About Robert (Bob) Bramley Cant
Robert (Bob) Bramley Cant was born in The Dog and Duck pub in Sutton in Ashfield 29th September 1921, to Edith and Leonard Cant.
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​​He volunteered into the RAF to follow in his father’s footsteps, who served in the Royal Flying Corp during World War I. He enrolled into the RAF on 8th May 1941 and began his pilot training at Gunter Field, Alabama, USA on the 31st March 1942, where he trained on Stearman PT-17 and Vultee BT-13 aircraft. After clocking up 79.10 hours of air time he graduated on the 28th May 1942 and transferred to Turner Field, Georgia, USA on the 7th June 1942 were he trained on dual engine aircraft including AT-9 and AT-17s.
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​On 5th August 1942 he graduated from Turner Field Army Air Forces Training Center as part of Class 42-G with his flying ability rated at "average" and "a little slow in learning but retains instructions well". He returned to the UK with the rank of Technical Sergent (T/Sgt.) which allowed him to begin training on the larger Oxford and Anson dual engine aircraft on the 6th October 1942 from RAF Little Rissington, Gloucestershire. He was then posted to RAF Seightford, Staffordshire where he needed to find a five man crew to start flying the more challenging Wellington bombers.
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This is how bomb aimer Denys Teare describes his first impression of Bob Cant (DT-01):-
“There was a Sergeant Pilot whose behaviour I watched. He was thickset and his hands looked as though he would be capable of holding a heavy bomber as it heaved its way across Europe in the darkness. He had no frivolous conversation; he wasn’t trying to impress anybody. He took a drink, but not too many (as some of the others did each night). He just seemed to be quietly weighing up the situation.”
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Over a beer Denys and Bob quickly brought on “two lads from Wigan” rear gunner Bob (Bobtail) Parkinson and wireless operator Syd Horton. They soon found the navigator in the form of George (Tommy) Thomas. The five man crew first flew together on the 14th March 1943 from Seighford, followed by a month’s worth of operational training including daytime cross-country flights and visits to the bombing ranges. In April the crew moved to RAF Lichfield, Staffordshire to continue the training but this time in darkness. Denys Teare describes what the first flight into the darkness was like (DT-01)
“Night flying over England was vastly different from North America with all the townships fully lit. Apart from the noise of the engines there was just an eery blackness that revealed nothing without the dimly illuminated instrument panel”.
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After another month of training Bob’s flying ability was ranked as "good to average" which was enough to be chosen for the Conversion Unit that would be transferred to RAF Blyton, Lincolnshire, where their training began on the larger four engined Halifax on 12th May 1943 and finally the “best bomber of all”, the Lancaster on the 25th May 1943.
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To fly these larger aircraft the crew needed to add a mid upper gunner, Bill Milburn, and flight engineer Eric “Dickie” Dickson. The seven air men completed the Lancaster training on the 9th June 1943 and on the 13th June 1943 they were appointed to 103 squadron, No. 1 group, Bomber Command, at RAF Elsham Wold, Lincolnshire and Lancaster Bomber (PM-11 JA868) U for Uncle. They would be given one day’s leave each week which were accumulated to make one week leave every seventh week and stay on duty until they qualified for a rest period on the completion of thirty operations which were called a “Tour”. The grim fact that nobody had survived a Tour at Elsham Wolds for several months previously! (DT-01)
The crew’s first operation was on the 24th June 1943 with Wuppertal as the target for the 1x4000lbs, 7x30lbs and 6x4lbs SBC (Small Bomb Container) payload. All members of the crew wanted a good first run, no more so than bomb aimer Denys Teare (DT-01):
“Having spent so much time peering into a bomb sight on training flights and calling into the intercom left, left steady and so on, and having a pride in the accuracy of my bomb dropping and having arrived safely at our target with no bother, except for seeing lots and lots of fireworks, I wanted a really good precision run. Allowances had been calculated for the height, wind direction, type of bombs etc etc but the target was not quite in line to score a perfect bulls-eye......“Dummy run! Round again Bob!” I called in the microphone and so we circled, amongst all the exploding shells and the searchlights to get a perfect aim and produce a bulls eye photo-flash for the Intelligence Section. When we got back to base and eventually learnt how many lads had failed to return I realised how very very naive I had been and assured the crew that never again would I call “dummy run”.
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The number of losses that night was 10 Halifaxes, 10 Stirlings, 8 Lancasters and 6 Wellingtons.
The crew flew another 15 successful operations
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25th June 1943 to Gelsenkirchen with 1x4000lbs, 7x30lbs and 6x4lbs SBC
28th June 1943 to Cologne with 1x4000 lbs, 7x30 lbs and 6x4 lbs SBC
3rd July 1943 to Cologne with 1x4000 lbs, 7x30lbs and 6x4lbs SBC 1 night fighter attacked, See Eric Dickenson letter detailing flight
24th July 1943 to Hamburg with 1x4000lbs 3x1000lbs and 12 SBC. First operational use of “WINDOW”, code word for short lengths of paper, black on one side and aluminum on the other which dropped in bundles by the thousand to confuse the defences on approach their objectives. This anti-radar device was so successful that it was developed to reduce the size of the strips to a human hair to form the now widely in use “chaff” defence system. (DT-04)
29th July 1943 to Hamburg with 1x4000lbs, 3x1000 lbs and 12 2/3 SBC
30th July 1943 Abortive sortie
3rd August 1943 to Hamburg with 1x4000lbs, 3x1000lbs and 12 2/3 SBC Violent electrical storm
7th August 1943 to Turin with 1x4000 lbs and 11 SBC Wizard trip. No flak
9th August 1943 to Mannheim with 1x4000 lbs. Attacked by ME 110, rear gunner fired whilst Bob dived, Denys went deaf and grounded for two operations P/O R E Ault
10th August 1943 to Nuremburg with 1x4000lbs, 132/3 SBC, 1x1000lbs and 1x500lbs
12th August 1943 to Milan with 1x4000lbs and 15 SBC
14th August 1943 to Turin (low level flight Breda and Pirelli factory) with 4x1000lbs and 12 SBC. Eric Dickson's letter (ED-12) describes this mission:-
“not only Turin but the Breda and Pirelli factory on the North of the town from 8,000ft (not the usual 20,000-22,000ft). Seven of us were to bomb from this height (only 7!!) the rest were to bomb from 20,000 only 5 mins after we were to bomb. Since we were to pass over Turin from South to North the prospect left us all rather subdued. We had also learned that the Italian AcoAok defences had been reinforced by German “flak” units and they were a different set up condition altogether. We flew down to Lac Bourget in South of France without undue trouble and at Lac Bourget we were to “wait” for green “sky smokers” to fix our position and time. As we approached the lake a Lancaster passed from the right to left about 50ft in front of us and immediately a bright green flare burst just below us. It was all very very close-Bob and I looked at each other and shook our heads in relief. We then changed course directly to Turin, on course and spot on time. Having crossed the Alps we all took a deep breath and began to lose height to 8,000 ft. The ground looked very very close!! We lined up at south of Turin and opened the bomb doors. Denys and Bob were working together and I looked up to see another Lancaster about 50ft above us, bomb doors open! I could see all of the bombs hanging there!! As Denys let out bombs drop so did the other aircraft and the bombs fell just off our port wingtip. We moved apart and disappeared into the night at full power climbing to clear the Alps. The other aero plane was Z-Zebra piloted by “Granfer” Lee. They were killed about one month after we were shot down. Their aircraft was always parked in the next dispersal to us in U-Uncle. We were a very subdued crew as we flew alongside Mont Blanc, when Bill Millburn the mid upper gunner asked if he could shoot a few rounds into the mountain “so that he could leave his mark on the mountain”. So if you every climb Mont Blanc and see a row of bullet holes on the peak you will know that they are the work of Sgt. B. Millburn of No. 103 squadron! Such was Bill’s claim to fame!!”
27th August 1943 to Nurenburg with 1x4000lbs, 1x1000lbs, 1x500lbs and 13 2/3 SBC
30th August 1943to Mumchen Gladbeck with 1x4000lbs, 3x1000lbs and 13 2/3 SBC
31st August 1943 to Berlin with 1x4000lbs, 2x1000lbs and 12 2/3 SBC
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For their 17th operation to Mannheim on the 5th September 1943 their regular plane U-Uncle was not available so they had to use a replacement plane S-Sugar which was an older plane in operational terms, had no regular ground crew and one engine had been noted as overheating in the previous flight. After taking off at 07:38pm they soon ran into trouble with the troublesome engine that had to be feathered at 11:15pm forcing them to drop to an altitude of 20,000ft. They successfully dropped their bombs on target at 11:45pm even with their port inner engine now on fire and at the dangerous height of 10,000ft. At 12:10am the port outer engine had to be feathered and the starboard inner engine was now on fire which ignited one of the fuel tanks. With burning fuel flooding into the belly of the aircraft and melting the fuselage floor, at 12:13am 6th September 1943 Eric Dickson (ED-11) "had the unhappy duty of telling Bob the starboard wing was now on fire and the plane had only minutes before the wing broke off."
With the plane on fire it was an easy target for night fighters with a Junkers 88 attacking from the starboard quarter, but luckily S-Sugar was not hit.
Denys Teare tells the story of the last minutes aboard S-Sugar (Evader, page 12), ""Is everyone OK?" asked the pilot. Each man in turn switched on and answered. At least no one had been wounded, which was something to be thankful for. "She won't maintain height", Bob continued. "We'll probably have to jump soon, chaps." No one had the chance to reply, for just then the spluttering engine caught fire and the aircraft lurched dangerously and hurtled downwards. We had practiced the "abandon aircraft" routine dozens of times on the ground, so when the order was given each man knew exactly what to do. Bob came over the radio to the crew "sorry chaps, this is the end of the line-abandon aircraft". As soon as Bob's words reached me, both hands started to work mechanically. First I snatched off my flying helmet with its electrical leads and oxygen pipe attached. Then I jumped to my feet astride the rubber pads I had been lying on behind the bomb sights and bent down to tug at the release handle. Up came the hatch itself, helped by the pressure outside. Wind rushed into the aircraft and I felt maps swirling round my legs. My parachute was already clipping in the position on my chest: all that remained was to dive head first through the square opening in the floor".
Bob and Eric were the final two to exit the plane and supposed to go out together but after leaving the controls Bob remembered the crews' treasured mascot "Joey" was still sitting on the P4 compass bracket. With the bomber beginning to dive Bob returned to the cockpit to stuff Joey into his pocket before leaving the plane himself.
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With no one at the controls the plane dived sharply exploding into a wooded area of Ferme le Jard owned by Mr. Henri-Louis Houzelot, near the village of Koeur le Petite, St. Mihiel (DT-02).
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A local 15 year old boy and his mother watched the plane crash from their window, the boy went to visit the smouldering crash site on the afternoon of the 6th September but were chased off by German guards that were quickly dispatched to the area. The guards told the locals that all members of the crew had been killed and that the bodies had been removed to stop the locals from searching for the airmen. But there were already rumours amongst the locals that two airmen had already been picked up by the resistance (ED-01).
Bob landed half a mile north of Koeur la Petite between the River Meuse and Canal de l'Est. He quickly stowed away his parachute (which he would be reunited with when he returned in 1949) and examined his escape kit that consisted of a secret compass (pipe with a secret bowl), silk escape maps sewn into clothing, fishing lines, energy tablets, Horlicks tablets, matches, a file (encased in rubber to secrete with the body!!) signaling mirror, burning glass, water purifying tablets, rubber bag to hold water, diagram of edible fungi, iodine tablets and Elastoplast dressing. He headed south crossing the Canal de l'Est where he was approached by two Frenchmen, including the lock keeper (Les Cours, Meuse), who took him to a nearby farm house and hid him in a large rabbit hut. Two hours later at 4am he was joined by mid upper gunner Bill Milburn, who had come down five miles away, the pair would remain together throughout their journey back home.
The lock keeper, M. Mouiliot, contacted his daughter, Mme. Suzanne Janin, (a midwife in Verdun) to find out what to do with the two airman. After hearing German troops were in the area looking for the aircrew the pair were given civilian clothes, unfortunately no shoes could be found to fit Bob’s feet so he had to make do with his flight boots. On the 7th September 1943 the pair were escorted by two brothers, Jean (19) and Andre (21) Cattant, on bicycles from the neighbouring church to a resistance safe house in Verdun and into the care of Mr and Mme. Pothier.
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The resistance activities were coordinated by Rene Boulanger, the local priest, who was the head of the resistance in the Meuse. He describes the first day after the crash landing (ED-09 and ED-10).
“a short time afterwards the priest had a visit from a young lady, the daughter of Louis Mouilot at Koeurs near to Saint-Mihiel sent by a school mistress of Glorieux who had entrusted the young lady with her problem. Her parents were hiding in their barn under a heap of faggots, two airmen-Bob Cant and Bill Milburn whose aircraft had been shot down the previous night. The parachutists had fallen in the region of the bridge located on Route Nationale No 64 between Saint-Mihiel and Sampigny. The parachutes had been hidden under an arch of the bridge behind a large broken-off store. The aviators were lucky that night for they were fortunate enough to have fallen into friendly hands. There, well hidden, they waited for the routine (German) search to finish. The Germans however, after their crackdown, retired empty handed. A resistance worker already mentioned Andree Cattant was sent to Bannoncourt. Exhausted they effectively depended upon the bicycles to get as far as Bannoncourt to Verdun. Finally they arrived at the priest’s house towards 1 o’clock in the morning and were then conducted to the house of M. and Mme. Pothier. They spent about a fortnight there and were then put into the care of Regina (code name for Mme Krieq)”.
They stayed at 13 Rue Marius Pothier in Verdun for five days from the 7th to 11th September 1943. During their stay they were closely interrogated by M. Le Commandant about the fidelity of their stay and other members of the crew. They gave a lot of personal details which would prove vital for Eric Dickson who was later picked up by M. Boulanger. Forged papers and ID cards were supplied by M. Le Curate where Bob became a Corsican who was deaf and dumb.
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Mme. Kreig Marcelle (seemed to be chief organiser in the district) and Mme. Susan Janin visited the house on the 10th September 1943 to inform them that they would be heading on south to Belfort the next morning. This was cause for celebration with cigarettes that had been scrounged from nearby German troops being given to Bob and Bill.
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At 5am the next morning (11th September 1943) Bob, Bill, Mme. Kreig and Mme. Jamin left Verdun on a train south to Belfort. On arriving at the station the platform was full of German troops waiting to board, so the group quickly avoided the main entrances as ID cards were being checked and escaped through the back door in the ticket office. Where there was a pony and trap waiting to take them on the next stage of their journey but the cart was subject to cursory checks by the Germans so the airmen would have to lie on the floor and were covered by bags of vegetables and items of furniture. (ED-02)
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The pair spent the night in a farmhouse seven miles south east from Belfort owned by farmer in his thirties who had lost an arm in a farming accident, and was thought to be the organiser of the smuggling expeditions. They cycled to Beaucourt which was within the “interdite” zone, where movements were strictly limited by the Germans “shoot first” policy. The farm formed part of the forest farm and was used to store farming implements but most importantly had a hidden passage leading to a hollowed-out haystack where Bob and Bill were hidden (Eric Dickson stayed in the same haystack but on a separate date along with a German solider deserting from Mannheim on the night the crew bombed it), as well as contraband goods. The pair stayed in a farmhouse for five days before being smuggled over the Swiss frontier (hay bales) on the 16th September 1943. Eric Dickson describes his crossing of the frontier (ED-08): -
“The actual frontier was a long strip of cabbage fields but was on a small irregularity in the borderline and hidden in the forest. In effect it provided (for those who knew) a small gateway across the frontier-unknown to both Swiss and German guards. We crossed singly at intervals of two minutes while “outposts” kept watch along the nearby road for cycling patrols and guard dog patrols. It was similar to a ditch and hedge surrounding a farmer’s field. Having crossed this we were led along a winding path where other members of the party gradually dispersed and vanished into the night with a brief “adieu mon vieux”. I never saw any of them again”.
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Only 30 “evaders” succeeded in crossing the frontier during the entire war, three of them were the aircrew from S-Sugar. Airmen and materials were smuggled over the frontier by heroic men and women like Mme. Kreig and her husband. Sadly on the 3rd June 1944 when crossing the Swiss frontier by Saint-Dizier-l'Évêque she was brought down by German gun fire, she managed to pass a folder with which she had been entrusted to another courier. Her husband continued the struggle and escaped from the Germans who had come to arrest him by jumping out of a window and joining the maquis in Pont-à-Mousson. Their 15 year old daughter Micheline was arrested in his place and subjected to torture before being rescued by the Americans from Charles III prison.
Bob and Bill surrendered and were arrested by the Swiss Frontier Guards at Bure Porrentry at 00:15 17th September 1943.
They spent two days in Porrentry Jail and released on the 18th September 1943 to the British Legation in Berne where they were joined with Eric Dickson, followed by a three men embrace and danced in circles. Eric describes his first 3 weeks in Switzerland (ED-03): -
“When I surrendered to the Swiss I spent three weeks in prison while they interrogated me intensely to ascertain if I was; English, an airman, an escaper-who had helped me how I had crossed the frontier and so on. Most of my replies were number, Rank, name and a suggestion to contact the British Legation who could vouch for me. I was transferred from Porrentry Prison to Berne and eventually handed over to the British Legation. There I met Bob and Bill and we were wanted and sworn to secrecy about our adventure because of active German interest in us!”
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There was up to 20 other Evaders scattered about Switzerland All three airmen applied to be repatriated back to England under the Geneva Convention through the Swiss Government. As expected the German Government formally refused permission for the “evaders” to travel through counties they occupied. This left the Swiss government with a problem as they could not intern them or repatriate them so they proposed that they surrendered the military status and become civilian aliens, providing the British Government paid their hotel bill and provided civilian clothes. On the 14th October 1943, they were issued with Emergency Certificate to stay under house arrest in Hotel Villa Gentiana in Arosa.
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​The conditions of their house arrest were they were forbidden to work or to engage in any hostile or war like activities. So living as civilians vouched for by the British Government and on Swiss rations they had a “wonderful holiday experience” (ED-03) where they had a relaxing and gentle life with their own ski instructor, Willy Brandt, and a Swiss Army Officer (Lt. Schumacher) to technically watch over them.
After the ski season in May 1944 they were moved from Arosa to a village on Lake Geneva called Glion staying in Hotel Bellevue. This area was being flooded by different types of soldiers and airmen army soldiers who escaped from POW camps in Italy but not being granted civilian status. For this reason the airmen were naturally resented by the soldiers who had nothing like the freedom they enjoyed. There were three different types of allied forces in Switzerland, RAF Evaders who had civilian status and were financially cared for by the British Embassy, Allied soldiers who had escaped from Italian POW camps after the collapse of Italy but mostly veterans of the 8th Army captured in North Africa.
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The America 8th Air Force contingent made up Flying Fortress crews who had force landed at Dübendorf, Zürich when damaged in raids from the UK. Technically they were interned but “special arrangements” between Swiss and American governments enabled them to wear civilian clothing and draw full pay and allowances. They were by far the most affluent. They paid for flats and had “live-in” girl friends and on.
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Fighting was intensifying in Italy with Germany demanding a right of passage through Switzerland to support their withdrawal from Italy, which was refused by the Swiss Government. The Swiss Reserves were called up to intensify their security and the airmen wondered what would happen if the Germans decided to invade Switzerland. Speculation led the airmen to believe that an allied invasion was imminent and would certainly be from the South coast of France. On 6th June 1944 the D-Day landings took everyone by surprise and the walls of the Hotel were soon covered in large scale maps so the progress could be monitored through allied, German and Swiss newspaper reports. The South of France was invaded by the Americans on the 15th August 1944 and soon made progress up to Lyon. When fighting began towards the “Belfort Gap” people began to vanish overnight into France in attempts to contact the Americans. This practice was discouraged by the British Legation and the Swiss as it was very dangerous.
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During a visit to Zurich, for reasons still unknown, Bob was challenged in Restaurant Hungaria, Zurich at 22:45 24th August 1944 for not having special permission to be out late between 22:00 and 07:00. This violated Order of the Chief of Territorial Services dated 14th June 1944 and he was punished to five days detention at Section Command Rhone, Vevey.
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The German Frontier guards were eventually withdrawn from Saint-Gingolph on the French, Swiss boarder across Lake Geneva. The three airmen had a long discussion on whether to enter back into France. Bob and Bill were keen to return back into France due to the care they had received from the Resistance but Eric had been a “loner” and knew the difficulties of living and walking alone. It was agreed that Bob and Bill would return back into France as travelling in three they were more likely to be picked up by the Germans and being dressed in civilian clothes in Haute Savoie that would have been fatal.
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One evening Bob and Bill disappeared and crossed back into France (date unknown). Eric, as planned packed up their kit and reported them missing. A few days later all airmen and soldiers were forbidden from leaving and ordered to wear British army uniform with RAF flashes and once again put under British Military Discipline. ​
Very little is known what happened during Bob and Bill's escape back into France from Switzerland but what we do know is they did have help from the local resistance as they declined to kill two Gestapo agents that had been captured and Bob met up Wynford Vaughan Thomas a war correspondent (ref). They eventually made their way down to Sisteron were they were flown by Dakota to Naples, Casablanca, Algiers and then to England. They landed back in England on the 5th September 1944 exactly a year after they left to bomb Mannheim.
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Back in England Bob then began to retrain as a transport pilot on the 5th November 1944 flying Oxford and Dakota aircraft, achieving the grade of “proficient” from the RAF Transport Command on the 27th March 1945.
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On the 19th April 1945 he was flown by Dakota from RAF Lyneham via RAF Elmas (Italy), RAF El Adem (Libya), RAF Cairo West (Eygpt) and RAF Habbanyia (Iraq), landing in RAF Karachi (Pakistan) on the 22nd April 1945. Then flown by Ensign from RAF Mauripur (Pakistan) via RAF Palmas (India) to RAF Dum Dum (India).
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Bob was assigned to 52 Squadron at RAF Dum Dum in India where from the 9th May to 23rd July 1945 he flew a number of supply missions to support the allied forces in Burma and India including forces after the Battle of Ramree Island and Meiktila. He was then transferred to 267 Squadron at RAF Karachi in August 1945 where he flew more supply missions throughout India and eventually returned back in the UK on the 3rd December 1945.
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Back in England Bob joined the 1333 Transport Support Conversion Unit (TSCU) at RAF Syerston on the 8th January 1946 to qualify crews trained on medium bombers to operate the heavy bombers before final posting to the operational squadrons. With his final flight logged on the 31st May 1946. Throughout his RAF service Bob Cant logged almost 1026 hours of flight time, not bad for an "average" pilot and someone who's "a little slow in learning but retains instructions well" I'm sure you'll agree.
He was released from the RAF on the 6th September 1946 and married Joan Bristol on the 10th May 1950 at St Mary's Church in Sutton in Ashfield. He was discharged from the RAF on 22nd January 1952 on appointment to a commission in the RAF Volunteer Reserve (Air Training Corps). Bob and Joan had two daughters Margaret Elizabeth 6th May 1952 and Julia Gay 8th February 1954. Bob finally resigned from the RAF Volunteer Reserve (Air Training Corps) on 15th March 1957.
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​​Bob developed Parkinsons disease later in life and sadly died on 8th March 2001 at the Poplars Care home in Warsop.