Page 17 - Oundle Life February 2024

LANCASTER
DOWN
The tale of Bomber DV361
Lancaster Bomber DV361 had been severely crippled in a mid-air collision over Berlin. It had sustained damage to its nose, both port engines, and their propellers. Worse still, the nose cupola had been blown off completely, resulting in an icy gale howling through the aircraft all the way back to England. Flight Sergeant Jim Shemeild fell to his death when the aircraft also lost its escape hatch.
As pilot of the crippled aircraft, it fell to Bill Baker to try to nurse DV361 and her crew home to Spilsby in Lincolnshire. After four hours in sub-zero conditions, Baker’s hands and feet were literally frozen to the controls. Suffering severe frostbite, Baker had to have his fingers amputated at the knuckles. He was awarded a DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) for his heroic actions but would never fly again.
DV361 was repaired and ready for a cross- country test flight on December 22nd, 1943. It would be the first flight for her new seven-man crew as part of 207 Squadron and it should have been a routine flight, well away from any enemy aircraft. But, as DV361 was climbing through 7,000 feet on the first leg of the trip, Flight Sergeant Cecil Ryall reported a fire in the inner
Flight Sergeant Cecil Ryall
Sergeant Thomas Higgins
Sergeant George O’Neill
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starboard engine. Following standard procedure, the flight engineer feathered the engine’s propellor and operated the fire extinguisher while the pilot, Flight Sergeant Geoffrey Baker, sent the aircraft into a dive in a further attempt to extinguish the fire. It didn’t work.
Baker gave orders to abandon the aircraft but, while the four forward crew members baled out safely, the three men in the back of the burning