Further reminiscences about his time serving in Europe

I managed to get my hands, through the kindness of Tom Watson, I was telling your friend here that one here FDT - Floating Defence Tenders in the Channel at the time of the invasion and when I met him he told me I says ken you was the mos' interesting job than I had. Max Nearly he was a civilian friend before the war started was one of the boys that was there. Now this bit here, it's the official writeup of the of the ground search radar in the campaign from Normandy to the Balkan - Baltic Operation Overlord, overlord but theres a mistake in it. So when you come to do it eh these are the maps at the different times, and the ones there are and we were at Laverlette so you will be able to look it up on there, there was August the 19th. That's where we were in relation to the Germans. See. Right and eh September 20th , there, we were at Valpan. We left on the 21st to go to Wauberg. We were there, we were up there, and that's the Germans, an we were quite near the, see we were quite near the Front you see. Now this mentions all the different types of radar equipment. And this bit here. 83 group FDPs attempt to give radar cover over Arnhem and Nijmegen. And it goes on, with the failure of Air Transports Transportable Light 1, see it says Arnhem radar cover over that area still debased as quickly as possible so number 15053 FDP which had been located since the 12th September or whatever that is, near Antwerp was moved up to Eindhoven airfield in Holland on 21st September. There was a faint WT contact only with group control centre. You must bear in mind that to transmit the plots, you know what a plot is a grid reference, we had either to use landline or WT and sometimes the reception wasn't always very good, and sometimes if they, if the army boys that had come up we used to get a landline and it could probably be miles to pass those messages back you see, and you, so it says here a faint WT contact. The unit took control of all 83 group aircraft for the remainder of the battle of Arnhem. This was worked to capacity and although weather conditions were by no means ideal for flying there were no complaints from the army that they had been beaten up on the ground by the enemy airforce, one sign that the FDP was functioning really well. Some indication of its success may be gained from the claims of pilots flying under its control for the period 25th to 27th September. In three days these were 35 Fokker Wolfe 190 destroyed, 41 ME 109 destroyed, 1 ME 410 and damaged 21 Fokker Wolfes, 32 MEs and 1 ME 262. Now that is the first jet plane to be shot down on October the 5th, there you are. Right. Right. In order to improve the radar cover as much as possible as the ground forces extended their linkages with the airborne troops holding strategic points and bridges, a forward echelon of number 15054 FDP with its Type 15 equipment, now that is not right, they took the Type 11 and Type 13, because I was a Type 15 man [unclear]. Tom Watson who was sending this put on, this is incorrect, see page 92 of Off to War with 054 by John Kemp, CO of 054 FDP. Types 11 and 13 radars were taken. And I've put on also Life of an Airman by Morris Fletcher. Because I was there, I mean while I wasn't at Arnhem, at Grave but I was left behind and I know Type 15s didn't go. And in John Kemp's article the Eyes at the Front also states it as well. Aw right. And it says they went up, behind tank squadrons with armoured - army armoured - reccies units. To there it sounds as if they went up behind the tanks, well in that one there, in his book it says they went up behind Bren gun carriers, which is an open affair you know tracked you see. Eh I've put it on see John Kemp's Eyes of the Front Line, behind Bren gun carriers, also page 95 n 96 of John Kemp's Off to War with 054. So that bit there is wrong, the Type 15 and that was wrong you see. Right now.