ken_arnold_1919 's Home Page

Ben Heffer - 1833 Squadron FAA (Fleet Air Arm) F4U Corsair pilot HMS Illustrious 1944-45 Pacific

The British Eastern & Pacific Fleet is another of histories forgotten units. The denial of Axis use of Madagascar and islands in the Indian Ocean reduced German and Japanese naval effectiveness. The exchange of needed technology to the Japanese and vital raw materials to the Germans were seriously impeded. The British & Commonwealth Eastern & Pacific fleet units paired with the US Naval forces contributed significantly to the final downfall of the Japanese air & naval forces in South East Asia. Their presence, designated T.F. 57, often unwanted and unheralded by their "ally," prevented what would definitely have been higher losses to the US Navy off Okinawa in 1945. In the end, they received, at least from their fellow participants in the battles, accolades for their performance under what were difficult circumstances and logistical nightmares.

Work is in progress. Any typos and other grammatical gaffes are the responsibility of the owner of this page and not the subject of this portrait. As it is a work in progress I hope to have it cleared up upon completion.

Francis Bentinck (Ben) Heffer was born on November 10th 1919 in Otaki New Zealand at a small hospital. He grew up in Waikanae a small town close by and played on the School Rugby team.

His was a family of farmers and cattle ranchers. His sister Georgie was as "air minded" as he. Ben describes their attempt to get access to their own aircraft!

Ben: "I always had a great ambition to fly but it is unlikely I would have made it had it not been for the war. My sister (older than me but more frugal did have a few lessons in 1939 but that was all) Here's some useless info.----a few years earlier my sister and I wrote to France and ordered plans for a tiny plane nick-named "Flying Flea "

They were powered by a motorcycle engine or such. Many were built in Europe and flew, but were later banned as they were unstable and a number of budding aviators were killed! We have one in our Transport Museum here in Auckland and I read that recently one was resurrected in Europe!"

[note:The Flying Flea prototype was completed in 1934. Its designer, French electrical engineer Henri Mignet, wanted to develop an aircraft that anybody could build using standard tools. He also wrote for the construction of the aircraft a manual that was sold in thousands of copies; with it a Flying Flea mania really spread in Central Europe, and hundreds of Fleas were built. It became, however, evident rather soon that the aircraft could not be recovered from a dive when the dive angle exceeded 15 degrees, but the dive continued at a steepening angle down to the ground. After several fatal accidents the aircraft was subjected to exhaustive wind tunnel tests in Britain, and consequently flying with it was banned in December 1936

****************************************

On a Saturday evening September 3rd 1939 (September 2nd in Europe)most of the village of Waikanae assembled in the small town hall to hear Jack Kemsley a First World War veteran tell them of the radio announcement that war between Great Britain and Germany had broken out.

Though New Zealand was not officially at war with anyone, its status a commonwealth nation of the British Empire and with the national psyche being so linked to England as the mother country, it was natural that the New Zealanders were the first of the Dominions to show their allegiance. The young people were excited but the older ones who had experienced the horrors and losses of World War One were silent and there were many tears.

Ben relates that "nothing much happened initially. There was a rush of volunteers to 'join up'." Farming was a reserved occupation and Bens father much to his dismay kept him out of the stampede to join. The Phony war dragged on and soon compulsory call-ups were instituted. Per Ben "When the war commenced for New Zealand in 1939 all service was voluntary, Later becoming compulsory. (Similar to your draft system) However all flying services were voluntary right through. Many people bought farms and arranged for sons to be in reserved war industry jobs to avoid the draft."
Bens father again put him in for a deferment that was granted. Frustrated Ben soon cast about looking for a way to find a suitable farm hand replacement to take his place. He managed to find an immigrant who's skills left much to be desired and had to be let go. Eventually he found a 30 year old man who worked in the bush with farming experience. He wanted to avoid the service as much as Ben wanted to get in. This man would eventually marry Bens sister Georgie.

Freed from the responsibility to help his father with the farm in mid 1941 Ben applies to the Air force. He bluffed his way through the selection committee whose educational requirements Ben could not qualify under. "I said I had completed 3 years of a correspondence school course, which was utter nonsense. I had completed even less than one year and with a generous reference from my primary school teacher (Mrs. Collins) I was accepted. I don't think Mum was at all pleased." Candidates for the New Zealand air force were given pre-entrance exams to do at home. Ben, with the help of several of his high school friends, completed them all and went for the final exam at Levin. Ben finished in the upper half of the group helped by the fact that due to the delay in entering the selection process he had been able to practice Morse code and scored highly on this important part of the test. He had secretly listened in on coded short wave radio transmissions to sharpen his skills. This listening in was illegal and officially banned by the government.

He also was proficient at the Aldis lamp signaling test being able to handily beat the 8 words per minute signaling and receiving requirement. By Christmas 1941 Ben was still waiting. There were simply not enough facilities, aircraft and instructors to take in the cadre of recruits. A friend told him about the Fleet Air Arm and how he was getting in much earlier. Ben took the trip down to Wellington to stand before the Naval Selection Board, all the medical tests were repeated and strangely, they asked him if he played golf. Bens Reply: "Yes and my response was not strictly a lie when I said yes, but hitting golf balls around the sand hills and swamps was not exactly playing golf. My preference for the Navy was purely because I knew I would be away earlier. However in retrospect I think I was extremely fortunate. I enjoyed the Navy and being able to train in Pensacola Florida was a great bonus. Ben was accepted and his town gave him a big send off. Embarrassingly for Ben three weeks later his orders still had not come through and when Ben called to find out what the problem he was surprised to learn he was listed as AWOL! The local postmaster, believing he was doing the Heffer family a favor is thought to have with held the mail. Later this would have a surprising impact on Bens career. Bens parents took him to the train station for the trip to Aukland, he watched them holding each other in tears as the train pulled away. For Ben the realization the he was going 12000 miles away while the Japanese were even now over running much of the Pacific was a sobering thought.

"My farthest trip from home prior to the war was briefly with a mate in a small 1,000cc English design Ford car to the north of our "North Island". Some of the roads were terrible and it was mid-winter. (the only slack time on a seasonal dairy-farm)

Ben enters the service in 1942 at age 22. On February 22nd 1942 the Capetown Castle pushes off bound for the eastern seaboard of Canada. Here Ben learns that his three weeks on AWOL save him from the sadistic attention of a Chief Petty Officer who thought indoctrination into the Navy way of doing things would be good for the recruits. Rumor had it that later in the war he had fallen overboard on a trip to America. Crossing the equator brought the usual hijinxs and soon they found them selves entering the Panama Canal. As other crews had gotten themselves into various sorts of trouble on shore the Capetown Castle kept the recruits onboard ship. Ben: "We amused ourselves by taunting the American guards about Pearl Harbor and "It's about time you got into the war."

We discreetly retreated when a few guns were pointed in our direction. Later we were more than thankful that they had become involved." From The Canal they traveled to Halifax Nova Scotia and due to the fact their ship was a fast transport the sailed on their own for England through U-boat infested waters. Ben and his group arrived in Liverpool and took a train to Portsmouth to begin training at Gosport as a Naval Airman 2nd class. There was a bombing raid and Ben relates what he saw:

"My station was across the parade ground and there were objects bouncing on the parade ground around me, in my ignorance I did not know what they were. The P.O. on duty pulled me up sharp, 'Hold it lad stay here for a while under the archway'. I then realized it was falling shrapnel; a large jagged piece bounced under the archway and I picked it up but dropped it quickly as it was smoking hot." Ben saw a lot of the bombing and devastation around Portsmouth and London, he often visited with families in the area and with distant relatives who suffered under the strict food rationing then practiced in England. Food was a universal complaint usually unheard of in the US navy. The favorite pastime was a pub crawl. The 39th Aircrew course was finally completed and under the arrangement with the United States 1/3 of the graduates would be trained by the US Navy.

Ben tells of the relationships between Commonwealth and English trainees. "There were a lot of New Zealanders about and due to delays in the start of training our contacts with the English lads had not really begun. There was the odd Canadian about but most of the contact with the 'Pommeys' was confrontational. We had a lot to learn and tolerate about each other. We 'Pig Islanders must have seemed arrogant to lads straight out of schools and universities. To us they seemed pale and puny, could not in many cases even drive a car and spoke with an 'Oxford' or funny Cockney accent. Time sorted it all out for us and it was not long before the boys became men with all the same fears and ambitions." Ben on the nicknames they had for each other: " Pommies where the common term for Englishmen and of course we were lumped in the same basket. We tried to differentiate ourselves by the self inflicted term "Pig Islanders." Not the nicest term I must admit but we did not care. In those days we definitely did not wish to be called "Pommies" or "Limeys" Now,having lived long enough, I find good in all nationalities.

The term "Pig Islander" is derived from when Captain Cook discovered these islands and let loose some English bred (I think?) pigs. These thrived (what doesn't in our climate) and are prolific in some areas today. They have a distinctive razor-back and long snouts. Kinda nice to be named after such elete animals don't you think?

Ben and 30 others were transferred to Lee on Solent to await transport to the USA. There he was given guard duty. Ben memories of this duty are as follows: I recall the first night there doing guard duty around the airfield with a rifle with (1) one round of ammo! The threat of German parachutists was still hanging over the country at the time. I had a fixed bayonet so after firing my one round I could have held the rifle upright on the ground and hoped the enemy would fall on it!!" Long delays kept Ben assigned to the airfield with little to do. One day when assigned to do some chore Ben and his friend Geoff sneaked off to find a sunny place to relax behind the barracks. A Walrus amphibian had just taken off from the airfield and was in trouble.

Suddenly it turned right toward Ben and Geoff, descending rapidly to crash into the barracks near where they had been taking their break. All three of the crew were killed. After this Ben was sent with Clive Woodward to get some ship training in Scotland as more delays occurred. When they got there the ship was in dry-dock and with no other "official" orders they stayed and messed with the skeleton crew left on the ship and met some of the local girls. Upon returning to the airfield the unit was finally given transit orders and the celebration ended with several of Lord Horatio Nelsons cannon being tossed into the swimming pool.

Says Ben "It took the combined efforts of 10 of us to get one cannon into that pool, I would have liked to have been around when they got them out!!"

A little history on the Fleet Air Arm
Like almost all military organizations, Britian looked at the airplane as a novelty. In 1907 the Wright Brothers offered the patents for their aeroplane to the Admiralty and received the following reply:

'Their Lordships are of the opinion that they would not be any practical use to the Naval Service'.

Naval officers were learning to fly at their own expense and were responsible for the application of aircraft to Naval use by their somewhat daring experiments. In 1912 Lieutenant Samson took off from a stationary ship for the first time, from HMS AFRICA in a Shorts S27. In 1912 the Royal Flying Corps was formed with separate Naval and Military Wings and plans were approved for a chain of Naval Air Stations around the coast. On 1 July 1914 the Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) became the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and this marked the real birth of Naval flying. It had 228 officers, 700 ratings, with 40 aeroplanes, 31 seaplanes and 7 airships - a force to be reckoned with, as it was soon to show. Successful bombing raids were carried out against German Zeppelin sheds and the first night aerial bombing raid was against the German gun batteries of Oostende. In 1915 the first Victoria Cross to be awarded to a Naval airman was gained by Sub Lieutenant Warneford who attacked and destroyed, in the air, Zeppelin LZ 37 and overnight became a national hero. What was needed most of all, however, was to be able to take aeroplanes to sea with the Fleet. This began with seaplane carriers, HMS ENGADINE, RIVIERA and EMPRESS, but rough seas too often prevented effective flying. Experiments subsequently took place with conventional wheeled aircraft taking off from platforms mounted on the gun turrets of battleships and from lighters towed behind destroyers.

On 2 August 1917 Squadron Commander Dunning made the first deck landing by flying a Sopwith Pup on to a flight deck built over the forward section of HMS FURIOUS. This event laid the foundations for future purpose built aircraft carriers. In 1918 the RNAS and RFC were merged into one service, the Royal Air Force but, after a long struggle, the Naval Air Branch, later known as the Fleet Air Arm, was returned eventually to Admiralty control in 1937. World War 2 gave a new impetus to naval flying which gradually changed naval tactics from a ship versus ship conflict to aircraft versus ships, with devastating effect. The crippling of the Italian Fleet in Taranto Harbor by Swordfish biplanes

carrying torpedoes in a night attack in 1940 was undoubtedly the most notable Fleet Air Arm success of the war. (This success was not lost on the Japanese who duplicated this attack at Pearl Harbor a year later.) By the end of the World War 2 the strength of the Fleet Air Arm was: 59 aircraft carriers, 3,700 aircraft, 72,000 officers and men and 56 air stations all over the world. The aircraft carrier had replaced the battleship as the Fleet's capital ship and its aircraft were strike weapons in their own right.

*************************************************

In October 1942 Ben and his fellow trainees were given orders to embark on the Queen Mary. When they got there they were greeted by the jagged bow damaged by the collision with the HMS Curacao a cruiser escort of hers. The collision is the subject of much controversy by the result was the same. The Curacao was run over, split in two and sunk. That vast majority of her crew went down with her and the Queen Mary could not stop.

The passage over to Canada went off without incident but per Ben "watching the expansion joint in the concrete filled bow patch move several inches as she made 27 knots was a concern to all." They finally dis-embarked at Boston Mass. USA. After staging in some of the Empire barracks at Moncton Canada they took a trip via rail along the Saint Lawrence Seaway through Quebec and Toranto. Air training of crews in Bens unit was at the Grosse Isle USN air training station in Detriot Michigan. His first indoctrinal flight was on November 20th 1942 and his last was on March 27th. The entire time the airfield was snow covered. Flight instructions were in the NP1. Ben: "I did not note well in the book that we did around 12hrs on a N1 (which I believe would have been a Spartan) before going on to the Stearman."

Built in quantity for the United States Navy, the Spartan NP-1 was a biplane primary trainer. The Fuselage was welded chrome steel tubing, fabric covered; Wings, Clark Y airfoil section, laminated spruce spars, spruce truss type ribs, aluminum alloy leading edge, fabric covered; Power Plant, Lycoming R-680-B4C, 225 h.p. Bens training instructor was a Naval officer Lt.jg Kurz. From Bens description he painted in profanity like Rembrandt painted in oil. A true expert in foul language that could have taught the other instructors how to insult cadets. Ben: "But he was an expert at his craft and could land a N2S Stearman on a handkerchief with a dead engine. He was also a good teacher"

Training continued in the winter with open cockpits even though just across the border in Windsor the trainees there were flying Tiger Moths with Perspex hoods! When one was forced to land at Grosse Isle the Americans were in awe.

Ben: "getting into flying gear was quite a performance, there would be three pairs of socks, fur lined flying boots, 3 pairs of gloves, silk, wool then leather, long johns under our bell bottom naval uniform and then the heavy flying suit. Add to this a leather flying mask and goggles that did not keep out the wind and we could just walk out to our planes with our parachutes attached to our bottoms like waddling ducks."

Washing out for the Common Wealth crews was referred to as "Dipping out". No one dipped out from the demerits foisted on the UK trainees. They felt for the most part the demerit system was childish in many ways but recognized the fear it generated amoung the American trainees. The word in the English navy for demreits was blacks. Ben: "Blacks" are usually punishable misdemeanours. "Pussa" is a British Navy term meaning 'very navy-like and correct with tradition'

Bens fellow trainees and friend Zwingle were guilty of breaking some rule in the second floor billiard room on the base when a Marine Sergeant came in and announced now I have all you C---- S----- Limeys on serious charges. Ben and Zwingle sneaked through a door and over some rafters in an effort to get away. Zwingle could not stand still, he had to take a peek through the door to see what was going on and fell through the plaster roof to the screams of the secretarial staff below. Ben: "we all cowardly left Zwingle to his fate and quietly faded away." The Marine sergeant now had a real victim as Zwingles bell bottomed legs were sticking through the plaster as he held on to the rafters. The punishment was chipping ice from the paths around the base. Zwingle was more cunning than his friends gave him credit. Somehow he managed to get transferred to the Canteen where he served hamburgers and hot dogs! Ben: "He served them to his mates too of course, so we quite approved of his punishment"

One of Bens more embarrassing moments came when he was due for a training flight and somehow was left off the flight roster. Ben: "Panic set in and even with help I could not get into the kit fast enough. Who was waiting but Ltjg. Kurtz!! He must have been warm enough from all the steam coming from under his facemask. I started to fling myself aboard and was suddenly flat on my back. I had accidentally pulled the ripcord and the planes engine was billowing out the chute behind me. Another parachute was fetched and I was stuffed into the cockpit. Fortunately the mechanic strapped me in tight as Kurtz beat me with the stick once up in the air as well as teaching me some new language skills". There were some other conflicts between the nations. American crews were granted more liberal leave. The Commonwealth crews got out less often and searched for a "baron". (A bar patron who would buy them beers as they were still on English pay. Christmas 1942 brought loneliness and the same restrictive leave arrangements vs the American cadets. The Commonwealth pilots sneaked back some liquor and started a party. When the American guards called them to pipe down it got a little louder, and finally when the officer of the watch was called and a beer bottle landed at his feet. Things quieted down after that but then a Pommey was trying to sneak back in late and was shot at by the guards, more pandemonium and he made it back to the barracks unscathed. The Commonwealth pilots refused to surrender the culprit and were made to parade daily. Finally the base commanders said if the guilty party would step forward he would not be sent out of the program. He was later 'dipped out' for supposedly another reason. The pay discrepancy caused a lot of hardship and was never equalized through out the war. It caused ill will when Americans went overseas and were able to lavish food and spending money in areas that saw little of either. Sensitivity training was begun and training films produced to keep the American soldiers and air men from becoming obnoxious. The phrase Over Paid, Over Sexed and Over Here was a world wide lament. On the other hand the Commonwealth pilots were just as exotic to American girls and therefore successful in attracting the attention of them where ever they were stationed. When the WASP (Women's Air Service Pilots) took over Avenger field there was a great deal of animosity in the Texas community of Sweetwater as the local bells all had a Brit pilot for a boyfriend.

Training continued in ground school subjects and in the air. Ben indicates that it was slow but through. Finally he had to take his final assessment form to no one less that Kurtz! Ben: Kurtz reaction was "what do you f---- well want now Limey?" I presented the form and he signed it blank and said " Fill the F---thing in yourself." So I was above average.. with about 87 hours of flight time. Ben: "I did not think I have been too scathing about all instructors; only my particular disgruntled fellow. He was a good pilot, as I did give him credit for and in retrospect I do believe I was fortunate to have him, even though he did teach me some language I had not heard before!

About 8 of Bens class were sent to Pensacola Florida. Here Ben did get introduced to an blatantly ugly side of American society at that time. Ben: "We boarded a bus and took a seat in the back. The driver said I aint movin the bus till you move. We protested and he said do you want to make something of it? He appeared to have the backing of the entire white passenger section so we decided at that time, discretion was the better part of valor. Later we made a point to sit in the back of the buses and got plenty of looks from both blacks and whites. The whites gave us looks to kill.

Ben: Our first aircraft was a Vultee

about 20 hours on this brute and then on to the Harvard (SNJ)

for another 200 hours. One of the tests was to swim a mile. If the Yank cadets could not do it the washed out. Another test was a pressure chamber that simulated 30,000 ft altitude. Advanced training continued with several losses to collisions and accidents. Ben received his US Naval Avaitor wings and then his RNZNVR Wings and a commission as a sub-lieutenant in his majestey's navy. I asked Ben about any traditions they followed with the pinning on of their wings as Americans had them. Ben: "No sir, no best girls pinned on our wings but yes we did have wonderful company in Maine

(Ben & Clive Woodard and their dates) and the book describes how I got my FAA ones. I was proud to receive the USN ones but of course did not wear them. I gave mine to my mother on return home but they have gone missing.. I would love to have had them now to hand down to family."

From here Ben and his group move to Miami Florida for advanced training. Mail from home brought news of an earthquake that damaged homes and difficulties in keeping the farm manned with labor. Worse yet the Yanks were invading the island country and per Ben. "We feared for all the nice New Zealand girls who had been writing to us who might now come under the influence of those gum-chewing apes. We knew exactly what they were like.....the same as us in their country!!!" It was at the Miami base that he got his nickname. He looked a bit like an actor named Ben Ali and the name stuck. Ben named a fellow pilot Pukeo. The name stuck with his friend for a time so Ben got the better of that deal.

Miami was a great place to train. Cars were easy to find and you could drive to the Keys and flirt with the girls. Ben: "trouble was that only the passable ones responded" Here he was introduced to air conditioning a fairly new convienence that was even in a few cars of the day. Ben "It was new to us and very appreciated" The commanders at the base thought that the pilots should have their final finishing training in actual fighters so they made available some clapped out Brewster Buffalos that were more of a danger to the pilots than to the enemy.

...

The aircraft were in pretty bad shape. The landing gear was a known problem and a pair of pliers were convienently placed in the cockpit to cut a wire that would drop the landing gear in an emergency. Ben relates the following: "I happened to be airborne at the same time John (Wong) a fellow Commonwealth pilot trainee was struggling in another Brewster. I heard him call the tower in his very aristocratic English accent, "I say, I do not seem to be able to get my wheels down. " Silence for a while, then from the tower "Have you used the god dam pliers?" Wong really is a good engineer, (still is) and felt insulted, "Of course I have tried the remedy that must have been filched from the Wright brothers and it certainly does not work. Have you any sensible suggestions?" Again some waiting, then "Wall you all can hit the silk or put her down in the grass. Your choice buddy." Wongs reply. "I shall land this aeronautical engineer's nightmare on the grass, please have all the emergency equipment at the ready." He did a perfect landing in the grass and vacated the cockpit promptly.

From Miami they traveled to Lewiston Maine via train with a stop over to see the sights of New York City. Bens group of 6 pilots trained at the airfield outside Lewiston for four months on combat maneuvers and simulated carrier landings on the runway in the F4F Wildcat.

A "batsman" Landing ship officer helping them learn the signals. Ben indicates there was a women's college near by and at least the natives were friendly. In fact several pilots at New Brunswick married girls from the Lewiston Maine area.

From Lewiston they move to Brunswick Canada and it's back to Royal Navy food, much to the displeasure of the crews. Here they finally meet with the aircraft that will take them through the war. The F4U Corsair. At the time the US navy had both the F6F Hellcat and the F4U Corsair in production,

but the Hellcat performed better in carrier tests and was an easy type for the average pilot to fly. The long nose of the Corsair and the stiff landing gear made the Navy fearful that it would not be suitable to carrier operations. A fear that later proved unfounded as it was the Corsair that stayed with the Navy carriers after WWII and into the Korean War.

>

Click here for Page 2

E-Mail Me @ worldwar2mem@yahoo.com

BACK TO THE MAIN WWII MEMORIES HOME PAGE

This page hosted by

Get your own Free Home Page