SOE Airfield???

[Harry Ree]

Originally Posted by jacobtowne

Here are Nesbitt-Dufort (left) and Wing Commander Roman Garby-Czerniawski at Tangmere, 1967, talking over the good old days.
In mid-1940 Czerniawski was setting up espionage networks in France.

JT

Roman Garby Czerniawski was a Captain in the Polish Air Force,one of many who were stranded in France after the fall of France and had used his time to set up clandestine cells and networks.By this time he was known as "Armand" or "Valentine" to his controllers.He was very lucky in one aspect in that as "Armand" he was caught up in the Inter -Allie reseau betrayal by his assistant Mathilde Carre (the Cat) and lived to tell the tale.He ultimately rose to the rank of Wing Commander and in the photograph with Nesbitt-Dufort may have been reliving the first time they met on the night of 1 October 1941.

Nesbitt- Dufort was quite a character,typical of all the Lysander pilots who flew with the "special duties" squadrons.His nickname was "Whippy" after an incident when he had to make a forced landing in Whipsnade Zoo.He was awarded the DSO for his work as a clandestine pilot with No 138 Squadron.

I think one of his early operations was "Brick" on the night of 1/2 Ocober 1941 when he flew into France via Treport and landed at Estres-St Denis which was just west and outside the town of Compiegne.He was on the ground for less than 3 minutes to pick up no other than Czerniawski.

Czerniawski had chosen Estres-St Denis as it was a disused strip but was less than a mile away from a German infantry unit who frequently passed by on the adjacent road.Czerniaski,however had rightly planned on no activity around midnight and along with two helpers arranged to receive the Lysander.When the Lysander appeared,three torches were illuminated and Czerniaski expected the pilot to circle but Nesbitt-Dufout executed a quarter turn,throttled back and proceded to land.Czerniawski records thinking at the time,"Amazing fellow,this pilot! What quick decision and execution".

Czerniawski records seeing Nesbitt-Dufort looking down at him,smiling and showing his white teeth in the moonlight with his lean face adorned with dark eyes and black moustache.To Czerniawski's "OK", Nesbitt-Dufort replied "C'est la vie .Cest la guerre" and within minutes they were in the air to leave France over Dieppe.

Passing this airfield now,it must have been risky because the airfield is so close to Compiegne and while the pick up was being enacted the German barracks were clearly in view, lit up as though it was peacetime.

On one occasion, Nesbitt-Dufort was "received" on to a totally unsuitable field,it was too short but having got down, he turned round his passengers,took off and got back to Tangmere safely, trailing yards of telephone overhead cables from his take off.On this take off he also survived a brush with an overhead electricity line.

[Harry Ree]

Originally Posted by Von Poop

Query from a good mate:

"Anyone know anything about a possible temporary grass-track airfield possibly used by the SOE. The National Trust own an estate in Norfolk and claim that it includes the site of a former secret WW2 airfield. The estate is centered on the hamlet of Horsey, in the parish of the same name, just to the north-west of Somerton. I have drawn a blank so far with the usual sources and think it unlikely to show up on OS mapping or aerial photography."

Any suggestions or information would be very much appreciated.

Cheers,
Adam.

I cannot find a link to this area of Norfolk involving the Special Duties Squadrons.However that does not mean it did not exist.

The small grass airfield used for training of the Special Duties Lysanders in covert operations was at Somersham which is a village about 10 miles north east of the town of Huntingdon.This airfield simulated the continental airfields and provided excellent training in approaches and exercises in the laying out of "reception".This training was done while the Special Duties Squadrons were based at their permanent base at Tempsford.

It might well be that on the odd occasion that the site in Norfolk was used when Somersham was not available or the numbers training at Somersham were excessive.If the Norfolk site was used,then it appears that there is no official recording of its use.

Navigation training was achieved by cross country flights at night and final training came with a real run by the pilot to a given pin point in France and return without passengers and without landing.The pilot would be debriefed and a successful candidate would be one who could give correct answers on the outbound and inbound routes.

For operations with Lysanders,the Special Duties Squadrons were normally detached to Tangmere during full moon periods, where they used the airfield as any other flying detachment might.However the squadrons had their own little domestic and headquarter enclave off the airfield away from prying eyes for the sake of secrecy.

[von Poop]

Thank you very much Harry (and everyone else of course), I'll pass that onto him now.
Cheers,
Adam.