Page 14 - Dennis R. Girling

Remaining RAF service

At the beginning of April 1945, for reasons unknown, Dennis was transferred to ‘B’
Flight and a new crew, which I believe was mostly Canadian, replacing their flight
engineer, Sergeant H. Bell. The new crew was:

Flight Lieutenant A.J. Wegren - Pilot
Sergeant D.R. Girling - Flight Engineer
Sergeant A.M. Baird - Air Bombardier
Flying Officer J.N Runciman - Navigator
Sergeant J.W.L Davie - Wireless Operator
Sergeant W.M. Temple - Mid Upper Gunner
Sergeant P.A. Furlong - Rear Gunner

Dennis was replaced in Flying Officer Callington’s crew by Sergeant E. Martindale
and the rear gunner, Sergeant Thompson was also replaced, by Sergeant D.
Prestwich. In what seems like a bit of a crew merry-go-round, Martindale and
Prestwich do not appear on any crew lists before the change, and neither Bell nor
Thompson appear afterwards.

With his new crew, Dennis flew a further two bombing operations, followed by 2 ops
in Operation Manna – dropping food supplies to Dutch civilians – and a further one
involving the repatriation of POWs. All bar one of these flights was in Lancaster
IQ-T, NX583 (built at Longbridge as part of the same contract, but the previous
batch, as NX611, ‘Just Jane’, now at The Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage at East
Kirkby). His other operational flight was the only one he made in a Lancaster MkIII,
RF245, IQ-Z.

th
Dennis’s final flight was a 1-hour formation exercise in IQ - T on 20 May 1945. It
was the last flight he ever took, either in military service or as a civilian.

Dennis finished his service with 150 Squadron at the end of May 1945. He
completed a driving course at Weeton, near Blackpool in September 1945,
significant only because it was at Blackpool that he met Vera Firth, who had worked
at A.V. Roe in Yeadon, and who would later become his wife.

In December 1945 he was posted overseas, along with many other RAF personnel.
His overseas service was carried out in the Far East:

Tambaram, India, December 1945 – March 1946
Hong Kong, April 1946 – August 1946
Kuala Lumpur, August 1946 – April 1947

Much of his time in the Far East was spent as driver for his Commanding Officer.

He returned home in May 1947, when he was given 72 days’ leave and
then de-mobbed.