Phil Elger/Bill Evans - Discomfort for the crew

Transcript

Bill: I'm a bit of a coward, I suppose. I had a lovely little chair in the wireless operators' seats. There was the pilot, the navigator, then us and we had a little compartment with a window which was wonderful and you could look out, you know, and if things got a bit rough down there, you know, and if it looked horrible I just pull the curtain. Would you do that? Or did you look out all the time?

Phil: I got up in the astrodome and have a good view.

Bill: Oh no. I was on the radio to see if there was any urgent message.

Phil: It was dead cold up there. We had the heat coming off the port engine but it came right in alongside of me and, well, it was boiling on that side and freezing on that side, you know.

Bill: So, what did you do?

Phil: Shift[ed my] bum.

Bill: You'd turn it down and the poor pilot up the front would complain. He wasn't getting any heat.

Phil: The poor gunners there, they didn't have heat. They…

Bill: They'd plug into…

Phil: They had like electric blankets in their suits.