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A Burma Quintet: W Dickinson, D Harris, S Spicer, S Woodhouse, AB Wythe DFM Quite independently, in response to enquiries from Adrian Fryatt, four veterans of the Burma days offered their photos and brief commentary. And thereby arises a particularly nice touch: at some point in Burma, someone organised more-or-less formal sets of Squadron photos. Kept safe in their small personal collections down the years by Bill Dickinson, Sam Spicer, Steve Woodhouse, and Alan “Alfie” Wythe. It later turned out that Des Marsh-Collis, Les Ramsay and Robby Robertson also shared some of these pictures. More recently still, Don Harris has kindly offered a treasured, less formal trio from Chiringa, which takes its due place on this page. Each of them has one or more of these wonderful shots: 211 Squadron en masse, Chiringa ( Bill, Steve, Des, Les) and then So we have an almost complete Squadron personnel pictorial record from Burma—a remarkable achievement nearly 60 years later. It seems only right to present these contributions together, as an introduction to the tale of the Burma Days. Gentlemen, many thanks indeed. Bill Dickinson In doing so, W/O Bill Dickinson and his navigator P/O Andy Chatterton had performed a remarkable feat. They were one of just six crews (out of the original 24 at the start of the Squadron’s Beaufighter operations) to complete a tour of operations. This one-in-four chance of survival is a daunting, if all too familiar, measure. Dickinson was the sole surviving NCO pilot of this group.
211 Squadron en masse, Chiringa, India, September 1944. Chiringa is near Chittagong in what was then Bengal (the modern Bangladesh). By 1944, such group pictures had once more become popular at home and abroad, often showing a Squadron's entire personnel draped over one of their aircraft. A high resolution copy of this image is available on request.
The Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, Vice-Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten (later Earl Mountbatten of Burma) inspects 211 Squadron personnel. Some lucky sod in the background passes idly by, just as the boys “smarten up” for the boss. Shortly to be followed by hijinks on and off the footy field, and then a whacking great dinner. An aside: the tallest person in this picture is the SAC and that's including the Aussies. Anyone who's had a peep inside a Blenheim (or who now towers over a Dad who once crewed in one) will understand that the RAF selected well. A further aside: In WWII, Mountbatten survived a number of close shaves in destroyers, including the famous loss of the destroyer HMS Kelly in the battle for Crete. From Midshipman in 1913 to First Sea Lord and finally Admiral of the Fleet in 1956, Mountbatten had a varied, active career. This, along with that certain dash which either brings luck or creates it, carried him to high and challenging office. His luck ran out in 1979, assassinated by a Provisional IRA bomb aboard his fishing boat in Donegal Bay.
Sam Spicer
Sam on the far left, George (Tosh) Hagger two to Sam’s right with hand in pocket.
“Sent to look after a whole bunch of Jap prisoners and their equipment” Quite a compliment to their steadiness, though they probably didn’t think anything about it. Here they all are with a selection of souvenirs, and looking scruffy enough to make a passing regular bristle. Sam, shirtless and in forage cap, seated on the L. Maybe the flag went to join the Greek flag over the bar. Anyway, safe at last. S Woodhouse After the war, Steve returned to Scotland. A visit to his mother’s family in the Shetlands brought another turning point in life: he met Joan Moar. They married in November 1946, and made their life in the Shetlands, at Lerwick. He found employment for his fitting skills with Scottish Aviation there, where he continued to live in retirement. Steve sent two photos of the Burma days, one of which was already in Bill Dickinson’s collection: the 211s draped over a Beaufighter. In the ‘A’ Flight un-named group, below, Steve remarked that there were two Java survivors. The favoured bush hat of the Burma theatre much in evidence. Steve Woodhouse died in August 2001.
Beaufighter boys 1319961 W/O Alan B Wythe DFM Operating in Bristol Beaufighter X M-Mother (NV526) with Tom Wilson as Navigator, Alan Wythe awarded the DFM for his efforts over Burma as a Flight Sergeant pilot. Des Marsh-Collis and Yorky had a hand in maintaining the aircraft, and on Des’ pages there are beautiful photos of M-Mother and of Alan and Tom. He was also promoted to Warrant Officer. Alan may be somewhat embarrassed to find that he is already recognised internationally: a colour view of his aircraft M-Mother (if with a spurious serial number) is the subject of an entry at Alan is also remembered by Ron Kemp and Monty Walters (whose page includes another photo of him with Tom Wilson).
[The aircraft is W-William]
Sam Spicer is 2nd from the right, front row. Front row centre, hatless and hands clasped, is John Robertson. It was this photograph of his father that caught Jammy Roberton’s eye.
Don Harris
A cheerfully informal shot of three fit, tanned young men, against the bright sunlit background of Chiringa’s atap and bamboo buildings. Captioned confidently in pencil long ago, and later refreshed in ink. By this date, the boys knew the tide had turned, though the liberation of Rangoon, for example, was still two months away. And home, had they known it, was still a year or more away.
www.211squadron.org © DR Clark & others 1998–2008 |
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