Page 6 - John George Blair

preparation for a renewed night offensive against Germany. Visibility was perfect and
all raids were considered successful. 3 Lancasters failed to return from these
operations, one of which was Jacks crew.

The crews Lancaster was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Deelan airfield in Holland (just
North of Arnhem) as the crew were on their bombing run, this damaged the control
surfaces of the Lancaster and as the crew turned for home they started to lose
height. More damage to the airframe was done as the Lancaster flew out over the
Dutch coast and again was hit by anti-aircraft fire from coastal batteries. The
Lancaster was now grievously damaged with two engines out (port inner and outer).
Jack as Flight Engineer activated the Kidde Graviner Fire suppression system which
initially put out the fire in the port inner Merlin with the port outer being defective and
having to be feathered (the blades of the propeller being turned to 90 degrees into
the wind thus preventing wind milling of the propeller and the risk of fire developing
in the damaged Merlin engine).The Lancaster was rapidly losing height and having
crossed the Dutch coast the port inner Merlin again caught fire. Most probable was
that the fire suppression system having been used once was now empty, it was just
a matter of time before the fire burned through the main spar and caused a collapse
of the port wing.

Jack’s professionalism at this grievous moment saved the crew, they would have all
perished had Jack not kept his head, and the crews lives were at this moment in
Jacks hands. The crews pilot, Flying Officer Lindsay having talked to Jack over the
intercom realized the futility of attempting a North Sea crossing and did a controlled
ditching of the aircraft into the North Sea some 10 miles off the Dutch coast. The
crew escaped from the Lancaster and all safely got into the dinghy to await rescue.
Taffy the crews Wireless Operator having sent out a distress call and locked the
morse key down to give a continuous signal thus enabling the UK ground stations to
get a fix on the downed crew and start a rescue operation.

First on the scene were RAF fighters which prevented the German’s ability to
capture the airmen. These fighters stayed circling the crews Dinghy until a Vickers
Warwick Air sea rescue aircraft from RAF Scrubby dropped supplies to the crew. A
high speed air sea rescue launch recovered the crew within two hours of
the crew ditching.

The crew returned to Coningsby and were debriefed then sent on leave. The crews
th
next operation was on 11 September, an area bombing operation on Darmstadt
near Frankfurt. On this operation the crew were attacked by a JU 88 night fighter,
th
they managed to avoid serious damage and returned to base, this the crews 17
operation. The crew returned to the Squadron and continued their training program,
the RAF not allowing crews to sit around and ponder their fate, training kept the
crews mind focused on the job in hand. A further area bombing raid on the city of
Stuttgart was Jacks last operation with 97 Squadron.

Other than 9 training flights Jack and the crew did not do any more operations in
October/November 1944. Jack was posted away from the Squadron at the beginning
of December and he found himself at RAF Lindholme, a No.1 Group Heavy