|
|
|
RAF Gransden Lodge
Gransden Lodge opened as a satellite of Tempsford early in 1942. A typical wartime station, well dispersed and unusually set away from roads and amidst fields, it had the customary three runways,'036'of 2,000yards and two of 1,400yards. There were two'T2'hangars and a 'Bl', along with 36 hardstandings.
Trials of Gee, the navigation aid, were conducted from Gransden Lodge. The airfields was home to No 1474 Flight from July 1942 who were later renamed as 192 squadron. They flew Wellingtons, Halifaxes, Mosquitoes and Ansons in in the role of enemy signal investigation.
The station's main runway was maintained into the 1950s for emergency use. Today the airfield is used by the Cambridge Gliding Club.
10th July 1942 Special Wireless Unit relocated
9th October 1942 German wireless comms investigation
11th October 1942 Sweep over Bay of Biscay
28th October 1942 Sweeps from St Eval
11th November 1942 Wireless investigation from Lossiemouth
20th November 1942 Wireless investigations from Cornwall
28th November 1942 Special duties Flight receives Mosquitos
3rd December 1942 Radio investigation flight seeks to provoke fighter attack
18th December 1942 Wellington lost on wireless test flight
4th January 1943 Wireless investigation squadron formed
25th January 1943 Wellington crashed on first flight
26th January 1943 Operations resumed
7th February 1943 Aircraft and crew detached to the Med
5th March 1943 Exercise Spartan
5th March 1943 Exercise Spartan
6th March 1943 Exercise Spartan
6th March 1943 Exercise Spartan
7th March 1943 Exercise Spartan
7th March 1943 Investigation Flights from Cornwall and Scotland
8th March 1943 Exercise Spartan
8th March 1943 Exercise Spartan
9th March 1943 Exercise Spartan
9th March 1943 Exercise Spartan
10th March 1943 Exercise Spartan
10th March 1943 Exercise Spartan
11th March 1943 Exercise Spartan
5th April 1943 Relocated
4th Jul 1943 405 Squadron Halifax lost
31st August 1943 Lancaster lost
3rd September 1943 Rear gunner killed
17th December 1943 Black Thursday
5th Jun 1944 Mosquito Lost
27th Jun 1944 692 Squadron Mosquito lost
25th October 1944 Bomber Squadron reformed
29th October 1944 New Squadron operational in four days
31st October 1944 Two Mosquitos lost over Hamburg
5th December 1944 Engine failure over Belgium
9th December 1944 Crash landing
23rd December 1944 Fog
5th January 1945 Crash
15th March 1945 Mid-air Collision
4th April 1945 Missing in Action
25th April 1945 Survived two crashes
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
|
Those known to have served at RAF Gransden Lodge during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Campbell A. P..
- Donnelly DFM. Thomas Henry. F/O (Pilot) (d.2nd Jan 1944)
- Lane Eric Arthur. Sgt. (d.14th January 1944)
- Smedley Ivan Edward. Flt.Sgt. (d.31st Jan 1944)
- Stewart Robert. Sgt. (d.17th Dec 1943)
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please
Add a Name to this List
|
|
|
The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
Announcements
- 1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.
- The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 25 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web.
- 19th Nov 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than
264989 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible.
- Looking for help with Family History Research?
Please read our Family History FAQs
- The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
If you enjoy this site
please consider making a donation.
Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our
Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. |
|
Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted
photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them.
The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.
World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion
Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
|
|
Want to know more about RAF Gransden Lodge? There are:43 items tagged RAF Gransden Lodge available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
|
Flt.Sgt. Ivan Edward Smedley 405 Squadron (d.31st Jan 1944) My brother, Ted Smedley, joined the RAF in February 1943 aged 19. After training at 14 Training Wing, then Rootes Securities and 1659 Conversion Unit in Yorkshire. He joined 405 RCAF Pathfinder Squadron at Gransden Lodge, Bedfordshire England on 29th November as a Flight Engineer.
On the 30th of January 1944, 13 Lancaster aircraft were detailed for bombing raid on Berlin.a 25 minute air test was all that was carried out on the flying programme for the day, as preparations for operations prevented further progress on the ground. Ten aircraft successfully returned but 3 were missing, including Lancaster ND 462.
My brother was the Flight Engineer on ND 462 which took off in fairly fine weather from Gransden Lodge on the night of 30th/31st January 1944. Lancaster bomber ND 462 was part of a force of 534 aircraft consisting of 440 Lancasters, 82 Halifaxes and 12 Mosquitoes which caused widespread damage to the City of Berlin. Although the raid was a success, 33 bombers, including ND 462 failed to return. Many aircraft of which were lost to enemy night fighters.
ND 462 crashed in the District of Magdeburg as a result of enemy fire. The full crew of seven who were killed are buried in the Berlin War Cemetery, Brandenburg, Germany.
|
A. P. Campbell 405 Sqd.  Accident Investigation Branch; Precis of Investigation No. W.1653
Halifax II H.R.910, Merlin XXII, Bomber Command, No. 405 Squadron
Pilot: P./O. A.P. Campbell – Uninjured, crew of seven – Uninjured
at Croft 12.9.43 at 1607 hrs.
The pilot A.P Campbell, took off from Gransden at 1410 hrs. on the 12th September 1943, for a cross-country flight of three hours duration. Route: Bass Rock – Bradford – Base. Shortly after passing Newcastle on ther outward journey at a height of 14,000 ft. there was a loud report and the starboard inner engine started vibrating. About two minutes later, this engine became completely detached.
The aircraft was being flown at a speed of 125 knots indicated. The engines were running at 2400 r.p.m., boost about plus 1½ lbs; throttles were up to the gate and the superchargers under M gear. The auto-pilot was in operation. The pilot eventually made a successful landing at Croft about thirty minutes after the first sign of engine vibration.
The starboard inner engine was found five miles south of Amble. The reduction gear and hub casing with two propeller blades attached were lying near the engine. No. 3 blade was missing and it has not yet been found. The hub casing locating No. 3 blade bearing housing was fractured along the eighth thread down and about half the circumference of the flange. This had allowed the propeller blade and bearing housing to become detached in the air. The damaged hub has been subjected to 1022 action by the Unit.
The starboard inner engine, Merlin XXII No. 118537/A.403058, was installed in the aircraft on 24/5/43. It had completed about 110 hours running up to the date of the accident and was fitted with Rotol propeller type R7/35/54 No. 49431.
Conclusions: The forced landing was due to No. 3 propeller blade of the starboard inner engine becoming detached during flight owing to the fracture of the hub. Note: A similar propeller hub failure is at present under investigation by the R.A.E. There has been a large number of cases in which a propeller blade has become detached on Halifax aircraft. The majority of failures is attributed to the fracture of the blade bearing housing.
C.I. (Accidents). Illegible signature
14/10/43. for C.I. (Accidents).
Distribution: Bomber Command.
R.A.E.
A.M. File No. G.33249.
|
Sgt. Eric Arthur Lane 405 Squadron (d.14th January 1944) Eric Arthur Lane was my father's cousin who, had it not been for a passing comment by my father about "wanting to pay a visit to Eric's grave "before his days were up", I would have known nothing about him. This has led me into a field of research I never even realised existed which has brought a whole new world, and many new friends, into my life.
As Eric was an Englishman attached to the RCAF Pathfinders, very little is documented about him as an individual although, through various research avenues, I have managed to piece together information relating to the flight and raid in which he lost his young life.
Eric was the Flight Engineer of a crew piloted by Gordon Drimmie DFC (RCAF), that took off from Gransden Lodge at 16:57 on 14th January, 1944. They were part of a large raid of c.650 aircraft on the Brunswick/Braunschweig area of NW Germany.
The raid was far from successful and resulted in the loss of c.36 Lancasters with minimal damage to the intended targets.
Eric's Lancaster was intercepted en route at 18:45 by a Night Fighter, believed to be that of Oberst Helmut Lent of NJG3 based on Luftwaffe claims for that date, and crashed at Uepsen in the district of Diepholz. All seven members of the crew were KIA and were buried in Hoya Cemetery before being interred in Hannover War Cemetery after the War.
Eric's plane, Lancaster III ND423, was transferred to 405 squadron on 8th January, 1944 and this was it's maiden operational flight.
To commemorate the 70th anniversary of my Uncle's passing, I and my father will be travelling to Germany to pay our respects to Eric at his grave and will also be visiting the reported crashsite in Uepsen.
|
Sgt. Robert Stewart 97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron (d.17th Dec 1943) I first read about Robert Stewart when I was reading bombs over Berlin. The book stated that he was buried at Braemar Aberdeenshire. As I was going there on holiday I decided to try and find the grave. After some searching, I found the grave in a small cemetery on the outskirts of Braemar. The grave was intact but had not been looked after for some time. Sgt Stewart was the flight engineer on Lancaster JB219-B one of five Lancasters from Gransden Lodge which crashed on the night of 16th/17th of December 1943 because of bad weather. All seven crew were killed. Most of the crew were buried in Cambridge Military cemetery. I did write to the Royal Air Force Association and The Royal British Legion, both in Aberdeen Scotland not too far from Braemar, but never received a reply from either. It seems a shame that someone so young who gave his life in the service of his country should be forgotten since it is obvious from the grave that no one has been in attendance for some time.
|
F/O (Pilot) Thomas Henry Donnelly DFM No. 405 Squadron (Pathfinder) (d.2nd Jan 1944) Thomas Donnelly served with No. 405 Squadron (Pathfinder)
|
Recomended Reading.Available at discounted prices.
|
|
|
