AAR Mission: 149/14
Date: 25th April, 1945
Target: BERCHTESGADEN, Austria
Aircraft: The Big Bad Boar
Pilot: F/Lt Frederick Haswell
Bomb Aimer: F/Sgt Anthony Hancock Flight Engineer: P/Off John Burton Navigator: W/O Arthur Simpson W/Telegraph Operator: W/O Charlie Johnson Mid-Upper Gunner: Sgt Hamish Ferguson Tail-End Charlie: F/Sgt "Bill" Cowley
"Johnson, are you sure the Medical Officer said you are fit for duty?" Haswell asked his recently injured radio telegraph operator.
"Of course, sir. If you have any doubt, you can go and see him, sir", he replied.
"Considering we're about to take off on a mission, I don't really have the time right now. You realise you could have probably sat the rest of the war out with that injury", Haswell continued.
"Yes, but I'd rather be up here with you all", Johnson insisted.
"Aww, that's nice", Ferguson sarcastically remarked.
"Gentlemen … we're off to bomb Adolf's holiday home in Austria. As you may have noticed, it's daylight and Bomber Command think we're up to a big raid like this. We've got good fighter escort and they should keep most of the enemy at bay. However, what does get through will do its best to make our lives hell!"
It was good to know that the war in Europe seemed to be nearing an end. News reports said that Hitler was hiding in some bunker in Berlin, which was now surrounded by the Russians. It would have been easier, though, if someone had let the Germans know that the war was all but over as in certain quarters, they were still mounting a stiff defence and that is why we were needed to undertake this long mission.
The Big Bad Boar was fortunate in not having to engage in action with the enemy until over Augsburg when two 109s made an attack. A P-51 was able to take care of one of them but the second got through. Ferguson opened fire and caused enough damage to put its aim off and making the pilot break off.
It was when we were over Munich that we were in for quite a surprise. Two 109s coming at us from the front had been intercepted by the fighter escort but then were were in for a massive surprise coming in from behind us. Cowley exclaimed in shock and amazement before opening fire with his quad turret opening fire, Ferguson following shortly afterwards from the mid-upper turret. Cannon fire slammed into our plane as a split second later, a fighter unlike anything we had seen before flashed past at very high speed over the main cockpit. Hancock fired an ineffective burst at it from the nose turret as it raced away and broke away, two Mustangs trying to chase it but were unable to keep up. Fortunately, it had only caused superficial damage. Had it come in for another attack, I don't know how badly we would have been hit.
We were now in the Alps approaching the target. Although personally I would have liked to blow Adolf's holiday home to pieces, our specific target was an army base which housed units of the SS that were mounting stiff resistance in this area. Understandably, with this area being popular with Hitler, flak was heavy. It was with some shock we saw the starboard wing being ripped off Pint O'Bitter, which was leading us in and then spiralled out of control. I think I saw someone bail out, I could not be certain.
We took a couple of hits, one hitting the bomb bay doors but only causing superficial damage, another damaging the starboard rudder. Despite the plane being knocked about, Hancock kept his nerve and dropped about 30% of our bombs on the target. I turned the plane around and headed home, taking the lead position of the squadron.
Near Fulda, we had another encounter with some of the last fragments of the Luftwaffe. Our little friends seemed more aggressive than usual and had taken care of most of them. One of them came in at us from the front, Hancock and Ferguson opening fire. Hancock caused some light damage to it, it fired, it missed, it broke off and disappeared into a cloud bank.
That was the last encounter we had with Herman's friends. We were soon in airspace that was completely under our control. That gave time for some of the crew to relax and come up with wild ideas about what that incredibly fast moving fighter had been. No conclusions had been reached before we were crossing the British coast.
We landed safely, tired and exhausted after a long haul. During debriefing, we found that the fighter we had encountered was a Heinkel He-162 "Volksjaeger", which was a mass-produced jet fighter. I thought it was a case of "too little, too late" but did wonder how things could have been different if those planes had been deployed earlier, in greater numbers and flown by pilots who seemed to know what they were doing.
Respectfully yours
Flt/Lt Frederick Haswell
Damage - 21 Peckhams