Description
When the remains of a RAF Lancaster bomber and its seven-man crew were found in a river in the German town of Hanover in 1977, an investigation began that was to take over 25 years to complete…
At the time Bryan Clark was serving in the RAF Police in Germany, in charge of the Special Investigations Branch, and was given the task of investigating the crash site and discovering the identities of the deceased.
It was soon established that the aircraft had belonged to No. 619 Squadron, based at RAF Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire, part of No.5 Group of RAF Bomber Command but Brian was surprised to discover that very little information about the squadron appeared to be available. It had seemingly all but vanished from history as a consequence of so few of its former personnel having survived the war.
It struck Bryan that the story of the young airmen of 619 Squadron, so many of whom had perished far from home in the service of their country, should not go unrecorded and he determined to discover everything he could about the squadron – starting with the seven crew-members who had perished in this particular Lancaster – EE109 PG-F – and record their story for posterity.
His researches led him to discover precise details of the aircraft’s last movements, the identities of all its crew-members and even identity of the teenage German anti-aircraft gunner whose flak battery had shot the aircraft down.
As well as recording the story of the crew of EE109, Bryan meticulously gathered statistics about every aircraft and every aircrew member lost by 619 Squadron, along with details of all the squadron’s activities throughout the war. These were added to the narrative to make this impressive volume of 97,000 words, telling the entire squadron history for the first time.
Thanks to Bryan’s efforts 619 is no longer a ‘forgotten squadron’ and can take its place of honour alongside its many World War II counterparts.
Details
Publisher - Woodfield Publishing
Language - English
Paperback
Contributors
Author
Bryan Clark
Published Date - July 12 2024
ISBN - 9781903953518
Dimensions - 23.4 x 15.6 x 1.6 cm
Page Count - 268
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