Wing Commander G L B Hull DFC 114 Sqn

[Johnnie]

I wonder if anybody can help me. I am trying to research a Wing Commander G L B Hull DFC who was the Commanding Officer of 114 Squadron from April 1941.

He appears to be a pilot, and I was told he became a POW at Stalag Luft III (there is actually a photo of him with of South Afrians on the internet), however the CWGC also have a Wing Commander GEORGE LAURENCE BAZETT HULL down as a pupil pilot, and as being killed on the 17th of May 1946. I would imagine that this is the same man, but why is he down as a pupil pilot? Was this common practice after being a POW (kind of a refresher?).

Also, does anybody have any idea when he became a POW, or when he was awarded his DFC.

Any help or information would be great.

Johnnie

[Hans Nauta]

Hi Johnny,

In this case the online London Gazette is very useful:

http://www.gazette-online.co.uk/ww2.asp?webType=0

Just fill in his name or service number, in both cases other hits will turn up.

His DFC was Gazetted 24th December 1940 while he was on service with 107 Squadron.

Regards,
Hans Nauta

[Johnnie]

Thanks for that.

Out of interest, another result (march 26 1946) covers his post war commision to Wing Commander. I presume his rank as wing commander during the war would have only been for the duration of the conflict, however at the end of the entry it has the note:

seny. 1st september 1942.

Does anybody know that this means?

Cheers,

Johnnie

[paulmcmillan]

It is the same man. He was killled on 17 May 1946 in Mosquito III TW108 of 16 OTU
which crashed at Goadby Marwood in Leicestershire. The starboard engine failed at 1000 feet and the pilot attempted a forced landing. On the approach the aircraft struck trees breaking the tailplane and the aircraft then hit high ground and disintegrated.

Wing Commander GEORGE LAURENCE BAZETT HULL DFC aged 34 was killed. He was the only casualty.

Source: Final Landings by Colin Cummings

[Alex Smart]

Hi,

114 Sqdn 17-18thh April 1942
Blenheim IV Z7430 "RT-Q"
Crew
W/C. G.B.L.Hull DFC - POW number 775 - L3 - Sagan & Belaria
F/L. T.H. Baker - POW number 39677 - 9C - Muhlhausen
P/O. J.F.Morton - POW number 203 - L3 - Sagan & Belaria
All three became POW
All were regular RAF officers. Hull came from Southern Rhodesia .
T/o 2136 West Raynham for an intruder op to Schiphol airport. Damaged by light flak and crash landed 2322 at Aalsmeer a small town just to the S of Schiphol.
Details from BCL 1942 by Chorley.


Agree "Final Landings" note W/C George Laurence Bazett Hull DFC aged 34.

Alex

[Johnnie]

Thanks for the information.

Do you know why he would have been listed as a pupil pilot. Is this because he was under retraining after being a POW, or is there some other reason?

Johnnie

[paulmcmillan]

RE: "Pupil Pilot"

Could be many reasons:

a) CWGC is simply wrong.... It does happen! The original records could be wrong, or the mistake happened on computerisation
b) He could have been on conversion training on Mosquito (was an OTU) after all and this fact has been corrupted over time to be Pupil Pilot. Rather than Pilot under conversion training

The lesson to take, is check the sources and re-check the sources and then cross check other sources and take what is said just because it is on some official web site then it must be true.

BTW seny. is short hand for Seniority

See: http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info...v_rankings.htm and
http://www.friesian.com/rank.htm

or google Seniority military rank

It is for Navy, but it works for all 3 UK Services

BTW as the Junior Service (formed 1918, in fact the RAF lies behind the Army and then Navy in the Seniority rankings and that is why the Navy is sometimes called the 'Senior Service'.. So I believe if you had 3 officers, one of each service, each of the same equivalent rank, each promoted on the same day and they had to decide who was in charge.. then the naval one would take precedence, by want of being in the Senior service

Paul

[Chris Goss]

He could be undertaking refresher training and if so, he would be a pupil pilot irerspective of his rank as he would be under training (u/t0

[Johnnie]

Thanks for all the help on this.

Johnnie

[Laurence]

Wing Commander George Laurence Bazett Hull was my mother's twin brother. My first name is Laurence.He was not from Southern Rhodesia but South Africa. His Cousin, Squadron Leader Caesar Hull of 43 Hurricane Squadron out of Tangmere. was killed in the Battle of London Docks on the first day of the switch from bombing the airfields to bombing the cities, Sep 7th 1940. Caesar was born in Southern Rhodesia where a memorial was erected in The Matopos near Rhodes' grave. I believe this was rescued from the scrap metal stripping mayhem in Zimbabwe and brought to Tangmere.

Laurence came from S Africa about 1935 and joined Bomber Command, I believe on account of a measure of colour blindness. His cousin joined Fighter Command and was such an outstanding pilot that he was chosen to demonstate the Spitfire to the King at Hendon. He also has a memorial in Norway on account of his exploits there. He was a close personal friend of Peter Townsend in 43 Squadron.

Laurence's adventures included sleep walking out of his first floor barracks and falling into the only garden bed among the surrounding concrete. He was six months in plaster.

He was in Blenheims for the first half of the war, being shot down in Holland in April 1942. An engine was on his chest. He had a month in hospital before being shipped to POW camp, largely Stalag Luft 3. He was in the Great Escape, drawing a late lottery number and being in a position to get back to barracks when the alarm went off. Hitler shot 50 escapees against the Geneva Convention.

He was involved in the cattle truck cum hunger march in the winter of 1945 from Sagan to Hamburg where he was liberated. He returned for his first holiday in South Africa in ten years in September 1945, where I met him at the age of seven in Durban and with my cousins in Springs. He was killed as noted, in the Mosqito accident of May 1946.