"Flight Lieutenant Lord was pilot and captain of a Dakota aircraft
detailed to drop supplies at Arnhem on the afternoon of 19 September
1944. Our airborne troops had been surrounded and were being pressed
into a small area defended by a large number of anti-aircraft guns. Air
crews were warned that intense opposition would be met over the dropping
zone. To ensure accuracy they were ordered to fly at 900 feet when
dropping their containers. While flying at 1,500 feet near Arnhem the starboard wing of
Flight Lieutenant Lord's aircraft was twice hit by anti-aircraft fire. The starboard engine was set on fire. He would have been justified in
leaving the main stream of supply aircraft and continuing at the same
height or even abandoning his aircraft. But on learning that his crew
were uninjured and that the dropping zone would be reached in three
minutes he said he would complete his mission, as the troops were in
dire need of supplies. By now the starboard engine was burning furiously. Flight
Lieutenant Lord came down to 900 feet, where he was singled out for the
concentrated fire of all the anti-aircraft guns. On reaching the
dropping zone he kept the aircraft on a straight, and level course while
supplies were dropped. At the end of the run, he was told that two
containers remained. Although he must have known that the collapse of the starboard
wing could not be long delayed, Flight Lieutenant Lord circled, rejoined
the stream of aircraft and made a second run to drop the remaining
supplies. These manoeuvres took eight minutes in all, the aircraft being
continuously under heavy anti-aircraft fire. His task completed, Flight Lieutenant Lord ordered his crew to
abandon the Dakota, making no attempt himself to leave the aircraft,
which was down to 500 feet. A few seconds later, the starboard wing
collapsed and the aircraft fell in flames. There was only one survivor,
who was flung out while assisting other members of the crew to put on
their parachutes. By continuing his mission in a damaged and burning aircraft, descending
to drop the supplies accurately, returning to the dropping zone a second
time and, finally, remaining at the controls to give his crew a chance
of escape, Flight Lieutenant Lord displayed supreme valor and
self-sacrifice."
From FltLt Lord's Victoria Cross citation, awarded on 9 November 1945.
May you be at peace,
Brian
Painting of Lord's action.
No comments:
Post a Comment