Preference for Night Time Raids

Heroes Remember

Preference for Night Time Raids

Transcript

In the latter part of ’44 they were mostly night raids and then as we got into ’45 there were more daylight raids. I preferred the night time flights because you didn’t see as much. The lights, the explosions and the gunfire were brighter at night but you didn’t see the other aircraft that were in around you. In daylight, of course, when an aircraft got shot down you could see it all happen, you know, and you find yourself hoping that there is going to be some parachutes whereas at night you didn’t see any of that. I think the weather was, we often said the weather was worse than the Germans actually when we were flying. You would come back to England and your aerodrome would be socked in and you’d have to go to another strange aerodrome to land and that meant not only your own squadron but other squadrons were all trying to get into one aerodrome at a time. One night there must have been almost a hundred aircraft landed at the Southampton transport drome because it was the only drome open.

Description

Mr. Heather explains the differences between daylight and night time raids.

Stan Heather

Stanley (Stan) Heather was born in Toronto, Ontario, on June 5, 1923. He began his military service on February 27, 1941, at the Galt Aircraft School as an airframe mechanic trainee and then joined the Royal Canadian Air Force at the manning depot in Toronto as an AC2 (Aircraftman, 2nd class) mechanic in July of that same year. He flew as an air gunner with Royal Air Force 78 Squadron at Breighton, Yorkshire, England. At the end of the war, he had achieved the rank of flying officer, and returned to Toronto to pursue his education in Accounting while working for the Dominion Bank. He worked for the Chrysler Corporation as an accountant, for Dale Carnegie Courses as a sponsor in the West Indies (for 15 years), and for the Mississauga Board of Trade as its general manager. In 1985, he co-founded Heather Child Care Supplies Ltd. with his wife, Hassina which they still operate together. Mr. Heather is a proud father of five, grandfather and great-grandfather.

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