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Flt Lt Bob Milne DFM - Art prints and originals signed by Flt Lt Bob Milne DFM

Bob Milne

Bob Milne

Flt Lt Bob Milne DFM

Flt Lt Bob Milne DFM joined the RAF and on 13th March 1942 sailed for Canada escorted by two Canadian Corvettes. Off Iceland the escort changed to American warships including a battleship, cruisers and destroyers. After thirteen days he landed in New York having been diverted from New Brunswick, due to U-boat activity. Flying Training School was on an RCAF camp at Hagersville, Ontario, and there he gained his Wings. Coming second on the reconnaissance course, Milne was recommended for Sunderland flying boats. On return to Britain on the Queen Elizabeth I, this was changed to Beaufighters due to heavy losses of torpedo carrying Beaufighters meant that replacement crews were a constant requirement. On 23rd August 43 he joined 47 Squadron at Tunis at the end of the Sicily Campaign and just prior to the invasion of Italy. His duties were attacking shipping in the area between Sardinia and the Italian mainland. Milne and the other crews would fly at fifty feet to avoid radar detection, no lower because this would leave slipstream trails on the water which would be visible to enemy aircraft. If a target ship was located the four aircraft without torpedoes would fire on the ship while the Torpedo carrying Beaufighters positioned themselves to deliver the torpedoes. Having assessed the type of ship and its speed they would climb up to 150 feet, aimed ahead of the ship according to the speed estimated, and then at 1000 yards range with wings level, level fore and aft, and speed 180 knots drop the torpedo. Shortly afterwards the squadron were moved from Tunis to El Adem in Libya where they were there to locate a German invasion fleet which was leaving Athens to cross the Aegean sailing from island to island until it could invade Leros where Allied troops were held up. During the next three weeks they lost thirteen of the eighteen crews ending up with no usable planes and only three available crews. Leros fell on the 16th November 1943. The squadron had to reform with new planes and crews to get up to strength, and then moved to nearby Gambut III in the Western Desert. There 47 Squadron would continue operations in the Aegean for another three months before going to the Far East to stand by for the Japanese Fleet. One operation carried on 22nd February 44 was written up in a magazine called Parade. They were to attack the last ship of any size left in the Mediterranean. It was approaching Heraklion in Northern Crete with an escort of two destroyers and the usual Me109s. No.47 Squadron Torbeaus were escorted by fighter Beaus of Nos.47 and 603 Squadrons and approached from the east. A flight of American Mitchells then turned back drawing off the German fighters so that the ship could be attacked without their interference. This worked perfectly and the ship was hit with torpedoes and sank before the 109s realised what was happening. Three Beaufighters were then shot down. The strike was thus very successful. In March 1944 a Torpedo squadron was needed in the Far East and 47 Squadron was ordered to go. Milne was now tour expired along with two of his colleagues, but it was realised that if they left there would be no one apart from the CO who had actually dropped torpedoes. They were therefore booked for a second tour with the same squadron. They flew out from near Cairo to Baghdad, Bahrain, Sherja, Karachi, Hyderabad and finally Madras to await the Japanese Fleet. After six months the Japanese were suffering reverses so the Fleet finally went to the Pacific instead of into the Indian Ocean. They then changed to bombs and rockets on the Beaufighters and then later onto Mosquitoes in order to fight in Burma. He completed a second tour but had difficulty getting a transport plane out of Burma so two months later, when the war ended, he was still there. Then on the first day of peace a Japanese raiding party raided the camp and Milne was wounded, ending up in hospital. He was on an airfield north of Rangoon and returned there on discharge from hospital. The first prisoners of war to be freed were brought here by Dakotas. Late in August 1945, two years after joining 47 Squadron Milne left in a Dakota bound for Calcutta and then on to Bombay where he boarded a ship, destination England.

Items Signed by Flt Lt Bob Milne DFM

 A Mosquito Mk.BIX above the clouds in late 1943.  Mosquito B.IX LR503 holds the record for the most combat missions flown by a single Allied bomber in the Second World War, serving 213 sorties. ......
A De Havilland Beauty by Ivan Berryman. (B)
Price : £125.00
A Mosquito Mk.BIX above the clouds in late 1943. Mosquito B.IX LR503 holds the record for the most combat missions flown by a single Allied bomber in the Second World War, serving 213 sorties. ......

Quantity:
 A Mosquito Mk.BIX above the clouds in late 1943. Mosquito B.IX LR503 holds the record for the most combat missions flown by a single Allied bomber in the Second World War, serving 213 sorties.  ......
A De Havilland Beauty by Ivan Berryman. (D)
Price : £110.00
A Mosquito Mk.BIX above the clouds in late 1943. Mosquito B.IX LR503 holds the record for the most combat missions flown by a single Allied bomber in the Second World War, serving 213 sorties. ......

Quantity:
 A Mosquito Mk.BIX above the clouds in late 1943.  Mosquito B.IX LR503 holds the record for the most combat missions flown by a single Allied bomber in the Second World War, serving 213 sorties.  ......
A De Havilland Beauty by Ivan Berryman. (E)
Price : £270.00
A Mosquito Mk.BIX above the clouds in late 1943. Mosquito B.IX LR503 holds the record for the most combat missions flown by a single Allied bomber in the Second World War, serving 213 sorties. ......

Quantity:

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Flt Lt Bob Milne DFM



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