WW2Treasures

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

106 Squadron - March 1945

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
    #1

    106 Squadron - March 1945

    Hi guys,

    Just picked up an very nice RAF squadron photograph in its original frame.

    Forgive the crappy pic, it's so big that it's difficult to get a good pic of.
    Attached Files
    At Rathau on the Aller, the CO of 5th Royal Tanks advanced on foot to take a cautious look into the town before his tanks moved in. He encountered one of his own officers, a huge Welshman named John Gwilliam who later captained his country's rugby team, 'carrying a small German soldier by the scruff of his neck, not unlike a cat with a mouse.' The Colonel said: 'Why not shoot him?' Gwilliam replied in his mighty Welsh voice: 'Oh no, sir. Much too small.'
    Tags: None
    #2
    Our man was supposedly ultimately a navigator flying pathfinder missions. With the photo came one of his marriage, in which he is wearing his uniform.

    Also came with a log book:

    Observer's & Air Gunner's Flying Log Book.

    683.35 hours - all training - with No3 and then No5(c) Operational Training Unit

    flying:

    Blenheim
    Battle
    Anson
    Lysander
    Hampden?

    between January 1941 and August 1942. The log just ends on 6th August, no summary or official stamps just a tally of hours.

    Dated 7-11-41 he has qualified as L.A.C. or L.A.E. can't quite make it out anyone know what they could be? Curiously, whatever this is, it had effect from December 1940.

    He most certainly survived the war as I knew him.

    He died some 10 years ago.

    A shame there are no operational log books and his medals have gone astray but I can't complain, I got these gratis.

    Here's another pic to illustrate the size of this thing, I know, the top of the wardrobe is a sh*t tip but I'm decorating at the moment and stuff is piled up everywhere.

    Cheers,
    David.
    Attached Files
    At Rathau on the Aller, the CO of 5th Royal Tanks advanced on foot to take a cautious look into the town before his tanks moved in. He encountered one of his own officers, a huge Welshman named John Gwilliam who later captained his country's rugby team, 'carrying a small German soldier by the scruff of his neck, not unlike a cat with a mouse.' The Colonel said: 'Why not shoot him?' Gwilliam replied in his mighty Welsh voice: 'Oh no, sir. Much too small.'

    Comment

      #3
      Hi David,
      Nice find!
      Here's some info. on 106 Squadron,in case you're interested!

      BADGE: A LION SEJANT RAMPANT,HOLDING A BANNER CHARGED WITH AN ASTRAL CROWN.
      MOTTO: PRO LIBERTATE-FOR FREEDOM.

      No.106 Squadron was formed at Andover on 30 September 1917 as a corps reconnaissance unit equipped with R.E.8s.
      In May 1918 it moved to Ireland where it remained until disbanded on 8 October 1918.
      No.106 reformed at Abingdon on 1 June 1938 from a flight of No.15 Squadron with Hinds and during July received Battles.By the end of September it was up to strength and in May 1939 converted to Hampdens.For the first year of World War 2 the squadron was engaged in operational training but in Sept.1940,minelaying trips began and soon it was fully engaged in bombing raids on Germany.In Feb. 1942 Manchesters began to arrive but were replaced by Lancasters in June and it was with the latter that No.106 continued its part in the strategic bomber offensive against Germany until the end of the war.

      There's more about aircraft and periods of service,plus the bases they operated from (and when) if you're interested.
      Just let me know!
      Kind regards,
      Andy

      Comment

        #4
        Originally posted by AndyD
        There's more about aircraft and periods of service,plus the bases they operated from (and when) if you're interested.

        Oh, yes please Andy!

        I'm interested in all the info you can give me thank you.


        Cheers,
        David.
        At Rathau on the Aller, the CO of 5th Royal Tanks advanced on foot to take a cautious look into the town before his tanks moved in. He encountered one of his own officers, a huge Welshman named John Gwilliam who later captained his country's rugby team, 'carrying a small German soldier by the scruff of his neck, not unlike a cat with a mouse.' The Colonel said: 'Why not shoot him?' Gwilliam replied in his mighty Welsh voice: 'Oh no, sir. Much too small.'

        Comment

          #5
          OK David,here goes!!

          SQUADRON BASES:

          ANDOVER 30 SEP 1917
          FERMOY 20 MAY 1918-8 OCT 1919
          ABINGDON 1 JUN 1938
          THORNABY 1 SEP 1938(THIS BASE IS JUST UP THE ROAD FROM ME!)
          GRANTHAM 26 SEP 1938
          THORNABY 14 OCT 1938
          EVANTON 19 AUG 1939
          COTTESMORE 1 SEP 1939
          FINNINGLEY 6 OCT 1939
          CONNINGSBY 23 FEB 1941
          SYERSTON 1 OCT 1942
          METHERINGHAM 11 NOV 1943-18 FEB 1946
          BARDNEY 22 JUL 1959-24 MAY 1963

          Comment

            #6
            AIRCRAFT PERIOD OF REPRESENTATIVE SERIAL & CODE
            EQUIPMENT SERVICE

            R.E.8 - SEP 1917-OCT 1919.--------------- N/A
            HIND - JUN 1938-JUL 1939.---------------- K6760 -
            BATTLE- JUL 1938-JUN 1939.-------------- K7600 -
            HAMPDEN 1- MAY 1939-MAR 1942.--------- P1320 /ZM-B
            ANSON 1 - MAY 1939-SEP 1939.----------- N5165/ XS-X
            MANCHESTER 1- FEB 1942-JUN 1942.------ L7417 /ZM-V
            LANCASTER 1-3 - MAY 1942- FEB 1946.--- NN726/ ZM-D
            THOR - JUL 1959- MAY 1963 --------------N/A


            There we go David,hope you can make sense of it and hope it's useful to you!
            Kind regards,
            Andy
            Last edited by AndyD; 07-13-2004, 05:36 PM.

            Comment

              #7
              Originally posted by AndyD
              There we go David,hope you can make sense of it and hope it's useful to you!
              That'll do nicely!

              Thank you for your efforts Andy I appreciate it

              Cheers,
              David.
              At Rathau on the Aller, the CO of 5th Royal Tanks advanced on foot to take a cautious look into the town before his tanks moved in. He encountered one of his own officers, a huge Welshman named John Gwilliam who later captained his country's rugby team, 'carrying a small German soldier by the scruff of his neck, not unlike a cat with a mouse.' The Colonel said: 'Why not shoot him?' Gwilliam replied in his mighty Welsh voice: 'Oh no, sir. Much too small.'

              Comment

                #8
                OOPS!



                Sorry David!

                Please read the top titles downwards,not across!

                Looked fine when I typed it!



                Cheers,

                Andy

                Comment

                  #9
                  Hi David, I am a great fan of these type of group photos Sadly I wonder how many of these lads made it through the final weeks of the war?

                  Regarding your question: "Dated 7-11-41 he has qualified as L.A.C. or L.A.E. can't quite make it out anyone know what they could be? Curiously, whatever this is, it had effect from December 1940." It would be "LAC" which is "Leading Aircrafts Man" which would roughly equate to a Lance Corporal in Army ranking.

                  Cheers, Ade.

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Thanks Ade.


                    Cheers,
                    David.
                    At Rathau on the Aller, the CO of 5th Royal Tanks advanced on foot to take a cautious look into the town before his tanks moved in. He encountered one of his own officers, a huge Welshman named John Gwilliam who later captained his country's rugby team, 'carrying a small German soldier by the scruff of his neck, not unlike a cat with a mouse.' The Colonel said: 'Why not shoot him?' Gwilliam replied in his mighty Welsh voice: 'Oh no, sir. Much too small.'

                    Comment

                    Previous template Next

                    Users Viewing this Thread

                    Collapse

                    There are currently 3 users online. 0 members and 3 guests.

                    Most users ever online was 10,032 at 08:13 PM on 09-28-2024.

                    Working...
                    X