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622 SQUADRON- RAF MILDENHALL

28th/29th JULY 1944- TARGET STUTTGART

My Uncle F/Lt John Gray DFC a rear gunner with 622 Squadron from June 1944 to January 1945, relayed the following account to me. Due to the actions of the crew on this particular night repelling a night fighter attack, three members of the crew were awarded the DFC.

F/Lt R.G. Allen and crew lifted off the runway at RAF Mildenhall in Lancaster GI-J LL885 at 21.55 hrs en route to Stuttgart. This particular Lancaster was destined to become a centurion Lancaster and complete 113 operations and is featured in several books. The following extract is taken from an account of the evening and recited to me by my Uncle F/Lt John Gray DFC, Rear Gunner on this particular night:

On 28/29 July 1944 on our way to Stuttgart, having reached the Orleans area of France, we were attacked by a German night fighter, which suddenly appeared out of the darkness. The night was shrouded in bright moonlight and made the whole crew feel vulnerable and although I could seen nothing down below the rear turret, I knew only to well that a Lancaster would stand out quite clearly to German night fighters from below. The night fighter (JU88) came from underneath and the first thing we knew about the attack was when the bullets began to lacerate the rear part of the fuselage, tail and elevators. There was a terrific smell of cordite and some flares were set on fire. I ordered a ‘corkscrew’ and our pilot put the Lancaster into the manoeuvre, rising up, and then plunging down earthwards. I heard the call to put on parachutes so disconnected the R/T and climbed back out of the turret. The mid-upper gunner must have misinterpreted this precautionary instruction for he immediately clipped on his ‘chute’ and baled out! Reconnecting my radio in the fuselage I noticed the rear door was open, so I knew the mid-upper had gone. I checked with the skipper about what was happening, and was told to hang- on. Our skipper and the flight engineer Sgt J. Barker, were both struggling to pull the bomber out of its headlong dive, and managed it at 1,500 ft, then jettisoned the bombs. We had lost the fighter, and the damaged Lancaster was turned for home with the Bomb Aimer manning the mid upper turret. One third

of the elevators had been shot away and all the trims, and there were large holes in the tail plane. The skipper made as assessment of the damage and managed to obtain a degree of control of the Lancaster whilst heaving back on the stick to keep her level and decided to head for home, although alone and vulnerable to further attack. The concentration of the bomber stream was a major protection factor for a Lancaster against the individual interception controlled from the ground stations, and GI-J was now appearing as a neat little mark on the German radar tubes on the ground, a clear target for the German night fighter force.

After about 30 minutes something blew off from the tail section and our pilot was able to ascertain a greater degree of control and we climbed up to 10,000 feet and we removed parachutes. On reaching the Channel the wireless operator sent out an S.O.S. so that we would be plotted over the sea in case we had to ditch. We crossed the Channel and then came the question whether to jump out or try to land. At this time I was giving the skipper constant updates on the state of the elevators, which we suspected would gradually strip. The whole crew had the utmost confidence in our pilot and we decided to stay with the damaged aircraft and attempt a landing back at Mildenhall. Our Lancaster was still shuddering in the turn and the pilot was having difficulty turning to the left, staying on course and reducing height to land, but eventually reduced height to 1,500ft. There were about 5 circles of aerodromes round Mildenhall so as we came near to base, skipper asked base to flash their lights on and off so that we could identify which was our landing strip. We crossed the boundary of our airfield at 140 m.p.h. and the throttles were closed and the skipper very skilfully controlled the aircraft as long as he could and with one big bounce we were running along the runway. GI-J LL805 landed back at RAF Mildenhall at 02.35 with extensive battle damage.

We slept soundly in our beds that night and the next day had a look at the damage. The Lancaster was a wreck around the tail and we were lucky to get back.

My Uncle later told me on examining his parachute on terra firma, he discovered that it was full of bullet holes, and if he has baled out then he surely would have been killed. The mid-upper Gunner F/Lt D. B. Mason, who baled out, evaded and later returned to 622 Squadron, although not to his original crew.

Bomber Command lost 39 Lancaster that night, 7.9% of the force.

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