Squadron Leader Matthew Drummond Henderson Wilson

 Matthew Drummond Henderson Wilson, known to all as Drummond, and later during his service with XV Squadron as 'Jock'.

The first picture shows a wedding party, Drummond can be seen fifth from the left, keep in the same row and two long (just to the right of the bride) is Alastair Robertson, he would end up being Drummonds best man when his sister, Aymee, married Drummond. In the photograph below, taken probably at Perth Flying School, during initial training, Alastair can be seen seated in the second row, fifth from the left. I often wonder looking at these photos.. 'what became of them all'?

  

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Sergeant Leonard Gornall

Len was a fairly late arrival to Drummond's crew and was on board the night of the Godmanchester crash. He was the best friend of Warrant Officer Donald Jeffs, the only survivor of the second MacRoberts Reply, they would go for drinks in between raids at the Golden Lion Hotel in St Ives or the Pike and Eel in Needingworth. He went onto join 138 'Special Op's' at RAF Tempsford. In this fairly blurry photo Len is second left, this is one of only two photos we have of Len, our search for a better one goes on. This is his 138 Squadron crew, all of whom baled out over France, they all made it back thanks to the escape lines operated by the French resisitance.

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Sergeant Edgar Gould

Edgar Gould was already an experienced and highly skilled mid upper gunner when Drum

mond joined the crew of MacRoberts Reply back in November 1941 on a raid against the German battleships moored in Brest harbour. Following this 'debut' Drummond would take charge of the first of his four 'Goblins'. He and Edgar would not fly together again until that fateful day in April 1942. The first picture shows Edgar as a young boy on the beach at Bognor Regis with the rest of his school chums. He was particularly good at sports, especially cricket.                                                                             He is sat front row third from the left (with a cross marked on the picture)   

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Flying Officer Clifford Reeve

Clifford was a regular in Drummonds crew, he was there the first time Drummonds 'Goblin' took to the skies and he was there on that fateful morning of the 11th April 1942. An ever present and a man on who's skill the crew would rely on more than one occasion.

Below Clifford leans casually on a car door, whilst the second photograph shows him with his brother Gordon, who served with the Army. 

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Sergeant David Southey

David Southey was just 19 when his war was over, suffering serious head injuries he was not able to return to flying and was invalided out of the RAF on D-Day. However David had previously served with another crew , they all went on a course to Worcester and David stayed on for another course. Whilst in Worcester had visited The Star Hotel on Foregate, Scotty McCallum purloined a tankard which the rest of the crew had engraved and presented to David when they returned to base. They were all lost on their next raid, a training course had inadvertently saved David life. David, and his family, treasured that tankard which carries such an emotional story. 

In the picture below David is second from the right, and Scotty is first right

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