Ivor Bernard's Story.
Ivor Bernard was the son of Walter and Mary Hayes of Kingsley in Cheshire. He was born on 21st February 1921 but his biological father James Benjamin Disraeli Oultram died in 1929. His mother married Walter Hayes in 1931. Ivor joined the RAF in 1939 and served with 18 Squadron as Wireless Operator Air Gunner in France flying in Blenheim 1 bombers. On 21st March 1940 Ivor was assigned, along with pilot PO H.S.P. Hulton and one other crew member plus a mechanic to fly Blenheim I No L1427 to Tangmere via Kemble to exchange the aircraft for a new Blenheim IV aircraft. On arrival over England they found the countryside covered with low clouds and fog and they got lost. When they attempted to get below the cloud to find their location they crashed into a hilltop. The Pilot and Observer were killed, and Ivor and the Mechanic were injured.
Blenheim 1 bomber as flown in by Ivor at 18 Squadron.
18 Squadron Operation Record 21 March 1940
Ivor transferred to 203 Squadron flying Blenheim IVF (the Blenheim fighter which was a bomber with a forward firing gun pack installed over the bomb bay doors) in 1941 and in April they were based at Heraklion on Crete and assigned to protection of Allied convoys that were evacuating British troops from Greece. On 28th April Ivor was flying in Blenheim L9044 captained by Flying Officer Peter Gordon- Hall which was one of 3 203 squadron aircraft assigned to escort a heavily armed British convoy from Greece to Suda Bay Port in Crete. When the aircraft rendezvoused with the convoy one of the British destroyers started firing at them. The aircraft gave three indications that they were friendly which were 1) firing coloured flares according to protocol 2) flashing the letter of the day with a signal lamp according to protocol and 3) lowering their undercarriage. Despite this the destroyer continued firing for some time before finally acknowledging that the aircraft were friendly when they ceased firing. The aircraft crew didn’t think that they had been hit initially but after some time their left engine was on fire as they had actually been hit.The pilot decided to head back to their airfield on Crete but couldn’t make it and the aircraft had to make a crash landing in the sea 1.5 miles offshore from the Radio Station at Retimo. Ivor got out of the plane first and managed to inflate the rubber life raft. The Navigator was trapped under his table but managed to free himself and went to help the pilot who was struggling to release his harness. All three crew then started paddling the raft towards the shore and a Greek soldier who had witnessed the crash swam out to meet them with a length of rope and proceeded to swim to shore towing the raft. When they got to the shore they were challenged by a group of soldiers who thought they might have been Germans due to the pilot’s blonde hair. The crew were starting to get concerned for their safety but they heard a British voice amongst the Greeks so they shouted using some typical English expletives which convinced them that they were British and so they were saved.
203 Squadron Record for 28 April 1941
Their aircraft was rediscovered in the 1990’s and recovered and it is now on display at the Hellenic Airforce museum in Dekelia Tatoi airbase near Athens.
Blenheim L9044 in Museum
L9044 being recovered
Blenheim IVF with gun pack
On 30th April orders were received for all aircraft to relocate to RAF Kabrit in Egypt. On 3rd May 1941 203 Squadron sent a detachment of 4 aircraft to RAF Habbaniya in Iraq to assist with the suppression of Iraqi forces who had been attacking British forces since the coup that resulted in the overthrowing of the pro British leader of Iraq at the end of April. Ivor went to Iraq in Blenheim T- 2072 with Peter Gordon- Hall as captain and Sgt Poole as navigator.
RAF Habbaniya in 1941
On 9th May 1941 they were involved in an attack on Iraqi aircraft on an airfield near Mosul when after one strafing run they were hit by ground fire and crashed. The pilot and navigator were taken prisoner but Ivor was killed. He is buried at Mosul War Cemetery.
203 Squadron Operation Record 9 May 1941
Evening Express 26 May 1941