Diary of Garth Edward Sommerville Clabburn - 1942-1944 - Part 8

Bir.
was at Sidi Aziz. In the end we could
not find our camp & had to freeze in
the old car until first light. We had
actually found the drome but not our
camp. Everybody was frozen & tired
& grateful for breakfast. A couple
of stick jobs were planned by Wing
for patrol over the Yambut area to
see how the Jerri advance but
fortunately the first patrols gained
the necessary information & our
flight did not have to do a job.
Our 5 kites set off & did a
recco & then pushed on to a
spot 90 miles S.E. called 075 or
Oxford Circus. We came on by truck
& drove from about 1020 AM till
11.30 PM. Was tired & slept out on
top of the truck in the heavy dew.
Our staff car broke a spring but the
boys fixed it up. Jerries are now
at Young & Jacksons just south of
Yambut & also hold our drome.
We left Yambut at 7 PM. & they arrived
in force at 2 A.M. So we were
[*Moral was
very low
during this &
the following
day. This is
a most important
thing to guard
against. Moral
is likely to crash
in a retreat because
of the great disorganization
& it can be kept
up by just one
or two blokes
giving the lead.
6/6/43.*]
just out in time considering we were
lost in the minefields for a good 1½
hrs.
19th June 1942. Found our new camp & had breakfast
& a good wash. Went on standby for three
hours but the bombing job did not eventuate.
The C.O. gave us the good news that we
are now going 50 mls East of Base
on the Coast & are going to operate
from there. We are only going to
have 6 A/C for we are short of Kites
& will be going out of the Blue in
about 5 weeks.
[* Oh Yeah!! This is
now Jan 9. 1943 !!!!
& I am still in
the beaut "Blue".*]
In the last push 5
[*S.A.A.F.*]

Sq lost 25 kites & 28 pilots & considering
this we have been lucky. 6 fellows
have gone off on a job of trying to
find 100 men & 25 officers who are
lost in the blue without food or water.
Much mail arrived today & I cashed in
on 7 beautiful letters.
20th June. Last night a jerry dropped a bomb not
so far away. With the W/C. & 4 others I
went off on an armed recco for 1 hr 25
but saw only our stuff West of the
wire. A great deal of it was just

coming through the gaps at about 1100
hrs. Later on the squadron deloused
9 Bostons returning from a bombing
job on the Tobruch perimeter. 2 or 4
109 F's attacked but did no damage &
Charlie Coward got in a good burst.
Garth Neill taxied into the CO's kite
prior to take off & badly damaged
both A/C & also injured one of
the crews. The wing pinned his
leg against the fusalage. Spent
the afternoon writing home &
doing a spot of washing. We now
have only five serviceable A/C &
the army is in full retreat. They
will endeavour to make a stand
at the wire but I fear that they
have mucked up their campaign
through lack of efficient communication
& excess of complicated code
systems.
June 21st 1942.
Bad news has arrived. Tobruch has
fallen to the enemy together with
25000 of our troops. It is hard
for us to understand why they gave in
especially when they had two months supply
of stores. Evidently some donkey led
most of our tanks through our own
mine fields out in the caldron &
we were left with very little
armoured stuff. Even so I cannot
understand why all those 25000 could
not make a fight of it for
at least 14 days for there must
have only an attacking force of
5 or 6000 & these should be able
to be held off by the heavily
fortified positions that surround
Tobruch. I did not fly this
day but the boys escorted a couple
of Boston bombing raids out &
lost no kites. What staff
have left is threatening to
make a stand at the wire
but I doubt if it will amount
to much. There is still no news
of Fred Ryan or Jeff Chinchin
& I fear they must be both
prisoners of war. Today I received

an E.F.M. from home & all is well.
I have the feeling that those troops
in Tobruch gave in purely because
they were sick of desert fighting
& were poorly led. Somebody in
charge has shown very poor
judgement & must be a poor
strategist.
Fortunately we are still pretty
strong in our own service but
have lost one of our three wings.
I am always happy when I go
off in a "balbo" for I have never
liked flying by myself after having
been shot down when alone.
June 22nd. Yesterday I wrote a few letters &
today have written many more.
Have been on standby since midday
& find writing passes the time
& relieves the tension. The
boys have carried out patrols
over Bardia & Sollum this
morning hoping to meet a
Stuka party but nothing came
off.
I have written Malcome & John &
also Helen Burnett today but of course
it will be a long time before any
of those letters will be delivered, &
with things going as they are one
has the feeling that one might
not be going strongly by
the time they are received.
From where I am writing at
Misheifa I can see hundreds of
vehicles racing East & think
that they cannot be leaving much
stuff back there at the wire
to try & stop Jerry. When we
go from here our next stop will
be Sidi Hadinish where our former
base is situated.
The moon is now becoming far
brighter at nightime & I fear we
will be for a bit of bombing
soon. One Spit crashed today because
of lack of fuel - bad show. We
now have only five. We have
10 servicable kites in the squadron.

23rd.
This day there has been great air activity &
Jerry is not far from the wire. I
went on a bomber escort in the
evening & we bombed the enemy about
30 mls West of the wire. He was in
great strength. All planes returned to
Sidi Hadnish & saw very few
of our troops at the wire. I do
not think the army will make a
stand. Slept in 6 Sq mess. & there
were a few bombs during the night.
24th. Did not get off on recco during
morning because of sick engine.
The 4 that flew were attacked by
6 109 & 4 Macchi. Danny Boardman
the C.O. both shot one each down
& Kitoz got a probable. Sgt Fox
was shot down - it was only
his 2nd opp. Were to bomb & straff
enemy column entering Matrue
late in the evening but could
not get off in time. Enemy now
28 miles away, & situation is
grave. Heavy bombing raid on us
during the night. One Hurricane shot
down JU88 who was strafing the
drome in the moonlight. The enemy pilot
lived for two days, 2 Army fellows were killed.
25.th. We now have much food & stuff
that the boys took from the dumps
further back before they were blown
up. I think we will have to move
back again soon for the Air Force
is the only thing trying to stop the
advance & we are not in
sufficient numbers. In late afternoon
I did a couple of Boston escort
jobs. They have been bombing all day
& have done a great job. One pilot
was shot down not far away.
26th. More opps this day. Sq/Ldr Barr was
shot down by 109's over enemy
concentrations & some saw him
bale out. Fear he is now a P.O.W.
His loss has been widely felt throughout
the squadron & two more fellows
have cracked. - Curtis & Thompson.
[*These two were
very tired & had
done some good
work. Curtiss was
killed in Far Eastern
area during early
1944.*]
Did Boston escort & I think a
couple of dive bombing jobs along

the railway. There was a big "flap" this
evening & for a time we were to fly
the A/C out in the moonlight. Jerry
had broken past Matru & his tanks
are only 16 miles away. Our army in
Mersa Matru so surrounded. There was
plenty of bombing & straffing during the
night but nobody was hit. We slept
in the open & were ready to take off
at short notice. C Flight has already left
for another drome about 60 miles East.
27th June.
Took off at dawn & carried out recco.
well into enemy territory. About 40 miles
West of Mersa Matru. Went through terrific
ACK/ACK barrage & fortunately was not
hit although I cannot understand
just how this came about for there
was tracer all around. DId not land
again at Sidi Hadnish but came on
to 106 & there got a bite to eat.
Had wonderful swim in late afternoon
This was the first for a long time &
did a world of good/ Many fellows
nerves have nearly gone & I think
fellows like Sgt Kitoz really should be
given a rest. There was a great fire
on our drome this evening when a JU 88
dropped a bomb on two Wellingtons which
had collided on a runway. Sq/Ldr
Gibbs has now returned & although not
flying has taken over command.
28th.
Slept in today until 8:20 A.M. & did a
recco at 10 A.M. The enemy are shelling
our army which is trying to get out
of Matru along the main road. We
dive bombed the guns this afternoon
with good results. I fear the army
have now "had it" & that we
can expect Jerry to go right
through to Alex. I think we
will be moving tonight or at
the latest tomorrow morning.
A wonderful batch of mail came
through this day & I received a
letter from every person who
is near & dear to me. I will
now attempt to reply to a few.
These letters from home have given me
a new lease at life & I am grateful.

29th June 1942. Last night the moon was full & very
bright. An E/A dropped a stick of
bombs near the drome & I saw some
large fires but do not think they
were A/C. I was called at 6 A.M. &
went off on an armed recco at 7 A.M.
P/O Coward & Churchill returned with
sick A/C & the W/C who was leading
the show also turned back. We went
in from the sea well West of Matru
& saw very large concentration & tanks
The trip took 1:40 hrs. & I returned with
my bomb for we had lost the top
cover & I was too busy covering
the lower kites to spend time picking
a target.
Stevens returning from base this morning
tells me that Peter Ewing is down there
& is looking forward to getting into this
Squadron. We both put his name in
to the C.O.
Have just counted up the fellows missing
from the Sq since the beginning of
this push & they are as follows:-
F/O Pace R.I.P., Sgt Colin MacDiarmid R.I.P., Sgt Norman POW,
[*12.2.44
Mildura VIC.*]
F/Lt Chin Chin P.O.W., Sgt Fred Ryan R.I.P.. Sgt Ross Biden R.I.P.
Sq/Ldr Barr. Two of these I am sure are P.O.W.
& I also hope that Freddie Ryan is
also. From what I have seen this
morning I am sure that we will have
to retreat still further East for the
enemy is in great strength & has
control of a great deal of our
equipment.
On returning from this morning's "opp." we
went for a quick swim & found the
squadron all ready to move back on
returning. I journeyed all the way
to about 15 mls. from Alex on the
opps truck. It was hot & we passed
about 10000 vehicles. The Armys
strength in this area is tremendous
& it is hard to realise why such
a terrific Army should have to
retreat. I can only conclude that
those in command have little fighting
& bulldog spirit. (Wrong statement) 12.2.44.
[*"My ignorance
again". General
Auchinleck knew
better & did the
right thing in
pulling all back
to the El Alamein
& making a
definite &
successful stand
& advance from
there. 12.2.44.*]
Met Peter Ewing at Wing mess & he
is now a member of No. 3 Sq. He has
had only 27 hrs flying on Spits since

leaving Canada 9 mths ago so will
need plenty more before going off on
an "opp."
We saw the first few trees we have seen
for about 7 wks this day & they looked
beautiful.
30th June Was up at 6 A.M. but did not fly even
though I was on stand by all day. Was
reserve A/C. Terrific heat & [[?B]] proved W/S
& I did only one circuit. Bad dust
storm in late afternoon & 4 of our
A/C were lost but turned up next
day. Jerry is now in strength just Sth
of our last drome at Daba.
General Webb & Major Bibo of the U.S.A.
Army had lunch & a few beers with us
today & proved most interesting & cheerful
fellows. They are observers of the coopetn
between tanks & A.C & I hope we
gave them some good "Gen".
Felt sick & dizzy today & my heart
is racing so retired early.
1st July 1942. Rose at 6 AM & did a Boston escort
at 9 A.M. 6 109's attacked & shot
down one of 450 Sq's top cover.
George Oneill was the pilot of the
kite & I think he bailed out but
landed in the sea.
[*He swam ashore
& was welcomed
in his "bare"
skin by the N.Z.
Division Boys.*]
We were attacked
many times but Danny Boardman's x
was the only A/C to be hit. He landed
O.K. but one of 450 Sq's kites had to
crash land. I saw George's A/C hit the
sea in a vertical dive & thought
that he was done for. The bombing
was fair & it started one very
large fire. I was shaken a bit by
this "opp" for I have a dread of these
109"s now. The doctor does not think
much of my heart racing & says that
I will be O.K. if I can keep going.
have a high pulse rate but that seems
to be natural in this game. Alex &
Cairo are now out of bounds to
all ranks so I fear I have missed
any chance I had at having a little
fun in the city. P/O [[?McLellan]] was
hurt in the car when she hit a
slit trench last night. Base has
now moved away to Cairo
& by the look of the Jerry strength around

Daba, they will soon have to cross
the Suez Canal.
[*Moral very low.
must not ever
get this way
again & will
know what to
look for next
time. 12/2/44*]
On the 30th Lew Spence & John Furniss
left here to return to Australia. The
have both "had" the desert fighting &
I look forward to the day when
I have sufficient hours up to justify
me getting out! I think Nic Curtis
has also gone - & he has only about
60-70 desert hours up.
The 9th A.I.F.Divison has arrived down
from Palestine & should be in action
in a couple of days now. They & the
New Zealanders will help a great
deal in stopping the rot & the Pommies
seem greatly relieved that they have
arrived.
In the evening we escorted out 20
Bostons to bomb just Sth of Daba.
The fools went right across a tremendous
concentration & bombed empty sand.
All the escort saved their bombs for
the concentration on the return journey
From the enemy the ACK/ACK was
very heavy & very accurate & P/O
Richie who was flying Red II was hit
in the engine. & his A/C went down
in flames. I thought he had gone in
but was relieved to find on landing
that my No 2. had seen him bale out
& his chute open. He must have
landed about 8 mls east of the Jerries.
Four 109's attacked but did no
damage. There has been beautiful
cloud all this day.
2nd July. I wrote many letters in the morning &
did only one job in the afternoon.
There was heavy dust up till about
1500 hrs & we were the first to get
off. Twelve of us did a reccoe & 
carried out some excellent dive
bombing starting three large fires. This
was my first time of carrying a
500 lb. bomb & the A/C behaved
very well. Beautiful cloud this day.
Many trips by big balboes of Bostons
& Baltimores in the late afternoon
& I think that Gerry must be getting
very worried about our air
power.

3rd July.
8 of ours & 6 of 450 Sq's carried
out a dive bombing job on an
enemy strong post Sth East of Daba.
The target was very well dispersed
& the ACK/ACK very heavy. We
had little success. The leader Regi
Phiffer was hit in the engine just
after bombing & had to crash
land on the way home. Ted
xx Alderson had a bad oil
leak & had to land pretty well
blind. He hit a 250 Sq. airman
on landing & put the poor beggar
in hospital.
[*The airman suffered
a broken leg.
4/7/42.*]
No blame can be
put on Ted it was just an unfortunate
accident.
[*Correction it was
an O.K. A/C that
did the damage.*]
We have plenty of stuff moving
up - but the enemy is also very
strong & something definite should
be decided very soon now. I
think it will not go in our
favour, for the enemy can now
rush supplies in by sea anywhere
from Gibraltar to Daba.
I rushed to Natrune with Sgt John Hook.
late in the evening & brought back a new
A/C. It was nearly dark when I landed. She
was a good A/C & I got 250 indicated on
37 [[?]] & 2600 revs. at ground level.
We had a little picture show in the
evening but I was too hot to stay &
retired early.
4th July 1942.
Rose at 7.40 but missed the early job - they
would not wait & I only did a circuit
after chasing the formation for a short
way. Received a lovely letter this
morning from Dianna Laing. She is
now much better & I hope will be
completely fit soon.
Yesterday or the day a S.A.A.F. Sq.
shot down 13 JU87'B's & 10 109 E's
without loss to themselves. yesterday
450 sq & our boys shot down an M.E. 110
in the circuit over Daba aerodrome.
They blew its tail unit off. This
morning xxxx 250 sq. shot down
one JU 88 & 2 109 F's in the same
area. I with 4 others carried out
a very extensive recco Sth of Daba
 

at 1300 hrs today. The enemy was
in great strength (4000 vehicles)
& they threw a great deal of heavy
ACK/ACK at us. There was a
shelling duel going on between the
enemy & our army but I saw few
results (was too busy looking
for the attacking 109's for we
were only 12 miles from Daba).
Yesterday I led 6 A/C for the
first time in my life. We were
top cover for 5 of 450 sq kites &
bombed enemy transport on the
main road N.W. of Daba. We
encountered heavy ACK/ACK & located
a battery of about 14 guns near
the beach.
Filled in papers & passed medical
exam prior to receiving a
commission this day. If I
get this I will feel that at
least I have earned it the
hard way. 450 lost 2 & 112 1
pilot this day. There was bombing
last night & a good ACK/ACK
display. Shrapnel landed all around
& a fellow in our tent snored like
the devil & kept me awake.
I am afraid that the enemy show no
sign of cracking. The N.Z'rs are supposed
to try & take Daba tonight.
George Oneill swam ashore about 1½
miles the other day & I saw him
yesterday looking none the worse for
his experience. Several new fellows
have turned up during the last few
days but only one of them can fly a
Kittyhawk so we will not be relieved
for some time yet & will have to
continue doing 2 & 3 sorties per day.
6th July.
Somewhere recently I have missed a
day. Goodness knows what I did but
have no doubt there were a couple
of sorties & bags of nervous tension.
Rose at 5 A.M. this day & together with
450 sq. carried out a dive bombing
job on the enemy's drome West of
Daba. 4 109's attacked over the sea
but with no results. Bombing was
fair & I think a few were destroyed