´óÏó´«Ã½

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Joanne Burgess on behalf of Doreen Dewey and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

During the war my husband Harry Dewey was in the RAF (Flight Sergeant 022 Squadron, ref 1300623). He was an air gunner on the Lancaster bombers. He had wanted to be a navigator but his eyes were not good enough for that.

One time Harry told me that him and his crew changed planes with another crew and when he got back to the canteen people said to him ‘Dewey you are reported dead’. The crew that had changed places with them got brought down.

Harry had another lucky escape when he was sat at the tail of the plane and a piece of shrapnel hit his helmet. If he had not had his helmet on he would have been killed. He kept the shrapnel to remind himself how lucky he had been.

Harry went out on the biggest bombing raid of the war, the bombing of Dresden. The orders they were given were to show no mercy and to kill anything that moved, whether they were civilian or military targets. The Germans had done the same to Coventry and we did that to Dresden in retaliation. Harry did not agree with it but they had to follow orders.

Ironically, years after the war, our daughter married a German man whose Mother actually came from Dresden and remembered the bombing.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.