redhills lake 1944 looking for info

[markclark]

hello can anyone tell me anything about redhills lake india during 1944 as dad was stationed there on cats and interested .

[Zoran Petek]

191 Sqn, 225 Group, RAF ACSEA
Based at Redhills lake since 1943 (detached from Korangi Creek, Karachi, India).
Complete squadron moved there in November 1944. Moved to Koggala, Ceylon in 1945.
Other detachments at Cochin, India in 1943, and Chittagong, India, Nov 44.
Flew on Catalinas such as Catalina IB FP307/V, IV/IVB: JX296/X (Nov 44), JX310/V, JX343/R, JX350/S, JX355/X (Dec 44), JX374/Z.


Also 240 Sqn (reformed in July 1945) as seen on this photo

[markclark]

thanks for that he flew with 210 sqd with FP174 and JX576and FP 131 AM266 FP536 Z 2147 VA728 Z2146 VA723 then moved with 240 SQD to india in VA732 in which they flew to bangalore and he stayed with that plane thru 1944 with just one excurtion to VA 716 but generally his time was spent with 732 . In addition he also did his time with lancs and wellingtons.

[Vandellyn]

thanks for that he flew with 210 sqd with FP174 and JX576and FP 131 AM266 FP536 Z 2147 VA728 Z2146 VA723 then moved with 240 SQD to india in VA732 in which they flew to bangalore and he stayed with that plane thru 1944 with just one excurtion to VA 716 but generally his time was spent with 732 . In addition he also did his time with lancs and wellingtons.

A bit late in responding, but my dad James Park was based at Redhills from January '44 to June '45 and flew as first pilot for 240 squadron. He flew VA723 on February 3,17, 18, and 26. Mostly he flew VA718 which a typhoon beached in September '44 in Diego Garcia. It's still there today. There's a website if you google. He also flew VA732 on July 1 and 7. He flew VA716 on May 1, 10, June 28, July 3, 5, 11, and 22. He flew 23 different Catalinas altogether on his tour. If you have your dad's logbook you should be able to check the dates.

So there is a good chance they knew each other. I was recently contacted by the son of Ron Tench who was 2nd pilot with my dad on FP165 and they flew 27 times together.

Still a small planet.

Brian Park

[markclark]

Would u believe it havent been on here for ages but just by chance looked tonight. my father flew with flt Boulnois and he was in the plane amongst many dates the 18 feb at 2100hrs just local night flying on 4th feb 0935 was local bombing and did air testing on 2 and 4 July they must have known each other , Sadly Dad has passed away but I think he was know as Knobby Clark.

[Zoran Petek]

https://i.postimg.cc/d0KZd5y8/VA723-...hills-Lake.jpg
Caption says: VA723 an RAF Mark IIA at Redhills Lake. As ‘F’ of 240 Sqdn it had flown on special duty operations ‘Lunch’ and ‘Siren VA’.

[Dave1234]

A bit late in responding, but my dad James Park was based at Redhills from January '44 to June '45 and flew as first pilot for 240 squadron. He flew VA723 on February 3,17, 18, and 26. Mostly he flew VA718 which a typhoon beached in September '44 in Diego Garcia. It's still there today. There's a website if you google. He also flew VA732 on July 1 and 7. He flew VA716 on May 1, 10, June 28, July 3, 5, 11, and 22. He flew 23 different Catalinas altogether on his tour. If you have your dad's logbook you should be able to check the dates.

So there is a good chance they knew each other. I was recently contacted by the son of Ron Tench who was 2nd pilot with my dad on FP165 and they flew 27 times together.

Still a small planet.

Brian Park

My dad Ian Ramsay was an observer with 240 Squadron and flew in VA 716 twice. The first time was 26-6-44 on air to sea firing practice, with W/Com Wood as pilot. The second time was in his usual role as air navigator on 20-7-44, on a mission his logbook called "wide-wide ex. and radar homing". His pilot on the second occasion was F/O Nicholson.

F/O Nicholson was my dad's usual pilot, and their usual Catalina was FP 215, a Mk. 1B which had served earlier with 190 Squadron. According to my dad's log, he flew in it for the first time on 2-12-43 with 302 Ferry Training Unit, RAF Oban. They later took FP 215 all the way from Oban to Red Hills Lake, leaving on Christmas Eve 1943 with stops at Pembroke Dock, Gibraltar, Cairo, Lake Habaniya, Bahrein (sic.) and Karachi, before finally arriving at Red Hills Lake on 21 January 1944 after 41.9 hours in the air. What my dad's logbook doesn't show, however, was how eventful the flight was. On the leg from Gibraltar to Cairo, as they approached the point of no return, FP 215 had an engine failure over the Mediterranean. F/O Nicholson was a "stiff upper lip" sort and decided to press on, which made my dad, the navigator, very nervous. My dad asked him "What if we lose the other engine?" to which Nicholson calmly replied "We shall probably all be killed". Fortunately my dad prevailed on him to put down at the nearest Allied base, so they changed course and landed that night in Malta, repaired the engine, and were airborne before dawn. Then, upon landing at Cairo, FP 215 hit a deadhead and started to sink into the Nile River. Before leaving the UK, they'd been briefed that in case of an emergency they should head to the west bank of the Nile and avoid the east bank, because the local Egyptians were unfriendly to British forces and would pick a Catalina apart for whatever they could carry away. Of course in their rush to keep their plane from sinking they beached on the wrong bank and were quickly surrounded by unfriendly locals. As my dad told it, they had to unmount their machine guns, force the Egyptians back with threats, and stand guard around their Catalina for hours until a repair crew in a boat could reach them.

(A public apology: The crew's attitude toward Egyptians and other "worthy oriental gentlemen" was completely prejudiced, and I can make no excuses for my dad and his crew except to say that's the way many people thought some 80 years ago).