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The Far East 1942 and 1943–1945 From the Middle East to the Far East It is clear from John Keeping’s diary that the Squadron was at “tidy days” for much of the first three weeks of January, with new arrivals gathering kit while aircraft were still being ferried to and from the Desert and Abu Sueir. Then, in late January 1942, they set off to the Far East on the long air-route across Iraq, India and Burma heading for Singapore. The Air Party Such an apparently stately progress served several purposes: security, utility, safety for stragglers, and reduced pressure on ground resources. On the other hand, compared with their history of rapid deployment, this move took much longer to arrange and execute - albeit over a combined stage length of some 6000 miles instead of the 600-odd miles common to their Middle East days. Finding sufficient shipping to transport the Squadrons’ ground staff and equipment was an added difficulty. There were thus 64 aircraft en route from the Middle East to the Far East in January 1942. Other RAF re-inforcements were en route by air from the UK and by sea. While the level of urgency to reinforce the Far East may still not have been fully appreciated at command level in either theatre, the dispatch of a force of this size suggests some appreciation of the difficulties ahead. Compared with the establishments current at the time of the Greek campaign, the 48 aircraft of the two Squadrons notionally bound for Singapore represented a potentially large force, the equivalent of 4 late 1940 units. Accordingly, at this stage of the war, each Squadron commanding officer had been advanced to Wing Commander rank, and Flight commanders to Squadron Leader. Accounts of this period differ. In recent retellings, it is commonly suggested that the original destination for 211 Squadron was Singapore, only altered en route to Sumatra. However, it is certainly the case that 225 Group was being set up at Palembang in Sumatra by 18 January 1942, explicitly to command 84 and 211 Squadrons and the remnants of RAF and RAAF Squadrons already withdrawing from Malaya: 27 Squadron RAF, 62 Squadron RAF, 8 Squadron RAAF, 21 Squadron RAAF and others. See Report on Air Operations During the Campaigns in Malaya and Netherlands East Indies Dec 1941–Mar 1942 AVM Maltby; London Gazette, Supplement, February 1948. Given the secrecy, urgency and mass loss of records from this disastrous campaign, it may be that Singapore was a cover story "put about" for security, with the actual destination actually Sumatra all along. Certainly 84 Squadron, leaving a week earlier as part of the same re-inforcement movement, record that their destination from the outset was Sumatra and Palembang (Neate, Scorpion's Sting p52). The 211 Squadron air party included at least 6 aircrew survivors of the Squadron’s Greek campaign, the full complement of aircrew at this date numbering at least 72. As usual, individual accounts and records differ as to the actual dates. The Squadron strength on departure for the Far East seems to have been well over 400 from the fragmentary records available. In this first Far East campaign, 36 airmen have now been identified with reasonable confidence as RAAF personnel—16 of these men were subsequently lost in action in the Squadron in Sumatra and Java. No surviving RAAF members from this period are in contact with me, nor (so far as I am aware) with 211 Squadron Survivors Association.
One of 211 Squadron’s Mark IV Blenheims on the way to the Far East in January 1942, still in desert paint, the Squadron 2-letter UQ code not in use. Serial no not legible in my print. The Sea Party
Port Tewfik was the major wartime port of Egypt and of RAF Middle East for convoys to and from the UK (voyaging south-about via Freetown and the Cape of Good Hope), and from Australia and the Far East. Tewfik was thus the port of embarkation for the 211 Squadron sea party departing for Singapore in January 1942. The voyage is recounted by Len Abbs and by Len Cooper. The vessel may be of the Stepsister convoy JS1, but for the moment is unidentified. Proceeding first to Colombo, they paused there to refuel and reorganize, with the 211 party all boarding Yoma. By their departure on 3 February, the deteriorating situation in Malaya saw their division of JS1 diverted to Oosthaven in Sumatra. Together, Yoma, Filleigh, Lulworth Hill, Hai Lee and Ermion made port on Friday 13 February 1942. It was to be a short stay.
SS Yoma was built for P Henderson and Co of Scotland by Denny’s and launched in 1928 for the Far East trade, in joint-ownership with the British and Burmese Steam Navigation Co. She was 8,139 gross register tons and equipped with quadruple-expansion engines capable of 14 knots. In her day, she was a popular passenger steamer. Put to service as a troopship, she did not survive the war. In convoy from Tripoli to Alexandria with some 1800 troops aboard, she was sunk by U-81 NW of Derna on 17 June 1943. Hit by two torpedoes, Yoma went down stern-first within five minutes, with the loss of her captain George Paterson MBE and 483 troops and crew. Thanks to the close attendance of a group of HM minesweepers and another merchant ship, 1477 troops and crew were saved. The Far East Campaign: Malaya and the East Indies 1942 With the Japanese close at hand and advancing rapidly, the Squadrons withdrew to Java and were at Kalidjati mid-late February 1942 in at least some sort of operational state. Aircraft and aircrew losses apparently saw them operating as a single unit by the last week of February before finally withdrawing to Tjilatjap and variously to evacuation or escape around 2, 3 March or capture (8 March 1942). 211 Squadron in Sumatra The Squadron commenced operations at Palembang (P II) on 2 February with a reconnaissance flight by Z9660. With 16 aircraft now on hand, a sortie on 6 February saw the loss of two Australian crews, Z7913 (Sgts Bott, Lynas and Lamond) and Z7586 (Sgts Steele, Menzies and Gornall). The Kluang raid on 10 February saw the loss of the experienced S/Ldr Ken Dundas DFC and his RAAF crew in Z7699. By 11 February, 211 was reported to have had six serviceable Blenheims available at PII. As observed elsewhere, the attempted night raid on 11/12 February was a disaster, with 2 aircraft of 211 Squadron and one of 84 Squadron crashing on take off thanks to poor flare path layout. Clutterbuck and his Observer, Newstead died, the gunner Joerin surviving. 13 February saw further losses of 2 aircraft and 4 aircrew, all RAAF (Mackay, Oddie and Payne lost in the jungle, and McInerney lost on ditching, only the pilot Chalmers and gunner 402202 Sgt GM Kendrick surviving). The next 2 days saw intense air activity against the Japanese landing force, around Banka Is and the Moesi River, Cuttiford and co contributing. Meanwhile, 211 Squadron sea party had arrived at Oosthaven aboard HMT Yoma on 13 February as recorded by Len Abbs and others. Accounts of the Operation Stepsister convoy JS1 confirm that HMT Yoma arrived at Oosthaven that day. The 211 Squadron contingent of 400-odd groundcrew and spare aircrew were lightered ashore that afternoon. After an abortive railway journey towards Palembang, they returned the following day (14 February) and re-embarked on the Yoma, slipping at dusk that day for Batavia. The next day, 15 February 1942, they arrived at Tanjong Priok, the port of Batavia in Java, without having met up with the air echelon. Orcades arrived on 15 February and then made for Batavia where she, too, took part in the evacuation of Java as recounted by Len Abbs.
Bill Maitland, an RAAF pilot of 211 Squadron, was apparently among the large Squadron party who had reached Sumatra aboard Yoma. On 14 February they reboarded Yoma, remaining at moorings in Oosthaven until dusk. Here Maitland has caught the KPM ship van der Hagen alongside the wharf. She had made port that day, carrying troops and equipment including anti-aircraft guns, according to the master of another Dutch vessel in port. Built in 1909 and of 3,030 gross register tons, she was one of many such vessels engaged in the East Indies trade, in which KPM (Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij: the Royal Dutch Packet Navigation Company) was the major player. From January 1942 to 8 March 1942 when Java fell, KPM lost no less than 79 vessels in Far East waters. Among them was van der Hagen, sunk there at Tjilatjap. She was raised and put to service by the Japanese, only to be sunk again at Maizuru Bay in Honshu by American air action. Dick Schouten in Holland went to great lengths to help find a sound identification for this little ship. Hardly a war-like posture, on first look. However, the apparent sparseness of the facilities alongside may simply be a trick of the angle of view. From the various lines in shot, this photograph seems to have been taken from another vessel, at moorings, almost certainly Yoma. Although just one godown is visible, it is a permanent structure of corrugated iron and in good condition on this day (although to be destroyed within days to deny the port facilities to the Japanese). To the far right, there is a rake of wagons in a railway siding close to the shoreline, consistent with Oosthaven. To the immediate left of the wagons, slightly lower and closer to the shore there may be a light AA mounting, though it could well be a small goods crane.
The port facilities included a steam tender and lighterage. Like Jim Fryatt and Mick Dudman's shots at Poerwokerto, the men aboard the lighter stand in an orderly, well presented body with RAF STs aplenty. In his own description, Bill described this as ”Troops coming aboard at Ersthaven during evacuation of Sumatra”. Together, his two photographs and description are consistent with other known events at Oosthaven on 14 February 1942. This second shot is apparently of the 211 Squadron rear echelon, re-embarking Yoma by lighter that day. Bill was doubly lucky with this sort of caper: 16 days later he was evacuated from Tjilatjap in Java, aboard Tung Song. 211 Squadron in Java On 21 February, a raid at Flight strength saw the loss of another 211 aircraft, with the all RAAF crew piloted by Sgt Burrage, with F/Lt Stewart Observer and Sgt McDonald WOp/AG. This may well have been the last operation in which 211 Squadron took part. The events and losses of February are recorded in the narratives of JB Keeping, NH Oddie, and Bill Baird, then summarised in the Sumatra and Java and RAAF Personnel sections. Withdrawal, evacuation and captivity
Thanks to the Navy’s efforts to clear Batavia and Tjilatjap, some 211s had already been evacuated with about 2,500 other RAF personnel aboard the crowded Kota Gede bound for Colombo (Sgts AP Richardson and RL Crowe for example). Sadly, many other members of the Squadron remained on Java and fell captive.
Jack Woodward, a Sgt Observer of 27 Squadron, was one of the lucky ones. After withdrawal from Butterworth and Singapore with the remaining 27 and 62 Squadron Blenheim Is, at Palembang (PII) he and his pilot W/O John “Jock” Kennedy and WOp/AG Sgt Gordon “Clicker” Clarke carried out operations against the Japanese invasion force. Withdrawing to Java, Kennedy successfully forced-landed Blenheim I L8396 (still wearing 62 Squadron codes FX-N) in a padi field. Safely making their way to Batavia and Kalijati they faced ground attack and ultimately withdrawal to Tjilatjap to board Kota Gede early in the morning of Friday 27 February 1942 with 2,500 other evacuees. She slipped for Colombo that evening, arriving safely on 6 March. A further 64 aircrew and groundcrew of the Squadron were lucky to be among the last RAF personnel evacuated from Java, aboard 205 Squadron's tender for its Catalinas RAFA Tung Song. Leaving Tjilatjap on 2 March, they reached Fremantle on 13 March 1942.
Photographed by armourer 911029 AC1 Ron Lovell from the ship’s launch, Tung Song as fitted out for duty as tender to 205 (Flying Boat) Squadron. In this form she was at Tjilatjap, one of the last vessels available for evacuation duty before the surrender of Java on 8 March 1942. Despite strenuous efforts by the Royal Navy to clear Batavia and Tjilatjap, the Dutch surrender saw many throusands of British Commonwealth servicemen stranded, among them some 5,100 RAF men, of whom at least 339 were 211 Squadron personnel. The story of the 200-odd civilian and military evacuees who boarded the ex-Straits steamer has been told in rich detail by Hugh Campbell and Ron Lovell in So Long Singapore. Conditions aboard Tung Song are illustrated by photographs on Jim Fryatt’s page. The Tung Song evacuees As usual in the Services, to do all that, forms had to be filled in and reports written. At 5ED they made a laconic (and numerically garbled) summary entry in their ORB and then, as they dealt with the arrivals and sent them on East, compiled the name, rank, no and mustering of each man in the weekly Personnel Occurrence Report - the mysterious POR that appears so often against service record entries. Without the POR system, details of postings, leave and other information could get hopelessly entangled, the more so when RAAF and RAF personnel were mingled and in transit over half the world. Such was their importance that the reports were roneo copied for distribution. While the RAF versions (in vaster volume, of course) have long since been “weeded”, in the National Archives of Australia a complete RAAF set exists. There the 5ED reports are still held safe, as Series: 10605 Item: 5 Embarkation Depot (various Volumes). Thus I found them a year or two back, seeking records to help Hugh and Ron complete the Tung Song story. Volumes I and II can now be viewed on-line through the NAA digital archive: 211 Squadron: Fremantle 13 March 1942
The RAF in Sumatra and Java In the period immediately before surrender to the Japanese, about 7,000 RAF personnel were evacuated from Sumatra and Java (although not all made it to safety), leaving 5,100 taken prisoner in Java, many of them unarmed and many skilled tradesmen. Of the 5,102 RAF PoWs in Japanese captivity, 1,714 died: that is, about 33% or one in every three. All these servicemen endured the most extreme privations at the hands of their captors. Civilians, women and children fared little better. To put this in perspective, a simple comparison will suffice. In the European theatre, of 9,879 RAF PoWs captive in Germany, 152 died: about 1.5% (about one in every 65). 211 losses 1942 At least 339 men, mainly groundcrew, were made PoW. Their subsequent fate is discussed under the Far East PoW heading. The Far East Campaign 1943-1945: the RAF in Burma August 1943 found 211 Squadron re-forming in Northern India at Phaphamau near Allahabad on the Ganges, “beloved of her people”. There they were to work up for Bristol Beaufighter operations in the second Burma campaign. With an initial strength of 16 to 18 aircraft, the Squadron personnel numbered about 330 on resumption of operations in January 1944, with 24 complete two-man crews (Pilot and Navigator/Wireless Operator or Nav/W for short).
211 Squadron aircrew faced a fresh, stern struggle in Burma, in an intense 18 months of operations that saw the Japanese driven from Burma, and surviving RAF “Rats of Rangoon” (including twelve 211 members) rescued from captivity in Rangoon Gaol. This third costly but ultimately successful campaign has been covered here thanks to several of those men or their families, who have most kindly put forward some of their story. In the year and a half from January 1944 to May 1945, the Squadron was heavily engaged against Japanese ground and air forces, flying 1790 sorties and destroying 25 aircraft, 223 locomotives, over 600 motor transports, large numbers of watercraft, and numerous other ground targets. In that time they lost 33 aircraft on operations. Just six of the original 24 two-man crews survived to complete their “tours” with 211 Squadron. In contrast, during the early part of their Burma operations, CO S/Ldr Pat Meagher DSO DFC scored a number of victories against Japanese opponents, becoming a Beaufighter ace in the process. Standing down in late May 1945, they were converting to the de Havilland Mosquito FB VI in June and July, with the expectation of taking part in the invasion of Malaya planned for September. In August VJ Day arrived, forestalling their resumption of offensive operations. By then, some Squadron personnel were already being repatriated. Once more at operational readiness, after some delay the Squadron moved to Thailand with its Mosquitoes in November 1945, only to disband there in March 1946. The photos from Bill Dickinson, Sam Spicer, the late Steve Woodhouse, Alan Wythe DFM and Don Harris (a Burma Quintet if you will) form a neat introduction to this period. They show men in good spirits at work and at rest. The bush hat characteristic of the theatre is prominent. Airmen of RAF and RAAF origin alike had held the standard issue sola topee in no great regard: now they took to the readily available bush hat with alacrity.
The history of operations in India and Burma prepared on the spot by Peter Spooner gives a clear and complete view of operations and another sobering set of personnel rolls. Operations in Burma are covered from a personal angle by the late George Manderson DFC, with a detailed and well illustrated extract from his Five years and a bit! and by the late Alan Carter in his own insouciant account of the view from the back seat. The rich collection of photographs from the album of the late Desmond Marsh-Collis adds further depth to the story of the Burma days. James Mitchell’s narrow escapes add a note of hope, while the photo collections of the late Les Ramsay and the late John Robertson offer nice personal views of mateship in adversity. While Don Lomas’ and Barney Mearns memories of Johnny Luing offer a grim insight into the conditions endured by the Rats of Rangoon, the story of Jim Oblein provides an equally moving account of a Rat who survived. The Canadian and Australian presence in the Squadron continued of which some clearer detail has slowly emerged. Four RAAF personnel, 19 RCAF personnel, and one South African have been identified. The later days of the Squadron are now well described and illustrated by Carruthers, Winton and Wood. 211 Losses 1943-1945 Far East PoWs Unsung Heroes of the Royal Air Force by L & P Stubbs (Barny Books 2002), a valuable reference listing some 6,000 Royal Air Force personnel held captive in the Far East with additional background, was kindly brought to my attention by George Money of 84 Squadron via Adrian Fryatt. More recently, thanks to Elizabeth Kaegi in Canada, a compilation of Commonwealth War Graves Commission casualty records for the Squadron came to hand. With some labour, it has now been possible to bring these records together. Overall, at least 357 personnel of 211 Squadron were held as prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army. Virtually all the 339 airmen known to have fallen captive in Java were ground crew. I regret to report that in the Far East at least 185 Squadron members (6 aircrew and 179 groundcrew) died as PoWs in Japanese hands: more than all the squadron aircrew killed in action during 5 years of armed conflict. Died in captivity Name, service no and rank Survived captivity
Eric “Johnny” Johnston
Eric Johnston is standing in the 2nd row, 3rd from the left, arms at his sides. Amanda’s account of the conditions on Haruku is to be found on the Children of FE PoWs (COFEPOW) site on this page: http://www.cofepow.org.uk/pages/asia_haruku1.html Sources
www.211squadron.org © DR Clark & others 1998–2008 |
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