Battle damaged Wellington
Title
Battle damaged Wellington
Description
Photo 1 is an airman inspecting the damage at the rear of the Wellington, X9746, 'OJ-A'. The fabric has burned off exposing the geodetic structure.
Photo 2 is two airmen inspecting the damaged fabric at the tail of a Wellington.
Photo 2 is two airmen inspecting the damaged fabric at the tail of a Wellington.
Date
1941-08-19
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Type
Format
Two b/w photographs on an album page
Publisher
Rights
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
PThomasAF20040003
Transcription
[Photograph]
On the night of 18/19th August 1941, X9746 OJ-A of 149 Squadron was targeted upon Duisberg. At 23-07 hours the aircraft lifted off for Germany. Crossing the searchlight belt near Venlo the Wellington was attacked by a Junkers 88 & hit by cannon fire. The tail was badly damaged and strenuous efforts were needed to keep the aircraft on an even keel. The Co-Pilot, Sergeant Reed, was severely wounded & the Observer P/O Raffaelli, received a superficial head wound. By this time the fabric was on fire in the tail & the bombs were jettisoned. Sergeant Billington, in the rear turret, succeeded in extinguishing the flames thus rendering the aircraft, in its vulnerable & exposed state, a less obvious target for any renewed attack. He assessed the damage to controls in the rear & reported to his Captain. A safe return to base was made, landing at 04-49 hours. Pilot Officer Gregory was awarded a D.F.C. & Sergeant Billington a D.F.M.
[Photograph]
On the night of 18/19th August 1941, X9746 OJ-A of 149 Squadron was targeted upon Duisberg. At 23-07 hours the aircraft lifted off for Germany. Crossing the searchlight belt near Venlo the Wellington was attacked by a Junkers 88 & hit by cannon fire. The tail was badly damaged and strenuous efforts were needed to keep the aircraft on an even keel. The Co-Pilot, Sergeant Reed, was severely wounded & the Observer P/O Raffaelli, received a superficial head wound. By this time the fabric was on fire in the tail & the bombs were jettisoned. Sergeant Billington, in the rear turret, succeeded in extinguishing the flames thus rendering the aircraft, in its vulnerable & exposed state, a less obvious target for any renewed attack. He assessed the damage to controls in the rear & reported to his Captain. A safe return to base was made, landing at 04-49 hours. Pilot Officer Gregory was awarded a D.F.C. & Sergeant Billington a D.F.M.
[Photograph]
Collection
Citation
“Battle damaged Wellington,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed July 26, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/22994.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.