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Cy Grant, RAF veteran?
Related thread:
Obit: Calypso Singer Cy Grant (Feb 2010) (21)
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Cy Grant, RAF veteran? Related thread: Obit: Calypso Singer Cy Grant (Feb 2010) (21) |
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Subject: RE: Cy Grant, RAFveteran? From: Kevin Sheils Date: 10 May 08 - 05:00 AM I remember being surprised to see Cy in an episode of Blakes 7 back in 1980 playing the father of Dayna Mellanby, who became a regular member of the crew. It had been some years since I'd seen him on TV singing and didn't know he was an actor, but looking into it I see he also voiced Lt Green in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons amongst other things. Glad to hear he's still with us. |
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Subject: RE: Cy Grant, RAFveteran? From: Roger the Skiffler Date: 10 May 08 - 04:29 AM The scale of the RAF Memorial at Runneymede is impressive. I took my late parents there once and my father found the names of many of the pilots and crew whose planes he'd worked on and who hadn't returned. RtS (The new post-WW2 National Memorial Forest near Burton on Trent is also very moving, but very depressing is the space they've left for future names) |
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Subject: RE: Cy Grant, RAFveteran? From: Bonzo3legs Date: 09 May 08 - 04:44 PM And they still whinge on about the 200 or so killed in the murdering Task Force sent to Las Malvinas! |
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Subject: RE: Cy Grant, RAFveteran? From: GUEST,Jim Martin Date: 09 May 08 - 06:55 AM I too, fondly remember Cy when he used to sing calypsos on 'Tonight' in the late 50's when we only had a one channel (BBC) 12" screen TV (we couldn't afford to rent one with ITV)! |
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Subject: RE: Cy Grant, RAFveteran? From: bubblyrat Date: 08 May 08 - 07:14 PM My dad was aircrew in Bomber Command in WW 2. He flew from RAF Oulton, in Norfolk,in one of the two squadrons of Boeing B17 Flying Fortresses that the RAF operated in the ECM ( although they probably didn't call it that in those days ) role. They seem to have been a mixed bunch of guys----my Dad's regular crew included two Canadians, and their normal pilot was a Squadron- Leader Van Den Bok !! Dad was a Wireless Operator / Air Gunner in the rank of Flight Sergeant, then Pilot Officer, then Flying Officer.The B 17 s usually carried 2 Wireless Operators, one of whose job it was to confuse ( in German ) the German night-fighter pilots and directors.But it was very hazardous, and at least one 214 Squadron B 17 was shot down by an RAF Lancaster bomber who didn't know what it was ,and opened fire on it. Cy Grant , I remember well from his days on early (1950s) television----- I always liked him ,and now even more so !! It is indeed a sobering thought that something like 55 THOUSAND men, both air and ground crew, lost their lives in WW 2 ......Yes, Fifty Five Thousand !! It doesn't bear thinking about, does it ?? Per Ardua Ad Astra. |
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Subject: RE: Cy Grant, RAFveteran? From: GUEST,Greycap Date: 08 May 08 - 06:51 PM I have a good old pal, Rred Mitchell, who flew woth 103 sqn from Elsham Wolds about the same time as Cy Grant, who I remember as a great calypso singer. Can anyone contact Cy and see if he ever met Fred, who is still hale and hearty? C'mon, 'catters, maybe we can affect a reunion of two elderly warriors. |
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Subject: RE: Cy Grant, RAFveteran? From: Rumncoke Date: 08 May 08 - 05:53 PM Immigrants off the Windrush? You mean the people who were actively recuited and invited to come to live here to fill the 'employment opportunities' in our hospitals and factories? At that time employers were unable to meet orders and hospitals were unable to take in patients - schools had trouble retaining pupils because factories sent recruiters to their gates to offer money to the senior year to come and work for them. Bonuses were paid to anyone who could bring in a good worker or a family member to a factory. On the subject of RAF ground crew - the grease, oil and aviation spirit were dangerous - my father gashed his hand and got blood poisoning when a spanner slipped. He was so ill that the MO shouted at the men who came to take him up on a charge - deliberatly making yourself unfit for duty was a crime. He was lying in bed with his hand swollen and throbbing and wondering who the poor fellow was who was so ill, and it came as quite a shock when he realised it was him!! |
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Subject: RE: Cy Grant, RAFveteran? From: sapper82 Date: 08 May 08 - 04:26 PM People still do not realise how many black Caribean lads served in in the forces during WW2. I am pleased to say that I upset a BNP bloke a few years back when I suggested that, because of their efforts, the immigrants off the Windrush had more than earned their right to come and live here. |
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Subject: RE: Cy Grant, RAFveteran? From: Big Al Whittle Date: 08 May 08 - 01:25 PM I saw Cy play to an empty pavilion theatre in 1976 in Lytham St annes. he was absolutely awesome. never seen him since but I wish I had I could see he was a bit depressed at the turnout - I wish he'd stuck with it though - he was great! |
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Subject: RE: Cy Grant, RAFveteran? From: meself Date: 07 May 08 - 10:46 PM Thread drift, but ... my father, who was an RCAF flier (spent a lot of time in Mosquitoes), called the groundcrews 'unsung heroes', doing all kinds of vital and demanding work in all kinds of miserable weather, and getting none of the glory ... |
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Subject: RE: Cy Grant, RAFveteran? From: Rumncoke Date: 07 May 08 - 09:04 PM In WWII my father was ground crew in the RAF and worked on Lancasters - he was mostly in the South of England, and sharing aerodromes with American squadrons. He also worked on Typhoons which fired rockets to knock out trains, Mosquitoes and Dacotas. He mentioned the 'thousand bomber' raids, and the raid which caused the Dresden firestorm in particular, and waiting for the planes to return, looking at their watches knowing that they had only so much flying time. In bad weather they shared their huts on the dispersals with the black American ground crews as they were not allowed to use the ones the white Americans used, but no one had thought to provide huts for black Americans. He mentioned how they would sing 'Coming in on a wing and a prayer' with wonderful harmonies, and also hymns - I don't know if he meant 'spirituals'. The English ground crews were treated to all sorts of luxury items, presumably stolen from the American messes as reward for their hospitality. Brandy, the best whisky, all sorts of cooked meat, salmon, and once even a huge sherry trifle were 'snaffled' and appeared in the hut. Not even the English Officers' mess ate as well as they did. |
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Subject: RE: Cy Grant, RAFveteran? From: Roger the Skiffler Date: 07 May 08 - 09:13 AM ...answered my own question by looking at Cy's blog:http://cygrant.blogspot.com/ and the page that Phil linked to. RtS |
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Subject: RE: Cy Grant, RAFveteran? From: Newport Boy Date: 07 May 08 - 09:08 AM Second try - disappeared into the ether last time. Yes, that's the same Cy Grant. Full story here Phil Moving Here: Cy Grant from Guyana Contributed by: Cy Grant 1941 - 2005 I came to Britain from Guyana (then British Guiana) in 1941 to join the Royal Air Force. Just one year before, no 'man of colour' would have been allowed to join; but crises change attitudes and a restricted number from the colonies were allowed to join the club. In 1943, I was actually commissioned, thus becoming one of the very few black Officers in the RAF. I flew on operations in a Lancaster bomber over Germany and was shot down after a successful bombing raid on the German town of Gelsenkirchen in the Ruhr, our plane crashing in a field in Holland. I managed to bail out by parachute along with other members of the crew. Two did not make it. I was to learn many years later that one of the engines of the Lancaster had gone through the roof of the home of a Dutch farmer killing his wife outright. The incident so disturbed a young boy of the village that he resolved, when he grew up, to trace the entire history of that fatal flight that had traumatised his village. He would discover the name of the Squadron where the bomber had been based in England and all the details of the mission. After a long and arduous investigation, the young Dutchman spectacularly fulfilled his boyhood promise by successfully contacting first the Air Ministry and then RAF 103 Squadron for details of the mission on the night in question - from the number of bombers from its base at Elsham Wolds in Lincolnshire, that had joined in the massive onslaught on the Ruhr, down to the actual plane that had crashed into his village, and the names of the members of its crew. "On the night of Friday 25 June 1943, the RAF had again planned an attack on the Ruhr area. For that attack, 474 bombers had been detailed of which 214 were Lancasters, 134 Halifaxes, 73 Stirlings, 40 Wellingtons and 12 Mosquitoes. Bomber Command was going to suffer heavy losses during that night, which also became one of the darkest pages of the air war over the Netherlands". "24 Lancasters from 103 Squadron were detailed for the attack on Gelsenkirchen. One of the Lancasters was W4827 piloted by the Canadian F.O Al Langille. The crew consisted, apart from Langille , of navigator, P.O Cy Grant from British Guiana, radio-telegraphist, P.O. Don Towers (England), bombardier' P.O Charles Reynolds (England), flight engineer Sgt. Ronald Hollywood (England), and gunners Geoffrey Wallis (England), and the Canadian P.O Joseph Addison." The writer had also contacted each surviving member of the crew, including myself, and compared our versions of events in order to produce an authentic document of our final mission. I have a copy of that document. The author is alive and can be contacted. Unfortunately, today there is one only one survivor of the crew besides myself. "quote"... The most striking part of this chapter of my life story is that we find the making and resolution of a personal tragedy in Holland, the formation of a lasting bond between Canadian and West Indian and English and Dutch, forged in the skies over Germany, and a relevant and compelling comment on racial attitudes of the time and how it affected and continues to affect my entire life "unquote" The Officers' POW Camp where I had been incarcerated for the duration of my captivity had been evacuated with the approach of the Russian army in early 1945. After days of trudging through snow piled roads we eventually ended up in a lice- ridden, sprawling POW camp at Lukenwalde - a vast complex with prisoners from all the allied forces. The war raged around and the German guards were beginning to vacate their posts. Soon we would have to forage for food. Then came the news that thekrieg ist fertig. But the days went by with no sign of repatriating British personnel. After many days of angst, Americans prisoners were evacuated, probably because of the efforts of American forces who were nearby on the Western front. The drivers of the trucks who formed the evacuation squad were African-American soldiers and their arrival added a new dimension to the whole scenario involving me as a black man caught up in a racist war. I recalled that shortly after my capture a photo of me taken after a period of solitary confinement -a common experience for new arrivals at a camp- appeared in a German newspaper (the Volkischer Beobachter, July 1943) with the words Mitglied der Royal Air Force von unbestimmbarer RasseI - a member of the Royal Air Force of unknown race! With the arrival of the American truck drivers I seized my opportunity to escape the POW camp. I arranged a rendezvous outside the perimeter of the camp at dawn the following day and after a harrowing day-long drive trying to find a bridge to cross over to the American front on the other side of the river Elbe, and in time to beat the curfew, we succeeded on the stroke of 6pm. A few days later I was driven to Brussels in time for VE Day celebrations. The most striking part of this chapter of my life story is that in the midst of a 'Boy's Own' adventure, we find the making and resolution of a personal tragedy in Holland, the formation of a lasting bond between Canadian and West Indian and English and Dutch, forged in the skies over Germany, and a relevant and compelling comment on racial attitudes of the time and how it affected and continues to affect my entire life. A fuller version of my RAF career, including my POW experiences appears in my still unpublished book Blackness and the Dreaming Soul. The book is about one man's search for identity and meaning - reflections on the spiral of self- discovery. Written without bitterness, it traces the journey of a black man trapped within a white culture that has marginalised his sense of being and belonging. It is a journey that has led the author to transcend the current Western view of reality based on the prevailing scientific model of empirical materialism and our divorce from Nature. The book reflects the stages of a journey of self- discovery. It is, however, not an autobiography but more a book of linked essays each of which builds on the previous one, setting out the various stages of the author's development, discussing the issues he has encountered along the way, and bringing his inner journey gradually into focus. In this context, there is an in-depth piece on Carnival- not as mere digression but rather as an exposition of identity, celebration and confrontation- all essential ingredients in the lives of West Indians. The chapter on Columbus envisages him as an icon of Western enterprise, which values profit above the regard for other peoples; that on Genetics and the rush towards Genetic engineering, examines a more recent journey while still uncovering the same issues of privilege and control. Science and empirical proof, religion and spirituality, issues that are almost never discussed within a holistic framework are reassessed in this light and shown to be vital for understanding our world. Our culture is essentially in a state of denial on important issues, particularly with regard to the terminal dualism of the prevailing paradigm that maintains that science and spirituality are irreconcilable. Even if we see the need for the integration of science and spirituality, we cannot at the same time be in denial of other cultures and their contribution to human knowledge and spirituality. The worldview of these cultures was one of non-duality, typically embodied in the Hindu Vendanta, Chinese Taoism, African Modimo, and in the harmonious relationship of numerous indigenous peoples with nature. To recover the ancient worldview, the author believes we will have to acknowledge the institutional racism that exists in our culture as well as our history of ruthless exploitation inflicted on the rest of mankind - slavery, Genocide, rape and our present rush toward world domination and globalisation. While holding on to the concept of discrete chapters, the author adopts an approach of gradual focus, which it is hoped, will not be seen as a series of redundancies but rather, an occasional gentle reminder of the story as it unfolds. Rather than explore any area too deeply, the book aims to persuade the reader to explore further and provides a balanced range of references to allow this to happen. So as to reach the widest range of people, the language employed is simple, especially where complex theories are concerned. However, in the hope of engaging a more erudite readership, difficult subjects have not been avoided, as it is this group of readers who most readily offer their views for written scrutiny thus disseminating them most widely: it is the written form that has been until very recently retained as history thus having most influence on shaping our worldview.
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