A Night to Remember part 12 ............ Away from the target, all’s well -- until the fighter strikes
YOU CAN sense the massive release of tension in the crew as the engines’ roar takes on a higher note and the airspeed builds up to get away from the target area and out of the flak as fast as possible. Check the crew, “pilot to crew, everybody OK? Rear gunner?” “Rear gunner OK skip” “Mid-upper?” “Mid upper OK skipper” and so on. “Right chaps, everybody’s OK , let’s go home”
“Navigator to pilot, turn onto 297 compass” “Roger navigator 297 compass, airspeed 195” “Roger skip, airspeed 195, I’ll give you the time to the next turning point in a minute” “Roger, navigator”. There’s comfort in the steady drone of the engines now and quite an elated feeling at having survived another target and we’re on our way home.
Suddenly the mid-upper shouts “FIGHTER!” I slam on full left rudder, control column forward and hard to port, his guns begin to chatter and instantly the plane is shaken by a series of dull thumps. What a strange noise… WE’VE BEEN HIT! A brilliant yellow-orange light fills the cockpit. “ Starboard outer’s on fire skipper” shouts the engineer. “There’s a bloody great flame going past the tailplane” shouts the mid-upper. “OK chaps, settle down. Pilot to engineer, feather the starboard outer and push the fire extinguisher”. “OK skip ... Fire’s still burning skip” -- “****!”
Thoughts rush through my mind as I continue to throw the aircraft about in a corkscrew to avoid the fighters. We must be a choice target now, lit up in the night sky like a flaming comet and if we don’t get this fire out we have had it! “Engineer to pilot, it looks like a fuel fire, if we turn off the fuel to the starboard side we might be able to starve it but it will mean feathering the starboard inner as well.” “ OK engineer try that!”
“Pilot to crew, anybody hurt?” “Rear gunner, OK skip but my turret’s U/S.” “Mid-upper’s OK but so is mine.” “OK gunners, keep your eyes skinned for that bloody fighter and just give me directions to avoid it” “OK skipper”. “Special OK,” “Navigator OK,” “Wireless OK skip,” “Bombaimer OK, skipper.” “Good show chaps ...
“What the hell is happening engineer? “Starboard inner’s feathered skipper!” “So has the bloody port inner, I’ve only got one engine left!”