RAF Wireless Operator in England and North Africa

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Jenny Christian of the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library on behalf of Hugh Aitken and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

RAF Volunteer

In 1941, aged 19, I volunteered for the RAF. I was sent as a raw recruit to an assessment centre at Bedford. After a medical I went to the Ground Training Signal centre at Compton Bassett to learn Morse code. I had been in the Boy Scouts at Leighton Buzzard and learnt basic code, phonetically. Initially this proved to be a hindrance, but with my previous experience an assessor had obviously spotted potential.

Everyone undertook 3 months' basic training that included some technical knowledge of wireless operations and any repairs as these could prove vital in the field. The minimum attainment before passing out was 12 words per minute. After this I was dispatched to Blackpool - the Winter Gardens. Recruits were further instructed by a civilian to become proficient Morse code operators, to learn Q code procedures and attain no less than 25 words per minute before passing out. Any light relief being provided by square bashing and physical training.

As Ground Crew, my first Posting was to RAF Scampton, where 617 Squadron, who later became known as The Dambusters, where based. The airbase originally accommodated Manchester twin-engine bombers and had a grass runway. To accommodate the Lancasters, a concrete runway was constructed.

The average 'life' of air-crew flying over Germany was regarded as 12 weeks. These were dangerous missions. I felt very patriotic and always hoping to become airborne I volunteered to become a wireless operator / air gunner. I was then required to undertake a further medical - only to learn that I was colour blind. I often reflected that in all probability this saved my life as I remained Ground crew.

I joined 1485 Bombing, Gunnery, Towing Target Flight. My Commanding Officer was Flt. Lt. David Maltby, later to become a Squadron leader as part of the Dambusters Squadron.

Late in 1942 I was at RAF Station Coningsby where for an additional 1/6 pay a day (danger money) as a winch operator I would let out the drogue for target towing from a Lysander for air to air gunnery practice from other aircraft in flight.

After 2 weeks I gave up this role and returned to being a wireless operator, when I learnt my predecessor had been accidentally shot. Additional 'wealth' being outweighed in favour of continued health and future happiness as I was due to get married the following year.

My wife-to-be worked on codes and ciphers at Bletchley Park, something about which I didn't learn until long after the War was over; on April 10th 1943 I got married, 2 weeks earlier than planned.

In 1942 one wet Sunday morning, at RAF Dunholme, I remember participating in a mock battle involving the Home Guard that took place at Skegness and Wainfleet. From the rear of a Wellington bomber I was required to dispatch earthwards flour in brown paper bags to simulate bombs as part of the exercise. Unfortunately a number of these landed on people dressed up in their Sunday best attending Church, this made the national press and the RAF were not the flavour of the moment!

In May of 1943 I was sent to Padgate, the Assembly Point for RAF personnel due to go abroad prior to embarkation from Liverpool Docks. I was going to Algiers, but via Greenock in Scotland and then via the Bay of Biscay to North Africa, Algiers being my Named Posting. Certainly warmer than two other possible postings, the North Atlantic or Archangel, Murmansk.

When I first landed in North Africa we bivouacked our tents on a French trotting horse track, before traversing through the Kesserine Pass on the edge of the Atlas Mountains to Kiouran (a walled holy city) in Tunisia. At this point 138 Air Stores Park was established, which included captured enemy equipment, there were whole marques that contained German binoculars and night glasses.

I learned to drive in the desert and I was sent back with a lorry to the station in Algiers to pick up equipment. Unfortunately my lack of vehicular experience resulted in arriving back at base with the tail end of a Wellington bomber badly damaged. I thought I would be severely reprimanded, but was just told to drive with more due care and attention next time and sent back again!

I also joined 683 Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron in Italy, the Spitfire pilots flying over Romania and the Balkan Countries. I sometimes think that my inability to distinguish colour tones had probably saved my life in the RAF in the War - and my way with words? I went into the printing business and latterly became a proof reader for Jarrolds of Norwich.

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