Halifax LK811 damaged by flak, returned to East Moor airfield.

On 23rd April 1944 this aircraft suffered Flak damage whilst on Ops to Dusseldorf, the pilot was able to make a safe return to East Moor airfield where Cat.A(c)/FB damage was recorded and repaired within the next two weeks. The crew are not reported to have been injured in this flak incident.

Pilot - F/Sgt Howard J Menzies RCAF, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Flight Engineer - Sgt John Clarke RAFVR (1300857). Of Keighley, Yorkshire.

Navigator - P/O John "Jack" Gouinlock RCAF, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Bomb Aimer - P/O Donald E Rutherford RCAF, of Strathroy, Ontario, Canada.

WOp/AG - Sgt W S Rowan RAFVR.

AG - Sgt Thomas F McClay RAFVR (1795998), of Waterside, Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

AG - Sgt R Boutilier RCAF,

Halifax LK811 was built to contract ACFT/891 by Fairey Aviation Co. Ltd at Stockport and delivered directly to 432 Squadron at East Moor in mid-March 1944 and commenced Ops on 18th March 1944. Cat.A(c)/FB damage was recorded following this flak incident and repair was carried out at East Moor. The aircraft was lost on 28th May 1944 on it's fourteenth operational flight. It was on Ops to Bourg Leopald with many of those named above in the aircraft. It came down near Budel, Holland with the loss of four of the crew including F/Sgt Menzies, Sgt Clarke and Sgt McClay. F/Sgt Menzies is buried in Groesbeck Canadian War Cemetery. Sgt's Clarke and McClay have no known grave and are commemerated on the Runnymede Memorial. F/O J Gouinlock, F/O D E Rutherford and Sgt W S Rowan baled out, the latter becoming a PoW but Gouinlock and Rutherford evaded capture.
Howard Menzies had commenced Ops with 432 Squadron on 24th February 1944 but was lost on his eleventh operational flight. He had done one operational flight as a second pilot and ten as Captain in his own right. He receives his commission after his death.
Mr Jack Gouinlock has given his memories of the incident in which he was taken PoW to the Canadian Veteran Affairs website from which the following has been found; he spent about two months after being shot down over Holland in Belgium, hiding from the Germans and staying with different people and moving around. He was initially taken prisoner by the Germans in Liege but was let go the next day as they did not know he was a Canadian soldier some forty days after landing after witnessing the German guards murder two Belgians.