To be a hero you do not necessarily have to be flamboyant and to have performed particularly heroic deeds. Heroes can also be relatively unassuming people. 

One such person is Charlie Darby who has lived in Flackwell Heath all his life, except when he was flying in Halifax bombers during WWII and became a hero.

Charlie was born in 1924 so is now in his ninety fourth year. After completing his education Charlie found a job at Fords’s paper mill in Loudwater. 

When WWII hostilities started he was told that he must play a part in the national war-effort. 

He was told that he had three choices: join a local firm engaged in the war effort, go to South Wales to work as a coal-miner or spend six months in prison.

Not surprisingly he chose the local job option and was detailed to Broome & Wade’s in Wycombe to work on dismantling Churchill tanks for overhaul.

At the age of 16 he was also one of the first to join the Flackwell Heath Fire Service. Members of this unit, which was formed in 1940, were all part-time and volunteers. 

It operated throughout the Second World War primarily to deal with the effects of enemy aerial bombing. 

Led by a gentleman known as Skipper Harris, most of the volunteers were employed in the local mills.

Equipped with a modified Austin 16, the unit was housed in two sheds at the rear of what was then the Green Man pub - now the site of a Sainsbury’s Local.

One shed housed the car and a towable Coventry Climax pump, whilst the second building was used to house those on duty overnight. 

It contained six bunks along with a table and chairs. This building also contained a stove to keep the occupants warm and to heat food.

The Austin 16 car had been modified with a roof rack (to take the extending ladder) and a tow bar to haul the pump. 
It had also had the headlights modified for night time driving.

The unit undertook dry drills every Sunday in a field next to an orchard opposite where Flackwell Heath golf club is today. The volunteers also regularly had to check the hydrants that were located throughout the village. 

The unit operated continuously throughout the blitz (70 nights) and was eventually disbanded at the end of the war. 

The volunteers at the time celebrated the event by driving the Austin 16 through the village with the bell ringing.

In April 1943, at the age of 18, Charlie volunteered to join the Services and his attestation took place at Euston House in Euston Square, London. 

He applied to become aircrew in the RAF and was called-up on 20th September 1943. 

He was instructed to report to St. John’s Wood for initiation and had the distinction of being kitted out at the Lords cricket club.

He went on to become a Rear Air Gunner and undertook 30 operational missions over Germany flying in Halifax aircraft. 

Charlie explained that in the Halifax this involved levering himself over the tail-end department, which consisted of the ammunition belt-feed to the rear turret coming through the base of the turret to feed the gun, and then pulling himself feet-first for about four feet into the seat in the gun turret. 

This procedure had to be repeated in reverse to get out of the aircraft.

When asked how many times he has fired his gun “in anger” Charlie replied none.

He went on to explain that when the gun was fired tracer marks were left in the air, thus showing the precise location of his aircraft. Therefore it was wise to desist from firing if at all possible.

Charlie recounted one occasion when the Halifax had just dropped its payload over a German city and had turned for home when from the light of the fires on the ground he saw a German fighter-plane in the distance. This was rapidly approaching the Halifax from the rear. 

Charlie realized that because the fighter and the bomber were flying away from the light from the flames, although he could see the fighter, the German pilot would be unable to see the Halifax until he was much closer. 

But if he fired his gun the tracer marks would give away the bomber’s position. 

Therefore by arrangement with the Captain he held his fire and left it until the last possible moment before advising the pilot to dive. 

The German plane therefore passed harmlessly overhead. For Charlie to do that sitting on his own at the back end of the fuselage requires a special kind of courage.

The war ended shortly after Charlie finished his first operational tour of 30 missions and he eventually returned to civilian life. 

The specific details of this operational tour are shown in the picture.

A couple of weeks ago Charlie was delighted to be invited to attend the opening ceremony of the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln. 

This was part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force. 

Bomber Command itself was founded in 1936 and played a vital role in the Second World War, engaging with and taking the fight to the enemy, from the very first day of the conflict to the very last. 

The human cost was enormous, with nearly half of all the aircrew serving in Bomber Command killed in action, injured or taken prisoner.

Yet every member of the Bomber Command aircrew was a volunteer. They came from 62 different countries, across every continent, from every background and every part of society. 

They suffered the highest losses of any unit during WWII but for 70 years have struggled to be properly recognised.

The new Centre in Lincoln is part of the national attempt to honour the memory of those bomber aircrew who fought and lost their lives, and those who fought and survived. 

It will also educate and inform future generations about the service the RAF has given to the nation throughout its first one hundred years.