Obituaries

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Flight Lieutenant Jim Inward :salute:

Former aircraft fitter who flew on 47 bombing operations and risked his life to save that of his rear gunner.


Flight Lieutenant Jim Inward, who has died aged 94, was an RAF aircraft fitter who travelled to Finland to service Gladiator fighters and was caught up in the fighting of the "Winter War" between Finland and Russia. He later flew 47 operations in Bomber Command and was awarded a DFC.
Inward had just completed his training as an aircraft apprentice when the Second World War broke out. After a brief spell servicing Hurricane fighters, he volunteered for a special task, which took him first to neutral Sweden. To avoid a diplomatic incident, he and his few RAF colleagues were "asked to resign" from the RAF and become civilians.
He joined a small party at the Gloster Aviation Company to become familiar with the Gladiator before flying to Sweden in February 1940 to assemble a number of the biplane fighters, which had arrived in crates.
The aircraft were then flown to Finland for the defence of the south of the country. Inward followed and joined a squadron on the eastern front east of Viipuri on the Karelian Isthmus.
Within a week Soviet forces had advanced into the area, creating an urgent need to evacuate the small British party to prevent them falling into Russian hands. Inward travelled by horse-drawn sleigh to Helsinki, where he and some of his colleagues took a civilian flight to Sweden . In Stockholm, two men claiming to be British agents approached him and two of his colleagues. Sweden had recently acquired two large cranes to help load iron ore on to ships for export to Germany. Inward and his team were invited to blow up the cranes with explosives provided by the agents.
During a dummy run to the docks they were arrested by the Swedes and sent to an internment camp, which they shared with captured German soldiers, Russian spies and other foreign nationals. After a few months they were freed as part of an exchange deal involving a number of German prisoners. Inward arrived back in Britain in late 1940.
James Inward was born on April 4 1920 at Romford, Essex. On leaving school in 1936 he joined the RAF Apprentice School at Halton and trained as an aircraft fitter. In 1939 he joined No 56 Squadron at North Weald as a leading aircraftman.
After his return from Sweden he served on two squadrons servicing bombers. With the introduction of the four-engine heavy bombers, there was a need for a specialist flight engineer to be added to the crew, and Inward was among the first volunteers . After a brief period of training, he joined No 35 Squadron, equipped with the Halifax, and flew his first bombing operation over Germany in February 1942. The target was Warnemünde on the Baltic. Searchlights and flak protected the port, and Inward's reaction was: "This is dangerous stuff." His second operation was the first of the "Thousand Bomber" raids, when the target was Cologne. After 15 operations, part of his squadron augmented No 76 Squadron, also flying the Halifax. Based in Palestine, he flew 10 more operations, against targets in North Africa and in support of the Eighth Army after the Battle of El Alamein. After a period as an instructor at a bomber-training unit, Inward returned to operations with No 576 Squadron. On the first of these he took part in an attack on Stuttgart on February 20 1944. While the aircraft was over the target at 22,000ft, the rear gunner's oxygen tube became disconnected and he started to lose consciousness.
Immediate rescue was essential, and without hesitation Inward left his position to go to the aid of his comrade. He had to disconnect his intercommunication lead, making it impossible for him to react to any emergency orders or reach his parachute.
To rectify the problem in the air gunner's turret, he had to remove his gloves and, despite the intense cold and his own emergency oxygen supply becoming exhausted, he persevered until the gunner's supply was reconnected.
Inward then struggled along the fuselage to regain his position and reach an oxygen supply, but his fingers were badly frostbitten, a fact he withheld from his captain. Unable to write in his log, he made mental computations and manipulated the fuel supply until the aircraft had returned safely to base.
He went on to complete another 21 operations, including attacks against V-1 flying bomb sites, French railway targets and industrial cities in Germany. At the end of his tour he was awarded a DFC .
On leaving the RAF, Inward joined Unilever before transferring to the group's Birds Eye factory at Great Yarmouth and then to a management post on Humberside.

Jim Inward's wife, Pat, predeceased him by a few weeks, and he is survived by a son and three daughters.

Flt Lt Jim Inward, born April 4 1920, died January 31 2015

Source: The Telegraph
 
A superb sacrifice by a man who has already done more than enough.
It's disgusting that such a memorial should be privately funded, and that Sqn Ldr Munro should have to help in the first place - it should be the responsibility of the Government of this nation, in abstentia of their forebears who sent young men to fight their war, to fund the maintenance of the Monument. The same bunch of clowns would happily spend £50,000 on a month-long advertising campaign to keep them in the privileged positions to which they have grown accustomed.
But well done Les Munro, and thank you for your extremely generous sacrifice.
 
Airframes said:
A superb sacrifice by a man who has already done more than enough.
It's disgusting that such a memorial should be privately funded, and that Sqn Ldr Munro should have to help in the first place - it should be the responsibility of the Government of this nation, in abstentia of their forebears who sent young men to fight their war, to fund the maintenance of the Monument. The same bunch of clowns would happily spend £50,000 on a month-long advertising campaign to keep them in the privileged positions to which they have grown accustomed.
But well done Les Munro, and thank you for your extremely generous sacrifice.
Click to expand...

Even more shaming is that much of the cost of upkeep of the memorial is removing graffiti. From a few things Sqr Ldr Munroe has said he felt he was lucky, maybe donating his medals was a way for him to give something back remembering his mates who weren't so lucky. I imagine that since his mother died as an indirect result of one of those medals they would have bitter/sweet memories for him. Regardless of the whys and wherefores, thank you Mr Munroe, enjoy a long happy retirement.
 
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Commander Peter "Roddy" Elias - decorated Swordfish navigator who wrote an eyewitness account of the attack on Bismarck. :salute:


Commander Peter "Roddy" Elias, who has died aged 93, played a key role in the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck and twice found his enemy despite bad weather and low cloud in the Atlantic.
On Monday May 26 1941 Elias flew two sorties totalling nine hours in Swordfish 2H of 810 Naval Air Squadron from the carrier Ark Royal. At 11.15am on the first sortie he found Bismarck and on the second he witnessed the attack by Swordfish torpedo-bombers on the German behemoth.
In a letter, written hours after the battle and published here for the first time, he described the events, starting the previous day, when he had been ashore in Gibraltar: "I was rudely wakened at 3am and given a message to rendezvous with the Ark 100 miles out in the Atlantic.
"By five o'clock we refuelled the aircraft and took off with the dawn breaking behind us. Sixty minutes flying and the fleet appeared ahead and so began the Bismarck hunt for me.
"All that day and through the night we steamed at top speed into the steadily thickening weather. At dawn on the second day the wind had got up to 40 to 50 knots, cloud at 300ft and visibility anything below six miles. After an hour and some minutes flying, having long given up hope of seeing anything, a long grey shape appeared ahead."
Elias plotted his position and began to close in on the German battleship. "I do not think I have ever been quite so excited," he wrote. "We stayed and shadowed [observed] and don't think we were seen by Bismarck."
Back in the ship Elias found everything being made ready for an attack. Aircraft were being ranged on the slippery deck, which, he recalled, was "moving like a pendulum" in a fore and aft motion. At six in the evening he flew off to continue shadowing. By that time the first "stringbag" (Swordfish torpedo bomber) had returned, beaten by the weather.
At this stage Elias's aircraft flew close to Bismarck in a rain squall, receiving flak. Every now and again Elias and his crew (a pilot and an air gunner) received a broadside, but by watching the flash they only had to turn away to be missed.
Two hours later he witnessed the successful attack: "Aircraft in line astern diving through clouds and rain and turning in through a rainstorm to drop their 'fish'. Just as they turned in they received the full blast of the port armament – tracers, orange bursts, flaming onions, lighting up the sky. By some miracle only two people were injured and no planes lost."
Then he saw what he described as "the most cold-blooded bit of courage". One aircraft, separated from the main assault, had found Bismarck and made a lone attack, receiving concentrated fire. "Just after turning away," Elias wrote, "I saw a great column of water tower above the ship and momentarily hide it as the wind blew the spray across. Shortly afterwards the Bismarck turned two circles and headed into wind, the heavy seas breaking right over her forecastle."
After another four hours of coding and sending messages, Elias was recalled. As he was turning back he received an instruction to flash to the destroyers their relative position to the Bismarck. That took 30 minutes by the time he had found the ships, and then he set off again.
Worryingly, Elias only had 30 minutes of petrol left and a 50 knot wind to beat against. Adding to his difficulties it was rapidly getting dark. When he and his crew spotted Ark Royal two miles away he "danced about in the back of the machine with relief and joy". They had just five minutes of petrol on landing.
There was no time for sleep, however, because they had only four hours to get the planes ready for a dawn attack.
"Before we found the target," Elias recalled, "we heard the news that our battleships had engaged. Smoke was pouring out of Bismarck fore and aft as we watched salvo after salvo pitch into her. We were signalled not to attack and saw the Dorsetshire (flying four ensigns) steam in and fire her torpedoes. As the spray cleared away from Bismarck she heeled over and was gone in 10 seconds."
For gallantry, daring and skill in the operations and especially his expert navigation, Elias was awarded a DSC, and his torpedo-air-gunner, Leading Airman "Harry" Huxley, the DSM.
Peter Rodney Elias was born at Woking on February 27 1921 and educated at the Tiffin School. His father had been a pilot in the RFC, and Elias volunteered for the Fleet Air Arm as soon as his nose, broken in a boxing match, had healed.
He trained as an observer (or air navigator). After Ark Royal, he flew from converted merchant ships. Once, when there was insufficient wind, he crashed into the sea and was almost run over. He spent two hours clinging to the tailplane of his Swordfish before being rescued by the destroyer Wizard.
Post-war he remained in the Navy, qualified as a pilot and flew a range of aircraft: he was promoted commander aged 34, but hated desk jobs. On retirement in 1971 he became bursar of Stonar School in Wiltshire, then town clerk of Frome in Somerset. Elias loved to design gadgets, and filled his garage with old tools collected from around the world.
Peter Elias married Rosalie "Lee" Hextall in 1948; she survives him with their two sons and a daughter.
Commander Peter Elias, born February 27 1921, died January 24 2015

source: The Telegraph
 
Luftwaffe Ace and Knight's Cross Holder Walter Schuck passed away.

Former Oberleutnant of the Luftwaffe, later Hauptmann a.D., and Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Holder Walter Schuck has died at 94 years of age on 28 March 2015. Walter Schuck was born on 30 July 1920 in Frankenholz. He was a German World War II fighter ace who served in the Luftwaffe from 1937 until the end of World War II. He claimed 206 enemy aircraft shot down in over 500 combat missions, eight of which while flying the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter.
He earned the Knight's Cross on 8 April 1944 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot in the 7./ Jagdgeschwader 5 and the Oak Leaves (616.) on 30 September 1944 as Leutnant and pilot in the 9./ Jagdgeschwader 5.
On 10 April 1945 he claimed four B-17 Flying Fortresses shot down. One of the bombers was "Henn's Revenge" of the 303rd Bombardment Group, and another was "Moonlight Mission" of the 457th Bombardment Group. Shortly afterwards, his Me 262 was hit by a P-51 Mustang of the fighter escort, piloted by Lt. Joseph Anthony Peterburs of the 55th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group, causing Schuck to bail out. Schuck sprained both ankles upon landing and the war ended before he recovered.
In 2005 Schuck met Peterburs in person during a visit to the US. They both became close friends.
Arbeitsgruppe Vermisstenforschung states: "Walter Schuck visited lots of our presentations in the past and also supported our work. He always wanted us to search for his missing comrades and bring them back home to their families. We will always keep his memory alive."
Walter Schuck wrote a book on his military career, called "Abschuss!: Von der Me 109 zur Me 262". Walter Schuck may you find eternal rest. Horrido, for your last flight.
 
Frederick Rounsville "Fritz" Payne, Jr.

Frederick Rounsville "Fritz" Payne, Jr. (July 31, 1911 – August 6, 2015) was a World War II fighter ace who left his mark on aviation and wartime history by shooting down six Japanese warplanes during the Battle of Guadalcanal. What Payne did between September and October 1942 was take to the skies in an F4F Wildcat and shoot down four Japanese bombers and two fighter planes during a crucial, months-long battle for control of the Pacific that Allied forces had launched with no clear indication they could win, Toronto Sun reported. But it was in two weeks at Guadalcanal that he built his lifelong reputation. The title fighter ace is reserved for those who have shot down at least five enemy aircraft in battle. Technically Payne was awarded 5 1/2 kills because he had help from another pilot in downing one plane. In addition to Guadalcanal, Payne saw combat at Kwajalein, Hollandia (now Jayapura, Indonesia) and Guam. Frederick Rounsville "Fritz" Payne, Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Marine Corps. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1934. Ordered to flight training at Pensacola, Payne was commissioned a second lieutenant in July 1936 and designated a Naval Aviator in September. The next month he reported to Quantico, Virginia to begin squadron flying assignments. Initially assigned to VMF-2 in October 1940, he was transferred to VMF-221 in July 1941, and embarked for Midway on 8 December following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Major Payne entered combat at Guadalcanal in September 1942 on detached duty with VMF-223. His first victory was a half-share in a Japanese twin-engine bomber on 14 September followed by a solo victory two weeks later. When his own squadron, VMF-212, arrived in October, Payne quickly added for more victories: two bombers and a pair of Zekes between 18 and 23 October to become a Wildcat ace. He left Guadalcanal on 27 October and subsequently served as commander of VMF-212 from November 1942 to February 1943 and later commanded Marine Air Group 23.
He was made a lieutenant colonel in 1943, and later served in Korea. He retired from active duty with the rank of brigadier general on 1 August 1958.
Payne was awarded the Navy Cross for service with VMF-212 on Guadalcanal between September and October 1942, shooting down six Japanese airplanes. He was also honored with the Congressional Gold Medal in May 2015. Payne died in 2015 at Rancho Mirage, California; at the time of his death he was the oldest living former fighter ace.

Source: Toronto Sun
 

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Paul Royle, Who Fled Nazis in a 'Great Escape,' Dies at 101 [apologies if already posted - I could not find it]

from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/world/paul-royle-who-fled-nazis-in-a-great-escape-dies-at-101.html

Paul Royle, whose escape from a German prisoner of war camp in 1944 with 75 other Allied soldiers inspired the 1963 Steve McQueen movie "The Great Escape," died on Aug. 23 in Perth, Australia. He was 101.

His son Gordon wrote in an email message that Mr. Royle died from complications after surgery for a fractured hip. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that his death left only one remaining survivor of the escape: Dick Churchill, who is in his 90s and lives in England.

Mr. Royle, a Royal Air Force flight lieutenant originally from Australia, was one of 200 prisoners who dug several tunnels using improvised tools at the Stalag Luft III camp in Sagan, then a part of Germany and now in Poland. His job was to dispose of the excavated dirt.

"Long, thin tubes made of material, like long underpants, were put under our ordinary trousers," Mr. Royle told The Sunday Mercury, a British tabloid, in 2008. "The bottom was tied together with a bit of string, we shoveled this stuff into the long underpants, then you would nonchalantly wander around getting rid of the dirt."

He was one of 76 prisoners who made it through a tunnel on a freezing night in March. He and a comrade wandered in the German countryside for about a day before they were recaptured. Only three of the escapees reached freedom — 50 were executed, including the man who was with Mr. Royle.

He later told Air Force, the official newspaper of the Royal Australian Air Force, that he never understood how the German soldiers had decided whom to execute.

"Rationality didn't come into it," Mr. Royle said. "I haven't a clue as to why I wasn't chosen." He was liberated and made his way to England in 1945.

In 1950, Paul Brickhill, another Australian P.O.W. involved in the escape, published a book about the experience called "The Great Escape." The book was made into a 1963 film starring James Garner, Richard Attenborough and Charles Bronson, in addition to Mr. McQueen.

The movie took liberties with historical events by featuring Mr. McQueen leaping over a barbed wire fence on a motorcycle.

Mr. Royle told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 2014 that he did not care for the film.

"The movie I disliked intensely because there were no motorbikes," Mr. Royle said. "And the Americans weren't there." (The American officers at the camp were transferred before the tunnel was completed.)

Gordon Paul Royle was born in Perth on Jan. 17, 1914, but went by Paul since his youth. He was recruited for the R.A.F. in the late 1930s. His plane was shot down when he flew his first mission in 1940, and he was soon taken prisoner.

After the war, he settled in England, where he married Georgina Rufford Forster-Knight, in 1946. They soon moved to Australia and had three children, Paul and Francis Royle and Margaret Verling, and then divorced in 1961. He married Pamela Yvonne Fortune, later that year. They had two children, Gordon and Lucy Royle. He is survived by his wife and children; a sister, Shirley Rogers; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Mr. Royle spent much of his career working on major civil engineering projects around the world. He retired at 66 and returned to Perth, where he had lived since.

Before the war, Mr. Royle studied a trade that would prove useful during his imprisonment — mine surveying. He returned to mining after he was liberated and continued working in it until he switched to engineering in the mid-1950s.
 
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