04/09/2026
๐๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ โ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง
On the night of 22 June 1943, a Short Stirling of No. 7 Squadron RAF was shot down over the Low Countries. Tragically, only two of the crew survived. One of them was James Hector โHeckieโ Ross of King Street, Tain.
Almost two years later, on 28 May 1945, shortly after returning home to Tain, Heckie wrote to the family of his pilot, Flight Lieutenant James โJimmyโ Watt, describing what had happened that night:
โAs usual when approaching the enemy coast I took up a position at the rear escape hatch, looking out for attacking aircraft from below. Just after crossing the Dutch coast, & not far from the Belgian border, the tail gunner reported a coastal searchlight indicating our route.
Next minute we got a direct hit amidships with flak which set us on fire, and seconds after a fighter attacked us from the starboard bow or thereabouts.
Looking towards the fire I saw the engineer examining it & to Jimmy's query said he couldn't put it out. Just then the mid-upper reported the starboard wing on fire & gave instructions for weaving, having sighted the fighter again.
Jimmy went into a slow diving weave, I guessed we were about 10,000 feet.
Tail gunner reported that he was hit but managed to manipulate his turret. Jimmy called over intercom, โ... hurry up behind there.โ
Tail gunner answered immediately, โJumped!โ
I answered immediately after that. The mid-upper, who has since been reported killed, had spoken first & was beside me as I jumped, with his parachute on & all set to go. I signalled him to go but he motioned me to go first.
Neither the navigator nor the bomb aimer had spoken at all on the intercom.
After jumping I watched the aircraft for about two to three minutes before she struck the ground and exploded.
It was those two or three minutes, together with Jimmy's โhurry up behindโ, which made me feel confident that the rest were out before the tail gunner, mid-upper & myself.โ
๐๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฌ. He and rear gunner Max Ellis survived and became prisoners of war. Although the mid-upper gunner also escaped the aircraft, his parachute failed to open. The remaining members of the crew were lost with the aircraft.
After the war he returned home to Tain, where he continued to run his grocery business in King Street for many years.
