Rhodesians Abroad - Rhodesia / Zimbabwe:BushveldNET

Layout Table~~~~11705~11705~~

Rhodesians Abroad~Rhodesians Abroad~~~11705~11706~Autobigraphies~

A Bundu Boy in Bomber Command: Memoirs of a Royal Air Force Lancaster Pilot from Rhodesia - William Dives D.F.C.~The memoirs of a boy from Central Africa who becomes captain of a Lancaster bomber in WWII. Bill Dives takes us back in time into two different worlds, both now so far away. Pre-war colonial life in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and the perilous existance of a Lancaster pilot during the second world war.
Trafford. ISBN 1-55395-879-9. Softcover 373 pages.~Trafford
ISBN 1553958799
Softcover
373 pages

In these memoirs of his early life and wartime RAF service William (Bill) Dives takes us back in time into two different worlds, both now so far away. Pre-war colonial life in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and the perilous existance of a Lancaster pilot during the Second World War.

Bill's father held a post as Native Commissioner in the north west of the country. It was in the remote bush, or "bundu", country that Bill was born and from where he and his elder sister were taken by their parents on working safaris hence the "Bundu Boy" in the title. Sadly their father died from cancer while the children were young. Their mother moved to Salisbury to find work.

The carefree, pre-war colonial life of a schoolboy in Southern Rhodesia was brought to an abrupt end as the sirens of war in the Northern Hemisphere summoned the scattered youth around the world to come to the aid of the mother country.

In the spring of 1942 at the age of 18 he was accepted into the RAF in Rhodesia for pilot training. In June 1943, having qualified as a fighter pilot and given the rank of Sgt./Pilot, along with many other Rhodesians that had enlisted with him, he was posted to England. On arrival he was put on a conversion course for multi-engined aircraft. During training he selected his six-man crew and on completion, now a Pilot Officer, was posted to No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron partially manned by fellow Rhodesians. From August 1944 to March 1945 Bill and his crew complete thirty-six missions. Following the regular thirty they volunteered for the extra six! Drawing on details from his wartime log books he takes us through these missions that range from the French coast to the Baltic sea and deep into the industrial heartland of Germany. The targets were many and varied including airfields; factories; communication centres; marshalling yards; canals; troop concentration areas and among others included the hazardous exercise of mine laying off the German and Norwegian coasts. After the euphoria of a successful raid would come the fear for the next operation where once again they would be called upon to face a terrifying mixture of flak; night fighters and the inevitable collisions that occurred when hundreds of aircraft were being directed on to the same target area by night. For those with a mathematical turn of mind the odds of survival were frighteningly small. Bill's final mission (the 36th) was a 1000 bomber raid on Essen on the 12th of March 1945 this was a few weeks before his 21st birthday. He had brought home his crew safely home for the last time.

Returning to Rhodesia thoughts of those close friends who would never return cast a heavy cloud over what should have been such an exhilarating occasion. There would inevitably be a period of readjustment- but first of all he must learn to drive a motor car!

~A Bundu Boy in Bomber Command|ISBN 1553958799|~11705~11731~~

Desert Wheels - Bryan Blow~A pictorial history of No.51 (RAF) MT Company/Squadron of the Middle East Air Force (MEAF) 1942-56. On 15th May 1942 Flying Officer V.D. Fletcher, a Rhodesian, was taken a few miles out from Heliopolis, shown a square of open desert with four pegs marking the corners and told to "Get on with it". This was to mark the beginning of the most famous Mechanical Transport Company in the Royal Air Force.Although little has been written previously about "51" - the men of this unit did magnificent work during the North African Campaign and made a significant contribution to Rommel's eventual defeat. This is their story - in words and pictures.
Woodfield Publishing, 2007. ISBN 1-84683-030-3. Softback, 124 pages, over 100 photos.~~Desert Wheels|ISBN 1846830303|~11705~11709~~

No Time on the Ground: Memoirs of a Former RAF and Civilian Pilot - Ken Fitzroy~A former military, commercial and civilian pilot looks back on 50 years of experiences in the air. In this entertaining memoir Ken FitzRoy looks back on a lifetime spent in and around aircraft of all types. His fascination with things aeronautical took him from a boyhood enthusiasm for gliders into the ranks of the Royal Air Force - training in Southern Rhodesia in 1952 - and thence a varied military flying career on the Vampire, Hastings, Beverley and Britannia among others.
Woodfield Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1903953715. Softback, 342 pages. 67 pages colour & b/w photos~Woodfield Publishing
Softback, 342 pages
67 pages colour & b/w photos
ISBN 1903953715

A former military, commercial and civilian pilot looks back on 50 years of experiences in the air. In this entertaining memoir Ken FitzRoy looks back on a lifetime spent in and around aircraft of all types. His fascination with things aeronautical took him from a boyhood enthusiasm for gliders into the ranks of the Royal Air Force – training in Southern Rhodesia in 1952 – and thence a varied military flying career on the Vampire, Hastings, Beverley and Britannia among others. A 3½ year trip to the USA on exchange with the 904th Air Refuelling Squadron of the USAF was also one of the highlights.

After retiring from the RAF in 1967 Ken had a variety of commercial flying jobs over the following 30 years with BEA, Airtours, British Airways and Royal Brunei Airlines, amongst others.

After retirement he continued flying with The Fighter Collection at Duxford – a private collection of vintage fighter aircraft – with which he has attended numerous air shows.

As can be imagined, his lengthy career in the air has provided him with a wealth of stories which he shares with his readers in a good-humoured and well-written narrative, which succeeds in providing enough detail to interest aviation enthusiasts whilst including plenty of anecdotal material to entertain any reader.~No Time on the Ground|ISBN 1903953715|~11705~11708~~

RAF Waddington 1916-1945 - Raymond Leach~RAF Waddington has a history as long and illustrious as any in the Royal Air Force and is best known for its role as a bomber station - in fact, when No 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron disbanded on 31st December 1982, it was the longest serving bomber station in any air force in the world... But Waddington did not begin its days as a bomber station. Back in the early days of World War I it was selected as a suitable site for a training airfield by a team of Royal Flying Corps aviators which included one Major Arthur Travers Harris, later to become widely known as 'Bomber Harris', Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command during World War Two.Waddington remained a training station for the RFC throughout the First World War and countless British, Empire, Commonwealth, American and even Russian students were successfully trained there.
Woodfield Publishing. ISBN 1-903953-44-8. Softback, 300 pages~Woodfield Publishing
Softback, 300 pages
ISBN 1-903953-44-8

RAF Waddington has a history as long and illustrious as any in the Royal Air Force and is best known for its role as a bomber station - in fact, when No 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron disbanded on 31st December 1982, it was the longest serving bomber station in any air force in the world...

But Waddington did not begin its days as a bomber station. Back in the early days of World War I it was selected as a suitable site for a training airfield by a team of Royal Flying Corps aviators which included one Major Arthur Travers Harris, later to become widely known as 'Bomber Harris', Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command during World War Two.

Waddington remained a training station for the RFC throughout the First World War and countless British, Empire, Commonwealth, American and even Russian (!) students were successfully trained there.

Unlike most WW1 aerodromes, Waddington was not handed back to its original owners but instead remained on the War Office books, albeit unused until November 1926, when 503 (County of Lincoln) Squadron was formed at the reactivated RAF Waddington, one of five Special Reserve squadrons (the bomber equivalent of the fighter squadrons of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force – RAuxAF). All members of No 503 Squadron were volunteer part-timers from the Lincoln area and flew such aircraft as the Fawn, Hyderabad, Hinaidi and Wallace.

With the expansion of the RAF in 1937, the squadrons of the Special Reserve were absorbed into the RAuxAF. That same year three regular air force units moved into Waddington; namely, 110 Squadron, 50 Squadron and 44 Squadron, all equipped with the Hawker Hind.

In December 1938, 44 Squadron became the first at Waddington to be equipped with the Blenheim Mk I, with 110 Squadron following suit soon after (the latter moving to RAF Wattisham almost immediately).

By the outbreak of war, the two Waddington squadrons – Nos 44 and 50 – were equipped with the Hampden. Both squadrons took part in many raids early in the war, including the so-called ‘battle of the barges’. In November 1941, 207 Squadron formed at Waddington – the first Avro Manchester squadron. One month later, 420 (Snowy Owl) Squadron RCAF was formed on the station and took over 44 Squadron’s Hampdens; the latter having been the first in the RAF to convert to the four-engined Avro Lancaster.

Less than four months after receiving its first Lancasters, crews from 44 Squadron took part in the low level daylight attack on the U-boat engine factory at Augsburg. For his part in leading this attack, Squadron Leader John Nettleton was awarded the Victoria Cross.

The station was closed between May and November 1943 while its three concrete runways were built, after which 467 and 463 squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) moved in and remained at Waddington until the end of the war.

The full story of the men, the aircraft and the major sorties flown from RAF Waddington are comprehensively described within the pages of this substantial and detailed account, which runs to over 300 A4 pages and is illustrated with over 100 black & white photographs. It will be of great interest to aviation historians and to veterans of the many squadrons that have served at the station over the years.

Squadron Leader Raymond Leach MBE served as aircrew in the Royal Air Force and in a career spanning 30 years logged over 5,000 flying hours in more than 60 different types of aircraft. During his time in the service he was instrumental in the restoration of the RAF’s sole remaining Lancaster to flying condition. He subsequently flew with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight for four seasons. Later in his career he flew five seasons with the Vulcan Display Flight. He served at RAF Waddington on three separate tours of duty in flying and staff appointments. It was during his last tour at Waddington that he compiled the history of the Station, which included a ten volume series of photograph albums.~RAF Waddington 1916-1945|ISBN 1903953448|~11705~11707~~

The Sting of Flight - Don W. Connor~From Tiger Moths to Hurricanes, Vengeance dive-bombers to Spitfires, the author of this action-packed memoir flew planes of all kinds in the course of the Second World War – and has many entertaining stories to tell along the way. As soon as he was old enough he fulfilled his boyhood ambition of becoming a pilot, and, after initial training in Tiger Moths in what was then Southern Rhodesia, he joined RAF squadrons in India in 1943. It was a life full of adventures, some of them hair-raising – with anything from hornets in the engine to bombs apparently failing to discharge – and all of them are brought to life with an infectious verve and enthusiasm.
Athena Press. 220 pages~~The Sting of Flight|9044|~11705~11924~southern rhodesia RAF~

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