That "Eureka" Moment

That "Eureka" Moment

King Hieron of Syracuse one day gave a jeweller a block of pure gold to make a crown. The crown weighed the same as the gold block, but Hieron suspected that he had filched some of the gold and replaced it with brass. Archimedes had spent several weeks wrestling with the problem when, one morning, he was getting into his bath. Seeing the water rise he realised how he could solve the problem and leapt out of the bath, running naked down the street shouting “Eureka” (I have got it) in his haste to tell King Hieron. The key was that the amount of water displaced by putting the crown into a vat of water would be equal to the volume of the crown. If the crown contained only heavy gold the volume would be the same as the gold block, but if it contained less dense brass it would have a greater volume for the same weight.

from "Heroes Rogues and Villains" by Rupert Matthews
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Polish Fighter Pilots in Sussex

Polish Fighter Pilots in Sussex

The Advanced Landing Grounds had a second, but no less vital purpose as emergency landing grounds for damaged aircraft. Deanland received its first emergency visitor as the workmen were still laying the runway: A Spitfire came down in August 1943 as its wounded pilot felt he was about to pass out from loss of blood. The following month, by which time the runway was completed, a B17 Flying Fortress of the US 8th Air Force came in, the first of 19 that would land or crashland on the airfield.

Chailey went operational as an ALG on 24 April with No. 18 (Polish) Fighter Wing in residence. The wing had satellite bases at Coolham and Selsey, the latter in Dorset. The wing consisted of six Polish squadrons, one Belgian squadron and two British squadrons, but was always commanded by a Pole, in 1944 the commanding officer was Group Captain Alexsander Gabszewicz. Although the Poles were equipped by the RAF and integrated into the RAF structure, they retained their individual character and the aircraft all carried a distinctive red and white checked square to identify them.

The Poles first action from Sussex was to escort American bombers to a target near Amiens on 27 April, a mission that passed off without incident. A similar mission to Dunkirk on 1 May saw Flying Officer Pentz return with his tailplane heavily damaged by flak, but he was unhurt. Thereafter the Poles were flying every day, either escorting bombers to France or flying Air-Sea rescue patrols over the Channel to try to locate downed airmen. The Spitfires were able to carry bombs and after 8 May the Poles concentrated on their own bombing attacks on railway junctions, airfields and bridges.

The Poles’ first casualty since arriving in Sussex came on 18 May when the Spitfire engine of Flying Officer Adamek suddenly cut out over the Channel, probably due to a hit from German flack that had been encountered over the target at Fecamp. Adamek bailed out, but his parachute got tangled around the tail of his Spitfire and he was dragged down to his death.

from "Heroes of RAF Fighter Command in Sussex" by Rupert Matthews
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Heroes of RAF Fighter Command in Kent - a Preface

Heroes of RAF Fighter Command in Kent - a Preface

As the title of this book suggests, the main subjects are the men such as Ron Ramsden who fought in the RAF during the war, and particularly those who flew from Kent. For those readers with a wider interest in the RAF who want to learn more about Fighter Command or Coastal Command as well as about the airfields and unit histories I can do no better than advise you to purchase “Kent Airfields in the Second World War” by Robin J Brooks, also published by Countryside Books, which makes a fine companion volume to this.

Of course, a book like this cannot possibly be the work of just one person. I would particularly like to thank Paul Lazell for permission to use photos taken by his father  during his extensive career in the wartime RAF. Copies of these and other photos are available from Paul for a modest fee on paulsdadsphotos@aol.com. In this book his photos are indicated as [Paul Lazell]. I must also thank Ft Lt Andrew Smith for his invaluable introductions to various RAF personnel serving and retired. Shaun Smith, a retired RAF officer, has also helped out. I have made every effort to track down the copyright holders of material that I have used, but if I have missed anyone out please accept this as a genuine mistake and contact me so that matters can be put right in any future edition.

Kent is fortunate in having three magnificent museums devoted to the RAF. The RAF Manston Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial Trust has a museum just outside Kent International Airport (formerly RAF Manston) which houses a Spitfire and a Hurricane, plus a vast amount of other items and memorabilia. The Trust has been particularly helpful to me in producing this book and I would urge anyone interested in this subject to pay them a visit. In this book their photos are indicated as [Manston S&H Mem]. The nearby RAF Manston Museum is again worth a visit. In this book their photos are indicated as [RAF Manston Mus]. I would like to thank Brenzett Aeronautical Museum for their help and for permission to use photographs of their exhibits in this book. The museum stands in Ivychurch Road, just off the A2070, and is well worth a visit and full details  can be obtained on their website http://www.brenzettaero.co.uk/. They have some particularly fine interactive exhibits for children of all ages. In this book their photos are indicated as [Brenzett AM].

Finally I must thank my wife for her patience and my daughter for her numerous interruptions.

from "Heroes of RAF Fighter Command in Kent" by Rupert Matthews

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RAF Bomber Command - Writing Letters to Next of Kin

RAF Bomber Command - Writing Letters to Next of Kin

Only once do I recall my father getting worked up about his time with the RAF. It must have been in the 1970s sometime, and we were watching some television programme about valuing antiques and collectors items or some such. One member of the public had brought in letters relating to the wartime RAF. 

The expert, who was quite young, picked out a few with famous names – they had a letter from Guy Gibson of Dambusters fame I recall – and valued them, then airily waved the rest aside. He said, quite confidently, that many of the letters were not really written by the men whose signatures they carried. He picked one up. “These letters to next of kin about men who were killed or missing,” he said. “They are just standard form letters run up by a secretary or clerk. The squadron leaders never wrote these themselves.”

My father was furious. I don’t think I ever saw him so angry. After ranting at the screen for a few moments, he turned to me.

“Now listen to me,” he said. “That man is talking rubbish. He thinks he is being clever, but he is insulting the memory of my friends who died for this country. I’m going to tell you what really happened because I was there and I saw it. My squadron leaders (I think father served under two, the first being shot down) always wrote these letters themselves. They wouldn’t let anyone else near them. They said that it was the very least that they could do for the poor men who had been killed or were missing – write a personal letter to the relatives telling them what had happened and saying something about how their boy had behaved at the squadron.”

My father lent forward in his chair.

“I recall one raid that went very badly wrong in 1940 when our squadron was out bombing the invasion barges. We lost a lot of aircraft and a lot of men. An hour or two after the survivors got back, I had to take a note about something to the CO. I knocked on the door, but there was no reply. I thought he must be out of his office, so I went in to leave the note on his desk. But he was not out. He was there all right – slumped over the desk in tears writing those letters to next of kin.”

He flicked an angry glance at the television. “And that young fool says they were form letters”. My father glared at the screen for a second or two, then said “All those young men. Those poor young men.” Abruptly he got up and left the room. I think he did not want me to see him cry.

from Heroes of RAF Bomber Command in Lincolnshire by Rupert Matthews

RAF Bomber Command in Norfolk - a few words

RAF Bomber Command in Norfolk - a few words
As to why my father never really said much about his time in the RAF, I found that out when I grew older. My father had lost a lot of friends in the war. I recall he told me the many times he stood by the Control Tower waiting for aircraft that would never return. He sounded very upset, even then in the 1980s. And a pair of flying boots that I fondly thought to have been my father’s had in fact belonged to a particular pal of his who had been shot down and killed. Father kept them to his dying day, and now I keep them.

So for my father, for his pals - whether they returned or not - and for all the others who served in Bomber Command, I am proud to write this book.

As the title of this book suggests, the main subjects are the men who fought in Bomber Command in Norfolk during the war. For those readers with a wider interest in the RAF who want to learn more about Fighter Command or Coastal Command as well as about the airfields and unit histories I can do no better than advise you to purchase “Norfolk Airfields in the Second World War” by Graham Smith, also published by Countryside Books, which makes a fine companion volume to this.

Of course, a book like this cannot possibly be the work of just one person. I would particularly like to thank Flight Lieutenant Andrew Smith for his help in making contact with various serving and retired officers and men of the RAF. I would like to thank Antony Robinson of the Massingham Historical Society’s Sister Laurence RAF Massingham Museum for all his help and for giving me permission to reproduce photos and documents from his archives. Such photos are credited as “Massingham MHSSLRAFMM”. Acknowledgments must also go to Paul Garland of the Feltwell Society for permission to draw on his archives. The Feltwell Society can be found on and contacted through the website http://www.feltwell.org/index.htm. The operational base of RAF Marham has a magnificent History Room, and I would like to thank the RAF for permission to draw on it for illustrations. I must also thank the staff of Darby Nursery Stock Ltd who were kind enough as to help me when I got lost trying to find the site of RAF Methwold - and all the others who gave me directions or helped in other ways. I would also like to thank Shaun Smith, a retired RAF officer, for the use of his fine library of photos of RAF-related sites and memorials. He can be emailed on spikesmith@clara.net and is happy to provide copies of his photos for a small charge. I would also like to thank Abigail King for her help with the research. Finally I would thank my father for his inspiration and my wife for her patience.

from "Heroes of RAF Bomber Command in Norfolk" by Rupert Matthews.
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