Page 5 - Eddie L. Saslove

They were again in action on the night of the 2/3 January 1945, in a raid on
rd
Nuremberg. This was the last operation that they completed. Up to this point
they had flown two operations with 100 Squadron and nine operations with
576 Squadron.

th
On the night of the 7/8 January they took off from Fiskerton at 18.1pm in
Lancaster PA 173 to Munich. Shortly after bombing the Lancaster was
attacked and badly shot up by a night fighter. Both gunners, Pilot Officer
Campton and Flight Sergeant McClelland, were seriously wounded in the
attack and trapped in their turrets. The Lancaster was badly damaged and
well ablaze and Flying Officer Saslove ordered the four other members of the
crew to bail out. Without a thought for his own safety he courageously chose
to stay at the controls of his crippled aircraft in a valiant attempt make a crash
landing rather than leave his two gunners to a certain death in the doomed
bomber. As the last man left the Lancaster he looked up at his pilot and saw
Flying Officer Saslove wave goodbye, still in the pilot’s seat keeping the
aircraft straight and level.

The Lancaster crashed and exploded in flames in a farmer's field near
Munich. The gallant Eddie Saslove died in the crash along with the two
gunners he had selflessly given his life in an attempt to save. Had he chosen
to do so, he could have almost certainly saved himself by baling out with the
other surviving members of the crew. All three are commemorated on the
Runnymede Memorial to the missing.

The four men who baled out all survived and were taken prisoner. When
liberated they were able to tell their story and report the sacrifice of their pilot
to the authorities and to the Saslove family. Flying Officer Saslove received no
recognition for his act of bravery in spite of the efforts of his brother, Martin,
over a period of 40 years.

Both the British and Canadian governments ceased awarding medals for
gallantry in World War Two in 1950.

It is very unfortunate that the heroism of Eddie Saslove was never officially
recognised but this case must be typical of many similar cases, recorded and
unknown, involving aircrew who gave their lives whilst attempting to save their
comrades during World War Two.