On the anniversary of his passing, Sean Feast recalls the life of Jimmy Marks, a legend in the annals of Bomber Command.
Like many young men of his generation, Jimmy was passionate about aeroplanes and learned to fly with Brooklands Aviation in Sywell. He took his first flight on 9 March 1937 and three weeks later, after less than twelve hours flying time, flew his first solo. On completion of his flying training in May 1937 he was assessed by the chief flying instructor as an ‘average’ pilot. His proficiency in the air would soon rapidly improve.
Formally commissioned into the RAF on 9 May 1937, Jimmy soon exchanged the rather antiquated Tiger Moth for the more modern Hawker Hart and Hawker Audax bi-planes with No. 10 Flying Training School at RAF Tern Hill. Still rated average, his flying was also deemed ‘inaccurate’ by the officer commanding. It did not prevent the young acting pilot officer from graduating, however, and in December 1937 he received orders to report to No. 77 (Bomber) Squadron at RAF Honington.
(Left. Jimmy Marks, late 1939/early 1940s)
Among his contemporaries at the time was a young sergeant pilot Hamish Mahaddie whose name would later become synonymous with Pathfinder force and who ended the war as a group captain. This was still the halcyon days of the air force and one of Jimmy's more pleasant duties was taking part in the Empire Day air display at Martlesham Heath in May 1938.
First wartime operation in a Whitley
Jimmy flew his first wartime operation in an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley on the night of the 5/6 September 1939 when he set off as second pilots to Flying Officer Gordon Raphael on a leaflet raid (a so-called ‘Nickel’ raid). Soon after take-off, however, they were recalled. He had better luck two nights later but on their return and low on fuel they were obliged to make a forced landing at a French airfield smashing into a parked French fighter they had failed to see in the gloom. Happily, they all emerged unscathed.
(Photo from Jimmy Marks' personal album showing groundcrew attending to what is believed to be a No. 58 Squadron Whitley photographed at RAF Linton-on-Ouse in the Spring of 1941)
Jimmy flew a handful of operations over the next few months, mainly Nickels or reconnaissance sorties including deep penetration raids into Poland, Czechoslovakia and beyond. He was mentioned in a dispatch on the 20 January 1940 for ‘gallant and distinguished services’. The squadron moved north in the spring of 1940 to take part in the Norwegian campaign, attacking airfields at Trondheim and Stavanger in support of ground operations.
May was a bloody time for the squadron: it lost a good many aircraft, pilots and crews. June was no less hectic, a word that appears more than once in Jimmy's logbook. Trips to the Ruhr and Fleury were punctuated by various test flights at Farnborough and Boscombe down.
A distinct change of target came on 11 June 1940, the day after the Italians had thrown in there lot with the Fuhrer and declared war on Britain. An attacking force of thirty-six Whitleys flew to the airfields on Jersey and Guernsey to refuel prior to the long haul over the Alps to Turin. Severe weather conditions including electrical storms caused both of Jimmy's engines to fail and only his experience as a pilot and a large slice of luck saved the day.
(Jimmy Marks, front row, left, as a Flying Officer, with the DFC, circa June 1940, No. 77 Squadron)
Jimmy's press on attitude had not gone unnoticed by his superiors. The award of the Distinguished Flying Cross was strongly supported by the AOC of No. 4 Group, ‘Mary’ Coningham. In the ‘particulars of meritorious service’, three separate raids out of twenty-two operational flights then completed are highlighted in which he pressed home his attacks with the utmost conviction. On two of these occasions, he remained over or near the target for more than an hour and a half because unfavourable weather conditions and poor visibility prevented him from ensuring accurate results.
First ever coordinated attempt to find and mark a target
One night, the squadron was briefed to attack troop concentrations in a wood near Rotterdam. Jimmy suggested that if they made a time and distance run from Rotterdam to the target, and then all dropped a flare, the aircraft that followed would be assured of accurate bombing. Hamish Mahaddie believes this was the first ever coordinated attempt to find a target, but despite the assurances of all the enthusiasts for the scheme that the run was made with great care, not one of a dozen or more taking part in this unofficial experiment claimed to have seen one of the others flares or very lights.
Jimmy, it should be noted, was undeterred by this initial failure and tried again the following evening with more promising results. By now rated ‘exceptional’ as a heavy bomber pilot and with more than 1,000 flying hours to his name, Jimmy was promoted flight lieutenant in October 1940 and by April 1941 was flying with No. 58 squadron as a flight commander.
(Jimmy Marks talking to No. 58 Squadron ground crew)
His logbook tells of an exciting trip on 7 April 1941 when his Whitley was attacked over Emden. He was just about to bomb when he was spotted by a night fighter. The first burst hit the starboard engine which stopped, thereby immobilising the rear turret. A second attack from below failed to deliver the knockout blow. A head on attack followed and both aircraft collided. Half of the rudder of Jimmy's aircraft was severed completely and when last seen the fighter was banking over steeply in a dive as though one wing was damaged. Jimmy's bravery was soon after recognised with his first Distinguished Service Order in July 1941 at which point he was credited with having completed fifty-two operations. As a flight commander he was noted for his ‘powers of leadership, enthusiasm and ability to carry out his job under any conditions’.
Jimmy flew only a handful of sorties over the next nine months during which time he converted to the Handley Page Halifax. Towards the end of December 1941 Jimmy was promoted squadron leader and three months later on the 12 March 1942, replaced Basil Robinson as commanding officer of No. 35 Squadron in the rank of wing commander.
Attacking the Tirpitz from 150ft
Jimmy threw himself into his new command with great gusto. The German Battleship Tirpitz was a favourite target of the time. An attack on 30 March ended in total failure and the loss of three 35 Squadron crews. They tried again on the 27 April with Jimmy pressing home his attack from 150 feet. The raid is noteworthy primarily for the loss of the No. 10 Squadron commanding officer, Donald Bennett. Bennett managed to evade capture, and shortly after his return to England was promoted to create and lead Pathfinder Force. The raid was also noteworthy since it formed the main context for the award of a Bar to Jimmy's first DFC - an award that was subsequently elevated in importance to a Bar to his DSO on the recommendation of the new AOC 4 Group, Roddy Carr.
(Jimmy Marks as the newly-appointed CO of No. 35 Squadron escorting Their Majesties the King and Queen on a visit to Linton on March 25, 1942)
Jimmy led his squadron on three of the famous 1000 bomber raids, and for the last of these raids he took with him as an observer Group Captain John Whitley, the station commander at Linton-on-Ouse. In August 1942 shortly after Jimmy’s 23rd birthday, 35 Squadron became one of the first units designated as part of Pathfinder Force and moved from Yorkshire to RAF Graveley in Cambridgeshire, closer to his family in Hertfordshire. It was a happy move for Jimmy, allowing him to jump into the station ‘hack’ and fly to Sawbridgeworth to visit his parents.
Jimmy’s last flight over Saarbrücken
(Jimmy Marks as Commanding Officer No. 35 Squadron, 1942)
The attack on Saarbrücken on 19/20 September 1942 was a relatively modest raid involving 118 aircraft. The crew of Halifax W7657 coded ‘L’ comprised Wing Commander Marks in the pilot’s seat, navigator Flight Lieutenant Alan Child DFC, wireless operator Pilot Officer Reginald Sawyer DFM, mid upper gunner Flight Lieutenant Norman Wright, and in the rear turret, Pilot Officer Richard Leith-Hay-Clark. Child and Leith-Hay-Clark were their respective section leaders, both valuable men to replace. What happened that night is recounted by the surviving flight engineer, Bill Higgs:
‘When we neared the target, the luck went all the Germans’ way. Thick mist appeared and when the navigator thought we were near the target, the skipper descended to 2,000ft and we carried out a square search for an hour. We could not see the ground and as target markers we were not allowed to drop our special marker incendiary bombs unless we could clearly identify the target. At that time, we had no ‘special equipment’ to help us.
‘At this point I told the skipper that if we had to carry our bomb load home, we were going to have leave soon or there wouldn’t be enough fuel. The skipper immediately took the necessary action to exit the target area. As we climbed, I saw a Bf110 nightfighter flash past our starboard wing tip, nearly colliding with us. We levelled out at 11,000ft and passed out of Germany and into France. At 00.30 I was calculating our fuel consumption when there was a sudden and tremendous explosion in the port wing. I stood up and looked out to see that our number five and six fuel tanks were on fire. The flames were going back beyond the rear turret.
‘The aircraft dived and I hit the roof. We then pulled out of the dive and I crashed to the floor. I could see the skipper talking into his microphone but I could hear nothing through the intercom. The aircraft began falling again and once again my head hit the roof and I thought ‘this is it’. The skipper once more managed to pull the aircraft out of the dive and I moved alongside him. He pointed to where Alan (the navigator) had opened the escape hatch. I went back to my position, clipped on my parachute and moved to the hatch.
‘It is amazing what strange thoughts pass through one’s mind at a time like this. I looked at the opening and the small area of metal around it. I sat on the edge of the hatch and tried to drop through. Unfortunately, the adjusting buckles on my parachute harness just happened to stick out above my shoulders and caught in the rim of the hatch. So there I was – half in, half out – stuck! Then I fell, and I remember the tail wheel making a dreadful noise as I flashed past it.
‘My parachute opened with a sharp ‘crack’ as soon as I pulled the ripcord and I breathed a sigh of relief. Shortly afterwards dear old ‘L’ hit the ground and exploded in a great mass of flames.’
The aircraft crashed at Blesme, 11km east of Vitry-le-François, with Jimmy Marks still at the controls. Alan Child and Richard Leith Hay Clark were killed with him. The Halifax was probably the victim of Leutnant Ferdinand Christiner of 4/NJG4 who claimed a Halifax shot down near Blesme at much the same time.
Shortly after his death Donald Bennett wrote to Jimmy's parents enclosing a Pathfinder ‘eagle’ and the award certificate dated 19 September, the day he went missing. Bennett was in no doubt of Jimmy’s qualities describing him as ‘one of the finest officers in the service’. Bill Higgs is similarly not in any doubt he owes his life to Jimmy Marks: ‘None of us would have survived if it had not been for the skill and bravery of our pilot. Jimmy was just about to be promoted to group captain and this was to be his last operational flight. How cruel can fate be?
