Lancaster "m For Mother"

[Old Boy]

Hi All,
My brother Arthur George Beresford was a Flight Sergeant in the RAF. He had already completed 30 missions when, after a 6 month break he was allocated to another crew. I have recently found the copy of a letter he had written to a researcher about the events of June 22nd 1944. Arthur died a few years ago after a good life but I thought you might find the letter of interest so here goes:-

We only flew 3 times together and and did not have much chance to really get to know one another, The pilot Squadron Leader T.B. "King" Cole was Flight Commander and, therefore, we did not fly as often as everyone on the squadron did.
Crew
S/Ldr T B Cole Pilot (King) F/Sgt K H V Ingram Flight Engineer (Ken)
F/Officer J Craven Navigator (Jack) F/Officer E J Blakemore W/Op (Eric)
Sgt F H Shorter Air Gunner (Fred) Sgt P F J Hayes Air Gunner
F/Sgt A G Beresford Bomb Aimer
The night we were shot down we took an extra gunner W/Officer Lane. If I remember
rightly he had been hanging around the squadron for a while(his pilot was sick) and asked S/Ldr Cole for a trip.
Aircraft Lancaster M for Mother of 50 Sqdn. We bombed the target exactly on ETA.
While we were flying straight and level (for the photograph) there was a huge bang
(presumably a direct hit by flak. We went into a steep dive. "King" Cole and Ken Ingram together regained control at about 10,000 feet. The starboard inner engine was on fire. This was extinguished using the builtin extinguishers. The skipper called up the crew and it was found that the rear gunner had bailed out during the dive (I cannot blame him) The spare gunner was asked to take his place. After some minutes the engine caught fire again and there was no chance of putting it out this time. We were told to bale out. Fred Shorter and John Lane were still in the aircraft when it crashed. Sqdn Leader Cole baled out at about 900 feet (I met him at the interrogation centre} Eric Blakemore and Jack Craven evaded capture and returned to England in March 1945. Ken Ingram evaded capture for a while but was murdered by the Gestapo on 1st October 1944.(He is buried at Appeldoorn, Holland) . I was taken prisoner and met Hayes in prison camp (Stalagluft 7, Bankau) Apparently he had landed in a factory yard. He said that considering it was in the middle of a raid he had not been treated too badly

That is the end of Arthurs account. There can be little doubt that Bomber Command suffered most in the war going out night after night on raids over Germany. Thousands of them died and it is a great pity that they were never accorded a campaign medal. This was largely because of a fallout between Winston Churchill and the man in charge of Bomber Command "Bomber" Harris.

Chris Beresford (Old Boy)

 

[sheldontony]

Would your brother ever have gone into Royal British Legion Knowle? I remember talking to someone in there who mentioned him and his memories in a Lancaster.

 

[cookie273uk]

I was a w/op on Lancasters, (but in peacetime I'm glad to say 1949 to 1951 ) 0n 82(PR) Squadron the last Lancaster sqdn in the RAF, one of them was restored to wartime regalia and is now the Memorial Flight Lancaster. A wonderful aircraft to fly in. Never ceased to be amazed by the courage of the wartime crews who realised each op could be there last. Eric

 

[Vivienne14]

Thanks for posting Chris. We've really no real idea today what these airmen went through day after day. I'ts terribly sad that Ken was captured and died. Did Bomber Command airmen go through specialist anti-interrogation training ? Viv.

 

[Steve R]

Chris
What an interesting and wonderful account. It fascinates me how those young men just looked at those raids as a 'job' they accepted the danger despite each and every raid sustaining losses. Such bravery is to be admired and never forgotten.
Thank you for posting
Steve R

 

[Old Boy]

Would your brother ever have gone into Royal British Legion Knowle? I remember talking to someone in there who mentioned him and his memories in a Lancaster.

Hello Tony,
Arthur lived in Sheldon (Newells Road) but I doubt that he ever visited Knowle Royal British Legion. However, the researcher, who I mentioned him writing to, Lived in Solihull and I imagine could well have visited the Legion in search of information.
Chris Beresford (Old Boy)

 

[Old Boy]

Thanks for posting Chris. We've really no real idea today what these airmen went through day after day. I'ts terribly sad that Ken was captured and died. Did Bomber Command airmen go through specialist anti-interrogation training ? Viv.

Hello Viv,
I do not know whether the airmen had specialist interrogation training but they may well have done.
However, it is well known that all servicemen in theatres of war have it drummed into them that if captured by the enemy all they have to reveal is "Their name, rank and number" This was part of the Geneva Convention after WW1.
Yes it is sad that Ken Ingram was killed after being protected by the Resistance for some months. I also feel for John Lane the Warrant Officer Air Gunner who need not have been there at all. He merely went for the ride apparently.
Chris Beresford (Old Boy)

 

[cookie273uk]

Chris, Yes they did attend lectures on reaction to interrogation, I was told this by aircrew colleagues who had flew during the war ( and were lucky enough to return !!) Eric

 

[Vivienne14]

Thanks Chris.

My mum told me that my dad had some sort of intense anti-interrogation training but I wasn't sure if it was true. But I think it probably was because, some of his Bomber Command experience was in droppintg supplies into France (I think possibly for the Resistance but not sure. My aunt (his sister) sent me some details, will have to dig it out).

She also mentioned something about identifying certain buildings by whether they had an aeriel or not. It went something along the lines of these were hostile or friendly buildings, can't remember which though. My mum was a bit vague about it too. My dad hardly ever talked about his experiences, wanted to forget it all I suppose. But he did once show me some maps he had from the war. And very proud he was of them too. I expect he shouldn't really have kept those maps !

 

[Vivienne14]

This is what I was referring to. It's a photo of 1941 sent to me by my aunt - my dads on the far right - the inscription on the back talks about rooftop flying and dropping agents and I think supplies. My dad was a flight engineer. The houses with aeriels were, according to my aunt, German friendly. Expect it must have been very risky doing this sort of work.

If there's anything else you can tell me from the photo, all comments gratefully received. Viv.