Page 16 - G.H. Markes and Crew

There is quite a bit of detail in a book written by Frank Petch, the crews wireless operator,
ʻWe Dood it Tooʼ surrounding the events and supporting Vernon’s claim that this watch saved the
th
th
th
crew. The crews 29 operation was on the night of the 7 /8 January 1945. It was a long 9 hour
return flight to bomb Munich on a bleak cold snowing night with fog all the way to the target and
very poor visibility. (The crew noted an explosion of two Lancasters colliding in mid-air due to the
lack of visibility.) The tail-wind during the flight was much stronger than briefed, so the navigator
(Bill Mann) had to estimate the wind speed and plot the aircraft’s position and course by
dead reckoning as there were no visible landmarks. This was done using the aircraft’s speed and
bearing, the wind speed vector and accurate timing by watch. Enroute to the target the Lancaster’s
heating system failed and the extreme cold caused Bill’s issued wrist watch to stop working.
Vernon lent Bill his Rolex watch which continued to function and was essential for dead reckoning
navigation. (In removing the standard issue watch, Bill tore the skin off his wrist.) By expert manual
navigation they pressed on, successfully bombed the target and returned home safely. This would
not have been possible without a functioning and accurate watch in those conditions.

Courtesy: Graeme Davenport

This audio recording by the Australian at War film archive:

Francis Petch