Consolidated Catalina, JX330, Foynes, Limerick 1944
On the afternoon of March 9th, 1944 a Catalina flying boat landed on the Shannon river near the flying boat base at Foynes. Foynes was a well known flying boat base in neutral Ireland during the war, it was a terminus of the route from neutral Portugal so there was much traffic through it from there, the UK and America. The base was run by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), the wartime airline in the UK.
The crew of the Catalina were seen by the staff at the base and given assistance by them. They were towed or taxied themselves up to the actual base and moored there. Captain Adams elected to stay the night at the Flying Boat base as they had just flown a tiring 26 hours after leaving Bermuda. The aircraft would have been flown on the southern Atlantic route, it being still rather early in the year. Officers from the Irish Army met them at the base and took their details which formed the basis for learning more about each of the six crew men on board. Many of the names were confirmed from the Ferry Command records held by the Canadian Directorate of History and Heritage.
Captain Adams reported they had been flying over 26 hours and they were a little lost and getting tired. They took full advantage of the hospitality shown them at Foynes and some members of the crew had to retire to bed rather worse for ware. They were allowed to depart the next day after being refueled with 300 gallons from stocks at the base. Their intended destination was Largs, on the Clyde in Scotland. Had they continued on the previous day they might well have met with a mishap on the mountains of Ireland or Scotland or maybe had to ditch at sea.
The crew were four civilian RAF Transport Command staff, as well as a serving member of the Royal Air Force and one officer from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). All six survived the war.
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| Capt. Ralph Elishea ADAMS (Civilian Pilot, Captain) | Clyde Cecil FOREMAN (Civilian Pilot, Co-Pilot)) | P/O Charles William MCGREGOR-SHAW 404612 RAAF, Navigator |
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| John Gilderdale GASCOIGNE (Civilian, Radio Operator) | Sgt John Vernon LOCKE 1582748 RAF, Radio Operator | Charles Oakley J WOODARD (US Civilian, Flight Engineer) |
Ralph Elisha ADAMS was a Texas born pre war airline pilot. He was indeed one of the very first pilots employed by Canadian Pacific Railway when the Ferrying Operation was begun and he flew Hudson T9418 on the very first ferry operation of the war in November 1940. He went on then to fly all throughout the 1941 to 1944 period, delivering aircraft to destinations mainly in Europe but also including trips to India and Russia. He was at times a flight crew member on the vital Return Ferry Service which delivered crew members from England back to Canada after their deliveries. On other occastions he can be found arriving in New York on transatlantic liners. His last deliveries on his Ferry Command card are in December 1944 but he can be found travelling to New York again during 1945. In 1943, he obtained a pilots license from the Royal Aero Club. He was mentioned in many American and world wide newspapers in the summer of 1942 when he flew the Atlantic five times in nine days, breaking all previous records. This endeavour was carried out in Liberator AL514 of the Return Ferry Service in June of that year. The story was recorded in the newspapers as shown:
The above article was found in the Globe and Mail newspaper, dated 11th July 1942.
Ralph's daughter explained that her father joined the US Marines when he was 17 and was sent to Nicaragua where he learned mechanics and eventually to fly. The photo at left shows him during this time. After his stint in the Marines he came back to east Texas and from there took various courses in airplane engines, and flying. He always maintained that a pilot needed to understand the engine as well as how to fly. Ralph later flew with the CIA organisation, Air America in South East Asia, being involved in the delivery and training with deHaviland Canada L-20 Beavers in early 1962. Ralph passed away in Orange County, California aged 74 in November 1985.
Clyde C FOREMAN was another pre war commercial pilot. He hailed from Oklahoma and had his home in Texas, with his wife Earline Foreman, at the time of joining up with Ferry Command in July 1943. His name is found in aviation journals in 1937 reporting on the aviation news from Houstan, Texas. In 1941, he was among the pilots sailing to the United Kingdom aboard the SS Nerissa when she was torpedoed. His Farry Command service was varied much Adams and Gacoigne and he found himself at the controls of various aircraft in various far flung lands including the powerful Mosquito fighter bomber. Clyde passed away in 1974 in Texas. His photo comes from his Ferry Command card. Ralph Adam's family explained that Ralph and Clyde remained friends after the war.
Charles W McGregor Shaw was an Australian air force officer whose wartime career was spent with Ferry Command.
John G Gascoigne was a long term member of Ferry Command having flown for the first time with them as early as August 1941. Indeed this first ferry ended with the aircraft crashed at Gander, Newfoundland. He went on to fly throughout the war as a Radio Operator, having up to 29 deliveries ot his credit and having travelled to places as far afield as India and South Africa. Being a radio operator, he was able to fly on any number of aircraft, and his list was impressive, including Liberators, Hudsons, Mariners, Fortress', Mitchells and Catalinas. His daughter Lynn and her husband Graham were kind enough to provide a number of scanned items from this items he left. His daughter said of him: "He was born in Worcester England in 1907 , the middle of three children to Frederick Octavius Gascoigne and Agnes Mary Philpot. He emigrated to Canada when he was 17 as his intention was to farm. He worked on many farms over the depression, often just for room and board, all across Canada. In the mid 1930’s he took a radio course in Chicago and joined Canadian Pacific where he was a radio operator on the Great Lakes until the war started. He married my mother, Mary, in 1942 in Montreal and I was born in 1945. After the war he joined the Department of Transport where he continued to work as a radio operator until technology took over around the time he was due for retirement. He died in 1978 of cancer after a valiant struggle."
A photograph of a burning Hudson bomber from among John's things, it is thought that this is Hudson V9181, the first ferry aircraft listed on his Ferry Command card. It is recorded that this aircraft crashed on take off at Gandar on this date.
John Vernon Locke was a serving member of the Royal Air Force. He began his service with Fery Command as a Sergeant, Wireless Air Gunner (WAG) and it was his training as a radio Operator that seen him flying on JX330. He flew for Ferry Command for one year, from March 1944 to March 1945. During this time he was promoted to Officer rank. He continued to serve in the RAF after the war and his retirement was published in the London Gazette in 1969. He was born in Matlock in 1924 and he appears to have passed away only three years after his retirement in 1972.
Charles Oakley Woodard came from Illinois. No wartime card exists for him in the DHH but he is found travelling through New York on at least two occasions with other Ferry personnel during 1944. He passed away in Arizona in 1995.