I seem to remember a story many years ago that Guy Gibson first met his wife (to-be) at a dance in The Drill Hall, Queen Victoria Road, Coventry.
The Drill Hall was demolished some years ago and the site has been a car park. However it is now being re-developed (flats/apartments) and I thought if the story is true perhaps the developers might be persuaded to name the site after Gibson.
Is anyone able to confirm this tale?
Roger Smith
By: David_Kavangh - 10th June 2012 at 16:13
I too have just been re-reading this book. Probably a more balanced portrait of the man than some of the born hero type. He had his flaws, but who doesn’t. Also worth reading the same author’s biography of Leonard Cheshire if you haven’t already.
By: mantog - 2nd June 2012 at 21:12
Seconded!
By: DeanK - 21st September 2007 at 12:48
Well remembered – I missed that anniversary date :(.
A part of his Mosquito is in the museum at RAF Scampton, which I visited recently – see thread http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=74081
Dean.
By: EHVB - 21st September 2007 at 09:31
Parts of the Mosquito, including undercart and wheel, are on show in a museum at Gilze Rijen AFB. BW Roger
By: TwinOtter23 - 21st September 2007 at 08:47
There is a small Lancaster display at Newark that includes a Memorial Plaque to Gibson and Warwick. The following information is taken from the first edition of their Virtual Museum CD ROM.
“Memorial Plaque
The Newark Air Museum displays a Guy Gibson Memorial Plaque in its Number 1 Display Hangar.
After the Dams raid in 1943 Guy Gibson took place in a tour of America with Winston Churchill, before being posted to the Air Ministry in December 1943. A series of non-operational postings to East Kirkby and Coningsby left Gibson with a desire to return to operational sorties. “Bomber” Harris eventually agreed to let Gibson act as master bomber on a sortie in September 1944.
On the evening of September 19th 1944 Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC, DSO & Bar took off in Mosquito Mk.B.20 KB267, AZ-E of 627 Squadron. For this operation he and his navigator Squadron Leader Warwick DFC were acting as master bombers for a raid by a main force of 220 Lancasters on railway and industrial centres at Rheydt and Munchen Gladbach in Germany. On their return flight to England their Mosquito crashed in flames near Steenbergen in North Brabant, Holland and both crew-members were killed.
The aircraft is believed to have exploded on impact and the owner of the land recovered a wallet from Gibson’s body and hid this from the German authorities. As a consequence the Germans could only identify Squadron Leader Warwick and they buried both sets of remains in a single grave at Steenbergen, which, was only marked with Warwick’s name. After the war The Imperial War Graves Commission identified the other body as that of Gibson, and the original single cross was replaced with two headstones on the one grave.
Mr Jan van den Driesschen junior, who was nine when the war started, has been looking after the wing commander’s grave near Rotterdam since he found it overgrown in the 1960s. The plaque was inscribed to mark the courage of Wing Commander Guy Gibson, commanding officer of the Dambusters who was killed when his Mosquito aircraft crashed.
The Plaque was formally unveiled at the Museum on Saturday 18th May 1996 by Mr Jan van den Driesschen the son of a Dutch wartime resistance fighter. He and former resistance fighters had originally presented it to the RAF Museum at Hendon. When Mr van den Driesschen was told the RAF Museum no longer wanted to display the plaque, he was considering taking it back to Holland to put near the grave.
Then by chance he visited Newark Air Museum in 1995 and saw the museum’s dis¬play of Lancaster artefacts and memorabilia and offered us the plaque. After the unveiling ceremony Mr van den Driesschen said: “I am very pleased that we have found a spot where we can keep the memory of this war hero alive.”
Guests at the unveiling included surviving members of 617 Squadron who were briefly stationed at RAF Winthorpe during the Second World War and Mr Van den Driesschen was their guest at their reunion dinner during the evening.
Squadron Leader Warwick was also an instructor with 1661 HCU at RAF Winthorpe, the current home of Newark Air Museum.”
By: RPSmith - 25th March 2005 at 14:28
Thanks Spit,
I haven’t got this one in my personal library so will have to get to the library in town.
Roger Smith.
By: SPIT - 24th March 2005 at 18:38
That should read 1/12/1939 no 1039!!!!!
By: SPIT - 24th March 2005 at 18:37
Gibson dated his First meeting with EVE as DEC 1st 1039 at the NEW HIPPODROME in Coventry but Eve stated differently. For full info see the book GUY GIBSON by Richard Morris, published by VIKING (Penguin Group) in 1994
Thy isbn is 0-670-82878-5
Hope this helps you out??
ALL the Best
SPIT :confused: 😮
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March 24, 2005 at 3:27 pm