Stirling Pilot
Courtesy of Dave Giacomelli, son of "Fritz"
On 23 September 1942 Blair and Giacomelli flew together for the first time. This was at 14 OTU Cottesmore (Saltby satellite). This was the nucleus for the crew that was eventually to form.
Their first flight with 149 Sqn was a Bullseye training flight on 30 Dec 1942 in Stirling R9334. On 3 Jan they took this same aircraft on local bombing training and it crashed during an overshoot into Lakenheath village.
Due to injuries the crew did not fly together till 3 Feb 43. Blair went on four ‘Second Dickie’ trips – Cologne on 13 Feb, Lorient on 16 Feb, Wilemshaven on 19 Feb and Nuremberg on 25 Feb.
On 23 September 1942 Blair and Giacomelli flew together for the first time. This was at 14 OTU Cottesmore (Saltby satellite). This was the nucleus for the crew that was eventually to form.
Their first flight with 149 Sqn was a Bullseye training flight on 30 Dec 1942 in Stirling R9334. On 3 Jan they took this same aircraft on local bombing training and it crashed during an overshoot into Lakenheath village.
Due to injuries the crew did not fly together till 3 Feb 43. Blair went on four ‘Second Dickie’ trips – Cologne on 13 Feb, Lorient on 16 Feb, Wilemshaven on 19 Feb and Nuremberg on 25 Feb.
27 Feb was the crew’s first operation – Gardening at Bordeaux. 3 X 1,500 sea mines.
28 Feb – St. Nazaire – ‘whole area blazing’
9 March – Munich – Shot down JU-88.
22 March – St. Nazaire – Recalled. Landed with full load of 8,500 lb incendiaries. 63,500 lb aircraft weight.
27 March – Berlin – Blair’s birthday - ‘Many fires, heavy searchlights, attacked by two fighters’
29 March – Berlin – Did not complete operation. Blair experienced severe sinus problems and did not fly for a month.
1 May – Gardening at Bordeaux – Abandoned aircraft – Uckfield, Sussex – 3 X 1,500 sea mines successfully sown.
12 May – Duisberg – ‘Very heavy searchlights, coned 5 minutes over target’
13 May – Bochum – ‘Many huge fires, very heavy searchlights and flak, hit by fire over target. Rough trip’ They were almost rammed head on by another Stirling flying against the bomber stream about 30 minutes before the target. Blair avoided a collision by pulling back quickly on the control column. They felt his slipstream as he went by. The rest of the crew was quite concerned since there wasn’t time to warn them. The incident was reported upon return to base, but nothing came of the inquiries.
24 May – Dortmund - ‘805 aircraft on, saw 5 shot down, very heavy searchlights, coned 10 minutes, many big fires’
25 May – Dusseldorf – ‘Many big fires, no searchlights over target, fairly heavy flak’
29 May – Wuppertal – Last operation for Fritz Giacomelli – ‘Defences over target weak’
19 Jun – Le Creusot Arms Factories –‘6,000 feet, full moon, very quiet trip’
22 Jun – Mulheim – ‘Town well ablaze, heavy and intense flak and searchlight, coned 5 mins and hit over target, very rough trip’
24 Jun – Wuppertal – ‘Attacked by fighter, heavy concentrations of search lights outside target, moderate flak’
25 Jun – Gelsenkirchen – ‘Heavy and intense flak, hit over target’
28 Jun – Cologne - Last operation for crew – ‘Moderate flak, saw 6 machines shot down’
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Some notes from Johnson’s log – While at 1657 Con Flt and Stradishall - a starboard tire burst on landing on 10 Nov 42 and on 18 Nov 42 the IFF caught fire and the starboard inner A/S Exactor unit went U/S.
On 6 March 1943 while on a local training flight the starboard undercarriage had to be wound down manually. The next day they participated in a Group Bombing Exercise and obtained the best results on the Squadron.
On 7 March 1943 while landing at Coltishall they struck the barrel of an anti-aircraft gun while landing and burst the starboard tire. The aircraft ground looped and about 25 feet of gun barrel was bent over at right angles
On 8 July 1943 after their operations were finished, the crew participated in a Special Photograph Exercise. During this flight both the starboard outer and the port inner engines had to be feathered due to mechanical problems.
Before Blair was commissioned they all lived in Nissen Huts together. Blair fondly remembers the food parcels my father received from home because they contained Italian specialties. Blair especially liked the strong cheese that was sent, but so did the field mice. Blair rigged up a hanging basket from the ceiling using greased piano wire to keep the mice away from the cheese.was the crew’s first operation – Gardening at Bordeaux. 3 X 1,500 sea mines.
28 Feb – St. Nazaire – ‘whole area blazing’
9 March – Munich – Shot down JU-88.
22 March – St. Nazaire – Recalled. Landed with full load of 8,500 lb incendiaries. 63,500 lb aircraft weight.
27 March – Berlin – Blair’s birthday - ‘Many fires, heavy searchlights, attacked by two fighters’
29 March – Berlin – Did not complete operation. Blair experienced severe sinus problems and did not fly for a month.
1 May – Gardening at Bordeaux – Abandoned aircraft – Uckfield, Sussex – 3 X 1,500 sea mines successfully sown.
12 May – Duisberg – ‘Very heavy searchlights, coned 5 minutes over target’
13 May – Bochum – ‘Many huge fires, very heavy searchlights and flak, hit by fire over target. Rough trip’ They were almost rammed head on by another Stirling flying against the bomber stream about 30 minutes before the target. Blair avoided a collision by pulling back quickly on the control column. They felt his slipstream as he went by. The rest of the crew was quite concerned since there wasn’t time to warn them. The incident was reported upon return to base, but nothing came of the inquiries.
24 May – Dortmund - ‘805 aircraft on, saw 5 shot down, very heavy searchlights, coned 10 minutes, many big fires’
25 May – Dusseldorf – ‘Many big fires, no searchlights over target, fairly heavy flak’
29 May – Wuppertal – Last operation for Fritz Giacomelli – ‘Defences over target weak’
19 Jun – Le Creusot Arms Factories –‘6,000 feet, full moon, very quiet trip’
22 Jun – Mulheim – ‘Town well ablaze, heavy and intense flak and searchlight, coned 5 mins and hit over target, very rough trip’
24 Jun – Wuppertal – ‘Attacked by fighter, heavy concentrations of search lights outside target, moderate flak’
25 Jun – Gelsenkirchen – ‘Heavy and intense flak, hit over target’
28 Jun – Cologne - Last operation for crew – ‘Moderate flak, saw 6 machines shot down’
Some notes from Johnson’s log – While at 1657 Con Flt and Stradishall - a starboard tire burst on landing on 10 Nov 42 and on 18 Nov 42 the IFF caught fire and the starboard inner A/S Exactor unit went U/S.
On 6 March 1943 while on a local training flight the starboard undercarriage had to be wound down manually. The next day they participated in a Group Bombing Exercise and obtained the best results on the Squadron.
On 7 March 1943 while landing at Coltishall they struck the barrel of an anti-aircraft gun while landing and burst the starboard tire. The aircraft ground looped and about 25 feet of gun barrel was bent over at right angles
On 8 July 1943 after their operations were finished, the crew participated in a Special Photograph Exercise. During this flight both the starboard outer and the port inner engines had to be feathered due to mechanical problems.
Before Blair was commissioned they all lived in Nissen Huts together. Blair fondly remembers the food parcels my father received from home because they contained Italian specialties. Blair especially liked the strong cheese that was sent, but so did the field mice. Blair rigged up a hanging basket from the ceiling using greased piano wire to keep the mice away from the cheese.