Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The original pilot’s flying log books (2) appertaining to Squadron Leader F. C. MacDonald, D.F.C., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, a veteran of the famous Peenemunde and Hamburg “firestorm” raids, the first with entries covering the period January 1941 to May 1944, including an operational tour with No. 620 Squadron, and the second the period June 1944 to September 1945, including further operational flying with No. 622 Squadron; together with his Pilot’s Notes for Lancaster I and Lancaster III, the outer covers inscribed in ink, ‘S./L. MacDonald’, and a letter from an old crew member dated 12 September 1945, excepting the last, generally in good condition (Lot) £400-500

Frank Cadell “Mac” MacDonald, who commenced his pilot training at No. 22 Elementary Flying Training School in January 1941, first went operational in June 1943, when he joined No. 620 Squadron, a Stirling unit based at Chedburgh in Suffolk, completing his first mission, a raid against Krefeld, on the night of 21st-22nd. Between then and October of the same year, he completed a full tour of operations, his other targets including Berlin (twice), Bremen, Cologne, Essen, Mannheim, Nuremburg (twice), Turin (twice), and the famous strike against the rocket base at Peenemunde on the night of 17-18 August, when his aircraft was credited with the destruction of a Do. 217 and also engaged by an Me. 262. In addition, too, he flew on all four of the famous Hamburg “firestorm” raids in late July / early August. Eventful that these last sorties undoubtedly were, it was actually a trip to Modane on the night of 16-17 September that proved to be one that stuck in the memory of a fellow crew member, Alan Gamble. Under the title of “Now It Can Be Told”, he later wrote:

‘ ... Bombs were cascading down and we were flying under the stream of aircraft on a reciprocal but the [railway] tunnel mouth was there, the bombs were away and we were into a violent 90-degree turn to starboard, hugging the valley floor desperately looking for a way out. Hobson’s choice. Stay on the valley floor and risk finding ourselves in a dead end or start climbing and wriggling to find a way out. Somehow we made it and came out of the valley in a way that was certainly not the one we went in on. What was not reported was the fact that as we all started to breath normally again, old “Hawk Eyes” suddenly came on the intercom, “All guns stand by” as the engine power was reduced and we went into rich mixture. We were obviously on the Italian side of the tunnel and what “Mac” had seen appeared to be the dim lights of a convoy high up the mountain pass, so we turned in parallel towards it and blasted into it as the guns came to bear from about 400 yards out. The results were devastating. There were fires, explosions, and fire pouring down the mountain side, so when “Mac” had said he thought it was a military convoy, I am sure he was right. At the end of the first run we turned about and did it again. It really was a terrible sight and I think most of us were so shocked at what we had done we just didn’t want to talk about it. We got back to base a little short of fuel and explained the use of the ammunition as having been fired off into the Channel to reduce weight, and “Mac” got a rocket for his reciprocal bombing run ... “Mac” may have been one of the oldest Squadron pilots in the Command at the age of 37 but we had implicit faith in him and his skill as a pilot, even though his decisions led to some hairy situations ...’

MacDonald, who was awarded a well-deserved D.F.C. at the end of this tour (London Gazette 12 November 1943 refers), returned to the operational scene as a Squadron Leader and Flight Commander in No. 622 Squadron, a Lancaster unit based at R.A.F. Mildenhall, in February 1945, completing a mission against Munchen Gladbach on the night of the 1st-2nd. And before the War’s end he had completed another dozen or so sorties, including those to such heavily-defended targets as Cologne, Essen and Dortmund (twice). He also flew on a supply-mission to the Hague on 4 May 1945.