Whitley K9023 damaged in the air, returned to Dishforth airfield.
On the night of 11th / 12th April 1940 the crew of this 10 Squadron aircraft were tasked with a reconnaissance flight to observe shipping in the coastal regions of Kattegat and Skaggerak, Norway. This aircraft took off from Dishforth at 18.45hrs and bombed a supply ship but on their return the aircraft flew over a 'flak' ship which fired at the Whitley and may have scored hits (though the squadron records do not list this). The pilot was able to return safely to Dishforth and land at 03.30hrs without further incident. The squadron records list damage caused to the airframe by ice being thrown from the propellers.
Pilot - F/Lt Richard Bickford RAF (37462).
Second Pilot - S/Ldr Desmond Patrick Hanafin RAF (33087).
Observer - F/O Michael Thomas Gibson Henry RAF (39876), of Compton Chamberlayne, Wiltshire. He was actually a qualifed pilot.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - LAC Arthur Millington RAF (580352),
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - LAC George Lawrence "Larry" Donnelly RAF (618288).
Richard Bickford was stationed in Yorkshire for at least 18 months, during his time in the County he was involved in a number of minor mishaps,
one in November 1939 when the same Whitley, K9023, was slightly damaged. Then again in June 1940 when Whitley P4962 was taking off and the undercarriage
collapsed. Sadly on 30th August 1941 he was the pilot of Halifax L9518 which crashed near Pocklington, he and one other member of his then crew were killed.
All these incidents are detailed on this website.
Larry Donnelly joined the RAF in 1937 and trained as a wireless operator/air gunner although he wished to be a pilot. During the early months of the War he completed 41 operational flights on Whitleys with 10 Squadron and was later posted to instruct at Kinloss. He was awarded the DFM for service with 10 Squadron and later 76 Squadron, Gazetted on 14th April 1942, the citation reads.. "This airman has been employed as wireless operator-air gunner since the beginning of the war and has participated in attacks on targets in Germany, Italy, Norway, France and Belgium." His service number is given as 618255 in the 10 Squadron ORB but the London Gazette entry for his DFM quotes 618288. He flew a second Tour on Halifaxes and a third in Coastal Command on Sunderlands with 461 Squadron in 1942. His wish to become a pilot was finally completed in 1945 when he was awared his Wings and he survived the War. It is remarkable that he was flying in the RAF in the early weeks of the War and only received his commission on 29th March 1945, to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency)(57075). He remained in the RAF post-war before relinquishing his commission of F/Lt on 18th December 1966. He later wrote the books "The Whitley Boys", "The Other Few" and "A Quest For Wings". He died in January 2005.
F/O Henry was actually a pilot and was to be involved in a number of minor incidents and battle damage incidents. He was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire in 1912 and attended Sedbergh School, Yorkshire from 1926 to 1930. He was granted a permanent commission into the RAF as Acting P/O on Probation on 20th July 1937 and gained his RAF Wings in October 1937. He was made F/O on 10th December 1939 and then a F/Lt on 10th December 1940. His DFC was Gazetted on 30th July 1940 but no Citation for this award has been found as yet but was almost certainly for service in completing a Tour with 10 Squadron. F/Lt Henry was sadly killed in the crash of 35 Squadron Halifax L9487 on 13th January 1941 near Baldersby St.James, Yorkshire. He is buried in Roecliffe Churchyard near Boroughbridge. Halifax L9487 was the first fatal Halifax accident and is detailed on this website.
Sgt Arthur Millington became a PoW as a result of Whitley N1497 failing to return from Ops to Milan on the night of 15th/16th August 1940 when the aircraft crashed in Italy.
Whitley K9023 was built to contract 522438/36 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 25th May 1939. It was delivered to 10 Squadron at Dishforth on 26th May 1939 and coded "PB-E" but 10 Squadron changed their prefix with the outbreak of war and it became "ZA-E". A mention of it being slightly damaged at Dishforth on 15th October 1939 has been found but there is no record of this is recorded on the aircraft's history. Cat.M/FB damage was recorded after the flak damage in April 1940 as detailed above and it was repaired on site and returned to the unit but may not have flown operationally again because it was replaced as "ZA-E" by Whitley P4957 which was delivered to 10 Squadron in late April 1940. It was then transferred to 10 OTU at Abingdon on 29th May 1940 and then to 19 OTU at Kinloss on 11th August 1940. Here it sustained a Cat.R/FA accident on 25th October 1940 when it suffered an engine failure on a night take off at Kinloss, the pilot completed a circuit but overshot landing at Kinloss. It was then dismantled and transported to Airwork General Trading Ltd at Gatwick on 9th November 1940 and converted to a ground instructional airframe in May 1941 but no details of where it was used has been found. Officially it became 3302M in August 1942 but nothing further is known of it's history after this date.