Did I say
something about October being a quiet old time for the RAF with not much
happening? Well, 249 Squadron’s experiences over the last few days puts the lie
to the that, with the Luftwaffe putting on a show on 29 October that resulted
in what 249 squadron diarist considered ‘a lively day for North Weald.
And indeed it
was. Bill Millington was in the air four times that day. The first was an early
morning solo patrol of North Weald. That was quiet, as was his second and third
sorties. But, at about 16.40 p.m., when the squadron was ordered to patrol the
base at 15,000 feet in company of 257 Squadron which had arrived at North Weald
earlier that month, they encountered a nasty surprise.
As 249 were
taking off, the aerodrome was dive-bombed by about twelve Me 109s which, at
this stage of the war, had been adapted to carry bombs and act as ‘hit and run’
bombers. These twelve were under the protection of more 109s above. Red Section
got off safely despite the falling bombs and Bill ‘took off as quickly as
possible behind Red Section’.
As one 500 lb
bomb landed in the middle of the aerodrome, Yellow Section ‘took right off over
the exploding bomb’. Pilot Officer Lofts’s Hurricane was badly damaged but he
was able to land safely. Sergeant Tich Palliser, who was already airborne, was
hit by flying debris which knocked off part of his prop. To make matters worse,
his engine was in bad shape so he circled the airfield and landed. And what a
sight he saw.
The squadron
diarist recorded that about 40 bombs were dropped in all. A hangar was
destroyed, a lorry burst into flames and one bomb landing at the end of the
station between the latrine and dining hall, resulting in a great deal of
damage. One man, who was in the latrine at the time, was taken to hospital with
shrapnel wounds and died the next day. 257’s casualties were much worse. Between
the two squadrons, 19 were killed on the ground and 42 injured. Of those,
according to Brian Cull, the squadron historian, six of the fatalities and 12
of the injured occurred on the airfield.
Meanwhile, in
the air, Red Section gave chase to the departing raiders, which were heading
west, with Bill following closely.
He was a little
behind Red which were catching up to the Me 109s and so he ‘opened up to
maximum speed’. By about 17.00 p.m. he had ‘gradually overhauled e/a which had
climbed to 3000 feet’ above the coast west of Southminster. There he saw:
‘Four Me 109s in
front with two He 113s [sic] weaving slightly behind. One Me 109 was lagging
behind on the right and I formatted on him line astern and opened fire at about
100 yards.
E/a immediately
dived for haze over the sea and I followed close behind, firing continuous
burst. Large pieces flew off e/a and it disappeared, going vertically down into
the haze at about 500 feet, emitting large quantities of black smoke.’
Attack all over
by 17.15, Bill headed back to base, landing at 17.20 to an aerodrome which resembled
the Biggin Hill blasts of late August, which Bill had witnessed with 79
Squadron.
Bill estimated
that the Me 109 crashed into the sea near Buxey Sands, but he did not see it
and so, he was credited with a probable Me 109.
Photo is of Bill
Millington on his last day in civvies.
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