The Irony of War / Victoria Cross

Heroes Remember

The Irony of War / Victoria Cross

Transcript

The majority of cases, not so much with coastal command, but certainly with bomber command, when a plane was damaged to the extent that they had to bail out, uh it was usually the case of, the turret didn't work anyway, you couldn't turn it, you couldn't even turn it manually, you'd be lucky if you could even get the doors open in which case you know, the poor old tail gunner was... Although, you know of course about the Lancaster here in Hamilton and you know the chap that is famous for it, the name, well he was a mid upper gunner on a Lancaster and the tail gunner was trapped in his turret which wouldn't turn because the hydraulics had been shot out. He couldn't turn it, he couldn't do anything with it. He went back to help him and he was set afire,his clothing was on fire. He got it partly turned unsuccessfully. Finally the tail gunner told him, just go. So he bailed out but he was on fire when he bailed out. Two days later he died of his injuries. He also received the Victoria Cross. That bomber, the rest of the crew bailed out, that bomber crashed and guess what? The tail gunner was thrown from his turret and survived uninjured.

Description

Mr. Allen's account of a bomber crash leading to the awarding of the Victoria Cross.

Bruce Allen

Mr. Allen was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1923. His father worked in the foreign service of the Royal Bank, and returned to Toronto, Ontario, in 1930. Mr. Allen enlisted at the age of eighteen, completed basic training, and shipped overseas to England where he joined 172 Squadron, Coastal Command. His wartime experience involved convoy protection and submarine patrol. After returning to Canada, Mr. Allen pursued a career in various facets of television broadcasting. He remains very interested in Veterans' issues, and belongs to several Veterans organizations; 403 Sarnia Wing Air Force Association, Royal Canadian Legion, Veterans Club of Sarnia, and the Bomber Command Association.

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