TWO CEREMONIES took place in
France in mid-July to pay tribute to
Brazilian-born Wg Cdr Cosme Gomm
DSO DFC and his Lancaster crew,
writes Chris Goss. In the first of
the commemorations, held at St
Désir Cemetery, Lisieux, on July 16,
relatives of the crew, some of whom
came over from Brazil, visited the
men’s graves. The second, which
took place at Chuisnes the following
day, was to unveil a new memorial to
the fallen airmen.
Wg Cdr Cosme Gomm was born
in Curitiba, Paraná, in 1913, joining
the RAF in 1933. He flew with 45
and 14 Squadrons in Egypt and theNew Memorial to Lancaster Crew
The new memorial at Chuisnes. (ALL PHOTOS BY CHRIS GOSS)Blackburn Buccaneer S.1 XN964 in
its fresh markings at the Newark Air
Museum on July 20. (HOWARD HEELEY)8 http://www.britainatwar.comBRIEFING ROOM^ |^ News^ •^ Restoration^ •^ Discoveries • Events • Exhibitions from around the UK
Buccaneer Gets A Makeover
RESTORATION TEAM members
at Newark Air Museum in
Nottinghamshire have been
adding the finishing touches
to the collection’s Blackburn
Buccaneer S.1 XN964. The rare
de Havilland Gyron Junior-powered
S.1, a former Fleet Air Arm high-
speed low-level strike aircraft, has
recently had squadron markings
applied, and now carries the
same insignia it wore with 736
Squadron, the Fleet Training Unit,
at RNAS Lossiemouth, Scotland,
in 1965. It also served with 801
and 803 Squadrons during its
career with the navy, plus spent
time as a trials platform.
http://www.newarkairmuseum.org ∎Middle East, but in 1939 returned
to Britain to become an instructor.
In July 1940, he joined 77 Squadron
and on completion of his tour, for
which he was awarded the DFC,
he retrained as a night-fighter
pilot. In March 1941 he joined
604 Squadron, where he was later
credited with damaging a Ju 88 and
destroying three He 111s. Promoted
to squadron leader in June 1941, he
took command of 1454 Flight.
Further elevation up the ranks
(to wing commander) followed 12
months later, and he converted
to multi-engined bombers as well
as being given command of the
Australian 467 Squadron, flying his
first operational sortie to Berlin on
the night of January 16, 1943. His
24th and last mission of his second
tour was against Milan, by which
time he had been awarded the DSO.
Gomm’s Avro Lancaster III ED998,
coded PO-Y, was intercepted by
a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 flown by
Oberfeldwebel Josef Bigge of 2
Staffel/Jagdgeschwader 2 on the
night of August 15, 1943. The
bomber caught fire and exploded
over Chuisnes, west of Chartres.
Only the flight engineer, Sgt James
Lee, survived. ∎Dignitaries at the commemorations, held at the St Désir Cemetery, Lisieux, on July 16.A local historian has much of the tail of the
Gomm Lancaster.