Memories of Frank Yates Chapter 10

Memories of Frank Yates CHAPTER 10

The great day arrived; a lorry appeared, bearing two predictors, one for us and one for the other site. The newly formed RAF Regiment was taking over air defence and Topcliffe had installed four sites, each with twin Oerlikon 20 mm cannon. Two of our guns had been moved to Dishforth, leaving my site and one other, commanded by a bloke who had been with us since Stoke Holy Cross. I will call him John. There were two sets of porter bars, so we all gathered round, and with a lot of huffing and puffing, we got the beast on the ground, by the hut door, when the beaming major arrived, simultaneously with the dinner truck, He told us to get our dinner before we set everything up, and went off, following the lorry to the other gun site. The junction box had been installed for some time.
We were just finishing our lunch and having a cuppa, when the air sentries in the gun pit banged the warning gong, (An old cartridge case). We had a field telephone in the gun pit, with a direct line to the RAF Duty Officer and he had passed on a Red warning.
We grabbed our tin hats and took post, as our new junior troop officer came up the track on his motor bike and joined us in the gun pit. I can’t remember his name. I noticed that a match was just starting on the football pitch.
The phone rang “Purple warning” and so began the most traumatic afternoon in my 20 years. From the east, at about 500 feet, and taking a course straight across the airfield was a Heinkel 111, a perfect target. I yelled “Target Right” and got “On”, “On” from the layers. I glanced at the officer, who clearly, was not about to do any thing, so I shouted the “Engage” order, the No 1 ordered “Fire”, a second after we heard the other gun open fire, and bang, bang, bang, bang, the curved flight of our tracer was easily seen as it appeared to whip down our side of the Heinkel. Young Talbot, the No 1 was screaming “Up 50” and the No 2, after a nudge from Talbot, brought the fire ahead of the target, so that the tracers disappeared behind the Germans. I thought that the next few would hit. Bang, bang, bang, SILENCE! A misfire! Oh no!
What a problem, a misfire, just as a second Heinkel appeared flying parallel to the first one and well behind it. It was a “direct approacher”, the easiest of targets because there is no sideways movement. With the prohibition of the second use of the striker I had no choice but to wait. I counted five seconds and ordered “Unload” The Irishman, No 5, who had to catch the dodgy shell, held it like a baby and dashed away onto the football pitch where he put it gently down, white faced.
My thought, at this time of stress, was, oddly enough, “Where are all the footballers” There was no one to be seen, anywhere! Quickly “Load “ “Target” “Engage” and we fired another 14 rounds, but, by now, the plane had passed over our heads and was receding, a difficult target. That misfire had cost us a very likely kill.
The echoes had hardly faded when Major Hardy’s jeep came racing up the track. “What the hell happened, sergeant?”, “Misfire, Sir”, “Didn’t work the second time then?”, “Didn’t try Sir”, “WHAAAAT, WHY NOT?” I dashed into the hut and brought out yesterday’s fateful letter. He admitted that he had not read it, even though it had come from his headquarters. He then deflated me by saying that I should have ignored the order and done it anyway. Afterwards he was never as friendly with me as before. I wished afterwards that I had done the re-fire drill, but it probably wouldn’t have worked anyway. He left, telling me to get a full report written immediately. I was somewhat cheesed off, and after going back and telling the lads that they had done a good job, something that neither the major nor the spare part second lieutenant still standing there in the gun pit, had thought of doing. I asked cookie to get some tea made and told him to put plenty of water on the stove, for boiling out the barrel. I looked at the officer and said to him” I have to write a report Sir, Will you arrange to have the barrels changed and the used one boiled out, cleaned and oiled”. And he did! I counted 29 empty cartridge cases and one scrap shell.
In the early evening, during “Stand Down” the gun pit phone rang and I was told that the Station Commander would like to see me a seven o’clock. A quick wash, and with my best battledress jacket on, I walked down to the Ivy covered Station HQ, where I met John, the sergeant from our other site. I had always thought him a very simple chap and after general discussion I admitted that he had beat me to the draw that afternoon and that he had been quick with his aircraft recognition “ “Oh” he said, “It looked like the Ace of Spades” To tell the truth, an approaching Heinkel DOES look like the Ace of Spades!
A Squadron Leader, the Group Captain’s Adjutant, showed us in and, he, who holds the equivalent rank of a full colonel, stood up, shook our hands and said that we had saved his airfield and that we had scared the b*****s away and they had gone on to bomb Leeming instead. On my inquiry, he said that Leeming had no casualties and very little damage. He added that he had expressed his thanks to our Battery commander. On the way out the adjutant told us that the Station commander was furious about the astonishing contrast between us, who had fired nearly sixty 40 mm shells from two guns and the RAF Regiment, who had, with eight 20 mm cannon, fired NONE He had ordered an enquiry and put the 4 NCO’s on a charge.
Afterwards, when going over the events of the day I thought about the difference a day makes. If the predictor had arrived a day earlier it would have been in action. If the letter about misfires had arrived a day later I would have tried the “second bite at the cherry” technique, with uncertain results, If Nelson had, after ignoring signals, lost the battle, history would have been re-written. What would have happened to 20 year old Frank Yates if he had killed or maimed some of his charges, by disobeying orders? I’ll tell you; I should have ignored the orders and given us a better chance of a kill.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.