Obituaries

Flight Lieutenant Eric Atkins

Flight Lieutenant Eric Atkins, who has died aged 90, flew 60 low-level bombing raids with a Polish Mosquito squadron and was twice decorated with the DFC; he also won the Polish Cross of Valour on two occasions.
Atkins was transferred to No 305 Squadron in April 1944 after it had suffered heavy losses. Most of the crews were Polish, and he usually flew with a Polish navigator, Flight Lieutenant Jurek Meyer.
The squadron flew night intruder missions over northern France and Belgium as a prelude to the D-Day landings, attacking enemy road traffic, railways and canals. On D-Day itself, Atkins attacked trains in the Cherbourg area; thereafter he was in action every night, targeting the German reinforcements making for the Normandy bridgehead .
As the Allied armies prepared to break out of Normandy, Atkins attacked a German Panzer Division, and on August 25 he took part in a major assault on enemy troops massing near the river Seine. That night he completed three sorties, and five days later his was one of six crews which severely damaged a fuel storage depot near Nancy. Shortly afterwards he was awarded the first of his DFCs.
As the Allied armies prepared to break out of Normandy, Atkins attacked a German Panzer Division, and on August 25 he took part in a major assault on enemy troops massing near the river Seine. That night he completed three sorties, and five days later his was one of six crews which severely damaged a fuel storage depot near Nancy. Shortly afterwards he was awarded the first of his DFCs.
The Allies were now moving eastwards, and Atkins and his Polish colleagues bombed troop movements in Belgium and western Germany, then ranged deeper into Germany to bomb and strafe railways, road convoys and troop reinforcements. He was awarded a Polish Cross of Valour. In November the squadron moved to an airfield in France, from where it continued to attack trains and canal traffic. After suffering damage from anti-aircraft fire, Atkins was forced to land his Mosquito at night without the undercarriage and with fused bombs still in the bomb bay. It was half an hour before the crash rescue crews would venture close to the wrecked aircraft.
After a highly successful operation against Panzer units at Wassenburg in December, Atkins was rested. He had completed 78 operations, most of them alongside the Poles. He was awarded a Bar to his DFC, and a Bar to his Cross of Valour. The Poles also awarded him the Squadron Badge of Honour and the Polish Air Force Medal. (He received his two DFCs from a clerk in the Air Ministry.) Atkins greatly admired his Polish comrades, later writing of them; "[They] were magnificent people and fierce warriors, and their ground crews were devoted and dedicated."
The son of a mining engineer, Eric Granville Albert Atkins was born at Mansfield on March 19 1921. After the family moved to Essex, he went to South-East Essex College, leaving when he was 14 to work for Unilever.
A keen Boy Scout, he was curious about the Hitler Youth and arranged a holiday in Germany. He was escorted to a number of camps but became increasingly uncomfortable with the atmosphere and anti-British feeling. Then he received a telegram from home reading "Brother very ill, return home immediately, Father". He had no brother, but excused himself, hitchhiked to Calais and landed at Dover to find newspaper billboards declaring "War with Germany".

Atkins joined the Civil Defence before being accepted for service as a pilot with the RAF. In September 1941 he joined No 139 Squadron, flying Blenheim bombers on anti-shipping patrols off the Dutch coast and daylight bombing operations over northern France. In November he and his crew flew a Blenheim to Gibraltar. Their next task was to rendezvous in the Mediterranean with the carrier Ark Royal, wait for 26 Hurricanes to be launched and then escort them on the long flight to Malta.
After returning to England, Atkins flew night operations but was injured when his Blenheim crash-landed after being badly damaged by anti-aircraft fire. He became an instructor on medium bombers and was commissioned.
Early in 1944 he returned to operations to fly the Mosquito with No 464 (RAAF) Squadron in the low-level attack role. During the spring he attacked the V-1 launching sites in the Pas de Calais region before transferring to No 305 Squadron in April.
After completing his service with the Poles, Atkins became a test pilot with a repair and salvage unit before becoming personal pilot to General GI Thomas, GOC 1st British Corps in Germany. He left the RAF in 1946.
Atkins returned to Unilever, becoming regional sales manager in south London before moving as a manager to the European sales division.
In his sixties he took up climbing, and he was founder-chairman of the Mosquito Aircrew Association.
Eric Atkins married, in 1950, Sheila Finlay-Day, who survives him with their son and daughter.

Flight Lieutenant Eric Atkins, born March 19 1921, died November 22 2011.

source: The Telegraph

All these people deserve our respect but I admit, its someting a bit special to take up climbing in your sixties!!

Farewell Eric.
Really sorry to hear this news, as I had the privilege of spending a week with Eric, and other former Mosquito crews, in Copenhagen, during the 50th anniversary ceremonies of the Shell House raid, the attack on Gestapo HQ.
He was a real gentleman; amusing, friendly and helpful.

Clarence "Red" Eudaily (Flight Engineer) passed away today, January 21, he was full of warmth, humor and courage, humility and pride in his country. He won Distinguished Flying Cross medals for what he did to save his plane and crew one August 1944 day with the 464th Bomb Group over Pardubice, Czechoslovakia...

Have a blue sky, Sir!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUNLiqsu0q0

R.I.P. sir.

Wing Commander 'Mac' Furze

Wing Commander 'Mac' Furze, who has died aged 83, was a Cold War bomber pilot, competed in the London to Christchurch Air Race and was involved in trials of the British airborne nuclear weapon.
Furze's most dramatic mission came in 1954, when three RAF crews set off on an intelligence gathering flight over the Soviet Union. A similar mission had been successfully undertaken in 1952, under the command of Squadron Leader John Crampton, and Furze was selected to accompany Crampton as his co-pilot on the second spying sortie.
Three aircraft took off late on the evening of April 28 and headed for the Kattegat, off Denmark, over which they refuelled from airborne tankers. Crampton, Furze and their navigator flew the longest of the three routes, penetrating 1,000 miles into southern Russia to gather radar and photographic intelligence on 30 targets. Unknown to the crews, however, Russia's air defence system had detected them and fighters were scrambled to intercept.
As Crampton and Furze approached Kiev it was clear that accurate anti-aircraft fire was being directed at them and, after a near miss, they turned immediately to return. They took the shortest route, at maximum speed, out of Soviet airspace and so were unable to rendezvous with their airborne tanker. Very short of fuel, they landed at a US airfield in southern Germany .
Robert McAlastair Furze was born at Bishop's Stortford on November 9 1928 and educated at Pangbourne College before gaining a cadetship to the RAF College, Cranwell .
After graduating in 1949 he flew Lincoln bombers with No 617 Squadron, and in 1951 he joined the RAF's first jet bomber squadron, No 101, flying the Canberra .
In 1953 he was selected as a reserve pilot for the London to Christchurch Air Race . Just 24 hours before the off, a pilot was declared unfit and Furze took his place to fly a Canberra PR 3 aircraft. Five Canberras were among the entrants and they took off at five-minute intervals from Heathrow Airport during the late afternoon of October 8 .
Furze routed via Basra, Iraq, and Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where a main wheel had to be changed. From there he aimed for the Cocos Islands and then on to Perth, where the aircraft was on the ground for just 11 minutes. Furze and his navigator landed in New Zealand after completing the 12,300 mile journey in 24 hours 35 minutes — 44 minutes longer than the winner.
After his overflight of the Soviet Union, Furze spent some months at Weybridge with the aircraft manufacturers Vickers Armstrong, becoming one of the first RAF pilots to fly the Valiant . In February 1955 he helped establish 1321 Flight Trials Unit for the introduction of the Valiant into RAF service and for integrating the Blue Danube nuclear weapon. The trials successfully determined the parameters used for the live nuclear tests carried out at Maralinga (Australia) in 1956 and at Christmas Island a year later. In the meantime, 1321 Flight had been disbanded, and Furze left to join No 214 Squadron as a flight commander.
In addition to operating in the strategic bomber role, the Valiants of No 214 pioneered air-to-air refuelling with trials that culminated in a non-stop flight to Cape Town. Furze flew a Valiant tanker to support this record-breaking flight.
In July 1966 he assumed command of No 14 Squadron, based at Wildenrath in Germany. His Canberra bombers operated at low level, with one maintained at 15-minute readiness armed with a tactical nuclear weapon. One of his officers commented: "On 14 Squadron we had a real gentleman for a CO and his manner made for a happy squadron."
During the 1970s Furze filled staff appointments at HQ 1 (Bomber) Group, the MoD and the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre before retiring in 1983.
A tall, handsome man, Furze had a quiet and gentle nature. He restored antique furniture and had a particular interest in old clocks.
He was very active in his village at Much Hadham in Hertfordshire, where he organised a Neighbourhood Watch scheme; was treasurer for the village fete; and served as a church warden for many years.
Mac Furze married his wife Marna in 1955. She died in 1995, and he is survived by their daughter and his partner Gillian.

Wing Commander Robert "Mac" Furze, born November 9 1928, died December 4 2011

source: The Telegraph

Florence Green

Florence Green, who has died aged 110, was the last veteran of the First World War, though she saw no action.
Instead she served with the embryonic Royal Air Force at a base which, like many military establishments, was suffering severe personnel shortages following the astonishing casualty rate on the front line and the introduction of conscription in 1916.
Florence Patterson, as she was then, was one of those who stepped in to fill the breach, volunteering for the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF). Though it was created just months before the end of the war, the WRAF counted 25,000 women in its ranks by the end of the conflict.
Florence Beatrice Patterson was born on February 19 1901 to Frederick and Sarah Patterson. Her early years were spent at Edmonton, north London, but she lived for most of her life at King's Lynn, Norfolk.
She was 17 when, on September 13 1918, just two months before the Armistice, she began work at the East Anglian aerodrome of Narborough (later called Marham, and today the home of a large force of RAF Tornado bomber aircraft). Her duties largely involved waitressing at the officers' mess, and she remained until July 18 1919, when she was demobilised. Her personal character was described as "very good".
The aerodrome at Narborough had been opened in August 1915 and was initially home to a number of squadrons, some involved in night operations against Zeppelins. At the time that Florence arrived, ancient biplanes were being used to train pilots and observers who were later transferred to squadrons in France. The aerodrome closed in 1919, but was reopened before the Second World War.
Florence's story came to light in 2009, after a local newspaper story about her great longevity. The article was spotted by Andrew Holmes, a British researcher who tracks and verifies reports of so-called "supercentenarians" – people who live well beyond 100. He tracked down her service record at the National Archives, and she was subsequently recognised as a veteran of the war. At that time there were thought to be three other surviving veterans; she outlived them all.
To celebrate her 110th birthday, last February, the catering staff at RAF Marham baked her a special cake which was presented to her by officers who had travelled to see her at her daughter's home in Kings Lynn.
Even at her great age she had detailed memories of her time in uniform: "I had the opportunity to go up in one of the planes, but I was scared of flying. I would work every hour that God sent. I had dozens of friends on the base and we had a great deal of fun in our spare time."
A year after leaving the WRAF, Florence married Walter Green, a railway porter; they were married for 50 years before Walter died. They had two daughters and a son.

Florence Green, born February 19 1901, died February 5 2012

source: The Telegraph

Air Marshal Sir Alfred Ball

Air Marshal Sir Alfred Ball, who has died aged 91, was one of the RAF's outstanding reconnaissance pilots in the Second World War and later filled senior national and international appointments.
Ball joined No 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU) in May 1941. His early targets were the Channel ports, but he was soon ordered to photograph targets deep inside Germany in his single-engine, unarmed Spitfire.
In October that year he took off for the Continent but flew into a thunderstorm. At 25,000ft the aircraft became uncontrollable and, when he attempted to bale out, the canopy jammed. Such was the turbulence that he was thrown through the canopy; recovering consciousness at 3,000ft, he opened his parachute and landed in Norfolk.
A month later his unit was ordered to Cornwall to fly daily sorties to Brest to monitor Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The German fighter force became familiar with the tactics of the high-flying Spitfires and set up patrols to intercept them. Ball — always prepared to be innovative — devised his own tactics to deal with the threat and on the afternoon of February 11 1942 photographed the German capital ships still at Brest — the last sighting of them before they sailed a few hours later on their audacious "Channel Dash" home. From Cornwall he flew sorties to the Spanish border photographing the French Biscay ports . Assessed as an exceptional reconnaissance pilot, he was awarded a DFC.
On promotion to squadron leader, Ball was made commanding officer of No 4 PRU and in October 1942 left for Gibraltar to provide support for Operation Torch. Within days his unit was flying operations from Maison Blanche in Algeria and encountering the latest German high-performance aircraft. Losses to the enemy mounted, and the 22-year-old Ball sought a meeting with Air Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, the Air C-in-C, to plead for the latest Spitfires. Tedder listened patiently, then dismissed Ball and told him to carry on . A few days later three of the latest Spitfires arrived.
Early in 1943 Ball was sent to photograph a crucial target in Tunisia prior to a large-scale attack by the Army. When he was at 24,000ft four Focke Wulf 190s closed in on him, and he repelled eight attacks before he finally escaped. He was forced to land his damaged aircraft at a forward airfield, where he commandeered a Spitfire and flew back to base with his film. Within hours, the Army mounted a successful attack.
For his work in North Africa, Ball was awarded a DSO and a US Air Medal. The DSO citation described him as a "fine leader who displayed brilliant airmanship".
The only child of Captain JAE Ball, MC, chief engineer of the Bengal Nagpur Railway, Alfred Henry Wynne Ball was born at Rawalpindi on January 18 1921. He was educated at Campbell College, Belfast, before going to the RAF College Cranwell in 1939. Having seen his parents only rarely, he grew up self-sufficient and independent-minded — characteristics that were to be evident throughout his life. Commissioned in December 1939, he completed his training as an Army co-operation pilot before joining No 13 Squadron in northern France. After the Blitzkrieg on May 10 1940, he flew road searches but soon realised that employing peacetime techniques in the face of intense German fighter activity was suicidal, and flew the rest of his sorties at treetop height. After suffering heavy losses, the squadron's Lysanders were withdrawn to England, but Ball had to find his own way back; he commandeered a lorry, and, with 20 airmen aboard, drove to Cherbourg, from where they escaped by ship.
Ball volunteered for the photographic reconnaissance role, which required experience on the Spitfire. He therefore persuaded a friend to allow him to fly three sorties, and at his interview told the squadron commander he was an "experienced Spitfire pilot". To his surprise and delight, he was accepted.
After returning from North Africa in July 1943, Ball was given command of No 542 Squadron, equipped with Spitfires and based at Benson in Oxfordshire. His most urgent task was to photograph the building of the V-1 launch sites in the Pas de Calais. Before the Normandy invasion he photographed enemy dispositions and movements and, after the landings, identified targets ahead of the Army's advance into Germany.
On his final Spitfire sortie, his engine failed when he was at 38,000ft over Cologne. Ball was able to coax the engine into giving short bursts of power during the long glide to England, and he broke cloud at 600ft over the Thames Estuary, scraping into the airfield at Eastchurch.
On promotion to wing commander in September 1944, he took command of No 540 Squadron to fly Mosquitos to targets in Norway and deep inside Germany.
On October 7 1944 Lancaster bombers attacked a vital dam on the Rhine just north of the Swiss border, and Ball was sent to photograph the damage. As he flew over the target at 200ft he was attacked by four fighters, later reporting: "We held our own to begin with, but soon things got a bit tricky. I decided to disappear into the Swiss mountains."
This appeared to work, so he ventured out again; but the fighters were waiting, and he ducked back into Switzerland. He then tried to give the impression of departing by flying west, using the hills to mask his route. The ruse failed, and the German pilots closed in for another attack — so Ball made his third detour into Switzerland. Eventually he managed to escape and return to base.
Ball remained with No 540 for the rest of the war, flying into eastern Germany to photograph rail traffic and troop movements in addition to regular sorties to Norway, photographing U-boat sanctuaries. At the end of the war he was mentioned in despatches for a second time.
In January 1946 Ball left for the Middle East to take command of No 680 Squadron (later No 13). Flying Mosquitos, the squadron carried out survey work over Palestine, Egypt and Iraq. On one occasion, while Ball was in Haifa, terrorists sprayed the room he was in with machine-gun fire, but he escaped injury.
After converting to the Canberra jet in 1953, Ball commanded the reconnaissance wing at Wyton, taking a Canberra to the Pacific to monitor an American atomic test, and flying photographic sorties along the East German border.
After a period at HQ Bomber Command and on the British Defence Liaison Staff in Washington, he was appointed in February 1962 to command the V-bomber base at Honington, Suffolk, flying the Valiant and the Victor.
On promotion to air commodore in November 1964, Ball left for Aden as air officer administration. His arrival coincided with a significant increase in terrorism, which included attacks against civilians, and security issues occupied much of his time. It was also announced that British forces would leave their large base in two years' time, and Ball became deeply involved in the early stages of planning a very complex withdrawal operation. On leaving Aden at the end of 1966 he was appointed CB.
After attending the Imperial Defence College, he held a series of senior appointments at the MoD. He was Assistant Chief of Staff of the Automatic Data Processing Division at SHAPE Headquarters in Belgium.
In 1975 Ball left for Ankara to take up the post of UK Representative of the Permanent Military Deputies Group at the Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO). With some member countries facing political and economic difficulties, political guidance for military planning had, for a number of years, been lacking. Ball aimed to improve this situation, and made some progress, notwithstanding the withdrawal of British forces from the region.
On his return he was expecting to retire, but the untimely death of a senior RAF colleague resulted in his appointment for two years as Deputy C-in-C at RAF's Strike Command, where he supervised the day-to-day activities of the many operational units.
He was appointed KCB in 1976.
After retiring in 1979, Ball spent four years as military affairs adviser with International Computers. He maintained close links with his wartime photographic reconnaissance colleagues and rarely missed the annual reunions at Benson. He was particularly proud to be Honorary Air Commodore of No 2624 (County of Oxford) Royal Auxiliary Air Force RAF Regiment Squadron.
Of slim build and always immaculately dressed, Ball was a man of great energy. Known to his staff as "Fiery Fred", he could be a hard taskmaster — but he was equally hard on himself. He had a strong sense of humour, was good company, and showed skill on the golf course and at the bridge table.
He married, in 1942 (10 weeks after they met), Nan MacDonald. She died in 2006, and he is survived by their daughter, and by their sons, all three of whom served as officers in the RAF.

Air Marshal Sir Alfred Ball, born January 18 1921, died January 25, 2012.

source: The Telegraph

Was Ms Green the last living WW1 vet in the world, or is there still one left (New Zealand, I think?)?