Out Of Gas

Heroes Remember

Out Of Gas

Transcript

We were coming home and, he couldn't get, couldn't get height enough to, to go through the Alps so we went around them. And he flew along the coast of Italy 'til he came to a valley. But there was a whole burst of clouds coming through this valley and on either side you could see mountains. So why he ever did it I don't know, but he went up this valley where there was nothing but clouds. And we had dropped our bombs and we were running low on gas, I remember that. And we threw everything out, everything that we could possibly throw except we didn't throw the rear-gunner, the guns out of the rear turret. We kept those and quite a bit of, quite a bit of ammo. But we los . . . we threw a lot of ammunition out because it's heavy. Anyway, we made it back alright but they went out the next morning and the mechanics they went out, started up the engines and just got them all going and they all quit. Were out of gas.

Description

Sometimes luck plays a large part in a mission. Mr. MacWilliam describes a troublesome journey home over Italy.

Wilbur Carmen (Mick) MacWilliam

Mr. MacWilliam was born August 16, 1918, on a farm in Cape Wolfe, Prince Edward Island. He had four other siblings, three brothers and one sister. He attended school in a one room school house until the age of 18. During the depression the family managed as they were pretty self sufficient on the farm. Mr. MacWilliam left the farm and went to Montreal where he lived with his brother for nine months before the war. He enlisted in the Canadian Air Force in Charlottetown as a radio operator and was sent by train to Brandon, Manitoba, for basic training. From there he went to the 10th repair depot in Calgary, Alberta, where he performed guard duties and then on to Winnipeg for wireless training. Mr. MacWilliam then travelled north of Portage La Prairie to receive training as an air gunner. When his training was complete he was sent home to PEI for leave before being called to Montreal and told he would be shipped to Bermuda to serve on a Catalina flying boat for training. From Bermuda Mr. MacWilliam was sent to England, arriving in Bournemouth, and was assigned to a bombing crew where he carried out his position of wireless operator and gunner. He served on 29 missions and although he had many close calls he was never shot down. In 1943, at the end of his missions he returned to Canada, aboard the Mauritania, for pilot training, with the intention of returning for another tour. Instead he finished up his service as an instructor at the Mount Pleasant bombing and gunnery school air base in Prince Edward Island. After the war he worked at CJCH in Halifax before joining CBC Radio international as a technician.

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