The Airmen's Stories - Sgt. R V Forward

Ronald Victor Forward was born on 17th May 1919 in Millport, on the island of Great Cumbrae, Firth of Clyde. He was a clerk with the engineering company British Thomson-Houston when he joined the RAFVR in August 1938 as an Airman u/t Pilot. He did his pre-war flying at 12 E&RFTS Prestwick.

Called up on 1st September 1939, Forward went to 10 FTS Ternhill for 16 Course which ran from 6th November 1939 to 11th May 1940.

He joined 257 Squadron, then being reformed at Hendon, on 17th May. He and Sergeants RHB Fraser and AG Girdwood were the first three pilots to arrive.

On a dawn patrol on 9th July Forward intercepted a Do17. He fired all his ammunition but without any apparent result and made no claim. It was discovered that the enemy aircraft finally crashed near Antwerp.

Above image courtesy of the Graham Saunders Archive.

On 28th July Forward's Hurricane, P3622, was seriously damaged in combat with Me109's over the Channel off Dover and he made a crash-landing at Hawkinge, slightly injured, writing the aircraft off.

His last three flights, two of them operational sorties, were made on 12th August 1940.

Soon afterwards Forward was rested and did not return to operational flying. Commissioned in March 1944 in the Admin Branch, he was released from the RAF in 1946 as a Flying Officer.

Postwar he was a sales manager for various companies.

Forward died in 1995 in Glasgow.

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April 2025 - Geoff Forward has kindly sent this more detailed account of his father's life:

Ronald Victor Forward was born Victor Ronald Forward on 17th May 1919 in Cardiff Street, Millport on the Isle of Bute. Named Victor, having been born soon after WW1 he always styled himself Ronald Victor Forward, possibly due to feeling that Victor was somewhat pretentious.

His mother, Winifred (nee Allen) and father Harry Drury Forward moved from London, Camberwell, with their children Douglas Harry (5), and Muriel Winifred (6) to Scotland around 1918/19 and took the only rented accommodation they could find or afford, which was a holiday let in Millport.

When the summer season arrived, they had to move and travelled to Glasgow. They stayed in several rented tenement properties in the Partick area of Glasgow , including one in Peel Street, finally settling in a ground floor flat at 45 Gardner Street. (Winifred died there in 1966).

Douglas and Muriel with her daughter Joyce lived there until about 1980, buying the property before moving to Anniesland. Ron and Maud moved to a room and kitchen flat at 33 Gardner Street after the birth of Pat (1947) but before the birth of Geoff (1949). When Maud was expecting Valerie they had to move to something bigger and took on a derelict top floor, 2-storey flat at 25 Broomhill Drive.

Ronald had two further siblings, both boys and both died in infancy. Kenneth Richard at 8 months and Bernard Reginald Arthur at 12 months.

Ronald followed his brother Douglas into Hyndland Secondary School (1930-1933), where he stayed as a pupil until the age of 14.

Above: Ron circa 1930.

He always maintained that he had to leave school early to earn money as his father had died. Records show, however that Harry Forward did not die until 1937, when Ron would have been 18.

Above: Hyndland School 1920s (Ron at Front centre).

Douglas and Ron were very early members of the 72nd Glasgow Boy Scout Troup, meeting in a hut at the foot of Clarence Drive, until it burned down. They enjoyed camping in places like Auchengillan and on occasions took the Friday night bus to Ardentinny. Ron tells of his mother sewing up his eiderdown quilt in to a sleeping bag on Friday and unpicking it again for the Monday. Among many activities they enjoyed in the remoteness of Argyllshire were diving for fresh water mussels for pearls, and baking in an oven made from an old style biscuit tin.

Ron’s first job was with British Thomson Houston (BTH later to become AEI). He says started as an 'office boy' but his RAF record has him as a credit clerk and junior salesman in 1933.

He went on to become sales manager and later regional manager of AEI Lamps and Lighting (Mazda Lamps) until the 1960s when he was made redundant following a 3 way merger. He was presented with a long service letter (30 years) in 1963, and was Chairman of the Electrical Trades Association 1960-1962.

He was also an early member of Milngavie Golf Club, and was later joined by Douglas with whom he shared a passion for the game, playing every Sunday and for 2 weeks in the summer holidays, until ill health forced him to retire.

Above: Ron and Douglas circa 1950.

For many years after the war Ron, later joined by Douglas, was a frequent visitor to the Glasgow Branch of the RAF Club in Ashley Street near Charing Cross.

On 31st August 1938, with war looming, he joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve, training at Prestwick at the weekends, and possibly Glasgow at night on some weekdays. He told me that one of the three who travelled to Prestwick had a small car. His friends AG (Archie) Girdwood and RHB (Bobby) Fraser were taught to fly on Tiger Moths and Hawker Harts.

Above: Ron in a Tiger Moth, possibly at Prestwick.

On 1st September 1939 they transferred to Glasgow T.C. (Training Corps ?) and on 6th November were sent to No. 10 Flying Training School at Tern Hill in Shropshire. It also appears they spent some time at No. 11 FTS, also in Shropshire at Shawbury.

Above: Ron at Prestwick c.1938.

When war was declared they converted to the American-built Harvard.

Above: Ron circa 1939.

On 11th May 1940 the three friends were posted to 257 Squadron which was being re-formed at Hendon. The squadron was originally formed in 1918 as the Burma Squadron with the motto 'Death or Glory'.

They arrived at Hendon, having walked with all their kit from Colindale station, and were surprised to find that nobody there had heard of a 257 squadron.

They were soon joined by Kenneth Barton Smith (who later went missing in mysterious circumstances) and F/Lt. Noel Hall who, as they were the only ones there, acted as CO until S/Ldr. Bayne took over. They were the only pilots there for the first two weeks.

Within the next few weeks other pilots and ground crew arrived along with the first Spitfires. About the same time they were joined by F/O Bowyer who had already flown Spitfires and was able to show them the instruments and controls. After a few hours of familiarisation and formation flying they were deemed operational.

S/Ldr. Bayne had flown in WW1 and had a leg amputated following a flying accident in 1935. It would appear that this appointment was perhaps not the best choice.

Ron was quite disparaging of him in his letter to a private collector and confirms that S/Ldr. Bayne never flew with them. He was also blamed for a later unpopular switch from Spitfires to Hurricanes. Another source is quoted in the newspaper article about the disappearance of Sgt. KB Smith - "….the beginning of a series of blunders that resulted in the squadron suffering heavy losses and a slump in morale to a very low ebb in the coming conflict.”

Ron maintained that, with the exception of himself and one pilot who was in Canada (Charles Frizell), all of the original members of 257 Squadron were killed in action. Actually RC Nutter also survived the war.

Due to lack of space the squadron moved to Northolt on 4th July, where they were equipped with the Hurricane Mk.1.

A few days later, on 9th July, F/Lt. Noel Hall, P/O Frizell and Sgt. Forward were ordered up at 05.45 for a dawn patrol over Dover. At 22,000 feet Ron engaged a Do17 and fired all his ammunition. No hit was confirmed but the Dornier later crashed near Antwerp. This was the first operational scramble for the squadron and Ron’s first engagement with the enemy.

On 22nd July S/Ldr. Bayne, now 32 years old, was promoted to Wing Commander and posted to Fighter Command HQ at Bentley Priory. He was replaced by S/Ldr. Hill Harkness.

For the rest of July the squadron operated from Hawkinge.

While 257 squadron was based at Northolt, at dawn on most days they flew to their forward bases at Hawkinge, Tangmere or Manston.

The events of 28th July are recalled by F/O RMS Rayner:

“..at lunchtime the squadron was ordered forward to Hawkinge. Twelve aircraft, lead by S/Ldr. Harkness arrived at 13.15. After only 15 minutes on the ground they were sent to patrol over Dover. After nearly an hour of no activity, 257 Squadron was ordered back to Hawkinge. Their formation had become separated into two groups: Red and Green Sections were together ahead, but Blue and Yellow were further back.

In preparation for the landing, each section then changed formation from line astern into vics of three. In the rear group, Blue Section was to the left and above Yellow Section. Blue leader was 18 year old P/O Frizell. He waved to his wingman in the vic to tighten the formation and as Sgt. Forward on his left closed to within a few feet, P/O Frizell saw streaks of white tracer flash past his colleague’s Hurricane (P3622).

I warned him over the R/T to break, at the same time breaking up and into a tight left hand climbing turn myself. I came round onto the rear of a Hurricane which I could easily have shot down. Thinking there must be an Me109 somewhere I broke away to look behind me but saw no other aircraft. When I returned to the Hurricane I saw it disappearing in the distance below cloud in the direction of France".

Sgt. Forward had also seen the streaks of tracer passing over his wings and hood, but some had found their mark and struck his petrol and glycol tanks. Fuel gushed into the cockpit filling it with fumes and soaking his legs. Oil started to cover the windscreen. He was at 5,000 ft, just below cloud base and in a clear patch. He opened the hood to bale out, but the fumes cleared a little and finding he still had some control over the aircraft, and he was getting quite low, he changed his mind and decided to stay with it.

Closer to the ground he tried to lower his flaps, but they would not operate; then the undercarriage, but only one leg came down and stubbornly refused to be raised. The engine was popping occasionally but he dared not open the throttle fearing a fire.

The Hurricane hit the ground (narrowly avoiding high tension cables) and slithered to a halt at the edge of a cornfield on Langdon Abbey Farm near West Langdon, some 4 miles north of Dover. The aircraft was badly damaged (and later would be written off), but miraculously it did not catch fire and Sgt. Forward was able to scramble out relatively unscathed.

Carrying his parachute he made his way across the field to a road where he was given a lift to a nearby farmhouse. The kind offer of a cigarette was politely declined – there being the distinct possibility that more than just smoke might have been the outcome.

From the farmhouse Sgt. Forward was transferred to the local ARP post (by 2 RN Officers) and then on to what he described as a ‘naval dressing station' where his fuel soaked flying kit was exchanged for a sailor’s jumper and trousers. While the high octane fuel was being allowed to evaporate off he learned that he was not the only pilot in the building as upstairs lay the body of fellow Glaswegian VR pilot Archie Finnie. Pre-war they had both trained at Prestwick, and after call up were together at Tern Hill FTS. Finnie then went on to 54 Squadron flying Spitfires and had been shot down and killed 3 days earlier. Sgt. Forward was then taken by RN Officers to an aerodrome, possibly Lympne which was badly damaged.

Apart from the trauma of having been a potential petrol bomb, Sgt Forward’s physical injuries were not severe, being mainly the result of the soaking in the cockpit, although his eyes suffered from contact with the fuel and oil. He was released by the medical authorities and allowed to return to Northolt, but he would be off flying for a few days.

He now had the distinction of not only being the squadron’s first pilot to engage the enemy, but also its first to have been shot down: but whose victim had he been ?

Local people on the ground in the area where he had come down, told him they had seen two aircraft come out of a cloud near our fighters. They heard machine-gun fire and then as the Hurricane fell away, the two aircraft climbed back into the clouds. P/O Frizell, back at Northolt reported what he had seen and was of the opinion that the attacker was either a captured Hurricane being used by the opposition or one of our own who had made a mistake.

It was to be several days before Ron’s next flight on 5th August, which was recorded as a test flight. On 7th August the squadron was sent to North Weald but were not ordered off on any sorties.

On the evening of 7th August convoy CW9 “Peewit”, consisting of 20 merchant ships and 9 escort vessels, steamed out of the River Medway hoping to break through the English Channel under the cover of darkness. In the next 24 hours the largest aerial conflict to date was to be witnessed.

The next day, 8th August, 257 Squadron was relaxing at Northolt enjoying the early morning sun when they were told to move to their forward base at Tangmere and remain there in a state of readiness. Word began to filter through that a large British convoy, now approaching the Isle of Wight , was under severe attack by enemy E-Boats and Ju87 dive bombers. In fact CW9 had been seen on German radar as it navigated the narrow strip between Dover and Calais and had already been reduced to 16 merchant ships.

At midday Sgt. KB Smith, in Hurricane R4094, and nine Hurricanes from 257 Squadron (including Sgt. Forward in aircraft P3620) were scrambled to intercept the large enemy formation. Ron recalls “We were members of B Flight, leading the squadron with Noel Hall at the head with Kenneth and I at Nos. 2 & 3. We sighted 20 Ju88s bombing a convoy and went in to attack. Afterwards we were completely split up and when I returned to Tangmere out of ammunition and with large holes in one wing, Hall and Smith had failed to return”.

It was later established that the large formations of bombers had, as a high cover escort, approximately 30 Me109s and 20 Me110s. These aircraft dived on the squadron and, as well as Smith and Hall, they also shot down in that opening encounter P/O B D’Arcy-Irvine.

43 Squadron from Tangmere was scrambled soon after 257 Squadron and among its members was Sgt. HJL Hallowes whose combat report recalls the events of that day.

“While on patrol as Green 2 over the Isle of Wight, I sighted approximately 12 aircraft some 40 miles south-west of our position with the sun at my back. I noticed wave after wave of enemy aircraft coming after the first 12, in all I should say there were no less than 50 enemy aircraft. Four or five detached themselves from the main party as we engaged and one Me110 came in taking a deflection shot at my aircraft. I turned sharply to avoid this fire and found myself about 300 yards and slightly to starboard of an Me109 – I gave a short burst of about 2 seconds taking approximately 30 degrees deflection. The enemy aircraft immediately burst into flames and dived vertically. The pilot baled out at about 10,000-15,000 ft., this was seen by my CO who was flying Green1.”

I was then fired at by a Hurricane which came in from the beam but his shots appeared to go about 100 yards astern of me. I then gave another short burst at two Me109s in fairly close formation – these two parted and turned back towards France, one diving steeply. A few minutes later I noticed two Me109s going down in flames and one Hurricane going down in a spin. The pilot of the Hurricane appeared to bale out before hitting the sea”

Hallows then shot down a second Me109 before he returned safely to base. Fighter Command lost 20 aircraft that day (the Luftwaffe lost 31), the largest number so far since the war started.

On 12th August, again operating from Tangmere, the squadron attacked numerous enemy aircraft (estimated at 500, bombers escorted by fighters) between Tangmere, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. After attacking one aircraft, Sgt. Forward climbed up again to about 10,000 ft. and fainted. He came to when his plane was about 1,500 ft. spinning down with his engine full on. He closed the throttle, pulled the aircraft out of the spin and succeeded in reaching his base.

This would seem to be the last flight recorded for Ron who was admitted to RAF Hospital Halton on the 18th August. He was 'Rested from operations' as Severely Shocked and did not return to operational flying.

It had been a relatively short but eventful and traumatic time for a 21 year old. It was just 3 months since he had first been introduced to the modern powerful Spitfire/Hurricane fighter after completion of training. Hardly sufficient time to become experienced on the type, let alone skilled in a combat situation – like so many in 257 Squadron at that time, and many did not survive those first few months. Indeed as stated above of all the original members of the squadron only Ron Forward, Charles Frizell and R Nutter survived the war.

Above: Charles Frizell, born 3rd October 1921, at 18 years old in the summer of 1940, was 257 Squadron’s youngest pilot. He returned to Canada postwar.

The 12th August would see the last three flights by Ron Forward, two of which were operational.

However on 31st August, two weeks after Ron was admitted to hospital, his comrade P/O Gerard Maffet (above) was killed. His aircraft was retrieved years later from where it fell in the Essex marshes and he was commemorated in the limited print by Geoff Hunt, 'A Grand Aircraft'.

The story is also told in Geoff Rayner’s book 'One Hurricane One Raid' (above).

Having been rested from operations Ron was posted from Debden to a series of RAF bases before entering Officer’s School on 16th February 1944.

Above: Ron seated bottom right.

First to RAF Horsham St. Faith in Sussex (24/2/1941). – (In August 1941, an aircraft flying from Horsham St. Faith en route to attack a power station at Gosnay, dropped a box by parachute over the south-west corner of the airfield at St. Omer-Longeunesse, containing a pair of legs for Wing Commander Douglas Bader who had been shot down over France and had lost his artificial limbs in the process.)

Ron was posted to RAF West Malling on (6/12/1941) also known as Maidstone Airport.

Then to RAF Hunsdon in Hertfordshire (27/3/1942) near Harlow.

In September 1942 he went to RAF Aldermaston in Berkshire. It was probably here he encountered the American Pilots he often talked about, possibly as an instructor.

He then went north to RAF Catterick (17/11/43) 'renamed RAF Scorton', which appears to be a satellite station to Catterick. It was here that he met his future wife, Maud (Collinson) a Sergeant in the WAAF.

Ron & Maud on a Visit to York Minster.

Both before and after Officer’s School Ron was acting as an instructor. He often mentioned American and Polish Pilots that he trained.

Ron using a Link Trainer.

Ron attended Instructors courses, including using the Link Trainer, before entering Officer’s School in February 1944. He was commissioned into the Administration Branch as an Acting Pilot Officer (below) on 16/3/1944, Pilot Officer on 11/5/1944 and on 11/11/1944 he was promoted to Flying Officer.

He was released from the RAF in 1946 as a Flying Officer.

In 1959 he relinquished his commission (as per reserves act 1954/1959) and returned to civilian life.

Above: Ron standing left when employed by Mazda Ltd.