The Last Crew of Lancaster ED 549 100 Squadron - Canoe
The Last Crew of Lancaster ED 549 100 Squadron - Canoe
The Last Crew of Lancaster ED 549 100 Squadron - Canoe
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Last</strong> <strong>Crew</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Lancaster</strong> <strong>ED</strong> <strong>549</strong> <strong>100</strong> <strong>Squadron</strong><br />
Letter to Charlie Bailey<br />
Flight Sergeant Gerald Russell Avey<br />
Service Number: R/99993<br />
Force:<br />
Air Force<br />
Regiment: Royal Canadian Air Force<br />
Unit:<br />
<strong>100</strong> (R.A.F.) Sqdn<br />
Letter to Charlie Bailey<br />
Jan 14, 1943<br />
Dear Charlie<br />
This is a letter I have been wanting to get <strong>of</strong>f for a long while and I am very sorry that I<br />
didn’t. Doug tells me you fellows have been doing some practicing on the runners,<br />
wish that Clarence and I had been there. That is one thing we really miss over here<br />
since the weather is so mild compared to ours. We have slight cold snaps with a touch<br />
<strong>of</strong> snow but nothing cold enough for ice. Even at that it is a change to have such mild<br />
weather in the winter. Right now it is like a spring night and being the middle <strong>of</strong><br />
January it is quite difficult for me to believe. Seems like some season I have never<br />
experienced before.<br />
No doubt you have heard from the fellows how things are going for me over here.<br />
Really at the last school for operations now and it has been a long grind. Never<br />
thought I would get to the finish, even now I shouldn’t use the past tense as we have a<br />
while to go yet. Takes a little time to go from a service trainer onto operational planes.<br />
We (the crew) are on four engined planes now and that is what we will do our<br />
operations on. <strong>The</strong>re are seven to a complete crew so it is a few to look after. At OTU<br />
we only had five but that was with a smaller aircraft, with the “heavies" there are two<br />
more added. I wish I could tell you more about the flying over here but it would be<br />
stopped so there is not much sense in writing it. Even if I haven’t been on any<br />
operational flights yet, we have gone through some great experiences.<br />
One night we were caught in an electrical storm, well it was raining as hard as it could<br />
possibly rain which made the plane leak and that didn’t make it any more comfortable<br />
for us. After we had been in it for a while I noticed the front turret glowing and then I<br />
looked at the port motor. <strong>The</strong>n I got a shock the end <strong>of</strong> the propeller was glowing and<br />
<strong>of</strong> course that made a huge arc <strong>of</strong> this bluish light. It was very fascinating to watch. <strong>The</strong><br />
plane, I believe picks up electrical charges in the clouds and that causes all this light.<br />
<strong>The</strong> guns in the rear turret had sparks jumping from one to the other like a large spark<br />
plug. Anyway it was fun while it lasted.<br />
Page 8 © Tim Chamberlin and Michael Hardwick – August 2012
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