He flew with a Vickers Wellington (type Ic, serial R3175, code OJ-V).
September
For the first week of the month, the only Blenheim sorties were the anti-shipping patrols. In fact, the majority of daylight operations were of this nature and rarely featured more than a dozen aircraft. Airfields were becoming secondary targets as the Command sought to disrupt Hitler's invasion plans by targeting the barges moored along the length of the Channel coast. The nighttime operations were of a completely different nature. The numbers of aircraft used was starting to increase. On fourteen nights the total number of aircraft on operations exceeded 100, and for six nights in the middle of September between 92 and 194, the highest of any night so far, concentrated on the Channel ports with minor operations against German targets. The night of 14th/15th September saw an oil depot near Antwerp bombed by 43 Wellingtons in an untypical concentration of aircraft against one target. The following night, Sgt John Hannah, an 18-year old wireless operator with No 83 Squadron (Hampdens), bravely fought a fire in his aircraft after it had been hit by flak near Antwerp. Despite being badly burned, Hannah stayed with the aircraft and extinguished the fire allowing the Hampden to recover to its base. For this, Sgt Hannah was awarded Bomber Command's second VC. Berlin was the objective of a raid by 129 aircraft during the night of 23rd/24th September and 112 aircraft claimed to have found their target despite a ground mist making identification difficult. This contrasted sharply when 17 aircraft claimed to have bombed the German Air Ministry building in Berlin. Official records from the city show that only 6 bombs fell on the whole of Berlin that night!
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