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- Daughter finds RAF hero father's final resting place 70 years after his death
Thursday, 17 July 2014
Daughter finds RAF hero father's final resting place 70 years after his death
Elaine Towlson finally got the chance to say a proper
goodbye to her dad after his Lancaster bomber was discovered in a lake
in north east Germany
Her mind raced back to childhood memories of her father – walking in the woods, sitting by his side in front of the fire and polishing the buttons on his RAF uniform.
When Elaine was just nine years old she waved him off on another vital mission against the Nazis, wondering when she would see him again.
But she never did.
Flight Sergeant Stan Shaw and his Lancaster crew were shot down during a daring raid on a missile base at Peenemunde in north east Germany.
His family never knew exactly what happened to him, only that his body was never recovered.
Every year Elaine has made a tearful pilgrimage to the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede in Surrey to see his name among the thousands of fallen heroes who were never found.
It was all she had to remember him, until her son Russell began researching his grandfather’s final flight and realised a wreck found in Kolpinsee, a lake in north east Germany, was his plane.
Now 70 years after Stan died, Elaine, from Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, has visited his final resting place for the first time.
Elaine, now 80, says: “It meant so much to me because I never got to say goodbye to my dad.
“That was one of the most painful things. He was such a wonderful man.
“As we stood on the jetty looking out at the lake two rays of sunshine broke through the clouds and lit up the Lancaster like a spotlight.
“It was a wonderful moment. It was my chance to say goodbye after all these years.
“I never thought I would see this and I will never forget it. It made me feel closer to him.”
Stan is one of 20,000 airmen who died when their Lancaster bombers were shot down during the Second World War.
They will be celebrated along with the vital role the Lancaster played in winning the war in a new documentary presented by John Sergeant on Sunday night.
Elaine was only six when her father joined the RAF and became the rear gunner aboard Lancaster DV202. At 31 he was the father figure among the crew, some of whom were boys barely out of school.
She still remembers his visits home, often accompanied by three or four of his crewmates who would bring her sweets and hoist her on to their shoulders on trips to the cinema
The last time she saw him was in August 1943.
Hero: Stan Shaw, circled, with other men from his squadronHe had been given a few hours compassionate mission leave to visit his mother after she was discharged from hospital.
He didn’t even have time to visit Elaine’s mum and her baby sister Pam before reporting back for duty.
“He was worried because he had got to go and he couldn’t see my mum,” says Elaine. “I didn’t even have time to clean his buttons, which I loved to do.
“I just ran to the bottom of the street and waved him off.
“He asked me to give my mum my love and a kiss and to look after her, and to look after Pam.
“I’ve always tried to do that for him.
“I often wish I could go back in time just to see him once more. I loved him to bits but we missed out on so much time together. I cried quite a bit on my wedding day because he wasn’t there to walk me down the aisle.
“I still remember what he looked like and he will never change, he will never get old. To me he will always be my dad when I saw him last. I will always be proud of him, but I wish he had never gone.”
Stan and his crew took off on their final mission on August 17, 1943.
They were part of a huge bombing raid on the missile base at Peenemunde, on the Baltic coast near the German border with Poland.
British intelligence believed the site was where the Nazis were making huge quantities of hydrogen peroxide for the deadly V2 missiles they were firing at London.
In total nearly 600 planes set off on Operation Hydra, including 324 Lancaster bombers.
It was one of the most dangerous missions of the war.
It was carried out in full moonlight and 40 crews never returned.
Many of those who died were in the third wave, like Stan, whose planes were caught by heavy anti-aircraft fire.
Botho Stuwe was a German soldier at the base who saw Stan’s Lancaster shot out of the sky during the raid.
He says: “There was a flash and a line of tracer fire, then an explosion. This fireball hung there and then it fell from the point of impact down in a curving line into the Kolpinsee.”
After the war a special task force was set up to find the bomber that crashed into the lake, killing everyone on board.
The team never found the plane, but today the wreck is clearly visible from the shoreline, a rusting metal monument poking out of the water
It is the only wreck that remains at Peenemunde.
Officials have never confirmed it was Stan’s plane but the locals have no doubt and have even erected a plaque to commemorate him and his crew.
Russell Towlson is equally convinced.
He began investigating his grandfather’s final resting place after he was contacted by the Canadian grandson of one of Stan’s crewmates who had heard rumours that a Lancaster bomber was still sitting in a lake in Germany.
Divers who explored the wreck even suggested the serial numbers they found identified the aircraft as DV202 – Stan’s plane.
As the evidence stacked up Russell and his brother Ashley hired a small aircraft and flew over the lake. From that vantage point they could clearly identify the silhouette, including two wings, beneath the water.
Russell says: “That first time we waded out through snake infested waters to get as close as we could. We were in tears at being so close but not being able to touch it.
“So going back and getting even closer was very special.
“I genuinely believe this was my grandfather’s plane and I’m not alone.
“But I’m not sure it really matters whether it is or not, because we know grandfather was here at some point and he lost his life here and that's important for us to have that closure.
“That was why we started investigating in the first place, because we wanted my mother to be able to say goodbye.
“After the war the bomber crews were shunned, but regardless of what you think of some of the missions they flew, they didn’t pick the targets. It’s only right that they are remembered for the sacrifice they made.”
They helped the Allies to win the war, but the fact that they never came home meant VE Day was hollow for many.
Elaine and her family never joined the street parties.
For them the pain was too fresh but now it’s finally been laid to rest.
John Sergeant, who accompanied Elaine and Russell to Peenemunde, sums it up. “History records that the Second
World War lasted until 1945, but for some people that doesn’t tell the whole story. Elaine’s war finally ended 70 years later on a lake in Peenemunde.
“The Lancaster is the plane that won the war and we owe a debt of gratitude to the thousands who gave their lives flying in it. They were maybe the bravest we’ve ever had, who were prepared to die for the loved ones they left behind.”
