Description
In flight towards Hasselt, Belgium, Mr. Robertson describes getting shot down and the jump orders.
William “Bill” Robertson
Mr. William “Bill” Robertson was born June 13, 1921 in Toronto, Ontario. He was raised in a family of five with three brothers and one sister. Growing up in the province of Ontario, Mr. Robertson received his grade 12 education and with the awareness of war, had a keen desire to join the Air Force. In 1942, he attended observer training and in April of that year received his wings. He held the rank of navigator with the RAF 158 Squadron. On May 13, 1944 during a routine flight towards Belgium, his aircraft was shot down and he and the surviving members of the crew spent many months in hiding from the Germans in the hopes of one day being free. As freedom became a reality, Mr. Robertson returned home to Canada with his wife Violet. He and his family reside in Belleville, Ontario.
Transcript
The thirteenth of May, 1944, we were shot down. We had made a trip to Hasselt, which is in Belgium and our, at that time, it was two bomb, what they call a marshalling yard, this is where they assemble or disassemble trains and that so they can have the right cars going in the right direction and that. And I thought we were hit by flak, but my wireless operator and the pilot said it was a fighter that got us and it was confirmed later on, they were right. Anyway, we all bailed out. It’s interesting to note that, well like our starboard fuselage was on fire, one starboard engine was on fire and our pilot said, “Jump, jump!” Okay, there’s two orders that normally happen, one is, the pilot will say, “Prepare to abandon aircraft.” This is when it looks like an emergency is coming up. Then each one in their order, like the rear gunner would answer, “Rear gunner prepared, mid upper gunner prepared,” we’d go through the whole crew like that, that we heard him and we were prepared to jump. But when a pilot says, “Jump jump!” no questions are asked, you just get out.