Robert Hamilton Watts

At 17:26 hours on October 20th 1943, F/Sgt Robert Hamilton Watts and his crew lifted off from RAF Dunholme Lodge into the scattered low clouds for their 8th operational sortie, part of a force of 358 Lancasters bound for Leipzig. Their aircraft, EE184, coded KM-B, which they had been allocated on arrival at the squadron, was one of 15 aircraft fielded for the operation by 44 Squadron. This was Bomber Command's first major attack on the city. Some three and a half hours after takeoff, they were able to identify their target from marker flares dropped by the pathfinder aircraft assigned to the raid. Bombs were dropped at 2106 hours, and F/Sgt Watts turned onto the course passed by his navigator, Sgt John Connor, and headed for Dunholme, his temporary home during since his crew were posted on to 44 Squadron in August. Everything seemed in order, flak was not as heavy as usual, no nightfighters around, although Sgt Holly Young and Sgt Pete Dennis, the crew's gunners kept their usual hawk-like lookout for the first sign of anything unusual that might herald an attack on the bomber stream. Sgt Bob Hogg the bomb aimer continued to push out bundles of radar-reflective strips known as 'Window' to mask the aircraft's location on German radar.

As the aircraft made its way to and from the target area, Sgt Don Pierce the flight engineer kept logs of fuel consumption at regular intervals. When the main tanks in the wings registered 80 gallons each left in them, he turned the fuel cocks to feed the engines from the centre tanks. Almost immediately both starboard engines began to splutter and cut out. Quickly, the flight engineer realised that the fuel feed line from the starboard centre tank had probably been severed by flak damage and when the cock was opened on the tank, the fuel was just venting into the sky. He changed the fuel feed for the starboard engines to the port tanks, running the engines from them until each tank in turn ran dry. The port engines then cut out and could not be restarted. This presented yet another problem for the crew - the port outer engine drove the alternator required to supply electrical power to the aircraft. He took the decision to allow the port outer propellor to periodically 'windmill' - running free in the slipstream to keep the engine turning over and generating electricity at the expense of extra drag induced by the blades. This allowed Sgt Connor to get accurate position fixes. The aircraft was at 16000 feet over the North Sea when the port engines cut, and began to lose height rapidly. It was not a pleasant night at sea-level, a heavy swell was running in the brisk south-westerly wind. F/Sgt Watts warned the crew over the intercom that ditching was a very real possibility. Sgt Connor kept taking regular position fixes using the Gee equipment, and the wireless operator Sgt Jock Gilmour passed them on to the monitoring station at Heston.

When the aircraft reached 2000ft, the flight engineer helped F/Sgt Watts to remove his parachute pack, tightened his harness straps and partially inflated his Mae West lifejacket. He then removed the front escape hatch, and moved back to behind the aircraft's rear spar to assume his ditching position. About two minutes later F/Sgt Watts, alone in the front of the aircraft, turned the Lancaster almost into the wind and touched down on the water approximately 5 miles south of the Humber lightship, just off the north Lincolnshire coast. The choppy seas made for a rough ditching, the Lancaster broke its back just aft of the mid-upper turret and the tail section sank immediately. The dinghy was released from the starboard wing and inflated automatically. The crew clambered out of the top escape hatch and crawled along the wing, boarding the dinghy. Sgt Connor became aware that F/Sgt Watts had not appeared from the cockpit and went to the leading edge of the wing. Shortly afterwards, he either dived off or was knocked off the wing, and disappeared into the dark water. The rest of the crew paddled the dinghy round to the front of the aircraft, blowing their survival whistles to give him something to swim towards, but in the heavy seas and darkness they were unable to find him.

After some time, the five in the dinghy began to be violently seasick. They knew that they were relatively close to the Lincolnshire coast, and that it would not be too long until dawn broke. They decided to put out the dinghy's sea anchor to keep them pointed into the wind so as to minimise the effects of the sea on them. Having sent out a final position signal just before they ditched, they were confident that rescue vessels would be nearby soon. Some lights were seen, which the crew believed to be the coast, so they fired a Verey flare to attract attention. Not long afterwards, a large cargo ship passed within 100 yeards of the dinghy, but did not spot it in the dark. Almost immediately, another ship with a searchlight was seen, this time, they were successful in attracting attention. After 3 hours and 10 minutes in their dinghy, the five survivors were hauled aboard the minesweeper HMS Loch Moidart. They were taken back to Grimsby suffering from cold and shock, and spent the remainder of the night at the naval hospital there under observation before being discharged and returned to Dunholme Lodge. Bomber Command lost 16 Lancasters from the attacking force this night, an unusually high 4.5% loss rate.

Sgt Connor's body was never found, he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. Some weeks after the incident, F/Sgt Watts' body washed up on the Dutch coast, and was taken to Bergen-Op-Zoom for identification. After the German authorities notified the International Red Cross of the discovery of his body, F/Sgt Watts was buried locally. After the war ended, Robert's body was moved to the CWGC Bergen-Op-Zoom Canadian cemetery.