Reporting Live from 'F' for Freddie

Sound engineer Reg Pidsley (left) and war correspondent Wynford Vaughan-Thomas (right)
with 207 Squadron Lancaster 'F' for Freddie

On the evening of September 3, 1943, BBC War Correspondent Wynford Vaughan-Thomas and BBC recording engineer Reg Pidsley climbed aboard a Lancaster bomber, joining the crew of ED586, 'F' for Freddie on a bombing raid of Berlin.  This heart-stopping 30-minute recording demonstrates the amazing courage the crews of Bomber Command, who night after night, put their lives in immense danger in the skies over Europe.

Listen to the BBC broadcast from a Lancaster bomber

Vaughan-Thomas and Pidsley joined the Letford crew of 207 Squadron based at RAF Langar in Nottinghamshire.  The crew for the flight consisted of:

Ken Letford (Pilot)
Charlie Stewart (Flight Engineer)
Bill Bray (Air Bomber)
Jock Fieldhouse (Mid Upper Air Gunner)
Con Connelly (Navigator)
Bill Sparkes (Wireless Operator)
Henry Devenish (Rear Air Gunner)

Vaughan-Thomas would later call the experience "the most terrifying eight hours of my life. Berlin burning was like watching somebody throwing jewellery on black velvet - winking rubies, sparkling diamonds all coming up at you."

If you have an additional hour, the BBC also created a radio documentary about the flight, including interviews with Vaughan-Thomas, military historian Max Hastings and accounts of witnesses who experienced the bombing from the ground.

Listen to the BBC documentary about the Lancaster recording