Jock Cassels must have completed among the highest number of bombing operations. I wonder why he was never promoted above Squadron Leader? Maybe he wasn't that bothered; promotion often meant flying a desk. Squadron Leader Jock Cassels - Telegraph Squadron Leader Jock Cassels Squadron Leader Jock Cassels, who has died aged 86, completed 119 operations as a bomber pilot over Occupied Europe, including 27 against Berlin – on his 13th visit to the "Big City", his Mosquito was so badly damaged that he was forced to head for Sweden, where he crash-landed. Cassels had already completed a full tour of operations with the main bomber force in November 1943 when he joined No 139 Pathfinder Squadron as part of the Light Night Striking Force. The squadron was equipped with Canadian-built Mosquito bombers, modified to carry an accurate radar device used to mark targets. It also carried out "siren tours", which ranged over the Reich dropping 500lb bombs on each of three or four targets. When the force appeared over a town the sirens were sounded – hence the name. Although the bombing did little damage, man-hours were lost in factories; townspeople were left sleepless; and the ground defences were kept on the alert. Flying at high level, the Mosquito was relatively immune from anti-aircraft fire. But on the night of May 6/7 1944 the windscreen of Cassels's aircraft was hit by flak over Ludwigshafen. The shrapnel passed through the cockpit and exited through a side panel without injuring him or his navigator. On June 11 he was attacking Berlin when his aircraft was again hit by flak. One engine was disabled, so that there was no chance of the aircraft returning to base. But he reached Sweden, where he was met by desultory anti-aircraft fire before making a wheels-up landing in a ploughed field, near Bollerup. The aircraft was badly damaged, but he and his navigator survived with a few bruises. The next day Cassels's parents received a telegram from the Air Ministry informing them that he was missing in action, but they had already had a phone call from a BOAC pilot who had just flown from Stockholm to Britain delivering ball bearings; he told them that their son was fit and well, but had been interned. Cassels remained at Fallun for three months' "holiday" until he was exchanged with German PoWs and returned to Britain. Following his debriefing at the Air Ministry he returned to No 139 and remained on operations with them until the end of hostilities, flying his last wartime operation on April 25 1945, when he attacked the Kiel Canal. Few bomber pilots had flown such a long period of sustained operations. Cassels was awarded a Bar to the DFC he had received earlier. His citation stated that he had "proved himself a most skilful and courageous pilot. His outstanding ability to make quick decisions in the most arduous circumstances, together with his tenacity of purpose and eager enthusiasm have set an example to all pilots." The son of Captain Andrew Cassels, MC, of the 9th Cameronians, James Ronald Cassels was born in Alexandria on April 2 1922 and educated at Ayr Academy and the Royal Technical College, Glasgow. Despite his parents' wish that he should study Aeronautical Engineering at university, he joined the RAF at the first opportunity and trained as a pilot. Cassels was just 20 when he was commissioned and joined No 106 Squadron, whose CO was Wing Commander Guy Gibson, later of "Dam Busters" fame. It was equipped with the Manchester bomber, an aircraft that was found wanting and was soon taken out of service. Following two minelaying sorties, regarded as "freshman ops", he took part in the first 1,000-bomber raid on Cologne on the night of May 30/31 1942, when he flew as second pilot of a Manchester. After converting to the Lancaster he went on to complete another 26 operations, which included attacks against Essen, Duisberg and Hamburg, with his final sortie taking him to Turin. In February 1943 he was awarded a DFC. Cassels remained in the RAF after the war, specialising in night fighter operations and converting to jets. He served on the intelligence staff in Singapore, and was the RAF liaison officer at the large USAF airfield at Mildenhall, Suffolk, before retiring in 1965. He immediately joined the Civil Anti-Aircraft Unit at Exeter, flying jet fighters in support of air defence units and the Royal Navy. He remained with the organisation when it was replaced by the Fleet Requirements Air Defence Unit, and flew high-performance Hunter jets before leaving when he was 55. He then joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve training branch, and spent the next five years flying cadets of the Air Training Corps in Chipmunks. By the time he hung up his flying goggles in 1981, Cassels had amassed 11,300 hours' flying time. The citations for both his DFCs testified to his tenacity, a quality that was a prominent characteristic throughout his life. During a formal parade in the early 1950s the then Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir John Slessor, noticed Cassels wearing the Pathfinder wings beneath his medal ribbons, and commented that he thought authority to wear them had been withdrawn. Cassels was incensed, and referred his grievance to the Pathfinder Association. He felt fully vindicated when he was able to alert Slessor's office that the King had authorised the continued wearing of the badge. Jock Cassels, who died on December 19, married, in 1953, Ruth Eldred. The marriage was dissolved and he married his second wife, Ellen, in 1964. She died only seven months later, and he is survived by a son and a daughter of his first marriage.
Sounds like certainly didn't want promotion if it entailed a non-flying role Squadron Leader J R Cassels DFC* - Art prints and originals signed by Squadron Leader J R Cassels DFC*
