Far East Raf Liberators: Attacking the Japanese: Roy Andrews and 215 Squadron

Between 11 October 1944 and 8 April 1945, wireless operator/air gunner Roy Andrews flew thirty-five missions with the RAF’s 215 Squadron, based in Bengal, India. His ops comprised one long exercise, one Air-Sea Rescue flight, and either bombing and strafing, or just bombing, attacks against targets in Burma and Thailand, including three sojourns along the notorious Thailand-Burma ‘Death’ Railway. Roy began as his crew's second W/Op/AG, mostly manning a .50-calibre beam gun. By January 1945 he became the crew’s primary W/Op/AG and flew his final twenty-five missions in this role. In addition to his operational duties, Roy managed various squadron tasks, such as censoring mail and preparing jungle kits. This book, based on Roy’s personal experiences, offers insights into his upbringing in Hong Kong, England and Australia, his military training, and his time in India during the war. The detailed accounts of each of his thirty-five operations and his two longest non-operational flights are complemented by an analysis of every other 215 Squadron B-24 Liberator op. Historian Matt Poole contributes additional squadron information, including aerial bomb-strike photos and images never before published. This comprehensive work highlights a rarely covered chapter of World War II RAF operations in the Far East.

Author Matt Poole, a retired U.S. Government geospatial analyst residing in Silver Spring, Maryland (in the Washington, DC metropolitan area in America), has researched Second World War RAF Liberator operations in the Far East (flying out of India, Ceylon, and Burma) since 1990. At that time he began investigating the 29 February 1944 combat disappearance of his Liverpool, UK, born-and-raised mother’s first husband, George Plank, a wireless operator/air gunner on RAF 159 Squadron flying out of Digri, India (approximately 64 miles west of Calcutta – now called Kolkata). This intense research led Matt to gain expertise in the activities of numerous RAF (and, secondarily, American) flying units and to assist families of Liberator veterans in learning of the exploits and sometimes losses of their loved ones. He has located many veterans and also kin of the fallen, including siblings, cousins, children, and widows. He has also found girlfriends and fiancées. His desire has always been to share his considerable findings with those who never knew loss details (only if they wished to know). For his first book (entitled RAF LIBERATORS OVER BURMA, subtitled FLYING WITH 159 SQUADRON) he edited the memoir of RAF wireless operator/air gunner Bill Kirkness DFM, and he provided expanded details to enhance Bill's words. He has also written two articles about George Plank and Liberator losses over Burma in the RAF Association’s Air Mail magazine (PARTS 1 and 2 of a story entitled DARING DIANA, which was the name of George's Liberator bomber) and has given popular Internet podcast interviews (on WW2podcast.com and via the RAF Association).