DETAILS
Cawdery, very unusually, was a prewar pilot, of about 31 years of age; most of his contemporaries were either dead or had already finished their tours. His crew were all youngsters, of 19 to 21 years old, and they used to get joshed for the age of their skipper - "What on earth are you flying with an old man like that for? What right has he to still be alive?" However, they were to be amongst the few who would survive their Pathfinder tour. On this night, their luck was in as usual. Arthur Tindall, the wireless operator, remembers this night as their "longest trip ever to Berlin". By the time they landed at Bourn, they had been in the air for 7 hours 45 minutes.
It was 12.35 when the crew landed after their third attempt at SBA. It was not actually the pilot, Cawdery, who was flying but the second dickey, Flight Lieutenant Clarke. He had been the crew's instructor at No 14 OTU, and he had come to 97 Squadron to do his second tour - as was customary, his first trip out was made as second pilot. Cawdery had handed him control sometime before the end of the trip, so that he could get some practice. Clarke muffed the first two attempts to land using SBA, and then offered to let Cawdery take over the controls. Cawdery with supreme coolness of nerve replied, "No, you've got the practice in now", and at his last attempt Clarke landed the plane without mishap.
It was 12.35 when the crew landed after their third attempt at SBA. It was not actually the pilot, Cawdery, who was flying but the second dickey, Flight Lieutenant Clarke. He had been the crew's instructor at No 14 OTU, and he had come to 97 Squadron to do his second tour - as was customary, his first trip out was made as second pilot. Cawdery had handed him control sometime before the end of the trip, so that he could get some practice. Clarke muffed the first two attempts to land using SBA, and then offered to let Cawdery take over the controls. Cawdery with supreme coolness of nerve replied, "No, you've got the practice in now", and at his last attempt Clarke landed the plane without mishap.
Jake Peden
Ken Swale
E H Hansen
Arthur Tindall
E F Cawdery
James McGregor
J Pearsons
CAPTAIN: CAWDERY
LANCASTER (Black Thursday) - JB470 OF-T
16/17th December 1943 - landed safely at Bourn
CREW
Pilot: S/L EF Cawdery
2nd Pilot: F/L E Clarke (Clarke crew link)
Flight Engineer: Sgt J Pearsons
Navigator: Sgt Ken Swale
Believed killed with Pilot Pete Drane (in an 8 Group Mosquito Sqd) 15-Jan-45, buried in Chesterfield (Boythorpe) Cemetery
Bomb Aimer: F/O Jake Peden
W/Op: Sgt Arthur Tindall
Mid-Upper Gunner: Sgt James Harvey McGregor
Killed 31-May-44 in air crash whilst at OTU Chipping Warden,
buried in Wick Cemetery
Rear Gunner: F/S EH Hanson
LANCASTER (Black Thursday) - JB470 OF-T
16/17th December 1943 - landed safely at Bourn
CREW
Pilot: S/L EF Cawdery
2nd Pilot: F/L E Clarke (Clarke crew link)
Flight Engineer: Sgt J Pearsons
Navigator: Sgt Ken Swale
Believed killed with Pilot Pete Drane (in an 8 Group Mosquito Sqd) 15-Jan-45, buried in Chesterfield (Boythorpe) Cemetery
Bomb Aimer: F/O Jake Peden
W/Op: Sgt Arthur Tindall
Mid-Upper Gunner: Sgt James Harvey McGregor
Killed 31-May-44 in air crash whilst at OTU Chipping Warden,
buried in Wick Cemetery
Rear Gunner: F/S EH Hanson
CREW: E F Cawdery, E Clarke, J Pearsons, Ken Swale, Jake Peden, Arthur Tindall, James Harvey McGregor, E H Hanson, 97 Squadron
Aircrew on Berlin op - December 16/17 1943