Charles Horatio Muggeridge DFC RAFVR – Pilot – 103 Squadron - 65507
Sgts Critchley and Werner who flew with Charles Muggeridge on a number of occasions
Charles Muggeridge was born 22 Jan 1914 and at the start of WW2 was living at 140, Fir Tree Road, Banstead, Surrey. He had a long war and come through it unscathed
He did not fly with 103 Squadron during the Battle of France and he did not fly Battles when they returned to the UK. However he does appear in the Operational Record Book when the converted to Wellingtons in late 1940 early 1941 so he must have been one of the new pilots posted to the Squadron when they converted to Wellingtons in late 1940
On arrival at 103 Squadron Muggeridge and P/O Barratt were involved in a crash landing while training on Wellingtons at Newton on the 13 November 1940. Both were unhurt and the aircraft was only slightly damaged. However an aircraft from 150 Squadron landed across the flarepath and collided with this aircraft destroying both in the subsequent fire.
Muggeridge then flew the following ops as co-pilot with the Crawford crew:-
28-Dec-40 - Oil tanks - Rotterdam - F/O Crawford and crew
15-Jan-41 Oil Refinery - Gelsenkirken - F/L Crawford and crew
He was then promoted to captain of his own crew but also flew as co-pilot with 103 Squadron OC W/C Littler on the 2 ops below :-
28-Feb-41 – Wilhelmshaven – Docks – Wellington – R1393 – W/C CE Littler
13-Mar-41 – Hamburg - U boat yards – Wellington – R1396 – W/C CE Littler
Flying as co-pilot for the new CO must have been a reflection on his competence.
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As was usual at the time Muggeridge his own crew changed from time to time. His co-pilots during his 103 Squadron tour were Anderson, Thorougood, Greey, Scott and Wardhaugh at various times. These later graduated to captains in their own right. A number of other crew members stand out – Battle of France Wop/AGs Wall, Madkins and Critchley. Also Blair, Ewing and Reeks.
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The Muggeridge tour was as follows :-
16-Jan-41 - Wilhelmshaven - General attack - Wellington - R1041 – Sgt CH Muggeridge
12-Mar-41 - Hamburg - U boat yards - Wellington - R1396 - Sgt CH Muggeridge
21-Mar-41 - Lorient - U Boat base - Wellington - R1393 - Sgt CH Muggeridge
09-Apr-41 - Kiel - Docks - Wellington - R1393 - Sgt CH Muggeridge
12-Apr-41 - Brest - German capital ships - Wellington - R1393 - Sgt CH Muggeridge
15-Apr-41 - Kiel - Docks - Wellington - R1393 - Sgt CH Muggeridge
17-Apr-41 - Berlin - General attack - Wellington - N2770 - Sgt CH Muggeridge – Early return
24-Apr-41 - Kiel - Docks - Wellington - R1393 - Sgt CH Muggeridge
30-Apr-41 - Kiel - Docks - Wellington - R1393 - Sgt CH Muggeridge
03-May-41 - Cologne - General attack - Wellington - R1393 - Sgt CH Muggeridge
05-May-41 - - Mannheim - General attack - Wellington - R1393 - Sgt CH Muggeridge
08-May-41 - Bremen - Industrial area - Wellington - R1393 - Sgt CH Muggeridge
02-Jun-41 - Duisburg - General attack - Wellington - R1393 - P/O CH Muggeridge
12-Jun-41 - Osnabruck - Railway yard - Wellington – T2999 - P/O CH Muggeridge
13-Jun-41 - Brest - German capital ships - Wellington - R1539 - P/O CH Muggeridge
16-Jun-41 - Duisburg - Docks - Wellington - R1393 - P/O CH Muggeridge
17-Jun-41 - Duisburg - Docks - Wellington - R1393 - P/O CH Muggeridge
20-Jun-41 - Kiel - Telegraph office - Wellington - R1393 - P/O CH Muggeridge – Early return
23-Jun-41 - Cologne - Railway station and bridge - Wellington - R1588 - P/O CH Muggeridge
26-Jun-41 - Dusseldorf - General attack - Wellington - R1588 - P/O CH Muggeridge
03-Jul-41 - Bremen - Docks - Wellington - N2770 - P/O CH Muggeridge
05-Jul-41 - Bielefeld - Power station and gas works - Wellington – N2770 - P/O CH Muggeridge
103 Squadron Wellington R1588 which was flown by Muggeridge a couple of times.
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On the 13 July 1941 P/O C H Muggeridge was posted to 21 OTU Moreton le Marsh as an instructor flying Vickers Wellingtons
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The next mention I can find of him is with the famous 37 Squadron. This was a most distinguished unit with an impressive list of Battle Honours.
Home Defence 1916-18, Norway 1940, Dunkirk: Channel & North Sea 1939-40, Fortress Europe, 1940, Malta 1940,1942, Greece 1941, El Alamein, Italy, 1943-45, South-East Europe, 1943-45
In November 1940 the squadron was transferred to Egypt where they took part in the Middle Eastern theatre in the harsh arid conditions of the Western Desert in support of the Eighth Army against Rommel and the Afrika Korps. They also flew operations from Malta against Italian targets and shipping and played a part in the suppression of the Iraqi revolt. In this difficult and very important campaign they flew raidss in support of the besieged RAF airfield at Habbaniya and also mounted attacks on Iraqi airfields. In addition provided a detachment in support of Greece during the Italian invasion in March 1941 flying supply drops to Greek forces and attacking targets in Italy Albania and Bulgaria.
The remainder of the Squadron in Egypt flew regular attacks on German and Italian airfields in Greece, Italy and the Dodecanese and also in support of the defenders of Crete.
In 1943 the squadron took part in the Allied advance, moving to Libya in February and to Tunisia in May. This allowed its bombers to range further across occupied southern Europe. Finally in December 1943 the squadron moved to Italy, based at Tortorella from 29 December 1943 until 2 October 1945. While in Italy the faithful Wellingtons were finally replaced with Liberator VIs. From its base at Torotoella ( Foggia 2 ) Italy the Squadron attacked targets in Italy and the Balkans as well as dropping supplies to the Yugoslav partisans. The squadron was also involved in operations to mine the River Danube, preventing its use to Axis shipping.
1st July 1944 - At 9:26 Wellington MF116 took off from Tortorella in Italy as part of formation of 10 bombers from 37 Squadron RAF on a mine laying mission. The Pilot was Flight Lieutenant C.H. Muggeridge (RAFVR), the Wellingtons were carrying two Mk.V mines each.
37 Squadron Wellington IC 1941. The nose art on this machine is very creative and the motto roughly translated means “ We shit purple lights “. This refers to the flares dropped by 37 Squadron on night operations
F/L Muggeridge RAFVR was awarded a DFC which was gazetted on the 23 January 1945.
I believe he passed away in 1965 but have no further details and will be most interested if anyone can add anything to the above brief summary of his career.
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