Wireless Operator SL (Laurie) Davis 1852537 619 Squadron RAF Strubby
On 17th May 1943, Laurie Davis was at Lords Cricket Ground at 10.00 to join up and receive a medical check. After an A1 pass, they were given a mug of tea and a “wad” and sat and listened to accounts filtering through from the 617 Squadron Dambusters raid from the night before.
From Lords, he went to morse code training near Bridlington for a few weeks.
From there he was on to Hereford, RAF Madley for radio and flying training. Laurie recalls being there on the morning of D Day, June 6th. He then went to Llandwrog to train on Domini’s.
The Bomber crews were allocated at Silverstone circuit in August 1944.
Dad’s crew were:
John Taylor. – Pilot.
Jack Bache.- Navigator
Norman Shires. – Bomb Aimer
Laurie (Red) Davis. -Wireless Operator
Joe Crossland- Mid upper Gunner
Tommy Clynes – Rear Gunner
RH. Wright. – Engineer
The crew trained near Silverstone on Wellingtons for 2 weeks. Laurie remembers that they were very thin skinned, and it felt like you could push your hand through them.
At Syreston they flew Stirling’s and were allocated their Engineer, surname Wright, Forename not recalled sadly.
On 10/02/1945 the crew arrived at RAF Strubby in Lincolnshire, Lancasters.
John Taylor and Laurie were allocated to another crew on 13/03/45 as they had chaps sick, and they flew a raid on Dresden.
Reunited with their regular crew, Laurie and John Taylor flew 10 night and 2-day raids on various keys targets including Essen, Yarburg, Dresden.
He recalls that the local’s community near RAF Strubby were very friendly, and they could relax, when possible, on non-flying days at the local pub for games/ skittles etc.
Laurie mentions the briefings and the routine of the padre addressing the men before raids, asking them to write letters home, for if the worst should happen. It was a humbling sight, seeing a crew’s lockers at bedside being cleared after not returning.
After one night raid, Laurie remembers placing his hand on the desk at a debriefing and feeling it thumping uncontrollably on the table. He didn’t even realise it was happening. At these times they were encouraged to have a nip of something strong to add to their mug of tea.
Later his crew were transferred to RAF Waddington to 617 Squadron.
Still on Lancasters, they flew on operations Dodge and Exodus to and from Bari in Italy. This was to aid repatriation of POW’s. 24 at a time were squeezed into the bombers. They were fascinated by the plane’s interior. They had no parachutes available for the POW’s and they flew low, Laurie recalls. They repatriated all nationalities to UK.
In 11/01/1946 they were seconded to Tiger Force. 617 and 9 Squadron Tobruk, Cairo and Calcutta.
On 13/04/1946, Laurie flew to St Mawgans in Cornwell where they left the aircraft. They were given 4 days to travel home.
Laurie was posted to Framlingham in Suffolk where a unit of Polish servicemen were awaiting repatriation. He formed a good relationship with them in his time there.
He had a short time in Bad Elson in Germany on a country estate and recalls that being a relaxed posting. While there, he toured with RAF cricket and football teams. He was in the winning football team of the British Forces Inter-Services at Cologne.
After leaving the RAF, Laurie joined City of Portsmouth Police as a Constable, later progressing to Sergeant, and then Inspector. After a full service, he worked for 10 years in the County Courts admin department.
Right up to his death in July 2024, Laurie kept in contact with several groups and individuals who he had grown to know over the years. Remarkably, he had completed six marches to the Cenotaph in London on Remembrance Sunday, representing Bomber Command. He attended the annual lunch of 619 Squadron Association each October to 2022 which was his last attendance.
This stone is a lasting memorial to the loving memory of SL (Laurie) Davis, devoted husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather and a good friend and colleague to so many.