Whitley N1466 hit by flak, returned to Linton on Ouse airfield.
On the night of 27th/28th May 1940 the crew of this aircraft were tasked with bombing the Rhine area, targets around Dortmund, Duisburg, Dusseldorf and Cologne were selected but this aircraft sustained minor flak damage over Germany. The pilot was able to make the return to land at Linton on Ouse without further incident.
Pilot - Sgt Albert George Ernest Dixon RAF (563164). Uninjured.
Crew - Names unknown. Uninjured.
Albert Dixon received his commission on 26th April 1941 to the rank of P/O on probation. He was awarded the DFC for service with "55 Squadron" on 31st October 1941 and rose to F/O (war subs) on 26th April 1942, and to F/Lt (war subs) exactly a year later. He survived the War. It is probable that there was a type-error in the London Gazette with reference to his DFC and that 55 Squadron should read 58 Squadron.
Whitley N1466 was built to contract 75147/38 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd. at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 22nd December 1939. It was flown into MU storage until allocated to 58 Squadron at Linton on Ouse in March 1940 when the unit began converting from Mk.III Whitley's to Mk.V's. Cat.M/FB damage
was recorded following the flak incident detailed above and it was repaired on site and returned to the
unit the following month. On 6th September 1940 it made wheels-down forced landing short of fuel on return
from Ops to Regenburg to bomb oil installations, the landing was either made at Waren Mill, Bamburgh,
Northumberland or Warren Hill, Newmarket, Cambridgeshire! Cat.U damage was sustained (none) and it was refuelled
and flown out. On 16th November 1940 it sustained Cat.M/FB damage at Topcliffe when the undercarriage collapsed.
After this incident it was repaired and transferred to 19 OTU at Kinloss in December 1940. By November 1942 it was
deemed a time expired airframe and was officially converted to a ground instructional airfield and given the
serial number "3418M".