St Edward's Rhubarb 2018

6 ST EDWARD’S r h u b a r b

Flying a Lancaster 75 years after Gibson  CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF THE RAF

F E AT U R E S

Flight Lieutenant Seb Davey Interviewed by Jenny McCarter

We had been thinking about how to mark the 100th Anniversary of the RAF and the 75th Anniversary of Operation Chastise in r h u b a r b this year, when a chance conversation resulted in the email address of the pilot of the sole airworthy Lancaster in the UK, Flight Lieutenant Seb Davey. Although not an OSE, it was an opportunity to speak to a pilot who could give us an insight into flying such an iconic plane 75 years after the famous raid on the German dams. Incidentally, he also piloted the Dakota that flew over St Edward’s as part of our 150th Anniversary celebrations in 2013! – Ed.

Operation Chastise, better known as the Dambusters Raid, was the attack on the Möhne, Edersee and Sorpe dams in the Ruhr Valley in Germany in May 1943. Nineteen Lancaster bombers from 617 Squadron carrying Barnes Wallis’ ‘bouncing bomb’, led by OSE Wing Commander Guy Gibson (A, 1932-1936), took off in three waves on the night of 16th May. Gibson was in the first wave and his aircraft (G for George) was first to attack the Möhne dam. It took five aircraft to breach the dam causing a hole that was 200 ft. wide, approximately the same width of the Quad at St Edward’s. The Eder was attacked by the remaining aircraft and collapsed in the early hours of the 17th. The Sorpe dam was bombed but remained intact. 133 aircrew took part, 53 men were killed and three were taken prisoners of war. It has been estimated that 1,600 civilians drowned in the flood water and although impact on industrial production was limited it did not return to normal until September. The surviving aircrew returned as heroes and Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the raid.  Flight Lieutenant Seb Davey very kindly invited Sqn Ldr Nick Coram-Wright (CCF Contingent Commander), Cadet Sanders Lau (currently in the Lower 6th) and the Editor to RAF Brize Norton, where he is stationed and flies the A400M (a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed to replace

older transport aircraft like the Hercules) as his day job. Before the interview Nick and Sanders were shown around the £25-million- pound A400M simulator used to train pilots and then allowed up close to the real thing on the airfield.  Seb is part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) aircrew which operates out of RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire. The BBMF is flown by regular serving RAF aircrew who mainly fly the BBMF aircraft in their own time. The fighter aircraft types (Spitfire and Hurricane) are flown by modern RAF Fighter Pilots, whilst the Dakota and Lancaster are flown by RAF pilots with a background on heavy, multi-engine aircraft. Seb flies the Lancaster and also the Dakota which makes him rather unique as a pilot who flies both the oldest air transport aircraft in the RAF fleet and the very newest. The RAF BBMF has an estimated budget of £9 million per year and their mission statement is “to maintain the priceless artefacts of our national heritage in airworthy condition in order to commemorate those who have fallen in the service of this country, to promote the modern day Air Force and to inspire the future generations.” What first interested you in planes and flight? Like most small boys, I decided that I wanted to be a train driver when I grew up, but aged eleven I was sent as an unaccompanied minor

Sanders, Seb, Nick and A400M