Pilot Officer Ronald Homes served as a pilot from October 1940 to August 1946. His operational flying included Lancasters on 101 Squadron in Europe and Dakotas on 238 Squadron in India and Burma, then in Australia and the South Pacific, and finally 1315 Flight in Iwakuni, Japan. Chocks away, then, as he invites us to join the crew of his Lancaster SR-N2 on a lovely Lincolnshire morning which will lead to ...
By RONALD HOMES, pilot, 101 Sqn
THE village of Ludford Magna is completely surrounded by the RAF station with the living quarters on one side of the main road which runs through the centre of the little village and the massive aerodrome on the other, the base of 101 Squadron, 1 Group, Bomber Command. Ours is a Special Duties squadron with 42 Lancaster aircraft fitted with “
Airborne Cigar,” a highly secret radio countermeasure for disrupting the enemy night fighter radio controllers’ transmissions. Our eighth crew member is the ‘Special’ who operates the sets.
We RAF types feel completely integrated with this rural community, with the slow steady pace of the countryside infusing us with a sense of security. On this morning of August 12, 1944, the sun is shining, the weather looks fine and the morning air is heavy with the scent of new-mown hay and life seems very sweet.
With a jolt we awake to reality. Our names are on the operations board for tonight! Aircraft N2 (Nan squared), pilot P/O Homes, navigator F/O Kabbash, flight engineer Sgt Waind, bombaimer Sgt Wade, wireless operator Sgt Davidson, Special Operator Sgt Holway, midupper gunner Sgt Reynolds, rear gunner Sgt Smith.
Oh hell! That means that our own Lancaster L-Love is still unserviceable. We've done our last two ops in N2 and we don't really like her. You develop a fondness for your own aircraft, it just feels right and although on the face of it all the aircraft appear identical they do feel different and you get the "feel" of your own. Perhaps it's the confident relationship one builds up with your own ground staff, for you know that they are totally conscientious in their work and they are truly a part of your team.
The change of aircraft does nothing to settle that nasty empty sinking feeling in the stomach, and the thoughts of whether you will see this sunshine tomorrow have to be quickly dismissed. Don't think like that! Think of something else! Anything, but don’t show your fear. Right! Let's get the crew together and cycle out to the aircraft and give it a flight check.
All the crew must check over their equipment to make sure that it's fully operational for tonight, and the aircraft may have to be flown to make sure she is completely airworthy before she is loaded up with fuel, bombs and ammunition for the trip. The butterflies in the stomach seem to be settling down a bit, now that we have a job to do to take one's mind off the coming night.
Our proficiency in our respective jobs and the camaraderie between us helps to build up our confidence. The jokes are a little too loud and a rather forced, but they will get worse as the day goes on as the anxiety gnaws at our insides and we strive to put a brave face on it. The aircraft is OK but we still have the rest of the long day to get through before briefing at 19.30hrs. So let's go and have some lunch, but somehow I don't really feel like eating.