war storys from gramps

[FOZ_1983]

My gramps joined RAF bomber command at 17, lying about his age to join up....


he joined 50 squadron based at skellingthorpe, lincolshire flying lancaster bombers. He was a rear gunner, or as we come to know it - tail end charlie.



He was assigned to his crew and flew a couple of missons (nothing to eventful) before his pilot lost his night vision, the whole crew got split up and posted to different crews. It turns out by wars end that my grandad was the only survivor of this original crew, all others becoming KIA (this upsets him deeply).


With his second crew, at skellingthorpe he completed an entire tour over enemy territory seeing, before getting posted to another squadron as a gunnery instructor, he did this for a while before asking to go back on active duty, thus joining another squadron as a rear gunner this time on halifax bombers, his second tour with an australian squadron, flying as rear gunner to the "boss" as it were.

in all he did two tours,


on with 50 squadron flying lancs, and another with a diff squadron (australian) flying halifax bombers. Though to this day he protests his love for the lanc calling her the most graceful, dependable, joyeful and gorgeous aircraft he'd ever seen.

He recalls his most terryfying experience of the whole war while flying with bomber command.....

he was flying a misson from skellingthorpe to a target over italy, en route he encountered little resistance, and they bombed the target with ease. On the way back they also had little resistance...

but halfway home they ran into an eletrical storm..... he said this was the most scared he'd ever been on any mission. He could see the storm all around and felt in no way able to defend himself from the elements, he felt that if getting attacked from a 109 he could at least shoot back and try his best, but this eletrical storm scared the hell out of him. Unable to defend himself while watching it all around him from gis rear turret scared the life out of him, like god himself was toying with them all up their.

Its amazing when you think about it how different things must affect different men.


In between squadrons, while an air gunnery instructor he was unfortunate to be ina crash twice!! both times flying wellington bombers.


As it is today, of his second crew with 50 squadron only my grandad (rear gunner) and the mid upper gunner (a man named "tom! who lives in canada) are the only two survivors of that crew. stil lin regular contact with each other.


He may be old myt grandad, but my god he has more guts and more nerves than i will ever have!! a legend if ever their was one!!!