Gerard ‘Taffy’ Kelleher was born March 2, 1925 in Cardiff, Wales.
In December 1942, Kelleher’s cousin William (also a Lancaster wireless operator) was killed along with his crew mates aboard 97 Squadron’s OF-B ED333 in the Netherlands.
A member of the Royal Air Force (RAF), Kelleher was assigned to 550 Squadron on January 8, 1945 and flew all seven operations with the Harris crew as the wireless operator.
Kelleher parachuted to safety when the crew was shot down during a raid on Dessau and was quickly taken into custody as a POW. He would spend three weeks at the Dulag Luft transit camp with fellow crewmates Hicks, Nicol and Yemen.
At the end of March 1945, all remaining prisoners fit to walk, including Kelleher and crewmate David Yemen, departed Dulag Luft for the march to Stalag Luft XIIID near Nuremburg, then onto Stalag Luft VII near Moosburg. Kelleher and the others at the camp were finally liberated on April 29, 1945, arriving back in England on or about VE Day, May 8th.
In September 1946, Gerard Kelleher married Sheila Doyle (1926 – 2008) and their daughter Maureen Ann (1947 – 2005) was born the following year. Gerard Kelleher passed away in August 25, 1973 at the age of 48.
The Harris Crew 