A fine Second War Pathfinder’s D.F.C. group of five awarded to Lancaster mid-upper gunner, Flight Lieutenant T. L. Tracey, Royal Air Force, who flew in at least 63 operational sorties, 29 of which were in Wellingtons with 101 Squadron, including the Thousand Bomber Raid to Cologne, 30 May 1942. After flying one sortie to Essen whilst stationed with an O.T.U., Tracey went on to fly the remainder of his sorties with 7 Squadron, Path Finder Force. Often employed as a Marker Crew, and on occasion as a Master Bomber crew, Tracey’s 2nd tour of operations provided many hair-raising experiences - in particular after returning from a raid on Stuttgart, 28 July 1944, during which Tracey had contributed to shooting down an enemy night fighter, the crew were forced to make an emergency landing at Bradwell Bay with the undercarriage down, engine damage, tyre blown on one wheel and ‘several inches of petrol slopping around in the wireless operator’s area’

Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated ‘1944’, in Royal Mint case of issue; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, 1 clasp, France and Germany, small traces of verdigris; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaf, generally good very fine (5) £2,400-£2,800

D.F.C. London Gazette 14 November 1944, the original recommendation states:

‘This officer has completed 45 operational sorties of which 15 have been made in Path Finder Force, 13 of them being in a marker crew.

As mid-upper gunner he has always displayed great skill. His extreme sense of duty and his application to this task on hand has resulted on several occasions in his evading fighter attacks, and his fine capabilities have been an asset to the crew.’

M.I.D. unconfirmed.

Thomas Leslie Tracey joined the Royal Air Force as a Leading Aircraftman, and carried out training as an Air Gunner at No. 8 A.G.S., Evanton from May 1941. After further training at No. 11 O.T.U., Tracey was posted for operational flying with 101 Squadron (Wellingtons), Oakington in September 1941. He flew in at least 29 operational sorties with the Squadron, including: Cherbourg; Emden; Le Havre; Antwerp, 2 October 1941 ‘Left large fires, Little Flak but came back with large shell hole’ (Log Book refers); Cologne (5), including 30 May 1942, the first Thousand Bomber Raid; Frankfurt; Berlin; Hamburg (4), including 14 January 1942 ‘Bombed 1650. Shot up. Nav. wounded’ (Ibid); Brest (2); Dusseldorf; Paris; Lubeck; Essen; Dorgland; Baltic; Bolougne; Frisians; Wilhelmshaven; and Duisberg (2).

Tracey was posted to No. 26 O.T.U. at the end of August 1942, and whilst stationed there took part in a raid on Essen, 16 September 1942. He served as an instructor, advanced to Warrant Officer, and then was commissioned Pilot Officer in February 1944. Tracey returned to operational flying as a mid-upper gunner with 7 Squadron (Lancasters), Oakington in July 1944. The Squadron operated as part of No. 8 Group, Path Finder Force, and Tracey was crewed with Squadron Leader R. P. Todd, D.F.C., A.F.C. as his pilot. He flew in at least 33 operational sorties with the Squadron, including: Noyelle en Chaussee; Stuttgart (3); Foret de Nieppe; Foret de L’Isle Adam; Blaye; Foret de Mormal; La Pallice; Foret de Montrichard; Soesterberg; Kiel (3); Sterkrade; Russelheim; Deuf de Ternois; Emden; Le Havre (3); Kamen; Munster; Boulogne; Domburg; Calais (2); Emmerich; Wilhelmshaven; Bochum; and Gelsenkirchen.

The three raids on Stuttgart, 24, 25 and 28 July 1944 are recalled by the Navigator R. H. Smith in No. 7 Bomber Squadron RAF in World War II, by T. Docherty:

‘The crew were R. P. Todd, pilot; R. H. Smith, navigator; R. Martin, flight engineer; Stanton, wireless operator; Drinkwater and Tracy [sic], gunners; Grant, bomb aimer and Talbot, radar operator.

On the 24, 25 and 28 July 1944 Bomber Command attacked the city of Stuttgart. R. P. Todd’s crew took part in all three attacks. Their duty was to drop marker flares to guide the main force of bombers to the target. The 24th operation took seven hours, thirty minutes, the one of the 25th eight hours, ten minutes; the extra time was due to engine trouble. The aircraft they flew was NE2122:V. For the 28th operation they were again allocated NE122:V. They air tested it for an hour in the afternoon after the engineers had checked it, and took off for Stuttgart at 2240hrs carrying one 4,000 pound bomb and four 1,000 pound target indicators.

The Luftwaffe was well prepared to oppose the attacking force, having been warned by the previous two attacks. It was a moonlit night and the German fighters were very active. It was later estimated that about 200 fighters were employed. Sixty-two of the bomber force were lost (which was the third heaviest loss of the war). During the run to the target many air combats and ground fires were seen.

The crew of NE122 were briefed to drop their markers visually and to facilitate this they were to locate the small town of Pforzheim which gave a good return on the H2S radar, and there set up a piece of equipment called a ground position indicator (GPI). This threw a spot of light on a target chart. The spot moved along giving the aircraft’s position. The distance to fly was about 15 miles; about four minutes time. During this action the aircraft had to be held straight and level. What happened during the run-in is described in the official combat report... What follows is a first-hand account compiled from the memories of the pilot, the flight engineer and the navigator, Richard Smith:

“After setting up the GPI over Pforzheim I was giving the pilot direction instructions. The bomb aimer was lying prone over his bombsight and also pushing out handfuls of window... Suddenly there was an explosion on the starboard side. Also a tremendous racket as the gunners fired their eight Browning machine-guns causing empty .303 cartridges to cascade from the mid-upper turret [Tracey] and rattle against the inside of the fuselage. Also there was a lot of noise over the intercom as the gunners called for evasive action. The aircraft dived violently to starboard and I watched the navigator’s altimeter record a loss of 4,000 feet.

The aircraft filled with smoke and the captain gave the order to abandon. My immediate reaction was to grab and fix my parachute and make for the lower escape hatch ready to leave the aircraft as soon as the bomb aimer opened the hatch. We learned later that the hatch could not be opened because the parcels of window were lying across it. The bomb aimer was desperately flinging the parcels out of the way and they were bursting open as he flung them. Suddenly the hatch came open and a blast of freezing air blew through the opening carrying with it masses of strips of tin foil. I was standing in a direct line with the blast and was covered in the stuff. While this was happening the pilot had regained control. The engineer had operated the starboard inner engine fire extinguisher and the captain had cancelled the abandon order. All the crew was still aboard, which fact was probably due to the delay caused by the blocked escape hatch.

The Lancaster was settled in straight and level flight, the starboard inner propeller feathered to reduce drag and the crew gradually resumed their stations and regained some of their composure. The bomb load was still aboard and could not then be dropped because the bomb doors could not be opened.

We were now some distance away from the target and the position was not known with any accuracy. The important thing was to be heading in the right direction, so a course was set it the westward. The main compass system had gone u/s in the dive, so we were reduced to using the standby compass, which was not linked to the H2S radar, which was therefore useless. The aircraft was now flying steadily at about 10,000 feet and everyone was gradually recovering his wits and starting to think straight once more.

In the event of another fighter attack we had very little defence. The gun turrets could only be operated manually and any violent evasive action was not possible on three engines. The captain decided that we would stay with the aircraft as long as possible.

The westerly course was held for about two hours, when we saw searchlight activity ahead, which coincided with the estimated position of Paris... By this time we had begun to hope that we might reach the French coast. Shortly after this I was delighted to see signs of signals on the Gee navigation system and was able to get a position line which confirmed our DR position.... about three hours after the fighter attack we crossed the French coast near Le Havre.

The captain decided to try and get rid of the bomb load by dropping it fused safe into the English Channel. The bomb doors were opened manually and the load was jettisoned. I do not remember the height at this time but we were low enough for the bomb aimer to see that one of the bombs exploded. When the bombs were jettisoned the undercarriage came down and could not be retracted. The effect of this was to reduce the speed, but increasing the engine revs enabled us to maintain height at around 4,000 feet....

We crossed the English coast somewhere near Brighton above and into the cloud.... We were in touch with the emergency landing ground at Manston in Kent, which was equipped with the FIDO blind landing system.... Arriving over Manston the controller told us over the R/T that the cloud base was 300 feet but the weather was clearer to the north of the Thames estuary. Dawn was breaking and we could see we were above a sheet of unbroken cloud. I can remember the controller’s words. ‘All right lads. I will find you a home.’ He then gave us a course and distance to steer. I plotted the course on the map and saw that it met the coast of Essex about 30 miles north-north-west of Manston.... There ahead was an airfield and they were giving us a welcome green landing light.

I cannot remember whether we made a preliminary circuit of this airfield, or whether we went straight in, but the pilot made a rather heavy but safe landing. The screech of tyres as we touched down was the most beautiful sound we had every heard.

We climbed thankfully out. The assembled ground crew told us that we were at Bradwell Bay. It was 0610hrs, seven hours, thirty minutes since we had taken off from Oakington. For all of us the most memorable seven and a half hours of our lives, still vividly remembered over fifty years later.’

Tracey records the above operational sortie in his Log Book thus, ‘Ops Stuttgart. Fighter destroyed. Engine on fire. Force landing. Drinkwall Bay.’

On 24 September 1944, one of the trips to Calais listed above, the crew served as Master Bomber for the raid. This was to be Tracey’s last operation with Todd as his skipper:

‘We arrived at the target area to find the cloud base was in the region of 1,500 feet. We flew across below the cloud to assess the situation and were met by intense and accurate flak. The aircraft was hit several times, the flight engineer receiving a wound. Some of the flight instruments were rendered u/s.

The captain in his role of master bomber decided to call off the operation because the conditions due to cloud and flak opposition made accurate marking difficult. We circled the area for fifteen minutes giving the Main Force the agreed call sign for cancellation.

In view of the damage the aircraft had received the captain decided to jettison the bomb load and then land the aircraft at the emergency landing ground at Woodbridge, Suffolk..... As we approached to land at Woodbridge the controller warned to look out to avoid an obstruction on the runway. This was done and we noticed that the obstruction was a crashed American Liberator....

Paul Todd landed NE122:V safely if somewhat heavily and the crew were quickly out. We then saw that the pilot was still sitting in his seat. He was quickly assisted from the aircraft and only then were we aware that he had received a wound in the calf of his leg.... The boot was tightly strapped above the wound and the tight strap had served to staunch the blood, which would normally have flowed from such a bad wound. He had said nothing about this injury whilst circling the target cancelling the operation for fifteen minutes, flying to the jettisoning spot and landing the aircraft at Woodbridge.’ (No. 7 Bomber Squadron RAF in World War II, by T. Docherty refers)

Tracey was posted to No. 26 O.T.U. in April 1945, advanced to Flight Lieutenant in February 1946, and relinquished his commission in September 1956.

Sold with the following related documents and items: Royal Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book (29 May 1941 - 26 October 1945); Path Finder Force Badge Award Certificate, dated 10 November 1944, with Path Finder Force Badge, in gilt metal; and extensive copied research.