By Richard Dace
James Pezaro was the son of Bernie Pezaro, a Jewish tailor’s cutter, and Hilda Smith, a relative of my mother, and was brought up in Ilford (Essex). Jim, named after a maternal uncle who was killed in 1917, was raised as a member of the Church of England.
My mother (b. 1933) recalls that Jim was a favourite cousin, and a talented cook as a youngster. He later trained as a chef at the Central London College in Vincent Square and worked in the kitchen of the Savoy from 1940 to 1941.
He joined the RAF in 1941 and was accepted for pilot training. He was one of the eight thousand cadets sent to America for training under the Arnold Scheme, as a member of Course SE-42-K. He spent most of 1942 in Georgia and Alabama doing his primary, basic, and twin-engine training, at the end of which he was promoted to Flight Sergeant.
Returning to the UK in January 1943 he completed his advanced training and then converted to four-engine bombers with 1654 Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Wigsley (Notts). In October 1943 Jim was commissioned as a Pilot Officer and joined 106 Squadron at RAF Syerston (Notts), flying Lancaster Mk III bombers. This unit had a distinguished history as part of No. 5 Group; Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC drafted key personnel from it to create 617 Squadron, “The Dambusters”.
Jim flew thirteen operations with the squadron from November 1943 to January 1944, the first from Syerston and the rest from RAF Metheringham (Lincs). The first and second outings were as a 2nd pilot to gain experience, and for the last two he had to return to base early due to a defective rear turret and engine respectively.
In early April 1944 Jim and his crew transferred to 83 Squadron, a Pathfinder Force unit recently transferred back to No. 5 Group, flying Lancasters from RAF Coningsby (Lincs). Pathfinder volunteer crews were promoted a rank and Jim was duly promoted to Flying Officer.
See this article for the notable links between 106 SQUADRON AND 83 SQUADRON PFF
Jim’s first operation with his new unit, on 20th/21st was also abandoned for technical reasons. The bomb sight failed, and he returned to base to land with a full load of bombs and flares. The second operation on 22nd/23rd was successful.
On the night of 24th/25th April, piloting Lancaster serial number ND469, identification code OL-C, Jim took off for a raid on Munich. It was Jim’s sixteenth operation, and his crew were officially considered to be “quite experienced”. At nine thousand feet his aircraft was hit by flak but he made a controlled descent to 1000 feet. Here the plane received a further hit from flak and crashed at Allach, five miles north-west of Munich, exploding on impact. All the crew, which included a Canadian and a Newfoundlander, were killed.
The crew were initially buried at Schleisshiem, where the photograph of the graves was probably taken, but confirmation of their deaths and burial was not confirmed to the families until after the end of the war. Later their remains were removed to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at Durnbach.
Graves photograph: French family of Comer Brook, NF; Williams family of St John’s. NF; Jim Pezaro photograph from the Pezaro family.