Ellison flew 42 operational sorties during the war against targets across Europe
Owen Ellison was one of the last survivors of one of the RAF’s lesser-known but most successful campaigns of the Second World War: the mining of the River Danube between April and October 1944, which disrupted the supply of oil from Romania to Germany.
Flown at night from bases in central Italy, the RAF raids proved highly effective as sunken ships, barges and tugs paralysed the river. Sixteen British aircraft and their crews were lost.
Ellison, then a flying officer with 70 Squadron, was the pilot of a Vickers Wellington twin-engine bomber who had seen action in north Africa in support of the Eighth Army and would receive the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions over the Danube.
The aircrews, who were required to “sow” mines in the river by the light of the moon, referred to their operations as “gardening”. It was hugely risky and demanded cool heads from the pilots, who faced flak, fighters and barrage balloons as they flew at very low level — as little as 50ft above the water — to release the mines. The weapons used were newly developed “acoustic” mines — the aircrews nicknamed them “cucumbers” — that would lie just below the surface and, unlike conventional mines, could not be easily spotted.
Ellison flew regularly on these missions from his base at Tortorella, Italy. He remembered one night when the aircraft ahead of him dropped to low level over the river and then attempted to fly under a bridge, but hit the structure and exploded. “We had to fly virtually at stalling speed, about 200-300ft above the water. Just before the drop took place we would have to descend to about 50-60ft . . . finally, we would ease the mines into the water and return to base.”
He flew 42 operational sorties during the war against targets across Europe. Afterwards he remained in the RAF and was later involved in secret missions to parachute agents into North Korea. In 1954 he was promoted to squadron leader. He retired in 1959.
Cecil Owen Ellison was born in York in 1919, the only son and second child of Cecil Ellison and his wife, Madge (née De Little). His father served as a captain in the West Yorkshire Regiment in the First World War. He had been gassed in the trenches and was severely disabled, but worked as the manager of York railway station. Cecil’s mother was from a wealthy family of Yorkshire printers.
He went to school in York, where he excelled at running. He left in 1936 and volunteered for the RAF, starting as a trainee fitter. He was sent to North America for flying training in 1941, returning in 1943 when he received his wings. On one occasion he visited Hollywood and saw the actor Gregory Peck on set, which was something he preferred to recall when asked about “his war”.
After leaving the RAF, Ellison was employed by a firm of book publishers as its salesman in the Caribbean. His duties took him to Barbados, where he made his home. He bought a guest house with 12 bedrooms called Sunset Lodge, which he ran as a business. There, in the bar, he met Jean Edgehill, a local Bajan, and married her. There were no children. She survives him.
By 1965 he had sold Sunset Lodge to a Canadian firm, but then ran the company’s stable of west coast hotels, including Discovery Bay, Tamarind Cove, the Colony Club and Coconut Creek. The Ellisons bought Coconut Creek in the late Sixties and began to devote themselves to running the hotel, where the Cricketers Bar was a popular destination. Happy hour started as early as 9am, while Jean served rum punches that became the stuff of legend. The couple were renowned bon viveurs.
The hotel welcomed many famous guests, not least the actor Oliver Reed, who once offered to drive Ellison’s nephew to the airport. Neither of them made it after the English actor, famous for his unhealthy lifestyle, stopped at every rum bar on the way.
When they sold the business in 1985 the hotel was replaced by a residential development, but the Ellisons famously ran an “open bar” at their home in Holetown, Barbados. Known to all on the island as the “commander”, Ellison rarely talked about the war, but remained active to a grand old age, and was even seen dancing at The Waterfront in Bridgetown at the age of 95.
Squadron Leader Owen Ellison, DFC, bomber pilot and hotelier, was born on September 28, 1919. He died on September 30, 2018, aged 99
No comments:
Post a Comment