Death: Jul. 13, 1943
Bottesford
Lincolnshire, England
Casualty of WWII,Albert was a Sergeant/Navigator with 467 (R.A.A.F.) Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve~Service No:1551320.
He was 22 and the son of Albert and Frances Michaels of Glasgow; husband of Margaret Michaels of Glasgow.
No. 467 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force was formed at Scampton, Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom on 7 November 1942.On 23 November 1942 the squadron moved to Bottesford Airfield (known locally as Normanton Airfield) and commenced operations on 2 January 1943. After a year it moved to Waddington and remained there until the end of the war.Between January 1942 and April 1945, 467 Squadron flew 3,833 sorties in Avro Lancaster heavy bombers and suffered heavy losses - 760 personnel were killed, of whom 284 were Australian, and 118 aircraft were lost.Although 467 Squadron was formed as part of the Royal Australian Air Force, initially the majority of its members were recruited from the British Isles. Pilot Officer Chapman was from Western Australia however the rest of his crew were from Scotland. Cedric Chapman's grave is in the Australian Air Force plot in Botley Cemetery, Oxford. The graves of the other crew members are near their home towns.
On the night of 12th July, Lancaster LM311, better known as L Lizbeth, lumbered into the air from Bottesford airfield in England. She had apparently acquired her name from the fiancée of one the crew, she served as a WAAF driver on the base, another version of the story is that she was named after the mum of the youngest crew member,Sgt Patrick Donlevy, a 19-year-old Wireless Operator from the small village of Pathhead near Dalkeith in Midlothian. The aircraft although ‘Australian' was mainly crewed by Scotsmen, the pilot Sgt Cedric Chapman was the only Australian onboard, the others were Sgt Norman Smith, Bomb Aimer (21) from Edinburgh, Sgt Jack Greenwood, Flt Engineer (25) from Yorkshire, Sgt William Buchanan, Gunner (20) from Glasgow, Sgt Albert Edwards, Navigator (20) from Glasgow, Sgt William Bruce, Gunner (22) from Renfrewshire and Pat Donlevy.
The target was a distant one, the Italian city of Turin. It was their 14th sortie with the Squadron and their first to Italy; the rest had been against heavily defended German cities such as Dusseldorf, Cologne, Dortmund and Essen. The flight to Turin was fairly uneventful, but on the bombing run itself ‘Liz'beth' took a direct hit from an anti-aircraft gun which caused damage to the tail section. After checks were made, the pilot decided that he could fly the damaged plane back to England. Back at Bottesford the aircraft appeared back at base one by one, X-Ray, Able and Yorker flew back in rapid succession until all were back except L-Liz'beth.
Just as dawn was breaking, a voice was heard over the intercom in the Ops Room at Bottesford. It was Cedric Chapman, "Liz'beth to Bedrock, over." The operator responded "Liz,beth aerodrome 1,000 over" – "Liz'beth to aerodrome, 1,000, I have no elevator control, am flying on trimmer, over"
This was a serious problem, it meant the pilot had very little control of his height. Chapman gave his crew the option to bail out, but they had already decided to stay together as a crew.The pilot decided that despite the damage he could land the Lancaster at Bottesford, it was really his only option anyway, as he was down to the last 15 minutes of fuel. The tension in the control tower could be cut with a knife, Chapman asked for permission to ‘pancake' or land. He received the reply "Bedrock to Liz'beth , you may pancake, over" Chapman responded "Liz'beth to Bedrock, Roger thanks. Out" It would be the last words he would utter, as the Lancaster lined up on the runway Chapman went through all his pre landing drill, everything seemed fine, Wheels-check, Gyro – check, Mixture – Check, Flaps – Check. Just as the flaps lowered a shudder went through the aircraft and to their horror, they felt the tail of the plane break off, sending it into a vertical dive from a few hundred feet, and although a parachute was seen to come out the tail just as she struck the ground, it was too late. L-Liz'beth struck the ground and exploded in a massive fireball. The crash alarm screamed out across the base and fire engines descended on the burning plane, sadly it was obvious no one could have survived the impact or the fire. After the fire was doused the bodies of the men were recovered and sent home for burial. The crew are remembered at Bottesford where a picture of them hangs in the Council Chambers.
