Pathfinders’ flights to glory
AN RAF hero’s wartime memoirs are to be published by his daughter.
Wing Commander Richard “Winky” Wellington OBE survived 60 bombing operations with 106 and the 83 Pathfinder squadrons.
Of a raid in July 1942, he wrote: “We started our run- in at 15,000ft and quickly began to get the full benefit of Hamburg’s defences.
“Every gun on the ground seemed to be firing at us... They were too close for comfort, but there was no way round this heavy barrage.” Their Lancaster caught fire but
limped back to base – where it was declared a write- off.
After his final raid, Winky and his crew headed straight to the bar.
“There was the real egg and the bacon to eat, and the fifty pints to share. Our chaps opened the bar at six in the morning. I got plastered.”
The Birmingham- born pilot, who lived for many years in Brazil, went on to be a diplomat. He died in 1992.
Sandra Wellington, who has titled the book Pathfinder Pilot, said: “He always maintained a keen sense of patriotic duty to King and Country.”