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Flt Lt George Harris DFC Signed Naval Art
Flt Lt George Harris DFC
George Harris went to an Operational Training Unit flying old Wellingtons and, on his last flight of the course, a night practice bombing and fighter affiliation trip, suffered an engine fire just after take-off. He came down in darkness in Sherwood Forest and came to in hospital. A wooden propeller had shattered on impact, sheared through the airframe and his seat, taking a slice out of his back and leaving him with several broken ribs, a punctured lung and lacerated kidney. His parents were warned he may not survive but within six weeks he was flying again, back in Wellingtons, then on Halifaxes, before finally moving on to Lancasters and a posting, along with three other crews, to No 1 Group 101 Squadron in Ludford Magna, Lincolnshire. It had taken three years of training and frustration and now he and his crew were replacements for those recently killed in action. The squadron's Lancasters were equipped with the radio jamming system known as the Airborne Cigar, or ABC. It covered the frequencies used by the Luftwaffe but its presence also deprived them of a vital navigational aid which heightened their vulnerability. On average only one in four crews survived and that was the case with those Harris had been posted with: all were lost, the first on its first operation. His missions ranged from major night attacks on Germany and tactical support attacks on German troop strongholds, communication centres, V-1 flying bomb sites and airfields in France and the Low Countries. He was subsequently invited to take his crew to the Pathfinder Force but turned down the opportunity as it would have meant leaving behind his German-speaking Special Operator, which he felt was wrong. Anyway, he regarded 101 as a very special squadron with huge spirit and said the Lancaster was 'a simply splendid' aircraft to fly. Among his hair-raising exploits were coping with another engine fire – resulting in an emergency landing on three engines with a full bomb load – braving electric storms which could throw the Lancasters around like corks and dodging the searchlights above enemy territory. On one occasion, returning from a night raid on Brunswick on 12th August 1944, the searchlights locked on him and he desperately performed a violent corkscrew manoeuvre to escape the beams. Failing to shake them off, he dived at full bore with a full bomb load, descending so rapidly the navigator said he had exceeded the plane's reported break-up speed. The slipstream and engine noise was like a banshee, he recalled. Miraculously they remained in one piece to tell the tale and, after debrief, took an idyllic stroll back to their quarters as the sun rose and the dawn chorus began. That night 24 of their men did not return and 101 maintained its reputation as a 'chop' squadron. Reflecting on the end of his operational tour with his Lancaster Z-Zebra, he said he felt strangely flat, rather old and empty but had gained much, including the sheer freedom and joy of flying, the magic of cloud hopping and, as a flight commander, the responsibility for life and death decisions over other men. His award of the DFC, for valour in the face of the enemy, was announced in February 1945. Seventy years later he received the Legion D'honneur for his part in the operations to liberate Caen. After the war he completed a BA in modern languages and economics at St John's College, Cambridge and took posts at Liverpool and Glasgow universities before moving to the Mobil Oil Company in 1954. Four years later he joined PA Management Consultants and in 1967 established executive search company Canny Bowen and Associates, the UK arm of the US firm Canny Bowen, undertaking searches at chairman, managing director and director level for major British and international companies. George died on 17th January 2018 in Tunbridge Wells, aged 95.
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| Distinguished Flying Cross |
| Flt Lt George Harris DFC - Signed Naval Art Naval Crew Signatures |
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Avro Lancaster B.1 by Ivan Berryman. R5689 (VN-N) - a Lancaster B.1 of 50 Squadron based at Swinderby. This aircraft crash-landed in Lincolnshire while returning from a mission on 19th September 1942, after both port engines failed as the aircraft was preparing to land. The aircraft never flew again. The crew on the final mission were : Sgt E J Morley RAAF, P/O G W M Harrison, Sgt H Male, Sgt S C Garrett, Sgt J W Dalby, Sgt J Fraser and Sgt J R Gibbons RCAF, the sole member of the crew killed in the crash. |
Last Long Shadow by Anthony Saunders. Lancaster CF-X (LM384) of 625 Squadron. On the Leipzig raid on the evening of 19th/20th February 1944 approx 47 Lancasters were shot down or failed to return, that is over 300 airmen. Lancaster CF-X (LM384) was taking part in the bombing raids that were a build up to the D-Day landings of June 1944. Leipzig was seen as a high value target due to its oil and synthetic fuel production. The Lancaster took off from Kelstern in Lincolnshire just before midnight. Unfortunately LM384 did not come back as was the case with many others - the aircraft was lost and crashed just outside the tiny village of Bledeln in Germany. The Pastor of the village, Herr Duncker, kept a diary throughout the war and has an account of the plane crash and the subsequent burial of the crew. All of the crew died in the crash except one - bomb aimer George Paterson who was interned in Stalag 357 Kopernikus. The rest of the crew were given a Christian burial and stayed there until the end of the war, when the war graves commission disinterred the crew and reburied them in the Hannover war cemetery. |
Returning from Caen by Graeme Lothian. Spitfires from 144 Wing RCAF 2nd TAF led by W/c Johnnie Johnson. Supplying air cover to a mixed force of 942 bombers over Normandy on Operation Goodwood, 18th July 1944. SR-Z of 101 (Special) squadron. Lancasters piloted by Flt Lt George Harris DFC. |
Crewing Up by Graeme Lothian. Crew of Lancasters 101 Squadron RAF, stand chatting and drinking cups of tea supplied by the WMCA vans. Delays in Ops for an hour or so allow the crews a chance to light up and have a cup of tea. 101 Squadron based at Ludford Magna were a squadron with a difference, from 1943 the Lancasters were fitted with special radio jamming equipment known as ABC or AirBorne Cigar and carried an eighth crew member known as the special duties operator. Squadron letters were SR and targeted by the Luftwaffe fighters giving 101 Squadron the highest casualty rating in Bomber Command. |
Lancaster VC by Graeme Lothian. Lancasters of 61 Squadron head out for the enemy coast during the night of 3rd November 1943. Seen in the lead Lancaster is Flt Lt Bill Reid flying QR-O. After sustaining two heavy attacks by enemy night fighters, killing two crew members and injuring Reid in the head, shoulders and hands. He carried on to the target, dropping accurately his bomb load. Navigating back by Pole Star and Moon, he lost consciousness on occasions due to blood loss. He managed to find his way Shipdharn. Upon landing the undercarriage collapsed but luckily did not catch fire. For his exploits that night he was awarded the Victoria Cross. |
Lancaster Dawn by Anthony Saunders. Depicts a 103 squadron Lancaster returning from a night-time bombing mission. |
Bill Reid VC by Graeme Lothian. (P) Lancaster LM360, piloted by Bill Reid, is raked by fire from stem to stern by a Luftwaffe Fw190 fighter. Bill Reid had already sustained injuries to his head, torso and hands from a previous attack by an Me110, but, with this rest of his crew unscathed from the previous attack, he had not mentioned his injuries. In the attack depicted here, the Fw190 makes a lethal attack on the already damaged bomber, killing one crew member and fatally wounding a second. Despite this, Bill Reid flew on to his target of Dusseldorf - a further 200 miles - successfully dropped his bombs, then turned for home. With the aid of the bomb aimer and flight engineer, the Lancaster made it across the Channel and headed for an airfield, with one leg of the damaged undercarriage failing on landing. Bill Reid was awarded the Victoria Cross for this mission. |
Mynarskis Lanc by Nicolas Trudgian. Lancaster V-RA, with its young Canadian crew, flew just a handful of operations. On the night of June 12, 1944, it was set afire by a JU88, forcing the crew to bale out. Seeing the rear gunner trapped Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski vainly braved the inferno to help, losing his parachute to the flames. He was forced to jump without it. Miraculously the burning Lancaster pancaked, and the rear gunner survived. Andrew Mynarski was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously. Mynarskis Lancaster is depicted setting out on that fateful night. Four of the crew members: Brophy, navigator Robert Bodie, radio operator James Kelly and pilot de Breyne were hidden by the French and, except for Brophy, returned to England shortly after the crash. Vigars and the wounded bomb aimer Friday were captured by the Germans and interned until they could be liberated by American troops. Pat Brophy joined French Resistance fighters and, after waging war on the ground behind enemy lines, made it back to London in September, 1944 where he learned of Mynarskis death. It was not until 1945 when Pat Brophy was reunited with Art de Breyne and the rest of the crew, that the details of his final moments on the aircraft were revealed. He related the story of the valiant efforts made by Mynarski to save him. |
Distant Dispersal by Graeme Lothian. On an RAF airfield in the early evening, a squadron of Lancaster bombers of Bomber Command prepare for another bombing sortie against targets of the German war machine. A fitting tribute to all Bomber Command aircrew who flew in the Avro Lancatser. |
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