MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

As aircrew veterans’ group disbands, their legacy is a gripping testimony of courage and catastrophe, extraordinary even in the annals of aerial combat

A VETERANS’ group set up by wartime aircrew to share comradeship and stories with friends has disbanded after decades of distinguished service, writes Campbell Thomas.

The Scottish Saltire Aircrew Association (SSAA) was a band of brothers comprising former pilots, navigators and others trained for flying, mainly from the Second World War but some from more recent conflicts.

The organisation’s ranks thinned over the years as members grew older and passed away, leaving only a handful of active survivors who agreed to stand down the SSAA at the end of last month.

But the airmen have left behind a fascinating – and often gripping – online archive of more than 250 first-hand accounts of flying in war and peacetime, which is becoming a treasure trove for historians, official military archivists, former enemies and ordinary citizens seeking information about a loved one or relative.

SSAA website co-ordinator Jack Burgess BEM, 93, of Kirkcaldy, Fife, a flight engineer on RAF Liberator bombers during the Second World War, said: ‘I considered it tragic that so many courageous men who had served their country were passing away and taking their memories with them. For 40 years I couldn’t bear to talk about my wartime operational flying. When the SSAA came into being, it completely changed my lifestyle.’

Encouraged by comrades Bill Reid and Vivian Thomas, Mr Burgess got to work and the following accounts are just a fraction of the stories he has collected for future generations.