‘One of nine children born to two impoverished alcoholics - all of whom were removed by the courts from their parent’s custody by the age of two - is hardly the start that would be attributed to a hero of the R.A.F., but that was how Victor started.’ (Zero To Hero, From a Boy’s Home to R.A.F. Hero, by P. W. Bodle refers) The outstanding and rare Second War C.G.M., ‘Immediate’ D.F.M. group of five awarded to Lancaster Rear Gunner V. A. Roe, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who flew in 14 operational sorties in Wellingtons and Halifaxes with 466 Squadron, prior to flying the remainder of his operational service with 35 Squadron - which amounted to a remarkable 84 operational sorties with the Squadron, 50 of which were with Flying Officer John Forde as his pilot, and out of the total of 84, 11 were as Master Bomber crew and 7 as Deputy Master Bomber crew, all with Pathfinder Force. An accomplished ‘Tail-End Charlie’, Roe successfully fought off an Me. 110 during the raid on Haine-St-Pierre, 8-9 May 1944, ‘which made four successive attacks using cannon and machine-gun fire... Roe returned fire and on each occasion although his turret had been hit and become unserviceable, resulting in Sergeant Roe being covered with oil. When the Me. 110 made the fourth attack, it was seen to have caught fire in one engine and it is claimed as probably destroyed. Throughout the combat, Sergeant Roe handled his guns with cool determination, clearing stoppages in between attacks although he had received a slight injury in his right arm from a cannon splinter early in the encounter.’ Warrant Officer Roe was killed in action on a raid to Chemnitz, carrying out his 98th operational sortie, 5-6 March 1945. He was 21 years old Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (Flying), G.VI.R. (Act. W/O. (1813968) V. A. Roe. R.A.F.); Distinguished Flying Medal, G.VI.R. (1813968 Sgt. V. A. Roe. R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star, 1 clasp, Bomber Command; Air Crew Europe Star, 1 clasp, France and Germany; War Medal 1939-45, first two on investiture pins and in named card boxes of issue, remainder later issues, in Royal Mint boxes of issue, with enclosure, extremely fine (5) £30,000-£40,000 --- One of only 11 men to be awarded the combination of the C.G.M. and D.F.M. C.G.M. London Gazette 13 April 1945: ‘Since the award of the Distinguished Flying Medal, Warrant Officer Roe has participated in a further large number of operational sorties. He has proved himself to be a most enthusiastic and skilful air gunner and has continued to operate with undiminished determination and courage. By his magnificent record of achievement and unfailing devotion to duty, this gallant Warrant Officer has set a sterling example to all air gunners.’ D.F.M. London Gazette 13 June 1944: ‘On the night of 8/9th May, 1944, Sergeant Roe was rear gunner in a Lancaster detailed to attack Haine-St. Pierre. As the aircraft was approaching the target, two Ju. 88’s were encountered but successfully evaded. Shortly afterwards, and Me. 110 was encountered which made four successive attacks using cannon and machine-gun fire. Sergeant Roe returned fire and on each occasion although his turret had been hit and become unserviceable, resulting in Sergeant Roe being covered with oil. When the Me. 110 made the fourth attack, it was seen to have caught fire in one engine and it is claimed as probably destroyed. Throughout the combat, Sergeant Roe handled his guns with cool determination, clearing stoppages in between attacks although he had received a slight injury in his right arm from a cannon splinter early in the encounter. He carried on, showing a fine offensive spirit. Sergeant Roe is a very reliable Air Gunner who has always carried out his duties most conscientiously. At all times his courage, skill and determination are a fine inspiration to his crew. In recognition of his courage and devotion to duty during the combats of the night of 8/9th May, 1944, this N.C.O. is recommended for an immediate award of the Distinguished Flying Medals. Remarks by Station Commander: Recommended. This N.C.O. displayed courage and determination of a high order throughout the attacks.’ Victor Arthur Roe was born at Old Barge Yard, Norwich in May 1923. He was one of nine children, all removed from the custody of his parents, who were sadly alcoholics, and placed in various Children’s Homes around Norwich. Roe was educated at the Surrey Road Primary School and the Nelson Street Senior Boys’ School - and his father died whilst he was at primary school. Aged 11, Roe was transferred to Mr Fegan’s Home for Boys in Yardley Gobion, near Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire. The latter institution had a rigid approach to preparing the boys for later life through discipline and hard work, which culminated in working at the Goudhurst Farm prior to ‘release’ into the wider world. Roe moved to work at the farm in April 1938, and having completed his time in Fegan system was subsequently employed at Copping Farm, part of the Bernstein Estate near Tonbridge in Kent. Roe enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in January 1943, and was posted to No. 14 Initial Training Wing, Bridlington. He trained as an Air Gunner at No. 8 Bombing and Air Gunnery School, Evanton, and advanced to Leading Aircraftsman. Roe, having advanced to Sergeant, was subsequently posted to 20 O.T.U., Lossiemouth. Whilst at the latter he trained in Wellingtons and formed his first crew with Warrant Officer J. Forde (Pilot), Warrant Officer H. Warner (Bomb Aimer), Warrant Officer J. Rollins (Navigator) and Sergeant D. Carruthers (Radio Operator). They were posted for operational service to 466 Squadron (Wellingtons) at Driffield in August 1943. They carried out 7 operational sorties, 5 of which were Mining, before being posted to 1652 CU to convert to Halifax bombers. Here they were joined by Sergeants D. Cole (Flight Engineer) and W. Quirke (Mid Upper Gunner), and upon return to their Squadron they carried out another 7 operational sorties, including: Frankfurt; Berlin; Magdeburg; Schweinfurt; Trappes and Le Mans. As Peter Bodle notes in Zero To Hero, From a Boys’ Home to R.A.F. Hero: ‘This time the seven operations more or less spanned the Christmas and New Year period of 1943-44. Their first Halifax sortie was on 20 December... On the third sortie, ‘The Big City’, Berlin was the target, but it was not until the raid following the Berlin run that Victor mentioned anything about enemy action. In that post raid report it was noted that their plane HX266 had collected some flak damaged from what was believed to be radar controlled ack-ack guns in the Wilhelmshaven area. Fortunately according to this report after the raid, it produced only a slight amount of damage to the aircraft and none to the crew. The other high point Victor noted from his time on the Halifax occurred just three days later, landing out at Tangmere, as their Halifax LV837 ran low on fuel and their pilot John Forde made a precautionary diversion into the Kent fighter airfield to take on more. In all the Halifax raids, they were led to the target area by the Lancasters of the Pathfinder Force, whom they were to join in just a few weeks’ time. This way, like many others before them, Victor and the rest of the John Forde team had been given a good insight into what was needed to be a Pathfinder crew, long before they ever started their PFF training.’ The PFF - Lancaster ‘Tail-End Charlie’ Roe was posted to Warboys for PFF training, prior to being posted for operational flying with 35 Squadron (Lancasters) in April 1944: ‘So just six months after stepping into a Bomber for ...
