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Wings Over Wick D
Thomas, Eaton, Grantham
During training for aircrew in bombers - pilots,
navigators, bomb aimers, wireless operators and gunners met at OTU
(operational training unit) to form crews. In our case, this was at
Kinloss across the Moray Firth. We flew from Forres, the satellite grass
covered airfield, next to the Findhorn River. There we were introduced
to the Whitley twin engined bomber by then almost obsolete but the
biggest plane we had flown till then and still serviceable. It was
robust and slow but reliable and our plane bore minor traces of damage
sustained in earlier missions. During our training flights we
flew all over the country simulating real operations at night. On one
occasion, the 12th June 1944, we flew above cloud, south into Yorkshire,
east 60 miles over the North Sea, to return in a northerly direction
over the sea, until we should intersect the East West radio beam
transmitted from Kinloss. We were not to know that it had broken down.
Having no radar aids and flying above cloud we had no real idea of our
position, and had to observe radio silence except in an emergency. I was
bomb aimer while the navigator was directing the flight by Dead
Reckoning, (that was hoping the wind had not changed since the start of
the flight so we should theoretically return to our start). But errors
build up, so now we could have been after 4 hours flying as much as 60
miles off course. We decided to continue north for a few more minutes
before turning west and descending through cloud to look for land. At
about 1000 feet we broke through cloud over the sea hoping to see the
Moray coast. It was now 8pm and gloomy. After some minutes flying low
below cloud we saw the coast ahead and offshore a small fishing boat. As
we passed overhead it fired a Verey light flare of the colours of the
day, to which we should have Our abrupt arrival caused some excitement as our plane was thought at first to be a German hit and run raider, followed by consternation when we landed. The Beaufighters normally based there had departed to take part in D-Day. Airfield telephones had also been disrupted by our 200 foot long trailing aerial, the wireless operator had no time to wind in before we landed. However we were made welcome, stayed the night and returned to Forres the next day somewhat relieved. We never returned to Wick, but we survived.
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