Sean Feast
Welcome and thanks for coming to my site.
In writing Heroic Endeavour – my first book with Grub Street – I had the great privilege of meeting many of the veterans who took part in the battle described – the disastrous attack on the marshalling yards at Cologne/Gremberg. One of the most remarkable was Roy Last, and I was greatly saddened to learn of his death just before Christmas.
Roy was an air gunner, who began operating with 101 Squadron in May 1944, before transferring to Pathfinder Force, and had more than his fair share of scrapes along the way.
On one raid to Stuttgart in July 1944, Roy’s aircraft was hit, and he was thrown from his turret. The Lancaster was badly damaged and one of Roy’s closest friends was killed. Somehow the pilot managed to regain control of the aircraft and made it back to England for a crash landing. When they assessed the damage afterwards, the ground crews found 117 holes in the fuselage from canon and machine gun fire. They had a lucky escape.
On another raid in September, a daylight attack on Calais, they flew very low over the target and were immediately hit by flak. Roy was hit and badly injured in the leg. His crewmates knew he was in a bad way, and the pilot immediately turned for home. Again they were obliged to cash land and Roy was rushed to hospital where they removed a large chunk of metal shrapnel from his leg. (He told me he kept the piece afterwards).
He was out of action for two months, and when he did return he took part in the famous attack on Gremberg. Although Roy never received a medal for his 50+ operations, he was always immensely proud of his coveted Pathfinder Badge. And the thing that probably should be stressed the most, was that he was only 19 years of age.
| Churchill’s Navigator | Heroic Endeavour |
 The disastrous daylight Oboe raid on Cologne, December 1944 for which Squadron Leader Robert Palmer DFC was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross |
|
| Master Bombers | A Pathfinder’s War |
 The stories of the men and women of 582 Squadron Pathfinder Force (PFF) and the elite Master Bombers in the last year of war. |
 The remarkable life of Ted Stocker DSO DFC, Pathfinder flight engineer and survivor of more than 100 heavy bomber operations. |
| Carried on the Wind | Bomber Command: Failed to Return |
 The adventures and survival of a German-speaking 101 Squadron Special Duties Operator and crew on operations, 1943-44. |
 True stories of Bomber Command aircrew who failed to return from operations over Western Europe. |
