...read more http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/o ... l.19164857SQUADRON Leader Max Riddell, who has died aged 91, was one of the first RAF fliers to take part in bombing raids over Germany and one of the service's last "pre-war regulars" who had signed up in the 1930s.
His initial missions were as a WOp/AG, first in RAF 144 Squadron and later in 61 (Heavy Bomber) Squadron. Following the Nazi invasion of France, he flew as a WOp/AG on the very first night bombing raid on Berlin. In late 1940, already having flown more than 30 sorties for RAF Bomber Command and received the DFM, he was posted to the new 207 Squadron at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, a squadron specially set up to introduce a new generation of heavy bombers: the Stirling, the Halifax and the ill-fated Avro Manchester, which eventually begat the more successful Avro Lancaster.
Tom