F/S W A Steel RNZAF and crew - 103 Squadron - 1943.
Bill Steel, a New Zealander, and his crew were posted to 103 Squadron in March 1943. Bill was born at Gisborne - 13/8/16 and enlisted in RNZAF - 9/11/41. He trained as pilot in New Zealand and was promoted to Sergeant at end of his training at 1 SFTS Wigram on 13/6/42 before embarking to the UK.
This crew was mostly RAFVR and consisted of –
Sgt W A Steel – Pilot.
Sgt T W Beautyman – Flight Engineer.
Sgt F D Mitchell – Air Bomber.
Sgt K R Fee – Navigator.
P/O H C Baylis – Wireless Operator.
Sgt A F Birch – Air Gunner.
Sgt F L Holland – Air Gunner
Left - Bill Steel. Right - Sgt T W Beautyman.
Left - Sgt K R Fee. Right - P/O H C Baylis
Left - Sgt A F Birch. Right Sgt F L Holland.
Steel crew pic
Fred Mitchell with his first car.
Their tour with 103 Sqn was as follows :-
26-Mar-43 - Duisburg - Lancaster - W4363 - Sgt WA Steel
03-Apr-43 - Essen - Lancaster - W4901 - Sgt WA Steel
04-Apr-43 - Kiel - Lancaster - W4901 - Sgt WA Steel
10-Apr-43- Frankfurt - Lancaster - ED751 - Sgt WA Steel
13-Apr-43- La Spezia - Lancaster - ED751 - Sgt WASteel - Landed at Westcott
16-Apr-43 - Pilsen - Lancaster - ED528 - Sgt WA Steel - Hit by flak over Stuttgart and holed 15 times, bombed Stuttgart.
18-Apr-43 - La Spezia - Lancaster - ED751 - Sgt WA Steel
20-Apr-43 - Stettin - Lancaster - W4364 - Sgt WA Steel
26-Apr-43 - Duisburg - Lancaster - ED751 - Sgt WA Steel
27-Apr-43 - St Jean du Luz/Biscay coast - Lancaster - ED751 - Sgt WA Steel
30-Apr-43 - Essen - Lancaster - ED751 - Sgt WA Steel
12-May-43 - Duisburg - Lancaster - ED904 - Sgt WA Steel
13-May-43 - Bochum - Lancaster - ED904 - Sgt WASteel
23-May-43 - Dortmund - Lancaster - ED904 - Sgt WA Steel.
25-May-43 - Dusseldorf - Lancaster - ED904 - Sgt WA Steel.
27-May-43 - Essen - Lancaster - ED904 - Sgt WA Steel.
29-May-43 - Wuppertal - Lancaster - ED904 - Sgt WA Steel.
11-Jun-43 - Dusseldorf - Lancaster - ED904 - F/S WA Steel - Coned by searchlights and hit by flak.
12-Jun-43 - Bochum - Lancaster - ED904 - F/S WA Steel.
14-Jun-43 - Oberhausen - Lancaster - ED904 - F/S WA Steel.
16-Jun-43 - Cologne - Lancaster - ED904 - F/S WA Steel - ER - Starboard outer engine oil pressure fell to zero, problems with mid upper turret and de icing equipment.
21-Jun-43 - Krefeld - Lancaster - ED904 - F/S WA Steel.
After these 22 ops the crew do not appear in the Squadron ORB again and on the 26th June P/O Bayliss was posted to 82 OTU. I presume they had finished their tour at this point and they may have done some ops with another Squadron before being posted to 103 Sqn. No indication of that anywhere though.
Bill Steel served with several OTUs and then completed a second tour with 171 Squadron.
As far as I know they all survived the war.
Fred Mitchell and Bill Steel met up in New Zealand in 2005 I think it was. Fred is on the right in the above photo.
Fred was particularly active in his old age, travelled widely and did a parachute jump I recall. He was a great writer. All sadly missed now.
Written by David Fell with thanks to the late Fred Mitchell for the photos.
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