CRASHED INTO SEA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24714, 17 September 1941, Page 5

CRASHED INTO SEA

A BRITISH BOMBER SQUADRON LEADER'S ORDEAL TRAPPED UNDER WATER (Rec. 8.30 p.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 15. A remarkable story is told of an R.A.F. squadron leader who was trapped underneath the water in a bomber which had come down in the sea. He fought his way out and then, half drowning, was supported by the front gunner until he could reach a dinghy. A shell from a heavy anti-aircraft gun burst directly under the bomber and down went the aircraft, almost out of control, with the engines racing. At about 4000 feet the pilot managed to steady the engines and flatten out. The bomb door and the landing wheels had dropped down and the petrol and oil pipes appeared to be damaged. There was nothing to do except to turn for home. Both engines were missing badly, and after a time, though everything movable was thrown overboard, the aircraft began to drop 500 feet a minute. It touched the water at about 90 miles per hour, bounced, and then came down on the port wing. The fuselage was almost broken in two. Four of the crew managed to get out, but the pilot and the front gunner were trapped. The pilot’s cockpit, with the pilot still in it, was about 10 feet under water, b«rt the front gunner was above the level of the water. The bomber had caught fire, and now, with the tail and part of the fuselage out of the water, was sinking vertically. From the navigator’s table to the rear turret there was a mass of flames. Clutched Everything “ The first thing I realised was that I was down beside the bomb sight in the nose of the aircraft,” said the pilot. “ I could feel me bomb sight under the water; and I at once made for the light, clutching everything I could. I felt various things go past me—the wireless set, oxygen bottles, the main spare—and I knew I was going up the fuselage, so I tried for the astro-hatch, but it was locked, and I was unable to open it. Then I saw more lights further up. I didn’t know how long I was under water, but when I got near the second light I found there was a break in the fuselage. The front gunner was just getting through it. I was in a pretty bad way but still conscious. As I got my head above water I saw the dinghy, and with the help of the gunner started swimming towards it. The rest of the crew were all in the dinghy and began paddling towards us. While we were in the water the gunner tried to blow up my flotation jacket with his mouth, but couldn’t manage it. I kept telling him to go and leave me, but he wouldn’t. He just said. ‘We will make it,’ or something like that. I spent all night getting salt water out of my lungs and guts. It was a night of complete hell.” Drifted for Days For several days the crew drifted. On the first morning visibility was only about 200 yards. A bell-was heard and, using tins as paddles, the crew made towards the sound. The mist Began to clear, and they saw a buoy in the distance. The tide was running strongly towards it, but it was too strong, and swept them past the buoy when it was only 200 yards away. Later another buoy was sighted. This time the current defeated them when they were within 20 yai’ds of it. A ration was carefully supplied of water, biscuits, malted milk and chewing gum. All the time they were getting nearer to the English coast, and on the third day they could just see buildings on the shore and could hear trains running in the distance. But they were still being washed in and out by the tides. They came down at 10 p.m. on September 2, and on Friday, September 5, at 11.45 p.m.; the tide carried them in near enough to enable them to paddle ashore.

For four of the crew, including the front gunner, it was their first flight. The pilot was an old hand, with the D.F.C. and the experience of 36 raids behind him.