Read Online Mosquito: Menacing the Reich: Combat Action in the Twin-engine Wooden Wonder of World War II by Martin Bowman - Free Book Online
Authors: Martin Bowman
Tags: Bisac Code 1: HIS027140
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velocity on the computer box and waited for the TIs to come into view. All of the nose except for the optically flat, heated bombing window was frosted up so I couldn’t see very far ahead. A couple of minutes to go now.
“More red and green TIs going down”, said Ron. “Bomb doors open”.
“Bomb doors open” I repeated and I heard the rumbling roar as they opened and the wind whistled in the bomb bay.
“I’m running up on a bunch of three”, said Ron. “Can you see them yet?”
I craned my neck close to the window and looked ahead sideways. “Yep, I can just see them.” I said. “OK now, left-left, left-left, steady. We’re running up nicely. Keep weaving a bit, we’ve a minute or so to go yet”. I got the TIs up on the centre line of the graticule and thumbed the release switch. I would press this when the markers reached the cross line. A couple of big white flashes under the cloud up ahead showed that the first two ‘Cookies’ had gone down. I noticed them almost subconsciously.
“A little bit of flak to starboard,” said Ron.
“OK, keep going”, I said. “Right, right a little steady now, steady… BOMB GONE!” and I pressed the tit. There was a thud underneath as the lug sprang back and released the bomb. The camera whirred and the red light on the selector box came on. We had to keep straight and level for 45 seconds to get a photo of our bomb burst in relation to the TIs so as to be able to plot the accuracy later. I scrambled back into my seat and looked down the window chute. The wait seemed endless.
“Bomb doors closed”, said Ron.
The camera green light came on. “Hold it”, I said. There was a great flash under the cloud. “There she goes; OK, lets get the hell out of here” and we turned south-west to get out of the target area. I turned off the bombsight and bomb selector switches and looked aft. Some flak was coming up now and some searchlights were on under the cloud. It must have been pretty thin, but they were quite ineffective. More bomb flashes appeared as the TIs drifted slowly down into the cloud tops. It looked like quite a concentrated effort. Just after turning we saw a kite (possibly a cats-eye fighter, a 190, or a 109) shoot over us in the opposite direction leaving a contrail. He didn’t appear to have seen us but we kept a sharp look out just in case there were any more. Things being quieter now I entered the time, height and heading of when we bombed.
Ron said, “Check the petrol, will you?”
I did so and found that we had about 330 gallons left; a little less than we expected, but OK. At 19.19 I tried to get some LORAN but the signals were very weak and I discarded them. I would try again later. Just then the expected green route markers appeared ahead, so we were OK and pretty well on track. At 19.24 we altered course and we crossed the Dutch coast at 20.22, altering course slightly to the north for Woodbridge and still keeping our height above 23,000ft. We switched on the IFF and ‘identify’ on Channel D, making a VHF broadcast: “Lounger K King identifying, out”. (This was for the Fighter Command plot so that we are not mistaken for an enemy aircraft). I got a string of fixes across the North Sea. The crossing always seemed to me to be one of the longest parts of the trip. The ‘Scu’ cloud that had reappeared over Holland near the coast was about 45/10ths but it dispersed completely before we got to Woodbridge, leaving a clear night. I worked out the ETA coast as 20.49 and Ron increased speed a little. At 20.38 he said he could see lights ahead and when I looked out for a minute or two later I could see the semi-circle of sodium lights which marked the Woodbridge circuit dead ahead. We coasted in at 20.46 and began to lose height slowly, switching on the navigation lights as we did so. We were really moving now, with a ground speed of 260 knots. ETA base was 21.00. I began to relax a little.
Ron changed frequency from Channel D to Channel
“More red and green TIs going down”, said Ron. “Bomb doors open”.
“Bomb doors open” I repeated and I heard the rumbling roar as they opened and the wind whistled in the bomb bay.
“I’m running up on a bunch of three”, said Ron. “Can you see them yet?”
I craned my neck close to the window and looked ahead sideways. “Yep, I can just see them.” I said. “OK now, left-left, left-left, steady. We’re running up nicely. Keep weaving a bit, we’ve a minute or so to go yet”. I got the TIs up on the centre line of the graticule and thumbed the release switch. I would press this when the markers reached the cross line. A couple of big white flashes under the cloud up ahead showed that the first two ‘Cookies’ had gone down. I noticed them almost subconsciously.
“A little bit of flak to starboard,” said Ron.
“OK, keep going”, I said. “Right, right a little steady now, steady… BOMB GONE!” and I pressed the tit. There was a thud underneath as the lug sprang back and released the bomb. The camera whirred and the red light on the selector box came on. We had to keep straight and level for 45 seconds to get a photo of our bomb burst in relation to the TIs so as to be able to plot the accuracy later. I scrambled back into my seat and looked down the window chute. The wait seemed endless.
“Bomb doors closed”, said Ron.
The camera green light came on. “Hold it”, I said. There was a great flash under the cloud. “There she goes; OK, lets get the hell out of here” and we turned south-west to get out of the target area. I turned off the bombsight and bomb selector switches and looked aft. Some flak was coming up now and some searchlights were on under the cloud. It must have been pretty thin, but they were quite ineffective. More bomb flashes appeared as the TIs drifted slowly down into the cloud tops. It looked like quite a concentrated effort. Just after turning we saw a kite (possibly a cats-eye fighter, a 190, or a 109) shoot over us in the opposite direction leaving a contrail. He didn’t appear to have seen us but we kept a sharp look out just in case there were any more. Things being quieter now I entered the time, height and heading of when we bombed.
Ron said, “Check the petrol, will you?”
I did so and found that we had about 330 gallons left; a little less than we expected, but OK. At 19.19 I tried to get some LORAN but the signals were very weak and I discarded them. I would try again later. Just then the expected green route markers appeared ahead, so we were OK and pretty well on track. At 19.24 we altered course and we crossed the Dutch coast at 20.22, altering course slightly to the north for Woodbridge and still keeping our height above 23,000ft. We switched on the IFF and ‘identify’ on Channel D, making a VHF broadcast: “Lounger K King identifying, out”. (This was for the Fighter Command plot so that we are not mistaken for an enemy aircraft). I got a string of fixes across the North Sea. The crossing always seemed to me to be one of the longest parts of the trip. The ‘Scu’ cloud that had reappeared over Holland near the coast was about 45/10ths but it dispersed completely before we got to Woodbridge, leaving a clear night. I worked out the ETA coast as 20.49 and Ron increased speed a little. At 20.38 he said he could see lights ahead and when I looked out for a minute or two later I could see the semi-circle of sodium lights which marked the Woodbridge circuit dead ahead. We coasted in at 20.46 and began to lose height slowly, switching on the navigation lights as we did so. We were really moving now, with a ground speed of 260 knots. ETA base was 21.00. I began to relax a little.
Ron changed frequency from Channel D to Channel
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