Aviation Art of No.101 Sqn

Blenheim
Manufacturer : Bristol
Built : 4422

Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim, the most plentiful aircraft in the RAFs inventory when WWII began, was designed by Frank Barnwell, and when first flown in 1936 was unique with its all metal monoplane design incorporating a retractable undercarriage, wing flaps, metal props, and supercharged engines. A typical bomb load for a Blenheim was 1,000 pounds. In the early stages of the war Blenheims were used on many daylight bombing missions. On the day that war was declared on Germany, a Blenheim piloted by Flying Officer Andrew McPherson was the first British aircraft to cross the German coast and the following morning 15 Blenheims from three squadrons set off on one of the first bombing missions The Blenheim units operated throughout the battle, often taking heavy casualties, although they were never accorded the publicity of the fighter squadrons. The Blenheim units raided German occupied airfields throughout July to December 1940, both during daylight hours and at night. Although most of these raids were unproductive, there were some successes; on 1 August five out of 12 Blenheims sent to attack Haamstede and Evere (Brussels) were able to bomb, destroying or heavily damaging three Bf 109s of II./JG 27 and apparently killing a Staffelkapitän identified as Hauptmann Albrecht von Ankum-Frank. Two other 109s were claimed by Blenheim gunners. Another successful raid on Haamstede was made by a single Blenheim on 7 August which destroyed one 109 of 4./JG 54, heavily damaged another and caused lighter damage to four more. There were also some missions which produced an almost 100% casualty rate amongst the Blenheims. One such operation was mounted on 13 August 1940 against a Luftwaffe airfield near Aalborg in north-western Denmark by 12 aircraft of 82 Squadron. One Blenheim returned early (the pilot was later charged and due to appear before a court martial, but was killed on another operation); the other 11, which reached Denmark, were shot down, five by flak and six by Bf 109s. Blenheim-equipped units had been formed to carry out long-range strategic reconnaissance missions over Germany and German-occupied territories, as well as bombing operations. In this role, the Blenheims once again proved to be too slow and vulnerable against Luftwaffe fighters and they took constant casualties While great heroism was displayed by the air crews, tremendous losses were sustained during these missions. The Blenhiem was easy pickings at altitude for German Bf-109 fighters who quickly learned to attack from below. To protect the vulnerable bellies of the Blenheims many missions were shifted to low altitude, but this increased the aircrafts exposure to anti-aircraft fire. In the German night-bombing raid on London on 18 June 1940, Blenheims accounted for five German bombers, thus proving that they were better-suited for night fighting. In July, No. 600 Squadron, by then based at RAF Manston, had some of its Mk IFs equipped with AI Mk III radar. With this radar equipment, a Blenheim from the Fighter Interception Unit (FIU) at RAF Ford achieved the first success on the night of 2–3 July 1940, accounting for a Dornier Do 17 bomber. More successes came, and before long the Blenheim proved itself invaluable as a night fighter. One Blenheim pilot, Squadron Leader Arthur Scarf, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for an attack on Singora, Thailand, on 9 December 1941. Another bomber of No. 60 Squadron RAF was credited with shooting down Lt Col Tateo Katō's Nakajima Ki-43 fighter and badly damaging two others in a single engagement on 22 May 1942, over the Bay of Bengal. Katō's death was a severe blow to the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force.

Bristol F2B
Manufacturer : Bristol
Built : 0

Bristol F2B
The Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2 First World war early two-seater pusher biplane and was used by the Royal Flying Corps as a fighter and also as a day or night bomber. The FE2 was one of the few aircraft which gave the allies the edge over the Fokker aircraft of 1914/1915. In May 1915 the F.E.2b entered service with No 6 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps and it was 20 squadron which was the first squadron to be totally equipped with Fe2 aircraft which was deployed in January 1916. The Fe2B remained in day use throughout 1916 and 1917 and in 1918 was used solely as a night bomber. The FE2b equipped 22 squadrons, 16 of which served in France with the other 6 serving the home defence. As the German fighters got better the FE2B was outclassed and was used only as a light night bomber or used on the home defense front against the Zeppelins. Crew: Two Speed: 80 knots (91.5 mph,) Endurance 3 hours Ceiling 11,000 ft Maximum take off weight 3,037 lbs Length: 32 ft 3 in Height: 12 ft 8 in Wingspan 495 ft² Engine Beardmore 6 cylinder inline piston engine giving 160 HP

Canberra
Manufacturer : English Electric

Canberra
The English Electric Canberra first flew on Friday 13 May 1949 when its performance created a sensation. Such was the quality of the original design that in May 1951, when the first B2 Canberras entered service with No 101 Squadron at RAF Binbrook they could out manoeuvre all the fighters of the period and fly with impunity more than 10,000 feet above them. Operated by 17 airforces in more than 20 different variants, Canberras have been to war at Suez and in India, in Vietnam and the Falklands campaign, and in 1996 Canberra PR9s were engaged in operational reconnaissance flights over Bosnia and in other regions. It is widely and justifiably regarded as one of the greatest aircraft designs of all time.

Lancaster
Manufacturer : Avro
Built : 7377

Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster arose from the avro Manchester and the first prototype Lancaster was a converted Manchester with four engines. The Lancaster was first flown in January 1941, and started operations in March 1942. By March 1945 The Royal Air Force had 56 squadrons of Lancasters with the first squadron equipped being No.44 Squadron. During World War Two the Avro Lancaster flew 156,000 sorties and dropped 618,378 tonnes of bombs between 1942 and 1945. Lancaster Bomberss took part in the devastating round-the-clock raids on Hamburg during Air Marshall Harris' "Operation Gomorrah" in July 1943. Just 35 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful operations each, and 3,249 were lost in action. The most successful survivor completed 139 operations, and the Lancaster was scrapped after the war in 1947. A few Lancasters were converted into tankers and the two tanker aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster and were used in the Berlin Airlift, achieving 757 tanker sorties. A famous Lancaster bombing raid was the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley. The operation was carried out by 617 Squadron in modified Mk IIIs carrying special drum shaped bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. Also famous was a series of Lancaster attacks using Tallboy bombs against the German battleship Tirpitz, which first disabled and later sank the ship. The Lancaster bomber was the basis of the new Avro Lincoln bomber, initially known as the Lancaster IV and Lancaster V. (Becoming Lincoln B1 and B2 respectively.) Their Lancastrian airliner was also based on the Lancaster but was not very successful. Other developments were the Avro York and the successful Shackleton which continued in airborne early warning service up to 1992.

Lincoln
Manufacturer : Avro
Built : 624

Lincoln
he first RAF Lincolns joined No. 57 Squadron at East Kirby in 1945. No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF began re-equipping with Lincolns at RAF Spilsby during August 1945. However, 75 (NZ) Sqn received just three aircraft before VJ Day. In the postwar Royal Air Force, the Lincoln equipped many bomber squadrons. Nearly 600 Lincolns were built to equip 29 RAF squadrons, mainly based in the United Kingdom. They were partially replaced by 88 Boeing Washingtons, on loan from the USAF, which had longer range and could reach targets inside the Iron Curtain. Small numbers remained in use with Nos 7, 83 and 97 Squadrons until the end of 1955, when they were replaced by the first of the V bombers. RAF Lincolns were used in combat during the 1950s, in Kenya against the Mau-Mau, operating from Eastleigh, and also served in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency, against insurgents aligned to the Malayan Communist Party. In Malaya, Lincolns operated from Changi and Tengah, More than 3,000 sorties were flown during their 7 1⁄2-year deployment, with half a million pounds of bombs dropped. This equated to 85% of the bomb tonnage dropped during the Malayan emergency. On 12 March 1953, a RAF Lincoln (RF531 "C") of Central Gunnery School was shot down 20 mi (32 km) NE of Lüneburg, Germany by several Soviet MiG-15s as it flew to Berlin on a radar reconnaissance flight, resulting in the deaths of the seven crew members. In November 1955, four Lincolns of No. 7 Squadron RAF were detached for duties in British territories in the Middle East. In Bahrain, they carried out border patrols of the then Trucial States. When 7 Sqn was disbanded in December 1955, the four detached crews and aircraft became No. 1426 Flight RAF, officially a photographic reconnaissance unit. It was later sent to Aden, carrying out patrols in the lead up to the Aden Emergency. As the RAF Lincolns became unserviceable due to wear and tear, they were replaced by jet aircraft. The Lincolns of Bomber Command were phased out from the mid-1950s and were completely replaced by jet bombers by 1963. The last Lincolns in RAF service were five operated by No. 151 Squadron, Signals Command, at RAF Watton, Norfolk, which were retired on 12 March 1963. From late 1946, Australian-built Lincolns were phased into No. 82 Wing RAAF at RAAF Amberley, replacing the Consolidated Liberators operated by 12, 21 and 23 Squadrons. In February 1948, these units were renumbered 1, 2 and 6 Squadrons respectively; a fourth RAAF Lincoln squadron, No. 10 was formed on 17 March 1949 at RAAF Townsville as a reconnaissance unit. RAAF Lincolns took part in operations in Malaya in the 1950s, operating alongside RAF examples. The RAAF based the B.Mk 30s of No.1 Squadron at Tengah, for the duration of operations in Malaya. The RAAF Lincolns were retired in 1961, with the MR.Mk 31s of No. 10 Squadron being the final variant to see service in Australia.

Overstrand
Manufacturer : Boulton Paul

Overstrand
No profile available

Oxford
Manufacturer : Airspeed
Built : 6695

Oxford
The Oxford was built by Airspeed (4,960), De Havilland (1,515), Percival Aircraft (1,525) and the Standard Motor Group (750) during WW2. It was capable of training pilots, navigators, air gunners, radio operators and flight engineers. As well as equipping service flying schools in Great Britain, they spread out all over the globe, training aircrew in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and Southern Rhodesia. Nearly 50% of all aircrew who served in the RAF, RCAF, RAAF and RNZAF went through the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, The Oxford was the preferred trainer for the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) and British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), which sent thousands of potential aircrew to Canada for training. 27 Oxfords were on the strength of No 4 Flying Training School RAF Habbaniya, Iraq in early 1941 and some were converted locally, for use as light bombers to help in the defence of the School against Iraqi forces. Airspeed Ltd was founded by Neville Shute Norway in 1931. N.S. Norway had trained as an aeronautical engineer, and worked under Barnes Wallis (of ‘Bouncing Bomb’ fame) at Vickers Ltd. on the successful R.100 airship. His first design for the new company was the Airspeed A.S.6 Envoy, he was responsible for devising a retractable undercarriage for the Envoy, and it enjoyed both civil and military success – an Envoy served in ‘The King’s Flight’, and was used to convey members of the Royal Family, and the South African Air Force ordered a batch of seven ‘Convertible Envoys’ which could be fitted with an Armstrong Whitworth gun turret and carriers for small bombs, as needed. In 1941, the aviatrix Amy Johnson went missing in an Airspeed Oxford, presumably crashing into the Thames Estuary. After the war, 152 surplus Oxfords were converted into small 6-seat commercial airliners called the AS.65 Consul. A few Oxfords were acquired by the Hellenic Air Force and used during the Greek Civil War by No. 355 Squadron RHAF. Although the Oxford was equipped with fixed-pitch wooden or Fairey-Reed metal propellers, the cockpit contained a propeller pitch lever, which had to be moved from "Coarse" to "Fine" for landing. This was to reinforce this important step for trainee pilots. Oxfords continued to serve the Royal Air Force as trainers and light transports until the last was withdrawn from service in 1956. Some were sold for use by overseas air arms, including the Royal Belgian Air Force.

Sidestrand
Manufacturer : Boulton Paul

Sidestrand
No profile available

Stirling
Manufacturer : Short
Built : 2381

Stirling
The Royal Air Force's first four engined monoplane Bomber, the Short Stirling first flew in May 1939 and entered front line service in August 1940 with no. 7 squadron. Due to its poor operational ceiling the aircraft sustained heavy losses and by mid 1942 the Stirling was beginning to be replaced by the Lancaster. Improved versions of the Short Stirling were built for Glider towing, paratroopers and heavy transport. also from 1943 many of the Stirling's were used for mine laying. A total of 2381 Stirling's were built for the Royal air Force and from this total 641 Stirling bombers were lost to enemy action. Crew 7 or 8: Speed: 260 mph (MK1) 275mph (MKIII) and 280mph (MKV)Service ceiling 17,000 feet Range: 2330 miles. (MK1) 2010 miles (MKIII) and 3,000 miles (MKV) Armament: two .303 Vickers machine guns. in nose turret, two .303 in browning machine guns in dorsal turret , Four .303 Browning machine guns in tail turret. Bomb Load 14,000 Lbs Engines: four 1150 Hp Bristol Hercules II (MK1) four 1650 hp Bristol Hercules XVI (MK111 and MKV)

VC10

VC10
No profile available

Vulcan
Manufacturer : Avro

Vulcan
The Avro Vulcan was the worlds first delta winged heavy bomber. the first prototype flew on the 30th August 1952 and the first production Vulcan flew in February 1955. The first Avro Vulcan's arrived for service with the Royal Air Force with 230 operational Conversion Unit (OCU) at RAF Finningley in May 1956. with the first squadron to receive the Vulcan in July 1957 was 83 squadron. In April 1968 Bomber Command merged into the Newly created Strike Command with eight Squadrons being equipped with Vulcan's. A terrain Hugging variant was introduced (the Vulcan SR2) in 1973, to all squadrons except no. 27 squadron (Flying Elephants) which was a Maritime reconnaissance Sqd. The Last Major role for the Avro Bomber was the bombing of Argentinean Airfields in the Falkland Islands During The Falklands Conflict The Avro Vulcan high Altitude Bomber with a crew of five. Top Speed 650 mph with a ceiling of 60,000 feet. maximum range of 5750 miles (with in flight refuelling). with a conventional bomb load of 21 x 1000 lb bombs

Wellington
Manufacturer : Vickers

Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a Bomber aircraft and also used for maritime reconnaissance. and had a normal crew of six except in the MKV and VI where a crew of three was used. Maximum speed was 235 mph (MK1c) 255 mph (MK III, X) and 299 mph (MK IIII), normal operating range of 1805 miles (except MK III which was 1470miles) The Wellington or Wimpy as it was known, was the major bomber of the Royal Air Force between 1939 and 1943. The Royal Air Force received its first Wellingtons in October 1938 to 99 squadron. and by the outbreak of World war two there were 6 squadrons equipped with the Vickers Wellington. Due to heavy losses on daylight raids, the Wellington became a night bomber and from 1940 was also used as a long range bomber in North Africa. and in 1942 also became a long range bomber for the royal Air Force in India. It was well used by Coastal Command as a U-Boat Hunter. The Wellington remained in service with the Royal Air Force until 1953. Probably due to its versatile use, The aircraft was also used for experimental work including the fitting of a pressure cabin for High altitude tests. The Vickers Wellington could sustain major damage and still fly, probably due to its construction of its geodesic structure and practical application of geodesic lines. Designed by Sir Barnes Wallis

No.101 Sqn RAF
Pilot and aircrew signature details

Sergeant Idris Taff Arndell
Our estimated value of this signature : £10

Sergeant Idris Taff Arndell

Volunteered for aircrew at age 17 and was called up just before his eighteenth birthday for Wireless Operator and air gunnery training. Later joined No.101 Squadron serving with Rusty Waughman and sharing in at least two near fatal mid-air incidents. Idris went on to fly with Wg Cdr Alexander on the last of the Battle of Berlin missions, completing his tour on 4th June 1944. He later returned to operational duties, including the Manna relief drops and the last raid over Bertesgarten.

Squadron Leader Alexander Alec Cowan
Our estimated value of this signature : £15

Squadron Leader Alexander Alec Cowan

Joined the RAF in 1941 and qualified as a navigator in December 1942 after training in the USA and Canada. He joined Rusty Waughman's crew in July 1943 and completed his tour of operations with him on No.101 Squadron in June 1944. A subsequent posting to Transport Command led to many years spent flying around the world. He retired from the RAF in 1977 after a service career spent mostly on flying, examining and instructional duties.

Flt Lt George Harris DFC
Our estimated value of this signature : £50
Died : 2018

Flt Lt George Harris DFC

George Harris went to an Operational Training Unit flying old Wellingtons and, on his last flight of the course, a night practice bombing and fighter affiliation trip, suffered an engine fire just after take-off. He came down in darkness in Sherwood Forest and came to in hospital. A wooden propeller had shattered on impact, sheared through the airframe and his seat, taking a slice out of his back and leaving him with several broken ribs, a punctured lung and lacerated kidney. His parents were warned he may not survive but within six weeks he was flying again, back in Wellingtons, then on Halifaxes, before finally moving on to Lancasters and a posting, along with three other crews, to No 1 Group 101 Squadron in Ludford Magna, Lincolnshire. It had taken three years of training and frustration and now he and his crew were replacements for those recently killed in action. The squadron's Lancasters were equipped with the radio jamming system known as the Airborne Cigar, or ABC. It covered the frequencies used by the Luftwaffe but its presence also deprived them of a vital navigational aid which heightened their vulnerability. On average only one in four crews survived and that was the case with those Harris had been posted with: all were lost, the first on its first operation. His missions ranged from major night attacks on Germany and tactical support attacks on German troop strongholds, communication centres, V-1 flying bomb sites and airfields in France and the Low Countries. He was subsequently invited to take his crew to the Pathfinder Force but turned down the opportunity as it would have meant leaving behind his German-speaking Special Operator, which he felt was wrong. Anyway, he regarded 101 as a very special squadron with huge spirit and said the Lancaster was 'a simply splendid' aircraft to fly. Among his hair-raising exploits were coping with another engine fire – resulting in an emergency landing on three engines with a full bomb load – braving electric storms which could throw the Lancasters around like corks and dodging the searchlights above enemy territory. On one occasion, returning from a night raid on Brunswick on 12th August 1944, the searchlights locked on him and he desperately performed a violent corkscrew manoeuvre to escape the beams. Failing to shake them off, he dived at full bore with a full bomb load, descending so rapidly the navigator said he had exceeded the plane's reported break-up speed. The slipstream and engine noise was like a banshee, he recalled. Miraculously they remained in one piece to tell the tale and, after debrief, took an idyllic stroll back to their quarters as the sun rose and the dawn chorus began. That night 24 of their men did not return and 101 maintained its reputation as a 'chop' squadron. Reflecting on the end of his operational tour with his Lancaster Z-Zebra, he said he felt strangely flat, rather old and empty but had gained much, including the sheer freedom and joy of flying, the magic of cloud hopping and, as a flight commander, the responsibility for life and death decisions over other men. His award of the DFC, for valour in the face of the enemy, was announced in February 1945. Seventy years later he received the Legion D'honneur for his part in the operations to liberate Caen. After the war he completed a BA in modern languages and economics at St John's College, Cambridge and took posts at Liverpool and Glasgow universities before moving to the Mobil Oil Company in 1954. Four years later he joined PA Management Consultants and in 1967 established executive search company Canny Bowen and Associates, the UK arm of the US firm Canny Bowen, undertaking searches at chairman, managing director and director level for major British and international companies. George died on 17th January 2018 in Tunbridge Wells, aged 95.

Squadron Leader Dick Haven
Our estimated value of this signature : £25

Squadron Leader Dick Haven

Joining the RAF in 1951 he was a pilot on Canberras, Valiants and Vulcan B.2s serving with 27, 12, 101, 44, 9 and 35 Squadrons including time as Chief Flying Instructor.

Flt. Lt. Ronald Homes DFC
Our estimated value of this signature : £20

Flt. Lt. Ronald Homes DFC

Joined the RAF in March 1942 and after initial training, went to Terrell, Texas, USA for his flying training, where he gained his wings in May 1943. He returned to the UK and joined the Special Operations No. 101 Sqdn. in May 1944, going on to complete 32 Ops. over Europe. After his bombing tour he converted onto Dakotas, joined No. 238 Sqdn. and flew out to India and Burma, then on to Australia and the South Pacific. After the Japanese surrender he joined 1315 Flight and flew up to Japan with the occupation forces.

Warrant Officer Roy Last
Our estimated value of this signature : £10

Warrant Officer Roy Last

Was called up early in 1943 upon reaching his eighteenth birthday. He trained at 7 AGS Stormydown and crewed up at Wing OTU. He started ops at 101 Squadron, Ludford Magna on 18th April 1944 on Aachen and was selected for Pathfinders after six ops with 101 Squadron. He completed 30 ops with 582 Squadron at Little Staughton, carrying out several master bomber raids. He was wounded by flak in September 1944 and returned to the Squadron. He rejoined his skipper and completed another ten ops before being posted to PFTU as a gunnery instructor.

Air Vice-Marshal Eric Macey
Our estimated value of this signature : £15

Air Vice-Marshal Eric Macey

Eric Macey joined the RAF in 1954 and, after graduating as a pilot, flew Hunter fighters with 263 and 1 Sqns. He next joined the rapidly-expanding V-Force, initially flying Valiants of 214 Sqn on in-flight refuelling trials, and completed the first non-stop flight to Singapore. Then followed a Vulcan captaincy with 101 Sqn on which, over the next several years, he served as Sqn Pilot, Training Officer and Sqn Cdr (and which formed part of his Wing when he was OC Waddington). Between times, he was Chief Instructor of the Vulcan OCU at Scampton and, for a short time, also Stn Cdr there. Posted to Germany in 1979, he flew the Wessex, Puma, Jaguar, Phantom and Harrier and later served as AOC (of the University Air Squadrons) and Commandant of the RAF College Cranwell where he re-qualified on the Jet Provost. His final tour as Director-General Training added another 15 aircraft types bringing his total flying hours to about 3400 (1900 on the Vulcan) and total types flown to 60.

Sergeant E H Ted Manners
Our estimated value of this signature : £15

Sergeant E H Ted Manners

Volunteered for aircrew duties in the RAF in November 1942 and trained as an Air Gunner in the Isle of Man. He volunteered for Special Duties whilst at 14 OTU and joined 101 Squadron in November 1942 completing a tour of 30 operations with P/O Waughman and crew on 31st May 1944, aged 19. He was commissioned on leaving the squadron and after a period as a Gunnery Instructor he joineda new crew as an Air Gunner and was destined to join Tiger Force in the Far East when the war ended. With the cessation of hostilities he transferred to the Intelligence Branch and served in Egypt, Italy ad Austria. He was demobbed in 1947.

Sqn Ldr Tony Charlie Neve MBE
Our estimated value of this signature : £10

Sqn Ldr Tony Charlie Neve MBE

Was taught German at school and visited Germany as a guest of the Hitler Youth! Having survived the bombing of his home town of Bristol, he decided to retaliate and volunteer for aircrew in September 1942. After a spell of training in Canada as an Air Gunner he returned to England and was posted to No.101 Squadron where he trained and operated as a Special Duties Officer, finally completing 31 Ops. Tony flew in SR-W on 11th November 1944 during a raid on Dortmund.

Warrant Officer J Ormerod DFM
Our estimated value of this signature : £10

Warrant Officer J Ormerod DFM

Joined up on 14th August 1942 as a mechanic. He became Flight Engineer and flew with Sgt Zanchi of 101 Sqn, completing two trips with him, before going on leave. On returning from leave, he found out that his crew were missing on a Berlin op, so he became a spare engineer. He flew eight trips on Berlin with six different pilots and then joined Rusty Waughman's crew and finished his tour with them. When the war was over Ormerod flew on York A/C from Lyneham RAF 511 Sqd to the Far East until September 1946.

Flying Officer Fred Osborne
Our estimated value of this signature : £10

Flying Officer Fred Osborne

Joined the RAF in 1941 for pilot training and after going solo (Tiger Moths) at Fair Oaks, Surrey, was posted to the USA Detroit then Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida. He spent an enjoyable two or three months at Pensacola but was devastated at being scrubbed and remustered to Observer course in Canada; his offer to be a glider pilot was refused. He eventually served as Bomb Aimer with Bob Sexton's (Australian) crew and served on 101 Squadron and 7 Squadron PFF. His tour and ops flying ended after a mid-air collision whilst returning from an op on Leipzig. He cannot recall the actual crash but owes his life to the late T Shaw who rescued him from the burning aircraft.

Sergeant Stan Waind DFM
Our estimated value of this signature : £10

Sergeant Stan Waind DFM

Completed 31 operational sorties with No.101 Squadron as Flight Engineer, this prior to his 20th birthday. Commissioned at the end of his stay with 101 Sqdn, he was posted to HQ 229 Group Transport Command, New Delhi. After a short spell of admin duties he applied to be returned to flying duties, resulting in a posting to No.215 Sqn in Singapore where he took up the position of Co-pilot / Flight Engineer with the crew responsible for flying VIPs across South-East Asia.

Flt Lt Russell Rusty Waughman DFC AFC
Our estimated value of this signature : £20

Flt Lt Russell Rusty Waughman DFC AFC

Volunteered for the RAF in 1941. After training in Canada, he qualified as a heavy bomber pilot. In November 1943 he was posted to No.101 (Special Duties) Squadron at Ludford Magna. He completed a tour of operations, which began during the Battle of Berlin, where they did several operations. Surviving a mid-air collision, only to write the aircraft off on landing, Rusty and his crew on a subsequent flight had a miraculous escape when their aircraft was blown upside down, over the target, at Mailly-le-Camp; they also survived the Nuremberg raid on 30th March 1944, when 97 aircraft were lost - including about one quarter of 101 Sqn strength that night.

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