While browsing through the Life archives, I came across this picture and got to wondering about the crew, and the circumstances behind it. As the crew were named, I started to dig a little, and for those who are interested, here is what I managed to find out.
The crew are L to R
Pilot - F/Lt Frederick Wooton Gallacher RAFVR Age 32
Nav,W/Op - W/O Alfred Young RAF
Air Bomber - F/Sgt Ronald Parson Scott RAFVR Age 22
Air Gunner, W/Op - F/Sgt Selwyn Fawcett RAFVR
F/E - F/Sgt Charles Stewart
M/U Gunner - Sgt Kenneth Waddington RAFVR Age 20
Rear Gunner - W/O Murray Sherman RCAF Age 20
The aircraft and crew are from 270 Squadron. The aircraft itself is Lancaster III EE197, coded EM-N, based at RAF Spilsby. They were tasked with a raid to Brunswick on the night of 14/15 January 1944 and took of at 16.47 on the 14th. On the outward journey, the port outer engine failed and the prop was feathered. Part of the bomb load was jettisoned, but they continued to target. Over Brunswick, they came under a sustained attack from a Fw190.Damage was sustained to two turrets, port inner engine, and flying controls before the fighter was shaken off. A burst of flak then rendered both ailerons useless. They managed to return to Spilsby, where they crash landed at 22.54. F/Sgt Stewart injured and awarded DFM, P/O (at the time) Gallagher awarded immidiate DSO. Aircraft SOC on 15/1/44 due to battle damage.It was one of 3 207 Sqn Lancasters lost that night.
The crews story does not end there however. F/Sgt Fawcett was KIA, along with the whole crew of seven, on the night of 26/27th April 1944 on a mission to Schweinfurt in Lancaster III LM526 flown by F/Lt JF Muir.
On the night of 21/22 June 1944 270 Squadron were sent to attack a synthetic oil plant in Wesseling, 20km south of Cologne. In Gallaghers crew, Stewart was replaced by P/O Maxwell Benjamin Millward RAFVR 33, and also on board were W/Op F/O Peter William Ball RAFVR 22, and 2nd Nav Sgt Raymond William Lloyd RAFVR 22. For the remainder of the crew this would be their 25th op. They took of at 22.32 in Lancaster ME827 EM-I along with 21 other Lancs from 207 to meet up with the rest of the force, totalling 133 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitoes. Visability was bad and H2S was used. Night fighters got into the bomber stream. Bombing height was 18,900 ft and there was lots of fighters and accurate flak. Alec White, who was a mid upper gunner in P/O Grants crew aboard Lancaster NE168 EM-F said "I do recall a number of flamers going down and knowing we had heavy losses."
The losses were indeed heavy, 37 Lancasters (27.8% of total force) were lost in total, 5 from 207 Squadron, amongst them Gallaghers aircraft. It crashed on the Moerstraatsebaan at Bergen-op-Zoom (Noord Brabant), Holland. Only Alfred Young escaped from the aircraft and was made a POW and imprisoned in Stalag Luft VII. The rest of the crew were buried in Bergen-Op-Zoom Canadian war cemetery.
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