The very good Second World War Bomber Command 5 Group “Flying Suitcase” Hampden Pilot’s end of tour 1942 Distinguished Flying Cross, Pilot Instructors June 1943 Mention in Despatches and subsequent 1944 Italy Wellington bomber operations group with flying log books, as awarded to Squadron Leader J.B.G. King, D.F.C., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. From Horsham, Sussex, his family owned the brewing business of King and Barnes Ltd in Horsham, for whom he worked both pre and post war. With the war, he qualified as a pilot in late December 1940. Posted operational to No.50 Squadron, he then went on to compete 31 operational sorties in Hampden medium bombers, nicknamed both the “Flying Suitcase” and the “Flying Coffin”. The first eight of his missions were as navigator to Squadron Leader Potts, D.F.C. and Bar, and a fellow pilot was the future 617 Squadron leader and Victoria Cross recipient, Leonard Cheshire. On 6 July 1941 he flew in an attempt to bomb the German warships Prinz Eugen, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in Brest harbour, these three warships being nicknamed as the Brest Bomb Target Flotilla. From 1 December until Christmas Day 1941, the whole of 50 Squadron was involved in day and night intensive formation training, getting ready for participation in ‘Operation Archery’, the first combined forces Commando assault of the Second World War, that occurred on Maloy Island, South Vaagsoy, and Rugsundo Island in Norway. Central to the operation was the destruction of fish-oil production that was used to make certain types of explosives, and to cause the Germans to maintain and increase their forces in Norway, thereby reducing their forces on the Eastern Front. Twin missions in daylight were detailed for the squadron on 27 December, with 7 aircraft dropping phosphorus smoke bombs to form a screen for two separate amphibious landings by the Commandos. One of the crews selected for this work was King’s. The Hampdens timed their arrival just right, drawing fire from the various German light anti-aicraft units on shore. King was detailed to lay a smoke screen on the island of Rugsundo, after which he made repeated attacks, machine - gunning a gun emplacement from a height of just 30 feet. Two years later, officials would marvel at the attacks made by ‘The Dambusters’ at double that height! His participation in this mission would form a good part of the subsequent recommendation for his award of the Distinguished Flying Cross, however he would also fly on of the eight Hampdens that bombed the Billancourt Renault Engine Works in Paris from 2,500 feet on 3 March 1942. The factory was making an estimated 18,000 lorries a year for the German forces. Visibility was excellent and good pin-pointing of the target using flares and the River Seine, gave positive results, with the works seen to be ablaze from end to end. King made an entry in his logbook; ‘Wizard Party’. His award was gazetted on 26 May 1942, and he became a bit of hero in Sussex and also went on the publicity tour thanking the workers in munitions factories, though he also flew as an instructor with 24 Operational Training Unit, for which work he was decorated with a Mention in Despatches on 2 June 1943. In early 1944 he flew out via North Africa to Italy, where he piloted Wellington bombers with No.142 Squadron as part of No.205 Group and operating from Foggia. However on 10 March he was badly wounded by fragments from an incendiary bomb that put him in hospital until June 1944. It was only the previous day, 9 March, that King and his crew had visited San Giovanni Rotondo Monastry in Foggia, and were blessed by Padre Pio. King and his crew always believed that they would have all been killed in action if it wasn’t for the blessing they all received from Padre Pio, who was an Italian Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist and mystic, and was Canonised by Pope John Paul II in June 2002. The wound he received on 10 March, later resulted in him being taken off operations, as he was forced to resort to using the auto-pilot to get through missions, but he nevertheless complete a further 10 operational sorties with 141 Squadron when in command of ‘A’ Flight between June and August 1944. In all he flew in 42 operational sorties during the war. On 50 Distinguished Flying Crosses were awarded to 50 Squadron during the war.
Group of 6: Distinguished Flying Cross, GVI 1st type cypher, reverse dated 1942, with original ribbon and wearing pin, and housed in its Royal Mint fitted presentation case; 1939-1945 Star; Air Crew Europe Star with France and Germany Clasp; Italy Star; Defence Medal; War Medal with Mention in Despatches Oakleaf. The campaign medals all housed in an Air Ministry labelled box of issue, this lacking the address.
Condition: Nearly Extremely Fine.
Together with the following quantity of original documentation and ephemera:
Royal Air Force Pilot’s Flying Log Book, cover inscribed in ink to: ’KING 922677’, inside opening page similarly inscribed in ink to: ’P/O KING J.B.G.’, and covering the period from 5 August 1940 through to 19 May 1943.
Royal Air Force Pilot’s Flying Log Book, cover inscribed in ink to: ’S/LDR JBG KING.’, inside opening page similarly inscribed in ink to: ’S/L John BG. King’, and covering the period from 23 May 1943 through to 12 September 1944.
Newspaper cuttings, one from the Sussex Daily News of 29 May 1942, titled: ’Sussex Hero in Factory’ and subtitled ‘Horsham D.F.C. did not know of award’, another cutting titled: ‘Horsham Officer Awarded D.F.C.’ and subtitled: ‘”Gallantry and Devotion” of Flt.Lieut. J.B.G. King - bombed Renault Works and Raided Vaagso’.
Post Office Telegram from the Air Ministry to recipient’s father at 41 North Parade, Horsham, Sussex, dated 12 March 1944, and reading: ‘Regret to inform you that you son Flight Lieutenant J B G King DFC (NO 89605) is reported seriously ill on 10th March 1944 suffering from wound to thigh and admitted to No 25 Mobile Field Hospital North Africa’.
Recipient’s pair of dog tags, both stamped: ‘J.B.G. KING. OFFR. 89605 R.A.F.V.R. C.E.’, these affixed to remnants of original neck cord with two silver lucky charms attached.
Recipient’s handwritten note book from his training period, with details and facts relating to his training and instruction. Neatly filled in with written details and some hand drawn diagrams.
Framed and glazed wartime group photograph of the members of ‘C’ Flight, No.1 Squadron, No.3 Initial Training Wing in July 1940. King being amongst those photographed.
Two photographs of the recipient when under training as an Aircraftsman 2nd Class taken on 2 June 1940.
Two photographs, one of King and Hampden crew, the other of the bombs being delivered to his aircraft, both taken before the operation to Brest on 6 July 1941, during which he flew Hampden 977.
Fine studio portrait photograph of the recipient when a Flight Lieutenant in 1942 and wearing the recently awarded ribbon of the Distinguished Flying Cross. This taken by a photographer in Horsham.
In flight photograph of a Hampden AA-A RF389 midair.
Group photograph taken on the occasion of the opening of The Old School House pub in Ockley on 12 July 1965. King was the landlord.
Beermat for King and Barnes Limited Pale Ale Brewers Wine Merchant etc of Horsham, together with a token for the same, this in brass and stamped: ‘No.405’ with embossed details for King & Sons Horsham’.
Photograph of King in later life. Also an old calling card, printed: ‘Mr. J.B.G. King R.A.F.V.R.’.
Also a pair of V.R. (Volunteer Reserve) brass shoulder titles.
Valentine’s Aircraft Recognition Card bearing image and details of the Handley Page Hampden I aircraft. Also a wartime postcard of an Oxford aircraft in flight.
Old King’s Crown hand painted 519 Squadron wall plaque, complete with the squadron motto: ‘Undaunted by Weather’.
Old King’s Crown hand painted 50 Squadron wall plaque, this being the ‘deluxe form’ with gilded metal details, complete with the squadron motto: ‘From Defence to Attack’.
A small quantity of original correspondence relating to King, some of it wartime.
Group photograph of the masters and students of 1 North House at Cranleigh School in 1934, with another for 1935, King being amongst the boys who were photographed.
Some Southern Water Plc bills from October 1990, giving recipient’s address as: Pendle Hill, Newhouse Lane, Storrington, West Sussex’, also other related documentation.
John Busby Gordon King was born on 19 June 1919 in Horsham, Sussex, the son of Gordon and Eva King, the family lived at 41 North Parade in Horsham, that is next to the White Hart Inn. He was educated at Sompting Abbots Preparatory School in West Sussex, followed by Cranleigh Public School in Surrey, where he was member of No.1 North House during 1934 and 1935. At Cranleigh he played for the First XV and also played for Horsham Rugby Club. On his leaving school at aged 16, he went to work in the brewing business of King and Barnes Ltd in Horsham, his father being a partner in the firm and also the managing director. However with the outbreak of the Second World War, he volunteered for service and was called up with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as an Aircraftsman 2nd Class (No.922677) in June 1940, and was sent forward for flying training as a pilot.
Posted to ‘C’ Flight of No.1 Squadron of No.3 Initial Training Wing in July 1940, he was made a Leading Aircraftsman and then posted to No.22 Elementary Flying Training School in Cambridge from 5 August 1940, where he underwent his pilot training in Tiger Moth’s, and completed this course on 14 September, being rated as ‘above average’. On 17 September he was posted to No.2 Service Flying Training School where he first flew the twin-engined Oxford aircraft and on 28 December 1940, he was awarded his flying wings, and then commissioned as a Pilot Officer (No.89605) into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
As a bomber pilot, King was posted to No.14 Operational Training Unit on 9 January 1941, this being located at Cottesmore, a station that training night bomber crews on the Anson aircraft, and for the next five months he flew with this training unit as a navigator, and whilst there flew in a Hampden for the first time on 23 April, and first flew it solo on 26 April. The Hampden was a twin-engined medium bomber aircraft, nicknamed the “Flying Suitcase”, owing to a comment made during its flight trails in 1936 by The Aeroplane magazine founder, Charles Grey, who remarked: ‘it looks like a flying suitcase’. This nickname then stuck. Some 1400 were built between 1936 and 1941, and the last operational sortie of the aircraft would be flown on the night of 14/15 September 1942. Over 700 of these aircraft, therefore 50 percent, were lost due to enemy action and flying accidents, giving it a further nickname of ‘The Flying Coffin’. It has a crew of four, the pilot, navigator / bomb aimer, radio operator / dorsal air gunner, and a ventral air gunner. With a top speed of 247 mph, at 13,000 feet or 206 mph at 15,000 feet, it could carry a bomb load of 4,000 pounds, or in some operations, a torpedo. It had a defensive armament of six machine guns, these being located in three different positions. it was as the pilot of the Flying Dustbin, that King would go on to distinguish himself and be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
At the end of King’s posting to No.14 Operational Training Unit on 20 May 1941, he was assessed as an ‘average’ pilot, and an ‘average’ navigator, and ‘above average’ in the role of both Air Bomber and Air Gunner. On 27 May 1941 he was posted operational to join No.50 Squadron at R.A.F. Lindholme, and joined ‘A’ Flight, piloting the Hampden Mark 1. He first took to the air on affiliation flights with this squadron on 1 June, and then flew his first operational sortie on the 11th June, a raid to Duisburg. For this mission he flew as the navigator to Flight Lieutenant Potts, piloting Hampden AD977. This was part of a force of 80 aircraft, 17 being Hampdens, Crossing via the Dutch coast, searchlights and anti-aircraft fire were found to be accurate and intense, with Me109 fighters seen but not engaging. Bombing was undertaken from 10,000 feet, some bombs falling on Cologne, with 10 aircraft being lost. King had had his baptism of fire.
On 14 June, and still as navigator to Potts, he attacked Cologne, as one off 9 Hampdens from 50 Squadron to do so. His aircraft was unable to confirm hitting the target owing to heavy cloud, and no aircraft were lost. Then on 18 June, as navigator to Potts, he flew in a raid on Bremen, flying the northern route over the Frisian Islands. All aircraft reported very heavy and intense flak over the target, and his own aircraft suffered a hit in the port air intake, but was able to return without further trouble, landing at Waddington, owing to poor visibility over the home base. On 21 June, still with Potts at the controls, he flew in an air sea rescue search.
On 24 June his was one of 10 Hampdens detailed to bomb the docks at Kiel, with Potts being still at the controls. Bombing from a height of 19,000 feet, they encountered light and heavy flak that reached up to around 16,000 feet. Me110’s attacked some of the aircraft and two were shot down. On 27 June his crew was one of 8 detailed to bomb the U-Boat construction yards at the Bremen Vulcan Schiffau works. Bombs were dropped from 16,000 feet and seen hitting their target. This was in the face of numerous concentrations of searchlights and flak batteries.
King’s next mission was on 6 July, and as an attempt to bomb the German warships Prinz Eugen, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in Brest harbour, where all three vessels were in for repairs. Two photographs survive for this raid with, one of King and Hampden crew, the other of the bombs being delivered to his aircraft, both taken before the operation to Brest, during which he flew Hampden 977. The attack was however hampered by smokescreens from the three warships. The Prinze Eugen had already been badly damaged by Bomber Command on 1 July when an armour piercing bomb had destroyed the control centre deep down under the bridge, The Royal Air Force referred to these three battleships as the Brest Bomb Target Flotilla. On 8 July his was one of 7 aircraft from the squadron to bomb the marshalling yards at Hamm, following a new directive from HQ Bomber Command that ‘you will direct the main effort of the bomber force towards dislocating the German transportation system and to destroying the morale of the civil population as a whole and of the industrial workers in particular.’
King was then briefly taken off operations and from 12 July through to 23 August 1941 returned to No.14 Operational Training Unit for further training, flying Tiger Moths and Ansons again, when he was assessed as a ‘good average pilot’. He now had 313 hours flying time to his credit. On 27 August he rejoined 50 Squadron, and on the same day flew his 8th operational sortie, when along with six other Hampdens, he performed as gardening mission and dropped mines around the area of Borkum. This was the first mission that King flew as the first pilot. One of the other pilots in this mission was Leonard Cheshire, the future Dambuster leader and Victoria Cross winner, who was piloting Hampden AD 927.
On 29 August, King flew a mission to bomb the Frankfurt docks, with his crew consisting of Pilot Officer Cann, and Sergeants Craven and Brockett. On 6 September he and his crew were back on a gardening operation and dropping mines in the Oslo Fjord, having been detached from Swinderby to Lossiemouth to fly this operation. All aircraft returned safely and returned to Swinderby the next day. On 20 September his was one of 74 aircraft detailed to bomb Berlin, his only mission against the Big City. Some 8 aircraft from 50 Squadron took part, but the force was recalled due to worsening weather, and aircraft returning were dispersed to various airfields owing to poor visibility. King’s landed at Dishforth. On 30 September his was one of 6 aircraft to bomb the Bloehm and Voss yards at Hamburg. Two further aircraft tried to bomb the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer but only one succeeded. On 12 October, 14 Hampdens took off to bomb the synthetic rubber plant at Huls. The target was heavily defended with flak and barrage balloons, and the visibility was not good. Only 4 aircraft reported hitting the target, and King bombed an illuminated aerodrome from 3,000 feet. One aircraft failed to return.
On 23 October, a large force of 16 Hampdens took off at 11.45 hours to attack the Deutsche Werkes at Kiel. King’s crew now consisted of Pilot Officer Cann, and Sergeants Chapman and Perry. Visibility was poor but gaps in the cloud enabled some direct hits. Again one aircraft failed to return. On 26 October he again attacked the Bloehm and Voss yards at Hamburg. Visibility at the target was poor and only two aircraft found and bombed the aiming point. The radio receiver in King’s aircraft went unserviceable some 1.5 hours into the mission, but then started working again only to fail again after three hours and King decided to return early without dropping his bomb load. On 6 November his was part of a force of 15 Hampdens that departed from Wick on another gardening mission to the Oslo fjords and Stavanger, the latter being defined as area ‘Onions’. One aircraft failed to return but the others landed at Wick, and returned to base the next day. On 8 November he was one of 8 aircraft detailed to attack an armament factory at Essen, however King’s aircraft bombed Dusseldorf instead. King’s final standard bombing sortie of 1941 was on 30 November, when he flew a sortie to once again bomb the Bloehm and Voss yards at Hamburg. He successfully dropped his bombs from 10,000 feet, and all aircraft them returned and landed at Skellingthorpe.
From the 1st December until Christmas Day the whole squadron was involved in day and night intensive formation training, getting ready for participation in ‘Operation Archery’, the first combined forces Commando assault of the Second World War, that occurred on Maloy Island, South Vaagsoy, and Rugsundo Island in Norway. Central to the operation was the destruction of fish-oil production (used to make certain types of explosives), and to cause the Germans to maintain and increase their forces in Norway, thereby reducing their forces on the Eastern Front. The raid did in fact persuade Hitler to divert 30,000 troops to Norway who thought the British would eventually invade Norway. Twin missions in daylight were detailed for the squadron on the 27th December, with 7 aircraft dropping phosphorus smoke bombs to form a screen for two separate amphibious landings by the Commandos, and a further three aircraft to bomb gun emplacements, whilst one cruiser and four destroyers of the Royal Navy pounded these areas with their 4.7 inch guns.
The Hampdens timed their arrival just right, drawing fire from the various German light anti-aicraft units on shore. At 0858 with a signal from HMS Kenya the Hampdens began laying their smoke bombs with great skill, precision, and dash, at a very low altitude of around 30 feet. Acting Flight Lieutenant King was flying Hampden 387 S with Group Captain Willett on board acting as second pilot, P/O Crombie as Navigator, and Sergeants Chapman and Perry as radio operator/air gunners respectively. King was detailed to lay a smoke screen on the island of Rugsundo, after which he made repeated attacks, machine - gunning a gun emplacement from a height of just 30 feet (two years later, officials would marvel at the attacks made by ‘The Dambusters’ at double that height! ). Although 22 British troops were killed and 57 wounded with 8 aircraft lost out of the 29 in all despatched, the operation was deemed a great success. Admiral Jack Tovey, Commander in Chief of the operation would comment in a despatch written on the 7th January 1942; ‘The co-operation of those aircraft of Coastal and Bomber Commands was most effective. This operation could not have proceeded without it’.
By the end of the year Acting Flight Lieutenant King had amassed just over 447 hours flying time, with Wing Commander Oxley signing his logbook to that effect.
The New Year of 1942 started early for King and his crew with 10 others on a ‘Gardening’ trip to La Gironde on 2 January, followed by an ‘op’ to Hamburg and once again bombing the shipyards of Blohm and Voss, and an aircraft factory on the 14th January with P/O Crombie, and Sgts Chapman and Perry in Hampden U 1166, with King noting in his logbook, ‘exceptionally large fires’. On 22 January the same crew were on a mission to bomb Munster railway station from 7,000 feet. On this trip the crew managed to blow up ammunition train as well. Then on 26 January King’s aircraft was one of 9 Hampdens sent to bomb the railway station at Hanover, but his turned back early due to his aircraft Y 1239 icing up with no heating. His was however on of ten aircraft that bombed the railway station at Munster again on 28 January, with King once again flying U1166 and noting in his logbook, ‘Fiendish weather’. His was one of 13 Hampdens that set off on 7 February for a daylight ‘Gardening’ operation in the Terschelling area, (code-named Nectarine) very little flak reported but one Hampden (AE 306) was shot down by Me109’s operating in the area.
From 9 to 15 February King attended a short course on No 1506 Beam Approach Training (B.A.T.) at Waddington flying Oxford aircraft. With poor visibility the usual conditions of an English winter, the Royal Air Force decided to adopt a system similar to the German ‘Knickebein’ (Crooked Leg) system whereby pilots could land blindly using a system of two audible signals, morse ‘A’ (dit dah), and ’N’ (dah dit) originating from different parts of the airfield were sent. When both signals converged, becoming a continuous sound, the pilot knew he was ‘on the beam’. With this training completed, King and his new crew of Sgts Rose, Chapman and Hearne in Hampden H147 took off on 21 February to bomb the Rhine Valley in the Koblenz area from 4000 and 9000 feet.
On the 22nd February 1942 Air Marshal Sir Richard Pierse the Commander in Chief of Bomber Command since 1940 was replaced by Air Chief Marshal Arthur Harris who also had a new policy to work to, ordered by Sir Charles Portal; the new aiming points are to be built up areas, not for instance the dockyards or aircraft factories, this must be made quite clear, if not already understood.
On 25 February King’s was one of nine aircraft that set off to drop mines in an unspecified area, and all returned safely. On 28 February King flew Hampden 147 H along with 7 others to bomb Kiel Docks, but due to the poor weather and visibility with icing conditions, six of them ended up bombing the area of Hamburg. King’s next important mission was when his was one of 8 Hampden aircraft that took off from Skellingthorpe on the evening of 3 March (along with 227 others, the largest so far in the war ) in order to bomb the Billancourt Renault Engine Works in Paris from 2,500 feet. The factory was making an estimated 18,000 lorries a year for the German forces. Over 300 bombs found their target, destroying over 40% of the factory, production was halted for a month, with a loss of 2,300 lorries. Visibility was excellent and good pin-pointing of the target using flares and the River Seine, gave positive results, with the works seen to be ablaze from end to end. King made an entry in his logbook; ‘Wizard Party’.
On 7 March, he participated in another ‘Gardening’ operation, this time to drop mines in Lorient area. 8 aircraft took off, but only 7 returned, with Hampden AE 400 believed to have been shot down by flak as no night fighters were reported operating in the area. Finally on 9 March his was one of 9 Hampdens that took off around 0100hrs to bomb an unspecified area of Essen, which had a ground haze, with each aircraft carrying 1x1000 and 2x 500 pound bombs, and bombing from 9,000 feet. Accurate flak was reported but all aircraft returned safely. Large fires could still be seen by crews as they crossed the Dutch coast.
This was King’s 31st operational sortie, and it marked the end of his first tour of operations. King and his crew were stood down from further ‘ops’ with some well earned leave, with King writing in his logbook: ‘End of Ops Session No 1 - 548hours’.
His Commanding Officer, Group Captain H.V. Satterley recommended on 26 March that King should be put forward for a Distinguished Flying Cross having completed a tour of 31 ‘ops’.
The recommendation reads as follows: ‘Acting Flight Lieutenant King was posted to No 50 Squadron with effect from the 28th May 1941, and has completed 31 operational sorties within a total of 195 hours 55 minutes. He was employed for his first eight sorties as Navigator to S/L Potts DFC and Bar. Each of these sorties was completely successful. He was then converted to Captain and has now done a further 23 sorties, on all of which he has shown outstanding devotion to duty and his personal bravery is an inspiration to all other aircrews. He has taken part in raids on nearly all the main German targets, and was one of the picked crews selected for the combined operation (Commando Raid) on Vaagso. He was detailed to lay a smoke screen on the island of Rugsund, he machine gunned and silenced a Hun Battery with repeated attacks from 30 feet. His action undoubtably contributed in no small degree to the success of this operation. I strongly recommend that his courage be rewarded by the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross.’
The Commanding Officer of No 5 Group Air Vice Marshal JC Slessor approved this recommendation on 3 April 1942, and his award was eventually published in the London Gazette on 26 May 1942. His parents only became aware of this award after details were published in The Sussex Daily News published on 29 May 1942, with a family friend telephoning them with the news! King became a bit of a local hero, and gave talks to factory workers in his home area of Sussex.
On 23 April 1942 King was sent to No 19 Operational Training Unit at RAF Kinloss for a conversion course onto Whitley aircraft, which was completed on 31 July. The next day, 1 August, King was posted to No 24 Operational Training Unit, a part of 7 Group, at RAF Honeybourne, where he flew Battles, Defiants, Martinets, Lysanders and Anson aircraft, as an instructor. By November 1942 King had been promoted to Acting Squadron Leader and was signing off his logbook as such.
King was further decorated when he was Mentioned in Despatches for gallant and distinguished services in the Kings Birthday Honours List as published in the London Gazette on 2 June 1943, this being for his distinguished service as an Instructor. Kinf was also sent to various munition factories by the RAF, thanking the workers for their hard efforts in making the bombs he dropped on the Rhur.
The course at 24 Operational Training Unit finished on 20 December 1943 and King was assessed as a Heavy Bomber Pilot Instructor as ‘Above the Average’. On 7 January 1944, Squadron Leader King was posted to No 21 Operational Training Unit at RAF Moreton-in-Marsh flying Vickers Wellington aircraft, and performing circuits and landings on night bombing and firing exercises. His crew were; Flying Officer Bancroft, Flying Officer Mayfield, Pilot Officer Hillcoat, and Flying Officer Lewis who would all become his permanent crew.
On 14 January King and his crew flew Wellington W 2736 on a ‘Nickel’ operation, and dropping leaflets at Dreux, which was some 15 miles west of Paris, urging the Germans to surrender ).
On 6 to 8 February, King flew Wellington MF 137 B on exercises with No. 311 Ferry Training Unit On 22 February King left the United Kingdom, and flew from Portreath to Rabat Sale, Morocco, with
his new crew in Wellington MF 137 B, having been posted in order to join No.142 Squadron for operational duties in Italy, as a part of No.205 Group. From Rabat Sale they went to Maison Blanche and onto El Alouina in Tunis - eventually landing at Foggia in Italy on 25 February.
This operational posting did not last long. On 3 March, King flew Wellington D on a serviceability flight with Flying Officer Long and Flight Sergeant Jones. For the next entry in his logbook, King has written: ‘- March 10 - 3 Months Hospital - Result of Wound through Stbd Leg’. He was initially treated for this wound at No.25 Mobile Field Hospital in North Africa. Post war King made a claim with the Ministry of Pensions for this wound. He explained that whilst operational in Italy during March 1944, a nose cap of an incendiary bomb had passed through his right leg between the knee and thigh, passing between bone and artery, necessitating an operation with a three month stay in hospital. It seems likely that he had been wounded whilst on the ground, and almost certainly during an enemy bombing raid. It was only the previous day, 9 March, that King and his crew visited San Giovanni Rotondo Monastry in Foggia, and were blessed by Padre Pio. King and his crew always believed that they would have all been killed in action if it wasn’t for the blessing they all received from Padre Pio, who was an Italian Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist and mystic. He died in 1968 and was Canonised by Pope John Paul II in June 2002.
King resumed operational flying on 11 June, when he rejoined 142 Squadron as the commanding officer of ‘A’ Flight, but this was only for a short period, and he found himself resorting to using the automatic pilot as he had trouble in controlling the aircraft owing to his wound.
Having teamed up with a crew consisting of Flight Lieutenant Lewis, Flight Lieutenant Bancroft, Flying Officer Mayfield, and Flight Lieutenant Wainwright, on 16 June, King took off on a mission to bomb the railway marshalling yards at Timisoara in Romania. Then on 21 June he made an attack against the road and rail facilities at Ventimiglia. On 28 June he flew a mission to bomb oil installations in Giurgiu in Romania. Bombing from 6,000 feet, he encountered moderate to heavy flak. Nickels were also dropped. On 1 July he flew a successful gardening operation and dropped mines from 200 feet into the Danube in the area of Stari Slankamen in Serbia.
King then took part in an operation to bomb the Lambrate railway marshalling yards in Milan from 5,800 feet on 10 July. His crew for this mission were Flight Lieutenant Lewis as Navigator, Flight Sergeant Thatcher as Bomb Aimer, Flying Officer Mayfield as Wireless Operator / Air Gunner, and Flight Lieutenant Bancroft as Air Gunner, and they were flying in Wellington LP 245 -R. On 14 July he flew an operation to bomb Bosanski Brod in Bosnia, where heavy flak was encountered on the run-in, however all aircraft returned safely. 21 July saw a maximum effort by the squadron to bomb the Fanto Werk oil refineries from 7,000 feet at Pardubice in Czechoslovakia. King writes in his logbook: fairly brisk opposition from fighters and the Vienna defences. In his debrief King mentioned seeing an aircraft falling in flames due to the heavy flak.
26 July was a memorable evening for the squadron as the Ralf Reader Gang Show came to entertain the troops on an open air stage by the parade square. Around 9pm three crews were taking off after being selected for Special Missions dropping weapons/explosives/ ammunition to the resistance, whilst other crews attacked the Ploiesti Romania oil refineries under heavy fire from the flak batteries. King and his crew were one of those selected for the Special Missions. King writes in his logbook: ‘special duties dropping dynamite, sten guns, and belts of ammunition in parachute containers, mission successful.’ No mention is made where exactly this occurred.
On 7 August he flew in an attack on Szombathely Aerodrome which was to the northwest of Lake Balaton in Hungary. King writes in his logbook: ‘18x250 pound high explosive and pressure fuzed fragmentation, bombs seen to burst across aerodrome, 3 aircraft seen going down in flames, night fighters active.’
King’s next and final operation was on 14 August when he flew MF245-T once again, this time on a mission to bomb the dock area of Marseilles, which was the first French port the squadron had attacked since operations began from Italy. Crews reported that large convoys were seen off the west coast of Corsica, this being elements of the combined allied landings in Provence the next
day - Operation Dragoon.
Owing to the trouble from his wounded leg King was deemed unfit to take part in any further ‘ops’, but did various air tests, circuits and landings in Wellingtons between 2 and 12 September, he having been declared unfit for operational flying by the medical officer. King was repatriated back to the United Kingdom that same month, and off his logbook on 30 September with a total of 1312 hours 30 minutes.
142 Squadron was disbanded 5 days later, being reformed on 25 October 1944 at RAF Gransden Lodge, Bedfordshire, flying De Havilland Mosquitos B XXV as part of No 8 Pathfinder Force, Light Night Striking Force. After repatriation to the United King, King had a period of rehabilitation at RAF M.R.U Loughborough where he was reclassified to fly light aircraft with trips limited to two hours duration. He was ultimately posted to RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire and was finally demobilised on the 1st December 1945, retaining the rank of Squadron Leader.
King returned to the family brewing business in Horsham, Sussex, and married Connie Anderson at All Saints Church Evesham in Worcestershire on 5 March 1946. They were to have two children, Jackie and Peter. King died on 8 January 2002 and was cremated in Worthing West Sussex.
