Bale out!

The B Flight Commander, Squadron Leader Garlick’s aircraft was attacked by a night fighter, and Garlick ordered his crew to bale out; five of them did so before the Lancaster crashed in the vicinity of Kiel. Garlick and Flight Sergeant Edwards, the rear gunner, lost their lives, but the other five of the crew became prisoners of war.

The wireless operator, Warrant Officer Dawkins DFC, recalls:
‘It happened quite suddenly. I saw some bright yellow streaks flying past the astrodome. At first I took little notice; I had seen flak before and was not unduly disturbed, until I awoke to the fact that the flashes were not travelling upwards but were progressing in the same direction as we were going. Then I realised that we were being attacked by a fighter. As the Lancaster sustained a series of hits from the attacking fighter, Squadron Leader Garlick called Dawkins over the intercom, and asked for a report from him about the damage on the port side of the aircraft.’

Dawkins remembers, ‘below the nacelle, under the wing, was a long streamer of orange flame streaking back into the night. It was not until much later that I got to know the situation was the same on the starboard side. We were in a bad spot and that’s no mistake.’ After receiving the damage report from Dawkins, Garlick asked the navigator for a course to take the stricken Lancaster out of the main bomber stream, and for a heading towards England. At this point, Dawkins was confident that they would make it back home; he came off the intercom in order to set up the radio on the base frequency, and he describes the events that followed. ‘After making sure that I was on the correct frequency, I looked around the corner of my compartment to see how the rest of the crew were faring. Much to my dismay, I saw the navigator’s compartment empty; the navigator and bomb aimer had gone. Without delay, I went back on the intercom for further instructions. All I heard was the skipper calling, “bale out” though this was being repeated several times, I did not wait to hear any more.’

Dawkins grabbed his parachute and stumbled towards the nose of the Lancaster where he encountered the navigator. ‘I was given to understand later’, recalls Dawkins, ‘that he was about to leave the plane when it crossed his mind that I was not on the intercom when the skipper started to give instructions to leave the aircraft. He was on the point of coming back for me; a very gallant gesture, as time was all important. The last thing I remember was the skipper straining at the controls in an endeavour to hold the aircraft in the air to give us all a chance of escaping. With my hand grasping the ripcord, I felt the rush of air sucking me out into the smoky, swirling clouds below.’

Recalling Squadron Leader Garlick, Dawkins said, ‘It was deep regret I learnt that the skipper was still in the aircraft when it crashed. He was a very good friend of mine, in so much that we had graduated from the early Wellington days, and he really was one of the nicest fellows I had met. It’s strange that all the best seem to be taken first.’

This incident in which two brave Aircrew lost their lives is quoted to us by W/O. Dawkins from a book referring to the bravery of his Skipper S/Ldr. Garlick. DFC.

The Flight Ops of S/Ldr. Garlick are listed under F/Ops No.10.on the Website.

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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Becky Barugh of the BBC Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Des Evans and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

See more of Des’s stories:

• Missions from Woodhall Spa
• Tracers coming through the thatch
• I didn’t quite get the chop
• Little humour in adversity
• Ted Porters Crew
• The ‘Augsburg Raid’
• S/L Sherwood’s recommendation for the Victoria Cross
• The worst night of the War…
• The worst night of the War (Part 2)
• The worst night of the War (Part 3) - Crew
• The worst night of the War (Part 4) - Losses
• The worst night of the War (Part 5) — Extract from ‘the Berlin’ Raids’
• The worst night of the War (Part 6) — Bombers over Berlin
• The worst night of the War (Part 7) — Combat Report
• A Dedication to Skipper Wing Commander Ted Porter - Pause for Thought
• A Dedication to Skipper Wing Commander Ted Porter — A Navigators View of the Route to Heaven
• Did you know?
• Flight Operations carried out with Sgt. D.C Plaunt
• Flight Operations carried out by Sgt. J.J Johnson
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ after baling out on 9th — 10th June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ after baling out on the 9th - 10th June 1944 - Continued
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ - 11th June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ - 12th — 15th June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ - 16th - 18th June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ - 19th — 23rd June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ — 24th August 1044
• ‘Our Heroes’

For further stories read ‘ACHIEVE YOUR AIM’ by Kevin Bending

For more information click on the link below:

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