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Dennis Woolley No Photo Available Died : 28 / 12 / 2009

Flight Lieutenant Dennis Woolley DFC DFM (deceased) Flight Lieutenant Dennis William, Woolley. DFC, DFM. 106 (5 Group) and 83 (S-PFF- Group) Squadrons. 1940 - Volunteered for air crew service. 1941 - Trained as an Air Observer in Manitoba. 1942 - Did 1st tour, on Manchesters (6 trips) and on Lancasters (27 trips). Awarded DFM. 1942 - 3 - Instructor at Winthorpe, Notts. 1943 - Engaged in special operations relating to the advancement of the Italian campaign. Based latterly in Sicily. 1944 - Did 2nd tour in Bomber Command in 83 (PFF) Squadron. 25 trips in Lancasters. Awarded DFC and Pathfinder Badge. 1944 - 5 - Joined Transport Command, Transatlantic Ferry Unit based at Darval, Montreal. 1945 - 6 - Seconded to what is now known as British Airways. Based at Poole, navigating Sunderland flying boats to and from Singapore. 1946 - Demobilised. A long time resident of Chipstead, Denis Woolley, died on 28th of December 2009, at the age of 89. The following Obituary was prepared by Rupert Courtenay-Evans: Denis Woolley was born in London and as a boy lived in Kew. He was educated at Latimer Upper School, which he enjoyed. When he left school he briefly went to work at the Gas, Light and Coke Company; however when war was declared he joined the RAFVR as a navigator on the grounds of not liking the sound of the sea or army and his love of maths at school! His initial operational training of navigation, bombing and gunnery was mainly in Canada, because of the practical difficulties of flying in Britain at the time. Navigation at night in those pre-radar days involved astral navigation which depended on seeing the stars as well being able to fly straight and level for 15 minutes, often not very safe or practical on night raids over enemy occupied Europe as Denis would jokingly say. He went on to become an expert in all forms of more sophisticated electronic navigational equipment including G, Oboe and H2S which were radar systems. On return to England in 1942, he joined an operational bomber squadron at Coningsby in Lincolnshire as a sergeant navigator. Initially he was in the poorly performing Manchester bombers, but after six trips the squadron was converted to its successor, the Lancaster bomber and all his subsequent 27 trips with this unit were in these aircraft . Most of these trips were with Guy Gibson as squadron commander, with whom he seemed to get on very well. With the exception of two, all trips were at night, which of course relied very heavily on navigational skills. Of the two day trips one was to Le Cressau, which involved flying at 250 feet to avoid the enemy flack and the other was over the Alps to bomb Milan, which turned out to be very poorly defended by recruits firing rifles, and all the aircraft got back safely! After a brief tour to Sicily as an instructor to help set up a bomber base from which to attack Italy more easily in support of the advancing ground forces, which, in Denis's words, was abortive as the Italians surrendered immediately! He returned to operational flying in England and was considered good enough to be commissioned and to join the newly formed Pathfinder Force under the brilliant Australian airman Don Bennett. Pathfinder Force or Group 8 was set up against the wishes of Bomber Harris, the chief of Bomber Command, but with the agreement of Churchill. Its purpose was to reduce casualties, and to improve the accuracy of identifying targets at night, by marking not only the appropriate route to the target, but also the target itself by a force of selected crews specialised in these skills. Harris was against it as he felt it would create jealousy and have an adverse on effect on morale. The Pathfinder planes, which roughly were in a ratio of 1 to 15 of the main force, which could be 800 or more strong, would lead the raid to the target along the pre-arranged route often with diversionary tactics, then drop their marker bombs and leave. Denis modestly used to say that the German gunners let Pathfinders through safely and then concentrated their fire on the following main force. Denis was not only selected to join Group 8 but went on to be a Master Bomber whose role had been extended to be a sort of Master of Ceremonies, whose plane circulated the target correcting aiming points and co-ordinating the raid by radio. Denis did his final 6 trips in this position, thus completing 58 bombing raids without being shot down, such was his luck as he would say, but others would put it down to his skill and calmness under stress. Denis always said that every bomber crew set off on a raid convinced that they would not be shot down on that trip. At this stage the RAF decided to take him off further combat flights, enough was enough. He completed his service with Transport Command and was demobbed in 1946. He ended his RAF career as a Flight Lt. with the DFC, the DFM and the cherished Pathfinders Badge. After the war he had hoped to continue his flying career with BOAC, the fore-runner of BA, but they unexpectedly decided to charge him a £500 training fee, which he did not have, and probably thought was unnecessary. Instead he joined the Bank of England. Dennis Woolley died 28th December 2009.

Items Signed by Flight Lieutenant Dennis Woolley DFC DFM (deceased)

	Teamwork by Ivan Berryman. (C) Price : £290.00	The afternoon of 3rd August 1944 saw Lancasters of 15 Sqn assigned to an attack on German V-1 Rocket stores at Bois de Cassan. While over the target the squadron encountered heavy flak. During the return journey, Lancaster LS-P fell behind the r......
	Last One Away by Ivan Berryman. (C) Price : £290.00	A Lancaster of No.15 Squadron takes to the air at the start of a night sortie from Mildenhall in June 1944. ......
	Clipped Signature - Dennis Woolley. Price : £25.00	Flew as a Navigator for a tour of 33 missions with 106 Squadron on Manchesters and Lancasters. Then joined 83 Pathfinder Squadron for a tour of 25 missions, and was never shot down. He died in 2009.......
	The Shining Sword by Simon Smith. (B) Price : £380.00	RAF Avro Lancaster flies low over occupied Europe. ......
	Winter Ops by Gerald Coulson. Price : £180.00	Up to 1942 Bomber Command operations were beset by many problems. The means they had to accurately pinpoint the target and assault it were totally lacking, in fact their Commander in Chief, Air Marshall Arthur Harris later wrote : It was glaringly ob......

	Winter Ops by Gerald Coulson (AP) Price : £295.00	Up to 1942 Bomber Command operations were beset by many problems. The means they had to accurately pinpoint the target and assault it were totally lacking, in fact their Commander in Chief, Air Marshall Arthur Harris later wrote : It was glaringly ob......
	Winter Ops by Gerald Coulson (B) Price : £595.00	Up to 1942 Bomber Command operations were beset by many problems. The means they had to accurately pinpoint the target and assault it were totally lacking, in fact their Commander in Chief, Air Marshall Arthur Harris later wrote : It was glaringly ob......
	Winter Ops by Gerald Coulson. (XX) Price : £175.00	Up to 1942 Bomber Command operations were beset by many problems. The means they had to accurately pinpoint the target and assault it were totally lacking, in fact their Commander in Chief, Air Marshall Arthur Harris later wrote : It was glaringly ob......
	Winter Ops by Gerald Coulson. (Y) Price : £150.00	Up to 1942 Bomber Command operations were beset by many problems. The means they had to accurately pinpoint the target and assault it were totally lacking, in fact their Commander in Chief, Air Marshall Arthur Harris later wrote : It was glaringly o......
	Enemy Coast Ahead by M A Kinnear. (AP) Price : £190.00	......

	Enemy Coast Ahead by M A Kinnear (B) SOLD OUT	Avro Lancaster W4118 (ZN-Y) piloted by Wing Commander G.P. Gibson CO of 106 squadron en-route to attack Schneider Armament works at Le Creusot in 1942. ......	NOT AVAILABLE
	No Turning Back by Robert Taylor (B) Price : £295.00	A Lancaster of No. 61 Squadron, RAF, piloted by Flt. Lt. Bill Reid, under attack from a German Fw190 en route to Dusseldorf on the night of November 3rd, 1943. Already injured in a previous attack, Bill Reid was again wounded but pressed on for anot......

Packs with at least one item featuring the signature of Flight Lieutenant Dennis Woolley DFC DFM (deceased)

	Four Avro Lancaster prints by Gerlad Coulson. Pack Price : £395.00 Saving : £227	Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Off Duty Lancaster at Rest by Gerald Coulson. Outbound Lancaster by Gerald Coulson. Summer Harvest by Gerald Coulson. (B) Winter Ops by Gerald Coulson.
	8 WW2 RAF Aviation Prints by Gerald Coulson. Pack Price : £640.00 Saving : £662	Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Battle of Britain, Manston, 12th August 1940 by Gerald Coulson. Scramble by Gerald Coulson. High Spirits 1940 by Gerald Coulson. Quartet by Gerald Coulson. Off Duty Lancaster at Rest by Gerald Coulson. Outbound Lancaster by Gerald Coulson. Summer Harvest by Gerald Coulson. (B) Winter Ops by Gerald Coulson.
	Gerald Coulson Lancaster Print Pack. Pack Price : £380.00 Saving : £195	Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Summer Harvest by Gerald Coulson. Winter Ops by Gerald Coulson. Outbound Lancaster by Gerald Coulson. Lancaster Lift-Off by Gerald Coulson.
	Bomber Command Lancaster Art Prints by Gerald Coulson and Ivan Berryman Massive Discount Pack. Pack Price : £580.00 Saving : £680	Aviation Print Pack - available for purchase by our customers and the art trade. ...... Titles in this pack : Summer Harvest by Gerald Coulson. Winter Ops by Gerald Coulson. Outbound Lancaster by Gerald Coulson. (C) Lancaster Lift-Off by Gerald Coulson. (C) Gunner's Moon by Ivan Berryman. Operation Manna by Ivan Berryman. Avro Lancaster B.1 by Ivan Berryman. (D) Incident over Mannheim by Ivan Berryman. The Dambusters by Ivan Berryman. Dambusters - Moment of Truth by Ivan Berryman.
	Pack 843. Pack of two Lancaster bomber prints by Gerald Coulson. Pack Price : £350.00 Saving : £170	Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Summer Harvest by Gerald Coulson. (B) Winter Ops by Gerald Coulson.

	WW2 Bomber Command Lancaster Aviation Prints by Robert Taylor and Graeme Lothian. Pack Price : £245.00 Saving : £155	Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Winter Ops by Gerald Coulson. Distant Dispersal by Graeme Lothian. (C)
	Avro Lancaster Prints Publioshed by Military Gallery, by Gerald Coulson and Simon Smith. Pack Price : £255.00 Saving : £145	Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Winter Ops by Gerald Coulson. Mission Completed by Simon Smith.
	Avro Lancaster Aviation Art Prints by Gerald Coulson. Pack Price : £350.00 Saving : £110	Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Winter Ops by Gerald Coulson. Summer Harvest by Gerald Coulson.

Flight Lieutenant Dennis Woolley DFC DFM (deceased)

Squadrons for : Flight Lieutenant Dennis Woolley DFC DFM (deceased)
A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by Flight Lieutenant Dennis Woolley DFC DFM (deceased). A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name.
Squadron	Info
No.106 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 30th September 1917 Fate : Disbanded 24th May 1963 Pro libertate - For freedom Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.106 Sqn RAF	No.106 Sqn RAF 106 Squadron was formed 30th September 1917 at Andover, and served in Ireland on Army co-operation duties from May 1918 until disbandment in 1919. Re-formed in June 1938, the squadron was equipped with Hawker Hinds, and later Fairey Battles and from May 1939 until March 1942 was equipped with the Handley Page Hampden. The first operational WWII sortie, on the night of 9/10th September 1940 was mine laying in the Bordeaux area and the first bombing sortie was on the night of 1st/2nd March 1941 against Cologne. From February 1942 until June the same year 106 was equipped with the Avro Manchester. Following this short spell, the squadron was re-equipped with the Avro Lancaster. Although they used both Lancasters and Manchesters on all three 1,000 bomber raids (Cologne 30th/31st May 1942, Essen 1st/2nd June 1942, and Bremen 25/26th June 1942) - the third one against Bremen was the last one when the Manchesters were used. In October 1942, 106 contributed 10 Lancasters to 5 Group's epic low level daylight raid against the Schneider Works at Le Creusot, and 2 Lancasters (one of which was piloted by Wing Commander Guy Gibson CO of 106) to the subsidiary raid on the transformer and switching station at Montchanin. In 1943, they took part in the first shuttle-bombing raids (target Friedrichshafen), and the famous Peenemunde raid. During what was to become known as the Battle of Berlin (November 1943- March 1944) 106 dispatched 281 Lancasters on 20 raids, with the loss of eight aircraft. In 1944, 106 helped prepare the way for the invasion of Europe by hitting targets such as a Coastal Gun Battery at St Pierre du Mont and V-1 storage sites. In December 1944, 106 made a round trip of over 1,900 miles to attack the German Baltic Fleet at Gdynia. In March 1945, the squadron provided air support (against the defences of Wesel) for Commandos crossing the Rhine. Their last bombing sortie was on 25/26th April 1945 against the oil refinery at Vallo, Norway and 106 Squadron finally disbanded February 1946.
No.83 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 7th January 1917 Fate : Disbanded 31st August 1969 Strike to defend Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.83 Sqn RAF	No.83 Sqn RAF Full profile not yet available.

Aircraft for : Flight Lieutenant Dennis Woolley DFC DFM (deceased)
A list of all aircraft associated with Flight Lieutenant Dennis Woolley DFC DFM (deceased). A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name.
Squadron	Info
Lancaster Click the name above to see prints featuring Lancaster aircraft. Manufacturer : Avro Production Began : 1942 Retired : 1963 Number Built : 7377	Lancaster The Avro Lancaster arose from the avro Manchester and the first prototype Lancaster was a converted Manchester with four engines. The Lancaster was first flown in January 1941, and started operations in March 1942. By March 1945 The Royal Air Force had 56 squadrons of Lancasters with the first squadron equipped being No.44 Squadron. During World War Two the Avro Lancaster flew 156,000 sorties and dropped 618,378 tonnes of bombs between 1942 and 1945. Lancaster Bomberss took part in the devastating round-the-clock raids on Hamburg during Air Marshall Harris' Operation Gomorrah in July 1943. Just 35 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful operations each, and 3,249 were lost in action. The most successful survivor completed 139 operations, and the Lancaster was scrapped after the war in 1947. A few Lancasters were converted into tankers and the two tanker aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster and were used in the Berlin Airlift, achieving 757 tanker sorties. A famous Lancaster bombing raid was the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley. The operation was carried out by 617 Squadron in modified Mk IIIs carrying special drum shaped bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. Also famous was a series of Lancaster attacks using Tallboy bombs against the German battleship Tirpitz, which first disabled and later sank the ship. The Lancaster bomber was the basis of the new Avro Lincoln bomber, initially known as the Lancaster IV and Lancaster V. (Becoming Lincoln B1 and B2 respectively.) Their Lancastrian airliner was also based on the Lancaster but was not very successful. Other developments were the Avro York and the successful Shackleton which continued in airborne early warning service up to 1992.
Manchester Click the name above to see prints featuring Manchester aircraft. Manufacturer : Avro	Manchester Full profile not yet available.
Sunderland Click the name above to see prints featuring Sunderland aircraft. Manufacturer : Short Production Began : 1938 Retired : 1959 Number Built : 749	Sunderland The Short Sunderland, Patrol and Reconnaissance Flying Boat. normal crew level 10. maximum speed of 210mph for Mark I, 205mph Mark II and Mark III, and 213mph Mark V. ceiling 17,900 feet and range of 2110 miles (mk I) 2880 miles for Mark V. endurance in the air 13.5 hours. The Sunderland carries 1 .303 machine gun in the nose, (mark I) and four .303 browning machine guns in the Tail Turret. Also in the Mark II four Vickers .303 inch machine guns were used in the body positions. and four browning machineguns in the nose flanks in the Mark III. Maximum bomb load of 4960 lbs. Based on the design of the Civil Empire class flying boat. The Short Sunderland entered service with the Royal Air Force in June 1938 with 230 squadron. and by the end of the war, 20 squadrons of the Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force were equipped with Sunderland's. By the end of the production in 1946 a total of 749 were built, The roles the Short Sunderland played, mainly were in Maritime and anti Submarine duties, especially in the battle of the Atlantic, The Sunderland accounted for 58 U-Boats sunk or badly damaged. The Sunderland was also used in other theatres of the war and in the Mediterranean helped in the evacuation of troops from Crete and Greece, as well as helping in the evacuation of troops in Burma. The Short Sunderland remained in service with the Royal Air Force until 1959. used during the Korean War, The Berlin Air Lift, and during Operation Firedog, , The Malayan Emergency.

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