Fire in the Sky

Heroes Remember

Fire in the Sky

Transcript

The minute you took off, you knew when you got to the enemy coast, there was going to be flak waiting for you. And all the way to the target, if you flew over a flak town or a flak gun, you were going to have it. You knew there was going to be the worst flak in the world over the target. And see if you went to the Ruhr, I think it was 26 cities in 60 miles. And they were, they weren't individual, they classed it as one big area. And you had to fly down through that or over Berlin anywhere. And then you, on the way home, you knew you were going to get flak or you were going to get flak when you cross the coast. We went to a place called Emmerich. It was on the Rhine river and it was a hurry up trip. And the, the intelligence guys gotten word that there was a division, a full division of German troops, were coming from the Russian front, up to the Western front to stop the British and Americans. And they were due to arrive in these two towns; one was called Emmerich and one was called Cleves. If you remember the story of Anne of Cleve's in history. And they would getting in there right around noon. So, they figured if they hit them at one o'clock, they'd still catch the troops in the trains. And so, so the daylight trip, and daylight trips were always exciting. And as we crossed over the Hague, we were hit by flak and that was not, not that bad. But then, as we were running in on the target, remember the, it was 11 000 feet which was reasonably, very, quite, rather low for a bomber command. But 11 000 feet because we wanted to hit the trains and make sure not do as little damage to the town as possible. So, at any rate, I was following this air craft, we were on the run up and the bomb aimer's giving me the steady, steady, left, left. So naturally, I'm just flying on instruments and doing the best I can to give him a good run. Well a Lancaster would be 250 feet in front of us, it just blew up, boom! A huge fireball, well at 165 mile an hour, I had no alternative to go through it. So, I fly through this fireball and when I come out the other side, there's hundreds of little flames, all over the front of the aircraft. What it was, was his gasoline tanks exploded and the fuel was vaporised and these little droplets of gas but they're all on fire. So, now the whole front of the aircraft is on fire. And just at that time, my mid-upper gunner called up and he said, "Skipper, there's smoke coming out of the port wing." And I looked and it wasn't smoke it was raw gasoline. The same shot or flak that destroyed that aircraft had ripped our port wing open and there's 2 gas tank, 3 gas tanks there and it had opened two of these gas tanks. So we were in this, it would be about like a 6 inch stream, it was, it was gasoline pouring out of there. Setting the other part of the aircraft on fire. So, I held her straight and level and so the flames wouldn't get the chance to bend backwards. But see this gasoline...then this flame flickered out with the wind and that, blew the flames out, and but we still got this, this gasoline leak and that. At any rate, I remember ordering the crew to put their parachutes on, because it was the only time we ever did it, but. See as a pilot, I sat on my parachute but they had theirs, it clipped on. And I thought if this thing blows, they will have a chance. So, they put theirs parachutes on. And I remember telling them, "If we get across three rivers we're over the American lines." So we got across the three rivers and we got back to base with no trouble. But just as we landed, while we are running down the, still on the runway taxing down, they called from the tower and of course they always had the telescope on ya. They said, "Take her to the graveyard." There was so much stuff hanging out from beneath it then, that aircraft never flew again.

Description

Mr. James discusses the dangers of flak and a nearly tragic air strike over the Ruhr Valley.

Lyle James

Mr. James was born February 27, 1917. He grew up in Sarnia, a small Ontario town whose economy depended on Imperial Oil and the Canadian National railroad. Being politically aware, Mr. James considered Hitler to be a global threat; he enlisted with the hope of keeping World War Two from spreading to Canada. After receiving his wings, Mr. James sailed to England where he joined 101 Squadron, Bomber Command in 1943. Mr. James became the pilot of a Lancaster bomber after training in a Wellington. He piloted 32 missions during the second Battle of the Ruhr. Today, Mr. James is a frequent guest speaker at service clubs and schools, where he shares his reflections on the Second World War.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 04:06
Person Interviewed:: Lyle James
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Germany
Battle/Campaign:: Bomber Command
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 101 Squadron
Rank:: Flying Officer
Occupation:: Pilot

Language selection

Fire in the Sky

Heroes Remember

Fire in the Sky

Lyle James

Related Videos

Fire in the Sky

Heroes Remember

Fire in the Sky

Lyle James

Related Videos

Keep Canada safe

A Not So "Ducky" Situation

Flying the Lancaster

Fighter Attack

Danger in the Clouds

Love of Air Plane and Crew

Bombing and the Fear Within Us

Reflections - Past and Present