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They Intended To Bomb Poole But Hit Us Instead!

Heroes Remember

They Intended To Bomb Poole But Hit Us Instead!

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Transcript
And we went by train then to Devon, to southern Bournemouth, which was right down on the bottom, right on the southern coast of England. It's actually, I suppose now, a type of resort. But, while we were there they used to bomb a place called Poole. It was sort of a harbour or a port. And they'd bomb that, oh I suppose once a week, but one night they missed. It wasn't a very good bomb aimer or a very good navigator and I had blood clots on the shins and I couldn't run. And there was five of us I guess in this one room, in this what used to be a hotel. That was our barracks. But we'd head for the basement so somebody, I woke up and I said, "They're at it again." One of the guys said, "Ah, forget it." he says, "It's Poole again." Then we heard the whistle of a bomb. That wasn't Poole. So the three of us got jammed in the door trying to get downstairs. So I finally got downstairs. They were running. I couldn't. And, the guy I guess he was about five miles off the target because, well Poole was farther than that I guess down the road. Anyway, he dropped this one in the park and it made quite a mess, but it didn't kill anybody because at that stage of the game, you know. But that's when I decided I had to go to the hospital. So they took me to the hospital the next morning and when they looked at this and I wasn't allowed out of bed for, oh I guess a couple of weeks. And I keep, to this day I keep looking, there's nothing. I was very fortunate.
Description

Mr. Doiron and two of his buddies had a close call in Bournemouth when a German Bomber's aim was off by several miles.

Leonard Doiron

Mr. Doiron was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on January 21st 1923. His father worked in wholesale and retail until he was injured and opened his own shoe repair shop. Mr. Doiron joined the Air Force on February 15th 1941 where he began his training in Chatham, New Brunswick. In June 1941 he was sent to Initial Training School in Victoriaville, Québec. Mr. Doiron was part of the top 10 aspiring pilots and was picked to become one. He was later sent back to Chatham where he was washed out for inconsistent flying. The RAFFC (Royal Air Force Ferry Command) noticed his Morse code abilities and had him transferred to Dorval, Québec. He was then stationed in Bournemouth, England. He did his Operational Training in Northern Ireland where he was assigned to a Wellington air plane crew. He flew many missions over the Gulf of Toranto (Italy) - about 300 hours of Operational Flying Time and was promoted to Warrant Officer Class 1. He then went to Cairo, Egypt and to Palestine for a short time before being sent back home on the Louis Pasteur. Mr. Doiron retired from the service in the 1970's.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
02:07
Person Interviewed:
Leonard Doiron
War, Conflict or Mission:
Second World War
Branch:
Air Force
Units/Ship:
Royal Air Force Ferry Command (RAFFC)
Rank:
Sergeant
Occupation:
Radio Operator

Copyright / Permission to Reproduce

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