Maurice James Blower’s Royal Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book
Title
Maurice James Blower’s Royal Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book
Description
Maurice Blower’s Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book from 29th June 1942 until 12th December 1945. During this time trained as a wireless operator and air gunner. Training as an air gunner started at No. 45 Air School in South Africa, and then No. 43 Air School. Further training as a bomb aimer at 19 Operational Training Unit from January 1943, followed by 10 Operational Training Unit (Coastal Command), 1654 Heavy Conversion Unit, and operational posting to 83 Squadron (Pathfinder Force) in July 1943. During this time role changed to observer. Posted to 1660 and 1661 Heavy Conversion Units as an H2S and navigation instructor.
Served at SAAF Oudtshoorn, RAF Kinloss, RAF Forres, RAF St Eval, RAF Wigsley, RAF Wyton, RAF Upwood, RAF Coningsby, RAF Swinderby, RAF Winthorpe.
Aircraft flown were Anson, Oxford, Whitley, Manchester, Lancaster, Stirling, C-47 Dakota.
With 10 Operational Training Unit, Blower flew 4 daylight operational Sweeps with Flight Lieutenant Pidding as pilot.
Whilst flying with 83 Squadron he flew 1 day and 44 night bombing operations. His targets were Hamburg, Nuremberg, Berlin, Mannheim, Modane, Hanover, Munich, Frankfurt, Friedrichshafen, Stettin, Brunswick, Magdeburg, Leipzig, Stuttgart, Schweinfurt, Augsburg, Paris - La Chapelle, Brest - Lanvéoc aerodrome, Bourg-Leopold, Tours, Antwerp, Nantes, Saint-Martin-de-Varreville, La Pernelle, Caen, Saumur, Vitry-le-François, St. Leu D’Esserent, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. His pilots were Flight Lieutenant Pidding, Wing Commander Deane, and Warrant Officer Erritt.
Served at SAAF Oudtshoorn, RAF Kinloss, RAF Forres, RAF St Eval, RAF Wigsley, RAF Wyton, RAF Upwood, RAF Coningsby, RAF Swinderby, RAF Winthorpe.
Aircraft flown were Anson, Oxford, Whitley, Manchester, Lancaster, Stirling, C-47 Dakota.
With 10 Operational Training Unit, Blower flew 4 daylight operational Sweeps with Flight Lieutenant Pidding as pilot.
Whilst flying with 83 Squadron he flew 1 day and 44 night bombing operations. His targets were Hamburg, Nuremberg, Berlin, Mannheim, Modane, Hanover, Munich, Frankfurt, Friedrichshafen, Stettin, Brunswick, Magdeburg, Leipzig, Stuttgart, Schweinfurt, Augsburg, Paris - La Chapelle, Brest - Lanvéoc aerodrome, Bourg-Leopold, Tours, Antwerp, Nantes, Saint-Martin-de-Varreville, La Pernelle, Caen, Saumur, Vitry-le-François, St. Leu D’Esserent, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. His pilots were Flight Lieutenant Pidding, Wing Commander Deane, and Warrant Officer Erritt.
With 83 Squadron, his aircraft was often one of the blind marking aircraft. Also flew as part of the flare force for 617 Squadron’s operation to bomb the Saumur Viaduct on 8/9th June 1944.
On 26th September 1944 whilst flying with 1661 Heavy Conversion Unit as an H2S Instructor, his aircraft force landed in a ploughed field due to engine failure.
On 26th September 1944 whilst flying with 1661 Heavy Conversion Unit as an H2S Instructor, his aircraft force landed in a ploughed field due to engine failure.
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Format
One booklet
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
LBlowerMJ177993v1
Collection
Citation
Great Britain. Royal Air Force, “Maurice James Blower’s Royal Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 13, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/59380.