The guns were fired by pressing a
button on the top of the stick and we would test them on the way
across the Channel to be sure they were working. There was a camera
mounted on the wing which worked from the same button and it took
pictures every time the gun fired. This verified the enemy planes the
pilots claimed to have destroyed.
One pilot in our squadron had the cutest little puppy. It was a
little brown fat thing with fur soft as cotton. It would sleep on'
the back of his neck and he took it everywhere but on the missions.
Another incident I remember took place when I was walking in London.
There were so many Americans around, I started looking for someone I
might have known in the States. I finally saw someone who looked
familiar standing across the street, so I dashed over and asked his
name. You can imagine my embarrassment when he said: "Yes, sir, I am
the armorer on your plane."
On the days that we were to fly escort for the bombers we would get
up about 6:00 am as we heard the bombers taking off. We went to
breakfast and then the Ready Room for briefing. When the curtain was
pulled back and the ribbon went all the way to Berlin you knew you
would have a tough mission. The weather man would give us the weather
over the target and what to expect when we returned to England. All
of our compass headings depended on the weather, our point of
rendezvous with the bombers, heading to the target, and the compass
heading home.
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