- Contributed byÌý
- West_End_at_War
- People in story:Ìý
- Fred Roberts
- Location of story:Ìý
- RAF
- Background to story:Ìý
- Royal Air Force
- Article ID:Ìý
- A2746938
- Contributed on:Ìý
- 15 June 2004
What brings to mind the horrors of war, was one incident, when I was 20 years of age, on August 31st, 1940, when one of our young pilots was sent up against the Germans with 19 Fighter Squadron, and returned to us flying a damaged Spitfire that had been in action against German Luftwaffe. On landing, with his controls, severely damaged, he crashed on the airfield and overturned the Spitfire which went up in flames. And, there we were, ground crew, watching a man, younger than ourselves, dying. And we couldn’t do anything to help him.
I think it is terrible for a half dozen or so men to stand there crying, to see this happening in front of them. And, to me, that is all the horrors of war. At that time, there was no ‘post trauma counselling’; we had to get on with the job.
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