Bombers’ memorial
They included a Thermos of warming coffee, biscuits, barley sugar sweets and what the crew called “wakey wakey” pills, or Benzedrine, which kept the men awake and focused but could also make them jittery.
“During one flight the midgunner bailed out under enemy fire,” continues Geoff, who served with 514 and 115 squadrons.
“I couldn’t tell the pilot because the intercom was frozen up.
“I went back to see the main door of the fuselage open and had to get back into my turret.
“It was a case of not knowing who would be killed next.
“People were only just managing to hang on at points.”
So what does Geoff make of the new BBC series? “We only kept the Germans from invading Europe because Hitler invaded Russia first in 1941,” he says.
“If he had turned west first I believe we would have been overcome and lost the war.
“And if the Germans had invaded after Dunkirk we would have been recruited as slave labour in their factories.
“Anyone who resisted would have been shot.”
Geoff – who signed up a freshfaced 19-year-old – survived 30 missions.
All of his time was spent on Lancaster Bombers – the 275mph, four-engined craft now ingrained in British culture.
Despite still smoking a handful of cigarettes a day, Geoff is in great shape for his age and gets SOME 55,573 aircrew were killed serving with Bomber Command during World War Two – more than the number serving with the RAF today.
The strike force was formed in 1936 as war clouds gathered over Europe.
Downing Street hoped its formation would act as a war deterrent, but Hitler’s Third Reich had other ideas.
The Nazi Blitzkrieg quickly defeated France and effectively left Britain isolated to fight alone against the Nazis in Europe.
During the Battle of Britain, Bomber Command played a vital – but largely unheralded role – attacking invasion barges preparing to embark for the British coast.
By 1941, with the war taking its toll, PM Winston Churchill was clear what steps needed to be taken.
In a private letter, Churchill wrote: “When I look round to see how we can win this war there is only one sure path… and that is an absolutely devastating, exterminating attack by very heavy bombers from this country upon the Nazi homeland.”
That vision was dragged into brutal existence in 1942 by Air Marshall Arthur Harris.
His mandate was to attack German industry in a bid to bring the enemy to its knees.
And that he did. His first mass raid on Cologne in May 1942, dubbed “a thousand bomber raid”, shocked Germany to its core. Other missions followed, including the famous Dam Busters raid of May 1943, which shook the world with its audacity and inherent heroism.
In total, some 7377 Lancaster bombers flew more than 150,000 missions during World War Two, with 3249 aircraft lost.
Today the men of Bomber Command have been honoured with a memorial erected in London’s Green Park.
The upkeep of the memorial is reliant on donations, which can be made by calling 0207 580 8343. the bus into Glasgow when the weather is good.
He’s planning to attend his old squadron’s reunion in June.
“When I was 90 my GP told me to stop smoking,” he said.
“I asked her to look at my date of birth and she smiled and replied: ‘Don’t bother then’.”
His wife Sylvia died two years ago and now he lives for his family: son Alan, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
“The Luftwaffe couldn’t see me off so I guess I must be made of strong stuff,” he added.
“But to be honest it was luck. Nothing more than luck.
“Many wonderful airmen and friends of mine never returned.
“We owe them our freedom.”