At Lindholme the production of crews continued unabated while back at 550 Wing Commander JJ Bennett was completing 
his tour and being at the supply end Mac rang me from Killingholme to see who among the likely squadron commanders 
was in the pipe line. A very old friend of mine Pat Connolly was ready. He and I had been at Uxbridge in 1935 on first 
being granted short service commissions, we had met again at CFS on No 59 course 1938, the last peacetime course. 
I then went to Australia while Pat went to New Zealand in 1942 he took a squadron of NZ fighters north into the SW 
Pacific Islands. Pat took command of 550 but unfortunately bought it 2 months later, he was replaced by Alan Sisley 
a pre war Aussie in the RAF who also bought it soon after taking command. 

I had been due to meet Mac and his wife at the Turks Head Hotel bar in Newcastle but the night before he rang me to 
tell me the sad news that 550 had lost another CO and asked me whom I had in the pipe line. I told him that there 
were some excellent chaps but given the timeline and the squadrons recent losses no one with that level of experience, 
he asked if he cleared it with George Banting and 1 Group would I go back and take the squadron, I told him I would 
be delighted and left it with him fearing that it would not be cleared due to the on going training commitments 
which were non stop. On return from his leave George gave me his blessing and group followed with their clearance 
and I went to 550 as Commanding Officer in September 1944.

Thus I took over my squadron which had lost two CO’s in rather smart succession. This meant they had to be pulled 
together and learn that their CO could last a bit longer and see more crews through their tour. The loss of CO’s 
meant that commendations for DFCs and DFMs were in arrears. I did my best to catch up but I fear that several 
gallant crews went unrewarded and also some well deserved recommendations for commissions went west by default. 
Being a three flight squadron we averaged 28 aircraft kept serviceable by a very fine Engineering Officer S/Ldr 
George Cooper. Hugh Gardiner seemed to get more bomb load onto our aircraft than any other Station Armament Officer 
in the group and we used to take top place of bomb loads delivered. Memory fails me on the sequence of Flight 
commanders. Those I recall first and foremost S/Ldr Roland Newitt (a Canadian) S/Ldr Redmond who went on to 
TRE at Defford,  S/Ldr Willie Caldow whose nice new ‘A’ Apple I lost for him! Another great character I remember 
was another Canadian pilot, F/Lt Dubois and an RAAF flight commander Sqn Ldr Pickles.

So more crews completed tours and the turnover of crews completing rose again. It was the practice for Squadron 
Commanders in our group not to have his own crew but to take ‘raw’ crews –to give them confidence. What this did 
for the Squadron Commander is not recorded.