JAMES ALLEN WARD
History of War|Issue 104, 2022
In July 1941, 13,000ft above the Dutch coastline in a severely damaged Wellington bomber, this New Zealand airman clambered onto his aircraft’s wing to put out a fire and save his comrades
ALEX BOWERS
JAMES ALLEN WARD

The German night fighter seemed to come from nowhere. One minute, the crew of the No.75 Squadron’s Wellington IC, L7818, AA-R had been returning home to RAF Feltwell, Norfolk, after a successful bombing raid on Münster, a mission relatively free from opposition with its end almost in sight. The next, cannon shells smashed through their aircraft, spraying fragments everywhere and filling the cockpit with smoke as a Messerschmitt Bf 110 fired at them from beneath. The damage wrought was swift and severe: the bomber’s hydraulic lines were rendered useless, its communication systems knocked out and its undercarriage was in a perilous state. Meanwhile, in the rear turret, Sergeant AJR Box was struck in the foot, though he did manage to fire a few rounds at the attacker, potentially a killing blow that at least ensured they would not see the night fighter again. This mattered little because the Wellington’s starboard engine had also been hit and a fuel tank opened, prompting a fire on the wing that, as the flames spread, would surely send the bomber hurtling to the ground in a deadly inferno.

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