AAR Mission: 147/12
Date: 13th-14th April, 1945
Target: KIEL
Aircraft: The Big Bad Boar
Pilot: F/Off Frederick Haswell
Bomb Aimer: F/Sgt Anthony Hancock Flight Engineer: P/Off John Burton Navigator: F/Sgt Arthur Simpson W/Telegraph Operator: Sgt Charlie Johnson Mid-Upper Gunner: Sgt Hamish Ferguson Tail-End Charlie: Sgt "Bill" Cowley
"Where are we off to tonight, sir?" asked F/Sgt Arthur Simpson, who was the Navigator.
"It's Kiel again, gentlemen. Apparently, as we didn't all do well enough on our bombing last week, we're having to retake this one."
"That's worse than resitting an exam, sir," commented P/Off John Burton, who was the new Flight Engineer. This was his first trip with us as our last one had died from wounds caused from flak during our last trip there.
"We can always say we're doing it for Miller. Cowley, you'll be happy bringing down a few of their nightfighters for us, won't you?"
"Most definitely on that one, sir. I might even let Hamish get one this time. My trigger fingers are itching and I've eaten plenty of carrots to see better in the dark."
"You realise that's just a myth that carrots improve your night vision," piped in Sgt Charlie Johnson, who seemed to know something about everything.
"Whether it is or it isn't, I like them, so there!" Cowley indignantly replied.
"The forecast isn't too good for us on the way back so the sooner we're done, the better. Good luck, gentlemen. Let's go and blow up some U-Boats!"
It was another of those quiet runs in. It made the gunners uncomfortable as they strained their eyes looking into the dark gloom, just to be able to get the first shot in on any stealthy nightfighter trying to creep up on us. Simpson kept feeding me the course changes and before long, the glowing fires below, highlighted with the green glow from the TIs told us we were approaching Kiel. The flashes in the air above told us that their flak gunners were awake.
I set the Boar on the approach vector and handed over to Hancock for the bombing run. There were flak bursts around us and despite shaking us about a little bit, none of them hit us. Although it was only about a minute that we were locked on one course, it still seemed like hours. "Bombs away!" came the call from Hancock. I had the control of the plane back and I quickly pulled her about and headed for home. He later reported that the bomb camera had shown about 40% of the bombs had landed around the TIs.
I didn't need to tell the crew to keep vigilant. I knew all of my gunners already had their eyes peeled. Simpson kept feeding me coordinate changes, Burton was constantly checking the dials and seeing that the Big Bad Boar was behaving herself and we nervously waited and prayed for continued good fortune and good weather. We soon crossed the German coast and were over the North Sea. Then I was being given the coordinate changes for the approach to our base in "Bomber County".
The Met Report had been right. We had good fortune in not encountering any enemy aircraft. The weather back over the base, however, was dreadful. We were being buffeted by strong winds and rain and it crossed my mind that our biggest foe of the night was not German flak batteries but instead the British weather. I shook that negative thinking from my mind and focused on compensating for the weather and bringing our crate in to land.
With a little bit of a skid and a wobble, I brought her in to land safely. I was glad we had transport was waiting to take us to the debriefing, but we still got soaked from the short sprint from the plane to the truck. We were all glad to be home and for once, hot mugs of rum and tea waiting for us in the debriefing room seemed strangely appealing.
Respectfully yours
Frederick Haswell (Flying Officer)