Bomber Command Aircrew Missing Out HCU

[andy bird]

How common place was it for Aircrew in Bomber Command to miss out going to a Heavy Conversion Unit ?

In researching Rear Gunner F/Sgt 'Bobby' Daniel's (ex Arsenal/Wales) it would appear that because his pilot Norman Warfield DFM was 'experienced' together with two other members of the crew. This newly formed crew went straight from 81 OTU to 561 Sqdn missing out the Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) for Lancaster's.

Warfield and his crew arrived on the 17 December 1943 as replacements with their first op on 23/24 December to Berlin which they did not return from, being one of the 5 aircraft that were shot down by flak.

Regards

Andy Bird

[Frasera]

Hi Andy,
Maybe more common than thought. Today I was researching a crew who arrived from 1657 HCU as a crew of five on a Stirling squadron. There was no 'extra' Flt Eng and Gunner, which they would normally have picked up at the HCU. Another example?

Alan