January 8, 1945 - The Harris Crew Arrives at 550 Squadron

From the Operations Record Book:  

The Squadron was stood down from operations and owing to the bad weather, no flying of any kind took place.  Ground training in the form of lectures, link training, physical exercise and games was the order of the day.

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Nicol in front of a Nissen hut, likely taken at 550 Squadron January 1945.
Photographer unknown.  Source: Linda Rosenbaum.

On January 8, 1945, the Harris Crew - Ditson, Harris, Hicks, Kelleher, Nicol, Smith and Yemen - was assigned to 550 Squadron.  January 1945 was very cold and snowy, so little flying took place.  The weather proved so terrible, the squadron would only able to operate on six occasions the entire month. 

In 550 Squadron: The Wartime Story of a Lancaster Squadron, Patrick Otter describes the base:

“RAF North Killingholme was never the most appealing of places at the best of times but in in January 1945 it must have felt like one of the worst places in the country for the young men and women stationed there.  If it wasn’t raining there was a gale blowing.  If the trees weren’t being blown down it was snowing.  And it certainly snowed that January.  At times drifts were waist deep across the airfield.”

“Living conditions were also miserable.  There were icicles everywhere (and not just outside) and when the frost became so bad pipes burst and for part of the month much of the camp was without water.”

As for the above-mentioned physical exercise and games, recreation on base included billiards, table tennis and regular film showings. A sports field (of little use under mounds of snow) was available for the crews in South Killingholme, and swimming pool was made available by the Royal Navy in North Killingholme.