Danger in the Clouds

Heroes Remember

Danger in the Clouds

Transcript

Germany had these, all around the coast, they had these heavy gun sites and they were, they were well fortified. And the next day, the Royal Marines were going to land on that particular coast of Volcan Island. So, each squadron was assigned a gun. So, there was only maybe 20 or so aircraft on the particular gun but the theory was we'd hit all these guns. And it didn't do much good because they slaughtered the marines the next day anyway, because our... But at any rate, as we went, this particular gun, we went this place called Domberg. And we were going in, the aircraft ahead of us had blown up so much sand and dust. Incidentally, we were down to 4 000 feet on this trip. And so my bomb aimer says, "Skipper, I can't, I can't see anything." he says, "Can you go around again?" and I shouldn't have done that, I made my next mistake, I said, "Yup." So instead of going through it and dropping the bomb somewhere, I turned back and went out to sea. Now, we came back, it was a perfect clear run and he, he got right on the target. And we got a beautiful picture which was blown up. Every raid, they take one picture and send it down to what they call group. And that picture was taken for that time. So anyway, just as we were going over the target, my mid-upper gunner again hollered out, "Skipper, can I open and fire on a flak gun?" Now by this time we were down to 1,200 feet and a German flak gun can pick you out of the sky at 20, 000 feet. So at 1, 200 feet, so I remember saying, "Hell yes!" And so he opened up and of course, I can't see this, I'm flying, looking ahead but the wireless operator said that Bill, this 18 year old kid is, saw his bullets hit the sand you see and then straight across the gun and sparks fly off the gun which wouldn't hurt or anything. But the crew got out of there and back at the briefing, the old commanding officer, asked this young kid, he said "What did the crew do in this?" He said, "They jumped up and ran like sons of guns!" And so that was, that part was fine. So we got away from that but just as I'm turning and remember now the other aircraft had gone home cause I had gone back out and I'm five minutes behind him. Just as I'm turning and about to go out to sea, the mid-upper gunner hollers, "There's 12 Focke-Wulfs coming in." but I remember my knees just turned to water because 1 Focke-Wulf and you're down but 12, ah, what the hell. Then, the mid-upper gunner, the other one he said, "Hal, those aren't Focke-Wulfs, those are Typhoons." A Typhoon and a Focke-Wulf look so much alike but the Typhoons are Canadian. So they flew along side of us, but of course, they couldn't fly as slow as we did. But they made rude gestures and that. But that, again, I'm all shook up. And this, this is on a trip that was supposed to be a tea trip. So now, we're flying back over and there's heavy cloud over the North Sea. And I was flying in and out of the clouds. And I flew into this one cloud and it must have been the grand daddy of all cumulus nimbus because immediately, it iced up. And I've never seen, experienced ice like it. See, there's two kinds of ice. There's rime icing which builds up gradually and you don't like it, then there's what they call fast icing. And the aerials grew from being like this to, they seemed to grow like baseball bats. And all 4 engines cut out and they were going, those Roll-Royce Merlins, the most beautiful engine, that lovely sound. And they were going like, "Pock, pock, pock, pock, pock." and they couldn't get any, they were iced up. And all my instruments were going like this and the aircraft was... and so, I put the nose down and even so, I couldn't, I could just keep her above the stalling speed, there was so much ice on her. And, and we were out over the North Sea and within minutes, we were going to be in it. And but luckily, when we came out of the bottom, the base of the clouds, was about at 1,700 feet and it was raining hard and the ice started to chap off. It had come off, bang, bang, bang, boom! Hitting the aircraft but the most beautiful song you ever heard. Than those old Roll-Royce pick up and going, "Pock, pock, pock, pock." and now they're, "Rrrrrr." and that, that was one of the closest calls we had and yet it was on a trip that we thought well, two and a half hours and we will be back for tea. So, you never knew went you were going to get in trouble.

Description

Mr. James discusses the impact of unexpected weather on his aircraft.

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:: 04:24
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

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Danger in the Clouds

Heroes Remember