Posted on 06/06/2007 7:39:35 AM PDT by Borges
A war hero who became the RAF's most decorated air gunner has died at the age of 87. Wallace McIntosh from Aberdeen survived 55 World War II missions as a Lancaster rear gunner in Bomber Command's 207 Squadron.
Flying Officer McIntosh is believed to hold the record for downing the most enemy planes from a bomber, with eight confirmed kills and one 'probable'.
He died on Monday from Lung cancer at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Mr McIntosh was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross twice - the RAF's highest honour for bravery - for bombing raids between 1943 and 1944.
In one mission he shot down three German fighter aircraft as his Lancaster bomber carried out a raid on enemy armour during preparations for the Normandy landings.
His efforts earned him a rare telegram of congratulations from the leader of Bomber Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris.
'Against the odds'
Mr McIntosh was born in a barn near Tarves, Aberdeenshire, in 1920.
He was brought up by his grandparents after his teenage mother abandoned him.
According to his 2003 biography, Gunning for the Enemy, he joined the RAF at the height of the war to escape from the poverty of life as a farm labourer.
During the war, he was based at RAF Langar in Nottinghamshire and RAF Spilsby in Lincolnshire.
RAF spokesman Michael Mulford described Mr McIntosh as a "true hero".
Lancaster bomber crews suffered extremely high casualty rates
He said: "Anyone who flew in Lancasters during the bombings knew the odds were against them.
"Your life was on the line every moment. To do the job as well as he did was truly exceptional.
"He did that 55 times and lived to tell the tale.
"You had to be very highly skilled to be able to fire these guns when your own aircraft is bouncing about twisting and turning."
Lancaster crews faced some of the most hazardous conditions during WWII with tail gunners particularly exposed.
The 207 Squadron alone lost 1,007 men.
One of Mr McIntosh's three children, Mary McIntosh, 44, said: "We never really became aware of his achievements until after he retired.
"He had a very hard start to life and did well to overcome that."
His funeral is expected to be held at Dyce Parish Church.
Thank you Mr. McIntosh for your service. You have more than earned your rest.
God bless him. He has earned a new set of wings.
Wow. 55 missions as a rear gunner??? You use us a lot of luck doing that just once. May you fly with the angels once again.
Wow. 55 missions as a rear gunner??? You use up a lot of luck doing that just once. May you fly with the angels once again.
bump
This is more amazing considering that RAF Lancasters used 0.303 caliber machine guns for their turrets, which had a lot less hitting power than the 0.5 caliber machine guns used on American bombers.
*And* he made ace to boot - despite the fact that he wasn’t flying the plane.
I’m reading a book by Ernie Pyle - “This Is Your War” and am just now in the part dealing with what a hard time the pilots in WWII had. - Those who served in WWII paid such a high price and we owe them so much.
But they had four of them in the rear turret, I believe. That is a lot of lead going out.
I recently read “The Wild Blue” by Stephen Ambrose. I was surprised by how high the casualty rate was in the bomber groups.
RIP.
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