War Stories: John Thomas Bloor and the Battle of Hill 70

The commemorative plaque for John Thomas Bloor 

Private John Thomas Bloor is buried in the Pas-de-Calais, France  -just one of the 9.5 million Entente or Allied forces killed in World War I.  Six weeks ago I knew nothing about him but then he inadvertently dropped into my life and a gripping story unfurled.  Interesting timing now that we find ourselves on the Centennial eve of "The Great War".  Let me explain...

About five years ago a colleague gave me a commemorative plaque that he'd acquired at an antiques fair. He said it was British and that it was more appropriate for me (with my Anglo/Irish roots) to assume the role of its curator. I accepted the item quite willingly but did nothing with it other than place it on a bookshelf in my study where it had remained, semi-forgotten, ever since. Or at least until sometime last month when, thanks to my recent penchant for writing about war stories, I picked it up, put on my deerstalker hat and started doing some detective work.

My first task was to identify the medallion itself. That was quite easy -it turned out to be a so called "Death Penny".  These 5" diameter memorial plaques were made of bronze and issued to the next-of-kin of British and Empire service personnel who were killed in World War I; more than 1.3 million were issued. The name embossed on this particular plaque was  quite worn, probably as a result of vigorous polishing, but with some effort I made it out to be John Thomas Bloor.  Now my next task was to find out more about this fallen warrior.  My first stop was the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Initially I drew a blank as no such name was registered among British troops. However when I broadened my search to include Commonwealth countries, I was rewarded with a hit: Private JT Bloor (463016) was a member of the 29th Battalion, Canadian Infantry and killed on 21st August, 1917. He was 31 years old and is buried at the imposing Vimy Memorial.

From the Commonwealth War Graves site I learned of Mr Bloor's military rank (and that although born in the UK served with the Canadian infantry) the date he died, the names of his parents and his burial place

From the Canadian Library and Archives I discovered his birthday (he was 31 years old at the time of his passing), the cause of his death was unknown and that he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Vernon, British Columbia

Now my curiosity was piqued. Was there more information available about John Bloor?  Indeed there was. From the Canadian Library and Archives I found his Attestation Papers, signed on the 23rd July 1916, in Vernon, British Columbia, for his induction into Canadian Expeditionary force. Here I learned that his birthday was 6th May, 1886 (a Taurus), his profession was listed as "seaman" and he was unmarried. The induction papers also revealed that he was born in Staffordshire, UK, to Mrs Sarah Taylor (formerly Bloor) of 18 Bond Street, Burton-on-Trent.  The Canadian Veterans Affairs website lists his father as the late John Thomas Bloor. 

John Thomas Bloor's attestation papers. Here we can observe his handwriting (notably regressive) and also learn that his profession was "seaman"

From his medical certificate a physical picture of a tall, slim, fair haired, blue eyed individual with good vision (presumably he didn't wear glasses) and general good health emerges. His religion was Church of England (protestant)

His handwriting slopes backwards quite markedly -perhaps indicating an introvert personality. His medical certificate states that he was 5' 11" tall, had blues eyes and fair hair with a fair complexion. His chest was 39" full expanded: all in all he was quite tall and slim. He had a mole in his right armpit  cited as a "distinguishing mark".  A quite clear physical image had emerged. 

And what of his upbringing?  At the time of his enlistment, John's mother's married name was Sarah Taylor. According to the BMD database for England and Wales, JTB Senior passed away in 1898 (when JTB Jr was just 12 years of age). Sarah's maiden name was Howarth, so presumably she had remarried by the time her son enlisted.  A quick look at Mrs Taylor's address (Bond St) via Google Street View shows the remains of a row of Victorian terraced houses: was this the street where young John was brought up or did Sarah move there after she remarried?  In anycase I think it can be reasonably assumed that John grew up in modest but respectable circumstances (in British sociological terms Working Class or Lower Middle Class).

Bond Street, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England: at the time of his enlistment, Private Bloor's mother lived here (at #18, unfortunately now bulldozed to make way for a car park) in a modest Victorian terraced house. He was certainly brought up here or in the vicinity -a solid lower middle class neighbourhood. Picture from Google Street View.

Then we have a gap. I'm not quite sure how Mr Bloor found his way to Canada but the catchment area for Vernon, BC, includes the spectacular seaport of Vancouver. It's easy to imagine, given his occupation of seaman, how he could have ended up in in that city. Even a century ago it was a vibrant, attractive, prosperous place full of New World vigour and a refreshing change from the dreary British midlands. So if his travels brought him there, it wouldn't have been a difficult decision to stay.

Photograph of Vancouver, British Columbia, c1910. By the turn of the 20th century it was a bustling, prosperous seaport set in a jewel of a location. It's easy to understand why young Mr Bloor would have wanted to settle here after his upbringing in the drab Victorian English midlands

Patriotic fervour was common in the Canadian New World: many new immigrants felt it was their duty to serve their newly adopted country. Approximately 60% of serving Canadian troops in WWI were born in the UK

And so John Thomas Bloor, by now a Canadian resident, enlisted for the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was inducted at Vernon, British Columbia, a somewhat desolate training camp, 250 miles east of Vancouver on the 21st August 1915. There he was attached to the 29th (Vancouver) Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, also known as "Tobin's Tigers" after the commanding officer,  Lt.-Col Henry Seymour Tobin.   Tobin mustered the 29th in the first instance by amalgamating the 11th regiment of the Irish Fusiliers of Canada and the Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles.  The 29th itself was subordinated to the Canadian 6th Brigade, 2nd Division. It's not clear when he reached the Western Front in France. Basic training took 12 weeks and usually some additional training (for bombardiers, heavy weapons specialists and the like) followed.  In any event it's unlikely that he departed for Europe until some time in 1916. The first tranche of the 29th sailed from Halifax to Devonport, UK in May 1915, on the troopship, RMS Missanabie. As it happens, the Missanabie is an interesting story in itself. After four years of intrepid service, it was torpedoed and sunk off Daunt's Rock, Co. Cork, Ireland, by UB87 on 18th September 1918, with the loss of 45 crew.  But I digress. So it's likely that Private Bloor made landfall in England, probably in Plymouth, in the winter or spring of 1916 (see Post Script note at bottom of page). From Devon he would have likely been transferred to one of the several CEF camps in East Sussex where he would have undergone additional training. 

Aerial view of the CEF training camp, Vernon, British Columbia. Located approximately 250 miles east of Vancouver, the small town was dominated by the military presence

Life under canvas at the CEF training camp, Vernon, British Columbia. Traditionally, each battalion marked its entrance in the manner above -unfortunately I couldn't find a photo of the 29th's tents but it was formed from elements of the Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles seen here

Cap badge (L) and uniform patch (R) of the 29th (Vancouver) battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, also known as
"Tobin's Tigers"

I'm cheating here as I've added this picture non-contemporaneously. It's of a postcard JTB sent to his Mother prior to shipping out from his basic training to England. I imagine it was sent from a railhead, maybe Kamloops, BC, before JTB made the long cross-country train journey to Quebec or Nova Scotia. The card was kindly sent to me by Janice McPhee, a cousin twice removed, of Pvt. Bloor, when she discovered this article

The flipside of the card bears just a terse (for security reasons) message from JTB to his Mother. I learned several things from the information here (1) he used his middle name (Tom) possibly to avoid confusion with his Father's first name was also "John" (2) the picture is of the Canadian Rockies and the postmark appears to be "M(oose) Jaw & Calgary PO -presumably a mail stop on the railway line and (3) the card is dated "27 Aug" -assuming the cross-country train journey took 3-5 days then JTB would probable have sailed to the UK in early September 2015

The RMS Missanabie owned by the Canadian Pacific Line, was used as a troopship by the Canadian government  throughout the war. Records indicate that it mostly sailed to Liverpool although the first contingent of the 29th travelled on it and made landfall in Plymouth, Devon.  Halifax, Nova Scotia was the Canadian port most commonly used as an embarcation point although ships did sail from Vancouver. The Missanabie was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank off the coast of Ireland in 1918 with the loss of 45 crew. These individuals (43 men, 2 women) are commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial.

I think it's reasonable to assume that Private Bloor would have crossed the English Channel to France around the summer of 1916.  Here would have spent time in the rear echelons while acclimating to (the atrocious) field conditions and undergoing further training. Typically troops would be moved towards the front line when their commanding officers saw them as battle fit. Canadian troops were considered exceptionally well-trained: this was largely because of the influence of their Commander-in-Chief, Sir Julian Byng, an enlightened, unassuming and well-liked Englishmen endowed with fine leadership skills.  Unlike many of his peers, Byng was relaxed about military formalities but was a meticulous planner and superb field commander.  The 29th Battalion were further helped by their own Commander, Lt-Col Henry Seymour Tobin. Tobin forged his troops into a formidable fighting force, mainly through advanced tactics and endless training. 

Lt-General Sir Julian Byng commanded the Canadian Corps on the Western Front from 1916-1917 and was instrumental in forging his troops into an elite fighting force. He was much liked by his men

Lt Col Henry Seymour Tobin.  It's perhaps a sign of the times that "Tobin's Tigers" now have an entry on YouTube and their own page on FaceBook. Photo from British Columbia Archives collections

If Private Bloor and his elements of the 29th saw action in the late summer/autumn of 1916 they would have been engaged in some ferocious engagements. It is highly likely that they were thrown into the Battle of the Somme that raged through the summer and autumn of 1916. Other fights occurred at Courcelette, Pozieres Ridge, Thiepval Ridge, Ancre Heights, Regina Trench, Desire Trench and then in April 1917, the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April 1917. Vimy was a remarkable victory for Sir Julian Byng and his men. They trained intensively and employed several new gunnery tactics, including the "creeping barrage" in which the infantry advanced 100 metres behind a curtain of exploding artillery shells. Tanks were also used. A detailed account can be found here. 3,600 Canadian troops were killed and 7000 wounded -a heavy price but the victory was a defining moment for the Canadian military. Private Bloor was almost certainly involved in this battle.

Canadian troops fix bayonets and prepare to go "over the top" on one of the battles of the Somme in 1916                          

A camouflaged MkII "female" tank advances at Vimy Ridge. They were crude, unreliable and  vulnerable to relatively light field weapons such as mortars. However they did protect the crews against rifle and machine gun fire and initially terrified the German troops.

The next major engagement in which Private Bloor and the 29th were involved was the Battle of Hill 70. Unfortunately it was to be his last along with 1,505 of his comrades; another 4000 or so were wounded or suffered poison gas injuries. Nevertheless it was another fantastic victory for the Canadians. The purpose of the battle was to control the hill (Hill 70) which dominated the town of Lens.  Taking this position would prevent the Germans reinforcing their positions at Passchendaele. By this time the Canadians had a new commander, Sir Arthur William Currie. General Currie, like Byng and Tobin, was also a superb field commander, and not surprisingly found himself in disagreement with the Allies' Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshall Haig. Currie was also noted for his meticulous planning and made extensive use of the Royal Flying Corps for both both intelligence gathering and close air support.  The battle started in earnest on 15th August 1917 and was hard fought. Both sides used gas, especially the blistering agent, gaseous sulphur mustard,  delivered in cannister artillery shells. The Germans also introduced a terrifying new weapon, the M.16 flammenwerfer or flamethrower.

It's amazing what you can find on the internet. The entire War Diaries of the 29th Battalion have been scanned and are available for downloading

The War Diaries reveal that initially the 29th battalion was held back in support of the 5th Brigade. Things were relatively quiet although there was action at the Cinnabar Trench in Lens (other sources report that the 29th lost 85 men and 250 were wounded)

The battle peaked on 21st August: Hill 70 was taken and all counter attacks were repelled. John Bloor, having survived bloodier battles, was somewhat unlucky to meet his end here as casualties were relatively light: 7 officers were killed, 183 "other ranks" were wounded and 50 ORs were listed as missing (presumptively killed or captured)

The battle starts here  -on the 14th/15th August 1917. This operation was meticulously planned and prepared by Sir Arthur Currie

Map of Hill 70 and the town of Lens showing the target objectives for each of the Canadian battalions. The capture of Hill 70 was necessary to hold the town

While Hill 70 was stormed, a diversionary attack was made on the town of Lens. This map  shows the tactical plan for harassing fire

General Currie made extensive use of the Royal Flying Corps for intelligence gathering as well as supporting his troops in battle

Troops advance across No Man's Land towards Hill 70.  In this battle the Canadians introduced the concept  of the "creeping barrage" whereby the soldiers move forward 100 yards behind an advancing curtain of artillery fire

Canadians soldiers occupy a captured German trench on Hill 70. Photograph: Canadian War Museum                                       

Both sides made extensive use of gas in attack and counter-attack. The blistering agent, sulphur mustard, delivered by artillery canister shells  was particularly nasty

German WW1 gas artillery shells . Number 5 (blue with red cross) contains mustard gas otherwise knowns as nitrogen sulphur or "Yperite".  Its purpose was to cause blistering injuries to the skin and lungs

A machine gun crew equipped with PH-Helmet (phenate-hexamine) type gas masks. These were complex chemical hoods and were only partially effective. Vision was restricted and it was difficult to aim weapons while being worn

The battle for Hill 70 saw the Germans introduce the terrifying flammenwerfer or flame thrower: they were effective against trenches and were also used against tanks

Sir Arthur Currie had studied the German tactics well. He observed that if they lost ground to the Allies, their usual behavior was to rapidly counter-attack. Currie's plan was to take the objective (Hill 70 in this case) and then counter the counter-attack. To do this, he got his troops to consolidate their position very quickly and then installed a large number of machine guns to defend the hill

German shells bursting close to a camouflaged Canadian gun position (foreground) at Lens. Photo: Canadian War Museum    

Sir Arthur Currie's planning and preparation paid off.  The Canadians took the Hill quickly and with relatively few casualties (by the standards of the day). They then fought off no fewer than 21 counter attacks. The battle raged for six days. During this time the Germans were met with massive firepower and suffered huge losses. Hill 70 remained in the hands of the Allies for the rest of the war. During the battle, the Canadians had held off five German divisions (approximately 50,000 men), inflicted 20,000 casualties and taken 1000 prisoners. Five Victoria Crosses were awarded including one to Irish-Canadian, Sgt. Major Robert Hanna of the 29th. All in all the victory at Hill 70 was not only important strategically but it confirmed the reputation of the Canadians as clever, tenacious, warriors and indeed an elite fighting force. My account of the battle has been, by necessity, quite brief: much more detailed descriptions can be found here, here, here and here. Furthermore the official history of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, can be downloaded here.  More information about the 29th as well as other Canadian battalions can be found at the Matrix Project. Maps of the engagement can be found here.

Sadly, John Bloor did not survive the battle. He died on the 21st August 1917: the second anniversary of his enlistment. The cause of death has not been documented. Whether he died of wounds occurring earlier in the battle, or through shell, machine gun or small arms fire we'll never know. One pleasant surprise did come at the end of my investigations, however. On looking at the inscription of his name on a gorgeously elaborate memorial tribute to fallen servicemen in his hometown of Burton-on-Trent, I noticed his rank was "Corporal".  I have no doubt that this modest promotion was richly deserved.

In the Library and Archives of Canada, the circumstances (or lack, thereof) of John Bloor's death can be found. This tersely worded certificate states "Previously reported Missing, now for official purposes presumed to have died".  My thanks to Niall of Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, for unearthing this piece of information.

A distant view of the magnificent Vimy Memorial. It was built on the vantage point of Hill 145, the highest point on Vimy Ridge: it is dedicated to the memory of all members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force who lost their lives during the war

John Thomas Bloor's name inscribed on one of the walls of the Vimy memorial. Thank you for your service  -it was an honor to become acquainted with you in this unusual way 96 years after your earthly existence. I really did feel I knew you at by the end of this article. RIP, Sir!

The imposing Vimy memorial in the Pas-de-Calais. It was designed by Walter Seymour Allward and unveiled by King Edward  VIII on 26th July, 1936

Back to the beginning! The town hall, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK (contemporary photograph).  John Bloor's sacrifice is recorded here

The war memorial wall in John Bloor's hometown of Burton-on-Trent. Listed are the townsfolk who lost their lives in the 1st and 2nd World Wars. JT Bloor is of course listed here and at the end of the story there was a pleasant surprise. Somewhere along the way, the valiant Private Bloor was promoted to Corporal. I have no doubt this advancement was richly deserved. Photographs of the Vimy Memorial and the Burton-on-Trent Memorial are from the War Graves Photographic Project

A facsimile of the Letter from King George V that accompanied the Memorial Plaque  "Death Penny" at the top of the page. Replication service by Eddie Fatharly, the "Trench Detective"

Coda

In nearly a decade of blogging, this is by far the longest post I've written  -arguably with the least starting material. It's taken six weeks of research and fact checking to put it together and during this time the article acquired a life of its own.  I've learned a lot about the WW1 conflict (even though I thought I was quite well informed beforehand) as well as the training, weapons that were employed, the personalities involved and the zeitgeist of the era. I've also been reminded about the unrelenting, horror, misery and human suffering that is part and parcel of war. But  most of all I became acquainted with a heroic young man whose physical appearance and personality developed as I continued with my quest for information. At times I felt I was marching along with him and now my research is almost finished, I'm going to miss him: I certainly felt some reluctance to describe his final battle as I knew his fate in advance.

If anyone spots a factual error in my essay or can provide me with additional information on John T Bloor or the events in his life, please let me know.  Finally, if any reader has a legitimate and verifiable genealogical link to John Bloor or his greater family please get in touch with me via the comments section below: I have something that should be returned to its rightful owner...

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Mr Eddie Fatharly of South Ockendon, Essex, UK, "The Trench Detective" (Ebay: "efatharl") for providing me with a facsimile of Cpl. Bloor's honour letter from King George V as well as battlefield maps and some 27th battalion battle diaries; an excellent service. Christopher Shortland (Ebay: "theessenceofcool") provided detailed WW1 battle maps on CD. I have acknowledged all other sources in the text.  Lastly I must thank Clint Schmidt, PhD, for allowing me to be the bearer of Cpl. Bloor's memorial plaque for a few years; I hope I have discharged my duty satisfactorily.

P.S. Since publishing this article, I have been in touch with Dr Ian K Bloor of the Bloor Society: Ian kindly circulated the details of this story and subsequently I've been contacted by Ms Janice MacPhee a resident of British Columbia, Canada.  She is a bona fide cousin (twice removed) of Mr Bloor.  Janice, I can't tell you how happy I am to have heard from you. Hopefully we can meet up in the not too distant future and I will be able to return JTB's memorial plaque to its rightful place with a family member.

P.P.S. In correspondence with Janice MacPhee, the postcard from JTB to his Mother surfaced in which he announced he was en route to England. It was dated 27 August and thus I infer that his basic training was only 6 weeks. JTB travelled by train cross-country and would have arrived on the east side of the country around the end of the month. As far as I can discern from Matrix Project records, the most likely troopship sailing was from Montreal on the RMS Missanbie on 4th September in which case JTB would have docked at Plymouth on 14th September 1915.

This post was uploaded at 11 minutes past 11 (AM, European Continental time) on 11th November, 2013. Armistice Day (Veterans' Day). Exactly 95 years after the guns fell silent. 

Musical Postcards: My Brother's Keeper

My Brother's Keeper, a superb 10 piece funk band from Grosse Pointe, MI, cover the Commodores' 1977 classic, Brick House, at the The Mix, Seattle.  "Concert for Victor's Victory" was a benefit for 7-year-old Victor who is fighting bravely against a rare form of brain tumor known as DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma). Donations to help Victor can be made through Paypal at the Concert for Victor's Victory page on Facebook.  The excellent Skip Barnes, owner of my former Mini Cooper is on bass (after a decade of correspondence, it was great to finally meet you, Skip)  -sadly I don't know the names of the other band members.

Gone to The Wild Side

Not a Perfect Day for the rest of us...!

P.S. The media reaction to Mr Reed's death has been interesting. Yesterday he was pretty much the lead story on every US and UK news site that I visited. There's also been a deluge of eulogies and it would appear Mr Reed is up for sainthood in some circles. And there's also a lot of rubbish being written by, I suspect, music critics who were born a long time after the Beatles broke up.  One statement I read  was that he'd "changed the musical landscape".  Harrumph! What nonsense! What he did do was help to keep a gritty lo-fi form of rock going in the face of complex (and sometimes, dare I say it, pretentious) music from prog bands; his forte was dark, poetic, lyrics that equalled or exceeded those of Jim Morrison or the emerging Bruce Springsteen. His genius was to combine his words with exciting but simple musical arrangements. Nirvana, The Smiths, Sheryl Crowe, U2 and any number of punk/indie bands owe him a debt of gratitude.  Musical minimalism and gritty storytelling will forever be his trademark. One of his best quotes is: "One chord is fine. Two chords are pushing it. Three chords, and you're into jazz." Indeed!


RIP, Mr Reed.

Morihiko "Mark" Murashige 1945-2013

Mark Murashige, 6th Dan, at the USAF Western Region Summer Camp, 1998 (uke, Bobby Angotti). Photo from San Diego Aikikai Calendar, 2001

I was saddened to learn of the recent passing of Mark Murashige Sensei. Mark (who always seemed a little self-conscious when addressed as "Sensei") was one of my instructors at San Diego Aikikai where I trained for nearly five years in the late eighties and early nineties.  SDA was then the dojo of the  formidable Kazuo Chiba (8th Dan, Shihan): Murashige Sensei was second-in-command.  He was one of my all time favourite martial arts instructors, regardless of discipline. His teaching style was  informal, almost to a fault, in an environment that is notoriously rigid and etiquette-laden. He was also very funny and naturally put students at ease.  Needless to say, his classes were well-attended and very popular.  His interpretation of aikido was unique and devastatingly effective. He liked to use clever but practical, uncomplicated, short-range, techniques that reminded me a little of Krav Marga or even Wing Chun. If anyone ever doubted the utility of aikido as a means of self-defense, they only had to attend one of  Mark's classes to get the record put straight!  He wasn't a big man but his technique was brilliant:  I'm told that as he got older and his strength diminished, his technique continued to improve and his aikido became extraordinarily powerful but never invoked brute force.

Mark's obituary will be written and published by others elsewhere although a compelling interview with him can be found here. My intention is simply to pay tribute to a remarkable teacher and an individual who gave me an interesting and enduring perspective of aikido.

RIP, Mark-San  -I will remember you fondly.

War Stories: The Sword that Ended World War II

Pilot Officer Eaton, photographed here on the occasion of his "going solo"  in a North American Aviation AT-6 Harvard trainer.  He was 19 at the time

I didn't plan it but I seem to be on a roll with World War II articles of late. As I've mentioned before, blogging is a rather opportunistic process and seems to take on a life of its own as copy material emerges (often out of the woodwork). So I'm going to continue with the WWII theme for awhile as several interesting stories have come to light. 

Back in July, a particularly interesting anecdote was told to me by my Uncle, Doulas Eaton.  It's even more fascinating as it involves Japanese swords  -items in which I've had more than a passing interest.  Now Uncle Doug is a spry 90-year-old: he's fit as a fiddle, potters around in his Sussex garden and goes swimming nearly every day during the summer.  He's almost pathological calm, analytical and deliberate.  When he was younger, he used to transport his family around in/on a BSA motorbike and sidecar -a vehicle that I used to lust after when I was a teenager (heck, I still think motorcycle/sidecar combos are great!). He rode the bike in all weathers and to protect himself against the elements used to wear a sheepskin-lined RAF flying jacket and leggings. Overall a very cool gentleman; and this brings me to the main story...

Uncle Doug's flying gear originated from the days when he was a pilot for the Royal Air Force in the dark days of WWII. After his basic training (carried out in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA) he was assigned to fly twin engined C-47 transport aircraft. This was not exactly to his liking as he (like most other aspiring pilots) wanted to fly fighters and had done very well in gunnery school.  Having completed his multi-engine training at RAF Windrush he was then assigned to all sorts of dangerous overseas missions. Notably resupplying General Wingate's Chindit special forces in Burma. These operations involved flying over the jungle at 50 feet and rolling the supplies out of the rear of the aircraft (no parachutes). The job was incredibly dangerous as the terrain was badly mapped and aircraft quite often ploughed into uncharted mountains at the end of their supply drop. Others were shot down by small arms fire as well as Japanese fighters. A pretty responsible job for a young man only just in his twenties, to say the least!

A Douglas Aircraft Company C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF designation) of the type flown by my Uncle. Over 10,000 were produced. It proved to be an incredibly versatile and reliable design and many are still in service today

Uncle Doug was fortunate to come through the war unscathed. He continued to fly for the RAF for several years after hostilities ceased but one of his most notable missions came at the very end of WWII. By late April, 1945, Hitler had committed suicide and Germany capitulated. V-E (Victory in Europe) was declared on 8th May. However Japan fought on for several more months  and only ceased fighting  after the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August. Two formal surrender ceremonies were conducted. The first was to General McArthur on the USS Missouri in Tokyo bay on 2nd September, 1945. The second was on 12th September in Singapore to the Supreme Allied Commander of the South East Asia Theatre, Lord Louis Mountbatten. The notice of surrender was received from General Itagaki Seishiro. However Gen. Seishiro was representing the Japanese Supreme Commander of the Japanese Imperial Forces (Southern Region), Field Marshall Count Aisarchi Terauchi.  Field Marshall Terauchi had suffered a stroke and was too ill to attend the proceedings. However he did surrender privately to Mountbatten on 30th September in Saigon. On that occasion, Terauchi, being from a Samurai family, surrendered his ancestral swords which were transported from Japan for the occasion.   

Field Marshall Count Aisarchi Terauchi, Supreme Commander, Japanese Imperial Forces, Southern Region. He suffered a stroke on receiving the news that Burma had fallen

Lord Mountbatten receiving the articles of surrender  from General Seishiro in Singapore, September 12th, 1945. Field Marshall Terauchi surrendered his swords privately to Lord Mountbatten two weeks later in Saigon

This is the sword that was given to George VI by Lord Mountbatten and dates from c1420. Photo from the Royal Collection Trust

Terauchi's two surrendered swords were remarkable. The first was a made by the swordsmith, Yasutsugu, in the Echizen province of northern Japan in the 16th century (Muromachi period).  Mountbatten gave this sword to his brother, Robert, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven, who later passed it down to his son, Lord Ivar Mountbatten who in turn loaned it to the Royal Marines as a permanent exhibit. The weapon is known as "the Mountbatten Sword" and is displayed at the Commando Training Centre Officers' Mess.

The second sword was crafted by the smith, Osafune Yasamitsu, in Bizen province, c1420 (mid-Kamakura period). It is a masterpiece and has gorgeous fittings known as koshirae. The lacquered scabbard, or saya, is also a work of art. I've seen the weapon described as a short sword or wakizashi although available photographs suggest it is a longer katana. Lord Mountbatten sent this sword to King George VI in London: after its arrival in Britain, King George put it on public display at Windsor Castle where it can be seen to this day. At least two other swords were surrendered although the details are less clear (at least to this writer) and were given to the senior commanders of the other two services.

And so it came about that 22-year-old Flight Sergeant/Acting Warrant Officer Douglas Eaton flew from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and then on to Rangoon, Burma with with the swords that symbolized  the end of World War II in the hold of his Dakota. (At Rangoon they were transferred to another aircraft and flown to London by a different aircrew.)  A great story indeed and a nice one to have in the family archives. Well done Uncle Doug!

My Uncle's flight as "sword bearer". From Singapore to Rangoon (Burma) via Kuala Lumpur

My Uncle, Douglas Eaton, inspecting the garden back in June this year. He's a remarkable and very cool gentleman

War Stories: Bristol Beaufighter Again

A rare colour picture of Beaufighters from RAF 272 squadron patrolling the Mediterrranean off the coast of Malta, c1943 (IWM photo via Bristol Beaufighter page, Facebook)

First I should warn any internet traveller that if you've arrived here expecting commentary about music, travel, rally driving or just plain old snarkiness you are going to be gravely disappointed. This particular article is pure, unashamed, anorakary, so unless you have an interest in the WWII-era military aviation, look away now.

Within 24 hours of me publishing my last piece on the remains of a crashed Bristol Beaufighter in Gusano, Italy, I was contacted by Ewan McArthur who runs Warbird Restoration Services, near Melbourne, Australia. Ewan could identify most of the parts that I'd photographed and provided illustrations from Beaufighter technical manuals. He also made a special journey to the Australian National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin to photograph one of the last remaining Beaufighters. So for those of you sad people who like this kind of thing, here's what I discovered...

Armoured Plate
This was perhaps the easiest part to identify and I'm pleased to say my instinct was accurate. It is indeed a piece of armour plate and protects the front of the cockpit. The hole in the middle is an inspection hatch  -see technical sheet below.

This part was identified with absolute certainty: it's a heavy steel armoured plate fitted in the nose to the pilot against incoming fire

The location of the plate is shown here in this technical sheet. The rectangular opening in the lower part is for an inspection plate (missing). The inspection panel is fitted to the main plate with Dzus fasteners

Machine Gun Mount

These rails turned out to be gun mounts as I had suspected. Without detailed measurements we can't be sure if they are for the fuselage 20mm cannon or the wing machine guns. I've put up the technical sheets for both. Given the position of the hopper or chute located between the two rails it is most likely that the are for the one of the six Browning .303 calibre machine guns: the hopper/chute for the cannon appears to be at the very end of the mounts.  The chute is for voiding the spent cartridges out of the bottom of the aircraft: the bottom photo shows the chute exits on the lower wing surface.

Gun mounting rails. Almost certainly for one of the eight wing-mounted .303 calibre Browning machine  guns. 

Technical schematic showing the locations of the Beaufighter's guns. The aircraft was fitted with four 20mm Hispano-Suiza cannon mounted in the fuselage and eight .303 calibre Browning machine guns in the wings (marked in yellow). The machine guns were fitted asymmetrically: four in the starboard wing and two in the port wing. The reason for this configuration was to balance out the weight of the landing light which was also mounted in the port wing.

This photographs shows the ammunition chute for spent cartridges. It is located approximately two feet from the right side of the structure (as shown in the upper photograph)  -for this reason it is unlikely to be one of the cannon mounts

Technical schematic of the 20mm cannon mountings. The chute for the spent cartridges is positioned at the end of the rails indicating that 'our' part is not a cannon mount

The spent cartridges are ejected into the chute and voided from the under surface of the wing.  Photo of the Beaufighter exhibit at the Australian National Aviation Mueseum, Moorabbin, Victoria, courtesy Ewan McArthur.

This panel is probably the inspection cover of the two machine guns located in the port wing.  The panel 's location can be seen in the top schematic in this series

Undercarriage Mechanism

This contraption is the upper part of the undercarriage mechanism. No equivocation here. I've indicated the location of the part on the technical sheet below. Ewan somehow managed to get a shot right up in the undercarriage (see bottom photo) -even the colour is the same.

This part is from the upper undercarriage mechanism. Its relationship  to the rest of the u/c is shown in the technical sheet below

Technical sheet of the complete Beaufighter undercarriage mechanism.  The section found at Gusano is indicated in yellow

Picture of the radius arm in position on the Moorabbin Beaufighter. Even the color is the same as  the parts from Gusano. Photo courtesy Ewan McArthur

Engine Nacelle Panel

Ewan confirmed that this panel is one from the engine nacelle structure. The detailed photos show fuel and oil hatches. The bottom picture in this series, again taken by Ewan McArthur, is of the nacelle of the Beau exhibit at the ANAM. The location of the Gusano Beau panel is indicated in yellow. The part has been flattened though  -either as a result of the crash or some individual trying to reshape for one reason or another.

This panel is part of the engine nacelle: it has smaller panels for fuel and oil (see below) -the whole structure seems to have been somewhat  -this might have happened in the crash or as a result of human activity afterwards i.e. it was rolled flat for salvage purposes

Clearly marked fuel hatch located on the panel above. I'm not quite sure about it's purpose, though, as fuel wouldn't be delivered through a cover that had to be unscrewed. I'll do some additional research on this...

I'm not quite sure if you can see this but in the centre of this small panel is the word "oil".  The same comment applies to this as "fuel" panel above: it's hard to believe that oil would be checked/changed via a panel that had to be unscrewed every time (Ewan can you help...?)

Here's the location of the panel on an intact aircraft: the Beau exhibit at the Moorabbin ANA museum.   Photograph courtesy of Ewan McArthur

Instrument Panel

I'd like to think that this piece of twisted aluminium is part of the instrument panel. Ewan kindly provided me with a brilliant photo of the Beau cockpit and my first impression was that its from the area indicated below. However there is some doubt. The metal is very thin and Ewan believes it could be part of the wing or even tail spar assembly. It's difficult to get a good ID when the specimens are so mangled.

We've been equivocating over this piece of twisted aluminum. My first thoughts were that it was part of an instrument panel (see below) it could be part of a wing or tail rib

As mentioned in the photo above, I was thinking that the piece of bent aluminium came from somewhere like here but now I'm not sure. In any case it's a great excuse to show a pic of the awesome cockpit of a Beau. Photo courtesy EwanMcArthur

Finale and Acknowledgements

Well I think that's enough for now and we have some closure on the identification of these parts. I should mention that a peculiar  thing happened in the process of writing this and the previous post about this aircraft. I started out thinking it would be an interesting vignette about my travels and a little bit of military aviation history. But as I wrote, fact checked, and dug up more information about this Beaufighter and its aircrew the story began to take on a life of its own. I became intensely interested in the not only in the history of this particular Beaufighter XIc of RAF 272 squadron but the personalities of Flight Sergeant John Horsford, DFM, 21 years old and born to John and Ellen Mary Horsford, Oundle, Northamptomshire and Warrant Officer John Crockatt Watson, 26, son of Thomas and Margaret Mary Watson of Jordanhill, Glasgow.  What was their mission that night (unfortunately we'll probably never know as the squadron records for that month are missing)? What were they like as individuals? Were they friends or was their relationship strictly professional?  What were the exact circumstances of their crash?  Where they strafing and did they hit their target? Did they suffer engine or other mechanical difficulties? Were they brought down by a lucky rifle shot from a German soldier? Did they have families and are there any surviving members (actually I'm still working on that one but so far with a conspicuous lack of success)?  In the end I started to feel I knew these young men. I'm certainly awed and humbled not only by the technical expertise needed to fly this complicated, powerful war machine (at 21, I could just about buy a bus ticket) but the responsibility of unleashing the hell of its formidable armament. Overall I feel privileged to play a small part in the story of this aircraft.

Update (2nd January 2014): since I wrote this post I've discovered this entry on the Aviation Safety Network's site.  The additional snippets of information are (i) that the aircraft's MSN (manufacturer's serial number) was NE639 and (ii) that on the night of the crash the plane was on a mission to engage shipping at Rapallo, near Genoa

RAF 272 Squadron insignia -an armoured knight, couped at the shoulders; motto "on, on". The squadron was disbanded in April 1945

Update (2nd January 2014): This photo was in the possession of the Air Crash Po Valley team. I assume it was found in the personal effects of the deceased aircrew. It was taken in 1944, when 272 Squadron was based in Alghero, Sardinia, and is the official photo of "B" flight.  John C. Watson is present in this photo (2nd row from front, 10th person from the left.  Watson's regular pilot partner, Flight Sergeant Allen Powell is immediately to the right as we look at the photo).  According to Allen Powell, Flight Sergeant Horsford is apparently not in the photo and was not in the B Flight when it was taken so it can be assumed that the picture was the property of John Watson

Lest we forget. The graves of the aircrew, John Horsford and John Watson are located in the remarkable Staglieno Cemetery, Genoa. The pictures are copyright and courtesy of The War Graves Photographic Project. If anybody has any information on their families please let me know

So once again I'd like to express my appreciation to Signor Pierlino Bergonzi, Professor Agostino Alberti and their colleagues of the Aircrash Po and Grupo Ricercatori Aerei Caduti teams and the Muzeo Della Resistenza, Sperongia, for making this experience possible. A special "thank you" goes to Ewan McArthur for contributing the technical sheets, photographs and his knowledge of the Beaufighter  -mate, if I'm ever back in Melbourne (and I probably will be) I'll look you up and buy you a pint or two.

Ewan McArthur at work: photo swiped without his permission (sorry, Ewan) from the Warbird Restoration Sevices site on Facebook