COMBAT AND COMPETITION.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

CHAPTER SEVEN BALBOS AND BOOZE
bolts.
Burg, although I did not know it at the time, had been another KG
200 base. Here a force of some 50 Mistels had been concentrated to
carry out last ditch missions against the Oder and Vistula bridges
which had fallen intact to the Soviet Armies. I wanted to land at Burg
and take a closer look. But this was Russian airspace and it was unwise
to hang around.
One of our chaps who inadvertently did, a Flight Sergeant, got lost
and landed in the Russian Sector. His 'Ya Englichanin 1 form and its
message was a waste of time, as none of his captors could read, and he
was treated like a prisoner of war - locked up overnight with a bare
minimum to eat and drink. In the morning an officer appeared and he
was grilled at length. He returned a shaken man, much relieved that
they had let him go, and grateful that his engine had started on its first
cartridge.
It was becoming daily more obvious that our Russian allies would
be very difficult bedfellows in future years, and many of us inclined
to the view that we should deal with this problem now, whilst the
Western military machine was still mobilised and ready to go!
With such thoughts in mind it was dreadful to stand idly by whilst
a whole wing of Czech Spitfires refuelled at Hildesheim on its way
home. We were forbidden to speak to them. Perhaps to avoid a
confrontation or the risk that they might be persuaded to turn back at
the eleventh hour. We watched uneasily as they took off for Prague
and wondered what fate, or the Russians, might have in store for them
at the other end.
A trip with Neville Thomas to HQ 7th Armoured Division at
Cuxhaven, where his brother was CRE 1 , led to a splendid evening in
the mess and a monumental hangover the following morning.
Something that frequently seemed to happen to those who went
swanning with Tommy! It also led to Cuxhaven airfield which was a
veritable treasure trove of Luftwaffe hardware.
Most of the aircraft were radar carrying night fighters, Me 110s
and 410s and, seen in real life for the first time, a Heinkel He 219.
High and boxlike on its stilted tricycle undercarriage, this particular
aircraft carried an armament of four 30mm and two 20mm forward
firing cannon. They were supplemented by two more 30mm cannon
mounted in the centre section, which were tilted to fire forwards and
upwards, the lethal "schrage Musik" (literally "slant Music") for
stalking an enemy bomber from below.
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