Bombing Run

Heroes Remember

Bombing Run

Transcript

The trip would be laid on by a, at a briefing and you'd know what route you were to take and what your turning point was to be, and the navigator would get us on that course and the pilot, of course, would follow whatever he was told. And as you came to the turning point, the air bomber took over and directed the pilot "left, left, steady, right, steady" and you got to the bomb site and the graticule and when you were satisfied that that was, it was on target, you'd release the bombs. And, as I say, all the time, it was to get that thumb over there, that, that was the purpose of all these trips. And when you released the bombs in, you'd get a photo and in, at night, it was a 160, no 186,000 candle power that would flash, and it would take a picture of the target.

Description

Mr. Reid describes a bombing run; the responsibilities of the crew and sequence of events during a bombardment.

Bill Reid

Mr. Reid was born on August 15, 1922, in Toronto, Ontario. His upbringing was middle class, and he disagreed with Hitler's ideology. As a consequence, and along with 5 friends, he decided to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force so that he might ‘learn to fly at the government's expense.' Ironically, government cutbacks cost him his ambition as a pilot and he was redeployed to bomber and gunnery school in Trenton. After sailing to England, Mr. Reid was eventually posted to Upper Hayford, where he trained on both Anson and Stirling bombers. He was finally posted to 49 Squadron, 5 Group and was the air bomber in a crew of seven aboard a Lancaster bomber.. Mr. Reid flew missions in both the German and Norwegian theatres. He retired from active service upon returning home with the rank of AC2, Flying Officer.

Meta Data