German Civilians More Dangerous Than Soldiers

Heroes Remember

German Civilians More Dangerous Than Soldiers

Transcript

Bailing out was no fun either, because if the German civilians ever got a hold of ya, it was the end of you. In fact, one time, that was the time on Hamburg when those jets were after us, this Hurley, this Pat Hurley, he was from our Squadron, he got his tail shot off by this jet. Jet come from below and shot his tail off. And he was gliding, you know, and he told the bomb aimer, "Jettison the bombs." So he jettisoned the bombs as soon as he did that the Lancaster flipped up on its, upside down. And, the pilot had an escape hatch above his head, so he dropped out, the rest of the crew were all killed. Anyway, as he was parachuting down, he saw all these German civilians were running. So he kicked off his flying boots and he said he was about like after, this is towards the end of the war, he as I said he kicked off his flying boots and unbuckled his parachute harness and he just happened to land near an anti-aircraft position, where these Germans were. And he ran like hell towards these German soldiers, and he got in amongst them and these civilians were saying, you know, "Give him, give him to me, give him to us." And these German soldiers, "Nein, nein" And they saved his life, cause they were gonna kill him. And he said when he was walking back through the streets of Hamburg, the Germans formed a circle around him and they were throwing stones at him and spitting at him and everything. But the, "Nein, nein," kept him, you know... So they knew, they were doing a job, we were doing a job. They were trying to shoot us up and we were trying to bomb the hell out of them. So, they realized that. But if he hadn't, landed near that anti-aircraft position he'd a been killed. Oh yeah they used to hang you from light poles and everything. Wasn't very pretty.

Description

Mr. Taschuk describes how a Lancaster bomber, who bailed out over the German countryside, had to be saved from a mob of civilians by soldiers at a nearby.

Neil Taschuk

Mr. Taschuk was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His father, a Russian immigrant, fought for Canada in the First World War. Mr. Taschuk joined the air force along with many others from the community, and was sent overseas as soon as he had earned his wireless air gunner (WAG) wings. He was assigned to a Lancaster in Bomber Command's 434 Squadron. Given the casualty rate at the time, it was a near death sentence. Against huge odds and having experienced numerous near misses, he and the rest of his crew were one of few in bomber command who were never injured in any action, training, or other mishaps.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:16
Person Interviewed:: Neil Taschuk
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Germany
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 434 Squadron
Occupation:: Wireless Air Gunner

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German Civilians More Dangerous Than Soldiers

Heroes Remember