JAMES ALLEN WARD

In July 1941, 13,000ft above the Dutch coastline in a severely damaged Wellington bomber, this New Zealand airman clambered onto his aircraft’s wing to put out a fire and save his comrades

- ALEX BOWERS

The German night fighter seemed to come from nowhere. One minute, the crew of the No.75 Squadron’s Wellington IC, L7818, AA-R had been returning home to RAF Feltwell, Norfolk, after a successful bombing raid on Münster, a mission relatively free from opposition with its end almost in sight. The next, cannon shells smashed through their aircraft, spraying fragments everywhere and filling the cockpit with smoke as a Messerschmitt Bf 110 fired at them from beneath. The damage wrought was swift and severe: the bomber’s hydraulic lines were rendered useless, its communication systems knocked out and its undercarriage was in a perilous state. Meanwhile, in the rear turret, Sergeant AJR Box was struck in the foot, though he did manage to fire a few rounds at the attacker, potentially a killing blow that at least ensured they would not see the night fighter again. This mattered little because the Wellington’s starboard engine had also been hit and a fuel tank opened, prompting a fire on the wing that, as the flames spread, would surely send the bomber hurtling to the ground in a deadly inferno.