How I flew ‘ Daily Express’ into war
THE last surviving member of a Bomber Command crew that flew in a plane named after the Daily Express yesterday told of their ordeal of fire.
Second World War navigator Vic Farmer, 91, described how the crew of the Lancaster – whose squadron letter was X and had a “Daily Xpress” poster on its fuselage – survived against the odds during three months of intensive raids in Europe.
When they were pictured the day after their tour of duty ended in 1944 they were “just happy to be alive”.
Piloted by Flight Lieutenant Rhys “Skip” Thomas, they undertook half their 30 missions in the “Daily Xpress” attacking targets from submarines at Le Havre, France, to the factories of the German industrial war machine.
Skip won the Distinguished Flying Cross for the performance of his crew and all returned to civilian life in Britain, Australia and Canada.
Vic, a retired headmaster from Oxted, Surrey, was just 20 then. He said: “Our last operation was on September 30 at Zoutelande on the Dutch coast against German heavy artillery causing havoc to supply routes. Skip broke the rules by opening throttles heading for base. He flew low over the airfield before hearing control saying, ‘ Well done’.”
Flying with 550 Squadron from RAF North Killingholme in Lincolnshire, they survived several close shaves, returning from one raid with dozens of holes in the plane’s undercarriage.
Vic kept in touch with the crew for the rest of their lives. His story emerged after Vic sent photographs for exhibition to the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln. The £ 8million memorial centre will open next June for the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
Bomber Command raids were so controversial, crews only got a memorial in London’s Green Park in 2012 after Daily Express readers gave £ 1million and the newspaper’s owner Richard Desmond added £ 500,000.