Ian Willoughby Bazalgette

The Canadian-Born RAF Pathfinder Who Stayed with His Burning Lancaster

With his Lancaster on fire, three engines lost or failing, and two wounded airmen unable to escape, Ian Willoughby Bazalgette had a choice. He could leave the doomed bomber, or remain at the controls and attempt the almost impossible. The 25-year-old Canadian-born Royal Air Force pilot chose to stay.

Acting Squadron Leader Ian Willoughby Bazalgette, VC, DFC, service number 118131, was a Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve bomber pilot and Pathfinder whose final mission over occupied France on 4 August 1944 became one of the most extraordinary acts of courage in RAF Bomber Command history. His determination to complete his attack, save his crew and avoid civilians on the ground resulted in the posthumous award of the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest decoration for gallantry in the presence of the enemy.

Born in Calgary, Alberta, on 19 October 1918, Bazalgette moved with his family to Toronto in 1923, where he received part of his early education. The family returned to England in 1927. When the Second World War began, his path to the cockpit was not immediate. In September 1940 he received a commission in the Royal Artillery. The following year he transferred to the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, trained as a pilot and eventually entered the dangerous world of RAF Bomber Command.

In September 1942, Bazalgette joined No. 115 Squadron RAF at Mildenhall. He initially flew Vickers Wellington bombers before the squadron converted to the four-engined Avro Lancaster. His operations took him against some of the most heavily defended targets in Europe, including Duisburg, Berlin, Essen and Turin. By the end of his first operational tour he had completed approximately thirty sorties.

His performance brought him the Distinguished Flying Cross. The award was published in the London Gazette on 9 July 1943, where he was listed as Acting Flight Lieutenant Ian Willoughby Bazalgette of No. 115 Squadron, RAFVR. His DFC citation praised his constant enthusiasm for operational flying, his participation in numerous dangerous sorties and the exceptional gallantry and devotion to duty that had earned the respect of his squadron.

After completing his first operational tour in August 1943, Bazalgette was posted to No. 20 Operational Training Unit at RAF Lossiemouth as an instructor. Training other bomber crews offered respite from combat, but Bazalgette wanted to return to operations. In April 1944 he joined No. 635 Squadron at RAF Downham Market, part of No. 8 Group's Pathfinder Force, and served as a flight commander with the acting rank of Squadron Leader. The Pathfinders were selected crews entrusted with finding and marking targets for the main bomber force, a role that demanded exceptional navigation, flying skill and determination under fire.

Then came 4 August 1944.

Bazalgette captained Avro Lancaster III ND811, coded F2-T, on a daylight operation against German V-1 flying-bomb facilities at Trossy-St-Maximin in northern France. The London Gazette later described him as the mission's "master bomber," but research by the Royal Air Force Museum has established that he was actually one of the operation's leading Pathfinder target markers. It is an important distinction because it allows the story of his final mission to be told as accurately as possible.

As ND811 approached the target, intense anti-aircraft fire tore into the Lancaster. Both starboard engines were knocked out. Fires erupted in the fuselage and starboard wing, and bomb aimer Flight Lieutenant Ivan Alderwin Hibbert, DFC, was badly wounded.

Bazalgette did not turn away.

Despite the aircraft burning around him, he continued toward the target and accurately released his markers and bombs. His official Victoria Cross citation emphasized that the success of the attack depended upon his effort and that, despite the appalling condition of his aircraft, he pressed the attack home.

After the bombing run, the Lancaster plunged into a steep dive and was almost beyond control. Bazalgette fought the aircraft back under command, but the crisis only deepened. The port inner engine failed, leaving just one engine functioning, while fire consumed much of the starboard wing.

The mission had been completed. Now his crew had to survive.

Bazalgette ordered every man capable of doing so to bail out. Four members of the crew escaped by parachute and ultimately evaded capture. But two men could not leave. Hibbert was gravely wounded, while mid-upper gunner Flight Sergeant Vernon Victor Russell Leeder of the Royal Australian Air Force had been overcome by fumes.

Bazalgette could still have attempted to save himself.

Instead, he remained at the controls.

Flying a crippled Lancaster with one functioning engine and a burning wing, Bazalgette attempted a forced landing in the hope of saving the two helpless airmen. As he descended near Senantes, he deliberately took care to avoid the French village below. He succeeded in bringing the Lancaster down, but the aircraft exploded almost immediately. Bazalgette, Hibbert and Leeder were killed.

The official Victoria Cross citation, published in the London Gazette on 17 August 1945, recognized not one isolated decision but the entire sequence of his actions. He had continued the attack in a burning aircraft, recovered his Lancaster when it was almost uncontrollable, enabled four crewmen to escape, and then surrendered his own chance of survival in an attempt to save two comrades who could not abandon the aircraft. The citation concluded that his courage and devotion to duty were "beyond praise."

The Victoria Cross citation did contain one historical error. It called Bazalgette the Master Bomber for the Trossy-St-Maximin operation. Modern research by the Royal Air Force Museum, including examination of the circumstances of the raid, identifies him instead as one of the leading target markers. The correction does nothing to diminish his actions. If anything, separating the later wording of the citation from the actual operational role allows the extraordinary events of 4 August 1944 to stand on firmer historical ground.

Bazalgette was only 25 years old.

French civilians recovered his remains from the crash site and concealed them until liberation. On 8 October 1944, he was buried in Senantes Churchyard, Oise, France, during a ceremony attended by his sister Ethel. His grave remains there under the care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The four men who had parachuted from ND811 survived the war, allowing the full story of the final flight to be reconstructed.

Bazalgette's Victoria Cross is held by the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon in London. His connection with Canada has also been permanently commemorated. Mount Bazalgette in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta was named in his honour in 1949, and in 1974 he was inducted as a Member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame.

Ian Willoughby Bazalgette's story is remembered not simply because he received the Victoria Cross, but because of what he chose to do when every remaining option carried enormous risk. He completed his mission when his aircraft was already burning. He gave four men the chance to survive. He remained with two comrades who could not escape. And in the final moments of his life, with a crippled Lancaster descending over occupied France, he still took care to protect the civilians in the village below.

That was the courage for which Ian Willoughby Bazalgette was awarded the Victoria Cross.