A SCOTTISH veteran of the Second World War who was evacuated from Dunkirk and survived daring bombing raids against the Nazis has died at the age of 102.
Sergeant Peter Carrie, who was born in Dundee in 1915, served in the army and then the RAF as a flight engineer on Lancaster Bombers.
Carrie, who joined the army in 1934 when he was 19, was evacuated after being badly wounded in France in 1940. His injuries prevented him from continuing his service with the army but he joined the RAF’s Bomber Command in 1943.
Carrie served with 75 (New Zealand) Squadron and survived bombing missions including those on Hamburg and Wesel. The squadron flew more missions than any other Allied heavy bomber squadron and suffered the second-highest number of casualties.
More than 55,000 aircrew out of 125,000 were killed – a death toll of nearly 45 per cent.
The head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier, posted on Twitter that he was sad to learn of the veteran’s death.
In 2014, Hillier re-presented Carrie, a Chelsea pensioner, with his flight engineer brevet or badge in 2014 – 70 years after he was first awarded it.
Hillier said at the time: “The valour, the courage and commitment men like Sgt Carrie showed during WWII was just exceptional, in Bomber Command, in the mission that they did, and sustained throughout that war.”
Once asked why he was in a New Zealand Squadron, Carrie said: “The Kiwis came over but were short of men on some squadrons so I joined them. They used to have drink sent over from home, and after every mission we’d have a wee shot.”
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