Whitley T4234 at Leeming airfield.
On the night of 3th / 4th January 1941 this 10 Squadron aircraft took off from Leeming airfield at 17.10hrs for Ops to Bremen and bombing the target in two runs from 12,000ft. The
crew returned to base and landed at 00.17hrs. A Luftwaffe intruder piloted by Lt. Bohme of 3/NJG2 is reported to have attacked a Whitley either off Yorkshire or near
Catterick on this night and others before me in recording the intruder attack have linked it to Whitley T4234 but to date no conclusive proof has been found linking
the two in source documents at the time of creating this webpage. The operational records actually state that no damage was sustained to T4234 on this night. If indeed T4234 was damaged then it was only very slightly damaged as it was back on ops soon afterwards.
Pilot - P/O Gerald Standish Williams RAF (43051).
Second Pilot - Sgt Robert Victor Salway RAFVR (745158).
Observer - Sgt Nathaniel White RAFVR (746778).
Wireless Operator - Sgt Alexander James Davie RAF (620056).
Air Gunner - F/O Kenneth Montague Bastin RAF (75168).
Gerald Williams was granted a short service commission in the RAF on 23rd March 1940 to the rank of Acting P/O on probation. He was graded
as P/O on probation on 13th July 1940 and was confirmed in the rank of P/O on 11th September 1940 and was promoted to F/O (war subs) on 13th July 1941.
Having been posted to 35 Squadron after his time with 10 Squadron he was flying Ops to Turin on 10th / 11th September 1941 in Halifax L9566 when
they became lost on the return leg. They made a landing in Northern France, possibly at Theville airfield believing it was initially in England
and presumably low on fuel. The aircraft was totally intact and fell into the hands of the German aircraft test centre. The crew all became PoW's.
He was promoted to F/Lt (war subs) on 13th July 1942 and briefly escaped from captivity but was recaptured. On paper he transferred to the RAFO
under the terms of his commission and was called up for immediate service on 11th September 1943 but was still a PoW. On 1st June 1944 he relinquished
his commission in the RAFO on appointment to the RNZAF again while a PoW.
Kenneth Bastin was born in London in 1913, he was granted a commission to the rank of Acting P/O on probation on 8th October 1939 and was graded as P/O on probation soon after on 13th November 1939. He was confirmed in the appointment and was promoted to F/O on 13th November 1940. As Acting F/Lt and while serving with 76 Squadron he was awarded the DFC, Gazetted on 2nd September 1941 and was promoted to F/Lt (war subs) on 13th November 1941 and was later granted the rank of S/Ldr (war subs) on 6th October 1943. He survived the War. Tom Williams published a biography of his uncle's career entitled "Gunnery Leader". He later become a chief instructor for trainee air gunners and gunnery leaders and this culminated in his assuming command of the Gunnery Leader Wing of Central Gunnery School, a position he held until leaving the RAF at the end of the war. He died in Sussex in 1987.
Robert Salway was sadly killed on the night of 16th April 1941 flying Ops to Bremen and he failed to return, the aircraft is believed to
have crashed into the sea off the Dutch coast with all of his then crew being killed. Sgt Salway is buried in Sage War Cemetery, Germany.
Nathaniel White received his commission on 11th April 1943 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) (145288). He was then promoted to
F/O (war subs) on 11th October 1943 and to F/Lt (war subs) on 11th April 1945. Nothing more is known about him.
Alexander Davie was promoted to the rank of F/Sgt by 30th June 1941 when he was killed flying with 35 Squadron when Halifax L9499 on Ops
to Kiel. He was twenty three years old and from Aberdeen.
Whitley T4234 was built to contract 38599/39 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd, at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 29th September 1940, it was then taken on charge by 10 Squadron at Leeming the following month. It was possibly damaged on 4th January 1941 in this incident listed above but it can only have sustained Cat.A/FB at the very worst. It would have been repaired on site and returned to it's squadron. On 15th February 1941 it sustained damage in a mishap at Dishforth. Cat.A(C)/FB damage was recorded and it was repaired on site by a team from Armstrong Whitworth Ltd and returned to the unit. On 23rd August 1941 Cat.E2/FB damage was recorded following the accident on Widdale Fell between Hawes and Dent. Both other incidents are detailed on this website.