Originally Posted by
typerated
And the target was?
a fishing boat out in the wash? Fossdyke Bridge? Boston Stump? Skegness?
Since you mentioned the Boston Stump, my dad claimed a direct hit with a practice bomb whilst doing his advanced fling training at Cranwell on Miles Master II's.
He and his instructor were engaged on a bombing exercise on one of the ranges on the Wash, procedure was to drop the bombs and count the splashes to make sure they tallied. On this occasion they dropped one more bomb than they got splashes, so did the hung up bomb procedure, waggle wings, pull ups etc checking for the missing splash. Having failed to get the missing splash, the instructor made the assumption that the bomb was a dud and had in fact left the rack.
So they then did their usual low level, wave top height dash across the Wash with the Boston Stump the aiming point, it was apparently in a direct line between the range and Cranwell. When they arrived at the Stump an entusiastic pull up over the tower was performed, with unbeknownst to them at the time, the inevitable release of the bomb through a window and into the pews, which were fortunately empty at the time.
On arrival back at Cranwell, they were surprised to find the Station Commander waiting to greet them. He and the instructor were separated and my dad never saw him again.
Despite this, he completed the course and was awarded the Sword of Honor. Recommended for Mosquitos, he was posted to a transport conversion unit flying Wellingtons, before a posting to the Middle East on Dakotas with 78 Squadron.