"George" at war.

.
.
..
.

.
A bombing raid viewed from above. Flares, flashes and anti-aircraft fire form patterns of light over the German city of Hamburg. A Lancaster flying at a lower altitude has entered the picture.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.A bombing raid viewed from below. A British bomber is caught in the cone of searchlights over the German city of Bremen. Heavy anti-aircraft guns begin to converge on the aircraft.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.   460 Squadron's "G" for George flew its first operational bombing mission on the night of 5/6 December 1942 carrying a typical bomb load of one 4000lb "Cookie" High Capacity bomb and 900 X 4lb incendiaries.
    The pilot was Flight Sergeant J.A. Saint-Smith and the target was the city of Mannheim in Germany. On 9 December a long flight was made to Italy to bomb Turin. On 16 January 1943 "George" flew its fifth mission in the first British raid made against Berlin since 1941. During February, Saint-Smith and his crew took "George to nine more targets well spread across the map of Europe.
    On March 5, 1943 the R.A.F. commenced a series of heavy raids, extending over four months, against the German heavy industrial areas around Essen, Duisburg, Dortmund, Wuppertal, Dusseldorf, Bochum, Oberhausen, Cologne and Gelsenkirchen. These raids became collectively known as the Battle of the Ruhr.
    "George" played its part throughout these operations flying against all the prime targets and had even been present in the opening raid against the Krupp works at Essen on 5 March. In addition to the Ruhr targets it also flew against Spezia, Berlin and Frankfurt during this period.
    A bomber crew was required to fly a "tour" of 30 missions before being posted to less hazardous duties. Some crewmen would volunteer for additional tours of duty. Casualties in Bomber Command were so high that it has been estimated that a crew could only anticipate a 50-50 chance of surviving a single tour. Flying Officer J.R. Henderson piloted "G" for George against many of the Ruhr targets. Often the aircraft returned to base damaged. Once, on 16 June, 1943, the aircraft came home from Cologne on three engines. It was found to have been holed in 17 places in the wings, tail plane, fuselage, mid-upper turret, propellers and undercarriage.
    On the 14 May, 1943 No. 460 Squadron moved from Breighton to Binbrook where on 3 July, 1943 "G" for George was extensively damaged on the Ground.
    It was standing at dispersal "bombed up" when a 4000lb bomb accidentally dropped from another aircraft. Incendiaries began to burn, then the "Cookie" exploded scattering incendiaries amongst the other aircraft. Another Lancaster caught fire and soon its bomb load exploded. A further aircraft was set on fire and others, including "George",  were also badly damaged. Some ground equipment was destroyed. It took thirty minutes to restore order yet, despite the damage, 17 aircraft took off to bomb Cologne late that evening. "George" was so badly damaged that it took six weeks to be repaired.
    "G" for George returned to the line in time to take part in one of the most remarkable bombing missions of the war. British Intelligence had learnt from agents in Europe that the Germans were conducting rocket experiments at Peenemunde. Their secret researches would culminate in developments of the notorious V-1 flying-bombs and V-2 rockets. Without disclosing the nature of the target, Bomber Command asked its aircrews for a concerted effort on the night of the 17/18 August, 1943. Pilot Officer Moodie and his crew steered "George" to Peenemunde. In the resulting raid, the German design buildings and the scientists' quarters were destroyed. The chief designer, Dr. Thiel was amongst those killed.  The cost to the RAF was nonetheless high; of the 597 bombers which participated in this raid, 43 failed to return and a further 32 were badly damaged.
    Twenty-nine different pilots flew "G" for George during its operational career and the greatest number of missions were flown by Pilot Officer "Cherry" Carter and his crew. "George" had already returned from 47 raids when Carter took it to Laverkusen on 22 August, 1943
    "George" was damaged on twenty separate occasions in the air from enemy action. On 30 August, 1943, over Munchen Gladbach, an incendiary dropped from another bomber flying above, hit the tail plane. The rear-gunner was fortunate not to be hurt and despite the damage, Carter flew the aircraft home. Two of the crew on that occasion were later flying together in another aircraft when it had similar but less lucky experience. Their aircraft went down and they became prisoners of war.
    Flight Sergeant Goulevitch, one of the stations' personalities who was often seen wearing a funeral directors hat, took "George" to Munich on 6 September. One engine had mechanical trouble and the bomber limped home  on the remaining three. On 22 October, "George" was one of 444 bombers sent against Kassel, the centre of German tank and locomotive production. It ran into a violent electrical storm: lightening and balls of fire played around the aircraft and blue flames glowed on the propellers. A large piece of ice crashed through the windscreen injuring the Engineer.
    On 18/19 November, the "Battle for Berlin" opened and "G" for George was again engaged. These raids were extremely dangerous as they involved flights of 7-8 hours on dark moon less nights, over 1150 miles of hostile territory. Losses were continually high and the heavy bombers were particularly vulnerable to enemy fighter attack as they approached "the Big City". Two Australian squadrons, No. 460 and No. 467,  were able to maintain the highest front-line strengths throughout these raids.
    During November "George" went to Berlin on four occasions, piloted by either Warrant Officer Carter or Flight Sergeant Douglas while Flight Sergeant K.J. Goodwin and his crew took it on the disastrous night of 2/3 December.
    This raid was a costly failure. Strong winds scattered the bomber stream and the Pathfinders dropped their markers several miles south of the target. The defences were particularly effective against the bomber force and forty aircraft, including five from 460 Squadron, failed to return.
    Carter flew "George" to Berlin on 16/17 December. Again the aircraft and crew, in the face of statistical odds, returned home safely to base. During this mission the fuselage was holed and a German fighter came so close that the crew could read the letter "G" on its side. Evasive action was taken and the crew were relieved when the fighter disappeared into the darkness. Later, on returning to base in Britain, the bomber squadrons found their airfields covered in thick cloud of fog. Thus, added to the 25 bombers lost in the raid were a further 29 that crashed while attempting to land. 131 lives were lost in these crashes.
    The raid on Christmas Eve 1943, also against Berlin, was significant for "G" for George. On returning from that mission, "Cherry" Carter's crew had completed their tour of duty and this added greatly to their Christmas celebrations. The bomb-aimer, Pilot Officer Harris later recalled: "Everybody came to see us because, apart from the fact that I don't think anybody finished (survived 30 operations) for a while -- it was sort of a rarity for anybody to get through, we finished on Berlin!"
    "G" for George flew its last raid against Berlin on 1 January, 1944. The raids against this city represent the greatest assault ever launched against a single target. However the results had been far below expectations and losses of men and machines had been far worse than anticipated. The British Official Historians, examining the losses, concluded that the Battle of Berlin was more than a failure, it was a defeat.
    On 30 March, 1944, "George" took part in another historic raid -- Nuremberg. It was now an ageing veteran and was being held as a spare aircraft at the time of the Nuremberg raid. It was flown by Flight Sergeant V.H. Neal. His navigator later recalled that it was "an aircraft with dreadful vibration. I was driven to utter desperation on the flight, with my navigation instruments spread all over the table continually working their way onto the floor".
    Nuremberg was another maximum effort raid but on this occasion everything went wrong. Tragically weakened because of the Berlin experience, Bomber Command again received severe punishment. Ninety-six aircraft were lost. It was now apparent that the present bomber strategy could not be maintained. When the Allied invasion of Europe was commenced two months later, it allowed Bomber Command to again mount massed and concentrated attacks on German targets and the progressive destruction of enemy fighter resistance even allowed the resumption of daylight raids. For "G" George it was too late as the aircraft had retired from operational duty.
    Flying Officer J.A. Critchley flew the aircraft on its last three missions. It was finally withdrawn from operational duty on its return from Cologne on 21 April, 1944. It had flown a total of ninety operations. Appropriately the insignias of the Distinguished Service Order was painted on the aircraft's side.