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At 17, Doug Jennings was an
evacuee for a time in Tunbridge Wells, Kent,
before returning to work in London. He survived
the Blitz and witnessed the first big daylight
bombing raids on London Docks. In 1940 he joined
the L.D.V. which became the Home Guard and was
trained to kill people with his bare hands, not
something he has had to use yet!
On call-up he joined the R.A.F. and after
training in South Africa and England
was posted as an
Air Bomber flying in Lancasters from 57 Squadron
on operations with 5 Group in Lincolnshire.
He started ops at a time when Bomber
Command was
concentrating on strategic targets prior and
after D Day. Later in June 1944 his aircraft
was shot down in a raid on Wesseling, an oil
refinery in the Ruhr. With help from the Belgian
Resistance he evaded capture and the narrative
tells of what it was like to live day by day
under the threat of discovery, and the risks
the ‘Helpers’ took. He returned to
England from Paris in September 1944.
After some delay from Air Ministry, he got
himself posted back into 5 Group and continued
ops with
9 Squadron, which was a special unit using
the ‘Tallboy’ 12,000lb
bomb.
On his last op, before the end of the War
he nearly had to ‘hit the silk’ again
as his aircraft sustained damage, but managed
to get back safely.
There followed several months of flying,
returning P.O.W.s and troops on leave and
demob from
Belgium and Italy, not without incident.
He was finally demobilised in July 1946,
a much changed man from the boy evacuee.
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