Revealed... it was nearly all over for Ken at 21 as Nazi flak ripped apart his plane
AS England won the World Cup in 1966, match commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme made television history with his instantly iconic phrase: “They think it’s all over! It is now!”
But records of the broadcaster’s earlier life as a SecondWorldWar bomber pilot show that for him the game was very nearly up at just 21.
One of his logbooks that is being sold details how his Bristol Blenheim Mk IV plane was hit by flak on a 1941 raid on northern Germany.
His comrade Sgt John “Polly” Wilson was killed and the plane was severely damaged by the anti-aircraft fire over Heligoland in the North Sea.
Heroics
Yet his heroics, including safely landing the barely-flying light bomber back in Britain, were written up in a matter-of-fact manner ending with: “Drunk that night – thank God!”
The mission is laid out in logbooks which, with his medals and a wartime photo album, are expected to fetch £15,000 at auction.
Writing of his nearmiss, Kenneth said: “Very shaky do. Three shells in nose – one got Polly. Blew half his head away.
“Wing smashed; tail and elevator riddled. Big shell hole in fin; bomb doors shot away; electric system shot away; cockpit, belly, both engines riddled with holes.”
Referring to another RAF pilot, he wrote: “Saw Bob go down with the engine on fire, made mess of island. Bags of smoke, dust and flame.
“Hell of a lot of flak. Titch worked like hell on guns.” Of his return to base in Norfolk he added: “Glad to see West Raynham and land. Drunk that night – thank God!”
The Lancashire grammar schoolboy had joined the RAF reserves and was called up when war broke out, moving to 107 Squadron after training. He flew more than 100 missions over occupied Europe and was awarded the DFC in 1944, with bar the next year.
Kenneth was promoted to Flight Lieutenant with the Pathfinder force, flying Mosquitos to guide Allied bombers to their targets under fire.
He took part in raids to disrupt Nazi rail transport ahead of D-Day and on March 24 1945 flew on Operation Varsity in which 16,000 paratroopers helped seize vital towns and bridges to ease the advance into Germany.
Adam Gascoigne, of London’s Graham Budd Auctions, said: “A modest man with a distinguished flying career, Wolstenholme rarely spoke of his courage as a bomber pilot.”
A postwar freelance journalist, Kenneth later moved to the BBC where he commentated on the first Match of the Day fixture in 1964.
His defining moment came in the dying seconds of England’s Wembley Stadium victory over West Germany with the home nation 3-2 up.
Fans were already pouring on the turf as Geoff Hurst completed his hattrick and Kenneth said: “Some people are on the pitch... they think it’s all over! It is now! It’s four!”
He commentated on 23 successive FA Cup finals and five World Cups.
Kenneth, who was married with two daughters, died in Torquay in March 2002 aged 81.
The auction is in Wellingborough, Northants, on November 16.