April - December 1944
Formation and work-up
No.1820 squadron officially
formed in the United States at
US Naval Air Station
Brunswick, Maine, on April 1st 1944 as a dive bomber
squadron under the command of Lt. Cdr (A) H.I.A. Swayne DSC
RN. Initial equipment was 9 Curtiss SBW-1B Helldivers and a
squadron strength of 8 pilots and 8 observers.. After
familiarisation with the aircraft and equipment the squadron
moved to
US Naval Air Station Squantum, Massachusetts, on
May 1st to begin training in earnest to prepare for active
service.
It is believed that some of the
squadron aircrew had completed an intensive dive bombing
course at USNAS Vero beach, Florida[1]
Note:
Reynolds, W. (2004) p.31 & 32 writing about NAS Vero beach recalls “July 8… A few days ago, another squadron arrived—Royal Navy Sub-Lieutenants: Mostly English...one Aussie and one New Zealander….” & “July 20… Grant-Sturgis, skipper of the Royal Navy Squadron, had taken a formation on a navigation exercise, landed at Nassau in the British Bahamas, and loaded the SB2A's with Scotch whiskey….”
, beginning in July 1943,
prior to the formation of the squadron; one pilot was killed
during this training. Acting Lt. Cdr. R.J. Grant-Sturgis
RNVR died when the Douglas SBD Dauntless in which he was
training failed to pull out of a dive in time and dove into
the sea killing both him and his US Navy instructor. It is
highly probable that Lt. Cdr. Grant-Sturgis was the intended
commanding officer of the Royal Navy’s only Dive Bomber
squadron.
The Curtiss Helldiver was a
difficult aircraft to master and the squadron suffered
another tragedy on June 6th 1944 when JW120, flown by
Sub-Lt. A.J. Dawson with Air Mechanic (Engines) 1st class
S.C. Wells on board, flew into the ground at Wellesley,
Massachusetts and burnt out killing then both. There were
three more incidents in June, all on the 24th while the
squadron was conducting Deck Landing Training on the
USS
CHARGER; Sub-Lt. J Fenwick RNZNVR had to make a forced
landing in the sea after JW122 suffered engine failure, he
was rescued OK. Sub-Lt. E Pearson RNVR also made a forced
landing in the sea when JW108 suffered engine failure after
take-off from Squantum, he was rescued OK. Sub-Lt. A.E.
Cornabe RNVR flying in JW116 made it to the ship but made a
bad landing and ended up in the barrier on
CHARGER.
Passage to the U.K.
On completion of their formation and work-up the squadron flew to
USNAS Norfolk on July 5th to embark in the escort carrier
HMS ARBITER for passage to the UK.
ARBITER had docked at Pier 7, Naval Operating Base Norfolk on July 4th and began loading stores and equipment. Leaving their aircraft at
NAS Norfolk
on the 5th 1820 squadron aircrews embarked in the ship, their aircraft, equipment, spares, stores and squadron maintenance personnel embarking the next day. On the morning of July 7th
ARBITER embarked her main ferry load of aircraft (44 Hellcats, 7 Corsairs and 2 Martlets) as deck cargo, the Helldivers being stowed in the hangar for passage. Once loading was complete she proceeded to New York where she was berthed at 35th Street Pier Brooklyn on July 8th to embark passengers before joining Convoy CU 31, sailing on July 10th 1944 for Liverpool.
ARBITER anchored in Liverpool Bay late on July 21st to await docking at Gladstone Dock, Liverpool; however a fouled anchor prevented
ARBITER from getting under way until the morning of the 23rd when she finally tied up to disembark her passengers. The following day 1820 squadron personnel, aircraft and cargo were disembarked. The Helldivers were towed by road to RN Air Section Speke were the squadron was to assemble. After a short period of leave the squadron moved to
RNAS Burscough, Lancashire on August 11th.
Work-up in the U.K.
The flying training program and
further evaluation of the aircrafts suitability for use by
the Fleet Air Arm resumed at
Burscough. One week later
Sub-Lt. E.P. Jones RNZNVR had to make a wheels-up forced
landing in JW105 on the 19th. Extensive use was made of the
practice bombing range at Preesall, l mile N of Fleetwood
for dive-bombing and it was here that the squadron lost its
third pilot; on October 6th Sub-Lt. A.E. Neville RNVR was
killed when his aircraft, JW121, failed to pull out of its
dive in time and dove into the sea near to the targets.
The squadron flew to
RNAS Donibristle, Dunfermline on October 23rd to prepare for Deck
Landing trials in the escort carrier
HMS SPEAKER, the
aircraft joined the ship on the 29th, disembarking briefly
to
Donibristle on completion on the 30th, before continuing
on to
RNAS Hatston, Orkney on the 31st. On their arrival
Sub-Lt. A. Pearson RNVR taxied his Helldiver, JW125, into
Wildcat JV734 which was picketed on the airfield. They were
to spend the whole of November at
Hatston, returning to
Donibristle on December 1st for a brief stop-over on route
to
Burscough where they arrived on December 4th. There was
one further flying incident while at
Hatston, on November
11th Sub-Lt. E.B.A. Everett in Helldiver JW107 suffered
engine failure and made a forced landing on the airfield.
Squadron disbanded
By the time the squadron
arrived back at their home base the decision had been taken
to withdraw the Helldiver from front-line service. 1820 was
officially disbanded on December 16th 1944. What remained of
the Helldiver 1s delivered to the Fleet Air Arm was
dispersed to second-line units; the original odder for 450
was cancelled.
Notes:
[1] Reynolds, W. (2004) p.31 & 32 writing about NAS Vero
beach recalls “July 8… A few days ago, another squadron
arrived—Royal Navy Sub-Lieutenants: Mostly English...one
Aussie and one New Zealander….” & “July 20… Grant-Sturgis,
skipper of the Royal Navy Squadron, had taken a formation on
a navigation exercise, landed at Nassau in the British
Bahamas, and loaded the SB2A's with Scotch whiskey….”
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Content revised:
08 June 2020
Sources used in compiling this account:
Reynolds, W. (2004) ‘Diary of a Lucky Marine Throttle Jock’, Bloomington, iUniverse
Sturtivant, R. & Burrows, M. (1995)'Fleet Air Arm
Aircraft 1939 to 1945' Tonbridge Wells, Air Britain
(Historians)
Sturtivant, R & Balance, T., (1994)'Squadrons of the
Fleet Air Arm' Tonbridge Wells, Air Britain (Historians)
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Comments (1)
Dad was stationed in the states to train on the Hell Divers destined for the Royal Navy He amassed many photos working with the ships or stations official photographer. His Name was Sydney Edward Bolden number possibly AM/O FX871115.