Joe Mack, Wireless Operator
At the time of the outbreak of war, on September 3rd 1939, Joe was seventeen years old. He had left school some three months earlier, and was then on a business course, prior to officially joining the very prosperous and succesful family company in April 1940.
Joe hated being tied down to anything serious; he loved clowning about and acting the fool. He had done extremely badly at his detested public school, Sedbergh, which is why his father had taken him away early. Joe's school reports had been almost uniformly appalling. His teachers, however, had acknowledged his exceptional aptitude for music, a near genius which had begun to show itself when he was only five years old.
Yet even here Joe shied away from anything serious and instead turned his talents to amusing people. He was a brilliant improviser, had an excellent voice, and could be extremely funny when in high spirits, showing off at the piano or with a trumpet. People loved his company and he made friends easily.
The family company, Andrew Chalmers, was a large imports firm specialising in tobacco. The prospect of being a tobacco merchant had never filled Joe with any degree of enthusiasm; he wanted to have a career in music but lacked the will to stand up to his practical father.
After the war he would go into the business and it would make him a wealthy man. But the RAF had been the biggest adventure of his life and nothing which came thereafter would ever equal its emotional impact.
Shortly after his nineteenth birthday, Joe joined the RAF Volunteer Reserves on 24th April 1941. He first began training as a navigator, but by March of 1942 the authorities had decided that he would not make the grade and that he should retrain as a wireless operator.
After many detours along the way, and two years of training, Joe finally arrived at No 17 Operational Training Unit, based at Silverstone between Banbury and Milton Keynes. This was where his real training for flying in heavy bombers would begin and where at last he would join his crew.
Yet even here Joe shied away from anything serious and instead turned his talents to amusing people. He was a brilliant improviser, had an excellent voice, and could be extremely funny when in high spirits, showing off at the piano or with a trumpet. People loved his company and he made friends easily.
The family company, Andrew Chalmers, was a large imports firm specialising in tobacco. The prospect of being a tobacco merchant had never filled Joe with any degree of enthusiasm; he wanted to have a career in music but lacked the will to stand up to his practical father.
After the war he would go into the business and it would make him a wealthy man. But the RAF had been the biggest adventure of his life and nothing which came thereafter would ever equal its emotional impact.
Shortly after his nineteenth birthday, Joe joined the RAF Volunteer Reserves on 24th April 1941. He first began training as a navigator, but by March of 1942 the authorities had decided that he would not make the grade and that he should retrain as a wireless operator.
After many detours along the way, and two years of training, Joe finally arrived at No 17 Operational Training Unit, based at Silverstone between Banbury and Milton Keynes. This was where his real training for flying in heavy bombers would begin and where at last he would join his crew.
At the time of the outbreak of war, on September 3rd 1939, Joe was seventeen years old. He had left school some three months earlier, and was then on a business course, prior to officially joining the very prosperous and succesful family company in April 1940.
Joe hated being tied down to anything serious; he loved clowning about and acting the fool. He had done extremely badly at his detested public school, Sedbergh, which is why his father had taken him away early.
Joe was neither academic nor gifted at sports, and his school reports had been almost uniformly appalling. His teachers, however, had acknowledged his exceptional aptitude for music, a near genius which had begun to show itself when he was only five years old.
Yet even here Joe shied away from anything serious and instead turned his talents to amusing people. He was a brilliant improviser, had an excellent voice, and could be extremely funny when in high spirits, showing off at the piano or with a trumpet. People loved his company and he made friends easily.
The family company, Andrew Chalmers, was a large imports firm specialising in tobacco. The prospect of being a tobacco merchant had never filled Joe with any degree of enthusiasm; he had wanted to have a career in music but had lacked the will to stand up to his practical father.
Andrew Chalmers was to keep him in considerable affluence all his life. But at seventeen years old, viewing the sensible but unalluring prospects before him, he must have thought there was a lot more in him than would ever be called forth by the tobacco business. It would be the war which would give him his one great independent chance to prove himself. The RAF would be the biggest adventure of his life, and nothing which came thereafter would ever equal its emotional impact.
Joe's life changed forever when, shortly after his nineteenth birthday, he joined the RAF Volunteer Reserves on 24th April 1941. He first began training as a navigator, but by March of 1942 the authorities had decided that he would not make the grade and should retrain as a wireless operator.
After many detours along the way, and two years of training, Joe finally arrived at No 17 Operational Training Unit, based at Silverstone between Banbury and Milton Keynes. This was where his real training for flying in heavy bombers would begin and where at last he would join his crew.
Joe was neither academic nor gifted at sports, and his school reports had been almost uniformly appalling. His teachers, however, had acknowledged his exceptional aptitude for music, a near genius which had begun to show itself when he was only five years old.
Yet even here Joe shied away from anything serious and instead turned his talents to amusing people. He was a brilliant improviser, had an excellent voice, and could be extremely funny when in high spirits, showing off at the piano or with a trumpet. People loved his company and he made friends easily.
The family company, Andrew Chalmers, was a large imports firm specialising in tobacco. The prospect of being a tobacco merchant had never filled Joe with any degree of enthusiasm; he had wanted to have a career in music but had lacked the will to stand up to his practical father.
Andrew Chalmers was to keep him in considerable affluence all his life. But at seventeen years old, viewing the sensible but unalluring prospects before him, he must have thought there was a lot more in him than would ever be called forth by the tobacco business. It would be the war which would give him his one great independent chance to prove himself. The RAF would be the biggest adventure of his life, and nothing which came thereafter would ever equal its emotional impact.
Joe's life changed forever when, shortly after his nineteenth birthday, he joined the RAF Volunteer Reserves on 24th April 1941. He first began training as a navigator, but by March of 1942 the authorities had decided that he would not make the grade and should retrain as a wireless operator.
After many detours along the way, and two years of training, Joe finally arrived at No 17 Operational Training Unit, based at Silverstone between Banbury and Milton Keynes. This was where his real training for flying in heavy bombers would begin and where at last he would join his crew.
PAGE TAGS
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