SPAFFORD, Frederick Michael
| Service Number: | 407380 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 September 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Flying Officer |
| Last Unit: | No. 617 Squadron (RAF) |
| Born: | Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 16 June 1918 |
| Home Town: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Thebarton Technical School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Fitter |
| Died: | Raid on Dortmund Ems Canal, Germany, 16 September 1943, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany Collective Grave 16, Row B, Grave 13-16 |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Pathway of Honour - SA Dambusters Raid WW2 Memorial, Adelaide WW2 Wall of Remembrance, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, International Bomber Command Centre Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 14 Sep 1940: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 407380 | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Sep 1940: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftman 2 (WW2), 407380, Aircrew Training Units, Adelaide, South Australia | |
| 15 Sep 1940: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftman 2 (WW2), 407380, Aircrew Training Units, Empire Air Training Scheme, Trained and qualified as an Air Gunner in Australia. Joined 5 Group RAF on arrival in the UK. | |
| 20 Oct 1942: | Honoured Distinguished Flying Medal, Air War NW Europe 1939-45 | |
| 15 Feb 1943: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 407380, No. 617 Squadron (RAF), Air War NW Europe 1939-45, Selected for No 617 Squadron after having flown 30 missions in a variety of aircraft and squadrons, specialising as a Bomb Aimer | |
| 19 May 1943: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Pilot Officer, 407380, No. 617 Squadron (RAF), Air War NW Europe 1939-45, Guy Gibson's bomb aimer on the Dams Raid 19/20 May 1943 | |
| 28 May 1943: | Honoured Distinguished Flying Cross, Air War NW Europe 1939-45 | |
| 9 Sep 1943: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 407380, No. 617 Squadron (RAF), Air War NW Europe 1939-45, Killed in one of five aircraft lost on the Dortmund-Ems Canal raid. Promoted posthumously |
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Biography written by Eleanor Humphrey St Peter's Girl's School, SA attached as a document. Winning entry for 2021 Premier's Anzac Spirit School Prize.
Biography contributed by South Australian Aviation Museum
80th Anniversary of the Death of a Dambuster
16 September 1943
Flying Officer Fred ‘Spam’ Spafford, DFC, DFM.
In 2023 we celebrated the 80th anniversary of the famous 617 Squadron ‘Dambusters raid’ which took place on the night of 16/17 May 1943, where nineteen 617 Squadron Lancasters, containing 133 aircrew, were led by Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, on Operation Chastise, involving attacks against the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in the Ruhr valley.
Fred ‘Spam’ Spafford, DFC, DFM, was the bomb-aimer in the crew of Lancaster ED932 (AJ-G) ‘G for George’, flown by Wing Commander Gibson, who referred to Fred ‘Spam’ Spafford as ‘the best bomb-aimer there is.’
Operation Chastise was probably the most celebrated operation in aviation history. However, the breaching of the Möhne and Eder dams and superficial damage to the Sorpe came with a cost of eight out of 19 Lancasters lost, 53 aircrew dead and three becoming POWs.
It was to be four months before 617 Squadron Lancasters returned to Germany, this time to attack the Dortmund-Ems Canal, a 160-mile waterway linking the Ruhr valley with eastern Germany and the ports of the Baltic and North Seas, making it a vital artery feeding Germany’s war industries with strategic materials and for the transportation of finished products ranging from arms and munitions to prefabricated U-boat sections. The canal was seen as most vulnerable north of Műnster where it ran in twin aqueducts over the River Glane. Either side of the aqueducts the canal was carried in embankments that were raised above the level of the surrounding land. The intention was to employ newly developed light case 12,000 lb High-Capacity (HC) ‘blockbuster’ bombs.
Following an aborted attempt on 14 September 1943, with one aircraft lost, the operation against the Dortmund-Ems canal was rescheduled for the following night (15 September 1943). Eight crews in two sections of four Lancasters took off from Coningsby, led by Gibson’s replacement, Wing Commander George Holden, flying Lancaster EE144 (AJ-S), the crew of which contained four members of Gibson’s original crew, including Fred Spafford.
The operation was a total disaster. Including the aircraft lost when turning back after being recalled the first night, a total of five Lancasters and their crews were lost for a nil result. Losses included Lancaster EE144 (AJ-S), flown by Wing Commander Holden, with the crew containing Fred Spafford and three other members of Gibson’s original crew.
If you want to know more about the raid on the Dortmund-Ems canal and to read the newly posted SA Aviation Museum profile on Fred ‘Spam’ Spafford, please visit the Links and Documents Section of this entry.
Gary Petts
SA Aviation Museum History Group
September 2023
Click images to start slideshow.