"Guy Gibson, VC" Topic

Guy Gibson lead No.617 Squadron on the famous Dam Busting raid in 1943, for which he received his VC.

I have always been interested in Guy Gibson, especially after I learned he was born in the same town (Simla, India) as my father. My father never knew this, which I find odd since my father was very interested in anyone who was born in India and had a British/European background.

I just bought Guy Gibson's book,"Enemy Coast Ahead", which I believe was written in 1944(?) but published in 1946. Guy Gibson states in the book's intro that he was very lucky to have survived to write the book (only to be killed in action soon after when he was shot down while flying in a Mosquito FB).

In the beginning of the book he lists all the airmen he served with up to that point in the war. There are about 114 people on his list. Of these, three are listed as still alive and serving in bomber command, 14 are listed as "Prisoners of War" and the rest are either known to have been killed or are presumed killed. Obviously, some of the "presumed killed" may have been POW's, as I have read of a number of servicemen who returned from POW camps to find they had been listed as "presumed killed". However, it does point to the fact that your chances of surviving, over a long period of time, while serving as a bomber crew to be very small.

My parent's friend flew Lancaster bombers during the war, flying 40 missions and survived as did the father of a friend of mine (he won an award three years ago for scoring the highest points on a mock-bombing simulation on Vancouver Island -- a light hearted competition run by the local veterans association). A fellow in my neighbourhood was the waist gunner on a B-24 who broke his back when he bailed out over Germany and was POW for two years. Another fellow who lived a few blocks from me wrote a book on his missions flying in Lancasters during the war -- he was shot down in 1943 and captured. I think his book was titled, "Lancaster to Berlin".

If you ever read Freeman Dyson's book: Disturbing The Universe, he discusses why the Lancaster crews suffered 50% more casualties than crews of American bombers. An interesting read, and it leaves you feeling a tad bit angry. Mr Dyson worked as a statistical annalist with the RAF/Bomber Command.

For Guy Gibson to have survived as long as he did, as he points out, is very odd. I suppose someone will always slip though the cracks of statistics. Mr Gibson was very lucky and could have easily sat back and survived the war, if he just had stopped volunteering for suicide missions. I guess it was just the stuff he was made from -- he never shirked his duty. A born leader who always lead from the front. He may have felt the guilt of having survived when so many others did not.

E.H.

"Enemy Coast Ahead" is a darn good read. However, his Mosquito wasn't shot down, but due to a fuel tank malfunction ran out of fuel, an interesting tidbit that I picked up from Davidstow Airfield last Wednesday, as they had a display dedicated to Gibson. link

I read his aircraft was shot down in flames, but… it may have ended up in flames upon meeting with mother earth. It seems sad to have gone as far and as long as Mr.Gibson, only to have fallen victim to a malfunction. Probably a common story. I read Mr.Gibson is buried in Holland -- if I ever get out there, I will pay his grave a visit.

He is buried together with his navigator at Steenbergen, North Brabant, Netherlands
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Strangely enough, survival of bailing out from a Lancaster was lower than survival from bailing out of a Halifax. Probably due to the nature of the smaller body of the airframe and inability to reach a hatch to bail out from. This was recognized by most aircrew.

Survival in Bomber Command as a whole could have been against the odds, especially during the years '41-42. Survival in '44 and '45 was much more likely, but still a gamble.

I still find it irritating that Bomber Command never got the recognition it deserved, They did not receive a campaign medal and Bomber Harris was one of, if not the only, major commander in the RAF that did not receive any post war decorations. It took forever to get a statue for him that had to be raised through public subscription.

It seems that Bomber Command did too good a job and were conveniently forgotten about after the war by the same leaders that gave them that mission.

Quite right, Mapleleaf.

It seems he was shot down by a lancaster rear gunner
n October 2011 however, the Daily Mail featured an article stating that the cause of Gibson's death was a friendly fire incident: Sergeant Bernard McCormack (a rear air gunner in a Lancaster bomber) was in the vicinity of Steenbergen when he mistook Gibson's Mosquito for a similarly profiled Ju 88 and fired 600 rounds, shooting it down.[15] McCormack died in 1992 but, racked with guilt, had given his wife a taped confession before he died, which was passed to researcher James Cutler. Cutler had previously unearthed a report in the National Archives by the crew of the Lancaster describing the incident. He declared himself "satisfied 100 percent" that Guy Gibson was killed by friendly fire and 99.9 percent sure that he was shot down by McCormack's Lancaster. In later life McCormack became the mayor of Holyhead in north Wales.

and
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