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KENNETH JAMES MITCHELL

Born 1920 in the village of Wadebridge Cornwall. My Father was a Baker and had a small business. In those days of course we were not poor but living was not easy, especially when you were owed money by poor customers who were unable to work and had a family to feed.. To give the reader an idea of those days, I well remember that when I left school at the age of 15 my parents bought me a new 2 piece suit so that I could begin my first job in an office, my wage was 5 shillings a week from which they took 2 pence for my health insurance. A new suit I hear you cry ah, not only that, it was hand made! The bespoke Tailor had owed us money for months and that was how we all lived.

I went to a Council school, attached to the school were 10 small allotments and I was fortunate enough to be allocated one and after 3 years I came second and was awarded a silver medal.. Regarding my general education I usually did quite well, always up in the first 5 and occasionally first. !!

My first salary was 5 shillings of which 2 pennies were taken out for my health stamp. The firm sold Corn and seeds to the farmers in the area, I didn’t stay too long but continued to keep to office work and went to work in a garage where I had a typewriter to use and a better wage, during these 4 to 6 years I was able to buy a bicycle and most week-ends.
In the summer I could go down to the coast and surf using a board, I really enjoyed it and became quite good at it, later a lot of visitors used to come, just to surf. Little did I know what was coming in the very near future but it changed my life completely. 1939 and World War 2 was announced by Chamberlain.
I knew I had to JOIN UP when I saw all the little children arriving by train from London to my home town Wadebridge. No smiles on there little faces and cardboard boxes attached to string over their shoulders I thought they contained snacks for the journey, oh no! the little boxes contained GAS Masks. London at that time was being bombed incessantly and was in a dreadful state.

I joined the R A F and was sent to Blackpool to learn the art of wireless operating and the 28th March 1942. My next posting was to Compton Basset and it was here that I had my first flight!! This was the final of the radio course i.e. Transmitting and receiving from the air using trailing aerials etc and practising Navigating by Loop aerial and cocked Hat methods.

My next course was at the Air gunnery school at Evanton in Scotland The course was for about 16 weeks and ended on 5 June 1942. Of course we had to endure the Passing out PARADE and collect our Stripes to b honest I was quite proud at that moment . Our next appointment was to the Stores to collect our Flying Kit and another Kit Bag to fit it in. We were there waiting around for a few days during this time we sewed on our STRIPES and WINGS, at last our Postings came through and I was sent to report to Boscombe Down near Amesbury. arrived there on the 27th June 42 (worn out) especially dragging the 2 Kit Bags around London and after all a long way from Scotland I was allocated a billet had a good meal and the rest of the day off.
The following day I reported to squadron . Performance Testing and my fantastic 5 years flying with the R.A.F and Fleet Air Arm had begun, the Aeroplane , Armament Experimental Establishment at BOSCOMBE DOWN.

29/6/42 @ ll,20 am B.25 MITCHELL MEDIUM BOMBER (usa) W/Cdr C. Slee Carbon Monoxide Tests

I was supplied with about 4 football Bladders and a hand pump to enable me to take samples of the air in the Cabin when the bomb doors were opened naturally I was wearing an oxygen mask during the tests., apparently there was a problem when the planes were used in action, because of the exhaust fumes which entered the plane when the bomb doors were opened for action.

It is obvious that I cannot describe all the successful tests that were made during my four years at B D so I will endeavour to mention the important or should I say the unusual occurrences. I will however make a separate list of the aircraft flown and the PILOTS ENVOLVED on a separate entry.

EXTRACTS FROM FLYING LOG BOOK.
ALBAMARLE. P l372 Pilot Wing/Cdr C Slee. Sticks and un-sticks
30/7/42 MOSQUITO 662G F/Lt Jarvis Full load at that time was Tests
2xl000 lb bombs under wings Throttle problems (no Locking device)
starboard throttle slipped back to Zero and we swung into a pair of Beau fighters parked near runway consequently our Mossie was a Write Off and the Beaus were very damaged. Jarvis and myself o.k.Locks were of course fitted to consequent models.
30/7/42 BEAUFIGHTER. 223 W/Cdr C Slee A D M.
30/7/42 KINGFISHER FN 656 Lt /Commander Torrence Spence

Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment 1942/46
Boscome Down C Per T Squadron

Fleet Arm Pilots (Flown with on test or familiarisation)
Captain Torrence Spence R.N. (Notes re flight test later)
L’ Cmdr Levers
Lt Cmdr Robertson
Lt Cmdr Callingham
Lt Wilson
Lt Goodfellow
Lt Baker Faulkner
Lt Ellis
Lt Brown (Winkle)
Lt Lyons
Lt Lamb
Cdr Pearson (see notes re flight tests later)
Lt Shea Simmons

Royal Airforce: Pilots on Prototypes and Other Tests

Group Captain Purvis
Wing Cmdr Wroath
Wing Cmdr Slade
Wing Cmdr Slee
S/Leader Price Owen
S/Leader Kulczycki
S/Leader Hartford
S/Leader Hayter
S/Leader Sewell
F/Lt Foy
F/Lt Mann
F/Lt Metcalf
F/Lt Cole
F/Lt Jarvis
F/Lt Millar
F/Lt Powell
F/Lt Dawson
F/Lt Harris
F/Lt Pelka
F/O Flt Maijcherczyk
F/Lt Brown Cyclops Obviously!

Test Pilots and Military Pilots plus 6 civilian (during training)
Mr Fousel (Curtis Wright) USA test pilot
Mr Tyson. Dr Havillan chief test pilot

Aircraft tested and Flown

Mitchell USA
Bermuda USA
Vultee Vengeance USA
Fiesler Storch German
Avenger USA
Stinson Reliant
Swordfish
Kingfisher
Sea Mew
HellDiver
Beaufigher
Mosquito
Albamarle
Ventura USA
Lancaster Wellington
York
Firefly Lincoln
Harvard
Auster
Anson
Botha
Dominie
Oxford
Proctor
Sea Otter
Beaufort
Warwick
Meteor

General Flying Duties.

What an interesting job I became associated with, funnily, I did not appreciate it during the war! Also, at the time I had no idea that I would work with some of the worlds best test pilots during the tremendous advancement of the aeroplane industry. The Fleet Air Arm were still flying the Swordfish manufactured with wood and canvas carrying Torpedoes, the nick name for this plane was String bag

My favourite was of course the Mosquito was a twin engined aircraft of Plywood monocoque construction, powered by the famous Rolls Royce factory.

The benefit of aerial photography was soon to be realised when we photographed the actual position of the German battleship TIRPITZ and so assisted the Royal Navy’s Barracuda squadrons lead by R.S.Baker-Faulkner to cripple it, at the time it was hiding in the Kaa Fjord (Norway)

October 1942 I was experiencing a lot of pain when diving at speed and was sent to Wroughton hospital near Swindon .Wilts. for a small operation to clear the passage from my nose to my ear, not a pleasant experience with Old Howarth believe me, after about 6 days I felt much better and had a get well card from the ward upstairs, it was delivered in a tin which had been lowered down on a piece of string !! my bed was immediately by the side of the window on the ground floor. Who sent it ? I did eventually find out from a nurse that it was a WAAF patient situated above me and her name was Virginia McKenna , as far as I can remember she was about 20+ years old with fair hair and pretty. We never met again and I often wondered what happened to her.!!

BITS AND PIECES >>>>>

15/9/45 DEMONSTRATION flying at Hendon Battle of Britain Display
23/8/45 AVENGER Crash Landed at CULHAM aerodrome ( finger trouble) Lt Lyons.
20/3/44 SEA OTTER landed on water in Poole Bay (canvas bottomless buckets used
1946. Met Prince Chula several times and got a personal reference from him. Ah, its home somewhere !!!

12/03/1944 Mosquito 937. Pilot Torrance Spence CDR. FAA. We flew to Thruxton Aerodrome ( occupied by an American fighter squadron ) It was the nearest drome to us with a macadam runway, eventually our bomb arrived having been towed on the low loader, it was four thousand pounds in weight. The underside of our belly had been cut away to accommodate it and by the time the lads had raised it into position and secured it the whole Station had congregated with open mouths and wearing those base ball caps. Well we taxied out and took off with no problems, it was a beautiful day with clear blue skies I remember it well. Our full weight ( AUW ) was 29 thousand Lbs, to reach the ceiling of 30,000 ft was 50 minutes and over 180 miles using approx. 180 gallons of fuel. When we had completed the tests we dropped the bomb in the sea at Herne Bay, we returned to Thruxton en route to Boscombe and showed them what a wonderful aircraft it was . I would also remind you that the Mossie was capable of carrying the same Bomb Load as the 4 Engined Flying Fortress.

METEOR EE 212 Pilot. Lt/Cdr Pearson (Randy) F A A. and myself flew from Boscombe Down on a purely familiarisation flight, I was, never the less, the first time a crew member had flown in this aircraft, there was no seat for me I actually sat on the floor with a load of Felt and a canvas strap acting as a safety belt, at that time it was a bit of fun really!

Commander Randolf Pearson was killed about 3 months later, just after receiving his promotion

The Mosquito was also built with Wood but metal was being used as well of course, unfortunately it was unable to operate satisfactorily in very Hot conditions because the GLUE in the Plywood would melt., The variations accomplished with this plane were extremely beneficial to the advancement of the Aircraft industry to name a couple i.e. Higher altitudes were possible with the introduction of the pressure cabin, this meant that at 30.000 feet plus, the pressure valve sustained the level. within the cabin to the same level as when flying at 10.000 feet. Aerial photography came into its own at this time and we were able to obtain excellent results from High altitude, in fact it was this method that located the German battleship Tirpitz when it was hiding in the Fjords of Norway and enabled the Royal Navy to incapacitate her, the planes used by the Fleet Air Arm were the Barracuda and the Firefly, Cmdr Baker-Falkner led the attack.

Flew to Fasburg (Germany) with 2 Boffins from Porton Down (M-O-D) the poison gas and Bio Chemical research establishment the mission was to collect specimens of the Nazis experiments. instructed to return to base on 21/1/46..I decided to get a lift to Hamburg and see the bombing damage . Found a rather large imposing palace called the ATLANTIC HOTEL and booked in. they gave the Flying officer a very nice suite on the 2nd floor. The amazing thing was this building was the only one left standing for several hundred yards, it was truly pitiful. There were a few Yanks around and I got into conversation to obtain some local knowledge etc. They were very helpful and told me where to go to acquire transport. I went to the Town Majors office and ordered a car to be delivered to the hotel the following morning at 10 am. as I had decided to drive down to Hereford, which at that time, was the Army Head quarters I knew that an old girl friend of mine was stationed there, actually she was a lieutenant. I must mention here that on my way down via Soltau, Cellle I was amazed to see the Bridges that had been erected by the Army engineers, they were called Bailey Bridges and the boys had come up from North Africa and they named them TOBRUK
EL ALAMAYNE, BENGHAZI to name but a few. The engineers had come up from Triest apparently. It was something to be proud of believe me and I nearly cried with pride.!!

I stayed at Hereford quite some time and of course we had some parties etc. I promised I would bring back some sheet music for the little dance band and I had specific instructions from Phyllis to bring some Nylon stockings, providing of course I could arrange transport. I learned from her that Coffee was almost as valuable as gold dust and I knew that I could have a mini gold mine readily available, I would pursue this currency problem when I get back to Boscombe.

I returned to base eventually on the 22nd April and wasted no time with the coffee scheme, I knew that my friend Sdn/Leader HERMISTON , was in North Africa in charge of a problem with Mosquito’s. When these aircraft were in the desert the heat melted the glue which of course deteriorated the Plywood, so after dinner one evening I telephoned Flying control and requested them to contact him for me in 10 minutes I was speaking to him, it was truly remarkable and of course we yapped like 2 washer women, it was FAB and the outcome no problem Mitch. He sent a Hessian bag of coffee beans which were delivered to me at flight just in time.

February 4th I was informed that we were going to Fassburg again , this time we had to bring back samples and records from the establishment at Rab Kammer, however, time was limited, only 3 days so immediately upon arrival I went directly to the Atlantic Hotel and booked a room, at the same time I did a deal with the manager using a couple of Handfuls of Coffee Beans for several bottles of Liquors. Reception telephoned the Town Majors office and ordered a car for my disposal the following morning for the remainder of my stay. I went into the rubble of the city and made a FEW calls and the last one I was very lucky indeed it was a little corner Jewellers establishment, I was able to acquire several small items, quite valuable in fact a very nice haul. The following morning I went down to Hereford about 200 miles, I gave Phylis her nylons and the Sheet music for the Dance band that I was able to obtain from the Yanks at Tidworth Barracks. Incidentally that was the last time I saw her but I heard that she married a Dentist and was living in her beloved Cornwall I eventually arrived at Boscombe the 7th Feb. 1946. My contacts at Tidworth turned out to be very beneficial from then on and I was never short of Cigars or Petrol, thanks to Uncle Sam.

Brewster “Bermuda”
The USa name for this atrocity was the bBrewster SB2A. In the US Navy service, the aircraft was BUCCANEER. It was not Carrier capable, although it was designed as a dive bomber, designed in parallel with the CURTISS “Helldiver”, they looked very similar. Handling problems caused 2 years delay and the USN had no need for a new dive bomber when the SB2A was finally available. 1052 were built and 95% were scrapped straight from the production line. The A and AEE tested 5 numbered FF423, 524, 525, 546 and FF547.

CURTIS SB2C “HELLDIVER”
The first prototype flew on December 18th 1940 in the states, due to stability problems causing many accidents, it was not until June 1942 that the first of 5500 production models rolled off the assembly. Carrier trials were unsuccessful with many crashing into the flight deck barriers because of the landing gear failures and a bounce characteristic that prevented tail-hook engagement with the cross deck cable. The fleet airarm nicknamed this aircraft “The Beast” another nickname for (SB2C-1C) Helldiver was “Son of a bitch second class” AandAEE names for the American military planes are unprintable and the never saw active service.

The above aircraft were “Kindly!” sold to us on a lease lend deal with the Americans and they were absolutely U S.
The B25/Mitchell and the Tarpon/Avenger were also not required.
The German Feisler/Storch was captured in France.

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