Today is the 5th of May, bevrijdings dag in the Netherlands, the day that the 2nd World War ended here in Europe. Above is a drawing of my uncle Cyril, my Mum's elder brother, drawn by a fellow prisoner of war in Stalag VII.
Cyril William Orwin was born on the 13th February 1923 in Kingston upon Hull, the eldest child of Herbert Cyril Orwin and Violet Orwin nee Popplewell. In 1939 after finishing his education he won an apprenticeship to the Royal Airforce, he was sixteen years old.
Cyril did some of his training in Canada and I have a wonderful photo of him flying a Harvard and taken by a fellow pilot.
Uncle Cyril was shot down on the 10th September 1944. He was flying back from a reconisence mission, and was flying over the Hoek of Holland when he saw a military train, he flew low over the train to see whether he could take a shot of it but on the last carriage there was a large machine gun which gunned him down. He was thankfully close to the coast and was able to crash into the sea, and he was also able to loosen his seat belts. He was pulled out of his wreak by German soldiers and taken captive and interrogated, probably in the Fort at the Hoek of Holland.
This is the official R.A.F. report of his crash and capture - " 10 September 1944
Between 13.55 and 15.45 hours 24 Tempests were sent out for an armed recognizance flight over the Netherlands. Ships, trains and other ground targets were attacked. One Tempest had to make an emergency landing in the Sea SW of The Hague. The flyer was able to save himself.
The Tempest that was lost was from Number 3 squadron and it was F/S. C. Orwin who came into the water south west of The Hague, he was able to save himself and was taken prisoner."
When my Grandparents where notified that he had been shot down it was not certain that he had survived the crash, thankfully a Dutch resistance worker was able to inform the British that he had survived and had been taken as a prisoner.
Hi Debra. I believe your uncle Cyril had a sister, your aunt Joan. She married a chap called Staveley. Have you any connections with Joan Alice STAVELEY 07/09/1924 - 21/04/2020 who I believe was from Hull but was recently laid to rest in Beckenham Crematorium, London
ReplyDeleteI believe this Joan was a Y-station intercept operator at RAF Chicksands in Bedfordshire from 1943-45 working closely with Bletchley Park code breakers where Alan Turing was based and cracking the German Enigma code. She would have joined the staff there very young, when aged 19.I don’t know if you know much about Bletchley Park but these Y station operators were very skilled and the work was top secret. She must have been very young and I was curious how she was recruited etc. Most of them were in the WAAF (Womens auxiliary air force). She must have been from Hull (henge the death notice there even though she lived in London). If you have any info. on your aunt (and her husband, your uncle by marriage) I would love to know, especially if you ever spoke of her war work latterly when the 'secret' was out. Thanks so much. Peter
Hi Peter - I do have my aunt Joan's own story about her enlistment and time at Chicksands. I will write a blog about her next week with her story. She was very young when she enlisted, infact she lied about her age, her story is facinating to read.
DeleteKind regards Debra
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DeleteHi Debra. I have spoken to Bletchley Park (Collections and exhibitions) and they are interested in Joan's memoir. Out of courtesy I would wish to ask you if it is OK for me to forward your aunt Joan's memoir for them to retain for posterity, which I believe is important as history. Hopefully you are happy for a record of her wartime memories to be retained by the museum for posterity.
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