Originally Posted by
Halcyon Days
Lots of familiar names in that log book. Mike Ellis/Pete Hogg/Mike Williams/Dennis White/Fred Sheldrick/Freddie Fox/ Pete Dibley and others all of whom carried on with them under the Court Line name.
At the risk of slight thread drift:
John Handley, another name in the log-book. John and my father propped up the bar in The Castle Pub at Berkhamsted. At the time I was working in a very poorly paid job in a second-hand bookshop in Aylesbury. Hearing that I was very keen on aeroplanes John fixed me up with an interview with Maurice Rowan at Autair and I commenced employment as a trainee ops assistant at £10 per week in January 1966. Many of the pilots were War Veterans but in those days they rarely bothered to mention their exploits.
Image Courtesy 550 Squadron Association.
This station narrative concerns a Lancaster of 550 Squadron flown by John on a Manna Operation 7th May 1945. It is thought that the B17 concerned was the last B17 to be shot down by enemy action in the European Theatre of War.
Further details can be found on page 62 of this pdf:
http://100thbg.com/images/chowhound_3rd.pdf