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Pilot officer William ‘Bill’ Webb, one of the last surviving members of the Second World War’s Bomber Command, has died.
The 93-year-old, formerly of Marine Parade, Sheerness, lived in a Sheppey retirement home until he was admitted to Medway Maritime Hospital, where he died on Wednesday, June 3.
He was a widower, predeceased by his wife Ann five years ago, and leaves a younger brother.
Bill was a modest, unassuming man, who spoke little of his wartime exploits.
Friend Ian Goodwin, chairman of the Sheerness branch of the Royal British Legion, said: “When he left the RAF after the war, it was for good.
“He was never one for parades or wearing his medals, but here was a man who had flown on 31 bombing raids over Germany.
“But as he turned back on one of them – because one of his engines caught fire – he reckoned that didn’t count.
“He flew on many types of aircraft and was flight engineer in a Lancaster.
“He joined as a young airman and left as a pilot officer.”
Bill joined the service in 1942 when the British bombing campaign against Germany was increasingly targeting industrial sites and the civilian manpower base essential for Nazi war production.
In total 364,514 operational sorties were flown, 1,030,500 tons of bombs were dropped and 8,325 aircraft lost in action.
Bomber Command crews suffered a high casualty rate: 55,573 killed out of a total of 125,000 aircrew (a 44.4% death rate). A further 8,403 were wounded in action and 9,838 became prisoners of war. In civilian life, Bill worked as an engineer and, as a hobby, pottered in his garden and grew vegetables.
“As a young man, Bill faced dangers that today we can barely imagine" - Ian Goodwin, Sheppey Royal British Legion
This photograph of him was taken in February 2014, exactly to the day 70 years after he flew his first qualifying raid in a Lancaster bomber.
News of Bill’s death was relayed to Ian in Normandy, where he was at the 71st anniversary of the D-Day landings.
It was especially poignant as Bomber Command was involved in Operation Overload, as it was code named.
He said: “As a young man, Bill faced dangers that today we can barely imagine – all in defence of our freedom.
“I was privileged to know him. He came from an extraordinary generation who set standards of duty and sacrifice by which our armed forces still serve today.”
