Captain Gilbert Leonard (“Podgy”) McBride was a pilot in the South African Air Force and died in WW II on 3 July 1943, over Sicily, aged 23. This is his story as researched by Tony Leach.

Main picture: Captain Gilbert Leonard McBride

The following is a summary of information from various sources, plus some surmising.

Gilbert joined the air force at the very start of the war. There is a report that on 4 August 1940 two Hawker Fury biplanes were lost when they collided over Nanyuki (approximately 150 km north of Nairobi in Kenya, near Mount Kenya) during training. Fortunately both Lieutenant B. R. Dimmock (Fury ‘203’) and G. L. McBride (Fury ‘204’) baled out successfully with minor injuries. It seems unlikely that there would be a second G L McBride in the SAAF (and no references can be found to a second one), hence this must be Gilbert.

Gilbert at this stage was serving with 1 Squadron SAAF. On the outbreak of war this was the only fighter unit in the SAAF (although the air force rapidly expanded). It moved north in May 1940 for active duty in East Africa against Italian forces (anticipating the SA declaration of war against Italy in June 1940) in Ethiopia (Abyssinia) and Somaliland, taking six Hawker Furies with it. These were crated and put aboard the SS Takliwa on 26 May and arrived at Mombasa by sea on 1 June where they were swiftly assembled. In Kenya the squadron received more ex-RAF Furies, plus (over some time) Gloster Gladiators and Hawker Hurricanes. The Furies and Gladiators (along with most aircraft in East Africa at that time) were obsolescent biplane types, but so were most Italian aircraft in that theatre at that time.

1 Squadron with their Furies were soon in combat with Italian raiders, starting 19 June 1940, and action increased during the following months. The squadron was split between bases in Sudan and Kenya, and on 30 September 1940, C flight of 1 Squadron’s in Kenya was taken to form the basis of 2 Squadron SAAF, under Captain Truter with five Hawker Hurricanes, nine Gloster Gladiators and nine Hawker Furies. As a photograph shows Gilbert with other 2 Squadron pilots and officers in 1941, it seems likely that he changed squadrons at this time. Dimmock also moved to 2 Squadron, and died in Nigeria in May 1941, while flying urgently needed replacement aircraft across Africa on the Takoradi Air Route from Ghana to Egypt .

As the campaign against the Italians in East Africa progressed, 1 Squadron and 2 Squadron moved north supporting ground troops as they moved from Kenya into Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea, and finally transferred to Egypt after the campaign ended in May 1941.

The operations record book for 2 squadron shows that Lieutenant McBride was transferred from 2 squadron back to the AFR Deport pending return to the Union (i.e. back to South Africa) on 18 March 1941.

The next reference that we have to Gilbert McBride is an undated photograph of him standing beside an aircraft. There are a few clues that can be deduced from this picture: The aircraft is an Airspeed Oxford, a training aircraft, probably a Mk II, as it has no turret, and was therefore used as a pilot, navigation and radio operation trainer. The serial number, 1970, identifies it as one of the first batch of 99 (1901-1999) Oxfords supplied to the SAAF from Britain for the Joint Air Training Scheme that was set up in South Africa to train 33 347 RAF and SAAF aircrew members in WW2, from late 1940 onwards. A search of various reference books suggests the style of the ‘ZG’ code lettering on the aircraft is peculiar to 45 Air School in Oudtshoorn, which had received its first Oxfords by October 1941, where they were used to train navigators and bomb aimers, flown by qualified pilots. If Gilbert had been in East Africa in 1940-41, it would be very likely that after an extended period of combat flying he would be given the opportunity for a rest period, e.g. as an instructor at a flight school. He would also have done a conversion from single engine to twin engine aircraft. So the picture may well be of a brand new Oxford that was ‘his’ aircraft, used to train navigators in late 1941 or early 1942.

At some time in 1942 or 1943 Gilbert joined 21 Squadron in North Africa, flying twin-engined bombers. Formed on 8 May 1941 at Nakuru, Kenya, 21 Squadron moved to Egypt two months later with Martin Maryland light bombers. After a year of front line operations in the Western Desert it withdrew to the Nile Delta in late January 1942 and was non-operational at Amiriya until September 1942. During this time it re-equipped with the Martin Baltimore Mk III, a faster, improved, bomber design. The crews of the Baltimore praised the aircraft for its heavy armament, structural strength, maneuverability, bombing accuracy and relatively high performance but crews also complained of cramped conditions like the earlier Maryland.

Early in October 1942, with the squadron again operational, it joined No. 232 Wing SAAF and began operations on October 8, but did not stay long with its new formation before being moved to No.3 Wing SAAF. The squadron fought in the El Alamein battle and went on to many months of intense air activity, progressively moving bases to keep up with the allied advance from Egypt to Tunisia. Among other things, it bombed the 16th Panzer Division on March 22, 1943, escorted for the first time by United States Army Air Force P-40 Warhawks of the 79th Fighter Group. May 12, 1943. saw the squadron take part in the final bombing raid of the North African campaign, after which Allied attention was directed to the invasion of Sicily.

21 Squadron, moved with 12 and 24 Squadrons, comprising 3 Wing, to Soliman airfield, southeast of Tunis and later in May and early June 1943 its aircraft bombed the Italian-held island of Pantelleria, which needed to be taken before the assault on Sicily. 3 Wing then stood down until 2 July so as to train replacement crews, give the hard pressed ground crews a chance to service and repair the aircraft, visit the beaches of Cape Bon and sample the amenities that Tunis had to offer. Then it was back to operations, suffering heavy losses while undertaking attacks against targets on Siciliy in preparation for the Allied landings on 10 July.

On 3 July, 12 Baltimores of 21 squadron and 12 Bostons of 24 squadron were sent to bomb Milo aerodrome on the West of Sicily, between the hours of 1005-1145. They were escorted by American P-40 single seat fighters of the 324th Fighter Group, on their 40th operational mission. During the mission, the Americans reported seeing two bombers go down, and one Italian Messerschmidt Bf 109 was destroyed. Both bombers were from 21 Squadron, one piloted by Captain Gilbert McBride, the other by Major L J Schravesande. Each carried a crew of four, and all crew members were buried in Catania cemetery.

A list of the crew members (though it is not know which men were in which crew) comprises:

Pilots:

• Captain G L McBride,
• Major L J Schravesande

Navigator/Observer:

• Lieutenant D B Campbell,
• Unknown?

Gunners:

• Flight Sergeant A M White ,
• 2nd Lt. J K Stopforth

Wireless Operator/gunners:

• 2nd Lt. W O Daniels,
• Flight Sergeant V G Meyer

One crew member is not identifiable in the cemetery, and may be one of the unidentified dead there. However three other 21 Squadron men are listed as having died on 3 July 1943 on the Alamein memorial in Egypt for those who died with no known grave. These men are: Lt J F G Meredith, Lt G T A Oakes, and 2nd Lt S C Smith. This would suggest that the planes were either flying with five-man crews on this occasion, or that a third aircraft was lost.

Gilbert was reported missing in 1943, but was only confirmed dead a year later in 1944.

“The last time his brother, my grandfather,‘Paddy’ McBride (a foot soldier in N Africa) saw him, was a day spent chatting to each other in a hall in North Africa when they were briefly stationed in the same place. My great granny waited a year to find out he was dead, keeping newspaper clippings of other SA pilots who had survived and come home. It seems to me that in reality, the odds of a WWII pilot surviving were always stacked against him.” Sharon

SERVICE DETAILS

Name: McBRIDE

Initials: G L

Nationality: South African

Rank: Captain (Pilot)

Regiment/Service: South African Air Force

Unit: 21 Sqdn.

Age: 23

Date of Death: 03/07/1943

Service No: 102859V

Additional information: Son of William P. and Mary I. A. McBride, of Kenilworth, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: IV. G. 2.

Cemetery: CATANIA WAR CEMETERY, SICILY

http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=2006200&m…

On 10 July 1943, following the successful conclusion of the north African campaign in mid May, a combined allied force of 160,000 Commonwealth and American troops invaded Sicily as a prelude to the assault on mainland Italy. The Italians, who would shortly make peace with the Allies and re-enter the war on their side, offered little determined resistance but German opposition was vigorous and stubborn. The campaign in Sicily came to an end on 17 August when the two allied forces came together at Messina, but failed to cut off the retreating Axis lines. Catania War Cemetery contains burials from the later stages of the campaign, from Lentini northwards. Many died in the heavy fighting just short of Catania (the town was taken on 5 August) and in the battle for the Simeto river bridgehead. Catania War Cemetery contains 2,135 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 113 of them unidentified.