207685 Douglas Alan Jennings Royal Air Force 57 Squadron from:Pinner My uncle, Dougls Jennings, joined the RAF in November 1941. After training as a bomb aimer he joined 57 Squadron in 1943 flying in Wellingtons.
His crew was.
- Sgt. Guilyn (Ginger) Guy - Pilot
- F.O. Victor Spalding - Navigator
- Sgt, Grenville (Lofty) Hyde - Wireless Operator
- Sgt. Eric (Taffy) Raffels - Rear Gunner
- Ft Lt Douglas Jennings - Bomb Aimer
Later they converted to 4 engine Sterlings and then Lancasters.
This required 2 extra crew
- Joe Hatter - Flight engineer
- Alan (Al) Applegarth - Mid-upper Gunner
On or about their 18th operation on the 21st June 1944 they were shot down over Belgium. Ginger saved his crew by remaining at the controls whilst the others bailed out, but didn't make it himself and was killed. My uncle met up with the Belgium resistance and was hidden by them until they were liberated.
On return to England, he joined 9 Squadron which flew similar raids to the more famous 617, dropping 12,000lb Tallboys. After the war he returned to civilian life and lives today on the South Coast.
In 2005 he published a book
"Jump or Die" chronicling his experiences.
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