Our 13th Op.

Heroes Remember

Our 13th Op.

Transcript

In 1943 when we got shot down we were on our 13th op. It was the longest trip the RAF had attempted at that time. It was all the way to Czechoslovakia to the Skoda Works and we didn’t get there and 110 other guys didn’t get there. But they... some did get there and get back. That was one of the biggest losses up to that time. It was a long way to go. All the way across Germany and into Czechoslovakia. We didn’t get into Czechoslovakia. We didn’t get that far. We got knocked down by a Messerschmitt. It came up underneath. We were flying straight and level at that time. Normally on the shorter trips we’d go a little bit this way so the gunners could have a view below, but this way he couldn’t see anything down below at all. And he came up from underneath, he really... he knew this too... the German pilot knew. He came up from underneath. First thing we knew he was there was he knocked out our starboard engines and set the thing on fire. The first thing I saw was... his bullets going off. He was so close I could hear em, you know, I could hear the guns. But then his big error was coming up to look at his job that he’d done. He had himself a Halifax. He came into sight and bingo he was gone. I’m sure he got out, but his aircraft was gone.

Description

Mr. Fawcett describes losing their Halifax bomber on a mission to Skoda, Czechoslovakia.

Charlie Fawcett

Mr. Fawcett was born June 15, 1922 and grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He first became interested in planes when his father took him to Regina to go for a ride in one. It was this early interest in aviation that led him to sign up with the air force in 1942. He received gunnery training at Dafoe, SK and from there went overseas in the latter part of 1942. He chose to be a rear gunner as it was the fastest way to get overseas. Once in England he was assigned to an RAF squadron, stationed in Yorkshire, that consisted of an Australian pilot and an all English crew. In 1943, while on a trip to Czechoslovakia, they were shot down over Germany by a Messerschmitt. After bailing out of the aircraft Mr. Fawcett landed in a tree. The following day he was taken prisoner by the Germans. Over the next 2 ½ years he was interned in three different POW camps. Mr. Fawcett remained a POW until the end of the war.

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