Whitley P4961 hit by flak, returned to Dishforth airfield.
On the night of 17th/18th May 1940 the crew of this aircraft were tasked with bombing an oil storage plant near Bremen, they left base at 20.51hrs and the bombs were dropped within a eighteen minute period but no bursts were seen to due evasive action being taken. The aircraft was hit by flak and the tailplane and starboard side of the fuselage received damage. The pilot was able to make a safe return and land at Dishforth at 03.20hrs without further damage and the aircraft was later repaired.
Pilot - Sgt James Grant MacCoubrey RAF (580264).
Navigator - P/O Somerville (Possibly Keith "Slim" Somerville).
Air Observer - Sgt Bell.
Wireless Operator - LAC Mitchell.
Rear Gunner - AC Myers.
James MacCoubrey was born on 23rd February 1915. He was awarded the DFM for service with 10 Squadron, Gazetted on 30th July 1940, the recommendation for his DFM reads..
"Before his appointment as Captain of Aircraft, Sgt MacCoubrey acted as second pilot and navigator during eight successful operational missions. Since this time, he has completed a further 14 successful missions, involving the attacking of oil plants, marshalling yards and other important enemy targets. This airman has displayed a splendid devotion to duty and a determination to complete his missions successfully. His work with the squadron has been of the utmost value.”
After completing his Tour he was posted to 19 OTU to instruct. On 18th February 1941 he was the pilot of Whitley N1373 which was undertaking a training flight, the aircraft stalled while trying to land at Forres and crashed. He was granted a commission as P/O on probation (emergency) on 8th January 1941 (with seniority of 1st January 1941). P/O MacCoubrey sustained serious injuries and sadly died on 21st February 1941. He is buried in Glasgow Lambhill Cemetery.
I would welcome any information on any members of any crews listed on these pages, specific to this incident the navigator listed above was probably one Keith Somerville he was later awarded the DFC for service with 10 Squadron. He later rose to the rank of Group Captain. If it was the same man he joined 10 Squadron at Leeming in August 1940. He was later posted to the Wireless Development Unit, later renamed 109 Squadron at Boscombe Down and was part of the team behind the development of the OBOE blind bombing system. He was awarded the AFC for this work. He later commanded 105 Squadron. In March 1945 he was awarded the DSO for "his example of coolness and courage in the face of the fiercest enemy fire". He died in September 2004. If he is not the same man I will delete this record.
Whitley P4961 was built to contract 75147/38 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd. at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 25th April 1940, it was delivered to 10 Squadron at Dishforth in April 1940 during the units conversion from Mk.IV Whitley's. Cat.M/FB damage was recorded following the flak incident as detailed above and the aircraft was repaired on site and returned to the unit. It then moved with the unit to Leeming 8th July 1940 and on 12th August 1940 it was again damaged by flak (Cat.M/FB) on ops to Gelsenkirchen, the pilot made a safe return to Leeming. Again it was repaired on site and returned to the unit. On 11th/12th September 1940 the aircraft was being flown on Ops to Bremen when the rear gunner baled out over Germany, the aircraft was slightly damaged and the remaining crew returned safely to base. Why the gunner opted to vacate the aircraft is not yet known. On 21st December 1940 the aircraft was returning from ops to Berlin when it was abandoned near Harleston, Suffolk and the crew escaped injury. The aircraft was written off as a result of this incident.