238081 AC2. Jason Masey Royal Air Force 76 Squadron from:Uxbridge, Middx At one period of my training for Aircrew Duties (PNB) the Flight of 50 trainees I was in was attached to 76 Squadron at Holme on Spalding Moor from November 1944 to February 1945. I was attached to Armoury A Flight. For most of my time with them I was assigned to assist with the 'bombing up' of the Halifax Aircraft. One particular incident I remember, apparently there had been some problems with bomb release, resulting in partly failed missions. We were given the task of fitting a bowden cable to provide manual release of bombs and their carriers. The Release, a T shaped, handle was fitted to the Pilot's dashboard. There was an urgency for this modification to be completed and as a consequence we were still completing a fitting on an aircraft when the crew arrived to prepare their aircraft for that night of operation. The Pilot who sounded Canadian asked what the T shaped handle on the was for, we were amazed he had not been told of this fitment. When we told him he went berserk at not being told. Had he, in ignorance pulled the handle, to ascertain its use, possibly whilst still on the airfield it would have been a catastrophe. All the bombs would have been dropped onto the tarmac. I can still remember how shocked we were that we were fitting something potentially dangerous to an aircraft without the Pilot's knowledge. These things can happen in wartime.
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