A few years ago I learned of a very powerful wartime story in my home-town which related to a well-known local man called Frederick ‘Freddie’ Tees. He was known for years as the quiet town barber who didn’t speak of the war. I’d like to share his story. Here’s a thread. 
Freddie was born in Chichester in 1922 and joined the RAF in 1941, aged just 19. He completed his training as an aerial gunner late the following year and was posted along with a new crew under Pilot Officer Bill Ottley to fly Lancaster bombers with No.207 Squadron.
Together they completed 17 missions before moving to No. 617 squadron for a new task. ‘617’ was unique as it it had been formed for a single mission; Operation Chastise, made famous by the film ‘Dambusters’. Crews trained to drop Barnes Wallis’ purpose designed ‘bouncing bomb’.
The target was a series of dams in the heavily defended Ruhr industrial region, led by legendary pilot Guy Gibson who would earn the VC, 2 DSOs and 2 DFCs all before his 26th birthday. Three formations of aircraft were to take part, each carrying an ‘Upkeep’ bouncing bomb.
In order to deliver the bombs, aircraft had to fly low and slow on a steady course as they approached the target, making them a highly vulnerable to enemy flak. Freddie Tees and his crew found themselves in No. 3 formation for the mission, part of the reserve of nine aircraft.
At 00:09 on 17th May 1943, Freddie and the crew of ‘C for Charlie’ took off from RAF Scampton. For reasons unknown, Freddie and his friend Harry Strange switched positions before flight, Freddie flying as tail gunner. They flew at almost treetop level into occupied Europe.
Eventually, orders were received to attack the Lister Dam some 60 miles away. Turning south, 'C for Charlie' began being targeted by increasingly heavy Flak. Just moments later, a shell hit the port wing, sending flames shooting down the fuselage.
With three engines on fire, the plane began to fall. Pilot Officer Ottley was heard to call over the radio “I’m sorry boys, we’ve had it”. A few seconds later, a catastrophic second explosion took place when the ‘Upkeep’ went off, tearing the entire plane apart.
Not long after, locals arrived at the crash site to find pieces of aircraft scattered all around. Freddie was found badly burned, but alive, near the rear turret which had been blown clear in the explosion. He was the sole survivor. He was eventually hospitalised and taken POW.
Sadly, a few months later, Freddie’s mother was killed when a damaged B24-liberator crashed on a laundry in Chichester. The crew had bailed out, hoping their plane would come down in the channel, but it veered off course, hitting the laundry. Freddie only heard when he got home
Once home, Freddie became a barber in Letchworth, rarely speaking about the war, but his badly scarred hands often led people to wonder. In 1980, the site of Freddie’s crashed aircraft was discovered near Hamm and the following year he visited the spot where he lost his friends.
The discovery of the site clearly had a profound effect on Freddie, even almost 40 years later. He returned to Letchworth and continued his work as the local barber, quiet and reserved as always. The following year this utterly tragic article appeared in the local paper
Flight Sergeant Freddie Tees, despite surviving the crash which killed his entire crew, was very much a victim of the Second World War. Today, his name is not one of those that is well known, but hopefully, a few more might remember him.
As always, many thanks for those who took the time to read right through, your support is very much appreciated 👍
