Rusty Waughman: Pilot who survived RAF's deadliest mission of WW2 dies aged 100
Royal Air Force veteran Russell 'Rusty' Waughman, who served in 101 Special Duty Squadron during the Second World War, has died just a month short of his 101st birthday.
Mr Waughman, who was a Flight Lieutenant during the war, was one of the lucky ones who returned from the deadly Nuremberg Raid in March 1944, the night the RAF's losses surpassed those of the entire Battle Of Britain.
In a 2022 feature-length documentary called Lancaster, he explained what it was like to fly the strategic bomber, saying: "You knew you were facing death all the time.
"Night after night after night. But it's just a thing you accepted."
Born on 19 January 1923 in Shotley Bridge in County Durham, the RAF veteran was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Force Cross for his bravery.
Mr Waughman was forced to fly his Avro Lancaster – one of the most successful heavy bombers of the Second World War – upside down after another aircraft exploded below him.
On another occasion, he managed to continue flying his badly damaged Lancaster back to Lincolnshire despite colliding mid-air with another bomber.
He then carried out an emergency landing, which left the crew uninjured.
This skilful manoeuvre left him with a green endorsement in his logbook signed by a Group Captain King, which said "instances of avoidance, by exceptional flying skill and judgement, of loss or damage to aircraft and personnel" and his bravery was mentioned in despatches.
In 2018, Mr Waughman took part in Project Propeller, an event designed to pay tribute to the aircrew who took part in the Second World War.
A flypast of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's Lancaster sparked vivid memories for Mr Waughman, who said: "The noise appears, a great characteristic noise, it brings back so many memories, it's been exceptional.
"It's difficult to imagine we flew those things... it goes back a long time.
"It's a wonderful effort for people like myself, all the veterans, getting all together and it's a little nostalgia."
The recipient of the Légion d’Honneur, France's highest distinction, flew dozens of operations and took part in the Berlin Airlift after the Second World War.
Also known as Operation Vittles, the Berlin Airlift was an Anglo-American effort to fly essential supplies of food and fuel from RAF Fassberg, now a German air base, to West Berlin following the Soviet Union's blockade of all rail and road travel to and from the city.
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