February 7
The seven-man Volunteer Party had been chosen from those who had put their names forward.
They were: Sergeant Evans, an armourer, who had overall charge of the party; Leading Aircraftsmen Webb, Ward, Clarke and Watson, two of whom were engine fitters and two of whom were airframe fitters; Corporal Jackson, who was to be in charge of the work; and me as senior fitter. We had received machine pistols and explosives from the armoury store and set off in the Workshops open truck, before daylight, toward the west from Sidi Azeiz. We arrived at the camp shared by the Royal Engineers and the South African Cavalry Unit at mid-day, and attended a meeting of all those concerned in the operation. Information had been received that German artillery, in the form of 88mm SPs (Special Purpose), were now in position on the escarpment overlooking the Tmimi landing ground, a distance of around five miles. They were firing at anything using the track that bisected the airfield. According to the Engineers who had been laying the mines on the airfield, there had been no direct attack on the three aircraft, which meant they were well hidden. The field had been mined, leaving taped paths marking those areas that were clear of mines, with taped paths from the main track to the bunker containing the three aircraft, and a taped runway, north to south. Before leaving Sidi Azeiz, the Hurricane to be made flyable had been chosen, and that night Sergeant Evans, the armourer, and Corporal Jackson, the Fitter in Charge, together with me and Leading Aircraftsman Watson, would go with the armoured car and an Infantry foot patrol to check that the plan of action for the attempted repair, that had been outlined before we left Sidi Azeiz, remained viable.
Under cover of darkness, the party set out, all squeezed uncomfortably into a Cavalry Armoured Car for the two-mile journey to the Tmimi Landing Ground. We were stopped at an infantry post at the point where the track parted to cross the wadi, and were led onto the western half of the field. Here, two soldiers walked in front of the vehicle, one on the left and the other to the right, to lead the car between the marker tapes to the bunker where the aircraft were standing. The vehicle drew up close to the side of the bunker and we, the five airmen, got out. After a detailed inspection of the aircraft and the listing of components needed from each to complete the operation, we decided to have our blankets brought over so that we could work during the night and sleep during some of the next day, working in pairs with one or other of the remaining ground crew. This was agreed and the armoured vehicle set off to bring the remainder of our party, our blanket rolls and tool boxes.
Now with tools and blankets at the bunker, the fitters started work immediately. Leading Aircraftsmen Webb and Clarke went to work on the Hurricane that had originally suffered a very heavy landing to remove the coolant radiator and fairing, while Leading Aircraftsman Ward and I worked to remove the similar but damaged units from the aircraft to be repaired. Other fairings and panels that had also received damage were stripped from the ‘now to be repaired’ Hurricane and replaced with similar pieces from the donor aircraft. Corporal Jackson and Leading Aircraftsman Watson went round the other two aircraft removing any other components that could later be useful to the Squadron.
