Oldest bomber command casualty

Oldest

Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

Couldnt remember any details about Tom Dobney but a quick search reveals…

Joined RAF aged 14yrs 3months
awarded wings 15yrs 5months
Flew (I believe) 20 ish operations on AW Whitley bombers before being grounded.

Great post, and while we are on it, can anybody help me find out who the youngest Royal Canadian Air Force crew member was killed during the war. Has been mentioned that Leslie W McKenna a gunner on board Halifaxes was only 18 at the time of his death.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I dont know if he survived the war but in Dave Macintosh’s autobio ‘Terror in the starboard seat’ there is a photo of Canadian Nav P/O E J Gent captioned… He looked 15 but I think he was actually 14 !
Ther must have been quite a few under age aircrew,in UK we had Thomas Dobney who was an operational Bomber pilot at 16.He was eventually shopped by his Father but later rejoined the RAF as a pilot, becoming a captain on the Kings Flight.

For something a little off topic, being Coastal Command, and the fact that though wounded he survived the war, you can listen to a wartime interview on this page with one Wing Commander Lionel Cohen who served in four wars, and at the time of this interview was an airgunner, aged 69!

http://www.stelzriede.com/ms/html/sub/mshws.htm#ww2

It’s near the bottom and billed as:
A British serviceman, 69 years old and still active, is interviewed (February 6, 1944) — (676 KB)

More on him here
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/sugar13.html

A quick look at the above link reveals that this gallant gentleman was an observer in ww1(DSO, MC).Whilst officially a liason officer with Coastal in ww2 he volunteered to fly as a gunner and was awarded DFC aged 69 after completing (70 ?) ops.
Oldest aircrew and oldest flying medal winner ??

Oldest

Great post, and while we are on it, can anybody help me find out who the youngest Royal Canadian Air Force crew member was killed during the war. Has been mentioned that Leslie W McKenna a gunner on board Halifaxes was only 18 at the time of his death.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My wife’s father was 37 when he was posted missing in Lanc LL890 of No 15 Sqdn on 5-6/7/44. Air gunner Sgt Charles R Canday. I don’t think he was the oldest casualty, though.

For something a little off topic, being Coastal Command, and the fact that though wounded he survived the war, you can listen to a wartime interview on this page with one Wing Commander Lionel Cohen who served in four wars, and at the time of this interview was an airgunner, aged 69!

http://www.stelzriede.com/ms/html/sub/mshws.htm#ww2

It’s near the bottom and billed as:
A British serviceman, 69 years old and still active, is interviewed (February 6, 1944) — (676 KB)

More on him here
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/sugar13.html

Probably the oldest operational casualty on Bomber Command 1939/45 was Pilot Officer Sir Arnold Wilson, 37 Squadron, lost on 31 May 1940 in Wellington L7791. Also very highly decorated; KCIIE, CSI, CMG,DSO. Aged 56. Also MP for Hitchin, Herts.

Interesting..another WW1 Army officer..Commissioned 1903,Sandhurst sword of Honour winner.Became a political officer after just a few years.
Awarded DSO 1916 but the unithistories website does not show why.
Brevet Lt Col 1918 and retired 1921,as Tangmere said was eventually an MP.
Volunteered for RAFVR as a gunner,nicknamed ‘Sir Gunner’.
I guess the max age for gunners was a bit flexible or maybe some recruiters did not question the stated age too much as long as the medical was ok!!
[url]www.unithistories.com

Just done a little search for ‘Pop’ Wheeler,I always assumed he was a WW1 ‘retread’ pilot but he was actually a rifle brigade officer in WW1(underage !) ,learned to fly between the wars,volunteered for RAF(lied about his age again!!) and was a night fighter pilot on Hurris,Havocs,Beaus and Mossies.After being grounded by Fighter Command he volunteered for Bombers but was unlucky and his Lanc was hit by flak within a few weeks of being made OC 207 sqdn.
I cannot get the link to work but if you type – V J Wheeler RAF into Google you should get a link to vashon films (vashonfilms.com) where there is a small bio

Probably the oldest operational casualty on Bomber Command 1939/45 was Pilot Officer Sir Arnold Wilson, 37 Squadron, lost on 31 May 1940 in Wellington L7791. Also very highly decorated; KCIIE, CSI, CMG,DSO. Aged 56. Also MP for Hitchin, Herts.

Wg Cdr Vashon James ‘Pop’ Wheeler D.F.C. and Bar, M.C. and Bar, Order of St Stanislaus (Russia) RAF, CO of 207 Sqn. Killed in a Lancaster near Frankfurt on 23rd March 1944. Age 46.

Well done Vern.. I could not remember his surname!! All I could remember was ‘pop’. I am pretty sure he was mentioned in Peter Townsends ‘Duel of Eagles’ autobio,I think when they first met they were calling each other ‘sir’ , P T was at least a sqdn ldr by then but was confused by ‘pops’ grey hair,pop was a pilot officer(or maybe F/O) in those days.
Sad he didnt make it.

I’ve been researching a medal group to a distant family member, Edwin Bates who was killed flying an SOE drop with 138 Squadron in 1944. Its been a nightmare trying to find his origins as, although he’s shown as 30 on CWGC records, it looks like he was actually born in 1910 making him 44 when killed. Now although I don’t think he will be the oldest Bomber Command Casualty- there must be some senior officers past that age, I wondered who the oldest ‘crew’ casualty was?

Beyond the fact that he was either in very good shape or the recruiting Sgt was blind it’s an interesting twist on an already interesting story. (Chorley BCL 1944 bottom of p 159)

Before I start going through every volume of Bomber Command losses, any ideas?

Wg Cdr Vashon James ‘Pop’ Wheeler D.F.C. and Bar, M.C. and Bar, Order of St Stanislaus (Russia) RAF, CO of 207 Sqn. Killed in a Lancaster near Frankfurt on 23rd March 1944. Age 46. It’s the oldest guy I know of off the top of my head.

Sydney ‘Timbertoes’ Carlin

Not Bomber Command but timbertoes Carlin was a fascinating character.
He lost a leg in the trenches in WW1,joined the RFC and was an SE5 pilot with 10 victories (inc 5 balloons), awarded the MC and DFC.
He joined the RAF in WW2 as a pilot officer air gunner and was killed at the age of 52 when trying to engage attacking aircraft with his Defiant turret(on the ground !!) while serving with 151 sqdn,obviously a determined character!

Need to get my fingers fixed; Ashton under Lyne, not Aston as above.

Typo, born 1900 Aston under Lyne

Stan.

Surely, if he was born in 1910 he would have been 34 and not 44?

Couldn’t tell you who the oldest was but I believe F/Sgt. H C Beebe, RCAF, was 40 and may have been among the oldest Canadian airmen to die on active service.

Regards,

kev35