A SPECIAL ceremony was held today at Avoncroft Museum to unveil a blue plaque dedicated to Bromsgrove Dambuster Flt Lt William Townsend on the 80th anniversary of the Second World War bombing raids.
Flt Lt Townsend, who lived in Marlbrook Lane for more than 42 years, was part of RAF 617 Squadron which undertook ‘Operation Chastise’ on May 16, 1943.
Using a ‘bouncing bomb’ designed by Barnes Wallis, the aim of the raids was to target three dams along Germany’s River Rhur to breach the structures to flood German towns and villages, taking out water supplies and hitting the Nazis’ industry and engineering sites.
The Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams were targeted and on that night 19 Lancaster bombers carrying 133 air crew, along with their custom-made spherical bombs, set off.
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By the end of the operation, the Mohne and Eder had been breached as intended and the Sorpe had sustained minor damage but it had been at a cost – 53 air crew had been killed and three were held as prisoners of war.
Bill piloted one of the 19 Lancasters and made it back.
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At today’s ceremony, organised by the Bromsgrove Society and attended by four generations of Flt Lt Townsend’s family, RBL and RAFA representatives, veterans and invited guests, there was a parade by the Bromsgrove Royal British Legion.
Town Crier Kevin Ward read aloud the official Air Ministry communique released the morning after the Dambuster raids.
Jo Slade, the chairman of the Bromsgrove Society, gave a welcome speech and Mike Sharpe read aloud a brief account of Bill’s life and achievements taken from an article in the last Bromsgrove Rousler ahead of the raids’ 80th anniversary.
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Who was Flt Lt William Townsend?
William was born on January 12, 1921 in Gloucestershire and joined the army shortly after leaving school before transferring to the Royal Air Force in 1941.
He was selected for training and qualified as a pilot in early 1942. He joined Squadron 49 and by the end of March 1943 had undertaken 26 missions and was recommended for the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM).
Five of his regular crew joined him in the 617 Dambusters Squadron.
He, along with others, trained throughout April but because the dummy bouncing bombs were in short supply, the first time he dropped one was on the Dambusters Raid.
Bill took off from RAF Scampton in ED886G just after midnight on May 17.
His aircraft had a treacherous journey after getting caught in the beam of a searchlight, encountering a fire break and Townsend was said to have been ‘flinging the Lancaster around like a Tiger Moth’ to evade enemy flack and keep his crew safe.
After dropping his bomb at the third dam, which unfortunately fell short, he and his crew headed back to base, becoming among the first to see the damage inflicted on the two breached dams.
He successfully got his crew back, landing at 6.15am with his front gunner had describing Townsend’s piloting as ‘a piece of superb flying which had brought them home’.
He and the others were awarded the CGM for his bravery.
He flew five more operations for 617 Squadron before being posted to India as an instructor and remained in the RAF until 1946.
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He married his sweetheart Eileen in 1947 and they had three children.
He later studied in Oxford and went into business, before working for the Department for Employment in Bromsgrove.
He died on April 9, 1991, at the age of 70 and his funeral was held at Holy Trinity Church in Lickey before committal at Redditch Crematorium.
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William’s son Mike Townsend spoke about his father, who was also a volunteer at Avoncroft Museum, relaying an anecdote about how Bill used to tell visitors the windmill was haunted ‘to make the story about its past more interesting’.
He added Bill spent more than half his life in Marlbrook Lane so it was fitting the plaque was here in Bromsgrove.
Bill’s daughters unveiled the blue plaque which will be put on the house where the family lived in 42 Marlbrook Lane and the youngest person present at the commemoration was two-week-old Billy who is named after his Dambuster hero great-grandfather.
Scroll through the pictures at the top for more images of the day and click below to watch the ceremony in full which we broadcast live on the Bromsgrove Standard Facebook page.
