No. 75 (NZ) Squadron based in France?

[Dave Homewood]

In the book RNZAF - A Short Decade by Geoffrey Bentley, he states about No. 75 (NZ) Squadron the following;
"The squadron was also part of the first bomber force to attack Italy after that country declared war. Unfortunately, the raid - against industrial targets in Turin and Genoa - proved abortive. The Whitley bombers were prevented from reaching Italy by heavy storms over the Alps, while the Wellingtons, which had been flown from England to an advanced base in the south of France, were unable to take off from there because French locals, anxious to avoid provoking the Italians to retaliation, drove motor truck and carts onto the airfield in numbers. Recrimination followed, of course, and permission was given for the use of an alternative airfield: but France's capitulation shortly afterwards prevented the development of raids on Italy until later in the war."

So how many Wellingtons from No. 75 (NZ) Squadron went to this aerodrome in France? Who were the crews? How long were they there for? What was the aerodrome they were on that the Frenchies blocked with trucks and carts? And when was this?

The Italians declared war on Britain and the Empire on the 10th of June 1940. France surrendered on the 17th of June I believe. A short time period. Has anyone got the ORB for this French sojourn?

[waynem]

Hi Dave,

So far this is all I can find.
No mention of landing in France, but I'll keep looking.

11/12 June 40
Following Italy’s declaration of war on France and Britain on 10 June 1940, Bomber
Command dispatched 36 Whitleys to that country, refuelling en route in the Channel
Islands, but poor weather forced over half the aircraft to abandon their flight over the
Alps, to the target of Turin. Nine aircraft managed to get through and they completed
attacks on factories and railway yards. Two Whitleys were lost on the return flight. Two
other aircraft bombed targets in Genoa.
That same night, 59 aircraft, including six 75 Squadron Wellingtons, bombed various
targets in Germany and France. All of the 18 Wellingtons carried out incendiary raids
on Black Forest targets in an attempt to cause widespread forest fires. This was one of the
British pre-war ‘Western Air Plans’. There is no evidence that the forest attacks or other
fire-raising attacks on the German harvest (which continued over several weeks) brought
any success.
The six 75 Squadron aircraft and captains engaged on this ‘Special Duty’ operation,
code-named ‘Pamela’, were:
P9209 S/L Kay, P9212 F/O Williams, L7784 P/O Freeman, R3172 F/O Adams,
R3166 F/O Coleman, R3168 P/O Williams.

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks Wayne.

[Dave Homewood]

I have found a clue here:

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19400902.2.41&srpos=40&e=01-06-1939--12-1945--10--31-byDA---0new+Zealand+bomber+squadron--

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 55, 2 September 1940, Page 6
NEWS OF THE DAY
Unperturbed.  
Written by torchlight during the progress of an air raid, a letter from a young Dunedin pilot, who is the captain of a Wellington bomber, shows how casually even two months ago the men on active service accepted German bombing attacks, states the "Otago Daily Times." The nearest bombs, the writer said, had fallen three miles away, and, he added, "I can't be perturbed about those." The pilot had just returned from a visit to the south of France, where his squadron had been sent to "give our back-biting friend, the Duce, a headache." There a champagne at 4s a bottle had served as some compensation for the discomfort of sleeping on a dirty wooden t floor in a place infested with "carnivorous bugs," and getting nothing better than bread and margarine to eat. There, too, air raids were frequent, but they were "cheap Italian models and didn't amount to anything." Two hurried dives into ditches spoiled a new white flying suit, but the only hint of complaint in the letter was the statement that the air-raid sirens spoiled the airman's sleep.

[Dave Homewood]

So it is true - this is from an article about No. 75 (NZ) Squadron and it referring to Trevor Freeman...

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 120, 16 November 1940, Page 7

"Some of his raids were over the Ruhr, and he was one of the pilots who went to the south of France to a station from which it was intended to bomb Italy.

"We tossed up as to who was to go, and I won," he said. "But the French wouldn't let us off the ground. They put a convoy of lorries across the aerodrome to obstruct us. We were very disappointed that we were unable to carry on operations from there because it would have been money for old rope to bomb the Italians at such close quarters."

[waynem]

Thanks Dave,
I hadn't found anything more, but the Evening Post story confirms it.
Nice find !!

Cheers,
Wayne.

[Dave Homewood]

So is there nothing in the ORB for that time?

[waynem]

Hi Dave,

I still couldn't find anything, although my 1940 files are not complete.
I went through all the operations flown by P/O T. Freeman and there was no mention of being in France.
Perhaps Peter W. has something in his files?

Unfortunately my PC crashed the other week, and although some stuff was backed up, I did loose a lot of my research that I thought was saved but wasn't. A lesson painfully learnt !!

Wayne.

[Dave Homewood]

That's sad, it's so annoying when that happens isn't it? It has happened to me in the past too.

Thanks for checking the files re this France jaunt.

[pjw4118]

Sorry Dave and Wayne , nothing here except some logs on the Black Forest raid ,, a raid that can be filed as ,,,that was a good idea,,yeh right.
The ORB detail reports should show 75 s French visit but I think only Glen T has the complete set. They are available from Archives UK at $10 per month of operations.
Like the D Duck Dave , there is another "original " around and we are hopeful !!

[oggie2620]

Have forwarded the link to Bob Moore who did a lot of research of the Sqn at that time to see if he has anything
Dee

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks.

[oggie2620]

This is from Bob Moore
25yrs ago ( approx.) when I was charged with researching and writing 75's history after doing the Jimmy Ward thing at Boys' College.. yes I did find reference to the Vichy French forbidding 75 to land etc.. parked trucks etc on the runway , and as I remember, 75 had been given permission by the French govt in exile to do the job. We did not have Google etc back in those days so after the history went to England I didnt follow it up. He doesnt know if it will be on the CD/DVD that the Sqn historian is doing but have asked Glen to look that up...
Dee

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks Dee.