大象传媒

No 7 Squadron RAF Oakington No 8 Group PFF.
Target KOLN. Date 2nd February 1943 Aircraft Stirling R 9273/G 'C' for Charlie. CREW
Skipper -------- W/Cmdr T G (Hamish) Mahaddie DSO, DFC, AFC, CzMC. Navigator-------------Fl/Lieut. F D J (Tommy) Thompson DFC* Bomb Aimer----------P / Off. L R S (Len) Luton. DFC Fl/Eng.----------------F/Sgt. C (Jock) Stewart DFM W/Op-----------------F / Off. I J (Eddie) Edwards DFM.
M / Upper Gun------F/Sgt. R C (Bob) Pointer DFM. Rear/Gun-------------F/Sgt. A (Alec) Clift. DFM.
* P/O A H (Archie) Bywater DFC the regular W/Op with this crew, was on leave for one week, having just got married..
This was to be my 45th Bombing Operation, after which aircrew members on Pathfinder Squadrons were rested, it was therefore with a little trepidation that I approached this evening's trip.

For reasons best known to themselves, the powers that be had decided that, because of the lack of height attained by Stirling over the target, all armoured plating , except for that shielding the Pilot and the Flare Chute, should be removed. This included the rather large piece behind theWireless Operator, which protected him and the radio equipment, but also the small piece that formed the seat of the mid upper turret, which was replaced by a canvas sling.

It was a cold but dry February afternoon with some cloud as we trooped into the Ops. room for the briefing. The Station Commander welcomed us as usual and gave us the news that tonight's target was Cologne.There on the large map behind him was The black tape with its dog legs to the target and back, the Met Officer with his usual-( some cloud cover en-route , but clearing over the target)-,then the instructions from the various leaders.

We gathered our flying rations [which contained a can of orange juice,a small bar of chocolate, a small packet of plain biscuits and a few barley sugars] then the NCO's amongst us made our way to theYMCA hut, where the people in charge always filled our flasks[ it tasted better than the coffee!!! that they dished up in the Sergeants Mess]
From there we went to the crew room in the hangar to get kitted up in the electrically wired inner suit and the leather outer suit, Mae West and parachute harness, picked up our parachutes and boarded the crew bus to take us to Stirling 'C' Charlie standing in line on the perimeter track, at the South Western end of the main runway.

They were certainly a magnificent sight, a dozen large aircraft in a curve around the edge of the airfield, a small knot of men clustered about each giant Stirling, quite subdued talk coming from them as they completed their various tasks. We climbed aboard and stowed our chutes and rations in their respective places, next we checked our own equipment, in my case cocking my guns a couple of times to make sure they worked smoothly, the rear gunner fired a short burst into the ground at the rear of the aircraft.

With everything looking OK we left the aircraft for a last stretch and if necessary relieved our bladders under the tailplane,(as was our usual practice), I gave my pack of biscuits to the flight mechanic [superstition] and we then got back on board.

One by one the Hercules engines roared into life, the aircraft now belonged to the skipper and the engineer. The rest of us tended to our own duties, for my part the testing of the turret and the gun release mechanism, with the guns on safe.

The skipper called each position over the intercom in turn, and we were ready to take our place on the end of the runway. It was our turn next, a green light from the Aldis lamp and we were away. Bags of chat between the skipper and Jock the engineer--rich mixture, flaps, full power etc.--then under - carriage up, course setting from the Navigator, we were off - time 1915 hours.

This was only our second trip with H2S equipment on board, the first one being two nights earlier on a raid on Hamburg, the equipment went u/s over the Zuider Zee and the mission was aborted, this time however all appeared OK. As we climbed over the English countryside I kept thinking - this was my last trip, I hoped everything was going to be OK,

My mind went back to the other crews I had flown with since joining the squadron in October 1941, some of whom had completed their tour of Ops,and more who had not made it. Half of me sorry to be leaving this very close knit crew of ours, and the other half glad I was nearly there.( I was asked many years later, did you ever carry a lucky charm ? My first reaction was to say no, but I suddenly remembered the rabbits foot I wouldn;t fly without, my mother had sent it to me, that went on every trip),

We were over the North Sea by then, eyes were accustomed to the darkness and from Alec the rear gunner the request -( permission to test the guns Skipper )- on the affirmative we both gave a short burst, we were on the alert from then on.
More thoughts as we flew out over the sea - I wondered how Joan [ my ex -WAAF M/T driver wife] was this evening, she was 5 months pregnant and living with my parents in North Buckinghamshire, maybe I'd get some leave after this Op. to see her.

Enemy coast ahead, there were a few searchlights sweeping the night sky and the occasional flak burst. As we were among the first aircraft in the bomber stream there was not a lot of opposition at first, but it got heavier as we crossed the coast. A new heading from the Navigator, the Skipper turned to the new course and started a gentle weave, there was a certain amount of cloud cover, for which we were thankful , we had dodged the searchlights so far, others were not so lucky and were having a hectic time.

The Navigator gave the final course correction to take us into the target. As we approached some of the early birds were already there, the flak and searchlights had increased and the cloud cover had decreased, [proving the Met.Officer correct,] the skipper increased his weaving and the Bomb Aimer, Len left his front turret ready to drop our marker flares and bombs, in the mid upper turret I had now to cover the front of the aircraft as well, doing a 360 degree search for enemy night fighters.

The Bomb Aimer now gave his instructions to the Skipper and we were flying straight and level with the target coming up in the bomb sights. Bomb doors open - with a left left, steady, right, steady-- bombs gone.The aircraft gave a lurch upwards, from the Bomb Aimer came-- hold it steady for the photo.
Suddenly there was an almighty explosion as a flak shell burst on our starboard side, at the same time there was the sound of cannon shells ripping through the fuselage and the smell of burnt cordite filled the plane. I felt a sharp pain in my right buttock, as if a knife had been stuck in me, my first thought was - this is it, so much for the canvas seat..

The turret went dead, the hydraulic pipes giving me power had been shot through. I tried to speak over the intercom but this was dead also. The aircraft went into a dive and my first reaction was to get out. As no instructions could be given over the intercom and my turret being u/s, I got down from my seat to find out what was happening.

The inside of the aircraft glowed like a Christmas tree, there were green spots everywhere, I presumed them to be some sort of phosphorus. As the aircraft had come to a more even keel I went towards the rear turret to see if Alex was OK, he appeared to be moving his turret by hand, so I assumed he wasn't injured.

Looking forward I could see several large holes in the starboard side, then I noticed a torch being flashed amidships, making my way towards this light,I found the Engineer at work, repairing the aileron controls with pieces of wire which he had conjured up from somewhere, going on into the wireless cabin, I found that Eddie, (our Wireless Op. for the night ) had been badly injured in the hand, a cannon shell had ripped open the sleeve of his flying jacket, and severed the two middle fingers of his right hand and gone into the w/t set wrecking it. He was tuning in to the 9 o'clock news from the 大象传媒, if his hand had been lower he wouldn't have been hit..The time was 20.59.

There was a first aid pad on by then, I gave him a shot of morphine and put a tourniquet on it, by then another member of the crew came back and relieved me, I then went back to my turret and kept watch, trying to work my guns manually, which proved to be next to impossible, Luckily we were not attacked again.

Meanwhile, the Skipper was fighting the aircraft ( having had the aileron controls badly mangled by the cannon shells he could only fly the aircraft by varying the power of the engines,) Jock, our engineer, clambering in the wing root with his pieces of wire, the Skipper managed to gain partial control of 'C' Charlie and set course for home.

With all special equipment u/s, Tommy, our Navigator, guided us with the Astro Compass, and did such good work that we broke cloud over Waterbeach, just 5 miles from base, on our home curcuit. Never was I so pleased to see the homing searchlight that invariably shone over Oakington. By word of mouth, we received orders to take up crash positions, and a red distress cartridge was fired.

Alec Clift and I sat with our backs to the bulkhead facing aft, and just before touchdown put our hands behind our heads, my hands felt all wet and sticky, having banged my head a few times during the return flight, I wondered what on earth had happened .

The Skipper made a very good landing and the emergency crews raced up to us as we taxied to a halt. Alex shone his torch on my hands and head, the sticky liquid, although red in colour, turned out to be tomato juice, it had dripped from the dinghy pack stowed above my head , which had been punctured by the shrapnel.

As soon as we had rolled to a stop and climbed down, the first thing I did was to kiss the ground, the 45th Op. was over. The injured W/Op Eddie was taken away by ambulance, the rest of were taken for debriefing. When I reported the sharp pain in my rear, the Medical Officer. had my trousers down, I was given an injection and shipped off to Ely Hospital for X-rays. It was found that a small piece of shrapnel was embedded in my right buttock, but it was left there, and I was told it would work itself out; to this day it has never done so.

In the cold light of day, the aircraft looked a sorry mess, the H2S cupola and scanning gear had been shot away, and according to what the ground crew told the Skipper, there were 174 cannon shell hits on the fuselage and wings. One of the rear wheels was punctured and there were one or two large holes from a flak burst. I still have in my possession a 20 mm cannon shell, that buried itself in the Skipper's seat parachute ... Hamish was a very lucky man that night, as indeed we all were.

It wasn't my last trip however, on February 8th, the original crew flew in Stirling 'V' Victor BK.610 Mk.3 one last trip together, taking 24 Small Bomb Containers of 4lb. Incendiaries to Lorient in France, luckily with no untoward incidents, a Ju88 was sighted crossing our flight path , but did not attack.

This was my last trip; the Skipper was whisked away to Pathfinder HQ to be chief poacher for AVM Don Bennett. We were replaced by Sqdn. Ldr M E Thwaites DFC as Pilot and F/Sgt R M Urwin as mid-upper gunner. They were sadly all killed in action on their first Op. together on 12th March 1943. Target Stuttgart Bomb load 3 X 2000 lb HC Take Off `1929 hrs. They are all buried in the Minaucourt Communal Cemetery ,France.

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