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Cecil Keys
| Warrant Officer Cecil Keys (deceased) Keys served as a Warrant Officer Wireless Operator during World War II. He worked primarily on Lancaster and Stirling bombers, including a period on special operations in North Africa with No.624 Squadron. Keys' crew dropped men behind enemy lines to assist resistance groups. It also dropped supplies for the units forming on the ground. Missions included Italy, France, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. No.624 Squadron disbanded on 5th September 1944. Cecil joined No.61 Squadron in March 1945 and remained in Bomber Command for the rest of the war. His last operational mission before the end of hostilities was a raid on the Hamburg U-boat pens with No.61 Squadron, as shown in the painting Jet Attack by David Pentland. It was during this mission the RAF found itself attacked by jet propelled Nazi aircraft. Some years ago Mr. Keys explained what happened during this operation : We were flying in the usual 'gaggle' formation and the flak was heavy. I took a quick look at the situation from the Astrodome and could see our escort of Mustangs far out to starboard but something was moving very fast indeed in the opposite direction on the port side. I knew at once it was one of the jet fighters the Germans had developed and were using in the Hamburg area. Our two gunners had already seen it but we were also aware our.303 calibre guns would be no match for the 0.5 shells from the German jet. I was searching the area directly behind us for another possible dash of the enemy jet when a Lancaster, about 100 yards behind us, suddenly put its nose down in a vertical dive. The jet had come in so fast they hadn't much hope of getting a hit. We were aware we had just missed getting the chop instead of the unfortunate crew just behind us. Indeed, our bomb aimer was hit by flak. This raid on Hamburg took place around 9am in sunshine. The bombers were accompanied by American Mustangs because of their long range fuel tanks. Cecil Watson Albert Keys died on 22nd April 2003 aged 89. |
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Jet Attack by David Pentland. Oberleutenant Schalls ME 262 of JG7 catches the Australian crewed Lancaster from 5 group dead astern as it lines up for its bombing run on the Hamburg U-Boat pens. Even at this angle the speed of the jet made it difficult to get off more than a few bursts of cannon fire before it passed through the British formation. The episode was witnessed by navigator Cecil Keys in the leading Lancaster QR/Y from 61 squadron on his last raid of the war. Lt. Schall, an ace with 117 kills, and 2nd highest jet ace of the war with 14 victories was killed the following day when his aircraft hit a bomb crater on landing at his base of Parchim. |
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