NIGHTMARE TRIP

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 63, 10 June 1942, Page 3

NIGHTMARE TRIP

CRIPPLED BOMBER'S CREW RETURN FRO'M BREMEN RAID To crash land in a Manchester bomber only four minutes after reaching England, following a night mare return flight from Bremen with only one engine working, was the experience of Pilot-.Dlf icer B, Usher, of Patea, recently. The Manchester was hit by tlak over the target: one engine seized up and stopped. The crew did not believe that they had a chance of reaching England, but they preferred to fake the risk rather than land in Germany. In the two and a-quar-tcr hours' return (light the bomber continually lost height. Twice the remaining engine stalled and the aircraft went into a spin. "We thought we Averc Tor it','' said Pilot-Officer Usher, "but our Australian skipper, a sergeant pilot, pulled out of the spins and eventually we came through. Four minutes after we crossed the coast of England our petrol ran out and we crash landed. One of the wireless operators and 1 walked out of the plane into a ditch of icy water. Talk about an anti-climax! "We are a mixed lot in our crew" Pilot-iOn'icer Usher added. "I am the only New Zealander, and, in addit'on to the Australian skipper, our observer is a Scot, our rear gunner a Canadian, our front gnnner an Irishman, and our two wireless operators English. t "Our Bremen trip is easily our worst so far. It was a very bad night and we had difficulty in finding the target—a railway goods yard. But we got if all right, and came in for a good deal of attention by searchlights and flak. It was not until Ave were on our Avay back to the coast that we found that one of the engines was out of action."