83 Squadron.
Avro Lancaster JB459 OL-T (“T for Tommy”)
3 April 1943
Essen, Germany
No. 83 Squadron, No. 8 Group, RAF Bomber Command
Pilot: Flt Lt Walter Harry Shaw, RAF
Bomb Aimer: Flt Lt S. J. B. Snowden, RAF
Navigator: Flt Lt John Hubert Dunk, RAF
Engineer: Flt Sgt George Dunmore, RAF
Wireless Operator: Flt Sgt John Arthur Bott, RAF
Mid-Upper Gunner: Flt Sgt Francis Mark Tutton, RCAF
Rear Gunner: Flt Sgt Robert Ernest Morgan, RAF
Sound Engineer: Flt Lt Alfred Edward Sweeney, RAF
“T for Tommy” is later lost over Berlin, flying with another crew on the night of 26 November 1943.
Transcript
Right-o.
Right, we’re on now.
Okay.
Well, there’s the target straight ahead, Skip.
Okay, we’re over the lake now.
Okay, now.
Just coming up.
Okay.
What was the heading again?
146.
Okay, on 146.
Okay.
And the airspeed?
170.
Yes, I’ve got it. Bang on.
Okay.
Ten seconds. Two minutes, ten seconds, Bomb Aimer.
Okay, two minutes, ten seconds.
Twenty seconds.
You can weave a bit, Skip.
Okay, Bomb Aimer.
Thirty seconds.
Flares. Flares, just to the left.
Okay.
Okay, you can keep weaving for a while
Forty seconds.
Check the position of the flares by your time run.
Yes, I can see some ground detail in the flash of the flak bursts.
Fifty seconds.
One minute.
Keep on weaving, Skipper.
Ten seconds, one minute to go now.
Five.
All right now, you’ll want some last minute corrections, Bomb Aimer?
Yes.
I’ll fly her straight ahead.
Steer her nice, straight and level.
Ten.
Bomb doors open.
Bomb doors open.
Give her a bit of extra time, if anything.
Yes.
Fifteen.
Left. Left.
Twenty.
Steady. Steady.
Twenty-five.
Steady. Bombs away.
Thirty.
There goes the cookie [4,000 lb bomb].
Lookie, lookie, lookie.
Oh, we got lucky going over there.
And, there go the incendiaries. There goes my bottle [urine bottle].
Take jettison action.
Jettison action now.
Okay, I think they’re firing at us.
Yeah.
Bomb doors closed.
Bomb doors closed.
By jove! New course now?
New course-
Look at those fires boys. Oh, what a-
185.
Okay, turning on 185.
There’s a Lanc up on your starboard beam.
I see him, yes.
He’s turning down. Move.
Yes, I can see him. Starboard bow now.
Yeah, he’s right ahead.
Okay.
Cross over-
Right, give me that course again. What was it?
185.
185, okay.
That was a direct hit over the target by the look of it.
Yeah.
Okay.
Keep going, Skip, they’re all turning off this way.
Okay.
There’s a Lanc coming up on your starboard beam underneath our wing.
Now he’s turned off, just moving off.
Okay
There’s a Lanc on our port beam.
Yes, I can see him, Rear Gunner.
There’s a bloke still on our starboard beam, just down a bit.
I see him.
Right, now keep your eyes peeled for fighters, gunners. They’re obviously milling around the target here now like flies.
Okay, Skip.
Searchlight underneath our starboard wing, Skip.
Okay.