Mr. Cole describes one situation in which he was on a raid with many casualties and many of the aircrew were demoralized. He describes what happens to one of his friends after the raid.
Memorable Moments with the English People
Mr. Cole recollects some of the memorable moments he had with the people of England.
Final Operations
Mr. Cole describes some of the final operations in which there were fewer interceptors, probably due to lack of fuel and maintenance.
Memorable Operations
Mr. Cole describes the bombing of an oil refinery and his 20th operation in which a Lancaster bomber was directly overhead and started to drop its bombs.
A Foe in the Darkness
Mr. Cole describes the night in which he caught a glimpse of a ME-109 in the darkness and how they were trained to defend against fighter aircraft at night.
The Night Raid
Mr. Cole describes what it was like on a night raid with the incredible amount of exploding anti-aircraft fire and search lights. He describes the total destruction and how it seemed virtually impossible to get through.
Bombing Operations
The bombing operations that were flown were mostly heavy concentrations of bombers and targeted heavily industrial areas in the Ruhr Valley.
The Lancaster Bomber
Mr. Cole describes the accuracy of the Lancaster Bomber, its payload and the Pathfinder Force (PFF) that was used to mark its target.
Baptism of Fire
Mr. Cole describes his first encounter with the enemy and the effect on the rest of the squadron. They were still positive and naive, but convinced that they were not invincible after all.
The Conversion to a Heavier Aircraft
Mr. Cole describes the conversion from twin engine aircraft to the four engine Halifax at 1667 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU)
Morale
Mr. Cole explains that they had high morale even though they were aware of the high morality rate of air crew. They just thought that it would be the other guy instead of themselves.
The Voyage Overseas
Mr. Cole describes what it was like to prepare for and to go overseas. He describes the morale of his comrades.