Flt Lt Humphrey Phillips
Flight engineer who took part in hazardous sorties over Berlin
FLIGHT LIEUTENANT HUMPHREY PHILLIPS, who has died aged 97, flew as a flight engineer on Lancasters at the height of Bomber Command’s main offensive against Berlin.
In November 1943 he joined No 626 Squadron just as the main bombing effort was directed against the German capital. The Luftwaffe night-fighter force was at its most formidable and losses among the bomber crews were higher than at any other period of the war.
Within the first five days of joining the squadron Phillips and his crew made three hazardous sorties to the city. Over the next few weeks he went on to complete nine operations to Berlin in addition to attacking other major industrial centres.
On the night of April 26 1944 he was flying with the deputy squadron commander when they were tasked to bomb an armaments factory in Essen. Just as the attack from 18,000ft was completed, bombs from an aircraft flying just above them hit their Lancaster. Phillips grabbed an oxygen bottle, moved down the fuselage to investigate and discovered extensive damage near the gun turret and bomb bay. He found the mid-upper gunner unconscious, having lost his oxygen mask, and with a bad head wound.
He reported to the pilot who immediately descended to a safe altitude. With another crew member, Phillips administered oxygen to the wounded gunner and managed to get him to the rest bunk.
At the end of the journey back to Lincolnshire, the pilot landed the badly damaged bomber and the gunner was taken to hospital where he recovered. A few weeks later, Phillips and his New Zealand pilot, Squadron Leader Johnny Neilson, were awarded the DFC.
Humphrey Bernard Phillips was born in North London on August 20 1920 and left school aged 15 to become an apprentice motor mechanic. He joined the RAF in June 1940 and became a fitter/mechanic, serving on bomber squadrons in Lincolnshire.
With the introduction of the four-engine bomber, a new aircrew category of flight engineer was created to be responsible for the management of the engines and fuel system. The initial candidates were drawn from serving RAF mechanics and in April 1942 Phillips was one of the first to volunteer.
After a brief course he joined No 102 Squadron Conversion Flight as an instructor. On the night of May 30-31 1942 Bomber Command launched the first of the “Thousand Bomber” raids. To make up the numbers, the bombers in training units had to be used and Phillips flew in a Halifax with a scratch crew on the raid to Cologne, his first operation. A few nights later he flew on the second raid, this time to Essen.
During his time as the engineer leader on the conversion unit, Phillips supervised the training of flight engineers and invented a number of training aids. At the end of his tour he was commissioned and mentioned in despatches.
He left No 626 Squadron in the summer of 1944 having completed 27 operations, becoming an instructor and engineer leader at a bomber training unit where he was again mentioned in despatches.
Phillips was demobilised in April 1946 with the rank of flight lieutenant. For many years he enjoyed a successful career as transport manager for the 600 Group, a manufacturer and distributor of machine tools. He became involved in the Freight Transport Association, serving on various committees and liaising with the Ministry of Transport.
He was an enthusiastic tennis player and in 2017, when his autobiography, A Thousand and One, was published, he became, aged 97, one of Britain’s oldest published authors.
In 1949 Humphrey Phillips married Iris Webber. She died in 2011. Their three daughters survive him.
Flight Lieutenant Humphrey Phillips, born August 20 1920, died April 26 2018