Gillespie, Alan

Operation Chastise (Dambusters Raid)

Date of birth:: November 16th, 1922 (Hesket/Westmorland, United Kingdom)
Date of death:: May 16th, 1943
Buried on:: Commonwealth War Cemetery Reichswald Forest
Plot: 5. Row: C. Grave: 10.
Service number:: 144205
Nationality:: British

Biography

Alan Gillespie, born on 16 November 1922 in Hesket, Westmorland, was the second of four children of Robert and Margaret Gillespie. After attending local schools and Appleby Grammar School, he worked as a clerk in a solicitor’s office before joining the RAF in 1940. Selected for aircrew, he trained in Canada starting in September 1941.

Returning to the UK, Gillespie trained further at 16 OTU in July 1942. He joined 61 Squadron in September 1942, completing his first mission over the Alps to Turin on 20 November. By March 1943, Gillespie had completed his tour.

When Barlow assembled his 617 Squadron crew, Alan Gillespie and Leslie Whillis, his long-time training partners, were natural choices. Both were commissioned just two days before the Dams Raid, though it remains unknown if they transitioned from the Sergeants' to the Officers' Mess.

Alan Gillespie met his end as a newly commissioned Pilot Officer, flying in the nose of the Lancaster at treetop level. He may have glimpsed the pylon near Haldern moments before impact. Initially buried in Düsseldorf, he and his crew were later reinterred in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Gillespie's DFM, awarded weeks earlier, was posthumously presented to his family, with the notice published alongside Charlie Williams' in the July 1945 London Gazette.

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Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM)

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Sergeant
Unit:: No. 61 Squadron, Royal Air Force
Awarded on:: July 20th, 1945

Recommendation:
"This Air Bomber has carried out 30 successful sorties on all the main targets in Germany and Italy, including six attacks on Essen and five on Berlin. He has frequently obtained excellent photographs, one of his best being the aiming point on Krupps. He has shown himself cool and collected under heavy fire in the target area and has set an excellent example to others in his crew and the rest of the squadron. Strongly recommended for the award of the Distinguished Flying Medal."

Posthumously awarded