| Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade 11:01 - Apr 26 with 1718 views | gerard1947 |
I've always meant to visit the small museum on the old WW2 airfield 3 or 4 miles from me. I went yesterday.
There is an aircrew whistle on display issued to Sergeant Alkemade who was a rear gunner in a Lancaster 115 Squadron flying from this airfield. On 23 March 1944 he left on his 13th mission part of a 811 strong force to bomb Berlin. At about midnight his plane was attacked by a Ju88, the Lancaster was hit and quickly caught fire. A Lancaster's rear turret is very tight so gunners couldn't wear a parachute, they used to hang them behind the turret. Before Sergeant Alkemade could reach his 'chute it had burst into flames. His goggles started to melt and his skin was burning. He had 2 options burn to death or jump. He jumped from 18000 feet (over 3 miles high!) with no parachute. He was unconscious before he hit the ground. After 3 hours he regained consciousness very cold but with everything working. He had fallen into a pine tree which broke his fall and then into thick snow.
He needed help and blew the whistle, he was found by Germans who initially thought he was a spy. He was taken to Stalag Luft 3 where he spent the remainder of the war. Of the rest of the crew, the pilot and 3 crew died, wireless op and navigator survived.
Nicholas died in 1987 in Cornwall.
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| Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade on 11:26 - Apr 26 with 1657 views | King_of_Portman_Rd |
Some truly fascinating stories when you visit the handful of WW2 airfield museums scattered around the county.
Some are well and truly 'hidden gems' of places as well with some incredible relics on display and a lot of respect needs to be paid to the countless volunteers who have worked so hard to make these stories accessible all these year later
Out of interest which airfield was it? My Local airfield museum holds an annual reunion and some of the American veterans still journey over (less each year) but their children & grandchildren are taking up the mantle & it is an incredible site when they have a B-17 and Spitfire fly over the old runway with the veterans saluting below |  | | |
| Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade on 11:28 - Apr 26 with 1648 views | BlueBadger |
| Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade on 11:26 - Apr 26 by King_of_Portman_Rd |
Some truly fascinating stories when you visit the handful of WW2 airfield museums scattered around the county.
Some are well and truly 'hidden gems' of places as well with some incredible relics on display and a lot of respect needs to be paid to the countless volunteers who have worked so hard to make these stories accessible all these year later
Out of interest which airfield was it? My Local airfield museum holds an annual reunion and some of the American veterans still journey over (less each year) but their children & grandchildren are taking up the mantle & it is an incredible site when they have a B-17 and Spitfire fly over the old runway with the veterans saluting below |
Not local to this area, but this is a fascinating story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Airmen |  |
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| Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade on 11:33 - Apr 26 with 1638 views | Swansea_Blue |
My grandfather was in the Lancasters, with an Aussie (I think) crew. He'd happily talk about his time training and his crew mates, but never any missions. He always told us he was the navigator, but just before he died we found some photos of him with his old crew mates and he was clearly wearing the bomb aimer insignia. He was a very gentle person, so I guess it was too hard for him to remember what he'd had to do. Those events clearly shaped his life - all very sad. |  |
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| Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade on 11:35 - Apr 26 with 1630 views | BlueBadger |
| Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade on 11:33 - Apr 26 by Swansea_Blue |
My grandfather was in the Lancasters, with an Aussie (I think) crew. He'd happily talk about his time training and his crew mates, but never any missions. He always told us he was the navigator, but just before he died we found some photos of him with his old crew mates and he was clearly wearing the bomb aimer insignia. He was a very gentle person, so I guess it was too hard for him to remember what he'd had to do. Those events clearly shaped his life - all very sad. |
My grandad was, I suspect, a similar type of chap to yours. He spent his war minesweeping in the Pacific. We'd a lot of memories of training, but very little as to what he saw once he was properly at sea. | |
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| Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade on 11:42 - Apr 26 with 1615 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade on 11:35 - Apr 26 by BlueBadger |
My grandad was, I suspect, a similar type of chap to yours. He spent his war minesweeping in the Pacific. We'd a lot of memories of training, but very little as to what he saw once he was properly at sea. |
Yep. We'd get the 'romance' of the camaraderie and their jolly japes and all that, but never the stuff that must have really left it's mark. I suppose former was the only way of coping with the latter.
He destroyed most of his stuff when he got back (the uniform when on a guy at bonfire night!). My mum only got what my gran managed to salvage and hide from him. Luckily the medals and just a few photos. My dad's been trying to piece together his time from war office records. But even though we've got his squadron details, it's surprising how little information they have about their service time. | |
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| Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade on 11:44 - Apr 26 with 1612 views | theblueginger |
I'm doing my MA Dissertation on the American pilots based here during WW2, there really is a plethora of information, fantastic stuff.
In one particular story 2 B-17's were in a mid-air collision whilst returning from a raid, with the ball turret of the aircraft above (the gunner was still inside) ending up punched through the fuselage of the plane below, protruding in front of the shocked radio operator. The two pilots managed to keep the conjoined planes flying straight long enough for everyone (including said gunner) to bail out. I believe most if not all survived.
There was another British airmen who was awarded the VC for climbing out onto the wing of his Lanc in mid-air and fighting an engine fire, buying time for most of the crew to escape. He apparently crawled out with his mate holding onto his parachute, and an extinguisher under one arm. He suffered burns and a broken arm but survived the war as a POW. [Post edited 26 Apr 2017 11:46]
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| Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade on 11:44 - Apr 26 with 1615 views | BlueBadger |
| Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade on 11:42 - Apr 26 by Swansea_Blue |
Yep. We'd get the 'romance' of the camaraderie and their jolly japes and all that, but never the stuff that must have really left it's mark. I suppose former was the only way of coping with the latter.
He destroyed most of his stuff when he got back (the uniform when on a guy at bonfire night!). My mum only got what my gran managed to salvage and hide from him. Luckily the medals and just a few photos. My dad's been trying to piece together his time from war office records. But even though we've got his squadron details, it's surprising how little information they have about their service time. |
The only bits of memorabilia my grandad ever kept was a few postcards and souvenirs from Sydney(he thought it was rather backward, which is quite a statement from a man who lived in Sudbury all his life) and my grandparents' wedding photo showing him in uniform.
We've genuinely got more from my nan's first husband who was killed in the beach landings at Normandy.
/edit - http://www.sudburysuffolk.co.uk/ww2/profile.asp?id=621 [Post edited 26 Apr 2017 11:49]
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