Tony Lawrence, Mid-Upper Gunner
Tony Lawrence, the mid-upper gunner, was just 20 years old at the time of the crash. He and Joe Mack, the W/OP were very close friends, probably because they came from very similar backgrounds.
Joe was very musical, Tony very artistic, neither was in the least bit academically inclined, and both came from prosperous middle-class families in business.
Tony's mother, Peggy, had at nineteen years of age been attractive, impetuous, and headstrong. Her family lived at Heath Lodge in Shurlock Row, a village in Berkshire between Windsor and Reading. In January of 1923, William Frederick Lawrence, a builder and decorator from Sidcup in Kent, came to work on the house. This handsome 28 year old charmed the daughter of the house so effectively that she soon became pregnant with Tony, her only child.
It is thought that William was bought off for £200, a huge sum of money in those days, the agreement being that he should marry Peggy and then leave her life for good.
Due to Peggy's various jobs with horses and dogs, Tony would be mainly brought up by his grandparents, Pang and Mabel, and would live with them at Heath Lodge.
Pang was his grandson's chief mentor and protector. He had a highly prized collection of valuable shotguns with which he taught his grandson to shoot. Tony soon became an absolutely lethal shot, and won competitions and certificates for his accuracy.
By the time he joined the RAF, Tony was a slim, tall and dramatically good-looking young man with auburn hair and blue-grey eyes.
Like many young men, he had been keen to get into action as soon as possible. Aged eighteen, he first enlisted in the Royal Navy in September 1942. Whether it had always been understood that he would eventually join the RAF is not known, but he was discharged from the service in mid-April 1943.
Joe was very musical, Tony very artistic, neither was in the least bit academically inclined, and both came from prosperous middle-class families in business.
Tony's mother, Peggy, had at nineteen years of age been attractive, impetuous, and headstrong. Her family lived at Heath Lodge in Shurlock Row, a village in Berkshire between Windsor and Reading. In January of 1923, William Frederick Lawrence, a builder and decorator from Sidcup in Kent, came to work on the house. This handsome 28 year old charmed the daughter of the house so effectively that she soon became pregnant with Tony, her only child.
It is thought that William was bought off for £200, a huge sum of money in those days, the agreement being that he should marry Peggy and then leave her life for good.
Due to Peggy's various jobs with horses and dogs, Tony would be mainly brought up by his grandparents, Pang and Mabel, and would live with them at Heath Lodge.
Pang was his grandson's chief mentor and protector. He had a highly prized collection of valuable shotguns with which he taught his grandson to shoot. Tony soon became an absolutely lethal shot, and won competitions and certificates for his accuracy.
By the time he joined the RAF, Tony was a slim, tall and dramatically good-looking young man with auburn hair and blue-grey eyes.
Like many young men, he had been keen to get into action as soon as possible. Aged eighteen, he first enlisted in the Royal Navy in September 1942. Whether it had always been understood that he would eventually join the RAF is not known, but he was discharged from the service in mid-April 1943.
Only one month later, on May 17th 1943, Tony joined the RAF as an Aircrafthand/Air Gunner. Seven months later to the day, he would be killed in the aircrash.
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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