Sqn Ldr Kenneth Drury, Lancaster navigator awarded the DFM during Bomber Command’s heaviest losses

Squadron Leader Kenneth Drury, who has died aged 102, was a navigator on Lancaster bombers who completed 31 missions over Germany, including 11 to Berlin. His postwar career included flying on the Berlin Airlift, operational missions over Malaya and flying worldwide routes in Transport Command.

After completing his training, he joined 100 Squadron in November 1943 at RAF Waltham near Grimsby. This coincided with the beginning of the main offensive against the German capital in what became known as the Battle of Berlin, and which lasted until the end of March 1944. During this period, the German night-fighter defences were at their most effective and losses amongst the Bomber Command aircraft were at their peak.

Drury and his crew flew their first operation on the night of November 22/23 1943 when the target was Berlin. By the end of the year, he had made three more visits to the “Big City”. In the New Year, he attacked Stettin, Magdeburg and Leipzig in addition to further attacks against Berlin. In a period of 10 days at the end of January 1944, he returned to the German capital four times.

On the night of March 30, his Lancaster joined a force of 795 heavy bombers to attack Nuremburg. Due to the lack of cloud and a full moon, there was surprise that the raid was not cancelled. On the outward journey, German night fighters soon picked up the bomber stream, and they inflicted the highest casualties that Bomber Command suffered in the war, with the loss of 95 bombers, 11.9 per cent of the force. Drury’s aircraft suffered minor damage and returned after an eight-hour flight.

As Bomber Command turned its attention to attacking targets in the build-up to D-Day, Drury and his crew transferred to the No 1 Bomber Group Special Duties Flight, where they located and dropped flares over gun emplacements, ammunition dumps and rail yards as markers for the following bombers. On May 3 1943 they were deployed against the major military camp and tank depot at Mailly le Camp, where the losses were among the highest over a single target, with 42 of the 346 Lancasters lost. It was to be one of the crew’s final missions before they were rested.

Drury and his six colleagues had flown during the most intensive period of Bomber Command’s campaign, when losses had been the greatest. On June 27 it was announced that he had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for “his cheerful confidence and fearless courage which have been a magnificent example to all”. His pilot was awarded the DFC.

Kenneth Albert Drury was born on June 9 1923 in Sittingbourne, Kent. He attended Norton Church of England School before leaving to work for a builder.

He joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in September 1941 and trained as a navigator in South Africa before converting to the Lancaster and joining 100 Squadron.

He remained in the RAF after the war and flew long-range transport routes on the Avro York, a derivative of the Lancaster bomber. In 1949-50 he flew 264 re-supply sorties during Operation Plainfare, the Berlin Airlift that delivered essential food, supplies and humanitarian aid to the beleaguered city he had attacked so often during the war.

From 1951 to 1954 he returned to Bomber Command to navigate the B-29 Washington heavy bomber with 15 Squadron. He was the navigator of the lead aircraft in the Washington formation for the Queen’s Coronation Flypast.

From 1956 he served in Singapore on the Valetta transport aircraft and flew 77 airborne re-supply missions to troops in the jungles of Malaya during the campaign against the communist guerrillas.

On return to the UK in 1959 he flew as a navigator on the Comet and the VC 10. On the latter he became an instructor and route examiner. In 1976 he moved to the headquarters of No 38 Group, where he spent six years as the deputy to the Group Navigation Officer. During the final years he planned routes in support of the Falklands war. He retired as a squadron leader aged 60 in June 1983, having completed 12,477 flying hours.

In 2016 the French Government appointed him to the Légion d’honneur for his actions during the build-up to the Normandy landings.

In retirement, he and his wife travelled widely, visiting areas where they had been stationed in the RAF. He enjoyed walking “in easy stages” the Roman and Saxon routes in the south-east of England, a total of 1,075 miles.

A keen footballer and accomplished batsman, he turned to being an umpire after his cricket-playing days were over, officiating in 384 matches. His other passion was gardening. Last summer, his daughter-in-law had to scold him for climbing a ladder at the age of 102 to trim the wisteria in his immaculate garden.

He maintained a keen interest in aviation. One of his sons joined the RAF, another was an accomplished glider pilot and one of his granddaughters joined a University Air Squadron.

Kenneth Drury married Betty in October 1945. She died in 1999, and he is survived by their three sons.

Kenneth Drury, born June 9 1923, died January 14 2026