Bomb Aimer over Berlin: The Wartime Memoirs of Les Bartlett DFM

Cover; Half Title; Full Title; Copyright; Dedication; Acknowledgements; Foreword; Contents; Introduction; 1 A Willing Volunteer; 2 South Africa; 3 So Much to Learn; 4 The Big City; 5 Operations at Last; 6 To Berlin and Back, Again and Again and Again. . .; 7 A New Year But The Same Old Story; 8 On the Edge; 9 Not Berlin Again!; 10 A Change of Emphasis; 11 Life Would Never be The Same Again; Appendices; 1 Bomber Command Order of Battle, November 1943 to the Battle of Berlin; 2 Major Bomber Command Raids on Berlin November 1943March 1944; 3 Operational Sorties Flown by Les Bartlett; Index.;Les Bartlett has become one of the great characters of World War II history. He flew as bomb aimer with the then Flying Officer Michael Beetham, who later became Marshal of the Royal Air Force. At that time he was a sergeant but gained his commission in April 1944 and flew his tour, including 27 raids over Germany and France between November 1943 and May 1944. On his second operation his aircraft was attacked by a Ju 88, leaving it with no flaps or brakes - a crash landing at Wittering ensued. At the end of his third mission they found the whole of Lincolnshire fogbound and eventually landed at RAF Melbourne in Yorkshire just before that airfield was closed also because of the fog. His aircraft was hit in the wing by a 30lb incendiary bomb dropped by another Lancaster flying above them on his sixth operation - but they survived. On his twelfth operation to Leipzig he used the nose guns to destroy a Ju 88 night fighter, for which he was awarded the DFM. In February 1944 the port outer engine caught fire and the crew baled out. Les was then posted as Assistant Adjutant to RAF Thornaby. Les Bartlett has become one of the great characters of World War II history. He flew as bomb aimer with the then Flying Officer Michael Beetham, who later became Marshal of the Royal Air Force. At that time he was a sergeant but gained his commission in April 1944 and flew his tour, including 27 raids over Germany and France between November 1943 and May 1944. On his second operation his aircraft was attacked by a Ju 88, leaving it with no flaps or brakes - a crash landing at Wittering ensued. At the end of his third mission they found the whole of Lincolnshire fogbound and eventually landed at RAF Melbourne in Yorkshire just before that airfield was closed also because of the fog. His aircraft was hit in the wing by a 30lb incendiary bomb dropped by another Lancaster flying above them on his sixth operation - but they survived. On his twelfth operation to Leipzig he used the nose guns to destroy a Ju 88 night fighter, for which he was awarded the DFM. In February 1944 the port outer engine caught fire and the crew baled out. Les was then posted as Assistant Adjutant to RAF Thornaby. [Elib] Les Bartlett has become one of the great characters of World War II history. This memoir covers his time as a Bomb Aimer during WW2, and includes his 27 raids over Germany and France between November 1943 and May 1944, in which he recounts many of the dangerous and thrilling moments. xvi, 204 p., [16] p. of plates : 24 cm