Halifax L9498 at Linton on Ouse airfield.
This 35 Squadron aircraft had taken off from Linton on Ouse at 23.37hrs on 12th June 1941 to undertaking a operational flight to bomb Huls. In the early hours of the morning of the 13th June 1941 the crew were returning to base early because of engine trouble with the port engine, when they arrived back at Linton on Ouse at 00.30hrs the aircraft still had it's full bomb load on board and overshot the runway. They clearly had not got very far before turning around. The undercarriage collapsed and the aircraft was damaged but the crew escaped injury. The crew positions
are currently open to debate, there is no bomb aimer on board the list below but at this stage in the War Halifax crew positions were fairly flexible. Many carried two
pilots but often only one was technically a fully trained pilot, the other being unofficially trained to fly the aircraft.
Pilot - Sgt Lionel William Bovington DFM RAF (566881).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Ronald Meredith RAFVR (937585).
Navigator (but serving as Bomb Aimer) - P/O Arthur George Eperon RAF (84713).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Albert Edward Hammond RAF (535641).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Reginald Thomas Rudlin RAFVR (912084).
Air Gunner - Sgt Noel Eric Henry Coleman RAFVR (1107286), of Starbeck, Harrogate, Yorkshire.
Flight Engineer - Sgt Norman Willingham RAFVR (922470).
On CWGC there is no reference to a middle name, however the name "R.H.Meredith" is quoted in numerous places, his full name was probably Ronald Hope Meredith and he was probably born in Durham in 1909.
Lionel Bovington was born in the Berkhampstead area of Hertfordshire in 1917 and as a boy he attended Harrow County School for boys between 1928 and 1933. He gained his DFM for service with 51 Squadron, Gazatted on 11th February 1941, probably for completing a Tour of Operations. He married in the Calder area of Yorkshire in 1945 and died in Huddersfield in 1998.
Sgt Hammond had already survived the crash of 77 Squadron Whitley T4138 on the North Yorkshire Moors in December 1940 detailed here and Whitley P4942 at Appleton le Street in September 1940 detailed here)
Noel Coleman had been the Superintendant at Starbeck swimming baths before he joined the RAF in November 1940, he attended Harrogate Grammar School.
Sgt Ronald Meredith was lost on 31st March 1942 and was still serving with 35 Squadron. He was on board Halifax R9438 which was lost after crashing into Fitful Head cliffs on Shetland while trying to locate the German battleship Tirpitz. The seven man crew were all killed and their deaths and the subsequent attempted recovery their bodies was very sad with the recovery being a very difficult one. Three of the crew have no known grave and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. Two others were found, identified, recovered and buried in Lerwick Cemetery. The body of one of the crew was found on the rockface but could not be recovered so was buried in the rockface. Seven days after the crash the body of Sgt Meredith was found hanging by his parachute from rocks but his body was not able to be recovered because of the dangerous location that he was found. He was wrapped in his parachute and also buried on the 1000ft cliffs. A priest was lowered to officiate, the grave was marked with a wooden cross. Over a year later the body of another member of the crew was found on the rockface and buried in Lerwick. The graves of Sgt Meredith's and the other airmen's whos graves are on the rockface cannot be looked after so both men are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. Sgt Meredith was thirty two years old. A memorial at the crash site commemorates their loss. I would direct anyone with an interest in this loss to David Earl's website and Linzee Druce's website.
Sgt Lionel Bovington, Sgt Albert Hammond and Sgt Noel Coleman were still with 35 Squadron on 9th July 1941, on this date they were on Halifax L9521 which was shot down by an enemy nightfighter and crashed near Nijmegen Holland. Bovington became a PoW while Hammond and Coleman killed and are buried in Uden War Cemetery, Holland. Sgt Coleman was a Yorkshireman, he hailed from Starbeck, Harrogate; he was 33 years old.
Sgt Rudlin was also still with 35 Squadron when he was sadly killed on 24th July 1941 flying in Halifax L9527 which was shot down near Angles, France. He is buried locally at Angles Communal Cemetery, France. Also on this aircraft was P/O Eperon who was made a PoW.
Arthur Eperon was born in 1919 in Croyden, Surrey. He joined the RAF at the very bottom, and as LAC he received his commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 11th August 1940. He rose to F/O exactly a year later and then to F/Lt again exactly a year later in 1942 while he was a PoW. After his capture in France he was held as a PoW in Stalaf Luft III at Sagan, the infamous camp known for The Great Escape. He took an active part in the "Wooden Horse" escape as a jumper on this attempted escape. Post-War Arthur Eperon returned home and was later a well-known travel journalist in the 1970s and 80s. He died in 2000. I thank his nephew, Mr Rob Crane, for contacting me in 2010 and for the extra information he was kind enough to provide. He had survived the ditching of Whitley T4289 off Whitby on 16th December 1940, he was later flying in an aircraft that was involved in a mid-air collision. His aircraft was not badly damaged but the other crashed with the loss of it's crew (though the date for this is not yet known).
Norman Willingham was one of the first Halifax Flight Engineers, he was previously a 35 Squadron Flight Mechanic E and was selected to retrain as a flight engineer, qualifying on 7th February 1941. He was killed on 3rd September 1941 flying in Halifax L9560. He is buried in Berlin War Cemetery and was 27 years old.
Halifax L9498 was built to contract 692649/37 by Handley Page Ltd. at Radlett and was awaiting collection on 16th December 1940. It was initially allotted to 8 MU at Little Rissington on 22nd December 1940 and on 17th February 1941 it was allotted to 35 Squadron at Linton on Ouse. Four days later it was taken on charge by 35 Squadron. As a result of the landing accident at Linton on Ouse on 13th June 1941 Cat.B/FB damage was initially the damage assessment. It was later re-assessed on 17th June 1941 as being more seriously damaged, Re-Cat.E and was struck off charge with a total flying time of only just over forty hours. The main spar was probably damaged.