"This officer served as a night bomber pilot at the beginning of the
war and quickly established a reputation as an outstanding operational
pilot. In addition to taking the fullest possible share in all normal
operations, he made single-handed attacks during his "rest" nights on
such highly defended objectives as the German battleship Tirpitz, then completing in Wilhelmshaven. When his tour of operational duty was concluded, he asked for a
further operational posting and went to a night-fighter unit instead of
being posted for instructional duties. In the course of his second
operational tour, he destroyed at least three enemy bombers and
contributed much to the raising and development of new night-fighter
formations. After a short period in a training unit, he again volunteered for
operational duties and returned to night bombers. Both as an
operational pilot and as leader of his squadron, he achieved
outstandingly successful results and his personal courage knew no
bounds. Berlin, Cologne, Danzig, Gdynia, Genoa, Le Creusot, Milan,
Nuremberg and Stuttgart were among the targets he attacked by day and by
night. On the conclusion of his third operational tour, Wing Commander
Gibson pressed strongly to be allowed to remain on operations and he was
selected to command a squadron then forming for special tasks. Under
his inspiring leadership, this squadron has now executed one of the most
devastating attacks of the war—the breaching of the Moehne and Eder dams. The task was fraught with danger and difficulty. Wing Commander
Gibson personally made the initial attack on the Moehne dam. Descending
to within a few feet of the water and taking the full brunt of the
antiaircraft defenses, he delivered his attack with great accuracy. Afterwards he circled very low for 30 minutes, drawing the enemy fire on
himself in order to leave as free a run as possible to the following
aircraft which were attacking the dam in turn. Wing Commander Gibson then led the remainder of his force to the
Eder dam where, with complete disregard for his own safety, he repeated
his tactics and once more drew on himself the enemy fire so that the
attack could be successfully developed. Wing Commander Gibson has completed over 170 sorties, involving
more than 600 hours operational flying. Throughout his operational
career, prolonged exceptionally at his own request, he has shown
leadership, determination and valor of the highest order."
From WC Gibson's Victoria Cross citation, awarded on 28 May 1943.
May you be at peace,
Brian
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