Gordon Cottrill loved his 30 years as a teacher at Salendine Nook High School.

But 70 years ago today, there was a far different and far more dangerous challenge for the former RAF gunner, who lives in Lepton.

He was part of the crew of a Lancaster bomber that helped back up the massive operation on D-Day.

Gordon Cottrill pictured in 1944 aged 19.
Gordon Cottrill pictured in 1944 aged 19.

Mr Cottrill, now 88, recalls the bombing raids on the French and Belgian coastline in the days leading up to D-Day and of the flights over the beaches on which Allied troops launched their crucial; offensive against the Germans on June 6, 1944.

“I was one of the lucky ones” said the man who flew 15 official missions and many, many more on what the RAF crews at the time termed “gardening” jobs.

“Those were equally as dangerous” recalled Mr Cottrill.

“We flew over the French and Belgian ports, dropping mines into the sea to try and contain the German naval vessels.

“We saw a few bandits but we got away with it. So many didn’t; Bomber Command lost 52,000 people during the war.

“I visited their memorial in Green Park, London, last year, It was very emotional”.

Mr Cottrill joined the RAF aged just 17 after working as a woodworker in hjs native Liverpool. Even before he signed up he was helping the war effort, making wings for Mosquito planes from balsa wood and spruce at his firm’s base near the former Speke Airport in Liverpool.

“I went through the blitz in Liverpool, which was very bad, and I wanted to get my own back.

“I travelled over to the Air Recruiting Centre at Scarbrough and had two choices, pilot or gunner. I knew if I went to be a pilot I would have to go off for more training so I opted for a gunner’s role to get in the air much quicker.

“They sent us for training down in South Wales and and then we went to Marston Moor in Yorkshire for operational training.

“I joined 35 Squadron in Huntingdon and we were very busy, flying a lot of diversionary raids over the Channel and doing what we all called gardening.

“The RAF never actually recognised those as proper missions but the risk was just as high; you could still get shot down.

“I was a rear gunner in the Lancaster, part of a crew of seven, and my abiding memory is the teamwork and the focus on working together. You knew you could not let your comrades down even if you were terribly frightened. You were part of a team with a job to do”.

After D-Day, Mr Cottrill continued flying missions across Europe. His unit was called in by Allied leaders to bomb a German stronghold at Caen and he was involved in bombing raids on German cities including Bremen and Hamburg.

He then left the RAF and enlisted in the Army to work as a Staff Sergeant instructing demobbed troops in woodwork skills.

D-Day veteran Gordon Cottrill of Lepton.
D-Day veteran Gordon Cottrill of Lepton.

That experience brought him a love of teaching and he went on to work for three decades at Salendine Nook, becoming head of technical studies.“They were good days at the school and I loved every minute of my time there.

“But those memories of 1944 and the times in the RAF will never disappear”.

Mr Cottrill has been married to Sheila for 63 years and the couple have two children.

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