Horndean War Memorial

Thanks for your letter and your suggestion for a memorial to PO Ted Wicky and PO Ossie Mountford.

Ted was a long-standing friend of mine, and we went through good times and bad times together. We were both finishing our second turn of operations – 12 months of continuous operational flying. We were the only two flying ops that night – the weather was dreadful. I managed to find the airfield and make a safe landing, but Ted was not so fortunate.

The next day I had to fly to another airfield on the Somme River. That’s where we operated for the next few weeks, until I was due to have a rest from operational flying.

I knew Ted well and the day before he was killed, I could see he was physically and mentally worn out. He should have been pulled off operationally flying there and then – but these things happen in a war. I am sure that what ever you do for a memorial to Ted and Ossie will be done with every consideration.

I myself prefer granite stone with a plaque, mainly because of its permanency. The Squadron logo depicts a magpie – very familiar in Australia. Whatever you do will be much appreciated by the remaining members of 464 and the relatives of Ted and Ossie.

Yours sincerely
Gordon Nunn

Still, they went out night after night and the flak became worse, but with February came the melting of the snow. Our Squadron losses still averaged one a night. In quick succession we lost three very popular crews. On the 2nd, it was Pilot Officer Jack Carter and his navigator Pilot Officer Ross Seaman. Both these boys, and thy were only boys, had recently been promoted to Officer status being awarded the D.F.M.

Another recent promotion was Australian Ted Wicky. Ted hadn’t been in the mess long. He was from Manly, NSW, and like the previous two had had recently been decorated for bravery. He proudly took his best blue uniform to Lilian, who was on duty behind the reception desk and asked if she would sew the “blue and white striped ribbon” beneath his wings. She gladly obliged.

Two nights later whilst returning from an op, Ted and his navigator, Pilot Officer Mountford, crashed in the circuit area in poor visibility. They had completed their trip to the Rhur and it was thought they may have used valuable fuel, chasing a V1 rocket on their way home, that finally led to them running out of fuel in the circuit area. The aircraft crashed into the town hall in Horndean, three miles from Thorney, but luckily the large crowd that had attended a dance that night had already vacated the premises.

The following day I visited the scene but there was little left. Indications were that the aircraft had gone straight through the wall, skidded across the floor and finally broken up against the far wall.

Finest of mortal friends, I’ll not forget,
When war’s a faded memory in the land,
Which once stood tensely in the closing net,
I’ll think of what is past – and understand.

Yours was a truthful voice among the lies,
Unshaken by the falsehoods that were rife,
You were the men with level, fearless eyes,
Who lived with death, yet still believed in life.

Laughter was yours, that held not bitter sting,
That bubbled up more quickly than the rest,
Your steadfast friendship was a sacred thing,
And I who held it was doubly blessed.

Decades of easy peace may go their way,
And tide and time with drift us far apart,
But you who shared our savage yesterday,
Will hold the highest place in my heart.

Archie Morgan 464 Sqdn