Halifax NA583 damaged in the air, returned to East Moor airfield.
On 14th October 1944 432 Squadron and 415 Squadron were instructed supply aircraft for two raid on Duisburg, one during the day and the second overnight. 415 Squadron supplied seventeen for the first and twenty for the second. Halifax NA583 took part in the first and returned without damage, on the second a different crew were using it and bombed the objective. Upon landing at East Moor a large hole was found in the bomb doors which
suggested that a 1,000 pound bomb had passed through it. The pilots name is known, the crew are assumed.
Pilot - F/O Stanley H "Bob" McFaddon RCAF, of Westmount, Quebec, Canada.
Flight Engineer - Sgt Joseph J Burton RAF (1827826)
Navigator - F/O Neil Connor RCAF, of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Bomb Aimer - P/O Ronald Blau RAFVR (185499)
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - P/O James A Rinder RCAF (C/95465), of Outremont, Province of Quebec, Canada.
Air Gunner - P/O James T Clarke RCAF (J/95223), of Wilmette, Illinois. USA.
Air Gunner - F/Sgt Fred T Graves RCAF, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Mid Under Gunner - Sgt J C McLean RCAF (R/274622)
The photograph shows Bob McFaddon's regular crew and found the superb website
at "http://www.fliegerschicksale.de/homepage3/startseite_en.php"
Left to right are: Connor, Burton, Clarke, McFadden, Rinder, Graves and Rhind.
I thank the flight engineer's son Mr Michael Burton for contacting me in February 2011
and for updating the full crew list shown above.
On the night of 5th/6th January 1945 this crew were flying Halifax MZ476 and failed to return from Ops to Hannover. Sadly
Rhind, Rinder and Clarke died and the other four baled out and became PoW's. F/O Connor left the aircraft but struck a
rotating propeller which sliced off his left leg, he was repatriated in April 1945.
The three who died are buried in Sage War Cemetery. Edward Rhind was born in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland on 7th August 1911
but his family left for Canada when he was young. He enlisted in Saskatoon on 29th June 1942. He was thirty three years old.
P/O Rinder was twenty four and married to a English girl.
Ronald Blau was not a regular in this crew, he received his commission on 11th September 1944 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency).
He was promoted to F/O (war subs) on 11th March 1945. He remained in the RAFVR post-War and rose to F/Lt on 11th March 1948. He relinquished his
commission on appointment to the RAF on 7th May 1951 and having dropped a rank rose again to F/Lt on 26th April 1953. He retired on 28th November 1961.
Halifax NA583 was built to contract ACFT/891 by Fairey Aviation Ltd at Stockport and delivered to 420 Squadron
at Tholthorpe on 16th July 1944. It was immediately transferred to 415 Squadron at East Moor and sustained two flak incidents in
August 1944 with Cat.A(c)/FB damage recorded following both. The repairs were made on site with the final repair complete by 28th August
1944. It was damaged in the incident recorded above on 14th October 1944 and was soon repaired. It was finally lost, as Cat.E(m), on 2nd November 1944 when it failed to
return from Dusseldorf. It was found to have crashed in the Rocherather Wald area near the Belgium/Germany
border. Sadly eight airmen on board were killed. NA583 commenced Ops with 415 Squadron on 28th July 1944
and was on it's nineth when the above flak incident occurred. It was lost on it's twenty nineth on 2nd
November 1944 when it was lost.