62 Bomber Missions - and he came
home
by
John Cilio 2010
In August 1942
Winston Churchill ordered the Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command to
form an
organization, which would be known as the Path Finder Force (PFF).
Pathfinders represented
crew and aircraft tasked with leading a RAF bomber force to accurately
bomb enemy
targets at night. On August 18th Bomber Command aircraft
attacked
Flensberg, in northern Germany,
in the lead were a mixed group of 31 bombers – the first Pathfinders.
The Pathfinder aircraft
were officially squadrons of the RAF Bomber Command during World War
II. A young
Australian commander, Group Captain (later Air Vice Marshal) Donald
Bennett,
was to mould the Pathfinders into a force that brought Bomber Command
into the
electronic age. His leadership brought H2S
navigational radar and target-marking techniques that enabled
Pathfinders
to literally light the way with flares. Now bombers could achieve the
accuracy needed
to win the war while they risked German night fighter radar tracking.
Pathfinder crews found themselves attempting ever
increasingly
sophisticated and complex missions that were constantly in
modification. As
Pathfinders became more specialized some aircraft were assigned as
"Finders”
aircraft tasked with dropping sticks of illuminating flares, at
critical points
along the bombing route to aid navigation and keep the bombers on
course. Others
functioned as "Illuminators,” aircraft flying in front of the main
force
dropped markers onto the designated 'aiming point' already illuminated
by the
"Finders". Still other aircraft, "Markers" would drop
incendiaries onto the targets just prior to the main bomber force
arrival. As the war wore on, a highly
dangerous role of
"Master Bomber" Pathfinder was introduced. They would circle the
target broadcasting radio instructions to both Pathfinders and Main
Force
aircraft coordinating the attack.
In 1942 Tom Scotland was a new
Australian pilot destined to be selected as a Pathfinder. He boarded a
ship in Australia bound for Britain.. It was a long trip, made longer
by the necessity of skirting German U-boats. Passing through the Panama
Canal and traveling through New York, his ship joined a convoy that
survived an attack by submarines. Scotland, the author of a book,
“Voice from the Stars: A Pathfinder's Story,” arrived in a Britain when
shortages were pervasive because many supplies were being sunk by
German submarines and from regular enemy bombing attacks.
Halifax MK2 - Tom flew the MK3 as a
Pathfinder pilot
On one of his training flights his Halifax
bomber suffered serious mechanical trouble when the left wing of the
crew's
plane caught fire. He urged his crew to bail out while he quickly
searched for
somewhere to land the burning aircraft. Somehow he escaped death and
injury in
his spectacular crash landing, encircled in flames as he came to a stop
in a
field beside Drub Lane
in Devils Glen. He managed to miss houses, businesses and people as he
crashed
through stone walls coming to a stop just short of a set of populated
row
houses.
Forty years after the war. Scotland
received a letter from a man who had witnessed the crash of his
aircraft beside Drub Lane. The memories it unearthed prompted Scotland
and his wife to return to England
and reunite with the people of Devils Glen and his surviving Pathfinder
crew. During
his trip home from the reunion, his memories stirred, Scotland
decided to write his
account of the war years. His book, Voice
from the Stars: A Pathfinder's Story, tells the story about the
intricacies
and real life drama of the war in Europe
and follows
his search for the voice in the stars which so often seemed to help out
in
times of difficulty.
When his pathfinder squadron began its Italian
operations the losses were
considerable, weather conditions, experience, terrain and strong
defenses covering
the strategic targets took their toll. The Pathfinder techniques
steadily improved
in target finding and flak avoidance. Scotland’s
story shares how he heard the news about friends who were also flying
in Europe and colleagues in the 614
squadron who unluckily became
missing in action or who died during the course of their duties,
sometimes on
the same mission.
Tom Scotland
flew Halifax and B-24 Liberator bombers as a Pathfinder force pilot.
His story provides interesting insights about
experiencing life during
WWII; the training, the missions, anticipation, time off duty and
explains the
amazing feats which confronted them during many of their bombing raids.
Scotland
stared the reality of death squarely in the face on a number of
occasions. On
one foggy mission he recalled, "Down, down, down I sank. Would the
plane
finish up amongst the houses surrounding the valley? I lifted the nose
of the Halifax
to miss a road. I
felt so peaceful. What would death be like?" The reader can start to
sense
how a pilot’s depression starts to seep into a mind as you begin to
feel the
anxiety and difficulty of daily death defying missions. Yet, almost as
quickly
as you sense despair it disappears replaced with the excitement of
taking leave
into nearby towns or achieving success in an important mission.
His book provides rare insights including the
frustration experienced at
the long delays in getting to the war zone and then once there, facing
the
enemy, completing the job and returning home. His book has been
described as a
war story with a difference. It is a compassionate true story filled
with human
emotions; grief, love, death, beauty, tension, fun and fortitude.
Writing took three
years to complete and part of its triumph is found in the personal
gains which
came from its writing. Mr. Scotland
said, "Through writing the book I gained a relationship with my eldest
son,". "He wanted to know all these stories at a much younger age but
I couldn't tell him then, so because of the book a relationship between
us was
born in our adult years."Scotland's
wife Laurel said. "It also has meaning for people who weren't there but
who had fathers and uncles who were and they want to know more about
it. We
know it has also helped those whose husbands and fathers didn't come
back.
"They wanted to know what it was like and needed to say goodbye with
some
memories.
Scotland
fortunately kept many of the documents, letters, records and
photographs of his
war years and relied on these and his own memories to write this the
book. I
read his 300+ page book in one afternoon. You will feel as if you have
spent a
day with Mr. Scotland,
talking one-on-one about his experiences. You may break into a cold
sweat
remembering the mission where friendly aircraft bombed through his
aircraft. One
bomb, armed and ready to wreak havoc on the enemy sat lodged in his
disabled
aircraft. At the end of the war Scotland's
crew was the only crew left flying out of Italy
of those who trained together at Marston Moor and Upton. The book introduces you to an
exceptionally well disciplined, skilled, lucky and humble WWII pilot.
His experiences
caused him to become a man on a search. It is a search for the meaning
of
existence, the purpose of life and death and the Voice which brought
him
answers in the most unexpected times and places. Cartoon drawings by
one of his
crew add WWII classic humor to this spellbinding autobiography. Scotland comments on Voice from the Stars: A
Pathfinder's Story as only a member of the Greatest Generation
would;
"We had survived. We had received back our lives. We could go on with
living. The war was over." If you
have an interest in WWII aviation, (or Australian stories) order his book. It is a treasure
in many ways.
Contact John Cilio
at vintageflyer.com.
John is a
freelance writer and aviation historian and lives in the USA.
©
John Cilio
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