Sgt Nicholas Alkemade

[Steve Bond]

Sgt Alkemade was the 115 Sqn Lancaster rear gunner who famously survived a fall from 18,000 feet without a parachute. Although this story is very well known, I am trying to track down his RAF career between joining up in 1940 and 24 March 1944 when he was shot down, including where he trained, etc. Does anyone here know anything about that part of his story please?

[megan]

22 minute clip, non English, don't know if it covers the period you are interested in.

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[teeteringhead]

Didn't a Russian Hostie have a similar "miraculous" survival in the (?) 1960s after an in-flight structural failure??

Will see what I can dig up.........

Edited to add: Google and Wiki are your friends! Close but no cigar (that'll be Cuba next year ;))

She was Serbian not Russian - name of Vesna Vulovic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87) - and it was 1972, in a DC-9 which may have had a bomb on board.

As ever, there are Conspiracy Theories! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAT_Flight_367#Conspiracy_theories)

[Shackman]

Not the only one - my Flight Engineer on Shacks was an honorary member of the Caterpillar Club - he'd been 'ejected' out of a Stirling over France when it blew up. His story was one of those told in a book about the club ('Jump for it' I think).

[DucatiST4]

"Into the Silk" is another book about the Caterpillar club.

[rolling20]

IIRC, there was a discussion on prune 10 yrs or so re Sgt Alkemade, apologies cant remember the exact content.I also remember his grandson was on a TV program where a young crew was selected to fly a bomber, his grandson being tail end Charlie.

[Archimedes]

IIRC, there was a discussion on prune 10 yrs or so re Sgt Alkemade, apologies cant remember the exact content.I also remember his grandson was on a TV program where a young crew was selected to fly a bomber, his grandson being tail end Charlie.
Think it was this one - Sgt Nichoals Alkemade RAF 1944 (http://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/208965-sgt-nicholas-alkemade-raf-1944-a.html)

That one doesn't really answer Steve's question, I think, but there's also detail at the RAF Museum site - The Indestructible Alkemade (http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/blog/the-indestructible-alkemade/).

The 115 Sqn ORB should be available in pdf format from the National Archives, although I can't recall whether or not it follows the helpful format of most 540s in giving the names of the crews for each Op, or whether it simply states the aircraft details; if the former, you'd hope it would help give some idea at least of what he got up to after joining the squadron.