14 March 1943 Ridgewell Essen was the target on the 12th with the usual mix of four large bombs and many incendaries. The effort is directed against production by Krupps. The raid followed the usual plan of concentration to get across the Kammbuher Line and then concentration of bombing in time on to the markers put down by the Mosquito and Lancaster pathfinders. All the crew are involved and we make a point of keeping our spirits up on the return journey - especially the gunners who are the eyes of the aircraft. They rarely see another aircraft despite flying in a stream. If a plane is seen the question is at onece ‘is it a German fighter’ and Peter evades whilst I try to keep track of the navigation. After a routine flight and op I am always aware of the alternation between the rural peace and quite of Ridgewell - birds, dogs, the plough, and the tension of an operation. The raids themselves are impersonal and rather monotonous, especially for the rest of the crew. There seems little progress to show from each raid and we are mainly on the defensive. We had visitors from the USA 8th Air Force when one of their damaged planes landed. Difficult to get them to throw out in the mess - they seem younger than us - as they did long ago in Miami - and have no comprehension of our night flying and nor we of theirs. But I did gather that life is different and they must be pretty courageous to face the German fighters in daylight. The US Airforce wasted no time in sending trucks to collect their aircraft and crew - we couldn’t get a close look at it.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 22:08:09 +0000
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