The Importance of Ground Crew

We had like I say an exceptional ground crew. Fellows that were really interested in seeing that the plane was in good shape for us. If it hadn’t been for that well, you know, it would just liable to quit on you, you’d lose a motor or something like that. But you’d go to briefing, you’d go and have a meal and then you’d go to briefing and telling you where you were to bomb that night, you know, and what colour the flares would be that we were supposed to bomb on. And you look around at the rest of your group from that squadron, you know, because it would just be your own group there and you’d wonder who isn’t going to come back. And that was a sad time. And then with the raid over you would come back for debriefing and you’d know this one is missing or that one is missing. Fellows that you were associated with every day, you know, it was quite a sad thing.