´óÏó´«Ã½

'Bombers over Berlin' by Alan Cooper
(Re: 16/17 December 1943 raid)

‘A Lancaster of 97 Squadron (JB908) flown by Flight Sergeant Coates, had a problem other than fighters. While over Berlin at 19,500 feet, incendiaries fell on him from an aircraft above. They hit the port wing, front turret and amidships, setting the aircraft on fire. The crew was ordered to put on their parachutes as Coates put the aircraft into a dive in an attempt to dislodge the burning incendiaries. This action toppled the DR compass, upsetting all the instruments connected to it. However, the fires were extinguished and they climbed back up to 21,000 feet.

Some while later it was hit by flak which damaged the propeller tips of the starboard inner engine. One of the tips went through the fuselage cutting the hydraulic pipe lines and another piece damaged the tailplane. The starboard outer engine was also hit and with power lost in both motors on the starboard side, they had to be closed down.

When twenty miles from the Danish coast, and losing height, the captain ordered everyone to take up ditching positions while the W/Op sent out an SOS. This call was eventually cancelled as he found he could maintain height at 5,000 feet.

On arriving in the vicinity of base, he found weather conditions which made it impossible to land so he was diverted to Marham. They in turn sent him to Downham Market where the cloud base was down to 400 feet and visibility bad. Neverthless, he made a perfect landing using the emergency air system for lowering the wheels. For his devotion to duty and superb captaincy, Flight Sergeant Coates was awarded the DFM.’

One crew mentioned above us of P/O Thackway. There is a book called ‘Fire by Night’ written by Jennie Gray. She is the daughter of Sgt. Mack who, with another member of the crew survived the crash but was badly injured. The book is about these men being brought together for their first operation. Five of the seven were killed.

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Becky Barugh of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Des Evans and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

See more of Des’s stories:

• Bale out!
• Missions from Woodhall Spa
• Tracers coming through the thatch
• I didn’t quite get the chop
• Little humour in adversity
• Ted Porters Crew
• The ‘Augsburg Raid’
• S/L Sherwood’s recommendation for the Victoria Cross
• The worst night of the War…
• The worst night of the War (Part 2)
• The worst night of the War (Part 3) - Crew
• The worst night of the War (Part 4) - Losses
• The worst night of the War (Part 5) — Extract from ‘the Berlin’ Raids’
• The worst night of the War (Part 7) — Combat Report
• A Dedication to Skipper Wing Commander Ted Porter - Pause for Thought
• A Dedication to Skipper Wing Commander Ted Porter — A Navigators View of the Route to Heaven
• Did you know?
• Flight Operations carried out with Sgt. D.C Plaunt
• Flight Operations carried out by Sgt. J.J Johnson
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ after baling out on 9th — 10th June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ after baling out on the 9th - 10th June 1944 - Continued
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ - 11th June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ - 12th — 15th June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ - 16th - 18th June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ - 19th — 23rd June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ — 24th August 1044
• ‘Our Heroes’

For further stories read ‘ACHIEVE YOUR AIM’ by Kevin Bending

For more information click on the link below:

^{About links}

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