Eric Joyce

Eric was Ian’s uncle.  Eric didn’t have any children, so I’m not breaking my rule about putting up posts of people who have children still alive.  That being said, I have considered whether I should post this or not, seeing that Eric still has a brother living.  However, I suspect that if this brother reads this, he would appreciate it being posted.  Likewise the ten nieces and nephews of Eric Joyce have heard the story and know much about a man that none of them met but was important in her parents' lives.

Eric Joyce was born on 16 April 1913, the second son of Elsie May (nee Spicer) and Albert Charles Joyce.  A further four children were born to the couple and the family was very happy – living in Melbourne surrounded by a large extended family.  Eric was very bright, he attended Carey Grammer School, plus he played the piano in Church.  He was well liked.

In 1932 Albert Charles was promoted to Assistant Secretary, Treasury – which entailed moving to Canberra.  The three eldest boys – Eric and brothers William and Cecil – had finished school and were working.  They remained in Melbourne, as did their younger sister who was finishing school.

When War was declared, all four of Elsie and Albert’s sons enlisted in the RAAF - Eric as a Warrant Officer.  Eric had been going out with Jane Woodhouse Paton for some time and the war spurred on their marriage plans.  They announced their engagement on Saturday 26 September and married on 13 November 1942 in Melbourne.  Jane was born in Scotland and had a strong accent and as a result most people pronounced her name “Jean”.  The whole family loved Jane. 

Eric was a part of the RAF 467 Squadron at Waddington and was the Flight Sergeant in a Lancaster Crew.   Life was difficult but had his bright moments.  Travelling to his base in southern England, Eric stayed in New York and was able to visit different parts of England.  His postcards are upbeat – and talk of sightseeing.  His many photos show young men in uniform enjoying the new experiences and undaunted by the task they faced.

According to Bomber Command diaries, November 1943 to January 1944 was part of the Battle of Berlin.  There were 14 large scale raids on the city.  They were difficult raids because they were at the limit of the Lancasters.  Also the winter of 1943-44 was particularly cold – one pilot and navigator were hospitalised for frostbit and exposure after the nose of the plane was hit during one of the raids. Eric’s crew had two particular incidents in December 1943.  On the night of 3 December the target was Leipzig.  Two motors of the Lancaster Eric was in cut out on takeoff making the aircraft spin around at the end of the runway.  The rear gunner, Flight Sergeant Cecil Frizzell from Brisbane was thrown out of his turret and badly injured.  It took some time to find him in the dark and unfortunately he died in Rauceby hospital on 5 December 1943 – he was 20 years old.  There was a group of men standing at the end of the runway watching and one of them was unfortunate enough to be hit by the aircraft and killed. The Australian War Memorial has pictures taken from the funeral service for the two men.  Then on the night of 29 December, their aircraft was hit by German anti-aircraft guns whilst on their flight to Berlin.  They proceeded to Berlin, dropped their bombs and literally swept out the burning materials before “diving away from the target” in order to put out the fire.  Someone in the family has kept two of the newspaper articles reporting these two incidents.  Sixty-five years on, the language seems violent and the positive spin is quite discomforting. 

At 2359 on 5 January 1944, Eric’s crew took off from Waddington, Lincolnshire on a mission to Stettin.  They were flying a Lancaster Mark III, serial number ED994.  The crew of seven consisted of five RAAF personal and two RAF.  They were (and my titles aren’t consistent here):

• Pilot Flying Officer Colin Irwin (Curly) Reynolds;
• Flight Sergeant Kenneth Nigel Bishop Davies (from Albany, WA);
• Flight Engineer Lt William King, RAF (from Glasgow);
• Navigator, Eric Joyce (from Melbourne);
• Wireless Operator, Eric’s friend Henry Morton (Hal) Vellenoweth (also from Melbourne and a long term friend of Eric’s);
• Mid Upper Gunner Flight Sgt Robert (Bob) H Keating (he had turned 20 on 3 January); and
• Rear Gunner Sgt JW Neeve, RAF – who had replaced Cecil Frizzell one month earlier (he was also 20 years old). 

They were all tired as the night before they had been on a particularly long flight over Germany and had only reached the airport at 7am on the morning of 5 January.  Most of the crew would had requested that they not fly that night but Reynolds had agreed before consulting them and, according to King, they felt it wise not to object.

They had approached the target – Stettin – by way of Sweden.  They had just got over the target, and dropped their bombs when an anti-aircraft shell exploded alongside the plane, and a fragment struck the pilot (Reynolds) in the head killing him instantly.  King who was Engineer of the aircraft sitting alongside the pilot immediately pulled Reynolds out of his seat and began to operate the controls.  Shortly after, they were attacked by a fighter plane, at which time Eric, Hal and Keating were killed and one of the engines were set on fire.  (Later King told Albert Joyce that he was sure they were killed outright and could have felt nothing.)  The plane kept going, but a short time later Neeve, the rear gunner, reported that there was another fighter coming above.  In accordance with the usual procedure in such cases, King put the nose of the machine down and dived to get away in the darkness, but there was apparently another fighter coming at them from below, following a well-known tactic when working in pairs.  At the time King didn’t understand why there was a terrific crash, but it appeared that he crashed into a Junkers 88 and brought it down with him.  In that crash King had several ribs, his wrist and his leg broken.  Recovering somewhat from the shock he still tried to fly the machine but found that he was rapidly losing height.  The rear-gunner signaled that he was baling out and King decided to do the same.  Crawling along the aircraft King came upon Ken Davies unconscious and pushed him out of the plane and at the same time pulling his rip-cord.  Then he followed.  He tried to get away and apparently walked a few metres, notwithstanding his injuries, but was almost immediately surrounded by three German officers armed with revolvers.  He wisely offered no resistance.  He was later informed that he was the only survivor. 

With regard to Neeve - it appeared that his parachute had simply not opened. 

Ken Davies had died as the result of his injuries.  His father sent a letter to Albert Joyce expressing his hope that Ken had died before hitting the ground as he found it difficult to think that his son may have been conscious as he lay dying alone on cold, foreign land.  He was very angry about the death of his 23 year old son and the lack of information given by the RAF.  The Reynolds and Keating families were also unhappy about the lack of information, and it seems that all families of the five Australians killed in ED994 exchanged letters with each other containing whatever information they happened to obtain.

Official records noted that on the night of 5/6 January, the plane, along with one other, did not return to base – MIA: 5, POW: 1.

The family was informed that Eric was “missing” on 9 January 1944.  On 10 February a letter was written reporting that Eric was now “missing, but believed to have lost his life” and that the “change of classification has been made by the Air Ministry, London, in consequence of a report received from the International Red Cross Committee, Geneva, which states that, according to German information, your son, two other Australians, one Royal Air Force, and two unknown members of the crew lost their lives.  It is also advised that one Royal Air Force member has been captured, and is a prisoner of war.”  Within two weeks the authorities confirmed that Eric had died.  Eric’s father Albert wrote to his sons saying: “For myself, the task of breaking the news to mother yesterday afternoon was the hardest trial I have ever been called upon to face.  May God spare me from ever having to do the same again.”  He finished the letter saying: “Our hearts are all very heavy … However, we still have three wonderful boys and two lovely girls and are all a united family, together with happy memories of one who is gone before.”  

Eric was the only child at that stage married.  His wife, Jane, remarried after the war and had one son.  Members of the family remained in contact with Jane until her death in 1998.  The family also put a memorial to Eric in the Canberra Baptist Church - on the family pew - third row from the back on the right.

The family was fortunate to obtain detailed information about the events surrounding the incident from the one surviving crew member, Sargeant William King, who spent time in a German concentration camp.  During this time he wrote to Jane briefly outlining the bare facts of the crash and saying how sorry he was.  Albert met with him on Wednesday, 29 August 1945 in London, and talked to him about the crash.  Jean lovingly put together a beautiful, detailed scrapbook of Eric’s time in the RAAF, which she gave to Reg before her death.  Various members of the family have also visited Eric's war grave in Poland.  And the first born nephew of Eric Joyce was named in his honour.

Eric was just one of 39,000 Australians killed during World War II.

“I am not forgotten if someone mentions my name” (inscription from gravestone of a casualty of War as told to me by Kathleen Spurling, a War Historian)

Update: In July 2016 Ian, Andrew (great-nephew), my father and I visited Poznan, Poland to see Eric's Grave in the Commonwealth War Grave attached to the Cemetery - along with the other members of the crew (you can see Reynold's grave in this photo). The day was dreary, and the roadtrip took a little longer than we'd anticipated, but it was absolutely worth the time spent to get there and we were all very moved.