Air Gunner W/O Robert Henry James Gill ~ DFM
This Website is dedicated to the Memory of Air Gunner ~ Warrant Officer Robert Henry James Gill, DFM 1923~2020 and all the RAF Bomber Command Personnel who took part in the 1939-1945 conflict.
W/O ‘Bob’ Gill, of 1663 HCU, 158 & 35 Squadrons – one of the Last Surviving Heroes from Bomber Command, died just a few weeks short of the 75th Anniversary of VE- Day. Flight Sergeant Robert ‘Bob’ Gill, from London, was awarded the DFM for his role in the Allied Bombing Campaign against Berlin’s War Machine having flown on 48-Operations when the odds of Survival were in single figures for Rear Gunners. He was just 17 when he signed up to join the RAF while he was evacuated from London during the Blitz and became a Rear Gunner in Halifax & Lancaster Bombers – Britain’s Main Striking Force on German Industry.
Warrant Officer ‘Bob’ Gill was a ‘Tail-end Charlie’, the Rear Gunner in a Lancaster Bomber from 35 Squadron on the Nuremberg Raid in March 1944, a Pathfinder Unit whose job was to ‘Light the Way’. With the Distinguished Flying Medal to his name, the retired Surrey Accountant summed it up succinctly: ‘It was just a Disaster.’ Surveying the German Countryside from the Tail-end of a Lancaster that Night he would describe his Comrades’ Funeral Pyres stretching back 60-miles into the distance. By the time he was 21, Bob had flown 48 Missions over occupied Europe (Bob relished the Adventure & volunteered for a further 15 Missions after he had completed his Regulation 45-Operations (for Pathfinder Crews), He was Shot-down some 5-mins from England near Dunkerque on the 3rd Misson of his Added Tour). Having survived the Attack, he became a PoW and endured the deadly ‘Long March‘ away from the advancing Red Army in the Winter of 1945.
The son of a Bookmaker, Bob trained Post War as an Accountant and worked for a Shipping Company and later for Lloyds Bank in the City of London, where he was Manager until he retired aged 62. Throughout his life, he remained close to the RAF, as Secretary of the Air Crew Association, Treasurer of the RAF Association Club at Kenley Airfield and raising money for the Soldiers, Sailors & Airmen Families Association [SSAFA]. ‘He went to lots of RAF Dinners,’ said his daughter Jo. ‘He was invited to Garden Parties at Buckingham Palace because of his Services to Charity. ‘He had a lot of old friends from the War most of which died before him.’ She added: ‘He was the sort of Character that you thought would never die. He was my Hero and the grandchildren’s Hero.’
Known as a great Raconteur, he was one of the 4-Veterans of Bomber Command who appeared on an ITV Documentary about the Air War against the Nazis. Sadly Bob did not live to see VE-Day marking 75-yrs since the end of War. Flight Sergeant Bob Gill, DFM, died aged 96, on 3rd March 2020 after a short illness. He was one of the Many not of the Few.
After his ‘Ab Initio’ Training Bob Gill Qualified as an Air Gunner on the 2nd November 1942 (some 7 Months before his 1st Sortie) and this would have been followed by a spot of Leave perhaps and then returning to an Operational Training Unit (OTU) for 5-Day Crew Training in Air Gunnery Flying in perhaps a Vickers Wellington 1.C Bomber with Hawker Hurricanes making simulated Attacks & Operations (Bullseye’s). Then Crew Training at a Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) before joining Sgt A V Hardy’s Aircrew with 158 Squadron Flying the Halifax. 19th May 1943, the Crew Posted to RAF Lissett nr Bridlington, Yorks with 158 Squadron. Did Cross Country Flights to RAF Linton on Ouse North Yorkshire on 22nd, 23rd & 25th May 1943
1st 7 Operational Sorties from RAF Lissett – Bob Gill
1- Dusseldorf 25/26th May 1943 158 Sqn Halifax NP-F Bob as Rear Gunner
Essen 27/28th May 1943, 158 Sqn Halifax NP-F Bob as Rear Gunner.
Wuppertal 29/30th May 1943, Halifax NP-F Bob Gill as Rear Gunner.
Dusseldorf 11th June 1943 Halifax NP-F Bob Gill Rear Gunner
5 – Bochum 12th June 1943 Halifax NP-F Bob Gill Rear Gunner
Le Creusot 19th June 1943 Halifax NP-F Bob Gill Rear Gunner
Krefeld 21/22nd June 1943 158 Sqn Halifax – ‘F’ HR837
Last 40 Operations with 35 Squadron, RAF Graveley – Pathfinders
Mulheim 22nd June 1943 Rear Gunner, Pilot was Sgt A Hardy. Halifax Mk.ll HR837 NP-F
Hamburg 27th July 1943 Halifax Rear Gunner
10 –Hamburg 29th July 1943 Halifax Rear Gunner
Hamburg 2nd August 1943 Halifax Rear Gunner
Peenemunde 17th August 1943 – 35 Squadron Rear Gunner
Nuremberg 27/28th August 1943. Bob Gill, Rear Gunner
Munchen Gladbach -30th August 1943
15 –Berlin 31st August 1943 Pilot Archie Vernon Hardy, Bob Gill Rear Gunner
Manneim 5th September 1943 Pilot Archie Vernon Hardy
Boulogne 8/9th September 1943 Special Target – Coastal Gun Positions
Kassel 23rd October 1943 Halifax Rear Gunner
Dusseldorf 3rd November 1943 Halifax Rear Gunner, F/S A V Hardy Pilot
20 – Cannes 11th November 1943, Halifax Rear Gunner
From 3rd November to 22/10 Training Flights with Hardy in Halifax
Berlin 22/23 November 1943, Halifax Rear Gunner
Berlin 23/24November 1943, Halifax Rear Gunner
Frankfurt 25th November 1943 Halifax Rear Gunner
Frankfurt 20th December 1943 35 Squadron Halifax rear gunner.
25 –Magdeburg 21/22nd January 1944
Heligoland 27/28th January 1944
Berlin 28/29th January 1944
Berlin 30/31st January 1944
Berlin 15th February 1944, Halifax Rear Gunner P/O A Hardy Pilot
30 –Leipzig 19th February 1944 Halifax Rear Gunner
Stuttgart 20th February 1944, Halifax Rear Gunner
Schweinfurt 24th February 1944, Halifax Rear Gunner
Augsburg 25th February 1944, Lancaster Bob Gill Rear Gunner
Stuttgart 1st March 1944, Lancaster Rear Gunner P/O A V Hardy Pilot
35 –Stuttgart – 11th/12th March 35 Squadron Lancaster
Frankfurt 24th March 1944 Lancaster rear gunner P/O AV Hardy Pilot
Nuremburg 30th March 1944 35 Squadron Lancaster Rear Gunner
Lens 10th May 1944 – Railway Yards
Hasselt 11/12th May 1944 Lancaster Bob Rear Gunner Flt/Sgt A V Hardy Pilot
40 –Mardyck 28/29th May 1944 Lancaster Rear Gunner:- Gun Emplacements
Trappes 2/3rd June 1944 Lancaster Bob Gill as Rear Gunner
Foret de Cerisy 7/8th June 1944 – 35 Squadron Lancaster Fuel Dumps & Tank Depot. Pilot S/L G F H Ingram with Bob Gill as Mid Upper Gunner
Avranches 7/8th June 1944 – Fuel & Ammo Dumps? (44) Wing Commander: Rosslyn Chares Crabbe (Pilot) Bob Gill Rear Gunner
Évreux 11/12th June 1944 Pilot S/L G F H Ingram with Bob Gill Mid-Upper Gunner
45 –Arras 12/13th June 1944 35 Squadron Lancaster. Pilot S/L G F H Ingram Bob Gill Mid- Upper Gunner
Evrecy 14/15th June 1944 – 35 Squadron Pilot G F H Ingram with Bob Gill as Mid Upper Gunner
Sterkrade 16/17th June 1944 in the Ruhr (47) 35 Squadron Lancaster with Pilot S/L G F H Ingram & Bob Gill as Mid-Upper Gunner
Final Op 48 Coubronne , 23rd June 1944, V-1 Launch Site – Shot Down, Pilot S/Ldr G F H Ingram KIA. Bob Gill as Mid-Upper Gunner,
RAF Graveley 35 Squadron Pathfinder – Lancaster ND734, TL-H Crew
Bob’s Rank of Warrant Officer is worth a few moments thought.
The RAF originally used the Ranks of Sergeant-Major 1st & 2nd Class which it inherited from the Royal Flying Corps. These Ranks wore the Rank Badges of the Royal Coat of Arms (commonly referred to as the ‘Tate & Lyles’ – a reference to the similarity to the Logo used by the Tate & Lyle Co) and the Crown respectively. In the 1930s, it changed to the Army-style Warrant Officer Class I & II. In 1939, the RAF abolished the Rank of WO.II and retained only the WO.I Rank, referred to simply as Warrant Officer (WO), which it remains to this day. The RAF has no equivalent to WO2 (NATO OR-8), an RAF WO being equivalent to WO1 in the Army, Royal Navy & Royal Marines (NATO OR-9) and wears the same Badge of Rank, the Royal Coat of Arms. Warrant Officers are addressed as “Sir” or “Ma’am” by other Ranks & “Mr or Ms -Name-” or “Warrant Officer -Name-” by Officers. RAF Warrant Officers do not hold Appointments as in the Army or Royal Marines. However, the Station Warrant Officer is considered “1st amongst Equals” by the other Warrant Officers on an RAF Station. Warrant Officers are the highest Non-commissioned Rank and they Rank above Flight Sergeants. In 1946, the RAF renamed its Aircrew Warrant Officers ‘Master Aircrew‘, a designation that still survives. In 1950, it renamed Warrant Officers in Technical Trades ‘Master Technicians‘, a designation that only survived until 1964. The most Senior RAF Warrant Officer is the Chief of the Air Staff’s Warrant Officer.
All Warrant Officers are different from the Ranks below & above them. They are not Commissioned; they are not saluted and cannot be promoted to Commissioned Rank. In order to move from Warrant Officer to Pilot Officer you must surrender your Warrant and be appointed to a Commission – it’s not a simple Promotion in the same way as Corporal to Sergeant, or Pilot Officer to Flying Officer. At the same time, a Warrant Officer is also different from the Stripe bearing Ranks of Flight Sergeant & below. A Warrant Officer, like a Commissioned Officer, is Granted a Special Appointment to issue Commands in the name of a Higher Authority. In the RAF then a Warrant Officer was issued a Warrant by the King, hence the RAF Slang ‘Tate & Lyles’ Badge which is the King’s Personal Coat of Arms.
“It is one of life’s unfairness’s that the Public to this day, cherishes the RAF’s Wartime Fighter Pilots with an uncomplicated enthusiasm that does not extend to the Bomber Crews who showed equal Courage and suffered far Heavier Losses.” – Sir Max Hastings.
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Air Gunner Bob Gill DFM 