Brothers Murray and Eric Maxton share a unique story, serving on the same crew in 460 Squadron during the Second World War. Both enlisted in the
RAAF during the war, Murray in December 1941 and Eric in August 1942.
Their father, a veteran of the First World War had been gassed on the
Western Front and warned the boys not to join the Army if gas was being used. Murray joined the RAAF in December 1941, and Eric, after three attempts to join the Navy, enlisted in the RAAF in August 1942. Both joined
460 Squadron in June 1944 and, remarkably were assigned to the same crew, Murray as pilot, Eric as the wireless operator.
Murray arrived in the United Kingdom in June 1943 and Eric in August.
Murray fell ill with measles before he was posted to a Squadron, on recovering he serendipitously ran into his brother in a pub on The Strand.
Crewing up at Binbrook airfield in Lincolnshire, Murray chose his brother as the wireless operator for his crew. Their commander did not realise the pair were brothers until weeks later, too late to change crews. They did not tell their family they were flying together until they had completed their 30 operations.
Their first operation on 7 July 1944, took them over Caen in support of the
Allied campaign in Normandy. Group Captain Hughie Edwards VC flew with the crew on their operation, worried about the brothers flying together. Murray recalls a particularly memorable encounter with a German night fighter that occurred on their 27 th operation. The fighter’s fire hit their aircraft, blowing a hole in its side and trapping the tail gunner in his turret. Eric extinguished the fire and fired shots at the enemy while Murray flew the plane into cloud.
Murray remembers calling fo r ‘a bit of help on the hotline to heaven’ that night.
The pair developed what Eric describes as a ‘truly wonderful bond’ during the war and have remained best mates in the decades that followed. Reflecting on his fellow servicemen, Eric remembers their dedication, tenacity, courage, mateship and loyalty. In June 2012 Eric and Murray travelled to London to attend the opening of the Bomber Command Memorial and pay their respects to the men they had served alongside.