Heroes of the Air War (No. 39) Captain Swales
Title
Heroes of the Air War (No. 39) Captain Swales
Description
A newspaper cutting with cartoons of Captain Swales, German fighters, Lancasters under attack and airmen baling out. It is annotated 7hs 40 Trip No 33.
Language
Type
Format
One newspaper cutting
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.
Contributor
Identifier
NColeFIG170709-020001, NColeFIG170709-020002
Transcription
HEROES OF THE AIR WAR (No. 39) CAPTAIN SWALES
[sketch]
Captain Edwin Swales, D.F.C., was South Africa's greatest bomber pilot of the Second World War. On the outbreak of war, Captain Swales joined the South African Army. Later, he transferred to the Air Force. He was the only South African to fly with the famous Pathfinders.
[sketch]
On February 22, 1945, he was awarded the DFC for "exceptional coolness" when his plane was attacked doing a raid on Cologne. The following night he took off on a mission to Phorzheim. The enemy defences were alerted and night fighters took off.
[sketch]
Captain Swales was the master bomber on this raid. It was his job to locate the target precisely, and give full aiming instructions to the bombers which followed. The success or failure of the raid depended on him to a great extent. Over the target, Swales' plane was intercepted by an enemy fighter and came under heavy, accurate fire.
[sketch]
The rear guns failed and the crippled bomber was a sitting duck. Calmly Swales concentrated on his job. Another engine was silenced. Almost defenceless, he stayed over the target issuing his instructions to the wave of bombers converging on Phorzheim.
[sketch]
The raid over, he turned for home. The plane was almost unmanageable. Captain Swales ordered his crew to bale out and they all parachuted to safety. Immediately, the plane plunged to earth in its death dive. Swales was found dead at the controls. His self-sacrifice won him the Victoria Cross.
[inserted] 7 HRS – 40 TRIP No 33 [/inserted]
[sketch]
Captain Edwin Swales, D.F.C., was South Africa's greatest bomber pilot of the Second World War. On the outbreak of war, Captain Swales joined the South African Army. Later, he transferred to the Air Force. He was the only South African to fly with the famous Pathfinders.
[sketch]
On February 22, 1945, he was awarded the DFC for "exceptional coolness" when his plane was attacked doing a raid on Cologne. The following night he took off on a mission to Phorzheim. The enemy defences were alerted and night fighters took off.
[sketch]
Captain Swales was the master bomber on this raid. It was his job to locate the target precisely, and give full aiming instructions to the bombers which followed. The success or failure of the raid depended on him to a great extent. Over the target, Swales' plane was intercepted by an enemy fighter and came under heavy, accurate fire.
[sketch]
The rear guns failed and the crippled bomber was a sitting duck. Calmly Swales concentrated on his job. Another engine was silenced. Almost defenceless, he stayed over the target issuing his instructions to the wave of bombers converging on Phorzheim.
[sketch]
The raid over, he turned for home. The plane was almost unmanageable. Captain Swales ordered his crew to bale out and they all parachuted to safety. Immediately, the plane plunged to earth in its death dive. Swales was found dead at the controls. His self-sacrifice won him the Victoria Cross.
[inserted] 7 HRS – 40 TRIP No 33 [/inserted]
Collection
Citation
“Heroes of the Air War (No. 39) Captain Swales,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 16, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/34897.
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