Frederick's Story

1/12/1942 – The London Gazette shows 68965 F.J. Trollope, Pilot Officer confirmed in appointment on 20th June 1942 and to be Flying Officers (War Substantive) on 20/8/1942 with Seniority dating from 7/7/1942.

Although he is not always mentioned by name in the 21 Base Defence Wing (21BDW) Operations Record Book when the following movements took place, as Commanding Officer of GCI 15082, it seems reasonable to assume that he was with that Unit on each of the following moves:

26/1/1944 – Mobile GCI 15082 arrived at RAF Hibaldstow.

1/2/1944 – First practice interceptions with the mobile GCIs were carried out, consisting of two sorties by 264 Squadron with GCI 15082 (RAF Kirton).

2/2/1944 – Day and night practice interceptions were carried out with the mobile GCIs both by day and night whenever the weather was suitable.  604 Squadron made one sortie with GCI 15082 (RAF Kirton).

8/2/1944 – GCI 15082 carried out their usual practice interceptions.

12/2/1944 – All Mobile GCIs carried out full training programme.

6/3/1944 – HQ 85 (Base) Group ORB. No. 15082 GCI transferred from HQ, A.E.A.F. to HQ (Base) Group w.e.f. 10th March 1944.

15/3/1944 – GCI 15082 moved from RAF Hibaldstow to RAF Church Fenton.

27/3/1944 – The normal training programme was carried out.  Both 604 Squadron and 264 Squadron sent  A/C on Exercise ‘Eric’.  GCI 15082 had four A/C of 124 Squadron under their control in this Exercise.

29/3/1944 – GCI 15082 left RAF Church Fenton for RAF White Waltham.

5/4/1944 – Air Ministry Experimental Station (A.M.E.S). No. G15082 arrived at RAF Church Fenton from RAF White Waltham.

8/4/1944 – 21 BDW went ‘under canvas’.  A full training programme with the Mobiles was carried out both by day and night.

14/4/1944 – A.M.E.S. No. G15082 left RAF Church Fenton for RAF Patrington. The normal training programme was carried out.

18/4/1944 – A.M.E.S. No. G15082 moved from RAF Patrington to RAF Church Fenton.

20/4/1944 – All Units recalled to RAF Church Fenton.

21/4/1944 – Wg/Cdr A.M. Anderson and Sqn/Ldr Frederick Joseph Trollope left RAF Church Fenton with Mobile Operations Room (M.O.R.), A.M.E.S. No. G15082 and certain personnel detailed from other units to take part in Exercise ‘Fabious’. 

26/4/1944 – GCI 15082, MSU 5142Q, M.O.R. & MSU 5131A attached to Exercise ‘Fabious’.

21/5/1944 – Wg/Cdr A.M. Anderson left Sopley ‘with certain detached personnel’.  Flt/Lt William Douglas (Bill) Wiseman left RAF Sopley and arrived at Sarum (RAF Old Sarum).  Cpl W.E. (Bill) Adderley states that he was located at (Old) Sarum.  It was a Sunday.

Note: – It was at Old Sarum where vehicles were waterproofed in preparation for their journey across the English Channel and subsequent beach landing.

24/5/1944 – Flt/Lt W.D. Wiseman left Sarum (RAF Old Sarum).  Arrived at Camp D2. (It is assumed that Camp D2 was, in fact, based at or near to Sopley Park).

Note: – It is perhaps reasonable to assume that he was with GCI 15082 at Old Sarum and with waterproofing complete they all returned to Camp D2.

27/5/1944 – Wg/Cdr A.M. Anderson reported to be Senior Controller and C.O. of the Landing Party of 21BDS.

Note: He was wounded on landing and handed over command of GCI15082 to Squadron Leader Trollope until a replacement Wing Commander (W/Cdr Hay) arrived to assume command some days after the landing on D-Day.

1/6/1944 – The Troops were employed getting everything ready to leave for Embarkation Port on the following morning.  All British Maps were given in and further items of equipment were given to the men.  Everybody was going to be briefed at 15.00 hours but this was postponed three times as Wing Commander Anderson was not available for the briefing.  Eventually at 2200 hours Squadron Leader Trollope gave the troops a talk as to what the job in hand was.  He briefed the Officers afterwards.  Immediately after this, everyone retired in order to be ready for an early start in the morning.

2/6/1944 – Breakfast at 06.30 hours and the first three craft loads left D2 at five minute intervals starting at 09.05 hours, the other two craft loads not leaving until the afternoon. 

4/6/1944 – 04.00 hrs Armada left port (Portland).  Before reaching Poole the fleet turned back and was back in harbour by 07.00.

5/6/1944 – At 04.30 again left Portland.  Reached rendezvous off the Normandy coast just after daybreak on the 6th.

D-Day 6/6/1944 – HQ 85 (Base) Group Operations Record Book Air Staff Policy – The following units of No 85 Group were phased in with the assault forces on D-Day:-

1st Echelon of 21 Sector Operations with 15082 GCI into the American Sector.

The first echelon of 21 (B.D.) Sector embarked in five LCTs on 2-6-1944 at Portland where they remained in harbour until Sunday, 4-6-1944.

At approximately 04.00 hours the Armada left port and set sail for the English (French?) coast but before reaching Poole the whole fleet turned around and was back in port again by 07.00 hours, where it remained until 04.30 hours on the following morning.  This time the Armada set sail for the invasion of the Continent, and the rendezvous off the coast of Normandy was reached soon after daybreak on 6-6-1944.  The sea voyage was completely without enemy interference.  Enemy aircraft were conspicuous by their absence, none being seen at all during the voyage.  The sea was rough with a South West wind blowing.

The first attempt at landing was made at 11.30 hours on 6-6-1944; the convoy moved towards the beach, the vehicles, all with their engines running, ready to disembark when the ramps were lowered, but as the convoy approached the beach it was observed that this beach was still under machine gun fire and heavy shell fire and it was obviously impracticable to land the convoy then, and without warning it withdrew until 1700 hours.  During this time, considerable shelling of the cliffs was being done by the Navy to try and silence the shore batteries that were established on the cliffs, continually shelling the beach.  This went on right up to the time of landing.  At 17.00 hours the convoy again headed for the beach, an order having been given to land.

As the convoy drew close to the shore, it was observed that this beach, which was St Laurent about one mile to the West of Colleville beach where it was supposed to land, was under heavy shell fire from 88mm guns; these guns had got the range of the beach and were consistently shelling the American vehicles which were lined up at the head of the beach and unable to get away as the exits were blocked, but nevertheless, in spite of this, it was apparently decided suitable to land 21 (B.D.) Sector.  Most of the craft were landed in about 4’ 3” of water so that immediately they (the vehicles?) struck a hole they were drowned.  In all, 27 vehicles were landed but out of this lot, only 8 were driven off the beach, although a number were salvaged later in varying stages of disrepair.

LCT 649 was landed considerably further out to sea than the other craft on a sandbank with about 4’ 3” of water but the vehicles very soon dropped into the water about 6’ deep and were drowned.  The men having to scramble on top of the vehicles to avoid also being drowned.  All the vehicles from this craft were lost except one which never got off the craft as there was difficulty in starting the engine and the skipper refused to wait.  It was noticeable that the skipper of this craft had only one interest and that was to get the vehicles off and to be away as soon as possible, having no consideration whatever for the fate of the vehicles and the troops he was disembarking.  It is considered that this skipper did not look after his craft in the best interests of the men on board, as on no less than three occasions he got so far behind the convoy that one of the accompanying launches had to order him to close up on account of the risk he was taking.  There was great difficulty in getting the men from this craft ashore as there was considerable distance to swim, but they were all safely got ashore in the end and nobody was drowned.

Very soon after the vehicles were landed, they came under further shell fire from an 88 and a number were destroyed in this manner as it was impossible to move them off the beach, both exits being completely blocked.  This beach was more or less deserted except for the fact that American wounded who had been lying about since the first assault and the crews of American vehicles that could have been pulled out of the water with little ill effect to them or their equipment were left stranded in the water and the tide quickly came up and went over the top of them and they were lost to sight until the tide went down again.  It was reported that in view of the fact that the Emergency Medical Services were almost wiped out and the fact that the beach was still under heavy shell fire, that it was decided not to land the elaborate beach organisation that was to be set up to deal with the disembarkation of the follow up Units.  In spite of this fact, however, it was apparently decided that it was a fit time to disembark 21 (B.D.) Sector.

The whole Unit came under heavy shell fire while they were on the beach and the troops were got to the top of the beach as soon as possible and dug foxholes in the shingle and there they remained until the situation could be reviewed and a place found for the Unit to be moved to, it being obvious that the front line was about a mile off the beach.

The Padre, Squadron Leader Harding, gallantly reconnoitred the little village of Les Moulins which was situated at the westerly coast (sic) of the beach; he came back and reported that this village was not under fire and also gave some cover.  Squadron Leader Trollope then went over the beach and ordered everybody to move to this western end of the beach, the troops at this time being scattered in craft loads.  For the next two hours, all personnel who were not wounded were employed at the exit of the beach, helping either to pull out some of the vehicles from the sea with a bulldozer which had now arrived on the scene, or with carrying wounded, both our own and the Americans off the beach.  The doctor, Flight Lieutenant Ryecroft (sic) with the aid of the Padre, a lot of the time under fire, were continuously employed rendering wonderful medical aid to the wounded under the worst possible working conditions from the time of landing until late the following afternoon, when all the wounded were got to the American First Aid Post, overlooking the next beach.  All the serious cases were evacuated to the UK that night except Wing Commander Anderson, who remained until the following day, to have his arm x-rayed and also to see what was going to happen to the Unit.

When this work at the beachhead was completed, the Unit moved up the road to this small hamlet of Les Moulins.  Some of the wounded were taken to a courtyard of a house in this village, the rest being taken to a convenient crater on the beach, above high water mark and were made as comfortable as possible under these conditions for the night.  The rest of the Unit spent the night lying on the edge of the road at the entrance to the village which was situated between two thickly wooded hills and in most places there was a low wall on the side of the road which rendered them some shelter from the continuous sniping that went on all through the night.  These cliffs were full of snipers that had underground passages like rabbit warrens, honeycombing the whole area.

Soon after dark, six Junkers 88s, the only enemy aircraft so far seen or heard, came over and dropped two bombs on the beach, one of these named aircraft was shot down by the Navy.  At intervals, throughout the night, there were odd bursts of fire, from the Ju 88s bursting just above us. 

US General Omar Bradley:  Considered abandoning the Omaha landing because of stubborn German resistance.

Wg/Cdr A.M. Anderson: Wounded in action with 4 other officers and 31 OR’s.  Reported wounded in the arm.  He waited until D+1 to have his arm x-rayed before casevac (Casualty Evacuation) to England.  His replacement, Wing Commander Hay, arrived on 15th June 1944.

Sqn/Ldr F.J. Trollope: Gathered together men scattered over Omaha Beach to its west end.  Ordered troops to western end of the Omaha beach.  Recce’d further inland from Les Moulins.

7/6/1944 – No. 15082 GCI sustained casualties to both vehicles and personnel during the landing and is not yet operational.

At 0500 hours, Squadron Leader Trollope went up the road to see if it was possible to move the Unit further inland as it was obviously in a very dangerous position where it was, apart from the fact that it was blocking the road should further transport be disembarked.  Actually, nothing was disembarked on this beach after 21 (B.D.) Sector till late the following afternoon. 

The military position during the whole of this period was extremely precarious, the bridgehead reported not to be anywhere more than two to three miles deep.  Wing Commander Anderson, who had been wounded in the wrist, and Squadron Leader Trollope contacted General Timberlake of the 49th A.A. Brigade in the evening and the position was reviewed.  It was decided to move the convoy next morning, June 8th, to field nearby so that the equipment could be examined to see if it was possible to get any of it operational.  By that time, Squadron Leader Best and the other technical officers who had worked unceasingly by salvaging equipment of all sorts from the beaches, ranging from vehicles down to small items of equipment from derelict vehicles and it was considered that it would be possible to set up and become operational if a site was selected, the original site still being in the hands of the enemy.  Squadron Leader Trollope again saw General Timberlake and a site was selected overlooking the cliff, just behind No. 2 Transit Area.  The convoy moved there in the afternoon and the equipment was set up ready to become operational on the following night.

8/6/1944 – HQ 85 (Base) Group Operations Record Book records:

No. 15082 GCI having lost all its communications vehicles and equipment with the exception of type 13 GCI and 2 V.H.F. receivers an attempt was made to take in by sea No 1 Air Transportable Signals Unit in order to supply skeleton communications pending the arrival of replacement vehicles.  This attempt failed owing to the length of time after the unit was loaded in clearing the ship from Southsea.

21BDS Operations Record Book;  Convoy moved this morning to ‘a field nearby’ so that the equipment could be examined.  Convoy moved in the afternoon from Transit Area 2 to a cliff behind it where the equipment was set up ready for operational use on the following evening.

9/6/1944 – By the afternoon of the 9th, the Military position in this Sector had improved to such an extent, the bridgehead now being seven to eight miles deep, that a signal was received ordering GCI 15082 to start packing up immediately preparatory to moving the following morning to the original site selected for them to come to on ‘D’ Day, this area now being cleared of the enemy.  The work of packing up was started immediately, hence the Unit did not operate on the night of 9-6-1944 but moved to the new site on 10-6-1944.

Our camp was organised and the equipment was all put in order to operate at night.  Salvage work was still in progress on the beaches and personnel were employed obtaining equipment of all sorts to carry on with.  The water problem was still difficult as we had no water cans and the drinking water was some way off.  A certain amount of clothing was obtained for the troops as a number of them had lost everything they had and stood up in the clothes in which they had swum ashore.  The Americans continuously sniped at the RAF blue, so denims were given to as many of the troops as possible to avoid this.  There was considerable improvement in the Military situation during the previous 24 hours as a result of an Armoured Division having been landed and gone into action and the bridgehead was said to be something like 7 or 8 miles in depth and both Trevieres and Isigny were reported to have fallen and the Americans were still pushing on.  Reports from the British beaches were also encouraging, stating that Bayeux and Caen had both been captured by the British but all reports on the military situation are stated to be very unreliable and vague.

At approximately tea time a signal came in ordering GCI 15082 to pack up at once preparatory to moving first thing in the morning to the original site selected for the Unit to proceed to on D-Day.  The packing up was commenced and the Unit was non-operational that night.  There were the usual odd raids at intervals approaching the beaches and a terrific barrage of fire kept going up and one or two enemy aircraft were reported to be destroyed.

10/6/1944 – The technical equipment of GCI 15082 which was serviceable, left first thing in the morning for the new site (the one originally selected for D-Day) and the rest of the convoy followed on, after lunch, a distance of about 8 miles, leaving the Wing Operations room behind to remain until GCI 15072 arrived.  The main convoy arrived at approximately 05.00 hours and the domestic site and cook-house were prepared.

A liaison visit was made to 70 Wing and the Type 14 was operational that night.  A few small raids kept approaching and in the course of the night, a score of one destroyed and one damaged was obtained.  Altogether, there were 16 contacts obtained but 7 of these turned out to be friendlies and the rest of the contacts were lost.  The new site was greatly appreciated by everybody as the Unit was completely on its own.

13/6/1944 – GCI No. 15082 carried out nine patrols but all proved to be uneventful.  The military position in the American Sector continued to improve and the Utah and Omaha fronts were joined but there was only a narrow bridgehead in the Carentan area, the front line being within 3 miles of Carentan.  The other forces were within 3 miles of St Lo. 

14/6/1944 – The A.O.C. (Air Officer Commanding) paid a visit to Sector Headquarters and spent most of the evening in GCI 15082 Operations Room watching the Controller.  It happened to be a night with a fair amount of activity going on all the time and in the course of the evening Operations got a Ju88, 1FW190 destroyed and 1 FW190 damaged.  In addition to this, there was a considerable number of contacts on friendlies.

15/6/1944 – Wg/Cdr Ian Herbert Arthur Hay posted to Sector (Operations) as replacement for casualty Wg/Cdr A.M. Anderson.

16/6/1944 – The night was a quiet one with very little enemy activity but GCI 15082 were successful in having a Ju88 and a FW190 destroyed.

17/6/1944 – 6 victories went to GCI 15082, 3 Ju188s, 1 Ju88 and 2FW190, 5 of these while Sqn/Ldr Trollope was controlling and 1 while under the control of Ft/Lt Wiseman.

21/6/1944 – The following are now the locations of the various Units: – 21 Sector HQ, MSU5131A and GCI 15082 near Longueville, Ref T.595905.

22/6/1944 – The night was again a quiet one, out of 6 raids reported as entering the Sector, one Ju188 was destroyed by an aircraft under the control of GCI 15082 (Sqn/Ldr Trollope).

28/6/1944 – Sqn/Ldr Trollope took the Commanding Officers of 410 and 488 Squadrons up to the new HQ at Tocqueville and then all returned in the evening.

30/6/1944 – Gp/Capt Moseby went from the new Sector Headquarters near Tocqueville to the old site at Longueville to look around with Sqn/Ldr Trollope for a new site on the coast on which to set up GCI 15082 as the patrol line for fighters controlled by GCI 15082 was now over the sea instead of being south of the I.A.Z. where it originally was before they first set up.  The site was selected at T.577937 which is between St Pierre du Mont and Grandcamp.  During the night there was slight enemy activity on the eastern boundary of the Sector.  3 minelayers just entered the Sector.  A Ju188 was shot down by a fighter controller of GCI 15082 (Ft/Lt Nodes).  Gp/Capt W.G. Moseby accompanied by Sqn/Ldr F.J. Trollope went from new HQ at Tocqueville to old site at Longueville to seek a site to place GCI 15082.

1/7/1944 – GCI 15082 moved their technical equipment to the new site selected for them between St Pierre du Mont and Grandcamp at (T.5496) and were on the air and fully operational by night.

2/7/1944 – The weather was again bad but the number of enemy aircraft was estimated at three aircraft out of which one Ju188 was destroyed (Ft/Lt Nodes) and an unidentified probably destroyed (Sqn/Ldr Trollope) by fighters under the control of GCI 15082. 

3/7/1944 – The night was again fairly quiet with enemy activity estimated at only 6 aircraft, one of which, a Ju188, was shot down by a fighter controlled by GCI 15082 (Sqn/Ldr Trollope).

7/7/1944 – It was estimated that approximately 6 enemy aircraft operated in the area out of which GCI 15082 destroyed a Ju88 and Me410. 

19/7/1944 – Between 23.10 and 23.40 hours, GCI 15082 reported enemy activity off the beaches estimated at 8-10 aircraft dropping fairly extensive ‘window’.  These were considered to be chiefly mine-laying.  At 23.50 hours GCI 15082 reported ‘window’ being dropped by an aircraft going West towards Barfleur and shortly afterwards bombs were reported being dropped in the vicinity of GCI 15072.

21/7/1944 – 9th Air Force Planning Document for “Overlord” dated 1st April 1944. This is the date, 21st July, 1944, at which it was planned that the 21 Sector involvement would cease and hand over to the IX Air Defense Corps (ADC).

Note: In the event, this commitment did not cease until 22/9/1944.

28/7/1944 – At approximately 22.40 hours the largest wave of enemy aircraft that had been seen for some time appeared from the East and operated over the battle area and the sea.  This wave was estimated at about 30+ out of which three were destroyed by fighters under the control of GCI 15082.  ‘Dorval’ 23 claimed a Ju88 destroyed (Sqn/Ldr Trollope).

1/8/1944 – The Hun showed signs of becoming more active again probably partly due to a spell of bad weather in the UK and Northern France and the fact that he knew we should have difficulty in putting many fighters in the air.  Two waves came over of 10 and 15 respectively, the first wave operating in the Cherbourg area at about midnight and the second wave over the battle area at 03.00 hours.  An aircraft of 488 Squadron (Ft/Lt Hall) while under the control of GCI 15082 (Sqn/Ldr Trollope) destroyed a Ju88. 

2/8/1944 – Considerable enemy activity during the night and weather conditions even more in favour of the Hun than on the night before as his bases in Holland and Germany were reasonably clear while the UK and Northern France closed right in.  The first wave of enemy aircraft estimated at 20+ appeared from the South at 22.50 hours and out of this lot 2 fighters of 488 Squadron claim a Do217 destroyed (Sqn/Ldr Somerville) while under GCI 15081 control (F/Off May) and Dorval 22 while under the control of GCI 15082 (Sqn/Ldr Trollope).  The second wave of 12+ appeared at 0400 hours.  A fighter of 488 Squadron (W/O Maclay), while under the control of GCI 15081 (F/Off May) claims a Ju188 and Ft/Lt Plumar, 410 Squadron, while under GCI 15082 (Sqn/Ldr Trollope) also claims a Ju188.

3/8/1944 – The night was fairly active mostly consisting of small raids of from 4 to 6 A/C which operated over the battle area.  The total estimate for the night was 28+, one raid just after midnight estimated at 10+.  One Mosquito (604 Squadron) based at A.8 (Ft/Lt Foster and F/Off Newton) claim one Do 217 destroyed while under GCI 15081 (Sqn/Ldr Ross).  Ft/Lt Crossby (264 Squadron), W/O Patrick (488 Squadron) and Ft/Lt Jameson (488 Squadron) each claim one Ju88 destroyed and Ft/Lt Dinsdale (410 Squadron) claims one Me110 damaged all under the control of GCI 15082 (Sqn/Ldr Trollope and Ft/Lt Nodes). 

7/8/1944 – One ‘Black Widow’, 422 Squadron, (Lt Anderson and Lt Morris) under GCI 15082 (Sqn/Ldr Trollope) claim one Ju88 destroyed. 

23/8/1944 – Another quiet night with no enemy aircraft entering the Sector.  GCI 15082 were non-operational as they were packing up ready to leave at dawn.

24/8/1944 – GCI 15082 moved at dawn to a new site at Auteuil Racecourse but were not operational that night.  F/Sgt F.M. Adair speaks of “eventually to enter the suburbs of Paris ahead of the liberating forces.”  In later notes F/Sgt Adair states one of the most exciting but also tense times was when they were in Paris because they were quite close to the Germans and he wonders whether they should have been quite as close to the front line as they actually were.  To illustrate this, whilst they were setting up at the Longchamp Horse Racing Track they had to destroy their orders as it was feared the Germans were about to counter-attack as they were still very close by.  As an aside to the above, F/Sgt Muir Adair stated that when they did get an order they had little to do because there was very little or no enemy aircraft activity and it was not long before they moved on from Paris.

Note: Journey to Paris, partly with General Patton thrust.  CO went off in a hurry taking us in a fast run to the front.  Waited outside Paris for the Free French to arrive.

Route, vehicle No 11 – Isigny;  St Lo;  Vive;  Tinchbray;  Domfront;  Alencon;  Le Mans;  Rendezvous point, Place du Jacobin, Le Mans.

26/8/1944 – Longchamps Racecourse with the Free French.  2798 Rifle Squadron, which had been protecting RAF radar sites in one of the American Corps areas, was ordered to secure Longchamps racecourse in Paris as a possible landing site.  With guides from the French Maquis the squadron took a devious route into the city to reach its objective – thus becoming one of the first Allied units to enter the French capital.

25/8/1944 – Cpl W.E. Adderley; – With Free French at Longchamps Racecourse.  2798 Rifle Squadron protecting RAF radar sites also secured Longchamps (possible landing site).

Cpl Bill Firby: – Bill told of the story when they arrived in Paris, they were actually (in some cases) the first troops in and were also the first RAF personnel. They were ordered to go to Longchamps where the Germans had set up a Radar station and see if this would be a suitable site for 15082 to set up. They went to the site of the Racecourse and found much of the German equipment still intact. They had a bunker and Bill went searching in the bunker to find some tools. Bill had lost all of his tools when the lorries were lost at D-Day including some of his own tools that he had brought over from Canada. He had been scavenging tools ever since and saw the opportunity of getting some quality German tools. Just as he was about to pick them up, a GI who was also there shouted out to Bill not to touch them. Bill asked “why?” And was told that they were probably booby trapped. And they were. The tools had been wired to detonators and would have exploded if Bill had picked them up.  The site was not a good one and they did not set up there but at a place called Morangis, on the outskirts of Paris. They had a wonderful reception when they entered Paris with lots of drink and kissing from the French. It was wild and also dangerous as the Free French were also after revenge with any collaborators.  They did have time off and Bill remembers having a pass that allowed him a day and evening in Paris. He had a lot to drink but was sure that he got back to the pick-up point by the right time. However, there was no truck. So, Bill went back and continued to drink, sleeping rough. When he did get back, (Sqn/Ldr) Trollope had him up on an AWOL charge and he was in deep trouble. This was not the first time Bill was on a charge. He was a firebrand and commented that the only time he seemed to see Officers was either on a charge or requesting leave. However, (F/Sgt Muir Adair) Muir arranged for him to be quickly transferred away to another GCI unit and he was whisked away in a jeep, not knowing where he would end up. In the event, he had been transferred to GCI 15081, who were with 15119 GCI stationed on the Belgian border. He stayed with 15081 until the end of the war.

26/8/1944 – GCI 15082 moved again, this time to the Racecourse at Longchamps, Paris.

1/9/1944 – Only one patrol was flown during the night and that was an unsuccessful attempt to contact GCI  15082. 

20/9/1944 – Gp/Capt Moseby, (OC 21 Base Defence Sector), proceeded to 85 Group Head Quarters to attend a conference with the A.O.C. to decide on the future of 21 Sector as the commitment with the American Sector finishes on 23rd.  It was decided that the Sector Head Quarters would return to the UK with GCIs 15082, 15072 and Col 15073 and Col 15074 while the attached Signals Units would all remain on the Continent and be attached to other sectors.  A start made on packing up ready to move at any time after 23-9-1944.

23/9/1944 – This was the finish of the Sector’s commitment with the Americans and as soon as the night’s operations completed, the process of packing up was started ready to move as soon as the order came through.

24/9/1944 – The main party waited all day for the order to move but this never came through.

25/9/1944 – Main party was ordered to set off for Utah beach.  All the troops’ kit was loaded up and everybody was ready to start when the order to move was cancelled and the bedding etc. for the night was unloaded again!

26/9/1944 – Order to move came through again first thing in the morning and the party left Tocqueville for the United Kingdom via Utah beach at approximately 10.30 hours.  All vehicles were embarked during the evening ready to leave on the morning tide. Set off at 10.30hrs approx from Tocqueville for the UK via Utah beach.  All vehicles embarked by evening in readiness for a departure on the morning tide.

27/9/1944 – Squadron Leader Trollope was a member of a Court Martial of LAC Stadons at Tocqueville Chateau.

The party was accommodated in seven Landing Ship Tanks (LSTs) and one LCT.  The bulk of them left on the morning tide and after a very rough crossing arrived at Southampton the same evening and eventually got to RAF Ibsley at about midnight.  The rest of the party left Utah on the evening tide and did not arrive at Southampton until the following day.

28/9/1944 – The remainder of the main party arrived at Ibsley and the day was spent getting everything ready for everybody to proceed on leave as soon as possible.

29/9/1944 – The day was spent getting Leave Passes, Ration Cards, etc., made out and all leave started the following day leaving only a small holding party till the rear party arrived who were to act as the holding party.

7/10/1944  – Traces of War.com shows:

Promoted to Flight Lieutenant, (War Substantive).

Note: – F.J. Trollope was shown as a Squadron Leader from the formation of No 21 Base Defence Wing on 1/1/1944 until his Unit, GCI 15082, returned from France in late September 1944. It is therefore assumed that his rank of Squadron Leader was Acting or possibly even Temporary rank.

10/10/1944 – Personnel of the main party who went on leave with the initial batch returned for duty.  As nothing was known for what purpose the Sector would be required, the job of completely overhauling all equipment was taken in hand and this is how the airmen were employed for some time to come.  This was a job urgently needed as most of the transport and technical equipment had had a lot of racketing (sic) about in France.

16/10/1944 – Owing to lack of Operational duties the personnel of the Sector and sub-units were split into 12 Flights with two officers in charge of each one and the Flights commenced a course of training in Drill, PT, etc., also lectures and organised games.  Certain Flights were to be detailed for daily fatigues both on the Camp and in the district.

F/Sgt Muir Adair: When being interviewed he recalled that he was partly responsible for decommissioning the equipment “at an air force base somewhere in the South of England but he cannot recall where”.  (We know this now to have been at RAF Ibsley).  Most of the equipment which was decommissioned was stated by F/Sgt Adair to have been ‘C’ Class Stores which was in the expendable category.  This meant that when the equipment was issued the military forces did not expect it to come back.  As a result, when they tried to return this equipment, no-one wanted it!  He recalled that a great mound was thrown away with the aid of the Royal Engineers and a big hole!

19/10/1944 – Sqn/Ldr F.J. Trollope: Attached (i.e. posted away from 21 Sector) to Chain Home Low Radar Unit (CHL) Hopton.

10/11/1944 – As from this date, the establishment for 21 Sector was cancelled but no decision had been arrived at as to what was going to happen to the personnel or to whom they belonged.  In the meantime, the normal routine was carried on till some further information was received as to what was going to happen.

14/11/1944 – The London Gazette shows:

The award of the Military Cross approved by King George VI. 

The citation is as follows:
Squadron Leader Frederick Joseph Trollope (68965) R.A.F.V.R.

Squadron Leader Trollope took command of his unit when the commanding officer became a casualty after landing on the beaches of Normandy on “D” day. His courage and devotion to duty in organising the many parties of his unit on the beach, which was under intense fire, and arranging the safe conduct of men and vehicles as well as organising the evacuation of the wounded, were of a high order. In addition to this work, Squadron Leader Trollope carried out his normal duties throughout the night and was mainly responsible for the successful operation of his unit under great difficulties. All his duties involved continual movement over the beaches and reconnaissance into enemy territory under fire. He displayed great leadership and courage.