Whitley P5094 near Leeming airfield.
Around midnight on the night of 8th / 9th September 1940 the crew of this 10 Squadron aircraft had taken off for an operational flight to Oostend to bomb the harbour and shipping. Returning to Leeming at 04.53hrs with the hydraulics out of action and with no flaps or brakes the aircraft overshot on landing and ran onto the A1 road close to Leeming Lodge. The aircraft was damaged when it came to rest across the road in this overshoot and the pilot's leg had become broken and trapped. The crew were still to
evacuate the aircraft when ten minutes later an electrical short circuit started a fire and the aircraft burst into flames. The pilot had suffered a broken left leg below the knee and was trapped in the cockpit, with the aircraft catching fire and fearing he would not be able to escape the burning aircraft he was pulled to safety through the top escape hatch by the wireless operator. It is highly likely that the wireless operator was awarded the DFM for his actions in pulling his pilot clear of the burning aircraft.
Whitley P5094 was built to contract 75147/38 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd. at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 8th July 1940. It was delivered to 10
Squadron at Leeming a few days later. On 9th September 1940 it sustained the accident at Leeming and Cat.W/FB Burnt damage was later recorded after assessment.
Pilot - P/O James Campbell Cairns RAF (42692). Broken leg.
Second Pilot - Sgt Victor Snell RAFVR (745231).
Observer - P/O Frank Reginald Goddard RAFVR (78990).
Wireless Operator - Sgt Robert Edward Nicholson RAF (611204).
Air Gunner - Sgt Alexander Strachan Shand RAF (630244).
On 18th September 1940 Sgt's Snell, Nicholson and Shand were in Whitley P4957 which landed at the dummy airfield at Cold Kirby on the North Yorkshire Moors on
return from Ops and the aircraft sustained damage, the incident is recorded on this website. Sgt Nicholson was awarded the DFM for service with 10 Squadron,
Gazetted on 26th August 1941 but effective from 29th September 1940 (only days after the incident at Leeming recorded above and possibly an "immediate" DFM
though as he was made a PoW there was probably no need to make the award of it too hurried). On the night of 30th September / 1st October 1940 Sgt Snell, Sgt
Shand and Sgt Nicholson were flying in Whitley T4130 on Ops to Berlin when the aircraft was shot down over Germany. Sgt Snell was killed and Sgt's Shand and
Nicholson were taken prisoner of war. Victor Snell was twenty six years old, he is buried in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. I thank Graham Sharpe for the photograph
of Sgt Snell's gravestone.
On 27th April 1943 he was returning from a raid on Duisburg in Wellington HE737 at 13,000 feet and was already out over the North Sea when a German night-fighter
attacked his aircraft. Damage was sustained to the electrics and the intercom, and the second pilot was killed. Cairns turned the aircraft back towards the Dutch
coast to give the surviving members of his crew a chance to bale out over land. But after a second attack, which left a wing and part of the fuselage on fire and
their parachutes damaged and with two further members of his crew dead he opted to force land the aircraft. As he could see the runway lights of an aerodrome and
headed straight for them but as the Wellington approached the lights were switched off, his aircraft overshot and crashed. Cairns was catapulted through the
windscreen. He and two others were captured and after recovering from their injuries they spent the rest of the War as PoW's. During his time in captivity he
would spent time at the camp Stalag Luft Three, and was in the hut from which the tunnel for the “Great Escape” — was dug in the spring of 1944. He was due to
be the last man out but the breakout was discovered before his turn came. After liberation he returned to the UK and stayed in the RAF Reserve until the mid-1950s
when he begun working for the BBC working from Pebble Mill. He retired in 1982 but then worked for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmens and Families Association (SSAFA),
in Solihull and at their headquarters in London, and on 17th June 1995 he was appointed OBE while their Secretary. He died on 27th October 2002, aged 81.
James "Peter" Cairns was born on 10th September 1921. He was barely out of school when he enlisted for RAF service in 1939 and after training was posted to 10 Squadron.
Having survived the crash detailed above he spent some months in hospital recovering and then acted as an instructor before flying operationally again. He had
received his commission to the rank of Acting P/O on probation on 18th September 1939, he was later graded as P/O on probation on 7th April 1940 and confirmed
in the rank of P/O on 24th July 1940. He was awarded the DFC, Gazetted on 22nd November 1940, though no citation for the award has been located. He rose to F/O
(war subs) on 7th April 1941 and to F/Lt (war subs) on 7th April 1942. He was Mentioned in Despatches on 1st January 1943. He had been posted from Wellesbourne
(where he had instructed at the OTU) to 429 Squadron on their formation at East Moor in November 1942 and assumed command of B-Flight. He also rose in rank to
Acting S/Ldr soon afterwards but 429 Squadron took some time to build up to operational readiness and they only flew their first operational flight in
late-January 1943. Cairns flew his first with 429 Squadron on 16th February 1943.
Frank Goddard received his commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 5th May 1940. He survived the crash of Whitley T4232 in South Wales on 13th November
1940 and was later promoted to F/O (war subs) on 5th May 1941 but transferred to the Admin and Special Duties Branch on 19th August 1941, he later was promoted
to F/Lt (war subs) on 1st January 1943. He survived the War and remained in the RAF and worked in the Aircraft Control and Fighter Control Branches until 2nd
December 1949 when he reliquished his commission and was appointed to the newly reconstituted R(Aux)AF. He finally resigned his commission and left the Auxillary
airforce on 2nd December 1957.