205861 Ft Lt Alfred George "Fred" Mullins DFM.Royal Air Force 61 Squadron from:Bristol My father, Flight Lt Alfred George Mullins DFM, was doing his tour of duty in 61 Squadron during 1943 as a sergent flight engineer on Lancaster bombers. After one of the bombing raids over Germany their aircraft was damaged by flak and the hydralics were badly damaged, on returning to Syerston in order to get the undercarriage down to land my father filled the hydralic accumilator with all liquid available on the aircraft which enabled them to lower the under carriage and land. However, he got it in the neck from the ground crew at dispersal because they had to work all night to repair and flush the system through ready for the next operation. On another occasion the same aircraft QR-Q, on landing and near the end of the runway the undercarriage collapsed and the aircraft slid into a field at the end of the runway where potato pickers were running for their lives. All the crew laughed afterwards because some of the potato pickers were throwing potatos at the aircraft in retaliation for being frightened, no one was hurt. The aircraft was sent to an MU for repair. These stories my father told me when I was young
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