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Bombing and gunnery school
Mr. West talks of his time in Fingal, Ontario, while he attended a bombing and gunnery training centre.
Learning of a new aircraft, the Wellington bomber
After Mr. West gets settled in England and his new air force base near Stratford on Avon, he and the flight crew have to adapt their previous training to that on a new aircraft, the Wellington bomber. Mr. West tells how his pilot's inexperience with the Wellington almost caused them to crash.
The Halifax bomber
Mr. West now serving aboard a Halifax bomber describes the different models of the Halifax, the specifications of the aircraft and some of the differences between it and the Lancaster bomber.
The loss of two engines
Mr. West tells us how the plane he was travelling on lost two engines while taking enemy anti-aircraft flak. The pilot had prepared the crew to parachute from the plane but he managed to keep the aircraft in the air long enough to make a unannounced emergency landing back in Britain.
Dangers of close formation flying
During bombing runs, air craft would fly dangerously close to one another. Mr. West talks about the dangers of bumping into another plane while large groups of aircraft were flying together.
Bombing alone
Technology has advanced over the years, but during the Second World War sometimes it was more a distraction. Mr. West recalls during one bombing run that his pilot, annoyed by the static on the airwaves, ordered that the radios be turned off, subsequently missing the order to turn back to base. Mr. West's plane was the only one who made the target and dropped their bombs.
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