大象传媒

I was not old enough to have been on active service during the war and at the time to which this short account relates I was attending the Old Bolingbroke primary school.

The school was on the flight path of the Lancaster bombers based at East Kirkby aerodrome and every time they took off to go on a raid we would all go outside and copy down the identification marks painted on the side of the aircraft and tick them off again as they returned - sadly, not many did.

The story I have to tell is of the day my elder brother, younger sister and I were returning home from school and were the only witnesses the horrific crash that took place on the top of the hill known locally as West Keal Hill.

We lived in a hamlet called High Barnes and the road to it rises out of Old Bolingbroke via two hills. The three of us had just started up the second hill when we heard a tremendous roar of engines to our right and looked up to see a Lancaster strike the trees on the hill top and as it did so it seemed to spin slowly in the air and the fusalage broke into two pieces close to the rear of the plane. The Lancaster ploughed through the trees and came to rest a few hundred yards from us. We raced to the scene and were met by the rear gunner who we had seen fall out of the aircraft. He asked us if there was a phone nearby. We directed him and just stood staring at the scene in front of us not knowing what to do.

Suddenly there was an explosion and the plane started to burn. The heat was terrific and amunition was exploding into the air with tracer bullets arching into the evening sky.

The next thing I remember was seeing the rear gunner rushing back to the aircraft and time and time again he went into the inferno to drag out his companions. He only spoke to tell us to keep back from the flames and exploding shells. I think he pulled out eight of his colleagues but I do not think any survived. One of the rescued crew looked at me and told me to go home - the poor man had a huge piece of perspex sticking out of his face and was trying to light a cigarette.

At this point I remember a crash team arriving from East Kirkby and clearing everyone away from the site (by this time more spectators were beginning to arrive from the village) and putting a gaurd on it.

My main point in writing this account is to see if anyone knows what happened to the rear gunner. I never met a braver man and I am now aged 70.

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