With no flying today and a month of desert life behind us, we find time to review the activities of the squadron in general terms.
Health
Apart from a prevalence of septic sores developing from minor cuts and abrasions, there have been no unusual cases of Illness owing to our changed mode of life. All ranks have been warned through the medium of orders of the necessity for giving the strongest attention to cuts and open wounds to prevent these turning septic.
Morale
Although many of the flying personnel were undergoing their first experience of enemy fire, there quickly developed a spirit of eagerness to come to grips with the enemy and above all to "hit him hard and often". The blending of experienced and non-experlenced (in operational flying) flying personnel proved invaluable and morale was of a very high standard.
Thrown together in a desert camp all ranks speedily settled in to make the most of things. Realising that cooperation was essential, all ranks joined in with a will and the compliments later paid by visitors to the comforts provided by our camp were tributes to the spirit of cooperation displayed.
Administration
The Administrative work carried out by the Squadron proved to be unnecessarily heavy. There appeared to be lack of centralisation of correspondence, which, for a squadron of this size seemed unnecessarily large. Letters on policy were received from various groups and wings – often duplicating or even in conflict with instructions already laid down – but it was hoped that with the establishment of a central South African wing in the desert, some satisfactory arrangement In regard to Administration would be arrived at. The present position calls for review at the earliest possible opportunity.
Advice was received by telephone from S.A.A.F. H.Q., that Capt. F.C. HUNT would be assuming duty as Adjutant of the squadron shortly.
Flying training was again continued at a late hour tonight.
General
A few remarks may be made in summing up the general activities of the month.
After a prolonged period of inactivity, the squadron is rapidly approaching the “go” mark so far as operations are concerned, and there are indications that we may not have long to wait before we do become operational. Plans are already being formed for a drive by the Allied forces in Egypt and the squadron will doubtless be bearing its full weight in this effort.
Morale among all sections is good and it requires but operations – the panacea for most troubles in a unit – to raise the standard even higher.
Health has been fairly good but there has been some incidence of Malaria, some of which has been contracted locally. All cases admitted to No. 106 General Hospital, situated conveniently near, are progressing favourably.
Sport is now well organised in the squadron and football matches against neighbouring units amongst squadron personnel have helped to raise the standard of fitness among ground and flying crews.
Instructions were received indicating that the move would take place within twenty four hours. A meeting of all heads of Section was held to discuss and make the final arrangements for the move to Italy.
Summary – September 1944
The month of September can be regarded as an outstanding month in many ways. The Squadron has carried out all necessary operations, but not without loss. A ghastly accident occurred when the bombs exploded in aircraft F, Causing the death of seven personnel of this Unit. A huge petrol fire broke out at 30 Squadron, S.A.A.F. when 22,000 gallons of petrol were lost. Lt. Col. JANDRELL, D.F.C. returned R.T.U. and Lt. Col. D. ORD, D.F.C. assumed command. Inclement weather has interfered with operations to a certain extent. Sport has confined itself to soft ball.
The Squadron carried out 22 sorties during the month adopting the box "shuttle" formation, which proved very successful, registering 17 direct hits on their targets. The squadron suffered a serious loss on the 13th of the month when Lieut. Whitehouse and his crew were shot down by ack ack. (Lieut. Whitehouse and F/Sgt. Carter, pilots; Lieut, van Trotsenburg, observer; W.O. Swale, WT/AG; W.Os. Horscroft and Wilson, A.Gs). Reports from the Army stated that four parachutes were seen to open, but this report has not been confirmed. Investigations are proceeding.
On the 9th of September at 08.00 hours a tremendous explosion occurred on the aerodrome, in the bay where aircraft "F" was parked. Briefing had already taken place and crews were being conveyed to their aircraft, when the explosion took place. Lieut. F.W. Brall, who was in the habit of proceeding to his aircraft ahead of his crew, was in the aircraft at the time of the explosion. The following personnel were killed:- Lieut. F.W. Brall, W.O.1. Botha, A/Cpl. Kimbrey, A/Cpl. Cheesman, A/M. Maeder, A/M. Viret, A/M. Andrews. A/Sgt. Smit and A/M. v.d. Westhuizen were injured and A/M v.d. Merwe sustained superficial scratches. The remains of the deceased were buried in the British military cemetry at the Sangro in the afternoon with full military honours. Padre Skemp officiated and Capt. L.R. Alexander represented the C.O. at the funeral. A Court of Enquiry was convened by O.C. 3 Wing, S.A.A.F., consisting of Major Aitchison as President and F/Lt. White, Armament Officer, Rear D.A.F. as member.
Lt. Col. A.C. Jandrell, D.F.C. was posted R.T.U. , together with his crew - Lieut. MacKay, Capt. R.R. Farrant, D.F.C., Lieut. J. Thompson and W.0.11 Sheppard . In order to say farewell Lt. Col. Jandrell gave a party in the Officers' Mess for the officers, and visited the Sergeants' and Airmens' Messes. The party in the Officers' Mess had just commenced when a huge conflagration was observed from the direction of 30 Squadron, the flames reaching hundreds of feet into the air and lighting up the countryside.
Col. Jandrell jokingly remarked that "30 Squadron must give me a send off and see how they do it - no half measures." It was learned later that a petrol bowser had ignited at the petrol dump causing the loss of 22,000 gallons of 100 octane.
Major Aitchison assumed command of the Squadron after the departure of Col. Jandrell until the arrival of Lt. Col. D. Ord, D.F.C., who took over on the 25th of September.
New crews have been arriving apace, whilst old crews have departed O.T.E. Several new arrivals are old members of the Squadron who have returned after a well earned rest in the Union.
Winter has made its appearance and has brought with it the rains, causing a general upheaval as the mud of Italy is in a class by itself.
3 Wing, S.A.A.F. celebrated its third anniversary on the 27th of September in no uncertain manner by throwing a big party. Air Vice Marshal Dixon and General Theron were present besides several other senior officers.
Baseball has proved very popular in the Squadron and inter-section games are played practically every afternoon.
Appendix to War Diary – 21 Squadron – 3 SAAF Wing
Period 1st to 30th September 1944
September was a comparatively busy month for 21 Squadron. 83 raids were carried out — involving 343 operational sorties and 700 hours 30 minutes flying time. Non-operational flying time was relatively low, only 31 sorties being flown — 29 hours 55 flying minutes.
During September, the Squadron continued with the scheme — adopted at the commencement of operations with Marauders in August — whereby each box of four aircraft was briefed to carry out its attack independently.
Seventy of the month's raids were conducted in close support of the Army. The first couple were in the Pesaro region, whilst the remainder were mainly carried out in the Rimini area. On the whole, the standard of bombing was good and evoked several congratulatory messages from the Army. The last of this series of Army targets was an area at St.Angelo; three boxes attacked this target and considerable damage was done with direct hits on a building and a large explosion with orange smoke at another point. Ack was constantly encountered during these attacks and was mainly intensive. On the 13th, Lt Whitehouse and crew were shot down by flak near Rimini; two or three parachutes were observed and the aircraft was seen to crash into the sea a few miles off Rimini.
A second loss was sustained by the Squadron when, on the 9th, Lt Brall and six ground personnel were fatally involved in an aircraft which blew up after being briefed to take off on a raid.
Towards the latter part of the month, three raids were directed against two road bridges approximately 5 miles NW of Cervia. Direct hits on the approach to the second bridge were scored during the second and third of these raids.
Further objectives attacked during the month were the Cesena Marshalling Yards (no results), Forli Marshalling Yards (bombs straddled the Eastern portion of target) and M.T. Workshops at Forli. During the latter raid the first two boxes scored direct hits on the NE corner of target, whilst the third box — owing to bad weather — bombed FAENZA Marshalling Yards, with most bombs falling in the Yards.
The last raid of the month was on the 26th. From that date until the end of the month the Pescara Airfield — owing to inclement weather — was unserviceable and no further operations were carried out.
The time had arrived for the writing of the final chapter in the History of the Squadron.
No training flying was carried out during the month so as to conserve engine hours for the expected to move to North Africa. Trooping did continue until the 10th when aircraft were ordered to stand down. The aircraft which conveyed members of the D.A.F. Cricket team to England returned to the 12th, one aircraft flew to Calais to fetch special army equipment on the 10th and an aircraft was also flown to Malta for supplies for D.A.F. on the 17th. No other flying took place until the Fly-out to GIANACLIS, (North Africa) which commenced on the 22nd when three aircraft took off. The route flown was BARI, (Night stop) EL ADEM, GIANACLIS. The last aircraft left RIVOLTO on the 30th. All arrived fully serviceable and were grounded upon information being received that the Squadron was to be disbanded.
On the ground, too, early preparations were made for the Move. The main difficulty encountered was to decide which personnel should go in the Advance Party, which ground personnel should fly with the aircraft, and who should remain with the rear party, the difficulty being caused by the fact that the authorities at that time were not in a position to acquaint us to the length of time that would elapse between the departure of the one party and the other, nor were they able to assure us that flying would or would not take place in the interim period as new and varied instructions were received. All of course, realised the reasons for the continual change of plan, our final destination and nature of departure being dependent particularly upon that most valuable of all amenities at the moment – shipping.
Finally the “A” Party vehicles were loaded and driven to TRIESTE, where Lieut. Coggan, the Transport Officer of this Squadron, upon request from Wing, undertook the job of loading all the Wing transport on to the vessels available. These vehicles finally reached Port Said on the 4th October, drivers were sent from Gianaclis to fetch them and they arrived on the Saturday and Sunday, after a 200 mile journey full of troubles, due largely to poor condition of the batteries after the sea voyage. A week later they were to retrace their tracks, their destination and ours being SHANDUR, the new home of 3 Wing, where we are now already heavily depleted in personnel and a Squadron in little more than name.
The “A” Party personnel finally left Udine by train on the 14th, reached BARI on the 18th and were then flown over in Liberators to GIANACLIS. A number of ground staff were also flown over in our own aircraft, the last of which arrived on Monday, October the 1st. Lt. Col. Davis arrived a few days later, he and Capt. Napier taking turns at the controls of a Wing Marauder and a Spitfire.
Tonight, Friday October the 19th, the Rear Party, which has been awaiting shipping in Italy is expected to arrive at midnight. They will find us very depleted, the “As”, “Bs”, “Cs”, “Ds” and “Es” having already left for ALMAZA and the XXX these categories in the rear party are expected to leave early next week, when the Squadron will finally lose its identity and will be merged into a 3 Wing Dispersal Centre, the personnel merely waiting their turn to find ship or aircraft to take them back to South Africa, tho’ it is still apparently possible that some of our aircrew may be called upon to fly the aircraft back to the Union for which purpose TEN crews were being retained.
That the last six weeks in the Squadron should have been described in this dull manner is unfortunate, for no member of the Squadron, however eager to return to his family and his home, however extended his tour, can or has failed to appreciate in some way the opportunities afforded him during this time to see some of the most beautiful and historical places in Eurpoe under conditions in some degree resembling that of peace. As a Unit we were most fortunate in being in Northern Italy upon the cessation of hostilities. The other ranks adopted a little town on the way to Venice, Pordenone where they had regular dances and which they eventually came to regard as their own area, so much so that they resented members of neighbouring R.A.F. Units even visiting the town and still more attending the dances. This resentment came to a climax and there was serious trouble between the R.A.F. men and our own. The town was placed out of bound for a few days, the particular R.A.F. Unit was transferred to winter quarters, and Pordenone because again our own particular centre for recreation. A great number of the men were really sorry to leave Italy and Pordenone in particular.
On the 19th of September, Lt. Col. J.F.O. Davis, D.F.C. and Bar took over the Squadron from Lt. Col. D. Ord. D.F.C. and Bar. Col. “Don” had been with the Squadron for a very long time. He knew and took a real interest in all ranks and we were all sincerely sorry to see him go. As he had to go, we could not have been more fortunate than that Lt. Col. Davis took over from him. Col. Davis had seen previous service with all Squadrons in the Wing apart from 21 and it was good that we should have had him to watch over the final break up.
In a earlier diary a full account was given of “Jackie”, the Squadron Mascot, an Egyptian Gazelle. Perhaps the best months of his life were those spent in long grass at Rivolto. He flew back with us to North Africa, to Gianaclis, very near the district from which we originally came. One night he was attacked by dogs and died the next day. We all took the loss and the manner in which he met his death very deeply. He had for so long been a real institution and friend to everyone, irrespective of rank, in the Squadron.
Before Col. Ord left, he wrote a short account of the Squadron’s history and sent it to the Glenn Martin Company, since throughout the war, the Squadron had flown nothing other than Glenn Martin aircraft.
It will be fitting to conclude the History of the Squadron with the account:-
To: The Glenn L. Martin Coy.
BALTIMORE. 3. M.D.
U.S.A.
On the conclusion of hostilities it was thought that your Company would be interested in a short history of this Squadron, which throughout the War has flown Glenn Martin aircraft exclusively.
The Squadron is a member of 3 South African Wing which formed the nucleus of the famous DESERT AIR FORCE.
In 1941 the Squadron was equipped with Maryland aircraft, which were used as Long Range Fighters and Bombers against enemy shipping, aerodromes, railways, gun positions, fuel dumps etc., being based in Egypt and Cyrenaica.
In 1942 the Squadron was equipped with Baltimore aircraft, and participated in the North African campaign from E. ALAMEIN in support of the 8th Army until that Campaign’s successful conclusion, this Squadron actually participated in the last operation against the enemy in N. Africa.
21 Squadron formed part of the air attacks against the two island fortresses of Pantelleria and Lampedusa, it was then switched to attack targets in Sicily, at the same time converting to night operations, still on Baltimore aircraft. A move was then made to MALTA and the invasion of Sicily supported from there. Moving to Sicily day and night attacks were carried out against targets in Italy.
The Invasion of Italy at Salerno was supported mainly by night. Moving to Italy the Squadron continued to support the ground forces on both fronts in the advance up Italy. The Squadron played an active part in supporting the landing at ANZIO. Throughout the Italian campaign 21 Squadron participated in all the major engagements and it’s records show such names as “CASSINO, HITLER LINE, GOTHIC LINE, RIMINI, PO RIVER etc.” During the Winter months when army support was not needed, enemy lines of communication, marshalling yards, bridges etc., was attacked.
In July, 1944 the Squadron was at a place called Termoli on the Adriatic Coast still flying Baltimore aircraft. In 28 days the entire Squadron converted to Marauder Aircraft and proceeded to do daylight operations against the enemy in Italy, Austria, Yugoslavia from based in Italy, and also in support of the Army during the final battle in Italy.
Two of the Squadron’s aircraft became particularly famous, one a Baltimore completed 172 Operational Sorties, the other a Marauder christened “B” for BLIKSEM completed 113 Operational Sorties, and when it had completed 400 hours was given an extension to 450 hours, on reaching this figure this aircraft was in perfect condition that a further 50 hours extension was granted. “B” for BLIKSEM was the pride of the Squadron and was revered by both Air and Ground Crews, it never failed to take off on a raid, never made an early return and led many successful raids. Photographs of this aircraft are enclosed.
21 Squadron, S.A.A.F. is justly proud of its association with your aircraft, many of its members have been decorated for gallantry and briefly this Squadron has flown Glenn Martin aircraft in active Operations against the enemy from “EL ALAMEIN TO THE ALPS.” (Our present site being at the base of those mountains)
(Sgd) D. Ord Lt. Col.
Officer Commanding. 21 Squadron. SAAF.