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In The News Abroad
Free
- for all Troops scattering from lorries as the Hurricane bombers roared down were caught in the fire of a wave of spitfires following behind. It was a free for all for the pilots. They
mixed it magnificently. One Hurricane squadron finished off six large trucks in
one sortie. Smoke
from the burning lorries pillared up like crazy trees above the roads. And our
aircraft kept coming over. One
pilot was Wing Commander G. K. J. Gilroy, D.F.C. home town Broughton,
Peebleshire who has not been flying for weeks. But on his first sortie at
Kasserine he got an ME. 109. Then
the American Martin Marauders came in the picture. They covered the pass with
bomb bursts flung up as regularly as lamp standards on a sea promenade, then
swung along the slopes to the deep gun positions.
Letter from John Bisdee Squadron Leader Bisdee's talk at Port Sunlight during the 'Planes Drive has been described in an earlier issue of the News. Soon after his visit he was sent to Malta and then to the Western Desert, and in the following extracts from a letter to a member of Advertising Department he gives a vivid picture of R.A.F. life out there : - "I went to Malta in time for the April - May blitz. I am told that we had 5,000 tons of bombs dropped on us in April, but was too busy to count them myself, as we were flying fairly hard. Things got better towards the middle of May, however, as our Spitfires started to turn the trick. It was a very satisfactory war. We used to lie down in the sun by our aircraft all day, waiting for a call, each with his own groundcrew, baked brown as berries. They certainly did a great job of work for us, dawn till dusk and half into the night, day after day. My rigger was a journeyman printer in saner days, and insisted on doing his calculation in printer jargon, "Shall I trim the port aileron a couple of ems down, Sir?" Thanks to Mr. Cremin, of the Printing Department, I understand what he meant. Malta, believe me, is a remarkable place. Even in peacetime G.B.S. remarked that it was "the finest heap of stones he'd ever seen." A first view from the air makes you think the same. The houses are all built of the universal Bath brick which makes the backbone of the island - consequently they look as though they have grown out of the ground. Only too many of them have been thrown down again, particularly in Valetta, where shopping still goes on amid mountains of rubble. The resulting bomb dust drifts everywhere and settles on everything. The Maltese are a sturdy race. They went through a lot of misery in those blitz months. Each time the alert went, down they would go to the galleries that their ancestors had hewn in the rock. These were an unforgettable sight. Dimly lit caves full of the smell of crowded humanity, rumbling with the blast of bombs, and the murmuring of those who prayed at the shrines of Madonnas carved into the rock wall. When things got quieter, life was good, with plenty of bathing in the clearest water I have ever seen. I did not appreciate this at first, having got at the wrong end of a 109 on my first day, which gave me a short descent by courtesy of the Irvin Parachute Company, and six hours splashing around in my rubber dinghy as I paddled home. I have retired a while from operations to become a "Gaberdine swine" at H.Q., where I sit and chew my pencil and tryb to think up a line of sales talk to embryo fighter pilots. I have seen quite a few people from the firm out here. Lieut. - Col. 'Tiny' Edwards (C.T.D/D.), Dennis Hessling and Patterson, of the Laboratories. A few nights ago I had dinner with Owen Papineau, now a Major, and his wife. They have been married about a month. [It may be recalled that Squadron Leader Bisdee was a trainee with R.S. Hudsons, later serving with Lintas, and then at Christopher Thomas's, Bristol. As a member of the Auxiliary Flying Corps, he was called up to the R.A.F. at the beginning of the war, and in 1941 he was awarded the D.F.C. - ED.] PORT SUNLIGHT NEWS. JANUARY - FEBRUARY 1943.
R.A.F.
Awards The
King has approved the following awards in recognition of gallantry and devotion
to duty in the execution of air operations :- DISTINGUISHED
SERVICE ORDER A/Sq.
Ldr G. K. Gilroy, D.F.C., A.A.F. Sq.
Ldr. G.K.Gilroys enthusiasm and devotion to duty have been outstanding. He
has led his wing on many sorties with skill and courage. Frequently he has led
two sorties in one day. The successes achieved have been largely due to his
leadership and fine example. He has destroyed 15 enemy aircraft. Times. 1st March 1943.
ISLE GOVERNOR WAS A.C.2 FIVE YEARS AGO Five years ago Wing - Commander John Derek Bisdee was an A.C.2. Yesterday it was announced that he has been appointed garrison commander and military governor of Lampedusa. Wing - Commander Bisdee is twenty - eight. He was born at Weston - super - Mare and educated at Malvern and Cambridge. As flying - officer he was awarded the D.F.C. in July, 1941, when he had destroyed at least six enemy aircraft while leading a flight and section of No. 609 Fighter Squadron. Brigadier - General A. C. Strickland, of the U.S. Army Air Force, has been appointed garrison - commander and military governor of Pantellaria. Daily Mirror. 3rd July 1943. |
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