It has just been announced that Les Munro, the pilot of Avro Lancaster designated 'W for William' in Operation Chastise AKA Dam Buster, died at age 96. These Men and Women are the True HERO's we should be supporting. We Owe them so much for their Gallantry and have learned so little from their Ordeals we are still making the same mistakes. R.I.P. Sir, Thank you and ALL your Allies.
They took their live in their hands with every flight they made. Especially the rear gunners. Very brave men.
I dread to think what would have happened without people like Les,Perhaps we would all be goose stepping.I served as a mechanic on front line Bomber Squadron in the 1960's,most of my time was spent on QRA which means that the aircraft were nuked up and on 15 minutes stand by;thank God they never took off.The bomber boys seem to lag behind the Battle of Britain crews.
When I started work in 72 I worked with a bloke who had been on the Lancs as a rear gunner - he had a skin graft on his face where it had got burnt he used to joke that every morning when he was leaving for work he would say to his missus "you can kiss my backside" and she would give him a peck on the cheek. He was always good for a laugh but also very brave man.
True that. The fighter pilots (The Brylcream Boys) managed to get the glory. I knew a bloke who was a navigator on Lancs during the war and was shot down twice. Got back through Norway (Fishermen. More unsung heroes). Went back and did it all again. Brave man.
As you say proper hero. Think the fighter lads getting the glory is down to the last chance saloon of the Battle of Britain. If they had failed to stop the German planes we would now be eating brockwurst on a regular basis. Which is why Churchill singled them out for special praise. Oh wait a minute I was just at Aldi the other day what was that sausage I bought called again?
I thought this thread was about Paul Scholes when I saw the title. I read that this guy was the last one left no? I don't think the forces lads are any less brave today, I just think they're pissing in the wind with today's missions, at least the guys who lost their lives that Les fought alongside were achieving something to be proud of.
Whilst talking about heroes on my earlier post I should have mentioned my Squadron Commander Wing Commander Ken Rees;a very modest man and a true gent but only after buying "Valiant Boys" recently did I realise what he had been through.It is well worth googling him.
Yeah but that wasn't that recent either. Add Kosovo to that too, good cause, but I mean let's be honest, what good has come out of Iraq/Afghan?
In a way Bert Munro brilliantly reflected the needs of the time as did many of the then Empire. A rural Kiwi with an interest in flying he jumped at the opportunity to join the NZRAF and in interviews on TV over here about his war time service he would shrug his shoulders and say "you just had to get on with it". A lasting legacy from him though was him selling his medals, including double DFC, DSO, some French awards to Lord Ashcroft for 75K which he donated for the upkeep of the Bomber Command Memorial to Bomber Command losses. On the raid itself he was hit by flak and lost his comms which was not much use when he would need to be talked down to 60ft for the bomb run but returned with bomb intact. Apparently Guy Gibson was not impressed as he considered Munro would have been flying too high, Munro was not best amused since he was flying at about 100ft or so.
