83 Squadron Look-Up

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Ludford101
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83 Squadron Look-Up

Post by Ludford101 »

Just wondered if anyone has access to the 83 Sqdn ORB or a detailed history of the squadron...
trying to find some details about Fl/Lt R W Weston DFC who was a Mid Upper Gunner from Oct 1943 through to about July 1944.
Regards
Gary
Motto :Mens agitat molem - 'Mind over matter'.

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AlanW
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Re: 83 Squadron Look-Up

Post by AlanW »

Gary,
Although at the moment, i cannot find his posting in or out dates, i've started on his ops. All but one, seem to have been with Sqn/Ldr (later W/Cmdr) J. Northropp. I've got 22 ops so far, last one seems to be on 5th June 44. Will make a detailed list and get back to you later. Not helped by the fact that the squadron adjutant insists on him being W.G. Weston on his last 9 ops.
There is no paralell in warfare, to such courage and determination in the face of danger, over so long a period. Such devotion, should never be forgotten.
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Ludford101
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Re: 83 Squadron Look-Up

Post by Ludford101 »

Many thanks Alan... any info greatly received :P
Gary
(Northropp rings a bell somewhere.... I wonder if he is featured in one of the Lancaster at War editions :?: )
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Dave_Richardson
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Re: 83 Squadron Look-Up

Post by Dave_Richardson »

The Flight Archive of 26 October 1944 records Squadron Leader R.W. Weston's (of 83 Squadron) award of a DFC. Could this be the same chap?

Here's the link. It's on the bottom right of the page.

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/ ... 02221.html

Dave
Last edited by Dave_Richardson on Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Ludford101
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Re: 83 Squadron Look-Up

Post by Ludford101 »

Thanks Dave ... I had found that entry aswell... must be the same chap... Squadron Leader rank would appear to be quite high up for an airgunner though .... I have his LG dates for his promotions and his DFC but only goes as far as FL/LT... have I missed one?
Also I know that Pathfinder crews did a longer tour but wondered at this date (Summer of 1944) what was the average 40 ,45,50 ? .... it seems he got his recommendation
for the DFC on the 20th June 1944 after a reported 34 OPs and has a Permanent Pathfinder Certificate dated 5th Sept 1944 which would indicate to me that he had finished his tour of OPs or was close to finishing.... do others agree?
Once again thanks for the input
Gary
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AlanW
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Re: 83 Squadron Look-Up

Post by AlanW »

I don't believe what i've just done :( posted a list of ops for him, thought i hit the submit button, and went to the post to see if it was ok, and nothing. I had not hit submit as i thought i had :x

Here we go again..........

November 43......
18th, Berlin.
22nd, Berlin.

December.....
16th, Berlin, (Black Thursday).

January 44....
1st, Berlin.
5th, Stettin.
20th, Berlin.
27th, Berlin.
28th, Berlin.

Feb.......
15th, Berlin.
24th, Schweinfurt.

March......
15th, Stuttgart.
22nd, Frankfurt.

April....
20th, La Chapelle, with W/C. D.C. Deane DFC.
26th, Scheinfurt.
28th, Medard en Jalles.
May.....
1st, Tours.
3rd, Mailley, with Deane again.
19th, Tours.
22nd, Brunswick.
27th, Nantes.
31st, Saumur.

June.....
5th, Le Peanelle.

Last 9 ops he is wrongfully listed as W.G. Weston, if only the squadron diarists of ORB's knew what problems they were going to cause years down the line :lol:
Will double check over the next couple of days in case i've missed anything, as you say he did 34 ops, and only 22 here, so looks like he did 12 prior to 83sqdn.
There is no paralell in warfare, to such courage and determination in the face of danger, over so long a period. Such devotion, should never be forgotten.
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Ludford101
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Re: 83 Squadron Look-Up

Post by Ludford101 »

Once again thanks Allan ... the photocopied list from the NA seems to match this list.... need to find where he was in early 1943 ... if possible could you list up his crew and see if there is a posting in date in the monthly summeries...
Cheers Gary
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AlanW
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Re: 83 Squadron Look-Up

Post by AlanW »

Tis a bit murky and miserable in this neck of the woods today, so once the dogs have been walked, i'll sit down with a mug of tea and have a good look.
Alan.
Back again, spent some time checking and double checking postings in from Sept to November 43, still no sign of Weston coming in, but one of his crewmates is also not showing. This is the normal crew from 16/12/43 onwards.........
Sqdn/Ldr J. Northropp, 30th Sept.
Flt/Lt F.A Forster, not shown.
F/O C. Burdett, 30th Sept.
J.G. Hoey, 1st Nov. from 1473 Flt
R.G. Foster, 1st Nov. from 1473 Flt.
R.W. Weston, not shown.
W.G. Wesley, 29th Sept.

These two were in the crew for the first two ops flown, and were posted in.......
Flt/Lt L.R. Hastings, not shown.
Flt/Sgt J.J. Martin, 26th Sept 43, from 61sqdn.

Have also looked in other 5 Group ORB's i have, just in case he was posted from one of them, strange thing is, that in 57sqdn, there was an A/G called W.R. Weston, and in 61sqdn an A/G called R.W.West. I thought for a moment that W.R Weston might have been a typo, but he was still with 57sqdn in Nov 43.
So, once again, it seems poor book-keeping is causing problems once again :( but what i want to know is, why is it, it's always the one you're looking for thats left out :roll:
There is no paralell in warfare, to such courage and determination in the face of danger, over so long a period. Such devotion, should never be forgotten.
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Re: 83 Squadron Look-Up

Post by Kepenek »

Hello,

I was very interested to find the Thursday 13 October 2011 posting and the mention of Flt Sgt John James Martin. He was a navigator, my father's cousin and came from Carnforth.

He was killed with 2 colleagues over Denmark on a 30 January 1944 mission against Berlin. Further details are at:

http://www.flensted.eu.com/1944010.shtml

On the OL-B crew photo included there, he is standing on the rear right. There is also an 83 Squadron group photo, which must date from between Oct 43 - Jan 44, perhaps a New Year record. Here, he is 5th from the right on the row standing on the ground

As he was lost on his 30th Op, I presume he had volunteered for a second tour after being with 61 Squadron at Syerston. I came across a www piece on an edition of Flight Magazine of 24 September 1942 which reflects - under Service Aviation at p350 - a Sgt JJ Martin being listed as missing earlier in the War, but have no further detail on that. Perhaps another viewer has?
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Re: 83 Squadron Look-Up

Post by K4KittyCrew »

As he was lost on his 30th Op, I presume he had volunteered for a second tour after being with 61 Squadron at Syerston.


Hello 'Kepenek' and welcome to the forum.

Even though '30 ops' was the set standard, many crews ( my father included ) flew a couple more.
Crews often wanted to finish together and if a crew member ( may have missed some ope from being sick or alike ) needed a couple more ops to complete his tour, the rest of the crew flew as well.

Also, 'milkruns' were counted as half an operation for a period of time, hence for example, my father flew 34 ops. His Flying Officer Harry Parkins 36 ops.
Pilots flew a 'second dickie' op or two with a more experience crew before going it alone with his own crew.
So you can see, there were a number of reasons for many crews finishing in the mid 30 op mark.
Cheers,
John
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" There is nothing glorious about war with the exception of those who served us so valiantly"
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