George Grundy, Flight Engineer
George Grundy, the flight engineer, was, like his pilot and navigator, a Yorkshireman, and like them came from a poor working-class family. 21 years old at the time of the crash, he hailed from Eccleshill, a suburb of Bradford, about twelve miles west of Harrogate.
His parents never had much money to spend on George and his brother and sister. George was a very clever lad, always top of his class at school, but, as was so common in that era, economic necessity forced him to leave school at an early age. Just fourteen, he obtained an apprenticeship as a joiner and shop fitter, and with the scant wages he earned as an apprentice did the best he could for his family. His brother, Alan, would always remember George buying his sister Joyce a party dress that she needed and paying for her to go on school trips despite the fact that it left him with hardly any money for himself.
George volunteered for the RAF as soon as he could, joining in August 1941, at nineteen years of age, as a flight mechanic specialising in air frames. Twenty-two months later, when the RAF asked for volunteers to become flight engineers, he began to train as aircrew.
The position of flight engineer had been set up after the RAF had decided it could no longer afford the loss of so many second pilots. The flight engineer sat together with the pilot in the cockpit, constantly watching the complex series of instruments in the Lancaster, monitoring the four engines and the electrical system, checking and logging the fuel supply. He also checked the course, height and airspeed, and generally acted as the pilot's right-hand man.
Lastly, he was trained in basic flying techniques 'just in case', and would occasionally take over the Lancaster's controls on cross-country practice flights.
Dark-haired with grey eyes and a cheerful smiling face, George was a good-looking fellow. At five foot five, though, he was no taller than Leslie, the rear-gunner. Ted's height must have been striking in contrast to what was in the main a very short crew.
His parents never had much money to spend on George and his brother and sister. George was a very clever lad, always top of his class at school, but, as was so common in that era, economic necessity forced him to leave school at an early age. Just fourteen, he obtained an apprenticeship as a joiner and shop fitter, and with the scant wages he earned as an apprentice did the best he could for his family. His brother, Alan, would always remember George buying his sister Joyce a party dress that she needed and paying for her to go on school trips despite the fact that it left him with hardly any money for himself.
George volunteered for the RAF as soon as he could, joining in August 1941, at nineteen years of age, as a flight mechanic specialising in air frames. Twenty-two months later, when the RAF asked for volunteers to become flight engineers, he began to train as aircrew.
The position of flight engineer had been set up after the RAF had decided it could no longer afford the loss of so many second pilots. The flight engineer sat together with the pilot in the cockpit, constantly watching the complex series of instruments in the Lancaster, monitoring the four engines and the electrical system, checking and logging the fuel supply. He also checked the course, height and airspeed, and generally acted as the pilot's right-hand man.
Lastly, he was trained in basic flying techniques 'just in case', and would occasionally take over the Lancaster's controls on cross-country practice flights.
Dark-haired with grey eyes and a cheerful smiling face, George was a good-looking fellow. At five foot five, though, he was no taller than Leslie, the rear-gunner. Ted's height must have been striking in contrast to what was in the main a very short crew.
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Edward Thackway, Jack Powell, George Grundy, Peter Hughes Mack, Robert Anthony Lawrence, Leslie Laver, Leslie Kenneth Alexander Grant, 97 Squadron, 16/17 December 1943
Edward Thackway, Jack Powell, George Grundy, Peter Hughes Mack, Robert Anthony Lawrence, Leslie Laver, Leslie Kenneth Alexander Grant, 97 Squadron, 16/17 December 1943
Aircrew on Berlin op - December 16/17 1943