Month: April 2013

Dambuster of the Day No. 12: John Fraser

charlesfoster2 Comments

p_fraser1

Pic: Bomber Command Museum of Canada

Flt Sgt J W Fraser
Bomb aimer
Lancaster serial number: ED925/G
Call sign: AJ-M
First wave. Second aircraft to attack Möhne Dam. Aircraft hit by flak. Mine dropped late and bounced over dam. Aircraft crashed on far side of dam.

John William Fraser was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada on 22 September 1922 and joined the RCAF soon after the war started. After qualifying as a bomb aimer he arrived in England in April 1942, and shortly after was posted to 50 Squadron. There he flew a full tour of thirty operations, mostly with Canadian pilot Norman Schofield, whose crew also included two more people who would become Dambusters: another Canadian, the navigator Ken Earnshaw, and gunner Brian Jagger.

By mid April 1943, Fraser and Earnshaw were both scheduled to go to a training unit for the normal inter-tour rest period. However a call came from the new 617 Squadron being set up at Scampton. Pilot John Hopgood needed an experienced navigator and bomb aimer. His first navigator had fallen ill and his bomb aimer had not come up to scratch. Earnshaw and Fraser were recommended, and arrived at Scampton at the end of April, some time after training for the Dams Raid had begun. However, as Fraser had already arranged his wedding for 29 April, he was given special permission to have a day off.

On the Dams Raid itself, Hopgood’s aircraft AJ-M was hit by flak well before they reached the Möhne Dam. One engine was damaged, Hopgood himself was wounded, as was George Gregory in the front turret.

Fraser released the mine and it bounced over the dam, blowing up the power station on the other side. But his Lancaster was doomed.

After the war he wrote: ‘We flew on and the pilot gave the order to abandon the aircraft within about 25 seconds after we passed over the dam. I knelt facing forward over the escape hatch and I saw that the trees looked awful close. I thought there was only one thing to do and that was to pull the rip cord and let the pilot chute go out first and then let it pull the chute out and me after it, and that’s what I did.’

He landed almost a mile away from where the aircraft crashed, but was soon captured by the Germans. After interrogation, where he was forced to give some details of the mission, he was sent to a PoW camp.
Released at the end of the war, he saw his wife Doris again in May 1945 for the first time since the day after their wedding. They made their home in Canada. Fraser never forgot the sacrifice made by John Hopgood which saved the lives of two of his crew. The names of all of his children were chosen as a tribute to Hopgood and 617 Squadron. His first son has the given names John Hopgood; his daughter was called Shere, after Hopgood’s home village; and his second son was called Guy, after the squadron CO.

Fraser worked in the forestry service, and fulfilled his lifetime ambition to qualify as a pilot. Unfortunately, he was killed in a flying accident, at Saltery Bay in British Columbia on 2 June 1962.

More about Fraser online:
Articles at Bomber Command Museum of Canada 1 2

Survived war. Died 2 June 1962.
Rank and decorations as of 16 May 1943.

Sources: Richard Morris, Guy Gibson, Penguin 1995
John Sweetman, The Dambusters Raid, Cassell 2002
The information above has been taken from the books and online sources listed and other online material. Apologies for any errors or omissions. Please add any corrections or links to further information in the comments section below.

Further information about John Fraser and the other 132 men who flew on the Dams Raid can be found in my book The Complete Dambusters, published by History Press in 2018.

Dambuster of the Day No. 11: John Minchin

charlesfoster3 Comments

MINCHIN (Custom)

Press cutting about John Minchin from unnamed newspaper. [49 Sqn Association]

Sgt J W Minchin
Wireless operator
Lancaster serial number: ED925/G
Call sign: AJ-M
First wave. Second aircraft to attack Möhne Dam. Aircraft hit by flak. Mine dropped late and bounced over dam. Aircraft crashed on far side of dam.

John William Minchin was born on 29 November 1915 in the picturesque Gloucestershire village of Bourton-on-the-Water (‘The Venice of the Cotswolds’). He was the third of the six sons of Bertram and Eliza Minchin. His father was a baker. He joined the RAF soon after the onset of war, and after training as a wireless operator/air gunner was posted to 49 Squadron at Scampton in October 1941.

He married Jessie Irving in London on 28 May 1942 but only got three days honeymoon before being recalled to his base to take part in the first Thousand Bomber raid.

In August 1942, he completed a full tour in both Hampdens and Manchesters, and was posted to a training unit. From there he went straight to join John Hopgood’s crew in the new 617 Squadron. What happened to Minchin on the Dams Raid is told in an online extract from John Ward’s book Beware A Dog at War on the 49 Squadron Association website:

Minchin was badly wounded in the leg when M-Mother was hit by flak en-route to the Möhne Dam. Sgt Minchin sat for almost an hour at his radio set nursing this terrible injury before the target was reached.
M-Mother, the second aircraft to attack, was severely hit by ack-ack on the run-in and set on fire. The bomb was released but hit the parapet wall and exploded. F/Lt Hopgood struggled valiantly to keep his blazing aircraft airborne in order for the crew to bale out.
Tony Burcher evacuated his rear turret and made for the crew door. There he was confronted by the pained face of John Minchin, who had dragged himself the length of the fuselage, his leg almost severed.
All Burcher could do to help his comrade was to clip on Minchin’s parachute and push him out into the darkness, pulling his D-ring in the process. The Lancaster crashed 3 miles to the north-west of the dam and exploded in flames.

The aircraft crashed in a field near Ostönnen. Hopgood, Brennan, Earnshaw and Gregory’s bodies were found in the wreckage. Minchin’s body was found about 2km from the crash site.

Tragically, just six weeks after the Dams Raid on 27 June 1943, the family lost another son, Ronald Buckland Minchin, aged 23, who served with 295 Squadron. Both are commemorated on the Bourton-on-the-Water War Memorial.

The Minchins were one of the three families who lost a son who took part in the Dams Raid and another son serving elsewhere in Bomber Command during the war.

Hopgood, Brennan, Earnshaw, Minchin and Gregory are buried together in Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany.

More about Minchin online:
49 Squadron Association article
Bourton-on-the-Water memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission listing

KIA 17 May 1943
Rank and decorations as of 16 May 1943.

Sources:
Richard Morris, Guy Gibson, Penguin 1995
John Sweetman, The Dambusters Raid, Cassell 2002
Research by Andy Bailey
The information above has been taken from the books and online sources listed and other online material. Apologies for any errors or omissions. Please add any corrections or links to further information in the comments section below.

Further information about John Minchin and the other 132 men who flew on the Dams Raid can be found in my book The Complete Dambusters, published by History Press in 2018.

Dambuster of the Day No. 10: Kenneth Earnshaw

charlesfoster3 Comments

50 sqn Schofield crew

Ken Earnshaw, back row, third from left, in his 50 Squadron crew.
Back, L-R: W Mooney, J W Fraser, K Earnshaw, N L Schofield, B Jagger.
Front, L-R: J O Christie, R A Baker.

Flg Off K Earnshaw
Navigator
Lancaster serial number: ED925/G
Call sign: AJ-M

First wave. Second aircraft to attack Möhne Dam. Aircraft hit by flak. Mine dropped late and bounced over dam. Aircraft crashed on far side of dam.

Kenneth Earnshaw was born in Bridlington, Yorkshire, on 23 June 1918, the son of Joseph and Janet Earnshaw. His family emigrated to Canada a year later and took up farming in rural Alberta. He was educated at Camrose High School. He qualified as a teacher at Alberta Normal School in Edmonton, and then taught at Whitebush School in Bashaw, Alberta, before leaving to enlist in the RCAF. He married Mary Heather in November 1941, and they lived in Bashaw.

After training in Canada, at the end of which he was commissioned, he travelled over to England, and was posted to 50 Squadron in November 1942. He was part of a Lancaster crew which flew with pilot Norman Schofield; the crew’s bomb aimer, fellow Canadian John Fraser, became a close friend. Together they flew on 30 operations in under six months. Gunner Brian Jagger, who would fly on the Dams Raid with David Shannon in AJ-L, was also in this crew.

By mid April 1943, they were scheduled to go to a training unit for the normal inter-tour rest period. However both Earnshaw and Fraser were recommended when a call came from the new 617 Squadron being set up at Scampton. Pilot John Hopgood needed two new crew members. His first navigator had fallen ill and his bomb aimer had not come up to scratch. Earnshaw and Fraser were recommended and arrived at Scampton at the end of April, some time after training for the Dams Raid had begun.

As navigator, Ken Earnshaw sat immediately behind John Hopgood and Charles Brennan in the cockpit. He must have seen the trouble Hopgood was in, hit by flak before they even reached the Möhne Dam. He had little chance of reaching the escape hatch when Hopgood ordered the crew to bale out, and he died when AJ-M crashed in a field near Ostönnen, 6km from the dam. Hopgood, Brennan, Earnshaw and Gregory’s bodies were found in the wreckage.

Kenneth Earnshaw is buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery.

More about Earnshaw online:
Canadian Virtual War Memorial entry
Bomber Command Museum of Canada article
Commonwealth War Graves Commission listing

KIA 17 May 1943
Rank and decorations as of 16 May 1943.

Sources:
Richard Morris, Guy Gibson, Penguin 1995
John Sweetman, The Dambusters Raid, Cassell 2002

The information above has been taken from the books and online sources listed and other online material. Apologies for any errors or omissions. Please add any corrections or links to further information in the comments section below.

Further information about Ken Earnshaw and the other 132 men who flew on the Dams Raid can be found in my book The Complete Dambusters, published by History Press in 2018.

Script issues still holding up Dambusters remake

charlesfoster12 Comments

Rivers LOR

Maybe it’s a mark of how far this subject has dropped off the radar, but I have only just caught up with a four-month-old snippet of news from Down Under. New Zealand Herald film critic Dominic Corry met Christian Rivers at the premiere of The Hobbit last December (yes really!), and asked him what was the situation with the remake of everyone’s favourite 1955 war film.

In 2008, it was announced that Jackson would produce a remake of 1955 World War II classic The Dam Busters, which was to be directed by Weta staple Christian Rivers (who won a special effects Oscar for his work on King Kong). The project seemed a natural fit for a war plane-obsessed ‘wingnut’ like Peter Jackson, but nothing has come to pass as yet, despite a bunch of replica planes having apparently already been built for the project.

I spoke to Rivers briefly on the red carpet at the Wellington premiere of The Hobbit, and he told me they are still planning to make the film but that it’s on hold at the moment due to script issues. I hope it happens eventually – there’s such a wealth of creativity at Weta, it seems crazy that we haven’t seen a film come out of that talent pool yet.

‘Script issues’ eh? To me, the problem is time. Jackson and his cohorts are getting a whole lot of moolah for spinning out The Hobbit over three films. Then there’s the small matter of a sequel to Tintin, and various other fantasy film projects. A remake of The Dam Busters, however much it might appeal to readers of this blog and a few million other war film buffs, would never make as much money as these high profile movies. That’s the way the economics of the film industry works.
On the other hand, we can’t discount the fact that Jackson is a self-confessed aero nut, and is probably still personally committed to the project. And so is Christian Rivers, despite the rumour a year or so ago that he was off doing something else.
Jackson’s involvement in the Dambusters remake was originally announced in 2006. Will we see it completed by the tenth anniversary of this historic day? I wouldn’t bet on it.

[Hat tip: Wings over New Zealand Forum.]

Dambuster of the Day No. 9: Charles Brennan

charlesfoster2 Comments

brennan b3085

Charles Brennan’s logbook and wedding photo are in the RAF Museum in Hendon. He married his wife, Freda Pemberton, in 1940. [Pic: RAF Museum]

Sgt C Brennan
Flight engineer
Lancaster serial number: ED925/G
Call sign: AJ-M
First wave. Second aircraft to attack Möhne Dam. Aircraft hit by flak. Mine dropped late and bounced over dam. Aircraft crashed on far side of dam.

Canadian Charles Brennan had been John Hopgood’s regular flight engineer in the latter part of his tour of operations on 106 Squadron, and the pair obviously got on well together.  So when Hopgood was putting together a new crew at 617 Squadron he brought Brennan in.

Charles Christopher Brennan was born on 22 February 1916 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and emigrated to the UK in 1928. He was one of the two Canadian-born flight engineers on the Dams Raid, along with Gordon Radcliffe in Joe McCarthy’s crew.

He joined the RAF at the outset of the war. After training he worked as ground crew. When the opportunity came for skilled ground crew to qualify as flight engineers for the heavy bombers, he took the chance, like many other enthusiastic young men who were keen to fly. His course at No 4 School of Technical Training at RAF St Athan finished in the early summer of 1942, and he joined 106 Squadron in June. He joined Hopgood’s crew, and flew with him for the first time on 14 August. The following day was his first operation, with a trip to Dusseldorf. He carried on with this crew until Hopgood’s tour ended, the last operation being the attack on the Schneider factory at Le Creusot on 17 October 1942.

For some reason, Brennan was not allocated to another crew to finish his tour. Instead, he was posted to 1660 Conversion Unit at Swinderby on 25 November, to train other crews He flew on many training flights between 25 November 1942 and 26 March 1943, usually with Flt Lt R J Churcher DFC as his pilot.

When Hopgood was called up by Gibson, he must have contacted Brennan and asked him to rejoin him. As Brennan was only halfway through a tour, he probably thought it a good opportunity to finish it with a pilot he knew and trusted. He was posted to Scampton, and undertook his first training flight with Hopgood on 11 April 1943.

One can only wonder as to what conversation passed between Brennan and Hopgood when the young pilot was injured on the fateful journey to the dams. He would have needed all his flight engineering skill to help the pilot keep the aircraft aloft, as one of the engines was damaged and running on reduced revs. Tony Burcher recalls that he was a ‘calm chap’, so also having to hold a handkerchief over Hopgood’s head wound may not have completely fazed him.

When they were hit again, as they attacked the Möhne Dam, the pair must have realised that they would never get off the flight deck themselves, and that all they could do was to give as many of their colleagues as possible the chance to escape. They were both remarkable men.

Brennan married Freda Pemberton in Leeds in 1940. He was in fact just one of the four aircrew who flew on the raid knowing that their wives were pregnant. Trevor-Roper and David Maltby would live to see their children being born. Brennan and Lewis Burpee would not. Brennan’s daughter was born in Otley in October 1943.

Hopgood, Brennan, Earnshaw, Minchin and Gregory are buried together in Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany.

More about Brennan online:
Canadian Virtual War Memorial entry
Second World War Book of Remembrance
Logbook details
Commonwealth War Graves Commission listing

KIA 17 May 1943
Rank and decorations as of 16 May 1943.

Sources:
Richard Morris, Guy Gibson, Penguin 1995
John Sweetman, The Dambusters Raid, Cassell 2002
The information above has been taken from the books and online sources listed and other online material. Apologies for any errors or omissions. Please add any corrections or links to further information in the comments section below.

Further information about Charles Brennan and the other 132 men who flew on the Dams Raid can be found in my book The Complete Dambusters, published by History Press in 2018.

Dambuster of the Day No. 8: John Hopgood

charlesfoster9 Comments

Hopgood

Pic: Bomber Command Museum of Canada

Flt Lt J V Hopgood DFC and Bar
Pilot
Lancaster serial number: ED925/G
Call sign: AJ-M
First wave. Second aircraft to attack Möhne Dam. Aircraft hit by flak. Mine dropped late and bounced over dam. Aircraft crashed on far side of dam.

John Vere Hopgood was born in Hurst, Berkshire on 29 August 1921, the son of Harold and Grace Hopgood. Harold Hopgood was a solicitor, and had two sons with his first wife Beatrice who died, leaving him a widower. Harold and Grace had three children of whom John was the second, and the only boy. He was educated at Marlborough College, and would have gone on to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, but the war intervened.
He joined the RAF in 1940, and qualified as a pilot in February 1941, and was then commissioned. He spent his first tour of operations flying with 50 Squadron and was then posted to a training unit. In February 1942, he went back onto operations with 106 Squadron, based at Coningsby, which was flying the unreliable two engined Avro Manchesters. In April, a new Squadron CO, Guy Gibson arrived. He described his first impression of Hopgood in Enemy Coast Ahead:

‘He was a fair-haired chap about medium height, rather good-looking, except for one prominent tooth. The boys seemed to be always taking him off about this, but he took it very good-naturedly. He was a serious fellow at heart, though, even though he spent most of his time with the boys. As soon as I saw him I thought, “What an ideal squadron type. I like that chap.”’

The squadron was moving over to Lancasters, and Hopgood was one of the first to retrain on this much more powerful aircraft. He was one of the pilots who then had to pass on their new skills to Gibson, something he evidently did with quiet authority, another trait admired by the Squadron CO.
In October 1942, after flying 32 operations, he was awarded the DFC, and commended for his ‘magnificent dash and courage when pressing home his attacks whatever the opposition’. This was followed just four months later by a Bar to the DFC for completing a number more successful operations since the first award.
There are many myths about how the pilots and crews were chosen for the fledgling 617 Squadron. By no means were they all personally known or recruited by Gibson. However John Hopgood and David Shannon, former 106 Squadron colleagues, were both definitely encouraged to join him. Hopgood brought two members of his regular crew, flight engineer Charles Brennan and rear gunner Tony Burcher. However, his bomb aimer wasn’t deemed suitable and his navigator fell ill, so two Canadians from 50 Squadron, John Fraser and Ken Earnshaw, were recruited in their stead.
Although Hopgood wasn’t one of the flight commanders, Gibson wanted him by his side, and so he was made deputy leader of the attack on the Möhne Dam. As such, he was one of the four who were briefed about the target the night before the raid. Hopgood suggested an important change to the already planned route, pointing out that it went near Hüls, which had heavy defences not marked on the map.
On the raid itself, Gibson, Hopgood and Mick Martin were the first trio from Wave One to take off. From Tony Burcher’s account it would seem that Hopgood’s AJ-M was hit by flak some 20 minutes before the dam was reached. Hopgood himself received a head wound, and in the front turret below him, Gregory had been badly injured and wasn’t answering his intercom. Burcher recalls Hopgood saying: ‘Right, well what do you think? Should we go on? I intend to go on because we have only got a few minutes left. We’ve come this far.There’s no good taking this thing back with us. The aircraft is completely manageable. I can handle it OK. Any objections?’ And on he pressed, with Brennan beside him holding a handkerchief on his head to stem the bleeding.
They got to the dam. Gibson attacked first, unsuccessfully. He was lucky. The dam’s gunners were uncertain of the direction from which he would come, so didn’t start firing until he was very close and did not damage him.
But, ten minutes later, when Hopgood approached, they were ready. His already damaged Lancaster was hit again. An engine caught fire, he strugged to keep the aircraft level, and the mine was released too late, bouncing over the dam and into the power station below, where it exploded.
Now Hopgood tried desperately to gain height, in an effort to give his crew a chance to bale out. He gained about 500 feet and somehow, Fraser, Minchin and Burcher escaped, but Minchin, badly injured, didn’t survive the parachute drop. Fraser and Burcher did, but both were captured and taken prisoner.
Neither ever forgot the heroic gesture by Hopgood which saved their lives. Fraser went back to Canada after the war and gave his son the forenames John Hopgood. His daughter was named Shere, after the Surrey village where Hopgood grew up.
Hopgood, Brennan, Earnshaw, Minchin and Gregory are buried together in Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany.

More about Hopgood online:
Bomber Command Museum of Canada
Tribute to AJ-M site (includes details of crash site)
Online obituary
Commonwealth War Graves Commission listing

KIA 17 May 1943
Rank and decorations as of 16 May 1943.

Sources:
Richard Morris, Guy Gibson, Penguin 1995
John Sweetman, The Dambusters Raid, Cassell 2002
The information above has been taken from the books and online sources listed and other online material. Apologies for any errors or omissions. Please add any corrections or links to further information in the comments section below.

Further information about John Hopgood and the other 132 men who flew on the Dams Raid can be found in my book The Complete Dambusters, published by History Press in 2018.

Dambuster of the Day No. 7: Richard Trevor-Roper

charlesfoster5 Comments

R D Trevor-Roper small

Flt Lt R D Trevor-Roper DFM
Rear gunner
Lancaster serial number: ED932/G
Call sign: AJ-G
First wave: First aircraft to attack Möhne Dam. Mine exploded short of the dam.

With more than fifty operations, Richard Trevor-Roper was probably the most experienced air gunner to take part in the Dams Raid, and was the squadron’s Gunnery Leader. He was also the acknowledged leader of the squadron’s hellraisers, bringing to Scampton a reputation earned in many earlier RAF messes.

Richard Dacre Trevor-Roper was born in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight on 19 May 1915, the son of Charles and Gertrude Trevor-Roper. After leaving Wellington College he spent two years in the Royal Artillery. At the outset of war he joined the RAF, and trained as a wireless operator/gunner.

He was posted to 50 Squadron in October 1940, then flying Hampdens at RAF Lindholme. Most of his operations were flown in the squadron commander Wg Cdr ‘Gus’ Walker’s aircraft and he was recommended for a DFM in October 1941. The citation noted his outstanding service as a wireless operator, and that he had been responsible for the safe return of his crew when severe weather had been encountered. He was also an ‘excellent Gunnery Leader’ who had dowsed a number of searchlights on two occasions, and was an ‘outstanding inspiration to his and all other aircrews’.

Trevor-Roper was commissioned in October 1941 and then spent some time instructing in training units. He went back to 50 Squadron in November 1942, and had flown on another twelve operations, mainly with Sqn Ldr Birch as pilot, before he was brought into 617 Squadron. Gibson obviously recognised Trevor-Roper as a soulmate, describing him in Enemy Coast Ahead as one of the ‘real squadron characters’, although noticing, in a thoughtful moment, that he was quiet on the flight out to the dams, perhaps because his wife was about to have their first baby. He had married Patricia Edwards in 1942 and their son Charles was born on 15 June 1943.

Trevor-Roper was in fact just one of the four aircrew who flew on the raid knowing that their wives were pregnant. Trevor-Roper and David Maltby would live to see their children being born. Lewis Burpee and Charles Brennan would not.

After the raid, for which he received the DFC, Trevor-Roper came into his own, leading the pack in the drunken escapades which followed, principally the excursion to London in June for the investiture at Buckingham Palace and the subsequent dinner at the Hungaria restaurant. Card schools were established, hipflasks produced and trousers removed, not always voluntarily. The squadron adjutant, Harry Humphries, was a particular target, and various escapades are reported in Humphries’s book, Living with Heroes. (The same stories appear again, in a more sanitised version, in Paul Brickhill’s The Dam Busters.)

Grog Certificate small

Eventually 617 Squadron went back on operations, but Trevor-Roper didn’t join the core of the Gibson crew which transferred to the new CO, George Holden. In March 1944, after another period in a training unit, he was posted to 97 Squadron based at Bourn, and joined a very experienced crew captained by Flt Lt Rowlands.

His luck ran out on Bomber Command’s worst night of the whole war, on 30/31 March 1944, when ninety-five bombers were lost from a total of 795 which set out to attack Nuremberg. His aircraft was shot down near Ahorn, by the German nightfighter pilot Major Martin Drewes who claimed five ‘kills’ that night, and all on board died.

Richard Trevor-Roper is buried in Durnbach War Cemetery.

More about Trevor Roper online:
Isle of Wight war memorial (includes death notice from The Times)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission listing

Decoration awarded for Operation Chastise: DFC
KIA 31 March 1944
Rank and decorations as of 16 May 1943.

Sources:
Richard Morris, Guy Gibson, Penguin 1995
John Sweetman, The Dambusters Raid, Cassell 2002
The information above has been taken from the books and online sources listed and other online material. Apologies for any errors or omissions. Please add any corrections or links to further information in the comments section below.

Further information about Richard Trevor-Roper and the other 132 men who flew on the Dams Raid can be found in my book The Complete Dambusters, published by History Press in 2018.

Dambuster of the Day No. 6: George Deering

charlesfoster3 Comments

Canadians damsraid15a

The fifteen RCAF Aircrew who returned from the Dams Raid. Back Row: Oancia, Sutherland, O’Brien, Brown, Weeks, Thrasher, Deering, Radcliffe, MacLean, McCarthy, McDonald
Front Row: Pigeon, Taerum, Walker, Gowrie, Rodger. [Pic: Bomber Command Museum of Canada]

Plt Off G A Deering
Front gunner
Lancaster serial number: ED932/G
Call sign: AJ-G
First wave: First aircraft to attack Möhne Dam. Mine exploded short of the dam.

Although of Irish descent, George Andrew Deering was actually born in Kirkintilloch, Scotland, on 23 July 1919. He was the only boy in the family of the four children of Samuel and Martha Deering. The family emigrated to Canada when he was a small boy, and his mother died shortly afterwards. His oldest sister Charlotte then became the family housekeeper.
Deering went to Essex public school in Toronto, and then trained on a correspondence course in aircraft designing and mechanics while in employment as a shoe worker. He joined the RCAF in July 1940, hoping to become a pilot. However he ended up qualifying as a wireless operator/air gunner and arrived in England in April 1941.
Deering spent about a year in 103 Squadron at RAF Elsham Wolds and completed a full tour of operations. He was then sent to an Operational Training Unit, and was commissioned in February 1943, although this information didn’t seem to reach 617 Squadron until after the Dams Raid.
How Deering arrived on 617 Squadron and was then allocated to Gibson’s crew is a bit of a mystery. In Enemy Coast Ahead, Gibson wrote that he was a novice but this is far from the truth: ‘In the front turret was Jim [sic] Deering from Toronto, Canada, and he was on his first [sic] bombing raid. He was pretty green, but one of our crack gunners had suddenly gone ill and there was nobody else for me to take.’
Later in the book, Gibson calls him ‘Joe’ and in the dedication he is referred to as ‘Tony’. Giving a member of your own crew three different first names may well be a record, even for this book which is littered with editorial errors. Also, Deering was in fact posted into 617 Squadron on 29 March, and had flown on a number of training flights with Gibson in the run up to the Dams Raid.
For his part in the raid, Deering was awarded a DFC, recognition at last that he was an officer by the time of the raid. Along with Taerum, Hutchison and Spafford he transferred to George Holden’s crew, and died with all of them when they were shot down on the Dortmund Ems canal operation on 16 September 1943. He is buried in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

More about Deering online:
Air Force Association of Canada listing
Commonwealth War Graves Commission listing

Decoration awarded for Operation Chastise: DFC
KIA 16 September 1943
Rank and decorations as of 16 May 1943.

Sources:
Richard Morris, Guy Gibson, Penguin 1995
John Sweetman, The Dambusters Raid, Cassell 2002
The information above has been taken from the books and online sources listed and other online material. Apologies for any errors or omissions. Please add any corrections or links to further information in the comments section below.

Further information about George Deering and the other 132 men who flew on the Dams Raid can be found in my book The Complete Dambusters, published by History Press in 2018.

Dambuster 70th anniversary events (update 12 April)

charlesfoster7 Comments

Dams Raid 70th anniversary

Below is a list of the events so far planned for the 70th anniversary of the Dams Raid. Please note that some are still subject to confirmation, especially the flyover at the Derwent Reservoir on Thursday 16 May. We have been informed that this may still be happening, but that no final decision has yet been made.
This list will be updated again before 16 May, and you will be able to see the latest version by clicking on this category link Dambusters 70th anniversary .

Sunday 12 May
RAF Museum Cosford
2.00pm
Concert

Monday 13 May-Friday 17 May
RAF Museum London
10.00am-6.00pm daily
Exhibition

Thursday 16 May
Derwent Reservoir, Derbyshire
Time to be confirmed.
BBMF Lancaster flypast
(A decision on whether this is going ahead will be taken shortly.)

Thursday 16 May
RAF Museum Cosford
5.00pm
Special talk: ‘Operation Chastise – 70 years on, the successful failure’

Thursday 16 May
Outside broadcast from RAF Scampton
7.00-8.00pm
Live broadcast of Sunset Ceremony from RAF Scampton on BBC2.
RAF College Cranwell Band and The Queen’s Colour Squadron including the 617 Sqn Standard.
Flypast and landings by BBMF Lancaster and Spitfires, plus Tornadoes flown by today’s 617 Squadron.
Invited guests only at Scampton. Please do not ask for tickets!

Friday 17 May
Lincoln Cathedral
afternoon
Dam Busters commemoration service (Ticket only: apply by post!)

Sunday 19 May
Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire
Time to be confirmed
Service and unveiling of 617 Squadron post World War 2 memorial

Sunday 19 May
Herne Bay, Kent
Full town commemoration
Details to be confirmed

In addition to these events, we are aware of a number of people who plan to travel to the Ruhr valley area of Germany in order to mark the anniversary. These include the Dambusters 2013 Charity Motorcycle Ride, with more than 70 riders travelling to raise money for Help for Heroes, and a group driving a 1967 Austin Healey (picture to come!).

We are also trying to compile a list of any events planned in Germany. Please get in touch if you have anything you would like to publicise.

Dambuster of the Day No. 5: Frederick Spafford

charlesfosterLeave a comment

IWM TR1127

Five of Gibson’s Dams Raid crew, photographed at Scampton in July 1943. Left to right: Guy Gibson, Fred ‘Spam’ Spafford, Robert Hutchison, George Deering, Harlo ‘Terry’ Taerum. Note the three shades of uniform colour: Gibson and Hutchison in RAF blue, Deering and Taerum in a darker RCAF shade, and the deepest of all, the RAAF outfit worn by Spafford. [Pic: IWM TR1127]

Plt Off F M Spafford DFM
Bomb aimer
Lancaster serial number: ED932/G
Call sign: AJ-G
First wave: First aircraft to attack Möhne Dam. Mine exploded short of the dam.

Frederick Michael Spafford was always known by the nickname ‘Spam’ in his RAF days, reflecting the wartime ubiquity of the well-known luncheon meat. He was born as Frederick Michael Burke in Adelaide, South Australia, on 16 June 1918. After his parents died, he was adopted by his maternal grandfather and changed his surname to Spafford.
He joined the RAAF in September 1940 and, after training under the Empire Air Training Scheme, arrived in England in August 1941. After further training, he became a specialist bomb aimer and joined 50 Squadron in May 1942, first flying on Manchesters and then Lancasters.
He flew on most of his operations with pilot Hugh Everitt, one of 50 Squadron’s most respected and decorated flyers. Spafford was decorated with a DFM in October 1942 for his skill and ‘praiseworthy example’.
He was commissioned in January 1943, and he finished his tour in March. Along with his 50 Squadron colleague, Harlo Taerum, Spafford was then recruited for Gibson’s crew. Both may have been recommended by Mick Martin. Spafford obviously hit it off with his new captain, who described him in Enemy Coast Ahead as ‘a grand guy and many were the parties we had together; in his bombing he held the squadron record.’
On the Dams Raid itself, Gibson attacked first and although his mine was dropped correctly and skipped several times, it sank and exploded some 50yds short of the target. On his safe return, Spafford was awarded the DFC, and was interviewed by the press and on the radio, describing ‘the secrecy and hazards of No 617’s training for low-level flying, the elaborate briefings, and the attack which was carried out in bright moonlight against enemy fire.’
When Gibson left, Spafford transferred to new CO George Holden’s crew, although like Taerum and Hutchison he was technically ‘tour expired’. He was killed when Holden was shot down on the raid on the Dortmund Ems canal, on 16 September 1943, and is buried in Reichswald Forest cemetery.

More about Spafford online:
Australian Dictionary of Biography
Commonwealth War Graves Commission listing

Decoration awarded for Operation Chastise: DFC
KIA 16 September 1943
Rank and decorations as of 16 May 1943.

Sources:
Richard Morris, Guy Gibson, Penguin 1995
John Sweetman, The Dambusters Raid, Cassell 2002
The information above has been taken from the books and online sources listed and other online material. Apologies for any errors or omissions. Please add any corrections or links to further information in the comments section below.

Further information about Fred Spafford and the other 132 men who flew on the Dams Raid can be found in my book The Complete Dambusters, published by History Press in 2018.