260352 Flt.Sgt. William Norman Bartlett Cooper Royal Air Force No. 196 Squadron from:London Billy Cooper's family found some written memories of his RAF wartime experiences. These included the following:
'D-Day was coming up...the invasion of Europe. Our Squadron had been briefed for three days in succession and we knew when and exactly what we had to do. Go over in Normandy, Caen area, at very low level in darkness, and put down the 6th Airborne Division Paratroopers. A big crowd of ground staff cheered us off, and we were a bit tense but busy enough with our duties.
There was intense flak over the French coast and some of our Squadron were hit. One in particular on our port bow was on fire from stem to stern and sinking down slowly. I saw a couple of parachutes come out but they, too, were burning. It was hopeless for them. The Stirling flew on fully ablaze and losing height slowly, then it hit the ground with an enormous explosion which lit the low clouds for miles.
I looked back over the Seine Bay and the sea was black with ships. Battleships were firing salvos inland and the sky - our sky - was filled with aircraft. There never was such a sight.
We did our run-up with flak all around us and put the paratroops down in the right spot (no doubt about it!) and turned for base. Very, very nasty with Jerry flak combing the sky and all of us at low level. But we did it and got back safely, with the whole Squadron personnel waiting to greet us - a magic moment.
We went back again the same evening this time in daylight and put down a Horsa glider and container with ammunition etc.
On reflection I am lucky to be writing this - still sweat a bit when I think of it'.
'Arnhem: It was a brilliant Sunday morning on 17th September 1944, not a cloud to be seen. Our Squadron had been briefed to drop or put down the 1st Airborne Division on the other side of the Rhine to form a bridgehead for the advancing Corps of the British Army.
We were the largest airborne force ever assembled and we flew in loose formation, thousands of planes and gliders in tow. We were fairly low - about 3,000 feet - and crowds could be seen when we passed over or close to towns such as Watford on the way to the coast. Massive!
We got some flak at the Dutch coast, but the Armada flew on and into Holland. We were to release our glider, a giant Horsa, just beyond Arnhem Bridge, and it all went well except for some flak. We saw the whole Airborne division down with casualties, crashes, and little or no resistance from Jerry. We turned to base and all seemed well. We were de-briefed and reported to intelligence.
We went back to Arnhem three more times in a week, making four in all. The scene had changed dramatically. Intense flak, and when that eased the German fighters got to work. We went in at low level in daylight and their fighters and flak took their toll. All this time the 1st Airborne was having a tough time too. We went in each time very, very low at about 500 feet and were caught by flak. Our Squadron suffered heavy losses. I saw three Stirlings in front of us go down in flames and Dakotas on our port bow on fire before crashing. We were carrying canisters of mortar bombs and petrol in our bomb bays to supply the guns and tanks below. We did it and were hit in the bomb bay immediately after we had dropped the stuff. We got back to base and were very, very lucky to survive that battle'.
(Billy did write some more about this)
The names of his other crew members were:
- 1350196 Flt. Sgt. J.W. Hill (Pilot)
- 1507788 Flt. Sgt. C.G. Valentine (Navigator)
- 986150 Flt. Sgt. I.P. Jones (Air Bomber)
- 1603711 Flt. Sgt. H.C.F. Stransbridge (Flt. Engineer)
- 644459 Warrant Officer E. Hood (Air Gunner)
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