Wellington W5479 struck by lightning, 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 22.24hrs to bomb Hannover. The crew released their bomb load over the target area from 12,000ft but the aircraft was struck by lightning in the air which resulted in the IFF set being badly damaged. The crew managed to make a safe return and land at Driffield at 05.23hrs. The captain/pilot of this aircraft had been the 104 Squadron Commanding Officer but the second pilot had only just been posted to 104 Squadron to take command of the squadron.
Pilot - S/Ldr Dennis Brendon Geoffrey Tomlinson DFC RAF (37989).
Second Pilot - W/Co William Stephen Pomeroy Simonds RAF (32131).
Observer - P/O John Thomas Monks RAFVR (60771).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt John Michael Bingham RAFVR (941122).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Russell John Reynolds RAFVR (908653).
Air Gunner - Sgt R Ritson RAFVR (1116350).
On the night of 14th / 15th July 1941 P/O Monks and Sgt Reynolds were flying in Wellington W5513 on Ops to Hannover when the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter over Holland. All of their then crew were killed and are buried in Veendam General Cemetery, Holland. This was the first 104 Squadron operational loss since it re-formed in April 1941. John Monks received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 17th November 1940, he was 26 years old. Sgt Reynolds was 27 years old.
John Bingham was later posted to 207 Squadron, on 12th September 1944 he was flying in Lancaster LM261 on Ops to Darmstadt but crashed in Belgium He was in initally buried in the US Military Cemetery at Les Fosses, Belgium but is now buried in Leopoldsburg Cemetery.
Dennis Tomlinson received a commission on 4th August 1936 to the rank of Acting P/O on probation and was graded as P/O on 8th June 1937. In the early part of the War he flew with
10 Squadron. On the night of 3rd / 4th September 1940 F/Lt Tomlinson was piloting Whitley P4967 crashed landed at Nether Silton in Yorkshire on return from Ops. F/Lt Tomlinson was also
to be involved in another incident only weeks later above Thirsk while flying Whitley T4143 was partly abandoned and this saw two of his then crew being killed. He was awarded the DFC
for service with 10 Squadron on 17th January 1941 and completed his Tour with 10 Squadron. He briefly commanded 104 Squadron but was later posted for an instructional role with 10 OTU
based at Abingdon. When he was killed on 2nd June 1942 10 OTU were one of a number training units instructed to put up a number of bombers for Ops to Essen on this night. This was the
night of the second Thousand Bomber raid. He was pilot of Whitley Z6581 which was shot down by a night fighter to the east of Arnhem and is buried in Gendringen Roman Catholic
Cemetery, Holland. He was married to Hannah Tomlinson (who was either local to Abingdon or had gone with him to the airfield). Dennis Tomlinson was twenty six years old.
William Simonds was granted a commission in the RAF as P/O on probation way back on 28th December 1931. He was awarded the DFC for his actions in July 1941 with 104 Squadron attacking German battleships in port at Brest and La Pallice. He remained in the RAF until 1954.
On the night of 10th September 1941 Sgt Ritson was flying in Wellington W5576 on Ops to Turin. The aircraft was ditched in the North Sea on the return flight and he was rescued by a Danish fishing boat but then saw out the war as a PoW.
Wellington W5479 was built to contract B71441/40 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd. at Weybridge and was delivered to 51 MU on 5th April 1941. It was issued to the newly reformed 104 Squadron at Driffield on 26th April 1941. It was struck by lightning on 16th May 1941 on an operational flight which slightly damaged the aircraft and it was repaired on site after landing. Cat.A.FA damage was probably the damage assessment although the incident is not recorded on the aircraft's AM Form 78. On 4th July 1941 it sustained Cat.Ac/FB damage though the 104 Squadron records do not list this aircraft as sustaining any damage on the night's operational sortie to bomb Brest. It was repaired on site at Driffield. On the night of 27th / 28th August 1941 it was slightly damaged by flak which tore away some doped fabric from around the second pilot's seat area. The incident is not recorded on the aircraft's AM Form 78 so Cat.A/FB damage was probably the result of any assessment and repair would have been carried out locally at Driffield. It sustained minor Cat.Ac/FA damage in a landing accident at Pocklington on 31st January 1942 and was again repaired on site. Once repaired towards the end of March 1942 it was immediately transferred to 158 Squadron at Driffield, the squadron formed out of "C-Flight" of 104 Squadron on 14th February 1942. It the moved with 158 Squadron to East Moor on 4th June 1942. Following a mishap there on 6th July 1942 Cat.B/FA damage was recorded after assessment. It was transported for a repair at the works factory at Doncaster. After repair it spent time with 23 MU and then 33 MU before being issued to the OAPU on 11th May 1943. 311 Ferry Training Unit at Moreton in Marsh then obtained the aircraft on 21st May 1943. It was then transferred to No.3 O.A.D.U. at Hurn on 29th July 1943 and was then flown out to the Middle East theatre in Augsut 1943. No record of aircraft's history in the Middle East is yet known other that it was struck off charge on 27th April 1944.