By Janice A Furze

I was a close friend of the Fiancee of Sgt. Brian D west of 106 Squadron based at Metheringham, Lincolnshire. Occasionally my friend talked to me about Brian because I myself was a Private Pilot with a keen interest in aviation history, particularly the Second World War. It was only in recent years, and almost by chance that I learned more about the fate of Brian who was the Flight Engineer, and the crew of R-Robert who set off on the late evening of 7th May 1944 to bomb an ammunition dump near Orleans in France.

The aircraft was skippered by Flying Officer Bartlett, and had survived some punishing trips prior to the final one, in fact they would have been considered ‘old hands’ by newcomers to the Squadron. But the odds were stacked against them. The trip to the Loire Valley to fulfil their mission, which was in preparation for D-Day, should have been ‘a piece of cake’ according to those who later recalled the events of that evening.

The Squadron flew out via Reading crossing the coast at Portland Bill. For some reason they were flying much lower than usual, perhaps to try to avoid enemy radar alerting the night fighters who were stalking the Squadrons and finding the Lancaster’s vulnerable under-belly. A few miles North West of the target the Squadron was intercepted by the dreaded night fighters and three aircraft were shot down. R Robert crashed in flames having lost the tail section, and with the fire raging ordnance began to explode completely burning out the aircraft. The aircraft had crashed into a field near a small village in the Loire Valley, and a villager later wrote a graphic account of the incident. Because of the curfew he was not able to visit the site until the next day. It was clear that the crash was not survivable and he saw the aircrew till lying in and around the aircraft. The next day the airmen were taken to the municipal cemetery at Orleans where they were buried and is the place where they still lie side by side today. The villagers who lived so close to where the crew died erected a memorial to the airman at the local church and over the years remained constant in honouring their memory and keeping in touch with 106 Squadron.

For several days my friend only knew that her Fiancee was ‘Missing’, then a few days later came the official news that he had been killed. I think they were both just 20 years of age. I decided the details of the incident were too horrific to share with her during her life time, but since her passing I thought this was an event which should be recorded in the Memorial archives close to where he served because I am in awe of that Generation and what they achieved. On my friend’s behalf I visited what is left of the aerodrome at Metheringham and placed flowers in Brian’s memory at the Garden of Remembrance by the Museum there. It is a pilgrimage I would recommend to those who cherish the memory of those who gave everything so that we can live the lives we choose in Freedom.