Fighter pilot dies aged 88

Eaerly in his RAF career he was posted to 156 (Pathfinder) Squadron at Warboys in September 1942, as a young Flying Officer with 22 operational sorties already under his belt. The squadron had just been selected, with three others, to form the nucleus of the newly-formed Pathfinder Force, and Alastair immediately volunteered for this new task to get away from interim instructional duties.

He arrived at Warboys, near Huntingdon, at the same time as a certain Pilot Officer Lighton Verdon-Roe, whose father, Sir Alliott Verdon-Roe had founded the famous aircraft companies A.V. Roe & Co. Ltd (Avro') and later, Saunders-Roe Ltd and whose aunt was Dr Marie Stopes, the early pioneer of birth control.

The squadron was equipped with Wellington bombers at this time, but by January l943 had acquired the formidable new Avro Lancasters onto which it quickly converted. At this time, these two pilots were joined by an Australian, Flight Lieutenant Peter Isaacson, DFM from 460 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, who had already flown Lancasters, and personally checked out Lang and Verdon-Roe onto the new aircraft.

These three men became the greatest of friends, and quickly earned themselves the title of "The Terrible Threesome" from their C.O. Wing Commander Tommy Rivett-Carnac. Like many very young men in the acute grip of war they found various ways of coping with the pressure.

At the beginning of l943, the squadron casualty rate was gradually rising, leading to a decline in morale. In l942 the squadron had lost 45 aircraft, l9 since starting its Pathfinder role. In l943 this would rise to 58 aircraft (each Lancaster having a crew of seven).

Now fast becoming the oldest members of the squadron, by reason of their continuing survival, Lang, Verdon-Roe and Isaacson decided occasional bouts of exuberance would not go amiss.

Lang and Verdon-Roe had recently developed a game to enliven the proceedings - on routine night-flying training flights over the U.K. they had raced each other back (and begun to involve others too) to try to be the first to be interrogated and de-briefed by an exceptionally pretty and intelligent W.A.A.F. officer (rather than by her male colleagues). The sight of their Lancasters screeching at high speed around the perimeter track to their dispersals, and braking abruptly to a halt, became a common sight to their ground crews as this game developed!

By early May, Alastair had extended the contest to the returning from operations over Germany, and he cut the corners on the normal dog's legs' to try to beat Lighton back. So far, Alastair had been successful, but cutting corners like this exposed them to areas of heavy flak, or night fighter activity. So Alastair had agreed a truce' with Lighton for the operation to Dortmund on May 4th.

Lang's Flight Engineer was Sgt Jack "Nobby" Clark, DFM, a man of uncanny ability to foretell whether an operation would be cancelled. Indeed during briefings the CO, Rivett-Carnac, would frequently turn to Clark to enquire half-jokingly as to whether the operation would proceed.

Shortly before their mission to Dortmund of May 4th 1943 Clark took Lang aside and advised him that their crew would "undergo a drastic change of circumstances but that he should not worry for himself".

Over Dortmund, the Target Indicator bombs in his Lancaster hung up' (although the rest of the bombs dropped normally). A few seconds later his Lancaster exploded in a massive fireball, seen by Lighton behind him. The nose and cockpit section of the Lancaster tumbled down separately, while the rest disintegrated in flames. Clark came forward to help Lang with his parachute which was stuck and both men were pinned into the falling nose section. They were somehow thrown out backwards and their parachutes opened just seconds before they hit the ground hard. Lang broke his ankle, and Clark suffered head injuries. They were the only survivors among the crew.

Both were eventually taken to hospital by the Germans, and became prisoners-of-war in Stalag Luft 3 (Sagan) the famous "wooden horse" camp. Clark was able to feign madness and was repatriated after a relatively short stay. Lang stayed at Sagan and was then moved to Stalag 3a (Luckenwalde) a notoriously hard camp until released by the Russian army in May 1945. There exists an intense portrait of him during this period by Leonard Pearman the artist, who was a fellow prisoner of war in Sagan.

It had been Alastair's 50th operational trip, and just prior to this, he had been awarded the D.F.C. on March 9th in l943 "for displaying exceptional ability and consistently setting a high example of courage and determination" on operations to targets in Germany and Italy.

He had also been confirmed as Squadron Leader a few days earlier. His wife Barbara and baby daughter Virginia learnt of his safety a month later, but his great friend Lighton (now also confirmed as a Sqd. Ldr and awarded a D.F.C.) perished a week later over Germany.

Later in 1943 Peter Isaacson flew Q-Queenie the first Lancaster down to Australia on a war-bond mission. He later became Wing Commander Peter Isaacson RAAF, AM DFC AFC DFM.

The "Terrible Threesome" had outlived their luck, but had more than done their bit in lifting the Squadron's morale at a critical time.

GENERAL BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS Alastair Grant Lang was born on October 26th l9l9 in Burma, one of three brothers and two sisters of Hugh Francis Lang and his wife Cara Jamesa Grant.

Shortly afterwards, Alastair's father, a merchant trader, died on his way back from India and his mother, living at Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex brought up her family of five alone in considerable hardship.

Alastair was educated at Seaford College and Christ's Hospital, Horsham, and both he and his brother Hugh (known as Ian), joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as war broke out in l939, Hugh being trained as a fighter pilot and Alastair as a bomber pilot.

Alastair had gained his wings' by October l940, and after converting onto Wellington bombers at Lossiemouth, was posted to 150 Squadron at Newton, Nottinghamshire in April l941. He flew his first Operation' on April 15th as second pilot, and his first as skipper on June 11th. In the meantime, on April 20th, his brother, Hugh, flying with 242 Squadron over the Channel, was involved in a unique accident when Hugh, another pilot and their Squadron C.O., Sqd. Ldr W.P.F. Treacy, D.S.O, finding themselves suddenly under attack from German fighters all collided together, and drowned when their Hurricanes crashed into the sea.

Just 10 days after flying as skipper on his first operation, Alastair married his fiancée Barbara Davies in Eastbourne on June 21st 1941, and after a brief honeymoon in London, was back on operations again just four days later.

By August l941 Alastair had completed 19 operational trips, before being posted to an Operational Training Unit to train more bomber pilots to help make up the losses now being sustained. By September 1942, although he had flown on the three 1,000 bomber raids' on German cities that had meant using the Training Unit aircraft to make up the numbers, Alastair was desperate to get back on regular operations again, and when he heard of the new Pathfinder Force being formed, volunteered immediately, and was posted to l56 Squadron by September 21st 1942.

After his return to England when the war ended, Alastair elected to remain with the RAF in Peacetime. He was posted to 12 (Bomber) Squadron on October 8th 1945, and found himself flying Lancasters again as Squadron Leader in charge of B' Flight. In August l946 they converted onto Avro Lincolns, and in September Alastair was elevated to be the Officer Commanding 12 Squadron.

In May l947 Alastair was posted to 617 Squadron (The Dambusters') as B' Flight Commander and underwent intensive training in formation and instrument flying, in preparation for a tour of the USA. The squadron flew out from Binbrook on July 23rd l947, crossed the Atlantic to Gander and Andrew Field (Washington) and then toured the USA for the month of August, calling at Detroit, Salina, Wichita, Sacramento, Riverside, Fort Worth, Montgomery and back to Washington. Then they visited Trenton, Ontario, and flew back over Gander, arriving back at Binbrook on September 9th l947.

Alastair then return as O.C. of 12 Squadron until the end of 1947, before making a major career course change and opting to become a fighter pilot from 1948 onwards (in his brother's footsteps).

After a course at the Central Flying School at Little Rissington (Jan-July l948), Alastair dropped a rank back to Flight Lieutenant, and was posted to 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force at Biggin Hill, to fly Spitfire F.22s. He became O.C. of the Squadron and regained his rank as Sqd. Ldr. In December l949, then after converting to fly the jet Gloster Meteor F-4, Alastair was posted to 66 (Fighter) Squadron at Linton-on-Ouse in May l959 as Commanding Officer, flying Meteor F.8s as a key unit in Fighter Command. He immediately put the squadron on an intensive formation flying and aerobatics course of training, and he led the squadron in a memorable aerobatic display at the RAF Air Display at Farnborough on July 7th and 8th, l950. He remained in command until august l952, remembering that on one occasion, he flew the BBC Air Correspondent, Raymond Baxter, in a Meteor 7 to make a broadcast on flying a jet fighter (Raymond himself being an ex-spitfire pilot).

After this, Alastair took a post in Ceylon in October 1952 helping to train Royal Ceylon Air Force cadets on Chipmunk trainers and preparing them to receive de Havilland Vampire fighters from England.

Then in 1954 it was back to the inevitable deskjob in London working for the Ministry of Supply and being responsible for managing cockpit layout, lighting and air conditioning of the RAF's new fighter aircraft.

Alastair made sure he took the regular familiarisation courses (to keep his hand in at flying) every year, and as part of his job (and with a twinkle in his eye) he insisted he personally try out the new fighters that came along - the Swift F.4, Hunter F.4, Swift FR-5 and Gnat Mk 1.

He would get a briefing on their handling, then climb aboard, and - as laconically stated in his log book - "climb to 45,000 ft, exceed Mach 1 (ie go through the Sound Barrier) and Aerobatics". He thoroughly enjoyed these short flights, but finally decided to leave the RAF in August l957.

Alastair then joined Mobil Oil in London, and worked his way up through several Departments, becoming manager of the Wholesale Fuel Department and looking after contracts with, amongst others, suppliers of aviation fuels at airports and airfields around the U.K. He retired as a Director to his family home at Collingbourne Ducis, near Marlborough in Wiltshire.

Alastair was an all-round sportsman, playing cricket for his schools, rugby for his RAF units and tennis and golf in later life. He was also keen on horse-racing, playing Bridge, and he and his wife were well-known for their parties and social activities. He life to the full, and felt the loss of his wife Barbara deeply, when she pre-deceased him on December 3rd l992. He later married Tessa Anderson in l999, who also predeceased him.

Alastair died on October 28th, just two days after his 88th birthday, and is survived by his three daughters, Virginia, Charmian and Judith, two step-daughters and his grandchildren, Louise and Charles.