Memories of RAF Dallachy

About William Mullen

2007-10-30T14:05:00.001Z

My father, Squadron Leader William Mullen was Senior Operations Officer at Dallachy during 1944-45. He died in 1972 and I want to honour him and all the airmen who fought and died in the Dallachy Strike Wing by sharing his personal collection of photographs and some of his notes.

I hope you find this weblog useful and I would be delighted if you leave a comment.

From my father's notes (the full text can be downloaded here):

"Up to September 1944, RAF Station Dallachy had been a training station and had to be reorganized for operations. Our area of operations was to be the Norwegian coast. As the Senior Squadron Leader I was Senior Operations Officer and was responsible for the Operations Room.

We now settled down with four squadrons: 1 English, RAF144; 1 Australian, RAAF455; 1 Canadian, RCAF404; 1 New Zealander, RNZAF489, a real mixture if ever there was one. The squadrons, although of different nationalities, worked well together and team spirit soon developed.

Flying in general and operational flying in particular requires a certain temperament. Periods of gloom occasioned by operational losses must of necessity be short lived. Otherwise, the aggressive high spirits necessary for successful operations would soon be subdued and lost.

Life on an RAF Station in war time tends to become rather small town. One is thrown into close contact with those people with whom one works, and it is essential that those companions be friendly and congenial.

I remained at Dallachy through May 1945 when I was posted to Training Command."

Original Photographs

2007-10-30T13:13:00.001Z

S/L William Mullen	W Mullen on duty

George (Buzz) Beurling. W Mullen was Beurling's instructor in England.	Calgary Herald - Sept 1943

W Mullen having a break	Norwegian intelligence assistant

Dallachy Ops Room recce photographs	Dallachy Ops Room staff

Dallachy Ops Room	A friend of W Mullen from 144 Squadron

Getting ready	Climbing into the cockpit, and looks like the windscreen is getting a clean.

Beaufighter at Dallachy	Spitfire at Dallachy

Beaufighters of 144, 404, 455 and 489 Squadrons over Norway

2007-10-30T13:02:00.000Z

Beaufighters of 455 Squadron Movie

2007-10-30T12:52:00.001Z

This movie is based on historical events. It was produced by Russell Boyd using the IL2 Flight Simulator game. 455 Squadron of the RAAF moved to Dallachy in October 1944 and flew anti-shipping missions during World War 2 . W Mullen was aquainted with some of these men shown in the pictures.

You can download a high quality version HERE