Eric Keeling "Letter to his Son"

ERIC DURHAM KEELING

Service Number: 1899507

Regiment & Unit/Ship

Sergeant  Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Died 05 February 1945, age 39

50 Greenway, Totteridge,  Son of Henry Gabriel Keeling and Amy Vevers Keeling; husband of Sadie Beatrice Keeling,

Eric Keeling was born in Australia and came to the UK with his family in 1932. He was an architect who intended to join his brother, a builder, in developing housing in Totteridge. In 1939, he joined the Auxiliary Fire Service.

Sergeant Eric Durham Keeling served in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He was assigned to the 1669 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU), part of No. 7 Group. His trade specialisation was as an Air Gunner, specifically serving as a Rear Gunner in bomber aircraft. The 1669 HCU was based at RAF Langar in Nottinghamshire, England, and was responsible for training bomber crews in the operation of four-engine heavy bombers before they joined operational squadrons.

Training at Heavy Conversion Units was a critical phase in developing bomber crews. It enabled them to transition from twin-engine training aircraft to the more complex four-engine bombers used in operations over enemy territory. While conducted away from active combat zones, these training exercises still carried significant risks due to the complexity of the aircraft and operations being practised.

On February 5, 1945, Sergeant Keeling was part of a seven-man crew aboard Lancaster III bomber PB570, which took off from RAF Langar for a night navigation exercise. This was a training flight designed to prepare bomber crews for operational missions. The planned route was extensive: Base (Langar) – Basingstoke – Barnstaple – Bude – St Mary's – Bardsey – Aberystwyth – Northampton – Base.

Nothing was heard from the aircraft after it took off, and it did not return to base. The aircraft and its entire crew were officially listed as "lost without trace". It was later recorded that the crew had lost their lives at sea.

His son, David, remembers that Sgt. Eric Keeling, my father, was, in fact, the mid-upper gunner on Lancaster PB570. I have a letter he wrote dated 22-1-45 describing a flight over Scotland and the Irish Sea from 20,000ft. The panorama was outstanding, but the cold was terrible (-46 °C), with a spasmodically working heated suit. He says, "The poor lad in the rear turret had his eyes frozen up".He had come to England to join his brother-in-law in developing housing in Totteridge. Still, he became an officer in the AFS throughout the Blitz, joining RAF Bomber Command in December 1943.