Last Lancaster pilot dies at 100
Heroic veteran saluted for war valour
A LANCASTER bomber co-pilot who survived 45 missions including D-Day has died aged 100.
Peter John Gould’s family believe he could have been the last surviving Lancaster airman.
The great-grandfather, of the 97th squadron, was part of the Pathfinder Force on D-Day, fighting in Bomber Command.
He received the Legion d’Honneur, France’s top military award, for his squadron’s actions during the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944.
His daughter, retired businesswoman Pamela Gould, 70, said her father had strong links to the RAF throughout his life. She added: “He might be the last Lancaster bomber flight engineer and co-pilot. It’s the end of an era.
“He survived 45 sorties – he reckoned because they’re trained to avoid combat. I spent a lot of time with him as I cared for him.
“Veterans are very reserved when it comes to the war.”
Pamela, of Pamington, Glos, continued: “He wasn’t a boastful man but very down to earth. He would say it as it is.”
Peter, who was born in Bombay, India, in 1923, moved to England to join the RAF aged 16, training as a flight engineer and learning to fly at Halton. He started flying Lancasters in the 1940s. The aircraft was a heavy bomber and considered to be the most successful of its type in the war. Peter, who lived in Oxford, spent 12 years in the Armed Forces – later writing a book on his experiences called The Best 12 Years.
Pamela says her father continued to drive until he was 96 and remained active into his 90s – loving swimming and water polo.
Sadly, Peter, who had four children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, died from dementia, which he developed in the last few years of his life. His funeral is at Redditch Crematorium on April 9.
VERY few of those who saved the world from Nazi tyranny remain with us and their numbers become smaller each year.The horrors and sacrifices of the Second World War must never be forgotten.
We will always remember that the freedoms we enjoy today came at a heavy price.