Guy Gibson remembered.

Memoriam to Guy Gibson on the 73rd anniversary of his death,homeward bound as Master Bomber on the raid to Rheydt.

 

I visited the cemetery at Steenbergen and crash site (which is now in the middle of an industrial zone) a couple of years ago.

 

Any credibility to this claim?

Dambusters hero 'killed by friendly fire'

 

I can't believe it's been seven years since I visited their graves.

Not Forgotten.

 

I have seen the claim before that Gibson's Mosquito was brought down by friendly fire and is feasible.

There was also claim that he ran out of fuel due to inadvertent maloperation of the fuel tank changeover.As it was fuel tank systems can be easily maloperated and those involved have to fully understand the system of main tank feeds together with reserve tank operation.The significant fact was that Gibson's Mosquito Mark XX (Packard built Merlin engines 31 or 33) was a Canadian built type,equivalent to the British B Mark 1V which had a different fuel feed/reserve tank system compared to the British built aircraft.Furthermore,Gibson,it is claimed had not had an endorsement to fly the Mosquito and it would appear that he forced his way back on to ops with No 627 Squadron at Woodhall Spa.Apparently Harris agreed to one more op but close to Allied lines that in case of an emergency,Gibson would land within Allied lines but that was not to be the case.

I think in the end Gibson was a complex character who found it difficult to divorce himself from the dynamics of air warfare.He saw his place and duty as an airman forever in the front line against the enemy......described as having a fierce aggressive urge.His "Enemy Coast Ahead" is a masterpiece in recording the events of the Bomber Command from September 1939 as a somewhat inferior bomber force to the introduction of the Lancaster by 1942 and the successful dams operation in May 1943.

His personality is explored against this background in Richard Morris's "Guy Gibson" which for those interested in Gibson and the RAF wartime Bomber Command has a must read status.

Regarding the graves of Guy Gibson and his navigator. Jim Warwick,I have a note that a Dutch couple Jan and Connie van-den Driesschen have looked after the graves for many years....I do not know if that is still the case.