Whitley P4967 damaged by flak, returned to Dishforth airfield.
On the night of 17th / 18th May 1940 the crew of this 10 Squadron aircraft were tasked with flying an operational flight to Bremen to bomb storage facilities. They left Dishforth at 20.58hrs and
bombed the target just after midnight but sustained heavy flak damage. The aircraft was hit and the port wing was damaged, a large amount of fabric was ripped
from the upper surface of the wing and port aileron. The aircraft sustained some fuselage damage and with difficulty in keeping control the pilot returned the
aircraft safely to Dishforth, where they landed at 03.35hrs. The damage was later assessed and was soon repaired. The term of Air Observer used below seems a
varied name given to someone sat in the cockpit and appears to have been a role carried out by a "second" pilot.
Pilot - F/Lt Richard Bickford DFC RAF (37462).
Air Observer - F/O Michael Thomas Gibson Henry RAF (39876).
Navigator - Sgt Arthur Knapper RAF (580777).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt John Fletcher RAF (548378).
Rear Gunner - LAC George Lawrence Donnelly RAF (618288).
Richard Bickford was probably born in the Kingston area of Surrey in 1911. He received a commission to the rank of Acting P/O on probation with effect
from 23rd December 1935 and was confirmed in the rank and graded as P/O on 28th October 1936. He had been originally posted to 10 Squadron on 13th July 1936.
He was promoted to F/O on 28th June 1938 and to F/Lt on 6th May 1939. He was still serving with 10 Squadron at the start of the War and was the pilot of
a Whitley that crashed at Dishforth airfield on 15th October 1939. He was later awarded the DFC, Gazetted on 17th May 1940 (the same day as this flak
incident). Acting S/Ldr Bickford was killed in a crash near Pocklington on 30th August 1941 in Halifax L9518. He 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.
George "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 a 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.
Arthur Knapper was granted a commission on 31st March 1943 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) (51842). He survived the War and was awarded the
AFC on 13th June 1946 for service with 511 Squadron. He later joined The Kings Flight in 1947 and assisted 426 RCAF Squadron during the Pacific Airlift of
1950-51. By 1954 he was awarded the MVO, presumably for his work with The Kings Flight and was made S/Ldr on 1st July 1954.
Sgt John Fletcher died on 11th October 1940, he was twenty two years old and is buried in Manchester Southern Cemetery. At the time of his death he was
serving with 10 OTU and was killed as a result of Whitley N1526 crashing near Akeman Street airfield in which he was travelling.
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.