The SAAF Forum

I definitely want at least 2 copies, maybe more, for people connected to 31 Squadron veterans! Come on, Winston, do it!

Cheers,

Charles

[quote="PAO"]Also found that RAF standard for Bombers was 30 sorties first tour and 20 second.

In general
Pilots normally flew two or three more operations than their crews, as before they went operational with their crew they flew with another operational crew 2-3 times to get ready for their operational tour.

Path Finders tours were 45 operations, they had the extra 15 operations added due to the time and effort put into them to be path finders and most pushed to 60 to get the magic number of two complete operational tours.

John Roos (former Navigator) 31 Sqdn wrote this article for The Argus which was published 15th Oct 1983.

There was a Sequel to this story...I've just discovered on further digging. I've also tried to post on the 31/34 Sqdn Facebook site unsuccessfully.

Of the crew killed
13 SAAF
31 RAF, RAFVR & RAF (AuxAF)
3 RAAF
One B-24 has not been found and is still missing to date, even though many people over the years have spent time looking for her.
31 Sqn B-24J Liberator Mk.VI KH-158 “H”

On the night of 12 October 1944, Liberator KH 158 of 31 Sqn SAAF was one of the sixteen 31 Squadron aircraft detailed to drop supplies to Italian partisans operating in the foothills of the Alps at the west end of the PO valley. KH 158 took off at 1613 hours from Celone landing ground, to drop supplies 12 miles east north east of Genoa. The night was dark with strata cumulous clouds building up northwards from the Appenines, with tops of 8-10000 feet. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base.

Maj. S.S URRY 102736V 1st Pilot SAAF ** † Malta Memorial, Malta
F/O. G.E HUDSPITH George Edward 53114 2nd Pilot RAF ** † Malta Memorial, Malta
Lt. G.A COLLARD 329145V Observer SAAF 19 † Malta Memorial, Malta
Lt. P.J LORDAN 36065V W.Op-Air Gnr SAAF ** † Malta Memorial, Malta
F/O. T R MILLAR Thomas Roberts 422612 Observer RAAF 28 † Malta Memorial, Malta
Sgt. R.C FITZGERALD Reginald Charles 2235257 Sig-Air Gnr RAFVR 19 † Malta Memorial, Malta
WO1. L.B BLOCH 208109V Air Gnr SAAF 21 † Malta Memorial, Malta
Lt. N.W ARMSTRONG 103840V Air Gnr SAAF ** † Malta Memorial, Malta

Copied these from an old 1983 PARATUS magazine. Pics were taken at Foggia, Italy in 1945. Aircrew if first pic not identified in this particular article and apparently were in an earlier article in the magazine.


Ground Support Crew in second pic that can be identified by the write R.K Posthumus are;
Front row: A/M Sheppard; A/Cpl R.K. Posthumus- engine fitter; A/M Caplan – Armourer;
Back row: A/M Oelofse- Electrician; A/M Shapira- Armourer; A/m Du Toit – Engine Fitter and A/M Scheepers – Engine Fitter.

Revised sortie total for a tour.
According to War Diary for 31 Sqn - December 1944.
Quote "........transport sorties and supply drops to undefended areas has resulted in a ruling reducing the 'point' value of such trips to 2. Until this scheme was promulgated the recognised tour was forty operations with an equivalent point value of 120. The reduction will involve a possible tour of 60 operations, which with an average of 6 operations per crew during December, greatly lengthens the operational tour."

I've come into this discussion over 2 months after the original post about the night of 12th October 1944 when 6 x 31 & 34 SAAF crews were missing but the wrecks of 5 planes were found .
My father was F/O T R Millar RAAF of Liberator KH158, which is still missing .[Sgt RC Fitzgerald RAF was the rear gunner]
Last year on 15th May 2011 we placed a marble memorial plaque to the crew of KH158, in the area of their drop zone "Morris", by an old partisan house, high in the Ligurian mountains Italy . The event was attended by officials from the Embassies of Britain and Australia in Rome and the Honorary South African Consul in Genoa plus Italian officials and local people.
The search still goes on for KH158 .

Small pieces of some of the crashed planes are still emerging when the snows melt in the mountains and soften the ground .

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.anc ... lartrm.htm

Anne

Thanks Anne, great to see that the memories of those fine men that sacrificed so much for others are not forgotten.