Linford Herbert Adams

Linford Herbert Adams was born in Hornsey, London, in 1915, educated at Southend High School and Southend Technical College, and joined the RAFVR in February 1939. He trained as an airman before joining No. 50 Squadron on Hampdens, flying twenty-nine night operations to targets including Lorient, Bremen, Hamburg, Mannheim and Brest. A medal catalogue preserving his logbook details records that he qualified for the Caterpillar Club after baling out in September 1940.

Adams was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for service with No. 50 Squadron, gazetted in April 1941, and later moved to No. 25 Operational Training Unit as an instructor. On 18 November 1941 he was captain of Manchester L7428 when it crashed near Bawtry, Yorkshire. Three of the five men aboard were killed, including Adams, aged 26. He is buried at Southend-on-Sea. His career shows the quick passage from operational tour to training duty in the expanding bomber force.