Heroism of pilot whose name lives on in sons of airmen

It was August 1943, and the Halifax bomber, badly shot up on a raid over Berlin, was going down, giving its crew no option but to bale out.

But the escape hatch was jammed until the pilot, an Australian in his early 20s, forced it open and the surviving members of the crew quickly got out.

When it came to his turn, however, the plane was too low and F/Lt Kevin Hornibrook died in the crash, his body later being buried in the city he had attacked alongside the rear gunner and mid-upper gunner who had already being picked off by German fighters in a ruthlessly efficient tactic that left the Halifax defenceless.

In memory of the gallant Australian who saved their lives, two of the surviving airmen named their sons Kevin, and they will meet for the first time next month when the veterans of 158 Squadron Bomber Command gather for their annual reunion at their former base at Lissett, East Yorkshire.

Although the number of surviving veterans gets smaller each year, the years have not weakened their ties to the squadron, or to each other, and they will travel from across the UK, Australia and Canada for two days of remembrance and renewed friendship over the weekend of September 1 and 2.

The event is being organised by 158 Squadron Association, one of the biggest in Bomber Command, that also includes generations of blood relatives of those who served.

It will be an emotional occasion for all, not least for association chairman Kevin Bryett, whose father, F/Lt Alan Bryett, 90, was pushed out of the escape hatch by the pilot and had barely time to open his parachute before he landed in a tree, beginning more than two years of captivity.

His 60-year-old son will meet the other Kevin, the navigator’s son, who is travelling from Norway.

Mr Bryett said: “This year will be particularly special for me. I will be meeting for the first time another Kevin whose father was in the same plane and also named his son after the pilot.

“Without Kevin Hornibrook my father would have died on the plane so my father says that about Kevin every day.

“From the earliest age of being called Kevin, it’s not just a name after a pop star or a place in America, to me every day I’m remembering the name of Kevin Hornibrook; without him I wouldn’t be alive.”

He added: “It means a lot to me. I’m quite a tough character and I went to see Kevin’s grave and, I’ll be honest, I dissolved, and I’ve probably cried twice in the last 20 years.

“I’m deeply proud to be called Kevin because it means so much. This guy in his early 20s gave up his life... it’s an intense feeling.”

Although his father became a Prisoner of War, his efforts to overcome the enemy continued and he became part of one of the most celebrated, and tragic, PoW episodes of the war – the mass break-out from Stalag Luft III that was immortalised in the film The Great Escape.

The site of the camp in Poland had supposedly been selected because it was thought to be difficult to tunnel out of, but that is what the men did, digging three tunnels – Tom, Dick and Harry – 30ft underground in an effort that involved 600 prisoners.

F/Lt Bryett was one of the “penguins”, emptying concealed socks full of earth from the tunnels around the camp under the noses of the guards.

But his chance of escape was lost when his tunnel collapsed just as he was about to go in – an event that probably saved his life.

More than 70 prisoners escaped but most were recaptured and 50, in response to Hitler’s rage and humiliation, were executed.

As the tide of war swung decisively in the Allies’ favour, F/Lt Bryett and the other PoWs were removed from the camp and marched hundreds of miles into Germany, a death march during which any stragglers were shot along the way.

He was eventually liberated by the Russians in 1945, repatriated, and went on to have a successful career at Barclays Bank in London where he stayed until his retirement. “That was when being a banker was something you could always be proud of, as he always says,” Mr Bryett said.

As well as enjoying their annual squadron dinner at the Expanse Hotel in Bridlington on Saturday, September 1, the veterans will also gather for a service of remembrance at 11am the next day at St James of Compostela Church in Lissett.

They will also visit the striking squadron memorial, created by Peter Naylor, which has drawn hundreds of visitors since being unveiled three years ago.

Association president Bluey Mottershead said: “Each time I see the names on the memorial at Lissett Airfield I remember the people I knew.”