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Celebrating inspirational RAF service this International Women's Day
To mark International Women's Day 2018 we share the story of RAF Benevolent Fund beneficiary Rose Davies. Like so many of her generation, Rose doesn't think her story is worth telling but the 101-year-old WAAF veteran is modestly underplaying her vital role in the D-Day landings and the two honours she received as a result.
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Bomber Command's key role in D-Day
In an exclusive extract from the memoirs of the late Dambusters pilot Les Munro, he tells the story of the confusion created by brave Lancaster pilots who, flying without cover, created the impression the Allied Forces were attacking a different region of France.
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Remembering the veterans of D-Day
Sergeant Lee Wrake joined the RAF at the age of 19. On 6 June 1944 he landed on Omaha Beach, and after saving a man who was hit in the stomach, he himself was hit in the chest by shrapnel.
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Why the men of Bomber Command must never be forgotten
Before any troops even set foot on the beaches on 6 June 1944 Bomber Command had already lost almost 300 aircraft and 2,000 men (1,500 killed) attacking invasion targets. Wing Commander John Bell MBE tells us about the significant contribution made by the RAF and Bomber Command in D-Day and why it must never be forgotten.
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"What a sight it was to look down and see so many boats, like a giant armada!"
Flying Officer Bunny Mason, 90, was a lone rear gunner on the Stirling Mk 4, which was specially adapted for D-Day to tow gliders over the Normandy beaches. The British Airspeed Horsa glider was used to transport paratroops and equipment, hundreds landing within just a few square kilometres once they were released.
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Spearheading the attack on Fortress Europe
Spearheading the attack on Normandy was just the start of Geoff Packham's extraordinary experience as the end of the war approached.
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"Abandon aircraft chaps"
Navigator John 'Jack' Lott had just celebrated his 25th birthday weeks before D-Day, sadly this was the last birthday he would celebrate.
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Decoys and deception
Decoys and deception were just as much a part of the D-Day campaign as the fighters in the air and the troops on the ground. Operation Taxable was conducted on 6 June 1944 and involved aluminium foil being dropped from 16 Lancasters which acted as a 'window' and blocked German radar. Wing Commander John Bell MBE was a Bomb Aimer with 617 Squadron and he recalls what it was like on that night.
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"I heard the roar of an approaching fighter plane"
LAC Eric Reedman, 91, landed on Gold Beach on 16 June 1944 where his unit, Advanced HQ, 80 Wing made their way two miles inland to Tour en Besson. Although the Allied Forces were still advancing, Eric and his unit set up a convoy in the relative quiet of an orchard – until he found himself being shot at by enemy aircraft.
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"He screamed 'leave me, let me drown'"
Omaha beach was the largest of the five beaches and heavily fortified by the Germans. The Americans suffered huge losses here as they made their advance. Twenty-three-year-old Lee Wrake was transporting trucks onto Omaha beach when he was hit in the chest by shrapnel. Prior to that he had saved a man, who had been hit in the stomach, from drowning.
