Filed under: RAF | Tags: Flight Sergeant, Gardermoen Airfield, Gliders, Hurricanes, Norman Shepherd, Norway, Nottingham, Operation Doomsday, Oslo, RAF, Rhine, Royal Airforce, Short Stirlings, Special Air Service, Spitfires
RAF veteran Norman Shepherd, 88, from Nottingham, who visited Norway on a Heroes Return visit, is urging other veterans to apply for funding for a first or second trip.
Norman Shepherd (photo credit – Alan Fletcher)
Norman joined the RAF in 1943 and after training joined 196 Squadron 38 Group. The Flight Sergeant was a flight engineer in Short Stirlings in operations over occupied Europe.
The squadron carried out various transport, glider-towing and supply-dropping flights as well as Special Air Service parachuting missions over occupied territories.
He said: “I flew something between 20 to 30 wartime operations. Most of them were dropping supplies or soldiers parachuting from our aircraft. My job as flight engineer was checking the engines and fuel.
“One of the most memorable operations was when we had to tow gliders over the Rhine. We flew from Suffolk to Essex to pick up the gliders. Some were full of troops, others had jeeps and weapons.
“There were hundreds of planes in the sky. A lot got hit by flack and we saw a few go down. We were also hit but we weren’t badly damaged. It was really terrifying when we got hit. We were flying so low towing the gliders that we wouldn’t have survived bailing out.
“After the gliders detached themselves we headed back. The rope used to tow the gliders was extremely thick and heavy and we were trained to drop it on targets. On the way back we dropped it over an anti aircraft position and the rear gunner called out from the back saying we hit it. We all gave out a big cheer.
“On another operation I remember we had to transport fuel for Spitfires and Hurricanes in jerry cans. We were like a flying bomb. One tracer bullet and we would have exploded. That was a bit hairy.
“There was a high loss rate of crews. When I was first started on operations I remember looking at a seasoned aircrew and thinking ‘what a scruffy lot’. Two months later they never returned from an operation and so we then became the scruffy lot. You got used to people not coming back.”
Norman returned to Oslo to commemorate those lost during Operation Doomsday
One cargo Norman wasn’t expecting was at the end of the war. His crew were delivered a dozen Jewish children who had been freed from a concentration camp and were to be flown to England.
He said: “They were aged between eight and 12 and I was put in charge of them. I gave them a chocolate bar each and they gobbled them all down. But they weren’t used to it and it made them sick in the aircraft.
“They got all tearful when I went over. They were cowering in fear – I think they thought I was going to hit them, the poor little things.”
Norman visited Oslo, Norway, last year for his Heroes Return 2 visit. He had been invited to take part in a ceremony to commemorate crewmen lost during Operation Doomsday – the supervision of the surrender of German forces in occupied Norway following the Allied victory in Europe on May 8 1945.
More than 360,000 German troops still occupied Norway and the Allies launched a massive operation to take 30,000 soldiers to Norway.
On May 10 1945 three Short Stirlings crashed enroute to Gardermoen Airfield. Norman joined relatives of the lost men at Gardermoen and also visited the crash site and cemetery where the men now rest.
He remembered: “We took off but the weather became dreadful about two-thirds of the way. We were recalled but three aircraft carried on. All three crashed, including one carrying the Commander of 38 Group Air Vice-Marshall James Scarlet –Streatfield.
“It was tragic – that could have happened to us. It wasn’t down to a particular person or crew – it was luck or fate what happened. They actually went to their death on Ascension Day so they went up like Jesus to the right place as far as I’m concerned. I really enjoyed the trip to reminisce. Sixty-seven years is a long time to think about these things. The visit brought to all to the surface.”
For more information about Heroes Return, call the advice line on 0845 00 00 121 or visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/heroesreturn
9 Comments so far
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Its good to hear that veteran Mr. Norman Shepherd has given importance to the fellow veteran to funds for the second trip. This is a good benefits for them heroes, because they served for us.
Comment by Mark Daniel May 18, 2013 @ 2:09 pmWhat an excellent article. I really enjoyed reading it Norman. Very emotional for me as my father was navigator on the LK147. I have been invited to lunch at the RAF Club in Piccadilly on 30th July. I noticed a “wings” brooch on a fellow choir member and said ‘I have one of those’ and she told me she had been a ‘flying nurse’ and said she would like to take me to the Club for lunch.
Comment by Gillian Hibbs June 12, 2013 @ 5:54 pmMany good wishes to you –
Gillian Hibbs
Thanks for your comment, Gillian. We’re constantly moved by the stories of veterans funded by Heroes Return. Enjoy your lunch on the 30th. Best wishes.
Comment by Big Lottery Fund June 13, 2013 @ 10:19 amGood on you Norman; I have just received approval for a second visit to Norway and have chosen the 70th Anniversary of Liberation in May 2015. Will be 92 in August but still quite fit and very hopeful.
Comment by Flt.Lt. D.J. Coxell, RAF Retd., June 12, 2013 @ 5:58 pmDoug Coxell, Pilot 297 Squadron, 38 Group.
Hello Doug, many thanks for reading the blog and for leaving a comment. We hope you have a successful visit to Norway and would love to hear about how you got on. Perhaps you could leave another comment for us or maybe even give a few words for our blog? All the best.
Comment by Big Lottery Fund June 13, 2013 @ 10:21 amSixty-seven years is a long time to think about these things,and to hold them through the various perspectives that life maps out for one! Thanks for sharing some of your story Uncle Norman.I hope others apply as well .So they too, may bring their holdings to a surface.
Comment by Alan and Ann Kenny June 16, 2013 @ 7:49 pmHi Alan/Ann, thanks for your comment on the blog. Thousands of veterans have already benefited from the Heroes Return programme but we’re always keen to spread the word so others can do so too. Their stories are moving and inspirational. Best wishes.
Comment by Big Lottery Fund June 17, 2013 @ 8:36 amOn the 10 May 1945, 68 years ago, 48 men perished onboard Short Stirling LK297, LK147 and LJ899 during the Liberation of Norway. Up until now has memorials been raised in Norway to commemorate the accidents of LK297 and LK147. Next year, on 10 May 2014, will a memorial be raised in Torsby Sweden at Lake Röjden where LJ899 made an emergency landing resulting in British soldiers’ lives being lost. We, the organizing committee, hope for a good turnout at the planned commemoration, as was the case recently in Norway. Please respond for more information.
Comment by Bengt Fransson December 17, 2013 @ 10:59 pmFrom WLD ,Halifax III MZ745 dad’s Flying Log Book
Comment by Chris Davies February 13, 2014 @ 5:16 pmMay 11, 18, 20 & 23 1945 to Gardemoen (Oslo)