Historian to go on trial for alleged theft of logbook owned by widow of Dambusters hero
AN HISTORIAN is to go on trial for the alleged theft of a logbook owned by the widow of a hero of the Dambusters Raid.
A Lancaster similar to the one Flt Sgt Fraser was captured in during WWII
Alex Bateman is accused of stealing the £20,000 document from Doris Fraser.
The logbook had belonged to her husband Flight Sergeant John Fraser who took part in the legendary mission in May 1943.
Mrs Fraser, who lives in Canada, posted it to Bateman in 1996.
She reported him to the police in 2003, Highbury Magistrates Court, north London, was told.
Bateman, 48, of Harrow, north London, denies theft.
He will appear at Wood Green Crown Court for a preliminary hearing.
Canadian Flt Sgt Fraser was just 22 and married for just over two weeks when he took part in the Dambusters Raid as a bomb aimer.
His Lancaster, piloted by Flight Lieutenant John Hopgood, was the second to attack the Ruhr Valley’s Mohne Dam.
Photo of the Eder Dam taken two months after the 'Dambusters' raid
The bomber was badly damaged before and during the bomb run.
Most of the crew baled out moments before the aircraft crashed.
Flt Sgt Fraser was captured and spent the rest of WWII in a prison camp. He died in 1962.