"During this time the wireless operator and I were alone in the cabin, He had collapsed on the floor I'm going blind, sir.' His face was burned completely black and it looked as though blood was streaming from his eyes.
"When the crew returned I sent outfit, and told the others to look after the wireless operator, who at first refused to be helped. He got to his feet and said, 'I must get to the wireless.'
"As soon as his burns had been attended to he clambered to his wireless and started to send out messages saying that we were on our way back to base.
"But first he had to explain the settings of the dials to the rear gunner, and when everything was ready he had his hand guided to the key. For 40 minutes he stood like that, tapping out his message, but the aerial had been shot away and nothing got through
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.