1961-11-11 — Page 9

A

BOMBING OFFENSIVE

THE HEROES SPEAK

Even now this wife

loves a full moon..

BRASS Lincoln imp says Mr Ronald Gardner, now a fireman, of Kenley, once a and a brassiere lie wireless operator of Bomber on a table in the bun- Command,

galow's sitting-room.

Eighteen years ago they were playing a practical part in the bombing offensive against Ger- many.

"I had to leave the bra be- hind, though. It would have helped the Germans if we had

been shot down because it had all our squadron number and "Ed have been really worried our old targets embroidered on if I'd left my imp behind," it."

A British Crossword Puzzle

LACROSS

ranean Ways. ples: in bed?

Animal Cry

12 Well clothes should.

13. Great excitement.

13

8

Hiviinary warm-up?

1. Birds.

DOWN

2 Play u part.

B The line?

& Responsibility.

6 It's put on the sea bed

8 The family one?

10. Add one child.

18 Overweight.--

14 A beaming boy?

16 Wine producert

17 High shots.

18 Bind,

21 Snatch oJT."

33 Preceding...

WORD-Aorom: 1 Speed, & Sport, #

Ape, 13 El, 14 Car, 10 Sty, 18 Roster, 3,020. Alf 11 Ars, 37 Mat, 34 Ayr,

30 - Weep, 404 Huske. : Down!.. Nas, 5 Stars, U Pop, 7 Ores, 8. Tiny, are 2 NIL 14 Adimits, 36 Deters, Anew, 15 kame, 39 AMOR, BD YP

chief of Bomber Command, to knock Germany out of the war by next spring."

Ron Gardner went 18tiines to Berlin and, although Ger- many was not knocked out of the war until a second spring had come, he remembers what they did to the

city. nye

never saw Berlin. That is, we never Баж the streets. But what you could see through the cloud

was the fire. It was was

Berlin, Essen, Friedrichshaten, ike molten metal in a plum- Nuremberg. The names of ber's cauldron.

A proper ball- slaughtered cities are carefully

At 20,000 feet you could stitched on the faded pink of

up.

a girl's brassiere. "It belonged sense the heat coming up at tu Ethel," says Mr Gardner, you." smiling across at his wife.

Superstitious

Most people had become superstitious, he told me. "It was fantastic the reliance we Lin- put in mascots. Scarves, colnshire imps, Cornish imps, One panties, oft flying boots.

a

а

The crew's morale held, and Sir Arthur Harris had much to do with this. "He was tort of myth to us, old Butch. You might have thought we'd be against him. But we'd go anywhere for him. I won't hear a word against him.”

by TOM POCOCK

NEXT: The dog

who bombed

Berfin

cause the Continent was sock- ed in with fog and no German fighters could take off."

No orders

That night 796 bombers took During his tour of 29 opera-

off from English airfields bound tional sorties

for Nuremberg. At the Dutch there was for Gardner at the very

least coast Gardner looked below and "cally wobbles In the of our pilots always wore

saw "just as if a damn great guts."

cleaver had sliced the cloud to top hat on take-off and hung But he tried

spare his

could see Bway so you

the fields, houses and roads. I could see Lanes all round us and the Germans could see us, too, and sent up every fighter they'd got"

a lavatory brush out of the family.

window."

Ron

He averaged six days' leave Gardner, like the every six weeks. For the first others, had also learned three days at home he would to rely on the skill of the sleep almost continuously other six man in his Lancaster "perhaps as a reaction to the

Len Young managed to save and on his own courage. He wakey-wakey pills

took we

he was 17 when he joined the when we got tired flying." For his crew. Without orders feet would climbed to 21,000

and RAF and barely 20 when, in the last three days he November 1943, he entered rarely refer to his work. His eventually bombed "what the battle of Berlin.

mother thought he was atill thought was Nuremberg." But more than 100 other crews were not so fortunate.

being trained.

Then one day bis mother had to be told.

we

"It mostly happened during Ironically it happened

that Arst hour and a half, says their cost successful raid. The Gardner. "Experienced pilots

on

But first he had taken one precaution, "At the opera tional training amit all the blokes were mixed up together for three days and told to sort themselves out into crews. docks at Stettin were the climbed out of the way, but a target. As crippled bombers lot of others tried to get away Tooting wat oor from stranged back across the North when they saw the best

Gardner's Lancaster was

them

pushed

told toe, Look, son,

They the gate to

It's very wonderful to have a diverted to Middleton St throttles daredevil attitude but if you George in Yorkshire urheir make a dash for it. But their want to stay alive pick a mar- lot had taken a terrific beifing engines got so hot that the en rled pilot. That's why I and

they Haust flame shields melted and: chose Leni Young-he's now im when we got down you could see them all over the

us in "E drying the Customs at Hull because Just pushed

were eit room to rest and forgot about up like Christmas trees, the

about sky-their engines he was an old man of 82 and

His crew was so dighters just picked them off

posted missing and a letter he had written to Sometimes they Went down Gardner handed me a trayed Ethel, his fiancee, for sich an slowly, sometimes their 4,00015

be was inarried. I reckon I did the right thing,"

nowspaper

Ug."

cutting. I read: aston was sent off ("Ethel's cookie bomb was hit and they "Thursday night's massive raid kept it, but I's too personal Just went up."

on Berlin by the RAF marked for you to see That light was the worst not the start of t great winter,other had to be told to only for Ron Gardner, but nise offensive planned by Alr Chief That was his family

own Cande a few weeks for Berber Command it does

Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, latert was real, Lincolnshire not seem so long, ao, as he

HERMES SDAD

and talks, For his children, ho

he

Weather clamped. raining Tire was not chance aged 18 and Michael, of an operation, we thoughts listen and watch alently

OK, I'd into bandles his log book, yed For the

bractere and the Lincoln kmp

MAX FACTOR

Sheer Genius

to look so bear

NEW liquid make-up perfection with moisturizing skin care protection..

Discover for yourself) SHEER GENIUS with its new kind of Moisturizing bene- fts BHEER GENIUS contains the world's Costileät Skin Trautment Nutrients and [tionera: Discover for your

4th its sheer,

alber, light make-up finish which goes on without alline...without streaking. Really, the first complete-in-one-step make-up. Packaged for you in convonl ant non-collapsible tube for home of-

In 8 complexion-balanced shaderi

Sheer Genius feels so good on your skin, and it's so good for it

MAX FACTOR