大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Katie White and has been added with the permission of Ken Smith. The author fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

The person I am going to tell you about is my papa, Ken Smith, who was a flight engineer in World War II. My papa flew 32 missions in a Lancaster aeroplane 'S for Sugar' over Stettin, Frankfurt, Munich, Leipzig and 9 times over Berlin. He also told me that he celebrated his 21st birthday over Stuttgart on a bombing mission.

One night my Papa and his crew were involved in a mid-air collision over Berlin in 1943. The pilot was dazzled by the searchlights and collided with another Lancaster, tearing away five feet of the Starboard Wing. My Papa had to check the damage and he signalled that it was still flyable. The crew were mentioned in dispatches for distinguished service then commissioned to Flight Lieutenants.

In 1979, at the Hendon Museum, a plaque was presented to the pilot and crew for heroic flight over Berlin on the 26th and 27th of November 1943. They were the only full crew to survive the war. Sadly, three have now passed away - one of them being my Papa in 2000. They all stayed great friends after the war.

The Lancaster my Papa flew in, 'S for Sugar', can be seen in the RAF Museum at Hendon, near London and forms part of the collection of historic aircrafts.

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