Whitley P4963 damaged by flak, returned to Dishforth airfield.
On the night of 17th / 18th May 1940 the crew of this 10 Squadron aircraft were tasked with bombing an oil storage plant near Bremen but the aircraft sustained flak damage
while doing so. The aircraft found itself Oldenburg airfield on the return so shot up the hangers and searchlights with the machine guns from both front and rear
turrets. The pilot was able to make a safe return and land at Dishforth without further damage at 03.41hrs. The aircraft cannot have been seriously damaged as it
was back in the air on 21st May 1940 when it was again damaged by flak.
Pilot - Acting F/Lt Allan Smith Phillips DFC RAF (39153).
Second Pilot - P/O Leslie David Wood RAF (40277).
Observer - Sgt David Donald RAF (580608).
Wireless Operator - AC Robert Edward Nicholson RAF (611204).
Rear Gunner - AC Thomas Allan Matthews RAF (616167).
Whitley P4963 was built to contract 75147/38 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd. at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 27th April 1940, it was delivered to 10
Squadron at Dishforth later in the month during the unit's conversion from Mk.IV Whitley's. Cat.M/FB damage was recorded following the flak damage as states
above and the aircraft was repaired on site and returned to the unit. On the night of 21st / 22nd May 1940 it was again damaged by flak and repaired on site.
On 4th June 1940 it sustained Cat.W/FB damage after a crash landing while returning from ops to Hamburg near Battisford, Suffolk. F/Lt Phillips was the pilot
on this occasion and he was injured, as was Sgt Donald while the promoted Sgt Nicholson escaped injury. One of the then crew later died of his injuries but
was not with him on 17th/18th May 1940.
F/Lt Allan Smith Phillips DFC recovered from the injuries sustained in the June 1940 incident to P4963 and returned to operational flying with 10 Squadron
but was killed during the night of 22nd/23rd October 1940 when Whitley T4152 was lost on ops to Stuttgart. He and his then crew are buried in Durnbach War Cemetery.
The award of the DFC was only Gazetted on 17th May 1940 - the same day as the flak incident as detailed at the top of this page. The citation for the award was a
joint one, it reads.."These officers and N.C.O.s have made a large number of reconnaissance and bombing raids over enemy country and over enemy air and naval bases.
One officer, compelled to land owing to shortage of petrol after a flight over Warsaw, found he was in Germany. Despite the smallness of the field and petrol
shortage he managed to take off again and save both aircraft and crew. Another officer pressed home a low bombing attack on the German cruiser Admiral Soheer in
Schillig Roads last September. One of the N.C.O.s obtained a direct hit on a submarine in Heligoland Bight, two others did valuable work in attacks on enemy submarines."
David Donald received his commission on 29th June 1942 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) (49588). He transferred to the Admin and Special Duties
Branch on 5th May 1943, on that date he was also promoted to F/O on probation (war subs) (with seniority of 29th December 1943). Nothing more about his service
is known after this date.
Robert Nicholson was awarded the DFM for service with 10 Squadron it was Gazetted on 26th August 1941 but with effect of 19th September 1940. By this date
he was already a PoW as on 1st October 1940 Sgt Nicholson was flying in Whitley T4130 on Ops to Berlin, the aircraft crashed near Badbergen, Germany. Sgt Nicholson
was taken prisoner of war.
Thomas Matthews was Mentioned in Despatches on 1st January 1941. Having received a posting to 77 Squadron he was awarded the DFM while serving with them,
Gazetted on 21st November 1941. He was later granted a commission in the RAF as P/O on probation (emergency) on 26th November 1941 (74309) but his commission
was only brief as it was terminated on 6th May 1942 for reasons unknown.
The date of Leslie Wood's commission is not yet known but must have been in 1938 or 1939 probably initially to Acting P/O on probation, he would have been
graded as P/O on probation and confirmed as P/O on further dates into his service in 1939, possibly around September 1939. He was then promoted to F/O (war subs)
on 23rd April 1940, to F/Lt (war subs) on 23rd April 1941, to S/Ldr (temp) on 1st July 1943. He transferred to the Reserve while in the rank of F/Lt (temp S/Ldr)
on 23rd August 1943 and was called up for immediate service. Post-War he remained the RAFO until relinquishing his commission of F/Lt (retaining the rank of S/Ldr)
on 18th May 1958. While with 10 Squadron he ditched Whitley N1483 in the Irish Sea on 1st October 1940 on return from Ops to Berlin and overshot England completely.