The Daily Telegraph

Group Captain John Digman

RAF officer who took part in wartime missions against the German oil industries and canal system

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GROUP CAPTAIN JOHN DIGMAN, who has died aged 94, flew 36 operations in Lancaster bombers and later became a specialist navigator. His first mission was on October 6 1944 when he attacked Bremen. He then attacked the U-boat shelters at Bergen in Norway, the Polish port of Gdynia and the German gun positions on Walcheren Island, which were protecting the crucial port of Antwerp.

By November, much of the bomber offensive was directed against the German oil industries and the canal system, which carried industrial products including synthetic oil. Over the next three months, Digman made eight attacks against various oil plants, some in daylight, and on five occasions he bombed stretches of the Dortmund-ems and Mittelland canals. These were precision attacks controlled by a master bomber of the Pathfinder Force and most of the plants were forced to cease production. His final operation was on April 7 against the benzol plant at Molbis.

Digman later commented: “My abiding memory is of feeling extremely apprehensi­ve when nearing the target area and then of hearing the calm voice of the master bomber over the radio who was directing the pathfinder­s in marking the target. His measured tones helped no end in settling my mind.”

John Ivor Spencer Digman was born on September 4 1923 at St Pancras. He joined the RAF in October 1941 and trained as a navigator in Canada. On his return to Britain he converted to bombers and in September 1944 joined No 44 Squadron, based near Lincoln. In 1945 he was awarded the DFC.

He became an instructor at a bombertrai­ning unit before embarking on a long career as a navigation specialist. During his time as an instructor at the Empire Air Navigation School, he was the navigator of a Lincoln bomber, Aries II, which took off from Kent on April 30 1947 and flew non-stop to Kano, Nigeria, establishi­ng a record time, before flying direct to Cape Town, arriving 26 hours and 57 minutes after leaving Britain.

In 1950 Digman was made responsibl­e for a one-year postgradua­te course for aboveavera­ge navigators. Three years later he introduced into the syllabus a flight to the geographic North Pole. Its aim was to practise navigation techniques in high latitudes and Digman flew on the first flight.

In 1956 he joined the staff at the headquarte­rs of the Far East Air Force in Singapore and in 1959 started a four-year period at the Air Ministry responsibl­e for navigator, air electronic­s and combat survival training.

After promotion to wing commander, he commanded flying operations at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshi­re, the home of three Vulcan strategic nuclear bomber squadrons. When the squadrons moved to Cottesmore, Rutland, in November 1964, Digman was responsibl­e for the smooth transition and maintenanc­e of the force’s quick reaction capability.

His last flight in a Vulcan was in January 1966, when he was the senior navigator on a journey to New Zealand to take part in a display to mark the opening of the new airport at Auckland. At the end of his tour he was appointed OBE.

He spent the next five years in the Ministry of Defence, initially in the operationa­l requiremen­ts directorat­e before being promoted to Deputy Director, RAF Security.

Joining the Civil Service in 1971, he was responsibl­e for writing the customs procedures following Britain’s entry into the European Community. In 1977 he became senior principal in the Internatio­nal Customs Directorat­e. From 1983 to 1986 he was customs adviser to the British Chamber of Commerce.

In retirement Digman devoted time to his passion for gardening and supported RAF charities. With other retired RAF colleagues he formed a group known as the Biggin Hill Wing’s Singers.

He was president of the Orpington Branch of the RAF Associatio­n (RAFA) and in his eighties was still collecting for the annual RAFA Wings Appeal at 6am, catching commuters as they boarded the early train to London.

John Digman married Babs Pilbeam in October 1944. She and their two daughters survive him.

Group Captain John Digman, born September 4 1923, died December 11 2017

 ??  ?? Digman recalled ‘feeling extremely apprehensi­ve’
Digman recalled ‘feeling extremely apprehensi­ve’

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