JUNE 2019 / NR 229 PUBLISHED EVERY THREE MONTHS BBMF Dakota painted in honour of David Lord VC David Lord VC One of the greatest individual acts of heroism of World War Two The year 2019 marks the 75th anniversary of several spectacular WWII events. They were the fateful ‘Great Escape’ in March 1944, the magnificent D-Day operations on the 6th of June 1944 and the very brave, but disastrous, Operation Market Garden in September 1944. At this last mentioned, 5 Victoria Crosses were awarded for exceptional bravery; three to soldiers of the Parachute Regiment, one to a soldier of a British Army Regiment and one to an officer of the Royal Air Force, Flt. Lt. David Samual Anthony Lord VC DFC. David Lord was born in Cork, into a mili- Officer and “Mentioned in Despatches” for of which were Douglas Dakotas. Unfortuna- tary family; his father was an army Warrant flying missions over Burma. In July 1943 he tely, the German Anti-Aircraft fire was intense Officer. After WWI the father was posted, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and prevented some of the aircraft from together with his family, to India, and on his and was promoted to Flight Lieutenant. reaching their goal. retirement, the family moved back to Wrex- Five months later he was posted to 271 Flt Lt David Lord was the pilot of Dakota ham where David attended a Squadron where he began III KG374 YS-DM on a resupply mission local college before studying training for the invasion of and although his aircraft suffered immense at the University of Wales. He Europe. damage, he pressed on to try to deliver his later studied for the priesthood Operation Market Garden cargo, but was shot down in flames. in Spain but, after changing was intended to secure the The following, copied from the Pegasus his mind, he instead enlisted in the Royal Air bridge over the River Rijn at Arnhem for the Archive, is an account of David Lord’s heroic Force in 1936. advancing allied forces; the plan, if it had flight that earned him a posthumous VC and In 1938, after he had been promoted to worked, could have shortened the war. can been read in full on page 4. Corporal, he applied and was accepted for The airborne forces that were dropped pilot training. In 1939 he was awarded his on 17 September, had no knowledge of the REGULAR ITEMS wings and as a Sergeant pilot was posted to fact that two German SS Panzer Divisions Agenda Page 2 31 Squadron stationed in Lahore, India. His were resting and refitting close to Arnhem. Announcements Page 3 squadron was the first to receive the Douglas The British and Polish airborne forces Chairman’s Chat Page 3 DC2 which was eventually followed by the put up a very brave fight but suffered huge Dakota. Promotion to Flight Sergeant was losses and on the night of 25/26 September Coming Events Page 5 soon followed by further promotion to War- the surviving troops withdrew across the River. Looking Back Page 6-7 rant Officer. The troops on the ground depended on sup- Club Limburg News Page 8 In May 1942 he was commissioned Pilot plies being ferried in by aircraft, the majority 1 RAFA AMSTERDAM BRANCH THE BULLETIN JUNE 2019 IMPORTANT DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 2019 14 - 15 Jun RNLAF Open Days, Volk Air Base 29 Jun 17.00 hrs RAFA/Edambusters BBQ, Maartensdijk TBC Visit MCCE Eindhoven. 24 - 28 Aug Wings for Freedom, Ede 15 Sep 10.30 hrs Airborne Memorial Service, Oosterbeek 25 - 27 Oct European Area Conference, Geneva, Switzerland 09 Nov 10.45 hrs Remembrance Ceremony, DNO Amsterdam 10 Nov 10.30 hrs Remembrance Sunday Service, ERC, Begijnhof, Amsterdam 13 Nov 14.00 hrs Visit RIU, Soesterberg 15 Dec 13.00 hrs Christmas Lunch, Mercure Hotel Amsterdam AMSTERDAM BRANCH 1077 Welfare If you know a member who is ill or in need of the that we may be able to offer, please inform the Honorary Welfare Officer John Bright, or any other committee member. Membership Please let the Membership Secretary or any Committee member know whenever address changes take place or if you are aware that a member has died. We don’t mind how many times we are told because it prevents the extremely embarrassing and hurtful situation for others when mail is still addressed to someone who has passed away. Internet Please help us cut down on costs by allowing us to add your e-mail address to our distribution list. Members on e-mail have the added benefit of receiving the bulletin early and in colour. 2 RAFA AMSTERDAM BRANCH THE BULLETIN JUNE 2019 The Royal Air Forces Association Announcements The Chairman’s Chat Welcome to new member: Mr JPLHA Appel - Associate Member Postage Stamps OMOV. Members who have read all their RAFA correspondence from If you have any spare used or foregn postage stamps please send them to CHQ will know that the abbreviation OMOV stands for ‘One Member One Vote’. Malcolm Mason for passing on to a mem- The OMOV idea is at present only a proposal, but the manner in which it is being ber who collects stamps. pushed suggests to me that it is something that Central Council (CC) hopes will take place. We are led to believe that this idea is more democratic than the pre- Lancaster sent system whereby an official committee representative of a branch, who is often Game more knowledgeable of Association affairs, votes on behalf of the branch members The WWII RAF bomber crews, when off duty, would let their at Area and National Conferences. I am concerned that the proposers are pushing hair down and get up to all sorts this idea, with the help of CHQ despite the fact that the questionnaire sent to mem- of antics, one being a game named: “The Lancaster Bomber”, bers about this resulted in replies from less than 10% of the membership and of a routine that was usually reser- that percentage, just over half were in favour; this equates to just 5% of association ved for new crews in the mess, especially innocents fresh from membership. If the proposal is eventually accepted it will signal the beginning of the an operational training unit who end of the branch and area structure and also the need for a national conference. didn’t know any better. It begins with the setting out of a Another aspect of the proposal that concerns me is that the OMOV system could ‘cross’ of chairs, about six in a row, with the one at the end facing backwards. Two turn out to be expensive to operate due to costs (especially to branches) of mai- or three chairs are placed on each side, lings, and create extra work for (voluntary) branch committee members, in addition forming the aircraft ‘wings’. Then the crew is selected. The ‘pilot’ sits in the centre, to the salaries of extra CHQ personnel that will be required to administer such a with the ‘bomb aimer’ in front, the ‘navi- system – or, as has been the case recently with other matters, by putting the admi- gator’ behind, and ‘Tail-end Charlie’, the rear gunner, sitting at the far end, facing nistration in the hands of a commercial company. backwards. Two newcomers are then invi- ted to become the ‘port and starboard One of the arguments put forward by those behind the proposal is that only a few engines’, sitting on ‘the wings’. members bother to attend branch AGMs, and on that point they are correct; but A mimed start-up and take-off on an operation is then begun, with ‘the the branch AGM does give members a chance to air their views which can then engines’ making appropriate engine be carried forward to their area meetings; as I see it, OMOV does not provide this noises. At that point, one man comes riding into the mess on a bicycle. He is opportunity. Sadly, as if to prove a point, our AGM, which took place on 13 March, a ‘German night-fighter’, and he circles the ‘Lancaster’, making attacking swoops was attended by fewer members than in previous years. with ‘ratatatat’ sounds of gunfire, which At the meeting, Ellen van Gilst, who stood down after serving are replied to by Tail-end Charlie with similar sounds. the branch faithfully for 20 years, was appointed a Branch Finally, the ‘pilot’ shouts, ‘The star- board engine’s on fire!’ and the man Life Vice-President. representing that engine is encouraged I am happy to announce that member Peter Thompson was to strike a match and hold it aloft. The cry is echoed by everybody watching. Then, elected to fill Ellen’s vacancy on the committee, as commit- ‘The port engine’s on fire!’, and another match is scraped alight and held aloft. Photo John Bright tee member. ‘We must put the fires out!’ yells the Finally, I wish all members a wonderful holiday ‘pilot’, and, right on cue, all the watching mess members repeat the cry, slinging and I hope the weather will be brilliant for you. their beer over the unfortunate ‘engines’, to put out the burning matches! PS. The OMOV resolution was defeated at the Annual Conference which took place in Birmingham on 11 May 2019 Night Fighter over Germany - Graham White 3 RAFA AMSTERDAM BRANCH THE BULLETIN JUNE 2019 The Pegasus Archive The Battle of Arnhem Archive ‘On Tuesday 19th, while on the final approach mans, but he managed to find the 10th Battalion to the drop zones and only three minutes away and stayed with them until eventually captured.