大象传媒

RAIDS, ONE TO FIVE. By now, Doc, our pilot had received his commission, and Bill Campbell was to get his within a month.
Our first raid with 150 Squadron was a good one to start with as the target was considered to be a soft one. Although German forces had largely been forced from France by the Allied armies, they still held the port of Dunkirk near the Belgium border, and the town of Royan near the mouth of the Gironde River in Western France. In the early morning of January 5th, 1945, we were in the second of two bomber forces to attack Royan ninety minutes apart. Both forces made very concentrated attacks.
Opposition was almost negligible; no fighter planes were encountered, and only very light flak was observed. The raid was considered as successful as German forces surrendered about a week after the raid. Our plane for this sortie was IQ-Q (Queenie). We took of at 0200 hrs and were safely back seven and a half hours later. Some veteran crews warned us that future raids would likely to be much rougher than this one, and how right they were!.
Two nights later on January 7th, Bomber Command attacked Munich, the fourth largest city in the Reich, and one of its major cultural centres. It was the home of many industries of vital importance to the Nazi war machine. Our attack at 22.59 found 10/10 cloud at the target, but could not obscure the glow of many fires started by an earlier attack at 22.00 hours. In all, six hundred bombers were involved; heavy losses occurred but none from our station.
Night fighters engaged the bombers in a number of battles, but our crew did not contact any. Flak was moderately heavy, and our rear door in IQ-Queenie jarred open over the target. We began to realise what a typical raid was like and were happy to land at base 8 hours and 55 minutes after take-off.
Subsequent photographic reconnaissance of the target revealed considerable damage to the main railway passenger station, the Nazi party headquarters and the Minister of the Interior buildings.
Bomber Command dispatched over 310 aircraft on the night of the 16th January to stop production of synthetic oil at Zeitz, some twenty miles south east of Merseberg, in the centre of a brown coal mining district. Up to 320,000 tons of oil was produced annually in a plant which employed 5,000 workers.
It was clear over the target when the bombers arrived, a covering of snow which threw ground detail into sharp relief affording excellent conditions for the attack. Ably directed by the Master Bomber, both the marking and bombing formed an excellent concentration around the aiming point. Great explosions erupted from the ground, clouds of smoke billowed high into the air, and 100 miles away, the rear gunners in home bound Lancs could see the glow of innumerable fires.
From 50 to 75 searchlights were counted on the target area, and we saw a number of bombers 鈥渃oned鈥�. Flak was intense in volume at first, mostly in barrage form, but diminished later in the attack. Enemy fighters were quite active. Our crew flying in IQ-Sugar arrived at the target five minutes early, so had to go round again. There鈥檚 a saying in the Air Force that 鈥渙nly birds and fools orbit the target鈥�, so we joined the ranks of the fools that night!. When the bombers withdrew from Zeitz-Troglitz, severe damage had been inflicted all over the target area. This was my birthday, and I felt it was a pretty good gift to be safely back and able to crawl into a warm and comfortable bed.
Mannheim, our target for this fourth sortie of the tour, was a very important communication centre located about fifty miles due south of the sharp turn in the Rhine River at Mainz. Nearby were numerous fighter bases.
Take-off was at 15.50 hours on February 1 on a dull cloudy day. It was destined to be anything but a pleasant trip. Climbing from base to gain altitude, we encountered severe icing conditions, and saw three bombers crash and explode on the ground. Our icing decreased but we were still in 10/10 cloud when we passed our turning point at Folkestone on the southeast coast. As we approached the French coast at 20,000 feet over cloud we spotted flak ahead. I instinctively started throwing out 鈥渨indow鈥� at an increased rate. A word about 鈥渨indow鈥�. It is silver paper in strips about a foot long and an inch wide with 200 or so strips in a package. The bomb aimer鈥檚 compartment in the aircraft carried hundreds of these packages, not only on this, but on every bombing raid. It was his job to release 鈥渨indow鈥� through the flare chute about every 60 seconds. It was done by shoving the package through the chute and hanging on to the string which enclosed the strips; the package burst open to release the 鈥渨indow鈥� as individual strips which floated earthward. Each strip showed as a blip (similar to that of an aircraft) on the radar screen, which German forces used to direct their defenses, such as searchlights, flak and fighters. Sometimes it seemed to be very effective at disorganising enemy defences, but not this night.
On our long straight run from Luxembourg, enemy 鈥渇ighter flares鈥� were dropped along our route. Drpped by parachute, they were extremely bright and seemed to hang in the sky forever. You tried to avoid looking directly at them because of their blinding effect. You really felt as conspicuous as an outhouse on the prairie and a sitting duck for enemy fighters. Crew members reported seeing at least four Lancasters in flames, but also a number of fighters that had been hit by gunners of the bombing force.
As we were making our bombing run, IQ-Sugar jolted violently, but the bombs were dropped satisfactorily. Doc reported that our starboard inner engine had been hit and was out. Later at base we found that it had been hit by cannon fire from beneath. This was a close call from a fighter which none of our crew had seen. After a half an hour from target things quietened down; the rest of the trip was fairly routine, and Sugar landed at base under clear skies 7 hours and 10 minutes after take-off. It was not a comfortable feeling until Sugar stopped rolling and turned off the runway, and we were unsure what other damage might have been done during the fighter attack.
Following this trip, Woody, our wireless operator, voluntarily put himself on L.M.F. (Lack of Moral Fibre) list and refused to fly anymore. Despite his excellent record in training, Woody, from the time of starting ops, had never received a message although many had been sent. He was stripped of his rank and was assigned the most menial of 鈥渏oe jobs鈥�. We felt sorry for him, but pleased that he had reported his condition rather than having Doc report him for inefficiency. His place on our crew was taken by 鈥淪parky鈥� Evans who turned out to be a real asset.
On February 2nd, at 20.50 hours, our aircraft IQ-V (Victor) took off from base along with 450 other heavy bombers to attack Weisbaden, lying a few miles east of the Rhine River opposite Mainz. It was noted chiefly as a centre of first importance for the assembly and rehabilitation of troops. Some industries and railway lines added to its significance. On arrival at the target, we found a solid bank of clouds with tops rising more than 20,000 feet. Sky markers dropped by Pathfinders soon were hidden in thick clouds with the glow just being barely visible. As a result of poor visibility, bombing accuracy was not up to its usual standard, and results were only fair.
Our crew had a particularly 鈥渉airy鈥� experience that night. Just after bombing and closing the bomb doors, I spotted the vague shape of a twin engine fighter on a collision course from dead ahead. Doc saw it at the same time and shoved the nose down. The fighter pilot must have spotted us at the last moment and pulled his nose up. We must have passed with only inches between us! So violent was our manoeuvre, that our gyroscopes were toppled and our instruments were useless. As we were in 10/10 cloud, and I being the only crew member not buckled in, I was eventually able to direct Doc so that he was able to make adjustments with the controls, until I rolled into a relatively normal position in the bomb aimer鈥檚 compartment. Very, very slowly the gyroscopes stabilised and we were able to partly trust our instruments again. In those few hectic minutes we had dropped 12,000 feet through solid cloud, and found ourselves heading right back over the target. We quickly turned, and fortunately we were able to get home without further trouble, but you can believe that we kept a close watch for fighters on this, and all remaining missions.
We landed at base 6 hours and 10 minutes after take-off. Seven bombers were lost on this particular raid.

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