They Spread Their Wings (7 page)

Howard Clark, fighter pilot, in the cockpit of his Hurricane IID. (Clark Collection)

Up here we haven’t got anything to drink at all, not even lemonade or soft drinks and the beer ran out a week ago when we were down to one bottle each per week! We are also on very strict rations. We have been pretty busy lately but being right on the coast can go for a swim when not on standby. I hope that it won’t take much longer to clear the war up in N. Africa, I am ready for some leave. It was last September the last time I had any proper leave …

In the early hours of 6 April 1943, assisted by an intense Allied air bombardment, the Eighth Army opened up a new offensive against the Axis Wadi Akarit Line. Italian defences crumbled quickly but heavy fighting broke out when the Germans counter-attacked. High above the land forces and ground attack aircraft, fierce dogfights took place over the Cekhira (or La Skira) area, while Hurricane IIDs of No 6 Squadron were back in action in support of the Eighth Army in what became the battle for the harbour town of Sfax.

Three separate operations were mounted by No 6 in support of the army on 6 April. First away at 12.25 were thirteen aircraft led by the CO and including Fg Off Clark in HV594. They searched for sixteen tanks reported in the Sfax area but after hunting for fifteen minutes at low level, running the gauntlet of intense light flak, the CO called off the strike. In the meantime, the flak had claimed three Hurricanes from which two pilots, Fg Off Petersen and Flt Sgt Hastings, found their way back to the squadron, while the third, Fg Off Marcel Zillessen, was missing, believed killed. In fact, Zillessen survived his crash-landing but was captured and made a POW, spending the rest of the war in Stalag Luft III.

That afternoon, a second operation had eight Hurricane IIDs from No 6 and twelve Kittyhawks from No 3 (RAAF) Squadrons, escorted by twelve Spitfires from No 601 Squadron, on the lookout for more tanks and infantry around Cekhira. Again no targets were found, but the Spitfires engaged ten-plus Bf 109s at 10,000ft, driving them off and claiming two. For the Kittyhawks, it was their fifth mission of the day, this time dive-bombing a troop build-up near Wadi Akarit. They mixed it with some Italian Macchi 202s and claimed one shot down for the loss of one of their own. On the way back to base the Hurricane IIDs ran across some enemy motor transports and left four lorries destroyed. Although the flak over the target was intense, no Hurricanes were lost. In the third operation late that afternoon, which did not involve Fg Off Clark, six aircraft took off to hunt for eight tanks. One Mk III Special Tank was hit by four pairs of 40mm AP shells and a semi-tracked troop carrier by two pairs of shells. Several lorries were also destroyed. This was a day when the air action was fast and furious, lasting well into the late afternoon when Wg Cdr Ian Gleed led Nos 92 and 145 Squadrons’ Spitfires and a small number of Polish Spitfires in a patrol over the Djebel Tebaga area. They successfully engaged more Bf 109s over Cekhira, but the day had its downside, with the US 52nd Fighter Group in particular taking a beating, losing six of their Spitfires in combat during the day. The duration of the Hurricane IID sorties was about one hour.

Rare image of No 6 Squadron Hurricane IIDs, with Spitfire escort, taking off on the operation that Howard Clark flew from Gabes, Tunisia, on 6 April 1943. (Via Martyn Chorlton)

The battle for Sfax was still raging when disaster struck the next day, 7 April 1943. Axis troops began to retreat from Wadi Akarit and the British entered Mezzouna. The US First Army opened up an offensive to try to link up with the Eighth Army, but met with stiff resistance trying to capture Djebel Aouareb. Late in the day, No 6 was ordered to mount a strike against a large concentration of enemy tanks. Eleven Hurricane IIDs from the squadron, including Howard Clark in KW704, took off from Gabes at 18.20 led by Sqn Ldr Weston-Burt. The enemy tanks were found in the Cekhira area and on approaching the target the Hurricanes were met with an intense barrage of anti-aircraft fire. Many low-level firing runs were made on the tanks but the flak was so ‘hot’ that no fewer than six Hurricane IIDs were hit and shot down. From these six aircraft, three pilots were able to crash-land and emerge safely, but the other three pilots were killed. Among those pilots sadly lost was Fg Off Howard Clark.

The tide of battle ebbed and flowed over the following days and there was no opportunity to search for the missing airmen for another two days. On 9 April Flt Lt Morrison-Bell and Fg Off Lee flew a sortie over the Cekhira area in an endeavour to locate the crashed aircraft. They spotted what appeared to be a Hurricane undercarriage leg beside a burned-out wreckage near a track adjacent to La Skira LG (landing ground). Next day, Flt Lts Hudson (adjutant) and Marchant (MO), together with Plt Off Freeland, took a vehicle to reconnoitre the area around La Skira LG more closely. They discovered a grave with a marker bearing the name of Fg Off Clark, at map ref. Sfax T(Z) 2379. Some members of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment who were still in the vicinity said that they had buried a pilot, whose description matched that of Fg Off Clark, near the burned-out wreckage of his aircraft. Howard Clark had apparently been shot down in flames but was probably dead before he hit the ground since the soldiers said a 0.5in bullet wound had been found in his head. The serial number of the Hurricane IID was that flown by Clark. A few miles away the search party found another grave near the wreckage of a Hurricane IID. This was Flt Sgt Eric Hastings. The search for the third missing pilot was abandoned as darkness fell over that lonely place. Another search party went out to La Skira LG the next day and found the undercarriage leg and burned-out wreckage. Here they found a grave with the identity discs of Fg Off John Walter DFC attached to the improvised cross. They had now found the graves of all three missing airmen.

Amidst all these frantic battles there had been an important birthday for Howard and his mother sent him an airmail letter in anticipation of that event.

March 30, 1943

My dearest Howard,

The day before your [21st] birthday and again I wish you every happiness and all the luck in the world. I must admit I feel much better myself than I did 21 years ago today … there should be several cables on their way [from well-wishers] … The news is wonderful. The Hurricanes got a very good press in
The Times
and also the
Daily Mail
, explaining what they did … The daffodils are all out on the bank and there are lots of violets and the wallflowers are beginning to show flower – the almond is out and though we have had some frosts and morning fog, Spring is here …

Poignantly, this letter was returned to his mother marked: ‘Return to sender on Air Ministry Instructions.’

At the close of that momentous day, No 6 Squadron received orders to move from Gabes to Sfax (El Maou LG); on 16 April the squadron moved on again, this time to Bou Goubrine LG. With the end of the campaign in sight, on 5 May it was déjà vu for the squadron when its senior personnel were moved on. Sqn Ldr Weston-Burt relinquished command to newly promoted Sqn Ldr Morrison-Bell and went to command No 260 Squadron, while Flt Lt Bluett and Fg Off Hearn were posted to No 112 Squadron. No 6’s days of tank-busting, 40mm-style, were over. The anti-tank 40mm cannon was shortly to be superseded by the rocket projectile. The battle for control of the port of Sfax was over when the Eighth Army captured it on 10 June. Although there were more battles to be won, one month later, German forces in Tunisia finally capitulated and the North African campaign was over.

First during the Egypt (forty-five tanks destroyed) and then the Libya/Tunisia (forty-six tanks) battles, No 6 Squadron, with its Hurricane IIDs, claimed to have knocked out over ninety tanks and destroyed a host of other vehicles. To achieve this valuable contribution, the IID, armed with its potent 40mm cannon, was obliged to make long, very low approach runs on its targets and thus it became a sitting duck for any and every type and calibre of anti-aircraft fire. During the Tunisian action from 9 March to 8 April 1943, the squadron flew 120 sorties, fired 1,230 40mm shells and claimed forty-six tanks and thirty-seven other guns and vehicles. It lost twenty-five aircraft but miraculously, and often simply due to the ability of the Hurricane to absorb massive punishment, it lost only four pilots, even though twice it had six IIDs shot down – with one of these occasions sadly being the day Fg Off Clark lost his life, almost within sight of the final victory in the Western Desert campaign.

Flying Officer Alfred Howard Mayhew Clark is remembered with pride and deep affection by his family, who arranged for a memorial consisting of oak panels, carved and inscribed with his name, to be erected inside the chapel in the centre of the village of Moulton, where there is also a road named Cekhira Avenue in his honour. Howard is also commemorated on the Ashdown House and Uppingham Rolls of Honour.

Jack Cheney was born in Spalding on 31 December 1921. Living at Pansy Cottage – no longer standing – in Haverfield Road, his primary education was at Spalding Parish Church Day School, where he showed such promise that, aged 11, he was awarded a governors’ free scholarship to Spalding Grammar School, which happened to be located just across the road from his home. The governors’ faith was not misplaced since, by the time he left school in July 1940, he was a senior sixth-former, school prefect, vice-captain of the 1st XV with his rugby colours, member of the school cricket 1st XI and captain of Gamlyn House. He gained his School Certificate, an intermediate scholarship and his matriculation in July 1938. Jack left the school in July 1940 and three months later he was in the RAF, having volunteered and been accepted for pilot training.

In October 1940, 18-year-old Jack Cheney began the transition from sixth-form schoolboy at Spalding Grammar to night-fighter pilot in the RAF, with a first operational posting at RAF Wittering. Jack entered the RAF in November 1940 as an airman in No 5 Flight of ‘C’ Squadron at No 7 Initial Training Wing (7 ITW) in Newquay. Posted to No 1 Elementary Flying Training School (1 EFTS) at Desford in March 1941, he underwent basic flying instruction on the DH82A Tiger Moth, then moved on, in May 1941, to No 15 Service Flying Training School (15 SFTS) at Kidlington where he converted to the Airspeed Oxford trainer. In August 1941 Jack was posted to No 54 Operational Training Unit (54 OTU) at RAF Church Fenton, which was the main RAF night-fighter training unit at that time, and operated the Bristol Blenheim Mk I fitted with Airborne Interception Type 4 (AI Mk IV) radar equipment. From there, now paired up with his radar operator, he moved to his first operational posting with No 1432 (Air Target Illumination) Flight based at RAF Collyweston/Wittering. He spent a substantial part of his operational career patrolling the night sky above the East Midlands and this chapter describes, in his own words, his experiences while training to become a night-fighter pilot, his involvement with one of the more unusual aircraft used in the quest for supremacy of the wartime night sky, and flying intruder operations over Germany in the superb DH Mosquito NFII:

Seated second on the left, wearing Spalding Grammar School rugby colours, Jack Cheney as a schoolboy in March 1940. (Spalding Grammar School)