20 Aug 1942 Chipping Warden The crew of a Wellington was five. Pilot, Navigator, Bomb-aimer, Wireless Operator, Reargunner. We paraded to a large hanger used for drill on wet days. In it were a crowd of aircrew - twenty of each persuasion. Up to date I only knew well other navigator/observers plus my roommate in the officers mess. ‘Sort yourselves out’ said the Chief Instructor. Looking across the hanger from my group of navigators I waved to Peter standing in the pilot group. ‘Like to join my crew’ he said. We then looked at the wireless operators. Two days previously we had been in a local pub. Pubs were not our scene and moved to a table in a quiet corner where a Sgt was drinking a lemonsade. He was reg Gaisford and seeing him in the hanger he joined us and became part of our crew. He was a tall handsome man who at once stuck out as neat, honest and intelligent - not your typical Sergent. A Pilot Officer came over and asked ‘Looking for a gunner’. In contrast to Reg he was small man, broadly built and spoke in a cockney accent. He had a twinkle in his eye. ‘You might as well know I’m a downgraded pilot’. ‘Join us’ said Peter. ‘Delighted, I’m Pat O’Connel - call me Con.’ Cons room mate was a bomb aimer and Con went over and collected him.’Meet Don Ross’ he said. Don was also a small man and it occured to me that perhaps they had both been selected to get easily in a turret. Don hailed from the North-West, his mother had a high class shop in Southport. ‘What about a cup of tea’ said Don and we went for our first tea break as a crew.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 18:23:48 +0000
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