OLD AZURIANS
ASSOCIATION
Exploits
Sergeant Eric William Seabourne DFC (one of "The Few")
Eric moved to Worthing with his mother from Epsom after the death of his father in 1918. He attended WHSB from September 1924 to December 1928. In June 1935 he joined 601 Squadron of the Auxiliary Airforce as an aircrafthand/air gunner, then later he was accepted into the RAFVR in August 1938 and started training as a pilot at Redhill. At the outbreak of war he was called to full-time service and was posted to 9 FTS Hullavington where, despite having been awarded his flying badge at Redhill, he was made to take his pilot's course all over again. After a month with 151 Squadron at Martlesham Heath he was posted to 238 Squadron at Tangmere where, after three hours on a training aircraft, he flew a hurricane fighter solo for the first time. Ater a furher seven hours solo in a Hurricane he was declared operational without ever having fired the guns. On 13 July 1940 he was credited with tha shared destruction of a Me110 and with damaging two others on his first real action against the Luftwaffe.
In August 1940 Sergeant Seabourne shot down a Me109 on the 8th and two more on the 13th. In the latter engagement the engine of his Hurricane seized up after the radiator was hit by a cannon shell and he was then pounced on by three more Me109s and his aircraft caught fire. He tried to bale out, but his hood had jammed, and it was only after his plane had turned onto its back and he fell out, taking the hood with him, that he escaped being burned alive. He fell 16,000 feet before opening his parachute, inflating his Mae West, and falling into the sea some miles south of the Isle of Wight. Fortunately for him he was picked up by the destroyer HMS Bulldog and safely transported back to the RN Hospital at Haslar. A week later he was moved to Basingstoke where he underwent plastic surgery operations for seven months.
In May 1941 Seabourne was posted to a delivery flight at Colerne. In August that year he was commissioned, subsequently joining 276 (ASR) Squadron as a Flight Commander. His award of the DFC was gazetted on 23 June 1942.
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Eric William Seaborne died in Devon in 2005, well into his 94th year.
Gunner Gordon Henry Kirby
Gunner Gordon Henry Kirby of 40 Cissbury Road Worthing had joined a RA Territorial unit before the war and was on active service from the start. He was a member of an anti-aircraft gun crew which shot down three Dornier 17 bombers within a minute during a raid on the south coast in 1940.
The crew had been in action most of the night and were resting when they were recalled to action stations. A German bomber formation came through cloud at 15,000 feet. The very first shell fired scored a direct hit on the leading plane and blew it to pieces. Another seven shells were fired and these brought two more planes down in flames. The German crews of the remaining planes must have thought that the reception they were getting was too hot for their liking for they turned tail and disappeared.
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Kirby's parents lived at 40 Cissbury Road Worthing. In civilian life Gordon was in a builder's merchant business with his brother in Coulsdon. His younger brother Oliver held a commission in the Indian Army and, like Gordon, was an Old Boy of the school.
Pilot Officer Bernard W Marshall
Pilot Officer Marshall in a Mosquito fighter bomber flown by Flying Officer Alec Bristow, accompanied by three other Mosquito aircraft, took off from RAF Leuchars on 25 September 1942. Their mission was to bomb the Gestapo Headquarters in German-occupied Oslo where it was known that a meeting of Nazi leaders was being held. They flew below 100 feet to avoid detection, but despite this they were attacked by two German fighters and one of the Mosquitos was forced to make a crash landing. The others, including Marshall's flew on and carried out their attack. At least four of the 500lb bombs they carried penetrated the Gestapo Headquarters, but because the bombs were fitted with delayed action fuses to avoid the aircraft that dropped them from a very low height being blown up by the exploding bombs, all the bombs came out of the other side of the building before exploding. As a result the raid did not achieve the intended objective of killing large numbers of the Nazi hierarchy attending the meeting.
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Nevertheless, back home publicity was given to the raid because it demonstrated that the Germans were not safe wherever they were, and it also was considered a morale boosting event and provided an opportunity to introduce the general public to the Mosquito which was a new aircraft at the time.
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Marshall, was awarded the DFC for the part he played in the operation. He was reported missing in action later in 1942, but it was subsequently confirmed that he had been taken prisoner.
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Flying Officer Clifford George Monk RAFVR
Monk, of 53 Downlands Avenue Worthing, received his DFC at the age of 23 in October 1945. He had completed two tours of operations during which he took part in many attacks on enemy road and rail transport and shipping. In May 1945 he led his flight in an attack on shipping in Kiel Bay. Despite intensive anti-aircraft fire he pressed home his attack at very low level and one enemy ship was destroyed and three others damaged. He had also completed numerous sorties against targets in the Middle East. He had always led his flight with great skill and determination and a fine fighting spirit which had been reflected in the high standard of operational efficiency maintained by his flight. (see more)
Second Officer F J Pye
The Merchant Navy ship in which F J Pye was Second Officer was torpedoed by a U-boat in 1942 on its way home from the River Plate. The crew took to the boats. The U-boat surfaced near to Pye’s boat and he exchanged a few words with the U-boat’s commander. The Germans passed them some tins of bread, cigarettes and matches; “That was jolly decent of them considering what they had done” Pye commented wryly when interviewed. There were 23 men in Pye’s boat which was adrift for 7 days in bad weather. Despite having sufficient food when carefully rationed out, nine of the men died from exposure before the survivors were picked up by a British ship and brought safely to a home port. He was awarded an MBE for the part he played in what he described as his toughest trip yet.
While recuperating at home with his mother at the Priory Hotel Tarring, Pye occupied his time studying for his Master’s Ticket. He joined the Merchant Navy when he left WHSB and was employed by the Union Castle Line. He was a founder-member of the Old Azurians Association.
Lieutenant Gerald V Reakes RNR
Lieutenant Reakes was no stranger to tough assignments, having done escort duty on the Atlantic convoys and taken part in the landings in North Africa and Normandy, so, in the Autumn of 1944, when he was ordered to command one of the two tugs that had been assigned to tow a 2700 ton floating dock across the Atlantic it may well have seemed dull by comparison. Dull it was not. The tugs were under way with the dock in tow when they were caught up in a fierce Atlantic gale that blew for ten days. Their speed was reduced to 2½ knots and the 18-inch tow ropes were severely strained. The towing rope of first one tug and then the other snapped and at great risk to the crews had to be reconnected. A parting wire struck a seaman on the head and fractured his skull. Reakes sat with the injured man all night, but he died in the morning and was buried at sea. While this was going on the dock and tugs drifted 60 miles off course towards an area where U-boats were known to operate. After 10 days of unremitting storms both tug crews were exhausted and fuel was running short so relief tugs had to be sent out to finish the job.
Seaman R A C Dean
Dean was a Seaman in the Royal Navy Patrol Service aboard HMS Haselmere which was one of a flotilla of similar vessels equipped to fly barrage balloons to provide protection for coastal convoys against air attack. On 5 January 1941 the flotilla was escorting a convoy into the Thames estuary in very bad weather with rough sea, low cloud and snow. A parachute was spotted descending through the clouds, followed by an aircraft. HMS Haselmere made towards the downed parachutist who had fallen into the sea behind the ship. When they reached the person in the water they realised that it was a woman, and although lines were thrown she seemed unable to help herself.
Seaman Dean lowered himself over the side of the ship and laid down on the rubbing strake in an attempt to reach the woman. Realising that she was helpless, Dean began to remove some of his clothing preparatory to diving into the water, but before he could do this he was ordered back on board by his captain Lt Commander W E Fletcher. The stern of the ship was heaving up and down because of the heavy swell; the woman disappeared under the stern of the ship. Fletcher then threw off his outer clothing himself and dived in. He was unsuccessful in reaching the woman, got into difficulties, and had to be picked up by the crew of a motor launch that had joined in the rescue attempt. He died from hypothermia later that day.
It subsequently came to light that the woman parachutist was none other than Amy Johnson who had achieved fame for her solo flight to Australia before the war. She was acting as a ferry pilot for the RAF and on this occasion was flying a de Havilland Oxford from Lancashire to RAF Kidlington.
Much of this information came to light at an inquest into Lt Commander Fletcher’s death held in May 1942 and at which Dean gave evidence. On May 16th Fletcher was posthumously awarded the Albert Medal for gallantry in trying to save life at sea, and Dean was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
Dean subsequently served on HM Motor Minesweeper 69 which was in one of several flotillas of minesweepers engaged in the vital task of clearing the Scheldt estuary of mines to open up the port of Antwerp for receiving supplies to ensure the continuation of the allied advance through Europe. It is assumed that Dean was taking part in this highly dangerous operation when he was reported Missing Presumed Killed on 5 November 1944.
Ed: As noted on the In Memoriam page, this Worthing man was not an old boy of the school, but his story is of such historical interest that it deserved to be recorded somewhere with a Worthing association.
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Sgt. E G Sharpe
Sergeant Sharpe RAFVR, aged 31, was awarded the DFM in October 1943. The citation read:
“Sergt. Sharpe has taken part in a large number of operational sorties. His courage and devotion to duty are of a high order and the cool and confident manner in which he performs his duties as a wireless operator has been worthy of praise.”
While he took part in many of the big raids over enemy territory his wife of nine years was of the opinion that the award was made as a result of his brave action a few months previously.
Upon landing at base after a raid on a large German town his plane caught fire. He extinguished the fire but as a result received severe eye injuries and was treated in hospital for some time afterwards.
After spending the first 22 years of his life in Worthing, including his time at WHSB, he moved to 12 St. James Avenue, Lancing. His civilian occupation before the war was as a roundsman for the Broadwater branch of Highfield & Sompting Dairies.
Private James Butler
James Butler was born in Twickenham, Middlesex on 13 June 1919. In the early 1930s the family moved to Worthing where his father George and mother May ran a ladies’ hairdressing business in Montague Place.
James joined WHSB on 15 January 1932. After leaving school in June 1936 he assisted at his parents’ business, but he was also passionately interested in ambulance work and spent most of his spare time with the Worthing St John Ambulance Brigade.
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He volunteered for service in the RAMC at the outbreak of WW2.
Whilst serving with the Eighth Army in Libya the ambulance in which he was travelling was attacked by four Messerschmitt fighters on 22 December 1942. Despite being wounded by a machine-gun bullet James managed to drag his two wounded companions to safety from the burning vehicle and dressed their wounds. For this act of gallantry he was awarded the Military Medal.
James’s younger brother Ronald was also a pupil at WHSB (1935-41).
Captain A C F O'Hanlon 6th Airborn Division
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He was awarded the Military Cross after being recommended twice: he was wounded at Caen when he went out alone to rescue a wounded parachute commander, and again when leading the attack on Minden.
Major A T Cockle
Special Operations Executive
Upon leaving school in 1931 Arthur Thomas Cockle was employed in the costing department of a building firm, and from that he went on to become an accountant working in London. He went to work in Burma in May 1939 where he joined the Burma Auxilliary Force.
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He was commissioned in the Army of Burma Reserve of Officers in April 1941 and trained in heavy and light anti-aircraft artillery in Singapore. After fighting in the first Burma campaign, he was promoted to acting Major in 1942. Following retreat to India Cockle served in India’s AA defences. He volunteered for service with the Special Operations Executive but was initially refused because he was considered more valuable where he was. Determined to see action, he turned down a senior posting within the artillery to join SOE in January 1945.
On 24 March 1945 he parachuted into Burma as part of Operation “Character”, that had the objective of organising a guerrilla force from the Karen Hills people to support the planned advance of XIVth army from India by reporting Japanese troop movements, harassing Japanese forces as they withdrew to the south, and hindering the movement of any Japanese reinforcements from the south.
He remained in the field until 31 October 1945. For his service in Japanese-occupied Burma he was awarded the MC in 1946.
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Arthur Thomas Cockle died 20 December 2008 aged 94, and was buried in Durrington Cemetery Sec. 15, Row 3, grave 58.
School years 1925-31
Ed: We are indebted to Dr Richard Duckett for bringing Major Cockle’s career and exploits to our attention. He is compiling a Roll of Honour of all SOE members who served in Burma in WW2. It may be viewed by clicking here.