The Beginning
Previously, on this blog we have heard about Bomber Gunner Stan Jones Sojourn in France and how he was reunited with a man, whom he knew as a boy, while being hidden from the Germans by a French Family. On that adventure, Stan became a member of the Caterpillar Club.
Stan's North Sea Adventure took place prior to those events, when he was posted to Operational Training Station Kinloss, Scotland. At OTS, the airmen with various skill sets learned to function as a team and it was on one of those practice sessions that Stan qualified for the Goldfish Club. This club was open to aircrew who were forced to 'vacate the premises' so to speak and ended up in the sea.
What follows are Stan's recollections of this time and a letter from the Scottish fisherman who found him drifting in a dinghy on the North Sea.
Stan's North Sea Adventure took place prior to those events, when he was posted to Operational Training Station Kinloss, Scotland. At OTS, the airmen with various skill sets learned to function as a team and it was on one of those practice sessions that Stan qualified for the Goldfish Club. This club was open to aircrew who were forced to 'vacate the premises' so to speak and ended up in the sea.
What follows are Stan's recollections of this time and a letter from the Scottish fisherman who found him drifting in a dinghy on the North Sea.
Signing Up
| I joined the R.C.A.F. in November 1942. All my training prior to Wings Parade was in the West, graduating from No. 3 Macdonald Bombing & Gunnery School. [north of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba]. OTU Kinloss Upon arriving in the U.K., I was posted to No. 19 Operational Training Unit (O.T.U.) Kinloss crewed up with three British and one other Canadian. [Kinloss had a satellite field a few miles away in Forres which is mentioned in the Souter letter to Stan Jones family.] |  |
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| Bomber Gunner Position on a Whitney | Whitney Bomber at OTU Kinloss |
What Happened to the Pilot?
On November 1, 1943 on our last cross country, we called the base to get a barometric reading, then set out over the North Sea to fire the guns. What happened to the Pilot, I do not know. I was about to fire the guns when I saw sea water fly past the turret – the plane stopped. What happened to the rest of the crew, I will never know.
NOTE:
The ‘other Canadian’ was Pilot Officer Raymond Lynch from Shawville, Quebec. He was twenty three years old when the plane crashed.
NOTE:
The ‘other Canadian’ was Pilot Officer Raymond Lynch from Shawville, Quebec. He was twenty three years old when the plane crashed.
 | Stan Qualifies for the Goldfish Club I threw the dinghy into the water and climbed in – no one else joined me. After seventeen hours, I was rescued by a Lossiemouth fisherman, ‘Jimmy Souter”.  |
Stan's Parents Learn the Story
| 56 Kinneddar Street Lossiemouth Morayshire, Scotland 15/11/43 Dear Mr. & Mrs. Jones and Miss Betty, You will no doubt wonder who I am and why I am writing you, but I shall explain to you all about it in my letter. In the first place we – that’s my wife and I have made a very dear friend of your lovely Boy Stanley, and we had him staying with us for over a week as he has had 14 days leave. |  |
He is at Dundee for this weekend, but we hope to have him back for the last two days before he reports back to Florres. I shall have to explain to you that I am a Fisherman and my name is Souter. We work what is known as a seine net fishing. Stanley asked me to explain to you about our work. I told him I would write you while he was at Dundee so I take the pleasure of doing so now. We catch all sorts of fish at our job, Cod Hake, Haddock, Place Sole Herring and any other fish that comes the way of our net. It’s a great mode of fishing, but we have been working it since the end of the last war. I can’t explain to you in writing how it works but who knows, we may have the pleasure of meeting sometime and then I could explain and show you our mode of fishing.
Getting to the Point
I am now going to explain to you how I met Stanley. A fortnight today we were coming ashore from the sea about four o’clock in the afternoon when about 7 miles from our harbour we sighted a dinghy in the sea and a man waving to us. It was Stanley. I picked him up and took him ashore. He is quite ok and is feeling fine after his rest. He was 17 hours on the dinghy before we got him poor boy and I am afraid he was the only lucky boy of the crew. Now Mr. Jones I don’t want you to write Stanley and ask him anything about it for I am not supposed to tell you this at all, but my wife and I thought it would be a shame if you got word of it from any other source and us not to let you know.
Parent to Parent
Stanley doesn’t know I am telling you so wait and see if he tells you himself. Break this to his mother nicely for I know what mothers are. I have a boy in Italy and a son in law in Malta so we know how mothers feel at a time like this. We are delighted to have Stanley with us and you can rest assured that he will have a second home as long as he is beside us. Mrs. Souter adores him. [The letter in the files ends here. Perhaps the rest has been lost to time or perhaps some day it will find its way to the Museum]
Was Stanley Jinxed?
| In truth no. He was remarkably fortunate in view of the horrendous losses amongst aircrew. After joining a new crew, Stan moved on to the Conversion and 158 Squadron 4th Group stationed at Lissett in Yorkshire. He would not join the ranks of the Caterpillar Club until his 12th trip out - just four days before D-Day - when his Lancaster bomber was shot down and Stan began his Sojourn in France. Stan survived the war and came home to farm just a few miles from the former Bombing and Gunnery School at Fingal, Ontario. The photo of Stan seen right was taken at The Elgin Military Museum where Stan was a long-time member. |   |
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