Halifax R9377 hit by flak, returned safely to Linton on Ouse.

On the 30th of December 1941 the crew of this aircraft were tasked with Ops to Brest to attack the Scharnhorst enemy ship. They left Linton at 11.27hrs and attacked at 14/07hrs from 16,000ft. Due to heavy flak the pilot took evasive action but the starboard inner engine was damaged by flak. The aircraft returned safely to base and landed at 17.10hrs.

This incident was vertually identical to that of 18th December 1941 when the same aircraft was damaged in the same engine by flak with the same crew flying the aircraft. It is believed to have been a seperate incident to the previous one.

Pilot - F/Sgt William Bruce Archibald RAFVR (533809), of Roxborough, Tobago, West Indies.

2nd Pilot - P/O Herbert G B Mays RAFVR (104520), of ?

Obs - Sgt Geoffrey H G Murray RAAF (407094), of Millswood, South Australia.

WOp/AG - Sgt Archibald M McLaren RAFVR (993204), of Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, Scotland.

WOp/AG - Sgt R M G Jones RAF

AG - Sgt Douglas Francis RAF (632346), of Putney, London.

F/Eng - Sgt Samuel Palmer RAF (526215), of Birmingham.

Please refer to Linzee Druce's superb website www.archie.co.uk detailing the work of 35 Squadron around this time and that of the crew named above. Her grandfather being the pilot F/Sgt Archibald.
On 30th March 1942 of those named above, Archibald, Murray, Mclaren, Francis and Palmer were together in Halifax R9496 on Ops to sink the German ship the Tirpitz. The aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft fire over Norway and crashed into a fjord. All on board lost their lives and a number of the crew were washed ashore while some were never found. Those who were found were Archibald (aged ?), McLaren (aged 22) and Francis (aged 26) and they were buried Trondheim Cemetery, Norway. Murray (aged 30) and Palmer (aged 27) were not recovered and are commemerated on the Runnymede Memorial. Linzee details this loss in great detail on her website.
Geoffrey Murray was born on 1st July 1911 in Adelaide, South Australia, he enlisted on 27th May 1940 in Adelaide. On arrival in the UK he trained at 10 OTU and crew-ed up with many of those named above, on completion of this training he was posted to 102 Squadron in August 1941 and then posted to 35 Squadron two months later. Afew weeks before his death he had applied for a posting away from the UK to serve his native Australia nearer to home but this was turned down.
Of the RAF members of this crew Sgt Archibald had also trained at 10 OTU before posted to 102 Squadron in August 1941, two months later he was posted to 35 Squadron in October 1941. Other members of this crew are believed to have done the same.
Herbert Mays was commissioned to P/O on probation on 9th August 1941, as F/O he was killed on 26th June 1942 flying with 35 Squadron in Halifax W1105 shot down on Ops to Bremen. He is buried in Sage War Cemetery, Germany. The details of him rising to the rank of F/O have yet to be found in the London Gazette.