I am going to detail the service of No 17520, a typical 18 year old who joined the RAAF in August 1940 but had to wait until June 1941 to join No 20 Course with 24 others. After initial training at Pearce, he then learnt to fly Tiger Moths at Cunderdin’s No 9 EFTS followed by twin engined Avro Ansons at Geraldton’s No 4 SFTS, where he graduated as a pilot in July 1942. Preparations to join a UK bound convoy via Capetown followed. The convoy survived the U boats parked in U boat Alley, the shortest distance between Africa and South America in the South Atlantic.
During the early part of 1943, No 17520 was adapting to fly twin engined Oxfords and Wellingtons and four engined Halifaxes and Lancasters at various Operational Training Units. For the final six weeks he was given a RAF crew to fly with, namely a Navigator, a Wireless Operator, a Flight Engineer, a Bomb Aimer and two Air Gunners. They were all well prepared for their first operation to Cologne in July 1943
after training together in Lancaster V for Victor and as part of the famous 101 Squadron, the only squadron equipped with the Airborne Cigar, the sophisticated equipment which drowned out the German Fighter Controllers instructions to his fighters. Lancasters from 101 Squadron flew on every operation, but spaced themselves out on every raid protecting other squadrons following in formation.
Operations were scheduled for most nights except when the weather was foggy. Non-operational days meant crews practicing fighter affiliation, formation flying, practice bombing, air firing, altitude and air testing. As some operations to the east of Germany took 10 hours of flying time, crew training was essential to stay alive. Flak from anti-aircraft guns were only a minor problem compared to the elite Messerschmidt night fighters, who regularly shot down 30 aircraft each raid. As time wore down the German war machine, the night fighters were still a problem up to early 1944 but by D Day in June, they were almost a spent force.
Night operations to Hamburg, Mannheim, Nurnburg, Pennemunde, Leverkuisen and Berlin occupied the crew during August 1943
It took until 12 April 2018 to open the International Bomber Command Centre, a first class facility to serve as a point for recognition, remembrance and reconciliation of Bomber Command, when the centre was officially opened in Lincoln, the capital of the County of Lincolnshire, in front of 4000 guests and 300 veterans.
The centre has a central 102 ft central spire, the tallest monument in the UK –equivalent to the wingspan of a Lancaster- with a surrounding curved wall of names, a peace garden, an interactive visitor centre and a library with digital archives. It was an eight year project, costing $17 million and tells the story of Bomber Command and lists the names of the 57,871 casualities. Today it is continuing to work with veterans, recording their stories and providing documents and photos for the library. The Centre honours the 125,000 aircrew of WW2, especially the 44% who were killed while serving, the highest attrition rate of any allied unit.
Bomber Commands aim was to quell the German’s ability to fight, by targeting their oil and communication facilities and munitions factories with frequent raids. 1940 to mid-1042 were dismal years but with the advent of the Lancaster in June 1942, the tide was turned by mid 1943, with 1000 bomber raids quite common. Hamburg was bombed 70 times targeting its shipyards, U boat pens and oil refineries.
Lancaster V for Victor participated in many operations during the July to October 1943 period but once the bad winter weather over Europe set in, raids were less frequent during November to February. The crew of V for Victor had survived many skirmishes as part of 27 raids over a period of six months, but on the night of January 29 1944 on their 28 th raid and seventh to Berlin, their luck changed. After dropping their bomb load at 20,000ft and heading on a course for home, they were attacked by night fighters. No 17520, the Australian pilot, corkscrewed to port and vertically dived to 12,000ft, thus loosing the night fighter. Damaged was assessed as port tail fin shot away, loss of one petrol tank and a fuselage full of holes from cannon shells. It was difficult to maintain height and V for Victor crossed the enemy coast at 6000ft and down to just 500ft over the UK coast. They landed safely and hoped their efforts to bring home V for Victor, their favourite Lancaster, would be repaired for them.
The Squadron Commander thought otherwise and gave them a new Lancaster for their final raids over Berlin and Leipzig. The operation on the night when V for Victor was attacked,
was a ‘cat and mouse’ event with the German Controller. Several diversionary raids were despatched to German cities to confuse the Controller to protect the 677 bombers that were scheduled to bomb Berlin. The Controller kept his cool and took a punt by concentrating his night fighters over Berlin. Unfortunately 26 Halifaxes and 20 Lancasters were lost that night, 6.8 per cent of the total force. The crew of V for Victor were acknowledged for skills and devotion to duty on numerous operations and were rewarded with decorations on the completion of their 30 operations The four officers were awarded DFC’s and the three Flight Sgts DFM’s
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