11th day of 11th month

 My grandfather was in the RCN assigned to HMCS Niobe during the great war and was in Halifax to witness the Halifax Explosion of December 6th 1917. My father served in the RCAF as a tail gunner of  a Lancaster bomber during WW2. He remained in service with the Royal Canadian Engineers until his retirement in 1968.

My grandfather as a young man in the RCN

At 66 years of age I count myself very fortunate never having to experience the traumas they lived. I grew up in relative comfort and peace. Thank you to all who have served or continue to serve. 

My Dad and his fellow crewmates, serving with
626 Squadron of the Royal Air Force

Dad with his wartime service medals
displayed under his Air Gunner Wing

Two of my father's crewmates received the DFC for actions in March 1945.

 London Gazette (July 20th 1945) F/O James Carlyle FISK (J89475), 626 Sqn being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Flying Officer Fisk has completed numerous successful operational sorties and has at all times shown the utmost determination to engage the enemy. In March 1945 he was returning from a successful mine-laying sortie in Baltic waters when his aircraft was attacked by an enemy fighter. Due entirely to Flying Officer Fisk's determination and his skillful handling of the aircraft the enemy aircraft was shot down in flames. Immediately after this incident another fighter was sighted which shadowed his aircraft with great persistence. This attacker was eventually shaken off. Throughout this incident and in all his sorties Flying Officer Fisk has displayed able captaincy and gallantry.

F/O James POLLOCK (J37724) - also received the Distinguished Flying Cross - No.626 Squadron - Award effective 8 September 1945 as per London Gazette dated 25 September 1945. Citation as follows: As air bomber this officer has completed numerous sorties. On one sortie in March 1945, an enemy aircraft was sighted. Flying Officer Pollock immediately manned his guns and attacked the aircraft which was seen to burst into flames. His action probably saved his aircraft and the lives of his crew. Flying Officer Pollock has always shown tenacity and skill and has been a great asset to his crew.

Operational Sorties preformed by 626 Squadron between November 1943 and the end of the war. The squadron flew 2,728 sorties during the war for the loss of 49 aircraft. In addition another 11 aircraft were non-operational losses. 

October 22nd 1944: F/Sgt Earl William Bock

My middle name is Earl and 78 years ago tonight Earl William Bock, a young man of 21 died as a result of enemy action over the skies of Germany. He was one of my two namesakes, my grandfather, the other. This past summer my sister mentioned that Earl was the best man at our parent's wedding. 

The 626 Squadron Operations Record Book RAF Form 540 (The Squadron Diary) records that F/Sgt Earl William Bock was posted into 626 Squadron with his crew on the 2nd September 1944 from 11 Base. F/Sgt Bock was the Rear Gunner and altogether flew 11 operational sorties.

Dave Stapleton of the 626 Squadron Research Project kindly forwarded to me the following report on F/Sgt Bock's final mission some years ago. I first posted this in 2009 on the 65th anniversary of F/Sgt Bock's death. RAF Wickenby was located NE of Lincoln, England and was home to No 12 and later to both No 12 and 626 Squadrons.

On the 22nd October 1944 the crew took off on their 11th operational sortie in Lancaster LM689 UM-N2. The task on this sortie was mine laying in the Kattegat area and only two 626 Squadron Lancasters were detailed to fly on this operation; they were part of a force of 20 Lancasters and 19 Halifaxes. The aircraft took off at 16.27 hrs.

At 20.21 hrs on the homeward bound leg of the sortie the aircraft was attacked by an unidentified enemy aircraft at close range from below and dead astern. The Mid Upper Gunner fired 100 rounds in the direction of the trace (tracer bullets from the enemy aircraft) and he observed a long burst from the rear turret before the Rear Gunner F/Sgt E W Bock stopped firing. It was later found that F/Sgt Bock had been killed by cannon fire from the enemy aircraft.

The Lancaster was riddled with 19 x 20mm cannon shells along the length of the fuselage, the port aileron had been shot away and the intercom was unserviceable. The bomb doors had also been blown open. The aircraft made a safe landing at RAF Woodbridge on its return. RAF Woodbridge was one of three airfields constructed in the south-east of England in 1943 to assist damaged aircraft to land on their return from raids over Germany.

Earl Boch rests in the Brookwood Military Cemetery,
like another 100,000 Canadian servicemen, far from home.

My father, like his friend served as a tail gunner with 626 SQD and often wondered why he made it, while others like Earl did not. He was tormented for many years by memories of his wartime service.

So on this upcoming Remembrance Day, during the two minutes of silence please give thoughts or a prayer to a memory of a young man whose life was cut short so long ago, and all the others who did not have a chance to live a full life.

Earl Bock's name is displayed on page 252 of the World War Book of Remembrance on May 27th each year and or may be visited at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial. 

Earl's nephew Art Osborne maintains a webpage in memory of his uncle. It is from here that I downloaded the picture at the top of my post.

https://www.artosborne.com/family-military-history/flight-sergeant-earl-bock/