Notes
PART 1: MEMORY FAILS ME
Chapter 1—Operation 5: Stuttgart
1.Theo Boiten, Nachtjagd War Diaries: An Operational History of the German Night Fighter Force in the West, vol. 1: September 1939–March 1944 (Walton on Thames, UK: Red Kite, 2008), p. 373.
2.Kenneth H. Burt, handwritten notes of phone conversation with Kenneth A. Burt, September 1 and November 6, 2005.
3.Laurence Motiuk, Thunderbirds at War: Diary of a Bomber Squadron (Nepean, ON: Larmot Associates, 1998), p. 210.
4.Summary of Events, March 15, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 3, from “408 RCAF Squadron, Linton-on-Ouse,” Royal Canadian Air Force Operations Record Books, vol. 22655, Department of National Defence fonds (hereafter DND), RG 24-E-7, LAC.
5.As It Happened: The Lancaster at War, directed by Stephen Saunders, ASA Productions for the History Channel, off-air recording (Australia: SBS One, October 29, 2010), DVD.
6.The 4,000-pound “cookie” bomb was designed to create a blast effect, damaging buildings enough to allow the incendiary bombs access to exposed combustible materials, such as wood, and readily set it alight.
7.EMH/B Telegram en Clair 129/17, March 17, 1944 (reproduction copy number Q5-11144), from file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” “Second World War Service Files: Canadian Armed Forces War Dead” series, vol. 28021, DND, RG 24, LAC.
8.Summary of Events, March 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 3, LAC.
9.Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt, The Bomber Command War Diaries: An Operational Reference Book 1939–1945 (Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing, 1996), p. 481.
10.Summary of Events, March 15, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 3, LAC.
11.Motiuk, Thunderbirds at War, p. 210.
12.Detail of Work Carried Out, Stuttgart, March 15 and 16, 1944, Appendix A, RAF Form 541, p. 4, from “408 RCAF Squadron, Linton-on-Ouse,” Royal Canadian Air Force Operations Record Books, vol. 22655, DND, RG 24-E-7, LAC.
13.Motiuk, Thunderbirds at War, p. 210.
14.Summary of Events, March 15, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 3, LAC.
15.Bomber Command consisted of seven groups of approximately a dozen squadrons each, two squadrons often sharing an airfield. Canada’s 6 Group was the only Canadian run group and was situated in the north of England.
16.Motiuk, Thunderbirds at War, p. 210.
17.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 481.
18.Motiuk, Thunderbirds at War, p. 210.
19.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 481.
20.Kenneth H. Burt, handwritten notes of phone conversation with Kenneth A. Burt, September 1 and November 6, 2005.
21.Boiten, Nachtjagd War Diaries, p. 373.
22.Pathfinders, specialized crews designated to mark the bombers’ route and target, dropped a variety of “TI” (target indicator) markers/flares during a bombing operation. Target markers, depending on weather conditions, consisted of ground flares and/or sky parachute flares. Sky markers were typically green with green, red, or sometimes yellow stars. They were easily sent off target by winds. Pathfinders were positioned throughout the bomber stream to drop new flares, as they would eventually burn out. This also helped to keep the bombers on time and on target.
23.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 481.
24.Detail of Work Carried Out, March 15 and 16, 1944, RAF Form 541, p. 2, LAC.
25.Summary of Events, March 1944, RAF Form 540, p.3, LAC.
26.Information on March 15 and 16, 1944, from “Daily Operations,” No. 6 Bomber Group website, 6bombergroup.ca/March44/March15~1644.html.
27.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 481.
28.Summary of Events, March 15, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 3, LAC.
29.Detail of Work Carried Out, March 15 and 16, 1944, RAF Form 541, pp. 2–3, LAC.
30.Motiuk, Thunderbirds at War, p. 210.
31.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 481.
32.Summary of Events, March 15, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 3, LAC.
33.Ibid.
34.Kenneth H. Burt, handwritten notes of phone conversation with Kenneth A. Burt, September 1 and November 6, 2005.
Chapter 2—Telegrams and Letters, Shattered Hopes and Dreams
1.Ken Burt, email to author, February 23, 2010. Ethel Burt was the author’s grandmother.
2.Squadron Leader Miles for (D.S. Jacobs) Wing Commander, 408 RCAF Squadron, letter to R.W. Lumgair, March 18, 1944, from file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J 86440,” “Second World War Service Files: Canadian Armed Forces War Dead” series, vol. 28021, DND, RG 24, LAC.
3.W.R. Gunn, Squadron Leader, RCAF Casualties Office, letter to R.W. Lumgair, March 25, 1944.
4.Squadron Leader Miles for (D.S. Jacobs) Wing Commander, 408 RCAF Squadron, letter to R.W. Lumgair, March 18, 1944.
5.Ken Burt, email to author, February 23, 2010.
6.Bud went by a more formal name at work and thus was called Bob, short for Robert.
7.E.L. Volkes, letter to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Burt, March 25, 1944, in possession of Ken Burt.
8.Pat Parker, letter to Mr. and Mrs. Burt, April 1, 1944.
9.Marjorie Doran, letter to Mr. Burt and family, April 3, 1944.
10.RCAF Casualties Office, letter to R.W. Lumgair, July 22, 1944, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
11.RCAF Casualties Office, letter to Mr. H.H. Taylor, September 5, 1944, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
12.Madeline Hudson, letter to Clarence Hudson, November 14, 1944.
13.RCAF Casualties Office, letter to Robert Lumgair, December 6, 1944, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
14.RCAF Casualties Office, letter to R.W. Lumgair, December 11, 1944, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
15.R.W. Lumgair, letter to RCAF Casualties Office, January 3, 1945, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
16.Both Bud’s and Bob’s formal first name was Robert. The boys from the crew likely slept side by side at Beningbrough Hall, and it is thus possible the authorities clearing their belongings from the room had mistakenly placed some of Bud’s items in with Bob’s. It’s not known what happened to the address book and other items.
17.Madeline Hudson, letter to Mr. and Mrs. Burt, March 5, 1945.
18.David L. Bashow, None but the Brave: The Essential Contributions of RAF Bomber Command to Allied Victory During the Second World War (Kingston: Canadian Defence Academy Press, 2009), p. 27.
19.Patrick Walker, email to author, May 18, 2011.
20.Patrick Walker, email to author, May 14, 2011; death certificate of William John Doran.
21.Gail Parker, email to author, June 8, 2011.
22.Pat Parker, letter to Estate Branch, August 12, 1945, file “Parker, George J85528,” vol. 28375, LAC.
23.Director of Estates, letter to Pat Parker, August 21, 1945, file “Parker, George J85528,” vol. 28375, LAC.
24.Estates Branch, letter to Robert Burt, November 20, 1945, reproduction copy number Q4-35021 file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” “Second World War Service Files: Canadian Armed Forces War Dead” series, vol. 24972, RG 24, DND, LAC.
25.Estates Branch, letter to Myrtle Burt, January 22, 1946, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
26.Pat Parker, letter to Mrs. Taylor, June 6, 1946.
27.RCAF Casualty Office, letter to W. Lumgair, March 4, 1948, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
28.RCAF Casualty Office, letter to W. Lumgair, August 30, 1949, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
Chapter 3—The Beginning of a Love Affair
1.In fact, Bud was still only nineteen years old when he died. The CWGC marks age according to the closer birth date, not the actual age at the time of death.
2.The story was later removed from the website when the site was revamped.
Chapter 5—Making Connections
1.David W. Machin (nephew to Douglas Cruikshank), email to author, March 9, 2010.
PART 2: OF WHOM DO YOU SPEAK?
Chapter 6—The Background of War
1.Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand each made financial contributions to establish the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). Canada made a significant donation, paying over half the total cost of $2.2 billion. “The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan,” Veterans Affairs Canada website, veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/historical-sheets/britcom.
2.“British Commonwealth Air Training Plan,” Bomber Command Museum of Canada website, bombercommandmuseum.ca/bcatp.html.
3.“Canada in the Second World War,” Juno Beach Centre website, junobeach.org/e/4/can-tac-air-bca-e.htm.
4.“British Commonwealth Air Training Plan,” Bomber Command Museum of Canada website, bombercommandmuseum.ca/bcatp.html.
5.Aircraft silhouette manuals noted different features of engines, tails, wings, etc., of both Allied and enemy aircraft. Gunners would be tested in flash drills, where images or silhouettes flashed up on a screen for very short periods.
6.Students learned how to wear and maintain their gas protection gear, such as their gas mask, as well as how to detect, protect, and administer treatment in the case of a gas attack.
7.“British Commonwealth Air Training Plan,” Bomber Command Museum of Canada website, bombercommandmuseum.ca/bcatp.html.
8.Ibid.
Chapter 7—The Boys of EQ-P
1.Evelyne Johnson, comments written down and emailed by Ken Burt to author, June 7, 2011.
2.Ibid.
3.Ibid.
4.Ibid.
5.Ken Burt, email to author, March 1, 2010.
6.RCAF Attestation Paper Form R. 100, November 20, 1942, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
7.Ken Burt, email to author, March 1, 2010.
8.Robert Oliver Burt, Attestation: Non-Permanent Active Militia of Canada, June 22, 1939, Lorne Scots Regimental Museum.
9.Robert George Alfred Burt, Attestation: Non-Permanent Active Militia of Canada, June 11, 1941, Lorne Scots Regimental Museum.
10.Ken Burt, email to author, March 1, 2010.
11.“French safe” was the term commonly used at that time for a condom.
12.Ken Burt, email to author, February 23, 2010.
13.Jim Mulholland, CD private interview by Ken Burt, June 16, 2011.
14.RCAF Attestation Paper Form R. 100, November 20, 1942, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
15.Jim Mulholland, CD private interview, June 16, 2011.
16.Robert George Alfred Burt, Statement of Services, November 22, 1942, Lorne Scots Regimental Museum.
17.Dorothy Swan, letter of reference, October 19, 1942, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
18.H.F. Loughin, letter of reference, October 19, 1942, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
19.RCAF Personal Record, October 30, 1942, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
20.J. Douglas Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts: A Knees-up, Wheels-up Chronicle of WWII (Halifax: Goodread Biographies, 1982), p. 24.
21.Ibid., pp. 23–25.
22.Recruits’ Training Record, No. 1 Manning Depot Toronto, Ontario, December 31, 1942, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
23.RCAF Certificate of Education, February 26, 1943, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
24.Robert Burt, letter to Evelyne Johnson (née Burt), April 22, 1943.
25.Robert Fleming, CFB Trenton, email to author, March 3, 2010.
26.Gunners needed to be able to fix any issues with their guns within the confines of their turret during an operation. They would be unable to move much in the turret or see in the dark, and would be wearing gloves to keep them from getting frostbite.
27.RCAF Training Report for Air Gunner (Stage I), No. 2 AGGTS, Trenton, Ontario, June 11, 1943, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
28.Air-to-ground firing involved shooting various targets, positioned on the ground, from a moving aircraft. These targets might be dummy airfields, cutouts of ships, or buildings.
29.Air-to-air firing was usually done by gunners flying in their aircraft and shooting at a target attached to another moving aircraft. Shooting on the ground and in the air had different effects, so when they were in the air, gunners had to learn to compensate for bullet deviation from drift, gravity, their own aircraft’s movement as they shot, and air resistance. In the air, the angle of the turret guns and the force of the slipstream caused bullets to move in different ways.
30.RCAF Training Report for Air Gunner (Stage II), No. 2 AGGTS, Trenton, Ontario, July 23, 1943, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
31.Robert Burt, letter to Evelyne Johnson (née Burt), no date.
32.Ken Burt, March 1, 2010.
33.Pat Johnson, email to author via daughter, April 8, 2012.
34.Ibid., November 14, 2009.
35.Ibid., April 8, 2012.
36.Ibid., November 14, 2009.
37.Ibid., November 14, 2009.
38.Ibid., April 8, 2012.
39.Ibid., November 14, 2009.
40.Ibid.
41.Ibid., April 8, 2012.
42.Ibid., November 14, 2009.
43.“Wanted. . . A Picture of Initial Training Wing Bridlington,” online forum of the Stirling Aircraft Society Affiliated to the Bomber Command Association, July 19, 2011, sas.raf38group.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=542 (accessed May 24, 2012).
44.Curve of fire/deflection refers to the adjustment a gunner has to make when positioning and shooting his guns to account for the movement of the night fighter and the distance it will shift between the time the gunner shoots and the time the bullets (also with their own movement influenced by the gun’s position and winds) arrive at the target aircraft.
45.Harmonization refers to on-the-ground adjustments made so that the gun-sight and guns work in harmony. The gunner lines up the gunsight so it aims where the gun fires. In the air, when shooting at a target, the bullets would then be concentrated in the area the gunner sighted for the specified distance. From “Warrant Officer Ernie Reynolds,” The Second World War Experience Centre website, war-experience.org/lives/ernie-reynolds-w-o-raf (accessed May 24, 2012).
46.Ibid.
47.Robert Hudson, letter to Cag Hudson, no date.
48.Doug Chisholm, Their Names Live On: Remembering Saskatchewan’s Fallen in World War II (Regina: Canadian Plains Research Centre, University of Regina, 2001), pp. 193–94.
49.Attestation Paper RCAF Form R. 100, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
50.Laura Smith, email attachment of Dorothy Mitchell’s (née Taylor) recollections to author, March 24, 2010.
51.Chisholm, Their Names Live On, p. 194.
52.Laura Smith, email to author, March 24, 2010.
53.Attestation Paper RCAF Form R. 100, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
54.Laura Smith, email to author, March 24, 2010.
55.Laura Smith, email attachment of Edna Wagner’s (née Taylor) recollections to author, December 5, 2009.
56.Frank Ast, letter of reference, November 17, 1941, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
57.General Remarks by the Medical Officer on his Impression of the Candidate, January 23, 1942, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
58.RCAF Interview Report Appendix D M.20/10, February 4, 1942, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
59.Occupational History Form, March 18, 1942, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
60.Medical Records, June 15, 1942, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
61.No. ITS School Letter, August 3, 1942, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
62.RCAF Report on Pupil Pilot—Flying and Ground Training T.58A, no date, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
63.Chisholm, Their Names Live On, p. 194.
64.Dual flights were done with a qualified co-pilot, while solo flights were done by trainees on their own after instruction and dual flights had been completed.
65.RCAF Report on Pupil Pilot—Flying and Ground Training T.58A, no date, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
66.Ibid.
67.Ceased Training Certificate, December 9, 1942, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
68.Steve Fortescue, email to author, July 5, 2011.
69.As it Happened: The Lancaster at War, directed by Stephen Saunders.
70.General Conduct Sheet, December 18, 1942, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
71.Laura Smith, email attachment of Florence Farr’s (née Taylor) recollections to author (as supplied to the Carievale and District History Book, 1988), December 5, 2009.
72.R.C. Form 1, December 22, 1942, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
73.Air Bombers (T.81 Revised) No. 5 B&G School, March 2, 1943, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
74.Part II (For Air Bombers) No 1 C.N.S. Rivers, Manitoba, May 28, 1943, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
75.Form T. 81—Part IV, para. 12 for Air Bomber Final Assessment, May 28, 1943, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
76.Chisholm, Their Names Live On, p. 194.
77.Charlie Lumgair, email to author, May 17, 2010.
78.Ibid.
79.RCAF Attestation Paper, February 12, 1941, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
80.Charlie Lumgair, email to author, May 17, 2010.
81.Ibid.
82.RCAF Attestation Paper, February 12, 1941, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
83.Robert Lumgair (DFC) served in 408 Squadron at Leeming and for a short while at Linton-on-Ouse before Norm arrived on the squadron.
84.RCAF Interview Report, February 9, 1942, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
85.Occupational History Form, March 20, 1942, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
86.RCAF Medical Board, January 27, 1942, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
87.Fish skin is typically known today as eczema.
88.Certificate of Medical Examination, January 1, 1942, vol. 28021, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” LAC.
89.Case History Sheet, June 6, 1942, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
90.General Remarks by the Medical Officer on his Impression of the Candidate, June 16, 1942, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
91.RCAF Report on Pupil Pilot—Flying and Ground Training T.58A, no date, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
92.Ibid.
93.Ibid.
94.Ibid.
95.By now Robert was at 408 Squadron in Leeming, becoming initiated in squadron life.
96.“Bralorne Personalities,” The Communicator (Bralorne Community Club) 1, no. 22, November 18, 1938, Bralorne Pioneer Museum, Bralorne, BC.
97.Patrick Walker, email to author, May 18, 2011.
98.“Bralorne Personalities,” The Communicator.
99.Kitsilano Junior–Senior High School Annual, 1931 (information obtained with kind permission of the school, April 26, 2010).
100.“British Columbia is a gold mine province . . . fortunes will be made from its mines,” A.E. Jukes & Co., Vancouver, BC, 1933, AM1519-:PAM1933-77, Pamphlet Collection, City of Vancouver Archives.
101.“Bralorne Personalities,” The Communicator.
102.Ibid.
103.Patrick Walker, email to author, May 18, 2011.
104.General Manager, Bralorne Mines Ltd., letter of reference, April 23, 1941, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
105.K.G. Kern, North American Life Assurance Co., letter of reference, April 21, 1941, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
106.RCAF Special Reserve Interview Report, April 22, 1941, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
107.History of Present Condition, April 23, 1941, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
108.Occupational History Form, June 5, 1941, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
109.History of Present Condition, August 15, 1941, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
110.RCAF Report on Pupil Wireless Operator (Air Gunner) Air and Ground Training, Part 1 Initial Training, August 27, 1941, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
111.Department of Pensions and National Health Canada, January 13, 1942, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
112.RCAF Report on Pupil Wireless Operator (Air Gunner) or Air Gunner Air and Ground Training, Part 1, April 24, 1942, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
113.Part II Armament Training Gunnery, May 25, 1942, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
114.Board of Officers, May 25, 1942, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
115.William Lawrence Doran, log book.
116.Ibid.
117.Confidential Personal Assessment, December 1, 1942, vol. 25226, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” LAC.
118.Will, February 5, 1943, file “Doran, William Lawrence J 86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
119.P/O Sveinson, promotion letter to CSO of No. 2 AOS Edmonton, April 30, 1943, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
120.Confidential Personal Assessment, May 10, 1943, vol. 25226, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” LAC.
121.Gail Parker, email to author, June 9, 2011.
122.Gail Parker, letter to author, January 11, 2010.
123.RCAF Interview Report Special Reserve Appendix “D” M.20/10, April 15, 1942, file “Parker, George J85528,” vol. 28375, LAC.
124.RCAF Order on Optician, July 25, 1942, file “Parker, George J85528,” vol. 28375, LAC.
125.General Remarks by the Medical Officer on his Impression of the Candidate, September 19, 1942, file “Parker, George J85528,” vol. 28375, LAC.
126.RCAF Report on Pupil Air Navigators Air and Ground Training, November 12, 1942, file “Parker, George J85528,” vol. 28375, LAC.
127.Part II (For Air Navigators), March 19, 1943, file “Parker, George J85528,” vol. 28375, LAC.
128.Ibid.
129.“The RAF Halton Aircraft Apprentice Scheme,” oldhaltonians.co.uk/pages/news/Halton%20Story.pdf (accessed May 17, 2018).
130.Ibid.
131.J. Rickard, “No. 240 Squadron (RAF): Second World War,” Military History Encyclopedia on the Web, July 11, 2011, historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/240_wwII.html (accessed July 25, 2011).
132.Alan Mawby, email to author, June 6, 2012.
133.Gordon Cruickshank, email from family conveying Gordon’s comment to author, April 5, 2010.
134.A drop in rank may occur for a number of reasons. It is possible he was punished for some sort of personal or on-the-job misconduct. Or perhaps he simply did not have the qualifications for a particular job and thus dropped in rank while obtaining the required training.
135.CSV Action Desk/BBC Radio Lincolnshire, “No 4 School of Technical Training (1942)—Part 1,” WW2 People’s War website (Article ID: A7798369), December 15, 2005, bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/69/a7798369.shtml (accessed July 25, 2011). The page is no longer available on the website.
Chapter 8—The World by Mid-1943
1.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 763.
2.Armstrong, John G. “RCAF Identity in Bomber Command: Squadron Names and Sponsors,” Canadian Military History, no. 2 (1999): Article 5, p. 47.
PART 3: HAVE WE MET BEFORE?
Chapter 9—Moving On, Moving Forward, but Never Quite Forgotten
1.Gail Parker, email to author, June 8, 2011.
2.408 Squadron History (Belleville, ON: The Hangar Bookshelf, 1984), p. 37.
3.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 763.
4.Ibid., p. 711.
5.Bashow, None but the Brave, p. 26.
6.Edward Fleming, interview with author, March 20, 2010.
7.There are two working Lancasters in the UK: one at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire that flies in the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight; and another, Just Jane, at East Kirby, Lincolnshire, that takes passengers as it taxies along a wartime runway. A third working Lancaster, in Hamilton, Ontario, offers flights to civilians.
Chapter 10—To England
1.“Riots and Looting Not to Be Trifled With,” Toronto Telegram, May 16, 1945, in Collections—Democracy at War: Canadian Newspapers and the Second World War, Canada War Museum, collections.civilisations.ca/warclip/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=5074035 (accessed June 23, 2011).
2.Robert Burt, postcard to Evelyne Burt, August 7, 1943.
3.Laurie Woods, Flying into the Mouth of Hell (Australian Military History Publications, 2003), p. 37.
4.Edward Fleming, interview with author, March 20, 2010.
5.“Princes Pier Railway Station, Greenock,” in the exhibit Port Number One, Waterways and Recovery Bays, on the Remembering Scotland at War website, http://rememberingscotlandatwar.org.uk/online-museum.
6.Woods, Flying into the Mouth of Hell, p. 39.
7.Ibid.
8.Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts, p. 31.
9.Ibid., pp. 35–36.
10.Hospital or Sick List Record Card, August 5, 1943, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
11.RAF Training Report Pilot No. 1511 Beam Approach Training Flight, July 15, 1943, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
12.RAF Training Report, No 15 (P) Advanced Flying Unit, RAF Form 5014, August 21, 1943, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
13.George Parker, log book.
14.R.A.F. Training Report Air Bomber F.A.F. Form 5030, August 11, 1943, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
15.Duxford Radio Society (Radio Section at the Imperial War Museums Duxford), “Equipment History Summary File, Transmitter T1154/Receiver R1155 (British RAF 1941),” 2004, Duxford Radio Society website, duxfordradiosociety. org/equiphist/r1155/t1154-r1155-V4-jan2015.pdf.
16.RAF No. 4 AOS/(O)AFU Advanced W/T (Pre-OTU) Course Training Report, August 22, 1943, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
17.Robert Burt, postcard to Mrs. Burt, September 3, 1943.
Chapter 11—Becoming a Crew
1.Heavy bombers, such as the seven-man Halifax and Lancaster aircraft, were larger, more powerful aircraft that carried a greater bomb load and were able to fly longer distances than medium bombers, such as the Wellington. The boys incrementally learned their trades and moved from small to larger aircraft as their knowledge and ability progressed.
2.RAF Training Report Air Bomber No. 22 O.T.U. RAF Form 5034, November 7, 1943, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
3.Confidential Personal Assessment, November 7, 1943, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
4.Confidential Personal Assessment, Graydon Station, November 4, 1943, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
5.RAF Training Report 22 Operational Training Unit Sub form 5042, November 7, 1943, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
6.Larry Doran, letter to mother and sister Eileen, September 23, 1943. According to the Doran family, the letter did not arrive until after Larry’s death in March 1944.
7.Final Training Report, November 7, 1943, file “Parker, George J85528,” vol. 28375, LAC.
8.Personal Assessment, November 7, 1943, file “Parker, George J85528,” vol. 28375, LAC.
9.RAF Training Report Pilot No. 22 OTU Form 5015, November 7, 1943, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
10.RAF Training Report Air Gunner Form 5037 No. 22 OTU, November 18, 1943, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
11.E.L. Volkes, letter to Robert Burt, November 2, 1943.
12.Bashow, None but the Brave, p. 85.
13.Edward Fleming, interview with author, March 20, 2010.
14.Robert Burt, postcard to Mrs. Burt, December 17, 1943.
15.Robert Burt, poem to Audrey Harris, no date.
16.RAF Case Sheet—Station or Hospital Record Form 41, January 2, 1944, vol. 28375, file “Parker, George J85528,” LAC.
17.William Taylor, letter to Mrs. Harry Taylor, January 20, 1944.
18.Ibid.
19.Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts, p. 33.
20.RAF Case Sheet—Station or Hospital Record Form 41 January 21, 1944, vol. 24972, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” LAC.
21.William Taylor, letter to Mrs. Harry Taylor, January 20, 1944.
22.William Taylor, letter to Herbert Taylor (brother), February 14, 1944.
23.February 2, 1944, file “Parker, George J85528,” vol. 28375, LAC.
24.Bombers were usually attacked from behind or underneath, which meant the tail turrets were more vulnerable. The tail gunner position was assigned to the crew’s more experienced gunner, who could handle the additional pressure.
25.February 3, 1944, file “Parker, George J85528,” vol. 28375, LAC.
26.Training Report Crew 36 Course 6 No. 1679 HCF, no date, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
27.Leo McKinstry, Lancaster: The Second World War’s Greatest Bomber (London: John Murray, 2010), pp. 167–168, 155.
28.No. 1679 Conversion Flight Navigators Report, no date, file “Parker, George J85528,” vol. 28375, LAC.
29.No. 1666 Heavy Conversion Flight Bomb Aimers Report, no date, file “Taylor, William J89913,” vol. 28786, LAC.
30.Report on W/T Training (1666 CU), February 3, 1944, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” vol. 25226, LAC.
31.Training Report Air Gunner H.C.U. RCAF Wombleton, no date, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
Chapter 12—408 Squadron
1.Summary of Events, February 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 1, LAC.
2.Lucy Peltz, Beningbrough Hall (Swindon: History Press, 2006), p. 63.
3.Ibid., p. 59.
4.Mary Barnett, Beningbrough Hall guide, conversation with author, August 22, 2010.
5.Since 1958 the hall has been a National Trust property and is open to the public.
6.Peltz, Beningbrough Hall, p. 24.
7.Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts, p. 19.
8.Diane Elaine Lazenby, Call of the Goose (D.E. Lazenby, 1998), p. 63.
9.Robert Burt, letter to Evelyne Burt, February 11, 1944.
10.William Taylor, letter to Herbert Taylor, February 14, 1944.
11.Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts, p. 20.
12.Bashow, None but the Brave, p. 123 (originally from The Crucible of War 1939–1945: The Official History of the Royal Canadian Air Force Vol. III (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994), p. 681).
13.Bashow, None but the Brave, p. 123.
14.Ibid., p. 83 (originally from Brereton Greenhous and Hugh A. Halliday, Canada’s Air Forces 1914–1999 (Montreal: Art Global, 1999), p. 100).
15.Summary of Events, February 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 1, LAC.
16.Norman Lumgair, log book.
17.Summary of Events, February 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 1, LAC.
18.Ibid, p. 2.
19.Brian Shields, The East Moor Experience: 1942-1946 Squadron Operations (Warrington, UK: Compaid Graphics, 1998), pp. 107–110.
20.Norman Lumgair, log book.
21.Summary of Events, February 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 2, LAC.
22.Ibid.
23.The “occults” Bud referred to was a system of beacons positioned along the British east coast. A second line of beacons was further inland. These beacons flashed Morse code signals to approaching aircraft to help them fix their location.
24.Robert Burt, letter to Mrs. Burt, February 10, 1944.
25.Norman Lumgair, log book.
26.Summary of Events, February 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 2, LAC.
27.Norman Lumgair, log book.
28.William Lawrence Doran, log book.
29.Summary of Events, February 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 2, LAC.
30.Ibid.
31.Earle Reid, log book.
Chapter 13—EQ-P: Birth of a Dragon
1.All descriptions in this paragraph fromMcKinstry, Lancaster, pp. 3–4, 167–68.
2.McKinstry, Lancaster, p. 17.
3.Air Ministry, UK, Pilot’s Notes for Lancaster II Four Hercules VI or XVI Engines, A.P. 2062B (London: By Order of the Air Council), p. 6.
4.“Aircraft: Lancaster,” on RAF–Lincolnshire Info, website of Royal Air Force and Airfield History in Lincolnshire, March 17, 2005, raf-lincolnshire.info/aircraft/lancaster.xhtml, 2009.
5.Ibid.
6.Edward Fleming, interview with author, March 20, 2010.
7.McKinstry, Lancaster, p. 16.
8.J.J. Halley, The Lancaster File (Tonbridge, UK: Air-Britain (Historians), 1985), p. 72.
9.Aircraft Movement Card, Air Ministry, LL637.
10.Reid’s crew was Pilot Officer J.T. Smith (Nav), Flight Sergeant G.G. Maguire (W/Op.), Sgt. J.A. May (Flt. Eng.), Warrant Officer Second Class V.C. MacDonald (AB), Sgt. R.L. Clarkson (MUG) and Sgt. J.J. Barr (RG).
11.Earle Reid, log book.
12.Ibid.
13.McKinstry, Lancaster, p. 156.
14.Ibid., p. 157.
15.“Lancaster Aircrew,” Bomber Command Museum of Canada website, bombercommandmuseum.ca/lancaircrew.html.
16.McKinstry, Lancaster, p. 159.
17.Ibid., p. 190.
18.Ibid., p. 1.
19.Ibid., p. 240.
20.Pilot’s Notes for Lancaster II Four Hercules VI or XVI Engines, p. 33.
21.Ibid.
22.Bashow, None but the Brave, p. 73.
23.McKinstry, Lancaster, p. 240.
Chapter 14—Berlin: A Dickey Flight
1.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 472.
2.Venereal disease (VD) was much more common than one might suppose. Young men in their prime were arriving in Britain where the partners of many women were away at war, missing, or killed in action. Sex provided different things for different people—for some it kept loneliness at bay; for others it was a stress reliever (both sex and alcohol were often used). However, in a number of instances, love bloomed, and tens of thousands of British women ended up marrying servicemen from overseas and returning to Canada or other countries as war brides.
3.Hospital or Sick List—Record Cards, RAF Form 39 (id. no. 981-2 and 2493-4), February 15, 1944, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
4.Detail of Work Carried Out, Berlin, February 15–16, 1944, Appendix A, RAF Form 541, pp. 1–3, LAC.
5.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 472.
6.“Canadians Prominent in Assault,” The Globe and Mail, March 27, 1944, in Collections—Democracy at War: Canadian Newspapers and the Second World War, Canada War Museum, collections.museedelhistoire.ca/warclip/objects/com-mon/webmedia.php?irn=5020724 (accessed June 23, 2011). The page is no longer available on the website.
7.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 472.
8.Information from “Canadians Prominent in Assault,” and Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 472.
9.Information on February 15–16, 1944, from “Daily Operations,” No. 6 Bomber Group website, 6bombergroup.ca/Feb44/Feb15~1644.html.
10.Robin Neillands, The Bomber War: The Allied Air Offensive against Nazi Germany (Woodstock, NY: The Overlook Press, 2001), p. 293, quoted in Bashow, None but the Brave, p. 40.
11.John Terraine, The Right of the Line: The Royal Air Force in the European War 1939–1945 (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1985), 33, quoted in Bashow, None but the Brave, p. 71.
12.Detail of Work Carried Out, February 15–16, 1944, RAF Form 541, pp. 1–3, LAC, and Summary of Events, February 15, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 3, LAC.
13.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries.
14.Ibid. Nearly four months later to the day after Lumgair’s dickey run, almost all of the Stewart crew died on a raid to Cambrai on June 12–13, 1944. Those who died are buried in Seranvillers-Forenville Military Cemetery.
15.“Canadians Prominent in Assault.”
16.Ibid.
17.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 472.
18.Summary of Events, February 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 3, LAC.
19.Robert Hudson, letter to Clarence Walter Hudson, February 16, 1944.
20.Summary of Events, February 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 3, LAC.
21.Bashow, None but the Brave, p. 100.
22.D. Stafford-Clark, “Morale and Flying Experience,” originally published in the Journal of Mental Science, reprinted in Alan W. Mitchell, “Bomber Crews Were Men with a High Quality of Courage,” Gaggle and Stream—Magazine of the Bomber Command Association of Canada, August 2002, 8; quoted in Bashow, None but the Brave, p. 100.
Chapter 15—Operation 1: Leipzig
1.Alan Cooper, Target Leipzig: The RAF’s Disastrous Raid of 19/20 February 1944 (Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword Aviation, 2009), p. 99.
2.Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts, p. 48.
3.Cooper, Target Leipzig, pp. 99–100.
4.Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts, pp. 53 and 161.
5.Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts, p. 154.
6.Cooper, Target Leipzig, p. 101.
7.Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts, p. 154.
8.“Brunswick Is Smashed in New Bomber Attack,” The Globe and Mail, February 22, 1944, in Collections—Democracy at War: Canadian Newspapers and the Second World War, Canada War Museum, http://collections.civilisations.ca/warclip/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=5122373 (accessed June 23, 2011).
9.Detail of Work Carried Out February 19–20, 1944, Appendix A, RAF Form 541, p. 3, LAC.
10.Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts, p. 50.
11.Ibid.
12.The specific flares used to mark the target were altered each night so bombers knew this was their mark and would not be confused by night fighter flares. Green flares and red stars were parachute flares, used due to the cloud cover, and would easily drift off target.
13.Cooper, Target Leipzig, p. 101.
14.Ibid, p. 100.
15.Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts, p. 43.
16.Ibid., p. 51.
17.Ibid.
18.Ibid., p. 53. According to McKinstry, “It has been estimated that 80 per cent of airmen carried some sort of lucky charm or enacted a fixed pre-flight ritual, urination on the wheels being the most common” (Lancaster, p. 219).
19.Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts, p. 53.
20.George McKillop, email to author, September 17, 2009.
21.Ibid.
22.Ibid.
23.Cooper, Target Leipzig, p. 159.
24.Ibid., p. 157.
25.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 473.
26.Ibid.
27.Cooper, Target Leipzig, pp. 134–135.
28.McKinstry, Lancaster, p. 167.
29.Quoted in McKinstry, Lancaster, pp. 167–168.
30.Cooper, Target Leipzig, p. 134.
31.Ibid., p. 123, 107.
32.Ibid., p. 108.
33.Ibid., pp. 117–118.
34.Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts, p. 154.
35.Information on February 19–20, 1944, from “Daily Operations” on Richard Koval’s No. 6 Bomber Group website, 6bombergroup.ca/Feb44/Feb19~2044.html.
36.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 473.
37.Detail of Work Carried Out, February 19–20,1944, RAF Form 541, p. 4, LAC.
38.“Brunswick Is Smashed in New Bomber Attack,” The Globe and Mail.
39.Information on February 19–20, 1944, from “Daily Operations” on Richard Koval’s No. 6 Bomber Group website, 6bombergroup.ca/Feb44/Feb19~2044.html.
40.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 473.
41.Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts, p. 154.
42.Detail of Work Carried Out, February 19–20, 1944, RAF Form 541, p. 4, LAC.
43.“Fighter Barrier Worst Canadians Ever Met,” The Globe and Mail, February 21, 1944, Collections—Democracy at War: Canadian Newspapers and the Second World War, Canada War Museum, http://collections.civilisations.ca/warclip/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=5020899 (accessed June 23, 2011).
44.Cooper, Target Leipzig, p. 164.
45.Ibid., p. 108.
46.Ibid, pp. 140–141.
47.“Brunswick Is Smashed in New Bomber Attack,” The Globe and Mail.
48.Cooper, Target Leipzig, p. 122.
49.Detail of Work Carried Out, February 19–20, 1944, RAF Form 541, p. 3–6, LAC.
50.Out of the twenty-eight crewmen lost, twenty-one died, six were taken as POWs and one evaded capture.
51.W.R. Chorley, Aircraft and Crew Losses 1944, vol. 5 of Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War (Leicester, UK: Midland Counties Publications, 1997), pp. 83–92.
52.Quoted in McKinstry, Lancaster, p. 218.
53.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 474.
54.“Brunswick Is Smashed in New Bomber Attack,” The Globe and Mail.
Chapter 16—Three More Operations: Stuttgart, Schweinfurt, and Augsburg
1.“Brunswick Is Smashed in New Bomber Attack,” The Globe and Mail.
2.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 474.
3.Cooper, Target Leipzig, p. 144.
4.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 474.
5.Detail of Work Carried Out, Stuttgart, February 20–21, 1944, RAF Form 541, pp. 6–8, LAC.
6.Information on February 20–21, 1944, from “Daily Operations” on Richard Koval’s No. 6 Bomber Group website, www.6bombergroup.ca/Feb44/Feb20~2144.html.
7.Detail of Work Carried Out, Stuttgart, February 20–21, 1944, RAF Form 541, p. 7, LAC.
8.Detail of Work Carried Out, February 20–21, 1944, RAF Form 541, pp. 6–8, LAC.
9.“Brunswick is Smashed in New Bomber Attack,” The Globe and Mail.
10.Detail of Work Carried Out, Stuttgart, February 20–21, 1944, RAF Form 541, pp. 6–8, LAC.
11.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 474.
12.Summary of Events, February 21, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 4, LAC.
13.“Brunswick Is Smashed in New Bomber Attack,” The Globe and Mail.
14.Summary of Events, February 22, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 5, LAC.
15.Summary of Events, February 23, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 5, LAC.
16.Marjorie Doran letter to Director of Estates, August 18, 1944, vol. 25226, file “Doran, William Lawrence J86233,” LAC.
17.Ken Burt, email to author, July 22, 2011.
18.Summary of Events, February 24, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 5, LAC.
19.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 475.
20.Ibid.
21.Detail of Work Carried Out, February 24–25, 1944, RAF Form 541, p. 9, LAC.
22.Information on February 24–25, 1944, from “Daily Operations” on Richard Koval’s No. 6 Bomber Group website, www.6bombergroup.ca/Feb44/Feb24~2544.html.
23.“Canadian Bomber Group in Biggest Effort of the War,” Hamilton Spectator, February 25, 1944, in Collections—Democracy at War: Canadian Newspapers and the Second World War, Canada War Museum, http://collections.civilisations.ca/warclip/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=5020898 (accessed June 23, 2011).
24.“Canadian Bomber Group in Biggest Effort of the War.”
25.Detail of Work Carried Out, February 24–25, 1944, RAF Form 541, pp. 8–10, LAC.
26.Information on February 24–25, 1944, from “Daily Operations” on Richard Koval’s No. 6 Bomber Group website, 6bombergroup.ca/Feb44/Feb24~2544.html.
27.408 Squadron, Lancaster II DS731, EQ-O: Sgt. Hodgins is buried at Hannover War Cemetery. The rest were taken as POW. 408 Squadron, Lancaster II DS844, EQ-X: Three are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. The rest are buried in Dürnbach War Cemetery.
28.Summary of Events, February 24, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 5, LAC.
29.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, pp. 475–476.
30.Detail of Work Carried Out, February 25–26, 1944, RAF Form 541, pp. 10–12, LAC, and Summary of Events, February 25, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 5, LAC.
31.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 476.
32.Information on February 25–26, 1944, from “Daily Operations” on Richard Koval’s No. 6 Bomber Group website, 6bombergroup.ca/Feb44/Feb25~2644.html.
33.Summary of Events, February 25, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 5, LAC.
34.The red flares were ground flares, not sky-marker flares, in keeping with the clear sky conditions on this evening. Ground flares would not be blown off target by wind, so the bombs could be aimed accurately.
35.Detail of Work Carried Out, February 25–26, 1944, RAF Form 541, p. 11, LAC.
36.Information on February 25–26, 1944, from “Daily Operations” on Richard Koval’s No. 6 Bomber Group website, 6grouprcaf.com/Feb44/Feb25~2644.html6bombergroup.ca/Feb44/Feb25~2644.html.
37.Middlebrook and Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 476.
38.Detail of Work Carried Out, February 25–26, 1944, RAF Form 541, pp. 10–12, LAC.
39.Middlebrook and Everett, Bomber Command War Diaries, p. 477.
40.408 Squadron, Lancaster II DS791, EQ-F: This was an experienced crew nearing the end of their operations. Those who died are buried in Dürnbach War Cemetery. 408 Squadron, Lancaster II DS845, EQ-T: The crew abandoned the plane due to engine failure; five were taken as POWs and two evaded capture.
41.Summary of Events, February 25, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 5, LAC.
42.Bashow, None but the Brave, p. 71.
43.Harvey, Boys, Bombs and Brussels Sprouts, p. 155.
Chapter 17—March Holidays and Late-Winter Stand-Downs
1.William Taylor, letter to Mrs. Stewart Smith, March 14, 1944.
2.Charlie Lumgair, email to author, September 1, 2009.
3.Robert Burt, postcard to Mrs. Burt, March 4, 1944. The “old boy” Bud referred to was his father.
4.Robert Burt, postcard to Evelyne Burt, March 4, 1944.
5.Robert Burt, letter to grandmother, March 6, 1944.
6.Summary of Events, March 7, 1944, RAF Form 540, pp. 1–2, LAC.
7.“38 Bombers Lost from Over 1,000,” The Globe and Mail, March 9, 1944, in Collections—Democracy at War: Canadian Newspapers and the Second World War, Canada War Museum, http://collections.civilisations.ca/warclip/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=5122410 (accessed June 23, 2011).
8.Detail of Work Carried Out, March 7–8, 1944, RAF Form 541, p. 2, LAC.
9.Summary of Events, March 7, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 1, LAC.
10.Detail of Work Carried Out, March 7–8, 1944, RAF Form 541, p. 2, LAC.
11.Summary of Events, March 8, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 2, LAC.
12.Norman Lumgair, log book. The change in planes may have been due to EQ-P receiving some damage in the Le Mans raid, but there are no records of this.
13.Summary of Events, March 9, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 2, LAC.
14.Summary of Events, March 10, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 2, LAC.
15.Harold Davis interview, on Imperial War Museum sound archive tape 9194, quoted in McKinstry, Lancaster, p. 218.
16.Summary of Events, March 14, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 3, LAC.
17.William Taylor, letter to Mrs. Stewart Smith, March 14, 1944.
18.Norman Lumgair, log book.
19.Summary of Events, March 14, 1944, RAF Form 540, p. 3, LAC.
PART 4: GET YOUR GEESE IN FORMATION
Chapter 18—Walking in Their Footsteps
1.Isabel Reid’s “To An Airman,” emailed by Laura Smith to the author, October 18, 2009.
2.Yorkshire Air Museum, Yorkshire Air Museum and Allied Air Forces Memorial Visitor Guide Book, p. 8.
Chapter 19—Beningbrough Hall
1.James Kilner, “There Was Always Room at the Inn,” December 7, 2004, on the Gazette & Herald website, gazetteherald.co.uk/archive/2003/12/22/Ryedale+Archive/6663221.There_was_always_room_at_the_inn/. The page is no longer available on the website.
Chapter 20—Present Meets Past
1.Royal Air Force, “RAF Base Opens its Doors,” May 19, 2008, RAF Linton-on-Ouse website, raf.mod.uk/raflintononouse/newsweather/index.cfm?storyid= 00A1ACEC-1143-EC82-2E5E1593DB0E42D7 (accessed June 10, 2012).
2.Alan Mawby, curator tour with author, August 23, 2010.
3.Matt Clark, “Memorial to the Lost Airmen of Linton-on-Ouse,” The Press (York), September 7, 2011, yorkpress.co.uk/features/features/9236963.print (accessed June 11, 2012).
Chapter 21—Just Jane
1.“The Air Gunners,” Bomber Command Museum of Canada website, bomb-ercommandmuseum.ca/airgunners1.html.
2.Robert Chester-Master, emails to author, March 29 and 31, 2012.
3.Terry Mason, letter to author, December 18, 2010.
PART 5: I REMEMBER YOU
Chapter 24—Honking of Geese from Above
1.Mr. and Mrs. Steydli, interview with author, translated by Jean-Paul Steydli, August 6, 2011.
2.Patrick Baumann, personal notes given to author, August 28, 2010; originally used for newspaper article, “Le terrible nuit du 15 mars 1944,” on the fifty-year anniversary.
3.Chorley, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, p. 112.
4.McKinstry, Lancaster, p. 364.
5.Ibid., p. 364.
6.Boiten, Nachtjagd War Diaries, p. 376.
7.Patrick Baumann, email to author, February 9, 2013.
8.Patrick Baumann, email to author, February 10, 2013.
9.Chorley, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, p. 115.
10.Neil Deakin, Sgt. Harry C. Petty’s nephew, email to Ken Burt, December 12, 2005.
11.Patrick Baumann, email to author, February 10, 2013.
12.Patrick Baumann, personal notes given to author, August 28, 2010.
13.Mr. and Mrs. Steydli, interview with author, August 6, 2011.
14.EQ-P was the only bomber to split in two, and as such I have placed them as the first bomber, according to Alphonse Spiller’s account.
15.Patrick Baumann, personal notes given to author, August 28, 2010. There are some discrepancies in Alphonse Spiller’s account of events, most notably that he thought he saw this at 0130, three hours after EQ-P probably crashed. I discuss the different accounts and my questions about them in the afterword.
16.Report No. 1 Missing Research and Enquiry Unit to Air Ministry, April 30, 1947, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
17.“Andrew Charles Mynarski: World War II Hero,” Canadian Air Aces and Heroes website, constable.ca/caah/mynarski.htm (accessed August 17, 2011).
18.Steve Fortescue, email to author, July 5, 2011.
19.Theo Boiten and Martin Bowman, Jane’s Battles with the Luftwaffe: The Bomber Campaign Against Germany 1942–1945 (London: Harper Collins, 2001), pp. 82–83.
20.Mr. and Mrs. Steydli, interview with author, August 6, 2011.
21.Patrick Baumann, personal notes given to author, August 28, 2010.
22.Chorley, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, p. 115.
23.Patrick Baumann, personal notes given to author, August 28, 2010.
24.Ibid.
25.All but one crewman, a Canadian, were from the UK. All are buried at Artolsheim Communal Cemetery.
26.Report France Detachment Missing Research and Enquiry Service RAF to Air Ministry, June 5, 1948, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
27.“La terrible nuit du 15 mars 1944,” Wittisheim municipal website, wittisheim.fr/listeLieux00010ae5.xhtml, November 2009. (The story was removed when the website was revamped.)
28.Patrick Baumann, personal notes given to author, August 28, 2010.
29.Report France Detachment Missing Research and Enquiry Service RAF to Air Ministry, June 5, 1948, and Exhumation Report (RAF), May 17, 1947, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
30.Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Choloy War Cemetery, www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2031700/CHOLOY%20WAR%20CEMETERY (accessed Dec 12 2016).
Chapter 25—The Cold Dawn
1.Mr. and Mrs. Steydli, interview with author, August 6, 2011.
2.Jean-Paul Steydli, email to author, December 23, 2012.
3.Mr. and Mrs. Steydli, interview with author, August 6, 2011.
4.Ibid.
5.Boiten and Bowman, Jane’s Battles with the Luftwaffe, p. 29.
6.Report No. 1 Missing Research and Enquiry Unit British Forces in France, RAF to Air Ministry, August 13, 1947, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J 86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
7.Patrick Baumann, personal notes given to author, August 28, 2010.
8.Mr. and Mrs. Steydli, interview with author, August 6, 2011.
9.Ken Burt, email to author (detailing discussion with witness Mrs. Kreger in 1981), October 12, 2010.
10.RCAF handwritten information in service file, January 8, 1946, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
11.408 Squadron, Lancaster II LL637, EQ-P: Plt. Off. (Pilot) Norman Andrew Lumgair J/86440 (RCAF), Sgt. (Flt. Engr.) Douglas Cruickshank 620947 (RAF), Plt. Off. (Nav.) George Parker J/85528 (RCAF), Plt. Off. (Air Bomber) William Taylor J/89913 (RCAF), Plt. Off. (W. Op. Air Gnr.) William Lawrence Doran J/86233 (RCAF), Sgt. (Air Gnr.) Robert Henry Hudson 3050164 (RAFVR), Sgt. (Air Gnr.) Robert George Alfred Burt R/206418 (RCAF).
12.RCAF Casualty Office, letter to Mr. W. Lumgair, March 4, 1948, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
13.Mr. and Mrs. Steydli, interview with author, August 6, 2011.
14.Ibid.
15.Jean-Paul Steydli, email to author, August 12, 2011.
16.Mr. and Mrs. Steydli, interview with author, August 6, 2011.
Chapter 26—A Long Walk to Be With Them
1.In 1981, Ken Burt and one of his sisters, along with their spouses, went to Hilsenheim, where Ken’s sister exchanged mailing addresses with a couple in the village who spoke English. Years later, John Hudson, Bob’s brother, met the Steydli family. In 1994, when John had only been able to track down the Taylor family for the fiftieth anniversary of the crew’s death, the Hudsons, Taylors, and Steydlis attended the gathering to remember the crew. Two years later, Jean-Paul and his family visited the Taylor family in Canada. When they returned to Hilsenheim, the Steydlis mentioned this visit to their neighbours, who turned out to be the people Ken’s sister had exchanged addresses with. Jean-Paul forwarded Ken’s sister’s address to the Taylors, and they wrote the sister. She let Ken know, and he contacted the Taylors, who in turn gave him Jean-Paul Steydli’s address.
2.Ken Burt, letter to Jean-Paul Steydli, December 23, 2005.
Chapter 28—A Celebration
1.Ken Burt, letter to Jean-Paul Steydli, December 23, 2005.
2.Mr. and Mrs. Steydli, interview with author, August 6, 2011.
3.Ibid.
PART 6: HOW COULD I FORGET?
Chapter 31—In Memory
1.Aircrew Canadian Commemorative Geographical Feature Naming Program, google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1xtZDhG50xAV_AAcTTtAktVGkJ9I.
Chapter 32—Remembering the Dead
1.Ben Morris, “Permission to Speak, Sir: Official History, Whose Reality?” Oral History Association of Australia Journal no. 32 (2010): 3.
2.Ibid., 6.
3.Jim Mulholland, email to author, October 11, 2010.
4.Ibid., October 18, 2010.
5.Ibid., October 11, 2010.
Afterword—Separating the Geese from the Ganders
1.No title given (appears to be a death card), Ref. KE7942, no date, file “Burt, Robert George Alfred R206418,” vol. 24972, LAC.
2.Translated extract from official death list (Totenliste No. 239), February 10, 1945, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
3.Jock was buried in the collective grave with Larry, Norm, and George, so I can only surmise that the identity disc was found separate from his body and that his remains could not be distinguished from the other unidentifiable members of the crew.
4.RCAF Casualty Branch extract from KE7942, no date, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
5.Copy of extract from KE7942, dated October 16, 1945, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
6.Casualty Enquiry G325, December 14, 1945, vol. 28021, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” LAC. The MRES was concerned only with obtaining the information pertinent to its enquiry. It was not responsible for finding out how the men died.
7.I have been unable to ascertain whether Sgt. J.B. Bull was the unidentified airman or a separate casualty. I have also been unable to verify if he died in the crash of SR-Q or was found elsewhere, like Sgt. J.F. Ennis.
8.Casualty Enquiry G325 (Cont), January 8, 1946, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
9.Casualty Enquiry G325 (Contd), January 23, 1946, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
10.The front part of EQ-P was in fact close to Hilsenheim, approximately three hundred metres from the nearest house and in a field quite far back from the road leading to Wittisheim. Wittisheim is about two to three kilometres from Hilsenheim. Bud was found in his turret somewhere on the edge of Wittisheim, although I could not determine the exact location.
11.The time of 2330 is a full hour later than the 2230 time given in French witness accounts. When considered along with the initial German record, the reported time the bomber stream was over the Alsace, and also when calculated with the average time to target for the other 408 Squadron aircraft, their drop time and return times, it seems highly unlikely the mayor’s time could be a possibility.
12.No. 1 Missing Research and Enquiry Unit to Air Ministry, received August 13, 1947, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
13.In fact, four bodies were identified by identity discs, but as stated earlier, Jock’s identity disc was likely found separate from his body, which would explain why he was buried in the communal grave instead of in a separate grave.
14.The badly burnt bodies were likely those of George, Norm, Larry, and Jock, as Mrs. Steydli said the bodies she saw outside the aircraft were not burned.
15.In 1981, when Ken Burt visited Hilsenheim, he heard from Mrs. Kreder, who lived next to the Hilsenheim Cemetery, that she could see the naked bodies of the crew at the entrance to the cemetery.
16.No. 1 Missing Research and Enquiry Unit to Air Ministry, received August 13, 1947, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
17.Exhumation report RAF Hilsenheim, May 16, 1947, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
18.I was unable to verify who Hensen was or how he came to be listed on the cross. He was not part of this crew and does not show up in any casualties for the night.
19.Exhumation report RAF Mussig, May 17, 1947, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
20.Today DNA is commonly used to identify bodies; however, during the Second World War, such technology didn’t exist to verify the masses of unidentifiable dead. The MRES does not state it found the body of Cecil Glenn Arthur, but it knew which men would have been in which aircraft. Sgt. Bull was buried at Mussig, and there was evidence from the exhumation a RAAF member was present due to the RAAF battle dress found in the graves at Mussig; the knowledge that Arthur was the only RAAF crewman on SR-Q likely supported the belief that all crewmen for each aircraft were accounted for and buried with their own crew, not mixed with EQ-P.
21.The villages of Sundhausen and Wittisheim are close to one another. The MRES assumed that the German information stating he was buried at Sundhausen was a simple mix-up between the two villages.
22.Report from France Detachment Missing Research and Enquiry RAF to Air Ministry, June 5, 1948, file “Lumgair, Norman Andrew J 86440,” vol. 28021, LAC.
23.“La terrible nuit du 15 mars 1944,” Wittisheim website, November 2009, wittisheim.fr/listeLieux00010ae5.xhtml. (The story was removed when the website was revamped.)
24.Etienne Barthelmé, Bombercrash in Alsace: La Guerre aérienne 39–45 et les chutes de bombardiers alliés en Alsace. Histoire des avions et des équi-pages (N.p.: Books on Demand Editions, 2009; available at books.google.ca/books?id=HntM81dvFDYC), p. 74.
25.Ibid., p. 155.
26.Patrick Baumann, personal notes given to author, August 28, 2010.
27.As more information is found and made available, the understanding surrounding the events of history changes and hopefully a more accurate assessment of what happened can be determined.
28.Patrick Baumann, email to author, February 9, 2013.
29.O.K.L. Fighter Claims: Chef für Ausz. Und Dizsiplin Luftwaffen-Personalamt L.P. (A) V Films & Supplementary Claims from Lists, Reich, West and Südfront, Jan to Apr 1944, vol. 1, Combat Claims and Casualties, don-caldwell.we.bs/jg26/claims/tonywood.xhtml.
30.John Foreman, Johannes Matthews, and Simon W. Parry, Luftwaffe Night Fighter Combat Claims, 1939–1945 (Surrey, UK: Red Kite, 2004), pp. 154–155.
31.Boiten, Nachtjagd War Diaries, p. 373.
32.Heinz Rökker, Chronik I. Gruppe Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 I./NJG 2. Juli 1940 bis Kriegsende 1945 Fernnachtjagd 1940–1942 (Zweinbrücken: VDM Heinz Nickel, 1997), p. 98.
33.McKinstry, Lancaster, p.146.
34.Boiten, Nachtjagd War Diaries, p. 373.