Squadron Leader Wally Lashbrook
Pilot who flew a daring airborne commando raid in Italy and mended bikes with Lawrence of Arabia
SQUADRON LEADER WALLY LASHBROOK, who has died aged 104, piloted one of the aircraft on the first commando raid by British airborne forces, in 1941; he was later shot down over France and evaded capture to cross the Pyrenees into Spain with the aid of the Comet Escape Line.
Lashbrook had completed 29 bombing raids over Germany when he and his crew were selected to join a force of eight aircraft for Operation Colossus, a daring airborne assault to destroy the freshwater aqueduct at Tragino in southern Italy. Six of the Whitley bombers were converted to drop paratroopers, the other two to drop supplies.
After a period of training, the aircraft set off on a 10-hour flight to Malta. The operation was mounted on the night of February 10/11 1941. Lashbrook flew in the first formation of three aircraft, led by Squadron Leader JB Tait (who would lead the raid that finally sank Tirpitz to earn his fourth DSO). The three aircraft reached the valley at low level and as soon as Lashbrook saw the aqueduct in the moonlight, he alerted the men of “X” Troop of the 11th Special Air Service Battalion and they dropped, landing close to the target. Four of the other crews landed near the target, which was destroyed.
The withdrawal plan for the troops failed, however, and they were all captured. Although the raid was considered a strategic failure, it demonstrated that the Allies could strike deep into enemy territory and it forced the Italians to divert manpower to guard other major assets.
The raid completed Lashbrook’s tour on operations and he was awarded the DFM.
Wallace Ivor Lashbrook was born at Chilsworthy, Devon, on January 3 1913 and educated at Okehampton Grammar School. He joined the RAF in January 1929 as an aircraft apprentice; he excelled both at his trade and at sport. He graduated in the top 20 of an entry of 500 and was awarded first prize for the best aero-engine fitter. He boxed for the RAF as a bantamweight.
After three years at RAF Halton he joined No 204 Squadron, operating flying boats from Mountbatten near Plymouth. He became friendly with an Aircraftman Ross (an assumed name of Lawrence of Arabia) and they worked together servicing their respective Brough Superior motorcycles. In 1934 Lashbrook left for the Far East and served in Singapore for three years.
In August 1936 he trained as a sergeant pilot. After a spell flying Hendon bombers with No 38 Squadron, he spent three years as a ferry pilot and amassed 2,000 hours’ flying time on a variety of aircraft. As war clouds gathered he joined No 51 Squadron, to fly Whitley bombers based at Dishforth in Yorkshire.
He flew his first raid on September 9 1940 as a co-pilot, a flight that almost ended in disaster when the crew became lost over the sea. Over the next six months he flew a further 28 operations including raids on Milan and Turin and targets in Germany.
After the commando raid in Italy, Lashbrook joined No 35 Squadron, the first RAF squadron to be equipped with the four-engine Halifax. After a brief demonstration flight on the new aircraft, he flew his first raid. Returning from Kiel, the aircraft suffered a major fuel failure, which resulted in all four engines stopping. In the darkness, Lashbrook managed to crash land into a field with the seven-man crew suffering only minor injuries.
After 18 months as a bombing instructor, he was promoted to squadron leader and joined No 102 Squadron, also flying the Halifax. His second operation was to bomb the Skoda Works at Pilsen, in Czechoslovakia. On the return flight his Halifax was attacked near the French-belgian border by a German night fighter and set on fire. The rear gunner was killed but the rest of the crew bailed out. Lashbrook landed seconds after his parachute opened. It was 4am on April 17 1943.
After three days of walking into France, he called at a remote farmhouse, where he was fed and sheltered. He was hidden for six days before being moved, unaware that he was in the hands of the Belgian-run Comet Line. He was taken to a safe house in Paris before a courier arrived to escort him by train to the southwest via Bordeaux. At Gare du Sud he was astonished to meet up with his bomb aimer, who was with an American pilot.
The three were taken to Dax before cycling to St Jean-de-luz near the Spanish border. They were hidden in the “last house” at Urrugne, where the veteran Basque guide Florentino met them and took them overnight into Spain; after the war Florentino was awarded the George Medal.
Once in Spain, the team were taken to San Sebastian, then to Madrid and Gibraltar before flying home. Lashbrook had been on the run for two months and shortly after his return was awarded the DFC. He was also mentioned in despatches for his successful evasion.
It was policy that escaping aircrew would not fly over occupied Europe again, so Lashbrook became a test pilot at the Central Flying School. He flew many different types including the Meteor. On one flight both engines failed and he had to glide the crippled aircraft to a safe landing. Shortly afterwards he was awarded the AFC.
He was released from the RAF in September 1946 when he became a civilian test pilot before joining the airline Skyways as its chief pilot. He stopped flying in 1953.
For 20 years he was an officer with the Ayrshire Army Cadet Forces, retiring in 1966, when he was appointed MBE.
Lashbrook was a devoted member of the RAF Escaping Society and its successor, the Escape Lines Memorial Society, attending annual reunions until late in his life. He made a number of visits to France to meet those who had helped him and they and their relatives remain in close contact with his family. On his 100th birthday he was presented with his Bomber Command clasp to add to his wartime medals.
Wally Lashbrook married Betty Young in 1938. She pre-deceased him. Their two daughters survive him.
Squadron Leader Wally Lashbrook, born January 3 1913, died June 6 2017