Letters

From Roger Pointing, City of Norwich Aviation Museum

Good afternoon Philip

It’s been a couple of years since we were last in touch. As you may know the Museum has been working with RAF Waddington helping with 607s move.

I wanted you to know that we are organising a 40th Anniversary event to mark XM612s involvement in the Black Buck Operation. We also have another Falklands veteran, Nimrod XV255 displayed on our site.

The date has been fixed for Sunday 22 May 2022 which is the anniversary of the day 612 returned to Waddington after the aborted BB3 operation.

If any of your members would like to attend the event they would be most welcome. Once publicity material is prepared I will forward a copy to you.

Regards
Roger



From Mike Wainwright, RAF Hornchurch Heritage Centre

Phil,

Attached are some of the photos that my Facebook friend Bobbie Joe Grew, who collects logbooks and photos, purchased last year. These were in a collection of documents and album of photos which had seemed to belong to a Mr W H G Knight. 

He obviously had a connection to 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron and one news clipping states that he was a Flight Sergeant and was mentioned in dispatches. He may have therefore been aircrew?

I have no idea why he had the photos of ME699 in his album, which seem to have been taken very close to when the aircraft was lost on the night of the 4th July 1944. Certainly the mission count on the aircraft was consistent with this date. This was my dad's crew and when I saw this on Facebook last year I was blown away as I was unaware these pictures existed. I had only a crew photo which didn't show the aircraft previously, which seems to have been part of the same set.

Anyway, have a look and let me know if you have any further information on Knight.

Bobbie is happy for you to use the photos in the newsletter, and if you can get a mention of the RAF Hornchurch Heritage Centre in there too I would be very grateful.

Bobbie's facebook group where he shares this sort of material is https://www.facebook.com/groups/1144646149206957/ and worth a follow.
 

I hope to make the 2022 Association Reunion as I am now retired and to see you then.

If anyone can identify the ground crew I would be very interested.

The aircraft was shot down on the way back from a raid on the V1 storage and assembly facility in caves at St Leu d'Esserent. My father and Bill Robinson bailed out and evaded. Bob Routledge missed the trip due to illness and survived to complete his tour with other crews. Young, Jackson, Wareham and Rennie were all killed, along with replacement Rear Gunner Sgt Ronald Houseman and 2nd Navigator F/O Harold Braathen RCAF, who was on his 2nd dickie trip. 

T-Tommy’s air and ground crews (courtesy of Bobbie Joe Grew).

Seated left to right: Sgt Bill Robinson (Flight Engineer), P/O Bill Young RAAF (Pilot), F/O Frank Wareham (Navigator).

Standing immediately behind these: Sgt Thomas Jackson (Wireless Op), F/Sgt Jack Wainwright (Bomb Aimer, Mike Wainwright’s father), unknown ground crew, Sgt Bob Routledge (Rear Gunner).
Behind my father and the unknown ground crew member is Sgt Bill Rennie (mid upper) RCAF.

For a future newsletter, if you are looking for further items, I made contact with Thomas Leslie Jackson's family a while back and they supplied some interesting documentation including a series of letters received by the family after he was lost, including one from Wing Commander Thompson. These are at
https://lancaster-me699.co.uk/home-2/william%20young's%20crew/leslie-jackson/

I still have found no trace at all of Bill Robinson, the other survivor, but am in contact with all the other families.

On the left of this group are three Rhodesians:
Cpl Alex Jack of Salisbury, Sgt Alan Rubinstein of Flabusi and Cpl Bob O’Dell of Salisbury.
(Photograph Bobbie Joe Grew collection.)

Ground crew update the mission icons on the fuselage of Y-Yorker

The Squadron gathers to celebrate Y-Yorker’s 100 missions.

From Rosemary McNamara

Dear Squadron Leader Leckenby,

Please accept our apologies for not attending the AGM this year.  I was particularly interested in attending the visit to IBCC. I will be sending my annual subscription to Sqn Ldr Marson shortly.

Before lockdown, in early March 2020 we visited the IBCC, Lincoln, in order to give them letters and photos belonging to my father (Lawrence Gerard Lyons McNamara, KIA 17 December 1942). We had a wonderful visit to the Centre. Carol, the lady who looked after us, took all the memorabilia relating to my father to digitise. She said that they would upload a photo of Lawrence, which they did, but it would take some time to publish the rest of the items. I was delighted to pass on the information about my Dad to the centre, so that his efforts during the war would be remembered.

One of the items was a presentation of a letter written by the only survivor from the plane, with two photos. These items had been kept by my mother's bed all her
life.  Alan, my partner, had prepared it and framed it. We eventually gave a copy to Waddington. Peter Jones from the IBCC returned all the items to me safely, after a few months.

During the second 'Lockdown' I had an amazing experience. By chance, I was put in touch with Christopher Garden who had written a book about his uncle. His uncle was an Air Gunner on Lancaster W4126 when he lost his life in 1942. The story is about Sgt Geoffrey Beckett.  The book, which started as a recollection of one young man’s short life, becomes a complete and detailed explanation of what happened to Lancaster W 4126 and its crew on all of the nine missions that they flew. The disaster of that December night in 1942, was not the end of the story in Christopher's book.

My father was one of the crew on W4126. I never knew my father, but Christopher, in his book, introduced me to people who knew him, spent time with him and sadly died with him.  Christopher had seven copies of 'The Ninth Mission' printed.  One book, for the families of each of the crew. He sent me the sixth copy.  Sadly he has one book which has  not been delivered.  The family cannot be contacted despite all of Christopher's efforts. Sgt. Kenneth MacLeod was the Wireless operator, and his family have not yet been traced.  

I include a photo of the presentation of the letter sent to my mother, the Lancaster W4126, with the crew's names written down. Perhaps you would be kind enough to publish this in the next copy of the Newsletter.  You can phone me, if you need any further
information.

Kind regards, Rosemary

The letter, photographs and names of the crew of Lancaster W4126 as presented to Mrs McNamara’s mother.

Transcription of the handwritten letter from George Read:

27/1/1946

Dear Mrs McNamara

Please forgive me for not writing to you before this, but I knew how badly the loss of "Mac" had been to you and I felt that if I wrote to you I should only fetch it all back again for you. But I can see now that it was wrong of me to take that attitude, as you would most certainly wish to know what happened on that particular night. But first Mrs McNamara, will you accept my most deepest sympathy for your great loss. “Mac” was one of the finest fellows I have ever had the pleasure to meet, and I shall never forget him.

This is what happened on Dec 17th 1942. We left base for a raid on Nienburg, Germany. We crossed the North Sea flying fairly low without meeting any trouble but directly we crossed the Dutch coast we met plenty of light flak and machine guns. We kept going but shortly after were hit in one of our engines. As another of our engines wasn’t 100% Mac decided to turn back.

We turned for home and reached the coast without further incident, but as we were crossing the Zuider Zee we received a direct hit which set us afire and out or control. Some of the crew were killed instantly. Mac gave orders to abandon aircraft and we both made our way to the escape hatch. As I went out of the hatch Mac was just behind me. I never saw him leave the aircraft and if he did, I don't think his parachute would have opened in time, as it was too near the ground. My parachute only just opened in time and even then I was badly knocked about.

I never saw any of the crew again, but was later told by the Germans that five bodies had been recovered. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you about that tragic night in which you lost so fine a husband and I lost six of the finest friends a man could ever hope to have.

If there is anything else you wish to know, or any way I can be of help to you, just let me know and I will be only too pleased to be of an assistance to you. I will close now hoping you and the children are keeping in the best of health.

Yours very sincerely,

George Read

City of Norwich Aviation Museum

Roger Pointing sent some publicity information about the Falklands 40th Anniversary Event to be held at the City of Norwich Aviation Museum on Sunday 22nd May 2022. Following the sad demise of Barry Masefield, they are casting around for a replacement Black Buck guest of honour. Any of our members would be most welcome and the advertising poster is reproduced below.