Page 6 - Leonard Tebbenham

One entry refers to my father and records:

‘Flying Officer Tebbenham (Stalactite Sam) Met Officer – deliberately stated at the morning Met
lecture - “for the first time in ten years, we are not certain of the met picture for today.”

Endorsed by: Flying Officer J.D. Bain, Flight Lieutenant J.W. Catty, Pilot Officer C.W. Coward,
Flying Officer R. Bailes, Flying Officer A. E. Rogan and John Jack.’

I can record only two more facts as my father said very little about his wartime RAF service. First I
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found a log in his handwriting dated September 6 1945 that reads:
Lancaster UL-W2 Squadron Leader Overton, Flight Lieutenant Smith. ROUTE: Lincoln 13:00 BST
– Skegness 13:15 – Rotterdam 14:14 – Arnhem 14:53 – Emmerich – Sterkrade – Essen – 14:31 –
Solignen – Leverkausen – Cologne 15:09 – Duren – Aachen 15:23 – Maastricht – Antwerp 16:03
– Walcheren 16:14 – Southwold 16:48 – Lincoln 17:23, 2500ft, Daylight 4h 23m, Average speed
190mph, Track Miles 835.

This was evidently a ‘Cooks Tour’ to show ground crew the damage inflicted by the RAF bombing
operations and was confirmed by an entry in 1 Group ORB held at the National Archives. The
aircraft UL-W2 from 576 Squadron was a Metropolitan Vickers Lancaster B1 serial ME801 that
crashed ten days later. (The Lancaster was a Squadron Centurion having completed 114
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operations; it crashed at an unknown location on the 16 October 1945 and was certified category
‘E’ (aircraft written off). On the 19 October the Lancaster was transported to a maintenance unit
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of 43 Group and sent to the scrap yard.
The second fact is a letter from the Adjutant to report to Regent’s Park the following day for a
medical examination pending posting to West Africa. He evidently obeyed the order as his
inoculation record shows. He also obtained transit visas for Portugal and French West Africa and
was able to draw his kit. Thereafter Leonard was sent to No. 9 Personnel Dispatch Centre at
Heaton Park, on the eastern suburbs of Prestwich, Manchester and between October 9 and 19
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1945 Leonard was in transit to RAF Maiduguri, Nigeria.

RAF SERVICE OVERSEAS

The journey from England to Northern Nigeria took eleven days, with various stops including
Rabat and Accra. I have transcribed my father’s log data and his letters to my mother so he can
tell this segment of his story.

RAF Maiduguri was a staging post on the West African air-ferry route: Takoradi – Lagos –
Oshogbo – Kano – Maidugri – Fort Lamy – El Geneina – Khartoum – Wadi Haifa – Cairo. 1560
Met Flight had been based at the station since 1942 to make observations for use in forecasts for
the vital air route. It comprised four Gloster Gladiators (N5622, N5625, N5631 & N5682) and was
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disbanded on November 1 1945. After their departure, I wonder how my dad formulated
forecasts for visiting aircraft during his time there. The weather patterns in sub-Saharan Africa
were quite different from those in the UK.
The only records I have of RAF Maiduguri are a plan (courtesy of the RAF Museum, Hendon), a
photograph labelled ‘The Hut’ which is probably the Met Office (marked ‘F’ on the plan) and a
group photograph of people (Leonard is seated, second from left). Unfortunately his colleagues’
identities are unrecorded, however the officer seated in the centre is probably the Station
Commander at the time, Squadron Leader Ronald F. Hamlyn AFC, DFM. He was one of only two
pilots that earned Ace status in a single day. He remained in the RAF until 1957, retiring as a