D.F.M. group, a fine group covering service with 22 (Beauforts), the top secret 1474 Flight (anti radar) becoming 192 Sqdn. One of the crew in March 1941 which attacked a convoy sinking a 5000 tonner by torpedo at 50 foot height. One of 6 aircraft detailed for the torpedo attack on Gneisnau at Brest in which P/O Cambell won a posthumous Victoria Cross in alone pressing home a suicidal torpedo attack. Later served with the top secret Flight 1474 embedded within Bomber Command raids and tasked with’cracking’ the secrets of German Radar

Distinguished Flying Medal (GV1) (F/Sgt.), 1939/45 Star, Air Crew Europe, Africa Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal, War Medal

F/`Sgt. G.O.P. Bowen

Gamaliel Ozwyn Pugh Bowen. Borrn 1921, Llandilofawr, Carmarthenshire.

Served 22 Sqdn . Feb-1941 and probably Wireless Investigation Flight (109 Sqdn.) from August 1941 and from July 1942 with  Flight 1474 the top secret unit tasked with cracking German Radar systems this becoming 192 (Special) Sqdn in Jan 1943 – October 1943 (inc one month to North Africa on Special Duties)

Recommendation states

192 sqdn, sorties flown 49 (inc 8 torpedo strikes, several otherwise bombing with the remainder on ‘wireless investigation’ with Flight 1474 which became  192 Sqdn.

‘This N.C.O. has been actively engaged on flying  duties since January, 1940. He has at all times displayed exceptional coolness on his operational sorties and carries out his duty as Wireless Operator with outstanding skill.

Some of the  operational flights in which Sergeant Bowen has taken part were of a particularly hazardous nature.’

Included are some extracts from Squadron Records

6/4/41was one of 6 aircraft detailed for a torpedo strike on the Gneisnau at Brest (identified as Scharnhorst in Squadron Records).

On 6 April six Bristol Beauforts of No 22 Squadron were dispatched from RAF St Eval, near Wadebridge, Cornwall, to attack her: three bombers to disable any torpedo nets around her and three planes armed with torpedoes to sink her. None of the bombers reached Brest. The other planes were faced with formidable anti-aircraft defences. Flying Officer K Campbell braved these to launch a torpedo at point-blank range but was immediately shot down. The plane crashed in the harbour and Campbell and his crew were all killed. Gneisenau was seriously damaged and forced to return to dry dock, where she was further damaged by a bombing raid on 9-10 April. She was out of action for the rest of the year.

18/3/41

Patrolled N to Terschelling, thence E along W. Frisian Island Islands. Sighted concoy at 05.32 hours, and attacked largest 5000 ton (fully laden) from 300 yards and 50 feet with mk 12 torpedo. hit on the port beam – large explosion and ship sank rapidly by bows. Last seen stern up at 0603 hours.’

Flight 1474

No. 1474 (Special Duties) Flight of the Royal Air Force was formed on July 4, 1942. The flight was established to investigate German night-fighter technology, focusing on intercepting radio communications and detecting the wavelengths used by German radar systems. It was later re-designated as No. 1474 Wireless Interception Flight.

When Gransden Lodge first became operational in 1942, the two units that were initially assigned to the new station were both involved in top-secret work related to radar. The first of these, No. 1418 Flight (later the Bombing Development Unit), carried out trials of some of the inventions that were constantly being produced to assist the R.A.F., including new radar equipment that was to be vital to the success of the Allied bombing campaign against the Axis. The other, No. 1474 Flight (later No.192 Squadron), flew many hazardous missions across Europe, attempting to unlock the secrets of Germany’s radar systems.

One of these operations was of such importance, and carried out against such odds, that it is mentioned in the memoirs of Sir Winston Churchill. During this period the work being carried out meant that Gransden Lodge was visited by some of the country’s leading scientists, such as Bernard Lovell, later to become famous as a radio astronomer, and Sir Henry Tizard, one of the driving forces behind the creation of the country’s wartime radar defences.

Typical of the work was 3/12/1942 ‘wireless investigation’ being the large scale raid on Frankfurt

No. 1474 Flight was involved in collecting data on enemy radar frequencies, signal strengths, pulse repetition frequencies, and types of scan equipment. Each Wellington carried a special receiver coupled to an oscilloscope continually monitored across a range of frequencies by a Special Duty Operator aboard each flight.

Planners decided to embed 1474 Flight’s Wellingtons into a bomber stream headed for Germany. Indistinguishable from the dozens of other aircraft taking part in the raid to discover of the appropriate radar frequency setting.

1474 was re-numbered to form No. 192 (Special) Squadron on January 4, 1943. 192 (Special) Squadron. The squadron operated specially modified Vickers Wellingtons and de Havilland Mosquitos to identify German radar patterns and wavelengths. It also carried out similar missions over the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean. In April 1943 the squadron moved to RAF Feltwell and at the end of the year, the squadron moved again to RAF Foulsham to operate with 100 (Bomber Support) Group.