Evening star., 1943-01-18

bombed Berlin again last night
severe air attack since July %.
their gruelling flight and on that
note the briefing wound up.
We had one hour to get ready and
every one scattered to get opera
tional tea" at which they were
given a very special treat of one fried
egg, fried slices of bread, plenty of
tea and cake.
Overtaken by MiSgivingS
Tea over, the flying crews hurried
to their various hangers, donned
their cumbersome flying dress and
waited for motor vehicles to drive
them to the starting point at the
far emo of long runway
This one hour interval of waiting
between briefing and take-off
found very unsettling to say the
least.
l rubbed my chin and wondered
if maybe Pete" Daniel should not
have won that toss after all. AS l
looked at the airmen around me, all
young men ranging in age from 20
to 30, I didn't see any signs Of
similar fidgetineSs.
One complained he had made q
date" for last night and had not
had any way of informing his girl
friend he could not meet her at
the appointed place. Two or three
others whistled to themselves. Most
of us smoked cigarettes and talked
about everything except the impend-
ing raid.
AS we boarded the motor truck
that drove us to the far side of the
field we saw the ground crews as
sembling to witness the take-off.
There's the station commander" !"
I heard some one say.
There's the adjutants daughter"
said another.
The plane to which I was as
signed as passenger was known as
Dee for Donald" Several hours
later the thought occurred to me
that it should have been called Dee
for Duck"
1t was manned by crew of seven.
three of whom were British and
whose names cannot under the regu-
lationS be published. The others
were three Canadians and one Aus
tralian.
The Canadians were Pilot Officer
Oakley Cassibault, 25, Brookville.
Ontario, and our rear gunners; Fly
ing Officer Robert Todd, "a, a Wire
less operator, ,Rosemont, Montreal,
and Warrant Officer~ Clayton
Thompson, 20, of Verdunl Quebec.
Veteran of 2s Raids.
Cassie" Cassibaultswas a clothing
salesman before the war and has
made 26 raids since he came to
Britain.
"Toddy" Todd formerly worked in
Montreal department store. He
has been on Is raids.
Junior" Clayton is merely a Junior
IN age. He also is a veteran of 25
raids as an aerial navigator.
The real junior of the crew with
respect to the number of raids he
has been on was 28-year-old Sergt
Stephen Mondell. a farmer from
Miranda, New South Wales. with
seven operational flights to his credit
as fight engineer.
Our pilot was Strapping fight
sergeant who served in France at
the beginning of the war with the
Gc
severely wounded at the evacuation
Of Dunkerque.
Known as The Skipper" this
former guardsman switched to the
Royal Air Force after he recovered
from his wound and he has attacked
the enemy from the air % times.
The double job of acting as the
forward gunner and bomb aimer fell
to 22-year-old Shropshire lad who
has made 30 raids and who wears
the Distinguished Flying Medal. The
mid-upper gunner was 21-year- -old
former clerk from Leeds.
Crew Calmly Takes Stations,
Once every one was aboard the
plane and in their appointed places
for the take-off, I forgot all about
any mlsglvlngs. I was too interested
watching these Youngsters calmly
taking their stations and going about
their appointed tasks, waiting for
the signal to come over our wireless
telephone head sets to hop off.
One by one the giant bombers
roared away into the thickening
dusk. Minutes passed. Still more
planes heavily loaded with high ex-
plosiVes and incendiarieS went away
while We waited.
Family from the control room
came the voice of the WAAF (Wom-
ems Auxiliary Air Force giving us
our signal to go.
Our four motors, which had been
idling all this time, burst into
thunderous roar. Slowly we began
TO move. We had to take the full
length Of the runway before we were
air because we were carving
one 4000-pOund bomb and verv
big cargo OF incendiaries, and if
We let the plane into the air too
soon there might be "prang" that
would wipe out the whole station.
Steadily gaining speed the big
plane bounced up and down, leap
ing like q horse whose rider won't
give it the bit Far down the field
we slowly climbed into the air.
The trip had finally begun.
Over my inter communication ear
phones l heard Junior" Clayton tell
the skipper TO set the course SO
many degrees and the guardsman
repeated it and said "okay." In a
matter OF seconds the airfield had
disappeared from view.
Told TO Connect Oxygen.
Soon We were out over the sea and
had started a long climb to high
altitude. AS We neared 10000 feet
skipper" said to me over his inter-
/ communication, Hey Mac, old son