F/L Reginald Frank Griffin DSO DFC RAF – 103 Squadron – RAF Elsham Wolds – 1943/44 – Pilot
Coastal Command 612 Sqn as Observer – Retrained as Pilot – 103 Squadron and 156 Squadron – Post war British South American Airways and British Overseas Airways Corporation.
See also Maurice Finney Profile.
Reginald Frank Griffin was born in Torquay on the 9th February 1920. He enlisted in the RAF in July 1939, trained as an Observer and by the end of 1940 he had joined 612 Squadron. This unit was equipped with Armstrong Whitworth Whitley anti-submarine aircraft and was based at Wick, north Scotland. For the next year he flew patrols over the Atlantic and the North Sea before being selected for pilot training which he undertook in Canada.
In October 1943 he was posted with his crew to 103 Squadron at RAF Elsham Wolds and flew the following operations with this unit :-
26-Nov-43 – Berlin – Lancaster – JB487 – F/O RF Griffin - Diverted to Croft because of bad visibility at base
16-Dec-43 – Berlin – Lancaster – JB736 – F/L RF Griffin
20-Dec-43 – Frankfurt – Lancaster – JB530 – F/L RF Griffin
23-Dec-43 – Berlin – Lancaster – JB530 – F/L RF Griffin
29-Dec-43 – Berlin – Lancaster – JB530 – F/L RF Griffin
02-Jan-44 – Berlin – Lancaster – JB530 – F/L RF Griffin
20-Jan-44 – Berlin – Lancaster – N/K – F/L RF Griffin
21-Jan-44 – Magdeburg – Lancaster – JB530 – F/L RF Griffin
27-Jan-44 – Berlin – Lancaster – JB530 – F/L RF Griffin
24-Feb-44 – Schweinfurt – Lancaster – JB746 – F/L RF Griffin
25-Feb-44 – Augsburg – Lancaster – JB746 – F/L RF Griffin
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During the Battle of Berlin in December 1943 Griffin took off to attack the “Big City”. En route to the heavily defended target, the wireless failed. This was soon followed by the failure of a generator that powered the Lancaster’s mid-upper gun turret rendering it unservicable. Before reaching the target, the rear turret also became unserviceable.
With no power to the turrets and unable to receive instructions from the Master Bomber Griffin would have been justified in abandoning the mission but he pressed on and carried out a successful attack.
Soon after leaving the target more equipment failed but he managed to return to base. He was awarded an immediate DFC, the citation concluding: “He displayed great skill and outstanding determination to complete his mission successfully.”
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In March 1944 Griffin and his crew transferred to 156 Squadron, which was part of the Pathfinder Force. After attacking targets in Germany they began a series of operations in the lead-up to the Normandy invasion in June.
Griffin attacked marshalling yards and German supply dumps in France and on numerous occasions acted as the deputy to the Master Bomber. By June he was attacking the V-1 sites in the Pas de Calais when he directed the main bomber force as they attacked over target-markers dropped by the Pathfinders. By August, the majority of his attacks were against oil and industrial targets in the Ruhr.
After completing 51 bomber operations he was awarded an immediate DSO when he was described as “a fearless and determined captain of aircraft”.
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After the war he joined British South American Airways established by his Pathfinder Force Commander, AVM Don Bennett.
At the end of January 1948 Griffin was the pilot of a Lancastrian aircraft carrying freight to Bermuda. He was waiting at Santa Maria in the Azores for favourable weather and was joined by one of the company’s Avro Tudor passenger aircraft.
The Tudor, Star Tiger, had been delayed with an engine problem but on the morning of January 29 Griffin took off an hour ahead of it. He flew into worsening weather, strong winds forcing him off course. He was in regular radio contact with the captain of Star Tiger, relaying weather reports, informing him that he was altering course for Bermuda and changing to a new frequency. After a flight of more than 10 hours he landed. Nothing further was heard from Star Tiger.
Griffin spent the next five days searching for the lost aircraft, but to no avail, and the mystery of its loss in the “Bermuda Triangle” was never solved.
Among the passengers in Star Tiger was Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham wartime commander of the Desert Air Force and the 2nd Tactical Air Force during the Normandy invasion and advance into Germany.
Later Griffin joined BOAC as a senior captain until his retirement in 1975. He was a pilot on De Havilland Comets and then Boeing 707s.
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He retired to Torquay where he sailed his own boat for many years. A keen fell walker and gardener, he also amassed an extensive collection of Torquay pottery and became an authority on the subject.
Frank Griffin’s wife of 73 years, Gwen, died in 2018. Their son and daughter survive him.
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Edited version of Daily Telegraph obit with some additions of my own.
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