Woman whose voice guided the Dambusters home dies at 97
Husband pays tribute to calm Maureen
In her last few moments, I kissed her. She was quite beautiful to the last STEVE STEVENS TRIBUTE TO MAUREEN, HIS WIFE FOR 74YRS
A RADIO operator whose clear, calm voice guided the bombers home after the Dambusters raid has died aged 97.
Maureen Stevens was the cool operator in the control tower who reassured Lancaster air crews as they returned from dropping their bouncing bombs on German dams.
She married bomber pilot Steve Stevens, who flew 30 missions, after guiding him home from another raid. She died a day before their 74th wedding anniversary.
Steve, 96, said: “In her last few moments, I kissed her. She was quite beautiful to the last.
“She was always a very happy person. She was dignified.
“My son would say she would breeze through a room like a breath of fresh air. Instead of having a funeral of mourning, it will be a celebration of her life.”
Maureen, of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, is believed to be the last surviving person from the Dambusters control tower.
She worked through the night of May 16, 1943, to talk air crews back safely to their base at RAF Scampton, Lincs. Speaking about the Dambusters raid, she said: “I don’t really like talking about it because I was simply doing my job.
“I never knew where the planes were going each night. This particular night was nothing out of the ordinary.
“The only thing I remember really clearly is the unusually calm atmosphere as I came off duty at 8am.”
Led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, the Lancasters of 617 Squadron shattered the Möhne and Eder dams – sending floodwater through the Ruhr Valley in the heart of industrial Germany.
Maureen relayed instructions as the mission unfolded.
Eight of the 19 Lancasters did not return and 53 of the 133 aircrew involved were killed, a casualty rate of almost 40%. Maureen met her husband earlier in 1943 after she guided him back from a bombing mission over Germany to RAF Scampton. Steve recalled: “It was the first time I had heard a girl’s voice from the tower, so I thought I would go up and have a look. There was this glamorous girl in the middle of a crowd of people, the centre of attention, so I crept away.”
The then 21-year-old later asked Maureen out and proposed to her just weeks later.
“I said to her that if I was still alive at the end of the year we would get married.”
Mum-of-one Maureen died at a nursing home near Norwich, Norfolk, on December 3. Her funeral on Thursday will feature the RAF flag being lowered.