627 Sqn bombing Trophy

Haven't been able to get to the Mosquito Museum as much as I'd like but managed to get there yesterday.

The hangars are being cleaned up and rearranged for the new season. Standing on the floor, in the corner, unloved, dirty and starting to show rust (! ) I found the historic 627 Squadron Monthly Practice Bombing Trophy.

This is a 10lb practice bomb mounted on a large wooden plinth with duralumin plates attached engraved with the names and ranks of the most accurate pilots.

627 in its short life became legendary ; it was the 5 Group Pathfinder Mosquito outfit specialising in ultra-low-level target marking techniques, operating with 617 Squadron from Woodhall Spa.

The trophy has some interesting associations ; it would have stood in the 627 Officers Mess when Guy Gibson took off for Rheydt in a 627 Mosquito, never to return. And the trophy winner in September 44 and January 45 was Flt Lt W W Topper, who was Marker Leader and dropped the first TI on Dresden. If only the trophy could talk.....

Anyjow, the restoration task is mine and the trophy is sitting right here next to me awaiting some TLC. It's great to be a temporary custodian of such a piece of history, which can be seen on p.134 of Alan Webb's classic 627 book, 'At First Sight' .

But.. IF ONLY IT COULD TALK !!

 

Good for you, Martin! Excellent project. Can't imagine that a trophy like that lacks the attention it deserves....Just check ebay go crazy when they put up for sale a comparable German trophy!!

Of course it is not the moeny but the story who won it...and how....and what were the stories behind those men...

A wonderful piece of history, Martin, which, I hope, will find its rightfull place in the museum...

 

Nice looking Trophy! Must be very special to have it on the shelf at your house and pretent you just won it!

BTW, Topper won it twice. He must have had a keen eye!

 

Yes - that bomb has lost some of its sparkle since the photo was taken....the paint is flaking in places, too.

I'm going to put some effort into this, my own small tribute to 627.

 

As a footnote, I e-mailed the 627 Squadron Association to reassure tham that their trophy is in good hands.

They've replied saying that some of the 627 veterans are hoping to arrange a Group visit to the Mosquito museum in the summer - so this may turn out to be quite a fun project....

 

Christmas is very early this year!

Can I sent you my copy of At First Sight???

 

Finished it at last !

Another one of those easy little tasks that takes a lot longer than you think.....

Just to give you an idea : -

The wooden plinth was sanded, undercoated, two coats of blackboard paint applied followed by a light rubbing over with wax polish to give a 'sheen' finish.

The dural name plaques ( very soft alloy ) were highly polished and then coated with lacquer.

The base was sanded down and then given six coats of wax polish - then some small cork pads were fitted to protect against damage.

And then the 11lb practice bomb itself. This was badly rusted ( especially the tail ). Hours were spent wirebrushing the rust off - but the rust had penetrated and discoloured the low-grade steel. Sandblasting would have pitted the surface so the bomb was painted with two coats of special rustproof silver paint and returned to its rightful place atop the black plinth.....

And now it's ready to go back to the Museum on Sunday. The object was to restore the trophy and help prevent any future deterioration ; I think it looks pretty !

 

Great feat, Martin! Well done!

Picture! Picture! Picture!

 

Finally put it back on display today.

When you've had your nose pressed against it for weeks, you know every imperfection - but on display, it looks really quite neat !

It's really given me a great sense of satisfaction : help your local museums/enthusiast groups, guys.....

 

Picture! Picture! Picture!

 

I did take some 'steam-powered' photos before returning the trophy.

I really must get a digi camera.....

 

Well, better late than never !

I was up at the museum yesterday with my digital camera and remembered to take some photos of the 627 Squadron trophy. I'm proud to say that it still looks good, and my work of renovation and protection a couple of years back is paying off - no rust or damp damage at all. Should be good for many years to come !

 

Thanks for the pics Martin.
I have not seen the pics of it before the clean up but I must say it does look good!

 

Thanks, camz. It was really getting in poor condition but fortunately the wood hadn't started to rot. AFAIK, all the men whose names are on the trophy have now passed away so I took a lot of care over the restoration.

 

Just wondering is it very heavy as it looks like you where game putting it on the glass cabinet with the models inside.

Also are the models very old?

 

The whole thing weighs about 12lbs so maybe you've got a point !

The models are really ancient - all scratchbuilt from wood by long-departed members of the Mosquito Museum modelling dept.....

 

Those are some great pics, Martin. And a really beautiful result for your efforts. Great that you have been able to restore such a great part of history!!!!

Well done. I think Otto can give you another star for that! And promote you from acting WC to WC!

 

Awsome work on the trophy, looks great. I had the pleasure of meeting Flt Lt Brian Harris DFC an Ex 7 Sqn and 627 Sqn Navigator on Friday 27th July and hosting him at the station families day. Got some awsome pictures of the mighty Stirling of 7 Sqn and Mosquitos of 627 Sqn. The latter the Museum here has little of. Today I received 3 vidoes from him, one of which he took himself and aparently is the only colour film of a wartime Mosquito Squadron.

 

Hello Shack

Yes, I'm very proud of that trophy and it still looks as good as ever up at the Mossie Museum ! I have the video you refer to, it's historically very important as the only colour record of 627's Mosquitoes in late 1944.

There are very few ex-627 men left, I'm very sorry to say, and I'm glad you had the chance to meet Mr Harris. ( I treasure my prized copy of the Squadron history, 'At First Sight'... )

 

Old threads never die.....one of the great 'perks' of helping out at a Museum is the unexpected input from visitors. Today ( Mothers Day) a small family group came up to us with an elderly lady in a wheelchair - her late husband flew as a Navigator in Mosquitoes. Maybe we knew something about his Squadron - 627 ?

Well, er, yes ! I said ; and picked up the 627 Bombing Trophy for them to see. They were amazed, but not as amazed as I was when they said - we've got his old logbook with us, would you like to see it ?

Would I !



I could have spent hours looking through it instead of just a few minutes. But what a piece of genuine history ; every flight carefully noted.




I was especially interested in September 1944 and was fascinated that the Navigator ( Sgt. R Doyle ) had flown a test on 17/9/44 with F/Lt Peter Mallender DFC.



Two nights later, the Mosquito which had been allocated to Mallender was taken over at the last minute by Guy Gibson - who never returned.



Historic stuff !