COMBAT AND COMPETITION.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

CHAPTER FOUR TYPHOON
airfield, looked out across the coast towards Arromanches and
Mulberry - a scene of never ending activity with men and materials
continuing to flood ashore.
Wing Ops was located on the edge of the orchard in two trailer
vans parked close together, covered in camouflage netting, their
awnings protecting the briefing area from the worst of the weather.
Here, if not airborne, were to be found Denys Gillam, now
commanding 146 Wing, and the Wing Leader. Here too were the
army/air liaison and intelligence sections. This was the nerve centre -
where sorties were planned and the squadrons were briefed - situated
on the boundary between the two parts of our lives. The orchard and
the air.
A large scale map under perspex showed the whole beach head and
the battle areas. It was covered in chinagraph markings - the bomb
line, inside which nothing must be attacked - and the enemy units
beyond. Crack divisions, SS and Panzer, stiffened the defences. The
elite of Hitler's Armies.
In Normandy they faced a stronger enemy, who possessed
devastating air superiority, and we could not but admire their tenacity
and courage as they strove to hold the line.
The enigma of the German nation, their fanaticism, their
willingness to fight and die for such an evil cause, occupied many a
conversation with Neville Thomas. Usually in the late evenings,
catching up on his battle map. It was a subject which fascinated us
both, but we never reached any conclusions.
Tommy', the Senior Intelligence Officer, was old by our standards.
He must have been at least 35! and the future bank manager was just
beginning to show through. Very much at the centre of things, shrewd
and capable, he had learned to keep his own counsel. Just occasionally
he might unburden himself, to an audience of one or two, especially
if there was a bottle around. Because Tommy enjoyed nothing better
than a quiet session with a few intimate friends.
The orchard at St Croix sur Mer will always recall the legend of
Reggie Baker. For it was there at dusk, after his grave had been found,
that Jimmy Simpson told the story again. A Wing show which he was
leading, late in the day, had run into intense flak. Hit and diving
almost vertically out of control he had called his squadrons - calm and
confident on the radio - and turned them away from the murderous
barrage - in the last moments of his life.....
As Jimmy s voice died away the bursting shells were all around
45