ABOUT HARRY OSBORNE

Return to "About People"

Harry was born on 24 July 1917 in Armadale, a little mining town in Mid-Lothian but in 1926 the family moved South to Chudleigh in Devon. He was the middle one of three brothers. He served in the RAF for his full "24" and was promoted to that great aerodrome in the sky in 2005. He had written the story of his life in notebooks for the sake of his descendents, and his daughter Frankie has sent a copy of a hard-backed book "Harry's Lot", in which she had asembled his writings, so that at least some of his story can be published on the web.

HARRY AT HALTON AND HIS FIRST POSTING

 

He was in 2 Wing and tells of Flt/Lt Chichester, he of imposing stature, japes and scrapes and an unknown brat who set his bed on fire with a cigarette, incurring much Jankers. Your unworthy webmaster 835 Barker remembers this only too well because he was the one! He mentions the welcome demise of "best blue" pantaloons and puttees and page boy collars in favour of slacks and jackets and ties.. Harry was fond of music, and would have liked to join the "Drums" as we called the marching band to which we marched to work each day, and applied to learn the haggisbags or the tenor drum, but waiting lists were long and he was offered and tried the trumpet. He couldn't

come to terms with this little piece of plumbing and, disappointed, had to resign hinself to playing his piano-accordion.

Passing out AC1 he was posted to 103 Squadron at Andover along with ex-1 Wing brats Baxter, Comfort, Eastlick, Pellow and Foster. They had Hawker Hinds, which were an advance on the earlier Harts having supercharged KestrelV's and an inclined gunring. Soon after the squadron relocated at Usworth, in Co. Durham, where the auxiliary 607 Squadron, with Demons was also based. 103 Squadron was later re-equipped with Fairey Battles.

 

AT USWORTH
Some Usworth bods - were you there?

 

Hawker Hind ground crew and Sgt/pilot Lewis

Back to top

 

HARRY AT RAF SHAWBURY

Harry went to an interesting and enjoyable job at Shawbury, assembling North American Harvards which bridged the gap between the elementary trainers of the day like the D.H. Tiger Moth, and the thoroughbred fighters such as the Spitfires, Hurricanes and Mustangs. It was, of course fully aerobatic and pleasant to fly, but it had enough vices to ensure that students learned to do things properly if they wished to survive, and at full revs Harry says the noise was unbelievable.

It came in two packing cases, one for the airframe and one for the engine. The assembly crew numbered nine, with a Lieutenant of the US Army Air Corps, a sergeant and a USA civilian from North American in charge of the operation.

If you want to see Harry's interesting account of this in full click here.

WW2 STARTS

Next to 148 Squadron at Stradishall with Vickers Wellington bombers and a posting back to Halton for a conversion course to Fitter I. However, WW2 intervened, the course was suspended and Harry was miraculously remustered FitterI and posted to look after the long nosed Benheims of 21 Squadron at Watton and to experience the seamy side of war. After using his knowledge and resourcefulness to enable lifesaving extraction of a wounded air-gunner from his turret he was put in charge of a special team to do this in future. The squadron relocated to Lossiemouth and suffered many losses during raids on Stavanger in Norway.

Harry the Teacher

Harry next went on a trainers course and taught aerodrome procedure at the S. of T.T. at Kirkham, near Blackpool. It was here that he met his wife to be Margo. He later did training at Cosford and Hednesford, before a wasteful posting to an OTU at Nutts Corner in Northern Ireland where there was nothing to do. At this time daughter Frances was born - 23 April 1944.

Next, now sergeant, to 582 Squadron, Pathfinder Force (No 8 Group), at Little Staughton, near St Neots, where his first occupation, in cooperation with armourers, was modification of the Lancaster gun-turrets to avoid loss of visibility from condensation,. His book includes interesting details of handling bombs, ammunition and refuelling these excellent aircraft.

109 Squadron also Pathfinders, with Mosquitos, was also at Little Staughton.

Some of 582 Squadron November 1944
Harry 2nd row left with scarf

 

AFTER WW2 - in Italy

After VE day Harry was posted to the occupation force in Italy and got to know many parts of the country. While there, in July 1946, he had news that his 4 months old son Arthur was seriously ill, and was sent home.

 

Back in England Harry went to the Advanced Flying Training School at RAF Chivenor which had good rail links to his domestic HQ near Exeter so that he could spend most weekends at home with the family, which was soon increased to five with the birth of Margaret Anne on 17th August 1948.

Back to top

EGYPT

Harry relates how in 1949 he found himself on a troopship to Egypt, a converted 3-screw German cargo ship. The centre screw had long since been dispensed with and one of the others was truculent at times, but he was soon at El Firdan, just off the Port Said to Cairo road. The unit was No 9 Base Depot containing many thousands of Middle East Forces' military vehicles in various stages of disrepair. Harry's section dealt with repairable vehicles which were eventually auctioned off in batches of twenty of the same kind.

After a while Margo and the children joined him but soon the Suez Canal troubles arose and they were all back in England at an AFTS at Feltwell, where Harry was engaged on an interesting job transferring written aircraft records into the new Hollerith punched card system. He also trained the coronation detachment from Feltwell and took them to London but did not get his Coronation Medal due to, he says. "a cock-up in SHQ".

THE FAR EAST

Harry and family then had the interesting experience of serving in Seletar, Singapore. and then in Butterworth, North Malaya, where he was i/c maintenance of the 16 Venoms and 2 Vampire 1.11 trainers of 45 Squadron. He was very strict on high quality maintenance, especially when the North Malayan terrain included no green fields for emergency landings, and he was not very popular for that because his predecessor had not been so particular. They learnt to play Mahjong and made their own entertainment as can be seen here with Harry's skiffle group and other performances in 1955.

BLIGHTY AGAIN AND BECOMING A CIVILIAN

Back home he served at Coltishall, in Norfolk, for a while the home of the Battle of Brtain Memorial Flight, and then in 1958 to the Air Ministry, to work on aircraft documentation.

In July 1959 he became for the first time in his adult life a civilian. He worked for several companies, not always congenial, finally finding an interesting post for 15 years with Boulton and Paul Aluminium Windows Ltd., in the end being kept on organising material disposal in the closing down of the firm. Then for a few years in his 60's he successfully ran his own decorating business.

Sadly his son Arthur died in 1967 age 20, from cirrhosis of the liver, thought to have been brought on by things exposed to in the East, possibly complicated by spleen and other damage caused by being knocked down by a car.

Both the daughters, Frances and Margaret, joined the RAF and married servicemen He and Margo joined the Vintage Club and the Royal Norfolk Veterans Association and true to form were leading lights in both. See http://www.rnva.com/default.htm

 

Harry was pleased to hold the post of Chairman of the Veterans' Association for many years, as well as being Archivist, Trustee and Vice-president, and his proudest momentwas when he and Margo went to Sandringham on 25th April, 1998 to meet the Queen, to commemorate 100 years of the Association. He had been to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party when he was Chairman in 1976 but Margo could not came and he didn't meet the Queen then.

The front of the book at the top of the page shows Harry in his Royal Norfolk Veterans' Association uniform

Harry Osborne, former RNVA chairman, with the Association collection of militaria.

. He suffered two strokes, at least, the first in 1993, and died in November 2005. His epitaph reads:

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow--

I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain-----

When you awaken in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die

Harry's eulogy, read by elder daughter Frankie, started "We couldn't have wished for a better father or Mum a better husband. The riches he gave us were beyond price ....."

OTHER EX-29TH

He wrote that he used to keep in touch with 924 Bill Foster, 1 Wing, who went with him to 103 Squadron, he met John Brightwell once, and got a card from 911 Jim Cason, an old room mate, who had seen his address in the RAF News. He sent George a photocopy of the 29th postings list which didn't include several names including George's (they had passed out with the 30th). This list will go in the website eventually.

Back to top

Back to About People