The Yorkshire Air Museum has Europe’s only Halifax bomber. As MATT CLARK reports, after 70 years away, one of its crew members has returned to see his old cockpit.

FUNNY thing, luck. During the Second World War airmen paid it little heed, believing instead the much- chanted mantra: ‘‘When you’re your number’s up, it’s up.’’ Not Eric King, though. He said he is incredibly lucky to still be alive.

And with good reason. In the 1940s Mr King served as a wireless operator/air gunner with 158 Squadron at RAF Lissett, near Bridlington, where 850 of his colleagues failed to make it home.

He beat overwhelming odds. More than 55,000 airmen serving in Bomber Command lost their lives. It was a worse survival rate than infantry troops faced in the First World War trenches.

Mr King’s ‘‘office’’ was the wireless operator’s station. A tiny, cramped space under the pilot’s seat where he spent up to eight hours, not knowing whether each would be his last.

But Mr King did make it home, night after night. Thirty-nine nights to be precise. His reward was the Distinguished Flying Medal.

Unsurprisingly, he and his crewmates were superstitious.

“I used to tap the side and the ground crew would have bets on which would be the first aircraft back.

“Someone once said it won’t be a case of who is first back, but who is coming back. I thought, God Almighty.”

To make matters worse, Mr King’s crew took delivery of a new Halifax bomber bearing the registration F and on 158 Squadron that letter spelt jinx because in a shade under a year, seven aircraft named F for Freddie had been lost.

There was only one thing for it. They would have to make their own luck.

The skipper, Pilot Officer Cliff Smith, suggested breaking the curse by giving his plane the unluckiest name possible: Friday 13th.

To underline the point, it was painted with Grim Reaper decals and an upside-down horseshoe.

But not everyone was happy with the chosen design.

“The squadron leader came along after we had named it and Smithy had painted it.

“He said that if he ever had to fly in ‘that thing’, I would need a gallon of thinners first.”

Seventy years on Mr King, now 90, has been reunited with his old plane during a trip down memory lane to the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, where Friday 13th has pride of place.

He is the sole survivor of the crew who named her.

Over the years, there have been conflicting accounts of who named the aircraft. Some mention a certain Clifford MacDonald. Others doubt that, because he doesn’t appear in any of the records.

But during his visit, Mr King revealed the definitive answer.

“Actually, they were one and the same person.

‘‘Smithy, our captain, had married and, unusually, he took his wife’s surname.

“So Cliff Smith became Clifford MacDonald. Mystery solved.”

It was to prove a good choice of name. LV907 carried a number of crews during its operational life and went on to complete 128 missions, the highest tally of any Halifax bomber.

Friday 13th may have been a lucky aircraft but Mr King said it also held painful memories, such as his first mission over Berlin, which was literally a baptism of fire.

“As we got over the target there were anti-aircraft flares.

‘‘I had never seen a sight like it. It was terrible, not only for us but for those on the ground.

“At first we were just like kids, all enthusiastic and eager to get to work. But after five missions or so, the seriousness of the situation and the peril we faced began to sink in.”

It hit Mr King’s rear gunner, Stan Hardacre, harder than most. He only completed four operational missions with the crew before being overcome with fear and exhaustion.

But Mr King said the cockpit wasn’t only filled with fear.

“It was bloody cold and noisy. Sometimes it was so cold, we wished something would happen so we could get out.”

One night it did and Mr King recalled a narrow escape of his own when Friday 13th suddenly warmed up.

During a raid on a V1 rocket site the aircraft was hit by an anti-aircraft shell and burst into flames. Despite an exploding ammunition box and injured crew mates, Mr King, barely out of his teens, kept a cool head and helped to extinguish the blaze.

The crew then went on to complete their mission and return safely home.

But many weren’t so lucky “Some days, you would go in the mess and realise there were only half the number of people that were in there a couple of days before.”

One night Mr King heard the news he was dreading. One of his closest friends, Len Dwan, had been badly injured and bailed out of his plane.

“I presumed he had died, but could not find out much information about it. Then, many years later, I visited the 158 Squadron Memorial near Lissett and I saw his name there. It was a very emotional moment.”

As was Mr King’s trip to Elvington. “It’s been 70 years, but I have been longing to do this and it’s good to be back. I’m incredibly lucky to still be alive.”


The crew that named Friday the 13th

Captain: Pilot Officer Cliff Smith 
Navigator: Harold King
Bomb aimer: Keith Smith
Wireless operator/air gunner: Flight Sergeant Sgt Eric King
Flight Engineer: Rod Neary
Mid-upper gunner: Ron Clarkson
Rear gunner: Stan Hardacre