I'll follow you: The McKechnie crew
Previously, we've covered GC McKechnie, the captain of the Lancaster JB593. Now, it's time to talk about the team.
Now, there were six men in that crew besides McKechnie, as you well remember. Five of them flew together before, the sixth, most probably, got transferred from the crew of the brilliant Keith Piercy. Let’s start with him, as he was the second new member of the team.
Robert Barclay Clarke was twenty-eight years old at the time. Born on October, 12, 1915, he was the son of Robert Barclay Clarke and Jessie Fargie Clarke, of Ealing, Middlesex. Robert was undoubtedly, Scottish - and his son was born in Paisley. Except Robert, there were three more sons in the family, and a sister. He was 5 ft 7in high, had dark brown hair and grey eyes, and a bit sallow complexion. You can spot him in these pictures, talking to Piercy (Clarke’s on the left) and posing with his crew:
Robert, as it was quite customary for the RAF crew members, was quite trained in various areas - as a Navigator, Wireless Operator and Flight Engineer. That, by the way, was the position he got on that flight. So, we have two Scots right up front - as a Skipper and a Flight Engineer. By the way, Robert was posted to Metheringham in December, 1943. He wasn’t married, and in his service record, there is a very sad “None’’ in the “Next of kin to be notified in case of casualty’’ part. He was promoted to Pilot Officer on the 28 August 1944. The Gazette published this information a bit later, though - in October, 1944.
Up next would be Henry William Tilson Carter, of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. I must say, that it’s thanks to his service record that we have the full information on the flight and the details on his burial.
As you can see, Henry was a Navigator, and a very able one, at that. His record states:
His records also show much improvement - he started of as “an angry young man who always wanted to fly” at 24. So, during his training as it was noted many a time, he matured.
Henry was born on 6th November, 1917, to Henry Joseph and Hannah Carter, who were both of Irish descent. They married on 10 February, 1915 in Regina. Henry Joseph died in August, 1940, and Hannah was left with three kids - Mary Jane, the eldest, was two years older than Henry, and George Richard - two years younger. Henry, as his mother noted in his papers, ‘ was always known home as Harry’.
He was very close with his mother, and in his service record we find very touching details attesting to that.
You can tell by the picture, that he was quite good looking. Let me add some details, so you’d get a better view. 5ft 5 inches, hazel eyes, fair hair - and prior to his enlistment he worked as a warehouseman. Henry, just as Robert, was single, and very devoted to his work.
Henry was the one who had flown with the core crew before, and they got along pretty well. He was promoted to the rank of Pilot Officer on 28th of August, 1944. Just a day before his last flight.
Now, let’s talk Aimers. Our aimer’s name was Edward Eric Fletcher, he was born on December, 4. 1914, in Salford, Lancashire. His parents, Edward and Deborah, had six children in total - Edward, his sister Helena, and three more boys and a girl. His mother wasn’t very keen on him going to war, of course. She even refused to sign the forms - so Eric had to wait till his 21st birthday to enlist. He joined the medical corps, and it was there that he met a lovely girl, called Ada Elizabeth, who was a nurse. Later on, they would marry, and a daughter, Pauline, would be born in April, 1943.
When the opportunity rose up, Eric volunteered to train for the bomber boys, and on 14 April 1936, he enlisted.
Eric was 5 ft 8 3/4 inches tall, fairhaired, blue-eyed, serious and showed much promise. He adored sports, and was good at rugby. His service record is full of interesting details, like serving in Africa - and being posted to the 106th in early August 1944.
Now, let’s meet our Gunner - Douglas Forster.
Douglas was born on 26 December, 1917 in Macclesfield, Cheshire. His parents were Edith and William Reuben. We don’t know much about his childhood years, but as far as we know, he was an only child. He enlisted in 1939, and trained in Canada as well as in the UK. He liked Canada so much, that he wrote about his experience there to his fiancee, Joan - and the two decided to relocate after the war. Sadly, they never got to visit Canada together, but Joan’s second husband, a good pal of Douglas( he was his best man at the wedding), took her there in memory of Douglas, and when his daugher Christine was born, it was her father that told her about Douglas and was keen on keeping his memory alive.
Douglas was 5ft 7, had dark brown hair and brown eyes, and his record hold the mentions of a good conduct too - but you can tell straight off the picture that he was genuinely decent fellow.
We’re almost there - and straight to Cymru. Why? Well, our rear-end Charlie (aka the tail gunner) was Welsh.
Ernest Francis Lewis Collins was born in Swansea, on 10th May, 1918, to Frances Jane Lewis and Ernest Frederick Coates Collins. He was the eldest son and soon more children would follow: Peter, Leslie, John and Phyllis. Soon after Ernest’s birth they moved to his Ma’s native Carmarthen. Mr'. Collins, a building inspector by trade, took his family away to the Far East, where he worked at the time.
There’s a clipping from The Welshman - where you can gather the details.
Mr. Collins was what you call a distinctly Welsh type - darkhaired, with dark-blue eyes, and - a bilingual. The Welsh were often made rear-end Charlies thanks to their sharp eyes, and Ernest was no exception. He was most probably married - as this spot on the service record is blanked out, but had no children. He got landed into 106th on 8 August 1944, too of course, and had several good conduct badges as well.
His training was quite thorough, and he showed good results, too. Looking at his picture, I get the feeling of a serious, wistful and a bit shy person, who, most probably had a very melodious voice, being Welsh. His parents outlived him, as you can see here
Finally, there’s our Wireless operator. Charles Colin Jeffrey was the youngest - born on 12 July, 1923 in Cannock, Staffordshire - a place with a weird reputation we will expand on later. Charles’s parents were Charles Bertram( b.1874) and Rosa Mary Taylor (b.1881). He was 5 ft 9in, had dark hair and blue-grey eyes. His parents got married in 1901 in Cannock. Same year, Joseph was born, in 1906- Hilda Leticia, in 1909- Edith Marjorie, and in 1923 came Charlie. Rose herself was from Newport, and had a younger sister, called Mary, six years her junior.
He enlisted in 1942, and trained pretty hard, - up until the moment when he got posted to 106th squadron, together with the crew, that is 8 August, 1944.
Sadly enough, I don’t have a picture of Charles, and there’s not much I can tell you about him - but, as with all the boys, - he must have been a decent fellow, full of promise and hope.
That’s the crew of JB593. In the next post I will tell you what happened to them - exactly, and how it all ended,
Stay in touch.
Lest we forget.
