Lancaster - F for Freddie

61 years ago, on the night of the 3rd to the 4th September 1943, Lancaster Bomber F for Freddie flew a raid over Berlin, leaving RAF Langar in Nottinghamshire together with a BBC reporter and his engineer as passengers to record the nights events. The two broadcasters were the reporter Wynford Vaughan-Thomas and his engineer Reg Pidsley who joined the crew of the aircraft as it flew its mission over enemy occupied territory swarming with night fighters. It was possibly the most hazardous eye witness account given on the radio during the whole war.

Wynford Vaughan-Thomas and  Reg Pidsley before the flight

The aircraft from which the recording were made belonged to No.207 Squadron of Bomber Command which was at the time of the recording based at Langer. The aircraft is itself was a Lancaster B.Mk,I (ED586:EM-F) and it was crew that night was:

• Ken Letford (Pilot)
• Charlie Stewart (Flight Engineer)
• Bill Bray (Air Bomber)
• Jock Fieldhouse (Mid Upper Air Gunner)
• Con Connelly (Navigator)
• Bill Sparkes (Wireless Operator)
• Henry Devenish (Rear Air Gunner)

All were lucky enough to make it through the war accept one who was killed in action. As for the aircraft itself it was shoot down over Stettin on the night of 6th/7th January 1944 with the loss its Pilot George Edert and of all of its crew.

Lancaster bombers of 207 Squadron of Bomber Command 

The attack on Berlin on the night of 3/4 September 1943 involved 316 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitoes, which were used to dropped 'spoof' flares at a distance from the heavy bombers' route to mislead German night fighters. Although pathfinders marking mostly fell short of the target as was the bomb loads of the bomber force that followed them. However the industrial area of Siemensstadt was hit as well as the residential areas of Charlottenburg and Moabit. On the ground 422 people were recorded as being as killed while a total of 22 Lancaster Bombers were lost.

Damaged caused to a residential of Berlin during an RAF air raid

The record of the raid is rare insight into the the bombing raids and the people that flew them. Wynford Vaughan-Thomas captured both the spirit of the time, the sights he saw, the bravery of the people that flew these aircraft and the feeling they went through night after night. Each member crew knew their chances of survival were poor but they still flew mission after mission hoping they would make it through their tour of duty. Even Wynford Vaughan-Thomas and Reg Pidsley would have known they were putting themselves in grave danger by going on the mission.

A view of Berlin shortly after a RAF air raid had finished

Talking in an interview after the war, Wynford Vaughan-Thomas said "It was certainly the most terrifying eight hours I have spent in my life because I didn’t know what was coming.", before going onto to say about the sight below him: "Berlin burning seen from 19,000 feet was the most beautifully horrible sight I have ever seen." and of the flack that was flying up at him: "It was like watching somebody throwing jewellery on black velvet, winching rubies, sparkling diamonds all coming up at you."

Many Lancaster bombers never made it back to Britian

The recordings of the raid were made on direct cut acetate disks using BBC midget recorder. These machines looked like old style gramophone recorders and they were used clockwork mechanisms and batteries to power the valve amplifier. The uncut discs at the altitude in a Lancaster bomber flew at had to be placed inside his flying jacket of Reg Pidsley to warm them up, since otherwise the ultra low temperatures made the disc lacquer too brittle to cut.

If you are interested in finding out more about the bombing raids by the RAF during the Second World War I would suggest a good place to start would Night Bombers, a documentary you can watch on YouTube about a 600 bomber raid on Berlin.

FOOTNOTE: Each Lancaster Bomber was made up 55,000 components (if you excluding nuts, bolts and rivets), it required 500,000 manufacturing operations that took more than 70,000 man hours to complete. Each aircraft cost £42,000 back in 1942, which in today's money (2014) is around £1,850,000 per aircraft. On the night of the raid, the 22 aircraft lost represents the loss 1.5 million man hours of work in the construction of the aircraft and the loss of equivalent 40.7 million pounds .