Posted as a crew to Egypt, L.G. 89, arriving in June 1942. Flew anti-submarine patrols and offensive recces against Italian and German shipping. On one occasion, we escorted a naval squadron which had been bombarding Rhodes as a diversion for Malta to get supplies. At dawn, we sighted a German U-Boat which we sank, confirmed by the RN. Received my commission at the end of the first tour and crewed up with F/O Bob Fraser, posted to Malta, posted back to #221 Squadron with Jock Hutton as C.O. Again sent on anti-shipping strikes, now with torpedoes.
One night I was sick with pneumonia and the M.O. sent me to hospital with sulfa drugs. I was told that my pilot had borrowed a navigator for a trip and they had all gone for a Burton. That was the lowest point in my life. I was posted to Limavady as a nav. instructor at the end of my second tour. Three weeks later, I was posted to Haverford West, then to Nassau for what was then a top secret assignment . We sailed to New York on the Mauretania. On board, we began forming another crew - F/O Harvey Stephenson, Reg Collins, and later in Nassau, Tommy Agnew from Moose Jaw, Doug Theaker and Junior Simpson. Later, we went to Montreal ready to fly back to the UK but in the meantime, Harvey Stephenson got married in Montreal and I, in Toronto, so we got compassionate leave and went to Moncton for our honeymoons.
Ultimately, we were posted to #223 Squadron at Oulton, Norfolk as a counter radio and radar unit under
W/C Burnell, a Canadian. Our work was to decoy the Luftwaffe into going to the wrong place and by means of Window, fooling the enemy into thinking that there were thousands of planes about to bomb them - spoof missions they were called. After preliminary training on the sophisticated gadgets - Gee, Loran, H2S, API etc., we began to work. Accuracy was paramount, our orders being: maximum error - one mile and one minute,
We accompanied the bomber stream about one mile apart. We carried two German speaking wireless operators with secret instruments with nicknames such as Airborne Cigar, Village Inn, the latter being a radar controlled rear firing gun with which we shot down either a JU88 or a careless Mosquito who forgot to put on his IFF.
We went to Hamburg, Frankfurt, Essen, Dusseldorf, Mannheim, Dortmund, Ems Canal. Our longest flight was to Konigsberg in the Baltic - 12 hours over Norway and Sweden. Our most scary flight was to Ausberg, also a long flight of 10 hours, during which we got caught in searchlights. Fortunately, we were able to throw out th type C Window and the searchlight went after it. At this time I was informed that I had been recommended for the DFC. Our last sortie was on May 4, 1945 when we dropped miniature parachute troops over the Frisian Islands to simulate an airborne landing. Our squadron losts five crews, with eleven in each aircraft.
After going on leave, I was posted to Welford to instruct on navigation for crews going to the Far East.