Roach served as jumpmaster on a British paratroop mission over the Rhine. He recalled that sometimes you could fly into main land Europe without incident, but he said the Germans knew you had to come back out, and they were waiting.



On the way back from the mission over the Rhine a shell went through the wing of their aircraft and the Pilot Rayburn wanted to set the plane down in Belgium. Roach believed the plane would hold and he didn't want to be a German prisoner. So they flew the plane back into England.