I got a reply…
I am astonished to see this three year old thread get resurrected and for so much info to be forthcoming. In addition to the posters on this forum I have also received some interesting PMs.
I willlow up with each of you when I am able, we are in the throes of moving house at the moment and you know how chaotic that can be.
Give me a few days and I will be back.
Thanks and best wishes
QP
Good news?
Great news!
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I looked at the forum but I have not got any reply yet.
On the other hand there was this message posted from someone else.
293 Squadron Thanks for the pics – more info
Hiya,
Visited my dad today and showed him the pics and this page. He remembered Rawlings, but not Harry Brown.
Names he came up with were:
Warwick pilots:
Capt Riley (SAAF)
Flt Lt. Tony Spink
W/O Birch
Flt Lt. Rawlings
S.Ldr Zetterden
Walrus Pilots:
F/O Humphrey
W/O “Wacker” Smith (Liverpool)
W/O Harry West (?) (Bristol)
W/O Jimmy Warnick (RCAF)
W/O Tex? (nickname)
F/O Bedford
Observers:
Flt Lt Moe Foster (RCAF)
W/OP Air Gunners:
F/Sgt Joe Cattromole
F/Sgt Sammy Samuels
F/Sgt Norman Board
P/O Simpson
F/Sgt Freddy Arsenault (RCAF)
Cook:
Taffy Powell
Ground Crew:
LAC George Ayres
Sgt Joe Drew
Aerodromes:
Pomigliano – Naples
Foggia (Main)
Grosseto(?)
Pisa
Rosignano
Bastia – Corsica
That’s a string of names he came up with that obviously featured in his wartime life. I’m sure if you wanted any more info, he’d be glad to elaborate. There may also be some spelling mistakes in there as I’m copying his hand written notes and I badly need reading glasses. Incidentally, his name was W/O Bagwell. It would be very interesting to hear about the diaries as my dad lost all of kit after being demobbed when the train he was on split with the guards van going off with the tail half while he was on the front.
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I made this montage with the information I have gathered about Charles Stanley Horrell and RAF 293 Squadron.
I am still waiting for the person who owns some pictures to contact me on this forum.
Meantime, try finding Charles Horrell on that group picture if you can.
I can’t.
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While I am waiting for a reply on the forum, here are some more pictures of the type of airplanes flown by 293 Squadron.
Aircraft
Flown from November 1943 through April 1946
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Charles Stanley Horrell was a wireless operator air gunner with RAF 293 squadron.
All the information about his military service is in his logbook. This is why it is so precious and no airman will give it to anyone.
Nicole told me her grandfather was with RAF 293 Squadron. This is a link to know more about that squadron.
Not much to go on.
No.293 Squadron was an air-sea rescue squadron that served in North Africa and around Italy from 1943 until early in 1946. The squadron was formed around ten Vickers Warwicks taken from Nos.283 and 284 Squadrons. The aircraft left the UK in October and flew to Algeria, where the squadron was officially formed on 28 November 1943.
For the first month of its existence the new squadron operated along the North African coast, but in January the first detachments were moved to Italy, and in March the squadron officially moved to Pomigliano. In April 1944 it gained a number of Walrus amphibians from No.283 Squadron and another batch arrived from No.284 Squadron in September. The squadron provide air-sea rescue cover around the Italian coast until it was disbanded on 5 April 1946.
Aircraft
November 1943-April 1946: Vickers Warwick I
April 1944-April 1946: Supermarine Walrus I and II
Location
November-December 1943: Blida
December 1943-March 1944: Bone
March 1944-March 1945: Pomigliano
March-June 1945: Foggia
June 1945-April 1946: Pomigliano
Squadron Codes: ZE
Duty
1943-1946: Air-sea rescue, North Africa and Italy
This is a Warwick I
As I was searching the Internet, I found this forum where someone has many pictures of his father who was also with RAF 293 Squadron.
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Charles at 20 (1943)
This is Nicole’s grandfather, and this is her message.
My grandfather was in 293 RAF and it was an AIRSEA RESCUE SQUADRON (operated in the Italian Theatre).
He served from June 5, 1941 to October 22, 1945, then from May 7, 1953 to June 2, 1967.
The medals he received were 1939-45 Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal & Clasp, War metal 1939-45, Canadian Forces Decoration.
His military number was J14992. He was a F/L FLIGHT LIEUTENANT. According to his logbook he rescued down flyers but it also provided escort for many dignitaries such as Winston Churchill.
Nicole
Supermarine Walrus Mark I, X9506 ‘C’, of ‘C’ Flight, No. 293 Squadron RAF Detachment at Nettuno, Italy.
This is an image from the Imperial War Museum Collection. ROYAL AIR FORCE: ITALY, THE BALKANS AND SOUTH EAST EUROPE, 1942-1945.© IWM (CNA 4757)
Original photo link here – beta.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205209638
Warrant Officer J R Berry (wireless operator) and Flight Sergeant E J Holmes (pilot), an experienced air-sea rescue crew, stand in front of their Supermarine Walrus Mark I, X9506 ‘C’, of ‘C’ Flight, No. 293 Squadron RAF Detachment at Nettuno, Italy. Berry and Holmes were both recipients of the Distinguished Flying Medal for their work with No. 284 Squadron RAF, and flew several more successful rescue sorties after transferring with their aircraft to 293 Squadron in April 1944. The rescue tally on the X9506’s nose shows 23 aircrew extricated from the waters around Italy.
Warwick ASR Mark I, BV502 ZE-N, of No. 293 Squadron RAF with its crew, in a dispersal surrounded by spring flowers at Foggia, Italy. BV502 was a redesignated Stage C aircraft.
Warwick Bomber/ASRs, of the Warwick Training Unit (later the Air Sea Rescue Training Unit), on the ground at Bircham Newton, Norfolk. The nearest aircraft, BV277 T, subsequently served in the Mediterranean Theatre with Nos. 284 and 293 Squadrons RAF.
Charles Stanley Horrell served his country well as his big brother did.
Charles born in 1923, Arthur born in 1920
Charles came back from the war.
Arthur did not.
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This…
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While waiting for Nicole’s pictures, here is a drawing of the last plane Arthur James Horrell flew.
This drawing is taken from this Website. I stumbled on this site while looking for information about this other pilot.
Richard Cooper’s father-in-law is Theodore Griffiths who flew with 23 Squadron. Rich is doing the same thing as Nicole sharing someone’s memories from WWII. Theodore is 92 and he is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. He can’t remember the present, but he can still remember the past.
Rich is doing the same thing as Mark White who is sharing his father’s memories about Erks with 403 Squadron.
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This is how this blog was created on WordPress.
Just a comment.
Hi,
My name is Nicole Morley and my Great Uncle Arthur James Horrell was in the 443 squadron. I don’t know if my Great Uncle ever knew William Irvine Gould but I imagine he probably did. I’m doing some research on my Uncle and was wondering if there was anyone who had pictures or information about the 443 squadron or anything related to my Uncle.
You can reach me at my e-mail address
Thanks
A comment made on my other blog about RCAF 403 Squadron, a blog I started in September 2011 when I first met Greg Bell whose grandfather was this Spitfire pilot.
How I met Greg is a very long story that you can read on the blog.
Walter Neil Dove was a Spitfire pilot with RCAF 403 Squadron. The 403 and the 443 were squadrons that were part of 127 Wing which was part of 2 TAF. TAF is Tactical Air Force.
Before September 2011, I knew nothing about the 403, the 443, the 127 Wing, 2 TAF, etc.
But I knew who was Johnny Johnson seen here with 403 pilots at the end of March 1945. Most of these pilots were identified.
I thought I knew a lot about WWII but I knew nothing about that RCAF Squadron. In fact nothing about any RCAF Squadrons.
So I started getting interested with all those precious pictures Walter Neil Dove’s grandson had kept. I told him we had to share those with everyone so people would remember not only Johnnie Johnson RAF top ace, but his grandfather and all his comrades-in-arms.
This is how I got to write more than 250 articles on RCAF 403 Squadron with people’s help and share hundreds of exclusive pictures and many untold stories.
Click here. (You should click there…)
RCAF 403 Squadron blog grew some more in February 2012 with its spin-off RCAF 128 Squadron because Greg and I found out Walter Neil Dove was with that almost unknown squadron before being posted overseas.
Nicole, without suspecting anything, wrote that comment at the beginning on the RCAF 403 Squadron blog and she found someone passionate enough to tell all about RCAF 127 Squadron which became RCAF 443 Squadron.
No. 443 was originally known as No. 127 (F.) Squadron, one of several new fighter units formed in Canada as a result of Japan’s entrance into the war and the extension of German U-boat operations to the western shores of the Atlantic. It was originally planned to form No. 127 in April 1942, but the unit did not actually come into existence until the end of June, when Flt. Lt. W. P. Roberts was named commanding officer. Equipped with Hurricanes and Harvards, the squadron carried out training at Dartmouth until the middle of August. Then it moved to its “war station” at Gander, Nfld., where it completed a one-year tour of routine patrols on fighter defence of the great air base. As enemy raiders never appeared, most of the time was devoted to operational training varied with occasional searches for missing aircraft.
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Like so many, Arthur never returned to his home town after the war to tell his story…
His grand niece will tell his story with my help along the way on this blog.
You can contact me using this form.
RCAF No. 443 Squadron 