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Hello John,I'm writing from Australia in the hope that someone has access to 101 Squadron ORB's that may assist in the building of a family record of my late father's war service.
Dad, H. J. (Jack) Williams RAAF, was a Mid Upper Gunner who completed 30 missions in Laurie McKenna's SR-V (Venus) LL779. This ABC Lancaster was later shot down in Holland killing a Canadian crew.
So far getting details on the secret squadron at Ludford Magna has been via the following books:
Airfield Focus 32 Ludford Magna
The Nuremberg Raid
Carried on the Wind
Special Operations 101 Squadron
101 Nights
Bomber Squadron at War
RAF Lancaster LL779 the Silver Bracelet
On the Internet Web page information relating to the exploits of Bert Pinner, Bill Churchley, Ron Holmes, 101 Squadron, Old Airfeld Photos, Aviation Artists etc.
My father's log book, few photos, one of Venus… and extracts from the log book of the Flight engineer James Doyle.
As usual, I left it too late to quiz my dad before he passed away in 1989…..but do recall several anecdotes he mentioned years ago. I did make contact with Laurie McKenna in New Zealand through the group restoring a Lancaster (one side of the aircraft represents SR-V…but not LL779) Unfortunately Laurie died before we had a conversation…but he did remember dad and his nickname.
What I am trying to establish, possibly through ORB's are details on the following incidents.
24/3/44 BERLIN Log book entry "Hit by FLAK 40 holes"
20/4/44 COLOGNE log Book entry "Hit by JU88 – hit JU88"
A Movement card quoted in the book "RAF Lancaster LL779" says the aircraft had to be returned to the factory for a new airframe because of heavy damage over Berlin. Dad had related that during an attack VENUS flipped on its back…the "special" bailed out…..but the rest of the crew remained because Laurie was able to get LL779 back on an even keel.
I'm wondering if anyone can throw further light on the above.
(Ironically Dad, retrained a former JU88 pilot for his flying licence after he migrated from Germany to Australia in the 60's…..they figured that they had probably met somewhere over Germany during the war)
Regards John Williams
Hi LizSince my last post, I've done quite a bit of searching and have been interested to read the posts here. My mum's uncle flew in SR-R (DV276) which was one of the 7 planes lost from 101 on the night of the Nuremberg raid. Allan Henry Ross was on his 20th operation that night and was shot down and killed with the rest of his crew (pilot was John Batten-Smith). Five of the crew were Scottish and they flew all 20 missions together. The only change being when the special ops men changed.
I have read several books over the last few months (and plan to try to get hold of some of the ones recommended here), since beginning my search for information about the squadron and the men who flew with it in WW2. Most of the survivors will now be well into their eighties and although I would like to try to track down anyone who might have known Allan or his crew, I've resigned myself to the prospect of that being very unlikely. I was interested to see that Queenie's neighbour flew from Ludford and would have been there at the same time as my mum's uncle.
I've managed to track down a few old family photos of Allan Ross, but since his two brothers both died (one in 1941) and the other in the 1960s, my mum is his only surviving relative (other than my sister and me). I know that he did his training in Canada (he visited other family there), but am awaiting his service records to find out exactly where he trained. He joined 101 from 1656 Heavy Conversion Unit at the end of September/first of October 1943.
I searched extensively on the web and couldn't find any site with information about 101, but did find an excellent one for 156 Squadron. So, with some serious (!!) technical help and advice from someone involved with 156 Squadron, I've decided to transcribe the ORBs for 101 and to put them on the web. [Robin is the technical adviser, and I'm being helped by Leslie with some of the input, and both of them have connections to 101]. This is likely to take some considerable time to complete, but I wanted to do something concrete to try to make it easier for people to find information about 101 Squadron during WW2. It seems like a small effort in comparison to that made by the men in bomber command.
Liz
Hi Liz and John W,
My Grandfather was an Aussie in 101 Sqn in 1944 as a rear-gunner and flew in "R" for Roger (not sure what the pre-fix was). He's still alive and lives in Brisbane, Australia. He's very much still with it and has great recall, I still get a kick out of his stories. I'm sure if you had some questions he'd be more than happy to answer them for you.
His crew did 32/33 trips as a few of the boys missed a couple and they all wanted to finish together. He has a map that the crew put together with all their trips details on it. I think there still may be another one or two of his crew still alive.
In 2000 I went to Ludford Magna and had a tour of the strip (or what was left, apparently it was used in the construction of the bridge over the River Humber) with one of the locals (An ex-101 English Nav. who arrived in 1945 and at the time of my visit was on the committee of the 101 SQN association ). He also took me to the home of an ex-101 Aussie pilot who still lived in the village still.
Anyhow, must dash. If you have any questions or would like to contact my Grandfather just give me a buzz.
James
Liz
Have you transcribed the 101 Squadron ORB's yet? Seeking some details.
John W