大象传媒

My trade was a rigger and an L.A.C and I was called (Grigor the rigger.) My job was maintenance and repairs to the body of the plane, & the upkeep of the hydraulic systems. Four of us were together going for dinner, it would have been five but 鈥淭aff鈥� was going up in a liberator bomber to check with the pilot (Smithy) how a small problem he had righted was working. We had just got down to have dinner & in comes Taff & we said, 鈥淲e thought you were going up with Smithy鈥� and Taff replied that Smithy had said, 鈥淵ou get your dinner鈥� I will give you the result when I get back.

We started having dinner, when there was a huge bang outside in the distance, and we could see smoke rising just about half a mile away, & knew it was a plane. We ran as fast as we could through some long grass & after we reached about a quarter of a mile, we came upon a pilot flat on his back with a large gash on his face & asking for a 鈥榝ag鈥�. I asked a couple of lads behind us to look after him and give him a 鈥榝ag鈥� if possible & we would try to rescue any one in the Bomber. As we started running again, the plane became alight & there were some huge flames, & there was no doubt the fuel was escaping, but we could not get any nearer than 100 yards as bullets were flying about too. The fire brigade came after a few minutes, but had to wait a while because of the bullets, but eventually stopped the blaze.

After that we knew then that Smithy & 3 other officers were in that plane but we thought they would die instantly, but that was a sad moment for us especially as we could not help them. Taff would have been on that plane but for the goodness of Smithy a well liked officer & a brilliant pilot. I believe he was Australian. Taff could come into the range 鈥淏etter born lucky than rich鈥�. We were given information an hour after the crash occurred. Evidently the Bomber was crossing the drome, when a hurricane fighter plane came below the Bomber, & the staff at the airport tower gave the two planes a red signal, which means keep going straight ahead at the same height, and then more instructions would follow (& every pilot should know that). The Hurricane pilot did not obey the signal, and turned away with his right wing going down, and his left wing going upwards at speed, and he hit the underneath of the Liberator Bomber and they both crashed.

We never saw the Hurricane plane at all, so maybe it hit the ground further away, and the pilot we saw may have fallen out of the plane before it crashed. The Headquarters staffs are a long way off generally from the planes, so information does not come through.

The Hurricane pilot was taken to hospital we were told, but that is all we knew about him, but to ignore a RED signal in the R.A.F is a crime, so there would be a serious investigation as soon as possible.

Jim Grigor

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