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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Squadrons UK and Commonwealth No.602 Sqn to No.854 Sqn  No.625 Sqn |
[UP] - No.602 Sqn - No.603 Sqn - No.604 Sqn - No.605 Sqn - No.607 Sqn - No.609 Sqn - No.610 Sqn - No.611 Sqn - No.613 Sqn - No.615 Sqn - No.616 Sqn - No.617 Sqn - No.619 Sqn - No.620 Sqn - No.625 Sqn - No.630 Sqn - No.644 Sqn - No.761 Sqn - No.818 Sqn - No.825 Sqn - No.854 Sqn |
We avenge
| No.625 Sqn Aviation Art Prints, Paintings and Drawings Aviation Prints |
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| Text for the above items : |
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. |
| No.625 Sqn RAF Aircraft details |
 Lancaster Manufacturer : Avro Built : 7377 | Lancaster The Avro Lancaster arose from the avro Manchester and the first prototype Lancaster was a converted Manchester with four engines. The Lancaster was first flown in January 1941, and started operations in March 1942. By March 1945 The Royal Air Force had 56 squadrons of Lancasters with the first squadron equipped being No.44 Squadron. During World War Two the Avro Lancaster flew 156,000 sorties and dropped 618,378 tonnes of bombs between 1942 and 1945. Lancaster Bomberss took part in the devastating round-the-clock raids on Hamburg during Air Marshall Harris' "Operation Gomorrah" in July 1943. Just 35 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful operations each, and 3,249 were lost in action. The most successful survivor completed 139 operations, and the Lancaster was scrapped after the war in 1947. A few Lancasters were converted into tankers and the two tanker aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster and were used in the Berlin Airlift, achieving 757 tanker sorties. A famous Lancaster bombing raid was the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley. The operation was carried out by 617 Squadron in modified Mk IIIs carrying special drum shaped bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. Also famous was a series of Lancaster attacks using Tallboy bombs against the German battleship Tirpitz, which first disabled and later sank the ship. The Lancaster bomber was the basis of the new Avro Lincoln bomber, initially known as the Lancaster IV and Lancaster V. (Becoming Lincoln B1 and B2 respectively.) Their Lancastrian airliner was also based on the Lancaster but was not very successful. Other developments were the Avro York and the successful Shackleton which continued in airborne early warning service up to 1992. |
| No.625 Sqn RAF Pilot and aircrew signature details |
Warrant Officer Jim Booker Our estimated value of this signature : £15 | Warrant Officer Jim Booker A Navigator on 625 Sqn Lancasters, flying operationally from late 1944, he flew on the last bombing mission of the European war to Berchtesgaden and supplied relief drops to the Dutch in Operation Manna. |
Lishman Y Easby Our estimated value of this signature : £10 | Lishman Y Easby Lishman Y. Easby (Wireless Operator) joined the RAF in 1941 after service in the Home Guard. He was selected for training as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner but after training as a W/Op he was posted to Coastal Command 159Gp HQ, Liverpool, and served in 1942 as a ground wireless operator. Later in the year he was called for training as a W/op (air) which was followed by an air-gunner course. Following this he was posted to an Operational Training Unit and joined Ron Clark and his crew as a W/op on 4 engined aircraft – the two jobs were separate. The crew were later posted for further training, first on Halifax and then on Lancasters; then posted to 100 Sqn, Waltham, near Grimsby, where they were given a brand new Lancaster which they named the Phantom of the Ruhr. Their Flight Engineer, Harold Bennett DFM painted its name and insignia on the nose of the aircraft. The same name today adorns the Lancaster which flies as part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. In the Phantom they completed 21 ops to Germany and two to Italy, after which the Phantom was taken in for extensive repairs due to enemy damage. The crew completed a further four ops which then completed their tour. For their 27th op the crew were transferred to 625 Sqn Kelstern (Lincs) which turned out to be their final operation and they were then disbanded. Lishman Easby was then posted to OTU near Shrewsbury to help with the training of new crews. Later he was posted to 298 Sqn Transport Command with another pilot (Ian Forbes) and crew where they received training in towing Horsa Gliders in preparation for an airborne attack on Singapore. However, the war ended suddenly and the Sqn was posted to India and eventually to Burma to take part in Operation Hunger. This entailed dropping sacks of rice on isolated villages thus saving them from famine. This ended his service and he was released from service in 1946. He agreed to his name being held in reserve as a Minute Man until aged 45. During this time he could be called back in an emergency for immediate service. However, this never happened. |
Warrant Officer Norman Jones Our estimated value of this signature : £10 | Warrant Officer Norman Jones Flight Engineer, 625 Squadron. |
Flight Lieutenant Roy Pengilley DFC Our estimated value of this signature : £15 | Flight Lieutenant Roy Pengilley DFC A pilot with 625 Sqn before being chosen for Pathfinders on Lancasters, joining 582 Sqn and completing 59 operations. Roy was wounded on a daylight operation spending two months in hospital, finally completing his tour in March 1945. |
Squadron Leader John Rowland DSO DFC* Our estimated value of this signature : £20 Died : 2014 | Squadron Leader John Rowland DSO DFC* Pilot, No.12, No.613 and No.625 Squadrons. Squadron Leader John Rowland was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross twice in three days in 1943; later, on completion of 50 bombing operations, he received the Distinguished Service Order. Rowland joined No.12 Squadron in June 1943 at the height of what became known as the Battle of the Ruhr – a sustained campaign against the huge industrial complexes in the region. Over the next five months he attacked most of the major cities. He went to Cologne twice before sorties to Gelsenkirchen, Duisberg and Essen. On the night of July 25th, an intense campaign was directed against Hamburg. The radar countermeasure 'window' was used for the first time and proved very effective in reducing bomber losses. Rowland flew on three of the four raids that devastated the city and the Blohm and Voss shipyard. In the middle of August, Bomber Command launched the first phase of the Battle of Berlin, a campaign that was to be waged with great intensity throughout the winter of 1943-44. Rowland flew on the first attack on the night of August 23rd, a sortie of almost eight hours. Throughout the autumn, he attacked other large cities including Nuremburg, Frankfurt and Munich. On October 8th, the target was Hanover. Just before reaching the city, his Lancaster was engaged by a German night fighter and badly damaged. His rear gunner was killed but he decided to press on to the target, which he bombed successfully Rowland had just been awarded the DFC for 'his skill and courage' when it was announced that he had been awarded a Bar for his gallant conduct during the two sorties to Hanover. John Naunton Rowland was born in Cardiff on December 28th 1919. He attended Cheltenham College before gaining a cadetship to the RAF College Cranwell. On the outbreak of the Second World War, his course was cut short and, after graduating as a pilot, he joined No 613 Squadron. The squadron flew antiquated Lysander aircraft in the Army co-operation role and Rowland was rushed into service. He made a number of trips to Calais as the British Expeditionary Force fought a rearguard action before the evacuation from Dunkirk. In September 1940, Rowland started a three-year period as a flying instructor before joining No.12 Squadron. After his first tour on Lancasters and a period as an instructor, Rowland returned to the bombing campaign as a flight commander on No.625 Squadron. The squadron was heavily involved in flying operations in the build-up to D-Day, when the French railway system and storage areas were key targets. He also attacked V-1 flying bomb sites, and on the night of D-Day he bombed the large gun batteries at Vire. On June 30th 1944, 118 Lancasters attacked the railway yards at Vierzon near Orleans. The Pathfinder force had great difficulty identifying the target, and the orbiting Lancasters came under heavy attack. Rowland feared the worst and told his crew 'to keep a good lookout'. They survived but 14 Lancasters were lost, nearly 12 per cent of the force. Rowland attacked more flying bomb sites and the huge secret weapons facility at Wizernes before the campaign against Germany was resumed. After completing his 50th operation – to Calais, the scene of his first war sortie – Rowland was rested. He was awarded a DSO. In December 1944 he was seconded to BOAC, flying from Bristol. He remained with the airline after the war and flew routes to West Africa, the Middle East and to India. He was one of the first pilots to land at Heathrow Airport after its opening, remembering it as 'a field with a long runway and marquees for passengers and customs clearance'. After a number of years, he left to join the family hotel business. He always claimed that leaving BOAC was his greatest regret. In the post-war years, Rowland befriended a number of former Luftwaffe night fighter pilots and attended their reunions. In later life he planted a tree at his old airfield at Wickenby in Lincolnshire in memory of his rear gunner. In 2011 he wrote his memoirs, Return Flights in War and Peace. John Rowland married Jean McMichael, a WAAF officer, in 1944. She died in 1982. He is survived by their two sons and by Pam Ideson, his companion for the last 23 years. Squadron Leader John Rowland, born December 28th 1919, died November 22nd 2014. |
Warrant Officer Frank Tolley Our estimated value of this signature : £10 | Warrant Officer Frank Tolley Served with 625 Sqn, flying as a Bomb Aimer in Lancasters. He completed 22 Ops including attacks on the Dortmund Emms Canal, and Dresden. |
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