| |
| |
After being turned down for the RAFVR in 1937 on the grounds of eyesight Ken Wallis gained an "A " license as a pilot in 1937. He was turned down again by the RAF for a short service commission in 1938 but by 1939 has learned enough about his eyesight defect and tests to " cook the books " when the war came and joined the RAF in May 1940. After training at No.1 School of Army Co-operation he served with 268 and 241 Squadrons flying Westland Lysanders. His main tasks with 268 Squadron were Dawn Invasion Patrols to see if the enemy fleet was on it's way and to photograph such subjects as impending military sites in the UK. At this point he believes there was a shortage of bomber pilots so he, and a number of fellow officers, were " volunteered " to fly Wellingtons etc. In May 1941 he converted to Wellingtons at No. 20 OTU, Lossiemouth and joined 103 Squadron at RAF Newton on the 23rd June 1941 with the rank of Pilot Officer. Ken says of this move that after Dunkirk there was not much army left to co-operate with hence his move to Bomber Command. Having been given the opportunity to choose his posting he selected RAF Newton and 103 Squadron because of it's proximity to Nottingham with it's reputation for the quality of it's fairer sex. He was therefore somewhat put out when 103 transferred to Elsham Wolds the following month. In the short time he was at Newton he flew one operation to Bremen as co-pilot to P/O Petrie. Once at Elsham Wolds he added a further 7 operations as co-pilot with P/O Petrie, attacking Rotterdam docks, Cologne (three times), Bremen, Hamburg and Essen. On the night of the 12/13th September 1941, he flew on an operation to Cherbourg, his first as pilot in charge. W/C Ryan, the 103 Squadron commander was his co-pilot. Operations followed to Karlsruhe, Frankfurt, Ostend, Bremen (2), Dusseldorf, Mannheim (2), Emden, Wilhelmshafen, Brest, Paris (Roissy), Cologne, Hamburg (2), Essen (2), Dortmund and Rostock (2). During his time with 103 Squadron Ken Wallis believes that he started to use up his allocation of "lives". Three particular operations stand out: - 20/21st September 1941 Target-Frankfurt. Due to low cloud over the primary target the secondary was bombed. This left the Wellington, LL7768, short of fuel and on their return to the UK they found the whole of the South of England covered by fog and were unable to identify Elsham Wolds. Instructed to fly North but unable to comply because lack of fuel he requested a positional fix over the RT and was directed to RAF Binbrook. Using their Chance light as a base he made 10 timed but unsuccessful attempts to land in the fog. With fuel gauges on zero he finally ordered his crew to bale out. This was achieved and after considerable problems with his own chute inside the aircraft he managed to bale out himself at 700 feet. His parachute opened with, as Ken Wallis puts it, "considerable pain to myself ". He came to in a field near Market Rasen and was reunited with his crew. Of the 20 bombers lost on this night 17 were as a result of difficulties encountered on return. 22/23rd October 1941 Target-Mannheim. In spite of frozen oil coolers and a broken hand operated oil pump the target was bombed from 16,000ft. On the return flight, while attempting to fly around a large thunderstorm over the North Sea, one engine iced up and failed closely followed by the second. With the windscreen and pitot head frozen up and cylinder head temperatures at zero the aircraft lost height from 14,000ft to 1000ft. An SOS was transmitted. When the lower height was reached Ken Wallis was able to restart both engines although they both ran very roughly and they continued towards East Anglia. With a gradually clearing windscreen they strayed into the Harwich defence area and were shot at by anti aircraft guns so they were forced to turn out to sea again and flew up the coast making for Elsham Wolds. The Elsham Wolds airfield beacon had just been spotted when they flew into a barrage balloon cable at the entrance to the Humber Estuary. The cable started to cut through the port wing severing the throttle control, fuel and hydraulic lines and the bomber doors started to open and the undercarriage dropped. When the cable finally parted it had partially cut through the upper and lower main wing spars. With only one engine running at full power and in fine pitch Ken Wallis flew the Wellington to Elsham Wolds but the landing lights at the airfield were turned off as they thought the Wellington was a German intruder in the circuit. By the light of his own Very flares Ken Wallis glimpsed the ground and made another circuit but ran out of height in an attempt to land and crash-landed in a field next to the airfield. Thankfully all the crew survived although some had minor injuries. Ken Wallis was later presented with a section of the barrage balloon cable, suitably mounted, which had so nearly brought the downfall of his aircraft and crew. 21/22nd January 1942 Target - Bremen. A 4.5-inch reconnaissance flare was fired in the bomb bay due to the bomb doors being iced up when it was released. The bomb bay bulkhead was blown into the cockpit together with much smoke and fumes and the intense heat of the magnesium flare ignited the bomb load of incendiaries. The bomb load was jettisoned but the lower part of the Wellington continued to burn, attracting much attention from the German defences. Eventually the fire was extinguished and a safe landing was made at Elsham Wolds. Subsequent examination revealed that the aluminium alloy bomb beams were melted but the fire did not quite reach the fuel pipes in the bomb bay area. Numerous incidents of being hit by flak were experienced and on one occasion an 88mm shell passed through the starboard wing and fuel tank without exploding. As Ken Wallis says " They were tough times ". On his first tour of bomber operations he started with a captain then had 5 different second pilots during his time as captain. Neither his captain nor any of his second pilots were to survive. After completion of his tour he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and posted to No. 21 Operational Training Unit. Later he was to marry Section Officer Peggy Stapley whom he met whilst they were both serving at Elsham Wolds. Ken Wallis was later transferred to Italy and flew Wellington's on a second tour of bombing operations. After the war he continued his career in the RAF and retired with the rank of Wing Commander. Subsequently Ken Wallis has become very well known for his work in the design, development and building of gyrocoptors, one of which he flew in Japan and was featured in the Bond movie "You Only Live Twice" when he doubled for Sean Connory 007. He has also operated gyrocoptors in a number of police, military and naval trials and exercises in the UK and overseas. Acknowledgements. | |
| |