大象传媒

Bourn was a wartime dispersed hutted camp with paved runways. 97 Squadron had been there since April 1943.
Nick Golden, the bomb aimer, John Dow, the wireless operator and myself were put in a wooden hut on the edge of a cornfield. The gunners went elsewhere. Jack and Dick were in the officers quarters. As far as I can recollect the Sergeants Mess consisted of wooden huts and Nissan huts. We did no flying straight away, but in August we went on leave. There were many Americans around Cambridgeshire and we got a lift into Cambridge in a Jeep. Jack Russell, Dick Wright, Ron Marston and myself travelled to London together. I cannot now remember if Nick Golden, John Dow and Wally Bark were with us as they were going to different parts of the country. I had a night in London with Jack, Dick and Ronnie and spent the night in Kensington before going home the next day.
My home in Surrey was about 30 miles south of London. While I was on leave on the evening of the 12th August a force of 500 bombers passed over our area on the way to Milan. They must have been routed over London. They kept on coming and my father and I watched them until the whole force had passed out of sight. It was a sight I would never forget.
When I was on bombing operations, before leaving home to return from my leave, I would always go for a leisurely stroll through the woods. Then, later, as the train left Ockley station for London I would look across the Surrey countryside and wonder if I would see it again.
Shortly after returning to RAF Bourn we were sent to the PFF Navigation Training Unit at RAF Upwood, Huntingdonshire which was near the village of Ramsey. Upwood was a peacetime station with a grass airfield, and it was closed for flying as runways were being laid. Flying was from the nearby airfield of Warboys. On our first Saturday night we went into ramsey and after a few drinks went on to a dance at an ATS camp on the edge of the village. It was there that I met Private Sylvia Jensen whose home was at Grimsby and who I later married, and we were together for 58 years.
We were at Upwood for about two weeks before returning to Bourn. Although a crew was on a Pathfinder squadron it did not mean that they were fully fledged Pathfinders. They had to prove their ability. The pilot, regardless of rank, was almost without exception the Captain of the aircraft and crew but the key men were the navigator and bomb aimer. The navigator had to find the target and on time. The bomb aimer in a visual crew could be selected for any of the following. Finders dropped flares across the target about 5 minutes before zero. Illuminators would then add more flares to illuminate the aiming point. The Primary Visual Markers would then identify the aiming point and accurately mark it with target indicators. When the aiming point was marked, Backers Up would put further markers on those already dropped before they burnt out in order that the target was marked throughout the raid for the main force to bomb on.What was known as a Blind Crew operated with H25, a radar blind bombing device which enabled the operator to see the ground through cloud. The H25 set was operated by the Navigator assisted by a former bomb aimer. They would release parachute sky marking flares above cloud. New Pathfinder crews would be put in as Supporters to Finders.
Our first operation with 97 Squadron was Berlin on the 3/4th September. Our duty supporter, 316 Lancasters, were on this attack. The Pathfinder Force put up 81 Lancasters, 55 markers and 26 supporters. We took off from Bourn at 2030 hrs. As we approached the target we had to fly through an avenue of fighter flares that seemed to be stationary in the air and it was quite light. I was standing by the pilot looking ahead as we approached our aiming point, when a stream of cannon fire came from ahead and across our starboard wing. A German fighter, that looked like an ME110, then passed on our port side. It was unusual to be attacked from head on. German fighters usually attacked from the rear or underneath. The two gunners Wally and Ronnie saw quite a few fighters that night but there were no more attacks. After bombing it was a relief to leave the city and get into the darkness. 22 Lancasters were lost. On this operation in Lancaster ED586 of 207 Squadron was Wynford Vaughan Thomas, the famous broadcaster war correspondent for the 大象传媒 who with the help of Mr Pidsley, also of the 大象传媒 made a recording of the flight from take off to landing. Two nights later we were again to attack the Big City and we were not feeling too happy. We had just finished our operational meal when two Warrant Officers rushed in to say that operations were scrubbed. What a relief. Transport was then organised and a crowd of us went into Cambridge and had a jolly good night, much of it in the Criterion pub. The attack by the fighter on our aircraft had riddled the starboard wing tip and we did not know about it until the following afternoon. It was not serious and the wing tip was soon changed.
Our next operation on the 5/6th September was Mannheim Ludwigshafen. There were 605 aircraft on this operation and great damage was done. 34 aircraft were lost. We returned on three engines : duration 7.05hrs. The following night, 6th September we were on again, this time Munich. We took off at 1950hrs. The attack took place through cloud and the bombing was on sky marker flares. The bombing was scattered over a wide area. On our return, flying against a head wind we were short of petrol and landed at RAF Upper Heyford. It was probably not much nearer than Bourn but we were able to go straight in. Duration 8.50. We were given food and a bed. When we went to our aircraft at midday we were told by a ground staff corporal fitter that we had a leaking radiator on one of the engines which had been repaired but was still weeping. After topping up with coolant we started up, warmed up and ran up, taxied out and took off. It was only a 30 minute flight to Bourn and no problem. I reported the leak to a sergeant fitter named Cochraine who I had known a Brize Norton in 1940 when he was a LAC Mechanic. He later told me that the radiator was removed and a new one fitted. Another thing that happened at Upper Heyford was that jack Russell and Dick Wright had left their packets of foreign currency in our aircraft and someone had stolen it. I cannot see that it would be of any use to them.
It was about the middle of September that, one afternoon, the whole Squadron was on parade. Jack Russell our pilot and Dick Wright, navigator, had both been awarded the DFC for their work on 57 Squadron. As they were not British subjects they received their decorations from Air Vice Marshal Don Bennett, Air Officer Commanding No 8 Pathfinder Group. All British subjects would receive decorations from the King at an investiture at Buckingham Palace, although sometimes the King would visit an RAF station and an investiture would take place on the barrack square or in a hangar.
After our operation to Munich we did not operate for about ten days during which time we did several tests and exercises such as practice bombing, air firing by the gunners at a drogue and what was called fighter affiliation where a Spitfire would make mock attacks and our pilot, usually directed by the rear gunner would take evasive action. The Spitfire would often have camera guns on the bomber and when the films were developed an assessment could then be made. During that time we also paid a visit to East Kirkby now the home of our old 57 Squadron, and Jack would now sometimes let me fly the Lancaster for short periods. These were mainly straight and level with a few turns.
In the close vicinity to RAF Bourn was a wooden hut which, although not very big, some Saturday nights held a dance. As far as I can remember the dances were only attended by RAF and WAAF personnel. The hut, being small was called the 鈥淪weat-Box鈥�. I only went once and it was something like being in a January sale. Whenever possible we would go into Cambridge, sometimes by transport laid on by the camp or sometimes we might hitch hike. We could also get a bus from the main road. In Cambridge we would visit several pubs, the main ones being the Criterion and the baron of Beef. There were also cafes which had reasonably good meals, some run by Greeks. Later on John Dow, the wireless operator and myself would often go to the Rex Dance Hall. We had some good times there. There were many Yanks in and around Cambridge. Many were fine looking, good natured and friendly and a few would often be at the Rex. As far as I was concerned, like thousands of others, it was a matter of enjoying yourself while you could, although my thoughts were now with Sylvia, the ATS girl I had met at Ramsey. We now wrote and telephoned each other. The songs I remember at that time at the Rex were 鈥� 鈥淭hat Old Black Magic鈥�, 鈥淒on鈥檛 Get Around Much Anymore鈥� and 鈥淭aking a Chance on Love鈥�.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.