Crest of No. 115 Sqn RAF
- Contributed by听
- 大象传媒 Open Centre, Hull
- People in story:听
- Douglas Reed Son of George Henry and Emily Gertrude Reed
- Location of story:听
- Hull
- Background to story:听
- Royal Air Force
- Article ID:听
- A4500875
- Contributed on:听
- 20 July 2005
A 21st Birthday
In the area of Exchange Street where we lived, we were all closely related. Now I had a cousin, he wasn鈥檛 really my cousin, he was my dad鈥檚 cousin鈥檚 son, George Reed and he was in Bomber Command. He was a great bloke and a big friend, at the time he was 20 and I was seven. Now knowing that I collected shrapnel he always used to bring me some when he was home on leave. He came home once and brought me some shrapnel into our shelter and it was still warm. I remember that. He was a great man and a big friend. He wangled it so that he came home for his 21st birthday. Although he was my dad鈥檚 cousin, I used to call his mum Aunt Alice. He had a beautiful party, he brought three or four of his RAF crew with him, I don鈥檛 know how it managed it so he could be home for his party, but it was a really good party that Aunt Alice laid on for him. The saved some of the tarts that Aunt Alice had made and passed them over to us. Before he left he had a private meeting with me, as we always did, with me listening to his stories of the planes and the raids he went on.
He was twenty one on the Sunday and on the following Wednesday he went on a raid and never came back. Not that was something that struck home and made me really sad when dad went across and came to relate to my mother, we were all sat there, that George wouldn鈥檛 be coming back. To think that on the Sunday he was celebrating his 21st birthday and two days later he was dead.
After the war, I know his body was recovered because he had a war grave which his father went to visit.
Note by transcriber:
The contributor remembered his cousin as George but he is named as Douglas in the records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, with his father named as George.
Records show that 115 Sqn were flying MkII Lancasters at this time and the subject of this story a Sgt. Wireless Operator/Air Gunner.
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As told to Alan Brigham, www.hullwebs.co.uk, 06/07/2005
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