Scampton church yard

[Woolgar]

Thanks for posting Dave and Eric. I must admit i've always promised myself i would do a trip to Scampton and the surrounding areas ,always been interested in Guy Gibson, hopefully might get there this year. Has anyone been to the pub in Lincoln that has all the Bomber Command memoroblia in it ?

Hi Paul

I think you mean the 'Saracens Head' in Lincoln high street but sadly it is now shops

Nick

[Paul D]

Bloody hell mate that's bad news

[Woolgar]

Bloody hell mate that's bad news

Sure is Paul. Guy Gibson endearingly refers to it as the 'snake-pit' in his superb book 'Enemy Coast Ahead'
Enemy Coast Ahead - Uncensored: The Real Guy Gibson - Guy Gibson, Harold Martin - Google Books

Here are some pics of the location of the Saracens Head:

[Paul D]

Bet there were some big nights in that place !! I've got the book a great read , Gibson was a Great leader and a true hero as were all the Bomber boys !!

[m3bobby]

The Petwood Hotel at Woodhall has a lot of memrobilia, it was the officers mess for 617

Petwood Hotel Home at Petwood

[Paul D]

The Petwood Hotel at Woodhall has a lot of memrobilia, it was the officers mess for 617

Petwood Hotel Home at Petwood

Thanks mate great link !!

[davesap250]

I believe there is some memrobilia in the pub at Scampton named 'the dambusters inn'.
The Eagle in Cambridge has the R.A.F room covered in graffitti by air crews. This was done by using candles,lighters etc to burn on the writing. Well worth a look.

http://www.ocellated.com/wp-content/...90710_3955.jpg

[Paul D]

I believe there is some memrobilia in the pub at Scampton named 'the dambusters inn'.
The Eagle in Cambridge has the R.A.F room covered in graffitti by air crews. This was done by using candles,lighters etc to burn on the writing. Well worth a look.

http://www.ocellated.com/wp-content/...90710_3955.jpg

Thanks Dave !!

[davesap250]

I returned to Scampton today and gave my three year old daughter a cross with a poppy on it. I then let her pick a grave to place it on and she chose F/S Ronald Henry Askins 'Air Gunner'.

At 04:30 on the morning of 16th August 1943 Lancaster JA896 of 57 Sqn was returning from an eight hour bombing mission to Milan. It was the Pilot Jack Smithers first flight. The port outer engine was being feathered on approach to Scampton. The engine had suffered some form of over heating. On landing at Scampton the Lancaster hit the runway hard bouncing. Smithers went around for another approach. He was too hasty in applying power.
With greater power on the star board wing the aircraft began to veer to port, a phenomenen known to pilots of the day as 'swing'. JA896 's port wing struck the ground spinning the aircraft 180 degrees. The plane inverted and caught fire killing five of the crew and injuring two in the process.
Smithers was killed in the accident and was a flight sergeant at the time however, he had been selected for a commission in July 1943 and was buried as a Pilot Officer at Scampton church yard.
Haskins was found alive in the wreckage and was taken to the RAF hospital at Rauceby. He died four hours later.Haskins was from Inglewood, Western Australia.
Also killed were:
P/O Arthur Joeseph Organ buried in Bristol
Sgt Derrick Rose buried in London
Sgt Alan George Luxford buried in Sheffield

P/O Bladen and Sgt Burgess both survived with minor injuries and survived the war.

Requiem for a Rear Gunner

My brief sweet life is over, my eyes no longer see,
No summer walks - no Christmas Trees - no pretty girls for me,
I've got the chop, I've had it, my nightly ops are done
Yet in another hundred years, I'll still be twenty-one

[harryamb2]

that's the most moving thread I have read for a long time thank you all.