Wellington W5424 damaged by flak, returned to Driffield airfield.
On the night of 15th / 16th May 1941 the crew of this 104 Squadron aircraft took off from Driffield airfield at 22.29hrs to bomb Hanover. They bombed
the target area from 15,000ft but the aircraft was slightly damaged by a flak burst with the pilot's windscreen being damaged.
They made a safe return and landed at Driffield airfield at 04.23hrs.
Pilot - S/Ldr Peter Henry Cribb RAF (33360).
Second Pilot - P/O Hollister (Possibly Edward Jackson Hollister RAF (86712)).
Observer - P/O Belfour.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Tom Herrington RAFVR (940147).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt William Walter Covey RAFVR (751961).
Air Gunner - Sgt Tom Bell RAFVR (1064095), of Goole, Yorkshire.
Sgt's Bell and Herrington were killed flying with 104 Squadron on 13th August 1941 when Wellington W5443 failed to return from Ops
to Berlin. They are buried in Hannover War Cemetery.
Sgt Covey was flying with 104 Squadron on 7th December 1941 when he and all of his then crew failed to return from Ops to Dunkirk in
Wellington Z8426. His body was never found and he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Peter Cribb served with 58 Squadron before posting to 104 Squadron. He later served with 35 Squadron and the Bomber Development Unit before commanding
582 Squadron and the Pathfinder Wing. He was awarded the DSO and Bar, the DFC and Bar and later the CBE and rose to the rank of Air Commodore. His life is well
detailed on the internet, he died in 2011.
Wellington W5424 was built to contract B.71441/40 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd. at Weybridge and was awaiting collection in January 1941. It was allotted to 12 MU on 24th January 1941 and was received by them on 22nd February 1941. There appears to be a clerical error on the aircraft's AM Form 78 as after a period of MU storage it states it was taken on charge by 158 Squadron on 10th April 1941 but 158 Squadron did not form until 1942. It was almost certainly taken on charge by 104 Squadron at Driffield on 10th April 1941 when this squadron reformed. The damage on 16th May 1941 was probably so slight that no-one recorded it on the aircraft's
record card; Cat.A/FB would have been the assessment if one was made. On 26th July 1941 it was having it's engine run up after a part change when it moved on the chocks and a propeller struck and killed a member of groundcrew on the head. Again nothing is recorded on the AM Form 78 but it would have been repaired on site. It continued to be used by 104 Squadron until early 1942. On 14th February 1942 158 Squadron formed at Driffield out of 'C' Flight of 104 Squadron and this aircraft was one of the aircraft that transferred across. On 15th March 1942 it's AM Form 78 states that it sustained Cat.Ac/FB damage assessment but the squadron records do not yield any information as to how this occurred. It was repaired on site and returned to 158 Squadron on 11th April 1942. On 4th June 1942 158 Squadron moved to East Moor and started conversion to Halifax MkII's. They then transferred the majority of their Wellington MkII's to 12 Squadron at Binbrook and this aircraft was one of these aircraft that went on 11th June 1942. On 29th July 1942 it suffered an engine failure on take off from Binbrook for an operational flight to Saarbrucken. The aircraft stalled and crashed and the crew of five were sadly killed. Cat.E2/FA damage was recorded on the paperwork. It was struck off charge in early August 1942.