VIGILANTIA ET VIRTUTE

Vernon Smith was born in 1924 in Canterbury, Kent, the son of George and Flo, and the sixth of eleven boys. He became a rear gunner on Flash McCollah’s crew in 7 Squadron.

The crew from L-R in the photograph are:

Eric Wilkin, MU/G

Harold ‘Lucky’ Hudson, Navigator

Hughes, W/OP

‘Flash’ McCollah, Skipper

Gordon Graham, Radar Nav

Vernon Smith,  Rear Gunner

Sid Moors, Flight Engineer

After the war, Vernon belonged to the Air Gunners Association, which had the fabulous motto: VIGILANTIA ET VIRTUTE. The Association’s badge of a bullet with wings is a gem.

Air gunners assoc badge

Photographs and information courtesy of Lorraine Brown.

 

 

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