As Britain prepares to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Pamela Harris has used diaries, letters and newspapers to provide an account of the life of Donald Reuben Harris, an airman for the Royal Air Force.
An article was published in the Swindon Evening Advertiser in May 1995 about Donald to commemorate the 50th anniversary of VE Day, with Pamela recently paying a visit to a memorial in Malta bearing his name to update her original tribute.
Donald was born in May 1919 and grew up in Alexandra Road, Swindon, before joining the Swindon Press in 1936, the forerunner of the Swindon Advertiser.
He joined the RAF in January 1940 following the outbreak of war, and after being trained as a wireless operator-air gunner, took part in bombing raids over enemy shipping routes off the coasts of France, Holland and Norway, and into Germany.
Pamela said: “At first he found the life exciting, but as the war entered its third year, his letters home became subdued as more and more planes from his squadron did not return.
“He began to write poetry, mostly about the part God played in the killings, and became increasingly aware of the nearness of danger and death.”
On September 12, 1941, his aircraft took off from Malta to attack an enemy convoy in the Mediterranean and was last seen plummeting into the sea after being hit.
His mother received a telegram reporting him missing, but it was not until May 5, 1942, that his death was finally confirmed by the Air Ministry.
She received a letter of condolence from the editor of the Swindon Press, while an article entitled ‘Swindon Airman’s Fate’ appeared in the paper and spoke of his popularity among his colleagues there.
An article published in the Swindon Press in 1942, (Image: Pamela Harris)
Donald’s mother received a letter of condolence from the editor of the Swindon Press (Image: Pamela Harris)
Pamela said: “Donald was 22 years old when he was killed, an ordinary young man who died before his time, like many others in the Second World War.
“However, to me he was someone special, for he was my uncle, the beloved youngest son of my grandmother, and younger brother of my father.
“I was born the year after he died, so sadly I never knew him, but on the death of my grandmother, I inherited his 1941 diary, letters and newspaper articles, so was able to piece together an account of the last years of his life.”
A memorial was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II in Malta in 1954 to commemorate all Commonwealth airmen who lost their lives flying from bases in the Mediterranean in the Second World War, and who have no known grave.
While Pamela’s grandmother was unable to attend the unveiling ceremony at the time due to old age, Pamela was recently inspired to make the trip herself and learn more about her uncle.
She said: “It was only recently, after meeting the two daughters of another of Donald’s nieces, that I decided it was time that someone in the family visited Malta to learn more about the wartime contribution of the island where he had spent his last days, and to find the memorial with his name.”
The Malta Memorial is a 15-metre marble column topped by a large gilded bronze golden eagle, and bears the names of more than 1,500 airmen from the United Kingdom and nearly 750 from Commonwealth countries who lost their lives from 1940 to 1945.
“My partner took a photo as I held up the article I had written in 1995 for the VE Special edition of the Evening Advertiser and pointed to Donald’s name: HARRIS D.R. It was a moving moment.”
Pamela recently visited the Malta Memorial bearing her uncle’s name (Image: Pamela Harris)
Pamela’s tribute to her uncle also includes a history of the island where he died and its significance: “During the Second World War, Malta was a British Crown colony and, once Italy joined on Nazi Germany’s side and Rommel’s North Africa campaign intensified, the tiny island was the only Allied stronghold between Gibraltar and Alexandria, surrounded by hostile territory and subjected to intensive bombing.
“The enemy needed not to take it, so the part played by airmen like Donald, who were stationed on the island, was of increasing importance as wave after wave of bombers took off from its airfields to protect the island and to attack enemy convoys throughout the Mediterranean.
“It was because of its strategic role in the war that Malta was chosen as the location for the special memorial to Commonwealth airmen.”