136Sqn and 615Sqn Burma Photos request.

[KW-X]

My Grandpa,

who is now 91 flew Spitfires in Burma first with 136Sqn in Chittagong (flying aircraft "F for Freddie") and then he moved to 615Sqn to be with his identical twin brother in the Imphal Valley.
He and his brother both flew KW-X, on opposite shifts obviously. There was a story written about my great uncle's misadventure in KW-X a few years ago, and his drogue shoot is in the AWM in Canberra.

My grandpa has the most amazing stories about his time in the war, i thrived on them as a kid and am still in awe of his adventures.

I am looking for any photos that are to do with either 136 Sqn or 615 Sqn in Burma.
Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[N4521U]

We'll keep looking

 

[Airframes]

Go to the Modelling Section, and look in the Group Builds. In one of the past Group Builds, entitled Commonwealth, scroll down, past the 'Finished' threads, to the section below, showing the same entries as 'Done'.
Find my entry "Spitfire MkVIII, 136 Sqn".
On the first page of the thread, you'll find the introduction, and a PDF you can download. This is the background to the model, and mainly covers 136 sqn and Bob Cross, with a couple of photos, but at the end, in the Bibliogrpahy, there are a couple of books mentioned, and both of these have some photos of the Hurricanes, and Spifire MkV and MkVIII flown by 136.
Photos of aircraft from both of these Squadrons are not exactly prolific, but there are some in various books, including two Osprey publications, covering Hurricane aces and Spitfire aces. These are 'split' into late and early Marks for both types, and there are only a couple of photos of the SEAC aircraft in each, and I think 615 Sqn is covered. Also, from memory, the Imperial War Museum, Lambeth, London, has some which can be viewed on line, but others there would need a personal visit to access, or contact the Museum and contract their assistants in the Research dept.
Hope this helps.

 

[nuuumannn]

Your 91 year old grampa doesn't believe they are still buried somewhere near Mingaladon, does he?

 

[buffnut453]

Can't help much with photos but you might check out "Woodpecker Story" by Vivian K. Jacobs about 136 Sqn's exploits over Burma. It's an excellent book!

 

[Airframes]

Yep, included in the bibliography.

 

[KW-X]

"Your 91 year old grampa doesn't believe they are still buried somewhere near Mingaladon, does he?"

I asked him about the buried spit's, he says that it's unlikely because most of the surplus aircraft were given to other airforces.


Terry - I showed him the pictures of your MkVIII of 136Sqn and he was quite impressed.

Thanks for the tips everyone!

 

[Airframes]

You're welcome.Forgot to add - there's some film footage of 136 Sqn Spits at the IWM, which can be purchased on a DVD. If you're interested, I'll dig out the catalogue number etc.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very cool and welcome aboard KW.

If you can, write down his stories as we would love to hear them, also give a bog to your grandfather!

 

[KW-X]

You're welcome.Forgot to add - there's some film footage of 136 Sqn Spits at the IWM, which can be purchased on a DVD. If you're interested, I'll dig out the catalogue number etc.

That would be amazing if you could find the Cat No. for the DVD


Viking - there are so many stories to tell, i will have to sit down with Gramps and write some things down so i have all the proper info.

A couple of my favourite anecdotes perhaps;

Whilst out on patrol he decided to see how high he could take his Spit, and his own words "I had it hanging by the prop, as looked out the canopy at Mt.Everest"

He remembers being "incredibly stupid" he and his mates would weave in and out of Palm trees flying knife edge slalom just above the ground.

Once during the Japanese retreat from Burma, after the battle of Imphal i believe. Grandpa had been doing ground attack work on this Japanese "aerodrome" on an island on the Burmese Coast.
All day he had been strafing and what not, whilst the British Army moved to encircle the runway on the ground. Later in the day, the British Army had made it up onto the runway, down one end but there
was still some Japanese resistance coming from the other end of the runway. In the middle of this, Grandpa was the first to Land on the Strip, they were pretty confident that they had wiped out the Japs.
So Grandpa lands on the strip, from the British end toward the Jap end, realises things aren't quite secure, the British are still shooting so he spins her round taxis back to the british end of the strip.
Once he's out of the plane, things got quiet. The last Jap, an officer, stumbles up onto the end of the strip and cuts his own throat.

 

[KW-X]

My Grandfather (I think he's on the wing) and his identical twin brother In the cockpit.
I had trouble telling them apart when i was a kid and they still look the same at 91 years old.

A funny story from during the war, once, someone who was filling their pay cheques had both of their files - Because their photos looked the same and they were in the same squadron, the person thought there was a mix up and put one of their files aside; so for a while only one of them was being paid.

 

[Wayne Little]

Excellent!

 

[Airframes]

Great stuff, and good photo too.
Looks like the film footage is from the National Archives, Kew, London (could have sworn it was from IWM !).
Here's the details:- Air 27/953, 136 Squadron.
It is, of course, silent, and is a number of clips not in sequence, filmed by an official RAF cinematographer, in monochrome. It's not very long, but provided me with a lot of small details. Can't remember the cost, but I think it was around £15 to £20, to cover admin, recording and shipping.
EDIT:- Oops! Sorry, the above catalogue number was for part of the 136 Sqn ORB !
The video is from the Imperial War Museum, Catalogue Number ABY 4, and the details are shown below.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Tracker]

You may have seen these already but just in case.

Operation Pharos / Cocos Islands 1944 - 1945

A Pictorial History 1943-1944

No.615 Sqn RAF - Squadron Details - Aviation Directory