Couper Allan Joseph 430013 NAV(B) 75(NZ) Squadron.
Odd Bod Allan Couper passed away on 21st October 2022 at the age of 97. Allan was a regular attendee at Odd Bod’s functions and will be sadly missed by members. Our sincere condolences go out to family & friends.
Allan was a WW2 veteran, serving in 75 (NZ) Squadron as a NAV(B). 75 Squadron was an RAF squadron with close ties to New Zealand and following WW2 the squadron name was bequeathed to the NZ government in recognition of outstanding service to the war effort.
From Wikipedia:75 (NZ) Squadron was engaged constantly against Germany from 1940 to VE day. The squadron flew more sorties than any other Allied heavy bomber squadron, suffered the second most casualties of all Allied squadrons, and dropped the second largest weight of bombs of any Allied squadron.
Avro Lancasters replaced the Stirlings in 1944 until August 1945 when after moving to RAF Spilsby the squadron began converting to Avro Lincolns.
Allan was the subject of a video interview concerning his wartime experiences and it contains some fascinating insights particularly concerning the trauma of bomber flying. Here is the link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYtFut9pLKY
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I recorded an audio interview with Allan in 2017 as part of the International Bomber Command Centre's Digital Archive project - a blog post about his story is here: https://somethingverybig.com/2017/01/08/ibcc-interview-10-allan-couper-75-nz-squadron-bomb-aimer/ and the interview itself can be found on the IBCC's website.
ReplyDeleteThanks Adam.