I'm a late comer to the thread, but my grandad was also a navigator in a Lancaster. He got shot down over Berlin in 1944(I think) and was sent to Stalag Lift 3(great escape pow camp). He tunnelled out and made his way back home
My Grandpa, also Robert Bryce, was a Lancaster Flight Engineer. My old man's got his log book of missions, a very humbling read.
Pilot-Harold Blow(grandad) 9th squadron Barnaby during the war (lancaster) full tour,over Berlin mostly and Nurembourg 8O,flying instructor after the war and then onto testing and flying meteors(618 squadron),over 2k flying hours, crashed Meteor in 1955 due to low cloud and faulty reading...
Flight engineer Jack Warner (my other grandad still alive 88) full tour,428 Ghost squadron...
Hats off to both your Grandpa's Blower, two full tours as well, blimey words fail me. Brave, brave men.
cheers bloody nora
they was lucky,apart from harold who crashed his meteor after the war.
this is something ive been looking into alot of late,and speaking to my grandad who is still alive about it all,
horrific tales etc,
the loss rate was terrible/.
Blower, essel, did either of them make it to the commemoration of the RCAF memorial at Middleton-St-George back in about 1985? If so I probably met them. I went as part of the air cadets honour guard. A humbling day.
And for the crew, may I offer Sgt. Eric Parker, Observer (navigator) on 214 Sqn Stirlings . Unfortunately he did not survive The raid of 12th March 1943. My great uncle and I was named after him.
I'd also like to add Sgt. (later Sqn Ldr) Jack Onions DFM and bar, our next door neighbour when I was young and an early hero of mine. He won flew Battles and Blenheims operationally in the war but also served under Bomber Harris in the 1930s bombing the north-west frontier and Afghanistan in Hawker Hinds (how things have changed).
the lancaster pilot died in 1955 while flying a meteor as he continued to fly after the war.
my other grandad who is still alive the flight engineer,unfortunately he did'nt go the commemoration of what you said,or at least i dont think he did.
i bet it was humbling indeed,all at a very young age most of them.
I can raise you a Pilot - Flt Lieut Ken Trent who's my ex Father in Law! (he's 90 this year!) Did some time with 617 Squadron after the Dam raids and the Berlin Airlift meant he clocked over 100 missions (not all combat) - he tells some tales of their exploits, the drinking/driving scares me stiff before he starts on flying!
As posted ^^
Any way of finding more info?
I have found promotion dates in London Gazette. Any way to link these to Squadron postings?
A man the RAF missed died this morning, my father-in-law. A pole, he spent much of WWII on the run in the Nazi occupied area surviving thanks to his youthful enthusiasm, language skills and a large dose of luck. He ended up with the British army in Italy and was demobbed to some windswept camp in Yorkshire with TB. Like about 90% of demobbed poles he couldn't return to soviet occupied Poland (those that did generally didn't live very long) so gave himself a new identity and started a new life.
I doubt I'll post for a while so I wish all on STW a good Summer.
My gramps flew in Lancasters and Halifax's. Think he was a navigator in one and pilot the other, cany remember which way round or squadron details though... Will have to dig his old stuff out sometime...
My Grandfather was a Chaplain during WW2 - no doubt he spoke to many pilots who did not expect to return each time they took off...
(I know, it's not [i]directly[/i] related to the thread....)
