Code: P28162
RCAF R.96 / RAF Form 1767. Royal Canadian Air Force Flying Log Book for Aircrew other than Pilot. An interesting log book to Air Bomber LAC (later Sgt.) Evan Williams (1532512). The log starts at No.31 Bombing and Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario, Canada in December 1943 on Anson and Bolingbroke aircraft. He qualified as an Air Bomber (Armament) on 11th February 1944 and attended No. 5 Air Observer School, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada where he qualified as an Air Bomber (Navigation) on March 24th 1944. Returning to the UK he attended No. 354 Air Bomber Advanced Flying Unit Course at No.10 (Observers) Air Force Unit, Dumfries on combined operations/bombing exercises. On 26th July he was posted to No.11 Operation Training Unit, Oakley/Westcott, on Wellington bombers and was assessed as 'above average'. At the end of December he was posted to 1651 Conversion Unit at Woolfox Lodge, Rutland, flying Lancaster bombers. From there he joined No.75 (New Zealand) Squadron as part of 3 Group, and undertook his first operational sortie from Mepal airfield, Cambridgeshire, to the oil refinery at Osterfield, Germany. The following day they attacked the Alma Pluto benzoil plant at Gelsenkirchen, and on the 25th, the synthetic oil plant near Kamen. 340 aircraft were despatched but the target was covered by cloud so the raid was based on Oboe and H2S markers. Reports suggest heavy damage and casualties in the centre of Kamen but not at the target. On the 26th, 166 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitoes took off to bomb the Dortmund Ems canal but this raid was aborted due to heavy cloud. The benzoil plant at Gelsenkirchen was attacked again on the 28th with a return to Kamen on 1st March. Further operational sorties through March included Wanne Eickel, Gelsenkirchen, Huls, Munster (viaduct) and Hamm. On 9th April Williams's crew attacked Kiel and their final operational sortie was to Heligoland on the 18th, giving him a total of 13 operational sorties. After that they undertook supply dropping flights in the Delft/Hague areas as part of Operation 'Manna' followed by flights to repatriate prisoners of war at Juvincourt as part of Operation 'Exodus'. On the 9th June the crew flew with 4 other Squadron Lancasters on a 'Baedecker' operation to view the effects of the bombing offensive. In June 1945 Williams transferred to 90 Squadron at Tuddenham, undertaking training exercises, fighter affiliation flights etc. The log ends on 16th October 1945. It has various course results 'certificates' pasted in and was signed off each month. Brief online research revealed Williams's crew to be F/O Thomas Wagner Good, RAFVR - pilot; F/S R. Woonton, RAFVR, navigator; F/S Evan Williams, RAFVR, air bomber; W/O P. Brooke, RAFVR, wireless operator; Sgt. R. Winning, RAFVR, flight engineer; Sgt. H. Parry, RAFVR, mid upper gunner and Sgt. W. Gilbert, RAFVR, rear gunner. We purchased this directly from Williams' nephew who told us that Evan was born and lived at 'Tegfan', Caego, Nr, Wrexham, all his life and after the war, worked as a joiner until he suffered a heart attack at work. He lived with his mother and two sisters and never married. Worthy of further research. Stock code P28162.
