GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY
Since that time he has completed seven more successful bombing operations, has been involved in a further fighter attack, and claims one more enemy fighter damaged.
This very gallant Officer is strongly recommended for the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross. ’
Ralph Campbell Chopping ‘was born on 12th September 1914 at Colchester, and was the son of Wasey Chopping, J.P. of that town. He entered the College from Charterhouse as an Open Exhibitioner in History, matriculating in 1933, and obtained First Class Honours in Jurisprudence in 1936. In 1934/5 he was Secretary of the College Committee for helping the St. Andrew’s Club, whose Summer camp he attended every year, and in 1935/6 he was Treasurer of the Tarberdars’ Committee, Secretary of the Moot Club and gained his hockey colours. He was also a member of the O.U. Air Squadron.
On leaving Oxford he joined the Colonial Administrative Service and spent some time as the Colonial Officer before going to Nigeria in 1938, where he became an Assistant District Officer. As a member of the Air Force Reserve he was called up in August 1939 and served for some time in the Middle East, flying medium bombers and transport aircraft. He returned home in 1943. In the following year he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery when his Lancaster was caught in bad weather while on a bombing raid. He ordered his crew to leave by parachute but himself remained at his post, eventually regaining control of the aircraft, jettisoning his bombs and effecting a safe landing.
After twenty-nine operational flights over Germany and France with Bomber Command he became a Pathfinder, and from his first operational flight in this capacity, when he went out to bomb the gun emplacements at Brest on 25/26th August 1944, he did not return.’ (Queen’s College, Oxford memorial book for the Second World War refers)
Chopping was posted for a refresher course at No. 4 F.T.S., Habbaniyah, Iraq, in September 1939. After completing a navigation course at Abu Sueir, he was posted to 223 Squadron (Vickers Welleslys), Khartoum, in February 1940. Chopping moved with the Squadron to Summit, in the Sudan, and became the Squadron Adjutant in June 1940. He remained with the Squadron in this capacity when it became an O.T.U. in Egypt, April 1941.
Returning to flying duties, Chopping was posted to 216 Squadron (Bombays), Transport Command, Khanka, near Cairo, in November 1941. He flew as 2nd Pilot, until he qualified as 1st Pilot in March 1942. Chopping assumed command of ‘A’ Flight in July 1942, detached to Amriya and then to El Adem, he was engaged in supply and casualty evacuation duties.
Chopping was posted back to the UK in March 1943, and was employed in a Staff capacity at H.Q. Transport Command, April - August 1943. He then transferred to Bomber Command for flying duties in September of the same year. Chopping’s subsequent postings included to 1536 Flight Grantham and No. 26 O.T.U., before being posted to 1651 Conversion Unit, Wratting Common, in December 1943. At the latter, having advanced to Flight Lieutenant, he converted to Stirlings. Chopping was then posted to 1678 Conversion Unit, Waterbeach, in January 1944. Here he converted to Lancasters before being posted for operational flying to 514 Squadron, Waterbeach, in February 1944.
Chopping flew in 28 operational sorties with the Squadron, including: Berlin (2); Stuttgart (2); Schweinfurt; Augsburg, 25 February 1944, ‘Load 1 2,000lb + Incendiaries. 3 Combats. 2 E/A Claimed Damaged’ (Log Books refers); Frankfurt; Laon Marshalling Yards; Rouen Marshalling Yards; Cologne; Dusseldorf; Karlsruhe; Friedrichshaven; Nantes; Cap Gris Nez; Le Mans; Duisberg, 21 May 1944, ‘Load: 1 x 8,000lbs + Incendiaries Two Combats. Bombed through 20000 ft of cloud’ (Ibid); Dortmund, 22 May 1944, see D.F.C. Recommendation above in addition to which his Log Book adds ‘All landed safely near Horsham, Norfolk except Sgt. Combe M.V.G. killed (’chute torn) & Sgt. Wilson W. Op. broken ankle’; Trappes Marshalling Yards; Lisieux, 6 June 1944 ‘In support of Invasion. Load 18 x 500 lbs’ (Ibid); Fougere Marshalling Yards, 8 June 1944; Nantes; Gelsenkirchen; Le Havre, 14 June 1944, ‘Docks. Load Eleven x 1,000 lbs Four x 500 lbs One Combat F.W. 190 claimed damaged’ (Ibid); Montiddier; Abbeville; Villers Bocage, 30 June 1944; and Vaires Marshalling Yards.
The Air Ministry News Service gave additional details of Chopping heroics during his abortive raid on Dortmund, which appeared in the Essex Telegraph:
‘After ordering his crew to bale out over East England, the pilot of a Lancaster flew his aircraft out to sea to drop his eight-thousand- pounder and a load of incendiaries.
He is Squadron Leader Ralph Campbell (Pin) Chopping, the flight commander in a Lancaster squadron, and a son of Mrs. Wasey Chopping, of Queen’s Road, Colchester.
Severe icing had broken down the wireless aerials; the gun turrets were frozen up; the perspex observation windows were shattered, and the aircraft had dived out of control for six thousand feet. Yet S/Ldr. Chopping flew out to sea and dropped his bombs, rather than jettison them over England.
S/Ldr. Chopping took off in “S for Sugar” to attack a German target. The weather was deteriorating, and even by the time he had reached seven hundred feet the Lancaster was coated with ice. There were dense clouds, and it was imperative to get above them. But the icing became worse, and at 10,000 feet the speed dropped and the Lancaster began losing height. Chunks of ice, flying off the propellers, beat a ceaseless tattoo on the wings and fuselage, smashing the perspex windows, tearing away the aerials, and putting the two turrets out of action. Finally the ice became so heavy that the Lancaster was forced down out of control.
It was after this that S/Ldr. Chopping decided that the only thing to do was to jettison the bombs. The crew wanted to stay with him, but S/Ldr. Chopping had made up his mind to go alone, and ordered the others to bale out. A minute later he was alone.
“It was as though somebody was continually pushing the Lancaster down with a giant’s hand,” S/Ldr. Chopping said. “The cloud was so thick that I couldn’t see a thing. The whole thing was like a nightmare. The black-out curtain between the cockpit and the navigator’s table light was flapping, the ice was rattling all over the fuselage.
I couldn’t climb, or increase the power of the engines. All I could do was try and hold the Lancaster on course and hope for the best. At last, when the aircraft was down to two thousand feet, the cloud began to break, and I managed to regain control.
I flew well out to sea before I dropped the bombs. When I released the eight-thousand-pounder the Lancaster jumped three hundred feet in the air, and I thought it might have been damaged. But it was all right; I got it back to the English coast. I ran into our own anti- aircraft fire then, and I had to alter course and make for the nearest airfield.” (newspaper cutting included in lot, refers)
Having advanced to Squadron Leader in May 1944, and having flown his last sortie with the 514 Squadron in July of the same year, Chopping was posted to join the Pathfinder Force. He joined 7 Squadron (Lancasters), Oakington, in August 1944, and took part in what was to be his last operational sortie of the war. On 25/26 August 1944, piloting Lancaster III NE123 MG-J, Chopping took off ‘2224 Oakington to attack a coastal battery [Brest]. Lost without trace.’ (Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War refers)
The crew of seven were all killed in action, and are all commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Sold with the following related documents: Royal Air Force Pilot’s Flying Log Book (13 September 1939 - 25 August 1944), stamped ‘Death Presumed. Central Depository, Royal Air Force, May 1946’, with first page annotated ‘Previous Flying Times Extracted from R.A. F.08 Log Books - Oxford University Air Squadron, 1934-6; R.A.F.O. Reading, 1937; R.A.F.V.R. White Waltham 1938’; Royal Air Force, Oxford University Air Squadron, Certificate of Proficiency, dated 25 September 1935; Buckingham Palace Condolence Slip addressed to Mrs A. M. Chopping; Royal Air Force, Note Book for Workshop & Laboratory Records; Queen’s College, Oxford memorial book for the Second World War, in which the recipient features; contemporary newspapers and cuttings, in several of which the recipient features; original copy of London Gazette, in which recipient’s D.F.C. was published; a large quantity of letters from recipient addressed to his mother written during his time in the Middle East; and a number of photographs from various stages of recipient’s schooling and university life - including a group photograph of the Oxford University Air Squadron.
www.dnw.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227 |
Page 228 |
Page 229 |
Page 230 |
Page 231 |
Page 232 |
Page 233 |
Page 234 |
Page 235 |
Page 236 |
Page 237 |
Page 238 |
Page 239 |
Page 240 |
Page 241 |
Page 242 |
Page 243 |
Page 244 |
Page 245 |
Page 246 |
Page 247 |
Page 248 |
Page 249 |
Page 250 |
Page 251 |
Page 252 |
Page 253 |
Page 254 |
Page 255 |
Page 256 |
Page 257 |
Page 258 |
Page 259 |
Page 260 |
Page 261 |
Page 262 |
Page 263 |
Page 264 |
Page 265 |
Page 266 |
Page 267 |
Page 268 |
Page 269 |
Page 270 |
Page 271 |
Page 272 |
Page 273 |
Page 274 |
Page 275 |
Page 276 |
Page 277 |
Page 278 |
Page 279 |
Page 280 |
Page 281 |
Page 282 |
Page 283 |
Page 284 |
Page 285 |
Page 286 |
Page 287 |
Page 288 |
Page 289 |
Page 290 |
Page 291 |
Page 292 |
Page 293 |
Page 294 |
Page 295 |
Page 296 |
Page 297 |
Page 298 |
Page 299 |
Page 300 |
Page 301 |
Page 302 |
Page 303 |
Page 304 |
Page 305 |
Page 306 |
Page 307 |
Page 308 |
Page 309 |
Page 310 |
Page 311 |
Page 312 |
Page 313 |
Page 314 |
Page 315 |
Page 316 |
Page 317 |
Page 318 |
Page 319 |
Page 320 |
Page 321 |
Page 322 |
Page 323 |
Page 324 |
Page 325 |
Page 326 |
Page 327 |
Page 328 |
Page 329 |
Page 330 |
Page 331 |
Page 332 |
Page 333 |
Page 334 |
Page 335 |
Page 336 |
Page 337 |
Page 338 |
Page 339 |
Page 340 |
Page 341 |
Page 342 |
Page 343 |
Page 344 |
Page 345 |
Page 346 |
Page 347 |
Page 348 |
Page 349 |
Page 350 |
Page 351 |
Page 352 |
Page 353 |
Page 354 |
Page 355 |
Page 356 |
Page 357 |
Page 358 |
Page 359 |
Page 360 |
Page 361 |
Page 362 |
Page 363 |
Page 364 |
Page 365 |
Page 366 |
Page 367 |
Page 368 |
Page 369 |
Page 370 |
Page 371 |
Page 372 |
Page 373
