The loss of two engines

Daytime, we always got holes from flak. And this particular day, one of the, one of the oil lines was shot away that fed No. 3 engine. And so, consequently, the, you would normally feather the blades, so they wouldn't windmill. You'll have to follow me on that. Anyway, the feathering line was shot away, and we couldn't feather. So we sat there and it windmilled. You had three other motors pulling you along properly. And there was no oil in the engine, so, consequently, it caught fire, and it burned and it burned. And we used what extinguishers we had, which weren't elaborate, and it, eventually, it went out, because everything that was nearby had burned. But this causes severe vibrations because there was no lubrication in the propeller and, and the, and the controls, the reduction gears. So, in due course, it became very severe vibrations, and so, so severe that the throttle wouldn't hold their position even when locked. And, of course, by this time, the crew was all ready to leave and, but the skipper kept putting it off. Until the engine finally tore itself out of the wing and, and doing so, it hit No. 4 and destroyed that propeller. So, then we were, actually things were much better after that, and as soon as we found a place to land. We were, fortunately, just nicely over land coming across the North Sea. And, so, he chose the first airport that he saw and landed without permission. We didn't have time for trifles like that. And the runway was clear. And he made a very, a very good landing, but the poor old aircraft was badly beat up. And it was never repaired because it was getting late in the war and there was a good supply of new ones. In fact, the very next day, we had a nice new one. So, that was the, that was the good and the bad.