Husband of Teenie; father of Kerry and Robyn

Service: Waikanae, New Zealand

"Another amazing series of incidents befell Flying Officer Byers1 and his crew of No. 61 Squadron one night in December during the attack on Giessen. First came a sharp fighter attack; then, just as the bombs were released, a nearby burst of flak sent their Lancaster plunging almost out of control. A minute later incendiaries dropped from an aircraft above struck the fuselage, followed almost immediately by a burst of fire from a fighter which killed the mid-upper gunner and set his turret alight. The blaze soon gained a firm hold and a second fire developed in the port wing, sending long tongues of flame licking along the fuselage. Byers now ordered the crew to bale out but the wireless operator, busy over his set, did not hear the order. He remained in the aircraft and, as the Lancaster flew on, managed to subdue the fire in the mid-upper turret. Byers, who had stayed at the controls, thereupon decided to attempt a landing on the Continent. Eluding a trailing fighter, he flew towards Liege on fixes supplied by his companion. Eventually the Lancaster arrived over an airfield – it was unlighted and its short runway was normally only used for fighters, but Byers managed a safe landing with the aid of the aircraft's lights and Very cartridges." From New Zealanders with the Royal Air Force (Vol. II) p. 401.

Ian Byers remembers the incident slightly differently and recalled to a friend Basil Kruse "“They got it all wrong in the report. I didn't land on the runway; I was going to land on the railway - I could see lights, but it was a train coming! As I was pretty low and on fire, I landed in a field close to the runway. The Americans came running over with hatchets and were going to cut the plane open. I opened up and got out with my wireless operator. The Americans took us to their quarters and gave us a large brandy. My operator didn't drink so he gave his to me; it was one swallow, and gone.” AWMM