Whitley N1381 at Driffield airfield.

On the night of 11th / 12th May 1940 102 Squadron undertook an operational flight to bomb Monchengladbach and this aircraft took off from Driffield at 20.37hrs. On their return to Driffield at 03.25hrs the pilot held off landing just above the ground and then the aircraft stalled, causing the undercarriage collapse when the aircraft hit the ground on landing. The undercarriage collapsed. The second pilot listed below was at the controls at the time of landing.

Pilot - P/O John James McKay RAF (40404).

Pilot - P/O Anthony Zillwood Pengelly RAF (41459).

? - Sgt R Pollitt.

? - LAC R C Jackson.

? - LAC G E Golding.

Whitley N1381 was built to contract 75147/38 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd at Baginton and was awaiting collection in October 1939. It was then delivered into MU storage but quickly issued to 102 Squadron at Driffield the following month when the unit began to re-equip with Whitley MkV's, having operated Whitley MkIII's from October 1938. Cat.M(c)/FB damage was recorded following the mishap detailed above in May 1940 and it was repaired on site by a team from Marshall's, of Cambridge, who were permanently based at Driffield purely for the purpose of battle damage repair of Whitley's. It was then returned to unit on an unspecified date but later on 25th August 1940 it moved with the unit to Leeming and again on 1st September 1940 to Prestwick with the unit. On 10th October 1940) it came back to Yorkshire with the unit to Linton on Ouse and then on 15th November 1940 102 Squadron moved to Topcliffe and it moved with them. In early 1941 the aircraft was transferred to 19 OTU at Kinloss, then on 10th July 1942 it was transferred to 81 OTU down at Ashbourne when this unit formed. It was converted to a ground instructional airframe at Honeybourne in September 1942 and given serial 3393M. Although records here cease it was probably scrapped and turned back into aircraft production before the War ended with Whitleys being obsolete.

John McKay received a commission to Acting P/O on probation on 9th January 1938, he was graded as P/O on 28th October 1938 and later promoted to F/O on 28th May 1940. He was awarded the DFC for service with 102 Squadron, Gazetted on 11th February 1941, while in the rank of Acting F/Lt though no citation for his DFC has been located. He was promoted to F/Lt (war subs) on 28th May 1941 and to S/Ldr (temp) on 1st June 1942 and later to S/Ldr (war subs) on 12th June 1943, as Acting W/Co he was later posted to 178 Squadron and was awarded the DSO, Gazetted on 15th October 1943 for service with this unit. He was Mentioned in Despatches on 14th January 1944 with a huge number of other airmen. He was awarded the DFC (USA), Gazetted on 29th September 1944 while serving with 160 Squadron "for distinguished achievement as a pilot of heavy bombardment aircraft on operational missions. On the night of December 1st/2nd, 1942, when other elements of his formation were forced by bad weather to return to their base without reaching their target, he proceeded alone and completed a most successful raid on Tripoli harbour. His example of inspirational leadership has done much to account for the distinguished record of achievement of 160 Squadron." Having been promoted to W/Co (war subs) on 12th November 1944 he survived the War and was later granted a permanent commission in the RAF as S/Ldr but under the regulations still carried his war substantive rank. He relinquished his war substantive rank of W/Co on 1st November 1947 and reverted to S/Ldr (substantive). He was later Mentioned in Despatches for service in Malaya, Gazetted on 16th September 1949. He was later promoted to W/Co on 1st January 1951 and to G/Cpt on 1st July 1957.
Anthony Pengelly was born in Truro, Nova Scotia in 1920 and joined the RAF in 1938. He was granted a short service commission as Acting P/O on probation on 14th December 1938. He was graded as P/O on probation on 3rd September 1939 and was confirmed as P/O on 6th October 1939. He was later promoted to F/O on 3rd September 1940 and F/Lt (war subs) on 3rd September 1941. He ended the War as a PoW having been captured while flying Whitley P4936 on Ops to Berlin on the night of 14th / 15th November 1940. While a PoW he spent time in the POW camp made famous for the Great Escape, he was heavily involved in the Great Escape being "The Forger". Post-War he returned to Nova Scotia and was later appointed as President of the Association of Canadian Advertisers. He retired to Niagara on the Lake and died in April 2002.

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