Diary of Garth Edward Sommerville Clabburn - 1942-1944 - Part 15

going to be cold.

19th Dec.  It was cold but most of us

enjoyed a fair sleep. We have no

washing water but hope to make

the sea for a swim soon. A

UK man recco A/C was over this

morning - very high. All day we

bombed & straffed enemy M.T. 

& guns just west of Sirtie.

[V.K?] got one near miss to six large 

trucks on the Nth/Sth road Sth of the town.

Norm Caldwell managed a direct hit on

a battery of four 40mm ack/ack guns,

& the C.O. knocked out five trucks in 

one good straffing run. Danny Boardman

& Sg/Lt ODay went off & landed well

out in the "Blue" amongst the 4th light

-the most forward troops. They found

what they wanted - a new drome for 

us to operate from but it will be

no good for the surrounding country

is too rough for supply transportation.

The squadron had made 42 bombing

sorties this day which is good considering

the distance we must travel.

 

20th Dec. This day I did not fly but long range

tanks were fitted & patrols were

carried out over our forward troops

More mines blew up- one under an

A/C & another under a truck. Five 

fellows were badly injured. We

expect a heavy raid on this drome

tonight & have 16 3.7in & 40

40mm ack/ack guns around

together with night fighters - so

it will not be a one sided

affair. I am going to sleep in

Mcorge's opps track away from

the A/C - I do not like

sleeping on the target.

21 Dec. Only one bomber attacked but

he dropped his load wide. The 

ack/ack display was very fine. 

The night fighters took off but

got nothing. This day I led 

top cover to 2 Americans who

carried out a recco as far as Buerat. - One hell of a long

way. Four 109's attacked us over

Sirtie & we lost Huck Finlason

 

I did not make much of a fight of it

& tried to stay as cover to our bottom cover & the Americans & consequently

feel that I am responsible for Hucks 

loss. Had I stayed & had a go at

the four b/a perhaps we could have

saved Huck who was behind at the

time they attacked. This was not

[?] his fault for we were

turning to the left at the time.

Rodige - Hucks No 2. put up a great

show & had a scrap for about 15 mins.

He claimed a probable & got home

by himself, [?] missing it with five

of those vicious beggars.

on the afternoon the C.O. led a six out

to straff a aerodrome well Sth & West

at Hun - about 188 mls away. The

enemy were taken completely by

surprise here & they destroyed about

8 large A/C on the ground. Unfortunately

"Stuka" Bec was set on fire & smashed 

[?] & those who saw him go in do

not think that he lived. Rex 

Baley was also hit & his engine

 

packed up. He crash landed near the 

enemy drome & started to run away.

The C.O. had received his message that

he had to crash & he immediately

landed about 2 mls away from Red &

the other kites flew around & kept

the enemy quiet. After a steady jog

for about 20 minutes Rex reached the

C.O. & he clambered in & gave her 

everything. After 200yds. they met rough

ground & knocked off a wheel

& bloody near crashed but just 

managed to stagger into the air.

The C.O. made a fine one wheel

landing back at Marble Arch &

all congratulated him. He did a great 

job & deserves recognition. It has

been an expensive day - 2 pilots

3 A/C & 2 chutes. I feel bad

about Huck but can only hope 

for the best.

22 Dec.  Went out on patrol in afternoon over

front line & saw 2 109's who

immediately made off west post

haste after dropping their L.G. tanks

 

23 Dec. We could not find Hucks A/C. 

I did not fly this day & the

squadron did only one job of

escorting two recco A/C past Sirto 

They saw nothing of interest. We

had a few drinks over at

450 sq during the evening & the new

W/C was met. I have just received

telegrams from M^cBeath & Jill Clarke

& also letters from Billy & Cadell.

Billy is even keener than ever & 

is making me do some steady 

thinking. We had a fine swin

today in the cold cold sea & 

it was most refreshing.

24th Dec.  Well it is Christmas Eve & all the

boys are taking advantage of the

beer ration having been declared 

unlimited. M. Darlan has been

ass^asinated. We did not fly today

but 250 sq attacked the L.G. at

Hun & destroyed four more A/C.

F/Lt Keith Kildy has been taken

off Opps & I am to take over

his flight. The C.O. informed me

 

of this by introducing me to

another Sq/Ldr as F/Lt Clabburn

to be. I already am tired of

operations & hate every one but

feel that I must accept this job

for it is more important than my

personal feelings.

We all had many drinks in the 

mess & sand loud & lusty. I

retired at about 11P.M. & my

blood pressure was running high.

25th Dec. Xmas Day & it is a bright &

beautiful one. We all walked

across to group HQ to attend a

church service but arrived just

as it was finishing & only sang

God Save the King. We thought

it began at 10AM. but actually

it started at 9 AM. W/C Rosier

gave a heartening summary of

the war situation after the

service.

 & then after the whole squadron

enjoyed a very fine Xmas dinner

 

of cold turkey, ham potatoes

beans peas plum pudding jelly

& peaches & beer, not too

mention mince tarts & a

few other little savories. All

this stuff had been brought 

over 1000 miles by truck

from Alexandrie & was

very much appreciated . Dave

Ritchie flew 4 dinners to 

Benghasi for the fellows who

were wounded & in hospital.

In the afternoon & evening

there was more merry making

singing & drinking but

most oft went a little

more quiet. I have to do

a job first thing tomorrow.

26th Dec. Boxing Day. I led a six

out at 0930 to the front

which is now about 30 miles

past Sirtie. Our army occupied

that town yesterday. We 

saw no B/A & when back

over base my No 2 & I were

 

declared after an .88 but failed 

to catch him.

We are to be here for another

two days & will then move

up to be within striking

distance at Tripoli. It has

been blowing a gale & there

has been bags of fine sand

slung everywhere. Plenty of

stuff is moving up the road

evidently coming in at Bengahsi.

A few bombers have been

over but so far we have

not been done over properly.

A big German retreat has started

in Russia & things are looking

fair for us, - but not

brilliant yet by a long shot,.

27 Dec 1942. There were no jobs for us this day so we

went off & did some shadow firing. I 

allowed twice as much deflection as I 

thought was necessary & hit the shadow

each time - so the practice taught me 

something. General Arnold arrived

in the afternoon in his DG3 & 

 

I had a yarn with the pilot of his

kite. They tell me that 24 liberators

do one sortie each per day from

Yambut & bomb Tunisia. They carry

500lbs of bombs each so are doing

a good job.

We discussed things in the mess

during the evening & Jack Lush drew

two grand characatures of John

Hook & Danny Boardman. I had

one too many whiskey limes.

28th Dec. Danny & five others escorted four

hurricanes over the front line at

10A.M. & a couple of 109's turned

up but did not attack. I went

off & jumped a practice formation

of ours. After 1/2 an hour my A/C

packed up & I had to hump 

everything down. Had a drink

with the Sth Africans in their

mess & stopped to yarn for a few hours over afternoon tea. We

are not going to move now

until the 31st Dec.

The Scottish Div has been moving

 

past here for the last 12hrs & they

look a very fine & efficient crowd.

There were four crashes today on 

the drome by nobody was hurt.

Last night an E/A came over

& the boys put up a very

beautiful ack/ack barrage & scared

him off. There have been 88's

about but we have not been 

able to catch any as yet. I  

may meet up with one tomorrow

afternoon.

Our offensive has fallen off but when

we start again - the army will be

in great strength even though we

will not enjoy little air opposition.

Today we practiced dive bombing

from 8 to 2000' & learned a

little.

30th Dec. More dive bombing this morning. An

A/C of 260 sq's lost it's starboard

wing when pulling out of a dive

at about 200 & the pilot was 

killed when the A/C  went straight

into the sea. He was a very

 

nice little Scotch fellow who used

to ferry a number of A/C  up for

use & had done no opps. The cause

of the accident is a mystery for these

A/C will stand a far greater strain

than a fall out at 400.

Ian Rohidger chased a HE 111 from

26000 to the deck this morning.

Unfortunately had had no sight &

even though he fired all his ammo

at over a running fight of

about 100 miles he did not 

destroy it. At one time the HE 111

hit one engine & prop on the

so it was definitely damaged.

He has had hard luck to

date but has shown great fighting

qualities. He should go well & 

make a great name for himself.

There were two patrols over the

forward troops this afternoon.

The C.O. led the first & saw

bomb bursts from about 15 Sturkas

but were attacked by about 

the same number of 109's at 

 

the same time. They beat them 

off & headed back east. Danny 

led the second six out & ran

into about 15 109's. They attacked 

& shot down without loss.  Pilots 

who connected were F/Lt Boardman,

F/L Watt ( 1 des 1 prob) & Sgt Alan Rengitti.

Earlier in the day 260 Sq had

shot down another five 109's - 

this creates a record for 109's

in the desert.

31st. Dec. We took off early for "Dannys  [[?Drome]]  "

Our new drome about 20 miles

Sth of Sirtie. P/O Duhm unfortunately 

crashed on the take off but did not

hurt himself. The A/C was a

write off & also a D.C.B. was

damaged. There were no jobs

this day but I was on 5 mins

all the afternoon. There was 

a little farewell talk by Sir Arthur

Tedder at wing during which I

believe he said precisely nothing.

I did not stay up to see 

the New Year in because I 

have to lead the first job

out in the morning. We all enjoyed

many beers & games in the mess

including a weight lifting competition.

Tonight I received one letter

from Mother & a Xmas card

from June Adams - but the

bulk of the mail must be 

still to come. Mothers letter was

dated October.

1st Jan 1943  Am very happy to see the

start of another year, during

which I feel sure that the allied

cause will gain in all theatres 

if it's struggle .

I led out 12 A/C as an escort to

2 hurricanes at NO 40 R.A.A.F. recco

squadron. We went up the coast

to Crispe & were there attacked

by about 6-12 109's who we

had seen take off. Our top

cover was away & a bit

mixed up they had two

of their six shot down

P/O Ritchie & & Sgt Roediger. There

 

were many questions asked at Wing

about the show & the conclusion

was reached that we could have

done no better because we were

a poor formation as regards our

top cover - who had lost sight

of us at the time the attack

stated . Ian Roediger is now 

reported to be safe although

slightly wounded. A strong

sweep over those two German

dromes would silence them but

just now we are not doing 

sweeps.

Went across to wing during the evening

with the C.O. & read up a few 

good reports on the general position.

Some of the  R.A.A.F. pilots came 

across for a drink but did

not stay late. We had all

retired by 8.15 P.M. I do hope

Dave Ritchie managed to crash

land O.K.

 

2nd Jan.  The boys had many scrambles during the

morning after JU88 & recco 109's but

failed to catch up with any of them.

One gaggle climbed up from 16 to 26000

through 10000 of cloud & then

still couldn't find a target.

Words of wonder David Ritchie 

was driven in at about 3P.M.

by an army fellow. He had battled

with 5 109's & carried the fight  

for about 50 miles until he

was about 20 mls S.W of Burat .

During one violent piece of

evasive action he kicked at

500 & in diving out hit 

the ground at about 200M.P.H.

& then handed over to Jesus.

The A/C was a right off & poor

old Dave had to walk about 

10 miles before finding some Arabs.

They gave him tea & put him 

on a donkey & led him a

further 14 miles to the 7th

Armoured Div. His experiences

were many & varied & a full

book could easily be devoted to them

but suffice to say here that he is

safe & well & perhaps will enjoy

a spot of leave if it can be

arranged. Ian Roediger should have

a very exciting experience to relate

on his return. His A/C either burnt

or he burnt one of the enemy's for

an A/C fire was seen on the ground.

During the afternoon four of us went

across to Group & watched an "opp" where

260 sq escorted two hurricanes across the

same route as we took yesterday.

Many 109's attacked their top cover &

they damaged one but lost 3 A/C .

There is no news of the pilots

to date. The W/C & Andy came

across during the evening & we

organized a sweep over that

enemy drome for tomorrow.-We

hope to take 20 kitty hawks &

may have the spits pick us up.

on the way back- but that

will all happen tomorrow-

& tomorrow is another day.

 

3rd Jan.  From dawn it has blown a gale

& fine sand has blown through &

into everything. Our food, clothes & 

mouths are thick with it & all

flying is impossible. We have spent 

the day in the mess & have all

been out occasionally to lash

covers back on the A/C.

4th Jan. The wind dropped at dawn &

the crews washed out as many

A/C as possible. It started to

blow again at about 0830 &

has kept going strong all

day. There has been no flying

& we have read & written 

a few letters. During the evening

many CO's & W/C Doctors dropped

in for a chat & a couple

of Officers from the 8t Armoured

Div talked at the army 

position up the front. It appears
that there will be no big

push for a couple to three 

weeks now. Thousands of 

tons of supplies must now

be lugged forward to enable

us to push properly when we

decide to go. Dave Ritchie & 

Brian Harris went away to

hospital in a plane but Dave 

should be back in about a week. 

5th Jan. A big sweep was planned for this

morning. I was to lead No 3 with

W/C Burton as my No 2. & 450 sq

below us. we were going to

bomb & straff the two enemy dromes

that we flew over a few days

ago & from which so many

fighters had taken off. The whole

show was cancelled at the last 

minute. We practice flew during

the afternoon & I mistook Sirtie

for Nofilia & became a bit

lost. We flew for 1.50 & 

think both the A/C & ourselves

benefited. I was promoted to

Flight Lieutenant today &

received a Xmas card from

Claire in Alex & a beautiful

long letter from June Adams in Sydney.

6th  Nothing of outstanding interest has

taken place. The enemy have bombed

& straffed our A.L.G. New Zealanders

& our ground crews were clearing

the ground & 8 were killed.

The 109's are showing considerable

more dash & just lately have

put us on the defensive. I

am sure that they have xxxx

about 50 in the area operating

directly against us & we

should clean them up just

as soon as we move forward 

in strength.

7th.  Today Keith Kildy after saying

goodbye left for Marble Arch

on the first leg of his 

return to Australia. I think

he is very happy to be out

of it all. During the afternoon

I took 6  A/C  out & we

carried out a shadow shooting

practice.

The C.O. led a patrol out over 

the front line early this morning.

They met with about 12 109's who

jettisoned their bombs & mixed 

it for 15 mins. One 109 was destroyed

but the Spitfires claimed it.

John Bray who was in the Armament

[[V army?]] with me today shot himself

with my tommy gun through the

big toe. I took him to 

the 260 Sq. Doctor & he will

have to go away & have it 

X rayed tomorrow. I am sure

that the bullet passed through the

bone in his toe & must be

now very painful. This is the

3rd gun accident we have

had in the past few days. 

The past few nights we have enjoyed

some grand suppers in P/O Russell's tent.

He has everything organised & the

food served up there is far 

better than we recieve in the 

mess .

8th   We are on readiness all afternoon

waiting breathlessly for an escort

job that didn't turn up. John