Diary of David Taylor Galt - 461 Squadron - Part 1

AUS 400076
P/O D. GALT
R.A.A.F
Joy un aviator ingles,
puede Uld. ayundar me
para una noche 

7
On Sunday evening.  29^th Nov. 1942
just after dusk, I set out on
my 21st operational flight. It
was my first op. in a Lancaster.
I had a new plane - A Apple
This was also the first op. with
Lancasters of 460 Squadron.
I had a crew of 7 including
myself - F/Lt. Gordon Given
navigator, Sgt. Tex Shuttleworth 
bombardier, Sgt. Graham Berry
W.OP  Sgr. Tommy Handstock
Flight Eng, and  
Sgt. Cliff Austin
Mid upper gunr F/Sgt Fred Hayman
rear gunner. They were all my
own crew and as good a lot
of fellows it is possible to get
together in one crew. The
navigator and the rear Guns
had been with me on every
trip but one, when I had
taken another new crew. We 

2
were fourth to take off and
every thing went according to
schedule. We circled the
aerodrome once and then set
course. Here we found that
the automatic pilot was U/S
(No pressure showing on dial and
consequently no effect on the
controls) and also the
was U/S. However these were
not of major importance so
we carried on. We reached
the pin-point on the South
coast of England very little
off track. We flew over to
and set course for France
from the pulsating vertical
searchlight. At this point
we were just on 17,000ft.
With 2600. R.P.M and +4 boost
I put the nose down until
The I.A.S. read 270 M.P.H
Out over the sea there was a
3 10/10^ths layer of cloud below us.
We continued to descend at
the same I.A.S. to 7000ft
The layer of strato-cumulus
was here about 1000ft below
There were two other planes
ahead of us which we had
seen set course before us
from the South coast of England.
I little ahead of us and
below the clouds was
reflected the flashing of a
great amount of light flak,
while above the clouds and
around about our height
were several black puffs.
I levelled out here to keep
above the cloud until past
the flak. As no more heavy
flak was coming up I
did not alter course, but
naturally continued to 

4. 
weave up to 30° each
side of course. The I.A.S
had only dropped back to
about 250 MPH. As soon as
we were past the flak I
put the nose down again
and descended through
the layer of cloud. Everything
was quiet below and we
were over land so I put
the nose down further and
increased speed to 290 MPH
and lost height to 600ft by
the altimeter. We were past
the cloud layer by this
and bright moonlight lit
up the ground clearly so
I disregarded the altimeter
and descended until I
was very close to the
ground and darent come
any lower. The navigator
5 wanted me to stay at 1000 -1500 ft
so that he could navigate better
but I decided against that
on the grounds that it was just
asking for trouble from the
ack-ack. I continued at
+4 boost & 2600 RPM and
the speed had dropped back
to a steady 190 I.A.S. I
continued to weave from one
side to the other of the course
to soon as I had levelled out
the navigator gave me a slight
alteration of course. We continued
thus for about 4-5 minutes.
The light was not good enough
to attempt to avoid villages
at that height. A searchlight
started up on the port bow
and picked us up almost
immediately. The beam was
almost horizontal.. As soon as 

6
we were abeam of the light
it flicked off again. During
the time the light was on I
had increased the violence of
my jinking but we were
so close to the light that it
had no effect. During the
jinking my height had
increased to about 600ft. When
the light flicked off I realised
this and opened the throttles
fully and put the nose down.
Two flak guns opened up
immediately. One just a
little astern of the port beam
and a similar one on the
starbd beam. They converged
just ahead of the nose at
our height, so I pulled the
the throttles back selected flap
down and levelled out. In
spite of this they immediately
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followed us and the one on
the port side began pumping
into the port main plane. They
were at practically point
blank range. We were just
about out of range without
serious mishap when the port
main plane burst into flames
behind the port inner motor.
The flames rapidly spread
and streams of fire stretched
back almost to the tail plane
We were at zero ft. by the
alt. and I could see nothing
outside because of the glare
and found it also impossible
to read the instrument
panel. Someone in the crew
shouted out to gain some
height and the flight engineer
pushed my parachute at me
but I realised that with a 

8
flaring plane like that we
would be just a sitting
shot for any other flak batteries
about. The flames were
spreading still further and
I pushed the fire extinguisher
for the port inner, not expecting
it to do much good, and
it had no effect. The port
aileron was flapping in the
wind. Obviously the controls
had been shot away. I could
see the whole of the part wing
in the glare and very little
else, However I could see that
there were flat ploughed
fields ahead of us so I 
put the undercarriage down
waited a few seconds, and
after bouncing once made
a good landing. It was
my intention to extinguish
the fire with a land fire  
9.
extinguisher and attempt to
take off again. Examination
showed that the under-surface
of the port main plane between
the inner motor and the
fuselage had jagged pieces
hanging down, that the fire
had spread still further
along to the bomb bay
and also that the starbd.
outer airscrew was broken
off at the spinner. My crew
were standing around so I
called out. Is everyone out?
and someone answered "yes", so
I gave the order to clear off
as fast as they could, and
I did not waste any time
following suit.
We dispersed in a Southerly
direction. I ran for about
1/2 mile and then stopped and 

10
discarded my flying kit. By
this time the incendiaries were
exploding rapidly and
lighting up the whole of the
landscape in brilliant  flashes.
The plane was also burning
fiercely with a red glow.
I was expecting to run into
German soldiers at any minute.
I continued on, a few more
minutes a S direction
and then the plane exploded
with a loud noise. I
threw myself flat but felt
no effects from the explosion.
A sheet of flame leapt a
few hundred feet into the
air and a large black
cloud formed over the flame
about 500ft up. Parts of
the plane flew into the
air and landed hundreds of
11 
yards ahead and astern. What
was left of the plane collapsed
and the intensity of the flames
increased momentarily.
It was here that I realised that
my last link with England
had gone up with the plane
and it was now up to me
to try and put into practice
my own ideas formed on
what I had been told at
several lectures and evade
capture as long as possible.
with my goal as England.
I did not think much of my
chances but decided that I
would do all I possibly could
as varying circumstances
permitted. I decided that SE
was as good a direction as
any, so continued across fields
in that direction. To my left 

12
I saw two men walking. They
were also walking across the
fields and I reckoned they
must be two others of my
crew. To be on the safe side
I let them get ahead of me
and I followed in their direction
a few hundred yards behind.
Soon we came to a small
winding vally which had
reeds and water along most
of the bottom I made
several attempts to cross
this at different places, but
unless I waded through
the reeds, waist deep in
water it was impossible.
While walking along the bank
I saw two figures dive into
bushes of the side. From
their furtive movements I
realised they must have been
13
the two of my crew whom I had
seen before. When I was
abreast of them I said " OK
chaps I am not a German."
It was my navigator and
rear gunner. They were
worrying over the same problem
as I - v12. How to cross the
valley. It was my conviction
that one alone could get
much further than 2 or 3 so
I wished them luck and
retraced my steps to a
small bridge which crossed
the valley and led up to
a large house. There were
gates across the bridge and
the moonlight was very
bright. It was impossible to
climb over or around the gates
because of barbed wire. To
my surprise the gates were 

14
not locked, so I passed through
and continued along the path
past the house to another set
of gates. These were locked
but it was possible to climb
around them. I walked along
a track into a village. On
a sign-board was the name
I   I estimate this village
to be approx. 4 miles S.E
from where the plane landed
I walked a little distance
along the road past the
village and then set out
across the fields again
I walked across fields always
in a direction SE & crossed
a few small roads where
occasionally I saw people,
but on these occasions I made
myself inconspicuous until
they had passed. In the
15
distance I could see what looked
to me like a wood and indeed
it was. The trees were very
slender and close together. When
I penetrated further I came to
a track passing through the
center. There were double
rails along the center of this
track with branch lines.
At frequent intervals there
were small concrete huts
about 12ft square. Those I
looked in were empty. They
all had a sign outside them
that had the letter V but
a few had VII or VI. I thought
this might be a good place
to spend the next day but
as I was thirsty I walked
through to the other edge of
the wood where I saw a
village nearby. I walked 

16
In the direction of this and
passed barbed wire entanglements  in the course of
construction. This pointed to
the possibility of German
troops in the village. I
continued on to a farmyard
where I filled my rubber
water bag with water
(note- Previous to entering
the wood. I had crossed a
disused aerodrome, with
obstructions on the runways.
I spent a few minutes looking
over two hangers that I
came across. One of then
was not completed and
work was either being done
on it or had ceased a short
while previously because the
handles of a wheelbarrow
were still very smooth and
17
shiny. Any way I decided it
was not a good place to
hang about. Shortly afterward
I opened my aid box and
stowed the contents in various
pockets). While was still in
the farmyard a Lancaster
passed overhead on its return
journey. I retraced my steps
then to the wood and was
looking for a suitable place
to hide during the rest of the
night and next day. Up one
of the side tracks there was
a camouflaged hut made of
canvas etc. On examination
this proved to contain. 4
aerial bombs of a size
corresponding to about 2000 lbs.
Because of this discovery
I reckoned it best to clear
off as there was sure to be 

18
German sentries in the vicinity.
I was duly cautious and sure
enough saw two soldiers in
German uniform talking at
the end of the track I intended
using. Shortly afterwards
they began walking along the
track it my direction so I hid
behind a hut until they had
passed then I continued on my
way, avoiding tracks and roads
and always keeping to fields
Incidentally nearly all of the
fields were tilled but very
few had things growing in
them. After about 6 hours
after my landing during
which time I had been
walking in a direction S W E I
came to a farm house. It
was by itself and I would
pass nearby so I thought it a
19
good opportunity to see how
the locals thought of the R.A.F
I knocked on the door for about
5 mins and then someone
woke up inside and said
something. I only knew about
a dozen French words at the
time so it was completely
unintelligible to me. I continued
knocking until a man poked
his head out of a window
There had been a lot of talk
going on up till now, but it
meant no more to me than
the dog barking. I said to
the man Je suis un Anglaise
aviatene, aidly moi? . After
repeating this 3 or 4 times
he must have understand
for be said Anglais? 
impossible!  So I showed him
my wings. The whole family