Fleet Air Arm Pilots

[MMM]

During Syrian Campaign French Destroyer Chevalier Paul was torpedoed and sunk by Swordfish from 815(?) Squadron.
Victorious airplain was also shot down and British crew's dinghy floated near their sinking "prey". All (French seamen and British airmen) was rescued by French Destroyers next day.
Here are two less known pictures from French sources:
Destroyer Valmy picking up the survivors and two British pilots on board of Valmy. The name of one of pilots was Boosey. Does anybody know the name of the second airman?

[bob shayler]

Hi Miro,
Just looking through Charles Lamb's autobiography and will see if I can find the name of the other airman. He lists Boosey as a TAG (Telegraphist Air Gunner),
regards,
Bob

[MMM]

Thanks for your post.
I found Boosey was awarded http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/rollofhonour/TAG/Honours_TAGsindex.html#B
I will have to check on http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Home.html

but temoraryly I have too little time:(

[John Brown]

Guys

Could find no info a second person picked up with Boosey by the Valmy.

Also, this site gives Booseys attack as being on 30/06/41 (or was this the date of his MID?) but the Chevalier Paul was sunk on 16/06/41

http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/rollofhonour/TAG/Honours_TAGsindex.html#B

However, I did find this info on naval-history.net for 16/06/41....

'French destroyer CHEVALIER PAUL was sunk by British aircraft near Latakia in 35-18N, 35-18E at 0400 as she attempted to carry supplies to Syria.

The attack was made by six British Swordfish of 815 Squadron. One was shot down and its crew of Lt M.G.W. Clifford and Sub Lt P. Winter were taken prisoner.

The survivors from the destroyer were picked up by French destroyers VALMY and GUEPARD which also picked up the crew of the downed British aircraft. Six French sailors were lost in the destroyer and nine wounded.'


Also there are entries on this site for Clifford and Winter having been taken POW but none for Boosey.

http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/rollofhonour/POW/C.html


Confused? me too!

Regards...John

[John Brown]

Found a bit of supporting information for Clifford and Winters involvement on the Royal Navy Officers 1939-1945 site.

CLIFFORD,
Michael George Winsloe

25.01.1941 - 16.06.1941 pilot, 815 Squadron FAA [failed to return after an attack on the Vichy French Destroyer Chevaliere Paul; captured]

16.06.1941 - (1943?) POW in French captivity





WINTER,
Peter

? - 16.06.1941 observer, 815 Squadron FAA [HMS Formidable (aircraft carrier)]
[failed to return after an attack on the Vichy French Destroyer Chevaliere Paul; captured]

16.06.1941 - (1942?) POW in French, then Italian captivity (in Rhodes)


I cannot however find any further info on Boosey.

Did Swordfish aircraft not usually have a crew of three? Clifford was a pilot, Winter was his observer so could Boosey have been their TAG?


More help is needed on this one.


Regards...John

[CharlesRollinsWare]

Gents;

When HMS Illustrious was bombed what remainded of her two TSR squadrons went ashore to operate as they could against the enemy from shore bases.

The Swordfish customarily operated with three crew members on operations but not when carrting an internal long-range tank in the center (observer's) cockpit. Tis was the only type of LR tank that could be used when centre-line ordnance was carried.

Lt.(A) Michael George Winsloe Clifford, RN (P) (a long time member of 821 Squadron prior to joining 815) and S/Lt.(A) Peter Winter, DSC, RN (O) (a long time member of 823 Squadron prior to joining 823) and Sidney Leonard Boosey, DSM, LD/X.4595 (TAG) were all members of 815 Squadron in early 1941. Winter & Boosey had been decorated on 12.02.41 for their gallant "participation in the night torpedo atacks on Valona/Durazzo". Boosey was mentioned in Despatches on 06.01.42 "for good service in the Med".

The MN contre-torpilleur Chevalier Paul (CF Léon Marie Pierre Antoine Sala), had been despatched from Toulon to the Syria to deliver ammuntion for the two MN contre-torpillieurs in that area, Guepard (CV Raymond-Emile Gervais de Lafond) and Valmy (CC Amedée Guinot), which had fired off a sizable ammount of their 138.6 mm ammunition participating in operations in response to the commencement of the British campaign to capture that section of Vichy territory.

Six 815 Squadron Swordfish had been sent out to to make a night attack in the very early hours of 16 June 1941. The aircraft were fitted with internal long-range tanks and thus carried only two aircrew each. The attack was made at 0400 hours and Chevalier Paul was hit by one torpedo and damaged bad enough that there was no hope of saving the ship, and it sank in position 35-18N, 35-18E.

Clifford and Winter's Swordfish was shot down by 37 mm AA fire. The two aviators were rescued with the survivours from the ship when Guepard and Valmy arrived the next day.

Bossey was assuredly not rescued as he was not in the aircraft.

As Chevalier Paul had been sunk pror to delivery of the critical ammunition, the contre-torpilleur Vauquelin (CF C. Ansaldi) was subsequenty despatched from Toulon to to Syria on the same task, which was successful The three ships subsequently retired to France via Greek and Italian waters in late July.

Hope this is of interest.

Mark E. Horan

[nigelweysom]

once again i have been educated, i kind of new that the Vichy government worked with the Germans but i never knew that we actually fought against any French servicemen , whilst at the same time supporting the French resistance , many thanks
Nigel

[John Brown]

Well done Mark and thank you for elaborating on my findings.

Lets hope the member that posed the original question gets around to acknowledging our efforts on his behalf.



Regards.....John

[MMM]

I appreciare all your effort to resolve this riddle.

I've checked this thread from time to time:)

Anyway it appears the French photo coption is totally incorrect and the airmen pictured must be Clifford and Winters.

[bob shayler]

Thank you for your valuable input Mark. I had to search through Charles Lambs autobiography for any reference to this event as there is no index, but it was made easier by being a chronological account of his war time experiences which narrowed the search down somewhat. I will relate this now although it adds nothing new to your post:

My place in the Squadron was taken by a bearded Lieutenant named Clifford, who was shot down after he had torpedoed one of the ships in a Vichy-French convoy bound for Syria. When he dived into the sea from his Swordfish, he found himself swimming about with all the survivors of the ship he had just sunk; and was picked out of the sea by the crew of another enemy ship in the convoy, which in turn, was torpedoed and sunk by Lieutenants Macauley and Bailey a few moments after Clifford had clambered on board. Finding himself in the water for the second time in less than an hour, in company with the survivors of two ships, one of which he had sunk himself. When he was rescued by the crew of the third he could only pray that this time 815 Squadron would let the third ship stay afloat; because he then had reason to believe that he was far from popular with his Vichy-French captors.
The aftermath of this chapter of events was equally fascinating. The Vichy-French in Syria were quick to turn him over to the Italians before they surrendered to the Allies, because they knew he would be freed when the Allies were victorious. Since the French were supposed to be neutral and no state of war existed between France and England, this action was entirely contrary to the terms of the Geneva Convention concerning the treatment of internees and in London, the Admiralty and the Foreign Office demanded his repatriation. The Italians would only agree to this on an exchange basis and I was interested to learn the exchange rate for a Swordfish pilot of Lieutenant's rank in the Fleet Air Arm. No doubt the Italians felt they had driven a hard bargain, but I suspect the Admiralty considered the deal reasonable enough: Lieutenant Clifford was exchanged for two Italian Majors and one Italian General - a fair swop?
Syria surrendered on the 11 July, when 815 went back to the desert to fight Rommel. During that lengthy desert campaign it was common knowledge that one flight of Swordfish mistook some British tanks for German and attacked them with their special anti-tank bombs. There were several Swordfish squadrons in the desert at the time and I have no idea which pilots made the mistake but I doubt they were from 815. If they were, no doubt Tiffy Spence (DSO, DSC, AFC and Greek DFC) made his apologies and explained that mistakes are bound to occur even in the best Squadrons - which is a fair description of 815. In my opinion it was the best Squadron of them all and Tiffy the best leader.

The End

In retrospect I think Charles Lamb's account did add a small amount of additional information. He had a very active war himself spent almost entirely flyng the Swordfish in numerous roles, including that normally carried out by the Lysander of inserting agents into enemy territory. He was the last to land on Courageous before she was sunk, made 29 sorties over Northern Europe and attacked E-Boats throughout the nine days of Dunkirk. He was one of the two Pathfinders who led the way at the Battle of Taranto. He was also a prisoner of war of the Vichy-French for some time following a crash landing after inserting an agent into enemy territory. He also flew from Malta delivering havoc on enemy shipping and finally ended his war following an accident aboard Implacable in action against the Japanese in 1945.
After leaving the Royal Navy in 1958, Charles Lamb became one of the founding members of 'The Wight Ensign Association' who's remit was to advise the whole Service on financial matters. Originally based in the City it later moved on Board H.M.S. Belfast. A fascinating autobiography,
regards,
Bob

[nigelweysom]

Bob firstly fascinating account , second if no state of war existed between Britain and France why were we bombing her ships ?
Nigel

[bob shayler]

Hi Nigel,
Got to go to work now and have no time to answer this personally so I have found this article on Wikipedia (these are not always accurate) which seemed to answer your question in part. I will try to elaborate more tonight or tomorrow:

Conflicts with Britain in Mers-el-Kebir, Dakar, Gibralter, Syria, and Madagascar

Main articles: Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, Battle of Dakar, Military history of Gibraltar during World War II, Syria-Lebanon campaign, and Battle of Madagascar

Relations between the United Kingdom and the Vichy government were difficult. The Vichy government broke off diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom on July 5, 1940 after the Royal Navy sank the French ships in port at Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria. The destruction of the fleet followed a standoff during which the British insisted that the French either scuttle their vessels, sail to a neutral port or join them in the war against Germany. These options were refused and the fleet was destroyed. This move by Britain hardened relations between the two former allies and caused more of the French population to side with Vichy against the British-supported Free French.[29]

On September 23, 1940 the British launched the Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace. The Battle of Dakar was part of the West Africa Campaign. Operation Menace was a plan to capture the strategic port of Dakar in French West Africa. The port was under the control of the Vichy French. The plan called for installing Free French forces under General Charles de Gaulle in Dakar. By September 25, the battle was over, the plan was unsuccessful, and Dakar remained under Vichy French control.

Overall, the Battle of Dakar did not go well for the Allies. The Vichy French did not back down. HMS Resolution was so heavily damaged that it had to be towed to Cape Town. Worse, during most of this conflict, bombers of the Vichy French Air Force (Armée de l'Air de Vichy) based in North Africa bombed the British base at Gibralter. The bombing started on the September 24 in response to the first engagement in Dakar on September 23. The bombing ended on September 25. This was after the facilities at Gibralter suffered heavy damages.

In June 1941 the next flashpoint between Britain and Vichy France came when a revolt in Iraq was put down by British forces. German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and Italian Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) aircraft, staging through the French possession of Syria, intervened in the fighting in small numbers. That highlighted Syria as a threat to British interests in the Middle East. Consequently, on June 8, British and Commonwealth forces invaded Syria and Lebanon. This was known as the Syria-Lebanon Campaign or Operation Exporter. The Syrian capital, Damascus, was captured on June 17 and the five-week campaign ended with the fall of Beirut and the Convention of Acre (Armistice of Saint Jean d'Acre) on July 14, 1941.

From May 5 to November 6, 1942 Operation Ironclad, another major operation by British forces against Vichy French territory, was launched. This operation was known as the Battle of Madagascar. The British feared that Japanese forces might use Madagascar as a base and thus cripple British trade and communications in the Indian Ocean. As a result, Madagascar was invaded by British and Commonwealth forces. The island fell relatively quickly and the operation ended in victory for the British. But the operation is often viewed as an unnecessary diversion of British naval resources away from more vital theatres of operation.

regards,
Bob

[nigelweysom]

Bob very helpful thank you
Nigel

[emason]

As a slight diversion, on the Frobisher thread there is an undated picture of two survivors of a Fleet Air Arm Swordfish crash in the indian Ocean after rescue by HMS Frobisher. Any idea who they could be or from which squadron?

[emason]

Since my last post I have found another photograph of the actual rescue, shown below with the other one.

Resue of Crashed Airmen
55037

Survivors of Crashed Swordfish
55038

[ajlansdale]

I've only recently joined this site. I have been conducting some research on Fleet Air Arm personnel and came across this string.

My father's best friend from his secondary school days served aboard HMS Illustrious as an Observer/Navigator with 815 sqd flying Swordfish. He was killed fairly early on in the Mediterranean campaign. His name was S/Lt Douglas Arthur Wise. Although as a boy he told me that Douglas had been killed at Taranto, shortly before Dad died in 2002, he told me that he was killed later. He mentioned that he was shot down after torpedoing a Vichy French Destroyer Chevalier Paul off Syria. The pilot's name was Winter. That would have been in June 1941.
Dad was serving in HMS Royal Sovereign at the time.

Don't know whether this helps or confuses the issue.

[stontamar]

Sub Lt (A) Douglas Arthur Wise DSC RNVR was lost on a recce flight west of Cape Kormakiti, Cyprus on 25 July 1941. The Fairey Swordfish Mark 1 P4080 from B Flight 815 Squadron suffered a mid air catastrophic structural failure resulting in the engine and airframe parting company. Sub Lt (A) Alfred Howard Cann RNVR was also killed in this accident. At that time 815 Squadron were operating from Lakatamia, Cyprus although they were formally serving with the Royal Naval Air station, HMS GREBE, Dekheila, Alexandria..

Leading Airman Sidney Leonard Boosey DSM survived a force landing in the desert on 23 May 1941, along with Sub Lt W R Novell. They were flying on a night navex in 815 Squadron Fairey Swordfish L9743. Neither crew were hurt although the aircraft was a write-off. As already indicated by MMM; Boosey had previously taken part in torpedo attacks on Valona for which he was to be awarded the DSM (Gazetted 2 December 1941 Page 6890) at which time his rating was Temp Acting Leading Airman. On the 30 June 1941 he was mentioned in Despatches for the lone Swordfish operation, which resulted in the sinking of the Chevalier Paul.

It appear the Boosey was later commissioned as a Sub Lt and was involved in a deck landing crash on HMS EMPEROR on 29 April 1945 while flying 800 Squadron Grumman Hellcast (1G) JW720. The aircraft broke through two barriers and sliced the tail of another parked 800 Squadron Hellcat (JV322). He appears to have survived the war.

The identity of the Swordfish in which Lt M.G.W. Clifford and Sub Lt P. Winter were operating when they attacked the Chevalier Paul is unknown.

Regards

stontamar