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Tragedy Over the Alps by Ivan Berryman. (AP)
On the night of 13th August 1943, Short Stirling EF452 of 218 Sqn was part of a bombing raid to Turino in Italy. As the Squadron cleared the Alps the tail gunner of one of the aircraft mistook EF452 for an enemy fighter and immediately opened fire with great accuracy. The windshield fragmented and was partially blasted away, 3 engines were hit and one had to be shut down. The Navigator was hit and killed, the pilot was severely wounded taking hits in the face, right arm and chest, the bomb aimer and flight engineer were also wounded. The Flight Engineer pulled the slumped pilot off the controls and managed to pull the aircraft out of its dive at approximately 4000 feet. The Bomb Aimer took over the controls and turned south over the Mediterranean for another allied airfield knowing the aircraft wouldn’t be able to climb back over the Alps. Although grievously wounded, the young Pilot assisted the Bomb Aimer as best he could, slipping in and out of consciousness and scribbling notes, as his jaw was broken. The Bomb Aimer managed to crash land with the landing gear up on the airfield at Bone, Algeria. The brave young pilot who refused to be treated, succumbed to his wounds later that afternoon. Pilot Flight Sergeant Arthur Louis Aaron DFM was awarded the Victoria Cross, whilst RCAF Bomb Aimer Flight Sergeant Alan William Jessup Larden was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (Flying) and Flight Engineer Sergeant Malcolm Mitchem was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal. |
