大象传媒

Superstition among us was strong. As far as I was concerned, the curved cigarette case in my rear trouser pocket was moved to my top left breast pocket before flying. Tension was at its peak, following briefing for an Op. The Pilot, Nav, Bomb Aimer, Engineer and Wireless Operator, remained at the table with their maps, charts and papers, to confirm clearly the briefing instructions. We two gunners made for the adjoining locker room to get our kit on.

First -large pullover, then heated inner suit and socks, followed by heated gloves. After these came the heavy Sidcot outer suit, then plain socks and fur-lined, zipped flying boots. Finally came the parachute harness, Mae West, helmet with oxygen mask and inter-com, parachute, torch and two pairs of gloves to go over the heated ones. This took a good ten minutes. The rest of the crew arrived, taking a couple of minutes getting their kit. On leaving we deposited our personal bits and pieces (which might be of interest to the Germans if we were captured) into a crew bag, which 'Intelligence' returned to us at de-briefing.

Out now into the dark and gloom of night for transport to the plane. Awaiting this, we did a double check. Had the W/Op got flasks and sandwiches, Very cartridges, colours of the day, Nav's bag etc? The pilots called out the letter of their aircraft to the driver, who set off with five or six crews, all tense and eager to get to the aircraft to be ready for start up time.

An unhappy incident occurred one night, when a pilot accused the WAAF driver of passing his aircraft dispersal. He called her a 'stupid bloody cow'. She began to cry, and refused to drive. It took a few minutes in the dark, half way round the 鈥榙rome , to get this setup back on the rails. A wound up pilot did not look good for the safety of his crew. Twitches and tics were evident on some of the more nervous-air crew.

We reach the aircraft and get sorted out. A van arrives with the Sqdn C.O. or his deputy, to check we are OK and have got everything. He then dashes off to the next dispersal to check their welfare.

With the engines running smoothly for an Op, I leave the turret and go to the rear, where the compass is positioned, away from the metal influence of the engines. I give the read out to the skipper, who adjusts his cockpit dials. The Ground Engineer comes with his form 700, which the skipper signs as acceptance of the aircraft. The Engineer scrambles back out, saying as he goes 'See you in the morning, don't be late.' I pull the ladder in and stow it; close the door and retum to the turret ready to taxi out to the runway.

We will call this the last Op. As we get ready for take off, do I hear the comment 'What a load of rubbish'? Some of it may seem so, but it was far from rubbish for us at the time and will probably stay the most vivid part of our lives for the rest of our days.

The Crew:
PILOT: FLYING OFFICER H.E. CLARK ('Jim' or 'Nobby')
FUGHT ENGINEER: SGT RALPH COOKE.
BOMB AlMER: SGT JOHN HALE
NAVIGATOR: SGT GERALD WALSH ('Tltch')
WIRELESS OP: SGT JAMES SMITH ('Jock')
MID UPPER GUNNER: SGT BERNARD LAZENBY
REAR GUNNER: SGT JAMES MOORE.

This story was entered by Jenni Waugh, 大象传媒 People's War Outreach Officer, on behalf of Bernard Lazenby, who accepts the site's terms and conditions.

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