Whitley Z6507 damaged by flak, returned to Dishforth airfield.
On the night of 11th / 12th May 1941 the crew of this 58 Squadron aircraft were undertaking an operational flight to Bremen, they took off from Linton on Ouse at around 22.00hrs.
The aircraft was hit and slightly damaged by flak in the port main plane, the crew were able to make a safe return to land at 05.00hrs. They were diverted to land at Dishforth
because of enemy activity and damage at Linton on Ouse airfield a few hours earlier.
Pilot - P/O Cooper (P/O E R Cooper?)
Sgt Hammond
Sgt Morgan
Sgt Bell
Sgt Harwood
The pilot may have been P/O Ernest Ronald Peter Shackle Cooper RAF (87050) and if he was then he was soon posted to 35 Squadron. On 26th July 1941 he was flying Halifax L9507 on Ops to Berlin when the aircraft crashed in Germany. He was twenty six years old and is buried in Berlin War Cemetery.
Whitley Z6507 was built to contract 106962/40 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd, at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 5th February 1941. It was taken on charge by 58 Squadron on an unknown date but was being used operationally by them on 12th March 1941. This battle damage incident recorded above or another on 19th August 1941 are not listed in the published Air Britain history of the aircraft possibly because the damage was minor and it was repaired locally. On 1st December 1941 Cat.Em/FB damage was recorded when it was lost without trace
during an operational flight to Hamburg. The then crew of five were killed.