![]() ![]() ![]() The rest were from Canada, Australia and New Zealand 72 per cent of Bomber Command dead were British.635,000 is the estimate of German civilians killed.1.3million tons of bombs dropped by the Allies on Germany.9,838 bomber crew became prisoners of war.Chances of surviving war lower than infantry officer in First World War trenches 4 per cent average chance of being shot down per mission - but crews had to complete at least 30.55,573 died in action, a death rate of 44 per cent.125,000 Bomber Command air crew serving during World War Two.19 Victoria Crosses won by men of Bomber Command, including Guy Gibson, who led the Dam Busters raid.John is now writing a book about his brother's exploits and hopes to visit the site of the crash soon. I remember being told at school to go home with my brother Tony and when I got home my parents were sobbing their eyes out. 'The whole family was, particularly my mum and dad. He said: 'She was obviously grief-stricken. Before that we kept hope that he was a prisoner of war, that somehow he had got out of the plane.'ĭespite his young age, he remembers Vera's reaction to the gut-wrenching news. 'Nine months after the flight he was registered as missing, presumed dead. ![]() 'I have personally been looking for the plane for four or five years. The 76-year-old former mechanical engineer, who was just eight when his brother died, said: 'I had a day of sadness. His brother John, of Sunderland, has been searching for years to find out what happened to his sibling and was overcome when the discovery was made. He had flown 58 operational sorties and had won a Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar before his death at 23. The name Vera refers to his wife, Vera Grubb, whom he had married just eight months earlier.Īnd today a wedding picture of the couple was released by relatives for the first time.īorn in Derby, Flight Lieutenant Chambers had an extraordinary career. Mr Chambers' signet ring was found in a marsh by a French metal detector enthusiast, with the initials ‘AC’ and the engraved inscription ‘Love Vera’.īritish aviation archaeologist Tony Graves discovered the AC refers to a flight lieutenant called Albert Chambers who was on board Lancaster ND 739 which went missing following a dawn mission on June 6, 1944. 'We were at war and the enemy had to be combated': Eberspacher wrote in his log of shooting down three Lancasters that dayĮarlier this month the mystery was solved after 68 years. ![]()
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