BMMHS Evening Meeting: A Bomber Command Navigator and POW

A Bomber Command Navigator and POW

The WW2 experiences of Alan Green

Speaker: Stuart Green

Meeting 10th Nov 2021

Wednesday 10th November 2021; 7:30pm

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Woodcote Village Hall, Reading Road, Woodcote, RG8 0QY

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A Bomber Command Navigator and POW

Starting with Alan’s basic training in Devon and his reaction to the bombing of his home city, the talk moves onto his airborne training in Canada and then focuses on a number of key raids in which he was involved and the bombers in which he flew – the Wellington and Stirling. After that, the focus is very much on survival.

Having survived one shoot down, Alan is forced to bale out a second time after his Stirling is shot down over Holland and he ends up as a POW in the notorious Stalag Luft 3 camp, culminating in the Long March which led to his eventual release in May 1945.

A Bomber Command Navigator and POW Stuart Green
Alan Green and his crew taken just before they were shot down
A Bomber Command Navigator and POW Stuart Gree
Flight Lieutenant Alan Green
CECIL BEATON PHOTOGRAPHS: GENERAL (D 4737) A portrait of the pilot and co-pilot in the cockpit of their No. 149 Squadron Wellington bomber, probably at RAF Mildenhall in 1941. The pilot is David Donaldson, who was promoted to Wing Commander in 1943 at the age of 28. The co-pilot Pilot Officer Geoffrey O'Neill Fisher. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205125098
Stirling & Welington
DUSK SHOT OF A WELLINGTON BOMBER (CH 10183) Original wartime caption: (Picture issued 1943) A dusk shot of a Wellington bomber seen from under the nose of a giant Stirling. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205449867
Navigator Alan Green was flying in this Short Stirling W7530 when it was shot down over Holland. Source IWM
ROYAL AIR FORCE BOMBER COMMAND, 1942-1945. (COL 201) Groundcrew refuelling Short Stirling Mark I, N1601 'E', of No.1651 Heavy Conversion Unit, from an AEC 6x6 petrol tanker at Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205212315
BRITISH AIRCRAFT IN ROYAL AIR FORCE SERVICE, 1939-1945: VICKERS WELLINGTON. (ME(RAF) 3703) Two Wellington Mark ICs, Z8797 ?A? and Z9095 ?D?, of No. 38 Squadron RAF, in flight over the Western Desert, probably while based at Shallufa, Egypt. These aircraft were specially converted for use as torpedo bomber/minelayers by the Squadron. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205208831

About the speaker - Stuart Green

My father’s love of aircraft definitely rubbed off on me, as I have enjoyed a 34 year career in aviation in a variety of roles including, ground operations, working for an international aviation organisation, flying instructor for RAF cadets and Captain on the B737 and A320 for a major UK airline. I am currently working as an Associate Lecturer at Bucks New University in High Wycombe, teaching Human Factors and Sustainability in Air Transport.

In my spare time, I am continuing my research into my father’s role in Bomber Command and I would also like to look into my Uncle’s role as a Major in the Chindits in WW2.

International Bomber Command Centre
Our speaker's chosen chosen military charity for this talk
SIGNAL CITY; WHERE THE WRENS HANDLE THE NAVY'S SECRET MESSAGES. OCTOBER 1942, GREENOCK. SIGNAL CITY, THE BUSIEST NAVAL STATION OUTSIDE THE ADMIRALTY, IS SITUATED IN THE GROUNDS OF AN OLD HOUSE IN THE NORTH. 200 WRENS WORK THERE, UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE SIGNAL COMMANDER, ALONG WITH A FEW NAVAL SIGNALMEN. THE WRENS: WIRELESS TELEPHONISTS, CYPHER OFFICERS, TELEPRINT OPERATORS, DISPATCH RIDERS, ETC HANDLE HUNDREDS OF VITAL MESSAGES DAILY. SIGNAL CITY WAS SPECIALLY DESIGNED BY THE SIGNAL COMMANDER. (A 13711) Teleprinting plays an important part in the network of naval communications. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205146982
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P-38 Lightning crews of the 55th Fighter Group are briefed at Nuthampstead air base. 12th November 1943. © IWM FRE 161
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