The Bill Hardisty Story

William (Bill) Jones Hardisty was born in South Shields on the 26th December 1924. He lived at 52 Trajan Avenue at the Lawe Top. He joined the Durham Home Guard, 8th Battalion then volunteered for the Royal Air Force at eighteen.

In 1944 aged just 19 he was stationed at RAF Metheringham and joined 106 Squadron. One of his first operations was on the ill-fated Nuremberg Raid on the 30th/31st March 1944 where the RAF lost 96 out of 779 planes on this raid.

On the eve of the 4th and 5th of July 1944, 106 Squadron went to bomb the V1 and V2 rocket base at Saint-Leu-d'Esserent, France. They had bombed the target and were heading for home when they were hit and they had to abandon the aircraft. I look up to see my parachute had opened "Thank goodness for that," I thought.

Bill tried to bury the parachute as they had been taught but the wind was too strong and the ground was too hard. He came to a road but saw two headlights so he dived into a ditch:"This was it, I thought, I might as well give myself up but before I could do that the occupants jumped down and ran into the wood. I sank into the shadows. Soon the Germans came out with our Wireless Operator Sergeant T Perara."

Bill carried on, he ate raw potatoes picked from a field. After a couple of days Bill bumped into his Bomb Aimer Graham Price who was also hiding from the Germans. They came to one French farmhouse and asked for assistance but they telephoned the Germans so they fled.

"I remember one night when Graham and I were still 'on the run' when suddenly there was a brilliant blaze of light. We threw ourselves on the ground. A hundred yards or so in front of us was a V2 rocket launching pad. We lay still until there was no more light, by which time there must have been three or four launches, before making a very wide detour around that area. There were quite a few things that were not at all funny at the time and looking back I realise now how lucky we were."

Bill later went to another farmhouse where the farmer and his wife offered assistance and contacted the local French Resistance.
"The door was thrown open and there was a fellow wearing a beret, knees bent, pointing a gun at us. A Catholic Priest with him who spoke good English interpreted - he had been to Cambridge. I think, but he could not understand my Geordie accent."

They were taken to a large chateau where an American pilot was also hidden who unfortunately had a habit of lying in bed late. A German inspection took place. Bill and the other airmen escaped through the toilet window and onto the roof. The Germans noticed the dishevelled bed and went to arrest the owner who fortunately managed to convince them that she had lain down until her migraine passed!

They were moved to Rouen and in order to mingle in with the local French population Bill's blond hair was disguised with soap and mascara. He had another close shave when he thought a German soldier spotted him and Bill said he could almost feel the bullets hit me but the German soldier just slung his rifle over his shoulder. Another narrow escape occurred on a tram when a German started to talk to Bill in French and Bill could not understand what the German was saying, luckily Bill left the tram.

In Rouen on a very hot day the American spotted a German plane overhead and said rather loudly:"It's a Focke-Wulf 190". Some children playing nearby told their families and the Germans came and again they climbed onto the roof and escaped.

The Canadians liberated Rouen and on the 30th August 1944 a Canadian War Correspondent drove them through the streets of Rouen. They were taken to the Canadian lines and given Black Cat cigarettes, Calvados and Cognac and sent back to England on a plane. Unfortunately a bureaucratic English Customs Officer asked them if they had anything to declare! So not to be outdone Bill poured out the Calvados and Cognac and they drank it then, the Customs Officer was not amused!

"I phoned one our local pubs at home and asked them to find my father who was often in there. As it happened he wasn't there that day but someone ran off to find him. In those days only the doctors and local businessmen had telephones, anyway, he soon came on the line and I was able to tell him I was safe. He could not believe it at first for the RAF had not told them anything."

On his return as Bill had lost a lot of weight so was given a shot of insulin and double rations.

"Soon I was sent back to my new unit and trained as a driver. I had to keep my stripes covered because there I was just an 'erk' to the instructors." Bill was promoted to Sergeant then later Warrant Officer.

After the war Bill kept in touch with some of the Resistance people. Sergeant Perara who was captured in the woods by the Germans was sent to a POW camp and was eventually released by the Russians.

Bill married Doreen in 1946, they lived in Trajan Avenue and later in Whiteleas in South Shields. Bill joined the Transport Police and served across the North East and he died in 2008.

He was a member of the Flying Boot and Caterpillar Clubs and had the WW2 campaign medals, 1939-45 Star, Aircrew Europe Star with French and German bars and the Defence and Victory medals.

At the age of 75 he was interviewed by the "Friends of Metheringham Airfield" and his stories appear in their newsletters: June 2000, September 2000, December 2000 and March 2001.