Whitley P4962 damaged by flak, returned to Dishforth airfield.
On the night of 2nd / 3rd June 1940 this 10 Squadron was to undertake an operational flight to Duisburg. Take off time for all 10 Squadron aircraft was between 21.25hrs and 22.00hrs,
this aircraft appears to have been the first to leave the runway. The aircraft was hit by flak on Ops to bomb oil targets in the Homburg area of Duisburg and at the time the aircraft was acting
as a target illuminator when it was hit by flak, thought to have been towards the rear of the aircraft as the rear gunner sustained serious injuries. The pilot was
able to make a safe landing at Bircham Newton and the injured gunner was taken off to be admitted to Kings Lynn Hospital. A short time after landing in Norfolk the Whitley took off and returned to Dishforth where it was soon repaired.
Pilot - F/Lt Richard Bickford DFC RAF (37462).
Second Pilot - F/O Michael Thomas Gibson Henry RAF (39876).
Observer - Sgt Robert Norman Lown RAF (580550).
Wireless Operator - Sgt Joseph William Stephenson RAF (550132).
Air Gunner - Sgt James William Cornforth RAF (624289), of North Ormesby, Middlesbrough. Seriously injured.
F/Sgt James Cornforth was later posted to 109 Squadron and on 21st November 1941 he was killed flying in Wellington T2552 which crashed near Oakington. He is buried in Linthorpe Cemetery, Middlesbrough. He was twenty five years old. Having visited his grave in Linthorpe in 2015 his name was incorrectly spelt "CONFORTH" on his CWGC headstone, clearly this is a major error by the stonemason. I contacted the CWGC in early 2015 and this error has since been corrected. CWGC are always open to such contact and it goes to show that they act on any error that crops up. I thank Neil Robins for the updated / corrected photograph.
Richard Bickford was made an Acting P/O on probation on 7th January 1936, this was made permanent P/O on 28th October 1936, he rose from P/O to F/O on 28th
June 1938 and to F/Lt on 6th May 1939. As F/Lt he was awarded the DFC on 17th May 1940 but no citation has yet been found. He was posted to command E-Flight at
10 OTU following his Tour with 10 Squadron and on 28th November 1940 crashed Magister L5958 on landing at Abingdon with this unit. S/Ldr Bickford later returned
to operational flying and commanded 76 Squadron. He was killed on 29th August 1941 as pilot of Halifax L9518 returning from Ops to Frankfurt. The aircraft ran
out of fuel near Pocklington, he ordered his crew to bale out but sadly the parachute wrapped around the aircraft's tail fin and he was dragged down by the
crashing aircraft. S/Ldr Bickford was cremated in Darlington and was thirty years old.
Michael Henry was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire in 1912, he attended Sedbergh School 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, Yorkshire. Halifax L9487 was the first fatal Halifax accident and is detailed on this website.
Robert Lown was granted a commission in the RAF on 15th December 1941 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) (47877). He was promoted to F/O on probation
(war subs) on 1st October 1942 and F/Lt (war subs) on 15th December 1943. He was Mentioned in Despatches on 1st January 1943. Post-War he remained in the RAF and
was granted a substantive rank of F/Lt on 1st November 1947. He may well be still living as a Google search on his name gives numerous hits for someone with the
same name and as a result I do not wish to add further details on a known living individual without asking his permission first.
Sgt Stephenson was killed on 27th August 1940 on Ops to attack Milan in Whitley P4990, their aircraft was shot down and crashed in Italy. Sgt Stephenson was twenty two and he is buried in Milan War Cemetery, Italy.
Whitley P4962 was built to contract 75147/38 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd. at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 25th April 1940. It was delivered to 10
Squadron at Dishforth before the end of the month. On 3rd June 1940 it sustained Cat.M/FB damage when it was hit by flak, detailed above. Damage must have been
slight and it was repaired on site and was back with the unit in time for ops five days later. It crashed on take off from Topcliffe, and was dismantled and
removed to an unspecified works for repair. On completion of the repair it was issued to 10 OTU at Abingdon where the aircraft had a very long life in the
training role. On 20th March 1944 it moved with the unit to Stanton Harcourt but on 1st May 1944 Cat.E2/FA damage was recorded when the undercarriage collapsed
on landing at Stanton Harcourt. It was declared beyond economic repair and struck off charge.