|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
J Castagnola | Flight Lieutenant J Castagnola DSO DFC (deceased) Joining the RAF in 1941 he graduated as a pilot after completing his training in America. Returning to England he joined 51 Squadron in early 1943 flying from RAF Snaith. Born in 1922 in Islington, Cass as he was known to all, enlisted in 1941 and trained in North America. Returning to England he crewed up at OTU and after completing their HCU course the crew, captained by a newly commissioned Cass, joined 57 Squadron in December 1943 for their first tour of operations. They were to be blooded with a series of attacks against Berlin, completing three operations against this target in four nights during January 1944. In all Cass was to visit the Big City eight times during his tour. During the Nuremberg operation of 30/31 March 1944 his Lancaster's rear turret guns froze up but a burst from the mid-upper caused an approaching Me 210 to break away. On return his gunners also claimed one Ju 88 destroyed and another damaged. On 5 April 1944 the crew were one of six attached along with their aircraft to the Squadron at Woodhall Spa, to provide an H2S capability. After an initial trip as passenger with Fg Off Fearn for the attack against the Luftwaffe Depot at St Cyr on 10 April to observe the Squadron's methods, Cass found himself non-operational for a month as the Squadron trained intensively for Operation Taxable. Teamed up with Nick Knilans he completed the D-Day deception operation and three nights later he was operating against the Saumur railway tunnel. Unable to carry Tallboy, his H2S equipped aircraft was loaded with thousand pounders to be aimed at the adjacent railway bridge across the Loire. His next three trips were as an additional member of Knilans'crew. By July Cass had been posted back to 57 Sqn at East Kirkby and would complete his first tour with them.He was not away from Woodhall for long, arriving back on the Squadron on 15 August to start his second tour. This was to be much more satisfying. With his trademark 'operationally battered' cap, Cass and his crew soon proved themselves a popular and valuable asset to the Squadron. Starting with a trip to Brest on 27 August and now carrying Tallboy they were part of the high level force for the attack on the Kembs Dam, and took part in all three operations against Tirpitz, claiming a direct hit in the middle of the superstructure during the final attack. During the attack on Bergen on 12 January 1945 his aircraft came under fighter attack and Cass dived to within the range of the flak batteries; the fighter deigned to follow. Heading out to sea he spotted Ian Ross' aircraft at low level, on fire and under fighter attack. With his bomb aimer manning the front turret and without thinking of his own safety Cass dived to offer whatever assistance he could. He was successful in driving the fighter away, but Ross was forced to ditch, while Cass circled overhead dropping an emergency radio wrapped in Mae Wests when it was seen that Ross' dinghy had not deployed. Climbing to 500 feet they signalled the ditched Lancaster's position and remained in the area, seeking cloud cover when a German fighter came too close. With fuel running low he was eventually forced to leave the stricken crew to their fate. The remaining months saw a new routine develop, railway viaducts replacing U-boat pens as targets during February and March, before returning to April's target list, along with other naval targets during the last month of hostilities. After a total of 62 operations Cass' war came to an end on 19 April 1945 with an attack on the island fortress of Heligoland. The latter part of 1945 saw him as the Squadron's Inspector Pilot as they worked up for 'Tiger Force' – the RAF's projected contribution to the Pacific War but, with the squadron prepared to go overseas to India, in January 1946 he was posted to RAF Snaith, to conduct aircrew training. Having been awarded the DFC for his time on 57 Sqn, Cass was to receive a bar in March 1945 for his service with 617 and a further award of the DSO in October 1945.Awarded a permanent commission in 1947, he was posted to the Central Flying Establishment, RAF West Raynham, flying Mosquitos, Vampires and Meteors, before transferring to the Empire Test Pilots School, RAE Farnborough, in March 1950. After qualifying as a test pilot his experience was put to good use for four years at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, Boscombe Down. Cass transferred to fighters in April 1954 and served in the Middle East and Germany before becoming Officer Commanding No. 41 Sqn, Biggin Hill, flying the Hunter F 5. In keeping with a number of pilots following their fighter tour, at the beginning of 1958 he was sent on a radar control course prior to being posted to Neatishead radar station, Norfolk, as Control Executive. After a final tour as a Staff Officer with HQ No. 13 Group, at Ouston, he left the RAF in November 1961 as a Squadron Leader, joining British Airways as a captain on Comets and Tridents until his retirement in 1980. We have learned that James Castagnola has died, but have no information as to when. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Text for the above items : |
A Lincolnshire Sunset 1944 by Gerald Coulson. The Avro Lancaster was possibly the most versatile and successful bomber aircraft ever and certainly became the backbone of RAF Bomber Command during WWII. Being able to deliver a greater payload than any other aircraft of The War, the Lancaster was involved in nearly every night bombing raid on Europe and undertook some of the most famous bombing missions in History. Of all the crews of RAF Bomber Command 617 Squadron are perhaps the best known. Famed for their expertise in precision bombing they took part in some of the most daring raids of the War. Many of the crews such as Guy Gibson, Leonard Cheshire and Bill Reid became household names and their exploits are well documented. This superb painting by Gerald Coulson is a tribute to all those crews who flew with Bomber Command. Each print is personally signed by prominent crew who flew with 617 Squadron during WWII. Coulsons painting captures the moment perfectly. As the sun is setting in the early part of 1944 over their Lincolnshire airfield , groundcrews make final preparations to the Lancasters of 617 Squadron. Beneath the mighty aircraft crews ready themselves for a long , gruelling night operation over occupied Europe. |
Summer Harvest by Gerald Coulson. With the familiar Lincolnshire countryside beckoning, a Lancaster of the famous 617 Dambusters Squadron, makes its final approach after a raid on Germany, late summer 1944. Gerald Coulsons painting Summer Harvest winds the clock back sixty years, recreating a typical East Anglian countryside scene in late 1944. With the sun well above the horizon, a Lancaster comes thundering in on finals after a gruelling night precision bombing mission over Germany. Below, farm workers busy gathering the summer harvest, stop to marvel at the sheer power and majesty of the mighty aircraft, and to dwell briefly on what horrors its crew may have endured on their perilous journey. |
Lancaster Attack by David Pritchard.(B) 12th Janaury 1945 and the Lancatsers of 9 and 617 squadrons are once again taking their deadly cargo of Tallboy bombs over enemy territory. This time it is the turn of the U boat pens at Bergen in Norway. En route home the bombers are bounced by FW 190s of JG5. One of the Luftwaffe Pilots in White1, Heinze Owlowski, believes he has made a fatal attack on Lancaster KC-M piloted by Squadron Leader Tony Iveson. He salutes the crew before doing a victory roll in front of the badly damaged bomber. However, thanks to the bravery and skill of its young pilot the Lancaster would actually make it home to a force land on 3 engines at Dumburgh in the Shetland Isles. A feat for which the Squadorn Leader Iveson recieved his D.F.C. This Print was split into dfferent editions signed by different groups of crew, this edition is not signed by the artist. |
Strike and Return by Robert Taylor. Winter in Northern Europe brings short days, long nights and, for the most part, appalling weather making navigation difficult and flying hazardous, even by todays electronically sophisticated standards. Throughout RAF Bomber Commands arduous six year World War II campaign, as if atrocious weather were not enough to contend with, day and night bomber crews faced interceptions by enemy fighters, constant flak over occupied territory, and the real and ever-present danger of mid-air collision. Add snowstorms, gale force winds, freezing temperatures and the comparatively rudimentary navigational aids available at the time, it seems a miracle they were able to continue at all. But continue they did, and whenever there was the slimmest chance of hitting an enemy target, unhesitatingly, the aircrews of Bomber Command took up the challenge. 460 Squadron, RAAF was typical of the bomber squadrons under overall command of Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, squadrons manned by volunteer aircrews from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Rhodesia, South Africa, and many other nations opposed to Hitlers Nazi Germany. To a man they knew the frightening odds against completing a tour of duty, yet many faked their ages just to join this elite band of wartime flyers. True to their squadron motto Strike and Return, the artist shows Lancasters of 460 Squadron RAAF, returning to RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire following a daylight raid over Germany in the late winter of 1944. With the sun almost set, chill evening shadows lengthen on a magnificent winter landscape dusted with snow, Lancaster J-Squared leads the mighty bombers as they descend in the fading light. |
Target Bearing 270 by Robert Taylor. At sunrise on 12 November, 1944, led by Wing Commander James Tait, Lancasters of 617 Squadron RAF prepare to make their bombing run on the German battleship Tirpitz, lying in the Norwegian fjord at Tromso. |
The Sinking of the Tirpitz by Frank Wootton. A first-hand account of the sinking of the Tirpitz by Bob Knights. - The early morning of 12th November 1944 was clear and very cold, and the wings of the Lancasters of 617 Squadron, parked on the airfield at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, were coated with ice. This ice had to be removed before the aircraft could take off for the final attack on the Tirpitz, the Lancasters were already overloaded with a 12,00lb Tallboy, full petrol tanks, and a reserve fuel tank in the fuselage. The aircraft had been fitted with more powerful engines, the Rolls-Royce Merlin 24, and take-off performance was surprisingly good. After turning out over the Moray Firth, we set course north east for the Norwegian sea at 1500 feet. We saw the Shetland Islands pass by on our left, and when we reached 64 degrees north we turned eastwards towards the Norwegian coast at low level. We crossed the coast, climbing rapidly to clear mountains, and flew over the Swedish border. We then turned north and, keeping on the Swedish side of the border, proceeded to our assembly point, a narrow lake about 100 miles south east of Tromso. At zero hour, Wing Commander Willie Tait, Officer Commanding 617 Squadron, set course on the long run-in to the target, accompanied by the first wave of 617 Squadron aircraft. As we topped the last mountain before reaching Tromso, we saw the Tirpitz clearly from about thirty miles. She looked very vulnerable lying there with no cloud or smoke to protect her, and forunately there was no sign of the fighters, which were stationed at Bardafoss. The anti-aircraft guns opened up as we approached, and there were enormous shell bursts from Tirpitz herself. We had a good straight bombing run, and both my bomb aimer and my flight engineer followed our Tallboy right down to the ship. They reported two direct hits and three bombs very close to the sides of the ship. After taking our aiming point photograph, we circled the ship to observe the subsequent bombing. We stayed in the vicinity for about another fifteen minutes and before we left the ship was beginning to capsize. Then followed the long flight back to Scotland. When we arrived, bad weather had affected Lossiemouth and we were diverted to Peterhead, where we eventually landed after a flight of 12 hours 35 minutes. |
|
Contact Details |
|
Sign Up To Our Newsletter!
This website is owned by Cranston Fine Arts. Torwood House, Torwoodhill Road, Rhu, Helensburgh, Scotland, G848LE Contact: Tel: (+44) (0) 1436 820269. Email: cranstonorders -at- outlook.com
|
|
|
