Thread by @RafMetheringham

Squadron Leader John de Lacy "Dim" Wooldridge DSO DFC DFM - 106 Squadron B Flight Commander May - October 1942

John "Dim" Wooldridge was a popular and respected Flight Commander with #106Squadron and one of Bomber Command's great characters. This is just a brief overview of his varied life; there are several rewarding sources of information to the researcher - see below.

Wooldridge joined #106Sqn as a Fligjt Commander, having previously flown with #RAFVR before signing up with the #RAF in 1938 as a Sergeant pilot, having falsified his age to join early.
He took part in the first allied bombing raid in #WW2, earning a DFM.

He was commissioned in August 1940 and joined 106 Squadron in May 1942 from #207Sqn, filling the vacancy for B Flight Commander. He was awarded the DFC for his part in the 1000 bomber raid on #Cologne later that month.

He had a difficult relationship with his Commanding Officer, Wing Commander Guy Gibson, who nevertheless commended Wooldridge for his many attributes as a pilot and leader in his book "Enemy Coast Ahead." It is also fair to record that Gibson didn't appreciate Wooldridge's...

...tendency to arrange things in his favour - not least of which was the "theft" of Gibson's favourite #Lancaster R5681 ZN-O on a mission in July 1942.

Having completed a total of 73 missions, fourteen with 106 Squadron, Wooldridge left the squadron for the tri-service...

...Petroleum Warfare Department in London where he helped develop, among various projects, the Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (#FIDO) fog dispersal system - with which #RAFMetheringham was equipped in the summer of 1944.

Sqn Ldr Wooldridge returned to operations in March 1943 with #105Squadron, flying Mosquitoes on low level bombing raids. He survived the war, having completed 97 missions.

Music had been a life long passion for John Wooldridge and even throughout the war he had spent his spare time playing and composing. After the war he wrote the scores for fourteen films and composed nine other works. He married his first wife Mary in 1942 and their son...

...Morris Latham went on to become a pilot. In 1948 he married the actress Margaretta Scott with whome he had a son, Hugh, and a daughter, Susan, who followed her mother in to acting.

John Wooldridge was killed in a motor accident in 1958, aged 39, and is buried in #Cholesbury, #buckinghamshire with Margaretta.
#wewillrememberthem #

Recommended research sources:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/john_Wool…
dewolfemusic.com/page/John_Wool…
"Bomber Barons" by Chaz Bowyer; Pen and Sword March 2001
"Enemy Coast Ahead" - Uncensored: The Real Guy Gibson; Crecy Publishing: March 2006