Neglected Flying Boat base.

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two men from 423/422 Joe Kilgour and Terry Reeves

Joe Kilgour ( left) and Terry Reeves both are outside Reihills pub in Irvinestown one of their regular haunts in 1943/44.
Beside reihills , Ma Bothwells one of the often mentioned and favorite "eating houses" steak and eggs could always be had and enjoyed.

As I said before men like this are just not made any more , "a band of brothers" most certainly.

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Same place 55 years earlier.

In 1943 - little has changed.

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1943

A view from across the street, Reihill's and Bothwells .

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Irvinestown circa 1944.

Irvinestown 1944 as photographed by a member of 423 RCAF.

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Same scene today.

Today there are some changes but the sky line is much the same , returning veternas have little problem with the twon - at castle Archdale it is a different story so little remains - especially around the slipway.

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Sgt Gale.

Having been looking over what i have on my hard drive I can't leave tonight with out mentioning this man Sgt gale .
Some years ago Ernie (Cromie) chairman of "The Ulster Aviation Society" had just published one of his aircraft lists in the Society newsletter and Ernie mentioned Sgt gale asking if for further details.
A few days later I had a letter from an airman who was with 131 OTU when Sgt gale was killed.
Sgt Gale had the grave misfortune to be struck by a propellor blade which was still turning - as was told to me " Sgt gale was struck by a still turning propellor , he was still alive when he took him from the water."
Poor man died that same day in the County Hospital Enniskillen.
A moments lapse in concentration.
When passing through this neck of the woods I occasionally stop and take a walk round , and always make a point of stopping by this poor mans grave if only to lay a hand on his headstone.

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Sgt Ray Hartshorn

Sgt Ray Hartshorn , 201 Squadron early 1942 at Castle Archdale , a good study of the flying gear of the times.
Ray left 201 to fly with 202 Squadron from Gibraltar returning to Lough Erne as an instructor with 131(C) O.T.U. in 1943.
A true gentleman who is sadly no longer with us.

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Don Macfie.

Don "Red" Macfie who came from Dunchurch Ontario - Don's first impressions of Lough Erne in September 1942 was that it was "a hole" - he came to love the station.

His aircraft had a minor engine problem and was held back on 3rd Ausgust 43 , Al Bishops aircraft went off in their stead - Cooks crew followed shortly afterwards - fate put Al. Bishop and crew on U-489 instead of Cook's crew - who never encountered a U-Boat , Fw-200 or Ju-88 in all hours they flew - almost 800 operational hours.

This photo shows "Red" before he went to aircrew training.

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The Wetlauffer Brothers.

Murray and his brother who flew Lancasters with Bomber Command.
I have a letter from Murray which describes some shared flying experiences he had with hsi brother - I will update this post with it when it comes to hand .

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Murray Wetlaufer

Murray Wetlauffer in his "office chair" - captains seat on the flight deck of a MkIII.
The two buttons on the controls - the "tits" for the 4 x .303's mounted in the nose of the aircraft.

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Cook.

Don Macfie's skipper "Cook" taken on a patrol over Biscay. They had an official RCAF photographer wit them on a trip - this is one of the photos taken to illustarte a typical operation - some photos rom this series have been used in Chaz Bowyers "Sunderland at w

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What is Sgt. Hartshorn leaning against in pic #112? Great thread!

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423 Sunderland

A 423 Sunderland "on the step" , Lough Erne.
The crews were required to "know" the Lough as some of the shallow areas were not well marked .
Marine craft were always on hand to "guide" the aircraft but ocasional accidents did take place.
A large fresh water lake ( Lough) the base did have the advantge of not being tidal , there were no merchant ships to content with and corrision was not a problem.
The winds came mostly from the west and with almost eight miles of water between Belleek and Castle Archdale quite a swell could get up very quickly - today well marked for cruiser traffic the Lough is a potentially dangerous place and should be treated with respect.

My late grandfather spent 15 minutes telling a Belfast man not to come any closer to the shore ( Lusty More Island) , that the "point was shallow and "that he should keep out" , the Belfast man "knowing better told his wife that "that old fool doesn't know what...... and at that point he ran aground".
"Harry" always being one to rub salt in the wound asked him if he "wanted a hand off the rocks" as he rowed his boat past him , pointing out to the "visitor" that the "next time you might be better to listen to the old fool".

Local bombing and gunnery exercises were carried out on the Lough - a target was moored off Boa Island and a small Island known as "the gravel ridge2 was bombed to hell and back with prcatisebombs - today it is littered with the remains of exploded bombs - a gunnery target was moored nearby.
( More extensive ranges existed on Lough Neagh and were frequently visited by LE based aircraft .).

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Work on site.

The base was under constant expansion and improvement throughout the war years and afforded a great number of jobs to local contractors who built and poured concrete as directed.
Howards - their diggers are shown here working on the apron adjacent to the slipway - one of their machine s damaged a Sunderland and the Station commander billed the contractors for the repair of the aircraft - some £300.

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Officers Mess

The officers Mess VE day 1945 , I think back two years earlier to the lads who attened Sumners going away party and how they were lost a few days later "absent friends".

"Laughter , sorry , hope and pain,
I shall never know they things again,
Emotions that I came to know,
From strange young men so long ago"

( Old Airfield ).