James 'Jimmy' Flint was born in Nottingham and joined the RAF in August 1938 to train as a pilot. Posted to 49 Squadron at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, in February 1941, he flew his first operations as second pilot and navigator. When he became the captain of his own aircraft, Bomber Command was concentrating on striking the German Navy's U-Boat ports and the battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at Brest. Minelaying also remained a priority and, in April, Berlin was attacked. During one mission, Flint's Handley Page Hampden was badly damaged, but he managed to nurse the bomber back to Lincolnshire, where he was forced to crash-land in a field. On the night of July 5-6,1941, Flint and his all-sergeant crew took off to attack Osnabrueck in northwest Germany on what was their 32nd operation. Shortly after crossing the Dutch coast at 10,000ft, the aircraft was exposed and held by searchlights. Flint took evasive action but, as he did, a night-fighter attacked the Hampden, resulting in extensive damage. After ten minutes and a frantic descent to 500ft, Flint was able to shake off the assailant.
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