Air Sea Rescue During the Siege of Malta

Bill Jackson

Description

This important new book is one of few available eyewitness tales about the often overlooked role of the Air / Sea Rescue teams during World War II. Focussing on High Speed Launch (HSL) 107 which rescued close to 100 pilots during the siege of Malta, this tale of heroism is a historically important personal account by Bill Jackson, a crew member of HSL 107. While everyone around them was hell-bent on death and destruction, the crews of the Air / Sea Rescue Units were dedicated to the survival of both friend and foe alike. They carried out their job with little recognition and with great heroism. Battling the elements, often in appalling sea conditions, and under near-constant air attack from a most determined enemy, the units shared the privations endured by the islanders, coming close to starvation as the Axis forces inched toward invasion. This book shares with the reader the elation of successful rescues, the exhilaration of the High Speed Launch at full throttle, the determination of the Units to turn out at all hours in all weathers to go to the aid of both Allied and Axis pilots. Relief, anticipation, joy and fear are all related to the reader as well as the sheer determination to maintain their rescue capabilities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This fascinating book is set to fill a large gap in the existing literature of World War II.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Military history
• World War II
• History of Europe
• Malta

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 01 novembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781848769113
• Langue: English

Extrait

AIR SEA RESCUE DURING THE SIEGE OF MALTA
A N EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF LIFE WITH HSL107 1941-43
BILL JACKSON
Copyright 2010 William Todhunter Jackson
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.
Matador 5 Weir Road Kibworth Beauchamp Leicester LE8 0LQ, UK Tel: ( 44) 116 279 2299 Fax: ( 44) 116 279 2277 Email: [e-mail] Web: www.troubador.co.uk/matador
ISBN 978 1848764 729
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Typeset in 11pt Palatino by Troubador Publishing Ltd, Leicester, UK

Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd
For all the unsung heroes of RAF ASR units both during the Siege of Malta and across the world
Contents
DEDICATION
FOREWORD
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PREFACE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dedication
Air Sea Rescue Malta is dedicated to the memory of my father William Gill (Bill) Jackson who, sadly, died before his book could be published. Ever the pragmatist, he bequeathed the manuscript to me, in an effort to ensure that it was published.
This book has had a long gestation. My father typed the original manuscript entitled X hemm Sieheb ( Hello Friend in Maltese) in the 1960s and 70s. He tried unsuccessfully to publish it then and continued trying into the 1980s. One reader commented that he thought that it was well worth publishing but he should wait a while. What a wait Bill got on with life, still researching for his manuscript, and writing for local newspapers and organisations such as the Air Sea Rescue and Marine Craft Sections Club (ASRMCSC) and Royal Air Force Association (RAFA) on his exploits in Malta and also his life as a child in Workington.
In March 1992 my father joined 150 others at the RAF Club on Piccadilly, London for the 50 th anniversary reunion of the RAF Squadrons and support staff engaged in the defence of Malta. Imagine his surprise when he actually recognised Dr Bob Taggart, a former Royal Canadian Air Force Pilot Officer. Plt Off Taggart last met Bill Jackson on 3 rd March 1943 when he was rescued two miles off the coast of Sicily, his Spitfire from No. 1435 Squadron having been shot down.
In the new millennium Bill became computer literate and decided to rewrite his memoirs. He began this with gusto, adding extra snippets of information as he went on. This led to a weighty tome exceeding 126,000 words with a working title of What Ship? , a reference to the standard challenge when at sea. In 2008 my wife and I, realising that he now needed help with the work, spent many hours editing his manuscript with him. We managed to trim some words but dared not go further for fear of losing both his writing style and important historical descriptions. We have checked as far as possible for historical and technical accuracy as well as the usual spelling, punctuation and grammar. Our major task, however, was getting the events Bill described in the correct order. We have done our very best but are sure that the eagle-eyed among you will come across some chronological errors, for which we apologise.
Dr. William T. Jackson Dearne E. L. Jackson
FOREWORD
Group Captain Michael. M. Stephens
(This Foreword was written for an earlier version of this book but is still wholly relevant)
Innumerable books have been written by, or about, the Fighter, Bomber and other operational aircrew who represented the cutting edge of the war in the air throughout the Second World War. This is the first account I have seen of life as a crew member of one of the Air Sea Rescue Launches which rendered such stalwart service throughout the war.
Bill Jackson s account of life as a crew member of HSL107 during the Battle of Malta is a simple story, simply told. It provides an excellent picture of life as a crew member of an Air Sea Rescue Launch, a tight-knit little unit, bonded together by a common purpose to bring em back. It also provides quite an insight into life in Malta during the successive lulls and blitzes - of the difficulties encountered in trying to maintain the utmost effectiveness in the face of shortages of almost everything, of the skill and ingenuity in acquiring or improvising equipment, so that unserviceability was kept to a minimum. The resourcefulness and pride are evident throughout this account.
The Sea Shall Not Have Them could well have been the proud motto of this service, and sums up, in so many words, the credo by which the men and women who comprised this service lived their lives. Their devotion to duty, their unsparing efforts to effect a rescue of friend or foe in the face of hazards of the sea, and sometimes the attacks of a pitiless enemy, earned the admiration of all aircrew, and the gratitude of the many who, like myself, owe their lives to this gallant band.
There can be little to match the elation felt when after some hours in the sea, struggling with a half-inflated dinghy, one first hears and then sees their welcome little craft ploughing along in one s direction; now hidden by the heavy seas, now suspended on a towering crest. The momentary anxiety:
Can they see you?
Have they seen you?
Then the relief as their launch changes course in your direction in response to a direction from one of the vigilant crew, who miss little or nothing of what goes on on the seas around them.
Difficulties of transport and of moving around on the island meant that many of us did not get to know these gallant men as closely as we should have liked. The loss is ours.
We owe them so much.
The knowledge that these men and their craft would stop at nothing to bring back downed aircrew often under well-nigh impossible conditions, was a tremendous reassurance and moral booster to all whose missions took them across the unfriendly sea.
We took them for granted, which, in itself, is a tremendous unspoken tribute, showing, as it does, the complete confidence that if it were humanly possible, rescue would be at hand in the event of one bailing out over the sea.
I am proud to have been asked by Bill Jackson to write a foreword to his book, and would like to pay tribute to him and all his comrades in the Air Sea Rescue Service - the unsung heroes of many a battle.
Acknowledgements
My great friend, Joseph Caruana, of Senglea, Malta has been an absolute mine of information on the period I have written about. All I have had to do is write to him with my queries and the answers have been sent back, almost by return of post. During my visits to that scept r d isle his car has often taken me to places I needed to see which were not on any bus route. Joe has also given me permission to use two of his maps.
Many, many friends and acquaintances have encouraged me to persevere with the written word but I am really indebted to my eldest son, Will and his wife Dearne, who have spent many long hours going through the manuscript line by line making sure that my punctuation and spelling are correct and making sure that the events recorded are in proper sequential order.
The photographs in the book, mainly taken by LAC MBC Arthur Geeke and kept in my albums all these years, were donated to and are reproduced by kind permission of the Malta War Museums Foundation. The photo of the Class of 41 was taken by an RAF photographer and the shot of me with the scoreboard from HSL 107 is reproduced with permission from the Western Morning News. In addition the author wishes to thank Frederick R. Galea, stalwart of the Aviation Museum, Ta Qali, Malta who s book Call Out; A wartime diary of air/sea rescue operations at Malta was an excellent source which helped me with the chronology of many of the events described. Frederick also gave editing comments and advice on the final draft and was kind enough to write an endorsement for the book.
Finally thanks to Jeremy Thompson, Terry Compton and all the team at Troubador for their advice, help and encouragement during the publication process.
I will never forget the members of the Marine Craft Sections in Kalafrana, St. Paul s Bay and Sliema whether occupied on the bases, on Seaplane Tenders or High Speed Launches. Working in an area dominated for so long by Axis forces, we were a close-knit group, men working together who, like me, often set out to sea scared stiff at our defencelessness, but never refusing to go on a Call Out.
I hope that anyone who reads this book, but who did not have that wonderful experience of being a mariner in blue-grey gets some idea of the satisfaction gained from putting to sea to try to find someone in trouble in the water; retrieving a body and returning it to shore was sufficient justification for our labours, but the greatest thrill of all was to be had in finding and rescuing a living survivor, whether friend or foe.
Bill Jackson, November 2009
Preface
Most books about the Second Siege of Malta have featured the Navy, the Army, the Civilians and, naturally, the Pilots ; even the historians have had a go. Regrettably in each case little has been said about the role of the Royal Air Force s Air Sea Rescue Service and the Mari