207 SQUADRON ROYAL AIR FORCE HISTORY

Other references to 207 Sqn RAF or 7 Sqn RNAS
see also 207 Bibliography - the publications listed there are not included below

If you can add to this page, which is under construction, please contact Frank Haslam, the Editor:

For each publication please state:
- whether 7 Sqn RNAS or 207 Sqn RAF
- full title
- author
- publisher and year of edition
- ISBN number, if it has one
- page number(s) and brief description of reference(s)
- whether any relevant photos, if so briefly describe		 For each video or DVD please state:
- whether 7 Sqn RNAS or 207 Sqn RAF
- full title
- publisher and year of edition
- reference no.
- briefly describe relevant scenes

source: Editor, Frank Haslam, unless otherwise specified

Publications

207 Squadron

A TOWN REMEMBERS – Vol 2: the 2nd World War

Those commemorated on the Boston War Memorial.” Details the background of the erection and unveiling of the War Memorial in Boston, Lincolnshire, and of those who are listed thereon.

p314 CROSS Raymond Jack (kia 4th May 1944)
p420 UPSALL Walter (kia 27 April 1944)

[There is a section of individual photographs of all those on the memorial at the rear of the book: understandably these are of poor quality]

source: Raymond Glynne-Owen

AIR BATTLE OF THE RUHR
Alan Cooper - Airlife Publishing - 1992 - ISBN 1 85310 201 6

RAF Offensive March to July 1943.” Narrative on the Bomber Command raids, with potted summary of each raid, interspersed with personal accounts of Bomber Command aircrew. Includes a chronological summary with a brief listing of aircraft/crews lost on each raid.

p37 - Goldie Goldstraw comparing tactics in 1943 with those in 1942 when on Manchesters with 207

p150 Loss of Doble crew on 12/13 March 1943

p158 Loss of Healey crew on 9/10 April 1943

p162 Loss of Jones IB crew on 26/27 April 1943

p171 Loss of Evans DWH crew on 12/13 May 1943

p172 Loss of Hawkes WD crew on 12/3 May 1943

p201 Loss of Herrin crew on 22/23 June 1943

source: Raymond Glynne-Owen

BATTLE OF HAMBURG, THE - The Firestorm Raid
Martin Middlebrook - Penguin 1984 - ISBN 0 14 006745 0

p122 - Bill Benton - seeing the fighter first, and corkscrewing

p246 - Ron Buck - alert gunners - waiting to corkscrew

p396 - 207 Sqn Langar: 48 Lancaster sorties, 45 bombed, 1 missing. Lancaster W4662 (F/O C Burne) 12th down on 2nd raid by Me110 of maj. Ehle II/NJG1. 5 killed, 2 prisoners. Crew on 2nd op.

BERLIN RAIDS, THE: RAF Bomber Command Winter 1943-44
Martin Middlebrook - Viking 1988 - ISBN 0 670 80697 8

p40 - 23 August 1943 - Lancaster of 207 Squadron believed to have turned back with mechanical trouble and picked off by a night fighter as it recrossed the Dutch border [presumably ED550 EM-K P/O George Osmer's crew]

p89 - 3/4 September 1943 - Among 5 Group casualties was Grp Capt AF McKenna, Station Commander at Langar and the second tour flight commander's crew with whom he was flying. They disappeared without trace. [ED832 EM-X Sqn Ldr Ian Huntly-Wood]

p110 - 18/19 November 1943 - account of collision between a 467 Sqn aircraft Lancaster ED871] with a 9 Sqn crew P/O Frank Lees (who had to bale out) and Lancaster DV361 EM-V P/O Bill Baker: Death of Sgt Jim Shimeild in EM-V, which though much damaged returned to Spilsby

p193 - 23/24 December 1943 - F/O Harold Chadwick of 57 Sqn describes seeing a nearby Lancaster on fire - Middlebrook speculates it may have been a 207 Squadron Lancaster, P/O Gordon Moulton-Barrett, who survived with five of his crew [DV188 EM-J].

p248 - 30/31 January 1944 - Sgt Stan Carter remembers Sergeant Chalklin a fellow Flight Engineer who was sure he would not come back. He is buried in the Berlin War Cemetery [crew of P/O Harold Broad, DV371 EM-M]

p255 - 30/31 January 1944 - 207 Squadron lost 3 Lancasters

p332 - Ron Buck remembers those who died

p348 - 29 December 1943 - Experiences: 'Strained Nerves' - Frank Collis - two Americans [1 Lt Frank Solomon & Ft Off Bill De Bardeleben] always disagreeing, in the crew with which he went as second dickey Pilot - they and whole crew lost on next trip [W4892 EM-T 2 Jan 1944]. Collis's own Australian Mid-Upper reveals he cannot go on.

p362 - 297 Squadron - Langar and Spilsby, despatched 242 Lancasters on 20 Berlin raids. Casualties 15 aircraft missing (6.2%); 84 men killed and 19 POW

BOMBER BOYS - Aircrew experiences of the war over Occupied Europe, 1942-45
Mel Rolfe - Grub Street 2004 - ISBN 904010 86 5

p45 - Chapter 4 Has anyone got a fag?: John Pearl on the Flt Lt Peter 'Andy' Anderson RCAF's crew and the death of Anderson on 10 April 1945 in Lancaster EM-O ME472
photos: 1. original crew; 2. John Pearl; 3. Peter Anderson

p235 - Chapter 20 A future beyond tomorrow: John Banfield on the P/O John McCarthy crew: crash of Lancaster EM-Z R5498 on approach to Bottesford 8 April 1942 (all survived): operations with the McCarthy crew: remaining on 207 for Bomb Aimer training: loss of McCarthy crew 24 July: crewing up with F/Sgt Barry Chaster RCAF and operations: being shot down in Lancaster EM-U W4134 3 January 1943 on Essen: life as a POW: Long March
photos: 1. John Banfield June 1942 W/Op position; 2. John Banfield on bike exploring countryside around Bottesford; 3. John Banfield in flying gear; 4. 9 Oct 1943 group photo Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf

BOMBER BOYS - The Ruhr, the Dambusters and bloody Berlin
Kevin Wilson - Cassell Military Paperbacks 2006 (first published 2005 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson) - ISBN 0 3043 6724 9

p43 [3 Jan 1943 Berlin] 207 Sqn provided some of the 19 Lancasters put up by 5 Group

p53 [23 Jan 1943] The pilot of a 207 Sqn Lanc aster was the victim of oxygen failure, one of the continuing problems as engineering officers tried to adapt aircraft to the new requirements of high-level bombing [P/O EM Thompson account, a/c landed away at Scampton]

p59 [30/31 Jan 1943] "At Langar , 297 Sqn had detailed eight crews for Hamburg: one aircraft had been cancelled before take-off, but no fewer than five had returned early for a variety of reasons, only two going in to the attack"

p166 arrival on 617 Sqn ".. on 26 March [1943] and eleven days later P/O Warner Ottley and his crew arrived from 207 Sqn.": AIR14/2087

p266 third of the four Hamburg [firestorm] raids - S/L RL Bowes of 207 Sqn, making his second attack in two days, told intelligence officers later: "It was very disappointing to see one or two bomb loads being jettisoned within a mile or so of the enemy coast and indicates a regrettable lack of determination.": AIR27/1234

p278 last of the four Hamburg [firestorm] raids - one 207 Sqn pilot told intelligence officers "There were scattered small fires over at least 50 miles": AIR27/1234

p412 account by Sgt Jack Patterson, Mid-Upper in 207 Lanc Berlin raid of night of 24 Nov 1943, fire in bomb bay, a/c limped back to Woodbridge: AIR27/1254

p460 Acknowledgements: 207 Sqn Sgt Kenneth Freeman

BOMBER COMMAND WAR DIARIES - an operational reference book: 1939-1945
Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - Penguin 1990 (first published 1985) - ISBN 0 14 012936 7

p127 - 24/25 February 1941 - Brest - 6 Manchesters from 207 Squadron among 57 aircraft to bomb warships. No losses. The Manchester sorties were the first operational flights by this type of aircraft. 1 Manchester crashed in England [L7284, no casualties]

p134 - 13/14 March 1941 - Hamburg - 1 Manchester [F/O Hugh Matthews L7313 EM-C] shot down soon after take off from Waddington by an intruder.1 survivor [Sgt Cox]

p755 - 207 Squadron: SERVICE: A training squadron on the outbreak of warand lost its identity in April 1940. Re-formed in 5 Group in November 1940 for the introduction of the Manchester and commenced operations in February 1941. Served in 5 Group for the remainder of the war, converting to Lancasters in March 1942. Based at Waddington, Bottesford, Langar and Spilsby.

OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE:

Raids flown:
Manchesters - 76 bombing, 15 minelaying, 4 leaflet
Lancasters - 350 bombing, 35 minelaying, 1 leaflet
Total - 426 bombing, 50 minelaying, 5 leaflet = 481 raids		 Sorties & Losses:
Manchesters - 360 sorties, 17 aircraft lost (4.7%)
Lancasters - 4,023 sorties, 131 aircraft lost (3.1%)
Total - 4,563 sorties, 148 aircraft lost (3.2%)

8 Manchesters and 19 Lancasters were destroyed in crashes. Some operations flown in 44 Squadron's Hampdens when 207 Squadron's Manchesters were grounded, are included in 44 Squadron's records by the authors.

POINTS OF INTEREST

"Introduced the Manchester to operations, the first new bomber to enter Bomber Command service after the outbreak of the war.
Carried out more raids, flew more sorties and suffered more losses than any other Manchester squadron.
207 squadron was often unlucky and it suffered the fourth highest overall percentage losses in Bomber Command and the highest percentage losses in 5 Group."

BOMBER CREW - Taking on the Reich
John Sweetman - Little, Brown 2004 - ISBN 0 316 72771 7

p154-156 - Section Officer Joyce Brotherton on P/O John McIntosh's trip to Berlin 23/34 August 1944 and the struggle to fly his damaged aircraft Lancaster EM-M (ED802) back to Langar

p217- 219 - Section Officer Joyce Brotherton on F/O AT Loveless's collision with other aircraft on taking off at Spilsby on 1 November 1944 and the destruction and damage caused to aircraft, buildings, and the death of a Halifax crewman.

Quoting from an Intelligence Report prepared by JB, account states the Lancaster (PD290/EM-N) “hurled itself upon” a parked Halifax and the resultant explosion nearly accounted for the following aircraft (F/O JW Downing and crew) and caused widespread damage on the ground.

[However, in a 2006 discussion with R Glynne-Owen, a pilot who had been waiting to take off on this op insists that after veering off the runway N-Nan wrote its undercarriage off when it hit personnel shelters near the control tower and that it was the subsequent fire and explosions aboard N-Nan which then destroyed the parked Halifaxes].

BOMBER WAR, THE - Arthur Harris and the Allied Bomber Offensive 1939-1945
Robin Neillands - John Murray 2001 - ISBN 0 7195 5637 6

p207-8 - Essen 3/4 January 1943 - John Banfield's account of the loss of his aircraft [EM-U W4134 F/Sgt Barry Chaster] to an Me110 attack by Oberleutnant Manfred Meurer

EVERLASTING ARMS, THE - The War Memoirs of Air Commodore John Searby DSO DFC
Edited by Martin Middlebrook - William Kimber 1988 - ISBN 0 7183 0680 5

p74 - CO of 207 missing on his first time out [actually 8 December 1942]. This was Wing Commander Bain: shared an instructor with Searby at the OCU: description of Bain

p83 - footnote 4 correcting Searby's error on date of Bain's loss and giving some information on it.

FLYING INTO HELL The Bomber Command Offensive in World War Two as Witnessed by the Crews Themselves
Mel Rolfe - Grub Street 2004 - ISBN 190401089X

The Bomber Command Offensive as seen through the experiences of twenty crews. Recount personal experience accounts of Bomber Command airmen.

p29-36 Detailed account of the evasion experience of Ron Emeny, Rear Gunner in the crew of F/Sgt Lissette RNZAF, shot down on the Mailly-le-Camp raid on 3/4th May 1944.

source: Raymond Glynne-Owen

FOR YOUR TOMORROW – Vol 1 (1915-1942)
Errol W Martyn - Volplane Press, New Zealand 1998 - ISBN 0 473 06310 7

A Record of New Zealanders who have died while serving with the RNZAF and Allied Air Services since 1915. Chronological lists individual, together with unit and aircraft details plus a brief summary of circumstances.

p210 JONES Russell Royl Alwyn Sgt
p224 HOOPER Percival James Sgt
p236 SUTHERLAND Norman James F/Sgt
p262 HUNT Albert John Victor Sgt
p274 HANNAN Raymund Joseph F/Lt
p274 JENKIN Bryant Leonard McKenzie Sgt
p284 BANNERMAN Douglas Robert F/O

FOR YOUR TOMORROW – Vol 2 (1943-1998)
Errol W Martyn - Volplane Press, New Zealand 1999

A Record of New Zealanders who have died while serving with the RNZAF and Allied Air Services since 1915.” Chronological lists individual, together with unit and aircraft details plus a brief summary of circumstances.

p65 BEER Norman Clive Sgt
p105 BISHOP Leon Eric Gordon F/Sgt
p180 WATT Peter Sydney P/O
p181 PAUL Thomas Keith W/Off *
p207 RIDDLE Bertram Challis P/O.
p220 LISSETTE Leslie Harry W/Off
p294 ANDERSON John Graham F/O
p294 CLARK Joseph Norman F/O
p302 BUCHANAN David Graham F/Lt
p334 WERNER Roland Leslie F/Lt

* Killed on 4th January 1944 as an Instructor at 11OTU, Thomas Keith PAUL had served with 207 Sqn as a Sergeant pilot until seriously injured in a training crash on 24th May 1942.

source: Raymond Glynne-Owen

GREAT ESCAPE, THE
Paul Brickhill

Book (which formed the basis of the film of same title) which narrates the story of the mass breakout from Stalag Luft III Sagan and the ensuing events, including the tracking down of the Gestapo murderers of 50 RAF officers, who included Denys Oliver Street, a pilot of 207 Sqn, who was shot down on 29 March 1943. Not indexed

207 SQUADRON REFERENCES:
p229 Street included on 1st listing by Germans of 47 names of those killed
p.257 Street said to have been include in a group of 6 airmen taken from Goerlitz, murdered by Lux on 6th April 1944 and cremated at Breslau.

(F/Lt Denys Oliver Street is now buried in Berlin (1939-1945) War Cemetery): he was the son of the British Permanent Under-Secretary for Air.

source: Raymond Glynne-Owen

NO TIME FOR FEAR - True accounts of RAF Airmen taken Prisoner 1939-1945
Victor F Gammon - Arms and Armour 1998 - ISBN 1 85409 490 4

Narrative on POW experiences, intespersed with personal recollections.

p53 Captain Courageous - 27 March 1941 - Flt Lt 'Johnnie' Siebert RAAF DFC in Manchester EM-P, attacking Dusseldorf - shot down by Oberfeldwebel Gerhard Herzog - first loss of a Manchester over enemy territory - 6 baled out but Siebert jumped too late.

p147 Reference to BBC’s Wynford Vaughan-Thomas flying on Berlin raid (with 207 Sqn on 3/4th September 1943 with Letford crew - but incorrectly gives the date as 23/24 August 1943).

source: Raymond Glynne-Owen

POINT BLANK AND BEYOND
Lionel Lacey-Johnson - Airlife Publishing - 1991 - ISBN 1 85310 142 7

p99 - Attack on Amiens (Longueau) 19/20 May 1944. F/O Smart collision, return to Manston. Wg Cdr Grey hitting a tree near base, injuring F/O Casey.[no details]

RAF STRATEGIC NUCLEAR DETERRENT FORCES: their origins, roles and deployment 1946-69: A documentary history
Humphrey Wynn - HMSO 1994 - ISBN 0 11 772778 4

p121 - 207's formation was first instance of the conversion of Canberra squadron to a Valiant one

p129 - 207 one of the four Valiant squadrons participating in Suez operations

p130 - 207's ORB referring to Operations Goldflake (deployment to Malta) and Albert (sorties against Egyptian targets)

p298 - 207 one of three Valiant B.1 squadrons at Marham at the end of 1958

p363 - 207 first of three Valiant squadrons to be assigned to SACEUR wef 1 Jan 1960

p366 - Defence Committee Minutes about assignment of Valiants to SACEUR

p368/369 - Operational changes affecting 207 as the first SACEUR assigned Valiant squadron

p370 - 207's April 1963 ORB records receiving the Mk43 weapon from the USAF, so having true low-level capability

p371 - mention of the three Marham Valiant squadrons as TBF (Tactical Bomber Force)

p489 - the three TBF squadrons at Marham not replaced after the Valiants were withdrawn from service

p491(fn) - Marham TBF Valiant squadrons grounded since 9 December 1964 but maintained QRA at Marham until 26 January 1965

photo: opposite p363: believed to show David Dick at centre of group photo of RAF personnel at A&AEE Boscombe Down for trials which never took place, in front of the second TSR2 prototype XR220

THOUSAND PLAN, THE - The story of the first thousand bomber raid on Cologne
Ralph Barker - Airlife England - 1992 (1965 Chatto & Windus) - ISBN 1 85310 200 8

p120 - Americans in the RCAF - among whom F/O Frank Roper, Lancaster pilot on No.207 Squadron at Bottesford

p209 - description of the burning target from 207 crews at Bottesford

TO SHATTER THE SKY - Bomber Airfield at War
Bruce B Halpenny - Patrick Stephens, 1984 - ISBN 0 850596785

A general narrative and personal accounts by Bomber Command aircrew and ground personnel, illustrated by many photos. Includes a summary narrative on Bomber Command airmen who were awarded the Victoria Cross.

p136-138 Detailed account by Gilbert Haworth of Berlin raid on 29/30 March 1943 from Langar as Navigator to W/Cdr Woodward aboard 207 Squadron Lancaster ED586/EM-F.

p139 –1944 Detailed account by Ron Buck of Nuremburg raid on March 30/31 1944 as Rear Gunner to F/O Peter Drane with 97 Squadron. The Drane crew served with 207 Squadron at Langar from June 1943 and Spilsby until to posted to Pathfinders on 21st January 1944. Has 2 photos of Ron Buck.

source: Raymond Glynne-Owen

V-BOMBERS Valiant Vulcan and Victor
Barry Jones - The Crowood Press 2001 - ISBN 1 86126 385 6

p102 - 207 re-forms 1 April 1956 in situ at Marham as the RAF's fourth Valiant squadron
p104 - 207 assigned to Operation Musketeer
p142 - 207 assigned to SACEUR in 1963
p188 - brief modern history of 207 Squadron

photos:
p88 - B(PR).1 WP221 in formation with two other Valiants
p102 - Valiant B(K).1s XD812 and XD813 and BB(PR)K.1 WZ405
p112 - XD815 visits Khormaksar when with 90 Sqn
p117 - 27 Aug 1957 B(K).1 XD875, last production Valiant comes out of the Weybridge assembly hall
p117 - XD875 undergoes its pre-delivery inspection at Wisley, before joining its squadron [207]
colour photos: XD815 at Khormaksar 1964, when with 90 Sqn

Videos/DVDs

 

last updated 8 Aug 06