Flight Lieutenant Dennis Lundy DFC

In 1940 Dennis was in a reserved occupation working for an engineering company but in 1941 he volunteered for aircrew at his local recruiting office.

Havin been accepted for aircrew, he was sent to No.1 EFTS at Malton, Ontario, Canada for his flying training. His flying training started in November 1941, on Tiger Moths and went solo on December 11th, after only 10 hours flying instruction. His training continued until the end of January 1942,obtaining his wings in February 1942. From there he was sent to No.5 SFTS at Branton, Ontario, training on the Avro Anson. He was there until the end of May 1942. At this point he should have returned to England but was chosen to be a staff pilot at the No.6 Bombing & Gunnery school in Mountain View, Ontario, he was there from June 1942 till early January1943 at which point he was posted back to England.

                                                   In Canada.

Returning to the UK he was sent to No.18 (P) A.F.U. at Church Lawton on 23rd March 1943. This was the Pilots Advanced Training Unit, Flying the Airspeed Oxford until 28th April 1943. By this time he had accumulated some 546 hours of flying time. Dennis then moved onto No.29 O.T.U at Bitteswell on 6th June 1943. Training there was on the Wellington, leaving on 2nd August 1943. From there it was on to 1660 C. U at Swinderby, commencing flying there on 25th August, firstly flying the Manchester, but this was short lived as by the 29th of August he was flying the Lancaster. His crew at this time were; Harry Bignell; Bomb Aimer, Bill Rundle; Mid Uppeper Gunner, Ted Stevens; Flight Engineer, Len Green; Wireless Operator, Bert Jordan; Navigator and Jack Denny; Rear Gunner. Finishing at Swinderby on 22nd September 1943, having done 4 Hrs 40 Min on the Manchester and 52 Hrs on the Lancaster both Day and Night flying. Arriving at Skellingthorpe he flew his first operation on September 27th as second pilot to P/O Code and crew on a raid to Hanover, landing at Kirmington on their return. From October 3rd to 7th he flew 4 training flights on 4 different aircraft the last being VN-T R854, which he then flew on his first operation to Suttgart on the 7th October. His following operations were;

1943

7th October VN-T R854 Stuttgart

18th October    VN-P W4008 Hanover

3rd November   VN-Z A101   Dusseldorf

10th November VN-P W4008 Morane

18th November VN-P W5004 Berlin

22nd November VN-P W5004 Berlin (Returning early with Starboard inner engine faulty)

26th November VN-P W5004 Berlin (Landed Leaconfield)

2nd December VN-P W5004 Berlin

3rd December VN-P W5004 Leipzig

20th Dcember VN-P W5004 Frankfurt

29th December VN-Z ME572 Berlin

(ME572 was lost whilst flying with 460 Sqn RAAF. It was apparently involved in a mid air collision (Unconfirmed). The pilot being P/O J Roberts DFC RAAF)

1944

2nd January VN-M ME567 Berlin (Landed Lakenheath)

14th January VN-P LM437 Brunswick

20th January VN-O LM428 Berlin

21st January VN-S DV368 Magdeburg

15th February VN-P LM437 Berlin

19th February VN-X LL741 Leipzig

(LL741 was lost on 21 Feb 1945, when it failed to return from a raid to Gravehorst. The pilot was P/O P G Anderson RCAF.)

20th February VN-P LM437 Stuttgart

(LM437 was lost on 3 May 1944 on a raid to Mailly le Camp. Pilot was P/O R S Hanson)

24th February VN-P LM437 Schweinfurt

1st March VN-P LM437 Stuttgart

9th March VN-P LM437 Marignane

15th March VN-M LL840 Stuttgart

(LL840 was lost on 21 June 1944 on a raid to Scholven/Buer, Piloted by Sqn/Ldr T.B.Cole, 3 of the crew were killed and one of the survivors F/S Ingram was shot by the Gestapo.)

17th March VN-P LM437 Frankfurt

24th March VN-P LM437 Berlin (diverted Docking)

30th March VN-P LM437 Nuremberg

10th April VN-P LM437 Tours (Marshalling Yards)

11th April VN-P LM437 Aachen

18th April VN-P LM437 Paris (Juvisy Marshalling Yards)

20th April VN-P LM437 Paris (La Chappelle Marshalling Yards)

22nd April VN-P LM437 Brunswick

This completed his 30 operations following which he went to No.5 Lancaster Finishing School on 12th May 1944, as an instructor. His posting there finished on 30th March 1945, and his log book shows his assessment as a pilot instructor as "Above the average".

He arrived back at 50 Squadron at the beginning of April 1945, as an instructor, moving to Sturgate with them in July 1945. His C.O at that time being Wng Commander Jimmy Flint DFM GM.

During this time he did trips to Italy on Aug 20, Sept 29, Oct 8, Nov 26, interspersed with a trip to Berlin on Oct 23.

Finally going on to Waddington with 50 Squadron. 

This combat report for the night of 7 October 1943 flying VN-T, details an attack by an enemy fighter. The fighter was driven off and no claim made.

This operation was in fact Dennis's first OP.

This combat report refers to his operation on 2nd December 1943 flying VN-P. It refers to actions taken and the result when they were attacked by a JU88, and was claimed as destroyed.

After his service with the RAF he joined BOAC in June 1947 and was with them for 27 years, during which he flew the Avro Lancastrian, Canadaire Argo, Douglas DC7c, Handley Page Comet 4, and the Boeing 707, retiring in 1974.

Dennis passed away on 12th July 2014, age 92