Whitley P4967 in the field at Nether Silton (photograph - Brian Rapier).
On 3rd September 1940 this 10 Squadron aircraft took from Leeming at 20.26hrs to bomb a power transformer plant in Berlin. Because of 5/10th's cloud conditions this crew were unable to locate the primary and also a secondary target but they spotted a marshalling yard two miles from the primary target and made two attacks on it. They returned to Yorkshire but ran low on fuel and the wireless also failed. The pilot eventually made a forced landing with the wheels up at 06.45hrs in a field near Nether Silton, in a small field near Hall Farm. The aircraft was badly damaged but the crew escaped injury. Looking at the damage on these two photographs the damage appears to have been caused by the aircraft running through a hedge and coming to rest against a tree.
Pilot - F/Lt Dennis Brendon Geoffrey Tomlinson RAF (37989).
Second Pilot - P/O Kenneth Douglas Brant RAF (81655).
Observer - Sgt Wilfred Campbell Walters RAF (581003).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Patrick Joseph Hughes RAF (619106).
Air Gunner - Sgt Angus Jack McIntosh RAFVR (966647).
Another view of the crash site.
Dennis Tomlinson was born at Hammersmith, London on 10th November 1915 and was the son of Geoffrey Arthur and Maud Violet (nee ?) Tomlinson. His father was an officer in the 7th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment when Dennis was baptised at Hammersmith in December 1915. In the 1921 census he was living with his grandparents at Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire. Dennis was awarded a Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificate (Cert.No.13919) after training at the North Staffordshire Aero Club on 5th June 1936. On the night of 8th / 9th September 1940 F/Lt Tomlinson was piloting Whitley P4961 when his rear gunner (Sgt McIntosh) baled out over Germany after the aircraft was fired on by anti aircraft fire but was not serious damaged by it. The aircraft returned to base where it was found slightly damaged possibly when the rear gunner left the aircraft and struck the tail. Tomlinson was also to be involved in another incident only weeks later near Thirsk which saw two of his then crew being killed when they failed to bale out of the aircraft before it crashed. He was awarded the DFC for service with 10 Squadron, Gazetted on 17th January 1941. After completing his Tour with 10 Squadron he was posted to an instructional role with 10 OTU based at Abingdon. He married Hannah Clare Maxted in 1941 and they had one child. On 2nd June 1942 10 OTU were one of a number training units instructed to put up a number of bombers for a large operational bomber force to bomb Essen on this night. This was the night of the second Thousand Bomber raid. He was pilot of Whitley Z6581, the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter to the east of Arnhem and he is buried in Gendringen Roman Catholic Cemetery, Holland. Dennis Tomlinson was twenty six years old.
Angus McIntosh was born on 23rd September 1916. He was living at Monifieth, Angus when he enlisted for RAF service on 8th September 1939 and was an art student at the time. Sgt McIntosh was made a PoW as a result of leaving Whitley P4961 on 8th/9th September 1940, he was not given an order to bale out but left the aircraft on his own accord probably believing the aircraft was out of control during a period of the pilot taking evasive flak action. He spent the rest of the War as a PoW.
Kenneth Brant was born on 10th March 1920 at Leicester and was the son of William Francis and Florence Stella (nee Wilson) Brant. When the 1939 Register was compiled it states that he was serving in the RAFVR with No.1 Squadron (although this probably an error for No.10 Squadron) and his parents were living at Worthing, Sussex. He received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 29th June 1940. The Hull Daily Mail reported that in October 1940 he had become engaged to Miss Kathleen Shawler, of Spring Bank West, Hull. He was awarded the DFC for service with 10 Squadron, Gazetted in March 1941 but no citation has yet been found.
He was sadly killed on 26th June 1941 while flying with No.21 Operational Training Unit near Kinloss Railway Station in Whitley N1379 while almost certainly instructing. The aircraft crashed near Kinloss soon after taking off for a training flight. He is buried in Durrington Cemetery, Worthing, Sussex. I thank Ms Nikki Sheeran for kindly supplying the photograph of his grave and inscription on town war memorial shown here.
Patrick Hughes was born on 6th February 1920. He enlisted for RAF service on 31st August 1938 and was a salesman, living in Glasgow at the time. As a F/Sgt, Patrick Hughes was later awarded the Air Force Medal, Gazetted on 1st January 1944 while serving with No.1 Aircraft Delivery Unit. On 24th March 1945 he was flying in 512 Squadron Dakota FZ649 on a Horsa glider towing flight as part of Operation Varsity when the aircraft was attacked and caught fire in the air. He later stated that his pilot remained at the controls in an attempt to enable part of his crew to bale out. Hughes was in the process of leaving through the ditching escape hatch when it broke in two. He managed to get clear of the falling aircraft and deployed his parachute but suffering minor burn injuries to his head. He was captured a short time later and made a PoW but was the sole survivor. On 21st April 1945 he was part of a group that was straffed by an RAF Mosquito and received a wound to his right thigh.
Wilfred Walters was born on 6th March 1920 at Bedwelty, Monmouthshire and was the son of Augustus and Maimie (nee Jones) Walters. When he enlisted for RAF service on 1st May 1939 he was working as an accountant, living at Eastleigh, Hampshire. He was later posted to 35 Squadron and on 24th July 1941 he was flying in Halifax L9512 which was shot down on an attack of the German ship The Scharnhorst. The whole crew became PoWs. In his PoW liberation questionaire he stated that he helped in tunnel construction at Stalag Luft IIIE (Kirchhain) in May 1942 but he moved camp days before a mass escape that saw 52 men escape so did not escape himself. On 30th December 1947 he was belatedly Mentioned in Despatches for his actions in damaging the battleship in 1942. His crew re-united forty years later and flew into Linton on Ouse airfield in a Piper Lance in 1981. He died in Hampshire in October 1982.
Whitley P4967 was built to contract 75147/38 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd. at Baginton and was awaiting collection in late April 1940. It was allotted to 10 Squadron on 26th April 1940 and was taken on charge by them at Dishforth on 10th May 1940. It was immediately damaged on Ops when it received Cat.M/FB damage on 18th May 1940 on Ops to Bremen whilst bombing an oil storage facilities it was hit by flak and sustained damage to the fabric covering on port aileron and some fuselage damage. The crew returned safely to Dishforth. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service. It moved with the unit to Leeming on 8th July 1940. On 4th September 1940 crash landed at Nether Silton. The damage was assessed and Cat.W/FB damage was the assessment. It was struck off charge on 21st September 1940.