Squadron Leader Tony Iveson DFC AE, now aged 89 and Chairman of the Bomber Command Association, joined Flight Lieutenant Mike Leckey in the cockpit of PA474 'City of Lincoln' Lancaster for a symbolic flight over the Newark Air Museum during a re-dedication service of the memorial plaque to the crew of 619 Squadron Lancaster ME846.
The flight took place as the Bomber Command Association and The Daily Telegraph newspaper launched a campaign to raise £2million for a national monument in central London to pay respect to the Bomber Command unit who lost over 55,000 personnel during World War Two. See Related News >>>
The last time Squadron Leader Tony Iveson flew a Lancaster bomber on operations, in 1945, his aircraft was shot-up by a German fighter over Bergen resulting in three of his seven crew bailing out, believing the aircraft was about to crash. Sqn Ldr Iveson, however, managed to fly the damaged plane back to the UK where he made an emergency landing on Shetland. This heroic courage on that day earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross.
During the war Sqn Ldr Iveson flew more than 20 missions over enemy territory with the 'Dambusters' 617 Squadron, prior to which he had also fought in the Battle of Britain with RAF Fighter Command as a Sergeant pilot, flying 616 Squadron Spitfires out of Kenley.
Speaking after his flight last week Tony said:
"Having the controls of the aircraft again affected me in a way that I hadn't really expected. Thinking about it now, I really don't know how we did what we did, particularly pilots with much less experience than me, whose average age was 20.
"It's a sobering thought that we lost three and a half thousand of these [the aircraft]. The flight has made me realise for the first time in fifty years just how lucky I am, because no matter how skilful you were, it was the luck of the draw whether you survived. It just makes me all the more determined to ensure we build a memorial to those 55,000 who didn't make it back."
To read more about Sqn Iveson's experience flying the Battle of Britain Flight Lancaster see Related News >>>