Who knows their RAF bombers?

[56RAF_Roblex]

My father passed away recently and among the photos I found in his house was what I believe is a Wellington.  I have another photo of the man 2nd from the right so he is likely a relative but I am not sure who.    The issue is that the code appears to be OQ-J and that code was only used 5sqn who flew fighters and 52 OTU who also only flew fighters.   QO was a Canadian squadron who flew Wellingtons but why would the code be reversed?   Any thoughts?  Is this definitely a Wellington or did another bomber use that triangular window?

 

 

[sallee]

Sorry to hear about your father. We found interesting stuff when my father died a couple of years ago. 

It looks like a wellington. Colour scheme looks like coastal command. I'll have a look in some books about squadron codes unless someone else beats me to it!

[AndyJWest]

Definitely a Wellington. The object projecting under the fuselage just behind the bomb doors looks like the fairing for a retractable Leigh light, as fitted to some Coastal Command Wellingtons.

[sallee]

30 minutes ago, AndyJWest said:

Definitely a Wellington. The object projecting under the fuselage just behind the bomb doors looks like the fairing for a retractable Leigh light, as fitted to some Coastal Command Wellingtons.

Interesting photo in Wellington at War showing Wellington GRXIVs of 304 (Polish) squadron. The code should be "QD" but looks like QO.

Edited December 15, 2019 by sallee
Spelling

[AndyJWest]

2 minutes ago, sallee said:

Interesting photo in Wellington at War showing Wellington GRXIVs of 304 (Polish) squadron. The code is visible in the original as "QO".

 

I was just looking at another website, showing similar photos. The only thing is, in at least some of the photos it looks to be 'QD' not 'QO'.

http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw304zdj.html#

[sallee]

See my edit!

[AndyJWest]

14 minutes ago, sallee said:

See my edit!

 

Yup. QD is definitely the correct code for 304 Polish squadron. They definitely flew Wellingtons with the Leigh Light, or at least, with the fairing for it:

 

 

It wasn't unknown for mix-ups to happen when applying squadron codes, but 'OQ' for 'QD' would be rather a glaring error, I'd have thought.

 

@56RAF_Roblex: Have you taken the photo out of the frame? People sometimes put useful remarks on the back.

[56RAF_Roblex]

Yes I checked the back of the photo and nothing written there. The other photo I have is a formal portrait in uniform from a studio in Torquay. My uncle has confirmed that the person in question, Dick Spalding, did fly Wellingtons for Coastal Command from Limavady in Northern Ireland (Beaufighters from England before that) but he did not know the squadron. I will have to look up the Polish Squadron when I get back to my PC. I know there was one flying Wellingtons for CC near me at Predannack in Cornwall for a short time so it may even have been them by wild coincidence. 

Thanks to all for the answers. 

 

Edit:

Yes 304 is the squadron that flew from Predannack near me and also Limavady in Northern Ireland but I agree with Andy West that it seems very unlikely that 'QD' would mutate into 'OQ'.  They also never flew beaufighters but that could a misremembered family fact or he could have changed squadrons.   On the other hand I cannot find any RAF squadron codes that ended with 'Q'

Edited December 17, 2019 by 56RAF_Roblex

[AndyJWest]

Wikipedia has a long list of RAF squadron codes, including quite a few ending in Q.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RAF_squadron_codes

 

According to Wikipedia, 5 squadron RAF used 'OQ', but they were based in India during the war, and never flew Wellingtons, so can be ruled out. I suppose it is possible that 'OQ' got reused for UK-based aircraft, given that there was no room for confusion with an India-based aircraft. Or maybe there was a bureaucratic cock-up somewhere? No 172 Squadron, which was the first to use Leigh light Wellingtons operationally, and was based at RAF Limavady during the late war, apparently used 'OG' at one point, so maybe it was a simple misreading or typo. Squadron codes got reused frequently, and I'm not sure anyone has a definitive list. 

[PO_Baldrick]

3 hours ago, AndyJWest said:

Wikipedia has a long list of RAF squadron codes, including quite a few ending in Q.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RAF_squadron_codes

 

According to Wikipedia, 5 squadron RAF used 'OQ', but they were based in India during the war, and never flew Wellingtons, so can be ruled out. I suppose it is possible that 'OQ' got reused for UK-based aircraft, given that there was no room for confusion with an India-based aircraft. Or maybe there was a bureaucratic cock-up somewhere? No 172 Squadron, which was the first to use Leigh light Wellingtons operationally, and was based at RAF Limavady during the late war, apparently used 'OG' at one point, so maybe it was a simple misreading or typo. Squadron codes got reused frequently, and I'm not sure anyone has a definitive list. 

I got intrigued and spent longer looking these things up than I intended! Interesting topic. I think the likliehood of OQ being reused or part of a squadron that might have used a Wellington for transport or training seem high.

 

My own father was in the RAF post war and was a radio operator in Shackletons. Prior to the RAF he was an apprentice for an organ building & piano tuning company. He was ordered to stay behind in Portugal to tune the piano for a concert, he was pretty miffed to say the least as his squadron left to go on leave. The Shackleton went down and lost all on board.

[MiloMorai]

304 Squadron Codes

NZ (Aug 1940 - May 1942)
2 (Aug 1943 - Jul 1944)
QD (Jul 1944 - Dec 1946)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._304_Polish_Bomber_Squadron

 

5 Squadron codes

QN (Apr 1939 – allocated but possibly not used)
OQ (Sep 1939 – Feb 1941, Mar 1946 – Aug 1947)
B (Mar 1952 – 1955)
A (Aug 1986 – Dec 1987)
CA–CZ (Tornado F.3)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._5_Squadron_RAF

[56RAF_Roblex]

Just to let you know that I finally got an answer to why the Wellington in my photo showed an unrecognised code. I spoke to someone from the CCMAA (Coastal Command & Maritime Aviation Association) who told me that No. 172 flew with OQ and, despite what the Internet says, never used OG.

 

Thankyou for your efforts on my behalf. 

 

Have a lovely New Year. 

[Pict]

All Interesting stuff.

 

There was a Wellington out of Northern Ireland that got lost and had to make an emergency landing on a Beach on the West coast of the Isle of Lewis in the Scottish Hebrides. It eventually sank into the sand and was partially recovered  in 2002.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2094410.stm

 

Not sure what ever happened to efforts to restore it, but it's one of the very few survivors, 3 in total from what I gather and only one of 2 that saw action in WWII.

[sallee]

On 12/26/2019 at 9:05 AM, 56RAF_Roblex said:

Just to let you know that I finally got an answer to why the Wellington in my photo showed an unrecognised code. I spoke to someone from the CCMAA (Coastal Command & Maritime Aviation Association) who told me that No. 172 flew with OQ and, despite what the Internet says, never used OG.

 

Thankyou for your efforts on my behalf. 

 

Have a lovely New Year. 

Well done! Nothing better than a solved mystery!