A Story of War

Follow one man's war day by day, 70 years on, from Waziristan and the North West Frontier, Habbaniya, the Burma campaign, India & the Rhine.

Pilot’s Flying Log Book

Below are some scans from my father’s Log Book. I will try and add to them over time as I scan relevant sections. The first two extracts cover the Habbaniya battle in Iraq in May 1941, his first taste of action in the air when still a pupil pilot, and the second two are from Burma, and cover the day he got shot down by the (friendly) 17th Indian Division. He’s pasted a rather ironic cartoon clipping from the period into the log book.

May 1941 Pilots Log - RAF Habbaniya — May 1941 Pilots Log – RAF Habbaniya

May 1941 (2) Pilots Log - RAF Habbaniya — May 1941 (2) Pilots Log – RAF Habbaniya

Feb 1942 Pilots Log - Burma — Feb 1942 Pilots Log – Burma

Feb 1942 (2) Pilots log - Burma — Feb 1942 (2) Pilots log – Burma

8 responses to “Pilot’s Flying Log Book”

John Engelsted

October 19, 2012 at 1:04 pm

Hi.
Will you be adding more logbook pages soon???

John Engelsted
Denmark

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James Dunford Wood

October 19, 2012 at 1:27 pm

Hi there – had no plans to, as I was just adding pages that were significant – ie relating to particular actions. The problem is it is pretty time consuming to scan and upload. However, if you think it would be worthwhile, I will allocate some time to try and get it done!
best wishes
james

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John Engelsted

October 19, 2012 at 2:03 pm

Hi. I for one would enjoy seeing the whole logbook, but especially the parts where he flew Hurricanes and Spitfire as I research these a/c and the pilots who flew them.

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James Dunford Wood

October 19, 2012 at 2:41 pm

OK, I will get them up soon, though may take me a month or so.

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1. John Engelsted
  
  October 5, 2013 at 3:09 pm
  
  Hi.
  
  I am still very interested in more logbook pages….
  
  John Engelsted
  
  Reply
  1. James Dunford Wood
    
    October 7, 2013 at 1:20 pm
    
    Thanks for reminding me. Any particular dates or sections?
  2. John Engelsted
    
    October 7, 2013 at 4:18 pm
    
    Hi James.
    
    Basically I am interested in every flight he made in Hurricanes (and Spitfires if any). So it is hard to pick a certain period.
    
    John
Mark Haselden

December 22, 2012 at 12:32 am

Thank you so much for sharing the details from your father’s logbooks and wartime experiences, particularly the “forgotten” battle for Habbaniyah in May 1941. I’ve been fascinated with the story of the Iraq revolt ever since reading Tony Dudgeon’s book Hidden Victory”.

Apart from the photo of Hart trainer K4900, are serial numbers identifiable on any of the other photos? I don’t know if you have any other pics of aircraft at Habbaniyah in March/April/May 1941 but I, for one, would love to see them. The 4 FTS aircrew and groundcrew accomplished such amazing things with their rag-tag collection of training aircraft – Oxfords, Audaxes, Gordons – simply incredible!

Thank you,
Mark

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