Townsend Crew, Wendell Pierce Drew

The Townsend crew have appeared before on this website. Except for the flight engineer, DEREK CARROTT, they were all Canadians and one of them, WING COMMANDER GRAY, was a thirty-six-year-old of comparatively senior rank flying as a gunner. The crew, who were never found, are remembered at Runnymede with the sole exception of Colin John Blyth, the other gunner, who is buried in the tiny cemetery at Nørre Havrvig on mainland Denmark. 

We were recently contacted by Claudia Fox Reppen, who told us about her grandmother’s sweetheart, Wendell “Del” Pierce Drew, the wireless operator, who was killed along with the other members of the Townsend crew on 29 July 1944. Gladys never forgot Del, and the memory of him could still evoke great grief almost 50 years after his death.

Following the Echoes, the story of Gladys and Del, written by Claudia Fox Reppen and her brother Lance Fox, examines in depth what happened to the Townsend crew, to Del’s parents, and to Gladys. The book details can be found on this page: FOLLOWING THE ECHOES.