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508631 Sgt John Joseph “Paddy” Kavanagh DFM 18 October 1941
From July 1940 in the Western Desert, he flew on at least 23 raids against the Italians with 211 Squadron at EL Daba. In late November 1940 the Squadron deployed to Greece where he flew on at least 11 more operations, from Menidi-Tatoi and from Paramythia.
By the end of February 1941, when the Squadron records fail, Kavanagh had accrued at least 34 recorded sorties, almost all as Observer to the equally seasoned Flight leader F/Lt George Doudney as pilot with Sgt W “Titch” Wright in the turret. 550968 AC1 William Wright had joined the Squadron at Grantham in September 1937 as an Air Gunner. By the time he left them in June 1941, he had accumulated 232 hours on Hinds, including sorties in action over Palestine in late 1938, and from June 1940, 39 operations as WOp/AG mostly with George Doudney as ‘B’ Flight commander. Sadly, Wright, of Bishop Auckland, was killed in the loss of 511 Squadron Avro York MW116. En route to the Yalta conference on 1 February 1945, the aircraft ditched short of Malta with a number of casualties. After a year of hard service in the Desert, Greece and finally Palestine, the Squadron was stood down from operations in June 1941, before moving to The Sudan to undertake operational training of Blenheim crews from July to November 1941 at Wadi Gazouza, where they were to set up No. 72 OTU. Having survived three years of operations in sun, snow, sand, Paddy died of natural causes while serving with the Squadron in The Sudan. Palestine 1938 and 1939 On 4 April 1940, the 211 Squadron Operations Record Book took pleasure in recording the award, in identical terms to the London Gazette announcement. That day, the AOC 202 Group, ACdr R Collishaw DSO & Bar OBE DSC DFC arrived at El Daba by air to present Sgt Kavanagh with his decoration. In mid 1939 the Squadron had been serving at Ismailia and El Daba—Kavanagh’s name does not appear in their records until after that time. But the unrest in Palestine in 1938 and 1939 had brought action to a number of RAF Squadrons in the Middle East, flying in support of ground forces through the XX emergency call system. Chief among them was No 6 Squadron, at Ramleh with their Hawker Hardys from January 1938. Although his DFM award had also been noted in Aeroplane of 5 January 1940, it took some time to find the citation. The Air Ministry Bulletin No 257 of 21 December 1939 gave a pretty full account of his pre-war service in Palestine: "Sergeant Kavanagh has served in No.6 (Bomber) Squadron since 10th April 1938. Involved in a bad crash shortly after his arrival, he spent nearly four months in hospital and on sick leave, but from September 1938 to June 1939 he has carried out over 200 hours flying of an operational nature as a wireless operator and air gunner. The Sudan, 1941 Bill Baird knew Paddy well, from the Desert, Greece and Palestine days with 211 Squadron in 1940 and 1941. Although the 211 Squadron record does not cover the late 1941 period, Paddy was present in the group photographs taken at Wadi Gazouza and held by Bill and other Squadron personnel. These prints date from about September 1941, according to common recall and from the presence of RAAF personnel with known periods of posting to the Squadron. The Squadron laid Paddy to rest at Gebeit, on the railway line to Port Sudan, where Bill Baird attended his funeral service. During the Abyssinian crisis, in 1935 and 1936 Gebeit had been home to the Fairey Gordons of 35 Squadron and the Vickers Vincents of 207 Squadron.
Alick Goddard served in 52 Repair and Salvage Unit, based in The Sudan and at Wadi Gazouza in 1940 and 1941. Here he has caught a pleasant spot in the hard back country of Sudan, the swimming pool at Gebeit—no doubt also used for railway needs. The 211s would have enjoyed this stop, too. The pool retaining walls are made of steel railway sleepers. In the distance, the pump-house. The three airmen are unidentifiable. One appears to carry a towel. Presumably that is Alick Goddard’s shadow, standing in the back of the truck, shadowed in the right foreground. Conditions in The Sudan have always been difficult at best. The problem of maintaining war graves there is discussed on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site entry for the Khartoum War Cemetery and Memorial, where Paddy was reburied in 1960. Although the CWGC record attributes him incorrectly to 241 Squadron—apparently a transcription error arising from their scanning of printed casualty registers in the 1970s—at the time of his death 241 Squadron was based in the UK, not arriving in the ME until late 1942. From the personal accounts and photographs of 211 Squadron members, there is no doubt that Paddy was a 211 Squadron man when he died. Duty done In Memory of
KHARTOUM WAR CEMETERY Sources
www.211squadron.org © D Clark & others 1998–2011 |
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