After the end of the war, it was decided that KB999 Malton Mike should have the honour to fly McEwen back to Canada. When it came off the assembly line in Malton, Ontario, Victory Aircraft Corporation production staff dedicated this aircraft to McEwen and had his pennant painted on the nose with the words Malton Mike. One of the Lancs destined to join Tiger Force assets back in Canada was Lancaster KB999, the 300th Canadian-built Lancaster. During the 1920s at Camp Borden, Ontario, he acquired the nickname “Black Mike”, due to his tendency to suntan very quickly. Air Vice-Marshal Clifford Mackay McEwen, CB, MC, DFC and bar, was a First World War fighter pilot with 22 aerial victories. George, waving goodbye to the first of 141 Canadian Lancasters that would fly to Canada, via the Azores, over the following weeks. Here we see RCAF Air Vice-Marshal “Black Mike” McEwen, Commander of 6 Group, Bomber Command (foreground) and Air Vice-Marshal Arthur “Bomber” Harris at RAF Middleton St. On, three weeks after VE Day, the European Allies got set to get right back into the fight against the Japanese. McLeish DFC Greenwood, NS 405 and 408 Squadrons 1Aug–. Lecomte DFC Debert, NS 420 and 425 Squadrons 1 Aug– andĦ64 Wing commanded by G/C W.A.G. MacDonald DFC Dartmouth, NS 431 and 434 Squadrons 15 Jul– Ħ63 Wing commanded by G/C J.H.L. Sharp DFC Yarmouth, NS 419 and 428 Squadrons 15 Jul– Ħ62 Wing commanded by G/C J.R. Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons involved kept their old Bomber Command 6 Group designation, and the operational wings were to be formed up at the following bases:Ħ61 Wing commanded by W/C F.R. These new Commonwealth squadrons on the scene in Okinawa would need fighter escort, which was to be supplied by the RAAF’s Australian First Tactical Air Force as well as other Commonwealth units already in theatre and American assets. When deployed, Tiger Force would fly the highly capable Avro Lancaster and the Avro Lincoln (just coming off the assembly line) as well as American-built Consolidated Liberators. Later the force was reduced to just 12 squadrons and then to a final eight squadrons in two groups, with only RAF and RCAF squadrons. Initially this new and powerful force was to be formed with 22 squadrons into three groups (9 Wings total) with squadrons from the Royal Air Force and the air forces of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. As the European war’s outcome was not in any doubt, except for the day of final surrender, Bomber Command set about in October to create the structure of a new bomber force, code-named Tiger Force. It was largely held by the Allies everywhere (except for those who were secretly working on the atomic bomb) that this war would be fought to the last Japanese soldier on the home islands of Nippon.Īfter D-Day, when Churchill met with Roosevelt during the second Québec Conference on 12 September 1944, he made a promise to transfer a substantial number of Bomber Command heavy bombers to the Pacific Theatre-up to 1,000 aircraft. Once they had brought Nazi Germany to its knees in final surrender, massive amounts of men and war machines could then be unleashed on Japan to speed the end of the war in that theatre. Plans were put in place to turn to the east with as much assistance for the Allies in the Far East as the Commonwealth could muster. The United States was largely responsible for offensive aerial attacks on the Japanese home islands, though the Royal Navy and the aerial arms of Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and Canada were engaging the collapsing enemy in his many empirical outposts from Burma to Palembang to New Britain. All this had to be done with the aircraft possibly spinning out of control, praying that the parachute was intact and hoping the turret’s hydraulics still functioned.As the Second World War wound down in Europe, the Allied powers, which had previously been focused on the destruction of Hitler’s Nazi-run Germany, began to think about the battle to come in and around Japan. Sat in the turret, with armoured doors behind him, if the call came to bale out he would need to retrieve his parachute from behind the doors, clip it on, rotate the turret entirely and exit the aircraft backwards. The tail gunner’s exposed location was possibly the most dangerous of all the crew positions. Always scanning the sky, the rear gunner would alert the skipper to danger and engage enemy aircraft if the Lancaster was not corkscrewing to avoid an enemy attack. It was often freezing cold (warmth came from a heated suit) and the only communication with the rest of crew would be via the aircraft’s intercom. 303 inch Browning machine guns and not move until the sortie was over. The rear gunner would enter into the cramped rear turret containing four. The eyes and rear defence of the Lancaster was the rear gunner. See CWGC record | Australian War Memorial Aged 25 (born 2 September 1917 in Strathalbyn, South Australia)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |