A COMMON accusation from soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force in May and June 1940 was that the RAF was nowhere to be seen when they were attacked by German planes.

But British aircrews often fought against overwhelming odds to protect the troops and slow the German invaders who would eventually trap the BEF and French forces at Dunkirk.

Among those in action in the skies were bomber crews from Bicester, including two men who were the first RAF personnel to be awarded the Victoria Cross during the Second World War.

Flying Officer Donald Garland, 21, and his 25-year-old navigator Sgt Thomas Gray were posthumously awarded the medal for their part in a daring daylight raid on bridges in Belgium on May 12, 1940.

Just over a year earlier, on May 9, 1939, the Fairey Battle light bombers of 12 and 142 squadrons arrived at RAF Bicester to train for their role in a newly-formed unit, the Advanced Air Striking Force.

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. That day orders were issued for the Advanced Air Striking Force to depart for France and transport planes arrived at RAF Bicester to move men and equipment to bases in the Champagne region of France.

During the so-called Phoney War through the winter of 1939-40, the Battles were used for reconnaissance work and to drop propaganda leaflets over Germany.

On May 10, 1940, the Germans invaded the Netherlands and Belgium. A force of glider-borne troops seized the Belgian fort of Eben-Emael and nearby bridges over the Albert Canal.

The way was now open for the German army to march into Belgium and France. Belgian troops’ counter-attacks on the bridges were defeated, leaving air raids as the Allies’ only option to put them out of use.

An attack by a Belgian unit of Fairey Battles on May 11 saw six out of the nine planes shot down, with the bridges undamaged.

The next morning, 12 Squadron was ordered to make another attempt. Six planes crewed by volunteers were due to set out from Amifontaine airfield, near Reims, but one suffered technical problems and could not take off.

At about 9.15am, two planes attacked the southern Vroenhoven bridge, with bombs from one of the Battles finding their mark, slightly damaging the bridge, before both were shot down.

The three planes led by Fg Off Garland attacked the Veldwezelt bridge at low level, despite heavy fire from German guns.

All three Battles were eventually brought down by the barrage, but when the smoke cleared, the Germans found that British bombs had damaged the bridge, making it unsafe for vehicles to cross.

Garland and Gray were killed, but the crew of one of the other planes survived a crash landing and were taken prisoner by German troops.

One of their captors told them: “You British are mad. We capture the bridge early on Friday morning. You give us all Friday and Saturday to get our flak (anti-aircraft) guns up in circles around the bridge, and then on Sunday, when all is ready, you come along with three aircraft and try to blow it up.”

Although it was not clear which plane’s bombs had hit the bridge, Garland and Gray were given the credit and posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest British award for gallantry.

Their plane’s gunner and radio operator, Leading Aircraftman Lawrence Reynolds, was denied a medal, apparently because he was not in a decision-making role.

  • Additional material from Pete Chivers of Bomber Command Heritage