Whitley P5048 damaged by flak, returned to Leeming airfield.
On the night of 10th / 11th October 1940 the crew of this 10 Squadron aircraft were tasked with flying an operational flight to Cologne and took off at 22.11hrs.
The crew located the target but did not drop their bombload because of a problem. The aircraft was damaged by flak though none of the crew were injured.
On their return they also struggled to locate the Yorkshire coast but were eventually able to land safely at Leeming at 07.53hrs. Between twelve and
fifteen flak holes were found in the aircraft.
Pilot - S/Ldr Alexander Vivian Sawyer (33096).
Second Pilot - Sgt John Eustace Rowlett RAFVR (741334).
Observer - Sgt George Charles Sandland RAF (581191), of Sparkbrook, Birmingham.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Eric Downing Polkinghorne RAF (632893), of Penzance, Cornwall.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt George Christie RAFVR (971579), of Aberdeen, Scotland.
Sgt Christie survived a serious crash while on Ops to 13th November 1940 when Whitley T4232 crashed in Wales on return from Ops to Lorient. The aircraft
caught fire on impact and Sgt Christie dragged the four members of his crew from the burning wreckage dispite suffering injuries himself, one of the crew
sadly died of his injuries. He was killed while still serving with 10 Squadron on 25th July 1941 when Whitley Z6624 failed to return from Ops to Hannover.
The aircraft crashed into the North Sea and his body was washed ashore and later buried in Kiel War Cemetery. He was twenty one years old.
John Rowlett was probably born in the Birmingham area of the country in 1914. He learned to fly at the civilian Cambridge Aero Club and gained his Royal
Aviators' Certificate (Cert.No.18857) on 26th June 1939. On 18th September 1940 Sgt Rowlett was in Whitley P4957 which landed at the dummy airfield at
Cold Kirby on the North York Moors on return from Ops and the aircraft sustained damage, the incident is recorded on this website. He, Sgt's Polkinghorne
and Sandland were killed on 16th January 1941 flying with 10 Squadron on Ops to Wilhelmshaven in Whitley T4220 and was lost without trace. The crew are
commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Alexander "Tom" Sawyer trained at Cranwell and was granted a permanent commission in the RAF with seniority of 16th December 1933. He was posted to 7 Squadron
in May 1934 and was promoted to F/O on 16th June 1935. He later served with 810 (FTB) Squadron begining September 1936 and was promoted to F/Lt on 16th
September 1937 and then to S/Ldr on 1st June 1939. Sawyer appears to have flown with many of the No.4 Group squadrons in the early years of the war. He
flew with 10 Squadron, 78 Squadron (and was awarded the DFC with them, Gazetted on 21st November 1941), 51 Squadron and 102 Squadron. He was promoted to
W/Co (temp) on 9th September 1941 and W/Co (war subs) on 28th October 1943 and around this time he was involved in training aircrew for Stirling glider
towing duties. He retired at his own request on 13th August 1946 and wrote a book "Only Owls & Bloody Fools Fly at Night".