550 Squadron Photos

Flight Lieutenant Jim Cassidy, DFC* (RAAF)

All of the photographs and documents on this page kindly made available by F/L James Cassidy DFC* (RAAF), a navigator with 550 Squadron.

S/L Caldow Crew

Photographs of the crew and in London for awarding of decorations at Buckingham Palace.

Photo	Comment
	The upper picture includes F/L Cassidy when collecting his Bar to DFC at Buckingham Palace in 1945. The lower picture shows the S/L Caldow crew, taken in North Killinghome in March 1945.
	Flight Lieutenant Cassidy in London on the occasion of his brother Hugh (Navy) collecting his DSM. F/L Cassidy (RAAF) and his brother Hugh Cassidy of the Navy (credited with a couple of kills on Baltic patrols where he served as a gunner). Three other Cassidy brothers served in Australian forces in the Pacific theatre, with the last brother still too young to join up when the war ended.

F/L Cassidy Medals

Front	Reverse	Description
		Left-to-right: DFC and Bar The 1939-1945 Star The Air-Crew Europe Star (France and Germany) The Defence Medal (1939-1945) War Medal (1939-1945) Australia Service Medal (1939-1945).

F/O Cassidy was awarded the DFC during his first tour with 626 Squadron (London Gazette 21 April 1944) for a specific incident as recorded in 626 Squadron crews (page 6). Later the then F/Lt Cassidy added a Bar to DFC completing his second tour with 550 Squadron, see London Gazette 23 October 1945.

Squadron and Operational Documents

Operations Lists

F/L Cassidy completed two full operational tours - the first with 626 Squadron and the second with 550 Squadron - and saw war service from 6th December 1942 until demobbed on 27th February 1946. He made a total of nine visits to Berlin during his time with the two squadrons. During the period of the two operational tours he was an instructor in Canada. Below are the full list of the operations undertaken on F/L Cassidy's two tours.

Photo	Comment
	F/L Cassidy, first tour ops (with 626 Sdqn out of Wickenby). Most of these operations were the subject of the book Lancaster Target by Jack Currie, Cassidy's pilot.
	Flight Lieutenant Cassidy second tour ops (with 550 Sdqn out of North Killingholme). The 2nd op, on BQ-B Phantom of the Ruhr, to Aschaffenburg was the last op for the Phantom; S/L Caldow, a very experienced pilot, had her grounded on their return as no longer air-worthy. Some other flights were "exciting". For example, the operation to Ulm on NG336 on 17th December: NG336 was hit, not by flak, but by incendaries from an aircraft flying above (a not uncommon occurence); a fuel tank was pierced but amazingly they managed to limp home. Later F/E Steve George expressed astonishment the tank had not ignited.

Photo

Comment

F/L Cassidy, first tour ops (with 626 Sdqn out of Wickenby).

Most of these operations were the subject of the book Lancaster Target by Jack Currie, Cassidy's pilot.

Flight Lieutenant Cassidy second tour ops (with 550 Sdqn out of North Killingholme).

The 2nd op, on BQ-B Phantom of the Ruhr, to Aschaffenburg was the last op for the Phantom; S/L Caldow, a very experienced pilot, had her grounded on their return as no longer air-worthy.

Some other flights were "exciting". For example, the operation to Ulm on NG336 on 17th December: NG336 was hit, not by flak, but by incendaries from an aircraft flying above (a not uncommon occurence); a fuel tank was pierced but amazingly they managed to limp home. Later F/E Steve George expressed astonishment the tank had not ignited.

550 Squadron Battle Order 06/12/2010

Photo	Comment
	550 Squadron battle order on the night of 16 March 1945 Sadly one of the crews on the list (NG336, pilot F/O Liefooghe) FTR from this operation. F/O Liefooghe became a PoW but the remainder of the crew were killed. Click here for details.

Other documents to come: copy of the map showing the route taken on the flight to and from Dresden.

Service Record Documents

Training in Canada 19/12/2010

Like many air-crew F/L Cassidy did his training in Canada. Some of the documents associated with his time in Canada are shown below.

Photo	Comment
	RCAF ID Card (although a RAAF service-man) while stationed in Halifax in 1942.

Front	Reverse	Description
		Vaccination date certified while at No. 12 "Y" Depot, RCAF Halifax, NS.

Citation: Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross 06/12/2010

Link	Comment
	Flight Lieutenant James Cassidy, Citation for Bar to DFC Source: http://www.awm.gov.au/: Australian War Memorial - Honours and Awards

Service Career Documentation 16/01/2011

Most of these documents have been obtained from the National Archive of Australia, available from the http://www.awm.gov.au/ (Australian War Memorial) web-site. This site provides an online application service (http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/) to allow relatives and researchers to apply for service records of veterans.

The Australian Government also publishes a Veteran Certificate for servicemen.

Document	Comment
	DFC Citation Source: National Archive of Australia (and with permission of F/L James Cassidy)
	Citation for Bar to DFC Source: National Archive of Australia (and with permission of F/L James Cassidy)
	Return from Active Service Badge Source: National Archive of Australia (and with permission of F/L James Cassidy)
	Operational, Non-Operational and and Training Details Detailing training in Canada on Ansons and HCU on Halifax and Lancasters Active operations with 626 and 550 Squadrons Source: F/L James Cassidy (by way of AU site)
	Certificate of Service Source: National Archive of Australia (and with permission of F/L James Cassidy)
	Certificate of Service and Discharge Source: National Archive of Australia (and with permission of F/L James Cassidy)

On Ops: Dresden 19/12/2010

Notes made by F/L Cassidy when recording his experiences with RAAF. These notes are from an addendum to a family history in which he records a typical day in the life of an operational air crew of Bomber Command, and in particular he describes the raids on Dresden.

Addendum, page 1. Stationed at North Killingholme	Addendum, page 2. Crew informed they would be taking part in the Dresden Raid	Addendum, page 3. Route details to Dresden
Addendum, page 4.	Addendum, page 5. Return from Dresden and debriefing	Addendum, page 6. Extract from the book "Churchill - A Life" by Martin Gilbert detailing the reasons for the Dresen raid.

Document	Comment
	Addendum to Notes - full document, 6 pages, ca. 4.5M Source: F/L James Cassidy

Cullybackey Branch Royal British Legion: War Time Memories

Below are a few pages from a booklet, War Time Memories, published a number of years ago by Cullybackey Branch Royal British Legion. The booklet features an article by F/L James Cassidy, a navigator with RAF 550 Squadron.