Hendon Gooner (Only Easy Day Was Yesterday))
09-03-2015, 10:17 PM
after it was recovered from the bottom of a Norwegian lake after being shot-down when attacking the German battleship Tirpitz.
94yrs old - A damn fine innings Sir. :bow:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11839614/Sqn-Ldr- Ian-Hewitt-obituary.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11839614/Sqn-Ldr-Ian-Hewitt-obituary.html)
Squadron Leader Ian Hewitt, who has died aged 94, was the navigator of a Halifax bomber shot down while attacking the German battleship Tirpitz; he escaped into Sweden and joined the Pathfinder Force on his return to Britain.
On the night of April 27/28 1942, a force of 43 Halifax and Lancaster bombers attacked Tirpitz anchored in Trondheim Fjord, Norway. Hewitt and his crew from No 35 Squadron refuelled at an airfield in northern Scotland before heading for Norway.
By the time Hewitt’s Halifax arrived with the second wave, the battleship was obscured by smoke but Hewitt, lying in the nose of the bomber, dropped a mine on the source of the smoke. As the aircraft climbed away, it was hit by anti-aircraft shells and caught fire. The Canadian pilot, Pilot Officer Don MacIntyre, realised that he had to crash-land. The cockpit filled with smoke and Hewitt skilfully guided him so that MacIntyre could put the aircraft down on the frozen Lake Hoklingen. The six-man crew vacated the burning aircraft; the flight engineer was captured but the others made their escape.
Norwegian farmers sheltered the five survivors, who found a Swedish guide prepared to take them towards the border. They walked through the mountains, encountering deep snow before the guide left them. On the third day they crossed into Sweden, where they were interned for six weeks before being flown back to RAF Leuchars by the BOAC courier service operating between Stockholm and Scotland. Both MacIntyre and Hewitt were awarded a DFC.
The burning Halifax, S for Sugar, melted the ice and the bomber sank to the bottom of the lake. In 1973, the wreck was recovered and has since been on display in the RAF Museum at Hendon.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03426/hewitt1_3426642b.jpg
94yrs old - A damn fine innings Sir. :bow:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11839614/Sqn-Ldr- Ian-Hewitt-obituary.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11839614/Sqn-Ldr-Ian-Hewitt-obituary.html)
Squadron Leader Ian Hewitt, who has died aged 94, was the navigator of a Halifax bomber shot down while attacking the German battleship Tirpitz; he escaped into Sweden and joined the Pathfinder Force on his return to Britain.
On the night of April 27/28 1942, a force of 43 Halifax and Lancaster bombers attacked Tirpitz anchored in Trondheim Fjord, Norway. Hewitt and his crew from No 35 Squadron refuelled at an airfield in northern Scotland before heading for Norway.
By the time Hewitt’s Halifax arrived with the second wave, the battleship was obscured by smoke but Hewitt, lying in the nose of the bomber, dropped a mine on the source of the smoke. As the aircraft climbed away, it was hit by anti-aircraft shells and caught fire. The Canadian pilot, Pilot Officer Don MacIntyre, realised that he had to crash-land. The cockpit filled with smoke and Hewitt skilfully guided him so that MacIntyre could put the aircraft down on the frozen Lake Hoklingen. The six-man crew vacated the burning aircraft; the flight engineer was captured but the others made their escape.
Norwegian farmers sheltered the five survivors, who found a Swedish guide prepared to take them towards the border. They walked through the mountains, encountering deep snow before the guide left them. On the third day they crossed into Sweden, where they were interned for six weeks before being flown back to RAF Leuchars by the BOAC courier service operating between Stockholm and Scotland. Both MacIntyre and Hewitt were awarded a DFC.
The burning Halifax, S for Sugar, melted the ice and the bomber sank to the bottom of the lake. In 1973, the wreck was recovered and has since been on display in the RAF Museum at Hendon.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03426/hewitt1_3426642b.jpg