Most of my research this year has centred around reading about 619 Squadron – forever known as “The forgotten Squadron”. It formed so quickly in 1943 and disbanded shortly after the end of the war in 1945 that it never got its own motto.
An internet search for dad, Evan Jones, connects him to a photographer who photographed the friends of Dylan Thomas known as the Swansea gang. Otherwise These have been paper and pen searches, book searches, sifting what we (my brother sister and I) remember, what we have been told by others, what dad said (not all that much), what mum said (quite a lot but not that accurate), so dad has always been told to me second hand as it were.
At my uncle’s funeral someone told me his exploits in the waiting room at the crematorium, and Michael Evans of the RS Thomas society explained to me in a brief note that his mother ( a close childhood friend of Nancy, my father’s sister) said that dad suffered badly in WW2- a third hand retelling.
Today it is 75 years since he was shot down over Germany and most of my information has been gathered from his log book which I then cross referenced with 619: The History of a Forgotten Squadron: The Activities of No.619 Squadron RAF During World War 2
But dad was more than neat handwriting in blue and red ink, more than a footnote in a historical record so that while we can place and date him it’s impossible to know how he processed his experiences – he was only 21.
31/8/43 is a date we remember the crew he lost of Lancaster PG–R but even embedded in that story there is another forgotten crew. At HCU 1654 Wigsley, dad met with a Sgt Douglas.They flew together between 23/4/43 and 4/6/43. Their first flight was ‘familiarisation on Mk 111 Lancaster bomber.
We have always been told of a crew that went on a training flight without dad because he had been detained. In one retelling it happened in snow in mountains in Canada, in another it happened in snow in mountains in Wales. It actually happened over the north sea when Sgt Douglas was killed , along with 8 others on an air test mission (619: the History of a Forgotten Squadron p 29). dad and Sgt Douglas had flown a total of 25 sorties and 63 hours together . EE113 PG-K was lost over the North sea on 9/6/43 and was the first casualty of the squadron.
By cross-referencing the numbers on Lancaster – the plane that dad was most familiar was PG-R JA 848. they flew this aircraft a total of fourteen flights including OPS between 14/7/43 and 31/8/43. Perhaps they felt it was their ‘lucky’ aircraftBut what emerges – when you cross reference the serial numbers is a story of heavy loss. 14 air crew along with 2 ground crew were lost – a total of 100 men in 12 weeks between 9/6/43 and 31/8/43- including one of the original three crews of the squadron and the commanding officer Wing-Commander McGhie DFC. I cannot imagine what it must have been like waking up to see the empty beds of friends and colleagues who had not returned.
So dad survived twice, something which I didn’t really appreciate without the context of these figures.
Anne Phillips 