The Lancaster Bomber

Heroes Remember

The Lancaster Bomber

Transcript

In our day, they had the Pathfinder squadrons. They took elite crews from various squadrons in bomber command to form what they called the Pathfinder Force, (PFF). And their job was to go in ahead of the main force and drop TIs, target indicators. They would be in the form of green or red flares that the Pathfinders would accurately mark the target and when we would go in, the main force would go in, the master bomber would give instructions to bomb on the green TIs or bomb on the red TIs or whatever the case may be. That, in the latter stages, proved to be fairly accurate. Never totally accurate of course because you get the, the first wave goes in and drops his bombs, there are lot, lots of smoke. Obscures the target indicators, so you get what they call ‘creep back', the next wave goes in and drops short of the target. Next, a little shorter still. So, but I think in retrospect and in reading recorded history, of course, and, and articles on the various air craft, I think that the Lancaster, with the Pathfinder Force in effect, was one of the greatest contributors to bombing accuracy. It was never like the Americans used to say, "I could drop a bomb in a barrel from thirty-thousand feet." We never achieved that accuracy. I don't think they did either. The Lanc carried the largest, the heaviest payload. I would say that normally, in fact most of the bombing missions that I participated in, our bomb load would probably be twelve, fourteen thousand pounds. There would be probably a four- thousand pounder, possibly a half a dozen thousands, and then maybe four five-hundreds, if you were up to twelve or fourteen thousand. And then of course, we carried two incendiaries, canisters of incendiaries. These were, I think they were probably about four pounds, four pound incendiary bombs. They were about a foot and a half long and about that round, but they were in canisters and they just dropped and of course they were petroleum jelly. So once they caught, it was pretty well impossible to extinguish the fires that they caused.

Description

Mr. Cole describes the accuracy of the Lancaster Bomber, its payload and the Pathfinder Force (PFF) that was used to mark its target.

Raymond Boyd Cole

Raymond Boyd Cole was born in Elliston on July 14, 1924. His father worked in the United States and then at a papermill in Grand Falls, Newfoundland, when Raymond Cole was one month old. Mr. Cole grew up in Newfoundland.

In 1941, Mr. Cole finished grade 11 and was 17 years old in July of that year. He wanted to be a fighter pilot so in 1942 he signed up for the air force by altering his birth certificate. He received his wings on November 12, 1943. He found out later that he was not to become a pilot, but he did become an air gunner.

Mr. Cole spent three weeks at #1 Air Gunners Ground Training School (AGGTS). He then spent six weeks at #9 Bombing and Gunnery School (BGS). Following #9 BGS he went overseas. Further training includes #30 Operation Training Unit (OTU) and then 1667 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) where he made the conversion from twin engine aircraft to heavier, four engine aircraft with seven crew members.

Mr. Cole flew as an air gunner in over twenty operations with as much as one thousand aircraft in some. He was involved in the Normandy Campaign and many of the missions were heavy concentration bombings of the Ruhr Valley, which was a heavy industrial area.

Mr. Cole completed his flying tour (thirty operations) and went on to do three more operations afterwards. One to help his crew finish up their tour and then volunteered for another two. He worked as an orderly and as a truck driver for a while before returning to Grand Falls, after three and a half years overseas. Afterwards, he became a minister.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 03:21
Person Interviewed:: Raymond Boyd Cole
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Europe
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 166th Airborne
Rank:: Corporal
Occupation:: Air Gunner

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The Lancaster Bomber

Heroes Remember