大象传媒

THE UNEXPECTED CAN BE OVERCOME

Whilst we were converting to fly on four engine bombers of the RAF we were asked if we would volunteer for duties with Pathfinder Force. It was with some pride that our crew, of whom I was the Navigator, subsequently arrived at 635 Squadron , Downham Market in Norfolk. Although we had not flown in a Lancaster at night we had carried out some daylight training exercises.

At midday each day a 鈥渂attle order鈥� was pinned on the notice board in the entrance hall to the mess listing the crews who were detailed for operations that night or the following day. Our first duty then, on entering the mess for lunch, was to peruse this to see if our names were there.

On the 29th August 1944 our names appeared as a crew on the battle order for that night. Our duty on that trip was to act as a supporter to the master bomber and his deputy and accompany them when they would be at the target alone for a few minutes before the main force arrived.. The old hands told us that they expected it to be an easy trip because we would not otherwise have been put on it for a first trip How wrong they were !

About one hour before we were due to be briefed I collected my navigation equipment and with the pilot and the bomb aimer, whom had now been appointed as the radar operator, went to the briefing room. The end wall was covered by a map spreading from England to Russia and covering the whole of Europe. The route for the operation that night was laid out by a red tape and to our dismay we saw that it ran from Norfolk, out across the North Sea to Denmark, across to Sweden, down over the Baltic to a port named Stettin and a reverse route back over almost the same track

After briefing I went over my calculations, checked my chart and satisfied myself that I had correctly worked out my plans for the trip whilst the rest of the crew went out and checked over the plane.

At the appointed time we trundled the Lancaster on to the end of the runway. The noise from the four Rolls Royce engines, only a few feet away from us, was fantastic, as can be imagined, and the whole plane throbbed and shuddered. This was the first time I had sat over three and a half tons of high explosive and thousand of gallons of high octane petrol and we had a mile of runway to take this load into the air. We trundled along until we had sufficient speed to rise from the ground and we waited until we heard the pilot ask the engineer to raise the undercarriage and begin to throttle back.

I gave the pilot the first course to fly and we were on our way. For the next eight hours I concentrated on keeping us on course and trying to ensure we arrived at the target on time.. . We were told that if we strayed outside a ten mile band from the main bomber stream we might be the object of fighter attack. Being out in front, with few companions, this was not such a safeguard as enjoyed by the main force but on the other hand it was comforting to know that we should be at least in the company of a few other pathfinders.

We proceeded out across the North Sea and once we were at 20,000 settled down to a routine that went well until we ran out of range of the 鈥楪鈥� channel that the radar operator was using. We were able to change to a new channel but this involved crawling under my navigation table and after undoing several wing nuts remove a section of the equipment and substitute a replacement section. All the equipment was quite bulky and needed to be handled carefully so that the valves inside were not damaged. After fixing the new section and resuming our seats the radar operator asked me for the new radar chart applicable to the channel we were about to use. I did not have this as I had assumed that he would have collected the correct charts that he would need. It was too late to argue the point and I had to navigate by dead reckoning until we were in range of the Danish coast. When I calculated we were a few miles from the coast we switched on the H2S radar and were quickly able to identify that we were on track.. We had therefore surmounted the first of our problems.

We proceeded across Denmark and on to Sweden before turning south towards the target. Over Sweden, which was a neutral country, we experienced anti aircraft fire. They put up a vigorous show of annoyance that we were encroaching on their air space but fortunately it was all directed to burst at 10,000 feet whereas we were at 20,000 feet.

We had been given the exact time at which we were expected to be over the target (H Hour).. Navigators were expected to reach the target at the exact time specified and a minute late or early called for an explanation to the Squadron Navigation Officer the next day. However, this raid had a variable H Hour. Although I was some time ahead of schedule on reaching the Danish coast I did not make any alterations to our flight plan as if we were ahead then everyone else should be and the time of attack would be brought forward Going down across the Baltic the wireless operator came on the intercom to relate that he had received a message from base that he could not understand. All messages were sent in code which was changed daily and issued to operators at briefing. The message he had received, upon being decoded, did not make any sense.. He asked me to check his decoding and handed me his code sheet. . He called out the letters he had taken down from the wireless. This should have come in blocks of four letters or figures and he told me he had received HHOU ROK, the last block consisting only of three items. I wrote them down as he called them out and not having put them in blocks as he was instructed to do, found it easy to see that this was written in plain language and read 鈥楬 Hour OK鈥�. No one had told us that we would receive such instructions in anything other than the code provided. This solved our second problem.

By the time this was sorted out I calculated that we were about 15 minutes ahead of schedule and had quickly to calculate some way of losing time. Flying a set series of alternative courses we were able to lose enough time to enable us to reach the target on time. We had solved problem number three although we were not too happy zig-zagging in the middle of the Baltic.

We were now closing rapidly on to Stettin. The engineer, who was now expected to also act as the bomb aimer, was now in place and we turned in towards the target. We had a good run in to it and when he had it lined up exactly he pressed the bomb release button. Nothing happened !

The bomb selection panel was in my compartment so, after a quick conference with the pilot, I reached across and pressed the jettison bar. All the lights on the panel extinguished which indicated the bombs had gone. In fact we felt the plane rise in the air as all the weight had been released. Problem number four solved.

We had assumed that when the bombs were loaded the armourers would set up the bomb release panel. This had a clockwork mechanism on it and had to be turned to its full extent so that when the bomb release button was pressed, it would unwind and electrically release the bombs No one had explained to us that we had to set this ourselves..!.

Leaving the target behind we flew north up the east coast of Denmark turning westwards when we reached the northern tip and flying back across the North Sea to Norfolk. On the way we reduced height to 10,000 feet .

We landed eight hours and twenty five minutes after take off and taxied back to dispersal. The bomb doors were opened and the engines switched off. The silence was wonderful. We gathered up our equipment and clambered out. The feeling of relief as we stood on firm ground in the quiet of the early morning was terrific and was to be repeated at the end of every trip. We had been, done it and returned and were safe until next time. I find it impossible to describe and have never forgotten the feeling of elation that seized us all.

Our first trip with the Pathfinders had given us problems that we had surmounted and gave us the confidence needed to go on and complete our operational tour.

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