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“Typhoon Types at 4 ‘O’ Clock – Tally Ho!
An Article Written About The July 1st 2001 Reunion and Typhoon Day.
59 years since they were last stationed at Duxford airfield in Cambridgeshire, officers and men of 609 (West Riding) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, were once again on the airfield that first saw them issued with the mighty Hawker Typhoon for their annual association reunion. Coinciding with this was the launch and signing of the memoirs of Dr. George Armour Bell, OBE, who described it as “an attempt to recapture a few months from the middle of the last century. Today a lot of credit goes to the United Nations when it raises, sometimes with difficulty, a multinational force for peacekeeping. In those few months of my story, 609 Squadron had pilots from nine different nations, including one from Germany, fighting and dying to rid the world of Nazi tyranny. It's really about how we lived together in those dramatic times.” (‘To Live Among Heroes.’ Grub Street, ISBN 1 902304 80 2, 192pp, (+ 16pp of many previously unpublished photographs), hbk, £17.99). Dr. Bell served with the Squadron from 1943 until the end of hostilities, and this unique, engaging, and dramatic account by a squadron medical officer gives the human side to the final air battles of Western Europe, from the ground attack sorties of Normandy through to the dying days of the Third Reich.
Pre-war squadron member Jim Earnshaw AE, who organized the day said: “Having joined 609 Squadron in December 1937, I was proud to be present at a remarkable gathering of the squadrons wartime pilots, three ex-CO’s and ten pilots. From the UK, Belgium, Canada and Australia, they came to honour their much loved and respected medical officer – ‘Doc Bell’; The effort involved in attending the event was acknowledged to be ‘a debt we owed to Doc’”. Doc added: “It was an astonishing scene at Duxford for the launch. Elderly ex-officers assumed their former rank and position in the squadron even if today we were poles apart in our personal lives. For a few hours we remembered each other as Commanding Officers, Flight Commanders, Number 2's, and as for me, I was proud and pleased to be called 'Doc'. We are among the last eyewitnesses of World War Two; after us it's hearsay.”
Being very much a part of 609, ‘Doc’ was confidante to many of the pilots and ground crew, and his book provides a fascinating personal insight into the minds and lives of the men of the ‘White Rose’, finishing the authoritative account begun by the late Frank Ziegler (‘UNDER THE WHITE ROSE. THE STORY OF 609 SQUADRON’, now sadly out of print, which Roland Beamont described as “ probably the best squadron history published”) ‘Bee’s’ view of ‘To live among heroes’, being a few chapters in, was that it was: “Its an awfully good book, George is very good indeed, he’s a human man, and he understands people. Its unusual these days to read an account of events that takes more account of the quality of the people, than of the events being described.” He added: “ Before ‘Doc’ Bell came to us, we had another Medical officer called MacKechnie and he was the same type of man. They were incredibly warm individuals, and both looked after the pilots, medically, extremely well, but also looked after their general well being, their welfare in an extraordinary warm way, and I think that 609 were very well served by their Medical Officers throughout the war. One of the extraordinary things about the squadron at that time was that the individuals in the various key places were all exceptional people and we were very lucky, we had a remarkable team, which is undoubtedly why we were such a successful squadron. Each individual was exceptional in his own right, but as a team they rose high above the others that were doing that sort of work, and they showed, and they became very well known in the service, as being the pioneering squadron of the Typhoon, which was a rather difficult aeroplane in its early days – until we got it right.”
Also with ‘Doc’ Bell on the day was the most senior member of the squadron – Air Commodore William De Goat, who had traveled down from RAF Leeming especially for the day. The squadron mascot since 23rd June 1943, ‘Billy’ was in the advance party Dakota on its arrival in Northern France on July 1st 1944 after the invasion of Europe. To celebrate this monumental ‘anniversary’, Billy managed to sneak into many of the photographs, as well as the dinner, yet unlike the old days, his taste for cigarette, beer, and chasing hapless journalists around the airfield, seemed to have deserted him!
Under cloudy conditions, the roar of a Merlin was heard as Carolyn Grace took off in Spitfire TR.IX ML407 for a brief (though superb) display, which emptied the Concorde Room of all those present! Carolyn had apparently made the offer of the display following her birthday present to ‘Bee’ Beamont of a flight from Boscombe Down on his 80th birthday last year. In ‘Bee’s’ words, “Carolyn is a delightful person, and volunteering to fly for us was a great privilege. She is a beautiful flyer with a very fine pair of hands, sure in knowledge and control.”
Other
delights were, however, waiting outside as well – in the shape of an
8-year-long cockpit restoration of a Hawker Typhoon MK1B. The projects aim is to
represent JP843 of 609 Squadron (which was shot down by flak on the 27th July
1944 at Poussey-Campagne killing the pilot, New Zealander Flight Sergeant P.M.
Price, who is now buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Ranville,)
which owner Roger Marley had brought To Duxford from his garage in Shrewsbury
for the occasion. He regarded the day as “a great privilege to meet and talk
with the men of 609 Squadron and hear first hand what it was like to fly a
Typhoon in combat.” A replica using 60% original parts (recovered from
post-war aircraft dumps) with the rear monocoque constructed on a wooden frame
with aluminum skin, it proved to be of great interest to all who were present. A
further ten feet of rear section has also been constructed, and the owner is in
possession of undercarriage legs, tail legs, elevators and front cowlings, and
even a complete radio kit! Though still with a long and difficult restoration
ahead of him - he is currently searching for tail and wing parts, and a Napier
Sabre engine is on his Christmas list - his aim is to eventually demonstrate as
complete an airframe as possible.
Of
particular interest to many of those present was the starboard engine panel of
Roland Beamonts Typhoon R7752, with his personal tally, which was removed from
his aircraft and signed on the rear by members of the squadron when he handed
over command to Alec Ingle in 1943. This was previously on display at RAF
Hendon, but is now in the 609 Squadron memorial building at the Yorkshire Air
Museum, Elvington. ‘Bee’ fought in both the Battle of France and Battle of
Britain, before becoming involved in the development of the Typhoon at Hawkers
in Langley. He was soon back in command of 609 from October 1942 until May 1943,
before leaving once again for Hawkers to help on the Tempest development
program, subsequently leading the first Tempest wing into action over Normandy
and against the V1 flying bomb threat before being shot down by ground fire in
late 1944 and taken prisoner. After the war was over, ‘Bee’ spent many
years as a test pilot, on Gloster Meteor IV’s, English Electric Canberra's and
Lightning's, (In which he became the first British pilot to exceed twice the
speed of sound) as well as the ill-fated TSR-2.
For
those who attended the signing session, it was a great pleasure to meet with
such men as three former commanding officers of 609 – ‘Bee’ Beamont, CBE,
DSO*, DFC*, DFC (USA), DL, FRAeS; ‘Cheval’ Lallemant, DFC*; and ‘Pinkie’
Stark, DFC*, AFC, Croix de Guerre (Belgian; - and other wartime 609 pilots such
as Ken Adam (who provided the painting on the book cover), Joe Atkinson, KCB,
DFC; (609’s longest serving operational pilot) Jim Stewart, DFC; Bill Billam;
Rick Dupre; Georges Jaspis, DFC; Jan Mathys; David Linacre; and Albert Laforce;
who had all clearly enjoyed their reunion dinner and the accompanying speeches,
and were more than happy to reminisce as they signed books and pictures for all
those requesting them. Asked how long he had been with the Squadron, the
Mauritian Rik Dupre remarked: “Well, I’m still alive, aren’t I?”
‘Bee’ regarded it as “a fine day, 609 organized a marvellous reunion. I’ve
been to a lot of them and I think that was probably the best one that we’ve
had. All these old chaps of my age, they all enjoyed themselves enormously, got
the same spirit that they always had. And we always like to meet each other, and
they had their wives with them and they all enjoyed it. A very happy occasion
actually, and we had two or three of my friends and colleagues over from
Belgium. 609 had many Belgian pilots, and one of them I hadn’t seen since 1943
and it was absolutely marvellous to meet them again, great spirit.
As well as selling various copies of out-of-print titles, a raffle was held for a signed print of Typhoons, and was won, fittingly, by the son and grandson of another wartime 609 pilot, Roy Payne, who was unfortunately unable to attend.
Also present at the reunion, on the newly reformed 609 Squadron’s third birthday, was its current Officer Commanding, Squadron Leader Brian Waite, who had traveled down from the squadron’s base at RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire. Squadron Leader Waite, who took command in December 2000 said, “ The honour of commanding 609 (WR) Squadron was consolidated today in a way not envisaged. To meet so many of the past only confirms our desire to forge the future positively. Our role is different, no aircraft, but the enthusiasm and commitment of today’s Auxiliaries is enhanced by the knowledge of the illustrious history their Squadron has. We recruit from the whole of the North of England, but once members of the Squadron; the Auxiliaries feel very much part of Yorkshire’s most famous Auxiliary Squadron. We certainly feel proud to be connected with members of 609 (West Riding) Squadron Association"
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Copyright © 2002 609 (West Riding)
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