Lancaster Veteran Turns 100

Wartime hero Sqn Ldr (Ret’d) William ‘Geoff’ Green DFC recently celebrated his 100th birthday with members of RAF Leeming’s 100 Squadron.

Geoff as a flight cadet in 1940

Geoff was assigned to the legendary Phantom of the Ruhr Lancaster Bomber as a rear gunner in 1943 & went on to complete 51 operations. His tour of duty included operations over Berlin, Nuremberg, Peenemünde, Cologne, Turin & Milan.

Geoff’s log book is a stark illustration of the pressures under which bomber crews operated

On 7th October 1943, Geoff’s Lancaster was badly damaged during a raid over Stuttgart when it was attacked by a night fighter & flak. Bomb aimer Doug Wheeler was seriously wounded & the aircraft broke its back on landing. The crew would have bailed out over England but refused to leave Geoff when he couldn’t get the rear turret to rotate. The pilot, W/O Clark, was awarded the DFC & the flight engineer, Ft/Sgt Bennett was awarded the DFM.

The record of the Stuttgart raid in Geoff’s log book

On 14th November 1944, whilst on operations over Bochum, Geoff shot down an Me262 jet fighter for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. It was the first time that an aircraft of this type was downed by Bomber Command.

The record in Geoff’s logbook noting his receipt of the DFC

Geoff’s daughter, Laura, visited the Museum today (Thursday 13th February 2020) & brought her father’s log book, medals, & other artifacts with her. She kindly let us take some copies for our records & as part of her visit, Museum member John Hepple took Laura inside our replica Lancaster cockpit, S Sugar. Laura was absolutely thrilled as she has never been in a Lancaster before.

Geoff’s medals (from left to right): DFC, 1939-45 Star, Air Crew Europe Star (with France & Germany clasp), Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-45.

Laura with John Hepple in front of S Sugar

Laura with a photograph of her father

Our thanks go to Laura for sharing her father’s story & to Geoff, we live the life we do because of people like him.