Inside a Rare WWII Aircrew Log Book: South Africa, Europe & Middle East Operations 1942-1945
- steampunkpicker
- Jan 31
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 1
Second World War aircrew records are among some of the most personal and revealing forms of wartime documentation. Beyond official histories and squadron summaries, log books and associated ephemera record war as it was experienced - flight by flight, sortie by sortie, under conditions that demanded technical precision and personal endurance.
This original South African Air Force Observers / Air Gunners Log Book, kept by Flight Sergeant Armstrong between 1942 and 1945, offers a scarce, detailed, and deeply human record of wartime service across multiple theatres.
What this record contains
At the centre of this grouping is Armstrong’s original wartime log book, covering approximately 283 operational hours and 40 combat sorties across Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Middle East. The log book comprises:
• 25 original wartime photographs including group photographs, portraits, and squadron images.
• Photographic documentation of Liberator ceremonial flypasts in 1945, including:
King George VI Birthday Parade flypast
Battle of Britain Remembrance flypast (Alexandria)
• Royal Air Force Navigator’s Certificate (Second Class) dated 26 January 1944
• Outfits First-Aid Personal Pack for Aircrews booklet
Accompanied by photographs, certificates, and official RAF documentation, it stands as a complete operational archive rather than a single artefact. What follows is a detailed exploration and service timeline of Armstrong's log book which documents not only combat, but the broader lifecycle of service - preparation, deployment, redeployment, and transition.
Training, continuity and institutional context
On 1st February 1920, the South African Air Force (SAAF) was established. By the time Armstrong began his operational career, the SAAF had been in existence for just over twenty years. During the Second World War, SAAF personnel were integrated into complex, multinational air operations, often flying under RAF command structures.
Armstrong trained in South Africa at No.47 Air School (Queenstown) as an Air Observer then graduated as an Air Gunner at No.43 Air School located at Port Alfred.
After his training at South Africa he was posted to the UK, completing further preparation at No. 22 Operational Training Unit based at RAF Gaydon and Wellesbourne Mountford. Here he undertook link training and advanced navigation work, preparing for Bomber Command operations under wartime conditions.
Bomber Command and deep-penetration operations (1943)
After his Operational training at Wellesbourne Mountford, Armstrong was posted to RAF Leeming as an aircrew member of No. 408 Squadron (RCAF), RAF Bomber Command. During this period of his career, Armstrong participated in heavy bomber night operations over occupied Europe, including:
• Operation Stuttgart (11 March 1943 — 8-hour sortie).
This operation saw 314 bombers launched in the raid. However, overall it was considered a largely unsuccessful raid with 11 Allied aircraft lost.
• Duisburg (on 26 March 1943).
This was one of eleven locations targeted in the Ruhr campaign (5 March - 31 July 1943) - the industrial heartland of Germany.
• St. Nazaire
A port town in France, which under Nazi German occupation served as a major submarine base for its navy: the Kriegsmarine. It was one of the last places to be liberated in Europe on 11 May 1945.
These operations demanded precise navigation, endurance over long hours, and constant situational awareness under threat from searchlights, flak, and night fighters. It also signposts the intensity and scale of the bombing itself.
Poignantly, some of the log book entries were signed off by Squadron Leader R. J. S. Wootton DFC, who was later killed in action.
Following Armstrong's service in the 408 squadron, he was attached to No. 301 Ferry Training Unit (FTU), which involved ferrying Halifax aircraft from the UK to Port Lyautey (Morocco). For the next phase of his career, he was extensively involved in the Mediterranean theatre of war.
Mediterranean operations: 1943 & 1945
Armstrong was posted to No. 178 Squadron RAF, at the Libyan bases of El Adem, Hosc Raui and Terria. Paired again with Sgt Reynolds but this time flying on Consolidated Liberator Mk III aircraft from Libya across the Mediterranean theatre. These operations varied from intensive bombing campaigns in Italy and Sicily such as Messina, Comiso Airport and Foggia to anti-shipping attacks, harbour bombing and aerial mine-laying in various locations in Greece and Crete.
Recorded targets and locations include:
• Heraklion (Hercules) Harbour
• Candia Harbour
• Khalkis
• Crete – Suda Bay
• Salamis
• Piraeus (Athens)
Aerial mine-laying, otherwise known as "gardening" was among the most hazardous tasks undertaken by bomber crews. Aircraft were required to fly low and steady over defended harbours, often at night, while deploying naval mines at precise points. The margin for error was minimal.
Armstrong’s own handwritten remarks appear throughout the log:
• “Searchlights and ACK very good!” - a brief but telling reference to intense enemy defences.
• “Severe icing. Cloud cover 10/10.” - Icing here refers to the dangerous accumulation of ice on an aircraft's airframe, wings, or engine components. This occurs when supercooled water droplets in clouds freeze on impact with the aircraft, severely impacting aerodynamics, reducing lift, and increasing drag.
The log also records multiple weather diversions, including emergency landings at Tortorella and Cairo West, illustrating the additional navigational and decision-making pressures imposed by weather and fuel constraints.
Crew dynamics: pilot, navigator, and bomb aimer
Another revealing aspects of Armstrong’s log book is what it implies about the importance and nature of crew relationships, even when it does not explicitly describe them.
During key Bomber Command operations outlined above, Armstrong served as navigator and bomb aimer, often flying with Sgt Reynolds as pilot. This pairing was not incidental. In heavy bomber operations, the relationship between pilot and navigator was foundational to mission success and crew survival.
The pilot of course was responsible for aircraft handling, formation flying, engine management, and responding to immediate threats. The navigator–bomb aimer, meanwhile, carried responsibility for route planning, position fixing, target identification, bombing accuracy, and timing - often under blackout conditions, poor weather, and enemy fire.
As such, the pilot flew the aircraft, but the navigator dictated where and when - advising on course corrections, altitude changes, and bomb run alignment. During bombing runs, the aircraft was frequently flown to suit the bomb aimer’s requirements rather than the pilot’s preference, holding steady on a predictable heading at precisely the moment when anti-aircraft fire was most intense.
Armstrong’s log entries from these operations both sparse and technical - suggest a high level of mutual trust between pilot and navigator, and a crew functioning as a cohesive unit under pressure.
On long sorties such as Stuttgart, where flights extended to eight hours or more, fatigue compounded navigational difficulty. A single miscalculation could mean missing the target, running out of fuel, or failing to locate a diversion airfield on return. In these circumstances, the pilot depended entirely on the navigator’s judgement - just as the navigator relied on the pilot to hold course, altitude, and airspeed under fire.
The log book records the repeated pairings, consistent duty roles, and steady accumulation of operational hours speaks to a working relationship forged through repetition and shared risk. This relational interdependence clearly underpins the nature of the Bomber Command operations here.
Assessment, operational competence, and D-Day
Towards the tail-end of Armstrong's career, his log book documents formal assessments made during critical phases of the war. Of particular note is Armstrong’s evaluation around D-Day, where his navigation and operational performance is assessed as “above average." - a succinct but telling judgement recorded amid one of the most complex and demanding phases of Allied air operations. In 1944 he received an Air Navigator's Second Class Certificate from the RAF itself. Such assessments mattered: they determined posting, responsibility, and trust within aircrew formations operating under extreme pressure.
Transition, conversion, and remembrance
By late 1944 and into 1945, Armstrong was posted to RAF Abu Sueir, Egypt, serving with the No. 1675 Heavy Conversion Unit. Abu Sueir was not a front-line combat station, but it was critical to maintaining operational readiness across the Mediterranean and Middle East theatres. Here, crews undertook:
• Navigation screening
• GEE navigation (where Armstrong was assessed as “above average”)
• Radar testing (night)
• Distant reconnaissance flying
• Formation and liaison flights
While no longer engaged in front-line combat, this work was essential to maintaining operational capability across Allied air forces in the region.
Recreational and Formation flying
As pictured in the slideshow above, Armstrong participated in notable ceremonial and formation flying as part of a No. 2 formation during:
• King George VI Birthday Parade flypast in June 1945
• Battle of Britain Remembrance flypast in Alexandria on September 1945
These events marked a transition from combat operations to remembrance and continuity - moments documented with precision and clarity in a single, personal record.
Conclusion
This archive is significant not because it documents a single mission or aircraft, but because it records process, endurance, and continuity.
It shows how aircrew were trained, assessed, deployed, redeployed, and finally reassigned to remembrance roles - all within one individual’s service record.
For historians, collectors, and institutions, it offers:
• A traceable operational narrative
• Multi-theatre coverage
• First-hand annotations
• Contextual photographs tied directly to named sorties
In its measured handwriting, clipped remarks, and administrative precision, it captures the reality of aircrew service as it was experienced: demanding, methodical, and often unforgiving.
If you'd like to explore further please check out my full detailed listing in the link below.
For a further visual representation of this archive watch the YouTube clip below.
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