CHAPTER TWO

The Battle Begins

The Battle of Berlin officially began on Thursday, 18th November 1943, although some former aircrew members feel it had begun in September. Either way it matters little. Over the next four months the all-out attacks on the Big City were to be a fierce and bitterly fought campaign.

The First Raid

Raid number one was to be a two-target operation. A force of 440 Lancasters and four Mosquitos were detailed to take part, while at the same time 395 aircraft, mostly Halifaxes and Stirlings, were to bomb Mannheim. In addition, Mosquitos were to make harassing attacks on Essen, Frankfurt and Aachen. Over the latter target, route markers were also dropped for the two Main bomber streams making for Berlin and Mannheim.

As part of the plan and to try and keep the enemy fighters busy, a force of seven Wellingtons would drop leaflets over Northern France, a duty shared by a small force of American Flying Fortresses. Meanwhile, under the cover of the bomber streams, 32 sea mines would be dropped off the Dutch coast and French Atlantic ports by sixteen Wellington aircraft.

At the time of this first raid, Bomber Command had some 513 Lancasters, 271 Halifaxes, 137 Stirlings, 23 Wellingtons, and 46 Mosquitos available. The force for this raid comprised:

1 Group	—	153 Lancasters
3 Group	—	12 Lancasters
5 Group	—	182 Lancasters
6 Group	—	29 Lancasters
8 Group	—	64 Lancasters and four Mosquitos.
		440

That day at the various airfields all over Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, crews were hanging around flight offices to see if ops were on that night, and if so (and more important) if they themselves were on the Order of Battle. This, of course, depended on the weather, not only in England but equally, over the course and target. It was also important to know the predictions in the weather for returning aircraft, lighter in load, possibly damaged, with men tense and tired, seeking the safety of their home bases – or any ‘friendly’ airfield!

Whenever a crew was on for that night, the captain of each aircraft would come back from the ops room to tell the rest of his crew they were operating and an air of tension and of apprehension set in. For each member of the crew now there was a strict routine which had to be adhered to, a routine that could mean the difference between them returning or not returning safely.

For the pilot it meant a night flying test (NFT) or practice bombing exercise perhaps, combined with the NFT. The procedure for abandoning the aircraft and ditching in the sea was reviewed. Many a crew were saved after ditching because the captain had done his homework or practised regularly the procedure when landing in the sea. Flying on three or even two engines was carried out by some pilots, to experience for his own benefit and that of the others, flying with this loss of power and stability. Some pilots let their flight engineers take over the controls for a time in case the pilot was hit and could not fly the aircraft; other pilots were against this and allowed nobody in their seats. The oxygen system had to be checked as was the intercom, both the responsibility of the pilot, for both systems were vital on ops.

The flight engineer was responsible for the well-being and performance of the engines, the fuel and oil, and any repairs that were asked to be attended to by him or the pilot previously. He generally checked the aircraft over before start-up time, ensured that the chocks were under the wheels, that the fuel required had been taken aboard and that the take-off weight was checked with the pilot. Inside the aircraft he checked that the first aid kits, fire extinguishers and portable oxygen sets were all in place. Before take-off he checked all four engines before flight run-up, checking the magnetos and boost. This would be done as quickly as possible to save wear and tear on the engines.

As the pilot and engineer attended to their pre-flight checks so the other crew members had their individual tasks. The bomb-aimer was responsible for the bombs they carried, although until the briefing (along with the rest of the crew) he did not know the target, only details of the bomb load carried; for example one 4,000 lb, four to six 1,000 lb bombs and cans of incendiaries or any extra items such as propaganda news sheets printed in German, or ‘Window’ — narrow metallic strips carried in bundles which were pushed out in order to block the German radar. In the NFT, which usually lasted about half an hour, he had to check the bomb sight and bombing computer, plus all the electronics in his bombing compartment. He was also responsible for the rotation of the front turret and the elevation of the guns, its sight and, last but certainly not least, that the escape hatch in the floor of his front compartment opened easily in case of an emergency. Also, he must check that it was correctly locked in flight — very important as far as he was concerned, if for no other reason than his own safety. When on the bombing run he had to lie full length across the hatch door!