Vickers Wellington Ward VC
<p>Vickers Wellington Mk.IC<br>L7818 AA-R, Sgt James Allen Ward, No.75<br>(New Zealand) Squadron, Feltwell, Norfolk,<br>England, night of 7/8th July 1941 wing fire<br>Victoria Cross winning actions<br>Having successfully released their bombs over the<br>German city of Munster on the night of 7th/8th July<br>1941, the crew of Vickers Wellington L7818 set<br>course for their home station at Feltwell and hoped<br>for an uneventful return flight. Those hopes were<br>dashed when co-pilot James Allen Ward noticed<br>a sinister shape stalking their aircraft in the<br>night sky, a Luftwaffe Bf 110 nighfighter.<br>Before he could warn his pilot, the enemy<br>fighter positioned itself under the Wellington<br>and unleashed a hail of bullets and cannon<br>shells into its fuselage, leaving it severely<br>damaged and on fire. On seeing the severity<br>of the fire, the pilot instructed Ward to<br>prepare the crew to abandon the aircraft<br>and as a parting, ironic comment in this<br>desperate situation, also said, ‘see what<br>you can do about that damned fire!’<br>Ward took him at his word, cutting<br>a hole in the fuselage of the bomber<br>and attempting to extinguish the flames using fire<br>extinguishers, however the savage slipstream made these<br>efforts futile. What he did next was quite extraordinary -<br>he crawled through the astrodome hatch on the spine of<br>the bomber and onto the wing of the aircraft. Clinging to<br>the exposed geodetic framework of the Wellington, Ward<br>slowly made his way to the wing fire and stuffed a canvas<br>sheet into the gaping hole, putting out the fire in the process.<br>Completely exhausted due the slipstream, he was pulled back into the<br>aircraft by his crewmates, who could hardly believe what they had just<br>witnessed. Though still badly damaged, the bomber made it back to an RAF<br>emergency landing ground and the crew all survived this incredible ordeal,<br>thanks to the selfless act of bravery performed by Sgt James Allen Ward.</p>
