Brian Gautier's Family History Data

His initial Rate was Naval Artificer Second Class however on 18 April 1940 he was promoted to Air Mechanic Second Class. Victory I was a ship's name used for administrative purposes.

His Rate was Air Mechanic Second Class HMS Daedalus was a naval air station, also known as Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Lee-on-Solent. The base was opened in 1917 and transferred to the RAF in 1918. It was returned to the successor of the Royal Naval Air Service, the Fleet Air Arm in 1939 and became also the Headquarters of Flag Officer Air (Home).

His Rate was Air Mechanic 2nd Class During WW2 the Navy was short of space for training and other functions and took over several holiday camps. They were ideal as they had accommodation, dining facilities and open spaces. The Warner's Holiday Camp at Puckpool Park, Ryde, Isle of Wight was one of these and was commissioned in 1940 and renamed HMS Medina. Used by the main Fleet Air Arm station at Lee-on-Solent for training, the ship's company consisted of regular Royal Navy Officers and ratings, RN reservists and Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) providing most of the pay, stores, catering and transport staff.

His Rate was Air Mechanic 2nd Class but on 7 November 1940 he passed as Air Mechanic (Engine) abbreviated to AM(E). On 11 November 1940 he passed the RN's Educational Test Part 1. HMS Daedalus was a naval air station, also known as Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Lee-on-Solent. Some Fleet Air Arm training was however carried out at RAF Locking. This meant that for pay and other administrative purposes Len was registered as HMS Daedalus but was actually based at RAF Locking for this period.

His Rate was Air Mechanic (Engine) HMS Raven was the Royal Naval Air Station at Eastleigh, Southampton in commission between 1939 and 1947.

His rate was Air Mechanic (Engine) HMS Condor was a Royal Naval Air Station at Arbroath, near Dundee. Built in 1939/40 and commissioned as HMS Condor on 19 June 1940. HMS Condor was an air engineer school unit until closure in September 1970. It became RM Condor in 1971 and is now the base for 45 Commando, Royal Marines.

His Rate was Air Mechanic Second Class (Engine). On 18 July 1941 he became an Air Mechanic First Class (Engine). HMS Kestrel was a Royal Naval Air Station and General Service Establishment at Worthy Down, near Winchester. It was commissioned in 1939 after being transferred from the Royal Air Force and was used as a flying station by the Fleet Air Arm until 1942 when flying ceased due to the orientation of the runway.

His Rate is Air Mechanic First Class (Engine) and he is a member of 825 Squadron Fleet Air Arm. His first voyage in September 1941 was a "club run" as the regular ferrying of aircraft to Malta was known. Whilst covering convoy GM2, information was received that the Italian fleet was at sea. Ark Royal launched a strike force against the Italian fleet on 27 September 1941 but they were not found and the two forces retired without meeting. Another "club run" took place in October 1941. After launching Hurricane fighters to Malta on 12 November, the Ark Royal was torpedoed by the German submarine U81, who fired three torpedoes at the Ark Royal and four at the battleship Malaya. One torpedo struck the Ark Royal on the starboard side, below the bridge, knocking out all electrical power. Only one fatality ocurred during this incident, that of Able Seaman Mitchell who was killed at the time the ship was hit by the torpedo. All other hands were saved. Many of the 1487 survivors being taken on to HMS Legion. Ark Royal was towed to within 30 miles of Gibraltar (partly under her own power), and the flooding appeared to be under control until a fire again eliminated her power. Flooding progressed rapidly, and she finally capsized and sank at 6:13 am on 14 November. HMS Ark Royal (pennant number 91) was designed in 1934 to fit the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty and was built by Cammell Laird and Company, Ltd. at Birkenhead, England, and completed in November 1938. Her design differed from previous aircraft carriers. Ark Royal was the first ship on which the hangars and flight deck were an integral part of the hull, instead of an add-on or part of the superstructure. Designed to carry a large number of aircraft, she had two hangar deck levels. She served during a period that first saw the extensive use of naval air power; a number of carrier tactics were developed and refined aboard Ark Royal. Ark Royal served in some of the most active naval theatres of the Second World War. She was involved in the first aerial and U-boat kills of the war, operations off Norway, the search for the German battleship Bismarck, and the Malta Convoys. Ark Royal survived several near misses and gained a reputation as a 'lucky ship'. The Germans incorrectly reported her as sunk on multiple occasions. Her sinking was the subject of several inquiries; investigators were keen to know how the carrier was lost, in spite of efforts to save the ship and tow her to the naval base at Gibraltar. They found that several design flaws contributed to the loss, which were rectified in new British carriers.

He returns to RNAS Lee-on-Solent after his close shave on Ark Royal. His Rate is Air Mechanic First Class (Engine). On 23 April 1942 he is passed as Proficient for Leading Air Mechanic (Engine).

With 825 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm as Air Mechanic First Class (Engine) Close to Campbeltown in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, a new airfield opened on 15 June 1941 as Strabane Naval Air Station, and named HMS Landrail, becoming RNAS Machrihanish later in the month and operated until 1946. The quote below is by Mac HARTLEY [1924-1999] who was an Air Mechanic with 832 Squadron. See http://www.hartleyfamily.org.uk/macH.htm "You have a draft chit to HMS Landrail, at that time the biggest airfield in the UK. Your quarters nicknamed 'Nissen City' [in the far corner of the airfield] are your billet for your stay here. A short distance away you can see the village of Ugadale with it's small pub. At Landrail there were daily inspections to see that aircraft were airworthy. Pilots would practice landings on the deck of the carrier, difficult when the ship was pitching and rolling at 30 knots. Pilots were aptly called 'Brylcreem Boys' as they were always impeccably dressed and groomed and wore lots of after-shave. Some nights a troopcarrier would convey you up to the main camp to see a film in the gym or go to the canteen for a pint, and join in the sing songs, with the seamen, stokers, and torpedo men. The canteen was always full, noisy, men running back and forwards to the bar, and shouting across the room to their mates. The songs were sung with a sort of defiance against authority and discipline, and sung very loud. There was a comradeship in the navy you wouldn't find anywhere else. Through the songs you could be yourself."

Although passed as proficient for the next Rate, initially he took up this posting as Air Mechanic First Class (Engine). However on 18 July 1942 he was promoted to Acting/Leading Air Mechanic (Engine). RNAS Hatston, also called HMS Sparrowhawk, was a Royal Naval Air Station. It was situated one mile to the north west of Kirkwall on the island of Mainland, Orkney. It was located near the strategically vital naval base of Scapa Flow, which for most of the twentieth century formed the main base of the ships of the Home Fleet. During WW2 it was host to a number of different types of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm, including Fairey Swordfish, Blackburn Rocs and Avengers. Two squadrons of Blackburn Skuas flew from Hatston on 10 April 1940, on a mission to sink the German cruiser Königsberg, in which they were successful.

His Rate was Acting/Leading Air Mechanic (Engine). A few days after he came aboard HMS Avenger she Britain left bound for Iceland on convoy duties. Click on the PDF file for a detailed account of the ship's encounters with the enemy until her return to Scapa Flow towards the end of September 1942 HMS Avenger was a Royal Navy escort aircraft carrier during the Second World War. In 1939 she was laid down as the merchant ship Rio-Hudson at the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company yard in Chester, Pennsylvania. Launched on 27 November 1940, she was converted to an escort carrier and transferred under the lend lease agreement to the Royal Navy. She was commissioned on 2 March 1942. Avenger's capacity allowed for a maximum of 15 aircraft. In September 1942, she took part in what was the largest and most successful Russian convoy to date. Upon her return home, after observing a number of design faults, Avenger's captain drew up recommendations for future escort carrier design. After Len had moved on, in November 1942 she took part in Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, where she suffered engine problems. While leaving North Africa to start the journey home Avenger was sunk by the U-155 as she was nearing Gibraltar, with a heavy loss of life among her crew.

HMS Grebe was the Royal Navy designation for the prewar Alexandria airport, known as Dekheila, during its use in WW2 as a shore base for aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm. Originally used as a shore base for aircraft flown ashore from carriers by the Fleet Air Arm (as HMS Nile II, under the control of HMS Nile), the airfield was taken over by the Royal Egyptian Air Force on the outbreak of WW2 but remained in use by the Fleet Air Arm. The field was subsequently loaned as a Naval Air Station on 16 September 1940, and commissioned as HMS Grebe, attached to HMS Nile, with a capacity of 72 aircraft. The field became self accounting on 1 April 1941, and acted as a base for all Fleet Air Arm units in Egypt and the Western Desert, as well as a fleet requirements unit. HMS Nile resumed control on 1 April 1943, retaining the HMS Grebe title. The field was reduced to a care and maintenance basis on 31 January 1946, before being returned to the control of Egypt on 18 March 1946.

His Rate was Acting/Leading Air Mechanic (Engine) 889 Squadron operations were carried out in the Western Desert until disbanding at El Daba in February 1943.

His Rate was Acting Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). Just East of Henstridge village is Henstridge Airfield . It was built during WW2 as a training base for the Fleet Air Arm, who commissioned it as HMS Dipper on 1April 1943. No. 2 Naval Air Fighter School, and No. 761 Squadron reformed here. Between 05 June 1944 and 17 August 1944, No. 718 Squadron reformed here with Seafires and Spitfires. The airfield was also used by 748, 760, 794, 799, 808, 885, 886, 887, 894 and 897 Squadrons.

On 15 August his promotion to Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine) was confirmed and became permanent. HMS Daedalus III was an accommodation and release centre at Lee on Solent and Bedhampton between 1943 and 1947.

His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). HMS Waxwing was a RN Air Station at Townhill near Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The quote below is by Mac HARTLEY [1924-1999] who was an Air Mechanic with 832 Squadron. See http://www.hartleyfamily.org.uk/macH.htm "This was just a transit camp. You're granted seven days leave. There were a large number of nissen huts, with one large one for the dining hall. The huts had the usual iron stove in the centre to provide heat. A gunnery instructor who had done his training at HMS Medina, "the greatest gunnery school in the world" he says, teaches weaponry drill and all about stoppages when a machine gun jams, and how to rectify it. You're now familar with all the different pipes; up spirits, stand easy, men under punishment, cooks to the galley, and liberty men fall in. In Scotland, breakfast would consist of porridge and kippers rather than egg and bacon. The kippers were like pieces of leather. Rather than eat them, ratings would throw them at each other across the canteen."

His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). He was attached to 896 Squadron. In January 1945 the squadron reformed at Wingfield, Cape Town with 24 Hellcat FB.IIs, embarking on HMS Ameer in April 1945 for Ceylon. Wingfield Naval Air Station at Belleville near Cape Town was called HMS MALAGAS which was commissioned on 15 Mar 1942. It was a South African Air Force base with lodger facilities. It was used by the Fleet Air Arm as a RN Air Station and aircraft repair yard for the Eastern Fleet and ships on passage from the Atlantic to the Eastern Mediterranean via the Cape. It later absorbed air section from Wynberg, and worked up Hellcat squadrons and was decommissioned on 31 Apr 1946.

His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). He was attached to 896 Squadron which embarked on HMS Ameer in April 1945 for Ceylon. Formerly USS Baffins she was decommissioned and transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease. Now HMS Ameer, she was refitted to Royal Navy requirements, including a lengthened flight deck, the installation of ASDIC, the adaptation of fire-fighting and ventilation systems, and the alteration of bomb and torpedo storage to accommodate either American or British ordnance.

His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). He was attached to 896 Squadron. HMS Valluru, a Royal Naval Air Station at Tambaram, about 19 miles from Madras, India. HMS Valluru was commissioned at Tambaram on 1 July 1944 as a 'Double Aircraft Repair Yard' as well as a frontline air station for 6 squadrons and 72 reserve aircraft. A Fleet Requirement Unit 722 squadron operated a variety of aircraft from Tambaram during April 1944 to March 1945. From here Chance Vought F4U Corsair and Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters made sorties across the Bay of Bengal against Japanese targets.

His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). He was attached to 896 Squadron. The squadron transferred to HMS Empress for patrols over Phuket island. Originally the USS Carnegie, she was commissioned on 9 August 1943 for a period of three days prior to being turned over to the United Kingdom under whom she served as HMS Empress. On 15 August 1945 Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) was celebrated which effectively signalled the end of WW2. Immediately after VJ-Day the squadron was still active, providing support in early September during the occupation of the Malayan peninsula.

His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). HMS Jackdaw was Royal Naval Air Station Crail, Fife. The present Crail airfield was constructed in 1939 and functioned throughout the war as a naval training base. Air crews underwent intensive training in torpedo dropping and dive bombing. Naval air operations ceased in 1947, but the site continued as HMS Bruce, a naval training unit.

His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). HMS Daedalus III was an accommodation and release centre at Lee on Solent and Bedhampton between 1943 and 1947.

Leonard attended David and Elaine's Wedding Reception. Left to right in the photograph are Ida Baron; Violet Gautier; Barbara, Dorothy and Leonard Baron; and Jules Gautier.