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Jack Robert George "Killer" Liddell (22 June 1924 – 16 May 1943) was a rear gunner in No. 617 Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF). He took part in Operation Chastise, the "Dambusters" raid of 1943.

Early life
Liddell was born on 22June 1924, at Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, the only son of Robert Hardinge Liddell, a kitchen hand, and Winifred Lilian, Jones. His father died at Axbridge infirmary when Liddell was aged just 0 years old. He had one younger sister, Sheila, and two halfsisters, Patricia and Maureen, after his mother remarried Thomas William Wride at Weston in 1933. Thomas was killed in action at Dunkirk on 27May 1940. Liddell was educated at Walliscote School on Walliscote Grove Road, Weston. On leaving school, he worked for a local Weston butcher, Cogle Brothers in West Street, and then for Thomas Percy Wildridge, a fishmonger and poultry dealer at 36 StJames Street, Weston.

On 30May 1941, a few weeks away from Liddell's seventeenth birthday, he enlisted into the RAF at the Combined Recruiting Centre in Provident Hall on Prewett Street, Redcliffe, Bristol. At that time, RAF recruits had to be at least seventeen and three months old to volunteer, but he was said to be "flying mad", and like many boys at the time, joining the war effort was seen as a much more glamorous occupation. Consequently, when war broke out, boys were quick to enlist despite being underage. A number of authors have stated he must have lied about his age when he volunteered, but as the war progressed, discrepancies on enlistment documents were often disregarded. Notwithstanding the issue with his age, he was posted to the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) the day after he enlisted.

Initial training
On 13October 1941, aged, Liddell was sent to No. 3 Recruit Centre at RAF Padgate, near Warrington, where he attended lectures and was given his kit. He left Padgate two days later and reported to No. 10 (Signals) Recruit Centre located in Blackpool, Lancashire. Holiday resorts, such as Blackpool, were selected for training purposes because they were able to offer accommodation on a largescale, particularly if use was made of local hotels, boarding houses, and holiday camps. The railway connections to Blackpool were also an important consideration particularly as recruits were moved in large numbers and often stayed only a few weeks at the centre.

Recruits had to complete two weeks of recruit training followed by ten weeks of telegraphy and science training. The notion was that a recruit had to be a qualified ground telegraphist before being allowed to join flight crew. A typical day for a recruit would be spent on drill, in aircraft recognition classes, on the rifle range, and being taught Morse code by civilian instructors at the Winter Gardens. Liddell was selected for air gunner training, and that meant he had to demonstrate the ability to copy Morse code, complete twelve weeks of technical training at an air school, and pass an air gunners' course.

Operational training
On 16December 1941, Liddell transferred to No. 1 AAS, the Air Armament School at RAF Manby, near Louth, Lincolnshire. During the war, Manby was the centre for training RAF air gunners, bomb aimers, and armament officers. He qualified as an air gunner on 8May 1942 and his log book was signed off as "Young, but a killer, and reliable and intelligent." He then spent two weeks at No. 7 AGS, the Air Gunners School at RAF Stormy Down, near Pyle, Bridgend, Wales. Known formerly as RAF Porthcawl, the gunnery school trained over ten thousand RAF and Allied airmen during the war.

On 26May 1942, Liddell was posted to his final operational training unit at No. 25 OTU, that was based at RAF Finningley, near Doncaster. The training unit operated out of nearby RAF Bircotes, located next to No. 1 Group RAF Bomber Command headquarters at RAF Bawtry, Bawtry Hall, Bawtry. The grass airfield at Bircotes was used by Vickers Wellingtons, Avro Ansons and Manchesters, on crosscountry exercises, and simulated day and night bombing raids.

No. 61 Squadron
61 Sqdn 8 Sep 1942 Flew 30 operations (already a ). May 1942	Nov 1943	RAF Syerston (Detached to RAF St Eval on loan to Coastal Command in July and again in August 1942)http://www.no-50-and-no-61-squadrons-association.co.uk/history-of-n0-61-squadron/

Liddell was now a veteran of thirty missions when few bomber crews survived half that number. Rear gunners had the highest mortality rate of all RAF aircrew as enemy aircraft would likely fire at them first. If one appeared, rear gunners had only seconds to warn the pilot before opening fire. The rear gun turret was also the coldest place in the aircraft as the air stream would blow through the gun slots.

No. 1485 (Bombing) Gunnery Flight at 24 Mar 1943 RAF Fulbeck - 61 Sqdn 26 Mar 1943

No. 617 Squadron and Operation Chastise
"which brought him to the end of a full tour of thirty operations with 97 Squadron. Knowing that he would then be entitled to some leave followed by six months working in a non-combat training role ... the whole crew were transferred to 617 Squadron at RAF Scampton, under the command of Guy Gisbon, for a new secret mission and all leave was cancelled." https://dambustersblog.com/2022/12/08/johnny-johnson-1921-2022/ 617 Sqdn 31 Mar 1943

Lancaster ED927 Op.Chastise (Sorpe Dam) Six weeks of intensive training followed, first by day and then later by night. Barlow's last training flight was the day before the raid, on Saturday 15 May. With Vernon Byers as second pilot, they did another test bombing run over the range at Wainfleet.

1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; WWII Defence Medal; WWII War Medal;

An eyewitness, Johanna Effing, gave her account to the writer Helmuth Euler: "We saw the field in front of us blazing fiercely. An aircraft flying from the west had hit the top of a 100,000-volt electricity pylon and crashed into the field. A huge bomb had rolled out 50 metres from where the plane had crashed."

Postwar legacy
Plane Crash in Herken 70 years ago, a British Lancaster bomber with seven crewmembers crashed here https://oldharveians.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Philip-Burgess-plane-crash-report.pdf