大象传媒

Extract from the 鈥楤erlin Raids鈥� raid on 16/17.12.43

鈥楩light Sergeant Ron Buck was the rear gunner in a 97 Squadron Lancaster. I saw the glow of fires beneath the fog and knew that aircraft were going into the deck. We were tired and tensed up. It had been a long trip and we were keen to land and get to bed. A discussion broke among the crew whether to attempt to land or abandon the aircraft.

Peter Drane, the pilot, cut the discussion short. 鈥淚鈥檒l take her up to five thousand and anyone who wants to bale out has my permission to do so鈥�. There were no takers and we all decided to stay and take out chances. It was our eighteenth op and I鈥檓 sure we all felt a little ashamed of ourselves.

At last came the order, 鈥淎ble you may pancake鈥�. Pete Drane said 鈥淩ight, everyone, I鈥檒l put this cow if it鈥檚 the last thing I do鈥�. I settled down as best I could and concentrated all my attention on the blackness below. We banked and straightened up.

Suddenly I saw the ground and I screamed over the intercom 鈥淧ull up!鈥� There was no hesitation. The nose lifted and we climbed into the night sky to overshoot. Pete Drane came on the intercom and told me we couldn鈥檛 have been on the deck; he had 300 feet on the clock when I shouted. It turned out that we had the wrong QFE and I believe that many others did the same that night, but the never lived to find out.

Pete called up the control tower, they gave him a new QFE and we started our approach all over again.

We were lucky the second time. The wind exposed part of the flare path and Pete was able to line the aircraft up. As I felt the wheels touch the runway, I turned the rear turret on the beam, sat back and watched the runway lights flashing by. We seemed to run down the runway for a long time and then, to my horror, there were no more lights. We began to bump and bounce about and I knew we were on the grass. After what seemed an eternity we came to a halt. It was an experience I shall never forget.

Sergeant John Arthurson was the navigator in another 97 Squadron crew We were stacked high, circling, as other planes attempting to land using SBA were making more than one try. Two crash landed. The flight engineer said at this rate we鈥檇 run out of petrol before we landed so the pilot called on darkie for assistance. We were given a course and time to fly to another drome and when we were over this one, a flare was fired to fix the area but none of the crew saw it. We then flew lower with our wheels and flaps down, and the bomb aimer in the nose giving instructions, amid exclamations of relief at something or other just missed. We came upon FIDO and momentarily glimpsed a runway cheers and the pilot did a turn that should have lined him up to approach for a landing, but we came upon it sideways. Other split-arse turns failed to find it and when the flight engineer said that we only had enough petrol for fifteen minutes more flying, I said 鈥淟et鈥檚 get up and bale out鈥�. The rear gunner followed in agreement. The pilot said he was loath to do so but, after a few minutes more trying to find a runway, agreed. He set the plane on an easterly heading at about 8,000 feet and checked that all the crew had jumped before he did so himself. The rear gunner hit somewhere at the back of the plane, probably the tail wheel, and was knocked out. He doesn鈥檛 remember pulling the ripcord but got down safely. When he came to he knew he was in Germany and set about escaping.鈥�

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Becky Barugh of the 大象传媒 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鈥檚 stories:

• Bale out!
• Missions from Woodhall Spa
• Tracers coming through the thatch
• I didn鈥檛 quite get the chop
• Little humour in adversity
• Ted Porters Crew
• The 鈥楢ugsburg Raid鈥�
• S/L Sherwood鈥檚 recommendation for the Victoria Cross
• The worst night of the War鈥�
• 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 6) 鈥� Bombers over Berlin
• The worst night of the War (Part 7) 鈥� Combat Report
• A Dedication to Skipper Wing Commander Ted Porter - Pause for Thought
• A Dedication to Skipper Wing Commander Ted Porter 鈥� 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 鈥楾affy鈥� after baling out on 9th 鈥� 10th June 1944
• The experiences of 鈥楾affy鈥� after baling out on the 9th - 10th June 1944 - Continued
• The experiences of 鈥楾affy鈥� - 11th June 1944
• The experiences of 鈥楾affy鈥� - 12th 鈥� 15th June 1944
• The experiences of 鈥楾affy鈥� - 16th - 18th June 1944
• The experiences of 鈥楾affy鈥� - 19th 鈥� 23rd June 1944
• The experiences of 鈥楾affy鈥� 鈥� 24th August 1044
• 鈥極ur Heroes鈥�

For further stories read 鈥楢CHIEVE YOUR AIM鈥� by Kevin Bending

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