Diary of Garth Edward Sommerville Clabburn - 1942-1944 - Part 7

have all happened on the 28^th - but
why worry?
Next day journey 24 miles West
with all the trucks & finally some
signal fellows drove me to Gambut
 & I arrived at 7 PM.
All were glad to see me & said
so. Thomas had walked in this
morning after having been shot down
by A/A. The Doc fixed me up &
I had a drink with the boys &
then some sleeping tablets which
rocked me off. Two letter arrived
here & were waiting for me on my
return. One from Coral & one from
Pop, & for them I was very grateful.
The Germans are now retreating &
we have fixed 180 tanks &
I believe the dive bombing has
worried them a great deal.
I am to go away from it all
for four days & feel I will
be Ok. by then.
 

May 30th. Am to go to base at 4 PM Am
flying a sick kite back & will go
on from there to Alexandra tomorrow
Tis good to be back with the boys
-they are still working hard at the
dive bombing & Fred Ryan & Jeff Chashin
have both had very lucky escapes after
their kites were hit by A/A.
John Dean was killed yesterday together
with 3 others from H 50 sq. One of
Our fellows Sgt Norman also was killed
or is missing.

[*Norman now 

reported P.O.W.]
Managed to cancel the signal that I
was missing that had been sent to
my people.
Flew to base in A/c that had been hit
in fusalage by large A/A shell & trip
was uneventful. Spent quiet night
at base.
May 31st Sunday.
Went on water waggon to Sidi Hadnish
& from there by gas waggon to Alex.
booked in at [[?]] pub & was
robbed right & left. 8 P.T for
hot bath which I refused to pay
 

Went out drinking in evening & ended
up at about 1 AM in the Carlton
Club, which is supposed to be for
officers only - but who cares. Became
very firm friends with the manager
& he gave me beer in his
private Office.
June 1st. Monday
after fixing up prints telegrams & other
things for the boys I pushed off to
Stanley Bay & Blenheim House which
proved to be a most delightful
spot. Lover beach beautiful old
terraced gardens warm sun &
oceans of flowers & all for 5 P.T.
per day. The food was grand
& thoroughly enjoyed my
stay this first day. Went out
during evening with English fellow
from Suez Canal & we patronised
the night club once again.
June 2nd.
This morning I was in the sea
most of the time for it was
a beautiful hot day. Met
 

F/Lt Roberts on beach in afternoon &
we had afternoon tea together in
the shade of the awnings around
the water edge. After 6p.m. we
drove to town & I picked up
the photographs & also a wrist
watch which I had bought for
Mark.
Went to a show by myself at
9:30 PM & felt very sick.
Called in at the Carlton Club for
supper & saw the floor show which
was excellent. Took taxi to
Blenheim House & was very sick
in stomach all night & did
not sleep.

June 2nd. Stayed in bed all that day
think sickness is due to nervous
reaction brought about by crash
& shock. Will push off back
to desert tomorrow if all is
well. Ate nothing this day but
drank much water.

June 4th Thursday. after hard & tiring

 

trip in Army trucks reached base
at about 5.P.M. after having
set out for Alex at about
9:30 A.M
The battle position is still in
the air although we seem to be
holding our ground.
June 5th Friday.
Met John Osborne in the Dutch Pilots
tent when I was checking but this
morning. He is going up to 450 sq.
Collected new issue of all flying
gear & took off for the front
At about 11:15 AM. On arrival
found that Nick Barr was now
Sq/Ldr that Lue Spence was a
Fl/Lt & that Charlie Coward
had received his commission.
Was hurt to find that Colin
MacDiarmid had been killed
on the Sunday previous especially
in view of the fact what I
had sent an E.F.M to his
Mother on the Monday saying
he was safe & well. He
 

had asked me to do this for him.
I had the Adj. forward yet another signal
explaining now the contradicting signals
happened along.
June 6th Saturday. Went out on big bombing
show in early morning but had
to come back because of broken
oil pipe. Much oil in cockpit
& was lucky to reach home.
Did two more jobs this day but
can only remember the last during
which we had every thing thrown
up at us by the anti air craft
guns This was Charlie Cowards last
operation for now he has
been given 6 mths break & will
go to Sth Africa. There were
only four of us in this last
job & the bombing was not
good & the strain terrible. I
now recall that the other show
was one led by Butch Furniss in
which we destroyed many
trucks on a track.
 

June 7th. More bombing this day with
good cloud cover. All the bombs
fell on the enemy transports &
must have inflicted very heavy
damage. I saw four trucks.
just disappear after one bomb
burst: Spence & Kilby straffed
many Italians &. said. it was
just murder. Missed an evening
show because I could not
start my motor. This time the
formation bombed many vehicles
& tanks parked close to a
large red cross Evidently
sheltering under its protection.
Seven new pilots arrived this
day & are all good keen types.
We all had a party this
night to celebrate several hard
but successful days work. The
enemy as far as we can see
is now moving Westward.
June 8 Monday.
Heard today that Sydney & New
 

Castle had been bombed & shelled.
This morning was on the job early.
Had the privilege of forming close
escort to three new Hurricane Tank
Busters. These kites of which I believe
there are only nine in the world
belong to No6 sq. & carry two
40mm cannons apiece. We went
in & bombed a concentration of
five tanks & many vehicles about
12 miles N.W. of [[?]] [[?]]. The
first bomber started a great fire
Then the Tank Buster came in
& afterwards claimed having destroyed
the remaining four tanks. Evidently
we scorched one with a direct
hit. Straffed vehicles & came home
with Jack Donald over much

[[?]] stuff. Encountered plenty of

of anti air craft fire & this xx

stuff now frightens me for
we have had many kites hit

heavily. One of the top cover

was knocked down this trip by

the stuff. There was a
[*Set one truck
 well alight during

straffing - Hit the

gas tank.]

heavy artillery duel going on a
couple of miles to the east of our
target & many fires on the ground.
With this bombing shelling & straffing
it is hell itself on the deck &
I cannot understand how the enemy
can stand up to it. I suppose
he can only think of getting back
& out of that hell hole around
Bir Hachien - I know that is all
I would be thinking of were I
in his place.
Two correspondents visited the
squadron yesterday & we gave
them some stories most of

which did not need to be
enlarged upon to sound exciting.
July 9th Tuesday.
Rose at 6.30 AM. & the job was
postponed until about 9.30 A.M. until
the position of the Free French who
were being battered at Bir Hachien
was clarified. The A.L.O. briefed
us & we found that two strong
columns of ours were moving

 

[*Evidently it is not

so bad on the ground

because each man has

his little bit of protection

& it is rarely that the

A/C attack "him"

2/6/43]
 

from the N.E & S.W. in an attempt
to relieve the Free French. Our job
was to fly over the fort & to bomb
enemy concentrations to the N.W. of
the besieged garrison. This we
did but the leader did not

pick the largest concentration &

I observed no result. Against
instructions a few of us went
down & straffed trucks &
succeeded in sending one waggon
up in a sheet of flame & smoke.
We came home fast right on
the deck & some of the boys
saw about 45 at our tanks
speeding towards Bir Hachien &
at about that time had not
encounted the enemy. We found
no enemy fighter opposition - thanks
very much!
Yesterday three of our tank
busters were shot/ up by A/A
& perhaps a fighter & two kites &
one pilot failed to return.
Our sq was their close cover
 

but were not blamed for their
loss for the Buster pilots had no
maps & did not know where

to pick up their escort after

doing over the enemy tanks. I

can see that in the future the

briefing of these pilots will be

far more thorough.
We have been in relaxed reddiness

since midday & there is only to

be one more job this evening.

Evidently the battle positions are

confused & we cannot bomb for

fear of hitting our own troops.

We have an early show on

the morrow & after that will

be left for a much needed

swim at the beach. Every body

will go along. i.e. ground crews

& all. Our seven new pilots

are all doing well & seem to

be enjoying the shows. One is

named Churchill & gets a little 

ragging.

All the pilots have been suffering

 

[*Had we been able

to strike first with

a planned bombing

& straffing offensive

on enemy positions

or their colums

this confusion would

never have been

obviated. The

enemy was let 

advance too far

towards & amongst

our forces before

using all our air

strength

2/6/43]

from an attack of Gippo Gut which
I think has been brought about by
the bad water & general strain of
four or five sorties per day.
I have written a little to my
mother this afternoon - have not
finished it as yet, but think
I will get on with it now.

Scuse Please -.
Wednesday 10th June 1942.
Fortunately I was not on the early
morning "do" & managed to arrive at
the beach at about 11 30 hrs. It has been
a beautifully fine & warm day & we
all got quite sunburnt. Sgt Finlyson
& I went for a good walk around
the beach & had fun trying to catch
small fish in the shallow warm pools.
Many fellows took many photographs &
they should turn out well. I finished
my letter to Mother while lying
in the warm sand. This day has
been a wonderful break from it
all & greatly appreciated Retired
early tired but happy.
 

Thursday 11th June.
Im a little late entering up this &
cannot remember very cearly just what
took place. I think we did a dive
bombing job in the morning & I can
definitely remember escorting nine
Bostons out to the Caldron &
dive bombing after they had dropped
their load. This was a very late
job & we landed just as it was
getting dark The Free French have
now with drawn from Bir Hachien. They
have been out fought by Jerry &
I fear sustained heavy losses.
Friday 12th June.
Early this morning Lue Spence led
twelve of us out on a bombing
recco to see where & in what
strength the enemy was. We found
tremendous concentrations just about
midway between El Adem & Bir
Hachien. They threw every thing
but their bully beef at us &
we unfortunately made an excellent
target for the cloud base was at
 

only 800! Five A/C were hit by
the heavy Ack/Ack & ^Henry John & Donald Bray was
set on fire. He had a lucky escape
for he crash landed in a mine field
& one mine exploded & blew the
whole tail unit off. He arrived back
at the mess after lunch in an
Indian truck & was suffering only
from slight shock & glycol in the
eyes. Sgt Finlyson stopped three
cannon shells in the tail unit
& I came home with him after
bombing the fellows that shot up
his kite. He was another lucky one.
The jerries are pushing hard today.
During the afternoon went out on
a show escorting the tank busters. I
am afraid they did no good &
if anything shot up one of our
own tanks. These pilots of 6sq.
do not show much initative &
seem to have little desert experience.
Was the only kitty to escort them
home for they lost they escort
by diving away on the ground &
 

their camoflage is very effective.
Saturday 13th.
Last night we expected to have to clear
out from Gambut for Jerry will if he
possibly can try & capture these aero-

dromes. We prepared for a night take off
but nothing turned up.
I was on standby from 8AM to 8.30 PM
today, but because of a heavy
dust storm we did not take off.
It cleared at about 6 P.M. & we
expected a job but it came to
nothing. Being on standby is very
tiring & I would sooner have
definite jobs to do. Phones ring &
hearts always jump.
Have heard no news of the army
today but yesterday afternoon I
saw about 1000 trucks of ours
moving East just on lot of
the escarpment. This large exodus
the wrong way did not look
to good from the Air.
I forgot to mention that on
Friday one of the new fellows
 

Redge Stevens had to crash on the
rough ground surrounding the drome for
his engine got cut out because it

had too many bullets in it. He was

also very lucky, for he belly landed

with his fused 250 lb bomb taking

the full force of the impact. He

was not aware that his bomb had

not been dropped for his release gear

had been shot up & his indicator light

showed out: Several from other sqs

pilots are missing & a couple have been

picked up but a few have been

seen to go in.

Sunday 14th June.

After a very poor nights sleep I was called
at 0430 hrs & went out & put the A/C
on the line & am now on relaxed
standby. One sq has just taken off, it
is now about 0730 hrs & I think
we should have a bombing job before
breakfast. Many Beaufighters turned
up last night & I think will
be doing a convoy job today.

 

[*Always if possible

get rid of all

bombs before each

landing

2/6/43.]

 

 

Yesterday I wrote Mother Coral & the
Barbers & told them all I know. I
had a wonderful 21 page letter from Coral
last week & she is the finest letter writer
I know, & makes me laugh every time.
Am now writing this up many days later &
am a little hazy as ^to what has happened for there
has been great activity & all has not been
going all our way. I did a couple of
bombing jobs today & was lucky &
not hit by Ack/Ack for many of our
kites came back badly knocked about.
F/Lt Spence had his aileron control (Port)
shot away & Garth Neill had his also
smashed. They both made good landings
We bombed jerries who were only 10 mins
flying from Gambut to the West &
can now happily say that they are
heading back the way they came,
thanks to our bombing.
Monday 15th June 1942.
Two more bombing jobs this day
& Jerries are still going West & are
about 20 miles away from our
drome at Gambut.
 

Tuesday 16th June. Rose at 4: 30 AM. C Flight
went off yesterday evening to an aero-

drome about 30 miles Sth of Sidi
Boorani, because our drome is threatened
by this Jerry push & our army is
failing to hold his East ward thrusts.
There were many 109F's about this day
but fortunately my particular jobs were
not attacked. This day our squadron
dropped 65 bombes but not without
loss. Ross Byden had to force land
soon after take off & unfortunately
his bomb exploded & killed him. He
was a fine fellow & is greatly missed.
During the afternoon 12 took off to
bomb a small party situated between
Gazala & El Adem on the escarpment.
General Rommel was understood to
be the king pin of this party, &
the boys sought it out & all the
bombs landed on the target which
was two staff cars. Freddie Ryan

did not return & I fear he

is a prisoner or has been killed.

 

[*He must have been 

killed by 109's

that attacked over

target. No new to

date of him

6/6/43]
 

109's attacked & Jack Donald received
a bullet in the neck but is all
right & got back although weak from
loss of blood. He is to go away
until his neck has been mended.
17th June. Jerry is now using Bir Hachien &
Yazda Aerodromes & there are many
E/A about. I went to Gambut main
this morning to catch the Bomboy to
Bagush & bring back a new A/c from 

base. The old kite did not arrive but

while waiting I saw three scraps over

head. One Hurricane went straight in
in a sheet at flames with a 109 on
his tail. A spitfire out dived a 109
from 25000 ft & the E/A hit the
deck a little way from the drome.

The sight of the poor beggar in the

Hurricane, who happened to be a Sq/Ldr
DFC & Bar hitting the deck in a

vertical dive at about 400 M.P.H
shook me & I cannot help thinking

how lucky I was that I managed

to touch down straight & level

last week when I was shot down.

 

[*CO 33 Sq

S/Ldr Rue Lue

6/6/43]

During the morning 4 of ours & 3 of theirs

went in around our two aerodromes.

On our operations during the morning

the boys encounted heavy ACK/ACK &

many fighters. [[?]] Neill & Rege Phiffer

were both heavily hit but managed

to make the drome & Hoak was

shot down by 2 109F's. He turned

up later in the day having been

picked up by our forward troops.

We have now only 3 servicable

kites because so many have been

hit by ACK/ACK or lost completely.

The Jerry ACK/ACK by the way is

very good & extremely accurate.

Five new pilots arrived today

& we are very glad to have

them for they are all fine chaps.

There are 30 enemy tanks 20 miles

N.W. from here & it looks as

if we will have to push off.

18th June Push off we did yesterday after-

noon. We got all tents down in

good time & drove from 7 P.M.

until 1:30 A.M. the next morning trying

to find our new drome which

 

[*He did an excellent

job & displayed

grit. He could have

been badly shaken

6/6/43.]

 

[*It is necessary to

fly above 9000' to

dodge Breda & when

diving below 9000'

they will rarely hit you

6/6/43.]