"Flamin'Onions"
Many discussions have been held concerning this subject. I suspect they usually end up with a hung jury. Here is my contribution on this.
Our introduction came on our very first Op. On a second dickie trip the skipper of a brand new crew is usually detailed to go as an observer with an experienced crew. In our case the pilot of a seasoned crew from "C" flight was assigned to accompany me and my crew on our introductoty trip. F/S "Toppy" Topham occupied the flight engineer's seat on my right as we took off for Le Mans on this auspicious outing. It was May 19th 1944.
Approaching the target we came under heavy anti-
aircraft fire. For the first time we saw glowing tennis balls floating lazily up toward us till suddenly with a burst of speed they went streaking on past us. I saw this mesmerizing curtain of fire cascading up right in front of us with no chance of getting through it. I hollered something like
"What's the form Toppy?". He yelled back "Straight ahead!". We did.
A few seconds later I saw a huge explosion just ahead of us. The bomb aimer was giving directions for the bombing run. On my exclamation "There goes
a plane!" Toppy replied "That's flamin' onions. They're like scarecrows". I didn't have time to say that I had just seen part of a Lancaster undercarriage go tumbling past us.
Then from the bomb aimer came "Bomb Doors Open"
and "Left,Left-Steady,Steady,Bombs Gone, Bomb Doors Closed". This last phrase was often greeted by audible sighs of relief from the crew. The navigator now gave me a course to begin our homeward journey.
We had just settled onto our new heading when over the intercom burst the words "Fighter Port Go". The gunners mics were always left open for just such urgencies. This attack was by an Me 109
which we endured by the prompt action by all concerned. This was followed by another Me 109 attack and then one by a FW 190.
Back to the subject matter. I have never been sure as to whether these scarecrows actually existed or were simply propaganda to sooth our nerves or prevent a state of alarm among aircrew.
Would love to hear from anyone with comments pro or con that you may have read about or seen.
Alex Campbell Skipper of "C" Charlie

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