After several days’ delay due to bad weather in the Mediterranean, F/Lt Austin once again takes off in Z9159 for Malta. They take off at 22.35 to arrive on the morning of the 6th. The flight takes 9 hours 40 minutes, making their arrival time shortly after 8 a.m. (probably 9 o’clock local time).
Newly-commissioned P/O Gibson, who had been Austin’s 2nd Pilot for the Malta mission earlier in the month, now has his own crew; this is his first recorded operation. He is to drop four containers to an SOE reception. Some 18 months after its formation SOE is still referred to as S.O.2 in the Air Transport Forms (ATFs).
Gibson takes off at 19.10 and flies via Abingdon and Littlehampton to cross the French coast at Berck-sur-Mer. He crosses the French coast at 1,500 feet: no need to climb to 7,000 feet to avoid the coastal flak defences as they are in 10/10ths cloud. It also means that they cannot pinpoint on the coast, so course is set for Cambrai. They next pinpoint on Le Cateau, about 15 miles beyond Cambrai. Conditions improve as they fly towards the next pinpoint at Chimay, where they arrive at 22.17. They divert to investigate lights which prove to be the flarepath of an aerodrome just west of Charleville. They carry on to ‘Mexieres’ (now Charleville-Mezières) at 22.35, and from there they map-read to the target in exceptionally good visibility with bright moonlight. Seven miles from the target they spot a railway tunnel and a bridge over the river Semoy (Semois). They see the clearing at Suxy from some distance, reaching it at 23.10. They circle the area for about 18 minutes, but no recognition lights are seen.
The operation is abandoned and course is set for Berck-sur-Mer. They cross the coast at Littlehampton at 01.17, but instead of continuing to Newmarket they are instructed to land at Abingdon, which they do at 02.30.
John Austin, promoted to Flight Lieutenant, flies Whitley Z9159 ‘NF-D’ to Stanton Harcourt. Four months ago Austin was a sergeant: rapid promotion indeed! He is scheduled to take off from Newmarket at 11.45. Newmarket reports the take-off at 13.06, but the wireless operator records the flight starting at 13.45. The flight takes 40 minutes. From Stanton Harcourt Austin comes under 44 Group orders for the direct flight to Gibraltar, and from there to Malta for further operations to Yugoslavia. He takes two passengers. The Stradishall Commanding Officer demands that he be advised of all aircraft movements such as Austin’s.
A Halifax is also to accompany the Whitley, but Austin is in charge of the expedition, having been there and done it before; which explains his promotion. I have been unable to find out the identity of the Halifax or its pilot. The Stradishall log makes no mention of the Halifax (though it does mention Austin and his Whitley), and the Halifax does not appear again in relation to this operation.
At Stanton Harcourt they find that the containers and packages they are due to take to Malta have not arrived. Austin records that there is some confusion. He finally takes off at five minutes to midnight; reading between the lines of his report, he has to depart without the containers, which follow later. The leg to Gibraltar takes 10 hours 40 minutes. As you can read above, Austin has a new 2nd Pilot: P/O Gibson’s replacement is Sgt Fletcher. Sgt Jakeman is the navigator and P/O Livingstone the wireless-operator; Sgt Slatcher is the rear gunner and LAC Lynch the despatcher. They are also taking two passengers, probably maintenance crew for the Whitley.
AIR 20/8334, Encl. 110A
ATFs for November 1941
AIR 14/2529
AIR 20/8504 (138 Squadron: operations from Malta and North Africa)
Conversations with S/Ldr Austin
Logbooks, S/Ldrs Austin and Livingstone (flight times and durations)
F/Lt Jackson, P/O Austin and their crews return to the UK, flying the direct route over France rather than via Gibraltar. We have Austin’s detailed report on his flight. He takes off at 17.25 and sets course for Point Teulada, at the south-west corner of Sardinia. Almost immediately he runs into heavy thunderstorms, which clear just after 8 p.m.. A flashing light is spotted and identified as a Sardinian lighthouse, and a course is set for the shallow lakes on the French coast south of Narbonne. The navigator takes several star-sights, an unusual practice for Special Duties crews, and obtained several fixes. At 22.40 they see lights and a coastline on the port beam, but cannot obtain a firm pinpoint. An hour later they set course for Tours. On ETA Tours they still can not see through the 10/10ths cloud beneath, and set course for Caen. They rely on the Pole Star to check their latitude. Just after ETA the French coast the wireless operator is asked to get a D/F fix from Southampton, but because the signals officer in Malta has given him the incorrect verification charts, Southampton does not issue the fix until Austin’s Whitley is circling West Malling, about to land. They land at West Malling at 03.15
It’s not entirely clear whether the code is issued even then, or even how Austin’s crew have found their way to West Malling. They had flown on ETA in or above cloud since the pinpointing at the south-western tip of Sardinia, so they are fortunate to make it back. The refusal to issue D/F instructions could easily have led to the Whitley running out of fuel.
On the face of it Jackson appears to have had an easier time: his report states that the weather cleared when he reached the French coast; after which, he wrote, ‘conditions became most favourable’. I suspect some difference over the use of time-zones, for Jackson appears to have taken off half an hour before Austin, yet landed an hour after; he reported landing at Newmarket at 04.30.
F/Lt Jackson and P/O Austin receive orders to return to the UK. One Whitley is undergoing a 40-hour inspection, and poor weather over the UK prevents the other from leaving; on a direct route from Malta the two Whitleys will be near the limit of their endurance, with little margin for error given the navigation problems of flying across the Mediterranean before crossing a hostile France.
TNA AIR 20/8334. Encl. 103A
The two agents due to be parachuted into Yugoslavia have arrived in the early morning by submarine. However, they have not been provided with parachutes, a rather essential item of equipment. (Aircrew parachutes, possibly the only types available on the island, are very different in construction from either the agents’ ‘A’-type or the paratroop ‘X’-type, and their canopies would be too small.) In any case the weather forecast for the next few days is not good, and the Station Commander cancels operations for the night; he does so again on the 10th.