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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Mairi Campbell of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ on behalf of Mr J Riach and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

My brother was in the RAF during WW2. He was a wireless operator in the Wellington Bombers (150 Squadron) When home on leave he would stay up late at night listening to the wireless (long wave). He was out shopping one day when he came home my mother said there had been a news flash that the Germans had invaded Russia. He said ‘I know’ and my mother said that he couldn’t know as had just been announced but he explained that he had picked up the Morse signals three days ago. My mother asked why he had said nothing, and he told her he couldn’t under the official secrets act.

He was on a bombing mission to bomb marshalling yards in Rome prior to Solerno landmines; the second target was Orveto rail junction seventy miles north of Rome. The weather was bad, they crashed into a mountain and were all killed. Three were twenty and two were only twenty two, the pilot and my brother were Canadian, two were British and one was Australian; three sergeants and two flight sergeants. All five were buried in a collective grave at Boscena in Italy.

At first he was posted as missing and then we got a telegram, it was a hard blow so close to the end of the War.

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