Diary of Garth Edward Sommerville Clabburn - 1942-1944 - Part 10

we have ever had ladies in our
mess to my knowledge & it is to
be quite a little event.
All went well & the ladies were quite
at home.
Because of lack of A/C & full quota of
35 pilots 12 of us are being returned to
the beach rest camp this afternoon. On
reaching there we all pushed off to town
& after a feed at the Jewish Club Jack
Donald Garth Neil John Bray & I
went along to Ms Waugh's & after
a bit of singing & a little drink
we stayed the night.
24th Aug. This is really my leave that I missed while
in hospital. Took the girls swimming
at about 10 AM. & met Mrs Darra &
Hosna in the sea. John & I
had lunch at Waugh's & then pushed
off to town. I had tea with the
boys & then saw Bob Hope in
"Nothing But the Truth" & had a
grand laugh. Slept at the Bonnard.
26th Aug. Message from C.O. recalling John & stopping
all leave in Alex because of a supposed

Jerry push. I kept our date with
Mrs Darra & Hosna & stayed to lunch.
Went back to camp & arrived at about
4:P. M. after sending EFM's. to Mother
& Alice Broughton. Kept swimming
until the moon was well up. The
sea is really beautiful at this spot.
Had bad night with mosquitoes.
26th Aug. Swam during morning. Went to town
at 3 P.M. & collected many photographs
for boys. Went to Sidi Beish with
the Darra's & enjoyed surf & company.
After feed back in town at the Petite
de Coin France caught trucks
back to camp. No big push as
yet but threat at parachute troops.
The Duke of Kent was killed
yesterday in a crash in Scotland.
27th Aug. Swam during the morn & returned
to the Sq. at about 3 P.M. We have
only 6 servicable A/C & 35 pilots. I
am on the first job tomorrow.
There is a new F/L attached here.
The boys had a party this night
but I did participate for I want

to stay as fit as possible. Stalingrad
is nearly surrounded by 750 000 Jerries
& looks as if she will fall. The
war grows in magnitude every day
Rizal came in against the Axis
a couple of days ago. It will be
a great day for all when nations will
again see the light of peace.
28th Aug. Went off on 1st job which was top
cover to 450sq. Unfortunately had a
sick kite & lost formation in haze &
finished up with 260sq. Returned after
50 mins with my No. 2. Formation was
attacked by 109’s & John Bray got
a probable.
29th Aug. Went on another job dive bombing
E.P.l's. & M.T. in Southern Sector.
Reported 3 E.A. above but were
told they were friendly. Bombed
& were then attacked by 3. 109’s.
Two of 450sq. were shot down
& one fellow got out by parachute.
Garth Neill got a good burst
into one 109. Sgt. Shilliday who
was leading 450sq. is still

missing. This opp. proved how
vulnerable we are once we are split
up. In this case we were divided
by heavy & accurate ACK/ACK.
30th Aug. Went on big fighter sweep in
early afternoon as White I to C.O.
Saw nothing but kite was very
sick & used 6 galls of oil. Was
lucky to make A.L.G. Sq. did
sweep in morning & was split
up by 5 109's. C.O.'s kite was
hit on tail plane. Bray & Thomas
both got in bursts but observed
no results. Stephens  Churchill
forced landed due to sick engine.
This A/C was H & the A/C in
which I was hit by ACK/ACK
yesterday.
There is a big Jerry offensive
expected to start tonight. Let
‘em all come.
31st Aug. Well the offensive came alright & they
were allowed to advance well
East in the Southern Sector. This
was as was planned by the 8th Army

Commander. As was expected the enemy
failed to mop up several batteries of
25lb. Anti tank guns & their amour
was caught between two N.Z. lines
of guns & suffered heavily. Their
lorreyed infantry was subjected to
one of the heaviest night & day
airial bombardments yet seen in the Middle
East & their casualties both in
men & trucks was heavy. After a
few days the enemy retreated West
licking his wounds. During this
period of fighting we carried out
many sweep & Boston escorts &
Warren Thomas was wounded by
a cannon shell from a 109 F
but did a great job & got back
& landed wheels up on the drome.
My good friend Henry Thomas from
N.Z. was also shot up & is still
missing.
September. Since the beginning of the month
I have done little flying for
we have had very few kites
& have been conserving our strength.
 I spent two periods at the beach &
we had a very happy & healthy
time. John Bray & I went several
times, to Mrs Darra's home & also
enjoyed a few good swims at
Clancy Bay. One night in town
Churchill & Stevens got drunk &
finished up in the jail. I tried to
get them out at about 11 P.M.
but they were still under the
weather & had to stay the night.
10-13th. These past few days the Squadron
has been daily entertaining batches
of Nurses & V.A.D.'s from a
hospital well East of Alexandria.
& they seem to have enjoyed our
effort. The cooks & stewards have
done an excellent job & I am
sure that the girls have really
appreciated the opportunity of
seeing a desert Sq. &  how
it functions. They all fired
Tommy guns & .5ins & had a
good look over the A/C. The only
tough part is the tremendous distance

we must drive them to & fro in the
cars (70mls) here & (70) back.
On the 8th. the boys did a very
exciting job & intercepted 15 Stukas
and many 109's. They accounted for about
[[6?]] 109's & 1 Stuka. Garth Neill got
3 & Scribner 1 & Boardman perhaps
2. We lost none except Freer who
is now reported safe.

[*Freer unfortunately lost an eye this time. He was hit by 20MM cannon. shrapnel.*] 
13th Sept. Yesterday recieved many wonderful
letters from home - one from each
member of the tribe. They all write
so sincerely & I appreciate their
feelings toward & about me more
than words can express.
Went off as top cover on a wing
interception as 5 P.M. & we found
them to be fighter bombers. One of
112 sq's fellows went in & I think
we got one for the Wing. ( Sgt Morrison
of 112). Sq Ldr Gibbs has gone off
to hospital today with a high temp.
Yesterday we spent a very happy
few hours aboard the H.M.A.S. 

Bagshot with Harry Patterson & George

Barton's brother Jeff. We had many
drinks & went to the Sq. during the
Afternoon to help entertain the V.A.D.'s.
Apart from fast air activity there is
little to say of the front. We are
growing stronger daily & I believe 400
new tanks are being unloaded from
U.S.A. The yanks are now far more
numerous in & around Alexandria.
They now have 3 [[War]]hawk Squadrons
in action & some heavy bombers.
14th Sept. No Nurses turned up today &
there was a bit of air activity
Went out on sweep & were vectored
on to 6 109 bombers. Coward
got one but we were split
up in low cloud & altogether
it was a poor show because
of bad tactics on our part.
15th Sept. V.A.D. arrived for lunch & spent
a pleasant afternoon. Barton &
Patterson also turned up &
had a drink. I retired early
& felt a little sick because
of mosquitoe bites.

16th. After waiting all afternoon went off
on scramble to 15mls S.W. of El.
Alemein. 450 sq were above & I
was No 2 to Donald. About 15 109's
attacked us from 5000’ above &
there was a heavy fight. Two A/C
collided head on & when fight
finished 13 fires were burning on
Ground. Sgt Scribner & P/O Donald
did not return & Peter Ewing
is missing from 450 sq. I lost
three good pals in this show
which was the most dangerous
I have yet been on. I claimed
[*Confirmed Destroyed*] 1 109F which I think I got but
did not see crash. Just before
taking off news arrived that 6
of us had recieved our commission
- Jack Donald was one at these.
We saw three chutes open but
fear that two were German.
17th. This morning boys again met up
with a big batch of E/A but
managed to get away & only
Sgt Wood was wounded - but

not seriously. Sgt Bee was fairly
badly wounded on the show of
the 16th. but did a good job
& made the drome O.K.
18th Sept. Did job in evening but saw no
E/A although they were reported
well south. This activity is
greatly increased as far as Enemy
fighters are concerned. The U.S.A.
fighter group has moved in on
a new drome just behind us
& we hope to visit them soon.
19th. Spent morning filling in papers re
commission & changing over huts.
There was no air activity for No 3 sq
this day but the Spits damaged
several 109's.
A few days ago the navy tried to
carry out a raid on Tobruk. It
seemed to me a foolish thing & could
have been carried out with far greater
success had it been directed against
the enemy aerodromes at & around
Daba. As it was we lost two destroyers
& a cruiser together with many hundreds

of valuable men & I fear that little
enemy material was destroyed. It is
virtually impossible to carry out raids
on enemy strong posts without heavy air
support. Losses may not have been so
heavy had the ships not been caught
just off shore by the daylight. Had the
raid been on some spot nearer our
own aerodromes our A/C could have
saved the situation but as it was the
Stukas had a clear go & did their
job well.
20th. This day 50 bombers & 48 fighters carried
out two [[pansy?]] formations, one over Alex.
& another over Cairo. At times like these
I find many reasons to question the Middle
East Air Command's tactics. If we can
put the formations in the air - & the enemy
cannot - why not put them up twice
per day & direct them against Daba
Fuka & all Jerry echelons. By so doing
his fighter force, & what A/C he has would
quite easily be reduced to a miserable
few - then we could devote all our
strength against his land forces, without

the continual risk of being jumped
by those “white noses”. I sincerely hope
that the Allied Commands get cracking
on an all out push- day & night with
no half measures right now, for if
we threw all in - everything that can
fly & fight I am sure that we would
be in Tripoli in 3 mths. This waiting
policy will only give the enemy Egypt &
Lybia in the long run.
My reason for that statement is this. At
present we have air supority both in
bombers & fighters. Our supply lines are 10
times as long as his & if we do not
strike with all we have now he will
consolidate his gains in Russia & divert
much equipment to this theater, & we
will be pushed back through sheer
weight of numbers & x his ability to
replace A/C in short time.
I flew white one to the W/C on the first
show this day. W/C Morrison flew a captured
109F about here this day & she packed up but
he managed to get her down. Had a
swim late this afternoon & did not feel well. 

21st Sept. Well it looks as if all I have been wanting,
is going to take place. There is to be a
big push by us in the future & just
at present I cannot put all I know
down in writing. If all goes to plan
we will see Tripoli by four months
time. This day the boys did one job
but failed to intercept 20-50 plus
“bandits” who were well East of
the front line. Just as well, perhaps,
for they had a few thousand feet
on our boys & that means the difference 
between success & failure.
This day I & several others were inoculated
against typhoid & our arms are a
little stiff & sore.
Received an E.F.M. from Ken this afternoon
which had only taken 7 days to get here
which is very speedy. All's well there.
Last night we spent a very happy
evening in town there was Donny
John & I & we went places &
did things. I feel sure that No 3
Squadron it going to write a very
colourful page in its history during

this immense effort which is about

to commence in the desert against

the Axis forces. 

22nd Sept. 1942. Pushed off on a scramble at about

1 P.M. from L.G. 175. We were vectored after 

5 or 6 bandit bombers (-109's) but could not

find them. They dropped a few bombs from

a great height on the Boston drome & then

climbed. We followed ACK/ACK bursts about
the sky but did not sight a thing

even though we were flying at 18000’.
23th. Sept. Fixed up with Vic Watson all my [[?]]
this morning & now have a little in the

credit side of the ledger.
Carried out a training flight in afternoon

but could not do much good for my
R.T. failed. Went to the beach late 

in the evening with Charlie Coward D.F.C.
& Norman Caldwell. We intend staying

for two days so brought along air
beds. Went to town with Charlie & 

had drinks & played about at the 

Metropolitian Cabaret until about
11 P.M. was very glad to fall into

bed - & so was Charles. Hic!!

24th. Swam in the warm blue sea at about
8 A.M. & "recovered,” reading + sleeping
until lunch time. I forgot, we swam
from 11 till 1 PM & it was grand in.
Went again to town at about 4 P.M.
& left snaps & fixed a few things.
After a drink with other fellows on
leave we went to Mary's & there
stayed until about 10 P.M. After a
good feed back in town we
pushed off to the good old rest
camp which I am thinking
is very aptly named.
25th. We swam & swam & swam. The
local army were having a pratice war
all around our part of the beach
this morning, but they fortunately did
not hit any of us. We came
back to camp at about 4 P.M.
& found that the boys had only
done a few little bombing jobs
during the past two days.
Went to pictures at Wing Hq. during
the evening & had a good
laugh at Joan Bennet & Franchot

Tone in “She Knew All the Answers.”
This show is held under the open sky
& a great semi circle of trucks
form the dress circle, & the desert dirt
the front & back stalls. ‘Tis run
by a Sth African crowd & their
equipment is excellent. Fortunately
no Jerries came overhead causing
making a nuisance of themselves
even though the moon was full.
Things are quiet on both sides for both
Armies are building up for a big push
& at present are conserving material
as much as possible.
26th. No job for the wing today even though
we all look our turn at standby.
I am sure that to wait for a
scramble for six hours, & then not
get one, is just as tiring as going
through a good four hours at
sticky operational flying. We now
have 13 servicable A/C & I am
to lead 12 out on the early morn
job - if one turns up.
Many of the boys have gone on

the spree in town tonight, but I
am taking things quietly in the mess
for my last two trips into Alex
have proved all too expensive. For
exercise I deepened out slit trench
this afternoon & found the going
very hard, for in this particular
spot there is a great deal of
semi rock structure which takes
some shifting. During the night
we heard heavy gunfire &
this morning heard that Heliopilous
Drome had been made U/S, which
may mean that a few A/C went for
a row as well, for it is there
that there is a very large M.U.
Alf Glendinning was today
posted to a Spitfire Sq. & to date
the C.O. has not been able to
arrange that he stay in No 3 sq.
Have lately been carrying out a deal
of revolver practice & find that
I am very accurate if I take bags
of time but not so hot at
snap shooting. All Squadrons in

239 Wing now have very high servicability
compared with what we have been
used to of late - but still have a
long way to go to have 24 A/C per Sq.
27th. Rose at 7 A.M. & teed up the gaggle.
We stayed until 10 A.M. on 5 mins readiness
& were then put on to 1/2 hr for the
remainder of the day.
28th. Wait, Wait, wait! is all we do &
nothing ever happens. I rushed down
this afternoon prepared to intercept a
Stuka Party which did not eventuate.
Spent about four hours on stand by today
& the rest of the time mucking about
digging, reading talking & listening to the
radio. I have bags of time for
writing home these days but my head
is as empty as my log book
for the month & I have no news
for them.
There was great rejoicing this after-
noon when news I came through that
Nick [[Rass?]] was a P.O.W. The grand
news was overdue & we were
all a little worried for his safety.

Phiffer had said he had definitely seen
Nick bale out, but he would have
landed amidst a deal of shot &
shell & I thought he may have been
hit on the way down - However
all is well.
Keith Kilds today was made a Flight
xxxx Lt. Acting & I am sure he has
created a record in being promoted
from Sgt to Flt/Lt. all in the space
of about 3 weeks.
29th Sept. Rose early & waited on 5 mins. until
1 P.M. & nothing turned up. We
are now very strong in A/C numbers.
Dick Prowse of 450 Sq. hit the
Lysander on landing & wiped
its wing off. I fear he will have
to walk around the drome carrying
his chute & all.
The big Stuka Party did turn up today
at 4 P.M. & I think the Yanks
got stuck into them, but our boys
were not scrambled, so still we have
no hours up.
Two lovely letters today, one from Margaret &

another from June Adams which had
been written way back on 6th March, &
had come by way of England.
There is to be a bombing job tomorrow
morning & we will escort Baltimores but
to date there is still no sign of the
beginning of the big offensive.
30th Sept. to 6th October. During the past 7 days there has been
little to report. We have carried out
a few sweeps or patrols & I have had
the job of leading the squadron out
on three of these. On the second
when we were acting as top cover to
450 112 Sq. George [[Plinston?]] destroyed one
of two 109's that attacked us
at about 12000' over the front.
I think the pilot baled out.
Late one evening 250 sq. had a
big Stuka Party & accounted for about
12 E/A. He had been waiting over
the front for this but ran short of
fuel before they arrived & had to
return to LG 91.
For two days I went to the beach