RAF 12 Dilemma

RAF Handley Page Halifax Mk V DK165 MP-E : 76 Squadron RAF Linton-on-Ouse

Royal Air Force

Volume 1 2021

Featured protem on Remembrance Sunday, 13 November 2022

in Memory of four uncles who volunteered for war service and failed to return

First World War

Pt Harry Marshall, British Army (1918)

Pt Frederick Marshall, British Army (1918)

Second World War

Sergeant-Pilot Kenneth Ernest Webb RAF VR (1943)

Flight Sergeant Flight Engineer Harry Alfred Marshall RAF VR (1945)

Dedicated to the Crews of Handley-Page Halifax Mk V DK165 MP-E

 and

Pathfinder Avro Lancaster PB 402 LQ-M

 and 

and all the Crews

of all air forces worldwide

regardless of which side they fought in World War II

Author Note

This composition was written much later than the poem entitled
Air Raid on the Skoda Works Plzen ~ 16-17 1943
which was first published by Spiderwize in Idle Thoughts: An Anthology of poetry and Prose in September 2009. It appears at the end of this much later composition.

Both pieces were written without an incline that on 4 August 2018, as a guest of the German People, I would stand where now rests fragments of the cockpit of DK165.
Some fragments from Ken Webb’s cockpit were also presented to me on that incredible day. This is entirely due to both the German People and Herr Erik Wieman and his Archaeological Team IG Heimat Forschung. I am indebted to Herr Erik Wieman and his Team.

CHAPTER ONE

Dilemma

IT IS Day

Let us never forget, but let this always be a thriving thoroughfare for families, cyclists, joggers, and for all of us who simply want to enjoy the peace and calm of Nature, and to rejoice that no longer do the townspeople of Lachen-Speyerdorf hear the dread approach of Bomber Command. We now stand as one, united, the bridges rebuilt, as indeed I know full well from my own family archive that Ken Webb and his crew would have expected of us. Ken Webb Jnr.

The Consecretion … The Bridges rebuilt … our faith restored … our determination that we will never let this happen again between our peoples. Samstag, August 4. 2018 ~ Pastor Herrn Michael Paul, Pfarrgemeinde Heilig Geist Neustadt, Diözese, Speyer

---

 CHAPTER TWO

76 Squadron RAF Linton-on-Ouse Yorkshire

16-17 April 1943

 

Part I 

Okay Crew, standby for take off ...

Come in rear gunner

Receiving loud and clear skipper

Mid Upper?

Receiving skipper

Bomb Aimer?

Loud and Clear Skipper

Wireless Operator?

All's well, skipper

Navigator?

Loud and clear Skipper

Flight Engineer?

Ready to go Skipper

Okay all - hold on
Okay Flight Engineer let's proceed at pace

Green Light Skip ...

Thanks W/O

Let her roll nice an' easy ... ... 

She's feeling good Skip

Ease her up ... 
Revs please, Engineer!
Give me full throttle
Two hands please ...
... ... thank you Engineer, nice one!!

Okay we're clearing ... ... 
... ... ... A   N   D   lifting gear ...
Up, up and away!

Okay all - a long flight, so settle down.
Navigator, I'm sweeping shallow to port
and climbing to Angels Eight.
Set me a course please.

Okay Skipper,
Set course sou-sou-west 185 degrees
and climbing to Angels Sixteen
... I repeat, angels sixteen ...
ETOT 4.5 hours Skip.

Thank you Navigator.
Weather's good, 
we'll be flying above a storm
over Birmingham

Engineer, trim back please
on One and Four
She's feeling good ...

Crew, we'll do some gentle weaving
for practice
and be prepared for corkscrewing
on the way back ...
So don't complain if you've had too much beakfast ...!

How's it in the astro W/O?

We've got a "little one" 
on your starboard Skip - A Spit

Ah, I see her ...
A lovely sight !

--- 

Each dipped their wings,
the Spitfire then slowly 
peeling off to starboard ...

and the crew 
took to the skies

... their Final Mission ...

---

and all would be well
with the world
even without them
but because of them 

Part II 

... and in the next century

seventy five years on

again, a Saturday,

they were remembered

in a quiet leafy glade

deep in the Forest

their families standing at one

with Germany;

and where the cockpit had lain

where now the Memorial stands,

three oak trees still stand 

in a triangular fashion

an older one already established

when it witnessed their arrival

its companions, slightly younger,

but remaining in place

and as the years became decades

so the scars on the bark healed...

yes ... triangular

three points of a compass

and on a quiet day

dividers saw light again

and rejoined the next of kin

and they were brought

full circle in glorious refrain ...

And when you visit in years to come

and the leaves above you rustle gently,

have no fear

it is but a whisper

of grateful lives remembered

just a fleeting veil as on your face

Kenneth .T. Webb
Flight Lieutenant

In Memory of,
and with grateful thanks
Sergeant-Pilot Kenneth .E. Webb
and
all the Crew of
Handley Page Halifax Mk V DK165 MP-E
and to three families in Germany
Die Familien von
Frau Kraus
und
Frau Watta
und
Frau Rita Schneeweiß

16-17 April 2020

9 October 2021
All Rights Reserved

© Kenneth Thomas Webb 2022

Also Copyright

© Kenneth .T. Webb in Memory of Kenneth .E. Webb and the Webb Crew

The Memorial - Der Gedenkstein Zeremonie - Deutsche Version

The Memorial Ceremony - English Version

---

 Image Courtesy of the Family of Sergeant Pilot Kenneth Ernest Webb 1315766 RAF VR Pilot and Skipper of DK165 MP-E and to whom all rights are reserved

Image Courtesy of the Family of Flight Stanley Braybrook 653562 RAF VR Flight Engineer of DK165 MP-E and to whom all rights are reserved

Image Courtesy of the Family of Sergeant Pilot Kenneth Rees George Williams 1315633 RAF VR Navigator of DK165 MP-E and to whom all rights are reserved

On Saturday 4 August 2018, the Navigators' Dividers - found beneath the ground where the cockpit came to rest and where now stands the Memorial (Der Gedenkstein) - were formally returned to the ownership of Sergeant Navigator Williams's next of kin and Nephew, Mr Huw Williams, in a very moving Ceremony, and for which the thanks of all the families of the Crew are extended to the Archaeologists and Researchers Herr Erik Wieman and Herr Peter Berkel and Herr Wieman’s Team - I G Heimat Forschung Rheinland-Pfalz.

My Grandmother, Isabel Alice Webb, often spoke with great affection of Kenneth Williams (known by his family as Rees) because of the friendship between the two Kens, and it is only now that I realise that their service numbers indicate that there is only a 133 differential between them - in other words, more or less the same Volunteer Reserve Intake in 1941.

  Image Courtesy of the Family of Sergeant Allen Ross R115601 RCAF Wireless Operator-Air Gunner of DK165 MP-E and to whom all rights are reserved

 Image Courtesy of the Family of Sergeant Jack Kay 1079407 RAF VR Bomb Aimer of DK165 MP-E and all rights to this image are reserved to the author as this image was displayed on the mantelpiece by Mr & Mrs H A Webb from 1943 until 1966 and then passed to the author's father.

  Image Courtesy of the Family of Sergeant Leslie Bernard  "Mitch" Mitchell 553053 RAF VR Mid-Upper Gunner of DK165 MP-E and to whom all rights are reserved 

 Mercifully, Mitch survived, coming down in the tail section after the fuselage had broken in two. Les was a Prisoner of War, and let it be noted, not quiescent - making several dangerous attempts to escape. On repatriation in 1945, Les visited the families of his Crew in order to bring them precious news of their sons', brothers' and husband's (Jack Kay) last hours.

 Image Courtesy of the Family of Flight Sergeant Geoffrey Brown 751279 RAF VR "Tail-End Charlie" Rear Gunner - the eyes and ears of DK165 MP-E and all rights to this image are reserved to the author as this image was displayed on the mantelpiece by Mr & Mrs H A Webb from 1943 until 1966 and then passed to the author's father

Geoff had been crewed with my uncle and the navigator Ken Williams since January 1943, flying the Whitley bomber from RAF St Eval conducting anti-submarine sweeps with Coastal Command. Geoff was ‘tail-end-charlie’, and the eyes of the Halifax Crew.

The original Adjutant Manifest

Archival Note by Flight Lieutenant Kenneth .T. Webb RAF VR dated 30 June, 2018 and is the exclusive property of the author and is not to be reproduced except with the author's express (written) approval.

 Herr Erik Wieman (on right) and Herr Peter Berkel
Erik is the Lead Archaologist and of IG Heimat Forschung, Lachen Speyerdorf, Deutschland.

Without this tireless work by Erik and the Team both on this crash site and the other crash sites they are uncovering, as I type, I recall their recovery of a Short Stirling RAF Bomber, a Boeing B17 Flying Fortress and a Douglas Dakota troop carrier, and both I and my family will be forever indebted to Erik and his Team.

All of this first came to light in December 2015.

Until then, my family had assumed that we would never know what really happened and had I been told even earlier that year, that in 2018 I would stand on the actual point at which the cockpit came to rest, that I would learn of Herr Manfred Watta (who sadly died in 2018), the eye-witness to the aircraft's final descent, and of Frau Hedi Kraus and her extraordinary bravery between 1943-1947, I would have suggested that the teller had a vivid imagination.

Let me put it this way.

The work by Erik and IG Heimat Forschung continues for families long after die Zeremonie and Memorial.

We have a new perspective. We have our family archival records; and as we sift through documents and photographs, letters and artefacts, we come face to face with every member of the Crew of DK 165, and this is the same for every family, and for every crash site.

Erik and the entire team of IG Heimatforschung,

I will forever be in your debt.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Indeed all of us.

Kenneth .T. Webb Jr

The original first edition published in 2009

when I genuinely thought that such horror was a thing of the past

Then came Aleppo

Then came Mariupol

In both cities and countries, our former Ally, Russia has descended into totalitarianism and given us this 21st Century’s mirror image of the 20th Century’s Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and Fascist Italy.

CHAPTER THREE

‘Air Raid on the Skoda Works Plzen’ 16-17 April 1943

76 Squadron

Royal Air Force

Linton-on-Ouse

Yorkshire

A Tribute to the Webb Crew

 Sergeant-Pilot Kenneth Ernest Webb RAF VR Skipper (21)

 Sgt Stanley Braybrook 21  (Flight Engineer)

 Sgt Kenneth Rees Williams 21 (Navigator)

 Flt Sgt Allen Ross 20 (Wireless Op & Air Gunner)

Sgt Jack ‘Jackie’ Kay 27 (Bomb Aimer)

Sgt Leslie Mitchell (Mid-upper Gunner)

Flt Sgt Geoffrey Brown 24 (Air Gunner)

I

The instruments are dimmed

the chocks are swept aside

ground crew give that one last

cheer, goodbye and

a thumbs-up too!

We sweep the rudders

and turn on a sixpenny bit

C for Charlie straightens up

and taxis out before us

It’s our turn next

with G for George astern us

The flare arcs high in the sky…

She’s up and away

Linton on Ouse receding below

and on a bearing for York Minster

the rendezvous

then turning starboard

to head over Grimsby,

my heart pounds slightly

but I'm at peace with the world

It’s a horrid tragic thing I do

I have to do it nonetheless

My conscience is clear

but I am deeply saddened

for there is no joy in this,

only fear

II

I wonder what Dad’s doing?

How the petrol is affecting his

chauffeuring?

Oh for Arthur’s guidance and cheeky laugh

Oh for Mum’s hum from the kitchen

and Mum’s laugh

Oh for Des – every older brother’s nightmare…

I adore him to bits

Let’s do the checks

Okay boys – check-in, please

Tail gunner?

Mid Upper?

Nose gunner

Bomb aimer?

The twin towers of Lincoln

Cathedral…

Will they pass me below?

If they do, we’ve succeeded!

We’re coming back home…

My heart misses a beat

Will I see them again?

It is dark

but up here we can see the hint of light

blackness shimmering…

transformation from land to sea

Okay

Test your guns

We’re over the sea

Watch for night fighters

III

This is a long one

It’s calm as we cross France

But Pilsen?

Skoda?

One thousand it’s rumoured…

That’s four thousand engines

A harbinger of death to those below

Not all enemy either

But will we get back?

For they’ll surely be up

Waiting for us

I've not done this before

None of us has…

To bomb Berlin is bad enough

But Pilsen?

That takes the biscuit

That silly piece of paper in 1938

would not have seen me flying here

If people kept their word

“Peace in our time”

That’s a joke!

Five years ago – that’s all

And here I am – all of us

flying deepest yet

into Occupied Europe

Yes.

Chamberlain meant well

But thank G-D for Churchill

IV

What must it be like down there?

Just what are those peoples going through?

Do they really all believe in a maniac?

Are they really so deluded?

Or are there Germans like Mum and Dad

who despise the web they're caught up in?

V

She’s constant and trimmed

A slight yaw from the crosswind

buffeting too…

VI

We’re over Berdendorf Skipper

Five minutes from the border

Ken's voice is always calm

A damned good navigator too

Indeed, I've got the pick of the bunch

My Crew

Mum and Dad did us proud 

when we called in

Ha-ha! Made Mum's day

Dad's grinning from ear to ear

Chuckling...

You're going to be in trouble Ken

You've got muddy boots!

A sense of calm despite the flak

But we’re holding well

No night fighters yet

We’ve caught them out

But they’ll be up and waiting;

at least without our payload

I can get some extra speed

But will it be enough?

I don't know

We’re crossing now Skipper

We’re eight minutes to target

I can see it ahead

It’s already lit up

C for Charlie is going in

We’re in her slipstream

The command comes through

from the lead plane;

we all release on his Bomb Aimer’s say so!

The flak is very heavy now…

Colossal in fact…hell!

A row of staccato taps right down amidships

But we’re still holding!

Bombs Gone!

An upsurge, a violent uplift

From the sudden weightlessness of

The bombload gone

Stan calmly applies his hand

To the throttles with me

Giving her that extra boost

We’ve got her skipper

I pull the column deep into my gut

Engines are responding well

The altimeter rising

We’ve got to get her above this ack-ack

It’s murderous

A sea of searchlights

probing the sky like tentacles

Can I fly down the beam again?

If I get caught?

I'd be tempting Providence

Hell on earth this is!

I wonder what Dad’s doing?

Wish I could hear his voice now

So calming

Got to get the lads back safely

Ease the controls

Like Dad showed me his gear changes

in Miss Bellhouse's Convertible

I wonder if Dad's driven General Lord Ismay again?

They had a right old chat last time

And I like Ismay

He congratulated me on my Matriculation

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in his briefings

with Churchill!

Whoomph!!!! Whoomph!!!!

Violent yaw to starboard

Port engine outer screaming

Stan trim her!

Bank to left … left … left … left… … …

Come on girl…

Come on beauty you can do it

Sliding round

A Black shadow passes below us

Hell Skipper

That was close

Ken Williams calmly calls up from his perch

A Halifax – too dark to make out

Starts to fall, almost grace-like...

Never mind

Concentrate

Hold her steady

Steady

Steady

Got her Skipper

Outer Port is feathering

Thank you, Engineer

Trim her

You did well there

VII

Phew! Thank G-D for that!

She’s flying well but controls are stiff

We inch her round

coaxing like I’d coax a lady…

with great respect and gentleness…

and we have our usual quiet banter

but very respectful

you don’t joke about things

when doing this manoeuvre

it’s like we all speak from the heart…

Like we all hope we’ll do this for real one day

Like we’ll all see our children

Even though "Grandad Jack"

Gets ribbed mercilessly

But then he’s all of twenty-seven!

What does he expect? Ha-ha!

In peacetime

I'm going to fly an airline!

Bette [1] likes the idea of that

I pull her leg I know,

but Arthur doesn’t mind

We all get on well, Pat [2] too

Got to stay positive

Thank G-D Des got me that engagement ring

VIII

Over Germany now

This is nasty

It’s vile

You can feel the evil reaching up

and clutching you

venomous, satanic

Keep calm

Hold her steady

The flak is terrifying…even worse

Crew check-in please… …

Watch out for night-fighters chaps!

IX

An explosion

Hold it

A violent lurch that thwacks

Through the controls

hitting me in the gut

Flick the switch on my mask

The smell of leather

The smell of fire and cordite too

… the smell of fear

a slight wobbling in my stomach

Keep calm Webb

I tell myself…

Mitch go back and check… …

The twin towers of Lincoln just

too far away now…

X

Saint Matthew’s Church

on a Sunday morning

Cheltenham last Autumn

The Choir and harmless fun in the pew

Mum, Dad and Des over there

…and of the Holy Spirit…

Mum bows her head towards East

Amen

The Great Organ

Mendelssohn played,

defiant to a crooked cross

and played again in 1986

Vanessa my niece

at Prestbury Church

XI

The next explosion blew

the ship apart

But I'm safe now

No more pain

It was swift, sudden

merciless, decisive

and I glimpsed them too

The Host of Heaven

That’s when I knew we’d win

but others would carry the baton,

not me, not us…

to the finishing line

XII

That’s my nephew

Gosh he’s fifty

chatting away in the Albert Dock!

Takes after his Dad I bet

Another chatterbox

Drove Mum mad ha-ha!

But look at that

the young people with him!

German, Polish, Italian

South African, American

Russian – all of ‘em

laughing, joking, working together

Well, I’ll be damned!

Our lives weren’t wasted after all

And in the end,

he got his Wings too

even if he did turn out of wind

on a solo!!

Only my nephew could do a silly thing like that!

Endnotes

[1] Bette Webb – the Portrait Cover of Idle Thoughts

[2] Pat Freeman, Bette's younger sister, lately Lady Mayoress of Cheltenham

Photos:

1 Alabama

2 me

3 Life is Good

4 Braybrook S

5 Fuselage in trees (main image)

6 Bette Webb

13 November 2022
All Rights Reserved


LIVERPOOL

Written 2009 when not all present information was available.

© 2022 Kenneth Thomas Webb