page_title: Patrick Dorehill
section_title: Second tour
hierarchical_section_title: Patrick Dorehill / Second tour
caption_attribution_description: English: An Avro Lancaster Mk III of No. 49 Squadron RAF is guided to its dispersal point at Fiskerton, Lincolnshire, after returning from a raid on Berlin, 22 November 1943. A member of the ground crew, illuminated by a lamp shining from the bomb-aimer's position, guides Avro Lancaster B Mark III, JB362 'EA-D', ("D for Donald") of No. 49 Squadron RAF to its dispersal point at Fiskerton, Lincolnshire, after returning from the greatest and most destructive raid mounted on Berlin to date (22/23 November 1943); the main weight of the raid falling in the centre and south of the city with extensive damage both to housing and to industrial premises. Warrant Officer H Blunt and his crew arrived safely back at their dispersal a few minutes before midnight on 22 November, but were shot down and killed in "D for Donald" when returning from their next visit to Berlin, Germany on 27 November 1943.
context_page_description: Patrick Arthur Dorehill, DSO, DFC & Bar was an officer in the Royal Air Force. A bomber pilot, he flew as flight engineer for John Nettleton during the Augsburg raid, where they carried out a daring daylight attack against the MAN U-boat engine plant at Augsburg in southern Germany, earning him an immediate DFC and his captain the Victoria Cross. He completed two full combat tours as a bomber pilot. With his commitment to combat flying completed, he was transferred to the BOAC where he flew transports. Following the war Dorehill had a lengthy career as a commercial airline pilot.
context_section_description: Dorehill's return to 44 Squadron coincided with Harris' Battle of Berlin. The "Big City", as Berlin was called by bomber crews, was a distant target. To reach it under the cover of darkness required the longer nights of winter. The campaign was commenced in November. Over the next three months Dorehill attacked some of the most heavily defended targets in Germany. He piloted seven trips to Berlin. On his way to Berlin in mid-April his aircraft was attacked by a German night fighter. The hydraulic system was knocked out. The aircraft suffered a large hole in its starboard wing, and there was damage to the rear of the fuselage. Nevertheless, Dorehill continued on to the target and delivered his bomb load. On his return to base Dorehill was forced to make a crash-landing. All his crew survived. Dorehill received a bar to his DFC for the raid, with the citation noting that his handling of the damaged aircraft had been "masterly". On 9 April Dorehill flew his 60th and final operation, a raid on Danzig. In September 1944, some four months after completing his second tour, Dorehill was awarded the DSO. 
  After completing his commitment for combat tours he spent a period of time as a pilot instructor on bombers. After a few months he was  checked out on transport aircraft and in November 1944 was seconded to British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), the British state-owned transport airline that had been created in 1940. He operated from Whitechurch, near Bristol. On 23 February 1945 he flew his first route, taking a Dakota to Castel Benito in Libya and then on to Egypt.
caption: A Lancaster returning from a raid on Berlin
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