Castle Bromwich Archives - Page 4 of 9

Flight Sergeant Peter Bode

February 25, 2015 by William Dargue 3 Comments

Flight Sergeant Peter Bode of Ward End was killed in action over the Netherlands on 21 September 1944 aged 21. He is buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Wijchen in the Netherlands and is commemorated on his mother’s tombstone in Castle Bromwich graveyard.

During the Second World War Peter Bode was the tail gunner in a Stirling supply plane piloted by Warrant Officer Mark Azouz as part of Operation Market Garden in September 1944. This was an unsuccessful attempt by Field Marshall Montgomery to invade Germany over the Lower Rhine and encircle the Germany’s industrial heartland of the Ruhr from the north. Large numbers of troops were dropped by parachute and supplied from the air by hundreds of missions like the ones Peter Bode was involved in.

Stirling aircraft used to supply troops during Operation Market Garden

At noon on Thursday 21 September Mark Azouz took off from Keevil airfield in Wiltshire with 10 other aircraft of the 196th Squadron and parachuted in 24 containers of supplies for the British troops at Arnhem. This was the crew’s fourth supply flight in five days. As the plane turned and made for England, it was hit by flak from German anti-aircraft guns on the ground and then chased by several German FW109 fighters. Sgt Bode fired at the enemy aircraft and hit one of them. However, two of the engines of his own plane were hit and caught fire.

Azouz struggled to keep the Stirling in the air, as the crew put on their parachutes and bailed out. Fire and smoke were pouring from the engines and the plane began to dive. Pilot Azouz abandoned the controls and ran back to the body of the aircraft to make his escape. He found the compartment empty and the crew of seven all gone, with the exception of Peter Bode. He was dead in his seat in the rear gun turret, riddled with gun shots.

Less than 15 metres above the ground, Mark Azouz jumped from the plane and was almost immediately shot dead by German gunfire. The Stirling bomber came to rest in a flooded field, the lifeless body of Peter Bode still on board.

Warrant Officer Azouz is buried at Jonkerbos near Arnhem.

Flight Sergeant Peter Harold Bode is buried in the Roman Catholic cemetery in nearby Wijchen.

The inscription on his grave reads:

1583111 Flight Sergeant
P. H. BODE
Air Gunner
Royal Air Force
21st September 1944
Age 21
My beloved son
Safe in the arms of Jesus
Safe on his gentle Breast
“Until”

When Peter Bode’s mother died only six years later, she was buried in Castle Bromwich graveyard and an inscription was also put on the gravestone commemorating her brave son.

Acknowledgements: This article has been developed from research by Terrie Knibb and the Castle Bromwich Youth & Community Partnership. For more information about the Castle Bromwich Graveyard Project go to http://castlebromwichgraveyard.co.uk/.

A Death Away from Home

February 22, 2015 by William Dargue 1 Comment

Lucien Higgs’ fatal crash on a training flight from Castle Bromwich in 1917 ended his hopes of fighting the Germans who had invaded his home country of Belgium.

Higgs had been born in Belgium in 1892 in Schaerbeek, a well-to-do suburb of Brussels. With Higgs as his surname, and the English middle names of John Herbert, it may be that his father was British and his mother Belgian. Records show that he moved to Antwerp, 30 miles away from Schaerbeek, before 1915 and that he was in England by 1917.

The Germans invaded Belgium early in August 1914 and thousands of Belgian refugees crossed the English Channel to Britain. The numbers were enormous: on one day in October 16,000 refugees arrived at Folkestone alone.

During the four years of the First World War, it is estimated that a quarter of million Belgians found safety in this country. Many of those of fighting age volunteered to sign up in the military at the Belgian Embassy at London’s Eaton Square.

On 30 May 1917 Higgs was promoted from cadet to a temporary 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps. This was a a role that might involve being in charge of a platoon. The class system which operated in the forces had broken down because of the sheer numbers of troops involved in the war and the enormous death rate. By 1917 anyone with some education and/or initiative would be promoted to fill the gaps.

Training to Fly

One month later Lieutenant Higgs was being trained to fly at Castle Bromwich Aerodrome. The Maurice Farman S.11 Shorthorn was used for reconnaissance and bombing raids at the beginning of the war but by 1917 it was being used solely for training new pilots.

The priority for Castle Bromwich No.5 Training Squadron was to get as many young men airborne and off to the Front as quickly as possible. On Friday 8 June, 25 year-old Lucien Higgs took off in a Shorthorn on his first solo flight having had only 3¼ hours dual instruction.

Lucien Higgs' Aircraft, a S11-Shorthorn — Lucien Higgs’ Aircraft, a S11-Shorthorn

It is thought that Higgs must have got lost. The Farman Shorthorn had a range of over 200 miles and a top speed of 66 mph.

Higgs had been in the air for three hours and he knew that he was getting very low on petrol. He must have decided to make an emergency landing before his fuel ran out.

He did not know it but he was flying over Northamptonshire and still some 50 miles from his base at Castle Bromwich. If he had not tried to land, he would have crashed anyway.

His aircraft was seen by Blisworth villager Edwin Freeston. He watched as the pilot attempted to land in a field of clover. As the plane touched down, it suddenly stopped, tipped over forwards and was wrecked. Freeston ran for help as Higgs lay unconscious in the remains of the plane. He was taken to Blisworth railway station a quarter of a mile away and then taken by train to Northampton General Hospital. Higgs had a fractured skull and never regained consciousness. He died the following day.

Inquest into the Crash

At the inquest his instructor was of the opinion that Higgs had landed with the wind behind him and that the field sloped downhill. This would explain why the plane tipped over forwards. What the instructor failed to say was that Higgs did not have the experience yet to fly solo and could not have been expected to know how to make an emergency landing in unforeseen circumstances. Sadly he was one of many trainees from Castle Bromwich who never made it as far as the War.

Lucien Higgs' Gravestone — Lucien Higgs’ Gravestone

Lieutenant Higgs’ body was brought back to Castle Bromwich where Rev Bickersteth would have presided over his funeral. His memorial is not the usual one supplied by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission but a private one, presumably paid for by members of his family.The gravestone is in the shape of a cross with the simple inscription:

‘In loving memory of Lucien Herbert J Higgs – Killed while flying’.

A Sad and Sudden End to a Distinguished Career

February 22, 2015 by William Dargue 2 Comments

On 29th July 1950 Wing Commander Arthur Mobley lost his life at one of the last air shows at Castle Bromwich Airfield. Tragically, his wife and young son were witnesses to the event.

Arthur Mobley was born in 1913. During the Second World War he served with the No.37 squadron at Feltwell in Norfolk, flying Wellington bombers as a Flight Lieutenant. Having joined the RAF in 1937, he was 26 years old when the war started and rose to the rank of Wing Commander in the RAF.

Flying Wellington Bombers

Mobley flew in the Wellington bomber N2980 which was involved in many bombing sorties including the Heligoland Bight raid in December 1939, when over half the 22 Wellingtons were shot down by the Germans. During 1939 and 1940 the plane took part in 14 bombing raids from Feltwell.

Fortunately, Arthur Mobley was not on board the aircraft’s last flight, a training exercise over Loch Ness in on the last day of December in 1940. The plane developed engine trouble and the crew were forced to bail out. All survived except for the tail gunner whose parachute failed to open. The Wellington crashed into the deep waters of the loch.

The photograph show Arthur Mobley (centre back) with the s0 called Loch Ness Wellington N2980 at Feltwell in 1940. — The photograph show Arthur Mobley (centre back) with the so called Loch Ness Wellington N2980 at Feltwell in 1940.

Remarkably, in 1976 the Wellington N2980 was discovered by an American underwater team searching for the Loch Ness monster; it was successfully salvaged in 1985 in a state of surprisingly good preservation. When connected to a battery the aircraft’s lights still worked! The Wellington was taken to the Brooklands Museum in Surrey, the site where it had been manufactured 46 years previously and where it can still be seen.

Becoming an RAF Instructor

After the war Arthur Mobley became an RAF flying instructor and it was in this role that he made his final flight.

Castle Bromwich Airfield (now the site of Castle Vale) had been the venue for the Birmingham air shows from 1927. (The 1950s were to see the last of them.) Arthur Mobley, now 36 and a veteran with some 4000 flying hours to his name, had been appointed as deputy chief flying instructor at No.5 Castle Bromwich Reserve Flying School. It was the beginning of the school holidays and his wife Rita and nine-year-old son Terry had come up from their home in Wallingford, Berkshire to see Arthur take part in the flying displays.

Last Flight in a Tiger Moth

It was towards the end of the day. Rita Mobley was sitting in their car watching the final displays with son Terry when her husband came over to say that he had one more flight to make. He was taking up Flying Officer John Deighton of Handsworth, an RAF pilot serving in the Volunteer Reserve for some practice. Deighton liked to keep his hand in.

A Tiger Moth at Castle Bromwich Aerodrome

Four Tiger Moths took off flying in formation with Mobley as leader. The aircraft then broke away to perform a loop, first diving then ascending sharply. Mobley took the controls from Deighton. As the plane started to climb, it stalled and then spun down to the ground, crashing in a nearby field. Young Terry and his mother witnessed the crash, but did not know until afterwards that it was Arthur who had been the pilot.

Arthur’s pupil, John Deighton, remarkably survived, though badly injured with fractured ribs and a fractured leg. He spent six weeks in hospital and later appeared at the inquest on crutches.

Accidental Death Verdict

Deighton testified at the inquest that Mobley had taken over the controls before the breakaway. At the end of the dive, Deighton had blacked-out. When he came to the plane was spinning towards the earth.

Testimony was also given by Squadron Leader Ronald Chalmers, the chief flying instructor of the Flying School. In a very recent medical check Mobley had been pronounced A1 fit. In the light of the steepness of the climb and Deighton’s black-out, he assumed that Mobley too had blacked-out and was then unable to regain control of the aircraft.

In his summing up, Birmingham Coroner Dr W H Davison said that Flight Lieutenant Mobley had been shown to be a skilled and experienced pilot and that it was reasonable to assume that a black-out had been the cause of his fatal crash. The jury recorded a verdict of accidental death.

An Australian Aviator

February 22, 2015 by William Dargue Leave a Comment

Australian Corporal Clifford Ryder was one of many airmen who met their death at Castle Bromwich during the First World War.

His parents Alfred and Eliza were from Newton Abbot, Devon and had emigrated to Australia, setting up home in Sydney where Clifford was born in 1893, the youngest of five sons.

Enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force in October 1916, his unit set sail from Melbourne to fight the war in Europe on board RMS Omrah in the following January. One month later and Ryder found himself at Castle Bromwich airfield. Having trained as a motor mechanic in civilian life, he was soon put to work as a fitter maintaining and repairing aircraft.

Castle Bromwich airfield had been set up in 1915 to train new pilots. Airmen from Commonwealth countries and from the United States trained there with British recruits.

These were early days in the history of flight. In little more than a decade from the first successful powered flight, aeroplanes were being used in warfare. Understandably, accidents were common. At Castle Bromwich there were over 70 incidents with some 30 deaths and over 50 crew injured, many seriously.

Clifford Ryder’s unit had been posted to Warloy Baillon near Amiens in France; some were there already. The intention was that all would be over in France before the end of the year.

On 10th April 1917 Corporal Ryder took off from Castle Bromwich on a training flight in a Sopwith 1½ Strutter biplane with 2nd Lieutenant John Williamson in the pilot’s seat.Ryder sat aft in the gunner’s position. It was their last flight. Although the cause of the crash is unknown, the result was that the plane fell to earth in fields near Ullesthorpe in Leicestershire.

Williamson seems to have died on impact; Ryder was taken to Ullesthorpe Military Hospital (now a hotel) and died shortly after arrival there.

He was brought back to Castle Bromwich and buried with full military honours in the graveyard opposite the church of St Mary & St Margaret.

1917 Clifford Ryder funeral — Clifford Ryder’s Funeral

A Tragic Accident

February 18, 2015 by William Dargue Leave a Comment

The Grave of Richard Turner Chattock — The Ward Family Tomb in Castle Bromwich Graveyard

It was a cold wet Monday in early October when 21-year-old medical student Douglas Ward rode from his home at Shaw Hill in Upper Saltley to team up with his old friend Richard Turner Chattock. The two had arranged for a day’s hunting. In 1858 both Shaw Hill and Castle Bromwich were areas of Warwickshire countryside where well-to-do young gentlemen found sport shooting the abundant wildlife of the woods and fields.

Richard Chattock was descended of an old Castle Bromwich family but now lived with his parents in Kentish Town, London where his father Edward Turner Chattock was a merchant in iron and tinplate. The two had come up to Castle Bromwich on a visit to Edward’s uncle Thomas Chattock who lived at Hay Hall.

With farmer’s son, John Powell and another friend, they set out to hunt rabbits.

The weather was cold, damp and miserable and at the end of the day the four huntsmen had managed to bag only a single rabbit and decided to make their way home.

Douglas Ward led the way back home. Richard Chattock followed on behind wiping his double-barrelled flintlock shotgun with his handkerchief. As he put the handkerchief back in his pocket, the gun went off, the shot hitting Ward square in the middle of his back. The medical student fell to the ground senseless. In panic Chattock dropped his gun, then picked it up and threw it over the roadside hedge.

The two other companions ran up to help their friend but so great was his pain that he could not bear to be touched. A farm gate served as a make-shift stretcher and they gently carried the injured man to the Bradford Arms nearby. During the whole episode no-one had spoken a word.

Surgeon Henry Bailey of Coleshill was sent for. He arrived to find Douglas Ward lying on his face in great pain: “I am dying, Bailey. Good bye.” Ward blamed no one for the accident and shook hands with Chattock. The latter asked for forgiveness which was freely given. Several hours after the incident ward expired in the presence of his friends.

The inquest was held at the Bradford Arms under the chairmanship of the district coroner, Mr W S Poole, with well-respected local schoolmaster John Blewitt as foreman of the jury.

Evidence was given by John Powell, by Thomas and Edward Chattock, by Mr Bailey and by Richard Turner Chattock himself. He was so overcome with emotion he could barely be heard. He expressed his very deep regret at having been the cause of his friend’s death.

Coroner Poole said he would not add to Richard Chattock’s distress by making the inquiry longer than necessary and recommended to the jury that a verdict of Accidental Death would be appropriate. He expressed the view that in this case the innocent cause of the fatal accident was as much to be pitied as the victim.

Douglas Ward was buried in the family tomb.

Douglas’s grave can be seen in Castle Bromwich graveyard opposite the church of St Mary & St Margaret where his funeral service was conducted by the priest in charge, Rev Edwin Kempson. The grave lies not far from the main gate on the right hand side.

Notes:
Douglas Ward lived at Shaw Hill House in Upper Saltley which still stands. Built in the mid-18th century, it still lay in countryside far from the industrial town of Birmingham one hundred years later when Douglas met his sad end. The Ward family, after whom the district of Ward End is named, had lived in the area since the Middle Ages.

Likewise, the family of Richard Chattock who could also trace his ancestry back in this area to medieval times when an ancestor built a house within a moat near the River Tame at Bromford.

Images
A Birmingham flintlock gun of the kind that would have been used by Richard Chattock, manufactured probably by or for Matthew Boulton c.1791. Image copyright of Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery on Flickr and reusable under a non-commercial sharealike Creative Commons licence.

Hunting for rabbits from ‘Confessions of a Poacher’ 1890 by an anonymous author.

The Ward family tomb in Castle Bromwich graveyard. Image by William Dargue, reusable under a non-commercial sharealike Creative Commons licence.