The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

The British were determined to press ahead, however, and ordered the
Wellingtons to go ahead, so that a few minutes after midnight the first
bombers were beginning to taxi into position. Yet, as they did so, a number
of French trucks drove across the airfield blocking their way and preventing
them from taking off. The Wing had no choice but to call it off.
Meanwhile, 4 Group’s Whitleys had flown to the Channel Islands,
where they refuelled and took off again without any hindrance. Thirty-six
aircraft took off, including those from 10 Squadron. Larry Donnelly, now
promoted to sergeant, was amongst the crews taking part. Their aircraft
began its take-off down the short 800-yard airfield at Jersey at 8 p.m.,
reassured by the sight of the Whitley in front safely taking to the air. Even
so, Larry was feeling particularly nervous about this entire trip. ‘To say that
I was feeling tensed up,’ he noted, ‘as I sat in the tail turret of the Whitley
bumping its way along the take-off run was an understatement.’ They took
off without mishap but initially struggled to gain any height, laden as they
were. From the back, Larry glanced out at the sea, keenly aware of how
close it was.
Had they been amongst the first to take off, Larry and his crew might
have made it to Turin, but unfortunately as they reached southern France
they ran into heavy electrical storms. Ice began to build up on the wings,
while lightning flashed around. The Whitley was bucked and thrown about
the sky and then suddenly there was a blinding flash and an audible bang as
they were struck by lightning. Their pilot, Enery, decided they could not go
on, so they turned and headed back to the Channel Islands.
In fact, only nine aircraft managed to bomb Turin, dropping their loads
from around 5,000 feet, and not on the Fiat plant, but on railway
marshalling yards instead. To begin with the Italian ack-ack gunners fired
way too high before eventually adjusting their range, but they were unable
to shoot any of the Whitleys down. Two further bombers attacked Genoa by
mistake.
Larry and his crew made it safely back to Jersey and from there to
Dishforth. Four days later, Turin was bombed again, this time by
Wellingtons; the much feared retaliation had not brought the death and
destruction the French had feared. In the meantime, however, 10 Squadron,
along with the rest of 4 Group, had German positions and communications
in France to bomb. The end for France was coming, but while the fighting
continued, Bomber Command would do what they could to help.