大象传媒

Eric shared his room with L.A.C.Worsley who was also married with a small child so, naturally they became friends and continued to correspond after Worsley was transferred to Beaufighters. Some time later one of Eric鈥檚 letters was returned to him labelled 鈥渦nable to deliver鈥�. In other words his friend had been shot down but how, or when, we never knew.

The aircraft were, again Oxfords and Eric went solo on 31st July and did 72 hours dual and 51 hours solo plus 4陆 hours night flying.

On 22nd January the course was posted to Watchfield for beam approach training. For this a hood was place over the pilot鈥檚 head in order to assure that he landed 鈥渂lind鈥�. Not a pleasant experience.

They were at Watchfield for 11 days during which Eric notched up another 10 hours before going to Lymeswold and converting to Wellington bombers. These aircraft, known as Wimps, were lovely aircraft, light and pleasing to look at but, being twin - engined, were unable to carry such a heavy bomb load as the bigger planes.

Eric was at Lymeswold for 3 months before being posted to Lindholme and flying Halifax heavy bombers. He did not like these aircraft saying they were heavy and difficult to handle which may be why they were known as Hallibags.

Finally, on 8th June 1943 Eric realized his ambition and flew his first Avro Lancaster bomber, powered by 4 Rolls Royce Merlin engines and so began a life long love affair. He said they have a great deal of power and can be thrown all over the sky which is very necessary in operation when caught in the glare of searchlight over enemy territory.On one occasion he looped the loop 鈥� a manoeuvre many people said was impossible in such a heavy aircraft.

One of the Instructors at Lindholme was P.O. Calden who later transferred to Mosquitoes and, over Dusseldorph in February 1944, dropped the first 4,000 lb bomb.

On 22nd June 1943 Eric was promoted to Sergeant and joined 100 Squadron at Waltham and carried out operations from there. On September he became F/Sgt and was posted to 166 Squadron at Kirmington and finished his tour of 30 operations there. Both squadrons were in Number One Group.

The crew of a Lancaster consisted of 7 men. Eric鈥檚 aircraft G for Golden Fleece had as crew:-

Pilot F/Sgt later W.O. E. Phillips.
Flight Engineer Sgt Snow
Bomb Aimer F/Sgt Wood
Mid-upper gunner Sgt Burrell
W/op /air gunner Sgt Osmund
Rear gunner Sgt Kinsella
Navigator ?

On their first operation the navigator, who came from Medicine Hat in Alberta, Canada, refused to navigate so they had to return to base with Sgt Woods, who was not trained to do so, finding their way. On their next operation they had another navigator but, unfortunately Eric can鈥檛 remember his name.

Sgt Woods had been in the Police Force before being called up. The thing Eric remembers most about him was that he didn鈥檛 remove his hat until he was actually in bed at night.

Sgt Kinsella, , who was homosexual. came from Canada,- Alberta I believe.

Sgt Snow was an excellent flight mechanic and after this tour joined the Pathfinder Force. We visited him in Rawenstall after the war but, after an interval of 20 years the two men had nothing in common.

On one occasion Sgt Burrell felt a pain in his backside but it was only when they were being
de-briefed that someone noticed that he was bleeding. Some flak had entered his upper gun position and wounded him. Fortunately, by the time it reached him its velocity had decreased so the wound was painful rather than dangerous.

This might be a suitable place to recount some of the details of an operation.

During the morning on which a raid was to take place, crews were called for a briefing. This consisted of the target, the reason for the raid, course and height to be flown, wireless frequencies and the weather and enemy opposition likely to be encountered.

At the same time the armourers were fusing and loading the bombs and ammunition. The aircraft was being fuelled, on a long trip, such as Berlin, 2,154 imperial gallons of fuel was carried in the wings.. The Photographic Unit were loading the cameras which showed precisely where the bombs were dropped and so verified the crew鈥檚 report of the raid

About an hour before take-off crews were taken by lorry to the dispersal points. This was because, to save damage in the event of a raid on the airfield, planes were parked at distances of up to 2 miles from the Control Tower.

Arriving at the plane all instruments were again checked. Engines started up but only at the last moment since there was always the risk of over-heating with no air passing over them to cool them.

Parachutes were not worn as they were too cumbersome in the confined space but the rear gunner sat on his for easy availability.

There were 2 hatches in addition to the door of the aircraft but getting out of them in an emergency was far from easy. All crew wore bulky clothing in the unheated planes. The pilot, bomb aimer and flight engineer had to clamber the main spar which extended 2 feet above the floor. This was difficult even on the ground in daylight. In the dark and with the aircraft out of control and possibly on fire it was next to impossible to do. The only armour plating was behind the most important piece of equipment on the plane - the pilot鈥檚 head, because a second pilot was not carried and there were no dual controls.

Sometimes, at the very last moment a raid was cancelled because of bad weather or some defect as mentioned later in this account. In this case all bombs had to be removed, defused and returned to store. The fuel remained in the aircraft.

Making its way to the end of the runway, one aircraft following another, the squadron made ready for take off. Steering had to be done by brakes, engines and bursts of speed as the rudder was useless with no air passing over it. This manoeuvring was difficult because the track was narrow and the heavy machines awkward on the ground, should one veer off course it would become bogged down on the grass verge and hold up all following planes and possibly endanger the success of the entire operation.

Radio silence was maintained so that the Germans would not be able to gauge the number of the attacking force. Instead the controller at the end of the runway showed a green light when it was time for each crew to take off.

Whatever the weather some of the ground crew were at the end of the runway to wave 鈥済ood luck鈥� to 鈥渢heir鈥� Lancasters.

With such a heavy load it took a long time to get airborne and they only reached their cruising height of 22,000 feet after about 40 minutes.

It was bitterly cold at this height and it was this reason that the crew wore the heavy fur-lined jackets and trousers. Silk gloves were worn under leather gauntlets. Oxygen masks had to be worn as, without oxygen concentration deteriorates very quickly. To demonstrate this point quite early in their training, men were told to write their names continually while the oxygen in the room was removed. It was amazing how quickly the names became illegible.

During take-off every member of the crew had to be extra vigilant. Not only because the risk of enemy fighters but because, with several hundred Lancasters and Halifaxes all aiming for the same target, it was essential for every plane to keep to its designated height and path. On one occasion Eric saw a plane cross the path of the main wave of bombers. He never forgot the resulting crash.

Usually operations started about 5 p.m. which meant that, very often the last off had to do so in the dark - another hazard.

Imagine you are a pilot approaching the target.

Ahead you can see fires raging from previous waves of bombers, target indication flares dropped by the Pathfinder Forces and flak coming up to you. Sometimes you might see fires and flares elsewhere - these were decoys set off by the Germans but they could rarely get the colours of the flares right.

Now the aircraft is brilliantly lit as, for a moment you are caught in the glare of a searchlight. Then it loses you and all is dark again but the flak is still coming up. Another Lancaster is silhouetted below you and in danger of falling bombs

All around are other planes in 20 minutes 600 aircraft will fly over the target area.. Maybe you will see a plane hit, burst into flames and fall through the rest of your wave.

Then your bomb aimer goes into his position and checks the bombs are set in the correct sequence to maintain stability. He calls 鈥淏omb doors open, 2 minutes to go Skipper鈥� You fly straight and level in spite of all that is going on around you.

From the bomb aimer again. 鈥淪teady, steady, left, steady鈥�. Then, thank goodness, 鈥淏ombs away鈥� The plane lifts with the loss of weight and you turn and head for home.

But now the rear gunner calls 鈥淓nemy fighters, corkscrew, corkscrew鈥溾�� So you twist and turn, all the time looking out for other planes, both friendly and enemy.

Presently the fighters leave as you approach the Kammhuber Line which is a series of radar stations, anti-aircraft guns and searchlights stationed across the normal path of returning bombers. Here you can do little but take evasive action if you are caught in the glare of a searchlight.

Finally tired and hungry you cross the English coastline and there is just the job of landing safely in the pre-dawn dark. .

Some crews took a flask of coffee with them for the long journey. However it wasn鈥檛 always practical to drink it. Not only did it mean taking one鈥檚 eyes from the surrounding air space but it also meant removing the oxygen mask. Therefore, most men went for over 7 hours without food or drink. No wonder they were thankful for the cup of tea waiting for them at de-briefing and the bacon and eggs for breakfast. Smokers, too were glad to be able to light up after leaving the dispersal point.

On return came the de-briefing. Crews had to give details of flak encountered, any difficulties with the plane and anything else which might affect, in any way, future operations.

Normally, as long as it was possible to land at one鈥檚 鈥渉ome base鈥� a crew would return at about 2 a.m. They would then learn whether they were on the 鈥渁vailable鈥� list for the following night鈥檚 raid.

A tour of duty consisted of 30 raids but there was only a 1 in 3 chance of actually completing the full tour. Number 1 Group alone lost 4,000 Lancasters. In one month the average loss was 70 planes - this was 490 men who failed to return

Here is a list of the operations in which Eric took part:-

June 27th Mine laying off the River Gironde.

July 3rd Cologne.
9th Gelsenkirchen.
24th Hamburg
27th Hamburg

Aug 10th Hamburg
17th Peenemunde
22nd Leverkusen
23rd Berlin
30th Rheydt
31st Berlin

Sept. 5th Mannheim
23rd Mannheim
28th Hanover
29th Bocham

Oct 1st Hagen
2nd Munich
4th Ludwigshaven
7th Stuttgart
8th Hanover
18th Hanover

Nov 3rd Dusseldorph
10th Modane
16th Berlin
22nd Berlin
26th Berlin

Dec 16th Berlin
20th Frankfurt
23rd Berlin

The raid on Peenemunde on the Baltic north of Berlin was probably the most important of the war in Europe. At the briefing, Pilots were told that if the target was not wiped out that night they would have to go back again and again until it was. Although the crews were not told at the time, it was here that the Germans had set up their experimental rocket installation in 1936 and where they were perfecting their V. weapons. For this reason the first wave of bombers carried high explosives and subsequent waves incendiaries.

Their course was set as if the target was Berlin and only at the last moment did the aircraft turn towards the island. Later, survivors on the ground said they were so used to aircraft over flying the site that they didn鈥檛 even trouble to get out of bed. The ploy succeeded and the 200 fighters which were gathered to defend Berlin had to be sent north. Even so they refused to believe their controller who said that the Lancasters were flying at a record low altitude of 6,000 feet. However, all too soon they found their error and as the result 47 of the 600 bombers in the attack failed to return. That is about 330 men.

When the rocket attacks on London and the South East of England commenced the week after D.Day, it was announced that the raid on Peenemunde had set back the German schedule by 6 months. While this may be a slight over estimation, the raid was, nevertheless a great success, not least because 735 scientists and workers, including 2 of her top propulsion experts were lost. One of these was Dr. Thiel who developed the revolutionary engine which powered the rockets. Moreover the production of these weapons was evacuated to Thuringa in Central Germany and Blizna in Poland.

Had this raid not taken place it is possible that the outcome of the war would have been quite different. At that stage in the hostilities, everyone in this country was tired and the bombings and the shortages had taken a toll on all. The doodlebugs as the V.1s were called were very unnerving. There was usually no warning other than the distinctive noise of their engines which suddenly cut out. Then the machine could either fall immediately, glide on for quite a while or turn back on it鈥檚 track before falling to earth and exploding. The V2 on the other hand gave no warning at all as they travelled faster than the speed of sound. Indeed the explosion came and then, if one was lucky not to be under it, the sound of it鈥檚 arrival could be heard.

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