Ground trials of the new radar
navigational aid GEE were in progress at Marham, Norfolk in the
summer of 1941. Twelve pilots and twelve observers from 115 and
218 Squadrons were involved in the trials and had been informed
they would not be undertaking operational flying until these
were completed. Understandably, they were surprised to be
notified of briefing for an attack on Bremen on Sunday 13th July
1941. It was to be a "maximum" effort. The "maximum" effort
consisted of 69 Wellington bombers, 47 of which were targeted on
Bremen, 20 on Vegesack and 2 on Emden. All crews would encounter
heavy cloud and icing. 16 aircraft would claim to have bombed
Bremen. Two Wellingtons would fail to return from the Bremen
attack. The high casualty rate among aircrews tended to breed
superstition. Young men who under normal circumstances would
have had a highly rational outlook on life succumbed to the
carrying of talisman and lucky charms. Any innocent member of
the WAAF who happened to have two successive boy friends who
failed to return from operations would be labelled a "chop girl"
and shunned. Superstition even extended to members of the
aircrew fraternity. Some aircrew could be considered unlucky to
fly with and would be regarded as a jinx.
The crew of 115 Squadron
Wellington R1502 KO W, Sergeants J. Reid, pilot and captain, G.
Buckingham, observer, I. Wallis, wireless operator, M. Dunne,
front gunner and T. Oliver, rear gunner, were short of their
regular second pilot. He had been sent to London to attend a
Commission Board. Sgt pilot F.B. Tipper was to take his place.
Sgt Tipper was regarded as a jinx by the rest of the Squadron.
The crew he had flown with on his first sortie had suffered a
very shaky "do". On his second operation the aircraft had
crashed on take off, fortunately with no fatal result. Bremen
would be his third operational flight.
The observer's chair in a
Wellington moves backwards and forwards in tracks firmly
fastened to the floor of the aircraft. When he boarded the
aircraft Geoff Buckingham found to his intense annoyance that
the tracks to his chair were broken leaving it free to slide all
over the place in the event of violent evasive action. Further
the chair cushion was missing. Instead of throwing his parachute
pack on the bed as he usually did he would have to sit on it in
lieu of the cushion. Little did he realise that before the night
was out the object of his annoyance would save his life.
The sky was clear in England
but over the North Sea thick cloud was encountered. As they
approached the enemy coastline there was a partial thinning of
the cloud and Sgt Tipper was able to pass a pinpoint on the
Dutch Coast to his observer. Tipper then left the cockpit and
made his way aft to the astrodome where he would keep a constant
vigil for night fighters. The Wellington was now at 9,000 feet.
Sgt Buckingham had just spotted Texel Beacon and was returning
to his station from the cockpit when Sgt Oliver in the rear
turret yelled over the intercom, "Fighter".
Simultaneously he opened up
with his guns racking the fuselage with vibration and filling it
with the fumes of cordite. Oberleutnant Egmont Prinz zur
Lippe-Weissenfeld, the Austrian Prince and Staffelkapitan with
the IV./NJG1 had just made his initial strike setting the
starboard engine of the bomber on fire. He was now somewhere out
in the darkness manoeuvring for a second attack.
Sgt Buckingham rushed forward
to the cockpit and pressed the starboard engine fire
extinguisher button. This put out the fire. Next he jettisoned
the bombs and gave the pilot a reciprocal course to fly. He then
returned to the cabin to check his log. At this moment the
second attack occurred and it was far more devastating than the
first. Cannon fire from beneath the bomber raked the whole
length of the fuselage wounding all members of the crew, some
more seriously than others. Sgt. Buckingham blacked out. When he
came round he was lying across the step, adjacent to the forward
escape hatch. As the aircraft had gone into a dive the loose
seat which he had cursed so roundly at the beginning of the
flight had slid to the nose and deposited him on the floor by
the escape hatch. His parachute pack which he had used as a
cushion was lying on top of him.
He took stock of the
situation. The bomber was on fire and he was wounded in face and
arm with cannon shrapnel. There was a hole in the back of his
leg which was bleeding profusely. The door to the front turret
was wide open. There was no sign of the pilot. Fastening his
parachute pack to the harness he found that one J clip had been
smashed by the cannon fire. He used the remaining clip then
heaved on the edge of the escape hatch. In an instant he was out
and away into the night. Hanging awkwardly beneath his
parachute, suspended at an angle by one clip only, he made a bad
landing injuring his anklebone.
Wellington R1502 KO W crashed
at 0028 on 14th July 1941 at Onderdijk, 5 kilometres south of
Medemblik. Sgt Tipper's body was recovered from the wreckage. It
was assumed that he had been killed by the second burst of fire
from the night fighter. Later zur Lippe visited the crew in
hospital and expressed his regret that a member of the crew had
died. He said he was after the bomber not the crew.
R.I.P.
Sergeant Frederick Birkett
TIPPER, 928888 RAF(VR), age 27, 115
Squadron. Grave 1.E.13 Bergen
General Cemetery, Holland.
On 12th March 1944 Major
Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weissenfeld, Kommodore of the NJG5, while
flying during daylight in the Ardennes touched the ground,
crashed and was killed. He was credited with a total of 51 night
victories.
Writer's footnote - Geoff
Buckingham and I stood in the same line for attestation into the
RAF(VR) at Uxbridge on Friday 7thJune 1940. His service number
was 1251742, mine 1251735. We both trained as Observers. We were
both eventually posted to 115 Squadron at Marham but our
postings were one year apart. He became a POW on the night of
13th July 1941. I was made POW on the night of 13th July 1942.
We both survived the war. Who says the number 13 is unlucky?
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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