During the Easter holidays, I spent some time at my parents’ house sorting through old photographs. I love seeing old photographs of friends and family and wanted to find a few favourites of my parents and grandparents to make copies for my collection.
In the big box of delights was a battered old album from World War 2, it begins with this joyous photo of my grandfather, Gramps and then contains fewer photos of him and more of daily life in the RAF. I was intrigued by this album as so little is known about his military service, I know Gramps was ground crew in the RAF, working as an electrician, his life long career and that he was based for a time in the south of England but that was all the information. I was always puzzled how a Scotsman could end up in a base in the south but thanks to his meticulous notes on the back of photos and the Internet I have been able to piece the early part of his military service.
Gramps began his military service in Drem in Scotland, close to where he lived. The photos all show 609 Squadron and following research I understand that this squadron spent time in Drem, Scotland, the north of England, before moving to RAF Northold for Dunkirk and then Dorset and Hampshire for the Battle of Britain.
609 Squadron was a Bomber and Fighter squadron and I have been brought to tears learning about the squadron, the heroic actions of the pilots and the high number of fatalities. Gramps wrote details on every photo and I have been able to research some of the individuals featured in the photos. Its been heart-breaking research and it makes me think that the reason that Gramps never spoke of the war was the sadness at so many colleagues killed in action. Gramps was so kind, loving and caring, a devoted family man and loyal to all his friends. He was quiet and dignified and I think his silence was his respect to his colleagues.
These photos show F.O. Ian Bedford Nesbitt Russell in Scotland a few weeks before he was tragically killed supporting the allies at Dunkirk. For me it is the difference in the pictures, a relaxed young man in Scotland on the airfield and then the pilot leaving on his final flight. In doing the research I learnt that Russell was a young Australian from Melbourne. I am sure that Gramps would be very proud to know that his eldest grand daughter now works as a paediatrician in the same city.
Another photo shows Sgt Alan Feary whom was killed in October 1941, his grave is not too far from our home and I would like to visit it and pay my respects to one of my Gramps’ colleagues I have seen a number of the photos including this one from the album on the Internet so I am presuming that they were distributed to many of the staff of 609 Squadron.
Whilst the photos have really brought the history of the second world war to me and I have enjoyed researching 609 squadron, I still know little about Gramps’ war service. My parents are visiting family in Scotland soon and I am hoping that they will be able to find either his service number or NI number so we can request his service record. This really is a fascinating photo album and illustrates the sacrifices made by Gramps’ generation for us all, they will never be forgotten.
Sources
http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/609_wwII.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._609_Squadron_RAF
http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/flying-officer-ian-bedford-nesbitt-russell-dfc-raf.19891/
Seaside Sparkles 
Your photos of Ian Russell are of great interest to me. He was an Old Boy of my School (Ivanhoe Grammar School Melbourne) and his name will be read this Tuesday 24/4/18 at our annual ANZAC Service as it is every year. I have the photo of him in his Spitfire (sent to me by 609 Sqdn buffs) but the Scotland one is new to me. God bless your Gramps for preserving such a great photographic record and actually marking the photos as to their content. I have the honour of giving the keynote address at the Service and was googling Ian to make sure I had the number of victories he had (11) when your blog entry came up. It has made my day!
I am so touched by your message and to hear that Ian will be remembered in the ANZAC service this week. He seemed such a character when I read about him. If you would like a better copy of the photo please email me at seasidesparkles@yahoo.com and I’ll send a digital copy to you, it’s just a photo of the original until I arrange for them to be transferred digitally. Best wishes for the service on Tuesday, I will take a moment on Tuesday to think of him and his comrades. It’s lovely to hear he is still being remembered by his school.
Our School was, at the time, a village School – much larger now, and was founded in 1915. 904 Old Boys saw service in WW2 over 60% of the total enrolments to that time and we lost 71 of them. Our Founder the Rev Sidney Buckley, a Chaplain on the Somme in the Great War, instilled in his boys the ethos of being of service to God, King and Country and they certainly followed his lead! Thus our ANZAC Service is the most important service we do as a School. We have a large cadet unit of over 500 students and so a Catafalque Guard is posted and a full ceremonial Service of Remembrance is held. I will email you at the address given, would love a high res copy of the Scotland photo. Many thanks for your reply. Do I assume correctly Gramps (which my grandkids call me) was a member of 609 Sqdn? Geoff