Description of operation

Description of operation

The document relates the experience of a pilot trying to get control of their Wellington which had iced up. The author describes an incident where he was trying to get the front gunner out of his turret, and putting his torch inside his clothing, as he would need it to signal for assistance. Once the pilot regained control, they decided to call it a night and return to base. The last page mentions route turning points.

Four page handwritten document

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SBratleyHW755503v10025

[inserted] when [/inserted]
we were suddenly pleased to be pressed hard [deleted] but [/deleted] down as we thankfully realized that the Skipper was pulling out of the dive [deleted] Thank the Lord [/deleted]. I got back to my position & was watching the Air Speed Indicator & noticed that we were losing speed rapid [sic] & when [deleted] to [/deleted] it seemed we were nearly down to the stalling speed I [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] just had to go forward to see what was happening. I found the Skipper pushing hard on the control column to level off but the old Wellington was so iced up [deleted] again [/deleted] that he couldn’t get the nose down so he eventually [deleted] cut & [/deleted] cut back the throttles & we wallowing about like a limp fish before stalling & falling out of the sky for the second time.
I [deleted] went [/deleted] clambered back to my position & thought this is it.
[page break]
In the early days on my first tour of operational flying I recall [inserted] one raid where [/inserted] we were promised lousy weather [inserted] seven [/inserted] [deleted] the [/deleted] by the Met people. very [indecipherable word] [deleted] up to 8 or 10 Thou feet [/deleted]. How right they were. [inserted] Our Wellington [/inserted] [deleted] We [/deleted] iced up @ about 6 Thou & fell like a stone. [deleted] We all [/deleted] [indecipherable words] & clambered forward during the dive to get the front gunner out of his turret. I had a hell of a job [deleted] getting [/deleted] [inserted] with [/inserted] the bulkhead door [deleted] open [/deleted] as [indecipherable word] the [indecipherable word] pressure flattened me against the side [inserted] when [/inserted] [deleted] as [/deleted] I released the catch. I thumped him on the back & he followed me [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] & as we [inserted] were [/inserted] crawling back
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
I recall clearly pushing my torch down inside my clothing so that it was next to my skin as we [deleted] were [/deleted] had the sea beneath us as far as I was aware & I reckoned I would [deleted] be [/deleted] need the torch to signal for assistance once we bailed out.
[inserted] However [/inserted] At about 2 Th she pulled out & we climbed [inserted] once more [/inserted] [deleted] [indecipherable words] [/deleted] & then the skipper reported that he had normal control [deleted] once more [/deleted] so we decided to call it a night & return to base rather than try to climb back thru it all a second time.
[page break]
[underlined] Cambridge [/underlined]
[deleted] A10 ELY [/deleted]
A604 Huntingdon 16
A1 Peterboro 20
A15 MKT [Market] Deeping 8
A16 Spalding [deleted] 16 [/deleted] 12
A16 Boston
A16 Stickford } 33 miles
A16 Spilsby
A16 Louth [horizontal line]
[deleted] [underlined] 79 [/underlined] [/deleted]
89
[vertical line]
A16 Grimsby [underlined] 17 [/underlined]
106