Wellington "LQ-F" (Z8344?) at Pocklington airfield.
On the night of 28th / 29th August 1941 405 Squadron sent up eleven aircraft to bomb Duisburg. This aircraft took off at
00.01hrs and while over the target area the aircraft was held in search lights, it was holed by flak and one member of this crew
sustained a severely bruised leg from a flak splinter. The pilot was able to make a safe return to Pocklington and land at 05.47hrs.
Pilot - Sgt T F Dougall RAF (754661).
? - W/Co Royd Martin Fenwick-Wilson AFC RAF (34218). Sustained leg injury.
? - Sgt John Lord RAFVR (955266), of Burbage, Leicestershire.
? - Sgt Douglas Jobson Clayden RAFVR (901682), of Ilford, Essex.
? - Sgt J Emsley RAF (1252818).
Air Gunner - Sgt Charles Wilbert Forman RCAF (R/56586), of Melita, Manitoba, Canada.
Wellington Z8344 was coded LQ-F and served with 405 Squadron around this time, on 19th / 20th September 1941 it was being flown by many of
the crew listed above on Ops to Stettin when it failed to return and all were made PoWs. LQ-F is the likely identity for the aircraft involved
in this flak incident in August 1941.
Wellington Z8344 was built to contract B.71441/40 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd. at Weybridge and was awaiting collection in July 1941. It was received by 23 MU on 30th July 1941 and was taken on charge by 405 Squadron at Pocklington on 5th August 1941. It almost certainly sustained Cat.A/FB damage as a result of the battle damage on 29th August 1941 but there is no mention of it on the aircraft's AM Form 78. It would have been repaired on site. The aircraft was then lost on 20th September 1941 (Cat.E/m recorded on the paperwork) when it failed to return from Ops to Stettin.
Charles Forman's name was also spelt as "Foreman" in other news records of the day in Canada. He was twenty years old when he was posted missing and became a PoW.
The pilot was probably one of two Thomas Dougall's born in 1917 in England. I will check this on AIR78 in the National Archives.
All of the above except the Wing Commander were flying together on Ops on 19th / 20th September 1941 when Wellington Z8344 failed to return
from Ops to Stettin. All became PoW's. On 19th April 1945 Lord and Clayden were being marched when the PoW column was straffed by Allied fighters
in what became known as the "Gresse" incident and both died (Clayden on 19th April and Lord on 22nd April 1945). WO Clayden was twenty four years
old and WO Lord was twenty six. Both are buried in Berlin War Cemetery.
Royd Fenwick-Wilson has a very long service record. He was born in Greenwood, British Columbia and was appointed to a commission in the RAF as Acting P/O on probation on 24th August 1934. He was graded as P/O on 24th August 1935 and later promoted to F/O on 24th May 1937 and acting F/Lt on 24th March 1938. Under the terms of his commission he relinquished his rank of acting F/Lt on 22nd November 1938 but on 24th March 1939 was promoted to F/Lt. He was promoted to S/Ldr (temp) on 1st July 1940 and was granted a permanent commission in the substantive rank of F/Lt on 24th August 1940. By the end of 1940 he was serving with 12 SFTS and for his work in instructing at 12 SFTS he was awarded the AFC, Gazette on 1st April 1941. He was posted to command 405 Squadron on 13th August 1941 and remained in this post until 17th February 1942. He later commanded 218 Squadron. On 1st December 1941 he was promoted to W/Co (temp). He was back across the Atlantic in December 1942 because he married in Dayton, Ohio. He survived the War but retired from the RAF at his own request on 11th March 1946 retaining the rank of W/Co. He died in 1982.