A Bridgnorth man was amazed to find out his brother had been busy destroying the very same U-boats that attacked him during the Second World War.
Cliff Adamson, who risked his life for his country traversing the North Atlantic Ocean as a mid-shipman with the Merchant Navy, recently discovered his brother served with the RAF Coastal Command at the same time.
Cliff’s brother, Douglas Norman Adamson, passed away two years at the age of 86 and it was only then the connection was made.
“I found a picture of my brother with all the members of his squadron but the only information it had was the squadron number, 179,” he said.
“The picture was taken June 4 1944 and he got the crew to sign the back of it. Once Douglas had passed away I thought it would be good to get the photo exhibited.
“I got in contact with the secretary of the National Service (RAF) Association and they put me in touch with Percy Woodhouse.”
Following a lengthy investigation Mr Woodhouse discovered Douglas flew with the Coastal Command and would have been defending his brother Cliff who sailing in the waters below.
“A lot of people know about the horrendous slaughter of the Merchant Navy, and it’s nice to now know Douglas would’ve been flying over me at the time thinking ‘at least I’m protecting Cliff down there. His flight crew sank 20 U-boats during the war, which is the most I’ve ever heard of.”
Mr Adamson, 82, who married Janet and moved to Bridgnorth 15 years ago, said there was one horrific incident that may have lead to his brother being so secretive about his time during the war.
“One month before the war ended his flight crew went to bomb Hamburg, but none of them ever came back. Douglas wasn’t with them because he was ill at the time and that really affected him.
“Douglas went to visit everyone of the crew’s family, which included his captain’s in Canada, to say how sorry he was. He felt terrible grief and guilt and never talked about the war.”
Mr Adamson was invited to the RAF Cosford Museum to attend The National Service RAF Association (NSRAFA) reunion and parade, where he presented the picture of his brother and his flight crew to Air Vice Marshall Peter Dye.
“It was an absolutely brilliant day out, but it was sad to say goodbye to Douglas. He was a fantastic man, one of the best who ever lived on this planet.”
Mr Woodhouse, a NSRAFA committee member, said the picture of Douglas and his flight crew was now standing proudly in the museum and all the relevant information was to be archived at RAF Hendon.
