Memories of Earnest Charles Careless
My grandfather (Earnest Charles Careless) was in the RAF at Lissett in Yorkshire near Bridlington.
He was a leading aircrafts man and an armourer: loading the bombs onto the plane.
As we were putting together our family history this story emerged.
Did his initial training in Hertfordshire, then posted to 158 squadron in Lissett.
His wife, Grace, stayed on in Harlow as she was about to give birth to Ronald Tandridge Careless on 24.03.1942.
She moved due to a lone German fighter who came over their home in Harlow and machine gunned down the road.
Some bullets ended up in the garden.
She was no longer confident to stay in the area and joined her husband on the base.
He did not mention his war experiences for a long time, other than to say, 'to watch a Lancaster bomber 'pancake' (landing with the wheels still retracted) was an awesome experience'.