| Manaia man believed killed on operations. |
| After a series of lucky escapes Flight Sergeant George W. Tindle, formerly of Manaia, was described by fellow airmen as "living on borrowed time." That time was short, however, because soon after his escape from death in a damaged bomber he was reported missing and recently was listed missing, believed killed.
In a letter to his wife, Mrs. M. P. Tindle, Manaia, received after he was posted missing, Flight Sergeant Tindle gave a vivid account of his adventures on some of the 17 flights he had then made over the enemy territory. |
| | "In the Soup Properly"
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| "When I first went on operations our plane did three trips without striking trouble," he wrote, "but then we got in the soup properly. In a Berlin raid we were caught in anti-aircraft fire. There were shells exploding all round us and we were hit several times. However, we managed to pull through, and not a soul was hurt, but my plane was shot to ribbons. We had about 40 holes in the crate and there was one in the wing you could have crawled through."
Two trips later Flight Sergeant Tindle said he and his crew encountered more trouble. "When we were over Mannheim one night," he wrote, "we were coned by about 100 searchlights for a period too long for me. I dived, twisted and turned, with red hot pieces of flak bashing our old crate. The searchlights were so bright that I was blinded, and the shells were bursting so close that they threw us all over the sky. Finally we got back on one wing and a prayer." | |
| | Spell of Good Luck |
| Then for a spell the crew had good luck and although they continued to go through just as much gunfire and as many fighters they were not hit. "One night in Ruhr," continued Flight Sergeant Tindle, "we stooged for over an hour through a hell fire and searchlights to drop our eggs, and we didn't even lose and paint off our plane. 'Now luck has changed again, for we have been hit four times out of the last six trips." His letter described how, while over Hagen in Germany, one rudder and half the tail fin of the bomber were blown off by a direct hit, and there were several holes in the fuselage.
His luckiest escape was made on an operation in which he was caught in antiaircraft fire at 19,000 feet, said the writer. After he managed to manoeuvre the bomber out of the guns' range to a certain extent a "dirty stinking fighter dived in out of the dark and let us have it." |
| | Missed by Cannon Shell | |
| He did not see the fighter until something crashed through the windows of the plane. "It was an exploding cannon shell," he explained, "and had I not leaned forward to attend to something I should be minus my head now. All the chaps here say I'm living on borrowed time."
Flight Sergeant Tindle said he had 27 more operations to do on bombers before he was due for a long leave in which he could visit New Zealand. "I came over here with the intention of going on fighters," he added however, "and after I have finished with Bomber Command they can't stop me from going on fighters. I want to fly a fighter just to get even with some of the Jerry fighters."
But Flight Sergeant Tindle's luck did not hold out long enough for him to realise his ambition. He was posted missing, and later his wife was advised by the Air Ministry that he went missing and believed killed on operations. |