WW2 Stories of three relatives

Lt David O. Rees joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1941, becoming a part of the Fleet Air Arm. In this role, Lt Rees became an 'Observer' on the Swordfish aircraft and was a part of 766 Naval Air Squadron and then 825 Naval Air Squadron until the latter was wiped out in the channel in 1942. Lt Rees joined the new version of 825 Naval Air Squadron after it was wiped out and followed the squadron when it joined HMS Furious in the North Atlantic, protecting convoys from German attacks. Lt Rees had his first 'ditching' on 28th April 1943 and was notably shaken up after being in the water... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Their Finest Hour Project Team
Dokumenttyp: Text
Erscheinungsdatum: 2024
Schlagwörter: British history / European history (excl. British / classical Greek and Roman) / International history / Their Finest Hour / World War Two / Aeroplane / Africa / African / Air Force / Air Raid / Aircraft / Airplane / America / American / Animal / Animals / Armed Forces / Armies / Army / Asia / Asian / Battle of Dunkirk / Battle of Europe / Bomb / Bombed / Bombing / Bombing raids / Bombs / Britain / British / British Army / British Empire / British Raj / Child / Childhood / Children / Civilian / Civilians / Commonwealth / Concentration Camp / Desert / Dunkerque / Dunkirk / Dutch / Empire / Employment / Europe / European / Food
Sprache: unknown
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28625337
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.25446/oxford.25914355.v1

Lt David O. Rees joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1941, becoming a part of the Fleet Air Arm. In this role, Lt Rees became an 'Observer' on the Swordfish aircraft and was a part of 766 Naval Air Squadron and then 825 Naval Air Squadron until the latter was wiped out in the channel in 1942. Lt Rees joined the new version of 825 Naval Air Squadron after it was wiped out and followed the squadron when it joined HMS Furious in the North Atlantic, protecting convoys from German attacks. Lt Rees had his first 'ditching' on 28th April 1943 and was notably shaken up after being in the water for hours. His pilot was also injured during this and had to retire from the force. After finishing his tour of the Atlantic, Lt Rees returned to the UK to work on Hurricane aircraft. Lt Rees joined the brand-new HMS Vindex (D15) and attacked German U-boats at night for the first time ever. On 14th January 1944, the aircraft Lt Rees was in was involved in an accident, which meant he was in the ocean again for hours. Lt Rees continued to attack submarines for a month after before his third 'ditching' on 25th February 1944. After this third ditching, Lt Rees became a training instructor in the Fleet Air Arm in March 1944. Due to his water landings and life craft used, Lt Rees became a part of The Goldfish Club, which still exists today. The contributor is an honorary member today due to his father's ditchings. Sgt. David Binch was a full-time member of the British Army when war broke out in 1939, having served in India with the 7th Royal Tank Regiment before the war. Sgt. Binch was sent to France in 1939 as part of the British Defensive Line (British Expeditionary Force) [contributor's dates different in their word document] to help keep the Germans out of the Dunkirk area. When Dunkirk was evacuated, Sgt. Binch was one of the last people to return to the UK. Sgt. Binch was present during the Battle of Arras [before Dunkirk evacuations] where he helped stop the Germans in their tracks. Bombed on the way back. After this, ...