From left to right: A/C H.V Rowley, Maj.Gen.Shatemeyer, W/C Paul Ritchie DSO DFC, S/L "Ace" Newman DFC, S/L Hogan DFC, S/L Jeff May DFC, S/L Harry Larson DFC, S/L Denis Winton DFC.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Guy & Peggy's Wedding - 4th January 1942
St Andrew's Church, Minehead.
Peggy and her father Edwin Burt
Friday, November 9, 2007
I'd been out one night and had found absolutely nothing. Making my way back home I was following a road just as the sun was coming up. Suddenly, right ahead of me on the road was four Jap soldiers, rifles slung casually over their shoulders. They saw me at the same moment I saw them. Before they had a chance to make any move I had brought my sights on and let them have it.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Flt Sgt Young's crash, 13 November 1942. During low level flying practice in Hurricane BN702 he crashed badly. Despite his severe injuries he actually got out of the wreckage and managed to inject himself with morphine from the First Aid Kit, a task a doctor later said was impossible with his injuries! Taken to hospital in Calcutta, he unfortunately succumbed to the injuries two days later.
Hogan's Cockpit
Our main task was to be used inland and we would fly quite some way behind the Jap lines as deep as we could, looking for transport etc. We were also the first to fly at night which was really quite terrifying. We were getting quite good results against Jap MT convoys in daylight but suddenly it all dried up just before the seige started. Obviously the Japs were moving stuff up at night so I suggested we should go out at night, in periods of moonlight. It was absolute murder - convoys with their headlights full on etc, and we had a killing - flames going up all over the place. One of the very first I went on was strafing what I thought were lorries and then I went through the top of a tree. Branches got into the airscoop and temperatures went up and I had an awful job to get back over the hills as it wouldn't climb. But she eventually did and I landed with half a tree in the air intake - which says quite a lot about how tough the Hurricane was. I used to have nightmares about that. I'd been shot down in 79 squadron, but this gave me the most nightmares.
5 Squadron
"I was 23 years old when I became Squadron Leader in India/Burma. Make no mistake the Mohawk was a good aircraft. Beautiful to fly, very manoeuvrable and very reliable. The Cyclone air-cooled engine of the Mohawk could take a lot of punishment and still put-put along. The weakness of the Mohawk were, ofcourse, poor height performance and lack of fire power - six machine guns was not very good. But she was a real nice aircraft and did us proud." - Hogan
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
L to R standing: F/O Baines, F/S Carsons, F/O Bailey, F/S Gore, F/L Frimble, F/L Lee, F/L Bryes, F/L Beyts, unknown, unknown, F/O Boyens.
L to R sitting: F/L Lawrence, W/O McLaughlin, F/L Scanchett, S/L Sharpe, S/L Rushleigh, W/O Worts, S/L Hogan, unknown, S/L Clarke, W/O Ferguson, F/L Thurston, P/O Seifut, F/L Snowball, F/L Thomas.
CV
- College de St Malo.
- Burford Grammar School.
- Regular Officer 1938-72, final rank Group Captain.
- Flight Commander No 79 Fighter Squadron, UK India & Burma 1941-42.
- CO, No 5 Fighter Squadron, India & Burma 1943-44.
- Wing Commander Org 4. Responsible for Aircraft reinforcement for HQ Air Command SEA, 1944-45.
- CO, No 207 Bomber Squadron, UK. 1948-50.
- Planning Division of NATO Paris/Naples.1950-53.
- Wing Commander, RAF Upwood 1953-56.
- Wing Commander RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. Control & Training of 8 Squadrons, 1960-62.
- Air Plans in Ministry of Defense, 1962-65.
- Station Commander, RAF Watton, 1965-67
- Director of Plans (Air), HQ Far East, Singapore, 1967-70.
- Director of Work Study (RAF)
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