大象传媒

December 8th 1941, 10.25 a.m. Our airfield was Alor-Star, in the state of Kedah, North Malaya, on the border which is now Thailand. I was working on the port engine of a Blenheim Mark 1 when Corporal Littlewood shouted 'come down off the aircraft, I have a telegram for you'. It was from a young lady who is now my wife, and she was asking me to please write, as she hadn't heard from me for some time!!

That telegram saved my life, because at 10.35 a.m. Jerry Bristow, who was standing next to me, hit me behind the knees and put me on the deck alongside a pair of wooden steps. Jerry had heard aircraft approaching - there were 27 of them dropping 100lb anti-personel bombs - and he had heard bombs before, having just joined us from the London area.

The aircraft I had just left was loaded with 4 250lb S.A.P. bombs and incendiaries and it was now full of holes and on fire. Lumps of wood flew off the steps next to me. I was lucky - only a bit of shrapnel hit my left foot, just below the ankle bone, filling my shoe with blood.

As the raid passed over we all took off for the other side of the airstrip. Bombing was going on still and I dived into a blast pen. Two of my mates - Corporal 'Twitcher' Rowe and 'Jordy' Headland - dived in on top of me. They were both killed.

That, for us, was when we really new the War was on!!

On that same day, Pearl Harbour was bombed without any warning. We were the nearest operational bomber squadron to Pearl Harbour at that time.

On 10th December we were evacuated from Alor-Star 60 miles down to Butterworth, opposite Penang Island, just as 76 Japanese aircraft bombed George Town!

That night we were all ordered by the C.O. that it was 'every man for himself'!

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.