Pilot's Sacrifice

Discussion in 'The War In The Air' started by canuck, Dec 16, 2016.

  1. Sheldrake

    Sheldrake All over the place....

    I came across the grave of Oberleutnant Jocheim Schwarz from 111 Gruppe/Kampfgeschwader 4 in Fradley Churchyard http://www.raf-lichfield.co.uk/schwarz.htma
    A similar story. The pilot keeps the crippled bomber in the air long enough for the rest of the crew to escape, but too late to save himself.
     
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  2. HAARA

    HAARA Well-Known Member

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    Last edited: Jan 2, 2017
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  3. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    Marks,
    I did notice this award in the Australian Parliament however could find no detail on the reason for the MiD.

    Any detail??

    Cheers
    Geoff
     
  4. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    Hi Haara,

    Great post and a very brave young man.

    Please do not think I am being "picky" here however only the VC and MiD can be awarded posthumously.
    I realize the whole crew who died were awarded decorations with effect of 4th of January 1944 and in Royston Childs case so well deserved. If those who lived were prisoners of war, how were his action's and others reported (after being released as POW's) to be Gazetted as quickly as 8th May 1945?

    From: Aircraft accidents in Yorkshire.
    Royston Child received his commission to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) on 18th July 1943. For earlier service with 35 Squadron he was awarded the DFC but the notification was published in the London Gazette after his death on 8th May 1945 (but with effect of 4th January 1944).

    Cheers
     
  5. HAARA

    HAARA Well-Known Member

    Interesting point Spidge, and one I have pondered in the past. There seem to be some conflicting stories and reports about him, the family one being told of him going back into the burning aircraft to rescue and save one of his fellow crewmen, but this seems at odds with the facts that you rightly note above. However, the wording in the link that you provide says, "For earlier service with 35 Squadron he was awarded the DFC...", something of which I was unaware, and may mean that he earn his decoration and survived, to be awarded it only after his death.
     
  6. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    P/O William McMullen

    Pilot Officer William Stuart McMullen RCAF was killed on January 13th, 1945, at age 33, flying a Lancaster X, KB 793 with 428 (Ghost) Squadron RCAF on a night training exercise.

    AT 8.49pm on Friday, January 13, there will be a small gathering on a street corner in Darlington as a truly momentous act of heroism is remembered.

    WRITTEN BY CHRIS LLOYD, DEPUTY EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN ECHO FOR HIS ECHO MEMORIES

    SEVENTY years ago, a fateful 14 minutes turned William McMullen into a war hero.

    One minute he was at the controls of his Lancaster bomber, returning to his Second World War airfield after a routine training flight; the next minute, his engine was on fire, his crew were baling out and he had a split second decision to make: should he follow them out of the door and parachute to safety, or should he stay with his stricken craft and attempt to steer it away from the hundreds of houses beneath him?

    "It's only me for it," he said to the last crew member to jump. "There are thousands down below."

    In his last minutes, Pilot Officer McMullen succeeded in guiding his plane over the rooftops of the east end of Darlington before crashing into a field, killing himself instantaneously.

    The mayor of Darlington wrote to his widow at home in Canada. He said: "For sheer self-sacrificing heroism, your husband's action will be remembered and honoured by the people of Darlington for years to come.”

    And so they are. At 8.49pm on Tuesday, the current mayor of Darlington will lay a grateful wreath and say a thankful prayer beside the field in which McMullen had died in that minute 70 years earlier. All are welcome to attend the ceremony which won’t be hard to find – it is in the road which bears his name.

    McMullen had probably been born in Toronto in 1912 – “probably” because when he died in distant Darlington, his age was variously reported as being 29 or 33. Ever since he had been young, McMullen had loved flying – after school, he’d worked as a sales representative for Coca Cola and then as a driller in a goldmine in British Columbia, spending his spare pennies on flying lessons.

    But at the start of the war, he was pushing 30 – and only young men were being considered to train as pilots. In 1940, on his application form to join the Royal Canadian Air Force, he seems to have manipulated his age so that he appeared younger, and he wrote: "There is nothing I would like better than to be in the air force and see some action."

    His daughter, Donna, who was five when he died, said on the 40th anniversary of his death: "He claimed that he was born in 1915 because of the age restrictions on pilots but he would have been older than that. I'm not sure of his real age even today.”

    His nickname among the aircrew was "Grandad".
    darlington.jpg mcmullen.jpg mcmullen1.jpg mcmullen2.jpg

    McMullen won his wings in November 1942 and in 1944 left his wife, Thelma, and daughter Donna and came to England to learn to fly Lancaster bombers. He acquired his six-man crew in August when they baled out of their burning Lancaster at 5,000ft over France, their pilot breaking his leg as he landed.

    On Christmas Eve, the new team – all Canadians – was posted to RAF Goosepool at Middleton St. George. They joined 428 Squadron – nicknamed "Ghost" and with the motto "usque ad finem" (“to the very end”). On Saturday, January 13, as they hadn’t been on a mission for three weeks, they were sent on a three-hour cross-country navigation exercise to keep them sharp.

    They set out at 5.47pm, just as the daylight was fading, aboard Lancaster KB793. It was all routine radar stuff carried out at 10,000ft over the North York Moors. At 8.35pm, exercise over, McMullen called Goosepool for “joining instructions”. He was told visibility was 3,500ft, that there was a thin layer of cloud at 1,800ft and there was an 11mph North-North-East wind on landing – good conditions and he’d be touching down within ten minutes.

    He instructed his engineer, Sgt “Lew” Lewellin, to keep the engines at 1,950rpm so the descent speed would be 200mph, and Lewellin wrote in his log: “All temperatures and pressures normal. All four engines running evenly.”

    But there was a fault developing in the outer port Rolls Royce Merlin engine. Flight Sgt Steve Ratsoy, the wireless operator who was further down the fuselage, reported that it was emitting a shower of sparks and was glowing red. McMullen ordered Lewellin to press the feathering button to close it down.

    As he did so, Ratsoy reported that a sheet of flame shot from the engine, that the red glow was spreading along the wing and that there now appeared to be flames licking at the engine cover.

    It later transpired that the feathering pipe was not protected against fire and had already burned away. Therefore, when Lewellin pressed the button to shut the engine down, he was actually forcing oil out of the pipe so that it fell onto the red hot surfaces, causing the sheet of flame. Rather than stopping the fire, he was pouring oil onto it...

    At 2,500ft over Acklam, with three engines still working and McMullen still in control of the plane, he gave the order to abandon the aircraft. Jump, jump, jump...

    The bomb-aimer, Flt Sgt H Simms, was first out through the nose hatch, followed by the navigator, Flight Officer Bill Sage. Flt Sgt Ratsoy and the mid-upper gunner, Flt Sgt Ted Dykes, went through the main door, and the rear gunner, Flt Sgt John Feeley, exited directly from his turret. All their parachutes worked, and they drifted downwards along what became the A66 between Elton and Sadberge.

    At 600ft, engineer Lewellin was last to leave. As he stood by the main door, he looked over to McMullen at the controls. Whether McMullen really did utter the heroic last words that were ascribed to him in the following Monday’s Northern Despatch newspaper –"It's only me for it. There are thousands down below" – is known only by the propaganda department at the Air Ministry.

    The official accident report said that in response to Lewellin’s question, McMullen said: “Yes, go on, get out, I’m right behind you...”

    But he wasn’t. He could have been. He could have made it to safety – Lewellin landed unscathed 500 yards from the crash site – but in that split second, he chose to remain.

    He would have seen Darlington - population 80,000 - laid out before him. He might even have seen hundreds of Darlingtonians, drawn by the unusual sound of an engine in trouble, rushing from their homes.

    As they looked up, the Darlingtonians saw KB793 flying in broad circles above the Eastbourne district. It was still at 600ft, but the port wing was by now well ablaze. In fact, the flames were changing colour from fierce orange – burning fuel – to fatal white – burning metal.

    Suddenly, the Lancaster ceased its circles and dived steeply. Its undercarriage skimmed the rooftops of the streets named after waterfowl, and having cleared the last of them on Lingfield Lane, it plunged to earth. It cartwheeled 150 yards across the field of Lingfield Farm, losing various bits of flaming fuselage as it went, its fuel tanks exploding vividly and its bullets dancing like firecrackers. The hay and oats in the farm's Dutch barn caught hold immediately and blazed brightly, illuminating the parachutes of McMullen’s colleagues as they drifted slowly down to safety.

    The pilot was dead, killed on impact. He'd been catapulted, still strapped to his seat, 120 yards out of the windscreen, but his flying boots were found later in the aircraft, still attached to the rubber pedals in the cockpit where he had remained in those dying seconds.

    Rear gunner Feeley said later that he felt McMullen hadn’t jumped because, with the plane circling, he wanted to prevent it scything through the parachutes as they fell to earth.

    All Darlington was convinced McMullen hadn’t jumped because he wanted to save them. Because his name was not released for some weeks, they christened him the “Gallant Airman”, and they wrote to the Despatch – Darlington’s evening newspaper – praising him. W Cooper of Bondgate said “he deliberately gave his life, thereby preventing the endangering of life and property in Darlington”; AF West of Gladstone Street applauded his “noble action”, and Jeffrey Dixon of Rosebery Street said he was “a dauntless man who sacrificed himself willingly to save others’ lives”.

    The official accident report said that a mechanical fault in a piston had caused the initial fire, and it concluded: "From the evidence given, it is considered that the pilot and crew in this emergency carried out their duties to the best of their ability. It is also noted that the pilot retained control of the aircraft sufficiently long enough to avoid crashing into the built-up area of Darlington."

    Still unknown to the public, the pilot was buried in Stonefall Cemetery in Harrogateon January 18. The service was attended by five of his six crew members. Only Dykes wasn’t there as he’d sprained his ankle on landing – he was the incident’s one casualty beyond McMullen himself.

    The town collected £1,000 for its Gallant Airman and, when his name became known, offered it to his widow and young daughter back in Canada. Thelma refused it, saying it would be best put to use in war-ravaged Britain.

    A group of Darlington businessmen – The Twenty Club – sent her an ornate silver rosebowl as a symbol of the town’s appreciation, and, in recognition of the generosity, Lingfield Lane, was renamed McMullen Road.

    The money endowed two children's cots at the Memorial Hospital. In September 1945, McMullen's sister, Mae, who was serving in Britain with the Canadian Red Cross, attended a dedication ceremony, and met the first children to occupy the cots: Roland Bradley, ten, of Barningham Street, and Samuel Thompson, six, of Wood Street, Barnard Castle.

    Mayor Jimmy Blumer told her: "By his actions, the pilot realised that he was steering himself to certain death. Not only Darlington, but the whole of the district was stirred to profound admiration and gratitude which could not be expressed in words at this act of supreme sacrifice."
     
  7. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Headstone

    CHILD, ROYSTON JAMES
    Rank:
    Pilot Officer
    Trade:
    Flight Engineer
    Service No:
    149060
    Date of Death:
    06/01/1944
    Age:
    20
    Regiment/Service:
    Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
    35 Sqdn.
    Awards:
    D F C
    Grave Reference:
    Coll. grave 6. C. 3-12.
    Cemetery:
    POZNAN OLD GARRISON CEMETERY
    Additional Information:
    Son of James Stanley and, Violet Lilian Child, of Thornton Heath, Surrey.
     

    Attached Files:

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  8. HAARA

    HAARA Well-Known Member

    Thank you CL1. It's good to see where he is buried.
     
  9. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    P/O Joseph E. Sieben RCAF

    Pilot Officer Joseph Sieben RCAF, was killed on 02/02/1944, along with his entire crew, flying Lancaster II LL686 with 432 (Leaside) Squadron, near East Moor, Yorkshire. The aircraft was on a cross-country navex. Aircraft caught fire and crashed whilst the pilot was taking action to avoid hitting the village of Aldborough.

    02.02.1944 No. 432 Squadron Lancaster II LL686 P/O Joseph G. Sieben


    P/O J G Sieben (RCAF) Pilot
    F/O D S Kerr (RCAF) Nav
    P/O W Wolf (RCAF) Bomb Aimer
    P/O P J Power (RCAF) Gunner
    P/O D Finch (RCAF) Gunner
    Flt Sgt R P Robinson (RAF) Wireless Op
    Flt Sgt K Huggins (RAF) Fl Eng


    The villagers of Aldborough erected this memorial in 1994, to mark the 50th anniversary of another Second World War crash, which occurred on 2 February 1944.

    The Lancaster bomber, of 432 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, was another bomber on a training flight. Five of the crew were from the Canadian forces, two from the RAF. Flight Sgt Kenneth Huggins was a Yorkshireman, from Bradford.

    The inscription records that the plane had caught fire, and was losing height, but the pilot ‘with great skill, managed to avoid the village and instead came down on Studforth Hill, a short distance to the south.’

    It is clear, as you read these details, why the memorial was erected not just ‘in memory of’, but ‘in grateful memory of’.

    432.jpg sieben.jpg
     
  10. alieneyes

    alieneyes Senior Member

    J19846 P/O Joseph George Sieben
     

    Attached Files:

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  11. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    F/O William (Bill) Vincent Blake DFC

    Flying Officer William Blake RCAF was killed on April 23rd, 1944, at age 21, while flying Halifax Mk ll LW285 MA-Z with 428 (Ghost) Squadron, on a Gardening operation and crashed near Solvesborg, Sweden. The remaining six members of the crew bailed out successfully and were interned in Sweden. Blake is commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial as his body was not recovered. blake2.jpg

    The date was April 23, 1944 and Blake's crew was assigned to lay mines in enemy waters off the coast of German-occupied Norway, according to a written account by navigator Neil Bell, who died in December, 2009. "Every member of the crew had a premonition that something was going to go wrong." They had been out the night before for a "very successful trip" and "this was to be our twentieth operation." But they were afraid luck was running out.

    "Suddenly, out of nowhere, we were attacked and riddled from stem to stern by cannon fire. Our mid-gunner was wounded in the leg and arm, but our rear gunner got in a long burst of fire at the enemy aircraft as the latter broke off his attack. "This probably prevented him from making another attack, though it left us badly crippled ... and Bill had great difficulty in controlling it at all."

    Blake shouted to Bell, "Give me a course to Sweden." Bell complied and the plane lumbered its way to the southern coastline of the country that was neutral in the war.

    One by one each member of the crew put on a parachute and jumped, as the plane disappeared into the sky with Blake at the controls

    "All of us landed near water, in fact the bomb aimer landed in a lake and nearly perished before reaching shore," said Bell.

    In the days that followed, Swedish military scoured the area in boats, finally discovering the aircraft in about 30 metres of water, "absolutely smashed to bits." But no body was recovered.

    In an October 1944 letter to Blake's mother, Bell wrote, "The Swedish radio location people plotted the plane and reported that it went out to sea, turned toward land, then evidently went out control and dived into the water. Whether Bill got out and ... drowned or whether he went down with the plane, we don't know.

    "But I'm sure you will be proud to know that he played the game to the end, that he gave his life to save his crew. It was a natural thing for him to do, as much the manner in which we always knew he would act."

    23/24.04.1944 No 428 (Ghost) Squadron Handley Page Halifax LW285 MA-Z F/O. William (Bill) Vincent Blake DFC

    blake.jpg blake1.jpg
     
  12. alieneyes

    alieneyes Senior Member

  13. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    P/O J Lawrie RNZAF

    Pilot Officer John Lawrie RNZAF, died on August 12th 1944, at age 21, flying Lancaster l, LM180 Jl-G with 514 Squadron. One of 297 aircraft on a raid to the Opel works at Russelheim. Crashed at Bavegem, near Ghent Belgium.

    Birth: 1923, Born in Egmont Village, New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand

    Burial: Antwerpen Schoonselhof Cemetary, Arrondissement Antwerpen
    Antwerp (Antwerpen), Belgium
    Plot: IV. D. 15.
    Lawrie was originally buried in the garden of the local shoe maker, Nestor van der Heyden, in Bavegem, until re-interment in Antwerp.




    12-Aug-44 LM180 JI-G Russelsheim F/S Lawrie Shot down at 0130hrs by night-fighter, probably flown by Uffz. Hermann Moeckel of 2./NJG4. This was Moeckel’s only victim in his career as a night fighter pilot. He was himself shot down by an Allied night fighter on 29-30/12 1944, surviving as a POW. F/S John Lawrie sacrificed his life by remaining at the controls in order to allow his crew escape.

    F/S J Lawrie RNZAF (Pilot) KIA
    F/S DR Orth RAAF (Navigator) Evaded
    Sgt MJ Carter (Bomb Aimer) Evaded
    Sgt EG Durland (WOP/Air) Evaded
    F/S LR Burford RAAF (MU Gunner) Evaded
    F/S RC Chester-Masters RAAF (Rear Gunner) Evaded
    Sgt TD Young (Flight Engineer) Evaded
    514-squadron-lancaster-i-lm180-ji-g-crew-w900h480.jpg
    514-squadron-lancaster-i-lm180-ji-g-w900h480.jpg
    CEM46975273_122319921224.jpg
     
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  14. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    F/O Robert Marshall Smith RCAF

    Flying Officer Marshall Smith died on January 7th 1945, age 28, flying 626 RAF Squadron's Lancaster LL961 on a raid to Munich.
    The aircraft took off at 18.44pm on January 7th 1945 from RAF Wickenby. It was the pilot's 24th sortie.

    There was a collision with another Lancaster near Soissons at 15,000ft, at 8.15pm.

    We were flying in cloud and climbing when we felt a terrific bump and jar. Captain ordered to prepare to abandon and immediately after bale out. Just prior to impact the bomb aimer observed navigation lights to port approaching us. Our aircraft crashed about 2 miles from Laon on main railway line. The captain stayed with his aircraft and according to local witnesses avoided the town in a last minute pull up. Remainder of crew except rear gunner landed safely by parachute. No trace has yet been found of the rear gunner or his turret and it is the crew's opinion that the turret was knocked off in the collision. The navigator while descending through the cloud saw the glow of the aircraft burning. Flying Officer R M Smith was killed in the crash.

    The surviving crew members were taken to local French farms before being transported to American army units for first aid.

    Local residents later reported that the aircraft had broken through the cloud and approached the town of Laon in a shallow dive. A short surge of power only just enabled it to clear the town and crash into a railway embankment at 8.30pm (local time) and burst into flames. Lancaster LL961 finally blew up 30 minutes later. The aicraft had been carrying a 'cookie' (4000lb bomb), four 1050 pounders and 120 incendiaries. The body of the captain was found only 50ft from the wreckage still wearing an unopened parachute.

    F/O R M Smith is now buried in the Canadian War Cemetery at Dieppe. There is no record of where the rear gunner's body was found but Sgt William McLean, who was the 21 year old son of John and Jessie McLean of Newtownards, Co. Down, Northern Ireland, was buried 75 miles away from Laon, at Clichy New Communal Cemetery, north of Paris.

    F/O Robert Marshall Smith (J36983) RCAF - Mentioned in Despatches - 626 Squadron (deceased) - Award effective 13 June 1946 as per London Gazette of that date and AFRO 726/46 dated 26 July 1946. Killed in action 7 January 1945 (Lancaster LL961). Born 8 July 1916 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Educated in Winnipeg. Enlisted in Toronto, 22 August 1942. Trained at No.1 ITS (graduated 30 April 1943), No. 20 EFTS (graduated 25 June 1943) and No.1 SFTS (graduated 15 October 1943). Overseas, October 1943. Completed 24 missions before his death. Commanding officer wrote that in a raid on Munich his aircraft was hit by another friendly bomber - tail end almost ripped off. He stayed at the controls, not only to permit his crew to bale out but to avoid crashing in Allied-occupied territory where a U.S. Army field hospital was located - and thus lost his own chance to survive.

    img1D9.gif rm smith.jpg
     
  15. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    F/O Cyril Joe Barton VC

    Flying Officer Cyril Barton RAFVR was killed on March 31st, 1944, age 22, flying a Halifax III. LK 797 with 578 Squadron. This was his 19th sortie on the ill-fated raid to Nuremberg.

    "Cyril Joe Barton entered pilot training the USA under the Arnold Scheme in late 1941. A member of Class 42G he set sail from Gourock, Scotland to Halifax, Canada aboard the transport ship "Pasteur". After acclimatization at Maxwell Field, Montgomery, Alabama he received his Primary Training at Darr Aero Tech, Albany, Georgia, and was one of a relative minority who were allowed to complete their training, having been "held back" by illness or accidents, finally graduating as a member of Class 42J.

    The following citation appeared in the fifth supplement to The London Gazette of Friday 23rd June 1944, which was published on Tuesday 27th June 1944.

    1.On the night of 30th March 1944, Pilot Officer Barton was captain and pilot of a Halifax aircraft of 578 Squadron detailed to attack Nuremberg. When some 70 miles short of the target, the aircraft was attacked by a Junkers 88. The first burst of fire from the enemy aircraft made the intercommunication system useless. One engine was damaged when a Messerschmitt 210 joined the fight. The bomber's machine guns were unable to return the fire.


    2.Fighters continued to attack the aircraft as it approached the target area and, in the confusion caused by the failure of the intercommunication system at the height of battle, a signal was misinterpreted and the navigator, air bomber and wireless operator left the aircraft by parachute.

    3.Pilot Officer Barton faced a situation of dire peril. His aircraft was damaged, his navigational team had gone, and he could not communicate with the remainder of the crew. If he continued his mission, he would be at the mercy of hostile fighters when silhouetted against the fires in the target area and if he survived, he would have to make a 4½ hours journey home on three engines across heavily defended territory. Determined to press home his attack at all costs, he flew on and, reaching the target, released the bombs himself.

    4. As Pilot Officer Barton turned for home the propeller of the damaged engine, which was vibrating badly, flew off. It was discovered that two of the petrol tanks had suffered damage and were leaking. Pilot Officer Barton held to his course and, without navigational aids and in spite of strong head winds, successfully avoided the most dangerous defence areas on his route. Eventually he crossed the English coast only 90 miles north of his base.

    5. By this time the petrol supply was nearly exhausted. Before a suitable landing place could be found, the port engines stopped. The aircraft was now too low to be abandoned successfully. Pilot Officer Barton therefore ordered the three remaining members of his crew to take up their crash positions. Then, with only one engine working, he made a gallant attempt to land clear of the houses over which he was flying. The aircraft finally crashed and Pilot Officer Barton lost his life, but his three comrades survived.

    6.Pilot Officer Barton had previously taken part in 4 attacks on Berlin and 14 other operational missions. On one of these, two members of his crew were wounded during a determined effort to locate the target despite appalling weather conditions. In gallantly completing his last mission in the face of almost impossible odds, this officer displayed unsurpassed courage and devotion to duty.

    Footnote: Aircraft as badly damaged as this one was, often faced "friendly fire" as they approached and crossed the coast to make for a suitable landing ground. Some would be hit by Anti-Aircraft fire; some would crash in sight of safety; whilst others had to face encountering clusters of barrage balloons and/or RAF night-fighter aircraft.

    Cyril Joe Barton is buried at Kingston-on-Thames (C.W.G.C. Ref. UK4253) and is survived by his three sisters."

    578 Squadron History

    578 a.jpg 578 b.jpg 578-squadron-halifax-iii-lk797-lk-e-crew-w760h570.jpg 578.jpg
     
  16. Harry Ree

    Harry Ree Very Senior Member

    Cyril Barton was remembered by the RAF postwar by the naming of an H Block as Barton Block at RAF Hemswell.

    Cyril Barton was posted in from No 78 Squadron at RAF Breighton to RAF Snaith (Pollington) and was a founding member of No 578 Squadron when it was formed on 19 January 1944 from No 51 Squadron C Flight......the same day of his posting to Snaith. On 6 February No 578 Squadron was posted to
    to RAF Burn, a few miles north on the A19 towards Selby.No 578 Squadron would prove to be one of those short term squadrons formed as Bomber Command strength was expanded and only had an operational service of about 15 months

    His Halifax crashed on to Ryhope Colliery village,County Durham. It has been suggested that he might have flown northwards,parallel to the coast before his fuel ran out...might have a different outcome if he had been able to pick up the emergency airfield of RAF Carnaby....he had already brought a crippled a Halifax back to the emergency airfield at RAF Woodbridge on 11 November 1943 (Para 6 of post #35) but on his final operation,his crew were depleted, due to what is though to be a misunderstood signal causing his navigator,bomb aimer and wireless operator to bail out over enemy territory....no navigator would likely be a problem for many pilots.

    Remembered by those who served in Bomber Command 1936-1968.

    Per Ardua ad Astra
     
  17. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    F/O Frederick M. Mifflin DFC

    Flying Officer Fred Mifflin died on April,27, 1944, age 21, flying 106 Squadron. Lancaster ME669 ZN-O on a raid to Schweinfurt. April 27,1944. It was his 30th sortie.

    This flight is best known for the award of the VC to W/O Norman Jackson, Flight Engineer.
    Jackson completed his tour of 30 missions on 24 April 1944, but, as he had flown one sortie with a different crew, he chose to fly once more so that he and his original aircrew could finish their tour together. Jackson's 31st mission was a raid on the German ball bearing factories.

    Having bombed the target, Mifflin's Lancaster (serial ME669) was attacked by a German night fighter and a fuel tank in the starboard wing caught fire. Jackson, already wounded from shell splinters, strapped on a parachute and equipped himself with a fire extinguisher before climbing out of the aircraft and onto the wing, whilst the aeroplane was flying at 140 miles per hour (230 km/h), in order to put out the fire. He gripped the air intake on the leading edge of the wing with one hand, and fought the fire with the other. The flames seared his hands, face, and clothes. The fighter returned and hit the bomber with a burst of gunfire that sent two bullets into his legs. The burst also swept him off the wing.
    He fell 20,000 feet (6,100 m), but his smouldering and holed parachute worked well enough to save his life. He suffered further injuries upon landing, including a broken ankle, but managed to crawl to a nearby German village the next morning, where he was paraded through the street.

    Mifflin ordered his crew to bail out. All succeeded except Mifflin and his rear gunner and best friend, F/Sgt Hugh Johnson. The last one to see Fred alive expected him to follow immediately for he was uninjured and apparently ready to jump. However he did not, He lost his life while living up to he highest ideals of a skipper — last to leave the ship — while he remained behind to assist his rear gunner. Five of the crew who parachuted from the plane became prisoners of war. Mifflin and Johnson are buried in the Durnbach War Cemetery in Bad Tolz, Germany.

    Crew.

    F/O. F M. Mifflin DFC +
    Sgt. N C. Jackson. pow
    F/S. F L. Higgins. pow
    F/S. M H. Toft. pow
    F/S. E. Sandelands. pow
    Sgt. W. Smith. pow
    F/S. N H. Johnson +


    mifflin.jpg mifflin2.jpg
     
  18. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    F/S Gerald Avey

    Flight Sergeant Gerald Russell Avey, RCAF, was killed on March 5th, 1943, at age 21, flying Lancaster 111 ED 549 of 100 RAF Squadron, returning from a mine laying operation. He is buried at LONG BENNINGTON (ST. SWITHUN) CHURCHYARD.


    "The question burned in the minds of his family for nearly 70 years: How did Russell Avey die?

    The answer — which they discovered after travelling to the site where Avey's Lancaster bomber crashed in 1943 -- was both dramatic and comforting: He died a hero.

    "The villagers are adamant," says John Avey, a nephew of Russell. "He saved the village."

    As you may recall from a recent column, nine descendants of Russ Avey — who grew up in Norwich, near Woodstock — flew to the village of Plungar, in Leicestershire, England, for a Sept. 22 memorial service for bomber pilot Avey and the five other crew members who perished (one survived) in the crash of Lancaster 111 ED 549 of 100 RAF Squadron.

    The ceremony featured a church service, luncheon and dramatic fly-by by one of only two Lancaster bombers still flying (the other belongs to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton).

    But it also gave family members a chance to talk to local villagers, including the only living eye-witness to the crash.

    For years, Avey family members had relied on an RAF report that stated the mighty Lancaster, which was returning from a mine-laying operation off the coast of France, "burnt out on the ground."

    But 92-year-old Plungar resident Dennis Kirk, who was on air-raid duty during the early morning hours of March 5, 1943, finally set the record straight.

    Kirk told family members he heard the aircraft approaching, with at least one engine misfiring.

    "And all of a sudden, he said it went over his head and it just flopped," says John Avey. "It didn't nosedive into the ground, it just pancaked."

    Kirk and another man rushed to the scene.

    "The plane was totally intact," says Avey. "(Kirk) got there and the tail gunner . . . was dead in his turret. And the mid-upper gunner was sitting on the railway tracks. He had a broken ankle and he was dazed, and they took him off to a neighbouring farm and gave him a cup of tea."

    Kirk told Avey that three other crewmembers, including his uncle Russ, were lying on the ground near the plane.

    "He said they didn't have a mark on them, and they looked like they were just sleeping," says Avey. "They had the most peaceful look on their face."

    British military historian Tim Chamberlin ascertained that due to fog, the Lancaster had aborted two landings at other airfields and was trying to land at the base in nearby Langar.

    "The heartbreaking thing," says Avey, "is that Langar was about 10 or 15 seconds flying-time away." Avey and others believe the Lancaster, which had been aloft for about eight hours, likely ran out of fuel. But local residents also insist the Canadian pilot was desperately trying to steer clear of nearby homes.

    "The villagers of Plungar think my uncle tried to avoid the village and by doing that, he lost momentum and went into the ground," says Avey.

    The story, he adds, gives some closure to the family of his late uncle, who was one of more than 55,000 members of Bomber Command killed during the Second World War.

    "It was quite moving," says Avey of the memorial, which was attended by hundreds of residents, veterans and military personnel. "I feel relieved for my father, because now he knows a little bit more about what happened (to his brother)."

    Avey's mystery may have answers

    avey.jpg avey1.jpg Gerald-Russell-Avey-Gravestone.jpg
     
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  19. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    RAF 34211 Wing Commander John William McGuire AFC and Bar , Test Pilot A&AEE Boscombe Down, Wiltshire.
    An Australian with the RAF pre-war - Killed 24/03/1942. He also died, that those on board would live.

    I have posted this previously and there is quite a lot of detail so will just add the link.
    Should this airman have his bar to the AFC listed on his memorial?

    Cheers
    Geoff
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2017
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  20. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    RAAF FATALITIES IN SECOND WORLD WAR AMONG
    RAAF PERSONNEL SERVING ON ATTACHMENT
    IN ROYAL AIR FORCE SQUADRONS AND SUPPORT UNITS
    405005 Pilot Officer MacKENZIE, Ian Cumming (MiD)
    (On the night of 14/15th April 1943)
    Source:
    AWM 237 (65) AWM 54 779/3/129 Part 6, NAA : A705, 166/26/87 Digitised. Commonwealth War Graves records W R Chorley: RAF Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Page 108, Volume 1943.

    Aircraft Type: Halifax
    Serial number: JB 909
    Radio call sign: EQ – G
    Unit: 408 Sqn Royal Canadian Air Force

    Summary:
    On the night of 14/15th April 1943, Halifax JB909 took off from RAF Leeming, at 2151 hours, detailed to bomb Stuttgart, Germany. The aircraft was due to return at 0517 hours on the 15th April, but the aircraft failed to return.

    Crew:
    RAAF 405005 PO Ian Cumming MacKenzie, (MiD) Captain (Pilot) †
    RCAF Sgt W L Canter, (Co-Pilot) EVADED
    RCAF Sgt L W McKenzie, (Flight Engineer) POW
    RAF PO A Playfair, (Navigator Bomb Aimer) POW
    RAF Sgt T J Coupland, (Navigator Bomb Aimer) POW
    RAAF 403033 PO Conel O’Connell, (Wireless Air Gunner) POW
    RAF PO W A McIlroy, (Wireless Air Gunner) POW
    RCAF Flt Sgt J S Murray, (Wireless Air Gunner) POW

    The aircraft was shot down by a night fighter, and crashed at 0315 hours at la Neuvillette (Marne), 4kms North West of Rheims, France.
    PO MACKENZIE WHO SACRIFICED HIS LIFE IN ORDER TO ENSURE HIS AIRCRAFT DID NOT COME DOWN ON HOUSES, WAS AWARDED A POSTUMOUS MiD AND IS BURIED IN THE CLICHY NORTHERN CEMETERY, FRANCE. Clichy is a town adjoining the northern boundary of Paris.
    Sgt Canter evaded capture, and the other crew members were POW’s.
    In a POW report the then FO O’Connell stated 4: “At 0215 hours the aircraft was hit by a night fighter which attacked from underneath. The port inner motor was blown out of the wing, and fires were started behind the bulk head doors and to the rear of the rest position. A shell which exploded in the engineer’s compartment exploded the oxygen bottles, jammed the rudders and wounded the Mid Upper Gunner.
    Attempts were made to extinguish the fires but to no avail. PO Mackenzie gave instructions for the crew to bale out as he could not control the aircraft. Three of the crew were injured, Sgt Murray, PO McIlroy and myself (a flesh wound in right leg). The aircraft was under control when I left at 4,000 feet, although it was on fire. PO MacKenzie and Sgt McKenzie were still in the aircraft. ALL THE CREW WITH THE EXCEPTION OF PO MACKENZIE WERE ALIVE AND ACCOUNTED FOR.

    RAAF 405005 PO Ian Cumming MacKenzie, (MiD) Captain (Pilot)
    Aged 20, Son of John Charles and Alice Mary Mackenzie, of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

    MacKenzie_IC (Large).JPG IMG_2893 [1600x1200].JPG IMG_2891 [1600x1200].JPG MacKenzie_IC Gazette.JPG MacKenzie_IC Circular.JPG
     
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