No. 405 (R.C.A.F.) Squadron was the only R.C.A.F. Pathfinder Squadron of the war and was formed from Group 8.
Geeves was one of five members of a crew of seven who lost his life 02, Jan. 1945 when their Lancaster 111 PB477 was blown out of the sky over Rohrau, Germany, near the small town of Neufringen. Their mission: to bomb Nuremberg. They never made it. Only two members of the crew survived; they were captured the following morning and interned at Stalag Luft 1 until they were freed by the Russions in May of 1945.
Gerry served his first tour in the North African Campaign where he took part in the battles of Tobruk, El Alamein, Tunis, Egypt, Malta, etc. Flying in Wellingtons, he survived five crashes and was the lone survivor of one these crashes – none of which were enemy-related.
Posted to No. 405 Squadron (Group 6), 11 June 1944, he flew 25 operations with S/L Donald John (Tex) McQuoid, D.S.O., D.F.C., D.F.C. & Bar. and would have continued with this crew had McQuoid not been injured in a motorcycle accident on 31, Dec. 1944. McQuoid was admitted to hospital and the crew learned that their captain would not be available for duty until Feb. 1945. As Gerry had just one more op to complete before returning home for good, he was given a choice by his commanding officer….either wait until McQuoid returned to active duty or fly with another crew. He chose the latter and lost his life. He and his crewmates are buried in Durnbach War Cemetery in Bayern Cemetery. Gerry was my uncle.
