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George
Isaacs was the joint owner, along with his elder brother, of a
small upholstery company in the East End of London and in 1940
this made him exempt from call up. He was one of four brothers
who served and survived the war without serious injury. His
younger brother serving in the BEF in France was later posted
as missing in action after Dunkirk, but eventually turned up
clinging to wreckage in the English Channel.
On
hearing this information, George decided to enlist and was
accepted into the RAF.He trained as a gunner and in 1943
joined 61 squadron as a Sergeant mid upper gunner in the
Lancaster crew of Pilot Officer Ward Parsons with whom he
completed a tour of 30 operations. George was born in
1910,which made him around ten years older than the rest of
the crew and earned him the nick name of "Pop".
Along with the rest of the crew George was decorated,
receiving his Distinguished Flying Medal from the King at
Buckingham Palace. As a Sergeant he received a bounty with the
DFM. Officers received a Distinguished Flying Cross and no
bounty. His commission finally came through and was backdated
to a date prior to the award of the medal. A letter from the
Air Ministry invited him to return his medal along with the
bounty in order to collect his DFC. George declined and
retained his DFM with pride, which remains a treasured family
memento.
The crew consisted of:
|
Name |
Service |
Trade |
|
P/O Ward C. Parsons |
RAFVR |
Pilot |
|
Sgt Alfred G. Mullins |
RAFVR |
Flight Engineer |
|
F/Sgt Robert Dyson |
RAFVR |
Navigator |
|
F/Sgt Frank Poole |
RAFVR |
Bomb Aimer |
|
Sgt “Nobby” Clark |
RAFVR |
W/Op/AG |
|
Sgt George Isaacs |
RAFVR |
M/U Gunner |
|
Sgt G Touse |
RAFVR |
Rear Gunner |
The crew is
mentioned in the book “Thundering through the clear air” by Derek Brammer with
P/O “Nobby” Clark DFC mentioned in the chapter “Air crew volunteered” Sergeant
Towse and F/Sgt Poole were later to lose their lives on
their second tour of ops. in 1944.
After a spell in a training role George
joined 223 Squadron at RAF Outon and flew Fortresses and Liberators in their
"Confound & Destroy" role, completing a second tour. He was
demobbed in late 1945.
George Isaacs passed away in 1977.
Photo
courtesy of George Isaac's son , research by Linda Ibrom
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