大象传媒

RAIDS EIGHTEEN TO TWENTY. Lutzkendorf, with its Leuna synthetic oil plant about 25 miles west of Leipzig, was visited by 340 heavies on the night of April 4th with the objective of knocking out oil production. IQ-Willie, with our crew on board, was one of ten to take off from 150 Squadron at 21.20 hours.
The weather was bad all the way to the target with heavy icing at several spots on the way. Oil targets were always hotly defended, and heavy searchlight concentration and extremely heavy flak made the long run extremely hazardous. Crew members reported so many incidents that Doc finally requested that they report only fighter attack. I was busy throwing 鈥渨indow鈥� out of the flare chute. I must have really had my wind up, because I reached behind for a bundle of window, grabbed something and pulled. It turned out to be the rip cord on my parachute and I had a cockpit full of silk. I almost panicked, but then decided 鈥� what the hell 鈥� I would probably be afraid to jump anyway.
There were some breaks in the clouds, and T.I.s were seen on the ground as we ran up on the target. 鈥淒ummy markers鈥� on the port side drew some attention, but cloud moving in and covering the target made it necessary for later crews to use sky markers as their bombing guide. Later reconnaissance showed that only fair success had been attained on this raid.
Fortunately the trip home from the target was much quieter than on the way in, and weather over England was much improved compared to what it was like when we left eight and a half hours earlier.
Again, our Squadron was out in full strength, supplying 12 kites out of 480 to attack Kiel Harbour. Our crew in IQ-Willie took off at 19.25 hours on April 9th, and was over the target with the early arrivals. There was about 9/10 cloud cover, but it was rather shallow in depth. Target indicators fell right on the Deutsche Werke yards, and with the help of the master Bomber, Pathfinder Force maintained the marking throughout the attack. Flak was moderate to intense. IQ-Willie had just started the bombing run when a master searchlight on the ground came on and we were caught. Immediately five or six more searchlights came on and we were 鈥渃oned鈥�. There was nothing we could do but carry on with the bombing run and feel the flak getting closer and more accurate.
Finally we were through the target, the bomb doors closed, and Doc put IQ-Willie into a screaming dive. Fortunately we were able to get out over the Baltic Sea, far enough that the searchlights could no longer hold us. In doing so we dropped from 18,000 feet to 2,000 feet at a terrific speed. It was one of those few times when a planed was 鈥渃oned鈥� that the plane and crew were able to come out of it unscathed. On our return we crow-hopped over Denmark at about a hundred feet and were well out over the North Sea when we started to climb. We arrived back at base after six hours and five minutes.
Photos showed heavy damage inflicted to shipping and shipyard facilities in and around the Deutsche Werke establishment. The inner dockyard basin, the German pocket battle ship the 鈥淎dmiral Von Sheer鈥� was capsized, and the 鈥渁dmiral Hipper鈥� damaged by near misses. Each of our Squadron crews would like to claim credit for the Von Sheer, even though her presence there was unknown at briefing time. At de-briefing, we heard that IQ-Charlie, another aircraft from our Squadron, was missing, but later on heard that they had crash landed at the coast while flying on two engines and were uninjured. When the crew got back, they informed us that they had been shot up badly, but when we were 鈥渃oned鈥� and all the attention was on us, they followed us safely through the target and got no more enemy attention.
On April 10th at 18.15 hours, our crew in IQ-Willie took off for the distant target of Plauen, near the border of Czechoslovakia. It鈥檚 strategic value lay in the fact that it was a major traffic artery serving both the western and Russian fronts. It鈥檚 destruction could seriously impair the German war effort. Climbing to 10,000 feet over England we encountered very thick and dense clouds. We continued to climb, but at 22,000 feet we were still in them. The temperature was also falling rapidly. Normally bomb aimers wore an electrically heated flying vest under the battle dress tunic, with extension cords extending to moccasins inside the flying boots. If heat was required the suit was plugged into the aircraft鈥檚 electrical system and by regulating the thermostatic control, the bomb aimer could be quite comfortable. But tonight there were problems. Every time I turned up the controls to get some heat I would get an electric shock under my armpits, and would have to disconnect. We continued to climb to get out of cloud, and it was colder still. I would try the heating suit again but would always get shocked. Finally the plane broke through cloud at 24,000 feet 鈥� it would not have climbed another 50 feet. This was the highest I ever flew in a loaded Lanc.
Within five minutes we made our turning point near Weisbaden, the skies cleared miraculously and visibility was excellent all the way to the target. We descended 6,000 feet to a more comfortable level.
About ten days earlier the fast moving army of U.S. General Patton had captured a rhine bridge intact at Remagen, and had secured a bridgehead on the east bank. Early in the morning of April 10th, an American motorised division broke out of the bridgehead, and was streaming eastwards across Germany with little opposition. That night in the darkness we could look down and see the headlights of hundreds of vehicles moving eastward. What a wonderful sight it was to see headlights again! We knew then that the war could not last much longer.
A few fighters were around in the target area, but flak was generally light. The target was largely obscured by smoke, but photographic evidence showed that the raid had been successful. Weather conditions had improved over England and we arrived back at base 8 hours and 40 minutes after take off.
An interesting note in respect of this trip was the production of the film 鈥淭he Bridge at Remagen鈥� which was produced a number of years after the war. Watching this film certainly brought back to me the vivid memories of that particular raid.

TWENTY ONE 鈥� A SURPRISE ENDING. Flying in our favourite aircraft IQ-Willie, our crew took off on April 18th at 10.00 hours as part of a thousand bomber force to attack the naval base at Heligoland and the airfield on the adjacent island of Dune. Conditions were excellent and visibility unlimited. The bombing run was bumpy, however, due to being in the slipstream of numerous bombers ahead of us.
It was a fantastic effort. There were Lancasters and Halifaxes as far as the eye could see and R.A.F. fighter planes off to each side. A very slight amount of flak occurred in the early stages of the attack to taper off to practically nil, and there were no encounters with enemy fighters. Only three bombers were lost, one on the way to the target and two were reported to have collided on the bombing run. Our crew attacked Heligoland, and pictures showed that nearly all buildings had been destroyed, and only the northern tip of the island fortress escaped the general destruction.
It was quite apparent that the war was winding down rapidly, but little did we expect that this would be the final bombing raid in which our crew would participate. Willie landed at base at 14.35 hours and was taxied to its dispersal area.
Three days later a number of our crews went to Berchtesgarten, Hitler鈥檚 famous mountain retreat. That was one trip that all of our crew would love to have made, but unfortunately (or fortunately 鈥� who knows for sure?) we were not drawn on the battle order.
Before ending this review of my Air Force career, I would like to mention a few other interesting events of Squadron life.

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