The RAF's Most Feared Tail Gunner of The Second World War...

Tailgunners were the first line of defense, but also the most vulnerable at the back of the aircraft, directly in the line of enemy fire. Like in any arena throughout history there are those who excel at their role and in today’s episode we are going to look at the wartime career of one of the RAF’s most deadly tail gunners, Tom McLean. Welcome to Wars of the World.

0:00 Introduction
2:02 First Blood
5:30 Joining the Dambusters
14:28 Later Life

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🎶🎶 All music from CO.AG

Narrated by: Will Earl
Written & Researched by: Tony Wilkins
Edited by: James Wade & Kieran Kennerley

History Should Never Be Forgotten...

[malbowstead]

Tom was a friend and neighbour of mine. An absolute fantastic and modest guy. Have a couple of pastel sketches that he did for me. I can vouch for his artist abilities as I saw many a picture in his house. He could have done it professionally, however he told me it would spoil his enjoyment of his hobby.
RIP great man.

[Joepops]

It's refreshing and very rewarding to hear of these distinguished war veterans leading long and fruitful lives after thier experiences of combat. A well earned and deserving peace. Be well

[malcolmbrown]

What a fantastic man and a total hero he was. not many rear gunners survived and he got to a good age.RIP Tom.

[danielreichert]

I can watch videos on these heroes forever because they deserve to be recognized forever.

[Curiosity-NZ]

I worked with a very gracious gentleman who was a tailgunner from the first days of the bombing war to the last days of the bombing war. He was credited with 4 aircraft and 3 probables. He said his favorite aircrafts were the Wellington and the Lancaster. He credited his survival to his small statue and a steady nerve. He also said that he made sure that the armourers never loaded tracer into his ammunition load.

[deltavee]

3:05 That shot of the Halifax B-III (the Hercules rotary engines gave it away) gave me a direct look at my father's office, the mid-upper turret. He did a full tour with R.C.A.F. 6 Group's 426 Sqn., the Thunderbirds in "Clueless."
At the end of his tour he took on three additional missions as a tail gunner.

I apparently owe my existence literally to the flip of a coin...he and another gunner flipped a coin to see who would fly tail for a crew that was short and the other fellow "won." They were shot up and he bled to death on the way back. Like many, he didn't talk much about the war but he did tell me he had the tip of his oxygen mask shot off by an attacker. Another matter of an inch or two....

He also spent 6 months on civvy street, found it not to his liking then re-upped, starting all over again as an A.C.2 after being demobbed as a Flight-Lieutenant. He did the full gig and retired as a Captain and I of course am an Air Force brat born and bred and proud of it.

We were posted to S.H.A.P.E. HQ in '56 and as a then 10-year old boy I learned to speak French in the half DND and half strictly French school system in Paris, mornings and afternoons. We camped all over Europe for four years.

Now at 76, those were still four of the best years of my life, swimming in Hitler Youth swimming pools in the Black Forest on tour with the Wolf Cubs/Boy Scouts and _en famille_ visiting an amazing amount of European history from Edinburgh Castle to the Riviera to Franco's Spain and Pompeii in Italy to Belgium for the 1958 World's Fair and Germany two more times, with many castles and pretty much all of the cathedrals that go back so many centuries.

It was different for him of course since we were visiting a lot of places he and his crew had been bombing just 11 years before, including Caen. He had mixed feelings about that raid but he never shared them.

So here I am now at the other end of my life nattering on at 2:30 in the morning in Ottawa.
Thanks for your patience and Ciao for now.

[garylove]

My uncle was a veteran of 97 Squadron surviving 73 missions. He rarely talked about his experiences but as a teenager read countless books on the subject he opened up to me. The bravery of every airman irrespective of the side they were on deserves the highest level of respect.

[defender]

All of those involved were incredibly brave young men and worthy of our respect and admiration. RIP.

[Strandjutter]

That man was a true hero. And as for me: an ace! Greetings from the Netherlands

[elwoodbluesmorris]

I used to now a man who was a tail gunner on the wellington bomber, he flew a lot of missions over occupied europe without any damage to the aircraft at all, however on his last mission the aircraft came in to land back in england and he woke up in hospital a couple of weeks later, on contact with the runway the rear turret he was sitting in came away from the aircraft and travelled some distance, that was the end of his flying days, in his 80s he was still working

[loddude]

Good report on a worthy gunner. (Though as a Paisley man, his surname was likely pronounced as 'McLain'.)

[susanbutler]

My Great Uncle Harry Glendinning was a tail gunner in a Vickers Wellington, shot down over Belgium in 1940.
He said with a 50% fatality rate for Bomber Command(56, 000 precious lives lost) it was the only reason he survived the War.
He continued in the RAF, as Nav on Sunderlands & later, Vulcan (with the Blue Steel Missile programme)
I am IMMENSELY proud of him and his contribution, also my Uncle Rowan RNZAF.

[notwocdivad]

Regarding the Bombs mentioned. I have heard them misnamed several times on Youtube. The 12, 000 lb bomb was called TALLBOY and was NOT the EARTHQUAKE BOMB! That name was reserved for the 22, 000 lb bomb named the GRAND SLAM because it was designed to burrow under a target such as ferro concrete u boat pens or other installations which had near bomb proof roofs and blow them up from underneath. The Bielefeld viaduct was the first use, the bomb fell within 30 meters and blew away the foundations of the viaduct so it fell into the crater left by the blast! Otherwise a very good video, thank you.

[jacquelineloaring]

My previous neighbour was a rear gunner on a Lancaster Bomber, very very brave men.

[martinpawley]

I have the utmost admiration for these gentlemen. Although they would say they were just doing their job, I think it is so much more than that.

[ronahart]

A cousin of mine was a rear gunner in a Stirling aircraft. He was injured.and lucky to survive. He married the beautiful nurse who looked after him. They were all such brave and amazing men, thanks for reminding us.

[thomasgumersell]

A very interesting short video. I have read the Dambusters 617 Squadron RAF and watched the movie on the raid. The tailgunners were those brave men tasked with keeping their 6 clear of enemy fighters. 💪🏻🙏🏻✨

[champion]

Tom sounds like one hell of a bloke who was an integral part of a team. I am currently in the middle of a book titled "Lancaster Men, The Aussie Heroes of bomber Command" by Peter Rees. This video and this book are the first I've heard of "Monika". They say we never stop learning.
Thank you for this very informative video.

[globaleye]

I worked with a great bloke in the 1960s, we were mechanics together, he was a Lancaster rear gunner in WW2 - very modest and self effacing, you got the feeling every day was a bonus for him. He related a story to me once - approaching the English coast, returning from a raid he saw a vague silhouette of a fighter weaving about in the dawn gloom, he told the skipper who said give him a burst which he duly did. The fighter reared up sharply to show him the RAF roundels on his Spitfire belly - turned out to be the Squadron Leader of a fighter squadron down the road 😁 he was put on the carpet for it as the Spitfire pilot maintained he was acting as an unseen escort.

[peterrobbins]

We had a neighbour who was a Lancaster tail gunner during the war he was a nice bloke seemed reasonably happy for someone who had seen his mates washed out of the back of planes with a high pressure hose I remember that he had a commando knife and a ss dagger