A SECOND World War veteran who flew 30 bomber missions over the most heavily fortified parts of Nazi Germany has been honoured in a special presentation.
Albert Smith made his own personal tribute to the 55,573 veterans of Bomber Command who were killed in the war when he flew over Brentwood's war memorial on November 11, 2012, the same day as his 90th birthday.
His poignant act was acknowledged with a special presentation by the Mayor of Brentwood on Thursday.
He was presented with a commemorative framed plaque by Councillor Ann Coe, and Lieutenant Nigel Carr, the head of the combined cadet force at Brentwood School.
The plaque read: "Mr Albert Smith, who turned 90 years on 11.11.12, did fly 500 ft above the cenotaph of Shenfield, Brentwood, Essex, and performed a perfect 360 degree turn on a single wing, whilst saluting the brave on Armistice day."
Mr Smith, who flew in Lancaster bombers for eight months from the spring of 1942, can count himself as one of the lucky ones – he survived the war after taking part in 30 bombing missions when the average airman could expect to survive no more than nine.
Bethnal Green-born Mr Smith was just 18 when he decided to join the RAF after experiencing the London Blitz.
In fact, were it not for his short stature – he is 5ft 5ins tall – he would have become a pilot in the iconic Lancaster bomber.
Instead he became a wireless operator and gunner flying missions into the heavily fortified Ruhr Valley.
His crew was part of the massive assault on the city of Cologne which took place on the night of May 30, 1942, the first 1,000-bomber raid by the RAF codenamed Operation Millennium. He also took part in raids on Essen and Dresden.
Mr Smith, who lives in Woodman Road, Warley with Elsie, his wife of 67 years, said: "Our first raid on Essen went quite well, but the worst one was Cologne.
"We used to call the Ruhr Valley Happy Valley. The flak was really bad but it very rarely shot planes down.
"You came back with a plane full of holes, but once the flak stopped you knew the night fighters were coming.
"They had the advantage that their guns could fire 200 yards further than us and they had cannons while we only had machine guns.
"We used to bunk down with three crews in a Nissen hut.
"The awful part was when you got back and settled in and then discovered that one of the crews you shared a Nissen hut with was missing.
"That was the sad part but I always got through by telling myself that other people get killed but I can't get killed.
"It happened to other people but not to me."
He continued: "We never lost any one of the crew.
"We didn't even lose the rear gunner, and that happened a lot.
"We were very lucky.
"It was very rare that a crew should make it back after 30 missions
"Just ten out of hundred made it back safely.
"Our aim was never get on the outside – get somewhere in the middle.
"On the outside you got picked off.
"We were often sitting ducks. There were so many of them.
"Not only that the Germans had the Junker 88 which had a gun which could point directly upwards.
"We never knew they were underneath.
"We were a very lucky crew to come out alive.
"Don't forget we lost 56,000 – and we were called murderers."
In the Cologne raid, 1,455 tonnes of bombs were dropped and almost 500 Germans were killed.
Mr Smith recalled: "The first few runs I thought 'I'm getting my own back' but soon after that you just become immune to it.
"The guys thought 'It's got to be done, they did it to us'.
Mr Smith's birthday, which falls on November 11, is always tinged with sadness as he remembers those who never made it back.
But it wasn't German anti-aircraft fire that almost proved Albert's undoing, but a soon-to-be-bride who had replaced his silk parachute with a tatty old blanket.
"The women who packed the parachutes sometimes stole the silk parachutes to make them into wedding dresses," he chuckled.
"I was repacking mine and a pulled this old blanket out."
Thursday's presentation was organised by Brentwood-based pilot Dean Hatton, who flew Mr Smith over the war memorial in Middleton Hall Lane in his two- seater Cessna.
Mr Hatton, who got to know Mr Smith through a mutual friend, said: "It was a lovely thing to do and a great honour to be able fly with him over the war memorial on Armistice Day."
