Souge - Loir-et-Cher – France.
Above - Souge airfield was situated in the centre of the pic with Souge village top left. The River Loir meanders bottom left to mid right
14 June 1940
The Squadron aircraft, 16 Fairey Battles and 2 Miles Magisters, arrived at the landing field at Souge on the 14 June and placed under the command of OC 76 Wing for operations. 12 Squadron and 228 Squadron with their remaining Fairey Battles also arrived at Souge making about 48 Battles in total
103 Squadron were briefed to fly a raid the next day, the 15 June, and then fly back to England. Orders were then changed and they were to fly their raid, return to Souge and refuel and then fly to England.
On the evening of the 14 June four Battles from 103 Squadron were detailed for an attack on German troop columns in the Evreux-Pacy area. Sgt N Brumby crash-landed near Morannes due to flak damage but he and his crew quickly rejoined the Squadron.
Norman Brumby’s Fairey Battle which crashed near Moranne being inspected by German soldiers.
Sgt Norman Brumby. On return to the UK Brumby volunteered to join Fighter Commandand was posted to 615 Squadron at Prestwick on 3rd September 1940. He transferred to 607 Squadron at Tangmere on the 21st. He was shot down in combat with Bf110's over the Isle of Wight on 1st October and killed. He was laid to rest at the Hull Northern Cemetery the city where his family lived
P/O R Hawkins was also shot down by German BF109s and taken prisoner with his gunner P/O Hugill. Hawkins later escaped from the Vichy French and after many adventures evaded successfully to Spain and then to Gibraltar and returned to the UK. For his most daring and resourceful exploits he was awarded a Military Cross.
Above L to R - Ron Hawkins and P/O Hugill. On his return to the UK Ron Hawkins became a flying instructor, a role for which he was well qualified. He later returned to operational flying as OC 3 Squadron flying Hawker Typhoons and was killed on the 5 October 1943 in an attack on Langerbrugge. P/O Hugill survived the war as a POW
On the 14 June at 1700 aircraft 9 Dornier 17s flew low over the brow of a nearby hill and across the airfield bombing and strafing and all the aircrew dived into nearby slit trenches for safety. The 103 Squadron records concede that this was an excellent attack. Sgt Bone of 103 Squadron was wounded
Later on the evening of the 14 June 1940 orders were received for the Air Party to fly to Nantes the next day
15 June 1940
At 0530 all Army heavy and light anti aircraft defences were withdrawn from the airfield leaving the Lewis guns of 12 Squadron and 228 Squadron to defend the airfield.
At 0700 a German reconnaissance aircraft circled the airfield out of range of the meager defences available but during the morning three Fairey Battles were detailed for a reconnaissance mission and all returned safely.
During the morning further orders were received via 76 Wing HQ that all aircraft were to take off and fly back to the UK later that day.
At 1000 in the morning a reconnaissance mission of 3 Battles was dispatched and all returned safely.
At 1700 aircraft were being refuelled to return to the UK. This had to be done from 40 gallon drums by the aircrews themselves as the 103 Squadron ground party still delayed.. As they were in the process of doing this the landing ground was subjected to a heavy medium altitude bombing attack
Several more Battles were destroyed and a slit trench was hit and blown in killing Sgt Albert Dowling an Observer with 103 Squadron. Roy Max and his Air Gunner tried desperately to dig him out but having no tools had to use their hands and sadly by the time he was freed it was too late and he had suffocated.
Above - F/O Roy Max. He returned to the UK and remained with 103 Squadron for till the summer of 1941 flying Vickers Wellington bombers. He later commanded 75 NZ Squadron.He was awarded a DSO and DFC during WW2. Post war he remained in the RAF and enjoyed a long and distinguished career.
During this attack Sgt Brams was returning from a reconnaissance operation and dived his Battle into the attacking bombers firing his front gun whilst his gunner, Pilot Officer Roberts joined in from the rear. The raiders fled and Sergeant Brams was able to land safely being careful to dodge the bomb craters and debris
Two other attacks followed and some men were were killed. Being a new airfield it had little or no camouflage and with aircraft clearly visible it was an obvious target. At least 8 ground crew from other squadrons were wounded during these attacks and taken by ambulance to the local hospital. Three more from other Squadrons were killed and are now buried at Souge-Sur-Braye Cemetery alongside Sgt Dowling.
Sgt Albert Dowling was the only airman from 103 Squadron killed in bombing during the retreat and evacuation which is quite remarkable. P/O M A ap Rhys Price who had been attached to 103 Squadron at Betheniville but had moved on to other duties was killed by German bombing at Villacoublay on the 3 June 1940.
Sgt Dowling rests locally at the Souge-Sur-Braye Cemetery with 3 other RAF personnel killed on the 15 June 1940
Sgt Albert Nelson Dowling RAF – Observer – 24 – 103 Sqn - Son of Henry Thomas Dowling and Rose Florence Dowling, of Great Bunstead, Essex - Souge-Sur-Braye Cemetery, France.
Above - Grave of Sgt Dowling on the left with those of 3 others killed during the attack. Buried Souge-Sur-Braye Cemetery, France.
F/O Jimmy Havers later commented that during the first surprise raid he dived for cover behind a cow and the bullets aimed at him hit the unfortunate cow.
W/C Dickens gave orders for the ground parties of 12 and 228 Squadrons to evacuate the airfield and along with S/L Tait was having a last inspection yet another raid developed. Both men were lucky to survive when a trench into which they had dived was just missed by bombs and machine gun fire. As the attack ended they moved off towards the River Loir to continue their inspection when they were spotted by an enemy aircraft which dived to strafe them. Both men hastily took cover, S/L Tait dived into the river and W/C Dickens scrambled half way up a tree !
L to R - W/C Dickens and S/L Tait
W/C Dicken's aircraft which had been carefully dispersed was hit by a stray bullet and set on fire. The only staff car that remained could not carry all the personnel left on the airfield and an inspection was made of the remaining two unserviceable aircraft. One was completely unserviceable but the engine of the other worked although it had holed fuel tanks and a severed main spare.
Be that as it may W/C Dickens decided to fly this aircraft with S/L Tait and F/O Max in the rear cockpits to an airfield at Nantes aka Chateau Bougon ( which is now the site of the Nantes Atlantique Airport ), 100 miles to the west, to collect more serviceable machines that were stored there. They were accompanied by at least one other 103 Battle. The rest had already departed for the UK
The flight proved very difficult with the aircraft flying 25 plus degrees wing down and leaking fuel the fumes from which proved very unpleasant. S/L Tait accidentally discharged the rear Vickers K machine gun during the flight which nearly shot away the tail. After an eventful flight they succeeded in landing safely at Nantes late in the evening
The next day, the 16 June, F/O Max was allocated one of the reserve aircraft at Nantes and by the use of a map which was taken from a school atlas he navigated back to the UK and safety.
Dickens and Tait were also allocated a reserve aircraft and flew back to the UK landing at Jersey in the Channel Islands to refuel. P/O Hayter and P/O Barratt remained at Nantes under orders to fly further operations if required. They returned to the UK safely a few days later
Of the 18 103 Squadron aircraft that arrived at Souge on the 14 June 1940 9 returned to the UK, 7 were destroyed in the bombing or had to be abandoned due to damage and 2 were lost on operations.
Above - Jimmy Hayter who was one of the last two 103 Squadron pilots to leave France. On return he transferred to Fighter Command and became a fighter ace. He survived the war
The 103 Squadron ground party had arrived at Nantes earlier on the 15th June before Dickens arrived but they were ordered to drive on to Brest to be evacuated from there and already left. This was what was referred to as Operation Ariel, and the ground party returned to the UK on the SS Vienna. This further evacuation was accomplished under the most demanding and arduous circumstances imaginable with roads crammed with refugees and obstructive and uncooperative French police and authorities to deal with not to mention German air attacks. It was a remarkable feat and of great credit to all concerned
SS Vienna pre war
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Nantes/ Chateau Burgon Airfield.
After WW1 demand by local aviators and the need for a military airfield in the region led eventually to the opening of an airfield south of Nantes adjacent to Chateau Bougon in 1932. Facilities were built and installed on a modest scale.
In 1935 the Breguet aircraft manufactures established a large new aircraft factory near the airfield and this stimulated development of the airfield including the iconic double hangers and a rather splendid art deco flying control. In 1937 Breguet and Loire-Nieuport of St Nazaire merged becoming the SNCAO – Societe Nationale de Construction Aeronautique Ouest. This factory produced the Morane Saulnier MS 406 and assembled imported North American NAA57 and NAA64 aircraft to be used for pilot training. 1939 also saw the establishment of a new production line for the Loire et Olivier Leo 45 bomber
With the outbreak of WW2 British Forces arrived in France and Nantes was chosen as a replacement aircraft depot and repair base for the RAF British Expeditionary Force component and were allocated the western side of the airfield. In the next few months considerable work was undertaken by RAF and Army personnel to build accommodation, storage and workshop facilities plus a control tower and the laying of a hard runway.
During the retreat Nantes became a graveyard for RAF aircraft and also French machines of many of which were brand new straight off the production line. Aircraft were wrecked and disabled and scattered all over the airfield and the remaining British forces abandoned the base. The Germans recovered these which were sent by train back to Germany by rail to be used as scrap or used as decoys on other occupied airfields.
The British personnel left the base and many were evacuated from St Nazaire and some were lost in the SS Lancastria tragedy.
During the remainder of WW2 the Germans improved the airfield adding a new hard runaway and improving the facilities. It was used by German fighters, maritime reconnaissance and strike aircraft until they too evacuated in 1944.
Post war the airfield was developed into the Nantes Atlantique Airport
Above - Aerial photo taken in the immediate post war era clearly showing the impressive double hangers and the fine 30s flying control structure above.
Above - A recent aerial photo showing the concrete base o f the 2 hangars which have sadly been demolished in recent years. Fortunately the flying control still survives.
Above - Abandoned RAF aircraft at Nante - Hurricane and Battles. This photo was almost certainly taken at Nantes as the aircraft show no squadron codes and were therefore replacement and or spare machines
Compiled by David Fell with photos from my archives and a Iain T.
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