Halifax MZ686 at East Moor airfield.
The night of 28th / 29th July 1944 saw 415 Squadron undertake their first operational sorties since joining Bomber Command from Coastal Command earlier in the month. Halifax LW686 was to have been one of the aircraft flown on the sortie to bomb Hamburg but on take off at East Moor at 22.18hrs the starboard outer engine caught fire as it became airborne. A swing developed almost certainly as the pilot closed the throttle on the damaged engine, the pilot overcorrected the swing to starboard and it veered off the runway to the port side. The aircraft's undercarriage then gave way as it crashed through the northern perimeter fence, it came to rest broken in two around 150 yards off the end of the runway and then caught fire. Fortunately the crew escaped with only one sustaining a cut above his eye. With it carrying a bomb load the road was closed and the family in the nearby farmhouse briefly left the property until after the aircraft's bomb load was disposed of.
Halifax MZ686 was built to contract ACFT/2553 by English Electric Co.Ltd. at Samlesbury. The aircraft's AM Form 78 has a few dates of transfer missing. It appears to have initially been taken on charge as new by 434 Squadron at Croft but the date it arrived is not stated. It was then taken on charge by 432 Squadron at East Moor on 19th May 1944. It was transferred to 415 Squadron also at East Moor but the date of transfer is also not on the AM Form 78. Following the crash at East Moor on 28th July 1944 Cat.E2/Burnt damage was the damage assessment and the aircraft was struck off charge on 16th August 1944. 60 MU had recovered the wreckage by 4th August 1944.
Pilot - P/O Donald Roy Andrews RCAF (J/87068).
Navigator - F/O J G Willis RCAF (J/25209).
Bomb Aimer - WO2 J R Pelletier RCAF (R/161144).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - WO2 R A Evans RCAF (R/103927).
Flight Engineer - Sgt G B Grant RAF (2020155).
Mid Upper Gunner - F/Sgt J J Conroy RCAF (R/187944). Slightly injured.
Rear Gunner - Sgt J E MacDonald RCAF (R/183347).
Dorsal Gunner - Sgt Victor Lewis Valde RCAF (R/215823).
Donald Andrews was born in Toronto in 1921 and enlisted there in April 1942. He flew his first operational flight on 24th April 1944 with 415 Squadron when the squadron were part of Coastal Command. By the time he had flown his thirty third on 15th September 1944 415 Squadron had transferred to Bomber Command. He was recommended for the DFC in October 1944 and this was approved and notification appeared in the London Gazette on 19th January 1945. There was no citation as such but the recommendation added much more detail, it reads.. "Pilot Officer Andrews has participated in very many attacks on targets important to the enemy's war effort. He has displayed great determination and his skilful efforts have contributed materially to the successes obtained. On several occasions the aircraft in which he was flying has been damaged by enemy action, but his keenness for operations remains unabated. Pilot Officer Andrews has set a good example of courage and devotion to duty.." I thank his grandson Mr Stephen Andrews for contacting me in 2012 and kindly suppying the photograph shown above.
Victor Valde was born on 20th September 1924 and was the son of Lewis and Emma Valde, of Transcona, Manitoba, Canada. Prior to enlisting into the RCAF Victor Valde had worked for "The Red and White Store" and Western Steel Products. He was involved a number of aircraft that sustained flak damage while serving with 415 Squadron at East Moor. The commissioned P/O Victor Valde was killed on 2nd November 1944 flying in Halifax MZ603 on Ops to Dusseldorf, he was still serving with 415 Squadron. He was twenty years old and is buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany. Valde Avenue in his home town was named after him in his honour.
