During 1944 and 1945 the squadron of 205 Group were launching air attacks from bases in Italy. In many ways their efforts were the same as those of aircrew attached to Bomber Command in Britain, yet conditions fro the men were very different. These men fought their way as much against the wether and lack of equipment, as against the enemy. The 'Wimpy' as the Wellington was affectionately known, had been operational when war was decalred and five years on their young crews were still taking them into battle. Maurice G. Lihou joined the Royal Air Force in 1939, before the outbreak of the Second World War. He trained as a wireless Operator as a means of getting into aircrew, but found himself working in ground stations. He decided to try to re-muster as a pilot and completed the training for this in Canada where he was awarded his 'Wings'. It was not long after this taht he became captain of an aircraft with a crew of five and ferried a Wellington Bomber Squadron of 205 Group, becoming involved in various operations such as laying mines in the River Danube. Maurice was demobbed in 1945 and settled in Guernsey, his ancestral homeland, in 1963. During his last thirty years he has become well known through his charitable work with youth, the disadvantaged and the mentally handicapped. 19 b/w photos
