Fauquier - World War Two
World War Two, Second World War, W.W.II
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Take up ditching positions... Flight Lieutenant John Fanquier of 405 Squadron bombed Berlin on the night of November 7, I94I. He returned safely but strong headwinds forced him to land at a non&endash;operational airfield, where the Home Guard surrounded the plane, suspecting they were spies. Finally, we reached the point where we thought, and hoped, Berlin lay ... dropped our bombs and turned for home. It wasn't long before I realized we were in trouble because the winds had increased greatly in strength and were almost dead ahead. Eventually, I lost height down to a few hundred feet &endash; to avoid icing conditions and to save fuel since the head wind would be less strong.
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Wing Commander John Fauquier at the controls of a bomber. I have seen the North Sea in many moods but never more ferocious than that night. Huge waves of solid green water were lifted from the surface and carried hundreds of feet by the wind. After what seemed like hours in these appalling conditions I realised we were unlikely to make base. I had little or no fuel left and told the crew to take up ditching positions.... It was then I saw briefly one of those wonderful homing lights and made a bee&endash;line straight for it. John Fauquier, November 7, 1941 Courtesy of No Price To High |
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Strong emotions couldn't always be hidden.
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