A local man who died last year was the captain of Lancaster bombers. He was Roy Calvert DFC and two bars, Mid.
His main Lanc was very badly damaged on a raid but he managed to get it back to Britain, crash landing without wheels at Bradwell Bay. I have photos of the mess it was in, riddled with flak holes,
Amazingly however the RAF rebuilt it, and it was eventually given to a new squadron and crew, who were very soon sadly shot down, crashing in Sweden. All aboard were killed.
Apparently the locals of the vilage managed to recover a complete intact wing and hide it in a barn. Long after the war, I think the 1980’s or 1990’s, a chap from the village researched everyone who’d flown on the aircraft, and he tracked all of the living or the families of those no longer with us down, and sent them each a small piece of the plane. A nice gesture, and I know Roy appreciated hearing what eventually happened to his plane.
Every year the village holds a ceremony for the dead crew too.
I was just wondering, would the warbirds community be interested in what is left of this supposedly complete Lancaster wing? Are there restorations in need of a mainplane. Maybe they’d be keen to part with it if it helped restore a Lanc to static, or beyond. If anyone’s interested I can get further details of the village and researcher from Roy’s widow.
By: Peter - 26th June 2004 at 14:39
Dave,
Clarence is the worlds leading historian on Nose art see his site :
http://www.dunrobincastle.com/Nose_Art/Nose_Index.htm
By: Dave Homewood - 26th June 2004 at 04:50
Sorry, who is he?
Dave
By: Peter - 26th June 2004 at 04:42
Dave you should talk to Clarence Simonson/ I bet he would be interested in this nose art!
By: Dave Homewood - 26th June 2004 at 04:19
Indeed it is interesting nose art Peter, I really like it. I have a Tamiya 1/48th scale Lanc that has been packed away since I bought it in 1988. I have decided that when I finally build it it’ll be as Taipo.
A bit more background. Roy was one of only four New Zealanders to win the DFC three times – and the others were fighter pilots, so he was the only ‘heavy’ pilot to do so. One of the others was the very famous Colin Grey, NZ’s top scoring fighter pilot.
Roy flew 59 bombing missions and only endured one wound, shrapnel to his arm on the raid where Taipo crashed. He also lost only one crew member, on the same raid, when Wireless Operator Lewis Herbert Austin, RAAF, was killed. The observer was badly wounded but survived. As well as being wouded himself, and battling to save the aircraft, Roy had to also deal with an American along for the ride who disobeyed Roy’s orders to help the W/Op, probably through fear or shock. The rest of the crew were greatly unimpressed when afterwards the Yank did all the talking at the debrief of how he helped save the plane, claiming credence he never deserved.
Roy managed to save the aircraft and crew on a number of occasions when others may have bailed out. He was one of the pilots who perfected the corkscrew dive in the Lanc to avoid being attacked underneath, and he went on to teach this to many other pilots.
Taipo flew with Roy and his crew on No 50 Sqn, RAF, for 22 missions before the crash pictured above, and he cosidered it the best Lanc he’d flown. Previous to these missions Roy had survived 6 raids in Manchesters, which he hated.
Below is Taipo before the crash… a shot after with the uninjured crew sitting on the injured wing… and a shot of Roy himself. All photos via Mrs May Calvert of Cambridge.
By: Peter - 26th June 2004 at 01:52
Good to see a pic of her David thanks. Interesting nose art!
By: Dave Homewood - 26th June 2004 at 01:27
PS to the above post – those are holes on the aircraft, not the photos – which were three I have joined together.
The aircraft’s name was ‘Taipo’, which is the Maori word for devil, and the lovely nose art is a devil chasing hitler with a pitch fork. The aircraft’s code was R5702 VN-S.
Not sure if the nose art below will come out ok :confused:
By: Dave Homewood - 26th June 2004 at 01:22
Peter, sorry I don’t have any photos of what it looks like now, only photos of the aircraft after belly landing at Bradwell Bay as flown by Roy Calvert. See below.
Flood, I didn’t know this had been in Flypast, have you any further details? Scan?
By: Flood - 25th June 2004 at 17:43
Wasn’t this in Flypast in the last few years? Think the local population were quite proud of it and wouldn’t let it go to a museum even.
Flood.™
By: Peter - 25th June 2004 at 14:56
pics would be good!
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June 25, 2004 at 1:35 pm