Thursday, December 03, 2015

Sergeant James Ward crawled out, at 10,000 feet, on the wing with a length of rope tied around his waist and a canvas cover to drape over the inferno in the engine. After extinguishing the flames he was pulled back into the Wellington bomber, over the North Sea.


When returning from a bombing run on Munster Germany, 1941, Co-pilot Sgt James Ward saved his stricken plane and crew by climbing on to the WING to put out an engine fire at 10,000 feet, in act of heroism for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

 Sgt James Ward crawled along wing rope tied around his waist making his way out onto the wing, punching and kicking holds through the fabric as he went. (the image above labels them 2, 3)

 Widdowson kept plane steady while Ward draped canvas cover over fire. After extinguishing flames Ward was pulled back into Wellington bomber by the rest of the crew who had been preparing to bail out over the North Sea. Sq Ldr Widdowson managed to fly the battered plane back to its base in Suffolk where it was only stopped from careering off the end of the runway by a barbed wire fence.

It was an incredible act of bravery that saw a wartime pilot save his stricken plane and crew by climbing onto the wing to put out a fire at 10,000ft.

The two pilots had been flying a Wellington bomber and its crew of six on a raid over Munster, Germany, in July 1941 when they were shot at by a Messerschmitt 110 nightfighter. Although rear gunner Sgt Alan Box shot the Luftwaffe plane down, the bomber was critically damaged with its starboard engine out of action and ablaze. Sq Ldr Widdowson instructed the crew to put their parachutes on in readiness to jump and then yelled out ‘…and see if you can put out that bloody fire’.

Full story in his own words at https://www.thevintagenews.com/2015/11/03/pilot-saved-his-stricken-bomber-crew-by-climbing-on-to-the-wing-to-extinguish-the-fire-at-13000/

2 comments:

  1. I call BS. What is the stall speed of a plane that size? 100+ mph? And he walks out with a rope on a smooth surface with a canvas sheet (acting like a parachute in 100+ mph winds) and places it over the flaming holes, and wraps it around the underside as well to keep it from blowing off? This did not happen.

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    1. What is the stall speed? It seems you know. You must know everything. Apparently no one ever told you to fold a piece of cloth and lay it over your arm like a paper bag that is closed, and folded... and then it won't be a parachute. But, of course, you knew that, because you know everything. Of course, you are blind, and stupid, because this really did happen, and the image I included shows the holes he kicked in the wing. Maybe you need to take a chill pill, and get over yourself. http://www.aer.ita.br/~bmattos/mundo/ww2/wellington.htm

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