99 Squadron, Royal Air Force

1939 to 1945

Ninety Degrees East

An extract from the story of the overseas tour of Ninety Nine Squadron from February 1942 to November 1945, by Flight Lieutenant S R Hodkinson, Squadron Intelligence Officer.

It all began way back at Waterbeach in February 1942 when 99 Squadron was contentedly pounding the Germans and doing it well.   It came discreetly at first, a mere hint of things to come, a gift from the citizens of Madras - a gift of a whole Squadron of aircraft.

Madras!  It was food for thought.   On March 1st the bomb trollies had ceased to trail round the perimeter track, Battle Orders were conspicuous by their absence.   The squadron had ceased to operate!   This gift from the East spelled movement.

By the 19th of the month, ground personnel of what was now to be known as the ’Madras Presidency Squadron’ had arrived at Liverpool in a fog of secrecy and hush hush, and later in the day strolled the decks of the S.S. ‘Empress of Russia’, ‘and looked at each other with a wild surmise.’   Two days later the troopship unobtrusively slipped her moorings and put to sea. After seven weeks of plunging through the grey Atlantic the convoy reached Durban in a blaze of tropical sunshine - a prelude to three and a half years of it.

There followed six happy weeks spent at the Imperial Forces Transshipment Camp at Clairwood, Natal.   Local white residents were generously hospitable to all, and it was with regret that the party embarked on the S.S. ‘Isle de France’ on the eighth of May for the last leg of its journey.   Heavy seas however, kept them in port for three days.

Now things were to move swiftly, the Squadron reached Bombay on the twentieth and two days later their troop train pulled out on a very weary five day journey, notable for the muddle, mistakes and a complete apathy.    Their destination was Barkakana Junction from whence they were to proceed to a new airfield at Ramgarh.    Neither station was expecting them, there were no rations on the train and, after enquiries, it was revealed that the posting should have been to Quetta, about a thousand miles away.   So much for the first five days in India!

Having arranged for the men to be temporarily accommodated at two local prisoner of war camps while other arrangements were being made, the C.O., Wing Commander Black D.F.C. fell a victim to dysentery and was compelled to go into hospital.   Two days later orders were received for the Squadron to split into two detachments, one going to Solan the Simla hills, and the other Ambala, for ground training.

Meanwhile, four of the aircrews who were flying out from England had made a delayed arrival at Karachi.   In view of the critical situation in North Africa these crews had been detained en route, to do important ferry work between Great Britain and the Middle East.    Two more arrived a few days later and the six aircraft were flown to Pandaveswar in Bengal, their crews joining the detachments at Solan and Ambala.

Early in July the two detachments changed stations but little more than rumour made the summer eventful until the Squadron joined their aircraft at Pandaveswar in mid September.  But not yet was the Unit going to settle down and pick up the threads of its internal affairs.  Only one day after their first local flying had commenced orders were received to go to Digri, their Israelite existence was not to end yet.   But now an October cyclone took a hand in matters and added to the general confusion by wrecking most of the billets and washing away the Digri road.

With Autumn coming on, the future must then have looked a dreary vista of moves and time waste, and yet, on the evening of the eighteenth of November eight Wellingtons took off from an advanced landing ground at Fenni, circled and set course for Meiktila in Central Burma. Within hours bombs were bursting on the enemy airfield and all aircraft returned safely to Base.

The squadron had struck its first blow in the Japanese war, and at a time when every available aircraft was needed to prevent further aggression.

By the beginning of 1943, “99” had got back into its stride.   It was now a month since Flight Lieutenant McDonald had brought back from Myingyan the first night operational photograph to be taken in this theatre.   Wellingtons were now to be seen over advanced positions at Akyab and the forward airfields at Heho and Meiktila, from which the enemy carried out their raids on Calcutta.   Marshalling yards at Mandalay and oil installations at Lanywa were also heavily attacked.

Wing Commander Black was posted away from the Squadron in April and Squadron Leader Schraeder took over the Command.   The Squadron had now completed six months operational work and was posted to Chaklala in the Punjab to train paratroops.   Meanwhile, the new Wellington Mark III’s and X’s had arrived on the Squadron and, A.H.Q. not having decided whether to make the special training modifications to these new aircraft, paratroop training had to be confined to lectures, although the crews  practiced formation flying.   This abortive period ended in May when the squadron was posted to Jessore to continue with its operational work.   It was here that the Squadron first came under the control of No.175 Wing and operated in close so-operation with No.215 Squadron and together formed a partnership which was to last for a considerable time.

If you’ d like a copy of  my transcript of Stan’s original account in its entirety (MSWord, 80Kb unzipped), please contact me.