It was with great sadness that we received the news that ‘Mick’ Stirrop had passed away on 17th March aged 88 years. A veteran member of 223 Squadron Mick had lost his long battle with breathing difficulties which had prevented him from joining us at the annual reunions. However, he retained a keen interest in 100 Group and was a collector of any published works concerning the group.

 

 

Shown above is ‘Mick’ with Jim Bratten, 223 Squadron Air Gunners, enjoying the snow at Oulton Street in January 1945 (photo courtesy of the late Jim Bratten).

 

Christened, Edward, he acquired the lifelong substitute ‘Mick’ because his brother initially had difficulty in pronouncing Edward. Like all wartime aircrew Mick was a volunteer, and passing the medical and aptitude tests was selected for aircrew training under the Pilot, Navigator, Air Bomber (PNB) scheme. In Mick’s case he began training as pilot. Successfully completing his Initial Training Wing (ITW) course, and grading school which confirmed his suitability for pilot training he was posted to an Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS). Unfortunately, his time at EFTS in 1944 coincided with a pilot surplus so Mick, with a number of other very disappointed would be pilots, was forced to remuster to a different aircrew specialisation despite being so close to being awarded his coveted pilots’ flying brevet.

 

Mick’s new aircrew category was Air Gunner and he joined 60 other chastened ex pilot trainees at 10 Air Gunnery School (AGS) at RAF Walney Island, Barrow in Furness. Successfully completing the Course he was one of 38 Course members posted to complete the crews of the newly reforming 223 (Bomber Support) Squadron at RAF Oulton on 2nd September 1944. Mick was allocated to Flying Officer Tony Morris’s crew flying a few trips in the waist position before becoming the crew’s regular mid-upper gunner. Mick obviously remained pretty fit as he was a regular member of the crew completing a total of 37 ops and flew on the Squadron’s final op of the war on the night of 2nd/3rd May 1945.

 

Mick’s two special pals on the Squadron were fellow air gunners Sergeants Leonard Vowler and Ted Whittaker who were also 10 AGS graduates. The three were inseparable, but Mick was to lose them both when they were killed in action in the losses of TS526 and TS520 respectively.

 

I first made contact with Mick in 1997. He had an excellent recall of events during his time on the squadron and was particularly helpful to me in completing the book “Special Ops Liberators” during 2011. It meant a great deal to me that he obviously got enormous pleasure from his personal copy of the book, and the last time we spoke he told me he was already reading it through for the second time. Despite his infirmity he retained his sense of humour and I always looked forward to our correspondence and telephone calls. Regrettably, we never met but I remember him with respect and affection. He is also remembered by his navigator Andrew Barron, a founder member of the Association and regular attendee at the annual Reunion.

 

by Richard Forder

 

 

This article is from the Summer 2012 issue of Confound and Destroy