IAN WILLOUGHBY BAZALGETTE

'Ian Willoughby Bazalgette,' VC , DFC, (19 October 1918 - 4 August 1944), was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Contents

Early years

Action

Bazalgette Lancaster

References

External links

Early years

Ian Willoughby Bazalgette was born of British parents in Calgary, Alberta on 19 October 1918. After entering primary school at the Toronto Balmy Beach School, his parents returned to England in 1927. He grew up in New Malden, England and attended Rokeby Preparatory school and then Beverley Boys Secondary School as well as under private tutelage. ^[1]
==Second World War==
When war was declared, Bazalgette enlisted in the Royal Artillery, being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1940. After serving in the Searchlight Section as an instructor, he transferred to the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. ^[1]He soloed within a week of beginning his flight training at Cranwell and swiftly completed his ab initio flying by 24 January 1942, given the rank of Pilot Officer. His first posting was to 25 OTU (Operational Training Unit) but by September 1942, he joined an operational bomber squadron, No. 115 Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk. Flying the venerable Wellington bomber, "Baz" was sent out initially on "gardening" sorties, laying mines in the North Sea. After 13 operations, P/O Bazalgette and his squadron transitioned to the Avro Lancaster, completing their training in March 1943.^[3]
After completing ten more "ops" successfully on raids against heavily defended targets, Berlin, Essen, Kiel and St. Nazaire and surviving some harrowing escapes including a crash landing, Bazalgette was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 29 May 1943. The award noted his "great courage and determination in the face of the enemy."
With the end of his tour of 28 operations, Bazalgette was on a leave when he was "recruited" for the famed Pathfinders, but instead he ended up with a posting as an instructor and Flight Commander to 20 OTU in Lossiemouth, Scotland. ^[4] An opportunity soon arose for him to transfer to No. 635 Squadron RAF Pathfinder Force (PFF) in April 1944.
When conversion training was completed, 25 year-old "Baz" flew as Acting Squadron Leader, taking part in a number of operations that took place in and around the D-Day campaign.

Action

On 4 August 1944 at Trossy St. Maximin, France, Squadron Leader Bazalgette's Lancaster bomber was amongst a formation spearhead on a daylight raid on German positions. When near his target, his bomber came under severe anti-aircraft fire from the ground, putting both starboard engines out of action and causing a serious fire. In spite of this, the squadron leader pressed on to the target, marking and bombing it accurately. He then attempted to bring the burning aircraft to safety, having ordered those members of his crew who were able to do so to bail out. Although he managed to land the plane, it immediately exploded, killing him and his remaining two wounded crew members.
His grave is at Senantes Churchyard, 13 miles north-west of Beauvais, France. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon, England.

Bazalgette Lancaster

At the Nanton Lancaster Society Museum (located in Nanton, Alberta, south of his hometown Calgary), an Avro Lancaster FM159, after a lengthy period of reconstruction and repair, was painted in S/L Bazalgette's colours and markings. A dedication Ceremony was held in 1990. Mrs. Ethel Broderick, Ian Bazalgette's sister, unveiled a plaque and the markings of the Bazalgette aircraft (F2-T) were unveiled by two of Baz’s crewmembers, Chuck Godfrey and George Turner.

References

1. Feast 2006, p. 168.
2. Feast 2006, p. 168.
3. Feast 2006, p. 169.
4. Feast 2006, p. 170.


★ Feast, Sean: ''Heroic Endeavour: One Attack, a Victoria Cross and 206 Brave Men''. London: Grub Street, 2006. ISBN 1-904943-51-9.

★ Harvey, David. ''Monuments to Courage:Victoria Cross Headstones & Memorials (Two Volumes)''. London: Kevin & Kay Patience, 1999. ISBN
1-84342-356-1.

★ Laffin, John. ''British VCs of World War II''. London: Sutton Publilshing, 1997. ISBN 1-84015-107-2.

★ ''The Register of the Victoria Cross''. London: This England, 1997. ISBN 0-906324-27-0.

External links

★ BAZALGETTE, Ian W.

★ I.W. Bazalgette VC

★ Commonwealth War Graves Commission profile for Ian Willoughby Bazalgette