"Strike Hard Strike Sure" - RAF Bomber Command

[Greg Gale]

@VeraVoulik thanks for posting that video, some very interesting details in there.

I remember watching this, in virtual reality, quite an experience:

 

[Smithy]

One of Bomber Command's Victoria Crosses...

Sgt James Allen Ward

Vickers Wellington Mark IC, L7818 ‘AA-V’, of No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF after returning from an attack on Munster, Germany, on the night of 7/8 July 1941. While over the Zuider Zee, cannon shells from an attacking Messerschmitt Me 110 struck the starboard wing causing a fire from a fractured fuel line which threatened to to spread to the whole wing. Efforts by the crew to douse the flames failed, and Sergeant James Allen Ward, the second pilot, volunteered to tackle the fire by climbing out onto the wing via the astro-hatch whilst the aircraft was still under attack by the night fighter. With a dinghy-rope tied around his waist, he made hand and foot-holds in the fuselage and wings and moved out across the wing from where he was eventually able to extinguish the burning wing-fabric. This incredible feat earned him the Victoria Cross.

Like so many he was shot down and killed while bombing Hamburg on the night of 15/16 September 1941, in another Wellington of the Squadron.

Photos of the Welly he saved by climbing onto the wing...

And the man himself...

 

[Micawber]

I think it unfortunate, no, scandalous that the huge effort and sacrifices by the bomber boys were overlooked by key politicians in the UK for so long. I also think it is sad that the common belief is that having tried daylight attacks in the early stages of the war Bomber Command confined itself to night time carpet bombing operations from that period on. As the war progressed Pathfinder ops and the introduction of electronic aids such as Gee-H & H2S did much to improve night bombing accuracy. Precision daylight attacks were carried out on a number of targets as well as mass operations in the latter stages of the conflict as this interesting piece describes.

https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1433&context=cmh

There is quite a lot of footage freely available of some of the daylight low level precision raids by light bombers, for example this from 1942:

This from 1944:

An example of later war daylight mass operations by RAF heavies is here:

 

[Smithy]

I think it unfortunate, no, scandalous that the huge effort and sacrifices by the bomber boys were overlooked by key politicians in the UK for so long.

It is scandalous. They had the toughest job and by the most terrible margin, the most dangerous. They were also instrumental to the collapse and destruction of the Nazi industrial war machine and ultimately Allied victory.

The more I read the sadder I am that in many ways these men and their memory hasn't had the same amount of fanfare and adulation as the fighter boys or those on the daylight side of things.

Hopefully this little thread can go a tiny way to (at least round these parts) make what they did known and appreciated.

BTW - good call about the precision daylight raids they undertook Steve!

 

[Micawber]

It is scandalous. They had the toughest job and by the most terrible margin, the most dangerous. They were also instrumental to the collapse and destruction of the Nazi industrial war machine and ultimately Allied victory.

The more I read the sadder I am that in many ways these men and their memory hasn't had the same amount of fanfare and adulation as the fighter boys or those on the daylight side of things.

Hopefully this little thread can go a tiny way to (at least round these parts) make what they did known and appreciated.

BTW - good call about the precision daylight raids they undertook Steve!

Politics, both leading up to the end of hostilities and postwar have everything to do with it, throw in some very big and well known names and the result is that the BC lads and lassies never received the acknowledgement they so rightly deserved. Why it is only as recently as 2012 that the BC memorial in London was unveiled and 2018 that the BC centre in Lincoln was opened. The difficulty of capturing / portraying night time ops in the media both at the time and after meant the amount of material captured is relatively sparse in comparison to the daylight campaigns where press, film, publicity units and individual personnel were able to capture so much more of what was going on.

I met a number of BC vets who were deeply hurt and some angry by what they rightly perceived as a concerted effort to overlook the part they played in defeating the Axis scourge. However, they were of a generation who were so relieved to have made it and get back into Civvy Street it was a hurt that lay buried for years. They just wanted to get on with their lives and try to come to terms with what they had been through. Those blue blazer and grey flannel ranks that once stood at memorials on or about November 11th every year are thinning very fast. Soon they will all be gone and I for one will miss them.

 

[Smithy]

Those blue blazer and grey flannel ranks that once stood at memorials on or about November 11th every year are thinning very fast. Soon they will all be gone and I for one will miss them.

Me too Steve.

I miss so much talking with the Fighter Command pilots I was lucky to know, and those I corresponded with, and even some of their families. I feel so lucky to have known them and talked with them and had that direct human connection with someone who was there. Everyone I knew or was in contact with have gone now and I miss them.

But I have fantastic memories and a wealth of correspondence and photos as well.

One thing, I wish I had spoken with more Bomber Command veterans. I didn't - my family flew in Fighter Command - and because of that I never had an interest in doing so, so I spoke and was in contact exclusively with Fighter Command types.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I wish when I could have and had the opportunity to do so when they were still alive I could have put my Fighter Command interest aside for just a bit and could have spoken to some of the men of Bomber Command.

I didn't so now I'm having to learn about what they did secondhand.

 

[Greg Gale]

What's he saying at 30:39?

"....on, ignition on, contact number 3" What's the first word?

 

[Smithy]

What's he saying at 30:39?

"....on, ignition on, contact number 3" What's the first word?

Terribly difficult to make out Greg as the narrator is mumbling away over the top of it.

 

[Greg Gale]

Can it be 'Masters on'? As in Master switches.

 

[Smithy]

Possibly "Magnetos on" Greg but it's very difficult to make out.

 

[Smithy]

I think it is to do with the magnetos Greg, specifically the number 3 engine magneto. I just checked the start up procedure and the number 3 engine magneto is switched to on before a groundcrew member unscrews the priming pump.

I think he's saying therefore, "Magneto(s) on".

 

[Greg Gale]

He also says 'ignition on' right after, which is synonymous with 'magnetos', and I do think I can hear an 'S' in the middle of that word.

In the Lanc the master switch was connected to the magneto switches so that when it was off, it would block and keep the magnetos in the off position too.

Then again, he may be saying something completely different

 

[Smithy]

No idea but this might help Greg...

https://airpages.ru/eng/mn/lan_04.shtml

 

[Greg Gale]

Cool stuff!

 

[Micawber]

I imagine atmosphere audio was and narration was added when the footage was edited in 1981for broadcast as 'Night Bombers' on TV - meaning neither are 'period' actuality recordings. Audio could therefore be from the BoB Flight Lanc.

 

[Micawber]

 

[Paul Glover]

One of Bomber Command's Victoria Crosses...

Sgt James Allen Ward

Vickers Wellington Mark IC, L7818 ‘AA-V’, of No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF after returning from an attack on Munster, Germany, on the night of 7/8 July 1941. While over the Zuider Zee, cannon shells from an attacking Messerschmitt Me 110 struck the starboard wing causing a fire from a fractured fuel line which threatened to to spread to the whole wing. Efforts by the crew to douse the flames failed, and Sergeant James Allen Ward, the second pilot, volunteered to tackle the fire by climbing out onto the wing via the astro-hatch whilst the aircraft was still under attack by the night fighter. With a dinghy-rope tied around his waist, he made hand and foot-holds in the fuselage and wings and moved out across the wing from where he was eventually able to extinguish the burning wing-fabric. This incredible feat earned him the Victoria Cross.

Like so many he was shot down and killed while bombing Hamburg on the night of 15/16 September 1941, in another Wellington of the Squadron.

Photos of the Welly he saved by climbing onto the wing...

And the man himself...

Wow !, what an amazing story, I have never heard anything like it. What a selfless act in order to save his colleagues, the bravest thing that I have ever heard. Such a shame that he didnt live long enough to be given the recognition that he deserved. Thanks for sharing that story, just brilliant.

 

[Kermit3D]

This is unbelievable, actual audio recording of a Lanc crew over their target.

I can't believe how matter of fact they are - these chaps have balls of steel.

Unbelievable bravery and calmness in the face of what must have been hell...

I knew this recording, but this was an opportunity to listen to it again, thanks for posting it.

It is always so moving to hear. The calmness in the voices contrasts with what we are used to see in movies.

These guys were amazing... I would be in total panic if I were them !

 

[Smithy]

Thought we needed a picture of this mob.

The Dambuster Boys of 617 Sqn...

(Click image for the super-duper jumbo size version)

 

[B-Man2]

Great Thread Tim!