 
Bombers flew over enemy territory at night, to make it harder for ground artillery to spot them, and for German night fighters to find them. This made navigation difficult; the navigator had to use the stars to check the accuracy of their course, and near the target had to follow rivers that reflected moonlight. Shortly after dropping their bombs, my uncle's plane was attacked by night fighters. Their plane was badly shot up, and fell toward the ground. Mr. Harvie managed to make it to a doorway and jump; he remembers my uncle being right behind him in the doorway. As Mr. Harvie's parachute opened, he looked back at the plane, where he saw my uncle jump out. By this time, however, the plane was too close to the ground; the plane crashed, and my uncle's parachute never had time to open. He died when he hit the ground. No-one else managed to escape from the plane. [continued...] |