Wartime Memories of a Member of Mothers Union

At the Mothers Union meeting on July 13th Phyllis Bailey asked some of us, "Guess what I was doing 65 years ago today?" After a few wrong answers we finally conceded defeat. The letter below, which she sent to her parents the next day, explains it all.

Saturday. On train
My dear Mum & Dad,
Just a short note to let you know I arrived back at Winterton about midnight last night. The trip over Germany was grand. I enjoyed every minute of it, despite tales of air-sickness and it being Friday the 13th.
We went to the briefing at nine o'clock and were introduced to our crews, two of us each to three Lancs. ours was H for Harry. The co-pilot looked after Jessica and me and took us to get our parachutes, helmets and "mae wests" (life jackets) in case you bale out over sea. By the time we were dressed up it was very hot although we were in our shirt sleeves; was 10.30, and we took off.
At first we sat just behind the pilot but when we were airborne the co-pilot moved and we sat in his seat where we had a good view for miles around. We flew across England and came to the sea just north of the Thames Estuary. The navigator and observer were two boys who looked about 19 and I was most amused when they kept looking out of the window to see where we were. Actually, I think they were just fooling. Most of the way out we flew at 3 - 4000 feet and it was terribly hot, the sun beating through the perspex nose. We crossed the Dutch coast at The Hague and flew over it. It looked a very well planned town, with many areas damaged by bombs rather like London. We went on across Holland over flat fields all the same oblong shape and size but with different crops growing in them. All the places were intersected by long straight roads and canals but they were nearly all unusable as all the bridges were down, also the railway tracks were "non existent". By the way quite a few people were tilling the ground, in one field I saw an orange tractor, like the ones at home. I believe it was a Fordson.
In lots of fields and woods were concentrations of bomb craters, the only evidence left to show where V1 and V2 sites had been. After that we came to the Rhine, Nijmegen and Arnhem where there were fields all littered with crashed gliders, a most distressing sight. It was then the utter desolation started, very little signs of life and all towns, villages almost wiped out, even isolated cottages and farm houses were destroyed, probably by shelling not bombing. Goch, Cleve and Wesel, you have probably forgotten those places by now, were the next on our list along the Rhine and they were all wiped out entirely and every bridge over the Rhine was down apart from the Nijmegen one which has been patched up.
Dortmund was the first place in the Rhur we passed over where the Dortmund-Emms canal was unusable and battered barges are high and dry on the banks. We went down to 2000 thousand feet then as it was such a clear day we could see all. Dortmund, Essen and Duisberg are all towns about the size of Birmingham and all joining one another and they are all practically destroyed. I didn't see one house in the lot habitable. If it takes 10 years to repair bomb damage in England, I don't see when it will be done in Germany.
Leaving the Rhur we passed over some very nice country to Aachen and Cologne. Cologne is badly damaged but we did see signs of life there, with a number of people walking around. The cathedral still stands and is a landmark for miles around. We turned round there and started for home. Jessica and I were lying on cushions in the nose and could see all as well as being comfortable. We came back across Holland to Antwerp and Walcherem Island where the sea walls have been breached and the country is all flooded, just red roofs of houses above the water. Coming back over the sea both of us dozed off for a few minutes, we were so comfortable. However it was good to see England again and the activity below after the desolation, really unless you could see it, it is unbelievable. The Germans certainly had their sins on English towns repaid a hundred fold. On our way back over England a Mustang tried to shoot us up and we banked, dived and did all sorts of things to get rid of him, and we did. It was funny looking up and seeing earth, not sky. All things end and our "Cook's Tour" did about 3 o'clock with a perfect landing. We then started our long journey back via Peterboro.
Your letter and parcel were waiting for me when I got back and I had another letter today, thanks very much. I am now on my way to Matlock (Editor's note. To see Phillip) and writing on the train hence the pencil and bad writing, I hope you can read it. I am going via London as it takes less time and there is more chance of a seat than the cross country which was with five or six changes.
Thanks for sending on my things,
Fondest love,
Phyllis