Daniel Swift - ABC Conversations with Richard Fidler Daniel Swift - Conversations with Richard Fidler When Daniel Swift was contemplating becoming a father, it got him thinking about the grandfather he never knew, WW2 bomber pilot James Eric Swift. Broadcast date: Thursday 2 June 2011 James Eric Swift flew his last bombing mission over Germany in June 1943, when his plane was shot out of the sky. Daniel and his dad travelled to the beach in Holland where his grandad was washed ashore and to where his remains are buried. As he researched the last months of his grandfather's life, Daniel - an English Professor and lover of poetry - wondered about the initial lack of memorable poems from the war. He sees that while the best poetry of the First World War came from the trenches, it was the bombing campaign that generated the most powerful poetry of the Second.
Daniel Swift - ABC Conversations with Richard Fidler Daniel Swift - Conversations with Richard Fidler When Daniel Swift was contemplating becoming a father, it got him thinking about the grandfather he never knew, WW2 bomber pilot James Eric Swift. Broadcast date: Thursday 2 June 2011 James Eric Swift flew his last bombing mission over Germany in June 1943, when his plane was shot out of the sky. Daniel and his dad travelled to the beach in Holland where his grandad was washed ashore and to where his remains are buried. As he researched the last months of his grandfather's life, Daniel - an English Professor and lover of poetry - wondered about the initial lack of memorable poems from the war. He sees that while the best poetry of the First World War came from the trenches, it was the bombing campaign that generated the most powerful poetry of the Second. Details of the above loss...... 11-12 June 1943 83 Squadron Lancaster I R5686 OL-G Op. Munster Took off from Wyton at 2322 hrs. Crashed in the sea off Holland. Two bodies were washed ashore; S/L. Swift lies in Bergen op Zoom War Cemetery, while Sgt. Anderton rests in Bergen General Cemetery. having been found near Bergen aan Zee on 14 August 1943. The others are commemorated on the Runnymede memorial. Crew. S/L. J E. Swift DFC + Sgt. N. Greenwood + F/L. C V J. Geary + F/O. D O. Thomas + F/O. C G. Miller RCAF + Sgt. J J. Anderton + Sgt. C A. Nash RCAF + Details from 'Bomber Command Losses' Vol.4 - W R. Chorley. ........................... The Münster Raid 11-12 June 1943 72 aircraft - 29 Lancasters, 22 Halifaxes, 21 Stirlings - were dispatched on an interesting raid. All the aircraft were provided by No 8 Group and it was really a mass H2S trial. 33 of the aircraft carried markers or flares, the remaining aircraft acting as the bombing force, although the marker aircraft also bombed. The marking and bombing were very accurate and the whole raid lasted less than 10 minutes. Photographic reconnaissance showed that much damage was done to railway installations in Münster as well as to housing areas. Unfortunately the raid was expensive for the small force involved; 5 aircraft - 2 Halifaxes, 2 Lancasters and 1 Stirling - were lost, 6.9 per cent of the aircraft involved. 'The Bomber Command War Diaries' - M. Middlebrook / C. Everitt
is this the same james eric swift??? my grandma was engaged to him. hard to read the writing on the back of the old photo. but same name and day of death on the back of the photo. we were not aware of any children though
