Sgt. Sidney Edward Bradshaw
61 Squadron Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Early Life

Sidney Bradshaw was the eldest son of Oliver and Lily Bradshaw of ‘Minerva’, Westfield in Woking. Oliver was chief accountant at Woking Council.

Sidney left school in 1938 and went to work for the Commercial Union Insurance Co. in London. He volunteered for service in July 1940.

World War 2

Sidney took part in many missions over occupied Europe with 61 Squadron which operated as part of No. 5 Group, Bomber Command.

The squadron has a proud history. They were the first to bomb Berlin and the first to sink a U-boat, four of its Lancasters made over 100 bombing missions and Flt. Lt. William Reid was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1943. 

61 Squadron received its first Lancasters in the spring of 1942 and in May moved from RAF Woolfox Lodge in Rutland to RAF Syerston near Nottingham.

Lancaster of 61 Squadron

At 2340 on the night of 22 June 1942 Sidney and his crew mates boarded Lancaster Mk 1 R5517. Their mission that night was a raid on the port of Emden in north-west Germany.
The crew of Lancaster R5517 were young, even by the standards of the day. The age of six of the crew members is known and ranges from 20 to just 22. 

R5517 was piloted that night by Squadron Leader Ian McNaughton, aged 22 from Ontario (the son of General Andrew McNaughton, commander in chief of the Canadian forces). His crew were Sgt. John Dryden, aged 22 from Galashiels in Scotland, Flying Officer William McCulloch, aged 22 from British Columbia, Sgt. Colin Parker, aged 20 from Oldham, Lancs., Pilot Officer James McKeown, aged 22 from Auckland, New Zealand (who was already married), Sgt. James Fallon and Sgt. Sidney Bradshaw, aged just 20.

Lancaster R5517 was hit by flak of the Marine-Flak-Abteilung 236 and crashed. The bodies of six of the crew including Sydney were recovered and lie in Sage cemetery, near Bremen in northern Germany. Sgt. Dryden’s body was never recovered and he is remembered on the RAF memorial at Runnymede.

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