206930 F/O Edward Worthy Royal Air Force 106 Sqd. My uncle, F/O Edward Worthy, served with 106 Sqn at Methringham from the end of November 1943 to December 1943. He was a wireless operator/air gunner, his Lancaster jb593 zn-y was on operational duty the night of December 30/31 1943. They were to bomb the big city (Berlin). They took off on time and bombed on time over Berlin without any trouble, but on their return journey when they were near Bremen they were hit by an enormous explosion. The aircraft dived from 22,000 ft to below 9,000 ft. the pilot pulled out with help from the bomb aimer. Sadly the flight engineer was killed and my uncle was badly wounded. Both outboard engines were u/s and both turrets out of action, the main electrical conduit that sat above my uncle was damaged. Both gunners tended to my uncle, the rest of the crew jettisoned all excess weight to maintain height. They flew on over the North Sea but could not make Methringham. They diverted to Coltishall and landed without joining the circuit. They flew straight in flying under a Halifax coming the other way. It was established later that they had been hit by one of the first missiles made by the Germans. After hospital my uncle wanted to return to 106 but was deemed now unfit for flying duties. He remustered as an air control officer, thus maintaining contact with aircrews. Sadly as a footnote the rest of the crew returned to active duty with two replacements but were shot down in February 1944 with the pilot being killed and the rest made POWs.
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