In Portsmouth someone mentioned the Swordfish aircraft. This led to my discovery of the website http://www.dnw.co.uk/auction-archive/catalogue-archive/lot.php?auction_id=28&lot_id=23494 where a good deal of information appears about Alan Sawbridge Downes 1914-1963, Commander, DSO, RN. He was a son of Allan John Downes (who was an elder brother of Andrew Downes, author of the journals), twin of Humphrey.
He lived an amazing life, shot down in Holland in 1940, escaping, then surviving the sinking of HMS Courageous and becoming one of the famous Swordfish pilots who were based in Malta.
The website gives details of the sale of his medals in 2000. When I told Roy about it he wrote:
I learnt more about my father’s wartime exploits from the auctioneer’s description than I ever heard firsthand. Like many servicemen he was very reticent to speak about his experiences.
A couple of details have always stuck in my memory – he always said he owed his life to the fact that Swordfish (stringbags) were so incredibly slow, flying at between 95 knots and 110 knots depending on headwind, that the Luftwaffe pilots in Messerschmitts never realised just how slow the Swordfish were and invariably fired well ahead (and therefore missed) and then rapidly and unexpectedly overtook the Swordfish…which then had a very good chance to shoot down the German planes.
The other was an incomplete story about an adventure in Holland (presumably after his plane came down at Overflakke) when he ended up “liberating” industrial diamonds with the Dutch resistance – possibly in Rotterdam. He said that the Germans were only “one block away”. Somewhere I may have a handwritten account of this event.
We have a photo of my father accompanying a very young Princess Elizabeth on the steps of the control tower at RNAS Hal Far. The Captain of the station at the time was “Streamline” Robertson (so called because of the shape of his nose). Streamline was a stickler for detail and he objected to the amount of putty in the window glazing of “my father’s” control tower. So before the next Sunday's Captain’s Rounds some putty was removed. Not enough for Streamline’s eye however. My father was duly reprimanded for this shortcoming. More putty was removed. The following Sunday the same indignation….orders not being followed etc. Having noted which window Streamline habitually tapped my father arranged for ALL the putty from that particular pane to be removed. Streamline duly complained again and tapped the pane forcefully in his rage….and of course the glass fell out and smashed on the tarmac 20 feet below. Father always said that was what scuppered his chances of promotion to Captain!
Regarding the medals: I remember my mother telling me that she was going to sell them and that was probably in the late 1980’s or early 1990. It was while she was living at Castle Marina in Lee and before she moved to a nursing home. Pip died in 1994. However she did not sell the miniature set (mess dress medals) and I still have these.
A couple of details have always stuck in my memory – he always said he owed his life to the fact that Swordfish (stringbags) were so incredibly slow, flying at between 95 knots and 110 knots depending on headwind, that the Luftwaffe pilots in Messerschmitts never realised just how slow the Swordfish were and invariably fired well ahead (and therefore missed) and then rapidly and unexpectedly overtook the Swordfish…which then had a very good chance to shoot down the German planes.
The other was an incomplete story about an adventure in Holland (presumably after his plane came down at Overflakke) when he ended up “liberating” industrial diamonds with the Dutch resistance – possibly in Rotterdam. He said that the Germans were only “one block away”. Somewhere I may have a handwritten account of this event.
We have a photo of my father accompanying a very young Princess Elizabeth on the steps of the control tower at RNAS Hal Far. The Captain of the station at the time was “Streamline” Robertson (so called because of the shape of his nose). Streamline was a stickler for detail and he objected to the amount of putty in the window glazing of “my father’s” control tower. So before the next Sunday's Captain’s Rounds some putty was removed. Not enough for Streamline’s eye however. My father was duly reprimanded for this shortcoming. More putty was removed. The following Sunday the same indignation….orders not being followed etc. Having noted which window Streamline habitually tapped my father arranged for ALL the putty from that particular pane to be removed. Streamline duly complained again and tapped the pane forcefully in his rage….and of course the glass fell out and smashed on the tarmac 20 feet below. Father always said that was what scuppered his chances of promotion to Captain!
Regarding the medals: I remember my mother telling me that she was going to sell them and that was probably in the late 1980’s or early 1990. It was while she was living at Castle Marina in Lee and before she moved to a nursing home. Pip died in 1994. However she did not sell the miniature set (mess dress medals) and I still have these.
This copy of a photograph of the twins contained in the file held by Shane was made by Lalage in Portsmouth.
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