Funeral for one of the last Dambusters

One of the last Dambuster squadron members Died in December 2018, His Wife also passed away ten days later.   The couple had no known family so it might have been a very quiet funeral, had it not been for the Media Officer at RAF Cosford, who picked up on this and immediately alerted as many people as possible about the situation via local and social media.  One of Our pilots at Otheton noticed this and alerted me with a screenshot of this Twitter Post.

With only one and a half days to go,  I called a friend in Oxfordshire about this and he said he would be there. . there was no time to expect other local flyers to attend, being a working day.  

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/local-hubs/telford/2019/01/22/hundreds-at-funeral-of-telford-dambusters-raf-couple-who-died-10-days-apart/

The crowd was amazing. .  over three hundred people were there, and My mate and I supplied / served hot bacon rolls and tea afterwards for the flag bearers, the pall bearers and anyone else who fancied a bit of snap. . .out of the car boot.    My Mate Clark thought of this, as, since the people had no relatives, there would be no wake as such. .  and the crematorium is on a hilltop ad it was bloody freezing in that wind. . .He's a Good Man, ex  Marine (UK)

It's a shame that Edna and Victor were unable to see it all. . . the RAF Bugler with his last post was very moving. . .

A wonderful send of for a wonderful couple . Thank you Phil for being there . 

R.I.P Victor and Edna 

Dave 

I heard that we lost yet Another Dambuster today, I missed the news report, but I'll try and dig it out.   Vic Barnett was, apparently a mate of Barnes Wallis, and their friendship extended after the war, this info came out during the funeral eulogy which we had to monitor standing outside in the freezing cold wind,. . the Crematorium is almost at the top of Redhill, the highest ground in Telford ( Discounting the Wrekin )

I heard that we lost yet Another Dambuster today, I missed the news report, but I'll try and dig it out.   Vic Barnett was, apparently a mate of Barnes Wallis, and their friendship extended after the war, this info came out during the funeral eulogy which we had to monitor standing outside in the freezing cold wind,. . the Crematorium is almost at the top of Redhill, the highest ground in Telford ( Discounting the Wrekin )

According to my good Friend Mike Whitaker,. .. ( Ask Kasper ) the slide rule was the premier calculator of ALL of the maths used to design and build Concorde. . . .Slow YES. . .  but very effective in the right hands. . ..

I believe that Bernaud Ziegler, the original brain behind the creation of the AIRBUS, used slide rules in the early days, to design his Much maligned aircraft and the control system laws which denied the Pilot / Commanders the final say about the flight envelope. . .

Very intersting story that,. . but I'm digressing here . . .Sorry.

NEVILLE Shute's story about the team of mainly female calculators designing airship frames didnt say what they used. But I bet it was slide rules. I had a pocket circular one in high school, then a proper Hemi bamboo.

NEVILLE Shute's story about the team of mainly female calculators designing airship frames didnt say what they used. But I bet it was slide rules. I had a pocket circular one in high school, then a proper Hemi bamboo.

The main frame computer at uni occupied a whole floor and you programmed it on punch cards.

kaz

Thank you for passing this on, Phil. I enjoy all your posts.

i am an avid reader of WWII aviation history and it’s been a sadness in recent years to learn of the passing of so many of the very well known RAF and RAAF flyers.

Without detracting in any way from the courage of those in the armies or naval services, or those who flew bombing and recon missions in multi-crew aircraft, it must have taken a very special sort of courage to take off again and again by day or by night in single seat fighters during the Battle and beyond.

kaz