A Historical Article- 151 Wing RAF
Feb 19, 2016 9:21:48 GMT
Snorelacks, No.1 Scandal fan, and 1 more like this
Post by Vince Cable's Exotic Spresm on Feb 19, 2016 9:21:48 GMT
Now, this is going to be The Bunker's first historical article, and admittedly will be taken from the official forum, although bear in mind over there it only got one reply, so maybe here it will get a bit more of an airing.
151 Wing Royal Air Force
When Nazi Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the Russian leader, Stalin, was calling for assistance from his Western ally, Britain. His first request was for 30 British divisions to fight on the Eastern Front. As one might rightly expect, after being routed in France just over a year beforehand, the British were in no position to offer such assistance. What Churchill decided on eventually was to send supplies and equipment to the Soviets, a plan that eventually turned into the Lend Lease programme with the British sending tanks, food, ammunition, aircraft and parts to Russia through a series of Arctic Convoys. As it transpired, supplying the Soviets with such volumes as they required was to the consternation of the British chiefs of staff, whose forces desperately needed re-equipping after the debacle on the Continent. Soon the Russians were calling for Supermarine Spitfires to be supplied, again, much to the irritation of the Royal Air Force, who were starting to phase out all of the older Hawker Hurricanes and replace them with the newer, more capable Spitfire. Eventually at the Moscow conference supplies of aircraft were agreed, and in the end the Russians received as many as 1000 Spitfires, but, as it turned out, they didn’t like them. One of the main British aircraft to be supplied to the Soviets was the Hurricane, of which 3000 were supplied throughout the war. As the first of the huge number of Hurricanes was despatched, the British decided it would be largely a waste of time if the Russians didn’t properly know how to unpack, assemble, fly, handle and maintain the, comparably, complicated Hurricane. And so, in July of 1941, Force Benedict was formed.
Force Benedict, as it was named, was a party of RAF personnel who were to be sent to Russia to fly on operations for a time and to train and teach Russian pilots and ground crew. On 29th July 1941, 81 Squadron was formed from the remnants of the recently-disbanded 504 Squadron, formerly a convoy patrol duty squadron. The squadron was formed at RAF Leconfield, East Yorkshire, under the command of Squadron Leader Tony Rook. 134 Squadron was formed from part of 17 Squadron, and was put under the command of Squadron Leader Tony Miller. After both squadrons had been formed, 134 was moved to Leconfield as well, and both 134 and 81 were put together as 151 Wing RAF. Command of the wing was given to the very-Britishly-named Wing Commander H.N.G. Ramsbottom-Isherwood. While the wing was at Leconfield, several pilots volunteered for service with 81 and 134, after being promised to be “sent on a tour overseas”, and as such the volunteer pilots were under the impression they would be sent somewhere hot and sunny, like the Mediterranean. The destination of the wing remained a secret, and to keep up the pretence that they were going somewhere tropical, the officers and men of 151 Wing were even issued with mosquito nets and tropical uniform. Eventually it became apparent they would not be sent somewhere tropical when a pair of Russian-speaking interpreters arrived at Leconfield. Wg Cdr Ramsbottom-Isherwood knew the destination of his wing, and he was told he was to “exercise full operational control”, but he would ultimately be under the command of Major General A.A. Kuznetsov. The Wingco was also instructed that his unit’s role would be to defend the port of Murmansk and to co-operate with Russian forces in the area.
On 12th August, the wing’s mechanics, ground crew, some pilots and the support personnel were sent to Liverpool and embarked on the SS Llanstephen Castle. The same day the ship sailed for Scapa Flow. On the 16th, the ship departed Scapa for Iceland, and arrived there on the 20th. On the 21st it left Iceland and made steam for the Arctic Circle, to join the first of the trial convoys to Russia, a convoy that was codenamed “Dervish”.
Meanwhile, back in Britain, on the 18th August, 12 of the pilots made their way to Abbotsinch airfield, near Glasgow. Once at Abbotsinch, the pilots were sent to Greenock, where they boarded the Royal Navy carrier HMS Argus. Also on board the Argus with the 12 pilots were 12 Hurricane Mk. IIB aircraft, still with their tropical filters attached. The outer wings of the aeroplanes were removed and stowed to take up less space, as the carrier also carried six Martlets to defend itself. The Argus left Greenock on the 19th, and arrived at Scapa Flow on the 20th, where they then spent ten days fishing, rowing, swimming and generally not doing much, as well as holding parties in the mess with naval officers as well. The Argus then left Scapa on the 30th, and headed for Greenland to join a different convoy to the Llanstephen Castle. The Argus’ convoy also included the carrier Victorious.
The Llanstephen Castle’s convoy arrived off Archangel on the 30th August, and on the 1st September hove to at Bakaritsa, and 15 of the wing’s Hurricanes, crated up, were put ashore here. There were originally 16 Hurricanes, and it is unknown what happened to that 16th one, presumably it was damaged at sea. Eventually, after recovering their tools from the very bottom of the ship’s hold, the men of 151 Wing began building the Hurricanes. On the 2nd September, an advance party was flown to Vaenga, an airfield that was to the base for 151 Wing during their stay in Russia. The RAF personnel encountered a series of problems while constructing the aircraft, one of the most annoying being the lack of the proper propellor spanners, which couldn’t be found in their crates, and which in Russia, as it were, couldn’t be had for love nor money. The wing’s engineering officer, Flight Lieutenant Gittin, contacted the Russian engineering officer with his issue, and the two spanners that were required were manufactured from scratch and delivered by the Russians in less than eight hours.
On the 9th, one of the pilots of 81 Squadron got a flight in a Russian I-153 to reconnoitre the area, and he was joined shortly after by a couple of the other pilots. Shortly afterwards, the first three Hurricanes were assembled and flown in front of a party of VIPs and officers. By the 12th, the first nine Hurricanes were ready, and were flown to Vaenga. The flight first made a stop at an airfield called Afrikanda, were the pilots ate lunch and the aircraft were refuelled. When the time came to take off on the way to Vaenga, the lack of a trolley arc to start the engines became an issue; the Hurricanes had to be started with a hand crank. First time, seven aircraft got started and took off, only to be waiting around for 45 minutes for the other two to start, by which time the first seven had to land and get more fuel. They tried again. Six took off, and then flew to Vaenga. Three failed to start, and the pilots decided to stay the night at Afrikanda. In the morning a trolley arc was despatched from Vaenga, and the last three aeroplanes got started and flew on to Vaenga to join the rest of their flight. On the 15th the last six Hurricanes assembled in Russia were flown over to Vaenga, arriving there on the 16th after a stop at Afrikanda for the night.
Meanwhile, the Argus was steaming towards Russia, still carrying 12 aircraft and pilots of 151 Wing. On 6th September, the pilots were briefed and given navigation instructions. On the 7th, at 2 o'clock in the morning, the 12 were awoken and made ready to depart. The first Hurricanes taken on deck and assembled were the six belonging to A Flight, 134 Squadron. At 7 o'clock, Squadron Leader Miller took off, his Hurricane bouncing off the ramp and dropping a bit before recovering and flying off. This ramp was to cause some difficulties. The next pilot to take off hit the ramp and gave the undercarriage a bit of a shock, jamming it and preventing it from being retracted. The next man to take off had the same issue with his undercarriage on take off. Following this bumpy start, the other three aircraft of A Flight were successfully flown off and they made their way to Russia. The 6 Hurricanes of B Flight, 134 Squadron got off shortly after, as did those of A and B Flights, 81 Squadron. They were pointed on their way by a Russian ship, as their magnetic compasses tended to play up a bit at their latitude. After about an hour of flying, with thick fog and mist for the first half hour, all of the Hurricanes from Argus had landed at the runway at Vaenga. The pilots didn’t give a great first impression to the Soviets; the two aircraft with damaged undercarriages from the ramp incident ended up belly landing.
That night, Maj Gen Kuznetsov held a party for the British and Russian officers, this was attended by as many as 150 people, and many were hit with what the wing’s medical officer, Sqn Ldr Jackson, called “Vodkaitis”.
The Hurricanes were all painted in strange markings, consisting of RAF roundels, but with a mixture of standard British squadron codes and Russian numbers, trying to help both the RAF and VVS pilots identify the aircraft.
On the 12th September, the British pilots had their first encounter with the Germans. two Hurricanes of 81 came into contact with a Bf 110, and shot at it, scoring hits on the aircraft before it managed to outrun them. Later that day, six aircraft of 81 Squadron were scrambled and directed to Petsamo, in Finland. The RAF aircraft intercepted a German formation of five Bf 109s and a lone Hs 126 spotter aircraft. The Hurricanes destroyed three 109s, but lost one of their own aircraft. Sergeant Smith’s aircraft was seen to be damaged behind the cockpit, and it is assumed that when he tried to bail out, the canopy rails were jammed. Unable to bail, Smith attempted a crash landing, but was killed doing so on the rocky terrain. The Hs 126 was also claimed as shot down, but German records say it returned to its base damaged. Smith was buried in the Cemetery of Heroes near Murmansk Sound.
The next combat came on the 17th September. Eight British aircraft were put on duty to escort some Russian bombers. On two occasions the British were bounced by 109s, of which three were shot down by the Hurricanes without loss to themselves.
For a period of time the wing’s activity was limited by poor weather and a heavily waterlogged airfield. A couple of aircraft suffered damage from landing on the soggy ground.
On the 25th September, the RAF painted Russian markings on one of their Hurricanes, and this aircraft was presented to Major General Kuznetsov for his personal use.
On the 26th, six Hurricanes were sent on another bomber escort mission. After several small encounters, in one of which two British fighters were separated from the formation, two Bf 109s were claimed destroyed, and an additional one as probable.
In another combat on the 27th, two more 109s were claimed shot down. It was around this time that officers of 134 Squadron began introducing Russian pilots to their Hurricanes.
On the 27th, 134 Squadron suffered a loss from a rather unfortunate accident. Because of the wet ground, when taxiing, the aircraft had two airmen laid on their tail to keep the aeroplane from nosing over into the ground. On this occasion, the pilot of one Hurricane, Flight Lieutenant Berg, took off, not noticing that the two airmen were still laid on the tail of his aircraft. The two men were unable to get off due to the slipstream, and after takeoff the aircraft stalled and hit the ground from a height of fifty feet. The two airmen were killed and the pilot was badly injured and was unable to fly for two years after.
The Wing’s most rewarding combat occurred on the 6th October 1941. A force of German Ju 88s was reported to have taken off from Norway, but nobody really paid any attention to them. They were first sighted by A Flight, 81 Squadron, but were not attacked due to thick cloud. At half past three, Sqn Ldr Rook led eight Hurricanes to search for the Ju 88 formation. Shortly after their takeoff, the 14 German bombers attacked Vaenga airfield. The eight Hurricanes noticed the AA fire a short while later, and turned back to attack. Meanwhile, on the ground, the three pilots of B Flight decided to take off and help out. Two managed to get airborne, but the third, piloted by Pilot Officer Edmiston, had its engine knocked out by a bomb blast immediately in front of it. Edmiston scrambled onto the wing, when another bomb went off and flung him into a nearby muddy puddle. The sodden and muddy officer picked himself up and ran for cover, suffering no injuries at all. The funniest part of that was that it was on his birthday. Anyway, by now the Hurricanes had returned to smack up the Ju 88s a bit, and had a field day, destroying two, claiming a number of probables and damaging several. According to Luftwaffe records, one of the Ju 88s was also written off when it made a crash landing at its airfield later. Again, a rather funny incident occurred. One of the Hurricane pilots had broken off when the Ju 88s were attacked, flying top cover for the others. As it was, no enemy fighters were encountered. At one point, the pilot lost track of the other British aircraft, and soon sighted a formation of aircraft. Assuming they were Hurricanes, he sidled up to them, waggled his wings and started to get into formation, only to have a nasty surprise as one of them turned off towards him, revealing its yellow nose, identifying it as a German 109. The British pilot had, foolishly, made an attempt to form up with six 109s that were meant to be the Ju 88s’ escort, but it seemed they were a bit late. The British pilot managed to shoot down the first 109 that had gone for him, and then he fled for home, pursued by four more 109s at tree-top level. Despite the odds, he managed to make it all the way back to Vaenga with four angry Germans chasing him.
When the damage of the big German raid was assessed, it transpired it was minimal. Very minimal. Three aircraft on the ground had one bullet hole each. One of them also had some dents in the fuselage. Surprisingly, the Hurricane that was abandoned in the middle of the runway suffered no further damage other than a hole in its tail (and the damaged engine of course). The RAF’s only casualty was one slightly injured airman. In the end, this raid was the last time 81 Squadron encountered the Germans. They carried out a patrol the next evening, but other than that, no more operational flying was done. After this, 81 Squadron stopped operations. 134 Squadron stayed operational to teach Russian pilots how to fly and look after the Hurricanes. 134 also carried out a few bomber escorts as well, but no real combat was seen.
On the 13th October, A Flight, 81 Squadron, began to hand over its aircraft to the Russians. B Flight handed theirs’ over on the 22nd. On the 18th, 134 handed all of its Hurricanes over to the Russians as well. 151 Wing’s 36 surviving Hurricanes, of the original 39, formed what the Russians called “No. 1 Hurricane Squadron”.
On the 23rd October, 151 Wing organised a big booze-up as a farewell to the Russians. The Wing broke out its stores of whisky, gin and port, and, surprisingly, this time it was the Russians who suffered at the hands of the British alcohol, not being able to handle the whisky over the vodka they were so used to.
Between the 26th and 31st October 1941, the Russian Hurricanes scored their first few kills. A short while after the formation of No. 1 Hurricane Squadron, they were formed into four full regiments with the additional Hurricanes delivered by sea.
The British pilots at first thought they would be flown across Russia and to a British territory in the Middle East. For a full month, with the weather cold, and without aircraft, the men and officers of 151 Wing had to sit around in Russia waiting to get home. On the 13th November, the British were told they would be sent home by sea. On the 16th, a party of RAF personnel headed to Murmansk to embark on their merchant ships. During the next week, the wing embarked on four warships, HMSs Kenya, Berwick, Bedouin and Intrepid. Other members of the wing embarked on various merchant vessels. The first ship, Kenya, arrived at Rosyth on the 7th December (the day the USA entered the war).
Wing Awards:
Wing Commander H.N.G. Ramsbottom-Isherwood- Order of Lenin (28/11/41)
Squadron Leader Tony Miller- Order of Lenin (28/11/41)
Squadron Leader Tony Rook- Order of Lenin (28/11/41)
Flight Sergeant Haw- Order of Lenin (28/11/41)
Flight Lieutenant Gittins- Order of the Red Star (??/??/44)
Wing Commander Ramsbottom-Isherwood- Promotion to Group Captain
Squadron Leader Miller- Promotion to Wing Commander
Squadron Leader Rook- Promotion to Wing Commander
After their expedition to Russia, 151 Wing was disbanded. 81 Squadron re-equipped with Spitfire and went to Edinburgh. 134 was also equipped with Spitfires and went to Northern Ireland. The Wing HQ was sent to RAF Ouston and was broken up there.
153 Wing RAF
The next year, 153 Wing RAF was formed, with the now Group Captain Ramsbottom-Isherwood in command, and the two squadron commanders the now Wing Commanders Miller and Rook. Squadron Leader Jackson, formerly the medical officer of 151 Wing, was the medical officer of 153 Wing. This new wing was to be sent to Russia in the same capacity as the old 151 Wing, however this was eventually cancelled due to the mounting casualties on the Arctic Convoys; the British could not afford to lose 2000 RAF pilots and ground crew on their way to Russia.
151 Wing Royal Air Force
When Nazi Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the Russian leader, Stalin, was calling for assistance from his Western ally, Britain. His first request was for 30 British divisions to fight on the Eastern Front. As one might rightly expect, after being routed in France just over a year beforehand, the British were in no position to offer such assistance. What Churchill decided on eventually was to send supplies and equipment to the Soviets, a plan that eventually turned into the Lend Lease programme with the British sending tanks, food, ammunition, aircraft and parts to Russia through a series of Arctic Convoys. As it transpired, supplying the Soviets with such volumes as they required was to the consternation of the British chiefs of staff, whose forces desperately needed re-equipping after the debacle on the Continent. Soon the Russians were calling for Supermarine Spitfires to be supplied, again, much to the irritation of the Royal Air Force, who were starting to phase out all of the older Hawker Hurricanes and replace them with the newer, more capable Spitfire. Eventually at the Moscow conference supplies of aircraft were agreed, and in the end the Russians received as many as 1000 Spitfires, but, as it turned out, they didn’t like them. One of the main British aircraft to be supplied to the Soviets was the Hurricane, of which 3000 were supplied throughout the war. As the first of the huge number of Hurricanes was despatched, the British decided it would be largely a waste of time if the Russians didn’t properly know how to unpack, assemble, fly, handle and maintain the, comparably, complicated Hurricane. And so, in July of 1941, Force Benedict was formed.
Force Benedict, as it was named, was a party of RAF personnel who were to be sent to Russia to fly on operations for a time and to train and teach Russian pilots and ground crew. On 29th July 1941, 81 Squadron was formed from the remnants of the recently-disbanded 504 Squadron, formerly a convoy patrol duty squadron. The squadron was formed at RAF Leconfield, East Yorkshire, under the command of Squadron Leader Tony Rook. 134 Squadron was formed from part of 17 Squadron, and was put under the command of Squadron Leader Tony Miller. After both squadrons had been formed, 134 was moved to Leconfield as well, and both 134 and 81 were put together as 151 Wing RAF. Command of the wing was given to the very-Britishly-named Wing Commander H.N.G. Ramsbottom-Isherwood. While the wing was at Leconfield, several pilots volunteered for service with 81 and 134, after being promised to be “sent on a tour overseas”, and as such the volunteer pilots were under the impression they would be sent somewhere hot and sunny, like the Mediterranean. The destination of the wing remained a secret, and to keep up the pretence that they were going somewhere tropical, the officers and men of 151 Wing were even issued with mosquito nets and tropical uniform. Eventually it became apparent they would not be sent somewhere tropical when a pair of Russian-speaking interpreters arrived at Leconfield. Wg Cdr Ramsbottom-Isherwood knew the destination of his wing, and he was told he was to “exercise full operational control”, but he would ultimately be under the command of Major General A.A. Kuznetsov. The Wingco was also instructed that his unit’s role would be to defend the port of Murmansk and to co-operate with Russian forces in the area.
On 12th August, the wing’s mechanics, ground crew, some pilots and the support personnel were sent to Liverpool and embarked on the SS Llanstephen Castle. The same day the ship sailed for Scapa Flow. On the 16th, the ship departed Scapa for Iceland, and arrived there on the 20th. On the 21st it left Iceland and made steam for the Arctic Circle, to join the first of the trial convoys to Russia, a convoy that was codenamed “Dervish”.
Meanwhile, back in Britain, on the 18th August, 12 of the pilots made their way to Abbotsinch airfield, near Glasgow. Once at Abbotsinch, the pilots were sent to Greenock, where they boarded the Royal Navy carrier HMS Argus. Also on board the Argus with the 12 pilots were 12 Hurricane Mk. IIB aircraft, still with their tropical filters attached. The outer wings of the aeroplanes were removed and stowed to take up less space, as the carrier also carried six Martlets to defend itself. The Argus left Greenock on the 19th, and arrived at Scapa Flow on the 20th, where they then spent ten days fishing, rowing, swimming and generally not doing much, as well as holding parties in the mess with naval officers as well. The Argus then left Scapa on the 30th, and headed for Greenland to join a different convoy to the Llanstephen Castle. The Argus’ convoy also included the carrier Victorious.
The Llanstephen Castle’s convoy arrived off Archangel on the 30th August, and on the 1st September hove to at Bakaritsa, and 15 of the wing’s Hurricanes, crated up, were put ashore here. There were originally 16 Hurricanes, and it is unknown what happened to that 16th one, presumably it was damaged at sea. Eventually, after recovering their tools from the very bottom of the ship’s hold, the men of 151 Wing began building the Hurricanes. On the 2nd September, an advance party was flown to Vaenga, an airfield that was to the base for 151 Wing during their stay in Russia. The RAF personnel encountered a series of problems while constructing the aircraft, one of the most annoying being the lack of the proper propellor spanners, which couldn’t be found in their crates, and which in Russia, as it were, couldn’t be had for love nor money. The wing’s engineering officer, Flight Lieutenant Gittin, contacted the Russian engineering officer with his issue, and the two spanners that were required were manufactured from scratch and delivered by the Russians in less than eight hours.
On the 9th, one of the pilots of 81 Squadron got a flight in a Russian I-153 to reconnoitre the area, and he was joined shortly after by a couple of the other pilots. Shortly afterwards, the first three Hurricanes were assembled and flown in front of a party of VIPs and officers. By the 12th, the first nine Hurricanes were ready, and were flown to Vaenga. The flight first made a stop at an airfield called Afrikanda, were the pilots ate lunch and the aircraft were refuelled. When the time came to take off on the way to Vaenga, the lack of a trolley arc to start the engines became an issue; the Hurricanes had to be started with a hand crank. First time, seven aircraft got started and took off, only to be waiting around for 45 minutes for the other two to start, by which time the first seven had to land and get more fuel. They tried again. Six took off, and then flew to Vaenga. Three failed to start, and the pilots decided to stay the night at Afrikanda. In the morning a trolley arc was despatched from Vaenga, and the last three aeroplanes got started and flew on to Vaenga to join the rest of their flight. On the 15th the last six Hurricanes assembled in Russia were flown over to Vaenga, arriving there on the 16th after a stop at Afrikanda for the night.
Meanwhile, the Argus was steaming towards Russia, still carrying 12 aircraft and pilots of 151 Wing. On 6th September, the pilots were briefed and given navigation instructions. On the 7th, at 2 o'clock in the morning, the 12 were awoken and made ready to depart. The first Hurricanes taken on deck and assembled were the six belonging to A Flight, 134 Squadron. At 7 o'clock, Squadron Leader Miller took off, his Hurricane bouncing off the ramp and dropping a bit before recovering and flying off. This ramp was to cause some difficulties. The next pilot to take off hit the ramp and gave the undercarriage a bit of a shock, jamming it and preventing it from being retracted. The next man to take off had the same issue with his undercarriage on take off. Following this bumpy start, the other three aircraft of A Flight were successfully flown off and they made their way to Russia. The 6 Hurricanes of B Flight, 134 Squadron got off shortly after, as did those of A and B Flights, 81 Squadron. They were pointed on their way by a Russian ship, as their magnetic compasses tended to play up a bit at their latitude. After about an hour of flying, with thick fog and mist for the first half hour, all of the Hurricanes from Argus had landed at the runway at Vaenga. The pilots didn’t give a great first impression to the Soviets; the two aircraft with damaged undercarriages from the ramp incident ended up belly landing.
That night, Maj Gen Kuznetsov held a party for the British and Russian officers, this was attended by as many as 150 people, and many were hit with what the wing’s medical officer, Sqn Ldr Jackson, called “Vodkaitis”.
The Hurricanes were all painted in strange markings, consisting of RAF roundels, but with a mixture of standard British squadron codes and Russian numbers, trying to help both the RAF and VVS pilots identify the aircraft.
On the 12th September, the British pilots had their first encounter with the Germans. two Hurricanes of 81 came into contact with a Bf 110, and shot at it, scoring hits on the aircraft before it managed to outrun them. Later that day, six aircraft of 81 Squadron were scrambled and directed to Petsamo, in Finland. The RAF aircraft intercepted a German formation of five Bf 109s and a lone Hs 126 spotter aircraft. The Hurricanes destroyed three 109s, but lost one of their own aircraft. Sergeant Smith’s aircraft was seen to be damaged behind the cockpit, and it is assumed that when he tried to bail out, the canopy rails were jammed. Unable to bail, Smith attempted a crash landing, but was killed doing so on the rocky terrain. The Hs 126 was also claimed as shot down, but German records say it returned to its base damaged. Smith was buried in the Cemetery of Heroes near Murmansk Sound.
The next combat came on the 17th September. Eight British aircraft were put on duty to escort some Russian bombers. On two occasions the British were bounced by 109s, of which three were shot down by the Hurricanes without loss to themselves.
For a period of time the wing’s activity was limited by poor weather and a heavily waterlogged airfield. A couple of aircraft suffered damage from landing on the soggy ground.
On the 25th September, the RAF painted Russian markings on one of their Hurricanes, and this aircraft was presented to Major General Kuznetsov for his personal use.
On the 26th, six Hurricanes were sent on another bomber escort mission. After several small encounters, in one of which two British fighters were separated from the formation, two Bf 109s were claimed destroyed, and an additional one as probable.
In another combat on the 27th, two more 109s were claimed shot down. It was around this time that officers of 134 Squadron began introducing Russian pilots to their Hurricanes.
On the 27th, 134 Squadron suffered a loss from a rather unfortunate accident. Because of the wet ground, when taxiing, the aircraft had two airmen laid on their tail to keep the aeroplane from nosing over into the ground. On this occasion, the pilot of one Hurricane, Flight Lieutenant Berg, took off, not noticing that the two airmen were still laid on the tail of his aircraft. The two men were unable to get off due to the slipstream, and after takeoff the aircraft stalled and hit the ground from a height of fifty feet. The two airmen were killed and the pilot was badly injured and was unable to fly for two years after.
The Wing’s most rewarding combat occurred on the 6th October 1941. A force of German Ju 88s was reported to have taken off from Norway, but nobody really paid any attention to them. They were first sighted by A Flight, 81 Squadron, but were not attacked due to thick cloud. At half past three, Sqn Ldr Rook led eight Hurricanes to search for the Ju 88 formation. Shortly after their takeoff, the 14 German bombers attacked Vaenga airfield. The eight Hurricanes noticed the AA fire a short while later, and turned back to attack. Meanwhile, on the ground, the three pilots of B Flight decided to take off and help out. Two managed to get airborne, but the third, piloted by Pilot Officer Edmiston, had its engine knocked out by a bomb blast immediately in front of it. Edmiston scrambled onto the wing, when another bomb went off and flung him into a nearby muddy puddle. The sodden and muddy officer picked himself up and ran for cover, suffering no injuries at all. The funniest part of that was that it was on his birthday. Anyway, by now the Hurricanes had returned to smack up the Ju 88s a bit, and had a field day, destroying two, claiming a number of probables and damaging several. According to Luftwaffe records, one of the Ju 88s was also written off when it made a crash landing at its airfield later. Again, a rather funny incident occurred. One of the Hurricane pilots had broken off when the Ju 88s were attacked, flying top cover for the others. As it was, no enemy fighters were encountered. At one point, the pilot lost track of the other British aircraft, and soon sighted a formation of aircraft. Assuming they were Hurricanes, he sidled up to them, waggled his wings and started to get into formation, only to have a nasty surprise as one of them turned off towards him, revealing its yellow nose, identifying it as a German 109. The British pilot had, foolishly, made an attempt to form up with six 109s that were meant to be the Ju 88s’ escort, but it seemed they were a bit late. The British pilot managed to shoot down the first 109 that had gone for him, and then he fled for home, pursued by four more 109s at tree-top level. Despite the odds, he managed to make it all the way back to Vaenga with four angry Germans chasing him.
When the damage of the big German raid was assessed, it transpired it was minimal. Very minimal. Three aircraft on the ground had one bullet hole each. One of them also had some dents in the fuselage. Surprisingly, the Hurricane that was abandoned in the middle of the runway suffered no further damage other than a hole in its tail (and the damaged engine of course). The RAF’s only casualty was one slightly injured airman. In the end, this raid was the last time 81 Squadron encountered the Germans. They carried out a patrol the next evening, but other than that, no more operational flying was done. After this, 81 Squadron stopped operations. 134 Squadron stayed operational to teach Russian pilots how to fly and look after the Hurricanes. 134 also carried out a few bomber escorts as well, but no real combat was seen.
On the 13th October, A Flight, 81 Squadron, began to hand over its aircraft to the Russians. B Flight handed theirs’ over on the 22nd. On the 18th, 134 handed all of its Hurricanes over to the Russians as well. 151 Wing’s 36 surviving Hurricanes, of the original 39, formed what the Russians called “No. 1 Hurricane Squadron”.
On the 23rd October, 151 Wing organised a big booze-up as a farewell to the Russians. The Wing broke out its stores of whisky, gin and port, and, surprisingly, this time it was the Russians who suffered at the hands of the British alcohol, not being able to handle the whisky over the vodka they were so used to.
Between the 26th and 31st October 1941, the Russian Hurricanes scored their first few kills. A short while after the formation of No. 1 Hurricane Squadron, they were formed into four full regiments with the additional Hurricanes delivered by sea.
The British pilots at first thought they would be flown across Russia and to a British territory in the Middle East. For a full month, with the weather cold, and without aircraft, the men and officers of 151 Wing had to sit around in Russia waiting to get home. On the 13th November, the British were told they would be sent home by sea. On the 16th, a party of RAF personnel headed to Murmansk to embark on their merchant ships. During the next week, the wing embarked on four warships, HMSs Kenya, Berwick, Bedouin and Intrepid. Other members of the wing embarked on various merchant vessels. The first ship, Kenya, arrived at Rosyth on the 7th December (the day the USA entered the war).
Wing Awards:
Wing Commander H.N.G. Ramsbottom-Isherwood- Order of Lenin (28/11/41)
Squadron Leader Tony Miller- Order of Lenin (28/11/41)
Squadron Leader Tony Rook- Order of Lenin (28/11/41)
Flight Sergeant Haw- Order of Lenin (28/11/41)
Flight Lieutenant Gittins- Order of the Red Star (??/??/44)
Wing Commander Ramsbottom-Isherwood- Promotion to Group Captain
Squadron Leader Miller- Promotion to Wing Commander
Squadron Leader Rook- Promotion to Wing Commander
After their expedition to Russia, 151 Wing was disbanded. 81 Squadron re-equipped with Spitfire and went to Edinburgh. 134 was also equipped with Spitfires and went to Northern Ireland. The Wing HQ was sent to RAF Ouston and was broken up there.
153 Wing RAF
The next year, 153 Wing RAF was formed, with the now Group Captain Ramsbottom-Isherwood in command, and the two squadron commanders the now Wing Commanders Miller and Rook. Squadron Leader Jackson, formerly the medical officer of 151 Wing, was the medical officer of 153 Wing. This new wing was to be sent to Russia in the same capacity as the old 151 Wing, however this was eventually cancelled due to the mounting casualties on the Arctic Convoys; the British could not afford to lose 2000 RAF pilots and ground crew on their way to Russia.
