RCAF Aviation History: Squadron Leader Ian Willoughby Bazalgette, VC, DFC
Squadron Leader Ian Willoughby Bazalgette, VC, DFC
(Bomber Command Museum Photo)
Squadron Leader Ian Willoughby Bazalgette, VC, DFC (19 October 1918 – 4August 1944) was a Canadian-British pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. S/L Bazalgette was the “Master Bomber” of a Pathfinder Squadron detailed to mark an important target for the main bomber force. On 4 August 1944, while pilotingan Avro Lancaster in a pathfinder role, Bazalgette and crew flew to Trossy St.Maximin in France to mark a V-1 flying bomb storage cave.
Whennearing the target, his Lancaster came under heavy anti-aircraft fire. Both starboard engines were put out of actionand serious fires broke out. The bombaimer was badly wounded. As the deputy ‘MasterBomber’ had already been shot down, the success of the attack depended on S/LBazalgette and this he knew. Despite the appalling conditions in hisburning aircraft, he pressed on to the target, marking and bombing it accurately. After the bombs had been dropped theLancaster dived, practically out of control. By expert airmanship and great exertion, S/L Bazalgette regained control. The port inner engine then failed and thewhole of the starboard main-plane became a mass of flames. S/L Bazalgette fought to bring his aircraft andcrew to safety. The mid-upper gunner wasovercome by fumes.
S/LBazalgette then ordered the members of his crew who were able toleave by parachute to do so. F/LCharles Godfrey DFC, Sgt George Turner, F/O Douglas Cameron DFM, and F/L GeoffreyGoddard bailed out. He remained at the controls and attempted the almost hopeless task oflanding the crippled and blazing aircraft in a last effort to save the woundedbomb aimer and helpless air gunner nearSenantes (Oise).
Withsuperb skill and taking great care to avoid a small French village nearby, he broughtthe aircraft down safely. Unfortunately,it then exploded, killing him andthe remaining two wounded crew members, F/L Ivan Hibbert DFC and F/S VernonLeeder. S/L Bazalgette was posthumously awarded the VC.[5]
IanWilloughby Bazalgette was born in Calgary,Alberta, Canada on 19 October 1918 to parents of English and Irish background,Charles Ian Bazalgette (1888–1956) and Marion Edith,née Bunn (1891–1977). His great-grandfather was the civil engineer Sir JosephBazalgette. Bazalgette was always known as"Will" in his family, to distinguish him from his father, who wasknown as "Ian". Bazalgette began his schooling at theToronto Balmy Beach School, but his family returned to England in 1927. He grewup in New Malden, England and attended Rokeby School in Wimbledon (1927–1932)and then Beverley Boys Secondary School as well as receiving private tutelage.In his childhood he suffered from poor health, and at 13 was diagnosed withclinical tuberculosis, which required four months of treatment at the Royal Sea-BathingHospital, Margate, in 1931.
Whenthe Second World War broke out, Bazalgette enlisted in the Royal Artillery,being commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1940. After serving in theSearchlight Section as an instructor, he transferred to the Royal Air ForceVolunteer Reserve. He soloed within a week of beginning his flight training atRAF Cranwell and swiftly completed his ab initio flying by 24 January 1942, giventhe rank of pilot officer. His first posting was to No. 25 Operational TrainingUnit (OTU) but by September 1942, he had joined an operational bomber squadron,No. 115 Squadron RAF at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk. Flying the venerable VickersWellington bomber, "Baz" was sent out initially on "gardening"sorties, laying mines in the North Sea. After 13 operations, Bazalgette and his squadron transitioned tothe Avro Lancaster, completing their training in March 1943.
Aftercompleting 10 more operations successfully on raids against heavily defendedtargets, including Berlin, Essen, Kiel and St. Nazaire, and surviving someharrowing escapes including a crash landing, Bazalgette was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 29 May 1943. The award noted his "great courage anddetermination in the face of the enemy".
With the end of his tour of 28 operations, Bazalgette was posted as an instructor andFlight Commander to No. 20 OTU in Lossiemouth, Scotland, before he was "recruited"for the Pathfinders. He transferred in April 1944 to No. 635 Squadron RAF, partof No. 8 (Pathfinder Force) Group, based at RAF Downham Market in Norfolk.
When his conversion training was completed, 25-year-old "Baz" flew as anacting squadron leader, taking part in a number of operations during and afterthe D-Day campaign. As the assigned Master Bomber, Bazalgette's 58th and final operation was the bombing of V-1 rocket storage cavesat Trossy St. Maximin.
Baz's Crew; (l-r) Ian Bazalgette, Geoff Goddard, Ivan Hibbert,Chuck Godfrey, Bob Hurnall, Douglas Cameron, George Turner.
A memorial to Bazalgette, Hibbert, and Leeder can be seen along theroad beside the farm where he landed the plane. Bazalgette Gardens in New Malden, Surrey, where he hadattended Beverley Boys School, was named in his honour during the early 1950s. A school in Calgary, Ian Bazalgette Junior High School, isalso named after him.
(Tony Hisgett Photo)
Avro Lancaster (Serial No. FM159),Nanton, Alberta.
The Bomber Command Museum of Canada at Nanton,Alberta, south of S/L Bazalgette’s hometown of Calgary, has restored and painted Avro Lancaster(Serial No. FM159), in the colours and markings of S/L Bazalgette's aircraft. A dedication ceremony was held in 1990. GroupCaptain T.G. “Hamish” Mahaddie, who had honored Bazalgette's request to be transferred intothe Pathfinders, came from England to speak at the ceremony. Ethel Broderick,Bazalgette's sister, unveiled a plaque and the markings of the Bazalgette aircraft, coded F2-T, were unveiled by two of Bazalgette's crew members, ChuckGodfrey and George Turner.
