A FAMILY from south Essex travelled to France to hear of the heroics of an uncle and brother who died in a Lancaster bomber crash.

Charles “Charlie” Balser, just 23, was the rear gunner in a Lancaster crew whicho perished in the crash in 1944, in Moliens, just outside Amien.

Villagers carried out a special ceremony to remember the fiveman crew, which was attended by members of Charlie's family.

Julie Askem, 51, from Southend, went to the ceremony with her 82-year-old mother Lily Askem, Charlie’s sister. Julie’s 53- year-old sister, Janet Taplin, and her nephew Jake Taplin, 12, also went.

Julie said: “Charlie grew up in Becontree, near Dagenham, but his family have lived in Laindon for the past 35 years. He was a rear gunner, which was one of the highest risk jobs in the war.

“He was on his 25th mission when he died. The pilot was commended for saving the plane from crashing into the village. It crashed in a field just outside, possibly saving many lives.”

Charlie left behind a young wife who was pregnant with his son. Charlie and his colleagues are buried in a cemetery in the village, which is still carefully tended by residents.

Pupils at the village school, Moliens Elementary compiled a biography of the crew as part of a project and performed a ceremony, placing a photograph of Charlie on his grave.

The pilot and crew are considered heroes by villagers as they stayed with the plane to stop it hitting the village, crashing it a fewhundred yards away, with the loss of all crew. Some villagers have even kept fragments of the crashed aircraft.

The visit to the village proved emotional for the family. Julie said: “The village still honours the brave crew. They have always taken good care of the graves, but the school decided it wanted to use it to educate the children.

“It was very moving and Jake was very impressed. The children at the school were so well behaved and respectful. I’m not the type to get emotional, but I found it very moving and mum was quite emotional.

“It was good the teacher who organised it was able to see how much it meant to mum, especially as he had put so much effort into it. He said he hoped the children would pass it down to their children.”

 

REAR GUNNERS HAD MOST DANGEROUS JOB OF AIR CREW

A REAR gunner’s job was one of the most dangerous of all.

The rear, or tail gunner, had to defend against enemy fighter attacks from the rear of the plane.

He would operate a flexible machine gun emplacement, on either the top, or tail end, of the aircraft with a generally unobstructed view towards the rear of the aircraft.

Royal Air Force heavy bombers such as the Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax used a powered turret, capable of 180 degree rotation containing the tail gunner and four 0.303 inch Browning machine guns.

The tail gunner fulfilled a second role as a lookout for attacking enemy fighters, particularly in British bombers operating at night.

As these aircraft operated individually instead of being part of a bombing formation, the bombers’ first reaction to an attacking night fighter was to engage in radical evasive manoeuvres such as a corkscrew roll. Firing guns in defence was of secondary importance.

The British slang term for tail gunners was “Tail-end Charlies”.

In the autumn of 1944, the British began deploying Lancasters fitted with the automatic gun-laying turret, allowing gunners to fire in darkness with the aid of radar.