97/Deverill Crew: Deverill Portrait

Object/Artifact

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RAF Pathfinders Archive

Name/Title

97/Deverill Crew: Deverill Portrait

Entry/Object ID

2021.500.19

Description

Ernest Alfred Deverill, pilot, 97 Squadron. Taken when he was still in Coastal Command. possibly just after he won the DFC, the ribbon for which is on his uniform.

Context

Ernest Deverill was an outstanding pilot who won the DFM when he was in Coastal Command. Transferring to Bomber Command, he won the DFC twice and the Air Force Cross, which was awarded posthumously. Deverill flew on the famous Augsburg and Le Creusot daylight raids. These raids had an enormously high casualty rate, but in both cases Deverill brought his crew and his aircraft home despite appalling damage. The night of 16/17 December 1943, afterwards known as Black Thursday, saw the worst RAF bad weather losses of the war. A heavy fog caused severe problems for home-coming aircraft and there were multiple fatal crashes. Amongst the dead were 50 Pathfinder aircrew. One of the most tragic losses of that night was the death of Ernest and six of his crew in an accident caused by fog and the shut-down of all the engines on his Lancaster when his petrol ran out. The only survivor, who was badly burnt, was James Benbow. There are two copies of this photograph in the Archive's Collection, one framed with Ernest's pilot wings and and medal ribbons, and a second one which is unframed.

Collection

97 Squadron, RAF Coastal Command, The Bombing War: 16/17 December 1943, YDEV: ERNEST DEVERILL COLLECTION

Category

QAI: Personal photographs