Crew photo taken at 77 Squadron Elvington, Yorks (taken by Dave Bland, Navigator)
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From Corporal to Commander
Wing Commander A E Lowe MBE, who has just been awarded the DFC, commands a heavy bomber squadron in which he served as a corporal five years ago. He was the first air gunner to be given command of a squadron. Normally, pilots hold the position.
The official citation of the DFC award described him as “an exceptionally fine leader of an operational squadron.”
Born at Alverstoke, Hants he lived at Gosport and joined the RAF as an apprentice in 1930, at the age of 16. He took part in some of the first leaflet raids of the war, including the long flight to Vienna, and was in many of the bombing attacks on Germany and Norway.