蜜芽传媒

by David van Vlymen RAF 1940-46.

In 1940 at the age of 18, I volunteered for duty in the Royal Air Force. I was rejected for aircrew due to eyesight, so went through 26 weeks being trained as an airframe fitter after which I was posted to 13 MU Henlow, a Maintenance Unit 50 miles North of London. There we slept 40 to a room in double-tier bunk-beds, and because of the blackout we could not open any windows after dark, everyone smoked, so you can imagine what the atmosphere was like. We queued to wash in the mornings, queued for the toilet, and queued for food, in fact queued for everything. The war was going badly for Britain and it is difficult to convey the underlying gloominess which existed in many of us under an outward cheeriness.

But in 1943 the tide began to turn. In North Africa the British 8th Army dug in, regrouped and then attacked, and by May had pushed the enemy out of Africa. Although air raids on the UK were less frequent and the RAF were hitting Germany hard, the German V1 pilot-less bombs were a new and harrowing experience.

During my years at Henlow I worked on several types of aircraft including Hampdens, Beaufighters, Wellingtons, Hurricans and Mosquitos and flew on many test flights with the latter. On detachment I also went to several Royal Canadian Airforce squadrons in Yorkshire to modify the fins and rudders of their Halifax bombers. Then in April 1944 a request was made for volunteers to form the 2nd TAF, that's the 2nd Tactical Air Force, which was to be part of the invasion forces, many of us jumped at the chance to be in on the action of liberating France. After placing our names on the list we waited patiently for the call.

In June 1944 the invasion started, but our little band of volunteers had heard nothing and we were still in England wondering when we would be called to participate. We didn't have long to wait, after 14 days embarkation leave we reported to Morecombe in the North of England, and were issued tropical gear; khaki shorts, pith helmet etc. Of course we questioned this saying 鈥渢hey don鈥檛 wear these things in France鈥� but were told it was just a blind to fool any German spies, the gear would be taken from us later.

But after a few days we boarded a special train which took us alongside a huge ship in the Liverpool docks. It was the luxury liner ss. Stratheden, but instead of her usual 500 cruise passengers her cabins had been stripped out and she was turned into a troop ship carrying 5,000. After everyone was aboard the ship was anchored away from the docks so that if anyone had any idea about getting off they could forget it.

After a short stop in Grenock, we formed convoy off the coast of Northern Ireland, it consisted of about 9 sloops or sub-chasers of the Royal Navy who formed a 鈥淰鈥� to spearhead the convoy. On one side was a Cruiser and on the other an Aircraft carrier. The convoy consisted of two troop ships, a hospital ship and about 6 freighters. Every few minutes in response to a blast from a ship's siren, every ship simultaneously changed course about 20 degrees, first to port then to starboard to fool any lurking U-Boats, it was thus we zigzagged our way into the Atlantic heading for goodness knows where.

I had a small compass with me so each day I would check which way we were heading, it was South-West and we were well past Gibraltar and on our way to South American, but then one morning, after 5 days, I found we had turned North-East and were making a bee-line for Gibraltar, the gateway to the Mediterranean. As we neared, the waters became very calm and the German submarines were waiting. Action started, the alarm sounded and we watched as two sub-chasers quickly peeled away and raced back, dropping depth-charges, meanwhile the Aircraft Carrier had turned into wind and released two aircraft which circled the area. Whether they got anything or not we never knew, but no ship in the convoy was hit.

That night we lost our escort and all ships formed single file and under cover of darkness crawled through the straights of Gibraltar. It was all very tense and exciting, I think everyone was on deck around midnight to see us pass the shore lights of Tangiers, because of the UK blackout we had not seen any such lights for years. So far we had been at sea for a week on a journey that would have normally taken 2 days.

Next morning when I went on deck it was bright sunlight and to the right was the Sahara Desert stretching as far as the eye could see. It was getting warm, too warm to sleep below decks, so after lunch we would claim our space for sleeping on deck that night. There were bodies everywhere and no room for everyone, that鈥檚 why we had to claim a space early. We would be woken at some ungodly hour by the crew as they hosed down the decks, it was routine.

As we headed through the Mediterranean we were attacked by air, but again we were lucky and no one was hurt. We arrived intact at Port Said, Egypt, and after a couple of days continued on through the Suez Canal. It was then full steam ahead down the Red Sea to Aden where we disembarked a few unfortunate army men, I say unfortunate because it looked a dreadful and desolate place. Then we reformed convoy and headed across the Arabian Sea to Bombay, we had arrived at our final destination and the journey had taken 30 days.

In a large hall at a transit camp we were given a welcoming speech with the words 鈥淲elcome to India, married men are here for 3 years, single men for 4 years, if you get home at all." Two weeks later we were put aboard a troop train which was our home for four days and nights,
making its way into central India where I joined No.322 Maintenance Unit at R.A.F. Cawnpore.

I reported to a workshop and was asked my trade, I said I was an airframe fitter and was informed 鈥渨e have enough of those, we鈥檙e short of electricians, you are going to be an electrician, report to Sgt. Pike on the airfield鈥�. I did just that and Sgt. Pike said 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want an electrician, can you drive a tractor?鈥� I said 鈥測es鈥� so I started my 2 years in India as a tractor driver towing aircraft about.

It was not long before I became a fully fledged driver in the Motor Transport Section handling everything from lorries, petrol-bowsers, articulated vehicles and mobile cranes. It was a job with a lot of variety so it made my stay in India very interesting.

On May 7th 1945 the war in Europe ended and we celebrated VE day with a bottle of beer and a bonfire. On September 2nd 1945 the Japanese formally surrendered in Tokyo Bay, our war was at last over and we waited patiently eager to return home to Britain.

Throughout South-East Asia Command, camp debating societies flourished, becoming lively centers of discussion about the new post-war world. At home a new Labour government was elected and in Europe, American forces stationed in Germany were holding parades for speedier demobilization.

Then in January 1946, some five months after VJ-Day, the airmen of RAF Bamhrauli, in India, were preparing for their morning parade. The station warrant officer, looking out from his office across the parade ground, watched the Indian pipe band begin to form up. Outside the huts 2,000 British airmen began to assemble, and then moved off towards the parade ground.

The station warrant officer noted that the airmen looked smart and well disciplined as their marching columns converged on the parade square. Then the unthinkable happened. As each contingent arrived at the periphery of the parade ground they veered away, marching determinedly towards the huge camp cinema. The RAF station had gone on strike!

Inside the cinema, which was a vast converted hanger, the airmen sat quietly. They heard the sound of the pipe band play the officers onto the parade ground, and the bugle sounding the general salute as the RAF Ensign was raised. They watched and sat silently as the CO and his staff walked onto the cinema stage. At the Station Warrant-Officer's command the airmen came smartly to their feet. The CO stepped forward; clearly shaken by the event, he told the men to sit and asked for their explanation.

Speaker after speaker from all parts of the cinema stood up in turn. They said that their action was directed against neither the officers or the RAF. They wanted to go home now that the war had ended. Demobilization was painfully slow for men who had been away from their families for three or four years without any home leave. They were civilians who had willingly done their duty for their country while it was at war, but they were not prepared to now have their return delayed for reasons of imperial policy.

The airmen's demands had been drawn up the previous evening in the camp canteen. All the lights had been extinguished and one airman, disguising his voice with a pencil held in his mouth, had acted as organizer. It had been agreed that there would be no obvious strike leaders. Delegates from every section would serve on the strike committee; discipline was to be firmly maintained, and officers would be saluted but otherwise ignored. All essential services would be kept running under committee instructions, and there would be close control of the armoury. The main aim of the strike, it was agreed, would be to obtain a firm statement from the government of a speedy demobilization.

On airfield after airfield across the Middle East and the Far East a similar pattern of events was taking place. The strikes appeared to follow a course from Cairo in Egypt through Palestine and India to Singapore.

The first news about the strikes reached the British public on January 24th 1946 when The Times reported that 2,000 airmen at Mauripur, in India, had began a "stay in strike". Not reported was that the airmen had addressed a petition to the new Prime Minister, Mr. Attlee, saying: "We have done the job we joined up to do. Now we want to get back home, both for personal reasons and because we think it is by work that we can best help Britain. No indication has been given of when we will see our families again.

Two days later, on January 26th an Air Ministry statement admitted that "airmen at several overseas stations have recently staged a so-called "strike" on account of grievances, real or imaginary, about the rate of demobilization".

At Dum Dum, the Calcutta airfield, 1,200 men stopped work. Four thousand airmen at Singapore held parades demanding the presence of the Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia. They were eventually addressed by Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, Comander-in-Chief, SEAC. The Times reported on January 27th: "Twelve hundred men at Dum Dum, Calcutta, have been on strike since midnight on Friday. The men have no complaints against the authorities at the camp, with whom they are on the best of terms. The commanding officer, Air Commodore Slee, had a friendly discussion with them and a delegation of the strikers also talked with Major Wyatt of the Parliamentary delegation visiting India.

With the strike now spread over a wide area Air Vice Marshal Sir Roderick Carr, AOC, BAFSEA, signaled the Air Ministry: "I deplore the action of the airmen, but owing to the widespread nature of the incidents I cannot suggest any alternative to a general Government statement."

Although the Air Ministry believed the strikes were the work of professional agitators,
remarkably few arrests were made. RAF Special Investigation Branch men were infiltrated into a number of camps but the deeply suntanned airmen took delight in spotting the newcomers' by their white knees.

The full weight of military discipline fell on LAC Norris Harold Cymbalist, a radar operator at RAF Singapore. Cymbalist was charged with incitement to mutiny and with insubordination. Evidence was given at his court marshal that he had called on three hundred airmen to strike in sympathy with others and had used insubordinate language to a squadron leader. He was sentenced to 10 years and given a dishonorable discharged.

A substantial volume of protest built up in Britain when news of the arrests reached the general public. As a result of public pressure two airmen were released after serving two months of their imprisonment and another subsequently released on medical grounds, having suffered a breakdown. In the House of Commons, The Air Minister announced that the sentence on Cymbalist would be reduced to 5 years.

By the end of January 1946 the striking airmen began to return to normal duties in response to assurances of speedier demobilization. The first strike in the history of the RAF was over. In February 1946 a court of inquiry was set up It found that the airmen's complaints had not been directed against their own officers or RAF authorities. The strikes had followed a similar pattern and had common demands. There was no evidence of intimidation or violence against regular or loyal airmen. The court noted that the overwhelming majority of men were merely civilians in uniform. Years later this was all reported in an article in "The Aeroplane" a British magazine.

As a driver at Cawnpore, I had the job of taking section delegates to meetings that were held in a darkened hanger, and at which a spokesman advised us of the proposed strike and why it was thought necessary and when it would start. Delegates relayed this information to the men.

It was all about the slow rate of demobilization. Instead of coming to pick us up, the two largest British ships "Queen Mary" and "Queen Elizabeth" were being used to ferry GI brides from England to the USA and this inflamed our discontent. Each year some airmen died from the 120 degree heat that Cawnpore experienced in the summer so our desire to get out of India and return home now that the war was over was very strong indeed. All the officers and NCOs were in favour of it, they felt exactly the same as we did.

During the strike all our essential services at Cawnpore were maintained, guard duties, hospital and medical facilities, cookhouses, etc. but all flying and work on aircraft was curtailed. Any services other than those considered essential could only be undertaken with the consent of the airman who was in charge of the station strike. We at Cawnpore had no idea that the strike was so widespread. Until I read that article in "The Aeroplane" I thought it was confined to just the RAF stations in India.

There is no doubt in my mind that as a result of that strike the rate of demobilization quickened considerably. I was delighted when, about two months after it ended I made the train journey back to Bombay and after a couple of weeks waiting, was able to see what all of us had been longing to see - the sight of India disappearing over the stern of our homeward bound ship!

The return journey in 1946 followed the same route as going out, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, Suez Canal, Mediterranean and the Atlantic but this time not in convoy. The "ss. Otranto" an Orient Line troopship was at full speed ahead and we docked at Southampton after about 20 days.

As we neared England the ship's loudspeaker system announced that on the port bow the most southerly part of England, "Start Point" could be seen. Wow - what a moment that was, the ship leaned to port as 5,000 men rushed to the rails to have their first look at England after years away.

David van Vlymen.

To see photographs taken during my service in India please go to:
www.pbase.com/ashley69/india