One Man’s Journey
Harry Howard: Left
Australia
a Boy returned a hero.
by
Jack Howard Grandson of Harry Howard.
During
my life I have heard of many great journeys, like the great
Antarctica
explorers, or the journey of Captain Cook
but there is nothing that I’d rather write about than the great journey of my
grand father, Harry Howard.
His
journey began on
the 1st
of January 1943
when Harry
flew to
Britain.
He was one of the thousands of Australians from the RAAF who were sent to
help the RAF in their attempt to protect
Britain’s shores
from Hitler’s air attacks and to lead the Lancaster Bomber counter attacks.
Harry was one of the many men in only two bomber squadrons sent by
Australia.
Harry was trained to be a navigator.
Harry trained at variety of airfields, Bradfield Park
Sydney, Mt.
Gambia
South
Australia, Sale,
Victoria, Nhill,
Victoria.
After 6 gruelling months of training Harry was ready to take to the
skies. Harry was shipped to his
replacement home for the war, Wellington Airfield,
Lincolnshire.
On arrival Harry found the ground crews to be very pleasant and friendly
chaps but they didn’t become too attached, as many men didn’t return to
Wellington
Harry’s
first mission was to bomb a German port in
Bremerhaven.
It was one of the most heavily guarded cities in
Germany.
In the late hours of the night, the 463rd Lancaster Squadron
made their peace to the world knowing full well that they might not return.
The flight over the channel was comfortable in terms of flying in a 69 ft
4in iron monster. When the squadron
was only a couple of miles out a group of fighter planes appeared.
The allied fighters that were protecting the bombers moved to intercept
the hostile fighters. Harry was now
aiming the bombs and getting ready for the long jumpy ride over the city.
As soon as the squadrons entered the city Flak guns started firing and
the Allied and German fighters battled for supremacy in the skies.
The Squadron was lucky this night with no losses recorded. Other
squadrons however were badly shot up. Harry
was very scared like the rest of the plane but they had a job to do and because
of that they bravely fought on. When
they had reached the target Harry flicked the bomb switch and watched 6’350 kg
of bombs score a direct hit on boats and the port.
Then the brave souls turned the
Lancaster
around and
headed home.
However,
the mission was successful and proved to be a very big blow to the German
navy. Some destroyers and
U-boats were destroyed and one of the biggest ports in
Germany
was gone in a single night’s violence.
It had been a victory, but at what cost?
Harry’s
second mission was not to be one to remember.
It was the night of the
23rd of September 1944.
The curtains were beginning to close on the German war machine
and the allies were beginning to invade.
The target for tonight was the Dortmund
Ems
Canal
aqua
duct in the Ruhr
Valley, Germany.
It wasn’t a good night to be out, it was raining, cold and cloudy.
The Germans were able to muster a huge counter strike that almost
stopped the Squadron in their tracks but the motto of the squadron was
“Push on, regardless” and the squadron did though taking much damage in
the process. Not many got
to the actual site but the few that did contained the Lancaster, JO-V
for Victor- Harry’s Lancaster!
The plane had almost reached the target but visibility was very
low and Harry couldn’t see the target.
Harry called for the pilot to circle the area again.
Without even thinking Harry’s pilot turned the Lancaster
around.
Fighter flares lit the bombers silhouette on the clouds making
them feel vulnerable to attacks from the German fighters.
The crews felt nervous as the fighters flew below them choosing
the next unfortunate victim. Only
men of such bravery, such tremendous honour and a strong will could even
think about going through that hell again but these airman did it regularly
because of their families, because of their country and most importantly,
because of their duty to the Allied nations.
But Harry never went through that hell again as on their way around
a Lancaster
crewed by first mission youngsters had been shot down.
Severely damaged and out of control JO-P crashed into JO-V from above.
Unfortunately Harry’s aircraft was split in half by the other
Lancaster’s
wing Harry was one of only three survivors.
(10%
of the squadrons forces where lost on this mission).
This was only due to the fact that Harry had a parachute clipped
onto his stomach so when lying down to aim the bombs it was more comfortable.
When Harry was sucked out of the plane a bit of metal or a stray
flak bullet hit his arm and it nearly tore off.
With his right arm hanging by the skin and sinews.
Harry slowly floated down to the earth.
Once on the ground Harry started to fear for his life, not from
the German army but from the inhabitants of the surrounding area.
Harry spent a night in the cold in a ditch, unconscious.
In the morning Harry decided to get up and find help.
This came in the form of a local farmer.
The farmer gave Harry something to eat and rest and then called
the authorities. I’m sure
that if the inhabitants of the surrounding places that had been bombed
had of caught him he would have been tortured and suffered a slow painful
death and I would not be here typing this.
Harry was now a POW or Prisoner of war.
He was taken to a POW hospital were he was treated for his injures.
Beside his arm Harry had a back pain and a badly injured hip.
He stayed there for three months.
Soon after that he was moved to another hospital were he stayed
for two months. Then he was
immediately taken to a place in Frankfurt
and
realised that he was in an Interrogation Centre.
The food was terrible if it even came at all, he was left in a
small room with no human contact and hardly any light.
He didn’t get beaten but the small room and no human contact was
designed to break down the allies mind, making them weak and very, very
desperate and encouraging them to spill information to the German officers
and maybe get a deal for the vital information.
Harry though, resisted the urge to talk.
Harry was only questioned twice both times about the new allied
navigator equipment and why it had been turned off or how it worked and
both times, Harry replied over and over “don’t ask me, I don’t have a
clue!” or “I don’t know”. After
about 2 weeks Harry was moved to a camp were the food was good, the surroundings
were great but there were German spies posing as Allied POWs.
While the POWs were relaxed they would occasionally let information
go but usually the spies could be distinguished and no information was
passed onto the German Intelligence.
After recuperation Harry was moved to his first real POW camp.
It was situated on the Polish border at a place called Bankau.
Living conditions for Harry had dramatically changed in a few short
weeks. He and his fellow Prisoners
were being treated inhumanly but not as bad as the Polish or Slav POW’s.
Axis soldiers barked orders in German and when the men stood dumbfounded,
the dogs were released on them. The
senseless act, sadly was a common one in the POW yards.
Harry told me “we wanted to cooperate but we just couldn’t”.
Soon food at Bankau was at starvation level.
A daily ration was only one loaf of bread between eight to ten
people and a mug of thin, watery soup.
If they were lucky, a piece of margarine or a spoonful of jam and
a cup of coffee made from acorns.
Red Cross parcels were allowed and generally lifted the dampened
spirits of the POWs, these parcels were shared between three to four men.
Through all the weather and lack of food, Harry and his fellow
Allied prisoners enjoyed each other’s company.
They didn’t even mind the presence of the German spies who posed
as prisoners, in the hope of gaining any information on any secret allied
plans. After one week the
Red Cross parcels stopped coming and the Germans packed the camp up.
One morning the prisoners were woken earlier than usual.
This was the beginning of a three hundred-kilometre walk that the
POWs were to endure. It seemed
the Russians were spearheading their way through the German defences and
were approaching the camp. So
the Germans were relocating them.
While on the walk the prisoners were shocked to see a horde of
angry villagers speeding towards them.
The villagers held torches and rusted weapons and attempted to
hack the aircrews to bits. German
soldiers fired in the air but the angry horde threw petrol bombs into
the crowd of POWs. Eventually
the horde dispersed and the prisoners were hurried on.
The POWs were on the road for maybe five to six weeks before settling
into a new camp in the town of Luckenwalde
.
Harry was now very weak and could hardly move.
The Russians advance hadn’t been halted and was heading strongly
towards this camp too. A couple
of days later the POWs were woken to gunfire and screams it seemed that
the Russians had finally come. When
they emerged they saw German guards dead and Russian soldiers advancing.
Harry felt sheer terror. The
Russians kept them in the camp for a month.
During that time they were manhandled and not properly cared for.
Harry and his fellow POWs were forced to break into local food
stores or forage for potatoes and left over vegetables in the horse feeding
bins. The POWs tried many
times to break out of their prison but they didn’t have much luck.
The first time they were sent back by a Russian wielding a sub-machine
gun. The next time they were
escaping when they ran into a small skirmish and the third time they managed
to run into another battle but of bigger proportion.
After a month the POWs were traded to the British for Russian POWs.
Within a week they were returned to the waiting arms of their families
and friends.
In
my opinion, Harry Howard is one of the bravest men I have ever had the pleasure
of meeting. At the young age of 19
Harry served his country admirably and would make any person proud of his
service in the RAAF or the Royal Australian Air Force.
He made his country proud, just like the many thousands of army, navy and
other air force members Hundreds upon hundreds of
Lancaster
bomber crews became POW’s during the
war. Each one with their own story.
I have only told one of the many incredible stories of strength, bravery
and great spirit.
In
closing I would like say that this was not only a journey across the seas and
land but also a personal journey that helped shape the man Harry Howard into
what he is today. His experiences
gave him a perspective on life and about people that would never have occurred
without his journey.
The
legacy of his journey is to pass onto his children and grandchildren a sense of
fairness, a sense of never giving up even when the odds are against you and a
great love of family and friends. It
is only when you face death and fear and survive that you gain an understanding
of these things.
Authors
Note: It was not unusual to have a few near misses as far as collisions go, but
in this case from the books I have read, the aircraft JO-P had been severely damaged
above JO-V and crashed into it from above shearing off the tail section.
View
the Missions
View
the missions of the collision aircraft
