Tommy Hulme’s story
Written by his Daughter Liz Rothwell
Richard Kukura, my father’s pilot has
already given an account of their experience together in Ireland.
As my father is no longer with us, I would like to include a
few details gleaned from his reminiscences and mementoes:
My father spoke about the loss of his Lighthouse
Identification Chart alongside the maps when the hatch blew
open in the storm, and the fact that the radio transmitter had
been damaged. All the lighthouse keys had been changed.At one
point they sighted a light which he believed to be the Instrahull
Lighthouse, but without the key he couldn’t be sure. Richard
circled the light and my father asked them who they were on
the Aldis Lamp. But it was automatic, there was no-one there.
He remembered calling Bircham Newton for a
fix and course for England. They received his signal but said
that his signal was far too weak for a fix, due to damage to
the transmitter. The cloud base was low and Port Ellen on Islay
is surrounded by mountains of 2,000ft. Fuel was dangerously
low. It was decided that baling out was the only option.
|
Young Tommy in his RAF uniform |
As soon as he emerged from the escape hatch and onto the ladder,
the force of the wind blew his flying boots off.As he parachuted down
my father hoped their calculations had been correct, that he was not
over the sea. After passing through several layers of cloud and nearing
earth he heard a dog bark - it was a very welcome sound. He was fortunate
to land in boggy ground which served to soften his fall.
Tommy Hulme in the map room.
He had landed in Southern Ireland, neutral territory. After walking
without shoes for some time, he was given kind help from a priest
who directed him to the border.
Richard Kukura has taken up the story from 1943 to 1945.
My father returned to England in April 1946, after three years abroad.
His journey included a memorable jeep ride through Italy from Naples
to Milan where he managed to view Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The
Last Supper’ in the damaged church of S. Maria Delle Grazie.
He then joined a troop train from Milan. My mother has kept the ‘MEDLOC
FOLDER’ - a leaflet and map providing information about the
train journey for the troops. The train passed South of Lake Maggiore,
through the Simplon Tunnel to Switzerland, across France via Dijon,
Sens and Paris to Calais. There were ‘Feeding Halts’ at
Domodossola, Villers Les Pots, Epluches, where ‘washing facilities’
were also available. The ferry from Calais then took him across to
Folkestone.
Although Richard Kukura (Dick to my father) lived far away in Australia
after the war ended, and they had very little contact, I know that
their close bond and friendship endured. My father always talked about
Richard’s skill as a pilot, and how it had played a major part
in their joint survival.
Our family would like to thank the Research Group and all those
who contributed for their time and interest. We have been very touched.
Liz Rothwell © May 2006
After much searching we were eventually lucky
enough to make contact with Tommy’s daughter Liz Rothwell.
On 20th May 2006 I spoke to her in Wales, she was most interested
in furthering discussions with us and has sent us the photographs
of her Father as well as the stories he told of his very short
time in Ireland and a little of what happened to Richard and
himself later on in the war.
One lovely snippet she offered was that after an injury caused
by enemy fire from below the aircraft Tommy always used to carry
with him a piece of steel on which to sit. He claimed it saved
his life on more than one occasion!
NR
Below are some more photographs of Tommy, where
he landed and one of the escape hatch of the Beaufighter at
the Hendon Museum in London taken by Liz Rothwell in June 2006 |
Above: Tommy and Betty Hulme on their wedding day 10th
December 1941
Below: The field where Tommy landed in Corlough
.jpg)
James Joseph 'Tucker' McGovern with Nigel behind him looking
at the field where Tommy Hulme landed without his boots.
(Photo John Patterson)
A photo Tommy's daughter Liz
took of the escape hatch of a Beaufighter in the RAF museum, London.
(Photo: Liz Rothwell)
