大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by a volunteer on behalf of Pilot Officer John A. Martin DFC (retired) Larne, N. Ireland and been added to the site with his permission. Mr Martin understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

We were over Hamburg and I saw this plane being coned by searchlights, there were several searchlights and the plane was in the middle of the cones of lights. There was a fighter outside of him, pumping, shooting away at him. The pilot was Johnny Johnston. When we went outside the next morning after landing, we looked at the plane, it was riddled, I don鈥檛 know how he ever got it back. There were seven of a crew on board, and none of them had been injured, but the plane was riddled. The crew escaped injury, but it was riddled. Isn鈥檛 it amazing? We went in that night as usual, for a briefing, and it was Hamburg again. Johnny and his crew went out to the aircraft, but the crew said to Johnny, 鈥淲e would like a rest tonight, because of what happened last night.鈥� Johnny said to them, 鈥淚f you feel like that there is nothing I can do about it鈥�, and brought the crew back into the briefing room. They were arrested and taken to Stradishall and put into military custody by the MPs. They were kept in jail overnight and the next morning they were taken to a place called East Church to face punishment for their misdemeanour. When they arrived at East Church, and their case was heard, they were stripped of their brevies (brevets are the wings worn on the tunic, denoting the job of the wearer) and their Sergeant stripes. When they came back up to Chedburgh, they were sent to the airman鈥檚 mess and made to peel spuds. That was a demonstration of the others on base not to 鈥榞o LMF鈥� (Lack of moral fibre) whatever you do! That gave us a good warning, you might not want to go out on a mission, but you were scared not to go. I felt sorry for the crew, the whole lot of them. All the crew were disciplined, except the pilot, Johnny Johnston, he picked up another crew and went on as briefed.

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