Whitley P4952 damaged by flak, returned to Dishforth airfield.
On the night of 17th / 18th May 1940 the crew of this aircraft were tasked with bombing an oil storage plant near Bremen and left base at 20.04hrs. The aircraft
made a number of passes over the target in what was described as being in very good weather. The bombs were dropped on the target and a direct hit was observed but
very heavy flak was encountered over the target and a shell burst just below the aircraft's starboard wing and aileron and shrapnel penetrated the fuselage, the
aircraft remained controllable and the pilot was able to make a safe return and land at Dishforth at 04.44hrs without further damage and the aircraft was later
repaired. The pilot was commanding officer of 10 Squadron at the time. For his actions in returning Whitley P4962 to base he was awarded the Bar to the DSO. The
citation for his Bar to the DSO gives more information on this incident.
Pilot - W/Co William Ernest Staton RAF, DSO, MC, DFC & Bar (04225).
Second Pilot - F/O Garfield Wallace Prior RAFVR (37611), of Indian Head, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Observer - Sgt Barcroft Melrose Mathers RAF (580922), of Mosman, New South Wales, Australia.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - LAC Stanley Broadhurst RAF (550817).
Rear Gunner - AC Alexander James Davie RAF (620056).
By the outbreak of War in 1939 he reached the rank of Wing Commander and was awarded the DSO and was also Mentioned in Despatches on 20th February 1940.
The Bar to the DSO was Gazetted on 7th June 1940, the citation reads.."This officer has continued to display outstanding gallantry and leadership in recent
air operations. One night in May 1940, he led an attack on the
oil depot at Bremen. The target was very heavily defended and difficult to identify owing to the exceptional number of searchlights but, after worrying
and misleading the defences for an hour, he dived and attacked from 1,000 feet to ensure hitting the target. His aircraft was hit by six shells, the last
one of which did considerable damage but he succeeded in reaching his home base. Wing Commander Staton organises and leads his squadron on all new tasks
with constant courage and his work on his station is magnificent."
He was later posted to the Far East afew months before the Japanese invasion of Malaya. He was forced to surrender in Java and spent the remainder
of the war in captivity, showing great courage in standing up to the extreme cruelty of his captors. He was later Mentioned in Despatches for
his service whilst a Prisoner of War. He retired from the RAF as A.V.M. on 12th November 1952 and died on 22nd July 1983.
A draft citation for his award has been found by Hugh Halliday in his Canadian awards research, it reads.."This officer has
completed 24 flights over enemy territory both as second pilot and as captain of aircraft. These include raids on
the marshalling yards at Hamm, the aluminum works at Monheim, aircraft factories at Wenzendorf, Bremen and Weismar,
the oil plant at Salzbergen, the Fiat works at Turin, the Zeiss works at Zena, and an aerodrome at Hasheim. All of
these raids were successful, causing fires and explosions. Flying Officer Prior has maintained a high standard of
work and by his conscientiousness, keenness and ability has set a fine example to his squadron."
William Staton was born on 27th August 1898, he served with the Army in WW1 was attached to the DFC and was one of the founding members of the RAF in April 1918.
He was awarded the DFC on 21st September 1918, the Bar to the DFC on 3rd December 1918 and the Military Cross Gazetted on 22nd June 1918 and the citation for the
latter reads... "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. On one occasion, when on offensive patrol, he, by the skilful handling of his machine and accurate
shooting destroyed two enemy aeroplanes and brought down a third out of control. In addition, during the nine days previous to this, he had destroyed five other
enemy machines, two of these being triplanes. The services which he has rendered have been exceptionally brilliant, and his skill and determination are deserving
of the highest praise."
The rear gunner Alexander Davie was promoted to the rank of F/Sgt by 30th June 1941 when he was killed flying with 35 Squadron when Halifax L9499 on Ops to
Kiel. He was twenty three years old and from Aberdeen.
Garfield Wallace Prior was born in Indian Head, Saskatchewan in 1914. He joined the RAF in the mid-1930s and was appointed to a commission on 2nd March
1936, taking the rank Acting P/O on probation and was later posted 97 Squadron. He was posted to 10 Squadron on 15th September 1939. He transferred to the
Reserve on 6th January 1940 but was immediately called up for service on that date. On 20th/21st July 1940 and again on 5th/6th August 1940 he was flying
Whitley P4952 on Ops when the aircraft was hit by flak on both dates. He was able to return to base on both dates and the damage was repaired. F/O Prior
was awarded the DFC on 22nd October 1940 but no citation for the award has been found. He also rose through the ranks, rising to S/Ldr and was reported
missing on 23rd November 1943 flying Stirling EF180. The date of death was recorded on the CWGC database as being on 22nd January 1944 and while this error was corrected the error has found it's way onto the IBCC database and elsewhere. I guess that is what happens when people don't research things for themselves and just copy what is in front of them.
Barcroft Mathers was born on 31st January 1914 in Sydney, Australia. He left for England in late 1938 to join the RAF in January 1939. He was granted a
commission of P/O on probation on 4th September 1940 (44634) with seniority of 21st August 1940. He was promoted to F/O on probation (war subs) on 22nd July
1941 and was confirmed as F/O on 4th September 1941. He was promoted to F/Lt (war subs) on 19th February 1942 and as Acting S/Ldr he was awarded the DFC for
service with 156 Squadron, Gazetted on 27th June 1944. On the night of 13th August 1944 he was flying Ops to Russelsheim with 582 Squadron in Lancaster ND969,
his aircraft was shot down by a night fighter which badly damaged the aircraft, the aircraft was partly abandoned and he became a PoW. Post War he resigned
his commission in the RAF on 9th February 1946 and later rose to become a senior navigator with Quantas Airlines. His older brother Sgt James Bruce Mathers
RAAF (403940) was killed in action on 26th June 1942 on the Thousand Bomber raid on Bremen while flying in 27 OTU Wellington R1162. His body was never found
and he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, he was twenty nine years old.
Stanley Broadhurst was later posted to 35 Squadron and sadly died on 10th March 1941 as the result of a so called "friendly-fire" incident. He was flying
in Halifax L9489 on Ops to Le Havre when the aircraft was intercepted by an Allied night fighter, the aircraft crashed near Guildford. This raid was the first
that used the new Halifax aircraft and it was the first Halifax to be lost on an operational flight. He was twenty years old and is buried in Mansfield
Woodhouse Cemetery, Nottinghamshire.
Whitley P4952 was built to contract 75147/38 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd. at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 15th April 1940. It was delivered to
10 Squadron based at Dishforth in the same month during the units conversion from Mk.IV Whitley's and as a replacement for Whitley K9035 which had been
transferred to 10 OTU. Cat.M/FB damage was recorded following the flak damage as detailed above and the aircraft was repaired on site and returned to the
unit. It moved with the unit to Leeming on 8th July 1940 and was again damaged by flak on 21st July 1940 on ops to Dusseldorf and the pilot was again able
to make a return to Leeming. Again flak struck it on the night of 5th/6th August 1940 and the pilot made a safe return to base. It was again repaired on site
and returned to the unit. On 21st September 1940 it was slightly damaged by flak on Ops and was soon repaired at base. On 15th October 1940 it sustained
Cat.W/FB damage on return from ops to Stettin, short of fuel and lost it was abandoned safely at 05.02hrs over Bellingham, Northumberland.