The weather in the British
Isles on Saturday May 10th 1941 was fine with little or no
cloud. Visibility was good and similar conditions obtained on
the Continent with some high and medium cloud over north-west
Germany. There would be a full moon that night. On the bomber
squadrons the usual morning routine activities were taking
place. Marham air base in Norfolk was reverberating with the
noise of Wellington bombers bearing the code letters KO as 115
Squadron crews lifted off on short cross country flights to air
test their machines, equipment and guns.
Twenty-six-year old Sgt John
Anderson touched down on the grass airfield around midday in
Wellington R1379 KO-B having completed his air test. After
taxiing to his dispersal point he and his five-man crew
clambered down the ladder to wait for transport back to the
Flights. John Anderson, an experienced operational pilot, had
recently taken command of this new, combat inexperienced crew.
He had flown three operational flights with them. The second
pilot was a 20-year-old Australian, Sgt Alex Kerr. Sgt David
Fraser, also aged 20, was the rear gunner. The observer, who
carried out the dual role of navigator and bomb aimer, was Sgt
Bill Legg. Sgts Geoff Hogg and Bernard Morgan as wireless
operator and front gunner respectively completed the crew.
Back at the Flights John
Anderson noted that instructions were chalked on the boards for
the ground crew to fuel and bomb up his aircraft.It signified
they would be on operations that night. In the late afternoon in
the company of other participating aircrews he and his crew
attended briefing and learned that orders had come through from
Bomber Command HQ for an attack on Hamburg. One hundred and
nineteen bombers were being despatched to bomb the general city
area, Altona power-station and the shipyards. Sixty of these
aircraft would be Wellingtons. Hampdens and Whitleys, plus one
Manchester,the forerunner of the Lancaster bomber, would make up
the complement. The target for the crew of KO-B was the dock
area at Hamburg.
Swinging round to line up with
the take off strip at 2217 hours the crew members of KO-B were
very much preoccupied with thoughtsof their immediate future.
They could not know that the Luftwaffe had already begun a
devastating fire-bomb attack on the City of London. This
attack,aided by good visibility from a full moon, and an
abnormally low tide in the River Thames leaving firemen short of
water, would create a "second"Great Fire of London. They could
not know that a lone German fighter was within six minutes'
flying time of the British Isles. Bf110 coded VJ+OQ with Rudolf
Hess the Deputy Fuhrer of Germany at its controls was fast
approaching its zero hour.
An uneventful outward flight
punctuated only with a flak burst from an isolated battery along
the route brought them to the port of Hamburg. Homing in on the
target at a height of 11,000 feet they began to make their
bombing run but fierce opposition from the defences in the form
of close proximity flak threw them off course. Sgt Anderson
turned to make another run across the target and this time Sgt
Legg was able to release his bombs. Weaving out of the intense
flak barrage they turned onto a predetermined course at full
boost. Almost immediately they were picked up by three radar
controlled searchlights and coned in the beams of their
attendant searchlight batteries.
The heavy flak now located and
started hitting them. Hydraulic pipes in the aircraft were
ruptured releasing hydraulic fluid,which caused the rear turret
to jam at an awkward angle. David Fraser also reported over the
intercom a fire in his turret. Further, his vision was obscured
by hydraulic fluid and oil, which had spread over the perspex
windows of the turret. His electric gun sight had been put out
of action. The observer,Bill Legg, made his way towards the rear
turret with the cabin fire extinguisher. In the meantime David
had stamped out the fire. As Bill made his way back to the cabin
he could see Kerr standing in the astrodome watching out for
fighters. In the event of an attack Kerr would direct the pilot
in his evasive action. Suddenly the flak batteries stopped
firing. It signalled the immediate presence of a night fighter.
27-year-old Leutnant
Eckart-Wilhelm von Bonin of the 11./NJG1 piloting a Bf110 night
fighter had been vectored into the vicinity of the enemy
aircraft. His task had been eased by the searchlights outlining
the Wellington bomber. He was now manoeuvring into position for
an attack from the rear starboard quarter. This was his first
operational interception. He was keyed up and very apprehensive
of the two guns in the bomber's rear turret. Von Bonin would
eventually become a night fighter ace with 41 victories to his
credit but he was now to be tested in battle for the very first
time.Closing fast on the bomber he could not understand why the
rear turret was not swinging in his direction. The enemy gunner
must have seen him at this range. Tense, with the adrenalin
pumping, he opened fire. As he did so he realised only his
machine guns were firing. He had overlooked the firing button
for the 20mm cannon. It was a blessing in disguise for the
British crew.
Back in the bomber Alex Kerr
heard David Fraser's terse voice over the intercom,
"Night fighter on our tail."
He swung round in the
astrodome and saw a dark shape moving rapidly into position on
the starboard quarter. As he shouted instructions over the
intercom to the pilot he felt Bill Legg brush against him as he
returned from the rear turret. The fighter's wings danced with
pinpoints of flame as the German pilot opened up. Kerr felt a
heavy blow as though he had been punched simultaneously all over
his body. He was knocked backwards on to the canvas bed in the
aircraft. Before he lost consciousness he noticed a fire had
started in the reconnaissance flares which were amidships on the
starboard side. They were close to the oxygen bottles. The
machine gun bullets had wounded him in ten places including a
bullet in his liver. Bill Legg was standing next to Alex Kerr
when the fighter attacked. He was off intercom and didn't know
what was happening. A hammer-like blow hit him in the lower part
of the back. He twisted involuntarily and received several other
hits. With blood oozing from his back and stomach he crumpled
and fell unconscious to the floor.
John Anderson aware of the
bright yellow flame burning amidships began to throw the
Wellington about in an effort to blow out the fire. His efforts
were unavailing. The bomber continued to burn fiercely. Fearing
an explosion would blow the aircraft to pieces he gave the order
to bale out.
Although David Fraser's turret
was jammed at an angle he managed to squeeze through the narrow
aperture left by the partly obscured door and gained access to
the fuselage where his parachute was stored. As he made his way
to the emergency escape hatch aft of the beam machine gun on the
starboard side he saw Alex sitting in front of the hatch. He was
obviously badly wounded and very dazed. A quick examination of
Bill Legg who was lying further up the fuselage convinced David
that he was dead. He returned to Alex, who in the meantime had
managed to remove the cover from the escape hatch and was
sitting with his legs dangling through the hatch. David placed
Alex' hand on the ripcord and pushed him out. He was relieved to
see his parachute open. David followed. By now Bernard Morgan
and Geoff Hogg had both made good their escape. Having set the
automatic pilot John Anderson scrambled down to the escape hatch
and baled out. Unfortunately he landed in the River Elbe and
drowned. The aircraft continued on course burning
brightly,carrying the badly wounded, unconscious figure of its
observer.
The crumpled body of Bill Legg
began to stir as he slowly regained his senses. He still wasn't
sure what had happened and by an immense effort of will
staggered to his feet and climbed over the main spar to get to
the cockpit. He was amazed to find the pilot's seat empty.Slowly
it dawned on him that he was alone in a burning aircraft some
9000 feet above Germany. He had to get out and get out quickly.
His parachute was under his table. Having retrieved it he made
his way forward to the main escape hatch. Carrying the parachute
in his hand instead of immediately clipping it to his harness he
stood over the escape hatch looking down into the night. At that
moment his strength seemed to ebb. The chute slipped from his
grasp.He watched with dismay as it fell through the escape hatch
and into the darkness. His position was now desperate. He had
never been officially trained as a pilot and had only taken over
the controls of a Wellington briefly for a straight and level
flight with one of his pilots.
Weakness brought on by his
wounds dulled his senses. He didn't panic. With great difficulty
he climbed into the pilot's seat and took over the controls. He
released the automatic pilot and switched to manual control. As
there was no possibility of surviving he decided to stick the
nose down and crash, taking something or someone that was German
with him. Losing height rapidly he found he could pick out
rivers, fields and buildings in the bright moonlight. He pulled
back on the stick and levelled out at about 600 feet. One field
appeared to be much larger than the rest. He decided to try to
crash land in it. Easing back on the throttles, unable to employ
flap because of the damaged hydraulics, he approached at a speed
of 100 knots to avoid stalling. At a height of around 100 feet
he closed both throttles and braced himself for the crash. About
three-quarters of the way along the field the Wellington touched
down, bumped along on its belly and stopped. Having released the
pilot's escape hatch Bill found he was too weak to pull himself
through it. Two German soldiers from a nearby flak battery
climbed on to the burning plane and lifted him to safety.
In captivity Alex Kerr
recovered from his wounds fairly rapidly and a year later on
11th May 1942 was recaptured after an attempted escape. With
Bill Legg it was far more serious. Several operations were
carried out on him by a fellow prisoner, Dr. Chatenay. Chatenay
was a young French doctor who took a great interest in Bill's
case. He carried out miraculous feats of surgery with limited
medical supplies under primitive conditions.The open hole in
Bill's back never healed, he has it to this day. Bill was
repatriated in October 1943 under an exchange of POWs with the
Germans. In August 1944 he recommenced flying duties as an
instructor. The other crew survivors were repatriated at the end
of the war.
In the late 1980's a Canadian
holidaying in Hamburg came across an old photo album in a junk
shop. The contents of the album included four photographs of a
crashed Wellington bomber. The serial and code of the aircraft
were plainly visible, R1379 KO-B. He bought the album as a
present for a friend back in Canada a WW2 aviation researcher
named Steve Martin. Steve Martin managed to find out that the
Wellington was a victim of Von Bonin. He traced the German
ex-pilot who expressed a wish to meet the surviving crew members
of Wellington KO-B providing they bore him no malice. Through
the Ministry of Defence Steve Martin found the bomber was from
115 Squadron. Contacting 115 Squadron Association he was able to
obtain the addresses of Bill Legg, David Fraser and Geoff Hogg.
Exactly fifty years after the
original incident, on 10th May 1991, the three bomber crew
members met Von Bonin at Hohn German Air Force base. It was a
very emotional occasion. Von Bonin embraced them all. He said
that in 1941 when he had attacked their bomber he had been very
annoyed with himself because he had forgotten to arm his cannon.
Meeting them now he was very pleased that he hadn't set the 20mm
cannon button to"Fire".
Footnote Eckart-Wilhelm von
Bonin died in January 1992, Bill Legg died in 1996.
Written by Don Bruce - Observer
115 Squadron -POW Stalag VIIIB
©
Jean Darley 2013. Please respect the copyright.
This is an article that my father
has written and is included in his compilation of 115 Squadron's
Roll of Honour.
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