The pilot was Rowland (Rolly) Telford Ward, age 21, from North Bondi, Sydney. He left his job as a clerk in the Customs Service and volunteered for the RAAF on 10 October 1942. He was passed fit for aircrew, though at 5' 5" tall, weighing 8st 5lbs and a potential bomber pilot (some evasive manoeuvres such as the famous "5 Group corkscrew" required quite a lot of physical strength), he was quite small. Rolly was issued with a lapel badge to show his membership of the RAAF Aircrew Reserve and told there would be a wait of some months before his call-up. Shortly afterwards he received an issue of 21 books which he was required to study; they covered mathematics, Air Force law, theory of flight and related subjects. Return to In Memorium
In January 1943 he was posted to No. 10 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) Temora, where he spent two months learning to fly in the de Havilland Tiger Moth. If there was any doubt at all in Rolly’s mind about just what he was getting into, it would have been dispelled in March with two fatal accidents involving members of his course. On 2 March 1943 19 year old LAC Brian Flynn from Waverley NSW, took off to do circuit and landing practices, he had just 1 hours flying experience since his first solo. As he approached the airfield on a gliding turn, the Tiger Moth spun into the ground killing Flynn instantly. The probable cause of the accident was attributed to poor technique on behalf of the trainee pilot. Just over a week later, on 10 March, LAC Frank Brooker from Artarmon NSW took off in Tiger Moth A17-433 accompanied by his instructor Sgt Cyril Plisch, the latter having 527 solo hours on Tiger Moths. At 10.15, the aircraft struck the ground 7 miles south-east of the airfield, bursting into flames and killing both occupants. The cause of the crash was unknown, although it occurred in a low flying area so again pilot inexperience (Frank Brooker had just under 4 hours solo, though 14 ½ hours dual on Tiger Moths) could have been the reason. Other accidents had been caused by severe down-draughts on the leeward side of hills in the area.
In March he was posted to No. 6 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) Mallala, flying twin engined Avro Ansons. Dan Conway explains that "the trainees' main worry was how they would cope with the twin-engined Anson, which up until fairly recently had been the frontline bomber and reconnaisance aircraft of the RAAF. With two motors and a blind-flying panel, it was a big step up from the Tiger Moth. The fledgling pilots soon found however that the "Aggie" was a respectable dowager without a vice which, for example, when practising stalls, would "mush" down slowly without dropping a wing."
But students could not afford to be over-confident or complacent as the following sequence of events towards the end of 32 Course at 6 SFTS illustrates:
1 July 1943: LAC Gordon Young was killed flying Anson R3518, which crashed in Eden Valley at 11.05 hours. Young was on a solo cross-country exercise when he lost control of the aircraft while flying in cloud. The Anson was seen in a steep diving turn coming out of cloud, the base of which was 800 feet. The pilot had specific orders to avoid flying in cloud, at the time he had accumulated 81 hours flying time.
14 July 1943: Flying Instructor F/O John Pettit with 4 maintenance personnel took off at 14.30 hours on a 240 hour test flight in Anson W2556, which failed to return.
15 July 1943: 29 aircraft conducted a search for W2556, small bits of wreckage were found in St Vincent’s Gulf. No bodies were recovered, but F/O Pettit and his passengers were listed as missing presumed killed, One mechanic, LAC Don Tucker would have celebrated the first anniversary of his enlistment in the RAAF on the following day. No cause for the crash was ever established. F/O Pettit had a total of 1232 flying hours logged.
21 July 1943: LAC Colin Cook was missing in fog which had persisted since the previous night, reducing visibility at times to 20 yards. The wreckage of his aircraft, Anson AW262 was found following a search by 28 aircraft, 1 ½ miles north-east of the airfield. LAC Cook died of his injuries the following day, the day before “Wings Day”.
Rolly is circled in this photo of No. 32 course at Mallala on 23 July having received his wings.
He embarked for England on 11 August 1943, landing here on 16 October. After a time "kicking his heels" waiting for a posting at 11 Personnel Despatch and Reception Centre, he was sent to No.3 (Pilot)Advanced Flying Unit at South Cerney, Gloucestershire. He flew Airspeed Oxfords, getting used to the crowded and busy skies of England, the different and sometimes rapidly changing weather conditions and the more complicated navigational requirements of "patchwork" England.
Whilst at South Cerney, Rolly spent a week at No. 1539 Beam Approach Training Flight (BAT) based at nearby Bibury. Beam approach (sometimes written as blind approach) was essential training for bomber pilots who would have to return to their Bases in the dark in often less than ideal conditions, where visibility could be marginal. Put simply, the beam approach system relied on two audible signals, Morse A (dit dah) and N (dah dit) which originated from differing parts of the airfield, which was "divided" into four quadrants. Listening to the signals, the pilot knew which side of the airfield he was flying in from. When he started hearing both signals of different strengths, he was aware of how close to the centre line he was. When both signals merged and became a continuous sound, he knew he was "on the beam". Ancillary signals enabled the pilot to land in very poor conditions.
Rolly started his BAT course (his was Course No. 45) on 3 May 1944 at 07.30 with a lecture by F/Sgt Taylor, flying started an hour later in good weather. Three of the five serviceable Oxfords were used by course members, the flying finished for the day at 17.30. This pattern of flying continued for the next four days until the course ended, though the weather on the second day deteriorated in the afternoon with a lowering cloud base to 800 feet before finally clearing at 17.00. During this time, the aircraft were kept in the air at controlled heights of 2000, 2500 and 3000 feet. It was a most demanding course, mostly consisting of taking off up to 100ft or so, at which point the instructor pulled a screen over the trainee's side of the cockpit blacking out everything. From then on flying was by instruments only, guided by the radio beam system until on the final stage of the approach for landing, when the instructor removed the screen. During this course Rolly also passed the General Instrument course on the Link Trainer.
If Rolly's experiences at Bibury were anything like those of F/Lt Harry Cave, who was there a month earlier, he would have been glad the course only lasted a few days, for Harry said "Bibury was the most beautiful town in the whole of England, but the meals there were foul, never worse, terrible!"
The first 3 weeks of Rolly's training at OTU were occupied with ground subjects, sometimes with all aircrew but mainly with other pilots. They were expected to know all about the handling of the Wellington, to understand the petrol, oil, ignition and coolant systems plus the operation of the undercarriage, flaps and emergency systems. It was intensive work since the pilots were inundated with information, followed by examinations. Towards the end of this initial period, Rolly "crewed up" with his navigator, wireless operator, gunners and bomb aimer. Although the "Wimpy" didn't have a mid-upper turret, some crews included the extra gunner at OTU, as in this case; the 2 gunners taking turns to man the rear turret.
Their flying training started with a move to the satellite airfield of Bitteswell on 15th July 1944, initially in "A" Flight, doing dual circuits and landings in Wellington BK195, the pilot instructor was F/O Foster, Rolly being a Flight Sergeant at this point. The Wimpy was not an easy aeroplane to fly, being much heavier to handle than Oxfords, and this was the first time that Rolly would have used a paved runway. The aircraft took some strength to hold on the approach even with the trim central and it lacked the tendency to "float", unlike the Lancaster which Rolly was destined to fly. Further dual circuits and landings were practised on 17th, 19th, 21st and 23rd, interspersed with intensive ground training in the classroom. On the afternoon of 23rd after 8 hours 35 minutes of dual, Rolly and his crew went solo for the first time in a Wimpy, the flight lasting 1 hour 10 minutes, After a transfer to "D" Flight, nine further weeks were spent doing cross-country navigation exercises, high level bombing, fighter affiliations (both day and night) and gunnery practice (both live firing and cine-gun), and most importantly learning to work together as a team. The penultimate exercise on 16th September was a "Flashlight", when the crew had to navigate a set course at night which included "attacking" a large town or city, which attempted to "catch" them in its searchlights, this being the closest a crew could get to flying over a hostile target.
At the next posting, 1660 Heavy Conversion Unit, Swinderby, the flight engineer Max Venton joined the crew and another two months were spent developing their skills in a true "heavy", Short Stirlings. Their time at HCU finished with a fighter affiliation on 5 December. The New Year saw the crew move onto No. 5 Lancaster Finishing School at Syerston, on 7 January, where they logged 7 hours 15 minutes daytime flying and 7 hours 5 minutes night before finally joining 467 squadron on 4 February 1945.
Lancaster ME432 PO-E was the aircraft in which Rolly made his "second dickie" flight on 8 February, the pilot being Flt/Lt Eddie Broad, the target being the oil refinery at Politz, near Stettin. ME432 was in the first of two waves comprising 234 aircraft, in which 10 Lancasters and 1 Halifax were lost. The entry in the ORB says: "Sortie completed. No cloud, fair vis. Bombed TI, overshot by 13 secs. as ordered from 10250' at 21.17.(one 4000lb HC MInal, 5x500lb HC, .025 DT, 8x500lb MC 371 72hrs) Plenty of bomb flashes in target. Smoke to 4/5000ft. Explosions in target area with bright flashes. Flares seen before attack opened SW of target area, 15 miles. Spoof seen. 1 square building seen in (sic) fire about 5/10 miles of target. Fighters appeared active about 10 mins short of target until clear of target area." In fact 61 nachtjagers were scrambled in what turned out to be a carefully plotted and choreographed series of interceptions, the first occurring over neutral Swedish air space. However the 2.7% loss rate amongst the British heavies was a small price to pay for the destruction of the Politz oil plant in what was considered to be a successful operation.
The flight engineer was Max Venton, age 21, from Melksham, Wilts. Max was an ex-pupil of Trowbridge Grammar School, he enjoyed the outdoor life and was articled to the town surveyor in Melksham. Max's family had a small business selling and servicing cycles and motorcycles in the town. My mother, as a young girl of 14 having just left school, worked in Webbs the bakers.
. He joined up in December 1941 at Weston-super-Mare. Soon after he was called for Initial Training in July, he was sent out to Southern Rhodesia in the troopship "Highland Brigade" for pilot training, doing his ITW at Mt. Hampden near Bulawayo, then his elementary flying training on Tiger Moths at EFTS Induna, then Airspeed Oxfords at SFTS Kumalo, see the picture below. With thanks to Max's brother, Colin. Return to In Memorium
Max qualified as a pilot and was posted back to England in October 1943, only to find that the RAF had too many pilots through the success of the Empire Air Training Scheme! He was given the chance to re-train as a flight engineer, and this he duly did at St Athan Technical Training School, Glamorgan. Having a trained pilot as a flight engineer was a definite "plus" because it was he who was expected to take over from the pilot in an emergency.
Harry Callaghan came from 70 Highfield Road, Prestwich, Manchester, he was also 21. He was an apprentice at Salford Electrical Instruments and was in the final year of a 3 year National Certificate in the evening at the Radcliffe Technical College, which he was hoping to complete before being called up after volunteering at Padgate. Harry always wanted to be a navigator, he trained in Canada prior to returning to England and OTU where he crewed up. Return to In Memorium
An aerial view of the Salford Electrical Instruments works, Silk Street, where Harry worked prior to his call-up.
Colin Hill Terras was another Aussie, he was from the Roseville area of Sydney and worked as a bank clerk, having attended Scots College and served in the Senior Cadet Corps there. His father, a bank manager, was killed in a road accident when Colin was young. Colin was born in October 1924 and joined the RAAF on 23rd October 1942, training as a wireless operator/air gunner. He left Australia for England on 26 November 1943, arriving on 10 January 1944. Between January and June he attended No.2 Radio School at Yatesbury and No.9 Radio School/4 (Observer) Advanced Flying Unit at West Freugh in Scotland, before finally arriving at No.29 OTU on 27 June to be crewed up. Return to In Memorium
Wirelss operator training in a de havilland Domini.
Ronnie Smith was the bomb aimer, age 21, the son of Reginald Victor and Ethel Smith. Ronnie had two sisters, Florence and Jean. The family lived at 398 South Rd., Sheffield, where his father had a newsagent's shop. They had all planned to move to Canada once the war was over, however Ronnie's death meant that this never happened, though they did move to Southport shortly after the war's end. Return to In Memorium
Bill (his family called him Will) Chatters' family came from Barkingside, Ilford. Bill started his gunner training at No.10 Air Gunner School, Walney Island, Barrow-in-Furness, on 15 April 1944, his course finishing on 3 June 1944 where he was assessed as "a confident and keen worker - good all-round member of air crew." Their training was on Avro Ansons as well as turrets on the ground powered by car engines. By mid-July Bill was at No. 29 OTU and crewed up with his future colleagues. He was 21 at the time of his death. His log book reveals that the crew spent a total of 5 hours 5 minutes day time operational hours with 467 squadron and 9.00 hours night. Their non-operational hours, comprising fighter affiliations, cross-countries, high-level bombing exercises etc. totalled 11 hours 25 minutes day and 8 hours 25 night. Bill's total flying hours before his death was 134 hours day, 78 hours night. Return to In Memorium
Tom Drennan came from Cork, he was the eldest of 13 children. He travelled to Belfast to enlist in September 1943. Tom was also the oldest of the crew, at 22. He kept a diary for the last three months of his life, initially covering their second month at LFS, where duties included clearing snow from runways, and much time spent at dances or cinemas! The crew learned of their posting to Waddington at 2pm on 3 February, they were there mid-day the next day. Their first two days involved moving "window", bundles of metal strips that were thrown out of aircraft to confuse enemy radar. Later they did fighter affilations (being "attacked" by RAF fighters for practicing evasion), and high level bombing practice, as well as cross-country navigation exercises. Tom notes on one that the air temperature was -45 deg F, the coldest yet, and that his heated electrical suit wasn't working! The crew's first operational sortie with Rolly as skipper was on 24 February: "Up at 7.30 this morning for a daylight. Took off 1.45pm for Dortmund-Ems canal. WAAFs etc at caravan to see us off. V. exciting. Flew loose formation. Some flak over target, also 10/10ths cloud - brought bombs back." Return to In Memorium
Tom enjoyed the popular music of the time, much of which reflected the troubled and emotional turmoil that people experienced during the war years. Tom copied out the words of many of his favourite songs in his notebook; perhaps the most fitting for those of bomber crews was "So deep is the night", some words of which also inspired Don Charlwood to name his book about his experiences with 103 squadron at Elsham Wolds "No Moon Tonight".
The pilot was Rowland (Rolly) Telford Ward, age 21, from North Bondi, Sydney. He left his job as a clerk in the Customs Service and volunteered for the RAAF on 10 October 1942. He was passed fit for aircrew, though at 5' 5" tall, weighing 8st 5lbs and a potential bomber pilot (some evasive manoeuvres such as the famous "5 Group corkscrew" required quite a lot of physical strength), he was quite small. Rolly was issued with a lapel badge to show his membership of the RAAF Aircrew Reserve and told there would be a wait of some months before his call-up. Shortly afterwards he received an issue of 21 books which he was required to study; they covered mathematics, Air Force law, theory of flight and related subjects.
Rolly is circled in this photo of No. 32 course at Mallala on 23 July having received his wings. 
He embarked for England on 11 August 1943, landing here on 16 October. After a time "kicking his heels" waiting for a posting at 11 Personnel Despatch and Reception Centre, he was sent to No.3 (Pilot)Advanced Flying Unit at South Cerney, Gloucestershire. He flew Airspeed Oxfords, getting used to the crowded and busy skies of England, the different and sometimes rapidly changing weather conditions and the more complicated navigational requirements of "patchwork" England.
Whilst at South Cerney, Rolly spent a week at No. 1539 Beam Approach Training Flight (BAT) based at nearby Bibury. Beam approach (sometimes written as blind approach) was essential training for bomber pilots who would have to return to their Bases in the dark in often less than ideal conditions, where visibility could be marginal. Put simply, the beam approach system relied on two audible signals, Morse A (dit dah) and N (dah dit) which originated from differing parts of the airfield, which was "divided" into four quadrants. Listening to the signals, the pilot knew which side of the airfield he was flying in from. When he started hearing both signals of different strengths, he was aware of how close to the centre line he was. When both signals merged and became a continuous sound, he knew he was "on the beam". Ancillary signals enabled the pilot to land in very poor conditions.
Their flying training started with a move to the satellite airfield of Bitteswell on 15th July 1944, initially in "A" Flight, doing dual circuits and landings in Wellington BK195, the pilot instructor was F/O Foster, Rolly being a Flight Sergeant at this point. The Wimpy was not an easy aeroplane to fly, being much heavier to handle than Oxfords, and this was the first time that Rolly would have used a paved runway. The aircraft took some strength to hold on the approach even with the trim central and it lacked the tendency to "float", unlike the Lancaster which Rolly was destined to fly. Further dual circuits and landings were practised on 17th, 19th, 21st and 23rd, interspersed with intensive ground training in the classroom. On the afternoon of 23rd after 8 hours 35 minutes of dual, Rolly and his crew went solo for the first time in a Wimpy, the flight lasting 1 hour 10 minutes, After a transfer to "D" Flight, nine further weeks were spent doing cross-country navigation exercises, high level bombing, fighter affiliations (both day and night) and gunnery practice (both live firing and cine-gun), and most importantly learning to work together as a team. The penultimate exercise on 16th September was a "Flashlight", when the crew had to navigate a set course at night which included "attacking" a large town or city, which attempted to "catch" them in its searchlights, this being the closest a crew could get to flying over a hostile target.
At the next posting, 1660 Heavy Conversion Unit, Swinderby, the flight engineer Max Venton joined the crew and another two months were spent developing their skills in a true "heavy", Short Stirlings. Their time at HCU finished with a fighter affiliation on 5 December. The New Year saw the crew move onto No. 5 Lancaster Finishing School at Syerston, on 7 January, where they logged 7 hours 15 minutes daytime flying and 7 hours 5 minutes night before finally joining 467 squadron on 4 February 1945.
Lancaster ME432 PO-E was the aircraft in which Rolly made his "second dickie" flight on 8 February, the pilot being Flt/Lt Eddie Broad, the target being the oil refinery at Politz, near Stettin. ME432 was in the first of two waves comprising 234 aircraft, in which 10 Lancasters and 1 Halifax were lost. The entry in the ORB says: "Sortie completed. No cloud, fair vis. Bombed TI, overshot by 13 secs. as ordered from 10250' at 21.17.(one 4000lb HC MInal, 5x500lb HC, .025 DT, 8x500lb MC 371 72hrs) Plenty of bomb flashes in target. Smoke to 4/5000ft. Explosions in target area with bright flashes. Flares seen before attack opened SW of target area, 15 miles. Spoof seen. 1 square building seen in (sic) fire about 5/10 miles of target. Fighters appeared active about 10 mins short of target until clear of target area." In fact 61 nachtjagers were scrambled in what turned out to be a carefully plotted and choreographed series of interceptions, the first occurring over neutral Swedish air space. However the 2.7% loss rate amongst the British heavies was a small price to pay for the destruction of the Politz oil plant in what was considered to be a successful operation. 
The flight engineer was Max Venton, age 21, from Melksham, Wilts. Max was an ex-pupil of Trowbridge Grammar School, he enjoyed the outdoor life and was articled to the town surveyor in Melksham. Max's family had a small business selling and servicing cycles and motorcycles in the town. My mother, as a young girl of 14 having just left school, worked in Webbs the bakers.
. He joined up in December 1941 at Weston-super-Mare. Soon after he was called for Initial Training in July, he was sent out to Southern Rhodesia in the troopship "Highland Brigade" for pilot training, doing his ITW at Mt. Hampden near Bulawayo, then his elementary flying training on Tiger Moths at EFTS Induna, then Airspeed Oxfords at SFTS Kumalo, see the picture below. With thanks to Max's brother, Colin. Return to 
Max qualified as a pilot and was posted back to England in October 1943, only to find that the RAF had too many pilots through the success of the Empire Air Training Scheme! He was given the chance to re-train as a flight engineer, and this he duly did at St Athan Technical Training School, Glamorgan. Having a trained pilot as a flight engineer was a definite "plus" because it was he who was expected to take over from the pilot in an emergency.
Harry Callaghan came from 70 Highfield Road, Prestwich, Manchester, he was also 21. He was an apprentice at Salford Electrical Instruments and was in the final year of a 3 year National Certificate in the evening at the Radcliffe Technical College, which he was hoping to complete before being called up after volunteering at Padgate. Harry always wanted to be a navigator, he trained in Canada prior to returning to England and OTU where he crewed up. Return to 
An aerial view of the Salford Electrical Instruments works, Silk Street, where Harry worked prior to his call-up.
Colin Hill Terras was another Aussie, he was from the Roseville area of Sydney and worked as a bank clerk, having attended Scots College and served in the Senior Cadet Corps there. His father, a bank manager, was killed in a road accident when Colin was young. Colin was born in October 1924 and joined the RAAF on 23rd October 1942, training as a wireless operator/air gunner. He left Australia for England on 26 November 1943, arriving on 10 January 1944. Between January and June he attended No.2 Radio School at Yatesbury and No.9 Radio School/4 (Observer) Advanced Flying Unit at West Freugh in Scotland, before finally arriving at No.29 OTU on 27 June to be crewed up. Return to 
Wirelss operator training in a de havilland Domini.
Ronnie Smith was the bomb aimer, age 21, the son of Reginald Victor and Ethel Smith. Ronnie had two sisters, Florence and Jean. The family lived at 398 South Rd., Sheffield, where his father had a newsagent's shop. They had all planned to move to Canada once the war was over, however Ronnie's death meant that this never happened, though they did move to Southport shortly after the war's end. Return to 
Bill (his family called him Will) Chatters' family came from Barkingside, Ilford. Bill started his gunner training at No.10 Air Gunner School, Walney Island, Barrow-in-Furness, on 15 April 1944, his course finishing on 3 June 1944 where he was assessed as "a confident and keen worker - good all-round member of air crew." Their training was on Avro Ansons as well as turrets on the ground powered by car engines. By mid-July Bill was at No. 29 OTU and crewed up with his future colleagues. He was 21 at the time of his death. His log book reveals that the crew spent a total of 5 hours 5 minutes day time operational hours with 467 squadron and 9.00 hours night. Their non-operational hours, comprising fighter affiliations, cross-countries, high-level bombing exercises etc. totalled 11 hours 25 minutes day and 8 hours 25 night. Bill's total flying hours before his death was 134 hours day, 78 hours night. Return to 
Tom Drennan came from Cork, he was the eldest of 13 children. He travelled to Belfast to enlist in September 1943. Tom was also the oldest of the crew, at 22. He kept a diary for the last three months of his life, initially covering their second month at LFS, where duties included clearing snow from runways, and much time spent at dances or cinemas! The crew learned of their posting to Waddington at 2pm on 3 February, they were there mid-day the next day. Their first two days involved moving "window", bundles of metal strips that were thrown out of aircraft to confuse enemy radar. Later they did fighter affilations (being "attacked" by RAF fighters for practicing evasion), and high level bombing practice, as well as cross-country navigation exercises. Tom notes on one that the air temperature was -45 deg F, the coldest yet, and that his heated electrical suit wasn't working! The crew's first operational sortie with Rolly as skipper was on 24 February: "Up at 7.30 this morning for a daylight. Took off 1.45pm for Dortmund-Ems canal. WAAFs etc at caravan to see us off. V. exciting. Flew loose formation. Some flak over target, also 10/10ths cloud - brought bombs back." Return to 
Tom enjoyed the popular music of the time, much of which reflected the troubled and emotional turmoil that people experienced during the war years. Tom copied out the words of many of his favourite songs in his notebook; perhaps the most fitting for those of bomber crews was "So deep is the night", some words of which also inspired Don Charlwood to name his book about his experiences with 103 squadron at Elsham Wolds "No Moon Tonight". 