Peter Frank Powell DFC RAFVR and crew – 103 Squadron – 1943.
and Peter Owen Neale RAFVR – Air Bomber - 07/04/1923 – 25/12/2015
Sgt Peter Owen Neale RAFVR
Peter Powell ( known as Bumper ) and crew were posted to 103 Squadron at RAF Elsham Wolds around late March 1943.
The crew consisted of :-
Sgt P F Powell, - Pilot
F/O J H Osborne - Navigator
Sgt P O Neale - Air Bomber
Sgt C J Artus - Wireless Operator
Sgt J B Sadd - Flight Engineer
Sgt W R Towner – Air Gunner
Sgt H Madden – Air Gunner
L to R Colin Artus, Peter Neale, Unknown ( possibly Peter Powell ) and Colin Artus
Harry Madden
F/O J H Osborne in cap and Colin Artus
Tour as follows :-
18-Apr-43 - La Spezia - Naval base and docks – Lancaster – N/K – Sgt PF Powell
20-Apr-43 – Stettin - Point of Aim - Lancaster – N/K – Sgt PF Powell
26-Apr-43 - Duisburg - Point of Aim - Lancaster – W4827 – Sgt PF Powell
27-Apr-43 – St Jean du Luz/Biscay coast - Mine laying - Lancaster - W4337 – Sgt PF Powell - Hit by light flak during timed run, starboard outer engine unserviceable but continued run.
30-Apr-43 – Essen - Point of Aim - Lancaster – W4827 – Sgt PF Powell
12-May-43 – Duisburg - Point of Aim - Lancaster – W4827 – Sgt PF Powell
13-May-43 – Bochum - Point of Aim - Lancaster – W4827 – Sgt PF Powell - Damaged by flak. Fuselage peppered and Sgt PO Neale, the Air Bomber, sustained a badly injured eye caused by a Perspex splinter. On return Sgt Neale was taken to hospital and but sadly lost the use of his injured eye.
18-May-43 – Biarritz/Biscay coast - Mine laying - Lancaster – ED725 – Sgt PF Powell
23-May-43 – Dortmund - Point of Aim - Lancaster – ED725 – Sgt PF Powell
25-May-43 – Dusseldorf - Point of Aim - Lancaster – ED725 – Sgt PF Powell
27-May-43 – Essen - Point of Aim - Lancaster – ED725 – Sgt PF Powell - Mid upper turret hit by flak.
29-May-43 – Wuppertal – Lancaster – ED725 – Sgt PF Powell
11-Jun-43 – Dusseldorf - Point of Aim - Lancaster – ED725 – Sgt PF Powell – Early return - Port engines kept cutting out.
12-Jun-43 – Bochum - Point of Aim - Lancaster – ED725 – Sgt PF Powell – Early return - Rear turret unserviceable.
14-Jun-43 – Oberhausen - Point of Aim - Lancaster – ED725 – Sgt PF Powell – Early return - Oil leak and rear turret unserviceable
22-Jun-43 – Mulheim - Point of Aim - Lancaster – ED725 – Sgt PF Powell
24-Jun-43 – Wuppertal - Point of Aim - Lancaster – ED725 – Sgt PF Powell
25-Jun-43 – Gelsenkirchen - Point of Aim - Lancaster – ED725 – Sgt PF Powell – Early return - Unknown cause
28-Jun-43 – Cologne - Point of Aim - Lancaster – ED725 – W/O PF Powell
03-Jul-43 – Cologne - Point of Aim - Lancaster – ED725 – W/O PF Powell
08-Jul-43 – Cologne - Point of Aim - Lancaster – ED725 – W/O PF Powell
09-Jul-43 – Gelsenkirchen - Point of Aim - Lancaster – ED725 – W/O PF Powell
12-Jul-43 – Turin - Point of Aim - Lancaster – ED725 – W/O PF Powell - Landed at Exeter
24-Jul-43 – Hamburg - Operation Gomorrah - Lancaster – ED725 – W/O PF Powell.
At this point the crew were screened and went their separate ways.
Peter Powell was awarded a DFC which was gazetted 1st September 1943
Colin Artus at his station
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Sgt Peter Owen Neale – His Story.
Peter signed up in 1941 aged 18, as aircrew, and was sent to London for “jabs etc.”, billeted in luxury flats with meals at London Zoo. He was then sent to Aberyswyth University for initial training and for the next two years went from one navigation school to another - at Eastbourne, Hixon (Staffs) and later in South Africa at Oudschoorn. He claims the astro navigation course for 2 months at Eastbourne (the Grand Hotel ) was a waste of time as he never got to use it because the plane was never stable enough to set the readings. The sextant had to be kept level while standing up in the upper dome of the aircraft.
He left for South Africa for a 5 week voyage on SS Ormonde accompanied by the warship HMS Warspite, stopping off for 3 days in Freetown, Sierra Leone. There were 5000 on the ship, including a large contingent from the Black Watch Regiment.
Arriving in Durban, they were straight on a train to Johannesburg - the pilots then sent on to Rhodesia for training and the rest to Oopsong in Cape Province. He spent 7 months training on “clapped out” Avro Anson aircraft from No. 45 Air Observers Navigation School, followed by 3 weeks at 43 - Air Gunnery School, Port Alfred, firing from an Airspeed Oxford at drogues towed by American Northrop A17 aircraft.
45 Air Observers Navigation School. Peter Neale 6th from left back row.
A group cadets undergoing training. Peter Neale second from left front row
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Peter Neale's own account of his experiences continues the story below :-
“After South Africa back to the UK to continue training at OTU Hixon flying Vickers Wellington MK1C and MK1), at this stage the crew was formed comprising 5 members (Flt Eng and Mid Upper Gunner to come later). Our training was aimed at welding a team during this period.
My crew selected itself by what you might call 'mutual attraction' at Hixon No 30 Operational Training Unit. My pilot was Peter (Bumper ) Powell (Sgt), J H Osborne, Nav (P/O), Colin Artus, WO/AG (Sgt), Harry Madden A/G Rear (Sgt) with myself as Bomb Aimer.
We had all gathered at Hixon after doing training in various parts of the world and UK, the pilot in the USA, myself in the Union of South Africa. We looked out for familiar accents from our own part of the country if we could and that’s where I met Colin Artus who also came from Stroud.
After OTU, at this stage the 4-engined bombers were beginning to arrive on the scene ie Short Stirling, Handley Page Halifax and Avro Lancaster, and it was necessary to convert crew from twin to multi engined aircraft and to add 2 more members to the crews ie Flight Engineer and Air Gunner for the mid upper Gun Turret. This was achieved at Heavy Conversion Units. Mine was at Lindholme, Yorkshire (No 1656 CU), where we first flew Halifaxes, followed by Lancasters.
Then came the Big Day when we were posted to our operational Squadron. It turned out to be 103 Sqn 1 Group, RAF Elsham Wolds, North Lincs, equipped with Lancasters, about 30 aircraft formed the Squadron.
Actually my first operational sortie was from 30 OTU Hixon, from where we were to drop leaflets on Paris on 15 February 1943, flying a Wellington MkX.
On arriving at Elsham, (a wild and windy spot) we were billeted in Nissen huts, one Tortoise stove in the middle, no or little fuel. Hardly glamorous aircrew quarters. This was by now mid April.
After a couple of cross country exercises in which to polish up our navigation and co-ordination lasting about 4-5 hours, it was considered we had been adequately trained for the serious business to come.
18 April 1943 - My first Squadron operation was to La Spezia in the Gulf of Genoa, Italy duration 9hours 50mins to bomb an Italian battleship in the naval dockyard there. A long and tedious night for a starter, broad moonlight and only one Bofors gun came into action over the target. The only danger was that we might drop off to sleep.
20 April 1943 (Hitler's birthday) - The next operation was 2 nights later to Stettin on the Baltic coast of Poland. Beautiful moonlit night, did quite a lot of damage to railway yards and rolling stock. The wooden town burnt merrily.
26 April 1943 - The target was Duisberg on the Rhine, an industrial town, using 4000lb HE and 1000 ALB incendiaries on each aircraft resulting, as might be expected, in devastation.
27 April 1943 - A new experience. Minelayer, commonly called 'Gardening' in the service jargon, the mines being referred to as 'vegetables' demanded accurate navigation and map reading. The mines dropped on a parachute had to be accurately plotted so that our submarines knew were they were. The target was St Jean de Luz in the Bay of Biscay, a port on the Franco Spanish border. Operating down the French coast south of Bordeaux at 300ft we were picked up by searchlights and peppered with machine gun and cannon fire and hit numerous times, including the port outer engine, where an oil line was hit causing the engine to seize. Brand new aircraft too, which was bad luck on the crew who loaned it to us.
30 April 1943 - took us to Essen in the Ruhr valley (Happy Valley), the usual fierce anti aircraft defences greeted us. About 30000 guns.
13 May 1943 (Friday) took us to Bochum in the Eastern Ruhr, an oil refining centre. At 1.30 am our aircraft was detected by radar searchlights engaged by very heavy aircraft fire at 18000 ft. I was situated in the nose of the aircraft leaning over the bomb site map reading when a 88 mm shell burst right in front of the nose blowing out most of the Perspex and removing my right eye en route. In order to escape Jerry's attentions, the skipper dived twisted and turned until at about 6000 ft, they lost us. To this day, I don't know whether the bombs were delivered on target, or dumped. The reason being that I was semi-conscious until arriving back at base. I asked for a shell dressing, which were hanging up all over the aircraft and held one over my eye. I went and sat next to the wireless operator. When we landed the skipper called for an ambulance to take me away to the RAF hospital at Sleaford in South Lincs.”
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Unfortunately Peter lost his eye in the incident in 1943 and after 2-3 weeks of convalescence, he was posted to RAF Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey for training as a controller in a Fighter Operations Control Room and then despatched to RAF Exeter 10 Group Fighter Command. He spent the next 2 years 8 months in the Ops room underground in Poltimore Park about 3 miles from Exeter airport on a 3 shift system. His job (besides working alongside 20 WAAFs!) was as a Deputy Controller, talking to and directing aircraft to intercept enemy aircraft, rescuing airmen from ditched aircraft and maintaining a listening watch of squadrons on continental sweeps.
In January 1946, Peter was posted to Germany at an airfield in Schleswig Holstein, just south of the Danish border where he ended up running the Sergeants Mess as the unit was about to be disbanded! He was finally discharged in September 1946.
Peter was very active in the local RAFA organisation at Dursley (Glos.) Sadly he passed away in 2015.
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Compiled by David Fell with grateful thanks to the Neale family for all the splendid photos and background info
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