Wellington HE867 near Stonegrave, North Yorkshire.

On the 27th of April 1943 this Wellington took off just after 00.30 hrs from Dishforth airfield with nine other aircraft from 426 Squadron for Ops. At the controls of this aircraft was the Squadron's Commander Officer. The target tonight was Duisburg and along with 561 other aircraft they all flew out over the North Sea. About five minutes before this aircraft was to reach its target and twenty miles short of Duisburg at around 02.26hrs over Wesel, a night fighter; probably an Me110; attacked them from below and raked them with gunfire. Damage was sustained to the Wellington's intercom, hydraulic and electrical systems. One aileron and half the port tail-plane were shot away and the sighting gear in the rear turret was badly hit. The pilot dived to port and the rear gunner shot at the fighter, it was not clear whether he had hit it however but the bomber escaped. It was found that the Wellington had lost all the fabric from its port tailplane, three feet of trailing edge from the port mainplane was also gone near the fuselage. Damage was also done to the port aileron and centre bomb door, the port engine began to overheat. The pilot still continued with the run on the target but when it was found the bombs would be unable to be released the attack was abandoned. An attempt to pour any available liquid into the emergency hydralic system failed - coffee from thermos flasks and oil from the rear turret were tried but the attempts failed. The wireless operator tried for over an hour to fix the system without result, this would enable the hand operated undercarriage hydraulic pump to be used because the under-carriage could not be lowered without this, or the bomb doors opened. On their return Dishforth Flying Control were informed of the situation, with bombs on board and with no undercarriage the pilot gave the order to his crew to abandon the aircraft soon after the Yorkshire Coast was crossed. This was done at 05.50hrs and the aircraft crashed near Manor Farm, Stonegrave causing no damage to any property. Two of the crew were injured in their landings. Three of the crew would later be decorated for their actions on this night. The raid in general was a partial failure due to inaccurate marking of the target area and a strong tail wind gusting upto 100mph.

Pilot - W/C Leslie Crooks DFC RAF (44054), aged 33, of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. Sustained a slight back injury.

2nd Pilot - Sgt James A Thomson RCAF (R/121044), aged 20, of Midland Vale, Alberta, Canada. Uninjured.

Nav - F/O Donald W Simpson RCAF (J/11110), of Ontario, Canada. Uninjured.

Bomb Aimer - P/O Laurence H Power RCAF (J/20163), of Sydney, Nova Scotia. Broke bone in foot.

WOp/AG - F/Lt Francis P Marsh RCAF (J/15643), of Toronto, Canada. Uninjured.

Rear Gunner - Sgt Thomas F How RCAF (R/132630), aged 25, of West Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada. Uninjured.

Leslie Crooks trained at Halton and would be granted his commission on 20th June 1940, but back dated to 25th April 1940, as P/O on probation. He rose to F/O on 20th June 1941, F/Lt on 13th February 1941 and S/Ldr on 15th May 1943. For service in completing a Tour with 58 Squadron he was awarded the DFC, Gazetted on 11th February 1941 with his rank as Acting F/Lt at the time, no citation for the DFC has been found.

For his efforts in the incident detailed above and for bringing the aircraft back to the UK the pilot, Wing Commander Crooks, was awarded the DSO, Gazetted on 28th May 1943. The citation for this reads..

"This officer is an ideal leader, whose ability and untiring efforts have been reflected in the high standard of efficiency of his squadron. His courage and skill were admirably demonstrated during a recent attack on Duisburg. When approaching the target his aircraft was raked by cannon fire from an enemy fighter. Wing Commander Crooks skilfully evaded the attacker but his aircraft had sustained much damage. Although one aileron and half the port tail plane had been shot away, while the hydraulic and electrical systems were rendered inoperative, Wing Commander Crooks flew the bomber back to this country. Unfortunately, it was impossible to effect a safe landing but, when the crew were forced to abandon aircraft, all descended safely. In the face of heavy odds, Wing Commander Crooks set an example worthy of high praise." Part of the citation reads "an ideal leader whose ability and untiring efforts were reflected in the high standard of efficiency of his squadron".

Only months after the above incident at Stonegrave W/C Crooks and F/Lt Marsh were to be killed on 18th August 1943 when Lancaster DS681 crashed near Greifswald in Germany after a secret mission to bomb a experimental science station at Perrnemunde in the Baltic. They are buried in Berlin War Cemetery. At his death W/C Crooks had already completed one tour of operations (with 58 Squadron) and was on the ninth flight of his second tour. Marsh was also on his second tour and was on the sixth operation when he was killed.

F/Lt Francis Marsh RCAF was born in 1918 in Toronto and lived there prior to enlisting on 1st July 1940. He was commissioned in 1942. For his efforts in getting Wellington HE867 and crew back to the UK, F/Lt Marsh was awarded the DFC, the citation was a joint one with F/O Simpson (Gazetted on 1st June 1943) it reads..

"One night in April 1943, these officers were wireless operator and navigator, respectively, of an aircraft detailed to attack Duisburg. When nearing the target area the bomber was engaged by an enemy fighter and sustained severe damage. On the return flight F/O Simpson displayed exceptional navigational ability in most difficult circumstances, and F/Lt Marsh, who skilfully obtained bearing, rendered him valuable assistance. Both these members of aircraft crew displayed great coolness and skill in a perilous situation." As stated in W/C Crooks biog above F/Lt Marsh was killed weeks after this incident at Stonegrave, when on 18th August 1943 Lancaster DS861 crashed in Germany. His DFC was presented to his next-of-kin.

F/O Donald W Simpson RCAF was born in Stratford, Ontario in 1912 and made his home in Islington. He enlisted in Toronto on 12th February 1941 and was commissioned in 1942. He was the regular navigator in WO P C Maries' crew, but on the above detailed flight was with W/C Crooks. He was invested with his DFC by King George VI on 1st February 1944. It is thought he survived the War.
Only weeks after the above incident Sgt Thomson and Sgt How were killed, when on the 14th of May 1943 Wellington HE697 was shot down by a night fighter on Ops to Bochum and crashed in Holland. They are buried in Armersfoort General Cemetery, Holland.
P/O Power was promoted to F/O during the next year and was still with 426 Squadron after they had converted to Lancasters. He was on board Lancaster LL721 on Ops to Berlin on 27/28th January 1944 and was taken prisoner when the aircraft was shot down by night-fighters, three of the crew survived and became PoW's.

The aircraft crashed in the region shown on this photograph, whether it came down on this side of the hedge row or the far side (off camera) is still to be determined but small fragments were located here by Dick Barton, Albert Pritchard and Ken Reast in 2006.

Wellington HE867 was built to contract B124362/40 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd at Chester and delivered directly to 426 Squadron at Dishforth in April 1943 and lost as reported above before the month was out on 27th April 1943 with Cat.E2/FB damage being recorded.