We would do well to remember 3rd Novmber 1943 when F/Lt Bill Reid and his crew were briefed to take part in a raid on the Mannesmann steel works on the outskirts of Dusseldorf. While crossing the Dutch coast at 21,000 feet their aircraft, Lancaster LM360 QR-O wasattacked by a Messerschmitt Bf110 night fighter from dead astern. Its cannon shells put the |Lancaster's gun turrets out of action and Bill's cockpit windscreen. After confirming his crew were unscathed he decided to carry on with the sortie despite the bitterly cold slipstream entering the cockpit. He was wounded in the head, shoulders and hands. Soon afterwards the Lancaster was attacked again, this time by a single engined Focke-Wolfe FW190. The enemy's fire raked the bomber from nose to tail, killing the navigator and fatally injuring the wireless operator. Although the situation was now dire, Bill's depleted crew continued with the operation and bombed the target some 50 minutes later. After clearing the target area Bill managed to set a course for home by using the Pole Star and moon. With the assistance of the flight engineer and bomb aimer Bill managed to fly the damaged aircraft back to England before carrying out an emergency crash landing at RAF Shipdham in Norfolk.
For his superb courage an leadership F/Lt William Reid was awarded the Victoria Cross.The flight engineer, Sgt James W. Norris, was awarded the rare Conspicuous Gallantry Medal for his devotion to duty during the operation. Although injured himself during the second fighter attack, Norris took over the Lancaster's controls when his skipper drifted into unconsciousness during part of the return flight to England.
Please note that once in a bomber stream it was extremely dangerous to change direction, opposing the stream's flow, to abort your mission.
It is this and similar examples in Bomber Command that add to the reason for a Memorial.