Allyson Newburg's Blog, page 5

Five Fifty: The Wartime Story of a Lancaster Squadron

Renowned aviation author Patrick Otter released a book in 2017 especially for 550 Squadron, entitled Five Fifty: The Wartime Story of a Lancaster Squadron which documents the activities of the squadron from inception to close.

A few copies of the book are still available and can be purchased from the 550 Squadron Association by contacting Mike Leeman, the association's treasurer.

The Bomber Command Memorial

Bronze statue of a bomber crew unveiled at the
Bomber Command Memorial in 2012
Source: www.rafbf.org/bomber-command-memorial/In June 2012, 67 years after the end of the war, the young men of Bomber Command finally received their own memorial in Green Park, London.  The long overdue memorial, opened by Queen Elizabeth II, was built to mark the sacrifice of aircrews from Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Poland and other Allied countries.  Lancaster PA474 from RAF’s ‘Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’ flew overhead at the ceremony.

April 20, 1945 - Arrival at Stalag Luft VIIA in Moosburg

A view of Stalag Luft VIIA
Source: https://www.moosburg.org/info/stalag/...
After having set off from Stalag Luft XIIID near Nuremburg on April 12th, a large group of marchers arrived at Stalag Luft VIIA in Moosburg, 35 km outside of Munich.  This group likely included Gerard Kelleher and David Yemen.

Arriving at Stalag Luft VIIA, the marchers joined thousands of others POWs evacuated from camps throughout Germany and German-occupied territory.  The camp, built to hold 14,000 prisoners, was now bursting at the seams with a population of 130,000.

International Bomber Command Centre

One of the Peace Gardens at the International Bomber Command Centre
Source: https://internationalbcc.co.uk/about-...
The International Bomber Command Centre in Lincolnshire, England opened in January 2018.  The centre features a war memorial, interactive galleries, two landscaped Peace Gardens, tours and a Wall of Names listing the almost 58,000 men and women who lost their lives serving or supporting Bomber Command during WWII.

Reporting Live from 'F' for Freddie

Sound engineer Reg Pidsley (left) and war correspondent Wynford Vaughan-Thomas (right)
with 207 Squadron Lancaster 'F' for Freddie
On the evening of September 3, 1943, BBC War Correspondent Wynford Vaughan-Thomas and BBC recording engineer Reg Pidsley climbed aboard a Lancaster bomber, joining the crew of ED586, 'F' for Freddie on a bombing raid of Berlin.  This heart-stopping 30-minute recording demonstrates the amazing courage the crews of Bomber Command, who night after night, put their lives in immense danger in the skies over Europe.

Listen to the BBC broadcast from a Lancaster bomber

Vaughan-Thomas and Pidsley joined the Letford crew of 207 Squadron based at RAF Langar in Nottinghamshire.  The crew for the flight consisted of:

Ken Letford (Pilot)
Charlie Stewart (Flight Engineer)
Bill Bray (Air Bomber)
Jock Fieldhouse (Mid Upper Air Gunner)
Con Connelly (Navigator)
Bill Sparkes (Wireless Operator)
Henry Devenish (Rear Air Gunner)

Vaughan-Thomas would later call the experience "the most terrifying eight hours of my life. Berlin burning was like watching somebody throwing jewellery on black velvet - winking rubies, sparkling diamonds all coming up at you."

If you have an additional hour, the BBC also created a radio documentary about the flight, including interviews with Vaughan-Thomas, military historian Max Hastings and accounts of witnesses who experienced the bombing from the ground.

Listen to the BBC documentary about the Lancaster recording

Rick Mercer at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

Put aside seven minutes to watch this one...

Canadian comedian and TV personality Rick Mercer visited the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton in 2015 for a flight on 'Vera', one of only two remaining airworthy Lancasters in the world.  The video features fantastic viewpoints from the air bomber's and mid-upper air bomber's positions!

This particular Lancaster has been modified to carry paying passengers so the layout of the cockpit is different from the aircraft flown by the Harris Crew.  The Lancasters flown by the Harris Crew had one pilot, with the engineer, wireless operator and navigator positioned behind and below him.

April 16, 1945 - Wireless Operator at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Wireless Operator is a one-man play, a portrait of a young man struggling to to survive the trauma of a horrifying night in a Lancaster Bomber, compiled from memoirs, reports and log books.  Even for the fortunate ones who returned home after serving in Bomber Command physically unscathed, few returned without psychological scars. 

From the website:

This compelling play is told through the eyes and ears of the wireless operator. Confined in the claustrophobic aircraft the young crew struggle to survive. They avoid searchlights and flak; witness fellow airmen blown out of the sky and plunge into zero gravity corkscrew manoeuvres to evade enemy aircraft.
As they unleash their deadly cargo onto the city below, the wireless operator agonises about the real cost of their mission.
The play reveals the triggers to the lifelong legacy that traumatised those airmen who survived.

After playing to rave reviews in 2019, the play is returning to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2020, then will head on a UK tour.

Read more at https://wirelessoperator.co.uk/

A Good, Roman-Looking Nose

While at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, rear air gunner Douglas Hicks not only recovered from his burns but had surgery to repair what he called his ‘pug’ nose.  A piece of bone was taken from his hip and used to give his nose more prominence.  According to Hicks, he awoke from surgery with a “good, Roman-looking nose.  I must say my appearance improved considerably.”

In the end, Hicks may not have been the hospital’s most successfully treated patient, at least from the perspective of his mother.  Despite Hicks’ satisfaction with his nasal surgery, his mother Alice wrote to Margaret Harris in the fall of 1945: “Doug… has put on weight but his forehead is badly scarred and his nose is not just up to the mark…”

The Bomber Command Museum of Canada

Canada's Bomber Command Memorial
Photos by Allyson NewburgThe Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta, opened in 1986 with the aim to restore Avro Lancaster FM159, one of only seventeen remaining Lancasters in the world.  The museum has grown to include a large collection of aircraft, many of which were used during World War II by the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

The museum is also home to the Canadian Bomber Command Memorial, built in 2005 to commemorate the 10,673 Canadians, including Robert Harris, who lost their lives while serving with Bomber Command.

Life in East Grinstead

Despite the seriousness of the work being done in the Canadian Ward of the Queen Victoria Hospital, Douglas Hicks wrote:  "Life in this hospital was a joy.  Most of the patients were mobile; an unwritten code was that we would do most of the small chores, take care of the occupants, and generally assist to the best of our capabilities.  We would fetch bedpans, help with the feeding and do a number of chores that were easy to do and would free up the hospital staff…  The response from the patients always made our efforts very rewarding."

The hospital grounds were attractively landscaped and a baseball diamond was built for the enjoyment of the patients.  The hospital staff ensured that all patients who were able to participate, would.  Hicks also recalled time spent in town:  "The inhabitants of East Grinstead, where the hospital was located, were well aware of the appearances of hospital patients.  Those with burns were not only ugly in their appearance, but many of their features were horrible disfigured or undergoing repairs.  Pedicles of skin would be hanging loosely from various parts of the body.  Noses and ears would have appendages growing, skin grafts and transplants were in full evidence.  Not a pretty sight.  Even so, the villagers accepted us all as family...  All in the town were not only sympathetic to these airmen but opened not only their hearts but their houses, their recreation facilities and the pubs to all of these unfortunate individuals."