircraft raids were limited to a number of Egyptian manned observer posts in the desert.
1940
Spackman was promoted from Wing Commander to Group Captain No. 252 Fighter Wing based in RAF Helwan on March 1, 1940. (This RAF rank is the equivalent of the naval rank of Captain and the armed services rank of Colonel)
Spackman was now put in direct command of the Royal Air Force fighter defence of Cairo and Egypt's Delta region, the Suez Canal and the Royal Navy base at Alexandria. His resources as Group Captain No. 252 Fighter Wing were operating one squadron of twelve aircraft in RAF El Amriya (LG171-175) 180km north-west of Cairo and three squadrons (of around 40 aircraft) based in the Sector Headquarters in RAF Helwan (LG221) south of Cairo. Spackman also commanded the RAF defensive patrols operating from RAF Almaza (Heliopolis) (LG245) based in a suburb of Cairo and RAF Suez (LG216 & LG217). This was in addition to his position of RAF Officer commanding RAF Helwan.
Headquarters RAF Middle East in Cairo kept under it's own direct operational control, the flying-boats of No.201 Group, the bomber transport squadrons and reserve units.
Spackman was promoted from Wing Commander to Group Captain No. 252 Fighter Wing based in RAF Helwan on March 1, 1940. (This RAF rank is the equivalent of the naval rank of Captain and the armed services rank of Colonel)
Spackman was now put in direct command of the Royal Air Force fighter defence of Cairo and Egypt's Delta region, the Suez Canal and the Royal Navy base at Alexandria. His resources as Group Captain No. 252 Fighter Wing were operating one squadron of twelve aircraft in RAF El Amriya (LG171-175) 180km north-west of Cairo and three squadrons (of around 40 aircraft) based in the Sector Headquarters in RAF Helwan (LG221) south of Cairo. Spackman also commanded the RAF defensive patrols operating from RAF Almaza (Heliopolis) (LG245) based in a suburb of Cairo and RAF Suez (LG216 & LG217). This was in addition to his position of RAF Officer commanding RAF Helwan.
Headquarters RAF Middle East in Cairo kept under it's own direct operational control, the flying-boats of No.201 Group, the bomber transport squadrons and reserve units.
Spackman commanded the following RAF Squadrons:
RAF Helwan squadrons (March 1940-July 1941)
- 70 Sqn 20.08.39 - 01.06.40
- 112 Sqn 29.05.39 - 19.07.40
- 30 Sqn 01.06.40 - 01.11.40
- 45 Sqn 18.06.40 - 27.09.40
09.02.41 - 04.04.41
- 33 Sqn 25.06.40 - 22.09.40
- 11 Sqn 01.12.40 - 28.01.41
- 39 Sqn 01.12.40 - 23.01.41
- 55 Sqn 03.06.41 - 01.07.41
RAF El Amriya
- 80 Sqn 15.07.39 - 22.08.40 Gloucester Gladiators Moved to Libyan Border.
- 274 Sqn (A/B) 10.08.40 - 06.12.40 Hurricanes & Gladiators
- 112 Sqn 01.01.41 - 23.01.41
- 33 Sqn 15.01.41 - 19.02.41
- 94 Sqn 19.04.41 - 22.04.41
- 30 Sqn 28.05.41 - 22.06.41
RAF Almaza/Heliopolis (LG245)
- 70 Sqn 11.06.40 - 09.09.40
- 216 Sqn 15.04.21 - 07.10.41
- 208 Sqn 15.11.39 - 09.06.40
- 113 Sqn 21.05.39 - 10.06.40
- Communication Flight 01.06.38 - 18.01.40
- Communication Unit 18.01.40 - 20.08.40
- Inteligence Photo Flightt 01.06.40 - 03.03.41
- No. 2 Photo Reconnaissance Unit 17.10.40 - 09.12.42
- No. 206 Group Communications Flt 17.06.41 - 01.04.46
- 39 Sqn 07.05.40 - 13.05.40
- 267 Sqn 20.08.40 - 18.08.42
- 84 Sqn 24.09.40 - 16.11.40
- 73 Sqn 30.11.40 - 30.12.40
- 6 Sqn 01.02.41 - 01.04.41
- 55 Sqn 15.02.41 - 10.03.41
- 211 Sqn 23.04.41 - 27.04.41
- 33 Sqn 01.06.41 - 01.09.41
RAF Suez (LG216 & LG217)
In early May, Wavell ordered British Forces Egypt to discreetly mobilise for offensive military operations in western Egypt should Italy declare war.
On May 10, Germany invaded France and within weeks it was evident that France would fall. With the potential loss of the French colonies in Western Africa and adjacent Italian colonies prepared to follow Rome's direction, Wavell now had no option but to follow a defensive strategy. The RAF moved most of its bombers closer to the frontier with Libya as Malta was reinforced ready to threaten the Italian supply route to Libya.
An RAF outline plan for the defence of Egypt (7 June, 1940) assessed that while Italian forces had numerical superiority, the RAF had greater training, more solid experience and a more offensive spirit. No. 202 (Bomber) Group was to control four bomber, one fighter and one army-cooperation squadrons for offensive action in the forward areas. Spackman's No. 252 Fighter Wing was to control all other available fighters with the general role of destroying enemy aircraft attacking any objective in lower Egypt, with particular reference to the protection of Cairo, the Suez Canal and Navy base at Alexandria. It was also decided that when (rather than if) Italy joined the war with Germany, and Egypt came under attack, that the RAF would use it's small but well trained forces quickly and offensively.
On June 10, as anticipated, the Kingdom of Italy aligned itself with Nazi Germany and declared war on France and the United Kingdom. British forces based in Egypt were ordered to undertake defensive measures, but to act as non-provocatively as possible. Italian military forces in Libya and East Africa were a distinct threat to the nearby British territories. Italian naval forces now closed the Mediterranean to Allied merchant ships and endangered British supply routes along the coast of East Africa, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
Egypt, the Suez Canal, French Somaliland and British Somaliland were now also vulnerable to invasion but by mid June 1940, the military assessment was that Italy was far from ready for a long war or for the occupation of North & East Africa. Wavell decided that the RAF would engage the Italians quickly in both Libya and East Africa. (The RAF had to watch it's resources very carefully for with the loss of direct air reinforcements over France and via Malta, short range aircraft could only come by naval convoy around the Cape of Good Hope which took 70 days. A trans-African route from Ghana on the Atlantic through French territory captured and held by the Free French forces to Sudan and Egypt. When established, this route brought in 140 aircraft a month.)
On May 10, Germany invaded France and within weeks it was evident that France would fall. With the potential loss of the French colonies in Western Africa and adjacent Italian colonies prepared to follow Rome's direction, Wavell now had no option but to follow a defensive strategy. The RAF moved most of its bombers closer to the frontier with Libya as Malta was reinforced ready to threaten the Italian supply route to Libya.
An RAF outline plan for the defence of Egypt (7 June, 1940) assessed that while Italian forces had numerical superiority, the RAF had greater training, more solid experience and a more offensive spirit. No. 202 (Bomber) Group was to control four bomber, one fighter and one army-cooperation squadrons for offensive action in the forward areas. Spackman's No. 252 Fighter Wing was to control all other available fighters with the general role of destroying enemy aircraft attacking any objective in lower Egypt, with particular reference to the protection of Cairo, the Suez Canal and Navy base at Alexandria. It was also decided that when (rather than if) Italy joined the war with Germany, and Egypt came under attack, that the RAF would use it's small but well trained forces quickly and offensively.
On June 10, as anticipated, the Kingdom of Italy aligned itself with Nazi Germany and declared war on France and the United Kingdom. British forces based in Egypt were ordered to undertake defensive measures, but to act as non-provocatively as possible. Italian military forces in Libya and East Africa were a distinct threat to the nearby British territories. Italian naval forces now closed the Mediterranean to Allied merchant ships and endangered British supply routes along the coast of East Africa, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
Egypt, the Suez Canal, French Somaliland and British Somaliland were now also vulnerable to invasion but by mid June 1940, the military assessment was that Italy was far from ready for a long war or for the occupation of North & East Africa. Wavell decided that the RAF would engage the Italians quickly in both Libya and East Africa. (The RAF had to watch it's resources very carefully for with the loss of direct air reinforcements over France and via Malta, short range aircraft could only come by naval convoy around the Cape of Good Hope which took 70 days. A trans-African route from Ghana on the Atlantic through French territory captured and held by the Free French forces to Sudan and Egypt. When established, this route brought in 140 aircraft a month.)
RAF low-flying attacks began against Italian bases in both territories on 11th June and similar attacks continued throughout the month. The general result was to force the Italians into a defensive attitude and they made little attempt to exploit their theoretical superiority of numbers.
On June 14, British forces crossed the border into Libya and captured Fort Capuzzo. Border skimishing between British and Italian forces took place until September. Meanwhile further south, The Sudan was vital to protect the strategic points of Khartoum, Atbara and Port Sudan along with British shipping in the Red Sea but also to harass the nearby Italian air force, military, ports and railways in Abyssinia & Eritrea as well as providing close air support for troops when necessary.
On June 22, France surrendered and within days, Italian forces which had been stationed in western Libya facing French held Tunisia now redeployed to eastern Libya, reinforcing the Italian Tenth Army. This coupled with the steadily degrading of the British forces led General Archibald Wavell to order an end to border skirmishing and placed the defence of the Egyptian border on a small screening force. The RAF however maintained a moderate harassing offensive which pinned the Italian air units to rear landing grounds from which they could only launch occasional raids.
In July, what became known as the East African Campaign started with Italian advances into British-held Kenya, British Somaliland, and Sudan. Anthony Eden, the Secretary of State for War communicated to Wavell that any further Italian advance towards Khartoum should be halted. Wavell replied that the Italian attacks were not serious but went to Sudan and Kenya to see for himself and met the exiled Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie at Khartoum.
On June 14, British forces crossed the border into Libya and captured Fort Capuzzo. Border skimishing between British and Italian forces took place until September. Meanwhile further south, The Sudan was vital to protect the strategic points of Khartoum, Atbara and Port Sudan along with British shipping in the Red Sea but also to harass the nearby Italian air force, military, ports and railways in Abyssinia & Eritrea as well as providing close air support for troops when necessary.
On June 22, France surrendered and within days, Italian forces which had been stationed in western Libya facing French held Tunisia now redeployed to eastern Libya, reinforcing the Italian Tenth Army. This coupled with the steadily degrading of the British forces led General Archibald Wavell to order an end to border skirmishing and placed the defence of the Egyptian border on a small screening force. The RAF however maintained a moderate harassing offensive which pinned the Italian air units to rear landing grounds from which they could only launch occasional raids.
In July, what became known as the East African Campaign started with Italian advances into British-held Kenya, British Somaliland, and Sudan. Anthony Eden, the Secretary of State for War communicated to Wavell that any further Italian advance towards Khartoum should be halted. Wavell replied that the Italian attacks were not serious but went to Sudan and Kenya to see for himself and met the exiled Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie at Khartoum.
August 1940
A new air group (No.203) was set up under Air Commodore Slatter to control all RAF units in the Sudan. Based in Khartoum, this was a hotch-potch collection of various aircraft and resources (formerly known as RAF Sudan) spread out through five squadrons and one flight:
No. 14 (B) Squadron (Blenheim IVs),
No. 47 (B) Squadron (Wellesleys),
223 (B) Squadron (Wellesleys,
No.1 South African Air Force (F) Squadron (Hurricanes & Gladiators),
No. 237 Rhodesian (A.C.) Squadron (Hardys)
K Flight (Gladiators)
47 Squadron with Wellesleys and a flight of Vickers Vincent biplanes worked as Army Co-operation and was later reinforced with Bristol Blenheims from 45 Squadron based in Egypt. Six Gladiator biplane fighters known as 'K Flight' were based in Port Sudan for trade protection and anti-submarine patrols over the Red Sea, the air defence of Port Sudan, Atbara and Khartoum and army support.
In Sudan about 8,500 troops and 80 aircraft guarded a 1,200 mi (1,900 km) frontier with the Italians while in the air, the RAF, Rhodesian & South African Air Forces faced experienced Italian Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) pilots, including a cadre of Spanish Civil War veterans.
A new air group (No.203) was set up under Air Commodore Slatter to control all RAF units in the Sudan. Based in Khartoum, this was a hotch-potch collection of various aircraft and resources (formerly known as RAF Sudan) spread out through five squadrons and one flight:
No. 14 (B) Squadron (Blenheim IVs),
No. 47 (B) Squadron (Wellesleys),
223 (B) Squadron (Wellesleys,
No.1 South African Air Force (F) Squadron (Hurricanes & Gladiators),
No. 237 Rhodesian (A.C.) Squadron (Hardys)
K Flight (Gladiators)
47 Squadron with Wellesleys and a flight of Vickers Vincent biplanes worked as Army Co-operation and was later reinforced with Bristol Blenheims from 45 Squadron based in Egypt. Six Gladiator biplane fighters known as 'K Flight' were based in Port Sudan for trade protection and anti-submarine patrols over the Red Sea, the air defence of Port Sudan, Atbara and Khartoum and army support.
In Sudan about 8,500 troops and 80 aircraft guarded a 1,200 mi (1,900 km) frontier with the Italians while in the air, the RAF, Rhodesian & South African Air Forces faced experienced Italian Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) pilots, including a cadre of Spanish Civil War veterans.
13 September - Italian forces invade Egypt
"Operazione E", the Italian invasion of Egypt to seize the Suez Canal against British, Commonwealth and Free French forces began. This was the start of the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943). As British ground forces pulled back, the RAF attacked the advancing Italian columns.
After numerous delays, the offensive was reduced to an advance by the 10th Army (Marshal Rodolfo Graziani) into Egypt, as far as Sidi Barrani and attacks on any British forces in the area. The Italian 10th Army advanced about 65 miles (105 km) into Egypt.
On 16 September, the 10th Army halted and took up defensive positions around the port of Sidi Barrani, intending to build fortified camps, while waiting for engineers to extend the Litoranea Balbo (Via Balbia) with the Via della Vittoria.
Graziani intended to use the road to prepare for an advance on Mersa Matruh, about 80 mi (130 km) further east, where the remainder of the 7th Armoured Division and the 4th Indian Division were based. The already over-stretched Italian supply line was constantly harrased by the RAF making day and night attacks on the camps and transport, flying over sixty missions between 16-21 September. RAF aircraft laid mines in Benghazi harbour and sank two Italian destroyers and two merchant vessels. Italian bombers were hit on the ground by RAF Blenheims. However, the fact remained for the RAF that there were not enough fighter aircraft, anti aircraft guns, searchlights or radar for the air defence throughout the Middle East sector.
"Operazione E", the Italian invasion of Egypt to seize the Suez Canal against British, Commonwealth and Free French forces began. This was the start of the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943). As British ground forces pulled back, the RAF attacked the advancing Italian columns.
After numerous delays, the offensive was reduced to an advance by the 10th Army (Marshal Rodolfo Graziani) into Egypt, as far as Sidi Barrani and attacks on any British forces in the area. The Italian 10th Army advanced about 65 miles (105 km) into Egypt.
On 16 September, the 10th Army halted and took up defensive positions around the port of Sidi Barrani, intending to build fortified camps, while waiting for engineers to extend the Litoranea Balbo (Via Balbia) with the Via della Vittoria.
Graziani intended to use the road to prepare for an advance on Mersa Matruh, about 80 mi (130 km) further east, where the remainder of the 7th Armoured Division and the 4th Indian Division were based. The already over-stretched Italian supply line was constantly harrased by the RAF making day and night attacks on the camps and transport, flying over sixty missions between 16-21 September. RAF aircraft laid mines in Benghazi harbour and sank two Italian destroyers and two merchant vessels. Italian bombers were hit on the ground by RAF Blenheims. However, the fact remained for the RAF that there were not enough fighter aircraft, anti aircraft guns, searchlights or radar for the air defence throughout the Middle East sector.
East Africa front: In the Sudan, some air reinforcements arrived from Egypt and Kenya and at the end of September the RAF had a first-line strength in the Sudan of 38 bomber and 19 fighter aircraft; facing the RAF was an Italian force of about 160 serviceable aircraft out of 260 that were in the theatre.
Egypt broke off diplomatic relations with the Axis and on 19 October, Italian aircraft bombed Cairo.
November 1940
British gained an intelligence advantage when the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park broke the high grade cypher of the Italian army in East Africa. Later that month, the replacement cypher for the Regia Aeronautica was broken by the Combined Bureau, Middle East. Further bombing raids by the Italian Air Force raised the issue of the lack of early detection services. Equipment shortages caused more than some concern amongst the military command in view of the scale of attacks which the Italian Air Force was making on a number of vital and widely separated objectives.
Egypt broke off diplomatic relations with the Axis and on 19 October, Italian aircraft bombed Cairo.
November 1940
British gained an intelligence advantage when the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park broke the high grade cypher of the Italian army in East Africa. Later that month, the replacement cypher for the Regia Aeronautica was broken by the Combined Bureau, Middle East. Further bombing raids by the Italian Air Force raised the issue of the lack of early detection services. Equipment shortages caused more than some concern amongst the military command in view of the scale of attacks which the Italian Air Force was making on a number of vital and widely separated objectives.
December 1940:
The British 'Operation Compass' was launched to push Italian forces out of Egypt. This was the first large Allied military operation of the Western Desert Campaign (1940-43)
Just before the offensive in the Western Desert began, Spackman noted that all he had to call on for the defence of Cairo, the Delta and Suez were just two mid 1930's Sea Gladiators bi-planes of the Fleet Air Arm as all other available aircraft had been moved to bases closer to the Italian front. These aircraft were outgunned and out-manouvered by just about every Axis aircraft. Had the enemy made any serious attacks in the Delta and Canal areas, there would have been virtually no air defence available.
To maintain a measure of air superiority, eleven Wellington bombers from Malta attacked Italian airfields at Sidi Barrani overnight on 7/8 December, destroying 29 aircraft on the ground. Next day, three RAF Egypt fighter squadrons patrolled the British concentration areas as ground forces advanced and during the night, 29 Wellingtons and Blenheims bombed Benina and damaged ten aircraft. Bristol Bombays attacked the Italian camps and Blenheims raided advanced airfields. Within days, Sidi Barrani which had been occupied by Italian forces in September, was recaptured along with 38,000 prisoners. The advance continued with RAF support knocking out Italian aircraft and supply lines.
By the end of December, all of the Egyptian territory that had captured by Italian forces had been recaptured and the army had already moved towards Tobruk:
"Air operations were continued in direct support of the Army, all types of aircraft contributing to this end during the advance, the role of squadrons being as follows:— Heavy bombers attacked military objectives by night, such as Bardia and Tobruk, prior to the assault by our troops. At other times their objectives included Benghazi Port and aerodromes. Medium bombers, immediately prior to attacks on Bardia, Tobruk and Derna, were employed in a similar role to the heavy bombers both by day and night and at other times attacked enemy aerodromes. No. 113 Squadron, and later No. 55 Squadron, continued to provide strategical reconnaissance. The activities of our fighters were varied. They provided reconnaissance, made low flying attacks on mechanical transport on the enemy's lines of communication, in addition to providing air protection to our own troops against enemy air action. Army Co-operation aircraft were employed mainly on tactical reconnaissance with Hurricanes or Gladiators. Lysanders were used to a limited extent for spotting artillery bombardments."
Air Chief Marshal SIR ARTHUR LONGMORE, G.C.B., D.S.O., Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Royal Air Force, Middle East. Submission to the Secretary of State for Air, November 24, 1941 on "Air Operations in the Middle East Jan1-May 3, 1941." Published in the London Gazette, Thursday, 19 September, 1946. Hereinafter referred to as 'Longmore submission, 24.11.41'.
The British 'Operation Compass' was launched to push Italian forces out of Egypt. This was the first large Allied military operation of the Western Desert Campaign (1940-43)
Just before the offensive in the Western Desert began, Spackman noted that all he had to call on for the defence of Cairo, the Delta and Suez were just two mid 1930's Sea Gladiators bi-planes of the Fleet Air Arm as all other available aircraft had been moved to bases closer to the Italian front. These aircraft were outgunned and out-manouvered by just about every Axis aircraft. Had the enemy made any serious attacks in the Delta and Canal areas, there would have been virtually no air defence available.
To maintain a measure of air superiority, eleven Wellington bombers from Malta attacked Italian airfields at Sidi Barrani overnight on 7/8 December, destroying 29 aircraft on the ground. Next day, three RAF Egypt fighter squadrons patrolled the British concentration areas as ground forces advanced and during the night, 29 Wellingtons and Blenheims bombed Benina and damaged ten aircraft. Bristol Bombays attacked the Italian camps and Blenheims raided advanced airfields. Within days, Sidi Barrani which had been occupied by Italian forces in September, was recaptured along with 38,000 prisoners. The advance continued with RAF support knocking out Italian aircraft and supply lines.
By the end of December, all of the Egyptian territory that had captured by Italian forces had been recaptured and the army had already moved towards Tobruk:
"Air operations were continued in direct support of the Army, all types of aircraft contributing to this end during the advance, the role of squadrons being as follows:— Heavy bombers attacked military objectives by night, such as Bardia and Tobruk, prior to the assault by our troops. At other times their objectives included Benghazi Port and aerodromes. Medium bombers, immediately prior to attacks on Bardia, Tobruk and Derna, were employed in a similar role to the heavy bombers both by day and night and at other times attacked enemy aerodromes. No. 113 Squadron, and later No. 55 Squadron, continued to provide strategical reconnaissance. The activities of our fighters were varied. They provided reconnaissance, made low flying attacks on mechanical transport on the enemy's lines of communication, in addition to providing air protection to our own troops against enemy air action. Army Co-operation aircraft were employed mainly on tactical reconnaissance with Hurricanes or Gladiators. Lysanders were used to a limited extent for spotting artillery bombardments."
Air Chief Marshal SIR ARTHUR LONGMORE, G.C.B., D.S.O., Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Royal Air Force, Middle East. Submission to the Secretary of State for Air, November 24, 1941 on "Air Operations in the Middle East Jan1-May 3, 1941." Published in the London Gazette, Thursday, 19 September, 1946. Hereinafter referred to as 'Longmore submission, 24.11.41'.
1941
The Longmore 1941 submission continues with operations details from January 1941:
"As a prelude to the Army's assault, Bardia was subjected to a heavy Naval and Air bombardment. Thus, during the night 1st/2nd January, following many previous attacks, Wellingtons and Bombays, together with Fleet Air Arm Swordfish, dropped over 20,000 Ibs. of bombs on enemy defences and troop positions. Blenheims continued to attack during the day on and January making 44 bombing sorties, followed during the night of 2nd/3rd January by further efforts of Wellingtons and Bombays which dropped another 30,000 Ibs. of bombs. The total load of bombs dropped during this series of attacks amounted to over 40 tons. At the same time Blenheims bombed enemy aerodromes concentrating on Gazala, Derna and Tmimi. Hurricanes of Nos. 33, 73* and 274* Squadrons maintained offensive patrols over Bardia during the attack.
* 73 & 274 Squadrons were commanded by Spackman
The Army attacked Bardia at dawn on 3rd January, the 'assault being made by armoured forces in co-operation with Australian infantry. During the battle, Blenheims effectively bombed troop concentrations while aircraft of No. 208 (A.C.) Squadron co-operated with artillery. Gladiators of No. 3 R.A.A.F. (Australian) Squadron maintained low flying offensive patrols to cover our troops as they advanced. As soon as the attack had been launched a large proportion of our bombing effort was turned on to aerodromes in Cyrenaica, with the intention of pinning down and destroying the enemy air force. Fighting at Bardia continued until 1330 hours on 5th January, when the enemy ceased to offer any further resistance.
By the 6th January our Armoured Forces, advancing under cover of offensive fighting patrols, had reached the outer perimeter defences of Tobruk. They also occupied El Adem aerodrome on that date, capturing 40 unserviceable aircraft which had been abandoned by the Italians on the landing ground there. A further 35 burnt out aircraft were found by armoured patrols at Gazala a few days later. On 10th January, Headquarters No. 202 Group, together with the Western Desert Squadrons, started to move forward..."
In Berlin, as the extent of the Italian defeat in North Africa became apparent, Hitler ordered Operation Sunflower to begin with a Panzer division and troops moved to Tripoli. It's Commander was yet to be appointed.
The Longmore 1941 submission continues with operations details from January 1941:
"As a prelude to the Army's assault, Bardia was subjected to a heavy Naval and Air bombardment. Thus, during the night 1st/2nd January, following many previous attacks, Wellingtons and Bombays, together with Fleet Air Arm Swordfish, dropped over 20,000 Ibs. of bombs on enemy defences and troop positions. Blenheims continued to attack during the day on and January making 44 bombing sorties, followed during the night of 2nd/3rd January by further efforts of Wellingtons and Bombays which dropped another 30,000 Ibs. of bombs. The total load of bombs dropped during this series of attacks amounted to over 40 tons. At the same time Blenheims bombed enemy aerodromes concentrating on Gazala, Derna and Tmimi. Hurricanes of Nos. 33, 73* and 274* Squadrons maintained offensive patrols over Bardia during the attack.
* 73 & 274 Squadrons were commanded by Spackman
The Army attacked Bardia at dawn on 3rd January, the 'assault being made by armoured forces in co-operation with Australian infantry. During the battle, Blenheims effectively bombed troop concentrations while aircraft of No. 208 (A.C.) Squadron co-operated with artillery. Gladiators of No. 3 R.A.A.F. (Australian) Squadron maintained low flying offensive patrols to cover our troops as they advanced. As soon as the attack had been launched a large proportion of our bombing effort was turned on to aerodromes in Cyrenaica, with the intention of pinning down and destroying the enemy air force. Fighting at Bardia continued until 1330 hours on 5th January, when the enemy ceased to offer any further resistance.
By the 6th January our Armoured Forces, advancing under cover of offensive fighting patrols, had reached the outer perimeter defences of Tobruk. They also occupied El Adem aerodrome on that date, capturing 40 unserviceable aircraft which had been abandoned by the Italians on the landing ground there. A further 35 burnt out aircraft were found by armoured patrols at Gazala a few days later. On 10th January, Headquarters No. 202 Group, together with the Western Desert Squadrons, started to move forward..."
In Berlin, as the extent of the Italian defeat in North Africa became apparent, Hitler ordered Operation Sunflower to begin with a Panzer division and troops moved to Tripoli. It's Commander was yet to be appointed.
An interesting synopsis of Spackman's operations in Egypt can be found in a report on on Air Operations in the Middle East (January 1 to May 3, 1941) submitted by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, RAF Middle East to the Secretary of State for Air on November 24, 1941. This was published in the London Gazette on Thursday, 19 September 1946:
"At the beginning of January the Fighter defence of Egypt consisted of No. 252 Fighter Wing under Group Captain C. B. S. Spackman, D.F.C., who had most ably improvised an organisation which operated one Squadron at Amriya and a Sector Headquarters at Helwan, controlling the defensive patrols of the 2 R.E.A.F. Fighter Squadrons at Almaza and Suez respectively. Information was provided by No. 256 A.M.E.S. Wing. During January, as a result of minelaying attacks on the Suez Canal, it was decided to build up an organisation, on the lines that had proved so successful in the U.K. Nos. 252 and 256 Wings were amalgamated as the controlling authority, the Sectors being at Amriya, Heliopolis, Fayid and Port Said. As an interim measure, a temporary Sector was formed at Ismailia to deal with the Suez Canal Zone. In March I decided to re-form No. 202 Group, under Air Commodore T.. W. Elmhirst, A.F.C., to co-ordinate all operational problems concerning the air defence of Egypt, and to co-operate with H.Q., B.T.E., on problems concerning A.A. artillery and searchlights. Experience showed that communications in Egypt were so poor that it proved impossible to operate even 3 Sectors efficiently from one controlling authority, and accordingly the decision was taken to divide the Delta into two by a line from Baltim through Mansura, thence approximately South Eastwards to the Gulf of Suez, and to form two separate Wings each with its own filter room. No. 250 Wing formed at Ismailia to control the Sectors at Port Said and Fayid and be responsible for the defence of the Suez Canal Zone and Eastern portion of the Delta Area. No. 252 Wing was then made responsible for the control of the Sectors at Amriya and Heliopolis, and the defence of Alexandria, Cairo and the Western portion of the Delta."
Meanwhile, British forces continued the advance into Libya:
"By the middle of January, Headquarters, No. 202 Group was established at Sollum, and bomber and fighter squadrons had moved forward to landing grounds in the Sollum-Bardia area, with No. 208 Squadron and No. 3 R.A.A.F. Squadron further forward at Gambut.
Operations now passed through a stage of preparation and consolidation before the attack on Tobruk. During this period heavy bombing attacks were continued against Tobruk to wear down the enemy and destroy his defences. Enemy aerodromes were consistently and effectively bombed, particular targets at this time being Berka and Benina, near Benghazi, to which the enemy had been compelled to withdraw his bomber forces as a result of our continued attacks on his more forward aerodromes. Port facilities and shipping at Benghazi and military objectives at Derna were also attacked. It now became evident that the aircraft losses inflicted on the enemy, both on the ground and in the air, were resulting in reduced activity of his air force, and from that time onwards our own aircraft operated with comparative immunity.
As in the case of Bardia, the assault on Tobruk was preceded by a Naval bombardment and heavy bombing attacks from the air. On the night of 19th/20th and 20th/21st January, Wellingtons and Blenheims dropped 20 tons of bombs, inflicting heavy damage on the defences and other military objectives at Tobruk, including the A.A. guardship, " San Georgio ".
The assault on Tobruk was launched at dawn on 21st January and, simultaneously, Blenheims of Nos. 45, 55 and 113. Squadrons, operating in direct support of our troops, attacked enemy positions within the Tobruk defences, maintaining their attacks throughout the day, and making a total of 87 sorties. The Gladiators of No. 3 R.A.A.F. Squadron, and Hurricanes of Nos. 73 and 274 Squadrons maintained offensive patrols Westwards of Tobruk to cover ground operations, but very few enemy aircraft appeared and only one engagement took place. Operations continued on 22nd January. Aircraft of No. 208 (A.C.) Squadron provided close support for our troops. Early in the morning the Australians entered the town, while the Free French companies penetrated the perimeter near the sea to the West. All organised resistance was at an end by the evening.
Between the fall of Tobruk and 1st February the following moves were made:
Headquarters,. No. 202 Group moved forward to Sidi Mahmoud; Nos. 73 (F) and 274 (F) Squadrons, to Gazala and No. 3 R.A.A.F. (A.C.) Squadron and No. 208 (A.C.) Squadron to EL Tmimi..."
(as above: Following the capture of Tobruk, Spackman had set up the Sector Air Operations Room in the Tobruk military barracks, controlling flight operations in the area.)
"....The main body of our forces now pushed on Northwards to Derna and our armoured formations Westwards to Mechili. Enemy air activity was on a small scale, but as the advance approached Italian base aerodromes a certain number of fighters continued to attack our forward troops. They were, however, successfully dealt with by our own fighter patrols which prevented the enemy from inflicting any serious casualties or from materially influencing the rapid progress of the advance. The intensity of our own air operations at this stage was also somewhat reduced, due partly to un-serviceability through long flying hours under desert conditions, but also through our inability to establish forward landing grounds sufficiently rapidly to keep pace with the advance. The over ponderous standard squadron organisation did not lend itself to such conditions, and moreover, very few transport aircraft were available. However, the Blenheims and Wellingtons, not being so dependent on advanced landing grounds, were able to continue bombing enemy aerodromes.
Our armoured forces entered Mechili on 27th January, and on 30th January Derna fell to the forces which had advanced to the North. Like Bardia and Tobruk, Derna had already been regularly and heavily bombed for a considerable period and was not, therefore, subjected to concentrated bombing attacks immediately prior to the assault. Fighter patrols, however, provided constant cover for the troops and continued to harass the enemy on his lines of communication throughout the operations. The advance continued and Gyrene was occupied on 3rd February. A rapid withdrawal of enemy forces now took place; M.T. and troop convoys retreating Westwards from Barce were repeatedly attacked by Blenheims and harassed by fighters..."
"By the middle of January, Headquarters, No. 202 Group was established at Sollum, and bomber and fighter squadrons had moved forward to landing grounds in the Sollum-Bardia area, with No. 208 Squadron and No. 3 R.A.A.F. Squadron further forward at Gambut.
Operations now passed through a stage of preparation and consolidation before the attack on Tobruk. During this period heavy bombing attacks were continued against Tobruk to wear down the enemy and destroy his defences. Enemy aerodromes were consistently and effectively bombed, particular targets at this time being Berka and Benina, near Benghazi, to which the enemy had been compelled to withdraw his bomber forces as a result of our continued attacks on his more forward aerodromes. Port facilities and shipping at Benghazi and military objectives at Derna were also attacked. It now became evident that the aircraft losses inflicted on the enemy, both on the ground and in the air, were resulting in reduced activity of his air force, and from that time onwards our own aircraft operated with comparative immunity.
As in the case of Bardia, the assault on Tobruk was preceded by a Naval bombardment and heavy bombing attacks from the air. On the night of 19th/20th and 20th/21st January, Wellingtons and Blenheims dropped 20 tons of bombs, inflicting heavy damage on the defences and other military objectives at Tobruk, including the A.A. guardship, " San Georgio ".
The assault on Tobruk was launched at dawn on 21st January and, simultaneously, Blenheims of Nos. 45, 55 and 113. Squadrons, operating in direct support of our troops, attacked enemy positions within the Tobruk defences, maintaining their attacks throughout the day, and making a total of 87 sorties. The Gladiators of No. 3 R.A.A.F. Squadron, and Hurricanes of Nos. 73 and 274 Squadrons maintained offensive patrols Westwards of Tobruk to cover ground operations, but very few enemy aircraft appeared and only one engagement took place. Operations continued on 22nd January. Aircraft of No. 208 (A.C.) Squadron provided close support for our troops. Early in the morning the Australians entered the town, while the Free French companies penetrated the perimeter near the sea to the West. All organised resistance was at an end by the evening.
Between the fall of Tobruk and 1st February the following moves were made:
Headquarters,. No. 202 Group moved forward to Sidi Mahmoud; Nos. 73 (F) and 274 (F) Squadrons, to Gazala and No. 3 R.A.A.F. (A.C.) Squadron and No. 208 (A.C.) Squadron to EL Tmimi..."
(as above: Following the capture of Tobruk, Spackman had set up the Sector Air Operations Room in the Tobruk military barracks, controlling flight operations in the area.)
"....The main body of our forces now pushed on Northwards to Derna and our armoured formations Westwards to Mechili. Enemy air activity was on a small scale, but as the advance approached Italian base aerodromes a certain number of fighters continued to attack our forward troops. They were, however, successfully dealt with by our own fighter patrols which prevented the enemy from inflicting any serious casualties or from materially influencing the rapid progress of the advance. The intensity of our own air operations at this stage was also somewhat reduced, due partly to un-serviceability through long flying hours under desert conditions, but also through our inability to establish forward landing grounds sufficiently rapidly to keep pace with the advance. The over ponderous standard squadron organisation did not lend itself to such conditions, and moreover, very few transport aircraft were available. However, the Blenheims and Wellingtons, not being so dependent on advanced landing grounds, were able to continue bombing enemy aerodromes.
Our armoured forces entered Mechili on 27th January, and on 30th January Derna fell to the forces which had advanced to the North. Like Bardia and Tobruk, Derna had already been regularly and heavily bombed for a considerable period and was not, therefore, subjected to concentrated bombing attacks immediately prior to the assault. Fighter patrols, however, provided constant cover for the troops and continued to harass the enemy on his lines of communication throughout the operations. The advance continued and Gyrene was occupied on 3rd February. A rapid withdrawal of enemy forces now took place; M.T. and troop convoys retreating Westwards from Barce were repeatedly attacked by Blenheims and harassed by fighters..."
6 February: Benghazi falls to the Western Desert Force and in Berlin, Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) is appointed commander of the newly created Deutsches Afrika Korps and arrived in Tripoli (the last remaining Italian controlled port in Libya) three days later.
7 February: The Italian Tenth Army in Cyrenaica surrendered. British losses were 500 killed, 55 missing, and 1,373 wounded. The RAF lost 26 aircraft, comprising six Hurricanes, five Gladiators, three Wellingtons, a Valentia and eleven Blenheims. A far larger number of aircraft became non-operational due to damage, which could not be repaired quickly for lack of spare parts, a problem made worse by the increased use of explosive bullets by the Italians. (On 14 December, a raid on Bardia by nine Blenheims cost one aircraft shot down and seven damaged by explosive bullets.) The Italian 10th Army lost at least 5,500 men killed, about 10,000 wounded, 133,298 men taken prisoner, 420 tanks and 845 guns.
The British were unable to continue Operation Compass beyond El Agheila, due to the difficulty in supplying the WDF over such a great distance and because the vehicles of the front-line units were in an advanced state of mechanical breakdown. In February 1941, the British War Cabinet decided to hold Cyrenaica with the minimum of forces and send the remainder to Greece. The most experienced, best trained and equipped units of the WDF, were diverted to the Greek Campaign in Operation Lustre in March and April 1941.
14 February: First German troops arrive in Tripoli. 19 February: The Afrika Korps begins operations in North Africa.
Facing imminent defeat in North Africa, Mussolini requested help from his German ally. A small expeditionary force ‘The AfrikaKorps’ under General Rommel arrived in Libya. Rommel’s orders were to reinforce the Italians and block Allied attempts to drive them out of the region but from March 1941, this became a full-fledged offensive
7 February: The Italian Tenth Army in Cyrenaica surrendered. British losses were 500 killed, 55 missing, and 1,373 wounded. The RAF lost 26 aircraft, comprising six Hurricanes, five Gladiators, three Wellingtons, a Valentia and eleven Blenheims. A far larger number of aircraft became non-operational due to damage, which could not be repaired quickly for lack of spare parts, a problem made worse by the increased use of explosive bullets by the Italians. (On 14 December, a raid on Bardia by nine Blenheims cost one aircraft shot down and seven damaged by explosive bullets.) The Italian 10th Army lost at least 5,500 men killed, about 10,000 wounded, 133,298 men taken prisoner, 420 tanks and 845 guns.
The British were unable to continue Operation Compass beyond El Agheila, due to the difficulty in supplying the WDF over such a great distance and because the vehicles of the front-line units were in an advanced state of mechanical breakdown. In February 1941, the British War Cabinet decided to hold Cyrenaica with the minimum of forces and send the remainder to Greece. The most experienced, best trained and equipped units of the WDF, were diverted to the Greek Campaign in Operation Lustre in March and April 1941.
14 February: First German troops arrive in Tripoli. 19 February: The Afrika Korps begins operations in North Africa.
Facing imminent defeat in North Africa, Mussolini requested help from his German ally. A small expeditionary force ‘The AfrikaKorps’ under General Rommel arrived in Libya. Rommel’s orders were to reinforce the Italians and block Allied attempts to drive them out of the region but from March 1941, this became a full-fledged offensive
East Africa: A British offensive started & Italian forces began a gradual retreat throughout Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Meanwhile in East Africa, the Italian strategy moved to a defensive action as their forces suffered defeats in the Mediterranean, the Western Desert, the Battle of Britain and in the Greco-Italian War.
From November 1940 to early January 1941, constant pressure was placed on Italian forces along the Sudan–Ethiopia border with patrols and raids by ground troops and aircraft. Hawker Hurricanes and Gloucester Gladiators began to replace some of the older aircraft. Italian supply lines were now faltering and shortages of fuel and munitions drew forces to a halt. Churchill ordered Wavell to send troops, aircraft and equipment to Greece which had been invaded by German forces.
British forces gradually pushed the Italian forces further east into Eritrea.
Meanwhile in East Africa, the Italian strategy moved to a defensive action as their forces suffered defeats in the Mediterranean, the Western Desert, the Battle of Britain and in the Greco-Italian War.
From November 1940 to early January 1941, constant pressure was placed on Italian forces along the Sudan–Ethiopia border with patrols and raids by ground troops and aircraft. Hawker Hurricanes and Gloucester Gladiators began to replace some of the older aircraft. Italian supply lines were now faltering and shortages of fuel and munitions drew forces to a halt. Churchill ordered Wavell to send troops, aircraft and equipment to Greece which had been invaded by German forces.
British forces gradually pushed the Italian forces further east into Eritrea.
J.W.B Judge who was involved in the building of airfields and facilities during the North African Campaign recalled in his memoirs, Group Captain Spackman:
“We set up our operational Headquarters within the barracks at Tobruk and were domiciled in the local hotel. This hotel was very modern, and contained very up to date furnishings. Fortunately, the electric light was still functioning, although not for long. In addition to the Squadrons mentioned, the Sector Operations Room which had been established since the fall of Tobruk during our advance, was in operation under the command of Group Captain Spackman. It was quite obvious that Headquarters Cyrenaica (RAF) would now cease to function as we could not hope to act as an offensive unit from within the perimeter of Tobruk.”
Airfield Creation for the Western Desert Campaign – Commentary by J. W. B. Judge Royal Air Force
The Australians now advanced on Benghazi from the North, while on 4th February our armoured forces started their remarkable dash across the desert from Mechili to the coastal road South of Benghazi. The interception, which completely surprised the enemy, took place at Beda Fomm, approximately 30 miles South of Solluch on 5th February. The enemy, supported by strong armoured car formations, tried to break through, but were repulsed with heavy losses and the greater part of their forces were captured or destroyed. Meanwhile, as the Australians advanced on Benghazi, our medium and heavy bombers maintained their attacks on Berka and Benina aerodromes and on the railway at Barce which was being used by the enemy for the withdrawal of his forces from that area.
Our troops occupied Benghazi on 6th February, meeting little resistance in the final stages. The R.A.F. occupied Benina aerodrome on 10th February and found 87 unserviceable and damaged enemy aircraft there, which, together with those found at other aerodromes, notably El Adem and Gazala, were an indication of the effectiveness of the numerous bombing attacks made on enemy air force objectives and accounted very largely for the virtual collapse of the Italian Air Force during the latter stage of the advance.
Following the 'British occupation of Benghazi, the remnants of the enemy forces retreated Westwards into Tripolitania, while the Italian Air Force had been so depleted as to be incapable of offering any serious threat for the time being. Thus it appeared improbable at that time that the enemy would be able to stage an early counter-offensive in Libya. Meanwhile, the increasing gravity of the situation in Greece called for the early despatch of further air reinforcements to that theatre and the consequent reduction of the Royal Air Force at Cyrenaica.
The next phase, therefore, consisted of the reorganisation and redistribution of forces. H.Q. No. 202 Group, Nos. 45 and 113 (B) Squadrons, and No. 274 (F) Squadron were withdrawn to the Delta area in the middle of February. No. 208 (A.C.) Squadron was withdrawn at the end of February, but was replaced by No. 6 (A.C.) Squadron of which two flights were at that time already in Cyrenaica, the remainder of the Squadron being transferred to Aqir (Palestine). H.Q.,
R.A.F Cyrenaica was formed at Barce on 25th February, 1941, under the command of Group Captain L. O. Brown, D.S.C., A.F.C. The Squadrons remaining in Cyrenaica in March, 1941, were disposed as follows:— No. 3 Squadron R.A.A.F., which by that •time was completely re-armed with Hurricanes, was located at Benina to provide the air defence of Benghazi. No. 73 (F) Squadron, at first located al; Gazala, was moved to Bu Amed on I4th March to defend the Tobruk area. The Headquarters and one flight of No. 6 (A.C.) Squadron (Hurricanes and Lysanders) was at Barce, with a flight at Agedabia and sections at other landing grounds in Western Cyrenaica. No. 55 (B) Squadron was at Bu Amed until loth March, when it moved to Maraua.
Enemy air activity increased shortly after our occupation of Benghazi. It was at this time that German aircraft, operating from landing grounds near Tripoli began to attack our forces in Cyrenaica, at first using J.U.87's and Ju.88's. German fighters started to operate at a slightly later date from advanced landing grounds, ME110's making their first appearance, followed shortly afterwards by Me.109's.
Before the end of February the Germans had assumed a leading role in the enemy air effort. The enemy's main bombing objective at first was Benghazi, which was attacked regularly and with some intensity between 14th and 20th February. Subsequent attacks, however, covered a wider range of objectives including Tobruk, our aerodromes in Cyrenaica and troops in the forward area at Aghelta and Agedabia. It was in fact due to this somewhat unexpected increase of enemy air activity, coupled with the presence of German fighters, that No. 73 (F) Squadron was retained in Cyrenaica when it had previously been intended to withdraw it from that front to provide further reinforcement for Greece.
Reconnaissance of Tripoli harbour from the middle of February onwards revealed considerable quantities of shipping using the port, and it soon became evident that the enemy was being rapidly reinforced. In addition to sea borne reinforcements, the enemy carried considerable numbers of troops to Tripoli by air in Ju.52's. German troops were included in the reinforcements and early in March it was estimated that the greater part of a German division had already arrived in Tripolitania. It was essential therefore to maintain attacks on shipping and harbour facilities at Tripoli to impede the flow of enemy reinforcements and supplies to Libya. Wellingtons of Nos. 38 and (7O (B) Squadrons, operating from landing grounds in Cyrenaica, accordingly bombed these objectives, making a total of forty sorties against Tripoli during February and March. Further attacks on Tripoli were made by F.A.A. Swordfish as well as Wellingtons operafing from Malta. Considerable damage was inflicted during these operations but the total effort which could be made available was insufficient to cause any serious obstruction to the arrival of enemy reinforcements. Other Wellington operations included attacks on aerodromes in Tripotitania and on shipping at Sirte which the Germans were developing as a forward base.
February 1941: It was at this time, particularly, that the weakness in number of modern aircraft at my disposal, chiefly Hurricanes and Blenheims, caused me the gravest concern. It had been anticipated that with the defeat of the Italian Air Force in Cyrenaica a quiet period on that front would justify considerable reduction in air strength. This proved to be far from the case, and it became apparent that air reinforcements would have to 'be sent to Cyrenaica immediately to prevent the enemy thrust from developing into a serious threat to Egypt. We were already heavily committed in Greece and more help had been promised. Squadrons were awaiting new aircraft in replacement of wastage, yet the promised arrival in Egypt of large air reinforcements from home both via Malta and Takoradi, in spite of periodical emergency ferrying operations by Aircraft Carriers, did not materialise and it was not until the latter end of April that the situation in this respect began to improve. Moreover, though ships were arriving via the Red Sea at Suez quite regularly, there was no steady supply of cased aircraft by this route during the whole of January, February and March. American Tomahawk fighters, which were beginning to come over from Takoradi, were at this time suffering from various " teething troubles " and were not yet ready for effective operation. Not only was the Air Force at my disposal insufficient for the commitments which had arisen, but the rate of replacement, either actual or within reach, was not sufficient to keep pace with wastage.
Whereas the losses from all causes from the 1st January, 1941 to 3ist March, 1941 were 184, during the same period the actual arrivals in Egypt via Takoradi and Malta were 147 and 19 respectively, or a total of 166. During the whole of March and April this factor of waning resources had to be taken into account in deciding how to employ the Air Force at my disposal economically and to the best advantage.
Our troops occupied Benghazi on 6th February, meeting little resistance in the final stages. The R.A.F. occupied Benina aerodrome on 10th February and found 87 unserviceable and damaged enemy aircraft there, which, together with those found at other aerodromes, notably El Adem and Gazala, were an indication of the effectiveness of the numerous bombing attacks made on enemy air force objectives and accounted very largely for the virtual collapse of the Italian Air Force during the latter stage of the advance.
Following the 'British occupation of Benghazi, the remnants of the enemy forces retreated Westwards into Tripolitania, while the Italian Air Force had been so depleted as to be incapable of offering any serious threat for the time being. Thus it appeared improbable at that time that the enemy would be able to stage an early counter-offensive in Libya. Meanwhile, the increasing gravity of the situation in Greece called for the early despatch of further air reinforcements to that theatre and the consequent reduction of the Royal Air Force at Cyrenaica.
The next phase, therefore, consisted of the reorganisation and redistribution of forces. H.Q. No. 202 Group, Nos. 45 and 113 (B) Squadrons, and No. 274 (F) Squadron were withdrawn to the Delta area in the middle of February. No. 208 (A.C.) Squadron was withdrawn at the end of February, but was replaced by No. 6 (A.C.) Squadron of which two flights were at that time already in Cyrenaica, the remainder of the Squadron being transferred to Aqir (Palestine). H.Q.,
R.A.F Cyrenaica was formed at Barce on 25th February, 1941, under the command of Group Captain L. O. Brown, D.S.C., A.F.C. The Squadrons remaining in Cyrenaica in March, 1941, were disposed as follows:— No. 3 Squadron R.A.A.F., which by that •time was completely re-armed with Hurricanes, was located at Benina to provide the air defence of Benghazi. No. 73 (F) Squadron, at first located al; Gazala, was moved to Bu Amed on I4th March to defend the Tobruk area. The Headquarters and one flight of No. 6 (A.C.) Squadron (Hurricanes and Lysanders) was at Barce, with a flight at Agedabia and sections at other landing grounds in Western Cyrenaica. No. 55 (B) Squadron was at Bu Amed until loth March, when it moved to Maraua.
Enemy air activity increased shortly after our occupation of Benghazi. It was at this time that German aircraft, operating from landing grounds near Tripoli began to attack our forces in Cyrenaica, at first using J.U.87's and Ju.88's. German fighters started to operate at a slightly later date from advanced landing grounds, ME110's making their first appearance, followed shortly afterwards by Me.109's.
Before the end of February the Germans had assumed a leading role in the enemy air effort. The enemy's main bombing objective at first was Benghazi, which was attacked regularly and with some intensity between 14th and 20th February. Subsequent attacks, however, covered a wider range of objectives including Tobruk, our aerodromes in Cyrenaica and troops in the forward area at Aghelta and Agedabia. It was in fact due to this somewhat unexpected increase of enemy air activity, coupled with the presence of German fighters, that No. 73 (F) Squadron was retained in Cyrenaica when it had previously been intended to withdraw it from that front to provide further reinforcement for Greece.
Reconnaissance of Tripoli harbour from the middle of February onwards revealed considerable quantities of shipping using the port, and it soon became evident that the enemy was being rapidly reinforced. In addition to sea borne reinforcements, the enemy carried considerable numbers of troops to Tripoli by air in Ju.52's. German troops were included in the reinforcements and early in March it was estimated that the greater part of a German division had already arrived in Tripolitania. It was essential therefore to maintain attacks on shipping and harbour facilities at Tripoli to impede the flow of enemy reinforcements and supplies to Libya. Wellingtons of Nos. 38 and (7O (B) Squadrons, operating from landing grounds in Cyrenaica, accordingly bombed these objectives, making a total of forty sorties against Tripoli during February and March. Further attacks on Tripoli were made by F.A.A. Swordfish as well as Wellingtons operafing from Malta. Considerable damage was inflicted during these operations but the total effort which could be made available was insufficient to cause any serious obstruction to the arrival of enemy reinforcements. Other Wellington operations included attacks on aerodromes in Tripotitania and on shipping at Sirte which the Germans were developing as a forward base.
February 1941: It was at this time, particularly, that the weakness in number of modern aircraft at my disposal, chiefly Hurricanes and Blenheims, caused me the gravest concern. It had been anticipated that with the defeat of the Italian Air Force in Cyrenaica a quiet period on that front would justify considerable reduction in air strength. This proved to be far from the case, and it became apparent that air reinforcements would have to 'be sent to Cyrenaica immediately to prevent the enemy thrust from developing into a serious threat to Egypt. We were already heavily committed in Greece and more help had been promised. Squadrons were awaiting new aircraft in replacement of wastage, yet the promised arrival in Egypt of large air reinforcements from home both via Malta and Takoradi, in spite of periodical emergency ferrying operations by Aircraft Carriers, did not materialise and it was not until the latter end of April that the situation in this respect began to improve. Moreover, though ships were arriving via the Red Sea at Suez quite regularly, there was no steady supply of cased aircraft by this route during the whole of January, February and March. American Tomahawk fighters, which were beginning to come over from Takoradi, were at this time suffering from various " teething troubles " and were not yet ready for effective operation. Not only was the Air Force at my disposal insufficient for the commitments which had arisen, but the rate of replacement, either actual or within reach, was not sufficient to keep pace with wastage.
Whereas the losses from all causes from the 1st January, 1941 to 3ist March, 1941 were 184, during the same period the actual arrivals in Egypt via Takoradi and Malta were 147 and 19 respectively, or a total of 166. During the whole of March and April this factor of waning resources had to be taken into account in deciding how to employ the Air Force at my disposal economically and to the best advantage.
March 1941 - North Africa
In April, Allied forces were forced back. Spackman along with general staffs evacuated the fortress port of Tobruk as the Australian 9th Infantry Division fell back to defend the port, and the remaining British and Commonwealth forces withdrew a further 160 km east to the Libyan–Egyptian border.
As Tobruk came under siege from the main Italian-German force, a small German battle-group continued to press eastwards. Capturing Fort Capuzzo and Bardia in passing, it then advanced into Egypt, and by the end of April had taken Sollum and the tactically important Halfaya Pass. Rommel garrisoned these positions, reinforcing the battle-group and ordering it onto the defensive.
Though isolated by land, Tobruk's garrison continued to receive supplies and replacements, delivered by the Royal Navy at night. Rommel's forces did not have the strength or training to take the fortress and this created a supply problem for his forward units. The front-line positions at Sollum were at the end of an extended supply chain that stretched back to Tripoli and had to bypass the coast road at Tobruk. Further, he was constantly threatened by a breakout of the British forces at the town and in reality, without the port in Axis hands, further advances into Egypt were impractical.
Early in March, increasing numbers of enemy M.T. were observed by air reconnaissances to be moving eastwards along the coastal roads, and by the 10th March large enemy concentrations were located in the area immediately West of Agheila. Simultaneously the enemy established forward landing grounds at Tamet, Syrte and El Makina.
By the middle of March it was estimated that the German forces in Libya had been built up to two divisions, one of which was armoured. With this increase of strength in personnel and equipment, the enemy forces gradually assumed an offensive role. At the same time enemy aircraft reconnoitred our forward positions apparently with the object of ascertaining the strength of our forces.
On 19th March an enemy patrol occupied the landing ground at Marada, about 80 miles South of Agheila. This move was a forerunner of increased activity by strong enemy patrols which- necessitated the withdrawal of our outposts from Agheila, the enemy occupying the fort there on 24th March. Italian infantry, supported by German armoured forces and dive-bombers, moved East of Agheila on 30th March, and on 31st March our forward troops were compelled to fall back on Agedabia. Blenheims of No. 55 Squadron bombed and machine-gunned enemy M.T. concentrations, while the landing ground at Misurata, from which enemy aircraft were operating in support of their advance, was successfully attacked by Wellingtons and Blenheims. The superior weight of the enemy enabled him to continue his advance, however, despite the opposition of our troops and aircraft.
March - East Africa:
The Italians made a stand in Keren until March 27th when they were forced to withdraw south and Italian air opposition gradually diminished, virtually ceasing by March 31st.
April 1941 - North Africa
On 2nd April, the enemy continued to advance in Cyrenaica, compelling our forward troops to withdraw from Agedabia. The situation in Benghazi thus became precarious, and orders for demolitions were issued. Preparations were made for the withdrawal of all R.A.F. Units from that area, and Benina was evacuated during the early evening of 2nd April, all demolitions having been completed. Although handicapped by the frequent moves of the (ground echelon necessitated by rapid withdrawal, squadrons continued to operate in direct support of the Army. Blenheims of No. 55 (B) Squadron, reinforced by No. 45 Squadron, provided reconnaissance, attacked concentrations of enemy M.T. and A.F.V's., and bombed forward enemy aerodromes. Hurricanes of No. 3 Australian Squadron and No. 73 (F) Squadron maintained constant patrols, covering our troops as they withdrew to new positions and making many effective attacks on enemy M.T. concentrations.
Wellingtons also made night attacks on enemy M.T. in addition to maintaining their offensive against Tripoli whilst they were still within striking range of that objective. No. 6 (A.C.) Squadron continued to operate directly under the control of the Army and provided such tactical reconnaissance as were possible with their limited capacity and under conditions in which their ground echelons, like 'those of the other squadrons, were constantly on the move.
For the next few days complete details of the movement of our own and enemy troops remained somewhat obscure. At times it was difficult for Army Co-operation aircraft to keep track of the movements of the particular force with which they were working. For instance, on April 2nd, both the Flight of No. 6 (A.C.) Squadron and the H.Q. of No. 2 Armoured Division with which they were operating spent the night at Antelat, but on the morning of the 3rd April the Flight discovered that Div. H.Q. had left and no information was forthcoming as to their movements. The Flight subsequently moved to the landing ground at Msus where Free French troops were unable to give any information concerning our troops in the area, nor did they know where Div. H.Q. was situated. It was not until noon that a message was received from Second Div. H.Q. which gave their position at that time as 30 miles West of Msus. A tactical reconnaissance about this time, taken by an aircraft of this Flight from Msus, reported enemy A.F.V's. and M.T. moving towards Msus. Whether this column was; in fact, an enemy one still remains uncertain, but according to the pilot the lorries were Italian and the personnel inside them opened fire, on his aircraft.
On the 4th April, enemy armoured forces threatened to outflank the Australian Division holding the Benina-Tocra position, necessitating their withdrawal to new positions on the Barce escarpment. In the meantime, as the Army withdrew to new positions, our Squadrons moved to landing grounds further East. On the 4th April, No. 3 Australian Squadron, No. 6 (A.C.) Squadron and Advanced H.Q., Cyrenaica, moved to Maraua, No. 55 Squadron to Derna and H.Q., Cyrenaica to Tobruk. On the same day 8 Blenheims of No. 45 Squadron reinforced No. 55 Squadron. The Australian Division withdrew to the Barce escarpment on the 5th April, covered by Hurricane patrols of Nos. 3 and 73 Squadrons. The Hurricane patrols were also extended to cover elements of our troops retiring towards Mechili.
In these operations, on 5th April our fighters destroyed 14 enemy aircraft for a loss of 2 Hurricanes. By the 7th April the Australian Division and support group had withdrawn, first to Derna and then to Gazala area. Meanwhile, our armoured forces, which had already suffered heavy losses, had fallen back on Mechili and joined up with the Indian Motor Brigade. At this stage R.A.F. Squadrons had withdrawn to aerodromes in the Tobruk area, and further movements were necessary on the 8th April when the Blenheim Squadrons and No. 3 R.A.A.F. Squadron withdrew to landing grounds East of the Cyrenaica-Egyptian frontier, and the Wellingtons to their bases in the Fuka area. No. 6 (A.C.) and 73 (F) Squadrons continued to operate from landing grounds within the Tobruk perimeter. The Australian Division withdrew to the outer perimeter of Tobruk on the 10th April. The following day enemy A.F.V's. cut the road between Tobruk and El Adem and our support group retired towards Sollum. From Mechili the enemy's forward troops continued their advance, and by the I3th April they had occupied Bardia and the Sollum escarpment where their advance was temporarily halted.
The situation by I3th April had become more stabilised and was as follows: — The enemy's thrust in the forward area at Sollum had lost momentum and there were indications that his troops there were experiencing administrative difficulties as a result of their rapid advance. Tobruk was held by a strong force of our troops and was invested by the enemy whose troops were concentrated West and South of the perimeter, with armoured forces astride the El Adem road. H.Q. No. 204 Group, which formed at Maaten Bagush on the I2th April under the command of Air Commodore R. Collishaw, C.B., D.S.O., O.B.E., D.S.C., D.F.C., had taken over the control of the Squadrons in the Western Desert from H.Q. Cyrenaica.
The tasks of the R.A.F. at this stage were :_
(a) To continue to attack lines of communication to aggravate the enemy's existing M.T. difficulties.
(b) To provide close support for the Army !by attacking enemy A.Jb.V's., M.T. concentrations and troops both in the forward .... areas and at Tobruk.
(c) To attack enemy aerodromes, primarily with the intention of destroying his transport aircraft which he was using to supply his forward troops.
(d) To 'bomb harbour facilities and shipping at Benghazi in order to interrupt the use of the port by the enemy and thereby prevent him from shortening his long lines of communication from Tripolitania.
(e) To provide the fighter defence of Tobruk.
Soon after the investment of Tobruk it became evident that it would no longer 'be possible to maintain No. 6 (A.C.) and No.73 (F) Squadrons on the aerodrome within the perimeter. In addition to frequent dive bombing attacks, which were liable to destroy or damage the aircraft beyond repair capacity available, the landing ground was within range of enemy artillery fire. These Squadrons were accordingly withdrawn to aerodromes in the vicinity of Maaten Bagush, with advanced landing ground near Sidi Barrani for re-fuelling. Owing to the distance of Tobruk from these aerodromes and even from the advanced landing ground at Sidi Barrani (120 miles from Tobruk), the task of maintaining fighter defence over Tobruk Harbour at such long range became extremely difficult. In addition, the depth of enemy penetration to the East put Tripoli out of range of our Wellingtons operating from the Western Desert, and made it most difficult to provide fighter escorts to our ships supplying the Tobruk garrison. On the other hand, it enabled the enemy to develop repeated bombing attacks on Tobruk without regular fighter interference, and it reduced the distance for his bombers operating against Alexandria or ships in the Eastern Mediterranean.
After a German-Italian attack on Tobruk on April 'I4th, during which No. 73 (F) Squadron shot down 9 E/A for loss of 2, there followed a period of comparative inactivity from a military standpoint. In the Sollum area, patrols of our mobile forces made raids well behind the enemy's forward troops. The enemy, however, continued to. supply his forward areas by means of M.T. and transport aircraft, although harassed by the activity of our mobile patrols and the continued attacks of our aircraft on his lines of communication and forward aerodromes. Enemy air activity at this stage was concentrated largely on Tobruk, apparently with the primary intention of denying the port to us. Hurricanes of No. 73 Squadron, providing the fighter defence of Tobruk, on several occasions engaged greatly superior numbers of the enemy with success, although not without loss to themselves. As an example, in a series of raids on Tobruk during 22nd and 23rd April in which the enemy employed a total of 100 bombers and about 150 fighters, Hurricanes destroyed 12 enemy aircraft and probably destroyed a further 2 with a loss to themselves of 3 Hurricanes.
The scale of our attack against enemy aerodromes was somewhat increased from about 2Oth April to the end of the period under review. More than 60 sorties by Wellingtons and Blenheims were made during this particular period, the main weight of this effort being directed against the enemy's forward aerodromes at Derna and Gazala, and the base aerodrome at Benin. By this time our squadrons in the Western Desert had been further reinforced by detachments of No. 274 (F) Squadron—Hurricanes and .No. 39 (B) Squadron—Marylands, the latter being employed mainly for strategical reconnaissances. No. 3 Squadron R.A.A.F. was withdrawn from the Western Desert on 2ist April and moved to Aboukir for rest after continuous fighting since 7th November, 1940.
Towards the end of the period under review, military activity increased, both in the frontier area and at Tobruk. The enemy's forward troops on the Sollum escarpment after being heavily reinforced with A.F.V's. advanced Eastwards on the 27th April and occupied Halfaya Pass. This appeared to be his main objective for, after establishing a forward line beween Halfaya and Sidi Omar he made no attempt to continue his advance. At Tobruk the enemy made a further determined attack on 1st May, employing 60 tanks supported by infantry and accompanied by heavy air attacks on our troops and defences. The enemy succeeded in breaking the outer defences of the perimeter but failed to pierce our main defences. Fighting continued for two days and on the 1st May, Hurricanes of Nos. 73 and 274 Squadrons maintained fighter patrols to protect our troops and artillery against enemy fighter and bomber action. The Hurricanes encountered enemy fighters, in greatly superior numbers but shot down 4 Me.109's in flames, with the loss of 1Hurricane. Our troops successfully counterattacked, destroying n enemy tanks and inflicting other heavy losses. The enemy however, retained a hold on 5,000 yards of the outer perimeter and our line was adjusted accordingly. A further attack by the enemy on the 2nd May was repulsed, after which the enemy effort there appeared to be temporarily spent.
A feature of the operations of this period was the high scale of effort maintained by a comparatively small air force working under the difficult conditions imposed by the enemy's rapid advance. From 1st April to 3rd May more than 400 bomber and fighter sorties were made against enemy M.T. convoys and concentrations, A.F.V's. and troops. Over 70 Wellington and 80 Blenheim sorties were made against enemy aerodromes and 64 Wellington and 12 Blenheim sorties were made against Benghazi. In addition, Hurricanes on several occasions machine-gunned aerodromes and in the course of numerous patrols destroyed 73 enemy aircraft in combat and probably destroyed a further 16, with a total loss of 22 Hurricanes. It would be true to say that the German-Italian success in regaining Cyrenaica was due more to the number, efficiency and mobility of their ground forces than to their numerical air superiority. At no time did the German-Italian Air Forces completely dominate the situation on this front.
On 2nd April, the enemy continued to advance in Cyrenaica, compelling our forward troops to withdraw from Agedabia. The situation in Benghazi thus became precarious, and orders for demolitions were issued. Preparations were made for the withdrawal of all R.A.F. Units from that area, and Benina was evacuated during the early evening of 2nd April, all demolitions having been completed. Although handicapped by the frequent moves of the (ground echelon necessitated by rapid withdrawal, squadrons continued to operate in direct support of the Army. Blenheims of No. 55 (B) Squadron, reinforced by No. 45 Squadron, provided reconnaissance, attacked concentrations of enemy M.T. and A.F.V's., and bombed forward enemy aerodromes. Hurricanes of No. 3 Australian Squadron and No. 73 (F) Squadron maintained constant patrols, covering our troops as they withdrew to new positions and making many effective attacks on enemy M.T. concentrations.
Wellingtons also made night attacks on enemy M.T. in addition to maintaining their offensive against Tripoli whilst they were still within striking range of that objective. No. 6 (A.C.) Squadron continued to operate directly under the control of the Army and provided such tactical reconnaissance as were possible with their limited capacity and under conditions in which their ground echelons, like 'those of the other squadrons, were constantly on the move.
For the next few days complete details of the movement of our own and enemy troops remained somewhat obscure. At times it was difficult for Army Co-operation aircraft to keep track of the movements of the particular force with which they were working. For instance, on April 2nd, both the Flight of No. 6 (A.C.) Squadron and the H.Q. of No. 2 Armoured Division with which they were operating spent the night at Antelat, but on the morning of the 3rd April the Flight discovered that Div. H.Q. had left and no information was forthcoming as to their movements. The Flight subsequently moved to the landing ground at Msus where Free French troops were unable to give any information concerning our troops in the area, nor did they know where Div. H.Q. was situated. It was not until noon that a message was received from Second Div. H.Q. which gave their position at that time as 30 miles West of Msus. A tactical reconnaissance about this time, taken by an aircraft of this Flight from Msus, reported enemy A.F.V's. and M.T. moving towards Msus. Whether this column was; in fact, an enemy one still remains uncertain, but according to the pilot the lorries were Italian and the personnel inside them opened fire, on his aircraft.
On the 4th April, enemy armoured forces threatened to outflank the Australian Division holding the Benina-Tocra position, necessitating their withdrawal to new positions on the Barce escarpment. In the meantime, as the Army withdrew to new positions, our Squadrons moved to landing grounds further East. On the 4th April, No. 3 Australian Squadron, No. 6 (A.C.) Squadron and Advanced H.Q., Cyrenaica, moved to Maraua, No. 55 Squadron to Derna and H.Q., Cyrenaica to Tobruk. On the same day 8 Blenheims of No. 45 Squadron reinforced No. 55 Squadron. The Australian Division withdrew to the Barce escarpment on the 5th April, covered by Hurricane patrols of Nos. 3 and 73 Squadrons. The Hurricane patrols were also extended to cover elements of our troops retiring towards Mechili.
In these operations, on 5th April our fighters destroyed 14 enemy aircraft for a loss of 2 Hurricanes. By the 7th April the Australian Division and support group had withdrawn, first to Derna and then to Gazala area. Meanwhile, our armoured forces, which had already suffered heavy losses, had fallen back on Mechili and joined up with the Indian Motor Brigade. At this stage R.A.F. Squadrons had withdrawn to aerodromes in the Tobruk area, and further movements were necessary on the 8th April when the Blenheim Squadrons and No. 3 R.A.A.F. Squadron withdrew to landing grounds East of the Cyrenaica-Egyptian frontier, and the Wellingtons to their bases in the Fuka area. No. 6 (A.C.) and 73 (F) Squadrons continued to operate from landing grounds within the Tobruk perimeter. The Australian Division withdrew to the outer perimeter of Tobruk on the 10th April. The following day enemy A.F.V's. cut the road between Tobruk and El Adem and our support group retired towards Sollum. From Mechili the enemy's forward troops continued their advance, and by the I3th April they had occupied Bardia and the Sollum escarpment where their advance was temporarily halted.
The situation by I3th April had become more stabilised and was as follows: — The enemy's thrust in the forward area at Sollum had lost momentum and there were indications that his troops there were experiencing administrative difficulties as a result of their rapid advance. Tobruk was held by a strong force of our troops and was invested by the enemy whose troops were concentrated West and South of the perimeter, with armoured forces astride the El Adem road. H.Q. No. 204 Group, which formed at Maaten Bagush on the I2th April under the command of Air Commodore R. Collishaw, C.B., D.S.O., O.B.E., D.S.C., D.F.C., had taken over the control of the Squadrons in the Western Desert from H.Q. Cyrenaica.
The tasks of the R.A.F. at this stage were :_
(a) To continue to attack lines of communication to aggravate the enemy's existing M.T. difficulties.
(b) To provide close support for the Army !by attacking enemy A.Jb.V's., M.T. concentrations and troops both in the forward .... areas and at Tobruk.
(c) To attack enemy aerodromes, primarily with the intention of destroying his transport aircraft which he was using to supply his forward troops.
(d) To 'bomb harbour facilities and shipping at Benghazi in order to interrupt the use of the port by the enemy and thereby prevent him from shortening his long lines of communication from Tripolitania.
(e) To provide the fighter defence of Tobruk.
Soon after the investment of Tobruk it became evident that it would no longer 'be possible to maintain No. 6 (A.C.) and No.73 (F) Squadrons on the aerodrome within the perimeter. In addition to frequent dive bombing attacks, which were liable to destroy or damage the aircraft beyond repair capacity available, the landing ground was within range of enemy artillery fire. These Squadrons were accordingly withdrawn to aerodromes in the vicinity of Maaten Bagush, with advanced landing ground near Sidi Barrani for re-fuelling. Owing to the distance of Tobruk from these aerodromes and even from the advanced landing ground at Sidi Barrani (120 miles from Tobruk), the task of maintaining fighter defence over Tobruk Harbour at such long range became extremely difficult. In addition, the depth of enemy penetration to the East put Tripoli out of range of our Wellingtons operating from the Western Desert, and made it most difficult to provide fighter escorts to our ships supplying the Tobruk garrison. On the other hand, it enabled the enemy to develop repeated bombing attacks on Tobruk without regular fighter interference, and it reduced the distance for his bombers operating against Alexandria or ships in the Eastern Mediterranean.
After a German-Italian attack on Tobruk on April 'I4th, during which No. 73 (F) Squadron shot down 9 E/A for loss of 2, there followed a period of comparative inactivity from a military standpoint. In the Sollum area, patrols of our mobile forces made raids well behind the enemy's forward troops. The enemy, however, continued to. supply his forward areas by means of M.T. and transport aircraft, although harassed by the activity of our mobile patrols and the continued attacks of our aircraft on his lines of communication and forward aerodromes. Enemy air activity at this stage was concentrated largely on Tobruk, apparently with the primary intention of denying the port to us. Hurricanes of No. 73 Squadron, providing the fighter defence of Tobruk, on several occasions engaged greatly superior numbers of the enemy with success, although not without loss to themselves. As an example, in a series of raids on Tobruk during 22nd and 23rd April in which the enemy employed a total of 100 bombers and about 150 fighters, Hurricanes destroyed 12 enemy aircraft and probably destroyed a further 2 with a loss to themselves of 3 Hurricanes.
The scale of our attack against enemy aerodromes was somewhat increased from about 2Oth April to the end of the period under review. More than 60 sorties by Wellingtons and Blenheims were made during this particular period, the main weight of this effort being directed against the enemy's forward aerodromes at Derna and Gazala, and the base aerodrome at Benin. By this time our squadrons in the Western Desert had been further reinforced by detachments of No. 274 (F) Squadron—Hurricanes and .No. 39 (B) Squadron—Marylands, the latter being employed mainly for strategical reconnaissances. No. 3 Squadron R.A.A.F. was withdrawn from the Western Desert on 2ist April and moved to Aboukir for rest after continuous fighting since 7th November, 1940.
Towards the end of the period under review, military activity increased, both in the frontier area and at Tobruk. The enemy's forward troops on the Sollum escarpment after being heavily reinforced with A.F.V's. advanced Eastwards on the 27th April and occupied Halfaya Pass. This appeared to be his main objective for, after establishing a forward line beween Halfaya and Sidi Omar he made no attempt to continue his advance. At Tobruk the enemy made a further determined attack on 1st May, employing 60 tanks supported by infantry and accompanied by heavy air attacks on our troops and defences. The enemy succeeded in breaking the outer defences of the perimeter but failed to pierce our main defences. Fighting continued for two days and on the 1st May, Hurricanes of Nos. 73 and 274 Squadrons maintained fighter patrols to protect our troops and artillery against enemy fighter and bomber action. The Hurricanes encountered enemy fighters, in greatly superior numbers but shot down 4 Me.109's in flames, with the loss of 1Hurricane. Our troops successfully counterattacked, destroying n enemy tanks and inflicting other heavy losses. The enemy however, retained a hold on 5,000 yards of the outer perimeter and our line was adjusted accordingly. A further attack by the enemy on the 2nd May was repulsed, after which the enemy effort there appeared to be temporarily spent.
A feature of the operations of this period was the high scale of effort maintained by a comparatively small air force working under the difficult conditions imposed by the enemy's rapid advance. From 1st April to 3rd May more than 400 bomber and fighter sorties were made against enemy M.T. convoys and concentrations, A.F.V's. and troops. Over 70 Wellington and 80 Blenheim sorties were made against enemy aerodromes and 64 Wellington and 12 Blenheim sorties were made against Benghazi. In addition, Hurricanes on several occasions machine-gunned aerodromes and in the course of numerous patrols destroyed 73 enemy aircraft in combat and probably destroyed a further 16, with a total loss of 22 Hurricanes. It would be true to say that the German-Italian success in regaining Cyrenaica was due more to the number, efficiency and mobility of their ground forces than to their numerical air superiority. At no time did the German-Italian Air Forces completely dominate the situation on this front.
July 1941
Following the see-saw of Allied and Axis successes and reverses in North Africa, General Auchinleck was appointed to succeed General Sir Archibald Wavell as C-in-C Middle East Command in July 1941.
At the same time, Spackman was appointed to Air Officer Commander (Air Comodore) No.203 Group* and took up the position on 13 July 1941 in Khartoum.He would remain as AOC for the region until 11 February 1942 when he returned to Egypt.
* No. 203 Group was formed from AHQ Sudan at Khartoum on 17 August 1940 to control all units in Sudan with an Advanced HQ at Asmara from March to April 1941. On 1 July 1942 a detachment was again set up at Asmara, disbanding on 10 January 1943. The Group disbanded on 10 May 1943 with its tasking being taken over by a new No 283 Wing. It was reformed the same day as No 203 (Training) Group at Heliopolis in Middle East Command to control the OTUs, Middle East Training Schools and the RAF (Middle East) Central Gunnery School. It disbanded on 28 February 1945, with its functions being transferred to AHQ Eastern Mediterranean.
Spackman’s squadrons included:
October 1941
There were only four Groups in the Middle East at the time and their AOCs in October 1941 were:
201 (GR), AOC - AVM L H Slatter
202 (Bomber), AOC - A/Cdre T W Elmhirst
203 Khartoum, AOC - A/Cdre C B S Spackman
204 Western Desert, AOC - AVM A Coningham
November 1941
A new Allied offensive in North Africa began in November 1941. After a see-saw battle, the 70th Division garrisoning Tobruk was relieved and the Axis forces were forced to fall back. In East Africa, the last organised Italian resistance in East Africa ended with the fall of Gondar. However, following the surrender of East Africa, some Italians conducted a guerrilla war which lasted for two more years
Following the see-saw of Allied and Axis successes and reverses in North Africa, General Auchinleck was appointed to succeed General Sir Archibald Wavell as C-in-C Middle East Command in July 1941.
At the same time, Spackman was appointed to Air Officer Commander (Air Comodore) No.203 Group* and took up the position on 13 July 1941 in Khartoum.He would remain as AOC for the region until 11 February 1942 when he returned to Egypt.
* No. 203 Group was formed from AHQ Sudan at Khartoum on 17 August 1940 to control all units in Sudan with an Advanced HQ at Asmara from March to April 1941. On 1 July 1942 a detachment was again set up at Asmara, disbanding on 10 January 1943. The Group disbanded on 10 May 1943 with its tasking being taken over by a new No 283 Wing. It was reformed the same day as No 203 (Training) Group at Heliopolis in Middle East Command to control the OTUs, Middle East Training Schools and the RAF (Middle East) Central Gunnery School. It disbanded on 28 February 1945, with its functions being transferred to AHQ Eastern Mediterranean.
Spackman’s squadrons included:
- No. 47 Squadron RAF (Wellesley bombers)
- No. 237 Rhodesian Army Cooperation Squadron (Hardy, Lysanders and Gladiators)
- No. 3 Fighter Squadron (Hurricanes, Gladiators and Mohawk)
- No. 15 Bomber Squadron (2 Fairey Battle aircraft)
- No. 16 Bomber Squadron (captured German Junkers 86)
- No. 41 Army Co-operation Squadron (Hartbeest).
October 1941
There were only four Groups in the Middle East at the time and their AOCs in October 1941 were:
201 (GR), AOC - AVM L H Slatter
202 (Bomber), AOC - A/Cdre T W Elmhirst
203 Khartoum, AOC - A/Cdre C B S Spackman
204 Western Desert, AOC - AVM A Coningham
November 1941
A new Allied offensive in North Africa began in November 1941. After a see-saw battle, the 70th Division garrisoning Tobruk was relieved and the Axis forces were forced to fall back. In East Africa, the last organised Italian resistance in East Africa ended with the fall of Gondar. However, following the surrender of East Africa, some Italians conducted a guerrilla war which lasted for two more years
1942
January 1942
With the official surrender of Italian forces in East Africa, Spackman was moved again. This time to Libya (Check?), leaving Khartoum on 11 February.
April 1942
2: Spackman was posted to command No.57 O.T.U.
June-July 1942
After receiving supplies and reinforcements from Tripoli, the Axis attacked again, defeating the Allies at Gazala in June and capturing Tobruk. The Axis forces drove the Eighth Army back over the Egyptian border, but their advance was stopped in July only 90 mi (140 km) from Alexandria in the First Battle of El Alamein.General Auchinleck, although he had checked Rommel's advance at the First Battle of El Alamein, was replaced by General Harold Alexander. Lieutenant-General William Gott was promoted from XIII Corps commander to take command of the entire Eighth Army, but he was killed when his aircraft was intercepted and shot down over Egypt. He was replaced by Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery.
August 1942
20: Spackman was posted to 14 Group as S.A.S.O.
October 1942
After a lengthy period of build-up and training, the Eighth Army launched a major offensive, decisively defeating the Italian-German army during the Second Battle of El Alamein in late October 1942, driving the Axis forces westward and capturing Tripoli in mid-January 1943. By February, the Eighth Army was facing the Italian-German Panzer Army near the Mareth Line and came under command of General Harold Alexander's 18th Army Group for the concluding phase of the war in North Africa, the Tunisia Campaign
January 1942
With the official surrender of Italian forces in East Africa, Spackman was moved again. This time to Libya (Check?), leaving Khartoum on 11 February.
April 1942
2: Spackman was posted to command No.57 O.T.U.
June-July 1942
After receiving supplies and reinforcements from Tripoli, the Axis attacked again, defeating the Allies at Gazala in June and capturing Tobruk. The Axis forces drove the Eighth Army back over the Egyptian border, but their advance was stopped in July only 90 mi (140 km) from Alexandria in the First Battle of El Alamein.General Auchinleck, although he had checked Rommel's advance at the First Battle of El Alamein, was replaced by General Harold Alexander. Lieutenant-General William Gott was promoted from XIII Corps commander to take command of the entire Eighth Army, but he was killed when his aircraft was intercepted and shot down over Egypt. He was replaced by Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery.
August 1942
20: Spackman was posted to 14 Group as S.A.S.O.
October 1942
After a lengthy period of build-up and training, the Eighth Army launched a major offensive, decisively defeating the Italian-German army during the Second Battle of El Alamein in late October 1942, driving the Axis forces westward and capturing Tripoli in mid-January 1943. By February, the Eighth Army was facing the Italian-German Panzer Army near the Mareth Line and came under command of General Harold Alexander's 18th Army Group for the concluding phase of the war in North Africa, the Tunisia Campaign
November 1942
Operation Torch started on 8 November 1942, and finished on 11 November. In an attempt to pincer German and Italian forces, Allied forces (American and British Commonwealth), landed in Vichy-held French North Africa under the assumption that there would be little to no resistance. Nevertheless, Vichy French forces put up a strong and bloody resistance to the Allies in Oran and Morocco, but not in Algiers, where a coup d'état by the French resistance on 8 November succeeded in neutralizing the French XIX Corps before the landing and arresting the Vichy commanders. Consequently, the landings met no practical opposition in Algiers, and the city was captured on the first day along with the entire Vichy African command. After three days of talks and threats, Generals Mark Clark and Dwight Eisenhower compelled the Vichy Admiral François Darlan (and General Alphonse Juin) to order the cessation of armed resistance in Oran and Morocco by French forces on 10–11 November with the provision that Darlan would be head of a Free French administration. During Operation Torch, American, Vichy French and German navy vessels fought the Naval Battle of Casablanca, ending in an American victory.
The Allied landings prompted the Axis occupation of Vichy France (Case Anton). In addition, the French fleet was captured at Toulon by the Italians, something which did them little good as the main portion of the fleet had been scuttled to prevent their use by the Axis. The Vichy army in North Africa joined the Allies
Following the Operation Torch landings, (from early November 1942), the Germans and Italians initiated a buildup of troops in Tunisia to fill the vacuum left by Vichy troops which had withdrawn. During this period of weakness, the Allies decided against a rapid advance into Tunisia while they wrestled with the Vichy authorities. Many of the Allied soldiers were tied up in garrison duties because of the uncertain status and intentions of the Vichy forces.
By mid-November, the Allies were able to advance into Tunisia but only in single division strength. By early December, the Eastern Task Force—which had been redesignated as the British First Army under Lieutenant-General Kenneth Anderson—was composed of the British 78th Infantry Division, British 6th Armoured Division, 1st Parachute Brigade, No. 6 Commando and elements of US 1st Armored Division. But by this time, one German and five Italian divisions had been shipped from Europe and the remoteness of Allied airfields from the front line gave the Axis clear air superiority over the battlefield. The Allies were halted and pushed back having advanced eastwards to within 30 kilometres (19 mi) of Tunis.
During the winter, there followed a period of stalemate during which time both sides continued to build up their forces.
The USAF were now using RAF Bases such as El Amiriya (79th Fighter Group Nov 1942-Jan 1943 & 324th Fighter Group Dec 1942-Feb 1943. Both flying P-40 Warhawks)
November 13: Spackman was next promoted from Group Captain to temporary Air Commodore effective from 1 Nov 1942.
67 OTU
November 1942
Operation Torch started on 8 November 1942, and finished on 11 November. In an attempt to pincer German and Italian forces, Allied forces (American and British Commonwealth), landed in Vichy-held French North Africa under the assumption that there would be little to no resistance. Nevertheless, Vichy French forces put up a strong and bloody resistance to the Allies in Oran and Morocco, but not in Algiers, where a coup d'état by the French resistance on 8 November succeeded in neutralizing the French XIX Corps before the landing and arresting the Vichy commanders. Consequently, the landings met no practical opposition in Algiers, and the city was captured on the first day along with the entire Vichy African command. After three days of talks and threats, Generals Mark Clark and Dwight Eisenhower compelled the Vichy Admiral François Darlan (and General Alphonse Juin) to order the cessation of armed resistance in Oran and Morocco by French forces on 10–11 November with the provision that Darlan would be head of a Free French administration. During Operation Torch, American, Vichy French and German navy vessels fought the Naval Battle of Casablanca, ending in an American victory.
The Allied landings prompted the Axis occupation of Vichy France (Case Anton). In addition, the French fleet was captured at Toulon by the Italians, something which did them little good as the main portion of the fleet had been scuttled to prevent their use by the Axis. The Vichy army in North Africa joined the Allies
Following the Operation Torch landings, (from early November 1942), the Germans and Italians initiated a buildup of troops in Tunisia to fill the vacuum left by Vichy troops which had withdrawn. During this period of weakness, the Allies decided against a rapid advance into Tunisia while they wrestled with the Vichy authorities. Many of the Allied soldiers were tied up in garrison duties because of the uncertain status and intentions of the Vichy forces.
By mid-November, the Allies were able to advance into Tunisia but only in single division strength. By early December, the Eastern Task Force—which had been redesignated as the British First Army under Lieutenant-General Kenneth Anderson—was composed of the British 78th Infantry Division, British 6th Armoured Division, 1st Parachute Brigade, No. 6 Commando and elements of US 1st Armored Division. But by this time, one German and five Italian divisions had been shipped from Europe and the remoteness of Allied airfields from the front line gave the Axis clear air superiority over the battlefield. The Allies were halted and pushed back having advanced eastwards to within 30 kilometres (19 mi) of Tunis.
During the winter, there followed a period of stalemate during which time both sides continued to build up their forces.
The USAF were now using RAF Bases such as El Amiriya (79th Fighter Group Nov 1942-Jan 1943 & 324th Fighter Group Dec 1942-Feb 1943. Both flying P-40 Warhawks)
November 13: Spackman was next promoted from Group Captain to temporary Air Commodore effective from 1 Nov 1942.
67 OTU
January 1943
In January 1943, R.A.F. Fighter Command was split up into the Air Defence of Great Britain and the Second Tactical Air Force.
The Air Defence of Great Britain Command's primary aim was defence of the UK from attack, with the Second Tactical Air Force concentrating on supporting ground forces after the eventual invasion of Europe
Spackman was recalled to Britain and appointed as Deputy Air Officer in Charge of Administraton, HQ Fighter Command based at RAF Bentley Priory, Stanmore, North London.
In North Africa, by the new year, the British First Army had one British, one US and one French Corps (a second British Corps headquarters was activated in April). In the second half of February, in eastern Tunisia, Rommel and von Arnim had some successes against the mainly inexperienced French and US troops, most notably in routing the US II Corps commanded by Major General Lloyd Fredendall at the Battle of Kasserine Pass.
By the beginning of March, the British Eighth Army—advancing westward along the North African coast—had reached the Tunisian border. Rommel and von Arnim found themselves in an Allied "two army" pincer. They were outflanked, outmanned and outgunned. The British Eighth Army bypassed the Axis defence on the Mareth Line in late March and First Army in central Tunisia launched their main offensive in mid-April to squeeze the Axis forces until their resistance in Africa collapsed.
May 1943
The Axis forces surrendered on 13 May 1943 yielding over 275,000 prisoners of war. The last Axis force to surrender in North Africa was the 1st Italian Army.[54] This huge loss of experienced troops greatly reduced the military capacity of the Axis powers, although the largest percentage of Axis troops escaped Tunisia. This defeat in Africa led to all Italian colonies in Africa being captured
After victory by the Allies in the North African Campaign, the stage was set for the Italian Campaign to begin. The invasion of Sicily followed two months later. Nearly 400,000 Axis and Allied troops were either lost, injured, or died of disease by the end of the North African Campaign.
On 7 May, the surrender of Axis forces in Tunisia and other near continuous Italian reversals, led King Victor Emmanuel III to plan the removal of Mussolini. Following the Invasion of Sicily, all support for Mussolini evaporated. A meeting of the Grand Council of Fascism was held on 24 July, which managed to impose a vote of no confidence to Mussolini. The "Duce" was subsequently deposed and arrested by the King on the following afternoon. Afterwards, Mussolini remained a prisoner of the King until 12 September, when, on the orders of Hitler, he was rescued by German paratroops and became leader of the newly established Italian Social Republic.
After 25 July, the new Italian government under the King and Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio remained outwardly part of the Axis. But, secretly, it started negotiations with the Allies. On the eve of the American landings at Salerno, which started the Allied invasion of Italy, the new Italian government secretly signed an armistice with the Allies. On 8 September, the armistice was made public. In Albania, Yugoslavia, the Dodecanese, and other territories still held by the Italians, German military forces successfully attacked their former Italian allies and ended Italy's rule. During the Dodecanese Campaign, an Allied attempt to take the Dodecanese with the cooperation of the Italian troops ended in total German victory. In China, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied Italy's concession in Tientsin after getting news of the armistice. Later in 1943 the Italian Social Republic formally ceded control of the concession to Japan's puppet regime in China, the Reorganized National Government of China under Wang Jingwei.
September 1943
13 September: Spackman was appointed to the Rank of Acting Air Vice Marshal and as Air Officer in Charge of Administration, HQ Fighter Command reporting to Air Vice Marshal, William Callaway.
15 November: Spackman was promoted to the rank of Air Officer in Charge of Administration, HQ Air Defence of Great Britain.
07 December: Grant of acting rank - from Air Commodore to Air Vice Marshal effective from 13 September, 1943.
Portrait dating from this year.
And as for the Photographer?
Walter Stoneman (1876-1958) was the photographer and associated with 18,521 portraits.
From the age of twenty-one Stoneman worked as a photographer for the large established firm of J. Russell & Sons of Baker Street, London. He worked his way up, photographing society figures. By 1913, he had risen to the position of Managing Director. In 1917 he approached the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, James Milner, with an ambitious idea for a National Photographic Record. The Record was set up to photograph every eminent British person, with a photograph of each to be kept as a permanent record in the Gallery's reference collection. Stoneman photographed some 7,000 sitters on the Gallery's behalf; he worked on the Record for forty-one years, adding 100-200 portraits each year.
In January 1943, R.A.F. Fighter Command was split up into the Air Defence of Great Britain and the Second Tactical Air Force.
The Air Defence of Great Britain Command's primary aim was defence of the UK from attack, with the Second Tactical Air Force concentrating on supporting ground forces after the eventual invasion of Europe
Spackman was recalled to Britain and appointed as Deputy Air Officer in Charge of Administraton, HQ Fighter Command based at RAF Bentley Priory, Stanmore, North London.
In North Africa, by the new year, the British First Army had one British, one US and one French Corps (a second British Corps headquarters was activated in April). In the second half of February, in eastern Tunisia, Rommel and von Arnim had some successes against the mainly inexperienced French and US troops, most notably in routing the US II Corps commanded by Major General Lloyd Fredendall at the Battle of Kasserine Pass.
By the beginning of March, the British Eighth Army—advancing westward along the North African coast—had reached the Tunisian border. Rommel and von Arnim found themselves in an Allied "two army" pincer. They were outflanked, outmanned and outgunned. The British Eighth Army bypassed the Axis defence on the Mareth Line in late March and First Army in central Tunisia launched their main offensive in mid-April to squeeze the Axis forces until their resistance in Africa collapsed.
May 1943
The Axis forces surrendered on 13 May 1943 yielding over 275,000 prisoners of war. The last Axis force to surrender in North Africa was the 1st Italian Army.[54] This huge loss of experienced troops greatly reduced the military capacity of the Axis powers, although the largest percentage of Axis troops escaped Tunisia. This defeat in Africa led to all Italian colonies in Africa being captured
After victory by the Allies in the North African Campaign, the stage was set for the Italian Campaign to begin. The invasion of Sicily followed two months later. Nearly 400,000 Axis and Allied troops were either lost, injured, or died of disease by the end of the North African Campaign.
On 7 May, the surrender of Axis forces in Tunisia and other near continuous Italian reversals, led King Victor Emmanuel III to plan the removal of Mussolini. Following the Invasion of Sicily, all support for Mussolini evaporated. A meeting of the Grand Council of Fascism was held on 24 July, which managed to impose a vote of no confidence to Mussolini. The "Duce" was subsequently deposed and arrested by the King on the following afternoon. Afterwards, Mussolini remained a prisoner of the King until 12 September, when, on the orders of Hitler, he was rescued by German paratroops and became leader of the newly established Italian Social Republic.
After 25 July, the new Italian government under the King and Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio remained outwardly part of the Axis. But, secretly, it started negotiations with the Allies. On the eve of the American landings at Salerno, which started the Allied invasion of Italy, the new Italian government secretly signed an armistice with the Allies. On 8 September, the armistice was made public. In Albania, Yugoslavia, the Dodecanese, and other territories still held by the Italians, German military forces successfully attacked their former Italian allies and ended Italy's rule. During the Dodecanese Campaign, an Allied attempt to take the Dodecanese with the cooperation of the Italian troops ended in total German victory. In China, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied Italy's concession in Tientsin after getting news of the armistice. Later in 1943 the Italian Social Republic formally ceded control of the concession to Japan's puppet regime in China, the Reorganized National Government of China under Wang Jingwei.
September 1943
13 September: Spackman was appointed to the Rank of Acting Air Vice Marshal and as Air Officer in Charge of Administration, HQ Fighter Command reporting to Air Vice Marshal, William Callaway.
15 November: Spackman was promoted to the rank of Air Officer in Charge of Administration, HQ Air Defence of Great Britain.
07 December: Grant of acting rank - from Air Commodore to Air Vice Marshal effective from 13 September, 1943.
Portrait dating from this year.
And as for the Photographer?
Walter Stoneman (1876-1958) was the photographer and associated with 18,521 portraits.
From the age of twenty-one Stoneman worked as a photographer for the large established firm of J. Russell & Sons of Baker Street, London. He worked his way up, photographing society figures. By 1913, he had risen to the position of Managing Director. In 1917 he approached the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, James Milner, with an ambitious idea for a National Photographic Record. The Record was set up to photograph every eminent British person, with a photograph of each to be kept as a permanent record in the Gallery's reference collection. Stoneman photographed some 7,000 sitters on the Gallery's behalf; he worked on the Record for forty-one years, adding 100-200 portraits each year.
Charles Basil Slater Spackman
by Walter Stoneman.
Bromide print, November 1943.
5 1/8 in. x 3 3/8 in. (129 mm x 86 mm) image size.
Commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, 1943.
Photographs Collection. National Portrait Gallery, London. 169335
by Walter Stoneman.
Bromide print, November 1943.
5 1/8 in. x 3 3/8 in. (129 mm x 86 mm) image size.
Commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, 1943.
Photographs Collection. National Portrait Gallery, London. 169335
Walter Stoneman (1876-1958) from the age of twenty-one, worked as a photographer for the large established firm of J. Russell & Sons of Baker Street, London. He worked his way up, photographing society figures. By 1913, he had risen to the position of Managing Director. In 1917 he approached the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, James Milner, with an ambitious idea for a National Photographic Record. The Record was set up to photograph every eminent British person, with a photograph of each to be kept as a permanent record in the Gallery's reference collection. Stoneman photographed some 7,000 sitters on the Gallery's behalf; he worked on the Record for forty-one years, adding 100-200 portraits each year.
RAF Fighter Command - 1943:
(l-r) Group Captain Theodore McEvoy (1904-1991), Air Vice Marshal William Callaway, Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command: Air Vice Marshall Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory (1892-1944), Air Vice Marshal Charles Edmonds (1891-1954) and Air Vice Marshal C.B.S. Spackman (1895-1971).
(l-r) Group Captain Theodore McEvoy (1904-1991), Air Vice Marshal William Callaway, Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command: Air Vice Marshall Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory (1892-1944), Air Vice Marshal Charles Edmonds (1891-1954) and Air Vice Marshal C.B.S. Spackman (1895-1971).
13 Sep 1944: AOA, HQ Fighter Command.
A/Cdre (WS): 13 Sep 1944,
13 Sep 1944: AOA, HQ Fighter Command.
1945
CBE - 1 Jan 1945,
C.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1945. The following recommendation is taken from Air Ministry records: ‘This officer has for over 12 months been Air Officer in Charge of Administration for A.D.G.B. Both before and during the Normandy operations, the allied air forces depended very largely on the A.D.G.B. administrative organisation. Large numbers of new units had to be formed, new landing grounds opened up and a great number of stations had to be handed over to the USAAF. The smooth and efficient working of the administrative machine, both before and during the battle, was mainly due to the zeal, ability, tact and steadiness shown by Air Vice-Marshal Spackman.’
24 September 1945 until 19 August 1947, Spackman was the Air Officer Commanding, No 19 (General Reconaissance) Group RAF based at MountWise, Plymouth. MountWise was a combined Royal Navy and RAF base which provided command facilities for NATO operations in the Eastern Atlantic area.
The No. 19 (General Reconasissance) Group RAF included these squadrons:
Operated Sunderland GR5 from RAF Calshot.
The group relocated to RAF Mount Batten in 1947.
February 1945, Owen Valentine Burns (1915-2015) became PA to the AOC, AVM CBS Spackman in Plymouth. Burns had an interesting career in the RAF, joined 235 Squadron at Bircham Newton in June 1940. The squadron mainly carried out aerodrome protection duties and escorted aircraft that were attacking the French ports and German shipping. On an offensive sweep on 18th November he shot down a Do18 flying boat. Returning from a dusk patrol over the North Sea on 14th February 1941, Burns Blenheim hit a tree as it was about to land at Langham, when the flarepath lights were put out because of enemy aircraft in the vicinity. The observer was killed, the pilot was seriously injured and Burns escaped with a broken collarbone. After a spell of Aerodrome Control duties, Burns joined 279 (ASR) Squadron in December 1941, flying Hudsons carrying the 24 foot long airborne lifeboat. Commissioned in February 1943, Burns was posted to 5(C) OTU in December as an instructor. In 1944 he did specialised gunnery courses and in December went to 16 Group in Edinburgh, where he was one of a small team re-writing gunnery instructions for all aircrew.Burns was appointed Gunnery Officer at 19 Group Plymouth in January 1945 and the following month began work with Spackman. On Spackman's promotion in 1947, Burns was posted to RAF West Kirby and left the Air Force in 1948. Owen worked in the North West of England for a whisky company before coming to London after his retirement.
CBE - 1 Jan 1945,
C.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1945. The following recommendation is taken from Air Ministry records: ‘This officer has for over 12 months been Air Officer in Charge of Administration for A.D.G.B. Both before and during the Normandy operations, the allied air forces depended very largely on the A.D.G.B. administrative organisation. Large numbers of new units had to be formed, new landing grounds opened up and a great number of stations had to be handed over to the USAAF. The smooth and efficient working of the administrative machine, both before and during the battle, was mainly due to the zeal, ability, tact and steadiness shown by Air Vice-Marshal Spackman.’
24 September 1945 until 19 August 1947, Spackman was the Air Officer Commanding, No 19 (General Reconaissance) Group RAF based at MountWise, Plymouth. MountWise was a combined Royal Navy and RAF base which provided command facilities for NATO operations in the Eastern Atlantic area.
The No. 19 (General Reconasissance) Group RAF included these squadrons:
- 210 Sqn
Operated Sunderland GR5 from RAF Calshot.
- 224 Sqn
- 230 Sqn
- 36 Sqn
- 42 Sqn
The group relocated to RAF Mount Batten in 1947.
February 1945, Owen Valentine Burns (1915-2015) became PA to the AOC, AVM CBS Spackman in Plymouth. Burns had an interesting career in the RAF, joined 235 Squadron at Bircham Newton in June 1940. The squadron mainly carried out aerodrome protection duties and escorted aircraft that were attacking the French ports and German shipping. On an offensive sweep on 18th November he shot down a Do18 flying boat. Returning from a dusk patrol over the North Sea on 14th February 1941, Burns Blenheim hit a tree as it was about to land at Langham, when the flarepath lights were put out because of enemy aircraft in the vicinity. The observer was killed, the pilot was seriously injured and Burns escaped with a broken collarbone. After a spell of Aerodrome Control duties, Burns joined 279 (ASR) Squadron in December 1941, flying Hudsons carrying the 24 foot long airborne lifeboat. Commissioned in February 1943, Burns was posted to 5(C) OTU in December as an instructor. In 1944 he did specialised gunnery courses and in December went to 16 Group in Edinburgh, where he was one of a small team re-writing gunnery instructions for all aircrew.Burns was appointed Gunnery Officer at 19 Group Plymouth in January 1945 and the following month began work with Spackman. On Spackman's promotion in 1947, Burns was posted to RAF West Kirby and left the Air Force in 1948. Owen worked in the North West of England for a whisky company before coming to London after his retirement.
1946
In the London Gazette of January 8, 1946, Spackman was formally promoted twice:
On October 1, Spackman was promoted from his temporary but acting Air Vice Marshal position to a full Air Vice-Marshal.
In the London Gazette of January 8, 1946, Spackman was formally promoted twice:
- Promotion from Group Captain to Air Commodore, effective from January 1, 1946.
- This was immediately followed by a promotion from Air Comodore to temporary Air Vice Marshall (acting) also effective from January 1, 1946.
On October 1, Spackman was promoted from his temporary but acting Air Vice Marshal position to a full Air Vice-Marshal.
1947
September 12:
Spackman was Appointed S.A.S.O. (Senior Air Staff Officer), HQ B.A.F.O (British Air Forces of Occupation), Berlin, Germany.
Canned food, dried fruit, milk powder, and coffee - all part of the Care packages that were a lifesaver for many Berliners. Private US aid organisation Care chartered its own planes, which brought up to 1,000 care packages to the city every day. The contents, worth $15 (€13), fed a family for a month.
Around this time, Spackman met Anna Margareta Gunster in Gütersloh, a city in the North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
The RAF had established it's Headquarters No. 2 Group RAF here in June 1945 (operating as a RAF station until closure in 1993).
Below: a portrait of Anna Margareta (who preferred to be known simply as 'Gretta') by Spackman around this time.
This portrait appeared in a post war art exhibition in London next to a work by Winston Churchill.
Gretta and Basil were to marry c. 1956
(Thanks to Brian Barry for a copy of the portrait and details)
CB - 2 Jan 1950,
C.B. London Gazette 2 January 1950.
Retired at his own request
Basil next studied art at the Hammersmith School of Art under Frederick Gray during 1950 and exhibiting at the Nineteenth Army Art Society in the Imperial Institute, London during autumn 1950.
Below are two of his works included in the Illustrated London News of November 4, 1950
Below are two of his works included in the Illustrated London News of November 4, 1950
Illustrated London News, November 4, 1950, p744. featuring the Nineteenth Exhibition of the Army Art Society at the Imperial Institute, South Kensington October-November, 1950.
The Society was formed in 1925 as The Army Officers’ Art Society by two retired officers. At that time Royal Navy and Royal Air Force officers exhibited by invitation only. The standard was high from the beginning as the Society included professional artists whose careers had been interrupted by active service during the First World War. After remaining dormant during the Second World War, it was reformed in 1947 as the Army Art Society and all ranks became eligible to exhibit. Past members included Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, Professor Ken Howard, David Shepherd, Sir Michael Noakes and many others. Current members include well known artists who are also members of the RP, RSMA, RBA, RI, ROI etc. Exhibitions have always taken place in central London, initially in Westminster, the Mall Galleries, for several years at the National Army Museum, then at Painters’ Hall in the City before returning to the Mall Galleries from 2001 to 2015 then finally to the Menier Gallery 2017 & 2018. After ninety three years, the society closed in 2018.
The Society was formed in 1925 as The Army Officers’ Art Society by two retired officers. At that time Royal Navy and Royal Air Force officers exhibited by invitation only. The standard was high from the beginning as the Society included professional artists whose careers had been interrupted by active service during the First World War. After remaining dormant during the Second World War, it was reformed in 1947 as the Army Art Society and all ranks became eligible to exhibit. Past members included Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, Professor Ken Howard, David Shepherd, Sir Michael Noakes and many others. Current members include well known artists who are also members of the RP, RSMA, RBA, RI, ROI etc. Exhibitions have always taken place in central London, initially in Westminster, the Mall Galleries, for several years at the National Army Museum, then at Painters’ Hall in the City before returning to the Mall Galleries from 2001 to 2015 then finally to the Menier Gallery 2017 & 2018. After ninety three years, the society closed in 2018.
An Aer Lingus poster from the 1950s courtesy of Tony Murray, taken from Doesn't Time Fly; Aer Lingus - Its History by Mike Cronin
Spackman moved to Ireland c. late 1952 and lived for a time at Blackstone Bridge, Co. Kerry where much of his Kerry landscapes date from.
During research for this article, it was discovered that a significant number of senior British military ranks chose Ireland, Australia and South Africa as nations to retire to other than the United Kingdom.
Spackman moved to Ireland c. late 1952 and lived for a time at Blackstone Bridge, Co. Kerry where much of his Kerry landscapes date from.
During research for this article, it was discovered that a significant number of senior British military ranks chose Ireland, Australia and South Africa as nations to retire to other than the United Kingdom.
Examples of Spackman's art works
Basil exhibited his works at a number of different establishments during the 1950s and 60s.
Below: the 1959 catalogue for the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art Exhibition in Conway, Wales.
Basil had one oil painting, 'The Thames, Low Tide' on show priced at £15.15.0 (the equivalent of €1485 in 2018).
Below: the 1959 catalogue for the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art Exhibition in Conway, Wales.
Basil had one oil painting, 'The Thames, Low Tide' on show priced at £15.15.0 (the equivalent of €1485 in 2018).
1960's
married1956 Anna Margareta Gunster
Basil retired from the RAF in April 1950, and moved to Ireland c.1951. Shortly after his arrival in Ireland, he moved to Cork and this is where the unexpected connection with Diarmuid Lynch begins. While living in the city, Basil had heard that a bungalow built in the 1930's was for sale in Tracton, near Minane Bridge.
The bungalow had been built by Diarmuid & Kit Lynch on their return from the United States in the late thirties and they both had retired there until Diarmuid's death in 1950. On Kit's death in 1954, the house and land was passed to Lynch's nephew (my father, also named Diarmuid.) Not having much use for another home in 1955, the building and adjoining acre of land was put on the market. It remained on the market for months until Basil Spackman and his wife Gretta, spotted it and bought it.
Basil by this stage was an acomplished artist, and for the next sixteen years, painted from his studio in Tracton and on various forays into the Irish countryside. His works appear from time to time in various auction rooms around the country and overseas.
Over the course of his retirement, Basil exhibited at The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh; The Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin; The Royal Cambrian Academy in Conway, Wales; The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours , London; The Royal Society of British Artists, London as well as many other British and Irish exhibitions. His works appeared in The Connoisseur Magazine and The Illustrated London News in between memberships of such organisations as the Watercolour Society of Ireland and The Cork Art Society.
Spackman's entry in "Who’s Who in Art 1971" published by The Art Trade Press Ltd, Hants.
First Day Cover from April 3, 1971 marking the first RAF rocket mail test at RAF Cosford. Illustration is a Hawker Fury of Basil's former command, No. 1 Squadron, Tangmere. The signature is by Werner Von Braun.
In early 1971, Basil and Gretta sold their home 'Greenhills' in Tracton, Minane Bridge and moved to 11 Wood Grove, Cross Douglas Road in the suburb of Douglas, Cork City. They named their new home, 'Tracton'.
Basil's last journey was to an artists materials store in Cork city on the morning of Tuesday, December 7, 1971.
While collecting some watercolour paints and brushes, he became unwell and passed away in the store, aged 76.
Basil's funeral service was held in St. Luke's Church of Ireland, Douglas on the evening of Thursday, December 9 at 3pm followed by interment in the adjoining cemetery.
Basil's last journey was to an artists materials store in Cork city on the morning of Tuesday, December 7, 1971.
While collecting some watercolour paints and brushes, he became unwell and passed away in the store, aged 76.
Basil's funeral service was held in St. Luke's Church of Ireland, Douglas on the evening of Thursday, December 9 at 3pm followed by interment in the adjoining cemetery.
'High Flight' written by John Gillespie Magee Jnr (1922-1941) a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot & poet. More information here.
Grave location: St. Luke's Church, Churchyard Lane, Douglas, Cork.
geographic coordinates: 51°52'32.4"N 8°26'15.4"W (51.875668, -8.437596)
geographic coordinates: 51°52'32.4"N 8°26'15.4"W (51.875668, -8.437596)
Gretta continued living in Cork, dividing her time between Germany and Douglas for the remainder of her life.
She passed away c.1985.
Monica Hope Spackman was recorded as resident in Rutland, East Midlands and passed away at The Cottage Retirement Home, Aldgate Ketton, Stamford, Lincs on 20 December 1990 aged 89. She had never married.
She passed away c.1985.
Monica Hope Spackman was recorded as resident in Rutland, East Midlands and passed away at The Cottage Retirement Home, Aldgate Ketton, Stamford, Lincs on 20 December 1990 aged 89. She had never married.
Basil's twelve medals (C.B, C.B.E., D.F.C. and Bar, British War & Victory medals, Africa Star and Greek War Cross) were sold to a Cork antiques & militaria dealer in 1972. These appeared again twenty five years in London when put up for auction through Dix Noonan Webb, Mayfair in June 1997.
Lot 402 (details below) sold for £2,700 on 18 June, 1997.
Lot 402 (details below) sold for £2,700 on 18 June, 1997.
The bungalow that my Grand-Uncle built was sold by Gretta Spackman c.1972 to another interesting person, Daisy Corrigan (1913-1997) founder of the Cork City girls school, Regina Mundi in 1961.
The next owner of the bungalow following Ms Corrigan's death in the early 2000's was the colourful, larger than life and now deceased Scottish GP, Dr. James Muir, who made it his holiday home. Dr. Muir incidentally delighted in telling the story that he was the duty doctor in The Rotunda hospital over Easter 1966 when Admiral Nelson made an unexpected appearance in the building.
(This unexpected appearance was the Admiral's carved stone head (opposite) that crashed into one of the Rotunda's consulting rooms while Dr. Muir was on duty. The stone head became a projectile when the Nelson's Column in Dublin's city centre was largely demolished by the IRA overnight on March 8, 1966, the fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising.)
Dr. Muir's distinguished client list included many British politicians including Nigel Lawson, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer; John Prescott, the former deputy Prime Minister; Jonathan Aitken, the Tory MP; David Mellors, the former sports minister; Alan Clark, the late Conservative MP and Jemima Khan, former wife of Imran Khan.
Air Rank Category
Marshal: The Marshal is the highest rank in the Royal air force. This is a five star rank, equivalent to the Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Navy.
Air Chief Marshal: This is a four star rank and is equivalent to the Admiral in the other army organizations. The officers manage senior appointments.
Air Marshal: This is a three star officer rank, equivalent to a Vice Admiral in the Royal navy.
Air Vice-Marshal: This is a two star officer rank and is equivalent to the Rear Admiral in the Royal navy or Brigadier General in the army.
Air Commodore: This is a one star General rank and is the most junior of the Air Rank category of the Royal Air Force hierarchy.
Senior Officers Category
Group Captain: This is the senior commissioned rank in the Royal air force and immediately below the Air Commodore.
Control of 6 wings: between 18-24 squadrons, 216-576 aircraft
Wing Commander: This rank is equivalent to the Commander in the Royal Navy.
Control of 3-4 squadrons: 36-96 aircraft
Squadron Leader: This rank is equivalent to the Lieutenant Commander in the Royal navy.
Control of 12-24 aircraft
Junior Officers Category
Flight Lieutenant: This is a junior commissioned rank of the Royal Air Force hierarchy. It is equivalent to the Lieutenant of the Royal Navy Military. Control of 3-6 aircraft.
Flying Officer: This rank is equivalent to the Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal navy.
Pilot Officer: This is the lowest commissioned rank of the Royal air force.
Marshal: The Marshal is the highest rank in the Royal air force. This is a five star rank, equivalent to the Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Navy.
Air Chief Marshal: This is a four star rank and is equivalent to the Admiral in the other army organizations. The officers manage senior appointments.
Air Marshal: This is a three star officer rank, equivalent to a Vice Admiral in the Royal navy.
Air Vice-Marshal: This is a two star officer rank and is equivalent to the Rear Admiral in the Royal navy or Brigadier General in the army.
Air Commodore: This is a one star General rank and is the most junior of the Air Rank category of the Royal Air Force hierarchy.
Senior Officers Category
Group Captain: This is the senior commissioned rank in the Royal air force and immediately below the Air Commodore.
Control of 6 wings: between 18-24 squadrons, 216-576 aircraft
Wing Commander: This rank is equivalent to the Commander in the Royal Navy.
Control of 3-4 squadrons: 36-96 aircraft
Squadron Leader: This rank is equivalent to the Lieutenant Commander in the Royal navy.
Control of 12-24 aircraft
Junior Officers Category
Flight Lieutenant: This is a junior commissioned rank of the Royal Air Force hierarchy. It is equivalent to the Lieutenant of the Royal Navy Military. Control of 3-6 aircraft.
Flying Officer: This rank is equivalent to the Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal navy.
Pilot Officer: This is the lowest commissioned rank of the Royal air force.
Sources
Much of the research into Spackman's life would have been impossible without the vast resources of various sources online.
Hundreds of sites were examined during research and either provided or corroborated historical information and include:
- Special thanks to the Norfolk in World War 1 website for invaluable information and photographs used: https://norfolkinworldwar1.org/
- UK Census Records 1901 & 1911.
- Saltford Burials Record. http://www.stmaryssaltford.org.uk/SAL%20Memorials%20Issue%201.pdf
- http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Spackman.htm
- The Imperial War Museum, London
- The London Gazette (1915 - 1922, 1937, 1942,1943, 1946 & 1950)
- The Royal Air Force Monthly List (various sources including the National Library of Scotland)
- Multiple websites featuring collections and histories relating to Gallipoli/Suvla Bay
- Squadron Histories RFC/RAF 1915-1950,
- Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Brittanica & other sources.
- http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/sloley/sloley.htm
Some of Basil's private papers are held at the Imperial War Museum (but remain un-digitised to date)
m.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030027356
An excellent resource is rafweb.org. Basil's full military career is listed here
www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Spackman.htm
http://www.theaerodrome.com/index.php
Bibliography - incomplete - to be updated
- The Mediterranean and Middle East: Volume I. By Major-General I.S.O. Playfair C.B. D.S.O. M.C., Commander G.M.S. Stitt R.N., Brigadier C. J. C. Molony, Air Vice-Marshal S.E. Toomer C.B. C.B.E. D.F.C.
- Report on on Air Operations in the Middle East (January 1 to May 3, 1941) submitted by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, RAF Middle East to the Secretary of State for Air on November 24, 1941. This was published in the London Gazette on Thursday, 19 September 1946:
- The War in the Air - Vol VI by H.A.Jones. Oxford University Press, 1937
- “Recruitment in the First World War.” Spartacus Educational, undated
- “The Dreams of Chivalry Shot Down in Flames.” Christopher Hudson, Daily Mail, November 25, 2010.
- “Six Weeks: The Short and Gallant Life of the British Officer in the First World War.” John Lewis-Stempel, W&N, October 2010.
- “Review: Six Weeks - The Short & Gallant Life of the British Officer in the First World War.” Christopher Silvester, The Express, October 22, 2010.
- “Death of Our Best and Brightest: Eton Rifles May Have Been ‘Built for’ Slaughter.” John Lewis-Stempel, The Express, February 9, 2014
- http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/sloley/sloley.htm
- The Limits of Air Control - The RAF experience in Aden 1926-1967. Tony R. Mullis.
- The First of the Few. Winter. Denis. Penguin Books, (1982)
- A Brief History of Flying Clothing. Dr. Graham Rood
- Fionnuala Walsh, Trinity College Dublin for contributions to Gallipoli and Suvla Bay
Spackman Updates Record
Listed here are various updates & corrections to the site (most recent updates first)
2018
14 October: Discovery of an oral deposition in the Imperial War Museum by one of Spackman's colleagues (Victor Groom). A fellow pilot in 55 Squadron during the Mesopotamian Campaign of 1920-21, Groom's recordings have produced a great deal of interesting and key information that cross references and corroborates various sources and testimonies. Full details gradually being added to the Mespotamia (Iraq) Campaign section.
7 October: updates to service in Constantinople & Iraq 1920-21. 1930-1950 currently being researched for addition at a future date.
30 September: Site released on line. This page and the site is currently (and gradually) being updated, written and researched weekly as time allows.
2017
December: research began on Basil Spackman's history.
Copyright (C) R.M. Lynch 2018
Listed here are various updates & corrections to the site (most recent updates first)
2018
14 October: Discovery of an oral deposition in the Imperial War Museum by one of Spackman's colleagues (Victor Groom). A fellow pilot in 55 Squadron during the Mesopotamian Campaign of 1920-21, Groom's recordings have produced a great deal of interesting and key information that cross references and corroborates various sources and testimonies. Full details gradually being added to the Mespotamia (Iraq) Campaign section.
7 October: updates to service in Constantinople & Iraq 1920-21. 1930-1950 currently being researched for addition at a future date.
30 September: Site released on line. This page and the site is currently (and gradually) being updated, written and researched weekly as time allows.
2017
December: research began on Basil Spackman's history.
Copyright (C) R.M. Lynch 2018
Stats test from 21 Oct 2018