Sgt Bernard Shelton

The following diary was kept by Sgt Bernard Shelton while posted to 113 Sqdn B Flight at Ma'aten Bagush. The period covered by the entries is 06-10-1940 to 06- 27- 1940. None of this period is covered in the official squadron records.

Today we arrived at Maaten Bagush after a journey of two days in the desert. Spent all the morning erecting tents and doing other jobs all of which should have been carried out by an advance party, a week ago, had there been any organisation whatsoever.

The machines arrived in the afternoon and after filling up, picketing out and covering up, we were told that Italy was at war with Britain and France. We were then turned out after dark to inspect the aircraft and help the armourers to bomb up. We finally got to bed at midnight.

The machines took off at dawn on a raid over El Addam, (El Adem) an Italian aerodrome in Libya. Several aircraft on the ground were bombed and the ground crew machine-gunned. According to those who took part in the raid, the Italians were totally unprepared for a raid. Obviously they did not expect us to attack so soon after the declaration of war. We lost one machine the crew being P/O Beauclair, Sgt Owen and L.A.C. Dobson. Their aircraft landed in flames behind the enemy lines, but all escaped injury. We have since learned that they walked all day towards our lines but were captured. They are now lodged in a hotel at Ben Ghazi. All the other aircraft returned safely except for holes caused by shrapnel.

NOTE: This is the very first aircraft ( L4823 ) lost on ops by the 113 Squadron in WW2. The crew was injured with burns per Graham Warner, Bristol Blenheim book.

Today we bombed Tobruk, an important port for the Italians. One battleship transport was hit and also the jettys were badly damaged. From report by the aircrew we learned that anti-aircraft fire was pretty hot. L.A.C. Jobson of "A" Flight got our first ??Fiat. All aircraft returned although some were badly damaged. A machine carried out a recco' in the afternoon and reported that the transport was still burning.

Spent today cleaning and repairing machines We are told that there will be no more bombing for a while as Egypt has not declared war on Italy and we are fighting on neutral country. We also have orders to conserve our machines as there will be no spares available from England.

Raid this morning on El Addam (El Adem). Reports on this raid are very conflicting. Some say that the raid was a success - others a washout. "A" Flight was badly shot up, but all the machines returned safely. Mersa Matruh was heavily bombed again. A couple of soldiers were killed.

There are in the tent. Cpl. "Mac" McClellan, "Charlie" Buttle, "Pincher" Martin, "Dutch" Taylor, "Pig" Malyon, "Tubby" McKinley, "Balloon" Berridge, and of course myself - the "Chicko". Quite a merry crew who don't care what happens as long as they have their beer. We are slowly getting organised with household utensils.

Quite an easy day today. Nothing of importance to report. Dutch and Charlie went on a reptile hunt. One chameleon, one snake and a few scorpions. The rest of us sat still and got rid of some more beer.

Reveille at 04.30 hrs. this is the most popular time for Italian bombing raids: dawn and dusk. Today a khamseen is blowing. We sit in our tents and read, drink and sleep. We have side bets on how long the tent will stay up. The aircraft must be in a lovely condition.

The khamseen has died down eventually leaving a fine powdered dust on everything. A 216 machine took off on a raid over El Addam with 250lb bombs. They also machine-gunned the ground staffs. Italian aircraft dropped leaflets on Mersa Matruh. Although this 'drome has been bombed several times, from all accounts, there has been very little damage done. L8522 on a "shufti" job. Returned safely and reported they had seen an army encampment.

Air Raid alarm early this morning but again the Italians could not find the camp. Shortly afterwards we heard violent explosions from Mersa Matruh. Everything passed off quietly here.

Turned out at 0330hrs to turn aircraft into wind. Khamseen blowing up. Everything seems to go wrong - sand everywhere, meals are terrible, flies torturous. Some relief after sundown. Air Raid at 1930 hrs -- Nil.

Note: Bernards diary ends here. Alison (his Niece) reports, it was recorded in a small hardbacked notebook - only the first ten sides are written as a diary, then the pages are blank, none appear to be torn out at this point though there are a few missing later in the book, there are also a few rudimentary sketches of planes.

The following letters were sent home by Sgt Bernard Shelton beginning in 1939 during training at Yatesbury England, followed by one from aboard ship as he sailed to the Middle East, and the rest from his posting with 113 Squadron B Flight at Ma'aten Bagush. His last letter home was dated Sept 20, 1940. Immediately following these letters are two written to Bernards parents by a friend of his, Sgt Richard Smith, after Bernard had been reported missing.

Thank you very much for your nice long letters, I'm afraid they are much longer than this one will be, having written one to you last night I think I have told you all the news. But I thought I had better write and thank you for them, and also the parcel, that will be very welcome.

I wrote to Ernie about a fortnight ago but I have not had a reply from him yet, I thought perhaps that he would be in France! Did he say if he had any papers to join up yet? I suppose they will get him unless he is at work yet.

It's quite a coincidence about Aunty Mac knowing Mrs Birch's parents isn't it? I was very pleased to read that she was quite happy. I know you will do your best to make her that way. Do you have much trouble with the children? I don't envy the boys at Duncombes but I suppose Celia and Jean keep them happy enough don't they. By the way she said that she went on the moors with them.

Have you got the PO's yet? I don't suppose (well I'm sure) that I will be able to send any next week because we get paid every fortnight now - a pound each time and already funds are very low.

We left camp on Tuesday morning for a port somewhere in England, and arrived there just after midday. About 1.00 pm we boarded a (Word deleted ?? Channel) steamer, SS _____________ and left about two hours later, and

(sentence deleted by censor) morning when we left for (word deleted ??France). The boat was only a 500 cabin steamer so about 500 of us had to sleep on the floor for the journey. Anyway we managed alright and reached a (word deleted ?? French) port about (time deleted.) Then we went into the station until about (deleted) that evening, when two special trains came in to take us across (deleted ?? France)

Although the journey across (deleted ?? France) was very long, about 35 hours, we enjoyed ourselves very much, trying to speak (deleted ??French) to the countryfolk on various stations at which we stopped, believe me, it's good fun.

It is now Saturday afternoon and we are on our journey through the (deleted ??Mediterranean) . We left (deleted ??France) yesterday at ____pm and we hope to reach our first port some time tomorrow. The sea is fairly choppy now, but up to press I have not seen anyone seasick.

We arrived quite safely at our destination a few days ago. First of all I must tell you that, as we are under censorship, we are not allowed to give anyone any information of our journey, when we arrived here, our actual whereabouts, or what we are doing. So will you please excuse me if I do not write a very interesting letter.

However, I will attempt to make this a decent letter despite all the restrictions which we are under. We arrived here in the evening feeling very tired but we were soon given a good meal and shown to our billets, which, by the way, are quite good. The place itself is more like a holiday camp than an R.A.F. Station, -- nobody ever worries us at all. We have started on our summer routine, already, which means that we now get up an hour earlier than for winter routine - 5am. We commence work at 5.30 and "knock off" at 7.15 for breakfast, we parade again at 8.15 and work until 12 noon when we finish for the day. Then we are allowed out until 1.30 am the following morning - Nice work, eh!

I have visited Cairo since we came here and everyone thinks that it is a very nice place. There are only three drawbacks - one the language, which as you most probably know is written in hieroglyphics, - two, the money which is for us new arrivals, very hard to understand, mainly because there is such a lot of dud money about, and thirdly, the cost of living is fairly high. By the way the currency is one piastre or ten millemes are equal to 2½d.

I am afraid that I cannot commence making an allotment just yet as I have to pay for some alterations being made to my khaki uniforms and there are a few things I want to buy. When I get all these things done I will make out my allotment form and let you know.

I sincerely hope that you are all enjoying the best of health as we are here, ( of course there is everything to aid us, with the temperature about 90 degrees in the shade.)

I was very pleased to receive your letter yesterday, it certainly seems such a long time since I heard from you. I was beginning to think that my letter had been lost, it doesn't usually take so long as that for a reply. I have known several cases where fellows have written letters and had replies to them within six days, of course, they have been Air Mail both ways.

However, it was very nice to hear from you again and to know that you are all keeping well, apart from your two invalides who I hope are getting well again.

As I told you in my last letter, I am restricted to what I can say in my letters, but I will tell you all I am allowed to. I have visited Cairo twice since I wrote my last letter and I think it is quite a decent place for one to spend a night with plenty of money. There is only one big snag, the Egyptians, pester us to buy their wares, and ask ridiculous prices for them. For instance, the last time I went to Cairo, one of them tried to sell me a fly swatter for 10 piastres, I argued with him and eventually got it for 2 piastres!

I have not been to the pyramids yet, but I have seen them from the air. One day we are going to go and see them and then I shall be able to tell you about them. Last night I had my photograph taken so I will send you one when they are developed.

Ernie has done very well to get stationed at Newark hasn't he? I expect he will be going over the pond before very long now. By the way, I have not written to him yet so will you please let him have my address. Have you heard from Ben lately? I suppose he will have been posted by now.

I believe that it is about 92o in the shade here today and there's not much chance of it becoming any cooler until about November, if anything I am told that it will be hotter. Still it's slightly cooler here than out in the desert, as I found out the other day when I went on a flight. We went to a squadron to which some of the fellows went who came on the same boat as us. One of them was that fellow called Pattison, who I told dad knew Harry Leigh at Newton.

Thank you very much for your letter and photos which I received a few days ago. I am afraid that I have been unable to write any letter lately because we have been working very irregular hours owing to the international situation out here.

At present we seem to be having some bad luck as regards the war with France. I suppose that you will be feeling a difference now in England, aren't you? We have now moved from our home station out into the desert and we manage to get down to the coast for a swim quite often. As you probably realise, that is the only way of a bath because we are rationed on fresh water. It is simply marvellous, going into the sea for half an hour and then lying on the beach sunbathing afterwards.

I feel that I must write to Nottm within the next few days to see how they are coping with the war, etc. By the way has Vi any idea where Raymond is now? I don't suppose he will have gone to Poland as he expected before the "crack up" in France. Have you heard anything of Ernie lately? I expect he will have moved from Newark now.

From all accounts the R.A.F. out here are doing quite good work. Only yesterday our Commanding Officer showed us a message from the A.O.C. in charge of Middle East, congratulating the squadron on its work over Libya just lately.

I sincerely hope that you are all in the best of health at home and have not had any casualties with raids. Please give my kindest regards to everyone at home and tell them that I am in the best of health.

Thank you very much for your letter and the newspapers received yesterday. I can assure you, I was very pleased to hear from you again. Since the war started out here, the mail boat has been very badly disorganised. I should think that the mail comes round by the Cape, so there is the reason for it taking about eight weeks. By the way, will you let me know how long my Air Mail letters take?

As we are now stationed out in the Western Desert I am afraid that I shall not come into contact with Mrs Gibbs' brother out here, unless I see him when I go on leave, which will not come along for quite some time yet, - anyway, the longer it is, the more money I shall save - maybe!

I was very sorry to read that Jean had been ill, and I sincerely hope that she is well again now. By the way, does she leave school the same term as Celia?

There seem to be quite a few of the soldiers who went to Norway from round about the town, now on the "Missing List". We have lost a few men out here since the war started. One of them, a pal of mine, who was an Air Gunner went on a raid and his machine was hit by shrapnel from anti-aircraft fire. The pilot tried to get it back over the border, but failed and they came down in the Mediterranean and the crew were picked up by the Italian Navy. Apparently the crew are now being held prisoners of war in Libya.

Well, I do not think that there is anything more to say this time except that I hope you are all safe and happy. Please give my kindest regards to everyone at home.

Thank you very much for your nice long letters received yesterday. I am very sorry that I have been unable to write lately, but as things seem to go the same here week after week, there is very little for one to say in letters. I did manage to get a bit of a change last week end, when I went down to the "Bright Lights" for a couple of days. This made quite a pleasant change, & I can assure you, I made the very best of it.

At present we seem to be in the thick of the fighting out here, but we are more fortunate than you in a few cases, chiefly because we are the offensive side against the Italians and we get very few raids and you seem to be getting quite a lot. Anyway, the R.A.F.appear to be gradually putting a stop to the Jerry air raids, especially when they bring down about 160 bombers and only lose about a quarter of that amount of our fighters.

A few weeks ago I took an Air Gunnery course and passed out alright, so I hope to be going over Libya very shortly to see what I can do behind a gun in action. I have not been given the opportunity as yet but I shall be full out for it when I can go.

How did dad go on about being kept on at the aerodrome? I expect that he will still be working because I believe all lorries are commandeered by the government and they will want drivers for them for the duration. If he is around that way perhaps he would be able to give me a little knowledge on the machines etc. I should very much like to know, because from all accounts there have been some very big improvements made to our machines since the war started.

I have not yet had a chance to go over Libya, but when I do go I shall do my best to keep up the good work of the squadron. We certainly have some good fellows on the squadron now. Only the other day, two of our machines went on a raid and the pilot got wounded while over Libya so the observer brought the aircraft back and landed it. He was awarded the D.F.M. and the air gunner was mentioned in dispatches. Maybe you heard all about this on the wireless just recently.

You said that when you were writing your letter that you had heard that France had ceased fighting, - well I should not be the least bit surprised if, when you are reading this letter that Italy has packed in too. From various accounts of raids that I have been told by men who have been on quite a number of raids... (cut by censor) Several times the squadron has been over and seen Italian fighter aircraft on the ground and they have only given a comparatively small amount of opposition.

I wrote to Uncle Bob and Ernie about three months ago but I have not had a reply from either of them yet. I expect that I shall get them around November time, with the state that the postal services are in out here. Your last letter took just over eleven weeks to reach me! However, better late than never.

How did Celia get along with her Matriculation Exam? I suppose she will be at the beginning of her new life now in the Children's Hospital. I sincerely hope that she will like it and make a success of it. By the way, if she does go to the N.C.H. I would be very pleased if she would ask Pearl if she could spare a few minutes to write to me -- no cracks either, please!

How did dad go on about being kept on permanently at the new R.A.F. Station? I anticipated that something like that would happen, especially if the government has commandeered all the lorries. It should be quite decent work too, whatever he is doing.

So sorry that I have not kept quite to my promise in my last letter but as you most probably realise, as there is such strict censorship and very little to talk about on the whole, I am afraid that I just cannot write interesting letters, and about everything I put down I think to myself, 'now how many times have I told them that?' However, I have a little fresh news this time.

A few weeks ago I went on an Air Gunnery course and passed out O.K. Well, with effect from May 1940, all Wireless Operator, Air gunners who have passed the course and are recommended by the C.O. of their unit, get promoted to the rank of sergeant. I have not got my promotion through yet but I am waiting for it to appear in orders.

Last week a new batch of Sergeant W.Ops. Air Gunners arrived on the squadron and among them was Ben Abbey - remember him? He is the fellow who I brought home with me during the big freeze-up in Blighty. Boy! Was I pleased to see him! He tells me Celia knitted a pair of socks for him just before he left Yatesbury and says he was very pleased with them; nice work Celia.

Thanks a lot for the hankies you have been sending lately, they were most welcome. You have been asking in your letters lately if there is anything you can send to me. Well I do not want to appear independent or anything like that, but I do not think that there is, as we are fairly well stocked up for what clothes and other things we need in the Western Desert, and I suppose that we shall be here until the end of the war, by which time I hope to be coming home, then I will get an order in for necessities. That'll be the day !

When you were writing your last letter you said that you were in the middle of a thunderstorm. I have just about forgotten what that is like as there has only been one bit of a shower since I came overseas. I expect we shall be getting some rain though very shortly because I understand that the rainy season starts in about another two months or so.

I was very pleased to know that Peggy had gone to Derby Infirmary to commence her training for a nurse. I expect that by the time you read this letter, Celia will be getting settled down in the Nottingham Children's Hospital. By the way, Celia, if you are working at the N.C.H. please remind Pearl about writing to me and give her my kindest regards. I have not yet heard from Vi or Uncle Bob, so will you please ask them if they received my letter.

Well I suppose as I omitted the traditional opening, I had better ask you now. How are you all keeping. Quite well I hope and free from too many air raids. I do not think that you will have to put up with blackouts and air raids though much longer as the services in Blighty seem to be diminishing the German Air Force quite easily. It gives us great confidence in our machines when we see in the papers, "187 German aircraft brought down yesterday in England, our losses being 30 fighters, 20 mpilots safe. " That's fair enough with the odds about 6 to 1 and still going strong.

Just lately our mail has been coming into camp in a very disorderly fashion. I, for example, have received about eight letters and seven papers during the last two weeks. The first letter was stamped ,August the sixteenth and the last, June the tenth! Consequently, I have got very muddled with them, by the way here's one from Mary & Celia. Thank you very much for all the information about the "car" or "pram on wheels" that Mary calls it, that Uncle Bob has bought, (or did the last owner give him something to take it away?) it ahould be O.K. for them to come and see you sometime.

I am very sorry to inform you that the photographs I had taken did not turn out as I expected, so I just tore them up and burnt them, they were absolutely horrible. however, when I get a spot of leave, I will have some more taken, with the A.G.'s badge, W.Ops badge and stripes on, and shake you - your son a sergeant - absolutely astounding!!

I am very pleased that Pop has got a pass into the new R.A.F.Station. What actually is the work that you are doing? (If you are allowed to tell) I would be very pleased if you would send me a few photos of home, especially the new A.R.P. shelter. I should like to see you all in there.

It is with extreme regret that I have to take up my pen to write a few lines of this description, a thing I have never done before, but I thought that you would like to hear a little more than an official Air Ministry communication - "regret reported missing."

I personally did not partake in the raid, but, from news I received afterwards and since, I think he has a fifty-fifty chance of making it. I myself have big hopes of seeing him again, although please don't take too much notice of that as I have always been a super-optimist. As you might not have heard, his machine was forced down on to the sea, but with the dinghy, the three crew, provided the landing was OK, should have managed to get out and be picked up. We certainly all hope so.

Well, I should like to say a little about "Junior" (his nickname). Since joining the squadron he has worked every day with me, being straightaway posted to my flight. He was immensely popular with every-body and a good pal to me in particular. We attended our Air Gunners' course together and being seven years older than him (I) kept a sort of fatherly eye on him. Believe me we all miss him very much. Whilst on the course, a photograph was taken and I'm sending that on by sea mail. His other kit has been taken care of and the personal belongings should eventually reach you.

If there is anything you would like, or like to hear of, with regard to Bernard, I'll do my level best in the matter, until then I echo the sentiments of the whole squadron in sending you our deepest sympathy in your time of grief. Maybe one day I'll be Mansfield way when I can say what I find so hard to put on paper. Goodbye,

Was very pleased to hear from you again, I knew somehow it wasn't my turn to write but was going to , to see if everything was OK but I couldn't find your address. Knew it was something -ring Road, but am blowed if I could think of the rest. However we''e safely put it in the address book so we shan'' have that trouble again.

Well I was pleased to hear that you were all in good health and I hope you had as enjoyable a Xmas as I had. Managed to get home for Xmas with the family and somehow with the good news that the Russians provide us with these days it seemed twice as good as the last one. By the way, by the address you'll wonder what happened but the fact is I've managed to get two furnished rooms here and have got my wife down. She does part-time work in the office at the Co-op and the last two months have been lots better, so I'm really a married man now. Of course, I suppose they'll take it into their head to post me to some new place soon but we've had this two months and are always thankful for small mercies. We hope they won't but my luck never has been good in that direction.

Was pleased to hear that Celia was doing so well. Bravo, little girl (or are you tall?) However being keen on the work always makes the world of difference and I hope she has the best of luck in the future.

No, I haven't heard anything of Ben Abbey since leaving the M.E. When I read in the papers of the stuff they have to work with out there it makes me wonder. We had a load of kids' pop guns in comparison and not a quarter of the fellows but I am glad that this alteration has come about because I think it does show that at long last we do realise that you can't scrap Jerry with pea-shooters. Have big hopes myself of seeing the end in sight by December of this year.