https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/2510/43652/BMartinWFMartinWFv1.pdf d3c33fdce3467b5463556d078d4c2e1d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Martin, William Fisher Martin, W F Description An account of the resource 37 items. The collection concerns William Fisher Martin (b. 1914, 1554690 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book documents and photographs. He flew operations as a navigator with 50, 57 and 617 Squadrons. The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Wendy Rothery and catalogued by Barry Hunter. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019-10-20 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Martin, WF Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document 1944? We huddled together in the rocking dinghy; seven very scared, very wet, & very much at sea, airmen. We watched, with a sense of loss, the large [inserted] starboard [/inserted] wing of good old A – Able sinking lower in the water until it disappeared from sight. She had carried us safely through our last 15 ops., & now she was going down into the depths of the North Sea, leaving us on the surface, crouched miserably in our all too small dinghy, still only half realising our predicament. It had all happened very quickly., One minute we were happily wending our way homewards, 5000ft, 175 on the clock & the contented feeling of another ‘job’ successfully completed. It had been a tough one, with four [inserted] separate [/inserted] attacks by a persistence rocket firing night fighter, [page break] 2 & we had been very very thankful when we crossed, safely as we thought, the Dutch coast & headed out to sea. Suddenly, for no accountable reason, [deleted letter] A - able swung round in a semi [symbol] & headed East again. “What’s wrong Skipper” – why – where – ? Suddenly the Flight Engineers voice quieted the babble on the inter comm. “Starboard [deleted] & port [/deleted] outer & inner packed up Skipper.” “See whats wrong Geoff.” “Fuel tanks empty skipper, we must have been holed after all.” – A few minutes elapsed while the engineer struggled with cross feeding from the remaining tanks. Another engine cut & we were left facing the prospect of a wet night. The skippers voice came quietly to us on the intercomm. “Prepare to ditch”. A few minutes while everyone collected their remaining wits about them & [deleted] did [/deleted] [inserted] made [/inserted] their respective preparations. [page break] 3/ I hastily fixed our position & passed it in message form to the W/op., who had immediately commenced distress signals (I remember I had taken time to correct the G fix to lat & long coordinates & Fred returned it for alteration) All to soon came the dreaded order “Ditching stations”! We took off our harnesses, and inflated our Mae Wests & scrambled back to our crash positions, & if we prayed mentally we did it unawares. “Escape hatches off x – ”1000 feet,” “500 feet,” “200 feet,” “prepare for impact” – we braced ourselves for the smack! Crash – & then oblivion! When I scrambled to my feet, the water was up to my knees, & Snow the Bomb aimer was thrusting the dinghy packs into my hands. Automatically in the pitch blackness – I stumbled to the upper escape hatch & thrust them up to the awaiting hands – dinghy radio followed & then I scrambled [page break] 4/ up & through the hatch, & breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the skipper crawling along the top of the cabin – good old Nick – were we all out then? A quick scramble on to the wing already awash, – & then into the dinghy – steadying it to help Nick aboard – (she was already floating) – “all present?” Jack? Geoff? Johnny? – all correct! – “O.K. – cut the line” – momentary panic as A – Able heeled over on her nose, & stood threateningly above us – a huge mass in the darkness [deleted] threaten [/deleted] “Paddle, – Paddle for Gods sake!” It seemed hours until we [deleted] pushed [/deleted] [inserted] worked [/inserted] our way [deleted] along with [/deleted] [inserted] by pushing on [/inserted] the wing & thrusting off from the [inserted] clear [/inserted] wing tip & then we were left, watching her go down – our trusty old kite – damn Jerry anyway. [page break] 5/ Slowly, we [deleted] quitened [/deleted] quieted ourselves & tried to take stock. Thank God we were all out anyway – “Hullo – Nicks face is a mess”, dimly we saw that he was bleeding freely and was a bit dazed. [deleted] Smo [/deleted] Someone searched for the dinghy pack & began to fumble for the first aid kit. Then we realised there was more water in the dinghy than we would like. Another search began for the baler. – Too slow – “bale with something” – “Try your flying boot someone” – no – no use” – “Here use this” – Snow – good old dependable Snow – pulled off his boot & we started to bale. Surely we were making water – “Hell theres a leak here” wheres the stoppers?” Another search to locate them – & then we had them & screwed one into the hole in the bottom. “Keep on baling” Gradually we got the bottom a little drier. [page break] 6/ Sick – feeling sick – lean over the side & try to vomit, but its no use – just a squeamish rotten feeling that made us all helpless for a while. Eventually we got organised – found everything, bandaged Nicks head, found the baler & used it on & off continually from then on. [inserted] Insert [symbol] (1973 contd) Fred – the W/op organised us on rigging the aerial mast for the portable radio transmitter – unfortunately the top part of the mast got broken somehow & it was non-effective as we found out afterwards but we kept the handle turning hopefully in spells from then on. tho’ the signals were never picked up it gave us a ray of hope [/inserted] (There was a heavy swell on, but the dinghy rode beautifully & that was one worry less. The occasional wave broke over us & soaked us all to the skin & soon we were cold & miserable & feeling very sorry for ourselves. It was an effort to do anything) [page break] 7/ Towards dawn we heard the sound of a/c engines. They approached from the west & faded away towards the lightening eastern sky, well to the Sth & we sank into our apathetic stupor again – Conversation was sporadic – from time to time one or other of us passed a remark, baled for a spell or cranked the radio handle. Dawn came slowly, as the sky was overcast, but eventually it was light & we were able to see around us. Not that there was much to see several yards of sullen grey sea when we were down in the trough of the waves, & a wider view when we rode a crest. – Again we were roused by the sound of engines & saw well to the south low, below cloud, two P.RU aircraft speeding eastwood – ironically we thought they were probably going to photograph whatever damage we had done the previous night. It brought renewed hope that someone would spot us soon. Again we cranked & baled, baled & cranked. Time dragged by until yet again we heard engines & eagerly scanned the sky. This time we spotted a single heavier a/c. & watched it drone across the horizon below cloud, well to the Sth again. Miserably we watched it turn away Sth, & disappear from view. Later we heard it again approaching from the Sth, & I fumbled for the verey pistol which I had tucked inside [page break] 8 my battle dress. We watched as it came nearer then saw it turn [inserted] east [/inserted] again still some distance south of us & I raised the pistol & fired off a cartridge. The a/c carried on & we sank back into our seats. They hadn’t seen it! Then as [deleted] it [/deleted] we watched it turn yet again southwards, it dawned on us that it was an air sea rescue kite doing a square search, & immediately our hopes were raised. Perhaps our signal had been picked up & they were looking for us. I reloaded the pistol and waited expectantly. Later it reappeared headed north and I waited until it appeared near enough before raising the pistol & firing off another cartridge. Again the a/c swung off to the East & we sank back, hopes again dashed. This time it seemed only seconds before it reappeared, heading so it seemed straight for us. Had they spotted the verey flare? I reloaded hastily & fired again and this time there was no mistake they had spotted us. Scrambling up we cheered & waved as the a/c banked & flew over us. Then came the blink of an aldis lamp & they signalled that they would drop a lindholme dinghy & supply packs to us. We watched as the aircraft dropped a smoke [page break] 9 float to gauge wind speed and direction & waited while they got positioned, opened bomb doors for the drop, & flew steadily across & we saw the packs descend from the open bomb bay & land with a series of splashes [inserted] some distance [/inserted] to one side. Hastily we drew in the sea anchor we had out, & paddled towards the larger dinghy which had inflated on impact, & climbed aboard. Unfortunately the line had snapped between the first & second packs and the packs drifted away beyond our reach, but that didn’t bother us much as we were sure we were safe now, & would soon be picked up. It was wonderful the lift in morale, once we felt safe. The a/c kept station above us & signalled that help was on the way. Some time later it headed away east, then swung round towards us again & soon after we saw the bow waves of a naval launch approaching. When it arrived we were helped aboard, given dry clothing & a large mug of naval rum. Never had a drink been more [deleted] well [/deleted] appreciated, & I remember little else till we docked at Yarmouth later, having been in a deep sleep. [page break] 10 The Skipper & I spent a couple of nights in [inserted] naval [/inserted] hospital and then were driven to the nearest airfield and flown back to East Kirkby, where the rest of the crew had already arrived. We learned that the base had lost 11 aircraft that night & morale was low, so that our arrival had brought a great boost to the station as a whole, & I can well appreciate the hopes raised by our return. Later we learned that the rescue aircraft had not been looking for us (our signals not having been received at all), but that they were looking for an airborne lifeboat which had been dropped the previous evening to the crew of an American daylight op [inserted] kite [/inserted] which had ditched earlier [deleted] before the [/deleted] So we had been very, very lucky to have [deleted] got [/deleted] been rescued so quickly after only some 12 hours afloat in “the drink” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Account of Ditching (William Fisher Martin) Description An account of the resource A handwritten account of the Lancaster ditching and subsequent rescue. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Great Yarmouth Atlantic Ocean Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Memoir Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 10 handwritten sheets Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BMartinWFMartinWFv1 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Maureen Clarke Alan Pinchbeck air sea rescue aircrew bomb aimer ditching flight engineer pilot RAF East Kirkby wireless operator