World War II veteran Leonard Bence survived a remarkable 30 night-time missions in the iconic Lancaster bomber aircraft flying from northern England on bombing raids over mainly Germany but once as far as Norway.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
"The Germans had submarine pens in Norway. That was a very long trip, one of the longest of the war. About 12 hours. We had to study our fuel consumption otherwise we wouldn't have got back," he said.
Was there much left in the tank when they did get back?
"I don't know. I didn't check it," he said, laconically.
"We all had a smoke."
An RAAF flying officer with the 106 Squadron, Mr Bence said "it was only luck that kept me alive" as he bombed strategic targets such as munition factories, rail yards and even waterways along which the Germans moved boats.
"I had a few terrible raids, terrible trips. Got 33 holes one night. But overall I enjoyed it, I really enjoyed," he said.
"Let's face it, the Lancaster was the finest bomber plane in the world at the time, no doubt about it."
"It was wonderful to fly, very manoeuvrable and I loved every minute of it, I really did."
So it was an emotional journey for the 94-year-old from his hometown of Burra in the mid-north of South Australia to Canberra to visit the Australian War Memorial and, particularly, the G for George Avro Lancaster B1 exhibit.
"I've always wanted to come here, all my life, but the opportunity never arose and there was always something to stop me," he said.
"My good friend, he offered to take me and we decided a few months ago to see if we could make it. Just took our time. Zig-zagged from one pub to another."
The visit brought many memories and emotions flooding back for Mr Bence, as he watched the accompanying George for G sound and light show which recreates a night bombing operation over Berlin in 1943.
"Seeing the plane was the most emotional," he said.
"That brought a lot of things back. I guess, after waiting for so long, I got emotional. I don't usually."
A friend from Burra, Roger Boehm travelled with Mr Bence to Canberra, saying it was his mate's "last wish" to visit the memorial.
Mr Bence said visiting the memorial had been "the most emotional time of my life".
"They couldn't have been nicer to us. They couldn't have done more. I thought I'd just come as an ordinary visitor and have a look around," he said.
Australian War Memorial director Brendan Nelson presented Mr Bence with a photograph of himself in front of G for George. Mr Boehm said at least one copy would go up in the local pub at Burra.
"He's a real icon in Burra, everyone loves him," he said.
Mr Bence also met his wife Muriel in England, at a dance .
"I took her to supper which was quite good because there wasn't much food around in the war and she said to me, 'Didn't you see that I'm engaged?.' I said, 'You can break it off'. She broke it off in two days."
Mrs Bence recently passed away. The couple were married for 70 years.
Mr Bence said there was no doubt what war meant to him.
"I think it means the same to anyone, what a ridiculous waste of men and when you look around to see all the things you've got here [at the memorial], what a terrific waste war is, materials as well as menfolk. It's terrible but we'll have them forever more I think. There'll always be wars unfortunately," he said.
