Edward Railton - Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

EDWARD RAILTON – ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE

This is the story of Eddie Railton’s time in the Royal Air Force from enlistment in 1941 to demobilisation in 1946. It is based on his official service record, his flying log book, squadron records, published information and the reminiscences of others. All the facts cannot be given with certainty. There are discrepancies between the log and the service record and there are instances of differences with published information. The main area of doubt, however, is with a large part of the log which appears to have been written after the event and which may give erroneous facts, dates and sequence of events.

TRAINING

Before Enlistment

Eddie was born in Wallasey, Cheshire on 22^nd August 1922 to James Arthur Railton and Caroline nee Jones.

He left Gorsedale Secondary School in Wallasey age 15 in 1937 and went to work for Cedric Owen, optician, in New Brighton. Cedric wanted him to go to college to train for the profession but by that time he had met Betty and he did not want to be separated from her. He left his job with Cedric although they remained friends for the rest of his life.

Eddie then went to work for Freight Conveyors, stevedores and master porters, in Liverpool as a junior clerk.

Enlistment

The National Service (Armed Forces) Act was passed in 1939.This gave power to the Government to introduce conscription. The effect was not immediate on all over the requisite age and call up was implemented as required. Eddie would have been liable for call-up registration on 6^th September, 1941. He did not want to wait for this as he was keen to be RAF aircrew so he volunteered for service in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

On 24^th May 1941 at the age of 18 years and 9 months Eddie was called to RAF aircrew assessment at No 2 Recruit Centre, RAF Cardington in Bedfordshire for fitness tests, selection and enlistment. As well as a stringent medical there was particular emphasis on tests for colour blindness and night vision.

Eddie was told at Cardington that he had been selected for training as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner. He was also provided with an RAF identity number. This all took two days at the end of which he was sent home with the rank of Aircraftsman Second Class and told to wait to be called for.

Eddie went home and back to work and waited.

Reception into the RAF

The call came 20 weeks later when Eddie was told to report to No 3 Recruit Centre at RAF Padgate near Warrington. He was to be there for 4 days where he was issued with uniform including boots, socks, shirts, underwear, towels, greatcoat and cap together with some brown paper and string to wrap his civilian clothes in.

At the end of the four days he was put on a train to the Recruit Training and Signal School at Blackpool together with all the others he was to do his basic training with.  

Recruit training and Signal School Blackpool

This was Course 18 No 3 Wing Signal School at Blackpool, a combined basic training, ‘square bashing’ and morse code course which started on 9^th October, 1941 at No 10 Signals Reception Centre there. The RAF selected Blackpool as one of its Training Wings due to the availability of accommodation. As a popular holiday town there were a large number of hotels and guest houses available to accommodate new recruits. The open expanses of the seafront, the pier and the winter gardens were used for "square bashing".

Age 19 – recruit training at Blackpool

Eddie’s accommodation was in one of the hotels. The full course of 40 recruits were housed in 3 adjoining premises. Many years later one of Eddie’s fellow course members said “At Blackpool there was cold water and not enough heat. The lights went out in the bedrooms at about 7:30 at night…”

Course 18 No 3 Wing Signal School Blackpool Oct 1941

Back row, 3rd from left - Ron Boyton, 207 Squadron, shot down and killed 31.01.44   Back row, 2nd from right - Edward Railton    2nd row from top, 4th from right - Eric Melhuish, flew on Bostons, died c1999    3rd row from top, 5th from left - Keith Kenway, died in auto crash in 1980s    Front row, 4th from right - Reg Payne, did full tour of 29 ops on Lancasters with 50 Squadron

The first essential at Blackpool was a proper haircut. On arrival an inspection would be made by the course corporal who would ensure that almost everyone went and had their hair cut again and yet again until it was short enough.

Every morning after breakfast all on the course would form up in the road in front of the accommodation for drill. If the weather was very bad the drill would be done on the dance floor of the Tower Ballroom and everyone would wear plimsolls. It was drill and physical training, at Stanley Park, every day and then more drill. This was interspersed with instruction on how to spit and polish boots and how to look after uniform.

The main element of this part of the training was, however, basic morse code; two hours every morning and two hours every afternoon. This was all done at Blackpool tram sheds which had been commandeered for the purpose. At the end of every week progress would be monitored at the examination centre which was above Burtons the Tailors. The first test was at 4 words a minute and this would gradually increase until the end of the course when it would be 10 words a minute. Instruction at this stage was only in receiving morse as it was considered that if it could be received transmission would not be a problem. Once mastered to this standard he then had to start to get up to speed receiving it with the interference that would be found from normal radio communication.

Yatesbury

April, 1942 – qualification as Wireless Operator

Almost as soon as the course at Blackpool had finished the next one started, on 5^th February, 1942, at No 2 Signals School, Yatesbury in Wiltshire. This course covered the training required to be a wireless operator. It included improving morse speed up to 18 words per minute plus all the technical information required about electricity and electrons and about batteries, electric circuits, and valves and grids and anodes and diodes and pentodes and then onto radio circuits with condensers, variable condensers and how a tuned circuit works, radio frequency valves and audio frequency valves, and output valves. Then there was the radio operating procedures to be learnt and also semaphore but how that could be used in the air is unknown!

Accommodation was in wooden barracks. Drill and physical training continued as well as all the class room work. Permission to leave the camp was only allowed once a week although there was little to do for miles around and blackout restrictions were, of course, in place. At least there was a NAAFI and a camp cinema. Everyone was so keen to ensure they passed the course that most nights were spent in barracks swotting and testing each other.

It may well have been in the back of the mind of everyone what the consequences of failure were. Earlier in the war a small percentage of those who volunteered for aircrew duties had no intention of completing their course. They volunteered for aircrew to avoid call up into the army and avoided passing their aircrew exams to ensure they were transferred to a ground trade in the RAF. When the authorities later got wise to this they ensured that that all volunteers who failed to make competent aircrew were transferred to the army or to work in the mines.

At the end of April, 1942 Eddie completed the course and was classified as a Wireless Operator (untrained Air Gunner).

May to September 1942

Eddie had two further postings in 1942. The first was from May to September, 1942 at RAF Feltwell. His service record gives no indication as to what he was doing there other than that he did fly on Wellington bombers. There were two squadrons of Wellingtons at Feltwell at the time and shortly after Eddie arrived there they were operational on thousand bomber raids over Essen.

The only reason that such large scale bomber raids could take place was by using aircrew instruction staff and in some cases partly trained aircrew. There was also, at Feltwell, 1519 Beam Approach Training Unit which used Wellingtons. It could well be that Eddie was posted to this unit to release a fully trained WOP to bolster numbers on the bomber squadrons at the station. Although he had not started keeping his flying log at this time he did add in the back of this document, when it was issued to him that he was flying on Wellingtons for the full duration of his posting to Feltwell from May to September 1942.

On 16^th September 1942 Eddie was posted to Number 1 Signal School at Cranwell. Again, it is not known what the nature of this training was. It could well be that it was a holding course and the posting was to occupy his time awaiting a vacancy on the next required part of his training; there was a surplus of trained Wireless Operators in the RAF at this time as aircraft production was not keeping pace with the supply of trained aircrew. It is known that by the end of 1943 that Wireless Operator training had produced a surplus of 1000 awaiting posting at Yatesbury. Another factor to take into consideration regarding the purpose of these additional courses is the fact that as there was delay before posting to an operational unit previous training would become obsolete. Developments in the work of Wireless Operators were rapid at this time and a lot of what had already been learnt would become out of date.

Yatesbury again

On 13^th January 1943 Eddie was posted back to the No 2 Signals School at Yatesbury. Although the records don’t tell us what the nature of this training was it would seem that at this time his destiny with Coastal Command had been decided. No 2 Signals School included

advanced courses specialising in the operation of ASV sets that Coastal Command used in operations against U boats. ASV was Air to Surface Vessel radar to detect surfaced submarines at up to 36 miles. Eddie’s log did, however, include direction finding training in Domines and Proctors.

Air Gunnery training Walney Island

Eddie’s service record shows him being posted on 13^th May 1943 to Barrow previously known as Walney Island where he would undergo Air Gunnery Training. Training was carried out on Defiants. The course started by using a cine gun followed later by tracer and then live ammunition.

At the end of this course Eddie was classified as Wireless Operator/Air Gunner (II) and was promoted to Sergeant (temporary).

June to September 1943

There is only very limited information available about what Eddie did during this time. It is known that he started a four week course at No 10 Radio School at RAF Carew Cheriton near Tenby in Pembrokeshire on 29^th June 1943. He was flying in Oxfords and Ansons. Earlier in 1943 No 10 Radio School had incorporated No 4 Radio Direction Finding School so Radio Direction was almost certainly the subject of the course.

After some leave Eddie went back to No 13 Radio School at Blackpool for a period of a few weeks. It is unlikely that this was a refresher course as the school did not teach morse up to the standard that he would now require. It is possible that he was posted there as an instructor.

This was the end of Eddie’s initial training and he was now ready for posting to an operational unit in Coastal Command. One year and four months had elapsed since he enlisted. All training had not, however, finished as air crew underwent a series of training courses throughout their time with operational units.

COASTAL COMMAND

Getting There

Before a posting to an operational unit all aircrew were sent to an Operational Conversion Unit. Eddie was posted to No 4 Coastal Operational Training Unit at Alness in the highlands of Scotland on 27^th September 1943 for a one month conversion course to Short Sunderlands.

Here he met and trained with his first operational crew who became familiarised with the aircraft and gained experience in gunnery, bombing and anti-submarine patrol work for a total flying time of 33 ½ hours. The conversion course was completed on 26^th October and the crew then went on leave.

The same crew reformed on 18^th November as part of 201 Squadron whose base was at Castle Archdale on Lough Erne in Northern Ireland. Eddie’s time with 201 Squadron was only to be brief before he was posted on to 270 Squadron. During his short time there he did, however, have his first sight of the enemy when a German submarine was sighted on 21st November. Unfortunately the Sunderland was unable to attack as such an operation was not expected and the aircraft had no ammunition or depth charges.

Eddie’s log book and service record is a somewhat confusing record of what he was doing at this time. Although the 201 Squadron base was at Castle Archdale they appear to have been temporarily posted to Wig Bay near Stranraer. Eddie’s final flight with 201 Squadron appears to have been from Wig Bay back to Castle Archdale.

Still with 201, Eddie moved to RAF Maydown near Londonderry on 22^nd November. It is not know why this was. RAF Maydown at that time was designated as HMS Shrike with one unit, 836 Squadron RNAS, which provided aircraft and personnel to MAC ships, that is merchant aircraft carriers, conversions of merchant ships to escort carriers. The RAF establishment at Maydown was a minimum to maintain RAF fighter units on a lodger basis and it did not have flying boat facilities.

First operational crew – 201 Squadron Coastal Command at Castle Archdale

On 7^th December, still posted to 201 Squadron, Eddie moved back to Wig Bay and 4 days later transferred at that base to 270 Squadron. This Squadron was preparing to move for a tour of duty in West Africa. Eddie immediately joined his new crew on Sunderland EK589 with one day to test his wireless equipment before the move began.

The next day, 12^th December, 1943, the transit to West Africa began with a flight from Wig Bay to Pembroke Dock. A few more days of testing the aircraft and its equipment were followed on 17^th December by the first stage of the journey which was to Gibraltar. Departure was at 2325 hours. 270 Squadron was already based at Lagos in Nigeria were they operated Catalina flying boats. Conversion from Catalinas to Sunderlands was taking place within 270 Squadron at that time and EK589 was one of a number of Sunderlands that were moving from the UK.

The journey to Gibraltar was eventful. It took 11 ½ hours including 8 hours night flying; longer than it should have done. Eddie’s log shows the reason. One of the other Squadron Sunderlands went missing. The log shows ‘A/C ‘S’ shot down four hours from Gib.’. This was Sunderland DW106. A distress call had been received by EK589, quite possibly by Eddie himself. The flight became not just a transit flight but also a sweep to try to trace the missing aircraft. None of the official records show that DW106 was shot down and it is unknown if Eddie had information that was not recorded.

There was a break in the journey of over 2 weeks at Gibraltar so Christmas was spent there. There was no rationing at Gibraltar and plenty in the shops so most visiting crew spent all their money there. The downside of Gibraltar was the shortage of accommodation so, because they could, visiting Sunderland crews had to sleep on their aircraft. Eddie kept the Christmas Day dinner menu for the Sergeants Mess so it is known that it was a traditional meal. The journey continued on 3^rd January 1944 and took 6 days with stops at Port Etienne in Mauretania, Bathurst in Gambia, and Freetown in Sierra Leone finally arriving at Apapa, part of Lagos, in Nigeria, on 9^th January.

Background – West Africa WWII

West Africa 1944

There were three colonial powers in West Africa at the time; the British, the French and the Spanish. The British territories were Gambia, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast and Nigeria. The French possessions, or French West Africa, included the coastal territories of Mauritania, Senegal, French Guinea and Ivory Coast. Also, further to the south was French Equatorial Africa. The Spanish territory was known as Spanish Guinea. Both French and Spanish territories caused problems for the British during the war.

The French territories in West Africa had been under the control of the Vichy. The Battle of Dakar took place in Senegal in September 1940 when allied forces attempted without success to overcome the Vichy and install a Free French administration. The Battle of Gabon, two months later, was more successful freeing Libreville and the surrounding country. The remainder of French West Africa did not join the allied cause until the Anglo American Torch landings took place in North Africa in November 1942.

The Spanish territory in West Africa was Spanish Guinea. The capital of Spanish Guinea, Santa Isabel, was on the island of Fernando Po. Spanish Guinea was surrounded on all but the seaward side by French Equatorial Africa. Fernando Po was north of Guinea off the coast of the French territory. Fernando Po was being used by the Germans and Italians as a supply base for U-boats operating in the area. In January 1942 the British operated a successful commando raid to capture 2 German and one Italian vessel in Santa Isabel harbour. The Spanish State under General Franco was officially non-belligerent during World War II. This status, although not recognized by international law, was intended to express the regime's sympathy and material support for the Axis Powers, to which Spain offered considerable material, economic, and military assistance.

Background – RAF in West Africa

The reason for the Coastal Command presence in West Africa was the Battle of the Atlantic. The survival of the United Kingdom in the Second World War depended on the fleet of 3,000 ocean-going merchant ships which brought into the country all of its oil, most of its raw materials and half of its food. It was Germany’s aim to stop these imports mainly by means of submarine warfare and render the country incapable of resisting.

Most of the German U-boat activity was in the North Atlantic against the traffic from USA and Canada to the United Kingdom. A system of escorted convoys was introduced not only on this North Atlantic route but also to protect trade from Central and South America, West and South Africa, Indian Ocean Ports and South East Asia Command. The RAF presence in West Africa was to counter U-boat activity in the area against the West and South Africa trade.

The height of the U-boat activity was in 1942 when 7.8 million tons of Allied shipping was lost. From that time the combined activities of the Royal Navy and RAF Coastal Command, aided by code breaking at Bletchley Park, gained the upper hand.

270 Squadron was one of four flying boat and one land-based maritime patrol squadrons that by 1943 had moved into West Africa when shipping losses to U-boat attacks reached serious proportions. By 1944 when Eddie was stationed in West Africa the total annual shipping losses had reduced to about half a million tonnes. There was, however, still U-boat activity but on a much reduced scale and this activity had to be countered.

Operations

Crew of Sunderland EK589 – Apapa, West Africa

L to R back: F/Sgt Coate WOM, F/Sgt Pickles 2^nd Pilot, W/O Searle AG, F/Sgt Mack AG,

F/Sgt Railton 2^nd WOP,

L to R front: F/Sgt Kirkwood 2^nd Eng, F/L Martin Nav, F/O Weskett Skipper

F/O Karen 1^st Eng, F/Sgt Mennel 1^st WOP

Sunderland EK589 arrived at Apapa, Lagos on 9^th January, 1944, 28 days after the start of the journey from Wig Bay. It was to be another 16 days before crew and aircraft were operational. The squadron was in the middle of converting from Catalinas to Sunderlands with the replacement aircraft arriving over the course of the year. By this time there were 5 Catalinas and 5 Sunderlands. Plenty of time for acclimatisation before work began; time to get used, not only to the climate but also what must have been an overwhelmingly different environment for young men who had never been outside of UK before. They also had to get used to the fact that they had a servant. He was a boy named Lawrence who they paid a few shillings a week. 

The first operational flight for EK589 was on the 25^th January when a combined exercise took place with the Royal Navy using all 10 squadron aircraft and 4 Royal Navy ships, the sloops Folkestone and Totland, and the corvettes Amaranthus and Hydrangea. The exercise would have been training for the main purpose of the RN and RAF presence in West Africa, convoy escort.

The first squadron aircraft loss after Eddie arrived in West Africa was to occur 6 days later when one of the Catalinas crashed and caught fire on landing at Porto Novo Creek. All 9 crew were lost. Two days later Eddie would have attended the funerals and burials at Yaba Cemetery, Lagos with all other Squadron personnel not on duty. This was followed 2 days later, on 2^nd February, by another full Squadron parade for inspection by Air Officer Commanding West Africa, Air Vice Marshall Graham.

Sgt Railton at Apapa

There is then a gap in the records of 3 weeks before there is any sign of further activity by Eddie. Maybe the crew were on one of their rest breaks. It was usual practice to have a break after every six weeks of flying duties although it does seem rather early in the posting for this. It is also possible that Eddie was ill and he was one of the 22 members of the Squadron admitted to hospital in February. Possibly he was one of those recorded as suffering from furnunculosis, a complaint that he was particularly prone to in the years immediately after the war.

The accommodation at Apapa was large wooden huts partly made from packing cases. It was just about adequate and as well as the crews housed rats, tsetse flies, snakes, lizards and mosquitoes. There was a simple shower which could be used once the daily road tanker had arrived to top up the water tank. Toilets were basic; an open pit covered by six seats without partitions. The smell was probably no worse than anywhere else there!

West Africa was an unhealthy place, Apapa particularly, including the area of the flying boat moorings known as the ‘Trot’ which was malarial. During 1944 it is estimated that there was approximately 200 admissions of Squadron personnel to Station Sick Quarters. Squadron records seem to suggest that total Squadron strength was about 315. On that basis SSQ admissions in the year could have represented over 60% of Squadron members. At the end of April in Squadron records it was considered worth noting that there had not been an admission to SSQ with malaria for 10 days!

The problems of malarial mosquitoes continually exercised the authorities in West Africa. Works to drain swamps in the vicinity of the flying boat landing area were continuous and were considered to be of sufficient importance to warrant inspection by the Governor General of Nigeria. A few months later the situation warranted a visit by the parasitologist, Professor Donald Breadalbane Blacklock, of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to report on measures to be taken. His results of his investigations were later to be included in his ‘Medical History of the War’.

In early April Eddie was a member of one of the crews returning from a short stay at Abijan who reported that conditions there were extremely bad, with no intact mosquito nets, not enough bedding and inadequate feeding arrangements. 12% of returning crew were admitted to SSQ within 7 days of returning.

Malaria was not the only problem. Squadron records show that in one month in 1944, 11 Squadron members were sent back to England with a variety of medical problems including malaria, anxiety state and manic depression. In March all Squadron personnel were inoculated and vaccinated for a variety of potential infections including smallpox. Many other illnesses occurred; in July one airman died of staphylococcal septicaemia.

Flight Sergeant Railton – Apapa 1944

Whatever the problems operations had to continue; not only operations but training which was ceaseless and appeared to have occurred whenever there was a gap in the convoy escort duties. From looking through Eddie’s photograph album it would appear that life in Nigeria was one round of relaxation and sight seeing. The records show that this was not the case. Most importantly there was the on-going airborne bombing, depth charging and gunnery training exercises; although crews were fully trained when leaving England that did not preclude the need for continuous practice. In addition there was the constant round of lectures on such subjects as armaments, Aldis lamp technique, air sea rescue, dingy drill, sighting and range estimation, gunnery, gunnery stoppages, ship reconnaissance, removal of casualties from gun turrets, rifle shooting, photography and many more. In addition there was the training specific to wireless operators duties. It was while Eddie was in West Africa that he qualified as a Wireless Operator Grade I and as an ASV Operator. That was in February 1944. Four months later Eddie was promoted to Flight Sergeant.

Convoy escorts and anti-submarine patrols continued week after week. On one of these patrols, in March, lifeboats were sighted by EK589. This was reported back to Lagos and it was found that they were from the SS Matadian. On 20.3.1944 the Matadian was torpedoed and sunk by U.66, captained by Gerhard Seehausen, in the Bight of Benin while sailing independently from Lagos to Liverpool with a cargo of palm oil. As a result of this sighting Captain Cyril Gordon Silwyn Shorter, 38 crew and 8 gunners were rescued by a Royal Navy motor launch and landed at Lagos. The U66 was attacked about 2 months later west of the Cape Verde Islands, by depth charges, ramming and gunfire from Avenger and Wildcat aircraft of the US escort carrier USS Block Island and by the destroyer escort USS Buckley. The interest in this particular incident is that if there had not been for the war the Matadian would have arrived safely back in Liverpool. Henry Tyrer & Co, the appointed agent of the ship owner, Palm Line, would have had the vessel discharged of its cargo by Freight Conveyors and the accounts for the unloading would most likely have been dealt with by Eddie.

Eddie listening - 600miles west of Lagos

By mid 1944 there were few, if any, U-boats active in the South Atlantic as their bases in Western France had, by that time, been captured. Squadron patrols therefore became routine. Although shipping escort was still undertaken other activities became prominent including meteorological reconnaissance. Earlier in the war one of the Squadron’s tasks had been to keep watch on Vichy naval activities. This activity was no longer required once the Vichy colonies came over to the Allies in January 1943. The curious thing is, however, that Eddie often told tales of his crew being sent on operations against the Vichy. One of these incidents apparently was the landing of Eddie’s Sunderland in a creek somewhere in West Africa with the intention of overpowering the enemy in hand to hand fighting. Eddie’s story is that nothing came of it as the Vichy had apparently departed when seeing the arrival of the aircraft. He also used to tell that it was much appreciated that they had departed as the crew were extremely fearful in engaging in the sort of operation for which they were not trained. The question is, therefore, who these ‘Vichy’ were as this must have been between one and two years after they had supposedly given up the fight. Were there still pockets of Vichy resistance in the French West African colonies now unreported in the histories or was Eddie, although insistent on the truth of his story, mistaken?

Life was not all work. In May the Apapa Concert Party gave their first show, the majority of members being from 270 Squadron. There were hockey matches organised for Squadron personnel and 2 football teams, one in the local RAF league and one in Lagos league. In addition there was competitive tennis and swimming. We know that Eddie and his crew at one time took at break at the Tombu Rest Camp at Freetown, Sierra Leone. It was also common practice for crews to take breaks at Jos.

Eddie’s most memorable break from duties was the time he and the crew spent at Kano in Northern Nigeria. This required a lengthy train journey to the north of Nigeria. It seems that the local ruler of this part of the country, the Emir of Kano, helped the RAF in keeping these visitors entertained. They were treated as persons of importance by the Emir being invited to carry out tours of inspection of his government’s facilities. He also gave the crew horses which they made good use of learning basic riding skills. This was not just for their use while they were visiting but gifts to keep. The Emir probably realised that they would not be able to ship the horses back to England or have the means to look after them once there. Perhaps it was the same horses that were ‘given’ to each of the crews that visited Kano.

The Emir’s son, the Prime Minister, arrives to welcome the crew to Kano

One of the main concerns of the RAF in West Africa appears to have been Fernando Po. This was an island, part of Spanish Equatorial Guinea to the south but actually off the coast of French territory. Although Spain was officially neutral the island had been used as a submarine supply base by axis forces in the earlier years of the war. A careful watch was kept of the island by aircraft of 270 Squadron and there are a number of references in Eddie’s log to secret reconnaissance of the island as there are for all squadron aircraft in the Official Squadron History.

On 2^nd June a visiting Sunderland, ML811, took off from Apapa for Libreville on the coast to the south. This aircraft was on route from the United Kingdom to South East Asia Command. The aircraft went missing and one of the squadron’s aircraft was sent out on a search. This search was quite quickly called off when a radio message was received from a British citizen on Fernando Po that the aircraft had crashed on the island as a result of bad weather and that all the crew had been killed. There was a lot more to this story than originally appeared in terms of the background to the situation on the island, the incident itself and the consequences in the following years.

The next day another of the Squadrons aircraft, Sunderland EK585, was lost. The aircraft was at its moorings with a maintenance crew on board. The aircraft caught fire. The maintenance crew were unable to extinguish the fire and were forced to abandon the aircraft which blew up. A second explosion occurred when the hull sank due to depth charges detonating. Three members of the maintenance party received slight injuries.

A further Sunderland loss occurred on 27^th September. DW108 crashed on landing at Jui, near Freetown in Sierra Leone. 3 of the crew were killed and 6 were injured. This aircraft had already been involved in two accidents just before leaving for West Africa. The first was January when it was struck by another Sunderland which was being towed in Angle Bay. The second was in February when it struck a pinnace while taxiing for take off on an air test.

On 3^rd October there was the loss of another Sunderland, EJ164, which was on convoy escort duty. The aircraft was forced to ditch for unknown reasons and the crew took to dinghies being rescued 9 hours later with all surviving. The loss of aircraft was high; 6 being lost in the period of less than 12 months that Eddie was with the Squadron. This was from a squadron of 10 aircraft. The total of crew losses in the same period was 31 from the Squadron compliment of about 100.

The end of the tour of duty in West Africa came on 27^th October when Eddie and the crew boarded HMTS ‘Ruys’ for the journey home. It wasn't a bad journey, no u-boats turned up and most of the RAF crews returning home were able to relax. This was not the case for Eddie. The ship was short of wireless operators. Eddie was nominated to become a ships wireless operator for the 21 day journey which ended back in the River Clyde on 16^th November. Once home he went on 10 weeks leave.

TRANSPORT COMMAND

Very little is known of Eddie’s time with Transport Command despite the fact that his posting lasted for twenty months and until he was released from service in September 1946. His service record shows that he was posted to RAF Merryfield in Somerset in February 1945 and then to RAF Membury in Berkshire in May 1946.

Eddie at Membury briefing a crew to Bari, Southern Italy

From other sources it is known that his posting was as a member of Transport Command staff rather than to a particular squadron. Most of his time was spent on ground based duties that are thought to have included the briefing of crews and it was during this time, in May 1945, that he was promoted to Warrant Officer.

One fact that was shown in his service record and is known from oral history is that in December 1945 Eddie caught diphtheria and was in hospital for four weeks. It may well be that this was contracted from aircrew returning to Merryfield from what was at the end of the war a disease ridden Europe. He was, apparently, one of the first people to be treated with penicillin to cure the infection.

His log book shows some limited flying as a Wireless Operator (Air) with 242 Squadron at Merryfield and with 187 and 525 Squadrons at Membury but these could well have been as a member of Transport Command staff rather than squadron crew. The information in his log about this flying appears to have been entered well after the event. It is probable that he had got out of the habit of recording flights in his log after a gap of eighteen months since flying with Coastal Command.

What his log does show is a two week journey between Merryfield and to RAF Dum Dum at Calcutta, India and return in April/May 1946. This was described as a Radio and Navigation Transport Command Route check and operation investigation and was in an Avro York. This will have been in connection with the extensive troop movements to and from India that were then starting in this type of aircraft.

His move to RAF Membury was soon after this in June 1946 and his log shows flights in and out of Europe with 187 and 525 Squadrons for about two months. These flights which were into Germany included the movement of troops, medical staff and Nuremberg Court trial staff on Dakota aircraft.

Unfortunately there is almost nothing in squadron or Transport Command records to support the information in his log. There are probably three reasons for this. Firstly, non-commissioned officers got far less mention than commissioned officers in these records. Secondly, details of flying by Transport Command staff are sparse compared with squadron records. Thirdly, it is likely that with passage of time between the events and Eddie’s recording of them much of the memory of detailed facts was lost.

The end of Eddie’s RAF service came on 26^th September, 1946 so it was then back home and back to work in Liverpool.

Primary Sources of Information

Flying log Book of 1435447 Railton, E.

Service Record of 1435447 Railton, E.

Operational Record Book of 270 Squadron, Coastal Command

Operational Record Book of 242 Squadron, Transport Command

Operational Record Book of 187 Squadron, Transport Command

Operational Record Book of 525 Squadron, Transport Command

AIR 28 records of RAF Merryfield

AIR 28 Records of RAF Membury

Reminiscences of Charles Alfred George Plank (Training at Blackpool and Yatesbury on same course as Eddie Railton)

Reminiscences of James Kernahan (an AG with 270 Squadron at Apapa in 1944)

Reminiscences of Jim Wynn (a WOP with 270 Squadron at Apapa in 1944)

Secondary Sources of Information

‘Short Sunderland in World War II’ by Andrew Hendrie

‘Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft’

    by John D R Rawlings

‘RAF Squadrons’ by C G Jefford

‘Observers and Navigators and other non-pilot aircrew in the RFC, RNAS and RAF’

    By C G Jefford

‘Flying Training and Support Units since 1912’ by Ray Sturtivant

The Right of the Line’ by John Terraine

‘Aircraft Crash Log No 3: Short Sunderland’ compiled by Nicholas Roberts

‘Conscription’ thread on www.ww2talk.com

‘WOP Training – WWII’ thread on www.rafcommands.com

‘Interpretation of a WOP’ service record’ thread on www.rafcommands.com

‘The Battle of the Atlantic’ by John Costello and Terry Hughes

‘Objetivo Africa. Crónica de la Guinea española en la II Guerra Mundial (‘Objective Africa. Chronicle of Spanish Guinea in World War II’) by Jesus Ramirez Copeiro del Villar

‘Lesser Known Squadrons: Nigerian Sea Searchers: No. 270 Squadron Royal Air Force’ by Andrew Thomas from Aviation News, 1-14 May 1987.

‘Avro York in Royal Air Force Service 1942 – 1957’ by Chris Ashworth