REID, William I (#61)

“Wounded in two attacks, without oxygen, suffering severely from cold,
his navigator dead, his wireless operator fatally wounded, his aircraft crippled
and helpless, Flight Lieutenant Reid showed superb courage and leadership
in penetrating a further 200 miles into enemy territory…”

“FLIGHT LIEUTENANT WILLIAM REID, who has died aged 79, won a Victoria Cross in 1943 for his heroism on a bombing expedition to Germany.

Flt Lt Bill Reid VC’s aircraft

On the night of November 3 1943, Reid was serving with 61 Squadron as captain of a Lancaster bomber on the way to Dusseldorf when it was attacked by a Messerschmitt 110 nightfighter as it crossed the Dutch coast.

Vertical aerial photograph taken over the centre of Dusseldorf at 11 pm on 10 September 1942, at the height of the major night raid by 479 aircraft of Bomber Command. Most of the area photographed is covered with widespread incendiary fires, from which flame and smoke are rising to obscure the target (WW2Today)

On the night of November 3 1943, Reid was serving with 61 Squadron as captain of a Lancaster bomber on the way to Dusseldorf when it was attacked by a Messerschmitt 110 nightfighter as it crossed the Dutch coast.

His windscreen was shattered, the plane’s gun turrets, steering mechanism and cockpit were badly damaged, and Reid himself sustained serious injuries to his head, shoulders and hands. The plane dived 200 ft before he managed to regain control.

Saying nothing about his injuries, Reid called his crew on the intercom for a damage report and proposed that they forge ahead regardless. As the Lancaster continued on its mission, it was soon attacked again, this time by a Focke-Wulf 190, which raked the plane with gunfire, killing Reid’s navigator, fatally wounding the wireless operator and knocking out the oxygen system. Reid sustained further injuries to his right arm, but still refused to turn from his target.

Sustained by bottled oxygen from a portable supply administered by his flight engineer, Sergeant J W Norris, Reid pressed on for another 50 minutes. He memorised the course to his target and continued in such a normal manner that the bomb aimer, cut off from the cockpit by the failure of the plane’s communications system, had no idea his captain was injured. After reaching Dusseldorf, he released his bombs right over the centre of the target – a ball bearing factory – then set course for home.

Semi-conscious at times, freezing cold because of his broken windscreen, and half blinded by blood from a head wound which kept streaming into his eyes, Reid, assisted by flight engineer Norris, somehow kept the plane in the air despite heavy anti-aircraft fire over the Dutch coast and the physical effort required to hold the control column steady.

As they crossed the North Sea, all four engines cut out and the plane went into a spin. Luckily Norris remembered in the nick of time that he had forgotten to change over the petrol cocks to a full tank, and swiftly rectified the fault.

Eventually they managed to find their way home, taking their bearings from the Pole Star and the moon. As he came into land at Shipdham air base, Reid had to use an emergency pressure bottle to hand-pump the undercarriage down, and this exertion and the aircraft’s descent into warmer air reopened his wounds. As the Lancaster touched down, the undercarriage collapsed and the bomber skidded along the runway for 60 yards before coming to a halt.

Portrait of William Reid VC (VC online)

His citation read: “Wounded in two attacks, without oxygen, suffering severely from cold, his navigator dead, his wireless operator fatally wounded, his aircraft crippled and helpless, Flight Lieutenant Reid showed superb courage and leadership in penetrating a further 200 miles into enemy territory to attack one of the most strongly defended targets in Germany, every additional mile increasing the hazards of the long and perilous journey home. This tenacity and devotion to duty were beyond praise.”

William Reid was born at Baillieston, Glasgow, on December 12 1921, the son of a blacksmith. He was educated at Coatbridge Secondary School and studied metallurgy for a time, but then applied to join the RAF.

After training in Canada, he received his wings and a commission in June 1942, then trained on twin-engined Airspeed Oxfords at Little Rissington before moving to OTU, North Luffenham. There, his skill as a pilot led to his being selected as an instructor, flying obsolete Wellington bombers, albeit with the promise of a posting to a Lancaster unit.

The posting did not materialise until July 1943, when he was sent to 1654 Conversion Unit, Wigsley, near Newark, where he flew his first operational mission as second pilot, in a Lancaster of 9 Squadron, in a raid on Munchen-Gladbach.

In September he was posted to 61 Squadron at Syerston, Newark, to commence Lancaster bombing operations, and flew seven sorties to various German cities before the raid on Dusseldorf.

Handley Page Halifax B Mark II Series I (Special), JB781 ‘KN-W’, of No. 77 Squadron RAF gathers speed on the runway at Elvington, Yorkshire as it takes off for a bombing raid on Dusseldorf, Germany. This was the first occasion on which more than 200 Halifaxes took part in a raid, of which 12 were lost. Extensive damage was caused to the centre of Dusseldorf, which suffered its most destructive attack of the war. The aerial of the ‘Monica’ tail-warning radar can be seen protruding below the rear turret of JB781. WW2 Today

After a period in hospital, Reid went to C Flight 617 (“Dambuster”) Squadron at Woodhall Spa in January 1944 and flew sorties to various targets in France.

In July 1944, 617 Squadron was linked with 9 Squadron for a “Tallboy” deep penetration bomb attack on a V-bomb storage dump at Rilly-la-Montagne, near Rheims. As Reid released his bomb over the target at 12,000 ft, he felt his aircraft shudder under the impact of a bomb dropped by another Lancaster 6,000 ft above. The bomb ploughed through his plane’s fuselage, severing all control cables and fatally weakening its structure, and Reid gave the order to bail out.

German ground forces seeking out an Allied bomber

As members of his crew scrambled out, the plane went into a dive, pinning Reid to his seat. Reaching overhead, he managed to release the escape hatch panel and struggled out just as the Lancaster broke in two. He landed heavily by parachute, breaking his arm in the fall.

Within an hour he was captured by a German patrol and taken prisoner. After various transfers, he ended the war in Luckenwalde PoW camp, west of Berlin.

Former headquarters building of Stalag III-A Luckenwalde, 2010, where Bill Reid VC was held as a Prisoner of War. (Max-78, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Reid left the RAF in 1946 and resumed his studies, first at Glasgow University and later at the West of Scotland Agricultural College. After graduating, he went on a travelling scholarship for six months, studying agriculture in India, Australia, New Zealand, America and Canada.

In 1950, he became an agricultural adviser to the MacRobert Trust, Douneside. From 1959 to his retirement in 1981, he was an adviser to a firm of animal feed manufacturers.

Reid took a deep interest in ex-servicemen’s associations; he was a member of the GC and VC Association and honorary vice-president of the Aircrew Association. He was president of the ACA’s Tay branch and its Scottish Saltire branch, and president of the Royal British Legion Scotland (Crieff) branch.

He always made light of his wartime achievements: “I don’t think I was a hero,” he said; “I don’t think of myself as a brave man. We were young. All we wanted was to get our tour over and done with.”

PAUL ANDERSON SCOT’S FIDDLE THE LAMENT FOR BILL REID VC

VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH BILL REID VC

When he married Violet Gallagher in 1952, he did not tell her of his VC.
She was, he confessed, “a wee bit impressed” when she found out.

Flt Lt William Reid VC Memorial Service Signed L Doyle Flight Engineer 617 Sqn 7 5 2002 Flt Lt William Reid VC Memorial Service Special Postmark. Picture Cachet of Flt Lt William Reid VC, Lancaster & VC Medal

William Reid VC (Imperial War Museums’ Oral History)

REEL 1 Aspects of enlistment and training with RAF in RAF in GB and US, 1941: reasons for enlistment, 1941; pattern of training as pilot with RAF in GB and US; conversion to Avro Lancaster. Story of winning Victoria Cross whilst flying with 61 Sqdn, No 5 Group, Bomber Command during raid on Dusseldorf, Germany, 3/11/1943. Aspects of operations as pilot with 617 Sqdn, No 5 Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 1/1944-7/1944: posting to squadron, 1/1944; composition of crew; bombing of tunnels containing V2 rockets at Rilly-la-Montagne, France, 7/1944; damage to aircraft and bailing out, 31/7/1944; nature of wounds and capture; fate of his crew. Recollections of period as POW in Stalag Luft III, Belaria and Stalag III A, Luckenwalde, Germany, 8/1944-4/1945: initial interrogation and removal to Brussels, Belgium; interrogation in Dulag Luft, Oberursel.

REEL 2 Continues: removal to satellite camp of Stalag Luft III at Belaria; morale of POWs; rations; German knowledge of his Victoria Cross; use of illicit wireless sets; mixing of old and new prisoners; removal to Stalag III A, Luckenwalde; contrast between camps at Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde and Stalag Luft III, Beleria; fear of being used as hostages; bartering with German civilians; desertion of guards on approach of Soviet Army; arrival of Soviet Army; Russian accounting for POWs; debriefing on return to GB; relations between POWs.

(Courtesy of the Imperial War Museum)