Military Pilots of Hull - Raymond Radge Woodcock (1917-1968)

Our Glider Pilots were not only very high-grade airmen – I believe that the Glider Pilot Regiment was the finest body of soldiers that the British Army produced in World War Two. [Brig. Gen. Hackett, Commander 4 Para Brigade, Peters & Buist, Glider Pilots at Arnhem]

Raymond Radge Woodcock was born in Hull on 6 July 1917 to parents, Herbert and Hilda M. S. Woodcock. His father worked for the Danish Bacon Company on Hessle Road (later as a Slater & Tiler). The family lived on Estcourt Street in East Hull for most of Raymond’s childhood, where he attended Southcoates Lane School.

Image: Southcoates Lane School, 1913. [L RH/3/515] 

The family later moved to Portobello Street and then to the more well-off area of Bilton on the outskirts of Hull, by the mid-1930s.

After leaving school in 1933, Raymond attended Hull College of Art where he took signwriting. Here he won several prizes during his time, including in letter work.

Image: Prospectus, Hull College of Art & Crafts. [L.378.997]. 

By 1934 he was working as an apprentice for Littlefield’s decorating and signwriting business based on Holderness Road. In the same year he was awarded a Gold Medal from the Yorkshire Master Painter’s    Association, he was clearly very talented. [HDM Newspaper Collection, 22 Mar 1934]

In January 1939 he married Lavinia Sanderson at St Peters Church, Bilton. A month later enlisted into the Worcestershire Regiment. After more than two years with his regiment, he volunteered for the newly formed Glider Pilot Regiment in 1942. [Information from Army Flying Museum]

The regiment was formed out of the successes of the German military in using troops transported by wooden gliders to capture enemy positions quickly. The British government saw the possible advantages immediately. Where parachute troops could only carry a certain amount of kit, they would also be spread over a large area when deployed, whereas the glider was able to deliver a platoon of soldiers and equipment to a precise location, silently with the element of surprise.

After passing his entrance exams Raymond was posted to one of the Elementary Flying Training Schools (EFTS). Here he would learn the basic principles of flight, navigation, weather, etc., flying a Tiger Moth biplane. He then moved to the Glider Training Schools (GTS) where he would get his first chance to fly the Hotspur training glider. Upon completion he would have been sent to one of the Heavy Glider Conversion Units (HGCU) flying the larger Horsa glider. The training was no picnic, and many hopefuls were returned to their units or died in flying accidents.

Images: (Left) Hotspur gliders in freefall over Oxfordshire. [©IWM (CH 6030)] (Right) A Horsa glider on tow behind an RAF bomber. [©IWM (CH 13084)]

The pilots were also trained in infantry combat in order to become “Total Soldiers”. This concept was far different to the RAF or American pilots and meant that on landing the British GPs were immediately expected to fight on the battlefield. By January 1944, Raymond had returned to Hull on leave but the following month was back in the air at RAF Thruxton near Andover, Hampshire with the Operation and Refresher Training Unit (ORTU) where he refreshed his flying skills. [The Eagle, Vol. 6, No. 2, April 1989, p. 7]

This would be much needed as a few months later, on 6 June 1944, Raymond took part in the D-Day landings, specifically Operation Mallard, part of the larger Operation Overlord. Mallard was preceded by Tonga and a Coup de Main force of 95 gliders whose main task was to capture and hold the two bridges that spanned the River Orne and Caen Canal. This was vital to stopping any German reinforcements to the Normandy beaches. Raymond’s aim along with the other 250+ gliders for Mallard was to deliver personnel and equipment intact to reinforce the 6th Airborne to hold the bridges and stave off any German attacks. The glider pilots had to be successful!

Raymond was part of ‘E’ sqn of the GPR who were to set off from RAF Down Ampney in Gloucestershire. His co-pilot was Major B. H. P. Jackson, commander of the squadron. Towed by Dakota bombers from no. 271 sqn RAF, the combinations would take off in 37 Horsa and 30 Hamilcar gliders headed for Landing Zone (LZ) ‘N’, less than a mile West of the Caen canal bridge. They would land around 21:00pm, in darkness after a 3-hour flight. The journey across was however, no easy feat.

The Horsa weighs almost 7 tons fully loaded and much of the time it was overloaded. It had no engine and the pilots did not have a parachute. They had to land without a runway in fields and open countryside, in total darkness without lights. The gliders themselves were built mostly by furniture manufacturers and had a tow speed of around 150mph and a recommended landing speed of around 60-80 mph, though they frequently landed at speeds in excess of this. Raymond’s glider was carrying men of the 1st Ulster Rifles.

An account of the glider landing from one of the RUR men reads: 

I felt the nose go down as we began our glide into the Landing Zone. Leaning forward, I suddenly saw streaks of light flashing past the nose of the glider and I realised that this was ack-ack fire from the ground. We took up our landing positions…and waited - with a prayer for a safe landing. Suddenly the familiar crunch and rumble as the landing gear touched the ground. On and on we seemed to go as the pilot fought to steer the glider away…then we were still. 'Under fire' shouted the pilot, and we all released our seatbelts and dived for the door, jumping four or five feet to the ground and then taking up the defensive positions previously rehearsed so often. [Capt Sheridan, 1 RUR. Royal Irish website]

The gliders were supposed to land in specific areas but due to wind changes they often landed haphazardly with some collisions on the ground, as seen in the below photograph.

Image: Some of the gliders landed on LZ ‘N’, Jun 1944.
[©IWM (HU 92976)]

Of the 144 gliders that took part in MALLARD, 112 landed according to plan. Upon landing the GP’s, including Raymond had to help unload their gliders. This was not always an easy task with many bent and buckled by the landing it meant that the equipment they carried had to be hacked out or explosives used to blow the tail or doors from the gliders, all done under mortar and shell fire from the Germans who saw the reinforcements arriving. Afterwards, they were tasked with helping secure the LZ, occupy defensive positions, and carry out offensive patrols during the night. Fighting as regular soldiers they also had to deal with intermittent sniper fire and enemy attempts to infiltrate the landing areas. Maj Gen Gale, commander of the 6th Airborne later wrote that: 

It is impossible to say with what relief we watched this reinforcement arrive. [Maj Gen R.N. Gale, Biography, ParaData.] 

The following day orders came for the GP’s to be evacuated from Normandy. This was generally the practice just in case they were needed to fly in anymore personnel or equipment. On their way to the beeches, again under sniper and mortar fire, they were evacuated by Landing Craft to Newhaven, Sussex before making their way back to their bases.

The following two months involved more training in preparation for the next big airborne offensive. In September, Raymond, along with more than 650 other glider pilots would be taking part in Operation Market Garden. The Allies plan was to cross the River Rhine and advance deep into German territory. To do this, key bridges had to be taken in and around the city of Arnhem, and Nijmegen, Netherlands which could only be accomplished by a surprise initial attack followed by enormous reinforcements by air and land. There would be 3 lifts of gliders taking off from various airfields in southern England on the 17-19th September. 

Raymond would take part in the first lift and was paired once again with Maj B. H. P. Jackson. Setting off from Down Ampney just before 10am headed for LZ ‘S’ at Wolfheze, 6 miles west of Arnhem. They were towed again by a Dakota from 271 Sqn and carried 9 men of the Kings Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) a Jeep and a Trailer. The glider landed without issues in a stubble field with no enemy interference. 

Image: View from a Horsa glider heading over the Dutch coast
for Operation Market Garden, 17 September 1944.
[©IWM (BU 1160)]

On landing Raymond’s co-pilot noted that: 

…There was one gentleman who did not appear to be in the least disturbed by the whole affair and that was an elderly Dutchman. He was sitting on a wall placidly smoking…which was removed from his mouth long enough to say ‘Good morning’…just as though he had spent most of his life watching glider landings. [Peters & Buist, Glider Pilots at Arnhem, 2014]

After landing and unloading ‘E’ sqn along with others were to hold defensive positions, mainly in slit trenches around the LZ in preparation for the gliders landing the following day. The sqn were involved in a heavy fight with the enemy in the evening but were able to keep them at bay.

Once the second lift of gliders had arrived ‘E’ sqn made their way to Oosterbeek, 3 miles east encountering some resistance from the Germans. The Allied forces had not made the progress hoped for and were held up in Oosterbeek, hoping to be reinforced by 30 Corps. By the 19th a perimeter had been established around the town and many of the sqn were positioned on the northeast edge, fighting to defend the Division HQ. On the 20th the Germans began applying more pressure with continued bombardment across the town using, artillery, mortar and grenade attacks. In addition, infantry were probing the perimeter along with tanks and armoured vehicles, with little Allied reinforcements the defensive line gradually shrunk. ‘E’ sqn were forced out of position retreating to a nearby wood and were joined by men from a few other regiments, they were heled by the addition of a 6 pound anti-tank gun and a Vickers machine gun. The following day some progress was made against the Germans but at a significant cost in lives. On the 22nd heavy mortar and shell fire continued, causing the front lines to become dangerously thin. [No. 2 Wing GPR, War Diary, Pegasus Archive]

Using tanks and flame throwers the enemy forced them to abandon the position, and to withdraw into houses in which the defence of the Northern sector of the perimeter now concentrated.  The houses were systematically destroyed by S.P. guns and tanks at point blank range: the remaining pilots were, cut off from the main body of the Div by an open park of some 200 yards...Snipers became very active, but the position was held during the night and the next day - Monday the 25th. The remaining P.I.A.T.S. kept the tanks at bay...

On the 25th orders came to evacuate from Oosterbeek, reinforcements were too far away to hold out any longer. The survivors had to make their way south and cross the Rhine to Driel. 40 Glider Pilots were killed from ‘E’ sqn during Market Garden and many more captured as PoW’s, including Raymond. He was unable to go with the retreating forces. He had been wounded, likely in the attack of the previous day. He was reported missing on the 25th and his fate was initially unknown to his family back home.

In December word arrived that he was being held in Germany. Specifically, at Stalag 11B, located east of the town of Fallingbostel in north-West Germany. Conditions were not pleasant, a lack of food, clothing, blankets and medical equipment was consistently reported by the Red Cross. The camp held almost 7,000 British and American PoW’s when it was liberated on 16 August 1945. More than 1,000 of these were in hospital and several thousand more suffering from starvation that “should have been in hospital in any civilized country. [Delafore, The Fourth Reich and Operation Eclipse, p.204]

Image: POWs at Stalag 11B welcome their liberators,
16 April 1945 [©IWM (BU 3661)]

When the Queens Hussars arrived, it was noted that:

The Airborne beret predominated…And under each one was such a look of happiness and thankfulness that made us as happy to be the cause of it. It was a quiet crowd that thronged around us; they had had their cheer, and now when the moment came for words, few words came, mostly they were too moved to speak, men could only grin broadly and clasp your hand as the tears ran down their cheeks. [Museum of the Queens Own Hussars: The Liberation of Stalag XIB]

Raymond was held at the camp for 7 months and in April the following year he was transferred to the reserve and left the services. Returning to Hull, he lived at 238 James Reckitt Avenue with his wife and worked as a manager at a hardware dealers in the city. He died aged 50 on 19 February 1968 and was cremated at Chanterlands Crematorium.