Tiny toy panda mascot who kept Dambusters hero 安全な in WWII （警察の）手入れ，急襲s returns to RAF home base after more than 70 years

  • 耐える was lucky charm for Sgt. William Gordon Radcliffe on deadly （警察の）手入れ，急襲s
  • Flight engineer tucked stuffed toy into his boot on more than 60 使節団s
  • Feels the 耐える kept him 安全な on （警察の）手入れ，急襲s out of RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire
  • Sgt. Radcliffe's daughter brought the 耐える 支援する for antiques event

By Kieran Corcoran for MailOnline

Published: | Updated:

A tiny toy panda taken on dozens of dangerous Dambusters （警察の）手入れ，急襲s as a lucky charm by an RAF hero made a 勝利を得た return to its home base.

The stuffed 耐える, which doesn't have a 指名する, was religiously tucked into the boot of William Gordon Radcliffe when he took to the skies to run risky （警察の）手入れ，急襲s on Nazi dams.

Sergeant Radcliffe took the panda with him on more than 60 使節団s over the Ruhr valley in western Germany, where Dambuster raiders used bouncing 爆弾s to 粉砕する 決定的な 組織／基盤／下部構造 and 妨害する Hitler's war 成果／努力.

Tiny guardian: This diminutive toy panda was a lucky charm for RAF flight engineer William Gordon Radcliffe, who flew in the risky Dambusters missions in the Second World War

Tiny 後見人: This diminutive toy panda was a lucky charm for RAF flight engineer William Gordon Radcliffe, who flew in the risky Dambusters 使節団s in the Second World War

Comrades: Sergeant Racliffe, who is circled above surrounded by other Dambusters servicemen, took the panda on more than 60 missions. 53 Dambusters airmen died on the missions, over the German Ruhr region

Comrades: Sergeant Racliffe, who is circled above surrounded by other Dambusters servicemen, took the panda on more than 60 使節団s. 53 Dambusters airmen died on the 使節団s, over the German Ruhr 地域

Detail: Sergeant Radcliffe, a Canadian who came to the UK in 1939 to enlist, is shown above

詳細（に述べる）: Sergeant Radcliffe, a Canadian who （機の）カム to the UK in 1939 to enlist, is shown above

The 耐える developed a 評判 as a lucky charm の中で 部隊s operating out of the RAF Coningsby base in Lincolnshire, 主要な several 乗組員s to copy panda features の上に their 計画（する）s to bring them good fortune.

Dorothy Bailey, one of his daughters, 相続するd the panda, and brought it 支援する to RAF Coningsby to be 診察するd by historians at an Antiques Roadshow event. It had been away for some 70 years.

にもかかわらず 存在 faded and threadbare in places - and having a droopy 権利 ear - the 耐える was still in one piece when it made its way 支援する の上に RAF land.?

示す Smith, a 軍の and 武器 専門家, looked at the stuffed animal along with other mementos from Sergeant Radcliffe's 軍の service, 含むing photographs, his 飛行機で行くing cross and parts of his uniform.

Mr Smith said told Ms Bailey :'He is priceless. He was priceless to your dad, he is priceless to you, he is priceless to the RAF as a member of the Dams 乗組員.'

The panda, along with other items belonging to Sergeant Radcliffe, will feature on an episode of Antiques Roadshow, 予定 to be 空気／公表するd on BBC One at 8pm on Sunday.?

Mementos: The panda is pictured above with items from Sergeant Radcliffe's uniform. He was inspected at an Antiques Roadshow event, but did not go under the hammer

Mementos: The panda is pictured above with items from Sergeant Radcliffe's uniform. He was 検査／視察するd at an Antiques Roadshow event, but did not go under the 大打撃を与える

Sergeant Radcliffe, a Canadian who crossed the 大西洋 to join the RAF on the eve of war, won the Distinguished 飛行機で行くing Cross for his service as a flight engineer.

によれば the Dambusters Blog, Sergeant Radcliffe started hi s 軍の career as a ground 乗組員, but RAF 職員／兵員 changes gave him the chance to retrain and take to the skies.

Sergeant Radcliffe 生き残るd the Dambusters 使節団s, which （人命などを）奪う，主張するd the lives of 53 of the 133 airmen who took part.

Roadshow: Dorothy Bailey, Sergeant Radcliffe's daughter, is pictured above in a pink jacket at the antiques event

Roadshow: Dorothy Bailey, Sergeant Radcliffe's daughter, is pictured above in a pink jacket at the antiques event

He went on to marry Joyce Palfreyman, a member of the Women's Auxiliary 空気／公表する 軍隊, with whom he had three children.

The family moved 支援する to Canada after the war, where Sergeant Radcliffe worked as a customs 公式の／役人. He died in 1952 in a car 衝突，墜落.?

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