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Geoffrey Womersley
| Group Captain Geoffrey Womersley DSO DFC (deceased) Geoffrey Harland Womersley was born on the 19th November 1914 at Bingley, Yorkshire. Geoffrey went to Bradford Grammar School and in 1936 joined the RAF and trained as a pilot at the RAFs flying school in Egypt. Geoffrey Harland Womersley joined No.102 Squadron flying biplane bombers. The squadron was re equipped with the Whitley bomber. Immediately after the outbreak of war he dropped propaganda leaflets over German cities and bombed the German seaplane bases on Heligoland and Sylt. On the night of May 11 1940, however, Womersley flew on the RAFs first raid on a German town, when 37 aircraft bombed road and rail links at Monchengladbach. The squadron supported the British Expeditionary Force and on 22nd May, his aircraft was hit by flak. Womersley and his crew were forced to bail out. On the ground he inadvertently stumbled into a group of German soldiers. Turning round and striding off in the other direction, he eventually came across some British soldiers. From there he managed to get to Paris and on to the last flight to England from Le Bourget airport. Womersley would go on to complete 30 operations, before becoming a bombing instructor. In August 1942 Womersley volunteered for the new Pathfinder squadrons, joining No 156, one of the Forces original four squadrons. In his Wellington he attacked targets in Germany and in Italy, dropping flares to illuminate the targets. In January 1943, whilst still a junior flight lieutenant, he was awarded a DSO. The citation concluded: He has displayed outstanding ability and pressed home his attacks with unusual courage in the face of enemy fighter and anti-aircraft opposition. 156 squadron was re-equipped with the Lancaster and Womersley went on to complete 25 operations during the Battle of the Ruhr. A few months after receiving his DSO he was awarded a DFC. In April 1943 he joined the air staff at Pathfinder headquarters, working directly for its commander, Air Vice-Marshal Donald Bennett. Ten months later he took command of No 139 Squadron. Womersley was promoted group captain to command the Pathfinder airfield at Gransden Lodge near Cambridge, and flew a number of operations with the resident RCAF Lancaster squadron. He left the RAF in November 1945. Donald Bennett in 1946 established British South American Airways, whose civilianised RAF bombers flew routes to the Caribbean and South America. Womersley along with many other Pathfinder Pilots joined the company. British South American Airways went on to use the Avro Tudor, one of which was lost without trace in the Bermuda Triangle. On May 10th 1954, following the British South American Airways merger with BOAC, Geoff Womersley would go onto to fly a Comet into Rome airport, where another crew took over for the flight to London. Disaster struck when soon after take-off the aircraft suffered an explosive decompression and crashed into the sea off Elba - there were no survivors. Geoffrey remained with the airline until 1968, retiring as one of its senior Boeing 707 captains. Geoff Womersley died on October 28th 2010. |
Items Signed by Group Captain Geoffrey Womersley DSO DFC (deceased) |
  | Clipped Signature - Geoffrey Womersley. Price : £45.00 | Flew biplanes then Whitley bombers with No.102 Sqn, bailing out while supporting the British Expeditionary Force but getting back to England. After 30 sorties he became an instructor before joining No.156 Pathfinder Sqn flying Wellingtons then Lanc...... | |
  | Winter Ops by Gerald Coulson (B) Price : £595.00 | Up to 1942 Bomber Command operations were beset by many problems. The means they had to accurately pinpoint the target and assault it were totally lacking, in fact their Commander in Chief, Air Marshall Arthur Harris later wrote : It was glaringly ob...... |
Packs with at least one item featuring the signature of Group Captain Geoffrey Womersley DSO DFC (deceased) |
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