Whitley Z6871 at Topcliffe airfield.

On the 31st of August 1941 Whitley Z6868 was being loaded with bombs at Topcliffe airfield prior to Ops to bomb the Krupps Works at Essen. One of the bombs exploded and this other aircraft was slightly damaged. It was soon repaired however as the pilot named below crashed it into the North Yorkshire Moors by the end of September 1941. As fate would have it I suggest that he was the only one of those named below to survive the War.

Pilot - P/O David B Delany RAFVR (63472)

2nd Pilot - Sgt Charles T R Anderson RAFVR (1006358), of Hunmanby, Yorkshire.

Sgt R K Thomson

WOp/AG - Sgt Frederick A Braybrook RAF (746719), of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.

Sgt Robert Brown RAFVR (1100635), of South Shields, Co. Durham.

Sgt Alexander G Buchanan RCAF (R/58102), of North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada.

P/O Delany was pilot of this same aircraft which crashed into high ground on the North Yorkshire Moors at the end of September 1941, detailed here. He had been made P/O on 3rd April 1941 and was made F/O a year later. He was awarded the AFC on 28th December 1945. In the Post-War RAF he was promoted to F/Lt in January 1946. He was granted the permenant rank of F/Lt on 9th March 1949. I have loctaed a brief reference to suggest that he may have served with 114 Squadron at some stage in his career. He served on the Near East (Suez?) between October and December 1956 and, along with many other RAF personnel he was MiD for this in the Queens Birthday Honours of June 1957. He rose to the rank of W/C on 1st July 1959 before retiring after a long and distinguished career on 10th December 1968.
Fred Braybrook was awarded the DFM for completing a Tour with 102 Squadron, (Gazetted in January 1942) the citation reads.."This airman's ability as a wireless operator-air gunner has contributed much to the success of the missions in which he has been engaged. Many of these have been undertaken in bad weather against targets at long distances. His cheerful enthusiasm, coolness under fire, and determined disposition have inspired all wireless operators and other aircrews in the squadron." He was commissioned on 26th October 1942 and later posted to 156 Squadron PFF for a second tour but was killed on 17th January 1943 flying in Halifax W7886 which crashed in Denmark. He was 22 years old.
Sgt Charles Anderson was killed on 30th November 1941, he was 19 years old and is buried in Kiel War Cemetery. He was flying in Whitley Z6800 which was hit by flak and crashed in the Kiel area.
Sgt Brown was reported missing on 8th November 1941 with 102 Squadron flying in Whitley Z6796. His body was never found and he is commemerated on the Runnymede Memorial. He was 29 years old.
F/Sgt Buchanan was killed on 6th January 1942 in 102 Squadron Whitley Z9289 which crashed at Pogmoor, near Sheffield. He was 23 years old and is buried in Doncaster (Rose Hill) Cemetery, Yorkshire. This incident is covered in the 1942 section to this website.
Sgt Thomson was probably one navigator Richard Keith Thomson; if so he commisioned was posted to 76 Squadron and killed as a F/o on 31st March 1944 and buried in Hanover War Cemetery. He was Canadian.