Gareth Owen – Page 17 – New Forest Knowledge

P-47D-22 Thunderbolt Pilots Map

The original map was given to FONFA by the late Captain Andy Wilson, the 507th’s air intelligence officer who also acted as the Group PRO (peacetime Chicago based journalist pre and post war). Captain Wilson was given it by (then) Capt. John E. “Jack” Ray. Jack eventually made Major and was 2nd i/c the 507th at war’s end.

The map came from “ship #868 “ a P-47D-22 from the 507th Fighter Squadron at RAF Winkton, serial 225868, coded Y8-Y. This plane was mainly shared by two pilots who were also friends – a not uncommon arrangement. Pilots were:

Captain (later Major) John E Ray from Franklin Virginia, who flew 98 missions with the 507th
Captain William (Bill) M Lee from Rockville Indiana, who flew 102 missions with the 507th

The map would have been stored in a case to the right of the pilot’s seat. This was a big case and was used on occasions by small pilots as a jump seat to take up ground crew for a circuit, or even to ferry buddies home whose planes had been shot up and left at another base.

PLUTO – Fuel storage tanks

Seen on historic aerial photographs to the north north east of the Badminston Common was: “A large turf-covered subrectangular structure surrounded by an earthwork perimeter bank, together with associated buildings” (NMP data). This site was once the location of buried storage tanks of fuel for PLUTO (Pipe Line Under The Ocean). The site was also surrounded by anti-aircraft gun positions.

Still surviving today is a brick building immediately west of the site at the end of that lane – it was part of the site possibly a Radio building.

Operation Pluto (Pipe-Lines Under The Ocean) was a secret operation by British engineers, oil companies and armed forces to construct an undersea oil pipelines under the English Channel between England and France to supply much needed fuel and remove the dependency on oil tankers. The scheme was developed by Arthur Hartley, chief engineer with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.

Geoffrey Lloyd, the Minister for Petroleum, met Admiral Mountbatten, Chief of Combined Operations, in 1942 and then the Chairman of Anglo-Iranian. The operation was approved with the first line to France being laid on 12 August 1944 after successful trials.

The pipes pass through this location on its way to Lepe Country Park where it then travels under the Solent to the Isle of Wight and on to Shanklin Chine before crossing the English Channel on to France.

You can find out more about the New Forest’s vital role in D-Day from Mulberry Harbour, to holding camps, road widening, advanced landing grounds, PLUTO and Embarkation by visiting our main page on D-Day in the New Forest.

Follow the link below for more information about the Operation PLUTO: http://www.combinedops.com/pluto.htm
(As a third party website we are not responsible to its content.)

British Pathe has two videos that talk about Pluto one is a 5 minute black and white documentary and the other is a selection of unused footage filmed about Pluto

Operation Pluto (1945)

Find out more from the orginal British Pathe website: Here

Operation Puts Pipeline Under Channel (1945)

Find out more from the orginal British Pathe website: Here

PLUTO – Lands on Isle of Wight

This is the point where PLUTO surfaces on the Isle of Wight after passing under the Solent from Lepe Country Park.

PLUTO – Leaves for the Isle of Wight

This is the point where PLUTO leaves for the Isle of Wight, passing under the Solent.

Pre-War military camping in the Forest

The New Forest area has seen military activity before the outbreak of WWI.

Beaulieu Training Camp 1907

1st Volunteer Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment at the Beaulieu camp in 1907. F company (Abingdon). Courtesy of Terry Baker, Australia. NFNPA New Forest Remembers WWI

A collection of postcards showing the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment at the Beaulieu camp in 1907, provided by Terry Baker, Australia.

Terry’s Grandfather, Lance Corporal Thomas Mathews (sometimes spelt Matthews) was a member of F company (Abingdon) between 1903 and 1910. Courtesy of Terry Baker, Australia.

Image:

1st Volunteer Battalion Royal Berk Regt 1907 – Beaulieu Camp. Terry Baker

1st Volunteer Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment at the Beaulieu camp in 1907. F company (Abingdon).

1st Volunteer Battalion Royal Berk Regt 1907 – Marching – Beaulieu Camp. Terry Baker

Thomas Mathews marching 1st Row tallest.

1st Volunteer Battalion Royal Berk Regt 1907 – Beaulieu Camp group photo. Terry Baker

Thomas Mathews standing in the centre, his brother-in-law Henry Ferris (standing left of the photo). No names for the other two.

1st Volunteer Battalion Royal Berk Regt 1907 – Beaulieu Camp large group photo. Terry Baker Thomas Mathews with Volunteer Royal Berk Regt 1907. Probably the Abingdon (F) Company. Thomas Mathews, standing second from right. Henry Ferris very back row, with a pipe.

Beaulieu Training Camp 1908

Army Camp view 1 & view 2
These two photographs show views of a military tented camp in the Beaulieu area. This camp was a regular event with many units coming together to train.

View 1: The smaller Bell Tents (round in plan and pointed at the top) would have slept a number of the men with the larger tents (in the back ground) probably being used as communal sites e.g. dinning.

View 2: Shows what could be a cooking area in the foreground. Behind this one can make out some ridged tents and well as a square tent. These may have been used by NCO (Non-Commissioned Officers) or Officers accommodation. Image Courtesy of Lymington.org

Can you confirm these details? Or add more info, write a comment below.

Two linked articles with pre-WWI New Forest military activity around the Beaulieu area are:

Propaganda leaflets

During the life of the project the team has seen some propaganda leaflets dropped by the Germans on the British and two British leaflets dropped on the Germans.

British leaflets dropped on the Germans

Propaganda leaflet – Warnung S1/2

Prime Minister’s Broadcast

Copy of the British ‘propaganda’ leaflet dropped on the Germans in 1939.

Printed by: HMSO. His Majesty’s Stationary Office
First dissemination by aircraft: 03/04 September 1939
Last dissemination by aircraft: 08/09 September 1939
Number dropped: 7,668,000

03/04 September 1939: 5,400,000 – Bremen, Hamburg, Ruhr
04/05 September 1939: 1,548,000 – Ruhr
08/09 September 1939: 720,000 – Hanover – Brunswick

The leaflets original size: 13.5 cm x 21.5 cm
This was the first aerial propaganda leaflet distributed at the outbreak of WWII.

Translation:
(OBVERSE)

WARNING

A Message from Great Britain

German men and women,

The Government of the Reich have with cold deliberation forced war upon Great Britain. They have done so knowing that it must involve mankind in a calamity worse than that of 1914. The assurance of peaceful intentions the Führer gave to you and to the world in April have proved as worthless as his words at the Sportpalast last September when he said:- “We have no more territorial claims to make in Europe”.

Never has Government ordered subjects to their deaths with less excuse. This war is utterly unnecessary. Germany was in no way threatened or deprived of justice. Was she not allowed to re-enter the Rhineland, to achieve the Anschluss, and to take back the Sudaten Germans in peace? Neither we nor any other nation would have sought to limit her advance, so long as she did not violate independent non-German peoples.

Every German ambition – just to others – might have been satisfied through friendly negotiation.

(REVERSE)

!!! WARNING !!!

– Page 2 –

President Roosevelt offered you both peace with honour and the prospect of prosperity. Instead your rulers have condemned you to the massacre, miseries and privations of a war they cannot even hope to win.

It is not us, but you they have deceived. For years their iron censorship has kept from you truths that even uncivilised peoples know. It has imprisoned your minds in, as it were, a concentration camp. Otherwise they would not have dared to misrepresent the combination of peaceful peoples to secure peace as hostile encirclement. We had no enmity against you, the German people.

This censorship has also concealed from you that you have not the means to sustain protracted warfare. Despite crushing taxation you are on the verge of bankruptcy. Our resources and those of our allies in men, arms, and supplies are immense. We are too strong to break by blows, and we could wear you down inexorably.

You, the German people, can if you will, insist on peace at any time. We also desire peace and are prepared to conclude it with any peace-loving Government in Germany.

Reference: http://www.psywar.co.uk/product_1939EH273.php

Propaganda leaflet – Achtung S1/2

Prime Minister’s Broadcast

This is a copy of the British ‘propaganda’ leaflet dropped on the Germans in 1939.

Printed by: HMSO. His Majesty’s Stationary Office
First dissemination by aircraft: 07/08 September 1939
Last dissemination by aircraft: 01/02 October 1939
Number dropped: 4,392,000

First dissemination by balloon: 01/02 October 1939
Last dissemination by balloon: 01/02 October 1939
Number dropped: 57,000

The leaflets original size: 13.5 cm x 21.5 cm

Translation:
(OBVERSE)

ATTENTION!

The British Prime Minister Chamberlain radio broadcast to the German people on 3rd September:

Germans!

Your country and ours are now at war. Your Government has bombed the free and independent State of Poland and has invaded it; Poland which Great Britain has bound itself on her honour to defend. Because your troops were not withdrawn as the result of the Note addressed by the British to the German Government war follows.

We all know the horrors of war. God knows Great Britain has done all she possibly could to avert this catastrophe. But now that the Germans have forced their way into Poland it has become unavoidable.

Your Government tells you that you are fighting because Poland has refused the offer of your Leader and has seized arms. What are the facts? The so-called offer was made to the Polish Ambassador in Berlin on Thursday evening, two hours before your Government announced that it had been “rejected”. There can be no question of rejection for the good reason that no time was given to examine the offer. Your Government had previously demanded that a representative of Poland should be sent to Berlin within twenty-four hours in order to conclude an agreement. At this time the Sixteen Points, which were later put forward, had not even been communicated to the Polish Government. It was expected of the Polish representative that he should appear within a fixed time to sign an Agreement which he had not even seen. That is not negotiation, that is dictation (ein Diktat). No self-respecting State can acquiesce in such methods. Free negotiations on the basis of equality might very well have led to a settlement of the questions in dispute.

(REVERSE)

Perhaps you are asking what all this has to do with Great Britain? It concerns us because we have given our word of honour to defend Poland against attack. Why did we regard it as necessary to undertake the defence of this Eastern European State when after all our interests lie in the West and your Leader has said he has no interests in the West? The answer is – I am afraid I must say it – nobody in Great Britain places any further faith whatsoever in the word of your Führer. He gave his word to respect the Locarno Pact; he broke it. He gave his word that he would not annex Austria and had no intention of doing so; he broke it. He declared he would not incorporate any Czechs in the Reich; yet he did so. After Munich he gave his word that he had no further territorial claims in Europe. He broke it. He has sworn to you for years that he is the mortal enemy of Bolshevism; today he is its ally.

Can you be surprised that for us his word is not worth the paper it is written on.

The German-Russian Pact was a cynical somersault, that aimed at shattering the Peace Front against aggression. This gamble has failed. The Peace Front stands fast. Now your Leader sacrifices you, the German People, to the even more preposterous gamble of a war in order to find for himself a way out of the impossible position into which he has led himself and you.

In this war we are fighting not against you, not against the German people, against whom we cherish no bitter feelings; we are fighting against a tyrannical and perjured regime that has betrayed not only its own people but the whole Western culture and everything that is dear to you and us.

God defend the right.

Reference: http://www.psywar.co.uk/product_1939EH280.php

RAF Beaulieu: Flight Officer David Makie Sleep (89329)

Flying Officer Sleep and 224 Squadrons first U-Boat kill

Number 224 Squadron RAF began operating from Beaulieu in early September 1942 flying Liberator MK 2 & 3 aircraft for 19 Group of Coastal Command. They made 15 hour long patrols over the Eastern Atlantic and Bay of Biscay supporting the many convoys moving to North Africa and on anti-submarine patrols.

On 20 October 1942 Liberator ‘H’ piloted by Flying Officer (F/O) Sleep made the first Beaulieu kill of a German U-Boat whilst returning home southwest of Ireland.

At the end of a long uneventful patrol F/O David Sleep flying Liberator III FL910/H suddenly came upon U-216 on the surface. F/O Sleep went straight into the attack at a height of only 30ft with six depth charges. He scored direct hits on the U-Boat and bits flew in the air confirming a sinking with all hands.

Unfortunately the explosions also damaged to the tail section of the Liberator with the tail gunner looking on as both elevators were destroyed around him by debris and casing fragments thrown up by the exploding depth charges. The aircraft suddenly went into an almost vertical climb which could only be corrected by the two pilots F/O Sleep, Sgt (Sergeant) Patterson fighting with the control column. It became necessary to jettison all heavy equipment including the remaining bombs.

The other crew members started throwing out all heavy equipment they could from the rear of the aircraft before moving to the front. Flight Sergeant Lenson performed the task of releasing the bombs. Over the still open bomb doors he worked on the narrow and extremely slippery catwalk in order to release the bombs. To gain a firm grip he was forced to remove his boots and socks before finally releasing the bombs after a one and a half hour struggle.

For 2 hours and 40 minutes the crew battled with the badly damaged plane to keep it in the air, but they sadly didn’t make it back to RAF Beaulieu. That night they did make it to Predanneck airfield in Cornwall and with great skill F/O Sleep executed an emergency crash-landing, however on impact the aircraft caught fire. An injured crew member, the navigator, was trapped in the now burning aircraft. Flight Sgt Lenson with no regard for his own safety succeeded in extricating his injured comrade. Thankfully all crew members escaped with relatively minor injuries. The worst injury sustained was Sgt Rose with his broken leg.

There are no photographs of the mission or the attack but a painting by Wilf Hardy used on a poster in 1978 shows a similar attack that took place in September 1944. It dramatically illustrates the skill and daring of these brave crews. Thanks to the RAF Museum for allowing us to use this image.

There is however four photographs of the crew and the crashed aircraft held by the Imperial War Museum. CH8080 shows Flight Sgt Ronald Johnson (wireless operator/air gunner) manning a pair of .50 Cal Browning machine guns in one of the waist positions. CH 7709 & CH 7710 show the burnt remains of Liberator III FL910/H after crash landing at Predanneck. The remaining photograph CH 7708 shows four of the five crew members of this memorable flight. (From left): Flying Officer David Sleep (captain), Flight Sergeant Ron Johnson (air gunner), Sergeant Sam Patterson (second pilot) and Sergeant George Lenson (flight engineer). Not seen in the photo is Sgt Rose.

Flying Officer David Mackie Sleep (89329) received a DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) for his skill and courage in this attack. Flight Sergeant George Lenson (1270443) (flight engineer) received a DFM (Distinguished Flying Medal) for his actions during this mission. This news was published in the Second Supplement to the London Gazette on Friday 6 November 1942.

Another airman from a different crew Flight Lieutenant Joe Hurst (Walter Joseph Hurst) (wireless operations/rear gunner) was also stationed at Beaulieu with 224 Squadron (24 November 1941 to 10 Nov’ 42) and became good friends with F/O Sleep. He wrote in his person diary:

Friday, 23rd October. On Tuesday last David Sleep did a brilliant job of work. He saw a U-boat and his dc exploded on impact and badly damaged his ac. After great difficulty he brought it back safely and landed at Predannack.

From Joe’s archive we also have another photo of F/O David Sleep and Flight Sgt Ronald Johnson possibly outside one of the buildings at RAF Beaulieu. Thanks to Sue Newman Joe’s daughter for contributing Joe’s story and archive.

Following David Sleeps death in 1989 his ashes were scattered on Beaulieu Airfield and his relatives had this plaque put into part of the remaining runway now used for model aircraft flying.

For further reading and articles on Beaulieu Airfield please visit: Beaulieu Airfield Overview

RAF Stoney Cross & US President Barrack Obama’s grandfather

US President Barrack Obama’s grandfather US Army Sergeant Stanley Armour Dunham arrived at RAF Stoney Cross in April 1944 after shipping out of the US in October 1943 on the HMS Mauretania. He was part of the 1830th Ordnance Supply and Maintenance Co. (aviation) which supported the US 9th Air Force for D-Day in June of that year.

1830th Ordnance Supply and Maintenance Co. (aviation) was part of the 327th Service Group in the 367th Fighter Group.

The Station Lists show 1830th stationed at Stoney Cross on 31 Mar, 30 Apr, 31 May and 30 Jun 1944. (Philgrin)

14 Nov 1943 – Langar, Nottinghamshire
31 Dec 1943 – Ramsbury, Wiltshire
21 Feb 1944 – Welford, Berkshire
31 Mar 1944 – Stoney Cross, Hampshire
30 Apr 1944 – Stoney Cross, Hampshire
31 May 1944 – Stoney Cross, Hampshire
30 Jun 1944 – Stoney Cross, Hampshire
?? Jul 1944 – Ibsley, Hampshire
31 Aug 1944 – not on UK Station List
16 Dec 1944 – Juivincourt, France
2 May 1945 – Eschborn, Germany

John Levesley, of the Friends of New Forest Airfields group (FONFA), said: “Sergeant Dunham’s job was to basically look after the Bomb Dump, get the bombs brought in, look after the ammunition, store the ammunition, maintain it and deliver it out to the aircraft so that the ground crew could actually load them up and arm them for their missions.”

If you can add any more details and/or reference please add it below.

For additional details see the article on The Real New Forest Guide, Stoney Cross – Obama Connection.

For further reading and articles on Stoney Cross Airfield please visit: Stoney Cross Overview

Rifle Range and Trenches at Pilmore Gate Heath

This is the site of a WWII rifle range, trench and foxholes system near Pilmore Gate Heath. To the east are the trench and foxhole systems spreads over a wide area and the tranches may have been used as the firing positions towards the target faces that would have sat in front of the bank, forming the butts, to the west.

Remains of the trenches and the foxholes can be seen on the site in the form of shallow ditches and sunken rectangular features. A number of .303 projectiles have been found in the bank that formed the butt behind the target face. These were probably fired from Lee-Enfield Rifles.

There is also some suggestion that the use of 2” mortars may also have been practised on this site.

Rockford Common Trail

Historic Routes and Past Pathway aims to create five new self-guided walking trails in and around the New Forest National Park. This is one of the five suggested trails.

To help select which suggested trails to progress volunteer researchers took a quick look into the history of the areas and produced a Summary of Historical Potential for each trail. This one was researched and drafted by Volunteer Researcher Mike Osborne.

Just getting to the National Trust car park at Moyles Court sets the historical tone for this varied route around Rockford Common. The Moyles Court story – from the Lisle family sheltering dissidents after the Monmouth Rebellion, to officers’ quarters in WW2 – can be expanded to any limit.

The oak tree by the water splash vies with Knightwood Oak to be considered the oldest tree in the New Forest. Close to the car park is an enormous sand pit which once supplied building sand by the cart load but is now a children’s playground.

Medieval, and slightly later, farming is in evidence between the two tracks up to the common by a pillow mound, a bee garden and a quarry. Clusters of pillow mounds, which are generally understood to have been used for medieval rabbit keeping, are spread over the south and west facing slopes all around the common. Bee gardens – as rectangular or round low enclosures with a low fence to protect straw beehives, known as skeps, from livestock – were all around the common to harvest honey from the heather.

Unlike much of New Forest moorland, Rockford Common was in the estates of either Moyles Court, or latterly Somerley. The family of Lord Normanton bought both estates in 1825. The National Trust bought about 1,500 acres of common land at Ibsley and Rockford in 1999

The most dramatic change to the landscape at the top of the hill and to the south of the clockwise route is not well recorded. From 1908 to 1964 there was one small gravel pit of about three acres. The battle to prevent further extraction lasted from 1964 to 1966 but was eventually lost and up to six metres’ depth of gravel was stripped from most of the western end of the common.

This first section of the route from Moyles Court is marked on Taylors map of 1759. At Whitemoor Bottom it joins a track which was noted by Greenwood in 1826. This was a main communication corridor from Highwood to the detached part of the old Ellingham parish at Linwood and on to Fritham.

Near the path south from Big Whitemoor Bottom, a burnt mound has been noted. These are generally found near watercourses and were the result of heating large volumes of water by tipping in red hot flints. There is no agreement on what they were used for but there are several over this area.

On open moorland north of Waterslade, at what is now Wood Sorrell, the Ellingham Church wardens bought six acres of land in about 1835. They built two pairs of semi-detached cob and thatch cottages for the relief of the poor of the parish. In 1861 there were four families, with a total of 24 people, living there. It is now a distinctive £1.25 million property.

There is an Iron Age earthen bank enclosure just to the north. The route turns back to the west and runs to the north of a tongue of enclosed land at Cherry Oaks. From the high spot at the south east corner of the gravel extraction, a path from 1826 leads to an important ancient roadway mapped in 1749.

At the top of the hill the route runs east through a long copse and on towards Stoney Cross. The route follows it as it descends west to Mounts Farm and becomes a well-worn hollow way. The turnpike was created from Cadnam to Ringwood and on to Longham in 1786. There is the possibility that this route was a bypass for the tollgate at Picket Post. From Mounts Farm a track from 1749 leads back to the car park.

An enormous impact on this area was made by the construction of RAF Ibsley during WW2, when the common was used for military manoeuvre with slit trenches and gun emplacements. There is recorded history from a former pupil at Rockford School (later taken over by the Alice Lisle pub) who saw the fighter planes roaring off.

Get involved

This route is a preview of one of five new self-guided walks we are developing along existing rights of way in and around the New Forest National Park.

If you’d like to contribute memories or stories to this trail, get in touch with Gareth Owen on 01590 646652 or Gareth.Owen@newforestnpa.gov.uk.