Kite Bombs

Interviewer: At some point, I know you’ve described in there, being, or seeing, or being attacked by German Kite Bombs. What were those? Tell me about that. Oh the Buzz Bombs. Oh no, the other ones they were, what the heck kind of, they came over and they dropped these canisters and we were told the canisters were about maybe 8, 10 feet in length and cone-shaped and they were filled with shrapnel and they dropped them and at maybe 1000 feet or so, they explode. And, you could hear the whistle, you could get the devil out of the way; you didn’t hear the whistle, you had it. In fact, one hit our outhouse, one minute it was there, the next minute it was gone. Then one night, Fergie, our dispatch rider, come in with the mail and he decided to spend the night, he dug a slit trench right next to a jeep and that’s where he was sleeping and one of these things come over. And it landed right, just about on top of the jeep and we got to him and we had to dig there was three of us I think, we had to dig by hand. We could, he was down about maybe two feet and it seemed forever and ever that we were going, you know. Finally we got him out, he was okay But afterwards, the CO, he was there too, and he said it only took us about two minutes to dig him out, we were just going at it like, you know. And poor Fergie he, we kept him with us for about four or five days. They wouldn’t let him on his motor bike, stayed with us, so we kept him and treated him like a king, because we made friends with a baker and it was the first time we’d had white bread since coming from England, in about 13 months, the first time we had white bread. It was a pleasure.

Mr. Abdallah explains what kite bombs are and talks about a close call their dispatch rider had with one.

Wilf Abdallah

Mr. Abdallah was born in London, Ontario, in 1923. His father immigrated from Lebanon to the United States at the age of 12 and eventually ended up in London, Ontario, where he was a candy maker and owned a few stores in the area. In 1936 the family moved to Petrolia and then on to Sarnia. Mr Abdallah attended high school in Sarnia before moving back to London in 1939-40. After lying about his age Mr. Abdallah joined the Royal Canadian Air Force when he was seventeen. He went to Toronto for three weeks training at Manning Depot before going to Paulson, Manitoba, to complete his training. In March of 1944 he sailed on the Louis Pasteur to Bournemouth, England, where he was stationed with 129 Airfield. Mr. Abdallah worked with the tactical air force, building airfields and then joined the air force’s return salvage unit. He moved through France, Belgium and Holland recovering aircraft to be repaired or stripped for parts. When Mr. Abdallah returned to Canada after the war he went back to live the rest of his life in London, Ontario.