Welsh RAF unit Number 614 Squadron mourns its fallen on 80th anniversary

Its full name is Number 614 (County of Glamorgan) Squadron and despite being badged as the squadron of that county, from formation the unit belonged to all of South Wales and recruited across Monmouthshire.

Much as the support of Glamorgan Cricket Club extends beyond the borders of that historical county, so 614 Squadron’s heritage is wider than its name suggests.

The squadron’s first home was historically on the very edge of Monmouthshire and the land upon which the airfield was built was bought from Lord Tredegar in 1931.

Then a privately operated airfield was opened as Splott Aerodrome. Part of the aerodrome was on the Severn Estuary and to protect the single grass runway from flooding, a sea wall was built.

By 1937 the Air Ministry took the site over and it was renamed Pengam Moors.

EARLY DAYS: Men of 614 Squadron with a Hawker Hector at RAF Pengam Moors in 1937

This was the year that the borders of Monmouthshire were redrawn and the county ceded the land between St Mellons and the River Rhymney to Cardiff. The perimeter track of the airfield runs along the course of the river, past its final bend before it reaches the sea. This gives the area its Welsh name of ‘Pengam’ where ‘Pen’ is ‘end’ and ‘gam’ is ‘crooked’ or ‘bent’.

The squadron belongs to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, which provides reservists for the Royal Air Force.

The Auxiliary Air Force (the ‘Royal’ was added later) was founded in 1924 with the purpose of providing a corps of civilians who would serve their country in flying squadrons in their spare time. Pilots of the AAF were expected to join for a period of five years, and were committed to serve for a minimum of 27 days a year alongside their civilian jobs. They also had to attend annual training for 15 days.

In recognition of the wartime achievements of the AAF, it was honoured by the prefix “Royal” conferred by King George VI in 1947.

In 1937 when 614 was formed, its members learnt their jobs at RAF Pengam Moors. Some were taught to fly while others took on ground trades such as mechanic, signaller or driver.

The whole squadron, though, was formed with one purpose, and that was Army Co-operation. This branch of air warfare needed aircraft to spot targets for artillery, carry out communications for ground troops and light bombing and attack.

From Pengam Moors they maintained and flew their aircraft - Hawker Hectors, and Hinds, Westland Lysanders and later Handley Page Halifaxes - all names that are recalled today in the street names of the housing estate which was built in the 1990s, long after the airfield had closed.

With the outbreak of war in 1939, its members were fully mobilised and it moved to Scotland from where it carried out coastal patrols. Here it suffered its first casualties of the war. The name of Flt Lt Norman Merrett who died when his aircraft crashed is remembered also with a street name in their former home.

FORMER HOME: A sign showing the streets named after aircraft they flew and former personnel in an estate built on the site of 614 Squadron's former home, RAF Pengam Moors

The squadron was poised ready to repel the expected Nazi invasion and one August night in 1940 at the height of the Battle of Britain, bells were rung from nearby churches just after midnight. This was the signal that an invasion was imminent. The codeword ‘Cromwell’ was given to the squadron and their Lysanders were bombed up ready to go. A few hours later they were stood down.

When Britain went on the offensive after the risk of invasion had passed, it took part in the first 1,000 bomber raid against Germany and the Dieppe raid in northern France in 1942. It later served in North Africa, contributing to the defeat of Axis forces there.

As the allies invaded Italy, 614 moved to a new base in Foggia. From there it took on the elite Pathfinder role, marking targets for allied bombing raids over northern Italy, southern Germany and the Balkans until the end of the war. This was dangerous work where they were first over a target and especially vulnerable to night-fighters and anti-aircraft fire.

PATHFINDERS: Crew of a 614 Squadron Halifax in Italy

A former 614 pilot of the time, Tom Scotland, later wrote of his experiences then. He told of when the bomb-aimer lost the target over Klagenfurt in Austria and the crew chose to go round again amid a hail of shell-fire and shrapnel. They then had to risk running the gauntlet of flak before they dropped their markers and made their escape.

The squadron was unique in being the only Pathfinder unit not based in the UK flying over Northern Europe.

Many of the 118 squadron members lost in the war were killed doing this perilous job.

When they war ended, its four-engined Liberator aircraft, now empty of bombs, carried prisoners of war home from Europe.

Returning to Wales after the war, 614 Squadron flew Spitfires and Vampire jets in the home defence role at RAF Llandow and once again became a squadron of part-time members.

It was here that one its most famous members from Gwent rose to prominence. Squadron Leader Bill Irving from Cwmbran was originally a soldier who, having survived the Dunkirk evacuation, joined the RAF. He served in North Africa and survived being shot down and later flew 63 missions with Bomber Command.

KILLED: Squadron Leader Bill Irving of Cwmbran was the commanding officer of 614 Sqn

He became Commanding Officer of 614 Squadron when they were based at RAF Llandow.

Having served and survived great danger he would be involved in a dramatic and fateful event which would be known throughout the world. An airliner returning rugby fans from a Five Nations game in Ireland crashed as it came in to land at the squadron’s base at Llandow in March 1950. Of the 83 people onboard, 80 were killed. At the time, it was the world’s worst air disaster.

Members of 614 on duty at the airfield were the first on the scene of the crash, but after having helped the three survivors to the squadron hospital, their job became the grim one of carrying the dead from the scene. Among them was their Commanding Officer, Sqn Ldr Irving.

Men and women from the squadron were recently joined by pupils from the local Willows High School, also built on the site of Pengam Moors, to lay a wreath at the squadron’s memorial stone which is sited near where the runway once stood.

TRIBUTES: Poppies and flowers left at the squadron memorial at Pengam

There they remembered men like Sqn Ldr Irving and the other 614 members who died in peace and in war.

A year-nine pupil from Willows High School, Nevaeh Hamilton, laid the wreath at the memorial. She said: “It felt very special to do this today because it was so many years ago, so it felt really respectful and I didn’t know our school was on the site of the airfield.

“It would be good to find out more and it’s important to know more about it.”

Although most of the squadrons of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force were disbanded in 1957, 614 was reformed in 2014 and now has over 100 members who fulfil a range of roles in the modern RAF including technician, intelligence analyst, RAF Police, photographer and physical training instructor.

PRESENT-DAY: Current members of 614 Squadron

Now, as in 1937, its members come from across South Wales, including Gwent, but now also from the West of England.

They are still part-timers who combine their day jobs with vital work for the RAF and have been deployed on RAF operations across the UK and to Norway, Estonia, Albania and Cyprus.