Sargeant John Dyer

 

The one person we have some information on, mainly through the records of his families is Sargeant John Dyer. He was in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and trained as a wireless operator and air gunner, with 106 squadron. He died when his Lancaster was hit near Berlin in 1944 on a mission to bomb Berlin. He was just 21 years of age. It was his 16th sortie. The crew were buried in the local cemetery by the Germans and later reburied in the Berlin British War Cemetery in 1947. His parents were not notified about what had happened to him until 1948, 4 years after he went missing.

 

He had lived with his parents and younger brother in Church Cottage next to the village church. He was an ironstone driller before he volunteered at the age of 18.  He was grammar school educated at Melton and quickly learned his flying skills. He must have realised that his chances of survival were slim; nearly half of all the Lancaster crews were killed during the war. We know that he was a quiet modest person. We also know that his parents strong faith carried them forward in those darkest of days.